in that case:
Game #1 - Rebel Galaxy
Time: 20 hours
Amazing game during the first 15 or so hours until I got to a point where the game becomes super grindy, and I was left with the option of dropping it as I usually do when I cba anymore, or cheating and giving myself all the money to buy the good stuff. I went with option 2 and the next 5 hours until I finished it were fun again, although a different "im super OP" kind of fun. Amazing soundtrack.
Game #2 - Axiom Verge
Time: 12 hours
Probably my favorite "Metroidvania" in many years, and easily one which Ill constantly reference as "you know, its like symphony of the night or axiom verge" from now on. I didnt get every item or map location, but I felt I got what I needed out of it.
Game #3 - Dyscourse
Time: 1 hour give or take
So yeah, this game is a kind of choose your own adventure thing, obviously meant to be played multiple times. But to be honest, I got what I wanted out of it from just 1 run, and just doing it again just to see different things isnt something that appeals to me. Cute little game with some grim situations that totally clash with the art style. I also played the little bonus story which stars various indie devs, which was also cute.
Game #4 - Rack N Ruin
Time: 5 hours
Very cool little Zelda clone with shades of bullet hell shooter, it has pretty much everything going for it. Cool dungeons, great art, good gameplay, cool items, funny writing. I really enjoying my time with it, you could easily put 2 or 3 more hours onto that if you search all the items, I pretty much mainlined it, but its still going to be a short game (which these days is a good thing for me). Great surprise.
Game #5 - Battle: Lost Angeles
Time: 45minutes (lol)
Yup, thats a 45 minute campaign in a modern videogame. No, really
Not much to say, its a god awful, budget ass movie tie in game with zero redeaming qualities. Looks like something from 360's first year, cutscenes are motion comic pictures like something out of a iOS game, it has 1 enemy type, like 3 weapons, its hilariously bad. But hey, its not even 1 hour so its fast at least? Good lord...
Game #6 - Gurumin A Monstrous Adventure
Time - 8 hours
Super cute action rpg, that altought it skews a little young / childish, it has a lot of heart. Cool levels, looks good (considering its a psp port), gameplay is neat, just a all around nice package. I didnt get all the items so theres probably 1 or 2 more hours in there if you want to look for everything.
Game #7 - Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen
Time: 60+ hours
Great game that becomes amazing with the Dark Arisen content. Im not big on replaying games or doing NG+ usually so im going to call it at finishing the main game and the datk arisen stuff once (even tho the dark arisen island is meant to be replayed). Easily my GOTY so far in 2016.
Game #8 - XCOM 2
Time: 50 hours
It was actually about 40 hours or so, I restarted, and stretched out the end game quite a bit before doing the last mission. Anyway, great game, and a great sequel soured by performance issues and some bugs. the last mission was so bad it broke my saves and I had to re-do it lol. Still, great game and I cant wait for some DLC.
Game #9 - Rise of the Tomb Raider
Time: 22 hours
Another great outing from Crystal Dynamic, they continue to secretly make the best Uncharted games (thats right, I said it!). Like it more than the first one overall, even if its more of the same. Performance issues on PC were a shame, but the end game is much better than the first, and theres a ton of stuff to do besides the main game for those into that. My only real complaint is it feels like a 20 hour game with mechanics for a 40 hour game. By the time you have all your stuff and you feel like spending another 20 hours with it, the game is over. Still, highly recomended, will probably be in my top 10 this year.
Game #10 - Darkest Dungeon
Time: 55 hours
First lets get this out of the way: I didnt finish the game. I tried the titular "Darkest Dungeon" (aka the last one) a couple of times with max level heroes and just got wiped out easily. I have no idea what to do besides get very lucky with RNG, and I cba to level a bunch of heroes up to max level again to bang my head against it. 55 hours, I feel like ive gotten what I was gonna get out of the game. That being said, I absolutely loved it and it will easily be one of my favorite games of the year.
