What Games Have You Completed? (2021 Edition)

Gamer Bhoy 89

(The state of me having to use a blurry screenshot to post my list just so I can have it in a table).

GAME: Angry Video Game Nerd: Adventures || PLATFORM: PC

I got the original version as well as the sequel, before I realised that they were updated and repackaged in a Deluxe bundle, serving as a remaster in the process. So I picked up the Deluxe versions and made a start on the first game.

Very challenging 2D action-platformer that's a lot of fun at the same time. If you're a fan of AVGN you'll enjoy the many references it has as well.

Great game overall.

The Phantom Pain

33. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wraith of the Druids (DLC) (PS5, PS4). Completed, got all trophies.

Played Valhalla at launch on PS4 and returned to it on the PS5 for this DLC seeing as I already owned the season pass. I mentioned in the main thread that I never got a sense of medieval Irish culture but that may be stemming from my own ignorance. To me the map just seemed like a reskinned England from the main game with greener grass and dodgy accents. The map is basically a scaled down version of what you do in the base game but without the interesting stuff like the animus anomalies or the NPC encounters. The story is just boring. Boring medieval politics with boring, talky characters and threadbare connections to the precursor race. Traversal is still far more of a chore than it should be which is odd for a series that really elevated parkour in the consciousness of gamers. The stealth A.I. is trash and there are also still some persisting bugs that I know now will never be patched given that these are bugs that have been there since November FFS.

Also, I would occasionally switch to the PS4 version to quickly pop related trophies since both versions share cloud saves. This did entail me having to play some of the PS4 version to completion since auto pop does not work despite Ubisoft Montreal claiming it’s supported to for Valhalla. Either I’m just too used to the PS5 version or they’ve done something to the graphics on last gen consoles because the PS4 version is unwatchable. If you must play this then best do it on the PS5.

Under other circumstances I would not advise getting this DLC or the season pass. However, native members of this board who can stomach this game long enough to enjoy the novelty of it being in Ireland might find some joy in it but that’s really all it has. I’m not Irish so there was really nothing for me to hold on to sadly. And on that note I’m calling it: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the worst Assassin’s Creed game ever made and it breaks my heart to say it because I’ve been a fan for 13 years. I’m more sad than anything because after hearing that AC is turning into a live service shortly after this really proves that the series I once loved is gone.

Gamer Bhoy 89

#45 Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle || Nintendo Switch

I thought that maybe this time might be the time I actually enjoy it.

Nope, it's one of the biggest piles of garbage I've ever had the displeasure of playing from the 16-bit generation. I've had the actual game itself since I was 6 years old and I never liked it that much even back then. The Janken minigame is probably the worst thing about it. You don't fight the level bosses, you play Rock, Paper Scissors against them and if you lose, you lose a life, which is absolute bullshit especially if it's something as random as f*cking Rock, Paper, Scissors.

The only time you do get to actually fight a boss is at the very end, but you still have to play RPS against him before that even happens, and they gave him four arms because, you know, Rock Paper Scissors.... ugh.. 😠

The controls are horrible; very slippy and awkward to control. I spent about 20 seconds trying to reach an item that was up on a platform all because I kept slipping off the lower platforms. The hit detection is almost non-existent. No wonder it almost went completely obscure thanks to Sonic. Sonic and Mario are exactly how platforming should be done. Alex Kidd was a bad game then and is an even worse game now. Why I beat it yesterday, I'll never know. I was waiting for visitors to come to my house and I decided to play that while I waited. Since I was playing it on the Mega Drive Collection on Switch, you're damn right I abused the save states.

It was even more jarring considering I had just beaten AVGN Adventures prior - a much more solid platformer by comparison.

Retr0gamer

I think the Maegdrive game was never fondly remembered and thrashed by everyone. It's the Master System one that everyone likes and even at that it's because of nostalgia as for master system kids it was their not quite mario. It's not a great game.

eoo1

Too much spare time this year, got to clear a small bit of my gaming backlog Though.

All on PC

1. Quake II RTX

2. Metro Exodus Enhanced

3. Ion Maiden

4. Mass Effect Legendary Edition

5. Gears 5

6. Cyberpunk 2077

7. A Plague Tale Innocence

8. Doom Eternal

9. Brutal Doom

10. Carrion

11. Doom 64

12. Dishonoured, Death of the Outsider

13. Dead Cells

14. Control

15. Destroy all Humans

16. Halo MC

17. Maneater

18. Prodeus

19. Jedi Fallen Order

20. Immortal Redneck

21. Black Mesa

22. The Medium

23. Wolfenstein The Old Blood

24. Wolfenstein The New Order

25. Zombie Army 4

26. Death Stranding

27. Ghostrunner

28. Deliver us to the Moon

29. F.E.A.R.

30. Hard Reset Redux

31. Prey (2006)

Gamer Bhoy 89

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117641807#Comment_117641807

The only game I'm partly interested in is Shinobi World. I found it funny it didn't release on the MD and instead was reverted back as a Master System exclusive (and not even released in Japan despite being developed there). Not sure why they did that but either way the gameplay looks a lot more fun than the MD game. God I hate it so much...

Retr0gamer

At the time Shinobi World was released the Master System was only really a presence in Europe. The Mark 3 was dead in japan a long time.

Gamer Bhoy 89

#47 | AVGN II: ASSimilation (AVGN I & II Deluxe) | PC

Gameplaywise it's almost the exact same as the first one. A lot more was added to this game including double the collectibles and the new addition of upgrades. It maintains the non-linear style of the first game in that you can complete any level in any order. So many references to movies, games and AVGN episodes, even more than before.

