Support NeoGAF

Dryk · Nov 28, 2015

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Game #61: Rome: Total War: Gold Edition: 60.3 hours

This was my first experience with Total War and I have to say it was a very good one. The campaign is long, but managed to easily keep me engaged for at least 50 of the 60 hours it took me to finish. After it was done the game unlocked a bunch of extra factions to play as but I've had my fill for a while so I didn't jump back in.

I really like the game systems, especially the careful interplay between defenders, attackers and reinforcements during sieges. With defenders able to cede their defenses and ride out to fight off the attackers before they starve them out, and attackers able to just sit there and wait but tempt an attack from behind.

The combat system is really interesting and works really well, organising troops on the battlefield then watching everything devolve into chaos is really fun.

I also spent a few hours checking out the Barbarian Invasion expansion. The playable factions are all new or heavily tweaked, the victory conditions relaxed and some new factions can uproot their empire and go mobile to recieve bonus powerful troops. But I didn't make it that far because I really am done with the game at this point. I'll have a look at the second expansion this time next year maybe.

Sch1sm · Nov 28, 2015

Games 01-26
Games 27-52

With time to spare in the year, even.

Game 53: Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 1 (PS4) - 1.8h
#Telltale, I didn't know you had it in you.

Game 54: A Bird Story (PC) - 1.3h
#Wordless story of a boy, a bird - caring, and friendship. Er. At $1.19 CAD I can't say it was worth nothing, but a lot of the game played itself much like To The Moon did. Music was lovely, though.

Labadal · Nov 29, 2015

Games 1-20
Games 21-40
Games 41-54

Game 54: Never Alone - 5 hours
PS4
Atmospheric platfromer that tells a story about a girl trying to save her village. It isn't super complex, but the setting and the overall atmosphere is probably what was in focus here. Decent controls with some puzzles here and there.

Ladekabel · Nov 29, 2015

Ladekabel said:
November:

Game 50: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered: Man, fuck this game. It probably be in the honorable mentions of my favorite games of all time if it wasn't for the last two chapters which are totally shit. Awful new enemy type, awful encounters and a final boss fight which is unbelievable shit. Which is a shame because the game is for a long time pretty stellar. It feels dynamic, the action is great and it looks graphically awesome. I now played this game twice and was always left disappointed by the last few chapters.
Game 51: Persona 4: Dancing all Night (PSVita): I love this game. I love the characters and I love the feeling of hitting a perfect note. Even intend to get the Platinum trophy for which I only have to grind cash now. Free Dance is fantastic and I like the selection of Songs and the remixes. Won't bother with Hard+ difficulty. Stuff is insane. Oh and the story mode was kinde unnecessary. Pretty elaborate but so much pointless chatter that I skipped every dialogue after the first 2 hours.
Game 52: Life is Strange (PC): I like Life is Strange and I hate Life is Strange. The first two episodes are pretty good. Though something big is hinted, I thought it's going to be a Persona-esque Highschool Drama but with superpowers in America. Oh boy, was I wrong. (If you want to avoid hints about what's going to happen, to read any further). Though you're looking for a girl it full on jumps the shark and becomes some supernatural shayamaln criminal minds kind of thing. Add to that that the voice acting is sometimes pretty bad (though good voice acting wouldn't have saved the sometimes pretty strange dialogue) and the animations often are too stiff. However, I liked that Life is Strange tried to do something new and did some things other video games didn't. If only the developer hadn't went over the top.

Currently playing: Fallout 4 (PC)

I don't think I'll finish a game before the end of the month so here's my November update. Finally made it. Now only 10 or so games left in my backlog. Maybe is going to grow in the coming Steam sale but maybe I'll finish it next year.

donny2112 · Nov 30, 2015

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=145170901&postcount=191

Finally got to 52. Glad that is now done. Next year, definitely going for a time based target on completed games (e.g. 400 hours) instead of a # of completed games target. I've been putting off tons of games I want to play because they'll take a long time, and I was way behind. (Finished the 50 Book/Movie challenge at the beginning of November and pushed through 9 games in November to complete this challenge.) Hopefully next year I'll be able to enjoy the games more, even if they take a really long time, instead of feeling the pressure of completing a certain number by the end of the year.

Thanks for doing the challenge again this year!

Krafter · Nov 30, 2015

Games 1 - 69

Well, officially hit the post count limit, same as last year. Reached Game 69 with the original list, I will compile the rest of the year's games here. If it is not too poor of form, next year I think I will reserve two posts back to back to start the whole show rather than an inadequate one.

Game 70: Vivisector: the Beast Within (PC) - November 29 - 7 hours
Fun shooter, reminds one of Far Cry 1 plus the Island of Dr. Moreau. Has a checkpoint system, not really open world at all, but gives off that illusion somewhat well. I like Action Forms, but Vivisector is a notch below Carnivores and Chasm.

Game 71: Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Vita) - December 2 - 14 hours
Open world racing game, plenty of cars, looks and plays great on the Vita. Had some issues with some of the Boss races until I focused on one car (Porche 911) until it was nearly maxed out and won the rest of the game handily. Full marks to EA (amazingly enough) and Criterion for the freebie.

Game 72: Back to the Future: the Game (PS3) - December 10 - 12 hours
Really pleasant surprise here, far more an adventure game than Telltales' latest offerings, and is my new favourite game from them. Very nostalgic as an 80s guy, they really nailed the zany spirit of the original films. Michael J. Fox turning up at the end was a treat.

Game 73: Dragon Quest (Android) - December 13 - 10 hours
Very Old-School, which is a good thing. Classic simple gameplay, simple plot, wears it's influences on it's sleeve. Game was shockingly short after playing the newer DQs first, and the controls were horrible, but still a solid run though memory lane.

Game 74: Noby Noby Boy (PS3) - December 19 - 20 hours
Quite possibly the oddest game I have ever played, and hardest to quantify. It's not the classic Katamari is, but is a very mellow time-waster that you can throw on anytime and pass the controller around with the kids. Soothing music that we have actually put the baby to sleep with. Gaming needs more of whatever this is, not less. My eldest daughter has played my account a ton, and we (largely her) are currently ranked 105th in the World, whee!

Game 75: Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together (PSP) - December 22 - 98 hours
Near-perfect gameplay from a timeless classic. Every game in the TO/FFT series is great, but this is the best of them all. Characters, art, music are top-notch, but what sets TO apart is the backstabbers' delight of a story coupled with the turn-based tactics. A 10/10 game that everyone needs to play. Why Square doesn't crank these out on handhelds every 2 years or so is a shame.

Game 76: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (PS3) - December 24 - 8 hours
I love the world of Harry Potter, and this is the game that gets that experience the most out of the game series (so far.) The transition from PS2 to PS3 along with the usage of the actors' likenesses and voices really makes the game for me. There isn't a ton to do, at all, but Phoenix gets the feel of 'walking through Hogwarts' right, and that's pretty much what I wanted all along.

chrixter · Dec 1, 2015

Main post

#51: Transformers: Devastation - 7 hours ★★★
Knew it was Bayonetta-lite going in and I was still a little disappointed with how shallow it is. Still enjoyed the game (Focus/Witch Time remains one of the most satisfying gameplay mechanics ever conceived), but everything wore thin after several hours, and the whole experience is watered down by the unnecessary EXP and loot/synthesis systems. Despite my slight disappointment with the game on its merits, though, what Platinum managed to accomplish here with an obviously limited budget is impressive.

Triggerhappytel · Dec 1, 2015

Triggerhappytel said:
Games 27 through 48 (updated)

47. Major Laser (Android) - 28th November - approx. an hour, played to exhaustion
Feels a little disingenuous to say this is 'complete' because as far as I can tell you just have to keep playing and beating high scores, but I've played this for about an hour and I'm probably done with it. My top score was 22, although the game is telling me the top score is 27 - don't know if this is the dev's score or something. The reason I bought this was because I'm a fan of Auralnauts and they contributed the excellent music. As for the game itself, it's decent but not particularly stand-out, and extremely shallow. 5/10

48. Lara Croft GO (Android) - 30th November - approx. 2.5 hours, completed the main game and the Cave of Fire DLC
Bought this a few days ago because it was 40% off on Google Play, and it's turned out to be one of my favourite mobile games ever. Just a really great fit for the format, and a clever reformatting to fit the principles of a board game into a mobile game. Good puzzles (I especially enjoyed the

giant snake boss

at the end), gorgeous visuals and a nice throwback to the classic games in the series seeing as the console games have pretty much moved on now. 8.5/10

Currently playing: The Wolf Among Us (PS Now), Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4), Destiny: The Taken King (PS4), Grim Fandango Remastered (Vita)

Rubius · Dec 1, 2015

Full List

Game 27 : Nyx Quest - 3 hours - 10/29/15
Fun physic platformer where you move stuff and try to survive. Kinda clunky since it was a Wiiware title at the start, but it's worth your time if you want a fun and somewhat challenging platformer. 3/5

