Good writeup Dan! I've struggled with a similar thing in long RPGs before, where I sink dozens of hours in them, but feel like I'm just pounding my way through aimlessly, and not getting anything positive out of the experience. It's never a good feeling, and finishing the game rarely makes it better. I think abandoning the journey is totally the right move!
I put about 20 hours into Fallout 4 a few weeks ago, and then took a break to squeeze in some other, more interesting games before year's end. I plan to get back to it soon, but it hasn't really grabbed me yet. I have had fun in spots, and like my character well enough, but don't have the urge to explore every corner like I have in their past games. My current plan is to stick mostly to the critical path to not let it drag on too long, while keeping an eye out for anything else potentially interesting. We'll see how it goes!
Nice list, and good write-ups! I never caught the Rocket League bug, but I enjoyed every other game on this list I played! Some good variety in here too!
@mento: Undertale's soundtrack is damn good! I remembered many of the songs from my playthrough earlier in the year, but as I pieced this list together I was still surprised by the sheer quantity and variety of good songs to choose from.
Picking a favorite out of these would be tough (hence why I didn't do it), but I've probably listened to Axiom Verge and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime the most this year. They both have a weird appeal for me personally that makes me keep coming back; Lovers in particular has an oddly dirty and aggressive tone that's just too catchy in a way that's hard to explain. I haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles X, but the previous game did have some stellar music!
I, like you and many others, have also been feeling less positive on Fallout 4. I think open world fatigue is very real, and in Bethesda's case I think many other open world games have simply caught up with them. As you mention, Fallout 4 doesn't improve that much over Fallout 3, which is a 7 year old game at this point. It just feels old and clunky in spots, and I can't help but feel like other games are just doing open worlds better in ways. That's not to say that Fallout 4 is bad, but there are now too many other quality open world games that feel more inspired, and that I've had more fun with.
Glad you've turned a corner on ORAS and are enjoying it now, and the egglocke sounds interesting too! Might try and catch up on that when I have time :)
I've also been slow on the blogs this year, but that was intentional; I simply needed a blogging break. I do have ideas in the works though, and have slowly piecing a big series together. It will take me a while yet to finish it, but hopefully by next spring. Blogging is time consuming! At any rate, good to read about what you've been playing!
Coincidentally, I've also been recently poking at a handful of previously overlooked 2015 games in preparation for my own GOTY list, and dabbled with Blackhole this past weekend. My sentiments mirror yours too, which you've explained extremely well. The controls simply are simply not good, especially given the kinds of levels they've designed. I love a good puzzle-platformer as much as anyone, as well as tough-as-nails platformers. But when I have trouble reliably executing what should be the simplest of jumps with the imprecise controls, I'm not going to bang my head against the lengthy, checkpoint-less gauntlets they throw at you even a few levels in (despite some of the puzzles being fairly clever).
In fact, that last picture you have is a perfect capture of my frustrations. If this was Super Meat Boy or Super Mario Bros, I could jump down that gap in the lava in a few quick tries. In Blackhole, such a simple looking jump becomes an inexplicable nightmare, and the game (from what I played) is an endless run of them.
Fun list! You played a lot of games that came out this year!
It sounds like you didn't play Ori and the Blind Forest because you don't have a Xbox One, but in case you weren't aware, it came out day and date on PC! That's where I played it, and it's a good one! :D
I like a lot about Titan Souls, and enjoyed the experience overall, but also found it to be more frustrating than I would like too often. You mentioned the long loads, and when coupled with the short time to death against some of these bosses, I felt like I spent more time reloading and walking back to a boss than I did actually fighting it. I would have really appreciated a Super Meat Boy-esque instant load here. I think that's also where this game differs most from Shadow of the Colossus- by letting you take enough hits, SotC's boss fights were longer, more exploratory affairs, and even if it took you a while to figure it out dying wasn't super common (from what I remember). That fit in more with the game' leisurely, exploratory nature. With how fast boss fights are here, Titan Souls might have been better as a pure linear boss rush with instant loads.
You're making great progress Dan! I'd say finishing those last three games is within reach :)
I enjoyed TWD Season One, but for some reason have no interest in checking out Season Two. I've tried some of the other Telltale games since (The Wolf Among Us, and I just started Tales From the Borderlands), but I don't know that I enjoy the style quite enough to play all of their (many) games. I'll likely just dabble in one here and there, and I tend to prefer fresh starts to follow-up). The response to Season Two has not been encouraging either. I also think the style may have diminishing returns at some point. They really did capture lightning in a bottle with Season One; almost anything that follows will naturally feel less impressive.
'Splosion Man is a weirdly divisive game, but one I really, really liked at the time. It's a simple but challenging 2D platformer that was right up my alley, and I quite enjoyed the co-op levels too. It's also got style. At any rate, godspeed good sir!
You're making great progress on this initiative Dan! I also thought Halo 4's campaign compared favorably to the rest of the series, even if I'm but a modest Halo fan in general. I did really miss the Firefight mode from Reach though, which I thought was a much better alternate co-op mode to whatever Halo 4 offered (don't remember the name now). You're also right about dubbing it as "more Halo" feeling lazy... but this is a case where I actually had trouble describing it differently myself. That's kind of what it is, which I don't think is necessarily "good" or "bad." Depends on what you're looking for.
I've been catching up on all your progress over the week, as I've had a busy week myself and haven't had much time. But man, Pokemon Snap is a blast from the past. I played when it first came out, and haven't touched it since, so I don't remember much other than I had fun with it and found it charming. About the only other thing I remember was it being pretty short and simple, and that there should be more room to expand on the concept. It's a really neat way to experience the always lovable Pokemon universe, and I'm glad you got around to it!
Good luck moving forward; I'll be curious what you think of And Yet It Moves. That's a game I felt I should have liked a lot, but it never grabbed me. Maybe you'll fare better than I did!
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