What Games Have You Completed? (2023 EDITION!)

da gamer

Call of duty modern warfare II - PS4

Lego the Incredibles - PS4

A plague tale requim - Xbox series s

Mr.Fantastic

1. God of war: Ragnarok -PS5
2. Signalis -Xbox Series X

Signalis

A delightfully strange horror Sci-Fi played this on gamepass after hearing stuff about it online. Loved it! Not really about the combat but a love letter to the survival horror a la resident evil and silent hill.

Didn't agree with some design choices regarding the inventory management was a pain going from safe room and back to drop off items.

Plot was out there but I loved it.

Onto Callisto protocol at the moment its visually impressive the dodge mechanic is nonsense though

SuperBowserWorld

Spider-Man Remastered PS5

Just finished the main game now.

Technically, artistically, story wise it's all good. Cheerful, upbeat, relaxing game. Excellent Spider-Man realisation. I played it with all the high frame rate, ray tracing, HDR bells and whistles on. Not a single glitch. They did a superb job.

The combat great and the moves can be combined in fun and interesting ways. Also, the arial combat ramps up near the end, but it's still fluid, controllable and navigable which adds to the whole Spider-Man experience. The range of suits is fun. Navigating the open world is a joy, especially as you gain more skills.

I got the ultimate edition, discounted, ages ago, but only got round it it now. Excellent package. Stil have DLC and Miles Morales to do. Will do that sometime down the line.

I was getting bored by the random open world missions, but they do teach you the ropes. The glut of todo things gets annoying too. Jumping back to the main game fixed that problem.

Recommend

Kingp35

1. Yakuza 0 - PlayStation 5

Yakuza 0

I've decided to work my way through all of the Yakuza games that I haven't played yet, which is quite a lot! I put in 71 hours in total in Yakuza 0 and I enjoyed the vast majority of it. The plot is very good as usual with plenty of twists and turns. The sub stories were entertaining as usual and full of the ridiculous humour the series is known for.

As with all Yakuza games, my only gripe is that the games sure do waste your time. There is simply too much dialogue, a lot of it could have been cut out.

I finished with 57% completion on the Completion List, I have no idea how anyone could reach 100% without losing their sanity!

Onto Yakuza 3 next.

Azza

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith - PC

Basically more of the same as Dark Forces II with some minor A.I, graphics and gameplay changes that I personally didn't notice much at all. Story is a massive step back from the previous game in terms of the general plot and voice acting with the ingame cut scenes being of extremely low quality. Even the title Mysteries of the Sith is somewhat misleading as only the last 3 of the 14 missions has content related to the Sith and the other 11 missions are unrelated to the last 3. Last 2 missions are made infuriating by a beast like creature that is a common enemy that are utterly horrible to fight.

Not terrible but compared to the main game its overall a weaker package and far from essential to play.

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120119032#Comment_120119032

Yakuza 3 might be the worst one, at least mechanically, so buckle up. Okinawa's really lovely setting, mind. Yakuza 5 is going to be your Vietnam if you felt Zero wasted your time, even if it does have the Kiwami engine going in its favour.

wotzgoingon

1. High on Life [Xbox]

High on Life

My first game to complete for 2023 and what a game I loved every minute of it, the humour the way it played everything. I manged to get all collectibles too. I even missed out on a few achievements that you would never know about by just playing the game as you would need a guide to tell you what to do.

Over all a great game.

TinCanMan

The Last Guardian [PS5] - A game that I both loved and hated. The story and the world that it plays out in are amazing with the sense of scale when outside and traversing upwards providing some exhilarating moments. The bond between the two main characters is a joy to experience and grows throughout the game. Now for the bad. The controls and camera are beyond frustrating at times and can lead to some truly rage inducing moments. In addition some of the puzzles have little logic to them and can be difficult to figure out. This aside the game was a beautiful experience and well worth playing.

Assassins Creed Black Flag [PS5] - What a joy this game is to play. It’s definitely one of the best Assassins Creed games to date and for a game almost 10 years old it still looks beautiful. The story is well written and the protagonist likeable. The ship battles add greatly to the game with some epic battles ensuing but this game is more than just that. I found the player control to be well polished as well. Overall I would thoroughly recommend this game.

Retr0gamer

1. Sonic Frontiers (PC)
2. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

I can see why this is so fondly remembered by the NES fraternity. This has cemented itself as one of my all time favourite NES games and one of the best games I've ever played.

