Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@Hapless I actually didn't. I got a bit put-off by the fact that he uses a specialised type of 'matchlock gun' ,rather than a tradtional katana or Nagakiba, a bit pedantic I know, but hey! Let me know if it's any good if you get round to it yourself, and I might reconsider. 😃

@Th3solution Your comment about the movie Logan, with regard to it potentially being similar to the upcoming Wolverine game, sent me down a rabbit hole of sorts, Sol, as I hadn't heard of the movie, before. I recently purchased and read the graphic novel, Wolverine: Old Man Logan ,which I thought was very good, and I intend to watch the movie soon, within the next few days hopefully, in anticipation of possibly playing the game next year. I love the archetypal nature of an aging superhero, coming back for one last ride into battle before heading off into the sunset, and the movie's alleged influence from Westerns and more gritty, realistic and mature take on the character intrigued me.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Nice! You’ll have to let me know how you like the movie and if you think it holds up to the graphic novel. I’m due a rewatch also, so I might just do that.

@Th3solution Definitely, I'll let you know what I think of it. Also, how is your BG3 playthrough going?

And I saw that you are interested in playing Ghost of Yotei, but aren't sure when you'll pick it, I've got it in my Calendar of goes to play, also, so our playthrough times might overlap, in that regard.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN BG3 is going well, my friend. I lost a little momentum in Act 3, but am still adoring the game. This final stretch of the game is quite complex and several plot threads are crossing over and coming to a head, so there’s just a lot going on in it. I have so many quests open and unresolved and it’s a wee bit overwhelming. One of my turn-offs for games is when they throw too much at you all at once, and it’s what made me fall off some other otherwise great games (like Witcher 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Yakuza 0, to name a few). I struggle if there’s too many activities and/or open quests, especially if the quests are complicated or have specific time-bound criteria or multiple steps to get through to come to completion.

Anyway, I’m not going to fall off BG3, but the pacing has been good up to this point and now it feels a little hectic, like on my way to solve one questline I run across three more on the way. Fortunately the game keeps a nice quest log updated regularly so it’s easy to keep up with what needs to be done. Still, there’s a very small spark of a feeling of it being a chore to get through some of the quests. The game allows you to completely skip any content you want and just engage with the main story if you want, but I’ve made it this far and invested a lot of time in some of these characters and factions of people, so I feel obligated to see it all through to completion. Just wish it didn’t all rise to a crescendo all at once. 😅

I do have a little FOMO for Ghost of Yotei, but I’ll be waiting until I clear some space in the gaming schedule. The game looks great though. And for a samurai enthusiast like you, it must seem very appealing. Depending when you get around to it, we might be tackling it around the same time. For me it will honestly be several months hence. Probably not until early to mid 2026. But I reserve the right to change my schedule at any time! If I wait too long then I might have the uncomfortable dilemma of having to choose between playing it or Wolverine. 😄

I know there are quite a lot of UK residents on here and probably quite a few globetrotters as well, so I thought I'd ask: does anyone have any recommendations for good restaurants and bars in Manchester?
I'm heading over for a long Halloween-weekend to see The Birthday Massacre live along with a mate and, while I've been there once before a good few years back, none of us are all that familiar with the city.
On the bar front, we're too old for places you have to scream yourself hoarse to be heard over the music; laid back atmosphere is what we're all about. Restaurant wise we'll eat pretty much anything, but neither of us are all that keen on super upscale places with stifling atmosphere and insane prices.

Anyone have any tips?

Anyone else occasionally do those surveys they get sent by email for Sony? I just did one all about media apps. It seemed to be trying to garner what would incentivize using media apps through the PS5. For me I couldn't see the point of powering up and using an additional electronic devise to do something my TV does very well on it's own. Ticked loads of boxes to basically say the PS5 is, and would be, an unnecessary extra step.
Not sure what benefits Sony to try and expand media app usage? 🤷‍♂️

@BearsEatBeets Using media apps through my TV works poorly with my A/V setup due to limitations with the eArc of my TV/screen, so running media apps from my PS5 where sound goes directly through the receiver is a far better experience for me. As such I would love to see more media apps available on the PS5 as today's selection is missing quite a few I use.