Game #11 - Out There Somewhere
Time: 2 hours
Cute little puzzle platformer with great pixel art and some nasty teleport-based puzzles. Had to use a walkthrough a couple of times to figure out some puzzles. Its pretty short so its a easy one to finish, and if you like puzle games I highly recomend it (especially because its been bundled and super cheap so many times you probably own it).
Game #12 - 140
Time: 50 minutes
Very short puzzle platform with simplistic graphics and a great soundtrack. I loved the way the sound and puzzles worked together, and the asthetics work nicely to fit the mood of the game (reminds me a lot of Thomas Was Alone except with funky beats instead of the british narrator). Its very short and the last puzzle is annoying, but its worth playing.
Game #13 - Cubetractor
Time: 4 hours
Very cool puzzle game where you have to combine various cubes to form defenses and turrets to get around each level. I missed one of the optional puzzles, it was doing my head in and I couldnt find a solution online so I just skipped it and ended the game. The definition of hidden gem.
Game #14 - Hyper Light Drifter
Time: 7 hours
Awesome zelda style action rpg (emphasys on the action) with gorgeous graphics and a cool soundtrack. Hard as balls, I wish it was longer, because I love whats there. Lots of secrets to find if youre into that kind of thing. Must buy on sale, full price im not so sure, I dont regret it but, well...I wish it was longer :/
Game(s) #15 - Pink Hour / Pink Heaven
Time: 30 minutes between both
Im including both as these free to play games are so short that I struggle to justify even including them, let alone each as its own game (even tho they technically are). Anyway, super cute platformers that are basically ads for Kero Blaster. But hey, they look great, play great and I just overall like the vibe of them. It made me want to play Kero Blaster, so I guess mission acomplished. They actually have different endings (well, Pink Heaven at least does) and unlock a hard mode level each, so for what is basically just a ad for Kero Blaster, they are surprisingly well thought out.
Game #16 - Dark Souls III
Time: 45 hours
Amazing conclusion to the trilogy and my favorite Souls game probably. Cant wait to play more of this in NG+ and especially the DLC, but for now I need a well deserved break. Killed all the bosses and did all the zones, and used a lot less summons than previous games surprisingly (only 3 times). Most likely my GOTY for 2016
Game #17 - Enter The Gungeon
Time: 24 hours
Awesome little rogue-like twin joystick shooter with a meta progression system very similar to Crypt of the Necrodancer. Awesome art, great soundtrack, great gameplay. I finally finished a full run, but these games are never truly over. Still, I got end credits so it counts. Will probably go back to it regulary now and then.
Game #18 - Mad Max
Time: 43 hours
When I took some time off work I saw myself playing Dark Souls 3 for 50 hours or so (which I did), I did not however see me play Mad MAx of all games for over 40 hours. And you know what? Its great. Its a super well made videogame. Looks beautiful, runs amazing (never dropped from 60 even on those ridiculous storms, except when it autoaved...Dark Souls 3 had the same problem, stupid auto saves. Might be my HDD tho), gameplay is fun and both the driving and the fighting feel great, really impactful. Sound design is amazing (barely any music but alot of music and sound cues very much like a movie), everything sounds super nasty from the engines to the impact sounds (I never got tired of kicking down a door to open it, so satisfying), story is ok-ish with some colorful characters (Chumbucket best new character of 2016) and a great ending (something games usually fail at as we know), just a overall very well made, very satisfying package.
If you are not into the whole side stuff collectathon, you can still get a meaty 8 hours or so I'd imagine for the main story only. One of the easiest recomendations in ages, especially at the prices it usually goes for.
Game #19 - Street Fighter V
Time: 52 hours (for now)
Was going to add this at the end of the year as my 51s game (with Marvel Heroes being the 52nd, both games I play on and off throughout the year and dont really end) but I might aswell do it now because I havent playe dit in a couple of months and I wont be back any time soon probably. Ill play more eventually, probably with the june update, or when all the season pass characters are out, but for now I feel ok about putting it in since ive done most of what you can do atm anyway. Anyway, amazing core game with great graphics and almost perfect gameplay marred by all the launch issues we all know about and that still persist. Its an amazing game wrapped in a awful package. Its really a shame.
