General Gaming ~*D1P's Games of 2020*~

[Keyser_Soze]

What Remains of Edith Finch

 

Well, not a very happy game. In fact it's not happy at all! I think the fish story towards the end got to me. Who'd make this kind of game?

Also, I'd never played a walking simulator before I'm pretty sure, so this was probably my first.

[crispy4000]

 

8/10 

 

Enjoyed it quite a bit.  Double Fine needs to tone down the kids voices in their games though, it almost made me quit an hour in.  Thankfully the girl's story was more compelling from the start.
 

It went on a little too long; some of the later puzzles were a bit unfair.  And for a game where you switch between protagonists, it does absolutely nothing to explain how knowledge one has gets imparted to the other.  You have to assume that they must have just gone through trial and error on their own, bashing their heads against the wall more than you, the player, does.  It kind of defeats the point of the game.

I'd still recommend it though.  The characters are zany and unpredictable in a way you almost never see anymore.  It's a nice bit of escapism right now, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. (5 years late)

[crispy4000]

A Short Hike

 

As the name suggests, it's short.  2 hours long.  It's got a Nintendo-like sheen to the controls and some wonderful visuals that perfectly sell the pixelated approach.

The only disappointing thing about it is that these mechanics weren't built into a larger game. That and really poor attempt to get you to 'feel' something 4th wall related at the end.  Lots of indies try, few succeed.

 

So I'd say a 7.5 / 10.  But only because it's not essential, just a good time for a bit.

[Brick]

Completed God of War on PS4 just now. Magnificent game. In the past games I hated Kratos and always described him as a giant, throbbing dick because of his attitude and demeanor; just an adolescent idea of what being badass means; always angry, yelling, and killing anyone who gets in his way, even if they're completely innocent. Totally unlikable character, which soured the otherwise great games that had fantastic combat, puzzles, exploration, etc. In this game it seems the developers knew Kratos was unlikable, and decided to address that and take a more mature approach. He's still a bit of a dick, but not so much anymore. He's more self reflective of his past, and the horrible deeds he committed, and regretful of them; he's grown up. He's actually somewhat likeable now! Christopher Judge portrays him much better I think as well, as I felt the voice acting in the past games was too over the top (even though I do feel bad for the previous voice actor being replaced for reasons I don't quite buy). Kid's a little annoying though lol. 

 

The combat was fun, although the camera should have been wider, and more variety in bosses was needed (too many dammed trolls). 

 

I like the exploration and open world design, and it's a nice departure from the mechanics of the last games, although ever since @Emperor Diocletian II mentioned in (I think) the Ghost of Tsushima thread how it's yet another game of this generation being needlessly open world, it's made me wonder if this game being open world was truly needed, and if it had been a more linear game, telling the story without any sidetracks to distract it, if maybe it would have been better overall. The game is pretty linear in the beginning before you get to the boat after all, so had they redone the side quests a different way, and made the whole game linear like that I wonder how it would have been, and if it would make it a more focused, tight, and better game. Who knows though maybe not. With all the back and forth you do between the realms perhaps the developers just decided they might as well make it open world, and add in extra areas for side quests. 

[crispy4000]

I don't really think of God of War PS4 as being open world.  Many people have compared it with OoT, with the lake acting as a sort of hub to other mostly linear paths.  Come to think of it, those raven birds are essentially its golden skulltulas.

Maybe it could have worked as a fully linear title.  But I enjoyed just having some breathing room to explore a bit between set pieces.  Open world fatigue I associate more with map icon vomit and bland quests.  Basically Ubisoft.  GoW doesn't deserve to be lumped in with that.

... I actually still need to finish the game, think I'm roughly 2/3rds through.  If anything could be toned down at all in a sequel, its the RPG equipment systems.

[Brick]

Comparing it to Ocarina of Time makes sense. Certain areas, like The Mountain, and even Alfheim are pretty linear, so I just have to wonder how the whole game would be if it was like that. 

 

I also finally watched this video today after saving it for when I beat the game, and while I liked the game overall, and much more than this guy did, he does bring up some valid criticisms, like how the game is just padded with pointless materials, and stat boosts that really don't improve your skills all that much, and just give you the illusion of getting stronger with little numbers going up. 

