What games did you complete? 2023 Edition

[thesnwmn]

Spoiler

1. 04/01 - Stacklands (Steam Deck/PC) [post]

2. 05/01 - Patrick's Parabox (Steam Deck/PC) [post]

3. 09/01 - FixFox (Steam Deck/PC) [post]

4. 10/01 - Lego Builder's Journey (Steam Deck/PC) [post]

5. 13/01 - Pentiment (XBox/Steam Deck via XCloud) [post]

6. 15/01 - Baba Is You (Steam Deck/PC) [post]

7 - 17/01 Citizen Sleeper (PC/Steam Deck via XCloud) [post]

 

8 - 23/01 Lara Croft Go (PC/Steam Deck)

 

Something I've had kicking around in my Steam library for "a while" and never touched. Wanted something very short and light to play through and this is that.

 

For anyone who doesn't know it's an isometric puzzle game where you attempt to reach the exit of a series of mini levels. Push pillars, levers and buttons whilst avoiding, killing, chasing and being chased by enemies. There are 5 initial worlds, each with around 5-12 levels or so, and an extra two DLC worlds (I assume free in all versions) as big as any of those in the main game.

 

For me, the initial 5 worlds probably better than the newer 2. Whilst the last DLC world has some interesting additional mechanics, I think both suffer from pushing the formula a bit too far, or at least beyond what I wanted from it. I wasn't really looking for a real challenge. I just wanted a very light brain off puzzle game and for the most part this delivered. I think it might have been okay but failure requiring you to restart levels, combined with slow restarts due to loading times, just put took the edge off experimentation. A simple rewind mechanic for when you accidentally moved too far, or forgot to shift a pillar, would have gone a long way to resolving frustrations and encouraged practical experimentation.

 

A few later levels stumped me for a while and in these situations I had no qualms about switching on the "Use Hint" mode. It should be called "Follow solution" mode as it simply guides you through the level. Drawing out where to move and what to interact with as you move along. It's a brute force tool but at least following it you can witness the puzzle design and solution rather than a straight up "skip" button.

 

On top of the slow restart load times the games biggest flaw is it's little embellishments of Lara's movement. For the most part she's responsive and fast (although not perfect, there are occasions I moved one square too far) but the developers took the fucking idiotic choice to sometimes (maybe 5-10% of times) when Lara is moving up over the top of a cliff to have her very slowly perform a handstand on the edge before swinging her legs down to the ground and her body up to standing. The animation isn't offensive but being forced to occasionally just wait 5 or so seconds extra between one square of movement and the next is insane. On first play through a level you might not really notice because each step is carefully considered. But when you've died near the end for the fifth time and are just doing the early sequences rapidly by wrote it's infuriating. Get the fuck on with it.

 

But at least I've finished my first (and probably last) "Tomb Raider" game.

[skondo]

Gears of War Judgment.

 

My Gears playthrough continues. So far this is probably the worst. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, but the campaign doesn't feel like a campaign, it feels like a horde mode or score attack game with a flimsy story attached as an afterthought. At the start of each section I can choose whether I want to make the section harder, with stronger enemies or by restricting my squad to particular weapons. I get to the end of a section and I can choose to continue or I can try again. In certain sections it tells you when the next wave of enemies will come. It just doesn't sit well in a campaign. However, the cover shooting etc...is still excellent.

 

Also played the Aftermath Gears 3 story. This felt better, but was very slight. 

 

Overall it was still fun, but just too disjointed. I guess a 6 out of 10 would be fair.

 

It's possible I'm a being a little unfair as I was definitely experiencing 'Gears fatigue', having played 1, 2, 3 and then Judgment. Time to give it a break before moving on to 4.

[shirubagan]

So far:

 

Spoiler

1. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5)

2. Somerville (Game Pass)

3. The Eternal Castle (Steam)
4. Resident Evil VILLAGE (PS5)
5. Mortal Kombat 11 – Story Mode (Steam Deck)
6. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (Steam Deck)

 

 

 

Edgy. 

