Happy New Year everybody!
Play
Life is Strange 2. I'm 4 episodes in out of 5 and quite honestly based on what I've played so far I think this is a masterpiece. I liked the first Life is Strange, but its time-travelling lesbians storyline was very videogamey, its teenage dialogue never really rang true, and it wasn't until the more grounded prequel Before The Storm that it really delivered on its promise. This, though, hits the ground running with an entirely different cast and story based around two brothers on the run. The relationship between them is outstandingly well-written and it's hit me on more than one occasion with emotional gut-punches that I didn't see coming at all. Unless it drops the ball massively in the final stretch, this is easily the best "Telltale-type" game I've played and a real high mark in videogame writing.
Bad North. An odd little game that has you defending a series of small islands against Viking invaders. It's a real-time strategy game boiled down to its essentials: you never have more than four units to command, you can't do much with them apart from send them to different locations and even the upgrade trees are simplistic. It's fun in a way but I can't shake the feeling that there's virtually no skill involved in playing it, it's normally totally obvious where you need to go to defend your island and item drops etc are totally random.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. Free on the Epic games store over New Year for some unknown reason, it's only been out a matter of weeks. It's a bright and likeable Donkey Kong Country clone and I'm very happy to have this for free.
Want
As before, I have a backlog of stuff I want to play on GamePass alone that I don't have a prayer of getting through, not even taking into account all the PS+, GwG and Epic giveaways that keep on getting added to the pile. Actually going out and spending money on a videogame would be a bizarre thing to do at the moment.
Bin
Took three weeks off work over Christmas to recharge and was immediately hit by a rotten cold, an attack of vertigo and now a flaring up of back pain. Probably all connected but I'm a bit sick of this shit. Back to work tomorrow, yippee.
Play
Tales of Symphonia - There's a really impressive non linearity to this so far, if you so choose (although not likely you'll know you're even choosing first time through) you can take a different order to events in the game, getting a character earlier than expected and facing a tougher challenge. In other words it's an RPG with a world map that isn't just smoke and mirrors for the most part.
Tales of Hearts - nearly done and 80% played on commutes on work breaks, feel like I've been slowly assembling a very large jigsaw puzzle.
A bit of Valkyria Chronicles 4 - It's exactly the same game as the first one although it's looking to have more interesting and/or gimmicky maps. If you've not played the first one, it's a real time/turn based strategy game, think Xcom but more anime. You take turns to move but once you've stopped to aim you have to take your shot yourself and then they will also return fire if they're close enough, you can leave soldiers at spots and they'll fire at any enemy that runs by just like Xcom. It looks really nice but I dunno whatmakes this a superior choice to just getting the first on cheap now.
Want
Dunno
Bin
Dunno
PLAY
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - Grabbed this in the sale because I refuse to pay £35 for something like this (an argument I actually had with the publisher when it first came out). Wasn't sure at first, seemed really basic, but I've really warmed to it as it's opened up. Some of the secrets are a little obtuse but I don't mind that. Going to rinse this for all the trophies before I'm done.
Lovers In A Dangerous SpaceTime - Playing in co-op with Debs and this is lovely. It's hard, since you're effectively running from point to point in order to operate the right parts of the ship, so I'm glad there's no punishment for cranking down the difficulty to the lowest level. Will keep playing via Share Play once I go back home on Saturday.
Dead End Job - Been looking forward to this for ages, since I originally wanted to publish this when I was at RSG. It's basically Smash TV meets Luigi's Mansion with a really fun cartoon aesthetic… confident it'll be as good as I expected, I'll start this on the flight back.
WANT
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Obviously. My big 2020 project at work. Very exciting.
BIN
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp - Had this here before, though I kept going. Now though, I'm definitely done and am only booting it up once a day to collect the daily bonus… it's one of my work projects, so I can't delete it. But as far as actually playing it goes, yes I'm done.
Various games I've finished over Christmas, but have yet to add to the Completed thread - Off the top of my head: Snipperclips (with Debs in co-op, because she'd never played it and I grabbed the DLC expansion), Tools Up, Wattam. Probably something else too that I'm forgetting.
Going to rinse this for all the trophies before I'm done.
