Last Game You Finished And Your Thoughts V3.0

If I hadn't gone away for the weekend for my grandad's 80th then I would have finished this on Friday, not that it's short but as I got it on Thursday and all I would have done was play it till I beat it.

Now I have read the things in the Spider-Man thread and to me, it does feel like Arkham combat as my knowledge of Spidey is the films, toys and the 90s cartoon along with a few other things and it's easier in a way to compare a game to a game which unfortunately for better or worse I'm doing with Spider-Man.

I don't think it is good as the first two Rocksteady Arkham games if we're looking at superhero games and if we're looking at single player games just from this year it's not even close to God of War.

Spider-Man and this might sound daft feels like a video game, on how the missions are done, the combat to me, I can imagine Insomniac in a room going we need this this and this put it all together in a highly polished state where going back to God of War that felt like an experience and I wanted to finish that due to the story where Spider-Man which I may even platinum I want to play because it's a fun video game.

I do think the pacing is off, the villains are underutilised but VO is great and MJ is an actual person, some great Marvel nods which means there is a lot to like and worth playing but not something I'd consider GOTY or anything like that.

Jimbob wrote:

BOO! BE OLDER.

In retrospect there is a lot of relying on in-jokes, and they could have tried a bit harder with the ending. The walkthrough thing surprised me though - did  you try the hint line?

I'm working on it! Unfortunately.

I completely forgot that existed. Give it an extra half-mark maybe.

Looking forward to reading dem case reports!

YOOKA-LAYLEE - for people that have images turned off or something

Well, nostalgia at what cost? I dunno. As I've probably said elsewhere, when I started in Shipwreck Creek - this game's equivalent of Spiral Mountain - I nearly did a cry, such was my happiness at being in familiar territory. I'll keep this one brief, but, as many great people before me (probably a few pages before me) have said, it's a new game like the Rare N64 games, which means the rough and the smooth. There are 2-minute-long sessions of - literally - jumping through hoops. Sometimes the camera would like you to see the floor, or the ceiling, half-way through a jump. Bosses change the rules from everything else in the game, and can't really be completed without some assumption that you're going to get hit at some point. But then there's also the joy of exploring, climbing to the top of a mountain and surveying all the collectibles. The collectibles themselves, with the "ooh, piece of candy. ooh, piece of candy.. ooh, piece of candy." feeling. And it's absolutely joyous to meet up with the next NPC, with the silly BK/YL voices, and the daft British humour. This game contains two of the best jokes I've ever seen in a videogame (for those in the know, "casino/miner" and "rod/tongue").

If I was to give it a score, it'd be 6-9/10 - it varies between frustrating and excellent. Frustrexcellent.

Jimbob wrote:

6-9.

Nice.

I trust Jim's reasoning more than I would many people's: that's a very well reasoned write-up. I suppose it averages out at a 7.5/10? Anyway, I won't condemn it to the 'Will Never Realistically Play' pile yet - it sounds like if you take the rough with the smooth, it's a rewarding experience.

I think it's unfair on Banjo-Kazooie to say the roughness of Yooka-Laylee is a holdover from that era. Yooka-Laylee suffers a lot more than Banjo.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Jimbob wrote:

6-9.

Nice.

Nice.

Balladeer wrote:

I trust Jim's reasoning more than I would many people's: that's a very well reasoned write-up.  I suppose it averages out at a 7.5/10?  Anyway, I won't condemn it to the 'Will Never Realistically Play' pile yet - it sounds like if you take the rough with the smooth, it's a rewarding experience.

Never trust my reasoning.

OrangeRakoon wrote:

I think it's unfair on Banjo-Kazooie to say the roughness of Yooka-Laylee is a holdover from that era. Yooka-Laylee suffers a lot more than Banjo.

I can see your point there - Banjo-Kazooie was a bit more compact, with a lot less filler to have to deal with. Banjo's still in my "ULTIMATE TOP EVER" list!

or I'd like to call it Tomb Raider: Shadow of Spider-Man as much like Rise which came out the same time as Fallout 4 (also was Xbox timed exclusive) has been overlooked, which we can see from salezzz numbers along with the mixed reviews (is on like 83 Metacritic now though) not helping either.

Which is a bit of a shame as SotTR is a dam good game, is it the best of Camilla Luddington Trilogy? No, as it seems much shorter and linear compared to Rise, which you could argue is a good thing as it drives the story forward.

With that said with more set-pieces and cinematic nature, does make it feel even more like Uncharted especially the very start, I thought I was playing Lost Legacy.

If you want a very good Action Adventure game, you can't go wrong with SotTR also looks stunning on Xbox One X.

It does some neat things as well like I know Balla is bad at aiming & shooting this allows you to customise your play style, so he could have combat set to easy but puzzles on hard, there's also accessibility options, streaming options and the neatest you can set in the language options that NPC's speak their native tongue and not just English but the one issue is Lara still talks to them in English.

Double Post

Now with Spidey and Lara, I post on there own as those I thought were big games but taking stuff on board from Balla as I've played some smaller games I've waited till I'd either played something big like Spidey or I've got something to say, well I've got something to say

Maybe they've done something to Dear Esther in the port, but as I mentioned on Twitter, I don't think I've played a game that bored me as much as that one. I found it to have nearly no player engagement even compared to other games in its genre and I regretted the 90 minutes or so I spent with it.

See I went thinking what you said, and I also surprised how good it is but for the technical (guess you'd say that) side of the game.

I need a bit more from a game than its visuals to impress me though - I need that interactivity to be engaging as only a video-game can be.

