Just completed - The Bear and Badger

JonB

Link's Awakening and Majora both work as spin-offs from the main series as much as anything. They're what happens when you've established a formula and then someone gets to muck around with it, and part of the appeal is in recognising how they do that.

A Link to the Past and Ocarina can be seen as the foundations of the series (and the original I'm sure, but I don't go back that far). But they are old now. I'm not sure how easy it is to appreciate the classic formula without playing those, and maybe now it's too late. Depends on your tolerance for some old school design, I guess.

That's another reason why BotW is so important though, starting fresh for a new generation.

AndCallMeCharlie

Divinity Original Sin 2 (Switch)
Not big on RPGs but this was sublime. Thrilling combat, inspired writing / acting and the flexibility of it's multitude of internal systems was astounding.
I am time poor but haply gave up 70+ hours to this. Only slight nag was the final quarter of the game is comparably weaker.
I would urge everyone with even a passing interest in RPGs to give this a try, definitely one of my GOTG.

10/10

Blue Swirl

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Switch)

Long form version:
A shining example that more is not more. The plot is ridiculous*, and the combat loses all subtlety compared to Old Blood and New Order (stealth is pointless). There's one really brave moment of story telling that is immediately undone in the next scene, which was disappointing**. Enemies that were bosses in previous games are now dispatched with depressing regularity. Plot holes are actually brought up by characters and then skipped over. There are two scenes in particular that just made me think "Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?"*** But it is OK fun, and the full-noise combat is frequently satisfying. If you're into collectibles, this is the game for you, as there are loads of trinkets to find. Completionists will drive themselves mad.

Oh, and be ready for the least satisfying "final boss" in gaming history.

*

Spoiler:

**

Spoiler:

***

Spoiler:

Short form version:
Meh.

[5]

regmcfly

Star 2 is the best thing ever.

Bob

@bs

How’s the switch conversation?

Blue Swirl

Bob wrote:

@bs

How’s the switch conversation?

I'm guessing that's auto-correct for conversion.

Solid, all told. There's some frame rate issues and texture pop-in occasionally, especially just after starting a level. The former goes away when played with the Switch docked.

yourfavouriteuncle

I really like The new Wolfs. I love the world they’ve created and I like the tempo and beats to the combat. Swirls second spoiler though? Gotta agree there.

Bob

Blue Swirl wrote:

Bob wrote:

@bs

How’s the switch conversation?

I'm guessing that's auto-correct for conversion.

Solid, all told. There's some frame rate issues and texture pop-in occasionally, especially just after starting a level. The former goes away when played with the Switch docked.

If only I could blame auto correct for all
My posts ...

Thanks for the feedback

Although I’ve never seen any of the Bethesda conversions cheap so I’m unlikely to pick it up

Blue Swirl

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I really like The new Wolfs. I love the world they’ve created and I like the tempo and beats to the combat. Swirls second spoiler though? Gotta agree there.

I would absolutely recommend Old Blood and New World. The stories are better, the world makes more sense, and the combat is more varied. New Colossus doesn't so much jump the shark, as saddle it up and use that to jump over another, bigger shark. That has lasers and a swastika on it.

Bob wrote:

Although I’ve never seen any of the Bethesda conversions cheap so I’m unlikely to pick it up

I got Wolfenstein II at 50% off, iirc. Keep an eye out, they'll go on sale eventually.

Cos

Donut County. Pretty fun but very light, glad I didn't pay full price for it. The few puzzle elements dotted throughout worked quite well so a shame there wasn't more of that or a few other boss battles to keep things interesting.

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Ha, I'm not even sure if he still likes games when we play anything in co-op, he gets pissed off with everything.

??

hylian_elf

Ooft. Rift in the friendship.

retroking1981

Gears 5?

Moot_Geeza

Not Gears, that was chill retro. You can be quite an angry gamer though, especially if the pads won't sync.

retroking1981

That Wiimote got what it deserved.

Moot_Geeza

The pavement was its enemy.

Syph79

Dragon Quest 11s

Absolutely superb. Can’t recommend this enough if you’re a JRPG fan. It’s amazing they go a game so big and detailed running this well on the Switch.

It took me around 45 hours to see the credits. Totally worth it though. I still have the post-game stuff to do, but I’m going to give it a while before I return to do that.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is next up.

Tempy

I had heard there is quite the grind in that game towards the back half, is that true?

JonB

In the post-credits part perhaps. The main quest is very straightforward.

Some people might have been caught out by avoiding combat out in the field, then finding the later bosses tough. But as long as you do a moderate amount of fighting on your travels, you should never have to really grind.

Syph79

Tempy wrote:

I had heard there is quite the grind in that game towards the back half, is that true?

Honestly, I didn’t grind at all. Because all of the enemies are out in the wild, I just ran from A to B and made it a rule that whenever something was in my way, I took it on. I was a range of levels 45-49 when I saw the credits. I didn’t deliberately grind to increase my levels at all. I did make sure that I spent all my cash where possible and sold anything I didn’t need to buy new kit.

It’s probably the most balanced JRPG I’ve played in a while - possibly because it isn’t particularly hard to play. You can make it harder through the draconian settings, but I didn’t want to extend a 40+ hour play by making it harder.

Syph79

JonB wrote:

In the post-credits part perhaps. The main quest is very straightforward.

Some people might have been caught out by avoiding combat out in the field, then finding the later bosses tough. But as long as you do a moderate amount of fighting on your travels, you should never have to really grind.

Great minds... I was slowly typing the same thing.

AndCallMeCharlie

Disco elysium
What a hideous, wonderful mess of a game

Minnesänger

Tempy wrote:

I had heard there is quite the grind in that game towards the back half, is that true?

Post credits, so...back third? And even then there’s ways to make it much quicker. I hit 99 and maxed out every character and it really didn’t take that long.

Cos

The Gardens Between

Wonderful little puzzler. Only about 2 hours or so but well formed and thoroughly enjoyed it. Clever puzzles, well judged difficulty curve and a charming aesthetic. Once or twice the solutions felt almost too obtuse but that could just be me. Well worth a look for those with game pass.

[Deleted User]

Not just you. It’s incredibly frustrating at times.

yourfavouriteuncle

I never felt it was a puzzler tbh. Just keep rewinding or fast forwarding until somethings clicks into where it’s meant to go. Great aesthetic but a poor game imo.

EvilRedEye

Who's going to be the first to post Shenmue III in here?!?!?!

Moot_Geeza

I enjoyed The Gardens Between. Would be a rip off at £18 imho - you've probably almost finished it if you've played for two hours - but it's definitely the sort of thing worth checking out on gamepass.

Minnesänger

EvilRedEye wrote:

Who's going to be the first to post Shenmue III in here?!?!?!

g, I’d imagine.

Cos

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I never felt it was a puzzler tbh. Just keep rewinding or fast forwarding until somethings clicks into where it’s meant to go. Great aesthetic but a poor game imo.

That seems a bit harsh. You certainly couldn't keep rewinding or fast forwarding hoping it would work without understanding what you were trying to achieve. Not trying to convince you to like the game of course but that's an unfair oversimplification.

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