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Finished in '14

My goal: The year I will stop buying games that cost more than $25 and I must immediately play what I have bought. If I really want the game, I must wait and save.

Showing 1-10 of 30 items

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

1. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

1/4/14. 360. I have two opinions about this game. 1) It is a great story. 2) It is a mediocre game. The ending is on par with the last game I beat, The Last of Us, in its impact and superb delivery. The music swells at all the right times. But the brothers are weirdly uncontrollable to me. It didn't click. Every time I swapped them from left to right, my mind immediately wanted to control whoever was on the left with the left joystick. Does that make sense? I kept hoping I would learn to cope with this player dyslexia, but it wasn't until the ending did the game start to feel better -- a little too late. There's a weird lack of real challenge, of a variety of puzzles that grow. Yes, some of the puzzles get complicated, but not enough. It's simple, but in the wrong way. In defense of the game, the epic moments are masterful. Even with my complaints, this is still a game to needs to be played and enjoyed. [4/5]

Batman: Arkham Origins

2. Batman: Arkham Origins

1/8/14. 360. First two hours: Ugh, this is terrible. Next six hours: YEAH, THIS IS AWESOME. Boss fights: Ugh, these are terrible. Finished game, only at 39% finished, and the Enigma data packs and relays and escaped blackgate prisoners are all I have left, but I don't want to do it. After hunting down nearly all the Enigma things on the lower half, I realized that the number of packs is just ridiculous and tedious. On Penguin's ship, I reached the ending point. Three way ground pressure switches that require precision I can't get with the character. I had forgiven the game at multiple points, for the crashing, for the awkward stuck in environments because of an animation, for the terrible boss fights, for the weird menu glitches that froze the game, but that... that was the last straw. The ultimate "fuck this shit" moment. I had the same issue with Arkham City, where the open-world just collided with Asylum in displeasing ways. To put it plainly, I want more Asylum, less City. And what a terrible misused opportunity with the Christmas Eve theme, which felt tone-downed compared to the movie Batman Returns. I also wish I had bought this for the WiiU, because the map on the screen would have been lovely. I feel like this may be a reoccuring theme for me. So for me, this is a positive [3/5].

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

3. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

1/12/14. 360. [TIME: 4:44:46.86] I just don't get the... hype? The story is pointless, the gameplay is mediocre, the boss battles are cheap, the environments really do look of PS2 quality (I kept thinking more along the lines of Earth Defense Force 2017), and it's short -- painfully short. The padded cutscenes aren't even MGS-quality, with the final boss-battle being the most POS thing I've ever played. I kept yelling at the screen, "THIS ISN'T FUN." It went for Asura's Wrath crazy, but fails to deliver. In the same year that DMC came out, MG Rising is just a terrible budget game. I'd rather it not exist, and I hate that I feel that way. (Bayonetta looks and plays awesome compared to this game. What happened?) [1/5]

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

2/4/14. 3DSXL. [TOTAL RUPEES FOUND: 18739. TIMES DEFEATED: 2.] I didn't want to play this. I was Zelda-ed out from last fall, having played quite a bit of Zelda last year. I was reluctant. Once I started playing after Christmas, I slowly got into the world and how open it felt, which posed its own troubles when I became lost in Lorule. Once I realized that getting to the destinations in Lorule were puzzles in between the worlds, it clicked. I never lost any of my equipment, having bought everything as soon as I could. Thanks to the game, everytime I hear a high-pitch squeak now in the world, I look for a Maiamai. [5/5]

Datura

6. Datura

2/11/14. PS3. [An hour?] Plays like a European student game. I enjoyed my time, but wow, that's some weird motion control with the Dualshock. [2/5]

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty

7. Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty

2/12/14. PS3. Classic Ratchet game structure in a weird downloadable. Biggest annoyance: zombie robot pirates that turn the entire screen green. Yeah... [3/5]

Remember Me

8. Remember Me

2/26/14. PS3, PS+. It's a beautiful game in need of a better combat system, better enemies, and more exploration of its memory remixing. A part of me would love to have explored Neo-Paris in a more Assassin's Creed aspect, climbing the sewer pipes and signs all the way to the roof and interacting with the public. The game does have a wonderful visual world and glitch symphony composition. I would praise its story, but all the praise quickly unravels with the last boss fight. I want to see a sequel. [4/5]

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

9. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

3/18/14. PS3. I have played this since the middle of February, unable to make long strides into completion because the formula is dry and you need breaks before it becomes monotonous. The Mario-Galaxy-like moons/dwarf planets are a welcome mini-game, one that actually uses the platforming in exciting ways, unlike the main game. The formula is starting to wear thin, but it's still fun. I can't head into R&CF: Into the Nexus just yet. We need some time apart. [Tried to 100% it, met some obstacles with collecting a few things that don't exist any more in the endgame.] [4/5]

Prince of Persia

10. Prince of Persia

3/29/14. 360. Back in 2009, I loved this game and the departure it took from the PoP trilogy before. Colorful worlds in place of dull, earthy tans. The ending left a void that was never replaced with a sequel. Nearly five years later and having never played the DLC, I went through the whole game and the Epilogue. The orb collecting was a little dull then, even more so now. I understand that backtracking for the hidden orbs padded the playtime, but now I realize what was the biggest offender -- the fast travel. The orb collecting was underhanded by the fast travel, negating the exploratory reward of having to traverse through the adventure. The orbs are removed entirely from the Epilogue (replaced by slightly harder to get glowing frescos -- what?), they took the best misused part and deleted it. As a timestamp of 2008, love seeing the traces of future Assassin Creed animations such as grabbing at ledges and climbing up cracks in the wall. The brilliant animation between the Prince and Princess is still the best thing to see in movement. I read that the Epilogue was supposed to be a reaction to customer/critical feedback, and that saddens me because it took the colorful open world and forced the player on a one-way track through a bathhouse. I don't think I've had DLC ruin my game experience before as much as it has now. Yes, the added traversal puzzles are welcomed, the crank puzzles are still there but manageable, and the combat seems better. But the lack of an ending (it just keeps going till it just abruptly ends), the acting (or lack of it), and the trapped environment make me hate the game. Sorry. [Game: 4/5; DLC: 2/5]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

11. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

3/31/14. 360. I'm in it for the roller coaster, and while it doesn't live up to MW2 for me and the fact that they killed off my favorite character of the series, I still enjoyed my time on these rails. [4/5]

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