What's the last game you've finished?

Fandraxx

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93
The Blackwell Legacy! An old-school point-and-click made in... 2006?

That was pretty much what made me want to play it, cause the mid-2000s decidedly weren't a fertile time for the adventure game genre. Overall? Pretty good. Technically dated but more than worth the time. Found it interesting enough that there's a video in production for it now.

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Antimatter

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I finished Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, an HD remaster for PC of a DS game from 2011 (the playthrough took ~15 hours). I played the demo during the Steam Next Fest, and had no concerns buying it when it released. It's a story-heavy puzzle game where you play as a dead (?!) detective investigating your own death.

This game is currently the #5th game of the year on Metacritic, and it fully deserves attention.

Check out the gameplay in this first part of the playthrough by the Pixel Partners YT channel.



Gameplay is very unique and nothing like I've ever seen before. A remaster of this game from 2011 feels amazingly fresh in 2023, with its stunning art style and unique puzzles.
 

Antimatter

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Feeling like I'm on a roll, I finished Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. 12.4 hours, and yet, so many emotions. I had to come back to the game after leaving it around the '6 hours mark a few years ago as I had not been ready to enjoy and appreciate this piece of art. Now, I was. It's a very personal story about Senua who is suffering from a mental illness and has to go through various life horrors to find the meaning in life and stop abuse from those she previously trusted (and who turned out to be not whom they had seemed). It's a very dark and grim tale in the Scandinavian setting, with an exceptional level of cinematics and sound design. And the Scandinavian part is true to John Bauer's (and artists/writers' like him) take on the folklore, not something you see in the Marvel movies. The gameplay is a mixture of action, adventure, puzzles, and combat. The binaural sound, the atmosphere, and the way they show the main character in the cutscenes (the direction) make it a very special game.

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Skatan

Innkeeper
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190
Just finished XCom 2 again. I had completely forgotten how obvious they made that there was going to be an XCom 3 and that it would be based on terrors from the deep... It's a shame it was never done.
Haven't heard that. Xcom2 was a huge success I thought. I played a bit of all the old Xcoms, 1-3, and enjoyed them a lot. The terror from the deep was a great take!
 

O_Bruce

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Messages
366
Finished Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. I want to beat entire BG1 and BG2 on SCS before I'll purchase and play BG3, so I'm now halfway there.

Now, for people who beat SoD before... It is just me or it is exhausting? The last 1-2 hour of the game feels really tiring, and some combat sections were designed more as a way to irritate than challenge.
 

Antimatter

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This weekend, I finished Cocoon - a very small (~5-6 hours) game that has a Metascore of 92 and is nominated for the best indie game of the year.

It's certainly one of the most pleasing games of the year. It's a puzzle game with very good-looking art design. Can recommend it to absolutely everyone! It's very rewarding to solve the puzzles while absolutely chilling to the soundtrack and nice visuals.

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Antimatter

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I finished Nier: Automata, and this is only the beginning. Gameplay-wise, the game is perfect. It tells a very intriguing story in a fascinating world where androids fight machines. The main themes are finding value in life and the reasons people kill. But Ending A leaves more questions than answers. Considering the game is rather short, and very addictive, I plan to dive back in and see what happens now, during the second playthrough.

P.S. And a few minutes in, it's evident the "second" playthrough (probably it's better to call it "Nier: Automata Part 2") would be different as it starts with a totally different cutscene and gameplay sequence. This game has been surprising me all the time.
 
