feltmonkey

I didn't play the first game, although naturally for some reason I own it. Possibly as a giveaway through the Epic Games Store. KCD2 does a really nice job of recapping some of the salient points from the story and letting you know the main character Henry's motivation. I don't want to spoil it, but it's quite seamless.

I've missed talking about several games I've played recently, but just today I started Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and so far it's really good. The first couple of hours are a roller-coaster, and much more entertaining than you'd expect from a game as detailed in it's systems as this is. Like, it has a potion crafting system which gives you written instructions in a book which is a physical object within the game and takes into account how far away from the flames the pot is. Also, sometimes you have to have a wash before talking to people.

The combat is brutal and satisfying. Every fight is a life-or-death struggle, and your opponents want to survive as much as you do. I have killed three people and each one felt significant. I even buried their bodies in shallow graves in the woods, like some kind of serial murderer.

If this all sounds a bit serious, this is undercut by the game's sense of humour. The stealth tutorial involves trying to sneak up on some women who are washing thier pants in a pond. The dialogue is lively, well-written, and well-acted.

How Long To Beat has it at 95 hours with all the sidequests, which is a real problem.

I played through the first Alan Wake earlier this year and I found it really stressful. Not really jump scares, more of a constant anxiety, a feeling of "oh no, what now?"

I like it when you have to give someone directions through the town. "Turn right at the house with no roof…"

There's a pretty good retro games shop in the deeply unpromising (in every way) location of Port Talbot, called The Retro Stash. If Doncaster is too bleak for you, Port Talbot is on a whole other level. Ridley Scott took inspiration from Port Talbot when he was creating the landscape of Blade Runner's Los Angeles, specifically the sections that are industrial, terrifying, and partially on fire. It's quite cool and spectacular to drive past, but not so nice to actually visit.

The shop itself is small but packed with retro games and stuff, split across two actual stores, so if you want to go from the section with the games to the section with hundreds of wrestling figures, you have to go outside, back into Port Talbot. If you like rummaging through buckets of Game Boy and SNES cartridges, this is the place for you. The prices are quite reasonable, and the staff enthusiastic, albeit it in a slightly scary Port Talbot way. One word of warning if anyone decides to visit though - they're never open when you expect them to be. The opening times listed on the website seem to be a rough guide, prone to change, presumably depending on which parts of Port Talbot are on fire that day.