Hindsight is always 2020 - what I played 2019

Years ago I have started to write down all video games I beat, usually with a few remarks and sometimes if I think they are suited for kids.

2019 I have beaten about 50 games on the PC.
These numbers are only possible, because there are a lot of short indie games in there.

A shoutout to Yoku's Island Express, Shadow Tactics (not short!), Slay the Spire (also not short, but roguelike), Neon Chrome and Guacamelee 2 (normal length for an indie).
Worth a mention are Hellblade and The Sexy Brutale - I did not enjoy them that much, but I can appreciate quality when I see it.

On Nintendo Switch I have beaten around 10 games, my favorite was Valkyria Chronicles 4, my kid's favorite Luigi's Mansion 3 (closely followed by Yoshi's Crafted World). Lots of ' in this sentence.

At the start of last year I also beat Beyond: Two Souls on the PS3. My last game on PS3, I sold game and console afterward.

On the 3DS I beat 4 games, including Pokemon Ultra Moon in January, which will be the last Pokémon game for some time. (Much more on that later).
Also Sushi Striker, which I got for 5€ but did enjoy surprisingly a lot.

The games I played most in 2019 are Fire Emblem Three Houses (not beaten yet, I have only 2,5 of 4 routes completed, more on that later), Smash Ultimate Bros (almost beaten) and My Time at Portia (clearly very long, but hard to say yet how long). I probably also played a lot of Witcher 3.
Also I played a lot of Assassin's Creed Origins (because it is long and grindy, but besides that it is decent), Valkyria Chronicles 4 (because I did everything on higher difficulty, unlocked all extra scenes etc) and Slay the Spire (because it is great and I beat the secret boss with all 3 characters). And now there is a fourth character!

What is in my backlog?
Besides beating those games mentioned I already started, I have also started Soul Calibur VI and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
I might beat Yakuza Kiwami (not sure if I will get into it), Cross Code and Undertale  (started, but took a long break), I will start Kingdom Come after beating Witcher (not sure if I will like it).
On the switch there are Astral Chain and Tales of Vesperia waiting, and Bloodstained to finish.
On 3DS there is Yokai Watch and SMT: Strange journey to finish and Dragon Quest VII to start. I do not plan to get any more 3DS games.

What am I planing to get in 2020?
Well, if I beat most of those games now mentioned, I am looking forward to eventually play NieR, Outer Worlds and Mega Man 11.

Have these numbers declines since I have kids?
Yes. But due to the rise of indies, bundles and DLC which inlclude only a few short levels not that much.
Also I have stopped to replay really good games one or two years later as I used to.

Frohes Neues Jahr (2017)

Bekanntlich wohnt ja jedem Anfang ein Zauber inne, oder wie wir aus David Lynchs Dune wissen "a begin is delicate".

Anlässlich des Anfangs von 2017 also Alles Gute und nur das Beste!
(Seien wir ehrlich, 2017 wird ziemlich wahrscheinlich besser werden als 2016.)

PS: Den Hintergrund, denn ich für dieses #Miifoto verwendet habe, hat Gamesstandard Chefredakteur Zsolt Wilhelm heute auf Twitter hochgeladen - ich habe einen Hintergrund mit Feuerwerk gesucht, und der hat mir gefallen. Sollten Sie, geschätzter Kollege Wilhelm, dieser Nutzung nicht zustimmen, nehme ich das Bild sofort wieder offline. Bis dahin gehe ich aber davon aus, dass Sie zustimmen, wozu hätten Sie es sonst für jeden online verfügbar gemacht, und die freundliche Hüfthose verdient ja kein Geld mit Ihrem Werk.)

Borderlands: Pre-Sequel - bad title, bad ending #Spoiler

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel is the 3rd installment in the grindtastic RPG/FPS Crossover.
While it does not fix any of the problems the series had, it does not bring anything noteworthy new to the table.



But here we discuss the story:
In this game you work for the guy, who becomes the Big Bad of Borderlands 2: a sociopathic murderer, who has enslaved his daughter, but here he just shows his murdering, sociopathic side, no family backstory. You fight against a group which aims to destroy the planet. After killing them you learn, they only wanted to do so, to keep the power hidden there to fall into the wrong hands - exactly those hands which you have been working for. In the end the characters from the first (and one from the third) game prevent the worst, but the bad guy still murders the CEO of one of the big bad companys and becomes the new CEO there.
Also the story is neither funny or enthralling.

But it is 2016, so every AAA-title has to have at least a season pass and other DLC. And so does this game. Most DLC ist just more characters, because, hey, it's a really longwinded and partly boring game, with a lot of grinding, so everybody dreams of paying extra, so you can play the whole thing again with another character.

But let's quickly talk about the only relevant DLC, which is (again) about Claptrap, the iconic and idiotic robot-mascot of the franchise. Gameplaying-wise the DLC is better than the rest of the game and it has a few nice and funny ideas. But it ends with the above mentioned bad guy killing Claptrap, who also is a possible character to play, while his teammates stand by and laugh it him being (almost) killed.
Bad Ending.





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