Author Topic: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?  (Read 9546 times)

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Offline Khushrenada

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What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« on: January 05, 2019, 01:42:50 AM »
I figured I'd make this thread here since there are probably more users that played games on other systems than just Nintendo hardware unlike me. And while other sites and people are determining lists of the best games in 2018, chances are a lot of gamers with backlogs like so many of us were playing a lot of other things that were released before 2018. So, here's a chance to see just what we accomplished in the previous year of gaming and what others were playing in a nifty format instead of scrolling through all the entries in the "What Are You Playing?" Thread for 2018.

And if you want to rank them as to what you thought was best, go ahead. If you don't want to, that's fine too.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2019, 02:49:25 AM »
Thanks to keeping up to date with my Backloggery account, I can scan along and see just what I played. I decided to finally start tackling all the games I had been downloading on my 3DS and then not playing and just had sitting there. As such, my list has many 3DS eShop entries but here's my entire list for 2018:


Played and Finished in 2018


3DS eShop

Gunman Clive
Pocket Card Jockey
My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess
Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice
Mighty Switch Force
Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder
Rhythm Heaven Megamix


3DS VC

Donkey Kong Land


3DS

Steel Diver
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes
Metroid Prime: Federation Force


DS

Picross DS
Kirby Mass Attack
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story


Carried Over from 2017 and Finished

DS

Cooking Mama


Wii U

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


Started but Did Not Finish

3DS eShop

Donkey Kong Land 2
Nintendo Badge Arcade


DS

Rhythm Heaven


GameCube

Wario World
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Mario Party 7


It's been kind of a productive year even if I've still got a lot of games left unplayed in my life. It's also been a very big year for handhelds and the 3DS in particular so take that Switch! When it came to console gaming, about the only thing I played was Breath of the Wild and doing that Korok hunt. Ending play time for BotW came out just shy of 400 hours which shocks me and yet makes sense. I had some friends over and played some Mario Party and Smash. I lost my save files in those games due to data corruption and yet the appeal of completing them 100% again still remains so at a couple points in the year, I did spend some time on them afterward but ended up going back to BotW or my 3DS.

I started Wario World on GC because I knew the game was pretty short and fast to beat and was hoping to finish it just on the buzzer of 2018 but ended up finishing it later on Jan. 1, 2019. Likewise, I started DKL2 last week and just completed it today. So, now those get to carry over a bit if I do a thread like this next year for 2019.

Although, I listed Rhythm Heaven Megamix and Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder as finished since I got the credits and accomplished most of the objectives, there are still a few things I'd like to do in those games but had hit a bit of a wall and never got back. So, they may pop back up again in a future list although I am trying to not be so hardcore of fully completing a game and be more willing to move on to cover other games in life. That sort of led to me moving on from Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. I had beat the main story in 2017 but early in 2018, I was playing it for a bit in Mirror Mode but then just stopped as I had already done that on the Wii version and felt like playing something new. I could have listed it as something I played this year but the majority of the time played on it was 2017 and I didn't accomplish much with it in 2018.

After playing Rhythm Heaven Megamix and getting pretty good at it, I thought I should try the DS game since I've now played and mastered a bunch of its songs in this game so it should be easy to zoom through that game. Boy, was I wrong. The DS Rhythm Heaven game is terrible compared to the Megamix. Megamix has obsoleted that game. I just feel like selling it and chucking it out of my collection now. Probably the most disappointing game I played last year.

I had tried Nintendo Badge Arcade before but the whole badge / customization thing didn't really interest me and the whole thing seemed designed to micro-transaction you to death. However, I remember Kairon posting some pics on Miiverse before it was shut down of completing the Badge Arcade and saying he never spent anything to do so. Coupled with the death of Streetpassing also, I decided to give the game another shot and it has now become my new streetpass surrogate as a reason to flip open my 3DS each day and do a quick shot of gaming. It can still be quite frustrating with how it doles out free plays and there's nothing worse than being one play short to complete a catcher and know you'll have to try it again later but then there are times where you do clear the catchers and make some progress so it has got its ups and downs but I've been sticking with it and slowly chipping away at. I'm only over the 1400 mark and I was reading from some others who have finished it that there are like 8800 badges so hats off to Kairon for accomplishing that. Not sure I'll get there but I'd like to at least finish getting everything for certain series.

