Games played 2023! Stake your claim!

[coopasonic]

Stepping in for Blackhawk as this thread is key to me...

Welcome to 2023! Here's a place to keep track of what you're playing, what you've beaten (or finished), and what you've abandoned. It's traditionally for video games, but there's nothing that prevents people from including tabletop games played on the list, too. As always, give people a week or so to get 'slots' for recording their games, then feel free to use the thread for discussion as well.

Here are the previous Games Finished threads, edited for the first post:


2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

[coopasonic]

Finished
1) Bioshock - 20230115 - It took a while to get to it, but it was alright.
2) Bioshock 2 - 20230116 - More of the same, but also alright.
3) Bioshock: Infinite - 20230120 - Prettier, but blander.
4) Lara Croft: Go - 20230121 - I liked Hitman Go better, but it was still interesting.
5) Hogwart's Legacy - 20230217 - Way better than I expected. Solid all around.
6) Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - 20230321 - Nioh 3 by another name.
7) Dredge - 20230402 - Interesting experience, didn't overstay its welcome.
8) Wall World - 20230419 - Simple doesn't mean not fun
9) Dead Island 2 - 20230428 - Chaotic fun all the way
10) Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - 20230504 - Liked it better than Fallen Order, solid experience
11) Geometric Sniper - 20230512 - Interesting if very, very short
12) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 20230522 - Interesting open world if a bit... too open?
13) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 20230603 - It's like BotW got updated!
14) Diablo IV - 20230607 - Fine.
15) Miasma Chronicles - 20230613 - Mutant Year Zero with fewer animal companions.
16) Everspace 2 - 20230620 - Pretty much what I wanted from Rebel Galaxy Outlaw.
17) Final Fantasy XVI - 20230701 - Pretty. Too long, too easy, too many long cutscenes. Still fun.
18) Shotgun King - 20230705 - Interesting puzzle game, if maybe not worth the $10 asking price, thanks Humble Choice!
19) Remnant 2 - 20230725 - Fun and challenging game. F the final boss!
20) Jagged Alliance 3 - 20230726 - Finally a solid sequel to one of my favorite games.
21) Baldur's Gate 3 - 20230821 - Wow!
22) Starfield - 20230904 - Wow.
23) Assassin's Creed Mirage - 20231007 - Solid.
24) Lamplighters League - 20231019 - Fine.
25) Spider-Man 2 - 20231025 - Solid follow-up to the previous games.
26) The Talos Principle 2 - 20231104 - So many puzzles. So much thinking. Too many puzzles?
27) Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - 20231220 - Much better than I expected.
28) My Time at Sandrock - 20231229 - Solid update to Portia, but way too long.

2022 - 38 games
2021 - 58 games
2020 - 34 games
2019 - 27 games
2018 - 15 games
2017 - 16 games
2016 - 16 games

Abandoned

Watchlist
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl - 2023
ARK 2 - 2023
Dune: Awakening - 2023/2024
State of Decay 3 - ???
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - ???

[Hipolito]

Finished

1. Butterfly Soup (Jan 1, PC): Visual novel about gay asian girls playing baseball. Fairly unrealistic (like when an outfielder kicks the ball to first base to score an out), but very silly and funny and you might learn some facts about baseball and growing up. 6/8
2. GNOG (Jan 21, PC, 3.3 hrs): Solve puzzles by fiddling with machines themed after cute monsters. The trippy visuals are probably even better in VR. It's fine if you just want a short, moderately challenging puzzle game. 4/8
3. Cartographers (Aug 13, iOS, 89 plays, high score 79) 6/8
4. Slay the Princess (Dec 2, 3.75 hrs) 4/8
5. Tokaido (Dec 10, iOS) (5/8)
6. Lords of Waterdeep (Dec 27, iOS) (6/8)
7. Small World (Dec. 29, iOS) (6/8)

Rating system:
6 to 8 = How appropriate. You fight like a cow.
4 to 5 = I hope now you've learned to stop picking your nose.
0 to 3 = I am rubber, you are glue.

Playing

1. Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair: I'm about to start the final chapter.
2. Mass Effect 3: I've been trying to play on Insanity difficulty like I did with ME 1 and 2, but I'm stuck on the first mission. I plan to lower the difficulty.

