Play
Secret of Mana (SNES) - I had a sudden urge to play this old favourite, 5 minutes later it's loaded onto my Retroid Pocket and I'm pulling Excalibur out of a stone and condemming my adoptive hometown to being harassed by monstrous rabbits. I load this up every five or ten years for a quick play but I usually forget about it after a few hours, I might try and finish it this time.
The Outer Worlds - Played about half an hour of this the other day, it look good. Reminded me of Ratchet&Clank as much as Fallout.
Want
About 200 hours to myself to play through Mass Effect Legendary Edition please.
All this talk about Elden Ring and my friend's love of Dark Souls is tempting me to give them a try. But then I'm still avoiding the Sith Inquisitor fight in Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order so maybe I should stick to action RPGs instead.
Bin
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Play
Half-Life: Alyx: masterful trolling from Valve. Make nothing for 15 years; return with a sequel to one of the most beloved titles in the history of gaming; and then ensure that only 1% of your player base will ever have the hardware required to experience it. Still, if you do have a capable gaming PC, a VR headset, an extremely robust wifi setup and plenty of space to throw yourself around in, this is an utterly incredible experience. I'm playing it in short bursts because it is VERY intense, but it's a hell of a thing.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla: friends fear he is back on this bullshit. I've got the Order of the Ancients to murder, and the Siege of Paris to play, then I think I'm ready for the new Ragnarok expansion. I'm waiting on reviews for that, because the Asgard/Jotenheim sections of Valhalla were pretty much my least favourite parts of the game, but I suspect it'll be decent.
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition: more engrossing than anything this janky has any right to be. I've finally finished chapter 2, which was an extremely convoluted murder mystery with a huge number of paths and outcomes that took me way longer than I thought it would. Onwards.
Want
Not really fussed about Elden Ring - I know I'll love it right up to the first big boss then get frustrated with it and bin it off.
Looking forward to the new Lego Star Wars game, Slime Rancher 2 and the Mario & Rabbids sequel. I appreciate that makes me sound like I'm 12.
Bin
Jesus fucking Christ where to start? It feels like we've unravelled a century of progress in the last five years alone. At heart we are just cavemen waving sticks at the funny-looking cavemen living on the other side of the hill.
At heart we are just cavemen waving sticks at the funny-looking cavemen living on the other side of the hill.
Yeah but now we have Candy Crush.
Play
Cyberpunk is still taking all of my TV-console time. I became a bit too all-powerful and lost any incentive to use the hacking, so I've bumped the difficulty up to hard. (When I have to use hard mode, you know the game balance is wrong.) Despite it being such a scuzzy, unpleasant place, I just want to spend every spare moment in Night City. It's too ambitious, full of jank and completely wonderful.
Want
UPS to return my Switch. Nintendo posted it back last week (faulty button) and it's been stuck in UPS's black hole ever since.
Bin
War, economic collapse, constant threat of nuclear annihilation. Just the usual.
Play
Elden Ring - If this isn't the best open world map since BOTW it's certainly the most impressive on a technical and artistic scale. Not only is it fucking massive, but none of it feels lazy or overdone and some of the visuals without equal. I have a few friends who have it and everytime we discuss where we're at we've all gone different ways to each other. You'll be sidetracked for hours finding stuff, then the next minute you'll be in a Castle or a Royal Academy and you still have that really nice interior level design you might associate with non open world From Software.
A few things come with it being open world and Dark Souls though, you take that vagueness with the quests and secrets that you know this series for and then you stretch that over miles and miles of land and you see why that might be a bit annoying if you wanna' play this blind. Or how if you're not careful you can stumble into 'the wrong neghbourhood', like leaving the Firelink Shrine in DS1 and instantly taking a wrong turn into Anor Londo. It means if you want, you can get super powerful stuff early but you will have to be aware at how you are more susceptible to dying than you already are in this series.
The first boss in this game is basically a middle game boss in any other game, except you're level 1. The intent is clear, go back and explore then come back stronger. I'm not sure how I feel about that unsubtle forced exploration but that's just the open world thing again I suppose. Also, personally I fucking hate the bosses in this game so far, I have been non stop shitting myself over Twitter about them so I might as well mention it here lest anyone accuse me of going soft on the game on here. I could go into why but it's very mechanic specific. c:
Also, after Bloodborne and Sekiro, I DO think combat is a step back or two, the potential for many different builds and playstyles is greater than both games combined but at the end of the day the fundamentals are still the same as it was in DS3, poke, roll and backstab.