 

 

 

[HardAct]

On 6/14/2020 at 10:20 PM, Brick said:

Completed God of War on PS4 just now. Magnificent game. In the past games I hated Kratos and always described him as a giant, throbbing dick because of his attitude and demeanor; just an adolescent idea of what being badass means; always angry, yelling, and killing anyone who gets in his way, even if they're completely innocent. Totally unlikable character, which soured the otherwise great games that had fantastic combat, puzzles, exploration, etc. In this game it seems the developers knew Kratos was unlikable, and decided to address that and take a more mature approach. He's still a bit of a dick, but not so much anymore. He's more self reflective of his past, and the horrible deeds he committed, and regretful of them; he's grown up. He's actually somewhat likeable now! Christopher Judge portrays him much better I think as well, as I felt the voice acting in the past games was too over the top (even though I do feel bad for the previous voice actor being replaced for reasons I don't quite buy). Kid's a little annoying though lol. 

 

The combat was fun, although the camera should have been wider, and more variety in bosses was needed (too many dammed trolls). 

 

I like the exploration and open world design, and it's a nice departure from the mechanics of the last games, although ever since @Emperor Diocletian II mentioned in (I think) the Ghost of Tsushima thread how it's yet another game of this generation being needlessly open world, it's made me wonder if this game being open world was truly needed, and if it had been a more linear game, telling the story without any sidetracks to distract it, if maybe it would have been better overall. The game is pretty linear in the beginning before you get to the boat after all, so had they redone the side quests a different way, and made the whole game linear like that I wonder how it would have been, and if it would make it a more focused, tight, and better game. Who knows though maybe not. With all the back and forth you do between the realms perhaps the developers just decided they might as well make it open world, and add in extra areas for side quests. 

      I'm trying to get into Horizon Zero Dawn and after about 7 hours in I'm not feeling it. That said I really wanted this game and more so God of War! God of war was the game that was in my PS4Pro (white.....lol R.I.P.) when the Camp fire hit us in paradise. I was really loving it, and depending on what happens with Horizon, I'm starting that one back up from the start. Needless to say I repurchased them both digitally. I'm an all digital guy from here to my death now, as I lost a very impressive game collection, along with consoles dating back to the Atari and commodore 64! 

[Brick]

29 minutes ago, HardAct said:

      I'm trying to get into Horizon Zero Dawn and after about 7 hours in I'm not feeling it. That said I really wanted this game and more so God of War! God of war was the game that was in my PS4Pro (white.....lol R.I.P.) when the Camp fire hit us in paradise. I was really loving it, and depending on what happens with Horizon, I'm starting that one back up from the start. Needless to say I repurchased them both digitally. I'm an all digital guy from here to my death now, as I lost a very impressive game collection, along with consoles dating back to the Atari and commodore 64! 

 

Horizon takes a while for the story to start getting interesting, but once you hit a certain part, it really does get very, very intriguing. 

[gamer.tv]

It’s an interesting story merged with all of the OK ideas that have become mainstay in gaming this generation 

[skillzdadirecta]

Completed Sekiro the day before yesterday... probably one of the hardest games I've played in a long time. After beating it, I do feel like I can beat anything now though 

[SaysWho?]

On 6/15/2020 at 1:20 AM, Brick said:

Completed God of War on PS4 just now. Magnificent game. In the past games I hated Kratos and always described him as a giant, throbbing dick because of his attitude and demeanor; just an adolescent idea of what being badass means; always angry, yelling, and killing anyone who gets in his way, even if they're completely innocent. Totally unlikable character, which soured the otherwise great games that had fantastic combat, puzzles, exploration, etc. In this game it seems the developers knew Kratos was unlikable, and decided to address that and take a more mature approach. He's still a bit of a dick, but not so much anymore. He's more self reflective of his past, and the horrible deeds he committed, and regretful of them; he's grown up. He's actually somewhat likeable now! Christopher Judge portrays him much better I think as well, as I felt the voice acting in the past games was too over the top (even though I do feel bad for the previous voice actor being replaced for reasons I don't quite buy). Kid's a little annoying though lol. 

 

The combat was fun, although the camera should have been wider, and more variety in bosses was needed (too many dammed trolls). 

