The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Been enjoying the heck, out of Sundered, lately.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Finished my play through of Detroit: Become Human and I’m honestly very happy on how it all turned out!

[Disposed Hero]

I've been chronicling my thoughts on Twitter about some shorter NES/Famicom/Arcade titles that I've played through, so I won't get into them here.

Trails of Cold Steel - It took a year of playing this game off and on for a total of 40 hours, but I'm finally getting really into it. It's similar to Trails in the Sky in the way that it takes a little while to get going, and I figured that was the case which is why I stuck with it, but it took way longer for me to get into this one than Sky. I wanted to stick it out though because these games are super long and there are a few of them out now, so I figured the investment would be worth it. I've finally gotten to a point in the story where interesting things are happening and the feuding classmates have gotten over their petty differences so I don't have to listen to them argue like children anymore. Really digging the game now and am glad I stuck with it.

Metro 2033 Redux - I signed up for the Xbox Game Pass 3 months for $1 deal and started a replay of this game. I remember really enjoying it when I played it a few years ago, and I still like it, but it feels considerably more dated to me now than it did back in 2015. I hope to finish this one up soon and start on Metro Last Light.

I also have a vacation coming up in a couple of weeks, and I'm trying to decide on a game to start and bury myself in that for that week. I'm leaning heavily towards South Park: The Fractured But Whole since I played The Stick of Truth during a similar break from work and absolutely loved it, but I'm keeping my options open for now.

[Mr_Stubbes]

I’m playing my way through Ocarina of Time again. I’m used to playing on the N64 but the remaster for the 3DS looks great. I’ve already cleared the fire temple and am about to start the water temple.

[Disposed Hero]

Metro 2033 Redux - Just finished this and still really enjoyed it. I hope to start Last Light soon.

Trails of Cold Steel - I'm so glad I stuck this game out. I'm really enjoying it now, and the 40 hour grind feels so worth it knowing that there will be at least 3 more of these very lengthy games for me to sink my teeth into.

Battlefield 1 - The firefight sections of Metro 2033 made me want to play a more straightforward FPS, and I decided on Battlefield 1 after seeing it in a Youtube video and being blown away by the visuals. I just picked up a cheap copy from GameStop on my lunch break and look forward to jumping in when I get home today.

Shenmue - I haven't started this one yet either, but I randomly picked from my backlog list and this is what I got. I played this game way back when it first came out on the Dreamcast and absolutely loved it, so I'm curious to see if the slow pace and simulation aspects hold up after all this time.

[Disposed Hero]

Battlefield 1 - The firefight sections of Metro 2033 made me want to play a more straightforward FPS, and I decided on Battlefield 1 after seeing it in a Youtube video and being blown away by the visuals. I just picked up a cheap copy from GameStop on my lunch break and look forward to jumping in when I get home today.

I started this and played it for 1-2 hours and wasn't enjoying it at all, so I promptly uninstalled it. Too much lousy stealth.

[Disposed Hero]

Metro: Last Light - I started this but haven't gotten very far yet, but I'm really enjoying it. It looks and feels very similar to 2033, which I guess should be expected, but I always thought that Last Light would feel quite a bit more advanced since it was regularly used for PC benchmarks for years. At any rate, I love the feel of these games. I just bought Exodus since it was on sale and hope to dive into that soon.

Shenmue HD - I blew through this over the long holiday weekend. I absolutely loved this game back in the day, so I felt a bit of trepidation revisiting this one because I knew it would be dated and the cracks would show more. While that is definitely true, I still really enjoyed it. I got kind of frustrated with the whole Harbor section which I felt dragged on a bit longer than it should, but otherwise I had a good time with it.

Strider (2014) - I've owned this game for years but have never really played it, so recently finishing the NES Strider made me curious to try this one out. It's a lot of fun! It plays more like the Arcade and Genesis versions but wraps it in a Metroidvania game structure that isn't quite like the NES game, but instead reminds me a bit more of Shadow Complex.

[Mr_Stubbes]

My copy of hollow knight for the switch came in today. I’ve never had a chance to play this game, and when I saw it was getting a physical release for the switch I just had to pick it up!

[techwizard]

Battlefield 1 - The firefight sections of Metro 2033 made me want to play a more straightforward FPS, and I decided on Battlefield 1 after seeing it in a Youtube video and being blown away by the visuals. I just picked up a cheap copy from GameStop on my lunch break and look forward to jumping in when I get home today.

I started this and played it for 1-2 hours and wasn't enjoying it at all, so I promptly uninstalled it. Too much lousy stealth.

Battlefield games aren't made for their single player, and definitely not for stealth...it's really made to be played competitively online.

[Disposed Hero]

Battlefield 1 - The firefight sections of Metro 2033 made me want to play a more straightforward FPS, and I decided on Battlefield 1 after seeing it in a Youtube video and being blown away by the visuals. I just picked up a cheap copy from GameStop on my lunch break and look forward to jumping in when I get home today.

