Just completed - The Bear and Badger

Moot_Geeza

Big nods from me.

regmcfly

Seems to be the consensus - play Cocoon instead

hylian_elf

Finally finished off FFXVI with a bit of a session yesterday. Mopping up a couple of things then calling it quits.

b0r1s

You bothering with the final side quests? I had quite a few left at the end game and couldn't be bothered tbh.

hylian_elf

Nah, just the hunts of which I have a few left and will try the chronoliths. I have tonned of side quests (green exclamation marks) left but can't be arsed.

b0r1s

Control still don’t know why this didn’t click for me cos I ended up loving it. It is a game where the setting clearly elevates it beyond it being a fairly normal third person shooter. And towards the end it does some nice messing with you though there was a bug that I initially thought was part of a puzzle. And it didn’t outstay its welcome. It’s a solid [9]

Syph79

I’ve got big hopes for Alan Wake 2. I genuinely feel that Remedy are a studio, perhaps like Housemarque, that learn from each title and try to build on what came before to make something better. I don’t think all studios do that consistently enough, often focusing on more - rather than deeper, weirder or more connected.

Totally get why you can bounce off Control initially, because you’re dropped into the world with little explanation, but sticking with it reveals a game where Remedy have matched their world building with gameplay in a more balanced way than they had before IMHO.

Hearing that AW2 is more a survival horror has me super excited.

b0r1s

I’ve got Alan Wake on PC might give it another go.

regmcfly

Controls are a bit shonky now, but the atmosphere is still there.

b0r1s

Yeah that was what put me off. Only played about 15 mins.

Syph79

b0r1s wrote:

I’ve got Alan Wake on PC might give it another go.

If you are considering AW2, then going through AW would be a good idea. Gameplay wise, it had a decent loop over a decade ago, but it hasn't aged that well. It quickly reaches a point in terms of the minute to minute action, but doesn't go past that point, making the combat a little one note by today's standards - albeit it is a decent enough note. The story is good though and it's not the longest game.

Do you have the remaster?

Time_on_my_hands

b0r1s wrote:

Control still don’t know why this didn’t click for me cos I ended up loving it. It is a game where the setting clearly elevates it beyond it being a fairly normal third person shooter. And towards the end it does some nice messing with you though there was a bug that I initially thought was part of a puzzle. And it didn’t outstay its welcome. It’s a solid [9]

I completed the main story during lockdown and loved it. I went back to it last week with a mind to platinum the game. I'd lost all my local save data last year due to a HDD crash on my PS4, but it looks like no data was auto-uploaded to cloud storage! So pissed off - PSN auto upload just seems random at best as I lost a couple of other saves too

I'll probably start it again but on the PS5.

Time_on_my_hands

Hades
(Well, the main story at least)

In the end I cheesed it because I wanted to conclude the story after playing it on and off for so long. Found a very overpowered build that basically guaranteed a successful escape - Posiedon's sword (special attack dislodges casts from the target) +2, Artemis' exit wounds (damages target when casts are dislodged) and sure shot boons and upgrades to cast and special. Didn't use attack at all

So satisfying to wipe out that smug git Theseus in under 15 seconds.

Paul the sparky

That's just the start. Incredible narrative wrapped around an excellent rogue like

b0r1s

Time_on_my_hands wrote:

b0r1s wrote:

Control still don’t know why this didn’t click for me cos I ended up loving it. It is a game where the setting clearly elevates it beyond it being a fairly normal third person shooter. And towards the end it does some nice messing with you though there was a bug that I initially thought was part of a puzzle. And it didn’t outstay its welcome. It’s a solid [9]

I completed the main story during lockdown and loved it. I went back to it last week with a mind to platinum the game. I'd lost all my local save data last year due to a HDD crash on my PS4, but it looks like no data was auto-uploaded to cloud storage! So pissed off - PSN auto upload just seems random at best as I lost a couple of other saves too

I'll probably start it again but on the PS5.

That’s a bit shit.

I played on Epic so no gamer points or trophies to worry about. Might consider the DLC at some point.

Time_on_my_hands

Paul the sparky wrote:

That's just the start. Incredible narrative wrapped around an excellent rogue like

Absolutely. Wanted to at least wrap up the story before the sequel launches.
Next is doing runs with the heat turned up.

Blue Swirl

Detective Pikachu Returns (Switch)

I liked it.

[8]

regmcfly

Damn. Someone played it.

Important question and I just want the answer spoiled for me.

Spoiler:

Blue Swirl

If you played the first/watched the movie, it's pretty much what you figured out within two minutes. But to confirm:

Spoiler:

Blue Swirl

There's other spoilers in there; skip to the end for the cliff notes.