In other ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ news, all this completing of 3DS eShop games led me to finally buy a couple new ones when they were on sale. But it wasn't much. Just Mighty Switch Force 2 and BoxBoxBoy. Along with Dillon's Rolling Western, which was a gift from ShyGuy, those are the 3 eShop games I have left to finish on my system. Still, I could see myself buying some more yet like Gunman Clive 2, the 3rd BoxBoy, Ketzal's Corridors or the other two Dillon games depending on my experience with the first to name a few. Then there are the 3DS VC games I still need to clear with a few more I've flirted with purchasing for awhile. Part of me would like stay on top of that but I finally got a Switch in late 2018 and I also have a bunch of games to play on that now too.

I always knew I'd get a Switch at some point so I had already bought some games before I had the system. Like the special edition copy of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, for example. And when I got the Switch, it was second hand and came with 7 games as well. Then there turned out to be some good sales on Black Friday which encouraged me to buy more games on the cheap. The end result is that I now have 16 games backlog for it despite having it for about two months.

Now, one of those games is Breath of the Wild so I'm not planning on playing that again anytime soon. In fact, I lent the system and game to my cousin because he's a fan of Zelda and it would sort of be like I still didn't have a Switch to keep me focused on my 3DS stuff still instead of having the appeal of playing Mario Odyssey hanging over me. He totally got into BotW and much like when it first released and many of us on the forums were addicted to it and playing it every day, it totally began taking over his life. So he finally decided to hurry up and defeat the last Divine Beast and then beat Ganon so he could give the system and game back to me and not be sucked into it anymore. He felt if it was around, he just want to keep turning it on and playing it. He completed the main quest although he was only at 66 in shrines so it's too bad he may have missed a few good moments there. In any case, it also means that my copy of BotW for the Switch is also beat so I don't have to do it. Hahahaha. Genius thinking on my part.

I'm going to try something new with the Switch. Since the end of the GameCube and start of the Wii, it seems I'll buy a new system but end up trying to still finish games on the previous systems allowing the new system to grow in unfinished games. This has really culminated in my Wii U situation of having most of the games I own for it untouched. This time, I'm going to focus on the new system and stay on top of it and then go back to the other games I've got. We'll see how that goes but my goal is to at least finish a Switch game a month so that would be 12 games for the year and keep the backlog down hopefully. Of course, at the rate games are releasing on the Switch and the fact that Nintendo is going to have more software coming out for it this year which I know I want, it's hard to say what the progress will be but that is my current plan heading into 2019 and where I expect my gaming focus to be.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2019, 09:39:01 AM »
My output for 2018 was disappointing, as there was a real lack of focus and gaming time at a couple points over the year.  Still, I did manage to finish a handful of games, listed here in the same order they were beaten:

* Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita) -- The recent Ys games have all been very enjoyable, and this is no different. Combat is often kind of mindless as you push through hordes of weak enemies, but requires some finesse when up against bosses or more powerful enemies where you need to be smart about mixing in special attacks, switching between party members, and dodging incoming strikes.
* Risk of Rain (Vita) -- A simple action game with some rogue-like elements thrown in, Risk of Rain was really enjoyable. Randomization wasn't quite as varied as I hoped for, but the different characters you can play with are really well balanced and require wildly different approaches if you want to be successful.
* Star Tropics 2: Zoda's Revenge (NES) -- Going in, I had expected stronger RPG/story elements, and so coming to terms that this game was mostly pure action instead took a little while. But the action was pretty good and I'm glad to have finally played through this old NES release.
* Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U) -- Utterly charming, but with low enough difficulty that most of the game felt like I was just putting my time in. Mixed feelings about this one, but don't regret playing it.
* Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) -- This is a very solid GB-era Zelda game, and was well worth playing. Lots of puzzles and secrets to uncover, and very enjoyable.
* Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) -- Sadly, didn't rise to the high standard of Oracle of Seasons. People say this game is more combat-focused, and Seasons is more puzzle-based. I think that's a generous way to suggest the actual game design here isn't as tight...  Playing these back-to-back really highlighted how much more Seasons appealed to my taste in games.
* Shantae: Risky's Revenge (DSiW) -- I rather enjoy this series, and found that Risky's Revenge made big strides from the GBC original (although isn't as good as Pirate's Curse).
* Freedom Planet (Wii U) -- I know there is at least one booster for this game here at NWR, and I finally understand why. The story is the kind of nonsense that some will love and others will just shake their head at, but the gameplay is really good and more nuanced than you might expect going in. Very enjoyable!
* Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (3DS) -- Great entry in a great series. Overworld exploration folds nicely into the established gameplay, dungeons will feel familiar but still introduce a few new (to me) twists. Bosses are challenging as usual. Top notch dungeon crawling, as expected.
* Little Inferno (Wii U) -- Kind of cheating, because I played this once a long time ago on a different platform... but listing it anyway. It's a time waster by design, but offers some great narrative. Kind of a shame that Tomorrow Corporation games never found the same balance between narrative/gameplay that World of Goo offered, but their games are all still worth playing.
* Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) -- Great game. I slightly prefer 3D World, as there were a few frustrating points where it was hard to track where Mario is actually going to land (maybe using a 3DS instead of a 2DS would help?)... but very few flaws outside of that minor niggle.
* Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS) -- Very low difficulty, but absolutely charming. Tank battles did get a bit repetitive over time, but were still a lot of fun to play and humorous enough to keep you invested.
* Severed (3DS) -- Another victim of expectations, where the first third of the game was disappointing because it just wasn't what I had hoped for. But after adjusting my preconceptions it was solid, and reminded me of Killer7 (another unusual on-rails game with interesting art style).
* Pokemon Rumble World (3DS) - Eh, it's a pretty mundane time-killer but played a lot with my kids during our trip to China and ended up finishing things off later in the year. I'm a few Pokemon away from collecting them all, and there is still at least one post-game challenge to beat... but I've dumped more than enough time into this abyss.


So some quick awards:

  Best Game of the Year
      Super Mario 3D Land - High quality across the board; pure and simple fun.

  Most Likely to Get Played Again
      Risk of Rain - Although levels aren't as varied as I hoped for, the many different playable characters and quick-paced action make this easy to come back to again and again.

  Biggest Disappointment (ie: Game That I Should Have Finished)
    Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - This has been on my backlog forever. I really do enjoy the game, but always end up getting bogged down at some point and moving on to something else. Maybe 2019 will finally be the year I see the end of this game!
« Last Edit: January 05, 2019, 09:46:03 AM by ejamer »
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2019, 09:56:48 AM »
... The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ...

Nice job on this - I suspect that very few people complete this game to the degree that you have. We put quite a bit of time into the game and finished it, but didn't go for the DLC and haven't even made the effort to finish out all quests and secrets before that point.

Maybe someday we'll go back though. It's still a really fun game!

Quote
... However, I remember Kairon posting some pics on Miiverse before it was shut down of completing the Badge Arcade and saying he never spent anything to do so. ...

Wow, that's crazy! I have played Badge Arcade quite a bit over the past year or two, but am nowhere near getting all of the badges (and don't consider it worthwhile to pay anything).  I do like having a bunch of badges from my favorite Nintendo series to decorate my home screen though.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2019, 11:30:29 AM »
For a second I thought this was the first time you played Melee, Khush!
Also, ejamer's list has way less Wii titles than I would have imagined haha.