 

I like the exploration and open world design, and it's a nice departure from the mechanics of the last games, although ever since @Emperor Diocletian II mentioned in (I think) the Ghost of Tsushima thread how it's yet another game of this generation being needlessly open world, it's made me wonder if this game being open world was truly needed, and if it had been a more linear game, telling the story without any sidetracks to distract it, if maybe it would have been better overall. The game is pretty linear in the beginning before you get to the boat after all, so had they redone the side quests a different way, and made the whole game linear like that I wonder how it would have been, and if it would make it a more focused, tight, and better game. Who knows though maybe not. With all the back and forth you do between the realms perhaps the developers just decided they might as well make it open world, and add in extra areas for side quests. 

 

Kratos' anger is made better by this game, especially since the last time we saw Kratos in GOW3, it was nothing but a quest for revenge. It's actually why the turn you see later with his son is made more interesting. It's a small bit, but I love it when Kratos asks his son, "Why did you speak that way to the dwarf?" "Don't you find him annoying?" "Yes. But it does us no good to alienate an ally." It was just a very cool sign of growth without betraying his past and making him seem like a different character. He's not this lovable guy to others yet, but he's learned to make allies.

 

For Tsushima, I think he was talking more about how GoT looked like it could have open world bloat, though the jury's still out (utilizing wind, animals and nature to explore the world seems very, very promising). In GOW's case, it's more wide-linear. Once you get to an area, there's a more linear path to get places, with clear branching paths if you'd like to explore. In fact, the game does a terrific job allowing you to go out of your way to explore yet making it easy to get back to the main game.

 

The way director Cory Barlog described it, he loves Shadow of the Colossus because even though anyone can access any part of the map, you have this feeling when you get some place that you're the first one who's been there. And you can see that influence in the game as you can take a look at the map, go, "Hey, there's a beach in that location. Is something there?" then row there and find a secret area. Each area is dense with things to find and break. Look up and there's something you can knock down that's valuable. Go on this branching path and you might find a fantastic runic attack. And once you do, there's an easy way to get right back to the main story.

 

And then you have the dialogue. Mimir is such a wonderful character with some interesting things to say about the lore, but in a way that doesn't make it seem like he's reading from an encyclopedia about Norse mythology. His stories, Kratos' and Atreus' banter, they make simple things like canoeing engaging. Oh, and when you canoe, you can stumble upon cool stuff as well!

 

I think the game wouldn't be as good if it was linear. It's great partly BECAUSE it went a more wide-linear approach. 

 

As far as bosses, I don't count the trolls as bosses in the same way, say, The Stranger is. They're more like mini-bosses -- stronger than a normal enemy, but not like the four main boss fights throughout the story. I'd say the last Valkyrie is a great boss, as well, that combines everything you learned from previous Valkyrie fights and feels like a Souls boss. Everything is choreographed, so there's no cheap death.

 

18 hours ago, HardAct said:

      I'm trying to get into Horizon Zero Dawn and after about 7 hours in I'm not feeling it. That said I really wanted this game and more so God of War! God of war was the game that was in my PS4Pro (white.....lol R.I.P.) when the Camp fire hit us in paradise. I was really loving it, and depending on what happens with Horizon, I'm starting that one back up from the start. Needless to say I repurchased them both digitally. I'm an all digital guy from here to my death now, as I lost a very impressive game collection, along with consoles dating back to the Atari and commodore 64! 

 

Horizon Zero Dawn is a game that the more you play it, the better and better it gets. The weapons become more varied, you might ignore a weapon for a while and then use it and wonder why you never tried to utilize it before, the world opens up, and the enemy bots become more numerous. Right now, you're likely in the first area, which opened up but is still introducing you things like Cauldrons. The gameplay will continue to open, and it becomes an open world game with some of the best combat this gen.

 

Also, the story and audio logs become fascinating as all fuck. There are two main points in this game -- why is Aloy motherless, and why is the world as it is considering the technology that you can access? The latter in particular was so interesting that I'd either stop everything I was doing to listen to an audio log or I'd make sure I didn't do something big as to not interrupt it.

[Brick]

3 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

As far as bosses, I don't count the trolls as bosses in the same way, say, The Stranger is. They're more like mini-bosses -- stronger than a normal enemy, but not like the four main boss fights throughout the story. I'd say the last Valkyrie is a great boss, as well, that combines everything you learned from previous Valkyrie fights and feels like a Souls boss. Everything is choreographed, so there's no cheap death.

