Rate the last game you finished

[Ambrose Burnside]

Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (PC)

Got this for Christmas last year. It's my kinda game - over the top FPS - but there are a few things that prevent it from being a really good example of the style I like. I like the overall package, the banter, the gore, the points-based scoring where the more creative you are at killing, the more points you get to spend and the more weapons and so on you can unlock. But you can't jump, let alone wall run and all the other cool shit games like Titanfall 2 and Doom lets you do, and it takes less than 8 hours to finish the campaign. It's linear (which I don't mind), but if you wanted something more open world Rage 2 is your best bet.

I liked it, glad I played through it, but there are a lot better examples of the genre. Wouldn't mind a sequel, but I don't think we'll get one. Game tanked on release.

One of those solid 7/10 kinda games I would only recommend to fans of the genre.

[Twiztid Elf]

Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart

Oh my, the graphics. I think I've already said this, but this is easily, and by far the best looking video game I've ever played. And it's not even close. DAMN!
Apart from that, it's a smooth and slick Ratchet and Clank game.
Wave after wave of wonderfully designed enemies, dispatched with an incredibly diverse selection of fun and interesting weapons. Followed by swarms of scrap nuts and bolts being scooped up in a very pleasing and satisfying way.
Absolute spot on tone, amazing characters, and humor that sticks the landing perfectly. I laughed so many times playing this.

I guess my only legitimate gripe is wall-running. Fair dinkum, I'm done with it. I think it's my most hated gameplay mechanic.
And I think on very rare occasions I did strangely detect some input lag.

So much fun.
I expect this is just the beginning.
Play has no limits.
9/10

[Twiztid Elf]

Mario Golf Super Rush
Ugh. Campaign was fucking horrible. And the XC Golf is one of the worst things I've experienced in a Nintendo published game in a long, long time. If I was rating it on campaign alone, it'd be a 3 or 4 out of 10.
The reason I bought it though was to have a purely fun, accessible, lightweight golf game on my Switch for standard stroke play and score attack. It ticks the boxes on the reasons I bought it.
See the Dunkey video to see how much dumb fun it is.
I expected better and more though.
6/10

Japanese Rail Sim: Journey to Kyoto
I've been keeping an eye on this waiting for a western release for a long time, then bam - pops up on the PS4 store.
Oh boy, this one is a guilty pleasure for me.
FMV train driving in Japan (Kyoto), with authentic Japanese rail announcements.
Not really worth the entry price with very limited lines, but I absolutely love it to bits, and it makes me wish I could go there again even more than I already do.
6/10

[unfnknblvbl]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

The updated graphics and sound are absolutely gorgeous.
The game play is mostly unchanged. The later boss battles are made a bit more interesting, and because you no longer have to buy a continue with a cheat... the game is harder??

So, back in the day when you lost all your lives, you would hold Up on the D-pad and press the 2 button eight times. Assuming you had at least 400g (I think), you would buy yourself a continue and start from the beginning of the current level, with all your items intact.
In the new version, you just select Continue at the game over screen, and you restart the level with nothing. No money, no items, nothing. That makes some of the later levels really fucking hard in an already difficult game.
Add in to that the changes to boss battles, and a weird jumping bug that's difficult to describe but makes some parts of the game almost impossible to do quickly, and... yeah. It's harder.

There's an infinite lives mode, which is still hard, just not brutally so.

The ability to switch to original presentation is nice, but the 8-bit audio is completely broken. It's like they found the worst possible Master System emulator and used the sound core from that. It's ear-splittingly dreadful.

Weirdly though, the game can sometimes be a little easier in the original presentation, since there are fewer distractions preventing you from calculating that pixel-perfect jump. Go figure.

Overall, I quite like the game. Eight hamburgers out of ten.

[stanard]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

So, back in the day when you lost all your lives, you would hold Up on the D-pad and press the 2 button eight times. Assuming you had at least 400g (I think), you would buy yourself a continue and start from the beginning of the current level, with all your items intact.

WHAT

[t0mby]

[unfnknblvbl]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

So, back in the day when you lost all your lives, you would hold Up on the D-pad and press the 2 button eight times. Assuming you had at least 400g (I think), you would buy yourself a continue and start from the beginning of the current level, with all your items intact.

WHAT

You have GOT to be kidding me.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

So, back in the day when you lost all your lives, you would hold Up on the D-pad and press the 2 button eight times. Assuming you had at least 400g (I think), you would buy yourself a continue and start from the beginning of the current level, with all your items intact.

WHAT

You have GOT to be kidding me.

I had no idea this was a thing either

[unfnknblvbl]

Oh my god.

Did you know about the secret level, at least?

[stanard]

I hope you just mean the octopus's pot!!

[t0mby]

I thought he meant the one behind the tree.