Game #20 - Bastion
Time: 7 hours
Ive been putting off playing Bastion for years after back at the releae time not feeling it very much and only playing it for a couple of hours. Decided to finally give it another shot and restart and I loved it. the movement feels incredibly sluggish at first but once you get used to it, the art, amazing soundtrack, the cool narragation and some nice combat all come together for something really cool. I always thought Bastion (and Transistor, which I also stopped after a few hours...whats up with me and Supergiant Games games?) on paper should be something I would enjoy a lot, and it turns out it was, I guess I just wasnt in the mood for the type of game back then.
Game #21 - Momodora III
Time: 2 hours
Fantastic little action platformer. Great pixel art, great soundtrack, controls are very responsive, theres items to find / buy and use (some quite OP in fact lol), secret areas and a new game + opens up when you finish the game. Quite a package for what is essencial a very short game. Makes me really interested in the latest Momodora game, which I hear is more of a full fledged game.
Game #22 - Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Time: 10 hours
Super fun casual adventure romp (as all the Lego games re I guess) that makes great use of the license. Lenghty campaign and I didnt even touch the open world part of the game and the million side activities in it, or the ridiculous amount of unlocks. I imagine this is a great game to play co-op, especially for / with kids, and value wise its an amazing package with all the stuff in it. Good graphics, silly but fun story that actually has some really inventive set pieces with some bosses and power usages, jus overall a great game. Easily the best Lego game Ive played.
Game #23 - Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD
Time: 7 hours
Both a great "metroidvania" game, and a great sequel thematically to Lords of Shadow, I really enjoyed this. PC version looks good for what it is (a remkae of a 3ds game), gameplay is nice except some of the platforming since the jumps feel very floaty (but the game is very generous with your "magnetic pull" to platforms to be fair), the zones are big and varied, lots of bosse, lots of items and magic to open new pathways, and story wise I really like how they subvert the classic Castlevania lore in a logical way (well logical following the events of Lords of Shadow). I ended up tracking down a lot of items in the first half, no so much near the end. The game said I finished at 87% completion which isnt bad I guess for the genre. Very recomended, and made me want to play Lords of Shadow 2 finally (im actually a big fan of the first one)
Game #24 - Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2
Time: 17 hours
Good game plagued with a split personality and obvious game development problems (which were public), at times it feels like they were making 2 different games. Still, the combat is great, some of the vistas in the castle sections are great (not so much in the modern city setting) and theres quite a bit of backtracking for upgrades, much more so than in the first game. I like it in that B-tier game we are lacking more and more, but some bad stealth sections and otherwsie frustrating parts make it not as good as the first one. I still like the trilogy in the end tho, and really like what they did with the lore in a new setting. The
Revelations DLC is neat, if a bit short.
Game #25 - Contrast
Time: 3 hours
Super disapointing and a serious case of "dont judge a book by its cover", or in this case, a game by its screenshots. In fact, the noir-ish art style is prtty much the only thing this short adventure has going for it. Super loose and finicky controls, uninspired light/shadow based puzzles made worse by the bad controls, and a story that wants to be deeper and more serious than your usual videogame but falls appart because of the awful writing, its really a shame how badly this turned out because it looked super promissing. At least its short :/
Game #26 - Ys Origin
Time: 10 hours
Another fun entry in the Ys series, although compared to Seven (the only other I finished) it suffers from a simple story and the single location throughout the game (although the tilesets change of course). Still, Ys games are super fun to play and this is no diffeent, and this one has the difference that you can choose from 2 different characters, one melee and one ranged, with a third unlocking when you finish with either. The path through the game is the same but there are some differences, which is good for completionists or people that like to get the most out of their games, but I have zero interest in doing all that again with a different character, I would rather spend that time playing another game, for example the other Ys games I havent played. Still good tho, and totally worth playing if you like action rpgs in the least.
