Everything to do with our favourite pastime! Reviews, recommendations, sells/swaps, problems etc. Whether they are on the latest consoles, arcade or retro classics. It's not the winning or losing, we came to play!
I've recently played though WheelWorld which was a delightfully chill experience. Lovely aesthetic, racing that actually feels a bit like cycling, and just enough story to motivate progression. The collision physics are a bit nutty, but as one is riding a sentient bicycle which communes with ghosts through the sewer, a little suspension of disbelief isn't hard to find.
Currently, I'm a few hours into Dungeons Of Hinterburg. It was described as the Zelda game that PC is missing which put me off for ages as I've bounced off the last couple of Zelda games quite hard (so dull, so serious, so Edge). It turns out to be really good though, there's very little of the pointless wandering around looking for something to do and wondering if you've dropped off the Happy Path. Instead it's linear and directed, but still with choice about what to do, which is exactly what a single player game should be. Sandboxes are for kids
In other news, I played Tetris Effect Connected back when it was released but had to uninstall because it was regularly keeping me up until 4 in the morning despite my best efforts to stop and actually get some sleep. I rebought it on Switch a couple of weeks back thinking I might be a Better Person now. Nope. Up until 4 again, so I've uninstalled it again. I'm weak.
Replaying Dk Bananza - missed so much on my first play thorough and this time I am exploring more - an absolute gem of a game and such a love letter to DK and Banjo its untrue. Music is as good as N gets too and def in my top 3 platformers.
Must play both Galaxys too on the switch as I remember 1 with such such fond memories.
venusian wrote:I've recently played though WheelWorld which was a delightfully chill experience. Lovely aesthetic, racing that actually feels a bit like cycling, and just enough story to motivate progression. The collision physics are a bit nutty, but as one is riding a sentient bicycle which communes with ghosts through the sewer, a little suspension of disbelief isn't hard to find.
Currently, I'm a few hours into Dungeons Of Hinterburg. It was described as the Zelda game that PC is missing which put me off for ages as I've bounced off the last couple of Zelda games quite hard (so dull, so serious, so Edge). It turns out to be really good though, there's very little of the pointless wandering around looking for something to do and wondering if you've dropped off the Happy Path. Instead it's linear and directed, but still with choice about what to do, which is exactly what a single player game should be. Sandboxes are for kids
WheelWorld looks interesting. I hadn't seen that. Non-sim racing games seem to be my main thing these days, so I think I'll give this a go.
Couldn't agree more on linear. I don't have the time or energy to be wandering around aimlessly, worrying I might have missed something.
Deckard wrote:Replaying Dk Bananza - missed so much on my first play thorough and this time I am exploring more - an absolute gem of a game and such a love letter to DK and Banjo its untrue. Music is as good as N gets too and def in my top 3 platformers.
Ah, one of the few games in the world that I want to play but can't.
But gone are the days of buying a console for a single game, well, gone are the days of buying a console for a single game when I know the hardware will annoy me! I play handheld and with a Switch OLED and a Steam Deck OLED I just can't face the S2 screen with all the comments on it.
venusian wrote:
In other news, I played Tetris Effect Connected back when it was released but had to uninstall because it was regularly keeping me up until 4 in the morning despite my best efforts to stop and actually get some sleep. I rebought it on Switch a couple of weeks back thinking I might be a Better Person now. Nope. Up until 4 again, so I've uninstalled it again. I'm weak.
Get that! Really addictive game... remember playing this on the PSVR2 and falling asleep with it on after a couple of hours! I was really confused when I woke up!
A light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
Steam/Xbox/PSN User Name: CypherQ Switch - 8177-9514-5116
Deckard wrote:Replaying Dk Bananza - missed so much on my first play thorough and this time I am exploring more - an absolute gem of a game and such a love letter to DK and Banjo its untrue. Music is as good as N gets too and def in my top 3 platformers.
Must play both Galaxys too on the switch as I remember 1 with such such fond memories.
Great game! Leaving it a bit then playing through again at some point. One of my GOTY for sure!
Just debating whether to pick up the Galaxies on the Switch or not... have both of them already on the Wii but it'd be nice to play them at 4K and in a more accessible way over the Wii. And there is little else 3D Mario related on the Switch 2 at the moment.
Misfit wrote:
But gone are the days of buying a console for a single game, well, gone are the days of buying a console for a single game when I know the hardware will annoy me! I play handheld and with a Switch OLED and a Steam Deck OLED I just can't face the S2 screen with all the comments on it.
Yes get that... Although not finding the screen too bad on the S2 - in fact the S2 is an improvement in pretty much every way over my aging OG-Switch so kind of a step up for me. And I needed an upgrade as my Switch was getting on. Think its actually better value for me than a mobile phone upgrade! Mostly play Switch games on it and its mostly used docked.
However if you have existing OLED devices I guess the difference will be more noticable.
