So I've been wondering how to rank these games and what to mention again and what to not bother repeating when people can always scan back a couple of posts, but I seem to have separated the games out in to 7 groups, with only the bottom 2 groups being things I'd suggest not playing. Now the questions is do I start from the good or the bad?
I just wrote the top one, thought about it, then decided to write the bottom group first. This consists of Tower of Guns and The Order: 1886. I didn't like either of these games. I'll skip over tower of guns as I'd never heard of it before, played it for a couple of hours and moved on with my life, but I guess i just didn't 'get' it. For me, dying dozen of times to unlock something to make later playthroughs easier isn't fun, it's something that will wind up with me having a broken controller and is the same reason I'll never play Dark souls or anything like that. Sorry, but I don't enjoy constantly failing, I do that enough irl, I don't need to do it in games too.
As for the Order, I was weary going in, hearing that it was mostly story and the cut scenes outdid the amount of game time and it was really cinematic and all that. It sounded off putting to me, but then I nearly never played Metal Gear Solid 4 because of the same reasons, but I enjoyed that game, so I went for it, and boy do I regret it. Turns out just because a story is long and the cut scenes outnumber the gameplay, it still doesn't automatically make the story interesting. It was dull, I didn't care about the characters at all and what little action there was, was passable at best, and I don't even like 3rd person cover based shooters anyway. I've still never played a gears of war game for that very reason. Why did I even try it?
This bottom list comprises of the 2 games I absolutely hated on this list and the booby prize winner for last place is: The Oder: 1886
The second list are the other games I disliked and the only other group of games that I'd recommend you not play. This list is D4: Dark dreams don't die and Wolfenstein: the new order.
So, D4 is weird interactive story style game, not the genre that's weird btw, more the game. All the characters don't make sense, there's pieces of the plot that start and don't end, it's just weird. Too weird for me in fact, sorry.
The there's Wolfenstein: The New order. This game would have been higher up if it were shorter, but it was an average fps that far exceeded it's welcome. It went on (for me anyway) for about 14 hours of its passable gameplay and 'meh' story. after a few hours I'd given up caring buy I pushed through it, I'd recommend no one else does the same.
Okay, now we're on to the sorta DLC/ demo section, but that are technically classed as stand alone games in Forza Horizon 2 presents fast and furious, and Saints Row 4, Gat outta hell.
These games don't need to be talked about separately really, the main thing to say is rather than playing these, play the main game that they're based on, as those games (Forza horizon 2 and Saints Row 4) are great, and sure, if you've finished them and can pick these up for free to add a little longer playtime (although that'll never likely be a problem in Forza) then go for it.
Okay then, on to real games that I'd really recomend with his middle layer of Worms battlegrounds, Sonic adventure 2, Ben there, Dan That, Time Gentlemen please, DLC quest and resogun.
Right off the bat let's pull Ben there, time gentlemen and DLC quest aside and just admit they're silly little games (well, Time gentlemen, please isn't that little), but they are funny and entertaining and good for what they are. They're all dead cheap on Steam and there's no reason not to at least try them.
On to Resogun then, which I'll admit was a lot of fun and in the vein of the likes of Geometry wars and the developers own other series, super stardust, this is a genre that has really caught on in the last few years. It is good at what it does, but as I said before, It doesn't have a lot of game modes, but tries to make you think it does by promoting dlc content on the front page like you can play it right there. That is annoying.
Sonic Adventure 2 is obviously an old game that somewhat stands up against the test of time (although that may well be influenced by my childhood love of Sonic (which has gone on way too long at this point in time)) as it's still passable. Sure, Shadow has a stupid voice and the knuckles/ Rogue levels are kinda lame, but the way the story intertwines is pretty interesting. And speaking of old games there's worms: battlegrounds too. Sure, this is technically a new game, but the basic idea of what worms is hasn't changed in about 20 years, and just like most (2D) Worms games before it, it's fun. Plus, here's a picture of it to liven up the middle of this post!
Then we're on to the really good stuff. This contains 3 2D platformers, Freedom planet, Apotheon and Shovel Knight.
So, Freedom planet brings back the megadrive style of faster paced platformers, like sonic, Ristar, Vectorman, De Cap Attack (a personal favourite) and more. It's got cool 16 bit style music too, but the plot is a little long. The game is a great trip down memory lane though, especially if you were bought up on those types of games like I was.
Apotheon is another I'd have never played if it wasn't for PlayStation plus. It's set in ancient Greece with a cool art style to go with it as well as fun sword and shield (and bow and arrow) play, it's a lot of fun, the plot is fun and the voice overs are (hopefully intentionally) hilarious.
Shovel knight then, which hit the 3ds and Wii U last year, but I'd never picked it up, until this year. It's now finally out on nearly everything too, and it deserves to be played. It's another game that's influenced by older platformers and does a good job on it. The story is again great and there's fun spoofing on a lot of other games that'll you recognise (if you know your stuff).
Then it's the not really indie section with Ori and the Blind Forest and Transistor. I say not really indie because even though it's small studios producing these games, they've been given a hell of a lot of money to make them. Firstly Ori, which was funded by Microsoft, was a terrific platformer. It's got an open world so you're encouraged to look around for hidden extras and collectibles. It's another game with a great story and art direction. It looks great, plays great and really is about as good as it gets for modern day 2d platforming. It's also the highest game on my list that came out this year, so I guess it's my game of the year so far (though I sincerely doubt it still will be come the end).
Transistor is great too, from the makes of Bastion (which I've heard is good but I've never played it, so hard to say), where you control a sword, or a girl, or both, I'm not totally sure. Either way, the singer has lost her voice to 'the process' and needs to stop them and get it back. Again, great story and interesting gameplay, where you can play it 2 ways, which combine together well, wether you're mapping out a whole attack, just wining it or mixing them together.
This top group consists of Infamous Second son, The Swapper and Counter Spy. These were definitely my 3 favourite games that I played during this time.
Infamous was very much like it's predecessors, a fun super powered frolic around an open city, fighting the good (or evil) fight and destroying enemies in millions of different ways. There's plenty of variety, a fun story that doesn't get too in the way (albeit maybe a bit too serious for an infamous game for my liking) and some genuinely good boss fights, but most importantly, just classic fun.
The swapper may be my favourite puzzle platformer that I've ever played. It's got a cool atmosphere, it's challenging enough to make you want to try again, but not so much that you smash your controller then buy a second one and copy what an online guide tells you to do (or maybe that would just be me? (not that that's happened to me (yet))). That's another game I'd never have played without PS Plus, and I'm grateful it was there as I loved this game.
Speaking of only from PS Plus, I'd never even Heard of Counterspy before it showed up on PS Plus, but that sure was a nice surprise. It's a terrific 2d sneak 'em up kind of game, where you infiltrate both sides of the cold war to get information. There's other concerns as you go along too like which side is on to you more, which has weapon blueprints, which gets you closer to stopping the space launch and more. Plus, each mission is a bite-sized 10 minute or so affair, so it's perfect for the busy guy/ gal that you probably aren't. There's a lot more to it too and for something that seems so simple I found it truly excellent, so I'll give it my stamp of approval of the best game I played here. Congratulations Counterspy
Thank for reading at least 1 section of this 13 week process (sounds like I'm on the Apprentice). I genuinely don't know what to write abut next until the Witcher comes out, but I'm sure I'll come up with something
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