Rate the last game you finished

[Twiztid Elf]

Concrete Genie
At its gameplay core, its just switch puzzles.
But the characters, story, art style and graphics were absolutely cool as hell.
Glad I played it, and I really enjoyed it the whole way through.
7/10

[Twiztid Elf]

Super Mario 3D World
Everything honed and polished to perfection as you'd expect from a mainline Mario game.
Classic Mario platforming. Gorgeous graphics.
But, I'd played it before on the Wii U, and there's just something lacking in this one. Not quite up there with 64, Galaxy and Odyssey IMO.
8/10

Bowser's Fury
I went in knowing absolutely nothing about this, and fully surprised. Open world Mario, with the same platforming.
Nintendo did a great job of mixing things up here, but yet keeping it the same. Really, really cool. And it looks excellent.
But too short.
8/10

Overall: 8/10 obviously.

[Froggy]

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

If you like Yakuza you'll love it. If you are new to the franchise you'll most likely love it to, a massive map (compared to previous), three locations and just so much to do this game. Dauntingly so much to do in fact. I am near 80 hours in and just finished off the main story line and there's just a crapload of stuff to finish still. I think if you haven't played it before there's character call backs in it later in the game you won't get but it's easy enough to follow but it's great fan service too. Will be interesting where they go from here with it but yeah a great game and play it on a Series X or high end PC as it looks gorgeous.

The Medium

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PIECE OF SHIT. Like it looks like an early xbox one game, what's this crap about it struggling to run on a PC, how?! The controls are awful, regularly changing from behing the character to infront and then you're suddenly running back into a monster. YOU CANT FUCKING SAVE. So you get past a bit, you can't save but you gotta stop so OK you turn the console off thinking you can just pick up where you left off. Not this piece of shit. Regularly if you go play another game and come back it just starts your playthrough back at the last checkpoint you got past but when you stop you don't know if you are at a checkpoint or not and I've regularly had to go back through the last bunch of stuff I just did the last time, what the fuck. Being a big launch title (dunno how) and it doesn't even have quick resume. I'm assuming the whole "doing things with the SSD that we couldn't do before to have a spirt world and real world side by side" is a load of shit too. There's no way this game with fuck all going on is pushing the boundaries of even a 7 year old xbox one. Thank fuck it's free on game pass, the stories... kind of intriguing but then the games really short and so it just starts making big leaps. You know a games short when you start getting achievements for investigating 50 things after 60 minutes. If you like female led horror games that are like point and click adventures then maybe give it a go? Otherwise.. don't.

[Froggy]

So I finished The Medium last night and to top off it's crapness, they had a popup telling me it's their most ambitious game to date and if I'd like to rate it now, so I click yes so I can give it a crap rating and then it goes straight to the store which overlays the post credit ending sequence lol.

[Froggy]

Hellblade: Shenhuas sacrifice - 6/10. Was alright but the samey game mechanic seemed to indicate a lack of game for most of it. Go hear, find the symbols somewhere to open the door and then move forward but do it in areas with no enemies and nothing else going on. The game got better when more combat started and things got interesting, there was one maze level that was just so ridiculously shite and the controls were so loose I nearly rage quit so it can't get more than a 6/10 for that alone. Not sure I'm interested in any sequel either, the story was hard to follow.

[Twiztid Elf]

Senran Kagura Peachy Beachy Splashu
Absolute fanservice trash. And I loved every second of it.
The nonsensical stories move along a lot quicker than in Estival Versus. I enjoyed this one more because of that.
7/10

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 Pro

Finished as a street kid after 86 hours of hacking and slashing plus shooting and looting.

What.
A.
Ride.

Night City. Fucking amazing. Stunning. Maybe a bit too shiny in places... the dirtier areas didn't need to have the ground reflecting all the time hehe

I romanced Kerry but I tried it on with River and the cocktease rejected me. Don't fucking invite guys up to water towers to drink and get cosy to then no homo!!

I finished with I think one of the bad endings and I was noticeably upset by how it all turned out for V. I think that goes to show how amazing the game was with developing bonds with the characters. Panam and Judy especially.

Yes the game had bugs.. the NPCs were a glitchy and basic... but its over and I'm actually still feeling sad and affected by how it ended. I'm trying the Aldercado approach now.. which is in direct opposition to my plan to finish it, shelve it and return when the ps5 version was released.
I might have a ps5 sooner rather than later as there are only 22 people in front of me on the JBHiFi list... but the game still has me wanting to explore Night City and enjoy what it has to offer.

