Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

Pikmin 3 - This was VERY different from any game franchise that I've played. Overall I enjoyed the game: The Pikmin were fun to use to try and solve environmental puzzles, the world was beautiful, and the game explained itself well. The plot wouldn't win any awards, but the motives of the Koppaites were easy to get behind. My only complaints were occasionally the AI of the Pikmin, and I found the final boss way more frustrating than enjoyable.

It's a series that I would be willing to try again should there ever be a Pikmin 4. I wouldn't list it as my favorite franchise, but it's pretty decent.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box - Not too different from the first game in terms of the mechanics, but I still have gotten plenty of mileage and enjoyment out of this installment. While I caught the conclusion of a couple of plot points before they were actually revealed, the reveal at the end still managed to surprise me. I had two guesses as to why Folsense looked exactly like it did in the old photos: 1. The occupants of the train stepped through a sort of wrinkle in time, so to speak, or 2. The whole place was a type of illusion. It turns out my second guess was close to the truth, though instead of hallucinogenic gas, I had thought that it had something to do with the new ore they had found. I managed to find all the puzzles in the story, but still need to try the puzzles and other features in the Bonus section.

Overall, I enjoyed Diabolical Box more than Curious Village, but I felt like this game dragged on a bit in a couple of parts.

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor: Great shooter for the Wii. The pointer is just perfect for it.

Finally finished Borderlands 2 for the first time tonight on PS4. Such a great game and one of the best story in a game I have played in a long time.

Minish Cap

...next up is Yoshi's Island. I bought one as a gift but I just tried it on my DS and it just froze twice. Need to play through it to see if it's faulty. :0/

So I finally got round to finishing 9P9H9D. I think I did 2 more endings within 24hrs of my previous post on it, but it took me a while to get round to finishing the True Ending. After getting one of the initial endings twice I decided to consult a guide for how to get every ending. I'd advise anyone taking up the game to do the same (look for a spoiler free guide).

Man the True Ending was long-winded, I thought. Took far longer to get through that one than any of the others. All in I clocked 28hrs playing this. Great story. It's the first game I've played of this genre and so a very unique and memorable experience for me.

@gcunit Glad you persevered through to the true ending. It is indeed a great story. You ought to play VLR as well one day. It builds really well off the foundations established by 999 and, in my opinion, is the high water mark of the series in terms of story and puzzle design.

When you say it's the first game of "this genre" that you've played, are you perhaps referring to visual novels?

@Ralizah VLR is waiting for me on the shelf ...but I'm going to finish a few other games before moving onto it, I think. I've got 6 Zeldas to get through before BotW!

I was reluctant to call them visual novels, because of the puzzle element, which sets them apart in my head. I have a few visual novels on Steam (Wolf Among Us etc.) but have barely touched them yet.

@gcunit Not a bad call. VLR is a long and complex game (999 took me around 25 hours or so to beat, whereas VLR took me over 45). Best to just wait until you have a nice chunk of time to devote to it.

Six Zelda games? Are you replaying them all in anticipation of the newest entry?

"Adventure game" is probably the more correct word for them, although they definitely have VN elements. Although I wouldn't call Telltale games VNs, either. They're interactive cinematic adventures, imo.

@Ralizah 45hrs? Sheesh.

Re. my Zelda to-do list: no, I've never played them. I'm about 20hrs into Ocarina 3D, and a couple of hours into Skyward Sword, but I've also got LttP on VC, Majora's 3D, ALBW and Twilight Princess HD. Might even have to get the NES original at some point too, but I'm not desperate for it. Wind Waker HD is my only full Zelda experience.

And yeh, I don't know what I was on about re. the Telltale games

@gcunit In fairness, according to howlongtobeat.com, the average playtime for VLR is 37 hours, although individual playtimes for leisurely playthroughs got as long as 78 hours. It's heavily dependent on how quickly you go through the text and how much time you spend on puzzles. VLR, unlike 999, has a ton of voice acting, and I like to let the characters say their lines instead of just zipping through voiced dialogue like a lot of people do.

