PWB June

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses - the most "more than the sum of its parts" game I've ever played. The actual strategy sections lack clever mechanics - there's nothing here like Disgaea's team-ups, or XCOM's overwatch system - so they tend to be plodding affairs as people with swords clump slowly around the battlefield hacking lumps out of each other. The visual novel sections that intersperse them are long-winded and twee. Developing your characters involves hundreds of menus and endless repetitive training sessions. And to top it all of there is an interminable section that recurs again and again involving you running around a monastery doing pointless fetch quests. Nothing about this really works.

And yet - and yet! - it is somehow quite, quite brilliant. It's a game where I genuinely care about the little people I am moving around on the battlefield. I am invested in the ridiculous story. I'm rooting for my team as they try and pass their exams. None of this makes sense. A great, mad game.

Vampire Survivors - a mash-up of Geometry Wars' Pacifism mode and a roguelike, done in a Castlevania style. Weirdly compulsive with a surprising amount of variety and every game leads to more and more unlocks. It's PC only for now (and technically still in Early Access) but well worth checking out.

Want

I'm struggling to think of much here, to be honest. Are we in a bit of a post-Covid gaming slump? Normally by now we'd be starting to look forward to the big Christmas games but I can't really even think of much that's on the horizon.

I'll probably get the Monster Hunter Rise expansion at the end of this month, though.

Bin

Floppy Knights - a clever mechanic looking for a better game. It's just a bit too clunky and a bit too childish for me, though the combination of turn-based strategy and deckbuilding genuinely works. I'm sure someone else will rip off this idea and come up with a classic.

Play

I've gotten back into Slay the Spire in a big way over the last week or so. I'm giving the Watcher a proper look for really the first time, but haven't locked down a successful deck for her yet. The bosses are proving difficult to overcome, though I can pretty consistently get to around the halfway point of the second area.

After seeing Al's Panzer Dragoon journey, I got around to setting up some emulation on the PC so I can have a look at replaying Panzer Dragoon Saga. As is the tradition, I've spent more time on configuration and control tweaks than actually playing so far.

Want

Not much, to be honest. I can't think of anything we'll be getting before Splatoon 3 comes out, but that'll mostly be for the kid.

Bin

I've finally gotten fed up with mobile gacha time vampire Princess Connect: ReDive. I'd only been logging in for the daily missions, progress was glacial, and the events were getting harder and harder to get anything out of without paying, so I've uninstalled it.

PLAY
Elden Ring - Now I'm done with Weird West, I feel obligated to go back to this. I'll try!
LIVE A LIVE - I got to the unlockable chapter for work purposes, and then got my code… which means I had to start over. Need to finish it!
Card Shark - It's out tomorrow and already installed on my Switch. Let's goooooooooo.

WANT
Fall Guys - I've taken this on at work and am looking forward to it going F2P on June 21st. Need to set my PS4 up again briefly though to log in with the PS+ version, so I can get the launch legacy lack. Need to find the motivation to do that, since it's in the basement.
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football - Already got this installed on my Switch, so just waiting for the release date to roll round.

BIN
My poor TV - After seven years, my lovely curved Samsung had had enough and a big shadow appeared on one section. A growing light bubble in the corner was enough to make me call it a day, so now I have a nice new LG Nanocell one. Not an outlay I wanted, but what can you do…

Okay, might actually have one for the Want pile

It looks pretty much like Arceus, though hopefully the gameplay loop will hold up a bit better long-term here.

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NEO: The World Ends With You - a potentially amazing game and probably still all things considered the most worthy and perfect sequel to a legendary DS RPG that is unfortunately spoiled by extremely atrocious pacing. Some days in this game, that is whole chapters, feel like complete wastes of time, there's a day in each week where you do nothing but battle extremely slowly through each district in Tokyo to the tune of little to no plot at all. That and from the outset dialogue is like the Persona 5 phone conversations but actual story dialogue, worse still the game starts off with you walking 5 steps to each cutscenes, exhausting.

Tragic because I don't think I've seen such an RPG with visuals this stylized since Persona 5, the gameplay is really fun and everything about this game presentation wise is 10/10 and pretty much the best 3D interpretation of a TWEWY game you could make in every aspect. If this game really starts moving it'll probably be amazing.

