MayDay! MayDay! *bzzttt* We are Sinking! *crackle**
This is the coast guard, what are you sinking about?
Beaten in May 8 Games
A lot of my games this month are ones from my ‘long game’ list, which is the list where I attempt to track games I’ve started long ago and usually abandoned. Sometimes it’s because they don’t feel fun, or because my skills are not good enough at that time to play. In this case however, it is because of one particular achievement. It is a fun tower defense game, and in fact it’s probably one of the best in the market, but the achievement for playing once a week for 6 months is a killer! So this month I got over it and went ahead and set my clock and played a level 24 times in the space of an hour or two and finally got that last achievement and its associated one for beating all the challenges in the group. I know it’s not really in the spirit of the achievement but my attempts over the years have always failed, and hey, the achievement hunting groups don’t disqualify this, so it was time to move on and free up the space on my hard drive after 6 years.
Short puzzle game with simple mechanics. Not the best I’ve played but serviceable. It’s pretty easy at least so you shouldn’t need a guide to beat it.
Another game I started a long time ago and have been playing periodically over the years. The achievements run the gamut from extremely challenging to extremely grindy with plenty in between, and despite all the different modes, it’s still essentially just a gem swap game, albeit probably the best one made, so it’s hard to stay motivated to keep playing it for ages. Anyway, this year I decided to pick it up again and grind those last achievements. And here we are, all done and I feel pretty proud of this one to be honest.
I started playing this one a few years ago for my alphabet challenge, but hit a point where my worn out controller just wasn’t handling it so well and I gave up. Picked it up again now that I am playing with my Wii U Pro controller, and it was suddenly so much easier. Amazing what a difference a good gamepad can make. It’s a fun game with a silly story and FMV acting, and I wish more people had known about it, as I only found it because of a bundle.
Another one started years ago and abandoned. This time it was because it was just too grindy. Anyway, I guess I was in a grindy mood this month, because I sat down and ground out those hours to finish this one. It’s an interesting idea and works pretty well for the most part, as you battle a bullet hell level based on one of your songs. I would scored it higher, but it’s one of those games that takes about 3 or 4 hours to reach the end, and then has achievements that want you to grind for ages to lengthen the playtime. If you’re going to make me do that, at least keep things interesting with new weapons and ideas that will last a bit longer.
An interesting concept that I sat and started playing with my wife, as it seemed like it could have a midsomer murders feeling to it, but it became very clear quite soon into it, that the ‘contradiction’ element which is how you are supposed to drive the story forward, was not always logical or well thought out. So we abandoned it and I went through it with a guide. It’s a pity as the idea behind it is a good one, and I know it’s one similar to what is used in phoenix wright, but this was a story more grounded in reality, and I like that in a detective story sometimes.
A casual time management game that sees you dropping off and picking up kids with their own quirks that determine bonuses and penalties you earn. Surprisingly difficult in many ways, and some of the levels have very little margin for error to get the three stars. I guess that was why it was another one I started and abandoned years ago. I think there are better time management games out there, so give this a miss if you haven’t tried those yet.
Installed years ago because I thought the kids might enjoy a little racing game. They didn’t. But it stayed installed. Anyway, turns out it’s pretty easy for an adult with Mario kart experience to finish, so scratch another ‘long game’ off the list.
Wow, here we are and it's already 5 months of the year gone. I think a lot of people wish this year would just end already. And honestly, after a few months with movement restrictions and arbitrary laws by politicians who are letting the power go to their head a little, I'm also wishing the whole thing could just end. But hey at least my favourite things to do are at home, unlike a lot of other people.
So this was a relatively productive gaming month. I revisited a bunch of games I'd abandoned, the idea being that I want to boost my average completion up to 80%, and one of the best ways of doing that is by returning to games that have been forgotten. So it was a fairly eclectic list of games. Asides from these, I also carried on with stealth bastard, which now moves to the top of the list as the game I've taken the longest to beat, with nearly 7 years on the clock. I might actually get around to finally finishing it this year. I also made the mistake of starting Super meat boy. I've danced around it for years, knowing that I love a good hard as nails platformer and knowing that SMB is the godfather of this genre. Anyway, now that I am playing it, I realise I will probably never finish it, but it is worthy of its accolades, well crafted levels and smooth controls, and yes, some stupidly hard challenges. I don't know why I hate myself like this, but as with a lot of these kind of games, the more I play the easier the levels get, so who knows, maybe one day I'll add this to the list?
And that wraps up the month, June is usually an exciting month, because it's the one month of the year I get to spend a bit extra on games and get some bigger games I've got my eye on. Convenient that the steam sale is always just around the corner as well. So here is hoping for some good deals on some of those bigger games
Other stats
Achievements Gained 247Most difficult (according to TSA) 'Bloodbath!' in theHunter:Primal
Games added 28 (!OOPS!)
Number of different games played24
Achievement streak 1496 days
Average Game completion 77%
Total number of completed games 494
Games completed in 2020 42
Congrats on Bejeweled 3. I’m terrible at all of the speed modes (lightning, ice storm, and to a certain degree diamond mine) so I couldn’t get most of those achievements. And I got some of the grindy achievements, but not the most grindy ones, then called it a day at 77% completion. Oh well.
Quarantine has generally meant less gaming for me, because I do most of my (non-kid) gaming when the wife is out, or on travel and, well, she’s never out or on travel any more, lol. Oh well.
Yeah lightning and ice storm are tough, Funnily enough though, because I knew they would be tough I spent a lot of time playing them and they weren’t the last of the non-grind achievements I got.
Luckily quarantine hasn’t changed much in my way of life day to day, I work from home and my wife doesn’t work, but it’s all the other things I am missing, like being able to visit other people or go for an outing with the kids.Gaming is always my way of unwinding in the evening, so that is usually when I’m playing the more adult games, but my account has certainly being playing more kids games lately, just because the kids have no where else to go.