GRcade

The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask - 7/10

Weird, wonderful and really confusing. Tried to do 100% but going back and forwards through time and the amount of side quests that involved doing things at certain times means I was a few heart pieces off and I think I was missing 3 masks. Glad I finally completed it though.

Miguel007 wrote:...Lara Croft GO [PS4] - 8/10; I was hooked, turn based strategy Tomb Raider...

Miguel, you are obviously a man of culture and possess a fine eye...

Miguel007 wrote:...I was disappointed by Hitman GO but this is a step above.

...WTF!?! Ban request! Hitman Go is a tremendous puzzler, IMHO .

Miguel007 wrote:...Super Lucky’s Tale [PS4] - 8/10; my Xmas Day game, great old school platformer with fun levels to explore. I was so addicted I played till 4am, not had a game have me so hooked for a long, long time...

It's great that you're enjoying this! have this on Switch and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I did watch someone stream a wee bit of it and it looked to be a lot of fun!

Shadow of the Colossus remake 6.5/10 - the controls and character movement drag this game way down. strawberry floating hell.

Miles Morales 9/10 - great gameplay and great story, just like the first game. Loved it.

Mafro wrote:Shadow of the Colossus remake 6.5/10 - the controls and character movement drag this game way down. strawberry floating hell.

Agree, it made it a lot more painful than it should have been. I was glad I played it; but, yeah, it was pretty repetitive and its issues dulled the experience for me.

Desperados 3 (PC) - 7/10

Started off promisingly, and the Western theme is well realised, but falls short of its predecessor Shadow Tactics (set in ancient Japan). Some of the later missions become overly tiresome, and they misguidedly went down the path of making one of the characters have magical powers - which ruined the whole vibe from that point onwards.

Yakuza 4 HD (PS4)

Wrapped this one up earlier under the buzzer for 2020; still my favourite game series with all its melodrama and silliness but I'm definitely skipping a lot more of the side stuff, particularly the bigger minigames. I've run a hostess club at least twice in this series and played a lot of darts, pool etc, and have no real desire to do it over again each time. I think a bit of a break is needed before tackling 5.

Mega Man X6 - Shite.

By far the worst of the Mega Man and Mega Man X games. The X games are much less consistent for quality than OG Mega Man, but X6 is just strawberry floating bad.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (series X)

Easily my favourite metroidvania of all time. Beautiful graphics and sound, and amazing level design which always felt challenging and intriguing without being stressful or requiring resorting to a guide.
The combat was also brilliant, i basically never used the standard attack after the first hour, which must have made my experience quite different to the next person.

Only loses a point because some of the chase sequences returned, and after 4 or 5 attempts they did feel a bit frustrating.

9

Hotline Miami 2 - 7/10

Didn't like this as much as the first one. Mainly the level design being too big most of the time. It was a fun game when they took this into consideration.

Absolutely killer soundtrack in this. I'm not one for synthwave, but I instantly bought the OST on Steam when I realised how good it was.

Shadow of the Colossus- 10/10

This was really something else. It was nice to play something not full of extraneous bullshit, and I can't stop thinking about it having recently finished it. Every aspect of it is perfect for what it is.

Momodara: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Only took just over three hours but I didn't really enjoy this one. Visual design and atmosphere are great but it's one of those games that mistakes difficulty for just being awkward (enemies attacking from off the screen, enemies positioned so it's nigh-on impossible to avoid damage) and when it was coupled with heavy, laboured combat it became a chore. Usually with Metroid-like games I go around hoovering everything up but I think I finished on 94% map completion and some side quests unfinished and they'll probably stay that way.

There were also some odd level design decisions, for most of the game water instantly kills you but halfway through there's an entire level where you can swim without even needing oxygen??? And there's a bit where you can switch between human and cat forms but it's barely used apart from finding a few secrets.

I did get the good ending though, which I only realised when I went on Youtube to have a look after I'd finished.

Pikmin 3 - 9/10

This is a great package even if the controls aren't as good as the Wii U (and a little annoying at times as a result). I really enjoyed replaying through the story, it has a great vibe and feeling to it. The extra side missions are a welcome addition even if it is a little disappointing that they just reused assets and location. But by far this is at its best in the Mission mode when you are against the clock, and your decisions really do count. Padded out with the DLC content means there is easily over 30+ hours here if you try to Platinum everything (I'm about 10 or so short at the moment, will do one day). Great fun in co-op too, even if it makes the challenges a little easier.

Now give us Pikmin 4 Nintendo, you hooligans!

Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope

gooseberry fool

I really enjoyed Man of Medan but this was awful. It was a complete Silent Hill rip off from beginning to end but nothing it did was anywhere near the level of Silent Hill (even the worse games in the series).

Really, really disappointed. Even the jump scares were awfully done and were just dull after the eighth or ninth one

It's put me off playing their next game

Edit - strawberry float, I can't get over how much of a let down this was. I love Until Dawn but this is one of those situations where I think the developers got really lucky with their first game and really aren't as talented as people first thought. The writing in this was just plain dreadful throughout.

Tinzilnad wrote:Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope

gooseberry fool

I really enjoyed Man of Medan but this was awful. It was a complete Silent Hill rip off from beginning to end but nothing it did was anywhere near the level of Silent Hill (even the worse games in the series).

Really, really disappointed. Even the jump scares were awfully done and were just dull after the eighth or ninth one

It's put me off playing their next game

Edit - strawberry float, I can't get over how much of a let down this was. I love Until Dawn but this is one of those situations where I think the developers got really lucky with their first game and really aren't as talented as people first thought. The writing in this was just plain dreadful throughout.

