Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (original, not the remaster) - only game of the franchise I've played (other than the demo of the very first CoD) and I enjoyed it. I'd say the game aged pretty well. They certainly did a good job making you feel a part of a squad. Played on the Hardened difficulty setting and it was pretty damn hard in spots, had to repeat many sections many times until I survived to the next checkpoint. I think this may be only the second shooter I've played where you have to keep advancing through infinite reinforcements, and the other one didn't do it nearly as much.

Opus Magnum (2017) (Linux)

This game... Oh, God. It's just great. It's definitely not perfect in many ways – it has a bit poor and repetitive music, it lacks some dynamic visuals or cut-scenes to replace a bit boring dialogues, it disapoints when game's finish is just another puzzle (and not a great culmination like in e.g. Spacechem). But from gameplay perspective - it's just pure genius of Zachtronics. And, except the main story, it also offers a few separate branches of additional paths, which makes this game huge collection of challenges for curious and tireless minds.

The game is also very good entry point for people who are afraid of ambitious Zach's puzzles. It's different then e.g. Spacechem. You've got unlimited resources here and you can always build your own solution. It may be ugly, it may be embarrassing, but it may still work and let you go further. There is infinite number of possible solutions, which makes this game really unique. And looking at some solutions online (you can easily record, save to animated gif and share your work) reveals deep beauty of both the game's design and some players' minds.

Must-have for everyone who love smart and challenging puzzle.

List of all games completed in 2019.

Vacation Simulator (PSVR)

This game is basically a bunch of mini-games which you can (mostlly) do in whatever order you choose. There are also a lot of interactive environmental bits you just just goof off with, and a plot (which is thankfully very thin and doesn’t get in the way).

The mini-games are quite varied, ranging from puzzles to collecting items to preparing items using a variety of ingredients. There are four main areas, and often you will need items from a different area than that which you’re currently in which encourages exploration. However, some of the mini-games do repeat in the different areas (just the specifics vary). Nothing is hard enough to cause frustration, and you’re free to move around to whichever area and/or mini-game you want.

Overall it’s quite fun in a casual, relaxing way, so I’d recommend it :)!

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Battlefield 1 (PS4)

I only played the single-player campaign, I didn’t even look at the multiplayer.

The campaign in divided up into 5 sections, each follows a different character along unrelated story lines. I actually enjoyed this approach because by the time I got sick of each character it was time to move on to another one.

The gameplay itself is quite linear, but the cutscenes are thankfully not overlong.

There is some variety between each section, for example in one you will mostly be in a tank, whereas in another will be in an airplane; one is in the mountains, another in the desert. The on-foot sections felt very similar between the campaigns however.

The enemy are deaf and blind for the most part. There is a variety of weapons you can pick up, and you’re free to use whatever weapons you prefer (out of the ones you find), although you can only carry a few different ones at a time. The gunplay was fun, as well as the ability to use light tanks, field guns, etc.

It’s fun for what it is, but overall I’d rank it “OK” at best.

Huniepop, Sep 14 (GOG)-After playing this I've come to the conclusion I'm not good at talking to virtual women or match 3 games. It was amusing enough but some of the dialog was incredibly awkward or ridiculous. There was also little penalty for wrong answers or failure.

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Deadlight

Put the game on hold 5 years ago. Just got back to it and beat it. Actually figured out how to coup-de-gras the zombies this time, something I didn't know before (maybe I missed the tutorial or something). Decent gameplay, nice story, didn't like the ending. Unlocked Nightmare mode by finishing the normal one, but it seems same as normal but without mid-level checkpoints so ... no thanks. Watched the "alternate ending" you get by beating Nightmare Mode on youtube and that was definitely a WTF.

It's a short game so I might just replay the earlier parts again so that I remember what happened there better.

Because Tyrants of the Moonsea is still not available on GOG, I played some more NWN, namely the two Ravenloft modules by f1restarter. I reviewed them over at NW Vault:

Return to Ravenloft
Ravenloft: Beyond the Gate

The first one was good, but the second part was really awesome, probably among the best I've played. Long (30+) but never overstaying its welcome, very open with lots of side quests and choices and a good hommage to the setting. Reminded me a bit of Baldur's Gate 2, and also of the EE2: Excrucio Eternum module (if only because that also reminded me of BG2 and because all three sequels are by far superior to their predecessors, although Return to Ravenloft is much better than EE1). I've played many of the best Hall of Fame modules back in the days already, but somehow I had overlooked this gem.

The only downside to playing it is that I'm very doubtful now whether Tyrants of the Moonsea will be able to measure up to it. I'd have bought it for full price on release, but the delay and this experience is causing me to reconsider whether I shouldn't wait even longer for a discount (well done, Beamdog). But the good news is, everyone disappointed about not being able to buy the premium module yet, can just play Ravenloft for free (although Beyond the Gate would really be worth paying for).

