Kill Your Completion v3. 0

[FFHannibal]

I'm going to be late again with my reviews. I somehow didn't get around to playing Alpha Protocol on the first day, played an hour on the second day and was home for about 30 minutes on the third day. Alpha Protocol deserves better than that . It's a great game though and I wondered why so little people play(ed) it. My first thought was that it probably released around Mass Effect time and more people got into that (I still need to play my PC copies of those before I even consider buying PS3 ones (or can we get a trilogy PS4 remaster...?)). Apparently Alpha Protocol was released in 2010 though alongside Mass Effect 2, so you can guess how the game looks and feels when I linked it to a game made three years prior.

[wtru9]

 

Game #10 - Hitman Blood Money

Day 3 - Final Thoughts

Playtime - 3 hours

 

Well this game certainly did not get off to a good start. On the first day I played about an hour, all of it spent trying to pass the tutorial level . On my first attempt I was trying to take it nice and slow and get used to the game's mechanics as best I could. I came up to a part where the game taught you to unpack and use a sniper rifle by shooting three targets. I pick off number one fairly quickly, take a look around and find number 2 without too much of an issue either. Then came the last guy. No matter where I looked I simply could not find him, so I tried to progress outside to see if I could spot him. As soon as I stepped outside however he spotted me, so I rushed inside knowing that the enemy was still at large. Another 5 or so minutes of peeking out of the window yielded nothing though, so I decided to just rush outside, take cover and use the 3rd person perspective to peak around corners. But alas, I still got spotted but could not for the life of me spot him. So I tried to continue despite failing to kill all three, which the game allowed me to do. So I move inside waiting to push a guy off a ledge only to be spotted through a very narrow window by the sniper, and was killed. This game came from the PS2 era of course, so no checkpointing meant I had to do the whole thing over again.

 

After a drawn out melee fight with an enemy after I'd failed to stealth kill them due to the game's at times imprecise mechanics in which I lost most of my health because the game hadn't taught you how to fight an enemy without using guns. Eventually I made it back to the sniper room, and low and behold the third guy is right there, smack bang in the middle of the view out of the building. Now, I can only assume he must've been invisible in my previous runthrough, because there is no way in hell anyone could miss anything that obvious. So I continue to the pushing off the ledge part, but again fail due to the game's aged mechanics and died as I was already on very low health.

 

So back to the start of the level I went . By this point I was well and truly over this tutorial level, so I go through as quick as I could, and get to the point where I'm supposed to assassinate my target. I beat the target down with my fists as I thought the game was telling me to do. Only, the game's objective remained as "Kill XXX". I was a bit confused, as I could drag the body around and whatnot, so I assumed the objective was just being slow in updating as it had been at points earlier in the mission, so I climbed out of the window and sure enough the objective changed. So I completed the rest of the mission, only I couldn't exit the level and the "kill xxx" objective returned. "Oh hell no!" I thought to myself. I really didn't want to have to go through the whole damn thing for a fourth time! I hurried my way back to the assassination room, and sure enough there he was lying on the floor, drag-able and everything. So, just before I restarted the level a 4th time because the game had glitched on me, I shot the body out of frustration. Apparently I hadn't actually killed him with my fists, and I actually needed to put a bullet in the guy's head. I mean, fair enough I suppose, and maybe I was at fault to a certain extent there, but still, they could've warned me a little better that you cannot actually beat enemies to death.

 

I was reluctant to play on the 2nd day after that happened, so I only returned again and completed 3 levels on the third day. It went a lot more smoothly on day 3, that's for sure. Mind you, I'm still absolutely shite at stealth, and my most effective method of disposing of guards was to kill one with an unsilenced weapon and have all of the other guards rush to the location and straight into my rain of bullets. I mean, it did get me the "Psychopath" rating a couple of times, but hey, it was more effective than when I genuinely tried to stealth it... which I only ever managed to spend 10 minutes scouting and deciding on my course of action only to fuck up on the first kill. That being said, the stealth mechanics seem solid for this game, and running around in a disguise trying to discern the best course of action was fun, even if I was no good at it. I managed to get one of those "accident" kills once too, which was really quite satisfying, so stealth fans should have a lot of fun with this one. The game also gives these customized newspapers at the end of each mission, reporting on your attempt during the level; their description of me as a gunman with "limited skill, but dangerous enthusiasm" was funnily accurate.

