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Rolling around at the speed of sound, got places to go got to follow that rainbow! 🌈

A few bits and pieces i picked up recently, the Ys pillow started out as a 6XL T-shirt i bought from alliexpress, when i ordered it the missus says that the chinese sizes are always small so you need to go bigger, when it came it was a real 6XL, so i asked the mother in law if she could do anything with it, thinking she would trim it in a bit for me, this is what i got back.

Which to try first? 🤔

A little late but I'm looking forward to getting on it.

Let’s fucking go!

Before the deluge of God of War pictures (or Sonic), I got a big box thing for a decent price The Cruel King and the Great Hero, which I don't know much about but I think it didn't review well. Either way it's a nice package, the leather bound art book is nice, good quality, and the cape on the hero feels amazing, I'd like socks made out of it

I'm balls deep in Persona 5 Royal on Xbox via Game Pass and wanted to own a physical copy, as it could well end up being one of my favourite games of all time. Steelbook launch edition from Game on offer for £32.99, annoyingly had to pay a fiver on top for delivery (wtf).

BOY!

Got a couple of Switch games recently. Bayonetta 3 is Bayonetta 3, not the fancy edition or anything. I do have the fancy Switch double pack they did of the first 2 games, I should have put that in there for style. Demon Throttle is possibly more interesting. It's a retro style run and gun, a bit like Ikari Warriors or Mercs, it's really fucking hard too, took me a few attempts to get off the first stage, I'm not sure what it does with progress and all that, but there's no continues. Anyway, the reason I bought it and what probably makes it interesting for here is that it's physical only, no digital release ever.

I'm late posting this, but I bought God of War the other week I also got Yakuza 2 Kiwami. I got it digitally at launch, and I've got the original PS2 game, but in terms of having the modern releases physically it's the only one I was missing

Arriving early, PokéManz! The pair came in an insanely oversized box ala ShopTo. One is for a Christmas present, one might not be. Considering how many PokéMon Scarlet videos are popping up on YouTube. As the OH didn't have a preference. I might go for Violet.🤔

Pew pew 🧛‍♂️

From the triple A quality of GOW Ragnarok, to a total piss about game. Weheyyyy😄

Argos has these at £39.99 at the minute... figured I'd better jump on that.

I don't have much to say about the game itself yet. I've only played 20 minutes or so, but seeing as I'm sharing this everywhere, I'm just gonna throw this screenshot from the credits out there... That, right there, is my other half's name. And I'm so god damn proud of her. This is the first release she's been involved in.

And if only I had some LR44 batteries lying around...... (I've had this original, from new, c1980something).

I started this (Royal) sometime last week, think I'm around 20 hours in now... finished the first Palace and just up to the first exam week... it's a lot to take in isn't it! I played Persona 4 Golden on Vita and I know this is similar but I still consider myself kind've a Persona virgin, I didn't even see the good ending in that game, I think it's the time management that's fucking with my head the most. Wasn't sure I'd be able to get in to this playing on a huge display in the living room, it's the first JRPG I've played like that for a very long time but I've been sucked down the rabbit hole with this thing... so far the combat seems manageable (playing normal) I can see things changing there pretty rapidly though... looking forward to putting in many more hours.

God Hand. Look, the tone was dodgy even at the time (spanking people as part of a combo, anyone?) But if Lollipop Chainsaw can get a remaster, I think God Hand should get a look in at least. Past - Silent Hill 2 Present - Alien Isolation, maybe Evil Within, but that turned into a damp squib by the end. Future - Silent Hill 2. But there's also one I LOVE the look of that I can't remember the name of right now... I got a GBA SP recently and that works. DS, 3DS, PSP all still work, and work well. PS Vita still works, but I've lost the charger. I reckon if I had the right aerial cables, everything all the way back to my old, yellow SNES would work. The only console I'd be concerned about would be my PS2s. I don't have boxes for stuff, but I've looked after it all, luckily. I don't think the main character makes a difference unless they're offensively bad... Gex could have been any character and the game would have still been exceedingly average. While Mario is an iconic character, I don't think the gameplay would have been worse if he was, I dunno, an alien ninja from the nth dimension. Speaking of, Zool was fucking awesome at the time. A couple of favourites DKC Trilogy Conker's Bad Fur Day Gex 3D (this was god awful, but 14 year old me loved it) Mario Sunshine I think my patience for this kind of game has run out though, tbh. I adore the concept of the newest Yooka-Laylee game, and I've played a few levels, but I just can't be bothered. Same with DKC returns, and even Mario Maker/New Super Mario Bros. I used to love Rodland on Amiga. Hell, you could probably fill a list of obscure bangers with just Amiga stuff. The Last Ninja. Pretty sure there was an Elvira game. Some weird one where you played through different film sets. Fire and Ice. Rainbow Islands. Sorry for the bumper answer, haven't been involved on here properly for a while!

