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Vampire Survivors - I originally played this when it first hit PC Game Pass, which I think was before it even reached v1.0. Coming back to it now with all the DLC (so far) is a completely different experience. There's SO MUCH STUFF in here and it's weirdly compelling just seeing what mad shit each run unlocks. The Ode to Castlevania DLC in particular is absolutely nuts, just an absolute mountain of content that I'm only scratching the surface of. I know this is brains-off gaming at its finest but sometimes that's what you need and it's actually very very good.
Octopath Traveler - I was in a JRPG sort of mood but was struggling to get into Metaphor: ReFantazio so I stuck this on for a bit of old-school fun. I quite like it actually, I'm really taken with the graphic style and the whole game is so gentle and domestic in nature that it's got real charm. It's like the first half hour of every other RPG, but over and over again without (so far) developing into any sort of world-ending plot. My main fear is that it's been on Game Pass for a while and might not stay on there long enough for me to actually see the end.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - I actually played a fair bit of this on PS4 but definitely didn't reach the end and obviously haven't played the DLC. On the Steam Deck this runs astonishingly well and I'm enjoying revisiting it. I do think the combat system in this game hits all the right notes, it's just fun to play.
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I'm going to give Citizen Sleeper 2 a crack as I really enjoyed the first one.
Not long now until the double whammy of Monster Hunter Wilds and the splendidly titled Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii which should see me through Q1 with ease.
Bin
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders - it's Lonely Mountains: Downhill crossed with Crash Bandicoot, a game where for no good reason at all you spend 75% of your time skiing towards the front of the screen with no real way of seeing where you're going. This turns most of the game into a tedious memory test and I'm struggling to warm to it, despite loving the first game. It feels like all the development has gone on the multiplayer mode (which I have no interest in) so I'm starting to think this isn't for me.
Trump - well, where to start? He's even worse than we thought he was going to be and it feels like he's just warming up. Desperately hoping cholesterol does its job sooner rather than later.
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It's all about Eternal Strands for me at the moment. I can't articulate why it's managed to get its hooks in me so deep, but I've really been enjoying it. It did take a few hours for the game to settle into its rhythm, but once that loop establishes itself and you're able to direct your own activities a bit more, it's just a lovely way to spend some time.
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I'm also very intrigued by Citizen Sleeper 2, but since I never finished the first one I'm thinking it might be worth going back and seeing it through (and the DLC, which apparently sets up the sequel?).
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The relentless passage of time. Is it just me, or did weekends used to last more than about 15 minutes?
It's like the first half hour of every other RPG, but over and over again without (so far) developing into any sort of world-ending plot.
This is what eventually killed my interest in Octopath Traveller: it never really went anywhere. Well, that and the perpetually drab colour palette that made all the areas bleed into each other.
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Not much, recently, beyond still hopping into Marvel Rivals some evenings.
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Eternal Strands is giving me big "360-era AA jank-but-good" vibes, and I've hovered the Buy button once or twice.
Speaking of jank, Sarah's been trying to finally finish Dragon Age: Inquisition, and despite refreshing my memory about how godawful parts of that game's mechanical design are, I'm tempted to replay it with a different core party than I did previously.
Bin
Not just The Orange One, but the general rise of right-wing politics in general. I know our next election is a ways off, but it seems like every week there's a new study breathlessly exclaiming how many seats Reform might win next time round. My only real hope (and it's a slim one at that) is that Trump is such a disaster that (at least some) people realise how bad that style of politics is - not just in terms of toxicity, but effectiveness - and it's a long time before we see a repeat.
I won't be holding my breath.
Eternal Strands is giving me big "360-era AA jank-but-good" vibes
It's the kind of mid-budget 7/10 that just doesn't seem to get made anymore.
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Almost finished Paper Mario Origami King and loving it.
Circuit Superstars is a lot of fun and I'm really bad at it.
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I just bought Dungeons of Hindenburg and both Tales From The Borderlands. That'll keep me busy.
The midboss of the 3rd dungeon of Oracle of Ages requiring the use of the (spoilering because MPH might be playing this sometime soon, even though its a bit obvious) Spoiler - click to show Shovel, an item you get near the very start of the game and not even in a dungeon was a very nice touch. Other than the looping music I can't really see this as anything but a near perfect Zelda game, as a massive BOTW era Zelda shill I guess I missed this feeling more than I thought. (I always said the TOTK dungeons were kinda lame though)
Mostly it's the pacing, man it's kinda fast.
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Championship Manager 3 - on this and loving it.
Miyoo A30 - this was less than £40 on Droix and I updated it to Spruce (custom update of the OS) and it's whilst it's small and under powered I have enjoyed taking it work and playing in my lunch break. I've not wanted to take my Retroid Pocket 3+ previously as more expensive and tied to my Google account.
Indiana Jones - started this and loving it. Just got to Giza. The stealth is a bit derivative but otherwise I think this is fantastic.
Octopath Traveler. - been playing on my ROG Ally and really enjoying this.
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In the market for a 2nd monitor/TV for my games room. But stuck between having a mixture of consoles all hooked into it. Basically no new TVs exist with either scart or component it seems.
Bin - this week. It's not been an easy week to be working in a school in Sheffield. And tying into what Ninchilla said the amount of toxic people, who are using this incident to push "Only white people are British" agendas is actually sickening. I need to stop checking online but it's difficult.
In Sheffield there are close to 150 kids permanently excluded with ZERO school placement at all. And yet suddenly everyone online is an expert in inclusion, exclusions, and SEND education and what should have happened. My school site is in the same catchment area as the one on the news and I have former students who now attend it, so Mondays news was utterly horrifying and worrying.