Disgaea 4 - Powerlevelling in this is fun because it's a lot of work and you actually get tangible results for it, because of the insane stat scaling of Disgaea compared to most RPGs an hours work makes you feel like a God as opposed to 'super strong' in other RPGs, 'super strong' exists in Disgaea it's just like the baby mode.

Anyway I have 22 million, 866 thousand and 271 attack on my prime punching guy, he can do millions in one punch and I'm not even finished…

Want

Pokemon Violet - Yes, Violet's legendary looks way cooler sorry. I'm not sure I have it in me for another full on Pokemon game but then again this is out in November so we'll see.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Might book work off for this, don't think I've ever said this but I think for me the Xenoblade Chronicles games are top tier RPGs up there with the Kiseki and Tales of games, don't think anyone does the super JRPG Faux-MMO as well these days, even though everything shown looks great anyway all I really need is a big sweeping vista and an enourmous field to explore as I get destroyed by thge Level 100 Monkey in the starting area to realize how much I want it.

Bin

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Chrono Trigger - I'm just copying Al. I don't really remember this one much. It starts well though.

Advance Wars Days of Ruin - I put this on my phone just to try out the DS emulator and now I'm hooked all over again. I'm finding it easier than I remember, maybe it's time to try and finish Wargroove again?

Want
Mario Vs Rabbids 2 - Cartoon Xcom FTW

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Starting games and not finishing them. I was browsing through my Switch library and there are so many games on there that I was enjoying but just forgot about. Zelda, Okami, Wargroove… I also have a couple ongoing on the Xbox. I should pick one and try and finish it.

Hoping I didn't overhype it for you or anyone now. (stand by all the fairly hyperbolic things I may have said though,)

Pokemon Violet - Yes, Violet's legendary looks way cooler sorry.

🤔

….they've made worse

Hoping I didn't overhype it for you or anyone now. (stand by all the fairly hyperbolic things I may have said though,)

I've played it before so I know what I'm in for. It does look really nice on the little Retroid screen though.

Not smart enough to do the formating on my phone so will come back later for that.

Play -

I finally got a new gfx for my PC, its just a 1660 Super so not fancy, but the jump from the onboard 3200g to this has been incredible. Went with a slightly cheaper older card as want to upgrade the CPU eventually this year and can't justify the costs of the newer stuff.

Gone back to Company of Heroes 2 as there are parts of this my PC couldn't run previously without it being too choatic to play.

FM21 - Been ill this week so have gotten massively into this, closing in on 400 hours playtime which feels a lot for someone who says they don't have time to play.

Cyberpunk - again been hammering this, I get it can get a tad formulaic but it's really good. I still find it odd that my character will be melonconic, emotional and downbeat about the inhumanity of it all in a cut scene, mere minutes after I have just murdered 7-15 "criminals" and then looted them and sold all there stuff, so I can buy another car. Despite its issues like that I really love this game.

Want

Spotted that Kotor 2 re-release is out soon, not quite finished my replay of the first but spotting that had prompted me to get back on it.

The Space Marine game that is space marine Xcom 2 apparently. Its on the cover of PC Gamer this month but I forget the name.

Shadowrun trillogy - Played two of the 3 of these but will defo play them again on the Switch

Not gaming related but there is a chance our house purchase completes this month, just want to get on with at least knowing dates now to sort the rest of our plans around.

Bin

Having a bloody cold from Sunday-Thursday during half term!

Play
Onrush is brilliant, and now I feel bad for ignoring it at launch and contributing to its death. Evolution Studios had a really unlucky time of it – Driveclub was the best racer of its generation, and was unfairly overlooked after some launch issues; and Onrush is sublime once it clicks. But the fact that it doesn't make sense straight away must have been its downfall. A racing game where you don't race, where it doesn't matter who's in what position? It was clearly too hard of a sell.