I started this and played it for 1-2 hours and wasn't enjoying it at all, so I promptly uninstalled it. Too much lousy stealth.

Battlefield games aren't made for their single player, and definitely not for stealth...it's really made to be played competitively online.

The same could be said for Call of Duty, but I've typically enjoyed those campaigns in the past, especially WWII. I agree that these games aren't made for stealth, although somebody should have told the developers that. Battlefield 1 really forces a ton of stealth on you during the early part of its campaign. Maybe if I would have pushed though I would have gotten to something better, but I had other things to play.

Speaking of which:

Metro: Last Light - I finished this one and thought it was even better than 2033. I'm really digging these games and will be starting Exodus soon.

Trails of Cold Steel - I've been making so much progress in this game lately that I just now realized that I'm swiftly nearing the end of the game. I've been playing it off and on for a year, so I almost can't believe that I'm finally nearing the finish line.

Strider (2014) - It's not perfect, but I'm really enjoying this game.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole - I've put a few hours into it and am really enjoying it so far. I think I enjoyed the first game a bit more, but we'll see how this one goes.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclessia - Despite being a huge fan of both Castlevania and Metroidvania-style games, I'm way behind on the GBA and DS Castlevania titles, so I decided to jump into this one. I like it so far.

CrossCode - I've been hearing a lot of good things about this action-RPG indie game, so I wanted to start it up. It seems pretty good so far. Nice blend of action and puzzle elements.

[Sirgin]

I played through the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm campaign. Highly enjoyable, and not a bad story either. I want to play Legacy of the Void sometime later this year to complete my playthrough of the campaigns.

[Disposed Hero]

Metro Exodus - I'm a few hours in and have mixed feelings. They kind of watered down the whole Metro experience by introducing some popular 'checklist' features such as open world environments and a crafting system. It actually feels quite a bit more like Fallout than Metro. That being said, it's still a good game and I am enjoying it, but the verdict's still out on whether it'll end up being my favorite in the series or not.

Strider (2014) - Pretty good, but far from the best Metroidvania out there.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole - I liked this game a lot, but I enjoyed The Stick of Truth way more.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - I enjoyed it, but it pales in comparison to Symphony of the Night. I wish they would just stick closer to the formula of SOTN instead of deviating so much, but I guess I can't blame them for wanting to try something new.

[JSoup]

I played through the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm campaign. Highly enjoyable, and not a bad story either. I want to play Legacy of the Void sometime later this year to complete my playthrough of the campaigns.

I still need to really dig into Heart of the Swarm, but I was impressed with what I saw. It's like Blizzard built their own version of Source to make the cutscenes.

[Disposed Hero]

Metro: Exodus - This game goes back and forth between more linear sections and the open-world sections, and I find the open-world parts to be a bit of a drag. Not that they're bad or that I don't enjoy them, but for someone like me who feels the need to explore a game to its fullest, it can be kind of tedious and time consuming trying to explore everything. Almost every game is like this nowadays, and I get a bit fatigued of this type of game design after a while. I wish this game was more linear like the first two Metro games, but I can't really blame the developers for going after a bigger market.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - I started playing this with the Cartridge Club. I've been itching to revisit the rest of the series ever since the Playcast did the first Uncharted. I absolutely loved this game back in the day, and although I'm still really enjoying it, it's obviously a bit dated by today's standards.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - I wanted to continue playing through the handheld Castlevania titles, so I picked this one up. I like it quite a bit more than Order of Ecclesia.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - I was fortunate to receive my copy a day early and to also have the day off work, so I put about 6-7 hours into it yesterday. Needless to say, I really love it so far. There's a lot going on in terms of available weapon and ability types, so there is a ton of combat variety without feeling too overwhelming. My only complaint is that some elements of its presentation feel a bit cheap or rushed, such as some weird graphical glitches, but these are all minor. Igarashi definitely delivered on this one!

[bombatomba]

CrossCode - I've been hearing a lot of good things about this action-RPG indie game, so I wanted to start it up. It seems pretty good so far. Nice blend of action and puzzle elements.

Oh crap, that means the game is done, right?  I played this a while ago but had to stop due to well, a stop in the story (due to it being Early Access and me not noticing).  It was fun, and now I can put it back on play rotation list.  Thanks!

Speaking of that, my family got me a Nintendo Switch for Father's Day, and my main game on that (despite getting the SNK 40th Collection) is Pro Wrestling that I am playing for the NES Challenge.  I used to walk through this game using Fighter Hayabusa (four back brain kicks and two suplexes to pin!) when I was a kid, but now it is a serious struggle.  I think I have been playing the game on and off for around three or four hours now.  I still love it, but I think after I finish it I will need a long break before I pick the game up again.

I just selected King Slender for my next playthrough.  Today is the day.