The last few games you beat and rate them III

[Ceremony]

Rayman Origins (PS3, 2011)

An amount of years ago I took a break from my then increasingly-obsessive search for trophies from PS3 games. I played some old PS1/2 games, remembering my childish joy and wonderment at these virtual worlds completely. I played Midnight Club again for the first time in about fifteen years and I remembered every street, every bit of dialogue. One of the games I played then was the original Rayman which I had never been able to finish. I'm good at games now I thought, I'll stand a better chance. Nope. So I played Rayman 2 again instead and oh, that was good. That was full nostalgia. I did finish it completely in something like six hours which sort of spoiled my perception of it as a huge, sprawling odyssey but it was the thought which counted.

An amount of months ago I was playing some old games again and I tried the original Rayman again. Nope. It's solid. I recall a neogaf thread agreeing with me. It's not just a case of "in my day we had to finish five hundred levels at once on one life and if you failed the console spat at you," it's genuinely difficult beyond the point of being able, of wanting to persevere. I watched a speedrun of the game on youtube. Skills beyond anything I will ever be able to do. One feature of that game, to actually face the final boss and get 100% you had to collect a bunch of extra life statues. Some of which would only appear if you went in some other direction in a level. Seriously, have a look and be amazed. It should be said that for its difficulty Rayman was about everything you could want in a 2D platformer of the time. Great colours, music, characters, level design which prioritised speed and precision over trial and error. The most annoying thing was the game coughing at you if you stood still for more than two seconds. That was beyond infuriating.

After an assortment of games spun off from some rabbit looking things Rayman returned to his, er, origins, in 2011 with this, again a 2D platformer with a vivid colour palette and infectious soundtrack. It also brings back having to read the instruction manual to figure out what the story is since the game doesn't actually tell you anything. It doesn't actually have words, the characters "speaking" in the sort of gibberish Sims usually talk in. That's something of a downside. Especially since Rayman 2 and 3 introduced really unique personalities for the characters you can play as. Although it's definitely a platformer before anything else you need something in the game to give it depth. Something easy in this instance isn't there. The result of this is to provide five distinct worlds of levels which all sort of wash into one another. Even after getting speed run trophies in every level - filled with my failures as much as the game's - and only really finishing that over the past two days I can't remember any distinctive levels outside their general themes/styles. Hell one of the worlds (which are about 8/9 levels in total, two difficulty levels) has two distinct themes together, it's like they couldn't come up with enough levels to fill one world and just threw them together instead.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing since the worlds themselves are quite distinct. You can go swimming, go ice skating, run through lush woodland as pictured and, as I've failed at so many times before, there's a music-themed world. Of course there is. The levels all have that great blend I mentioned in regard to the first Rayman, the difficulty rises at a good pace and really, the only criticism I can have here is the length of the game overall. Most of the replayability seems to be centred around the (largely worthless, or at least unexplained) collectibles and speed runs. There's up to 4 player local co-op but I don't see what variation this would add to gameplay, aside from not having to take several jumps yourself at stuff you're trying to pick up. The boss fights are good too, all unique to their world and a good test of not dying while moving with agility. Just what you want.

I feel as if this review exists as a vehicle for me reminiscing about a game I've never been able to finish. Origins is good. I'm told its sequel, Legends, is better, and I'll probably play it in the next week. Origins certainly is like nothing else in its genre and of its time - for its cosmetic faults it's a good game to just play, being able to play a platformer as well made as this is one of those rare gaming pleasures which gives you a sense of satisfaction as well as achievement as you're playing through it. It's fun on the surface but when you get into and master the mechanics, for all the swearing that will follow, just playing the game and controlling Rayman is extremely enjoyable. Just a shame there's no words. At least I managed to finish this one though.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Just played through Inside.

It's a short game (~3 hours) but holy **** it was incredible. The storyline is so vague but well crafted that it's created dozens of theories online. It's like when you spot symbolism and themes in a book, but instead you're playing through a game with no dialogue. Really amazing art style and gameplay. Might be the best 3 hours you can spend on a single player game tbh.

Anyone play it? I've read a lot of cool theories online, some really interesting takes on the game and ending. Didn't see a thread on it but I'd love to discuss theories with people.