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O_Bruce

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366
Some time ago, I decided to fo a run with my favourite character, through BG1, SoD and BG2 with ToB, all modded with, among other things, SCS on insane difficulty. And recently, my quest was completed!
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Some of my thoughts on that:
- The run made me use/consider more options than before, including items, spells (for instance, I hardly ever used spell deflections, limited wish/wish etc.) and so on.
- I was more liberal than ever with using consumables. That led to me not having any potions of heroics or power for the final battle of Ascension.
- It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, for the most part, the difficulty was for me to figure out an approach to a situation/battle, planning my route throught the game more wisely, and due to having limited options early game (for instance, having no level 6 spells meant big trouble when confronting liches etc.)
- After beating BG1 and SoD and playing BG2 for a while, I decided script to follow next time: I'll play through SoD, but when importing character from BG1, I'll most likely use save from SArevok battle, or from very early SoD. This is because of an advantage additional XP grants my character and companions very early on and it is noticeable.
- My ignoring the above lead to interesting situation, though. So, my character, Areina (Invoker) ultimately became the fastest spellcaster on the Sword Coast due to combination of Amulet of Power, Robe of Vecna and fully upgraded Wizzard hat, imported from SoD and enhanced via Cromwell and Cespenar thanks to one of the mods I had. Overall, her spellcasting was hastened by 7 points, which is by 4,2 seconds. The spells with longest cast rate are 9, so 5,4 seconds. As result, spells like Timestop or Horrid Wilting were cast over 1,2 second, Delayed Blast Firebal, Finger of Death or Antipode (a spell from a mod) were cast in an instant. Combine all that with Improved Alacticy and you have spellcasting death machine.
- Favourite battles: Sarevok in BG1, Firkraag and Kangaax in BG2, Yaga-Shura, Abazigal and Mellisan in ToB
- Was disappointed when I learned that my Demogorgon was bugged, as if it wasn't modded properly. It didn't have resistances it should and its script wasn't as it should: for what I know, it should be nearly immune to magic damage and start the battle with a time stop. Neither happened.
- Regrets? Maybe I should install more mods for flavour/interractions as the more I played the more I find things like party interractions or flirting with romantic partner lacking
- Ascension is awesome mod, it really makes ToB better, even if it also makes things over the top. The lattest thing concerned me until I played myself, but as I was going through ToB, I found that more fitting.
- Overall, probably the most fulfilling run through the saga for me so far

Party stats:
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Antimatter

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Sounds like a great run, @O_Bruce! It's a great feeling to get a fulfilling playthrough of BG from start to finish before moving on to other games. I also did that 3-4 years ago, I still remember that run fondly (even while I didn't beat Melissan) and still don't have the "what if" urge to return.

As for the extra XP from SoD, in my experience, it always made BG2 harder, not easier, because you reach 1 mln very quickly, and that means liches in many areas, with SCS it leads to Planetars vs parties of low (relatively) level.
 

O_Bruce

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366
As for the extra XP from SoD, in my experience, it always made BG2 harder, not easier, because you reach 1 mln very quickly, and that means liches in many areas, with SCS it leads to Planetars vs parties of low (relatively) level.
Ah, you see, on a insane difficulty you get the hardest random spawns, so liches will be liching anyways. Therefore, additional XP is gonna help.
Not to mention with mods for better XP scalling for joinable NPCs, your additional XP contributes to NPCs on avarage joining your party stronger
 

JustKneller

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Messages
783
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I just finished Thief: The Dark Project. The graphics clearly haven't aged well, but it was such a well designed game, I can't complain at all. I'll take dated graphics and good gameplay over pretty brain candy any day.

I played all levels on Expert mode. One of the things I like about this game is that difficulty increases don't just create bullet sponges (or arrow sponges in this case). Instead, you have less health, more objectives on a job, and are increasingly prohibited from violence. Here's an example from the first job:

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And then there's "Expert Plus" which are a variety of player-created challenges to up the difficulty that people play in various combinations (or all of them). One is that you have to find all the loot, not just the Expert goal. Another is pure pacifist. So, even on Expert level, you can knock out guards with a blackjack. With this challenge, you can't even do that and have to consistently watch out for enemies' patrols. Still another is that you can't take any damage (but it's a stealth game, so you really shouldn't anyway). Finally there is the ghost challenge. That is, not only are you pacifist, but you can't even be detected by anything, nor can you do any thing to affect the environment (no using water arrows to put out torches and give you more shadows to hide in, for example).

I've done all these back in the day. This time, I just went for pacifist and taking no damage. I don't remember the maps well enough to do all loot, and ghosting just seemed a little too tedious this time around. It worked pretty well for most of the game, until it got a little glitchy on me. For some reason, on one mission, guards on the opposite side of the map seemed to get alerted when I stole things (from stealth, even) and went on aggressive mode. That shouldn't happen. Ultimately, I decided to nix the extra challenges and just follow the standard expert mode. I'm ok with that. Up to that point, I proved to myself that I haven't lost my edge. I can dial it down and just have some fun.

