Finish 52 Challenge (2019)
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Let’s all remember Runcle who started this many years ago. RIP Runcle.

Quote:
Last year I tried to finish/complete 52 video games within the whole of 2013, a Bruce busy November and December ruined my goal and I finished on an agonisingly close 49 games completed.

I'm going to try again this year and wondered if anyone else would like to join in.

Your way of finishing games may be different to mine, generally for me it's completing the story but for others it may be to get all the achievements/trophies. Also you may have different rules for each game, for example a game like FIFA that you can't really complete, I have decided that I either have to get all the trophies or to win Division 1 of the Ultimate Team Seasons mode.

Also you can complete games you've completed before and you can complete games that you have started in any previous year, it doesn't have to be a new game started this year. It can also be on any platform including mobile, and obviously cheating is pointless as your only cheating yourself as there is no prizes or anything. Just a reduced back log of games and sense of immense pride, achievement and self worth.


God bless you, Runcle. You beautiful avatar that returned to the digital sky to look down upon us as we carry on your proud traditions from a foreign land.

He’s probably not dead in real life by the way.
Anyhoo:

1) Iconoclasts (PS4)

It’s an action platformer with the emphasis on a strong narrative. It was on PS+ recently and it’s brilliant. It’s hardly the most challenging action platformer with the emphasis on a strong narrative and once again I find myself annoyed that I didn’t start on a harder difficulty because it was far too forgiving for my liking and I died several times when it should probably have been several hundred. There should have been more action platforming as well to be fair but they concentrated on the story I guess and it’s an indie game so they probably didn’t have the resources to flesh out the shooting part what with making all the lovely art and music and character and text and alll that stuff that these artists do to keep us entertained. Which is a bit of a shame because the game controls brilliantly and the shooting and stuff is real nice.

Anyway, I’m moaning about what it could have been when what it is is actually brilliant. I loved the art, the controls, the shooting, the levels, the design, the music and, most of all, I was fully invested with the characters and the story. It’s a kinda dark story and plenty of people die but since they’re all pixel arty people it’s ok. I wouldn’t want to ruin the story but the setting is basically Earth 2018 there’s a government run by a religious order that’s stripping the world of all its resources with no plan in sight except to fuck off to outer space. Anyway, it all progresses nicely and then the ending gets really weird and I, for one, loved how weird it was. I’m also endlessly surprised how much character you can get out of text bubbles as Iconoclasts apes Undertale and the like with MoooVvvvIiiiiiiinnnng wooOOOooorrrrRrrds.

To conclude: fun game, great story and characters, it’s dark but it’s also well written and funny (not like a comedy, but just some funny bits happen throughout), you’ll get close to 10 hours of play out of it, stick it on normal difficult and you’ll breeze through it for the most part.

Sat recommends: 8/10
1: Prey 2017(PC)

Like Prey 2006, but entirely different.
Finally returned to this, having stopped for slow progress. Dropped the difficulty down and it became a much more fun game. Still wish there was a little less in the way of repopulating enemies though.
1: Prey 2017(PC)
2: The Room(PC)
Puzzle boxes in a room
1: Prey 2017(PC)
2: The Room(PC)
3: The Room 2 (PC)
Like the room, but roomier.
These reviews are terrible, Dave
Yeah, tell us what you think you joyless robot! ;)
Lonewolves wrote:
These reviews are terrible, Dave

That was a terrible review review.
Grim... wrote:
Lonewolves wrote:
These reviews are terrible, Dave

That was a terrible review review.

Everyone’s a critic
Satsuma wrote:
Yeah, tell us what you think you joyless robot! ;)


I apologise for giving Dave shit in the past because I know that's what you're referencing here. But! More thoughts would be better. Not least because I adore The Room series and no one ever seems to talk about them.
Bamba wrote:
Satsuma wrote:
Yeah, tell us what you think you joyless robot! ;)


I apologise for giving Dave shit in the past because I know that's what you're referencing here. But! More thoughts would be better. Not least because I adore The Room series and no one ever seems to talk about them.


