What Games Have You Completed? (2021 Edition)

1. Tomb Raider Definitive Edition.
2. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Remastered (The Ezio Collection).
3. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.
4. Astro’s Playroom.
5. Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
6. Bugsnax.
7. Cyberpunk 2077.
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered.
9. Spider-Man: Miles Morales DLC.
10. Rage 2.
11. Rage 2: Rise of the Ghosts DLC
12. Rage 2: TerrorMania DLC.
13. Mass Effect Andromeda.
14. Late Shift.
15. Subnautica.
16. Anthem.
17. Tacoma.
18. Days Gone.
19. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Remastered (The Ezio Collection).
20. Battlefield 4.
21. Concrete Genie.
22. Rise of the Tomb Raider.
23. Rise of the Tomb Raider: Lara’s Nightmare (DLC).
24. Rise of the Tomb Raider: Cold Darkness DLC.
25. Journey.
26. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
27. Maquette.
28. Watch Dogs: Legion (PS5).
29. The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone (DLC).
30. Gris.
31. Watch Dogs Legion: Bloodlines (DLC) (PS5).
32. Return of the Obra Dinn.
33. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wraith of the Druids (DLC) (PS5)
34. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wraith of the Druids (DLC) (PS4)
35. Ratchet and Clank (2016)
36. Subnautica: Below Zero.
37. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
38. Sherlock Holmes: Crime and Punishments. 
39. The Suicide of Rachel Foster. 
40. Legends of Talia: Arcadia.
41. Nier Automata.

42. Donut County. Completed and platinumed.

It’s cute and cheeky although perhaps not as funny or as charming as it thinks it is. However, I still appreciated the absurdity of the premise which is inherently very silly and fun. Won’t go into it as the game aint that deep and if you've seen a preview you've got the gist of it. It’s immensely accessible and so I would definitely recommend for all types of gamers for a bit of 3 to 5 hour fun. 

43. Last Stop (PS5), 44. Last Stop (PS4). Completed and platinumed.

Yep, I played both versions from start to finish which took me about 10 to 12 hours when combined. Of all the cross gen games I’ve played this year Last Stop has the least noticeable difference between platforms, and the PS4 version actually performs better than the PS5 which had some minor bugs. So if don't have a PS5 yet and you’re keen to play it you don’t need to wait for the PS5 version.

I may have come across slightly down on it earlier in the thread so let me just clarify: Last Stop is not a bad game overall but it’s weak in a lot of aspects when compared to other games in the genre. The problem is that your choices do not matter at all. Your choices are so inconsequential that you can just let the dialogue timer run out and the game will automatically select a random option. I’m not someone who believes that every choice has to have some grand consequence but what choices should do is shape your character and change how NPCs react as a result. Last Stop doesn’t even do that - Donna, for instance, is always a lying, inconsiderate delinquent in the eyes of her older police officer sister no matter what option you choose. If the game wants a certain NPC reaction it will have the protagonist say something that contradicts dialogue you chose previously just so they can be caught out in a lie. You can't get clever; you can't fool the NPC. The only thing that requires mandatory input commands from the player are the mini games and even then the outcomes of them are the same. You can't fail them, for instance. No, wait, actually you can, but those ones are scripted to fail. And in the end it all comes down to a binary choice that doesn’t even take into consideration any of your actions up to that point.

It's not all doom and gloom so let me talk about the things I liked. The character selection screen which features our three main protagonists seated next to one another on the tube conveys so much about their personalities: Work obsessed Meena is fixated on her phone, Donna is a typical teenager with her over-ear headphones in, and John is a tired old dad dosing off after a day of work. When you select a character their stop will be called and the character will leave the carriage. I think this presentation is cool, especially as a somewhat authentic account of what I’d see on my daily commute in pre-pandemic London (there's a lot of London porn in the environment in general).