Sniper Elite 5 is also brilliant. I'm having a good game week. It's the most noughties (are we saying noughties yet?) videogame I've played in a while, from the WW2 setting to the animations to the gameplay… you could have told me this was released in 2007 and I wouldn't have blinked an eye. But everything it does, it does brilliantly. Including an inspired 'player invasion' mode, which sounds like hell on paper (one real person will invade your game as a sniper, and you hunt each other down) but in reality is just the most joyous game of cat and mouse.

Want
To play Lord of the Rings Online again. I have a 2017 Macbook which a) isn't powerful enough for any games and b) is on the latest MacOS, which LOTRO doesn't support. But I'm currently ploughing through a new edition of the book (illustrated by Tolkein, very lovely) and it's made me long for Middle Earth. I even went as far as to scan Facebook Marketplace last night, before realising that spending 400 quid on an outdated gaming laptop for one game is crazy.

Xbox Showcase. Let's have something from all those studios please. This year.

Additional PLAY:
Batman: Arkham Asylum - I forget how many times I've played through this, but I'm back on it again because why not. Will do this, then City, then Knight (which I never tried).
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - Played for 30 seconds for an Xbox Reward and now I want to play it all. Goddamn. But the system works!
Disney Speedstorm - Got invited into the beta, so I'll give it a spin. As much as Gameloft gonna Gameloft with their F2P bullshit, the Asphalt racing games are actually pretty good so I've been looking forward to this since it was announced. Might be okay!

If it helps, that Turnip game is pretty short. Think it took me around 3 hours or so. Nice little game.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - I forget how many times I've played through this, but I'm back on it again because why not. Will do this, then City, then Knight (which I never tried).

I really loved Arkham Knight. It gets a lot of flak for its Batmobile sections but I thought they were pretty fun, added a lot of variety to the game and allowed for a much larger and more varied open world.

I played it on PC though which will definitely have helped. On console it's never received any sort of remaster or boost so it's still stuck at 900p/30fps. It's one of a few games from that generation which still really needs a bit of attention.

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Monster Hunter Rise - still just dipping in, though I've basically done everything I can until Sunbreak.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne - still just dipping in. Briefly fought Fatalis now, and am on all the very endgame stuff, trawling the Guiding Lands, etc, but may have reached the limit of my talent (and interest), for now. I think this is quite possibly my most-played PlayStation game ever, based on the time counter, and it's easily an all-timer for me.

Monster Hunter 4U - yes, really. While I wait for Sunbreak I've gone back to the game that I bought the 3DS for, and started my fondness for the series in earnest, but which I never quite got into (by Monster Hunter standards). I have a much better idea of what the hell I'm doing now though, and I'm actually loving it, to the point where part of the reason I may forego a lift to Bath tomorrow is that that way I can play this on the train for a couple of hours…

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate - not really. I did buy it in a sale months ago though, so it'll get played at some point though, I suspect.

Elden Ring - intermittently dipping in to go through NG+. I use a Greatsword in this too, naturally.

Want
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak - obviously.

Cult of the Lamb - looks fun, and dabbling in the odd roguelite and shmup seems to be all else I ever do gaming-wise at the moment, bar an occasional go on Demon's Tilt or something.

To maybe play something else at some point - a 2D platformer, or yet another Soulsborne maybe. I'm still just having too much fun hunting monsters for now.

Bin
The (non-Monster Hunter) world?

Want MH4U HD on Switch sooooooo bad, let me use OP iteration of the Charge Blade and Glaive on a console I beg you

Monster Hunter 4U

This just made me think of a shop that only sells Monster Hunter gear, then it reminded me of Spud U Like and now I want a jacket potato from the 90s.

Want
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak - obviously.

You're going to ask me to get you a cheap code from our staff shop, right? Right???

I think there's still a Spud U Like in Inverness. Not sure that helps you much, but it is closer than the 90s.

Based on current air travel and Brexit, I'm not sure it is.

You're going to ask me to get you a cheap code from our staff shop, right? Right???

I may have immediately pre-ordered it when it went live, long before this occurred to me, but thank you nonetheless.

I did also consider tapping you up for Mario Strikers, actually, but I haven't decided if I'm going to bother at all with that yet.

Well, codes never stop being available.

