Last game you finished, tell us about it

[skally_wag]

Atomfall: 52.6hrs. Really enjoyed it. Opted for melee a lot due to scarcity of ammo, but that's probably me, I always have a fear of running out, hence I finished the game with full ammos.

 

[Couchpotato]

Atomfall: 52.6hrs. Really enjoyed it. Opted for melee a lot due to scarcity of ammo, but that's probably me, I always have a fear of running out, hence I finished the game with full ammos.

Easy solution ts to just cheat and edit the amount. Otherwise yeah you run out of bullets in most games otherwise. Anyway glad you enjoyed it I haven't played it yet.

 

[Carnifex]

Yeah I did enjoy the first Dead Island game up to a point, yet probably not enough to toss money at a second game. Good to know that if I do feel like whacking on zombies there are options!

 

[JDR13]

Atomfall: 52.6hrs. Really enjoyed it. Opted for melee a lot due to scarcity of ammo, but that's probably me, I always have a fear of running out, hence I finished the game with full ammos.

I typically had 3 ranged weapons to 1 melee weapon in my weapon wheel. As long as I didn't stick with the same weapon for too long, I usually didn't have any problems with ammo. I like that it's a bit scarce compared to other games.

 

[skally_wag]

I typically had 3 ranged weapons to 1 melee weapon in my weapon wheel. As long as I didn't stick with the same weapon for too long, I usually didn't have any problems with ammo. I like that it's a bit scarce compared to other games.

Agreed. Crafting ammo might have been a nice option.
I did enjoy taking down all the robots.

 

[No_.ne]

Beat 2 games recently.
First up, Immortals of Aveum, got a key from a friend and I'm glad that's how I got it because, well, it was the definition of average for me. Average gameplay, average story, so on and so forth. The characters had their moments but I thought that they were generally unlikeable, and the story was a combination of utterly predictable writing (which pretty much led to me guessing a fuckton of the plot "twists" way before they actually happened) and some generally interesting lore (nothing special, but still better than the rest of the story). The gameplay was, atleast in my opinion, below average solely due to the particle effects. There were so many of those that there were points where the screen was basically nothing but the UI and particle effects. Also, played the game on the hardest difficulty and mechanically it was a cakewalk but the enemies were just bullet sponges (until I got some better gear.) Overall, no part of the game was straight up bad, but no part of it left me wanting more. 5/10

Second, DOOM 2016.

100%ed the game once on Nightmare difficulty. Ultra-Nightmare took me 8 attempts. I think Ultra-Nightmaring Eternal made beating this one pretty easy for me, atleast relative to Eternal. Thing is, Weapon swapping is just as effective here as it was there, if not more so. Double shot from the ssg, then jump while firing the gauss cannon to create some distance and use the rocket launcher. Rinse and repeat and you can deal with the heavy units. For the smaller ones, the upgraded scope can be used to pop their heads. Since the game isn't specifically designed around the fact that you can quick switch, nor do they have any specific weaknesses like they do in Eternal, they all kinda just melt if you just get good enough at weapon switching. Died once to an imp (sadly), twice to jumps, once to a cacodemon, once to a mancubus, once to a baron of hell, and once to my own rocket's splash damage.
My final thoughts on the game are pretty much that I prefer the complexity and dance-like, lock-and-key approach of Eternal's combat, but that I don't care about that when I'm playing the game at all because playing it is still so much fucking fun. Rip and Tear some fuckwads from hell and that's it, don't worry about the rest.
The levels actually feel like places rather than arenas and corridors connecting arenas, even though they too are basically just that. It's just that at times it feels like Eternal makes no effort at all to mask that fact.
Also, the story's actually kinda cool at times and is not mythological shit that might be cool but makes no sense (ahem, Eternal)
Like, Hayden's actions and role here and in eternal just don't make sense at all when you think about the fact that Eternal's in the same timeline as this game?
8/10

 

[Carnifex]

Today I fully wrapped up with Persona three, finishing the expansion and being entirely done. The last stage of the game involved three different areas where you have to battle special encounters, the first being three fights with team members(!!!), it's you and Metris vs. two former compatriots. These fights aren't too hard, just don't underestimate them because even if you didn't level these characters you'll find them equal to your two.

The next set of fights are behind a new Monad door, and these....well, these are no joke. I had to reconfigure like six different personas just to get through these, and even with that the final two fights were touch and go.

And the final fight is Erebus, and compared to the prior battles he's easy.

All in all, this was a fabulous game and had me completely entertained for well over a month. The next time I'm caught up on my backlog I might look at grabbing Persona five.

 

[No_.ne]

Finished Persona 5 Royal.
It's still one of the densest JRPGs I've played, and while it still didn't change my mind about my preference for the modern games being 4>3>5, it's also still a 9/10.
Or rather, Royal (and the content that Royal adds, that being Akechi's new confidants and the third semester) are so well done in my opinion that I cannot think of a Persona 5 that does not have them as a 9/10 any longer, because they do fit and contrast with the themes of the base game just that well (though I do have my thoughts on the difference between the two endings). Maruki in particular might be my favorite singular antagonist in all the Persona games.

