Conquests VII: The Games Awaken (Games I Beat in 2017)

Here it is, year number seven of making a list of games I beat. Last year was a low year for sure at only 35 games beaten. I am really wanting to buckle down this year and get through more games in my backlog.

I will quote my criteria from previous years.

As with every year I am counting games that I finish the story or campaign mode on, or whatever the equivalent may be. In some cases a game may not have a story mode, so I will count it if I finish every achievement or goal. In the case of some pinball machines (on Pinball Arcade) I will count them if I finish every standard and wizard goal. I will also count a game beat if I put a ton of time into it if it has no way of finishing it.

Previous Years Lists

• 2011
• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016

List items

• 

  1. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

  This was the remastered version on the PlayStation 4. I haven't played it in a really long time and it was a real treat to play through. The writing is still so great, so much so that I ended up playing through the entire thing in one sitting despite not setting out to do so.

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  2. Hidden my game by mom!

  I wasn't expecting a phone game to be the second game I finished, but here it is. What a weird game this one was. This is one of those games that appears to be one thing at the beginning and gets more crazy by the end.

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  3. Pain Train

  I have no reasons as to why I actually spent the time to finish this game. I honestly believe it was mainly to do with this list and my need to finish more games this year.

  This game was so incredibly monotonous and boring, with each of the games stages being exactly the same besides adding more zombies. On top of all that it is glitchy and basically a bunch of Unity store assets. Do not bother buying or even playing this one.

• 

  4. Hitman

  I finally got to finish the game that was my number one game of last year. I had gotten all the way up to about halfway through the last mission before the year ended.

  What an incredible game. There is so much to do in this game and so many ways to go about doing it. I went through the whole game trying to finish each mission in some way I had previously known nothing about so I had to figure it out on my own, and it was a blast.

  I plan on putting a lot more hours into this one trying all the different ways to take out my targets, and I look forward to it for sure.

• 

  5. Grammar Monsters

  Played through this one many times over to write up the article on the wiki. I remembered this one from my childhood and then noticed there is next to no information for it online.

  I wanted to make the Giant Bomb page for it the place to go for information on the game.

• 

  6. Dishonored 2

  What a game this was. I really wish I had been able to play this before GOTY 2016 because this would have been high on the list for sure. I finished this one on the Xbox One and did a no powers, no spots, and no kills run. It was so much more difficult to play this way, but SO much more rewarding. The game felt like a stealth puzzle game rather than a first person shooter.

  I will go back at some point to play it in high chaos, but I don't anticipate it will be nearly as fun. This play through took me about 15 hours.

• 

  7. Batman: The Telltale Series

  This is the first of the Telltale games I have finished in quite a while. Since Wolf Among Us I think. Picked this one up for $10 in an Xbox Live sale on the Xbox One on a whim and decided to give it a go.

  I really ended up enjoying the story quite a lot. It seems like a lot of people thought it was too slow, but that didn't bother me.

  What did bother me however is that these games still perform so poorly. There was issues with framerate and weird graphical glitches throughout.

  I would stil recommend it to anyone looking for a good story based game or a Batman fan.

• 

  8. The Order: 1886

  I finally got around to playing The Order. I remember wanting to play this before release, but after hearing a lot of negatives about it I figured I would just wait on it. Well, I got it for $5 during a flash sale and I am so glad I did. I actually really liked this game a lot. It looks real pretty, I thought the story was interesting, and the game play itself was good. The time it takes to beat it is certainly fairly low, but honestly that is something I am perfectly happy with. I really do hope there ends up being a sequel to this one.

• 

  9. Ratchet & Clank

  I never got around to finishing, or really getting too terribly far in the original Ratchet & Clank. I was pretty in to the Jak & Daxter games at the time and for whatever reason just sort of skipped the Ratchet series. Well I recently purchased this remake/reboot/re-whatever this is and...WOW. I had a TON of fun playing through this game, so much so that I immediately started in on the challenge mode after. It looks great and plays great, if you have not played this yet and have a PS4, get it.

• 

  10. A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV

  I knew absolutely nothing about this game before it popped up for download. I downloaded and proceeded to fill in the wiki credits page for it before even playing it. I THEN decided to dive in to the game. It seems like a decent, but VERY short beat 'em up. Didn't seem like anything too special to me, but it is free.

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  11. SteamWorld Dig

  This would be the third time around I have beaten SteamWorld Dig. I had previously beaten it on PS4 and PC, this time around was on Xbox One. It popped up on sale for $5 so I figured since it had been a while since I played it last I would give it another go. Well I ended up getting hooked on it all over again and beat it in about two sittings. I love this game so much, if you have not played it yet, go do it.

• 

  12. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

  This one was actually the remastered version on Xbox One. I always loved this entry in the Call of Duty series, especially its multiplayer. However I forgot how frustrating the campaign is on veteran with the constantly respawning enemies and grenade showers. I still had some fun going through it, but I now realize it just doesn't hold up to the newest campaigns.

