Topic: Last Game You Beat

Gears of War 2 (Xbox series X)

Right so wrote something about it in the Gears of War thread

Indiana Jones is now behind me and was the best xbox experience I've ever had. So glad I was able to enjoy this one.

After reading that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is uglier, censored and easier than the previous remaster, I played Dead Rising (Xbox One) on Series X, a console that grants a smooth 60fps boost. It was a Game with Gold, so you might have it on your account.

The first moments of Dead Rising are confusing and hard but, after some hours, I found it an incredible experience that I will not forget, so I went for the different endings and all the achievements except those related to the alternative endless mode, for now.

While it's a gory game, it's comical at the same time. The gameplay gets expanded and improved progressively. It has that hardcore Resident Evil Remake level design where you need to save at certain spots and try different strategies between save points, which is something as dated as terribly challenging, addictive and fun. It makes some modern games feel automatic and plain in comparison. In spite of some problems managing the survivors, the game is clever, engaging and enjoyable.

There are many things to like about a faithful remaster of this Xbox 360 cult classic, like the story, script, voice acting, characters, physics, item variety, mall design, clean graphics and the unlockable Street Fighter moves. It starts as a survival game, can become a beat'em up and an unlockable weapon brings the shooter style, with much more to offer than I expected at first.

9/10

Ninja Gaiden II Black is the first in the series that I beat and it has impressed me. The easy "heroe" mode is genius, because you block easily when you are about to die, but still are able to learn the ropes. I want to try harder difficulty modes now. Totally replayable. The highlights are the character and enemy design, the variety of weapons and the reliable controls to perform combos. It's more fighting than beat'em up and I liked that.

@Banjo- Oh I played the Ninja Gaiden games a few years back now. Cool that you *like it
To me its a very underappreciated series so its cool that it is coming out now again.

@oliverp I didn't think that I would like it, but I did! What games have you been playing lately?

@Banjo- One of the best games ever maybe man. A childhood favorite one and at the same time a new *love. Not sure when or where to write about it. But promise to think about it. We are Xbox right.. hehe.

*kind of incredible.

@oliverp Can't wait to read more! It doesn't matter if it's not on Xbox. At the end of the day, Pikmin is one of my favourite IPs. 😊

Star Wars: the Force Unleashed (Steam) - Always wanted to play this back in the day, so I picked it up in a Steam sell a couple years ago, and have finally gotten around to it.

• Ultimately it was nice playing a pure action game that (while it did have a simple level up/upgrade system) was neither bogged down by a bunch of skill trees/RPG systems, uber difficult (though it has harder difficulties for those who want that), or bloated out into a 50+ hour slog. Just a lean, mean, fun time zipping & jumping around largely linear levels cutting down everything in your path & using absolutely busted force powers to ragdoll Stormtroopers across levels, bring down Tie Fighters, & even brutalize the biggest names in the franchise in humiliating ways that no one will probably be allowed to do again, lol.
  
  
  
• It definitely has it's fair share of rough edges (beyond just graphically), such as the fact there's so much to interact with that your powers will sometimes target the wrong thing, it's from the era where any large enemy (& boss) must be finished off with a QTE, and an outdated checkpoint system (there are mid level checkpoints you can retry from if you die, but they are only "soft saves" and you must retry the whole level from the beginning if you shut the game off before completing it. Only hard saves are in between levels), but again it's not a frustratingly difficult game in most cases (at least on it's "normal" equivalent setting) so these weren't deal breakers.
  
  
• The 3 DLC levels (which are included by default in the Steam version) are definitely the game's best though. These are "what if" scenarios that place you in some of the franchise's most memorable locations facing off against famous faces, and they seem to have a much better balance of combat & environmental puzzles solving to break things up (the main game levels are probably a 90%-10% split favoring combat, while the split is probably more 70%-30% in the DLC levels).
  
  
  

@RR529 Have you played the Wii version? I was always curious about it because of the Wii Remote, but never did.

Just finished Ninja Gaiden 2 Black last night. Wonderful game I was not expecting. Bring on NG4!

@Banjo- The Wii version 8s the only way I will play this game due to the controls. Maybe it's because that's how I first played the game but it just feels so satisfying playing as Vader and using the Wiimote to force choke your enemies, then pulling down a Star Destroyer. They really made good use of the motion controls for that game.

Rolled credits on Sniper Elite: Resistance last night. Had an ok time with it and was not without its faults. It felt more of an expandalone than a proper sequel; Rebellion could do with modernising the engine if they aren’t already in the process of doing. Still a lot of fun despite its creaking engine and annoying technical hiccups (not being able to crest a staircase if you’re crouched for example)

Finished Alan Wake 2 this weekend...Man, what a ride. Absolute masterpiece. Now I need to catch up on Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

Visions of Mana. It was a solid jrpg. I think I like trials just a bit more but visually this game was the better of the two, naturally. Similar gameplay, but I like the multiple choices you have for characters in trials, and I feel like the combat was slightly better. Although, I really can't put my finger on why. All and all, glad I played it.

@NintendoByNature Sounds solid man. I played Trails years ago via a repro cartridge before it was given a western release in fact my cartridge is labeled Secret of Mana 2 lol. Sounds like Visions is another solid game in the series.

@Tasuki worth a shake when you have some time. It's got all the mana tropes you'd expect from the elementals, to the items, and the silly characters. It's good fun. Have you played the trials remake yet? It's regularly $20

@NintendoByNature Not yet. I have the Mana Collection on Switch but only played Final Fantasy Adventure and of course Secret of Mana on that. Trials is included on it as well. As for the Remake is it available on Xbox? I thought it was only a PS exclusive.

@Tasuki it's on gamepass dude!! I played years ago on switch

@NintendoByNature LOL tells you much I pay attention to Gamepass. Hopefully it will still be there when I get around to it.