Games I've finished: '09 edition
Holy crap, I played a lot of games this year.
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I actually got 100% completion as far as the game was concerned, which is really odd for me and a GTA game. If I had one problem with it, it would be that Niko makes all this big deal about getting money, but there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it.
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Played surprisingly well for a handheld game, though dodging was a bit wonky. I think i got it for 15 bucks during Amazon's black friday sale, so it only being 4 hours long didn't bug me too much.
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Played through it twice on medium, once on impossible and even got the platinum for it. I really enjoyed Dead Space, I thought the intensity and atmosphere (or occasional lack thereof) really pulled the game together. Getting it for 30 bucks brand new a month after it came out was an added bonus.
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Played through the Real Robot route with 66 battle points racked up. I really enjoy the games, but having seen a good number of the attached anime series may have colored that opinion. The difficulty always seems to really ramp up at the end of these games, what with the constantly rehealing bosses that can one shot you if you're not flashed. Still, I'd like to play through the super robot route, even with my limited japanese skills.
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First person hobo punching at its finest. Picked it up for 10 bucks during a best buy clearance. I should really pick up the first one on pc to contrast it, and get more in on the whole Serial Killer X thing.
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Capturing dudes and aiming was a bit of a pain in the ass, but I don't think my time with the game was wasted.
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I beat it on every difficulty, which is an oddity in itself. It was an okay game, but the mission structure just made it conducive to keep trying it on other difficulties to unlock more weapon upgrades and the like.
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Inspired by the endurance run, I decided to give an expert playthrough a go. I did manage to max all social links, though it was a bit hairy on time at the end. I also finished my compendium. The only thing I missed out on was fighting Margaret, because I forgot to go back and talk to her before the whole gas station attendant incident. Oh well.
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I was pretty impressed with how they managed to pack a GTA game onto the portable so well. Driving and shooting was a bit awkward though. I imagine if there ever is a psp2, second analog will be mandatory.
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Pretty clever puzzle game, getting it for 5 bucks on steam made it a solid impulse buy. Never did go back and try to ocd the levels though, since it seemed more like just watching a video on youtube and copying the strategy at that point.
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I dig the sorta-vn style with the occasional shooting segment. The music was amazing, though the story was a bit of a Bladerunner knock-off. I did find it odd that the insectoid shooting parts were way harder than any of the fights with the actual Snatchers.
Also, what kind of underage girl breaks into your apartment to use your shower, then sprays you down when you go to find out what the hell is going on? Honestly.
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Well, all of the dlc packs for pc, anyway.
Operation Anchorage was okay, the gear was the best part.
Didn't really care for the Pitt, it added a couple guns and a shitload of melee gear, but I never put any points into melee. Plus, the karma choice at the end really seemed like bullshit.
Broken Steel was the only one I would really call a necessity, for the level cap and some closure with the enclave situation.
Point Lookout was interesting, but I do have a thing for Lovecraftian talking brains in jars sort of settings.
Operation Zeta, was an interesting idea, but I can't help but think it would've been more interesting as a standalone game. You never really get the whole Roswell style aliens in anything, so I think that would make an interesting premise. Maybe that's just me.
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Yeah, yeah. Late on the bandwagon here. The Orange Box popped up on steam for 10 bucks and I couldn't resist. At first I didn't see what the big deal was, and then the glados tried to kill me and you had to use all those portal making skills to escape. It was pretty clever.
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I played through as a hero on medium and infamous on hard. Really fun, though Cole does die pretty fast. Maybe he should've gotten that shield power a little earlier. I liked the style of it and climbing that junk tower may be one of the most memorable moments in gaming I've had this year. It managed to make my hands sweat, for christ sakes. I found the movement, jumping and climbing in the game to be incredibly satisfying.
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37 skill points, but on the plus side I got to play this one in full english thanks to a translation patch. No original characters this time around, which was kind of a let down after getting quite a few awesome original mechs in Alpha. Well, I guess all the elemental lords should count here, but I never used them much. Also, Mazinkaiser was ridiculously awesome.
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I must have got in on the ass end of the orders since my serial number is the 30k range. Anyway, this so outclasses the first ps2 game I'd say it would be impossible to go back and play it. There were a lot of demons that were only available to certain alignments, so multiple plays seemed to be encouraged. I didn't like how a lot of the demon investigation skills were pretty much ignored for the most part though.
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Played through the Rondo of Blood remake as well as the unlockable version of Symphony of the Night. It took a bit to get used to returning to old school castlevania gameplay, as opposed to the dubbed metroidvanias. I like both styles, so I'm probably a weirdo. The older just relies more on pattern recognition than just killing spoos over to get yourself a crissaegrim instant win weapon. I will admit I missed the hammy voicework in SoTN. No 'what is a man?!', seriously?
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Played through as a Gangrel. I don't think I've ever played through a game where I managed to find all of the characters so likable in their own distinct ways. The personalities on the characters were glorious. Well, except for that Ash guy, I should've let the hunters kill him like 3 times over, mopey bastard.
