ThorsHammer

My right hand has fully recovered so been neglecting the PS5 and catching up on PC stuff i missed last year:

PC Game Pass
Halo Infinite
Thr best Halo game in years for sure...but considering how mediocre 5 was, that's not high praise. Reagardless, its a fun back-to-basics for the series, basically the Silent Cartographer level expanded into an entire game. Taking a step backwards was a smart move n its nice just to kick ass as chief again. About a third in.

The Gunk
Cute little double A title, where they ring alot from a simple premise: clearing toxic gunk off an alien planet. The characters are flatly cartoony but the enviroments are stunning. On the last level now, enjoyed my time with it but will prob forget about it quick afterwards too.

AI: The Somnium Files
Pretty cool visual novel i stream on my mobile. Really like how the mystery unfolds and keeps you guessing, plus coupled with an odd offkilter sense of humor only the japanese could pull off.

Switch
Rogue Legacy
Man, been hooked on this one for the past three weeks. So tough, yet so bloody addictive, have finally persisted to the final boss but am stuck on his 2nd form. Hopefully will get done soon, wish me luck!

@The_Moose yh its pretty painful, espcially considering part 1 & 2 escalate in excellance. Are you doing in co op at least? Its slightly more tolreable

@themightyant did u try different customisation options? Im a big vr gamer but always need snap turning on to not feel woozy, since figuring that out i can be lost in a game for hrs. if u pick up a next gen headset id say play arournd and find out what will work for u,. Everyone is different of course. My first 2 weeks i felt slight nausea but got over it for good.

@Deadlyblack you echoed my thoughts on both. Gameplay for MGSV was great, everything else pretty subpar. Enjoy DS, its a divisive game, but if it clicks with u (as it sounds like it has), its one of the most satisfying gaming experiences out there.

Merry xmas everyone!
Im visiting wifes family in cyprus so strictly on the Switch:
Steamworld Dig
Am hooked on this one, on last third but am scourging earlier stages for upgrades before pushing to the end.

Phoniex Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Have started thr 2nd ep of the first game. Really enjoy the humor and branching dialogue. Am pretty new to visual novel genre...but this is great in portable form.

@UltimateOtaku91 most of their game studios are mid to low key. Unless im mistaken, Gearbox is the only one pretty well know, for good and bad reasons though.

What will they buy next? Sony? Xbox? Where do they get all this money too?

PS5
Life is Strange 2
Still playing more mellow games as my hand recovers. Enjoyed the other entries so thought to give this one a spin...meh its ok. Some intresting mechanics and decent moments, not a fan of the blatent agenda though, sortve kills the stories nuance.

Switch
No More Heores
Finished this one back in the day on the Wii
but it was censored version, happy to play this one in its full glory without motion controls. Absolutle insane Suda 51 fun...they dont make em like this anymore.

PC Game Pass
AI The Sominian Files
Pretty enjoyable anime murder investigation piece. Never played a visual novel before, bit am enjoying the genre so far. Some cute humor and an intriguing murder mystery. Am playing on my phone using touch controls.

I hooked it up to PS5 to finish my vr backlog, but then sold it off. The tech was an innovation at release and made strides at breaking VR into the mainstream...but once youve tried headset tracking without all those bloody cables, its tough to go back to this beyond dated tech. Sony is still supporting it with great exclusives (Fracked, Arashi and Hitman 3 were great this year), but ill stick with Quest 2 until the next gen PSVR.

This is great news. Im a massive splinter cell fan and welcome a remake of the first - in fact its the only installment i never played, so it will be brand new fof me. I hope they got the memo this time though ...Michael Ironside or GTFO!

CHAOS!!!!!!!!!!
Whew, just has to get that one out of my system. Sure, am intrested to see more i guess, more cause of Team Ninja then FF, personally.

Right broken hand almost at full capacity, soon ready to pick up all games i had to pause before accident, will keep mellow it for next 2 weeks so:

PS5
The Council
Wrapped recenty. God lord this game was bad ass. It has pacing and objective flaws, but the plot takes some crazy turns but never flies off the rails. If your're into narrative games...give this a play.

Telltales Walking Dead: Final Season
Just started last episode. Wow, the quality has significantly dropped. I have to cut some slack concerning the horible production issues that happened around it, but it went from a great experience to overall just a decent send off. Still exicited to see Clementines arc wrap up though.

Xbox Game Pass
Pillars of Eternity
Still chipping away at this epic plot on downtown via mobile streaming. Good stuff, even in small doses.

Switch
Super Mario Land 2 - Yoshis Island
Never ever knew this game existed. Its awesome, am enjoying its offkilter energy, and can see how it started the formula of offbeat nintendo spin offs.

Star Fox 2
After replayin the first one (my favorite SNES game) i was excited to try this...but am sortve baffled by the choice of mechanics and gameplay. Not that surprised it got shelved...but will give it another decent spin after yesterdays playthrough.

@iamtylerdurden1 Thanks for the info, based on this ill give it a spin, from what i read elsewhere its a trucated version but youve convinced me otherwise.

It all sounds a little vague, and concerning the back-compat, also a little unbelievable. Regardless, anything Sony does to improve their subscription offering has my interest, if what it offers is value and afforable though, is what will convince me to uptier. Otherwise ill stick with Game Pass and buying firstpparty at a discount.

