Whatcha Been Playing?

[Stanshall]

I've appreciated what I've played of Days Gone but I find it a bit too depressing at the moment. My brothers have both recently played and loved it so it's waiting there. God knows what TLOU2 is going to do to me, though!

That said, I have recently replayed TLOU and I almost appreciate it more than I did back on the PS3. It's easy to forget how good the writing and performances are. I've said a few times that I've really got back into cinematic/narrative games over the last six months for whatever reason (HZD and RDR2, in particular) and this is still right up there. I couldn't choose between Ellie and Arthur Morgan as the best acting performance in a game. Fortunately, I don't have to and it's a meaningless comparison! I'm now slowly plodding my way through Left Behind, too, just to keep me on that drip until June 19th. I actually wasn't excited for the sequel at all until very recently but now I'm definitely there day one. I forgot how much I love The Last Of Us.

I've played some cracking games this year with Groove Coaster, FF7R, Hatsune Miku Mega Mix and Xenoblade Chronicles Remastered all bangers, along with Raiden Fighters Jet, Taiko no Tatsujin and Tokyo Mirage Sessions from previous years but I have to say that the GOTY 2020 is almost definitely nailed on for 51 Worldwide Games. I shit you not. Toy Baseball alone is utter genius. I haven't had such tense, competitive mind games online since the heyday of SF4. I know that sounds like I'm having a funny turn but it's seriously so good. Beautiful execution of a simple, charming idea. I spent an hour this morning playing Solitaire...trying to beat my record...Toy Curling, Carrom, 6-ball puzzle (inspired idea), Slot Cars, Mahjong, Toy Tennis. It's an amazing little package, lovingly handled. A Switch essential.

[Michiel K]

I've never been one for JRPGs (Final Fantasy Tactics aside, if that counts), but I picked this up when it was on sale strictly for the art style.

Totally with you on that.

[Flabyo]

I have 51 games on order, really looking forward to it after the review on Eurogamer.

[dezm0nd]

I've purchased RE7 as it was 8 quid on xbox store

I played it through on PS4 nearer its release date and enjoyed it so decided to give it another go around 10pm last night

Big mistake. Entering that house is so eerie and unnerving I turned it off as soon as I could save.

Capcom might be tonally all over the shop with the series but if 8 is similar to 7 in its First Person mode with highly detailed spooky environments, I'll be on board.

[Suits]

Dead Space Extraction on the Wii.

It's come recommend by a few people now but SeanThomas convinced me to try it after his success with the 007 Goldeneye control scheme for the Wii.

It's a sort of rail shooter that handles well, has lots to shoot, upgrades and best of all a voice acted comic strip at the end of each level that recaps the story and how it's progressed.

It really gives the game a powerful sense of immersion.

[Magical_Isopod]

Finally got a copy of Astral Chain, and it's kind of surreal being Fantasy Anime Cop during (current events). I was literally at a protest of around 5,000-10,000 people yesterday here in London (Ontario). The only people the cops here were shitty to was a known white supremist wearing KKK attire so... That was pretty cool. I don't think any of the cops had extradimensional demon pets though, but maybe I just can't see them. I've resumed my save from when I rented it previously, and it must be said... This game does have a lot of non-obvious controls, and re-learning them without tutorial is kinda rough. I do love the game though, it and Nier Automata really stand head and shoulders over Platinum's typical ho-hum bombastic character action shlock.

Also been playing a little more Mario + Rabbids, and I think a bit of the charm has worn off on this one. I'm on the third world (and I think there's only four? maybe five? just based on the unlocks remaining), and it's while it's still an absolutely loving homage to the Mario series, it seems to have lost a lot of energy and is feeling a little like a slog... Like they ran out of ideas, or time. Or both. I'll still probably finish this one, but I'm also thinking it's gonna be one of those ones I trade in when I'm done. Do hope there's a sequel though!

After Mario + Rabbids - I've taken to a habit of having a "TV game" during the day and a "lay me arse down relax with a handheld game" during the later evening to calm down before bed - I think I wanna start Tictacs Ogre on the PSP. I'd owned the SNES version previously, but the difficulty wall immediately at the start of the game put me off. I'd heard the PSP version is a little more accommodating, and I don't think I've even turned my PSP on in like 2 years, so I'm thinking it's time to *finally* tackle one of the giant time sinks in my backlog.