It's definitely a lot harder as well, with most of the challenge being trying to get some of the collectibles as they're placed in ridiculous spots that require a lot of trial and error to get to.

I loved all of this. Got 100% as well.

#48 | AVGN: Tower of Torment: The Final Chapter | PC

Forgot this was added. Basically an extra level you unlock for completing both games. I can see why it was added, as the character who ends up being the final boss was strangely omitted from the two games despite being a fairly well known character within AVGN's content.

Basically an extra chapter to AVGN II. Not sure if I should've included it as a separate game but it is featured as such, so I'm counting it.

Retr0gamer

Game|Platform|

1. Megaman X2|SNES
2. Streets of Rage 4|PC
3. Sekiro|PC
4. Megaman 7|SNES
5. Megaman 8|PS1
6. Megaman X3|SNES
7. Megaman & Bass|SNES
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
9. Broken Sword: Director's Cut|PC
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
11. Mischief Makers|N64
12. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
13. Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
14. Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
15. Virtua Racing|Switch
16. Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
17. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
18. Crysis Remaster|PC
19. God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
20. Resident Evil Village|PC
21. Live a Live|SNES
22. Clockwork Knight|Saturn
23. DuckTales|NES
24. Drakengard 3|PS3
25. Double Dragon|NES
26. Secret of Mana|SNES
27. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
28. Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One
29. Air Combat|PS1
30. Kamui|PC
31. DuskTales 2|NES

DuckTales 2

Another amazing platformer from Capcom. It's quite a late NES game so is a bit of a looker. However the soundtrack isn't as good as the original but still great. The same DuckTales gameplay is present and it's still as nice to control as ever. There's way more secrets to find now in an attempt to increase the longevity of the game. Level design however just isn't as good as the original with levels not feeling as open or memorable.

The only mistake this game makes is being the sequel to one of the best platform games of all time. Take on it's own merits, it's a top tier NES platformer.

Retr0gamer

Game|Platform|

1. Megaman X2|SNES
2. Streets of Rage 4|PC
3. Sekiro|PC
4. Megaman 7|SNES
5. Megaman 8|PS1
6. Megaman X3|SNES
7. Megaman & Bass|SNES
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
9. Broken Sword: Director's Cut|PC
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
11. Mischief Makers|N64
12. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
13. Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
14. Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
15. Virtua Racing|Switch
16. Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
17. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
18. Crysis Remaster|PC
19. God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
20. Resident Evil Village|PC
21. Live a Live|SNES
22. Clockwork Knight|Saturn
23. DuckTales|NES
24. Drakengard 3|PS3
25. Double Dragon|NES
26. Secret of Mana|SNES
27. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
28. Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One
29. Air Combat|PS1
30. Kamui|PC
31. DuckTales 2|NES
32. Turok Dinosaur Hunter|PC

Turok Dinosaur Hunter

This is a game I've often dismissed. It was the first big N64 game released after the Mario 64 and Pilotwings launch titles and at the time reviews were very warm but not glowing, scores were in around the 80 mark. I thought the reception would be inflated as there was very little on the N64 at the time, kind of like the awful Disruptor on PS1. And it was from Acclaim who were vendors of garbage.

I tried Turok on the N64 a couple of years ago and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The excellent Night Dive port of the game was a great excuse to finally finish the game and I'm really pleasantly surprised, it's a great shooter. Turok really has a unique look and feel to it, it's a very bright and colourful world. Plenty of fog as well if you play on N64! Each of the eight stages are massive, they start off fairly linear but really become open and sprawling towards the end with a final stage that is labyrinthian. Plenty of secrets to find. There's a few too many jumping sections but with a keyboard and mouse they are far more manageable on PC than on a gamepad. The weapons are all fantastic. Turok hails from a time before FPS weapons got boring so there's a huge amount of variety. The standard bow, pistol, shotgun, rifle all feel great. The alien weapons are fun to mess around with and have excellent particle effects. One of the weapons really dates the game, every FPS at the time had to have a weapon that aped the railgun from Eraser and Turok's particle effects do a great job of it. There's a great variety of enemies with some exceptional animations for the time. Death animations and gore effects loot great. There's even some good boss fights, although the penultimate T-Rex fight is very weak to the power of circle strafing.

Overall Turok surprised me and it's a fantastic old school shooter but with it's own look and feel. Well worth playing and it's great to play a FPS that has a lot of fun with it's weapons (I know ratchet and clank does as well but meh.... I just don't get those games).

Mr.Fantastic

GAME|PLATFORM

1. Streets of Rage 4 | Switch
2. Cyberpunk 2077 | PS5(PS4 version)
3. Remnant from the ashes | PS5(PS4)
4. Life is strange Season 2 | PS5(PS4)
5. FFX HD remaster | Switch
6. AC:Odyssey | PS5(PS4)
7. Resident evil 3:remake | PS5(PS4)
8. Halo 5: Guardians | Xbox Series X
9. State of Decay 2 | Xbox Series X
10. Nioh 2 remastered | PS5
11. Astro's Playroom |PS5
12. Crash 4 | PS5
13. Gears of War 4 | Xbox Series X
14. Dex | Switch
15. Valkyria Chronicles 4 |PS5 (PS4)
16. Resident evil 8: Village | PS5
17. Outriders | Xbox Series X
18. Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition | Xbox Series X
19. Blood and Truth | PS5(PSVR)
20. Dead Space | Xbox Series X(X360 gamepass)
21. Disco Elysium Director's cut | PS5
22. Mass Effect 2 : Legendary Edition | Xbox Series X
23. Returnal | PS5
24. Ruiner | Switch
25. Zelda: Links awakening (remake) | Switch

Zelda: Links awakening

Rolled credits on this last night, love the remade art style reminded me of animal crossing, very enjoyable if a bit obscure especially the trading sequence.

