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Super Mario Odyssey (Switch): COMPLETED!

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This is a hard one. Well, not hard in that way (the game is easy – very easy), but hard in how I feel about it.

Unlike pretty much every Mario game ever, Super Mario Odyssey didn’t instantly grab me. Perhaps it was the terrible looking first “world”. Maybe it was the stark art style changes between worlds. I don’t know. Definitely, I started enjoying it in my first hour – but other games in the series I was hooked from the second the game started.

Now I’ve completed it, insofar as beaten Bowser and reached the credits, I can look back and see Odyssey is excellent. But not perfect. And certainly not the best Mario game. I’m feeling a lot like I did when I played Breath of the Wild, actually.

There’s just something missing. A spark of something. Something which Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine had which is missing here. Yes, I’m saying Super Mario Sunshine is better than Super Mario Odyssey. Super Mario 3D World is too. And so is New Super Mario Bros U, but 2D Mario games are a different beast.

On paper, it’s all there. Blue skies, great platforming, throwback references, varied levels, secrets, post-credits content, the very best controls – the lot. In my hands, it’s a bit flat, a bit off, a bit… wrong. But I can’t put my finger on it.

Remembering the few days I’ve been playing it, very few parts of the game stand out in the way I can fondly reminisce about the clock or the flying carpet or the Koopa race or the penguins or the wing hat or any one of a thousand other things from Mario 64. I know I’ve not played it as much as that game, but aside from the (spoiler) boss in the ruined castle, there hasn’t been anything that wowed me.

It’s probably me.

And it’s so easy. Really, really easy. Again, I’m aware the challenge of Mario games is mainly to get 100% and the straightforward route to the boss is not the hardest path, but I’ve picked up around half of the moons on each level so far and just one of them caused multiple deaths. It’s the easiest Mario game by a long way.

All that said, and I’m sure most people will disagree with my comments, but all that said, it’s a great game. One of the best. It really is. Nothing I can say can detract from that. I think I was just expecting Mario Odyssey to be a contender for the Best Game Ever Made, and in my eyes it isn’t even top 5 Best Mario Games (yet, at least). But that’s OK. It doesn’t have to be.

The post Super Mario Odyssey (Switch): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

80 Days (Mac): COMPLETED!

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This was a continuation of a playthrough, my first playthrough in fact, from several months ago that I forgot to continue. Previously on 80 Days, I’d managed to get a train into a dead end somewhere in the American east, and had to head north-west into Canada to find another route.

With some bad luck, I boarded an airship from New York that was heading for Reykjavik since the route to London direct was far too expensive and there wasn’t enough time to obtain the necessary funds. This airship was slow, however, and I had to ditch all our luggage to board – I was hoping this wasn’t an issue as we were nearly home!

Once in Reykjavik, there was another airship heading to London which I mistimed while unnecessarily (as it turned out) obtaining money from the bank, and so a later trip was taken. A three day journey on day 77 – would I make it?

Of course I would. Just!

(Oh, and you can view my journey on the inkle website, here)

The post 80 Days (Mac): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PS4): COMPLETED!

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Some general points:

  1. Lego Star The Force Awakens Wars
  2. Shortest Lego Game Ever
  3. BB8

Taking point 2, my daughter and I completed it – just the story mind – in less than ten hours. Less than ten. For a Lego game. That’s the shortest I’ve ever played by some margin, and we got stuck in a hangar on one level for over an hour because neither of us had seen a thing to jump and hang from.

I’m no snob over the length of games, but even The Lego Movie The Video Game Movie Lego Game was 15 or 18 or something. And, yes, there are extra levels unlocked (although we’ve done the rathtar hunting one already) and levels and worlds to go back to to get the rest of the gold bricks and things… but ten hours?

Ten hours.

The third point, is because my daughter wants to be BB8 now. For real. Because of course she does.

Neither of us are fans of Star Wars. I’ve only seen the first 5 films 1 and part of Phantom Menace 2 but Lego wins out, as always. It wasn’t as much fun as Lego City Undercover, though, but little is. The two new mechanics added to the game actually make it worse. The first is how bricks can now build two or more objects. Odds are, you’ll build the wrong one first. The second is Gears of War style cover shooter sections. Nah, mate.

Still, we’ll be 100%ing it. And then we’ll be on the look out for the next Lego game!

Notes:

  1. You heard. ↩
  2. The sixth one. ↩

The post Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Hitman (PS4): COMPLETED!

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This was a surprising amount of fun. I loved all the different ways you can murder your targets, some by brute force, some by taking the time to learn how to make use of their schedules or weaknesses. Poisoning their food, laying explosives on their route, or setting traps for them to essentially kill themselves.

The episodes were all pretty varied, with some humourous people to meet and quirks to take advantage of. In particular, I liked messing with the guy in Colorado’s OCD, forcing him to calm down by partaking of a cigarette I’d laced with hallucinogenic drugs.

I’m almost certain I’ll return to the game to try some alternative methods of bumping the targets off, even if just to mess around with the game a bit.

Oh, and it has some incredible toilets. Very important, that.

If you want to watch my complete playthrough, with all two thousand game reloads, then you can here:

The post Hitman (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.