 

7. Soul Calibur VI – Story Mode (PS)

Another fighting game with a really terrible story mode comprised of at least 96.43% cutscenes! Unlike MK11, this didn't' even offer the courtesy of lavishly rendered and animated cutscenes, instead using some really terrible VO (English version) and about six repeated art assets. I've also played through Geralt, Ivy and Mitsurugi's SP stories and will chip away at the rest as they seem to take around 15-20 mins each at most.
 

Game is lots of fun. I haven't played SC since III (?) on the Gamecube I don't think. It features loads of flashy moves and canned animations and what I believe to be a new parry system with X which you can use to put your opponents off-balance, the input direction shoving or pulling them in different ways.

 

Nice little distraction on the PS Extra tier and worth a play, but my brain is telling me it is nowhere near as good as Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast, which is probably a lie. Stupid brain.

[ImmaculateClump]

Harmful Park (PSX) - Normal, 1cc

 

Spoiler

Cotton Rock n Roll -Superlative Night Dreams- (PC) - normal 1cc, cotton, appli, tacoot, luffee, fine

Fantasy Zone (arcade) - 1cc (2-4)

U.N. Squadron (arcade) - 1cc

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (GB)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (GBA)

Zed Blade (arcade) - Easy, 1cc

[glb]

January

 

#1 - Golf Story (Switch)

#2 - Actraiser: Renaissance (Switch)
#3 - Road 96 (Gamepass)

 

A relatively short (8-10 hour) adventure in the style of Telltale Games’ interactive stories.

 

It’s goofy, light appearance at times gives way to a darker plot, and although I don’t think the game quite lands either tone as well as it might, the plot is engaging enough to see through to the end. The story is procedural too, so the game will unfold differently for each player.
 

Some characters are more endearing than others, which makes select chapters more enjoyable. Because of the randomised nature of the story a bit of luck will affect how well your adventure flows. Mine flowed well, and overall I enjoyed the game. It made for a welcome change of pace after a few long sessions in Night City.

[Boothjan]

Spoiler

1. Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order - XSX - 11/01/23 - 7.5/10

2. Assassins Creed Valhalla - XSX - 12/01/23 - 8.5/10

3. Guardians of the Galaxy - XSX Game Pass - 19/01/23 - 9/10

4. Bugsnax - XSX Game Pass - 20/01/23 - 6/10

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - XSX Game Pass - 23/01/23 - 9/10

 

6. Borderlands 2 - XSX - 24/01/23

 

 

Almost a perfect sequel.  I'm very, very late to the party with Borderlands having only bought that as well as The Handsome Collection a couple of years back (for a ridiculously low price), and it subsequently gathered dust on the shelf (metaphorically, nearly all digital now!).  Having found the first Borderlands pretty good but very, very samey and overly long, I wasn't massively keen to start this and it became a proper 'list of shame' title.

 

Well I should have started it much sooner, because it's great.  The unforgiving landscapes of Pandora from the first game make a return, but thankfully the scenery is much more varied, always making use of the gorgeous art style.  Optimised for the new consoles, it looks stunning - hard to believe it's a 360 game..Other improvements include the NPCs, the story, the weapon variety and - most importantly - the gameplay.  It's a wonderfully entertaining romp, it's funny, it's violent, it's chaotic.  I got so much more from talking to other characters who play a far bigger role, and some of the side missions are just as fun as the main campaign ones.

 

In fact, I genuinely can't think of a single area where Borderlands 2 DOESN'T improve on the original.  A few niggling issues remain - more on those in a moment - but everything I enjoyed in the first game is ramped up several notches more, it looks, sounds, feels and plays better.

 

But it's not without it's issues - hardly stinging criticism of a game that's more than a decade old now, that's progress.  Some of the missions require a lot of backtracking back to a fast travel station in order to complete them which is a proper pain - I must have lost several hours just walking back across familiar terrain just to turn in an objective.  Also, the inventory system is better than in B1, but still rather cumbersome.  I'm not sure what the answer is to this, because the looting and amazing variation in weapons is such a key part of the whole series.  There's just so much of it!  

