Support NeoGAF

[Phase]

15. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC) - 17hrs

One of the most tense and riveting games I've played in a while. I used the Stalker Complete mod and some reshade which I plan to use for each iteration as the improvement is very nice. This game does not hold your hand which makes it easy to get immersed in the thick atmosphere while exploring. The last few areas were pretty hard, and I had to go back and stock up on more rad stuff to be able to do it. I got one of the most common endings I guess you would say, but I am glad I decided to continue this playthrough and finish the game. It was well worth it. I just picked up Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat so I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

 

[Soodanim]

15. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC) - 17hrs

One of the most tense and riveting games I've played in a while. I used the Stalker Complete mod and some reshade which I plan to use for each iteration as the improvement is very nice. This game does not hold your hand which makes it easy to get immersed in the thick atmosphere while exploring. The last few areas were pretty hard, and I had to go back and stock up on more rad stuff to be able to do it. I got one of the most common endings I guess you would say, but I am glad I decided to continue this playthrough and finish the game. It was well worth it. I just picked up Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat so I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

I own this, but I’ve never so much as touched it. I even have a disc copy from before I had a PC to run it, which came in a THQ pack of 8 for £9.

I always forget about Reshade and ENB, but they can make quite a noticeable difference and I should keep it in mind.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

I also dug out my copy of Civ 6 to see if my kids enjoy it.

I have too much stuff in my backlog, but man, Civ is something I've always been interested in. Maybe I can reward myself with it when I finish my backlog.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

The great thing about backlogs is that you have options, and can start, drop, and pick things back up as you see fit.

I recently re-watched, for what is probably the millionth time (LOL), The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. A masterpiece movie. But it did remind me of how much I love westerns in general. So of course I thought, "shit, do I have any Westerns in my backlog?"

Woo-hoo, I do! Two of them, in fact:

"Modern" -- FPS:

"Retro" - run n' gun, which is just one of my favorite games of all time. I love this game, and my SNES cart is one of my most treasured video game possessions:

The beautiful thing is that I don't have to drop Crash; it's a platformer so I can just play a few levels at a time. But I'm gonna start Call of Juarez this week. I'm actually kind of hype.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Okay guys, I damn near cried booting up GTA III again. That theme, that intro, that opening mission. All the nostalgia came flooding back. I even remember that first line:

I just remember being amazed by this game when it originally released. We'd never seen a game quite like it, Rockstar did so many influential things. It has aged far better than I expected, it actually looks better than San Andreas in some aspects. Was not expecting that.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Okay guys, I damn near cried booting up GTA III again. That theme, that intro, that opening mission. All the nostalgia came flooding back. I even remember that first line:

I just remember being amazed by this game when it originally released. We'd never seen a game quite like it, Rockstar did so many influential things. It has aged far better than I expected, it actually looks better than San Andreas in some aspects. Was not expecting that.

Awesome! How are you playing it -- OG PS2 release, or some other way?

I was fully into fighting games when this game originally released in 2001, but I remember seeing my buddy play it, and my jaw dropped to the floor. I had never seen anything like it up to that point.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Awesome! How are you playing it -- OG PS2 release, or some other way?

I was fully into fighting games when this game originally released in 2001, but I remember seeing my buddy play it, and my jaw dropped to the floor. I had never seen anything like it up to that point.

PS2 on PS4. I bought the Trilogy collection a while back. All the games run pretty well on PS4, I like that San Andreas isn't the remastered PS3 version. It honestly looked worse in some aspects.

It is nice playing it in HD honestly. I don't have my OG PS2 anymore.

 

[Durask]

Finally decided to stop procrastinating and tackled my backlog head on.
Restarted Trails of Cold Steel and this time it is going well. (well I did use Cheat Engine to give myself a few extra levels to smooth things out).
After that Trails of Cold Steel 2 and 3.
Then Ys 9
Then 13 Centinels Aegis Rim.
Then finish Dragon's Crown with one character.
Then Trials of Mana
Then Dragon Quest 9

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Hey guys. This has been fun, but I'm selling my PS4 this week. Already factory reset everything, not going to lie it felt good. Been trying to keep it hidden on here and have been thinking about it a lot deep down. When I think about what I want to accomplish in my life, it always comes back to playing games and how they stop that. They consume time and stop me from doing other things which are likely more important for self-growth. I want to read more, I want to write more, I want to learn to cook more etc. For 2021 I wanted to break some of my old habits, and Gaming is unfortunately one of those things. I love games, they are great but I'm kind of tired of being an introvert, you know? Gaming is definitely not helping at the moment. I also am not a big fan of it all at the moment, nothing really interests me aside from old games.

