Copanele Posted December 15, 2021 Author Share Posted December 15, 2021 10 minutes ago, YaManSmevz said: Dang, I didn't see that! Lousy quoting system... Yeah, Shadowman! I haven't thought about that game in years. If peeps are still playing Grim Fandango (which I'm actually meaning to get into this month), Shadowman certainly deserves the same! Ah! Yep Shadowman is coming to PS4! I am more than hyped for that game played it an absurd amount of times when I was a wee teenager and hearing that Nightdive Studios gave it the proper remaster treatment in 2021 made me beyond excited. I'll definitely buy it day 1. If you want to see the trophy list, here's a look from Exophase https://www.exophase.com/game/shadowman-psn/trophies/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Copanele Posted December 20, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) No. 165 - Hitman Contracts Platinum Name: Perfect Assassin Hardest Trophy: All Firearms Collected Difficulty: 5.5/10 Personal impression: 6.6/10 NOTE: I only gave this rating to the PS3 HD port of the game. I would give a way higher grade to the original PC version. Basically, great game but my god the porting... So! Another day, another entry in the saga of the Barcoded Avocado Man, Agent 47. This time Agent 47 is in trouble, laying down in a hotel after a botched job. While trying to recover, he remembers/hallucinates his past missions with a grim tone added to them. This is how Contracts opens its scene. After the ambitious yet unsatisfying Codename 47 and amazing yet clunky Silent Assassin, it seems that Contracts slowly figured out the formula and the direction they want to take the series to. It is actually satisfying to see Agent 47's growth, both story wise and gameplaywise throughout the series. This game has a different tone compared to its previous entry. Here, since all missions are hallucinations of a 47 in pain, the tone is way darker here. In every single mission it's either raining or snowing, all of them happen at night and the tone and setting feel more oppressive than ever. Again, this tone is maintained by Jesper Kyd's genius soundtrack, who dropped the glorious orchestral tones in favor of more somber and menacing themes. At some points the tension is so high you feel like playing a horror game instead of a stealth action game. And this is totally intentional, because for instance even in the remade levels like Traditions of the Trade you start the mission during a rain storm, while in the original level it was sunny bright, like 47 was going on a vacation. I have to say however, at some point I grew abit tired of the tone. I liked the feeling but I definitely preferred the levels from Silent Assassin, where you moved from one country to the other. Rain can get annoying at some point. In terms of level design, the game here finally nailed it. I can say that if you want to experience a pure HITMAN experience, Contracts is the very first game that finally figured out the intended playstyle. While Codename 47 wrote the recipe and Silent Assassin mixed the first ingredients, Contracts finally got the first cake right. Not only the levels themselves FINALLY have some logic behind them (my least favorite level Bjarkhov's Bomb is still fantastic compared to shit like U'wa Tribe from Codename 47 or Hidden Valley from SA). Not only that, but the WAYS and methods in which you can approach these levels are way more diverse and logical. Taking Seafood Massacre mission, your main focus is to kill 2 Triad members and the Chief of Police. You can either do it classic style with an M60 machine gun and wipe the map out (pray that you survive), you can climb the nearby bamboo scaffoldings and snipe both targets (be wary of the sniper perched across the restaurant though!), you can impersonate one of the triad members and have a private meeting with the Chief of Police OR (best option) impersonate the restaurant's chef and put a little "extra" ingredient in the tea that is to be served at the meeting. You really need to get creative with your approach, because this time you are playing a legit hitman. You are not a one man army anymore, here you die in 4-5 well aimed hits (unless you play on Normal). This time Stealth is HEAVILY RECOMMENDED and even forced on you (enemies run away if they spot you) and pre-planning is key. You will have to repeatedly retry missions and try different routes if you want to have success. Even more, now most of the missions forbid carrying weapons on you, there's almost always checkpoints where you get frisked for any concealed weapons. So in most levels, you will have to use only your trusty fiber wire and syringe if you want to achieve that juicy Silent Assassin rating. Luckily, the gameplay for Agent 47 improved too, so now you can FINALLY stealth at a rather decent speed (still slow, but way better than the snail level of sneaking from the previous games), menu is more interactive, detection meters finally work...somehow and you can run without being shot at. God the levels are so much faster now that you can finally run without any fear of repercussions! In terms of levels, I'll summon fellow hitmanian @rjkclarke - he covered the best levels in the game Beldingford Manor and Traditions of the Trade in his awesome review here. Not gonna even bother mention how good those levels are, they're the cream of the crop, so instead I'll pick 3 different ones that had a similar impact to me: The first level Asylum Aftermath, Meat King's Party and Deadly Cargo. I'll explain why these in particular below. Asylum Aftermath and Meat King's Party are both set in Romania - the glorious place where I live in. In Asylum Aftermath, 47 has to escape after killing his creator Dr Ort-Meyer (direct continuation of the final mission of Codename 47). However the Asylum where he is now is assaulted by the Romanian SWAT services and your goal now is to escape without being bullet poisoned by the Romanian secret services. I instantly felt a sense of familiarity and dread here, because not only the Asylum DOES resemble our old hospitals, if you equip a SWAT suit you can hear some faint orders barked in actual romanian then translated in an almost coherent but not quite there English. Also gotta say, the "let me see some id" while being covered by a hail of bullets is quite accurate Romanian wise we tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Meat King's Party is the opposite of the spectrum - as in, you have to infiltrate a slaughterhouse party. Leaving the dreadful feeling aside - this mission is not for the faint of stomach - again I couldn't help but notice how accurate and clean the romanian spoken by guards and party members is. The actors were legit romanians or studied romanian for several years, else they couldn't have nailed this ass of a language. For me this mission was double the dread because every time I heard "Poţi să-mi arăţi o legitimaţie?" (Can I see some ID?) my heart jumped because it's EXACTLY what I would hear when I was going to parties I wasn't supposed to be at ? the past is here to haunt me even in videogames! So yeah, besides the disgusting part of the mission (I doubt we actually party in slaughterhouses, there's better ways to be depraved here), the actual tone and approach of the voice actors got me shivering. However this level also had the most hilarious line in the entire game. Right at the beginning, the guard is checking you for weapons. What he says is LITERALLY translated as "Now I feel your flesh" before checking you. You will NEVER EVER hear that in romanian, it was the most "Engurishu" moment but in Romanian. The best part was that my wife was around reading (as she does whenever I play stuff). One of her trait is that when she hears something impossibly hilarious she laughs and wheezes in a very expressive way. This line made her laugh so hard I thought that she briefly turned into a tomato. So yeah...for Romanians only, this level is mad great and funny. I really wonder how could the voice actors deliver this line without dying of laughter. Deadly Cargo is a weird one to mention, I admit. If you played only Contracts, you might think that "ah it's that level with the SWAT team". For me, this level was something else. Deadly Cargo is one of the remade levels from the original Codename 47, it's a combination between Gunrunner's Paradise and Plutonium Runs Loose. Here 47 has to infiltrate on a ship, assassinate a terrorist and disarm a nuclear bomb. Plutonium Runs Loose is the absolute worst level in Codename 47 and I'd wager in the entire series. It's a bullshit level with tons of enemies, random detection systems, DOGS, intricate design and an annoying ass target who wouldn't stay still. There's no know surefire way to do this damn mission stealthily and even with God Mode activated you can still fail the mission since the stupid ass terrorist can randomly detonate the nuke. It's probably one of the worst piece of code/development/game design IO Interactive ever made. Replaying Contracts now made me remember that awful mission. I always say that the Colombian missions are the worst but that's because I forcefully erased Plutonium Runs Loose from my mind. In comparison, Deadly Cargo is beautifully remade. THAT'S HOW YOU DO A REMAKE! You have multiple ways to infiltrate the ship, you can either sneak as a guard OR disguise as the assaulting SWAT team who swarms the cargo, you HAVE to kill the target silently else the entire country goes boom. You can opt to disarm the bomb but then you will have to deal with both ship guards and SWAT team that see through your disguise, really this level was so fun to play just to spite the original level. I have to give it to the team, they did an amazing job here. Ok after writing this entire text - why did I rate this game so low? The explanation is simple - while the game itself is amazing, the PS3 Port is not. I encountered so many game breaking issues that it was maddening at some point. Random detections, "Your cover was blown" while I was in empty rooms, targets running away, botched final scores. This wouldn't have been a major impediment, but in this game you do have to do all missions on Silent Assassin for all the hidden weapons. Given how long some missions are, this was a crazy ordeal. To give an example, Bjarkhov's Bomb is a long level set in the mountains, with Russian military of course. My plan of action and targets were this: Spawn on the plane -> go to the remote guard tower and get disguise -> put laxatives in borscht -> kill target 1 while he is on the toilet -> pose as him, run half the map to the ship where target 2 is -> after getting checked by numerous guards and meeting target 2, kill him while he is pouring vodka -> escape submarine -> grab Hazard suit -> go on submarine, grab bombs, plant bombs on submarine -> run outside, detonate submarine -> escape the level by running back that half of the map. As you can see, there's a fuckton of steps and this is kinda the most efficient way of doing it. To get Silent Assassin, you must have at most one guard killed (the first step) and one alarm (guards find a dead body). Now on the PC version, this level ran silky smooth, everything as planned, 0 issues. On PS3 however .... Target 1 doing an 180 on the crapper and shooting me. Killing Target 2 got me swarmed by bodyguards. "Your cover was blown" while alone in the Hazard suit hidden behind the submarine. Detonating the submarine = 6-7 alerts. This level was ASS! Now imagine that happening to almost every level and you'll see why I was so frustrated. In terms of platinum, the hardest part is getting all weapons. Silent Assassin on all levels is hard enough, now imagine you have to escape the Asylum with a minigun, moving at a snail's pace while the SWAT teams can one shot you. And trust me there's a LOT of them. I...actually enjoyed getting all the level unique weapons, once I got rid of the stupid Silent Assassin requirements, I could get creative with my killings and escaping the levels without dying. Probably the hardest to get was the sniper from the Seafood Massacre level, because I had to pick up the sniper mid-street dressed as a Chef while police was crawling everywhere. Had to leg it to the exit point while bullets were flying around. It actually was fun All in all, a great game plagued by a bad port. Not a game I would recommend to casual stealth fans, but if you are a Hitman fan, you definitely need to play this one, even more so than Silent Assassin. In my opinion, this is where Hitman started to have an identity of its own. A heartwarming thanks to @rjkclarke and @DrBloodmoney for reviving my passion of Hitman. Next one is Blood Money and I expect only greatness from it THE GOOD: - Atmosphere and sound design - yeah Jesper Kyd - amazing remake of previous bad levels - 47 finally moves like an assassin - Meat King's Party, Bedinford Manor and Traditions of the Trade are a staple of the series in terms of level design - very good voice acting THE BAD: - still janky - final level is not as good as "Redemption at Gontranno" - game breaking issues observed only on PS3 port Recommendation: Skyrim as an Archer Assassin - didn't play as many stealth games, so just load up Skyrim and try to assassinate the world. It's more fun than expected, especially when you can one shot Alduin with Mehrunes' Razor Non Hitman related - I am slowly also compiling of "Best and Worst moments of 2021 " gaming wise should be up somewhere this week, not much of a glorious writer. But given how much I've played this year...it would be a shame not to share my "crappy" opinions too ? Edited December 20, 2021 by Copanele 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: No. 165 - Hitman Contracts What an awesome write up! ? 