Just finished up Crash Bandicoot 2 on the N-Sane Trilogy. Enjoyed it way more than the first one. The new jumping physics still take some getting used to and some of the later levels were real tough to nail down but still more manageable than Crash 1 overall. Onto Crash 3 now. This was my favourite one growing up, see how it holds up.

After years and years of it being a persistent issue, PCSX2 finally fixed the glitch in the Burnout games of the sun showing through geometry, so I decided to have a quick spin in Burnout Revenge. I've always been a massive fan of these games, but I somehow wasn't expecting to be blown away by it again like this. Got me hooked on it again immediately. It's like pure endorphins being pumped in to your brain. Some of the other games in this series take a little while to pick up as they start you in slower cars, but this one starts off fast and just gets faster. And all the visual and sound effects are so intense and well polished, it has an absolutely blistering sense of speed that you just don't get in other games today. The mid-2000s rock and metalcore soundtrack get you really pumped for this hyper-aggressive style of racing too. This might be the best way to play this game now that those graphical issues are ironed out too. The 360 version works on newer Xbox consoles, but that version goes really overboard with the bloom to the point where it gets in the way of being able to see what's going on. Something that you really need in a game as fast as this.

I been playing Telltale's Jurassic Park... Honestly, excellent game. I am not joking when I say I prefer it to the movies (other than the first one).

I picked it up physical on 360 (which I believe is still the only physical release of this game?) and I'm just having a blast. I've seen this game derided as "just QTEs", but that is patently false for anyone who's played past the 5 minute prologue.

What's really surprised me is how well written the game is. The characters are fun, the dialogue ranges from "yep, that's exactly what I'd say in this scenario" to funny to surprisingly smart and contemplative. There's some really smart reflections on capitalism, colonialism and nature in this game. Nothing groundbreaking, to be sure, but way smarter than I would have expected from a licensed game.

I think fans of Jurassic Park will have a great time with this one, and I honestly believe it's one of the best Telltale games. It has a reputation for being mediocre, but I heartily disagree.

Resident Evil 7

It's.... ok. I see what they're going for with the survival horror vibe but I really don't like the combat at all. Hand to hand combat in first person sucks as it almost always does and that combined with the overbearing darkness leads to a lot of situations where I'm spinning around in the dark trying to orient myself in the middle of a fight, which is far more frustrating than it is scary. Scripted boss battles are not my cup of tea. The gameplay where you have to keep hiding from annoying invincible enemies kinda reminds me of those bits in RE2 and RE4 where you have to play as the defenseless girl characters - ie the worst bits of those games that are really only bearable as a brief change of pace. Not sure if I'll continue with it.

Hmm yeah if you're not enjoying the first couple of hours of Resi 7 I'd say it really not worth sticking with because although I enjoyed the game overall, it's definitely downhill from there.

Played the first 4ish hours of Xenoblade 3 last night. I was worried at the start - MAN does this one have a lousy intro act. I was worried it was gonna be yet another military academy story, which is an anime cliché that has been far too overused since the 2010s. Luckily, it subverted that about around the 2 hour mark, and built something far more interesting.

I'm not particularly sold on the combat system yet, they seem to be introducing some kind of class system here a la Final Fantasy 5 or Tactics. When I play Xenoblade games, I tend to play on easy and ignore some of the more complex mechanics, because I find it overwhelming... Spending half the game in menus is not a good time for me. But I like the story beats so far, it's not retreading old ground like I kind of expected it to.

Surprisingly polished and good performance on the struggling Switch hardware too. Obviously, resolution takes a steep hit at times, and it's clear the game uses dynamic texture resolution to maintain a steady framerate. But it hasn't been a distraction outside of cutscenes so far.

Alex79 wrote: ↑November 6th, 2022, 12:54 am Hmm yeah if you're not enjoying the first couple of hours of Resi 7 I'd say it really not worth sticking with because although I enjoyed the game overall, it's definitely downhill from there.

I got up to the boss fight with the bug lady and called it quits. Just wasn't having any fun with the game and felt like I was just bludgeoning my way through. I appreciate what they were going for and admire some of the touches, but in practice just find it claustrophobic, sluggish and frustrating to the point of tedium.

Would you recommend giving 8 a try? That's more of an action focused game right?

Haven't played it, but from what I've heard it's a bit more action focused, yeah.

I liked RE7, and I wasn't thrilled with RE8, specifically because 8 goes harder into goofy action stuff like RE4 did. And Resi 4 is not a bad game by any means - I just prefer the sluggish, brooding RE of... Well, like RE7.

