Madbuk's List of Unfinished Games

[Avatar_Of_Battle]

Just now, madbuk said:

Maybe I should start trying mage classes more in RPGs. I was surprised by them in Dragon Age, I tore everything to shreds in DA2 and, while weaker, was practically immortal in Inquisition as a mage. I just assume that mages are usually the ones with the least health though since they're so strong, and I like being able to withstand a number of hits, for safety

 

I'm usually a mage in the RPGs that allow it because in most other things I'm using physical weapons. In the Bitterblack Isle there is a room with a Condemned Gorecyclops and while it takes a bit to reach the spot he can't hit you...he can be ripped apart by ice spells cast down on him. Mages generally are the ones with less health and weakest physical defense, but their abilities can more than make up for it. Especially if you've got a tank taking most of the flak so you can hang back.

[Dragon-Archon]

On 3/19/2019 at 10:21 PM, madbuk said:

Progress Update: #305 - Dragon's Dogma

Now this is a platinum I never thought I'd see the day that I obtained it. I played this when it first came to PS+ in 2013, and got to the main city of the game, Gran Soren, before dropping it. I just wasnt enjoying it much. Over the years I have returned to it again and again, but it never captured me and, before a few days ago, I never earned a trophy after the initial 2013 play. On a whim, I decided to go back to this using @Dragon-Archon's pawn (and his great trophy guide), to see if I could possibly get it done and deleted and out of the way. I finally managed to stick with it. Did I enjoy it? Well...

 

Everything about this game just struck me as bland, really. Bland, generic fantasy setting, dull story, remarkably ugly graphics (which isn't a big deal, but it was still striking for such a big AAA game. Early PS3 days I suppose.) Combat felt absolutely awful until I respeced out of Warrior and into Assassin. It's remarkable how much better that made combat feel. And then once I finally obtained a bow, it just got even better. There are a lot of enemies in this game that I have no idea how you're supposed to kill without ranged attacks, and some vocations dont have access to bows, so idk what they're supposed to do. Rely on their pawns I guess. Even after becoming an Assassin and acquiring a bow, it still wasnt really anything special and I'm a bit baffled by all the posts I see about the 'amazing gameplay' this has to offer tbh.

 

I felt like I must've done something horribly wrong. Especially late-game, I was doing so little damage that I barely saw health bars of enemies decrease, and it felt like I had to rely on my pawns to do the work for me. I can't have been underleveled, I was doing every side quest, and I was changing my equipment regularly. I don't know what went wrong there.

 

Feels great to be done with this after so many years of failed attempts to get hooked and see it through to the end. This is tied as my longest completion, at 5 years 5 months, with Burnout Paradise. I may have cheesed the game with Dragon's pawn (and @Avatar_Of_Battle's pawn joined my party during NG+ to help speed that run up too), but after so many years of attempts I dont really care much, and I understand if people want to judge me for it tbh.

  Reveal hidden contents

PS+ Titles

Dragon's Dogma [+44] {+90%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+5] {+10%}

LEGO DC Super-Villains [+6] {+6%}

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom [+1] {-13%}

Shadow of the Tomb Raider [+5] {+9%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Mass Effect: Andromeda [+2] {+3%}

NEW GAME: Pic-a-Pix Pieces [+13] {+38%}

NEW GAME: Schacht [+19] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: The Witness [14] {PS+}

NEW GAME: Yakuza: Dead Souls [49] {Digital}

 

Congrats with finally platting the game . I definitely agree that the main story is disappointing, imo it had potential to be something interesting, but it wasn't fleshed out and felt rushed (especially towards the end).

 

On 3/19/2019 at 11:19 PM, Avatar_Of_Battle said:

 

I'm usually a mage in the RPGs that allow it because in most other things I'm using physical weapons. In the Bitterblack Isle there is a room with a Condemned Gorecyclops and while it takes a bit to reach the spot he can't hit you...he can be ripped apart by ice spells cast down on him. Mages generally are the ones with less health and weakest physical defense, but their abilities can more than make up for it. Especially if you've got a tank taking most of the flak so you can hang back.

I remember that room, the first time it took me about 2 hours of shooting arrows to take it down. Felt so great to return at level 200 and destroy the Condemned Gorecyclops in mere minutes .

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #306 - The Walking Dead: The Final Season

I'm so happy Clementine and AJ got their conclusion despite the collapse of Telltale. Not only because of the fact they were the only impossible trophies on my list at the time of collapse, but also because Clementine's story began almost 7 years ago, and it would've been quite sad if it got interrupted right before the finish line. I'm happy with the way it ended.