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  13. Darkwing Duck

  Darkwing Duck is the first game I finished on the excellent Disney Afternoon Collection on the Xbox One. I remember playing this game probably more than any of the other games on the collection.

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  14. Disney's TaleSpin

  I chose TaleSpin as the second game to beat on the Disney Afternoon Collection. TaleSpin is widely regarded as the least favorite on this collection, and I would totally agree with that. TaleSpin is still a fun game, but it is pretty basic and not nearly as fun as the others on offer here.

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  15. Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers

  Next up on the Disney Afternoon Collection was Chip 'N Dale. I am saving the DuckTales games for last so this was the next logical choice. I have played this game many times as a kid and have always loved it. It is still a lot of fun to play through, and I think I might even appreciate it more now than I did back then.

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  16. Disney's Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers 2

  Chip 'N Dale 2 is the first game in the Disney Afternoon Collection that I had not played previously. While there seems to be multiple improvements over the previous game, I still enjoyed the first game more. I don't think this one had the same charm that the first had,

• 

  17. Dead Island

  This one was the definitive edition on the Xbox One. I played through this time with a couple of friends in co-op. I don't know what it is about these Dead Island games, but I really do love playing them. There are so many things wrong with the game, but for whatever reason I can't seem to stop replaying it. I believe this was the fifth time I have finished this game.

• 

  18. Abzû

  I had played through the majority of the game in one sitting, only having to come back for about 15 minutes to finish it up. While this is certainly not going to be on any kind of top lists for me, unless that list happens to be visuals, I had a good time with it. It was quite relaxing to just swim around and take in all the sights around me.

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  19. Mushihime-Sama

  Finished this one on MAME. I had never played this game before, but I had heard of it. I randomly picked it and decided to try it out. Well trying it out turned in to finishing the whole thing. I am not a huge fan of these types of shooters, but I had quite a bit of fun with this one.

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  20. Thunder Dragon 2

  Another one I finished on MAME. I had never even heard of this game before randomly starting it up. It is another shooter, but I am finding I like playing these arcade shooters more than console ones. I enjoyed this one, and it has a hilariously bad voice over which was entertaining.

• 

  21. Thunder Force III

  Another arcade shooter. I had at least heard of this one previously, but I had never actually played it. I think this one was fun, but I did not like it as much as I did the previous two games I finished.

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  22. Zero Wing

  Beat the arcade version in MAME for this one. This is one of those games I have heard about for years and years, but never played. Compared to the other shooters I played recently I can't say I think this one holds up to them.

• 

  23. NeoGeo Battle Coliseum

  This was a fighting game that I knew very little about and had never played before going in. I had some fun going through it, at least until that final boss. That was literally the worst boss character I have ever played against. That last boss fight almost made me uninstall the game right there and never come back, but I ended up fighting though it and finishing it, right before uninstalling it.

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  24. Maize

  Man, this game came out of nowhere for me. I ended up getting this in a Humble Monthly Bundle and thought it looked amusing. Well, I ended up sitting and playing through it completely in one sitting. I LOVED this game. The adventure game parts are decent, but where this game REALLY shines is in the writing. I thought it was hilarious all the way through with everything from obvious to subtle jokes throughout the whole thing. All the way up until the very end I really loved the whole experience. I would strongly urge anyone who is interested in games with good writing to check this game out.

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  25. SpeedRunners

  Played through the story mode on the Xbox One. Picked this one up for free through Games With Gold, but I have played it quite a bit on the PC already. The story mode was pretty average and not great, but the core gameplay of this game is really fun and I would suggest if you have some friends to play local, do that.

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  26. Super Mutant Alien Assault

  Picked this one up on the cheap in a sale on the Xbox One. I really had no idea what this was going in but for the price and just the look of it I decided to go for it. While the game is pretty short, I had quite a bit of fun playing through it co-op.

• 

  27. Super Street Fighter IV

  Arcade edition. Played this one on the Xbox One when it became backwards compatible. Still is some Street Fighter IV. I did manage to win a match online in endless mode only to be kicked by the host, but I was happy to win a single match online, which is a first for me.

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  28. DuckTales

  And with that another game in the Disney Afternoon Collection has been beaten. This is most certainly the game I have played the most in this collection. I think DuckTales stands as the best game in this collection for sure and I would still heartily recommend anyone play this one as I think it still holds up fairly well and is much better than the remastered version.

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  29. DuckTales 2

  Here we go, the final game on the Disney Afternoon Collection. I had only ever played a single level of this game previously as the actual cartridge is a pain to get a hold of. While I enjoyed it quite a lot, it does not seem anywhere near as fun as the original DuckTales. A lot of the enemies in this game are way more uninspired than the original, same with the music. I will add The Disney Afternoon Collection to this list as well, but only after I complete all the boss rushes and time trials first.

• 

  30. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

  Played through this entirely in co-op on the 360 with my visiting brother in law. I had never played it despite owning it for quite some time. I was surprised at how much fun we had despite it not looking like a great game. It had its fair share of issues for sure, but I had a ton of fun playing through it.