 

[tacogeoff]

Ha. I actually just read an article about Inside the other day. Cannot wait to give it a try. Glad to hear other positive reviews.

 

[Static]

I just finished it last night, incredible game. Tough to talk about it because so much of the experience is built on going through it yourself.

Just play it, you won't regret it. Craziest game ending I've ever seen. Even my girlfriend, who doesn't play games, was entranced.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Just beat the story mode of GTA 5 on my PS3 again.

9/10

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Bioshock: Infinite.

Good-ish. Swamped all critical rankings, but just went through it again and reminded myself why I never bothered to give it a second playthrough. Not a lot of weapon variety, a lot of of very linear action, samey-same enemies, and a lot of tedious, unskippable cinematics. The first two Bioshock games did a lot better with the steampunk setting imho. And as nice as Elizabeth is as a companion, her constantly interrupting every fight to throw me ammo/salts/health got to be more jarring than convenient. Don't get me wrong, it was a relief the devs didn't make her presence into some horrible escort mission, but the constant camera-whipping to her got annoying towards the end.

Also, it commits one of the laziest and most unforgivable console port sins: no voluntary save games. It's all done by checkpoint system, and it decides for itself where that checkpoint happens, mister! SO aggravating. And a lot of the big fights are deliberately Nintendo-hard. Oh hey, here are these guys spawning around the corner I just cleared. Greaaaaaaat.

 

[vippe]

Double Dragon III
Acclaim, NES


After 20 years of agony. I have finally beaten Double Dragon 3 for the NES. Granted I obviously havnt been playing it for 20 years but whenever I did play it. The frustrating controlls and unforgivable gameplay always made me not play it for 5 or so years until I picked it up again and tried a few times.

This time around though, I decided to beat it. It took me some 20 tries or so before I finally beat the last boss which has been killing me for I dont know how long.

If not for the awful controlls it would have been a decent enough games.. now it's more frustrating than much.

5/10

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Witcher 3: Blood & Wine - 9.5/10

More phenomenal work by the CD Projekt RED team. Blood & Wine introduces a whole new region full of new characters and a new story. It's a bit longer than Hearts of Stone and the side quests are great as well. My only complaint really, is it starts off pretty slow. It picks up and A LOT of interesting stuff happens as you progress but it got hard to get sucked in early.

Overall, Witcher 3 and its expansion packs are a must have IMO. It is one of my favorite games of all time, probably even top 3 ever. Just such a masterpiece, you can tell CD Projekt RED were very dedicated to every detail that went into this game. They're now one of the very few developers I trust wholeheartedly these days. Can't wait for Cyberpunk 2077 now.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

I just finished it last night, incredible game. Tough to talk about it because so much of the experience is built on going through it yourself.

Just play it, you won't regret it. Craziest game ending I've ever seen. Even my girlfriend, who doesn't play games, was entranced.

What did you think of the symbolism and storyline telling of the game?
DO NOT read the spoiler tag if you haven't played the game Inside yet. It will ruin your experience.

[spoil]
Some interesting theories out there.
Copying and pasting from other Reddit threads...

1. There's the mind control theory which seems the most obvious,
The blob was being used for mind control experiments but wants to escape. Unbeknownst to the experimenters, the blob was controlling the boy to come and save it (if you remember, the blob had mind control devices attached to it that you had to remove before you get absorbed). Once the blob got you there, your job was complete and now you become part of the blob as it makes its escape.
As for the secret ending, when you detach the wires you will notice that the mind control device shuts off (its lights go out) in the background as the boy slumps into the same posture the mindless husks have had the whole game. One can interpret that the switch shut off all the mind control devices throughout the world, including the ones used by the blob to control the boy. The game also essentially breaks the 4th wall having the blob essentially mind-control the player, who controls the boy, who controls the other 'zombies' in the game. Basically, even the player is being mind controlled, doing puzzles for no reason other than to progress in the game.


