Tried OnRush a few weeks ago but didn’t really get on with it. The core racing is actually pretty fun. Due to the focus on teamwork and non-finish line objectives you’ll want to survive while playing well, as being one team member down can have a detrimental effect on your ranking against the other team (think Splatoon and ink coverage with less team members).
But everything around it made the game feel like a slog. Menus constantly nudging you towards trying out daily challenges or opening your crates. Really derivative emotes. I had a look through the credits and it’s no surprise to find that Codemasters enlisted the help of two data analytics companies to look at player data and find ways to make the game more engaging - not necessarily a bad thing but I feel like the results of this lend the game a rather derivative flavour.
Otherwise I’ve been enjoying Mario Tennis Aces a lot. I’m so glad Nintendo didn’t do what Sony did with Everybody’s Golf and turn it into a social game. This is very much a straightforward player-vs-player affair where you take the skills you’ve honed in single and local multiplayer online, and face off opponents for the sheer fun of playing, or winning. There isn’t much else to get in your way of just competing with other players, and I appreciate that.
Gravity Rush (PS4) - Combat feels like a chore more often than not. Traversal feels good until you need to master it for challenges, then it becomes unfun. Not sure I’d stick this through.
God of War III (PS4) - PS+ freebie. Guess I’ll button-mash thru another GoW.
A game hasn’t clicked this well with me in ages. Absolutely love it! May have to double-dip and grab it on Switch as well.
Nier: Automata (PS4)
The worst part of Nier is playing the game itself. It’s a slog, but the music and story are so good. I just put it on the easier difficulty at this point and it sort of just plays itself. It’s essentially the next closest thing to watching a YouTube play through. I have to see it through, though.
Hollow Knight (Switch)
Only about an hour in, and not loving it, to be honest. I hear it opens up after a few hours, but I’m afraid that I won’t appreciate it after starting it post-Dead Cells…
Battlefield V demo is superb IMO. I love it. The “you are there” sensation is really hard to top by anything else in that World War II setting. There’s constant action, and yet I know I’m changing the course of the battle based on how I play and how I help those around me. I know there’s a lot of online moaning about it, but I think that’s bunk.
Finished Guacamelee 2. Very much enjoyed just about everything in this game.
I would say it’s probably too easy, but I haven’t done the few optional end game challenges they set up. I know people complained about the combat being too difficult in the first, which I absolutely did not agree with, so they toned down that aspect, to its detriment.
I was able to obtain enough gold to gain every single skill before even entering the final area, and I finished with a huge surplus.
I think I read about backtracking complaints, but from what I noticed, there was always something new on the route back, which is a hallmark of a Metroidvania game. There are also instances where you’re rewarded for veering off the set path.
The humor is there, I enjoyed that immensely. If you need to play a serious game, go play hollow knight then come play this.
There’s also a nice little jab at internet commentary, which was fun and really adds to the sense that there was a lot of thought and care put into the game.
Platforming puzzles were 99% fair and they often gave me that sense of accomplishment for figuring them out as a lot were pretty creative and very tightly designed.
I didn’t get to multiplayer.
There’s always room for a game like this in my library and I’ll probably snap up whatever is next from the developers.
Playing two modern games at the moment (Not counting Zelda BoTW, which I’m ALMOST done)…
Prey (Xbox One X) - It was described to me as “Bioshock in Space”, and that’s exactly what it is. It feels very very similar to the original Bioshock (less so 2 and Infinite), and is very fun unlocking new areas, exploring, upgrading abilities, finding voicemails and emails to comb over, and piecing the story together. I think I’ve figured out a potential story twist coming near the end, but it’s been a great ride so far. On the Xbox One X, it plays locked at 30fps at a much higher resoltuion (Doesn’t look full native 4k, I would guess around 1800p).
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One X) - This one has absolutely hooked its claws into me. I bought myself and my two buddies copies for Christmas last year, and it quickly became our weekly game night favourite. Performance is pretty terrible on the Xbox, and though bugs and glitches have gotten better over the past year, we still repeat the mantra “Pubg gonna Pubg” over and over. That being said, something about the gameplay just clicks with me, and I always want “just one more match”.
I’ve played a few rounds with @Socksfelloff as well, and it’s a great game to play in a group as you have to be really tactical to survive.
Tried the Forza Horizon 4 demo last night. The series does feel like it’s losing its wow factor somewhat. The initial race to the festival might as well have been Forza Horizon 3’s but with a different backdrop. Had I not played the excellent Snow Mountain expansion from FH3 I’d probably have been impressed by the winter season racing.
The battle system and boss fight designs really are the star of Octopath Traveler. I’m still disappointed by how little variety there is in the game’s structure and dungeon/level designs, though. It does feel like the developers made a load of similar-designed content separately and then struggled to fit it together naturally.
I get the feeling at some point it might have been 8 different campaigns. And then someone said let’s just make all the other characters party members.
Started the demo for Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk, Nippon Ichi Software’s take on the dungeon RPG, from the Disgaea team.
Really enjoying it so far. The general setup is pretty intriguing, and the level design is surprisingly strong right off the bat. As a big fan of Etrian Odyssey I’m looking forward to the full game next week.
Wait, there is a classic camera mode? Does it go back to “First Person”?
Do the animations of the monsters still work? I am really enjoying some of these names and moves the mobs have.
Having finished Breath of the Wild, I picked up Hollow Knight based on the super strong recommendations from @Conezays and @Socksfelloff .
Aaaaaaaand I’m hooked. Starting playing it in bed, which is dangerous because it’s very easy to mean to play 30 minutes and end up playing 90. It really takes a large number of cues from Super Metroid, but the combat feels a bit more unique, it’s weightier and more satisfying to the point where I end up fighting a lot of them while backtracking instead of just avoiding them.
Graphics look gorgeous, the music’s good, I’m actually pretty surprised that it’s lived up to the insane hype it was getting around launch: I tend to avoid any games that get labeled as “souls-like”, not because I have any active hate for that franchise, but just get triggered by fanboys of those games
Glad you’re enjoying it. On paper, a really long 2D Metroidvania is not enticing to me at all, but the game certainly surpassed my expectations. Fantastic world design, combat, soundtrack, and art. I have a couple of minor complaints, but nothing substantial. The fact it’s made by such a small team is incredibly impressive.
Completely hooked on Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk. It’s annoyingly moreish, even for a dungeon RPG with plenty of levelling hooks and good level design.
If the idea of the Disgaea team doing a dungeon crawler sounds appealing to you, give the demo a go.
