I finished another long RPG for the second time, Two Worlds.

Second playthrought of absolutely fantastic Chasm: The Rift (incl. addon). After playing original two Quakes, this is finally game which I like. Since I finished it two years ago, now I knew what to expect and game was even better. Personally recommended.

Just finished Prince Of Persia The Lost Crown. Amazing game.

I finished Castle Defense, an expansion of Two Worlds 2. It’s a tower defense game and it serves as a connection between Two Worlds 1 & 2. Unfortunately, though, it uses the bad ending of Two Worlds 1 as its default. It became the very first tower defense game I’ve ever finished, because it’s one of my least (extremely… least) favorite genres. However, since it is short and has a certain charm, I put it on “easy” difficulty and I finished it. It consists of 5 Chapters, each one having just one stage. No saving during each stage, which can be about 30-40 minutes long. 15-20 waves in a stage. Of course, there were times I lost at the last wave of a stage, which forced me to replay the whole stage (30-40 minutes, I repeat). All well though, game finished!

Doom II (Enhanced)

Technically, I didn't beat it yet. But I've reached the final boss level, and I don't know whether I will still find the motivation to play through that just to say I did it. It looks rather tedious and not very interesting to me. I was more in it for exploring the levels and not so much for the challenge anyway.

First off, I have to say, the newly enhanced plug & play version by Nightdive and Bethesda plays great. For some reason I used to think that the old Doom games should be played with keyboard only, since they were designed for that, so mouse controls seemed like cheating to me. But in the end, who cares. Maybe mouse controls make it a little easier, maybe not. Besides, you can still choose between a wider range of difficulty levels. And in any case, mouse controls make it a lot more fun to play and less strenous for your fingers. So I can definitely recommend this version. It's great that they gave Doom the same treatment as Quake and made it accessible to today's gamers on modern PCs again - and not least of all also gave it away for free to all owners of the classic games. The only thing that they could still have improved upon is to give players more save slots. But it's a minor point, I'm also fine with them keeping it faithful to the original.

As for the game itself, I'm sure everything that can be said there has been said before already. If you've played Doom, Doom II is just more of the same, which suited me fine. The addition of the super shotgun is great, of course, and the few new enemies are a welcome addition, too.

IIRC I had noticed that some people on the net liked the first one better and I always wondered why. But now that've experienced it myself, I think I know why. I really didn't like the level design in some of the later stages. They had me running around a lot, lost on where to go next. For one, there were a lot of buttons activating something somewhere else that you could not see from the position of the button, so you had to err around and guess what changed. Also, I felt the game was not all that consistent in its mechanics. In some later levels, you suddenly had to shoot at specific walls/doors/buttons instead of using the USE button on them like usual, without there being any clues or introduction to this new mechanic. The same wall textures/decorations are sometimes interactive and sometimes not. You can only guess and try, not rely on a system of visual clues. And then the way to the end of the level is sometimes hidden behind fake walls or "secret" areas. But what is "secret" about the area if you are required to pass through it anyway? As far as I remember, secrets in Doom were optional rewards for attentive players, not meant to have every player run around in circles, wondering what they missed.

I had tried to play through Doom II before, a few years back, in the DOS version, with keyboard controls only, and I got stuck or lost interest at some point. I thought it was somehwere in the first half, but as it turns out, I had already reached the levels of the last part that time. I'm not surprised I stopped playing there though, due to what I wrote above. This time, I actually resorted to checking a walkthrough a few times in order to advance - for a fast-paced shooter! -, otherwise I might have given up on it again.

So all in all I had fun with Doom II again, just like with the first game, but some of the levels were not all that well designed IMO and that made the game more frustrating than it had to be.

That's it for me, about completed games, this year!

I believe I beat Dragon Quest 9 (main story) earlier this year, and I'm about to beat it again. (Only 2 bosses left)

Finally finished Resident Evil 3, last part from original trilogy as well as zero and other games from the whole series. RE2 is best in my opinion, zero is also very good, but I do not like much first RE. Now after finishing also RE3 it is not so easy for me evaluate where to put it. I prefer more second part where was everything more on smaller space. Third RE has many locations and it was very often just to go longer way, especially if I wanted to get some equipment from the beginning which was not available before. Obviously it was due to Nemesis, which was in the beginning really unpleasant. In some moments I hesitated whether to continue. But as people from far east say do not worry somebody who did one hundred different things, worry somebody who did one thing hundred times. In case of RE it is absolutely valid. If one dedicate enough time, than it is very easy game, but for new comers it is difficult and not everybody is willing to do it, especially in older age when one cannot play longer time periods in a row. At the end RE3 bring me more gray hairs, but I enjoyed it.