 

While the game has aged a bit, and it shows that age a bit at points, it was ultimately a fun enough experience once I got past the blasted tutorial level. With all that in mind I'm going to give it a .

 

And that's it, all my 10 games done! I'll give my thoughts in a final review over the course of the weekend.

[Kevvik]

Rough way to finish this event, I've been sick as hell the last 3 days. Didn't play any more Okami after Day 1. Tried clicking through Xblaze Code: Embryo and couldn't even focus on that very well. I'll try to sum up now.

 

Game 10: Okami HD

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get anymore play time in so my first impression is all I have until I return to this later. I was enjoying it and think the brush mechanic is something with potential. Nothing more to add from my earlier impressions.

 

Final game time: 3 hrs

Trophys: 8/51 for 11%, E rank

Grade : 7.5/10

 

Starting completion rate: 80.92%

Final completion rate: 78.01%

 

Total trophies added: 442

Trophies obtained: 197

(I left Xblaze out of these stats)

 

I will likely return to all the games unfinished during the event for completion but will enjoy some more than others.

 

Strongest games played during the event: Severed, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Tales from the Borderlands

 

Weakest games played during event: The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, Risen 3, Demon Gaze

 

Great event though. I don't know if I will be in the next one as June/July is a very busy time at work but I'm open to another later on.

 

Thanks to everyone for the great discussion. I've definitely added some more games on my wish list from this. Kudos to our host for the work in setting this up? and putting up with all our little quirks (especially Billy's ?).

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by Kevvik

[NebbyLunala]

6 hours ago, Myu said:

Ar Nosurge : Ode to an Unborn Star

After a bad experience with Ar Tonelico Qoga, I was afraid to start this one and witness another failure. Ar Nosurge is not my favourite game of the series but it's still a good game with a nice story and I want to know how it ends.

 

I remember playing one Ar game after reading a Let's Play of the original and the story and characters were sort of fun. After experiencing the Dive system once I got creeped out and avoid the games from now on, but I am glad you enjoyed this.

 

6 hours ago, Myu said:

The Guided Fate Paradox

Just like the Awakened Fate Ultimatum, but way more complicated. The story started okay but lost its potential along the way. There are traps everywhere on each floor, it's very easy to die right before reaching the last floor. And I still don't know how the weapon/equipment enhancing system works.

 

I tried this game, didn't like it at all. If the original Disgaea should have taught me anything, it's that Nippon Ichi distributions are always insane Gordian Knots of gameplay mechanics. I appreciate them trying the Rogue genre, but it didn't work for me. I was willing to give the sequel a try until your review discouraged that. Let me stick with KH Birth by Sleep and Disgaea 5.

 

Then again, any company has black sheep, sad that this series(and the one that inspired it, which was about a kid who was forced to inherit a superhero's legacy and fight the archvillain ASAP, dies, and gets respawned and constantly has to refight the supervillain - who shows up in Disgaea D2 as a cameo boss - after solving people's nightmares in a mirror world to grow stronger) was it.

 

6 hours ago, Myu said:

Using the PS move was a nice change of pace.

 

No thanks. I already broke my wrists (j/k) trying to play Skyward Sword on the Nintendo Wii. I am not shelling out $40 for a controller clone.

Edited March 31, 2017 by NebbyLunala

[Hemiak]

Whelp it's the 31st, so technically the event is over. However since it's still March I'm going to declare overtime. If you need one more day to out more time into any one of your games, or you just want to get back to one feel free. I got absolutely no game time yesterday so I'll hopefully get more Xillia and more Babel time tonight. 

 

Your benevolent dictator has spoken, go forth and play more games. 

[DamagingRob]

9 hours ago, FFHannibal said:

It's a great game though and I wondered why so little people play(ed) it. My first thought was that it probably released around Mass Effect time and more people got into that (I still need to play my PC copies of those before I even consider buying PS3 ones (or can we get a trilogy PS4 remaster...?)).

It was pretty much a poor man's Mass Effect. Which doesn't make it a bad game, but most would probably say Mass Effect is better. So, why not just buy the better game? But I played it on the 360, and highly enjoyed it. It's another like Binary Domain, where it didn't get stellar review scores, and probably got lost in the shuffle.. 

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

 

Well, I just completely messed up my save on This War Of Mine.