[unfnknblvbl]

What about the secret blocks?

[Gamma]

Shame to hear the 8-bit tunes are rooted, but I'm still going to pick it up on a good sale. I've been smashing platformers lately, and have finished a few:


Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Switch)

I got to about World 6 of SM3DW before I gave in to the allure of brand new content in Bowser's Fury, and once I started I couldn't put it down- a decently-sized open world 3D Mario that looks and sounds great, offers quite a bit to do, and in which just about everything is cat-themed. In a weird way it reminds me of Majora's Mask, in that much of the moment to moment gameplay mechanics are familiar but there's a very notable change to the core gameplay loop that makes the experience really different. It's a tad on the short side, but I think if it were too much longer the central idea would wear thin.

The way Bowser can impact on a platforming challenge is really dynamic, and for most of the game I really dug the kaiju vibes and the looming threat of him slowly rising out of the sea in realtime, but it gets a little annoying when you're down to your last half-dozen collectables. Inevitably they're the ones that are the most out of the way or are hardest to get, and Bowser both turns up more often and you pretty much have to ride it out because retaliating leads to the end sequence. Being able to store so many different powerups felt like building a toolkit in a way that gave it a bit more of an adventure vibe than past titles, which I really liked even if it made things a bit too easy. If it were just Bowser's Fury, I'd probably say 8/10, but with 3D World included (even if it is a replay for me) I'll go 9/10. Easy to recommend if you haven't played either.


Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch)

Improvements across the board from the Blind Forest, particularly in regard to combat and tightened controls. Still don't really like the trial-and-error nature of the chase sequences, so I was pleased to see a few traditional boss battles mixed throughout. Clearly took some inspiration from Hollow Knight, but the idea of different "builds" didn't work nearly as well- I found it pretty easy to cruise through the game after the first few mobility upgrades. There always seemed to be a clearly optimal loadout, and in the early game I found I had more open slots for abilities than abilities I wanted to equip due to so many of them having negative traits- this never feels good IMO, the "trade-off" is already there in that you can't equip something else.

Exploration is rewarded with health/energy upgrades most of the time, and the RPG lite elements are simple fetch quests, so I found it felt a bit by-the-numbers. I avoided buying the in-game upgrades that mark things on your map in an effort to keep things interesting, and it's a good thing too because they're handed to you anyway after one of the sidequests. The story's actually surprisingly miserable but the characters are good, the world's great, and I liked the conclusion. There were also a few weird graphical issues here and there on the Switch that I presume aren't there on the Xboner/PC, but nothing major. Some areas look really nice, Mouldwood Depths in particular made great use of the springy platform physics. Overall it's a very enjoyable, occasionally frustrating game. Hope to see a third entry one day. 8/10


Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (SNES)

Fuck me what a cunt of a game. Full disclosure: I'm playing this on the Switch and allowed myself a save state at the beginning of each level, so I died an absolute ton but I did play through each level without save state scumming. Strangely I find this title is really front-loaded in terms of difficulty and perhaps even content- the opening couple of levels are quite difficult and pretty long, then you just seem to keep picking up pace and before you know it you're at the end. Some of that would be the practice you pick up in those initial stages paying off, but when the game then loops back to the start so you can get the stupid bracelet (ffs), it felt like the difficulty had jumped up again.

As anyone who's played it would know, it's jam-packed with cheap deaths so you more or less have to rely on rote learning for some sections if you want to succeed- the save states made a world of difference here, I wouldn't have had the time these days otherwise. In any case, I enjoyed revisiting this one, it's brutal but it's a classic, I love the visuals and the soundtrack is engraved in my mind. 8/10


Currently juggling Ratchet & Clank, Gato Roboto, and Horace on the platformer front, and expect that'll be the order I finish them in. I've been stuck in a fucking sack race in Horace for longer than I care to admit.

[t0mby]

I didn't like Super Ghouls and Ghosts. I don't know if it was the double jump or something, it's so long ago, 27 years at least, but I definitely wasn't a fan considering how much I liked the previous 2. I have an official sequel on the PSP but for the life of me I can't remember any of it.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Returnal - PS5

As a Rogue-lite/like fuckin whatever Bullet Hell game.. I enjoyed it. Mostly.

Style and presentation was the first true next gen game I got to see and it definitely felt like it was the next step though no doubt we will see even better in the years to come.
Gameplay wise I think I clocked about 20-25 hours to finish it. Yes - it was brutal in some places - to the point where I actually felt like I didn't want to play it anymore. Some runs your drops are just fucking useless. The six biomes are different enough though the enemies become a bit samey in the second half of the game. Still punishing though. But again - the weapon/consumable drops will truly dictate that. On the run that I ended up beating it.. I just had the best ever luck with artefacts and parasites that gave useful and stackable buffs so I ended up cruising through the 4th biome, finally overcoming the 5th and then cruising through the 6th biome that I had never even seen at that point.