One of my favourite titles in recent years.
9 Junkie male whores in shiny fedoras out of 10.

[Deef]

Final Fantasy VII Remake

9 / 10

So LTTP on this one that I had to wipe this post due to being completely confused.

Phenomenal overall. I loved that I was finally going to learn about FFVII's story. I loved the battle system, loved the music, loved that it uses the Advent Children visual style (and wow, looking back now this makes Advent Children look bad). Cloud's character model especially was stupidly cool; he just looked cool af, and his actual characterisation was a pretty solid fit also. Tifa's face also really well done. Even if the movie is 15 years old now, it's weird when a real-time game is looking better than a pre-rendered movie you remember as leading edge at the time. The production values on this game were just consistently mind-blowing. I found a 10 hour repeat of the battle music just to enjoy it while not playing the game. I enjoyed every battle in the game. I spent over 2 hours replaying one simulation battle just because I wanted to see if I could solo it with Tifa with only Pray for heals. (I couldn't - the 5th fight was just too much.)

But ugly honesty time: I just didn't know this was episodic content. I didn't and don't know the old story; only a hodgepodge of spoilers that have been unavoidable over the years. So I actually played Remake from start to finish thinking this was the whole story and that its conclusion was just delivered super poorly in this new release.
... And that things weren't matching up.
... I was so confused.
So, unsurprisingly, I was quite disappointed in the end.

But I do think that only maybe 60% of that was due to my confusion. Being someone actually new-ish to the story, I think the rest of my disappointment was still coming from the game itself, due to the way it suddenly ramps up the number of plot elements in literally the final chapter, gives them absolutely no development at all, then ends. Not impressed. It's not just that the ending is clumsy; it episodic-clumsy and I hate that. Sequels are one thing and episodes are another, so this wasn't just an ending that happened to be super poorly done; it was an ending that was never meant to be one in the first place. The game baits you with so much apparent story depth for 17 chapters, then suddenly vomits even more potential at you, and then just as suddenly calls it a day. So for those not knowing the story, the credits roll and you have no closure, only uncertainty; only a frustrating awareness of how much was left undeveloped, and that someone did that deliberately.

For everyone who isn't Cyberfunk and myself, maybe that aspect of the game isn't so bad.
For me, it was a bit of a sucker punch in an otherwise absolute killer of a game.

But despite all that noise, I still give it a 9/10. It is spectacular in every other way. Until that final last chapter I was consciously ready to come here and write down "10/10". Then, despite the disappointing ending, I felt a 9.5 was still deserved because seventeen eighteenths of the game had still been a simply outstanding experience.

But no, now it "only" gets a 9/10. Now I know the most annoying bit was actually a deliberate move, and that also means I now think back and wonder how much the length was being played out. They could have dragged it out forever for all I cared, had the game still gone on to ultimately deliver a whole story. But now that I know that story content was actually the price being paid, I'm less enthused about the structure that helped enable that. I just hate hearing the world "episode" with games; it's never good news.

Once all the content is finally playable in 2037 I'm sure it will be a truly epic game. I can't wait that long, but it never was a game for people who don't already know the story.

Maybe I'll get the original running now and try to get through it and salvage what few things I have left unspoilt.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Dishonored

It's been on the list for years. The voice talent and casting is probably the best I've heard in a game. Even the non featured voice talent is amazing and fits each scene perfectly. Just a superb sounding game in every way. All the mechanics/abilities took me a while to competently string together. When it clicks Corvo (protagonist) gets around very handily.

I did get bored with it around 2/3 in. Then the game recovered and I had a blast in the final two levels. I'm sure the reason is due to me defaulting to non-lethal as per stealth game protocol. Dishohored is pretty boring to play non-lethally. Rather Dishonored is a lot more fun to play lethally. The first person combat is fantastic. It's fast, looks great and is a lot of fun. The lethal abilities are great - melee finishers, kills turning to ash, summoning swarms of rats. Sneaking around and choking people out is bit of a waste really. I'll have more fun killing everyone on my next playthrough.

8 piles of unconcious guards out of 10.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Playing Dishonored DLC 'The Knife of Dunwall' now. Am killing everyone and it is indeed more fun.

