The last game you completed

[Johnway]

I'll quickly add a game i completed. The doom wad Ashens afterglow. Winner of a cacoaward last year i've got to say i was quite impressed with it. Granted, the texturing is a bit basic in places but having played the original ashes2063, it was a massive improvement and adds some modern features with some tight script writing.

Gone the linear set of maps and instead a hub system travelling the wasteland with various side missions to contend with. Whilst most are just kill everything and/or retrieve stuff, there was the odd stealth mission thrown in. Earn scrap and either spend the stuff on gear or even improving your weapons. If you're lucky you might find the toy laser gun and turn it into a real one...

Map wise there a mixed bunch, mostly functional if a bit basic in areas, but there were some outstanding ones like the stadium and the dome. The latter being a particularly dangerous location where the local plant life has mutated into some truly horrible, horrible monsters...

The other criticism is perhaps a bit more info or better objective navigation would have been nice. There were times i just got lost or stuck trying to figure out how to get to a certain objective even after being told what to do i was still a bit miffed at times. But it might also be me just being stupid

As for the ending? yeah pretty neat stuff as well. Won't spoil it, but i certainly wasn't left disappointed. Would i recommend playing it? if you're into doom wads like myself, absolutely. The cacoaward was well deserved!

So... what next? Well, i've still got some doom2 wads sitting in the back to play so will play the next one. perhaps thatcher doom...

 

[McStabStab]

Just finished INSCRYPTION and man... that is about as Devolver Digital as Devolver Digital games get. Definitely recommend. It's basically a deck builder but honestly it's not that hard. Just get on the ride and enjoy it!

 

[Brian Boru]

INSCRYPTION

Played the demo, and have it wishlisted—it may be too far out for my tastes, but I'll probably give it a shot during some sale.

 

[Pifanjr]

Played the demo, and have it wishlisted—it may be too far out for my tastes, but I'll probably give it a shot during some sale.

It's apparently a very good game:

Inscryption Makes History at IGF and Game Developers Choice Awards - Hardcore Gamer

(Editor’s note: Please note that the author of this article, Kyle LeClair, also served as an IGF judge. He was not asked nor compelled to write this article

hardcoregamer.com

 

[McStabStab]

It's apparently a very good game:

Inscryption Makes History at IGF and Game Developers Choice Awards - Hardcore Gamer

(Editor’s note: Please note that the author of this article, Kyle LeClair, also served as an IGF judge. He was not asked nor compelled to write this article

hardcoregamer.com

At first I figured it a Slay the Spire clone after reading the PCG review that only scored it a 69/100. Luckily I had a friend who told me she had been watching a lets play of the game and thought I would like it. In the end giving it a shot was worth it. I was totally surprised.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I need to get back to Inscryption, got to a point where I just need to win a run to do the next thing.

Spoiler

I have the camera film

but having won like 4 in a row before that point I now cant seem to get good cards in 3 runs for some reason. Then Elden Ring happened, and life got busy at the same time.

 

[McStabStab]

I need to get back to Inscryption, got to a point where I just need to win a run to do the next thing.

Spoiler

I have the camera film

but having won like 4 in a row before that point I now cant seem to get good cards in 3 runs for some reason. Then Elden Ring happened, and life got busy at the same time.

Ah you're at the end of Act 1 then. Keep at it! Usually the game will end up allowing you to build an OP death card which will power you through to the finish.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I have about 3 massively OP death cards I think, but a bunch of bad ones too so when I get the option for one sometimes its only the bad ones

Spoiler

I've also won by getting stuff like the infinite squirrel statue combo, or upgrading heavy hitting cards at the fires and then sacrificing the Mantis king or normal mantis to them. I've mostly found the bosses easier than the normal encounters in the wetland or mountains as they're totally predictable and you have more cards once you get there.

If I get to the end I've only lost once to the final boss, the upgrades you get for the final battle seem to make it pretty easy, at least in my games so far.

I have an idea things get weird next but I've avoided all spoilers so far.

I'd love to finish it, no time at the moment. Haven't even played Elden Ring for 4 days!