• 

  31. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

  Another 360 game finished thanks to backwards compatibility on Xbox One. I had played a fair amount of this in the past, but hadn't finished it despite really enjoying it. I am glad I went back to this and finished it. The story telling and style in this game is so incredibly good, this game really would have benefited from not having the Call of Juarez name attached to it.

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  32. Contra

  Finished this one on the Xbox One VIA backwards compatibility. Playing through this version again made me remember how much better the NES version of this game is than the arcade.

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  33. Rogue Legacy

  This is probably the third different platform I have finished this game on. This time around it was on the Xbox One. Every single time I start this game it sucks me right back in. I think the actual game play of this one is near perfect and love playing it.

• 

  34. SEGA Bass Fishing

  Despite owning this game on multiple platforms this is the first time I have ever really played it, let alone played through all the stages and saw credits. The game is fun and reminds me of playing quite a bit of fishing games in the SNES days.

• 

  35. Golden Axe

  Played through this one on my phone as one of those Sega Forever games. I realized while playing this that I REALLY don't like playing these older games using a touch screen. Well, I mean I already knew it, but I affirmed it. The original Golden Axe holds a lot of nostalgia for me, but it really isn't a great game and this is probably the worst way to play it.

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  36. Mighty Gunvolt

  Noticed I had this one in my Steam library and decided to give it a shot. I had a ton of fun with this one while playing through as Gunvolt. I will probably give this a go as the other two characters as well.

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  37. LocoCycle

  It took me a really long time to get around to this game. I have always loved the humor and oddity of Twisted Pixel games. I had played this a little bit on Steam a while back but didn't really get into it. I just got this on Xbox One and so I decided to give it another shot. The thing I noticed with every non 'Splosion Man game from Twisted Pixel is that I love the setting, jokes, and setting, but not so much the actual gameplay. I absolutely loved the FMV cutscenes in this game, but the gameplay felt like a chore in order to get to them.

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  38. Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting

  And here is the first game I completed on the SNES Classic. This is the version of Street Fighter II that I have the most nostalgia for as this is the one that I bought when it released. I had a bunch of fun playing the SNES version of this using an SNES controller again.

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  39. Gone Home

  Last time I finished this one it was on the PS4, this time it was on Xbox One. I still did not really care for it too much, but I did play through it multiple times to snag those achievements.

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  40. Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren's Call

  This was the first hidden object game I had beaten all year so far. I am not sure why but I got the urge to play through one again. I had already played through Nightmares From the Deep 1 and 3 so I figured I should play through 2. As far as hidden object games go this series is pretty good, much better structure and feel than many others.

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  41. TowerFall

  Finally beat the whole campaign and DLC campaign. Did the whole thing in co-op and it was pretty fun. I really like this game quite a bit. It is up there to me as one of the most fun local multiplayer games on PC.

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  42. The Little Acre

  I remember seeing this game when it was first released and thinking it looked really interesting. Well it ended up going on sale for something like $4 on Xbox One so I decided to go for it. I was not disappointed at all. This was a really fun, but fairly short point and click adventure. Where this game really shines is the art style, it is such a great game to look at with some pretty great characters.

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  43. Runbow

  I just randomly decided to fire this one up on the Xbox One after getting it free a while back. The game was fun, but I don't think I would really recommend it too much either. The stages got quite repetitive to me by the time I finished it. The mechanics are interesting and seem fresh at first, I just think they could have maybe had more variety in the mechanics of it.

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  44. Marvel Heroes Omega

  Well, I heard this game was going to shut down in only a couple of days and I had been planning on playing it for a while now. I ended up playing through the game's campaign in only a couple of sittings to make sure I could do it before it was gone. I really enjoyed my time with it and really wish it weren't shutting down since I would have liked to play more of the post campaign content or maybe do it again with a different character.

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  45. The Simpsons Arcade Game

  Played through this one with three other people who had not played it before. Usually when I re-play this game it is the 360 version, but this time I fired up MAME and we played the original. I really love my 90s era mindless beat 'em ups, and this one is no exception.

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  46. Cel Damage HD

  Boy, this game just didn't hold up to what I remembered it being. I liked the original when I first played it on the Xbox so I figured when I saw it on sale for a few bucks I would give it a shot again. I ended up playing through every event in every mode, for achievements of course. Between the boring stages and the terrible floaty controls I would recommend staying far away from this one.

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  47. Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death

  A late entry on this list of games finished in the year, barely making it in on the 20th. This was free on the Xbox as a part of the Games With Gold program so I decided to play it. This game is a complete and total God of War rip off, and doesn't have the budget behind it to make it quite the spectacle of its inspiration.

  Despite the lack of polish I had quite a bit of fun playing it.

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  48. SteamWorld Dig 2

  Another late entry on this list. I loved this game, enough that it made me go back and edit my GOTY list which I had already posted before I got this game. I have finished the original game 4 times over, and is one of my favorite indie games. This one improved on the original game pretty significantly. The characters in this game were pretty entertaining and I really had a blast just zoning out and mining while listening to podcasts.