Last Game You Finished And Your Four-ghts

Not watched the Jim Sterling take, barely watch anything he does anymore, nor played TLoU 2 (I will eventually) but I do have a few theories.

I feel like TLoU 2, much like all of Naughty Dogs work since the Jak series, will be a blockbuster. A very good blockbuster that comes very close to being something special, but is in the end let down by ludonarrative dissonance - or the fact that it's game mechanics, or the things you' be doing most of the time - do not match the narrative.

I've said this elsewhere before but Nathan Drake is an awful character. He's the lovable rogue, the underdog, the Indiana Jones who just so happens to be an unstoppable killing machine who solves almost all of his problems by shooting or punching them. Maybe 3/4 are different, I don't think I played them, but that's how the second one definitely left me. I genuinely think Uncharted 2 is one of the most overrated games ever made.

TLoU 1 was really good. It had tension, an engaging narrative, characters who I cared about. But it was also at times derivative. The ladder puzzles were bad and didn't help the pacing and you still solved most of your problems by punching them, but to the game's credit there were real moments of vulnerability which seemed poignant in juxtaposition to the insatiable control and killing power most blockbuster games anoint the player with. I might be giving the game a hard time here, it's been so long since I played it to be fair. I think it does do a decent job of making you feel weak, which Uncharted definitely didn't, but when you look at the journey and the challenges set before you, I'm not sure it adds up.

And that's kind of it. Comparative to other big budget video games, TLoU seems smart. But comparative to almost any other medium it still doesn't quite get it.

I've read a lot of people say things like, "Oh man there are moments where I didn't want to keep playing because of the story being emotional," and it's like, dude!

Of course, you'e got shows like Breaking Bad which, at times, some might find hard to watch for similar reasons. But Breaking Bad has a sense of humour, like all good films, books, or tv shows that go for this approach, there's a sense of humour or reprieve that while yeah, isn't enough to make it easy viewing, still means you don't find it hard to watch.

A lot of people, I think, are giving TLoU2 a pass relative to the film, tv, or book mediums because the video game medium has historically been bloody awful at storytelling, and examples of it being good are generally not triple A games. They're things like my boy Disco Elysium, or they're more environmental stories like Dark Souls - both mechanically heavy, dense, games which explore the medium quite introspectively as a means of giving the player a natural sense of purpose within the world.

God of War is an exception, I think it does storytelling really well and I'd rank it above anything Naughty Dog have done. It doesn't suffer from anywhere near as much ludonarrative dissonance because you're the bloody God of War, although I wouldn't say that it's up to the levels of Disco Elysium or Dark Souls in terms of it's execution.

I'm not expecting TLoU2 to be the worldie it's metacritic score suggests, but I do think I'll enjoy it so I will give it a go though.

I love Uncharted 2 and in my Top 25 I recently did with the help of gJones, I've always seen Drake as the lovable rouge like a Han Solo, Mal or Indiana Jones. I guess difference is an Uncharted game is about 10hrs where an Indiana Jones film is about 2hrs, and with Uhcharted being a game has to give you something to do which in this case Nate taking on hired mercs like some sort of super solider.

Which brings me to The Last of Us Part II as where I disagreed with Jim was him saying all the same as I used an example of three very different AAA games and how I personally view them. Where I think the first guy with his comparison meant within the realms of Video Games, that's my take as sure as a direct comparison to a film, TV show or books out there (I would have a guess books still one of the better forms of storytelling) it won't be as good but personally this is my preferred entertainment medium and I want games that are sort of the equivalent of a certain type of book or film be it something like the Avengers or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Home Alone within the realms of Video Games.

I'm also one of these people that might write "Oh man there are moments where I didn't want to keep playing because of the story being emotional," as I have said similar about the likes of Journey, Death Stranding and even the recently talked about GRIS, why I hold them in such high regard.

Muss wrote:

Comparative to other big budget video games, TLoU seems smart. But comparative to almost any other medium it still doesn't quite get it.

I think this is the thing that annoys me the most not only with TLoU but any game that sets out to be more like a film as they often miss the point of why folk want to play a game over watching a film in the first place.

