Whatcha Been Playing?

[Caligulas Horse]

I got Disco Elysium for my birthday over the weekend, and I thought it might help me through my hangover on the following day. About 5 minutes in, my guy died of a heart attack trying to take his tie down from the ceiling-fan. Suffice to say, I've been in love with it ever since.

You might think it would be the worst choice for a hangover, but it's actually been quite comforting. I'll probably never feel so in-synch with a game character again, and I at least knew my suffering would be over soon enough. But I've unfortunately turned the guy into a wishy-washy centrist who apologises too much. Getting those trophies was a real wake up call. I've turned him into a self-pitying fence-sitter!

I'm looking forward to getting back on it tonight now I'm fully rejuvenated and ready to begin an unapologetic Mazovian Communist agenda.

[Alex79]

It's such a great game. I played the first couple of hours then fell off it for ages, but when I went back I just binged through it entirely. It nails everything. The story, the characters, even the ending. Loved it, and may well do a totally different style playthrough at some point.

[Jon Cheetham]

I'm all the way back in with Into the Breach. I play it on and off all the time anyway, but the Advanced Edition has just added five new squads, about 40 new weapons and abilities, some new pilots and mechanics (like a damage boost you can get in various ways) plus a bunch of new Vek enemies.

It all just goes to show why this is a modern classic and an absolutely timeless strategy game. Endless variety to the challenge and the ways to take it on. Will almost certainly be playing this for years to come.

(also if you have Netflix you can now download this on mobile)

[Kez86]

It's great to be able to be back to chat about the games I've been playing. My gaming now is few and far between. Being a new dad, means that the Switch has become my console of choice, and has been valuable on those late nights and early mornings when having a baby sleeping on me.

My current game of choice is Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Being an XCOM fan, I picked this up last year when on sale (I think I got this and the DLC for something like £10), but it never really clicked with me. However, I went back to give it another chance and found the humour to be enjoyable, the gameplay (at face value) to be accessible and simple and the RPG/strategy elements to be well implemented. I am hooked on the additional challenges that unlock upon completing a world and love the switch to a lateral thinking puzzle mode, where simple battles are replaced with an almost chess-like simulation. Challenges like "Defeat all enemies in one move" or "Rendevouz all party members to different points" make the gameplay fresh and a real challenge which encourages the tinkering of your party members' abilities at every turn.

Having been enjoying this pick-up-and-play Mario title has definitely sparked my excitement for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and has tempted me to pick this up at launch. It's been a while since I have been excited about a games release.

[Alex79]

We're away for a few days so I treated myself to Resident Evil 4 for Switch to play whilst away as I've been wanting to replay it for years. Only ever played the GameCube and Switch version, so have largely forgotten most of it. Wow, new games have certainly mollycoddled us over the last few years! Forgot how hard stuff like this could be. Got totally overwhelmed by enemies in the opening village and got my ass kicked several times before remembering you don't have to kill everyone in Resident Evil, and conserving ammo for unavoidable fights is the name of the game. I also totally forgot all the enemies clear out when the bell rings. But anyway, enjoying it again so far!

[Kez86]

We're away for a few days so I treated myself to Resident Evil 4 for Switch to play whilst away as I've been wanting to replay it for years. Only ever played the GameCube and Switch version, so have largely forgotten most of it. Wow, new games have certainly mollycoddled us over the last few years! Forgot how hard stuff like this could be. Got totally overwhelmed by enemies in the opening village and got my ass kicked several times before remembering you don't have to kill everyone in Resident Evil, and conserving ammo for unavoidable fights is the name of the game. I also totally forgot all the enemies clear out when the bell rings. But anyway, enjoying it again so far!

Must admit I have never played Resi 4. Loved the original, 2 and Nemesis back on the PS1. But when Resi 4 was first released never had the opportunity to play it. I know people rave about the game, been considering getting it for a while and noticed it on sale at the moment. Is it worth getting on Switch?

[Rhaegyr]

Absolutely - there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said about the game but give the podcast a listen to whet your whistle if you're on the fence; does a great job of explaining what makes the game (still) so special.

