What You've Been Playing This Week

[Neon Ignition]

I'm around half way through A Hat in Time, it's decent and brisk enough fun so far. I'm approaching two thirds of the way through A Plague Tale: Requiem as well and pushing through, it's a lovely looking game but there's nothing new about it and the gameplay loop is too thin and restrictive for the length of the game.

[huxley]

Neon Ignition Yup agree with you on Requiem, still worth playing if you get it reduced.

Currently New Game + on Horizon Forbidden West. First time I played this from A - Z this time I`m exploring more, I`m shocked by how much I missed.

Also have a bit of a retro revival as I found an old copy of Phantom Hour glass stashed away, Ebay DS lite incoming

[Neon Ignition]

Neon Ignition Yup agree with you on Requiem, still worth playing if you get it reduced.

Yep, just about wrapped it up (played via Game Pass) and it definitely felt like two 8 chapter games taped together, the second half feels very repetitive of the first. I'd be very interested in what the devs make next - but I don't need it to be a third entry.

[hudson]

Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5 Pro) - Nearly finished the main story, absolutely loving it! No Street Fighter this week. That's taken some doing, Capcom! Maybe I'll play some over the weekend with RealHoneyMonster!

[QualityChimp]

I rinsed Monster Hunter World when it dropped, but it's an absolute time-hog and nothing else was getting a look in.
The open-ended nature and the feeling that you should be constantly levelling up means that although I would like to play more, I can hang my sword up on the series.

More Skyrim. I wanted to wind it up, but you always end up doing something else.
I'm accidentally in the other DLC now, something about vampires.
I found some vampire castle and I was incensed that they keep human "cattle", so I'm itching to bring this undead empire to an end.
Problem is, as part of the story, I had to pop into an ancient site, but it's this massive underground area, so I'm a bit lost.
I'm also a sucker for "collect 20 of these plants" and "collect 10 of these cogs" rather than cracking on with the mission I'm on.

Not sure what I'll play next!

[randombs]

I found some vampire castle and I was incensed that they keep human "cattle", so I'm itching to bring this undead empire to an end.
Problem is, as part of the story, I had to pop into an ancient site, but it's this massive underground area, so I'm a bit lost.
I'm also a sucker for "collect 20 of these plants" and "collect 10 of these cogs" rather than cracking on with the mission I'm on.

Not sure what I'll play next!

“Humans aren’t meant to eat grass! Those blood sucking B-words! I’ll take them all on!”

Fifteen hours later…

”These catacombs are harder to navigate than Shinjuku Station!”

[QualityChimp]

Genuinely thought I'd make a one-man assault on Castle Nosferacula, but I forgot this is Skyrim and got distracted.

[randombs]

Genuinely thought I'd make a one-man assault on Castle Nosferacula, but I forgot this is Skyrim and got distracted.

“Master!”

”What is it, Renfield? Can’t you see I’m busy tending to these… cows?”

”A thousand apologies for disturbing you, but QC is attempting another assault on Nosferacula, and—“

”Are you sure it’s QC?”

”Positive, my liege. He keeps shouting EDF and referring to your army of creatures as things like Spider Type”.

“Scatter trinkets and baubles along his path. He won’t be able to resist.”

[egparadigm]

I rinsed Monster Hunter World when it dropped, but it's an absolute time-hog and nothing else was getting a look in.
The open-ended nature and the feeling that you should be constantly levelling up means that although I would like to play more, I can hang my sword up on the series.

More Skyrim. I wanted to wind it up, but you always end up doing something else.
I'm accidentally in the other DLC now, something about vampires.
I found some vampire castle and I was incensed that they keep human "cattle", so I'm itching to bring this undead empire to an end.
Problem is, as part of the story, I had to pop into an ancient site, but it's this massive underground area, so I'm a bit lost.
I'm also a sucker for "collect 20 of these plants" and "collect 10 of these cogs" rather than cracking on with the mission I'm on.

Not sure what I'll play next!

You are differentiating a game that is very, very long from one that is apparently infinite.

Both are too open ended for my liking, hence why I will certainly never play Monster Hunter. I played Morrowind last year but never finished it.

[Neon Ignition]

If it's at all a measure of how far into Skyrim you are, I Platinumed it (the version with DLC inc.) in 120hrs back in the day.


For this week:

I'm getting into the late game stages of A Hat in Time and it really is a nicely put together little game. I'm fairly early in a replay of Sonic Forces and around a quarter of the way through Fallout 76

[QualityChimp]

As predicted, I finished the underground city thing, getting the main item for the quest, a magic cube for some nutter scholar, some cogs for a wizard and 20 rare red plants for a herbologist.

I was pretty smug at my multitasking until...

• Took the cogs to the wizard, who then asked me to clear a debt with another guy, who then sent me fetch a staff, then the wizard said I'll get back with more info later.
• Nutter scholar took the cube then asked me to go to a bunch of locations to charge the cube, then get blood samples of about 5 different races.
• Herbologist took the plants, but then said she wants to start a shop and asked me to get some stuff for her.

Fave bit was turning up at the herbologist's and all hell broke loose - 3 vampires rocked up, an assassin and a soldier and me, my companion, the herbologist and her sister are all duking it out (whilst trying not to get the good NPCs killed). Finally finish the slaughter and looting, then turn to the sister who starts her standard speech cycle of "Nothing interesting EVER happens around here!"