 

Other than that there's not much I can really say about this game without going heavily into spoiler territory. The trophy list is different and full of missables, and clean-up was a bit of a chore as I avoided a guide my first time through (as I have started doing with all games like this, such as Detroit, Until Dawn and Heavy Rain) and there was no way to speed up dialogue or skip it outright. I'd say this is probably better than season 2 and 3, although I liked all of them so idk, I'm not part of the camp that hates 2.

Spoiler

PS+ Titles

NEW GAME: Aaru's Awakening [+15] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Retail

LEGO DC Super-Villains [+0] {-2%}

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom [+1] {+2%}

Shadow of the Tomb Raider [+0] {-9%}

 

Digital

Pic-a-Pix Pieces [+1] {+3%}

The Walking Dead: The Final Season [+33] {+69%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: Code: Realize - Bouquet of Rainbows [31] {Digital}

 

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #307 - Assassin's Creed III Remastered

When I first did this game on PS3, I liked it, but it wasnt anything that blew me away really. I thought the plat was tedious and the side content was boring. Now? Now I love it. After playing Origins, Odyssey and Rogue, going back to this was an absolute delight. It's just so much better. The gameplay, the story, the characters, the modern day, the setting. I knew I missed this style of Assassin's Creed, but I don't think I realized just how much I missed it until playing this. Apart from a buggy third episode of the DLC, and one crash during the base game, this ran fine for me other than a few graphical bugs here and there, but who cares about those really. They never hindered my enjoyment and I loved every single minute of this platinum (apart from maybe the RNG grinding for events in DLC.) Even the ship, which I hated in 4/Rogue/Origins/Odyssey, wasnt so bad here, because it wasn't a focus and most of the gameplay was on land.

 

Connor is a better main character than I had initially remembered him as. Some of his VA's delivery is a little dead, but for the most part he does a fine job and I wonder how many people saying Connor is a piece of cardboard actually did any of the Homestead missions. They help flesh out his character and it's so pleasant to build up this small little town and help it grow. The modern day plot just made me sad though. All the set-up done here, thrown away to the wind to be finished up in a comic series other than the main games. Such a waste of potential.

 

...The thought of this being the last AC game I truly love apart from Liberation (which is the next AC I'll be playing ) is saddening. I hope, even if they continue to butcher the franchise, that they at least give us some more stacks on PS5 so I can relive the good times. Again. Such a shame where this franchise went...

 

Spoiler

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+2] {-4%}

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom [+3] {+11%} (COMPLETE!)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider [+5] {+9%} (COMPLETE!)

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition [+2] {+3%}

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

NEW GAME: Assassin's Creed III Remastered [+55] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

LEGO Marvel's Avengers [+3] {+4%}

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: Assassin's Creed Liberation Remastered [31] {Digital}

 

[AJ_Radio]

2 hours ago, madbuk said:

When I first did this game on PS3, I liked it, but it wasnt anything that blew me away really. I thought the plat was tedious and the side content was boring. Now? Now I love it. After playing Origins, Odyssey and Rogue, going back to this was an absolute delight. It's just so much better. The gameplay, the story, the characters, the modern day, the setting. I knew I missed this style of Assassin's Creed, but I don't think I realized just how much I missed it until playing this. Apart from a buggy third episode of the DLC, and one crash during the base game, this ran fine for me other than a few graphical bugs here and there, but who cares about those really. They never hindered my enjoyment and I loved every single minute of this platinum (apart from maybe the RNG grinding for events in DLC.) Even the ship, which I hated in 4/Rogue/Origins/Odyssey, wasnt so bad here, because it wasn't a focus and most of the gameplay was on land.

 

Connor is a better main character than I had initially remembered him as. Some of his VA's delivery is a little dead, but for the most part he does a fine job and I wonder how many people saying Connor is a piece of cardboard actually did any of the Homestead missions. They help flesh out his character and it's so pleasant to build up this small little town and help it grow. The modern day plot just made me sad though. All the set-up done here, thrown away to the wind to be finished up in a comic series other than the main games. Such a waste of potential.

 

...The thought of this being the last AC game I truly love apart from Liberation (which is the next AC I'll be playing ) is saddening. I hope, even if they continue to butcher the franchise, that they at least give us some more stacks on PS5 so I can relive the good times. Again. Such a shame where this franchise went...