Backburnered (games I'm in denial about having abandoned)

1. Lost Odyssey: I'm on the final disc. Just gotta push on through.

Abandoned

1. Joe Dever's Lone Wolf HD Remastered: I reached Act 3 on Normal difficulty and things are just not picking up Thoughts here.
2. Dujanah: this surreal indie adventure has you play a Muslim woman searching the desert for her lost husband and child. There's neat clay art and philosophical observations, but also tedious dialogue and annoying minigames. I don't feel like enduring this game for whatever important lessons it has.
3. Loren the Amazon Princess: I've put 7 hours into this RPG visual novel. It has some good banter and humor, as well as a super-hot, barely dressed druid babe. I ought to keep playing just to see her romance. But the overall story isn't as interesting, and neither are the combat and stat systems.
4. Path of Exile: I was really enjoying this and got my necromancer to level 60, but then the game prompted me to redistribute my passive skill points. I didn't want to bother, so I stopped playing. For years, I've been intending to pick this game back up so I can play to the end of the story. But let's get real: I'm probably never going to. There are other action RPGs like Hades that I'm more interested in anyway.

Games played: 2006 (15); 2007 (14); 2008 (20); 2009 (23); 2010 (13); 2011 (15); 2012 (17); 2013 (25); 2014 (25); 2015 (9); 2016 (8); 2017 (9); 2018 (2); 2019 (22); 2020 (9); 2021 (6); 2022 (14)

[Skinypupy]

Pretty decent year in 2022, will be interesting to see what 2023 holds.

Games finished
- Skyrim - PS5 - A (Jan 9): I know the joke is that you always end up as a stealth archer, but this was my first time actually doing so. After a rough start, it was more fun than I expected. I got through both the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood questlines, along with the main quest and a bazillion other things. There's still more to do (isn't there always), but I think I can call this run good (48 hours)
- Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart - PS5 - A (Jan 21): I had never played a R&C game before, but this one was truly fantastic. The combat was a blast, it looked amazing, and the use of the PS5 controller was brilliant. Really glad I gave it a shot. (16 hours)
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits - PS5 - A (Feb 3): How this game got completely overlooked is entirely beyond me. It was brilliant. Puzzles, 3rd person combat, and adorable companions. Just a fantastic "feel-good" game all around. Came out of nowhere and was a wonderful surprise. (10 hours)
- Theatrhythm Final Bar Line - Switch - A+ (Feb 24): One of the best rhythm games ever made, imo. Truly a staggering amount of incredible music on display here and an absolute joy to play. Made the switch from handheld to console very effectively. Will keep plugging away at it through the year, most likely. 5/7 update: Completed all songs on Ultimate and have all characters up to 99. 12/2 update: And completed all the bonus tracks in the Season 1 DLC. That’s everything currently available. OK...now I'm done. (68 hours)
- Hogwart's Legacy - PS5 - A- (March 4): I had no interest in anything HP, but really enjoyed this game. It was a masterclass of open world design and told a really excellent story. Didn't expect it to like it nearly as much as I did. (27 hours)
- Monster Hunter Rise - PS5 - A (April 9): Certainly not "finished" finished, but I did play long enough to see the credits roll again. Might stick with it this time and see if I can get a little further. (19 hours, so far)
- Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores - PS5 - B+ (May 7): I still think Horizon is the best open world game on the PS5 (yes, better than Elden Ring). This xpac was fun, although it didn't really add a ton outside of some new monsters. The locales all looked MOTS and a couple of the quests were a little unclear on what they were asking for, hence the B+ instead of a higher grade. Still, a very enjoyable jaunt through another great story. (10 hours)
- Final Fantasy 1 Pixel Remaster - Switch - B (May 27): a really fantastic remaster of a classic. Very little story and impossible without a walkthrough and boosts, but really fun with both. (16 hours)
- Diablo 4 - PS5 - A- (June 19): Started very strong, got way too "meander-y" in the middle, but finished really well once I started beelining the main quests. (30 hours)
- Final Fantasy XVI - PS5 - A+ (July 11): Brilliant game bogged down only slightly by an underwhelming loot system. Everything I wanted out of a FF game. Love it from start to finish. (48 hours)
- Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster - Switch - B (July 15): Fun to give this one a shot, as I’d only played the 3D remaster previously. Job system and a better story made a world of difference. (12.5 hours)
- Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster - Switch - A (July 19): Truly a quantum leap in terms of storytelling and world building from FF III to IV. The tale of Cecil and crew was wildly compelling from start to finish. A true classic. (12 hours)
- Entwined - PS5 - B (July 28): A unique "games as art" title where you control a flying bird and fish on each side of the screen with it's own thumbstick. Kinda like Rez, very chill and beautiful. (1.5 hours)
- Baldur's Gate 3 - PC - A (Sept 3): A truly remarkable game and possibly my favorite single player CRPG. Knocked slightly down to an A from an A+ due to a bazillion bugs and quirky design decisions, but that didn't keep it from being a great experience. (98 hours)
- Final Fantasy XIV - PC - B+ (Oct 26): The year of Final Fantasy continues. After taking a fairly significant break after wrapping the Endwalker MSQ, I jumped back in and finished up all the 6.X patch content. The FF IV story was neat, the new Alliance Raid was really cool, and it was fun to be back in for a while. Will try and finish the Manderville quests and the Raid track (halfway through) to get ready for the next xpac in 2024.
- Life is Strange: Season 1 - PS5 - B+ (Nov 6): The first few hours were pretty rough getting through the forced teen slang nonsense, but once the story kicked in, I was hooked. Really interesting branching story where decisions felt weighty and important. Wasn't expecting to really enjoy this at all but came away quite impressed. Glad I gave it a look. (13 hours)
- Madden 24 - PS5 - C- (Nov 27): Looks good, but just a laughable disaster of a game. Constantly pushing microtransactions, completely brain-dead AI, weird glitches, bugs galore…just mostly blech. Finished a season and won the SB, doubt I’ll go back to it. (13 hours)
- Scarlet Nexus - PS5 - C (Dec 11) - 3/4 of a good game, with endgame dungeons that are absolutely garbage. Repetitive, bland, and with weird difficulty spikes that are frustrating as hell. It's like they just gave up and dialed it in for the end of the game. Shame, as it was pretty cool up until about Phase 10. (24 hours)
- The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe - PS5 - Rating: Purple towel monkey (Dec 21) - No idea if I actually “beat” this game, but I got the point where everything I was doing was a repeat. Kinda interesting, I guess, but mostly forgettable. (2 hours)