Its a pretty decent one. Ive been close to getting Mortal Shells a couple times but held out, so really happy to get it, itll be a nice Soulslike fix before Elden Ring. Despie the mixed reviews, I wouldve been intrested in the base game of Godfall, not this odd ***** version, so its a pass. Ive never gotten into Lego games but it cant hurt too have it in the library - is it a good wife co op game?
Overall Mortal Shells makes it a win for me.

@Divergent95 i just began episode 3. After 1 i would give it an 8/10, but after ep 2, which has weird pacing and loads of vague puzzles and objectives over the awesome RPG dialogue gameplay, it dropped to about a 7. The plot still kicks ass and ep 3 so far is better. Will prob finish over the week so can have a better verdict for you.

Got my broken hand out of my cast this week, so can fnally play 2 handed. However am still sticking to more passive games for the time being:

PS5
The Council
Halfway through this overlooked narrative title. Really cool central mystery and mixing of RPG elements with dialogue trees is evolutionary for the subgenre. Uneven Voice acting and some frustratingly vague puzzles let it down abit so far.

Telltales Walking Dead Final Season
Finished the first ep and have really enjoyed it. Oriniginally binged the others a few years back and never got round to this one due being faitugued by Telltale games. Its not as fresh as the original felt but definelty improves on the story and formula of the sequels. Looking forward to more.

Persona 5
Have been playing through the first hours as a mellow palette cleanser. At a 100 hr length im in no rush and it makes for relaxed gameplay. Its basically just more Persona...but if thats if what your in the mood for, then its awesome.

Xbox Game Pass
Pillars of Eternity
Been streaming this to my phone with touch controllers on downtime during work. I detest mobile gaming but this works pretty well and was able to customise playing one handed. Obsidian are my current favorite western RPG studio and this game plays to there strengths. Only a couple hrs in though.

Full Throttle
The last remaining Lucasarts remaster i havent played. Pretty early in, but the expected humor and plot are working for me.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy DS2 aint bad, its just not comparable to the rest. The care and detail that Miyazaki puts into the ones he directs (level design, bosses, atmosphere) just wasnt felt there for me personally...although it does some solid moments. Then again, what so cool about this series is everyone will have a drastically different opinion on what is best.

@Divergent95 just got halfway through The Council myself. Its has flaws (too many vague puzzles in some eps, wonky animation and voice acting) but its awesome how they mix rpg elements with dialogue choices and the mystery is very intriguiging. Ill be intrested to see your reaction...

@Th3solution correct theres lots of confusion about international pricing. thats an intresting way to look at it, i never assumed it was imbalanced the other way round last gen, if thats the case, then i feel its fair to switch it around, but its strange that Sony is the only one to do it. all PS5 third-party and most second-party are still 49.99 to 54.99 in price on launch. Regardless, even if it feels less confusingly lopsided for UK gamers, just on a personal front i cant justify (or afford) shelling out 70 bucks for one game, espcially when that will be cheaper in 2 months. i am happy to see others can though and Sony is supported by several gamers for the high quality they put out.

@GreatAuk good point i overlooked about the pretax, thank for the observation. with that said 75 dollars from what i can see is about 57 pounds, which is pretty close to what we payed in the PS4 era (49.99 to 54.99 pounds) for Sony exclusives. i think in the states they had 59.99 to 64.99 dollars as a pretax equivelent back then? but with the PS5 era theyve never made similar adjustments and (correct me if im wrong) have never really justified why. so defintely a valid pointer, the gap is not as large as i originally assumed - but there still is a gap and its enough for me to wait for a discount (e.g i finally picked up R&C Rift Apart on black friday sale for 54.99) whereas before i wouldve preordered sight unseen.

im conflicted with this. i was never a gamer who preordered or got day one releases due skeptism and stinginess and would wait a few months for things to get cheaper.
however that changed during PS4 generation 5 years back, where by default i would preorder every first party PS exclusive...and wasnt disappointed once. which made me more then happy to support Sony at full price.
The quality that they put into their games is undeniable and it stays true going into the PS5 gen.
Your always guareentied quality and with production cost being high, i think 70 dollars is steep, but factors considered, a reasonable price - but im UK based, and we are charged 70 pounds (around 94 dollars) for that same game. not only does it feel frustratingly unfair (and sortve perplexing), but also as a young dad with a mortage, i just cant justify that pricetag, espcially when im getting all kinds of Day One releases on Game Pass via PC for a simple subscription fee.
Its fine, ive just gone back to waiting a little longer to get ahold of PS games - but if they ever see reason and adjust the price to an even playing field across continients, ill go back to preordering without a problem.

@render i started it before i sold off the PSVR, so played the first half within that mode. its defintely more intense and imersive (espcially crawling through the dark vents at the end of level one), but i switched to flat screen at the midpoint - i need snapturning to avoid nausea but it really hampered reaction times in tough situations - tbh i enjoyed it just as much in flat, plus it helps approach the combat in a stragetic manner. your pretty much just missing out a little on scare factor but thats it. hav fun with it, one of last gens most overlooked for sure

@render fantastic, i love The Persistance, such an underrated game and tough but addictive. Are you playing in VR or flatscreen?

im still recovering from a broken (dominant) right hand so gaming is limited but possible with RTS and point and click games.
Just finished The Banner Saga - wow, what a story and i got a bleak as hell ending that haunts me.
Also just started first couple hours of House of Ash and am enjoying. it feels like SuperMassive coming close back to the quality of Until Dawn finally.