I completed Steve Bruce's Night Striker on my first go.

191. Alan Wake 2 - PS5 (16.5hrs)

I was keen to like this, especially as I broke my no digital for big games rule for it, but a runtime coming up to 20hrs is too long for the unconventional meta artifice to paper over the cracks of the outdated mechanics.  The gameplay backing up the wonderful presentation and visual smoke & mirrors is weak (at times painfully so), so I can't bring myself to present this with an enthusiastic thumbs up despite appreciating the style and craft that clearly went into the style.  Quantum Break haters, look away now - the gunplay in Remedy's most maligned release was superior.  For the most part, in terms of interaction, Wake 2 feels like a relic from the early PS360 era.  I'm not a fan of clumsy survival horror, and if you take away the marvelous presentation and stunning graphics that's precisely what this is.   I went in on TotK for the reused fight system but dear me, this is just OG Alan Wake at heart, which was criticised for its flashlight/shooting core in 2010.  The combat takes a back seat to progressing the story, but that doesn't excuse how poor it is whenever it rears its outdated head.  Also, any scene that hands you control as your character gets chased by something is pure unadulterated pish.  

The Remedy panache is in full, unstemmed flow here, and while they get a bit carried away with chucking stuff wot they like into the melting pot - Lynch, X-Files, Stephen King, Scandinavian police procedurals (Saga's wearing Lund's jumper!), True Detective and so on - it's hard not to appreciate both the effort and the love that went in.  Some of ways the game layers its realities on top of one another as you play are masterful, and it feels like the interactive evolution - at last - of the walking down a corridor towards to a door that doesn't get closer thing.  Or entering a door before exiting to an unexpectedly different location.  I expect a plenty of the first person horror games have played with this perception altering stuff successfully too, but drawing from my own gaming experiences this still feels a fresh take for a AAA title, when others are happy to just occasionally wheel out Arkham Asylum inspired brain bendy bits.  It screams big budget and looks absolutely glorious, but it does occasionally lack the cohesion of, say, a Naughty Dog game.  For example, in an early Saga chapter (the stand out campaign for me), she reaches her destination then says 'I should ask around', then immediately passes a character it's impossible to interact with.  It just feels a bit odd sometimes.  For the most part though, the production values and attention to detail/nice touches are off the chart. 

Away from the action Saga's case file deduction system just about worked, but the mind palace detective work was way too hokey and often felt like she hit a brick wall with her FBI skills, then channeled her inner Mystic Meg to give the plot a quick kickstart.  Not for me, Clive Barker.  Although we're encroaching on spoiler territory here, perhaps.  On the Alan side, the changeable scenes initially felt like a good idea but eventually descended into an irritating exercise in trial and error.  I never really got outright stuck during his actual puzzle bits, but at the same time it felt like my constant progression was based on more luck than judgement.  I disliked the wayfinding with a passion, with 'where am I supposed to go?' and 'how the fuck do I get there?' being my go-to questions.  I absolutely bumbled through on numerous occasions.  The problems were often caused by Wake's reality-altering magic lamp, which kept creating annoying little mazes, especially once my attention was on the wane.  This might just be me, but when I initially picked this item up I expected more from Remedy in terms of puzzles, but it boiled down to what felt like unintuitive geometry altering to create hidden exits/entrances.  I'll also hold my hands up and admit that I never quite understood how the battery on the flashlight worked.  Does it recharge over time?  Is it possible to completely run out of juice and render yourself totally useless during combat?  If there are 4 layers of charge why can't you put a fresh battery in when you're down to 2?  Am I getting the torch capacity mixed up between the two playable characters?  For answers to all these questions and more, ask someone else.      

I really, really liked what this tried to do, but the execution is fudged slightly. It's shlocky like an old TV show, which is undoubtedly deliberate, but I'm not convinced it intentionally lands closer to a bad episode of Urban Gothic than a good episode of Twin Peaks.  It earns a [7] for oozing sumptuousness at every turn, but it's not far off the point below, especially as the pot is an actual nonsense.  I complained about the fact that chapter end songs were mostly written for the game rather than chosen to fit, and I'm no doubt in the minority here but I think the latter is a developer hallmark and they're goofed here.  I'm sticking with that particular grumble as my biggest gaming disappointment of the year - the new stuff is an egotistical misstep imo.  End credits music gets a thumbs up, the on-the-nose singalongawake stuff sent me to sleep.

