shinymcshine

Wasn't there a thing a while ago about them switching off the Demon Souls PS3 servers for online play - so does that mean the streamed version is offline only ?

There's a bunch of highly rated walking simulators that I just don't understand why they are so highly rated. So "Gone Home" and "What Remains of Edith Finch" - which, fair enough, tell a decent story, but in terms of being a 'game' have such limited interaction, feel to me just like reading a book or watching a movie - the game elements of walk along a restrictive path from A to B to C, to open and read X, Y, Z, are just really dull. Even things like "Amnesia" and "SOMA" aren't that much better - albeit it at least an element of threat in these builds some tension. I suppose the issue is how they are / aren't categorised when presented on a list of great 'games' - just because the interface is a joypad doesn't mean it's a game - so they might be best of class, but (at least for me), don't ever deserve a place alongside great interactive games. A comparison is how the Oscars have a Best Documentary catagory, but these films don't necessarily then go into contention for Best Picture too (but might turn up mixed in on a Critics list of their best movies of the year). Likewise you wouldn't expect Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson to appear on a list of greatest authors, no matter how many millions enjoyed their Fighting Fantasy gamebooks - but can you directly compare Deathtrap Dungeon with Great Expectations...

Is Deadly Premonition actually over-rated though ? It sits at 68% (critic score) on Metacritic made up of a bunch of >75% and almost as many <60% - which seems about right (where some hate how rough it is, with some more forgiving due to its quirky story et ) - not that I'm trying to discredit Maf's opinion (where I guess he's questioning whether those higher scores were even deserved) - just I recall a bit of a pretty wide scatter of review scores when it came out on the 360.

I was pretty underwhelmed with FF7 when I played it on the PS1. I'd already played a bunch of JRPGs on the Megadrive, and things like Daggerfall and Lands of Lore on PC, and Bards Tale & Bloodwych on C64- and so I never really understood all the fuss & hype around FF7, as it all seemed pretty average in comparison to what I'd already played. Otherwise BotW is one that never particular clicked with me.

The Adventures of Maid Marian (Paid for stream/download Amazon). Low budget British movie that was filmed in/out of lockdown, with many of the outdoor scenes filmed at the Eversley EyeLARP site that I regularly attend. So many of the site crew appear in the film too, most as extras, but friends Johnny, James and Harry got notable speaking roles, and Kitty did costumes & props. Overall it's a pretty average movie, but it feels extra special when you know the locations used, and the friends who helped create it. https://www.thereviewshub.com/film-review-the-adventures-of-maid-marian/

Funnily enough, I'd not even realised that FIFA 22 had come as a PS+ game - it'll be the first FIFA game I've played on PS since FIFA 2003 !! As a note - how many FIFA games do people own? I've got - FIFA 95 (Megadrive) FIFA 03 (PS2) FIFA 08 (360) and FIFA 18 (NS) I always think they missed a trick with FIFA by not giving players a paid DLC option to update their legacy versions with new seasonal squads - so for people like myself who aren't interested in buying a new game engine each year, but would say pay £10 for the team lists to be made up to date each season.

EA finally announce that they are dropping the FIFA branding from their footy game. "EA will continue to make football video games, but from 2023 they will come under a new banner, EA Sports FC." "EA say they will continue to offer real-world experiences, having signed up 19,000 athletes, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues for future games. They include the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Uefa." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61383672

There's a sizable Avatar themed zone/rides at Disney World, Florida (in Animal Kingdom), which opened in 2017, and always seems pretty popular - so I guess there's plenty of global interest out there.

I was away with work in 2010 and 4 of us popped to the cinema in Swindon midweek (not even an Orange Wednesday) to see Avatar, about 8 weeks after release, so sometime in Feb 2010, and it was already sold out. So we ended up with Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness instead (if anyone remembers that !?!) So I've not seen Avatar either.

I'm not familiar with the actor's work and I'll judge the merits of the casting, and show's reboot under Russell T Davies, once it's been aired in 2023 - noting that I also read that Yaz & Dan are being written out too - so it'll be a clean sweep from this Autumn's finale.

Credits have rolled, time now to go back and do some tomb raiding. Clearly they just don't know what to do with the franchise, RotTR was great, this one is just botched ideas thrown together. When AC, Uncharted, TLoU and BotW have all done the different elements of SotTR so much better, it's time to either drop it, or carve out a clear (new) identity.

I played a bunch of PC CRPGs 2000-2010, so Baldurs Gate, BG2, Pools of Radiance Myth Drannor, Temple of Elemental Evil, Neverwinter Nights, Wizardry 8, Divine Divinity, Dungeon Siege, Arx Fatalis, Morrowind, Oblivion and even for a good while Guild Wars. Unfortunately for me, despite its numerous plaudits, I never really warmed to Planescape Torment - it felt like too much reading and talking and not enough action.

The Bioware (Beamdog) D&D games are on sale on the NS eShop for £7.99 each (until 150522). Baldurs Gate / BG2 - Enhanced Neverwinter Nights Icewind Dale/Planescape I've hung off these previously, having played the on PC years ago (KB & Mouse), but was swayed to get the BG pack, as review below says the controls have been optimised for console, and work pretty well. https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/baldurs_gate_and_baldurs_gate_ii_enhanced_editions

Blimey, this game is a hot mess. Hit a part where they've just chucked in a bunch of stealth sections - enforced too, since even though you can takedown heavily armed Trinity goons, you inexplicably can't actually pick up any of their weapons..... It's just really poor in terms of narrative flow, as you later move to a section when you're then suddenly fully armed again and a big fire fight is now the way ahead... (Looking back in the thread this was picked up previously, in posts on pg 3 & 4)

A Dark Song (2016) I've seen this a couple of times, most recently today, where it's free through one of the with ads channels on Amazon Prime (albeit it's the second time I've watched a movie through the channel, and no ads appeared). It's a slow burning atmospheric 'horror' film, where a women engages the services of a guy to perform a magic ritual (won't say why, to avoid spoilers). Then the majority of the movie is just her & him alone in a remote house, undertaking the different stages of the incantations (based on a ritual from The Book of Abramelin). It's really quite dark, really well done, the two leads are excellent.