I played a lot of stuff this year, but not a lot of fantastic games. Lots of 2-stars, 3-stars type ratings. Spent the first half of the year catching up on the Wii generation which I largely missed out on. Highlights were The Last Story (my game of the year), Mario Galaxy (my expectations were too high perhaps) and more tentatively Pandora's Tower (interesting, but many issues).
Low points were Need for Speed: Pro Street which is just a poor game, Boom Blox 2 doesn't hold up (heh) at all nowadays, and Red Steel 2 was quite generic. MadWorld surprised me by being less bad than I remember the reviews being.

Second half of the year were filled by buying a PSP and a stack of games on the cheap. Basically scored the console plus 20 games for the price of a single new release. The unfortunate downside is that most of the games are... Okay. Nothing has blown me away on that platform, yet.

There's one more personal project type of thing I worked on gaming wise, but I think I'll save that for a thread of its own.

Overall, the best games I played this year were:
1. The Last Story - if you like RPGs, you owe it to yourself to check this out somehow. I'm almost tempted to replay it, which I never do.
2. Mario Kart 8 - it's the best Mario Kart instalment so far, and I say that as part of the hard-to-please Double Dash crowd.
3. Xtype+ - an endless shooter on Wii U. Really addictive, this is the type of game I need to force myself to quit playing.

Worst games I played:
1. PaRappa the Rapper - the PSP port is utter garbage, to the point where it's basically unplayable without clairvoyance and intimate knowledge of the source code.
2. Sonic Rivals - I didn't expect this to be good, and it still dissapointed. I played this on public transport and after 3 worlds actively chose to stare outside for another hour, rather than continue playing.
3. Need for Speed: Pro Street - it's perfectly functional but also perfectly perfunctory at best. Really uninspired and meandering, which is surprising for a series which always had a clear vision, at least.

What did we learn this year? Don't buy games/consoles just because they're cheap, and quality over quantity is worth striving for. My resolution for 2019 is to buy way less games, and continue mining the accrued backlog. Oh and finish Breath of the Wild.
I still don't have a Switch and hope to keep it that way for a while longer; Daemon X Machina is the first title I'm really interested in. There's a few more (Gris, Starlink, ARMS, Mario Tennis) but Nintendo definitely made their new console a lot less appealing to me with their paid online service.

Offline broodwars

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2019, 01:59:43 PM »
According to my Twitter history (because I can't remember all this crap)...

Nier Automata (Route A)
Persona 5
The Evil Within 2 (replay)
Shadow of the Colossus (remake)
Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Ballad of Champions DLC
Nioh (main game)
Splatoon 2 SP + Octoling DLC
Detroit: Become Human
Dark Souls Remastered
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Forgotten Anne
DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition
Unravel 2
Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT
Darksiders 1 (remaster replay)
Guacamelee 2
God of War (PS4)
Tacoma
Telltale's Batman Season 2
Onrush
Spider-Man (PS4) + all DLC
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (replay - completed all modes)
Resident Evil: Revelations 1 (replay)
Resident Evil 4 (replay)
Resident Evil 0 (replay - completed all modes on hardest difficulty)
Resident Evil (remake replay)
The Bunker
Call of Cthulu (PS4)
Minit
Mark of the Ninja (remastered replay)
Cat Quest
Death Mark
Spyro the Dragon 1-3 (remakes)
Bendy & the Ink Machine
Darksiders 3
The Mummy Demastered
A Hat in Time
Strange Brigade + all DLC
The Fall - Part 2

Yeah...I think that's all of them.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2019, 05:22:34 PM by broodwars »
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2019, 03:49:35 PM »
...
Also, ejamer's list has way less Wii titles than I would have imagined haha.
...