Game 28 : Afterfall : Insanity - 8 hours - 12/01/15
Poor man Dead Space with clunky combat, horrible voice acting and script and story, but overall it's playable. The bosses are really Tanky for no good reason. 2/5

Game 29 : Penumbra : Overture - 6 hours - 12/01/15
Everybody was telling me how good this game was and it was pretty disappointing to me. It's mostly physic or basic puzzles with a horror theme in the background. Maybe Chapter 2 and 3 are better, but this is far from Amnesia, both in horror or in puzzles.
2/5

31 Days to beat 22 games. Let the games begin!

Zeranium · Dec 1, 2015

Update for the end of November / beginning of December

Since my last update, I've finished about 11 more games.
Quickly rattling them off

October
29.) Corpse Party Book of Shadows (10/13)
30.) Corpse Party Blood Drive (10/18) (Platinum)
31.) Grabbed by the Ghoulies (10/22)
32.) Battletoads Arcade (10/24)
33.) Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax (10/24) (finished story mode with all characters)
34.) Senran Kagura Full Burst (10/28)

November
35.) Persona 4 Dancing All Night (11/01) (Platinum)
36.) Senran Kagura Bon Appetit (11/12)
37.) Dead Space (11/13)
38.) Until Dawn (11/16) (First PS4 game Finished!)
39.) Dynasty Warriors NEXT (11/28)

With one month left, I got 13 games left to go.
Gonna be a close one

Original Post
Will be updating the original post later

NHale · Dec 1, 2015

Games 1-12
Games 13-16
Games 17-21
Games 22-26
Games 27-30
Games 31-34
Games 40-41
Games 42-44

November:

Game 45: Call of Duty: Black Ops III
I've watched the videos disclosing the true twist of the story, I've seen every argument of people trying to justify the campaign, but I still can't believe how bad and boring they made the gunplay and setpieces of this campaign. The later levels even managed to drag even more, to the point where I was ready to quit the game. A spectacular failure by Treyarch. Thankfully the multiplayer isn't bad (still nowhere close COD4, Blops 1 or MW2).

Game 46: Goosebumps: The Game
An enjoyable adventure game that fails at being the horror game that tries so hard to be.

Game 47: SkyScrappers
A poor Towerfall game but it still has it's moments especially in co-op multiplayer.

Game 48: Magicka 2
Boring....boring....boring....

Keeping the pace of 4 games per month. It's going to be close...

Javier · Dec 2, 2015

Original post.

#22 - Picross e2 (3DS) (19:54:00) - All puzzles done. 100%.

orthodoxy1095 · Dec 2, 2015

DETAILED POST ONE | DETAILED POST TWO | DETAILED POST THREE | SUMMARY LIST

Game 42: Tales From The Borderlands - 10+ hours - November 29th, 2015

In my humble opinion, this is Telltale's greatest series yet. I am a huge, huge fan of TWDS1, and have sung its praises ever since I played it. I was really skeptical though about marrying Borderlands humor with the Telltale formula. Even more problematic was that playing Until Dawn really made me more critical of the Telltale format, and I was worried that TftB would feel stale after that experience. And at first, it did. But the game quickly showed its brilliance with fantastic writing and freaking amazing QTEs. Episodes 4 and 5 in particular have two of the most amazing QTEs I have ever experienced. Actually the entire game felt much more like a "game" and did more to make me feel engaged which is a great step, especially as they managed to not loose any of their captivating writing. The music and particularly the intro sequences are pure genius. More impressive is that the game actually made me care about Borderlands and the characters I was interacting with. Which is weird to say because I put 90+ hours into Borderlands 2 and never felt half as invested as TftB made me feel.

I'd actually be willing to give the game a 10/10 but the game is brought down by two things. First, a bit of writing inconsistency because in the scenes with Fiona and Rhys in the present day, Fiona has this extreme anger boiling in her. Given the way I played Rhys, that whole angry disposition never really made sense and just seemed off. Other people have talked about this in other threads, but you can make in-game choices that make her anger seem really out of place with your story. The second issue is the damn engine. The thing blows. Yeah, it didn't crash my game, lose my save or have any horrendous glitches. But it's clear the thing needs updating. Character animations are wooden and generally look pretty awful. There are weird pauses in dialogue and facial animations. Coming off a year with LiS and Until Dawn, the tech Telltale is displaying these days just isn't up to snuff. I want them to push the technical side just a little bit higher because their writing deserves it.

Still though, brilliant and in the running for my GOTY.
- 9/10

Game 43: Hexcells - 3 hours - December 1st, 2015

I have loved Minesweeper for years. The game was my puzzling drug. Then I found Picross, and I've been trudging my way through Picross 3D all year. I was looking for something similar worth my while on Steam, and I remembered Hexcells. Actually, I remember someone in this thread actually playing all three games as well for the challenge, and with the sale, all three games cost me a whopping $2.69. Even with that bargain price, the game is priceless perfection. The guessing of Minesweeper is removed, and instead there's a challenging, logical, relaxing puzzle in its place. The ambient music and minimal visual stylization are just beautiful. I ended up steamrolling through almost all of the puzzles in one night (finished them this morning) and loved every minute.
- 10/10

marcincz · Dec 3, 2015

One of my last update in this year.

Game #35 : Mirror's Edge

Rating: ★★★★★ | Platform: PS3 | Beaten: 11/11/2015 | Time: 08:54 h

What I can say about this masterpiece? I beat it once again, after 7 years. Once again I love it. Wonderful game.

Game #36 : Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Rating: ★★★★☆ | Platform: 3DS | Beaten: 15/11/2015 | Time: 33:30 h

Layton was my first game I've ever played and beat on N handheld. To be honest, always want to try it and finally I've bought 3DS for it. Very good game. Beat almost 100 puzzles.

Game #37 : Little Big Planet 3

Rating: ★★★★☆ | Platform: PSV | Beaten: 27/11/2015 | Time: 10:12 h

LBP was one of my favourite 2/ 2,5 D games in the last years. LBP 3 is still good, but I feel this should be the last part of this great IP.

Original Post

mp1990 · Dec 3, 2015

#50 Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

One hell of a problematic game, but i enjoyed it to some extent. To start, the game has some grave problems in its core, that directly impacts the overall experience; it's awfully paced, they couldn't find the right balance between gameplay and story bits, causing the game to be a drag to play a lot of times; the story, even if really interesting on the beginning, doesn't hold up well because of the godawful and poorly developed characters, and the twists don't get anywhere close to DG1 and 2

and of course they had to insert Junko somewhere ughhhhh how i wish they would get rid of her

. Now, for the good points: Komaru and Toko relationship is amazing, you can really feel that there's something going on between them, the gameplay is pretty sweet, even if pretty easy, and the amount of ammo types allows the player to have some room for experimentation. Overall, yeah it was pretty cool, but just an appetizer for V3 next year.

#51 Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

As someone who's big into platformers and puzzle games, this was glorious. Cap Toad is all build around the idea of having simple, yet extremely fun levels, and it's done in such splendid way it's hard to point out anything i didn't like in it. Could've been a little longer, yeah, but this only shows how much i loved it.

#52 Super Mario Galaxy 2

I've still to come on terms about this one; being the sequel to one of the most magical games from the 7th gen is no easy job, and trying to surpass it is even harder. And, in my point of view, NOA didn't manage to reinvent the wheel, but they still did a magnificent job on it. The game expands most of the concepts presented in the first iteration, doing a really great job on them, and presenting some neat, even if few, new ideas. The plataforming is still top notch, it still controls like a wet dream, and the level design is solid, not as inspired as the first game imo but oh well, it still holds up nicely. My problem with this game it that... it never feels as refreshing as SMG1. Not being revolutionary is ok, but after the creative burst that was the first game, this one feels way too "commonplace", and that bothers me to no end. Even with all this, though, it's an amazing game, and no one should miss it.

And that wraps up the challenge for me ! It was a pleasure to participate on this, not sure if i'll be able to join you guys next year but try my best. I still plan on beating a few more games this year though, so this probably won't be my last update here this year.

Oreoleo · Dec 3, 2015

Part 1
Part 2

51. Titan Souls - 5.5 Hours
Explore. Discover. Overcome. Conquer.
In the vaguest of terms this is the game play loop of Titan Souls, a game that is not afraid to wear it's Shadow of the Colossus inspirations on it's sleeve. 19 bosses, 1 hit kill or be killed, armed with nothing but a bow with a single arrow. Most of the bosses play out like a mini-puzzle. First, figure out it's weak spot. Second, find your opening to hit the weak spot. Third, execute your plan. The game rewards pure skill first and foremost. No leveling up, no perks. Just you and your abilities. THE GAME IS HARD. By the end I had died more than once per minute, on average. (The final boss might be a little *too* hard, but that just made it all the more rewarding when I finally overcame the odds and achieved victory.) The difficulty mixed with the light puzzle aspect and boss design makes the combat fall somewhere between Dark Souls and The Legend of Zelda. Pixel art reminiscent of Fez, and gorgeous orchestral music peppered throughout the environment make the world a pleasure to explore and uncover the subtle lore hidden within the game. Certainly not for everyone, but I was hooked right from the beginning.

