Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

All discussions regarding Board, Card, and RPG Gaming, including industry discussion, that don't belong in one of the other gaming forums.

Moderators: The Preacher, $iljanus, Zaxxon

User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43496
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Blackhawk »

I just polished off The Deadly Tower of Monsters. The premise is simple: You are watching a VHS of an old low budget 50s pulp sci-fi B movie while the director records the commentary for the DVD release.

You control the characters (leading man, space woman who has never seen a man, robot) through a sort of 3D action-shooter-platformer, complete with VHS video artifacts, cheesy sci-fi soundtrack, and the director commenting on the actors, the filming, and the oddities that don't make any sense (like how player deaths were just footage accidentally left in, or how much the prop guy hated having to re-build all of the crates that got smashed.) The gameplay was fun, challenging at times, but not really tough on normal difficulty. There were optional collectibles, weapon upgrades, basics skills, and special abilities. The story has you climbing a massive, massive tower that goes from ground level to orbit, and at any point you can look down and see the entire thing, or even jump off and fall all the way down to any point you'd been at previously, landing with your trusty jetpack at the last second (and you could always teleport back.)

They pull off the B movie schtick brilliantly. The VHS effects really work, and the look is spot-on. The 'monsters' you fight are obviously guys stuck in a rubber suit, and if anything flies you can clearly see the wires. When larger monsters appear, they're animated in such a way that they look like the were filmed using stop-motion photography. You carried two melee and two ranged weapons from a large selection, all typical fun sci-fi nonsense (including one blaster that was obviously an electric razor, and one gun that was a small vacuum.)

My only real complaints were that the last chapter's narrative kind of went off the tracks, and that some of the special abilities were never really communicated to the player (I still don't know exactly what the big bubble thing that everyone had actually did.) It was a little too easy at times, but again, I played on normal. It was still tough enough that boss fights required some effort, but never to the point of being dull or frustrating. It was the perfect length for that, too, being maybe 4-5 hours. Any longer and it would have gotten tedious, but it was fine for that length of time.

Not a perfect game, but a ton of fun and a great setting. Maybe a 7.5/10.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20334
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Skinypupy »

Really late to this party, as I tend to forget this sub-forum exists. I usually track this over at GT,but that place has become a ghost town,so I figured I better save it here. You know, for posterity. :)

I played everything under the sun in 2016, but actually finished very few games. We'll see if this year fares any better.

FINISHED IN 2017
- Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood. A - This one will likely just be ongoing for the next couple years. Get to the end of the story, grind for gear, wait for next patch/expansion. Rinse, repeat. (all the hours)
- Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS) - February 6 - A. I technically "beat" this last year, but have gone back through and beaten the "Ultimate Score" for every song and unlocked every character. Now it's finished. :) (60 hours)
- Nier Automata (PS4) - March 28 - A-. I finished the first two endings, and started the third. Enjoyed it, but it hasn't quite blown me away yet like the previous game did. Will keep going for the other 4. (28 hours, so far)
- Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) - April 4 - A++++. I never expected to enjoy this, and came away completely thrilled with it. Possibly my favorite game of this generation, so far. Incredible world, an amazing heroine, a brilliant story, and engaging combat. Just stellar all around.
- Gridiron Solitaire (PC) - April 23 - B+. A wholly engaging game of football, played via solitaire. It gets dinged a point or two for some wonky AI, but a hell of a lot of fun. Played through a full season (13-2) and won the GFL cup. 23 hours.
- Dreamfall Chapters (PS4) - May 15 - B+. A wonderful story with amazing dialog and incredible voice work. Unfortunately, it got bogged down by an absolutely awful engine. Still, it was a very satisfactory ending to a series I started nearly 20 years ago. 20'ish hours.
- Nex Machina (PC) - June 30 - B+. Robotron meets Smash TV meets current-gen graphics. A chaotic blast.

Currently Playing
- Torment: Tides of Numeria (PS4)
- Everspace (PC(
- Stella Glow (3DS)
- Diablo 3 - Necro (PS4)