A ways into the third act on Baldur's Gate 3 and I'm almost dizzy at how big this area is, it's quite intimidating. And I know it's been regularly patched for bugs and whatnot but the fact that it all holds together is nuts, especially considering the way the game lets you interact with it all. So far it's been also really well paced too, in that it strikes a nice balance of exploration and (very sudden) combat. And I don't play DnD but the way I unexpectedly found myself in combat whilst in a pub of civilians really did remind me of the DnD podcasts I've listened to and how they handled combat.
I vastly enjoyed the Monster Hunter Wilds beta test more the secnd time around, I don't know what it was but I just started playing it better instead of just stabbing in the dark with every weapon I guess? Also me and some friends did a co-op hunt and killed the new amazing flagship Monster for the game, simply an unbeatable experience and I'll happy party up with anyone here if they want. Probably biggest contender for GOTY already.
I was curious so I finally loaded up Monster Hunter Stories on the Steam Deck, not sure I intend to actually start another full on RPG but the premise of stealing eggs from nests to domesticate the Monsters seems pretty wild. 
Everything about the two games I've seen looks brilliant though.
15 hours into the MH Wilds beta, and I think that's half what it should be tbh
I'd also really recommend giving Eternal Strands a go. It's a colourful Dark Sector. A modern reimagining of the AA games we used to get all the time on the 360. A fun core concept, a world that's utterly familiar but has a few fresh touches to it, absolutely gorgeous to look at and fun to play. It's also an 18Gb download (which is refreshing in the era of 150Gb installs).
The problem is, with that and Avowed, Dragon Age and Immortals of Aveum that I'm going to try to consume at the same time, there is a danger of colourful AA videogame lore overload.
Atelier Yumia, the latest in the Atelier series and the first one to feature real time combat is out in March I believe, I've only beat Ryza 1, 2 and Marie and I want to beat at least one more 'classic' Atelier game before Yumia so I've started Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book and instantly I'm loving that classic comfy RPG gaming I think this series seems to do better than just about anything. It's actually fairly basic compared to Ryza and is way more like an upgraded Marie (Atelier Marie was a remake of the very first game in the mainline series) so this means little story focus and more of you going where you want and exploring gathering areas.
However, the trademark alchemy is still here and you are still bypassing traditional RPG mechanics eventually with better and better homegrown gear and items, as it should be. I'm actually quite curious how this is going to work in Yumia being real time because like, are you eventually going to have a useless combo rotation because your cocked up a weapon that can kill things in like 2-3 hits? (which is the appeal)
Anyway series on sale on steam, I dunno which is the best but I always say Ryza is a great place to start if you're interested, at the very least you'll know if the series is for you based on the first few hours. It's a fairly low stakes (the plot of the first game is not flunking the alchemy exam or whatever) series where you go out collecting and make your own gear from it all.
Got loads I want to do and play, and yet have gone back to Fallout 4! Initially got it on my ROG Ally but this just then made me want to play my old Xbox save, which is now on my Series X and running better than ever. My character is 77 and so OP that it's fun just moving around the wasteland and stomping everyone. Found a Super Mutant Behemoth fighting a bunch of raiders in one of the bigger city parts, and then took them all down with a Mini Nuke, this brought even more raiders out of a base and so hit them with the Artillery.
Fallout 4, if you play it via Gamepass will copy your Xbox saves over, no?
Fallout 4, if you play it via Gamepass will copy your Xbox saves over, no?
It depends whether it's marked as Xbox Play Anywhere. Most new games work seamlessly but older stuff is less dependable. It doesn't look like Fallout 4 will work, sadly.
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Balatro - why did I get myself involved with this garbage, awesome, pathetic, game of the year all years, terrible, great, boring, can't put it down game?
Help
Started Avowed. Not entirely sure how I feel about it so far. First person melee combat has never really worked for me, but I did just find a gun so I'm dual-wielding that and a magic book.
I've never clicked with 1st-person melee stuff, but I think Avowed has nailed it. The dodges are super satisfying, and there are just so many fun builds. Rather than sticking with one fighting style, I'm seeing which unique weapons I find and just using those until the next fun thing comes along. Nothing has disappointed so far, and I'm not being punished for not specialising.
But it's the world itself that has grabbed me. It's beautiful, which is almost expected nowadays, but it's just so stuffed full of… stuff. Every nook, cranny and waterfall seems to hide a cave, chest or little bit of environmental storytelling.
It's about as far from a 'proper' RPG as you could get, and I do wonder what Pillars of Eternity fans think. But I'm having a blast.
I'm also really amazed at how good the 1st person melee stuff is in Avowed. I usually really don't get on with it as a mechanic, but it's brilliantly executed. As MPH says, I'm finding I use different weapons all the time and they're all really satisfying. And it looks absolutely stunning and is intricately designed with a great use of vertical space.
New Want - Monster Train 2!
The first game was an all-time classic (one of the rare occasions where @cavalcade and I agreed on something) and this looks like more of the same. Not sure when it's due out but there's a demo on Steam now so hopefully not too far off.
Monster Train »»»»»»»»»»»»»» all other games
Fallout 4, if you play it via Gamepass will copy your Xbox saves over, no?
Well I was playing on Steam for PC as apparently owned a copy there too.
Additional play. After loving my time with Avowed (how in the hell is this a 6/10, Gamespot?) I've gone back to the original Pillars of Eternity. I bounced off it first time because the intro throws a lot at you. But now that I've got a grasp of the lore, and have seen my fair share of Xaurips up close, it's all a lot more accessible.
Great fun, especially if you're missing your CRPG fix after BG3. This one feels a lot more like OG Baldur's Gate.
