Last game you finished and your thoughts

Aye, at some point I want to create a new character and do all the "evil-ish" bits - thieves, assassins, some of the Daedra quests. I think I still prefer Oblivion though.

andyman949 wrote:

Stop forgetting Pikmin 3 guys, that's the best damn game on the system!

Totally forgot about it

Ploughed through Blok Drop U from the Wii U eShop this morning, all 79p of it.

The physics and basic gameplay mechanics are well-implimented, but it's very short and is something of a one-trick pony. Yet for how little it costs, it's fine. 5/10.

Finished Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land from the Wii U eShop yesterday.

I genuinely never knew that it was a remake of Kirby's Adventure on NES. I got the fifth world before realising 'hauld on, this is all a bit familiar'. It's a decent game - although probably much better in 2003 - but I can't help but feel that I've been a little bit ripped off, especially considering that I've already got the NES original on Wii U through the 30p Ambassador deal.

Difficult to fault much of what makes up the game itself, mind. 7/10.

Catherine (360)



Yes, I've beaten my first 360 game (well, technically, found 1 of 8 possible endings.) This is an interesting one. Basically, if Pullblox was directed by David Lynch and featured an anime about a man struggling with relationship issues in between each level, it would play like this.

It was difficult in places, but I really enjoyed the story, and I never saw the twist coming.

8/10.

Balladeer wrote:

I think that's probably going to be a game I never finish.  As Fronkhead mentioned, the voice-acting is from the same school of awful that did Rayman's Lums, and I'm no great fan of score-attacks either.

Me too, I was only playing it because there wasn't much to be playing at the time.

Zero Jones' review is on the money from what I've played, it's inoffensively made but there's a few design decisions that hold it back for me and make it feel a bit too disposable rather than something you'd ever want to return to.

SILLLLVER MEDAL!!!

Axis1500 wrote:

Catherine (360)



Yes, I've beaten my first 360 game (well, technically, found 1 of 8 possible endings.) This is an interesting one. Basically, if Pullblox was directed by David Lynch and featured an anime about a man struggling with relationship issues in between each level, it would play like this.

It was difficult in places, but I really enjoyed the story, and I never saw the twist coming.

8/10.

Which ending did you get.

Shadow of the Colossus

Wow. I don't even know where to begin with this game. I finished it more than a week ago but its taken me this long too consolidate my thoughts. A really incredible experience, from start to finish. The visuals are gorgeous, from the hauntingly beautiful landscapes to the mind-blowing colossi. The music, as demonstrated by Jay here, was sublime. The gameplay was tailor made for me; the exploration of a Zelda game built into what was basically a bunch of 3D platforming levels, all tied together with a great story and a very affecting message.

Me being me, it was impossible to ignore the debt several of my favourite recent games owe to this. The Galaxy games have a couple of boss fights where Mario clambers all over a giant monster. Twilight Princess pinched it's whole look from SotC. Skyward Sword had the sword-based dousing and the stamina metre. Shigsy obviously played and enjoyed this...

10/10
'natch.

After playing this, can you understand how at every event I'm hoping to see the dam last guardian in some form.

Glad to hear you enjoyed SotC Drunka! Absolutely superb title, and it's deservedly a modern classic.

Dark Souls 2



A lot of what I said in my thoughts for the first still holds true for the sequel, the souls games are one of the most rewarding you can play but in terms of design there are too many disappointing bosses in DSII & the how you progress to/find new areas isn't as clever as the last game.

The story is delivered in a better way as you have NPCs telling you about the history of Drangleic and not just themselves and how they got there also I either had a big smile on my face or goosebumps when I noticed nods to the first DS as well, PvP has improved a whole lot (even though I still suck at it) and no longer devolves into a backstabbing contest, melee combat is still has that satisfying weight to it & you will still punch the air after a really tense encounter.

It was always going to be tough to top or even match DS especially with a different director at the helm but even though Dark Souls 2 could be better in places it's still bloody brilliant!

9/10

I totally get what you mean by the bosses - it felt like too many of the bosses in DSII were variations on "dude with armour".

Pop'n Twinbee: Rainbow Bell Adventures

A SNES platformer outing for the usually-shooting-'em-up cutesy pastel spaceship whatsits. Now, Konami are responsible for some awesome SNES platform games (Legend Of The Mystical Ninja, Super Castlevania IV, Buster Busts Loose!...) but RBA isn't quite amongst them. The game's most fun mechanic - charging a meter to allow your character to shoot round the screen like Superman in a specified direction - gets far too little real use. Your character slides off diagonal platforms with enormous momentum and the whole thing smacks of a flawed Sonic clone. Whilst RBA is good fun in parts, there are better VC platformers out there.

