GRcade

Vanquish (PS5) - 8/10
Had fun with this playing through the main missions but it's intense stuff! It just keeps throwing stuff at you and rarely let's up; def felt better playing in short bursts. Still feel like I need return to it at some point in the future and play it properly, with boosting rather than as a cover shooter. Also, had a go with the challenges but they're damn tough! Managed to get to the last round of the first challenge but it was kicking my butt so much I'm not in any rush to see the others

Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster - 9/10

Fantastic game, easily one of my favourite Final Fantasy games to date and honestly Kefka might be my #1 favourite FF villain. He's downright evil, but also strawberry floating hilarious.

I do feel the second half doesn't do well as first half, but I think that's because I'm used to 1 to 5 and I can see they were doing it differently by making it open ended so you can do whatever you like when preparing for the finalie - so in sense I think that does it well.

Now that's all of 2D Final Fantasy games beaten, never thought I'd do it but glad I've done it now!

Seven wrote:...Now that's all of 2D Final Fantasy games beaten, never thought I'd do it but glad I've done it now!

Nice play, Seven - you seemed to get through them very quickly, too!

So... having played the Pixel Remasters back-to-back, what would be your definitive order assessment i.e. :

6 > 4 > 1 > 3 > 2 > 5

...?

jawa_ wrote:

Seven wrote:...Now that's all of 2D Final Fantasy games beaten, never thought I'd do it but glad I've done it now!

Nice play, Seven - you seemed to get through them very quickly, too!

So... having played the Pixel Remasters back-to-back, what would be your definitive order assessment i.e. :

6 > 4 > 1 > 3 > 2 > 5

...?

6>3=5>4>2>1 I think. Sometimes i want to put 3/5 over 6, but it's very small difference as they are all amazing. 1 is lowest due to it being lack of direction, bit basic but still v fun

Now if I were to include other games I've played majority of. (Out of these I haven't finished 9, 10/10-2 and 13 but I have played them quite a lot)

9>10>6>3=5>10-2>4>7>13-2>2>8>13>1

I will get to FF9 to finish it after I've gone through FF7&8 again, both on PS4.

Seven wrote:
6>3=5>4>2>1 I think. Sometimes i want to put 3/5 over 6, but it's very small difference as they are all amazing. 1 is lowest due to it being lack of direction, bit basic but still v fun

Now if I were to include other games I've played majority of. (Out of these I haven't finished 9, 10/10-2 and 13 but I have played them quite a lot)

9>10>6>3=5>10-2>4>7>13-2>2>8>13>1

I will get to FF9 to finish it after I've gone through FF7&8 again, both on PS4.

Right! That looks to be a cool line-up, Seven. I think most folk tend to assess 6 as the greatest of the "original run".

Interesting to see your full ranking, too. I'm guessing that one other game could well be included in the number one spot... XIV :-).

Ha, I didn't include that! But imo, I'd put it after 5 I think. Basis on story/characters. I'd probably put 11 above 14 too only because 11 was lot more exploration and I really like that. Very tough though, died a lot in it (I should re-sub to it and resume it actually, mainly going through it for story and won't be doing any endgame content on it)

Seven wrote:Ha, I didn't include that! But imo, I'd put it after 5 I think. Basis on story/characters. I'd probably put 11 above 14 too only because 11 was lot more exploration and I really like that...

Wow! I'm genuinely surprised that XIV wouldn't be at #1... although I guess that's more due to the quality of the other titles.

Of the FF titles, I've only played XIV; and I always enjoy playing it even though I am terrible at it.

Final Fantasy VII (PS4) - 8/10 first time, 7/10 otherwise

Yeah it just confirms that I'm not big FF7 fan, I do enjoy it loads but having played FF1-6 and couple of other FF games I don't hold this up much as other people do. That being said when it's good it's very good, translations are kinda iffy in places (especially having Tifa drop "r" slur was so out of character and Aerith going by Aeris) and oh god it's so slow after having played FF1-6.

