Finished Unavowed, another great point'n click for Wadget Eye ! This one has some replayability in it as there are choices that changes puzzles and a bit of the story. I liked it.

Full list here.

Order of Battle: World War II basically contains only tutorial consisting from 4 missions (on GOG is added one DLC, but usually it is sold separately). Either way I must say, that this is the best tutorial ever, although I had to read manual and see some vids on youtube to understand game principles. I enjoyed it very much, this is great opportunity to see which kind of combat one prefers. Since there are many DLCs, it provided me some ideas where to start (after I finish Order of Battle: U.S. Pacific DLC). I can recommend this game.

KONA

Frankly, this felt like a waste of time. I don't know why I put up with it so long, and I didn't actually finish it myself, I gave up at what proved to be mere ten minutes before the end and watched the rest on YouTube. But at that point I had already lost 6 hours of my life to it, so the least I can do to get some minimal satisfaction out of the experience is to put it down as "completed" instead of "abandoned".

KONA is a mixture of walking simulator and first person adventure with a dose of real-time survival game sprinkled on top. I read a review saying that it combines all the best from these three genres, but I disagree. I think the crossover made it worse than the sum of its parts. Imagine all the slow and mostly linear traveling of a walking simulator combined with getting stuck further down the road due to overlooking something while pixel hunting in lots of samey looking places with tiny hotspots, and therefor missing the required resources to continue, so you have to go back all the way. The annoyance of randomly limited inventory space in this environment, where you can carry heavy wood logs and several tools and guns, but all of a sudden there's no room for another matchbox. You can deposit stuff in your car and then you'll probably miss it just when you're out there in the woods, walking on foot. The crafting and survival stuff is mostly just window dressing anyway, except for the last part where it becomes important all of a sudden (but still not much fun).

While at least the driving around a snowy landscape should be enjoyable in theory - due to the linear roads, the snow storms and the awkward viewing angle (you don't look straight ahead through the windshield, but from slightly above, as if you're seven feet tall and crammed into the vehicle), even that felt more like a chore. And although it's still a bit less linear than your average walking simulator, that is precisely the issue here as it makes discovering the story even more cumbersome and tedious, due to all the traveling to and fro and the possibility of discovering things in a somewhat less ideal order for the story-telling.

So if the gameplay isn't all that great, you'd expect the story to be worth it at least. But there was hardly any surprise in the plot, it was all rather predictable from early on, and nothing too exciting either. The only parts I liked about the game were graphics, style and atmosphere, but those don't make a good game yet on their own, when everything else is either frustrating or boring ...

System Shock 2

Bretty gud game. I basically saved every 2 minutes starting out, and ended up with like 40 unused med hypos and 20 full medpacks. Final boss fights were surprisingly easy but I'm glad they weren't insanely hard. Holding onto your wrench is indeed key. Shoutout to Camasi for helping me figure out what I should invest modules into - ss forum link
I only had to cheat once when I spawnned a battery-thing (needed to send the message from the basketball court) because I left the one I originally had somewhere b/c I didn't know I needed it, and I didn't want to spend hours trying to find it again. (I actually found it later.)

Metro Exodus - Disjointed, disconnected, pretty, bang average.

The Last Jedi of the Metro series.

DOOM 2016

- Awesome.

Late Shift

An interactive movie, the interaction solely consisting of making (mostly 50/50) choices every few minutes between watching. There is a timer on these decisions and once the time has run out, the choice is made for you, but the time frame is generous enough. Other than that, there is no gameplay.

The FMV is pretty good, well acted and shot, simple but gripping story, and watching the movie while trying to make the best decisions is quite enjoyable the first time. I got a bad ending, so I replayed it, trying out most of the alternative choices. Sometimes I was rewarded with a few seconds of extra footage before the story got back on track to how it went the first time, so these changes were minimal, but then I also got to see longer, completely new parts and the order of things changed a little, which was nice. I did things a little differently and was mildly optimistic about it, but I ended up with the same bad ending again. Apparently there are seven different endings; I have no clue whether they depend on only a few isolated decisions or a string of several decisions in a row.