 

The problem with the trolls is their placement; if they were out in the wild in hidden areas, and you had to go out and find them to fight and kill, similar to valkyries, then it'd fine, but when they're used in place of a different boss that'd be more interesting that's what's so disappointing. You complete a section, and it's boss time, and you get all excited until you realize it's just a troll again with the same death animation every single time. 

Spoiler

The Helheim Bridge Keeper is the most egregious. You are instructed to go their and rip out its heart, and you'd expect this cool boss battle, but when you get there it's just another fucking troll! Would have been much better had it been a unique boss, like Garmr from Norse mythology, which is a dog that actually guards Helheim. The two trolls that pop up after Týr's puzzle is another example. 

 

As for the combat, yeah it's very cool, although I wouldn't say there's no cheap death given that there are issues with the combat in the game sometimes flat out ignoring or changing when to decide an enemy should stagger, teleporting you into an attack you've clearly dodged, or not properly choreographing an incoming enemy attack, making you get hit. Getting caught by Sigrun's dive attack while you were trying to hit her with a runic attack is super annoying. 

[HardAct]

5 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Kratos' anger is made better by this game, especially since the last time we saw Kratos in GOW3, it was nothing but a quest for revenge. It's actually why the turn you see later with his son is made more interesting. It's a small bit, but I love it when Kratos asks his son, "Why did you speak that way to the dwarf?" "Don't you find him annoying?" "Yes. But it does us no good to alienate an ally." It was just a very cool sign of growth without betraying his past and making him seem like a different character. He's not this lovable guy to others yet, but he's learned to make allies.

 

For Tsushima, I think he was talking more about how GoT looked like it could have open world bloat, though the jury's still out (utilizing wind, animals and nature to explore the world seems very, very promising). In GOW's case, it's more wide-linear. Once you get to an area, there's a more linear path to get places, with clear branching paths if you'd like to explore. In fact, the game does a terrific job allowing you to go out of your way to explore yet making it easy to get back to the main game.

 

The way director Cory Barlog described it, he loves Shadow of the Colossus because even though anyone can access any part of the map, you have this feeling when you get some place that you're the first one who's been there. And you can see that influence in the game as you can take a look at the map, go, "Hey, there's a beach in that location. Is something there?" then row there and find a secret area. Each area is dense with things to find and break. Look up and there's something you can knock down that's valuable. Go on this branching path and you might find a fantastic runic attack. And once you do, there's an easy way to get right back to the main story.

 

And then you have the dialogue. Mimir is such a wonderful character with some interesting things to say about the lore, but in a way that doesn't make it seem like he's reading from an encyclopedia about Norse mythology. His stories, Kratos' and Atreus' banter, they make simple things like canoeing engaging. Oh, and when you canoe, you can stumble upon cool stuff as well!

 

I think the game wouldn't be as good if it was linear. It's great partly BECAUSE it went a more wide-linear approach. 

 

As far as bosses, I don't count the trolls as bosses in the same way, say, The Stranger is. They're more like mini-bosses -- stronger than a normal enemy, but not like the four main boss fights throughout the story. I'd say the last Valkyrie is a great boss, as well, that combines everything you learned from previous Valkyrie fights and feels like a Souls boss. Everything is choreographed, so there's no cheap death.

 

 

Horizon Zero Dawn is a game that the more you play it, the better and better it gets. The weapons become more varied, you might ignore a weapon for a while and then use it and wonder why you never tried to utilize it before, the world opens up, and the enemy bots become more numerous. Right now, you're likely in the first area, which opened up but is still introducing you things like Cauldrons. The gameplay will continue to open, and it becomes an open world game with some of the best combat this gen.

 

Also, the story and audio logs become fascinating as all fuck. There are two main points in this game -- why is Aloy motherless, and why is the world as it is considering the technology that you can access? The latter in particular was so interesting that I'd either stop everything I was doing to listen to an audio log or I'd make sure I didn't do something big as to not interrupt it.

