10 Games I've Almost Finished

IMAGES ON DTOID ARE NOT UPLOADING. WAITED LONG TIME SO POSTED ANYWAY.

 

It is good to finish things, even if only to be able to reflect on the attempt. Time will add to the disbelief you made with sanity, body and/or loved ones intact.

One time, back in school, they had a prize for the team that came first and another different prize for the team that came last. Then a year later they took away the prize for last place since their results told them too many teams were trying to come last just to get a prize at all. The team who came in last place that year got a coupon.

Consolation prizes in gaming, some of which are for crossing the finish line, range in rewards from those that gratify the experience to those who laugh in your face for the time sink.

 

Here are some games I'm almost finishing playing :

 

Resident Evil 1 - it's been one hell of a ride. Ofcourse I chose to not get onboard for the first two decades that I've owned this game, but let's not dwell on the past. The level design on display here is awe inspiring. The game still looks great. The guns still feel good. The zombies are still creepy and those super zombies are shit-your-pants panic mode. I think it is a must play for everyone but now, after hearing from others for 10+ years, I know it is not everyone's cup of tea but it is a landmark achievement in my book. I'm going to go finish this game right now infact it may be done and forever engrained by the time this is posted. Bring on the sequel.

 

Metroid Prime 2 - this is an ongoing joke amongst those who know me, that I'm always chipping away at this game. Thing is that I have been chipping away in recent months. It helps to have the physical game close by to remind you. The game is just too big and too spun around a labyrinth with constant dead ends, inconveniences, areas too high to reach and sealed doors and... it's actually a very good game. I've spent more time examining the map than the game world, both of which seem to be in cahoots to confuse and mislead me. I'm at the stage where there isn't any point in taking up a walkthrough because I don't even know where I am or what item I last found. Half the game takes place in darkness so I wouldn't know the room I am looking for if the map did not tell me I was in that room or next to it. Good game. Would indeed recommend.

 

Dragon Quest VIII - this is a long game. It's also a relaxing game while still being a hard one. There is an excellent remaster with slight improvements that make for a better and more modern experience. I've been playing an old PS2 copy years before that remaster came out. The game is just damn loveable and while never getting too complex, it certainly ramps up the urgency of using the simple tools you have, with a few boss fights that will consume a whole weekend if you let them. You don't play for the story or the thrills or mini-games but more for the Zelda RPG adventure and exploration which done on this scale is hard to resist. The game's charm and old school attitudes are of it's time have nothing to be ashamed of despite the voice acting and excessive random encounters.

 

Ori and the Blind forest - it's a good time, just for quite a long time. This was a game I played with others because it is fun to watch and listen to and very easy to pickup but the pacing doesn't hold your attention for as long as the game time. That's an issue I have with this genre but my demands may be too high. I most likely will pick up and finish it this month, and while playing the game was never unpleasant, checking it off will allow me to feel I have more room to breath... before I purchase the sequel.

 

A Hat in Time - it is wild and mad and a little hard to stick with due to the combat but I think everyone should play it. The levels are huge with few limitations in regards to exploration which is good depending on the player. Fans of platformers will find their appetites satisfied to a glutinous scale (you are my people, much love). The game is charming and the right sort of game for children and inner children or just people who don't get enough of this gameplay and world in modern non-Nintendo offerings. Finishing this one isn't the easiest due to repetitiveness and but why complain when the game doesn't waste your time. This game functions as a game you pick up every other week to play a level or more, which is just for my own preference.

 

Planescape Torment - almost done I swear. Review incoming next year. It's kind of like a long novel but full of morbid concepts and rambling dialogue and odd moral dilemmas but the game is certainly a trip. If you are starved after Disco Elysium, and want a playful yet devastating fantasy narrative, then this may be a place worth stopping (squatting in my case) to see.

 

The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa- I think I'm close to done, can't see it going on much longer. It's a strange game, it kinda feels like one of those browser games you would play where you never felt completely certain you were winning or doing it quite right. But I've not died yet so... The game is disjointed but calming. Active but also meditative. The game feels like how someone chooses to see their memories of youth while also framing them with mature eyes. Unstructured and a little meandering and light on direction or focus. It is fun but only if you would already be spending your time immersed in school yard anime antics via other media. 

 

Strangers Wrath - this game... is fine a game. They really wanted to make a movie but settled for where they had past success. Good action adventure tech demo and mediocre shooter that looks gorgeous but is overlong. 

^ That would have been all I had to say about it this game over a decade ago when I first played it. I've recently done a replay after believing it was a game I would never touch again. And on returning, guess what? There is a lot to appreciate here. Granted I did recall the last stretch of the game being a slog dissolving into the quality of a weak Doom fan-made mod. Which is exactly where I am now so I'll have to come back to confirm if there's a change in me. Still for what this game is, which is very much of its era, it really tried to do it it's own way, find a good balance and still stand out. The game is full of personality, humour, genre homages, epic set pieces and landscapes and yet I don't know who I can recommend it to. There too much shooting for action adventures fans and to little firepower or kick back from the weapons for shooter fans. And those boss fights.... It actually reminds me of what a precursor to Bioshock or Arkham asylum. It's odd that this is an Oddworld game but this was them branching out and merging what they knew with what would be cool to try and their efforts translated and have aged well in my opinion. The HD upgrade has a few bugs but it is worth every penny IMO, it could do with a map and better compass but I truly believe that they should be proud everyday of what they made when they made it and how they did it.

 

Persona 4 - I must have moved four times in the last six years and this game has came everywhere with me. This is not even the port to a portable system. The PS2 disc has travelled very far up and down the country with me, I've had games discs that survived far less. I feel like I do a set of dungeons every year and let the dust settle for a bit. Some days I just boot it up for the atmosphere and to relax while the characters deliver simple fun dialogue. This has been my longest school year and yet I still enjoy the game and the limited locations has actually become ok with me overtime as it means I don't have to scramble to remember where anything is or where I go. Granted the game can lose steam on some occasions and not every character shines throughout but the game has so much to give that you cannot help but keeping falling back in again and again and keep being amazed that the well has yet to run dry.

 

Gemini Rue - I said I would not talk about this game before I was finished, which is why I'm writing about it. It's terrific. It's total recall but much more in the dark city direction and it draws heavily from places but feels so very confident in its own story and pacing that the game becomes like a good TV show that hooked me and never ceased to engage with atmosphere, character and suspense. Sometimes I wish the game challenged me more but that's only because it's in a genre that normally doesn't doesn't move very fast. The games uses an aesthetic that feels like the old trial and error games like Beneath a steel sky or but moves a the pace of something like deus ex. Games like this simply do not exist anymore until they do and I just waited far too damn long to play it.

 

Games an create the illusion that we saved the world/princess/war/kingdom/curse or beat the (inner)demons. They make the idea of a sprint race across a minefield seem an alluring challenge. Reaching the finish line can be Olympic gold. Even if you drag yourself across it long after everyone has left, at least you made it.

 

 

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