12/03 - Nox - Wizard path
17/04 - Far Cry 5
24/04 - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire
05/06 - Nox - Warrior path
16/06 - Culpa Innata
06/08 - Fallout Tactics
06/09 - Rise of the Tomb Raider
19/09 - Crysis 2
26/10 - Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars: Reforged
22/12 - Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
28/12 - Nox - Conjurer path

Games finished in 2009
Games finished in 2010
Games finished in 2011
Games finished in 2012. Incomplete
Games finished in 2013
Games finished in 2014
Games finished in 2015
Games finished in 2016
Games finished in 2017
Games finished in 2018
Games finished in 2019
Games finished in 2020
Games finished in 2021
Games finished in 2022
Games finished in 2023

January
Red Matter (PS5 | PSVR2)
Prodeus - Normal difficulty (PS5)

February
Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5)

March
Like a Dragon: Ishin! - Normal difficulty (PS5)
Void Bastards - Normal difficulty (PS4 game on PS5)

June
Outcast: Second Contact (PS4 game on PS5)
System Shock (2023) - Normal difficulty (PS5)

July
Outcast: A New Beginning - Normal difficulty (PS5)

August
Sumerian Six - Normal difficulty (PC)

October
Mass Effect 3 - Legendary Edition - Normal difficulty - Platinum (PS4 game on PS5)
Gears 5 - Intermediate difficulty (XSX)
Gears 5: Hivebusters - Intermediate difficulty (XSX)

Really didn't want to double post but since y'all are taking your sweet time...

My first game finished in 2024 is Red Matter on PS5. It apparently made quite a splash five years ago, is often cited as one of the best PSVR1 games and holds a very good user rating on Steam. And the devs were cool enough to give it a free PSVR2 upgrade. What's not so cool: the game itself.

It's not terrible but it's honestly about the most generic and average VR game imaginable and I am confused by the game's extremely good reception which makes it seem like there's a crapload of people out there who have never played a single first-person adventure game before - nor a VR game, for that matter.

The setting seems promising from the outside: it's a sci-fi game set in a future where the Cold War seems to still be ongoing and you're basically an American agent infiltrating a Russian or Soviet base on Rhea (one of Jupiter's moons). Besides everything being gibberish written in a pseudo-Cyrillic alphabet that you can only read using a scanner, the game does literally nothing with this setting, though. You walk around an extremely unimaginative retrofuturistic complex, uncover an utterly uninspired mystery which explains why nobody's there (rather than a lack of budget) which culminates in the most cliched twist ending. There's no clever satire nor a single original thought here. It's not funny, it's not ballsy, it's not interesting. Reconstructing the series of events that happend before your arrival is kinda fun but the result of that investigation is deeply unsatisfying.

The same lack of balls and inspiration extends to the gameplay. The game follows the standard VR toolbox and safety rules to the letter, so you walk (or jump or teleport) from room to room and push some buttons and pull some levers in order to solve a series of simple puzzles almost all of which are standard stuff involving pushing things in the right order or aligning a beam etc.. That might have been good enough if combined with an interesting story or mind-blowing sights but you don't get those here besides one impressive vista in the very beginning.

At only 3 hours long the game feels like a VR demo that does a bad job of demonstrating VR due to low production value and uninteresting interactions. Especially the audio deserves serious criticism because it is not spatial at all, even when you're riding an elevator there's just a single sound source at its centre which flips 100% from one ear to the other if you move a few inches - that's bad in any game but becomes abysmal in VR. Oh, and the soundtrack has so many bells in it that three times I tore the headphones off my head because I thought that maybe somebody rang the door bell.

And ironically the devs played everything so safe that in terms of design the game has practically no business being a VR-exclusive. If anything the movement and many of the interactions would be a lot less awkward with traditional input methods. However, then the game would get compared to millions of first-person and adventure games rather than a handful of VR titles, wouldn't it.

But as I said, it's not terrible. Yes, it's as generic as it gets and it just might be the least impressive and imaginative VR title I have played yet but it is an okay way to spend 3 hours. And I can hardly blame the devs for reviewers and players loving their game a bit too much. In spite of everything I am probably going to play its sequel which also got a PSVR2 release rather recently. Its trailer promises higher production value and more excitement. Fingers crossed.

include me

2023 list
2022 list
2021 list
2020 list
2019 list
2018 list
2017 list
2016 list
2015 list
2014 list
2013 list
2012 list
2011 list
2010 list