Currently playing
- FF VII (PS5)
- God of War Ragnarok (PS5)

Abandoned Video Games
- Chained Echoes (PS5) - After all the hype, I was expecting something a bit more engaging. Definitely some old-school charm, but the characters and story weren't terribly engaging and the systems fell pretty flat. 3 hours
- Fire Emblem Engage (Switch) - You'd think I would learn my lesson with this series. I didn't like Three Houses because it felt like 75% life sim and 25% combat. This one swung the pendulum in the other direction (which I thought I'd like), but the story and characters were SO bad it made me completely lose interest. The whole thing was just a giant blob of bad anime tropes and truly awful voice acting, and I could never get my head around the myriad combat systems. 5 hours.
- Final Fantasy XIII (PC) - Oddly, I got the point where everyone else thinks it gets interesting (the open world of Gran Pulse) and simply...lost interest. Not entirely sure why, tbh. 20 hours
- Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC) - A really great blast of nostalgia, but a mediocre game overall. Would have been fine if not for the absolutely atrocious AI. Made the more difficult fights nearly impossible because you really never knew what your party was going to do at any given time. (15 hours)
- Octopath Traveler 2 (PS5) - I got through 5 of the 8 initial stories before getting bored. It's simply not interesting and overly grindy, much the same as the first game (9 hours)
- Triangle Strategy (Switch) - I just can't get into these 2.5D games for very long. (5 hours)
- Jedi Survivor (PS5) - Turns out a Jedi parkour simulator with the absolute dullest main character imaginable is quite boring. Who knew? Actually tried it twice, got to almost the exact same point before just getting bored and wandering off. (10 hours)
- Age of Wonders 4 (PS5) - Turns out like all 4X games I play. Love the early game, but get bored when I have to start managing massive kingdoms with tons of armies. Still, enjoyed it more than most. (10 hours)
- Voice of Cards: The Dragon Isle Roars (PS5). Very neat presentation, but really a bog-standard JRPG otherwise. Not a ton of incentive to keep playing. (4 hours)
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch). Good game, just not for me. (10 hours)
- Aragami 2 (PS5): Fun Tenchu-ish gamePlay, but in 7 hours of play I saw 5 maps (reused three times each) and a grand total of three different enemy types. Got monotonous quite quickly. (7 hours)
- Honkai Star Rail (PC and iPad): Probably a really good example of the gacha JRPG genre, but my tolerance for that genre is SO low. Great Xenosaga vibes though. (7 hours)
- Diablo Immortal (iPad): Try as I might, I just can't get into microtransaction-ish games.
- The Ascent (PS5): Very cool game that I was enjoying a ton...until the difficulty spike that I simply couldn't get past. Looked and sounded amazing though. (7 hours)
- Star Ocean: The Divine Force (PS5): Made it further than last time, but still lost interest pretty quickly. Looks decent (aside from the weird porcelain doll characters), but it's just a dreadfully dull and boring JRPG. (3 hours)
- Trek to Yomi (PS5): Without exaggeration, this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Looked exactly like a Kurosawa samurai film. Shame the gameplay was boring a hell with a bunch of really weird difficulty spikes. (3 hours)
- Final Fantasy VIII Remastered (Switch): Forever destined to remain on my unfinished list. Sigh. (5 hours)
- Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 (PS5): Still way too chaotic for my tastes. (5 hours)
- No Man’s Sky (PS5): Got further than any previous attempt, but still get bogged down once the initial thrill of exploration wears off. (8 hours)
- Starfield (PC): Everything about it rubbed me wrong. Just did not like anything, from the story to the graphics to the systems to the combat..(5 hours).
- FF VII Ever Crisis (iPad): A disappointing gacha snooze fest. Neat redone story bits sandwiched between hours and hours of grinding or P2W. So disappointing.
- Fate/Samurai Remnant (PS5): Tried it as a change of pace game, found out pretty quickly that I don't enjoy musou games very much. Decent game, just not really my thing. (5 hours)
- Sea of Stars (PS5): An initially exciting Chrono Trigger-ish JRPG that got stale very quickly. (4 hours)
- Tales of Arise (PS5): Some interesting bits, but the drawn-out story, lack of mob variety wear thin after a while (20 hours)
- Assassins Creed Odyssey (PS5) - Got way further than my first try, but I found the game to ultimately get very boring. Chasing question marks to do the same thing over and over (scout, tag, sneak, kill) gets dull. Especially for how ridiculously huge the game is. (20 hours)
- Star Ocean: The Second Story R (PS5) - Oh my god...soooooooo boring. And why is every dialog in the game at least 3X longer than it needs to be? Just get to the damn point! (5 hours)
- Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen (PS5) - I always get to about the same point before getting annoyed with the jank. (5 hours)
- Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (PS5) - Fun to play through again on console with a different build, but couldn't keep my attention all the way to the end. (22 hours)
- Super Mario Bros Wonder (Switch) - Bought mostly for the kids, dabbled with it a little bit. Neat ideas, but I just don't have the coordination for platformers anymore. (3 hours)

New Board Games
- Ascension Tactics
- Call to Adventure Epic Origins (SOLD)
- Dwellings of Eldervale
- Folklore the Afflication w/Fall of the Spire xpac
- Masters of the Universe Clash for Eternia (w/Box of Power)
- ISS Vanguard (SOLD)
- Too Many Bones
- HeroQuest w/Frozen Horror xpac
- One Deck Dungeon
- Fantasy Realms
- Codenames Duel
- Cartographers
- Lord of the Rings Adventure Book
- Here to Slay
- Escape the Dark Castle
- SpellBook
- Thunder Road: Vendetta

[Blackhawk]

Wow, I finished a game this year!

