Topic: Games you've recently beat

@KratosMD I played GR so long ago, I barely remember much other than flying around and smacking glowing blobs in the sky. It’s good to hear it’s held up. I remember enjoying it, but I think it may be the first game I ever played on my Vita so the whole experience was modified by getting acquainted by the new device and I remember just wanting to get on to Uncharted Golden Abyss. I didn’t love it to the point of feeling it needed a sequel so had not been interested in GR2 until recently and it sounds like the second game is a dramatic improvement, so I bought it last month when I found it cheap. Now I just need to decide when to play it.
Maybe @Fight_Teza_Fight can help ... How does GR2 compare to other open world games of this generation?

@Th3solution Kind of difficult to say. It's a manageable open world. The main areas are located on different planes so you 'fall' towards them. So whilst it is a relatively small open world it feels much larger as you have another direction to travel in/through.
Points of interests pop up as soon as they are available & you can unlock fast travel points. You really shouldn't ever use them though as falling through the sky is the best way of traversal in video gaming .

@KratosMD They are a lot better & I think you'll find them even more engaging, now that you beat the first game.

Had a good weekend clearing out some of the backlog.
Finished FFXII and now crossed Farpoint of the list.

Farpoint really surprised me. It's not a very good FPS, but the aim controller made up for it. The campaign is pretty short & I felt like more could've been done with the VR (fight as a mecha, fly the space shuttle...).
What surprised me was how REAL the characters (Moon & Tyson) felt. It's an already immersive experience, but the voice acting and animations really put it on another level.
Hope there is a sequel.

@KratosMD i loved my Vita while I had it, but that was one of the things I also didnt like. I didn't mind using corners and sides of the touch screen. Hated having to swipe across the screen, like u said it prevents u from seeing what going on. And that back touchpad, I could get used to trying to use that. That was main reason that I never played borderlands 2 on it.

@KratosMD I always thought every game on Vita should of had a custom control mapping option. But, for what I used it for mainly it didn't matter. I mostly used it to play old games on.

Finished would be on Jeremy Kyle / Jerry Springer show if it wasnt for the walkers. TWD New Frontier.

Rubbish set of episodes, only kept together by Clems side story. Telltale games are so predictable and the overtly angry conversations are really starting to grate. Papa was the most redeeming character in the 6/7 hour playtime and his star performance was over a game of dominoes for two whole minutes.

Finally beat assassin's Creed origins. Long game, but I loved it. Gonna try and get Platinum but the trophy to complete all locations will take a minute. Anyone have an idea when the first expansion is suppose to release?

Yeah, the all locations trophy is a pain. I only need that and one more for the Plat but I'm kinda burnt out after so many hours played. Great game tho.

@Splat the trophy where u have to shoot red pots with flame arrow and kill 30 enemies is giving me a fit. Seems like right before they die the fire goes out. Yeah I've got a little burnt out. I don't know what my play time is right off, but it's alot.

Gonna start rise of the tomb raider now. From what I've seen it's a good looking game. Hopefully gameplay is good.

@ellsworth004 I quite liked Rise of the TR. I hear mixed impressions from people about it but it really great imo and I’d highly recommend it if you like action open world titles, which it sounds like you do. I have AC:O in my backlog, not sure when I’ll get to it.
I’m pretty close to finishing my 3rd playthrough (route C) of NieR Automata. Brilliant game. I don’t want it to end, but I also can’t wait to see how it ends.

Yeah, that's the other trophy I need as well. Both are a pain.

@Th3solution nier is a special game. I did all the endings and like u said I didn't want it to end. I got the dlc for it, I really need to play that. As far as AC O goes, imo it's easily the best assassin's Creed game. I love the new combat in it. And Egypt is a beautiful place to explore.