I also like that occasionally while controlling one character you’ll get a cameo from another far off in the background, just reminding you that their stories are taking place simultaneously. On this note, I like how virtually all the secondary characters you interact with have relations with the other protagonists. So for instance, Meena’s husband is also Donna’s teacher. It captures the local feeling of the area and often had me doing that excitable Leonardo DiCaprio point from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood lol. And while each of the protagonists' stories are separate throughout most of the playthrough, they converge in an impressively seamless way in the last episode.

At the character selection screen most people’s eyes will fall dead center on an older woman in a two-piece suit with the title ‘Domestic Affairs” underneath… and quickly scroll to the other characters. To that I would say don’t judge a book by its cover (or a chapter by its title). Meena is by far and away the most intriguing of the three despite the fact that the sci-fi elements don’t feature in her story at all until the end (but in a very clever reveal). She’s not what you’d call a “nice” person; in fact she’s quite despicable but she’s unpredictable and ruthless which makes her very watchable. I was particularly amused by her interactions with her foreign elderly father. Other than the garbage message surrounding her that career focused women can’t also be good wives and mothers... she’s a good character.

You then have ‘Paper Dolls’ which is a classic body swap affair in which our protagonist, John, a single father with a dead end job and a heart condition trades place with his self-absorbed millennial neighbour, Jack. John kind of gets overshadowed in his own story and is only interesting because of his relationship with his 8-year-old daughter, Molly, and how his current predicament affects that. Molly is very well written and her voice acting is great - I smiled during her scenes with John as they were often funny, authentic and touching. I think the reason why John gets upstaged is because Jack is definitely the more likeable of the two. He is objectively in the worst predicament - going from a young, athletic “artist” (inside joke) to a balding, middle-aged single father with poor health, and settles into it - after his initial shock/horror - much better than John does. He has a can-do attitude and carries himself better, even in John's body. I suppose that's credit to the animators because they did a really good job showing the difference in body language between the two, even post swap.

Finally, we have Donna who is… a teenage cliché. Her story might initially draw folks in because the title for her episodic adventure sounds more action focused (‘Stranger Danger’), and her chapters are the most sci-fi orientated of the three… but I predict that interest will dwindle once it becomes clear that she's a nothing character. Plus modern London teenagers don't talk like that. I also don’t believe someone with her family background and such positive influences in her life would do something as stupid and reckless as she does and for so long.

I’ve spoken a little bit about the "style" of Last Stop, and one thing that is quite unique about it is its hybrid of British soap opera drama with interplanetary adventure. Unfortunately, the further it delves into its extraterrestrial mystery the more the budgetary limits are exposed. There is a particular establishing shot at the end that made me cringe because there was clearly not enough money to convincingly capture the scale. Additionally, the alien world-building is naff and unbelievable.

Speaking of 'shots', the camera work during interactive dialogue cut scenes is standard but the game struggles with long shots. It will often take you a while to locate where your character even is on the screen and it has no guiding path as to where you’re supposed to go, resulting in awkward clashes with invisible walls. Sometimes you don't even know when you've assumed control of the character, or the angle changes suddenly causing abrupt pauses that ruin the seamless take it was going for. What's more is that it wasn’t needed – they could have just made those long establishing shots non-interactive cut scenes with the option to skip.

TL;DR: I’m with JU on this one – if you know exactly what you’re getting into or even if you like weird British soap operas like Hollyoaks (with some genre bending sci-fi stuff to boot) then there is enough interesting stuff here to pull you through it. If you want an actual game though where your choices matter then don’t bother. For me, personally, once I got over the fact that my involvement was pointless and just focused on the story as a viewer, it was OK. Not a complete bust but not something I ever need to play again either.

Xbox

Psychonauts 2

Absolutely brilliant game. I loved every minute of it. Took me about 36 hours but that is after collecting all collectibles which there is a lot and many hidden. If you like collecting then it is a easy gamerscore if you are in to that I got 1000/1000.

