JDubYes

I am enjoying it. My biggest problem at the moment is choice paralysis with my builds, partially as I don't really fully like any of the "primary" weapons - everything is either a bit unsatisfying in some situations, needs reloading/overheats too much, or has too little ammo for me to be happy using it for adds…

I should push on further, as I'm only on chapter 3, so more stuff is bound to become available, but then I spent about an hour on it last night mainly tweaking builds and testing them in Arena. At one point I was just comparing leg types, as I'd mainly just been going bipedal, and dabbled a little with the quad stuff, but last night I finally bought the "wheelchair" legs, and then also realised I quite like the reverse-jointed ones, as being able to get off the ground that quickly is wonderful…

It is great though. People talking about it reminding them of other Fromsoft games I get, though sometimes I think they're reaching. With that said, it has started reminding me of Otogi, as that was a bit floatier/more vertical in it's combat than the Souls games were. I'm not sure I'll get it finished before I go away in 10 days or so, but I think how it works is ingrained enough that I'll be fine when I get back, having false-started on it a couple of times before and having to restart. It'll probably stay on the PS5 for a bit after I'm done as well, as I'm already replaying missions almost immediately after finishing them, so a replay and/or NG+ seems likely.

You're right on the 'good mech game' front as well. I'm trying to think of other really good ones I've played, and other than Titanfall 2… ZOE 2 was the last one I played?! I must be forgetting stuff. And I'm not counting Into the Breach, et al, that have the theme but not the piloting.

Additional play. The Messenger is fun; it's an 8-bit retro platformer (no wait!) that is tough, but it does the Celeste thing of liberally sprinkling checkpoints, so you never really mind when you die. Plus halfway through, A Cool Thing happens that flips everything on its head. But I won't spoil that.

It's 3 quid on Switch atm, give it a go!

I admire the commitment to avoiding spoilers, even if I think the Cool Thing might have been in the trailer. 😂

It is a very good game, which I was very much enjoying…right up until it crashed during an auto save and I lost all my progress. (I was past the Cool Thing, but not that far, so I assume about halfway through.)

I was playing on PS4, so I’m going to give it a little rest, then restart on the Switch (good handheld game, I imagine), or on the PS5 upgrade, which feels utterly pointless, except for the fact that I can earn trophies again for the early game, I suppose?

Monster Hunter Rise & Sunbreak
Ys Chronicles 1
Metaphor Refantazio
Monster Hunter Wilds
Ys Chronicles II
Astro Bot
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla
Luigi’s Mansion
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Nuclear Blaze

Looking through my library for a palette cleanser, and spotted this, a game I bought years ago, on a whim, as it was ‘by the creator of Dead Cells’, and which then later almost inexplicably got a PS5 upgrade.

It’s a 2d platformer with mild puzzling, where you’re a firefighter sent to deal with a blaze, who stumbles upon a mysterious facility, and has to battle through that solo putting out fires. It was apparently made for a competition, and that is perhaps borne out by the reuse of the odd Dead Cells asset here and there, but it is fun and unique, and doesn’t outstay its welcome; it is very short. It also has multiple settings you can change to tailor your experience/difficulty, as well as multiple modes, including a Kid Mode, and a harder ‘Hold My Beer’ mode unlocked after completing the game. The latter does shake things up nicely, and I should know, as I had to complete that too to get the Platinum, and the whole thing took less than a day.

I liked it. I needed a game to kill some time yesterday, and it did that admirably. I also liked the multiple modes thing; even if I didn’t test out Kid Mode myself, I do like that it’s there. The whole thing was just an amiable, fun time.

Monster Hunter Rise & Sunbreak
Ys Chronicles 1
Metaphor Refantazio
Monster Hunter Wilds
Ys Chronicles II
Astro Bot
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla
Luigi’s Mansion
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

A fantastic game, which I eventually had to accept I would need to platinum to get out of my head. This in itself is rare for me, as I'm generally borderline opportunistic about platinum trophies, rather than dedicated, but I went out of my way on this one, and enjoyed it immensely. That thing down at the bottom of that thing can go fuck themself though, as can all the "beach events".

In fact, that highlights nicely "the thing" about this game - it is not without its faults, far from it, but it still so rarely betrays its relatively humble origins, and does things with some imagination and verve (and je ne sais quoi, I suppose) that it stands not just as some kind of plucky underdog, but as just a really bloody good game. I've played both Persona 5 and Metaphor: Refantazio in the last year, and while this may not prove to be my favourite of the three, it should be mentioned in the same breath, certainly in terms of quality, while also standing apart in doing something a bit different, and not being beholden to the usual JRPG trappings and tropes.

The mashup of JRPG, Soulslike, and actual grown-up story was a breath of fresh air, and I join a lot of other people in now being very, very interested in what comes next from Sandfall.

I never played the PSP game, so it was all new to me, which probably helped, as did going in with an understanding of and suitably managed expectations due to its heritage. I also think I developed a borderline unhealthy need to finish all the missions I could as soon as possible, which lead to the aforementioned gamebreakingness, and the afternoon spent trying to work out how to beat Minerva (which really wasn’t that bad once I’d twigged how Battle Stance actually worked).

The more I think about it the more I realise there wasn’t really that much of a main game, and that they really could’ve done better with the way (or when) missions unlocked; as soon as you manage to brute force your way through a couple and learn how Materia Fusion works the rest of the game just becomes a cakewalk. In fact, my biggest issue in the last few hours, besides Minerva, which is why I was trying in the first place, was trying to get the stats I wanted on Materia that wasn’t going to then turn into something else/something I didn’t want when I fused it.