1. The Citadel
2. Chop Goblins
3. Disney's Hercules
4. Realms of Chaos
5. Islets
6. Elderand
7. WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
8. Red Faction II
9. 9 Years of Shadows
10. Xanthiom Zero
11. Vomitoreum
12. Astalon: Tears of the Earth (all except Boss Rush)
13. Castle on the Coast
14. Apocalipsis: Harry at the End of the World w/One Night in the Woods DLC
15. Overloop
16. Pixel Puzzles 2: Anime
17. House of 1000 Doors: Family Secrets Collector’s Edition
18. Snark Busters: Welcome to the Club
19. Itorah
20. Prodeus
21. Afterimage
22. Snark Busters: High Society
23. House of 1000 Doors: The Palm of Zoroaster Collector’s Edition
24. [Doom + Doom II 2024 remaster] Doom + Doom II
25. Down the Rabbit Hole
26. [Doom + Doom II 2024 remaster] Master Levels for Doom II + TNT: Evilution
27. Commander Keen [1-3]: Invasion of the Vorticons
28. Commander Keen [4-5]: Goodbye Galaxy
29. Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs
30. Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena
31. Snark Busters: All Revved Up
32. Moto Racer 2 (All Championships in Arcade mode)
33. [Doom + Doom II 2024 remaster] Doom Zero (WAD)
34. House of 1000 Doors: Serpent Flame Collector's Edition
35. [Doom + Doom II 2024 remaster] The Plutonia Experiment + No Rest for the Living + Sigil
36. Kero Blaster (Normal mode)
37. [Doom + Doom II 2024 remaster] Sigil 2
38. Thunder Wolves
39. [Doom + Doom II 2024 remaster] Legacy of Rust
40. Half-Life + Opposing Force + Blue Shift
41. Redline
42. I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream
43. Outlaws + A Handful of Missions
44. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Warchest (w/both expansions)
45. Shellshock 2: Blood Trails
46. Sheepo
47. TimeShifters

Emulated Arcade titles counted separately:

1. Magic Sword (30 credits)

Include me.

Thank's againg for the thread. @all will be happy to read again from you.

Yuletide Legends: Who Framed Santa Claus (2019) (Linux)

We started the game with my kids a year ago and dropped it at some point. Now, with Christmas time, appeared a good moment to finish it, so we did ;) Just another Artifex Mundi hidden object adventure with a nice, Christmas vibe. These puzzle seem to be quite easy even for my kids :) No challenge here, just a relaxing casual gameplay.

List of all games completed in 2024.

Dishonored 2
It took me a lot longer than the first game (because of the bigger maps), but it was worth it! I think I'll start Death Of The Outsider now... (after that: Baldur's Gate 3)

Signalis (PC)

This is a survival horror game heavily inspired by classic Resident Evil, and it's done really well. Everything is here; limited ammo, limited slots in inventory, save rooms and storage boxes, puzzles.. I picked it up a week ago and went through it over a few days. It kept me interested all the way through. You are playing as a android stranded on a remote world, searching for your girlfriend. The story is also really interesting and has a lot of funky visuals through cutscenes and interactive flashbacks. There's inspiration from Neon Genesis Evangelion in here too.

The gameplay feels just right in terms of challenge. You have to manage your resources and decide where it's better to run past the enemies instead of killing them. The puzzles required a bit of hard thinking to figure out, but it's all logical. I tend to be really bad at those too. As for the horror element, it has some tense moments and a nice gloomy atmosphere, but I don't think it's a very scary game. And there are no jumpscares.

This is one I'll definitely be replaying on survival difficulty in the near future. There are several endings to get as well.

Really liked this game when I played it. A shame it isn't available on GOG.

Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin (PS5 PS Plus)

Final Fantasy spinoff published by Koei Tecmo and developed by Team Ninja- the makers of Nioh, Wo long and Ninja Gaiden. So, it shares many aspects with the Nioh series- like the loot system. However, it is not a "Souls-like" game really, as the only similarity is the bonfire equivalent. You do not loose XP, you do not have to run back to your death site, there is no stamina bar, and it is party based. It's also far easier than the Nioh games, though maybe harder than regular Final Fantasy.

I really enjoyed this take on Final Fantasy. It is, in fact, a retelling of the story from the first Final Fantasy- which is why it is called Origin. The combat and job classes have a lot of depth to it. Possibly too much if you just want a casual game. It took me quite some time before I really understood what I'm doing. That's not to say that it cannot be played by someone not looking for that amount of depth- the game does have difficulty settings, so I assume casual difficulty would remove much of the need to fully learn the combat system and unlock the advanced job classes. I did end up unlocking all jobs, though by the end I had settled upon my favorite combination of Dark Knight and Sage- the Sage is especially useful as it allows the use of both white and black mage spells of increased ability. The equipment is the real level system in this game, it ties to everything, including the amount of XP you earn with the job classes via the affinity system.

The levels are mission based, just like the Nioh games- probably a bit more linear though. Story is okay, I really don't care about story in action RPG's much anyway- in my opinion a great RPG doesn't even need an overall story, the story can just be the sum of what the player does, just like your real life. The bosses were all easy, but well enough done. Except for the final boss and Tiamat, I defeated them all on the first try.