Punch-out is really quite a simple game when you break it down. You've a dodge, a duck, a block and either an uppercut or jab with the left and right hands. You can also gain stars from perfectly timed counters against enemies that can be used for devastating punches that take a long time to charge but do incredible damage if they connect. The beauty of Punch-Out is that Nintendo have worked their magic and turned a very simple game into something incredible.

While punch-out presents itself as a boxing game but really it's more like a rhythm boss rush game. It's all about reading your opponent, dodging at the right time and counter attacking. Each fighter you come up against had their own unique way of fighting them and beating them. It's really amazing how much personality these opponents have in their fighting styles and it's enhanced by their appearance. Punch out is a gorgeous looking game. Nintendo used a chip in the cartridge to help the NES display these enormous sprites and it was never used for any other game. Each opponent has bags of personality that comes through from their design and animation.

The final tournament and Mike Tyson really asked a lot from me to beat. I was working on the game over the last number of days to get through these opponents and then finally perfect them. Despite the frustration, gnashing of teeth and swearing it was an exhilarating experience. I've not played a game in a long time that proved such heart racing excitement. And when I finally took out super Macho man and then Mike Tyson I was very vocal in my excitement. I think there was even some punching into the air.

This is only the second game I've beaten this year and it's already a strong contender for the best game I'll play this year. Punch out is an absolute classic.

Just be warned, do not try to play this game on a modern tv. The timing in this game, particularly the last 3 fights can be harsh. You'll need a crt or a emulation with run ahead latency reduction (I used RetroArch and the Messen core).

da gamer

Call of duty modern warfare II - PS4

Lego the Incredibles - PS4

A plague tale requim - Xbox series s

High on life - Xbox series s

eggy81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129739#Comment_120129739

My young lad got me into it. He was obsessed with it for about 6 months. It’s amazingly addictive. We were timing each other beating the various opponents on a stopwatch. Definitely a rhythm game. You can beat some of the opponents in seconds with the right timing a choice of punch.

great game

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129739#Comment_120129739

Now do the Wii version and drop Donkey Kong right on his banana maker.

Retr0gamer

I do want to play the Wii game and super punch out, might even give the arcade game a go but I'm kind of exhausted from playing it so much the last week that I need a break!

DeSelby83

Finished Pentiment last night. Clocked in at just over 13hrs. Played it entirely through xcloud on my phone as had touch controls, was great to pick up now and again when I had a bit of free time.

Pacing was off at times but never stopped me wanting to progress the story. The religious setting didn't bother me as found it gave an interesting historical context that I hadn't played before but I can understand how it would turn some people off.

Found the ending a pretty interesting light commentary on religion/beliefs/history and what came before and really enjoyed the game overall.

Penn

1. Neon White (PS5)

Dead Cells (PS5)

Really fun game. It was something I'd seen lauded many times before but just never got around to it. There's a fantastic variety of weapons and items which keeps getting added to the pool to draw from, which as per other rogue-likes can help or hinder you if you don't get the rng weapons you want. There are also plenty of permanent upgrades you can get to help future runs.

There appear to be a few different paths to the end; as you unlock more permanent skills you can access new areas which lead you to different levels, each with their own different blend of enemies. I only made it to the end once so far so not even sure if I've found all the different possible levels yet.

Enemy design is great, some real absolute bellends in later levels. Combat is fairly simplistic even with the huge variety of weapons. The main thing is to have patience.

I'd still put something like Hades over this, but it's an effortlessly charming game with some terrific design and fun and engaging combat.

CastorTroy

Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5)

I really enjoyed this. The characters, the story, the interactions between the characters and the gameplay. All good. And it was fun.

Mr.Saturn

1. Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)

2. Yakuza 5 (PS4)

3. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4)

4. Nano Assault Ex (3DS)

Miles Morales is one of the few modern open-world games that isn't a complete head-melt. It's fun to move around, the busy work leans into that and, best of it all, it's short so there's not too much in the way of pointless bloat unless that something you're actively sniffing out.

Was actually surprised I finished Nano Assault EX in that I was sure I was only coming to the mid-point based on the difficulty, but then the credits ran. Not a complaint, it's a fun shmup/Starfox hybrid that didn't overstay its welcome. Difficulty's a bit weird though, so the back-end of the game is surprisingly easy and you find yourself finishing the game before you know it.

johnny_ultimate

God of War: Ragnarok

GoW Ragnarok is a great 15-hour game. Unfortunately, it’s actually a 40-hour game.

