Topic: Xbox Games You've Recently Beat

@K1LLEGAL Thanks mate! I think the best thing with these kinds of games is that you can either finish it rather quickly or take your time with it. There's really no wrong way to play it, I think anyone who's able to finish it should see it as an accomplishment because it can be a rather confusing game. That's also why I decided to play through it in one day because it relies heavily on you remembering what to do. Coincidentally, I was watching a streamer play through it yesterday and she almost managed to finish the game in like 2 hours before she completely spaced out and couldn't think straight anymore, lol. It's actually rather interesting watching other people play the game just to see how different they do things compared to you.

You seem to have been very productive indeed this past weekend! I actually played through Carrion last year when it came out on Game Pass and it was so good, I highly enjoyed that game. Still haven't played Katamari Damacy but I do have it on the Switch and I plan on playing it eventually. These games are indeed quite fun to play. Regarding Uncharted 2, I don't like this series in general, lol. People make fun of it for being an "interactive movie" but it really feels like that sometimes. The gameplay is just too shallow, it may entertain a mainstream audience but I just don't find these games fun at all. I thought The Last of Us was much more fun than Uncharted due to its survival horror aspect, crafting and careful usage of your weapons. While it's fine to have different types of games, I feel like developers should keep in mind that they're making first and foremost a game. There are plenty of franchises that deliver both great stories and fun gameplay (for example Mass Effect, Persona and so on). But yeah, maybe Uncharted just is a different kind of experience. It's just not my cup of tea.

@LtSarge Yea with Uncharted, it’s wierd because for a casual gamer, if they were to buy an Uncharted game they would know they are getting a solid GOOD game that is well made. Because they are definitely good well made games. But yea for me as well they’re just not that interesting. However because they are such a powerhouse for PS users I feel like I should experience them. But now I have played 1 and 2 i’m not sure how excited I am to carry on with 3 and 4. Especially since 2 is meant to be the best one. We shall see.

Only played an hour or so of Last of Us but that is another one I should probably push through. Maybe i’ll enjoy it more. But now they are remaking it? Like I have the remastered version on my PS4; why remake it!

@K1LLEGAL Well maybe you could always take a break from Uncharted and come back to it later? Sometimes it's for the best to put a series on hold simply because you're not in the mood for it but you might be later. Personally, I can never play through a series back-to-back, but that's more because I'm a person who craves variety. It also helps make the next game more refreshing as you haven't played the series for some time.

There really wasn't a need for a remake, I don't know what Sony was thinking. I still think you should just play the remastered PS4 version, like I highly doubt the remake will make any significant changes to the formula since the game is already very good.

Perhaps you could take a break from Uncharted and give The Last of Us a go instead? Could be a good idea to gain different perspectives on Naughty Dog's franchises.

@LtSarge I like variety too; but then something like Yakuza comes along and I binged the hell out of it and loved it. Not a bad idea though I might check out Last of Us.

Also massively off topic but I popped my Trails of cold steel into my Vita last night for the first time. I’ve seen people loving that series and some saying its boring so yea hopefully I will enjoy it. I got ahead of myself and tried to buy Trails of cold steel 3 on Switch but it ended up being a scam website and I lost £27! Though going through Amex to try and sort it. That sort of thing never happens to me but I just liked that price lol.

@K1LLEGAL Ah nice mate! Although sorry to hear that you got scammed, hopefully you'll be able to resolve it without any further complications.

Regarding Trails, it's indeed the case that some find it great and some find it boring, at least in the beginning. The first game is a very slow burn, even for a JRPG. However, the first game is necessary because the series is all about world-building. In order to appreciate the games to the utmost fullest, you need to learn about its world first. Its geography, politics, history, culture and so on. Once that's out of the way, you have three absolutely brilliant games ahead of you. Not to say that the first Trails isn't brilliant, it still has some great moments and is heavily reminiscent of a Persona game where you go to school and hang out with friends. So it's still a nice and relaxing experience in that regard. But it's the sequels where this series truly shine, when all of that hard work you put in the first game in order to learn about its world will finally pay off. The Trails games are genuinely one of a kind and should be experienced by all JRPG fans in my opinion.

@K1LLEGAL I'm gonna butt in and say I love Uncharted 3 (well I love the whole series really) because it is partly set in the UK and features one of my favourite characters who is a lovable Englishman.

I just love all the characters in the game, even Chloe warmed to me massively by the time Lost Legacy rolls around as her weird accent is finally explained (I just put it down to bad Voice acting in uncharted 2). But yeah, just fun stories and characters and cool blockbuster-y moments. I actually hate all the gun play as it too often outstays it's welcome but I like the way that the rest of it is like playing a movie.

@ralphdibny you’re not butting in at all! Yea I have no complaints with the cutscenes. All the voices are done well enough and Drake himself seems like a decent character. I guess I was just hoping for more based on how well it was received as a series. I will play the 3rd one at some point.

The backlog is real.

British characters in video games are usually so overdone that I end up cringing though! But we’ll see

@K1LLEGAL haha yeah I suppose, maybe i just don't play that many games with British characters/locations so when something like Forza Horizon 4 comes along, I get all excited.