Indivisible, Dec 8 (Xbox Game Pass)-I'm gonna count this one even though I couldn't beat the final boss. I really liked the visuals and the voice acting was excellent but that was all I liked. The characters and plot were not very engaging and I didn't really care about any of them at the end. The platforming was very difficult and frustrating. The combat was probably the worst part, I never got the hang of it and was mostly just button mashing the whole time. It's classification as a roleplaying game is really questionable. It's more like a fighting game mixed with a platformer and that is not a combination I remotely enjoyed. One of the least fun gaming experiences I've had this year.

Full List

Heavy Metal: FAKK 2. For some reason I thought this was an FPS but it's really a third person game that sort of tries to be a Tomb Raider-like but with more action. Apparently it was made in the Quake 3 engine?

The game is made as a sequel to Heavy Metal 2000, which was a very loose adaptation of a comic I somewhat enjoyed called Melting Pot, which was this crazy sci-fi thing about a well-meaning alien god trying to engineer a harmoniously diverse world that quickly collapsed into a violent hellhole. For the movie, they basically took the comic and made it entirely about a minor female character who dies in the first few pages - mostly to demonstrate how hateful is the world world she's crashed into - because Kevin Eastman had gotten married to Julie Strain and wanted to pay tribute to her in his art projects. So in this game, you control Julie as she tries to fend off aliens invading the paradise planet she's protecting. It doesn't make a great deal of sense if you're not familiar with the source material, but it's also not very complicated. Just basic video game storytelling. The characters are enjoyable enough, at least.

I really like the graphics. In contrast to the original comic, they're really colorful and every environment just looks cool and the characters are a surprisingly silly bunch that almost feel like they came out of a Rayman game.

Where it could have used a bit more work is in the controls. You end up with quite a lot of weapons by the end and it's a little tricky to switch between them, especially toward the end when the game actually starts getting more difficult. You have guns, but most of the game I used one of the swords combined with a shield (left click for shield, right click for sword attack). Also, while Julie has a lot of Tomb Raider climbing/jumping moves, she has a knack for often just not grabbing a ledge or something if she's just a tiny bit off, so make sure you quicksave before trying anything that could be instantly fatal.

It's not a game that I would say anyone needs to play, but it's also entertaining enough for what it is and is just the right length.

Amnesia The Bunker, Dec 11 (Xbox Game Pass)-I enjoyed this game quite a bit but it was rather difficult. I had difficulty managing the light, keeping quiet to avoid the monster, and not getting completely lost. I had to consult a walkthru multiple times. The constant threat of the monster forced me to rush thru areas and I'm sure I missed several notes and items. I would have preferred if that was lessened a little bit. But it was still a scary, good time.


Full List

A few that I've finished and enjoyed over the past few months on various platforms:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
I know there are criticisms of the games story not feeling complete etc however despite that I had a great time with the game overall. Prague was a lot of fun to explore and most of the side quests were pretty engaging. I think I missed 1 or 2 on my (relatively) non-lethal playthrough so there's something to see along with alternative routes etc when I decide to go through it again guns blazing. Plus I've heard good things about the DLC (particularly A Criminal Past).

Dishonored 2
Dishonored 1 was one of my favourites when it originally release (and still is) so I was looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint. Like Deus Ex above I went for a non-lethal approach (as Emily) albeit with some accidental casualties along the way. The main set piece levels were great with loads of detail over their vast layouts. I'm not sure what it was but I did find this one to be creepier in some instances compared to Dishonored 1. The new powers Emily brings to the table were fun to play around with and I'm sure I've only scratched the surface. Hard to pick a favourite missions but The Clockwork Mansion, The Royal Conservatory and The Grand Palace stood out to me the most. Looking forward to a second run one day along with picking up Death of the Outsider.

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Following the stealth theme Shadow Tactics immediately drew me in due to it's Commandoes like gameplay. I played a bunch of Commandoes when I was younger but admittedly never actually finished it for whatever reason but here I saw it through to the end. It tells a simple but enjoyable story paired with tactical gameplay. When I played the demo originally I was worried that I might be turned off a bit after a while by the trial and error nature of quick save/load spam however after a while it didn't bother me too much and as I progressed and got used to certain tactics I found failure was less common anyway. The levels were pretty varied too with new mechanics being introduced along the way to keep things fresh and often with multiple ways to accomplish your goals. A couple of them stood out as being particularly difficult (I felt that the final mission was fairly rigid in how you deal with it plus a huge amount of overlapping guards) but overall the game was an enjoyable ride.

Lego City Undercover
I was a bit hesitant about this one as the previous Lego game that I had played (DC Villains) started off well but ultimately failed to draw me in for some reason. Lego City Undercover on the other hand was great from start to finish with an enjoyable story and gameplay plus an interesting open world with various different themed areas. I think what set it apart for me was how it felt like it actually used the open world better during the story rather than just going somewhere to start the next mission level if that makes sense. People often refer to it as a kid friendly GTA which seems fairly fitting and there are plenty of fun references to older movies. I beat the story and am slowly working though exploring the map for the collectables and seeing what details of the world I missed during the story.

