Play
Resident Evil 4 – on Gamepass. I don't remember this being as stressful 15 years ago. I've just made it past the first village area and my nerves are shredded.
AC: Odyssey – still. I bought this in September 2018, and it's somehow still going. This is the base game too, not even the DLC. It's still fun, but I'm willing the end on a little now.
Yakuza Kiwami – Kiryuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Card Crawl – on me phone. World-class work-poo material.
Want
More people to play The Outer Wilds on Game Pass. Plz.
Play: Mad Max. I’m right into this now and it’s really average and filled with a lot of busy work but… but… there’s something in it that is compelling in a knock-off Batman Arkham series vein.
For one thing it looks really good; the open world environment is impressive in terms of how they’ve managed to make areas that are all essentially all part of a desert into reasonably feature packed areas. The locations that you go to within the game – camps and scavenging locations – all have a surprising amount of detail and care given over to making them distinct. Sure, it does seem like shelving units in the apocalypse will primarily be used to store dismembered limbs and there’s a surprisingly high number of armchairs that serve as the final resting place for some picked clean skeletons but the layouts of these locations never have a cookie cutter feel to them.
Combat is fun and feels really meaty. There’s not much to either on foot or car combat but it’s satisfying and fun to play. Hand to hand combat is similar to Arkham but distinct enough and… I can’t think of a better way to say this than thematically sensible for the game. It has a rough approximation of Batman’s rhythm action brawling but Max isn’t as superpowered
Car combat in particular is something that elevates the game, it’s one of those open world game tropes that can pop up at any time and will, more often than not, result in an engagement that draws me off in a completely different direction to the task I was aiming to complete because it’s really fun and I’ll happily chase a vehicle across the map for the fun of it at the drop of a hat. First person view in the car is also a really nice touch.
Admittedly I think I’m reaching a tipping point – there were a few hours playtime where Max was underpowered and I never seemed to have enough ammo to complete objectives but once I got over that hump the stats started to ramp up, ammo is easier to come by and the challenge is slowly dropping away. There’s a distinct possibility that this is going to be the enjoyment killer. Going into areas where there’s a higher chance of failure but succeeding against the odds has been really satisfying. Rocking up to the front door of a settlement and brutalising the inhabitants is still kind of fun but a lot less satisfying.
I think everything I'm playing at the moment is stuff I've talked about before.
Final Fantasy XIV - I'm halfway through Stormblood, which is the second of the game's three expansions, so I'm neither hanging out with the cool kids who've played the latest release nor the influx of new players that are going through the base game and Heavensward. As such it's a bit of a solitary experience right now, which isn't really a problem because played like this it's such a nice comfy JRPG that you almost forget it's an MMO at all. It's got a decent storyline, some amazing characters and is just inconceivably huge in scope. Still a great game.
Hitman 2 - the expansion pass finally dropped in price so I've been playing the new Bank level. It's really good, one of the better levels I think, but a little limited in scope. I wonder if they'll ever produce another level with the sheer variety and range of their original Paris level. Probably not (that was clearly worked on for years as a proof of concept) but regardless, Hitman 2 is still great.
Slay the Spire - genuinely a marvel, top five games of all time material. It's the complete opposite of most games, which are so concerned that you're going to stop playing them that they keep throwing MORE STUFF at you all the time (I see you, AC Odyssey): this is very very self-contained, with the same cards and enemies coming up each time you play, but somehow you keep finding new synergies for cards and new strategies to use and it's just endlessly enthralling. If this gets an iOS release then I am doomed.
Play: Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This got a bad rep on release but I'm really not sure why, I've played the first couple of hours and it's brilliant so far. The first game in the series was hamstrung by terrible writing but I really enjoyed Rise of the Tomb Raider and this looks like more of the same. It's heavily influenced by Uncharted of course but it's a bit more gamey, with a decent crafting and XP system, more exploration and a bit more in the way of overt puzzling, and that's fine with me. And on the One X (thanks, GamePass) it looks absolutely glorious, it's a stunningly beautiful game and the 60fps mode makes a massive difference. Really going to enjoy this I think.
I've been eyeing this up for a few days now, as it's down to about £20 for the everything-included Croft Edition in the PSN summer sale. I've had so little time to play anything recently, though, that I'm struggling to justify it, even at that price.
I’m guessing this’ll be the last of the current Tomb Raider series though, we’ll probably get another reboot after this. They’ve done three games with generally declining commercial success and they’ve never really nailed the character of Lara in any of them. Having her as a naive, inexperienced adventurer at the start of the trilogy was fine. Having her still essentially the same after three full games is a bit strange.
I’m hoping for a God of War style reboot next featuring a cynical middle-aged Lara Croft who is Sick of Your Shit. Menopause of the Tomb Raider.
Mid-Life Crisis of the Tomb Raider, where she gets a tummy tuck, ridiculous boob job, starts wearing make-up not suitable for her age and does what the fuck she likes without ever considering the consequences.