 

Also worth pointing out how amazingly good value The Handsome Collection is.  As well as this, it also includes The pre-sequel game and ALL the DLC for both titles.  And it cost me about £10 in a sale.  It took me around 35 hours to see the credits roll, and I've not touched the DLC or the pre-sequel.  Not bad for a tenner.

 

Important to note that I played the entirety of this in single player.  In fact, I'm yet to experience anything Borderlands in multiplayer where I'm sure it's even better.  But even as a single player experience, this is a quality game that was a lot of fun to play through.

 

On to Borderlands 3 once I've cleared a few more titles from my backlog.  Maybe I'll find a friend to play that with me?

 

8.5/10

[skondo]

Somerville.

 

It looks great and has a beautiful soundtrack, but I found this too dull most of the time and some of the puzzles were a bit daft. Not much to say about it really, 5 out of 10.

[Arctic Feather]

  

2. 25/01/2023 Enslaved: Journey To The West - Xbox 360

 

 

Very much inspired by Uncharted, this linear game folllows a similar structure of scripted platforming mixed with combat and the odd movie style set piece thrown in.
The motion captured animations are impressive for the time, but the lackluster performance is a bit disappointing with a pretty unstable framerate. I imagine the PC version would be a much smoother experience, although apparently it's a bit buggy.

 

It can be interesting when left to work out how to best take out a group of mechs, but simply having wave after wave of identical mechs thrown at you can get pretty tedious.  Most of the time you'll be guided along a very liner route and there are no real options on a how a section will be completed.

It's not a bad game and I enjoyed it, but it doesn't bring any original ideas and can feel pretty sterile.  I'm a little surprised it got such high review scores back in the day.

 

 

Spoiler

1. 07/01/2023 Mega Man Zero (Mega Man Zero Collection) - DS

2. 22/01/2023 Mega Man Zero 2 (Mega Man Zero Collection) - DS

3. 25/01/2023 Enslaved: Journey To The West - Xbox 360

 

[Unofficial Who]

3 hours ago, Boothjan said:

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order - XSX - 11/01/23 - 7.5/10

2. Assassins Creed Valhalla - XSX - 12/01/23 - 8.5/10

3. Guardians of the Galaxy - XSX Game Pass - 19/01/23 - 9/10

4. Bugsnax - XSX Game Pass - 20/01/23 - 6/10

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - XSX Game Pass - 23/01/23 - 9/10

 

6. Borderlands 2 - XSX - 24/01/23

 

 

On to Borderlands 3 once I've cleared a few more titles from my backlog.  Maybe I'll find a friend to play that with me?

 

8.5/10

 

Give the Pre-Sequel a try, I think that's in the collection as well and has some pretty interesting zero G mechanics. And lots of bad Australian jokes.

[Boothjan]

19 minutes ago, Unofficial Who said:

 

Give the Pre-Sequel a try, I think that's in the collection as well and has some pretty interesting zero G mechanics. And lots of bad Australian jokes.

I have no idea why, but I never thought to give that a go!!  And yes, it's in the package and might even be installed already.  I shall take your advice and try it out.

 

Is it basically Borderlands 2.5?

[Unofficial Who]

14 minutes ago, Boothjan said:

I have no idea why, but I never thought to give that a go!!  And yes, it's in the package and might even be installed already.  I shall take your advice and try it out.

 

Is it basically Borderlands 2.5?

 

Plot wise you get to see where Handsome Jack came from. But yeah, it's 2.5.

[Boothjan]

2 minutes ago, Unofficial Who said:

 

Plot wise you get to see where Handsome Jack came from. But yeah, it's 2.5.

Sold!

[DarkCrisis]

4. Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered - PS5 - 30hrs

 

I have played Spider-Man 3 times to completion now, with this being the first time I have played the Remastered version.

 

Still a fantastic game, with only the Stealth parts causing me any real frustration.

 

Didn’t get around to finishing all the DLC with my plan to play Dead Space tomorrow.

