What You've Been Playing This Week

[wheelaa]

Finished PowerWash Simulator several days ago (left a few easy achievements for daily 50 reward points). Need more. MORE. MORE.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, just for the last two Xbox achievements that have been fixed.

Halo Infinite, just progressing the (free track) Season Pass.

Gears 5, dailies, cards, coins, chainsaws.

Ryse Son of Rome, looks great (still), gameplay is a litte dull.

Some FMT action, a 5 for 1 with the Gokan Pack (Afterburner, Afterburner III, Galaxy Force II, Last Survivor, Turbo Outrun).

[fuse]

AI: The Somnium Files - The Nirvana Initiative

Settled back into this and ended up enjoying it loads. Might've got a little weary of some of the running gags and I think if you question some of the story beats closely it starts to fall apart a bit, but on the whole thought it was great, and one of the more 'game-y' adventure games that'd work well as an entry point for curious folks.

Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony is... not quite what I was expecting. I could've sworn I had seen it described as a Metroidvania, but no, this is very much a touhou take on classic 'vania - far more Rondo of Blood than Symphony of the Night. This might make it more appealing to some, but ehhh it's also worth noting that I don't think it's anywhere near as tight. Only did a few stages, and already finding it a tad frustrating with some cheap hits.

Natsuki Chronicle is current go-to when I pick up the Steam Deck. Even with the structure catering for level-by-level progress, I'm still finding it pretty tough! I do quite like it though.

Ran through TMNT: Shredder's Revenge on the weekend too, which I thought was good. Haven't felt the urge to go back through with other characters, or to seek out all of the challenges, but it was fun and definitely felt a bit more solid than some of the other brawlers I've played lately.

Also now spent an hour or so with Live-a-Live. Not sure if going with Prehistory (with no dialogue) was the right choice of chapter to start with, but a few aspects are already tickling me the right way - the music's pretty great, and the battle system is a lot more engaging than standard-fare ATB.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Currently grinding through Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle after it was on my shelf for so long.

I say "grind" but am actually enjoying it and I've never historically gone in for that type of X-Com strategy game before, though admittedly Mario + Rabbids simplifies a lot of it and that is a good thing.

[importaku]

Been playing mostly astroneer & cult of the lamb today, gotten pretty far in astroneer it's a nice relaxing game to just plod away on at your own pace. Managed to activate all the beacons on the planet and then dig right down to the core to activate the final one. Cult of the lamb is fantastically dark i love the artstyle, currently got some prick called breon that is trying to disrupt my cult. Didn't want to sacrifice any of my followers yet but one reached old age and told me they only had a few days left to live so i thought they were prime candidate for the dark sacrifice. Cult coming along nicely, the bosses are a lot of fun.

[Dogg Thang]

I played through Portal and Portal 2 again and absolutely loved them. Such great games. The play system is so simple and yet has so many possibilities. Both games get challenging but never frustrating. Really superb. It’s a shame Valve don’t actually make games any more.

I have Spider-Man preloaded to go next. It’s honestly one of the only games I wanted a PS for (the other one probably being The Last Guardian, if that’s what it was called). First time I have paid full whack for a PC game in literally decades. Looking forward to it.

But while waiting for that, I picked up the first Dead Rising games for next to nothing and have been having a go of Off The Record. I hadn’t played that version of DR2 but played the normal one and this is much the same. Not as fun as I remember though.

[QualityChimp]

I played through Portal and Portal 2 again and absolutely loved them. Such great games. The play system is so simple and yet has so many possibilities. Both games get challenging but never frustrating. Really superb. It’s a shame Valve don’t actually make games any more.

I have Spider-Man preloaded to go next. It’s honestly one of the only games I wanted a PS for (the other one probably being The Last Guardian, if that’s what it was called). First time I have paid full whack for a PC game in literally decades. Looking forward to it.

But while waiting for that, I picked up the first Dead Rising games for next to nothing and have been having a go of Off The Record. I hadn’t played that version of DR2 but played the normal one and this is much the same. Not as fun as I remember though.

That's a great list, Dogg.

I ran through both Portal games not so long back and they're sublime.
Bonus points for both having amazing themes.
I saw a "no-portal" run-through on YouTube, but I got bored as it's just glitching and quite frankly, the portals are the best bit!

I really enjoyed Spider-Man, but got bogged down in the sidequests, chasing pigeons when I had people to save from muggings. I think I enjoyed Batman: Arkham Knight a bit more, but they're both worth playing.

I think DR2: OtR was the last one I played as I think they were XBox exclusives for a while.
Ah, just checked, they were, but they released a triple pack and then 4 on other platforms.
Might look out for them as I loved the first two games.

