Thursday, November 10, 2016

Must play games for Playstation (original) (that I own)

I've been thinking a lot about a couple of things.  Namely time and the shear number of video games I own.  I would love to completely play them all but realistically it's not possible.  So how do I decide which ones to play all the way through and which ones I play whenever with no expectation of finishing them.

I've been looking through my list of games and based on the influence a game has had on the industry and my experiences with it I've come up with a list of games that I own that I feel are a "must play" game.  Meaning, this is a game that I want to tell everyone "I played that and finished it".  I'm going through this one system at a time so some lists will be shorter or longer than others depending on how many games I own for that system.  Maybe some day I'll make a list of must play games for games that I don't own (but will probably own them some day - I just can't stop buying them).  But right now this is based on games that I OWN.  Keep that in mind as you read this list.  I've made some comments on some of them just because I can.

Playstation (original)
Abe's Oddysee
The beginning of the Oddworld games and their wonder irreverent style of gameplay.  Farting and burping have never been as fun . . . or productive in video games.

Chrono Cross
Some people would say Chrono Trigger but I started playing this game first and I love the shear number of characters you can recruit and have in your party.  It adds some strategy to what seems like a typical RPG.  And the enemies can really mess with your strategy.

Crash Bandicoot
This mascot has been in quite a number of games.  It should be interesting to see the game that started it all.

Descent
A Doom clone but this time you're in a ship.  The game has true 6 axis movement which blew my mind when I played it for the first time.  I don't know why I struggle to play the original Doom games but don't really have any problems navigating this game.  It's the first game that made me think of games in a real three dimensional environment.

Final Fantasy Tactics
I have this game for my PSP and I actually like playing it more on that system than on the Playstation.  I'm not sure why.  But I first started playing it on this system and I love the amount of customization that you can do for your group as a whole and each individual character in your party.  This is a game that I love to sit and just do random battles and not advance the story because I love it so much.

Final Fantasy VII
Everyone says this is the best Final Fantasy game.  I disagree but you can read about that below.  It has had such an influence on gamers and is being remade so it's definitely one that every games should play.

Final Fantasy IX
This is my favorite Final Fantasy games.  Ever.  The only one that comes close is Final Fantasy X and that isn't close to over take IX.  I got so close to finishing this game before my stuff was robbed that I was heartbroken to have all that progress lost . . . until I realized that it meant I had to play it again and I was happy.  One of the few games I was willing to say that about.

Grandia
This is an epic RPG that showed Final Fantasy didn't have a corner on the market for RPG games.  And it spawned a couple of sequels in the franchise.

Legend of Dragoon
This is the first solo campaign that finished and got to the end credits.  It was simply beautiful.  And I cried.  And it deserves a sequel more so than any other game I can think of.  Somebody please make that happen.

Legend of Legaia
Discovering all the hidden special moves made this game really fun.  It's so satisfying to see that you unlocked something just by pushing random button combinations.  It helps give you a different take on combat too.

Metal Gear Solid
This is a game everyone should play.  You can't deny how much of an impact it has had on the industry.  But someone please explain to me the whole Metal Gear lore.  I'm lost and clueless about it.

Rayman
Another mascot that has spawned several games.  One of those games I'm playing and capturing now and it's killing me.  Literally.  Still fun.  Another one where it's nice to see where everything started.  And I remember when it came out and everyone was upset that he didn't have any legs or arms, but had hands and feet.  Weird.

Spyro the Dragon
Another franchise game.  Fun.  Simple.  I just wish the camera controls were better.

Threads of Fate
I think this is the first game that I played that switched between 2 main characters.  I found it innovated.  Probably wasn't the first game to do this, but it was the first for me that I remember.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Not the first Tomb Raider game but it's the first one I played.  The controls have gotten much better since this one.  It was nice to have a female protagonist instead them always being the damsel in distress, even if her boobs are unrealistically too large (this was before the age that plastic surgery and boob enhancements went wild).  That girl must have so many back problems.

The only one on the list that I've actually finished is Legend of Dragoon.  The rest are on my wish list to capture and post to me YouTube channel . . . some day.  I might even replay Legend of Dragoon.  It's that good of a game even if it doesn't hold up graphically very well these days.

What are the original Playstation games that you would say are "must play"?  Maybe our lists have a couple duplicates.  Tell me in the comments and why I should play them.  Maybe if you're convincing enough I might go out and try to find a copy and play it.  Influence me.  I dare you.

Must play games for Playstation (original) (that I own)

I've been thinking a lot about a couple of things.  Namely time and the shear number of video games I own.  I would love to completely play them all but realistically it's not possible.  So how do I decide which ones to play all the way through and which ones I play whenever with no expectation of finishing them.

I've been looking through my list of games and based on the influence a game has had on the industry and my experiences with it I've come up with a list of games that I own that I feel are a "must play" game.  Meaning, this is a game that I want to tell everyone "I played that and finished it".  I'm going through this one system at a time so some lists will be shorter or longer than others depending on how many games I own for that system.  Maybe some day I'll make a list of must play games for games that I don't own (but will probably own them some day - I can't stop buying).  But right now this this is based on games that I OWN.  Keep that in mind as you read this list.  I've made some comments on some of them just because I can.

Playstation (original)
Abe's Oddysee
The beginning of the Oddworld games and their wonder irreverent style of gameplay.  Farting and burping have never been as fun . . . or productive in video games.

Chrono Cross
Some people would say Chrono Trigger but I started playing this game first and I love the shear number of characters you can recruit and have in your party.  It adds some strategy to what seems like a typical RPG.  And the enemies can really mess with your strategy.

Crash Bandicoot
This mascot has been in quite a number of games.  It should be interesting to see the game that started it all.