As for Zero Dawn,

      I have not quit yet, but i'm just struggling with staying interested. I know, I'm trying here guys. I just got to where the birds first appear. Their perched up on a cliff with 3 big pissed off bull like creatures below in a red canyon. I knew I wasn't ready but I picked a fight with them, and actually killed 2 of the bulls, but the Birds man!!! They just aren't fair, died as it was inevitable. I like the look and the controls. I do find myself only using the bow and the slingshot right now, but I'm steadfast in getting this game under my belt and moving on to GoW! I bought Horizon: Zero Dawn and all the DLC form CDKeys.com for under 8 dollars, and bought GoW for 9.99. I love that site! I'll stick with it, it's a pretty game to look at, I will flesh out her story if it kills me ....lol  

[skillzdadirecta]

The Evil Within 2: 8/10.- I enjoyed this game much more than the first one from a gameplay standpoint. I found the stealth and combat elements to be a lot tighter in this one and the stamina mechanic was nowhere near as annoying. The story is... okay. I honestly don't give a shit about the stories in these games, although I wouldn't mind a sequel with these characters. There is still some jankiness but the game plays much better than the first game in my opinion and i actually enjoyed the combat and exploration whereas in the first game, playing the game sometimes felt like a chore. I'm curious to see if they continue this series.

[Nokt]

Control

Metro Exodus

Star Wars Battlefront 2

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

The Messenger

Doom Eternal

Resident Evil 3

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Super Meat Boy

Titanfall 2

Gravity Rush Remastered

Halo 2 Anniversary - This game on legendary is pure rage inducing. I never remember having as much issues with the game as I did in the recent co-op play through I did with a buddy. I would assume some of it is due to the fact that things like sword canceling aren't as easy to perform, but a few of the parts took us forever to get past. Sure is pretty on PC though and the FOV slider is amazing.

 

The Last of Us Part II - I haven't sorted out how I feel about the game yet.

[gamer.tv]

On 6/21/2020 at 4:46 PM, skillzdadirecta said:

The Evil Within 2: 8/10.- I enjoyed this game much more than the first one from a gameplay standpoint. I found the stealth and combat elements to be a lot tighter in this one and the stamina mechanic was nowhere near as annoying. The story is... okay. I honestly don't give a shit about the stories in these games, although I wouldn't mind a sequel with these characters. There is still some jankiness but the game plays much better than the first game in my opinion and i actually enjoyed the combat and exploration whereas in the first game, playing the game sometimes felt like a chore. I'm curious to see if they continue this series.

Can you get away with just playing the second game or does it all tie together strongly? I would love the premise but don’t want to have to push through too much to enjoy it

[skillzdadirecta]

28 minutes ago, gamer.tv said:

Can you get away with just playing the second game or does it all tie together strongly? I would love the premise but don’t want to have to push through too much to enjoy it

They tie together and you kinda have to know some of the backstory from the first game in order to appreciate the second as it is a direct sequel. You may be able t get the story from Youtube. I would say play the first one... some people actually enjoyed the first game more. I know @Bloodporne did if I'm not mistaken. I didn't mind it as I played through the first game in its entirety. I just didn't like some of the gameplay decisions, particularly the stamina mechanic.

[Bloodporne]

On 6/22/2020 at 4:52 PM, gamer.tv said:

Can you get away with just playing the second game or does it all tie together strongly? I would love the premise but don’t want to have to push through too much to enjoy it

I've played both, like skillz said, even played the first one multiple times, and I could barely tell you what the story is about beyond the really obvious, generic fridging. Basically the first one is batshit crazy, sort of disjointed psychological horror while the second game is sort of...supernatural The Last Of Us as far as I recall. Don't expect anything beyond B Horror cliches but people preferred the second one generally because it has the more accessible kind of current gen soap opera 'serious' story going on. 

 

Very long story short...I can't say by your standards but I just don't think the story in either is anything more than silly window dressing to where you need to play the other to enjoy one. 

[Nokt]

Control

Metro Exodus

Star Wars Battlefront 2

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

The Messenger

Doom Eternal

Resident Evil 3

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Super Meat Boy

Titanfall 2

Gravity Rush Remastered

Halo 2 Anniversary

The Last of Us Part II

Momodora III - Cute and short little metroidvania/platformer, not sure its really worth playing. I'd highly recommend just playing RutM and Minoria

 

Minoria - Sequel game to Momodora series. Love the parry system the game introduces, dislike that the fastest way to move around is by spamming dodge. Still prefer Momodora RutM, but if you liked that you'll like this.

 

Gunfire Revolt - Beat all the bosses on Elite. Really excited to see where this game goes when it gets out of early access. Its a super fun roguelite shooter, never though I'd actually give a positive feedback to a roguelite.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

The Last of Us Part II. Damn, what a game.

