Thrillho

I only just finished the game with the platinum and loved it. The main gameplay loop is pretty chill but fun, and I loved the random mini games throughout.

Some spin-offs with different focuses and game styles would be good fun and the variety of different directions they could go could be really interesting. Perfect for a shorter indie title.

@Ryne-Gaia I’m almost certain something like the level 20 mod would allow you to start at that level. So not necessarily a “super easy mode” for the whole game but certainly for a lot of it.

That pill needs an “I played the demo to death” option. I can’t remember if that was an OPM demo or from somewhere else.

@Quintumply TP Hospital was great fun and obviously a must play if you enjoyed Theme Hospital back in the day.

I found TP University didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It was cool that each level had a theme around it but there was a lot of waiting around when objectives required you to wait to the end of the academic year.

KIRYUUUUUUU CHAAAAAAN!

Both my music and gaming collection has gone predominantly digital over the last few years.

For both, it’s partly a storage issue but also a bit of a feeling of unnecessary waste; buying CDs just got pointless as I’d import it to my laptop and then never use it and in both cases it’s more plastic etc that just isn’t needed.

I do buy some of my favourite albums on vinyl but have never done the same with games as the price difference between the two media is so great.

The nostalgia of reading through Mega Drive manuals and things like the RDR maps people have posted are strong (Witcher 3 even came with some stickers I seem to remember) but the only reason I bough a couple of PS5 games on disc were because there were no sales on games when the console was new. Almost all of my purchases are through PSN sales now.

@johncalmc The question is can you build a hostess club on the island that you then need to run yourself?

@MrGilly69 as the previous comment said, there is so much in the game that isn’t explained to you and that I’ve found out via spoiler free Reddit posts.

But the sheer freedom to do what you want is insane. It’s kind of amazing that Larian were happy to make a game where you will miss significant amounts of content. Again, it’s funny reading Reddit posts where people have completely missed (or straight up killed) companions. And there was a video on Twitter recently that showed the insanely different ways people had approached one of the early big encounters.

Extraordinary game.

@Nepp67 it isn’t the last one with Kiryu…

@AFCC This game is all about linking Kiryu’s timeline in LaD so it might not make much sense to you in places but it’ll I don’t think it’s essential. Probably more important to have played the main games, especially Y6.

@LiamCroft I can stack my Essential subscription at the discount price through the app (although 25% discount, not 30%)

https://i.ibb.co/nR9wp3Y/IMG-9633.png
https://i.ibb.co/r63Bp2F/IMG-9634.png

Never change Sammy.

One of the most extraordinary gaming experiences over the last few years. It’s not for everyone but I’d highly recommend jumping on the route and enjoying the ride.

I really enjoyed 2P Hospital but thought Campus fell a little flat. But I’ll keep an eye out for this as it seems an interesting crossover.

@ChakaL00T Sorry to hear about your console. If it’s any consolation, my first PS5 died within 24 hours of having it!

I was pretty impressed with how quick the turnaround was from sending it back to Sony and the console I got back has been absolutely fine since. Fingers crossed for better luck with your new one too.

@Quintumply Thanks. The Pedestrian was a little bit shorter than that and didn’t outstay it’s welcome with only a few new mechanics through the game. Will just wait and see what price they go for!

This has looked like a really cool concept since I first saw it so glad to hear it just about works as a full game. A shorter length doesn’t bother me too much as I’d rather it not get too repetitive but what was the rough play time for you @Quintumply ?

Marvel’s Midnight Suns at £35 is pretty good. I really enjoyed the game and if you’re a fan of XCOM style games then don’t be put off by the deck building mechanic!

It’s also a neat array of Marvel characters with plenty of obvious choices but some less well known ones too.

My main memory of playing the first game was just how quickly such an iconic theme tune can start to annoy you when you hear it every time you boot the game up..

Hollow Knight was one of my favourite games from the last gen so I’d rather they take the time and get it right.

I used to love some of these games on the OPM disc back in the day. Some excellent names of games in the article and comments so far but may I also add;

Rocks and Gems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfN_K20j4og

Psychon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TU2yNbT0k8

Blitter Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diF0qOWxQ0A

The whole point of the second game was that it was about the pointless need for revenge and what Ellie and Abby lose in their pursuit of it.

It would either have to be a completely different plot to the game or it would be a complete disservice to the whole story.

Death’s Door is a wonderful little game, especially at that price.

And I had great fun worth Cult of the Lamb recently too. I think you’ve got the price wrong in the article though @Quintumply as it’s showing it as £14.99 on the store for me.

Duller NPCs than Dragon’s Dogma?

Good lord.

I enjoyed Elden Ring but found too much of it was overly cryptic and I would never have found out about some t hi MGS without vaguely using a guide.

The open world was amazing but I ended up feeling a bit aimless at times, plus I found a lot of the catacombs etc felt a bit repetitive and filler.

Still an incredible game though and, as said above, there will be plenty in ER to inspire future games.

