radiofloyd

Release time in the various time zones. 122Gb download. No pre-load. Gonna take a reasonable chunk of time on my connection.

Probably the most excited I’ve been was when I was a child - so FFIX for sure. VIII had been my introduction to FF. To say that I liked VIII would be an extreme understatement so I was in full hype mode for IX. I remember I had started to reading gaming magazines too and the Official Irish Playstation Magazine had an issue with Zidane on the cover. Needless to say, I loved the game. San Andreas too. I feel like San Andreas was the ultimate example of a hyped game that lived up to and surpassed all expectations. At least to young 14 year old me at the time. Skipping a bunch of generations and fast forwarding to now, I would say I am very excited to play Hollow Knight Silksong and FFVII Rebirth.

I much preferred Oblivion to Skyrim.

https://www.pcgamer.com/this-horrifying-big-boy-from-lords-of-the-fallens-new-20-minute-gameplay-preview-is-giving-me-attack-on-titan-flashbacks-in-the-best-way/ 20 minute gameplay presentation that shows a lot of content from the game. This seems like a welcome return to the level based design of Dark Souls. Of course, it looks heavily indebted to Souls but it also looks rock solid. Out on October 13th.

Been listening to these four albums. It’s been a quiet year for music but these are all solid new albums by artists I like.

It doesn’t bother me so much but I noticed it with Divinity and Cyberpunk.

Blizzard games coming to Steam. https://www.gematsu.com/2023/07/blizzard-entertainment-games-coming-to-steam-starting-with-overwatch-2-on-august-10 Hopefully this means Diablo IV will come to Steam.

First perfect score from Eurogamer since they switched to the new rating system.

https://www.rpgsite.net/news/14521-atlas-fallen-shows-new-footage-in-the-behind-the-sand-gameplay-presentation Quite a detailed look at the game.

Pretty much following the road wherever it takes me, right now it’s taken me to the snowy north-west and I seem to be heading in the direction of the Rito Village. I’ve been using the map marker system regularly, dropping pins at various points of interest to come back to later. I wonder how similar or different Breath of the Wild would feel if I went back and played it now. It does feel like this has become its own separate series, branched off from the other Zelda games.

I think Ponyo and The Wind Rises are much better than How Do You Live?, especially Ponyo.

Watched the new Ghibli film, “How do you Live?” It was ok. It’s weird. I can’t say I was very moved. It’s a very fantastical film in the vein of Howl’s Moving Castle or Spirited Away, but not as good as those. Nor would I say it’s as good as When Marnie Was There, which I was much more impressed by. But it’s worth a watch I guess, especially seeing as it will probably be Miyazaki’s last film.

If you’re tired of Stardew Valley: https://www.gematsu.com/2023/07/harvest-moon-the-winds-of-anthos-debut-trailer

This looks stunning.

I’ll probably go and see Hayao Miyazaki’s final film this Friday by myself.

25 hours in now. Done eight shrines since returning to Hyrule so I’ve increased my health by two hearts. The shrine where you hit the ball like a baseball was a good one. I’ve done a cursory once over of the opening area so I’m going to head off to the west next. I feel like Sable captured a lot of the things that are cool about this game too. Playing TotK is reminding me to go back and finish that.

Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals reviews: Nintendo Life - 9 PC Gamer - 85% Destructoid - 8 Game Informer - 8 Eurogamer - 4/5 Gamespot - 7 IGN - 7 Polygon RockPaperShotgun Dave the Diver reviews: PC Gamer - 91% IGN - 9 Polygon - Recommended Seems like Dave the Diver is one of the best games of the year.

https://www.eurogamer.net/hellboy-web-of-wyrd-debuts-roguelike-action-brawler-gameplay-in-new-trailer

I’ve only played Tears of the Kingdom so far. In terms of other games that have been released, I’d most like to play Hogwarts Legacy, FFXVI, Diablo 4, Fire Emblem Engage and A Space for the Unbound. The year is about to get busy with Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk DLC, Starfield and Amored Core all coming out soon. Without actually having a PS5 or powerful PC, I might not be able to play some of those games for a while, but on paper it’s been a good year.

I’ve been running around the central Hyrule area, talking to characters, completing challenges and shrines and in general fighting and exploring a lot. It’s interesting playing the game in Japanese and seeing how they inject character into the game by varying how people talk. For example, one character uses English a lot. I wonder how they translated that into the English version. I’ve been having a blast with the game so far. Currently have about 25 Korok seeds.

Played as far as getting the parasail and the first map area filled in. Now the adventure starts properly!

https://www.pcgamer.com/if-helldivers-2-isnt-on-your-2023-radar-this-excellent-gameplay-trailer-should-correct-that/ This looks really good.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/07/flashback-2-trailer-is-giving-us-flashbacks-to-flashback

I love this game, it’s strangely therapeutic. Brings back a lot of memories for me as I was still settling into my new life in Japan when the first game came out. Breath of the Wild isn’t a game that I thought I needed a sequel to but I’m glad they’ve made one. I’ve enjoyed being back in Hyrule. From the lake I landed in I followed the road to the giant hole covered in miasma, beat up some goblins along the way, cleared a shrine, tamed a horse and now I’ve arrived at a Fort/town like area. I feel like these games are kindred spirits to Fumito Ueda’s games, which is probably the main thing I like about them.

Got the next ability which follows hot on the heels of that one, and had fun flying the wing devices. The first time I flew one I went flying over the back of the Temple of Time, those babies can really go far.