I remember playing the original on the game boy colour, its a great way to experience this little adventure would not be my favourite zelda but its pretty good.

Mr.Fantastic

GAME|PLATFORM

1. Streets of Rage 4 | Switch
2. Cyberpunk 2077 | PS5(PS4 version)
3. Remnant from the ashes | PS5(PS4)
4. Life is strange Season 2 | PS5(PS4)
5. FFX HD remaster | Switch
6. AC:Odyssey | PS5(PS4)
7. Resident evil 3:remake | PS5(PS4)
8. Halo 5: Guardians | Xbox Series X
9. State of Decay 2 | Xbox Series X
10. Nioh 2 remastered | PS5
11. Astro's Playroom |PS5
12. Crash 4 | PS5
13. Gears of War 4 | Xbox Series X
14. Dex | Switch
15. Valkyria Chronicles 4 |PS5 (PS4)
16. Resident evil 8: Village | PS5
17. Outriders | Xbox Series X
18. Mass Effect 1: Legendary Edition | Xbox Series X
19. Blood and Truth | PS5(PSVR)
20. Dead Space | Xbox Series X(X360 gamepass)
21. Disco Elysium Director's cut | PS5
22. Mass Effect 2 : Legendary Edition | Xbox Series X
23. Returnal | PS5
24. Ruiner | Switch
25. Zelda: Links awakening (remake) | Switch
26. Mass Effect 3 :Legendary Edition | Xbox Series X

Mass Effect 3 :Legendary Edition

Finished this last night, Loved every minute of it. Its mad to think that I first finished this trilogy nearly 10 years ago I am getting old.

The enhancements were great and having all the dlc included fleshed out the story a good bit.

The combat in this is what I like to call mass effect call of duty edition its balls to the wall and the stakes are high.

Was emotional enough finishing it out but after running through the trilogy again its mad to think they then released Andromeda after this stellar trilogy allbeit mass effect 1 is janky enough even with the legendary edition update.

The Phantom Pain

34.Ratchet and Clank (2016). Completed and platinumed.

This reboot was my first introduction to the series and it makes me want to go back and play the old ones. The story is kind of a blur as I was having such a blast just shooting stuff that I turned my brain off during cut scenes. It’s basically an intergalactic adventure whereby you play as a 'Lombax' mechanic named Ratchet who gets recruited into a heroic rangers group by its leader Captain Quark. Along the way he meets a runaway robot who he names ‘Clank’ (because his actual name is too long and convoluted). Clank was created as part of the evil Dr Nefarious’ robot army but is defective in the sense that he’s small, friendly and non murderous. Dr Nefarious and some CEO guy with a weird potato head are building something called the 'deplanetizer' which is a device used to destroy planets and remake them. Ratchet, Clank and other rangers must stop him before is plan comes to fruition. Or something. Like I said, I wasn't really paying attention to the "plot". The cut scenes are from the 2016 movie of the same name and they play like a budget Pixar film, good enough for a video game but really had no business being an actual movie lol. I like Ratchet but I have a particular soft spot for Clank. He’s so cute, even his little running animations and the way Ratchet props him on to his back like a rucksack. You occasionally switch to him for some puzzle sections which are some of the best parts of the game and a well placed breather from all the shooty shooty.

Speaking of "shooty shooty", that's pretty much the selling point of R&C. You get tons of weird and wonderful weapons that level up the more you use them. Each level up gives access to new mods that you obtain by spending a currency known as raritanium. Additionally, whenever a weapon levels up, its name and behaviour changes so for instance, the Sheepinator – which transforms enemies into sheep - becomes the Goatinator which turns enemies into goats that attack other enemies...by farting. (It’s also a nice touch that their respective mod tree formation resembles that of a sheep and a goat). Some weapons will instantly speak to you, others you won’t see how awesome they are until you’ve levelled them up quite a bit. My favourite weapon was probably the Groovinator which creates a disco ball that makes enemies dance. It works on literally every enemy and ally, including bosses, and not only is it amusing to see their dance animations but it’s also arguably the most OP weapon in the game making enemies vulnerable for long periods of time while taking increased damage while under its spell, or just allowing you to run past them. There’s very little skill or challenge involved; it’s more about just blasting your way through with whatever weapons you have ammo for. Checkpoints are extremely generous and you retain XP even after death which means you can farm weapon upgrades all day long on the same spots.

The main loop consists of you just hopping on a planet and being free to tackle objectives in whatever order. While doing so you’ll find side activities like hover board races or just side missions that can lead to better gear. There are also some air battles but for the most part you’re boots on the ground shooting anything and everything. The gameplay is generally very antiquated from the way you have to hit all the boxes to get bolts to spend at the shop or hitting boxes of health and ammo, as opposed to drops from enemies but I supposed that’s kind of the point since it’s capturing the essence of the original (which was very ahead of its time anyway). There’s a little catch-em-all mini game where you have to collect card sets to gain access to perks and higher-level weapon tiers and whenever you get 5 duplicates you can trade them in for a new card.

The game is eager to extend its playtime but it is somewhat organic - your health and weapons can only go up to a certain point on the first playthrough and in order to max them out you have to play Challenge mode which is basically new game plus. The only "challenge" aspect of this mode, however, is that there is a gold bolts multiplier so the more enemies you can kill without being hit the higher your multiplier will be which means more bolts to spend at the weapons shop. But other than that you can still play on any difficulty or even use cheats (provided you’ve collected enough of the “big” gold bolt collectibles scattered around the map to enable them).