So I think there are definitely a lot of people that will pass on RE7 and love RE8 - and vice versa. They are not of the same "mould". ;D

RE4 is not only my favourite in the franchise, it's one of my favourite games of all time.

So I think I'll give 8 a try.

This isn't a what you been playing as I haven't played it yet but was wondering if anyone had played Rollerdrome and what you thought of it? I saw it on sale on Steam and wanting to hear some thoughts on it.

Truk_Kurt wrote: ↑November 10th, 2022, 9:57 am This isn't a what you been playing as I haven't played it yet but was wondering if anyone had played Rollerdrome and what you thought of it? I saw it on sale on Steam and wanting to hear some thoughts on it.

The coverage I have seen suggests that it's a really great game, but concurrent player counts suggests it's sold very poorly, with an all time peak of 416 concurrent players. I know Skill Up played it and had some commentary on either his Steam Nextfest or This Week In Video Games videos.

Sifu on Switch.

I was a bit daunted going in as I heard that it's both very tough and a roguelike (which I generally do not like) but something about it appealed nevertheless and I'm glad I took the risk as I'm really enjoying it so far.

The combat and overall feel of the game is superb, as is the art direction and presentation. Performance on Switch can be a little choppy as expected given the platform, though seemingly most of the frame drops happen when entering a new area while combat seems pretty stable. It is indeed very hard, but the practice mode is great, and finding collectibles and shortcuts really incentivises you to go back again and again.

Doubt I'll ever get good enough to beat it, but I'm having a lot of fun - one of those games that really makes you feel like a badass when you're doing well.

Just went through and finished Crash 3 of the N-Sane trilogy. As a casual play through, definitely the easiest game of the trilogy. Only a few levels really gave me trouble such as the motorcycle stages. The double jump and spin jump also are nice additions to the movepool. But overall, Crash 2 might be my favourite as the difficulty is just right and the stages are varied but do not stray too much from platforming.

Now all that is really left are the two DLC levels which are both pretty challenging. Currently dying over and over on Stormy Ascent on Crash 1. After the wider move set of 2 and 3,going back to basics makes this way harder than it would otherwise be. Hoping to conquer it this weekend.

Been playing the heck outta Xenoblade 3 whilst fighting a nasty bout of depression. Might pick up another game to avoid the feeling of monotony a bit... Perhaps Sonic Mania, which I still have not played through with Mighty (my favourite Sonic character, as I've loved armadillo since childhood).

Xenoblade 3 is a very good game, but it's just not hitting the emotional highs of Xenoblade 2 for me. XC2 felt like an adventure, it was constantly being pushed forward by new places and new events. XC3, in comparison, feels like... A series of events. Go to this Colony, fix their problems, fight the boss. Repeat. Character confronts their traumas. Repeat. Even the enemy bad guy squad, I LOVE the way they are characterized, but the designs are so darn similar to one another. The side quests, same deal. It's very MMO, there's like 6 different activities that you keep doing over and over again.

Like it's weird. The gameplay is tighter than it's ever been. The quality of life stuff has been massively improved. Navigation and world design is polished. But the story feels... Assembly line. The big cutscenes are fantastic, but the whole game just kinda lacks the energy of XC2.

Don't get me wrong, I really like this game and I will beat it. It's probably gonna make my Top 100, and I think I hold it in similar regard to XC1. And it blows XCX out of the freakign water. But the hype around this game at launch suggested it would blow my mind and change my life, and I'm just not seeing that yet.

Got Rollerdrome on Thursday and have been playing it over the weekend but gave up with it last night.
I should clarify though, I think it's a very good game, I'm just not good enough at it. It reminds me of a mix of Tony Hawks and Doom 2016, it feels great to play but it just incredibly punishing. It wouldn't be so bad if each level was shorter but you can be doing a level trying to complete the objectives for about 20 minutes, if not longer only to get killed and have to start from the beginning. After being stuck on the mall level all of Saturday and Sunday night, I could feel the rage filling in me and decided to put it down and move on before I threw my Steamdeck at the wall. Worth mentioning the gorgeous art style though and it runs great on steamdeck with no alterations needed, despite not being a verified game.

Marvel Snap. All day every day, it's absolutely killed my work...

Still loving Sifu. It's tough but fair, and it feels like I get a slight bit better every time I play. Doing well and taking down a big group without taking any damage is just immensely satisfying. Still not past level 2 yet, but getting closer.

Managed to get a code for Football Manager 23, my first FM since 2012 according to Steam. Managed to get it working well on steamdeck so goodbye spare time

I've installed it (Game Pass), but currently daren't start it.