July Roundup
Everday pure grinding...
Games I beat this month:
Beaten in July 7 games
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Ghost of a Tale
21 hours playtime
20 of 20 achievements
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Space Pilgrim Episode II: Epsilon Indi
6 hours playtime
7 of 7 achievements
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Day of Infamy
113 hours playtime
97 of 97 achievements
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Guts and Glory
9 hours playtime
30 of 30 achievements
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ToaZZle
2 hours playtime
5 of 5 achievements
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LEGO® MARVEL Super Heroes 2
74 hours playtime
75 of 75 achievements
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Super Sports Surgery
3 hours playtime
40 of 40 achievements
Winter is fully here in my part of the world, and no better excuse to stay indoors. However, although I spent about the same amount of time playing as I do most months, my gained achievements were a bit on the slow side, as I was mostly concentrating on longer titles, where achievements are more spread out. Asides from those I beat, I also played a fair amount of Yooka-Laylee, A hat in time and Sniper Ghost Warrior 3. It's funny how one's mood changes in the course of gaming, earlier this year I was on a total 'hard' game drive, then into 'strategy' mode and this month I felt a bit more like doing 'adventure' type games. I would be so bored if all there was to play was shooter games or something like that.
On a personal front, my wife's family is coming to visit from overseas in a few days, and we'll be going away for a week. On one hand, nice to get away I guess, on the other... my 2 and a half year streak may well be broken... haha. Funnily enough this current streak started after they were here last time. Our laptop was stolen last year so I don't even think I could gain any on a low res indie game while I'm away. But maybe some kind member of my family will let me borrow theirs for a week, under the premise of needing it for 'work'
I also lost one perfect game this month in the form of 'mimpi dreams', after they added a new DLC with 3 achievements. And that's fine, new content is good. But what makes me a little mad about this case is the fact that the game I spent my money on (I bought it from steam, so not even bundle money), is now free to play, and the only thanks myself and everyone else who bought the game gets is the one extra level we already had that they are now charging $1 for. I don't know why in such a crowded market place some devs go out of their way to troll their fans. I mean I don't expect the new (overpriced) DLC to be free, but hey a 50% or even 25% voucher for paying customers would have certainly been a nice gesture to show some appreciation for the ones that thought the game was worth spending money on. As it stands now I'm not going to buy the DLC until it's on a heavy discount and I don't think the hordes of new players playing the game for free will pony up the $5 either. /rant
Other stats
Achievements Gained 244Most difficult (according to TSA) 'National Hero IV' in Day of Infamy
Games added 15 (few from the monthly, 1 fanatical bundle, and one spam bundle because adelion said we needed to play 'Future Proof')
Number of different games played 17
Achievement streak 827 days
Average Game completion 70%
Total number of completed games 306
Games completed in 2018 67
Ghost of a Tale
20 of 20 achievements (100%)
I praised this game a bit last month, but finished it this month and hot damn it's great. I since discovered that it's mostly the work of one guy, who worked on the animation for despicable me and he his experience in characterisation and animation really shines through. The game itself is a stealth adventure, set in an animal fantasy world. There's some light RPG elements in the form of lots of side quests and outfits which have different effects, but for the most part it's an adventure game.
The world building is just fantastic as well, the map feels very organic and each part feels necessary and functional, not just empty rooms for the sake of filling out space. The lore borrows heavily from the 'redwall' series and honestly a story like this could carry a lot more games. The way this game is set is in the middle of something much bigger and I love the way the writing leaves you wanting to learn more about the characters.
So yes, it is well worth checking out, and keeping an out for.
Space Pilgrim Episode II: Epsilon Indi
7 of 7 achievements (100%)
This series is certainly one of the best advocates for the idea the game engine is less of an issue than well... everything else. Just because RPGmaker is the weapon of choice for 10 year olds to make weird fan-fiction games with stock assets, it can also be used to make a nice little adventure game. Something this series is. Nothing amazing, but certainly not trash.
I haven't played a multiplayer game in ages, and the last one I invested any significant time in was Insurgency. So naturally with the same devs, and a WWII setting, it was hard to resist this when it appeared in a bundle. And even better, the achievements don't require hours of grinding against other people with better ping (seriously, there are no local servers, so my ping was always over 200), but all can be earned on co-op servers against bots. A few of the achievements were glitched, but they all worked eventually, and I had a lot of fun. Don't think I'll go back to it, as 100+ hours if enough time to spend on any 1 game, but it's recommended as a solid shooter.
I 'beat' this last year, but then soon after they added 15 achievements which were unobtainable until they launched out of early access this month. So I went back and mopped them up again. It's like a 3d version of that web game everyone with no money and a desire for youtube fame was streaming a few years ago, and it's a nice distraction. The challenge level never gets completely rage worthy on the official tracks, so it's definitely beatable which is good.
ToaZZle
5 of 5 achievements (100%)
A very one note puzzle game, but avoids overstaying it's welcome. So why not?
LEGO® MARVEL Super Heroes 2
75 of 75 achievements (100%)
A quick glance at my profile will tell you I like the lego games. I like to pretend it's for the kids... but yeah, I think they are fun as well. I'm not quite sure where this one falls on the spectrum of the games, I think batman 3 and the original marvel heroes were maybe better, but it's still solid. I liked the premise and the central villain. They also made the combat more meaningful this time with bad guys that have special requirements to defeat and mini health bars, but it comes at the expense of length in some of the levels. Still it was a solid 50 hours of game time to finish this one, so still got good money's worth ultimately. Next up is the lego city undercover port. My eldest son loves it on the Wii U so when it came up as a flash deal on fanatical I figured why not add it to the list?
Super Sports Surgery
40 of 40 achievements (100%)
This little game is pretty funny, if rather short. Get a new patient, solve their ailments using various hot dog related tools, and replace their bits with squids and chain dolls. Fun times, (but only for an hour and a bit)
Ghost of a Tale looks so good! I’m glad to hear that it’s a good game because it’s been on my wishlist for a while. Congrats on beating your games :)
Yeah I don’t normally buy games so soon after release, but 20% off in the summer sale was enough to hook me. It would be great purely on the basis of the characters design and animation and general look of the world, but then coupled with a decent plot and gameplay, it’s definitely a gem.