I'm gonna make a separate thread to talk about my thoughts on Royal for 2 things

1. Talk about my opinions on Royal's content in particular.
2. A part of my brain started nagging me about the ideology behind the Phantom Thieves' actions, specifically in relation to the way Shin Megami Tensei handles the Law side of things.

The second thing isn't a criticism, just more of an observation. Some part of me does disagree with them (on the basis of the conclusion I've drawn in that regard) and yet I still love the story and characters as much as I did before I started playing the game, so I don't think I think of it as a flaw, just a take that differs from my own.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Clair Obscur - Expedition 33

This game would be impressive even if it came from a team of experienced gamedevs, but the fact that this is Sandfall's first game is absolutely mind-boggling. And it doesn't seem like they're swimming in very experienced gamedevs either? Not sure about that, but what they managed to pull off is very impressive.

Some hubbub has arisen around the topic that the team isn't really just around 30 people, but apparently it is. They did indeed also use contractors for various work, but the core game team is very small compared to most studios. The credits, as a final arbiter, were impressively short compared to other titles. So I'm gonna entertain that idea.

Hearing this all stemmed from Guillaume Broche's main idea is very believable. This is obviously driven by such a singular vision. But that vision could've been squandered had the rest of the effort not aligned as well. And the fact that it did, so well, is incredibly impressive. Luck probably also played a role, but all the rest is due to their impressive team.

This is a very unique title in that, it seems to excel in almost everything it does. From combat, to general gameplay, to visuals and story and music. All range from good to great and even exceptional.

I'll start with the visuals which have been consistently so impressive and visually striking. Such wonderful art direction, with so much contrast. And a painterly look and feel. Gorgeous stuff. And the creatures, so imaginative. Just beautiful to behold.

Moving on, I was shocked at how fun and engaging the combat system is, with the introduction of timed dodges and parries. Also infuriating sometimes, depending on the difficulty you play at, but overall very enjoyable. It certainly makes turn based way more involved than usually. I think I played for a mixture of Hard and Normal difficulties. I did encounter some issues with that, in that I had thought I had chosen Hard from the start. But at some point in the playthrough I stumbled back on those settings and saw it set to Normal. So I don't know. But on Hard it was plenty challenging, especially in a couple of the optional end-game encounters. And one in particular, where even setting of it was also most impressive. That fight, against Simon, I could not complete on my own. On Hard it was more difficult than anything souls/borne/ring had managed to come up with. So much so that I suspect it was made more-so as a little joke.

On top of that, the character building system, especially the active and passive pictos, is so engaging. So much fun was had, min-maxing and planning builds. And then testing them out. Can't remember the last game where I would constantly and repeatedly spend tens of minutes switching around abilities. I also deliberately only focused on 3 of all 5 characters, basically leaving the rest completely on the bench. Since each character also has its own combat mechanic, 3 were enough for me to try and get a handle on. But it's also impressive how diverse each one is.

I also liked how they gradually introduce movement in the open world, first by land, then sea, then air. Loved exploring it all.

On the story department, it again win aces. A great journey, with a couple quite hard-hitting twits and turns. And peppered throughout, but especially culminating in some solid study of issues of the human condition. Not particularly truly unique, once you strip out all the flair and flavor (since these issues have been studied since mankind has had trauma and the time to reflect on this), but still a beautiful metaphor for it all. And it might seem like "it's only about that issue?" at first glance, but the more you dissect it, it becomes slightly more than that. But even if I'm just reading more into it than it is, it's still solid. Simply put, art. And god knows we don't have a lot of these, in gaming, that leave you introspective and not just consuming stuff.

I also loved some of the characters, especially Maelle. Truly wonderful stuff. And her voice actress was something else. Seems I need to pay more attention to Shadowheart in BG3 then. She didn't really grab me there, though I did only play in Act 1 of that.

Finally, I'm going to end on music. Impressively, this could be the thing that tops it all off. I don't think I remember a game where I was this constantly impressed by the music. Just great pieces one after the other. And also very diverse, in all sorts of weird other genres. Not just the classical pieces. But those do indeed touch in ways not many do. I've even had particular songs becoming ear-worms for myself, and I could not not hear them outside the game. It was strange. And somehow, a huge soundtrack, at over 8h and 150+ songs? Truly impressive.

I understand there is some differing opinion on the ending(s)? I really didn't feel any issue. Liked the one I chose, and I'm hearing it's the one most people, who are even complaining, are complaining about. I also suspect out of the many that aren't complaining?

Anyway, I was thinking of starting a NG+1 for the other ending that I hear is more classically cathartic, but I probably want to sit on this some more.

Beautiful game! Highly recommended! Somehow it still managed to impress, even after all the glowing reviews I had constantly heard about, that i also tried to not get myself overhyped about. I think I'll give it a 10/10, since I cannot think of anything I did not like about it. Congrats to the dev team!