Topic: Games you've recently beat

Oooh very nice review @RogerRoger ! Loved the screenshots, especially the one with the skelly in the ginormous air vent

Welcome back @Ralizah ... I loved your simple, flat "back" in the vacation topic 😅

As for your review it was very nice indeed! The use of screenshots really adds to it! I do like the focused approach that looks more professional but I also liked the list like feature too of the previous ones

@RogerRoger Yep she felt like a character with motivation and the transition seemed natural. Hope she likes it!

@Ralizah Nicely written and the pics do help break it up as well. Did you not find that being able to instantly restart the boss “battles” made the choices you made less important? And how does taking the “wrong” companion along affect things; do you need to restart the whole level to change them if you think it will help?

@Thrillho
1) I think being able to restart the boss battles saves primarily on tedium. And considering the loopy adventure game logic of some of the puzzles involved with saving them (destroying them is usually much more straight-forward), it's a feature I deeply appreciate. I think the developers know that forcing players to backtrack any length to restart the battle is just going to encourage people to look up information online, which kind of spoils the fun.

2) So, at pretty much any point before the final battle, you can backtrack to the mansion that functions as your home base and switch out partners, which you'll probably need to do at least a few times to either beat the big bads or even get to them in the first place (sometimes you need specific party members for specific interactions in the level itself). This can get a bit tedious, as it involves deliberately backtracking one screen at a time, and each transition takes, at minimum, a few seconds.

If you're bad about making multiple save files (oh! forgot to mention that, but you get a lot of save files, and you're absolutely going to want to use all of those if you plan on getting the best ending and/or unlocking all the trophies), the game still allows you to jump back to a point before the last major decision in a chapter, thankfully. The developers were very considerate about not allowing the player to trap themselves into an unwinnable position.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy In fairness, it's good to be "back."

I'll probably continue to opt for that former style for smaller games that make less of an impression on me. I have to up my game, though, as people on here are starting to outshine me with their write-ups.

@RogerRoger I imagine you're playing some ancient PC game like with with KB+M, right? How well does an Indiana Jones game control without a controller?

The screenshots make it look really good for a game from 2003.

@RogerRoger Wonderful review, that brings back memories. I used to enjoy Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb back in the PS2 days, but have forgotten most of it by now. I can still vividly recall running around the castle and also that tank level late in the game though.

@Ralizah Excellent writeup. It's the first I've heard of that game, but it does sound rather interesting.

Marvel's Spider-Man

How much did I play? Got the Platinum Trophy and also completed the DLC.

In many ways Spider-Man is beholden to the usual tropes generally associated with open-world titles - from the mission structure, multitudinous side activities and collectibles, to even how the story unfolds. The map is gradually unlocked by activating police signals - Spider-Man's equivalent of the ubiquitous Ubisoft tower - and in each district an array of activities are vomited at the player. These same activities are repeated throughout the game ad nauseam. As an open-world game, Spider-Man is far from exceptional. So why did I enjoy it so much?

What foremost elevates proceedings is the elegant manner in which Spider-Man traverses the city. There's an almost tangible fluidity to each swing, jump and launch. Run up the side of a building, launch off the top and hurl Spider-Man into the air before grabbing a building with his web and swooping through on a full swing. It sounds complicated, but is largely operated with just the L2 and R2 buttons. It is this simplicity that is key to the enjoyment slinging round the city offers. In short, it's fast and an absolute joy. Unusually for an open world game and aided by a relatively compact map, I found I very rarely fast-travelled. Insomniac absolutely nailed the feel of Spider-Man.

Web-slinging traversal is joined by an equally flowing, tactile combat system. At its core it is a melee system, relying on punches and kicks and augmented by Spider-Man's unique abilities and web gadgets. To begin with Spider-Man's abilities are almost painfully limited, though over the course of the game more and more are unlocked, using either skill points or various "currency" tokens obtained from completing the large number of side activities. Combat is intensely satisfying when all of these gadgets are available and fully utilised in the field. Indeed, they will need to be, as when surrounded by a myriad of foes half the challenge is in crowd control. Pin enemies to walls, electrocute them, or even hurl them to the air in an anti-gravity field. Manifold combinations offer a surprising level of flexibility. Different challenges in side missions will yield extra XP or tokens, pushing the player to be more creative. Hilariously, although much is made of Spider-Man's non-lethal approach, a common challenge is to hurl enemies over the edge of skyscrapers, which I assume leads to their demise.

Spider-Man is most effective when attacking from the air - indeed he is slow and easily surrounded on the ground. To this end he can grab enemies with his web and pull them up to his level, before unleashing a combo and moving on to the next foe. After filling up a meter, there will also be access to a finisher move, which is best saved for more difficult enemies - the most irritating of which are late-game rocket boosting monstrosities.

