Games We Complete In 2023

[Ruki]

I beat Octopath Traveler 2! I'm not ready for it to be over

 

Next is Midnight Suns!

[King Ellis]

I beat Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on GBA which is a game I've started a few times over the years but never actually finished until now. It's a little bit more bare bones in comparison to the other Metroidvania entries I'm used to like Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin or SotN since there's no in game shop, you can only use the whip and there's not as much flexibility in terms of equipment, powers etc. I think that makes it feel a bit more of a bridge between the classic action platform stuff of the 8/16 bit eras and the RPG stuff it became later on since the core sub weapons are there (axe, holy water, cross/boomerang etc) and I was using them a lot as a lot of more intense magic stuff I didn't pick up or realise was even in the game until much later.

Rather than the souls mechanic that I think came in in Aria of Sorrow, you collect these cards that you can mix and match to different effects. But some of them are pretty rare drops and often only on obscure monsters so I only really had half before doing a bit of a hunt around at the end to see what I'd missed. And you can only use one effect at a time so you might have to pick between a special attack or a passive buff, where you can get both with the later souls mechanic.

Always fun exploring the castle, fighting the different bosses and seeing all the weird creatures lurking around. I got a laugh near the end when Nathan is addressing Dracula in a way that came across to me like something you'd see an adult trying to scold an unruly child in the 1970's, shaking their fist as the kid scarpers. Something about the phrase 'I'll get you for that' belies the seriousness of enganging in a duel with the unholy lord of darkness.

Need to check out the other two GBA titles at some point which would be entirely new to me, I never played Order of Occlesia on DS either. I was holding out on getting a copy of that and then the price quadrupled over night at some point that I've never been able to work out why. This was way before the show so I can only imagine it's that nebulous 'retro' thing where after a certain point stuff goes from 'couldn't give it away' to 'RARE eBay silly money' once it's a few generations removed.

[Your Mom]

I never played it before and the sequel is coming up so I paid $5 and finally played Dead Island. It was fine I guess. It was like a not as good Dying Light which is a game I also enjoyed. I was interested initially that there were so many different characters to choose from but it really boiled down to one skill you were better at and didn't change the story at all. I beat it as Asian Sword Lady

That said I did like it enough that I think I'll play the sequel. Will probably wait for some reviews but it is the kind of game I tend to enjoy

[Ruki]

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

I never played it before and the sequel is coming up so I paid $5 and finally played Dead Island. It was fine I guess. It was like a not as good Dying Light which is a game I also enjoyed. I was interested initially that there were so many different characters to choose from but it really boiled down to one skill you were better at and didn't change the story at all. I beat it as Asian Sword Lady

That said I did like it enough that I think I'll play the sequel. Will probably wait for some reviews but it is the kind of game I tend to enjoy

I remember being really hyped up for Dead Island, and was disappointed. 

[Liam]

I finally completed a game! And it was Xenoblade Chronicles 2!

...however, for some reason I had to skip over a few cutscenes in the mid-game, meaning I then got so confused as to what was going on that I basically skipped all of the other cutscenes. Sped up my playthrough I guess, but does mean I have no idea what happened in the game...

Speaks volumes that the progression side of the game was able to carry me through 20+ hours or so. The combat system is very complex, but once it clicks, it is fun.

[DavidMarrio]

Return of the Obra Dinn

Really interesting concept that sucks you into the story and trying to find out what has happened. 

God of War: Ragnarok

Expectations was high based of the last game and I felt like they absolutely smashed it out of the park with some twists and turns in the story that I wasn't expecting. Had so much fun playing it and with the story. Curious to see where they go next

[Your Mom]

On 10/04/2023 at 10:04, Kazuma KiRuki said:

I remember being really hyped up for Dead Island, and was disappointed. 

