Amnesiac

I would think some of the frustration comes from choosing a launch week that suits your game based on whatever else is projected to release, and then watching a surprise drop suck up a lot of people’s gaming budget.

Happy to find two games that have been hanging around in my wishlist for a while getting their first discounts. Blazing Strike and River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next both looked interesting but felt a bit pricey at release. Now they can move from the wishlist to the backlog.

@PlatinumMikey There’s a list of target photos for each location, and the trophies seem mostly tied to completing those lists. That, and a lot of walking about.

@PlatinumMikey Amazon tells me I ordered Afrika back in 2009 (yikes!) I’m in the country formerly known as the US, and I think it was published by Natsume here. It was a little pokey but a pretty neat experience all around if memory serves, which it may not since I’m apparently very old…

I picked this up on release as I’ve enjoyed these types of games going back to Afrika on PS3. It’s very pretty, but I found the frame rate stutters to be pretty jarring, and I’m not one of the hard core frame rate fundamentalists. Hope it gets cleaned up, but still a good experience for the price.

@Stepan Kid A Mnesia Exhibition is a marvel. It’s one of the first things I installed on my PS5 and I’ve never considered deleting it.

I had a lot of fun with this game, and it’s great on the Portal, but I think I’ll continue to keep my distance for the moment. Disney’s take on Alice in Wonderland is iconic stuff, but Dreamlight Valley just eats up playtime and there are only so many hours in the day.

Looks like good fun! I still have a Pocket Color tucked away somewhere with a handful of games in their slowly deteriorating cardboard boxes. I’d love to see the two game collections make their way to PS, but they seem stuck on the Switch for now…

I read the headline and thought Sony was giving kudos to PushSquare. Which they should, because of the fine work you do combing through the sales to find worthwhile buys. So well done all around, I guess!

The addition of the alchemists reminds me a bit of Warriors All Stars. Looking forward to giving them a spin.

@Truegamer79 I think that was the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection. It had the first two Gradius games, Life Force, and some other good stuff. Also, Haunted Castle, which is not good stuff.

That subheading is pure gold, and I can’t read it without hearing Kiryu’s voice in my head, which somehow makes it even better.

They really should have gone with “The Best and Worst of Bubsy” as the title of the collection. That’s just the right amount of self deprecation to get me to preorder. Also, the colon use in the actual title makes me wince for some reason.

Glad to hear that the combat is speedy. In the last Ryza installment, even battles against a handful of punis could take an age. Sometimes you just want to whack a puni and move on with your life, you know?

Really? I thought the shirt, blazer, corset, or shazet as I like to call it, looked fine and dandy. This looks nice too, though!

So like a Steam Machine then? That didn’t work out too well, but it wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe the time is right to try again.

@AhmadSumadi I played it and really enjoyed it, but I don’t know you so I guess your statement stands. The game is just stuffed with interesting historical info about one of the most fascinating periods of Japanese history. If that’s not your thing, I can see it being a bit of a slog at times, but I was constantly entertained.

If I’m reading this correctly, it sounds like an app that lets you date Christian Donlan. Sign me up, the man’s a poet.

I’m always up to try a new music game. Sounds like the inputs are a bit sloppy, but my concerns are offset a bit by the reasonable price, and it being on sale at the moment.

@JamieO Happy Birthday fellow child of the 80’s arcades! Some good old Sega weirdness seems like a fine way to celebrate. As for me, I’ll be testing my old man reflexes with Under Defeat and a bit of the second Irem collection.

@get2sammyb As someone who enjoyed birding pre-toddlers, when free time was more than just a concept, I was really looking forward to Wingspan, but I’ve found the rules to be pretty dense. Or maybe I’m just too dense to understand the rules.
Balatro, on the other hand, I’ve had to consciously keep off my home screen or risk falling back into its addictive clutches. Pick your poison, I guess!

Nice! Lunar Lander Beyond was a good bit of fun, so I’m happy to see this series continuing.

@nitraM I finally got around to playing it over the weekend and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I was a bit worried after the tutorial level, but so far the rest of the game has been good fun. That being said, it definitely has that FF13 feeling of being a long series of rooms and corridors so far. Also, the combat is full of interesting ideas that don’t come together often enough because the game gets in its own way. Still, I’m enjoying my play through and am glad that the team was at least able to bring a small part of their vision to (slightly janky) life.

I read about his passing last night and had that feeling like the air left the room. Everything was a little worse than it was a moment before. I think I can say that David Lynch changed how I experienced movies and TV. From watching the Twin Peaks broadcast as a stunned middle schooler to getting lost in classics like Mulholland Drive or Inland Empire as an adult, the style and atmosphere he created was unparalleled.