It will be a challenging thing to go through, but it's going to make me stronger as a person. I am 25, and I really want to start working out more and forming more social connections in the real world. I feel like I have spent practically most of my life on the internet and I'm honestly just wanting more.

I said I'd never request a self-ban in the Mental Health thread, but it'll probably be best in all honesty. Probably not a good idea to be on a Gaming Forum when I'm quitting, there would be that temptation all the time. Despite the fact the off-topic and community sections are cool. I know my addictive personality will make me latch on to GAF even more, and I will start looking at posting more as some sort of 'game'.

I hope you guys see where I'm coming from, take care. I had a blast, but it's time to think about real life more.

 

[haxan7]

How long did that take?

My FF6 (SNES) cart is laying around with the rest of them, waiting to be played. I'm not a JRPG guy at all, but bought FF6 at a decent price from a retro store a couple of years ago because I figured that if I was gonna give JRPGs an honest try, I might as well start with one of the best. I did play it for a few minutes (to make sure the cartridge worked) and, yeah... that victory jingle is pure sex:



This will be the year I play FF6.

So I spent Friday - Monday at my gf’s and the only video games I had there was my snes classic. So I was playing ff6 at night to help me sleep. Clocked about 3 hours that way.

just loaded a damn save state by mistake and lost all my progress

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Hey guys. This has been fun, but I'm selling my PS4 this week. Already factory reset everything, not going to lie it felt good. Been trying to keep it hidden on here and have been thinking about it a lot deep down. When I think about what I want to accomplish in my life, it always comes back to playing games and how they stop that. They consume time and stop me from doing other things which are likely more important for self-growth. I want to read more, I want to write more, I want to learn to cook more etc. For 2021 I wanted to break some of my old habits, and Gaming is unfortunately one of those things. I love games, they are great but I'm kind of tired of being an introvert, you know? Gaming is definitely not helping at the moment. I also am not a big fan of it all at the moment, nothing really interests me aside from old games.

It will be a challenging thing to go through, but it's going to make me stronger as a person. I am 25, and I really want to start working out more and forming more social connections in the real world. I feel like I have spent practically most of my life on the internet and I'm honestly just wanting more.

I said I'd never request a self-ban in the Mental Health thread, but it'll probably be best in all honesty. Probably not a good idea to be on a Gaming Forum when I'm quitting, there would be that temptation all the time. Despite the fact the off-topic and community sections are cool. I know my addictive personality will make me latch on to GAF even more, and I will start looking at posting more as some sort of 'game'.

I hope you guys see where I'm coming from, take care. I had a blast, but it's time to think about real life more.

It's been real brother. Stay strong. Shit, you're only 25; you've practically got your whole life ahead of you. You're a cool cat and we'll miss ya, but you gotto look out for yourself first and foremost. And, if you ever start improving on the addictive aspect, and feel like you're beating that and therefore can regulate your internet use... we're always here man.

So I spent Friday - Monday at my gf’s and the only video games I had there was my snes classic. So I was playing ff6 at night to help me sleep. Clocked about 3 hours that way.

just loaded a damn save state by mistake and lost all my progress

Awww shit, man, that blows. But that just means you can start a fresh playthrough

 

[DelireMan7]

Hey guys. This has been fun, but I'm selling my PS4 this week. Already factory reset everything, not going to lie it felt good. Been trying to keep it hidden on here and have been thinking about it a lot deep down. When I think about what I want to accomplish in my life, it always comes back to playing games and how they stop that. They consume time and stop me from doing other things which are likely more important for self-growth. I want to read more, I want to write more, I want to learn to cook more etc. For 2021 I wanted to break some of my old habits, and Gaming is unfortunately one of those things. I love games, they are great but I'm kind of tired of being an introvert, you know? Gaming is definitely not helping at the moment. I also am not a big fan of it all at the moment, nothing really interests me aside from old games.

It will be a challenging thing to go through, but it's going to make me stronger as a person. I am 25, and I really want to start working out more and forming more social connections in the real world. I feel like I have spent practically most of my life on the internet and I'm honestly just wanting more.

