August Carry On…
Agh, I meant to take more time in writing my reviews, and organize my thoughts, but I ended up rushing it again… it’ll have to be next month. At the very least in my backlog I used the monthly theme to focus my attention a bit more to make decent progress.
| Name | Achievements obtained | Achievements This Month | Playtime (Before Month - End of Month) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divine Divinity | NA | NA | (7h - 25h) | unfinished |
| Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 | 34/61 | 24 | (8h - 25h) | Finished |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | 28/75 | 6 | (59h - 67h) | Finished |
| Final Fantasy VII | 3/35 | 0 | (32m - NA) | unfinished |
| Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 | NA | NA | (37m - 11h) | Finished |
| Trine | 15/33 | 2 | (3h - 4h) | Finished |
| TOTAL: | 80/204 | 32 | 54.5h | 0/4/2/0 |
And even made some time to focus in other areas as well. Still it feels like I am getting a lot of nowhere, though at least its consistent with the real world. Despite these feelings I, and hopefully you all as well, can carry on…
I needed a break from my current set of backlog goals, and to play a decent shooter which gave me an excuse to take care of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin on Steam and it’s DLC Reborn. Not as great as the original F.E.A.R., but still a decent shorter entry if not a little annoying due to the power armor sections.
Reborn I’m not even sure how to go about this DLC, it was absolutely terrible. Very short, very poor quality in levels, story, and cinematics. It almost looks like a PS2 alpha. The only purpose this DLC seems to serve is to sort of help set up the secondary character in F.E.A.R. 3 and to be a clear sign of how terrible it will be.
Recommend? Sure for the base game, DLC… not so much.
Your typical Arena shooter with the Half-Life flavor. There isn’t any campaign or anything like that. Just pure PVP… which is mostly dead. Though to my surprise I found a few matches. Naturally most of the people left are quite skilled and know the quirks of the game.
Recommendation? Probably not due to the lack of player base.
This game seemed to have such high praise, and the reason to get VR… I just don’t get it other than maybe a streamers hunting grounds for some quick views. The jokes are kind of bland, and the tasks are just as fun as a menial job can get. Each job has you set in one spot and complete each tasks. The game doesn’t offer much else after the job, other than to do small combinations/customizations that don’t amount to much.
Recommend? Not really.
The freelance police are here to save the day or something like that. Akin to the point-and-click adventure with weird antics/solutions that you would find in Grim Fandango offer a humerous adventure so long as you can figure out the solutions. Admittedly, I wouldn’t have been able to get through it if I didn’t have to look up a guide every now and then and can only wonder how others got through it without guides.
Recommend? Like weird humor with unorthodox problems/solutions.
Much like the Beginners Guide this game served as a sort of way to break the fourth wall of playing a game and into the life of developing it. Though this has a slight more interesting concept of stripping away pieces of the scenery or enemies and filling it into others. The game itself is under a problem of never being finished due to various issues coming from the developers (Constantly changing scripts, game flow, gameplay, changing the game entirely), so you and an impatient AI in the game task you with ending the cycle once and for all, revealing the developers for what they are and creating the game yourself.
It’s neat and in a way more art than a game, (much like A Beginners Guide), but still an interesting take on the development aspect as well as what can happen to those who succeed and how easy it is to fail.
Recommend? Yeah
This is back again, only due to the free update Joppo Saves the Universe in which you can now make Trover into a Yellow normal eyed Joppo and that all the script is replaced with Joppo where an annoyingly high pitched Joppo comes out of everyones mouth when saying that name, as well as an achievement. It’s complicated when complaining about a free update, because despite this being free it was still somehow disappointing. It just didn’t do anything for me, like was this the joke? That people expected something and instead got a skin that didn’t do anything? It’s not even aesthetically pleasing or anything, it simply exists. I’d rather they just didn’t add anything at all at that point.