Possible Control crossover spoilers:

192. Gravity Circuit - Switch (4hrs 38mins)

Very good Megaman inspired close-combat centric action platformer in the well-trodden 'Super 8-bit' style, that thankfully fits it like a glove.  I love stuff like this and tend to be fairly happy playing competent nu retro side scrollers (I'm not looking at Tiny Thor or Gunbrella here, unfortunately), but every now and then one pops up that deserves a bit more recognition.  This isn't quite excellent but it makes a much better push towards greatness than most of its peers.  Shovel Knight will probably always be S-tier [10] king of the sub-genre, but the likes of Infernax and Flynn: Son of Crimson nail their respective attempts to revive experiences of yore.  In the tier below you've got Panzer Paladin, Blazing Chrome, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, Cyber Shadow and so on.  They're all legit (and I could happily go on), and the purpose of me listing them here is so I can point out that this is better than almost anything I've mentioned.  

It's solid AF, with all character movement feeling suitably retrochunky and fun, and the only area I'd say it falls short in is balancing its difficulty.  Thanks to the purchasable upgrades a savvy player can nerf the challenge by equipping useful items and brute forcing the (well designed) boss fights, which along with a spot of slowdown on the Switch version takes a point off the final score.  The first boss took me a few attempts, but I barreled through the vast majority of the rest at the first time of asking (including the lengthy final guardian), which seemed like a shame considering their patterns appeared to be on point.  

Still, this is genuinely superb and may find its way onto my top 5 of the year, will have to have a think.  Very happy with it - if I had to define a Moot game there's a good chance I'd start by describing this.  All action, full of checkpoints, tricky and retro leaning with expertly designed layouts, tight controls and a HLTB of <5hrs.  It even has a cracking theme tune. [8]
 


193. Wild West C.O.W-Boys of Moo Mesa - Arcade (35mins)

A Konami run & gun coin-op from 1992 that I'd never heard of.  Stylistically it's got a Sunset Riders meets Bravestar thing going on and I was quite surprised how nice it looked.  The gameplay is straightforward and basic, but that's precisely what I wanted from it.  Me and Tilly had a 35 minute blast for sure.  Anyone doing a spot of ROM hopping any time soon should give this a bash I reckon - it won't blow your mind, but it's an enjoyable and solid arcade game that doesn't empty your pockets with bullshit.  A very pleasant way to end the year and exactly the sort of thing I hope to unearth when I'm trawling through a MAME menu. [5 out of 6]  

Ahhh, of course it was based on a TV show.  Didn't realise until I went searching for a GIF.

You need to play Outrun 2 more. Only playing the arcade mode is an injustice. There's so much more to do and enjoy.

If its the same emu as the Vita you'll be able to overclock the processor but you'll still get the odd dropped frames during bits with heavy traffic.

I'm getting back into the emulation ATM (or at least downloading stuff and not playing it) - outrun 2 sounds like the perfect sort of thing to have a crack at.

I'll be going for an 8 I think but mostly agree. Not quite as exceptional as I was hoping for but a lovely little experience nonetheless.

Did 15 mins, went back to Lies of P

The environment, the reddish rocks etc, the style of it reminds me of LMD. It's obvious m8

If I wasn't so lazy I'd post the two comparison pics I sent you that conclusively prove my position.

I'll also admit that I'm pissed and thought they were both Cocoon pics until just now.

nick_md wrote:

I started that today too, feels like a cross between Lonely Mountains Downhill and Scorn atm. I'll aim to finish at some point.

Hahaha. I see the LMD echoes. Didn't play Scorn. I also had Creature in the Well vibes too

2022:
Final Post

Games reviewed:
Ready or Not, Can Androids Pray, Bad End Theater, Anger Foot, Bloodborne PSX, Day Repeat Day, Elden Ring, GT7, Horizon: Forbidden West, Emily is Away 3, Fifa 22, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Good Night Knight, There is no Game, Disco Elysium, Cyberpunk 2077, Deep Rock Galactic, YAKLAD, Manifold Garden, Factori, Circadian Dice, Nier Re[in]carnation, The Sexy Brutale, Dragon's Dogma, Vampyr, Rogue Legacy 2, Lair of the Clockwork God, Escape Simulator, Ender Lillies, Rhythm Doctor, Citizen Sleeper, You Have to Win this Game, Narita Boy,, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, NORCO, Buck Up and Drive, A Year of Springs, Buddy Game Simulator 1984, Dicey Dungeons, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order, Grindstone, What the Golf, Reigns, Moonlighter, Ctrl Alt Ego, Tales of Arise, Mini Metro, Gloomwood, Kill it with Fire, Civilization IV, Civilization VI, In Other Waters, Deathloop, Blink

