Play.
Star Wars Galactic Racer is great, with a couple of caveats. The racing itself is great, and you can feel all that Burnout heritage when you kick your pod into a long, satisfying drift. The rogue-like structure is a great idea, and racing games feel perfectly suited to it, because you're always replaying old tracks anyway. But I've always disliked the genre, and I can't quite convince myself to give it a fair shake here. I worked my way up to Sebulba on my first run, lost the race, and now I have zero desire or motivation to start another run. I'm aware this is a me problem.
Also, tiny point, but the ramjets are disappointing. They don't feel much faster than the other type of boost, and it's fairly easy to control. I basically always activate ramjets the moment they're charged, and I'd have preferred a risk/reward mechanic where the boost is incredibly fast and very difficult to control without crashing.
They're little niggles. They only stand out because the game is, on the whole, so well made.
Also playing Cyberpunk for the 3rd time. Hopefully this time I'll finish it. I picked up the expansion on PS5 and PC, and I'm using cross save to work my way through a new save file. This has to be the most surprisingly cosy game I've ever played. You can take your Stardew Valleys and your Animal Crossings. Nothing beats the neon-soaked cosiness of sitting in a diner, or on the 70th floor of a mega-building, and watching the rain fall outside the window. Also apparently there are some shooty bits, but I'm rubbish at those.
Want World of Warcraft Forever. Only a few days to go. Still haven't decided on my forename-surname combination. Haven't wracked my head like this since I named my children.
Oh, and I picked up the humble puzzler bundle for 13 quid, which I’d heartily recommend. It’s perfect Steam Deck (equivalent) fodder, and contains a couple of Eurogamer essentials. I’m especially loving A Monster’s Expedition, which is another Sokoban puzzler like Jonathan Blow’s latest, except this one hasn’t disappeared up its own bottom. And the 7th Guest remake promises to be wonderfully naff in all the right ways. It even comes with Dungeons of Hinterburg, that indie Zelda and Persona mashup that I’ve bounced off a couple times. Hopefully a handheld will make it stick this time.
https://www.humblebundle.com/games/puzzlers-to-puzzle-you?srsltid=AYCX9vJVn8TTnHcy_oaImLmjhsx4YQpndwwTZr5KliJ5GzjX-NtIwV4c
Play
I've just been playing a bit of Dungeons of Hinterberg, actually. I'm still early - only day 3 or 4, maybe? - but it's quite charming. I never managed to finish anything these days, though, so of course I've also gone back to the colossal, slightly-janky well of:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Pretty sure I last played this when it launched, and I have no idea what's going on, but the quest tracking is good enough that I can at least go in the right direction most of the time. I'm playing a mad, teleporting Rogue covered in poisoned knives and fire, and it's pretty unchallenging fun. There are so many crafting systems, though, and two types of lockpicking, and a thousand fantasy creature names.
Finally, still, Overwatch. I could go on at length about the newest characters (and typed a draft)l!), but I won't subject ygou to it. TL;DR: they're fun.
Want
Galactic Racer calls to me, but9 racing games are something I never really play enough to feel like I get my money's worth out of. Maybe if it's in a sale later on I might tip over the edge.
I love KoA: Re-Reckoning. It's just so breezy, carefree and of its time. You're making me want to play it now - it's like nostalgia distilled into a game. Total comfort food.
Hinterberg I've started 3 or 4 times and never got far. I love the art style, but I just can't get into it.
Play.
Star Wars Galactic Racer is great, with a couple of caveats. The racing itself is great, and you can feel all that Burnout heritage when you kick your pod into a long, satisfying drift. The rogue-like structure is a great idea, and racing games feel perfectly suited to it, because you're always replaying old tracks anyway. But I've always disliked the genre, and I can't quite convince myself to give it a fair shake here. I worked my way up to Sebulba on my first run, lost the race, and now I have zero desire or motivation to start another run. I'm aware this is a me problem.
Also, tiny point, but the ramjets are disappointing. They don't feel much faster than the other type of boost, and it's fairly easy to control. I basically always activate ramjets the moment they're charged, and I'd have preferred a risk/reward mechanic where the boost is incredibly fast and very difficult to control without crashing.
They're little niggles. They only stand out because the game is, on the whole, so well made.
Also playing Cyberpunk for the 3rd time. Hopefully this time I'll finish it. I picked up the expansion on PS5 and PC, and I'm using cross save to work my way through a new save file. This has to be the most surprisingly cosy game I've ever played. You can take your Stardew Valleys and your Animal Crossings. Nothing beats the neon-soaked cosiness of sitting in a diner, or on the 70th floor of a mega-building, and watching the rain fall outside the window. Also apparently there are some shooty bits, but I'm rubbish at those.