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: This game has a different tone compared to its previous entry. Here, since all missions are hallucinations of a 47 in pain, the tone is way darker here. In every single mission it's either raining or snowing, all of them happen at night and the tone and setting feel more oppressive than ever. Again, this tone is maintained by Jesper Kyd's genius soundtrack, who dropped the glorious orchestral tones in favor of more somber and menacing themes. At some points the tension is so high you feel like playing a horror game instead of a stealth action game. And this is totally intentional, because for instance even in the remade levels like Traditions of the Trade you start the mission during a rain storm, while in the original level it was sunny bright, like 47 was going on a vacation. I have to say however, at some point I grew abit tired of the tone. I liked the feeling but I definitely preferred the levels from Silent Assassin, where you moved from one country to the other. Rain can get annoying at some point. This was one thing I really liked with Contracts - it was the earliest point where IO seemed to really play with just how different a level can feel depending on the time of day or the weather - something they really played with in the most recent trilogy for the dlc / alternate missions. Sapienza in particular - the primary mission is in high-noon sunshine, but the level is reused for a DLC mission where it takes it to sunset, and it feels quite different, then again for a late-night level in the Patent Zero GOTY Campaign that feels really different again, despite the bones of the geometry being pretty much the same. I do agree though - in a vacuum, Contracts doesn't really get the 'benefit' of this, unless the player has recently played the older versions of the levels - and so because they are all in the dark and the rain and the grime, it can make the the overall tone feel a little flatter, and the game a little less varied - Hitman is at it's best where each level feels like a new epidsode of a travel show, as well as a new assassination! 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: Taking Seafood Massacre mission, your main focus is to kill 2 Triad members and the Chief of Police. You can either do it classic style with an M60 machine gun and wipe the map out (pray that you survive), you can climb the nearby bamboo scaffoldings and snipe both targets (be wary of the sniper perched across the restaurant though!), you can impersonate one of the triad members and have a private meeting with the Chief of Police OR (best option) impersonate the restaurant's chef and put a little "extra" ingredient in the tea that is to be served at the meeting. Totally agree that's the coolest option - and IO totally agrees too! I'm not sure if you've ever seen the intro movie for the Hitman 2016 reboot, but the way that game is structured, is that the very start is set before all the other games, and then the main game takes place after it, so they do a montage scene of some of his most iconic kills at the beginning... and The Seafood Massacre is one they show, and it's poisoned sushi all the way! ? (That video, if you want to see, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a2Pk2OYU7Y (i won't embed, incase your worried about spoilers, though TBH, this was also used as the trailer, so it's spoiler free for the reboot!) 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: Meat King's Party is the opposite of the spectrum - as in, you have to infiltrate a slaughterhouse party. Leaving the dreadful feeling aside - this mission is not for the faint of stomach - again I couldn't help but notice how accurate and clean the romanian spoken by guards and party members is. The actors were legit romanians or studied romanian for several years, else they couldn't have nailed this ass of a language. For me this mission was double the dread because every time I heard "Poţi să-mi arăţi o legitimaţie?" (Can I see some ID?) my heart jumped because it's EXACTLY what I would hear when I was going to parties I wasn't supposed to be at the past is here to haunt me even in videogames! So yeah, besides the disgusting part of the mission (I doubt we actually party in slaughterhouses, there's better ways to be depraved here), the actual tone and approach of the voice actors got me shivering. However this level also had the most hilarious line in the entire game. Right at the beginning, the guard is checking you for weapons. What he says is LITERALLY translated as "Now I feel your flesh" before checking you. You will NEVER EVER hear that in romanian, it was the most "Engurishu" moment but in Romanian. The best part was that my wife was around reading (as she does whenever I play stuff). One of her trait is that when she hears something impossibly hilarious she laughs and wheezes in a very expressive way. This line made her laugh so hard I thought that she briefly turned into a tomato. So yeah...for Romanians only, this level is mad great and funny. I really wonder how could the voice actors deliver this line without dying of laughter. Haha - that's awesome - I totally know what you mean about this stuff though... as a Scot, the main aspect we ever get is accents (there really aren't many games actually set here - Dear Esther I guess, but that dude was English in his voice) - but some of the lines or characters we get can be so bizarre sounding to someone who's actually from here... though that's maybe just because it's weird hearing a Scottish accent without the correct levels of swearing ? 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: Deadly Cargo is a weird one to mention, I admit. If you played only Contracts, you might think that "ah it's that level with the SWAT team". For me, this level was something else. Deadly Cargo is one of the remade levels from the original Codename 47, it's a combination between Gunrunner's Paradise and Plutonium Runs Loose. Here 47 has to infiltrate on a ship, assassinate a terrorist and disarm a nuclear bomb. Plutonium Runs Loose is the absolute worst level in Codename 47 and I'd wager in the entire series. It's a bullshit level with tons of enemies, random detection systems, DOGS, intricate design and an annoying ass target who wouldn't stay still. There's no know surefire way to do this damn mission stealthily and even with God Mode activated you can still fail the mission since the stupid ass terrorist can randomly detonate the nuke. It's probably one of the worst piece of code/development/game design IO Interactive ever made. Replaying Contracts now made me remember that awful mission. I always say that the Colombian missions are the worst but that's because I forcefully erased Plutonium Runs Loose from my mind. In comparison, Deadly Cargo is beautifully remade. THAT'S HOW YOU DO A REMAKE! You have multiple ways to infiltrate the ship, you can either sneak as a guard OR disguise as the assaulting SWAT team who swarms the cargo, you HAVE to kill the target silently else the entire country goes boom. You can opt to disarm the bomb but then you will have to deal with both ship guards and SWAT team that see through your disguise, really this level was so fun to play just to spite the original level. I have to give it to the team, they did an amazing job here. Yeah... so I only played Codename 47 after playing Contracts... and man, going backwards from the cool Contracts level to the old clusterfuck of a Codename 47 level was not fun! 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: In terms of platinum, the hardest part is getting all weapons. Silent Assassin on all levels is hard enough, now imagine you have to escape the Asylum with a minigun, moving at a snail's pace while the SWAT teams can one shot you. And trust me there's a LOT of them. I...actually enjoyed getting all the level unique weapons, once I got rid of the stupid Silent Assassin requirements, I could get creative with my killings and escaping the levels without dying. Probably the hardest to get was the sniper from the Seafood Massacre level, because I had to pick up the sniper mid-street dressed as a Chef while police was crawling everywhere. Had to leg it to the exit point while bullets were flying around. It actually was fun All in all, a great game plagued by a bad port. Not a game I would recommend to casual stealth fans, but if you are a Hitman fan, you definitely need to play this one, even more so than Silent Assassin. In my opinion, this is where Hitman started to have an identity of its own. A heartwarming thanks to @rjkclarke and @DrBloodmoney for reviving my passion of Hitman. Next one is Blood Money and I expect only greatness from it Really looking forward to your Blood Money review man - feel like I'm replaying these games right along with you and RJ! ? 26 minutes ago, Copanele said: Non Hitman related - I am slowly also compiling of "Best and Worst moments of 2021 " gaming wise should be up somewhere this week, not much of a glorious writer. But given how much I've played this year...it would be a shame not to share my "crappy" opinions too ??Woot Woot!?? Didn't know you were doing this - but looking forward to this too! Rooting for some best moments from Transistor, and Braid (both of which had awesome moments that still stand out for me after years...) ... but I know that obviously, they will all be playing second fiddle to the obvious choice for best moments... Garfield Kart: Furious Racing, obviously! ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said: Totally agree that's the coolest option - and IO totally agrees too! I'm not sure if you've ever seen the intro movie for the Hitman 2016 reboot, but the way that game is structured, is that the very start is set before all the other games, and then the main game takes place after it, so they do a montage scene of some of his most iconic kills at the beginning... and The Seafood Massacre is one they show, and it's poisoned sushi all the way! ? (That video, if you want to see, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a2Pk2OYU7Y (i won't embed, incase your worried about spoilers, though TBH, this was also used as the trailer, so it's spoiler free for the reboot!) Damn I've seen the trailer and WOW what a great depiction of old games! Actually I think that the Sushi scene is from "Tracking Hayamoto" from Silent Assassin and the pool one is definitely "Traditions of the Trade" with the flare added in Contracts. The first segment might be from Kowloon Triads mission, but not 100% sure. Hah, they truly know what they are doing here how can you NOT get hyped up by this! Need to grab the rest of the games ASAP! 1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said: Haha - that's awesome - I totally know what you mean about this stuff though... as a Scot, the main aspect we ever get is accents (there really aren't many games actually set here - Dear Esther I guess, but that dude was English in his voice) - but some of the lines or characters we get can be so bizarre sounding to someone who's actually from here... though that's maybe just because it's weird hearing a Scottish accent without the correct levels of swearing ? That was another thing.These Romanians are awfully polite! Although were they to accurately replicate what an angry bodyguard would say...wooo boy the Romanian players would have to mute down the scenes completely. Ours is a foul language too. 1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said: Yeah... so I only played Codename 47 after playing Contracts... and man, going backwards from the cool Contracts level to the old clusterfuck of a Codename 47 level was not fun! Now I'll be honest, I'd definitely replay a re-released version of Codename 47. I'd get angry, mad, curse at the game but still play it. BUT I hope they don't remaster it ever because future me wouldn't be able to help it, would buy the game then curse the choice. That's my relationship with that game. Not sure how I'd do certain missions without God Mode however, it would be hell. 1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said: ??Woot Woot!?? Didn't know you were doing this - but looking forward to this too! Rooting for some best moments from Transistor, and Braid (both of which had awesome moments that still stand out for me after years...) ... but I know that obviously, they will all be playing second fiddle to the obvious choice for best moments... Garfield Kart: Furious Racing, obviously! ? The hardest part right now is finding enough "categories" so I can include all the beautiful and "beautiful" games that I've played this year. Garfield truly has a special spot however, I might forget to mention Braid, but never Garfield. That stupid cat deserves to eat only vegetables for the rest of its diabetic life. But yep, preparing a list just for fun+to remember what I played 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 16 minutes ago, Copanele said: Damn I've seen the trailer and WOW what a great depiction of old games! Actually I think that the Sushi scene is from "Tracking Hayamoto" from Silent Assassin and the pool one is definitely "Traditions of the Trade" with the flare added in Contracts. The first segment might be from Kowloon Triads mission, but not 100% sure. Hah, they truly know what they are doing here how can you NOT get hyped up by this! Need to grab the rest of the games ASAP! Oh man - I had forgotten about the Tracking Hayamoto mission - you're right, that'll be the one! I always thought that first one was the House of Cards mission in Blood Money, where you can shoot the Sheik through the Casino skylight?... they're playing it a bit fast and loose with the city background if that's the case..., but that's the one it brought to mind for me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 2 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Oh man - I had forgotten about the Tracking Hayamoto mission - you're right, that'll be the one! I always thought that first one was the House of Cards mission in Blood Money, where you can shoot the Sheik through the Casino skylight?... they're playing it a bit fast and loose with the city background if that's the case..., but that's the one it brought to mind for me! Gotta find out, I know absolutely nothing about Blood Money, other than the chicken costume (not even sure if that's where it happens?) Still salty that I missed the discount from the past 2 months of the Blood Money + Absolution pack. Gotta hunt them down again because right now they are abit pricey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Copanele said: No. 165 - Hitman Contracts At the risk of sounding too cheesy - Killer review man! I had a smile on my face through pretty much all of that. I'm sorry that you had to deal with so many infuriating issues - but I think we can safely come to the conclusion that it was the port, not the game. Especially as your awesome write up jogged my memory of some of the issues I suffered, that were almost identical to the ones you had in Bjarkhov's Bomb. Mine were in Deadly Cargo though - and I'd pretty much blocked that from my memory I think, I liked that level a lot too when I originally played Contracts way back in the day, but this version gave me some absolute nightmares. 3 hours ago, Copanele said: we tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I mean if you were doing what I was doing with a minigun.....I'd shoot me too. ? Slowly making my way out of an asylum with an open backed surgical gown with my big bald arse hanging out, I'd shoot me too! I loved reading about your personal perspective on The Meat Kings Party, and Asylum Aftermath - it always makes you feel slightly differently about things, when they are set fairly close to home, or have some level of familiarity that can make you pretty uncomfortable to some level. I think that's why Beldingford Manor has always made me pretty uncomfortable, because of the knowledge a lot of us Brits have about the kind of disgusting and depraved things that can go on at those high society parties. So reading your perspective about that one was fascinating! See this is one of my favourite things about all of this, is getting to read stuff like that, when you get to see how someones own experiences play into how they might see a level in a completely different way 3 hours ago, Copanele said: so just load up Skyrim and try to assassinate the world. It's more fun than expected, especially when you can one shot Alduin with Mehrunes' Razor I'm glad I'm not the only one that did this! Kind of felt a bit anti climactic for me - I was like "was that it?" 2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Haha - that's awesome - I totally know what you mean about this stuff though... as a Scot, the main aspect we ever get is accents (there really aren't many games actually set here - Dear Esther I guess, but that dude was English in his voice) - but some of the lines or characters we get can be so bizarre sounding to someone who's actually from here... though that's maybe just because it's weird hearing a Scottish accent without the correct levels of swearing Have you ever wondered why every Dwarf in media is almost always Scottish? I've always wondered where that originated from. It's even like that in Final Fantasy IX..... Although I wish like I said at the time that they turned around and called Zidane a "dirty wee monkey tailed shite!" You very rarely get like the Peter Mullan Scottish characters, that tends to use colloquialisms, like Neds and that kind of thing, that's something I want to see in a game. 3 hours ago, Copanele said: Blood Money and I expect only greatness from it Looking forward to it man! Especially as I'm putting my review out after you've done yours, so it's going to be pretty interesting to see how much overlap there is in locations that stand out for both of us. Although to be perfectly honest, in Blood Money's case it's far easier to talk about locations that don't stand out, which is almost none of them actually, that has some of my favourite missions/locations from the entire series! I'm actually writing that Arcania review later that you nudged me toward reviewing, because I would have put that off for a long time otherwise, I've repurposed a song for part of it, which I'm hoping will be a nice bit of fun haha! 3 hours ago, Copanele said: I am slowly also compiling of "Best and Worst moments of 2021 " gaming wise Looking forward to this also. Are we all doing that then? Because I was thinking of doing something myself too, but all of the worst will mostly comprise of Agents of Mayhem, and how much that game made me hope for the sweet escape of an Orangutan smashing through my window, ripping my arms off and beating me to death with them, just to prevent me from playing it to completion! Edited December 20, 2021 by rjkclarke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 10 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: At the risk of sounding too cheesy - Killer review man! I had a smile on my face through pretty much all of that. I'm sorry that you had to deal with so many infuriating issues - but I think we can safely come to the conclusion that it was the port, not the game. Especially as your awesome write up jogged my memory of some of the issues I suffered, that were almost identical to the ones you had in Bjarkhov's Bomb. Mine were in Deadly Cargo though - and I'd pretty much blocked that from my memory I think, I liked that level a lot too when I originally played Contracts way back in the day, but this version gave me some absolute nightmares. Reason why I put Deadly Cargo was honestly because of the time when i had to replay it for the M4 weapon, that can be collected only in this mission. After unsuccesfully trying to choke mr Boris without him detonating the entire country (mission failed every single time because of course), I just figured out the best route for this - disguise as a policeman, go in warehouse and kill a SWAT member, run and disguise as worker, run to the second warehouse and disguise as thug, get on ship, choke Boris and steal his detonator BEFORE SWAT teams assault the ship, run as thug and get your policeman outfit back, go equip the SWAT gear & weapon of the dead dude, run to the EXIT point while people pew pew themselves in the distance. A truly 1000IQ moment I know ? this mission frustrated me at first before realizing that I was doing it wrong every time. 10 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I mean if you were doing what I was doing with a minigun.....I'd shoot me too. Slowly making my way out of an asylum with an open backed surgical gown with my big bald arse hanging out, I'd shoot me too! I admit, I checked Youtube and saw that you can yank the damn thing over to the balcony, climb down disguised and pick it up right near the escape car. Would have never figure it out 10 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I loved reading about your personal perspective on The Meat Kings Party, and Asylum Aftermath - it always makes you feel slightly differently about things, when they are set fairly close to home, or have some level of familiarity that can make you pretty uncomfortable to some level. I think that's why Beldingford Manor has always made me pretty uncomfortable, because of the knowledge a lot of us Brits have about the kind of disgusting and depraved things that can go on at those high society parties. So reading your perspective about that one was fascinating! See this is one of my favourite things about all of this, is getting to read stuff like that, when you get to see how someones own experiences play into how they might see a level in a completely different way That really was an inspiration, your write-up about that Manor. Of course it was mad atmospheric for me too, but you get all the actual juicy details and feelings that only a local could get. But damn, that level is so satisfying to sneak in - poisoning all those posh assholes with Whiskey is quite the satisfying feeling. 10 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I'm glad I'm not the only one that did this! Kind of felt a bit anti climactic for me - I was like "was that it?" Best parts in Skyrim is when you don't touch the main quest and do your own story although to be honest, given that the hardest enemy of the game is the frost troll that you always encounter at the start..."was that it?" was like 70% of the game. 10 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I'm actually writing that Arcania review later that you nudged me toward reviewing, because I would have put that off for a long time otherwise, I've repurposed a song for part of it, which I'm hoping will be a nice bit of fun haha! Oh boy did I give you some task with that game ? may Diego forgive me. Been a while since I played Arcania myself, still thinking if I should retry it on console or let it rest forever 10 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Looking forward to this also. Are we all doing that then? Because I was thinking of doing something myself too, but all of the worst will mostly comprise of Agents of Mayhem, and how much that game made me hope for the sweet escape of an Orangutan smashing through my window, ripping my arms off and beating me to death with them, just to prevent me from playing it to completion! Write it only for the Orangutan part ? heck, why not! We played tons of games, we like to write, Sly ain't making us pay for the posts that we do...go Mayhem mode! I have to write, I owe this to Garfield at least (and another game that will be a surprise...not really ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Copanele Posted December 21, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 21, 2021 (edited) 2021 Game of the Year Awards - Copanele edition - Another year done, another uninspired title. Actually, I believe this is the very first year I am doing a serious list of games that I've played. There were good games, bad games, "what am I doing with my life" games...the whole batch. 