May '20 Play Log I
Hopefully everyone’s doing well in quarantine. The weather is starting to get better here and my new apple trees are starting to bud, so I’m happy about that. On the bad side though, it’s a long weekend here in Canada, which means fireworks. With gatherings limited I’d hoped there wouldn’t be any, but they started early and ended late so my poor dog was terrified all evening. Anyone else have that problem? I’ve been wondering if I should get something from the vet to calm her down next time.
On the gaming side of things I've given up trying to play in my living room via Steam Link since my desktop is wireless. I'm trying to see if I can hardwire it over coaxial using moca adapters, but am having issues seeing if the jack by my desktop is connected to the loose wire in my living room.
Overall a thoroughly enjoyable game that’s aged well. A must have for long-time Batman fans, and also enjoyable for fans like me who are only really familiar with the new movies.
Pros:
- Voice acting for the enemies is very good
- The various lines joker and the enemies have are quite funny
- I liked the bits of history and information you get on various Batman characters as you gain collectables
- Learning the history of Arkham via the Chronicles was neat
- The Riddler’s riddles were a good balance between not too easy but not frustrating
- Collectable maps make gaining all collectibles possible without it feeling like a chore as it does in many games
- There is some back and forth between areas, but the map is small enough that this doesn’t get bothersome. The fact that there are changes as you go through the story helps to prevent it from getting boring. However, the map is also large enough that it’s not overwhelming - you’ll soon become familiar with the whole thing.
- The predator challenges were quite enjoyable, though the latter ones are very difficult
Cons:
- Personally I found Batman’s voice acting forced and unnatural. Given that the voice actor has voiced Batman before, Batman fans will probably consider this a pro rather than a con.
- The combat challenges are very hard
- If you’re trying to get all medals for the challenges, the Joker’s unskippable intro gets annoying fairly quickly due to the repetition and lack of variety
Verdict: 8/10
Note that I haven’t played the first game, which I would recommend as I think I would have enjoyed this one more. It’s not a bad game, but IMO it’s not good enough to be worth spending time or money on.
Pros:
- The story in the later half of the game was pretty good
- The Youki is really cute
- Voice acting was decent
Cons:
- The entire first half of the game felt like padding
- Voice acting was broken. Most of the time sentences were clipped off just before the end when talking to someone.
- There were some puzzles that I used a walkthrough for and would have had no idea how to solve them without it
- It felt like some areas were excessively large, or important locations were placed farther apart than necessary
- Sometimes it wasn’t clear there was another area you could go to unless you walk to the other side of the screen first
- Being able to press a button to show what you can interact with in a particular scene would have saved me some headaches
- These sorts of games need a hint feature
Verdict: 5/10
Lovely Planet
2 hours playtime, 0 of 14 achievements (0%)
Old SG win I started for PAGYWOSG but quickly gave up on. I opted not to review it since I really should have known I wouldn't like it. It got difficult very quickly. I kept thinking shots would sail far over my head, but then having them hit me. Either the hitboxes on this game suck, or you're playing as the Kool Aid man.
Another previously abandoned game. Quite good, but not as good as 2 or Brotherhood. I think I may have restarted this from the beginning once before and abandoned it again. I wasn't willing to do that this time, and it turned out I was almost done it anyway. Since I don't recall most of it I opted not to review it. It did make me want to play all of the games from the beginning, but manly because I'm interested in Desmond's story.
Recent Acquisitions
- Alan Wake
0 minutes playtime
0 of 67 achievements - Borderlands 2
0 minutes playtime
0 of 75 achievements - SIMULACRA
0 minutes playtime
0 of 24 achievements
Upcoming
- Hard West
7 hours playtime
2 of 35 achievements - The Wolf Among Us
0 minutes playtime
0 of 35 achievements - SIMULACRA
0 minutes playtime
0 of 24 achievements
Congrats on the progress! You have some amazing games to play. Alan Wake, Borderlands, and The Wolf Among Us, are all great games. Simulacra is a very fun little horror game.
Thanks! Yeah for sure. So far Wolf Among Us is pretty intense. Jury’s still out on Simulacra though.
To me Asylum was better than other Arkham games that followed simply because it the most focused one with unambiguous “Batman is stuck in a place and has to resolve the situation”. Adding open world to the formula just diluted it even if more gliding around was neat.
Hard West
That’s the one I want to hear your take on in the future, though.
Yeah I’m a bit skeptical of the open world bit in Arkham Knight. Hopefully it works out okay.
Tactical games aren’t exactly my usual thing, but it’s an interesting game. I’ll definitely review it when I finish.
Arkham Asylum was a great game but not perfect. I actually like the later two more. Still haven’t played through Knight.
Syberia had a sequel release recently. It looks like a beloved series. Did you play the first? Shame some of the puzzles were so hard. I hate having to use guides just to play a video game.
Lovely Planet has 94% positive reviews! But I guess not every game is for everyone.
Have you played AC Odyssey or Origins? Which is your favorite?
Interesting, more reason to pick them up. I’m skeptical of the open world bit but we’ll see if it works.
No, that’s part of the problem. I won the second so I just went ahead and played it. I see the 3rd one got pretty bad reviews. For me it depends on the game, but I agree for the most part I avoid guides. Once I have to consult one though I often find myself using it a bit too much.
Yeah I had a bad habit of not really looking at games I was entering when I first joined. I probably just saw FPS and entered. If you actually look at it it’s more about replaying until you find the perfect way through. Definitely not my thing, I don’t like the repetitiveness and frustration.
No I haven’t played either of the new AC games yet. I’m not a fan of how they changed them, but given that they’re so popular they can’t be that bad. Stealth was always what I liked though; big battles don’t appeal. I’ll try them once I play the rest of the games in the main storyline though. So far 2 and Brotherhood are my favourites. If I had to choose between them I’d probably pick 2. The story was well done and emotional, and I liked the variety of the different cities.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m sitting here playing CoC: Shadow of the Comet and I had to consult a guide for something. So then I have the guide open in a tab, and when I got stuck again there’s no reason not to so why not! Pretty soon I’m just a monkey following the actions in a guide and I’ve ceased playing a game.
Haha that’s a great way to put it. But that’s exactly what happens to me too. I always prefer when puzzle games have hints for exactly that reason. Preferably somehow integrated into the game, but even just a generic hint button is better than nothing.