Five Games, Lots of Achievements

On 09/29/2017 at 10:20 PM by KnightDriver

1. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris: I finished the main story. I started looking for collectibles. The environments are really gorgeous in that top-down perspective that reminds me of Diablo a bit. The gameplay reminded me a bit of God of War even though it's mainly shooting and not hand-to-hand or chainblade-to-hand fighting. So I searched down some collectibles until I realized you had to get all the challenges in an area for an achievement, not just the collectibles. That requires a lot of replay doing things like only using a certain weapon, or beating a boss in a certain amount of time. I was tempted but didn't go for it. Maybe later.

2. Yooka Laylee: My rental came and I tried it. I liked it at first. It's charming like an old N64 3D platformer. I especially liked eating butterflies with my lizard tongue to replentish my power meter and health. But, I got to this spot where I had to roll up ramps to get to a caged pagie (it's a sentient page from a book that sends you to different worlds). The ramp made a 90 degree turn, and I just couldn't get it right. You move fast when rolling and the turn is completely blind. Plus the camera kind of wobbles when you go fast. It was so frustrating, I had to stop. Ah well, I was going to hunt down 200 quills per world, but it's not to be. Back it goes.

3. Oxenfree: This is a very cool point-and-click style adventure game with excellent voice work that does something a little new. You can naturally interrupt other characters and they will stop and listen, and then continue what they were saying afterwards. It made for very natural sounding dialog. I was getting into it but I wanted a little more action. You mainly just walk around in 2D spaces, clicking objects, or using a radio. I just wanted something more to do. I'll go back to it for sure sometime when I'm up for that style of game.

4. Pinball FX3: The newest free storefront (and one free table) from Zen Studios, makers of great video game style pinball tables. Nothing carries over from FX2, unfortuneately. I had a bunch of tables in FX2. I played the free table a little bit, but I think I was ready for more action.

5. Forza Horizon: I cleaned up the last of the race achievements. I won every single race in the game, and boy are there a lot of them. I did it pretty handily too. I was ready for a really tough ride, but it wasn't so bad. The only thing I didn't complete was the Skill Challenges within the PR Stunts. I read a guide but it didn't help me. I still couldn't get close to the goal score. You have to maintain combos and I always tag something on the road to end them. I pretty much gave up on those. But, I just got the second copy of Forza Horizon 2, so Mark and I are going to start that tomorrow. Oh yes. I can't wait to see the new stuff in there.

Halochief90

09/30/2017 at 02:28 AM

How far did you make it into Oxenfree? Once the story went crazy I was hooked and I beat it easily in a day.

KnightDriver

09/30/2017 at 10:40 PM

About an hour or so, just after things go sideways. It's really neat, and I'll continue it sometime for sure. I'm seeing your drivatar in Forza btw.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

09/30/2017 at 10:46 AM

did u see the trailer for the new Tomb Raider movie? I think the girl is hot. She's in shape, and looks like she can do the stuff Lara Croft is supposed to do. We'll see, I guess.

Cary Woodham

09/30/2017 at 12:28 PM

I might have to watch that trailer now.

09/30/2017 at 10:38 PM

I was kind of head over heels for the Lara in Temple of Osirus. I kept trying to figure out just what it was that got to me. Something about the design of the face, I think. lara

I watched the Tomb Raider trailer. She's very young. Lara has always been an adult, not a teenager, but the movie looks good. I'll go with it.

09/30/2017 at 12:25 PM

I hate rolling in Yooka-Laylee because it always feels like you're on ice when you're moving. One trick they don't tell you about is that you can stop in mid roll and just stand there, and that might make it easier to make those sharp turns. You can also jump while standing still in a roll, which is useful because you jump a little higher than when you are moviing, and that helps you avoid attacks from the first boss, who is entirely on a ramp.

You can't carry over your tables from Pinball FX2 to 3? That's strange because I downloaded Zen Pinball 3 on my PS4 so I could review the new Universal Classics tables, and I was able to carry over all my tables from Zen Pinball 2. Only bad thing is that I can't carry over tables I got from Pinball FX2 on my 360, but that's on a different system so it's understandable. Only thing I don't like about Zen Pinball 3 is that you have make a Zen Studios account to post your scores to a PS4 leaderboard, and you've never had to do that before.

09/30/2017 at 10:31 PM

I knew you could jump-and-roll but not stop-and-roll. In any case it was pretty annoying.

The Zen Pinball on Sony systems predated Pinball FX, I believe. I guess it makes sense that would work on PS4. Actually, I have some of those Zen tables from the PS3 days. I should check that out tomorrow.

I hate games that ask you to start an account with them. I've got enough passwords to remember already. I'm not adding another one.

goaztecs

10/03/2017 at 11:56 AM

I need to finish Temple of Osiris. Its a fun game, and reminds me of the Tomb Raider game on the GBA that I have been playing on and off.

Yooka Laylee is a game I've been waiting for to drop in price. I want to get it on the PC and last week there was a sale but I think if I can hold out a bit longer it will drop.

10/03/2017 at 08:08 PM

I loved Temple of Osiris. I'm real tempted to go back and try some of the challenges. I'll keep it installed for when I get the urge.

Yooka Laylee isn't bad, I just had trouble with the rolling mechanic in certain areas. I'd give it another shot if I could get it for cheap or free.

PixlBit