Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

XBLAZE Code Embryo - a visual novel game. It's a side story to the BlazBlue series of games. It might be a cool thing to experience if you're a BlazBlue diehard fan. But for me it was a waste of time, roughly eight hours of my life I'll never get back. 3/10

Nightshade - another visual novel game, this time in the otome subgenre (basically a lady dating sim). Now...compared to XBLAZE Code Embryo, Nightshade was a breath of fresh air. An interesting plot line, good music, good voicework. The story isn't on the level of Steins;Gate: Elite, but I enjoyed my time. 6/10

I find myself warming up to the visual novel genre. Having a hands-free style of game while enjoying a cup of coffee in the early afternoon...it's nice. And now that the PS Vita is dead and buried we can expect publishers like PQube, Aksys Games, Idea Factory, D3 Publisher, and others to begin translating a whole bunch of these games for the western market. Even LRG is getting in on the act by distributing the western release for Clannad.

@NotTelevision In fairness, most sites have awarded it pretty decent scores. 6 - 8 range. I stand by my criticisms, but most people who have reviewed it don't seem to share them.

Have you played Hellblade? I'm really curious to get to that. There aren't a ton of games out there that explore mental illness as a serious subject.

I'm halfway through Hellblade on my Switch, @Ralizah .... I do intend to return to that So far, I'd say it's great, especially for the mental health side.

@Ralizah I will say that the presentation, motion capture, and audio are all excellent in Hellblade. I’d recommend playing it on the strongest machine you have, since the graphics are fantastically detailed and it is a relatively short experience. No reason to take it on the go.

My biggest criticism of the game are some of the boring environmental puzzles which drag down the pace of the experience. There also are some cutscenes where Senua freaks out that came off a bit overcooked/overacted.

Overall I’d say it’s worth to pick it up on a sale, mainly for one particularly tremendous boss battle and the great emotional payoff.

@BruceCM Still blows my mind that the game is even available on the Switch. And, soon, so will The Witcher 3. On a dedicated handheld, even. Strange times.

@NotTelevision My plan is to pick it up on PS4 at some point when there's a particularly good sale. I'm not terribly interested in the gameplay, but the use of 3D audio in the game sounds awesome.

I'm sure it'd probably look nicer on my more powerful (though still quite old) PC, but ease of use trumps everything in short game like this, and I plan on plugging my headphones directly into the controller.

Headohones definitely recommended, @Ralizah .... I'm sure you'll let us know how you get on with it, whenever you get around to playing

Marvel ultimate alliance 3: The black Order.

Yust finished it took me 35hours (also did extra stuff)

Im glad I bought this second handed so for 25€ thats what the game is worth for me I give it a 6,5 / 10

@Heavyarms55 hi there, I'm afraid I just can't get on with mario 64 either. Having played most of the others to completion and being a huge fan of the genre I put it down to the controls of mario himself and the early 3d camera.
I've been trying off and on to click with mario 64 since 2007 and I always get really frustrated around the 30-40 star mark.

I finished links awakening most recently and I compare it to putting on an old movie that makes you feel good but it doesn't challenge you anymore.
Having never done the colour dungeon before I was quite disappointed when I had done it in ten minutes and it lacked any challenge or complex puzzles bas d round the dungeon theme.
Feeling a little buyer's remorse for buying digital and being stuck with it, but I may us the game to introduce my niece to the series

@brendathecat Well I will agree that the controls haven't aged well. If you didn't get used to it back in the day, and are used to modern controls, I could see that being an issue.

@Heavyarms55 yeah! Mario sunshine was the first 3d mario I really fell in love with and even going back to those controls takes some adjustment. Mario slips around a lot and is prone to clicking his heels and side jumping.

Just recently beat River City Girls. It was alright(great soundtrack though), but there are some problems I had with the game. The dialogue and story are cringy, it tries too hard to be cute and quirky. Reminds of Horizon Zero Dawn's horrible writing, thinking about that game makes me want to vomit and that's not what you want developers. Another thing, some of the voice acting is mediocre, but the last two bosses are simply horrible! But in the end, they all have great designs(sadly the dialogue gives them nothing to work with), so good job there Wayforward.

The gameplay is fun, don't know why they made the same button be used for multiple things. When you get in a fight, you're gonna have a problem, cause one button is used for picking up items and for the screen transition. Which it's frustrating in a fight! Also, the block and items are terrible, they're so laggy that they're useless! To wrap this up. There's too many enemy spawns(some don't even give you exp or money) and the bosses are mediocre to just plain terrible. Especially the third boss, ugh so bloody tedious.

Like I said before this game is alright, but it has a handful of problems and for the asking price of $30? This game is not worth it, wait for a sale and this game will be fine for a day or two(it ain't long, it's super short).

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks for this! I haven't read your full write-up yet but intend to when I have more time later. I've loved the Digimon franchise for years but haven't played a game related to the series since Digimon World: Dusk on the DS.