The only negatives are that some of the controls could be a bit better, for instance, the weapons favourites wheel would randomly just change to unselected weapons which could be frustrating in the heat of battle. The hacking puzzles, while very enjoyable, also had awkward controls. Lastly, the annoying ‘gameplay recording paused’ message whenever a cut scene from the movie played with no way to disable it on PS5.

 TL;DR: It’s free on PS plus so this is a no brainer. If you like Pixar movies and games where you can just turn your brain off and shoot things with crazy weapons then this is it.

da gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117611351#Comment_117611351

Call of duty cold war - PS4

A plague tale innocence - Xbox one

Fifa 20 - Xbox one

Hotshot racing - Xbox one

Mafia - PS4

Resident evil 3 - PS4

The walking dead a new frontier - Xbox one

Hitman 2 - PS4

What remains of Edith Finch - Xbox one

Beyond 2 souls - PS4

Ion Fury - PS4

Mad Max - PS4

Potential-Monke

Just finished, and got the "good" ending for Journey to the Savage Planet. Pretty good game in fairness, didn't outstay it's welcome to be fair. I dragged it on a bit going for the 100%, only to find out there are co-op trophies so it was pointless! but the game itself was good. Combat was alright, limited. Places were nice to explore, and it was just a good bit of fun. Nice humour too, but I'd imagine some people wouldn't like it. It has me interested in a sequel anyway! Only €12 on sale at the mo so worth that anyway.

Retr0gamer

Game|Platform|

1. Megaman X2|SNES
2. Streets of Rage 4|PC
3. Sekiro|PC
4. Megaman 7|SNES
5. Megaman 8|PS1
6. Megaman X3|SNES
7. Megaman & Bass|SNES
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
9. Broken Sword: Director's Cut|PC
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
11. Mischief Makers|N64
12. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
13. Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
14. Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
15. Virtua Racing|Switch
16. Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
17. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
18. Crysis Remaster|PC
19. God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
20. Resident Evil Village|PC
21. Live a Live|SNES
22. Clockwork Knight|Saturn
23. DuckTales|NES
24. Drakengard 3|PS3
25. Double Dragon|NES
26. Secret of Mana|SNES
27. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
28. Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One
29. Air Combat|PS1
30. Kamui|PC
31. DuckTales 2|NES
32. Turok Dinosaur Hunter|PC
33. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box|Android

Professor Layton and Pandora's Box

I enjoyed the first Layton game but wasn't totally enamoured with it. Pandora' Box is more of the same and while it's very much improved over the original, it's still not as amazing as it should be.

In this game Layton and Luke are on the trail of a mysterious box that is said to kill anyone that opens it which leads them to a mysterious train and town.

The puzzles again are the star of the show and are mostly excellent. There's two types of puzzles I didn't get on with though. One is a checkers type puzzle and others involve moving a chess knight around a board. These are perfectly fine in their early iterations but the later larger ones are insane as you have to make 50 or more moves perfectly to complete them.

The music as well has been greatly improved over the first game where it kind of grated after a while. There's a few fun new minigames as well, One has you helping a fat hamsters and the tea mini game was good as well other than the NPCs getting thirsty being based on RNG.

The biggest downfall of the game as it was with the first one and every other Level 5 IP game is the story. As proven in other level 5 games like Ni No Kuni and Rogue Galaxy and also the near riot he started with Gundam fans because Gundam AGE, Akihiko Hino is an awful, awful writer. Pandora's Box in fairness is a lot better than Mysterious Village but it suffers from the same issue. For a game based on solving mysteries there's no real incentive or push in the story to solve said mysteries. It needs to dangle out story vignettes and cliffhangers like Ace Attorney does but it never becomes at interesting. The main plot just like in the first game is all wrapped up in the final few puzzles after being totally absent for most of the run time. At least the ending doesn't fall totally flat like in the original but there was a lot of potential here squandered and it just isn't satisfying.

So Layton yet again has great puzzles and very poor writing. The strength of the puzzles does at least make it well worth playing. It's just a shame that there's an amazing game that could be built around this concept that just can't be realised when you have a hack like Akihiko Hino working on the writing.

CastorTroy

Yeah the knight one is one I didn't like. Was in the Testament of Sherlock Holmes as well.

But for me, the Layton puzzle that I really had no clue about was from the first game

Retr0gamer

I don't remember that but I must have looked up the answer to it. That's some next level nonsense there!

Potential-Monke

Finally finished Hollow Knight. Have to say, with a bit of direction, it's a far better game. I understand those who like the exploration side, but to me it was just too big with not enough direction. I don't need hand-holding, and there was a dude up top who more or less directed you where to go, until about half way through the game and he just stops then, keeps telling me to have a rest. Anyway, not as hard as I remember, but most likely due to the natural progression route I was following vs go anywhere get killed by everything route. I am interested in the sequel now, and while it's the Voidheart edition, I've no interest in the rest of the game.

And I just picked up a G29 so I guess I won't be finishing games for a while! Also picked up Blue Fire, but it's not really scratching the itch, and has some annoying things I don't like in games.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117706768#Comment_117706768

I had the same issues as well. It's a great game but far from the best Metroidvania ever. The map is just too big with teleport options being way to sparse. The end game is kind of a let down as well, you get to a point where you are so powerful and know the game so well none of the enemies or bosses are a challenge but you still have half the game to beat and you feel like you are just checking areas off for the sake of completeness instead of actually exploring.

