52 games in 2015 - VGCollect Edition

[telly]

Game 25 - Earthbound  (Unknown play time, probably about 30 hours)

This game was really really great, but just barely sits below Mother 3 in my book. It’s going against tough competition since Mother 3 is one of my top games of all time, but I still really enjoyed it. I’m really going all out with usual +/- of this game, so watch out!

+ Obviously one of the biggest strengths to Earthbound (and the whole series in general) is the setting. It’s one of the few RPGs to be set in a world that’s not fantasy, with somewhat Earthly enemies, locations and gadgets/weapons. Couple that with the quirky dialogue, music and situations, and it makes this game incredibly unique and charming with a great overall atmosphere. The game looks great, it’s a blast to play, and the battles and enemies are interesting. I never felt like I needed to grind, and the auto-battle feature is really nice too. It probably does this a little better than Mother 3, but…

- The biggest thing that Earthbound is missing for me personally is an engaging story.  One of my favorite things about Mother 3 is the duality of dark and serious story moments combined with the quirky over-world, dialogue and settings, as I’ve mentioned above. For me, Earthbound misses that largely - the main story is at it's core only about 4 kids trying to stop Giygas who’s trying to destroy the world for… some reason. And most of the time even that story takes a back seat: I’d say 80% of the game consists of entering a town, solving whatever local problems the people have, then getting the cue to move on to the next area, rinse and repeat. It really lacks the focus/drive that Mother 3 has: and while it’s certainly not bad that Earthbound does this, it’s not my personal preference when looking at the two side by side.

Just one more game until I reach my personal goal!

[abe]

Game 25 - Earthbound  (Unknown play time, probably about 30 hours)

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Have you played some version of the original Mother yet? If not, it's time to get a WiiU to play Earthbound Beginnings.

[telly]

Ahh, I want to! But yeah, I don't have a WiiU  I'm wondering if Mother 1+2 for the GBA was translated at all? Maybe I could play that through VBA... I have no idea though.

EDIT: It looks like Tomato, one of the guys who helped translate Mother 3, did translate the Mother version of 1 + 2, removing all censorship and keeping the original text. Mother 2 was only minimally translated. That may be what I end up doing unless Earthbound Beginnings comes to the 3DS...

[abe]

Ahh, I want too! But yeah, I don't have a WiiU  I'm wondering if Mother 1+2 for the GBA was translated at all? Maybe I could play that through VBA... I have no idea though.

EDIT: It looks like Tomato, one of the guys who helped translate Mother 3, did translate the Mother version of 1 + 2, removing all censorship and keeping the original text. Mother 2 was only minimally translated. That may be what I end up doing unless Earthbound Beginnings comes to the 3DS...

That is a pretty good option. The version of Mother 2 included in Mother 1+2 isn't that great, but the version of Mother that's included is fine.

[telly]

Yeah, I read that they didn't completely translate Mother 2 since it's already available in English. They just translated the menus and stuff. Were there other problems with the game too?

[abe]

Yeah, I read that they didn't completely translate Mother 2 since it's already available in English. The just translated the menus and stuff. Were there other problems with the game too?

No complaints from me about the translation patch for Mother 1+2, I'm just referring to the original Japanese version here. In regards to the version of Mother 2 included in the compilation, the music and sound in general were downgraded from the original version, which was super disappointing since the music was one of my favorite parts of the game. The smaller screen is a little annoying too (but expected for a GBA port), though it's not nearly as much of a letdown as the music. Despite all this, it still would've been awesome if it somehow magically got an English localization and a portable version of Mother 2 is nifty.

[kashell]

I can add Dark Souls to my list once the review is up. I finished it on Friday.

[retroone]