Of course, Spider-Man wouldn't be Spider-Man without his spider sense, and here it allows him to anticipate an incoming attack or projectile, giving the player a short window of opportunity to dodge. One unlockable skill (yes, on a skill tree) upgrades this skill further to allow him to counter with a finishing move, or even return rockets to their sender. There's a separate meter to activate a "suit power" - a unique move or ability unlocked through buying different suits. One of my favourites unleashes a flurry of webs hitting everything in sight and pinning unfortunate victims to the nearest surface.

Later in the game, with difficult enemies and so much going on in the heat of combat, things can get a little hectic. There is a lot of button pressing involved, which made it a little tricky for me, even playing on easy.

Stealth is less important, though incredibly useful in certain story missions, or where there are a huge amount of enemies, or in the opening phase of crime warehouse gauntlets. Stealth is as equally satisfying as combat, particularly when crawling on ceilings and hoisting up and webbing enemies.

While Spider-Man is controlled for 99% of the game, there are a handful of story missions where the player is put the shoes of MJ or Miles Morales. These are stealth missions by default, as getting caught will lead to instant failure. Miles uses simple hacking gadgets to distract enemies, while MJ has to rely on knocking over suspiciously placed toolboxes. Neither are as compelling as when controlling Spider-Man and their missions are a touch repetitive.

Spider-Man's version of New York is rendered in exceptional detail. It's on a smaller scale than the real Manhattan, of course, and missing the northern tip of the island, but most major landmarks are there. To tie it into the wider comic book world (or MCU), the Avengers tower and Doctor Strange's Sanctum are also present.

The story hides no real surprises, particularly if you've seen the various films or read the comics, though it is exceptionally presented. Voice acting, led by the ever-youthful Yuri Lowenthal, is outstanding (bar one character, the horrendous "Screwball"). There's also plenty of set-up for the expected sequel, both in the main story and DLC. The story centres primarily on Mister Negative and later the "Sinister Six". Boss battles - from the opening with Kingpin to the end - are thrilling set-pieces and a highlight of the game.

Despite the repetition and severe case of "open world-itis" everything is held together by the exceptional world traversal and combat system. Topped off with excellent visuals and presentation, Spider-Man is a real treat that I thoroughly enjoyed playing. Insomniac have captured the almost intangible essence of Spider-Man, and that is worthy of some praise.

@mookysam Nice.

I thought collectibles/side missions were nicely done with them being "released" periodically through the game. They also had a good variety from simple collectibles, like the backpack, through to the science stations which themselves were well varied.

As you say, the movement is spot on, and just feels fun at all times, and combat feels equally as fluid so you do feel like you're playing as Spidey rather than generic computer game hero #64. The fast travel system is also quite clever and I did enjoy the different cut scenes it bought up.

What were your feelings on the DLC though? I gave my thoughts again in the game's thread but thought it was fine but a bit superfluous, especially going straight into it from the main game. Screw the Screwball challenges though.

@Thrillho The most repetitive bit for me were the various "crimes" in each area, which got a bit much by Act 3. A lot of the individual story missions are really quite cool and I liked the science stations, which are the most varied of the side content, but overall for me it was the side-stuff that dragged down that side of the game.

I agree regarding the DLC. It's alright as an extra and I enjoyed that it was "more of the same" because playing as Spider-Man is so fun, but at the same time it didn't feel quite necessary. That said, part of the third DLC (the ending of a side mission) certainly seems like potential set-up for the sequel, which might confuse people who end up not playing the DLC. Screwball is quite possibly the single most annoying character in any video game I've played. Ever. Absolutely hated her and her stupid missions and haven't sworn that much at a game in a long time. Much more annoying than the Taskmaster ones and at least he's a better character.

@mookysam Nice write-up. It's amazing how much fun, fluid movement can elevate an otherwise decent game. I'd argue it's a huge part of the appeal of games like Gravity Rush, Breath of the Wild, and InFamous: First Light.

Unfortunately, like the former two games, it seems Spider-Man has also fallen into the trap of putting forced stealth into a game where free movement is half of the fun. I don't mind proper stealth games, but I really wish stealth segments in non-stealth games would just disappear. They're ALWAYS the worst parts of the games they're in. Even Trails in the Sky FC had a stealth section! And it also sucked!

The game does sound fun. I decided not to go for it early this year when it was on sale with all DLC for $24 or so, but if it gets a similar discount in the future, I meet bite.

@Ralizah @mookysam You definitely should! The stealth sections do feel very out of place and added very little to the game. I remember I had one with Miles that I kept getting caught out on which became pretty frustrating.

Nice write up @mookysam !

The webslinging in Spider-Man really was quite delightful, so much so I used fast travel only once... and I use fast travel a lot in games that have them, even in Horizon: Zero Dawn.

