Play
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - this is a very odd game, isn't it? I mean in many ways it is quite brilliant, and it's absolutely stuffed full of content, and all of it's really good, and the characters are superb, and the combat system is much improved. But it has - thirty hours in - absolutely zero narrative drive. I was following Sephiroth at the start of the game, and I'm still following him now, and I'm none the wiser as to why I'm doing that or why the focus of the game shifted from battling Shinra to taking this dude down. Maybe I've missed something, but as I'm meandering around the world at my own pace playing card games and chasing Moogles, it's hard to see where the threat really lies.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - always at the cutting edge, me. I'm playing this on the Switch 2 using the N64 controller and the excellent CRT filter they've added recently, and I'm having a great time. I know the 3DS version exists, but this is a game defined and limited so much by the crazy hardware it originally ran on that it feels only right to respect that and play the original. It is absolutely wonderful, and while it has obviously aged in very apparent ways, once you get over the initial clunkiness it is every bit as enjoyable to play as it was nearly thirty years ago.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor - enjoyably addictive roguelike that keeps me dropping in for twenty minutes or so at a time, there's always something new to unlock or something to level up and it gets satisfyingly difficult quite quickly.
Want
After some thought, I think I'm good on Resident Evil: Requiem for now, at least until I've played the RE4 Remake. It'll come to Game Pass eventually, I'm sure. Likewise the Yakuza 3 Remake, it's not that long since I played the original and I've still got Lost Judgement to tide me over if I get the urge.
I'm intrigued by Slay the Spire II but ultimately I think I'd rather wait for the full release.
So what else is there that's coming up? 007 can't get here soon enough.
Bin
Trump finally dragged us into World War 3. Enjoy your videogames while you still can.
I tried playing Village the other day, as it's on PS Plus now. But it's so unremittingly horrible, I couldn't get on with it. Kidnapped babies, murdered wife, mutilation, wandering around in the dark with a torch that only works on the floor for some reason, narrow FOV that gave me motion sickness.
I thought this was supposed to be super camp and full of sexy vampire ladies.
RE7 and Village definitely leant into a gross kind of horror that I didn't get on with at all. Ethan got his hand cut off far too many times for comfort and the orphanage section of Village was horrible. The Lady Dimitrescu section was the only bit that actually felt like Resident Evil to me and it was far too short.
I've come to realise that the only bits of these games I really like are the bits that are just Zelda dungeons with a horror theme: the RE1 mansion, the RE2 police station, the mansions in 0 and 8. Maybe the first half of 7, at a push. You know, the bits where you're criss-crossing the same section dealing with weird keys and statues and slowly unlocking more areas. Requiem looks more like RE4 so maybe it's not really for me.
I thought ME3 was unintentionally hilarious when I played it, especially the destroyed version of London at the end that inexplicably has dozens of completely intact red telephone boxes standing amongst the rubble. And the sex scene that had Shepard in full body armour. And FemShep's constipated waddle. And Ashley's MAGA makeover.
I didn't like it much overall. It's Mass Effect: Brown Battlefield edition. It's fine I guess and wrapping all this stuff up must have been a nightmare but it's my least favourite of the trilogy by some margin. When I got to the ending I didn't even realise I was being offered three choices so I just walked forward and the game abruptly ended.
I'm close to the end of DQ7R now, and while I've enjoyed it overall I can't help but feel a little ripped off by the reuse of character model assets and the tedious soundtrack—it feels like there are only a half-dozen pieces of music repeated throughout the entire world, and they've all appeared in previous games in the series. Each region should have its own theme, surely?
It's a bit of a series trait. DQXI only had one piece of overworld music for the entire game, I think. The Definitive Edition added an optional second piece, so I guess you can at least say it doubled your options.
I used to really love the Monster Hunter series (MH3U was amazing) but I've liked it progressively less with each instalment, you really are just doing the same thing over and over again in each game and as they've progressively streamlined them to remove all the preparation and hunting side of things it's become less interesting as a result. Rise was fun enough but it really was just multiplayer Monster Twatter, I didn't feel like a hunter at all in that game. I doubt I'll bother with Wilds unless it lands on Game Pass at some point.
Garwoofoo