1. Shovel Knight (Steam) Beat Main Quest Completed. Achievement Progress 80%
2. The Walking Dead Season 2 (PS4) Completed Another amazing Telltale game. Just wish I played the first game in the series.
3. Mega Man 2 (NES) Completed Glad to finally get this one of my chest.
4. Sonic Riders (GameCube) Beat This game is terrible don't play it.
5. Metal Torrent (DSi Ware) Beat Metal Torrent is a VERY short shooter with 8 phases lasting 3 minutes each. 
6. The Playroom (PS4) Completed Very enjoyable game that needs more content. Trophy Progress 100%
7. Super Exploding Zoo (PSN) Completed Very fun puzzle game that can be completed in a few hours. First Platinum! Trophy Progress 100%
8. Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition (PS4) Completed Simply put, it's Minecraft. Very fun and addictive. Trophy Progress 100%
9. Altered Beast (Genesis) Beat The Arcade version was better.
10. Altered Beast (Arcade) Beat WAY better than the Genesis version although the ending was a disappointment.
11. MouseCraft (PSN) Completed Just another mediocre puzzle game. Trophy Progress 100%
12. Rocket League (PSN) Completed Man this game is simply amazing, truly a blast to play. Trophy Progress 100%
13. Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES) Beat Don't underestimate this game. That final boss is close to impossible.
14. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (PSN) Beat Still need to beat those challenges. Trophy Progress 70%
15. Castle Crashers (Steam) Completed It's quite the 'Behemoth' of a game. Achievement Progress 100%
16. Power Rangers S.P.D (GBA) Completed Completed in less than 2 hours without dying once!
17. Murder Miners (Steam) Completed This game is too much fun. Achievement Progress 100%
18. Portal (Steam) Beat Even though the game is short, it one heck of a ride. Achievement Progress 73%
19. SpeedRunners (Steam) Completed Looking for a break from Rocket League? Here's your fix. Achievement Progress 100%
20. Orborun (Steam) Completed Your typical mediocre Super Monkey Ball clone (No achievements here!)

*Added Orborun (Steam)

[kamikazekeeg]

GAME 27 - Halo 4 (360) - 5 to 10 Hours FINISHED
Use to be a big Halo fan back in the day, pretty much up till around Halo 3 when I started fading.  Originally I only played part of the campaign for Halo 4, but never went back.  Going back now and actually beating it, the game isn't too bad campaign wise. There's some really great sections that add some variety to the game and surprised me when I came across them, though with that said, it's still the tried and trusted Halo formula.  Sadly the ending is kinda weak.  No boss fight and it essentially amounts to just running in a big circle, killing guys, before beating the baddie with a QTE.  Had such buildup too.  Bummed to hear that Master Chief is barely even playable in Halo 5.  There's one thing you play Halo for, and that is to stomp around as the Master Chief lol Leave the squad combat and new leads to the side games.

[kashell]

I'm now at 50 games. I'm going to try to beat Legend of Legacy and Tales of Zestiria in order to make it to 52!

[bikingjahuty]

I'm now at 50 games. I'm going to try to beat Legend of Legacy and Tales of Zestiria in order to make it to 52!

I'm getting pretty close to. I think I'm on 46.

[tafk]

I think I'm at 8, ugh. Hopefully Ill at least get 13 and get a quarter of the way there, ya'll kicked my ass

[kamikazekeeg]

With everything left coming out this year, I'll basically make the 30's, which will include Fallout 4, Just Cause 3, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and maybe Star Wars Battlefront. Along with anything else that maybe pops up for Christmas as I was asked for gift ideas and I mostly just tossed out some 3DS games I haven't bought cause there were bigger games to get.  I'm also trying to fill time till Fallout 4, so I'm kinda playing a few older games I never beat, so maybe two or three from that.

[kashell]

Legend of Legacy is starting to thin my patience. I may end up substituting that for Stella Glow, which comes out this month.

[ignition365]

I thought about trying to go back and figure what games I've beaten this year, but it's almost the end of the year, I may just wait and try to join in next year.

I guess I'll add games as I figure out which ones I've beaten this year.

Can I count Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes twice since I beat it on Xbone and PS4 this year?  lol

1) Mortal Kombat X (Xbone)
2) Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Xbone)
3) Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)
4) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
5) Fallout: New Vegas (PC)
6) Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast and Furious (Xbone)
7) Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (Xbone)
8) WWE 2k15 (Xbone)
9) Dragon Age: Inquisition (Xbone)
10) SteamWorldDig (PS4)
11) SteamWorldDig (Wii U)
12) Shovel Knight and Plague of Shadows (Wii U)
13) The Fall (Wii U)
14) Super Metroid (Wii U Virtual Console)
15) Maximum Carnage (SNES)
16) Separation Anxiety (SNES)
17) Power Rangers the Movie (SNES)
18) EarthBound (Wii U Virtual Console) [Technically I did most of the game last year, but did the final section of the game this year]

I know before I moved I had spent quite a bit of time playing SNES games and I beat a few games, but I can't recall for sure what games I beat.  Definitely Maximum Carnage, Separation Anxiety, Power Rangers the Movie.  Played the 2 player games in that bunch with my wife and the 1 player one by myself.