Whatcha Been Playing?

[Flabyo]

It’s not called 2.8, that’s not nearly pretentious enough for Square, it’s called II.8

[Magical_Isopod]

Also, that's a long list of releases - until you realize about half of them are absolutely pointless to the central story.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Also, that's a long list of releases - until you realize about half of them are absolutely pointless to the central story.

Wait... there's a story?1?

[Magical_Isopod]

Also, that's a long list of releases - until you realize about half of them are absolutely pointless to the central story.

Wait... there's a story?1?

Just search up "dunkey kingdom hearts" .

[dezm0nd]

I've been enjoying my time with Dragon Quest Builders but i feel I'd enjoy it more in multiplayer whenever the sequel arrives this year.

Gonna put a stop on it before i lose myself to it and send it back to where it came from. It's a very good game though.

[Scrustle]

In my continuing quest to clear up some of my backlog I've been playing Shadow Warrior. The reboot from 2013. So far I'm liking it quite a lot, but I think it suffers somewhat in a more recent context, now that we have the Doom reboot as well. This game was one of a very few that were still attempting to fill that niche of retro, fast-paced shooters. Then (very) Doom came along and schooled them all on how to do it properly. But on its own merits, gameplay is pretty fun and satisfying. Movement is really quick and fluid and feels good, and strafing around in fights feels pretty natural and enjoyable. The sword that acts as your main weapon is also pretty entertaining to use. Doing melee in first-person is always pretty hard to get right, and here it still suffers from some of those issues, but in general it's still fun to slice and dice enemies, and you have some variety in special magical moves you can use to spice things up and add a bit of dynamism and tactics to combat.

The guns on the other hand are somewhat of a mixed bag. Some are good, others are a bit underwhelming. Despite the ability to strafe a lot, and more open level layouts to facilitate it, the game still relies kind of a lot on aiming down sights, which does slow you down and restrict movement. Nowhere near as much as other games that use ADS, but still quite a bit. Yet it seems kind of necessary to hit a lot of the more erratic enemies. I am playing on a controller though, so maybe that is the issue, and shooting without ADS is much easier with a mouse. Still, the feel of aiming with a controller here is pretty good for the pace of combat, and Doom has proven that you can do fast, strafe-heavy combat with a pad just fine. Guns are sort of a mixed bag in terms of kinaesthetic design, with some of them feeling much better in ADS mode than not using it. Which perhaps suggest that even without using a controller, that was the intended way to aim. So even though this does feel most of the way towards the retro style of fast shooters, it still feels like it can't bring itself to totally shed the influence of more modern design trends. But where it ends up is still a pretty good place.

[duskvstweak]

I started Wolfenstein: The New Order. It's plenty fun/exciting, ect. but it was probably a bit more of an escapist activity back in 2014.

[Flabyo]

I enjoyed Shadow Warriors when I played it last summer, it’s retro but not too retro. You kind of have to roll with it’s sense of humour as well, if that grates you won’t get through it.

The sequel though... it tries too hard to be borderlands without quite getting what’s good about that game series, so it’s just feels like it’s carrying too much baggage. Haven’t finished it yet, may not ever do so.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I've been enjoying my time with Dragon Quest Builders but i feel I'd enjoy it more in multiplayer whenever the sequel arrives this year.

Gonna put a stop on it before i lose myself to it and send it back to where it came from. It's a very good game though.

Minecraft never quite got it's hooks into me the way Dragon Quest Builders did... I have the PS4 version, but I'll definitely be getting the sequel on the Switch this time. Feels like a better fit for it!

[ColinAlonso]

God bless Jim Cummings as Pete.

I still love that in The Lion King, he sang some of Be Prepared because Jeremy Irons' voice went during the takes. Its really hard to tell that he did.

Started Red Dead Redemption 2 at the weekend. Enjoying riding around and doing the story missions. I'm starting to see busywork build up on the side but I don't feel like doing much. Maybe the odd bounty when low on cash. Probably best summed up by the ability to lose your hat. I could have picked it up, I could grab it from items, but it seemed like unnecessary detail and now I am riding around hatless.

Also playing Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (i.e. Layton 2).