See I've said before in the whole debate on video game or videogames that some games have moved beyond being games, Dear Esther certainly is one of those, sure they're better examples of them but I can see why it was praised highly on original release.

Now yeah in 2018, the main positive is the technical side of things and if you want something better then Tacoma for instance is that.

The game that needs no introduction.  Setting the world on fire, and for good reason.  This is the Spider-Man game, the game we've all been waiting for.  Spider-Man 2 gave us a taste over a decade ago of what a good Spiderman game would feel like, today Insomniac showed us what a GREAT Spiderman game looks like.  

Everything about this game is what you want in a Spiderman game.  The story is great, a perfect mix of comic-book tone, amazing cinematics, and character developments.  There were even parts near the end that had me tearing up (pretty much everything between the end of the final battle through to the first end credits), a sign of a well done story right there.  This is probably the best rendition of Peter and Spidey you'll find outside the comics.  And the fact we finally got a young-adult story instead of the usual high school stuff makes it all the better.  This really felt like vintage Spidey stuff, the relatable human struggles from simply paying the rent through to stopping a insane super-villain and their apocalyptic plans.

Peter isn't the only character done well though.  Several of Spidermans most famous characters appear, and hoo boy they're probably the best they've ever been.  It's not secret that Osborn is in this, and the take of the man was both surprising and brilliant.  One other very spoilerific character also turns up, and is far and away the best incarnation they've had.  

The gameplay, dear lord the gameplay.  This is pretty much what I'd dreamed of in a Spider-Man game.  A amazing rendition of New York to swing through, amazing and flowing comtrols, and a perfect sense of giddying speed and agility.  And the combat, brilliant.  Arkham nicked stuff from old Spider-Man 2 and this game nicks it back and improves on it to bring the definitive Spidey combat system.  Responsive, fun, and faithful to the wallcrawler.  

All of this isn't to say the game is without flaws of course.  The side content is, for lack of a better term, lacking (there's three side-villains, and only one has a story beyond "go here, do this stuff, then fight them").  It's a testament to the gameplay that it was still fun as hell to 100% the game.  I mean what other game has you roaming around New York catching pigeons and having fun doing it?  Yeah, I'll wager no other game has that accolade.  

Overall this is THE Spider-Man game to play.  Anyone who's a fan of the character will one hundred percent have a blast with the game.  Even those who haven't will still likely have a great fun time.

Games like this are reminders of just why I love video games, and a fan of Spiderman.  Play it today and BE GREATER!

I don't think it was going to be much of a surprise that you enjoyed this one, Athers.

I agree with essentially everything you've said there! I read some mild criticism of the story saying that it wasn't a gripping yarn like other videogames they've played, but I reckon those folks were probably not exactly fans of Spider-Man or anything. As someone who very much digs the character, the story did what it needed to and then some for me. Top stuff, eh?

I really need to get a PS4 . . .

JayMoyles wrote:

I don't think it was going to be much of a surprise that you enjoyed this one, Athers.

I agree with essentially everything you've said there! I read some mild criticism of the story saying that it wasn't a gripping yarn like other videogames they've played, but I reckon those folks were probably not exactly fans of Spider-Man or anything. As someone who very much digs the character, the story did what it needed to and then some for me. Top stuff, eh?

I'm one of those people, now like I said in my review I am a fan of Spider-Man maybe my fav Marvel hero but my knowledge is limited to films, toys, video games and cartoons or what's been past on to me.

I did like the story and maybe in any other year or if you switched Spider-Man and God of War's releases around then maybe I would feel different but that's not the case and I played God of War first which is so much better.

Then again I only 100% one of them.

Following on from my last post:

Shenmue 2

I actually quite liked Shenmue 2, sure it had some ridiculous issues when it comes to QTEs (random parts of the string are instant fail states and some with no checkpoints even when you've completed about 20 in a row). But I felt the game had a bit more heart, a bit more to it. It didn't waste my time (although I did reload saves whilst playing Higher/Lower to make money, so that would've wasted my time otherwise) and the story felt like there was a bit more to it.

Kinda looking forward to 3 now.

Well that wasn't a very funny review. What the hell Andy?

Why are you even posting if it's not to shit all over the Shenmue series? I'm disappointed. I think that could be grounds for a temporary ban to be honest - I'll need to discuss it with Balla.

Dear The Forum,

I apologise for my strange behavior in the last post. I was clearly in a bad place and not in the right frame of mind to be posting on the forum. In future I shall not break character under any circumstance. Everything is terrible, as it should be.

Regards,
Andrew

That's much better. Your impending temporary ban has been retracted and we're back to business as usual. Please don't scare us like that again.

Well enforced Jay.  Can't have people breaking kayfabe on the forum.  If people knew that Drunka was actually tremendously shy and glues his beard on, that Mas thinks most Dreamcast games have aged badly and aren't worth playing, or that Cappa was born and bred in South Kensington, everything would fall apart.

GNamer is still real to me, dammit.

Gonna take it easy this weekend, reckon I'll bash through Oxenfree and maybe start Xenoblade 2.

Pokémon Crystal Version
3DS Virtual Console

I did it! I played through the whole of Crystal and beat Trainer Red, only catching and using second gen monsters. It was actually nowhere near as tough as I thought. Red's team are all at like level 70/ 80 but by basic application of type advantages, I beat him with a team of 50/60 'mon. SMASHED IT MATE, is what I'm saying.

Anyway, I now have a completed Blue and Crystal file on my 3DS, now I'm starting a playthrough of Omega Ruby. I want to have as much of the pokedex as possible available to link to Bank when Gen 8 hits us next year.

POKEYMANS!