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What games have you played over the past year, and maybe even finished?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Nero, Feb 4, 2020.

  1. Duncan McDonuts

    Duncan McDonuts Contributing Member

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    It was my first Xenoblade so I was fresh to the franchise. It took me maybe 10'ish hours to fall in love with the game. It's primarily after chapter 3, which I think most others agree that's where the game really picks up. I put in about 250 hours completing most of it in the NG+, more than I've played any other single player game as an adult.

    Most people's opinion on the games is X has great gameplay but terrible story. 1 and 2 are almost split as favorites. I am very excited for the remake of 1 coming out this year and will buy it immediately.
     
  2. Drexlerfan22

    Drexlerfan22 Contributing Member

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    Yeah, the remaster of the first one is actually my most anticipated release of the year, strange as that may sound. I just loved it that much. It didn't really hurt the experience that it was on the Wii originally, but the sharper graphics will definitely be a nice bonus. And dat soundtrack. Can't wait to hear it again.

    I do feel like XBX's storyline was objectively kinda bad, but even aside from that I hated that once you got into the mechs, it rendered all other combat and movement basically meaningless. Glad to hear there are people who think 2 is even better than 1, so I'm looking forward to it! And I hope you enjoy 1 as much as I did when it comes out. FWIW in case you don't stumble across this when it comes out, a ways into the game you get a character named Melia. I don't remember all the details, but if you get her gems set up right supporting a lightning spell, you can spam her lightning and she becomes totally OP. At that point you want to start controlling her instead of the main protagonist.
     
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  3. Buck Turgidson

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    Does Yahtzee count?

    Or darts, washers, cornhole, horseshoes, shuffleboard, pool, spades, poker, dominoes, bocce, etc....

    Other than that, no.
     
  4. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    I’m on the second to last boss on fallen order. Died so many times I nearly broke my tv. Haven’t touched it in 2 weeks.
     
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  5. RunninRaven

    RunninRaven Contributing Member
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    I am not a gamer by any stretch. I got a Switch about 6 months ago and have been playing games for the first time in the better part of a decade. Went through all of Breath of the Wild. Really enjoyed it. Beat the main quest and did pretty much all the side stuff except for finding all the koroks. Literally 100s of those I haven't found but it got a little boring.

    Just now finishing up a downloaded game called The Talos Principle that I have actually really enjoyed more than I expected. A puzzle game with some interesting story that goes along with it. The puzzles were quite good and the game is just beautiful in a way that I was frequently just stopping and enjoying the scenery. Haven't done that in a while.

    I have Mario Odyssey that I will start on next. I've really enjoyed all the Mario games starting with Mario 64, so I'm excited about that one. Also planning on buying Animal Crossing in March because that game is relaxing to me like few others I've played, despite it being really a kids game. I'm actually really stoked about that one.
     
  6. DonkeyMagic

    DonkeyMagic Contributing Member
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    sounds a lot like me. I got a Switch last Christmas after being on a 10 year game hiatus. I don't have much time to play but it's a great system to get 10-20 minutes here or there.

    I'm playing Zelda BotW now and it's great. I'm probably only a 1/4 of the way through but i've spent a lot of time just wondering around (and not always in the 'correct' order)

    Odyssey is also great. I'm 3/4 of the way done and it just gets better and better.

    Mario Delux is also good. Very throwback style with some fun tweaks.

    Diablo 3 was a lot of fun, especially since i never got to play it when it first came out.

    I play Fortnite on the rare occasion, just for a quick FPS fix.

    OMG Zombies is a download game. fun little puzzle type of game that involves trying to kill as many zombies in as little shots.

    I got Smash Bros Ultimate for christmas this year but i've only played a handful of matches. It's great like all the others so far.
     
  7. TheRealist137

    TheRealist137 Member

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    I tend to just play Overwatch now, in the last year I've only played two other games. Spiderman PS4 which I finished, and Red Dead Redemption 2 which I got bored of 2 hours in and stopped playing.
     
  8. UTAllTheWay

    UTAllTheWay Member

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    Only game I have played all the way through in the last year is Final Fantasy 15. I bought it day one but I couldn’t really get into it. I decided to give it another shot last year and I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed it.
     
