Author Topic: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?  (Read 509217 times)

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Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #25 on: June 02, 2013, 03:39:50 PM »
Finally finished Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (3DS) and was pleased with the game overall.


The puzzles were slightly disappointing. There were some clever brain teasers, but all too often the puzzles felt either too simple or intentionally too obtuse. After four previous games in the series, maybe it's understandable if the puzzle well is starting to run dry.


Luckily, this shortcoming was largely made up for by great presentation values another strong story. The Layton universe has been consistently entertaining and none of the DS releases looked as impressive as this entry. Worth noting that the 3D effects in particular were very well done - making Miracle Mask one of very few games I've played where the 3D was cranked up more often than not while playing.


If the Layton series does come to an end after the next game, maybe that's not such a bad thing - I'd rather enjoy every game than see them start to drop in quality over time.
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Offline magicpixie

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #26 on: June 02, 2013, 10:19:24 PM »
Just beat Saints Row the Third.  This game is ridiculous and I love it.  The last few missions were mostly annoying, especially the one for the mayor.  I loved how colourful the characters were, and the customization options were great. 

The game was a little bit easy, which is saying a lot, because I like easy games.  Controls felt a really good, and the camera was almost perfect.  I never found myself fighting either.  I prefer the way the cars handle in this game to the way they handle in the GTA games, and I felt the gunplay was a bit more responsive.  I liked the wrestling combos they threw into melee combat, but in terms of melee, Sleeping Dogs is the champ.

I can't wait for Saints Row IV.  I know some people don't like the wacky direction the series is going in, but I;m really digging it.

Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #27 on: June 08, 2013, 10:56:49 AM »
Just finished Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (Wii) with my daughter.  Not much of a game, but harmless enough. She's 3 years old and loved it to pieces so I consider owning it a win.  We'll probably go back to The Dog Island now that this is finished, with return visits to Belle's ballroom once in a while for variety.
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Offline azeke

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #28 on: June 08, 2013, 03:25:27 PM »
Finished with Rayman Origins. 246 lums, 10 teeth and Land of the Livid Dead.

Loved the art and gameplay, loved bosses, levels and music.

Even years after, controls still feel loose and somewhat borked in places. One of the latest occurrences happened when mine character kept releasing ropes when i released run button. Mechanic of running up the wall is even more wonky, though it was somewhat touched on in Legends i think.
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Offline magicpixie

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #29 on: June 08, 2013, 04:39:35 PM »
Just finished Remember Me, and overall, the game is much better than I was anticipating(perhaps due to lower expectations).  I really enjoyed playing the game, though I don't feel like I'll ever replay it.  The visuals were fantastic, as was the OST.  Combat was okay, though I wish there was more freedom and variety when it came to creating combos.

The design of the game's world is phenomenal at times, which is sad since there is so little interaction with it.  And what's with developers creating these beautifully rendered worlds, and then sticking so much of the game's action in sewers and corridors?  I feel like a lot of the complaints about this game stem from the fact that there seems to be so much potential in this world, but so much of it goes untouched.  I think this game's world could make for a great setting for an Assassin's Creed-like open-world style game, but instead, we got something that felt a lot more like Devil May Cry to me.

That said, I actually did enjoy the way encounters were structured in the game.  Passed a certain point, you rarely fought one type of enemy at a time; you are often confronted with multiple enemy types, forcing you to strategize and prioritize your fighting style.  Again, expanding on the combo system would have been great.  Perhaps throw in debuffing attacks like stuns and DoTs.

The story was intriguing at times.  I found the concept of remixing memories to be well done, but I wish they would have expanded more on it.  I felt a great sense of unease every time I had to go in and hack someone's brain.  It would have been nice to include a few more scenarios, other than hack this guy's brain and make him think he's killed someone.  As is expected of Capcom games like this, there is a level of cheese that almost seems intentional and it is supported to full effect by the voice actors at times.

Remember Me is by no means perfect, and it is probably far from great.  But I enjoyed the heck out of my time playing through it.  I'm really looking forward to what DontNod can do with their next game.

Offline JiliK

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #30 on: June 09, 2013, 07:49:56 PM »
I'm not sure if it counts because of the unlimited continues, but I played through Trouble Witches Neo on XBLA for the second time a couple of weeks ago. A pretty enjoyable shump I thought, though I'm by no means an expert. It is wrapped in a cringe-worthy and occasionally creepy ainme shell though and, even though I count it as a plus, the voice acting is some of the most hilariously terrible I've ever witnessed.

Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #31 on: June 13, 2013, 03:54:52 PM »
Little Inferno (PC)



Picked this up as part of the recent Humble Bundle and enjoyed playing it. The art style is great, as is the sound design. Gameplay is incredibly simple: buy stuff, burn it, then repeat. To keep things interesting there are hidden combos to discover by burning related items, and you have to balance cost and waiting times to keep the game moving. You also get occasional messages from a neighbor to drive the story along.


However, there is no way to lose and no real penalties for poor choices; the game is a constant grind towards the end no matter how you approach it. Luckily the humor offers just enough incentive to keep you going until the end; it is a relatively short game after all. The message was a little bit heavy - but don't worry. It's still flammable.


Recommended, although it's not as tight or as clever as World of Goo (made by the same team) in my opinion.
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Offline Oblivion

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #32 on: June 15, 2013, 03:45:26 AM »
The Last of Us (PS3)

Daaaaayuuuum. This game man, this game. Definitely worth the experience. It really isn't a game. An experience.

Offline Do_What

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #33 on: June 16, 2013, 07:04:33 AM »
Remember Me


It's thoroughly mediocre in almost every way. The combat system is combo based, and there are only four combos you can learn. All the fights are arena fights. so you get to a point and progress stops and you have to clear out all the enemies. Later in the game it becomes nearly impossible to actually complete combos because you are swarmed with eight to twelve enemies at once and can't get around them. You have powers you can use to counteract this, but then you'll still have five enemies immune to that power coming at you, and the evade system does not regularly allow you to keep with your combos. It never will if you have to evade twice in a row. So when you need to do combos to refill your health or decrease the cool down time between special moves and can't do them it gets frustrating. Especially in the third wave of enemy encounters.
The game is buggy as ****. I had to restart segments multiple times because a robot enemy would spawn with no A.I. No a.i. meant I couldn't kill it and it didn't move and so I couldn't move on. Tere are segments where enemies get stuck in walls and physically restrict your progress (sentry bots). There's a segment where I couldn't progress because the game wouldn't let me use my gun. It just wouldn't come on. So that was sucky.


I guess people just aren't familiar with sci fi with this exact same plot, but the story is mediocre and boring. I see people praising it and I don't get it. It's not bad, but it's barely competent. It's a generic story about a corporation that stores memories and can remix them and stuff. There's a generic resistance force we see little to none of and some finger wagging and super duper monologueing about philosophy 101 stuff. Kill me. There's nothing new there. And I only like the main character and her mother and that's it. Everyone else is insufferable.
But I mean. Overall I had a decent time with the game. I just don't see how people are so in love with it.
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Offline Pixelated Pixies

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #34 on: June 16, 2013, 03:44:34 PM »
Oracle of Ages - In the vein of Link's Awakening but with a more detailed world, Oracle of Ages was a very enjoyable game let down by a few instances of obtuse design.
 
For the most part OoA uses the time travel mechanic in an intelligent and contained way. There are sections of the map, however, which are difficult to navigate because of the way this mechanic is utilised. In some cases the player is required to visit one time period to move along a path and then switch to the other time period in order to continue. Sometimes this is very apparent and progress is speedy, but in other cases it is decidely unclear.
 
For me, OoA was also let down by an extremely frustrating level 7. This dungeon is designed around the raising and lowering of water levels (A familiar concept for any Zelda fan), but the effects of changing the water level are never made clear because the game itself makes no effort to highlight them. This level was made more infuriating for me because a certain 'control quirk' caused me to waste hours looking for an alternate path that did not exist. I'm not embarrassed to say that I had to use a youtube guide on at least two separate occasions for this level.
 
Those issues aside, however, I thought OoA was a blast. There is just enough variety in the puzzles that I never found myself getting tired of them and the dungeons and boss battles are brisk enough that for the most part the game moves along at a fast clip. Link's Awakening is more noteworthy largely because it managed to do it first ('it' being the condensing of the A Link to the Past formula on to a handheld), but OoA is a fantastic game and a more than worthy sequel to that handheld classic.
 
As enjoyable as it was though, I feel like I now need a palette cleanser before I dive into Oracle of Seasons.
 