I said I'd never request a self-ban in the Mental Health thread, but it'll probably be best in all honesty. Probably not a good idea to be on a Gaming Forum when I'm quitting, there would be that temptation all the time. Despite the fact the off-topic and community sections are cool. I know my addictive personality will make me latch on to GAF even more, and I will start looking at posting more as some sort of 'game'.

I hope you guys see where I'm coming from, take care. I had a blast, but it's time to think about real life more.

It's really brave of you to take this decision. Do what you think is better for you !

Gaming is time sink and I already think about it because I also want to do millions of other thing. But I just can't stop...You have to make some choice and it's clear that gaming is my true passion.

I wish you good luck on working on your social connections. As someone running away from them (but I am fine with it by now, even so I should work on my social anxiety and this doesn't help xD), I know how difficult it can be.

All the best !

 

[JimmyRustler]

The great thing about backlogs is that you have options, and can start, drop, and pick things back up as you see fit.

I recently re-watched, for what is probably the millionth time (LOL), The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. A masterpiece movie. But it did remind me of how much I love westerns in general. So of course I thought, "shit, do I have any Westerns in my backlog?"

Woo-hoo, I do! Two of them, in fact:

"Modern" -- FPS:

This game is amazing brother. One of the most fun game I've played. Laughed so much. Enjoy it!

@topic: About halfway through Dark Souls 3 now. Will probably be done with it the coming weekend. Then I guess my old backlog is finito.

 

[Soodanim]

Hey guys. This has been fun, but I'm selling my PS4 this week. Already factory reset everything, not going to lie it felt good. Been trying to keep it hidden on here and have been thinking about it a lot deep down. When I think about what I want to accomplish in my life, it always comes back to playing games and how they stop that. They consume time and stop me from doing other things which are likely more important for self-growth. I want to read more, I want to write more, I want to learn to cook more etc. For 2021 I wanted to break some of my old habits, and Gaming is unfortunately one of those things. I love games, they are great but I'm kind of tired of being an introvert, you know? Gaming is definitely not helping at the moment. I also am not a big fan of it all at the moment, nothing really interests me aside from old games.

It will be a challenging thing to go through, but it's going to make me stronger as a person. I am 25, and I really want to start working out more and forming more social connections in the real world. I feel like I have spent practically most of my life on the internet and I'm honestly just wanting more.

I said I'd never request a self-ban in the Mental Health thread, but it'll probably be best in all honesty. Probably not a good idea to be on a Gaming Forum when I'm quitting, there would be that temptation all the time. Despite the fact the off-topic and community sections are cool. I know my addictive personality will make me latch on to GAF even more, and I will start looking at posting more as some sort of 'game'.

I hope you guys see where I'm coming from, take care. I had a blast, but it's time to think about real life more.

You’ve got to trust your instincts, and I have nothing but respect for you for going cold turkey on what can be an all consuming hobby like this. Self improvement is a good thing.

I can relate to a lot of what you’ve said, and I’m sure my weekends would be a lot more varied without games. I know I’d definitely have less temptation when I’m doing something I should be doing.

I wish nothing but the best for you, mate. Take care, and maybe we will see you again some day.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

I appreciate the nice comments guys. I know it's a bit of a sudden thing to spring on the thread. Internally I was thinking about it for a while. Sorry to derail the thread, it was fun DunDunDunpachi

I sold my PS4 this morning. Still letting it sit in a little bit, but I'm going to put the money to good use. Buying some healthier food and will save the rest.

I was going to self-ban my account, but think that is a tad extreme after thinking about it. I could definitely still enjoy this forum without using the gaming sub-forum. I spend like 80% of my time in Off-Topic and Communities anyways.

EviLore You can ignore my ban requests through support. It'll be better for me to continue to learn how to moderate my time and learning new methods for that, banning myself likely won't solve anything, and I'll only end up replacing it by lurking Reddit. GAF is much better than that place! I know I'll regret it in the future, as I have made some great connections on here. I don't need to game to enjoy posting.

Anyways, last post in here for what will be a while. Keep trucking on that backlog!

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Well as far as avoiding new games in 2021...

CONGRATULATIONS to @Sidney Prescott our first victor of the year.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Well as far as avoiding new games in 2021...

CONGRATULATIONS to @Sidney Prescott our first victor of the year.

Oh damn, I just beat the system, didn't I?