This is how I feel about Riverdale.
MaliA wrote:
Bamba wrote:
Satsuma wrote:
Yeah, tell us what you think you joyless robot! ;)


I apologise for giving Dave shit in the past because I know that's what you're referencing here. But! More thoughts would be better. Not least because I adore The Room series and no one ever seems to talk about them.


This is how I feel about Riverdale.


The crucial difference is that other people actually like The Room.
Riverdale > The Room.

I mean, I’ve never even watched Riverdale but I’ve played The Room and GIIIIDDAMN it was boring. And I’ve played some shit in my life.

And, come on, even I know Riverdale has some fitties in it. I’d rather look at them than spin a box around or some shit.
Bamba wrote:
MaliA wrote:
Bamba wrote:
Satsuma wrote:
Yeah, tell us what you think you joyless robot! ;)


I apologise for giving Dave shit in the past because I know that's what you're referencing here. But! More thoughts would be better. Not least because I adore The Room series and no one ever seems to talk about them.


This is how I feel about Riverdale.


The crucial difference is that other people actually like The Room.


I am Shocked and Appalled
Satsuma wrote:
Riverdale > The Room.

I mean, I’ve never even watched Riverdale but I’ve played The Room and GIIIIDDAMN it was boring. And I’ve played some shit in my life.

And, come on, even I know Riverdale has some fitties in it. I’d rather look at them than spin a box around or some shit.


I suppose it's good that you're properly leaning into your new reputation as King of Wrongness, everyone needs a place in the world. Personally I think agreeing with Malia is a step too far, but that hesitancy is why I'm not The King.
Whatever comments I have for it will be somewhat affected by the way I'm also somewhat ill with feverishness and pain. So a little grumpy. See also: Me being up at this hour.

1 was generally ok, but I found that they relied on the eye piece as a crutch for the puzzles a bit too much
2 was generally better, but seemed to have issues with control (I can't quite say why. All I know is that on more than one occasion, I rejected the correct solution as clicking did nothing the first couple of times) Eye piece use was betterer. Did not like the line up your point of view puzzles.
1: Prey 2017(PC)
2: The Room(PC)
3: The Room 2 (PC)
4: Night in the woods (PC)

A story told via the medium of a platforming game with (as far as I could tell) no fail state. About the disintegration of the american small mining town and a troubled cat. Or something.
Satsuma wrote:
1) Iconoclasts (PS4)


2) Detroit: Become Human

Graphics: Awesome. Easily on par with Red Dead Redemption 2. Sexy ladies that are sexy and sexy men for those that like sexy men.

Sound: Great voiceovers and voice talent. The dialogue was written by David Cage so it’s occassionally a bit all over the place and disjointed but the actors do a great job.

Story: Sci-fi detective story about androids that expands into an android uprising but amongst that you’ve got a lovely personal tale of a young woman fleeing domestic abuse. There’s a David Cage “twist” that’s a bit rubbish and daft. The interactive story is identical to his previous games in terms of branching narrative and probably more in depth than Until Dawn. I wasn’t entirely sold on the android uprising but I bloody loved Kara’s personal tale a lot.

Gameplay: It’s Heavy Rain again.

Conclude: Unfortunately it’s Heavy Rain again. Apart from looking nicer there’s no gameplay changes whatsoever from a, what, 6 year old PS3 game. I cruised through it and hit at least 92.5% of the QTEs correctly but if you’ve no love for QTEs or no coordination then avoid this like the plague. Mind you, there’s an easy difficulty where no of the characters die so presumably it does all the QTEs by itself but if you’ve got the game of easy then you might as well watch a long play on YouTube. I want to love it and I bloody enjoyed it immensely but there’s no way this is anything more than an average game thanks to the out of date mechanics. Honestly if I was a gaming reviewer I’d really struggle putting a score on this.
MaliA wrote:
Bamba wrote:
Satsuma wrote:
Yeah, tell us what you think you joyless robot! ;)


I apologise for giving Dave shit in the past because I know that's what you're referencing here. But! More thoughts would be better. Not least because I adore The Room series and no one ever seems to talk about them.


This is how I feel about Riverdale.


