Noble Gamer

Nov & Dec 2019 Progress Report

I missed my November and December progress reports due to travel plans and other IRL stuff that’s come up during this weird time in my life.  I appreciate the unwavering support of my family as well as work, but will be able to return to my normal routines in the new year. I only played one game during November, but around Christmas time I enjoyed playing and beating a number of games.

Expect a “Year In Review” post from me soon about my PC gaming, looking back at 2019 and forward to 2020 =)

End of December Stats (compared with October)

767 games (+59)
75% never played (+1%)
9% unfinished (+0%, 4 games)
11% beaten (-1%, 5 games)
1% completed (-1%)
3% won’t play (-1%)

I bought a variety of bundles, and for the winter sales I only got a handful of specific game & DLC purchases.

Beaten in November

    Slay the Spire

    Slay the Spire

    42 hours playtime

    As one of the best card-based games I’ve played on PC, there are very few people I would not recommend this game to. That’s because of its satisfying gameplay and progression wrapped in an easy to learn but difficult to master package thanks to the strategies available to different cards.

Beaten in late December

    MageQuit

    MageQuit

    11 minutes playtime

    Played it a bit was annoyed by the controls that happened to be controller only, and nobody online to play with. I guess the game stayed true to its name, but for the wrong reasons.

    60 Parsecs!

    60 Parsecs!

    8 hours playtime

    Better & more choices for gameplay than the first game (60 Seconds) and clearer win/loss conditions, but less meaningful mode variety. Items are different but no more balanced than the first game. The 3-5 planet types provide different encounters, places to explore, and different win/loss conditions.

    The Stanley Parable

    The Stanley Parable

    2 hours playtime

    I recommend this game at historic low or bundle price to anyone who enjoys narrative driven gameplay, fourth wall breaking, exploring multiple endings, and some occasional story elements that are abstract or random. Though it was a short game having played through about half of the endings, it is entertaining and amusing for a walking simulator.

Ragtag (not selectable in BLAEO or post generator?)

I recommend this game to anyone who likes shuffle board or likes any other game from Windybeard (best known for GEO), but it is difficult to recommend to anyone else due to the shorter replay value: 3 hours on Campaign, but longer with Arcade. Ragtag is a turn based shuffle board-like strategy game where you place your squad, and “shoot” your squad members at enemies to knock them off the level/board. First team to knock off all the opposite team’s squad will win. I love shuffleboard, so it was engaging for me. Different character’s abilities add some gameplay variety but not a ton.

Re-Visited

    This War of Mine

    This War of Mine

    71 hours playtime

    After playing all the DLC for the first time, this is still my favorite survival game ever for its purposeful realism, emotional grip, and engaging gameplay. The DLC are basically different starting scenarios with their own unique storylines, some new locations, and new mechanics for the last two DLC. 1st DLC was ok but relatively linear. 2nd DLC was pretty good, and had clear story decision points. 3rd DLC is literally an elaborate masterpiece. I may revisit the game at least once more sometime to play “Final Cut” edition of the base game which has some new locations and minor enhancements, as playing it more may unlock additional characters.

Started Playing by end of 2019

    Divinity: Original Sin 2

    Divinity: Original Sin 2

    6 hours playtime

    Was gifted this by my best friend and we’ve been playing co-op from opposite coasts of the US. Definitely seems like a modest improvement over the first game, and look forward to getting past the beginning chapters of the main story. Look forward to getting through the first chapters and seeing more of the world.

    Motorsport Manager

    Motorsport Manager

    20 hours playtime

    This is the first game I’ve played dedicated entirely to sports team management. This one makes motorsports engaging and challenging as a management/sim.  Its nice to be able to jump into a league with a team at any position yet there is balance between the teams through earnings being tied to race position earned. I picked a team with moderate sponsor pressure, such that one of my two racers has to place in the middle of the pack or higher. Its really tough to earn enough money to get the building upgrade that I want.

Stuck

    Gauntlet™

    Gauntlet™

    5 hours playtime

    I have fond memories of this at arcades. Unfortunately the limited revive mechanic, whether co-op or solo, puts a damper on things. You dont get extra revives the more people there are in your party, as # of revives available are tied to enemy kills.  Meaningful progression is more about getting through levels than it is about developing your character’s abilities/equipment, the latter of which requires grinding.

Paused

    Dark Future: Blood Red States

    Dark Future: Blood Red States

    8 hours playtime

    An unique on-rails strategy game in the form of driving a Mad Max type of car. Its strategy game because time can be controlled or paused, as well as queuing a next action. Playing through one “season” as a character unlocks more abilities and characters, but the variances between those and mission types weren’t really worth replaying for me for now. I’m not sure I can consider this “Beaten” until replaying with all characters since the character specific narratives are central to the game and its universe, though has little bearing on gameplay.

January 2020 Queue

…and Balancelot, which the generator or BLAEO couldn’t pull up.

samwise84

If you know the game ID (you can find that one out by going to steam and looking up the game, the number in the steam link is the ID) you can do your own version, even if the generator cannot find the game. Paste in the name of the game and all your other stats and review into the generator, copy that to your post and switch the ID’s to the one from the game you want to review (I think you need to do that on 2 or 3 places in the code, for the picture and the link to work properly) and then you have your built your own version ;)

Noble Gamer

Good to know when I feel like doing that.