2021 was especially bountiful for me game wise because I tackled all sorts of games and genres and some were definitely a pleasant surprise. Other games...wish I never started them. Every game I've added here are games that I've platinumed/100% (with 1 exception, you will see 😆 ) Since it's pretty difficult to pick ONE winner for each category, I also took the liberty of adding one "honorable mention", basically 2nd place with an extra fancy layer. Also, if you wish to read my in-depth thoughts about specific games, I will also embed my review in every title. Just click on it and you should be transported into the more detailed stupid stuff that I wrote somewhere in the past But anyway, without further ado, skipping the useless intro, let's get to the good stuff. First category! Easiest Platinum - Catlateral Damage Remeowstered This has been a rather easy pick, just like the game. The premise is pretty simple: You are a cat, you get fed up by your caring humans and you want to get your revenge by destroying various rooms, apartments, supermarkets, list goes on. The targets are super simple to achieve and other than a minor grind, the platinum was a joy to achieve. Catlateral Damage is the best proof that a game can be both easy AND satisfying to play. Honorable Mentions: Contraptions - A somewhat lame puzzle game where you do an intricate contraption to solve puzzles. Won't get into details, it's not that great of a game. Hardest Platinum - Nioh 2 This pick however was quite tricky to do. I had several games that gave me headaches this year, ranging from fighting games combo challenges like King of Fighters XIII, speedruns in Braid and even chill platforming sections in Unravel. Yes, I am still abysmal at platformers . But nothing, NOTHING could ever beat the trashing that Nioh 2 gave me in 2021. You might wonder "why this game? It's not even an Ultra Rare and it barely hits the list of hardest games ever". Well, unlike all the other entries, Nioh 2 is at its very core a Souls game. And Souls games are what I am best at...or used to be. Just the concept, the trial and error, the whole process of learning + intricate combat is what carries Nioh 2. And Souls games are my element, I always am glad to solo them (you have the option to co-op the entire game should you wish that) and do challenge runs like lowest level run, weapon restriction runs etc. Well not with Nioh 2. This game absolutely MURDERED me. I admit, maybe my stubbornness of using my favorite weapon from Nioh 1 which wasn't really viable until late game sabotaged me. But man, the game felt mad unfair to me. Ambushes everywhere, half of the enemies could just combo you to death, insta-death moments that forced you to painfully backtrack everything. This game pushed me to the edge so bad that I actually did what I never do in Souls games - use co-op to just finish the damn thing. I swallowed my pride, said "fuck it" and just went with the easy way out. So yeah, this fact alone is why Nioh 2 is the most difficult platinum/100% of 2021 for me. Honorable Mention - Art of Fighting Anthology: I was this close to add this game instead of Nioh 2...jesus what a monster of a game. It's an old school Fighting game with AI designed to kick your ass in order to drain quarters out of you. Clunky mechanics. Finish 3 games on the hardest settings AND have to unlock the hardest fighting game boss to date Young Geese Howard. As mentioned in my original review, this is "Cactus applied to the face" level of painful. Still a fantastic game nonetheless. Prettiest Game - Nioh 2 To be frank, graphics is not the primary stuff that I look into when I am searching for a videogame. Ok, I don't discard it, but more often than not I will enjoy and older game like Turok 2 and Hitman 2 Silent Assassin who show their age graphically but still retain their luster, compared to games like Ghost of Tsushima who looks absolutely amazing but just doesn't attract me as much. But even now and then some games really steal my eyes with their glitter and again Nioh 2 takes the cake here, damn this game is BEAUTIFUL. Every single NPC, every single demon, every vista, fields of flowers, swamps, castles, this game has it all done to such perfection that I start to believe Team Ninja are masochists. From the floweriest field to the smallest dagger, the level of detail and beauty is Chef's Kiss. I have some beef with this game, true, but I can't deny that it's by far the most beautiful game I've played this year. Honorable Mention: Guilty Gear Strive. Now I know that I played games that might be better looking this year. Where's Transistor? Where's Hades? Heck, even AC Valhalla in all its jank had some beautiful vistas. Like, ok, I am a fighting game lover but why picking this game up? My reasoning is simple - while all the other games that I've mentioned had beautiful artwork, GG Strive actually took the bar and raised it to absurd levels. It's almost a sin for a game like this to look this good. For a simple "button masher" game, the attention to detail, levels and movement is insane. Just have a look at a few matches, see all the supers how beautifully framed they are, the sparks the...everything. And this is for me a winner, being edged out by Nioh 2 because really....only Japan could get crazier than Japan. Music to my ears - NieR Replicant Ver.1.22.. On the completely opposite spectrum to graphics, music, sound and voice acting I'd say are vital to a videogame. I might ignore graphics, but I bought a ton of games based of the music itself. I don't know crap about music, 0 musical education, I can't play to ANY instrument, but damn, if I like how a game sounds then there's no changing my mind, I NEED to have that game. Thus being said, it was a very tough competition for this place. A crazy difficult competition, I almost could not decide what to pick... ...for Honorable Mention. Because in terms of who won, there's no contest: NieR Replicant V1.22 wins by a landslide. Yoko Taro's crazy genius who decided to pick up songs that are pure gibberish, Keiichi Okabe's as the great composer and Emi Evans' incredible voice created this sound experience that to this day I haven't encountered in any game. It's not enough for the music to be good, it also has to fit in the narative and my god the NieR music is what sets the tone of this mad world. Probably the equal to this game sound-wise was Witcher 3 which, although I platinumed it a looong time ago, can equally fight for the title of best soundtrack in a videogame I've played. And it's only that because of the special themes in the song that are unique to this region of the world and not found anywhere else. But I digress. I won't even share a song from NieR Replicant, it has to be experienced independently. Those who played this fantastic game know very well why I chose this game and I doubt they could blame me for my choice Honorable Mention: Yakuza 0. As I've mentioned before, it was quite a tough pick for Honorable Mention category. I had Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Jesper Kyd + Wardruna fantastic composition, I had the old-school goodness of Tony Hawk 1+2 Remake, almost shed a tear while playing through Supergiant's masterpieces Hades and Transistor. But from them all, the groovy '80s won. Yakuza 0 has among others a fantastic soundtrack, full of bangers, half of the playlist ending up on my iPod as well. Seriously, in terms of quality, Japan is unbeatable. And don't even get me started with the disco music! Glorious Gameplay - Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition I am an absolute snob when it comes to gameplay. I admit it. I am one stiff upper lip, look of superiority and disgust kind of an individual when it comes to how smooth a game works. I trashed classics mercilessly just because they controlled like wet noodles. Shadow of the Colossus is a fantastic game that I am disgusted with just because it has the controls of a submarine on the beach. Blame the fighting games again, I can detect every imperfection, every weak control, every slip in design. I accept the age of games like Hitman 2 Silent Assassin and I can even enjoy games with bad gameplay, but I AM NOTICING. When you give me Devil May Cry 3, 4 and 5 don't expect me to be impressed by utter recyclable trash like Castlevania Lords of Shadow who can't even decide if the left is a left or a right due to camera. Told ya I am a snob Thus, in terms of gameplay, Guacamelee wins. That's it, go home, nothing to see anymore. I played, no, I breathed this game and right up until the end I found 0 flaws. Nada. Absolutely nothing. Charming game, fun game, it's a good game in its own rights but the GAMEPLAY is so divine you'd think the Aztec Sun God Huitzil personally came and threatened the dev team with blood sacrifices if they don't perfect this game. Another piece of backstory for me - I SUCK at platformers. It's like a trait of mine, I am absolutely abysmal at platformers. And Guacamelee, as a Metroidvania focused on platforming, has some TOUGH sections. I had no problems. I completed the game perfectly. I blasted through Tule Tree. Every single dash, chicken transformation, slam was beautifully executed, everything worked AS INTENDED! Do you hear that Crash Bandicoot? Taking notes Shadow of the Colossus? That's how you do proper gameplay, now shut the hell up, sit down and take notes from your crowned king. And yes, combat is again perfect. You know...this game is great just go play it and let me be a snob in peace! Honorable Mention - Transistor. Only one game comes even close to this and that's Transistor. Let me tell you, unlike the other entries and sections, Transistor being the second on the list is me recognizing its top quality. The turn based is perfect, the Programs() are so well balanced and the enemy battling system is executed with the utmost of details. Reason why it's only no.2? In one instance when I wanted to attack an enemy closest to me, the game auto-focused on the enemy second closest and thus the attack went sideways and I missed my beautifully 500IQ combo. TOLD YOU I NOTICE STUFF LIKE THIS! I start to sound like a mad man ? A story for the ages - NieR Replicant Ver.1.22.. This one is pretty much the same situation as the Sound section. Really struggled to find who would deserve the Honorable Mention because in terms of winner, NieR Replicant again is king. This will be a very short section, because I don't want to spoil too much. The first time you end the game you get only one ending out of 5 (yes, the remake adds an extra ending). The TRUE story gets revealed in ending B - the most heartbreaking revelation ever and you GET to a conclusion in Ending C and you GET to the REAL conclusion in ending D. AND THEN YOU HAVE ENDING E. Yoko Taro is not for the faint of heart, but for the lover of stories And I won't say anything more! Honorable Mention - Yakuza 0. Again Yakuza 0 wins this. I should have just copy/pasted the Sound section all over again Yakuza is a series that you join for the memes, but stick around for the actually well written plot. I just have to say that this is the game where I was "MY GOD Majima my man, I am SORRY!" Majima is the best! The most satisfying experience - Hades This entry is a special one for me. Every now and then I have a game that makes me go "damn, I just love this hobby". It's a feeling that can't be easy to explain because it's unique from player to player. But regardless you probably understand what I mean. My goosebumps game is Hades, the Supergiant Superstar, the game that took everyone by surprise. This game has a level of "videogamey-ness" I rarely have seen. As a rogue-like, no 2 runs are ever the same so every time you try to escape as Zagreus, you will encounter different powers, different rooms, different builds, different vicious enemies. Even the bosses can be altered with certain conditions. And that's not all, win or lose, getting back to the hub will generate new dialogues with the NPCs. Trade off items with them and they will tell you even MORE stuff. There's so many