Year 2020 | Games

Status: Finished.

I was never into Mortal Kombat, or fighting games in general, but I really like the visuals. Since I have this on my PC I decided to give it try for a few hours. It's good enough.

03/01/20.

3/5.

Status: Finished.

I started playing this game after discovering it was very short. And it is indeed. It took me 45 minutes to finish it.

It's a puzzle platformer, but has no real puzzle and the platforming is pretty easy and simple. It's supposed to have something to do with tibetan mythology, but I don't really know or care about it.

It's a pretty game. The visual design is very pretty.

I don't think I'll play it again. I see no reason for it.

05/01/20.

1/5.

Status: Finished.

I decided to play it because the sequel is coming this year and having just finished it and I got to say: what a great game!

I didn't like it as much in the beginning, but when I got used to the controls and especially by the end, when I got all the powers, it became an amazing experience. Exploration and traversal of the world is really fun on this game.

I think the emotional moments were a bit forced. It's a bit on your face that it is supposed to be a sad and beautiful story, but that doesn't mean it isn't. I don't know what else they could have done on that regard. It's also a very simple story, a heartfelt one.

I'll replay it in the future. It's one of those games that gets even better once you know your way around. Also, I got locked up on two areas before exploring them 100%. I wanted to get into it without know anything and despite taking my time I missed some spots. I'd suggest that if you want to get 100% first try you should look it up on the internet because it's very easy to miss the spots I missed.

I'd also say it's not an easy game, but not very hard either. It never got to the point of frustration. It's challenging in the right amount, and that's very hard to do, so congrats to the the developers. It also has no animation when you die so you can redo the section right away. Just remember to save whenever you can.

On art and design, I have nothing to say but that it's stunning. I can't believe I game can be this beatiful. The colours, the effects, the design of the characters and the world, everything is on point. A work of art. I wish more games could be this beautiful.

I can't wait for the Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

11/01/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

I didn't like it and I don't think I'll play it again.

It goes for that atmospheric vibe, the same as Limbo, but I was bored very early. I think I like puzzle because once I know the answer I can execute it fairly quickly. But not in this game! No! It's a puzzle-PLATFORMER, so there are sections I have to traverse and it takes a lot of TIME.

I guess I can endure it if the traversal is fun enough or if the story is interesting. Unfortunately I found none of it particularly endearing. There's a mistery surrounding the place, but it's never solved and the ending is unsatisfying.

It's a beautiful games, great aesthetics, attention to detail and all, but it didn't click with me. I guess I expected much more, or maybe less, since a shorter game would aliviate my boredom.

Limbo was better.

15/01/20.

2/5.

Status: Finished.

Let's start with what I liked about this game. One of the things was the music, the main theme. It's pretty catchy. I remember even getting it in my phone for me to listen to it as a song while doing errands. Another thing, the design of the main character and characters in general. The plot, even simple as it is, in the beginning is also good.

People say its movements and controls are very good, and I disagre: they are not that memorable. But I will say that while they could be better, they could just as well be a hell of a lot worse.

Now, one of the things that really bothered me in this game was the camera. It's very restrictive and it moves in a way that sometimes hampered my ability to see the surroundings and plan my next movements. You know, in a PLATFORMER game, I should be able to see the platforms... Just saying. Again, it could be worse, but this experience made me appreciate Nintendo's work with 3D gaming, starting with Super Mario 64 back in the day a whole lot more.

I didn't like the voice acting that much either. I can see it was made with a lot of enthusiasm, and that I like, but the lines were way to long and made the game feel longer and more boring. There are ways to make compeling cute dialogue without falling into this trap.

The plot, while cute, in the beginning, kind of lost its way by the end. The premise is simple: collect all time pieces. But by the end it becomes a matter of who is right, Hat Kid or Mustache Girl, and you know what... Mustache Girl is not wrong at all. I wouldn't say her methods are all great but she at least tries to do the right thing: get rid of the bad guys. And then Hat Kid, who didn't help at all, is cheered up and pointed out as the hero of the game. By the end the bad guys root for her for her to get them free to continue harming the population in general. Hell, the spirit or whatever there is in the Forest (his name is Snatcher, I looked it up) forces people to sign contracts to give him their soul, forces them to work as slaves and then kills them... and Hat Kid sets him free again.

By the end it was given to me the choice to give a time piece to Mustache Girl, but I chose to keep it, simply because it wouldn't be consistent with the character at all. She was Neutral through and through.

I know it's a kiddy game, but the bad guys rooting for Hat Kid felt off. The whole Get Lost sequence was pretty uninspired. It seems like they didn't know what to do with it.

The Forest and the Train were among my favourite parts of the game, though. The foxes are very odd, the Snatcher is cool and the Queen in the Mansion was kind of very creepy actually. But at the same time I got to say I got really bored by the game in general, especially by the end, and I don't know if I'll revisit it.

I would be interested in A Hat in Time 2, though, if it ever comes out. There are a lot of good ideas in this game and I think the developer has enough talent to pull off a better game.

Too bad. I had a lot of expectations for this one.