As for the Godseeker DLC. That can **** right off.

Retr0gamer

Game|Platform|

1. Megaman X2|SNES
2. Streets of Rage 4|PC
3. Sekiro|PC
4. Megaman 7|SNES
5. Megaman 8|PS1
6. Megaman X3|SNES
7. Megaman & Bass|SNES
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
9. Broken Sword: Director's Cut|PC
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
11. Mischief Makers|N64
12. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
13. Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
14. Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
15. Virtua Racing|Switch
16. Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
17. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
18. Crysis Remaster|PC
19. God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
20. Resident Evil Village|PC
21. Live a Live|SNES
22. Clockwork Knight|Saturn
23. DuckTales|NES
24. Drakengard 3|PS3
25. Double Dragon|NES
26. Secret of Mana|SNES
27. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
28. Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One
29. Air Combat|PS1
30. Kamui|PC
31. DuckTales 2|NES
32. Turok Dinosaur Hunter|PC
33. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box|Android
34. Ape Escape|PS1

Ape Escape

All Monkeys caught and true ending.

Sony's attempt to take on Mario 64 on the PS1 and while it comes no where near that absolute masterpiece Ape Escape at least does it's own thing and is quite a unique game and stands out from the also rans like Spyro and the Rare N64 games.

Ape Escape was made to really sell the Dual Shock controller. This is before anyone knew what to do with the second analogue stick they slapped on there. The obvious answer is to use it for a camera but instead the left stick moves the protagonist while the right stick is used to control a variety of gadgets in pretty clever ways. It makes the gadgets interesting to use as they take full advantage of analogue control but it also means the Camera and it's controls are god awful. All the whingers whining about Mario 64 need to shut up. That game is a masterpiece in camera design and logic compared to this **** show. To make matters worse the camera is constantly aiming at the ground in an attempt to keep the very poor framerate up.

The PS1 was never going to compete with the N64 technically in these types of games but Ape Escape plays to the consoles capabilities. The draw distance is terrible but levels are broken into smaller areas. And while Ape Escape follows the same collectathon aspect of similar Mario 64 knock offs, this time the collectables are monkeys, monkeys that will make your life hell and are full of personality. The game does some really interesting things with monkey behaviour and placement so they never become boring and these little guys are the stars of the show.

Ape Escape is on the verge of being great. It's compelling despite it's flaws and has enough inventiveness to surprise unlike Spyro and those Rare N64 games. However it's let down by the camera. Every mistake and death in this game will be down to that annoying camera. It's a testament to how well the rest of the game is designed that I felt it was well worth powering through these annoyances to see what craziness the game had in store.

It's a minor PS1 classic but one big thing bothers me. Why is it called Ape Escape when you are quite clearly catching Monkeys who aren't part of the Ape family?

wotzgoingon

Sounds better. Ape escape vs monkey escape.

Potential-Monke

Plus, by catching monkeys, the apes indeed escape!

The Phantom Pain

35.Subnautica: Below Zero. Completed and platinumed.

 I just can’t get enough of Subnautica so not long after I played the original I went and got this DLC. If you’ve played the first one you’ll know what to build to make those initial steps without even consulting your PDA. Speaking of the PDA (which comes with a change of accent and a sense of humour), its recommendations are deliberately vague to encourage more experimentation. There are also less radio waypoints too - in the first game you’d get random coordinates to guide you on the right path whenever you built a significant item. I think this - along with now having to make use of any maps you find - was a great change and a natural evolution for the series because it encourages one of the best things about Subnautica which is the exploration. It's basically more or less the same gameplay so I'm just gonna list off notable differences:

Yes, the on-land segments are much more prevalent here than in the original but Below Zero stays true to the core of Subnautica which is an underwater survival game.

The horror elements are dialed down considerably – which is fine for me personally but some fans of the original may not fancy that. The tone is also much lighter - sometimes to the detriment of the story but more on that later. There are some self-aware jokes from the PDA about the first game and a joke jump scare that made me chuckle. The creatures are also more peaceful / friendly too but still so well designed and varied. My favourite was the sea monkey mainly because of how it treats you during different stages of the story without giving away spoilers. (It was a missed opportunity to not let us pet it!!!)

There is some base building additions like the jukebox that I didn’t even know I needed until I built it. Some of the lyrics - which I believe are fan made - are hilarious, mainly because they perfectly capture the addiction of Subnautica. Speaking of the base building, I enjoyed it even more here than the first due to the fact that the story is shorter and me moving through it so quickly made me feel like I actually had the time to do it. I’m really proud of my base and I hope they add even more variety in furniture and decorations like Fallout.

Quality-of-life improvements were instantly noticeable and much appreciated. This includes choosing what slots to assign certain equipment to in the favourites wheel and being able to pin blueprints to the side of the screen. Small things like that make a much needed difference for a game you can potentially pour countless hours into. The blueprints menu in the PDA still needs work as the selected items tend to take up the entire screen but for the most part the user interface is just easier to use. The graphics are improved considerably too no matter whether you play the PS5 and PS4 but, disappointingly, there are some technical hiccups, mainly stuttering and crashes, so save often.

And of course, there are new vehicles which I won't spoil.

The story is more of an open book here being more emotionally driven and less about mystery...and it's probably the one true flaw with Below Zero, itself. In short, you play as Robin who has come to planet 4546B to find out the real circumstances around her older sister’s death who died on the planet seemingly due to her own negligence according to Alterra (merely referenced in the first game, much larger presence here). Robin doesn’t believe that for a second and seeks to uncover the truth. My issue with Robin, however, is that the moment she meets a certain someone she turns into a fangirl and seemingly forgets the reason why she came to the planet in the first place. The player is even able to leave without completing Robin’s original goal and she never acknowledges that if you do. In fact, the sister story line turns into a side quest when you meet a certain character. It’s a minor gripe in a game that is largely about exploration and creation but is worth noting seeing as the story being great in the first one was such a pleasant surprise.