[Rorschach]

That's good to hear, about to jump into the backlog and the Dishonored games are up around the top.

[flipswitch]

Give Dishonored 2 a go Pep if you can. One of my favourites and a classic. Really good thief vibes from it.

They should be cheap Rors. Hope you enjoy them.

[Peppermint Lounge]

I think I will install Dishonored 2 and get straight on with the story. Just finished The Knife of Dunwall (first Dishonored 1 DLC) and it's brilliant.

[Froggy]

I've started Dishonored 2 based on this convo and so far, it's pretty good I must say. I've also not by choice but just seemed to me the natural path forward assassinated everyone in the game that I've come across lol.

[Peppermint Lounge]

I'm getting through the last of the Dishonored DLC and will start Dishonored 2. I've read they changed actors for The Outsider in D2 which is unforunate IMO. The Outsider's voice and clinical not-of-this-world tone in Dishonored 1 is perfect. Billy Lush is the original guy. I checked out a clip of the new guy (Gotham actor Robin Lord Taylor) and he's good but the voice doesn't match the character nearly as well IMO. They used Billy Lush for the D2 trailer too. Arkane say it was a scheduling conflict that prompted them to switch. Billy Lush posted on Reddit he didn't get called back and was available.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Finished the two Dishonored story DLCs:

The Knife of Dunwall
The Brigmore Witches

Both were awesome and elevate my overall Dishonored score to 9/10, given it was the Complete Edition I played. In the DLC you play as assassin Daud, a NPC from the main campaign. Gameplay is the same as the main campaign with some tweaks to abilites to distinguish between Daud and Corvo. Both DLCs are substantial offerings with great stories and fit with the original campaign in an interesting and meaningful way. Definitely some of the best quality DLC I've played.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Dishonored 2 is great! Fuck low chaos though. I’m playing on hard difficulty and detection time is minuscule. Stealth runs would be a constant reloading of quick saves. So I’m taking them down mercifully when convenient which is rare.

[Rorschach]

Just about to finish Horizon Zero Dawn then starting the Dishonored games with zero chill. Found in Horizon Zero Dawn that in some areas it tries to force you to stealth the game but then it's more enjoyable to just muscle through mobs.

[Twiztid Elf]

Wreckfest
A summary of my thoughts from the Wreckfest thread.
- Bucketloads of fun.
- Excellent handling, AI and racing.
- No driving line.
- Damage and destruction aplenty. The busted off parts don't vanish.
- Great physics model.
- No lag online.
- No lootboxes.
9/10

On PS5
+ better resolution
+ better framerate
+ better load times
+ haptic feedback
+ PS+ game
Second best racing game after PGR2.
First Prize
10/10

[Mavy]

I played through Doom Eternal again though this time on the XSX.

Completely different experience. Most of the issues I had with it the first time weren't as apparent this time through. It also seemed significantly easier. I played with a gamepad on PC last time and it was a slog. On the Xbox it was super responsive.

Guess that means they don't always optimise for gamepad on PC? Or they compensate on console by making it easier?

Who knows. Changed my opinion of the game though.

[Twiztid Elf]

Doki Doki Literature Club
It was nice filler, but playable novels are definitely not for me I'm afraid.

Well, I guess I was a bit wrong about that.

Being a DIK - Season 1

Hahahaha. I've never laughed so much at a video game.
Childish, puerile humor.
The story and characters were super fun as hell.
The female character models were sexy, and the sex scenes were very explicit.
7/10

And the soundtrack was cool.

[Reka]

Outriders

I played this on XB1 (available on Game Pass), entirely solo. I know the initial release had issues with disconnections but by the time I got around to playing it, it was stable and I had none of those issues. I DC'd twice throughout the whole thing, but I'm more inclined to blame my home internet than their servers.

I'm a fan of looter-shooters. I've always been in on the Borderlands franchise and still play Destiny several years on. So Outriders was always going to check some boxes for me straight off the bat. I'd been playing a fair bit of Destiny 2 prior to firing up Outriders, and consequently my initial reaction was that it was clunky. It's in third person instead of a true FPS so that didn't help. I actually felt the same way for GTA, RDR2 and Witcher 3 - having gone from the silky Destiny 2 controls to all of those games made me feel they were all clunky too. The same thing for one of the Gears of War games - going from Destiny to it felt clunky. I say all this because if you could handle the controls of all those games, then I'm sure Outriders would be fine too.