 

I will probably come back to complete the DLC in the summer before I play Miles Morales again.

 

9/10

 

Spoiler

1. Cult of the Lamb - PS5 - 20hrs

2. Kena: Bridge Of Spirits - PS5 - 12hrs
3. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus - PS3 - 7hrs

 

[Quest]

28/01 - Radical Rabbit Stew (Switch)

 

 

Action-puzzler that has you thwacking rabbits into cooking pots with a big spoon. Sometime you have to bounce them off springs around the map, sometimes snatch them with a hookshot, sometimes fire them from a cannon. 

 Reminded me of Mega Bomberman's singleplayer mode and Goof Troop on the SNES (which I posted in this thread about a week ago), and the soundtrack has a few nice  dollops of cheery italo disco. Around two hours long for the main story mode so it doesn't outstay its welcome, and there's also a pretty chaotic versus mode that my kids enjoyed.

 

Currently Playing:

 

Hazelnut Hex (Switch)

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Series X)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations (Switch)

 

2023 List:

Spoiler

28/01 - Radical Rabbit Stew (Switch)

27/01 - Wheels of Aurelia (Mac)

26/01 - Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows (Switch)

25/01 - Martial Law (Mac)

25/01 - Final Vendetta (Mac)

25/01 - HUNTDOWN (Switch)

23/01 - Haven Park (Mac)

20/01 - Cryohazard (Game Boy)

19/01 - Goof Troop (SNES)

18/01 - Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (Series X)

17/01 - UnderDungeon (Switch)

12/01 - Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX (PS5)

12/01 - Star Parodier (PC Engine CD-ROM²)

11/01 - Franken (Mac)

10/01 - Novena (Bitsy)

09/01 - The Council (PS4)

06/01 - FAR: Lone Sails (Switch)     

05/01 - Z-Warp (Switch)

04/01 - Chicory: A Colourful Tale (PS5)

 

[Unofficial Who]

Jan

 

29/01 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (PC) I found this game impenetrable back in the day being unfamiliar with the meme laden flash animations and games.  But having had a lot of exposure to Strong Bad at the end of last year due to an out of the blue obsession with the Telltale Poker Night games. And while it took a while to warm to the rest of the cast after the first episode I started to understand the logic of the Strong Bad universe and the structure of most of the games. Spend the first half of each episode being a jerk and the second half fixing up the damage done. It's over a decade old so some of the jokes don't land the way they would of if I had played it in 2008 but it was a pleasant throw back to point and click adventure games of old where the right way to do things is usually the most convoluted way. High point was episode 4: Dangeresque 3 : the Criminal Projective which involves Strong Bad and friends making an action movie on a shoe string budget complete with bad takes, poor framing and tacky special effects.

 

 

Earlier this month

 

14/01 Alien Syndrome (C64)

14/01 Alien Syndrome (Arcade)

09/01 Nobody Saves the World (PC) 

04/01 Marvel Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

[strawdonkey]

On 22/01/2023 at 16:00, strawdonkey said:

01 - Tiny Rogues

02 - Needy Streamer Overload

03 - Yamafuda - 2nd Station

04 - Catlateral Damage: Remeowstered

05 - Fault: Milestone One

06 - Fault: Milestone Two - Side: Above

X1 - Starfighter R&D

07 - Faith

08 - Alina of the Arena (Rookie clear, Warrior)

 

Elevator pitch: Imagine Slay the Spire mixed with Into the Breach.

 

Alina of the Arena owes no small debt to Slay the Spire, arguably the greatest digital deckbuilder ever made. You play as Alina, a gladiator attempting to conquer/escape three distinct arenas by caving in the face of anyone who would dare stand in your way. Like in Slay the Spire, you'll have attack and block cards, but how these work is shaped by your main- and off-hand equipment - larger, two-handed weapons will give you a larger attack arc in exchange for adding Fatigue cards to your deck, crossbows and longbows will let you attack from a distance at the cost of having to reload by discarding a card after each attack, or having a Shield in your off-hand will boost the potency of your blocking cards.