Hey, I mention Riverdale. I just don’t go on about Cheryl as much as you.
1. SpiderHyphenMan: or Spider-Man: Arkham City as it would be more accurately called because that's exactly what it is. I'm actually a bit surprised it didn't get more shit for that in reviews now that I've experienced how utterly shameful it is in ripping of RockSteady's schtick. Still, as always, if you're going to steal; make sure and steal from the best so fair play to them in that choice. And regardless of the source this is absolutely A Really Fucking Good Fun Videogame. It's a bit repetitive as all modern open world games are and the combat's a shade too easy* but it's a fucking joy to romp through and it looks the fucking business. Also, to be slightly fair to them, they do make the most of Spider-Man being a more lithe and fast character to play than the lumbering tank Batman is in his games so that's a nice adaptation of the form. The plot's also generally good and believable with surprisingly well drawn characters, though
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
the extent of Doc Ock's heel turn
could stand to be better built up as it comes largely out of nowhere and doesn't entirely make sense. Bonus point for the Marvel film-style double post-credit scenes setting up
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
SpiderHyphenMiles
and
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
Harry-as-Venom
; both nice touches. The biggest surprise was that
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
Norman made it through without ever becoming the Green Goblin
which I just assumed would be the deal as always.

I notice that all three of the DLC packs are on sale for a tenner (i.e. £10 for all of them as a single package) which I toyed with, but in the end I don't think I'll bother as more of the same will get very repetitive. Indeed that's one of the few real criticisms I'd aim at the game: it could do with more and better non-combat stuff. And by that I mean more puzzle solving sort of gameplay because the variation we are given--the MJ/Miles stealth stuff--isn't much fun.

*Initially I was actually really struggling with the combat and feared another Arkham Knight situation. I kept getting slapped around and was always thinking, "Man, I'd expect Spider-Man to have a nice way of bouncing around the battlefield from enemy to enemy." It turns out he does. You just look at someone and tap Triangle. It's one of the starting moves that I somehow completely missed and spent hours struggling for no reason. I'm a fucking idiot.
It also barely got mentioned that Batman: AA was "quite heavily influenced" by the modern Prince of Persia games.

Loved Spidey, though.
Grim... wrote:
It also barely got mentioned that Batman: AA was "quite heavily influenced" by the modern Prince of Persia games.


I'd disagree, at least to the extent of the influence. The Sands of Time et al were entirely linear platforming games with combat sections, with only the combat sections bearing any real resemblance to Arkham Asylum's gameplay. Pretty much every aspect of Spider-Man is cribbed from Arkham City though so I don't really get the comparison.
The combat is what I was talking about, yeah. It did more than "bear a resemblance", though :D
Grim... wrote:
The combat is what I was talking about, yeah. It did more than "bear a resemblance", though :D


It's been years since I played it and all I really remember in that regard is not getting on with the combat at all. All the platforming stuff was joyous, but every time a combat section happened I felt I was just bashing buttons until it finished.
I'm making a list of 'games I'd like to complete' this year. Prince of Persia: sands of time has just made it. I remember really enjoying it when I first played it.
I also loved it. What else is on your list?
Grim... wrote:
I also loved it. What else is on your list?


So far:-
Shenmue 2
Resident Evil (I've never completed the first one for some reason?)
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Panzer Dragoon Saga (This is on the list because someone told me off once as lots of people would love to own it yet I do, but have only played it for minutes so far)
Starlink: Battle for Atlas
I did Resi last year (or maybe the year before). The ReRemake is the best version to go for as you can change to non-tank controls.
I was thinking that but I've got it on the Playstation Classic now and that benefits from save states.
TheVision wrote:
I'm making a list of 'games I'd like to complete' this year. Prince of Persia: sands of time has just made it. I remember really enjoying it when I first played it.

Sands of Time has one of the greatest stories in gaming IMO. Utterly heartbreaking at the end.
GazChap wrote:
TheVision wrote:
I'm making a list of 'games I'd like to complete' this year. Prince of Persia: sands of time has just made it. I remember really enjoying it when I first played it.

Sands of Time has one of the greatest stories in gaming IMO. Utterly heartbreaking at the end.

Just like the movie, right?

(He said with a wink)
DavPaz wrote:
Just like the movie, right?

(He said with a wink)


With swears turned off I can’t tell if you’re currently watching Jake Gyllenhaal with your pants round your ankles.
Satsuma wrote:
DavPaz wrote:
Just like the movie, right?