2022-2023 hangovers - finished in 2022, written up in 2023:
Marvel's GotG, Two Point Campus, Stray, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Peglin, Slay the Spire, Nioh 2, Railway Empire, Catherine: Full Body, Wasteland 3, Subnautica, Death Stranding: Director's Cut

2023
Part 1: Games 1-3 (plus 2022 hangovers) (Judgment, Vampire Survivors, Miles Morales)

imgur not playing nice at the moment, so please excuse the lack of pictures / gifs. Will add them later (maybers). Also, I didn't play these all recently, this is during a decent chunk of 2023 and, like always, I count a game as "finished" when i've had enough, not when the credits roll - that might be after 20 minutes or 20 hours.

Anyway, here's my 2023 gaming so far:

4. Vaporum: Lockdown
Grid-based steampunk Dungeon Crawler wanna be Legend of Grimrock meets Bioshock thing. This is very much an "if you like the genre, you'll like..." kinda game. I have a soft spot for these things, and first person Dungeon Crawlers in general, so I had a decent time with this. [7]

5. Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
This was fun and I played a fair chunk, but some characters felt wildly more enjoyable than others and it takes a few unlocks for things to get real good. Boss fights are great spectacles. Nico is just shamelessly hot. But...the game felt kinda ugly? Dunno what it was about it, but I really didn't vibe with the art style. [6]

6. Lost Judgment 
I thought Judgment was a good, but uneven, first jab at doing something post-Yak / Like a Dragon. Lost Judgement didn't vibe with me for some reason - not sure whether it was the pacing, but it didn't hold my attention as much as the first. The side content is fun enough, though there's a fair amount of repetition from the first (which is normal for the series, tbf). That said, after this, me bouncing hard off YAKLAD, and me not wanting Kiryu back (which they seem to insist on doing), I've gone from a RGG Studio Stan to someone now sitting back and waiting, rather than day one. A sad, though understandable, dip in form from one of my favourite studios. [6]

7. Roadwarden
Fantastic old-school text-based RPG. Miles of depth, fantastic writing, and an engrossing world. Best of all, its full of systems that matter. Not just in a Choices Matter kinda way, although they do, but in a way that means that the way you play creates a distinct texture to the world and your interactions for each playthough. [9]

8. Yakuza Kiwami 2
Unlike Kiwami 1, I think 2 is actually superior to its OG iteration. It builds on 0 and it's just great to spend more time with one of the series' best antagonists again. This was still when the series leant more heavily on Mob Drama than the increasingly zany path it went in later years, but there's still a fair bit here. The combat is also top notch. [9]

9. Against the Storm
An interesting spin on the RTS / strategy / city-builder genre - there's no opposing army here, but the world around you constantly exerts pressure. It's a roguelike, of sorts, constantly chucking small challenges on you, and has both short term targets (to achieve on this map) and long term ones (across a campaign and multiple maps). Just one of the most refreshing RTS / strategy / sim things i've played in years. [9]

10. Resident Evil: Village PSVR2
I didn't like Village when it launched. It's incredible and so much better in VR though. The opening in VR is still obnoxious - constantly yanking your head this way and that to create oooooh scary spooky roller coaster moments which are just boring - they were boring on flatscreen and they're boring here. But, once that's all over you get Village without all the crap - movement feels right, aiming is actually fun now, and the atmosphere is so much better. Just brilliant. [8]

11. Tentacular
You're an octopus who needs to get a job. One of those games where the fun is in the physics and the colour. Wife had a fun time with it, though i'd argue it's a little too stop-start in the beginning. Wouldn't recommend everyone with VR runs out and buys it but...it's a fun enough time and there's some decent gags. [6]

12. Destiny 2: Witch Queen
Witch Queen was great. [9]

13. Destiny 2: Lightfall
Lightfall was less great (though the game actually feels in a decent-ish place at the mo) [6]

14. Tyranny
I like Obsidian games. This is an Obsidian game. In Tyranny, you're...evil, and that's important. In so many RPGs where you can be good or bad, the choices often come down to Save Puppies versus Kick Puppies. Help the town, or Nuke the Town. It's baby-level writing, made by idiots who have nothing interesting to say. "Bad" choices in games should be fun. They should be challenging. They should be understandable. Evil is so much more interesting and compelling when it makes sense. That doesn't mean you have to defend it, but it shouldn't just come across as teenage egdelord shit like, lets be honest, 99% of Bethesda "choices". And, as a result, players often ignore 90% of evil content and go goody two-shoes which is fine, but it's also a massive waste of effort. 

