hylian_elf wrote:

10. New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
the game itself is one of the best 2D Marios
[9]

Damn straight.

acemuzzy wrote:

Out of your ten games, you've given six [9]s, one [10] and one [8]. Your scale is clearly bogus, particularly vs moot's 57 data points.

I'm sitting on a 7.6 average out of my 30 so far.

I've given five 5/10s and two 10/10s. Interestingly, both 10s are from Capcom.

I'm looking forward to pointless end of year stats.

acemuzzy wrote:

Gotta play shit to calibrate man. Basics.

Can I use this to explain my sexlife please

Persona 5 - 110hrs(ish)

It’s a great game with a unique style all it’s own and a dopamine inducing combat feedback loop. The combat isn’t particularly complicated, test the bad guys, find a weakness, exploit and get that sweet kill. The hold up, weakness and critical animations are all what provide that gaming hit perfectly.

Outside of combat you have a LOT of pressing X to advance a pretty linear story, but choice about how and who you accomplish that with opens up as you progress with some nice side stories for each of the characters. It’s clear that you can’t progress all of the side stories which I assume is meant to encourage replay. But as much as I’ve enjoyed it I won’t be spending 100+ hrs replaying any game.

All of this is wrapped up in a game with the toppest of graphic design, animation and soundtrack.

A solid [9]

8. Emily is Away - [8] - 30mins

Second run through of this, replaying in anticipation of playing the sequel, turns out it's not a direct sequel (boo!). Anyway, this works so well with a mechanical keyboard. It really adds to the atmosphere. And a great way to get the number of completed games up. More 30 minute games please!

28. The Last of Us 2 - 25 Hours - ?/10 - PS4 Pro

So it’s over. Really don’t know what to think. I understand why they ended it like that, but I just didn’t enjoy said ending whatsoever. I have very mixed feelings about the entire game and at this moment in time I really don’t know what to think about it.

I don’t like a lot of the decisions they made about the story or characters and I really don’t think they needed to literally smash their points home over and over again.

Just a bit empty about it all.

5 - Life is Strange: Before the Storm + bonus episode
PC

Better than Life is Strange 1. Loved it. It looks really janky, but once you've done a certain part in the first episode*, none of that matters. Writing and camera work is really well done, and unlike LiS1, you can't undo your choices here. By the end of the bonus episode you're crying.

*

63. Observation - XBoxOne (7hrs maybe?)

Continuing my mission to at least try everything published by Devlover, not many left now.  

You play as the ship's AI on a space station.  Via communication with surviving crew you must attempt to unravel the current situation (whatever that may be #spoilers).  You'll do this by manipulating cameras and logging onto various software via laptops and suchlike, so you don't have a physical avatar to possess unless you're roaming in one of the droid spheres.  It's a narrative driven puzzle game, and there's plenty of scenery scanning involved in the puzzle solving.  It's not quite needle in haystack stuff, but it sure feels like it at times - a few of the systems in place definitely feel a bit obtuse, and some of the one-off tasks feel a bit under-explained, meaning that I considered myself lucky for solving one or two as it definitely doesn't hold your hand through its various systems.  This is what the devs do, there's plenty of 'you're on your own' style puzzles in Stories Untold too.  I don't appreciate it myself, and would say a hint option to fall back on would've been welcome.  If you're asked to do something, then ask whoever gave the instruction to repeat it, they literally just repeat it.  It takes the shine off somewhat as 'I told you to assess the damage' ad infinitum should really be evolving into 'assess the damage to the mainframe' or something marginally more helpful if you're clearly stumped imo; it can seem a bit harsh, robotic and downright cryptic at times, conjuring up flashbacks of point 'n click adventures of old.     

It's an odd game, and tbh I think I would have bounced off it if I hadn't played Stories Untold as an undercard of sorts.  Much like Stories Untold, the story this tells is excellent.  I've suffered Tacoma, and more recently Deliver Us the Moon (which was kinda a'ight in terms of story), but this is a cut above.  Genuinely creepy and deftly drip fed, it's top tier videogame sci fi and in terms of interactive narratives I'd say it's up there.  Once again I found myself wondering if I would've enjoyed watching a stream more than playing it myself though.  I don't tend to watch other people play games, I find it a puzzling pastime (each to their own ofc), but games 'worth experiencing' that don't play particularly well are bit of a thing at the moment.  

There's a lot to like here, but I can't decide whether or not I was having much fun even when I didn't find the tasks laborious.  I'm in proper waffle mode now so I'll stop.  It's good, I can see what it offers being so far up some people's street it could proudly top a GotY list or two, but I've got to settle on a harsh [6].  A worthwhile chore.  On another day I might've reached for a [7], but I played too much of it in a short space of time.  