I like if it's set somewhere that I am familiar with in real life so I can compare the difference between the game and reality. One of the Deus Ex games was set a bit in London and while I didn't really rate the game itself, I enjoyed looking around for landmarks like City Hall and the bridges and stuff.

Maybe the British are normally enemies in games too. I think that's a trope, it's definitely a trope in films 😅

Final Fantasy 8 and loved it. Onto Final Fantasy 9 Tomorrow!

Dark Souls Remastered, all achievements unlocked.

I played the original version when it was released ten years ago on Xbox 360, and I must say that this game has aged really well. Playing through Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order a couple of months ago made me want to replay Dark Souls, so it was very fitting that it was in time for the 10th anniversary
It also feels great to have unlocked all achievements, which I didn’t do on the original release.

I think I’m going to play through the rest of the series in the near future as well. I played Dark Souls 2 when it was released, but I never finished it, and I’ve never even played Dark Souls 3.

I have finished 12 minutes last week missing a couple of achievements but I have already done 4/5 complete loops so I am done. It is quite bit janky and obtuse at times but I definitely had fun with it while getting some different reactions after some loops with minor tweeks. The final story is not great though but the journey is worth it imo.

Earlier today I rolled credits on psychonauts 2. What a game! It is a joy from start to finish. Creative, well written, improved platforming and while the combat is not amazing after a while you get use to it. I will stick around for a bit longer to get some extras

The last few games I've beaten are Last Stop, Blair Witch, and just now Omno.

Not that challenging you could say but some chill games is what I need atm.

Also working on Art of Rally, hopefully should have it done soon.

Just bought a Series S having come back from PS4 during the last gen, so working my way through some Game Pass titles. I've managed to finish The Ascent and Art or Rally recently, I thought both were absolutely great. I'm currently playing Hades and have a fair way to go until I clear that one, but again the game is superb. Really enjoying gaming at the moment due to the change, last games I cleared before now were Days Gone and RDR 2, which was a while ago and felt like a lot more of a slog.

Based on what I have seen so far it's such a good advert for Game Pass as a service and how it's run. I'm looking forward to Aragami and The Artful Escape next.

I beat double tap heroes before it left gamepass and it was a fun little game. I had to switch it to easy about halfway through cuz i just couldn't get the rhythm going.

Last night i finally beat the original Pshyconauts and it was amazing. Crazy how old the game is, the world's and story was amazing. I started Pshyconauts 2 right after and naturally was blown away by the difference in the visuals but again we're talking OG Xbox vs today's capabilities.

I played tell me why during the weekend and I enjoyed for what is (an intereactive movie) and I am happy with the story I got through but won't go back to see all other consequences

Just finished Psychonauts 2 and Artful Escape, feeling like I'm going need something mundane for the comedown.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on the Castlevania Advance Collection. Beat the game two times; one normal playthrough, and one on Magician Mode for that achievement.
I actually found Magician Mode easier, because you can just spam summons to kill all the bosses.

This is a fantastic game that holds up really well today. I only have three complaints:

• The normal walking speed is too slow, and you have to double tap to run.
• The DSS card system is a good idea and is very fun to play around with, but all the cards are drops from enemies and most of the cards have far too low drop rates, which makes grinding necessary. One of the achievements is to collect all the cards, so I’ve been grinding A LOT.
• I wish the game had a few more songs. A lot of the areas share music in this game, which I don’t think happens in any of the other Metroidvania-style Castlevania games.

Finished Slay the Spire last night!

Great game - was up way past midnight playing and munching on cookies (when I should have been in bed around 10pm)! Loving all the Game Pass indies.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Dracula X on the Castlevania Advance Collection.

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance while still a great game, is easily the weakest of the GBA trilogy. Because Circle of the moon had complaints back in the day for being too dark for the non-backlit GBA screen, they clearly over compensated in the sequel, resulting in a not very attractive game. The music has also taken a hit, and for some reason is very low quality. It’s grainy and screechy and some of the more high pitched songs almost hurts the ears. I wish they would have remastered the soundtrack for this rerelease, because this game really would have needed it.
It’s also not a very challenging game, and is by far the easiest of the GBA trilogy. There are many bosses in this game, but most of them are way too easy.
I also played through the game with the bonus character Maxim, which was also very easy, since he is very strong, fast, has a triple jump from the start, and has special moves that can kill bosses very fast.

I wish Harmony of Dissonance gets a proper remaster/remake some day, because there is so much potential here. But it needs new graphics, far better sound quality, revamped difficulty and the dull boss fights redone from the ground.

I also beat Castlevania: Dracula X, aka. Vampire’s Kiss. I’ve never played this game before, and wow, this was very challenging. Not as hard as the NES games, but almost up there?
I admit, I used the rewind feature on some of the Medusa Head heavy platform sections, and on the final boss fight, which was a very frustrating and cheap fight with bottomless pits everywhere.

Overall, a pretty short but hard game. I would’ve personally preferred if it was a little longer but with the difficulty toned down a bit.

Just finished up Halo ODST last night in my march towards completing all the Halo's before I play Infinite. Started on 4 already and got 5 and both Halo wars downloaded last night.