The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[Addicted]

@ReddMcKnight: It was a lot of fun. The game starts out on an intense note and you're never quite sure what's around the corner. The game encourages multiple play throughs by giving you new game + items to help on the harder difficulties. You really do feel like you have to survive and I found myself cursing when I missed a shot with my gun. The game relies on more intimate scares and even if you're fully stocked with an arsenal of weapons you still don't feel overpowered.  I hear that VR is the way to go with that game but it's still a great experience if you play it without. If you're on the fence rent it for a night.

[ReddMcKnight]

@ReddMcKnight: It was a lot of fun. The game starts out on an intense note and you're never quite sure what's around the corner. The game encourages multiple play throughs by giving you new game + items to help on the harder difficulties. You really do feel like you have to survive and I found myself cursing when I missed a shot with my gun. The game relies on more intimate scares and even if you're fully stocked with an arsenal of weapons you still don't feel overpowered.  I hear that VR is the way to go with that game but it's still a great experience if you play it without. If you're on the fence rent it for a night.

Sounds like a hell of a thing. I was going to pick it up for PC, but I question if my PC can do it. I'll pick it up for X1 or PS4. As for the "VR Experience", I'll pass. I already have eyesight problems. Thanks for your input.

[Addicted]

@ReddMcKnight: You're welcome. It's not perfect as a lot of the enemies are the same, the puzzles are a little too easy, and the ending is abrupt with an add for DLC . I would rank it a solid B to B+ game, and if you like Amnesia and Soma you'll find something here.

[Addicted]

For Honor (X1) - Finished the single player. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. If you have a chance rent this game to see if it will agree with you.

Skyrim (360) - This is what I get for reading the blogs on the front page.

[ReddMcKnight]

Will I soar, or will I suck?

https://www.youtube.com/p...38RCW3xem8oDQMD_VoojeqNh5

[Addicted]

Sniper Elite 4 (X1) - It's Sniper Elite 3 with better graphics and more open environments. The environments are huge but the gameplay loop is stale after four games.

Halo Wars 2 (X1) - Just installed.

[Disposed Hero]

It's been a long while since I've checked in, but here's what I'm currently playing:

Yakuza 0 - It's more Yakuza, so what's not to love?  I've been spending a lot of time with this game lately.  Some of the mechanics feel like they've been overhauled from the previous games, and it has an intriguing story as always.

Dragon Quest V - I like this game quite a bit, but I have some very minor gripes (such as item management) that hold it back for me.  After getting about halfway through, I put the game down for about a month and a half, but I've picked it up again recently and hope to see it through to the end.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - The original FF IV is one of my all-time favorite games, however I really can't recommend playing The After Years.  My first main problem was how the game forces you to essentially start over several times since you have to play a different character for each chapter.  It got really old spending a few hours leveling up and equipping one party of characters and then changing to another group and starting back at square one.  I thought it was really cool when all the characters came together and you can form a party from all of those characters you have leveled up for the entire game, but this final dungeon is going on forever and is turning into one big boss gauntlet.  And then most of those bosses have some super attack that can wipe your party with one move.  I'm really close to the end of this game, but it's getting very old now.

So now, thanks to Addicted's recent blog post, I want to log my 2017 gaming bucket list here:

1. .hack Outbreak (Part 3) - I've played through the first two games and need to keep the series going.

2. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - I've heard good things about this game and want to try it myself.  Plus it's a good excuse to play my Wii U which usually goes sadly neglected.

3. Phantasy Star II - I really want to play IV at some point since I've heard it's amazing, but I want to play all the games in order, so I need to knock II out first.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles - A friend of mine played this recently and won't stop raving about it, so I guess I need to see what all the fuss is about.

5. Suikoden I & II - I know I need to play Suikoden II, but at this point I feel like I want to play the first game again before starting the sequel.

6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD - I remember absolutely loving Twilight Princess when I played it about 10 years ago, and with all the fuss going on about Breath of the Wild, it seems like a good time to revisit it.

7. Undecided Super Famicom RPG - I've invested so much time and money into acquiring a ton of SFC games, I really need to play more of them.  I'm leaning towards something like Bahamut Lagoon, Live A Live, or Treasure of the Rudras, but there are so many to choose from.

8. Undecided PS2 RPG - So many great RPGs on this system that I have yet to play.  Leaning towards Persona 3, Radiata Stories, or Shadow Hearts.

9. Undecided PSP RPG - Again, another untapped source of RPGs.  I'd have to do some research before I can say what I'll play, but I've heard so many good things about Trails in the Sky that it is an automatic contender.

10. Undecided seventh gen game - There are still a ton of titles from the 7th gen that are on my backlog.  Hopefully I'll knock out more than one, but I gotta start somewhere.  Top contenders right now are Nier, South Park: Stick of Truth, BioShock Infinite, Dishonored, etc., etc., etc....

Edit:  I really want to play another Ys game too.  I guess that will be my number 11...

[Addicted]

Things have really picked up lately.

These are the games I'm trying out from the library:

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/gamestoplay_zpsvv0kajwg.jpg[/img]

I also started Space Adventure Cobra on the SCD.

@Disposed Hero: Ys VIII arrives this fall.

[Disposed Hero]

@Disposed Hero: Ys VIII arrives this fall.

Ah, cool.  I knew it was on the way but wasn't sure exactly when it was coming out.  I'd like to play some more of the older titles before jumping into the newest one, so I should have time to get through at least one before then.

[Sirgin]

Beat Super Mario Galaxy yesterday evening. Fantastic game. I loved the colorful graphics, the level design and the music. This really feels like a game made for...well, gamers. There's barely a story, and nothing gets in between you and great platforming fun. I appreciated the simplicity of the game: no RPG elements, no item management, upgrades, ... only rock solid gameplay.

A couple of neat uses of the Wiimote, but nothing spectacular. I think this game would have been just as good with a traditional controller. Often I would sit too close to my TV for the pointer to still function properly, which made collecting star pieces challinging at times.

In the end I clocked out at 83 stars. I got the 3 "main" stars at each Galaxy, all the single star Galaxies, and a good bunch of other stuff.

I could have continued collecting more stars, but started to feel I was repeating myself. Some of the comet stars (time challenge) or the purple coin (also time challenge) comet stars are too much trial & error for my taste. As you really need to try and do the "perfect" run, not wasting a second anywhere. Which means trying them over and over again to achieve the required time.

The final level was surprisingly challenging. Getting to Bowser was harder than the boss fight itself, which was a bit odd, but hey, all fun in the end.

Now, what shall I play now...

[Link41]

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Been back to this for the past few days and loving every second of it. A underrated Uncharted game to say the least.

[Addicted]

Mass Effect Andromeda (X1 ) - I like this game but I don't love it. It's a good game with flaws that I hope they will address in the next game.

Mystery Game (SNES) - I'm playing a game on my bucket list and this game lives up to the hype. I can't wait to play more.

[Link41]

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Been trying to clean up as many collectables as I can on my second playthrough, some of them are very well hidden.

[Addicted]

Mass Effect Andromeda (X1) - I'm close to the end despite the glitches.

Earthbound (Snes) - This game is a lot of fun. It's mostly on hold due to Mass Effect.

Knight Rider (PCE) - This is better than I expected.

[shaggy]

Neutopia!