GRcade

Unbounded was terrible though

Gemini73 wrote:Unbounded was terrible though

Oh ansolutely, but I can see why they tried to think outside the box - unfortunately in 2011/12 HURR EDGY was still the order of the day, even for racing games it would seem. Its a shame as the level editor was an interesting idea that worked fairly well, a bit like trackmania.

Last few games I've completed:

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 - Completed the campaign. Think I've just grown a bit bored of the lego game formula as I found this a bit of a repetitive slog and a bit too much of a button masher. 5/10

Splatoon 2 - Completed the campaign. Was fun but didn't feel like a huge step up from the first game in terms of variety, plus having to use particular weapons for certain levels was a little annoying. 7/10

Nier Automata - Only completed the first run through but loved it. The game world had a really unique and interesting vibe and the combat is fun. Looking forward to playing through again to reveal more. 9/10

Horizon Frozen Wilds - More Horizon related fun. It was good getting back into the world again and a decent amount of content for DLC. 8/10

The Beginner's Guide

Not sure I can give this one a score really. A few contacts within the game dev community suggested I play it, and I certainly see why. The whole thing can be interpreted as a commentary on the relationship between game developers and players and for that reason it left me a little cold. It was obviously saying something, and saying that something in an articulate and creative way, but it was not a something I could in any way relate to.

Also included were beats around the false nature of perfection and the idea of validation as a motivating factor and I at least recognised these, but for the most part it was like watching a detailed breakdown of a subject you simply aren't versed in.

Worth playing, but perhaps not for me.

Forza Horizon 3/Blizzard Mountain - Xbone

I went back to the snowy expansion for FH3 as I remembered I hadn't done all the championships and extra bit and bobs, and the experience made me slightly more critical than I had been in the past. I absolutely loved playing through FH3, trekking around the map opening new festival sites and dicking around in all kinds of amazing cars, turning inappropriate things like vans or stuff from the 1950s into rally/offroad beasts etc.

The problem comes in that the game is so accomodating and keen to make you feel good that nothing feels like it matters. Every championship you start from each location has points for finishing position but it doesn't matter where you finish as it is marked as 'complete' regardless. Doing all the championships in the dlc felt like just ticking off a consequence-free checklist and I didn't really care about each individual race and where I finished. It mattered for the 3-star ratings for each individual race you do before unlocking the championships, so maybe going back to those I missed for that will help, but I'm not overly enthusiastic about doing so.

Started and finished Dead Rising 4 yesterday. I will admit I didn't do a huge amount of side-story stuff, which I now might go back.

It was fine, fun enough, and there's something to be said for any game that makes you bash through a ten hour story campaign in one sitting. But it definitely didn't have the charm or the character of the earlier ones.

Night in the Woods

I really liked the first couple of chapters with the slice of life story and the difficulties with life when you leave school if you don't know where you're going. It's something I can very much relate to and it's obviously something the develops understand as the dialogue is very good. Unfortunately it started to fall apart after this, I found the character became unlikeable and the mystery part of the story added nothing and fell completely flat wth no explanation or resolution. The main character became unlikable in my opinion and I was glad to get it finished. That said, the dialogue is good throughout but I'm sightly baffled by the level of praise this has received.

Dishonored 2

I had a mixed time with this, I loved the first game and expected to jump into this as a bad ass stealth killer but it took me a long time too get to grips with game mechanics and understand how the enemies would react. I'd heard a lot about The Clockwork Mansion but I found this a bit of a disappointment and much preferred the latter mansion level, better than the Titanfall 2 equivalent in my opinion. Playing through stealthily feels impossible at times but I believel this is a game designed to be played multiple times to learn all the routes through the levels. When I finally went all out high chaos it was an absolute blast using all the weapons and equipment to tear everyone to shreds wth the only down side bring it was a little bit easy. I'd highly recommend this to anyone wth an X1X and a 4k TV, it looks incredible.

Megaman Zero - 6/10

Beat this one this morning. Loved the boss fights and general movement mechanics. It feels great zipping around levels, slashing at everything. Docked a point off it for that 'Protect the Factory' level, an easy boss fight followed by a ridiculously bullshit bomb hunting platforming section with blind drops and annoying enemy placement. Everything after that was hilariously easy, the difficulty curve was a bit misjudged. I also didn't like the grinding elements.

When this game is good, it is really strawberry floating good. When it is bad, it is really strawberry floating bad. I'm hoping the sequels are better.

Axiom Verge on Switch - 7/10

A good but not great Metroidvania with a strong theme and music, with very nice, varied visuals. Mixes up the formula with some unique and cool additions.

Let down by an unforgivable lack of fast warping and a complete lack of sign posting on where to go next after the middle of the game. Relied on a YouTube guide on multiple occasions, just to stop from wandering around the whole world map.

The story is a total nonsense 'it was all a dream' plot also.

Spec Ops: The Line - 8/10

+ Looks nice
+ Good soundtrack/interesting use of music
+ Intriguing plot
+ Solid mechanics

- Some overpowered enemies that spoil the realism
- Annoying squadmates
- Some sections drag on for too long
- Some control issues

An interesting game for sure. The pacing, the visuals, the gun play, the cover system, all generally very solid and enjoyable. The plot is the interesting bit, and is a refreshing change from the usual 'US dude-bro soldier coming in to save the day' stereotypes. The multiple endings annoyed me a bit - I'm not going to play through the game 4 times to see all the endings - but otherwise very good and well-worth checking out.