45. Outriders (PS5). Completed and platinumed (auto popped the plat on PS4 too)

I’m just gonna get straight into it: The combat in this game is fire. It reminded me a lot of that frenetic Rage 2/Doom rhythm where you have to keep moving and killing to survive. Needless to say this is not a cover shooter and if you play it as one you’re likely going to die very quickly very often. I had waaaay too much fun with the Trickster class which does more damage and healing at close range. Its signature ability is time manipulation so most of its skills are based on slowing down time. It also has what I can say is, without even trying the other classes, the single best skill in the game which is Hunt the Prey. This skill is a literal lifesaver. Surrounded and about to die? Teleport behind a distant enemy and quickly kill them to heal. The amount of times I’ve been near death only to get right back up to full health using this method is wild. Moments like that are thrilling and kept me on my toes.

What is especially unique about Outriders is that it doesn’t save all its deeper systems for the endgame. In most looter shooters it makes more sense to wait until hitting max level before you get into modding and crafting, but in Outriders if you’re not constantly modding your gear you’re not getting the best out of the game. This is because every time you dismantle a weapon or armour piece with a mod on that mod gets added to your inventory for you to put on whatever item you like. This encourages constant experimentation and makes combat even more interesting beyond just class types. It’s also aided by how tidy the menus are: breaking down, buying, selling and storing is so neatly organised that it never became a slog to sift through. Weapon and armour comparison is clear and the stat types are straightforward. 

The weapons are bog-standard - there isn’t that one god-tier weapon everyone grinds for. Rather it’s the mods that are the standout here. I got a mod that turns you invisible every time you dodge so I was just spamming dodge and teleporting behind enemies the entire time. I also modded the Hunt the Prey ability to do damage to any enemy I zipped behind, and as I had buffed skill damage this was mostly a one-hit kill. Failing that, I had another armour mod that would just rain down a sort of vortex explosion within my vicinity every 6 seconds which granted multiple one-hit kills. I also looted a legendary assault rifle that shot thunder and lightning on the first hit, dealing massive damage to bosses and one-hit killing trash mobs. Later on I got a mod that extended the distance of what is considered ‘close range’. Something is definitely broken in this game’s combat and I loved every second of it!!!

The world tier system is a masterclass in how to handle difficulty for a looter shooter. Similar games only allow you to change world tiers upon completing the campaign which is fine but I always end up sticking with the default. Outriders doesn’t do that. When you survive long enough on one tier you will gain enough XP to level up for the next. With every increase enemies outscale you by one level which means gear maintenance becomes paramount. Each time you die before fully completing a tier you lose some XP progress towards the next one. You can always drop a tier if you’re finding you’re not quite matched up and there’s no shame in doing that. The game fully expects players to be dropping and increasing tiers on the fly because the moment you level up so do enemies rendering the currently equipped gear obsolete. You can upgrade a weapon or amour level at the crafting vendor but that requires an obscene amount of resources, so it's best to just find a tier you enjoy playing at and stick with it until you reach max level.

So the combat is awesome. The loot is great. The balancing is clever. And you’d think with all that Outriders would be a very easy recommend. Well, no actually. Unfortunately, where Outriders falters is… literally everywhere else.

So basically, the characters are trash and I really do mean that – TRASH. The most unlikeable, generic, clichéd, boring, and miserable group of bastards I’ve seen in a video game in quite some time. I did not give a single squirt of piss about ANY of them. Some of them even died and I don’t even recall their names; all I know is that I didn’t care! The story is just soulless. No heroism whatsoever. No heart. Nobody to root for. It just thinks it can have a character spout, “this is war!” shortly before or after some heinous act and be good to go. Something about how humans destroyed Earth and have gone to another planet to colonise it but end up enslaving the inhabitants, but it turns out oh nos slavery is bad or something? Something about a woman who has visions? Something about being cryogenically frozen and waking up to find the world isn’t as you left it or something? It’s rubbish. I’m not even going to waste my time explaining it. Just believe me - It’s RUBBISH! I mean, damn, I know looter shooters are not exactly known for their introspective narratives and character development but even Destiny 2 had a more compelling story than this! Plus Destiny has characters you actually like and care about, as does Anthem and Borderlands.

