Thimbleweed Park. Oh my god, it's so boring! It feels like there's so little 'game' at the moment that I'm not sure if I can make myself go back. A few moments have raised a chuckle but mostly I just think 'I understand that reference' or wonder if that bit that seemed like a joke but wasn't funny was supposed to be a joke...

Anyway, I plan to give it one last session and if nothing doing then move on. Downloaded the demo for Yoku's Island and keen to try that.

Good to know it's not just me as I'd seen largely positive reviews. I'm only a couple of hours in but needlessly complicated certainly rings true. I can't see me finishing it at this point but will persevere a while longer.

Apparently so. Think Eurogamer, Polygon & RPS were fairly positive and that’s about as much as I read in all honesty.

Prey (2017). It's a bit good this one.

The two daughters wanted to play some games last night so we ended up with the Wii booted up playing these:-

Beat the Beat Rhythm Paradise. Superb 2 player modes - a riot. Had forgot how much fun this is.

Bomberman Blast WiiWare version. Feature rich and stoked with modes and options. Again - forgot how good this was - this rivals the mighty Saturn Bomberman. I'm guessing the Switch game is based on this.

Quiz Show King 2 Another WiiWare stalwart. It's a bit slicker than the original (though still dodgy) - this even had online back in the day which let you create your own questions and share online.  It's funny as ever - this was the first game I ever saw with Mii integration and it's still charming.

Dr Mario WiiWare version coded by hardcore puzzle kings Arika. Slick presentation and addictive as ever. This had a great online mode back in the day with plenty of people active 

Some of the endless co-op modes are a hoot too.  

The one where you have to keep up a ball between you and your partner is another highlight.

I have completed Book 1 of Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth. It is getting good. My own bishop wants me dead and there is a closing scene of him looking grimly into the fire reflecting in his eyes which is pure Hellfire.

Been playing that dead brown game

I have provided a video for assessment.

Just no

I am thisclose to impulse buying that.

Bollockoff wrote:

I am thisclose to impulse buying that.

If you think you'd like it then your probably will. The story is bobbins and there's no challenge but the central mechanic, graphics and music make for a soothing experience. So far I'd rate it Kata out of Katamari.

JonB wrote:

Yoku's Island Express. Done nearly a couple of hours and it's all a bit disappointing so far. The level design is basic and the pinball elements just aren't very interesting. No real craft or imagination as yet.

aha

I’ve been playing a lot of For Honor recently. I got the free version and then the season pass on top so i have access to a bunch of characters and have unlocked some via the grind.

It’s a really startlingly unique take on the fighting game, that has a lot of flaws around balance. It highlights a lot of my problems with the genre too, in that most attacks fall within the 4-600ms window for reactions, and it can be very hard as a slowpoke to react well to incoming attacks. Coupled with the stamina system and the very low health pools of characters, it can be very hard to get even a foot in the door.

Unfamiliarity with the large list of characters, which is only set to increase, is difficult too. Even the worse characters tend to have something unique that’s hard to deal with, be it a delayed unblockable, a built in soft feint, or a hard to read grab.

Despite all that, I have really enjoyed the past 20 hours with it. I am starting to settle into some form of competence with a few characters, including the Shaman who is really good fun. She has the ability to apply bleed to her enemies, which damages them over time, and whilst they’re bleeding she can gain health back from successful attacks or perform a high risk leaping attack where she bites their throat out. Learning the ins and outs of her has been a lot of fun - the game has a formal system for cancelling into feints, as well as a soft feint system where some moves can be feinted by performing a specific move in its startup window. For the shaman that means soft feinting heavy attacks into a bleeding stab that can come from any of the three directions, or feinting into a grab, where you can safely perform the throat bite.

Overall, it’s a really smart and interesting game full of balance problems, and basic fighting game literacy issues for me as a player, coupled with atrocious reactions which means I am always susceptible to being guard broken.

The 4v4 modes can be a lot of fun though, especially the Gears of War style elimination mode, which is my favourite mode for 4v4, even if people are rarely honourable at the end. The heavy time and knowledge investment have made it a lot like Rainbow 6, but it’s also probably one of the best catered for online games of the generation. Constantly added to and refined over time, really robust servers, but full lots of nuances and details to learn, so played only by a niche and dedicated group.

It’s also an incredibly looking game - character models are stunningly rendered and animated, maps are a god damn visual feast and range from ruined castles at dawn, frosted viking settlements and rain-slick Japanese temples. The fact it was free to own for a period is ridiculous, and I can see myself getting the new Chinese warrior DLC. Massively underrated hit of a game.

Oh, thanx for that temps.
Sounds like my type of game.