But the problem is that while you're meant to experiment and try figuring out alternative paths, the game doesn't seem to offer any way to skip or fast forward the scenes you've already watched, and neither the option to undo something and rewind. There is an option called "Mixer" in the menu that you can toggle on or off, but it doesn't say what it's for and how it works. So in order to try different paths, it seems you have to watch the whole movie from start to finish again. It isn't a long movie, possibly only 60 minutes or so, but after two playthroughs I don't really feel like watching the whole thing again in hopes that a few minutes of it will change if I get lucky this time.

With that in mind, I would say it's really nice for an hour of interactive movie entertainment (though a bit insatisfactory if you get a bad ending - which seems a lot more likely than getting a good ending), but it kind of fails as a game, not just because gameplay is so limited, but particularly due to the serious lack of options to make replays less repetitive and time consuming.

Just finished Resident Evil on PS4. Inspired by all the buzz about the fresh RE2 remake I figured that it's maybe time to finally beat the original game, more specifically the PS4 HD port of its 2002 remake and I did. I decided to play as Jill, remembering that she's supposedly much easier to play, at least for beginners and ended up getting the best ending on normal difficulty (which is the highest difficulty available at first). Well, that was quite a ride.

I always had a pretty strained relationship with the oldschool RE games and only got into the series with RE4. Even back in the day when the original Resident Evil was released on PC I couldn't get into it. I hated how stiff it is, I had trouble navigating the mansion and solving the puzzles and the high difficulty was the final nail in the coffin for me. With everyone praising the game so much, many claiming that it's the best one in the series, I figured that once I overcome the extremely steep difficulty curve I would probably discover a true gem. At least in the form of this remake I did finally end up appreciating the game a lot although I wouldn't dare calling it the best survival horror game of all time (even before the RE2 remake which I haven't played yet).

First off: this remake is pretty amazing. Even though it's just some HD port of a Gamecube remake of a 1996 game it looks pretty great. The backgrounds are sadly quite blurry and don't blend perfectly with interactive objects but they look pretty nice in spite of that, I can't complain about the characters and enemies and most importantly the game features some really nice lighting that is beautifully projected onto characters and the environment alike. For a port of such an old game it's very easy on the eyes. Also, the sound effects and music are amazing for the most part. And curiously I had no serious issues with the static camera angles, which I presumed would be a pretty big deal - there's generally enough angles so it's hard to get lost and awkward angles usually feel more like a creative decision than a technical limitation. Also, this remake features what the Silent Hill series cleverly dubbed "3D controls" (the character walks where you point, like in most 3D third-person games) which makes the game a lot more playable than the original version, although I'm not sure it's the right way to play the game since the character responds much faster than with tank controls (e.g. turning around is virtually instant while even the 180° turn when using tank controls takes its time) and things may be easier than intended. But the game feels certainly a lot less archaic this way, although it's often kinda hard to keep going in the right direction when the camera angle changes.

In terms of atmosphere the game is awesome, many locations are beautifully eerie thanks to the realistic dark environments and awesome ambient sounds and music. It's also pretty diverse in tone as you explore a variety of places, not just the mansion, and encounter a a lot of different enemies, not just zombies, along the way. The mansion takes the cake, though, and every time I had to return there I really appreciated how terrifying that location is in particular, with its claustrophobic architecture and haunted house theme. I must say, though: claims that this is one of the most terrifying survival horror games ever are kinda silly to me. Zombies just aren't very terrifying to me, all the other monsters even less, and this "biological experiment" theme just can't get under my nerves the way games with metaphysical themes like the Silent Hill or Siren series can - and unsurprisingly the more terrifying moments were the ones that featured Gothic horror themes. As for the story: well, it's pretty simplistic, the characters are kinda dumb, the dialogue is campy (although not nearly as much as in the original version). It gets the job done but it's not something to write home about. Admittedly having played a bunch of later games in the series I already knew the majority of the plot and I may have appreciated it more if I had not known as much in advance but it is pretty impossible to go into Resident Evil 1 these days without knowing in advance that it's about a biological experiment rather than a haunted house. Anyway, a crucial part of the atmosphere stems from the gameplay, of course.