[importaku]

Been rotating between a few games this week grounded is still keeping me entertained i'm 140 hours in and now upto new game plus 2, i love how with each remix of the world things get harder and yet also new items & technology unlock to use. Nothing more terrifying than coming across a infused normal insect that has the health bar of a end game boss lol. Now found my permanent home to build my base, now i have teleporter ability the ziplines can be forgotten made it to one of the porces where there's a ton of flat space to build now slowly placing a network of teleporters however at 100,000 science for a pair it's taking a while to establish my network. Thankfully once you have a pair set up you can throw all your materials and other furniture through so moving base is a breeze, been grabbing a pile of materials in preperation on house building finally.

Quite far in to yokai gakuen Y about 15 hours so far. For a weird spinoff it's managed to be super addictive it uses the action nased yokai busters gaming mechanic however you don't mainly use yokai to fight moreso you use them to transform as they fuse with you karmen rider style. It has an interesting school mechanic a bit like persona 5 with the social stuff you get to join clubs and gather new classmates to then add to said clubs which unlock new things there's a huge extensive map of friends and who is besties with who so if you put friends together it amplifies the bonuses. I did laugh my head off when the school gets attacked and the entire thing goes into emergency mode where it transforms into a massive gundam and you proceed to use the school to fight in a side on fighter kaiju style.

the main one i have been playing though is yokai watch 4, man this one is a crazy upgrade from the 3DS games seeing the town and familiar places now in beautiful 3D is something else especially when level 5 are masters at beautuful texture work it really does look like you are playing the anime. The story with the various timelines clashing is a good one, you go forward 30 years and find you have a daughter called Natsume who you end up teaming up with also you see yourself all grown up time paradox be dammed lol. Currently around chapter 6 but i have been taking my time doing a lot of side quests, characters from the previous 3 YW games have made an appearance it's like all of them combined into one game, there is even a side quest where the main guy Shinpei you play as in yokai gakuen Y. The battle system took a bit of getting used to as it plays a bit like the battles from yokai busters mixed with ninokuni where you have 3 yokai in battle at once which you can control at any time then you can also kick ass yourself along side your team. There is an almost overwhelming amount of new things to see & do now that you jump between time periods.

The most recent area i have reached in the story the older & slightly more rundown part of town which has a really nice vibe to it. It's weird seeing these areas that i recognise from the 3DS games now looking so pretty.



Ghost hunting around my home


Finding one of the many usueful warp mirrors these are a lifesaver later on


The old town 30 years into the past


The chaos of battles, where you are not only switching between controlling your yokai but you often tag team in other kids of the yokai detective agency you are all part of. Everyone doesn't have the same watches some let them transform while others summon gods.


Managed to win Dondoro my first S rank i have gotten in YW4, he was a total bitch to get in YW2 the amount of times i had to battle him before he would join me. In YW4 the system is totally different.


Err sometimes you regret using the watch to reveal whats hidden trying not to look at it.
The opening intro is amazing.


All the soundtrack is top tier some of the nicest songs i have heard in ages, Shins world 30 years in the past during the day movie quality. I could listen to this all day.

[randombs]

Halo 2 (MCC, Steam Deck)

For precisely two years, I had an annual tradition of playing through Halos 1-5. Alas, that tradition lapsed somewhat but it was reinvigorated after I got my Steam Deck and wondered just what in the holy heck I’d play on it.

HALO, OF COURSE!

I played 2.5 levels of the first Halo before skipping it - I’ve played it the most and was itching to get to Halo 3, but far be it from me to skip an entire game.

So, Halo 2. I’m thinking to skip the Arbiter stages and catch up on the sumptuous cutscenes (which still look incredible today). Currently playing around with skulls for a laugh.

I’m most looking forward to Halo 3 and Reach. I’ll skip the boring beginning of Halo 4 up to the forest where it suddenly becomes wicked.

I don’t care what anyone says. I flipping love these games, even Halo 5.

I might even sign up for GamePass and have a second stab at Infinite this time.

Oh wait, I should go back to Halo CE and do the beach assault!

[Wools]

Sounds like you're having a great time randombs! I loved Halo, their was a time in the 2000's where if you asked me what the best games ever were in relation to time played, they would be Halo: Combat Evolved, Resident Evil 4, Half-Life 2 and Pro Evolution Soccer 3, in that order. They were not only brilliant, but so re-playable. I've not gone back to those games for awhile, wonder how they feel and play now.

I'm currently not sticking to one game, but I'm deeply immersed in emulation, so treating myself daily to an amuse-bouche of games most days, thanks to my Steam Deck and Miyoo Mini Plus. I'm adoring going back to Mega-Drive games, particularly the Sonic games as they're just so well made. Also, I never had a Game-Boy as a kid, instead jumping to the Game-Boy Colour on Pokemon's release day, so have missed so many games. When Mrs Wools spotted me playing Sonic, she mentioned she missed her Game-Boy she had when she was little, so she was so giddy when I loaded up Vimms Lair, and begun scrolling through the games asking her; Did you own this?

I downloaded all the games she recognised and when she's not playing them on my Miyoo, I've been experiencing some Game-Boy classics too. Big fan of Ware Land 3 at the moment.

[wakka]

Wario Land 3 is a quality game Wools

Another couple to try are Donkey Kong '94 (a superb puzzle platformer with a ton of content for an OG GB game, if your emulator(s) support it try loading it as a Super Gameboy game on the SNES for full colour graphics too), and the fan translation of The Frog For Whom The Bell Tolls. I wrote some impressions of the latter a few pages back, it's a really fun lil action RPG which was developed as a forerunner to Link's Awakening. Very humorous script and quite distinctive gameplay.