It still feels like early days but I'm enjoying this so far. I tried streaming some but my setup seemed to add a few issues to control and framerate, I did a lot better when I wasn't having to play through my capture screen. That said, it's still a Sonic game so I have been launched to my death rather than whatever the next part of the rollercoaster was supposed to be. For all the Breath of the Wild talk it actually reminds me of Mario Odyssey more than anything else. I've no idea if the area I'm in just expands or if eventually it moves you to a new world, but you're on a land mass that's gated, you're essentially playing until you unlock the next bit. There are traditional levels, they're really short, and they're accessed via totems in the main world. You need gears to open these, you get gears from defeating meaningful enemies, I feel like I've got quite a lot now so other than really early on when the game is teaching you, they aren't hard to find. Beating the levels gets you keys, keys unlock the chaos emeralds, doing that seems to progress the story and open more map. The reason it reminds me of Mario are all the little challenges in the game world. Work out the route to a floating platform, beat a horde of enemies, solve a minor puzzle, these all get you things, usually it's the items you need to level up attributes, sometimes it's experience to unlock more skills. There's probably a few too many currencies really, but it does mean that a trip across the map means a hundred diversions because it's very densely packed

I'm planning on getting Ragnarok before the year is out so I'm doing what I did with TLoU and going through the original in preparation. Man, this game is good. I'm doing the new game+ that was put in post release (I messed up at first by pulling from my most recent save an I must have started again at some point and it pulled from that save and I didn't understand why I was getting one hit killed by the first enemy 🙃) but it eventually clicked and I started again with my good equipment and now the early game is getting done with the armour set I got from grinding that late game foggy area. I'm still early and haven't changed my opinion on it, it's definitely a game of the generation by just being a great example of satisfying gameplay and well integrated linier storytelling. It just does what it does really well. Going back has made me really pumped for the sequel.

Just a quick one, as no one has yet as far as I'm aware. Make sure you don't post any spoilers, I can see this game going a few places, so just be wary. That includes if you're posting pictures elsewhere, like the screenshot thread or the completed games thread

Nice, I used to have mario bros G+W back when I was a kid. Unfortunately I dont own any of my og hardware pre ps4. That being said currently own Spectrum Zx+2 PlayStation 1 (2 of them) PlayStation 2 slim and fat Ps3 slim Switch Ps4 and 5 Evercade vs and handheld Raspberry pi 400 Pc Havent had time to play much on the speccy yet, whilst I have a fair few tapes I want to pick up an sd card solution. Most retro currently played on the evercade. And Pi 400. I would love more retro hardware, but realistically the game room is already fairly full as its not super big. Would love an old school win 95/98 pc back in the collection and an Amiga. But really not sure where I would hook those up.

Well in More affordable PC news I finally got an upgrade for the PC I built about 10 years ago! Taken out the old Radeon 7800 (yes they have nearaly done a full loop on the numbering convention by now.). and replaced it with a GTX970 - Total cost £0 (freind was upgrading) Totally transformed the PC, while its by no means a modern powerhouse, it can play most modern games on Mid to upper mid settings on a 1080P monitor. So more than happy with this. 🙂

It’s witchin’ hour

I’m blitzing through games now. Norco is a point and click adventure game set in New Orleans. The location alone gives it a very strong Gabriel Knight vibe. I say point and click adventure but Norco is closer to a conversation ‘em up. Most of the gameplay in the first hour plays out through conversations. Similar to games like Read Only Memories and Va-11 Hall A, and of course, Disco Elysium, without the rpg elements. The game also has a strong Kentucky Route Zero vibe. Let’s see if it lives up to the reviews.