I was 200 IQ the whole time.

Do browser games count as new games?

Actually, forget that.

You guys are cool cats. I hope to see you around in other threads, I will miss being a part of the conversation but I know picking up new hobbies is good. I'm still young, and maybe one day games will be appealing again. At least PS5 might be back in stock by then!

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

No worries. We'll all see you around the forum in other topics.

Since you wanna start working out more:

Fitness |OT| Pumpin' Iron and Spittin' Blood.

Well, we need a new thread. This is nothing fancy. Where my workout bros at. @Tesseract @DavidGzz @TheExorzist @triplestation @Off Duty Ninja

www.neogaf.com

And if you wanna be a better cook:

Amazon.com: The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science: 9780393081084: López-Alt, J. Kenji: Books

Amazon.com: The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science: 9780393081084: López-Alt, J. Kenji: Books

www.amazon.com

 

[Soodanim]

No worries. We'll all see you around the forum in other topics.

Since you wanna start working out more:

Fitness |OT| Pumpin' Iron and Spittin' Blood.

Well, we need a new thread. This is nothing fancy. Where my workout bros at. @Tesseract @DavidGzz @TheExorzist @triplestation @Off Duty Ninja

www.neogaf.com

And if you wanna be a better cook:

Amazon.com: The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science: 9780393081084: López-Alt, J. Kenji: Books

Amazon.com: The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science: 9780393081084: López-Alt, J. Kenji: Books

www.amazon.com

Don’t forget cold showers

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Don’t forget cold showers

That's true, the most important one:

Breathe Deep. Cold Train.

(guided breathing video if people wish to learn / follow along) I've been doing this since last August. I'm typing this outside in a thin t-shirt and shorts, in ~40*F/4.4*C temp. I can feel the cold, but my body isn't shivering. I just tolerate it. I bike for 1 1/2 hours several times a week...

www.neogaf.com

 

[stn]

Good luck, Sidney! If I was in your shoes I don't think I'd be able to sell my games.

As an update, I played more Vanquish last night. Near the end of chapter 4, almost done the whole game and its been less than 3 hours in total. Its a blast and I'd like to get the platinum trophy at some point.

 

[Noncanon Ship]

As an update, I played more Vanquish last night. Near the end of chapter 4, almost done the whole game and its been less than 3 hours in total. Its a blast and I'd like to get the platinum trophy at some point.

That'd definitely be a plat to be proud of. The challenge rooms are significantly harder than the base game. I think I finished 4 of the 6th and gave up. It's still burned into my brain.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

This game is amazing brother. One of the most fun game I've played. Laughed so much. Enjoy it!

@topic: About halfway through Dark Souls 3 now. Will probably be done with it the coming weekend. Then I guess my old backlog is finito.

I actually started it last night. Absolutely love the thick Western atmosphere and all the tropes. Dialogue is actually surprisingly decent, too. Your character's name is "Silas Greaves" which is almost as stereotypical an "old Western" name as it can get, LMAO. I love the framing of it, too, he's now old and is telling his story, and they make it ambiguous (to his in-game audience) as to what parts of the story are real. And he has voiceover commentary even during the main missions -- I hope that continues because shit is hilarious.

One very minor beef I have is that the graphics have this stylized, oversaturated look. The stylization is not the problem (I actually kind of dig it); the oversaturation is. During daytime shootouts in the desert, it makes it kind of hard to see enemies. (I may post a screenshot later to show what I'm talking about). But then again FPS is not a strong suit of mine... yet. I'll get used to the style and be able to better spot enemies in no time.

In any case, game feels great, the starter pistol actually feels great to shoot for a starter. I'm now in the next mission where I have a shotgun that can "shoot the legs out from under a man." Again, weapons feel great, and this being an FPS and shooting being the main gameplay loop.... I'm in for a hell of a fun time.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Good luck, Sidney! If I was in your shoes I don't think I'd be able to sell my games.

As an update, I played more Vanquish last night. Near the end of chapter 4, almost done the whole game and its been less than 3 hours in total. Its a blast and I'd like to get the platinum trophy at some point.

I actually just installed Vanquish last night. Stoked to finally jump into it.

 

[Majmun]

I stopped playing Jak II. The last boss is too frustrating and I don't feel like investing more time with it. Already started playing Jak 3, but I'm not feeling it. The mission structure and the missions, especially the vehicle ones, can die a horrible death. This game is serving so much mediocrity.