What happened to her sister, Sam, was quite sad, especially because in her final days she was so unhappy and reached out to Robin for help. The audio diaries of Sam and her Alterra colleagues are really good with some decent voice acting. The devs also handled Robin and Sam in a really respectful and non-stereotypical fashion when it came to race. It’s never acknowledged for laughs, in a preachy way or even at all, and neither characters look like a 'video game black woman' but real people. It’s not really something a game should be praised for as it’s the bare minimum but considering how rare this is credit needs to be given where it’s due.  

On a final note, I remember I said I love Subnautica because it’s so rewarding and you feel like you’re in forward motion even when the game tries to set you back. That was reinforced quite recently to me after I completed Nier Automata. Normal difficulty in that game is very forgiving so death is rare but even just the thought of death was anxiety inducing because vital items will be gone forever if you die before retrieving them. In Subnautica that wouldn’t matter because every blueprint, every PDA entry, every visual memory means that no matter what happens you’ll be able to build anything that is lost quickly – and moreover the scavenging and bulding is part of the fun so doesn’t feel like a penalty. In other words, the most valuable resource in both Subnautica games is not your inventory; it’s your knowledge… It also doesn’t hurt that in Below Zero if you die with a beacon in your inventory it drops upon death so you’ll know exactly where to retrieve your items anyway lol

TL;DR: So yes, once again I would recommend Below Zero (and, by default, the original). Seriously, if you like survival and exploration games you need to play this. The Subnautica universe really is on another level when it comes to player engagement. I literally only stop playing when my battery dies (which enrages me). Currently tied with Astrobot for my game for the year so far unless Life is Strange: True Colours comes out and smashes it (fingers crossed).

Retr0gamer

Game|Platform|

1. Megaman X2|SNES
2. Streets of Rage 4|PC
3. Sekiro|PC
4. Megaman 7|SNES
5. Megaman 8|PS1
6. Megaman X3|SNES
7. Megaman & Bass|SNES
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
9. Broken Sword: Director's Cut|PC
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
11. Mischief Makers|N64
12. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
13. Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
14. Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
15. Virtua Racing|Switch
16. Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
17. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
18. Crysis Remaster|PC
19. God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
20. Resident Evil Village|PC
21. Live a Live|SNES
22. Clockwork Knight|Saturn
23. DuckTales|NES
24. Drakengard 3|PS3
25. Double Dragon|NES
26. Secret of Mana|SNES
27. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
28. Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One
29. Air Combat|PS1
30. Kamui|PC
31. DuckTales 2|NES
32. Turok Dinosaur Hunter|PC
33. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box|Android
34. Ape Escape|PS1
35. No One Lives Forever|PC

No One Lives Forever

Missed out on this series as it came at a point when I didn't have a modern PC. Heard so much about it for years but of course it became impossible to find. I'm fed up waiting on an official released so took matters into my own hands.

The game has a very different aesthetic to most brown military shooters. It's set in a pastiche of 60's spy fiction. It's a comedy game but never strays into Austin Powers levels of silliness. It' a lot more grounded but that's also not to say that's still really funny. You play as super spy Cate Archer, a woman that has to live in a mans world and all the misogyny that goes with it. It's am interesting premise and the game has a lot of fun with it. It helps that Cate is a great character.

The game is built on the Lithtech engine which I always found a little bit behind the times in the late 90's. The colourful art style helps sand over the weaknesses of the engine. If there's one flaw with the game it's that like with most late 90's games the stealth gameplay is a little flakey. However the gunplay is really solid so it's not a big deal when it all goes south.

At the time of release NOLF was regarded as the best FPS since the original Half-Life and I have to agree. It's such a shame that it's stuck in legal limbo.

Retr0gamer

Game|Platform|

1. Megaman X2|SNES
2. Streets of Rage 4|PC
3. Sekiro|PC
4. Megaman 7|SNES
5. Megaman 8|PS1
6. Megaman X3|SNES
7. Megaman & Bass|SNES
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
9. Broken Sword: Director's Cut|PC
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
11. Mischief Makers|N64
12. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
13. Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
14. Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
15. Virtua Racing|Switch
16. Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
17. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
18. Crysis Remaster|PC
19. God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
20. Resident Evil Village|PC
21. Live a Live|SNES
22. Clockwork Knight|Saturn
23. DuckTales|NES
24. Drakengard 3|PS3
25. Double Dragon|NES
26. Secret of Mana|SNES
27. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
28. Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One
29. Air Combat|PS1
30. Kamui|PC
31. DuckTales 2|NES
32. Turok Dinosaur Hunter|PC
33. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box|Android
34. Ape Escape|PS1
35. No One Lives Forever|PC
36. DuckTales Remastered|PC

DuckTales Remastered

I both love and don't love this remaster. I love how the game looks, the 2D sprites are gorgeous and the backgrounds are 3D but still retain a painterly look that matches the TV show. I love how the game plays, the pogo stick movement is still a masterclass in videogame character mechanics. I adore that they got the original voice cast to reprise their roles. But most of all I love how you can dive into Scrooge's money pit and swim around in it.

The game is quite faithful to the original. Level layouts hark back to the original but have been tweaked to make them less difficult and expand on them. However they've also made the levels much more linear whereas I really enjoyed the exploration elements of the original.