[Alex79]

We're away for a few days so I treated myself to Resident Evil 4 for Switch to play whilst away as I've been wanting to replay it for years. Only ever played the GameCube and Switch version, so have largely forgotten most of it. Wow, new games have certainly mollycoddled us over the last few years! Forgot how hard stuff like this could be. Got totally overwhelmed by enemies in the opening village and got my ass kicked several times before remembering you don't have to kill everyone in Resident Evil, and conserving ammo for unavoidable fights is the name of the game. I also totally forgot all the enemies clear out when the bell rings. But anyway, enjoying it again so far!

Must admit I have never played Resi 4. Loved the original, 2 and Nemesis back on the PS1. But when Resi 4 was first released never had the opportunity to play it. I know people rave about the game, been considering getting it for a while and noticed it on sale at the moment. Is it worth getting on Switch?

Yeah it certainly seems like a good port, and is only £7.99 at the moment, which for what is largely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time is a steal. The controls take a bit of getting used to now we're all used to dual stick movement and camera, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. I'm hoping the full on remake they're talking about modernises some of that stuff, but I suppose the original game was built around the control method it uses, so can't really complain. In short, yes, get it for Switch!

[Angry_Kurt]

Resi 4 is the only Resi I’ve played which is testament to how good it is. Apparently the VR version on Quest 2 is incredible?

[Scrustle]

I've been messing around with PPSSPP the past few days. First thing I tried out was the pitch demo build for The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion, and it was actually pretty impressive. While obviously it was never going to compare to the main game in terms of scale, completely lacking an open world, what it did do was still pretty cool. It does manage to recreate the same sort of feel of the main game's dungeon crawling, just scaled down to fit the platform. It recreates the atmosphere and aesthetic pretty well, and retains a decent amount of first-person functionality considering the lack of buttons and second thumbstick. It was very buggy and clearly unfinished, but I could totally see myself having fun with a hypothetical full version of this game if it ever came out. A shame it never got the chance.

I also tried out some racing games, a couple of which I have dabbled in before too. NFS Carbon: Own the City is kind of disappointing. If you go digging for opinions about the PSP NFS games, this one tends to get a lot of praise. And it definitely seems like the most compelling, being the only one that actually retains an open world. But it shares the same problem that all of these games do, in that the handling feels awful. Your steering is really sluggish to re-centre, but it's inconsistent whether it'll do this or not. So cars feel like they're barely in your controls, veering across the road as you're trying to point it in the right direction, with a kind of drunk feeling. The FoV is also pretty awful, ruining the sense of speed and depth perception.

I spent more time with Test Drive Unlimited and this one was better. Being a big fan of the 360/PC version, I've always been kind of curious about this PS2/PSP port. The game feels like it's trying hard to take advantage of the power of new platforms that such a port seems like it shouldn't be possible. I did give the PS2 iteration a go the other day, but it doesn't emulate well, so I tried out this one instead. Shockingly, it somehow retains the entire game world from the HD version. It's insane such a huge environment can fit in not only a PS2 game, but a PSP game, seemingly without cutting anything. Graphics are pretty rough, but honestly not bad considering the platform. It does attempt to create some atmosphere by having different times of day too. This game also has a 60fps patch for the emulator, but it didn't seem to work when I tried it. So I'm stuck with a 20fps racing game. Handing still feels alright though, much better than NFS.

Lastly there was Burnout Legends. This is another I've played before, but I decided to test it out again this time since this one also has a 60fps patch. I remember being a bit lukewarm on it before. Not bad, and cool conceptually. It's fun to play a game with the mechanics of Burnout 3 on tracks from earlier games. But the driving didn't feel great, lacking a sense of speed and suffering from the low frame rate. The patch totally transforms the experience though. It feels so much smoother and nicer to play at 60fps. Much more responsive. Sense of speed is still a problem, but I imagine that might be a concession to make the game still visually readable on the original small screen. I also didn't play much, so maybe it gets better in faster cars.

[Jobobonobo]

After being out for a couple of years being out, I finally tried out A Hat in Time. I had heard good things about it but I am honestly blown away by how enjoyable this is. Presentation is top tier with one of the most charming protagonists I have seen in a long time with Hat Kid. She is incredibly fun to move around with and some very well designed platforming is on offer here. The worlds are few but there is so much variety with each one and you are doing such different stuff in each one that the low number of worlds is a non issue. The collectables are just the right amount and are scattered around the level in such a way to encourage exploration. Apparently this was worked on from 2012 to its release in 2017 and you can tell that the sheer amount of time and love that went into this really paid off. Quite near the end of the main game and have never being so excited to check out the DLC of a game. Love that we are in an age now that the indie scene can pump out 3D platformers of this quality.