The gameplay is... weird. It took me a while to get my head around what this game is mechanically really about. I knew that it's "hardcore" because the protagonist is fragile and resources are limited but it took me a while to figure out that, really, the game is barely skill-based, it's almost entirely about managing resources, primarily by choosing when not to fight. Usually it's a pretty binary thing: have ammo - easy. Don't have ammo - almost impossible (unless you're a master of the knife, which I am not). Even boss fights are ridiculously easy as long as you have ammo for anything stronger than the handgun. All of this is further amplified by dead zombies coming eventually back to life as faster and stronger enemies unless burned or decapitated - which you can avoid by not killing them in the first place. So it's really largely about choosing sensible paths, planning (e.g. determining if a zombie will be problematic in the future) etc.. It's kinda weird, almost disappointing, but also makes the game quite unique and I can see now where people's claim that RE1 is the "definitive survival horror game" comes from. Also, the result is a game where you can easily play yourself into a dead end by wasting resources - in theory you may run out of ammo for an obligatory fight. This awareness that you may run out of resources is on one hand frustrating (especially early on, and I did go back to an earlier save game once or twice after wasting a lot of ammo) but it is also a major source of the stress you're supposed to feel so it's kinda good, I guess?

And of course a major aspect of the game are exploration and solving riddles. This is something that's only really developed in the mansion, which is almost a menacingly convoluted structure, but becomes trivial in almost any other location, which are very linear by comparison. Puzzles and navigation are generally surprisingly easy, especially compared to the Silent Hill series, although I did get stuck early on because I had not noticed that you can actually turn items into different ones just by examining them from your inventory. But generally the difficulty of the puzzles is okay - they won't usually make you get stuck for long but are still satisfying to solve and some of them are even quite imaginative. The one thing that is annoying in this context is the backtracking. You have very limited inventory space and so you may often discover an important item that you can't pick up because you're out of space or you find the spot where you have to use an item but to need to go all the way back to one of the storage rooms. That's something I feel is largely unnecessary and annoying and I think it could have been solved without harming the experience by having a limited inventory for survival stuff (weapons, ammo, healing items) and an unlimited one for puzzle items like keys, medallions and whatnot. Constantly going back and forth like this is one of the downsides of the game and becomes particularly tiresome later on. Then there's the thing that saving is extremely limited. It's only possible in predefined spots and uses up ink ribbons. This adds even more backtracking but I must say that this limited saving does make the game better in the big picture and I didn't really mind at all.

Anyway, I'm very glad I played through it and certainly have a somewhat different understanding of the genre and especially the series now. I see why it's such a benchmark title and why so many people love it, although RE4 remains my favourite for now. I'll gladly explore more of these old-school RE games now as well as, of course, the new RE2 remake.

Red Dead Redemption 2 PS4

Very good prequel to RDR1. The game is stunningly gorgeous and vibrant. So many things to do, animals to hunt, places to explore, and gunfights to take part in. The story is good but I will not spoil it here.

The game does have a few issues: the controls are bad, missions are very linear, and the shooting feels wonky.

Overall I highly recommend this 100+ hour game.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 (Steam)

There's a game title where the spellchecker flags every word, not one single real word in the title. Yep, it's a JRPG alright. Another one I decided to play after reading about it in CRPG Book Project. Plus Humble had the complete (with DLC) first two parts for $1.

It's a modern JRPG with all the tropes you expect. It's silly, colourful the characters are quirky, or annoying, depending on your stance. The first thing I did was turn off the English voice dubbing it was terrible and hurt my ears. The Japanese was easier to handle and you can turn the volume down and click through the text at your own pace.

Two things stood out. The story is one of the most bizarre premises ever. You represent one of the CPU's in the great console war. I'm pretty sure the CPU you play, Neptune, is a SEGA console that never saw the light of day. You soon come across and join with the other Goddess CPU's, Lastation (PlayStation), Leanbox (Xbox) and Lowee (Wii). I really liked Lowee who is an angry foul mouthed little Goddess- the exact opposite of anything Nintendo would really produce. I'm not sure who the villain represents, maybe PC Master Race?

