December Gaming Series, 2025 Edition!

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Okay, so as I stated in the Vent Thread, I have this tradition where I make sure to beat an entire game in December. Getting at least one ending, going through DLC missions, and if the game has achievements I need to do all of them. It does not mean hardest difficulty, unless achievements are tied to it.

Past years have seen me beat Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, the first Borderlands, and Tribal Hunter.

This year? I'm going a bit further. I've got a maximum of FIVE games lined up.

1. Clive Barker's Undying Completed on 12/21/2025
   • This was the one I mentioned in the list before. Horror first-person shooter. Honestly, I'll be taking a lower difficulty on this one - I want to fully experience this.
2. Arizona Sunshine 2
   • Now that I'm back in business with this game... Apocalyptic mode, here we come! Also need to collect everything.
3. Arizona Sunshine Remake
   • Already did Apocalyptic, a lot of this is just collection achievements and Horde mode.
4. Far Cry 2
   • In my opinion, the best Far Cry game. The reality is, I'm trying to both beat this and get every single one of the diamonds. I got all the diamonds in the first half before I put the game down, and it's time I finish what I started.
5. Warhammer 40k: Boltgun
   • A sequel got announced recently. It's long past time I went and beat this. Only thing is... getting everything done with this game will mean going right into Exterminatus difficulty and finding all the secrets. This is going to be a nightmare to beat for sure.
6. Slay the Spire
   • So I've actually done most of the stuff in this game. Beating the Heart with all four characters, nearly getting a full card and relic list... but with the sequel announced and in progress for a while, it's long past time I actually get this done. A lot of it is minor achievements, but I need to pull off Ascension 20 with at least one character (achievement, plus Curse card) and a 3-loop Endless run (for the other Curse card I'm missing), plus get three specific relics from events (two of the faces, plus the one for removing a Curse at the bonfire event).
7. A mystery game if I get this far
   • If I complete all four of the above games, I've got one more lined up. I won't announce it until I know for sure whether I'll get here.

Let's see if I can pull any of this off. My plan is to bring up my progress every couple of days.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

So I did make a little progress on Slay the Spire today, but that's not why I'm posting this.

Clive Barker's Undying. Whoo, how does a game from 2001 manage to pull off horror better than most of the modern-day horror slop? Even its jumpscares (an ambush where the lights suddenly go dim and you're surrounded by Howlers) are leagues better than current-gen graphics can pull off!

I actually kind of like the "barren estate" mechanic I've seen so far. I stopped at the first portal. Oneiros, the journal calls it?

Still not sure if I should hold my first two Amplifiers (there's supposedly a third I missed) for something or if powering up the Ectoplasm spell is for the best.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Change of plans.

Undying is still on the list and I made progress (not to the first boss battle yet). But I'm putting Far Cry 2 and Boltgun farther back.

Since I got Arizona Sunshine 2 and Arizona Sunshine Remake working again, I'm going to try wrapping up all the achievements in those games instead.

For Remake, I've already done Apocalyptic difficulty. What I have left is the Horde mode achievements, playing for 4 hours straight, and collecting all the guns, ducks, and masks.

For 2, I still have to do Apocalyptic mode. I also need to make 20 rounds in Horde, the fast-melee achievement, getting a grenade to go off in a zombie mouth, and getting all collectibles, weapons, and headwear.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Okay, I DEFINITELY had some plan screwups.

I blame this on Warframe, Darktide, Vermintide, and Monster Hunter Wilds releasing their holiday content ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Darktide's is done, the other three are ongoing...

There were three game demos I got to play:

• Race of the Nine Worlds: We only got the one track, and I have to say... I am not a fan of racing games where you can barely turn and are forced to drift.
• Dinoblade: Basically Dark Souls with dinosaurs wielding weapons in their teeth. Unsurprisingly I sucked at this one.
• Beastro: Now this is a game I think I can actually enjoy. You gather ingredients by the day and prepare meals based on five flavors (Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Umami - if you're wondering why there's no Spicy, there's actually an in-story reason)... and one of the people you serve each day is a Caretaker, who ventures out after eating to fight monsters. It's... kind of a deckbuilder cooking game, and I'm a sucker for deckbuilders.

I get the feeling that out of my original list, only Undying's getting finished by the new year. And that's if I focus on it a lot more.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

So! I just finished Clive Barker's Undying.

I'm going to be flatly honest here... the first half of the game is good. Once you defeat Lizbeth and get the Haste spell, things start falling apart.

I'd say the gameplay falls apart completely right about the point after Keisinger is defeated. The last portion of the game is a BS slog that basically mandates the Shield spell being up all the time, and maxed Skull Storm (as your non-magic explosives just suck).

I hate to say it, but this game was made way too early and actually needed a couple modern design philosophies - especially in its pacing. That will seem like heresy to older gamers. Don't worry, it doesn't need a complete overhaul. It just needs a better story pacing and a better handling of the damage curve later on (in the very final portion, over half of all enemies have the speargun, which is a sniper weapon that will take most of your health in one shot. Sniper gauntlets ALWAYS suck in games). The game does NOT need the hectic approach to modern FPS - in fact, it would fall apart harder if you did that. A slow roll works better here (any surprise why I say things fall apart at the point where you can run faster?).

The story largely aged fine. Clive Barker does well with atmosphere. It's just the gameplay that, while having some interesting innovations (weapons and spells at the same time were NOT common in those days), does not hold up well with age. I seem to recall the other game with his name on it, Clive Barker's Jericho, largely suffering from the same problems.

Some things just don't translate.