+1 Rayland
Getting a little head start on my weekly easy completion since I will be out of town for a few weeks on a cruise starting next week! This one is a Lazer based puzzle game. I enjoyed it, but it is very short.
3 Likes
- +1 - Sonic Advance (GBA) - I bought this over 20 years ago specifically to have a method of taking care of my S2A Chaos, and somehow I never actually went through it. I just finished it with every character (Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sonic) and had to go snag all the chaos emeralds for that “secret” ending. Honestly, this turned out to be one of my favorite Sonic games; the level design is fantastic and the different characters genuinely provide different experiences. Recently bought a DS Lite again so I can play all my old GBA titles with a backlight (I still have my two original GBAs… complete with no backlight), so I’ll be going through some more classics
Total =33
4 Likes
- +1 - GTA Vice City Definitive Edition (XSX) - Honestly, this is my least favorite of the classic 3D trilogy - the most ripped off plot/sub plots, combined with some of the worst-aged mechanics and mission structures. Glad it’s over lol.
Total = 34
4 Likes
+0 Somerville
Wanted to complete this before it left Game Pass, and it was definitely interesting. See some influences from obvious Sci fi movies but it has its own flavor. I really thought the sound and music were well done. Glad I finished it up.
4 Likes
While your least favorite, it’s MY favorite GTA game for the exact reasons you don’t like it. I love Scarface as it’s a fucking classic movie and GTA Vice City being a rip off of it was great for me because getting a video game version of that was awesome.
GTA VI looks to be a rip off of Bonnie & Clyde which I have never seen but im looking forward to GTA VI more than I ever did San Andreas, IV or V.
1 Like
+0 Somerville
An interesting scifi puzzle platformer. Reminds me of Inside/Limbo. It leaves Game Pass in about 30 hours, but only takes about five to complete, so you still have time!
3 Likes
- Just completed Dragon Age: Veilguard. + 1
- New Total = 13.5
For context, I am a huge Dragon Age fan. I have played all the games and dlcs multiple times, with Origins being in the running for my most completed game ever (I think I have beaten it 9 times or more).
No two Dragon Age games have ever been alike, but I have enjoyed all of them. This game was no exception. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The obvious strength of the game is the combat, which I thought was fantastic. I never got tired of it - even after (ballpark) 100 hours of playing. I also enjoyed the story/plot and the additions to the Dragon Age lore.
I loved the amount of time the game lets you spend with the companions. I don’t recall any game devoting as much time to companion quests. Each companion gets their own multi-mission arc as well as separate non-combat “missions” that are only there for character development and story advancement. Add to that the conversations you can have at the camp and the informal companion chatter during missions and there is simply a huge amount of companion interaction and dialogue in the game.
With that said, I thought the characters (and the character writing) were a bit of a mixed bag. I was quite fond of some of the characters, but I didn’t fall in love with any of them like I did Morrigan, Leiliana, and Alistair in DAO, Isabella, Aveline, and Varric in DA2, or practically the entire cast of Inquisition.
The writing definitely suffers from some of the Marvel tropes, but overall it was just a bit bland and ham-fisted. I thought the game was also quite overwritten - often taking three or four sentences to communicate what should have been done in one. Despite all of that I didn’t hate the writing - it was just a disappointment compared to the previous games (and my own expectations).
To be clear, I thought all the companion story arcs were good - and I enjoyed playing all the companion missions. It’s not the plotting/story I had an issue with - just how the character conversations in game are written.
One other note. This game clearly has the biggest budget of any single-player Bioware game ever (and it isn’t close). The production values are off the chart and the game has several of the biggest set pieces/best missions of any Bioware game.
Anyway, I have rambled enough. This was a solid 8+ for me. I need to let it marinate a bit before giving a final score, but it was well worth the purchase for me.
8 Likes
Thanks for the impressions! I will come at the game from a similar point of view as you did, as a huge Dragon Age fan myself. I might have been a little bit less impressed with Inquisition, but that was mainly due to the bloat.
The characters and dialogue has always been my concern with The Veilguard, I still have a mild ptsd from Andromeda. A game where I not only didn’t care for most of the companions but actively tried to get rid of some of them, which the game didn’t let me sadly. I can’t with the childish writing, bad dialogue and Marvel-bs, I really hope I can overlook anything resembling that as I play this game myself.
I’m hoping I can find a good deal around christmas and make this my first game of next year!
3 Likes
Definitely agree about the bloat in Inquisition. Getting through some of those zones was a huge slog. But I did really enjoy most of the characters in that game.