Want World of Warcraft Forever. Only a few days to go. Still haven't decided on my forename-surname combination. Haven't wracked my head like this since I named my children.
I just think the 2 boosts in Galactic racer is a mistake. I find it infuriating design, along with the toggle on the right stick. Fiddly and unnecessary. I've only really been doing the first 3 time trials trying to get better at it, and there's a sort of indistinctness and fuzzyness to the inputs that is at odds with the precision demands of the game. So much so I went back to Burnout to check I wasn't imagining it. But no. I still really like it, but it was making me angry, so for the sake of not having another stroke I decided to stick to other things for a week or two….
Oh, and I think I'm going to go back into WoW Forever. It consumed me at one point in my life. I think a couple of months of pure nostalgia must surely be worth a sub.
Oh, and I think I'm going to go back into WoW Forever. It consumed me at one point in my life. I think a couple of months of pure nostalgia must surely be worth a sub.
IT'S ALIIIIIVE.
And that's on the RP server; the normal server was absolute madness so I immediately retreated here instead. 6.30am and I was battling people for wolf pelts, it's like the last 20 years never happened. The new lighting system is beautiful too, it really does add so much to the world.
If you do jump on, they're mega servers now, not little ones. So if you pick RP, I'll be around… (feltmonkey was the one who introduced me to classic WoW back in the noughties, need him back next…)
Do you have to pretend to be an Orc now or something on that server though 🤔
The RP servers are just generally a bit nicer. I'd say about 5 percent of people fully roleplay. I was sat at a campfire earlier and someone started asking me, fully in character, about the local situation in Elwynn Forest. I played along to be polite, even had a chat about the weather. (The weather effects in this are beautiful, I keep hoping for rain.)
But 9 times out of 10, you'll just encounter slightly older players who don't want a server filled with streamers and their fans.
My only disappointment so far is that I wasn't allowed to name my paladin Uther Vandross. Apparently you can't mention lore-critical characters.
Play
Now I'm not playing absolutely terrifying games for a while again, I was kinda' like '…what was I doing again?' and decided I was probably playing Dark Chronicle so I resumed my save, very comfy dungeon crawling IMO. I will try to stay blind with regards to inventing so I can drag myself kicking and screaming into the realm of joy and discovery for once in my adult life, but I might need to look up the basics of upgrading and synth, although I did just make a Bastard Sword for Monica so maybe I do get it.
Ace Combat 5
Massive step up from Ace Combat 4 which was okay but feels very Ace Combat by numbers the more I play this, which has more varied missions, more interesting story and vastly better control feel somehow? The concept of modern jets with missiles that have the range of a few miles is actually pretty funny the more I think about it though
Afterburner Climax - Now I can emulate XBLA I can fucking finally play this…and it's way harder than I thought! Or maybe I just don't know how to play it, but it really does have the same Sega Arcade spirit of games like Outrun though, and it's somehow similar to Ace Combat but completely different, both games are in essence about shooting down planes but only of them has a super gauge for bullet time and full screen multiple missile lock on
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
I've been up and down with my feelings on this game, but if there's one thing I am sure on it's that this game without the downtime of the World Map is an easy 10, with it the game is honestly just a slog sometimes, such a slog that I can't see me playing this game more than once. I think this is the absolute worst game to recommend to someone to get into the series, the insane bloat does not represent what the series is about, thankfully Path of Radiance is right there and doesn't have a world map whatsoever to boot. Underneath all that? Good story, good characters, some of the best maps in the series, eh.
Want
Been watching streams of the Zelda remake and I have to admit I'm still not crazy about how it looks but I won't deny some of the dungeon design looks pretty damn good, going to play it sometime next year probably, were it not for Fire Emblem and GTA6 (which I wish was delayed a bit further, yes I know I could just simply not play it day 1 but…) I'd probably be playing it right now
EDIT - ACTUALLY I should get back to Dragon Quest 6 ooooh
Still trucking on with long-term projects Final Fantasy XIV and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, but for some more lightweight entertainment I picked up:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (the new remake, obviously, I'm not mad). It's interesting how this has basically got a 1:1 remake while the other big game of the same era, Final Fantasy VII, got a full three-game top-down reinvention. I was a bit on the fence about this, especially having replayed around half the N64 version earlier this year, but I did get it yesterday and from what I've seen so far it's actually really lovely. They've changed more than I expected - lots of areas have been significantly rejigged to look more natural or flow better, and there are a lot more cut scenes and dialogue now - but it plays really nicely and my word it looks absolutely beautiful. It's nice getting to an area you remember from the original and just taking in how much better it looks now. I'm not wild about the obnoxiously American voice acting (I guess I could turn it off, or switch it to Japanese or something) but all the rest of it is great and really goes to show what an incredible game this was in the first place. Recommended.
