What a crappy year... at least I played a few good games.

Top 10 Games of 2020

10. Shadows: Awakening (PS4)

9. Return of the Obra Dinn (PC)

8. Xcom 2 (PC)

7. Baba is You (PC)

6. Disco Elysium (PC)

5. Cosmic Star Heroine (PC)

4. Divinity: Original Sin 2 (PS4)

3. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC)

2. Death Stranding (PS4)

and the winner is...

1. Bloodborne (PS4)

I'm okay at Souls Games, I didn't really enjoy Dark Souls that much, but the combat is SO MUCH BETTER in Bloodborne.

Total Games Completed: 47 (Same as last year)

Worst Game Completed in 2020: Lost Horizon 2 (PC)

The worst point and click I have ever completed that ruined everything good about the first game.

Biggest Disappointment: Hollow Knight: Silksong

This was the game I was most looking forward to coming out this year, the developers haven't mentioned anything about it in months and we still don't have a date for release!!!

Florence

It's only about an hour long, more like an interactive graphic novel with music, and the story is predictable, may even seem a little clichéd at first glance because of that. But I think that's not the point. It's pretty clear that they wanted it to feel familiar and make it as universally relatable as possible, and the way they conveyed ideas and feelings with hardly any words worked pretty well. So even though there's not a lot of depth to the characters, it still managed to be a touching experience about relationships and life goals, and I really enjoyed it. A huge part of that is due to the sweet drawing style, the music, and the way the simplistic interactions were given meaning rather than just being there to occupy the "player" (it reminded me a bit of what Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons did at the end when the controls became more than a means to an end). Whether you want to call it a game or not, in any case, I liked it.

Since we did not attend any party this year my wife and I decided to just play a game - we started and beat the Desperate Escape DLC for Resident Evil 5 just in time before midnight making this the last "game" I finished in 2020.

It's actually an interesting idea since players assume the roles of Jill Valentine and Josh, two minor characters in RE5 and Jill actually plays a bit different from the main game's characters with a far more effective knife attack. It doesn't really extend the story of RE5 in any meaningful way and the DLC answers questions that nobody asked. But it's really not a story DLC, the story is just an excuse for a ridiculously intense bonus chapter. And I mean intense. The gameplay on this level actually reminds me a lot of the Mercenaries mode with insanely large amounts of enemies that just keep spawning and spawning - in some areas enemies may in fact spawn infinitely though we didn't stay long enough to find out. It's all in all helluva lot more difficult than anything in the base game and some areas are even a bit frustrating (especially two areas where enemies bombard you with artillery) but it was fun to see something more challenging in RE5. Importantly, you don't have access to your main inventory or weapon upgrades and must get by with the limited resources you find on the level which is a nice throwback to RE4 after the - by comparison - highly forgiving RE5 campaign.

The culmination of all this is a defence scenario where the player(s) have to survive for X minutes in a tightly designed arena and some of the toughest enemies from the base game appear on top of swarms of standard Majini. This area, though comparably small, is actually a lot like the mercenaries levels with a whole bunch of paths, some nicely placed barrels and so on and made the DLC worth it on its own. And it was difficult as hell, took us like ten attempts, which made it all the more satisfying when the timer finally ran out and we got to see a surprisingly badass cutscene.

If I'd had to pay for the DLC I'd probably be a bit disappointed by the small amount of content but luckily it was included for free with the PS4 version. In this context it's some really nice and surprisingly high quality bonus content.

Anyway, so this marks my last entry in this thread. To anyone who might be reading this: I wish you a happy new year.

Now where's that Games Finished in 2021 thread?

Iconoclasts, Dec 31 (GOG)-It felt a little linear for a metroidvania but I'm hardly an expert. I really enjoyed this more so than Dust: Any Elysian Tail I think. I thought the different wrench mechanics were pretty clever. Some of the levels were a little tedious and some of the bosses rather difficult but it was fun even if I didn't know what the heck happened at the end. Some of the music was pretty catchy, too.

Full List

Mega Man Legends. I wasn't expecting to beat any more games this year, but I remembered I left off right at the final boss in this, so I figured I'd try to finally get past it and I did not too long afterward. There's quite a difficulty spike right at the end - I think it's the game's way of trying to force you to go back and do more sidequests so you can upgrade to an ultimate weapon - but I got by with just my pea shooter once I learned the boss's patterns.

It's a charming game. The controls are a bit clunky in a Zelda 64 kind of way, but it doesn't matter because it's mostly not a hard game and the art design is pretty well done. The colors really pop off the screen and the graphics are done in a way that plays to the PS1's strengths and tries to hide its weaknesses.