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+2] {-4%}

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom [+3] {+11%} (COMPLETE!)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider [+5] {+9%} (COMPLETE!)

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition [+2] {+3%}

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

NEW GAME: Assassin's Creed III Remastered [+55] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

LEGO Marvel's Avengers [+3] {+4%}

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: Assassin's Creed Liberation Remastered [31] {Digital}

 

 

Part of the problem is Ubisoft doesn’t really care about the present day story anymore. 

 

Ever since they killed off Lucy Stillman and Desmond Miles it’s mostly been a series of cutscenes involving Bishop and the two remaining Assassins from AC2, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. 

 

In the past games you were involved, in these newer games you’re subjected to crappy, tacked on cutscenes that Ubisoft clearly shows little care for. Assassins Creed Black Flag was basically a mute, faceless Abstergo employee who was working for the Assassins. I guess he was trying to infiltrate the Abstergo organization and collect valuable data for Rebecca and others. None of the characters had any depth or reason for me to know them. Ubisoft just threw them in there. 

 

The music was also much better in the older games. I commend and respect Jesper Kyd for his work, who gave us some of the best video game music we ever heard in Assassins Creed 2 and Brotherhood. 

 

The story has also gone downhill I feel in the newer games. People can call the original Assassins Creed whatever, but it had one of the best story telling experiences. People today probably think those cutscenes were much too drawn out, but it really set up the stage and correlation between present day and the memories of Desmond Miles ancestors. 

 

None of the characters in the original game are around anymore. 

 

Revelations and to a smaller extent Assassins Creed 3 were the last titles to show a consistentsy. Ever since then it’s been a gamble. Black Flag was a good pirate game but a mediocre Assassins Creed game. Syndicate was simply okay, but it didn’t do all that great because of the reception Unity received a year earlier. I think of Origins and Odyssey to veer off in a completely different direction, to the point where I really don’t consider them to be authentic Assassins Creed games. 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #308 - LEGO Marvel's Avengers

This is definitely one of the better Vita LEGO games. The plot... wasn't anything special but that's the norm with LEGO games really. Free play clean-up went remarkably quickly which was nice and the open world, which they decided to add in here after being absent in every other Vita LEGO I've played so far, didn't take long to complete with a map. It's kind of odd how they give you a red brick for open world collectibles though and then... still hide some of the collectibles on the map even with it active? Why?

 

This was more like Batman 3 than Movie/Ninjago, in that there are 5 objectives per level rather than 10 - 1 for finishing, 1 for getting enough studs, 1 for all collectibles, and 2 that are level specific things like taking no damage in a certain section. This is much less tedious than the 10 challenge system from before that would have you replaying levels multiple times because you couldn't do it all in one run. Also I've often seen this referred to as the most buggy Vita LEGO game, but honestly it was one of the least buggy for me. I had one bug where aiming broke and I had to close the game entirely to fix it, which meant redoing the whole level, and I had one crash during the open world - a crash that forced me to turn of my Vita, not just an "error has occured crash". The aiming issue seems to be a common thing in the Vita LEGO games though and for it to only happen once is remarkable. I also never had any bugs that caused my character to continously move in a single direction forcing me to close the game - a common issue in other games like Hobbit or Movie.

 

Only 3 more Vita LEGO games left until I've done them all, and 2 of them (I think?) are the 10-challenge style ones which is a bit disappointing. I had originally planned to leave this to be one of the two final games I do (along with Star Wars) to get the two 10-challenge style games out the way first and send the series off (on Vita) on a high note, but a backlog event selected this game to be played, so oh well. I'm glad I played it, it was a lot of fun.

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

LEGO Marvel's Avengers [+32] {+96%} (COMPLETE!)

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #309 - Assassin's Creed Liberation Remastered

Just like with Assassin's Creed III, I appreciate this game so, so much more now than I did beforehand. And I already loved it the first go around, and the second. The platforming in this is fantastic, and a real highlight of how far we've fallen since. So much of this game would be flat out broken and abusable with the new systems we have now, but here, because the platforming isn't broken and ridiculous, you get fun obstacle courses through ancient ruins and actually quite involved viewpoints on top of trees and even some of the buildings. The mushroom collectibles and some of the diary pages/mayan statues were fun to collect too, running across Bayou tree branches, or exploring caves. If this were Origins or Odyssey, you'd hold up on the stick and instant win. You wouldn't need to look for ledges or work out the way forward at all, it basically plays itself. It's so bad.

