The Three Games I Beat This Year (Yes, three.)

in Hive Gaming4 days ago

This wasn't a particularly busy year or anything. Dealing with a breakup was sure as hell awful, but that didn't distract me from my passion of playing games.

The thing is though... I only really played online games, that's where I was in my element this year, so I ended up beating just three (non-repeated games).

The ones I did repeat this year were Yakuza 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 3.

But new games? Only 3. At least they were actual newish games.

  • Stellar Blade

This game is as good as it is controversial. Lots of people say it was made just for its sex appeal and that it only sold to virgins or whatever. I beg to disagree.

Stellar Blade was a wonderful experience from start to finish and if I didn't have to sell my PS5 to get back into PC gaming, I'd be doing another new game plus by now.

The combat feels fresh and new in the Souls-like genre, almost a mix between hack and slashes and soulslike games. They give you tons of abilities and you can mix and match 'em to do some powerful and beautiful combos.
The difficulty is on point too, playing at normal I found the boss battles to be challenging but fun. No unfunny or unfair business here, just plain fun.

The graphics and overall presentation was fantastic, and as much as I hate to admit it, Eve was nice to look at too.
The game ran flawlessly at performance mode and looked great on a 4K TV.

  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

This one really surprised me. I didn't think Ryu ga Gotoku Studios could improve much on the RPG formula but they sure did. Now you can walk around in battle to better use the environment to your favour.

The map is also now absolutely huge, making some people overuse taxis to get around, I personally walked or used the segway mechanic to get to most places because that way I was always finding out new substories and getting into fights, which was a great way to level up for those final bosses.

The gameplay was fun, but what really surprised me was the presentation. Despite me playing on a PS4, it ran really well and looked really really good. The PS4 still definitely has a lot of power hidden in there and it's amazing what developers can do with 10 year old hardware like that!

I did play another 20 hours on the PS5 and it looked and ran even better there, but I do not regret buying the game on PS4 and beating it there, it was totally playable.

  • Final Fantasy VII: Remake Intergrade

Sorry, femboy Cloud is too cute to ignore.

You may be noticing a trend... And yes, I beat all of these on the PS4/5. I was so hyped for getting mine that I just had to play my games all there, with the exception of some online Pc-only stuff on my Linux laptop like Counter Strike.

FFVII Remake was a wonderful but short experience. The combat despite being a far cry from the original's is still really fun and I loved going around, farming, killing tough enemies and bosses.

Unfortunately as I said, the game is rather short. There's a lot to do and see but it all feels too "condensed."

This is definitely a prelude to FFVII: Rebirth whoch we are luckily getting on PC in 2025.

As a fan of the original PS1 title however, this was a great experience, specially playing on the PS5, because before I restarted my adventure there I was playing on PC - where the game runs fine, but has frame pacing issues that are really annoying, I really hope Rebirth doesn't suffer from this as well.

Anyways, those are the games I beat this year! I hope next year I get to play and finish a whole lot more games, because this year I was frankly a disappointment hahaha.

Expect more posts from me if I do get around to beating more games.

I hope everyone had a great 2024 in their gaming lives and that 2025 is even better!

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age takes its toll on us at some point

I'm just 23 😭 hahahaha

I bought Rebirth and intergrade when I first got my PS5 last year and they are still in the plastic xD! I can't count the amount of games that I beat this year!

That's the spirit! I can't wait to beat as many games as possible next year, it's my new year's resolution xD

And you'll love FFVII:R once you get to it, it's a great game.

I beat FF7 (OG) for the first time last spring so I cant wait to see how the remake is!

Beating three solid games like these is still an achievement? It's definitely quality over quantity. Stellar Blade and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, both sound like unforgettable experience's.

Can't wait to see what you dive into in 2025.

Congratulations