A Year in Review

I played a lot of games in 2020 and a lot of them I really enjoyed. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was my favorite for most of the year until I marathoned 85 hours of Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition in the first few weeks of December. On to some random awards.

Best Music-Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition. This had a lot of great elements including very good music.

Most Looking Forward to the Sequel-Uncharted. This was a fun game that felt like the developers hadn't got the formula just right quite yet. From what I've read Uncharted 2 perfects it.

After Having Most Looked Forward to the Sequel Last Year It Delivered This Year-Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 The Sith Lords. More Jedi RPG fun for someone who is only a casual fan of the setting.

Popular Indie I Thought Was Meh-The Banner Saga. It felt like a choose your own adventure book because your decisions had such random, unforeseen results. And all of the characters were indistinguishable and died or left the party so suddenly you didn't get a chance to know any of them.

Best Game No One's Ever Heard of-MetaWare High School (Demo)-It reminded me a lot of Doki Doki Literature Club with less horror and more humor.

Genre I Never Knew I Hated-Choose From A Group of Similar Things Simulation Games-I have no idea what to call this genre but it includes games like Death and Taxes, NoviNews, and I imagine Papers, Please. When all you get is a one or two sentence blurb about someone's life or something you're suppose to support or oppose, its hard to make any connection to anything in the game. And with no connection its hard to care what happens.

Biggest Surprise In a Good Way-Resident Evil Code Veronica X. I was a little apprehensive about playing an older RE title with more puzzles and terrible controls having previously only experienced RE4. This was really tense and a lot of fun despite the clunky controls.

Biggest Surprise In a Bad Way-Little Nightmares. I had some trouble choosing this game. Most of the games I didn't enjoy this year were experimental indie games or A or AA games that were not well received. This one was pretty popular but I didn't really care for it. There were some fun chases but generally it was a bit tedious for me.

Ok I think that's enough. Now to start on 2021.

Highs:
Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shougun Magginesu/Go for it! Goemon 2: The Strange General McGuinness (SNES, 1993) - 8 (1p, no difficulty options)
System Shock 2 (PC, 1999) - 8 (Normal, Navy class)
Micro Machines (MD, 1993) - 7.5 SP/8 MP
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (PC, 2016) - 7.5 (Normal, 98% - all but two MP upgrades)
Batman: Arkham Asylum: GOTY Edition (PC, 2010) - 7.5 (Normal, 61%)
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (PC, 2000) - 7.5 (beat it as allies, beat almost half the soviet campaign, normal)
Metroid Prime (GC, 2002) - 7.5 (normal/default, v1.02, about 72% completion)
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (PC) - 7.5 (Normal, 85-ish %)
Star Control II (PC, 1992/3DO, 1993)(Ur-Quan Masters remaster, 2011) - 7.5
Shaman King: Master of Spirits (GBA, 2004) - 7.5
D/Generation (AMI) - 7.5
Spider-Man 2 (PS2, 2004) - 7.5
Ratchet & Clank (PS2, 2002) - 7.5
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (NDS) - 7? (Normal) - possibly 7.5 on hard and w/ the improvement hack
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) - 7
Ultracore/Hardcore (MD, 1995) - 7
King's Bounty (MD, 1991) - 7 (Knight, Normal)
Silver (PC) - 7
Gemfire (MD, 1992) - 7
Gauntlet IV (MD, 1993) - 7 (Quest mode, 1p)
The Punisher (MD, 1994) - 7 (SP, Normal)
Pepenga Pengo (MD, 1995) - 7 (SP)
Road Rash 3 (MD, 1995) - 7 (SP)
Sonic Blast Man II (SNES, 1994) - 7 or 7.5? (normal, 1p)
Xeno Crisis (MD, 2018) - 7 (1p, Easy - there's no normal, just hard and easy)
Ghost Sweeper Mikami (SNES, 1993) - 7 (default)
Gokujou Parodius (SNES, 1994) - 7 (default, beat the extra levels as well)
Shadow Man (N64, 1999) - 7 (~97/120 dark stones, 9/10 HP, 1 violator)
Rayman 2 (PC) - 7 (80-ish % collection completion)
Wario Land 3 (GBC, 2000) - 7 (got about 80% of the treasure)
Banjo-Tooie (N64, 2000) - 7 (70 jiggies)
Blaster Master: Blasting Again (PS1, 2000) - 7 (normal)
Shantae (GBC, 2002) - 7 (got most hearts and warp squid babies, some fireflies)
Threads of Fate (PS1) - 7 (as Rue)
Armored Core (PS1) - 7
Iji (v1.7)(PC, 2017)(Originally from 2008) - 7 (bad/sad ending)
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (GBA, 2004) - 7 (70% completion (got all hearts), SP)
Dungeon Explorer II (PCE CD, 1993) - 7 (1p, mostly as the Fighter)

