Modern Games Beaten in 2020

[Razzie.P]

16)  ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (PSVR)

 

Probably the most fun I've had with a full game in VR.  Games like Superhot and Beat Saber are perfect for those quick, frantic bits of fun perfect for showing off the tech, but this game is my favorite (to date) full, "traditional" type of game.   A nice, old school style 3D platformer that's a solid game first, and then allows the VR to enhance the overall product.

[+wongojack]

12 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

16)  ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (PSVR)

 

Probably the most fun I've had with a full game in VR.  Games like Superhot and Beat Saber are perfect for those quick, frantic bits of fun perfect for showing off the tech, but this game is my favorite (to date) full, "traditional" type of game.   A nice, old school style 3D platformer that's a solid game first, and then allows the VR to enhance the overall product.

I know right!  I want more.  Either a true sequel or copycats would be fine with me.

[Steven Pendleton]

I just finished Tales of Destiny Director's Cut. This game was so good and it has the best battle system in any RPG ever made. I did only finish Stan's side and not Lion's side, but Stan's side is the main game anyway. Now that I think about it, PS2 will get kicked over to the other side since next year it will magically not be a modern system anymore. Hopefully I'll finish Lion's side before the PS2 officially becomes ancient.

[cybercylon]

That director's cut is the one that was released for the HD version for the PS3, right? I remember playing the regular version on the GameCube. Was one of my favorites back then.

 

I just started Tales of Xillia. While I there are things that I like so far, such as the battle system, I was reminded about how spoiled we are with some of the recent anime and game dubs (My Hero Academia, Promised Neverland, Persona 5, Final Fantasy 15 as examples). Milla sounds like a robot. Can't say I care for the male character's voice acting either. I'll see if there is a way to turn the voice acting off and just read like the good old days.

[Steven Pendleton]

14 hours ago, cybercylon said:

That director's cut is the one that was released for the HD version for the PS3, right? I remember playing the regular version on the GameCube. Was one of my favorites back then.

 

I just started Tales of Xillia. While I there are things that I like so far, such as the battle system, I was reminded about how spoiled we are with some of the recent anime and game dubs (My Hero Academia, Promised Neverland, Persona 5, Final Fantasy 15 as examples). Milla sounds like a robot. Can't say I care for the male character's voice acting either. I'll see if there is a way to turn the voice acting off and just read like the good old days.

Destiny never got a GameCube version, but Symphonia did. Destiny Director's Cut is the slightly enhanced version of the PS2 remake (the main thing with Director's Cut is that it adds Lion's side, but it also adds a few sidequests, gives Lion a few more skills and the ability to use more of his old skills while jumping, changes the requirements to unlock a few skills for Stan and Philia that were previously tied to getting passwords from either a mobile game or some real-life event or something in the original remake, and fixes Lilith's Rainbow Arch since that was super broken in the original remake, where it can be spammed basically endlessly. Maybe there are a few others, but this is all that I remember now) and it's still only on PS2, which is disappointing since it only runs in an interlaced resolution like many other PS2 games, which makes it potentially annoying to play it on a modern display as they seem to be dropping interlaced support from modern TVs and stuff.

 

Xillia... yeah, the English voice acting in Xillia is not great. I dropped the game many years ago for some reason. Don't really have any motivation to play it again. I think the PSP version of either Destiny 2 or Rebirth will be next, but I also want to finally put some time into Phantasia Cross Edition. Will probably do Rebirth next since I've been hearing how awesome it is since its original PS2 release in 2004. Interesting to note that Veigue's voice actor is also the same dude who did the voice of adult Link in Ocarina of Time.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[cybercylon]

Oh... you are right. I easily lose track of which system some of the Tales games are on... so many of them.

[cimerians]

Just beat Slay the Spire but I can only beat it with one of the characters. To say it was brutally hard is an understatement but it's possible with the right combination of cards and sticking with one character to learn the best deck to do it. Great indie game that came out a few years ago.

[+wongojack]

25 minutes ago, cimerians said:

Just beat Slay the Spire but I can only beat it with one of the characters. To say it was brutally hard is an understatement but it's possible with the right combination of cards and sticking with one character to learn the best deck to do it. Great indie game that came out a few years ago.

How much have you played?  Did you escape with one of the characters or just beat the end boss for the first time?  I have escaped once and come really close with a different character, but WOW that last fight is hard.

 

Edit - Never mind.  I know you escaped using the robot by browsing your Steam screenshots.  I also escaped with the Robot.

[cimerians]

 

36 minutes ago, wongojack said:

How much have you played?  Did you escape with one of the characters or just beat the end boss for the first time?  I have escaped once and come really close with a different character, but WOW that last fight is hard.

 

Edit - Never mind.  I know you escaped using the robot by browsing your Steam screenshots.  I also escaped with the Robot.

 

Yeah later on I got the screen that says victory with ones and zeros not sure if that's the real ending or not. The heart is brutal, requires some luck because you really need to get the right combination of cards I don't think I'll be able to do it again with the robot, just don't think I'll get that set of cards again.