To Steam!
« Last Edit: June 16, 2013, 03:46:34 PM by Pixelated Pixies »
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Offline broodwars

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #35 on: June 17, 2013, 03:53:46 PM »
I recently finished Remember Me, and while I liked it more than Do_What did, it's definitely a game with serious problems. You'll hear more about it on NFR episode 19, our next full episode.

I'm also very close to finishing Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, which despite the dubious reputation of its franchise is an excellent little $15 downloadable FPS. It's Cel-shaded and quite colorful, which already separates it from most FPS games. The score-based combat is simple, but enjoyable. Surprisingly, though, it's the game's focus on narrative (the entire game is former bounty hunter Silus recounting his adventures to some folks at a bar) that really makes it stand out and shine. The game could use some more scenario variety as the combat does get a little tiresome towards the end, but I have no problem recommending the game.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #36 on: June 22, 2013, 02:10:20 AM »
I have beaten The Last of Us, and it is very good...and good god is it long. My final time on my first playthrough was 17 hours. That's not too far off from my completion time on a Mass Effect game. Sheesh. Man, the facial animation is amazing, though. I don't think I've seen a game this generation that's conveyed expression and subtle nuances as well as The Last of Us.  It's a very buggy game, though. The AI will glitch every once in a while, keeping conversation sequences from enabling, and trees and other terrain elements will flicker in and out of existence as you walk to them.

It's going to be hard to argue that The Last of Us isn't the front-runner for Game of the Year this year.
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Offline Pixelated Pixies

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #37 on: June 26, 2013, 03:00:01 PM »
Just this moment I beat Animal Crossing!
 
I purchased a lucky ticket which rewarded me with a Metroid in a Jar that when interacted with plays the opening music from Super Metroid and the sound of the creature screeching. So...game over.
 
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Offline BranDonk Kong

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #38 on: June 26, 2013, 03:05:34 PM »
New Super Mario Bros U
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Offline magicpixie

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #39 on: June 30, 2013, 12:15:18 AM »
I finally finished off The Last of Us.  I'm not a zombie/survival/stealth fan, typically, so there were times when I had to force myself to play.  I ended up playing alongside a few Let's Plays which was a really neat experience with this kind of game.

Ultimately, I loved the game; it felt very much like a slower-paced Uncharted game to me.  I think my biggest beef with the game is with the way it's been hyped, strangely enough(though, if that's the game's biggest issue, I'd say the dev team did a pretty bang up job).  To me, TLoU does nothing new, and actually commits some of the cardinal sins of game design according to recent complaints in the industry.  The game frequently takes away any player agency in favour of flashy setpieces/cutscenes.  Friendly AI is immersion-breaking as anybody who has played knows.  Sneaking around, trying to remain silent, only to have the silence broken by Bill's stomping boots is silly in an environment like this.  Sometimes, the rules of the stealth sections feel poorly defined; sometimes enemies seem to know exactly where you are when you're hidden, sometimes they will look right at you and not even see you.  The game is obviously pushing the PS3 hardware to its limits, as the framerate takes occasional hits.  I think some of these aspects have been glossed over, and it's really disappointing to me, because these complaints are levied heavily at other games and are often used to bemoan the current state of the industry.  Heck, this game should have been universally panned simply for its use of QTEs, or at least that's what I've been led to believe.

That said, I totally understand the fever for this game.  There is a level of polish here - real craftsmanship - that is all too rare in the industry.  The art, sound, performance capture, and environment design are all top notch.  The Last of Us doesn't really do anything new in terms of game design; everything has been done before from a strict gameplay perspective.

I read a thread on the Neogaf that asked, "Why can't we get more games like The Last of Us".  Some people pointed to Naughty Dog, some to the creative directors, and some to Sony for giving Naughty Dog the freedom to create.  I think the answer that most aligned with my feelings was one that said that we already have plenty of games like the Last of Us.  We just don't have enough good ones.  In the end, we complain about a lot of things in game design.  But we are willing to forgive when the total package adds up to an experience like this.  I can't wait to see what Naughty Dog does on the PS4.

Offline Oblivion

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #40 on: June 30, 2013, 12:19:57 AM »
Flashy cutscenes? Did we play the same game?