Cos

Venba
This is obviously designed more to tell a story than to be a game but I felt like it didn't really do either very well as a consequence. It's very slight in terms of actual gameplay, felt like there was some promise there with the structure of cooking a meal as a puzzle - the half written recipes, memory flashbacks of the meal being cooked by a parent, etc - but didn't capitalise. And in fact towards the end it made you even more of a passenger rather than building up skills.

There's certainly an interesting story about the experience of immigrants and the impact on the first generation natively born in the new country. Again, it felt a bit thin and my overriding opinion was the kid was a bit of a prick. I'm sure that's desired to some extent as you're mostly experiencing from the mother's view but the 'redemptive' element (maybe overstating a bit) just fell flat for me. It's about 90 minutes max, bit of a curio maybe but ultimately disappointing. [5]

Bollockoff

MUNDAUN

Perfecto horror. More thoughtful ending(s) than most to boot. I am left with a feeling of joy whenever I hear the clanging of swiss cattle bells and uneasiness seeing piles of hay.

From the opening credits it seems like the game got funding from Swiss heritage foundations and the Swiss-ness of the game rolls out of it like a slow avalanche you can dip your fingers in to swill around your vibebuds and feel like visiting the alps sometime to sit back in a field of grass as cool alpine winds blow past while you think about the devil.

[9]

Facewon

Fights in Tight Spaces DLC.

Beat main game in new final boss with dlc deck.

Still an awesome deck builder. 300+ hrs. Love it.

Slay the Spire Downfall mod ac20 with Slime boss. Second best deck builder behind Slay The Spire? Probably.

As mentioned elsewhere, Signalis. great.

b0r1s

That’s Jusant done. It was… ok. The climbing mechanic was obviously good though reminded me more of Astro rather than Uncharted. Took a bit longer than 4 hours mainly because I stopped to read everything. It was the typical melancholic story you find in these types of indie games. Overall not bad but not as special as I’d hoped [7]

yourfavouriteuncle

Bollockoff wrote:

MUNDAUN Perfecto horror. More thoughtful ending(s) than most to boot. I am left with a feeling of joy whenever I hear the clanging of swiss cattle bells and uneasiness seeing piles of hay. From the opening credits it seems like the game got funding from Swiss heritage foundations and the Swiss-ness of the game rolls out of it like a slow avalanche you can dip your fingers in to swill around your vibebuds and feel like visiting the alps sometime to sit back in a field of grass as cool alpine winds blow past while you think about the devil. [9]

Missed this. It’s a banger alright. I loved it.

EvilRedEye

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo Switch) - A major return to form for Mario in perhaps the best 2D Mario game yet. I actually quite liked the home console versions of New Super Mario Bros. but the whole sub-series was uber-conservative to the detriment of the fun. With this game the Super Mario team finally let their hair down a bit. I don’t want to spoil the individual levels but the whole game is creative, engaging and just plain fun to play throughout.

At the start of my playthrough I wondered whether I might even end up giving it a [10] but there are a few things that made me decide to step back from that. The main one is that the difficulty curve is a bit flat - the only level that will particularly stretch players is the very last one for 100% completion and that mainly because of a completely dickheaded section at the end. While the individual levels have been shaken up, the meta-game/world map is still very similar to previous games and I didn’t think there was anything that special in terms of world map secrets. I also thought there something strangely half-hearted about World 5, although maybe that’s just me.

Overall, a fantastic game that anyone with an interest in 2D platforming should play. While I wouldn’t want to see this formula run into the ground, I hope we see a sequel or expansion with a bit more bite now that players joining 2D Mario with this game have some experience under their belt. [9]

AndCallMeCharlie

Good write up although I would argue there’s a few more difficulty spikes namely the

Spoiler:

Cos

Gris
I’m sure I’ve had this on switch for ages and never got round to it which turned out well since it popped up on gamepass and looks absolutely stunning on the big screen. It genuinely might be one of the best looking games I’ve played. Thankfully there’s some substance to the game as well - a gently paced puzzle platformer (pretty light on the puzzle element) that’s slow to start but builds into something thoroughly enjoyable.

It was almost a bit too pedestrian at the start and there were few moments of real urgency throughout but as new abilities are unlocked and the world blooms, being able to just take it in is quite welcome. The music and sound design are also on point, beautifully scored and the way sound is affected by being under water is perfect.

It might not satisfy those looking for more of a challenge as I found there were only a couple of points that took me a while to figure the solution but the traversal is very satisfying. There are wonderful touches dotted around - the square rock guy eating the square apples, underwater sequences and the ability to instil the desire of the character with no dialogue or text is impressive. Maybe this just struck a chord with me but it turned into one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve had in a while. [9]

Moot_Geeza

Enjoyed that one. Agree that it's one of the best looking games out there.

Dark Soldier

Gris is one of a select 10/10s for me. Just a perfect experience.

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