Just Finished: Bioshock 2 [as part of Bioshock The Collection] (PS4)

Well this was unexpected. Bioshock 2 is a sequel that does not stray too far from the original game. It feels like an extended remix of its predecessor. The game is pretty straightforward and didn't give me as hard a time as the first one. Part of the reason could be that I was just so use to the mechanics at this point. The story is not as strong as the first game although the father-daughter story line has touching moments. The game feels significantly shorter. Perhaps because the original release of Bioshock 2 included online multiplayer they felt as if they could make the single player shorter. In any case I was not able to try the multiplayer as part of the remaster. There are a few quality of life improvements, the most noticeable being that the hacking minigame was streamlined. I got the mixed evil ending because I harvested most of the Little Sisters but spared the key enemies that you could have killed. I'm glad I sacrificed the little sister because protecting them while they harvest Adam was tedious and there was no way I was going to pad the experience with such drudgery. Towards the end of the game you start to feel quite powerful with your upgraded weapons and plasmids but then the game ends quite suddenly. The atmosphere and lore behind Rapture is still top notch. I did not use the drill much as the Big Daddy. This was a solid sequel but not too ambitious. Bioshock Infinite awaits...

7/10

Full Completed 2022 List:

• Far Cry 5 (PS4)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS4)
• inFamous 2 (PS Now)
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (NSO)
• Bioshock 2 (PS4)

Gato Roboto (Jan 3)
Tomato Adventure (Jan 16)
Shadow of the Colossus (Jan 16)
Crash Twinsanity (Jan 18)
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (Jan 22)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Jan 23)
Star Fox Adventures (Feb 20)
Star Fox Assault (Feb 21)

Mega Man X6 (Mar 9)
Chocobo GP (Mar 10)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Mar 28)
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Apr 28)
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (May 12)
Left 4 Dead 2 (May 21)
Resident Evil 5 (May 23)
Conker's Bad Fur Day (June 11)
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (Jun 20)

Just Finished: Ico (PS Now)

I am well aware of this game's reputation. I can certainly see the charm and how it had a big influence on many later games such as Resident Evil 4, Journey, and The Last of Us etc. There is something appealing about the sparseness of the game world and design. Unfortunately, I just did not find this game very fun to play. It felt like work. The game can be beaten in under 2 hours if you know what you are doing, but it took me 7 hours and I had to consult guides to finish it. The areas are pretty wide open but exploring in this game is a waste of time as there is nothing cool to find and there is only one correct path forward. This is a game that is more than the sum of its parts because many of its individual parts are crap. Specifically the clunky combat and even clunkier platforming. I wasted a lot of time trying find the correct path as Ico only to have to drop what I'm doing to go save Yorda from the shadow monsters. It would have been nice if the remastered version included some quality of life improvements to make the controls less crappy. Some of the visuals are impressive for an early PS2 game but other areas are so dark and muddled it can be hard to make out where you are supposed to go and what you can interact with. The minimalist yet touching love story is one of the games big strengths. Otherwise I would have to say this game has not aged well. Ico is a game that mostly consists of climbing ladders/chains, pulling levers, pushing/pulling boxes, and lighting fires in various configurations. If Shadow of the Colossus is a game stripped to just boss fights, then Ico is like a Zelda game that is one large dungeon. Style is nice but fun comes first, and this just wasn't much fun for me. This is the first game that I have played this year that wasn't a sequel. I have finally played all three Team Ico games. Shadow of the Colossus is my favorite followed by The Last Guardian and Ico is far behind. This will be the last game I list with PS Now as the platform. The streaming experience was thankfully smooth.

