Last game you finished, tell us about it

Last night I completed Atom RPG, and what a glorious time it was. From the moment I started playing until I finished, it was nothing but sheer joy! The first game that truly feels like a Fallout, and I mean the good ones, like one, two and tactics.

I initially picked one of the starter characters, yet ten minutes later I went back and rolled my own bloke. I went with high int and hand to hand/melee skills, with a smattering of points invested in pistol and rifle. At first almost every battle was a sheer adventure, I often finished with two to five hit points and a quick jaunt to the local physician! After I got my doggie (Butch), I had more staying power, and a few levels under the belt didn't hurt, either.

Crafting is a huge part of the game, or at least that's the way it seemed to me. When I picked up Fidel as a chum, I made him into a pistolero, yet he chugged through ammo so fast it wasn't even amusing. Once he leveled a few times, he became quite lethal, yet unless he was toting five hundred rounds or more, I didn't feel confident. Also the crafting made Butch way more potent, as I was able to craft armors for all three of us, and that really changed everything!

Seriously, in short, if the post apoc genre is to your liking, and classic Fallout games make you drool, try Atom RPG. You just might find a new, gamma-soaked environment to fall in lust with.
 
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Just finished Blade of Darkness, the re-release version. It's identical to the old version, as far as content.

Blade of Darkness was a game I played a long time ago, when I was a lot younger, but I never managed to finish it, both due to its difficulty and also due to the unnerving and frightening atmosphere. Alas I never had the time or will to sit down and play it all the way. But from what I did play (I remember reaching the Tombs of Ephyra, I think) it always stuck with me for the great combat system and amazing atmosphere.

So here we are 20 years later with it re-released on Steam and GOG. And unsurprisingly it's still as great as I remembed it. Overall that is, because towards the end, especially the the final level, it's really obvious they ran out of money or time and had to rush the ending. But I'll get into that later on. Even so, it's still great. Surprisingly and without knowing it back then it sort of became the ancestor of the Souls/Borne series. It did a lot of what FromSoft have now popularized, but obviously without some of the strong design decisions which have made FromSoft games beloved by the hardcore community.

As mentioned, the parts where it really shines is the amazing combat system they put together. With most enemies, at least until you out-level them in strength, you have to take care and perform a little dance of death. Trying to dodge, block or jump out of their attacks while trying to attack, break guards and ultimately kill them is part of the regular schedule. And this all works because of the great AI that most enemies have. Unless they get stuck in the level geometry. But overall they really offer up a challenge. And it's particularly frustrating when you fight enemies that hold potions, which are very limited, and the enemy attempts to drink it in mid combat, when you obviously need it a lot more than they do. The selfish bastards just won't share.

Another strong element is the great atmosphere, most of which is due to the great lighting and strong music. While not having most of the flourishes of modern graphical games, in my opinion it still has a strong visual look for most of the game. And somehow it still has more beautiful water than some games nowadays. It certainly has aged well in that regard.

One regard where it did not age as well is the sometimes clunky controls. You do get used to them, and learn their ins and outs. But when you're in the middle of combat you normally want your character to move and attack properly. Some of the clunkyness is also due to the long wind-up of animations or the fact that you sometimes queue multiple attacks because you're not familiar with the timings of the various attacks and movements. But you get used to it, and in the end it does become a great and fun combat system. Heck, some of my favorite games, like the Gothic series, had awkward and clunky controls. But that didn't stop them from becoming all time cult-classics.

But it's unfortunate this game never became more than a cult-classic. It's obvious that towards the end of development they either ran out of budget or time, and had to rush the final level at least. That's the only strong negative in this game in my opinion. The final level is a long slog, without any of the exploration and fantastic level design in the previous dozen levels. That's another legacy that FromSoft games have significally built upon. Very strong level design. But coming back to the final level, it's pretty bad overall as it's only combat. And you're very much overpowered by that point, so most of them have no chance against you. And then you reach the final boss fight, which has to be one of the worst I've ever played. It's a long winded chase, where your enemy keeps teleporting away. Takes forever, offeres almost no challenge and is obviously rushed. But persoanlly I'd have liked it more if they'd had no fight at all. But I guess those were the days of game development back them. When in doubt, pad the game with more fights and enemies.

I think I also mentioned the music, which is pretty great, but unfortunately there's only a half a dozen or so tracks that are truly memorable. But those that are, are fantastic. Really catchy and very atmospheric tunes. Some of them. Some are pretty unnerving and even horror inducing.