 

Had one terminally ill guy, made another guy steal from the hospital, suddenly everyone's broken. I've started a day where everyone refused to move... After that it was all done for, tried to keep going but I had nobody to go on runs anymore, so left, dead, dead, left.

 

Luckily, I turned off auto upload so I could try once more before I give up and create an easier playthrough. The misery of these people is a game to me, let's go again! Trophies! Fun!

Edited March 31, 2017 by BillyHorrible

[MarkusT1992]

Event Summary

 

Again a great event to try a few games. This time I put three games in the mix I already played on the 360 but many people were bending the rules

I played Hue today and despite the event being over I'll include it in my stats.

Let's start with my stats.

 

Games played: 117 (+12) | 2 non event games (Disc Jam and Hue)

Completed games: 42 (+4) | 1 non event game (Disc Jam)

Completion: 45,72% (-0,85%)

Unearned trophies: 2179 (+101) | 6 non event game trophies (Hue)

Trophies earned: 1999 (+160) | 24 non event game trophies (Disc Jam, Rocket League and Hue)

 

Games by rating:

 

: Root Letter: I originally gave this game a rating but I played it during the evnt whenever I had time. So I bump it up. I want to play other VNs soon.

 

: Inside: The second game from the Limbo developers. Like Limbe in many ways.

       Okage Shadow King: A goofy RPG where you shadow is possed by the Evil King Stan. Unfortunately I couldn't play much.

       Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition: Probably the game I enjoyed the most together with Root Letter. A GTA likegame set in Hong Kong as an undercover cop.

       The Walking Dead Season Two: The second season of Telltales The Walking Dead. In my opinion level with thefirst season.

 

- : MIrror's Edge Catalyst: An open world reboot of Mirror's Edge. Was a fun game. Probably the first game I playe from this event.

 

: Saint's Row Gat out of Hell: A standalon expansion to Saint's Row IV. Not as good as the main games but not bad either.

       Enter the Gungeon: A very hard rogue-like game. I playe a few runs during the event and never reached the end.

       Rebel Galaxy: A space game. It may be good in short doses but could get repetetive. I son't know what to think about it.

 

: Khoat: A survival walking simulator with similarities to Slender. The only game I didn't really enjoy.

 

This time I ended up with great games. Only one and it wasn't terribly bad.

I enjoyed writing and reading all the reviews and even bought a game I probably never have bought without a review here. It was Divinity Original Sin for PS4. I'm also considering Manuel Samuel as it is part of the buy two for one sale right now.

And like in every event I bought more games during the event than I played. Or at least more than I finished. ?There's alone four games in Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 Remix.

 

 

[Psy-Tychist]

I will get my reviews in tomorrow hopefully. 

I'm not feeling myself right now.

 

@Hemiak, X-Com failed to DL, so I will have another game in spot 10.

[Alpsmile05]

7 hours ago, Hemiak said:

 

Whelp it's the 31st, so technically the event is over. However since it's still March I'm going to declare overtime. If you need one more day to out more time into any one of your games, or you just want to get back to one feel free. I got absolutely no game time yesterday so I'll hopefully get more Xillia and more Babel time tonight. 

 

Your benevolent dictator has spoken, go forth and play more games

 

In that case I got the platinum for Bully in time for the event

 

That makes 4 out of 10 games finished, not bad I'd say

[wtru9]

2 hours ago, Psy-Tychist said:

X-Com failed to DL, so I will have another game in spot 10.

 

That's unfortunate. XCOM was one of my favourite PS3 games and I was looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

[DamagingRob]

Finished Transformers on Commander difficulty with all SS Ranks. Platinum trophy unlocked, and Platinum trophy is in sight.  And while most of it wasn't too bad, there were a few fights that were quite difficult on this difficulty. Taking no damage against the final fight with Megatron almost made me pull my hair out. Good grief.. Still love the game, but I could have done without that shit. 

[Myu]

16 hours ago, NebbyLunala said:

 

I remember playing one Ar game after reading a Let's Play of the original and the story and characters were sort of fun. After experiencing the Dive system once I got creeped out and avoid the games from now on, but I am glad you enjoyed this.

 

 

I tried this game, didn't like it at all. If the original Disgaea should have taught me anything, it's that Nippon Ichi distributions are always insane Gordian Knots of gameplay mechanics. I appreciate them trying the Rogue genre, but it didn't work for me. I was willing to give the sequel a try until your review discouraged that. Let me stick with KH Birth by Sleep and Disgaea 5.