story options it's crazy. On top of that, gameplay is crazy good. Every weapon requires a different approach, also taking into consideration the various power-ups that you pick up. As I mentioned before, no two runs are the same! Paired with crazy good visuals, aesthetics and soundtrack...this game takes it. It's the game that fully convinces me that videogames are my jam every time I start it for one more run This section won't have a Honorable mention because...honestly Hades has no contender here this feeling is unique. The biggest surprise of this year - Transistor This entry is easy to explain - a game that I never ever checked, tried only on a whim and got blown away by its quality so much so that I had to invent a new section in my yearly ranking. There's nothing more fitting than Transistor here. It's a game I never expected to even play, let alone adore. But from the aesthetics, the music, the turn based combat based on abilities, the various enemies and approaches...this game just blew me away with every level. And not to mention the story...oh the story...why did you have to remind me of NieR Automata? Now I won't be able to sleep for 1 week due to existential dread again Nah I joke, but the story is phenomenal. So if you haven't picked it up, please do, Transistor will blow you away. Honorable Mention: Slain Back from Hell. Now my story with this game is odd. I started it 2 years ago because I only heard it's a metal game. When I saw it's a pixelated platformer also, I noped the fuck out. Fortunately I already popped 2 or 3 trophies so I was bound to retry it later on. Fast forward 2021 and the time has come. I played Slain. I loved Slain. I headbanged religiously after every defeated boss. I prayed to the Horned Metal God. I ran along the Wild Hunt while biting skeletrons and listened to metal. Praised be the glorious Electric Guitar. You get the point. Slain won my heart. POPCORN BREAK - So the next 3 entries are the "less than stellar" entries of the year. The games that made me want to recover my lost money and time. The games that made me say no-no words to the screen. The game that almost made me send a "dear development team, what the actual fuck". Most of you know what I hated this year. Still won't prevent me from mentioning these stinkers. So beware, because it's salt time! My disappointment is immeasurable... - Assassin's Creed Valhalla When I first reviewed this game, I gave it a way bigger note than it deserved. And if I remember correctly, the very first half of the game was great! I did add however a note, and I quote "the final 1% of the story ended up flat - perhaps it will be fixed in the DLC although I am not hoping for much" Oh how foolish I was for trusting the idiots at Ubisoft. See, when ranking an Assassin's Creed, just the main game is not enough. No, given how much Ubisoft likes to milk its games with endless DLC and torture, I am also taking the DLCs into consideration. And just as I feared, Valhalla went from the "Weird Viking flex but ok" to "Please end me with a Dane axe right now". And it's not because of the gameplay itself or anything. No, the game runs fine, has pretty places, nice songs. But it's all so....wrong. So...bloated. So goddamn stupid. Endless DLC with stupid plots, Ubisoft announcing more and more season passes with gods that have no more link to reality and the actual series. The stuff that made Assassin's Creed great is dead, there's nothing here, anything, just an empty mockery that wants to catch some glorious crumbs left behind by God of War. Ubisoft is so detached from the fanbase, they don't even know what we want anymore. They don't even care. So yes in terms of disappointment, Valhalla takes the cake. It did work a lot for that cake but man did it win in the end. Well congratulations, at least Valhalla made me never want to touch an Ubisoft game again. And the next AC game will be Game as a Service so woooo, never touching that! Dishonorable Mention - Nioh 2. This one however hurts me as much as it hurts the fans of Nioh. The game is great, I ain't denying its merits. However everything that this game did, did it wrong FOR ME. I was the odd one here and I accept it, but I just didn't enjoy the game! The entire main game was just an endless slog of stupid monsters and cheap bosses and I was already done with it by the half of the first playthrough. And I still had 2 more playthroughs to go. What saved this game for me however was the DLC. That DLC made me feel love again for Nioh. I really wished I didn't have to put Nioh 2 so low, but that's the reality. ...and my day is ruined - Garfield Kart: Furious Racing THIS PIECE OF SHIT GAME! Look at Garfield, the fat tub barely fitting in its own kart. Hope you choke on Lasagna you diabetic bastard! Whew...ok, so this section is the most frustrating game I've ever played in the whole year. Unlike the most disappointing section, where it's just a game that let me down, a frustrating game is a game that makes me tear out my hair, curse the gods, throw the controller, drink to dull the pain, you know. And out of all the games, all the fighting games, all the SNK cheapness, all the shit that goes online, all the missed balls in Yakuza 3, THIS GARBAGE ASS KART RACER THAT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A PLATINUM WINS THIS AWARD. What's this game about, you ask? Why it's Kart Racing. Why do I act like a rabid dog whenever I see orange and hear a "Huh-huh!" followed by the sound of an incoming pie? Well because the AI is so goddamn infuriating that it almost made me go Agent 47 levels of bald. Yo how can you design an AI so devious that can not only beat your sorry ass in a racing game, but also mock you!! Because indeed, these fuckers can blast your ass right when you smell the finish line. I have some videos embedded on my review, you better check them to see why I am doing like a monk who has fallen in a tank full of electric eels when talking about this game. To hell with you Garfield. Hope you get stuck in an eternal Monday. Dishonorable Mention - Castlevania Lords of Shadow. Every year I must have a game glorified by friends that ends up being a smelly turd. Happened last year with Shadow of the Colossus (still salty that I did the platinum on 27th december 2020, thus not qualifying for 2021), this year is the turn of Monsieur Belmont of the Gabriel kind. This game is ass. Shit camera, lame combat, frustrating enemies. It's the combination of all bad parts of God of War and Shadow of the Colossus. Add in a brooding idiot and a cast of lazy written characters and you get...this game. Whatever this is. I doubt there was a level in this blasted game where I didn't curse the Elder Gods for allowing me to play this garbage. So no, I don't really care how much people loved this game, for me it's right to the garbage with it. You can't come with this kind of second hand quality in 2010 when the same studio made a fantastic game in 2004. THE WORST GAME OF 2021 - Catherine To this day, I haven't platinumed Catherine. It's the eternal game that sits on my backlog, luring me with the promise that I will one day platinum it. I do start it from time to time, do some Rapunzel levels then quickly shutting it down. Assuming however I would ever platinum this game, I would probably rate it a -1/10. No, not a 0.9/10 kind of grade, I mean a lesser than 0/10 grade. For me, Catherine is the worst game I have ever played this year and the game that would legit make me quit this hobby and this site altogether. I can't quantify how much I hate this game. My friends do know, I keep repeating how much I loathe this dung heap. I hate it so much it actually prevents me from ever touching an Atlus original game ever again. Just to spite the company that created this monstrosity. I bet most of you would be surprised why the hate. Sure, the game is niche, but it can't be that bad right? Well, in an objective sense, true, the game is not as abysmal, but in a subjective sense, this game is to me the antithesis of gaming. It's cancelling everything that's fun in videogames, twisting and corrupting it to unbearable levels. If there's one game that makes me hate gaming as a hobby, it's this piece of shit here. Let's start with the main issue - all characters are horrible. And yes, that's the intention, but the characters are "anime" horrible to such an extent that it's unbearable. Vincent is the most pathetic human being, a programmer with lame looks and 0 backbone that for some reason has 2 10/10 hot chicks after him. Heard that Catherine Full Body includes a third chick too so sure, being an idiot of a software developer covers you in bitches, guaranteed. His friends are the scum of the earth too, to the point where I have no idea if they are friends or hidden assassins ready to take this mook's neck. Erica is a snake of the vilest kind that lures you with a smile and her serpentine advices that won't make much sense. AT FIRST. Begone you vile venom spitting viper! The only pure hearted dude is Toby, the happy-go lucky freshman who just unknowingly fell into a pit of king cobras and landmines. I am sorry for you Toby, you never deserved this, may you rest in peace. No he doesn't die, but he wishes he did. Gameplay oh the gameplay...sure the glorious 10000 IQ gameplay that Wapan prides itself with. Sure it all starts with pushing boxes, climbing boxes, run from the baby monster who will eat you with its asscheeks while stacking boxes, boxes boxes BOXES WOAH I GOT IT WOOOOOOOOO!!! EDGE EDGE EDGE EDGE! you go mad with all the puzzling around. And each box has a property, one box cracks, one goes boom, one is a spring, one...is a regular box it doesn't do shit. But since it's Japan we are talking, you have RANDOM BOXES. The fuck are Random boxes you may ask? Well those are boxes who randomly move on the map! You can't predict them, you can't ever know what they do, you just have to pray to the RNG gods that the bitch won't whoosh away while you plan your escape. You bet your sorry gaijin ass that it will whoosh away, forcing you to restart and hope for a better chance. So yes fuck RNG and this kind of gameplay. And the trophy list itself is maddening. Get all endings, 3 per each alignment. Finish Rapunzel which is 128 infuriating levels of MORE BOXES. Listen to useless drinking trivia. Text your hot mamas until your fingers bleed. Then there's Babel that I haven't even reached but I don't think I will bother. Seriously fuck this game. It can go die in the pits of hell. The only GOOD part of this game is when Vincent becomes a legit Gigachad. Other than that this is a game that I unironically hate with every fiber of my being. AND I BET YOU IT'S GONNA APPEAR IN 2022 LIST TOO! JUST YOU WAIT! BEST GAME OF 2021 - YAKUZA 0 And it's time to crown the king. I have played a large selection of good games this year. KoF XIII, Hades, Transistor, Guacamelee, NieR Replicant, heck even good oldies like Hitman 2 Silent Assassin. But for me, although all games had stellar execution, Yakuza 0 wins. It's simply a game that absolutely won me in every single aspect. I haven't talked much about it honestly. Most of my 2021 forum posts were about fighting games, Shadow of the Colossus and some random stuff. But Yakuza 0 has honestly won from the moment I popped that platinum. The entire blend of atmosphere, soundtrack, raving '80s and the cast with probably some of the best male characters ever designed Kiryu and Majima , it would have been mad to deny this game its glory. This game is everything for everyone, but at the highest quality possible. A grade main story, complete bonkers side stories and minigames, this game is the equivalent of the candy store that children dreamed getting released into. It's a complete jewel that anyone with a PS4 should at least give a try. All those good reviews you heard about it? Yep they are true. Very true. The only downside of this game is that it has 8 main entries + spinoffs and you'd instantly want to buy them all and play them all. I bought them already So please, if you want to experience the crazy world of disco, beat punks with their own bicycles, be the Racing King over 10 years old, cry your eyes out because of some Makoto chick and simply have one hell of a good time, pick up Yakuza 0 and get enveloped in this crazy world. ENDING NOTES: So, this was fun to write! Going through my 2021 list was a blast not gonna lie and remembering some of these games was an actual enjoyment. Had good memories with most of them luckily so I would say that 2021 was a successful year trophy-wise. Lastly, while my gaming tendencies are mainly being dictated by my mood, the fact that I had actual fun conversations with you people was what made me be even more motivated to complete some of these games, sometimes even approaching games that I would have never thought of playing. So I will like to offer my special thanks to you guys for enabling this madness (and thus adding one extra notification in the upper corner of your PSNP Forum Page 😞 @Honor_Hand, @yuber1234, @AihaLoveleaf for being the people who tolerated my dumb stuff the most (not returning those lost brain cells, warning you ). Praise Umbasa! @FreshFromThaDeli for the most fighting game rants per minute! 