Robert finishing his article and scheduling it to auto-post before signing off for his Christmas holidays like;

@ShogunRok ignore the haters choom, it’s the best game I’ve played (twice) this year too 🙌

@JustPlainLoco Judg(e)ment is a great game. It’s got plenty of the normal Yakuza mechanics etc in there but is more than distinct enough to be its own thing. The story is really good, the cast excellent, and the courtroom scenes are a highlight.

The tailing sections are utter rubbish though.

“New voice acting is questionable”

This just describes all JRPG English/American voice acting doesn’t it?

I really enjoyed NFS Payback which had pretty mixed reviews so it’s great to hear this one sounds fun too.

@Danloaded I got the platinum too but was pretty underwhelmed by the game. It is possible to pretty much turn the narrator off though which was very welcome!

Turning off the random gibberish off the characters was very welcome too.

@UnlimitedSevens Ah cool. I’m sure I googled a few characters from INTERmission as they were dropped in so casually and I thought there was some overlap between them being in Crisis Core and Dirge; neither of which I’ve played.

Be prepare to be underwhelmed by Biomutant folks!

At least it looks a bit nicer in 60fps I guess..

I never played Crisis Core back in the day so am interested to see how this turns out with its slightly weird combat mechanics and even more weird dialogue and characters.

Some of the weirdest moments from INTERmission seemingly involved Crisis Core characters I’d never heard of before.

I loved the game but fear it’s going to feel pretty dated to play, particularly the combat which I assume they won’t have done much with.

1) As much as I love the guy, they should have killed him off at the end of Y6 rather than the ending they went for.

2) His part in LaD should have just been left at the unnamed bodyguard scene rather than have him in as much as they did.

@KaijuKaiser It’s only 2-3 hours long and a glorified walking sim but an amazing piece of video game storytelling. I’d highly recommend it.

@johncalmc Is the game easier than TP Hospital then?

I found it was pretty tricky to 3* some of those levels, and getting the trophy on the final level was tough work too.

@Golem25 The grind is strong to beat the final dungeon and get the last trophy for LaD.

I’m just in the post-game stuff for Like a Dragon and it’s been good fun. The changes to combat make it feel fresh and it’s fun having a party rather than just one character.

@Ooccoo_Jr It can absolutely be played without the other games but there are some great moments related to the old games but I wouldn’t say you need to play the previous 7 games in the series to enjoy this one! Judgment is also a great game if you want to try the series out as it’s completely detached from the main series.

The devs big fans of Against Me or something with that title?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CldvQpb8TGI

A new IP sounds great. I’d love to see something new and different rather than just churning out more of the same, as much as I loved Returnal.

Two Point Hospital was fab and I thought had a nice balance between being able to simply pass a level or absolutely acing it. Getting the platinum was a great challenge!

Looking forward to this and a slight twist on the formula. I still have Evil Genius 2 in the backlog for sometime soon as well!

Wow, the load/save and rewind features are pretty slick.

I also ended up going quite a different way to the above and found some rather important additional things!

1) When at the Rampart Tower site of grace I went to the top level where the guide says "there is nothing of note". There is an enemy at the top and a guy with a crossbow you can't reach you can run around this area out onto the roof. Be careful to sneak around and kill the horn blower so you can take the rest of the enemies out easily.

From where the platform with the horn blower, you can jump over onto a different roof section and edge around some of the towers. You can get onto the top of one and drop down onto a roof with a bird enemy. There's a gesture item up here. Cross to the next roof and up the broken stonework and edge around to an area with another three enemies. Up a ladder in the centre of this area is a Claw Talisman.

I then dropped down onto the ramparts and edged around rooftops, completely avoiding the open central courtyard. Dropping through one rooftop allows you to sneak around to the Liftside Chamber site of grace.

2) As mentioned above, from the Liftside Chamber site of grace, you can take the lift up, ignore the living pots, and find a golden scarab with Ash of War: Stormcaller. The Secluded Cell site of grace is just ahead.

3) But from the Liftside Chamber site, instead of taking the lift you can head East. Tackle the two bird enemies and one crossbow enemy, and break through the barricade. There is a side room on the right with an NPC you can summon for the boss fight (and trigger their quest), and further along the same path is a golden seed. The big enemy ahead just blocks your way back to the Secluded Cell.

You can cheese the knight in the dark room by sneaking in, backstabbing him, and then running out the room. Hopefully he gets stuck behind the door and you can jab him with a longer range melee weapon.

@get2sammyb @Quintumply Did either of you try the PS4 version or were reviews codes just for the new gen?

Bye bye Crash

I’ve no problems with games coming out elsewhere later on.

I was always intrigued by Disco Elysium but not enough to have to go and buy another console or get a better laptop. So it coming out on PS4/5 was great for me!

Similarly with games like Cuphead coming belatedly to the Sony consoles after a couple of years too.

@Ralizah Fair enough and not dismissive at all. It’s just like some people dismissing Disco Elysium for being “pretentious”, I wouldn’t dismiss this for the “gimmicky” mechanic and cartoony art style.

It wasn’t on my radar initially but Kidfried’s thoughts on it in the forum made me give it a go and I enjoyed it more that I thought I would (except the overly difficult hunt for the final collectibles to get the platinum!)