To be honest, pacifism isn't really much of a challenge. It's just slower. Once you scout the environment, you know the patrols and the hiding spots you can dart between as you traverse the level. Knocking out the opposition just saves you time when you have to double back. Not to mention, I would even say it's a different kind of challenge. That is, pacifism's challenge is staying in shadows and keeping distance from the opposition. Knocking people out involves closing the distance without being detected and then finding places to hide the bodies before they're spotted by another patrol. If I'm being honest, the latter is a little more satisfying in play, though eventually you end up on an empty map, which is a little immersion-breaking.

Overall, I thought the game had a good story and a satisfying arc. The very final confrontation, though, is actually quite easy if you have good timing and were not wasteful with your resources along the way (really, you just need two of a particular special arrow and it's cake). I cinched up a trap to take the BBEG down within about a couple minutes and did so undetected. Still, I don't feel robbed for its ease and the journey was pretty satisfying. My only criticism is that you can't get the original game anymore, only "Thief Gold" which has bonus content (i.e. extra missions), but the bonus content has mixed reviews. You can actually mess with the settings to omit the bonus missions, but I didn't bother and just played through.

This is definitely one of my 5/5 games. Great story, great gameplay, never a dull moment (unless you take out everything on a map. ;)). And, this was just part one of a Thief run. Next up is Thief: The Metal Age. I might even put the sequel on my 5/5 list. They make some improvements on the model without overshooting it. I do like the story of the first better, judging it on its own. However, the story in the second does a great job providing a contrast in theme when you consider the major factions in the game world.
 
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JustKneller

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783
I just finished the first Torchlight game. I played it back in the day, but gave up after a few levels because it seemed dull. However, @mlnevese posted the Tristram theme in the music thread and I had the hankering for some Diablo. Unfortunately, I don't have a CD-ROM anymore to install it from disc, and you can't even buy the original Diablo 2 anymore. Plus, there was a wicked sale on the Torchlight games on GoG, and it's made by the same people, so that should scratch my itch, right?

I started out hoping to give this at least a 3/5, if not higher. After all, it was made by the same people that worked on Diablo, and Diablo 2 is one of my 5/5 games. But, as I played the game, it's flaws became more apparent. And, by the time I finished it, I was not liking it at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure I just finished this game out of spite. This was a 1/5 game for me. 1/5 from the same people that made one of my 5/5 games! Normally, my feedback on 1/5 games are just a sentence or two. Torchlight: It appears to be a crappy ARPG for mobile ported to PC. Does nothing to build on, or even meet the standards set by, its predecessors. Boom. That sums it up there.

However, these devs worked on Diablo. I feel like they should have know better. So, if only because I have a little scotch in me, I'm gonna break it down.

Treasure would frequently spawn in unreachable areas.
Pathfinding and AI ranged from bad to abysmal.
Level scaling (for loot and skills) was poorly done. Some of my endgame gear was virtually insignificant. Many skills dropped off in usefulness in the late game.
Higher level items were crappier than low level items. Farming strategies are impossible.
“Unique” items were often (partially) randomly generated trash. They lacked intent, theme and character. I still remember grinding for Windforce in Diablo 2. I've already forgotten my unique gear in Torchlight.
Audio was, at best, poorly derivative of Diablo and generally bland and generic.
Graphics were even more generic.
Story was forgettable, along with every character in town. I still remember the Butcher from Diablo 1, despite not playing the game in decades. I've already forgotten almost every character/creature here.
Gemcrafting was tedious, far more so than in Diablo. I mathed it out and it was basically double the grind.
Stash size was too small to fully gemcraft.
Gunplay was lackluster and boring.
Dual-wield should have increased attack speed. Especially for pistols, it would have provided the pew-pew feels for which pistol packers usually look.
Essential information (e.g. armor value) missing from relevant screens.
Horrible feedback for summoners (how many of each summon do I have still in play?). Spell cooldowns were unnecessarily nerfy and tedious.
Procedural map generation was inferior to predecessors. Levels quickly became predictable and repetitive.
Enemies would fail to render during a fight, turning invisible. Good thing my minions could still see them. I had some fight that had hardly any fighters showing, but tons of vfx.
The final battle was poorly designed. Very un-clever.