Mids:
Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars (MD, 1994) - 7? (6.5 SP)
Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove (PC) - 6.5 or 7 if bugs are fixed (1p, fixed mode as Earl (died) and then Toejam)
Outcast (v1.1)(PC) - 6.5
Desert Strike (MD, 1992) - 6.5
Rolo to the Rescue (MD, 1992) - 6.5
Milon's Secret Castle (GB) - 6
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (MD, 1996) - 6.5? (1p)
Odyssey (AMI, 1995) - 6.5
Global Defense/SDI (SMS, 1987) - 6.5
Rygar (NES, 1987) - 6.5
Vigilance on Talos V (PC) - 6.5
Spellcaster (SMS) - 6.5
Alundra 2 (PS1) - 6.5 (Normal)
Within a Deep Forest (PC) - 6.5 (Normal)
Xak: The Art of Visual Stage (SNES) - 6.5
Tomba! 2 (PS1, 1999) - 6.5 (did about 85% of the quests, no difficulty options)
La-Mulana (PC, 2005) - 6 (~70% roms, didn't trigger hard mode, no hell temple)
Radia Senki (NES, 1991) - 6

Lows:
Ikachan (PC, 2000) - 5.5
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (MD, 1992) - 5
Ecco Jr. (MD, 1995) - 5
Space Hunter (NES) - 5
Clash at Demonhead (NES, 1989) - 5.5 (due to the bomb defusal part, otherwise 6)

A last batch of games I've completed in 2020:

Stealth Inc.2: A Game of Thrones
I liked the first game a lot and also liked this one. It's nice that every few levels a new gadget gets introduced and so there's always something fresh and the game never gets boring. Levels are well designed and not too hard, if you just want to complete them. If you want an S-Rank (no death, not being spotted and within the time limit) though, it's an entirely different matter. That's hard as hell and I was only able to succeed in very few levels.

The overworld (the company building) that connects the levels is a good idea in theory, but after a while it got a little boring to find your way and backtracking to reach the bonus levels was rather tedious and frustrating.


Hentai Mosaique Puzzle
Hentai Mosaique Neko Waifus
I thought that I should play some of the Indigala freebies and so I tried these ones. There isn't much to say about them. You click on the squares until everything is right and get rewarded with some sexy pictures. No real challenge and you will complete each game in under two hours. It's quite relaxing when you want something easy after a hard day's work though and the quality of the pictures is quite nice.


Ronin
Thought it would be a stealth game, but it is absolutely not. Instead it's a frantic action game with a time-pause mechanism. Don't think I've seen or played anything like it before. In a certain way, it's also a puzzle game and you must find the best and most efficient way to clear the levels by killing everyone (except for the civilians) without triggering the alarm.

Game is quite short and levels are not really hard except for the last one which is harder, because it has no checkpoints and so you have to start from the beginning again everytime you die.

All in all I liked the game. Controls could have been better though especially when you use the grappling hook. And a little more background information about the character and the story would have been nice.


Carto
A very cute game with nice and unique gameplay mechanics. You solve puzzles by picking up map pieces and altering the world by putting them back together in different ways. It works very well and while it never gets really hard, it also never gets boring for as long as the game lasts (about six hours).
Graphical style and music are excellent as well and I think it's a perfect game to play together with kids.


Evan's Remains
It's mixture between platform puzzler and visual novel. The puzzles were good for the most part, but the story got really weird in the end and I can't really say that I liked it. Pixel graphics and music were fine though and so I wouldn't say the four hours I've spent with the game were a waste of time. But if you like either puzzle platformers or visual novels, there are better alternatives out there.


Secrets of Magic: The Book of Spells
Another one of the Indiegala freebies. I'm not really a fan of match-3-games, but surprisingly I liked this one a lot. There's some nice variety in the levels and you have to think about how to use your special abilities to solve the levels within the turn limit to get a good score and all three stars.

I also liked the graphics (which aren't really important in a match-3-game) and the funny cutscenes.

The ingame achievements are broken though and a lot of them unlock after a few levels for no reason.


bitDungeon
A short action dungeon crawler with roguelike elements. Have to admit that I accidentally completed the game. At some point I did something most people probably won't try and it led to a last boss fight and to happy end. Still not sure if this hidden ending is a brilliant or a very bad idea of the developer.


