I hope you enjoy it!
Friendly heads up, the subtitles don’t always align with what is said (like at one point you have to grab five items, but the dialogue and subtitles differ in number). So just be wary of that.
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Thanks for the tip!
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Leaderboard - September 17th, 2022:
- @profjjj +20.5
- @outrigued +20.5
- @Mort +19
- @NierlyCrazy +6
- @PhantomFox +1.5
- @BadMoodJones +1
- @watgreatgaming -1
Getting close to the end myself! But yeah, this game’s got a bit too many random encounters. At certain points I’m being chased by like 4 enemies, lmao. The demon fusion is pretty fun though!
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Finished Spec Ops: The Line.
Very good game! Very Apocalypse Now in a really unique setting, I liked it. The cover based combat held up decently, but the story is the main thing here. I will have to replay this sometime for sure, to see some different stuff. Not often a game makes you feel like this, very well done.
That’s a +1 for me, @PhantomFox .
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Man, you three are really cutting it close…
Leaderboard - September 19th, 2022:
- @profjjj +20.5
- @outrigued +20.5
- @Mort +20
- @NierlyCrazy +6
- @PhantomFox +1.5
- @BadMoodJones +1
- @watgreatgaming -1
Got the game in my backlog too! I should probably get to it soon.
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Finished Brutal Legend. +1 for me, @PhantomFox
Minecraft Legends reminded me I had this one in the backlog. It’s interesting. It’s clunky. It has heart. It’s two games (or three) in one and it doesn’t succeed at any of them, but it’s still neat to see. Glad I gave it a play. Hope we see more wacky stuff from Double Fine under MS.
Obligatory “expect more completions from me soon” comment here.
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What a difference from earlier in the year. What looked like a runaway has become a three way race!!
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Yeah, I doubt I can keep up but I’m not quitting yet.
Keep getting sidetracked by Game Pass games though, haha.
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Better watch out 
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And just when I was starting to have confidence in you eliminating a good chunk of your backlog. smh. lol
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Bought and beat Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. No points this time!
At first, I was not vibing with this game at all. I appreciate what they were going for, but I think the decisions they made at the beginning made it tough to be as interested in the story, although I could see many people say the exact opposite.
As an end to the Zero Escape series, it was fine. It was interesting and brought enough twists where I definitely think it deserves to stand beside the previous two games, but I have to say I think its my least favorite one.
On the bright side, I have both started and now finished the Zero Escape series this year. Also managed to 100% all three games! Its been a worthwhile ride, but next it’ll be time to get back to a series that carries my interest much more…
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Finished Asura’s Wrath and the Nirvana DLC. +1.5 for me @PhantomFox
It’s absurd. Absolutely silly. But, it works. I wish the combat had more depth, though. Fun ride overall, and I’ll remember the visual spectacle of it for a while (also a surprise appearance of Dvorak’s 9th) but this isn’t a GOAT for me. Glad it exists!
@NierlyCrazy I think I might play the Nonary Games soon. I also need to make time for the Danganronpa trilogy before they leave GP.
I’m looking to keep my pace of even more completions this week, by the way. Stay tuned.
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Just finished The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on steam. +1 Also finished Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes the other day. +0.5 (I guess?) So, I think that is +1.5 for me.
Ethan Carter was a pretty good walking simulator/puzzle/mystery game. The game gives you no guidance at all on where to go or what to do, so it is fairly impenetrable. I used a guide to tell me where to go, so I wouldn’t be wandering around aimlessly - but when I got to a puzzle I tried to figure it out on my own. It’s a good little game if you are into its genre.
I had no context at all for the Metal Gear game. I own every Metal Gear game available on Xbox, but have never played any of them. So, starting with V was probably dumb. But, I knew it was short and would at least give me a taste of Kojima’s style. It was certainly cinematic, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the controls. Gameplay seemed pretty good, but not great. I’m interested enough in the Metal Gear world that I might try one of the full games at some point.
