hunk wrote:

750m? That's plenty enough! Plugging it in every session is annoying though. Steamlink comes recommended, cheap as chips now.

£2! that's insane, thanks

My 555M manages to run the game in 1080p no problem.
Generally the 555m soc rivals the performance of a standard PS4 and xbone (900p)
A 750m is quite a bit more powerful than that, I'm guessing it should rival the ps4 pro (1440p?)
If games are properly optimised of course.

edit:
Okay, probably not PS4 pro 1440p levels but 1080p at low/mid settings should work.

Postage on top?

I think I'm getting a TV with it inbuilt which is kinda funky

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-750M.90245.0.html

It's getting on a bit but the card should play most older games in 720p@ 30-60fps. Try tweaking the Nvidia panel for even better performance.I set most settings to performance (higher framerate) at the cost of quality.

Some newer games run a bit shit on it (Batman AK, DS3) but those are arguably shitty unoptimised pc ports with even higher gpu's struggling.

My laundry basket.
I'm sure some people won't believe me but it is possible to empty it but it is bloody tough.

Generally quite repetitive, fetch quests to the washing machine soon get dull.

Endgame of clean clothes is nice.

The essential yet walled off clothes airer dlc leaves a sour taste.
[4]

Did the mode 7 make you feel sick

Still one of the best OSTs

Gorogoa

Great puzzle structure, introduces new concepts really well then gradually mixes them with others or tweaks slightly to keep it interesting. At first, I thought you could fudge your way through by trial and error but that seems more to be part of the learning curve and pretty quickly I realised I didn't have to rely on that. I struggled to work out the solutions to puzzles in The Witness but this was the perfect level for me - a few points where I was temporarily stuck but nothing that stopped me in my tracks.

Excellent visual style, the movement of tiles, overlapping, etc was incredibly intricate and the visual clues, though sometimes very subtle, were so well designed. Particular shout out to the cog puzzles, so damn clever.

The only real downsides were that I didn’t really grasp much of a plot and, while not necessary, there clearly is something. The decision to have no explanation, written or vocalised, fits with the minimalist aesthetic but felt it left gaps that might have made it more intriguing in context.

Considering the gap here, I thought they could’ve at least done more with the sound or music but it was all very boring atmospherics. A big trick missed there I think.

It also didn't outstay its welcome and I particularly liked the end sequence with the quick fire puzzles to complete the set of globes, bringing back concepts from earlier in the game.

Overall it was a just a cool, engaging game. Not the best descriptor but while it was a bit ‘light’ in some aspects, I really enjoyed playing it and it certainly helped that it did a good job of making me feel probably much smarter than I actually am.

[8]

Tropical Freeze should be a nice treat if/when you pick up a Switch.   For a game that's sort of considered lower top tier of 16-bit platformers I think DKC is legit.  Tried to play the third one recently but wasn't feeling it, no.2 is supposedly the best of the old bunch.

On holidays so far I have finished -

West of Loathing
Yokus Island Express
Mario Tennis Aces adventure mode
Donkey Kong DLC for Rabbids

I have enjoyed them all

I get to post in here about once every year or two because I am absolutely diabolical when it comes to completing single player / offline games.

Titanfall 2

This was a fantastic game, and while only 7 hours long I really enjoyed my time with it. I played on regular difficulty as I knew my attention span would suffer if I got stuck on an area but I must say, the platforming was a real treat in this. I also found the music to be very, very good. The track SERE Kit in particular was very well put together.

The relationship you build with BT is also put to great affect in the closing act. A superb campaign all round. I can see why people were impressed with this on release, going from no campaign to one of this quality is quite the feat.

Other than that, I guess I am a bit late to the party to partake in PvP but I might go through the campaign again on a higher difficulty.

So I've cleared the Octo Expansion for Splatoon 2, and as I'd mentioned elsewhere, it's transformative for that game. Some mild spoilers ensue, all tagged up.

First things up, the octo really runs through the game. At the start you are given your 80 levels to complete, and then . It's a meaty expansion. Now granted, some of these levels are a single idea, or in one or two cases, a single shot, but it's the sheer inventiveness that shines through. I've mentioned the comparison to Mario Galaxy before, but that's what this game is - they've looked at the limited mechanics in the same way the galaxy crew looked at Mario's move set and decided to throw everything they have at it . And those are incredible.

There's virtually nothing from the main game reused here - well, aside from 8 (Oho) or so levels that have you kill octolings a la the multiplayer or do variations on tower or rainmaker. Then there's the care that's gone into the dialogue and localisation. From the inane chats in the log, to the early midi-esque versions of songs they bring up as demos, to the level names themselves (shout out to to which are all late 80s -90s references, some really fucking out there - the opening level being called was setting the scene. That, plus filling the backgrounds with all sorts of really did it for me, as a guy born in 1984.

And the challenge. Fucking hell some of these levels push you to a monkey ball like trance. Fuck the baby mode Nintendo chat, if you can do all 80 here then you've got splatoon on lockdown .

It's added 15 hours to my playlog of Splatoon 2, it's the best thing I've played all year, and if you're solely put off by the aesthetics then I feel bad for you son, there's 80 levels, but ain't a bad one.

Goty, fuck the rules.

C Q Cumber is as much a scumbag it's true

Completed Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak again on Classic diff. It's still a short but mostly sweet RTS in an age where they're a rare beast now. Relatively simple units with potentially complicated executions, the early game units mean you have to make heavy use of sand dunes to block enemy line of sight when advancing and planning defense but this finesse fades eventually with the introduction of artillery, super heavy armour and air units. Probably the reason they're introduced so relatively late since they realised.

The sand dunes can be very pretty for an otherwise modest looking game.

Dark Souls Remastered. It's Dark Souls. Remastered. The best game ever given some extra smoothness and glossiness. What's not to like? Utterly wonderful from start to finish. I'm already planning the next character build.

And FWIW I found the extra polish made a real difference. I found it easier to see things, and easier to time actions. Also playing through headphones gave a big boost to the sound, with loads of effects that were either new or I'd just not heard before, and the surround really helpful in keeping track of enemies.