I recently finished all three Wolfenstein games and enjoyed them all. I really enjoyed the setting/story in all three games and the gunplay is very satisfying. My only real complaint is some of the point A to point B stuff was pretty frustrating. I don't need/want a game to hold my hand but a nudge in the right direction would be nice.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

• The story was epic, I enjoyed the cast (and the idea attaching characters to weapons, as it made the cast even larger), and I loved the heavy sci-fi turn it took at the end. Although I enjoyed the romantic element, I didn't quite like it as much as I usually do these things. I think Rex being a head taller would have sold it better.
• Combat is complex, but after awhile it clicked for me, and it was really satisfying pulling off Driver Combos and the like. Don't think I enjoyed it to the point that I'll fight the post game superbosses though, or even the higher level Unique Monsters I haven't yet fought. Speaking of, the idea of a few super strong monsters roaming around even early areas that you have to watch out for was kind of novel, but I don't think I'd want to see it in every RPG (especially when they'll often one shot you if you run across them).
• I like the quality of life features the game has. You're never sent back too far if you die (and if you die on a boss they'll still be there waiting for you, no need to go through cutscenes again), and I love the Bonus Exp system (though I never felt I was overlevelled. In fact, old fashioned grinding felt so ineffective that I think the Bonus Exp was pretty much required in parts).
• The world is absolutely fantastic. While each area does generally fall into one of the typical tropes you usually run across if you pay enough attention (Gormott is the "grass world", Lethtaria the "sky world", and so forth), the decision to place them on the backs of giant titans, and the crazy attention to detail really makes each one stand out as it's own unique ecosystem. I really loved exploring Uraya & Lethtaria, and even Mor Ardain is better than every other desert world ever.
• I'm usually not one to pay much attention to music in games, but there were a few pieces I really enjoyed, such as the comforting tune that accompanies your time in Fonsett.

@Kidfried Lol, well, fortunately it was free right? And a platinum for your troubles. 😂 Sorry you didn’t care for it. Appears that it was your first Telltale game. They are all pretty much like that. Slightly different hooks for gameplay, but all the ones I’ve played end up with a set story, no matter the choices you make. Now sometimes there is some variation in the dialog and which character you companion with, etc (like in BM if you end up making out with catwoman or not) but the story’s conclusion is pretty much set. For some reason I like the TT games as a diversion between open world games though. Batman was probably middling from the ones I’ve played. You might like Back to the Future. It’s the only one that I’ve played that has challenging puzzle gameplay. In it progressing the story requires that you do certain things a specific way. However, graphically it is an even bigger mess than any of the others — it looks like a PS2 game.

@Kidfried Yes, TWD season 1 was maybe TT’s best (along with Wolf Among Us maybe) Although the ending of TWD is set too, it unfolds better and the big decision at the end does seem to make an impact, at least emotionally. Season 2 was more ‘meh’ and I have yet to play season 3.
As far as Batman, I think season 2 supposedly is better written (also have yet to play it) and there’s more Catwoman relationship development. But it also looks like there’s more of that annoying Joker, so we’ll see. 😅

I finally finished Mass Effect.

For a game that's a decade old, it's still worth a play. Story and writing were good, as per BioWare standard. The gameplay itself was enjoyable, but I was shocked at how easy it got as I went along (I played on the default setting). There's still some challenge, but it's mostly early to mid game, where you're still trying to get good equipment and a good setup. Once I found something that worked, I was mowing down enemies with ease. I don't know if I just stumbled on a good setup, or if the game was always easy.

The big thing that holds it back are the technical issues. It's a given since it was an early 360 game, I suppose. There's quite a bit of texture pop-in throughout the game (even during cutscenes on occasion), and I had some glitches, like when my squad stopped following me even after using squad commands, or getting stuck somewhere after getting hit by the biotic lift (one particular boss fight is bad with this). The amount of load times and occasionally spotty framerate didn't personally bug me, but it can be a sticking point if it concerns you.

Oh yeah, the Mako was crud too. Good as a weapon, but feels really slippy and it can't handle uneven terrain to save it's life.

I'll probably pop in Mass Effect 2 later today when I get home from work. So far I'm drawn in by this trilogy.

That credits song was also awesome.

@DerMeister Have you played Andromeda and if not do you plan to? Just curious.

@Th3solution I haven't. I wanted to play the trilogy first before I got to it, but after everything, I'm not sure if I still want to try it. I want to give it a fair shake, but I also have other games I want to get to. It's a maybe for now.

Hands down my favorite of the series.