#Recently Completed

[npfehr]

Recently Completed - Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PC)

This is a third-person action-adventure game in which an unlikely duo must race to stop a madman from inciting civil war. To do this, the pair needs to find a legendary treasure before the madman does. There will be Exploring, and Shooting, and Solving Puzzles, and sometimes Driving to accomplish this!

So this is a spinoff that takes place after Uncharted 4. Chloe (from 2, and maybe 3?) and Nadine (from 4) have a mutually shared goal. They're combative with one another at first, but the arc of their relationship throughout the game is a real highlight and it turns out they're great together. Uncharted games have always had great banter, and this one is no exception.

The other thing they have is great set pieces, and this game is no exception there either! The middle chunk of the game revisits the jeep-driving open-world idea from Uncharted 4 and I fell into the trap of thinking there would be very little to do once I'd completed all the objectives. But there is plenty of story left afterward, and some inspired and exciting action sequences that I really enjoyed playing.

This is absolutely a game worth playing, as an Uncharted fan or not. Please do so at your earliest convenience!

[npfehr]

Recently Completed: Still Wakes The Deep (Xbox Series X)

This is a first-person horror adventure in which humans, not dwarves, delve too greedily and too deep and disturb something terrible. You're actually a scotsman working on an offshore oil rig in what looks like the 90s, when something fleshy and horrible comes up and starts transforming the rig and turning your co-workers into monsters.

The rest of the adventure involves your character trying to get from place to place to keep the rig from collapsing spectacularly, often while evading a monster or trying not to die of falling off something or drowning. Movements have a nicely heavy, tactile feel, and the voice acting was uniformly great.

It's not too long and I confess I probably wouldn't have played it if it weren't for Game Pass. But I did and it actually made me shed a tear at the end. Give it a try!

STILL WAKES THE DEEP - [2/?]

[npfehr]

Recently Completed - Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (Xbox Series X)

This is a trilogy of first-person mysteries starring the world's second-greatest mystery solver, Frog Detective! Can you find out what's going on on The Haunted Island? Can you crack the Case of the Invisible Wizard? Can you avoid the snares of Corruption at Cowboy County?

I played these with my young daughter and we loved it. The writing and art style are incredibly charming, and Frog Detective is wonderfully guileless and cheerful. The gameplay involves roaming a relatively small, contained area, talking to each resident in turn to understand possible motives and solve their individual problems. It's all very silly and lighthearted, since it's firmly established that crime doesn't exist in this world. The characters are quirky and we had great fun coming up with accents and voices to characterize them.

The 2nd game introduces a handy notebook mechanic for keeping track of clues, suspects, and your inventory. Best of all, you get to decorate the notebook cover with fun stickers. But even though you can individually designate characters as suspicious, it never really comes to much.

Whoever you are: if you like things that are cute and silly you will like this. Please play it!!

[ruporas]

1 kiss 2 kiss (ID in alt)

[shepscapades]

1. edamame — bbno$, Rich Brian

Oh, how the turn tables…

[npfehr]

Recently Completed: GRIS (Xbox Series X)

This is a gentle platforming game about a young girl exploring her world and recovering her voice. It has a gorgeous watercolor art style and no combat or violence, just environmental puzzles and satisfying gameplay.

My daughter and I played through this together and had a great time. Play it!

G R I S — [12/?]

[heartorbit]

searching for a star that's still unknown to anyone!

[temeyes]

casual simon riley (colored)

[npfehr]

Recently Completed: ANIMAL WELL (Switch)

This is a combat-free game of puzzles, exploration, and platforming. You are a small red blob that can jump. And in the early game, that's about it! But as you explore the wettest labyrinth you've ever seen, you'll pick up tools that greatly expand your options and help you solve puzzles that initially look impossible.

Everybody is cagey when talking about this game because discovering its hidden depths is a big part of the experience. It's addicting to find surprising new areas like Hollow Knight, hidden shortcuts like Dark Souls, or to have a flash of inspiration to try This Technique In That Place (like Outer Wilds). That 'a-ha!!' feeling is such a delight.