11/20

Both finished for the third time and completed for the first time (my first platinum trophy!!   ) Tales of Xillia a little while ago.  



Not much to say that I didn't already say the first time I finished it besides that Alvin the traitor is still awesome, and the jude milla role reversal is still great and a fun twist on the usual dynamic between the male and female lead.

Now to play something else before Tales of Suits Xillia 2 comes out.

JayMoyles wrote:

I totally get what you mean by the bosses - it felt like too many of the bosses in DSII were variations on "dude with armour".

Aye, not good when I can count my favourite bosses on one hand either.

Which were your favourites then? We can move to the Souls thread so not to as clog up here with too much DSII discussion.   

Sonic Lost World

To borrow a bit of football terminology, Sonic Lost World (Wii U) is a game of two halves. The first half is a fun, bright and breezy game with a lot of choice in how to play it. The second half is not quite as slick: I spent most of it thinking "Who thought this would be fun?" The game has lots of ideas but not all of them work by any stretch. It's a shame, as Sonic was on a real upward trend after Colours and Generations. 

10/20

Right so,

Knytt Underground

My opinion of this game won't be everyone's. I had an Acorn Electron as a kid (sometimes I know I say BBC Micro, as the Acorn's bigger brother is the one everyone knows from their time at school); alongside all the generic early 80s arcade game rip-offs and Much Better Versions of Boulderdash, there were a number of flick-screen puzzle platformer adventures, e.g. Citadel - VVVVVV is a more recent and direct homage to these. They reason why these games proved popular was not any kind of fighting against the inhabitants of the world, but the exploration, the discovery of a new item that can be used to solve a problem elsewhere, or a secret path or shortcut. (side note: this is a point about e.g. the Elder Scrolls games; as much as I love - and I do love - their sprawling open worlds, the end of each mission is usually "kill this guy").
Knytt Underground conjures this same sort of feeling; you're given a map, with all the room clearly gridded out. Later on, you'll look at the map and realise "hang on a minute, there's a gap in the grid there" - it therefore becomes vitally important to you to trudge back to that area of the map (there is fast travel, but it's not instant and you can fail at it) in order to find a secret path; thanks to the (initially irritating) climbing and bouncy ball jumping, there's no place that can't be used to hide a route.
The graphics are prettty awesome, with the backgrounds made from Photoshopped... photos... of various real-world vegetation, with a moody twilighty lighting scheme (you're underground see) and the walls in pitch-black. It is however clear that, despite quite a few artists in the game, Nifflas can't really draw people. There's a nice Tinkly-Tinkly But Just About Music As Opposed To Ambient Bollocks soundtrack as well, which differs from the TV to the GamePad, acting as a sort of surround sound for your main character.
Another plus point for be is the subversive nature of the storyline and characters. Sometimes you go on an item collect-athon, return to the chap that wanted the items, and he'll be like *shrug*. Also, despite the main plot being that your character has to halt the incoming apocalypse, the game

end plot points in here:

Negatives: Well, the control scheme is initially frustrating, and, probably after the first two (short) chapters you might think that this is a bit of a throwaway C-level game (hint: it's not). It does suffer from the indie game "secret" difficulty also; I thought I was doing well, having found all rooms (and a secret environment outside of the map), and all of the items in the inventory. Then on completing the game, it turns out that I've only got one "badge" - an achievement equivalent. Having briefly looked on the internet (there's not wide GameFAQs-esque coverage of this game), it looks like there's a load of really specific secret things, and might even be a secret ending; like Cave Story, it looks to suffer from the idea that, to truly complete the game, you have to do - or not do - something that you'd never think of doing to progress in the game, and would have to replay several hours over to make that decision. In an interview about Affordable Space Adventures in this month's ONM, Nicklas does say that he likes making immensely difficult games, and then scaling back for mere mortals.
Also, sometimes the plot, although overall brilliant subversive, sometimes attempts to deal with edgy grown-up issues with the subtlety of a trowel; this may be due to a language barrier though.

But (sorry I wrote too much) this game is fantastic. But it only may be fantastic if you're me.

9/10*

Sorry, I wrote too much.