I guess that's about it. Highly recommended game. Worth trying at least, especially at the price point it's being sold right now. It's another game that has aged pretty well and is still a load of fun to play. Of course, I realize this might also be collor-tinted glasses that I'm seeing the game through. But only partially. I refuse to concede that it's not a great game. Even if it does have some rought parts that need more patience and acceptance to get over. But once you do you'll find a true gem of the past. Too bad the studio never managed to do more with it. I guess it's true that you can release a product that the market is not ready for.
 
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Just finished playing Tyranny, the game from Obsidian that was built using the same base platform as Pillars of Eternity, and I really enjoyed the experience. If you haven't played it, I would highly recommend.

I recall reading about this game back when it was released and there was some scuttlebutt about transgender-ism or something. I didn't notice anything scandalous or non-woke in my play thru, but I haven't gone back to look into what specifically people were talking about. But definitely nothing that should prevent anyone from playing IMHO.

There were also some complaints about the game being too short. I actually found that to be a feature, because I enjoyed replaying (I did two more times) and siding with different factions. Quite a bit of content you don't see in one play thru depending on the faction and path you choose. Also had fun playing different main PC builds (magic-focused vs. melee-focused specifically). And you can definitely have different and legit role playing experiences where you can play more as an evil a-hole type vs. more of a good dude or anything in between. I think shorter campaign length lends itself to more re-play value personally. At some point I think I am going to write up more of my thoughts about this dynamic (length vs. replay value).

I liked the writing and many of the story line elements. And I thought a few of the companions were well done with good voice acting.

I got on sale at some point and finally got around to playing while waiting for some other newly released games to get cleaned up post initial launch.

I'd say most people in this forum will probably want to play on hardest level. And you can make harder by disabling ability to view enemy stats and things like that.

----
One more thing. If you hated PoE mechanics and gameplay, this game isn't for you. It's the same basically.
 
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Recently I'm really into J-RPG, typically the Shin Megami Tensei series. I have just finished SMT 4 and it was an extremely delightful journey.

Regarding the story, unfortunately I don't think I should say anything because it will spoil the experience. What I can say is that the story is incredibly cool and deep. It deals with two main philosophical ideas of how humanity should operate and we as the players will eventually decide it.

The characters also have great development and will eventually give you hard decision. It can be heartbreaking at time since you stick with them for a long time, but situation will force our decision and there is turning back once we decide our course.

The biggest thing I love about the game is the atmosphere of a relatively post-apocalyptic world where demons are everywhere. These demons are mythological creatures from various legends, countries. AND, the best part is that you can persuade them to your team. In this game you only control a human character - your main protagonist. But other team members are demons that you recruited along your journey (I do hear some fun comparisons saying SMT is like "Pokemon for adults").

I do understand that J-RPG is pretty hard to get used to, especially with the turn-based combat system. But the system in SMT 4 is extremely strategic. Every character/enemy has an elemental weakness, the core aspect is: if you hit their weaknesses, not only you deal more damage but your team also immediately get one more action in your turn. This system also applies to your enemies, meaning if they can hit your weakspot, they also gain an action and believe me, you never want your enemies to gain extra actions.

Overall I do recommend this game to anyone who's not too harsh on turn-based combat system in general. Plus, the story, lore, and the awesome gameplay will definitely be worth your time.
 
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I recall reading about this game back when it was released and there was some scuttlebutt about transgender-ism or something. I didn't notice anything scandalous or non-woke in my play thru, but I haven't gone back to look into what specifically people were talking about. But definitely nothing that should prevent anyone from playing IMHO.

I think you might be confusing with Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear.
 
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I have finished Encased. I don't have the exact length since I played the EA on the same counter, but I must have roughly 60 hours for my run through the release version.

I have missed a few things, but I have tested several endings which took a little time. It's definitely possible to do it much faster, but it's possible to spend more time too, and to replay with other choices (both for the wing & character, and for some choices made during the game).

There are several endings and it's worth saving when the choices are presented to the player, at least to the very end of the game. There must be 9 or 10 main outcomes but they're coupled with other options in some cases - some that count for much, others that are only a small variant. So it doesn't make sense to me to give an exact count. It's fun to go through the narrative of the impact of the choices made during the game.

I'll probably make a more detailed review later. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience! I'm surprised to see on GOG that only 3.9% reached the end of the game, and only 1.6% saw some of the less obvious choices near the end.

The game doesn't have many annoying bugs, the ones I've encountered (and reported) are mostly of cosmetic nature. But the game needs a pass of tuning, which they planned for early next year. Some of the places visited later in the game are less fleshed out than the first ones, I believe they intend to add some content by the end of the year.