2. The game is an allegory for the human body and different issues or processes it goes through.
-You are playing inside a body as a red blood cell. Eventually the boy sheds his red coat and becomes a white blood cell and removes the blob, which symbolizes a tumor. The tumor is then extracted from the body and dies outside of its host.
-The game is an allegory for fertilization. The player is a sperm cell that fertilizes the egg (blob). Once fertilized, the embryo then makes its final trek to the uterus and attaches itself. That is why you cannot move the blob at the end, you have reached your destination to grow into a fetus.


3. Interpreting the title of the game 'Inside' literally
The boy who was OUTSIDE got INSIDE the thing that was INSIDE, and then helped it to escape, meaning it got OUTSIDE.
And I think in the end when we can no longer control the blob, it was due to it being too injured, from all the falls it had taken during its escape. in the end, just before it died from its injuries, it was able to feel the sun on its skin and the sand underneath it

4. My theories, that aren't that strong, but still interesting to think about.
One is that with enough blind/stupid support, anyone can take power and succeed. Not going to lie, I thought of Trump while playing this game. Someone so simple, stupid, immature, etc. as a child can gain so much support from the zombies when helping him do his tasks. This eventually results in the child (Trump) taking control of the blob (let's say that's being President), and wrecking the whole science lab and experiments (America). It also confirms how brash, relentless, primitive, inelegant, and overall disruptive the blob is. I realize much of the theories are based on mind control, but I like to think that the game is a bit more abstract and deals with heavier/more realistic issues. I don't know what to make of the rebirth sequence here though.
My other theory is a socioeconomic theory - that all the faceless zombies are the working class or 99% and the men in suits, the scientists, etc. are the 1%. This would make some sense based on their prestigious status/appearance and the power associated with being in the 1%. This whole game is a revolution of the 99%, cooperating and helping each other out (completing the tasks) and coming together (the blob) to overthrow the current regime (the laboratory).
I definitely got some Orwellian feelings playing this game though.
My last theory was that the game symbolizes depression and the value of cooperation. You're constantly alone, not trusting anything in your path, forced to jump through hoops (puzzles). You overcome these with the help of others who you view as faceless zombies. This theory loses steam though, but I did get the sense that the game could be an allegory for some mental disorder or something along those lines.

There are some good youtube videos for theories too.[/spoil]

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Next up....

REMEMBER ME
PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Action, Platforming, Cyberpunk

Talk about a game with the framework of a masterpiece. Developed by French developer Dontnod Entertainment (from Life is Strange fanfare), Remember Me is exactly the kind of game I wished I could fully embrace. The world is beautifully crafted, a dystopian Neo-Paris brimming with old and new, covered in a beautiful color palette that helped make the environment feel alive.

Alas, my expectations may have been doomed from the start. Having seen a demo several years ago, my initial impression was that of a leveled but somewhat non-linear action adventure game with some platforming elements and a little bit of combat. Alas, it seems like the adventure part is almost non-existent. Combat has an interesting chain building mechanic that adds strategy to the proceedings, but the fights themselves still end up being rather repetitive by the halfway point. For that matter, the game's largest weakness is its poor level design: with such a well crafted world, I probably would have enjoyed some open world or hub as a means of exploration, but at the very least this game could have used some non-linearity at times to add depth to the simplistic gameplay, maybe even a healthy dose of stealth, or at least the option of sneaking from time to time. It is very much an on rails experience, particularly the platforming bits, and I was kind of tired of the mechanics before long. The one saving grace of innovation: remixing memories, which involve changing the memories of specific hosts to modify their future behavior.

Presentation is mostly good, script could have been better. For the record, I did enjoy the story despite some flaws in its execution. Revolving around technology to control one's own memories (and those of others), I was initially expecting another corporate dominance plot involving an overthrow; to my surprise, however, the game takes a left turn a bit more than halfway through that genuinely surprised me. I could see Spielberg enjoying the themes of Remember Me, which borrows a little from Minority Report but eventually tackles (spoiler) the family unit.

Overall, I would give this one a 5.5/10. It's interesting enough to get above the middle mark, but not enough for me to give a real recommendation. It's very much a game with a niche audience, particularly for those who enjoy a pretty (but admittedly somewhat underused) cyberpunk trot. With better level design, I think this could have been a memorable experience; alas, the irony of a game called Remember Me.