If anyone's interested in trying out Tom Francis' (Gunpoint, Heat Signature) next game, a turn-based strategy called Tactical Breach Wizards, I have a spare beta code on Steam (Windows only).

That looks amazing.

Additional PLAY
Fall Guys - Goddamn it, I fell down a rabbit hole and now I'm playing this on PS4 until it launches next week on everything else. Better spend those crowns before they become worthless!
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Barely scratched the surface of this when I bought it, but had a hankering to try it again because everyone tells me it's great. Let's see!

Additional WANT
Neon White - Loved it when I first saw it in one of our Directs, and it's been getting rave reviews. Out tomorrow, so I'll grab it after payday.
The Legend of Bum-bo - Already got this on my phone, but it'd be nice to have it on a format I actually play. Out 28th, so that's awesome.
Pocky & Rocky Remastered - This one got good reviews and it's the original plus new content, rather than the game I've already got on my SNES Mini. Bit pricey, so it goes on the wishlist until there's a sale.

I absolutely adored Fall Guys when it first came out on PS4, the whole family played nothing else for weeks.

Unfortunately the game didn't really have the momentum it needed at launch and it took weeks and weeks before it got any updates. We kind of drifted away from it before the second season even began. A game like this needs a constant stream of new stuff and unpredictable events.

I bet it's brilliant now. It must have loads of stuff in it. I'm totally getting back on board with this when it comes out on Xbox. I don't suppose there's any way of transferring all my old stuff over from PS4?

I don't suppose there's any way of transferring all my old stuff over from PS4?

WELL NOW.

Yes, you can but if you haven't played in ages (like me previously), that means it's a bit of a faff. You probably didn't play since the developer was bought by Epic, so there are a few hoops you need to jump through…

• You need to connect your various accounts (Xbox, Switch, PS) to one single Epic account. You can do that on the Epic Games website through the Connections section of the account page. You might have already done this via another game like Fortnite but, if not, do it now.
• You need to play the game on PS4 (or PC) at least once before the changeover. On PS4, if you haven't played for ages, that means you need to update the game client and start it, THEN click the link inside (because the old client was deactivated when Devolver stopped being the publisher) to download the new client. You have to do it in this order, so that your account is up to date and all your cosmetics are synced, or they might not transfer over to the new client. Once you've got the new client, boot that up at least once and you should be good to go.
• You'll need PS+, obviously. The free version won't require any online paid account since it's free, but the current model still needs it. I picked up a month for £7 but I still had £4.50 in my PS wallet from before I packed up my console, so it only cost me £2.50. I'm okay with that. Must remember to cancel it though after Tuesday…

Doing this gets you the Legacy pack in the new free version next week, which contains the first Season Pass for free. Yes, it's gone all Fortnite but I dunno why people expected anything different (they're already complaining). I'd also recommend spending any crowns you have left because once the new season comes out, they're no longer a spendable currency.

Also! If you have Amazon Prime, head on over to Prime Gaming and grab the freebies they're dishing out for the game currently. I missed the first two, but there are six more to come with costumes and other bits for nowt. Hurrah.

Fantastic! Thank you for taking the time to type that lot out.

All my accounts (Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Nintendo) are already linked to my Epic account so I guess all I need to do is update the client as you suggest and log in on PS4. I'll get that done tonight.

I'll get the boy to do the same, he was very much into this at the time and while it's a bit uncool for him these days I reckon he might quietly sneak in for a couple of rounds at some point.

EDIT: wait, what, I need PS+ just to log in to the old version to carry my stuff over?

I think so? You can't start the game without PS+, it's an online only game. In my case, I got it free WITH PS+ so it was a double whammy as it was locked otherwise. I dunno, try it and see!

That's a pain, my PS+ lapsed months ago. Not sure it's worth renewing it for a bunch of Fall Guys cosmetics. I'll give it a go I guess.

Ha well that's a no. Won't even let me load up the game. I'd hoped it might let me into the menus or something and just prevent me from actually playing online, but nope.

EDIT - problem solved, found a friend I trusted with my login details who still has PS+, we logged in as me on his machine and it piggy-backed off his PS+ sub. All linked up now!