This game did not scratch my Diablo itch at all. I just googled it and think I can buy a USB CD-ROM for around $20. I paid $3 for Torchlight. The CD-ROM would have been a better deal.
 

shmity72

Habitué
Messages
448
I just finished the first Torchlight game. I played it back in the day, but gave up after a few levels because it seemed dull. However, @mlnevese posted the Tristram theme in the music thread and I had the hankering for some Diablo. Unfortunately, I don't have a CD-ROM anymore to install it from disc, and you can't even buy the original Diablo 2 anymore. Plus, there was a wicked sale on the Torchlight games on GoG, and it's made by the same people, so that should scratch my itch, right?

I started out hoping to give this at least a 3/5, if not higher. After all, it was made by the same people that worked on Diablo, and Diablo 2 is one of my 5/5 games. But, as I played the game, it's flaws became more apparent. And, by the time I finished it, I was not liking it at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure I just finished this game out of spite. This was a 1/5 game for me. 1/5 from the same people that made one of my 5/5 games! Normally, my feedback on 1/5 games are just a sentence or two. Torchlight: It appears to be a crappy ARPG for mobile ported to PC. Does nothing to build on, or even meet the standards set by, its predecessors. Boom. That sums it up there.

However, these devs worked on Diablo. I feel like they should have know better. So, if only because I have a little scotch in me, I'm gonna break it down.

Treasure would frequently spawn in unreachable areas.
Pathfinding and AI ranged from bad to abysmal.
Level scaling (for loot and skills) was poorly done. Some of my endgame gear was virtually insignificant. Many skills dropped off in usefulness in the late game.
Higher level items were crappier than low level items. Farming strategies are impossible.
“Unique” items were often (partially) randomly generated trash. They lacked intent, theme and character. I still remember grinding for Windforce in Diablo 2. I've already forgotten my unique gear in Torchlight.
Audio was, at best, poorly derivative of Diablo and generally bland and generic.
Graphics were even more generic.
Story was forgettable, along with every character in town. I still remember the Butcher from Diablo 1, despite not playing the game in decades. I've already forgotten almost every character/creature here.
Gemcrafting was tedious, far more so than in Diablo. I mathed it out and it was basically double the grind.
Stash size was too small to fully gemcraft.
Gunplay was lackluster and boring.
Dual-wield should have increased attack speed. Especially for pistols, it would have provided the pew-pew feels for which pistol packers usually look.
Essential information (e.g. armor value) missing from relevant screens.
Horrible feedback for summoners (how many of each summon do I have still in play?). Spell cooldowns were unnecessarily nerfy and tedious.
Procedural map generation was inferior to predecessors. Levels quickly became predictable and repetitive.
Enemies would fail to render during a fight, turning invisible. Good thing my minions could still see them. I had some fight that had hardly any fighters showing, but tons of vfx.
The final battle was poorly designed. Very un-clever.

This game did not scratch my Diablo itch at all. I just googled it and think I can buy a USB CD-ROM for around $20. I paid $3 for Torchlight. The CD-ROM would have been a better deal.
You have to go to the source. :) I want you to try a game called: Deus Ex with the 'revision' mod. if you liked thief you will be highly enamored by the afore mentioned masterpiece considered by some the highest jump in video game design.
 

JustKneller

Habitué
Messages
783
You have to go to the source. :) I want you to try a game called: Deus Ex with the 'revision' mod. if you liked thief you will be highly enamored by the afore mentioned masterpiece considered by some the highest jump in video game design.
I have played the shit out of Deus Ex, for sure. I've done non-lethal runs, full ghost runs, pretty much any variation floating around the internet. I also did the sequel, but it really wasn't any good. The original, though, was cherry. Absolutely a 5/5 game for me. I still have it on CD somewhere, though I'd have to pick it up from GoG to have another go at it these days.

I think we've actually talked about this mod before. Maybe a year ago or something. :)

But yeah, I kinda fell into an ARPG kick because of what @mlnevese posted in the music thread. I still have an itch to play Diablo 2, but there's no way I'm spending $40 on D2R. I may do another D1 run if it goes on sale on GoG, but then again, I'll probably be burnt out on the genre after Torchlight 2.
 

JustKneller

Habitué
Messages
783
Have you tried Path of Exile? It is free and it might do something for your itch.
I've played a ton of it. I kinda fell out of love with it a little when they nerfed summoners, though. Occasionally, I check in to see if they have been un-nerfed it, at which time I might get back into it.

Flare is also a good option. I've contributed a few small things to it myself.
I've heard a lot of good things about Flare. You don't usually see a community project with that level of dedication, but they've really put a lot of work into it.
 
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