52. Rocket League - 85 Hours and Counting
I purposely saved this one for #52. Unequivocally my Game of the Year, I don't think I can say anything about Rocket League that hasn't already been said. Fresh, fast-paced, and above all else, FUN. The balance between pick-up-and-play mechanics with a ridiculously high skill ceiling is masterful. And unlike other games like say, Dota and CSGO, a match only lasting 5 minutes means you're not stewing over any individual loss when you get hyper-competitive like I tend to do, and can jump right into the next game ("just one more!") without worrying about the time commitment. Best game is best, that's all there is to it

And that's a wrap! This was super fun and a great way to help me focus on my backlog a little bit. Will definitely be participating again next year

Triggerhappytel · Dec 4, 2015

Triggerhappytel said:
Games 27 through 51 (updated)

49. The Wolf Among Us (PS3) - 2nd December - approx. 10 hours, Platinum trophy earned
I've only recently got into Telltale games (see game #44) despite having played several of them before, and while this didn't quite hit the peaks of TWD S1 it was still really great. The first two episodes were by far the strongest where there was a sense of mystery, and I found it slightly less entertaining once

they started to chase Crane and then later The Crooked Man

. There were also far too many fight sequences which got very tedious by the end of the game. If you have to use a QTE to have an action sequence in your game, then I think it's better just to drop the action scenes altogether. Anyway, I found the premise really interesting (no experience with the comics or IP prior to this), the dialogue and acting was excellent and I really liked the visual style. A really solid and entertaining game which has me tempted to pick up some of the graphic novels. 8.5/10

50. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4) - 3rd December - approx. 7-8 hours, standard game completion (Normal difficulty)
I'm not a big fan of COD but I enjoy a good FPS campaign, and overall I thought this was really solid. The suit abilities were fun (I particularly like dashing sideways) although I'd have preferred that they were consistent in each level rather than shuffling around between levels, as I felt like this wasn't very well explained. The controls were great, the guns and shooting are fun, level design is generally open and interesting with some great set-pieces and I liked the story, with Spacey doing a brilliant job of overacting and hamming it up. I actually liked the characters of Gideon, Ilona and Cormack, but Mitchell was completely bland - I'd have much preferred one of the others to be the protagonist. Probably the only thing about this game which held it back was that I felt like I'd played most of it before, regardless of how exciting the set-pieces were. As for multiplayer, I had a look through the options and different game modes yesterday and the only place I could find active games was in Free For All (I prefer Team Deathmatch), and it's just not my scene. I played a couple of matches and I'm just not a fan of running around wildly with the result being either who sees who first or whoever has the better weapon is the winner. Not really a big online player anyway. 8/10

51. Rocket League (PS4) - 3rd December - approx. 6-8 hours, played to exhaustion
I like this game but I'm not very good at it. I've not played a massive amount, but I've done a bunch of exhibition matches, played through a complete season against the AI and I've played online a small handful of times. It's a lot of fun but I don't feel particularly good at it and my times playing online are just frustrating as I get massively outclassed, so I don't see myself revisiting it. I've got about 60% of the trophies and while I know it's supposed to be an easy Platinum, I can't be bothered grinding for it. 8/10

I've done really well over the last couple of days, and now just one more to finish to hit that 52. Probably need to do updates on a couple of abandoned games as well.

Currently playing: Grim Fandango (Vita), Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PS3)

Rubius · Dec 4, 2015

Full List

Game 30 : Cave Story + - 7 Hours - 12/03/15
Cave Story but with enhanced graphics and music. Still a fun platformer that can be pretty difficult. Screw the last boss though. 4/5

Game 31 : The Deer God - 2 hours 50 - 12/03/15
Cute artsy game with gorgeous graphics. Hold right and solve basic puzzles. The game feel really empty and sometimes you have to spend 10 minutes going right to find something you are looking for. 3/5

Game 32 : Castle Crasher (Steam) - 5 hours and 55 minutes - 12/04/15
Already played through on the 360 but never played the "updated" version. Same thing. Pretty rough in single player, but still really fun. 4/5

Game 33 : A Bird Story - 1 Hour 10 minutes - 12/04/15
Not really a game, but more an interactive short pixel movie. It's really touching but has barely any gameplay. 3/5 for what it is.

Game 34 : Home - 55 minutes - 12/05/15
Really short psychological horror game. Excellent sound design and graphical style. Would need to replay multiple time to get the whole story. 4/5

Game 35 : Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior - 2 hours 30 minutes - 12/05/15
Cleaning the mess of Shadow Warrior. Cute game, relaxing game, but can be somewhat be bugged. Had to use the console to finish the game. 2/5

Game 36 : Muramasa Rebirth - 6:21 - 12/10/15
I "played" this game for the last two years on and off for months. Great game, did the Oboro style story. I might do the other part if I ever feel like replaying it. 4/5

Game 37 : Cthulhu Saves the World - 9 hours 50 minutes - 12/11/15
A simple RPG on the easy side. Enjoyable since it has Save anywhere, limited random encounters and a good sense of humor. It was fun even for me who is not a Turn based RPG guy. 3/5

Game 38 : Stacking - 3 hours 30 minutes - 12/12/15
Stacking is a great adventure game about russian dolls. The universe is wonderful, the style is fun, the music is nice. Great game all around. 4/5

Game 39 : Tobe's Vetical Adventure - 79 minutes - 12/16/15
Cute SNES like puzzle platformer. Really short but work pretty well. 4/5

Game 40 : Brothers : A Tale of Two Sons - 3 hours and 35 - 12/16/15
Emotional and well thought of game about a really good story and adventure. Fantastic game. 5/5

Game 41 : The Cave - 4 hours -12/18/15
Cool puzzle game that change depending on the 3 characters you choose at the beginning of the game. Pretty fun. 4/5

Jack Videogames · Dec 4, 2015

150h-ish. Steam says I've played 606 hours, but I used to play this at work during downtimes and the likes and I've had the game open for weeks at a time without actually playing. Completed Campaign with the "Defeat'em All" ending.

Eador is like sex, and not the good, romantic/porny movie sort of sex. Eador is like sex when you want it but you don't feel like it. Maybe it's too cold, or you're tired, or maybe you've had a few. And even though you sort of like what you're doing you have to work and grind for hours at a time to get to any sort of climax. It feels like a long, long time of going through the motions and doing the same repetitive tasks and once you learn that an Archer Scout and a Berserker Warrior can mow down most Masters, it becomes a chore. I think I've forgotten about the metaphor somewhere along the way.

Then the game ends not with a bang, but with a pithy two-liner of a whimper, which I guess it's also a good metaphor for sex. No credits, just the "New Game" screen, inviting you to begin again and perhaps shoot for a different A-Winner-is-You ending. Well, scroo you Eador, that's not going to happen.

Updated OP

stuminus3 · Dec 4, 2015

Wow I've only beaten 7 games this year and the last one was in April.

Bowing out (dis)gracefully from this one, I think!

orthodoxy1095 · Dec 5, 2015

stuminus3 said:
Wow I've only beaten 7 games this year and the last one was in April.

Bowing out (dis)gracefully from this one, I think!

Well at the least, try again next year!

jiggles · Dec 5, 2015

Games 1 - 20
Games 21-39
Games 40+

Game 53: The Blackwell Epiphany

Maybe five games in this series was too much. While it was nice to unwind with another round of Rosa 'n' Joey's Paranormal Case Files, I find myself with very little to say about it. It's another Blackwell game. Well written characters in a hardboiled yet somehow goofy point and click adventure in which you play the role of a spiritual agony aunt. As a concluding chapter, it works well. Definitely provides closure and it made me feel a little sad. The throwbacks to the older games were a nice touch, but they felt a bit loose. Like it was just a contrived way to give the feeling of the game tying up loose ends that never really existed in the first place. Still, I enjoyed this quirky little series while it lasted, and this is a solid entry.
If you like the other Blackwell games, you should play this

Labadal · Dec 6, 2015

Games 1-20
Games 21-40
Games 41-55

Game 55: Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures - 12 hours
PC
Episodic Point & Click adventure game with decent humor and fairly simple puzzles. I like the main characters you play as and the game is charming in general. No pretending to give the player choices that will carry over to new episodes, just straightforward adventuring.

tav7623 · Dec 6, 2015

41. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy Curtain Call (Finished 12/6/15 - playtime 13 hrs) - I picked this game up during Black Friday mainly because I liked some of the music I had heard from the Final Fantasy series and hadn't played a rhythm game in a long time. All in all I enjoyed the game even though I was unable to make it far in the expert & ultimate level versions of songs due to how hard they were. One of the things I liked most about the game was it's nice selection of songs and characters spanning a bunch of games from the series.

