Games you've recently beaten/finished

[ThriceElite]

A Bonte Christmas

[Carigun]

Borderlands 3

[njayhuang]

Bioshock series, about 10 years after the fact

[thadudette]

I crawled out from under my rock and finally beat Undertale last week

[bagelhero]

GTA IV. Better late than never lol. Different sort of story/mood than V, I'd be interested in them going back to Liberty City for the next iteration.

[ThriceElite]

green

[ThriceElite]

Pirates of the Undead Sea

[ThriceElite]

UnpuzzleR

[ThriceElite]

Storm Wars

[cjcybertsuyoshi]

I didn't mention this earlier but I've beaten Dishonored 1. In case someone asks, I got the Low Chaos ending for it. 

[ThriceElite]

Brain Preservation

[Stove]

Celeste! I'd been putting off playing it for far too long for a multitude of reasons, but it's a fun game for sure. No interest in 100%'ing, but it was a good fun romp for the few hours I played it.

Also, I finally got around to playing Xenoblade 2 a while back, thanks to some persuasion from a friend (meaning it was bought for me lmao). I left the experience with many of the same issues I thought I'd have, some new ones I didn't think would be a problem...but a proper appreciation for what it did right. Not an amazing game, but not bad either.

[g]

Aug 14, 2021 9:30:49 GMT Stove said:

Celeste! I'd been putting off playing it for far too long for a multitude of reasons, but it's a fun game for sure. No interest in 100%'ing, but it was a good fun romp for the few hours I played it.

Also, I finally got around to playing Xenoblade 2 a while back, thanks to some persuasion from a friend (meaning it was bought for me lmao). I left the experience with many of the same issues I thought I'd have, some new ones I didn't think would be a problem...but a proper appreciation for what it did right. Not an amazing game, but not bad either.

Glad you got around to playing XC2, as you said there's tons of issues, and in my book issues that weren't in the first game and would have been easily avoidable, but there's plenty to like as well. I think by default Celeste would have to be one of my favorite platformers, it's a game I kept quiet about because I felt as though it's quality was self-evident.


Beat The World Ends With You Neo recently, there's some elements to it that I would have been more down on if I had played it a few years ago, which would have boiled down to me thinking 'It's not similar enough to the first game! Also, it's too similar to the first game!' Imagine thinking my opinions were ever coherent lol. With some thought, I appreciate every choice the game made, and the nostalgia is greatly welcomed. Considering how long we've had to wait for a sequel, I appreciate their different approach to the new characters, how heavy it is on continuity, as well as their updates to the visuals and gameplay.

Also, it's not really a game that you 'beat' per say, but I've really been enjoying Genshin Impact since it came out. Inazuma has been incredibly fun! I adore Hu Tao, Kazuha, Zhongli, and Raiden.

I'm looking forward to No More Heroes 3 later this week, as well as Tales of Arise in September.

Life is good. I hope everybody is keeping well. -Al

[ThriceElite]

Bunnie's Carrot

[Stove]

Aug 24, 2021 22:05:27 GMT g said:

Aug 14, 2021 9:30:49 GMT Stove said:

Celeste! I'd been putting off playing it for far too long for a multitude of reasons, but it's a fun game for sure. No interest in 100%'ing, but it was a good fun romp for the few hours I played it.

Also, I finally got around to playing Xenoblade 2 a while back, thanks to some persuasion from a friend (meaning it was bought for me lmao). I left the experience with many of the same issues I thought I'd have, some new ones I didn't think would be a problem...but a proper appreciation for what it did right. Not an amazing game, but not bad either.

Glad you got around to playing XC2, as you said there's tons of issues, and in my book issues that weren't in the first game and would have been easily avoidable, but there's plenty to like as well. I think by default Celeste would have to be one of my favorite platformers, it's a game I kept quiet about because I felt as though it's quality was self-evident.


Beat The World Ends With You Neo recently, there's some elements to it that I would have been more down on if I had played it a few years ago, which would have boiled down to me thinking 'It's not similar enough to the first game! Also, it's too similar to the first game!' Imagine thinking my opinions were ever coherent lol. With some thought, I appreciate every choice the game made, and the nostalgia is greatly welcomed. Considering how long we've had to wait for a sequel, I appreciate their different approach to the new characters, how heavy it is on continuity, as well as their updates to the visuals and gameplay.

Also, it's not really a game that you 'beat' per say, but I've really been enjoying Genshin Impact since it came out. Inazuma has been incredibly fun! I adore Hu Tao, Kazuha, Zhongli, and Raiden.

I'm looking forward to No More Heroes 3 later this week, as well as Tales of Arise in September.

Life is good. I hope everybody is keeping well. -Al

Yeah, I remember I was very harsh on the game when talking to you, and much of what I said then still stands (alongside the problem I had underestimated of the tutorials, it got an audible groan out of me when the game threw one last tutorial at me right after Amalthus prior to entering the final area) but overall I had a very fun time with it. My friend had to actually tell me to stop playing it towards the end because I hadn't gotten around to beating the first game yet (I had stopped right before Egil) and he understandably wanted me to get the endgame story beats of both unspoiled in order. Very glad that he did as it gave me a better appreciation for the story beats that XC2 did do well. The battle system is a trade-off for me personally (I love how quick and snappy chain attacks are in the original and how deep yet simple the combat is, but the element system, auto attack cancelling, and overkills are such amazing features that, while I prefer XC1's combat, it's only slightly) and the game has plenty of fantastic, memorable tunes too.

If it wasn't for that cop-out ending leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I'd be singing the game's praises even more, but it left a really poor impression on me right at the end. Scales aren't really a good measure for game ratings but I think it's a strong 7/10 to a weak 8/10 for sure.