Having said that, it didn't take too long to get used to the controls and that feeling of clunkiness faded fairly quickly. I'm glad I stuck with it.

The game itself: I'll be honest, it's a pretty generic 3rd person looter shooter. The gameplay isn't too far removed from Gears of War with the cover system. The enemy AI wasn't too bad - early on it caught me off guard a few times but after playing it long enough you get a read for what they're likely to do and can account for it.

Some of the battles I had felt quite epic - there were a few times I exhaled afterwards because it felt like I really earned it. The difficulty ramps up as you go, and the harder it gets, the better loot that will drop. There are several boss fights throughout and some of those were quite challenging. None of them were 'throw the controller through the TV' material, but a couple of them made me attempt 10+ times to beat (I didn't turn the difficulty down at any stage and I was playing solo - may be different if you play with others).

The character levelling up and skills overall felt pretty good. Each class has a skill tree and a small subset of 'powers' that it can choose from. This leads to an RPG-lite feel to character progression which is another check mark for me - I like RPGs and levelling up.

The different weapons can feel quite different which added some variety to the game - at various times I was mainly using Sniper Rifles, Hand guns, Submachine guns, Assault Rifles and Shotguns as my primary weapons. I was changing weapons based on their power at the time and the abilities/perks that they were giving me. So whereas in most games I tend to find my favourite weapons which suit my play style and stick with them, the weapons in Outrider varied in usefulness and power enough that I used all sorts throughout my playthrough. If you find a favourite weapon you can change their abilities/perks and level them up if you like, but I generally just used whatever dropped as they were generated.

They story was OK I Guess. I'll be honest, I didn't play it for the story. I played it to level up, complete quests and collect loot. Some of the character dialog was pretty decent - there was fair a bit of swearing in some spots which kinda felt like a nice touch, it's like they didn't hold back in fear of offending their audience.

Overall, it was good enough to hold my attention to play it to completion (including every side quest that popped up), which is saying something - I haven't finished another video game in a very long time. The majority of my gaming these days is Destiny and Madden, and you never 'finish' either of them. If you like Gears of War or the looter-shooter genre in general then I'd say it's worth checking out. I'm yet to even try playing it with anyone else, so I'll reiterate that all my opinions are based on playing it solo. But if you still have Game Pass on XB1 then it's essentially free, so I'd say download it and give it a crack.

Outriders: 7.5 out of 10 I guess. Maybe 8 out of 10 if you love the genre.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Timely review. Was thinking of picking this up as I also enjoy loot shooter RPG progression and this does look pretty good. Generic but good. Reviews say they've done well with the gameplay, weapons and super powers. I like that it appears you can customise and level up favourite weapons rather than continually discard them as you level up. What class did you play as?

[flipswitch]

They released a demo. Might give it a go.

[Reka]

I played through as the Technomancer (Tech Shaman tree). It was only after playing it for a week that I bothered reading up on any of the classes, and it turns out that this was the least-recommended class to take if you're going to play solo. It is essentially a support class, so it should really shine in a team of three (it's good at healing himself and the rest of the team).

I leaned heavily on the Cryo-turret and Blighted turret. I eventually got an item that made the Blighted turret do freeze damage and took Cold Snap (a defensive skill that freezes nearby enemies) as my third ability. In the skill tree I chose skills that extended the duration of freeze and damage on frozen enemies and weapons that also caused freeze. It led to a play style where I tended to sit back and let the turrets freeze enemies and I picked them off at range. If I got rushed by enemies then I'd Cold Snap defensively to freeze them and take them down while they were frozen. My damage output varied throughout the game - it really depends on the equipment you have. If your equipment is all at an appropriate level with the right mix of perks then it can be devastating. If your equipment loses pace with the level of the enemies you're facing then the damage tends to drop off, hence my switching to newer weapons and armour fairly regularly to keep up with the power curve of the enemies. You could just level up your items to keep up, but I was happy to mix and match what I found. It was only towards the last third of the game or so that I had established my 'build' and modified armour and weapons to have specific perks and abilities that fit the build that I was working towards.

I can see that the game would play quite differently with the other classes, even within the one class I played the style of play varied just based on the equipment I was using at the time.