 

This game was also an example of quality vs quantity. It was short, the areas were small, but it was fun the whole way through. You don't need an expansive open world split up into multiple islands like Odyssey, or an empty desert spanning miles like Origins. The areas in this were much more enjoyable because of how well designed they were (and the music was great too - another thing to add to the list of things Origins got rid of. Good music.)

 

The story wasn't quite as interesting or engaging the third time around, but even so, that doesn't change the fact that I was invested throughout the first time. In many ways this game made me think of Tomb Raider Legend, and the plot of this reminds me of that game too. I think that there could've been some more closure to the game, it just... kinda ends. That's not a major issue though.

 

I loved my time with this game. I loved my time with Assassin's Creed III. You don't know what you have until you lose it, right? I imagine, unless AC1 gets remastered, this is the last we'll ever see of traditional Assassins Creed, and that makes me quite sad. It has - had - arguably become my favourite franchise, and I will sorely miss it. I'll stick around and get the next AC games, because while Odyssey may have been an awful Assassin's Creed game, at least it was fun unlike Origins. And I feel too invested at this point, after having done all 26 games, to just drop it entirely. I am quite nervous to see where we're going from here though, because although Odyssey was a better game than Origins, it strayed even further from what an AC game is. And with Vikings being next... I don't have high hopes for the future. But as bad as this series gets from now on, my fond memories of what came before shall not go away. </3

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Assassin's Creed Liberation [+31] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

Darksiders III [+0] {-1%}

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #310 - Batman: Arkham Asylum

This is my third (and likely final) time playing through Arkham Asylum and it's still a lot of fun. The story has a fairly bad ending, imo, but other than that it's engaging and the combat is a joy. Sure you can just spam square and counter and win, especially on lower difficulties, but there's also lots of variety there if you want to experiment with your combos, and the combat challenges basically require you to. I loved the combat challenges. And honestly, I enjoyed the Riddler stuff too which is what most people seem to dislike. Obviously, since I've played this twice before, I knew where a lot of it was, but the concept is still great and it isn't overdone here like it is in City where there are over 400(?) of the bloody things.

 

The stealth is fun too although it's definitely my weakest area still lol, the randomness present in the predator challenges still managed to throw me several times whereas combat challenges were for the most part a breeze due to the waves being set and not random. That's not to say predator challenges are bad, the randomness certainly keeps things tense and interesting, but it's definitely where I struggled the most and I'm dreading doing all of the ones in City again.

 

I probably won't play City for a while, but I am excited to replay it because despite the DLCs being extremely frustrating, the base game I remember being a lot of fun. Not as fun as Asylum, but still I imagine replaying it will be worth my time and offer a lot of enjoyment. Perhaps I should go back and do Origins first... Probably won't though lol.

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Batman: Arkham Asylum [+48] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

Pic-a-Pix Pieces [+1] {+3%}

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #311 - Tomb Raider: Underworld

I have fallen in love with this game all over again. It has been about 6 years since I last did it, and over time I guess I just forgot how great it truly is. I also now have the added perspective of having played 2013, Rise, and Shadow, which are a big step down. Much like Assassin's Creed III and Liberation that I did recently were heavily enhanced by having played the much worse Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey prior, I think the same may have happened here.

 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a big, big step up from Rise and 2013, but nothing in it really matches the levels in this game. If the DLC tombs were full length levels, maybe they'd come close. The levels in this game were large, full of platforming, had some pretty intricate puzzles, and there was also very little combat - which is exactly what I want from a Tomb Raider title. The story also is far more engaging than anything the later games have to offer, with a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy's arc, wrapping up everything nicely even without the tacked on 360 exclusive DLC that takes placed afterwards. The levels were also very varied, from Southern Mexico to Thailand to the Mediterranean and more, something the later games lack entirely - they all take place in one setting for the most part.

 

I think that perhaps my biggest problem with this game is Croft Manor. In prior games, it was available from the menu to freely explore and solve puzzles in for collectibles. In the PS1 games it was a fun, cosy training level. In Legend and Anniversary, it had lots of secrets to find and Anniversary's even had an overarcing end goal. In Underworld, there is a Croft Manor level, and it's good, but it takes place underground and you never get to explore the manor itself. To be fair, an underground Croft Manor level is much more than TR2013 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider offer on that front, so I suppose I shouldn't be too mad.