6/10

Full Completed 2022 List:

• Far Cry 5 (PS4)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS4)
• inFamous 2 (PS Now)
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (NSO)
• Bioshock 2 (PS4)
• Ico (PS Now)

Games I've finished in 2022:

Persona 5 Strikers (Platinum)
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Elden Ring
FF Strangers of Paradise
Tales of Arise (Platinum)

Got the platinum for Tales of Arise and immediately deleted it so that I can download God of War. Looking forward to my first non JRPG of the year, but I don't have high hopes. I was planning on playing Witcher 3 after God of War, but then I remembered Disgaea 6 English version will be out soon for PS4, and I have to show my support as I always have for the series. And it is fitting that Disgaea 6 will be my 6th JRPG of the year.

+ Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc (Xbox Series X)

I can finally add :

- Bioshock Infinite and the two DLCs

- Rayman Legends (not all worlds but enough for me)

- Star Wars Fallen order, two years after i began to play it

- The last of us left behind

Now i don't know if i'm gonna begin marvel guardians of the galaxy or play the DLC of Ghost of Tshushima.

Finished Games:

1. Luigi's Mansion (Switch) My Rating: 8/10
   • Played through this game with my fiancée. Not sure if I would have liked it as much playing by myself, but in co-op it was a lot of fun. Not among the console's best games, but certainly enjoyable nonetheless.
2. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) My Rating: 9/10
   • I actually finished this game last year, but I realized I forgot to put it in last year's list, so it's here now. It's great. Probably the best 3D Mario game ever, or at least very close to it.
3. Valkyria Chronicles 4 (PS4) My Rating: 9/10
   • An absolutely brilliant tactical RPG. Likely the first game I've beaten this year that'll end up in my top 50 list of all time at the end of the year. It's not quite as good as the first game in the series, but it's not far off.
4. The Last of Us Part II (PS4) My Rating: 9/10
   • Pretty much just flew through this one in less than a week, which considering my work schedule is almost unheard these days. An excellent game. Not sure whether I like this or the first game more. The rating might even go up once I've had some time to think on it, and now that I have finally played it I still have no idea what some people's problem with the game was, outside of the obvious idiots getting angry at game having a diverse cast. Regardless, this is another game that's likely going to end up in my top 50 at the end of the year.
5. Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) My Rating: 9.5/10
   • Because of Forbidden West's impending release I wanted to go back and replay Zero Dawn, just to remind myself of the story and characters. Since that first playthrough I've considered Zero Dawn to be the best open world game of all time, and not much changed on my second go-around. The story, world, character, gameplay, visuals and music are all still amazing, and the only issues I have with the game are minor ones, like the inventory space being a bit too small for my liking. 
6. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4) My Rating: 8/10
   • Or the game that just never ends. I liked DQXI quite a lot, though it is not without its issues. The main character has about as much emotional depth as a plank of wood, which ends up hurting some otherwise very well done emotional moments with the other characters. The game also has an unfortunate tendency to stretch things needlessly to pad the run time. The music was quite forgettable as well. However, otherwise this is still a quality JRPG, but not one I'll probably be returning to in the future.  
7. Elden Ring (PS4) My Rating: 10/10
   • An absolutely exceptional game, and unless something truly incredible comes out, likely going to end up as my game of the year and very high on my all-time favourite games list as well. The gameplay, the world itself, the story behind the events of the game, the sheer amount of engaging and interesting stuff to do and find in The Lands Between, the visual design, music, and so many other things about Elden Ring are simply impeccable. It's not quite a perfect game, not that there is such a thing, but there are a few minor negatives as well. One of the late game areas is ridiculously frustrating, couple of the optional dungeons aren't very fun, and a few of the bosses in the end-game feel a bit unfair at times. Overall, this is still without question the best open world game I've ever played. 
8. Ara Fell: Definitive Edition (PC) My Rating: 7.5/10
   • A fun, light love letter to 16-bit JRPGs of old with a good story and characters, interesting setting, very good music, and a beautiful old-school visual style. For the roughly 16 hours I spent playing through it, I very much enjoyed Ara Fell. The normal battles do start getting a bit tiresome by the last quarter of the game once I had unlocked all the skill upgrades, but other than that I don't really have any major issues with it. Check it out if old-school JRPGs are your thing.
9. Lara Croft Go (PC) My Rating: 7.5/10
   • Needed something different after so many huge games and JRPGs. It had been a while since I'd played any puzzle games, and Lara Croft Go was on sale, so I bought and played through it over the last week. Just a well-designed, fairly short puzzle game with a Tomb Raider skin slapped on top. The difficulty curve is a bit all over the place, but otherwise I have no major issues with the game.
10. Hue (PC) My Rating: 7/10
    • A fun, fairly straightforward puzzle platformer that revolves around changing the color of the world itself to solve the puzzles. Nothing exceptional, but I enjoyed my time with it.
11. Spiritfarer (PS4) My Rating: 9/10
    • One of the best games I've played in recent times. An absolutely gorgeous game with wonderfully written story and characters. I played it through in co-op, and both I and my fiancée loved it. In between the heavier moments with the characters there are a lot of fun chores to do, each with their own minor variations to the gameplay loop. 
12. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4) My Rating: 8/10
    • A beautiful action-adventure game, with a unique setting and story. The characters end up feeling a bit distant even at the end, but I still liked them. Just needed a bit more added to them. The gameplay is good, if somewhat derivative of other similar games. For a studio's first game this is an excellent title. Looking forward to what Ember Labs brings out next.