As I said the other day, I was crying with hysterics playing through Off The Record with [MENTION=4877]k0pp0[/MENTION] because it's just this big playground to arse around in causing mayhem and destruction. Maybe try it co-op, if you're not enjoying it, Dogg?
It's catnip for me though as there's a zillion things to distract you.

[QualityChimp]

I actually played a game last night for the first time in ages as I've been smashing through some TV shows and films.

It was Tony Hawks Pro Skater that's included on PPS+ (pauper PS Plus) this month.
It was great playing it again and fell straight back into it!
Did the first couple of levels, collecting SKATE and whatnot, but I'm struggling getting those high scores.
Might have to watch some video guides.

[Dogg Thang]

I think DR2: OtR was the last one I played as I think they were XBox exclusives for a while.
Ah, just checked, they were, but they released a triple pack and then 4 on other platforms.
Might look out for them as I loved the first two games.

Yep, there is a cheap bundle on Steam now that has the first one and the two versions of the second one. Yes, I should try co-op. It's not that I'm not enjoying it - I'm just not quite getting that buzz I remember of ploughing through a whole bunch of zombies in different ways. They're good games. I never played the third and only just learned that there was a fourth.

[wakka]

I loved the original Dead Rising. It was one of several early 360 games that felt like an immediate quantum leap over what had been possible on the previous gen. But for whatever reason I've never felt a pull to play any of the others. I've always felt that so much of the appeal of the original was the then-incredible numbers of on-screen zombies and number of interactive elements, and without that wow factor I wouldn't be that interested.

Maybe I'm way off base with that though. Which is the best one do you reckon, QC?

[QualityChimp]

Spot-on for me too, Wakka.

I say this every new console generation, but the makers just seem obsessed with how shiny they can make everything, but I like to think about how the processing grunt can be used in other ways and I think that shot of Frank atop the van, surrounded by zombies is what sold me on the 360, the only console I've ever bought at launch.

The game was delayed, but I ended up playing it a fair few times because of the structure where you can only do so much at one time. My final run was following a guide to rescue as many people as possible. I think I did it, but was annoyed the "answer every call" achievement never popped. I did, however, get the one for killing a few thousand zombies equal to the town population, which is probably my favourite one I've got.

Off The Record played so differently because it was co-op, making it a lot more fun, but ultimately less tense because we were laughing too much, being like naughty schoolkids around the mall. So I have fond attachments, but for different reasons.

Never played 3 or 4 and although the thought of no time limits is intriguing, it might change the overall tone of the game.

I saw that they're thinking of making a Dead Rising series, which would be brilliant if they went through with the idea of making it like 24 with zombies, capturing that urgency of the original game.

[Colin]

About twelve hours in to my replay of The Last Of Us Part II. I find it incredibly hard to walk away from, I’m so dragged back in to the story and world. Playing it makes me as angry at the Uber nerds who were running round slating it as they were at the game. It’s ****ing brilliant.

[Golgo]

A rather strange week of gaming for me. It was my Mum's birthday last week although she passed away nearly 4 years ago, and I decided to dust off some of her old PS1 and PS2 memory cards which I'd collected when I last visited my Dad's. I'd been meaning to fire these up for ages but had avoided doing it. She was an avid gamer from the old VCS and classic arcade days onwards (a Centipede and Q*bert specialist), although her eyesight failed her completely in later years and she went blind and very bitter, and sometimes quite difficult to be around. Anyway, I still have all her favourite games. So I spent a few evenings pootering with her saves and seeing where she'd got up to - and where we'd played together - on things like Everybody's Golf, Yoyo's Adventure Park and Crash Team Racing on the PS1, plus Maximo, the Prince of Persia Trilogy, and Onimusha 3 on the PS2. It was a bit sad, obviously, but also a really joyful experience. It was especially fun to look at the replays she had kept of her most awesome shots in Everybody's Golf. It was great to have a gamer Mum.

[prinnysquad]

That’s lovely to read. And yet very sad! I bet those replays were poignant.

[dataDave]

I'll be leaving tons of Mario Kart and F-Zero (and whatever else) time trial ghosts for my son.

You can completely forget saves on the Switch with absolutely no way to preserve them.

[Golgo]

That’s lovely to read. And yet very sad! I bet those replays were poignant.

Thanks, Prinny. It was mostly an uplifting experience, although I got one well-deserved hoof in the emotional nads. When I booted up the save for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within I remembered my Mum had been stuck at a boss and asked me for help to beat it, and for one selfish reason or another I'd never got round to it. Soon thereafter her eyesight failed. Needless to say, the boss was still unbeaten. Moral of the story: if your old girl asks for help with beating a boss, find the time.