RoaringMdog · Dec 6, 2015

Finally done! Wasnt sure i was actually going to finish 52 games but i did. I'm not sure when i finished them excactly, or how long it took for each game, but here we go.

#1 - Vita - Murasaki Baby (100% Trophies)
#2 - PS4 - Little Big Planet 3
#3 - Vita - Resogun
#4 - PS3 - escape dead island
#5 - PS3 - Jojo All Star Bizarre Adventure (Plat)
#6 - PS3 - Book Of Spells (Plat)
#7 - PS4 - Far Cry 4 (Plat)
#8 - PS4 - Dying Light (Plat)
#9 - Vita - OlliOlli2
#11 - PS4 - Call Of Duty Advanced Warfare (Plat)
#12 - PS4 - Saints Row: Gat Outta Hell (Plat)
#13 - PS4 - Hotline Miami 2
#14 - PS4 - Bloodborne
#15 - Vita - Monsterbag (100% Trophies)
#16 - Vita - CoD Declassified
#17 - PS4 - L.A Cops (Plat)
#18 - PS4 - Never Alone (100% Trophies)
#19 - Vita - Shovel Knight
#20 - Vita - Lego Marvel (Plat)
#21 - Vita - Lego Movie (Plat)
#22 - Vita - Lego Hobbit (Plat)
#23 - Vita - Lego Jurassic World (Plat)
#24 - PS4 - The Order 1886 (Plat)
#25 - PS4 - Batman Arkham Knight
#26 - WIIU - Mario Kart 8
#27 - Vita - J-star Victory VS+
#28 - WIIU - Barbie Dreamhouse Party
#29 - 3DS - Attack On Titan Humanity In Chains
#30 - PS4 - Rocket Leauge (Plat)
#31 - Xbox One - Halo Combat Evolved
#32 - Vita - Spongebob Heropants (Plat)
#33 - Vita - Taiko No Tatsujin Version V (Plat)
#34 - WIIU - Super Mario 3D World
#35 - WIIU - Super Mario 64
#36 - PS3 - Goat Simulator (Plat)
#37 - PS4 - Goat Simulator (Plat)
#38 - PS4 - Disney Infinity 3.0 (Plat)
#39 - PS4 - Grow Home (100% Trophies)
#40 - PS4 - Mad Max
#41 - Vita - Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls (Plat)
#42 - Vita - Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Plat)
#43 - Vita - Kung Fu Rabbit (100% Trophies)
#44 - PS4 - Assassin's Creed Syndicate (Plat)
#45 - PS4 - Tales From The Borderlands (Plat)
#46 - PS4 - Life Is Strange (Plat)
#47 - PS4 - Infinity Runner
#48 - PS4 - Uncharted Drakes Fortune
#49 - PC - DLC Quest
#50 - Vita - Actual SUnlight (100% Trophies)
#51 - Vita - Persona 4 Dancing All Night EU (Plat)
#52 - PS4 - Fallout 4 (Plat)
#53 - PS4 - Just Cause 3 (Plat)

jnWake · Dec 7, 2015

Main Post

Game #29. Chrono Trigger (DS)
- Time played: 50:12 hours.
- Completion reached: Beat the story, did all the sidequests and saw

all the endings

.

Chrono Trigger is one of the most highly regarded games out there. Practically every list of top RPG games, top SNES games or even top DS games will have it sitting on the top 5. For people that don't know what the game is about, it's a classic turn based RPG by Square Enix (back when they were just Square) that's based around time travelling.

As I pointed out above, Chrono Trigger is really highly regarded and I there are many reasons why. First, we have the music. The soundtrack in Chrono Trigger (composed by Yasunori Mitsuda) is incredible, featuring energetic, emotional and even weird tracks. Just search for Chrono Trigger remixes on YouTube and you'll find hundreds of them. Second, the setting and plot of the game are simple but at the same time interesting enough to grab the players. Chrono Trigger doesn't feature a complex story like many more modern games and it doesn't even feature complex characters (save Magus maybe?). Instead, the game is very straightforward and nicely paced which makes it a joy to play. Third, of course, is the gameplay. While Chrono Trigger is a classic turn based RPG, it has some cool elements that make it different from other games of the genre. For example, there are no random encounters and enemies are visible on the overworld. Something I particularly enjoy is the the magic system in the game (called "Tech" system) since it's very simple as you don't have bother with equiping Materia, Espers, Junctions, Crystals or whatever system other games use and instead your characters learn techs naturally. One cool aspect of it is that you can perform Double and Triple Techs, provided you have the right combination of characters and techs in your party.

Overall, this game is amazing and completely deserves the fame it has. The DS port is great too. It has a new translation that seems to bug some people but I thought it was pretty good and it also adds some new dungeons of questionable quality (but they're optional!). It also adds a fun "Arena" minigame where you train a monster in an absurdly simplified version of Pokémon. In any case, either the SNES or DS versions of the game are completely recommended for anyone who likes RPGs and for some reason still hasn't played this.

Game #30. Arcane Tower (iOS)
- Time played: ~10-15 hours I guess (hard to tell, thanks iOS).
- Completion reached: Beat the game several times, you'll need to read below to understand haha.

Arcane Tower is a roguelike turn/tile based game for iOS. In this game you control a wizard that, for some reason, must climb a tower to destroy some crystals. In each floor of the tower you can grab up to 3 powers/hearts/upgrades from special tiles, with a limit of 4 different powers in your inventory. These powers are pretty different and range from a teleport move to projectiles. The layout of the floors are randomly generated each time you play the game. Arcane Tower is a very challenging game. The first few times you play it you'll probably die in the first few floors, barely understanding what is happening. The game doesn't really bother to teach you many of the mechanics or techniques and instead expects you to experiment. Since the game is super short you can replay it a lot to learn the intrincacies of the system. One feature I use a lot is the Daily Challenge mode that, each day, generates one map for all players and has you competing against everyone else, seeing who gets the highest score. This mode features a very handy Replay tool that lets you watch other players' runs so you can learn from the top scores.

Overall, I really like this game. I've been playing the Daily Challenge for almost every day since the game was released and I strongly recommend trying it out at least. The graphics are super simple and the game has no soundtrack, but it's a very nice game to play when you have small bits of free time. When you start grasping how to play to earn high scores you'll simply love it since it gets very rewarding. It's also super cheap so...

This review is pretty good by the way: http://toucharcade.com/2015/04/23/arcane-towers-review/ .

Game #31. Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
- Time played: 64:18 hours.
- Completion reached: Made a few levels (more than 10) and cleared the 100 Mario mode several times.

Super Mario Maker is a game where you create Mario stages! It's a simple and interesting concept, especially for those that are interested in game design. Being honest, I had never even thought about building 2D platforming stages every in my life but I somehow got grabbed by the pre-release hype and got the game. I'm glad I did though, since I really enjoyed making levels for it.

Talking about Super Mario Maker as a game is a bit hard since it's a very different experience from most games out there. If you don't enjoy making stages then you probably won't enjoy the package that much. The experience of playing stages made by other people is a risky one since the ones you randomly get on the 100 Mario mode are of very different quality levels. Several times you'll immediately skip a level upon noticing it's, to put it bluntly, bullshit. Other times you'll get pretty nice levels but, honestly, I felt most levels I played were very bland, like if they lacked purpose. This is natural since most of the people creating levels aren't game designers and have no experience at it. However, I do have to say that the experience is much better when you hunt for good levels or, particularly, when you play the stages made by GAF which are for the most part pretty good.

Overall, I was very happy with my purchase of Super Mario Maker. Although the level creation tools are limited, you can do a lot of them and there are many cool interactions you can create. I wish Nintendo let people do more advanced stuff by having optional coding modules or something like that but they instead for a simple interface that works pretty good. I recommend the game if you have interest in creating your own stages. It can actually get pretty addicting and I only stopped playing since I have a ridiculous backlog, but I'll probably get back to it sometime.

Cheat Code · Dec 7, 2015

Fuck me, I forgot I was doing this. Gonna try and remember what else I did this year. I'll do some nice opinions later. These aren't in completion order though.

13. Dark Souls 2 (PS4)
14. Bloodborne: The Old Hunters (PS4)
15. Life is Strange + Platinum (PS4)
16. Tales from the Borderlands + Platinum (PS4)
17. Game of Thrones + Platinum (PS4)
18. Rock Band 4 (PS4)
19. Guitar Hero Live (PS4)
20. Shovel Knight (PS4)
21. Batman: Arkham Knight
22. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Honestly I've sort of been jumping around instead of finishing games, this year was quite dense for releases. Have a load of time before the end of the year though, gonna try and tie up a lot of loose ends. Honestly I could probably get 30 games done with how many of them have a load of progress anyway.