9/3 - Jagged Alliance 3

Really great game. I was skeptical when it was announced due to the number of failed Jagged Alliance sequels/reboots that have passed by over the years, but they really did pull it off. It's a little different from Jagged Alliance 2 and shows a lot of X-COM (or XCOM, or X-com, or whatever) influence, but they couldn't really release 1990s gameplay, either. There's got to be a balance between faithful recreation and modernizing. The System Shock remake failed in this regard. Jagged Alliance 3, I thought, nailed it. The atmosphere and personality are spot-on, with that unapologetic 90s action film feel that the first one had. I was very, very happy with it.

That's not to say that there weren't a few issues. The interface needed a few tweaks, and player communication needed some work (like more meaningful icons, better perk descriptions, and telling you when a quest has a time limit.) The camera was fine once in-mission, but the deployment camera was completely useless for figuring out which locations had cover or concealment (I used the free camera mod to counter this.) There were some scripted 'gotchas' that I greatly disliked, and the deployment zones needed to be much less restrictive.

But most of that was just minor annoyances. It was a great game that I'll absolutely be playing again in the future.

[disarm]

2022 - not a lot in terms of quantity, but played some really fun games last year. On to 2023!

In Progress

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Super Mario Odyssey
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Tunic
Marvel's Avengers
The Last of Us, Part II
Control



Upcoming

Horizon: Zero Dawn
Cyberpunk 2077



Finished

Spiderman: Miles Morales - 1/9
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - 2/1
God of War: Ragnarok (Platinum trophy) - 5/20
Ori and the Will of the Wisps - 7/5
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - 7/23

[ChuckB]

Currently playing:

PC/Mac AND NOW ALSO Steam Deck:
Desperados 3 (what a fantastic game!)
Sea of Stars (really like it so far)
Lamplighters League
Guardians of the Galaxy
Warhammer 40,000 - Rogue Trader

PS5
World of Warships: Legends (I'm still having a lot of fun with this one on a regular basis)
MLB The Show 23 (I'm playing this series since 2008)
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Deathloop

Nintendo Switch:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Venba

Tabletop:
Skies above Britain (GMT)

PS3, PS VITA & 3DS XL:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

On the short list:
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (started this right after finishing RotTR and really like it so far. Visuals are fantastic and I like the setting. Not sure why this one does not get more love)
Life is Strange 2 (need to continue, I really liked it so far)
Pillars of Eternity - PC (played this quite a bit but stopped, want to pick up again)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - PS5
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch (really liked it so far, need to pick it up again)
Hitman - PS5 (still working on the missions, using the engine of Hitman 2. Need to play more!)
God of War - PS5 (a fantastic game but stopped playing)
Ghost of Tsushima - PS5 (never really got into the game ... will have to pick up again)


Completed:

• Midnight Suns (PS5) - really liked the game, although it felt weirdly imbalanced in parts; also the least stable Playstation game I ever experienced

• MLB The Show 22 (PS5) - My first MLB on PS5 and while I liked it (playing the series since 2008), there are (again) a number of issues with it

• MLB The Show 23 (PS5) - good game (with the old issues)

• Spider-Man Remastered (PS5) - I started the original version on PS4 and really liked it but stopped playing. It was hard to get back into the game so I started fresh and basically finished within two weeks - what a great game. Really loved it!

• Spider-Man Remastered DLC - The city that never sleeps (PS5) - I liked the story but I hated the difficulty spike(s). Ended up finishing the last mission on the easiest settings as I was just tired of it

• Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (3DS) - Really enjoy the games of the series I played so far

• Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (3DS) - Took me years (with long pauses) but finished and really liked my first Layton game

• The Raven Remastered (PC) - Really solid classical adventure with nice story

• Neo Cab (Switch) - I thought it was well done, played it once but have little interest to try again to see another storyline

• Uncharted 3 (PS5) - Finally finished this one. I liked parts but I HATED some of the overly difficult fights. The end was good but I was also happy when it ended ...

• Uncharted 4 (PS5) - Wow, what a game. Really enjoyed it, it's very impressive

• Chants of Sennaar (PC) - Overall, a fantastic game!

• Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PS5) - Fantastic game!