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  9. elrond

    elrond Member

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    Bloodstained: ritual of the night. Old school castlevania type game by the creator of Castlevania:Symphony of the Night.
    Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. If you don't mind dying and playing bosses over and over, I'd highly recommend it.
    Monster Hunter World. Felt soo slow after playing Sekiro, but fun in its own right.

    Happy to say I beat all of those games. Sekiro especially will give you a sense of accomplishment, although I didn't beat the optional boss.
     
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  10. Drexlerfan22

    Drexlerfan22 Contributing Member

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    @Duncan McDonuts

    So I did start Xenoblade 2. Having a great time with it so far, about 7 hours in. Got to that first city and had my teammate get captured, and have just run around doing a few side quests. Which is kinda dumb of me I guess, I probably should advance the plot a bit more to where I have more than one driver in my party.

    I have questions though: with a view towards endgame, what blades would you recommend tying to what drivers? Drivers/Blades is a system that didn't exist in the first game, and since I like to min-max in these types of games pretty hard, I'm having a case of analysis paralysis as far as which blades should ideally be tied to who... since my understanding is it requires an extremely rare item to move a blade between drivers.

    I assume that each driver should have different elements available to them, but should I be focusing on one role per driver as well, or diversifying? I'm just not at a point yet where I know enough of the intricacies of the combat to make this call.

    Also, long-term who should my drivers be? From some light research it sounds like Poppi is OP, so Tora is a must. It also sounds like one of the exclusive blades Rex gets is top-tier, plus he's the main protagonist, so assuming I should keep him too. Who should the third be?

    EDIT: Forgot to mention that I already unfortunately saw the spoiler on Nia's... dual nature. So no need to be coy about that.
     
    #30 Drexlerfan22, Feb 18, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2020
  11. Duncan McDonuts

    Duncan McDonuts Contributing Member

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    Nice! Enjoy the game, it's a pleasure to play. I wish I could experience it for the first time again.

    I had the same paralysis you have in determining which blades go to who. There's a few cases of rare cores that you can Google to know what blade comes from it. I mostly used recommendations from GameFAQs or reddit. You can get Overdrive keys to move blades to other drivers, but they're not too plentiful until NG+.

    I kept it to mostly the class types of Attacker, Healer, and Tank. Rex is an overall, Nia is a good healer, Tora is a good blocking tank. Your 4th driver is an evasion tank, and the 5th driver is an attacker. Certain weapons are more healer or attacker specific. Bitballs and twin rings are typically on healer blades. Lances, swords, ether cannons for attackers. Katanas are more tank. That's the general consensus.

    Tora can be an OP character, but it requires lots of time investment in a minigame to boost his stats. It's much easier in NG+ when you can trade experience for currency. I used the 4th driver as my tank in the first playthrough.

    My advice is watch YouTube videos on combat mechanics. The main combat unlocks in chapter 3. It can seem complicated and daunting, but once you get it down, it's pretty fun to unleash the combos.

    My main party through the game was Rex, Nia, 4th driver. Once I had enough crit to sustain a crit-heal, I dropped Nia for 5th.
     
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  12. Drexlerfan22

    Drexlerfan22 Contributing Member

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    Excellent, thanks for the guidance.

    Come to think of it, another question: in general do you find it's better to save meter to do the bigger specials ("A" button), or do you tend to do lots of level 1's instead? Or does the answer to this just become obvious when you get to chapter 3 as you mentioned?

    FWIW, I think it's really cool that the initial area outside of that big city, that green rolling plain, is a clear nod back to an area called the Gaur Plains in the first game. It's aesthetically similar, and even shares some identical creatures, and some of the musical notes are even the same. But it's also new enough that I'm not mad they're re-using assets or anything... it's like revisiting old friends, haha. I mean as long as they don't just re-use enemies for the entire game. That would get a bit stale at some point.

    IMO the first game got narratively weaker as time went on but was pretty great in the first half. I'm hoping XB2 will be the opposite, because while I do enjoy the story so far, this game has some big shoes to fill when it comes to villains. The early-game villain in XB1 was one of my all-time faves.