Play
Chipping away at the ol' Pokédex in Arceus, though I should probably get back to the plot at some point. I'm approaching what feels like the climax, but there's still room for another area on the front page of my Pokédex so I expect there'll be some kind of twist.
My sister-in-law got me Assassin's Creed Odyssey for Christmas, and I finally actually took receipt of it over the weekend. I'm still very early days, having just stolen a guy's eye and taken down my first bounty hunter, but I'm trying to approach it at a more leisurely pace to avoid the mechanic burnout I remember from the time I tried it on PS4. We'll see how that goes.
On the (virtual) tabletop, my Avatar Legends game continues apace, though next session will have some bookkeeping to do as we adjust things for the full rulebook changes from the Quickstart. It's dropping to fortnightly, though, as one of my players has started a D&D5e campaign. We've done a Session 0 and Session 1, but things are hopefully going to kick off properly, plot-wise, tonight.
Want
The usual suspects – Advance Wars: ReBoot Camp and 13 Sentinels on Switch, both of which I've already preordered – are really the only game-related things I've got on the wishlist these days.
I'm quite looking forward to the remaining volumes of Chainsaw Man to be published/arrive, and now that the core book PDFs are here I'm excited to get my hands (or eyes) on the Avatar Legends expansion book, Wan Shi Tong's Adventure Guide.
Bin
Oh, you know.
My sister-in-law got me Assassin's Creed Odyssey for Christmas
Please tell me you are playing as Kassandra.
Additional Want
Triangle Fantasy on the Switch looks really good. Looks like it's out in a few days. Has anyone read anything about it?
There's a demo out, I think (with save data carry-over, IIRC?), but my disappointment with Octopath Traveller has me skeptical.
There's a demo out, I think (with save data carry-over, IIRC?)
Yep, there is and that's right. Give it a punt, Bri, then let me know if you want a code sorting.
I’m still finishing up Bravely Default 2, so really looking forward to Triangle Strategy, all that I’ve read is that it learns it’s lessons from BD2 and Octopath Traveller.
I did find Octopath a bit crap. I'll try the demo for this though.
Play
I'm not getting much gaming time at the moment, so what do I do? Reinstall FFXIV on my laptop of course… I've been meaning to go back to it for ages, I never even got a first job to 30 when I played it originally, but the QoL improvements, constant raving about the story and the increased solo opportunities have convinced me it's time to give it another run out. I'm playing a new character from scratch, a Lalafel Conjurer on Omega called Quin Quennium. Will see how long it lasts, but I have thoroughly enjoyed being in the world so far.
I was given Tales of Arise for Christmas and hadn't got round to starting it yet, but had the TV to myself for a couple of hours last week so booted that up too. The script is a bit meh, but the set up is nice and the combat is very good - not just RPG good, but actually responsive and fun. In fact, it's much more fun than Jedi Fallen Order - which I hoped would feel as fun and lightfooted as this, but instead felt like it was covered in some sort of force treacle. So another x00 hour rpg there for all the spare time I don't have. Still, a man can dream.
Imaginary games with the twins, who were two yesterday. They are so much fun at the moment, and fizzing over with ideas about what their toys are doing. They get a bit frustrated when they can't communicate their thoughts properly, so I find myself almost DMing for them sometimes to help them tell me what they are imagining. Bunny has found all sorts of things as he goes up the stairs and down again. I love it, it keeps me almost sane.
Want
A PS5. Not sure what for exactly, but it feels weird that I don't have one, given I've been an early adopter of all previous PS consoles. I think I'm living in a bit of a dream world at the moment. Still it's better that than…
Bin
The actual fucking world and pretty much everything in it (wife, children and present company excepted). What a shitshow.
Play: Started Elden Ring. Took advantage of that Curry's pre-order offer but I got the impression that unlike 99% of anyone selling games they have a preorder system that sends the games out when its released so it arrived on Monday afternoon in the midst of all the meetings.
I quite like it so far. I've a Wretch character who's 4 hours in and started before any patches were installed. The main difference I've noticed is pre-patch the 1st seller didn't have any armour for sale. Started a Vagabond character last night and immediately noticed that tiny addition.
