April 2018 Recap

On 05/07/2018 at 10:21 AM by daftman

Games Beaten

-Mega Man Legacy Collection: Mega Man 4 (3DS)

I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand it plays as well as ever and the charge shot does not get in the way as much as I feared it might. There are some really cool levels. The music is excellent. On the other hand, the bosses are a little hit or miss (Toad Man is laughably easy) and the boss weaknesses seem very arbitrary. But the moment-to-moment gameplay is still great fun and the Legacy Collection save feature cuts out the frustration of the difficult endgame, so...good stuff.

-NieR: Automata (PS4)

I have a natural bent toward sci-fi and this game certainly exploits that. It has an interesting story (even if progression through the game is a little unusual) and I like the characters a lot. I'd say it is merely adequate in the visuals department but the soundtrack is a real standout. The combat is in limbo between shallow and deep but it's fun, and that's what counts. There is a lot of side content but most of it is truly extra to finishing the game. It's just there if you want it.

-Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition (Switch)

Axiom Verge is full of exploration and discovery, mixing familiar design sensibilities with interesting new ideas like glitching through the environment. The graphics are pleasingly retro and even though the soundtrack is not, it does sound appropriately alien. The story leaves some intriguing questions unanswered. I do think there are too many weapons (though the dev did a good job making them distinct) and the endgame is a little too vague, I think, but I still had a great time with it.

Games Bought

After an unusually robust March, the only game we bought in April was Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2), which my wife picked up at Goodwill. Supposedly it's pretty good but hard. I skipped out on the entirety of April's PS+ games because I couldn't see myself ever playing any of them.

Now Playing

-Overcooked (PS4)

My wife and I are playing this very sporadically. Recently got to space!

-Destiny 2 (PS4)

New DLC drops tomorrow!

...

With NieR and Axiom Verge done, I'm between big single player games at the moment. We took the opportunity to get caught up on Doctor Who. Ready for the new season with the fem doc now!

KnightDriver

05/07/2018 at 11:53 AM

I played some Mega Man 4 the other week. Man, I just can't get into it but I love the different mechanics in the game, the graphics, and soud. Just the gameplay doesn't jive with me.

I was kind of surprised at the lack of detail in the environments in Neir Automata. Gameplay wise it makes me think it's a bullet hell shooter turned into a 3D adventure game. I think I got stuck on that second boss (two spinning wheels) because I got placed near one of them when entering the area and kept getting mauled. I watched a playthrough and there's some open area you can stand. I'll play it again someday and get past it. I had it on rental and had to return it to the library.

COD Finest Hour is awesome. I think it's the same game as what was renamed COD: Classic that was released as a download on Xbox 360. It's the first COD ported from the PC, right? Anyway, I like the WWII COD games. Not so much the modern ones except now I'm a fan of the COD Black Ops series.

I'd like to play Destiny 2 sometime. My friend Mark wasn't that thrilled with the first game, so I haven't gotten into the second one yet. I've got to see what Bungie's been doing though.

daftman

05/07/2018 at 09:13 PM

The old Mega Man games would be much more frustrating but the Legacy Collection has a save state feature. You still have to get through the hard bits but you only have to do it once, and that makes the games so much more enjoyable for time-crunched adults.

I thought it was so cool to play an action RPG with a shoot-'em-up component rather than a shooter one (e.g., Mass Effect). I can't think of another game like that.

05/09/2018 at 08:45 AM

I felt like I was playing Mega Man today with the last battle in Deadpool. I played that last area for hours and hours. My patience must be getting better. Oh and save states. I so don't want to spoil the challenge of the game, even though it stops me from playing it for very long. I should give in though, just to see the rest of the game.

Homelessrook

05/07/2018 at 04:30 PM

I really need to pick up Axiom Verge. The Metroid styling is what I like about it.

05/07/2018 at 09:14 PM

I don't think you'll regret it! And it's on all the current systems now, I think, so take your pick

05/26/2018 at 03:46 PM

Sorry for taking so long to responsed. I'm trying to get back into getting on here. Yeah, I want to grab it for the Switch. Actually there are a few I want to pick up. Right now I'm working on my 2600 collection ( Cart only) at the moment. At least until I get a space to make getting the boxes feasible.

Cary Woodham

05/08/2018 at 09:00 AM

Back in the day when I first played Mega Man 4, I was a little disappointed with it, too. Just wasn't as good as Mega Man 3 for some reason. But all the NES Mega Man games are still pretty darn good, even if they got pretty same-y.

I loved Axiom Verge. While it was nowhere near as good as Super Metroid, it was still a very fun 16-bit Metroid style platformer.

http://www.gamerdad.com/blog/2016/10/07/axiom-verge-wii-u-ps4-vita-xbox-one-pc/

05/08/2018 at 09:51 PM

I'm in no rush to play Mega Man 5 and 6 because even though I know they'll be good, I also know they'll be really similar to the first four.

05/09/2018 at 01:27 PM

Mega Man 5 is pretty meh, but Mega Man 6 does improve on some things. I liked 6 better than 5 and 4 at least.

Super Step Contributing Writer

05/08/2018 at 04:57 PM

Axiom Verge sounds a lot like XeoDrifter, especially glitching through environments.

I don't think I'll ever finish a Wiley Castle, but I still need to beat all the robots in my Mega man collections.

I'll probably download nier pretty soon. Just bought it on sale for golden week.

05/08/2018 at 09:52 PM

I've been meaning to try XeoDrifter. Need to do that.

05/08/2018 at 04:58 PM

I didn't think ier's demo was all that visually special either, but damn did I love the constant combat shifts.

PixlBit