 

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

Resident Evil 3 remake (PC)

Devil May Cry 4 (PC)

Streets of Rage 4 (Switch)

King of the Monsters 2 (Neo Geo MVS)

Metal Slug (Neo Geo MVS)

Metal Slug X (Neo Geo MVS)

Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo MVS)

The Last of Us Part II (PS4)

 

[gamer.tv]

1 hour ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

The Last of Us Part II. Damn, what a game.

 

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

Resident Evil 3 remake (PC)

Devil May Cry 4 (PC)

Streets of Rage 4 (Switch)

King of the Monsters 2 (Neo Geo MVS)

Metal Slug (Neo Geo MVS)

Metal Slug X (Neo Geo MVS)

The Last of Us Part II (PS4)

 

 

Just as a comparison, how good is the remake of Links Awakening compared with A Link Between Worlds. I loved the latter and will more than likely buy the former when I get a Switch...but it's still nice to know. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

9 hours ago, gamer.tv said:

 

Just as a comparison, how good is the remake of Links Awakening compared with A Link Between Worlds. I loved the latter and will more than likely buy the former when I get a Switch...but it's still nice to know. 

I liked I liked ALBW just a bit better, but they're both really good.

[SaysWho?]

On 5/15/2020 at 8:26 AM, SaysWho? said:

Overcooked 2 - The ability to throw food to one another actually adds a lot to the game, more than I thought it would. My gf and I continue to nearly kill each other while playing.  

 

FF7 Remake - I just have to complete a couple more optional fights accessible in the post-game and then I've fought all optional battles. The battle system is a lot of fun and way better than FFXV's, which I couldn't get into. It gives you quite a bit of control, the ability to switch characters on the fly to combine moves and raise your ATB gauge. I'm was very happy to see that not only was the materia system in the game despite the different combat, but that it was implemented very well.

 

The end game dragged somewhat for me. At a certain point, the game makes it clear that there's no going back, but the no going back part must have lasted, like, 8 - 10 hours? Still highly recommend it, and it's pretty damn cool that after years of requests and a surprise reveal in 2015 that it's in my hands.

 

2020 Games

 

Death Stranding

Overcooked

Resident Evil 3 Remake

Yakuza Kiwami 2

Resident Evil 3 Remake (Hardcore playthrough)

Overcooked 2

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

 

The Last of Us Part II - Masterpiece

 

These were the thoughts I gave in the official thread, with spoilers marked:

 

Quote

 Okay, so about the debate and other impressions of the game:

 

Spoiler

What I got out of this game is that Abby had more of a higher moral ground, but it had many shades of gray. The first things I noticed about the WLF is it seemed forward-looking: you ha crops, you had an ample supply of weapons, you had attacks dogs trained but many members who loved and played with them, you had food for everyone. But they also show you the dark underbelly with Isaac and their plan to kill all the Seraphites, and the guy he was torturing who looked thin and frail. So the organization did look as if it had a better idea for the world, and Abby and friends definitely had a better idea of the importance of the vaccine, but they're doing some shady things behind the scenes.

Abby lost her father. Ellie lost her father figure. They both wanted revenge on the person who killed him. What I find fascinating about how this game tackled it is that when you see Abby in the theater with Tommy on the ground, all you really think is that she's part of the WLF and she's angry that her friends died. But once the stories converge, you realize that she's out of the WLF, her last conversation with Mel was an argument due to Abby's intimate moment with Owen, and she had been to hell and back just to come back to losing her friends and her lovely dog and protector Alice. And when I left Owen and Mel for the last time prior to their deaths, I felt sad for them because Owen didn't want to kill anymore and he was the one who stopped the other WLF people from killing Tommy and Ellie. He straight up says they did nothing wrong, and Abby agrees. And Mel was freaked out by the grotesque murder of Joel, even if she thinks he deserved it, was carrying a kid (I actually missed this detail since when she died, it was on her stomach just for a little bit, so I thought Ellie was just having a panic attack because no one could tell her where Abby was), and helped save a life.

 

Spoiler

And let's not forget Alice. When I played as Ellie and encountered Alice, she was just an attack dog, so the first thing I thought was, "Shit, how many WLF people are here? Did they hear this? Am I about to fight a bunch of them?" But you walk in Abby's shoes and you get to play with Alice, you see how Alice reacts to Scars with love and excitement, and you think, "FUCK, I killed this dog!" 

