Post
by Suits » September 17th, 2018, 9:25 am
I'm very much into a nice triple routine at the moment.
I'm playing through Strange Brigade on the Xbox One, which is a fun, if a little bland team shooter. Me and my mate got to the last story mission then our other friend got back from holiday and wanted in, so we've started again.
Although it lends itself well to going back through the levels as there’s lots of collectables and secrets to unlock the game is primarily a vehicle for us to get together and Lego chat for a hour or two of an evening.
Then I’m playing through Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the 3DS. Very charming, slow paced adventure. Nice simple story that is easy to pick up and immediately get back into. It’s got a couple of old-school-hard puzzles as well, which as frustrating as they can be while you’re in them, give you that slap of satisfaction when you figure them out.
I’m only 6 hours in but the game is still introducing mechanics and scenario’s that keep you guessing and involved.
A very well put together game with almost perfect pacing so far.
Then I’m constantly, as often as I can, playing Pro (PES 2019) on the PS4.
So, if you only read the online noise about this game, you’d be forgiven for giving it a wide berth. It’s Pro so comes with rather a few, large caveats BUT – it’s one hell of a football game.
Master League is currently broken. There’s a bug that means Leicester City, frivolously sell all their players before the transfer deadline and buy no one. Which means, in some cases they go down to a squad of 9 players. This also happen to Birmingham City too.
Konami are looking into this and have stated that there is a patch on the way. I also hope it addresses the fact that Hull occasionally buy Messi for £30M.
Due to this, I have held off starting my Master League – clearly, and have focussed on MyClub which effectively is a card based, deck building, football game. It’s good and has been around for a number of years now. It allows you to actually play the games, online, against the COM, or Simulate matches in the style of a very simplistic Championship Manager style.
Often I will start the SIM matches and sit back in my chair with the 3DS, as the games play out in real time, 10 minutes.
But, back to the actual football. It’s class. Absolute class.
Everything that makes Pro stand out against FIFA is more pronounced than ever before. The weight of the players, the movement, the individualism, it’s crafted so well and makes for a such a rich experience it makes putting up with all the other rubbish.
An example of how things have changed from last year;
Headers. Lot’s of people are complaining that the system is broken and that headers don’t work – wrong, you just have to win them. More often than not the header is won before the leap is made, its won in the positioning, the momentum and the strength of the payers. Then there’s the timing of the leap. You can now effectively build your leap and pop it at a specific moment to win the header, it’s such a great way to build important into headers and really, really makes a difference. It’s easier to defend a header than it is to attack them, is the way they’ve balanced it so that you can’t just bully your way in a game of head tennis.
I’ve also taken the time to upload all the badges, kits and leagues into the game, so it looks perfect.