There’s a lot to like here. The already excellent combat has been further refined, and feels consistently great in motion. Presentation and performance wise, it runs like a dream on PS5 - rivalling PC quality with extraordinarily sharp visuals and a perfect high frame rate delivery. There are moments, sequences and longer stretches of the game where everything is working in harmony and it’s an extremely enjoyable, highly polished game to play.

But it’s also a game with serious pacing problems and a frustrating case of system bloat. This is a straightforward third-person action game full of vast amounts of RPG menu micro-management, boring loot and dull skill trees. It has a main story path that has its moments, but is so overloaded with supporting characters and subplots that it quickly loses focus. Pivotal characters may have a few scenes early on then disappear for a dozen or more hours, making their role in the story fuzzy or bolted on. Even the main story lacks the sense of purpose of its predecessor, instead getting weighed down in repetitive chatter about prophecy and a bunch of tangents (although there are perfectly nice character moments and development scattered throughout the game). It has fun, semi-open hub areas that show the gameplay at its best while also dragging the player away from the main path for hours at a time. The main path itself has some cool boss battles, but is also an often tedious slog of linear corridors and repetitive enemy encounters.

The game’s strengths and weaknesses are best exemplified by the game’s best area: a region called The Crater, unlocked near the end of the game. This is a vast, entirely optional side area, full of involved side quests, cool bosses, neat gameplay ideas, and an environment that evolves, transforms and expands based on your actions. It’s great that this is in the game: it’s a very neat bit of extravagant, big budget game design, and easily the best 4-5 hours I spent with the game.

But it’s also a part of the game that’s almost entirely divorced from the rest - the story justification is limited at best and is barely referenced by the rest of the cast when you actually resolve it. It’s an entirely missable or indeed skippable area, and even within its confines the repetition is obvious. There’s a big, dramatic fight with a large enemy at the end of one path, but the thrill wears off a little when you realise you have to do the same basic fight another two times. So while I’m truly happy this section is in the game, it really made me wish that the parts of the game every player has to play showed a fraction of the expansive level design The Crater does, while also being reminded that The Crater would have been even better had they cut down on the repetition a little bit.

There was enough good in Ragnarok to encourage me to push through to the end, but there was enough bad to leave me frequently frustrated by the experience. It is a game that is too big for its own good, and often has its best ideas off to the side where many players won’t even see them. It is a game whose epic scope but scattershot storytelling makes me miss the more focused, shorter thrills of the God of War of old. As a series, GoW has grown up - better presentation, more refined combat, (mercifully) fewer edgelord sex minigames. But it’s also become a symbol of a lot wrong with AAA games these days: games so loaded with bloated systems and narrative self-importance and general ‘stuff’ that they’ve lost or at least diluted a lot of the other stuff they unquestionably do well. It’s half a great game and half a bad one, and as a result it ends up just being sort of merely ‘OK’.

Retr0gamer

1. Sonic Frontiers (PC)
2. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Yes that TMNT, the famous one from the AVGN video. The one that is incredibly difficult to beat. Everyone with a NES had the game, nobody could beat it. You see the thing is TMNT is definitely beatable. Each level takes place with an open world map with lots of stages dotted around. The thing is the vast majority of these stages go no where or end in a simple power up and force you to back track out. If you were to do each of these stages they would wear you down and you'd end up dead in no time. If you know where you are going and know the tricks for farming health and the stupidly powerful scroll sub weapon before the last stage then it's manageable. That's not to say it's still not hard. The game is janky as hell and spawns annoying enemies constantly, it's near impossible to avoid all damage. So did I spend ages learning the game off to find the optimal route? Of course I did I'm a god tier videogame player.

Actually no, I used the very helpful 'You can Beat Videogame' youtube series. No regrets.

There's no other way to describe TMNT other than a mess. It's very obviously a rush job and far from the high standards of most other Konami games. The License seems to be barely used. They have the turtles, April, Splinter Shredder and 4 of the famous turtle bad guys. All the rest of the enemies are made up of random mutants and nasties that seem totally out of place in the universe. Level design is very slapdash. With Konami games I usually expect expertly designed levels with cleverly placed enemies but here there's no rhyme or reason to the design or enemy placement. Enemy placement can be totally random as well. The Turtles are massively imbalanced. Donatello is by far the best with a weapon that has the best reach and does the best damage. It's a bit slower but it hardly matters. Raphael does the same damage as Don but has shorter range. Leonardo has decent range but weak attacks which makes him effectively useless after the initial stages when enemies can tank his hits. Michelangelo is effectively useless with a short range, poor damage and the inability to attack upwards.

