Just completed - The Bear and Badger

Verecocha

31.Control: Foundation - 6 Hours - 8/10 - Xbox One X

I absolutely loved Control when it was released so any excuse to go back I’ll grab with both hands, and I’m glad I did. This is an excellent bit of DLC, good bit of story that makes sense...as much as Control can...beautiful environment, as much as you can make of a foundation system beneath the oldest house, decent new mechanics and enemies, and more time in the awesome Control universe. Only downside was buggy last boss which was a disappointment, but that was the only downside. Aside from that very good bit of DLC and cannot wait for the next slice, just wish they’d planned for more.

acemuzzy

Submerged (PC)

You know when people play Uncharted / Tomb Raider and be all like "why is there shooting - give me this game but without the shooting - well it turns out it's not all that after all. Obviously production values rather lower than those two franchises, but that's the basic premise here - and it's all just painfully samey. Like 10 fetch quests in a row, albeit with moderately interesting architecture to assail to get them, and some nice vistas/scenery (and some excellent music to be fair - probably the main actual highlight), and you've kind of seen it all after the first two. Only carried on in the hope of some variety (which never came) or story arc (likewise - the main fetch ceremony was literally the same for all ten, and the art-snippet driven narration was hard to properly understand, and the baddies/goodies were decidedly meh too).

So yeah, I fear it has to be a [6], though there's probably the makings of a 7 somewhere within, with a bit more animation and polish and things that are actually different to do...

Bob

Borderlands:GotY

Main campaign finished as a Berzerker (Did it as a siren on PS3). A lot of side stuff and the whole Island of Dr Ned DLC so finished on something like level 42 so the last mission was a damn sight easier than the last time. Pretty much put all my points in the left and middle tree with a soupcon on quick reload.

So much of the joy comes from sorting through the wheat from the chaff and finding a couple of really good guns and then just shooting the shit out of stuff.

Couple of niggles in that the driving is shit and it's far too easy to get stuck on things and I miss trophies but I very happy 30+ hours of gaming. Halfway through the third DLC (giving the Moxxi one a miss as apparently it's a horde mode and that can go dunk it's head) and then possibly the Claptrap DLC

Not sure I can face the second game again but it might be fun as a bezerker rather than Siren.

Dark Soldier

Do Borderlands 2 as the Gunzerker. Its by far the most fun class solo.

regmcfly

Verecocha wrote:

31.Control: Foundation - 6 Hours - 8/10 - Xbox One X

I absolutely loved Control when it was released so any excuse to go back I’ll grab with both hands, and I’m glad I did. This is an excellent bit of DLC, good bit of story that makes sense...as much as Control can...beautiful environment, as much as you can make of a foundation system beneath the oldest house, decent new mechanics and enemies, and more time in the awesome Control universe. Only downside was buggy last boss which was a disappointment, but that was the only downside. Aside from that very good bit of DLC and cannot wait for the next slice, just wish they’d planned for more.

You in for Awe Which is the thing I want.

Bob

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx

Mixed feelings about this DLC. Padded with a lot of driving down narrow flyovers that is not a lot of fun. Shorter than the Ned one I think. Not as distinctive and I lost my favourite gun some how.

The boss battles in this are better than 3 though as when you re-spawn the damage done is still done so you can chip away at it. The third game the start from scratch and the ammo you used is still gone. Which sucks.

regmcfly

Mortal Kombat 11 Story Mode (Switch)

MK stories since 9 have been the best in the business and this sure goes on a fun journey. Kronika is a better concept than final boss, but still fun.

LivDiv

Are you gonna pick up the additjonal story DLC thing?

Moot_Geeza

I'm starting that on Xbox tonight (not the dlc).

LivDiv

Its good fun if you are into MK nonsense.

Protip.
When it lets you choose between one of two characters pick the same character each time (in that chapter) to unlock skins. Then go back once completed and choose the other character to unlock their skin.
In chapter 4 you may want to go Sub Zero first as you unlock Frost (character).

Moot_Geeza

Cheers. I've only played X briefly since II, so no idea what's been going on. Enjoyed what I played of X but it briefly dropped off gamepass and I lost interest for whatever reason. I remember it looking quite good, but this one really seems to have had a full makeover with the character models - facial animations in particular. Stunning looker. Well up for this, the last vs fighter I played properly in sp was...actually it was so long ago I'm not even sure. Dreamcast era maybe.

Maybe I'll buy Injustice 2 next, quite like the idea of cinematic stories in these.

LivDiv

Injustice 1 has the better story iirc but both are decent.

MK11 story is much better than X imo. X focussed on the new generation of fighters who were a bit crap. Cassie Cage and Jacqui Briggs come back for 11 but aren't as dominating in their story presence.

9 was best. It was a retelling of 1 to 3 with some additional plots and twists.

Moot_Geeza

Has it done away with the 'Finish Him' end of winning round wobbly bits? Is fatal blow the new fatality?

Also, Lui Kang is a baddie now?

Moot_Geeza

Not gonna lie, you could easily kid me into wowing at this as a next gen game. I guess there's far less going on in a one on one fighter compared to the sprawling epics but it looks fucking incredible. This runs on Switch??

LivDiv

I dont think Fatalities are in the story but are present in other modes.

Yeah there are some bits that might not make sense at first.
In 9 Quan Chi turns a bunch of good guys into evil zombies, then iirc in X Shinook uses Quan Chi to turn goodies into netherworld evil versions of themselves.

EvilRedEye

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch) - I really wanted to love this on Wii but I have a completionist playstyle with RPGs and the sub-quest content was so arduous and the missables so vexing that eventually I gave up. It didn't help that, while an amazing achievement for Wii and a fantastically visually designed game overall, it was an SD game in an era of HD, with horrible low-res texture instead of proper character faces.

Fortunately Definitive Edition came along and fixed almost everything that resulted in me dropping out of the original. While the sub-quests are still very rote, the quality-of-life improvements are night and day. Sub-quests are now a nice bit of mindless fun to play after work, completing missable content before moving to the next area is no longer so arduous, completing sub-quests quickly and easily brings the interesting if somewhat zany affinity system into focus, revealing interesting interconnected communities that were previous submerged in grind. The game is now HD, if rather soft as it seems realistic lighting effects were prioritised over resolution. And the characters have actual faces!

The main campaign has dated very well. The plot is good, unlike a lot of modern RPGs it is not overwritten, the world is interesting and the worldbuilding elements are solidly and gradually done but it doesn't lapse into perplexing jargon.

The new Future Connected extra campaign is also good. It sounds like a few people were disappointed by it but it was clearly designed to fulfil a specific brief: make the Bionis Shoulder beta/cutscene area into an actual playable area and add just a bit of needed clarity into what the future held for Melia after the game ends. It does this and no more - it clearly isn't intended to be a full on sequel or afterstory and I was happy with that. The original story was complete anyway. The Bionis Shoulder is a lovely bit of Xenoblade and it's great it was promoted from weird semi-canon beta area to actual bit of game.

Overall, a genuine JRPG classic that I can finally tick off the list. Paid £90 for it (for a remaster!) but got 135 hours out of it so I suppose I can't complain.

bad_hair_day

Half Life: Alyx (VR)
Shelved this back in April as the real world's dystopian vibe and game narrative got too much. Fast forward to mid August, and with the girls away it felt a better time to revisit City 17.

Not going to bore badgers repeating what's been said already, but one thing's certain - do everything in your power to experience this masterpiece.

10

hylian_elf

Would love to, but 1) can't justify the extra spend on the hardware just for this and 2) I know for sure it will make me physically sick. I suffer greatly from motion sickness.

bad_hair_day

Shame about those Elf, but personally look at point one more as an investment! Number two is most unfortunate but should say Valve has nailed the natural (speed) of movement and thankfully didn't get uncomfortable once. Actually that's incorrect. Had bit of a nope moment when totally baked, but that's completely expected

AndCallMeCharlie

I stopped about half way through (unrelated back pain), it's on my mind but not feeling a real need to get back to it. will push through at some point.

AndCallMeCharlie

yakuza 0

Bizzare one, I played and loved it up to the final boss fights but the cut scenes didn't work on my PC at the time. 18 months latter I finished it off.
Glourious game, one of my favourite RPGs ever and further evidence that more RPGs should be set in the real world (see also disco elysium) rather than the bog standard tolkienesque fantasy.

9/10

Minnesänger

Nice one, Charlie. Yak 0 manages to balance so many tones. Sleezy, funny, batshit, epic, dramatic. Yet, it all works.

AndCallMeCharlie

Minnesänger wrote:

Nice one, Charlie. Yak 0 manages to balance so many tones. Sleezy, funny, batshit, epic, dramatic. Yet, it all works.

Yeah even the Kojima length of cut scenes fail to piss me off.
Total blast from start to finish - if only all sega games were this good

hylian_elf

Sega have been around since 1960. It's certainly taken them ages to get this good.

Verecocha

regmcfly wrote:

Verecocha wrote:

31.Control: Foundation - 6 Hours - 8/10 - Xbox One X

I absolutely loved Control when it was released so any excuse to go back I’ll grab with both hands, and I’m glad I did. This is an excellent bit of DLC, good bit of story that makes sense...as much as Control can...beautiful environment, as much as you can make of a foundation system beneath the oldest house, decent new mechanics and enemies, and more time in the awesome Control universe. Only downside was buggy last boss which was a disappointment, but that was the only downside. Aside from that very good bit of DLC and cannot wait for the next slice, just wish they’d planned for more.

You in for Awe Which is the thing I want.

Oh yes!! Today isn’t it? Should be awaiting me when I boot up!

AndCallMeCharlie

I like the general idea of sega (crazy Japanese Bubble pop with an arcade feel) much more than I like the games

regmcfly

Verecocha wrote:

regmcfly wrote:

Verecocha wrote:

31.Control: Foundation - 6 Hours - 8/10 - Xbox One X

I absolutely loved Control when it was released so any excuse to go back I’ll grab with both hands, and I’m glad I did. This is an excellent bit of DLC, good bit of story that makes sense...as much as Control can...beautiful environment, as much as you can make of a foundation system beneath the oldest house, decent new mechanics and enemies, and more time in the awesome Control universe. Only downside was buggy last boss which was a disappointment, but that was the only downside. Aside from that very good bit of DLC and cannot wait for the next slice, just wish they’d planned for more.

You in for Awe Which is the thing I want.

Oh yes!! Today isn’t it? Should be awaiting me when I boot up!

Yo.

Verecocha

Gonna have to wait till Sat Reg, you starting today? If so gimme your thoughts!

regmcfly

my dude I am playing like 10 minutes of games a week. Cillian is a month old tomorrow and life has fickinnn changed. I need to live though you. .

But I want to play it!

Wookienopants

regmcfly wrote:

my dude I am playing like 10 minutes of games a week. Cillian is a month old tomorrow and life has fickinnn changed. I need to live though you. . But I want to play it!

It'll change soon mate.
My boys just turned 4 and I've been able to actually complete a game this week

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