 

 

It's worth noting that movement appears to be at a premium in this game; you have the option to reposition one space each turn (at the cost of one of your energy) but if you don't move as your opening action for the turn, you lose the opportunity to do so until next turn. Other cards with move actions are few and far between and usually quite expensive to use, so your mobility is usually more of a series of evasive manouvers as opposed to you flying around the arena each turn. I've had one build that allowed me some movement, but the penalty for this was generally that if I couldn't land a hit as part of that movement, it would cost 50-75% of my energy for the turn so really required some thought and planning before you start playing cards.

 

The one downside (for me) to this game is that each run takes a mammoth amount of time. My first successful clear took nearly two hours, and my average run is pushing one and a half hours. You can save midway (and even quit midway through a battle and get a re-do, which is something I've only accidentally taken advantage of at this point) but it is extremely frustrating when something goes wrong right at the end of a run as it feels like so much progress down the toilet. My last run was with the Pyromancer class, which is great fun and quite different to the melee classes - I'd focused on a largely burn-build, which just sets most of the arena on fire within a couple of turns, coupled with a power that lets Alina ignore the negative effects of burning tiles and gives block if you end your turn stood on one. There was a little bit of traditional attack going on through a crossbow, but 90% of the damage came from stacking burn on an enemy and then getting out of danger for a couple of turns while their HP cratered.

 

Literally the last encounter of the game before the boss was five enemies who are fully resistant to fire, who then self-destructed and took away about 55 of my 70 health, leaving no window to heal up before the boss. It definitely exposed a hole in my deckbuilding, but still. The very last fight.

 

Anyway this is brilliant and if you can get over the hump of each run taking a lot of time, I would very much recommend it. I'm pretty sure I have a few more clears in me but wanted to type this up now in case the run time caused me to fizzle out on it.

[ImmaculateClump]

Scramble (arcade) 1cc
Tetris (GB) - A-Type

 

I got over 100,000 points in endless and saw the rocket. Is it fair to call that a win for that mode?

 

 

Spoiler

Cotton Rock n Roll -Superlative Night Dreams- (PC) - normal 1cc, cotton, appli, tacoot, luffee, fine

Fantasy Zone (arcade) - 1cc (2-4)

U.N. Squadron (arcade) - 1cc

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (GB)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (GBA)

Zed Blade (arcade) - Easy, 1cc

Harmful Park (PSX) - Normal, 1cc

[ImmaculateClump]

Tetris (GB) - B-Type

 

Spoiler

Cotton Rock n Roll -Superlative Night Dreams- (PC) - normal 1cc, cotton, appli, tacoot, luffee, fine

Fantasy Zone (arcade) - 1cc (2-4)

U.N. Squadron (arcade) - 1cc

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (GB)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (GBA)

Zed Blade (arcade) - Easy, 1cc

Harmful Park (PSX) - Normal, 1cc

Scramble (arcade) 1cc

[spanx]

3. Portal (PC)

 

One of my secret Santa gifts, blasted through it this afternoon as I couldn’t be arsed to set up for some flight simming. Played it years ago, but my god this is still so fresh and brilliantly designed and rewarding, even with the ropey as fuck menu system when running on a 4K screen (had to reduce the res so I could read the text) and pad support (inverting controls didn’t seem to have any effect). Portal 2 still to go, which from memory is even better so looking forward to that at some point. 
 

Previously/playing

 

Spoiler

Completed

1.Pentiment

2.Persona 5 Royal

3.Portal

 

Playing

1.Vampire Survivors

2.Flight Simulator

3.Death Stranding DC

4.Dyson Sphere Program

 

Abandoned

-

 

[ImmaculateClump]

Aaaaaaaaah.

 

https://harddrop.com/wiki/Tetris_(Game_Boy)

 

Quote

In A-TYPE, a missile launch is shown when the player surpasses a certain score.

    100,000 to 149,999 points: small missile
    150,000 to 199,999 points: medium-sized missile
    200,000 or more points: big missile

 

I only got the small missile, so I've got some ways to go yet! I'll remove the type-A clear.