Would I go back? Hmmm maybe.. the completionist in my kinda wants to so I can see the true ending.. And I must say.. the story and ending are vague but well done so that you learn more and more about what the fuck the story is about because all is not what it seems.

When you are having a good run with items the game is a solid 9 tentacled me too moments out of 10.

When it's a shit run of items - 7 fucking hell shit cunt fucks out of 10.

[Twiztid Elf]

Scarlet Nexus
Fucking hell does the labored dialogue kill this game. It just goes on and on and fucking on forever.
But yet it held me to the end, and that is due to the absolutely fantastic cast of characters.
The storyline was fantastic also, it just needed to be edited properly to remove all of the needless bloat.
Art style and enemy design were also top notch.
This game was obviously developed on a tight budget, with lots of re-use of environments and enemies, etc.
Combat was excellent, deep, fun and varied.
I played through on the female protagonist side, Kasane, and I must admit I'm tempted to play through on the male Yuito side.
So frustrating. Edited competently, this game could be in goty discussion. Sigh.
7/10

A couple of games that don't "finish" as such, but I've played plenty of to make a call and score.

Pokemon Unite / Pokemoba
I called it! Pokemon MOBA back in 2012.
Well this is a wonderful breath of fresh air. A super casual, quick, fun, polished Pokemon MOBA.
Games are over in 10 minutes, and there's an even quicker gameplay mode.
I got tired of trying to tank as SlowBro for these idiot kids that have no clue how to play a moba, so I've been pushing more to Jungle/DPS as Zeraora instead and get much better results controlling the game.

There is a pay to win element with the held items. I'm not even going to try to deny it, but you know what? It really just doesn't matter.
No toxicity, as its on Switch, so no real way to communicate with other players.
Coming to phones in September, which I guess also means PC (via Bluestacks or native Win11).
A lot of dumb fun.
8/10

Guilty Gear Strive
Speaking of GOTY contenders, here's my frontrunner right now. And I expect SMTV is the only potential contender to come tbh.
Holy shit is this game fucking awesome.
Easily the best serious fighter since Street Fighter 4.
Graphics and sound are amazing.
On PS5 the matches load really fast.
The characters are well designed, balanced and easy to learn.
I've been maining Potemkin, and dabbling in a few of the others.
The net code is excellent.
The Aus and SEA lobbies have been a ghost town when I've been in them, so I've just been playing in the Japan lobbies, and I think I've only seen two laggy games out of MANY. The downside is I'm playing in Japan lobbies and getting spanked a lot. But you learn and get better quick. I'm tempted to try west coast USA.
9/10

[Peppermint Lounge]

GTA5

I read recently open world games have increasingly become more about the destination at the expense of the journey which is true. GTA5 is by far the most fun I've had just hanging out in an open world. Even when you go AFK a cinematc camera will kick in focussing on various NPCs talking on the phone, arguing, etc. and it's genuinely entertaining. GTA5 has the best handling vehicles I've used in an open world game. Cars, helicopters, bikes, boats, jetskis and planes all handle in ways I did not anticipate when finally getting around to playing this game. Going back to other open world games and using their vehicles feels so inferior now. Yes I got frustrated trying to finesse a cargo drop from a giant helicopter onto a train carriage but it was also amazing to experience such a deep system of flight control. That extends to water craft which leads me to pointing out GTA5 has the best water and water physics I've experienced in an open world game. GTA5 has the best mini games I've experienced in an open world game. I played a few sets of tennis and it's as good as the standalone tennis games I played during the PS2/Xbox era of consoles. GTA5 has the best soundtrack I've heard in an open world game. My game time is sitting around 160hrs and I'm still being surprised. I enjoyed the starring and co-starring characters, story and the ability to switch between the three protagonists on the fly.

Criticisms? If I must I'd say the gunplay and combat is the weakest link. Not enough to detract from the experience but we have better systems, sound and feedback these days. On the other hand, playing as Trevor, turning around and king-hitting someone who mouthed off is pretty seamless.

I'm glad I finally played. I bought and played GTA3, GTA SA and GTA4. Did not finish any of them and so wasn't aboard the Rockstar train. I am now.

10/10.

[t0mby]

Aliens Fireteam Elite Series X

Big Aliens fan here so this may make it a little biased but I fully enjoyed the 12 level campaign. Some great set pieces, a shit tonne of Aliens and the gunplay mechanics are soooo satisfying. The Horde mode is a little lacking as there's only 1 map for that so far but I'll replay any of the campaign missions to grind my characters and weapons up time and time again and playing with 2 others really brings the tension especially on the Intense difficulty. I've already put in over 70hrs since I bought this so that says a lot imo. Graphics are excellent during the maps although a little lacking in the hub, sound is on par and those alien screams are just *chefs kiss*
Game has had its problems since release but the patches have been dropping thick and fast and even had some free content already in the way of 4 new weapons and a new Class bringing the weapon count up to 35 and Classes to 5.
Overall, for $60, this game has been a fantastic purchase for me.