Just want to say Monster Hunter Sunbreak has a Dragon Vampire and he stands up on his hind legs to do the Dracula cape pose with his wings before 'teleporting' to a different spot, pretty much my new coolest monster in the entire series honestly.

….the demo fight is ROUGH though, I beat demo Valstrax on the GU demo, I can't remember if I beat Nergigante on the World demo but I definitely couldn't handle Magnamalo on the Rise demo and now Malzeno in the Sunbreak one, If I have a shot it's with the bonkers Sunbreak iteration of Gunlance, which is a weapon that started off as a Lance that could explode at the tip when you poke and now it's iterally used to rocket you around the arena and parry bomb Monsters, it's so fun.

Ha well that's a no. Won't even let me load up the game. I'd hoped it might let me into the menus or something and just prevent me from actually playing online, but nope.

EDIT - problem solved, found a friend I trusted with my login details who still has PS+, we logged in as me on his machine and it piggy-backed off his PS+ sub. All linked up now!

Good good!

I managed to sign up to be a beta tester, and the last one before launch is tomorrow. Gonna get me that sweet, sweet costume for testers only.

Additional play - No Man’s Sky is just a different game now. It’s finally fulfilling the promise of exploration - caves, volcanoes, space battles, forests, mountains, waterfalls, entire underwater ecosystems, genuinely interesting flora and fauna… Every planet genuinely feels new, like you’re exploring something no-one has ever seen before. If it had launched in this state, I think people would be calling it an all-time classic.

If anyone hasn’t given it a go for a couple of years, I’d recommend you jump back in.

I've always thought No Man's Sky would be my kind of game. When it launches on Switch, I might give it a go… though I appreciate that'll be an incredibly hobbled experience compared to the big versions and especially the VR one.

Gar: Probably worth reading this about Fall Guys, just so you're prepared, re: currency changes against the current game.

Play

Monster Train- This was an excellent recommendation @Garwoofoo! I've unlocked 4 different clans now, and completed a few runs on the lower settings while I'm getting to grips with it. I completely agree with it being faster, cutting out the slow start that's in Slay the Spire. Overall, I'm loving it. This will be a game I play every other day when I have free time to squeeze a run in.

Want

Omori- Never heard of this game until it came to game pass today. Looked at the reviews and it has very high praise. Checked out a trailer, and that looks amazing too. Indie RPG about depression and anxiety with Earthbound vibes. Can't wait. I'll start it tomorrow hopefully.

Monster Train- This was an excellent recommendation @Garwoofoo! I've unlocked 4 different clans now, and completed a few runs on the lower settings while I'm getting to grips with it. I completely agree with it being faster, cutting out the slow start that's in Slay the Spire. Overall, I'm loving it. This will be a game I play every other day when I have free time to squeeze a run in.

Really glad you like it!

For future reference - if you end up really getting into this, the Last Divinity DLC is excellent. The main game is solid but the DLC is what lifted it to a 10/10 all-timer for me.

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Mad Max- Considering this is sitting at a 69 on metacritic, this easily becames one of the most underrated games I've ever played. I only got it because it was £2.99 on the Xbox store. The driving combat feels great and the progression through the upgrade options are solid. Before I played this I honestly thought it was a third person shooter, but it's mostly hand to hand combat. Although it doesn't do anything new with the combat playing like a Batman clone. This game hits hard. You feel the weight behind every punch. It's feels so satisfying, more so than Batman or Spiderman I reckon. If your fed up with the Ubisoft open world style of games maybe sit this one out. I would recommend looking up some videos though, because it won me over and some.

Fallguys- Not played this since the first month of release on the PS4. So far I enjoy the new games so much more. Now it's free to play I really hope it dose well. It's just a lovely game to be honest.

Incredibly late to the party on this, but I just started A Plague Tale: Innocence on GamePass. Still only on chapter 2, and it's very much in tutorial mode. It looks weirdly like a HD remake of a PS3 game, somehow, and a lot of what's happened so far is very much Video Games 101 (here's how to aim/crouch/climb/distract enemies etc.), but I like it so far, and while I've avoided major spoilers, I understand it Goes Places. The sequel is getting a lot of hype, too, though I'm under zero illusion about getting to that any quicker off the mark.