[Alefroth]

Playing:

Fallout 4- (PS5)
GTA V- (XBSX)
Starfield- (XBSX)
Cyberpunk 2077- (PS5)
Elden Ring- (PS5)
Witcher 3- (PS5)
Rime (PS5)
Prey- (XBSX)





Finished:

Far Cry 4- (PS5) 01.01.2023
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture- (PS5) 01.12.2023
Death Stranding- (PS5) 01.29.2023
Hogwarts Legacy- (PS5) 07.24.2023
Watch Dogs 2- (PS5) 10.07.2023
Trek to Yomi- (PS5) 10.24.2023
Alien: Isolation- (PS5) 11.04.2023
Outlast 2- (PS5) 11.07.2023
Shadow of the Tomb Raider- (PS5) 11.17.2023
Ryse: Son of Rome- (XBSX) 12.10.2023

[Pyperkub]

2023 Games Finished

Century Age of Ashes (not really a game I'll finish, but it's a lot of fun Dragon Dogfighting).
Marvel Midnight Suns
Stray
The Gunk
Iris Fall
Diablo 4
Bramble: The Mountain King

March update
Finished Stray and The Gunk

October update
Added Iris Fall
Diablo 4
Bramble

[Jolor]

Finished
Sniper Elite 4
King Arthur: Knight's Tale
Halo: Reach (MCC)
Halo CE Anniversary (MCC)
Slipways
Halo 2 Anniversary (MCC)
Halo 3 (MCC)
Halo 3 ODST (MCC)

Halo 4 (MCC)
Diablo III (replay)
Redfall
Grim Dawn (replays)
The Pale Beyond
Unpacking
Diablo IV
- Main Campaign Rogue
- Season 1 Druid
- Season 2 Sorcerer
- Season 2 Necromancer
Shadows Over Loathing

Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper - replay
Venba

In Play
Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader
DREDGE


A Brief History of Time
2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

[Archinerd]

Finished
Apr - Dungeon of Nahuelebek: Amulet of Chaos
Jun - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Shredder's Revenge
Aug - Moving Out 2
Oct - Lovers In a Dangerous Spacetime
Oct - Showgunners

[JetFred]

I have 10 Steam series I leave installed even if I'm done with them for the time being. I keep the three core Blizzard properties installed in Battle.net but haven't played them seriously for years. And at the moment, I have 72 other Steam games ready to go. Not sure why, other than OCD.

The priority right now is to knock out these stories before I return to any of the ones I mentioned above:
Return to Zork
Blade Runner
Obduction
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Dreamfall Chapters
Return to Money Island
New Tales From the Borderlands
A Musical Story

And yet, this is what I've actually finished:
5/10 POV (Point of View) [PC] - Yes, of all the stupid things I could have played, it's the old interactive DVD, where (like Tender Loving Care) you just answer questions and can't really tell how it affected anything.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The priority right now is to knock out these stories before I return to any of the ones I mentioned above:
Return to Zork

Here's to us!

[JetFred]

The priority right now is to knock out these stories before I return to any of the ones I mentioned above:
Return to Zork

Here's to us!

Yeah since this game is from the era right when we were transitioning from going to a bookstore to look up hints to going to the internet to look up hints...I'm gonna have to give up and look up hints. I NEVER have to do that with modern adventures.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The priority right now is to knock out these stories before I return to any of the ones I mentioned above:
Return to Zork

Here's to us!

Yeah since this game is from the era right when we were transitioning from going to a bookstore to look up hints to going to the internet to look up hints...I'm gonna have to give up and look up hints. I NEVER have to do that with modern adventures.

FWIW, if you'd prefer to avoid spoiling yourself unnecessarily, I'd suggest using OpenUHS, which is a free reader for Universal Hint System files (or, if you prefer, you may still be able to order a proprietary version of the original Windows UHS Reader here). Then download the Return to Zork UHS file, and you should be good to go. If you're not familiar, Universal Hint System is a game assistant that gradually reveals hints/images in a non-linear fashion, rather than spoiling everything as a traditional walkthrough would. So, it can be especially useful for replaying older adventure games like Return to Zork.

[JetFred]

The priority right now is to knock out these stories before I return to any of the ones I mentioned above:
Return to Zork

Here's to us!

Yeah since this game is from the era right when we were transitioning from going to a bookstore to look up hints to going to the internet to look up hints...I'm gonna have to give up and look up hints. I NEVER have to do that with modern adventures.

FWIW, if you'd prefer to avoid spoiling yourself unnecessarily, I'd suggest using OpenUHS, which is a free reader for Universal Hint System files (or, if you prefer, you may still be able to order a proprietary version of the original Windows UHS Reader here). Then download the Return to Zork UHS file, and you should be good to go. If you're not familiar, Universal Hint System is a game assistant that gradually reveals hints/images in a non-linear fashion, rather than spoiling everything as a traditional walkthrough would. So, it can be especially useful for replaying older adventure games like Return to Zork.

Awesome, thanks. I hate using walkthroughs because if I see something other than what I was looking up, then I just feel like well screw it I'll just gimp my way through the whole thing. I once did that with LucasArts The Dig and never forgave myself.

Now I'll stop taking up spots in this thread with game-specific discussion

[Jaymann]

Alterium Shift Demo

[geezer]

Hey. I’m finally playing “Dishonored”. The first one.

[TheMix]

Hey. I’m finally playing “Dishonored”. The first one.

[Isgrimnur]

With Alpha Protocol, random.org has decided that Hydrophobia: Prophecy is up next.

[Isgrimnur]

Hydrophobia: Prophecy keeps freezing on me, so random.org says Armoured Commander.

[Isgrimnur]

Hydrophobia: Prophecy is complete.

[Jaymann]

Finished God of War Ragnarok
Solasta: The Lost Valley
Solasta: The Forbidden Isle

[Daehawk]

I forgot to keep mine updated well last year. Try again.

Playing:
TF2.... which of course never ends
ELEX



Finished:
Terminator: Resistance
Star Wars Squadrons

Gave up: (may return to)

[El Guapo]

Games finished
- Cyberpunk 2077 (PC). I enjoyed the game a lot, although it admittedly suffered by me comparing it mentally to the Witcher 3. Basically the gameplay was enjoyable but not mindblowing. The city and the environs were very pretty graphically, and the story was solid (and Keanu Reeves was great).
Civ VI (PC). Not really possible to 100% finish it, but I beat it enough times and have put it aside. I'll probably wind up playing it again at some point, but I'm calling it done. Very much enjoyed it - brought me back to the Civ of my youth, and adding some new and interesting gameplay elements. Religious rock bands are annoying, though.

Currently playing
- Fortnite (XBox, some PC)
- Midnight Suns (PC)

Abandoned Video Games

- Stellaris. I've been playing this lately, but....I dunno, just too slow to be interesting given the limited amount of gaming time that I have. Plus the combat seems hard to follow and control. Meh.

[Cylus Maxii]

In Progress:
Conan Exiles - PC - ongoing tinkering play for Battlepass, but this is pretty much done for me.
Icarus - PC - I've been playing a lot of this, but have maxed out my character and only done like half the missions. but they have a good content release pace so I'll keep it installed. Its always relaxing To dink around in my open world map and I just wish the missions had greater variety and range. Still fun to run missions with a friend.

Upcoming:
Quarter of the stuff I own is on-deck and installed in my new rig. I just don't know what's gonna grab my interest.

Highly anticipated:
Hogwarts Legacy

Completed:
None Really. Icarus is basically topped out.

[TheMix]

Finished up the 8 part Return to Rapture mod for Half-Life: Alyx. Definitely worth checking out. Even with some bugginess. Really wish part 2 was ready.

[geezer]

Still in progress: Dishonored.
- I'm a little more than halfway through. Interest is waning, but it's probably still interesting enough that I'll finish it. I'm really not enjoying all the graphic descriptions of whale hunting and killing

Finished: Disco Elysium. (Finished in the sense that I played for an hour, got half dead by

Spoiler:

turning on a light

then fully dead by

Spoiler:

apparently embarrassing myself to death by asking my partner stupid questions.

I'm guessing that I didn't actually finish this one

[TheMix]

Finished up the 8 part Return to Rapture mod for Half-Life: Alyx. Definitely worth checking out. Even with some bugginess. Really wish part 2 was ready.