So if you want to play, I don't see a reason to wait for a 1st run, or at least a partial one to get familiar with the system. If you only want to play it once, and if combat or story is important, perhaps it's worth waiting for those patches 3 and/or 4 before committing entirely.
 
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Thanks for the nice review on Encased, Redglyph, it's one I'm truly looking forward to playing. I've got a few to get to first, which will likely work better for me as that will let a few more updates land to where I feel a tich more comfortable with a new game. Like you, I quite agree it's startling to see that few people finish games, I figure there's something wrong with how they determine that because I cannot comprehend not completing a game, once I start it.
 
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I just finished the Talos Principle and its a great game.

It is a puzzle game very comparable to Portal and i enjoyed the puzzles as much as I enjoyed the ones in Portal 1 and 2.

In addition to that it has a story, which asks very similar philosophical questions as the game "Soma" does, but gives a different answer.

I am glad, that I had a puzzle games itch the last days, because all three games I played, namely "Baba is You", "Kathy Rain" and now "Talos Principle" were fun to play and at least Baba and Talos belong to the category "you must have played this once in your life" for me.

In a different comparison I found it interesting, how three different games of three different genres, namely "Talos Principle", a puzzle game, "Soma", a Horror-Adventure, and "Horizon Zero Dawn", a kind of ARPG, give three different answers to the same philosophical question, namely "How can mankind survive when all humans are dead?". I found all their different answers well thought out and well told and can recommend all three games to everybody, who is interested in science fiction stories treating philosophical questions.

In literature, Philip K. Dick is an author doing things like that and you can find references to his ideas at least in Soma and the Talos Principle. So lovers of this author's works should also consider trying these games.
 
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I also loved Talos Principle. Both the philosophical story and the puzzles. One of the puzzles will forever be in my memory, one involving the recording yourself mechanic. What an amazing game mechanic that was. Anyway, this puzzle was so hard for me to pull off that I practically had a youtube video showing it step by step, but it was so mind bending that I remember that just watching it once, and then doing it myself wasn't enough. I had to follow it step by step. Holy shit.

It was amazing to think that this beautiful thinking man's game came from the team that brought us Serious Sam games. :D
 
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I'm too much of an impatient dummy to play something like the Talos Principle, but I did watch a really good Let's Play of it. It's crazy that it was made by the Serious Sam folks.
 
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Well, it took me over a month, yet I finally completed Forever Home, at least the first run-through, I've not done the new game plus route as of yet. I'll first take a break and play something else, and likely come back to do the next game part in the not so distant future.

So, this is an rpg-maker game, yet someone poured an extensive amount of content into this masterpiece, way above the average amount you'd usually find in this genre. You of course have the story, and an assembling of your group, and so many sidequests that I honestly lost count. I just kept looking around figuring that if I hadn't fought the guy from the very beginning, there was still stuff to do. The one weakness this game might have is a lack of a journal, what you might need to do next, so you just have to chat with everyone and things will open up.

You eventually have like a stable of eight characters, and the ones not in the group will also get experience and benefits. This game makes use of a shard system, like some of the Final Fantasy games, that you equip in weapons and armour, and level up to unlock abilities. Yeah, for an rpg maker game, this one is a bit more involved than usual. Each character has their own quest line that will give a nice weapon, you're not forced to do these yet all are worth doing.

Bottom line: I paid fifty cents for this game, and it gave me fifty-eight hours of solid entertainment. If you like the genre, I think you'd be very pleased with this game.
 
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I found an old game I had barely touched in my Steam library, The Swapper. I finished it, it's quite short, 6 hours of play or so without real replay value. It's a puzzle / exploration platform game, with puzzles that are sometimes difficult enough to make you think a little, but not too hard. Some puzzles are dynamic and require coordinated action but there's a slow-motion feature to help.

This game has very nice graphics with a very personal style.
 
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I am still on my quest for puzzle and adventure games.

Now I discovered "Heaven's Vault" and played it twice in a row. The first playthrough took me 20 hours the second one 30 hours.

It is basically a point and click adventure, though the interface works a little bit different. For example you move by movement keys instead of using the mouse. For some people movement may feel a little bit clumsily at the beginning, but I forgot after five minutes that it was different from what I was used to.

The puzzle part consists of deciphering an ancient language by finding inscriptions and identifying words using parts you have seen elsewhere. There are also "normal" puzzles as in usual adventure games, but those are only a few. Both types of puzzles are more a means for the development of the story than for puzzling as an end in itself.