22/01/20.

2/5.

Status: Finished.

Alright, it was a good thing that I played it until the end because at first I kind of hated this game for how slow and empty it felt. After a research about it on the internet I saw people saying that the final sequence is pretty good and indeed it is. I heard it had a good story too, but it's not particularly the case.

It's a walking (or rather swimming) simulator of sorts and you're supposed to enjoy the ride and the view. It's a beautiful game, truly, but I think that for the most part it's very boring because it's too slow and there's not much to do. Right up to the end you will swim around and press X to interact with things. That's it. There's no story except for a sequence of events by the end and during the experience you will be left with no reason to do anything except for your own curiosity.

I think we should at least be able to swim faster. I know they did that because the game would be even shorter than it already is, but still: I'd rather have a shorter but better experience than lose patience while it drags to be artificially long.

If I ever revisit this game I'll play the final part only because it's the only part I found mildly entertaining.

24/01/20.

1/5.

Status: Finished.

It's a short walking simulator with a good enough story. It's not my type of game per say, but it's not bad either. I guess it's short enough not to bother me.

I played through everything in one sitting.

25/01/20.

2/5.

Status: Finished.

It feels like one of those "my first baby game" type of game. It's very colourful, very bright, easy, short and has Mickey on it. I was obviously bored during the whole playthrough but the knowledge of it being short kept me going. It took me 2 hours or so to finish it, all in one sitting.

The art design is ok, but I really liked the narrator and voice acting for the witch. I do have a hard complain: the final boss. The fight with Mizrabel is the hardest part of the game, it took me multiple attempts be clear it and every time I had to endure the same long unskippable cutscene before the fight. This is a rookie mistake that shouldn't happen in this day and age.

I'll probably never play it again. I had no fun.

26/01/20.

1/5.

Status: Finished.

I remember this game from back in the day and I really like the animations, but I see no point in a game being this unfair other than just stealing quarters from little kids in a arcade machine. I pratically brute forced my way throught the game with multiple continues, dying every 5 seconds of so, until I got to the end of it. Gladly it's fairly short. It took me around 70 minutes to complete it.

27/01/20.

1/5.

Status: Finished.

It's a walking simulator with a horror theme. You walk around, find whatever the developers decided you needed to find, unlock the door (there's a door...) and go ahead with so jump scares. The story is not remarkable at all and there's no much of a challenge other then finding the thing or doing the thing needed to proceed, so I think the gameplay it lacking.

The sound design is good, but I had no fun with it.

29/01/20.

2/5.

Status: Finished.

It took me around 8 hours to finish this game and I'd say it has strong parts and moments. I really liked the setting, the first World War, it was the reason I bought actually, I really like the music and sound design, and I really liked the presentation. The story is good enough, although very simple. It also has photographs with information about the war, and I read it all.

Now, there are things to collect, but I don't think I'll go back for that because I feel the game is way longer than it should be. It's composed of a series of little and simple puzzles and that gets boring pretty fast. As I said, the puzzle are not hard, but they take a long time to solve because you have to walk around a bunch and the character is very slow. It's part of the presentation, so there's no way to avoid it.

Once I've played it, I think I'd rather spend my time with something else.

01/02/20.

2/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

I bought this a few months ago and I regret nothing of it. After playing Fifa for sometime and never getting used to it, coming back to PES has been a bless. It remains as entertaining as ever, the game to play whenever I feel like having a football match.

16/02/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

I have nothing bad to say about this game. The first game I played in the series was Grid, but this one is a more complete package. It's actually huge, with a lot of challenges to take on.

The soundtrack also reminds me of one of my favourite racing series: Top Gear.

17/02/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

I remember playing SoulCalibur III on the PlayStation 2 back in the day and this is just as enjoyable as it was then. I played this countless hours at the time. It's easily one of my favourite series, a game to have fun with.

26/02/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

Marvel vs. Capcom is one of my favourite fighting games ever and I bought this one hoping it would somehow feel the same, but it somehow it cannot replicate the original formula.

The game itself is alright. It has good graphics, good presentation and a lot of characters to choose from, but it falls flat to me anyway. The gameplay felt like a chore from begining to end.

I'm at least glad I finished and won't have to play it again.

26/02/20.

1/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

This became one of my favourite fighting games very fast and it's probably my favourite on PC. I can put it alongside Power Rangers The Fighting Edition, Marvel vs Capcom Clash of Superheroes and SoulCalibur III.

The only thing I have to complain about it is the lack of English Dub, especially since this game made me more interested in the lore. I hope they release it someday.

01/03/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

I remember playing this game back in the day on my phone, in a time before smartphones. Something about it just makes you lose track of time.

It was very entertaining then and it's very entertaining now.

16/03/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

It took me a heck of a long time to finish this game (6 years in total) because for some reason it wasn't able to grab my attention. Even now it was a bit hard to keep myself from abandoning it, and I, obviously, don't plan on replaying it. But the game itself is not bad, it just didn't grab me as well as it should have.

I'm just glad I finally beat it.