2022 will be glorious I tell ya! @rjkclarke and @DrBloodmoney for reminding me why bald people are mad awesome! Thanks to you guys my wallet is now crying, too many games purchased because of you! @Arcesius and @Mori for helping me create one of the most fun events in 2021 ? @realm722 for associating his mad good reviews with a good cup of coffee really it's a running gag at this point, whenever you post something I need to get myself some coffee to enjoy the reading even more. @PooPooBlast for being the actual evil mastermind who got me into.Yakuza0. HE'S THE WORST I TELL YA! @AJ_Radio, @Anxiety, @YaManSmevz, @Joe Dubz, @Slava, @Together_Comic, @Grotz99, @zizimonster, @SnowxSakura, @Destructor-8 for providing useful insight and advices on games and stuff that I've missed! Or just for joining in for the fun of it @everyone else that I've missed because I've written at this post for a long time, it's 1PM and probably Sly will shoot me for writing so much. The downsides of free real estate So from my side, I wish everyone some happy holidays, chill gaming time and catch you in 2022 with even better (or worse) games to talk about Edited December 24, 2023 by Copanele 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted December 21, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 21, 2021 (edited) ?Woot Woot!? Transistor for most Surprising, and Guacamelee (a 50% platformer no less,) for best Gameplay! Great to see those, and glad to see Hades getting the love too! Your Catherine write up had me in stitches man - I’ve never played that one, though it’s always sat in my periphery, given the Persona love… but man, you ain’t exactly selling that one ? This definitely cemented that I gotta check out Nier Replicant next year… and goddammit… one of these days I am going to have to finally try a Yakuza game… there’s so many holes in my gaming knowledge it’s like Swiss cheese, but that one is starting to get embarrassing ? Awesome awards post though mate, (and very happy to be partly responsible for your Agent 47 barcode-party… I look forward to Hitman 3 winning your best gameplay award for 2022 ?… along with the inevitable hundred-post discussions about the best and worst levels in the new trilogy that your thread is gonna inevitably draw outta RJK and me! ? Edited December 22, 2021 by DrBloodmoney 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AihaLoveleaf Posted December 21, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 21, 2021 Hell of an award show. Great work @Copanele! The highlight for me is seeing all the turds get their moment in the spotlight. I almost thought Garfield was going to be skipped, but I was not disappointed! The Catherine review really cracked me up. God bless Toby's poor soul. Naturally, I agree on most of your negatives with Catherine too, as the tedium and unfair challenge really spoiled the game for me. I'm surprised to see Nioh 2 as the hardest game, considering some of the crazy games you went through this year, but considering the horrible time you had with it I guess I should not be so surprised. ? Here's to another year of the good, the bad, and the jank in 2022! ? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Slava Posted December 22, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) Ay, I got a mention, nice ?. Yeah, what else to say, I like to open this thread from time to time and read the reviews. The colourful language, all these hilarious comparisons and metaphors get me every time. I know I haven't contributed a lot this year. Last time I really actually had something to say was 1.5 years ago (damn, time flies) with our boy Crash, the sly orange weasel, but I did post some memes here too, so that counts, right? ?. Maybe I'll contribute more next year. You still have Mirror's Edge to finish, and I'm ready to talk about it any time. As for games, damn, reading that Catherine part feels like the game took all your shoes away and covered all your floors with Legos. I knew you didn't like it, but didn't know how much ?. And Yakuza 0 taking the main award will certainly make @PooPooBlast happy. Interesting how Japan was responsible for both the worst and the best experiences of the year ?. But thanks again for the shout-out, and keep being awesome ?. Edited December 22, 2021 by Slava 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Dubz Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) Huzzah my dude, what an absolutely stellar awards ceremony here! I seriously enjoyed every last word of it, you really have a special way with writing and I loved every second of it ? I know we've only been chatting since the beginning of the year, but it has been a pleasure getting to know you @Copanele ? I always enjoy your write-ups, as you keep them funny and interesting! I also got to meet several new cool peeps thanks to the event you guys hosted, so I'm grateful for that and looking forward to next year's as well! On mobile and it's too hard to quote stuff, but I literally pissed myself laughing at "Look at Garfield, the fat tub barely fitting in its own kart. Hope you choke on Lasagna you diabetic bastard!" ???? I knew this and that Castlevania game were gonna make it into the "Hell No" categories, given your extreme disdain from them in your original reviews! Oh yes, and I'd be remiss not to see Catherine incoming there as well ?? Fuck that game, I feel like I want to avoid that like the plague after hearing how you feel about it!! At any rate, it's been a joy following along with you and I look forward to continuing to do so this coming year! Cheers, happy holidays, and a happy new year to you my dude ? edit: how silly of me to forget to mention how geeked I was to see Guacamelee make it on the list! I helped suggest it along with others too, since the series is in my top 3 favorite Metroidvania games of all time! Very glad you give it highest commendations ??? Edited December 22, 2021 by Joe Dubz Dumbass me forgot something xD 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Yuber6969 Posted December 22, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2021 Loved reading this! I really gotta get to Yakuza 0 soon; I know I'll love it. I agree with what you said about Catherine, at least gameplay wise. That's one game where I will not accept the whole "difficulty is subjective" thing. That shit was harder than my bachelor's degree. My eye still twitches when I hear the word "edge." Gotta hurry and get it done so you can join Aiha and I in the Catherine Platinum club! And yeah... poor Toby MAJOR CATHERINE SPOILERS BELOW Spoiler 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arcesius Posted December 22, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2021 A really fun write-up. I always enjoy how you just seem to write from your most honest part Nioh 2... Man, I'm still sad that the second game didn't appeal to you.. What am I saying, it didn't just "not appeal to you", you hated it thoroughly. And I still don't really understand why. Sure, I personally enjoyed the first game more DESPITE the second one being more polished, complex and better looking, but I still had one hell of a time with the sequel... In any case, definitely happy to see Guacamelee win something ? Really glad that that recommendation at least was a good one! And man I should play Hades myself... Both you and the good Doc seem to have enjoyed it quite a bit (for different reasons, and to a different extenct, but enjoyed it regardless). I don't think I have yet played a game that made me hat it as much as you seem to hate Catherine ? It's also pretty unusual, the game is not necessarily regarded to be a bad game, and I know some people that would actually name it as one of their favorite games... Though given the Anime nature of the game, the heavy focus on romance, the characters and puzzle elements, I would probably be one to agree with you, so I will make sure to stay away! ? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Together_Comic Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 14 hours ago, Copanele said: THE WORST GAME OF 2021 - Catherine ... Let's start with the main issue - all characters are horrible. And yes, that's the intention, but the characters are "anime" horrible to such an extent that it's unbearable. Vincent is the most pathetic human being, a programmer with lame looks and 0 backbone that for some reason has 2 10/10 hot chicks after him. Heard that Catherine Full Body includes a third chick too so sure, being an idiot of a software developer covers you in bitches, guaranteed. His friends are the scum of the earth too, to the point where I have no idea if they are friends or hidden assassins ready to take this mook's neck. Erica is a snake of the vilest kind that lures you with a smile and her serpentine advices that won't make much sense. AT FIRST. Begone you vile venom spitting viper! The only pure hearted dude is Toby, the happy-go lucky freshman who just unknowingly fell into a pit of king cobras and landmines. I am sorry for you Toby, you never deserved this, may you rest in peace. No he doesn't die, but he wishes he did. Gameplay oh the gameplay...sure the glorious 10000 IQ gameplay that Wapan prides itself with. Sure it all starts with pushing boxes, climbing boxes, run from the baby monster who will eat you with its asscheeks while stacking boxes, boxes boxes BOXES WOAH I GOT IT WOOOOOOOOO!!! EDGE EDGE EDGE EDGE! you go mad with all the puzzling around. And each box has a property, one box cracks, one goes boom, one is a spring, one...is a regular box it doesn't do shit. But since it's Japan we are talking, you have RANDOM BOXES. The fuck are Random boxes you may ask? Well those are boxes who randomly move on the map! You can't predict them, you can't ever know what they do, you just have to pray to the RNG gods that the bitch won't whoosh away while you plan your escape. You bet your sorry gaijin ass that it will whoosh away, forcing you to restart and hope for a better chance. So yes fuck RNG and this kind of gameplay. ... Seriously fuck this game. It can go die in the pits of hell. The only GOOD part of this game is when Vincent becomes a legit Gigachad. Other than that this is a game that I unironically hate with every fiber of my being. AND I BET YOU IT'S GONNA APPEAR IN 2022 LIST TOO! JUST YOU WAIT! Unironically this all sounds great to me... ??. Though I might just be weird ?. We'll have to see if my tune changes next year when I boot it up. Congrats on a great year of trophy hunting and of course, happy holidays! Also It is hysterical to me that after crushing all theses URs this year, its Garfield Kart that actually ends up getting to you ?. Maybe it's just expectations. You expect the Persona 4 Arena, SNKs, etc. to be hard, frustrating, and cheap... Garfield Kart tho... lol. Here's to another great year of trophy hunting! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post PooPooBlast Posted December 22, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2021 15 hours ago, Copanele said: Yakuza 0. Again Yakuza 0 wins this. I should have just copy/pasted the Sound section all over again Yakuza is a series that you join for the memes, but stick around for the actually well written plot. I just have to say that this is the game where I was "MY GOD Majima my man, I am SORRY!" Majima is the best! Hahaha thats pretty much anybody who tries out the game in a nutshell. Goes in for shits and giggles, comes out crying because of the sad crime drama story ?. Big smoke was right all along.. Anyway, that was a very nice write up! Happy to see yakoozers won. And happy holidays to you too 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 Good shit, my dude! Firstly, I'm glad to know I won't be caught going through your garbage! This is the first I've heard of a Garfield racing game, and it doesn’t seem like something that should really exist... for a game where the object is to be fast, the idea that out of all the fictional characters in the world, they were like "Oh you know who'd be perfect for this? Garfield" is absurd! Catherine never looked appealing to me, and it's good to know I was right to stick with this impression, so thank you for that! Glad to see the Yakuza love, and it looks like Guacamelee and Transistor just got yet another bump up in the backlog! Also thanks for the mention? I came for the Hitman reviews and stayed for the Awards! Outstanding work man, ahfuxwiddit? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) Fantastic awards ceremony man! Although with all these awards shows going on in such a short space of time - my Tuxedo is starting to smell like a Drowners armpit, so I'd better throw that in the dry cleaning before anyone else manages to post one ? Catherine sounds like something I really don't want to play based on everything you had to say about it - so I'm glad for the helpful shoulder barge away from that one - that sounds like a fast track to turning my long hair self, into a miserable Hulk Hogan haired gimp, so I'm glad I won't have to stress myself out with that! I loved to see NieR Replicant getting all the love! Makes me so happy to be slowly inching closer and closer to being able to experience my beloved NieR again, with a glorious new ending to look forward to and inevitably break my heart! I know I could fire it up now, but I'm breaking my usual rule of not putting thought into milestones by making sure that is one. I'm so happy that Yakuza 0 won your game of the year - it'd win the best game of 2018 for me too (the year I played it,) and I played a lot of Yakuza that year, but that game REALLY REALLY, stands so high above some of the others as the phenomenal game beast that it is! I also feel the need to check out Slain now. Thanks for the shout out too by the way, I'm glad myself and Doc managed to get you excited to skulk around as Kratos' suited, and clean shaven twin brother again! Although yes ,@DrBloodmoney and I will almost certainly start some long ass debate about the best locations in the recent trilogy when you get there. I look forward to the day we can talk about the gross naked man of Haven Island and his disgusting dangly moles that look like coco pops, I hope @YaManSmevz has been exposed to that wonderful image by now too! Edited December 22, 2021 by rjkclarke 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Copanele Posted December 22, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2021 Many thanks for the appreciation everyone truly I have forcefully summoned you all here to watch me crap on Catherine ? And I will be honest, although anyone liking this game is fine for me, I am not discriminating (if you said you unironically liked DMC2 instead I would have a broken heart, not gonna lie), I have to admit every time someone says "Thanks, I will never play Catherine because of you", I will add another +1 to my "Holy Counter". Hallelujah, another soul saved! 20 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Woot Woot! Transistor for most Surprising, and Guacamelee (a 50% platformer no less,) for best Gameplay! Great to see those, and glad to see Hades getting the love too! Your Catherine write up had me in stitches man - I’ve never played that one, though it’s always sat in my periphery, given the Persona love… but man, you ain’t exactly selling that one This definitely cemented that I gotta check out Nier Replicant next year… and goddammit… one of these days I am going to have to finally try a Yakuza game… there’s so many holes in my gaming knowledge it’s like Swiss cheese, but that one is starting to get embarrassing Awesome awards post though mate, (and very happy to be partly responsible for your Agent 47 barcode-party… I look forward to Hitman 3 winning your best gameplay award for 2022 … along with the inevitable hundred-post discussions about the best and worst levels in the new trilogy that your thread is gonna inevitably draw outta RJK and me! NieR Replicant is a MUST! No doubt about it, I am positive that you will enjoy it to no end. Yakuza too, although you really have to save some time for that one The greatest disappointment though... January sales and no Hitman Blood Money+Absolution Discount but yes, once I get to Absolution, i am mad enough to make a ranking of all the missions in the games up to that one. I actually want to :> And after that...the trilogy! I am already stacked with Hitman 1+Hitman 2 (praise the sales). I know Hitman 3 has all the missions from before but I'll be damned, I saw bits and pieces and I wouldn't mind replaying those goodies. And then another ranking 19 hours ago, AihaLoveleaf said: Hell of an award show. Great work @Copanele! The highlight for me is seeing all the turds get their moment in the spotlight. I almost thought Garfield was going to be skipped, but I was not disappointed! The Catherine review really cracked me up. God bless Toby's poor soul. Naturally, I agree on most of your negatives with Catherine too, as the tedium and unfair challenge really spoiled the game for me. I'm surprised to see Nioh 2 as the hardest game, considering some of the crazy games you went through this year, but considering the horrible time you had with it I guess I should not be so surprised. Here's to another year of the good, the bad, and the jank in 2022! How could I skip Garfield, when I terrorized you with it ? damn, that game...why is it every time I suffer, it's because of an unexpected ass game? We did share the pain with Castlevania Lords of Shadow too this year And yes, if I were to analyze it, Nioh 2 wasn't really the most challenging. But given how this game broke the taboo for me...it has to be there. May the Jank guide us all to glitches! 19 hours ago, Slava said: Ay, I got a mention, nice . Yeah, what else to say, I like to open this thread from time to time and read the reviews. The colourful language, all these hilarious comparisons and metaphors get me every time. I know I haven't contributed a lot this year. Last time I really actually had something to say was 1.5 years ago (damn, time flies) with our boy Crash, the sly orange weasel, but I did post some memes here too, so that counts, right? . Maybe I'll contribute more next year. You still have Mirror's Edge to finish, and I'm ready to talk about it any time. As for games, damn, reading that Catherine part feels like the game took all your shoes away and covered all your floors with Legos. I knew you didn't like it, but didn't know how much . And Yakuza 0 taking the main award will certainly make @PooPooBlast happy. Interesting how Japan was responsible for both the worst and the best experiences of the year . But thanks again for the shout-out, and keep being awesome . Nah we talked about Uncharted and Godfather and at some point about old Tank games, if I remember correctly. But man, you're right, Japan was my alpha and omega, my yin and yang, my beginning and my end. Never have I went from this to this When it comes to Japanese games. They really know how to get the best and the worst out of a man 18 hours ago, Joe Dubz said: Huzzah my dude, what an absolutely stellar awards ceremony here! I seriously enjoyed every last word of it, you really have a special way with writing and I loved every second of it I know we've only been chatting since the beginning of the year, but it has been a pleasure getting to know you @Copanele I always enjoy your write-ups, as you keep them funny and interesting! I also got to meet several new cool peeps thanks to the event you guys hosted, so I'm grateful for that and looking forward to next year's as well! On mobile and it's too hard to quote stuff, but I literally pissed myself laughing at "Look at Garfield, the fat tub barely fitting in its own kart. Hope you choke on Lasagna you diabetic bastard!" ?? I knew this and that Castlevania game were gonna make it into the "Hell No" categories, given your extreme disdain from them in your original reviews! Oh yes, and I'd be remiss not to see Catherine incoming there as well Fuck that game, I feel like I want to avoid that like the plague after hearing how you feel about it!! At any rate, it's been a joy following along with you and I look forward to continuing to do so this coming year! Cheers, happy holidays, and a happy new year to you my dude edit: how silly of me to forget to mention how geeked I was to see Guacamelee make it on the list! I helped suggest it along with others too, since the series is in my top 3 favorite Metroidvania games of all time! Very glad you give it highest commendations Many thanks my dude, glad that you enjoyed my love for fat diabetic orange cats stuck in karts Stay tuned for 2022, I am re-tagging you when I am getting into Guacamelee 2. There's not a shadow of a doubt that I'll play that as well! 15 hours ago, yuber1234 said: Loved reading this! I really gotta get to Yakuza 0 soon; I know I'll love it. I agree with what you said about Catherine, at least gameplay wise. That's one game where I will not accept the whole "difficulty is subjective" thing. That shit was harder than my bachelor's degree. My eye still twitches when I hear the word "edge." Gotta hurry and get it done so you can join Aiha and I in the Catherine Platinum club! I am still sorry (lmao nope) that I abandoned you like a filthy traitor when going for Catherine. You have to understand man...that shit is bad for my health ? Not gonna lie, we've had some awesome (shit) memories about that game. #LightsUpForToby. He shall never be forgotten. 11 hours ago, Arcesius said: A really fun write-up. I always enjoy how you just seem to write from your most honest part Nioh 2... Man, I'm still sad that the second game didn't appeal to you.. What am I saying, it didn't just "not appeal to you", you hated it thoroughly. And I still don't really understand why. Sure, I personally enjoyed the first game more DESPITE the second one being more polished, complex and better looking, but I still had one hell of a time with the sequel... In any case, definitely happy to see Guacamelee win something Really glad that that recommendation at least was a good one! And man I should play Hades myself... Both you and the good Doc seem to have enjoyed it quite a bit (for different reasons, and to a different extenct, but enjoyed it regardless). I don't think I have yet played a game that made me hat it as much as you seem to hate Catherine It's also pretty unusual, the game is not necessarily regarded to be a bad game, and I know some people that would actually name it as one of their favorite games... Though given the Anime nature of the game, the heavy focus on romance, the characters and puzzle elements, I would probably be one to agree with you, so I will make sure to stay away! Believe me, I myself WANTED to love Nioh 2. Heck I got so hyped with it, you know it too well but...I really have no idea what happened. Yes that's true, I loathed the game at some point, it felt so stupid unfair and broken at times that no matter how many times I tried, it really just soured the experience. If not for the DLC, it would have been the most disappointing for sure. I still can agree that the game is fantastic, it's just me here who didn't work properly Although for Guacamelee, yep I have to offer my thanks to you, I really bought it because of your recommendation. Perfect game nothing more, nothing less. I still remember how I laughed at that stupid QR code that you can find in the world of the dead. And I will mention Catherine only once here - don't. You especially ? it's totally not a game you'd enjoy! 