Game #27 - Astebreed
Time: 3 hours
3 hours because I spent about 1 hour on the last boss before I gave up and deleted the game before I thre my controller at my screen or something. Some of the worst difficulty scaling / spike Ive ever seen as the game is one of the easiest games ever in the first 4 levels, then all of a sudden chapters 5 and 6 (which are basically just bosses) it becomes way too hard (in my opinion of course), the ch5 boss almost made me rage quit and the chapter 6 boss did make me rage quit as I already said. Basically told myself "why am I doing this im not having fun" and called it. I could do it on easy (I think?) but you cant change difficulty without restarting the game and I just cant be arsed to do that again (even if its very short). The game itself is ok, very over rated imo, it looks gorgeous but they have dialogue running throughout the game which is impossible to follow with the chaos on screen, and you can just cruise by the game with auto shots until the aformentioned last chapters. Super disapointing imo.
Game #28 - Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
Time: 26 hours
Welp my save got corrupted from a power cut right before the last boss so I guess im done with it. I already finished vanilla so Ive seen the ending, but I lost the character if I wanted to ever do NG+ and more importantly, I lost access to the DLC (because you need to "unlock" the dlc dungeons at certain parts of the story) so I guess I wont be playing the DLC. Such a shame because I actually had a super good time with the game this second time around after feeling disapointed back when I played vanilla. Not gonna lie tho, this corrupt save thing kinda soured me on the whole thing. Oh well :/
Game #29 - Salt and Sanctuary
Time: 21 hours
amazing metroidvania meets dark souls which manages to feel like the best of both worlds. How this game was made by 2 people (Ska Studios) is beyond me, but then agin you could say the same about most 1 or 2 person games. Awesome level design, tons of zones, tons of bosses, great weapons, cool leveling system, I love the art but I can understand how someone think its ugly, just overall a great package and well worth the price. Will easily be in my GOTYs this year.
Game #30 - Ghost 1.0
Time: 11 hours
another excellent metroidvania from the maker of UnEpic, even if its a shorter game than its predecessor (by alot), its a much more polished and refined experience. Neat sotry, great level design, tons of weapons, tons of secrets, decent voice acting, and he reigned in the meme-style humour of UnEpic. Great game all around, I wish there was some sort of "interted castle", only because I wanted more of it, its that good.
Game #31 - Overwatch
Time: 100 hours
While I will probably play more eventually, since im taking a extended break and dont really feel like playing it anymore at the time, I feel like its a good time to add it to the list. Amazing team-based shooter thant unfortunately like all multiplayer games is heavily dependant on other people, and thus your experience will wildly fluctuate. The new ranked mode isnt exaclty what I wanted and it seems they are adjusting it, but the time I spent with it was great. After about 800 matches tho I started to feel the burn a bit. Great graphics, amazing sound design and the traditional blizzard polish make for a great package, one that I will hopefully return to now and then when they add heroes and maps.
Game #32 - 10000000
Time: 6 hours (3 on PC + 3 on mobile)
After getting into You Must Build a Boat on PC I decided to play the original 10000000 on my phone as a time waster at work. Either the game is much shorter than the sequel, or just plainly easier to play on a phone because sliding the tiles with your finger is much faster than with a mouse. Either way, its a great match 3 type game with a ridiculous amount of "just one more run" syndrome. Cute pixel art (which again looks better on a small screen), fun meta progression system, just a fun and addicting game all around. Ill probably start up I Must Build a Boat on my phone at work now also even tho Im playing it on PC heh.
Game #33 - You Must Build a Boat
Time: 12 hours (7 on mobile + 5 on PC)
The sequel to 10000000 and a much better game overall. The campaign is twice as long, the meta is better with more upgrades and stuff to do, even for future playthroughs, the setting is cooler, just overall a better game. Still super fun and addictive also.