 

Then again, any company has black sheep, sad that this series(and the one that inspired it, which was about a kid who was forced to inherit a superhero's legacy and fight the archvillain ASAP, dies, and gets respawned and constantly has to refight the supervillain - who shows up in Disgaea D2 as a cameo boss - after solving people's nightmares in a mirror world to grow stronger) was it.

 

 

No thanks. I already broke my wrists (j/k) trying to play Skyward Sword on the Nintendo Wii. I am not shelling out $40 for a controller clone.

 

What I love the most in the Ar franchise is the music. It was so innovative at the time to have background music with singing voices. I love how people are now fawning over Nier : Automata's music. When I hear it, the first thing I think is that it reminds me of Ar Tonelico and Atelier Iris on PS2. (Nier Automata's music IS amazing, I'm not denying that). 

The Dive system is weird at first but you eventually get used to it. Some cosmospheres are actually pretty interesting, especially when you get to the lower layers and it gets pretty fucked up (like in most people's minds I suppose). The thing I don't like is all those not-so-subtle Dive = sex comparisons. 

 

I don't know how NIS (and Compile Heart, and IF) managed to create games as fantastic as Disgaea, The Witch and the Hundred Knight, Ar Tonelico and Atelier and then release things like The Guided Fate Paradox. It's pretty much hit-or-miss with them.

 

Book of Spells is so slow-paced that you don't really have to move.  

[dizzyshadow]

Game 10 - Just Cause 3 - Final Thoughts

Trophies (12 of 67) – D rank

Play Time : 8 Hours

 

I put this last because i thought i wouldn't want to stop after 3 days and boy was that right, i haven't played any of the games from the series before so wasn't sure exactly what to expect, based on games I have played I was expecting a cross between Unchartered & Shadow of Mordor ( 2 of my favourite games)

The opening scene really set the tone for what kind of game this is as the main character (Rico) rides in while standing on a plan firing an RPG at all sort s of things that get in the way. The game really is all about destruction its basically run around and blow up lots of thing with a little bit of story thrown in.

The key mechanic seems to be the use of the grapple & parachute to move around and this is quite different to any other game I've played. I also started off thinking it would play like unchartered and was trying to take cover, but I soon discovered that its a “run and gun” game, once you figure that out its great fun.

You do have to suspend your belief in reality for this game (I know all games suffer from this to a degree) but I think Just Cause 3 is particularly extreme, Rico has obviously evolved to a superhuman level where he can withstand a lot of bullets (far more than any enemy) and more than once he has survived a fall from a massive height without any problem.

It certainly looks like there is plenty to do in the game, with the story collectables and challenges and the game is good a letting you tackle them in what ever order you feel like apart from occasionally requiring you to progress further before you can do something.

I'm intending to play this straight through now until I've finished. Not sure if i'll go for the platinum, I may not have the patience to tackle some of the challenges will see how far I get.

 

Final Stats – (Change in Brackets)

Games Played: 256 (+13)

Completed Games : 79 (0)

Trophies Earned: 4413 (+70)

Unearned: 4504 (+301)

Completion 48.88% (-1.48%)

 

Games Played in Order of Preference

 

1. Just Cause 3

2. Doom

3. Dungeons II

4. Lara Croft Go

5. Ys: Memories of Celceta

6. Darkest Dungeon

7. Persona 4 Golden ( to be fair I still haven't given this a proper chance)

8. Reus

9. Invisible Inc

10. The Last Guardian

 

I've really enjoyed the event, its been great and has given me a chance to try out loads of games I wouldn't have normally got round to, i'm looking forward to playing a game through to completion.

 

I'll definitely be back for the next KYC event.

[zettlock]

On 3/30/2017 at 6:08 PM, xFalionx said:

 

I wanted to play this ever since I saw some videos about the game on Youtube, your review pretty much sold me on this now.  

Now I'll only need to find out where to pick up such an underrated gem for a decent price.

 

Also, you should become author, you've got some real talent for writing.  

 

Oh man, you're so generous, thank you! Seriously :). That's a hell of a compliment for me, I bow before thee! On a side note - I work as an editor, own a small publishing house and just became an author (kids' books, but nonetheless!). So your comment was spot on .