I put an umlaut in the thread title 🪓 Quick thread post to say like some others I imagine I stayed up a bit last night to check out the intro to this. Very familiar, almost expansion like in how familiar it is. But as someone who's several GOTYs are FFXIV expansions I don't really consider that a huge negative, but it is noticeable coming into this from 2018. It's like changing a disc, if this was an older PSX rpg. It's neat tho, it has that IMAX level presentation to its cinematic fights. Dialogue between characters is maximalist in every degree. Every mythical character is super expressive and drawn like a caricature out of a HBO mob drama, or a scenery-chewing performance from a Tarantino film, which I'm way into. I like the contemporary treatment of it all. I mainly want to ask the question here tho to the 120hz VRR users, what settings are you rolling with? I messed around with quality performance last night and I feel the fps wasn't quite as smooth as I'd liked (I don't know if it is the 40fps or not) and the resolution was very soft looking to me. The visuals aren't quite where I'd expect them to be. If that is the case I might just stick with quality and 30fps. For a game that's as deliberate and slow in its movement as this I think I can get by with that, it worked fine in 2018. But slightly foggy and soft visuals would spoil a lot more of what's going on here, imo.

Final one down, took a bit. Not as smooth a clear as I'd liked as I keep pausing the game at certain parts to think, cause it's hard to recognise some of the abilities. Just tired from work 😴 Anyway that's it for Ragnarök for now, I think. There is another boss fight, but I feel pretty done now. I might try GMGOW one day if they add the NG+ 2018 has maybe. I think the postgame is better than the one in 2018. 2018 had lots of real filler shite with the Nifhelheim grinding, which is why I stopped playing that game. But I did all I wanted to with Ragnarok, and I think the optional content feels pretty consequential, tho too much of it is based around getting loot. But it's still reasonably good stuff, with some pretty great dialogue and I enjoyed all the character interactions. They did a good job with this part of the game, brother. That's my build. Good game when it comes together

https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/video-games-and-tablets/xbox-gaming/xbox-series-x-|-s/xbox-series-x-|-s-consoles/xbox-series-s-512gb-console/p/192247

as others have said, I think seeing the games being played helps more than reviews nowadays. There are times where a wealth of positive reviews can get my attention, or loads of negative ones (when does that ever happen though, maybe Saints Row?). It's usually indie games or smaller games where positive reviews might be enough to talk me in to something, partly because of the cost I suppose, but they're also less of a known quantity. Like, Elden Ring is one of the best reviewed games ever, it doesn't matter, it's not for me. Breath of the Wild, it's not for me, it doesn't matter who or how many love it. Marsupilami though, if something like that starts getting 8s then I'm more likely to pay attention. Which I think is part of the crux of it. It's not that reviewers are paid off, I think some publications, whether they're forced to or not, toe the line, and will give a positive score for an exclusive or whatever. Again, Saints Row had a review score that was significantly higher than everyone else, and can't have possibly missed the issues with that game. I think a few publications do tend to play it safe with scores. To some point I suppose your average reviewer is going to think mostly the same as other average reviewers, but there's definitely a sense of smooth edges, with big games rarely getting hammered and not too many outliers

Why does the copying part of a PS5 game update still take so fecking long?... you'd have thought they'd sort this by now.

The text part of reviews are generally fine, it's the scoring that's hugely skewed - where anything below 70% (or even for AAAs <90%) might be perceived by some as poor/not worth bothering with, which adversely affects sales - and this has somewhat affected whether devs will take a risk on putting out new IP or stick with releasing endless sequels. Also, nowadays, with Day One patches, the reviewed content isn't always reflective of the actual retail experience.

This is extraordinary: https://medium.com/@mickgordon/my-full-statement-regarding-doom-eternal-5f98266b27ce Well worth a read.