The combat system was pretty decent, feels like a turn based equivalent of a Xenoblade game. It does expand and introduce new aspects for much of the game, but becomes a bit dull towards the end. Otherwise it plays as you expect for the genre. You scroll through the story parts, then head off to dungeons. You fight bosses. You do this until you hit a wall and need to grind. To the games credit though, the grinding is quick and easy if you do it smart- the game always seems to provide you an easy, repeatable, special tough enemy that gets you a level per kill or two. And they respawn ultra fast. So out of around 35 hours I'd say I spent about 4 solid hours grinding to continue with the story, and by JRPG standards that not actually bad. Otherwise I was just playing the game and doing optional dungeons, not stuff I'd actually call grinding.

I'm divided about the final boss. I got to it at level 70, for most of my party, and got my ass handed to me. So off I went and ground my way up to level 80 with about 45 minutes of grinding. Go back and get hit by the same shitty special attack three times in a row and had no chance. First thing this morning I repeated the fight and won it in 2 minutes and the boss only used the special attack once, I did nothing different So it seems just luck, or bad luck, when it comes to beating the final boss.

An odd and quirky JRPG. If you hate the genre this one isn't going to do anything for you. But otherwise, it worth a try if it's what you feel like. On GOG as well, but the Humble bundle was a good cheap way to get started.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (XB1X)

It's a modern Castlevania copycat for those that don't have a NES or don't like emulating. It looks the same and has similar tunes (but not as good). It has the same sluggish controls and similar enemies, like the Medusa Head. When I say Castlevania I mean pre Symphony of the Night Castlevania.

But it does have some new stuff that mainly effect how difficult it is, yet still retaining the gameplays essence. You can play the old way with a fixed number of lives, or infinite lives that puts you back to a point when you die only. You can play one way to learn and train the areas and then go to traditional limited lives mode to put it all together for a true run.
The other difference is that after defeating the first three bosses you can recruit their spirit as an extra playable character that you can switch between at anytime. They are vastly different and each has a special ability that can help you use shortcuts. It obviously makes the game easier too, as you have 4 health bars. You can also choose to kill them or just ignore them and go it alone if you want the harder version. The three possible endings reflect the choices you make with those optional characters.

It was quite good with a retro feel from the NES era, but with the above refinements if you want to use them. Once you get a feel for it, a run using all characters takes 3-4 hours on a first try learning all the bosses, but the games has replayability because of the 3 endings and how different it is to get there. Replays would be easy in 2 hours when you already know all the boss moves. It was a pretty good GwG title for last month. It's on PS4, Switch and Steam as well.

I have just finished my first blind playthrough of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on PS4. After I have played Tales of Graces f as a first Tales of game, I have found out, that I have been missing out on one of the best jRPG series ever created. After playing few more games from the series, it became my favourite series of games as well.

I have been waiting for this game more than 5 years to be released in the West, on one the platforms I own. The long wait was really worth it. It will definitely not be my favourite Tales of game, like for many other people, because I am very bad at combat in this game :P but I've enjoyed the story and the characters, so I hope Namco Bandai will bring more of the Japan only Tales of games to the West, and that GOG could one day make a deal with them, and bring all of their PC games here DRM free.

My finished games of 2019

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation

Worked to get the True Ending and got it. Man it was some grind. Actually I overleveled so the last few chapters were rather easy. Overall, fun game, fun characters, but I can see why the materials farming can turn people off. I might come back for the Stella's Dungeon minigame and to see some events I missed, and maybe someday I'll even try ng+ to get some other endings. Probably not the Conquest Ending though, read up on that, watched the video, no thank you.

After ~8 years, I finally finished the final boss for

Beyond Good & Evil

so I consider that I finished the game, even though I beat the vast majority of it back in 2011 (during a winter break in my college dorm room). It would have been more satisfying to beat it all at once back then, but the "switch up the keyboard movement" was too stressful for me at the time. Oh well, I'm glad I can say I played through everything as a whole. (I didn't play through everything this time again, I found save games on GameFaqs right before the final boss.) Really great game but nothing will capture the feeling of playing it for the first time, with the music and atmosphere and immersion, so this time around I just wanted to say I finally beat the final boss, and move on.

Mass effect Andromeda.

Fine game with a large universe to explore.
Same feel as mass effect games with many characters.
Impact of choices might become clear in sequels.