 

Yes this game isn't as fluid as Legend or Anniversary. Yes it's slightly less polished and slightly buggier. But it's so much more ambitious in its level and puzzle design and for that I can forgive its jankiness. It's such a great game and exactly what I want when I buy a Tomb Raider game, and I'm going to very much miss this style because I doubt we'll ever see it again.

Spoiler

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+5] {+6%}

LEGO DC Super-Villains [+1] {+1%}

Shadow of the Tomb Raider [+6] {+9%} (COMPLETE!)

NEW GAME: Tomb Raider: Underworld [+33] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Borderlands [+7] {+6%}

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by madbuk

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #312 - Code: Realize - Bouquet of Rainbows

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this. I played the first Code: Realize years ago when it was on PS+, Guardian of Rebirth, and I enjoyed it. Fun cast of characters, interesting plot, but it's certainly no Steins;Gate in terms of quality. This is a bundle of the first game and the fandisc sequel of sorts, Future Blessings. I briefly considered skipping through GoR and only reading Future Blessings, but I'm glad I decided against that. I actually forgot quite a bit of the individual character routes that GoR branches off into.

 

The choices that you make throughout this game to determine what ending you get... seem rather strange. They all seem so minimal and then the story completely branches off to a large degree and I just don't see how one leads to another so drastically. I also felt like some character's personalities very slightly shifted between routes when there's no real reason they should've since they weren't involved in any of the choices you made. This is only a minor gripe though as the story was interesting despite that. I think my main problem with the story is the main character - she shows some degree of independence but for the majority of the game, whenever she's backed into a corner she has to be bailed out by all the anime boys she's acquainted with, almost like a deus ex machina. And it happens constantly so it gets a little repetitive. And speaking of repetitive, some of the routes retreaded plot threads of other routes. I got pretty sick of seeing a certain airship by the end of Future Blessings, for example. Each route still has their own individual story but the common trends got a bit tiring.

 

Having read through GoR again, I thought it ended well and I wasn't really sure what Future Blessings was going to be able to add to the story. It actually offered pretty decent closure for each of the different routes - the original game had closure for each of the routes too, but it was nice to see some more of it almost like an extended epilogue to see how all of the characters fare afterwards. It also added three completely new stories, all of which were interesting although Finis' was easily the weakest for me, with Herlock's being the best of the three. Herlock's route introduced a new character who I'd love to see more of if I ever play Wintertide(?) since he seems like a great character. Overall of the original cast, Lupin is clearly intended to be best boy but even so I think Victor may be best.

 

I'm not sure if I'll ever play the Christmas-themed game, as I'm not really sure how much meaningful content it could add to the story, but the cast is fun so if I ever see it cheap enough in a sale I might consider it. Overall, while not the best I've ever done, this was a good set of VNs.

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Code: Realize - Bouquet of Rainbows [+31] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

Pic-a-Pix Pieces [+6] {+29%}

Sonic Mania [+18] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair [47] {Digital} 

NEW GAME: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc [38] {Digital}

NEW GAME: Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds [36] {Digital}

NEW GAME: NORN9 Var Commons [30] {Digital}

NEW GAME: Snake Pass [34] {Digital}

NEW GAME: Steins;Gate 0 [28] {Digital}
NEW GAME: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [47] {Retail}
NEW GAME: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [47] {Retail}

NEW GAME: Touch My Katamari [11] {Digital}

 

[Klart]

I’ve got 1448 unfinished games. And a few hundred unstarted.

 

My backlog is bigger than yours. I can teach you, but PSN has to charge.

[madbuk]

Just now, Klart said:

I’ve got 1448 unfinished games. And a few hundred unstarted.

 

My backlog is bigger than yours. I can teach you, but PSN has to charge.

Yikes, and I thought mine was bad  Even if I could afford it idk if I'd ever want that amount of unfinished lol, already feel overwhelmed enough as it is

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #313 - LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril

Going into this, I had heard from multiple sources that it is the worst LEGO game on Vita (and, from some people, the worst LEGO game period). While it's certainly not the best, I do think it trumps LEGO Movie (on Vita) and absolutely trumps LEGO Hobbit (on Vita.) It has the tedious 10 challenge system and, like Movie, is split up into 15 chapters with 3 levels each, and you have to redo levels over and over as various characters... but the levels are all so short in this and unlike Movie, flying characters are abundant so it's easy to fly through levels quickly so the level replays felt a lot faster than they did in Movie.