Also still playing Apex Legends near daily... I'm not sure I like Season 5. Wraith (a character with a tiny hitbox and 30+% usage, where no other character is above 10%) is still ludicrously overpowered, and the devs seem more interested with fiddling with characters that don't need fiddling than fixing that balance. The "sweaty Wraith" cliche is becoming a bit much at this point. The changes to the King's Canyon map are kinda bad too - it feels almost *too* crowded now, to the point where any skirmish will inevitably attract a third team to ruin your victory. Still a lot to love with this game, but I think a lot of big fixes need to start happening.

[Scrustle]

After beating El Shaddai I've kept my 360 at hand and have been continuing to dabble with that. Mostly with Forza Motorsport 4, but I also put some time in to Forza Horizon as well. Even though FM4 is more of a priority because that isn't playable on XB1, it's interesting to compare how FH1 feels to playing the emulated BC version. I was a little surprised to rediscover that it actually plays differently on 360, but only really because of the controller. It's actually easier to control on the 360, with cars feeling much less squirrely in response to input. Because the resistance in the sticks and triggers is much stronger on the 360 pad. It's easier to do smaller, more subtle inputs. On the downside, it means playing for a long time can make your fingers feel a bit stiff. But it's surprising how much of a difference to how the game feels just with that small change in something that has nothing to do with the game itself.

Also picked up Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate as I've had my eye on it for a while, and it finally got a decent sale reduction. And so far I don't know if I'm feeling it. Part of me thinks it's just because it's hard to go back to this style of MH after World, but I don't think that explains all of it. I really enjoyed the demo to this game, and I played that after getting in to World. But the full game starts off so slowly, with so many boring gathering quests and poorly explained systems. I mean, I was prepared for this sort of thing. I've played 3U, and World starts off somewhat slow as well. But this is really pushing it. Maybe it has something to do with it being a "greatest hits" sort of game, combining all the content of previous games in to one last celebration before they started again from the ground up for World. Maybe that has resulted in this game also piling on all the boring openings of previous games in to on protracted experience. I'll still keep chipping away at it, but I'm starting to feel maybe I might drop this one. Maybe a change of weapon will help.

[Alex79]

Ah I spotted you playing MH earlier and wondered if it was worth getting. I've still never played one outside of the demo for World. I've had a look at some videos of this one on the Switch though and I really don't think it's for me.

[dezm0nd]

What the golf?

Fun, silly almost Warioware like anti-golf game. Just when you get tired of the joke, it serves you up an Ace.

Hunt down

Just one level but was very impressive

[KissMammal]

I loved Huntdown but bailed once I got to the final boss. The last few bosses are tough, but the final final boss was just too frustrating for me.

I started another playthrough, this time on easy mode (I loved the game that much I was more than happy to play it through a second time) but I couldn't really notice any appreciable difference to playing on normal tbh.

Still, it's a wonderful game. I may go back to it at some point.

[Magical_Isopod]

I loved Huntdown but bailed once I got to the final boss. The last few bosses are tough, but the final final boss was just too frustrating for me.

I started another playthrough, this time on easy mode (I loved the game that much I was more than happy to play it through a second time) but I couldn't really notice any appreciable difference to playing on normal tbh.

Still, it's a wonderful game. I may go back to it at some point.

Huntdown the Freeman

[Jon Cheetham]

Nearly at the end of The Banner Saga 2 and transfixed by this story and these characters.

Also got God of War in the sale and that is a lot of fun, particularly the axe combat. I am very Viking themed at the moment apparently, so I'll be very much in the pocket for assassin's creed Valhalla when it drops!

Also my wife has been revisiting a childhood favourite in Yoshi's Island on the Switch SNES collection, which has been nice to watch as it all comes back to her as I was never a Nintendo kid.

[Flabyo]

I have 51 games on order, really looking forward to it after the review on Eurogamer.

Yeah, this is pretty much perfect.

Every single aspect of it, from the art, the audio, the presentation right down to things like the snarky parents in the tutorials. It’s all best in class.

People who make games should be mad to study this one, there’s so much it does right because they’ve put the right polish in the right places.