 

About Warband - I bought it for 120 zlotys, it's around 30$. It's a game that is underrated AND underpriced. Trust me, it's worth every penny, when your role model is this guy:

Edited April 1, 2017 by zettlock

[zettlock]

 

So the time is up! Last game to be reviewed and it's over . To be honest, I didn't give The Banner Saga too much time – I'm literally addicted to Warband. This game makes me play until dawn. Literally! I'm falling back on sleep so much, that if this review doesn't make sense – I blame you, my mistress!

The Banner Saga is a beautifully crafted little gem. It's turn-based in battles and generally very intensive in storytelling. And what is it about? It's set in Viking-ish era, on fictitious island (that looks like hanging down Iceland...) and it's being told from different points of view. I've seen two of them – heir's convoy and pair of rangers. Alongside humans there are varls – giants with horns (horny giants ?). There is so much background and lore – there was a war between varls and humans, then came the dredge (that looks like one of colossi from SotC) so they united to fight them. But you're not really in a middle of that. It's just you and your caravan – you get from point to point to get resources for your people and stay alive. Actually, I have no idea what the goal is, that's because it's very slow on pace and telling you what's happening. And I'm fine with this! Though you fight intensive battles, there is this serenity to it, this tranquility in music and art style that makes you just go with a flow. Oh boy, and the art style! It's very well done! Overall, I have this Transistor and Bastion artistic vibe from it, though these games are totally different and in separate genres.

The Banner Saga has this little nice tweak in gameplay mechanics, that makes strength go for both HP and how hard you attack. So, when you're low on HP, you're delivering less damage. The other nice feature is armor that – surprisingly! - reduces damage you receive, but can also nullify all of it all together when shield is higher value that strength. So, when you keep on attacking only enemies' health, you're in trouble, because you need to break their armor simultaneously or there will be no progress. It makes you think and that's a win in my book.

There is not much I will add to this. It's a very good game – for what I experienced until this point, that is.

 

Rating: 7 horny varls out of 10 sleepless Warband nights

Trophy progress: 7 of 40 (rank D)

Completion drop: 84,60% → 84,05%

 

Summary:

Overall completion drop: 91,63% → 84,05%

I enjoyed every game I played. This event was a miracle for my gaming ways, so thank you @Hemiak, I will be there for a next one!

Edited April 1, 2017 by zettlock

[voodoo_eyes]

So I guess it's time to get a quick overview going. This time around there have been way more games I enjoyed than in the previous KYC events.

 

From favourite to least favourite my impressions are as follows:

1. Assassin's Creed Unity - Although I expected to be tired of the franchise, I have to say that it was far more enjoyable that I had anticipated.
2. Okami HD - ANother game I suspected of being a letdown ended up surprising me. It's pretty fun, and that's enough reason to be among the favourites.
3. Slain: Back from Hell - reminds me of a dumbed-down Catlevania game.  It could have done with a bit more polish, but otherwise it's quite good
4. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 - Not much of a wrestling fan, but this game is entertaining. The training mode is shit though.
5. Final Fantasy VII - As average as it gets. Everything about it feels dull, but it didn't have any major technical issues
6. Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth 1 - Didn't impress me and also felt like it's going to be repetitive in every aspect.
7. The Awakened Fate Ultimatum - Not much of a fan of the gameplay so far. Seemed to have potential that somehow got lost down the line.
8. Wanted Weapons of Fate - Not all that fond of this one. I've played plenty third person shooters that I had more fun with.
9. Driveclub - Boring racer with bugger all variety. Not picking this one up again.
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Terrible game and that's that.

 

Other games played during the event:

• The Little Acre (0-100%)
• Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour (0-100)
• Severed (0-21%)
• Oxenfree (0-100%)
• Shadwen (0-82%)
• Batman Telltale (0-100%)
• Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink (0-100%)

 

Completion dropped: 1,99%

 

Games bought that others played during KYC3:

 

Joe Dever's Lone Wolf and Okage Shadow King

 

 

I'll probably pick up all of those games again at some point (except Driveclub and Harry Potter). Although for now I'll be focusing on a few other games, like Severed and Shadwen.

Edited April 1, 2017 by voodoo_eyes

[Fitzquaid]

Like a few other people have mentioned, I really burned out partway through the event and started feeling slightly resentful towards new games after about game #6; I really just wanted to play something 'old' instead.  Sorry I haven't been more active in the second half of the event, and thanks to @Hemiak for running it and to everyone else for your thoughtful and funny posts.

