Search found 19 matches

by MarkHoog
September 27th, 2021, 1:06 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Death Stranding
Replies: 23
Views: 21867

Re: 497 - Death Stranding

I've spent a lot of memorable hours in Death Stranding. I would traverse the barren landscapes, overcoming - mostly literal - obstacles, embracing loneliness and pondering existence and all that. The sound design, the music, the rain, there's a lot of stuff that makes travelling the empty world of D...
by MarkHoog
September 27th, 2021, 12:46 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Replies: 8
Views: 5760

Re: 495 - Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Ori and the Will Wisps came at a time when the country went into lockdown, my relationship had just ended and I had switched from a steady hotel job with colleagues to freelancing from home. The atmospheric environments and precision-based gameplay - that I knew from the previous game - provided me ...
by MarkHoog
January 6th, 2021, 1:51 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Hitman 2
Replies: 4
Views: 3064

Re: 451 - HITMAN 2 (recording 9th Jan)

I enjoyed Hitman 2 a lot, but I have to say I missed the episodic nature of its predecessor. Playing the first game in chunks gave me an incentive to replay episodes over and over again, trying all kinds of methods and completing every challenge until the next level was released. This time around, o...
by MarkHoog
May 8th, 2020, 12:00 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Detroit: Become Human
Replies: 15
Views: 17693

Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (16.5.20) - 419: Detroit: Become Human

I'm fairly proud to say that I've never paid money for any David Cage game directly, thanks to PS+. While I liked some bits of Heavy Rain, the sexism, awkward voice acting and ridiculously insulting plot twist ruined the experience, and I thought Beyond: Two Snores to be one of the most boring games...
by MarkHoog
January 10th, 2020, 3:24 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: All things God of War
Replies: 84
Views: 46545

Re: 402: God of War (2018) *recording the week ending 19th Jan.*

I concur with Electric Crocosaurus; every action in God of War has a palpable, physical heft to it. I think it's easy to oversee how difficult it is to simulate gravity and weight in a game. To me GoW's sound design is its best feature; the 'thud' of retrieving the axe in Kratos' hand is possibly th...
by MarkHoog
January 10th, 2020, 2:21 am
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Red Dead Redemption II
Replies: 150
Views: 82313

Re: 401: Red Dead Redemption II *recording 17th Jan.*

RDR2 takes immersive gaming to the next level with its attention to detail, its intricate systems and its vivid, breathtakingly gorgeous world (if there’d been a Photo Mode from Day 1 I would have gone full Jay Taylor on this one – never go full Jay Taylor!). However, I somehow never managed to full...
by MarkHoog
November 22nd, 2019, 3:11 am
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Asteroids
Replies: 2
Views: 3963

Re: Our next podcast recording (23.11.19) - 397: Asteroids series

I can't say much about this series, other than that 1987's Asteroids sequel Blasteroids is the very first video game I ever played. I vaguely remember seeing the box in a store, featuring Yoda-meets-dog-chewing-toy-ball final boss Mukor on the cover (this was back when box art featured spectacular a...
by MarkHoog
June 27th, 2019, 3:30 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Replies: 14
Views: 10885

Re: 386: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag is my favourite AC game, mainly because it is not really an AC game - it is a pirate game. While it may not be as historically profound as AC3 or the underrated Unity, it was simply the most fun I've ever had in Ubisoft's sprawling and overly convoluted assassinverse (ev...
by MarkHoog
January 30th, 2019, 5:45 am
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Prey (2017)
Replies: 12
Views: 8677

Re: 385: Prey (2017)

Prey was shapeshifting up to be my favourite game of 2017, mostly because of its gorgeous level design. Making my way through Talos-I, exploring every nook and cranny, outsmarting the mimics and cheesing my way to off-grid areas using the GLOO Cannon, I experienced a sense of solitude and freedom ra...
by MarkHoog
January 27th, 2019, 4:23 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: NieR:Automata
Replies: 21
Views: 15385

Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (22.2.19) - 356: NieR:Automata