 

[aleshemsky83]

AM2R: Return of Samus

I actually have not beat this game, but I'm pretty close, however, I've come across what is basically (to me), an unbeatable boss.

This game has actually impressed the hell out of me. Its a free fan remake of metroid 2 for the gameboy. It pretty much is a metroid game, the sound design, level design, enemy design, art style is all incredibly polished. Everything is great, except for the metroids.

I understand the creator was trying to make them more of a challenge and they actually are a challenge, a bit too much of a challenge. They have really good AI (they dodge your shots and are incredibly unpredictable), but their weak spot is just way too protected. I've yet to figure out a way of reliably getting them to expose it other than just crouching and firing missiles continuously hoping it hits. And if you run out of missiles, thats it. You can't use your arm cannon beam even on their weak spot.

And the more evolved metroids are just a whole other nightmare.

Grow Home

Great game with a ton of charm and really impressive physics, but unfortunately, it gets a bit boring. Not much to say about this game. Apparently the sequel adds a lot more gameplay, so if you've got 10 bucks you'll get more of your moneys worth getting that one i'm sure. Its definitely worth experiencing.

Thanks to plato for gifting me this one.

 

[Ceremony]

Knytt Underground (PS3, 2012)

At some point in the past few weeks I read some of the No Man's Sky thread to see what it was. Some people bemoaned its (apparently deceptive) size and variety, citing their nature as completionists to be bugged by not being able to see and do everything in an area and in the game itself. When playing Sonic the Hedgehog a while back I had a similar sensation because of all the ways to finish a level. Hey, there's rings there! And I can't get them. Well, Knytt Underground is a 2D dungeon crawling platformer. And just take a look at the map. Now take a look at the map in detail. Not including the out of map areas or the Disorder or the challenges. It's large. It's inherently explorable. It's even possible to explore and see 95% of it by yourself. Which is good, because much of the rest of the stuff requires some quite remarkable platforming ability to fully explore.

Let me talk about the exploring bit first. It's nice. It's strangely satisfying to keep bringing up your map and see where you are and how much blank space you have to fill in. (As an aside at this point, it'd be really cool if you could do a remote play thing with it on the Vita and use that second screen to have the map up the whole time. maybe you can.) The size of the map helps you get really lost. After playing it extensively to get all the trophies and doing a lot of backtracking there's sections of it I can sort of recognise by sight but on the whole it does always feel like a genuine exploration. Have something to find in one location? Well, just go towards it. Overcome whatever obstacles are in the way. Simple.

There has to, sadly, be a point to the game besides just having a large map to find and there is. You are Mi, a mute girl who is voiced by two hilariously shallow and obnoxious fairies. One who reads like a 16 year old who's read a book her parents didn't want her to read and is proud of it and one who is a deliberate opposite to that. Yawn. You have to ring six bells situated in various places throughout the map which are obviously difficult to get to. To reach them you have to pay guards to let you through (you know, because in a situation where you have to do something to save the world (which is the reason given) you're only allowed to do it if you pay people off) and you get the stuff to pay them by doing quests for characters you find along the way.

These quests take the form of platforming of varying degrees of difficulty, from regular jumping and wall climbing to changing into a ball to bounce around and using an assortment of power-ups which allow you to fly around. The platforming is, largely, good. It fits with the slower exploration-based pace of the game. You've never in enough of a rush to get anywhere so the time you have to spend on reaching somewhere or something a bit out of the way isn't a great downside. Some of them are much harder than others but there's no real need to go for 100% and complete all of the quests, so no big deal. The controls can be a little sensitive at times but even with my controller that constantly moves left I managed everything with little fuss. My main complaint in relation to this is what I can only describe as bad quality. Jumping on to a ledge, landing just at the edge of it and becoming stuck. Climbing a wall only for it to apparently be made of several objects on top of one another and getting stuck. It happens a lot, and it's really jarring. All the things I'm saying about pacing and so on get really spoiled when you find one of these problems.