    Oh and, gotta mention, I love the battle theme. I actually bought the special edition of XB2 that came with some music, and had been listening to that song a lot already, well before I ever played the game. Great stuff, still not tired of it. BUT, it's also so epic and dramatic that I feel like it produces some unintentional comedy... like you're engaging with a level 5 rabbit and the big dramatic song starts playing, lol. :D In truth I kinda assumed before I fired the game up that as far as that song, "this can't be the main battle theme, it must be a boss theme, because this song is just too epic".
     
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  13. Duncan McDonuts

    Duncan McDonuts Contributing Member

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    I don't recall using the meter for anything other than reviving party members or combo attacks, so that might answer your question lol. Sorry, it's been a little under a year since I last played.

    The story really picks up after chapter 4 and just ramps up more. That was a big criticism of the game in how uneven the story pacing was.

    The OST is fantastic. One of the best aspects of the game. The DLC has great music, too, and it's more jazz inspired if that's your thing. I listen to my favorites on YouTube from time to time. I heard XB1 had a great one, too, so I'm excited to experience that when the DE comes out.
     
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  14. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    Just finished the cell series in Kakarot. Game is simple, but the nostalgia is great for anyone that watched the show as a kid (or anyone who recently hid from their wife to watch super).
     
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  15. tochiee22

    tochiee22 Contributing Member

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    Almost done with borderlands 3

    Pretty cool game.
     
  16. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    Mario Tennis on switch is insanely fun.
     
  17. Nigel Thornberry

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    Maybe when you start a game try to finish instead of starting a different one over and over. You have named a lot of great games and it’s a shame you aren’t following through with them:(
     
  18. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    Finished Prey. Great game. It's a call back to the system shock series. Giant atmospheric space station to explore. It's a BioShock type game in Space. Arkane Studios is really amazing.


    Now I'm waiting on the 11th for Ori and the Will of the Wisps.


    Probably the most money ever put into developing a 2D metrovania platformer. The first Ori game was amazing. I really suggest people pick it up. The game isn't just pretty. The game can be difficult and the gameplay is fluid, fun and creative with some of the puzzle elements.
     
  19. JunkyardDwg

    JunkyardDwg Contributing Member

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    Totally agree. My wife gave the game for my birthday last year and I loved it. Can't wait to pick up Will of the Wisps.

    Spiderman - Fantastic game. A slight learning curve in the beginning, but the web-slinging is a lot of fun and very fluid. The side-missions can get a bit repetitive at times, but just being able to explore all of Manhattan is worth it, and the story is engaging too. I like that you're thrust into a world where Spiderman is already well-established.

    Link's Awakening - Never played the original version of the game, but I did love the remaster. The animation fits perfectly with the whimsical style of the game. Just the right mix of challenge, length, and fun.

    Gears 5 - Man the Coalition brought their A game to this. Now I'm a big-time Gears fan, so I can enjoy any of the titles, even the forgettable Judgement, but I can understand how the games were becoming a bit stale. I enjoyed 4 but it didn't really do anything new, so the decision to focus the story on Kait and to make it more open-world was genius. All gears games on the higher difficulties are tough, but this is brutally challenging. And the game is just absolutely gorgeous. The shocking twist at the end was unexpected. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

    Star Wars Jedi - Fallen Order - Star Wars games have had a lot more misses than hits, but Fallen Order definitely falls into the later category. From the first moments, I knew the game was gonna be special, and it delivered. It's not without flaws though. The game is a little buggy at times, the parry attacks can be frustrating, the use of stims to replenish your health can stand to be fined tuned, some of the enemies (the dark stormtroopers that support the inquisitors) can be overpowered compared to your abilities, and the archaic checkpoint/save system is annoying. Still, those criticisms didn't keep me from having a lot of fun, and the final act, wow.
    Best use of Darth Vader yet. Better than his appearance in Rogue One

    God of War - Just started this and the gameplay and fighting mechanics are so satisfying. Like Gears, this a game that takes the franchise in a new direction, and so far I'm loving it.
     
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  20. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    Spiderman is one of the few games I played the single player story mission twice. I hardly play single player story games twice. With game+ mode where you had all your gadgets and powers at the beginning of the game while upping the difficulty made the campaign so much more fun.

    I would do the same for Ori if a sequel never came out but man I'm so amped for that sequel. This is going to sound crazy but I'm more amped for Ori's sequel than a game like Cyperpunk but I'm still very exited about Cyperpunk.
     
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