Comments on: 2015 End Of Year Roundup

By: Aleksei Volchok

Aleksei Volchok — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 14:26:00 +0000

Fair enough about Age of Decadence. As for Last Federation is not a great game, it’s an interesting game. If I’d have to recommend a great game it’d be Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin – probably my GOTY. Not because of “it’s hard” circlejerk, but because it was a beautiful and memorable experience I’m intended to repeat. And I’m not going to replay any other games that came out last year except probably Invisible Inc (cause it’s meant to) and Witcher 3 (because maybe New Game Plus will give me some sort of challenge without turning every monster and their mom into a damage sponge).

But of course you know about DS2 so I’ll recommend Offworld Trading Company which wll come out in 2016 and Company of Heroes 2 Ardennes Assault from 2014.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 14:09:50 +0000

Hard West is on my radar, but with XCOM 2 coming out in February I don’t want to tactical RPG myself out.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 14:08:32 +0000

I don’t ever want to play Undertale because I know that if the internet likes it, it is going to be precisely the sort of thing I’m going to hate. That’s not even a pre-judgement of the game’s quality; it might genuinely be amazing for all I know. I just know it’s going to get my back up in the same way Chroma Squad did, just from the way it’s presented.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 14:06:45 +0000

The Witcher 3 has several flaws, but these are balancing problems more than anything else. Igni trivialising all combat isn’t a problem with the combat, it’s a problem with Igni. The Mutagens drastically limiting the effectiveness of hybrid character builds isn’t a problem with the character system, it’s a problem with Mutagens. I’m not willing to damn what are otherwise well-thought-out mechanical systems on the strength of that.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on both of these, though.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 13:59:54 +0000

I’ve tried both Last Federation and Age of Decadence. I didn’t like either of them very much; in Last Federation’s case I didn’t give it much of a chance so I’m fully prepared to accept that it might be a decent game, but I tried Age of Decadence multiple times and recoiled from its approach to game design in horror.

For example, that “Play the whole game without getting in a fight” feature you mention? That is only possible if you intentionally fail a dialogue skill check right at the start of the very game to get an item that you are given every indication is a useless piece of junk. If you don’t have the item you can’t cross a certain magic bridge and have to go through the Hellmouth (or whatever it was called) instead, where your non-combat character with zero combat skills *has* to fight a very nasty construct.

Basically, Age of Decadence is a game that revels in failure. It relies on you knowing what’s coming up down the line to build the best character and make the right choices, and the only way you can get that information is to fail repeatedly first. I didn’t like it for the same reason I didn’t like Invisible Inc.; it is nowhere near short enough to make that style of gameplay fun.

By: Del

Del — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 14:45:26 +0000

Good stuff, looking forward to next year!

By: Ninja Foodstuff

Ninja Foodstuff — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 13:10:51 +0000

Likewise:
• Besiege – you design war machines to meet different objectives (in Early Access, but very polished)
• Hard West – Tactical game set in the wild west (but with an occult twist for some reason) – pretty good what I’ve played so far, the overworld is chock full of interesting ideas.
• Van Helsing Final Cut – Action RPG that’s a combination of the three games that were previously released separately (if anyone wants a key for this, hit me up on Steam as I’ve got a couple to spare)
• Stasis – Point and click adventure in the spirit of seemingly every deep space sci-fi horror film. I’ve not played much but what I’ve seen so far is very atmospheric.
I’ve also taken opportunity of not having to go to work to delve into some roguelikes, Dragon Fin Soup and Caves of Qud are both great so far).

By: Aleksei Volchok

Aleksei Volchok — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 08:49:58 +0000

Is it a good time for recommendations about what you’ve missed?

The Last Federation – you were bored of 4X formula. Get the subversion. From the author of AI War so it’s not very graphically advanced game. On the other hand it’s not as hard to get into as AI War.

Age of Decadence – long time in development. They call it Fallout in ancient Rome. Has a deep combat system but uniquely you can play the whole game without ever getting in a fight – and it’s not some advanced play but completely viable playthrough.

Pathologic HD – you probably heard about this survival-horror something game. They’ve finally translated it to English properly. It’s rather long and frustrating. Also you have to play it as all 3 characters to finally get what’s going on. But the story is good and it’s something different.

By: Ninja Foodstuff

Ninja Foodstuff — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 11:30:17 +0000

Oh, I also have to say, I couldn’t tell if the screenshot you posted is from Star Wars, the Martian or Mad Max. Quite telling that.

By: Ninja Foodstuff

Ninja Foodstuff — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 11:24:03 +0000

Another year of great reviews. I got two games this year based purely on your recommendations (Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid V)- even though they received more than enough praise elsewhere because it sonly seems to be your reviews that really nail what was good about them. Meanwhile everywhere else is showering undertale with accolades whilst seemingly oblivious to how much of a train wreck it is.