Without wanting to get in to a back and forth about it, I did, on page 1. We regularly have to call people out on it, all we ask is for a bit of consideration and sense to be used, same for any of the vague rules on here 😄 you shouldn't need reminding after the fact at this point Remember, any time we get a report either me, @retroedor @Jimbo Xiiihave to read it. I've got this waiting to be played, I now know something I'd ideally not know. Just ask yourself "is Ben going to get someone complaining about this", then, ideally, take sympathy on me and word things in a way that isn't going to spoil anything

@NagI've deleted your post for spoilers. There was definitely a way to write that without spoiling it Fwiw I'm not personally that annoyed because I could have guessed that happens just because it's clearly the story arc but other people definitely will be

Rosie got a 256GB model from work so I've been playing around with this the last few days. First thing I did was install PCSX2, which is apparently the best PS2 emulator on the system, and import it over to Steam on the Deck itself. I now have a few older games I can play around with, but to be honest, the title I'm currently spending most of my time with is Hot Wheels Unleashed. It's got that handheld 'one more go' quality to it, but it also looks absolutely gorgeous with all the shaders and reflections going nuts on it. I know it's STEAM Deck, so I shouldn't expect more, but I wish there was an easy/obvious way to play GOG, Origin, Epic etc on there. When you've got games dotted about everywhere, as well as literally thousands of itch.io titles, it really makes you appreciate the closed off environment of consoles in a way. One thing I'm really surprised about is how comfortable it is to hold. My hands aren't particularly big, so it's an absolute behemoth to me, but it actually sits really nicely, even over long periods. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into the placement of everything, and I really appreciate that side of stuff. Overall first week impressions are that it's really good. I just need to find the right games to blow me away I think. Also; I heard it referred to as Gabe Boy Advance and now that's all I think.

If we can include arcade games (which had home conversions) then it's this (2 players on an arcade cabinet).

Played a hell of a lot of cartoony platformers like ratchet, spyro etc when my kids were little. These days I dabble occasionally but always end up having a good time. I think the ori games are my favourite in 2d - just about the right amount of challenge for my clumsy fingers. But my favourite 3d platformer is also one of the games I hold as being responsible for making me a gamer. A true masterpiece, Prince of Persia, the Sands of time.

I hate puzzles. My dyspraxia doesn’t fare well with them. And the Applecore section in the second quest, is seriously pissing me off. 3 bastard water puzzles, which are tedious as fuck. The 3rd one has completely got me stuck. I’ve no idea what it wants me to do. The ign guide wasn’t helpful. So I resorted to a YouTube guide. Unfortunately they didn’t really know how to solve it either, and I’m still stuck at it. It’s proper pissed me off. So I’m going to play something else, and do it again some other day. Whoever made those water puzzles: You’re a cunt. Fuck you.