[pinholestar]

 

Hi-Fi Rush

 

 

 

Shadow dropped out of nowhere, Tango Gameworks' rhythm action brawler is an unabashed triumph. An eclectic fusion of the cel-shaded stylings of the Dreamcast era, the rhythmic combo-heavy combat of Devil May Cry and a groove-laden soundtrack that takes in remixes of Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy and a thumping take on Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

 

The slickness of the presentation is off the charts with beautifully animated story interludes, some wonderfully choreographed set pieces, a world that literally pulses around you with every beat, and a confidently bold colour palette that all serve to contribute towards your mastery of performing every action on the beat, taking down the nefarious corporate overlords one perfectly timed performance at a time. The cast of companions are all endearing and it somehow pulls off the trick of making the main character a bit of an annoying idiot yet sympathetically likeable at the same time. There's also a nicely subversive anti-corporate message threaded throughout its story and it's a game that just oozes heart and has 'passion project' written all over it.

 

Once all the combat mechanics are introduced and explained and your combo list is fully stacked it straps you in and hurtles you towards the end without missing a single note. The constant, pulsing rhythm is infectious, driving you ever onwards at a rip-roaring pace that doesn't let up for a second, with some truly magnificent boss battle crescendos and a sense of impulsive momentum that reinforces its intention to make you have FUN and smile while doing it. The sense of empowerment as you learn to combine parries, counters, combo finishers and special moves into a precisely timed ballet is tremendous and when it all comes together and you pull off an encounter with an S-rating it feels fantastic.

 

I can't help but feel that the fact it dropped out of nowhere with absolutely zero fanfare has worked massively in its favour, because everyone who sat down to play it had absolutely no idea what to expect, no previews of game mechanics to pore over for months beforehand, no screeching YouTubers declaring it either the greatest thing ever or the work of Satan himself before they'd even played it. Just a tight, crisp, bold, audacious and joyous riot of fun and colour landing straight into your lap to be enjoyed entirely on its own terms with no preconceptions whatsoever. You can tell that Tango knew they'd produced an absolute fucking banger and were unafraid to unleash it unannounced on an unsuspecting public and I admire their confidence in doing so. 

 

This is the best Xbox exclusive in many a year, a much needed shot in the arm for the platform after an undeniably weak 2022 for first-party releases, and an early contender for GOTY before we've even reached February. It's been heart-warming to see such a joyously fun game receive such widespread praise and on this evidence it catapults Tango Gameworks into the upper echelons of the Xbox Game Studios stable.

 

 

9/10

 

[Boothjan]

@pinholestarspot on review! 

[Sprite Machine]

 Previously...

Spoiler

1.) Lego Marvel's Avengers - PC - 2016
2.) Abzû - PC - 2016
3.) Portal with RTX - PC - 2022 (2007)

4.) Aperture Desk Job - PC - 2022
5.) Bowser's Fury - Switch - 2021
6.) Tomb Raider - PC - 2013

7.) Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game - PC - 2017
Completed the story mode only (I am not putting hours into 100%-ing another Lego game, thank you very much!).

I didn't even know there was a Lego Ninjago movie, never mind a videogame of it. For that matter, I didn't even know what Ninjago was! It's basically Power Rangers, isn't it? A team of different colour martial arts youngsters, fighting the forces of evil with giant mech vehicles shaped like legendary animals.

Much like The Lego Movie, this uses a stop-motion style of animation, but interestingly that carries over into the gameplay too, so all the characters have stiff limbs and there's none of the bend-and-stretch you normally get in these games. It makes for quite a charming style and feels more like you're playing with actual Lego figures. They even improved the combat, got rid of a lot of the irritating level design and made the game more streamlined and fun. It's not gonna win any awards, and I have no affinity for the IP, but I enjoyed this more than most Lego games I've played recently, and it can be quite funny at times too. Maybe I'll check the movie out some time.