I'll do better this year, promise!  ;)

Due to a lot of travelling in 2018, portable games got more attention than console games. Wii games that did get played were mostly revisiting familiar titles with my kids instead of diving into the unknown. That said, I'm already working on a couple of new (to me) Wii games in 2019 and hope to make a dent in that particular backlog before long.
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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2019, 06:37:44 PM »
* Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U) -- Utterly charming, but with low enough difficulty that most of the game felt like I was just putting my time in. Mixed feelings about this one, but don't regret playing it.
* Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) -- This is a very solid GB-era Zelda game, and was well worth playing. Lots of puzzles and secrets to uncover, and very enjoyable.
* Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) -- Sadly, didn't rise to the high standard of Oracle of Seasons. People say this game is more combat-focused, and Seasons is more puzzle-based. I think that's a generous way to suggest the actual game design here isn't as tight...  Playing these back-to-back really highlighted how much more Seasons appealed to my taste in games.

Your 2018 may look a bit like my 2019 since the Zelda games are some of the 3DS VC games I've got that I want to get to and finally play through on my 3DS. Likewise, Captain Toad is the next Wii U game I'm playing now that I'm done BotW.

Quote
  Biggest Disappointment (ie: Game That I Should Have Finished)
    Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - This has been on my backlog forever. I really do enjoy the game, but always end up getting bogged down at some point and moving on to something else. Maybe 2019 will finally be the year I see the end of this game!

Whereabouts are you in this game? I finally played and completed it for the first time on the 3DS around Dec. 2016 into Jan. 2017. It was technically the first game I completed in 2017 and wanted to play it before the release of BotW that year. I liked the game a lot but I did find that my enthusiasm for the game did start to cool down around the point of the Zora area as I had begun to complete a lot of the other sidequests / mask objectives.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2019, 06:50:00 PM »
Highlights were The Last Story (my game of the year), Mario Galaxy (my expectations were too high perhaps)

I've long gone on record here as not being a fan of Mario Galaxy 1. To me, it's the worst 3D Mario game because it is very repetitive in making you play certain over and over and in ways it makes you progress along a levels path like getting a bullet bill to follow you for the 20th time to smash a cage. On the flip side, I love Mario Galaxy 2. Best 3D Mario since Sunshine for me. Not to hype that up and cause you disappointment but if you weren't over the moon about Galaxy 1, I think you may end up liking 2 a lot more as well. More variety, stronger ideas and better power-ups like Yoshi compared to Spring Mario.

Last Story is a game I popped into my Wii U to play in 2015. I knew it was a highly regarded Wii game and had the advantage of being shorter than XC. But it was also a game that didn't seem to explain it's battle system. There was an early fight with a fire monster, I think, that took me a couple tries but I got through it and made it to the point where the crew reached a town and the main title logo came up but I didn't feel like I was succeeding because of anything on my part but just a bit of random luck. I wanted to look into the battle system and read up on the game a bit for a better understanding of what I was doing and then ended up playing other things and never got back to it. Unfortunately, while there are certain things I still remember about the initial playthrough, like fighting a tiger before I got to the town, the lost feeling at the start and not having much of a compelling hook given to me to keep playing as kept me from getting back to it after all this time. With praise like this still being given to the game, I guess I should give it another chance sooner than later.

Quote
2. Sonic Rivals - I didn't expect this to be good, and it still dissapointed. I played this on public transport and after 3 worlds actively chose to stare outside for another hour, rather than continue playing.

Hahaha! Now that's a review! I want that quoted on the side of the box!
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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2019, 09:15:48 PM »
Best 3D Mario since Sunshine for me. Not to hype that up and cause you disappointment but if you weren't over the moon about Galaxy 1, I think you may end up liking 2 a lot more as well. More variety, stronger ideas and better power-ups like Yoshi compared to Spring Mario.

I might give that a go still one day, but I kinda don't want to buy anymore new Wii games right now haha. My favourite in the series is 3D World, Sunshine I really tried to like on multiple occassions but the game just has too many problems.
I guess with Galaxy I expected this one to be the better of the two, with its bombastic orchestral score and attempts at more dramatic storytelling, but it basically just taught me that's the exact opposite I want out of a Mario game.

Unfortunately, while there are certain things I still remember about the initial playthrough, like fighting a tiger before I got to the town, the lost feeling at the start and not having much of a compelling hook given to me to keep playing as kept me from getting back to it after all this time. With praise like this still being given to the game, I guess I should give it another chance sooner than later.