8 hidden caches filled with goodies out of 10

[Ambrose Burnside]

Quake

I've finished this one million times before, but this is the shiny new 25th anniversary edition with two brand new episodes.

I have no idea what sort of witchcraft they used to create the new episodes, especially the second one, which is stunning.

10/10. It's Quake FFS

[unfnknblvbl]

Quake

I think this is the first time I've ever played it start to finish without cheating. The Dimension of the Past episode is a bit meh, imo... But Dimension of the Machine.. holy shit.

This is still the FPS that every other FPS wants to be. I wish they'd make a real sequel.

Ten shambler dancers out of ten.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Gears 5 Hivebusters

Tight single player DLC campaign of around 3.5 hours or so. We play a lot of gorgeous games but Gears 5 really leaves nothing out - great performance, the best HDR implementation I've seen, superb audio mix and great gameplay.

9/10.

[t0mby]

This is still the FPS that every other FPS wants to be. I wish they'd make a real sequel.

Honest question, what was wrong with Quake 2?

[Ambrose Burnside]

This is still the FPS that every other FPS wants to be. I wish they'd make a real sequel.

Honest question, what was wrong with Quake 2?

Nothing really, but it was sci-fi vs weird gothic medieval Lovecraftian Quake.

Should have called it something different, it wasn't a real sequel in that sense.

[unfnknblvbl]

Yeah. Quake 2 was a fine game on its own, but it's completely unrelated to the original. And then Quake 3 went on an even more different tangent.

I just want to fight Shamblers and Fiends with creepy Jesus murals watching over things.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Outriders

Interesting game. They do stuff really well but there are misgivings. I played the campaign solo and note it would definitely be fun to team up. I rolled a Trickster and followed the Assassin (glass cannon) tree. I loaded up shotgun damage perks and spent the game running straight into the thick of it and teleporting out when if got too hot. Tricksters heal via close quarter kills so it was super fun to play a third person shooter in this aggressive way.

The misgivings for me are how samey it all is. There's no jumping in this game so you're just entering flat arenas with the same cover and structures layout. Mobs attack in the same way, the same mix of charging melee, mid range gunners, snipers and mini bosses. Again and again. The fast gameplay is good enough that you can get a run on and not really notice anything else - that nice trance like state you get from fast, dexterous gameplay and enemies exploding every second. Wave complete. Onto the next. The story was... ok. I didn't really like or care about any of the characters and the protagonist is a dick. Voice acting very good but some of the big plot scenes just didn't come off at all.

Despite those criticisms I like the game. Its' a strong gameplay experience and the looter shooter aspect of it pulled me right in. Outriders difficulty is subject to a world tier system. Accrue enough world tier XP and you tick over to the next WT and increased difficulty. There are 15 world tiers all up. I hit a wall at WT10 during my campaign playthrough. When you die you lose a chunk of world tier XP and I was dying sufficiently that I wasn't progressing out of WT10. I decided to drop back to WT8 which was a good difficulty balance to enjoy the rest of the campaign with. Your world tier also dictates the level and quality of gear you'll loot during play, though campaign acquisitions aren't really important given it's the end game where you'll really work for top level gear. I criticised the samey-ness of the game but must give props to the campaign for ramping it up toward the end. Good environments and reasonable story climax. The final fight can get fucked though. Some cheap shit going on there and had to dial the WT down to 7 to beat it. Note though your ability to win fights is very dependant on gear. Legendary weapons with three mod slots wipes the floor with single mod blue gear. You can also easily revisit any spot in the story to replay it for gear and world tier XP.

When you finish the campaign the end game opens up in the form of Expeditions. Expeditions have you heading further into the world to reach an location and loot it. It introduces a new system exclusive to Expeditions - Challenge Tier. I ran an expedition solo at the maximum CT I was allowed for my first Expedition - CT3. CT also goes up to 15. Expeditions are definitely designed with three player teams in mind. The number of mobs is insane and a massive increase on the campaign. I managed to beat it, just. The gear reward is dependant on time taken to complete.

Despite the shortcomings I find the things I like about Outriders outweigh the misgivings. It's a strong, pure gameplay experience. The looting aspect of the game and the multiple mechanisms in place to tailor risk vs reward are well done. I do like the world they've created but some of the presentation is janky. I'm interested to see how the other classes play. I'll prob roll a Technomancer next to experience ranged combat after running around like a nut as a Trickster. Will spend some more time building my Trickster up first though.

7.5/10