 

[Punisher5.0]

I finished The Turing Test tonight. Overall I thought it was alright with mainly the narrator saving the game. I didn't like how new concepts were just thrown at you with no brief whatsoever on how it works. Also the puzzle difficulty was all over the place. Late in the game I could have one puzzle give me problems and then the next was a complete breeze. It also seemed like there was a lot of unnecessary parts to many puzzles. Overall not bad for $3. Id give it a solid B.

[Razzie.P]

17)  Panzer Dragoon Remake (Switch)

 

I’m never played any of these games in real time, so I was excited to check this one out.  I passed on getting it at launch, though, due to all the “issues” that were mentioned, and when the development team apologized and said they’re working on fixes, it got moved to “wait and see.”   Well, it’s now been fixed and is on sale on the eShop, so I figured it’s time.  

 

And…. It’s ok, I guess.  Had a couple of really cool moments, and I plan to replay it a couple of times to see if it clicks, since it only took about an hour to finish (edit: looked at the stats, and it shows my "end game" playtime was 49 minutes). I like a nice, short game that invites replay for new paths, high scores, etc, but seems like it should have had some difficultly to make you “earn it.” This was a straight shot from front to end on my first go.

 

Over  the years, so many people have told me about the game’s story and deep lore, that I think I may be missing something entirely.  I saw none of that.  Included manual, maybe?

 

It must have won me over a bit, though, as I’m already looking forward to playing the next remake and Orta, so there’s that.   
 

 

.... mostly though, it made me wish we could get a new Thunder Blade

 

[+wongojack]

I defeated Calamity Gannon in Zelda Breath of the Wild for the Wii U.  As most people have noted, the game is reminiscent of Skyrim but there are big differences.  In the "Pro" category for BotW is the fact that there are almost no bugs.  In the Con category, the people in the world were MUCH less interesting and the story and supporting characters not really compelling at all.  Still a fantastic game of course.

[Razzie.P]

18)  Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4)

 

This was an odd one for me.  For the first half of the game, I absolutely loved it.  The pacing felt perfect.  Then the volcano level hit, and it just became a bit of a slog, and remained that way until the end.  I enjoyed it overall, I suppose, but I don’t think I’ll have any desire to ever play it again, other than to show people the crabs at the beginning.  That face they make when you smack them is golden!
 

[4300]

Gears 4

[Punisher5.0]

I finished Doom64 on the Switch this weekend. It was the first time Ive played the game and quite honestly it blew me away at how good it was. I was already playing Eternal when I started this and Eternal got pushed to the side. Definitely my favorite Doom game so far.

[Iwantgames:)]

I’ve completed a few modern games this year. Not sure if I can remember all of them but here’s the ones I do remember completing this year

 

PS3 -

I am Alive

Of Orcs and Men

 

PS4 -

Styx: Master of Shadows

Styx: Shards of Darkness

Warhammer: Chaosbane

PSVR -

Blood & Truth

Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot

Star Wars: Squadrons

 

PC -

Bombshell

Ion Fury
11-11 Memories

 

Rift -

Vanishing Realms

Swordsman

The Perfect Sniper

Vader Immortal Episodes I-III

Arktika.1

Pagan Peak

 

 

[+wongojack]

I finished the main story in 2018's God of War.  Playing this game was strange for me.  I really liked the story.  In fact, I'm willing to say that they broke new ground in terms of telling a compelling story that crosses over literary genres between mythology and modern "journey lit."  At times, I thought I was playing a video game version of "The Road."  I was impressed throughout by the quality of the storytelling.

 

However . . . and this is hard for me to say because I love story-driven games, but there was almost too much story in this one.  Or maybe the problem was that the gameplay just wasn't that compelling for me.  Or maybe it was just too big a departure from previous God of War games.  I don't know exactly, but something about the actual fighting in this game wasn't as satisfying as past entries. Here's an article I thought was true about the mini-boss trolls just acting as "speedbumps,"  I Hate God of War's Trolls (kotaku.com),  but I thought almost all of the combat sorta felt like a speedbump.  It was thrown into a mix of story and 3d puzzle solving in a way that just didn't let you really feel like you were mastering fighting as Kratos.  I never felt like I got a real hang of the combos on the face buttons and the pace at which you were expected to learn new combat attacks and tactics was too fast to be really enjoyable.  Something else is that I have to look way back into the past to remember a game where I enjoyed shopping and managing my inventory less than I did in this game (maybe something like Armored Core?).  Every time one of those dwarfs popped up with an item shop, I really dreaded it.  The armor and weapon upgrades never really felt like they made any sort of obvious difference, but I was scared to ignore the upgrades entirely.  And the way the menus had you view upgrades but then exit and open another menu to actually view all your equip-able items and skill upgrades almost felt like deliberate punishment.  I wish there was a "upgrade me automatically" button.

 

Anyway, all that complaining to say that I would still give this game a 5/5.  It is a great game, but I'm definitely not as complimentary toward it as many other reviewers.  I probably enjoyed Shadow of the Tomb Raider (which I played earlier this year) a bit more.