It really reminds me of Shadow of Mordor but, as Alastor pointed out, the combat (and arguably movent) hasn't altered from DS. It's enjoyable enough just exploring at the moment though I've no real idea what I'm supposed to do.
Play: Pyre/Transistor. I had free time last week so was taking a look at the list of shame on my ps4 and cracked on with these. Pyre was sitting at about 40% complete so I bashed through that in a couple of evenings - really enjoyed it, will play again at some point I think. I could imagine the Pyre game, that fantasy NBA Jam, if it'd come out during a flatshare period it would have had potential to be the thing we played together. But alas, here we are, old men with children.
I've never got very far with Transistor so fired that up and the only thing I can think that possibly put me off before was that I was sitting too far away from it. At a desk with a monitor it looks beautiful and had engaged me more than any time previously.
Poor start to March as I had a near 30 hour migraine and then needed to follow that up with 4 stitches (actual old school ones) across my back after a minor procedure.
Play
Cyberpunk - Finally back to this now I have been paid and purchased it. Loving it but it's opened up now and it has thrown an overwhelming about of quests and people to go see at me.
Fifa 21 - Still playing a lot of this at work with the students
Rocket League - Again via work but played this for the first time recently, it's difficult at times when playing good players but can see why this is so well thought of.
MotorSport Manager - It's very mobile game at times but grabbed this for about 3quid in the Switch sale and actually really like it. Football Manager Motor racing. It's not as good as I remember Grand Prix Manager being on the Amstrad, but then that was over 30 years ago so it might be that isn't as good as I remember anyway.
NBA Showtime - Another Dreamcast game I have returned to, this is NBA Jam's first 3d style title, not sure why Midway changed the name but I have been watching the real NBA again, decided to get a NBA 2k game but then instead just started playing this.
Want
Time to play CyberPunk. I also want one of those newer Xbox Wireless headsets.
Bin
Close to 80 hours in Elden Ring and it still feels like I'm nowhere close to done, the sheer ambition and quality of the game is fucking staggering. I just did the longest 'dungeon' yet in the Royal Capital of Lendyll. This was a full on multi-tiered, multi-pathed exterior/interior city, not only was it huge it looked incredible
Spoiler - click to show
They made a city as detailed and impressive as that and they put it in the massive and equally as well made and structured open world I've seen in a long time. People have called this Dark Souls 4 and they're wrong, it's actually Dark Souls 4 and 5 and 6….there is even a part of the map that is just Bloodborne.
Even if Elden Ring isn't for you I think it's impossible to not be impressed at the whole package.
Started it (three times - choice paralysis) last night, and ended up getting less sleep than intended. It's slightly overwhelming, as expected, early on, just trying to decide where to go, and what to actually explore/fight (I noped hard out of an encounter at Agheel Lake, I'd imagine you can guess which one Al?), but I'm loving it. I can't wait to dive back in later.
Started it (three times - choice paralysis) last night
I was this close to starting a new game last night but pressed on with my Vagabond character. I'm still super early in the game but plodded around and levelled up a few times mainly to improve endurance and dexterity for weapon and speed reasons. I found that guy who wants you to take his fort back which had a real Red Dead feel to the way it was set up. Did that and then on the way back to chat to him chanced upon a ruined church so had an explore then came up against something massive and furry! A huge bear! I had no idea this game even had normal sized bears! Sorry if that's a spoiler.
Anyway, then it turned out it was 1AM and time for bed. I do think I like it.
I've played for three hours (on this character, which is my second Prisoner, with an aborted Astrologer in-between), and have seen absolutely none of what you just described. :D
I've also seen three, or four, or maybe even five (?!) different contenders for what Al described as a mid-game boss, and only beaten one of them…
Started it (three times - choice paralysis) last night, and ended up getting less sleep than intended. It's slightly overwhelming, as expected, early on, just trying to decide where to go, and what to actually explore/fight (I noped hard out of an encounter at Agheel Lake, I'd imagine you can guess which one Al?), but I'm loving it. I can't wait to dive back in later.
Yeah I know what you're talking about, I had the same reaction lol. Very satisfying to go back there later though.