[Caligulas Horse]

It's such a great game. I played the first couple of hours then fell off it for ages, but when I went back I just binged through it entirely. It nails everything. The story, the characters, even the ending. Loved it, and may well do a totally different style playthrough at some point.

Yeah, so much so that I'm really agonising over big decisions. There was one over the weekend where I knew I'd made a mistake, but I had to wait a couple of days to see it come to fruition. I'll probably have to do a different playthrough just to correct that... but I am also tempted to do a crazy superstar cop run.

[Rhaegyr]

After being out for a couple of years being out, I finally tried out A Hat in Time. I had heard good things about it but I am honestly blown away by how enjoyable this is. Presentation is top tier with one of the most charming protagonists I have seen in a long time with Hat Kid. She is incredibly fun to move around with and some very well designed platforming is on offer here. The worlds are few but there is so much variety with each one and you are doing such different stuff in each one that the low number of worlds is a non issue. The collectables are just the right amount and are scattered around the level in such a way to encourage exploration. Apparently this was worked on from 2012 to its release in 2017 and you can tell that the sheer amount of time and love that went into this really paid off. Quite near the end of the main game and have never being so excited to check out the DLC of a game. Love that we are in an age now that the indie scene can pump out 3D platformers of this quality.

Judging by your avatar and mine I'm guessing we're both Banjo fans!

How does it compare to something like the original Banjo-Kazooi? I've had this game on my watchlist for years but never taken the plunge for some reason.

[Alex79]

I started X-Com 2 on my Switch last night. Whilst I really enjoy the battlefield elements to the game, I've found myself immediately hitting the same issue I had with the first game. The command centre stuff is just really confusing and barely explained. I am utterly clueless as to what I should be researching, building, and where I need my ship to be flying and what it should be doing when it gets there. And this seems even more complicated than the first game. There is just so much stuff to research and micromanage. Turn based strategy games are totally outside my normal comfort zone, but I enjoy X-Com, it's just this side of the game always leaves me scratching my head over what I ought to be doing.

[Truk_Kurt]

I started X-Com 2 on my Switch last night. Whilst I really enjoy the battlefield elements to the game, I've found myself immediately hitting the same issue I had with the first game. The command centre stuff is just really confusing and barely explained. I am utterly clueless as to what I should be researching, building, and where I need my ship to be flying and what it should be doing when it gets there. And this seems even more complicated than the first game. There is just so much stuff to research and micromanage. Turn based strategy games are totally outside my normal comfort zone, but I enjoy X-Com, it's just this side of the game always leaves me scratching my head over what I ought to be doing.

You have a Series S right and Game Pass? If so, I would highly recommend giving Gears Tactics a go as it offers a more simplified version of XCOM in that it gets rid of the command centre style stuff altogether, you just focus on the battlefield gameplay and it excels in that area. Because of this I prefer it to XCOM, also because it's easier than the quite unforgiving XCOM 2. Gears Tactics is more akin to Mario & Rabbids I would say in it's more simplified approach. I don't think you have to be into Gears to enjoy it either, that's just a bonus if you do.

[Truk_Kurt]

I spent more time with Test Drive Unlimited and this one was better. Being a big fan of the 360/PC version, I've always been kind of curious about this PS2/PSP port. The game feels like it's trying hard to take advantage of the power of new platforms that such a port seems like it shouldn't be possible. I did give the PS2 iteration a go the other day, but it doesn't emulate well, so I tried out this one instead. Shockingly, it somehow retains the entire game world from the HD version. It's insane such a huge environment can fit in not only a PS2 game, but a PSP game, seemingly without cutting anything. Graphics are pretty rough, but honestly not bad considering the platform. It does attempt to create some atmosphere by having different times of day too. This game also has a 60fps patch for the emulator, but it didn't seem to work when I tried it. So I'm stuck with a 20fps racing game. Handing still feels alright though, much better than NFS.

I remember playing the PC version around my friends house and being really impressed with it and so went and picked it up on PS2. A big appeal to me was how you could go into the cockpit of the cars which each had it's own authentic dashboard, it's common now but it was the first time I had seen that in a racing game. So imagine my disappointment when I loaded up the PS2 version to find that that feature wasn't in the PS2 game! I'm guessing it was because the PS2 hardware wasn't powerful enough but I was still disappointed. Still had fun with the game regardless though. I'm guessing the PSP version didn't have a dashboard view either?