The game's biggest sin is the amount of dialogue in the game. It really slows the pace down. Levels can take ages to beat whereas in the original you were given a time limit of about 5 minutes to beat a stage. It makes them way too long. I know wayforward were probably excited about getting the voice cast back but it does interrupt the flow of the game.

Well I say that's the crime but really it's the remix of the moon theme, it just doesn't not sound as good as the amazing NES original.

So overall it's a pretty decent remaster that changes enough that it doesn't negate the original and makes both games worth playing. It's only flaw is that it just falls short of the excellent NES original, a pantheon the vast majority of platform games can't claim to have reached.

Kingp35

1. Resident Evil 3 - PlayStation 4
2. Resident Evil 4 - PlayStation 4
3. Yakuza Kiwami - PlayStation 4
4. Yakuza Kiwami 2 - PlayStation 4
5. Endless Fable 3: Dark Moor - PlayStation 4
6. Cube Escape: The Lake - Android
7. The Secret Order 7: Shadow Breach - PlayStation 4
8. A Plague Tale: Innocence - PlayStation 4
9. Ghost Files: Memory of a Crime - PlayStation 4
10. Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka With Love - PlayStation 4
11. Anodyne - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
12. Dandara - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
13. Chronicles of Teddy: Harmony of Exidus - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
14. Dead Space 2 - PlayStation 3
15. Dead Space 3 - PlayStation 3
16. Medievil - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
17. Broken Age - PlayStation 4
18. Call of Duty Blacks Ops 3 (Campaign only) - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
19. Unmechanical Extended - PlayStation 4
20. Marvels Avengers - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
21. Far Cry 3 - PlayStation 3
22. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - PlayStation 3
23. In Rays of the Light - PlayStation 4
24. Yoku's Island Express - PlayStation 4
25. Borderlands 3 - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
26. Streets of Rage 4 - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)
27. Judgement - PlayStation 4 (PS Now)

Judgement (PS Now)

Well straight off, I loved this game. The story and cast of characters are excellent, it's gripping throughout and keeps you guessing the whole way through. Most of the dialogue is brilliant and as usual from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio there is loads of quirky humour.

The gameplay is largely the same as the Yakuza series, where it differs though is with the detective side of the game where you need to make the correct choices based on evidence collected although the game doesn't punish incorrect answers.

The side cases, although full of quirky humour, get a little repetitive, especially when you need to tail someone. The 'Friend' mechanic is also too time consuming, so much so that I didn't do all the side cases as it requires you befriending all 50 potential friends.

This game is all about the story though, it really is excellent and I look forward to the sequel.

The Phantom Pain

36. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Completed and platinumed.

I like this game but I don’t think it’s as good as the 2016 reboot and i'm likely in the minority with that opinion.

Basic plot is that Ratchet and Clank are transported to a dimensional universe where Dr. Nefarious always wins. They end up meeting their alternate reality equivalents, in this case Rivet and Kit, both female versions of themselves. I like Ratchet more here. In the 2016 game he was upstaged by arguably more interesting characters but in Rift Apart he actually has a personality and I found my enjoyment went up whenever I was able to play as him. He’s so expressive in small ways like the way his green eyes light up and his cute little ears prick up when he’s excited. He is also genuinely very positive with a can-do attitude which makes him a breath of fresh air in a cast of self-doubters.

Every character here has to spell out their insecurities so they can go through a journey of self belief later on, including Clank who they’ve turned into a clingy, overly sentimental sidekick. He’s out of character and his emotional interactions with Ratchet feel forced. Before, he was pragmatic and competent while still being fundamentally good. He felt like a defective robot, not a person with emotions. I still enjoy his puzzles but they’re arguably less challenging here and, in true Insomniac fashion, either Clank or an NPC have to immediately yell out the solutions. It’s not as bad as Miles Morales in that regards but they seriously need to stop that.

I actually prefer Clank's equivalent, Kit. She has an interesting backstory and is pretty badass. I’m less big on Rivet but do enjoy her chemistry with Ratchet and think it’s cute that they can’t stay angry at each other. Rivet is more hardened than Ratchet having lived in a world where she always loses and didn’t have her version of Clank by her side so the final boss fight, which features mainly her, means more. I really appreciated that she and Ratchet shared inventory and upgrades too.

The gameplay is still mindless fun where you're just blasting everything in sight with not much resistance on normal difficulty, and the enemy designs are top notch. Like the 2016 reboot, load times are non existent so a bad fall leading to your death will see you right back in the action, and being able to retain XP means you can farm weapon upgrades all day long. In fact, I was able to cheese some environmental collectible puzzles by falling off the map lol. Speaking of weapons, they are less exceptional than before and thus why it was more noticeable when I’m forced to switch out the few creative weapons when they run out of ammo. A lot of them are glorified shotguns and RPGs tbh. Some unique weapons make a return like the Glove of Doom which is probably even more OP but they have downgraded the buzz blades for no good reason.

What became immediately apparent when starting the campaign is how on the rails (sometimes literally) it is with its explosive set pieces and point of no return pathing. It’s like Uncharted for kids – which is fine but it’s not what I was expecting. I personally preferred the reboot’s approach of hopping from planet to planet in no particular order where you were free to complete tasks when you wanted. Thankfully, side missions are back, providing a nice diversion to break up the pacing. The little reality ‘rifts’ (dimensional holes you can pull yourself through to teleport) make traversal a bit more creative too. The combat arena is a nice addition and provides a good place to test out weapons. Like Insomniac's Spider-Man, you can also collect outfits via these side activities and they all grant useful perks for any given situation.