Offline magicpixie

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #41 on: June 30, 2013, 12:37:07 AM »
Don't get me wrong, they were incredibly well-done.  I just think that, in any other game, lengthy cutscenes that you have no control over is considered bad game design.  In TLoU, it serves a greater purpose, but there was one cutscene that I still remember where after it finished, the game waited for me to input a command for a good 30 seconds because I didn't realize the game had started again and I didn't have my controller in hand.

I think a lot of what is wrong with games journalism is that the medium is still relatively young, and as such, the way people write about them is still growing alongside it.  I think what a lot of people complain about in other games as a general flaw of game design, is really a flaw in execution.  Whereas other games would get panned for what I consider to be a heavy overall reliance on cutscenes to tell the story, TLoU gets praised because it is, generally, done extremely well.  So, when I use the term "flashy cutscenes", I'm really using it to reflect the way it is viewed in other games, and projecting it onto its use in TLoU.

Offline Oblivion

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #42 on: June 30, 2013, 01:09:17 AM »
Well, I disagree on your opinion of cutscenes in video games. If they are done well, I welcome it. Hell, most of the time for me, I enjoy the cutscenes more than the gameplay itself.

Offline nickmitch

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #43 on: June 30, 2013, 03:04:21 AM »
Rayman Origins. Liked it. Backlog too full to go back for unlockables.
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Offline ejamer

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #44 on: July 01, 2013, 07:48:23 AM »
Ys Book I & II (Wii Virtual Console) - Enjoyed the game at times, but there was a bit too much BS design in place and that end boss simply wasn't enjoyable or rewarding enough to justify the effort. In the end regret playing this game as the problems outweighed any enjoyment I got. Not recommended.
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Offline azeke

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #45 on: July 07, 2013, 05:31:01 PM »
Finished SMB3.

Had to force myself to finish it, since i still didn't enjoy the game. The very last boss fight was nice though, once i figured i can hide under platform on the right.

Moon jump physics, that forces me to press back in the air so that i don't overshoot the platforms. No traction that forces me to press back again after i landed to stop. And overall the game has that Sonic Syndrome, where the game lies to your face that it's about speed and momentum and then does everything in it's power to stop you from running. Emphasis on air control, that i don't like because regular Mario has very little of that (i think i used flying suit Mario like five times). Overworld -- why do i have to go into these areas with tubes in and out to come to another area? Baffling level design -- some levels are like 30 meters long with no pits, other are spiky hell that spread over a mile. And other annoyances like that bullshit castle that is full of bullshit.
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Offline Ceric

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #46 on: July 07, 2013, 06:02:56 PM »
Beat Batman Arkham Asylum.  Didn't I just play Metroid: Other M?
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Offline broodwars

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #47 on: July 07, 2013, 06:13:04 PM »
Beat Batman Arkham Asylum.  Didn't I just play Metroid: Other M?

You're comparing a piece of **** like Other M to a masterpiece like Arkham Asylum?  Them's fighting words, Mister.  I think you and me are going to be settling a few things on the next NFR, pardner.  ;)

Speaking of sacred cows, I recently finished Mighty Switch Force 2, and it's just as "meh" as the first game was, which is appropriate since it's more or less the same game with the same progression and the same gameplay tricks.  True, you have a water hose now and there are some interesting new puzzles, but I really felt by the 5th or 6th stage that I had seen all the "new" MSF2 had to offer and it was just going through the motions.
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Offline Pixelated Pixies

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #48 on: July 07, 2013, 06:37:53 PM »
Beat Batman Arkham Asylum.  Didn't I just play Metroid: Other M?

You're comparing a piece of **** like Other M to a masterpiece like Arkham Asylum?  Them's fighting words, Mister.  I think you and me are going to be settling a few things on the next NFR, pardner.  ;)


I've been very vocal in my criticisms of Other M in the past, but it's certainly not a 'piece of ****'. Flawed? Definitely. It does, however, do many things quite well. The boss battles were mostly great, it managed to create a sense of tension (albeit one that differs tonally from that seen in previous Metroid games) and the action (with the exception of the terrible First-Person controls) was snappy and satisfying.
 
I actually kind of want to play that game again.
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Offline Luigi Dude

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Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?
« Reply #49 on: July 07, 2013, 06:53:04 PM »
I actually kind of want to play that game again.

Do it.  On replays you can actually skip all the cutscenes so it's all action no filler.  Trying to speed run it without having to deal with any cutscenes usually takes around 5 hours for me, so it's not that lengthy either.  One of the reasons I've replayed it several times.
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