Obsidian have consistently been one of the few teams who know how to do this stuff - in Alpha Protocol, Pentiment, KOTOR 2, and the rest, they created compelling and understandable monsters and villains. And in Tyranny they just choose to take away the good choices. Now all of your choices support evil. You are an important decision maker in an evil overlord's army, sent into a war zone to break a deadlock brought about by infighting, deception and corruption. And if you can't end that deadlock, everyone dies. You must make decisions, and you must move things forward, you must find a way to subdue, subjugate...whatever, because if you don't, a spell goes off that insta-gibs everyone. 

It's short and replayable, deep and pure Obsidian goodness. [9]

15. Lunacid
An excellent first-person Kings Field-like. It's Early Access but there's already a lot there, and it's shockingly good for a solo project. [9]

16. Pile Up!
Minimalistic city-builder with very chill indie presentation - the actual game itself is surprisingly tricky, occasionally to the point of frustration, especially when there's so much RNG involved.

basically, your objective is to build a city upwards. You are given several types of building, you plop them down, then you get more and plop those down. As your city increases, your citizens have needs, most commonly utilities like water, gas and electricity. However, the trick comes from placing these so they cover as many homes as possible, while they also can't be placed too close together. 

The game ultimately boils down to that juggling act - leaving space for important resources to be inserted without creating clashes or letting happiness drop too far. It's decent but hardly earth shattering. [6]

17. Synapse
A very good VR roguelite shooter which blends strong visuals, physics gameplay and...jedi telekinesis. It's a blast, albeit one that is a fair chunk of change for not a lot of content or variation. I had a lot of fun with it and don't regret buying it, but it's not something I could promise is worth the cost of entry for everyone. [8]

18. Far Cry 6
Played for "free" thanks to PS Plus. Had fun for a few hours, then got bored. Waaaaaaaay too long. [5] 

19. Grand Theft Auto 5
Believe it or not, i'd never played this before and eventually got it on sale. If you're wondering why it keeps topping the charts all these years later and think "who is still buying GTA5?" well...it's people like me.

And you know what? It was fucking dull. [4]

20. Resident Evil 4 Remake
I thought the OG Resi 4 was way too long. I think the Remake is way too long. Excited for the VR update, though. [6]

21. Tchia
Wanted to like this. Didn't. It looked fine and had some charm but did nothing for me in the end. [5]

22. Scarlet Nexus 
Another one I wanted to like, this time off the back of Tales of Arise which I really liked. This was nowhere near as good though, either in terms of story or combat. [6]

23. Pistol Whip
Buy this. Go full wally and dance while you shoot, you won't regret it. An absolute all-time stunner. [10]

24. Olli Ollie World 
Another one i wanted to like. Enjoyed the aesthetic and it's clearly a Good One, but found it too fiddly. I'm one of those people that enjoys hard games, and challenges in general, but i'm really not into finger gymnastics. It's why i don't get on with fightmans, and it's why I didn't get on with this. A shame. [6]

25. Nier: Replicant
Did multiple playthroughs. Story? Excellent. Music? Incredible. Combat? Fine. First playthrough is weaker than Automata's, but it picks up. 

Well worth trying for those that skipped the original (like me) and loved Automata (like me!) but it's worth being clear - Automata really is the better game in nearly every way. [8]

26. JETT: The Far Shore
Was really into the vibes of this from moment one and was genuinely excited. Then the actual game started. It's a bit crap. [4]

27. Rune Factory 4: Special
It's alright. I'm never getting FoMT-era Harvest Moon back, and I accept that. The bosses are ripe in this, though. [6]

28. Horizon: Call of the Mountain
A decent intro to VR and very pretty. This was a freebie (thanks b0ris!) and it's worth playing if you spent all that money on the headset. Gameplay wise it's a bit simple, and a far cry from the likes of Alyx, but it's also not that long. Discovering secrets is a decent time, and there's lovely interactivity, but enemies in combat really are a bit too spongey. [7]

