Whatcha Been Playing?

[Suits]

Ring Fit Adventure has been showing me how hopelessly unfit I am.

Yes, me too.

Although what I’m finding it’s helping me with is keeping supple.

It’s stretching my muscles and keeping my ligaments moving.

It’s certainly helping me that’s for sure.

[stvnorman]

Sounds like Ring Fit Adventure is doing exactly what it’s meant to do. I’ll stick with my running though.

After enjoying its brief appearances in Uncharted 4, I dug out my PS1 copy of Crash Bandicoot and I’m having a great time with it. I’ve just had a hog ride, which is as far as I ever got, and I ‘m having a blast!

Started Batman Arkham Asylum on the PS4 collection, and a couple of hours in have remembered why it’s one of my favourite games ever!

About the same time into Wargroove on Switch - I’m rubbish at games like this but something about it (and not just the sale price) called out to me. It’s very good!

Finally, four levels down in Mega Man 11. The double gear system took a while to click; actually, remembering it is there is the main problem! Wonderful presentation aside, I still think I’d rather be playing Mega Man 2 though. It’s fine but it’s missing the spark that would make it great.

[Stanshall]

I probably need Ring Fit Adventure because all the shmupping has made me a fat bastard. Black Friday sales when.

[Stanshall]

Haha I knew you'd be first to pounce!

I actually looked at some pc the other day and then my car died on the way to work so that's that for the moment.

[chase210]

Ring Fit Adventure has been showing me how hopelessly unfit I am.

Yes, me too.

Although what I’m finding it’s helping me with is keeping supple.

It’s stretching my muscles and keeping my ligaments moving.

It’s certainly helping me that’s for sure.

I’m sure it’ll feel good eventually but right now I am sore.

[Simonsloth]

I’ve been quarantined in my bedroom as I’ve got Man Flu or a similar near deadly disease. So I’ve hooked up the CRT on a chair by the bed and I’m playing the PS2.

I’ve stuck on burnout and burnout 2 as I wanted to give them another whirl and listen to the C&R podcast.

Burnout was fun to revisit but dated whereas Burnout 2 looks and plays fantastically. I’ve given Dangerous Driving and Danger Zone a go and they pale in comparison. Such a shame that they haven’t simply re-released it on new consoles with the emulation sorted.

I couldn’t agree more with the majority of the panel’s opinions and another great show.

Next up Return to Castle Wolfenstein on PS2. I suspect it’s going to be a bit rubbish but we shall see.

[Suits]

Next up Return to Castle Wolfenstein on PS2. I suspect it’s going to be a bit rubbish but we shall see.

Back, back, back in the day, I picked up ‘The Thing’ and ‘Return to Castle Wolfenstien‘ on PS2 from a bargain bin in Electronics Boutique for £20.

The one that stuck with me till the end was Wolfenstien.

[Alex79]

Coming a little out of left field, I've been enjoying Ghost Trick on the NDS the last week or so. I reckon I'm about halfway though, but it's been great so far. I'm playing it via emulation on my phone, and it works perfectly.

[Stanshall]

I always meant to get round to that but never quite did. I think it came pretty late in the day, didn't it?

I've been playing Train Sim World 2020 and really enjoying it. It's not quite as pretty as I'd hoped but it's got a lot of atmosphere. It's utterly inane but there's somehow a satisfaction to getting there on time and stopping within a few yards of the end of the platform. I've seen there's a similar Japanese one coming to the Switch soon and I reckon I'll be all over it at bedtime. Meditative, indeed.

[Flabyo]

Ghost Trick is an astounding game. A lot of the original Phoenix Wright One team worked on it, and it shows. Especially in the art and sound direction.

[Chopper]

I've been playing Train Sim World 2020 and really enjoying it.

Did you turn 40 during the week or something?

I've made a couple of heart hearted attempts at getting into this, but to no avail. Some day....


In the meantime, another season of OOTP Baseball '20 is in the books, and I've managed to win the World Series for the second year in a row (2021 season). It was very satisfying, because even though I had put together a monster team, the wheels really came off going into the playoffs - my top two pitchers were injured, the Ace I'd traded for was having a terrible season (though he came good in the playoffs, bless him), a couple of critical position players injured, and four of my batting order slumping(!), lost 8 out of 10 games just before the playoffs..... but with a bit of grit and determination we won through against all odds. Because of all that, and even though you start thinking, this game is taking the piss now, it was the most satisfying WS I can remember.

I expect Football Manager and other sims do the same tricks in order to challenge you.

Now to retool for next season (some fan favourites have become too expensive and need to be traded).