Midn1ght · Dec 9, 2015

Update :

Game #25: Metro 2033 Redux

Rating: 9/10 - Platform: PS4 - Developer: 4A Games
Replaying this on PS4 just sealed my opinion about this game: Metro 2033 is, in my opinion, one of the best single-player FPS game of all time. It's scary but not "Outlast" kind of scary, it's dark, dangerous, desolated. With The Last of us, this might be one of the best representation of what a post apocalyptic world could feel and look like. Fantastic game !

Main Post

chrominance · Dec 10, 2015

Original post

56. Fallout 4 (PC)
Completed the campaign (half on Normal, half on Hard).

Railroad

ending.

Because I spend a lot of time gaming on PC, the concept of console generations doesn't mean that much to me. Instead, I split my gaming career into somewhat arbitrary eras whose bookends coincide with changes in my gaming habits. And though I bought a PS3 a year or two before the release of Fallout 3, I think of that game as the one that started my current era of gaming. Fallout 3 took hours of my life almost without me realizing it. I'd never played a game like it before, and there was so much to do and so many things to see. It's also one of the few modern games I've managed to complete twice--once in vanilla form, and once with all the DLC chapters added.

Not even its successor, Fallout: New Vegas, managed to get me to play it twice. Only time will tell if Fallout 4 will lure me back in for a second playthrough. But consider this: based on how long my second Fallout 3 run took, I'm guessing that I've already spent as much time in Fallout 4's Commonwealth as I did in two runs of the Capitol Wasteland. In terms of pure value for money, Fallout 4 delivers, and then some.

I've spent a solid month with the game, and over that time my opinion of the game has evolved. The first forty or so hours were amazing; it was basically everything I hoped for from a successor to Fallout 3. At their best, Bethesda's Fallout games have always felt like good anthologies of short stories. Where other games stick largely to a single narrative and rarely invest much in side stories, Fallout 4's strength lies in the little vignettes scattered across its world. Few games reward exploration like Fallout 4 does.

It's only after a very thorough examination of the Commonwealth's various nooks and crannies that I began to feel weary of entering another building likely to be infested with ghouls or haunted by yet another peculiarly insane band of raiders. After a hundred or so hours, your opinion of the game can't help but change. Its deficiencies become more apparent. The randomly generated faction quests are as endless as they are banal, always a case of "go here and shoot X." And though you can ignore them for the most part, you have to go out of your way to avoid them. Don't talk to Preston, he'll give you another settlement that needs saving. Pay no mind to the settlement-under-attack warning, and try not to think about having to repair everything the next time you pass by the besieged village.

Settlements are a blessing and a curse. As someone who never really took to Minecraft and its ilk, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed building things in Fallout 4--first rudimentary houses, then residential compounds, and finally shopping arcades and lakeside bars with expansive patios. But the flipside is settlement construction encourages your worst hoarding tendencies and demands you interact frequently with the game's poor inventory UI. If sorting through your inventory was a pain in previous Fallout games, you'll either learn to hate settlements or learn to hate Fallout 4.

Fallout 4 is less a game I really enjoyed, and more a game I've married and settled down with after a long relationship. It annoys me sometimes, but ultimately I'm comfortable with its many quirks.

An-Det · Dec 10, 2015

Finally done with the 52. I hit 51 a month ago, but turns out Fallout 4 is a really long game. I have updated my main post with the latest updates and will continue to do so as the year winds down.

For the rest of the year I'm planning to focus on Starcraft 2 Episodes 2 and 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, but since I'm done with work for the rest of the month I'm hoping to get another one or two more in to close out the year besides those two games. Maybe I'll finally put in the time to finish Lost Odyssey.

Cheat Code · Dec 12, 2015

The Christmas surge begins.

Game 23 - Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS3)
Game 24 - Super Meat Boy (PS4)
Game 25 - The Jackbox Party Pack (PS4)
Game 26 - The Jackbox Party Pack 2 (PS4)

OP

Edit: Forgot about those because they aren't really completed. Still put at least 15 hours into each with friends though.

tav7623 · Dec 12, 2015

43 games down, 9 games to go with 20 days left

42. Transformers Devastation (Finished 12/11/15 - playtime 7 hrs 42 mins) - Since I was an 80's kid I remember watching and loving the original (G1) Transformers so when I found out that Platinum Games (the people behind the amazing Bayonetta 2) had made a 3D Beat em Up/Hack n Slash based on the G1 Transformers with most of the original surviving cast members providing the voice acting I had to get this game. It imo didn't really disappoint given that it played as expected (repetitive but fun) and with the exception of Megatron (who despite being his G1 design transforms into the G2 tank) everyone pretty much looked, sounded & transformed just like they did in the original cartoon. If you love G1 Transformers, games from Platinum Games, and Hack n Slash/Beat em ups then this game is definitely worth checking out.

43. Mario Golf: World Tour (Finished 12/11/15 - playtime 10+ hrs) - This game was the last game I got through Club Nintendo as it was the only game that was part of their final Platinum reward tier that I didn't already own and interested me. This game interested me cause I had never played a Mario Golf game before, heck it had been a while since I had played a Golf video game in a while (Tiger Woods 08 I believe) so what the hell. Since getting it I've been playing it on and off whenever the mood struck me as it wasn't a great game, but it was pretty decent as well as pretty challenging (the last of the three main championship courses, Mountain Top Course Championship has been kicking my butt the past couple of times I've tried to beat it) which was a bit surprising.

gaiages · Dec 12, 2015

Thanks to dating pigeons, I've completed my challenge this year!

Lots of good games, and lots of duds, but it was fun!

Not sure if I'm gonna join in next year (I probably will, who am I kidding), but for now I'm done :3

gaiages said:
Update (12/12) Done! Just in the nick of time too, lol

My Backloggery
My HowLongToBeat page

Beaten [52/52]:
Game 1: Shovel Knight - 6h23m
# So damn awesome.
Game 2: To The Moon - ~4hr
# Very emotional. ;-;
Game 3: Super Mario 3D Wold - 8hr25m
# Very fun. Last world was satisfying.
Game 4: Alphadia Genesis - 16h22m
# Generic and pretty boring.
Game 5: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - ~5hr
# Cleared Classic Mode a few times. It's Smash, what more is there to say?
Game 6: Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition - ~1h30m
# Cleared Arcade with Ken. Been a long time since I played a Street Fighter game, this was pretty fun.
Game 7: Narcissu Side 2nd - ~2h
# Man, that was pretty sad. The original is still a lot more... heartfelt, though.
Game 8: Westernado Double Barreled - 3h12m
# Wow, this is actually pretty amazing. Getting clues for the randomized killer is fun, and the atmosphere and gameplay really drive everything home.
Game 9: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - 8h25m
# Pretty fun with friends, so dull with single player. Played as Charlotte, which was cool, but the extra grinding I had to do for spells was meh.
Game 10: Attack on Titan - Humanity in Chains - ~2h
# Once I actually understood all the moves at my disposal, the missions were pretty okay. Too bad it was only two or three more missions until I beat the game, and I don't have much interest in World Mode.
Game 11: Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland - ~20h
# Sterk's ending get. I liked Atelier Rorona just a bit more, but this one's pretty good, too.
Game 12: Basketbelle - ~1h30m
# That was... weird.
Game 13: Long Live the Queen - 1h58m
# Pretty interesting. I made my princess rather... militaristic, heh. Oh, and all magic all the time
Game 14: Super Chibi Knight - 2h47m
# Fun enough for a nice afternoon romp. Reminded me a lot of Zelda II without the horrid difficulty spikes.
Game 15: Lost Dimension - ~20hr
# The traitor mechanic is a great idea, but the battles are dull and tedious, and really drag things down. It's be a lot better if there was a fast forward button for enemy phases.
Game 16: Cthulhu Saves The World - 7h30m
# Honestly, didn't enjoy it all that much, just finished it up since I was close to the end. Meh.
Game 17: Battle Fantasia -Enhanced Edition- - 1h15m
# It's bleh.
Game 18: Retro/Grade - 58m
# A fun little distraction.
Game 19: Onechanbara Z2: Chaos - ~5h
# Tits McGee.
Game 20: Zenzizenzic - 2h10m
# Nice shump.
Game 21: Astebreed - 58m
# Quite pretty, and fun enough. I enjoyed it.
Game 22: Mighty Switch Force Hyper Drive Edition - 2h20m
# Still as fun as the 3DS version.
Game 23: Freedom Planet - 3h05m
# Very nice throwback to the Genesis Sonic games. Should have really played Classic instead of Adventure though.
Game 24: A Bird Story - 1h08m
# Interesting. Not heart-wrenching, but nostalgic for simpler days.
Game 25: Nitronic Rush - ~30m
# Neat, I like it. Beat Story Mode.
Game 26: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - 1h50m
# Gameplay was awesome, story was cringeworthy.
Game 27: XBlaze Lost: Memories - ~10h
# Quite boring, honestly. Not worth playing.
Game 28: Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX - 4h21m
# Pretty darn fun, and super cute :3
Game 29: eden* - 10h
# A good story, but it really could have dealt with some editing down during the second half, it really drags.
Game 30: Half Minute Hero Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy - 3h50m
# Lots of fun! Though, the concept probably would have went stale if I tried to go down all the different paths.
Game 31: Amnesia: Memories - ~3h
# One path complete. God, getting the Good End is stupidly difficult without a guide.
Game 32: DanganRonpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls - ~17h
# Interesting, but not as good as the main games.
Game 33: Persona 4 Dancing All Night - 8h07m
# Good for Persona 4 fans, okay for everyone else.
Game 34: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call - 9h09m
# Fun! I like it way better than the original.
Game 35: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - 9h12m
# Good, and not as overly difficult as I thought it'd be.
Game 36: Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows - 7h34m
# Great fun. The ending was perfect.
Game 37: Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed - 7h41m
# Getting the 95 stars was difficult, but I feel like a better player now
Game 38: Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax - ~1h
# It's not bad, but nothing really special either.
Game 39: You Must Build A Boat- 5h40m
# Really great for commutes on my phone.
Game 40: Saya no Uta - ~4h
# That was... interesting.
Game 41: Pokemon Alpha Sapphire - 21h13m
# Whew, it's done. Didn't like it too much overall.
Game 42: Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ - ~8hr
# Victor's path complete. I'm surprised about the writing quality, honestly.
Game 43: Norn9: Vas Commons - ~3hr
# Heishi's path completed, it was super adorable.
Game 44: Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below - 30h37m
# Super duper fun. I love Dragon Quest, so of course I loved this.
Game 45: Ridiculous Fishing - ~4hr
# Pretty ridiculous. It's a little grindy at times though.
Game 46: Asphyxia - 5hr
# Quite interesting, I didn't expect the writing to be so good.
Game 47: Dust: An Elysian Tail - 10hr13m
# Gameplay was pretty fun. It looked pretty outside of cutscenes. Was dramatic as fuck.
Game 48: Undertale - 5h50m
# Wow. That was... wow.
Game 49: Mario Kart 7 - 2h54m
# All cups 3 starred on 50cc. Pretty fun but I like 8 more.
Game 50: Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengence - 48h44m
# Wonderful. By far the best Disgaea game
Game 51: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse - 5h54m
# It was... okay. I had a lot of trouble controlling Kirby in tense scenarios.
Game 52: Hatoful Boyfriend - 59m
# Sakuya's full end. This is... interesting.