Currently Playing:

1. Stardew Valley (PC)
2. Cris Tales (PC)
3. Command & Conquer Remastered (PC)
4. Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition (PC)

Virtua Tennis 3 - 6/10

Fight'N Rage - 9/10

Streets of Rage 4 Mr. X Nightmare - 7/10

Double Dragon Neon - 5/10

The Ninja Saviors - 7/10

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 9/10

Dragon Ball Z Sagas - 3/10

Starsky and Hutch - 5/10

Sega Soccer Slam - 6/10

Tales of Eternia - 5/10

Atelier Iris 2 - 7/10

Mana Khemia 2 (Ulrika playthrough) - 9/10

Sonic Advance - 5/10

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 - 4/10

TMNT: Shredder's Revenge - 5/10

Finally beat Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Crimson Flower route. Awesome game in my top 3 on Switch.

Beat TMNT: Shredder's Revenge.

Been working on a play through of Valkyria Chronicles 4. Not as revolutionary as the first, but still one of my favorite games of the past 10 years.

Haven't updated in quite a while.

5th update (48 completed games):

Games I've finished in 2022:

The Gunk (Game Pass)
The Pedestrian (Game Pass)
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Hitman 3 (Game Pass)
Last Stop (Game Pass)
Contrast (Game Pass)
Telling Lies (Game Pass)
Astria Ascending (Game Pass)
Who's Your Daddy
Promesa
Serious Sam 4 (Game Pass)
F1 2020 (Game Pass)
#SinucaAttack
Dadish
Dadish 2
Horizon Chase Turbo
Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2
Dishonored 2 (Game Pass)
Dishonored - Death of the Outsider (Game Pass)
Stories Untold
Forza Horizon 3
Nexoria: Dungeon Rogue Heroes
Narita Boy (Game Pass)
0 Degrees
Dungeon Escape
Squad Killers
Hellbreachers
Race with Ryan (Game Pass)
Guardians of the Galaxy (Game Pass)
Rainswept
Golf Peaks
Super Soccer Blast
Watch Dogs: Legion
A Memoir Blue (Game Pass)
Life is Strange: True Colors (Game Pass)
Streets of Rage 4 (Game Pass)
Halo 2 Anniversary (Game Pass)
The Spectrum Retreat
The Suicide of Rachel Foster
The Wild at Heart (Game Pass)
Bugsnax (Game Pass)
Gravel
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (Game Pass)
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Dry Twice
Omno (Game Pass)
Nexomon
Deponia

Currently working on:

Children of Morta (Game Pass)
Nexomon: Extinction
House Flipper (Game Pass)
Indiecalypse
Bloodroots (Game Pass)
Chorus (Game Pass)