I had much the same, if not moreso of a reaction to the bears that Dizzy mentioned though, there's a dark sense of humour in this game and some of the stuff it throws at you like that in my opinion.
Additional Want
Triangle Fantasy on the Switch looks really good. Looks like it's out in a few days. Has anyone read anything about it?
My main concern with this is that it looks like it's going to suffer from the same problem as Fire Emblem: Three Houses - and have so many plot sequences in it, it might as well be a visual novel. Seems to be the new trend with SRPGs which is a real shame, I don't want my strategy game to be 10% strategy and 90% dialogue boxes.
My main concern with this is that it looks like it's going to suffer from the same problem as Fire Emblem: Three Houses - and have so many plot sequences in it, it might as well be a visual novel. Seems to be the new trend with SRPGs which is a real shame, I don't want my strategy game to be 10% strategy and 90% dialogue boxes.
Yeah, that could be the case.
Octopath Traveller isn't a strategy but the cutscenes in that got really obnoxious too
Play
Destiny 2: Witch queen
Yeah, 's pretty good.
Like, better than The Taken King. Imagine if Blizzard put out a warcraft expansion that blew lich king out of the water. That's basically what's happened. D2 is finally delivering on its promise.
I think I wouldn't mind the massive cut scenes so much if the characters were more interesting. But when it's the same old stories we've already played through half a dozen times I'd rather get on with the game.
Re: Elden Ring choice paralysis: I'm not super precious about vague spoilers so I've been watching the odd youtube that pops up. Some of the magic stuff I've seen is very enticing. Also watched a thing about crafting which made that aspect of the game more interesting. The main thrust was that this was something Souls players might ignore but it's one aspect of the game that's been added to reduce the difficulty.
PLAY
On top of the usual Isaac, Sea of Thieves and Hitman nonsense…
Elden Ring - I'm into it. Feels like a Souls game where there's actually options in combat, and I'm liking the freedom over the cramped environments so far. My warrior nun has only died three times so far, although I did stop for the evening once I spotted a giant thing looking down on me from a high bridge past the castle arch. I also found the underground chest, but I'm not an idiot so that's getting left alone. No idea how long it'll stick but for now, fun.
Retro nonsense - Finally got my Sinden Lightguns and now I'm on a kick to finish my arcade machine once and for all. Managed to get Virtua Cop, House of the Dead and some other lightgun titles up and running on my laptop, so now it's just about transferring those files onto the arcade PC, doing some fine tuning of the settings and having at it. Not that that's everything to do, there are screenshots and bezels to put in place, some changes to the front-end and more, but it's given me the kick in the arse to get it done. I also bought a new handheld emulation device with a big screen, so I'll set that up as well with the same game files once it arrives…
WANT
Various games - In no particular order: Tunic, Cult of the Lamb, Mario Strikers: Battle League Football, Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp and a Switch port of Inscryption would be nice. I've also heard good things so far about WWE2K22, but I'm not getting burnt again so that can wait until it's discounted and the reviews confirm otherwise.
BIN
Cyberpunk 2077 - Yeah, this isn't for me, for the same reasons I don't play Assassin's Creed, GTA and every other big world icon-on-a-map chase (which goes against me liking Elden Ring, but hey). Not going to delete it in case I decide to try again, but I'm done for now.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Had gone back to this after the big update, but it wasn't enough to pull me back for good. The realisation has set in that I won't ever go back to this now, and I think I'm okay with that.
Finally got my Sinden Lightguns
I literally came here to post a link to a Guardian story about this, thinking it was pertinent to your interests. Of course you're miles ahead of me on this one.
I wouldn't say miles… I ordered them ages ago, but they didn't arrive until recently. Everything is in place now, I just need to try them out…
(The article in question: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/mar/07/duck-hunt-light-gun)
how the fuck did neir automata win awards for its story telling
alastor these are your people explain
Not enjoying it I take it? I don't wanna' be that guy but how many routes have you done? (I know someone will say something but they eventually vary wildly) I liked it but I dunno' about awards, especially compared to Nier Replicant :blobsweat:
Yoko Taro games stand out for being so relentlessly dark and depressing but IMO without being too edgy (okay, they're a little edgy) and also having a little twig of hope, the way Automata eventually ends is so good for that. And he's used to subverting genre tropes or whatever such as how the JRPG party in Drakengard 3 are like a typical JRPG party run through an insanity filter (and a baby dragon because) and still somehow the good guys
how the fuck did neir automata win awards for its story telling
Glad it's not just me. I know about the idea that you play through this multiple times, but it was so incredibly boring it took me months to finish a single playthrough.
