So… I’ve gotta be careful as my Internet Algorithm learns that I’m quite into Death Stranding, but there’s a neat video thumbnail about Easter Eggs I stumbled upon today.
OH MY GOD WAS I RIGHT ABOUT THIS?? 
(No spoilers I’ll find it myself.)
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Started playing Exo One, you maneuver a UFO-like gravity-drive craft around a variety of alien planets. It’s short but very fun, I’ve already completed it twice since last night.
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I really liked this short, zen-state, alien world speedster game.
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I recently played Tormented Souls. A little 10 hour survival horror indie title.
It wears its inspiration on its sleeve, loud and proud. This is for fans of early Silent Hill and Resident Evil. For what it sets out to achieve, it passes with flying colours.
If you have the slightest interest in this genre, do yourself a favour and get this game. In some regards it even surpasses its masters, especially with puzzle design. There’s some genuine out of the box thinking required here and I’ve never played a game with this amount of aaaaaaaaaaah’s. It demands that you pay attention and while some of them are very obtuse, there’s always a method to the madness that just clicks at some point. Only exception would be a floppy disk puzzle that takes it a smidge too far.
Soundtrack is amazing, warm and fuzzy and will also delve into Akira Yamaoka spooky. It’s low on jump scares. When they hit they got me good to the point it had me scream irl followed by laughter over how good it was.
Story was also a highpoint for me. You deduct it through pages and pages of text files. Even though I saw the twist coming I still thought it was great. It may not be the most original thing but the way it’s told was great. Lots of environmental storytelling as well.
The voice acting is stilted in the most loveable way. There’s three characters and none of them sound natural. It’s so atrocious I’m sure it’s an artistic choice to harken back to the classics of PS1 and 2.
Highly recommend this gem.
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Huh, I like the visual style. Seems simple but pleasant to look at.
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Galaxy Force II Special Extended Edition (via PS2 Emulator)
I took a screenshot when I noticed the score. It would’ve been better with -210 Pts. 
There are a few other versions of this game in this compilation. The screenshot is from a remastered version (and I think there might be a visual bug with some of the background sprites having vertical lines near them, like the cloud above/in front of the ship.
There are no continues in any of these versions. Apparently, they want you to do a 1 Credit Clear. This is the furthest I’ve made it so far… Actually, I ran out of energy just a bit before reaching the Enemy Control Unit (essentially the stage “boss”). To make it to the end, you’ll need around 1 to 1.2K energy before starting each stage.
The arcade version (which one might play in MAME) does allow continues… Except for maybe on the final stage.
To play, you shoot/destroy things to rack up points on your Energy Bonus, and you’ll get another bonus after defeating the boss. Obviously, avoid running into anything and dodge enemy missiles/projectiles. There are 5 stages that can be selected at the beginning, but after all 5 are completed, you go into a wormhole… Or some stage that makes you think you’re in hyperspace or something at the beginning.
When this first came out, it was a popular attraction in the arcades that had it back in the day. It had those rope things around it so people wouldn’t get too close since it moved… As in rocked and turned like you would be doing in the ship in the game.
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I have Sniper Elite 4 wishlisted on Steam and noticed that it goes for pretty cheap during the summer sale. Then I realized I bought SE3 last sale and still haven’t played it, so I’m on that now.
Just cleared the main campaign and am considering the DLC missions next.
Trying to stealth yourself through missions can be pretty annoying sometimes, and the sounds that hide your sniper shots are often designed to be few and far between, meaning you can go long times without really getting to snipe people unless you want an all out battle.
It just sort of highlights why I love the Hitman games so much. I rarely find them tedious to play. I do with SE3.
It’s fun enough to keep going, but I feel like the design is far from flawless.
Might get SE4 once I’m done with the DLC.
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Sniper Elite 4 is a bit better since you can get suppressed ammo and suppressors for your rifles. It’s also where the maps get far bigger, with maps feeling far more on par with Hitman WOA’s open map design. 5 and Resistance is where in your rifle customisation, it will actually tell you the distance of sound the gun makes when fired. Once you start unlocking suppressors, you’ll rarely need to use noise covering to be able to shoot and stay hidden.
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Played through Thank Goodness You’re Here with a couple of mates over the weekend. Blimey Charlie, what a trip. Would be very interested how it would come across for non-Brits, because it feels like the most specifically British-targeted game made in many years.
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Tony Hawk 3+4 fun game, might do a fully review later on in the week when I have the time and have played more.
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I expect to be done with it tomorrow.
I’m at the final “save Churchill”-DLC and am nearing the end, but just rage-quitted when I saw a hidden sniper first, the game told me (by means of the red reticule) that I had a kill shot, and then it hit a rock anyways. So… tomorrow it is.
Question on Sniper Elite 4… does almost every mission end with having to take out a tank or somesuch like in Sniper Elite 3? I find these obligatory sections quite dull and predictable and I feel like they undermine the stealth feel I want out of the missions (though I appreciate that an action approach can be fun at times too).