The worst part is that you can tell the developers were actually trying. There's this pacing to it that shows that the writers are not just trying to rush you into the action as quickly as possible but the story is so bad that maybe that was a mistake. Additionally, you can see the budgetary constraints in the cut scenes which are just not on par with modern looter shooters, I’m sorry. This game has loading screens for your loading screens FFS. I’m talking loading just to watch your character jump over a gap that leads to the next area and then loading again for the level; it looks ridiculous. The “score music” – and I say that generously - is bad and sounds like it was made up in 5 minutes on a cheap keyboard. Also, this is a nitpick but I wished I had played as a male character as the animations are clearly mocapped for a man and there are various flirtations with female characters that seem better suited to a male protagonist. It was kinda awkward to watch lol.

But perhaps my biggest issue with Outriders – and it’s the same problem that a lot of games like this have: It’s. Just. Not. Believable. The lore is weak no matter how many journal entries you find scattered around trying to convince you there's life there. It's extremely linear with each area feeling less like a location and more like a shooting arena that just so happens to take place outside. Every level feels like it was made specifically for a mission – and yes, I know that sounds like a daft thing to say because of course levels are made with missions in mind. However, the trick is to convince you that this is a real location and you just so happen to be fighting in it. Nothing in Outriders exists purely for ambience - it’s a world that keeps reminding you that you’re the player resulting in one that just does not feel believable.

I was editing some captured footage from my Anthem sessions and it’s amazing how the combat, the music, the colours on screen just all come together in this glorious style that perfectly captures the tone it’s going for. In Anthem’s best moments you really do feel like you’re playing a superhero game that just so happens to be a light looter shooter. But even with all that, Anthem’s world did not feel believable once you ventured beyond the wall because of the way it handled freeroam. Why do I mention this? Because Outriders doesn’t even have any freeroam to speak of. Literally, every location is mission based. You’re not gonna see other players running around unless you matchmake.

Speaking of which, I didn’t really do co-op and for good reason: the two times I tried it threw me in missions I had already done and the players were about two levels lower than me. I also just didn’t really feel that “vibe” I usually feel when I play good co-op games; it was kinda of boring tbh. I suspect that co-op is more for the endgame expeditions but I didn’t really play expeditions much outside of one trophy so can’t comment on that. In fact, ultimately that’s why I checked out once I got my platinum – the endgame just isn’t there. One mode and a bunch of repeatable side and main quests are not really enough. Don’t get me wrong - the campaign was a blast (combat wise) and I parted with Outriders on good terms because of that. For others though, endgame is the game and they might feel like they wasted their time trying to get there.

So in the end, what it comes down to is whether Outriders is a good game or not. To me, it's a great game. I’d 100% recommend it to fans of this genre. The combat/trickster class and loot progression is that good that it outweighs any problems with characters, story and the overall world building. However, I would caution those who are looking for an endgame that will keep you playing forever. This aint that. Once you’ve completed the campaign you’ve seen the very best Outriders has to offer. But if you’re like me you will appreciate what a hell of a ride that was…and then move on. 

46. Spyro the Dragon. Completed and platinumed.

Picked up the Spyro trilogy for a price that was too good to resist. It’s essentially a remake of the original classic. You play as Spyro, a young dragon living in Dragon Kingdom. One day Gnasty Gnorc, still harbouring a grudge with the dragons for banishing him from their homeworld and then subsequently throwing shade at him on national TV – attacks Drgaon Kingdom, crystallising all the dragons and stealing their treasure. Spyro, the smallest of the dragons, survives the attack and sets out on a path to take back his homeworld and free all the dragons.