Clarkman wrote:Axiom Verge on Switch - 7/10

A good but not great Metroidvania with a strong theme and music, with very nice, varied visuals. Mixes up the formula with some unique and cool additions.

Let down by an unforgivable lack of fast warping and a complete lack of sign posting on where to go next after the middle of the game. Relied on a YouTube guide on multiple occasions, just to stop from wandering around the whole world map.

The story is a total nonsense 'it was all a dream' plot also.

Was going to go back to this but the while it's a dream thing has mad me reconsider. Will play Hollow Knight instead.

Lotus wrote:Spec Ops: The Line - 8/10

+ Looks nice
+ Good soundtrack/interesting use of music
+ Intriguing plot
+ Solid mechanics

- Some overpowered enemies that spoil the realism
- Annoying squadmates
- Some sections drag on for too long
- Some control issues

An interesting game for sure. The pacing, the visuals, the gun play, the cover system, all generally very solid and enjoyable. The plot is the interesting bit, and is a refreshing change from the usual 'US dude-bro soldier coming in to save the day' stereotypes. The multiple endings annoyed me a bit - I'm not going to play through the game 4 times to see all the endings - but otherwise very good and well-worth checking out.

It's such a fascinating game, so much so that someone went ahead and wrote a 50000 word essay into its politics and imagery

https://brkeogh.itch.io/killing-is-harmless

I should really get around to reading it one of these days.

Titanfall 2 - 8/10

It's no Prey beater

Nah, that was fantastic. Genuinely. Made me care about BT. Would love a sequel with more gameplay mechanics, or maybe expand on the time travel bit.

Evoland - 7/10

+ Original idea, well executed (generally)
+ Decent music
+ Simple, clean visuals
+ Nice length
+ Good sense of humour
+ Card game is good fun

- Spelling mistakes/grammatical errors. How difficult is it to get someone to proofread it?
- Inexplicable slowdown at times
- Random battles are far too frequent
- Some frustration with the controls

Really nice idea, this. Works well, lots of nods to JRPGs of old, and not too challenging. Definitely worth a punt for JRPG fans, but maybe wait until it's cheap. Not sure how long it took me to complete, maybe 3 hours.

I just played through Late Shift (it's part of Xbox Game Pass) and I really enjoyed it.

It's a choose your own adventure film about a heist in London and it's really well done with lots of decision points and it really does feel like those choices have weight. If you have Game Pass it's well worth a try.

9.5/10 .

Lotus wrote:Evoland - 7/10

+ Original idea, well executed (generally)
+ Decent music
+ Simple, clean visuals
+ Nice length
+ Good sense of humour
+ Card game is good fun

- Spelling mistakes/grammatical errors. How difficult is it to get someone to proofread it?
- Inexplicable slowdown at times
- Random battles are far too frequent
- Some frustration with the controls

Really nice idea, this. Works well, lots of nods to JRPGs of old, and not too challenging. Definitely worth a punt for JRPG fans, but maybe wait until it's cheap. Not sure how long it took me to complete, maybe 3 hours.

Nice! I've owned the sequel for a while now, been meaning to get to it for ages. Apparently quite an improvement over the first if that's any consolation re: your grievances.

Yeah I only realised there was a sequel when I was reading something about Evoland after I'd completed it. Was pleasantly surprised, and will check it out for sure.

Toybox Turbos

This game is like a coin. One side is fun, the other is the AI taking a big gooseberry fool on you from such great heights, you would think it’s Tim Peake himself taking a gooseberry fool on you from space.

Going to give it a 2/5 due to the AI making it an exercise in legit frustration instead of fun.

Statik - 9/10

If you have a PSVR and don't have this game then you need to buy it, its a relatively short puzzle game, but its on sale on PSN till the 12th (£5.79 if you have PS+) and is well worth it.

Because of the setup (you are seated in one position the whole game) it should work for anyone no matter their level of VR preparedness. One thing I would say is that you shouldn't be tempted to look at too much gameplay footage or any walkthroughs, the whole game is in figuring out what you need to do.

Doom VFR (PSVR Aim Controller) - 8/10

Another pretty awesome VR game, its also relatively short however there is replay value in this one and although its shorter than your average Doom, its not taking the piss short like some other VR games.

I would have scored it higher, but there are a few issues with controls in the game. It obviously wasn't designed from the ground up for the AIM controller because you spend the vast amount of time in the game with two weapons out, one of which (your left hand) is always pointing directly ahead of you and therefore is aimed with your head, while your main weapon is aimed with the controller. It makes for a functional but weird control scheme, the main benefit of which is having full control over your characters movement with an analogue stick.

I also had a couple of weird technical glitches with the sound cutting out or not playing correctly, but they went away after reloading the game.

I wasn't sure I'd ever get on with a fast paced FPS game in VR, but this proves it is possible without inducing horrible nausea. They really should make a fully fledged sequel.