 

Quick thoughts on my last two games:

 

Game #9: Doom

 

Earlier in the thread a few people mentioned not being fans of the FPS in general and I thought 'yeah, me neither'.  Technically that can't be true because I play a ton of games that fall into the category; I guess I just prefer them to be more of a hybrid, either with RPG elements, stealth / melee gameplay, or co-op loot-fests.  'Pure' FPS games are the ones I don't usually go for. 

 

Doom is about as pure as they come these days, but I've heard so many people describe it as one of the best games of last year that I wanted to give it a try.

 

@dizzyshadow's write-up did a good job covering the start of the game.  I only made it through the first two missions (and some of the map creation tutorials) so it's too soon to say whether it was actually a good pick for me or not, but there's definitely an old-school visceral appeal to sprinting around shotgunning demons and tearing them apart.  The Doom Marine does seem to have anger problems, but I can see how waking up to find humanity has opened the door to a demonic invasion again would cause that.

 

Trophies earned: 2/52 (1%) - Rank E

 

Game #10: Severed

 

There weren't any Vita games on my list this time around and I didn't want it to feel left out, plus there's been a bunch of other people here playing Severed and posting glowing reviews this month, including @Kevvik and @xFalionx.

 

I was a bit sceptical about fruit-ninja-ing as a gameplay mechanic in a more traditional game, but here it works surprisingly well, especially in fights with multiple opponents where you need to really stay focused to keep all the foes under control.

 

The art is very stylised and unique, in parts reminding me of Oreshika, and the overall structure of the game seems to be a metroid-y dungeon crawler, with lots of weird and wonderful locks that I'll be able to come back to later.  Looking forward to giving it some more time.

 

Trophies earned: 2/25 (3%) - Rank E

 

Final event stats:

Completion: 48.02% -> 46.26% (down 1.76%)
Games played: 101 -> 111
Unearned trophies: 2,072 -> 2,282

 

On 31/03/2017 at 9:26 AM, FFHannibal said:

I'm going to be late again with my reviews. I somehow didn't get around to playing Alpha Protocol on the first day, played an hour on the second day and was home for about 30 minutes on the third day. Alpha Protocol deserves better than that . It's a great game though and I wondered why so little people play(ed) it. My first thought was that it probably released around Mass Effect time and more people got into that (I still need to play my PC copies of those before I even consider buying PS3 ones (or can we get a trilogy PS4 remaster...?)). Apparently Alpha Protocol was released in 2010 though alongside Mass Effect 2, so you can guess how the game looks and feels when I linked it to a game made three years prior.

 

Alpha Protocol is easily one of my favourite games of last generation, have fun with it.  From memory the marketing was mishandled pretty badly by Sega, then a lot of people were turned off by the first Saudi Arabia levels giving the impression that it was going to be some kind of wannabe military shooter, and the early reviews weren't great. 

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

Aftermath

 

Games left to do:

Games done:

Games given up on:

 

Finished This War Of Mine yesterday. I continued on my old save and plowed through the rest of the game in about eight more hours.

 

I still think it's a very well made game. It's a basic premise (The Sims: Warzone) but it's executed very well. There's much variation in the game and not having a tutorial means you're constanlty trying to figure out how to do stuff, and the game can work in subtle ways - my group became less sad once I added a lounge chair, a guitar and some books, for instance.

 

In the end, I got all non-child related trophies through natural gameplay except one (I never had someone terminally ill and saved them), I'll do another run with a child at some point but not right away. I want to do something bright and cheery next, like Tearaway Unfolded.

[Jaguargenie]

Game # 10

Final Review

Headlander

Trophies: 11/31 (31%)

My completion: 72.99% (-2.14%)

 

Very little to expand upon from my initial impressions. So this is going to be a short review and I will wrap up tomorrow. 

 

Pros: the humor. It's Doube Fine so you can expect that. It controls very well with movement and shooting very smooth. The environment seem like a trippy robot hippie party. It's hilarious actually. I have yet to experience any technical issues except for the camera getting lost behind stuff during a cut scene once. 