The game definitely isn't awful. It can be unfair but not so much that it's impossible to master. It's frustrating until you get the hang of it. There's far far worse games on the NES than TMNT but I guess this has a high profile for being so ubiquitous and causing so much childhood trauma. No matter how many times I play the game the underwater section and the area where the walls close in still give me trouble. It's so strange seeing such a shoddy release from Konami. Even more so when you consider how close this game is to another Konami game, Getsu Fuma Den. This was another action platformer that plays quite close to turtles and had side scrolling levels interspersed in a top down overworld map. It's a minor Famicom/NES classic. It came out in 1987 and yet TMNT had two years on it and came out in 1989 and it's so much worse. It's kind of an ugly game as well.

I'm glad I played it but doubt I'll even take the time to try and beat it ever again.

I've got to feel sorry for Konami game devs of the era. This game was the best selling game for Konami for a long time and every game was compared to it but upper management were only concerned about sales. So you had Konami devs making absolute masterpieces and having upper management giving out to them for not making a game as 'good' as shoddy TMNT.

da gamer

Call of duty modern warfare II - PS4

Lego the Incredibles - PS4

A plague tale requim - Xbox series s

High on life - Xbox series s

Prodeus - Xbox series s

TinCanMan

The Last Guardian [PS5] - A game that I both loved and hated. The story and the world that it plays out in are amazing with the sense of scale when outside and traversing upwards providing some exhilarating moments. The bond between the two main characters is a joy to experience and grows throughout the game. Now for the bad. The controls and camera are beyond frustrating at times and can lead to some truly rage inducing moments. In addition some of the puzzles have little logic to them and can be difficult to figure out. This aside the game was a beautiful experience and well worth playing.

Assassins Creed Black Flag [PS5] - What a joy this game is to play. It’s definitely one of the best Assassins Creed games to date and for a game almost 10 years old it still looks beautiful. The story is well written and the protagonist likeable. The ship battles add greatly to the game with some epic battles ensuing but this game is more than just that. I found the player control to be well polished as well. Overall I would thoroughly recommend this game.

Stray [PS5] - This game is visually stunning in a unique setting where you play as a cat with the ultimate aim to escape the world that you are forced into. Along the way you will encounter various puzzles and enemies. Whilst not overly challenging they do add to this unique environment. It’s a beautiful experience, especially if you are looking for something a bit different at a more relaxing pace.

TinCanMan

The Last Guardian [PS5] - A game that I both loved and hated. The story and the world that it plays out in are amazing with the sense of scale when outside and traversing upwards providing some exhilarating moments. The bond between the two main characters is a joy to experience and grows throughout the game. Now for the bad. The controls and camera are beyond frustrating at times and can lead to some truly rage inducing moments. In addition some of the puzzles have little logic to them and can be difficult to figure out. This aside the game was a beautiful experience and well worth playing.

Assassins Creed Black Flag [PS5] - What a joy this game is to play. It’s definitely one of the best Assassins Creed games to date and for a game almost 10 years old it still looks beautiful. The story is well written and the protagonist likeable. The ship battles add greatly to the game with some epic battles ensuing but this game is more than just that. I found the player control to be well polished as well. Overall I would thoroughly recommend this game.

Stray [PS5] - This game is visually stunning in a unique setting where you play as a cat with the ultimate aim to escape the world that you are forced into. Along the way you will encounter various puzzles and enemies. Whilst not overly challenging they do add to this unique environment. It’s a beautiful experience, especially if you are looking for something a bit different at a more relaxing pace.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons [PS5] - I can’t recommend this game enough. It really hits you in the feels. The game itself looks beautiful and has a unique playstyle as you need to control the two brothers simultaneously with the left and right analog sticks. There are various puzzles and enemies to tackle on your adventures. Whilst the game isn’t overly long it’s definitely one that everyone should experience.

Mr.Saturn

Went in blind to Tale of Two Sons and was absolutely floored by it. Tremendous little game.

Penn

1. Neon White (PS5)
2. Dead Cells (PS5)

Superliminal (PS5)

Very short first-person puzzle game, with a heady mix of Portal and Maquette style puzzles. Still manages to be its own thing, with some really well-designed geometry puzzles. Fun and interesting, but maybe gets a bit too conceptual by the end where figuring out puzzles kind of falls by the wayside in favour of just messing with you a bit and just forcing you to try things rather than actually solve something logically. Doesn't really have the charm of Portal either.