Main Post 2
Game #1 - Rebel Galaxy
Time: 20 hours
Amazing game during the first 15 or so hours until I got to a point where the game becomes super grindy, and I was left with the option of dropping it as I usually do when I cba anymore, or cheating and giving myself all the money to buy the good stuff. I went with option 2 and the next 5 hours until I finished it were fun again, although a different "im super OP" kind of fun. Amazing soundtrack.
Game #2 - Axiom Verge
Time: 12 hours
Probably my favorite "Metroidvania" in many years, and easily one which Ill constantly reference as "you know, its like symphony of the night or axiom verge" from now on. I didnt get every item or map location, but I felt I got what I needed out of it.
Game #3 - Dyscourse
Time: 1 hour give or take
So yeah, this game is a kind of choose your own adventure thing, obviously meant to be played multiple times. But to be honest, I got what I wanted out of it from just 1 run, and just doing it again just to see different things isnt something that appeals to me. Cute little game with some grim situations that totally clash with the art style. I also played the little bonus story which stars various indie devs, which was also cute.
Game #4 - Rack N Ruin
Time: 5 hours
Very cool little Zelda clone with shades of bullet hell shooter, it has pretty much everything going for it. Cool dungeons, great art, good gameplay, cool items, funny writing. I really enjoying my time with it, you could easily put 2 or 3 more hours onto that if you search all the items, I pretty much mainlined it, but its still going to be a short game (which these days is a good thing for me). Great surprise.
Game #5 - Battle: Lost Angeles
Time: 45minutes (lol)
Yup, thats a 45 minute campaign in a modern videogame. No, really
Not much to say, its a god awful, budget ass movie tie in game with zero redeaming qualities. Looks like something from 360's first year, cutscenes are motion comic pictures like something out of a iOS game, it has 1 enemy type, like 3 weapons, its hilariously bad. But hey, its not even 1 hour so its fast at least? Good lord...
Game #6 - Gurumin A Monstrous Adventure
Time - 8 hours
Super cute action rpg, that altought it skews a little young / childish, it has a lot of heart. Cool levels, looks good (considering its a psp port), gameplay is neat, just a all around nice package. I didnt get all the items so theres probably 1 or 2 more hours in there if you want to look for everything.
Game #7 - Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen
Time: 60+ hours
Great game that becomes amazing with the Dark Arisen content. Im not big on replaying games or doing NG+ usually so im going to call it at finishing the main game and the datk arisen stuff once (even tho the dark arisen island is meant to be replayed). Easily my GOTY so far in 2016.
Game #8 - XCOM 2
Time: 50 hours
It was actually about 40 hours or so, I restarted, and stretched out the end game quite a bit before doing the last mission. Anyway, great game, and a great sequel soured by performance issues and some bugs. the last mission was so bad it broke my saves and I had to re-do it lol. Still, great game and I cant wait for some DLC.
Game #9 - Rise of the Tomb Raider
Time: 22 hours
Another great outing from Crystal Dynamic, they continue to secretly make the best Uncharted games (thats right, I said it!). Like it more than the first one overall, even if its more of the same. Performance issues on PC were a shame, but the end game is much better than the first, and theres a ton of stuff to do besides the main game for those into that. My only real complaint is it feels like a 20 hour game with mechanics for a 40 hour game. By the time you have all your stuff and you feel like spending another 20 hours with it, the game is over. Still, highly recomended, will probably be in my top 10 this year.
Game #10 - Darkest Dungeon
Time: 55 hours
First lets get this out of the way: I didnt finish the game. I tried the titular "Darkest Dungeon" (aka the last one) a couple of times with max level heroes and just got wiped out easily. I have no idea what to do besides get very lucky with RNG, and I cba to level a bunch of heroes up to max level again to bang my head against it. 55 hours, I feel like ive gotten what I was gonna get out of the game. That being said, I absolutely loved it and it will easily be one of my favorite games of the year.