 

Cons: I mentioned earlier the whole 'go fetch the appropriate colored robot,  bring it back to open the door and don't get killed' thing. It doesnt get better. Some of the larger areas are a bit repetitive. There are bullet hell rooms. Which are infuriating when you have to keep u r robot body alive to unlock a room at the end of the bullet hell. Argh!

 

All in all its great. Having a lot of fun with it and this will be one of the first plats from this event. 

 

Overall: (DMC rating scale)

B

 

Platinum Potential: (DMC scale)

S

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

@Jaguargenie I almost bought Headlander in the last sale but in the end I went with other games. Glad to hear you're liking it.

[DamagingRob]

I wasn't aware it was a Double Fine game. I picked it up in the recent Flash Sale we had. Sounds fun. Looked fun from the trailer. 

[Mendant909]

Finale Update

 

Completion percentage: 79.60%→ 77.67%

Total trophies: 7,670 trophies → 7,856 trophies

Unearned trophies: 1,872 trophies→ 2,195 trophies

 

 

Same procedure as before, I'll be ranking these games from best to worst, with my main criteria being a combination of how competent the game is for its genre, its overall polish and how entertaining it is compared to similar games.

 

1. Shadow of the Colossus – Simple gameplay that stretches out into various and unique boss fights.

 

2. Wolfenstein: The New Order – A shooter that manages to mix the past and present of the genre together, with a great character-focused story. Quite a shame about the game stopping glitches and the ugly background textures.

 

3. NieR – An RPG that has an alluring story and world. The game takes inspiration from Zelda and several other genres but it manages to have a sense of identity and personality.

 

4. htoL#NiQ - The Firefly Diary – A quaint platformer that manages its mechanics well, although the story is obtuse.

 

5. Puppeteer – A charming little platformer that is marred by having the player constantly say “yeah, I get it.”

 

6. Watch_Dogs – It’s a sandbox game with nothing that truly makes it unique or repulsive. Definitely not worth the hype.

 

7. Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars – Persona-lite. A story that doesn’t have much aspiration, mixed voice-acting, and any mechanic that would make it unique is countered by other game design. Still anxious about whether something horrid will happen in the story or if it’s just the repetitive gameplay that soured a few players off the game.

 

8. Thief – Dishonored-lite. Thief is fine but the story doesn’t get a good hook early on and the sidekick is going to be an annoyance.

 

9. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – God of War-lite and Shadow of the Colossus-zero. Despite having the name Castlevania and taking inspiration from other games, Lords of Shadow mires in mediocrity. At least there's the hook of seeing whether Gabriel Belmont is a bigger stupid idiot than Anakin Skywalker.

 

10. Deadpool – Great comedy but my goodness is the rest of the game a mess. Hordes of enemies with no sense of scaling to differentiate one encounter from another, guns turn Deadpool into ground beef pretty quickly, minibosses get regurgitated to the point of exhaustion, and the story sure is nothing to write home about.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Boy did the burnout come earlier this time around. This is the third kYC in a row for me and it didn't help that half of the games I played had horrid starts to them. The bad thing is that I have two milestones planned in the upcoming months so a majority of these games might be left untouched for a long time. Firefly Diary I plan to complete once I could put a save on the cloud, Wolfenstein I'd like to return to when I need some excitement, and I see NieR as a backup if my plans for a certain milestone falls apart. Not only that but I have yet to touch Mirror's Edge, Dead Space: Extraction, One Piece: Unlimited World Red, Resonance of Fate, and Oreshika since the previous KYC events. Maybe sometime this year I'll be able to continue them, aside from Oreshika.

 

It was disheartening to see Crimsonidol and Ladynadiad drop out in the middle  of the event and hopefully they're doing fine and will return to the next installment if they wish to do so. Damagingrob was pretty good at selling the good points of certain games and now I'll keep an eye out for games from his list, barring Manhunt and Bounty Hounter. Fredoline's Manuel Samuel, Hemiak's The Swindle, and Voodoo's Slain: Back from Hell were a few other highlights that got me interested in those respective games. As for what to avoid I still remember a description of Demon Gaze where there's underwear sniffing so that killed any interest I had in the game, and PoupiMyu inscribed the frustration of The Awakened Fate Ultimatum's traps and the lazy, hungry, and not interesting protagonist of Fairy Fencer f. Quite an odd way this KYC went and hopefully the next one is a bit more stable. Thanks again Hemiak for setting up the event and hopefully everyone will enjoy continuing to play the rest of their games.