Just finished Bombshell.

I enjoyed it.
Grand in scope and beautifully artistic levels. Great music on some levels and good voice-acting for the main characters. Beautiful cut-scenes. Most of the weapons were cool, though some I rarely used. Bowling bombs and the Amiga droid were incredibly useful. Minor, but useful HUD customization. A good length, too. Longer than I expected at just under eighteen hours. The Duke Nukem references were great.

The bugs, though...wow.
Getting stuck on/falling through scenery.
Objectives not completing, thus missing out on XP unless you do a checkpoint restart. One time I had to redo a whole level (once the rage dissipated) because I collected something out of order.
The secondary fire for the Firestorm weapon (Firewall) almost never worked, but used ammo as if it did.
Sometimes the game just doesn't allow you to use your abilities (mighty punch, shield, etc.) in the middle of a firefight.
Changing the mode of your bowling bombs sometimes gives you a HUD status update, sometimes not.
Anything count-based for progress (collecting crystals, disabling machinery) sometimes updates on your HUD, sometimes not.

Absolutely worth the price I bought it for ($6), but most definitely not at full.
For a taste of Andrew Hulshult's great soundtrack for this game, YouTube "Bombshell OST - Warming Up". Incredible stuff when the wailing electric guitar comes in after the three-minute mark.

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition

Good metroidvania with a touching story. Got stuck for a while in a couple places where I didn't closely read the hints about new mechanics.

Stellaris:

After 3 years, 215h of gameplay i finally reached a victory screen... which was just a table with scores. haha. just did it for achievement, and will not replicate it ever.

So my campaign, had a war in heaven, where i lead a members of galaxy against the awakened empire and at the end of the war, after one Awakened was conquered in full and another had only colonies in its possession, final crisis happened.

Prethoryan invasion (or however you spell it). They really did not stand a chance as I almost managed to stop first invasion in full before second popped up but that was with most of my army and federation fleets in one system. after 1 year of fighting the invasion was over.

after that rest of the war in heaven was cakewalk and got achievement. that was around year 2480 so next 20 years of ingame i spent doing pretty much nothing. killed some pirates and develop worlds.

fun. now to take a break from it until major expansion pack is released

Quake + Scourge of Armagon + half of Dissolution of Eternity

Simple and fun, no bs FPS. Similar to UnReal, but less open world-y.
The expansions were basically more of the same, I don't remember much from them, but I lost interest during the second one.

At one point I'll go back and try Arcane Dimensions. For now Blood has got me hooked.

Iconoclasts
It’s a very entertaining metroidvania and I had a blast playing it. Most parts of the game are very well polished: smooth controls; nice world to explore with varying locations; decent story with some moral undertones - even though very obvious but not aggressive; some well-developed characters. One of the best parts is how many types of attack you acquire during your journey, it’s really impressive but at the same time not confusing. These attacks can be used both in fighting and in solving some environmental puzzles so you really appreciate the variety of them.

There are, however, a few minor drawbacks:
- I had a feeling that tweaks that you can craft are mostly useless - you don’t gain much, they are easily broken and takes some time to regain.
- It also means that my motivation to look for secrets where you can find crafting materials was low.
- The game is rather light on backtracking but at one point of the game I had to run everywhere, talk with various people and learn that our princess… oh, wait, that I had to go somewhere else and talk to somebody else. This was boring.
- Too many boss fights at end of the game.
- Constant jokes about one girl’s smelly armpits were disgusting.


Full list

I finished Battle Brothers and Valkyria Chronicles 4 in 2019.

Family Vacation 2 - Road Trip

I got it from an Itch.io bundle and it was quite bad. Uninspired and boring HOG sequences and minigames and not even the story was interesting. Don't know why I completed it.

Complete list of finished games

Battlefield V (PS4)

I only played the single-player campaign, I didn’t even look at the multiplayer.

The campaign is similar to that in Battlefield 1, each following a different character along unrelated story lines, but is divided up into 4 sections.

There are a similar mix of open and linear missions as in BF1, but it also felt like the cutscenes were longer :(. The enemy AI seemed to have improved from BF1 somewhat though.

There was some variety between each section again, except there were no aerial/flying missions this time, and fewer vehicles.

It’s fun for what it is, better than BF1 but overall I’d still rank it “OK”.

Suicide Guy (Steam)

This game is a first-person 3D puzzle platformer.

In this game your character has fallen asleep, and you need to find a way to kill yourself in your dreams in order to wake up. Each level is quite small and has a separate theme. The puzzles (figuring out a way to kill yourself) aren’t too hard. Thankfully there isn’t much platforming, and what is present isn’t too difficult (I suck at platforming, and I managed to complete the game without much difficulty).

Overall it’s a very fun little game, and I would recommend it :)!