And I LOVED these two games so much when they came out. Maybe I should stop playing older games that I used to love so I can keep the good memories preserved lol

 

[Aurelius]

Thankfully, last night's Nintendo Direct has made it more easy to stick to my resolution of no new games in 2021.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I've been thoroughly impressed by Human Revolution so far. Considering it came out in the ps360 era i was sorta expecting it to have been dumbed down compared to the the original, and while they did simplified some stuff they maintaned pretty much everything that made the first one great (except boss fights maybe) while improving some of the aspects where it fell short.

I think it definitely deserves to stand besides the original Deus Ex as a masterpiece of gaming.

 

[stn]

I've been thoroughly impressed by Human Revolution so far. Considering it came out in the ps360 era i was sorta expecting it to have been dumbed down compared to the the original, and while they did simplified some stuff they maintaned pretty much everything that made the first one great (except boss fights maybe) while improving some of the aspects where it fell short.

I think it definitely deserves to stand besides the original Deus Ex as a masterpiece of gaming.

Its a very good game. I never played the Director's Cut version, but I heard that they improved the boss fights somehow?

Minor update but I put down Vanquish temporarily to beat Ghost of Tsushima. I've had it since release and I'm in the mood to beat it finally. Its great and I am really enjoying the effort they put into the characters, lore, and world, but I feel like you could cut 50% of the filler out and still have a great game. My main gripe is that it is quite repetitive.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Its a very good game. I never played the Director's Cut version, but I heard that they improved the boss fights somehow?

I'm playing the director's cut version. I assume the improvement they made was areas in the boss fights containing a bunch of weapons that you access through hacking and vents. Makes the boss fights possible for different builds, but still feels too much like an improvised tacked-on solution, nothing like the first game where you could find killphrases, kill Navarre stealthly early on or unleash a monster to fight against Simons.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

My main gripe is that it is quite repetitive.

Is Ghost of Tsushima open world? Repetitiveness seems to be an issue with a lot of modern open world games in general...

You mention characters, lore, and world -- what about the fighting mechanics/main gameplay loop? Are there "upgrade paths" that are too overwhelming? That's my fear with some of these games... I don't always have that kind of time.

 

[stn]

Is Ghost of Tsushima open world? Repetitiveness seems to be an issue with a lot of modern open world games in general...

You mention characters, lore, and world -- what about the fighting mechanics/main gameplay loop? Are there "upgrade paths" that are too overwhelming? That's my fear with some of these games... I don't always have that kind of time.

Yeah, its all open world. The combat mechanics are solid enough and it is easy to earn upgrades, but you have to do some very repetitive missions to get those upgrades. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say more. If you are someone who is not fixated on doing everything the game has to offer, then I could see it being less repetitive and better because of it. Nonetheless, I still really like it and recommend it to anyone who likes action games and/or samurai lore.

 

[Noncanon Ship]

I stopped playing Jak II. The last boss is too frustrating and I don't feel like investing more time with it. Already started playing Jak 3, but I'm not feeling it. The mission structure and the missions, especially the vehicle ones, can die a horrible death. This game is serving so much mediocrity.

And I LOVED these two games so much when they came out. Maybe I should stop playing older games that I used to love so I can keep the good memories preserved lol

God I hated Jak II. There's a mission where you have to escape the docks and hoverboard along those narrow wooden docks to get away, do you know which I'm talking about? God, I died on that mission so many times. When I was playing that game from the collection I remember thinking I couldn't believe those devs went on to make the Uncharted series. I would've written them off entirely after Jak II.

From what I remember Jak 3 was better but still utterly forgettable. The only things I remember were, I hated the vehicle racing, you gain the power of flight which is pretty cool, and the whole love interest switching weirded me out. Daxter's love interest was Ashelin I thought, then in 3 it was Tess. Meanwhile, Jak's love interest was Keira in 1 and 2, then in 3 he totally ignores her and is now into Ashelin. An odd choice.... but anyway, I don't think you're missing anything if you just mark those games off as 'done' in your backlog.

I've been thoroughly impressed by Human Revolution so far. Considering it came out in the ps360 era i was sorta expecting it to have been dumbed down compared to the the original, and while they did simplified some stuff they maintaned pretty much everything that made the first one great (except boss fights maybe) while improving some of the aspects where it fell short.