Ace Attorney 1
Visual novel with some light puzzle solving where you are a defense attorney. Picked up the original trilogy and went through the first game so far. Fun from the start although fairly simple seeming at first. As the cases/chapters progressed they got longer and more intricate. Some great characters (really liked the arcs Edgeworth went through) although sometimes the villains seemed too obvious. In any case, pun intended, the first game surpassed my expectations so it left me looking forward to the next installments plus interested in the later game collections also.

Planescape: Torment (Steam)

Enhanced Edition. This my third play through of this game. I bought it when it came out and still have the original boxed edition, plus the official Sybex guidebook as well. The first play through (as a Thief) I got stuck at the Deva fight due to a bug, and having no way of getting the patch (no internet back then for me). A few years later I replayed it and finished it as a Mage.

I felt like playing one of the old Infinity games again...so I chose this one as it's been 20 years- enough to forget some of the events and choices of the story. This time I played as a high intelligence and wisdom character. No matter how you play, we all arrive at the same ending in this game- but the knowledge and full understanding of the story only come about if you have the required intelligence or wisdom to unlock the dialogue choices. It is the best way to play this game- especially as the combat and the amount of needless filler are high.

Now that I've played this game again, with the extra wisdom that comes with age and more life experience as the real-life player- I still feel this has one of the best stories in gaming, and some of the best writing. However, as always, those are generally not my highest measuring sticks for video games. That's why, despite still thinking this is an excellent game, it is not right at the top of my list for RPG's in general- apart from story and writing, every other aspect of the game is only average at best. My Tier list of infinity Engine games is still: Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale on par with each other for different reasons. Followed by Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale 2 bringing up the rear.

Starcom: Nexus. It's a space exploration game influenced by Starflight and Star Control. It's not as good as those, but it's not bad at all, especially for being made by such a small team (basically one guy plus some help).

You start out with a dinky little courier ship, then you and the nearby space station get sucked through a strange rift in space and end up in a different universe (or is it?). So you have to get to work exploring your surroundings, meeting and hopefully making friends with alien races, upgrading your ship until it's like a hulking star destroyer-like thing, and trying to figure out how to get home.

The way it plays is relatively streamlined since you don't really land on and explore planets. You just fly to a planet, scan it from orbit, and if the scan finds something interesting, your crew lands and you get a message on what they found, occasionally with a multiple choice option that could get you a reward or get a couple of your guys killed depending on your choice. It's all very fast-moving and the game has an addictive pace in which it's very easy to just want to explore one more planet, one more system. Combat is also pretty easy in that you just aim at an enemy ship and hold the buttons down while flying around them.

For the most part, the game goes by quickly. There are some puzzles that need solving, and it's a good idea to take notes while also keeping an eye on your ship's log for clues on where to go. I did run into an impasse after a while because I'd seemingly explored everywhere and done everything but couldn't progress on some quests. Perhaps I missed something but I ended up progressing by simply picking a blank spot on the map and flying through it directly instead of using the regular wormholes the game trains you to rely on. That revealed a whole line of new systems to explore and get me going again and from there I finished the game quickly.

A major shortcoming of the game is that although there are certain named characters among your crew and the station, you don't get a sense of really having a crew. They're basically just a number that can go down if you aren't careful, but then you go back to the station and ask the commander to top you off again, and then head back out. I missed the sense of creating a bridge crew and training them up like in Starflight.

Another thing is that the game is almost too full of stuff. Instead of a feeling isolated in this strange place, it turns out the galaxy is a really crowded place and you run into multiple things in almost every star system, either artifacts on planets, objects floating around, or alien ships patrolling. It somewhat deflates the sense of exploration and thrill of discovery when you find so much stuff that it's more disappointing when you go somewhere and don't find anything at all. Even in deep space you're not safe - I once set out with the cruise control on and started playing on my phone because the trip would take a few minutes, only for my ship to crash into a random space object that destroyed my ship instantly. I know there's a sequel that recently came out, so I'm hoping it improved on these things.

Finished Jagged alliance 3, which I had been playing in coop with a former classmate for much of the year.
It was ok, but on the whole I felt somewhat underwhelmed. Played Jagged alliance 2 for the first time last summer, even a quarter of a century after its release that game is still a great experience, deservedly a classic. Jagged alliance 3 didn't really live up to that heritage imo. Most of the maps are pretty boring, and the gameplay is imbalanced, heavily favouring headshots with scoped rifles (which you can get quite early in the game, not just in the 2nd half like in JA2). Felt much less tactical than JA2. Even the ending felt anticlimactic, unlike the complex multi-sector assault on Meduna in JA2 which felt pretty epic. Tone is also too silly imo, the mercs are one-dimensional caricatures now.
I don't regret playing it, but doubt I'll play through it again, it just felt too mediocre. I'm somewhat suprised it got such good reviews, probably says something about today's gaming standards.
Rating: 3/5.