December update
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Little Nightmares (Q2 2017) ⭐️⭐⭐☆☆
Platformer Puzzle Gamepad8,7 hours playtime, 8 of 22 achievements (36%)
Beaten 1,5 month after activation
- no jumpscares
- nice atmosphere
Cons:
- checkpoints are too scarce
- perspective makes it sometimes hard to time jumps
- controls are sometimes wonky
- some enemies have wonky animations
- random crashes due to engine error
Conclusion:
Play if you want to have light platformer / puzzle combination and nothing else of this genre in library. Otherwise there are way better games to play, so this one is skippable.
Story: Our character wakes up in a room and need to leave the Maw. Along the way we discoover what Maw is and what it does. There are no dialogues or text to read or listen, so story is learned from what's happening on the screen. But in the end it's nothing deep or innovative. I was disappointed in how shallow it turned out to be.
Gameplay: Game is a mix of light platformer, puzzle and a bit of creepy atmosphere. But it's neither platformer, puzzler nor horror. Many compare this game to Limbo and Inside. But while Limbo had nice puzzles, that focused a lot on trial and error; and story in Inside was not entirely predictable - LN does neither have unpredictable story nor innovative puzzles.
Instead we get puzzle with really basic design, platformer with control and perspective problems, story that is average, and stealth that's barebone (hide under table to not be visible - that's all).
There are few chasing sequences that are frustrating due to controls and checkpoints that are too far apart. If I already beat chase sequence and died shortly after due to badly timed jump - I should restart after chase sequence. Not before it.
There are two types of collectibles, but they do not unlock anything. And as you need to restart whole level to grab them (not possible to pick checkpoints inside the level) - it feels like a waste of time to start level anew to find collectible we missed.
Graphic, music, bugs: Music is really nice, but there are graphical problems with character models and animations are sometimes wonky. Controls are sometimes wonky, which should not be a case in a platformer game. And game was randomly crashing for me to the desktop.
Wolfeinstein: The Old Blood (Q2 2015)⭐️⭐⭐⭐☆
FPS13,3 hours playtime, 33 of 50 achievements (66%)
Beaten 12 months after activation
- game is really nice as a fast paced shooter
- new approach to climbing on rocks - would be nice to see it in Tomb Raider series
Cons:
- stealth does not feel like viable approach
- maps are quite small
Conclusion:
Not for fans of stealth approach (even when stealth is an option), but good if you want short and fast FPS.
Story: We need to stop nasizsts :D Story is predictable but still enjoyable. We can read optional diares and letters to learn bit more about characters background, or listen enemy talks that comment our previous actions.
Gameplay: Stealth is possible, but game was certainly no designed to be played slowly. We get passive bonuses for using weapon in certain way (killing x enemies with gattling gun will allow us to carry it in our inventory, killing x enemies with last bullet in the magazine unlocks faster reload etc.). Like in other games in the series we can use double weapons, find collectibles (that do not unlock anything). Enemy AI seems a bit lacking, as they can get stuck behind the cover.
I found climbing mechanic interesting. Instead of approaching wall, pressing E and then pressing W to climb we need to interact with wall, and then alternately click left / right mouse button to climb. Releasing button makes our character take the pipe out from the wall, pressing the button bury pipe in the wall. If we hold both buttons both pipes will be in the wall, if we lose rhythm and release both buttons - we fall down. I think this kind of mechanic could be used in Tomb Raider series.
Graphic, music, bugs: Game is bugless, but graphic feels a bit dated. Especially rocks or some foliage looks like taken from Skyrim. But character and weapons models are of higher quality. Music is fine.
End of the year 2019 stats
- Beaten 19 games:
- 1 GOG game
- 1 Origin game
- 17 Steam games
- Favorite game beaten in 2018: A Way Out
- Worst game beaten in 2018: Witcher Adventure Game
- Longest game beaten: Heroes of Hammerwatch - 35h
- Shortest game beaten: NightSky - 3h
- In 2018 I’ve beat 43 games - 24 more than in 2019
- lack of time
- laptop with i3 370M + AMD 5490 did not help, as it’s hard to find anything that is playable on it. All more demanding games (like A Way Out or Wolfenstein) were beaten when I was back home for a few days
Methodology:
- games bought before Steam Winter sale 2018 count as added in December 2018
- games bought from start of Winter Sale 2018 to the end of January 2019 count as January 2019 additions
I do buy games during winter sale to beat them next year, so it makes most sense.
Green columns are for games beaten on Steam, blue for games beaten on Origin / GOG.
I also made graph that shows my progress from the time I started to write down my percentages (finally it has it’s use!).
Great purge is a time when I removed, in a span of 3 months, 59 games from my account (I was close to 500, so it was more than 10% of my library). 48 were removed at the end of June, following with some more in next 2 months. It was also time when I really sorted my library and moved a lot from unfinished to won’t play.
Browsing through my updates made me realize I started to semi-seriously think about getting proper PC 6 months ago. I think for my New Year resolution I will pick “stop to overthinkg, as it takes you weeks to buy anything” :hehe:
But I have (more or less) parts already picked:
CPU: AMD Ryzen R5 3600
MOBO: MSI B450 Pro Carbon AC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB 3000Mhz
GPU: ?
