• MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD
  

  56 hours playtime

  18 of 50 achievements

Finished the Elder’s Crossing arc. I was told there are more but at 56 hours, I’m thinking I could already mark this as “done”, especially with the closing credits after this arc. I still intend to continue with the game, especially with Iceborn coming by January 2020, but I wanna go through the rest of my backlog too.

Overall, this game is awesome! I initially thought I won’t enjoy it as much because of the grinding but I ended up doing a lot of grinds to get certain weapons and armor to deal with the next monsters to hunt. The SOS system is also great where I can call for help anytime I’m having trouble with a monster, and people actually showed up! I thought they’d be too busy doing their own thing. Only had one experience where some guy called us a “useless bunch”. Easily ignored and doesn’t seem to be as pervasive as other multiplayer games.

It also felt great to see new monsters, and I think that’s one of the main things that kept me going; I want to know if there are more monsters to discover and how they interact with other monsters, beyond just kind of pushing them out of the way while walking or flying. Deviljho and jyuratodus’s interaction with other monsters are the best IMO. Wish they did more for the other monsters.

The controls can be a bit tricky though, particularly when using items and you have a ranged weapon. I had a hard time choosing an item while avoiding monsters charging at me because the mouse’s scroll button is used for choosing the ammo type. I stuck with melee weapons for most of the game because of this, but I think it’s an unnecessary complexity. It makes for easy changing of ammo at the risk of not having the right item when you need it, but shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Still, it’s a fun game, and I often play a couple of mission at the end of the day without feeling like I’m losing anything in the story. That was a challenge for me when I played story-heavy games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. I felt like I had to backtrack a bit to make sense of what’s going on, and I couldn’t just do one or two missions and call it a day.

• Dragon Age 2 + DLC
  

  47 hours playtime

After playing this, I can understand why people think this is the “weakest” in the trilogy, even though I haven’t completed Inquisition yet. After the last battle, it felt more like an intermission for something greater. It made the Hero of Ferelden sound legendary, and it felt like I was trying to live to the Hero’s reputation (even though I was that hero).

Still, I loved this game. The quests were a lot more personal. They drew me in far more than the first game, and it felt to me like I should get them right. The repetitiveness of Kirkwall didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would after reading the reviews. When I visit the same old cave or mansion, I was like, “Oh, right, I know this place,” and went on with the quest.

And I still loved it even after I was spoiled for checking out Dragon Age Keep. I was planning to skip this and just use a manually created profile on Keep, so I kinda expected what will happen. It didn’t steal away the worry that I might mess something up or the enjoyment of seeing first-hand how the characters interact and how the story plays out. It was even more important since there’s a “time” progression. Characters died, moved on, got married, etc.

On the other hand, the DLCs weren’t as meaningful for me as the first game’s DLCs. I guess I’m just not that excited for Orlais. I was kinda disappointed with the Legacy too. I was hoping to meet the Architect or their kindred again. But I guess that’s for Inquisition.

Overall, great story, even if it felt temporary and not as far-reaching as the first game. But maybe that was because it felt so personal. I guess it’s like how people tend to think that they can never be someone like that bigger-than-life personality they admire, but only because they experience their own challenges and doubt first-hand while they only see the successes of their heroes.

Anyway, I’m rambling. If you loved Dragon Age Origin and want to play Inquisition, this is an enjoyable interlude to the story.

• Dishonored 2
  

  32 hours playtime

  20 of 50 achievements

That was a fun run. Took me longer than the average coz I really wanted to do the stealth and merciful route. Unfortunately, I can’t avoid being detected. I think being undetected is only possible on the New Game+ mode where you retain Runes for use in the new playthrough.

It feels great to be reintroduced to the Dishonored universe. I think those who played the first game and DLCs will enjoy this. Playing as Emily felt strange at first but I got used to it. Afterwards, I did a quick run with Corvo (might continue afterwards) on the Dunwall stage and it felt more familiar, although somehow “heavier”. Maybe I got too used to playing “light-footed” Emily.

I’m a bit disappointed that there’s no more “Hound Pits Pub” type of experience. The time spent on the new base of operations was considerably shorter, and personally not very memorable, compared to the first game. No interesting twists either.

Still, I’m satisfied and glad that I got to play this sooner than I planned after I won it on SG. I might do another round (high chaos and/or Corvo maybe) before going on another game. I might not jump into Death of the Outsider just yet. I wanna savor this before I leave the game behind forever(?).

• Portal 2
  

  29 hours playtime

  18 of 51 achievements

Had this one sitting around for a while. Glad to finally finish the story. It was an enjoyable trip too, and I’m glad the puzzles are still challenging even after playing the first game. Highly recommended if you’re into puzzle games. Plenty of sarcasm and humor to keep you company too.

• Antichamber
  

  11 hours playtime

  no achievements

Finally finished it. This is one of my first games back when I still have a low-end laptop. I stopped playing coz I kept getting stumped by the puzzles and I didn’t want to ruin the experience by following a walkthrough. I played a few puzzle games, notably Portal, and I realized just how enjoyable first-person puzzle games can be. I only got to return to this thanks to the Spring Cleaning event by Steam, but I did not regret going back into this. Easily a great puzzle game. While not as graphically interesting as Portal, this is still a fun game for its puzzles. I did check a couple of spoilers when I got stumped but I still did most of the puzzles, which was very satisfying.