(He said with a wink)


With swears turned off I can’t tell if you’re currently watching Jake Gyllenhaal with your pants round your ankles.

Oh, you'd be able to tell.
Satsuma wrote:
DavPaz wrote:
Just like the movie, right?

(He said with a wink)


With swears turned off I can’t tell if you’re currently watching Jake Gyllenhaal with your pants round your ankles.

I'm pretty sure the swearing filter is more flamboyant than that.

[edit] Wank
It is not. How dull.
DavPaz wrote:
Just like the movie, right?

Not seen it. Doesn't exist.
[quote="Satsuma"]1) Iconoclasts (PS4)
2) Detroit: Become Human

Graphics: Slightly better than Far Cry 4, I guess. It felt like it was about the same. I didn’t think much of the landscape though - there’s not much variety. No dynamic weather and the day/night cycle is fucked.

Sound: Great voiceovers and voice talent. Unfortunately there’s only a handful of characters that felt like real people the rest were stereotypical rednecks. Some made me laugh but they’re like comic book characters than real people in a living world.

Story: It’ll do. Noice ending.

Gameplay: It’s Far Cry 3 again. And 4. Again. But ++++++ for not having to craft a fucking wallet from pig skins or whatever. There’s a perk system that completely overhauls the usual shitfest in favour of unlocking perk points by doing missions, challenges and what not. I approve A LOT.

Conclude: Unfortunately it’s Far Cry again. Apart from looking nicer there’s little in the way of gameplay changes to keep you entertained. Still Far Cry is mostly a good time and smashing outposts and what not is mostly fun. It’s not that challenging though: get a helicopter with a chain gun and you’ll cruise through most outposts. I’m really annoyed the bazooka guys don’t get spawned in to deter pissing all over outposts. You won’t do much coptering though cause the fucking thing will disappear 9 times out of 10 after you finish an outpost. There’s MTX. Ignore that shit.
Satsuma wrote:
Satsuma wrote:
1) Iconoclasts (PS4)
2) Detroit: Become Human

Graphics: Slightly better than Far Cry 4, I guess. It felt like it was about the same. I didn’t think much of the landscape though - there’s not much variety. No dynamic weather and the day/night cycle is fucked.

Sound: Great voiceovers and voice talent. Unfortunately there’s only a handful of characters that felt like real people the rest were stereotypical rednecks. Some made me laugh but they’re like comic book characters than real people in a living world.

Story: It’ll do. Noice ending.

Gameplay: It’s Far Cry 3 again. And 4. Again. But ++++++ for not having to craft a fucking wallet from pig skins or whatever. There’s a perk system that completely overhauls the usual shitfest in favour of unlocking perk points by doing missions, challenges and what not. I approve A LOT.

Conclude: Unfortunately it’s Far Cry again. Apart from looking nicer there’s little in the way of gameplay changes to keep you entertained. Still Far Cry is mostly a good time and smashing outposts and what not is mostly fun. It’s not that challenging though: get a helicopter with a chain gun and you’ll cruise through most outposts. I’m really annoyed the bazooka guys don’t get spawned in to deter pissing all over outposts. You won’t do much coptering though cause the fucking thing will disappear 9 times out of 10 after you finish an outpost. There’s MTX. Ignore that shit.



Who knew detroit : become human was so like Far Cry?

I sure didn't
Satsuma wrote:
1) Iconoclasts (PS4)
2) Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
3) Far Cry 5 (Xbox)


4) Shadow Warrior (Xbox)

It’s like nuDoom but not as good but still a good time.
1. SpiderHyphenMan
2. The Birdcage: The Room if, instead of a room, you had a series of birdcages that needed unlocking. The sense of kinetics is just as joyous as it's inspiration but it's stupidly easy and each level barely takes a minute to bang through which is disappointing.
May I quickly congratulate Bamba for linking his mobile games so I don't have to search for them?
Grim... wrote:
May I quickly congratulate Bamba for linking his mobile games so I don't have to search for them?


