Games I played a notable amount of in 2015
It's 2015 y'all. That means a new list to help me keep track of the dumb vidja games that I'll end up playing a decent amount of this year. Criteria for being on this list is whatever I want it to be.
List items
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I can't think of a better way to start off the new year than by playing the surprisingly decent sequel to a game I still have trouble forming a firm opinion on. It's not bad! Admittedly, still not great, but a definite step-up from XIII in a lot of ways.
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I went digging into the crazy post-game stuff this had to offer and came out with a maxed out party and beat the super duper hard optional boss. It's safe to say I think this game is really great.
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Oh right. I beat FFXIII-2. Now it's dress up time. The combat has potential, but hasn't explained itself super well thus far.
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Know what makes this already great game even better? A speed hack that makes the battles significantly faster. Doesn't really deal with the aggressive, occasionally ruthless level scaling, but ehhhhhhh.
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A D grade RPG that takes its cues from better written, better playing ones.
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Once you get past the part where this is an Etrian Odyssey game with some SMT mechanics thrown in, it's basically 100% raw, uncut, entirely shameless Persona 3 and 4 fan service. It's also a decent dungeon crawler, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to people who aren't also Persona fans.
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My most recent time through with the third Resident Evil game has reminded me how generous it is with ammo and how butt-clenchingly terrifying the titular Nemesis is.
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Of course, the reason I was playing RE3 in the first place was to prepare myself for the HD re-release of this gem. Hey! It's still awesome. Surprise!
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Oh right I played the first one too. Sorta rough but still charming in its own way.
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Whoops I got addicted to League again. Whoops I can feel my carpal tunnel flaring up again. Which is probably why I haven't played as much as I thought I would.
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I imported this sucker, as I'm sure many of you also have done. It's pretty fantastic.
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Whoops accidentally got addicted to Monster Hunter. K, see you in 3 years.
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For better or worse, Revelations 2 is direct-to-DVD Resident Evil in a package that is surprisingly decent from what I've played of it.
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The sequel to the best drug-fueled murder simulator seems alright, but its inconsistent difficulty and bigger emphasis on guns sort of turned me off from playing more of it.
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That kickstarter game I backed almost 3 years ago is here and fantastic! Does a fantastic job invoking the Infinity Engine while still having its own unique Obsidian charm.
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Bloodborne is, unsurprisingly, very similar to the Souls games. However it does enough differently with more aggressive, fast-paced combat and Lovecraftian nightmare fuel to keep things fresh.
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Seems like a pretty great fighting game! The story mode didn't quite wow me, but the mechanics are solid and the roster is fun and varied.
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I wouldn't be me if I wasn't playing random-ass strategy games, would I? From what I understand, Fantasy General is a re-skinned Panzer General but with fantasy. It's alright.
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Since I really don't want to fall down the dark money hole that is Magic the Gathering, I figure this is an acceptable enough substitute.
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Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite games from last year continues to be played every now and again, especially since another expansion for it came out.
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You hear that sound? That's the sound of my soul being crushed.
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Following up on the "catching up on games I missed last year" train is a game that reminds me of how much I enjoy its penchant for chaos even as I tire of its formulaic structure. CLIMBING TOWERS IS NOT FUN.
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Specifically the Scholar of the First Sin remix nonsense edition. I've been mostly watching my roommate go through it, but I've also done my fair share of playing. Yo, it's Dark Souls 2, a game I still totally like. Screw the haters?
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Following the grand tradition of me liking Double Fine's stuff more in concept than execution comes a game that manages to be a more simplistic XCOM with fantasy stuff and generational mechanics that ensure you won't care about any of your individual units because their parents are constantly pumping out babies. I was disappointed enough with this game to write a review. Maybe you should read it!
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Invisible Inc is probably a more interesting game than Massive Chalice, but I'm still 2/2 on "indie turn-based games that bummed me out" this year. Something about this game's approach to stealth and roguelike mechanics didn't click with me at all.
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While the actual "Ground Zeroes" mission took me less than an hour, this game has done a great job of making me excited for The Phantom Pain, mostly because it's the first Metal Gear Solid game that is actually fun to play.