Synth · Dec 12, 2015

Original Post

Batman: Arkham Knight

Criteria: 100% completion + all Arkham Episodes
Time played: 40 hours

I am not going to miss this game...

This game is the poster child for disrespecting the player's time... I vaguely recall having a bunch of nice things to say about the game's campaign, but it was all so long ago, that I can't even remember any of it. I started this game directed after Origins, having played the previous three games in quick succession... almost four months ago. Due to the game's insistence on not giving me a proper ending unless I did all of its horrifically tedious side quests, I continued on, until I simply couldn't be assed booting it up anymore and drifted off to play a bunch of other games. I continued to chip away at this slowly, and have finally done everything it asked... but my god am I sour on the whole Arkham experience now. I certainly wouldn't be moving on to game #5 in the series is one currently existed.

Oh, and all the DLC sucked too.

Dryk · Dec 13, 2015

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Game #62: Undertale: 7.9 hours

There's not a whole lot to say about Undertale that hasn't already been said. The humour is pretty on point, there are so many Easter eggs in the game that I apparently missed it's insane, and the music is amazing.

Something I find interesting about this game is that it presents you with a choice of how to play it but unlike a lot of other RPGs it makes the two paths play very differently. It's also interesting to note that the good path is clearly the right one, it's more fun and the game encourages you to do it. The ending for that path manages to out Earthbound Earthbound's ending in my opinion too.

Cheat Code · Dec 13, 2015

Today's magic.

Game 27 - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS3)
Game 28 - Dota 2 (PC - Reached the point where I knew what I was doing comfortably)
Game 28 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PC - Reached the point where I knew what I was doing comfortably)

In reference to Dota 2 and CSGO, as you don't really complete them, I counted them as completed because today I was fully happy with what I was doing in both of them with friends.

OP

VisceralBowl · Dec 13, 2015

Drayco21

Labadal

Madn

Sch1sm

donny2112

Ladekabel

mp1990

Oreoleo

KyleP29

jiggles · Dec 13, 2015

Games 1 - 20
Games 21-39
Games 40+

Game 54: Tales from the Borderlands

This was brilliant. Just when I thought I'd had enough of the Telltale formula, I find this going for just £5 and had a blast with it. And I'm not even into Borderlands! The sharp writing, visual gags and stellar VO cast (showing great enthusiasm throughout) made it a delight to breeze through, and provided plenty of laughs along the way. Some of the greatest title sequences ever, too. It's hard to believe that this came from the same studio as Game of Thrones, because where that felt like borderline incompetence, this just seems like masters of the art creating an effortlessly stylish and fun experience. However, the final chapter stands out a good bit because it's significantly less enjoyable than the rest. It's a lot more straight-faced because it's trying to raise the stakes and feel like a climax, but it falls flat by punctuating that with twee sentimentality instead of the humour you'd expect. It's not bad, it's just in unflattering company. Still an amazing series, and Telltale's greatest work to date.
If you like The Secret of Monkey Island, you'll like this.

shmoglish · Dec 15, 2015

Games 1-46

Done\o/

47: Rocketbirds ~5hours -(PsVita)-

Playthrough Singleplayercampaign

Fine game that I already finished on Pc a few years ago. Love the soundtrack and the shootouts can be fun (or annoying). puzzles are easy. Hardboiled is a cool hero. Looking forward to the next game.

48: Velocity Ultra ~5hours -(PsVita)-

Only Playthrough

2x is the harder and imo better game. But this one is alright (and came for free with my PsTv). Kinda miss the run and shoot parts.

49: Hatoful Boyfriend -2hours -(PsVita)

One Playthrough

I like the idea of the game, but I am sure there are better novellegamestuffthings out there.

50: Kings Quest - Episode 1: A Knight to remember 6-8hours -(Ps4)

Only Playthrough

Great game, really. Can only play 2-3 hours in a while in episodic games I like (really happy when they have a gap like the telltales and LiS), but I am going to buy the second KQ Episode as soon as I can/got time to play it. Charming adventure with some puzzles, action, fine dialogues and so on.

51:Shadow Complex Remastered -3hours -(PC)-

Only Playthrough.

Demo was fun a few years ago, but I am lucky about that free giveaway. Game was ok, but I rushed through it. Play and forget.

52: Life is Strange - Season 1 ~10 hours -(Ps4)

100% (Platinum.... ok, need to collect the last Photo)

Great game, but I am not a fan of the last episode. Still enjoyed it and the decision in the end wasn`t an easy one

Bye Chloe

VisceralBowl · Dec 15, 2015

New thread coming soon.

Deadline for submission is December 31st at 11:59PM Pacific.

Mass_Pincup · Dec 16, 2015

Original Post

Game 27: Her Story (Nov 11th) PC
Time Played: 1h30

Let's just say to I was completely taken by surprise by this game, I saw it on sale and remembered the announcement thread here on Gaf so I "said why not?". So in this game you're someone going trough a series of video recording of someone being questioned by the police. There's not a clear ending so you'll have to get through those recording, find new recording with what you learn in the interrogation and forge your own conclusion. From what I saw there's 2 big theories going on right now which are more or less both valid

#teamtwins

. I highly recommend anyone slightly interested to go blind with these one, there really is no way to you'll regret it.

Game 28: Fallout 4 (Dec 3rd) PC
Time Played: 30h
I really anticipated this one, first Bethesda Game studio games since Skyrim and a new Fallout. I really enjoy it, I finish the main story and I'm doing some side quest right now. The gunplay was massively improved and there's still this feel of freedom, just being dumped in the middle of a unknown world, but the animation are still really stiff, the dialogue system got streamlined way to much in my opinion, there's not really much choice in that regard anymore and the bugs, so many bugs beware, END GAME SPOILER

After I finished the last main quest by destroying the Institute with the Minutemen I got back to the Brotherhood and I got greeted by them telling me how they were grateful for me because I saved the Paladin (which I never did), and right after that the dude acted just like in the beginning when he didn't like me and still gave me some mission.

. The settlement system wasn't really my thing either, I would've preferred if he just had 1 base/fort which we could defend, creating some sort of little town. I apparently only found half of the available companions so that's something I'll be doing in the future. In the end Fallout New Vegas is still king but I really enjoyed my time with this one.

Game 29: Emily is Away (Dec 5th)
Time played: 53m

I hesitated to put this one here, but it's a game I guess so here we go. It was fine for what it was, I kind of wanted to have more options, choices. I would've said endings too put that would defeat the purpose of the game. It's a game about drifting apart and it plays it's role perfectly.