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Not a big fps guy, but the aforementioned 10 dollar orange box purchase and a desire to save some money on a new game compelled me to play it. My favorite part was that they mostly removed the platforming elements that I hated so much in the original. On the downside, they were replaced with vehicle segments. They always just feel awkward.
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Given the release schedule on these things, I wonder why they didn't just wait it out.
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See above. Also, anyone who actually shot that gnome into space is a compulsive bastard and I am impressed.
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Fun, but kinda clunky.
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Trophy replay, was surprised when they removed that one whole section of the Albatross. I'm not sure why that was such a big deal, it's a game entirely about timing so learning the timing of one stage couldn't be that bad, could it?
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I liked everything but that demolition derby part. That just handled poorly.
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Fired up my copy on a sega cd emulator, since it always seemed to hang on day 3 when you were on the run from the Cripes. That's one lingering game that I never finished from my childhood off of my mind. The ending was pretty amusing in retrospect. Enjoy my further adventures, which will never happen. Poor bastard.
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Massive improvement to the original in pretty much every way. Also, ridiculously jiggling tits.
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I came for the uncensored titty patch, but stayed because I found the actual game to be really enjoyable. It's not often when neutral actually seems to be the path that makes the most sense.
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Hey, it's like breakout, except that blocks actually try to kill you. Plus, bosses. I played through it in one sitting, but it seemed pretty good for the 7 or 8 bucks they were asking for it. Soundtrack also really sticks out here.
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Was so-so. I could see why people might complain if they paid full price, but for 20 bucks I was okay with it. I really liked the idea, but it seemed like I spent more time getting gunned down before I ever even had a chance to run away, and the game really wasn't designed for combat.
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It's like Lethal Weapon in Space, with drug and organ trafficking. The shooting segments are a bit easier than snatcher, but there's no longer a 3x3 grid to guide your shot, it's just open season with a laser site.
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Really fun in the beginning, but as you progress it turns into a 1-hit kill fest and endless grinding for better gear. Also a bummer that there was no story mode for the chaos characters. Still, pretty entertaining for a fan-service game.
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Finished it on Warrior. I didn't mind the loss of blood geysers and severed limbs since the overall frame rate was pretty smooth. Seemed like a lot of the other design changes were either weird or unnecessary though. Removing key items, tests of valor (though I imagine they were probably just moved to team mission mode) and most of the ranged weapons as well as changing the weapon upgrade system seemed odd to me.
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Got the 100% completion. The world created for this game was so lovingly crafted. I had a bad habit of driving around and just listening to the radio for a couple hours while looking for collectibles. The gameplay wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.
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Always with the 5 dollar Steam impulse purchases. Just finally got around to playing through it though. Pretty clever puzzles, and the music was good, well, except for in World 4, then it just got annoying and I had to turn it off.
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I...really like Borderlands. I've played through the game twice and about 1/3 of the way through in a multiplayer run and I'm still not tired of it. Probably why it's my game of the year since that never happens for me.
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Pretty and relaxing, but not a whole lot of game to it. I won't argue for 5 bucks.
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Pretty challenging. Wish there were more mages available so you could at least have some sort of constantly shifting party lineup as opposed to having 3 locked spots in my active party. Played through the game as a 2-hander/champion and after almost 80 hours, I still only have 55% completed.
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Pretty fun, but man, the AI characters spend more time on the ground than they do firing their proton packs.
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It takes a long time to finish an rpg 15 minutes at a time. Took Reiji through the SEBEC route, still need to tackle the snow queen thing. An update on that, not crazy about no saving mid-dungeon. Actually, it fucking sucks. I'll get around to it eventually though.
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Rented it when it came out in like 02, but I just picked it up at gamestop a few months ago for 5 bucks along with 3. It certainly is interesting in the retrospective sense. I mean, no analog and old resident evil style controls in an hack 'n slash game? Madness. I'm up to 73% completion for the scenario.
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The special edition one, because I can't say no to $2.50 on Steam. Looked and sounded good, plus it was still pretty amusing seeing as I hadn't played it in forever.
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Got all the treasures and saved all the dudes. Pretty fun, and a lot more accessible than Eden or Monsters, though I do agree that it ends pretty abruptly. This is the first time I'm considering picking up the eventual 'Encore' editions pixeljunk games tend to have.
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ANALOG CONTROLS! Ahem. First time I played through this one and I got a B rank. Not too shabby, I think. It also seemed a hell of a lot easier than 2 did, but I think the controls may have played a part in that.
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I have a certain amount of love and hate for the combat system. Oddly enough, I think this game had the most satisfying end boss battle in a square-enix game I've seen in quite some time.
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Pretty fun, until the difficulty took a turn for the what the fuck during the last segment of the dungeon. Maybe I was just destined to follow up a well done boss fight with a bullshit one. That wasn't fun, that wasn't fun at all.
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