I think it definitely deserves to stand besides the original Deus Ex as a masterpiece of gaming.

I think Deus Ex HR was my fav game of that game generation. The dlc is also great. The boss fights were outsourced to another studio unfortunately, that's why they don't mesh with the rest of the game. Still though, even without the director's cut you can take out one boss instantly with a nonlethal takedown and I'm pretty sure I ended the final bossfight in like 20 seconds with a laser (instead of actually fighting). I remember the first boss fight being the hardest because if you're going nonlethal you're not prepared for that onslaught. I hoarded grenades after that. It's dumb to have to keep lethal weapons just for the bossfights when you play nonlethally.

Are you going to play the dlc too - The Missing Link? It has this great mission at the end where in true Deusexy fashion, you can circumvent the binary choice being presented to you. That was amazing to me in a time when games were obsessed with forcing you to make Moral Choices with Consequences. Nah, I wanna be in control of the game I'm playing.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Are you going to play the dlc too - The Missing Link? It has this great mission at the end where in true Deusexy fashion, you can circumvent the binary choice being presented to you. That was amazing to me in a time when games were obsessed with forcing you to make Moral Choices with Consequences. Nah, I wanna be in control of the game I'm playing.

I read its integrated with the storyline in Directors Cut, so i might start it without even realizing.

 

[Majmun]

God I hated Jak II. There's a mission where you have to escape the docks and hoverboard along those narrow wooden docks to get away, do you know which I'm talking about? God, I died on that mission so many times.

lmao don’t remind me. I was stressing out so much and almost rage quit. Not only are the wooden docks narrow, there’s also a chance of bumping against pedestrians which will bounce you to the deadly waters. Horrendous mission.

The game also has a very bad checkpoint system. It’s basically non-existant which makes some missions a real chore.

I finished Jak III today. The final boss was actually very easy. Only the vehicle part before the boss, where you have to shoot the big robot legs, made me almost rage quit. The vehicle parts are just so dumb- the controls are whack.

Funny that in my mind Jak II and III were 9/10 games. But having replayed them 15 years later, I’d score them both 5/10

The original I would score high still.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Funny that in my mind Jak II and III were 9/10 games. But having replayed them 15 years later, I’d score them both 5/10

This happened to me with Super Mario Kart on the SNES. I had a lot of fond memories of playing it when I was younger. Then I replayed it last year and... nope. Especially coming back to it after having played a lot of Mario Kart 8 (an amazing game that I love 'til this day).

But that only happened to me with Mario Kart. Most other games I revisit are as good (sometimes even better!) now than they were when I first played them as a kid.

 

[Noncanon Ship]

lmao don’t remind me. I was stressing out so much and almost rage quit. Not only are the wooden docks narrow, there’s also a chance of bumping against pedestrians which will bounce you to the deadly waters. Horrendous mission.

The game also has a very bad checkpoint system. It’s basically non-existant which makes some missions a real chore.

I finished Jak III today. The final boss was actually very easy. Only the vehicle part before the boss, where you have to shoot the big robot legs, made me almost rage quit. The vehicle parts are just so dumb- the controls are whack.

Funny that in my mind Jak II and III were 9/10 games. But having replayed them 15 years later, I’d score them both 5/10

The original I would score high still.

Yeah, kids are dumb. No standards of quality. The minions' popularity is proof of that.

I thought the Sly trilogy was a lot better than the Jak one, but even that one got bogged down in gimmicky stuff of the time period. And Jak and Prince of Persia suffered hard from "I've become an edgy badass for this sequel"-itis. Right now I'm playing the Spyro trilogy. I'm in the middle of 2 but man are those minigames becoming grating. As with Jak, I think the first game is the best.

I do remember the checkpoints being absolute misery, and it took Naughty Dog till Uncharted 2 to learn from their mistakes lol.

 

[Majmun]

I have Sly on backlog since the Ps2 days lol. Bought the game, never played it, then gave my Ps2 away with all of my games.

Good thing the Sly games are on PsNow. Will check out the first game and see if I like it.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I booted up two new-to-me-in-2021 games, Age of Wonders Planetfall, and Ghostrunner.

Planetfall is another 4x game. I've kept this on the shelf for a bit until more DLCs came out. I'll nab those later, maybe. I noticed that both Planetfall and Civ 6 support local hotseat. I'm glad the old PC tradition is alive, because I'll be able to play this w my family too (probably just the oldest son, but that's okay). Not sure which alien species I wanna start with...