[cimerians]

7 minutes ago, wongojack said:

I finished the main story in 2018's God of War.  Playing this game was strange for me.  I really liked the story.  In fact, I'm willing to say that they broke new ground in terms of telling a compelling story that crosses over literary genres between mythology and modern "journey lit."  At times, I thought I was playing a video game version of "The Road."  I was impressed throughout by the quality of the storytelling.

 

However . . . and this is hard for me to say because I love story-driven games, but there was almost too much story in this one.  Or maybe the problem was that the gameplay just wasn't that compelling for me.  Or maybe it was just too big a departure from previous God of War games.  I don't know exactly, but something about the actual fighting in this game wasn't as satisfying as past entries. Here's an article I thought was true about the mini-boss trolls just acting as "speedbumps,"  I Hate God of War's Trolls (kotaku.com),  but I thought almost all of the combat sorta felt like a speedbump.  It was thrown into a mix of story and 3d puzzle solving in a way that just didn't let you really feel like you were mastering fighting as Kratos.  I never felt like I got a real hang of the combos on the face buttons and the pace at which you were expected to learn new combat attacks and tactics was too fast to be really enjoyable.  Something else is that I have to look way back into the past to remember a game where I enjoyed shopping and managing my inventory less than I did in this game (maybe something like Armored Core?).  Every time one of those dwarfs popped up with an item shop, I really dreaded it.  The armor and weapon upgrades never really felt like they made any sort of obvious difference, but I was scared to ignore the upgrades entirely.  And the way the menus had you view upgrades but then exit and open another menu to actually view all your equip-able items and skill upgrades almost felt like deliberate punishment.  I wish there was a "upgrade me automatically" button.

 

Anyway, all that complaining to say that I would still give this game a 5/5.  It is a great game, but I'm definitely not as complimentary toward it as many other reviewers.  I probably enjoyed Shadow of the Tomb Raider (which I played earlier this year) a bit more.

 

I agree 100% with this, in fact I never finished it because of the combat, annoying puzzles, horrific menu system and tiresome upgrades. It's a total departure from the intensity of previous games, those were almost arcade-like, a rollercoaster ride if you will. This felt like bumper cars and your on the slowest one. I'd probably give it a three or four out of five I just didn't enjoy it as much as most people, I mean it looked cool and the storyline was great but other than that I much prefer the older format of the games. Sadly I don't think they're going back to that ever again. 

 

Same with Uncharted 4, disappointing. I don't think I'm ever gonna bother with the Last of Us 2.

 

One of the best games I played on PS4 and beat years ago was a horror game Until Dawn. Then again I really like choose your own adventure type movie games like the Telltale games.  I replayed it this Halloween it still very much holds up.

[Iwantgames:)]

Finished Space Hulk: Deathwing (PS4)

I had fun with it, not perfect but still a decent way to kill 8 hours.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Iwantgames:)

[zzip]

On 10/26/2020 at 11:55 AM, Razzie.P said:

16)  ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (PSVR)

 

Probably the most fun I've had with a full game in VR.  Games like Superhot and Beat Saber are perfect for those quick, frantic bits of fun perfect for showing off the tech, but this game is my favorite (to date) full, "traditional" type of game.   A nice, old school style 3D platformer that's a solid game first, and then allows the VR to enhance the overall product.

I have yet to finish a VR game.   Astrobot is awesome, but usually I'll play a level and then switch to a different VR game.   Problem is I have too many VR games, plus the non-VR games.

[+wongojack]

I completed the main story in Transformers Devastation on XBox One today.  The gameplay was actually kind of similar to God of War which I wrote about above.  Using combos and varied attacks and dodges, you work your way through various stages and defeat the Decepticons.  Compared to God of War, Transformers was very light on story while the actual gameplay was a bit more fun.  The game is a real treat for fans of the G1 cartoon because it uses the original character designs and even most of the original voices from the show.  I actually think I may play it on a harder difficulty level because I enjoyed the combat so much.  The only thing I might criticize it for would be that it was a bit short and the combat kind of devolves into using just a handful of the available attacks and moves.  You kind of have to challenge yourself to use different patterns and techniques. 4/5

 

[cimerians]

I have Transformers but haven't played it, I was going to post that I beat Sword of the Stars: The Pit but I really didn't. In the end I threw on some cheats and said screw you. Rogue-like the game that is ridiculously impossible to beat IMO.

[MrBeefy]

I beat Mana Spark on Switch recently. The added items in the DLC seemed to help. Fun little game and worth the $4 I bought it for.

[digdugnate]

A few modern games plus some story DLC for BL3 in the last month:

 

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (Switch)

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix (XBox One)

Borderlands 3, Fl4k playthrough (XBox One)

Borderlands 3: Bounty of Blood (DLC, XBox One)

Borderlands 3: Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck (DLC, XBox One)

Borderlands 3: Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot (DLC, XBox One)

 

[digdugnate]

Gonna slide one more in since I happened to finish it, but too late to edit my post   

 

Hades (Switch) - I at least 'finished' a run of the game.  I consider that finished! hehe