Consider me thirded, I didn't even finish the first playthrough. Sooooooooo dull and the combat wasn't even that great. The battle in the fairground put me off totally.
Want
The usual suspects – Advance Wars: ReBoot Camp
Sorry to break the news but this has just been delayed for an unknown period of time due to current world events. Which is understandable, I guess. Didn't the original game get similarly delayed due to 9/11?
Finally got my Sinden Lightguns
I literally came here to post a link to a Guardian story about this, thinking it was pertinent to your interests. Of course you're miles ahead of me on this one.
This is odd as that came up on my feed and I have been looking at it since, look fantastic.
Not enjoying it I take it? I don't wanna' be that guy but how many routes have you done? (I know someone will say something but they eventually vary wildly) I liked it but I dunno' about awards, especially compared to Nier Replicant :blobsweat:
Yoko Taro games stand out for being so relentlessly dark and depressing but IMO without being too edgy (okay, they're a little edgy) and also having a little twig of hope, the way Automata eventually ends is so good for that. And he's used to subverting genre tropes or whatever such as how the JRPG party in Drakengard 3 are like a typical JRPG party run through an insanity filter (and a baby dragon because) and still somehow the good guys
I'm most of the way through A2's playthrough of Route C. I busted out cheat engine and set myself to level 99 lol
Oh, well I guess you are well past any point I could say is worth getting past. 
Play: Fire Emblem Three Houses - well. I completely misjudged this when I first played it. I originally went into it expecting a straightforward turn-based strategy game along the lines of the 3DS's Fire Emblem Awakening, and got… well, whatever this is, a long and rambling strategy/visual novel hybrid with about a million different systems all fighting each other and an allergy to explaining what's going on at any point. So I played it for a few hours and ditched it, disappointed.
I've gone back to it this week and tackled it on its own terms and it's actually quite brilliant. You need to accept that the game is really slow, that you'll be spending a lot of time wandering round a monastery giving flowers to people, that you'll need to micro-manage your team's training and make them sit their virtual GCSEs. And accept that the turn-based strategy is only a part of what makes this game what it is. Once you do that, though, it all falls into place. All the side-questing and dialogue sequences make you very attached to your team in battle and the focus on a small number of extremely detailed characters makes for quite a unique experience. I'm really loving it now.
It's made me think that I should get the two Fire Emblem games I'm missing on the 3DS, before they shutter the eShop at least. But Fates is so convoluted (and expensive) if you want to get the whole thing, and Shadows of Valentia is a remake… I'll have a think about it.
Not a fan of FE post Awakening era much until this game.
Additional PLAY - Just digitally picked up the Deluxe Edition of The King of Fighters XV (RRP €84.99) for less than €20. Friendship with CDKeys is over, Eneba is my new best friend.
Additional Play: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy which is hugely entertaining from what I've played of it so far and may even be good enough to put the memories of 2020's Avengers game to rest. It's essentially an interactive Guardians movie, with the polish and pace of something like Uncharted and squad-based combat that's reminiscent of Mass Effect. Voice acting and writing are both excellent, it looks and sounds exactly like a Guardians movie should, and while it doesn't have the MCU cast, the crew in this feel like perfectly legitimate alternative versions of the characters rather than the embarrassing cosplay Avengers from that other game I won't mention any more. It's all just really slick and fun and very funny and I'm enjoying it a lot.
This looks good.
[adolescent altered combat reptiles video here]
Well, I've found at least one thing to buy (WANT) this year.
Tunic is out today!
That is all.
That looks nice! Any chance of a Switch port do you think? Would be nice portable, but happy to take the plunge on the big screen if that's all we're going to get
I think it's Xbox exclusive. There's an ID@Xbox event tonight, and it's going to be in Game Pass I believe.
Tunic is out today!
That is all.
I hadn't even heard of this until you mentioned it - it is out now and it is indeed on Game Pass. It looks absolutely beautiful and it's getting amazing reviews, so that's another one on The List.