Special mention for the facial animation on your main companion - clearly unintentional, but she looks more baked than Stoner Stanley.  Her super-blazed face was the only levity in an otherwise resolutely po-faced adventure.  



Edit: Actually, I've decided that a non-interactive on-rails VR narrative would have suited me more than playing it.

Droopiest eyelids award for sure.

64. Hotline Miami - Switch (3-4hrs)

Handily, I wrote about this recently for Jon's GOTD selections:

Moot_Geeza: “Ferocious top-down murder 'em up that strikes a masterful balance between power and vulnerability.  Formulate your own plan of action to clear each floor, always acutely aware that the tables might turn in a heartbeat, at which point the hunter becomes the prey.  Skin of the teeth gaming at its absolute best; the perpetual peril is astonishing and the stages are mostly designed in a way that allows player strategies to be adjusted as required.  It's a wonderfully satisfying experience with a mesmerising one-hit-kill foundation.  Having possibly the best soundtrack of the decade certainly doesn't hurt either.  [10]

---

Having played through it again for the first time, I'm going to reluctantly rescind the perfect score.  It's a brilliant game, probably still in my top 15 or so ever, but the brief hospital stage and some irritating boss bits bring it down to a (still high flying) [9].  And the Switch port is such a bug ridden mess this particular version shoots its foot off and earns an [8] overall.  I encountered at least 5 major bugs that required full stage restarts (enemies disappearing before my eyes and reappearing way off the map was a favourite), which just isn't good enough for numerous reasons.  Throw in a smattering of lesser hiccups like bullets not displaying and you've got a poor port that slipped under the radar, presumably because it either wasn't tested extensively for reviews or the expected patch never materialised.  In some ways it's a perfect game, but wondering whether a stage will glitch as you clear it puts a sizeable dent in the enjoyment.

The Last of Us Part II - 26hrs 51mins

My initial enthusiasm gave way to me not actually wanting to play this much. However, much like the first one, I came back to it a couple times and then it got its hooks into me. Having just completed it, I have to say it’s my type of experience. Not too long and doesn’t, IMO, require another play through. Much like the first I’m happy to have it as an experience and memory.

Story, characters, dialogue, graphics, animation, soundtrack and score are all top notch. Despite a few quibbles gameplay wise, I really appreciated the approach they took with the story and think that this has to be the PS4’s swan song. Hopefully, the lure of cash won’t convince ND to make another, not that it’s bad, just that they should end on a high and probably start a new IP.

[10]

33: The Expendabros (PC) 6/10

This is a perfectly fine freebie, a Steam game I forgot I downloaded several years ago.  Whenever The Expendables 3 came out by the looks of it; it's a tie in advert.  That makes it sound bad, but it's just 1 hour of Broforce action, with a selection of Bros based on the characters from Expendables 3.  You get all the excitement of Broforce - the explosions, the destruction, the random humorous player characters, the general unpredictability.  Sometimes you blow yourself up, sometimes you win by accident, sometimes you stumble on a cheap way to win and feel clever.

Nothing wrong with that, especially when you're not paying anything!  Obviously not as good as the proper game, with less bros and levels.  But pretty good for what it is.

34: Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha (Switch) 7/10

This is a small, overpriced collection of shoot em up roms.  It seems like my local retailer couldn't shift the fancy box box editions and was selling them cheap (they're now close to reasonable value!).  I'm not much of a shoot em up man and I'd never played any of the 6 included games before.  I'm now something of a fan of the Strikers 1945 series.  I turn the difficulty right down to 'Monkey' (harsh, but fair) and still struggle, but they are beautiful to look at, with the neat pixels and fantastical enemy designs.  I don't know much about history but don't remember reading much about aircraft carriers that transformed into giant robots when you shot them enough times.  Also I thought Rommel was an evil nazi general, not a giant scorpion shaped mech.  I like the Psikyo interpretation of WWII better than the real thing.  

The other games I didn't care about so much, but can easily see myself revisiting S1945 from time to time.

Don't remember seeing it but will have a look at lunchtime tomorrow mate

29.DMC - 10 Hours - 6/10 - Xbox One X

Not a bad DMC game, but got rather boring very quickly. All the environments are so dull and boring and there’s none of the fun cheesiness in there. Takes itself too seriously. Just doesn’t add anything or perfect the formula, can’t really say much about it...so just feels kind of ok, perfect 6.

Was a long shot thanks for looking. Has to find its way into an EShop sale at some point surely, it's resisting almost as much as Devil Engine.