I've wanted to play Ghostrunner since it came out in May 2020 but because of last year's challenge I had to wait. It's sweet so far. I love the style. Quick combat. Quick restarts. I love it. Perfectly tuned game so far.

 

[Erimus]

Gave up on Bioshock. It’s just not for me. Not enjoying it and with how big my backlog is, I don’t have the time to persevere through something I’m not enjoying.

Moved on to one of the more recent big hitters in my backlog - God of War. I’m about an hour in, on the PS5, and loving it!

 

[Bakkus]

Just finished Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze; All puzzle pieces and all KONG letters including the 3 bonus levels. I really liked it. Some levels were fantastic and some of my all time favorite gameplay moments. There were a few weak levels too especially some of those water levels and jetpack levels (getting all the puzzle pieces in them was a chore). I also was a bit 'eh' on most of the boss battles since you spend a lot of time just waiting for them to make a move or for them to move on to their next phase. Dixie Kong feels also a bit OP compared to Diddy and Cranky. She is the most useful probably 90% of the time. But most of these criticisms are nitpicky. This game gets a 8.5/10.

 

[DelireMan7]

Small update on my Baten Kaitos playthrough.

I am now 35 hours in, just after what look like

Spoiler

THE twist of the game

(Inline spoiler funtion is gone ?)

Still in love. I can't get tired of the battle system, special combo and overall card mechanics. It has small drawbacks still :

• it can take some time to get the right card in hands during battle to be able to do a special combo (especially when some require 4 cards to perform) and can be frustrating if you're never lucky to get them. And this is for obvious combos. There are some that are not obvious at all, requiring you to experiment and waiting THE moment you get all the cards you wanted in end to see that this not the good combination can be really really frustrating (Looking at you “Tearless Mermaid” and “Silent woman”). But when you found out a combo by yourself, it so satisfying
• I really like the aging mechanic, but it can also be frustrating on some card. As an example : One woman wanted a "hot stone". So you have to take some "Lava" in the area, wait something like 30 min that it transforms into "Hot stone". But it only stay 10 min in this state before turning into "Stone". And if you go to much forward in the area, important story events happen and you can't go back there immediately. So I basically just waited in the area, trying to do some combos in battle during this time and it was fine but still I could have advance more the story without this. But still I like this mechanic in the end, just it can make some quests more difficult to complete.

Also after 35 hours, I am still not able to explore freely the world map. But I think it will come very soon seeing the recent story event. I can't wait to do that and complete some (read majority) sidequests that I couldn't before.

Sounds like a negative post on the game but don't be fool by it, the game is a true wonder and can't wait to play more of it. Also it really put me in the mood for me JRPG and after it I'll replug my PS2 to tackle the ones I have on the system

And I bought Final Fantasy XIII... I have it in check since years and I find it for 1€ xD So I couldn't resist. But anyway, I'll wait that I advanced my backlog before playing it.

 

[Soodanim]

Its a very good game. I never played the Director's Cut version, but I heard that they improved the boss fights somehow?

I'm playing the director's cut version. I assume the improvement they made was areas in the boss fights containing a bunch of weapons that you access through hacking and vents. Makes the boss fights possible for different builds, but still feels too much like an improvised tacked-on solution, nothing like the first game where you could find killphrases, kill Navarre stealthly early on or unleash a monster to fight against Simons.

Imagine playing a ghostly stealth build, not bothering with weapons and going as a hacker. Then imagine going into the first boss and crawling through the vents looking for the non-lethal solution for 5-10 minutes then realising there isn't one because this isn't MGS2 and you can't take him down like that.

In practice the solution was simple - put a point or two into the 360 killshot perk and forget about the bosses, but it was a shame they failed to implement something that accounted for the seemingly intended play style in the first place. That first boss for example had rooms and hackables added, as previously mentioned. There's probably some good comparison videos on YouTube.

All this HR talk makes me want to replay it. Such a good game. A note I like to point out is that the DC commentary points out an early-ish sequence break a dev tried, but had already been accounted for. I love things like that in games, it shows a great attention to detail.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

All puzzle pieces and all KONG letters including the 3 bonus levels.

Respect. That game is super tough.