It's a good thing the exploration aspect of the game is so engaging because the stuff you explore isn't that engaging at all. Apart from the two annoying fairies mentioned the world you're in is one below ground (obviously) by an assortment of magical creatures because humans destroyed the surface. Fine. Except they're all smug and apparently self-aware about not destroying things themselves, only for two competing religions to emerge centred around technology. Your arrogant teenaged fairy really loves this. Whenever the game tries to espouse rhetoric on these subjects I found myself rolling my eyes and losing a lot of the previously built-up immersion. I get that you have to explore something, but I got the distinct impression I was playing a game which thinks it's much smarter than it is. Even the creator's self-insertions of himself to give it some smug self-aware comment about the game (when you go through the non-wall during one of the out of map challenges and find him (or at the end which is a heap of *****)) or the extra mini-games you can play when you find all the save points and get a few minigames you can play which deliberately subvert other genres. It's tedious. It detracts from the actual enjoyment you can get out of this game.

If you buy into all of this and the world you will absolutely adore this game and spend much more than the 15-20 hours I spent exploring and completing everything. Even all of the stuff which seems obnoxiously difficult to reach. This game loves a hidden passage in a wall. Me, with a view of playing it with trophies in mind (you could easily play the whole thing and not get near one) had fun from some aspects but not others. I think the positives outweigh the negatives though, just. I'll remember a game where I explored a world which was fun to move around but found nothing redeeming in doing so.

 

[NobleSix]

Just played through Inside.

It's a short game (~3 hours) but holy **** it was incredible. The storyline is so vague but well crafted that it's created dozens of theories online. It's like when you spot symbolism and themes in a book, but instead you're playing through a game with no dialogue. Really amazing art style and gameplay. Might be the best 3 hours you can spend on a single player game tbh.

Anyone play it? I've read a lot of cool theories online, some really interesting takes on the game and ending. Didn't see a thread on it but I'd love to discuss theories with people.

Along with its predecessor Limbo, I found that this game was not only one of the best platformers I've ever played, but it was some of the most fun I've had playing games period. The simplicity of gameplay and its controls, its ambiguous story, and the unique visual style really stuck with me. Its a very amazing game.

I'm confident in saying that not a single person that played this game guessed the ending before it happened. A great twist that leaves the entire point of the adventure up in the air, and provides so many avenues for post-completion discussion.

The game is short, but sweet, and ends right before you even think of getting "tired" of the gameplay. It never feels repetitive as all puzzles are different and require a different way of thinking to figure them out. Definitely the best platformer I have ever played, and I find myself at a loss when trying to think of something it did poorly, or even something that I didn't like.

It's definitely the best platformer I have ever played, and I rarely say a game is "perfect", but for me this was the perfect platformer. 10/10.

 

[Warden of the North]

Witcher 3 (main game no DLC)

10/10

I have no complaints at all about this game. Anything i can come up with is nit-picky.

Great visuals. Great gameplay. Great story.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Rapidfire ratings:

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
Feels like they tried to Call of Duty-fy the game in several aspects, from the side missions in helicopters and chain guns to the increased pace, along with the dogfighting mode which is too prevalent. Step down from the excellent Ace Combat 6.
Rating: 5/10 (Average)

Alien: Isolation (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
Does the game feel a tad cheap at times? Perhaps. Does the backtracking detract from the experience? A little. Do I think it's a game that will stand the test of time? Most definitely. Simple game that oozes in atmosphere and excellent production value, one of my favorites of the 2010s.
Rating: 9/10 (Highest Recommendation)

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Alien: Isolation (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
Does the game feel a tad cheap at times? Perhaps. Does the backtracking detract from the experience? A little. Do I think it's a game that will stand the test of time? Most definitely. Simple game that oozes in atmosphere and excellent production value, one of my favorites of the 2010s.
Rating: 9/10 (Highest Recommendation)

This game is interesting to me. I've never played it, but everyone online seems to love it, yet the critics were highly critical of the game (IGN gave it 5.9/10, Gamespot gave it 6/10). It's pretty rare to see such a huge divide between gamers and critics on the quality of a game.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

This game is interesting to me. I've never played it, but everyone online seems to love it, yet the critics were highly critical of the game (IGN gave it 5.9/10, Gamespot gave it 6/10). It's pretty rare to see such a huge divide between gamers and critics on the quality of a game.