 

[Johnway]

No Pc games per say. but i did finish a couple on the snes emulator:

The first is True lies on the SNES. For a movie based tie in made by LJN (AVGN fans will know this company's reputation). It was... mediocore. not the worst, nothing memorable, did drag on for a bit and age hasn't done it any favours. Honestly you won't miss much not playing it.

The next one is Zombies ate my Neighbours. i did play this game on the megadrive a couple of years back but i went back to play it on the snes and honestly i found it tedious. 50 levels of repetition (save the neighbours). The problems? The numerous amount of weapons, the constant need to scroll through items, the repetitive nature of levels (with some being literally the same map recycled!), bosses were obnoxiously difficult and imbalanced. The big baby and spider was just torture to try and beat and this was me save scumming the game!

mercifully, in the middle, the game sort of gives up and just leaves maps with just one person to save and they can be breezed through within 3 minutes. Then there were maps where to progress you had to find secret tunnels etc. Secrets should be for advantages, not to actually progress the bloody game!

Do i recommend it? probably not. Back in the day i probably thought it was amazing.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

No Pc games per say. but i did finish a couple on the snes emulator:

The first is True lies on the SNES. For a movie based tie in made by LJN (AVGN fans will know this company's reputation). It was... mediocore. not the worst, nothing memorable, did drag on for a bit and age hasn't done it any favours. Honestly you won't miss much not playing it.

The next one is Zombies ate my Neighbours. i did play this game on the megadrive a couple of years back but i went back to play it on the snes and honestly i found it tedious. 50 levels of repetition (save the neighbours). The problems? The numerous amount of weapons, the constant need to scroll through items, the repetitive nature of levels (with some being literally the same map recycled!), bosses were obnoxiously difficult and imbalanced. The big baby and spider was just torture to try and beat and this was me save scumming the game!

mercifully, in the middle, the game sort of gives up and just leaves maps with just one person to save and they can be breezed through within 3 minutes. Then there were maps where to progress you had to find secret tunnels etc. Secrets should be for advantages, not to actually progress the bloody game!

Do i recommend it? probably not. Back in the day i probably thought it was amazing.

I think the only SNES game that I would still recommend playing today would be A Link to the Past. And maybe Super Mario All-Stars.

 

[Johnway]

I think the only SNES game that I would still recommend playing today would be A Link to the Past. And maybe Super Mario All-Stars.

I should get around to playing a link to the past, i've played mario all stars back in the day. Atm i'm actually playing Gods by the bitmaps brother. review of that hopefully soon...

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I should get around to playing a link to the past, i've played mario all stars back in the day. Atm i'm actually playing Gods by the bitmaps brother. review of that hopefully soon...

I prefer the 3D Zelda games, but ALttP is great, too. As far as 2D Zelda games go, The Minish Cap is my favorite, and it was on Game Boy Advance.

 

[Brian Boru]

Gods by the bitmaps brother

Oh man, I had fun with that a long long time ago—a very impressive game when it came out, I'd forgotten all about it.

Only $1 now for the remastered version, and will be removed from sale March 27 due to licensing problems. Grabbed, thanks

 

[McStabStab]

I think the only SNES game that I would still recommend playing today would be A Link to the Past. And maybe Super Mario All-Stars.

No Super Mario World?!

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Just finished up RealMyst. I haven't played it since the original in the mid-90s. It was a lot of fun.

No Super Mario World?!

Yeah, that would probably be the one other one.

 

[Brian Boru]

RealMyst

How's that compare to Myst?

I've had it forever, but never got around to playing it.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

How's that compare to Myst?

I've had it forever, but never got around to playing it.

Well, I don't want to get in trouble for posting this, but I played the Xbox version. I think that version has been enhanced from the original RealMyst. But it was awesome. I've only played the original version that came out in the mid-90s. That version was very pixelated and frame-by-frame. When I played it where you can freely move around wherever you want, it made me feel like that's how it was always meant to be played, but the tech just wasn't there. As a fan of the original, I really loved it. And it had been so long since I played it that I didn't remember most of the puzzles.

