The Games You Completed/Played in August 2014

Another one of these. Let us know any games you played or completed this past month. Mini-reviews or grades are nice of course.

Kotor 2 Restored Version- My new favorite game. Kotor 2 was always a strong contender for this, but when it's made the devs wanted it to be made, it's incredible. Combat's fantastic as always, party is unique in how untrustworthy almost everyone is while giving everyone a unique role in combat, and it does to Star Wars what Watchmen did to superheroes storywise. A+

So Many Me- Fucking adorable, but gameplay was lacking big time. Most of the time it was unchallenging enough that this didn't get in the way, but when it did, it was bad. C-

Metrico- So forgettable I've got nothing. Didn't piss me off though. D+

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls- Nowhere close to beating it, but so far so good. Co-op's a blast, loot gathering is fun. Just a great little hack and slash. A-

Gone Home- Adding this since I literally just played through it. Didn't irritate me like it does most other gamers, but I don't get it. At all. The story could have still worked if they were straight, but without it the story would feel more cliche and bland. There's nothing really of substance in it and it's too short for what they're charging. Have it on Twitch so you can watch that if you want. If this was free or $2.50 and you had an hour to kill, I could maybe say give it a spin. But they're charging way too much for too little content and substance. D

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus on Vita - This is my favorite of the 3 PS2 era Sly games, and so far on the Vita that statement is still true since I'm currently playing through 2. Graphics look great, but the sound really took a hit in this import. On the smaller screen, it seems to make the game a lot harder than I remember it being on the PS2/3. Still a great game, and any platform fan should play it. B+ as far as the Vita version goes, I'd grade the PS2/3 version higher.

Saints Row: The Third - Downloaded this game a year ago and just recently decided I needed to play it and get it off of my hard drive. Similar to GTA in so many ways, but I'd say it's closer to the feel of the PS2 era GTA games and to me that's a good thing. Great controls, combat, car physics (the reason why it is more like GTA games from the PS2) that are slightly realistic and slightly arcadey, with tons of side missions to tackle. My only complaint is how silly the game is, which would probably be a blessing for some but not for me. B+

I know I played and beat other games, but I'll have to actually look at what those are.

Guacamelee - Great little metroidvania to kill some time with. The purchasable moves are all essentially pointless but the unlockable ones are great. It's pretty neat how they are used in platforming as well as combat. A-

Thomas Was Alone - Haven't beaten this yet so consider this a review in progress. It's charming and some of the puzzles are pretty cool, but the multiple character mechanic makes movement a bit of a slog sometimes. Rating it now, I'd give it a B

Here we go:

Mario Kart 8: I still need to test battle mode (which I expect to not be good) and online, but so far I love it. Great selection of new courses. Good classic tracks with some smart tweaks to include new features. Like the addition of the anti-gravity stuff. Excellent kart racer. Probably my GotY so far. A

New Super Mario Bros. U: It is a NSMB game through and through. There is a bit of a fatigue in it for me, but this is one of the best of the subseries. Like the big connected world map. I like the new flying squirrel suit. I like Bowser setting up shop in Peach's castle. I like how tough it is. Very good game, but a little been there done that at times. B+

Infamous: First Light: Fetch is better overall than Delsin. More interesting and assuming you loved Neon as much as me, she has better powers too. At the very least her Neon powers are way better than Delsin's both combat and movement. Better side content with the Lumen Races and Battle Arenas too. Still some issues with mission and city design like the main game, but I think I liked this a bit more than Second Son. B+

I think that is all for August. Still haven't finished Wind Waker, but it has been a lot of fun. I forgot how much I liked Temple of the Gods. Also started Luigi U which is kind of a neat twist on NSMB U. Fun to just sprint through the levels without stopping.

I think I might download First Light tonight since I have the next two days off. There was only one real power I liked more with neon, and that was the one where it put them in the air and you could shoot either their leg or head to trap or kill them.

How much snow was there? I've only seen a little bit, and there needs to be a lot. Like a whole shit ton of the white fluffy stuff.

Feel like shit today. I'm putting all the blame on Gone Home

BretBaber wrote:I think I might download First Light tonight since I have the next two days off.  There was only one real power I liked more with neon, and that was the one where it put them in the air and you could shoot either their leg or head to trap or kill them.  