You know we all add this to all of your posts subconsciously already, right?
You say that, but I've started buying more stuff on Switch since getting my Switch Lite. So now you can all have fun guessing what I'm playing things on and if I'm bothering with trophies or not. 
Play
Witcher 3 . I have had this sitting on my PS4 for months, and have played the tutorial about five times. Need to get stuck in and see what all the fuss is about.
Untitled Goose Game Good solid fun, too short and just cleaning up the additional to do lists. I don't know what it is about this game, but when i'm trying to be stealthy, the urge to just HONK is too much.
Want
A Plague Tale : Innocence . Despite the average reviews, the setting and the gameplay really intrigue me. Its 23 quid at the mo, has anyone played this?
Bin
Booze free xmas I thought this would be a good idea and I'd start the new year buzzing with energy. Instead, I'm just grumpy and didn't feel festive at all over xmas.
Booze free xmas I thought this would be a good idea and I'd start the new year buzzing with energy. Instead, I'm just grumpy and didn't feel festive at all over xmas.
That's concerning and definitely something worth getting looked into. You don't need booze to be happy - hope you get the results you're after, sir.
Damnit, I was going to go for CyberPWB 2020. I will never again have that chance.
Play
I pluged the Wii back in so that Little Miss Bloodaxe could play Animal Crossing and I've been enjoying revisiting it too. Bit.Trip collection is still great. Super Paper Mario is still funny and chilled. I'm thinking that maybe I'll give Xenoblade Chronicles one last try.
D&D 5e - I'm still enjoying running this. The group killed a dragon they weren't supposed to last week. The players were all shaking with excitement by the end of the three hour fight, so that was pretty great.
Want
To get back to my grown-up game. They are two dungeons, a bit of wandering and a final battle away from the end of this two-year campaign. It's been awesome, but I want to get it wrapped up now.
Bin
Christmas decorations. Well, more like carefully package them away for next year.
Films
Watched Predator with my son last night. Films were a lot simpler in the '80s.
Finally got around to watching Spider-Man Far From Home. Really enjoyed it. It was mostly funny and it worked really well as an epilogue to the whole Phase Three craziness.
Books
Found my Kindle and dug through it for something to read. Settled on Glen Cook's Black Company. I'll let you know how I get on.
I'm also half way through reading The Hobbit to Little Miss each night. I don't remember when I last read it but I'm enjoying revisiting it.
The Hobbit has aged pretty well I think. Some of the descriptions of landscapes go on for far too long and every single character in it smokes constantly, but once you get past the very wordy first chapter it’s a pretty engaging read for today’s youngsters, which isn’t something I’d say about most of the classics that generally get recommended.
I bought the boy Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising sequence for Christmas, I adored that when I was his age and I hope it hasn’t dated too badly.
Booze free xmas I thought this would be a good idea and I'd start the new year buzzing with energy. Instead, I'm just grumpy and didn't feel festive at all over xmas.
That's concerning and definitely something worth getting looked into. You don't need booze to be happy - hope you get the results you're after, sir.
Oh yeah, you definitely can have fun without booze. But like, Trivial Pursuit fun rather than coke and hookers.
Ditched Bad North in favour of Anno 1800 which is absolutely bloody marvellous.
I'd played this a bit on release but found it a bit overwhelming so put it aside for a bit. The campaign races ahead of you if you're not careful, leaving you floundering to keep your cities profitable while throwing more and more challenges at you. This time around I've played it much more slowly, holding off on accepting quests until I've done as much as I can with what I've already got, and I'm having a fantastic time. It's so involved, and so all-consuming, taking in all the best bits of previous Anno games and putting into one absolutely beautiful package.
It helps that it's had some big updates since release - most useful of which is the ability to zoom out far further which makes it all a lot more manageable. There's also the matter of a full Season Pass with three full bits of DLC, which substantially expand the scope of the game. I'm losing hours to this.
Play
I'm back on The Witcher III. The show has just put me in that kind of headspace, I guess. It's weird, going back - not so much the different versions of the characters, even, but that I didn't remember the controls being quite this twitchy, and Roach seems to get sick on every other pebble when I try to gallop.