As for Celeste, yeah I can understand why you didn't mention it much; everyone's been singing its praises for ages. Personally I've never been a fan of the kind of difficulty modern platformers use where the game has more moment-to-moment difficulty but just lets you coast by a section after pulling it off once instead of actually facilitating skill mastery and getting you consistent at the whole thing, but I understand why games have moved in this direction and I realized quickly while playing it that this mindset isn't something that I should let get in my way, because even despite that gripe Celeste is fantastic and deserves all the praise it's gotten.


You were the first person I thought of when I heard about TWEWY NEO, so I'm glad you enjoyed it; I heard some divisive things but that was mostly about the translation from what I'm aware. Hope you enjoyed NMH3, and hope you enjoy Arise as well!




With that said, haven't really beaten any new games since that post (outside of 100%ing 3D World for the fifth time with a friend lmao) but next month has had me incredibly hyped since E3. It's cool to be a part of the hype train as a Metroid fan for the first time with Dread, and I know I'm going to have an incredible time with Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania and Mario Party Superstars as well. I'll probably post another update here after then with my thoughts.

[g]

Sept 15, 2021 3:46:39 GMT Stove said:

Aug 24, 2021 22:05:27 GMT g said:

Glad you got around to playing XC2, as you said there's tons of issues, and in my book issues that weren't in the first game and would have been easily avoidable, but there's plenty to like as well. I think by default Celeste would have to be one of my favorite platformers, it's a game I kept quiet about because I felt as though it's quality was self-evident.


Beat The World Ends With You Neo recently, there's some elements to it that I would have been more down on if I had played it a few years ago, which would have boiled down to me thinking 'It's not similar enough to the first game! Also, it's too similar to the first game!' Imagine thinking my opinions were ever coherent lol. With some thought, I appreciate every choice the game made, and the nostalgia is greatly welcomed. Considering how long we've had to wait for a sequel, I appreciate their different approach to the new characters, how heavy it is on continuity, as well as their updates to the visuals and gameplay.

Also, it's not really a game that you 'beat' per say, but I've really been enjoying Genshin Impact since it came out. Inazuma has been incredibly fun! I adore Hu Tao, Kazuha, Zhongli, and Raiden.

I'm looking forward to No More Heroes 3 later this week, as well as Tales of Arise in September.

Life is good. I hope everybody is keeping well. -Al

Yeah, I remember I was very harsh on the game when talking to you, and much of what I said then still stands (alongside the problem I had underestimated of the tutorials, it got an audible groan out of me when the game threw one last tutorial at me right after Amalthus prior to entering the final area) but overall I had a very fun time with it. My friend had to actually tell me to stop playing it towards the end because I hadn't gotten around to beating the first game yet (I had stopped right before Egil) and he understandably wanted me to get the endgame story beats of both unspoiled in order. Very glad that he did as it gave me a better appreciation for the story beats that XC2 did do well. The battle system is a trade-off for me personally (I love how quick and snappy chain attacks are in the original and how deep yet simple the combat is, but the element system, auto attack cancelling, and overkills are such amazing features that, while I prefer XC1's combat, it's only slightly) and the game has plenty of fantastic, memorable tunes too.

If it wasn't for that cop-out ending leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I'd be singing the game's praises even more, but it left a really poor impression on me right at the end. Scales aren't really a good measure for game ratings but I think it's a strong 7/10 to a weak 8/10 for sure.

As for Celeste, yeah I can understand why you didn't mention it much; everyone's been singing its praises for ages. Personally I've never been a fan of the kind of difficulty modern platformers use where the game has more moment-to-moment difficulty but just lets you coast by a section after pulling it off once instead of actually facilitating skill mastery and getting you consistent at the whole thing, but I understand why games have moved in this direction and I realized quickly while playing it that this mindset isn't something that I should let get in my way, because even despite that gripe Celeste is fantastic and deserves all the praise it's gotten.


You were the first person I thought of when I heard about TWEWY NEO, so I'm glad you enjoyed it; I heard some divisive things but that was mostly about the translation from what I'm aware. Hope you enjoyed NMH3, and hope you enjoy Arise as well!




With that said, haven't really beaten any new games since that post (outside of 100%ing 3D World for the fifth time with a friend lmao) but next month has had me incredibly hyped since E3. It's cool to be a part of the hype train as a Metroid fan for the first time with Dread, and I know I'm going to have an incredible time with Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania and Mario Party Superstars as well. I'll probably post another update here after then with my thoughts.

I think I remember hearing about the translation controversy, but only once I was already halfway through the game. It was just a case of the translation not being 1 to 1, really, and since it's a modern setting with teenagers, localizing their way of speaking to make them sound like actual teenagers is important I think. I'm actually even more positive on Neo than I was when I wrote that, now that I've had time to figure out what I think the game was going for. I also use the final boss theme as a work out song now lol.

I was so down on NMH3 that I was unable to finish it unfortunately, won't go into detail. Although one thing I will say is that the graphics were so bad it made me completely reconsider my thoughts on just how important visuals are to my tastes. In the end, though, I just really didn't like it. Oh well.

Tales of Arise has been really fun so far though, in the middle of the playthrough and having a blast. Goes to show what a studio can do when they take the time on their games.

I haven't heard much about what Nintendo has been doing lately, used to get all my Nintendo news from you lol. Hopefully the Metroid stuff will turn out well, that series deserves some love, hope you have a good time with Monkey Ball and Mario Party as well!

[Stove]

Metroid dread is the best new release I've played since 2017. Feels like most of the games in the past two years I've been hyped for have been remakes, so it's so nice to play a genuinely new game that's just fantastic. Super Metroid will always hold a special place in my heart, but this is the closest to that peak I feel the series has ever seen.

[ThriceElite]

BattleHand

[ThriceElite]

Tyrant Unleashed

[ThriceElite]

Dozenbear