So much has been written about Nier: Automata that I feel reluctant to add anything here. I mean, how much of what I say will actually be me? Won’t I simply be emulating other people’s feelings and opinions using slightly different words – trying way too hard 2B unique? Define myself? Also, how to r...
by MarkHoog
January 27th, 2019, 3:55 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Dark Souls III
Replies: 13
Views: 9314

Re: 361: Dark Souls III

I’ll try to keep this short, but DS3 is a special one to me… After avoiding the Souls-franchise for years, I finally gave the first Dark Souls a spin in the winter of 2016 – and was immediately hooked. After having completed the second game a few months later, my girlfriend gifted me the third game....
by MarkHoog
October 1st, 2018, 6:40 pm
Forum: Videogame Music (VGM)
Topic: The videogame music thread
Replies: 1260
Views: 1575904

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

While the Hollow Knight soundtrack is quite restrained and conventional overall, it's in the Grimm Troupe DLC where Christopher Larkin goes all out; this track from the Grimm boss fight starts very orchestral, organs and all, but it soon takes an unexected turn into black metal territory. I also pic...
by MarkHoog
September 17th, 2018, 1:43 am
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Replies: 13
Views: 11486

Re: 338: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Unlike Leon I played Hellblade in pretty much one nightly sitting, accompanied by a candle and a thermos of coffee. I just wanted to take the plunge and not emerge until the credits rolled. And when they did I was exhausted. Because Hellblade is not a game, it is an experience, a journey into a way ...
by MarkHoog
February 21st, 2018, 3:29 pm
Forum: Videogame Music (VGM)
Topic: The videogame music thread
Replies: 1260
Views: 1575904

Re: The videogame music thread (also Sound of Play submissions)

I got Expand in a Humble Bundle, and it was one of those puzzle games that really surprised me and drew me in; you're basically just escorting a red square through some ever-expanding circular mazes, but the soundtrack by Christopher Larkin (who also did last year's Hollow Knight ) actually turned i...
by MarkHoog
February 20th, 2018, 4:15 am
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Actual Sunlight
Replies: 6
Views: 5366

Re: 311: Actual Sunlight

(I hope I'm not rambling too much here; I've been editing and rewriting for a while now): When you break a bone, people worriedly wish you a speedy recovery. When you're severely depressed, people smile and say a walk in the sun will cheer you up; sadly, depression is still something that a lot of p...
by MarkHoog
February 1st, 2018, 7:05 am
Forum: Off-Topic Discourse
Topic: Books completed (and general book talk)
Replies: 187
Views: 221887

Re: Books completed (2018)

I'm going to try to read one book for every game I play for a while, just to keep a certain balance between the two media (for every stressful boss battle I want an hour or two in the serene company of words). Getting a head start since I've been playing The Witcher 3 since the beginning of the year...
by MarkHoog
May 4th, 2017, 5:41 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: SOMA
Replies: 10
Views: 10257

Re: SOMA

I've recently finished this game and have had some time to reflect on it. As an existential piece of sci-fi it works really, really well - it reminded me of Stanislaw Lem's novel Solyaris in that it combined a science fiction story with philosophical ponderings on what it means to be human. I loved ...
by MarkHoog
April 24th, 2017, 3:34 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Mad Max
Replies: 11
Views: 11065

Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (29.4.17) Mad Max

So I bought this the week it came out. Not because I'm such a huge fan of Mad Max or open world games, but because a friend of mine kept going on about it and at one point I wanted to experience at least some bits of it myself instead of having it all spelled out to me. What followed were 50 hours o...
by MarkHoog
April 10th, 2017, 3:50 pm
Forum: Videogame Discussion
Topic: Tetris
Replies: 11
Views: 12582

Re: Tetris

Half a life ago, this was probably one of the biggest building block of my gaming persona. Had I not gotten a Game Boy along with this game at such a young age, I might've just stuck to reading books. And, probably due to Tetris' abstract simplicity, the fond memories I have around this game are leg...