I like the FF7 remakes but I think most people would agree that Rebirth at least went a bit too far with the 'reimagined' part, they made a town that was like 3 screens into a full on jungle map, it's like turning Market Town into a Labyrinth, or Kokiri Forest into an actual forest sized area, I think how they made it seems best.
I think the best value for this IMO (at least for me) is playing a 'new/non remake' non BOTW style 3D Zelda again, maybe the '3D' qualifier is just me unfairly discounting the Link's Awakening remake and Zelda but I haven't played those and I think separating top down Zelda from 3D ones is okay right?
Agreed, I think one of my concerns is that OoT might have seemed very small-scale and limited in comparison to modern games, but it doesn't really: there are enough side-activities and diversions for it to feel quite modern in that regard, and it's not a short game. Anyone coming to this fresh is going to be having a great time with it. It's a template that would definitely support newer games in that style, I'm sure.
However I'm sure a Majora's Mask remake is on the cards next, I mean it's a no-brainer, right?
ANYWAY…
Does anyone know how well the Anno games play on Xbox?
The pad controls for 1800 are excellent, I didn’t have any issues. Can’t remember what the performance was like, but I definitely enjoyed my time with it.
Switch Sports Resort is excellent, with a side helping of Nintendo bollocks. Why can’t my kids dress their character with the clothes we buy from the shop? The only option seems to be changing my avatar to be an amalgamation of them, because only the main avatar can use the unlocked items. Which also means swapping the left/right handedness for every sport, every time we play, because we’re all different.
Been a crazy week but finally got Ocarina started and loving it. Even if young Link does have a look of some weird labubu doll thing.
ANYWAY…
Does anyone know how well the Anno games play on Xbox?
I've played 1800 a bit on Xbox and they did a really fantastic job of adapting the controls. The game runs at a pretty steady 30fps which is fine for the sort of game it is. The main problem is that they only ever released the base game on console and it's a hugely inferior experience compared to the PC version with the mountain of DLC they released for it. I really want to like it but every time I play it I get a bit sad for what it could have been.
I haven't played Anno 117 yet but my understanding is that it will get all the PC version's DLC (it's only been out a year so there hasn't been a huge amount of it yet) and it's supposed to be pretty good. Any sort of decent sale and I'm on it.
Switch Sports Resort is excellent, with a side helping of Nintendo bollocks. Why can’t my kids dress their character with the clothes we buy from the shop? The only option seems to be changing my avatar to be an amalgamation of them, because only the main avatar can use the unlocked items. Which also means swapping the left/right handedness for every sport, every time we play, because we’re all different.
I'm not sure what you're doing different to me but I've been playing with my son, we each have our own profile on the Switch which we sign into for Sports Resort and we're each able to unlock our own stuff and use any of the unlocked items. It also remembers that I'm right-handed and he's left-handed. It seems to work exactly as I'd expect, even when we're sharing controllers. (The only slight snag is that the Mii characters can't use all the items, and the new characters are shit, but that doesn't sound like the problem you're having). How are you doing it?
Agreed, I think one of my concerns is that OoT might have seemed very small-scale and limited in comparison to modern games, but it doesn't really: there are enough side-activities and diversions for it to feel quite modern in that regard, and it's not a short game. Anyone coming to this fresh is going to be having a great time with it. It's a template that would definitely support newer games in that style, I'm sure.
However I'm sure a Majora's Mask remake is on the cards next, I mean it's a no-brainer, right?
I think I have some concerns that a future of this sort of thing in the current form isn't a given, as OoT on Switch 2 was decompiled and available on PC in about 3 days. I'm not even sure what gaming is going to look like in 2 years time at this rate. I can see a rationale for giving Sony a kicking, but it seems to be open season on nearly every digital good at the moment. It's also spreading into custom operating systems (my Teenage Engineering OP-1 is now one of the most fully featured portable synths I have thanks to Hundekraft) and even custom 3D printed hardware combined with custom software. Which does have a sort of poetic justice, as 10s of thousands are laid off by AI, if basically the entire entertainment/software industry is brought to its knees by vibe coders….
I guess this is when we find out if piracy actually hurts sales.
