Topic: Games you've recently beat

@Jimmer-jammer Lol I had initially thought it was like a joke about you trying to tempt him into playing Helldivers 2, like offering a drink was an a metaphor for offering him to lose himself in another Helldivers game.

Then I thought maybe it was a play of the “liber-tea” pun, like he was being offered tea in that cup.

There are many layers to that joke!

@Jimmer-jammer I got the big bug layer… didnt connect they to them though tbh. Can’t win ‘em all 😅

@Th3solution @colonelkilgore 😂 The important thing here is that Them! is a classic and should be somewhere on everyone’s watch list!

@Jimmer-jammer
I was thinking, isn't that the film with Joan Collins....and after googling, no she starred in a poor received 70s Ant film.
I could have sworn she was in the good one.

I haven’t seen Empire of Ants but not sure I ever will based on the reviews!

Started the Darksiders franchise again and I intend to beat it before the new game with Strife arrives!

Darksiders 1 done, Darksiders 2 started

Just finished my first play through of the original Dead Space and all I can say is, that I now totally understand why the series (well one and two at least) are held in such high esteem. I’m not necessarily a survival horror fan… but I do like third person shooting mechanics, high production values and a well told story and all three of those are elite level here.

Gonna cleanse the palette with something way different next (I’m currently thinking maybe Alice: Madness Returns, Prince of Persia 2008, or Brutal Legend) before coming back for Dead Space 2 & 3.

edit. I forgot that I’ll actually be doing a second Dead Space run on Impossible first before playing something different, in between this and the sequel.

@colonelkilgore You’re tempting me to pick up Dead Space Remake on sale right now for $25. Of course if I could be confident that I will finish it in a month I could always just do one month of EA Play at $6 and do it that way.

Either way, that’s high praise. I had prioritized the RE4 Remake to play first and now I’m wavering. 😅

@Th3solution you could definitely finish it in a month mate but… while it’s a great game, I think that Resident Evil 4: Remake is probably the slightly better game. This is from someone who hasn’t actually played 4: Remake tbh… just going off the general consensus.

@colonelkilgore It’s interesting how there’s a renaissance of these old survival horror game with RE, Dead Space, and now Silent Hill all within a couple years.

As for Dead Space, I did briefly try it back on PS3, but probably played an hour or less, and just dropped it before really knowing what it was. I remember at the time a lot of excitement about the lack of a HUD and some of the innovation with presentation. If I’m not incorrect, the quality progressively declines as the series progresses, but I think #2 is still well regarded (and #3, less so), but I look forward to seeing how you get along with them.

@Th3solution yeah 3 is definitely considered to be the worst in the series. Having played it a bit a few years ago, it definitely leans into being a shooter rather than a survival-horror, which would’ve undoubtedly upset fans of the series. I think it may have been one of the first full price games to also have micro transactions too… which would’ve added to the negativity it garnered.

By all accounts 2 is arguably even better than the original. There are fans who will argue for each one but from the vast majority of people I’ve spoken to the sequel is the high-point.

Spyro 2 via the Re-Ignited Trilogy. I still have a ways to go before I do everything, but I rolled the credits last night.

While it's a solid evolution of the original game, I... kind of miss the original's atmosphere and simplicity. Unlike the original, I never played this on the PS1, so it was a totally new experience for me.

Very, very good, still. The main villain is fun as well. My only real complaint is that the second boss is weirdly hard. WAY harder than the final boss. Took me almost twenty tries to beat him (versus beating Ripto on my second try, and the first boss on my first try).

Unlike the original, which had very open, windy, exploratory levels, most of the levels here are far more streamlined and have an explicit flow to them because of the way each one is structured around a miniature narrative. To make up for the less challenging level design, the sequel throws in a butt-load of mini-games and optional challenges to flesh out the levels. You also get these challenges in-game for each level, like beating it in a certain time (which is absolutely brutal for the Flight levels), destroying all of a certain type of enemy, not taking damage from a boss, etc.

Locked it to 45fps on my Steam Deck OLED and it runs perfectly with gorgeous visual quality.

@Malaise Have you played Dave the Diver? I felt similarly about it. Not yet completed it, but plan on finishing it off soon. A lot deeper than I thought it would be. No pun intended.

@Malaise It has taken me a bit longer than norm, as I've spent just as much time just chilling catching fish and serving food than progressing the story. I found it a good palate cleanser.

I played the trilogy last year and honestly... I'd mentally checked out halfway through the first game @Ralizah

Plus I'm not really a fan of the artstyle Toys For Bob used (It's why I still haven't touched Crash "4" to be honest, despite being more of a Crash girl).

The third is definitely a bit rough and suffers the most compared to the first and second (Thanks to being handed off to a different developer).

I'm glad it was a good revisit for you though at least. Hopefully Spyro gets a new game sometime soon... Maybe?

Actually on second thoughts... I wouldn't put much hope into that, whether under Acti or Microsoft...

Nioh 2 really does just hit all the right notes. What a game. It gets better and better as it goes, with the final epilogue being super rewarding compared to the slight slog Nioh 1 became towards the end. I won’t play NG+ but I enjoyed the ride tremendously.

@nessisonett any narrative connections to 1 or is it completely standalone given that William is not the playable protagonist?

@HallowMoonshadow It all has that same 'generic American CG cartoon movie' look Skylanders had (minus the really stupid Spyro re-design), for sure, but the actual in-game environments can look quite nice. Cutscenes make me feel like I'm watching clips from a Dreamworks movie, though.

The third game was shopped out to a separate developer? That's unfortunate. Curious to see how different it feels now compared to the remakes of the first two.

There really is just nothing in the platformer world that compares to the vibe of the Spyro trilogy. Especially the original game. I can get lost in the zen of these games for hours on end.

A new Spyro game more in line with the original trilogy would be cool, but I won't get my hopes up considering who owns the IP now.

@Yousef- It starts out as a prequel and takes place over like 50 years. Let’s just say it catches up with the timeline and leave it at that for spoiler reasons!

Oh yeah the in game environments did look nice, I'll give you that for sure @Ralizah!

Acti being Acti I believe rushed the game to market after Crash N.Sane Trilogy's runaway success.

You'll really be able to tell from how in the first game they gave every Dragon a unique design and personality and yet the dragon babies in 3 are repeated ad nauseum. Not to mention it just doesn't look or animate quite as nice if I recall. 3 was handed to Sanzaru games I believe? The ones who did Sly Cooper 4.