PLAY: Sea of Thieves - Dabbled with solo sailing in a sloop, done a bit of tandem and a bunch of sailing in a group on a galleon. Still having great fun with it, though I can see the shine going based on griefers. I get it, you're a pirate, be a dick, but even so. Boat combat is great, struggling to stay afloat is fun, but melee combat in the game sucks and having to deal with pricks just jumping aboard and blasting me in the back makes me want to go elsewhere a little. Thankfully, I'm having enough fun with my friends currently to outweigh that.
Mortal Kombat 11 - It's great, definitely a step up from X and an impressive effort given how stiff and awkward MK always was. Loving playing as Shang Tsung too, since it means my favourite ninja is back in the game. Very happy that the trophies are all achieveable too… only two online ones and neither requires you to actually win loads? Yes please.
WANT: Astral Chain - Day one for me, I'm really excited for this. Link's Awakening - Perhaps not quite as much as Astral Chain, but still definitely one I'll be getting day one. Luigi's Mansion 3 - Absolutely day one for me, I've shut off everything about this one (which isn't easy, given where I work!) because I don't want to spoil a moment of this one.
Me? Predictable for my wants? Shush.
BIN: Marriage - Divorce finally came through, nearly a year later. Never again.
To unwind after a semi-stressful Alien RPG session, I downloaded and started A Short Hike, a pixelated, Animal Crossing-esque PC game about trying to find mobile signal in a remote national park.
It's very bright and twee and relaxing, with dialogue that reminded me of Night in the Woods (minus the constant existential ache that underpinned every character). The soundtrack is an acoustic indie movie score that adapts to your location.
You encounter other holidaymakers and perform mundane tasks for them - gathering shells, catching fish, racing, or finding lost items. It has a Breath of the Wild-style climbing mechanic where every surface is scalable, provided you've unlocked enough stamina upgrades - and you can jumping-glide your way back down.
And it's only about an hour long. I finished it in one sitting, though admittedly didn't find everything the game has to offer (and didn't even complete everything I started).
Play - After starting it at least 3 times over, and playing about an hour, five years later I think I've finally gelled with MGS5.
I know, old, old game. I think where I was going wrong is that I was trying to do everything. Take down every guard silently, collect all the items, and it just turned it in to a drag. I'm running and gunning now and actually enjoying it.
Want - Catherine Full Bodied. No Society, I will not stop going on about this game. It's the greatest and playing the demo with the new remix mode (Tetrimino shaped blocks as well as single blocks) and really whet my appetite.
Bin - Wipeout Omega in VR. Three laps and I'm almost vomiting.
I have downloaded the latest update for No Man's Sky. It looks amazing, but I'm trying to do some writing and I know that if I actually star playing the thing it'll eat up all my spare time.
I played about two hours of NMS in VR last night and was nearly throwing up by the end. All I wanted to do was fly through an asteroid field! Couldn’t even get off the planet.
Two hours used to be enough to get into space, I have no idea how long it takes now. They want you to understand how the game works before you leave the first planet.
I tried to play a bit of this tonight, but after loading up my old save, it just keeps crashing as I try to mine on the surface of the first planet I landed on, and I don't have enough fuel to take off again.
It's the most 7/10 game I've played in years. Which isn't really a criticism as such, we all know 7/10 games can be the most fun games of all. It's fun, there's lots to do, it's full of side quests and optional challenges, the exploration is fun, it's very very pretty… it ticks all the boxes.
But hoo boy is it tonally all over the place. To be fair it's a problem this trilogy's always suffered from: the first game turned Lara from a traumatised teenager into an unstoppable killing machine in the space of a single cut-scene and went heavy on combat/light on actual Tomb Raiding, which I'm not sure was what anyone really wanted from a Tomb Raider game. The second game was a bit more balanced; but this one swings the pendulum entirely in the opposite direction. It's almost entirely puzzle/exploration based and there's virtually no combat in it at all (and most of what there is relies on stealth and sneaky bow shots rather than run 'n' gun). I don't actually have a problem with that, it's probably more true to the original games and the optional Challenge Tombs in particular are excellent in this one, but the game's also inherited all the weapon upgrades and skill trees from the previous title - most of which are now fairly irrelevant - so you spend a lot of time picking up random crap to craft shotgun upgrades and projectiles that you never really need to use. It's like two totally different games trying to fight each other all the way through.
Also, Lara's a dick. There's no way around it. In previous games you could just about excuse her looting tendencies when she was exploring ancient, abandoned tombs or raiding enemy bases but there's a lengthy section in this about halfway through set in a hidden, impoverished Peruvian village and she spends the whole time running round like a kleptomaniac gap year student robbing people's houses of their priceless artefacts and stripping the town of its natural resources. Later on there's a chapel section in a busy monastery and she immediately starts hacking down the walls with a pickaxe.
So, erm, it's a little confused. Still very good fun to play but they've turned Lara Croft into something pretty unlikeable over the course of these three games and a full reboot is surely in order for next gen. I'd recommend it overall, but don't think about it too much.
