I beat NMH3 yesterday.

It is a very messy and ugly game.  The only thing the original had going for it graphically, was the stylized shadowing, but that's been completely ditched in this new installment.  Some of the graphics look positively Wii-era, as do many of the textures.  The story is wafer thin and still makes no sense at all, with sudden cameo's of characters that aren't explained and disappear 5 minutes later to not be seen again.  It just washes over you in all it's non-sensical exuberance.  Apparently a lot of 'new' characters are from the much maligned Travis Strikes back, but I doubt knowing a bit more backstory would make this game's story make more sense.  Most of the boss battles are against aliens that look like first drafts from an unexperienced designer's sketchbook.  Some are pretty good from a gameplay perspective, but other are as unfulfilling and nonsensical as the rest of the game.  It's very clear that a lot of alien characters don't posses mouths just to cut costs by not having to animate their faces.  And the characters that do have actual mouths will often be shown from the back during cutscenes, obviously for the same reasons.  There are many collectibles to look for in the overworld, but none of them do anything, a quick search online shows that there are no secrets, no secret bosses as per the previous games.

I could go on and on about all the crazy and stupid things, but the gameplay itself is actually pretty good.  You have your standard beam katana heavy and light attacks, the grab, the dodge which slows down time and gives you an opening for attack and the death glove powers.  After the 3rd or so boss these all open up, giving you a wide array of powers to spice up fights.  You've got what is basically a 'force push', a teleport attack to get in close fast, an AoE that slows down foes and an AoE that slowly does damage.  These are all on a cooldown and can turn the tide of the fight.  They're fun to use, usefull and give you a lot of options.  Add to that a kind of slot machine that spins every time you kill a foe and which could grant you limited time powers like invincibility or a type of Gundam suit for massive damage, and each fight becomes unique.  Basically you end up feeling very powerfull without it totally breaking the gameplay.

You always fight in a seperate arena against a number of different foes.  There are maybe 6 types of foes in the game, but they're mixed and matched in different ways that can actually be pretty challenging.  There's also a sort of automated handicap system in place where you'll be able to spin a wheel upon death, possibly resulting in some buffs on your next try, or even a revive so you can keep on fighting.  Each time you lose, the wheel spins slower, making it easier to hit that revive, basically granting you infinite lives should you really get stuck.

Anyhow, I rate this a 'better than NMH2, but worse than NMH'  -  6/10

SupremeAC said:

I beat NMH3 yesterday.

It is a very messy and ugly game.  The only thing the original had going for it graphically, was the stylized shadowing, but that's been completely ditched in this new installment.  Some of the graphics look positively Wii-era, as do many of the textures.  The story is wafer thin and still makes no sense at all, with sudden cameo's of characters that aren't explained and disappear 5 minutes later to not be seen again.  It just washes over you in all it's non-sensical exuberance.  Apparently a lot of 'new' characters are from the much maligned Travis Strikes back, but I doubt knowing a bit more backstory would make this game's story make more sense.  Most of the boss battles are against aliens that look like first drafts from an unexperienced designer's sketchbook.  Some are pretty good from a gameplay perspective, but other are as unfulfilling and nonsensical as the rest of the game.  It's very clear that a lot of alien characters don't posses mouths just to cut costs by not having to animate their faces.  And the characters that do have actual mouths will often be shown from the back during cutscenes, obviously for the same reasons.  There are many collectibles to look for in the overworld, but none of them do anything, a quick search online shows that there are no secrets, no secret bosses as per the previous games.

I could go on and on about all the crazy and stupid things, but the gameplay itself is actually pretty good.  You have your standard beam katana heavy and light attacks, the grab, the dodge which slows down time and gives you an opening for attack and the death glove powers.  After the 3rd or so boss these all open up, giving you a wide array of powers to spice up fights.  You've got what is basically a 'force push', a teleport attack to get in close fast, an AoE that slows down foes and an AoE that slowly does damage.  These are all on a cooldown and can turn the tide of the fight.  They're fun to use, usefull and give you a lot of options.  Add to that a kind of slot machine that spins every time you kill a foe and which could grant you limited time powers like invincibility or a type of Gundam suit for massive damage, and each fight becomes unique.  Basically you end up feeling very powerfull without it totally breaking the gameplay.

You always fight in a seperate arena against a number of different foes.  There are maybe 6 types of foes in the game, but they're mixed and matched in different ways that can actually be pretty challenging.  There's also a sort of automated handicap system in place where you'll be able to spin a wheel upon death, possibly resulting in some buffs on your next try, or even a revive so you can keep on fighting.  Each time you lose, the wheel spins slower, making it easier to hit that revive, basically granting you infinite lives should you really get stuck.

Anyhow, I rate this a 'better than NMH2, but worse than NMH'  -  6/10

So NMH 2 sucked? I have it but never played it.

Dvader said:

So NMH 2 sucked? I have it but never played it.

gamingeek said:

Don't listen to NMH2 haters. Virtually all reviews peg 2 as better than 1.


So this thread is about completed games or played games?

Completed.  You got this, GG!

35 games finished (or 'finished' in some cases like Forza Horizon 5) is my best in years. It's 36 if I include Stardew Valley.

One last one to add, not cuz I had any illusions of beating the most games, I just wanted to be thorough!

gamingeek said:

Don't think so. This has been a freak year. It's only because I bought the whole Artifex Mundi catalogue. And the games are 6-8 hours long.


Do I have to make a list or just count everything?

We like lists but since it's the end of the year you can just tally it and give us a number.