Muss wrote:

A lot of people, I think, are giving TLoU2 a pass relative to the film, tv, or book mediums because the video game medium has historically been bloody awful at storytelling, and examples of it being good are generally not triple A games. They're things like my boy Disco Elysium, or they're more environmental stories like Dark Souls - both mechanically heavy, dense, games which explore the medium quite introspectively as a means of giving the player a natural sense of purpose within the world.

Bingo! I think Witcher 3 also does a great job of using certain gameplay mechanics to back up the story as well, like how you are told the way Witcher's prepare for certain battles or what tools they might use for defeating monsters & then you can gather that info within the world then decide whether you want to use it to your advantage during gameplay. Also one thing that I always remember from that game is how good some of the side quest missions can be, little self contained stories that only add to the believability the games world and remind you that you aren't just controlling some mindless avatar.

masofdas wrote:

I love Uncharted 2 and in my Top 25 I recently did with the help of gJones, I've always seen Drake as the lovable rouge like a Han Solo, Mal or Indiana Jones. I guess difference is an Uncharted game is about 10hrs where an Indiana Jones film is about 2hrs, and with Uhcharted being a game has to give you something to do which in this case Nate taking on hired mercs like some sort of super solider.

Yeah that's the bit that does it in for me. If you pause the game you can see your stats and the kill count you rack up by game's end is ludicrous. Games can absolutely nail things like exploration, but that's really not where Naughty Dog's expertise lies, they're more a pretty mo-cap studio imo. I'd take any Uncharted game above Red Dead 2 anyday though. Obviously a lot of people don't see what I see or it modern Naughty Dog games would not be so popular, and there are moments in those games that are epic - some of the best set pieces you'll play for sure.

The_Jaster wrote:

Bingo! I think Witcher 3 also does a great job of using certain gameplay mechanics to back up the story as well, like how you are told the way Witcher's prepare for certain battles or what tools they might use for defeating monsters & then you can gather that info within the world then decide whether you want to use it to your advantage during gameplay. Also one thing that I always remember from that game is how good some of the side quest missions can be, little self contained stories that only add to the believability the games world and remind you that you aren't just controlling some mindless avatar.

I didn't get the gameplay mechanics so much but I think that's down to me playing it on a fairly low difficulty. I started a new game a while ago on hard and it does make you feel much more invested in behaving like a Witcher would when it comes to monster hunting. The side stories are often excellent for sure though! The writers do such a good job of characterising Geralt as almost all the choices you can make feel utterly believable in conjunction with nicely plotted quests, whereas the work from studios like Bioware often leave you feeling like there was a "canon" choice.

But Jas if you know a game is going to be more like a film and lack the gameplay for you then, just don't play it then I guess, as clearly a audience for them (most of Sony's first party is like this) and I'm part of that audience myself and those are mainly the sort of games I enjoy in my preferred medium.

It might be me but does sound like go watch a film how it's coming over, surely I could say go read a book to someone that mainly watches films or TV.

I feel like I'm alone in the opinion that TLoU is just alright? The gameplay was okay, the story was pretty good, I wouldn't mind playing the sequel. . . I don't feel strongly about it in any way!

masofdas wrote:

Are you going to play an actual good Res Evil game, soon Buska?

If and when I get around to buying a PS4, I really want to play 7 and the 2/3 remakes. In the meantime, I think Rob and I might do the co-op on Revelations, and I have my eye on REmake, Zero and 4 for my Switch. So . . . maybe?

masofdas wrote:

But Jas if you know a game is going to be more like a film and lack the gameplay for you then, just don't play it then I guess, as clearly a audience for them (most of Sony's first party is like this) and I'm part of that audience myself and those are mainly the sort of games I enjoy in my preferred medium.

It might be me but does sound like go watch a film how it's coming over, surely I could say go read a book to someone that mainly watches films or TV.

Nine times out of ten I don't play them and I'm not saying that games that put more emphasis on story are all bad either (Ghost Trick for example is one of my all time favourite games) but I still feel like I'm allowed to have my opinion on them and what they bring to the table. Also I'm not saying that you or anyone that does enjoy TLoU should "go watch a film" but that for me personally if I want a kick out of a story I will go for film/TV show/book way more than a game.

Buskalilly wrote:

I feel like I'm alone in the opinion that TLoU is just alright? The gameplay was okay, the story was pretty good, I wouldn't mind playing the sequel. . . I don't feel strongly about it in any way!