I tried to play a bit of this tonight, but after loading up my old save, it just keeps crashing as I try to mine on the surface of the first planet I landed on, and I don't have enough fuel to take off again.
Well that sucks. They had their work cut out trying to keep up with issues after releasing the new update simultaneously on PS4, XBone and PC. Sean Murry said on Twitter that they released 18 builds in two days. Give it a week and try it again.
After a long hiatus because I found how the online is done to be really anti-fun I'm somehow having the fucking time of my life on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The online is still absolutely fucking awful, all I want is the Smash 4 online system of 'For Glory and 'For Fun' and to not have to deal with the soul crushing GSP points system that goes way down on a loss than it goes up for a win.
So why am I having fun? This glorious bastard:
He's slow, he gets absolutely bullied hard by faster characters….but, he packs a whallop with that Mallet (if you can hit) and he's very big and fat which makes him harder to knock off the stage, this makes for a very comfy feeling where you feel like you can mess up many times and and the other player who oftentimes is not good enough to make the fact King Dedede is low tier matter, can mess up way less before being yeeted into the blast zone.
Playing him has made me remember why I loved this game so much, there really is nothing more fun than the slow time freeze when you connect a Mallet swing to KO someone and this being Smash that someone has ranged from Captain Falcon, Joker from Persona and the Dragon Quest Hero tonight.
Finally, the intro song for this really is delightful, I hardly ever skip it. (If you ever want to remember how Nintendo started the game by killing off the entire cast besides Kirby with some eldritch abomination nuking them as they flee for their lives, I heartily reccomend watching from the very start)
Surprisingly I've binned Sniper Elite 4, wasn't enjoying it at all until I lowered the difficulty so I no longer required a Rick and Morty brain to gauge when my shots were going to hit, then I starting to enjoy it a lot more…for like a day. After a while I felt like maybe the premise alone wasn't enough to carry the game, I feel like getting the shots lined up with the wind and ballistic drop in mind is part of the satisfaction (no point worrying about sniper stats on different rifles if you play on a mode where muzzle velocity and stuff is useless) and without that there's little else because the non sniper weaponry isn't exactly great to use. (gunning someone down with a machine gun feels like a PS2 game???)
And there's a very weak thread connecting the 'shoot stuff' together, maps are surprisingly open but making my way through them and killing people off is a bit blergh, game feels kinda low budget when you see how stupid and basic bitch the enemies are since they only really exist for you to kill from far away where you can't see them. I don't like giving games scores out of 10 because I'm a pretentious wanker but if I did this would be a 6/7.
I think that a lot of what makes Sniper Elite games great are the limits you put on yourself. So, yes, you can just try to shoot a load of stuff from a distance, clear out the fascists and then move in to claim your objective. For me, it was more about trying to stay completely undetected. This meant scoping out enemy positions, making a plan and only pulling a trigger when I was ready to commit. The reduced difficulties are there to help you learn the levels, IMO. In that respect, I think that it has a lot of common ground with the Hitman games. Lots of different ways to achieve your objectives, but you can keep refining until you get the most satisfaction out of it.
In terms of your other points - yeah, the other weapons are not great but they're really for when the shit has hit the fan. The game could do with more polish, but none of the SE games have ever been pitched as 'AAA' so I've always just accepted them for what they are. Also, while the enemy AI may be basic, I think that each level is meant to be approached as a puzzle. Having limited AI routines and patterns makes things more predictable, sure. It does also mean that you can draw up a reliable plan and set up reliable distractions, etc.
TL;DR - it's not perfect but there's a lot of fun to be had there. A surprising amount, even! If the game can't make that apparent to you, though - it's hardly your fault. I guess it just appeals more to olds like me who like to sit in a bush and stare at a map for ages before moving onto another bush.
The 'Remastered' means they made characters not look like a pixellated mess, as I guess the pursuit of more realistic looks for the game in comparison to 9 and 7 made it aged more poorly compared to both those games. But backgrounds don't seem to be any sharper so it's pretty jarring to see you run around the levels now, at least at first. FMV's are blurry vaseline tier and it's not widescreen either. But hey the models look nice!
I like this game but it's one of the Final Fantasy games that fell further and further for me as time went on, and I can't see how anyone can prefer it to 7 or 9 now. It's only 'best' thing it has is the cool as fuck world and aesthetic, but it has the weakest characters, story and battle system. It's also hilariously broken, which isn't necesarily a criticism, but I'd have preferred being unable to become overpowered for the rest of Disc 1 in 3 hours if that meant the Junction system was reworked to be more fun and creative.
The writing/script is really…like, why is everyone, even adults, talking like a 5 year old ("You MEANIE!!")? You'd think the more realistic of the 3 Playstation 1 FF games wouldn't have the most childish dialogue. The more I read the more I wish we had Xenogears Remastered instead.
In my mind it’s the best of all the single-player FF games. I loved it when it came out. I’m in no hurry to replay it though as I’m sure it’ll just spoil my memories of it.