Its a shame to hear this (and it seems like a common opinion). I loved Until Dawn and played through Man of Medan twice (once online with a friend, which is a fantastic way to play it).
No doubt it will come to Game Pass at some point and i will give it a play then, but it would be great if there was a game of this type that launched each year and was of a high quality.

Gorogoa - PS4

An interesting little puzzle game that can be done in an evening with a lovely art style and clever mechanics.

The Last Guardian - 10/10

As mentioned in the PS5 topic I played with 'fake' 60fps from TV motion smoothing, because though the OG disc plays 60 on PS5 it quickly updates no matter what to the frame-locked PS4Pro version. But it looked so so good when smooth I was willing to put up with the slight input lag (and the whole game feels like input lag tbh).

I thought the game was brilliant and even better than I'd hoped. In Christian Donlan's Eurogamer review he said there was a lot of Core-era Tomb Raider in the feel of it and that's exactly right, but in a good way. The whole game is basically tomb raiding these huge, convincing, atmospheric environments in near-silence. And the game feel and camera is old-school in the way it's a bit clunky, but it also feels consistent and involved, grounding you in the world with its need for attention in a way lots of games lose I think, as they smooth off all the edges to leave something more like a visual tour with button prompts.

Working with Trico means the game gets played at its own considered, exploratory pace with time enough to feel like you're journeying in real time and not just whipping through at game-hero-speed.

And the set-pieces are spectacular and surprising, and don't feel like cutaways from the normal gameplay but instead feel like the emerge within the same game logic.

Also, I was moved at points and I didn't think I would be.

TL:DR - Better than Ico and SotC.

deathofcows wrote:The Last Guardian - 10/10... I thought the game was brilliant and even better than I'd hoped...

Also, I was moved at points and I didn't think I would be...

Couldn't agree more, doc.

Back in December 2016, here in GRcade I wrote:Today I finished The Last Guardian on PS4 Pro.

+ Terrific environments
+ Enthralling gameplay and exciting set pieces
+ Incredible relationship between "you" and Trico
- The odd poor texture
- The controls occasionally frustrate

Overall... [10]. One of the greatest videogames that I have played.

deathofcows wrote:The Last Guardian - 10/10
...
TL:DR - Better than Ico and SotC.

That's a bold shout!

I loved game and it's one of the best of the last decade, but I Ico and SOTC edge it for me. The way they all compliment each other and are vaguely connected enhances them all though, I like how much TLG feels like a combination of Ico with its partnered escape from a single ruined location and SOTC with Trico being this large beast that you clamber across (or I guess the setting is closer to Ico but that mechanical element feels very SOTC).

Gorogoa

I enjoyed it but its incredibly short (finished it in 3 hours) and I have literally no idea what the game was about.

The puzzle mechanics are certainly unique though.

jawa2 wrote:

deathofcows wrote:The Last Guardian - 10/10... I thought the game was brilliant and even better than I'd hoped...

Also, I was moved at points and I didn't think I would be...

Couldn't agree more, doc.

Back in December 2016, here in GRcade I wrote:Today I finished The Last Guardian on PS4 Pro.

+ Terrific environments
+ Enthralling gameplay and exciting set pieces
+ Incredible relationship between "you" and Trico
- The odd poor texture
- The controls occasionally frustrate

Overall... [10]. One of the greatest videogames that I have played.

That's a much more concise way of putting it!

OrangeXMS wrote: I loved game and it's one of the best of the last decade, but I Ico and SOTC edge it for me. The way they all compliment each other and are vaguely connected enhances them all though, I like how much TLG feels like a combination of Ico with its partnered escape from a single ruined location and SOTC with Trico being this large beast that you clamber across (or I guess the setting is closer to Ico but that mechanical element feels very SOTC).

For me (WARNING: Potentially Controversial Opinion Incoming) SotC looks and sounds exciting but doesn't feel exciting because the Colossi are too slow to feel like a threat. So you can run around until you've worked out the puzzle, or wait happily on their back whilst your stamina replenishes like you're waiting for a bus. For me it feels a bit like fake drama, though beautiful and evocative fake drama. I just don't think the battles are as tense as the soundtrack and scale suggest they are - there's a mismatch.

And in truth the growing guilt and sense of melancholy that people felt as they cut through the Colossi was something that didn't land as much for me (maybe I should play it again now I'm older?!), though the general vibe and soundtrack is still one of my all-time faves.

Similarly I do like the bond with Yorda in Ico, it's touching and pleasingly understated. And having just checked out some footage, I do like the crispness and comparative precision of Ico's movement compared to the other two. And the shadow-kidnapping is probably more tense than anything in SotC.

But in TLG I didn't feel a mismatch, the exciting bits were exciting in the hands as well as on the screen (the button-pressing panic of being dragged away!), the variety of different scenes and mechanics - though they are never introduced as such - keep things surprising throughout (the bit with the water splash!), and the more tender bits were perfectly pitched. Two in particular had me right in the feels in a way I can't recall many other games hitting, and one was a brilliant subversion of game-logic that made me actually feel guilty (when you pull on the chain because it's a chain and therefore needs pulling, and only realize too late that this has committed Trico to a guillotine-like trap and you've no choice but to let go).

Anyway it's a beautiful sort-of trilogy, and there's probably an argument to be made for any order depending on tastes. But as a game for me I think TLG comes out on top, and hits all the notes it aims for.