I’m really close on at least a couple of other completions, so hopefully I’ll add to my score this weekend. At some point I need to dive into some of the GamePass titles that have come out the last month or so, so I’ll definitely be slowing down on the backlog in the near future.
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I will argue since Ground Zeroes is a separate release it’s a +1, even if it’s a short one.
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I concur.
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Yeah, GZ should be fine as a separate release.
That said, I think it was not a good entry point for the franchise @profjjj. (And technically you didn’t start with MGS5, you started with the prologue to MGS5. The full game is much longer.) Fans argue constantly about what the best starting point is, but on Xbox, your best option is to start with MGS3. Then go to Peace Walker, then Ground Zeroes, then Phantom Pain. Also, the gameplay/controls will vary between those entries.
As for your point about not enjoying the controls/gameplay…that’s bonkers to me. Many people consider GZ/PP to have the best open world stealth gameplay of the past generation. That Fox engine was a marvel. Smooth 60 FPS gameplay, with that visual fidelity…wow.
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I agree, we’ll count Ground Zeroes as a +1.
Leaderboard - September 22nd, 2022:
- @outrigued +23
- @profjjj +22.5
- @Mort +20
- @NierlyCrazy +6
- @PhantomFox +1.5
- @BadMoodJones +1
- @watgreatgaming -1
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Right, I knew that was just the prologue. That’s why I started there. I wanted a “modern” game just to give me a tease for the series. So short was good. But your point is well taken. If I wanted to understand what was going on I should have started much earlier in the series.
As to the controls/gameplay my first issue was that there wasn’t really a tutorial at all so I was fumbling around trying to figure out how to sneak and change weapons, etc. I didn’t even realize I had a sleep pistol until 2/3 through the game. Ha.
The second issue is that I just found some of the control mapping to be non-standard (A to crouch, for example). Of course, for all I know MGS set the standard for those controls and everyone else who uses B to crouch have been the nonstandard ones.
The third issue was probably my fault, not the games - but I kept getting detected even when I thought should have been hidden. Consequently, I played the second half of the game mostly loud. I managed to finish the main mission by calling in the evac helicopter in the middle of the base during a massive gunfight. Ha
I’m sure if the game was longer and had eased me into the systems gradually I wouldn’t have had those problems (except for my incompetence at stealth…).
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Finished my playthrough of Life is Strange. +1 for me. @PhantomFox
Still Dontnod’s best game, I think. It has some clunky moments - the puzzles aren’t great - but as a game that sets up moments and builds tension over the course of a journey…it succeeds. Also, kudos to the BC team - Auto HDR and FPS Boost made this a very comfy experience. Felt like a free remaster!
I really hope Xbox and Dontnod (I know they changed their spelling) collaborate on more projects in the future. Tell Me Why was a good first step, and more things like that launching into GP would be nice to see.
And for those keeping track, I am currently just shy of 200k gamerscore. (199,150)
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- Just finished Deathloop on PS5. +1
- Also finished Ryse Son of Rome the other day. +1
- So, that’s +2 total for me.
Enjoyed both of these quite a bit. I’m pretty embarassed to just be playing Ryse. I literally brought that game home with me when I bought my Xbox One near launch in 2013, but somehow I never got around to playing it… I’m glad to have finally gotten around to it.
I bought Deathloop on launch day on PS5 last year, dove in and played about 10-12 hours then got distracted and never finished it. The game launching on Game Pass was the nudge I needed to finish it off. Really enjoyed this one - though as usual my complete inability to be stealthy did me no favors. At least the game allows you to go loud if you “need” to.
I’m not sure what I will play next. I have a long list of Game Pass games I would like to try, but I also have a brand new Steam Deck that just got delivered a couple of days ago. I also still have a handful of long games I am somewhere in the ballpark of 40%-50% complete on. I’ll probably be on the Steam Deck at least the next couple of days since I can fiddle with that while (American) football is on the TV.
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