I mean, maybe give it one more chance of around 90 minutes max, for me it pretty much clicked instantly. I agree the battle system isn't immediately obvious though, and this also goes for the crafting system by the way. That said the game is generally forgiving and generous enough to shower you with opportunities and resources to try the various combinations to see what happens.
Short version: direct your allies to do spells, then charge into the coloured circles those create and use your 'diffuse' ability to basically cause area-of-effect type stuff. That'll get you through most battles the game throws at you.

The real strength of the game is in its characters though. They all kinda act like idiots initially, but throughout the banter you quickly catch onto many of the ways in which they're deeply broken and how stunted their capacity to emotionally support each other is.
I reviewed The Last Story here if you're interested.

Offline Evan_B

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2019, 09:17:52 PM »
I guess I posted my list in the wrong place.

My top ten list isn't much longer than my "2018 games played" list, but that's mostly due to being more involved in reviewing/writing and finishing my Masters.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2019, 10:29:13 PM »
I guess I could have posted in your thread and turned that into this topic but it seemed to be a different objective from this where it was just your own personal top ten and not a list of all your played games (or at least, that's what I thought from that list) and so I created this for everyone to post what they played whether they wanted to review their list or not.
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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2019, 10:33:59 PM »
Best 3D Mario since Sunshine for me. Not to hype that up and cause you disappointment but if you weren't over the moon about Galaxy 1, I think you may end up liking 2 a lot more as well. More variety, stronger ideas and better power-ups like Yoshi compared to Spring Mario.

I might give that a go still one day, but I kinda don't want to buy anymore new Wii games right now haha. My favourite in the series is 3D World, Sunshine I really tried to like on multiple occassions but the game just has too many problems.

I'll admit, Sunshine may be better for the time it was released as going back to it now with other Mario entries does highlight certain design elements that may not be too favorable compared to new entries if one played those first but I did play Sunshine first and so it created a different standard that I judge 3D Mario games on now. Even when I played it again recently a couple years ago, I do admit there are definitely elements that could have been handled better but there's a lot that it still does well that is different from most other entries since that continues to appeal to me.
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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #13 on: January 05, 2019, 11:26:52 PM »
You and I share similar feelings on Sunshine. In my opinion, it has one of the better settings for a Collect-a-thon Mario, and the way that setting informed the aesthetic and design is very cool. Sunshine has the best movement options for Mario, which is largely why I continue to regard it so highly.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #14 on: January 06, 2019, 04:14:03 PM »
...
Whereabouts are you in [Zelda: Majora's Mask]? I finally played and completed it for the first time on the 3DS around Dec. 2016 into Jan. 2017. It was technically the first game I completed in 2017 and wanted to play it before the release of BotW that year. I liked the game a lot but I did find that my enthusiasm for the game did start to cool down around the point of the Zora area as I had begun to complete a lot of the other sidequests / mask objectives.

Sounds familiar - pretty sure that I was halfway through the Zora dungeon when other things came up and my commitment to another 3D Zelda waned. To be honest, I've had the same issue with almost all 3D games in the series except for Breath of the Wild; they draw me in initially, but never seem to hold my interest all the way through. I usually prefer 2D Zelda games, which are often a bit shorter.

However, Majora's Mask will be completed before long though... maybe even this year!  (Hopefully that is vague enough to avoid sounding like a sure thing.)



Should we all pull for a Retroactive play-along of The Last Story in 2019? Surely that game is old enough by now?
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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #15 on: January 07, 2019, 08:30:11 AM »
According to my Twitter history (because I can't remember all this crap)...

Nier Automata (Route A)

You barely scratched the surface of Nier.  Didn't care for it?

Offline broodwars

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #16 on: January 07, 2019, 11:09:33 AM »
According to my Twitter history (because I can't remember all this crap)...

Nier Automata (Route A)

You barely scratched the surface of Nier.  Didn't care for it?