Personal favourite detail: the way all the different game pieces have a subtly different sound when placed, MahJong tiles are heavy and sound heavy, shogi pieces are light and sound light, the chess pieces have felt based so sound muffled, the stones in mancala are glass and rattle around like they should and... yeah.

[dezm0nd]

I've tried so many games with my daughter (3, nearly 4) and none seem to work from a concept point of view. Mario's too tricky to control, spyro is 3d and the camera is too hard but Lego Star Wars was the one

We played through 3 or 4 levels with very little upset and she even ended up chasing me down on purpose with the intent of seeing me explode into lego bits.

Was such a wow moment. Shes been toying with games and really gravitated towards top down ones as the force perspective really helps but watching her play Lego in coop with me was a joy.

[Alex79]

I've tried so many games with my daughter (3, nearly 4) and none seem to work from a concept point of view. Mario's too tricky to control...

Have you tried with assist mode on? After a bit of practice we found ours picked it up ok, they were frustrated at first but with no danger when falling off ledges this has been the best game I've found so far for learning basic analogue stick movement.

Like you say though, the Lego games are good for that too. I've found the puzzles are a bit tricky for solo play though so we normally have to do Lego in Co-op.

EDIT: Ellis was a bit older when he tried Mario thinking about it, I think he was already 4 and a bit. We too played the Lego games together when he was 3, I think they were the first ones we tried.

[DomsBeard]

Yeah I started a new Mario Odyssey file with my then 3.5 year old on assist mode. He started as Cappy on player 2 and eventually got the confidence to play on his own. Last check he has 755 moons. We do the bosses together and if he sees a moon I explain what to do etc. I did the 500 moon challenge. He is currently trying to get 9999 coins for the skeleton outfit however he keeps spending everything he gets on moons

[Alex79]

Haha. I told mine a little lie and said if he buys moons from the shop it takes them out of the game world so he will have less to find on his own.

[Scrustle]

The past few days I've been playing a little games called OneShot that is part of that big itch.io charity bundle. It's a very modest adventure game made in RPG Maker, but so far I'm liking it a lot. You play as this adorable little cat girl character, who suddenly wakes up in this eerie and dark world that has been slowly dying long before you arrive. But it's framed in this really interesting way that breaks the fourth wall in some extreme ways. Even though you control this cat character, Niko, the game explicitly talks to you as the player. In the game it's framed as Niko being the "messiah" of this world who has come to save it, while you are a god who talks to and guides her. It even pulls your real name from your computer files (through your username I expect) and addresses you as such. You have conversations with Niko as yourself at times. Other times there are puzzles where you have to go looking through files on your computer that the game has placed there. It's really interesting. Although I suppose this isn't the only game to do this sort of thing. I'm not close to finishing it yet, but I definitely want to see where this goes. The game reveals that the name is referring to how you only have "one shot" at achieving your task of saving this world. I've yet to see exactly what that is supposed to mean.

[stvnorman]

The past few days I've been playing a little games called OneShot that is part of that big itch.io charity bundle.

I got the bundle last night but had no idea where to start but this might be it. Sounds interesting. Thanks!

The PC Engine Mini my wife pre-ordered for my birthday last month finally turned up, and I’ve had a great time jumping between all the games and trying out so much stuff I’ve never played before. Fantastic mini console and an absolute treasure trove! That said, true to form I’ve spent way longer on Splatterhouse and Fantasy Zone than anything new to me!

Daytona USA and Sega Rally on PS3 have also been a lot of fun this week. I love the unpredictability of Daytona, the way you can chuck your car around in Sega Rally, and just how in your face the pair of them are!

Call of Duty World War II on PS4 has started to drag. I must be near the end of the campaign, but it’s outstaying its welcome now and I’m struggling for motivation to finish it. I did finish Game Boy Advance TMNT, which was a nice bit of turtle powered brawling. I’ve started In Other Waters on Switch, which I got on sale the other day, and it’s feeling like a masterpiece – the game of the year material I’d anticipated it might be! And finally, Sunset Riders came out on Switch yesterday, and after an hour or so I can confirm it’s a great arcade port and is still a blast!

[dezm0nd]

I've been dabbling with some Project Warlock and some DUSK, both games which are heavily inspired by Doom and Quake respectively.

After Ion Fury, which i liked, i'm keen to see what other gems which i've not gotten round to.