What's eShopping about?

Crumpy Andy wrote:

I'd question the use of grindstone as a main game. It's good but feels very much like a 5 min pick up and play than a proper game game.

Rum wrote:

I'd agree with that - Grindstone is fun and there's a lot of bang for your buck, but there are definite originally-a-mobile-game vibes to it rather than substantial only-game-on-the-go vibes.

So. Grindstone was never going to be my main game, what with five other single-player games in my frontlog (Voez, Blue Reflection 2, 13 Sentinels, Fez, and Weapon Shop de Omasse if anybody's interested? Thought not); so despite having bought it before reading your posts, I thought, 'That'll be fine, it was never going to be my main game anyway.'

Jeez it's mobile-feeling though. There's not a moment of the game that doesn't feel like it's going to pop out a microtransaction menu at me the moment I let my guard down. The art style, the gameplay, the setup of the menus: it's all got mobile game vibes writ large over it. I was always intending to play it as something of a gaming supplement to whatever my big title du jour was right now, but the loading pauses are also quite substantial when I start it up. I don't even know how easy it'll be to change from another game to it. That's pretty damning for this sort of game on Switch.

The bottom line, then: you were both right, more than I appreciated, and I have regrets now. It's still fun, but I wish it didn't feel like it does.

I don't even know what Grindstone is, and I knew some of the indies Buska used in a segment on GGS.

Anyway another big sale on the eShop and I recommend these

BioShock: The Collection £16, could be found cheaper on other systems but if your only option or want to play on the go then a great option to play three great games.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection £4 for 8 games which IV and Bloodlines top-notch
Catherine: Full Body £16, it does have a physical version on Switch, but I doubt if you find this cheap. The game will only be for a select few people, though.
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled £14, the best kart racer without Mario in the title.
Figment £2, I played this on Stadia and is a nice little action platformer with light puzzles.
GRIS £4, still in my Top 10 Switch games.
Little Nightmares £6, the second is also on offer if you have played the first.
Ni No Kuni £8, great price for a great JRPG.
Star Wars KOTOR £9, most of the retro Star Wars games are a good price, but KOTOR is just a fantastic game.
The Last Campfire £6, what the No Man's Sky team did next, a little Zelda-like thing.
The Outer Worlds £20, not sure how good the Switch port is however this phenomenal game.

masofdas wrote:

BioShock: The Collection £16, could be found cheaper on other systems but if your only option or want to play on the go then a great option to play two great games.

This is one of those infuriating games I bought full priced,replayed the opening of the first, then never touched again and now its dirt cheap.

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Castlevania Anniversary Collection £4 for 8 games which IV and Bloodlines top-notch

Turns out I don't like playing old Castlevanias. Very stilted and digital.

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Catherine: Full Body £16, it does have a physical version on Switch, but I doubt if you find this cheap. The game will only be for a select few people, though.

I'm definitely among those select few, though I may hold out for physical if Japanese copies support English.

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GRIS £4, still in my Top 10 Switch games.

I hate this game

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The Last Campfire £6, what the No Man's Sky team did next, a little Zelda-like thing.

I never heard of this before, you'd think it'd be more talked about with that pedigree!

Japanese version of Catherine on VITA doesn't have English, so would think the same on Switch as released at same time.

GRIS is also in the NLife, 9/10 club on offer at the moment.

If I had to throw out a couple recommendations for this sale it'd be:

Boomerang X - A real eShop hidden gem from last year, a boomerang FPS where instead of the boomerang just coming back you teleport to where you have thrown it. (£10.79)  

OlliOlli World - If you haven't played any of the previous ones then just jump in here, a really colourful skateboarding platformer which you can either casually go through a tonne of levels or chase hi-scores. (£19.99)

Buskalilly wrote:

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The Last Campfire £6, what the No Man's Sky team did next, a little Zelda-like thing.

I never heard of this before, you'd think it'd be more talked about with that pedigree!

Maybe Sean Murray was still in the popular mindset's doghouse at the time? Anyway, I'd say 'Zelda-like' isn't quite apt: it's more like a point-and-click game clapped onto a bunch of sokoban-like puzzles, with some 'touching' dialogue and narration. Also it's currently at 81 on Metacritic, which isn't hopeless but isn't at the level to bring a relatively unheralded indie game into the public eye. I didn't care for it much to be honest, and I think Mas would like it more than most on here.

I did pick up Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion in the sale for half off. Still on Blue Reflection 2 though, which is outstaying its welcome a tad.

Maybe one for Balla and Jay this OMORI which was shown in an Indie Showcase ages ago but drops this Friday, the PC version is on an 87 and compared to your Earthbounds etc


I might check it out as I like weird, but depends on price as I'm all over Neon White, which is £20.

I have looked at Omori more than a couple of times, but it's that age-old problem: meaningful choices. Do I play it with a walkthrough to make sure I get the best path? Do I go in blind and potentially have to play through it again (which I won't do) for the true ending? And of course the third path, do I get so scared/unnerved I hide behind the sofa like the big wuss I am?

