Last game you finished and your thoughts

ZeroJones wrote:

Well, I got the credits...

Dr. Luigi

It's Dr. Mario with a green HD sheen. A further novelty is the L-mode, which I couldn't get to grips with and have so abandoned. The on-line paired me with someone after a minute's wait and seems lag-free. However, even at the current price of £8.99, do you really want to play Dr. Mario again?

6/10

Think that's the sort of review I need to read. My feelings towards Dr. Mario have changed a lot in the last six months; true, it would have been left in the early 90s if Mario didn't feature in it, but it's not that bad of a game at all and nowhere near as hate-able as it has been throughout the rest of my gaming life so far. Still, as you've highlighted, "do (I) really want to play Dr. Mario again?".

A weekend after it came out, I've completed Yoshi's New Island. Go me.

This is just so consciously retro that it's frustrating. While little in the game irritates, it's consistently disappointing in the way that it doesn't approach the idea of doing anything remotely forward-thinking whatsoever. This is a much closer retread of Super Mario World: Yoshi's Island than Yoshi's Story or Yoshi's Island DS ever were, and not a particularly successful one at that. Just about everything from the SNES original is reused in a wholly unimaginative way. While that might not come as a surprise to anyone reading, it also fails to demonstrate the 3DS's capabilities, and doesn't play as sublimely as any of the 2D Yoshi platformers before it. Again, probably not too much of a revelation either.

I could go on, but basically I feel short-changed.

5/10.

And no one is surprised. Yoshi deserves so much better than a bunch of ex-Artoon developers.

Tales of Xillia



It has been far too long since I finished a game, this was the latest to fall to the wayside from the might of me.  And this is very possibly my favourite Tales of game, problems that plagued the previous two I've played such as Abyss and Graces F were not present in this one.  In fact this was one of the smoothest yet most epic jrpgs I've played in a long while.  Gone was the awful amount of backtracking that hampered Abyss, and gone was the borderline awful story of Graces.

The cast was well rounded and entertaining, Jude the protagonist was more than a tad cliche but that was more than made up for by his co-protagonist Milla Maxwell who's story I'm currently playing through.  And the rest of the cast was great as well, Alvin being heads and shoulders my favourite.  Those who've played the game may wonder why given all his antics, but I just couldn't help but love his cool demeanor and attitude.  The story was well done as well, being Tales of it was still cliche but it was well done cliche, so that's fine.  

And for those that won't play the game and don't care about spoilers regarding Alvin:

The battle system was also great, it felt a bit like a mix of the previous two systems I'd experienced, or maybe I was just absolutely rubbish with Luke in Abyss, I couldn't combo in that one to save my life yet both Asbel and Jude were fairly easy to get one going with.  

Alas I do have criticisms, or rather just one.  It may surprise some that I didn't have a issue with Milla's voice, nor did I mind the shorter length of the game (which honestly I think helped make it feel more focused and meant it didn't overstay its welcome), no, it's the music.  The game had a few highlights but otherwise it was, in my opinion, a far poorer showing than even Graces, Sakuraba for the most part produced pieces that sounded like they were phoned in, and only occasionally were there flashes of brilliance.  Normally I wouldn't even bring background music of a game up as a flaw, but the music at times plain distracted me because of how... well, not bad, but poor that it was.  At this point I think they should really think about bringing a new composer to get some new blood flowing.  

Overall the game is a solid 8.8 out of 10 for me, one of the better jrpg's I've played and one I enjoyed a lot, and I'm very much looking forward to the sequel.  



I also finished Soul Calibur II HD Online.  Really I don't have too much to say about that one as it was the exact same game besides having a very very lovely HD sheen.  Overall I'd give it the same rating as I'd give the original version, which would be 9 out of 10.  It was a blast of nostalgia.

Will you be picking up the HD release of Symphonia.

Definitely, I've heard people talk about Symphonia a lot so the hd port is very high up on my radar.

Do it! I've played four Tales games (Symphonia, Symphonia 2, Vesperia, Abyss) and Symphonia is easily my favourite. Apparently it still stands up really well today, too.

Like Jimbob I just finished SteamWorld Dig. It's an addictive game, and I didn't know before I bought it that it was quite so Metroidvania with its exploring and upgrading. Very satisfying when you get to the point where you're super powerful too and can just blitz through the world without having to worry about falling too far or meeting unexpected enemies. I had some minor frustrations about the regular backtracking but that was all, really.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown



I'd been dying to play this ever since I saw a gameplay video for it, as it seemed entirely up my alley. And I was right!