Still, had good time going through story again which helps a lot that there's boosters I can use such as 3x speed, no encounter toggle and also HP/MP/Limit max so it was just relaxing journey through the FF7 story.

flOw - 4/10

+ Looks nice, I guess

- Frustrating controls
- Lack of direction or any real goal makes it feel boring
- Little incentive to play again after first run

I didn't have much idea what flOw was about before playing it, but having played Flower just before it, I was hoping for something similar - nice music and visuals, fairly relaxing, with a simple goal and decent progression and levels without outstaying its welcome. Nice visuals aside, it didn't really do any of that. I've probably only been all the way through it about twice, but that was enough to see the credits, unlock all the creatures, and get several trophies. It's not fun, it feels pointless, the controls are annoying, and I was ready to drop it almost immediately. It was only the prospect of getting a few more trophies that gave me any vague incentive to keep playing it. I've probably got 75% of the trophies or so now, and that's enough. Pretty disappointing.

Dead Island 2 - 8/10

Would never have given this a go if not for a recommendation on here and it being on gamepass. Glad I tried it as it was great fun. Got a bit repetitive near the end so I stopped bothering with side missions, but I'm glad I played it. Drop kicking zombies and stomping on their heads

Super Mario Bros Wonder

After really not enjoying this in the early stages I came around to it by the "end" (I have rolled credits but still have quite a few levels to discover still).

The flowers are excellent, but I don't think the wonder seeds were quite as transformative as some outlets suggested. It's very much your standard 2D Mario game. Which is fine.

8

There is a bit of repetition in the wonder seeds and some of them are quite throwaway. But there are a lot that are brilliant fun and really put a smile on your face-they're just not quite as transformative to the experience as was initially suggested.

God of War 2018 - 9/10

An excellent game all round let down ever so slightly by not knowing when to just breathe and leave the player be for a break.

Victor Mildew wrote:Dead Island 2 - 8/10

Would never have given this a go if not for a recommendation on here and it being on gamepass. Glad I tried it as it was great fun. Got a bit repetitive near the end so I stopped bothering with side missions, but I'm glad I played it. Drop kicking zombies and stomping on their heads

Not the same game, but drop kicking zombies in Dying light was strawberry floating amazing.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - 9.5/10
Certainly up there with my favourite games, wasn't annoyed with it like I was Remake but this time around I knew things were going to change. As like Remake I loved the things and nostalgia feeling with visiting places that were in the original. As a completionist even I thought there are just too many mini games which makes platinum a choore. Everything else though gets a massive tick from me.

Lotus wrote:flOw - 4/10

+ Looks nice, I guess

- Frustrating controls
- Lack of direction or any real goal makes it feel boring
- Little incentive to play again after first run

I didn't have much idea what flOw was about before playing it, but having played Flower just before it, I was hoping for something similar - nice music and visuals, fairly relaxing, with a simple goal and decent progression and levels without outstaying its welcome. Nice visuals aside, it didn't really do any of that. I've probably only been all the way through it about twice, but that was enough to see the credits, unlock all the creatures, and get several trophies. It's not fun, it feels pointless, the controls are annoying, and I was ready to drop it almost immediately. It was only the prospect of getting a few more trophies that gave me any vague incentive to keep playing it. I've probably got 75% of the trophies or so now, and that's enough. Pretty disappointing.

Interesting to read. It’s a game I like to throw on with some headphones in the dark to relax with. However I never got on well with the weird motion controls and instead prefer the PSP version which uses the analog stick instead.

Xenoblade Future Redeemed 9/10

Lovely stuff

Cent Omnia theme

Bayonetta (PS5) - 8/10
Amazing design with stylish, smooth combat and a bonkers story. Super fun to play, though it dragged a little for me towards the end. Also, could have done without some of the repeat fights and less of the button mashing parts (give me a controller with auto-fire!).

Rise of the Ronin - 40 hours and not a memorable moment in it. Imagine Nioh but without the monsters and replace it with random humans, combat is a huge downgrade and the open world is just collecting crap. Such a huge wasted opportunity.

Guacamelee 2 (Switch) - 8/10
Didn't quite love it as much as the first game, but still a joy to play and it kept me smiling throughout (when not banging my head on some of the extremely tricky platforming!). Also, the final boss was a bit of a wimp compared to Calaca!