Neon White has so far got nothing but positivity. I feel like I should play it, but it also looks like the sort of game I'd hate. Anything that advertises itself as 'lots of speed-running potential!!!' can get stuffed.

Oh, the art in OMORI looks gorgeous! That's definitely getting a look from me at some point.

You could just play it and happy with YOUR choices and story.

I see it's £23 on the eShop which seems a lot, I know I could get £50 for £45 and it & Neon then have £7 + Gold left over for something else though.

Edit well OMORI is on Game Pass, I've seen it mentioned nowhere but hey that's how I'm playing it now but still will get Neon White.

masofdas wrote:

You could just play it and happy with YOUR choices and story.

Not sure if I have already, but I'll try to explain why I struggle to do this.

First off, I'm a completionist. I like to see everything a game has to offer, apart from any super-hard optional post-game content.
Secondly, I don't like replaying games. I was going to say this is because I find repeating passages I've already played dull, and while that's true it's not the main factor. It's because I like the feeling of forward movement, of achieving something and thereby unlocking the next thing. That's a thing that's really great about games, that you lose on a replay. You've already unlocked the thing! The ending of a game is the biggest example of that, the build-up and the catharsis of completion. That's also why I'm harsher on games with poor endings than many would be. Plus, there are so many other great games out there to play!
And thirdly, I dislike unhappy endings. They have their place, but I personally feel like life is full of unhappy endings and I want my escapism to have its catharsis be both positive, and conclusive. While this doesn't impact on every choice-based game, I feel like it certainly will for Omori.

Hopefully it's obvious how those interact to explain that no, if my choices and story are subpar (or Heaven forbid negative) I won't enjoy the game. It will always feel like an incomplete experience, but I still won't go back and retry it. Anyway, both Omori and Neon White are tentatively on my wishlist for now.

Yeah you've explained it before, and when I think completionist I feel we're thinking a tad different as to me that be something like Pokemon Legends getting all the Monsters basically what Stu did or all the seeds in BotW.

Not get the best ending because someone say its the best, where I just play and achieve my story.

Anyway started Neon White and get strong No More Heroes vibes but have had to go back to get a gold on a level to get my rank up to continue the story.

This is one of those topics I have to just let be because I understand Balla's viewpoint but we're just coming at it from diametrically opposite opinions so we'll never agree.

And that's fine, as long as we respect each other!

...I said as long as we respect each other Buska.

I respect you, but I express affection through being a catty bitch all the time.

He'd hate Neon White as you need to get all the collectibles for the True Ending, yet doing feels like going against the game's premise of gotta go fast.

Collectibles in games can actually fuck off though.

Depends on the game, if traversal is fun and they're hidden in interesting puzzley ways I enjoy collecting.

Yeah I can see that but most are usually just really bad padding for a game.

Buskalilly wrote:

I respect you, but I express affection through being a catty bitch all the time.

Anyway I've just bought Mom Hid My Game 2. Another classic of the genre.

The_Jaster wrote:

Yeah I can see that but most are usually just really bad padding for a game.

I think most games are better about dumping collectibles everywhere these days, but I remember it being a real problem in the 360/PSe/Wii era where the likes of Crackdown and Infamous would absolutely bombard the map with pointless pickups.

Part of it is probably due to older games not doing it well but I've never really been fussed about 100 percent-ing most games so I think that ties into it as well, the exception are Metroid-likes because it's inherently built into the way those games are made & there's good reason to do it. So I'll amend my statement a bit to collectibles in games can mostly fuck off.

Oh trust me, being fussed about 100 percent-ing most games makes collectables worse. Because then you feel duty-bound to go pick up every bloody thing, complete every little side-mission, mark off every stupid nonsense the map or menu screens show to you. I've managed to shake that urge in some games, but in my recent Xenoblade playthrough for example (and that game is terrible for collectables), it was a nightmare.

In the last couple of days I've picked up OPUS: Echo of Starsong (slight sale), KeyWe (moderate sale), and ElecHead (no sale but cheapish and I've heard good things). I'd say I could keep the eShop alive on my own, only that obviously didn't work with the Wii U.

Neon White doesn't have that many collectables, just they feel at odds with the game.

I've played some Solitaire Conspiracy which was £2, surprisingly good.

Bought Blade Runner Enhanced Edition for £6 after using gold coins.

I haven't looked at the new sale because always loads on sale, then got the backlog.

Aye I don't know how completionist's can do it, as soon as I deem something in a game as busywork it puts me off.

Balla wrote:

ElecHead (no sale but cheapish and I've heard good things).

Got this on the wish list but planning on beating a few more games over the weekend before I decide to buy it.

mas wrote:

Bought Blade Runner Enhanced Edition for £6 after using gold coins.

This is another on my wish list & sits beside the other Nightdive studios remasters of Shadowman & Powerslave exhumed.