[Alex79]

I started X-Com 2 on my Switch last night. Whilst I really enjoy the battlefield elements to the game, I've found myself immediately hitting the same issue I had with the first game. The command centre stuff is just really confusing and barely explained. I am utterly clueless as to what I should be researching, building, and where I need my ship to be flying and what it should be doing when it gets there. And this seems even more complicated than the first game. There is just so much stuff to research and micromanage. Turn based strategy games are totally outside my normal comfort zone, but I enjoy X-Com, it's just this side of the game always leaves me scratching my head over what I ought to be doing.

You have a Series S right and Game Pass? If so, I would highly recommend giving Gears Tactics a go as it offers a more simplified version of XCOM in that it gets rid of the command centre style stuff altogether, you just focus on the battlefield gameplay and it excels in that area. Because of this I prefer it to XCOM, also because it's easier than the quite unforgiving XCOM 2. Gears Tactics is more akin to Mario & Rabbids I would say in it's more simplified approach. I don't think you have to be into Gears to enjoy it either, that's just a bonus if you do.

Hmm I may give it a try as I know you speak very highly of it, although the main reason I've been able to get in to X-Com and it's sequel as I've been able to play them on a handheld. As for X-Com 2, the missions seem so much bigger in scope than the first game. Did an incredible one last night set over multiple levels of a factory building with a giant mech fight at the end! It was so impressive.

[Jon Cheetham]

Citizen Sleeper - extremely excellent writing and some cool character art. The VN/ choices matter story trees of this game are the main strength and are keeping me pretty gripped. The actual gameplay of waiting out clocks and rolling dice to try and reduce others based on RNG is far from thrilling though. Still, well worth it for some great characters and side stories.

[Jobobonobo]

Judging by your avatar and mine I'm guessing we're both Banjo fans!

How does it compare to something like the original Banjo-Kazooi? I've had this game on my watchlist for years but never taken the plunge for some reason.

Yeah, you have guessed correctly! Banjo-Kazooie is an all time great to me, it was Rare at their absolute peak. Fantastic game with a well deserved legacy.

As for Hat in Time, its main influence is definitely the 3D Super Mario titles. The movement and skill set is very reminiscent of Mario and while exploration and collecting are a big part of the game, pure platforming is by far the overwhelming force behind the gameplay. Also, each world is split into different acts where you exit back into the hub world when you collect the main McGuffin (in this case, time pieces). It is actually quite ironic that despite its huge influence on the industry and particularly 3D platformers, the "complete mission, exit the level and enter again to do new mission" formula of Mario 64 is something that very few 3D platformers emulate and the diversity of stuff to do in A Hat in Time makes this formula work very well and is something that can certainly be done in a modernised setting.

However, Banjo definitely has an influence on this game as well. The hub world music was composed by Grant Kirkhope which is instantly catchy like his best stuff tends to be and works well within the overall soundtrack as the main composer Pascal Michael Stiefel has such a diverse soundscape that Kirkhope's piece is distinct yet feels in place. But it is definitely in the humour in which A Hat in Time is most similar as it is mostly silly juvenile schoolyard hijinks with some darker adult elements mixed in. The humour is definitely one of many reasons I adored the Banjo series and I am glad to say that A Hat in Time succeeds in pulling off the same goofy charm that series has quite admirably. Also, some areas and acts are not accessible without certain moves you learn later but it does not play as big a role here.

If all that sounds good, absolutely pick it up. Was also on my to play list for a while, kicking myself that I did not try it sooner!

[NoMoreSpearows]

I'm ranked #44 on the Global Neon Rankings for the Switch version of Neon White. What a weird experience. I love the earlier levels, the one where there are few variables and as such the challenge is finding the best way to use each element. But as the game progresses and you start getting Soul Cards that allow for more freedom of movement (Godspeed, Fireball, Dominion) the levels get larger as a result, and the focus changes from putting together the pieces of a puzzle to redefining how the puzzle itself works. The best speedrunners out there are ones I can't compete with simply because they have the imagination to use those abilities beyond my own capacity, so a lot of my position just comes from my ability to copycat YouTube videos, which isn't as fun.

In that sense, it's a lot like how I view Breath of the Wild, which seems like it should be a weirder comparison than it is.