Noble Gamer

January 2020

Did a lot of gaming (maybe too much for once) and am happy with my new rig. Month was otherwise tough, but going in with
I’m sadly likely going to have to RMA my mobo because the DRAM light comes on 2 out of 3 times I start it up. Here’s hoping I can do an Advance RMA on my Strix B550-F so I’m not without a system for however long it takes for ASUS to ship a replacement.

Also I’m making an effort to find games in my library that work well on Steam Link via mobile phone, hence a few of the simpler games that I played this month.

Stats

I beat and completed more than I left unfinished or wont play. I also paused Humble Choice since I wasn’t super interested in few games I could’ve gotten from it. So I think that’s a win.

This month’s games:

6% won't play
38% unfinished
38% beaten
19% completed

This year’s priorities:

3% won't play
63% never played
14% unfinished
17% beaten
3% completed

Completed

Half-Life 2

Eliza

10.6 hours
1 of 1 achievements

I recommend this to anyone who wants a thought provoking visual novel but doesn't need much choice to enjoy a story of technological, corporate, ethical, and personal struggles. Everything is told from the story of a woman who reconnects with people from her past, tries conducting AI driven counseling, and tries to set a future course for her life. It took about 7 hours for me to play through the entire story, and then see all endings.

Half-Life 2

NERTS! Online

2.2 hours
no achievements

Do you want an online multiplayer variant of Solitare? Because Nerts is how you get multiplayer Solitare. It delivers on what it says it is, and I enjoy it.

Beaten

Half-Life 2

Tomb Raider

25.4 hours
18 of 50 achievements

The story was just the right length for me with just the right amount of challenge. Lots more cinematic action in the last third to fourth of the game. Completed 80%+ of the game, but many achievements are for collecting or multiplayer. A decent game to be one of the first to break in my RTX 3080 on.

Half-Life 2

Reventure

3.1 hours
38 of 101 achievements

Found 38 endings including good ones so I'm considering this one as beaten. Such an amusing game with an unusual amount of strategy around which items you pickup since usually picking up more items limits your jump height.

Half-Life 2

West of Loathing

17.7 hours
4 of 28 achievements

A fun story in this best in class stick figure RPG, which says a lot compared to Flash web based stick RPGs. DLC was alright, though figuring out how to defeat most ghosts without a fight is really tough to figure out. Works well for Steam Link Mobile.

Half-Life 2

Save Your Nuts

4.3 hours
7 of 27 achievements

Played every map and every mode against AI. They took the concepts of the 3 modes (multi nut CTF, 1 nut CTF, brawl) nearly as far as it will go and decently polished, but relies on multiplayer for extended fun or gameplay.

Half-Life 2

Rock of Ages 2

10.8 hours
4 of 21 achievements

Just as big but higher quality than the first game. Tower defense (and attack) hasnt been this fun for me since Sanctum 2. Unlock rocks, weapons, stuff, and slots for stuff.

Half-Life 2

Bottom of the 9th

11.8 hours
8 of 17 achievements

A baseball game with unique dice mechanics with just one or a few innings play per game, hence the game's title. Great for Steam Link mobile after optimizing resolution.

Playing

Half-Life 2

Titanfall® 2

1.8 hours
4 of 50 achievements

A decent great looking FPS so far, and just started moving around in a titan. The parkour elements took me a bit of getting used to.

Half-Life 2

EXAPUNKS

12.7 hours
1 of 16 achievements

Only the second Zachtronics game where I could get to or past the mid point. Love the "easy to learn" with challenging puzzles for applying programming concepts. It is difficult to master in the sense of decreasing lines of code or time it takes to complete something, which is optional if you want to do better compared to other players. It was satisfying in a hacker battle (where code length has a minor limit) where I could beat the NPC 100% and a Steam friend at 70% vs 30%. I recommend the game Gladiabots if you like that sort of thing, though that can get advanced pretty quickly with AI type commands.

Played & Paused

Half-Life 2

GRIP: Combat Racing

18.4 hours
18 of 35 achievements

Got to tier 10 of 11 of the campaign. Very happy with how far I got and the variety in tracks & modes.

Half-Life 2

Another Brick in The Mall

26.7 hours
3 of 52 achievements

A mall building sandbox with schedule and some resource management. The gameplay loop or gameplay variety isnt strong enough for me to call it a simulator first.

Half-Life 2

Divide by Sheep

2.6 hours
3 of 19 achievements

Its made for mobile and has okay variety but too complex for me to move past the first world with about 40 levels, and 6 other worlds. Great concept though.

Won’t Play

Half-Life 2

Kingsway

3.4 hours
1 of 21 achievements

Great RPG concept for the UI to be like a computer OS, but doesnt hold my interest past a few playthroughs. Simple mechanics, enemies, and gameplay.

February preview

  • Titanfall® 2

    2 hours playtime

    4 of 50 achievements

  • EXAPUNKS

    13 hours playtime

    1 of 16 achievements

  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™

    5 hours playtime

    0 of 81 achievements

  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown

    6 hours playtime

    0 of 85 achievements

  • Yooka-Laylee

    5 hours playtime

    0 of 35 achievements

  • Sunless Skies

    0 minutes playtime

    0 of 31 achievements

  • Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive

    14 minutes playtime

    0 of 25 achievements

  • Morphblade

    2 minutes playtime

    no achievements

  • BATTLETECH

    141 hours playtime

    34 of 128 achievements

  • Divinity: Original Sin 2

    50 hours playtime

    2 of 97 achievements

Zelrune

Congrats on your assassinations! Also on finishing Eliza! I never played Solitaire before that achievement so it took me a bit. I thought the endings were weird, especially corporate guy-who-I-forgot-the-name-of.

Noble Gamer

Zachtronics has a soft spot for solitaire, so they tend to put some solitaire variant in some of their games. I have played a good amount of solitaire and I still found the hardest of the 4 solitaire modes to be challenging. Yes, the corporate guy was weird, though in retrospect that’s what can happen if technology is idolized and seen as one’s higher power.

devonrv

Divide By Sheep only has five worlds. The last slot is a splash screen asking you to leave a review.

Also, if you’re having trouble, there’s a bubble you can click that’ll just end the level after you get only one or two boats done; you don’t have to three-star the level to unlock the next one. You can even sink a boat deliberately just so you can clear an easier, later one, and the bubble will still show up.

Noble Gamer

Thanks for the tips - I knew I didnt have to 3 star everything - I’ve done a number of 1 & 2 stars. Didnt know about the boat sinking.