And added a replay of Half-Life: Alyx with commentary. Pretty interesting stuff.

[TheMix]

Finished up a replay of Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode 1, and HL2: Episode 2.

Those older FPSs could be down right hard at times.

[geezer]

Finished Dishonored. Got the "neutral" ending because

Spoiler:

I went ham on all the bad guys in the High Overseers mansion and went from low to high chaos in one mission

Hated the flooded level, liked the final level. Solid 6/8 tentacles.

[ImLawBoy]

I'm gaming again! I picked up a Steam Deck a few weeks ago as a "My bonus is coming soon, so I'm going to get myself a present" present (and before my basement blew up with unexpected costs as noted in EBG's "next big expense thread"). At this point I'm not really playing anything new - just stuff I've had in my (minimal) Steam library and things that are on deep discount. Still, it's good to be distracted by gaming again (although it's eating into my TV time!). All games on Steam Deck unless otherwise noted.

Games Finished
Portal - I had never played this iconic game. Fun, fast, and creative. I was proud that I didn't have to look online for any cheats or hints!
Portal 2
Mafia II
Bioshock Infinite
Half Life 2 (replay)
Dishonored
Max Payne 3
Styx: Master of Shadows
Call of Juarez - Gunslinger
Dishonored 2
Styx: Shards of Darkness

Games Playing
DEATHLOOP
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
In Sound Mind
Vampyr (dormant)
Control (dormant)
Fallout 4 (dormant)
Lego Star Wars (dormant)
Metro 2033 Redux (dormant)

[Pyperkub]

2023 Games Played

Century Age of Ashes (not really a game I'll finish, but it's a lot of fun Dragon Dogfighting).
Marvel Midnight Suns

Updated:

finished:
Marvel Midnight Suns
-Midnight Suns was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, the hero interactions, the logic puzzle combat and card combinations and excellent voice acting had me enthralled for over 2 months without hitting a wall where I'd leave it and not come back. There are a few nits to pick here and there, but overall as a Marvel fan it was as satisfying a gaming experience as I could hope for.

Currently playing:
Stray
Century Age of Ashes (still getting some matches in)

[Pyperkub]

Finished up the 8 part Return to Rapture mod for Half-Life: Alyx. Definitely worth checking out. Even with some bugginess. Really wish part 2 was ready.

Kind of like Half Life 3?

[TheMix]

Finished up the 8 part Return to Rapture mod for Half-Life: Alyx. Definitely worth checking out. Even with some bugginess. Really wish part 2 was ready.

Kind of like Half Life 3?

Not really. Since this is a mod and not being produced by Valve. And it's actually being worked on. It's just not ready yet. And it's recent enough that I'm willing to give them some more time.

[Jaymann]

Octopath Traveler II

[Pyperkub]

2023 Games Finished

Century Age of Ashes (not really a game I'll finish, but it's a lot of fun Dragon Dogfighting).
Marvel Midnight Sun
Stray
The Gunk

March update
Finished Stray and The Gunk

Finished Stray and The Gunk.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Portal 2. That $1.48 for the Portal 1 and 2 bundle was certainly worth it!

[Lordnine]

Finished

Elden Ring - 8.0/10 - March
Dredge - 8.0/10 - April
System Shock: Remake - 8.5/10 - June
Diablo 4 - 6.5/10 - June
Viewfinder - 7.0/10 - September
Rimworld: Spaceship Launched! - 8.0/10 - October
Super Mario Wonder - 8.0/10 - November
Sunhaven - 7.0/10 - November

Previous Years

2022 - 13 games finished
2021 - 14 games finished
2020 - 13 games finished
2019 - 24 games finished
2018 - 18 games finished
2017 - 30 games finished
2016 - 27 games finished
2015 - 18 games finished
2014 - 39 games finished
2013 - 46 games finished
2012 - 53 games finished
2011 - 38 games finished
2010 - 21 games finished

[TheMix]

Finished up another INTO THE RADIUS run. Got the illusive final achievement:


Really enjoyed the sniping this time. They made some tweaks to how it works. So much better now.

And I learned that there are people modding it (because, of course there are). Now I'm thinking I might need to try the STALKER mod.