As mentioned, this is a party-based action game like FF VII Remake. It is far superior in every way. You only control the main character, but you can periodically issue orders to the other team members to be more aggressive and unleash their abilities. This causes the party to draw enemy aggro and allows simple tactics- especially spell casting. This is a far cry from the farcical FF VII Remake where the enemies just chase you around the arena and to get the team to do anything you have to take direct control- then the enemy immediately switches to chasing your newly controlled character. If FF VII Remake used this system, it could actually have been a really decent game.

Now for the bad part. They really dropped their shit in the final mission. I don't mean the story, I already said I don't care about that if the game is fun to play. What I did not like about the final mission is that pretty much everything you learnt along the way means nothing. The game changes from party based to solo which means I had to relearn to play. Mechanics that didn't matter with a party, suddenly became critical. This is what made the final boss so much more difficult, I had to relearn the game. Once I did, the final boss then became easy. I just hate how they rewrote a games worth of rules for the final mission.

Overall, though, it's the best FF game I've played- especially those with action-based combat. FF X is still the best turn-based example.

Close to the Sun (XSX Game Pass)

Another 6-8 hour psychological horror walking simulator with very light puzzles. Sort of like an amnesia game set in a Bioshock world. It also has some chase scenes like in the Outlast games. The chases suffer the same fate as usual- take a wrong turn and you instantly die. Try again and make it to the next wrong turn and instantly die. Soon enough you make the chase with no mistakes, and you survive.

The game is only average really, maybe play it if you've played and finished all the Amnesia series first. There lies the game's biggest problem really- all the games by Frictional are much better, especially the masterful SOMA. However, it's short and cheap and maybe worthwhile if you've played all the mentioned better titles.

1) 8/1: Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair - disc - 3/5
2) 17/1: Dishonored (just the base game) - GOG - 5/5
3) 20/1: Harbinger - GamersGate - 3/5
4) 10/4: BioShock 2: Minerva's Den - GOG - 4/5
5) 24/4: Steamworld Heist + The Outsider - GOG - 4/5
6) 16/5: Project Eden - GOG - 4/5
7) 23/5: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm - GOG - 4/5
8) 11/6: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction - disc + download - 3/5
9) 2/7: Halo: Combat Evolved - disc - 3/5
10) 8/7: Command & Conquer - disc - 5/5
11) 2/8: Knight 'n' Grail - itch.io - 4/5
12) 28/8: Gods Remastered - Steam - original game 4/5, remaster 2/5
13) 3/9: Duke Nukem 3D - Ep. 4: The Birth - GOG - 4/5
14) 5/10: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - disc - 3/5
15) 9/11: Among The Sleep Enhanced Edition - Epic - 3/5
16) 2/12: Gorky 17 - GOG - 4/5
17) 5/12: F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - GOG - 4/5
18) 11/12: Alien versus Predator Classic 2000 (w/o the bonus levels) - GOG - 3/5


a note about ratings:
5 - masterpiece. A classic. A point of reference in its genre. Forever etched in your memory as a yardstick for judging other games. You think about stats, puzzles, strategies etc. even when you're away. You need to replay it someday. You look for mods and fanmade content.
4 - great. Fun all the way. Does virtually everything right. Hard to put down. You'd like to revisit it in the future. You'll always remember it with pleasure. (Maybe not a "5" because of a somewhat limited scope)
3 - good. Fun while it lasts. OK, but nothing more. Fine, but with some reservations. Unlikely to leave a deep trace behind. Or, it could have been a "4" if not for some serious flaw.
2 - disappointing. The bad outweighs the good. Not recommended.
1 - awful. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. People should feel ashamed of having put out such an abomination. Stay well away!



Previous years:
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Finished Stray and I really liked it. You play a cat in a futuristic world with interesting environments, characters and story. Gameplay is not too difficult but interesting.

Full list here.

And I finished Dagon by HP Lovecraft. An average visual novel. It is free and it is short (< 30 minutes). I didn't dislike it but I did not find anything that would encourage me to buy the DLCs...

Full list here.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox (XSX Game Pass)

Really good Lovecraftian styled Metroidvania. This game initially released to very mixed reviews but seems to have recovered after being extensively patched over the past 12 months. The combat is the is the games lesser aspect. It feels a bit janky sometimes and the encounter design often means you get hit by enemies before you really see them coming. Luckily, combat isn't overdone.

This game is also not like the Ori games- by that I mean the platforming isn't hard at all. This is more about exploration, puzzle solving and combat in that order. The puzzles can also be skipped if you're not into them- as long as you have all the items and notes that you need to solve them.

The best part of the game is the map and how it facilitates your exploration, which is very useful in a Metroidvania. For a change, the map is clear and shows the areas you haven't explored and what is needed to open them using color coded symbols. This saves a lot of time needlessly trekking somewhere because you cannot remember what was blocking you, only to get there and find you don't have the ability needed. I wish that all games of this type did it this well.

Story is quite dark. Benedict is possessed by a friendly demon, or at least sharing his head with one, and has to explore the limbo of his dead parents to try and find the method to break his condition. Pretty decent game overall, in its current state.