In gameplay terms this consists of completing a bunch of mandatory and optional tasks which can be anything from collecting X amount of gems or freeing X amount of dragons, collect X amount of eggs etc, the goal being to move through each homeworld and eventually face the final boss. Within each homeworld are several levels that can be tackled in any order, and you can always return to a homeworld after leaving. Each level has their own challenges, mini bosses and lots of secrets to find. You’ll want to free as many dragons as you can, even when optional, as each one provides useful tips and warnings about the level you’re in.

 In concept, it’s a really chill game in where you can let your mind just wander as you hope around collecting gems and one-hitting enemies by burning and head-butting them. However, the zen is occasionally intercepted by some frustrating platforming, mainly caused by an unhelpful camera and Spyro’s glide ability which feels “off”. 

 The environmental puzzles are cleverly laid out, most of which just require you to explore enough to find some sort of ledge or access point that makes leaping to seemingly out of bounds areas possible. However, the finicky gliding mechanic meant that sometimes when I found the right solution I would doubt it after multiple failed attempts to reach a ledge. Consequently, I’d try something else only to circle back and realise I got it right the first time. Thank goodness for the 99 lives cheat because there were just too many unnecessary fall deaths.

The timed flight trials were a nice change of pace in which Spyro has unlimited flight and must zip around the entire level, obtaining all collectibles before the timer runs out. There’s a related trophy requiring you to complete the trial without landing once but the time limit is so strict that you’ll likely naturally achieve this just by beating them, seeing as if you land at any point you’ll likely fail anyway. I enjoyed the further increase in challenge for these levels, in spite of the awkward gliding controls and unhelpful camera.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with it and I’d recommend it to fans of the original as well as those who like 3D platformers and games like Ratchet and Clank. It’s about 8 to 10 hours of fun for a great price.

Xbox

Mirrors Edge Catalyst

Overall a great game and loved every minute of it. I do not understand the hate it has received in the dedicated thread on here about not liking the open world aspect compared to the original. It was nice to be able to go to where you wanted and then take what ever route you wanted. I'd recommend this game to anyone.

48. The Forgotten City (PS5) // 49. The Forgotten City (PS4). Completed and platinumed twice.

The first playthrough was a completely blind run on PS5 which I finished in about a day. The second was a speed run of sorts that took around 2 hours to platinum. The PS5 version is very beautiful, further aided by the different visual modes you can mess around with, including black & white if that’s your thing. It also performs far better - please do not do yourself the disservice of playing this on a last gen console, at least not on the PS4. It’s an objectively inferior experience due to far longer load times and delayed texture load-ins that make an otherwise beautiful world look ugly AF. It’s very much like the notoriously janky Skyrim in that regard which makes sense seeing as this started out as an award-winning Skyrim mod developed by Elder Scrolls fan, Nick Pearce. Pearce went on to recruit two other guys to form Modern Storyteller and together they developed The Forgotten City over a 5-year period which is seriously impressive.

Unlike Skyrim though, there’s hardly any combat - there’s only one corridor section that allows you to flex your fighting muscles and you can never revisit it, even in subsequent loops. Speaking of loops, yes, this is yet another time loop game (the current hot trend) but I'm not going to give away the synopsis as the less known going into The Forgotten City the better. What I will say is that the fact that the game has barely any combat does not matter as the beauty of Forgotten City is in its dialogue, characters and story which are all exceptional.

I’m admittedly a bit of an Ancient Greek mythology nerd and while this story mostly deals in Roman mythology the two are more or less the same. In fact, a running theme explores the fact that throughout history the invading race would often replace the previous one’s belief system by merely tweaking a name here or there. It was because of this that I knew early on who was the God responsible for the characters’ predicament and what the ‘forgotten city’ actually was. Yet being in possession of that knowledge never took away from the reveals and, if anything, just highlighted how cleverly the writers use Roman and Greek mythology to tell this particular story. There are even some present day social references and meme humour that is organically woven into it in such a surprising and delightful way. (I realise this won't make much sense for those who have not played it but, again, the less known the better.)