Descent
A Doom clone but this time you're in a ship.  The game has true 6 axis movement which blew my mind when I played it for the first time.  I don't know why I struggle to play the original Doom games but don't really have any problems navigating this game.  It's the first game that made me think of games in a real three dimensional environment.

Final Fantasy Tactics
I have this game for my PSP and I actually like playing it more on that system than on the Playstation.  I'm not sure why.  But I first started playing it on this system and I love the amount of customization that you can do for your group as a whole and each individual character in your party.  This is a game that I love to sit and just do random battles and not advance the story because I love it so much.

Final Fantasy VII
Everyone says this is the best Final Fantasy game.  I disagree but you can read about that below.  It has had such an influence on gamers and is being remade so it's definitely one that every games should play.

Final Fantasy IX
This is my favorite Final Fantasy games.  Ever.  The only one that comes close is Final Fantasy X and that isn't close to over take IX.  I got so close to finishing this game before my stuff was robbed that I was heartbroken to have all that progress lost . . . until I realized that it meant I had to play it again and I was happy.  One of the few games I was willing to say that about.

Grandia
This is an epic RPG that showed Final Fantasy didn't have a corner on the market for RPG games.  And it spawned a couple of sequels in the franchise.

Legend of Dragoon
This is the first solo campaign that finished and got to the end credits.  It was simply beautiful.  And I cried.  And it deserves a sequel more so than any other game I can think of.  Somebody please make that happen.

Legend of Legaia
Discovering all the hidden special moves made this game really fun.  It's so satisfying to see that you unlocked something just by pushing random button combinations.  It helps give you a different take on combat too.

Metal Gear Solid
This is a game everyone should play.  You can't deny how much of an impact it has had on the industry.  But someone please explain to me the whole Metal Gear lore.  I'm lost and clueless about it.

Rayman
Another mascot that has spawned several games.  One of those games I'm playing and capturing now and it's killing me.  Literally.  Still fun.  Another one where it's nice to see where everything started.  And I remember when it came out and everyone was upset that he didn't have any legs or arms, but had hands and feet.  Weird.

Spyro the Dragon
Another franchise game.  Fun.  Simple.  I just wish the camera controls were better.

Threads of Fate
I think this is the first game that I played that switched between 2 main characters.  I found it innovated.  Probably wasn't the first game to do this, but it was the first for me that I remember.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Not the first Tomb Raider game but it's the first one I played.  The controls have gotten much better since this one.  It was nice to have a female protagonist instead them always being the damsel in distress, even if her boobs are unrealistically too large (this was before the age that plastic surgery and boob enhancements went wild).  That girl must have so many back problems.

The only one on the list that I've actually finished is Legend of Dragoon.  The rest are on my wish list to capture and post to me YouTube channel . . . some day.  I might even replay Legend of Dragoon.  It's that good of a game even if it doesn't hold up graphically very well these days.

What are the original Playstation games that you would say are "must play"?  Maybe our lists have a couple duplicates.  Tell me in the comments and why I should play them.  Maybe if you're convincing enough I might go out and try to find a copy and play it.  Influence me.  I dare you.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Goal setting . . . and achieving

I like setting goals or challenges for myself.  It gives me something to work for.  It seems I'm objective driven in my life.  I don't always meet those goals or succeed at those challenges but it's something to try for.

This summer I secretly set a goal for myself.  I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want the pressure of trying to meet it while everyone was watching.  I had about 37,000 in gamer score (can't remember the exact number I had at the time).  I wanted to break the 40,000 mark before the end of the year.  That meant I had to get almost 3,000 in achievements to do so (I think it might have been around 2,700 or so).  That's like finishing/perfecting 2 full games and then some.  Since I don't have all the time in the world to play games (I wish I did) I wasn't sure how long it would take me.  My goal was to do it before BM Vagabond cross the 100,000 threshold for gamer score . . . or by the end of the year in a worse case scenario.

I think I made this official the day Lego Star Wars came out.  I figured that was an easy 1,000 points to get.  I just needed to find another 1,700 or so to meet my goal.  I didn't know what games I would play to help me with that but I knew I would like to see my gamer score going up more regularly than in fits and spurts.

I also knew that I didn't stand a chance of getting my gamer score above 40,000 before BM Vagabond got his above 100,000.  After all, he plays video games for a living.  But I was hoping that he would spend a lot of time playing games he already had the achievements in so he's score wouldn't go up.  I also made sure to watch his twitch channel to keep an eye on his gamer score (sortamaliciousgaming).  Then the fateful night came.  He was going to stream and try to hit the 100,000 mark dead on . . . and before I hit my goal of 40,000.

Vaga was about the same distance away from his goal as I was from mine.  I checked weekly and we kept flip flopping each other as to who was getting closer.  On the night that he met his goal I had been almost 100 pts ahead of him and within 70 or so points of meeting my goal.  Unfortunately I have a full time job that doesn't allow me to play video games all day long.  There was no way I was going to be able to come home from work and get those 70 or so points in the hour that I had before his stream started.  So I didn't even try and just watched him try and play to get that score exactly.  It was fun.

I think I met my goal 2 or 3 nights later.  It wasn't anti-climatic for me because I was so excited to be out of the 30,000 and to finally see a different number in the front of my gamer score.  I think this happened about late August or early September.  That means I picked up almost 3,000 points in about 3 months.  Not bad. 

As of right this minute my gamer score is 41,027.  You can see I've picked up a few more points since then.  It's nice to see it moving upwards after it seemed like it was stagnate for so long.  It's still only 8% of the total gamer score I COULD have if I perfected all of the games I own.  If you don't believe me check this out from my log sheet:




I still have a long way to go, but I'm enjoying the ride and playing a lot more games that I have in the past.  I wonder where my gamer score will be at the end of the year.  45,000?  50,000?  Stay tuned and find out.