This platform side-scroller caught my eye way back with its general aesthetics and potential gameplay and I wasn’t particularly disappointed on these fronts. The game generally looks good and once you get used to the awkward gameplay and clunky controls this game was enjoyable for a while. You eventually get to play up to three characters all have abilities to unlock as you progress, and you can capture enemies to transform as the enemy at will until that form or you are defeated. This game can be a little difficult at times, but fear not as being defeated does not mean you are done. You will take control of a fearless soldier to find a resurrection shrine to bring you back… if you make it there that is. It does offer multiplayer co-op and versus, but as you might imagine it is quite dead.
I did generally enjoy this game, but due to the clunky controls and the repetitive gameplay (the game revolves around procedurally generated levels as you make your way to the same final boss) I can’t recommend it for everyone.
A sort of fast based western shoot-em up bullet hell like game that hosts a wide variety of characters with various weapons/abilities that individualize how you play them. You must travel X amount of screens before you get to the boss of the act and until then try to get as much gold, upgrades, maybe a horse, and generally try to survive as most hits will kill you in one shot/melee.
The game has some interesting concepts enough, but once I finally got around to beating it… I wasn’t very interested in playing it again after that. It just generally wasn’t that enjoyable, most of the characters seemed unusable, and this game just isn’t that replayable.
Can I recommend this game? Not really.
Thanks to the monthly theme, I finally sat down and focused on the main story quests of this game.
Although this is very much a sequel with some small tie ins to the first Xenoverse it is more like a well polished and well made version of the first. Overall (as usual), you will be fighting through the DBZ history with some added twists, get most of the usual parallel quests (side quests) with a wider roster of characters being added in. What really makes this game shine compared to the first is it’s much better and potentially more technical fighting system now with more fighting mechanics and control over the battle. Furthermore, the depressing drop rates of skills/abilities/clothes seem to be not nearly as abysmal from the first one, meaning much less of a painful grind. As well when you actually unlock the criteria for an ultimate finish, there isn’t just a chance that it will activate anymore, rather that it WILL activate.
I was a little sad to learn that despite being able to port over your character from the first that you can’t actually play them. The cool part about that is that when you do, you still get whatever abilities/clothes they had, and they are revered as the hero of the city and occasionally meet them. Importing your save however is problematic, and I had to physically move it into the DBX2 save area for it to work.
Even though this game has been out for a while and future DB games have been released this game is still getting content and has an active player base to battle and co-op with on various missions.
Recommendation? Do you like generally simple to understand, but harder to master fighters and DBZ? Then yes!
Seeing the tag Lovecraftian I thought I might enjoy this game, but as I played and found the look and gameplay to be more like Minecraft, that this game was more something I wouldn’t love. A rogue-like that causes you to go through portals to themed areas to capture an artifact. You can carry up to two weapons as well as an ability that help you get through the blocky horrors til you get to the next trap door. Getting all three artifacts lets you into the final teleporter that combines all the areas themes and monster to prepare your endgame difficulty and challenge. Overall though it isn’t too hard and very easy to speed through.
Recommendation? Nah… or at the very least it wasn’t for me.
Another stand-alone side story of the original half-life as you once again take control of another character that isn’t Gordon Freeman. Instead of being an enemy, you are a random Security Guard just trying to have a normal shift at Black Mesa. This, of course turns sour as various soldiers and otherworldly creatures invade the facility and you must escape.
I generally liked this one more than opposing forces. It was fast, it didn’t have outrageously difficult enemies, and most of the puzzles made sense.
Recommend? Yeah.
I first started this game years ago with a friend that wanted to co-op with me. …This quickly ended as she grew frustrated with my sometimes competitive gaming nature where I tend to collect all the things, and explore areas while she felt left behind and lego-less. She also refuses to finish anything, so perhaps for the best. Thanks to monthly theme, I had a reason to play again! For better or worse, I actually finished it. However, this has easily been my least enjoyable lego experience so far. Though it was nice most levels didn’t need to be replayed due to not having the right character equipped (most characters eventually learn the same spells and thus have the same abilities to unlock areas) the game itself felt so disjointed, the lego building just wasn’t so enjoyable, and the bosses were very similar to combat. I’m mostly just glad they wrapped up four books/years/movies into one so that I would not have to play through them all singularly and extend my lack of joy.
Recommend? Not really, unless you are a big fan of Lego and Harry Potter.