I'm intending to do a NG+ run on Death March! - as I have since I first finished the thing back when it came out - but I've just spent my time so far running around Toussaint mopping up icons on the map to reacquaint myself before taking the plunge.
Want
To play more board games. I got two for Christmas - Betrayal at House on the Hill and Godsforge - an they need trying out, but I also have a possible opportunity for a 5-player run at Nemesis next weekend if I can get the table cleared for it.
I also want to get back to my two D&D campaigns, which I've had to skip since Sprog 2 was born; no idea when I'll be able to, but I've been fiddling near-constantly with character sheets in the meantime, so I have everything going forward basically set in stone already. I'd also like to give DMing a crack again; it's been a long while since I sat that side of the screen, but I've been noodling at a setting for almost a year now, on and off, and I think it's about ready to have a handful of murderhobos set loose.
Bin
Seriously, World War 3..!? Just get rid of the cretin already, America!
Somehow missed this even though it's pinned and posted in the December thread, so erm
FFXIV
Nier Automata
And one that I forgot to post there was Final Fantasy IX which has been ongoing for quite a few months now, I do a bit then write up on my blog what's been happening during that weeks play time. Started Disc 3 this week.
I’ve been meaning to play The Witcher 3 for ages and I think now might finally be the time. Should I watch the show or play the previous games or will it make sense if I just jump in?
I’ve been meaning to play The Witcher 3 for ages and I think now might finally be the time. Should I watch the show or play the previous games or will it make sense if I just jump in?
They've said the show is based on the books, not the games. So, don't do that. But do do that, since it's meant to be great.
The Witcher 3 GOTY edition is down to thirteen quid on PSN until the 17th, if anyone else is tempted.
I was told the games are set after the books?
Yeah, the first game starts about two years after the last book, I think?
Play
Sayonara Wild Heart is wonderful, despite the actual game bit being wafer thin.
NSMB U is predictably great.
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair is unpredictably better than NSMB U.
The Witcher 3 (on Game Pass, thanks Microsoft) is just as good as it was first time around. I'd forgotten how windy it is.
Want
Maybe the Star Wars game? The Dark Souls comparisons have put me right off, but I'll see if it drops in price.
I'm the opposite, I didn't have much interest in the game structure until I saw a fight that was very like Sekiro. If you've played Dark Souls but not Sekiro, it's very different combat wise, it's all about parries and aggression, I'm sure it's not quite the same for Last Order and it's less harsh but I can't think of a more perfect system for a game about lightsaber combat. I swear to god though, every time I see this game people are always on the greenest forest Planet I've ever seen and I can't think of anything more dull than some weird kind of Metroidvania exploration on something like that….or in general, I dunno' if that style of game is something I want in a Star Wars game like that but it appears to hit off with everyone so what do I know?
I've not played anything since last month and feel okay about it. I've been scanning the PS January sale for something small to play before diving into Horizon Zero Dawn.
That said, looking in here, I've wondered if it's time to go back to the Witcher 3 if there's likely to be chat about it. The main issue I had with the game (both times) when I started was that I've not got much interest in spending a lot of time in inventory screens
I started Witcher 3 last night. It seems good so far but very heavy on tutorials and inventory screens. Not the smoothest learning curve I’ve ever seen. Still I am down for stomping round fantasy villages growling at people and hoping it all falls into place in due course.
It's been a while since I played it, but I remember it getting easier to find things, even if it never exactly becomes intuitive; the UI is always just a little bit in the way, and there's inevitably a certain amount of menu-shuffling, like when you have to pause the game to root through your inventory for the right sword oil, potion, or bomb for whatever monster just leapt out of the bushes at you.
Yeah. One of the combat tutorials taught me about bombs in between basic moves, Signs, rolls, dodges and god knows what else but I have no idea at all any more how to use them and that was only yesterday. The whole alchemy thing is completely opaque to me. I’m going to just plug on and see if I can work it out.
From what I remember with bombs, they're listed under the alchemy section and only have to be crafted once. After that, each time you meditate (in the menu) while you have any form of alcohol in your inventory, your bombs (and potions etc) are topped up automatically.
You need bombs to clear monster nests I think, so they're a good thing to craft early on.