The game also looks and sounds terrific. Great atmosphere.

I rolled credits last night, but rather than being over, the game gives you new tools and sends you back into the labyrinth to find all the secrets you missed. And there are secrets on secrets inside of secrets, including (apparently) at least one puzzle that requires communicating with other players of the game to solve collaboratively. I'm almost definitely not doing all that -- I'm just going to look up spoilers for the lingering questions I had, and probably watch a YouTube video of the true ending.

But I had an amazing time playing it and I'll probably still be thinking about it for a while. Play it!!

ANIMAL WELL dev. Shared Memory (2024)

[zodiac-monkey]

[salarymanwaka]

[npfehr]

Recently Completed: VVVVVV (PC)

This is a short retro-inspired precision platform game. You play as Captain Viridian, whose ship has run into a mysterious spacetime distortion and whose crew has been teleported to parts unknown. You must explore trap-ridden screens to find them (as well as some optional shiny trinkets) but here's the rub -- you can't jump. Your only move is to invert gravity and change the direction you fall. The game's challenge level ramps up gradually, and restart checkpoints are generously placed, but there's definitely some infuriating screens near the end. Fortunately, the cheery lil' face of the Captain and an absolutely killer chiptune soundtrack are there to keep you going.

This isn't my first time through the game and it probably won't be the last. Play it!

[chalkrub]

pwyw com from last month ! these are closed now but i will open again at the end of feb maybe

[npfehr]

Recently Completed: Hot Wheels Unleashed (Xbox Series X)

This is an arcade-style racing game in which you drive little cars on big crazy tracks. The physics take some getting used to, but it feels surprisingly good when you get the hang of it. That said, when things go wrong they can be incredibly frustrating, and I will admit that I did play 95% of the game on easy, to make sure I don't cuss in front of my kids.

It has no reason to be as good as it is. Play it sometime!

[batbabydamian]

Do you do commissions bc I need more of beastworld kitty damian🤭

i don't think i'll be open to commissions for a very long time but!! i love beastworld Damian so here's some doodles!!

[npfehr]

Recently Completed - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSP)

This is a 2D action-adventure game with RPG elements and a focus on exploration. You play as Alucard, half-human son of Dracula himself. Al's upset that his dad's castle has reappeared, and heads home to register his displeasure by defeating Dracula once and for all. Only, one wrinkle? Dad's not around and the castle seems to be in control of one Richter Belmont. The Belmont clan has usually been the ones to rise up and defeat Dracula in times past, so something weird is going on. Also, Death shows up early on and completely just takes all your cool Alucard-branded gear. Dangit!

What a troublesome weekend!

I was never a big fan of the Castlevania series, having tried and bounced off the earlier (linear) games. In the late '90s, when I was in high school, a friend brought the PSX version over to my house and said "here, you have to try this". I knew nothing about it, but humored him and quickly discovered: 1.) it's gorgeous! 2.) they went Metroid with the series what!! and 3.) omg there are RPG elements and equippable items!!! Reader, I was instantly in love. My first time through the game was a struggle, but as I gradually learned about more secrets and fun ways to break the game, it has become a comfort title instead.

The specific version I played this time was included as a hidden extra in the Dracula X Chronicles game for the PSP. It features a new translation and English dub, as well as the restoration of some cut content. I wanted the experience to feel as fresh as I could, and while the new dub removes some of the iconic goofiness of the original, it helped me appreciate the game again.

This game is absolutely chock full of secrets, oddities, and tiny details. It's abundantly clear that a lot of love went into its creation, but while I've enjoyed later entries with the Metroid style of gameplay, none have quite reached the heights of discovering this castle for the first time. I recognize that it's also the nostalgia talking; you can only be really blown away once, so that's no fault of the later entries. They're good too!

This is 100% a game worth checking out. If you haven't before and the ending you get seems vaguely unsatisfying, keep digging; there's a lot more to this game than first appears. Play it!