[Haribokart]

On 11/01/2023 at 15:13, ImmaculateClump said:

Cotton Rock n Roll -Superlative Night Dreams- - normal 1cc, appli, tacoot, luffee

 

I fail to believe that this post is anything other than you falling asleep on your keyboard.

[ImmaculateClump]

Haha Yeah, some of these games and characters have got weird names.
"Exceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate Black Package" is a highlight.
Describing anything as superlative though, particularly "night dreams", with a straight face, has to earn you top marks.

[shirubagan]

So far:

 

Spoiler

1. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5)

2. Somerville (Game Pass)

3. The Eternal Castle (Steam)
4. Resident Evil VILLAGE (PS5)
5. Mortal Kombat 11 – Story Mode (Steam Deck)
6. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (Steam Deck)
7. Soul Calibur VI – Story Mode (PS)

 

 

Reach for the stars... 

 

8. Halo Reach (360 via BC)

Bungie’s excellent farewell to their space opera, Reach puts you on the back foot from the start, fighting overwhelming forces and suffering tragic losses at every turn. Gunplay is excellent as always, enemy AI keeps you on your toes with magnificent set pieces set across wonderful, expansive backdrops on land, over sprawling city centres, neon-drenched clubs and on giant battle cruisers orbiting Reach itself.  This variation was something sorely lacking in Infinite. Though I enjoyed that game too, this really shows up 343 who delivered little and late (for the record, I really enjoyed Infinite also).

 

It’s as good as it was over a decade ago and I’m really glad I went back to it. The story is more than a bit ridiculous, but when I just let myself get sucked into its OO-RAH silliness I just enjoyed the ride. The Epilogue is still seared into my brain and felt like a great closer to the game and also Bungie’s time with the series. 

[bradigor]

On 01/01/2023 at 17:17, bradigor said:

Right time to get this ready. 

 

Current Playing 

 

 

Side Games 

Against the Storm 

RXC 

Hades 

Dead Cells

 

Completed

Lil Gator Game (08/01)

ElecHead (22/01)

The Last Campfire (30/01)

 

Parked 

Crisis Core Reunion

 

Abandoned 

 

The Last Campfire

 

Don't want to say much because this is all about the journey but it is utterly wonderful and left me with a ton of emotions after.

[CurryKitten]

2. High On Life (XSX GP)

I started on this before the nastiness about Justin Roiland came to light, so this is purely about the game and not the creators.  Anyway - I'm a fan or puerile silly games and I really enjoyed "Trover saves the universe" on PSVR.  So this is pretty much more of the same with the constant Morty voice chattering away giving you quite a self-aware commentary.  That I liked - but if you are not a fan of this sort of thing, I can see that will get tiresome pretty quickly.  What did get quite tiresome for me is the combat.  There were just seemingly endless waves of the same enemies dropped in over and over before you eventually got a boss fight... which seemed to be mostly jumped around and shooting.  There were a few interesting ways of traversing the environment, but the shooting remained pretty much the same all the way.  Quite a big build up to the final boss and then was all over with barely an acknowledgement that it was done.  For a game that is so chatty about things, that was a bit weird.

 

Some fun to be had with the silly story, but the shooting parts - meh.

 

Previously

Spoiler

1. PowerWash Simulator

 

[Gabe]

10. 29/01/2023 - Justice League Heroes (Xbox)

 

The cliff notes are this is the DC version of the X-Men games, but not quite as good.

Developer Snowblind had the experience in the genre, having pumped out the first Baldur's Gate & both EverQuest ARPGs, but I think this is a better game, mainly based on the fact that these titles are more fun playing as a team, rather than solo - though it was disappointing that this only had two characters on screen versus the four of the X-Men games (the first of which had arrived two years prior), plus a much smaller cast to choose from.

 

To its credit though, that smaller scale overall means it can be finished in under 8 hours, which is at least half the time of the X-Men games - and that's a good thing, because like the X-Men games the core loop runs out of steam quite quicky. Also, as is typical for the genre, because the game needs to be viable with all characters (even though you can only choose your own team on a few occasions) it means that all the skills are reasonably similar in terms of damage output, so you lose any differentiation between them. Sure, some may have a buff or defensive skill, but there's not enough there to make a mix-and-match approach worth it. It's a curse of the genre, of course.