 

[Aurelius]

Given up on Animal Crossing (not my type of game) and Civilization VI (really needs a keyboard and mouse) on Switch. Does that count as clearing a backlog?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Does that count as clearing a backlog?

sure why not?

 

[Soodanim]

Given up on Animal Crossing (not my type of game) and Civilization VI (really needs a keyboard and mouse) on Switch. Does that count as clearing a backlog?

I changed my criteria from finishing a game's story to me being finished with it. If I love it? I keep going. If I'm done an hour in? I'm finished. I've discarded a lot of games forever that way, because you're not going to get any joy out of them so they're as good as done.

 

[mekes]

I changed my criteria from finishing a game's story to me being finished with it. If I love it? I keep going. If I'm done an hour in? I'm finished. I've discarded a lot of games forever that way, because you're not going to get any joy of them so they are as good as done.

Absolutely. One persons trash is another persons treasure and vice versa. I have loads of games I already know I will discard, and a good few that I already have this year. Previously I may have sat down with a controller feeling confused, thinking thoughts like "I used to love gaming."

But, moving on from games I find to be dull, or understanding that they are simply not the games for me has helped me to just play the games I want to play. Moving through the games quickly, if needed, I've found new games that I have genuinely enjoyed. And I don't think I can ask for better than that.

It all seems so obvious once you get into the flow of allowing yourself to scrap parts of your game collection. But my alternative was to sit in front of a 200 game library and not choose a single thing to play. And then question my enjoyment of video games as a result.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

It's better to realize when your relationship with a videogame needs to end and to move forward. some people are forever chasing that new game dragon. I can't imagine watching and re-watching and re-watching a movie (or album, or book) for hours upon hours, despising my time with it but hoping it will get good after the first 10 hours. I spent my money on these toys to have fun. Better to waste money than to waste time also.

That said, I love new games. This thread is not intended to forever cut yourself off from new gaming: during this challenge I always have at least four or five games from the previous year that I want to play. I usually lose interest in half of the "oooh shiny!" games that caught my attention during the year, so my standards are keener and I almost never end up buying genuine duds. And with my "plate cleared", I have a fair chance of playing through them during the next year and enjoying them without feeling rushed.

Also, replaying games is an indulgence that more people should take. It helps you realize which games are truly good and which ones are merely okay, to be played and discarded. Every new game purchase is an educated guess that it'll do something newer or better than a game you already have on the shelf. Often, the new game fails to do so yet we keep cramming them onto the shelf. so why not play through that old favorite for the 10th time? No one is looking over your shoulder.

 

[Ryuji Goda]

OG Resident Evil is so goddamn good! I don't even notice the bad ps1 graphics anymore.


I just arrived at this big snake and got eaten.

I play it basically as a rogue like game. I play until I die, reload and see where I fucked up and learn from my mistakes.

 

[Soodanim]

Another weekend, another update.

Fancied a bit of Sonic Mania today, but it crashed every time I tried to change a video setting and I couldn’t be arsed to fix it so that ended before it started. (It meant switching back to monitor and sitting at my desk to do whatever was needed.)

Jumped back into Shovel Knight, in which I hadn’t finished any characters except the base one but I do have started saves for all. Tried some Plague Knight, but I don’t particularly enjoy him as a character. Fiddly and finicky between all the weapon options and his movement, and just wasn’t having much fun. Stopped that and moved onto Spectre Knight. A lot more fun, especially with his abilities you quickly start to unlock. His gameplay style just clicks with me more, I think. It feels easier, but I’m not sure if it’s because it’s more natural for me to play as him. I’ve also played one flashback so far. It’s crazy to think how much was added to Shovel Knight from its original release to now. I know I’ve played a bit of the King character, but I remember absolutely nothing about his gameplay now.

After stopping for a break I went back into Onimusha, which I had stopped sometime in the tail end of last year. I had more time re-learning the combat and testing a couple of routes to find where I had to go than I did fighting the last two bosses, which went down fairly easily. The last boss was quite easy, even with me missing the most powerful sword even though I had the means to unlock the door to it that I ran straight past. I had wanted to play Onimusha for years, as I knew it was tank controls samurai and that appealed to me greatly as a Resident Evil fan ( InfiniteCombo , have you played this?). I have the PS2 copies of 2 and 3 but haven’t played them, so I’ll emulate them in due course.

What will I play tomorrow? Who knows. Might charge my Gamepad just to give me options, I like going back to consoles sometimes.