 

Also this is one of the few LEGO games on Vita where I haven't had my character start running in a single direction without any input, necessitating a reset of the game entirely. In fact, apart from one time where the buttons on the main menu broke, I never had to close and re-open the game for any reason in this one. I'd argue it's perhaps one of the least buggy on Vita. Story was as generic as ever but that's fine.

 

Despite the negative reputation this game has, I enjoyed my time with it and thought it was worth the play, even though there are better Vita LEGO games available. Only 2 left (Jurassic World and Star Wars) until I'm done with the Vita ones entirely, which is a shame as I appreciate their simplicity compared to the console versions that have large open worlds filled with fairly tedious things to do.

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril [+53] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #314 - Pic-a-Pix Pieces

I love picross puzzles, and I liked the first Pic-a-Pix game, but this one dragged on a bit. There were a lot of puzzles in this one - which is good, 36 hours of content for roughly £3 is a bargain, but it got very tiring once you reached the 20x20 puzzles which each took 5-20 minutes each. One of the 20x20 puzzles even seems to be impossible without guesswork, which is very disappointing in a picross game, but maybe I'm mistaken. I've posted an image of the seemingly impossible puzzle so maybe someone will show me what I was missing in the future.

 

I don't know if I'm going to bother with Pic-a-Pix Classic. Maybe in the distant future but for now I'm not going to bother, 2 of these was enough for me. I'll stick to playing other picross games occasionally on mobile instead.

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Pic-a-Pix Pieces [+4] {+27%} (COMPLETE!)

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #315 - BioShock

It has been a long time since I last played a FPS (Sept 2017, unless you count the random dabbling in Borderlands to try and push myself to get that done), so this was something fresh and different to what I'd usually play. I had already played Infinite going into this, so I more or less knew what to expect, but the atmosphere of this game is completely different. I really liked the bright and colorful Columbia in Infinite, and this is almost like an exact opposite. Honestly, I'm not sure I have a preference. They're both great settings.

 

I went into this without having being spoiled. I knew that "would you kindly" was a popular term in the gaming community, but I had no idea why. All I knew was that this had an amazing story... and while the story is certainly good, I feel like years of overhype by the community left me feeling just a little underwhelmed. That's not the game's fault at all though, because the story is still great regardless. I'm interested to see what they do with 2 because it doesn't feel like this opens up for a sequel.

 

I am not well experienced with first person shooters, so this was a challenge for me. I started it on survivor but I gave up on the second area and dropped it to medium lol. I briefly considered exploiting the survivor trophy by changing the difficulty at the end of the game, but decided against it as that just felt way too cheap for me. I've used a good amount of exploits in my time, but I felt like I could do survivor if I tried it again. So I did, on the new game + that the remaster added... Honestly I feel like I cheated it anyway which is kinda sad. The game was a complete joke on NG+ and it only took about 3-4 hours to finish even on survivor. It's a little silly how much easier it was than my regular medium run.

 

I probably wont play Bioshock 2 for a while, but I'm excited to see what it offers. I'd say this was one of my favourite FPS games but that's a pretty easy accomplishment since I haven't played many of them.

Spoiler

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+1] {+1%}

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

NEW GAME: BioShock [+54] {+84%}

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: BioShock 2 [54] {Digital}

NEW GAME: BioShock Infinite [81] {Digital}

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #316 - Steins;Gate 0

This was my first plat of 2018, and playing it really made me want to replay the original, so I did (twice, thanks to PS+), and then when that was done... I wanted to play 0 again lol. At the time I thought the only other stacks were foreign, but I was wrong, the Vita one was a different list to the PS4 one I had done. So I waited for a good sale, and it finally happened and caused me to replay this wonderful game.

 

I do think the original game is better, overall, but this is still well worth playing. It fills a gap in the original game - which, by the way, was completely unnecessary to fill because the game worked perfectly anyway - and offers a very interesting juxtaposition compared to the original game. They're completely different in terms of tone but they both work extremely well at what they try to do. Without going into spoilers, you can really see just how much the previous game changed the main character by playing this.

 

There was one specific part of this plot when I first played it that I didn't quite understand even by the time I had the plat. Now, having replayed it, I understand it but it's still dumb, unnecessary, and poorly explained. The rest of it is very good though so that doesn't really bring it down much. I enjoyed redoing this, maybe not as much as redoing the original, but still quite a lot. I'll be there for a Steins;Gate 0 Elite, however (un)likely that may be.