Nope, despite my maybe harsh sounding comments on here and elsewhere I liked the first game to a point as well.

However something doesn't sit right with me when I can read several reviews for part 2 where most of them follow the same theme of it's a great technical achievement and story but I didn't enjoy the gameplay only to slap a 90+ score on it. So either a lot of people are doing a shit job of reviewing said game or it is likely being overrated and I have to say I think it's the latter.

It's a odd one as think you said my review didn't sound like a game I'd currently give GOTY or if I had to score around a 9/10 but then if I didn't say that you might not think it's that great.

I also think all aspects like technical achievement, story has to be taking into account but then do you technical achievement 10/10, score 9/10, gameplay 7/10, story 8.5/10 then have a overall something out of 50.

You just write the review and then people read the words.

Lunacy.  Anyway, I don't have anything to say about TLoU2 and 'cinematic' games, which usually don't do it for me anyway; but I know a bit about not being keen about popular games...



I finished Pokémon Shield: Isle of Armour and... it's fine.  It's purely fine.  It's fine because Pokémon is a great series, but it lacks most of the stuff that makes Pokémon great.  

It's an open-world Pokémon game, but exploring the world has never been the best thing about Pokémon.  That would be discovering new monsters, which IoA doesn't have beyond one alternate form and Kubfu.  Perhaps if I was more fond of Urshifu's design this would be enough, but as it is, the most exciting thing to discover in this new world was taking him on a brief sightseeing tour, and the massive Wailord that you see first up.  Besides new Pokémon, I'd say that the best things Sword/Shield had to offer were the visual distinctions and many great tunes - instead, IoA gives you a world with a single coherent look and single theme.

As for the battles, there were bear-ly any of note.  My rival was fun enough, and actually a pretty enjoyable rival; but the Tower and the final battle required a good bit of grinding on my part.  (The Exp. Charm and the frequency of Chanseys were great.)  There were some fun and cute moments that I haven't mentioned storywise.  Which leaves us with... Pokémon following you, and that's a tremendous addition that is weirdly restricted to the island?  (Falinks following you is adorable though. )

Which raises the question: Balla, it's DLC, they can't introduce a whole bunch of new Pokémon, what should they have done instead?  Well, I'd have preferred a couple of new routes and towns over the expanse we have; some more impressive things to look at, or more focus on battling/story; and, frankly, not releasing it until the Crown Tundra was ready.  It looks like the Tundra is going to have more interesting Pokémon and new forms, and, er...

Suggestion at end of DLC:

Basically the two together should feel more 'complete'.

I'm not as big a fan of open-world Pokémon as I am the standard routed structure, although perhaps as DLC it wasn't the best example of the former.  That said, it kept me occupied for a few hours, and I'm not as big a fan of bears as some. 5/10

Have you seen Flakinks trying to walk down the stairs?

I've not played it yet but I think I'd like to see more conditional battles. Maybe your crew must all be part water, that sort of thing. Something to spruce things up a bit.

Been watching my girlfriend raise Kubfu, which looked fun.

I have not! But I saw it trying to walk up - or should that be through - some stairs. Kind of disappointing sadly, but not unexpected.

When you finish the 'campaign' you do unlock something called Restricted Sparring. I'm not sure what it involves but maybe it'll tick that box for you?

Balladeer wrote:

]Basically the two together should feel more 'complete'.

I was planning to hold off until both were out anyway so I could have a sizeable adventure to sink my teeth into, so it sounds like I've done the right thing in waiting!

Pokémon Sword: The Isle of Armor



With about twelve hours of playtime, I won the final battle of this story last night and got a "The End" screen. There's still quite a bit to see and do, which I would like to wrap up between now and Crown Tundra but for the moment I'm done with this.

I had a bloody good time! I loved the much better realised 3D world and hope it's a sign of good things to come in the next generation, which is hopefully still a good few years away. I loved Kubfu, the journey with him and evolving him to Urshifu.

I've also discovered in recent years that I genuinely enjoy collecting Pokémon, so long as the act of doing so is fun. Sword and Shield happen to have very fun wild Pokémon mechanics, so busying myself with filling up slots was enjoyable even with the knowledge I wouldn't be encountering anything brand new. There was a real thrill in entering a tunnel and, not having seen the Pokédex in advance, excitedly wondering if I'd find a Cubone.