Graphics are good but not mind blowing like the journos would have you believe. I played on performance RT mode but then even the original Ratchet and Clank on the PS2 was ahead of its time, graphically. The haptic feedback on the PS5 controller was actually very annoying and I turned it off in the menus eventually. Outside of the visual options, this could have easily been on the PS4 and it does feel like it was made a PS5 exclusive to justify the price.

TL;DR: Same recommendation as with the 2016 one. If you like Pixar mixed with mindless , lizard brain combat then you'll love this...but I wouldn't get it at 70 quid. That's not a knock against it - even the 2016 one wouldn't be worth 70. You should pick it up at some point if you own a PS5 but it's not a must-play and doesn't really do much by being a PS5 exclusive outside of some graphic options. 50 at best.

johnny_ultimate

Last Stop

I’ve complicated feelings about this one. It’s Variable State’s follow up to Virginia, with the backing of Annapurna this time around.

Virginia was very much a formal experiment - using cinematic montage techniques to tell an interactive story, like a feature-length, thriller take on Blendo’s superb Thirty Flights of Loving. This game is a much more traditional story, but it advances some of the visual and compositional lessons of Virginia into a longer-form, more ambitious narrative. Three narratives, in fact, as this is an anthology. But cinematic techniques here are naturally woven in - Virginia was in your face with its smash and jump cuts (to quite engaging effect), but this is far more relaxed and unassuming about it.

After playing a fair bit of Yakuza Like A Dragon recently with its often tediously long, flat dialogue scene, it’s refreshing to play a game that has some visual and editing zest. The graphics may be basic, but the visual language isn’t - there’s lots of thought put into camera movement, scene cuts… etc. This seriously helps the game clip along at a fair old pace, something further aided by the fact the stories are broken up into roughly 15-30 mins chapters. You have to clear each set of three chapters before the next unlocks, but this structure ensures you’re always being moved along with each character. Given it’s an anthology, your mileage will inevitably vary with each story (personally, the body swap comedy-drama was my least favourite of the three). But you’re never with them for long before you can move on.

There’s certainly issues with the storytelling here and there: some of the dialogue is clunky; some of the situations shallow or contrived or predictable; and the finale will certainly prove divisive with its big left field swing (I was on-board, for what it’s worth). But crucially I got fairly hooked on it: while there’s nothing revolutionary here, it has the vibe and draw of a good page-turner, and I was by the end quite keen to see what each new chapter would bring.

Lots of talk about story so far, and not much about gameplay. And, well, that’s where Last Stop is a bit of a mess. The interactivity here is limited to say the least: your input largely limited to walking from spot to spot or choosing arbitrary dialogue options. Not only that, but the walking isn’t even that good, given the game’s slightly wonky animations and propensity for cinematic angles (there was a few occasions where I had to scan the scene to find the character I was meant to move). It sometimes uses that annoying Quantic Dream thing of having you rotate the analogue stick to complete some arbitrary task like brushing your teeth - it’s no more exciting or meaningful here than it was in Heavy Rain. There’s a late game effort to throw in some ‘big meaningful choices’, but it comes too late and is just effectively a binary choice over which of the endings you’ll see.

It’s not like the game is totally lacking in interactivity - indeed, there’s a cool first-person detective scene in the back half which is really refreshing. There’s too little of that, though, which is a bit of a shame.

So it all boils down to what you expect going in. If you’re happy to play through what is effectively a lightly interactive film / TV show, there’s pleasures to be found here - nothing radical, but a solid anthology series that mixes thriller, sci-fi, mystery, comedy, character drama and more. If you prefer a bit more interactivity with your interactive stories, look elsewhere.

Ultimately, though, this works best for me as an example of what can be achieved if designers pay a bit more attention to things like camera placement and editing choices when they’re telling you a story. The game isn’t an unqualified success, but there’s plenty of valuable lessons bigger studios could learn from this small team’s smart embrace of cinematic storytelling techniques.

The Phantom Pain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117740729#Comment_117740729

I've actually completed Last Stop twice and I'm surprised that there hasn't been a law suit out against this game tbh for false advertising. Saying that choices don't matter is an understatement. You can even elect to just let the scenes play out and it won't matter; I've tested this. The only thing that requires mandatory interaction are the mini games and even then the outcomes of them are the same, and there are too few of them. That first person section - which actually doesn't require any detective work from the player - is a necessity so that the character doesn't obscure the player's vision who is required at that point to...open a bunch of draws. Riveting stuff. Much wow. It's not an artistic choice hence why there isn't more of that.

The very final choice i.e. the only one that does matter doesn't even take into consideration your actions up to that point. This wouldn't be a problem if the story was actually, you know, compelling, but it's like a bad 90s British soap opera and the writers seem to have no idea how modern Londoners actually talk.

As for this game teaching bigger studios about cinematic story telling techniques...🤣 Ignoring more recent examples like God of War, Last of Us Part II and Red Dead Redemption II, the camera work in Last Stop is one of the worst things about it. One reason is because, as you articulated, you have to locate where your character actually is on the screen but moreover, sometimes it makes it difficult to tell where you're supposed to go resulting in awkward clashes with invisible walls. Often, you don't even know when you've assumed control of the character, resulting in sudden stops that break the cinematic flow. The only reason why it even allows you to take control in those moments is so the player can feel involved but the fact that these devs think walking from place to place is what makes engaging gameplay is worrying.

It should be so lucky to even draw any comparisons to a Quantic Dream, even in a negative. It's games like this that make you realise how talented David Cage truly is.