29: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age S: Definitive Edition 
I wrote in the DQ thread a while back that I don't think the Definitive Edition is necessarily the better edition, and I stand by that. There's some nice additions (the orchestral score, specifically) but I honestly think most of the additions (new stories for cast members start of act 2, new 2D mode and area, use the fun-sized forge anywhere etc.) actively undermine the story and themes of the game. The original is one of my favourite RPGs ever. This was a disappointment. [7]

30. Legend of Grimrock 2 
A classic. And very old school. Another grid-based, first person dungeon crawler, this time with a more trad fantasy setting. It's great, and hard, and when I'm in the mood for this type of game, nothing else can hit the spot. It's also long and I doubt i'll ever see all there is to see. [8]

31. Baldur's Gate 3
May do a longer write up on this at some point, but to keep it short - I loved Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2, and for me Larian and Obsidian make the best CRPGs out there. Baldur's Gate 3 is a genuine masterpiece and I've completed it twice now. [10]


Now, I've also played a bunch of Playdate games, thanks to Shabby who gave me one. These games are super short, so i'll just rattle though them quickly:

32. Whitewater Wipeout - Playdate
Cowa-ok [5]

33. Casual Birder - Playdate
This seems to be one that a lot of people didn't like, but I enjoyed it. Cranking to focus was fun. [6]

34. Pick Pack Pup - Playdate
Actually decent match-'em up with themes reminiscent of Day Repeat Day, which I thought was strong. [7]

35. Crankin's Time Travel Adventure - Playdate
Funny, charming, tricky as heck. [6]

36. Direct Drive - Playdate
Absolutely bloody brilliant and I think it's worth trying to get your hands on a Playdate just to try this - it's one of those games that just marries hardware and software perfectly. [9]

37. Legend of Etad - Playdate
Another Playdate stunner. This is, yet again, a grid-based first-person dungeon crawler and I have no idea how they got something so fully-featured onto the Playdate. But they did, and i adore it. [9]

38. Reel Steal - Playdate
It's fishing, but art theft. Cute. [6]

39. Recommendation Dog - Playdate
It's Guess Who? but with a rolodex. Also cute. [7]

Next: 
Final Fantasy XVI
Growing my Grandpa
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty 
He fucked the girl out of me 
The Forest Quartet 
Spare Parts: Episode 1 & 2 
El Paso, Elsewhere
Unpacking
BABBDI
Dotage
Dungeons and Puzzles
The Bookwalker
Chambers of Devious Design

I’m a Casual Birder hater! Fun fact: the guy that made it did the graphics for the Ballbuster arcade machine in The Bear.

I bought Legend of Etad in early access and I’ve never gone back and done the completed game. Need to do that, loved the first section.

Will have to check out Direct Drive.

Have you got up to Demon Quest in the Playdate season yet? I loved that one even though it doesn't use the crank

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Have you got up to Demon Quest in the Playdate season yet? I loved that one even though it doesn't use the crank

Not yet. Probably the next Play date game I’ll dive into.

hylian_elf wrote:

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Roadwarden! I bought that with some gifted Steam creds a while ago. Need to play it, definitely looks ace!

One of the ones I’ve thought of playing in the last. Sounds good.

Yeah, properly recommend it. That said, it’s only worth playing when you’re properly in the mood for it - there’s a LOT of reading, and it’s miles from a casual, brain off game.

JonB wrote:

Yeah, I just can't do games with a lot of reading, no matter how good they are. Still haven't gone back to Disco Elysium even. Bit strange that I'm trying to make a game that involves a fair bit of reading, then.

Yeah, I get that. Roadwarden's text isn't as heavy or dense as, say, Disco Elysium. In fact, much of it is written in the style of a D&D DM setting the scene, or a CYOA book. So, it's not so much that the text is heavy, it's more that the text is nearly your entire interaction with that world - it's a purely text-based game, and gameplay consists of Text and Menus, whereas with DE there's also the real-time gameplay side, moving around, looking at things etc. 

I found Roadwarden a far easier time to focus on than DE, though I enjoyed both. For me, Roadwarden is the game I enjoyed more (iirc, DE was a [7] for me, which feels slightly mean in retrospect) and I didn't really struggle that much with it despite often, like you, not getting on with games that are super text heavy. 

That's not to say you would get on with it...you might not. But DE-style thick verbose reams of politically and philosophically-charged text this is not.