Game #11 - Out There Somewhere
Time: 2 hours
Cute little puzzle platformer with great pixel art and some nasty teleport-based puzzles. Had to use a walkthrough a couple of times to figure out some puzzles. Its pretty short so its a easy one to finish, and if you like puzle games I highly recomend it (especially because its been bundled and super cheap so many times you probably own it).
Game #12 - 140
Time: 50 minutes
Very short puzzle platform with simplistic graphics and a great soundtrack. I loved the way the sound and puzzles worked together, and the asthetics work nicely to fit the mood of the game (reminds me a lot of Thomas Was Alone except with funky beats instead of the british narrator). Its very short and the last puzzle is annoying, but its worth playing.
Game #13 - Cubetractor
Time: 4 hours
Very cool puzzle game where you have to combine various cubes to form defenses and turrets to get around each level. I missed one of the optional puzzles, it was doing my head in and I couldnt find a solution online so I just skipped it and ended the game. The definition of hidden gem.
Game #14 - Hyper Light Drifter
Time: 7 hours
Awesome zelda style action rpg (emphasys on the action) with gorgeous graphics and a cool soundtrack. Hard as balls, I wish it was longer, because I love whats there. Lots of secrets to find if youre into that kind of thing. Must buy on sale, full price im not so sure, I dont regret it but, well...I wish it was longer :/
Game(s) #15 - Pink Hour / Pink Heaven
Time: 30 minutes between both
Im including both as these free to play games are so short that I struggle to justify even including them, let alone each as its own game (even tho they technically are). Anyway, super cute platformers that are basically ads for Kero Blaster. But hey, they look great, play great and I just overall like the vibe of them. It made me want to play Kero Blaster, so I guess mission acomplished. They actually have different endings (well, Pink Heaven at least does) and unlock a hard mode level each, so for what is basically just a ad for Kero Blaster, they are surprisingly well thought out.
Game #16 - Dark Souls III
Time: 45 hours
Amazing conclusion to the trilogy and my favorite Souls game probably. Cant wait to play more of this in NG+ and especially the DLC, but for now I need a well deserved break. Killed all the bosses and did all the zones, and used a lot less summons than previous games surprisingly (only 3 times). Most likely my GOTY for 2016
Game #17 - Enter The Gungeon
Time: 24 hours
Awesome little rogue-like twin joystick shooter with a meta progression system very similar to Crypt of the Necrodancer. Awesome art, great soundtrack, great gameplay. I finally finished a full run, but these games are never truly over. Still, I got end credits so it counts. Will probably go back to it regulary now and then.
Game #18 - Mad Max
Time: 43 hours
When I took some time off work I saw myself playing Dark Souls 3 for 50 hours or so (which I did), I did not however see me play Mad MAx of all games for over 40 hours. And you know what? Its great. Its a super well made videogame. Looks beautiful, runs amazing (never dropped from 60 even on those ridiculous storms, except when it autoaved...Dark Souls 3 had the same problem, stupid auto saves. Might be my HDD tho), gameplay is fun and both the driving and the fighting feel great, really impactful. Sound design is amazing (barely any music but alot of music and sound cues very much like a movie), everything sounds super nasty from the engines to the impact sounds (I never got tired of kicking down a door to open it, so satisfying), story is ok-ish with some colorful characters (Chumbucket best new character of 2016) and a great ending (something games usually fail at as we know), just a overall very well made, very satisfying package.
If you are not into the whole side stuff collectathon, you can still get a meaty 8 hours or so I'd imagine for the main story only. One of the easiest recomendations in ages, especially at the prices it usually goes for.
Game #19 - Street Fighter V
Time: 52 hours (for now)
Was going to add this at the end of the year as my 51s game (with Marvel Heroes being the 52nd, both games I play on and off throughout the year and dont really end) but I might aswell do it now because I havent playe dit in a couple of months and I wont be back any time soon probably. Ill play more eventually, probably with the june update, or when all the season pass characters are out, but for now I feel ok about putting it in since ive done most of what you can do atm anyway. Anyway, amazing core game with great graphics and almost perfect gameplay marred by all the launch issues we all know about and that still persist. Its an amazing game wrapped in a awful package. Its really a shame.