Even the critics were divided. Some esteemed publications like PC Gamer gave it their Game of the Year award, for instance.

It's a tough game, the Xenomorph can feel a little cheap at times (though being super careful at moments can alleviate that) and I do think the game could have cut out a little fat for most gamers, perhaps less backtracking would be nice.

Still, among the many games that came out this decade this is easily one of the most focused, which is why I think Alien Isolation will be able to stand the test of time (compared to a lot of kitchen sink AAA releases these days).

While I am at it, another fast one:

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
I remember how excited I was when this little game was ready for release. My local Futureshop even had a $10 off special on pre-order release, and when I went to go pick it up there were no copies left. That was 10 years ago. TEN ****ING YEARS!!!!

You play the role of Mr. or Ms. Prisoner, arrested and sentenced by the local government at a time of great convenience.........do I really need to go further? It's Elder Scrolls. An impossible amount of quests, a decent if uninspired main quest line, big world full of cities and towns and caves and all that good ****. Ten years later, the game has obviously aged in various way. Gameplay lacks some of the features from Skyrim, obviously, but nothing to the point where it feels like a massive step back. Although Skyrim was far more detailed and pretty, I still have a soft spot for the land of Cyrodiil. Not much else to say. Game has some glitches, can be improved through mods, so on and so forth. Still a ton of fun.
Rating: 8.5/10 (Highest Recommendation with caveats)

 

[Ceremony]

Rayman Legends (PS3, 2013)

I can't really start this with anything other than a return to Rayman Origins on the page before. Imagine the same game with a slightly less intuitive series of menu screens and there you are. It's even literally the same game to an extent, since almost all of the Origins levels are included in Legends. It lengthens the quite short play time of the game, although having played Origins right before I wasn't as into them as I might otherwise have been.

I'm trying to think of other things to say which are unique about this game but can't. There's a bit more variation between the worlds which is good. The colours and designs seem much more vivid which is great. The sound and music is top notch as well and it leads to worlds which are simply fun to play through. Music is only copied from the previous games on a few occasions.

Additions from Origins include the Kung Foot minigame which would no doubt be great fun if I had any friends, the replacement of speedruns with specific speed levels where it's a race to the end against a range of obstacles but much like before, all the speedrun levels are designed specifically to get through quickly with a good rhythm. It's good platforming level design. The pinnacle of which occurs in the music levels. Witness:



The only downside is that there's only six different ones of these. If rhythm games were still a thing you could have a great game based around them. Platforming, collecting things, all to good music. There's a good distinctiveness to the music levels as well, they're not coherent in the way the speedrun levels I've mentioned are. Maybe it's the music, all the things in the background joining in. It's almost worth playing the game for these alone.

With the game being easier than Origins it feels like there's less to do or less time to spend on it, but fortunately we have daily and weekly challenges! Which have very little variation - collect collectibles, run as far as you can in a level, collect so many collectibles as quickly as you can, that sort of thing. Finishing everything in the game itself isn't a very time-consuming thing. I managed it in about five days. To give you an idea of the extent of the fabricated replayability, to unlock all the characters and fully level up (you get a level based on the cups you get in the normal levels and the challenges), it'll take about another three months of doing two challenges a day and then the two weekly ones. At least three months. That's not really much fun. Nor is it genuinely something which extends the life of the game.

I'd be very annoyed if I'd got this at launch and I feel as if there should be more to it, but what there is is as much fun as before - if not moreso. Can't really argue with that.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

BATTLEFIELD: HARDLINE (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Wow did this game ever..........mediocre.
Rating: 5/10

Payday 2 (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Once you get past some......past transgressions, the game is a lot of fun with friends, superior to Hardline. Single-player AI is terrible.
Rating: 7/10

 

[aleshemsky83]

"new" Super Mario Bros. DS (2006)

Great game. First half was mind numbingly easy, second half was fairly challenging. Great controls and physics for lack of a better word.

 

[aleshemsky83]

You know what it is

Super Mario 64

Still the gold standard for platformers, still hasn't been surpassed. Everything here is perfect.