Savoring this game, I finally gave in and finally played it. What a solid entry to the series and is easily in competition to be my favorite of the rebooted series. It does everything the reboots have done and better… well at least for the most part. Lara Croft, now in the South American jungle environment is at her best as she becomes a combination of Rambo, Predator, and generally a terror towards her enemies. Her goal this time round? Oh not much, just to prevent a Mayan apocalypse.
The graphics in this game are stunning as you can see the slightest facial changes and expressions in characters truly bringing forth their emotion. The gameplay? Solid, as I have encounter some of the best stealth in gaming I have probably seen so far (When Lara is hidden, even I had trouble seeing her at first, and this is not a bad thing as I can actually believe the enemies can’t see her, and otherwise hard to lose track of your own character), the puzzles felt challenging, plenty of tombs to explore, and a lot of the platforming felt exciting. The story itself is interesting enough, but the more interesting is to see Lara Croft realize her own weaknesses, that she is capable of failing and making poor choices, and of course for her to further ascend into badasshood and hones her tomb raiding legacy.
There are some qualms though, such as using the grappling hook as you jump which I have noticed missed most times, with a very small timing window. Other than that everything was great! There are a number of DLC that offer short tombs, but I think I will wait for a sale before I inevitably play them.
Recommend? So very much, yes!
If not for the “Unfinished Business” theme this month I would probably continue to on/off play this game only to continue the seemingly endless side missions, and of course the mountains of modding. The game resisted though as I tried to make progress, I encountered ye olde Bethesda bugs that tried to prevent that. As I had remembered though, the main questline isn’t so interesting and already found myself wanting to finish the various guilds and eventually touch the DLC.
Recommendation? Yeah probably.
An interesting game that requires you to switch between three different characters (mage, thief, soldier) in order to overcome enemies, obstacles and puzzles in this fantasy setting. Each character is wildly different with their own strengths and weaknesses. The game is only made better when you co-op with a friend who can take control of the characters (ideally 1 person per character). Each character also has their own upgrade tree to further individualize and boost their abilities.
Recommend? Sure
No longer following BJ Blaskowicz, but instead his two daughters in a game set long after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. The strong point of the game is the same strongpoint of this revamped series with its gunplay now mixed into a co-op setting. Of course if you are playing this solo you lose much of the intended enjoyment, luckily if you bought the deluxe edition you got a Buddy Pass that allowed you to invite any friend who has the demo version. This is probably the most exciting idea behind the game, the idea that one person can buy the game, but still play with others that don’t sort of like couch-play, but over the internet. It does sort of take a weird turn with enemies with certain armor require specific guns in order to deal damage, but it at least makes each gun more useful rather than me just using one or two guns in the previous games. The bigger beef is the random difficulty up, particularly with the final boss, that seems a little over the top to fight.
I generally enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters, and their young quirky selves starting from their first kill all the way through their hardened experiences throughout the game.
Recommend? Kind of, but only with a friend.
I quite enjoyed F.E.A.R. 2, but I agree the DLC was pointless. I absolutely loved The Magic Circle though, it’s one of my favourite games. A Beginner’s Guide is on my wishlist, your comparison makes me want to buy it!
A Beginner’s Guide is definitely an experience, it doesn’t allow you the same freedom as The Magic Circle did, but it’s definitely more about the narrative that they both share. Hope you enjoy it if/when you do get it. ^_^
I feel like I’m one of those weirdos who never got around to Skyrim.
Honestly, it’s just a mainstream RPG that is mostly just good, but perhaps not the amazingness that everyone and the rereleasing it 9 times has cracked it up to be. The greater part of it is the ability to (and availability of) mod(s) it so much that it is practically a different/better game. So, I wouldn’t feel weird about not having played it, the story itself certainly isn’t anything amazing and simply just was one of those things that blew up.
The craze was absolutely real, what with people running around keeping their own journals and such.
Then again that seems to have been the norm for every modern Bethesda game until Fallout 4.
Wow, that’s a lot of progress. Just wanted to congratulate you with it! :)
Thank you kindly! I wish you luck in your own progressions. ^_^