Game #20 - Bastion
Time: 7 hours
Ive been putting off playing Bastion for years after back at the releae time not feeling it very much and only playing it for a couple of hours. Decided to finally give it another shot and restart and I loved it. the movement feels incredibly sluggish at first but once you get used to it, the art, amazing soundtrack, the cool narragation and some nice combat all come together for something really cool. I always thought Bastion (and Transistor, which I also stopped after a few hours...whats up with me and Supergiant Games games?) on paper should be something I would enjoy a lot, and it turns out it was, I guess I just wasnt in the mood for the type of game back then.
Game #21 - Momodora III
Time: 2 hours
Fantastic little action platformer. Great pixel art, great soundtrack, controls are very responsive, theres items to find / buy and use (some quite OP in fact lol), secret areas and a new game + opens up when you finish the game. Quite a package for what is essencial a very short game. Makes me really interested in the latest Momodora game, which I hear is more of a full fledged game.
Game #22 - Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Time: 10 hours
Super fun casual adventure romp (as all the Lego games re I guess) that makes great use of the license. Lenghty campaign and I didnt even touch the open world part of the game and the million side activities in it, or the ridiculous amount of unlocks. I imagine this is a great game to play co-op, especially for / with kids, and value wise its an amazing package with all the stuff in it. Good graphics, silly but fun story that actually has some really inventive set pieces with some bosses and power usages, jus overall a great game. Easily the best Lego game Ive played.
Game #23 - Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD
Time: 7 hours
Both a great "metroidvania" game, and a great sequel thematically to Lords of Shadow, I really enjoyed this. PC version looks good for what it is (a remkae of a 3ds game), gameplay is nice except some of the platforming since the jumps feel very floaty (but the game is very generous with your "magnetic pull" to platforms to be fair), the zones are big and varied, lots of bosse, lots of items and magic to open new pathways, and story wise I really like how they subvert the classic Castlevania lore in a logical way (well logical following the events of Lords of Shadow). I ended up tracking down a lot of items in the first half, no so much near the end. The game said I finished at 87% completion which isnt bad I guess for the genre. Very recomended, and made me want to play Lords of Shadow 2 finally (im actually a big fan of the first one)
Game #24 - Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2
Time: 17 hours
Good game plagued with a split personality and obvious game development problems (which were public), at times it feels like they were making 2 different games. Still, the combat is great, some of the vistas in the castle sections are great (not so much in the modern city setting) and theres quite a bit of backtracking for upgrades, much more so than in the first game. I like it in that B-tier game we are lacking more and more, but some bad stealth sections and otherwsie frustrating parts make it not as good as the first one. I still like the trilogy in the end tho, and really like what they did with the lore in a new setting. The
Alucard
Game #25 - Contrast
Time: 3 hours
Super disapointing and a serious case of "dont judge a book by its cover", or in this case, a game by its screenshots. In fact, the noir-ish art style is prtty much the only thing this short adventure has going for it. Super loose and finicky controls, uninspired light/shadow based puzzles made worse by the bad controls, and a story that wants to be deeper and more serious than your usual videogame but falls appart because of the awful writing, its really a shame how badly this turned out because it looked super promissing. At least its short :/
Game #26 - Ys Origin
Time: 10 hours
Another fun entry in the Ys series, although compared to Seven (the only other I finished) it suffers from a simple story and the single location throughout the game (although the tilesets change of course). Still, Ys games are super fun to play and this is no diffeent, and this one has the difference that you can choose from 2 different characters, one melee and one ranged, with a third unlocking when you finish with either. The path through the game is the same but there are some differences, which is good for completionists or people that like to get the most out of their games, but I have zero interest in doing all that again with a different character, I would rather spend that time playing another game, for example the other Ys games I havent played. Still good tho, and totally worth playing if you like action rpgs in the least.