Game: 30: Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (Dec 14th) PC

Third AC for me this year and the second best one right after Unity. Having the ability to switch characters more or less whenever you want and the grappling hook are the best addition in this game. The grappling hook makes going from one point to another way faster as well as evading a large group of opponents or the police because yes this game feature the police! A first in the franchise, I remember armies but no policemen. As far as the gameplay goes, it's an AC games, outside of the aforementioned grappling hook and two characters it's not to different from Unity just with way less bugs. So if it's not really your thing I still would not recommend it. I personally loved it and am quite interested by the Jack the Ripper DLC.

Nemaides · Dec 16, 2015

List of completed games

And done:

Game 52: Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae- ~2h

Game 53: Dead Space- ~8h

I don't know if I'll beat more games this year, sadly.

Pellegri Testament · Dec 16, 2015

post update

Game #47 - 49 - Xenosaga Ep 1 - 3 - 11/16/15 - 12/1/15 (18-22 hours each)
Ep 1
This game has not aged nearly as well as the others in terms of looks. Some of the characters feel like they have some kind of identity disorder where they are completely different between the 1st and the remaining 2. Honestly glad they scaled the voice acting up when it came to 2 and 3 because some of the voices in this were just...ehh. The music, while fitting the general feel of the game, just did not compare to the others either. Mitsuda is a great composer, but this just felt like it lacked something compared to his other hits. For the first game in the series it wasn't bad, it's just really easy to tell where things could have gone better.

Ep 2
If it weren't for me actually liking Jr and Momo, this wouldn't have much going for it other than the music, which I feel Yuki Kajiura does a much better job on than Mitsuda. I liked that they tried to give some of the characters some development, but I didn't like that the story progression suffered because of it. For the first half of the game the story barely crawls forward and they end up showing you a 2min montage of what could potentially have been 4-5 extra hours of story, because they felt the need to put some amount of story in this. The potential was there for the game's story, I just wish that all that potential wasn't only in said 2min scene.

Ep 3
After the last 2 I honestly wasn't expecting this to hold up as well as it used to, glad I was wrong. Going through this series again I can definitely say that 3 was always the highlight of the series to me. Very few soundtracks have come close to rivaling what this had put into it, just as few games have evoked the kind of emotion the ending to this has. It definitely has it's flaws, most of which have to do with skipping ahead the year and not explaining much, but it still felt like it was held together well. In the end I'm just glad that we got what we did and that real effort was put into 3, I just wish there was some way for the series to continue.

Game #50 - Mystic Quest - 12/4/15 (11 hours)
The fond memories I had of this may be mostly nostalgia at this point, but I've played much worse over the years. The music is by far the highlight of the game, which has some of the best Snes boss themes I've heard. The battles are pretty easily cheesed other than some rng random fights where you get petrified before you can even make your turn, things only get easier because of infinitely respawning chests. Probably the last time this will see a playthrough, but after 5x, it had a good run.

Game #51 - Guild Wars 2 - 12/9/15 (20+ hours)
As something I can pick up and derp around in for an hour at a time, mainly joining trains, it's not that terrible for solo play. My main faults lie with any kind of group content and the level sync, making most content a chore to even attempt to solo. I like the vanity system and liked certain events over the past few years, but for a solo player, the game just doesn't offer much compared to other mmos.

The_Legend_of_Zelda_A_Link_to_the_Past_SNES_Game_Cover.jpg

Game #52 - LoZ: Link to the Past - 12/15/15 (10 hours)
This is like the 10th time I've played through this and it still hasn't aged poorly. The game may have lost it's challenge long ago, but it's still one of the best Zelda games out there. The dungeons are some of the best out there and it has some of the most memorable music in the series.

KillerBEA · Dec 17, 2015

Probably one of my last updates for the year.
Master list: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=150899273&postcount=983

King of Fighter 98' Ultimate Match (360) Sub 1 hour
Beat Arcade Mode without losing. Thank you abusable record and command system.

6180 The Moon (XB1) 3 Hours
Cute little platformer. Was engaging enough to finish. Like the music a lot.

Knight Squad (XB1) 10 Hours
Surprisingly fun multiplayer game. Because of the community gaming events on an achievement site I frequent we actually got 8 people together and just played the MP for hours for shits and giggles.

Fallout 4 (XB1) 15 Hours
Mad lib the game meets The Purge Boston edition. I got bored really really fast considering I was hoping for at least 100 hours on it. Maybe I will get into it sometime next year.

Minecraft Story Mode (XB1) 6 Hours
Completed up through episode 3 (all that's out at this moment) Very unimpressive game all round, only points I give it is that I have seen any of Telltale's signature lagging and freezing yet. Will play Episode 4 when it comes out in a few days.

Tales from the Borderlands (XB1) 10 Hours
Tied for favorite Telltale turd with Game of Thrones. I actually enjoyed both of these 'games' which is not something I can say for Walking Dead S2 or Minecraft Story Mode. Has it's issues especially in episode 5 though.

Quiplash (XB1) 5 Hours

Silly game, keeping it around for the laughs and for when I can actually get people together to play.

32/52

I failed

Labadal · Dec 17, 2015

Games 1-20
Games 21-40
Games 41-55

Game 56: Pixel Puzzles 2: Anime - 20 hours
PC
Jigsaw puzzle game that I play when I just want to listen to some music and wind down.

chrominance · Dec 19, 2015

Original post

57. Rock Band 4 (PS4)
Career mode completed, three-quarters on Hard Drums and the last songs on Hard Pro Drums. No-fail mode on for the last third of the career.

Surprise: Rock Band returns from the grave for another go on a new generation of consoles! This is glorious news on the one hand--Rock Band's core gameplay has always been outstanding, even if most people stopped paying attention after a while. On the other hand, in many ways Rock Band 4 is creakier than Windows ME. Legacy instruments work, but not all of them. The ones that do work require a separate adapter on Xbox One. And chances are your legacy instruments haven't fared amazingly well while in storage; I forgot that my Rock Band 2 drumkit occasionally loses its connection for a split second, meaning full-chart scores are forever beyond my reach on that kit. And then there was a whole slew of problems with the new Rock Band 4 instruments as well, and the old DLC from previous platforms wasn't immediately accessible from Rock Band 4 in some cases, and the exports from the previous games still aren't available except for Rock Band 3, etc., etc.

And yet it's a miracle any of that stuff happened at all. No one could've foreseen at the beginning of the PS3/360 generation that any of that stuff would be necessary to support. Some of the legacy issues are the result of platform holders locking out old hardware; others have to do with store licensing issues no other game has ever had to deal with. Having everything just work was always a pipe dream, so the fact that it works even this well is something.

But that's the story of Rock Band 4 in a nutshell: amazed it exists at all, but still waiting for all the kinks to get worked out. My personal request: the return of Practice Mode, which would really go a long way towards making the horrible, awful, no-fun death metal songs easier to get through. Turning on no-fail mode and powering through isn't a fantastic substitute, but it was necessary to get through the game without shoving a drumstick through my television. It probably doesn't help that I'm also trying to re-adjust to an actual e-drum kit. When it comes to drumming on an actual kit, I'm all left hands.

If Rock Band 4 really becomes a platform like Harmonix says it will, then the game will be a fantastic continuation of the franchise--especially if the stream of DLC keeps up. It's a big if, as it seems to depend largely on financial support (Harmonix is an independent developer now, and Mad Catz doesn't have the money EA and Viacom were able to throw at the franchise), but for now there's hope.

chrominance · Dec 19, 2015

Original post

58. Guitar Hero Live (PS4)
Live mode completed on Normal.

This feels like a bit of a cheat: there's no way Guitar Hero Live can be finished in less than four hours, right? And yet that's exactly what I'm telling you. Sort of. Kind of.

The mode that Activision led with when reintroducing Guitar Hero to the world is the one that involves you playing with a fake band in full-motion video clips played behind the traditional Guitar Hero fretboard, except now your fretboard has two rows of three buttons instead of one row of five buttons. Let's tackle the FMV first: it is patently ridiculous and completely unrealistic. It's also one of the best things about the game's career mode. At no point do the clips even pretend to depict a real festival or concert experience; instead they act as a goofy idealized version of what it would be like to be a rockstar.

At times this is groan-inducing--remember that part in the reveal trailer where that random woman looks at you with a sultry smile and wishes you good luck?--but for the most part it works surprisingly well. You can tell when you're doing awful when your bandmates start to give you side-eye and tell you to stop fucking up. More, you actually want to please them in some weird way. It cuts when they think poorly of you, more than I expected.

As for the gameplay, it's an interesting evolution of the now-standard five-button rhythm game that actually makes you feel a bit more like you're playing a guitar. I'm sure it's still not realistic, though I only have a few weeks of forgotten self-taught guitar lessons to go on, but it does feel like your hands are making chord shape things I guess.

