WOOOO! I just beat ________!!!!!

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Though I have to admit, I did find it hilarious that you engage Wallace Shawn in a battle of wits at the end.

With poisoned goblets no less....  I kept wanting him to say "YOU solved that puzzle?  Inconceivable!". 

Chapter 4 was certainly the worst as far as game play, at least for a little while in chapter 5 they got back to normal while looking for the keys.

The Epilogue was fun.

[Pak-Man]

I made the mistake of purchasing the first episode on its own just to try it out, then getting the season pass add-on. If you did that, the epilogue wasn't included. That was only for people who bought the complete collection up-front. Their reasoning for that was that about a month in, they started offering the first episode for free, so the epilogue was only for people who paid full price. Except I paid a little bit MORE than full price, and begged them to offer it as a paid add-on. Still hasn't happened. My only hope now is to buy the complete collection over again. When a Steam sale knocks it down to about $5, I'm taking the plunge.

[Variety of Cells]

I beat Hellblade last night.  It remains my favorite game of 2017, and my opinion of it has only increased since the mid game review I posted in the Game News thread that I've spoilered bellow.  All of those things still stand, but I wanted to say a bit more about the story.

One of the central aspects of the story is that the main character, Senua, suffers from psychosis.  That's a very tough subject, but Ninja Theory did a lot of research and listened to experts and some people who have similar symptoms as Senua.  They did a very careful and respectful job of incorporating the information they gathered on what it actually feels like to hear voices, or to suffer from delusions.

Senua's mental state isn't treated like a super power, but it's also not entirely negative.  Sometimes the way she sees the world is horrifying, but sometimes it's quite beautiful.  Sometimes the voices she hears are negative and scary, but sometimes they are helpful.  The game does a great job of putting you in the head space of someone who hears voices, suffers from delusions and often hallucinates.  So much so that you start to feel that these voices, delusions and hallucinations are normal, and that's just how Senua's world works.  Which is how someone who actually suffers from those things would feel.

I highly recommend this game.  It's an experience that's going to stay with me for quite some time.

Spoiler

Just found out about a game called Hellblade last week.  I really don't care if the gameplay is shit, because these visuals look so damn good.  The performance capture is amazing.  I mean, the gameplay will probably be great because it's ninja theory, but even if it wasn't I'd still buy it. 

I love playing as a tough, bad ass girl.  A female protagonist can be both strong and vulnerable at the same time, where writers have a habit of making men either one or the other.  I also love the opportunity to break the gender stereotype in video games.  Tired of playing as generic dudes. 

Comes out this Tuesday.  And it's only $30 cause it's suppose to be about 6 or 8 hours.  Sounds fair to me.

How was Hellblade? It looks good, but I notice that the trailers show very little actual gameplay.

I'm close to finishing it so I was going to wait before I wrote up my opinions, but since you asked...

It's amazing. It's my favorite game of 2017 so far. But don't start playing it expecting an action game like DMC. And don't expect an in depth puzzler either. It has both of those elements and they are used well when they show up. What combat there is feels fluid and responsive. The puzzles are germane, perhaps a little on the simple side, but they never impede the flow of the story.

Which is important, because the story, the atmosphere, the emotion, and the visuals are the real reason to play Hellblade. Play it with headphones on (forgot to mention sound design, which is incredible), the lights out and enjoy the experience of being a crazy girl seeking revenge.

The emotion they were able to get out of the performance capture is the best I've seen in any video game. I can't wait to play the game again as a walking simulator, enjoying the sights, using the amazing built in picture mode that lets you move the camera around and adjust a bunch of visual settings to take screen shots. You can even use picture mode during cutscenes.

I'll say a little more after I finish it, but I highly recommend it. Just don't expect an action game.

EDIT:  Oh, and Ninja Theory are publishing this game themselves. They are trying to create a new category of game between AAA and inde where they have the polish and visuals of a AAA but maybe it's shorter, at a lower price point, and they keep creative and monetary control over the game. I was excited to support this idea, and I'm glad it has yielded such a great product.

[CJones]

Hollow Knight 100%

I'd been stuck at 99% for over a month. Last night I finally beat the Trial of Fools. It takes like 15 minutes to get through the whole thing. I wonder how many hours I spent just redoing that Trial over and over.

Easily my favorite game this year, as evidenced by my avatar.

[Variety of Cells]

Congrats!

[Cupcake]

Cleared Story mode in Fire Emblem Heroes! Was really fun, I love Warriors games. Nothing quite like the feeling you get beating down waves of fodder. And Fire Emblem is a great series to put the Warriors formula to, because there's so many characters with so many different abilities. Some people claimed that the 3DS version looks terrible, and yeah, compared to the Switch version, it does, but it's still a really fun game. The models aren't that much worse than the models in the main series games. Only problem I REALLY have is that Tiki's accent is literally the worst British accent I've ever heard. It's sad that she's so much fun to play.

[Cupcake]

Finished the main gamy in Pokemon Ultra Sun! I'd say that it's the "good ending" of the story in Sun and Moon, since it hits all the same points, but takes different turns to get there. Not to mention that Lusamine stops being absolutely batshit insane and actually starts being an ok person, which is kinda awesome.  I've thought she's the must effed up Pokemon villain since she came out, and it's nice to see her arc actually get resolution.

[Variety of Cells]

Finally beat Divinity Original Sin 2.  Quite a long game if your'e playing on hard.  Really enjoyed it though, even more than the first one.  The story isn't quite as good at the Witcher series, but there is a lot more choice. 

[CJones]

Finally beat Divinity Original Sin 2.  Quite a long game if your'e playing on hard.  Really enjoyed it though, even more than the first one.  The story isn't quite as good at the Witcher series, but there is a lot more choice. 

WooHoo! 

Too bad I'm still at Fort Joy 

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Finally got around to playing Amikrog, took about 5 hours and 2 pages of notes to get through it.  Having to draw weird symbols was probably the most challenging aspect of the game.

A few tedious puzzles that serve no purpose other than to slow you down but not too many.

Was it just me or did it not sound like Mike's voice half the time? 

[Pak-Man]

The recording for the voices was really low quality and had a lot of background noise. There's a great adventure in there, but you have to tolerate a lot to enjoy it.

[Cyrusso]

I just played all the way through Super Metroid earlier today. I don't know what it is but for some reason I just never tire of that game. I guess that's a testimony to excellent design from the 16 bit era.

[Pak-Man]

After a tip from the AV Club, I decided to check out Doki Doki Literature Club. It's the most surprising game I've played through since Pony Island. (And it's free!)

[Cyrusso]

Not too long ago I finally beat Castlevania: Portrait of ruin. It's not exactly Castlevania: Symphony of the night or the excellent Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, but these days, what is? Anyways in Portrait of ruin the final boss you have to fight both Death AND Dracula at the same time. When you finally beat them, they merge into super mega devil form Dracula... or something and they proceed to jump around hurling projectiles at you and trying to crush you between its wing... fingers... or something. Anyways I've beaten Portrait of ruin once or twice before so it was just a matter of remembering all the patterns, using my potions sparingly and just using the heirloom of the Belmont family to... exterminate Dracula, or words to that effect. 

[Johnny Unusual]

At my family cottage, I have a PS2.  I don't get up there often but for years, I've been working through Grand Theft Auto III.  And I just beat it today.  Man, that last level is frustrating, which isn't helped by the awkward aiming mechanics.