Game #27 - Astebreed
Time: 3 hours
3 hours because I spent about 1 hour on the last boss before I gave up and deleted the game before I thre my controller at my screen or something. Some of the worst difficulty scaling / spike Ive ever seen as the game is one of the easiest games ever in the first 4 levels, then all of a sudden chapters 5 and 6 (which are basically just bosses) it becomes way too hard (in my opinion of course), the ch5 boss almost made me rage quit and the chapter 6 boss did make me rage quit as I already said. Basically told myself "why am I doing this im not having fun" and called it. I could do it on easy (I think?) but you cant change difficulty without restarting the game and I just cant be arsed to do that again (even if its very short). The game itself is ok, very over rated imo, it looks gorgeous but they have dialogue running throughout the game which is impossible to follow with the chaos on screen, and you can just cruise by the game with auto shots until the aformentioned last chapters. Super disapointing imo.
Game #28 - Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
Time: 26 hours
Welp my save got corrupted from a power cut right before the last boss so I guess im done with it. I already finished vanilla so Ive seen the ending, but I lost the character if I wanted to ever do NG+ and more importantly, I lost access to the DLC (because you need to "unlock" the dlc dungeons at certain parts of the story) so I guess I wont be playing the DLC. Such a shame because I actually had a super good time with the game this second time around after feeling disapointed back when I played vanilla. Not gonna lie tho, this corrupt save thing kinda soured me on the whole thing. Oh well :/
Game #29 - Salt and Sanctuary
Time: 21 hours
amazing metroidvania meets dark souls which manages to feel like the best of both worlds. How this game was made by 2 people (Ska Studios) is beyond me, but then agin you could say the same about most 1 or 2 person games. Awesome level design, tons of zones, tons of bosses, great weapons, cool leveling system, I love the art but I can understand how someone think its ugly, just overall a great package and well worth the price. Will easily be in my GOTYs this year.
Game #30 - Ghost 1.0
Time: 11 hours
another excellent metroidvania from the maker of UnEpic, even if its a shorter game than its predecessor (by alot), its a much more polished and refined experience. Neat sotry, great level design, tons of weapons, tons of secrets, decent voice acting, and he reigned in the meme-style humour of UnEpic. Great game all around, I wish there was some sort of "interted castle", only because I wanted more of it, its that good.
Game #31 - Overwatch
Time: 100 hours
While I will probably play more eventually, since im taking a extended break and dont really feel like playing it anymore at the time, I feel like its a good time to add it to the list. Amazing team-based shooter thant unfortunately like all multiplayer games is heavily dependant on other people, and thus your experience will wildly fluctuate. The new ranked mode isnt exaclty what I wanted and it seems they are adjusting it, but the time I spent with it was great. After about 800 matches tho I started to feel the burn a bit. Great graphics, amazing sound design and the traditional blizzard polish make for a great package, one that I will hopefully return to now and then when they add heroes and maps.
Game #32 - 10000000
Time: 6 hours (3 on PC + 3 on mobile)
After getting into You Must Build a Boat on PC I decided to play the original 10000000 on my phone as a time waster at work. Either the game is much shorter than the sequel, or just plainly easier to play on a phone because sliding the tiles with your finger is much faster than with a mouse. Either way, its a great match 3 type game with a ridiculous amount of "just one more run" syndrome. Cute pixel art (which again looks better on a small screen), fun meta progression system, just a fun and addicting game all around. Ill probably start up I Must Build a Boat on my phone at work now also even tho Im playing it on PC heh.
Game #33 - You Must Build a Boat
Time: 12 hours (7 on mobile + 5 on PC)
The sequel to 10000000 and a much better game overall. The campaign is twice as long, the meta is better with more upgrades and stuff to do, even for future playthroughs, the setting is cooler, just overall a better game. Still super fun and addictive also.
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