Looking back, I think the signs really were more helpful than I first realized. I thought they were more of an afterthought sometimes but then you see them again and again and realize the message may not be for that initial pass; it’s for the next ones.

Highly recommended!

• Ahnayro: The Dream World
  

  21 hours playtime

  11 of 11 achievements

It was painful wracking my brain solving the puzzles but they are oh so worth it. This is an Alternate Reality Game, and I think this is the second game I’ve played, all from Alice & Smith. I put this off despite the low HLTB hours coz some of the puzzles are challenging. I remember thinking I’d need to learn advanced cryptography just to solve some of them (I didn’t). But solving the puzzles is pure pleasure that I kept thinking I should try just one more puzzle, until I get stumped again and just put it aside.

It’s helpful to get some help though. There are five clues available each day. The community is also quite active. I asked for help there and within a day (or two?) I got a reply. And I think anyone playing this would need someone to push them in the right direction. Some answers simply aren’t common sense, or you could easily miss them while going through the voluminous tomes from Wikipedia.

I’d recommend this for those who like puzzles and mystery.

• BioShock Infinite
  

  44 hours playtime

  33 of 80 achievements

Finally finished this series. It was dizzying, especially since I need to use the skyhook for the rails often. I think I only got the hang of it around the latter part of the game. The main challenge was being able to bring around only two weapons at any given time. Although having another character around to have conversations with made this a pleasure to play. I didn’t feel as alone as I did in the first two games. It’s also a lot more colorful.

The story rocks as usual. I finished the Burial At Sea DLCs as well, and it’s nice to see how it tied up with the first two games. But I’m not sure I’m liking the ending. I’m just happy to finally have the whole story. This is an awesome series.

• Dragon Age: Origins
  

  88 hours playtime

  no achievements

Wow. I enjoyed that a bit too much. I actually liked it better than Mass Effect. I think mostly because it didn’t require me to hunt for bullets for my weapons most of the time. It even has unlimited arrows! And the tactics setup was very useful so I don’t micromanage all the time. This is something I wish they also had in Mass Effect. I still cringe each time I’m trying to get ahold of my mates while fighting in ME. Or maybe it’s in ME and I didn’t know…

I also finished the DLCs, except the darkspawn chronicles since I don’t think that’s necessary for the story? Just got frustrated how I lost ALL of my lyrium when I played the DLCs, and playing as a mage, it made Golems of Amgarrak a whole lot harder than it already is. I got more lyrium later on on Witch Hunt, but it’s quite short and I don’t plan to play anything else after that.

Just a shame I didn’t get Leliana in the main campaign, so I had no idea who she was in the DLC. I completely missed her coz she was in some building I think. I got the qunari though coz he was right outside in full view. I was already a bit of distance away when I learned about her (was trying to play blind), and I didn’t want to have to play all over again just to get her.

It was challenging to play at first coz I wasn’t used to this kind of play, pausing and playing all the time, but now that I’ve played it, I think it’s a lot better than having to react immediately all the time on impending danger. Kinda like turn-based games.

Overall can’t wait to play the next one in the series. But I also want to play my other games. I’m on the last Bioshock already, and I also can’t wait to finish it.

10/10

EDIT: I think one of the main things ME did better though are the characters. I felt a whole lot connected to Mordin, Kaidan, and the gang than to Morrigan, Alistair, and so on.

• Mass Effect 3
  

  34 hours playtime

  no achievements

Finally finished the trilogy! I love this series, and I’ll miss all the characters. A shame I didn’t realize some of the DLCs weren’t included in the deluxe edition I bought.

I sat through this game this holiday with the sole intention of finishing it, but I couldn’t just get to the main quest; I had to get as many of the sidequests as possible. I also finally got together with Kaidan! Been trying since ME1, but didn’t realize he wasn’t a romance option for MaleShep on ME1 without a mod. And he was just distant on ME2. It was also fun (and heartbreaking) to reconnect with old allies.

But with all my efforts, I still failed to stop the extinction of a race because of a choice I made back in ME2. I was conflicted and felt like playing the 2nd game again, but I also need to go through my backlog. I think I’ll leave it as it is for now. But this series has become a standard when I evaluate other games.

I’ll probably play the shorter games next, but I’m looking forward to the Dragon Age series as well, and also The Witcher.

• Mass Effect 2
  

  8 hours playtime

  no achievements

Finally finished this. I finished it on the Origin app, so I’m guessing my achievements and hours won’t reflect on Steam.It was a wild ride, and I’m happy I was able to finish it after all this time. The mechanics are a lot more manageable now since I no longer have to micromanage the team’s weapons and armor. The “healing” ability has also changed into a “resurrect”, which was weird but I’m okay with it. I usually end up not using up my medi-gel, which is great. As usual though, I didn’t get the romance route. I was aiming for Mordin, but after a while, he just shut me down when I try to talk to him, so I’m guessing I messed up somewhere again. On the other hand, I had to make an effort to make sure I don’t end up with Jack, Tali, Miranda, or Samara.

My fishes also keep dying. :(

I’m looking forward to the rest of the series, but I still have others in my backlog. Not to mention Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider also look so cool. And Final Fantasy XV. sigh So many games, so little time.