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Unfortunately, no amount of new characters or ease-of-use tweaks will cover up for Devil May Cry 4's core weaknesses. The combat is still reaaaaaallly, rlllllly GOOOD though.
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I've been on a bit of a Fire Emblem kick recently, which has led me to give the DS remake of the original another look. It's... still probably the worst in the series to have reached Western shores, but also still totally decent.
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Am I a bad enough dude to actually finish this game? We'll see.
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Well, I hope so, so I can move onto an open-world fantasy RPG that isn't 40% garbage filler.
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"Bizzaro Grindhouse RE4" is probably how I'd describe The Evil Within if asked, with all the positive and negative connotations that implies.
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Nope! Instead I'm going to play Destiny and hate myself because it's a great shooter but a bad everything else. But let me emphasize that the shooting is REALLY GOOD. Basically, take my argument for Devil May Cry 4 and then add a few more caveats on top.
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As part of my "PLAY ALL THE FIRE EMBLEMZ" thing that I've been on, of course I decided to play the one I just dismissed for being too easy. It's still pretty easy. There were some spots in Hard difficulty that I found genuinely tough, but then it swung back over to steamroller territory soon enough.
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A 3 hour skeleton of what could've been a much better game, had it not been a $15 downloadable title. Even Platinum's pedigree for making good action games doesn't really salvage this mess.
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I honestly could not tell you why I went out of my way to replay Conker, but I still think that game has a ton of charm, even if some of the humor or gameplay sequences don't hold up as well.
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I actually played through this entire game to completion and enjoyed it far, far more than I thought I would. Parts of it are pretty dated, but it's a fun, spectacle-filled ride.
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Legitimately one of the best stealth games I've ever played and by association the best Metal Gear Solid game from a gameplay perspective. The story stuff, on the other hand, left me a little cold by the end.
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Playing the console version of Diablo III with my brother. Turns out that's not a bad way to play that game. Also saves me the trouble of ever having to get Reaper of Souls for PC. It does, however, really emphasize how mindless and simple Diablo III is on easier difficulties.
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It's another King's Bounty game, which just so happens to be like... those other King's Bounty games. This series is pure video game comfort food for me, but I think Dark Side is one of the better ones thus far.
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I picked up a already-in-progress save file that I must've started a while ago and finished the game. It's still easily one of the better Fire Emblem games out there, though I wish it looked better and had Radiant Dawn's more flexible skill system.
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I think Radiant Dawn's multi-act structure does a disservice to what could've been a better game than Path of Radiance. It's certainly a lot harder, even past the crushingly difficult first act, but maaaaaaaaaaannnnnn.
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A weird-ass RPG that I imagine will appeal to a very specific audience with the way it offers a very wide, flexible set of solutions to any given quest, especially non-violent ones. I can't say that I'm incredibly impressed thus far.
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Specifically the Enhanced Edition. I might actually finish the game this time... if my stupid computer will cooperate.
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I say with very little exaggeration that I think the Wii U's fate could've been quite different if this had been around at launch.
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Fallout 4 might be the first Bethesda RPG I quit playing before the 50 hour mark. There's nothing specifically wrong with it so much as everything that was wrong with Fallout 3 is still wrong with this game and that grated on me after a while.
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Sure, I'll give this series another shot. It's going alright for me.
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I'm glad that Platinum is still out there, making games with good character-action combat, but this reeks of budget-conscious mercenary work the same way The Legend of Korra did. It's much better than that game was, but what it mostly does is make me want a new Bayonetta. As it stands, DMC4 is my character action game of this year.
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Seems middling at best, but at least I can have Ike from Fire Emblem hang out with public domain characters in this muddled "Steampunk XCOM Valkyria Chronicles but bad".
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The first episode was free on PS+ and I'm actually quite impressed. Far more of an actual adventure game than I was expecting.
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What if Borderlands had likeable characters, good writing and wasn't super obnoxious at all times? Well, it'd probably be like this. The only problem is that it's still a Telltale thing and thus barely a video game.
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Secretly the best post-SF64 Star Fox game!
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Eff it. I'ma play the RPG with the mechs. Sorry The Witcher 3, your time will come next year.
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