6 hours ago, Together_Comic said: Unironically this all sounds great to me... . Though I might just be weird . We'll have to see if my tune changes next year when I boot it up. Congrats on a great year of trophy hunting and of course, happy holidays! Also It is hysterical to me that after crushing all theses URs this year, its Garfield Kart that actually ends up getting to you . Maybe it's just expectations. You expect the Persona 4 Arena, SNKs, etc. to be hard, frustrating, and cheap... Garfield Kart tho... lol. Here's to another great year of trophy hunting! I know, you would have expected me to put Score Attack mode from persona 4 arena no? WELL NO! THAT GAME IS MAD FAIR WITH ESTABLISHED RULES! Art of Fighting? Is more like a puzzle. Garfield? Like dragging your ass through a flaming carpet. You never know what to expect from me ALSO if you ever start Catherine, do tag me once you write about it. I WANT TO SEE THE OPINIONS :> Bad or otherwise 5 hours ago, PooPooBlast said: Hahaha thats pretty much anybody who tries out the game in a nutshell. Goes in for shits and giggles, comes out crying because of the sad crime drama story . Big smoke was right all along.. The monster who got me into this! Yep, especially thanks to you I've learned all the intricacies of Mahjong and hate everything that's related to baseball even more Joking, many thanks, maybe one day we'll find a second game that we have in common other than Yakuza ? 4 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Good shit, my dude! Firstly, I'm glad to know I won't be caught going through your garbage! This is the first I've heard of a Garfield racing game, and it doesn’t seem like something that should really exist... for a game where the object is to be fast, the idea that out of all the fictional characters in the world, they were like "Oh you know who'd be perfect for this? Garfield" is absurd! Catherine never looked appealing to me, and it's good to know I was right to stick with this impression, so thank you for that! Glad to see the Yakuza love, and it looks like Guacamelee and Transistor just got yet another bump up in the backlog! Also thanks for the mention I came for the Hitman reviews and stayed for the Awards! Outstanding work man, ahfuxwiddit Yeah Garfield...I fell into this trap myself glad I prevented you from doing a Raccoon dive in the trash can, because yeah it seems that I play some of these games only so you won't have to. Thanks for sticking around more Hitman to come in the future, so I won't disappoint! 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: Fantastic awards ceremony man! Although with all these awards shows going on in such a short space of time - my Tuxedo is starting to smell like a Drowners armpit, so I'd better throw that in the dry cleaning before anyone else manages to post one Catherine sounds like something I really don't want to play based on everything you had to say about it - so I'm glad for the helpful shoulder barge away from that one - that sounds like a fast track to turning my long hair self, into a miserable Hulk Hogan haired gimp, so I'm glad I won't have to stress myself out with that! I loved to see NieR Replicant getting all the love! Makes me so happy to be slowly inching closer and closer to being able to experience my beloved NieR again, with a glorious new ending to look forward to and inevitably break my heart! I know I could fire it up now, but I'm breaking my usual rule of not putting thought into milestones by making sure that is one. I'm so happy that Yakuza 0 won your game of the year - it'd win the best game of 2018 for me too (the year I played it,) and I played a lot of Yakuza that year, but that game REALLY REALLY, stands so high above some of the others as the phenomenal game beast that it is! I also feel the need to check out Slain now. Thanks for the shout out too by the way, I'm glad myself and Doc managed to get you excited to skulk around as Kratos' suited, and clean shaven twin brother again! Although yes ,@DrBloodmoney and I will almost certainly start some long ass debate about the best locations in the recent trilogy when you get there. I look forward to the day we can talk about the gross naked man of Haven Island and his disgusting dangly moles that look like coco pops, I hope @YaManSmevz has been exposed to that wonderful image by now too! Please, no more Drowner smell, else I'd summon another Witcher in this compound and I don't want to ? ( I watched season 2 of Witcher on Netflix...man it really smells of drowners there. But that's a discussion for another post :> ) You sir, whenever you get the chance, MUST play NieR Replicant. You know why, I know why, find some free time and get to it. Nah, joking, no forcing but I know for sure you'd shed at least one tear despite you playing the original game. Yoko Taro is a mad man... Yakuza seems to connect most of us you have to go for Yakuza 3, me for Yakuza 4 and especially Dead Souls...it will be a great experience nonetheless. Need to re-learn that sweet sweet Tiger Drop. And yep Hitman is a new passion re-emerged. Debates will follow about the arguably best bald man in videogames (sorry mr Kratos, you were one barcode away from being great) and I am more than up for talking about those sweet missions. I am more than curious about what you just mentioned right now actually, so I will have to abstain myself from spoilers. Thanks again for stopping by all this truly has been entertaining! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post FreshFromThaDeli Posted December 22, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2021 I knew I made the right choice to browse the forums on my desktop today instead of my phone as I do most of the time. It made for a great read, I was thoroughly entertained and amused at your choices and explanations. I keep coming back to the forums for you and your rants posts as well as all the lovely people who also come and leave a comment. (I really need to see start reading more checklists as time does not permit me to game as much ?) I had to do a double take when i saw the Potemkin GIF. I will take full credit to have instated your train of thinking when talking about GG Strive to be that of the blessed big boy himself ? We did have some good matches on Strive through the year after all. Appreciate the shout out on the fighting game talk. Looking forward to continued talks of punches, kicks & smacking people around in 2022. Just don't get carried away and be like Akuma though! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted December 22, 2021 Author Share Posted December 22, 2021 4 minutes ago, FreshFromThaDeli said: I knew I made the right choice to browse the forums on my desktop today instead of my phone as I do most of the time. It made for a great read, I was thoroughly entertained and amused at your choices and explanations. I keep coming back to the forums for you and your rants posts as well as all the lovely people who also come and leave a comment. (I really need to see start reading more checklists as time does not permit me to game as much ) I had to do a double take when i saw the Potemkin GIF. I will take full credit to have instated your train of thinking when talking about GG Strive to be that of the blessed big boy himself We did have some good matches on Strive through the year after all. Appreciate the shout out on the fighting game talk. Looking forward to continued talks of punches, kicks & smacking people around in 2022. Just don't get carried away and be like Akuma though! You DEFINITELY did the right choice because my dumbass post would have exploded your phone Special thanks to you man, for all those crazy matches we had in various fighting games (we still have to play 3rd strike and heck, even MK11, it has great online!). They were incredibly fun and enjoyable. Honestly yes, you were the inspiration for Potemkin. I legit was thinking what gif should I use for my graphical example...Ky Kiske with his Ride the Lightning? Nah too generic. Chipp Zanuff? Nahh not enough impact...wait...impact...IMPACT? Then memory flashed with you punching my stupid Anji Mito ass in the air and HEAVENLY. POTEMKIN. BUSTER! That's the perfect gif to prove my point ? No worries, fun first, competition after. I don't want to become like Akuma or worse, like a God of the low Tiers. Fighting games are something so great after all :> See you in King of Fighters XV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Honor_Hand Posted December 23, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 23, 2021 What an amazing award ceremony, my dude. Admittedly, I kinda knew most of the nominees already and I was sure as heck on which games were going to get the golden turd awards, but seeing all of your gaming activities from this year summarized in such a clever and humorously good way brought a smile to my face today. It also reminded me that I need to do my own award ceremony as well before this year is over, and heck, I don't even remember what I played this year, lol. I'll have to check my trophy log to see what candidates I have. Games like Yakuza 0 and Nier Replicant are totally on my list of "Pending gems to play". Same with Hades. Maybe this next year I'll finally give them a go, as long I can keep away from any racing game that might tempt me out of the way. Even Nioh 2 seems like a great candidate to plow through. Maybe I'll focus on the first title first and then go from there since I noted the sequel had sort of a mixed impact on you. Like, you both love it and hate it at the same time. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Say what you will, I'm still going to defend and side the Belmont's clan on that one. It was awesome. The one game award that caught me completely off guard was Guacamelee. Holy hell, you really enjoyed that one, didn't you? I am 100% surprised that you were able to crown a platformer in the gameplay department. That game must've been like a religious experience for you, in the sense of how it revelated all the wondrous good gameplay a platformer can have and almost turn you into a believer in a way, lmao. Catherine... We all know you did these game awards so that you could take a massive dump on that one. ? I saw it not from a mile away but from light-years away instead. ? That being said, yikes! Just reading your in-depth thoughts on that one made me feel secure about my decision of keeping my disc in its case and as far away from my PS3 as possible. ? Happy holidays my friend, hope this upcoming 2022 brings you even more great gaming memories. ?? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destructor-8 Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 On 21/12/2021 at 11:05 PM, Copanele said: 2021 Game of the Year Awards - Copanele edition - Another year done, another uninspired title. Actually, I believe this is the very first year I am doing a serious list of games that I've played. There were good games, bad games, "what am I doing with my life" games...the whole batch. 2021 was especially bountiful for me game wise because I tackled all sorts of games and genres and some were definitely a pleasant surprise. Other games...wish I never started them. So from my side, I wish everyone some happy holidays, chill gaming time and catch you in 2022 with even better (or worse) games to talk about I appreciate the mention! It's been pretty interesting & entertaining reading your reviews in general. I do get a good laugh whenever I read about the funny experiences that you have, especially the most recent ones lol. It looks like you've got through a lot of stuff & have maintained many threads on here very well so thanks for doing all that. I look forward to your threads & reviews in the future. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grotz99 Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Very fun read, everyone is getting so good at these end of the year reviews and rankings. Yay for Yakuza 0 winning, I did the same exact thing and bought all of the games (minus Fist of the North Star and Dead Souls) after playing through Yakuza 0. Currently playing through 4 and have the rest sitting on my shelf staring at me. I don't see why 4 gets a bad rep yet (well meaning people's least favorite I guess), I'm actually really enjoying the story. Although, I'm right at the end and going to try to finish it before I go on vacation so maybe the ending ends up being silly? Might play Judgement next as an interlude to the series. I was surprised to not see much about the fighting games you played this year. Not complaining as it's nice to see such a nice variety...just surprised. Nier Replicant has been on my list for a while, just waiting for the price to drop a bit more. Seeing transistor show up in the list makes me so happy, haven't seen a single person not like that charming game. I haven't played Catherine apparently in 8 years, but looking back at my trophies, it clearly didn't hold my interest for too long. One day I might try it again...if my backlog ever shrinks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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