The only thing that was a little disappointing at first was that in the original, they used real video for the sons trapped in the books, but in this one, they replaced that with 3D models that were animated. But by the time I finished the game, I realized the reasoning for it, since you can move freely. Video just wouldn't have worked for that.

 

[Zloth]

Did you get all the bluuuuue pages?

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Did you get all the bluuuuue pages?

Haha. It was a lot of fun experiencing all of that again!

 

[Zloth]

I finished off GreedFall. I had quite a bit of fun with it! However, as mentioned in the weekly topics, the game is oooozing with el-cheapo.

The running is, I think, what will drive most folks mad. Here's a sample...

Fairly early on in the game, I ran into an area out in the woods with a mine. When I tried to go in, the guards stopped me, saying it was private property. I had some indications of Bad Things going on in there and said that the mine shouldn't be running. The guards insisted that the deed allows the owner to keep mining.

In many RPGs, there would have been little dialog. The guards would say "no" and then my party would proceed to slaughter all of them, then take their stuff. Not here! Instead, I go back to the nearest campfire (which are the fast travel points), go back to my residence near the palace, run up to the top floor, and chat with the guy in charge of bureaucratic things like deeds. Naturally, he needs to see the deed, so I run down to the basement, grab the deed, and run back up to the guy. He says the deed seems to indicate that the owner can't use the mine because it's unsafe, but he isn't certain because he didn't write it. I should see the previous governor about it. So run out of the palace to the house of the nice lady who used to run the city. She confirms his understanding.

So, armed with this knowledge, I run over to the docks and confront the mine owner. He suggests I forget the whole thing and tries to bribe me. I'm quite rich already, so I run back up to Master Bureaucrat at the top of the palace yet again to tell him what's happened. He promptly nullifies the deed and gives me a writ saying so to take to the mine. I run back out of the palace again, back to my house, fast travel to the camp, run to the mine, and show the guards my prize.

As luck would have it, the guards can read, but they aren't sure if they should follow it or not. I do some fancy talking and convince them both to go back home and seek employment from a less assholeistic employer, so they vanish. When I go into the camp, there's a bunch more guards and the mine owner (who must also be able to fast travel). No dialog allowed there, they just attack, so I slaughter them all and take their stuff. So really, it ended just like many RPGs, but with a ton of running around first.

The running around DOES often add to the game, though. You get the perspectives of more characters. Even in this example, you find out what the previous governor was doing making deeds like this, and how the transition from the previous government to the current one is working out. It adds some real depth. It's just that it makes you run all over the map to gather it.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I finished off GreedFall. I had quite a bit of fun with it! However, as mentioned in the weekly topics, the game is oooozing with el-cheapo.

The running is, I think, what will drive most folks mad. Here's a sample...

Fairly early on in the game, I ran into an area out in the woods with a mine. When I tried to go in, the guards stopped me, saying it was private property. I had some indications of Bad Things going on in there and said that the mine shouldn't be running. The guards insisted that the deed allows the owner to keep mining.

In many RPGs, there would have been little dialog. The guards would say "no" and then my party would proceed to slaughter all of them, then take their stuff. Not here! Instead, I go back to the nearest campfire (which are the fast travel points), go back to my residence near the palace, run up to the top floor, and chat with the guy in charge of bureaucratic things like deeds. Naturally, he needs to see the deed, so I run down to the basement, grab the deed, and run back up to the guy. He says the deed seems to indicate that the owner can't use the mine because it's unsafe, but he isn't certain because he didn't write it. I should see the previous governor about it. So run out of the palace to the house of the nice lady who used to run the city. She confirms his understanding.

So, armed with this knowledge, I run over to the docks and confront the mine owner. He suggests I forget the whole thing and tries to bribe me. I'm quite rich already, so I run back up to Master Bureaucrat at the top of the palace yet again to tell him what's happened. He promptly nullifies the deed and gives me a writ saying so to take to the mine. I run back out of the palace again, back to my house, fast travel to the camp, run to the mine, and show the guards my prize.