A light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
Steam/Xbox/PSN User Name: CypherQ Switch - 8177-9514-5116
Not an issue for me as play literally 99% switch in front of my 32 inch 4k mac monitor - I have galaxies already and just waiting to totally finish DK before I start it properly -
who can forget -
and then maybe Yooka-Replaylee when / if becomes 60fps
Currently playing Tower of Babel Survivors of Chaos
really nice little rogue like hack and slash game with plenty of challenge for the money (provided you enjoy rogue like games)
Still in early access and at least one more character class to be unveiled but really enjoying it for it's mindless diversion.
Each floor gets progressively difficult and the weapons are all upgradable with ability to buy better chance for multiple level upgrades. longest floor I've been on is only 25 minutes which felt really long and a tad punishing as area based weapons don't really do much in the way of thinning our the herd
currently on sale and plays nicely on a steam deck
"England is funny, but sometimes she scares me"
Tony Wakeford
Way too late to the party, I'm slowly but steadily progressing in Dark Souls Remastered.
I've tried it twice in the past but bounced off it. Now, it has just clicked and it gives me such great gaming moments (in between the frustration ones) that I will surely try the sequels too.
Just finished playing the Keeper on the Xbox. What a lovely weird game. Light puzzle walking simulator is what I'd describe it as. Around six hours of pure escapism. I mean you control a lighthouse with a bird perched on top! From Double Fine.
A light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
Steam/Xbox/PSN User Name: CypherQ Switch - 8177-9514-5116
Coincidently I also just played through Keeper. Maybe it was on special offer. I wasn't so positive. I left a thumbs-down on Steam.
The graphics are quite pretty but the game is more of a walking simulator with occasional simple actions required and even more occasional platforming. Most of the charm comes from the accompanying characters but they add very little to the gameplay. The narrative is very simple: keeping walking around everything will resolve itself without peril.
I'm a sometime fan of walking simulator games but this one felt like it was just wasting my time by stretching such a thin story, light characterisation and basic mechanics over six hours. Dis-recommending for this reason not because it was too short, or too expensive or bugged.
Note that I played a few stages on an RTX4080 desktop to see the graphics as intended but played the majority of the game on an integrated AMD 680M (i.e. waaay below minimum spec) with the resolution and detail cranked right down. It was visually find to play, if a little blurred.
venusian wrote:Coincidently I also just played through Keeper. Maybe it was on special offer. I wasn't so positive. I left a thumbs-down on Steam.
The graphics are quite pretty but the game is more of a walking simulator with occasional simple actions required and even more occasional platforming. Most of the charm comes from the accompanying characters but they add very little to the gameplay. The narrative is very simple: keeping walking around everything will resolve itself without peril.
I'm a sometime fan of walking simulator games but this one felt like it was just wasting my time by stretching such a thin story, light characterisation and basic mechanics over six hours. Dis-recommending for this reason not because it was too short, or too expensive or bugged.
Note that I played a few stages on an RTX4080 desktop to see the graphics as intended but played the majority of the game on an integrated AMD 680M (i.e. waaay below minimum spec) with the resolution and detail cranked right down. It was visually find to play, if a little blurred.
Well it was on GamePass. But get where you're coming from very marmite game!
Just finished up on South Of Midnight which is another GamePass game. Loved the vibe of the game music was great. Gameplay loop fairly simple with no complex controls. Combat a bit tedious but this can be switched down to story mode and you can skip encounters if you want to. The boss battles you can't though. Enjoyed my run through nice game to chill too. Just over 10 or so hours so fairly short too.
Now onto Europa on the Switch which reminds me a bit of a Journey type game with some light puzzles. Lovely music and visuals. Super chill game to play.
A light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.
Steam/Xbox/PSN User Name: CypherQ Switch - 8177-9514-5116
I played through South Of Midnight just after it came out and thought it was great. The combat could have done with more variety (and yes, I ended up cranking it down to 'easy' for the last level as I didn't want to spend the time gettin' gud), but the graphics, design, setting, story, voice acting, music, and traversal were all excellent. I really enjoyed it. And the little details in the underground sections were an absolute joy - keep an eye out when you get to them. I've very much enjoys the developer's previous games too. Contrast was lovely.
I also played through Europa on PC. The story is just enough to support the gameplay, which is just varied enough to maintain engagement in the story; the perfect balance. It lasts just long enough to exercise all it's mechanics without getting tiresome and it's very sweet. Again, I really enjoyed it.
They both get the balance of story, gameplay and feel almost exactly right in a way that Keeper doesn't.
In a similar vein, Caravan Sand Witch was something I also very much enjoyed. Short and delightful. Oh, and Dungeons of Hinternberg. It been a bumper year.
Really addictive game... remember playing this on the PSVR2 and falling asleep with it on after a couple of hours! I was really confused when I woke up! 