If I was to describe the game in five words or less, I'd go with "unforgiving Fire Emblem with aliens". But to leave it at that would be a disservice to just how good this game is. Certainly, it's a very similar beast to Fire Emblem - it's a turn based strategy game where if your unit dies, it is dead for good. Each unit can become one of four different classes, with the potential to unlock extra powers on top of the class they are assigned. You move them around the battlefield from cover to cover, battling aliens who are trying to invade Earth. The strategy is on a deeper level than Fire Emblem, as you really have to focus on positioning your troops. Do you put your soldier into a partially covered area where they can put themselves onto overwatch, allowing them to attack any alien approaching, or do you make them dash to full cover, but removing their ability to perform an action once they get there? Decisions like these are common in every mission, and the game really plays into the idea of the armchair commander.

On top of the combat, there's the money management system. You can put money and resources into a variety of areas, like research, engineering, aircraft, or into training your troops, as well as keeping the countries of Earth panic-free. Again, it's all about making you feel stretched thin - do you spend cash on some new weaponry for your troops in the field, or do you buy a new aircraft to shoot down the alien UFOs? It all serves to build a real sense of dread - which is only heightened in the field as tougher and tougher aliens are fielded against you as the war wages on.

I really enjoyed naming my marines as well - it helped to create an emotional connection with the guys and girls fighting for me, and it did help increase that sense of dread as your units died, as opposed to just seeing a faceless goon shot down. I had a real blast with it - sure, it's rock hard, and I had to drop down to Normal difficulty because my "HARDCOREEEE" gaming mind thought I could beat it on Ironman mode, but it feels satisfying as opposed to hollow when you outwit the enemy and perfectly strategise your way to victory. Definitely one of my favourite games I've played in a long, long time.

10/10

I really did enjoy what I played of xcom & I must get back to finishing it off one day, more my thing with the sci fi/alien setting too.

I put this here now because of the podcast (you forgot king of the fighters, guilty gear & blazblue guys), A bit like Titanfall which I put my thoughts about there's no real end point but at least that did try.

This on the other is as bare-bones as you can get there's versus which is just 1 match, survival mode which is the meat & potatoes, dojo and online.

The dojo does what it says on the tin it teaches you how to do all combos, online is okay but in games like this which is 1 on 1 unless your good at it or playing with mates that you know are going to be a similar level or your going to get thrashed like that woman at E3 playing some randomer.

So I've spent most of my time in survival mode which is just you taking on character after character but being only 7 of them at the moment with a 8th coming, you see them again and again. After each fight you regain health at the early fights you get back a lot but soon as your on about 20 in you'll only get a bit. The real reason to this mode is that you earn KP points which you can then spend to buy skins, arenas, art etc and level up and have nice emblems by your name online COD style.

And that's about it in the way of what you can do but this is a fighter and they've not been known in till recently for having great or that many modes. So how is this to actually play well surprisingly very well going from injustice on the ps4 to this was a huge leap. This is the better fighter, combos are good, balance seems decent. I can see why it's now at EVO as it's up there with some of the best.

It looks great as well it's not really pushing the Xbox One, it could of been done on the 360 but particle effects from some moves are rather nice.

So some final thoughts, remember this game can be played for free so if you do have a xbox one or do pick one up it is worth playing but the free character changes every so often and that's the one your stuck with, I had Jago. I did buy the Combo Breaker pack (£15) which gives me all 8 characters and possibility to unlock all achievements which you can't do if you don't buy it, there is a more expensive version which adds extra costumes and the original SNES game but that's £16 more which doesn't seem worth it to me. Seeing SNES games are like £6 on Wii U's VC and a costume is just a costume. There is other options like you can buy one character at £4 (I think), and just play as them which isn't a bad shout as if your like me. You find someone you like and never play as anyone else again but as this controls different to the SNES & N64 it might not be the best of ideas as I used to be excellent with Orchid but now I suck with her and I will do survival mode with all 8 characters for instance as well.

So I'm giving this two scores a 5/10 for lacking in content but also a 8/10 for the core gameplay.

masofdas wrote:

(you forgot king of the fighters, guilty gear & blazblue guys)

All Japanese.

Which they are, didn't you also bring up about there not being many fighting games and no one really apart from Capcom, Namco that do them and only the 1 in the west being NetherRealm. I can't think of any other western of the top of my head at the moment though.

I give you this. There's some other's from the past but looking from gen 7 & 8 that's about it.

A question about XCOM Jay, how playable would it be on a ps3? I could dig a deep sci-fi strategy rpg at the moment, but I want to know how well it might play on a game console given I've heard pc strategy games don't typically translate well control wise.

Athrun888 wrote:

A question about XCOM Jay, how playable would it be on a ps3?  I could dig a deep sci-fi strategy rpg at the moment, but I want to know how well it might play on a game console given I've heard pc strategy games don't typically translate well control wise.  