I adopted it as policy sometime during last years thread in case anyone was ever interested in the shite I play, and because Google Play's search function is utter fucking cancer. Which is pretty shocking considering who's platform it is.
1. SpiderHyphenMan
2. The Birdcage
3. Lego Lord of the Rings: only the second Lego game I've ever played and now I'm comfortable with their schtick I was able to get through it with much less hassle than previously. There's very good use of the license made here with the entire film trilogy adapted with the usual Lego charm and the original voice lines from the films. All the characters are present and correct and the various abilities and whatnot make sense in context. It gets repetitive of course but it's still good fun to blast through the campaign.

The structure of the game's interesting with an overworld you can wander around in plus the actual instanced levels that you go through the advance the plot. Both are stuffed full of collectibles and puzzles and whatnot, some of which require abilities you won't have in your first playthrough.

Which is probably my biggest issue here: it's unavoidable that you'll need to do everything twice in order to get everything. I realise this is a staple of the Lego games but I don't feel any of it's interesting enough to make that much fun and I couldn't be fucked with it. I did go back through some of the open world sections mopping stuff up because fast travel makes that painless, but there's no way I was going through a load of levels I'd already played just to smash open a load of artificial barriers (which is all these things really are).

The other off-putting thing is just the sheer hilarious plethora of stuff you're expected to collect. Characters (almost all pointless), silver bricks, red bricks, blacksmith plans, Mithrill objects (also almost all pointless), silver chest things (not even sure what these are for) and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. You'd need to be some kind of self-hating masochist to even attempt all of it which makes me want to do none of it. And none of it's helped by the fact that the 'platforming' involved in getting some of the silver bricks is frustrating as shit. Indeed I'd go as far as calling it bugged in places, especially stuff involving Legolas on rope lines and thin platforms, as a couple of them I wrote of as genuinely impossible due to character falling through platforms or just refusing entirely to engage with them.

So, a fun thing to blast through but you need to be pretty disciplined at ignoring all the bullshit they've stuffed in there. I've got Lego The Hobbit to play at some point as well so I'll be interested to see how they compare.
Yep. That's Lego games.

The kids are playing through Lego Harry Potter. It's involved enough to keep them interested, but easy enough so they don't need constant assistance
I’ve 100%’d every Lego game I’ve played.

I don’t play them anymore.
Bamba wrote:
I adopted it as policy sometime during last years thread in case anyone was ever interested in the shite I play, and because Google Play's search function is utter fucking cancer. Which is pretty shocking considering who's platform it is.

Is it?

https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... age&c=apps
Top hit is the correct game you linked.

Going back to your 2018 games:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... ape&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... boy&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... one&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... one&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=black&c=apps

etc etc
Doctor Glyndwr wrote:
Bamba wrote:
I adopted it as policy sometime during last years thread in case anyone was ever interested in the shite I play, and because Google Play's search function is utter fucking cancer. Which is pretty shocking considering who's platform it is.

Is it?

https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... age&c=apps
Top hit is the correct game you linked.

Going back to your 2018 games:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... ape&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... boy&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... one&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q= ... one&c=apps
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=black&c=apps

etc etc


It works sometimes, probably even a lot of the time, but there have been enough occasions when I've been scrambling about trying to find something from only it's name while GP suggested umpteen lines of barely related pish that I started doing what I do here. Certainly I remember multiple times resorting to trying search operators like "putting the exact name in quotes" or +adding a +plus +sign against certain words and it never made any difference at those times.
Satsuma wrote:
1) Iconoclasts (PS4)
2) Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
3) Far Cry 5 (Xbox)
4) Shadow Warrior (Xbox)


5) Guacamelee 2 (PS4)

If you loved the original Guacamelee (like me) then you’ll bloody love more of the same in Guacamelee 2 (like me). I had a super good time with some difficult platforming goodness. If you’re all fingers and toes I shouldn’t bother but for anyone up for a challenge then you’ll get plenty of that here.

It’s still fun, funny, polished and, the soundtrack? Man, the soundtrack, I just love that Spanish/Mexican goodness. I think the original has the best soundtrack of the two but this was also great. I might just have a shower tomorrow while listening to some of the first game again. Love it.
I’ll tell you what I did get that I thought was interesting. I’m ranked 1613 in the world on it. That’s pretty good. Right?
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