PWB November

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South Park: The Stick of Truth. I missed this first time around, picked it up in the Switch sale last week. And it's really impressive. It really is indistinguishable from the TV show, right down to the cutscenes that feature your character.

It hasn't had that much to say as such – I always think South Park is at its best when it's wading into some controversial topic – and the fart gags outstay their welcome, but it's all pleasingly offensive.

I really, really enjoyed Stick of Truth. It gets quite difficult if you start trying to tackle some of the side-quests (being repeatedly slaughtered by Al Gore wasn't fun), but it's great. You won't experience it on Switch, but one of the trophies on PS4 was missable if you didn't do something right at the start of the game… I ended up restarting and losing about 12 hours of progress because of that.

I've got Fractured But Whole, but not started it (couldn't play it around the kids). That might be on my To Do list next then.

SoT is good, very basic RPG (but to be fair, all the elements there are pretty solid, loot, abilities…etc) and it's very funny, of course.

FBW I found a little less so but I appreciate that they tried to mix it up.

In the PSN Flash Sale I picked up Hollow Knight which I've been looking forward to for a while and Darkest Dungeon which I've continually swithered over for about 3 years. Mainly because every time I think about getting it I watch a trailer and think 'nah, that looks complicated'. For £5 it seemed like it was worth a punt even if I only get a few hours play out of it.

Started DD last night and already really like it. It's not as complicated as I'd imagined and has the right amount of hand holding to get going. Reminds me of Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door more than anything which is a good sign I guess.

Snap! I was going to wait but the deal ends in two days or so so fuck it. Heard way too many good things about it to pass it up, mainlt that's it fucking huge and insane for content but also that it's kinda' the best Metroidvania ever? I'm a little gutted, I wanted it on Switch but it's so cheap on PS4 it'd be a bit dumb not to. I'll get Shovel Knight on Switch instead I guess.

Read a piece by someone who hated Hollow Knight's late game (something about pixel perfect platforming, can't find the article now) which, after Celeste, made me more inclined to get it.

Going to try and focus some time on Darkest Dungeon first though.

looks at all the Darkest Dungeon love

OH, NOW YOU BASTARDS GET IT.

looks at all the Darkest Dungeon love

OH, NOW YOU BASTARDS GET IT.

I've nearly bought it so many times based partly on the positive response it got from both Idle Thumbs and martTM. Really glad I went for it now.

Had a nice time in the first couple of levels last night but forgot to bring food into the last one I tried and had to retreat. Haven't figured out how to get info on items in the shop/inventory. Undoubtedly missing something obvious.

Read a piece by someone who hated Hollow Knight's late game (something about pixel perfect platforming, can't find the article now) which, after Celeste, made me more inclined to get it.

Going to try and focus some time on Darkest Dungeon first though.

Yeah I heard it does that too, I'm down for that 100%.

I've been tempted by Darkest Dungeons myself but I heard that the Vita version isn't great and now I'm not sure if I should get it on PC or PS4. Any advice?

The joypad controls aren’t great, but nor is the scheme they used on the Vita. I’d go for Switch (handheld) or PC if you can.

The joypad controls aren’t great, but nor is the scheme they used on the Vita. I’d go for Switch (handheld) or PC if you can.

Cool. I suspect it will be significantly cheaper on the PC.

The Switch version has the benefit of having all the DLC currently (Crimson Court and Colour of Madness) where the PS4 version doesn't for… some reason. There's nothing really wrong with any version, it's just that there are a few too many controls - a lot of 'hold this and press this' to make info appear. Once you know what you're doing, it's fine but it takes some working out.

The Switch version has the benefit of having all the DLC currently (Crimson Court and Colour of Madness) where the PS4 version doesn't for… some reason.

Sony Europe, it seems - the DLC is out on the PS4 (and Vita) everywhere but here, where it’s first been delayed by a week because of certification issues, and then just seemingly forgotten (which even Red Hook seem in the dark about).

I’ve been meaning to get properly back into it for months (either on PS4 or elsewhere - I picked it up in a Steam sale a while back too), but keep putting it off because I wanted to wait for CoM to come out, which is making the additional delays/confusion a bit frustrating.

There's nothing really wrong with any version, it's just that there are a few too many controls - a lot of 'hold this and press this' to make info appear. Once you know what you're doing, it's fine but it takes some working out.

Can attest that it took me a while to get used to where things were (PS4) and more than one botched mission launch where I went back a screen after buying all the supplies I thought I'd need. After a couple of hours it all becomes relatively clear.
there are a few things like Trinkets which I'm not all that clear on but figure I just need to do some GameFAQing.

Edit: one thing maybe Mart could clear up – I don't really understand how the mission screen works. Seems like there are a bunch of possible missions – including the Darkest Dungeon – and so far I've focused on one area with a brief venture into another area. I've concentrated on 'beginner' missions but how do you know when you're ready to move up? I like the character speech bubbles that indicate they aren't ready for certain challenges. Also, it doesn't seem like the missions show as 'cleared' new missions seem to just replace them.

Okay, as best I can summarise it (and still think I'm right, but Gar can confirm):

• Missions are refreshed every time you return to the hamlet; you can't retry a mission you've already attempted, whether you completed it or not.
• Finishing missions increases the experience of the party members still alive, which eventually increases their level. Max level for a character is, I believe, 6. Anyone under level 3 is white; at 3, they go green; 4 is orange (I think), not sure about 5 and 6 is red. People coloured orange and above generally won't go on Beginner missions. Pretty sure no-one under level 6 will agree to go into the Darkest Dungeon… certainly, no-one under level 6 will survive it!
• Missions aren't just Beginner, etc, they're also Short/Medium/Long. Short missions have no need for camping, but Medium and Long ones do. You'll have to increase the level of the campsite tent in the hamlet to improve your skills there, but camping is the equivalent of having a rest between missions and bringing your heroes back to a health/mental level where they won't die.
• Every time you complete a mission, the level of the place you completed it in goes up as well. The higher the level of a place, the harder the missions that place offers. That means you'll need stronger heroes to do the missions there. There must be a way around it, but I'm sure that means that it's possible to box yourself in and not have heroes strong enough to do missions if you level everywhere up enough, but then everyone good dies.

Trinkets can be applied to your heroes equipment - each hero has a weapon, armour and then two trinket slots. Some trinkets will only work when equipped to certain classes of heroes, but that information is visible when you highlight the trinket. If the hero that a trinket is equipped to dies, it's lost.

Cheers, that makes sense – I like the weekly structure the diary gives but hadn't clocked that missions were related to time passing. Have done some camping, really like that mechanic, was surprised by how interesting/useful it was.

Additional play actually, Battlefield 1. It was free on Xbox for some reason or other, maybe Games with Gold.

I had ignored it completely because I have big shouty shooter fatigue, but it's actually really good. There are too many unlockables, and the loot box stuff is bollocks, but actually running around a map and playing the game is immensely enjoyable. And on the One X, from what I can tell it's 4K 60fps, which seems like an absolute marvel to me. Especially for something so visually impressive.

The only issue is the games drag SO much. Each round is literally 30 minutes or longer, so it completely eliminates any sense of "just one more go". It's more like "just one go, I can't be arsed risking shellshock by playing any longer".