By the end, I didn't want to kill Abby. I didn't want Ellie to suffer, but I didn't want to kill Abby. And I was hoping, with Abby telling Ellie where the boats were, that maybe there would be a conversation, or just a few things said, but once it flashed back to Joel for an instant, I knew the last fight was coming, seeing as this was the same area that you see in the title screen.

 

So as far as the main themes of TLOU2:

 

Spoiler

The game ultimately shows that violence begets violence. Joel kills people who want to find a vaccine that, by eliminating the virus, will save countless lives. That includes Abby's father, who had a good heart and wanted to better the world. So Abby gets revenge and kills Joel. Joel is a father figure to Ellie and one with whom she wanted to reconcile, even if it would be a long, painful process. So Ellie gets revenge. Ellie kills most, if not all, of Abby's friends, including her love interest and a pregnant woman to whom Abby can never seek forgiveness, not to mention Alice. So Abby goes to get revenge and kills Jesse. Abby lets Dina and Ellie live with help from Lev. Then Ellie tries to get revenge. Ultimately, she would find no relief from killing Abby, so she lets her go but loses Dina and the child, plus her ability to play guitar. She lost her love for no reason; she could have stayed home. 

I'd say this could have been avoided had Joel just let the Fireflies save humanity, but all of these story pieces could have been avoided had the characters opted to not seek revenge. It's sad, but at the same time, it's not 100% sad because I do not think Abby deserved to die having spared more lives in those crucial moments than Ellie, and while Ellie has no closure, she did the right thing. Maybe her wanting to forgive Joel made her spare Abby. Maybe she can "forgive" Abby for a moment. I dunno, but she chooses the better option. I don't know what this means if she goes to Jackson and truthfully tells Tommy that she couldn't do it, but she just went through hell and lost everything herself and would have every reason to tell Tommy to piss off, as much as I do like Tommy and understand his anger.

 

When they announced TLOU2, and when I saw the great reviews, I still wondered how the story would compare and if the game as a whole wouldn't be the swan song the first was. But it is the swan song. I mean, we still had Iron Man and Persona 5 Royal and FFVII Remake and RE3 and Nioh 2, and have Ghost of Tsushima and Cyberpunk and all that, and 2013 had a lot of quality in itself, but TLOU2 is a potentially seminal work in story-building in the video game medium and a marvelous game on its own. 

 

I don't think there's necessarily a need to rank the stories opposite each other. By all accounts, TLOU2 had me on the edge of my seat and verbally cheering and gasping in ways the first didn't, but the first also had to create this world and characters, while sequels have the benefit of having much about the characters already stated. 2 had a worthwhile story to tell and makes the first story even better for me. Kudos to both, and bravo for the risk of telling the story how they did and soaring to the stratosphere. 

 

2020 Games

 

Death Stranding

Overcooked

Resident Evil 3 Remake

Yakuza Kiwami 2

Resident Evil 3 Remake (Hardcore playthrough)

Overcooked 2

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

The Last of Us Part II

 

 

Now back to Persona 5 Royal, another great JRPG this year alongside FF7R. 

[crispy4000]

PS4 remake

First time playing a Ratchet game, and I can see the appeal.  A basic and fun 3rd person shooter with light platforming, good controls and gun leveling loop.  I can see how they extended this out with so many entries with new weapons.  It's well paced too, with some decent puzzle bits, flying sections, rail sections, racing mini-game, etc.  Heard the story and characters were sort of butchered from the first game, and I can kind of see that.  It's a little charmless, in spite of the visuals hitting that Disney vibe otherwise.  I definitely wouldn't have wanted to see the CG movie.

Overall, I wanted more exploration.  There's some jetpack sections where it opens up a bit, but I prefer the structure other 3d platformers over the linearity here.  I think I preferred both Hat and Time and Yooka-Laylee to it, even though the moment to moment gameplay here is more fun.  

 

That's probably the best thing about Isomniac's games I'm finding (I'm also midway through Spiderman at the moment).  The loop is predictable to a fault, but it's just plain fun to control, even when it doesn't surprise.

8/10

[gamer.tv]

21 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

PS4 remake

First time playing a Ratchet game, and I can see the appeal.  A basic and fun 3rd person shooter with light platforming, good controls and gun leveling loop.  I can see how they extended this out with so many entries with new weapons.  It's well paced too, with some decent puzzle bits, flying sections, rail sections, racing mini-game, etc.  Heard the story and characters were sort of butchered from the first game, and I can kind of see that.  It's a little charmless, in spite of the visuals hitting that Disney vibe otherwise.  I definitely wouldn't have wanted to see the CG movie.