As luck would have it, the guards can read, but they aren't sure if they should follow it or not. I do some fancy talking and convince them both to go back home and seek employment from a less assholeistic employer, so they vanish. When I go into the camp, there's a bunch more guards and the mine owner (who must also be able to fast travel). No dialog allowed there, they just attack, so I slaughter them all and take their stuff. So really, it ended just like many RPGs, but with a ton of running around first.

The running around DOES often add to the game, though. You get the perspectives of more characters. Even in this example, you find out what the previous governor was doing making deeds like this, and how the transition from the previous government to the current one is working out. It adds some real depth. It's just that it makes you run all over the map to gather it.

I'm trying to decide what would be worse. That, or grinding forever in No Man's Sky to build up the things you need. At least you had a good story there.

But to be fair, I'm not big into grinding games, but I am having fun with No Man's Sky. I don't have a lot of playing time, but I just got to my first space port.

 

[Johnway]

2 more snes games off the list.

As previously mentioned, i was playing Gods by the bitmap brothers. For a 1991 game it was certainly got a lot of clever features/ideas. Puzzles, mini fetch quests and some decent action to boot. its showing its age slightly and the last set of levels were certainly weak and felt like they were running out of ideas. Fighting robots wasn't what i expected when i went to the underworld. The turrets especially kinda felt like they came from psygnosis's the killing show.

EDIT: just remember a few more things that irked me about this game. The first was the fact that whilst there is 4 slots to carry items, you can only use 3 of them. which is silly as soon as you try to pick up the item you either drop it immediately or drop another item.

Speaking of item issue, i did come across this strange bug where despite having the correct set of items it didn't register that i had all items in my possession. i spent nearly 30 minutes back tracking and confused wondering why i didn't get the exit key. turned out i DID have all the items and the game was being a jerk about it.

Lastly more of a design issue, forced weapon swapping. you can only carry one primary weapon and in some levels the game will expect you to pick up another weapon. usually a weaker one to progress. bloody annoying when you spend all your money upgrading your weapons to make mince meat of the enemy and the game rips them away and you struggle throughout the level and game with it...

Would i recommend a play? yeah why not. just for nostalgia sake. The remaster doesn't look all that hot though...


The second game i finished was the indiana jones greatest adventures (basically a game based on the 3 movies). When i see lucas arts and red factor 5 (the makers of turrican) you might think you're onto a winner, alas it was disappointing effort and age hasn't helped it one bit. Pretty repetitive and bland if i was being honest. The weakest part were the bosses, either they were easy, annoying and/or underdeveloped the 3 main bosses were pretty naff.

oh and lets not forget how the whip did more damage then guns or how i could kill anything on the floor without the gun or kicking objects at them. its a bit embarrassing that the only way i could kill a rat was firing wildly with my revolver.

Would i recommend it. Nope. you're not missing much and the movies were better way to experience the 3 movies proper.

 

[Pifanjr]

naff.

I learned a new word today.

 

[Johnway]

Well after 86.5 hours i've finished pillars of eternity. Its been my main game for the last few months and i'm exhausted. The worst part is that i didn't even finish all the content and i missed a couple of missions i didn't know even existed or trigger properly which is a shame.

I played it on normal and honestly i didn't really understand all the mechanics and ignored a large number of them. namely crafting.

There was a LOT of reading. So much so that i never truly dived too deeply into the lore nor read 100% all the content. At times my eyes just glazed over all of it and that saddens me. There's a well established, fleshed out story and lore and i just didn't experience it. it doesn't help that i played it as one of the most boring characters ever. being a predictable fighter talking my way through fights and seeing the more interesting discussions were not always an option. Seeing the other classes like priest, druid, cipher i under utilized them nor understood meta build all that well.

gameplay wise i'll summarize as if you liked baldurs gate or icewind dale, then you would be right at home with the game mechanics. there were some niggles but on the whole a solid game. a minor side note, there is no dedicated rogue character unless you get the DLC or create one yourself...

Would i recommend it? yeah absolutely. especially if you're a fan of baldur's gate and icewind dale series. At the price this game goes for, its worth a try. Its certainly got me ready to play the sequel, but that can wait. i need to play something else and complete some of my indie backlog.

 

[Zloth]

It took me 122 hours, and I never got the DLC!