I could see that. I got to play the definitive edition and it was still kinda buggy at times

[Bobfoc]

On 10/04/2023 at 14:55, Your Mom said:

I never played it before and the sequel is coming up so I paid $5 and finally played Dead Island. It was fine I guess. It was like a not as good Dying Light which is a game I also enjoyed. I was interested initially that there were so many different characters to choose from but it really boiled down to one skill you were better at and didn't change the story at all. I beat it as Asian Sword Lady

That said I did like it enough that I think I'll play the sequel. Will probably wait for some reviews but it is the kind of game I tend to enjoy

The reviews are out and it sounds like a thoroughly middle-of-the-road big budget game.

[Ruki]

And completed Marvel's Midnight Suns. A unique game, but the combat really worked for me!

[Ruki]

And now I'm done Resident Evil 2 Remake! Doubt I'll go back to play Claire's side, though.

[Benji]

On 10/04/2023 at 16:04, Kazuma KiRuki said:

I remember being really hyped up for Dead Island, and was disappointed. 

I replayed it recently, it was better than I remembered but not nearly as good as the hype. The weapons degrade far too fast and the last act of the story feels very disjointed from the rest.

[Your Mom]

If you gave an answer in my topic we can all celebrate this one. DEAD ISLAND 2!!!!

This one is way better than the first. I actually cared about the characters and didn't feel like I was just moving from objective to objective. Plus it didn't hurt that my character Dani had a super sexy Irish accent

[Ruki]

14 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

If you gave an answer in my topic we can all celebrate this one. DEAD ISLAND 2!!!!

This one is way better than the first. I actually cared about the characters and didn't feel like I was just moving from objective to objective. Plus it didn't hurt that my character Dani had a super sexy Irish accent

Yay! 

[Ruki]

On 28/04/2023 at 00:04, Kazuma KiRuki said:

And now I'm done Resident Evil 2 Remake! Doubt I'll go back to play Claire's side, though.

And now Resident Evil 3! I liked it better than 2, probably because I started it on easy mode. Not sure if the game was more action-y than 2, or if that was just my difficulty choice.

 

Jill Valentine is still thr best. 

[Colly]

I've "finished" God of War, as in the main story. I've then gone back and beat two valkyries, and the completist in me wants to beat the others, but at the same time I can't get past the Muspelheim challenge where you have to not take a hit and to be honest I fancy playing something a bit lighter. Might come back to it at some point and hopefully remember the controls.

[apsham]

On 03/05/2023 at 02:12, Kazuma KiRuki said:

And now Resident Evil 3! I liked it better than 2, probably because I started it on easy mode. Not sure if the game was more action-y than 2, or if that was just my difficulty choice.

 

Jill Valentine is still thr best. 

Yeah, it's more action-y for sure and I think that's why it's divisive - you have Jill with the roll and Carlos with the punch, it's just easier to control the situation than it was in the other games. But I love it, and I think that the pace of the game suits the playstyle. It's all just go, go, go and Jill is my absolute favourite character in the series because she is just so done with all the shit.

[Ruki]

2 hours ago, apsham said:

Yeah, it's more action-y for sure and I think that's why it's divisive - you have Jill with the roll and Carlos with the punch, it's just easier to control the situation than it was in the other games. But I love it, and I think that the pace of the game suits the playstyle. It's all just go, go, go and Jill is my absolute favourite character in the series because she is just so done with all the shit.

The dodge roll was something I seriously wanted from 2. Zombies are dumb and slow, I should be able to quickly zip past them. Glad it was added in 3. Also! I really liked going back to the police station and the gun shop, and seeing it from a different perspective. 

[apsham]

I know a lot of traditionalists would've bricked in their pants if they added a roll or something to 2, haha. But I think that 3 is the proper level of changing gameplay to match the feel of the game versus what they tried to do with Resident Evil 6 which... the less said the better.

[Ruki]

That's Persona 4s true ending completed! What a great game and series. Although i realized now...

Spoiler

The main antagonist from 3, 4 and 5 basically all had the same goal/motivation. Kill the human race because it's what we wanted in our hearts.

 

[Your Mom]

Just finished Submerged it was my kind of game because it is literally impossible to fail  It's some sort of Dystopia but don't ask me to tell you the story because I still have no idea  All I know is my brother was injured and I had to explore and find some stuff to save him and there were like these Avatar alien guys in the background watching me for some reason.

It was fun