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From what I can remember, there were either none or very little of those in Sniper Elite 4
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Not that I remember. SE4 onwards are far more open ended. They’ll usually give you your objectives, and then you achieve them in whatever order you wish. Sometimes that might involve blowing up tanks or something else, but you get land mines and delayed TNT bombs so you can hide once the fireworks go off.
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Been fully invested and committed to Death Stranding.
Discovered Legend of Legends of Legends and Ranked Rewards.
Rest assured I don’t plan on getting all LLL but just enough for the achievement tied to it.
36 hours in and still only on Episode 3. I’m a slave to getting all Connections Max level.
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Usually involving one main objective and various side objectives spread around the map.
Usually I think it involves killing a human target, though I think I remember one or two SE4 missions being about destroying enemy infrastructure.
Still, the stealth system seems a lot better than what you’re describing in SE3, and in SE4 you can customize your own difficulty of various settings if you wish.
Haven’t played SE3, was hoping to get it on sale on PS4, but then it got randomly delisted.
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THPS 3+4 in fact I have been playing it for a few days now since I got the digital deluxe edition so I am pretty much going to do a write up about how I feel, this isn’t like a comprehensive review of everything since I haven’t touched CAP and CAS or the multiplayer.
I think if you call this game THPS3X then you will have no problem with this game, this is what THPS2X wanted to be. A two-in-one remake with new levels that acts as a proof of concept for something.and it 3n4’s case it is the continued existence of the franchise.
In short if you love 3 then you will love this game but if you love 4 then you will have a game that will make you grumble but will still be really damn good once you get over it and both sides will be disappointed by the casualties in the soundtrack (unless you’re me who loves 3 and loves the new soundtrack even if he wishes Spokesman by Goldfinger was kept in.)
So let’s get into the write up. I think going into the broad scope of the game is best before going level by level.
The Bigger Picture
Iron Galaxy trim the fat massively from the challenge list for both good (less samey sort of challenges and it speeds up progression) and for bad (I kinda want more Get There challenges) but what they do leave behind is good enough to tax the skilled player as you get to the top end of the challenges but if you are a casual player you get some gimmies and goals to reach for,
For some mind-boggling reason Solo Progression is locked and to unlock it you have to play through the career once which is bizarre so I recommend using a created skater for the career then plough through the solo careers as you please.
Basically the Career and Solo Careers consist of a slate of goals based on the original game (for 3) or based on missions but recontextualised for the two minute format (if you are in a level from 4) once you complete those goals you get “pro goals” like in 4 which additional occasionally harder goals, These goals are different for the three styles of skating (like 3) though I wish the pro goals are like in 4 where it is something tailored to the skater because doing this 30 will probably get boring fast.
The last quibble is a case of hurting by helping. To stop the collecting from being too much all but two of the (3 style) hidden decks, all the (4 style) cash drops and all traditional stat points are shared between your characters. The latter means each character you will skate as will have the capacity to reach max stats the instant you start a new character. Unless you intentionally limit yourself each character plays the same off the bat. But it stops you from needing to hunt even more icons on the screen. So swings and roundabouts.
Finally the (Stompy the) Elephant in the room. FOur has had its career overhauled so it is more inline with its antecedents than its later progeny. I think this is a welcome change, the 4 levels actually work surprisingly well in the traditional format even if a lot of the character from the game is left behind in the wake of the changes. Again this will destroy a 4 fan but a neophyte will probably think it is better. Hell I am a Tony Hawk vet and I think the change is good especially when you are speed running the level.
The levels are fantastic and if I had the time to go over each one individually I would but sadly I don’t have that time but the graphics are phenomenal and the levels are all at least a decent quality with my favourite being Pinball the level I was most skeptical about.
Soundtrack is the biggest change mostly because so much of it has been gutted, I have come to terms with it, I mean this is the digital age and you can just make a Spotify playlist. However the new soundtrack is fantastic especially the newer stuff which is a surprise since I turned off pretty much all the new songs they had on 1+2. A lot of it feels like it was curated from Tony himself which makes sense because he said he had a hand in the soundtrack doing things like changing the Toy Dolls song from “Dig Yer Groove” to “She Goes to Finos” (one of Tony’s favourite songs) which I thought wouldn’t fit in well but that abated when I put it on while skating London and the same goes to Gift Horse by IDLES but they both go hard everywhere.
Anyway that level-by-level breakdown may come soon but that depends on how much time in my day this game will share with my new job.
Anyway I recommend this game wholeheartedly.
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Since it’s leaving Gamepass in a few days, this weekend I played The Case of The Golden Idol.
Loved it. Recommended for anyone who wants a brainer with occult vibes.
The final scenario before the epilogue was the only one where things weren’t entirely clear to me and I had to do a bit of educated guessing. Other than that, no complaints. The art and music are up my alley. Looking forward to playing the sequel.
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Suddenly felt like replaying my favourite Tropa de Elite simulator after some 6 years.
Those unskippable cutscenes still suck ass when trying to replay just for the gunfights…
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I only every player the first one. I really enjoyed it, and I forgot how much I liked that voice actor.
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