SSD: Crucial MX500 250 GB
HDD: WD Blue 1 TB
PSU: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W
Case: Phanteks 350X
Monitor: AOC 24G2U
MOBO: I need board that supports flashing from USB (to upgrade BIOS for new Ryzen) + have on board WiFi (and Bluetooth). Buying cheaper MOBO + PCI-E WiFi/Bluetooth card will cost the same as buying more expensive board with WiFi. I heard they may finally release B550 MOBOs soon(?) but don't think I want to wait even longer just for having R5 3600 BIOS support out of the box.
RAM: I read that those works nicely with 3rd gen Ryzen, and there should not be a problem to OC them to 3200 Mhz.
GPU: That's only thing I lack. I don't want to pay extra for RTX when it's not used in more than few games. I do not render so I don't need CUDA cores.
RX 5500XT performance / price is not great, as they want to push RX 580 and 590 from stores. RX 5600XT will be released on 21st Jan with MSRP of 270$ (so custom boards will be more expensive most probably), and 5700 is overkill for my needs. Sadly Ryzen 3600 does not have integrated graphic, so I can't buy whole set up and wait for GPU. Grrr.
SSD: I need SSD only for OS. Having loading time in game of 15s instead of 30s will not make any difference for me. I know I could have 1TB SSD in the price of 240GB SSD + 1TB HDD, but SSD drives dies randomly without any warning. And I sometimes forget to do regular backup, so it's better to keep all my data on HDD.
I thought about M2 drive, but they overhear a lot. It may be upgrade possibility when SSD price will drop further, and they will start to use some normal cooling on those. MOBO I chose has "M2 shield" technology, but it only makes them hotter :hehe:
PSU: I wanted to go with Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 550W, but it's not available here. So Corsair is my 2nd pick.
Case: I want small case (so not bigger than 460 x 460mm) with simple design and good dust filters. I thought about Meshify C, but it's 20 pounds more expensive in it's most basic version. And version with tempered glass is 40 pounds more. I prefer to add money to GPU than PC case.
Monitor: I sit close to the screen so 24 inch 1080p will be perfect. Plus it will make GPU more "future-proof". It is IPS screen with FreeSync and 144Hz, has VESA mount and speakers (I don't have separate ones and normally use headphones, but I can't have them on when I want to clean and listen to radio :D). I was eyeing it since I started to look into PC monitors, and decided it's perfect match immediately after it was released and first tests were up.
I have Dell P2414H back home which is also IPS panel. Do not see any ghosting there, so this should be fine as well.
For your PC, you seem to know what you want but I’d add a few things.
For RAM, you should look into Crucial Ballistix 3000MHz Cl15 as well. Micron E-Die should be superior to Hynix (what you’ll most likely get in your Corsair kit) if you want to overclock it. If not, then pick whatever is the fastest you can afford.
For SSD, I don’t really get why you think it’s less reliable than a HDD but you should really consider going for a 480-500gb one. The price difference should be minimal and you will get double lifespan, and have a comfortable size to install even one or two games you play the most. And it’s better to have more especially if it doesn’t cost double price (I can see 240 for 45€ and 480 for 60€ so it’s definitively worth it). Same for HDD, I don’t know what your prices are but for me I can get a 1Tb for 50€ and 2Tb for 60€ so… It’d be a waste to lose one Tb to save 10 bucks only.
And lastly, for your GPU since you want an AMD and nothing fits except the 5600, why not wait one more month? You already waited six months, might as well cherry pick all your stuff to fit your needs instead of rushing because of one. And GPU might be one of the most important for your gaming experience so it’s definitively worth the extra month.
For RAM, you should look into Crucial Ballistix 3000MHz Cl15 as well.
I looked into them and they are 68 - 70 pounds (LT version). While Corsair is 60 pounds.
For SSD, I don’t really get why you think it’s less reliable than a HDD
Because SSD can die without warning and recovering data is very pricey. While recovering data from HDD is easy, as it’s safe on magnetic disc. When SSD controller dies you can as good throw whole thing on trash.
but you should really consider going for a 480-500gb one
I now have 500 GB in my laptop, and I have here my OS, data, games etc. I really don’t need bigger SSD than 250GB. With 1TB HDD for data and games I will have around 150 GB on SSD to install games. Which is plenty for me.
I don’t keep much data, it’s mostly photos. I remove movies after I watch them, and have 2 - 3 games installed top (I install, beat, remove). I don’t have dozens of installed games or hundreds of movies like some people do.
That’s also the reason why I don’t want to go for bigger HDD. I will not use it. And having something just because is a waste. I prefer to put those 25 pounds saved on SSD and HDD into better version of GPU cooling system.
And lastly, for your GPU since you want an AMD and nothing fits except the 5600, why not wait one more month? You already waited six months, might as well cherry pick all your stuff to fit your needs instead of rushing because of one.
Yeah, now I wait for card release at 21st. And we will see if card is competitive, especially that NVidia released this weird half-cut 2060KO as response for 5600.
This comment was deleted almost 5 years ago.
Great stats, thanks for sharing. I kind of wish I had been keeping details like that.
GTX 1660 seems a good value at the moment, I almost grabbed one last month but held off. Maybe a new card/build in 6 months, I keep telling myself 😬
I just saw that they dropped MSRP of RTX 2060 to 300$, most probably as response to RX 5600XT.
Also they will release B550 MOBO chips later this quater, and B650 + Ryzen 4xxx later this year… that’s bad moment to buy PC. But I’m kinda forced to :sob:
Playing games not on steam? Shame on you! :glare: