I enjoyed JC2, thought 3 was aces, but 4 feels a little meh. It’s gone way down my list of things to play to the point I’ve considered deleting it. It’s only because I don’t need the storage right now that it’s still on there.

Paul the sparky wrote:

Sack the rest off and play Cyberpunk

Paul the sparky wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

Sack the rest off and play Cyberpunk

And that's 60+ hours in, but Yakuza 7 finished this morning in terms of main quest and all substories. I cleared some of the side stuff, such as the Holdings, the Dungeons, Baseball, Cinema, Vocational School and the like, but anything to do with driving (cans and kart) wasn't for me to be honest.

Plotwise, it's some of the great melodramatic Yakuza shit - you'll know by now whether or not that brand of particular apeshittery is for you or not. What shouldn't be underestimated is how outrageously good Ichiban is as a new protagonist, taking over from Kiryu. Just an absolute moron with a heart of gold and faith in his friends. If the next series entry is the continuing adventures of Ichiban, sign me up.

The new battle system/rpg stylings hit some highs and lows. Overall the system is a refreshing change up for the series, and the playfulness with which it approaches transposing jobs from game to 'reap life' makes it feel like a spiritual successor to The Stick of Truth, with nearly the same amount of crudeness. The vast majority of battle can be brute forced, but later on in the game, it demands you at least know RPG101, which is no massive ask. But at points it feels a little half baked, particularly in terms of positional attacks and area effects. I believe the system was changed pretty late in the development and this is where it shows. Much like the protagonist, though, I'm keen to see it continue in the future.

So yeah, it's more Yakuza, I'm here for it, and enjoyed my time. The sub stories are still that same mix of bonkers, emotionally manipulative, and odd comments on the mundanity of Japanese life (traffic census?) but the new stuff is welcome, and I'm happy to see the series finally stretch out in a different direction. Plus Nick Ogata is the best .

I've been playing Days Gone and I'm really enjoying it. A lot more than Valhalla even. It's the most generic game ever. I think I just like guns and zombies. It's really good.

We Were Here (PC)

Co-op puzzler.  Bit clunky/glitchy, but kinda fun for an hour or two.  eEscape Room, basically, with a nice touch of in-game chat via walky-talkies (so only one at a time).  Oh and it's free.  So yeah maybe worth a look if you have a suitable buddy.  

(There are two paid-for sequels, which I might try in due course...)

I agree with most of that but still have a weird soft spot for it.

fucking hated Virginia

Witcher 3

46 hours and 59 minutes playing apparently. I'm trying to think when I last spent so long (over a relatively small time frame) on a single player game, and I'm not sure I ever have, at least as an adult. And that was me trying to stick to the main missions as much as possible, with only a couple of witcher quests done.

Epic, sprawling, fun, silly, bit clumsy in bits but overall technically hugely impressive.

Overall, it was good enough to keep me playing. Which sounds like damning with faint praise, but it's also quite incredible for any game not to irritate me too much that i give up, especially this kind of open world game.
Special praise for this though I think has to go to the xbox series X. being able to reload in about 2 seconds, quick resume and fast fast travel were all huge factors in keeping me engaged. I've not played on previous gen but can only assume that those things took a lot longer, and it's those moments where i can get frustrated, turn off, and never return.
I'd also mention the checkpointing and quick save options, which together meant i rarely had to do a lot of repeating and travelling to get to a point i had died previously, which is another surefire way to get me to turn a game off.

I really liked that it made it easier to focus on the main missions, and gave level suggestions for missions to help you decide which to tackle next. It wasn't always perfect, but deffo preferable to a map cluttered with a million missions and no real idea of which ones should be attempted. Also being able to basically ignore crafting and alchemy stuff helps streamline things for me.
Also being able to skip one sentance at a time in cutscenes, so i could just read the subs and speed things up, was another positive for me.

Basically, open world adventures always appeal, but for me there's always too much bloat and faff and frustrations and I just give up after a short while. Witcher 3 does a pretty good job of making it a lot more streamlined and letting you just follow the story and action if that's what you prefer.

Also a special note to the creepy pervy outfits on some of the main female characters. I'm fine with the sex and nudity in the relevant scenes and places, and i understand the witches might use it as part of the charm, but i do wish the devs had shown a touch more class at times. Ves' outfit was just silly (and even gets called on it in game), and Ciri, who is effectively your daughter, yet all the way through her top is open so you can see her bra and cleavage - even when you get to colder locations, she adds a fur collar to the outfit but still has her top open. Maybe I'm just getting old and it was my dad instinct kicking in, but I really wish I could have told her to put on a jumper or something!

Wow. That’s a very high score. 93% is great. Will play at some point in my life.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Have you got it on Xbox dino?

Nah ps4 moot. Can send if you have a ps4.

Gears 5 Hivebusters DLC

I thought it was quite poor. Writing poor, didn't care about the characters, action didn't seem very intense.

Shovel Knight

After owning it for a year or more and bouncing after a few levels, I gave it another go and finished it. Can't say I really enjoyed anything about it really.

The gameplay is turgid. The music irritating and it looks horrible. I've finally realised I don't want to play another 8-bit inspired videogame in my life ever again.

I dunno why I persevered tbh. It was a war of attrition and I'm glad it's over and I can delete the thing off my switch.

Horrible game.

I played it the other Knight. It's a lot more playable and reactive than shoveling turds.

Chalice reviews remind me of Metacritic user reviews, where everything's either 10 or 0.