What You've Been Playing This Week

[QualityChimp]

I'm all for a chill experience but this was so Bare bones and dull i found it a real struggle to make it through, its more interactive screen saver than game, its super dull too no nuance to the story just predictable all the way through. I recently picked back up What Remains of Edith Finch as their was a game pass quest associated with it and i instantly I wanted to play through it all again such a cool chill experience, exploring this weird and wonderful house and it shows what you can do with these games with a good story and an interesting premise.

The baby in the bath section still haunts me, man.

[Atticus]

The baby in the bath section still haunts me, man.

God yeah, it's unforgettable. The whole game knocked me for a six. The

->Open Spoiler<-

fish chopping

part is genius in forcing your mind to wander.

[wakka]

Yeah that's an incredible game. One of the best versions of that 'walking sim' idea.

Agree Atticus, that's the bit that always jumps to my mind too. Gives me chills thinking about it.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep, it’s a beautiful and heartbreaking experience. I loved it so much.

I have been playing Jedi Fallen Order on my Steam Deck. That’s a relatively recent game and it looks and runs wonderfully on the Deck. Overall, I’m enjoying it. Plays pretty well and exploring the locations is fun. My only issue has been that I find it hard to read the map (probably more about me than the map) and I keep getting lost on the way back from places. Finding that a bit of a chore but, overall, it’s a good game.

[QualityChimp]

I keep thinking I played Finch in VR, but it's not. I might be mixing it with "Here They Lie".
Finch is presented as quite a whimsical exploration game, but the stories it tells are all so tragic.

I do like a good walking sim.
"Everybody's Gone To The Rapture" was a similarly unforgettable experience.

[wakka]

There was a real spate of them at one point last gen, and I played quite a few. Overall I felt Edith Finch was by some distance the strongest, although Gone Home, Firewatch and Everybody's Gone To The Rapture were good too. The latter I found graphically incredible at the time.

I stuck on Yakuza Zero and did another couple of hours last night. I've played for about 5 or 6 hours in total now and it's easily shaping up to be one of the very strongest entries in the series for me so far (NB I have not played Yak 6 or 7 yet).

4 and 5 were both decent games, but they had a major problem with overcomplication. They amped up the number of playable characters and the intricacy of the central storyline, but missed the point of what makes Yakuza great. That's not to say they're dead losses - far from it, and sequences like the prison component and taxi driving in 5 are really memorable - but they were probably taking the series in the wrong direction.

Zero for me represents a back-to-basics approach which builds on what makes a Yakuza game a Yakuza game. It benefits from a simpler storyline that's faster to get off the ground, and excellent development of both the fighting system and extra-curricular characters and sidequests.

It also feels more humorous. That humour was always there, right from the start, but here it's more overt without becoming too wacky. I think an improved translation might be partly responsible. Back in the PS2 days we had the awful Japanese-accented English dub and I think there was some reticence about it being 'too Japanese' for a 2000s Western audience, which led to an oddly serious tone even when completely bat **** stuff was happening.

The whole game is such a great place to spend time. Couldn't be enjoying it more right now. If it keeps up this standard, it could up there with 2 as my fave.

[Golgo]

In the walking sim genre, Gone Home is also great and very moving and refreshing in terms of concluding story beats.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I played crysis... For about 20 minutes. Terrible game.

Child of light. Meh

Frostpunk. Broken game that crashes every 2 minutes

Darksiders 3. Jank

I'm not having fun.

[Golgo]

Playing Elden Ring. On a slightly low ebb, feeling the bloat. Hit some 'legacy dungeons' that were poor, mostly running about on rooftops. It seems to go in peaks and troughs for me, this game. Soon I'll find a proper dungeon with a proper new boss and I'll be enjoying it again.

[wakka]

More Yak Zero, now on the third or fourth chapter and playing as Majima in Sotenbori.

So far it's got the best story since 2 (which has the strongest story in the series, followed by 1).

I really like how this game goes back to basics narratively and yet rewards players of the whole series. It's really cool that Majima's story links in with Saejima's from 5, but I can see how if you hadn't played 5 you'd still be able to follow along perfectly well - which isn't something that can be said of the increasingly convoluted continuity of 3, 4 and 5.

EDIT: Also I went to the casino and spent about 2 hours losing all my money. Brilliant.

[Neon Ignition]

Eeee.... this weekend...


I'm using Deeeer Simulator to do the daily achievements which is fine, it perfectly fits the bill and is enjoyable enough for that purpose too. I've early started Dying Light 2 on PC as well but I'm hesitant to get too into it as I'm trying to knuckle down and spend more time on Gran Turismo 7 as well. I'm working through GC titles on the Win3 also but to be honest, half of them have reached the point where they've aged too much to be fun anymore. I was ready for Eternal Darkness but it quickly just felt like a chore to play.

[CMcK]

Still can't stay away from Crisis Wing and Z-Warp. Both are cracking shmups.

[Neon Ignition]

Kind of split atm between Balan Wonderworld and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Skipped MP2 for some reason, I think it was out too soon after the original to interest me, but I enjoyed the first and third games. Finally trying the second one out and... I can already get a sense of why its reception is mixed. Not sold on it yet

[dataDave]

Just a bit of Triangle Strategy for me. I’m amazed by how absorbed I am in the story, and constantly taking mental notes for which alternative direction to steer it in the second time I play.

[Neon Ignition]

I very much doubt I'll stick with it but this weekend will see a return to Returnal and on Xbox the beginning of the epic quest through Peppa Pig