A lot of the time, the game wants or expects you to be prepared; knowing what you're going up against, you can have your sword oiled, the right bombs, and what signs are going to be most effective (yrden is particularly effective against specters, for example, and dimeritium bombs hinder magical abilities). There are tactical considerations, too - defending and parrying works great against humanoids, but it you're fighting a relict, don't bother - just dodge and roll. I was able to kill a level 14 Griffin at level 7 just by having the right stuff and having some idea what I was doing.
One thing I remember being sort of unclear is when the game talks about "humans and nonhumans", which just sound like it should be everything; it just means humanoids (humans, dwarves, elves), not monsters. It doesn't come up often, but there's a poison and at least one trophy that use the phrase, and it confused me for a while.
…do we have a Witcher 3 thread?
We don't have a Witcher 3 thread (though we probably did on the old Soc), and I don't think there's an easy way to transfer multiple posts over to a new thread on this iteration of the forum.
Thanks for the tips though. I'd completely forgotten there was even a block or parry! Still I've been having reasonable success by rolling all over the place, even if it does look a bit ridiculous.
I managed to brew a Swallow potion for a quest and now it seems I can't make any more. It's disappeared from my list. Does MPH's comment above mean I'll automatically get another one when I meditate, or do I need to have the items again to make it?
The game's very confusing in that it doesn't explain complicated stuff like this at all, but gave me a massive tutorial on how to use the map (which is completely obvious if you've ever used any videogame map ever). Still it is absolutely glorious stuff from what I've seen so far, every quest I've done has been an unexpected delight and the game looks absolutely vast too.
Thanks for the tips though. I'd completely forgotten there was even a block or parry! Still I've been having reasonable success by rolling all over the place, even if it does look a bit ridiculous.
I'm going to have to start from the beginning again aren't I…
I managed to brew a Swallow potion for a quest and now it seems I can't make any more. It's disappeared from my list. Does MPH's comment above mean I'll automatically get another one when I meditate, or do I need to have the items again to make it?
Yep any potions that you brew once will refill automatically during every meditation, provided you have alcohol. So you only have to 'craft' alchemy stuff once.
It is a huge game. I actually had to take a break halfway through because fatigue set in, but it keeps up the level of quality throughout. The main game has at least one moment of "surely there can't be more… oh there's literally double". And both bits of DLC are great, too.
Yoshi's Crafted World is wonderful. It's bright, chunky, and the perfect tonic to all the shite in the news.
Insincere apologies for getting back on the Witcher bullshit, but Witcher bullshit:
it is absolutely glorious stuff from what I've seen so far, every quest I've done has been an unexpected delight and the game looks absolutely vast too.
Maybe my favorite quest in the game is one I stumbled on as I was riding between places, and involves chickens.
I don't think any game has ever really captured the feeling of being in a forest quite like this one. When the wind starts to rise, and the trees shift and crack… it's just magical.
Yoshi's Crafted World is wonderful. It's bright, chunky, and the perfect tonic to all the shite in the news.
Try saying that when you get to the end game. Those fucking hills.
The ports of the original Doom and Doom 2 have had big updates on all platforms (PS4, Xbone, Switch). They’re now 60fps, correct aspect ratio, correct music pitch and basically have had all their issues fixed. They also now support add-ons, with the Final Doom levels and Romero’s new Sigil episode available for immediate free download. Very impressive, Doom on the Switch for four quid is very much something I’d recommend.
Speaking of which, they released a new trailer for the upcoming sequel and I want that game so much.
Persona 5 question! Do I just treat the enemies like Pokemon, gotta catch em all? I was enjoying the rhythm of knock down > all-out attack. But then the game introduced a daft 'talk to the monsters' mechanic which slows battles down, and isn't fun, but does seem necessary.
Gathering new Shadows/Personas can be useful if you want to dig into the Fusion mechanics (particularly if you're going for a specific high-level Persona, or just want to complete the compendium), but it's absolutely not necessary for the completion of the game.
This sounds like an EDGE style "7/10 if only you could speak to the monsters" DOOM review style misstep.