Nope. Not a big fan of games that "get good after 50-80 hours." I spent 30 hours clearing Route A and hated every minute of it. I'm not going to replay the game 4 more times to get the "good experience" I should have had the 1st time. That so many people gave that game a pass despite being terrible for AT LEAST 2 out of the 4 routes is disturbing.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2019, 11:19:10 AM by broodwars »
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Offline lolmonade

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #17 on: January 07, 2019, 11:59:46 AM »
According to my Twitter history (because I can't remember all this crap)...

Nier Automata (Route A)

You barely scratched the surface of Nier.  Didn't care for it?

Nope. Not a big fan of games that "get good after 50-80 hours." I spent 30 hours clearing Route A and hated every minute of it. I'm not going to replay the game 4 more times to get the "good experience" I should have had the 1st time. That so many people gave that game a pass despite being terrible for AT LEAST 2 out of the 4 routes is disturbing.

I really didn't share your experience at all with Nier:Automata.  I found the combat acceptably enjoyable (not top tier), the chips system engaging enough to change up how things feel, and I don't think Route A took me more than 10-12 hours.  The questions left on the table for the story and world kept me interested enough to see it all the way through, and I felt I was rewarded for that.

That said, you're absolutely right.  If the gameplay, story, or world didn't keep you engaged and interested to uncover more after completing route A, then there's really no value in suffering a game you didn't enjoy to get to what people say are the "good parts". 

Offline Evan_B

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2019, 05:32:44 PM »
Should we all pull for a Retroactive play-along of The Last Story in 2019? Surely that game is old enough by now?
That would give me an excellent opportunity to do some video capture of it, so yes.

It's also a 45 hour game so I'm not too sure.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2019, 06:16:48 PM »
According to my Twitter history (because I can't remember all this crap)...

Nier Automata (Route A)

You barely scratched the surface of Nier.  Didn't care for it?

Nope. Not a big fan of games that "get good after 50-80 hours." I spent 30 hours clearing Route A and hated every minute of it. I'm not going to replay the game 4 more times to get the "good experience" I should have had the 1st time. That so many people gave that game a pass despite being terrible for AT LEAST 2 out of the 4 routes is disturbing.

I really didn't share your experience at all with Nier:Automata.  I found the combat acceptably enjoyable (not top tier), the chips system engaging enough to change up how things feel, and I don't think Route A took me more than 10-12 hours.  The questions left on the table for the story and world kept me interested enough to see it all the way through, and I felt I was rewarded for that.

That said, you're absolutely right.  If the gameplay, story, or world didn't keep you engaged and interested to uncover more after completing route A, then there's really no value in suffering a game you didn't enjoy to get to what people say are the "good parts".

It's weird, too, because in many ways the original Nier was rougher than what Automata was doing, but I actually liked that game enough to run through all the routes & get the true ending. Automata just feels like it coasts on what the original Nier already did, but with 4x the game length and with just as little polish.  You could beat the original Nier on New Game+ within an hour, and at least it had the 360 to justify why it was so butt-ugly. Automata doesn't have that excuse.

Also, I just hate Nihilism as a general concept. It's the Rage Quit of philosophies. "I can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes finding the meaning in something, so I've decided everything is just meaningless!" Framing an entire game around that philosophy is draining.

I'll go back to that game at some point, but Route A left a really bad taste in my mouth. As for the time spent, I was really trying to explore & knock out the sidequests on my playthrough. I only missed 2 of them, and that's only because I didn't know I'd hit The Point of No Return.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #20 on: January 07, 2019, 06:19:22 PM »
It's also a 45 hour game so I'm not too sure.

45 Seems like a long time for The Last Story, no? I did every optional quest and punched the clock around 27 hours, which is a few hours above the average playtimes displayed on How Long To Beat (21-25h seems average).

Offline ShyGuy

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #21 on: January 07, 2019, 10:26:53 PM »
not that many sadly. I think they have all been posted in the last game you beat thread.