[xFalionx]

Well, I just spent 3 hours writing this shit and it's gone now. I'll be posting a very condensed version of what I had to say some time soon but I'm done with this for now. Now excuse me while I tear down a wall using my head as a wrecking ball. T.T

[PerryToxteth]

Game No. 6

Tour de France: 2016

 

 

 

Trophies Earned: 13/34 (20%)

Playing Time: 3 hours

 

   So, this is my long, lost review for Game 6. I had to skip over it due to business travel mid-event and played this game on March 31.  Originally, I had Anna:Extended in this slot but frankly, wasn't excited to finish with a 15-hour game with no platinum.  I've been interested in trying one of these games out and the mid-March sale prompted me to grab the latest release.

   After putting three hours in, I've been quite entertained! But, I would say it's been exciting because I am a cycling fan (every July is booked with Tour watching, I also follow the Giro and Vuelta when they're on TV). If you are a casual gamer who likes racing games, but doesn't follow cycling, I'd be hesitant to recommend it. The reason being, is that the game heavily relies on team cycling strategies, which makes sense for a cycling game, but those strategies aren't covered in the tutorial. Sending riders ahead on breakaways, jockeying for sprint points, protecting your GC contender; all those strategies are here (and there's more). If you simply try and send your lead rider ahead of the peloton 50K from the finish line, the game will punish you.   

Gameplay: I've managed to do a couple races (they last about 20 minutes with a fast-forward feature through the pedestrian sections), and they've been enjoyable.  Controls are pedaling intensity (), braking (), attack (mash ), aerodynamic downhill (). The game's emphasis is all about maintaining energy. Go out too hard and you will deplete your energy meter and "blow up" your rider, meaning he is gassed and can't keep the pace.  So timing is key as to know when to attack and on which section of the course. You can also build your energy up by using gel packets (you get one at the start, and pick up one in the feed zone) or by drafting () another rider(s). This is an integral tactic, slipstreaming off your teammates, or using other riders, tho opponents won't let you do it forever.  So you need to communicate with your team as to how you want to set these tactics up by hitting (). The game will pause the race, and you can give instructions to all your teammates (in real life, teams communicate via team radios from a manager in a team car). You can also switch riders anytime you want during the race. That feature is nice if you are trying a certain rider to get a couple polka-dot points on a small climb in one stage or if you are hoping to get your sprinter some green jersey points.

    Of course, the game features a Tour mode, with all 21 stages of last year's Tour de France. So the unforgettable backdrop of Mt. St. Michel is in the game, along with the grueling climb up legendary Mount Ventoux.  The teams are are real (Tinkoff, Movistar, etc.) and feature actual riders, though not all teams were licensed. Team Sky and BMC are notable exceptions, though the game gives you an editing feature so you can rename the game rider "Chrit Froot" to TDF winner Chris Froome.  

     There is also a Pro Team mode, where you need to build a cycling team from scratch.  You start with a small budget so can only afford grupetto-style riders and have to qualify for the Tour by racing in a few Criteriums (small 3-7 stage events).  As you earn accolades (earning jerseys, stage finishes, etc.), you earn more money and can afford better riders.  This mode will take the longest to get through and will be your platinum threshold.

     Then there are challenges, "balls to the walls" downhill sections that last anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes.  Go in too fast to a turn and you will crash, too slow and you will miss the time rewards.   

Trophies: Great trophy list.  A couple for each specific mode, handful of in-race trophies, and lots for winning various stages.  Trophies require you to play at "professional" and considering there are two harder levels above that, it's not difficulty-based.  

Final Thoughts: This game's done exactly what I thought it would do - get me excited for the Tour!  I'm going to shelve it until June and will invest heavy hours into it before the actual Tour begins.  I'm giving it a  but remember, this is coming from a guy who's been watching Tour racing for 15+ years. Let's hope this is the year for Nairo Quintana to dethrone Chris Froome!!

 

Stats Update After Game 6 (all 10 games): (Pre-KYC3 Stats)

Games Completed/ Played:  70/42  (60/42)

Trophies Earned: 2245                       (2135)

Unearned: 587                                    (309)

Completion %:  76.74                        (85.93)

Rarity: 43.84%.                                   (43.14%)

 

- I will write up a final KYC3 report tomorrow! It's been fun!