That subheading gave me a good chuckle. Hopefully the game will let you recreate the addition to the Guggenheim Museum and other works by the inimitable Art Vandelay.

“Mai Bounces Over to SF6” seems like a missed opportunity, but I guess PushSquare is too classy for that.

I’ll second @CWill97 . The conversation format makes for a fun read. Also, as a non-Briton I’m sure some of this game sailed over my head, but it was still stuffed with laughs. Also, they seemed to manage poking fun without being overly mean spirited, which is welcome and rare.

The holiday sale price and my contractual obligation to buy train related things as a toddler dad has finally pushed this out of my wishlist and into my cart.

@GrimWillows I forgot that he did the score for Mishima! I have that on blu ray but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet. Backlogs aren’t just for games! I love his scores for A Brief History of Time and Thin Blue Line, so I’m looking forward to checking it out.

@GrimWillows Seems like things get a bit out of balance in Naiad as well, with the oil-slicked, refuse-filled sewers mentioned in the review. But honestly, I was just happy to be reminded of the Qatsi trilogy, which I’m now planning to exhume from my basement and rewatch.

Just here to applaud the subheading. Time to dig out the trilogy and enjoy some random time lapse footage set to Philip Glass. Oh, and the game looks neat too!

What a nice surprise! I really enjoyed Journey to Kyoto. Such a great way to unwind.

Yes, I did pick up Unknown 9, partly because of the PushSquare review (this site has cost me a fortune over the years), and partly because it looked like a nice AA palette cleanser between other games. Hope to get to it before year’s end.

@Wario_Waha Given that two of Nintendo’s biggest 2024 exclusives were quietly developed by Grezzo and Good-Feel, I’m not sure your glass house can stand up to the stones you’re hurling.

@GuttyYZ And I will continue to use it to describe my middle-aged midsection.

So the clothing clips through the character models? I think I might have a solution for that…

Really looking forward to diving into the documentary stuff, which is what makes this series so good. Speaking of which, the Atari 50 ‘First Console War’ update has been fascinating so far. The conversations around Intellivision games being ported to the VCS are an interesting parallel to the current state of affairs.

@mrmartinrohr What TV did you go with, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m tempted by the Pro, but given the age of my current TV I don’t think I would get the most out of it.

No matter how big they make the disc free warning, someone, somewhere will be furiously trying to cram a disc into it on launch day. I only hope it’s caught on film.

@LifeGirl If you’re just looking for a collection of Tetris games there may be better alternatives, but the heart of the Gold Master series has been the documentaries and archival material. The work they did on the Karateka and Llamasoft releases was great. It’s really the best form of game preservation I’ve seen.

@Lup Oops! I should of checked my grammar. It would of made for a clearer post.

The opinion of anyone who uses “cringe” as an adjective should be discounted out of hand. Also, the traversal alone makes this a phenomenal game. Moving from place to place hasn’t been as enjoyable in a game since, well, ever. I’m completely baffled by why anyone would think that Miles is supplanting Peter, other than those who struggle with narrative comprehension. It was, and is, a fantastic game. Could of used a bit more Felicia Hardy, though.

More sad news, but from a selfish perspective sadder than most because the games that failed to sell were both very good. In fact, Banishers is one of my games of the year and something that I’d like to see more of. It’s one of those games where the care that the creators put into it really stands out. It’s cold comfort, but I imagine that anyone whose name appeared in the credits of Banishers or Jusant would be an great hire for any studio.

And as sure as the turning or the earth, a “Portal is doing well” article is met with a flurry of questions about who could possibly want one. We’ve done this dance for a whole year, and I doubt the music will stop anytime soon.

Really happy to see the Gold Master Series continue. As great as it will be to have access to all of these in one package, it’s the documentary stuff that really has me interested. The Karateka and Llamasoft releases were like mini museums, and I’m looking forward to another dive into the recent past.

It would be kind of neat if it could be used to misdirect enemies. Well, neat for a few minutes, and then I’d probably just want to push a button.

I really loved DriveClub, and spent a ton of time with it, but DriveClub VR was and remains an absolute show stopper.

@thefourfoldroot1 I can’t say that I agree with your take on Astro Bot, but I have to thank you for bringing Max Mustard to my attention. Now that I know it’s a VR platformer and not a condiment application simulator, it’s been added to my wishlist.

It’s an acquired taste, but it’s a taste that I’ve acquired, so I’ve added it to my trusty wish list. It’s always a pleasant surprise when a VN winds up on PS.

I picked this up on release and have been enjoying it. As mentioned in the review, the rewind function boosts the entertainment value in 53 Stations and Madoola, and I always appreciate when classic game collections include a gallery. I’m always happy when I see that cobalt blue Sunsoft logo on my PS5’s dashboard.