 

(As a side note, between playing Steins;Gate Elite and Steins;Gate 0, I played the tie-in game that Elite comes with - Linear Bounded Phenogram. It has no trophies but it's absolutely worth playing, 40-50 hours of new, quality stories in the S;G universe. Don't let the lack of trophies put you off)

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

BioShock [+12] {+16%} (COMPLETE!)

Steins;Gate 0 [+28] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: Lego Marvel's Avengers [71] {Digital}

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #317 - LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

Definitely one of the weaker LEGO games. The LEGO Star Wars aesthetic never really interested me in 1 or 2 so maybe I'm a bit biased, but even in those games the gameplay made up for the rather bland design. Here, there are some okay levels, but for every good level there are about 5 terrible tower defense or space levels so overall it's quite bad. Space levels may not have been so bad if the ships had controlled better. They're so floaty and trying to shoot down a target is annoying because your ship drifts off even if you aren't moving the stick.

 

Tower defense though... those levels just dragged on way too long and the gameplay loop of them wasn't interesting at all. There were also way too many. idk which LEGO game I'll do next, I have a few options, but whatever it is I hope it's more interesting and not filled with bad gimmick levels. On the bright side I've never really been a fan of the open world in LEGO games, and this didn't have one, so that's a plus.

Spoiler

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+0] {-5%}

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars [+43] {+91%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Touch My Katamari [+11] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #318 - Need for Speed: Rivals

Quite a bland, disappointing game unfortunately. I loved Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and found Most Wanted kind of average, so going into this I was a bit mixed on the franchise as a whole. I was hoping this'd recapture the magic Hot Pursuit had but nope. It's a bland, open world racer with literal checklist design. You get a checklist of objectives (gold x events, bust x racers, drift x yards, etc.), complete it, and get given another. Over and over and over. And none of it is particularly engaging.

 

When you're not doing random things like driving past a speed camera 5 times at x mph, the actual events themselves... are okay. But something about the controls in this felt a bit off, especially the drifting, so the actual events themselves weren't even as fun as Hot Pursuit. I appreciate that, as long as you're at a safehouse/compound, you can fast travel to any event unlike in NFS MW where you had to manually drive to each one. I still prefer Hot Pursuit's method that felt like it was ripped straight out of Burnout, where you pick an event from a list and that's it - no faffing around in a large open world, straight to the events back to back, but at least Rivals was better on that front than MW was.

 

Maybe it's just an issue with the last-gen port, but this game was also pretty buggy. I had quite a number of crashes, each of which reset my progress on my current checklist slightly, sometimes wiping it entirely, and it would also often slowdown mid-game. Pretty annoying but thankfully none of the checklists take overly long so it didn't ever take too long to get back to where I was. The graphics also seemed a bit subpar even for last-gen but that's not a big deal. One of my biggest issues with this game though is the lack of a pause button. Why? It's not always online, even when playing offline you don't have the ability to pause the game at all, which is especially troublesome on the racer side as cops can bust you when you're afk. As a cop, worst that can happen is a racer take you out but that's far less likely than a cop busting a racer. Very annoying and part of the reason I put this game off for years, left a very bad first impression on me.

 

Overall, this did end up being better than my first impressions a couple of years ago, but it's certainly not great and I'm glad to finally be done with it. 

Spoiler

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Need for Speed: Rivals [+18] {+78%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: Redout [35] {Digital}

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #319 - Chaos;Child

This was a good VN, and a nice change of pace considering most of the VNs I play end up being otomes. I have to admit that, despite being good, it was a little disappointing for me. This is part of the same series as Steins;Gate, which I loved, so I had high hopes for it (and the VN discord community I'm in said it was 'by far' the best of the VNs I own and hadn't done yet). The characters were great, although I'm disappointed there was no Mio route, but I guess it makes sense as the MC is still a minor and she isn't. The plot itself was likewise great, and completely different to what I went in expecting, but it was definitely way too long and began to drag on a bit - this is probably the longest VN I've ever done besides maybe Psycho-Pass.

 

I also feel like it kept building up to something that just... never really went anywhere. It's something that gets brought up in Steins;Gate too, so maybe they're planning some big 'Avengers: Endgame' type deal where everything begins to tie together for one big finale? idk, we'll see. It's clearly set in the same world so there's definitely potential for a cross-over later. Overall, I enjoyed this, but I'm also not as sad to see it end as I was with Steins;Gate because of how much it began to outstay its welcome. I hope we see the previous game get translated someday, or Robotics;Notes.