How much snow was there?  I've only seen a little bit, and there needs to be a lot.  Like a whole shit ton of the white fluffy stuff.

The snow part is pretty small. It mostly just takes place on the first island of Seattle from Second Son. What was you favorite power set in Second Son Bret?

I don't have a Ps4 but that's kind of disappointing. Would've been cool to see a huge focus on snow in an Infamous game. Snow looks cool enough just sitting there. What better way to show of the Ps4's power than an awesome blizzard power?

I think a lot of how I felt about the power ups had to do with their ability to float or speed travel. I liked how Delsin could float further with his smoke power as opposed to the neon power that made you sink like a stone when in the air. Neon normal shots didn't seem as powerful as well, but maybe I'm wrong. I probably used neon the most though when it came to containing enemies as I mentioned before. I think I liked the angel/demon power the most though, just because it seemed a little stronger.

My favorite is still concrete. Was a little underdeveloped and came really late, but taking out enemies while hovering was by far the most fun approach to combat to me.

Neon was my favorite mostly for the sprint/dash thing and the slow motion sniping power. The cool thing is Fetch's Neon has these speed boosts she can use plus air dash moves (like smoke), so it feels even better getting around with. Along with the sniping being back her other moves are better (cooler missiles, better melee). I didn't really like Delsin's Neon missile move, so that is a big improvement here.

My only problem with neon really during Second Son was the way he'd sink like a stone. Made getting around on rooftop a chore. Scaling buildings from the bottom to get to the top was awesome though with neon.

Yeah, I hear you there. With Fetch that won't really happen. Really easy to jump from rooftop to rooftop and its really fast. I think you'll like it.

I think Saints Row 4 had the same basic idea as neon, but did it better in every way save polish and graphics.

Well, last month I bought a PS4 so there's plenty of stuff I've played (but very few completed):

Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus: I did complete this and it was a satisfying entry into the series and a proper send-off on the PS3, which produced the excellent Future games.

South Park: The Stick of Truth Still playing through this but it's so much fun and a damn good time if you're a fan of the show. I smile and I smile and I smile.

Resogun: It's kicking my ass but I'm in love with it. I recently purchased the season pass so I'm in this for the long haul. Gotta keep practicing, though.

Diablo 3: UEE: A definitive version of an excellent console port. I wish I've had more time recently to play with others; it truly the only way to really enjoy it.

Strider: I like it but not as mind-blowing as I thought. I don't recall Strider being "Metroidvania" either.

Don't Starve: I really like this but I'm about to starve.

I always starve. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in that game.

Traveling around as Fetch is really awesome in this game. Not sure when I'm going to start unlocking more powers (I already did all of the races, graffiti, and neon balls or what have you) and upgraded everything completely so far and it says I'm 46% through with the game. Give me my powers already!

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North It's LotR, which is awesome. It's LotR as a hack and slash RPG, which is also awesome. It's LotR as a hack and slash RPG made by the makers of the awesome Champions of Norrath, awesome^3. It's a fun take on the world of LotR as envisioned by Peter Jackson, and the story is a fun romp through middle-earth with different characters fighting a different war. Really glitchy though, and I actually encountered a glitch 30 minutes before beating the game that wouldn't let me advance. Luckily I was able to joint someone at the exact same spot as me online and get past the glitch I was having. So a year later I finally got to beat the game, but I'm glad I did. I may attempt a platinum run on this game, but that's tricky since there are so many glitches. It's just fun to go around and kill orcs with your friends and/or cousin. B-

Tales of Xillia Seeing Kay and San always raving about this game was the reason I bought it when it was on sale for $10, and it was money well spent. My favorite part about this game isn't the story, gameplay, music, or world (which are all fantastic), but the characters and the humor that they always bring. Hearing Teepo say things like "I can't stop staring at Milla's bazoongas" is hilarious. Every character said funny shit countless times. It would have been my favorite RPG on the PS3 if it wasn't for Ni no Kuni, but since that's in my Top 5 games from this generation that isn't a bad game to lose out to. A-

inFamous Second Son I already beat the game on normal and good, and to wrap up the platinum I was now completing my hard/evil run. It didn't seem too much harder, you just seemed to die a lot faster, which is kind of a lame way to make a game harder but oh well. I remember feeling really frustrated at parts, and fighting mobs of enemies is kind of a chore until you get the power up that gives you health for either restraining/killing enemies. As a story I like this more than First Light, but First Light really suffers due to how creepy Fetch is towards her brother, Brent. It's creepy like River/Simon creepy. A-