But the really interesting thing is the story itself. You are an archeologist traveling around, finding artifacts and discovering the history of your society. You travel around with a sailing boat using "winds" in space between the moons of your system. You are also accompanied by a robot, which is a strong contrast to an otherwise more medieval world. Finding out about the origin of this (and other) robots and of those "winds" is an important aspect of the story.

You discover ancient threats but also have to cope with the "normal" problems your friends have today.

The most fascinating thing was the choices and consequences you have. Not (only) in solving puzzles in different ways, which is normal in several adventures. But by making decisions (for example whom to tell about certain discoveries or whom to give certain artifacts and even how to solve certain puzzles) you change the course of the story and even the fate of several people.

I only found the real impact of this during my second playthrough, when I did certain things differently and found out that I experienced parts of the story, which I hadn't even suspected to exist before. That time I played much more thoughtful, which made this playthrough longer than the first.

In addition to story and atmosphere the game also raises interesting philosophical considerations about the meaning of history and how much it determines present and future.

The fun thing is, that the second playthrough is a "new game+" as known from action games, where it usually means that you keep levels, powers etc. gathered in the first playthrough. In the Heaven's Vault, the only "power" you keep from your first playthrough is the knowledge of the ancient language you deciphered. While this has no direct impact on the actions you can choose, it implies that you better understand the situations you are in and can give more consideration to your decisions.

I was fascinated by atmosphere and story of the game during both playthroughs and even started a third one right now.

So I can heartily recommend this game for everybody, who loves point-and-click adventures with a good story. For me it is one of the best I played in the last years.

Because of atmosphere, setting, story, and historical philosophy I would also recommend it to everybody, who is not particularly interested in adventures, but simply loves an interesting story.

It is not recommended for people playing only action games.
 
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I am still on my quest for puzzle and adventure games.

Now I discovered "Heaven's Vault" and played it twice in a row. The first playthrough took me 20 hours the second one 30 hours.

It's in my library, waiting to be played.
I figured that I might love it. ;)
 
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Since Ghostbusters: Afterlife came out yesterday, with me planning (ha!) to see it tomorrow, I decided to marathon some Ghostbusters, watching the movies first, then installing and playing the "remaster" of Ghostbusters The Video Game.

As a game, the 2009 Ghostbusters is easily one of the best movie franchise tie ins I've played. It oozes atmosphere, making you feel like you're actually a Ghostbuster. It's a little easy, save at one point in the last level, and a bit short at around 5 hours (though it falls in line with most of the action titles I've played recently), but all in all a wholly enjoyable game. About the only thing I'd have added, other than maybe returning to the Van Horne station and the old apartment building of Dana Barrett, would have been some driving sequences of the Ecto 1. And maybe kick Bill Murray in the nuts for his half-assed performance.

That said, the remaster is a disaster of biblical proportions. It can't be run at 1080, as that causes the game to lock up and crash repeatedly. Audio is horribly desynced to damn near a full second or so off from the models in game. Even the triggers for events are messed up, and ghosts occasionally got stuck behind stuff or just went unresponsive. Despite being supposedly an updated form of the original, they managed to make it perform worse, with more bugs, while not actually giving any better graphical fidelity. The models and textures are the same (though good, they are PS3-era), and I can't remember when I didn't have a PC game able to run at 1080. Definitely before 2009! Heck, I think Quake 1 was coded on a system that had 1080 support.

*EDIT* Call of Duty 1, which was 2004, will run better than 1080, or basically whatever the max resolution of my laptop's screen. No excuse for a 2019 release to crash, and definitely no excuse for not patching the problem.
 
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I finally finished BG1 Siege of Dragonspear. I started playing it years ago, but due to Viconia leaving my party at a most inopportune moment I postponed playing for a really long time.

It was alright. I don't think it lives up to BG2, but it was a decent addition to BG1. Too long for what it offers, though. Feels like it has an arbitrarily slow experience curve in order to not reach max xp too early, but it makes it slow and a bit static. The magical items are also quite boring. But all in all decent fun.

So on to BG2 now. I'll likely finish it sometime before BG3 comes out, in two years or so.
 
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I just finished Atom RPG : Trudograd. Same old goodness as the original game with its gritty dialogs and setting. The last part of the game certainly feels rushed a bit and I wish the game had a couple more dungeons but still, great experience. I want a Atom RPG2 !
 
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I just finished Atom RPG : Trudograd. Same old goodness as the original game with its gritty dialogs and setting. The last part of the game certainly feels rushed a bit and I wish the game had a couple more dungeons but still, great experience. I want a Atom RPG2 !

Granted that I didn't play all that far, but I found the dialogue to be the opposite of gritty. 90% of the dialogue I read in ~6 hours was goofy. Usually intentionally so.
 
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