So, like me, you just haven't really gotten into Zelda until this gen. Gotcha.
Majora's Mask 3D is AMAZING. I say as someone who wasn't especially fond of OoT, either.

My advice: if you play NES Zelda, play it with a map. There are maps online. It's just... a much happier experience that way.

Finished Guacameelee on the Wii U 2 days ago. Overall it was fun and the presentation was great though perhaps not one of the best Metroidvania games I've played. It was a great game but I just never felt totally invested bar a few moments in the middle. Maybe I've always preferred sci-Fi or gothic Metroidvania games. Still a good game.

I recently beat the Twilight Princess Picross game on the 3DS. I started with the Micross puzzle, then began on the Mega Picross puzzles, before finishing off the regular ones. I originally turned the correction option off, because I didn't like all the penalties, but in the end, I had to turn it on again, because I sometimes ended up completely stumped. Even with the option on, I'd sometimes place a cross over the wrong square, which would mess up the puzzle, so I'd have to delete a few to see how it would affect everything.

The Mega Picross ones were a bit tricky, but I was able to get the idea after a while. As for the Micross puzzle, it was a shame there was only one - it's even labeled No.1.

But now I've finished, I've got no desire to play it any more. I've played enough to etch a faint grid into my touchscreen.

Being familiar with how Picross works - I own Mario's Super Picross too, I found the assistance the game gives you (blue columns, faded out numbers/columns) particularly helpful - so much so, that going back to Mario's Super Picross seems a bit daunting.

@FX102A I was weirdly underwhelmed with Guacamelee when I played it. Like, it's not a bad game, but I was left feeling unfulfilled.

I actually found DrinkBox's Mutant Blobs Attack to be a much more engaging experience.

@Ralizah I had the same experience, weirdly enough. It's alright, mechanically sound, and it makes an attempt at being charming, but it just...felt underwhelming to me, for reasons I can't explain. I guess Metroidvanias work more where there's less characters to interact with. Otherwise it just feels like a poor-man's action-RPG. I had a similar problem with Salt & Sanctuary, but then that game wasn't mechanically sound, so I gave up on that outright.

@CanisWolfred Well, Shantae games have a lot of interactions, and I love those. I'm just... not sure what it was about the game that disappointed me. I can't really point at any part of it and say "I don't like this."

I guess I wasn't a huge fan of the combat, and the art style made most of the game's environments look kind of samey. Nothing in the way of memorable music, either.

I've yet to try S&S. Too bleak and grey for my tastes. I want some color and liveliness in my games!

@Ralizah Shantae isn't Metroidvania, though, it's just Zelda in 2D. It's pretty much the spritual successor to Monster World IV.

@CanisWolfred I've never played Monster World IV, so I can't comment on that, but why wouldn't you consider it a Metroidvania? Especially the first game. It meets all of the criteria I would associate with the genre. A large, interconnected map. Backtracking as you unlock new areas with tools/abilities you obtain in other areas. A focus on semi-linear progression (the game gives you freedom to go where you want, but gates you out of certain areas until you unlock certain tools/abilities). Also, it's a 2D platformer.

I guess you could argue the dungeons make it more Zelda-like and less Metroidvania, but I would argue that the emphasis on exploration over puzzle-solving is important. Besides, certain more traditional Metroid games (Fusion, for example) have less completely integrated maps as well.

@Ralizah Yeah, the dungeons are the main reason. That's enough, IMO. The interconnected map is the only really unique aspect of a Metroidvania game. Shantae doesn't really have that, you just have glorified hub sections that connect to the important areas.

Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice for the 3DS. Great entry in the series. Very interesting main plot and clears some questions fans have been wondering for years.

Funny how things turn out. At the beggining of the year I was much more hyped for ZTD than this game but in the end I enjoyed SoJ much more than ZTD.

Armikrog and Paper Mario Sticker Star, both very enjoyable games.