Dragon Fantasy Book II Seems like most things about this game were an improvement over the first, but for some reason I had more fun playing the first game. Part of that might be due to going for the platinum, which had me doing things I wouldn't normally do like capturing monsters, which wasn't fun at all. The music was really great in this game, and apparently it's on iTunes and I might consider buying it. These game are a fun throwback to the 8-bit and 16-bit era, so any fan of those role playing games should check it out. Be warned though, there are a lot of game breaking glitches so have multiple save points. I encountered one, and I lost 2 hours of progress (probably another factor that made this game not as fun as the first). In case anyone plays I'll warn you about mine. Towards the end of the game you go through a sewer up into a castle to break into it. Since I was capturing any foe to try and get the 50 monsters captured trophy (they have to be different monsters), I came across a group of bandits and captured the one I hadn't captured yet. Well, apparently I was supposed to kill him to obtain a key, and since I captured and didn't kill I didn't get the key and couldn't progress through the door that was locked. It's dumb little glitches like that I read about online, so tread careful wayfarers. C

I am always glad to provide free word-of-mouth advertising for the Tales series, for my own self serving reasons. More games for me.

I got through a considerable amount of backlog.

Tales of Xillia - By far my favorite Tales game. I agree with Bret that the humor is the shining star. The sliding difficulty also benefits by the mechanic of being able to increase or decrease it without affecting the story or starting over. The combat is my favorite system since the first Mass Effect/ Dragon age titles. And as Bret also said, this would be my favorite PS3 RPG if it weren't for NNK.

Jump Price: N/A - I'm going to go against my normal grading system and actually say it has a spot in my all-time favorites list.

Watch_Dogs and Second Son - The former lets you pretend to be Batman from Year one while the latter makes you an X-Man. That's really the only information anyone needs to know. Sure, there were stories and such, but who really cares when you're an X-Man or Batman?

Jump Price: Whatever you paid for Black Flag in order to be a pirate.

Batman Origins: Blackgate - The team did an admirable job for an obvious rush-job cash-in. It was free on plus which helped my opinion of it considerably.

Jump Price: Free or damn close to free.

Zelda: ALBW - It's Zelda.

Jump Price: It's Zelda.

MGS: GZ - The best demo since MGS2. Kojima is just as batshit as ever and it works in only a way he can do. Pretty damn amazing.

Jump Price: $20

Silent Hill/ P.T. - I don't care if it's only proof of concept. That shit is crazy. I actually had to turn it off and wait to play it during the day. And that's coming from someone who rarely gets freaked out at such things. Kojima...

Jump Price: Free if you don't count therapy.

Dishonored - Too linear but otherwise solid. It's a better Thief game than the actual Thief game. It's also very mediocre.

Jump Price: $10 for GotY would be about right.

Deadpool/GotG Zen Pinball (android) - I'm probably the only one playing these on mobile, but they are all great. These continue the excellent legacy of the series. Only downside is how much I beat the crap out of my phone playing them.

Jump Price: I think I paid $3 each which is well worth it.

I agree with Spiddy so much on Blackgate. Not just because it was rushed but both the combat and stealth did not translate into 2D. It was like some bizarro Sonic, but worse

I've managed to finish jack shit.

volvocrusher wrote:I agree with Spiddy so much on Blackgate. Not just because it was rushed but both the combat and stealth did not translate into 2D. It was like some bizarro Sonic, but worse

Bizarro-Sonic but worse is a perfect description. It could've been Shadow Complex with Batman. What a shame.

Spiddy reminded me that Zelda: ALBW really was an excellent game. Probably my favorite 3DS game. Still looking for more recommendations on that front all the time.

I'd recommend Layton vs Wright to you then Kubert. No continuity from either so it's easy to jump right in, a fun story, know you'd dig Layton gameplay and think you'd dig Wright's. and it's hilarious as all AA games are.

It does sound like something I'd dig, thanks!