Well, rather than starting the year with any of the games on my “to do” list, I decided to replay Marvel’s Midnight Suns (and all dlc).
I completed this game (and took credit for it) two years ago on Steam, but picked it up cheap on Xbox during our dead period and couldn’t resist diving right back in.
So, I start the year with a +0, but I’ll take comfort in the fact this would have been a +3 if I was playing t for the first time. Ha.
FYI, I highly recommend this game for anyone who likes tactical turn-based games. If you are also a Marvel fan it’s an absolute no-brainer. One of the best games I have played in the last several years.
To be fair… you could count these as points in your favor. It’s a different SKU, on a different platform even. Since you picked it up during the grace period as well there’s no mess with points etc. either.
We have allowed the same game, but different versions in the past.
I started the first two levels back in 2015, and I was under the impression that I was playing through on Super Soldier. I thought I had gotten really good at the game, only to realize it was on normal difficulty, haha. It was a year of the bow game, much like most games that came out around that time. This time, you’re back in New York with a splash of rainforest mixed in, like a combination of the first two locations. It’s more of the same, but I actually really enjoy the gameplay and story. I would quite like to see a Crysis 4 with eye-popping visuals on this gen or next-gen consoles. I’ve been checking out all the multiplayer modes in these old 360 games, and unsurprisingly, EA has shut the servers down.
Second week already gone and time for an update! @MasterLeePhD in the lead of a top 3 pack starting off very strong. Still a few of us with no points on the board yet as well… Keep punching that backlog down!
Huge Streets of Rage fan here—played the occasional Double Dragon throughout the years, but it never really stood out compared to SoR. The 80s theme is a bonus in my book, but that’s about all that stood out to me. There are only 10 small levels and a pointless upgrade system that wasn’t needed. Maybe it would have been more fun playing in co-op mode.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare+1
This time, Alan Wake is stuck in an episode of the Night Springs series, starring Mr. Scratch and set in a neon-lit dust bowl. It’s surprisingly long for a 360 Arcade game and uses the old Groundhog Day gimmick. The random Kasabian song made me chuckle.
Far Cry+1
I’m pretty sure I completed this on PC way back in 2004 and thought it was open world. The 360 arcade version seems chopped up into levels compared to the original, probably due to the arcade size restrictions at the time. I always think of Crysis when playing this—maybe because of the setting? The ex-devs went on to make Crysis? The main character sounds like a complete cheese ball, and I can definitely say that voice acting has improved a lot since then. It’s definitely showing its age but is still fun and has put me in the mood for playing even more linear old-school FPS games. It takes about 4 hours to complete.
-1 - Tales of Graces f Remastered (XSX) - you all know by now that I’ll buy just about every JRPG as soon as possible on Xbox - gotta put my money where my mouth is.
Mostly played on PC, story with flashbacks to a woman’s childhood in France, of a summer in her youth spent with her Grandma along a river called the Dordogne (which is a real place). Not bad, the story is mostly related in letters to or from her Grandmother, and I think a few parts could be better detailed. The game itself looks a lot like watercolors at times in Mimi’s memories which worked great. The scenery while kayaking on the river is really pretty.
I enjoyed it for a few hours but not for everyone.
+1 Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (XOne) - I’ve had this game for years (I still remember when Igarashi announced it, I believe at an Xbox e3 event) and finally decided to beat the dam thing. I wish I hadn’t waited so long because, aside from the 8-bit aesthetic (I love 16-bit and beyond but have a love/hate for 8-bit era graphics), it’s a fantastic Castlevania-like from the original level-based games. The characters all play uniquely enough and the swapping mechanic really breathes life into what could have been stale. 8/10 for me
+0 Jusant - This game has no spoken audio, but it manages to tell an interesting story through letters that you find. You play as an unnamed individual who is climbing for reasons unknown. Very quickly it becomes evident that something is wrong and an area which was once full of water had gone completely dry turning what appears to be a seabed into a desert, and your climbing trip is related to this. Jusant apparently means “Ebb tide” in French, which is fitting - and I think this is going to go on my list of standout titles for the year. The game has some great music and while not being a graphical masterpiece for “realism,” has some very pretty art. I especially enjoyed the 4th chapter for photoluminescence, but it was much better looking than I was expecting. Glad I gave it a whirl.
+0 Firewatch - started when it was in Game Pass a couple years back and while I kept meaning to buy it, I never did. I’m glad I figured out how to run on PC because the walking was annoyingly slow. I found it easy to get lost initially but I did get a bearing on things eventually & was able to make my way around. Story about spending a summer in a watch tower in a national park, watching & reporting fires. Fairly quickly you realize that you’re not alone and things aren’t entirely as they seem. This was a neat title for me as a relative of mine had this job for a summer, though I think it was less eventful for them :).
Great games! I especially enjoyed Jusant, the eeriness and following in someones footsteps and the little stories which unfolded via the crumbs left behind was great. The climbing felt excellent and the hunt for collectibles was very enjoyable.
Not much to say about these. More Powerwash is always a good thing. I zoned out for hours on end, powerwashed gunk off of giant robots and airships and Deloreans while I listened to podcasts. A great time.
I’ve been a fan of the Kingdom Rush franchise since the first entry, but this is the first time I have played on PC (I played the first several entries on iPad). The game was fine, but definitely falls into the “more of the same” category. I have mixed feelings on PC vs iPad. Overall, I think I like the touch experience on iPad a bit better.
If they released a “season pass” or bundle for all the PowerWash Sim DLC I’d probably buy it, saw some of it was on sale & was super tempted but didn’t do it yet. Great game though, really enjoyed it.