The story was no great shakes, and maybe I'd like a few more trainers to battle, but I enjoyed the ride and as I was avoiding using my overlevelled Snorlax, Beartic and Pangoro, the battles were actually pretty exciting.

I can't tell you whether this is "worth" the tenner or so it costs. Is any children's computer game worth that much money to a grown man when there are so many causes I could be donating to? As a post-game bonus at the end of a Pokémon adventure, though, it was cracking, and I'm now tantalisingly close to an all-bear team.

10/10

Hmm, interesting takes on Pokémon DLC as I'm only on like the 3rd gym of my current play though with my fire team much like Jay think I'm just going to wait and play both expansions together.

SNK Heroines is the worst game I've played this year, technically I've played worth but those had either a decent story or even getting the 1000g was more exciting than this. I got it because I had a voucher for local game shop and I got this, SSX 3 and a Widowmaker Funko.

And it's not often you see a Switch game for £10, I liked playing Blazblue on Switch recently and Gal Fighters back in the day but the fan service is way too much even for me along with it not playing well. That I did the story mode twice once with Mai & Leona then with Terry & someone that was enough that it went on eBay the same afternoon as I got it.

Hey I got £11 for it on eBay, guess that's a win

masofdas wrote:

Hmm, interesting takes on Pokémon DLC as I'm only on like the 3rd gym of my current play though with my fire team much like Jay think I'm just going to wait and play both expansions together.

Personally I wouldn't want to do that as I like to do a lot of side stuff in Pokémon games, but if you're not worried about 100%ing each section before the next one lands, I think it could be good to play it as one complete game.

masofdas wrote:

the fan service is way too much even for me

SNK Heroines? Dirty boy, on your rug!

Where has Mr. Driller DrillLand been in my life?! It’s gutting that this GameCube game didn’t get localised until last week – eighteen years after it’s Japanese release! – because it’s genuinely, absolutely excellent.

Mr. Driller is basically a modernised, more playful Dig-Dug, where you drill downwards through coloured bricks while trying to rack up combos and avoid the falling blocks from above you. There’s been a few of them, like on Dreamcast, Game Boy Colour, XBLA, even on the PlayStation Classic. But even as recently as last week, I didn’t understand what would have made Drill Land stand out. To me, all the Mr. Driller games were the same sort of shallow-but-fun thing. The key difference is what they do with the Mr. Driller formula in DrillLand. It’s not all about absent-mindedly holding down and pressing A, sometimes moving left and right and occasionally managing your air supply anymore. One mode plays a bit more like a dungeon crawler where you’ve got to find keys and exits and battle monsters, one has you hunting for ghosts that you cast away with holy water, another is an Indiana Jones spoof where you search for artefacts and avoid environmental dangers…it’s all twisted in some really clever, colourful ways. Even on the lowest, ‘casual’ difficulty, they’re all challenging enough so that once you’re settled in, you’re fully engaged with what’s going on. Everything else surrounding the gameplay – especially it’s audio-visual presentation– screams of high-quality.

The demo on the eShop will give you a flavour of what Mr. Driller is about, but if you’re already well-acquainted, I strongly encourage you to wire right into the full game. I’ve got higher difficulties to complete, and I can see me coming back to DrillLand time and time again. It’s an addictive, joyous, beautifully designed belter, and I can totally see why it’s been held in such high esteem for all these years. 9/10.

at Mas' response to that sick filth. Unsurprised at Buska's review. Very surprised at Cappa's! My interest is piqued. Does it have a kind of campaigny thing, or is it all score-chasing?

JayMoyles wrote:

I was planning to hold off until both were out anyway so I could have a sizeable adventure to sink my teeth into, so it sounds like I've done the right thing in waiting!

I'd say so! I still don't know how well they'll fit together, of course.

I tried the Mr Driller demo and didn't really click with it, but after your review, Cappa, and the one on Eurogamer, I feel like perhaps I didn't give it enough of a chance. Though I'd only ever buy it during a sale either way because I'm a stingy boy.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Mr. Driller is basically a modernised, more playful Dig-Dug

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

The demo on the eShop will give you a flavour of what Mr. Driller is about, but if you’re already well-acquainted, I strongly encourage you to wire right into the full game. I’ve got higher difficulties to complete, and I can see me coming back to DrillLand time and time again. It’s an addictive, joyous, beautifully designed belter, and I can totally see why it’s been held in such high esteem for all these years. 9/10.