Persona 5 question! Do I just treat the enemies like Pokemon, gotta catch em all? I was enjoying the rhythm of knock down > all-out attack. But then the game introduced a daft 'talk to the monsters' mechanic which slows battles down, and isn't fun, but does seem necessary.
Like aniki says, it's not needed know but they all stop learning moves at different times so it's always best to try and use fusion to get more powerful ones.
Speaking of which, they released a new trailer for the upcoming sequel and I want that game so much.
I listened to some of the soundtrack today. Yes please, in my ears.
Bad North. An odd little game that has you defending a series of small islands against Viking invaders.
I watched the trailer for Bad North after seeing Gar's post and then recommended it to a friend who's a huge tower defence fan. He then raved about it so… I picked it up over the weekend. I like it so far. I'm still very much in the early game and have mucked about enough to have seen a couple of game over screens but it's a nice little title and, as Gar says, not too taxing.
There's more strategy than I expected when you're trying to fight the tide of the map – there's a mechanic where, when you open new islands after successfully completing a previous one, as the turns progress a line sweeps over the map and will bar access to some islands if you don't have units available on that turn to defend those locations. Managing your troops to cover this aspect of the game seems like it'll produce some interesting risk/reward moments.
I also picked up Jotun in the new PSN sale. It popped up while I was playing God of War and interested in Norse mythology. Google helpfully highlighted it as potentially being of interest. Haven't had a chance to start it but, from the trailer it looks lovely and it reviewed well.
I've not really been playing much this month - a couple of hours in Elite is all I've managed - but over the last couple of days I've had a real hankering to (re)play Skies of Arcadia; unfortunately our TV setup makes the Dreamcast an incredibly awkward thing to set up, but apparently emulation of the system has gotten a hell of a lot better and user-friendlier in the last couple of years.
So I've installed Redream on my Surface Go tablet and hooked up the Switch Pro Controller, and I'm firing my way through that again. There's some jankiness here and there — slowdown when the visual effects get a bit alpha-heavy, and the audio mix is a bit weird in places –but I'm really enjoying the pace of the thing. It's kind of reassuring that even 20 years after I fell in love with this game, I still adore it. I don't think any other Dreamcast game has managed to age this gracefully, and no other game ever has stuck so firmly at the top of my personal all-time favourites list.
It seems to be ticking along much quicker than I remembered, though – I don't think it's that long since I played it, and I definitely don't think I'd made it to Lower Valua in under 2 hours the last time. I also feel like it's easier than I remember, though knowing what's coming up and a rough idea of the various moonstone colour interactions/tactics is probably helpful.
At around the five hour mark, I'm just about to head off to Nasr for the first Moon Crystal, now that Fina's joined my party. I've stopped off at Sailor Island to stock up on Repair Kits ahead of the one-two Recumen/Lynx fight after the Temple of Pyrnn. Next stop: Maramba!
Awww man. I keep being badgered at work to play SoA Legends on my GameCube, but haven't got round to it yet. Maybe it's time.
Play
Star Wars Uncharted: Fallen Order Souls - seems pretty good so far, for all its occasional jank; the performance is a bit odd on a base PS4, at times, and it veered last night from looking very impressive, to looking like a PS3 game in one mini-tutorial. It also has the irritating disconnect regarding what you can or can't climb/traverse/fit between that most third-person games seem unable to avoid these days, as well some more inconsistency with regard to what you can and can't cut with a lightsaber.
Sounds nice, though - I bought Marit and I a pair of PS4 Gold 7:1 Surround Sound headsets each as a sort of Valentine's Day present (as we're still doing the long distance thing, and I broke my last headset, while she doesn't have a 'proper' one, so gaming online is generally an awkward FaceTime of each other's ceiling where you don't immediately notice if the other person has disconnected), so I tried those last night when the fan started to annoy me. That is probably how I play on my PS4 now.
Want
DOOM Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, Darksiders: Genesis. And a Switch, so I can buy all the indie/roguelite games I already own and actually play them (on the sofa). I might get some other stuff too, I guess.
Bin
Still politics. Also TMZ.
And a Switch, so I can buy all the indie/roguelite games I already own and actually play them (on the sofa).
Get a switch lite. I can help with that. 