It worked when I played it at Eurogamer t'other year. It's turn-based and played on a grid- if you've been able to get your fingers around Advance Wars, Fire Emblem or anything Nippon Ichi have made, you'll be fine.

Cool, glad to hear that, I'll order it now then.    Thanks for your help.

I played it on PS3 and it was a dream, though it did occasionally crash but either regular saving or playing on Ironman avoids that issue.

Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright



http://www.n-europe.com/reviews/professor-layton-vs-phoenix-wright-ace-attorney

Full review there. In short, it's an amazing story with great gameplay from both Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright franchises. I was gripped from the very start to the very end.

Also, the graphics are beautiful and the soundtrack is outstanding.

Buskalilly wrote:

masofdas wrote:

5/10 for lacking in content but also a 8/10

It does seem confusing but what I was trying to say the fighting is 8/10 but there's no where to do it, even Mortal Kombat II from 1992 had more value then KI as you if your like me you'd finish it with all the characters to see all the different endings. Maybe I should of just given it a 6.5 but if you can make it last by getting extremely good at it for online then it's closer to 8/10.

So kind of like how Titanfall has brilliant mechanics, but has very few modes, a shockingly terrible "campaign", no private matches or lobbies, no clan matches, very little customisation and other glaring omissions that means that it should in no way be given a high score by any respected publication?

Cube wrote:

So kind of like how Titanfall has brilliant mechanics, but has very few modes, a shockingly terrible "campaign", no private matches or lobbies, no clan matches, very little customization and other glaring omissions that means that it should in no way be given a high score by any respected publication?

I gave it a 9/10 myself as I've got just over 10hrs of play out of it all ready and still about 12 levels of 50. Also was any one expecting a good campaign, I didn't even know there was one in till I saw reviews and I like the slight lack of customization as everyone seems to be more on level playing field. Lack of modes is a bit annoying and hopefully with the DLC there will be more to mix it up a bit.

Athrun888 wrote:

A question about XCOM Jay, how playable would it be on a ps3?  I could dig a deep sci-fi strategy rpg at the moment, but I want to know how well it might play on a game console given I've heard pc strategy games don't typically translate well control wise.  

I played with a 360 pad and found the controls to work very well - as good if not better than mouse and keyboard controls.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, PS4


So this turned up today even though the tracker said it should of been here Tuesday. So I pooped it in this afternoon and I've now done the story mission in 1hr 40mins if I knew where things were I reckon I could do it in 20mins. So if you seen on the internet how short it is well unfortunately it is.

But if you're a fan of MGS you do need to play this even at RRP the soundtrack (which I will be posting some of), cut-scenes etc all set it up nicely for phantom pain and that's what it is a set-up for a game coming next year and this is just to whet your appetite in till it does.

I've been playing on PS4 and it looks gorgeous, one of the best things I've seen on any 8th gen system, which brings me to one thing if it looks god with the team working on it for 4 systems and the power difference between a 360 & PS4 quite a bit what could they do if they solely focused on PS4 & ONE.

So this is a DEMO yeah but it's the second best one you'll ever play so it's getting a 8/10.

Also Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland can piss off.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Well, I've now played through all the numbered Metal Gear Solid games. In fact, the only Metal Gear game I haven't completed is Peace Walker, which I'm kinda wanting to power through now seeing as V is out tomorrow.

Anyhoo, as always, Kojima came through. People give this game a hard time but I enjoyed it. It didn't have the precision of story that MGS1 or MGS3 had, and it wasn't quite as bananas as MGS4, but it was still top gaming. The wierdest thing I've found playing through the series is how similar the first four games (Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2). Even across so many generations of games console, the gameplay ideas are actually really similar. It just shows how forwards-thinking Kojima was in the 80s.

As for the story; it droned on during a few bits but all the stuff with identity and what you can believe and what makes soldiers was gripping and interesting and not even confusing so everyone can shut the hell up.

9/10
Metal Geeeeaaarrrrrrr??

So have you played at AC!D Buska, and if you can play peace walker before MGSV:GZ as I didn't and I had to read about it in GZ.

Update on my MGSV: Ground Zeroes Review


I could edited it in but you could of all ready read it and this fairly big and note worthy. The review was for the main story mission, on backloggery you've got a beaten option in this games case I would say that's the story, completed would be side ops etc, mastered would be S-Rank all of them all trophies etc.

Well I completed it last night, I redid the story mission for a certain reason, then i did the side ops and the PlayStation exclusive mission Déjà vu which was excellent. So that's me pretty much done, overall I spent about 5 hours with the game which is rather decent for my £18.

I'm also going to change my score to a 8.5 as the side ops do make the game last longer but will leave you wanting more metal gear & don't really add to much to what will be V's complete story.