Played and Quit/Gave up on
- Dragon Quest VIII (3DS). Turns out my tolerance for old-school, grindy JRPG's is very low these days. Got about 15 hours in before getting bored.
- Neverwinter (PS4). While it's the best console MMO not named FF XIV, the end-game grind just isn't very fun in this one, and there's absolutely zero sense of community.
- Dragon Age Inquisition (PS4). Got about 50 hours in before wandering off to other things.
- Uncharted 4 (PS4). This series just does not click with me, at all. I just get bored every time, even though the productions values are off the charts. Around 8 hours.
- Zelda: BotW (WiiU). Couldn't hold a candle to Horizon Zero Dawn. Just seemed so dull in comparison, with no interesting story or characters to speak of. About 6 hours.
- Skyforge (PS4). Quite fun, actually, until I glanced at what it would take to actually advance. The grind was absurd...no thanks. 12 hours.
- Personal 5 (PS4). Everything about this game just rubbed me wrong. The characters, the combat, the style, the story, I actively disliked all of it from the get-go. 4 hours.
- Mass Effect Andromeda (PS4). One of the worst beginnings to a game in recent memory. It got a little better once you get off the starting planet, but never really got into a good story groove like previous games. Got bored around 15 hours in.
- Elder Scrolls Online (PC). Grabbed the Morrowind expansion, which was pretty fun. May go back to it later in the year. 60 hours.
- Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (3DS). Got about 20 hours in before burning out.
- Pocket Card Jockey (3DS). Possibly the best $7 I've ever spent on a game. Amazing title that is an absolute blast. One of my favorite all-time handheld games, even if the RNG can get a little gnarly at times.
- Redout (PC). Not sure how they managed to make a high speed racer dreadfully boring, but they did. Lame.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
User avatar
Jolor
Posts: 3247
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:25 am

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Jolor »

Tower of Time (pre-release)

Very enjoyable. The premise is that you put together a party of brave adventures to explore a tower that has been exposed by a rift in the earth. The tower, one would presume, has fallen from the sky seeing as it has pierced the earth and your party is actually ascending to its top as you explore further ... down.

Turning both the tower ascension and dungeon delving cliches on their heads, as it were.

Focus is on exploring, finding treasure, solving a few puzzles and RTS, party-based battles against a wave of enemies. RTS is not pausable but, instead, let's you slow the pace by hitting space bar. Selecting what 'special attack' to unleash upon your unwitting foes has the same effect and the fight returns to normal speed once the focus of your attention is selected.

The "bullet time" mechanic applied to party-based, strategic battles is the differentiator in this game as it otherwise follows classic grounds. And, in my opinion, it does a good job of implementing this unique vision.

Once you trigger a battle by encountering a group of enemies, you are taken to the battle map and you place your enemies. Taking note of cover and where enemies could spawn from is key before starting the fight. This is the meat of the game. Each hero can only be selected individually and given their immediate action (move, attack, use skill). There is no ability to issue commands to multiple members at once.

You also have the opportunity to return to your city at any time by selecting the 'city' button (no 'home' portals to find/purchase). The city is where you can level your heroes, craft equipment, etc. In order to level your heroes, however, you need to upgrade their class-specific building. The money and blueprints to upgrade those buildings are found by exploring the dungeon, I mean, tower.

The early access lets you explore the first five levels. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm very pleased with this rare (for me) early access commitment.
So sayeth the wise Alaundo.
User avatar
ChuckB
Posts: 1510
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 5:36 pm

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by ChuckB »

Currently playing:

PC/Mac:
Endless Space 2
Sniper Elite 4
DC: Barbarossa

PS3:
[Nothing]

PS4:
Assassin's Creed Origin (it's really well made and fun to play)
L.A. Noire

PS Vita:
[Nothing really at the moment]

Nintendo 3DS XL
[Nothing really at the moment]

On the short list:
Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition - PC (started but never really got into the game)
The Witcher 3 - PS4 (what a great game, need to get back into it)
Pillars of Eternity - PC (played this quite a bit but stopped, want to pick up again)
Dishonored 2 - PS4 (loved the first one and what I played of the second one, stopped playing in the mansion level)

Completed:
Blackwood Crossing - PS4
Cold Waters - PC (will continue to play but finished multiple campaigns, so calling this "finished")
MLB The Show 17 - PS4 (Played a ton of online games, won the World Series with the Cub in my first pro year, lost in game 7 of the World Series in my second year, one the title again in the third year while also being the triple crown winner)
Bomber Command (Really nice game, finished a whole campaign)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishment - PS4
Statik - PS4 VR (what a great game, short but really good)
Last edited by ChuckB on Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
Jaymann
Posts: 19321
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:13 pm
Location: California

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Jaymann »

Divinity Original Sin 2
Elex
The Quest
Jaymann
]==(:::::::::::::>
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Isgrimnur »

Assassin's Creed. Yes, the first one.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Smoove_B
Posts: 54567
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 am
Location: Kaer Morhen

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Smoove_B »

The second and third ones are so much better! They've really improved the game, so don't judge the series by the first one.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Isgrimnur »

Good to know, as it was pretty repetitive by the end. There wasn't as much stealth involved as I would have hoped. Of course, I bounce off of the Hitman series, so what do I know?
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: Games Finished: 2017 - Now with 100% less 2016.

Post by Archinerd »

New Year's Resolution, finish Witcher 3. Though to do that I actually have to spend time playing it this year.
Post Reply