As well as being clever, The Forgotten City is a game that makes you feel clever and consequently will have you figuring out answers to questions well before they’re asked. I especially enjoyed using knowledge gained from a previous loop to get one over on the more unsavoury characters and that enjoyment only increased when it dawned on me I could do it over and over again. The game also factors discovered knowledge into dialogue very well - rarely did I find myself frustrated that I didn’t have a dialogue option available.

Lastly, because this game does like to acknowledge your ideas you’ll likely figure out the most logical way to solve the time loop early on, leading to one of game’s many endings. All I want to advise is that if this seems like the easiest solution then don’t do it. Take the long path by finishing the main quest line. It will lead to the canon ending which is so perfect and so satisfying that I wouldn’t be surprised if a few tears are shed. On that note, make sure you do all the side quests as well as that will greatly enhance this ending.

All in all, I absolutely recommend The Forgotten City to those who like the dialogue aspects of Skyrim, those who enjoy time loop games and especially those who are into ancient Roman and Greek mythology. It’s flown under the radar which is a shame because it’s a real hidden gem, especially for the price it’s at. Modern Storyteller has done something really special here and I can’t wait to see what this small team of developers do next.

I've beaten that game three times as well. Twice on the Xbox 360 different difficulty levels and then once the Xbox One OG with the Ultimate version that you played.

50. Heavy Rain Remastered. Completed and platinumed.

Or as I like to call it, “JASON!”

I beat Heavy Rain years ago and decided to go for the platinum after playing Last Stop and being reminded of how talented David Cage and Quantic Dream are at the choose-your-adventure genre. (In Heavy Rain, a change of camera angle does not shift the direction of the character’s movement. If you’re pushing in one direction on the joystick when the angle changes then continuing to press in that direction won’t turn the character around unless you take your thumb off the joystick. Really exposes just how amateurish some of these indie games are.)

I realise it's not currently fashionable to say this but I don't care: I love David Cage as an artist. He is the master at getting the player invested in his characters, even if he has to emotionally manipulate you to do it. Yes, the finicky motion inputs are there (before refinement in Detroit: Become Human). Yes, there are plot holes abound, not least of which is the infamous twist that I had to do some mental gymnastics to accept. There’s also Cage’s signature shoehorning of over-sexualised female characters, including a masked-burglars-break-in-and-have-their-way-with-slut rape fantasy that takes place in a gorgeous flat that I’m not entirely convinced can be maintained on a journalist’s salary. And a hilariously awful sex scene that someone, anyone, should have taken one look at before placing a soft hand on Cage’s shoulder and whispering, 'no'. But Cage is an auteur and the industry needs more artists like him, rather than robots who just churn out mindless battle royale and 4 person co-op games every month.

Heavy Rain is such a beautifully tragic film noir story that actually examines the effects of trauma on mental health without feeling exploitative, and looks on even its most contemptible characters with compassion and empathy, whereas a lesser writer would be dismissive. Replaying this was strangely nostalgic as it was my first Quantic Dream game and I remember being blown away by the amount of choices and consequences – moreover, how the game seemingly just carries on regardless of how badly you cock things up. Cage once said that ‘game over’ screens are a failure of game design and in some ways - hear me out - he is correct... but that’s a debate for another time.

The platinum includes witnessing all 17 endings and it was fun having to figure out specific choices to make, who to get killed and when just to grant a certain outcome. I have enough distance from the story now that I could make out-of-character choices without cringing; most of the time it only reaffirmed my canon choices anyway. Other challenges require flawless quicktime event performance…which is where I noticed this game’s excellent checkpoint system.

Anyway, it’s redundant to gush extensively about a decade-old game so I’ll simply end by saying that if you somehow skipped Heavy Rain but like Cage’s other games like Beyond Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human this is a must-play. It’s a well-constructed film noir story that offers multiple gripping choices with legitimate consequences at every turn. Obviously, if you didn’t like those games you’ll hate this even more. (Bonus points: the score music is still fire.)