The biggest issue is that bar maybe 3 or 4 puzzles, the rest are solved pretty easily. From looking at the trophy list there's apparantly a lot of side stuff/secrets to find (I found one or two of them myself by chance anyway), but I blew through the entire main campaign last night in probably 3 hours.

Fun, but don't think I'd be going back to replay or find secret stuff like I definitely did with the Portal games.

TinCanMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120161386#Comment_120161386

Totally agree. Heard good things about it but really wasn't expecting much and all I can say is wow what a game.

Corinthian

Far Cry 6 (PC)

I think better than 4 or 5, although it is more of the same things they've been doing since 3.

Mad Max (PS)

I had a lot of fun with this. The main story feels pretty short, but unusually for me I spent ages doing the optional stuff in the open world to build the magnum opus.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Metal: Hellsinger || Xbox Series X

Pun highly intended when I say this game is metal as f*ck.

I was playing a bit of Hi-Fi Rush and it got me in the mood to check out any other rhythm action games and Metal: Hellsinger showed up on my Game Pass library, so I gave it a go.

My god this game was highly addictive.

Not that long, either. Only 2-3 hours in length. I'd say it's made to cater to those seeking leaderboard rankings and all that - the game is very score-based.

But man it was so much fun. Think Doom, if it was a rhythm game. That's basically what this plays like. I really enjoyed this one. I'll probably go back every now and then just for the sake of the soundtrack alone. If you're into heavy metal, this is a blast to listen to.

Mr.Fantastic

1. God of war: Ragnarok -PS5
2. Signalis -Xbox Series X
3. The Callisto Protocol - PS5

The Callisto Protocol

Finished this last night with only 9 hours on the clock. Very interesting premise intially but loses steam midway. The performance of the two main actors isn't bad, but the gameplay is fairly linear. Also I wasn't a huge fan of the dodge mechanic , very much a 6/10 not a patch on dead space in my opinion.

Currently playing Chained echoes on my steam deck and thinking about starting Fire Emblem Engage.

Retr0gamer

1. Sonic Frontiers (PC)
2. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
4. Aladdin (SNES)

Aladdin

There's two 16-bit Aladdin games. The Megadrive version is the best known. It was the third best selling Megadrive game behind only Sonic 1 and 2 and became a pack in title. While the Megadrive game looks absolutely incredible it's kind of a very basic western platformer with very boring level design. I fell the SNES game gets unfairly dismissed although it has it's fair share of problems.

Aladdin on the SNES is developed by Capcom (Shinji Mikami was the planner) who had a reputation for making incredible Disney games on the NES and SNES. Unlike the Megadrive game, Aladdin brings its own twist to the platforming. Aladdin can bounce off enemies and scenery to gain height as well as swing on poles. These elements are mixed into the level design to give the game a real flow. I also like how they emphasise the non violent nature of the Aladdin character. He stuns enemies with apples and puts them out of action by jumping on them whereas the Megadrive game as Aladdin wield a sword which is very out of character.

While the level design of Aladdin is above average, there is one niggle that holds the whole game back. It's very obviously rushed. There's only a handful of levels and the game is over very quickly. Important sections of the film that would have made good setpieces are glossed over in the still images used to convey the story of the game. Even more sacrilegious for a Capcom games, there's a severe lack of bosses. There's only two, albeit very good bosses, right at the end of the game. At least the game has a stage dedicated to the 'A whole new world' carpet ride sequence that the Megadrive game forgets about.

Aladdin is a pretty decent platformer with good level design and great controls that unfortunately is a little lacking.

Kingp35

1. Yakuza 0 - PlayStation 5
2. Yakuza 3 - PlayStation 5
3. The Gardens Between - PlayStation 5

Yakuza 3

I was worried that old Yakuza engine would effect my enjoyment of this but it was still a very fun game with the usual excellent b-movie plot. It's clear where the Kiwami engine improved things though. the real negative here were the substories, they weren't nearly was whacky and fun as the Kiwami games. Also the amount of text in this game is insane, I had to skip through a lot of it outside the main missions/interesting substories as it just takes too long to read it all

The Gardens Between

Fun little puzzle game where the gimmick is that you can fast forward and rewind time to solve puzzles. It's very short, took about 2 hours to complete and get the platinum trophy.