I... think I'm sold... Mr. Driller is a classic thing that I've never had a proper go at. Hooray!




Speaking of old stuff that doesn't count as retro:


Aaaah! realMyst

Myst is always lauded as one of those "you have to play this milestone gaming gamey game", and was 1 of 3 big CD-Rom "killer apps" alongside 7th Guest (shite) and Return To Zork (shite but in a good way).

It also had a reputation for being really really obtuse and difficult. Actually, I got through this without doing a walkthrough! But anyway, enough about how amazing I am. The most difficult challenge, to be honest, is deciphering the voice clip audio while the background music is playing. I appreciate the original was everyone's first go at doing this, but one would've thought they could have doing some quality of life stuff with this re-master - or at least added subtitles.

In all fairness, I did enjoy doing the ol' puzzles; as has been said many places elsewhere, it's nice not to have to resort to shooting things. I can also see how The Witness, one of my favourite games of recent years, was - directly in some cases - inspired by it. But a mate of mine who's a veteran of the series says that the 3 sequels improve upon what was essentially a new formula.

Also

Ending spoilers:

I give it a rating of Picture of a Boat/Red Symbol

Yep, reading that it doesn't look like I've Myst much.

Balladeer wrote:

Yep, reading that it doesn't look like I've Myst much.

Murder by Numbers

A game a few of you are already familiar with - just finished it this evening. If you're not familiar with it, it's fundamentally Phoenix Wright meets Picross - although I think that's selling it slightly short. You follow Honor, a TV actress with a flair for detective work, who becomes best pals with a cheerful floating robot called SCOUT (who reminded me in many ways of Kimmy Schmidt - terminally delightful, often naive, but with parts of the storyline relying on how they deal with the darker aspects of life). You work your way through different murder mysteries, searching for evidence, which is where the Picross element comes in - scan the environment, find a puzzle, work it out, and there's your evidence. It's ultimately simpler than Phoenix Wright, but not to its detriment. I had a great time with it!

The cast of characters were largely pleasingly ridiculous and fun. The main characters were likeable and the script was pleasantly goofy and fluffy most of the time, though it did have some touching moments as well. I also have to say I did like the fact there was a bit of LGBT+ representation, with one of the four cases taking place primarily in a drag bar (touching briefly on people's preferred pronouns, and a character who's a bio queen as opposed to a 'traditional' drag queen - representation mainstream drag shows have failed to include!). Having said that, K.C. - Honor's best friend - is a bit too heavy-handed a stereotype, being the camp make-up artist who says things like "Thank Streisand you're ok!"... but still, it was nice to see an unashamedly gay main character, and I don't think it's much of a stretch to imagine folk like that working in TV in Hollywood. So I was OK with it!

There were a few moments through the game that did make me laugh and generally I love a bit of Picross. The only two criticisms I'd really level at it are that, for one, the last case drags a little bit and the pacing is off. It could easily have been split into two chapters, and it doesn't nail the balance between Picross puzzles and story progression in the same way the other cases do. The second gripe revolves around unlocking more backstory about SCOUT. To do this, you need to score an S rank in a chapter. This bit me in the arse because, when you're doing the Picross puzzles the game doesn't punish you for marking an incorrect square (like the classic Picross series games do), meaning you can get to the end of a puzzle, but have done it wrong because you miscounted squares on the grid, so you can't finish until you fix it. Either you manually work out what you did, or you can use a 'check incorrect boxes' option. I used the latter literally once or twice - but that's enough to remove the S rank, meaning you can't unlock any backstory without playing the chapter again, which can take hours. Obviously I get why they won't give you the top rank if you use any hints at all, but I'm a bit sad that I missed out on chunks of story in a visual novel because an A rank isn't good enough.

But, anyway, I really enjoyed Murder by Numbers and would snatch up a sequel in a heartbeat. It was unashamedly silly and frothy, revelling in its own ridiculousness. 8.5/10

I like the sound of that. Does Murder By Numbers have touch screen controls for the puzzles?