What You've Been Playing This Week

[nonny]

Just got my kids to finish Peppa Pig... GOTY contender.

[wheelaa]

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

Fun little action RPG. Upgrade the town, upgrade your characters, lots of fetch quests (a ridonculous amount of fast travel), decent enough combat that starts to shine with some upgrades and on hard mode, interesting story and characters that kept me engaged just enough. Perfect game for slouching on a sofa during a hot spell.

[QualityChimp]

I played that Spongebob game recently and that had some pad-throwingly tough platforming sections.

[importaku]

Finally been making a start on ass detective, it's suprisingly charming solved 2 cases so far. A bread mixup in chapter one and a carrot thief in chapter 2 the artstyle is hilarious when oshiri tantei gasses the suspect with a rancid fart as it goes all hyper shaded & realistic. Thankfully the game knows we are all there for those moments so the artwork is saved in a gallery outside of the cases for maximum enjoyment, thankfully because it's aimed at kids the japanese is not too complex i thought the whole detective puzzle solving might have been too much for me in japanese like phoenix wright but it's at a level i can manage (for now) the ass hijinx continue.

[nonny]

I'm halfway through As Dusk Falls and absolutely loving the story...

Some mature themes and solid acting throughout and it's all really well written and smartly woven through flashbacks.

Even digging the art style now I've settled into it. The comic flip book animation almost let's your brain just fill in the gaps and removes that uncanny valley effect entirely so you can just concentrate on the actual events unfolding.

I've always liked the Telltale games with The Wolf Among Us being my all time favourite and this is definitely up there.

I also really appreciate how it shows your the entire chapter timeline when you finish it so you can see the branching paths and elect to start from any major decision to uncover the rest (great for achievement hunting).

Worth a look given its on game pass.

[Atticus]

I started Devil May Cry 5 again last night (PS5 Special Edition current in the sale on PS Store - expect to see in included in PS+ next month ). When it first came out a few years back I just couldn't get on with it ... my hands were too hard-wired with other combat systems (Souls controls) and I struggled. But this time I'm more on its terms for some reason and I'm doing better. So all the things I did love about it (the lashings of heavy metal madness) I can really enjoy now.

[Neon Ignition]

Urgh, gave up again on Returnal, it's just joyless

Going to try Stray instead this weekend

[Dogg Thang]

Going to try Stray instead this weekend

I'm playing through this at the moment and I'm absolutely loving it. It's a beautiful experience.

Not a perfect one for me. It's one of those games where the need to make it a game slightly goes against it for me, if you know what I mean. Navigating the world and the exploration and the discovery is beautiful but then it also has fetch quests and chase sequences and that sort of thing. Sometimes I think games should just embrace that sort of walking simulator vibe.

Still, this game is fantastic.

[cutmymilk]

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

I skipped it because it followed a trend where sequels needed to be DARK, for some reason!

[Atticus]

I found the first Metroid Prime pretty tough ... when I heard the second game was harder I couldn't be arsed.

[Dogg Thang]

I found the first Metroid Prime pretty tough ... when I heard the second game was harder I couldn't be arsed.

Samesies. I never finished the first one because of the fact that, when you died on the last boss, it was a hell of a trek back to it.

[Atticus]

Samesies. I never finished the first one because of the fact that, when you died on the last boss, it was a hell of a trek back to it.

Exactly the same experience. That final battle felt demanding enough and when I thought I'd done it by the skin of my teeth phase flaming 2 kicked in I tapped out right there.

[Dogg Thang]

Exactly the same experience. That final battle felt demanding enough and when I thought I'd done it by the skin of my teeth phase flaming 2 kicked in I tapped out right there.

Yep. Kind of a shame because, overall, I did love the game but I never quite got that sense of satisfaction because I never finished it.

[Neon Ignition]

I finished MP1 and 3, I still recall that final boss in the original entry. Generated so much hatred and probably helps form my distaste for the argument that difficulty=satisfaction

The third was much easier which is probably why I think fondly on it. I'm getting somewhat frustrated by the amount of games I start lately that turn out not to be worth sticking with but Prime 2 has joined that camp. Any brief difficulty spikes I experienced were too easily matched by annoying level design. MP2 feels like a sequel rushed out too quickly so the idea of playing it till it gets more annoying doesn't appeal.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep, I finished MP3. That one was much easier.