I'll give props to the story, though. The ending is interesting enough.

02/04/20.

3/5.

Status: Finished.

This game was made by a Brazilian developer (Aquiris Game Studio) and I bought it because it was inspired by one my favourite games from childhood: Top Gear. The visuals and sound effect were great. Some tracks had effects of sunset and dawn that were fantastic. I wish I was able to admire them more but I couldn't take my eyes of the road that much else I'd crash.

I won't lie, it's a challenging game, much in the way of Top Gear, but I wouldn't say it's too difficult. I had to play some tracks more than once if I wanted to be first place, but that was all.

If I could change anything I would add the ability to customized the car, like in Top Gear 3000. It's one of the things that made that game so special to me.

It was fun playing it and I can see myself playing it every now and then in the near future. It's one of those games.

22/05/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.*

I felt like building a new city and decided to play it a little bit again. I had already acumulated more than 200 hours on this game alone because I like the idea of building and managing cities. It also reminds me of my time playing SimCity on SNES, another game I put a lot of hours on.

I have a lot of games yet to play, but this is clearly one of my favourites.

*Actually, it was 87 hours more and I made 3 cities.

07/06/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

I didn't think I'd start this game now, I was only taking a look because it's a fairly short game, and at first I was a bit on the fence, but it grew on me. I like the visuals a lot (it reminds me of Ori and the Blind forest), and the music, and I like pinball. I think I'm just not a fan of Metroidvanias (that's what threw me off at first), but I caught myself thinking about playing this game when I was doing other things, which is rare.

The traversal is not very good. I think it's a bit slow, especially for a Metroidvania (but there's the Beeline, so...). Also, I felt lost at times, not knowing what to do or where to go next, especially when the time came for me to get the "Dive Fish". I had to look it up on the internet. I think I'd end up discovering where it was, but it may have taken some time, and I was not willing to spend my time like that. But thinking in hindsight, that was the only time I felt really lost. The other times I found my way out fairly easily.

I think there's a problem with tone at the end (the music doesn't match the scene) and the whole thing comes out of nowhere, but that's the only other complaint I have about it. It's a good game and I'm glad I bought it and played it.

It is very short, which I like, and I can see myself coming back to it eventually to do some other errands. Maybe not now. In the future.

16/06/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

This is the first Metal Gear Solid game I ever played. I didn't know of the first one at the time, the second one passed by me like it was nothing and even though I had the third one for PS2, I never go around to play it because I wasn't interested. I must say, though, that I like stealth games very much. I'm mostly familiar with the Splinter Cell franchise, which are in a lot a ways similar, but never got myself to play Metal Gear Solid.

Well, I'm glad I finally experienced a Metal Gear Solid game. It was a delight to play it and now I know it's right at my alley.

I don't plan on playing the old ones (I'm not that in love with it), but I do want to play The Phantom Pain now, or rather after I'm done with my backlog.

13/07/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

I really enjoyed this game.

It's the first time I play a Tomb Raider game to completion. I had a fairly short experience with the series back in the day with the PSOne and PS2 titles, and I did start this game in particular a while ago, and abandoned it, but now I finally played it to the end.

The story is pretty great. It felt like a very long blockbuster movie. Voice acting was great, the plot was somewhat surprising and I was really sold on Lara as a character and on the origin story as a whole.

Now I want to play the other games.

I think it's going to be a while before I continue in the series because I have too much to play yet right now, but they're on my list now. I'll get to them soon enough.

15/07/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

This is a battle royal game, I think the first one I played since the official creation of the genre. It's pretty fun.

Annotation #1 (28/09/20)

I lost interest after playing it for around 35 hours. It's fairly random and the after a while I got tired of losing for reasons beyond my control most of the time. And it's the same games over and over again. It got boring. I can hardly play one full match a day now.

15/08/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

I remember playing The Sims 2 on the PS2 back in the day and now I have The Sims 4 on PC. Sometimes I jump in just to mess with it a little bit, but is not a game I play usually.

27/08/20.

2/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours.

I never heard of this game before. I only played this because it got a surge of popularity in the last few days. I found it very enjoyable and interesting, but sometimes it just doesn't work very well due to network issues. I don't like the differente configurations for the levels either. I wish it had better graphics (higher resolution) and a better UI, even though what it has is functional.

28/09/20.

4/5.

Status: Played for 5 hours. (actually 19 hours)

I don't know what it is but this game just clicked with me, and I don't even like the previous Dirt. There's something about the weight of the car and the way it feels while steering and doing manouveurs that just feels right.

I also like the songs and how straightforward the menu and the campaign is.

I'll keep a look for the next entry in the series.

07/10/20.

4/5.

Status: Finished.

Fun little game. I felt it was a bit unresponsive sometimes, but it could very well be me. I played it until the final boss in normal mode and still have hard mode to play, but I usually don't go as far.

It took me around 1 hours to finish so it's fairly short.

Annotation #2 (13/10/20)

I just finish the hard mode because it's a fairly short game and I liked it. And it is hard. It took me almost 5 hours to finish it.

07/10/20.

3/5.