I quite liked Mister Negative a lot, which surprised me as I didn't know him at all compared to most of the other villains. Yeah we all knew what was gonna happen to Otto, but it still was a nice journey there

My only gripes were the forced stealth sections and also the charactisations of Miles and MJ Miles... didn't seem to have any characterisation really and shared a lot of them with Peter. And MJ just got on my nerves running to everything headfirst thinking she's invincible... despite being an ordinary human unlike super powered Peter

@mookysam Oh yes, wonderful write-up. Well done.
Not only was it an enjoyable read, but I completely agree with you on pretty much all counts. I’m about to finish the game myself and you’ve saved me the effort of writing my own impressions because they would be pretty much exactly what you’ve said. Thanks!

Half-Life 1, completed it on medium difficulty. I'm generally not too keen on first person shooters, but did quite enjoy this once I got into it. The game does show its age, but overall it still holds up reasonably well.

The combat is good in it. There's a nice range of enemies, some of which are scary. Even the little measly headcrabs will often startle me whenever one of them suddenly jumps out. As more and more tougher enemies get introduced later on in the game, the fights can get intense. There's also a fine assortment of different weapons that can be used.

There's also some great exploration. The levels are well designed, so it's often fun to go and look around the place. Searching everywhere usually rewards in some much needed health and weapons.

Another thing I like is how the story unfolds. There's almost no cinematics in this game, so you'll generally see the events happening from the character's perspective. So the only information you'll have is anything that the main character sees or hears.

So overall, it was a well designed game that was revolutionary at the time, which results in it still being a good game today. The graphics haven't exactly aged well, but gameplay sure holds up. There's a good mix of suspenseful horror among with intense action.

Also finished with Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc now. I've talked about it here before after completing the main story, but went back to the game to do the achievements and the side mode known as School Mode. Overall, it's an excellent game and I loved playing it.

@Ralizah @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @Th3solution Cheers.

@Ralizah Absolutely. Without the movement and combat, it's a decent, though unremarkable open-world game. It says a lot that like @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I never really got the urge to fast travel, where as its a feature I'd use extensively in other games.

Stealth is almost always a problem in games that aren't stealth games. It continues to bemuse me that it's shoehorned into so many titles now. Here those missions are a dull distraction and don't add anything; really the player just wants to keep playing as Spider-Man! There are a couple of exceptions. There's one late-game mission where there's enough tension that I felt it worked decently. An earlier one sees MJ and Pete working together, which was more dynamic than the others.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That was an aspect of MJs character that got really silly. She needed an intervention or something!

@crimsontadpoles Nice review. I've never played the first one, so it's nice to hear that it holds up well. Have you played Half Life 2 before?

@mookysam Not yet, I'll get around to playing Half-Life 2 eventually. It's supposed to be a big improvement on the first one.

And great Spider-Man review by the way. The game does sound like a lot of fun.

welcome to a Legend of Zelda game

@RogerRoger part of the fun is figuring it all out for your self, nothing feels better than getting through a dungeon by your own skills

the back and forth can be kind annoying though

... Scathing or what @RogerRoger ?

I've only played two Legend Of Zelda games myself. Twilight Princess on Wii and Phantom Hourglass on DS. I found them both pretty enjoyable. Phantom H less so then Twilight P.

I do quite like dungeon crawlers myself but it seems that the simplicity of this title originally being a gameboy game and the remake adding only a few quality of life improvements seem to hinder it.

I'll admit I've thought the artstyle of Link's Awkening is a bit ugly to me to be honest. The plastic asthetic makes it look... cheap almost and just off. 😅

I enjoyed reading your write up and glad your partner enjoyed it... shame you didn't though!

And @crimsontadpoles nice to hear about Half-Life. I've only ever heard how HL 2 is god's gift to gaming so even if it's about the first one instead it's nice to hear a more grounded review of it!

Glad you enjoyed Danganronpa as well!

@RogerRoger Yeah, I was playing the PC version of Half-Life. I'm not sure how it compares to the PS2 port though. The game does gets better later on when the fights get more intense, but if you weren't keen on the PS2 version then possibly the game just isn't for you.

Those reasons are why I'm not too keen on the 2D Zelda games. They're alright, but I don't find them to be as amazing as they're made out to be. On the other hand, I love the 3D Zelda games. Those complaints are still valid to the 3D games to some degree, but not as much.

@crimsontadpoles Half Life 2 is amazing. I was fairly new to the genre when I played it as part of The Orange Box (BioShock was the only post-N64 shooter I'd played at that point) and absolutely loved it. The level design is spot on, the weapons handle brilliantly and then there's the gravity gun. Hope you get to it and the episodes one day.

@RogerRoger Thanks and I'll remember that next time I'm on a rooftop. 😂 Definitely not a Zelda person then? They're all things I enjoy about the games and I guess are core ingredients of what makes "Zelda" Zelda. Your scathing assessment did make me chuckle. Glad your partner's enjoyment made it worth it though.