 

What is here though is a pretty bad comic-book story framing the action, with all the tropes you would imagine being ticked-off. But as I say, that much shorter runtime is a boon which prevents it from becoming a chore.

 

It's a shame that, considering the wealth of material available to Marvel & DC that we don't have more of these games. DC especially has been woeful in this genre (I don't even think there is another similar game?) I know there's Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 on the Switch, but that's about it and don't think there's anything on the horizon, either?

 

I can't grumble though. This was still relatively fun to play in 2022 and I breezed through it over the course of the past few days - I just wish I had more of this style to play!

 

Previously completed:

Spoiler

1. 01/01/2023 - Bladed Fury (XSS)

2. 01/01/2023 - Routemania (PC)

3. 07/01/2023 - Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (XSS)

4. 09/01/2023 - Pocket League Story (PC)

5. 12/01/2023 - The Death and Return of Superman (SNES)

6. 14/01/2023 - Cookie Clicker (PC)

7. 14/01/2023 - Somerville (XSS)

8. 15/01/2023 - Bujangai (PS2)

9. 16/01/2023 - Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf (PC)

 

[Boothjan]

Spoiler

1. Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order - XSX - 11/01/23 - 7.5/10

2. Assassins Creed Valhalla - XSX - 12/01/23 - 8.5/10

3. Guardians of the Galaxy - XSX Game Pass - 19/01/23 - 9/10

4. Bugsnax - XSX Game Pass - 20/01/23 - 6/10

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - XSX Game Pass - 23/01/23 - 9/10

6. Borderlands 2 - XSX - 24/01/23 - 8.5/10

 

7. Hi Fi Rush - XSX Game Pass - 31/01/23

 

 

Is there anything better than a highly anticipated game absolutely smashing it and being a resounding success?  Yes there is - how about a completely unknown, unannounced, unheard of game shadow dropping on a subscription service which not only smashes it, is not only a resounding success, but also manages to be one of the most fun, polished and beautiful game experiences in recent years?

 

Hi Fi Rush is an utter triumph.  A sensationally well realised world with sumptuous visuals, a great story, strong characters all set around the true beauty of the whole thing - the sounds.  Everything here is set to a beat, a brilliant original game score plays alongside rock songs from well known artists and literally 'beating up' hordes of evil robots not only feels, looks, sounds and plays wonderfully in level one, but somehow manages to get better with each level.  When new skills are introduced, new moves can be unlocked, which means new combo chains are possible and all of a sudden, the way you approach different battles is now somewhat different.  It's very well designed indeed and without spoiling anything, some of the new moves you can do in the later stages are more than a just reward for playing through the earlier levels, which can be somewhat tutorial heavy.

 

You know you're playing something very special when the boss battles are just as fun as the main combat sections.  Hi Fi Rush's bosses become even more ridiculously OTT as you progress, every set piece is spectacular and it's always chaotic without ever being manageable (caveat - I was playing on normal.  I can imagine it's brutal on the harder skill levels).  Trust me - the screen will be a blur of activity with huge combo scores building up, and you'll take immense satisfaction that you instigated the chaos and are totally in control of how it's panning out.

 

It took me around 10 hours to see the credits roll, but there's plenty of post-game things to do, previous level scores to beat, areas that were unreachable the first time are now unlocked and there's a plethora of collectables, moves and a few surprises to find as well.  That original 10 hours could easily be doubled.

 

Everyone should give Hi Fi Rush a go.  It's almost criminal that it's on Game Pass and arrived with absolutely no prior warning yet is this bloody good.  It's the most fun I've had in a game for a very long time.  It's so well polished, and it's probably the first time I've played something on my Series X which oozes 'next gen'.  I'm excited to see what else the system can do and I'm all for future shadow drops like this.  A proper GOTY contender and it's only just February. 

 

9.5/10