Some Retro and Forza Horizon 3

On 01/04/2018 at 10:35 PM by KnightDriver

I got my Namco Museum working on my original Xbox finally (I forgot the disc the other day) and played some Galaxian. Then I played some Atari 2600 Bowling on Atari Flashback Classics Vol. 1 on Xbox One. Retro being done for the month, I got back to Forza Horizon 3 and felt like it would never end in any way.

Galaxian is a neat shooter but it honestly didn't sustain my interest all that long. I did enough to up the high score recorded on my Xbox and that was it. Then I started Atari Flashback Classics Vol. 1 on my Xbox One and ran through the few titles I played the other day to see if I could unlock those achievements. I got closer on Black Jack and Canyon Bomber but not quite. I managed to land one capsule on Command skill level in Lunar Lander but getting 800 points for the achievement was way out of reach on that difficulty. It's really challenging but interesting because it plays more realistically.

Then it was back to Forza Horizon 3. I got thoroughly overwelmed and felt a loss of direction after a while. So many events pop up as you win races and challenges. There's just so much content, I wasn't sure what or where to go next. I just kept choosing the closest thing to me. There are so many cars too. I must've used a dozen different cars during my time with it today. I noticed there's a Warthog and a Halo themed event. That's pretty cool. I'd love to play the Matchbox Car DLC to drive all the wacky vehicles, but I don't have the money right now. There's also a ton of customizable options for cars. I generally just chose other people's designs from a list. I wasn't into creating anything myself today.

I'm noticing this trend in games to provide an open world with a huge amount of content, plus loads of microtransactions, so that you stay in the game for a long, long time. Kind of like everyone wants to be a MMO. It can be really great, but I'm finding it daunting because I like to feel like I can reach some kind of end. These games, like Forza Horzion, are nearly endless. I'm not even thinking about completing anything. I'm just trying to find the fun and not think about collectibles or finishing anything.

I'll probably take a break from it when my rental comes, Okami HD, which should be here any day now.

Cary Woodham

01/05/2018 at 12:39 AM

Okami was my Game of the Year in 2006!

Machocruz

01/05/2018 at 05:42 PM

It was an epic journey. They really pulled out all the stops to make that action-adventure.

KnightDriver

01/07/2018 at 08:17 AM

I played it on PS2 but didn't finish it. I hope I can stick with it this time.

01/07/2018 at 08:58 AM

I played it back then too right along side God Hand that came out six months later from the same company. I still wonder how Clover Studios put out such wildly different games in the same year.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

01/05/2018 at 09:51 AM

I'm more of a Galaga man.

01/07/2018 at 08:54 AM

I keep expecting the leader alien ship in Galaxian to try and capture me, but nope. That's in Galaga. Also, in Galaxian, you have to wait for your shot to hit something or go off the screen to shoot another one. Rapid fire is better, always.

goaztecs

01/05/2018 at 11:56 AM

I see that sandbox with micro transactions especially with racing games. Need For Speed Most Wanted was like this. When the game was first released it wasn't but when I installed the PC version they were all over the place.

01/07/2018 at 08:45 AM

Like every game is going this way now. Even Bioware with their new upcoming game Anthem.

Super Step Contributing Writer

01/06/2018 at 03:19 AM

I usually finish the story and decide how much else I really feel like doing later. I'm glad Horizon is as big as it is, but I'm also glad for 15 hour games I can replay.

I'm trying to only play games if I'm genuinely having fun and not to tick boxes, but sometimes the completionist in me just HAS to get that Platinum.

01/07/2018 at 08:15 AM

Forza's story is so burried in all the events that I've completely lost track of it. So I'm using the achievement list as a kind of outline to a plot of my own creation. That way I feel like there's progression and an eventual end.

I think about how Mark completed Wolfenstein II in a day. What a different experience.

01/07/2018 at 07:53 PM

What difficulty did he have Wolfenstein on? Cause I had to go easy and very easy to finish the first one.

01/07/2018 at 10:56 PM

I think he chose Don't Hurt Me which is second easiest.

PixlBit