Not-so-easy Gamerscore: 35 tough and long completions from the latest Xbox sales

Ethigy said:New year, new TA? ??

I must get some proper games in my list hahaha my completion list is pathetic right now

This is a nice counterpoint to the usual articles, well done. Of this list I've completed Odyssey minus one of the DLCs which I will go back to and I would highly recommend the game, great fun. I'm currently working on Valhalla with quick and easy games in between. I have purchased the Skywalker Saga but have yet to start it.

Probably gonna grab the Yakuza collection... even though I only played 0 halfway through and that was 3 years ago.

WithTheDawn said:I played over 150hrs of PvP modes after fully completing it. Hell, I was one of the handful of people over level 200 for a period of time because I no lifed it. I never go by playtime on Xbox,it's a really unreliable way to see how long a game takes to complete.

thunderkiss92 said:I love the yakuza series and highly recommend it, but slightly disagree with Tozi Tiberius. I think there’s value in starting with a newer entry that doesn’t feel so dated. Like a Dragon is a great starting point. Judgment is in the same universe and a fantastic story and also a great starting point if you’re more interested in a detective story instead of a JRPG where you mostly use your strongest ability on repeat to do damage and constantly heal.
But I wouldn’t recommend starting with kiwami 2
Pros of starting with kiwami 2:
It’s just newer like Tozi said. It’s on a more recent engine and looks prettier and has some nicer quality of life features. It’s a nice game.
Cons of starting with kiwami 2:
The story is kind of stupid at some parts and I can absolutely see someone coming away with the impression that all the stories are dumb and not wanting to play a second one. 0, Judgment, and Like a Dragon all felt like more grounded and reasonable main stories to me.
You’re also picking up a 7 game story of Kazuma Kiryu with the third entry. They work fine as standalone games and you will understand everything in 2, but you won’t have the standard background for a lot of the story and it will straight up spoil parts of the earlier games.

I’d recommend 0, Judgment, or Like a Dragon. My ranking of the whole series is actually
Lost Judgment, 0, and Judgment in S tier, ranking in that order, but all very very close.
Like a Dragon in S-
6 in A tier
2 and 1 in A- tier
5 in B tier
4 in C tier
3 in Z tier
I just don’t think 2 is the best starting point. It makes as much sense to start with 6 as it does with 2 since 6 is also on the newer engine and it has a better story in many ways, but again you would just spoil parts of the story.

Ace Combat 7 had a few moments where my blood pressure legitimately spiked. Worth it though.

PlayUltimate711 said:Thanks for the additional info! Between what you and Tozi are saying, it sounds like Judgment or Like a Dragon are going to be the best bet as an entry point. Really appreciate you guys taking the time to explain this stuff, it's all new to me.

No idea what the multiplayer of Ace Combat 7 is like now, but I got my online evaluations and victories when the Raven UAVs were a guaranteed hit/very likely kill every time. I still thought the cheevos were miles easier than AC6's 'win 100 of everything'. I think gamepass has pushed the ratio way higher than it has any right to be, it's a challenge but by no means as hard as it looks.

also I bloody love xcom 2. I've got 100s of hours on it because it's legitimately fun, the achievements are fun and nowhere near as intimidating as they look. Couple of unfair RNG/luck based ones but generally a solid list. Can't wait for number 3

thunderkiss92 said:Everyone's opinion is valid here Like a Dragon is special in that it is a turn-based JRPG. All of the rest are great, RPG/beat 'em ups.

Actually, I do recommend leaving 6 for last (of the main Kiryu saga.) It's one of my favorites, but it's the only one whose story really benefits from playing the previous entries.

I basically agree with you, Tobi, but I also feel like you would miss out playing 2 before 1.
I started with 0 and thought it was perfect with no complaints really. One of my top games ever.

thunderkiss92 said:PlayUltimate711 said:I recommend 2 over 1 because I played 2 before 1 and like 2 more than 1 (don't ask what freakish RNG I used to pick the order of Yakuza games to play. I think it went something like 7, 2, 0, 3, 4, 5, 6, Judgement, Lost, then finally 1.) But everyone's opinion is valid in this. It's like telling someone who has never seen Star Wars before what should they watch first.

And in response to the above comments, the only Yakuza I don't recommend playing first is 6. That one has the greatest payoff in terms of character growth if you play 1 through 5 first (or 2 through 5 in my case.) All of the games' stories are self-contained, but 6 in particular nets you the most emotional reward from seeing one or two unnamed characters' life stories reach their fulfillment.

(Author's note: I just replayed 6 and it still had the same parental, emotional impact on me as the first time. Incredible story.)

I’ve been waiting for the alternative to the easy list forever! Thank you!

Doing Odyssey right now. Taking a long time, but really awesome game.

You should call this series of articles something along the line of... i dunno.... "True Achievement Gamerscore"?

I don't think it's on sale, but I HIGHLY recommend to any challenge seeker to get all the achievements in Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and Ninja Gaiden II (2008). Probably the highlight of 2022 for me and achievement hunting in general.

I loved Xenoverse 1 at the time (Xenoverse 2 is definitely better), but the grind for skills is so annoying

I own 15 of these games. Will get around to them eventually. Very refreshing to see this kind of article, I feel like the shovelware articles kind of lost sight of the point of Ta. Definitely keen for these to become a regular thing.

I'm paying off a mortgage and my gaming budget is pretty tight so I don't mind a 100-150 hour completion, to me it means I'm getting my money's worth!

Completed Yakuza 0 a few months ago, can't wait to go through the rest of the series. Can't recommend 0 enough to anyone. It was such a delightful experience.