by moobaa
Here's a list of games I've Com-PETE-d in the abovementioned calendar year.
So - what constitutes "Com-PETE-ion"? All Achievements/Trophies, where available, is a bare minimum; the aim is to fully experience what the game has to offer (from at least an asset perspective). DLC is required in almost all cases - the commitment is to the game as a whole.
After a couple of 40+ Com-PETE-ion years, I've decided to not set myself any monthly goals this year. I think I was denying myself "fun" in favour of "Getting Things Done", so I'm removing that pressure point. Who knows what will happen as a result?
--Pete.
Showing 1-10 of 50 items
Lured in by Brad & Drew's QL ( https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/quick-look-linelight/2970-12177/free-video ), I thought this would be a nice, gentle puzzler. NOPE - by the time I was in the Bonus Worlds, there was much gnashing of teeth and - eventually - the need for a walkthrough. The additional Green Stars only upped the pain... but - credit where it's due - there is some inventive puzzling to be found here. Puzzles that combine timing, stretching, and magnetism can go to hell, though.
Call me sick, but watching Brad and Jeff struggle in the QL sold Oure to me. And I was surprised how straightforward I found this game - there was very little jank from such a small dev team! Exploring the clouds as a nimble dragon was really good fun - I found the controls to be fantastic, with a tangible sense of weight to the beast - but the narrative was limp, at best. Sure, it wears its influences (Shadow of the Colossus, Journey) loudly and proudly, and it could never live up to them, but Oure was very pleasant podcast fodder.
An aesthetically gorgeous game that's almost like a Spirograph quiz. Soothing, fascinating, and short... but well worth the time and money.
Finally managed to unlock all the parts and Mystery Mushroom costumes... the latter of which caused me to simulate a raft of Amiibo, before sinking a bunch of time into getting some Expert and Super Expert clears. I also uploaded a bunch of Mystery Mushroom courses to allow others to play with the different aspects of all the costumes... it just seemed like the right thing to do :) Edit: feel free to start at 10D4-0000-0422-4A60, and star to your heart's delight ;)
In the lead-up to the announcement of Moon on the Switch, Onion Games started a mailing list. It's pretty low volume, and the English is pretty good, so it's well worth a look... especially if you're as enamored of Onion's output as I am. Anyhoo, as a reward for signing up to their mailing list, you get access to a nice little treasure-trove of Oniony goodness... wallpapers, MP3s, et cetera. But the gem is a free little game called "Romeo And Juliet", a one-button game that - despite the occasional frustration with random enemy placements - manages to generate just the right level of addiction. The only problem is that the "story" text - written in that cheery Onion style - appears just out of the eye-line of an increasingly hectic game. A pity, really, because it really is quite sweet. And weird. Com-PETE-ion? There's a "special" ending for finishing the game (reaching Level 100) with more than 10,000,000 points. It's nothing stellar, but as a small freebie it's cheerful enough.
Vinny's enthusiasm during the Quick Look ( https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/quick-look-the-station/2970-11578 ) was infectious, leading me to jam this on my Steam Wishlist in short order. And it turns out that the Quick Look was a pretty good representation of the game; it's narrative-heavy, terror- (but not tension-) free, but very short. Having said that, it's the perfect length, and the narrative twist in the tail is pretty good. Well, the whole last quarter of the game is pretty excellent. Despite the short length, it's totally worth buying, especially if you can find it on sale.
Ōkami is aesthetically stunning - especially for a fifteen-year-old game,. Gameplay-wise, it completely lived up to the "one of the best Zeldas" tagline that was slapped on it by various outlets, and was good (and compelling) fun for 99% of its significant length. It only really began to drag for me at around the 110 hour mark, towards the end of my second playthrough. First playthrough was around 75-ish hours: I avoided guides until I finished the game (at about 50 hours), but then went back to a late-game save to mop up all the collectibles. Com-PETE-ion required a second (100%) playthrough, and it was a blast (once the über-power collectible had been enabled). Totally recommended. I played it on the Switch; docked, it looked gorgeous... but in handheld mode, it was stunning.
WOW I was obsessed with UGG when it was first released - it easily dragged me away from the Link's Awakening remake (which was released the same day on the Switch). My SO and I fell into its world, drinking in every detail and challenge... for three days. And then, after finishing the first sweep of to-do list challenges, a bunch of new items appeared on the to-do list... and I bailed. For (almost exactly) seventeen months. The speed runs were actually pretty doable, and the other extra to-do list items were pretty fun. UGG is (still) a great game, and I don't know why I left it on the backburner for so long.
After I added Yoku’s Island Express and Creature In The Well to my “Maybe” list, I figured that the Metroidvania x Pinball genre was one that I should investigate to see whether it gelled with me... and, as luck would have it, Yoku was 75% off on the Switch. And, truth be told, it probably took less time to 100% the game than it did to contemplate its purchase. But nearly all of that brief period was totally satisfying, with only a few short moments of clumsy-fingered frustration. Yoku’s Island Express was a gorgeous, cute, and compelling winner.
Thought I'd give this a bash after being intrigued by the QUBE 2 Quick Look. It's unashamedly inspired (aesthetically, at least) by Portal, but there's certainly worse things to base your style on. And there's some pretty good platforming puzzles to be had, here, along with some (initially daunting) time trials. Com-PETE-ion required all Golds on the Time Trials, which just required a little practice. An unexpected bonus for buying this on the PS4 - the PS3 version is included, with a separate Trophy list! However, the PS3 is a far less polished affair, with loading stutters making the time trials an exercise in frustration. As a result, "all Trophies" was a lesser Com-PETE-ion for that version. Still, a nice two-for.