Astral Chain (Switch)

Pros:

• Combat is deep and satisfying, and they introduce things at a pace so you're never overwhelmed. While normal encounters can be dangerous if you're not paying attention, the bosses in particular were pretty great.
• It's mostly a very smooth experience. The only notable frame drops I noticed were during a boss fight about halfway through (it's a very large enemy, and the frame drops occur once it's health gets low & it starts running like crazy along the side of the buildings around the arena), but even that wasn't very distracting.
• While it's an action game at it's core, it's actually a pretty well rounded package that breaks things up with investigations, environmental platforming & puzzling, the occasional stealth section or on rails shooting section, and a few other optional minigames (such "moving block" puzzles, delivery minigames, and even a retro game minigame), which are mostly quality experiences themselves.
• It's very replayable if that's your thing. Of course it has what you'd expect for an action game, outside of the easiest difficulty, every section is graded so you can replay scenarios for a better score, and it has an unlockable harder difficulty. Outside of that though it has a decent photo mode (which can be used to unlock character, enemy, & location entries in an extensive encyclopedia), hidden cats & toilets to find in every mission, and an in game achievement system that can be used to collect goodies. There's a lot of accessories & a few different costumes to collect as well.
• Even if you're not into replayability it's still a pretty meaty experience for an action game, lasting roughly 35-40 hours for a run (I played on Pt Standard, and finished about 38 hours in). It also has a post game chapter, so even if you're not into replaying past missions, you can get some extra playtime from this, though I haven't really delved into it.
• It's a very visually appealing game, with great art direction.

Mixed:

• the story is okay. I like the worldbuilding & some of the characters, but it ultimately devolves into typical anime pseudo-science technobabble.

Negative:

• You can't 100% most missions the first time through, as there will be some areas/items inaccessible due to you needing an ability you don't yet have. This works well in more open world or "Metroidvania" games, but is less appealing in a chapter based game such as this (also, you can only replay previous chapters via a PC you can only access at the start of a chapter at HQ).
• While most gameplay elements are quality, the platforming is a bit rough (probably because it centers around having your Legion yank you across gaps, and if you happen to as much as brush anything you lose all momentum & fall like a rock, and your character won't grab ledges & pull themselves up even if you're right at the edge). It's not so bad that I had any issue with any of the main objectives, but there's quite a bit of goodies off the beaten path only accessible past tricky platforming, and that's where it becomes an issue.

Overall my criticticims are pretty minor and it was a great experience. The most engrossing Switch exclusive I've played since year one's BotW, Odyssey, & XC2, IMO. As a disclaimer, I played it exclusively docked.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy No prob! I found it pretty informative! Going by your write-up, it's similar in some ways to the two DS entries I've played.

Heck, it's safe to say that this is one of the games that has made me seriously consider picking up a PS4 more than once. Unfortunately I barely even have time for the systems I do own lately.

I'm not sure what constitutes completion but I recently filled out all diary entries in Voez. Never played rhythm games before Voez aside from messing around on stuff like DDR and a few other games at Japanese arcades but Voez stole my attention the day I purchased it and I've played it on and off ever since. Not very good at the game but I've managed a few special 15+ S ranks which feels super sweet.

A cool thing I learned going for some of those final all-perfect challenges was that all-perfecting a track wasn't necessarily any easier on lower difficulties, and that mirrored my experiences playing the guitar. Unless you specifically train yourself to play at all tempos, you'll likely develop a subconscious proficiency at a select few tempos and anything faster or slower can throw you off. I ended up all-perfecting tracks considerably more technical than the easier songs in the game while missing a couple of notes every time I attempted said easier songs because I wasn't acclimated to performing at those tempos. Patience pays off I guess! Might have to practice with a metronome!

Guacamelee 2 on Nintendo Switch

If you've never played a game in the series, It's a lite metroidvania. The focus is on combat, with some light exploration that pays off in the form of health shards or energy shards. There's always an icon telling you where to go, but that doesn't mean it's easy getting there. Throughout the game you learn new abilities which youll have to master to get to new areas. In some instances, youll be tested by having to pull off each one of those abilities in a jump or on an enemy. It makes for some frustrating times when you don't quite get it right but thankfully, it saves often and you jump right back in after you die.

Boss fights are just Ok, but they dont have to be that great considering most of the Game is mini boss battles, and some of them are rather difficult.

All of the colors and graphics are stunning, and bright. The sound effects, humor, and gameplay, make this one of my favorite indie series thats out there. I absolutely loved the first game, and the 2nd was even better. I highly recommend either game the next time they're on sale, as they're a complete blast. 8.5/10.

@RR529 I’m still working my way through the game, but yeah it is wonderful and up there with the best exclusives on Switch. The learning curve is actually quite steep on PT Standard and I didn’t find the combat “clicking” at all for the first 5-6 hours. I kept getting stunned and knocked around constantly.

Once it does though and you get that energy spike, chaining enemies, and executing perfect dodges, the whole experience becomes euphoric.

The platforming parts are a bit annoying though so agree with you there. The character movement is more suited for combat, not moving around narrow and disappearing platforms.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks for the review. I was thinking of picking it up.

I beat ori and metal slug earlier this week.

Not much to say about Metal Slug. It's pretty much a contra type game just in a different setting. Had a good time with it though. 7/10

Ori and the Blind Forest though. I'm not going to say i was disappointed, but I was expecting a tiny bit more after all the hype that surrounded it. I mean.. the graphics animation and music were superb. The level design was decent. I dont really know if there were boss battles, I don't really recall anything that resembled a boss battle. Maybe the escape scenes were in place of boss battles? Not really sure. It's definitely a good game, and worth $20. Anything more than that and i may have been disappointed. I think it's priced fair for what you get. You can tell they put alot of love into It, and it shows with the story of the game which is one of the better parts. There is some action in the game but it takes getting used to. The best part is after you die, you respawn right away and that's very welcome. I'd say this game is in between 7/7.5-10. Had there no been so many people talking this game up ahead of time, I might have came in with a different perspective and enjoyed it more. It's still a fun time though. Just something is missing from making it great, and i can't tell what.