[Magical_Isopod]

UHHHHHHHHHHH I GOT SOME MASSIVELY COOL NEWS FOR FANS OF EINHANDER. (Yes you.)

KH3 SPOILERS AHOY.

Spoiler: show

One of the hidden bosses in the game is a battle with the Schwartzgeist (jellyfish) boss, complete with a remix of its signature boss theme.

After

Spoiler: show

the Endymion appeared as a hidden boss in World of Final Fantasy (and even got a PSN avatar!)

, I'm seriously beginning to ponder if we're going to see another Einhander title someday soon. Either that, or someone in the Japanese arm of Square-Enix really loves that game. Holy cricket pancakes am I ever swooning with fanboy glee.

[Alex79]

Started Red Dead Redemption 2 at the weekend. Enjoying riding around and doing the story missions. I'm starting to see busywork build up on the side but I don't feel like doing much.

There really isn't any busywork in the game, there aren't many bounties, and those there are are all well different enough to keep them interesting. If there's one thing this game does really well its to completely trash your expectations when going in to missions. Not much pans out exactly as planned.

[ColinAlonso]

Ah, okay . I'm still early on and I got a number of new things to do in Valentine, started customisation (guns, horses), cooking and herbs, and discovered the collectable cigarette cards all in quick succession and that set off some alarm bells.

[stvnorman]

In a bid to not spend money I don’t have this week on Wargroove, I started Mega Man 4 on Switch. I seem to be about halfway through Wily’s castle, and so far it’s fine but all a bit forgettable compared to 1-3. Apart from Pharoah Man, whose level I liked a lot, though like several of the others it seemed very short.

I’ve also seen a final stage for the first time ever on the Sega Ages release of Out Run on Switch. Not quite reached it, but I could definitely see it, which represents decades worth of progress! What a game if still is!

[Suits]

Today I managed to get hold of a Dreamcast SCART cable (moody one though ) and have dusted off my Dremcast for some RGB action on the PVM.

I instantly reached for my beloved Speed Devils and have been enjoying the early stages of the career mode in that.

Despite the God awful music in the game, it’s still holds up as a satisfying, engaging, fun racer.

I even picked up some new CR2032 batteries for the VMU’s but they still hold charge and are fine after all those years. Madness.

[Magical_Isopod]

Today I managed to get hold of a Dreamcast SCART cable (moody one though ) and have dusted off my Dremcast for some RGB action on the PVM.

I instantly reached for my beloved Speed Devils and have been enjoying the early stages of the career mode in that.

Despite the God awful music in the game, it’s still holds up as a satisfying, engaging, fun racer.

I even picked up some new CR2032 batteries for the VMU’s but they still hold charge and are fine after all those years. Madness.

Button cell batteries are freaking immortal. My dad has a watch he bought in 1987 and he's never had to replace the battery.

[Magical_Isopod]

Kingdom Hearts 3 has an incredible 242 credited voice performers, most of which have been working with Disney and in anime, cartoon and video game voice acting for the better part of 30 years.
Even in cases where soundalikes were used (they couldn't get Tom Hanks, so his BROTHER performs his roles, and has been his voice double since 1996!), we're talking about resumes with hundreds of credits from everything spanning Spongebob Squarepants to Metal Gear Solid to Cowboy Bebop.
If nothing else, this game is a monumental achievement in gathering a significant chunk of North America's voice talent in one production!

On a game progress note? The production values all-around are steadily improving as the game goes on. I strongly suspect the first two Disney worlds are from an older stage of development, because the third one is an incredible step up in terms of graphics, storytelling, voice performances and level design.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Still haven’t progressed much with Yakuza 4, story-wise, due to darts, gambling, batting cages, table tennis, drinking, fighting, more darts, more drinking, bowling, locker keys, fighting... great being back in Kamurocho!

[dezm0nd]

Shadow of the tomb raider is on gamepass and it seems just like the other two so far.

I am fully expecting to take a turn when the underwater stealth sections turn up though

[Flabyo]

If you’ve ever owned a Nintendo Game and Watch you wouldn’t say that. They burn through their button cells at a crazy rate.