Did not get all 120 stars, but I got the 70 and beat bowser. The thing that sticks out to me is that when this game came out tommy tallarico gave it an 8/10 on reviews on the run

Easily a 10/10

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Shadow of Mordor
PC, Xbox One, PS4 (ignore the other console versions)

To my honest surprise, I found this game wasn't merely above average. Combat reminds me of the Batman Arkham series if it were a lot more visceral and fun, a good case of graphics and gameplay melding together to mask an otherwise simple concept. Nemesis system works very well and is quite innovative. Some elements such as the half baked story drag the game down slightly, but I still had an absolute blast playing this one.

8.5/10 (high recommendation)

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Realized I accidentally posted my Deus Ex review in the Deus Ex thread, will repost here and add another I just finished:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - 8/10

I'm a huge fan of the Deus Ex franchise and the original Deus Ex is one of a few games I would consider a perfect 10/10. Mankind Divided is a solid title but a little disappointing in my eyes. First off, I'd like to mention some of the technical problems. The lip syncing to audio is really off, it's distractingly bad. I had to turn on subtitles so I could just read along with what their saying because I'd lose focus with the bad lip syncing. Also, the optimization isn't that great. Some areas gave me some pretty bad frame drops and the game didn't run particularly great at any moment. With two 980s, at 1440p, I had to play at medium just to maintain 60fps and often times it would drop randomly to the 30s. They could definitely use some better optimization.

The gameplay is solid, it's pretty much more of the same from Human Revolution which certainly isn't a bad thing. I thought running from cover to cover felt a bit clunky but that could just be me, I played mostly without using the cover feature. AI seemed fine, I can't comment on gunplay really because I went for a ghost, non-lethal run.

The biggest disappointment for me though:

[spoil]
The ending. You work so hard and no matter what, even after looking at the other endings on Youtube, the ending seems kind of just tossed together like your actions didn't make much of a difference. They focus too much on a sequel in the ending and it's just dark no matter what. I get that maybe they wanted to go for a dark ending no matter what because that's the world they live in but they could have tried to sum the story up better rather than making it seem like there's a whole other half of the game to play.[/spoil]


Overall, definitely think it's worth it if you're into these kinds of games, but I wouldn't consider it a must play. Still enjoyable for sure and I'll still get a sequel if/when they make one.


Castle of Illusion - 6/10

I got this because it was on sale for $2.25 on Steam and I remember hearing good things about it. Castle of Illusion is a Disney platformer where you play as Mickey trying to save Minnie. The game has a nice art style and all the levels are set in their unique worlds. The gameplay is pretty average, the boss battles were pretty average. Serves as a bit of nostalgia. It was also pretty short at just about 2 hours which seems perfect for what it was. Just a pretty average game overall really that looked pretty nice.

 

[vippe]

Duck Tales: Remastered
Capcom, Wii U

Not as good as the original but still enjoyable, a few things killed the pace of the game and some of the bosses could have been handled better I believe.

7/10

Yoshi's Island
Nintendo, SNES
One of the most beautiful games ever. It still looks fantastic even 20 years after release. I have been playing this game since forever but actually never completed it until a few weeks back.

8.5/10

S.C.A.T
Natsume, NES

The name doesnt really tell the story about this one hehe. A rarity for the format which has Contra-like gameplay but without running on the ground and flying in the air instead. It's a wicked good sci-fi shoot em' up. Very hard though, cant understand why it's not on more lists over difficult game for the NES. Easily harder than Contra for instance which is on almost every list. Availible on the Wii U VC for cheap if you dont wanna spend 100+$ on the NES version

7.7/10

Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition
Drinkbox Studios, Wii U

A modern metroidvania game which is brilliant in every aspect. Pays homage to great games like Metroid and Super Mario, tons of humor, beautiful graphics and just very enjoyable gameplay. Played it with the wife and she even liked it more than me.

8.7/10

 

[aleshemsky83]

Journey

Living proof that great gameplay isn't everything. Style, atmosphere, great cinematic style, and most of all Co-Op

This game is not 1% as good without the coop, I actually reached the end but my partner got lost or fell, so I waited a full minute for him to catch up so we could cross the finish line together. Great experience