Hyperbole police gonna be called on this post but yeah, HOLY FUCKING SHIT, this has been absolutely INCREDIBLE so far! I'm about 7-8 hours in, played all of yesterday as I booked a day off of my annual leave. I really can't fault it, everything so far has been at the very top top tier of what gaming can do, it has a level of excellence, a degree of polish, confidence and assuredness other games can only dream of. Quite frankly it has been simply astonishing and extraordinary, WHAT A FUCKING VIDEO GAME! Jesus fucking Christ. I've been absolutely blown away by it, I played 7 hours yesterday and the Wife had to practically pry the DualSense out of my hands when she got in, absolutely fucking incredible. It has been an absolute rollercoaster so far and I feel like I haven't really had the chance to breathe. It moves at such a cadence weaving narrative, emotion and set-piece spectacle on such a level and to such a degree of confidence I find it impossible to fault. Beat for beat it has been almost identical to the 2018 game, which I guess could be construed as a negative if you're that way inclined but for me it's nice how symmetrical it is with the first game if that makes sense, it's like the other side of the coin type of thing where things are happening where you expect from the first game but not necessarily the same way or same place, location etc. I think it is fair to say it's overly familiar to the first game, but when the first game is so good I don't really see what the issue is. It's not overly familiar for me, it's playing on your expectations, if you were to tell me some of the stuff that happens in the opening hour before I played it, I wouldn't of believed it quite frankly. The way it happens is similar to the first game but again I don't see that as an issue or an 'expansion', it's absolute codswallop to me. In a sequel things are usually familiar mechanically, narratively, environmentally, it's a sequel not God of War Mars Space Adventure. Everything is fairly linear during the first couple of hours, it's only after that once you reach your first realm outside of Midgard that the game takes the blinkers off and let's you fully explore it's world. Exploration is largely similar to the first game here too in that you'll be in a rowing boat with Atreus, hearing stories from Mimir, Atreus asking you questions about all sorts of stuff including (most interestingly) about Kratos' past whilst exploring a vast network of waterways. You'll arrive on beaches to explore only to be met with something you can't progress with yet, other beaches you'll be able to explore and uncover their little mini-mysteries. There have been two side quests too so far which have been superb, they both tie into one of the central characters' backstory and surprising past transgressions which makes the quests feel meaningful and worthwhile whilst also tying in to the overall narrative of the game perfectly. Not going to go into any detail about the story and I've already said a lot on the opening couple of hours, but once things settle in it has that but it has that perfect carrot on a stick at the moment with you wondering what's going to happen after you reach this particular destination whilst still allowing you breathing space to explore the first realm of the game to your hearts content. Enemy variety and combat have been such a huge improvement from the first game, I agree with that from what others have said on the matter. The first game had too many troll and similar looking Draugr(?) enemies as others have said, whereas in this there's already been 3 different types of enemy-types introduced and I'm still a short way into the game. Their attack-types differ to, they aren't just all humanoid types with blunt objects, there's things that spit venom at you, weird floating eyeballs and the like and the bosses have been completely different to one another. Having the Blades unlocked from the very beginning on this has made me have such a better time with the combat as I didn't 100% get to grip with the Axe or combat in general until perhaps the last 10-15 hours of the 2018 game whereas the Blades feel much more frenetic to me and a lot more fun to do combos with, juggle enemies in the air whilst Atreus shoots some arrows into them and all that good stuff. I think the two weapons in general and their fire and ice elements are better incorporated into the game as a whole and in combat too, there are some times you need to use the Axe to freeze water to solve a puzzle, there's some times you need to use the Blades. Some enemies have Ice resistance so you can only really use your Blades against them too. The visuals are the only very slightly blemish in that they're very cross-gen so far. The game looks absolutely phenomenal, the character detail, facial details, environments and all that good stuff look awe-inspiring at times but you can't help but notice a little bit of a cross-gen look to some of the textures, which is a tad disappointing as it's not much of a visual jump from the 2018 game, but when everything is as good as it is and the game is as extraordinary as it is, it matters little, to me at least. So yeah, it's been a perfect experience so far, I can't fault it at all, a developer and studio on the very top of their game. Extraordinary. Not sure what pics to put up that won't spoil stuff or has been shown in the trailers but here are a few:

So related to both old console question, and deserves a sequel question, I give you....

In Ireland as far as I’m aware my Gameboy and Gameboy Colour are still in working order. I have the DS and GBA SP here with me in Japan. I would be regularly playing my PS2 and Wii if they weren’t in Ireland too. 360 should still work fine.

Oldest will be my Mega Drive. Granted it's probably been a year since I've used it but it's still set up and I still buy games for it every so often (not as often as I'd like, it's expensive). I've probably used my Game Gear more recently, I definitely have because I was playing Halley Wars over the summer. The d-pad is a but shit on it, mostly fine, but it's like it moves about then ends up in a position where it doesn't respond when you need it to. The Game Gear is red though, so yeah

In terms of gaming horde, I've still got: Mega Drive Gameboy Gameboy Color PS1 (x2) GBA GBA SP DS Lite (x2) PS2 GC Wii 360 (x2) NS PS4 SNES Mini Plus a PC (Win XP c.2005) So NS and PS4 get played the most, then PS2 and DS, with occasional dabbles on the others during a year, depending what takes my fancy.

I use my PS2 and DS quite regularly still (and would also use the PS1 if it wasn't for BC on PS2 - i.e. I still occasionally play PS1 games).

Moved into my new apartment, set up my PC so finally started this on Steam. First impressions are great so far. These guys in their modern form as Terrible Toybox have already made an excellent traditional point and click adventure in Thimbleweed Park, so I’m glad in a way that they have modernised the art style for this. It looks lovely, reminiscent of Broken Age. Kudos to the artists who worked on this game. In general, everything about the game is high quality, including the music and the voice acting. The sense of humour is as whimsical and silly as ever. One line that made me laugh was “In life there are no guarantees or warantees, only jamborees.” Something like that! About an hour in. So far, so good.