Overall, I wanted more exploration.  There's some jetpack sections where it opens up a bit, but I prefer the structure other 3d platformers over the linearity here.  I think I preferred both Hat and Time and Yooka-Laylee to it, even though the moment to moment gameplay here is more fun.  

 

That's probably the best thing about Isomniac's games I'm finding (I'm also midway through Spiderman at the moment).  The loop is predictable to a fault, but it's just plain fun to control, even when it doesn't surprise.

8/10

 

Just out of interest, what would you rate Yooka-Laylee? I've always been close to picking it up, but the general consensus always seemed to be middling (at least for the first game). 

[crispy4000]

37 minutes ago, gamer.tv said:

 

Just out of interest, what would you rate Yooka-Laylee? I've always been close to picking it up, but the general consensus always seemed to be middling (at least for the first game). 

Probably the same score, but I enjoyed it more in the long run, if that makes sense.  Hat in Time is also an 8/10 sort of game.
 

I found Yooka to be a pretty good game on the whole.  It’s like a less fleshed out Banjo Tooie, but I still found that fun.  I also played the game after they patched the camera up, so my feelings might be different because of that.

 

If you like old-school 3D platformers and find it cheap I’d say give it a shot.  Just make sure you play Odyssey first.  Hat in Time, read my thoughts here.

[Nokt]

11 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Probably the same score, but I enjoyed it more in the long run, if that makes sense.  Hat in Time is also an 8/10 sort of game.
 

I found Yooka to be a pretty good game on the whole.  It’s like a less fleshed out Banjo Tooie, but I still found that fun.  I also played the game after they patched the camera up, so my feelings might be different because of that.

 

If you like old-school 3D platformers and find it cheap I’d say give it a shot.  Just make sure you play Odyssey first.  Hat in Time, read my thoughts here.

Interesting. I found A Hat in Time to be an absolute blast while Yooka-Laylee to be an absolute bore. I didn't even get more than an hour or 2 in before I'd completely lost interest.

[crispy4000]

24 minutes ago, Nokt said:

Interesting. I found A Hat in Time to be an absolute blast while Yooka-Laylee to be an absolute bore. I didn't even get more than an hour or 2 in before I'd completely lost interest.

Hat in Time is a lot more spastic on the whole.  I just couldn’t get much fun out of exploring in it, because a lot of it just felt like clutter rather than organized chaos.  Higher highs in it though, for sure.
 

Yooka to me was more fun to poke around in, and hit more of a low-key collectathon vibe.  Those mine cart levels sucked though.  Especially the casino boss with it.  And I would have preferred more levels of a slightly smaller scale.

[Brian]

FF7R - 7/10 - never played the original. I found it boring at times and poor pacing. I doubt I will play part 2. I rather commit my time to other JRPGs. 
 

Last of Us Part 2 - 9.5/10 - I didn’t care for the original. I thought it was slow and plodding with a story that didn’t pick up until the end. Part 2 is fantastic from start to finish. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Golden Axe II - Genesis

 

Co-op’d it with the husband. Sometimes an old beat em up hits the spot. 

[BloodyHell]

Games I finally got to play this year:

TLoU2 (replayed the original as well)

FF7R

Spider-Man DLC (beat the game when it came out)

GoW (officially my all time favourite game)

Dishonored: Death of an Outsider

Horizon DLC (beat original around release)

RDR2- my biggest disappointment of this gen. Got through the main story. 
Ratchet and Clank- I loved this game!

Zelda: Links Awakening- Loved this too

there might be more. Right now im playing Fallen Order, and next is either DQXI or AC Odyssey. Then i have Death Stranding and P5R to try. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Golden Axe III - Mega Drive/Genesis. 
 

I love retro game nights with the spouse. About time we got around to this one. 

[BloodyHell]

Started DQXI last night. What a charming, fun game so far.

[Brick]

After beating The Last of Us Part II I'm not sure what to play next. Really want to tackle my backlog. Maybe I'll finally go back and finish Assassin's Creed Rogue. 

[BloodyHell]

Finished DQ11. What an amazing game. Interesting twist after I thought I was done too.