Anyways, career mode: four hours. And there isn't even a CONGRATULATIONS! screen at the end to let you know you've achieved something. That's because the real meat of the game isn't the career mode; it's Guitar Hero TV. The easiest way to explain it is that it's MTV, but you can play along to it. Instead of traditional DLC, Activision plans to offer new songs using GHTV. It seemed like a smart move when the game was first announced, and now that I've played a bit of it I can say from experience that it works. It fixes one of the biggest aspects of having a huge library of songs to play: what to play next? There's also a competition aspect, which makes GHTV feel more than just a glorified jukebox.

Sure, there's microtransactions, and if you want to play your favourite songs over and over you'll pay dearly. For someone like me, though, who doesn't actually care enough about any of the 200+ songs in the GHTV library to bother paying for access to them, the microtransactions seem completely avoidable. Plus, there's a Party Pass that gives you complete access to the entire library for a short period of time, a model Rock Band would do well to copy.

Spieler Eins · Dec 20, 2015

original post

55. Fast Racing Neo (WiiU) - 8 hours

Despite profiting from the fact, that this game came out on a system without much worthwhile competition in the release schedule, it's actually deserving the mini-hype on Wii U for once.
It's not only a F-Zero clone, but adds its own touch, for example through Ikaruga-esque colour switching mechanics adding another layer to the racing. The visuals put many Wii U games from Nintendo themselves to shame, the sense of speed is conveyed really well. It's very fun to master each of the 16 tracks, which are pretty diverse and not many of them are really subpar. Considering that it's still a game from not more than five main programmers, there's still a few places lacking polish, but they are rare. Still, whenever these parts occur, they don't correlate too well with the brutal difficulty and can eventually cause some frustration. However, to counter this, it feels very refreshing that your enemies can die too and the ranking is never pre-set. And there's always time trials to cool off. The selection of vehicles gives you a good amount of different play- and control styles too.

belkheldar · Dec 20, 2015

Link to original post Game 1 - 31

Game 32 : The Witcher 2 : Assassin of Kings (26 Hours)
Started: 17-04-2012. Completed: 16-08-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (X360)
Another backlog game, really enjoyed it - if anything I was really surprised how a game that I felt looked so good could look so dated in a few short years.

Game 33 : Battlefield Hardline (6 Hours)
Started: 15-07-2015. Completed: 23-08-2015. Rating 6/10. Platform (PS4)
Slog of a game to go through. Did not enjoy the ridiculous plot. It did feel like cops and robbers mod for Battlefield 4.

Game 34 : Mega man 2 (4 Hours)
Started: 26-08-2015. Completed: 29-08-2015. Rating 7/10. Platform (PS4)
Fun short platformer, i can see why people loved it. That being said, i have no idea how anyone could finish it without save states.

Game 35 : Lara Croft Go (4 Hours)
Started: 01-09-2015. Completed: 08-09-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (IOS)
One of the best games this years... and on a mobile device. So very very fun.

Game 36 : Star Fox 64 (1.5 Hours)
Started: 10-09-2015. Completed: 10-09-2015. Rating 5/10. Platform (3DS)
I dont get it. I apologise. I know that this is a beloved classic but I didnt enjoy it at all.

Game 37 : Disney Infinity 3.0 - Twillight of the empire (6 Hours)
Started: 29-08-2015. Completed: 12-09-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (PS4)
Another fun game played with my daughter. This year Disney Infinity was significant times better than la

Game 38 : Metal Gear Solid 5 (34 Hours)
Started: 01-09-2015. Completed: 21-09-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (PS4)
Fantastic MGS game and probably the best sandbox game I have ever played. Everything from the plot, graphics, feel and gameplay has been expertly woven together.

Game 39 : Super Mario Galaxy (21 Hours)
Started: 26-12-2014. Completed: 22-09-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (WiiU)
Another Brilliant Mario game. I am loving finishing these with my daughter. I can see why these games are revered.

Game 40 : Grow Home (4 Hours)
Started: 10-09-2015. Completed: 25-09-2015. Rating 7/10. Platform (PS4)
Fun little game, i normally do not enjoy the physics based games were you struggle with the controller, but this one didnt feel like it was punishing me for lols.

Game 41 : FIFA 16 (20+ Hours)
Started: 22-09-2015. Completed: 03-10-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (PS4)
I really appreciated the zippiness of the menus. Sad, I know. This has been the best one in the past few years. Feels so good. I was able to get promoted to division 3 for online seasons and finished an entire season managing Sydney FC.

Game 42 : Ori and the Blind Forest (10 Hours 40 Mins)
Started: 15-03-2015. Completed: 04-10-2015. Rating 10/10. Platform (X1)
Easily the most beautiful game I have played all year and quite possibly the best metroidvania like game I have ever played.- even after almost finishing Super Metroid and Symphony of the night this year.

Game 43 : Super Mario World (8 Hours 30)
Started: 02-07-2014. Completed: 05-10-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (WiiU)
Another one of the GOAT list games and completely timeliness. Best 2d mario? Maybe that still goes to Mario 3.

Game 44 : Super Mario Maker (20+ Hours)
Started: 11-Sept-2015. Completed: 11-10-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (WiiU)
Finished with Emily - unlocked everything and built as many levels as we could. She loooooooooves it more than I do. Very proud.

Game 45 : Destiny : Dark Below / House of Wolves / Taken King (15 Hours 30 Mins)
Started: 9-Sept-2015. Completed: 12-10-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (PS4)
Counting these ones as one game as I was able to demolish them pretty quickly. Finished with my best friend over a few weeks. Great coop game.

Game 46 : Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt (120 Hours)
Started: 19-05-2015. Completed: 17-10-2015. Rating 10/10. Platform (PS4)
Alrighty. The best game I played all year and one of the top 3 games I have ever played. The champ is here.

Game 47 : Halo 5 (8 Hours)
Started: 27-10-2015. Completed: 01-11-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (X1)
Probably the best first person shooter i played all year - despite having the worst boss fights of any AAA game that I can remember.

Game 48 : The Fall (2.5 Hours)
Started: 17-05-2015. Completed: 18-11-2015. Rating 7/10. Platform (PC)
I really dug the vibe and twist on the adventure genre but I didnt really enjoy the later parts as much as I thought I would.

Game 49 : Assassins Creed Syndicate (20 Hours)
Started: 23-10-2015. Completed: 21-11-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (PS4)
Return to form for one of my favourite game series. I loved the setting and the charismatic characters. Bought immediately the season pass, give me more.

Game 50 : Her Story (1.5 Hours)
Started: 24-11-2015. Completed: 26-11-2015. Rating 7/10. Platform (IOS)
There is something to be said for a unique narrative structure in any medium - played this on a flight in one sitting and I really got into it.

Game 51 : Until Dawn (9.5 Hours)
Started: 15-10-2015. Completed: 29-11-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (PS4)
My wife hates horror as a genre. Movies, TV, Games, you name it. This game changed her opinion on the genre as we played it on the couch together as I imagine many others did with their significant other. Beautiful game.

Game 52 : The Swapper (20+ Hours)
Started: 20-08-2014. Completed: 15-12-2015. Rating 7/10. Platform (PSVita)
Super hard puzzle game - didnt help that I lost my save game twice due to my stupidity in not reading the cloud backup sync definitions.

Game 53 : Rise of Tomb Raider (14 Hours)
Started: 12-11-2015. Completed: 13-12-2015. Rating 8/10. Platform (X1)
A really really good game. One of the prettiest by far. But... the second best Lara Croft game I played.

Game 54 : Black Ops 3 (15 Hours)
Started: 06-11-2015. Completed: 14-12-2015. Rating 5/10. Platform (PS4)
Piece of crap game. Worst one by far.

Game 55 : Fallout 4 (35 Hours)
Started: 10-11-2015. Completed: 20-12-2015. Rating 9/10. Platform (PS4)
I love everything bethesda put out but this one, because of the hype, felt so flat at the beginning. That being said.... without ruining anything that plot really goes places. Loved every second once you get into a rhythm.

Game 56 : Star Wars Battlefront (12 Hours)
Started: 17-11-2015. Completed: 20-12-2015. Rating 7/10. Platform (PS4)
This game is definition of presentation. From music to graphics to sound design. Pity its missing a game. Would have been so much better with a single player campaign.

And that wraps up the challenge for me !

It has been an absolute pleasure to participate with you all - I have sincerely enjoyed reading other peoples recommendations and comments.

I still plan on beating a few more games this year though, so this probably won't be my last update here this year.

Ceallach · Dec 20, 2015

Game 52 The Witcher 3, 116hrs

What's left to be said. Superb experience front to back. Played through the main campaign and most of the expansion. Only reason I didn't finish the expansion was that it bugged out on one mission and I got an endless loading screen

Support NeoGAF

52 games. 1 Year. 2015.

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Neo Member

Smells like fresh rosebuds

Similar threads