Spoiler

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+1] {+1%}

NEW GAME: Chaos;Child [+34] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Persona 4 Golden [+1] {+1%}

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: √Letter [27] {Retail}

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #320 - Snake Pass

Pretty disappointing game, honestly. I liked the concept, but in practice the controls feel way too loose and despite only being 15 levels long, it still ends up feeling repetitive by the end. Add into that the fact that some of the trophies can be buggy and I even had to delete my 100% save and start again to get the final one to pop, No Diving. Which is especially irritating, as No Diving is not only the buggiest trophy in the game, but also by far the hardest, so to accomplish it multiple times and not get the trophy was very frustrating. It is a pretty game, however, and the every 4 levels the theme changes to at least keep the scenery fresh even if the gameplay barely changes (second area added water, which doesn't change much, third area added fire, which is basically just spikes but not insta-death, and the final area introduced wind which actually offered some unique challenges.)

 

I'd be interested to see what they do with a sequel, if they make a sequel, but I'd probably shy away from it regardless. The hunt for a good new 3D platforming IP in current gen continues. Yooka Laylee wasnt terrible, but it wasn't too great either, and this... meh.

Spoiler

Retail

LEGO DC Super-Villains [+2] {+2%}

 

Digital {Excluding PS+}

Snake Pass [+34] {+100%} (COMPLETE!)

 

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #321 - LEGO DC Super-Villains

As a fan of the LEGO Batman games in particular, I was excited for this game. It's pretty good although I do think the Batman games themselves were better overall. For the most part the levels here were a decent length, although like in most of the modern LEGO games, a few of them were a bit overly long. The open world wasn't as tedious as I expected, it didn't take long and all the different regions were pretty distinct in design. The 'create your own main character' gimmick ended up feeling pretty pointless, but the story itself was a bit above average for a LEGO game tbh, not that that's saying too much.

 

I had fun with this, and look forward to, at some point, starting one of the many other LEGO games I already own lol (Avengers, Incredibles, Star Wars, Jurassic, Indiana Jones)

Spoiler

Retail

NEW GAME: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled [+15] {+22%}

NEW GAME: Judgment [+6] {+8%}

LEGO DC Super-Villains [+59] {+82%} (COMPLETE!)

 

Unstarted

NEW GAME: LEGO The Incredibles [52] {Retail}

NEW GAME: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy [31] {Digital}

NEW GAME: Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition [54] {Retail}

NEW GAME: Team Sonic Racing [52] {Retail}

 

[effdeegee]

Thread looks great, ol' bukky boy.  

[madbuk]

1 hour ago, effdeegee said:

Thread looks great, ol' bukky boy.  

Thanks Long time no see. Enjoying Uncharted 4?

[effdeegee]

2 hours ago, madbuk said:

Thanks Long time no see. Enjoying Uncharted 4?

 

I am enjoying it, yes.  

 

Pretty epic cinematics. Jeep handles like crap.

[madbuk]

Progress Update: #322 - Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. I have never played the original CTR, and all the pre-release footage of this looked pretty slow and dull. After actually playing it, however, I think that was just because the people playing were bad. The sense of speed in this game is great, especially once you master maintaining ultimate sacred fire. Tiny Temple was such a fun map to tear through with ultimate sacred fire for all of lap 2 and 3. I also didn't experience any of the cheating or rubberbanding AI that reviews complained about, I was lapping people on easy and getting a large distance between myself and the competition on hard. Once you escape the pack it's pretty easy going if you know the track.

 

The time trials weren't as frustrating as I had expected. This game isn't an 8/10. It's hard, absolutely, and it doesn't help that one of the hardest time trials is the first on the list, but other than a few exceptions (Crash Cove, Sewer Speedway - because of the unreliable shortcut, Dragon Mines, Tiny Temple) the Oxide trials are all very lenient and doable, and the ones that aren't are a very fun and satisfying challenge. There's no dumb RNG, it's pure skill. Honestly I'd say that the Oxide trials were my favourite part of the game overall.

 

Definitely one of the most fun racing games I've played in a long while. Maybe ever since Sonic & SEGA All-Stars which I played over a year ago now. Don't let all the difficulty ratings put you off this fantastic game, it's definitely very doable with some practice.

Spoiler

Retail

Assassin's Creed Odyssey [+0] {-5%}

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled [+33] {+78%} (COMPLETE!)

Team Sonic Racing [+20] {+30%}

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by madbuk