Just Finished: Back 4 Blood (PS5)

So many of the co-op games I play involve shooting zombies. This is another one. It served its purpose. The story and lore are pretty bland and did not really pique my interest. Some of the banter between characters can be amusing. The gameplay is pretty straightforward in regards to shooting mechanics. The controls are pretty much identical to COD. The graphics are nice enough. The levels seemed designed to take you through as many different novel locales as the developers could think of from sports arenas, to boats, to prisons, and everything in between. Most of the enemies are just bullet fodder. I never understood the card system and how to use it effectively. All I know is that it would impact some random elements of the gameplay sometimes annoyingly so. I played the co-op with just one other person, the AI filled in for the last two players. That worked smoothly enough. The game did not wow me but it provided an appropriate vehicle for me and my buddy to continue bonding over online co-op. I bought the Ultimate Edition at a discount so I got play through all the DLC episodes as well. Spent 15 hours with the game it total. That was enough. I won't be Back 4 More anytime soon.

Score: 7/10

Full Completed 2024 List:

• Back 4 Blood (PS5)

I've started off strong so far.
Got a PS5 because we had a freeze happen in Texas before the school semester started so I wanted to utilize that time well. I got Final Fantasy 16 and loved it, definitely had some gripes with it though.
I got the PS5 in anticipation of a few other titles, Granblue Fantasy Relink which I also completed, FF7Rebirth and Lost Soul Aside.

Games I have beaten:
Final Fantasy 16
Granblue Fantasy Relink
The Pathless (Switch)

My plan this year is to only purchase games I know I am wanting to play immediately and beat, this will also help me save funds for Nintendo's next console and myriad of games that will come with it.

Update as of February 17th 2024.

Beaten so far in 2024
-Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag (PC) - 39 hours and 85 out of 100 Rating
-Final Fantasy VI (PC) - 56 hours and 97 out of 100 Rating
-Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster (NS) - 26 hours and 96 out of 100 Rating

Currently Playing

Planned to play in the future
-Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (PS5)
-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (PS4/PS5)
-Persona 3 Portable (NS)
-The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild (NS)
-Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)
-Grand Theft Auto V (PS5)
-Soulcalibur II HD (Xbox 360)
-Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)
-River City Girls (Steam)
-Dragon Quest I (NS)
-Kirby's Dream Course (NSO)
-Tekken 2 (PS4/PS5)
-King of Fighters Orochi Saga (PS4/PS5)
-Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate (Xbox)
-Disgaea 2 PC (Steam)

Other stats

Two new games to add this time.

Finished Games:

1. Odin Sphere Leifthasir (PS4) My Rating: 8.5 / 10
   • I'd had this game waiting on my back log for ages, and I finally decided to give it a go. Turns out that Odin's Sphere is a great game. The gameplay is fun, and thanks to the five different playable characters, nicely varied as well. The music is great, and the visuals are gorgeous. The story is overall great, but because of the way the game tells it, focusing on one character at a time even though all of their stories take place at the same time, it means that you only get the full picture of what is going on after finishing all five characters stories. As a result, especially with the first few characters, you can end up feeling a bit lost at times. Still, this was a great way to start the year off.
2. Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS5) My Rating: 9.0 / 10
   
   • Just decided to replay the Remake in preparation for Rebirth. Also played through the Yuffie DLC for the first. Still love the game, the only notable issue I have is the Sephiroth fight at the end. I think they should've saved it for later. Otherwise the game is excellent, even better than I previously thought.
3. Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy (PS5) My Rating: 8.5 / 10
   • I've always been a big fan of the Trine games, in particular when playing them in co-op, and Trine 5 might be the best one yet. Solid, highly enjoyable puzzle platformers with a charming world and characters. Best played with three people, but even with two or just on your own these are always fun games.
4. A Plague Tale: Requiem (PS5) My Rating: 9.0 / 10
   • A sequel to one of my favourite games of the previous generation, and quite possibly an improvement over it as well. I love this particular setting Asobo Studio has created, and the story and characters are great too, carried in this game by an fantastic voice performance by Charlotte McBurney as Amicia. If I had played this game back in 2022 when it was release I would have probably voted for her as the best performance of the year in the year-end awards. I loved the character's progression over the course of the game, slowly becoming more and more accustomed to and accepting of the idea of killing other people, and simply being mentally torn apart bit by bit by the horrible situation they've been forced into and from which there doesn't seem to be any escape. I'm not entirely sure yet, but this might be the first game I've played this year that'll make it into my top 50 once that event rolls around at the end of the year.
5. Star Ocean: First Departure R (PS4) My Rating: 7.5 / 10
   • A solid old-school JRPG that effectively feels like a proof of concept for other, better games down the line. This was Tri-Ace's first game, and this definitely set up a template the later games in the series would follow and improve upon. This was an overall fun game, but it does feel like a first attempt at doing something. Still good, but every element found here would be greatly polished in games to come.
6. Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (PS5) My Rating: 8 / 10
   • I ended up liking this game much more than I initially expected. An action RPG that takes some clear inspiration from Dark Souls, but far easier and lighter a game (a soulslite?). The limits of the game's budget are unquestionably a factor here, as just about every aspect of the game could have used one more pass of polish before release, the gameplay could use a bit more snap and better damage feedback, and the writing/translation needed one more round of edits to fix the various small mistakes and just make the game less verbose. I still liked it a lot, and it's one of those games that feels more than the sum of its parts. My initial impression upon starting it weren't great, but the longer I played the more I found myself enjoying my time with Asterigos.

Currently Playing:

• Potionomics (PC)
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (PS4)

In queue:

• God of War: Ragnarök
• Persona 5
• Demon's Souls
• Steelrising
• Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age
• Tales of Arise
• Tales of Vesperia
• Steelrising

Just Finished: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered (PS5)

I do not replay games often. I got this game by buying Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales Ultimate Edition at a discount. I played the original game on PS4 but had to rush through it because it was my brother's and he was moving away and taking the game with him. I had already played Miles Morales so I feared that this game would feel a bit outdated after that. Thankfully that was not the case. The graphics and performance are phenomenal. This time I got to play through all of the side content and the included DLC episodes. In fact, this was the very first time I earned a Platinum trophy (for the base game). It took me about 14 hours to clear the story but the Platinum took me about 30 hours of playtime, and that is considered one of the easier ones to attain. Playing the story content for the City That Never Sleeps DLC meant that I spent nearly 40 hours with this game in total. While the game is well made and fun it definitely started to feel repetitive. Overall I did enjoy this playthrough more than my first one. The writing and world building is phenomenal. One of the most enjoyable adaptations of Spider-Man's world in any medium. Now I will be ready to buy Spider-Man 2 whenever it goes on sale. With great power...

Score: 8/10

Full Completed 2024 List:

• Back 4 Blood (PS5)
• Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered (PS5)

Here's list of Vidya's i completed:
-Halo 3
-RDR1
-Guitar Hero III
-Half-Life Episode 1
Thats pretty much it, been playing TF2 and Skate 3 Nonstop