Currently playing...

[WiteWulf]

Just grabbed Planet of Lana on the Steam Deck

It's been described as "Studio Ghibli does Inside", and I can't argue with that, except possibly to add in a dash of Another World to the mix

[MattyP]

Looks great I've been keeping an eye on that. Love games like this. Currently spending (far to much time!) on Zelda and will pick this up when I get some time. It would be great to get some more impressions of it when you've had some time with it!

For anyone with GamePass I noted it was also on there too.

[venusian]

I bounced hard off Zelda so I've been playing Humanity, the Lemmings-esque puzzle game that had a demo a few months back

It plays just like you'd expect, given the demo. I've been working through the levels steadily and this far the only ones I've found insoluble have been the optional bonus levels, so comfortable progress without undue difficulty spikes. There's been a good flow of new mechanics introduced along the way too.

It doesn't play much like Lemmings most of the time, and it actually has a bit of a story going on.

[MattyP]

Just grabbed Planet of Lana on the Steam Deck

It's been described as "Studio Ghibli does Inside", and I can't argue with that, except possibly to add in a dash of Another World to the mix

Just picked this up for playing between Zelda sessions.. lovely game very relaxing and love the visual style and music. Makes Zelda seem extremely complicated (with all the buttons and systems - think every button on the Switch Pro pad is mapped to something!)

[VNVObit]

Finished the story missions in Lego Star Wars the Skywalker Saga really enjoyed it
have lots of collectibles left but going to leave it for a while as Diablo 4 is out (on early access) so that's my gaming for the next month or so sorted

[rowan]

Been playing Dave the Diver this weekend.

It's a pixelartish casual game with each round consisting of 2 scuba dives followed by arcadey restaurant management.
Enjoying the characters & stories, I'm about 8hrs in & so far it's great fun and needed escapism. It's getting a bit grindy but for now that's OK.

[venusian]

I've been losing time to Murder By Numbers, a picross and graphic novel mash-up, current free on the Epic store. Unexpectedly compelling.

[grue]

I'm back in Diablo II: Ressurected since I have no money to spend on the 4th one right now.

I also finally connected my Amiga again so I have quite a backlog to play there too.

[Rhythm]

I've been losing time to Murder By Numbers, a picross and graphic novel mash-up, current free on the Epic store. Unexpectedly compelling.

It's really good, innit? Kind of Picross mixed with Ace Attorney.

My fave Picross is still Konami Pixel Puzzle Challenge (free phone-based Picross that uses retro Konami sprites for its images - it's fantastic) but I'm enjoying Murder by Numbers an awful lot.

Still playing Marvel Snap on the phone. Still loving it, it's such a great card battler.

And the other "main" I'm doing - I picked up Halo Master Chief Collection from the Steam sale. Starting from the narrative beginning (Reach) and I've been thoroughly enjoying it! Halo was only ever a middling FPS for me but this time round something's clicked and I'm having a ton of fun. It also runs extremely well. I have a lowly 2060 but I'm playing it with everything turned all the way up and still getting 100+fps at 3440x1440 ultrawide (with HDR)

[MattyP]

I've been playing Arise : A simple story on the Switch. Arty sort of game with lovely visuals and sound. Uses a time manipulation mechanic to allow progress and solving of puzzles. Not particularly challenging but very relaxing with an emotional storyline. I picked up the definitive version which has the amazing soundtrack and a digital art book. Best fiver I've spent on a game! Absolute bargain.



Now on with a mix of Pikmin 4 and Super Mario Odyssey.

Loving the Switch.... Think I need to be putting an order in for Super Mario Wonder..looks insane and fun!

Still working my way through Zelda too but having a rest from it at the moment!

[Rhythm]

Finished Reach and so onto Halo 1. A game I didn't really enjoy on Xbox but that works really well at modern res/framerate. Playing them chronologically is a little weird because the game mechanics change so much between Reach and 1, but still having fun.

Otherwise spent a lot of time laid up so I've been playing stuff that's generally a little more chill. Arcade Paradise is a flipping brilliant little thing - the pace of store management/upgrades is clearly set to "fun", which works great. And the arcade games available in there are fun as hell.

Also started Disco Elysium. I'd tried this before and bounced of it a little but I'm giving it more focus this time round. My only real complaint about it is that the writing feels a bit "wordy for the sake of it" in places but it's incredibly intriguing stuff.

And hopefully tomorrow I'll be grabbing a copy of Baldur's Gate 3. Just waiting for work to send me some Steam vouchers :-)

[Rhythm]

Baldur's Gate 3. Holy cow it's awesome. Only about ten hours in with a Ranger character so far but experiences have included:

- Revisiting a scene 4 times, approaching differently every time (different dialogue/outcomes every single time).
- Learned to speak to animals, helping console a dog whose master had been killed, grabbing some food for a very gruff-but-chill bear and almost had a fight with an incredibly aggro red squirrel
- Got myself a little cryptkeeper guy to look after my camp and teach me shit

Map design and general look of the game is phenomenal. It's beautiful and gives a true sense of exploration.

It's also incredibly approachable for something so effing complex and intricate. Story and dialogue are great, extremely well voiced. There's none of that faux time-pressure stuff that Bethesda love putting in their games either

Hats off to Larian for putting this out at a fairer-than-normal price.

[Rhythm]

Baldur's Gate 3. Holy cow it's awesome.

Last night I was exploring a village, wandered into a barn and found an ogre on all fours being fucked by a bugbear. They were not impressed at my orgasm-ruining shenanigans and reacted accordingly.

[VNVObit]

Baldur's Gate 3. Holy cow it's awesome.

Last night I was exploring a village, wandered into a barn and found an ogre on all fours being fucked by a bugbear. They were not impressed at my orgasm-ruining shenanigans and reacted accordingly.

I wasn’t expecting that either . enjoying the game (a bit more than their non D&D ones). Worth every penny of the full price (IMHO). Do like seeing the saving/test rolls. Have +9 on traps thanks to about 4 different bonuses. Never played 5E pen and paper game (it was AD&D and then mainly dragon lance campaign which is many many moons ago) so not familiar with to some of the bonus mechanics

[MattyP]

Playing some more Spirit Of The North on the Switch.. not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing but its a really chilled out place to be! Like jumping around in the snow and making the fox bark... Sure it will unravel as I progress

I'll be playing some Cruis'n Blast' later when I pick it up.. apparently its a "code in a box" Thought it was a cart but hey ho still not a bad price at £12.99 and it looks like a nice game to play between sessions on longer games (Zelda et al).