Topic: Games you've recently beat

@Tasuki how much did you have to pay for that if you don't mind me asking, I had one but it stopped working.

@RogerRoger i love that game, i wish Konami had done a sequel to that instead of whatever Survive was meant to be

@ellsworth004 It was $185 and quite honestly worth every penny. It's the best HD NES Clone out right now and I have had it run every one of my game perfectly even Castlevania III which alot of clone consoles have problems with. The down side is that it doesn't come with any controllers but you can use original NES controllers on it and they do sell a wireless controller.

If you are curious about it you can check out their site.

https://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=36&produc...

I beat the true final boss in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon on my second nightmare mode playthrough. What a brilliant little game! Better than a large chunk of older Castlevania games, actually. This is what I wanted Castlevania III to be.

I'll definitely need to do a run where I sacrifice everyone, but I'm pretty satisfied for the moment.

Continuing with the NES Classic I did a play through of Mega Man II and beat it tonight. Still one of the best NES games of all time.

@Tasuki Thanks for the info. I have really wanted to play the legend of Zelda and some other games for awhile. I'll definitely check this out.

Just platted tokyo xanadu ex+

Got the Platinum in Wolfenstein New Order.

Finished uncharted 3, pretty fun game, may have to take a short break before I start 4.

@ellsworth004 I did the same after playing the trilogy. 18 months later it is still sealed...😅

@JohnnyShoulder I will finish them all! Just wish combat sections were not so repetitive. How many bad guys can there be.

@ellsworth004 Yeah that is why the second game did my head in a bit. The section on the train with the helicopter went on far too long for my liking.

@JohnnyShoulder I like hard games, I'm a huge fan of bloodborne, dark Souls, old school platformers, and alot of hard indie games. That said, I hate cheap deaths that are not my fault, you get alot of that with uncharted. Duck behind a rock, rpg nails you outta nowhere. But I like the story, puzzle sections, and some of the combat. And definitely like the characters, Nathan and sully are great.

Completed Severed earlier. My thoughts on it have remained consistent. I really enjoyed the puzzle solving, atmosphere, story and presentation. Although there are a few friendly faces, the world is mostly devoid of other characters and this really feeds into the lonely atmosphere. The world is well designed with multiple upgrades to discover, usually through solving puzzles. In terms of battles, it's best to approach them like puzzles. This sounds odd, but once you start encountering large groups of enemies that have buffs, you can quickly become overwhelmed unless a logical approach is taken. The battle system itself is simple and tactile, requiring "slashes" on the screen with your finger. I almost got a blister! The player's own magical abilities and the various upgrades and skill trees add a lot of depth. Anyhoo, a great little game that really feels like a perfect fit for the Vita. It shouldn't be dismissed because of the control scheme.

Metal Gear Solid - This was my first time playing it and I think it holds up very well for a game of its age. Visually, it's obviously very dated, but I think the strong art design and clever texturing still looks nice. Scenes are also nicely directed with good motion capture. The sound particularly impressed me - especially the voice acting - which is very good across the board apart from the rather embarrassing rent-a-proverb Mei Ling. She has a saying for every ocassion it seems. I really love Snake's voice.

The melodramatic, over-the-top and at times maudlin script was a general highlight for me. I guess it's a turn-off for some people, but it makes Metal Gear Solid and the way it presents its story rather unique compared to almost every other game I've played. Enemies can battle to the death but moments later have a philosophical debate about the meaning of life. Good stuff. The wider theme, which I took to be an anti-nuclear message resonates as much as I'm guessing it did in 1998.

Gameplay generally felt good, although gun aiming is the weakest aspect by far and avoiding enemy fire is not easy. The fourth wall stuff made me laugh especially the bit where I assume a controller vibrates (I played on the Vita). One major annoyance I had was some backtracking back and forth near the end.

Anyhoo, looking forward to continuing with the series. I'd preferably play 2 and 3 on the Vita but for anyone here who has played them, what did you think of the controls and rear-touchpad usage?

@mookysam Good to know the game still hold up relatively well, I think some just assume they are unplayable or something these days probably due to how dated they are on a techincal level.

@Kidfried It's always fun to get into new franchises. I've wanted to get into MGS for years now but it always seemed intimidating.

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah it's a shame that dated graphics are often equated with a game being unplayable. Often if the core design of a game was rock solid back then, it will still play reasonably well today. One of the biggest hindrances when it comes to old 3D games are things like poor camera and controls. Luckily apart from the aiming MGS didn't have those issues.

@mookysam @RogerRoger not to mention you can buy a digital version of the PS1 MGS game on the Vita too

@RogerRoger Thanks. I bought it for the Vita. The touch screen stuff doesn't sound like it will bother me (hopefully) and I'll play it right away on there.

@FullbringIchigo PS1 games are nice on the Vita.

I would feel remiss if I didn’t mention how much I enjoyed recently finishing Horizon Zero Dawn. I bought the game day 1 and played it for its opening weeks. I liked it quite a bit, but eventually about half way through I got sidetracked and it was left dormant for many months. I finally felt motivated to resume it and I have to say, the second half of the game is much better than the first. I was confused about the story in those beginning hours but once everything starts coming together towards the end, then it really starts to shine. I also feel the diversity of combat and gameplay options that become available later make it much more fun in the second half. The enemies become much more difficult and that final sequence of the game was quite the challenge. After finishing it, I really adore Aloy as a character. I liked her before, but so much more after the events at the end crystallize. A well deserved PlayStation icon. Such a great ending to the game and amazingly crafted setting and lore. It’s a game that has a memorable narrative that I’ll think about for weeks, with a lot of deep philosophical subjects that can be gleaned if one wishes to ponder it. Yet, it doesn’t preach to you or let the social commentary distract from the fact that it is, foremost, a game and it’s primary purpose is to entertain. I like it when games can achieve that balance.
These accolades aside, I would probably still not consider it my personal GotY for 2017, as I think NieR Automata did all those same things with captivating and immersive gameplay coupled with a deep ponderous narrative, but did it in ways that were even more interesting and non-traditional. Honestly, Horizon doesn’t reinvent the third person open world combat action RPG-lite genre in a large way, but to its credit, it brings new things to the table in the form of never before seen characters, a fictional world with an eerie prophetic feel, and a polished and smooth presentation.