Offline lolmonade

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #22 on: January 08, 2019, 01:44:42 PM »
According to my Twitter history (because I can't remember all this crap)...

Nier Automata (Route A)

You barely scratched the surface of Nier.  Didn't care for it?

Nope. Not a big fan of games that "get good after 50-80 hours." I spent 30 hours clearing Route A and hated every minute of it. I'm not going to replay the game 4 more times to get the "good experience" I should have had the 1st time. That so many people gave that game a pass despite being terrible for AT LEAST 2 out of the 4 routes is disturbing.

I really didn't share your experience at all with Nier:Automata.  I found the combat acceptably enjoyable (not top tier), the chips system engaging enough to change up how things feel, and I don't think Route A took me more than 10-12 hours.  The questions left on the table for the story and world kept me interested enough to see it all the way through, and I felt I was rewarded for that.

That said, you're absolutely right.  If the gameplay, story, or world didn't keep you engaged and interested to uncover more after completing route A, then there's really no value in suffering a game you didn't enjoy to get to what people say are the "good parts".

It's weird, too, because in many ways the original Nier was rougher than what Automata was doing, but I actually liked that game enough to run through all the routes & get the true ending. Automata just feels like it coasts on what the original Nier already did, but with 4x the game length and with just as little polish.  You could beat the original Nier on New Game+ within an hour, and at least it had the 360 to justify why it was so butt-ugly. Automata doesn't have that excuse.

Also, I just hate Nihilism as a general concept. It's the Rage Quit of philosophies. "I can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes finding the meaning in something, so I've decided everything is just meaningless!" Framing an entire game around that philosophy is draining.

I'll go back to that game at some point, but Route A left a really bad taste in my mouth. As for the time spent, I was really trying to explore & knock out the sidequests on my playthrough. I only missed 2 of them, and that's only because I didn't know I'd hit The Point of No Return.

Only thing I'd say is that I interpreted Nier: Automata as playing within the world of Nihilism, not really endorsing a theory of meaninglessness in life, but rather framing the more positive parts of what it posits.  The themes read to me more about if stripped of what you were led to believe, what meaning do you take living in the aftermath of it. 

The structure of the story is such that you get to see the answer by several beings living out that question, and I won't divulge more, but IMO it's definitely not PUSHING nihilism.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 02:08:42 PM by lolmonade »

Offline Evan_B

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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #23 on: January 08, 2019, 03:30:36 PM »
45 Seems like a long time for The Last Story, no? I did every optional quest and punched the clock around 27 hours, which is a few hours above the average playtimes displayed on How Long To Beat (21-25h seems average).
Were you using a guide? I spent a lot of time speaking to people around Lazulis but I also had a hard time finding a lot of optional material, which is why my save file resulted around 40-ish hours. I don't know, I was pretty exhaustive with the game and I missed some stuff, so I'm surprised to see you say 25.
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Re: What Are The Games You Played/Beat in 2018?
« Reply #24 on: January 08, 2019, 05:04:26 PM »
Were you using a guide? I spent a lot of time speaking to people around Lazulis but I also had a hard time finding a lot of optional material, which is why my save file resulted around 40-ish hours. I don't know, I was pretty exhaustive with the game and I missed some stuff, so I'm surprised to see you say 25.

Yeah I checked a guide to see where all the forking off optional chapters were and sometimes to see where to go when they send you off to find "a well in this city" and garbage like that. I phrased myself wrong in the previous post though, should've said I did all the optional story chapters.
Had zero interest in doing things like the Arena for more than 3 times, finding every kid on the rooftops, all the boring 'find every hidden item' challenges, etc. That whole NPC dating thing really ground my gears because it's an instance where gameplay so blatantly goes against the grain of the supposed story you're playing.
Didn't make every weapon and stuff either, and I guess the online multiplayer is also down so that also cut down on time spent.

I guess I can see how you stretched it to 45 hours if you do all those extra lil' quests in the city, most of them I found not very appealing. If the grocerer wants to sell apples he can go find them himself.