3 Likes
The bloat is why I haven’t finished that damn game a decade later. I need to read the rest of your thoughts but your response so far lines up with my own from what I’ve seen in play throughs.
3 Likes
It’s definitely the opposite for me, as I couldn’t get into any of the older Dragon Age games, I would start the games play an hour or two lose interest and just not come back for months before restarting again, same with Mass Effect(I tried with the legendary edition, but I just didn’t enjoy my time with ME1 to bother with 2 or 3). But this one is doing the impossible and getting me to want to buckle down and play the other games for the lore of the rest of the world.
3 Likes
+1 Agatha Christie The ABC Murders (X1)
Pretty good adaptation with some minor annoyances and controls that could be better. Decent if very repetitive music, and the game works very hard to keep you in an area until it wants you to be done there which was good and bad. The voice acting was not as good as I hoped. Noticed that there’s a newish Series X version after I finished & from watching the trailer, it may add a few more things for you to observe, flashing lights for “drama” and maybe a couple of scenes that are slightly different angles, but otherwise appears to be the same game I just finished. Obviously the reason to come is for the story & that’s about what you’d expect if you know it already.
4 Likes
- +1 - Capcom Fighting Collection: Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge (XOne) - I used to love running down to Boardwalk to play all the latest fighters, and the second Darkstalkers was such a massive jump from the first visually and from a character selection standpoint. Still holds up, despite being considerably mechanically-simpler to most fighting games today, and even contemporarily.
Total = 35
3 Likes
- 1 Far Cry 2 - 1st achievement unlocked in 2008 then 2nd in 2010 so must have ditched this one a long time ago. I found the atmosphere and music still top notch and an interesting storyline but the constant being chased by guards with amazing eyesight and quicker vehicles was still annoying and the reason I parked it all those years ago. Not sure if it was the sound mix but could not work out where I was getting shot from a lot of the time. I wasn’t doing much stealth as wanted to get through story and I think that is more the way to play it but that’s Far Cry 2, 3 and 4 completed this year. Having played 5 a few year ago I’ll leave the Far Cry series for now.
+0 Gears Tactics (Game Pass) - Started this one in Jan '23 looking at first achievement and have always wanted to return and try a turn based game. Enjoyed most of this one and there is some funny dialogue during battles. I thought they dragged out the 3rd act by adding more compulsory side missions which were repeating the same objectives. The final boss though was a challenge and I’m sure I was on easy. Off the 35 hour game time 5-7 must have been on this and that included respeccing squad twice to try different things. On the successful final battle it was literally if I don’t kill him on my turn I was dead and back to the checkpoint and another hour plus battle.
So new total +19. Going to easy off the gas as hit Far Cry 2 hard in last week. Going for more leisurely playthrough of Fable 2 next.
4 Likes
- +1 - Resident Evil 0 (XOne) - As someone who still has his GCN copy of this game… how did I ever find this one good? I might even think 6 is better than this one after going back through this mess. Between the terrible dual character simultaneous control garbage and the ironically-worse item management, it’s hard to understand how I ever enjoyed this one lol. Legitimately been working on this one for months and I’m finally done
Total = 36
4 Likes
Just a heads up…you could always wait for it to get added to EA Play.
1 Like
- +1 - Capcom Fighting Collection: Vampire Savior: The Lord of the Vampire (XOne) - I distinctly remember when my local Boardwalk got two of these cabinets, and my older brother and I would spend hours just beating the crap out of each other in it. Massively improved sequel, even more so than the first Darkstalkers sequel, and the near-doubling of characters, massively improved combo system, and introduction of new moves to classic characters makes this one of the best in this collection. First time Lilith is introduced to the series and I always appreciated how different she and Morrigan play compared to the Ryu/Ken situations.
Total = 37
3 Likes
Nah, I really want to play it soon. But that is definitely a good option for anyone on the fence.
3 Likes
- +1 - Capcom Fighting Collection: Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (XOne) - So I never got to experience this when it came out in arcades and I wish I had, the experience has been pretty mind-blowing: dynamic and destructible levels, a unique pilot/armor setup where the six playable characters can use any of the nine mechs, a pretty sophisticated combo and early weapon system, a legitimately good story for the time, and some groovy music. If you have this collection, this one is an absolute gem; my only complaint is how short it can be with only six characters and endings.
Total = 38
3 Likes
Okay, cool. Dragon Age is an excellent game and as of now, it’s my current game of the year.
2 Likes