Torchlight
Played it for the first time and loved it. It's a modern Diablo and it is very well done (and from today's point of view much better than the original Diablo). Lots of interesting equipment and loot to find and ways to build your character. If I have one complain, it would be that the game is to easy on normal difficulty (my warrior was way too powerful in the end), so I would recommend to play it on a higher difficulty setting.

Complete list of finished games in 2020

Thank you very much, it's appreciated. I still don't know what's going on, but at least the tradition continues. :)

- BioShock (original version) . . . 5/5
- F.E.A.R.* . . . 4/5
- Turok 2: Seeds of Evil . . . 2/5
- Forsaken* . . . 3/5
- Toonstruck . . . 4/5
- Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack . . . 3/5
- Crusader: No Remorse . . . 4/5
- Return to Na Pali (Unreal expansion) . . . 3/5
- Quake* . . . (5)/5
- Diablo* . . . 5/5
- Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth . . . 3/5
- Thief 2: The Metal Age . . . 5/5
- The Bridge* . . . 3/5

(* = only the base game, no expansions, DLCs, bonus or secret levels, etc.)

Turok 2 wins the prize for "Biggest Disappointment of the Year", followed by the ending of Quake (that's why I put the 5 between parentheses) and CoC:DCotE (by the way, 3/5 for me still means it's a good game).


...also:
- games started in late 2020 that I was unable to finish within the end of the year and will have to complete in early 2021: Portal 2 (quite close to the end I guess), SiN, Gothic (will I ever be able to finish this at all?)
- first new game I'll start in 2021: The Adventures of Shuggy or Metaltech: EarthSiege
- first game I'll buy in 2021: possibly The Deadly Tower of Monsters

I forgot about these ones:

Ruby and the last Unicorn (NWN EE)
Review

Know This - Prelude (NWN EE, not yet released)

Stranger (FRUA)
Review

I also completed Divinity: Original Sin 2 and the first episode of The Adventures of Square but will hold off on reviewing them until I've also completed my playthroughs of the first D:OS and the second Square episode.

Worse than Turok 1?

Completed Cyberpunk 2077 on January 2nd, but I feel like it counts lol.

For me, yes. The first Turok had its frustrating moments, to be sure, but overall I had a good time playing it, and I remember it with pleasure. I give it a 4/5 rating. Without delving into details, the fact is simply that the first game was actually fun to play, something I wouldn't exactly say of its successor. The only part of the latter that I thoroughly enjoyed was the third level (which, by the way, is the more similar to the first game).
To be perfectly honest, part of the disappointment stems from nostalgic reasons: I remember seeing the game in shops and being greatly impressed by its 3D graphics back then. I played multiplayer in LAN parties and experienced funny and memorable gaming moments, that I think I have already written about in this forum, even though I cannot find the post at the moment. Moreover, I had already started the game years ago, but then abandoned it, probably because I got lost soon; I remember finding it pretty confusing. I was eager to revisit it and prove that it was just my inexperience; it was a game I really wanted to like, you might say. I have beaten it, but I don't think I was wrong. And a decisive contribution to the negative rating comes from some questionable design choices (the most egregious one being crucial items hidden behind destructible walls that look just like the others).

In truth, there are a couple of my ratings I'm not so sure about. CoC:DCotE could have been another 2/5, but in the end I decided to give it a positive rating because there are good things in it that outweigh the negative (though barely). Yet I'm still not totally comfortable with it - let's say it's a 2.9/5. Certainly it has all the hallmarks of a huge missed opportunity to me.
And Diablo - I was tempted to give it a 4/5, since it's a bit primitive, with very simple, repetitive gameplay, and not much depth. Yet, the game is so fun and addictive (its simplicity might turn up being a strength), you feel compelled to play it several times trying a different class and a different approach, it scores very high in the artistic department (both visually and aurally), the atmosphere is great etc. and there's a bit of nostalgic bias involved in it, too... so, in the end, I went for top score.

After two years break, I have decided to go back to my PS4 copy of Tales of Zestiria. After full clear of Hexen Isle, I went for second playthrough of Tales of Zestiria – The Strength of a Knight DLC, with the goal of getting 100% of Trophies. After getting to the Malevolent Crucible: Naraka, I've spent some time fusing the equipment and slowly started to learn to optimize the way how to approach the encounter, so I could defeat the boss in less than 2 minutes. After the first try, I was 15 seconds to slow. Not bad. In total, I have spent more than 2 hours to execute the fight properly with no mistakes, and missed the mark twice with less than 1 second behind the target time. In the end the Speedy Duo Trophy was mine, exactly at 3:30 in the morning od 31st December 2020, after the famous words One Last Try :D. My final gauntlet time was 1:52.29.


Complete list of my finished 2020 games can be found HERE :)