Here are my guys cavorting at the end of the game

[stvnorman]

I signed up for a £1 until 20 April Game Pass offer on my son’s Xbox, mainly to play Lonely Mountains Downhill, which is likely to be among my games of the year after a few hours play. Not being an Xboxer, I hadn’t really paid much attention to what value that service is - Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds, Blair Witch and loads of older stuff like Abzu and Ori & The Blind Forest I want to play, and everything else like Halo, Gears, etc. I’ve never played on top. If we weren’t going to end up with one of each next-gen console in the house next year, I really think Game Pass might convert me to Xbox. Incredible service!

Also played a few missions during the Borderlands 3 free-to-play weekend. Seems fine but not something I want to play. I did appreciate having the chance to try it though!

Just about done with mopping up the post-credits stuff I want to do in Arkham Asylum on PS4, which is still looking and feeling as great as I remember, and being Batman is just as much fun as the first time! And finished Over the Alps, a clever and stylish choose-your-own wartime spy adventure on Apple Arcade.

[ReprobateGamer]

Spend Sunday afternoon playing local co-op with family:

Started with Overcooked.
I'm not sure it's possible to play this game without shouting at your co-players but it's a well crafted game that relies on co-operative play. I would like to see some measure to enabling a more child friendly take on this - perhaps a casual difficulty that provides access to all levels but doesn't save the score (or disables achievements) as each level brings a new quirk and new backing (from haunted houses to space stations and lava pits) but the scoring doesn't reflect that this is a game that works as well for parents with younger children

Then we had Lovers in a Dangerous SpaceTime.
My wife really doesn't like this game for some reason (maybe it's a little to close to Overcooked ...) but it's also a very co-operative game that is likely to involve some shouting. It feels a little more tactical though and more like you are working towards a common goal (which you are) rather than your own duty. It is a little fiddly to play - at least in casual bursts but it works as a co-operative shooter with a little more thinking involved.

Then finally Speedrunners.
After a few hours of co-op, this competitive platform runner was a delightful way to unwind. It's a well balanced game, though it's a little unfair the first couple of times you are on a map and are still learning the routes through. However, it's wonderful when you work out how to grapple around a corner and suddenly boast forward or a sudden flurry of power-ups leading to a rapid swopping of position. Not certain how strong the online community is for this one but if you have people on the sofa, definitely one to try out

And when not sharing the sofa, I've been getting back into Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. I am a fan of this game but will be the first to say it isn't perfect. However, it does build on the mechanics that made Wildlands work for me. I'm not certain the graphics are any better (explosions are certainly improved), I miss the AI team mates , sound effects have sometimes bizarre levels and spatial positioning and the constant scrounge for gear gets tedious if you aren't on a mission. But there is something that keep me coming back, AI team mates are due to follow at some point (as always there's a robust post game support from a Ubisoft published game) and I'm interested to see what happens with the raid due in the next couple of days

[Suits]

Having finished Luigi's Mansion 3 and bloody loving it, I'm clear for a while in terms of things to play.

Which is a great opportunity to go back and clear some stuff from my backlog.

Enter..... Metroid Zero Mission.





I did had intentions of playing it on the Micro, as I generally never use my Micro but inevitably, I turned to my AGS101 very soon.

It's just a much more comfortable console, for me anyway. The only downside is that the audio convertor on it is awful and even with the official cable adapter the noise on it is terrible.





I'm playing through it a bit differently too,

I'm not rushing through it but I'm not hanging around either, I'm generally focussing on the objectives and going with where the game takes me. As opposed to my more cautious, calculated approach and clearing each area before I move on.

I'm finding it an all together experience this way and getting something a bit different from it, which is very welcome.

The sprite work on this is lovely, the backgrounds very detailed and the sound haunting.

A few hours each night does me as it stands and I've just bumped into Kraid.

[hazeredmist]

Nice.

Remember you'll be back on Luigi's Mansion after Christmas, mate

[Suits]

Remember you'll be back on Luigi's Mansion after Christmas, mate

Yep, for real.

I've still got a few achievements to get on the online stuff .

[Alex79]

Sale on the Google Play store saw me picking up To The Moon and This Is The Police cheap. Nice.

Strolled up to Game on my lunch break to check out their amazing black Friday deals. I shook my head, tutted and walk right back out.

[Chopper]

I got XCOM Enemy Within on the iPad for about 2 euros. Will I ever play it? Unlikely.

[Alex79]

Yeah I was tempted to pick it up on Android cheap but didn't. I have it on Vita and really enjoyed it but never finished it.

EDIT: Fuck it, it's £1.89. Just bought it.

[Chopper]

I read a pretty good sci fi series a few years ago where humanity was at each other's throats, as usual, and an unlikely saviour emerged in the form of a rogue AI which had evolved from online shopping algorithms. Because it basically wanted to sell more shit, it was intervening in nuclear flashpoints and the like, in order to keep it's customers alive.

Makes you think.