Jumbob's Knytt Underground review

Fundamentally solid, but ultimately too long.

3/10

Wrote too much.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag



So, the forth main game and sixth home console assassin's creed in a generation.  Was it worth it?  Yes, it very much was worth it.  Changing up the setting completely the game takes place in the age of piracy.  Our "hero" is scoundrel Edward Kenway, who unlike a certain ezio is not pulled in to a great struggle for vengeance and justice, but rather living up to the name of pirate starts out by stealing the gear from an assassin (a traitor if I recall correctly, so don't bother feeling sorry for him) after finding himself marooned with him.  He then hears of assassin-y things and sees a money opportunity and the game goes from there.

The gameplay is a mixture of new and old, all the usual assassin stuff is in there with the stalking and the killing and the like, but then there's the naval gameplay.  A large portion of the game involves sailing the seas and doing various pirate-y acts such as plundering other ships, taking out naval forts, and even a spot of ocean floor diving.  So, lets go over what these entail.  First the sailing, as you traverse the world you'll find it filled with ships belonging to nations carrying all sorts of goodies that can either be sold or used to upgrade the ship, your goal is to take out the ship without sinking it, then boarding it and winning, whereupon its contents are now yours.  Combat involves positioning yourself for various attacks, the front canons, side canons, mortars, and fire barrels all play a part.  Oh and the ram, mustn't forget the ram.  In all honesty the naval combat is stronger than the actual assassin combat.  Meanwhile diving involved investigating old shipwrecks for treasure with limited time, no weapons, and dangerous creatures all around, these sections were extremely tense given the sharks.  

Honestly the sailing portion gave me a wind waker but actually good vibe.  One of the main problems with wind waker after all is how barren the actual ocean is, but between the other ships, naval forts, miscellaneous islands containing collectibles, and various locations around the place sailing never got dull or boring and I rarely found myself even using fast travel.  

Overall this game was a great deal of fun, you'd think after six games (soon to be seven) in a single generation of game consoles the series would be wearing out its welcome.  And perhaps if I'd actually played more of them by the time I'd got to this game I would be tired of it, but as my third game in the series I can say this game felt fresh, new, and ultimately took some big strides forward.  Edward while not being ezio was ultimately a likable protagonist, the naval stuff added a ton to the game, and the general atmosphere and setting was simply stunning.    The music was nice and piraty as well.  

All up I'm giving this game a 9 out of 10, if you like assassin's creed you owe it to yourself to check this one out.  This game is worthy of being numbered.

beemoh wrote:

Jumbob's Knytt Underground review

Fundamentally solid, but ultimately too long.

3/10

Wrote too much.

Beemoh's Jumbob's Knytt Underground Review Review
Spelt Jimbob wrong. 6/10.

Unless... my name is actually Jumbob. And I've spelling it wrong all these years OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD *runs*

Jimbob wrote:

Unless... my name is actually Jumbob. And I've spelling it wrong all these years OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD *runs*

Nobody messes with Adam We!

beemoh wrote:

Jimbob wrote:

Unless... my name is actually Jumbob. And I've spelling it wrong all these years OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD *runs*

Nobody messes with Adam We!

You win!
(sorry, talking over the reviews)

Finished the final episode of the second season of the Walking Dead.

Spoiler:

Damn you PC gamers! I have no idea what I'm going to do today because I'm just waiting for that damn PSN store to update...

Anyway I've just got into the fantastic Dragon Age series and over the last week or so have finished both of them so:

Dragon Age: Origins
This game has taken me exactly 7 attempts to finish but this time it finally clicked with me. The characters are all brilliant and the world has plenty to see and do. The choices are good and the combat was probably a tad deeper than I could be bothered to properly get my head around (setting tactics is such a chore, where's the auto assign button). I played all of the dlc for it too and predictably Awakening was the best, with a good new cast of characters and a new threat to quash it was brilliant.

Dragon Age 2
I went into the game quite cautious because I know it didn't get the best ratings ever, but I really enjoyed it! There are some obvious problems with reused locations (especially when you basically have to fully explore the main ones every act) but other than that I felt the combat was better, it had another great set of characters (though a healer of Wynne's quality would be nice) and some of the choices, particularly in the final chapter were incredibly tough. Best DLC was probably the one with Sebastian, it'd probably be Mark of the Assassin but Felicia Day instantly demotes it to worst DLC .

All in all a great series so far and it's shot DA: Inquisition to the top of my most anticipated games list!