@FuriousMachine Hopefully this survey signifies a move towards that then. There was mention of plenty of apps I've never even heard of.

@BearsEatBeets @FuriousMachine Yeah, we used BBC iplayer, Channel 4, Netflix, Disney+ all through the PS5 as it seems to run the mostly smoothly that way.

We actually kept the PS4 plugged in for quite a while after getting the PS5 purely because it took so long for the iplayer app to come to the latest console!

@BearsEatBeets Sounds like it, so fingers crossed

@Thrillho Yeah, I did the same - took a while for some of the local apps to make their way to the new console here as well. And I'm still waiting for a couple to make an appearance.

I have finally joined the world of 4K. My LG t.v. I bought about 10 years ago had it's day, the backlight was going and it had a blue tint at times, most things were barely visible this week no matter what adjustments I made.

Now I have to go back and watch stuff and play stuff just because of how vibrant the picture quality is and the level of detail that shines through. Almost like viewing entirely different movies/games.

@Elfuggingjefe I'm looking forward to getting stuck in front of it later tonight and tomorrow. But treating my Mrs to a meal out and Blackphone 2 at the cinema later this afternoon, then brunch and some shopping tomorrow. Hopefully pick up some new books/blu-rays for myself too.

@Elfuggingjefe I've heard good things. Will let you know what I think in the movie thread later. Have a great weekend.

@FuriousMachine Hey there ,friend. Hope you are well. Just wondering if I could get your first impressions of Ghost of Yotei, so far? Are you enjoying the experience as much as you expected to?

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Hello, mate! I am well, preparing to travel to your fair isles tomorrow for a concert in Manchester. Looking forward to a couple of days away from the daily "grind"

It's still early on with Yotei, I'm still exploring the starting region close to "home", hunting bounties and upgrading Atsu's skills and equipment. I am absolutely loving it, but I'm not sure if I think all the changes from the last game are better. There are some things that work slightly different and I may find I preferred how things worked in Tsushima. I'm being a bit wishy washy on purpose here, as my memories of Tsushima stems mainly from how it played late game, when Jin had more skills, better equipment and more of the mechanics had been opened up, so it's a bit early to make the comparison.

The combat is a lot of fun, though, and the game world is gorgeous, vibrant and full of life and I haven't been bored, frustrated or annoyed for a single second yet. The only downside to going away this weekend is that I can't spend it playing more

@MightyDemon82 Congrats. I recently decided I have to start saving up money for a new television too, so I'm quite jealous of whatever shiny new thing you have. Especially now I've seen the prices for a new tv, while I still have so many other bills to pay.

Which one did you get?

@Herculean Oh it's not a top of the range expensive one, the Samsung U8000F it was £329. Still a great T.V. though, a massive step up from my previous one. I don't even need to touch a Dualsense to switch the PS5 on.

@FuriousMachine Hey mate. Thanks for your first impressions of GoY. Very enlightening based on what you've played so far. How was your trip to Manchester, and the concert? I've never been to that part of the country myself, as I'm based elsewhere, and have had no reason to travel there, thus far. Maybe I, myself or a fellow Push Square Brit could make the trip to Norway to return the favour, perhaps for a Jon Fosse book reading. 😉

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN No sweat, I'll keep you posted if my impressions change notably. Really looking forward to getting in a little session tonight

The trip was very good; Manchester is a nice city. Only been once before, when travelling with my Manchester United obsessed family (not much of a football fan, myself, apart from my local team, where my grandfather once played) and it's definitely a place I'd consider returning to for concerts and the like in the future. Edinburgh has always been my preference when travelling to the UK for concerts, but accommodation has become very expensive there and this time the band I wanted to see had a Sunday gig in Edinburgh vs. a Saturday in Manchester, so it was a better fit to travel to the latter.

The concert itself was fantastic; a fairly small and intimate venue that facilitates a good connection between band and audience. Great and colourful audience as well; a Republican's worst nightmare as the band attracts the queer crowd and couple that with it being Halloween weekend, the crowd itself was an attraction as well An excellent time was had and an experience that will fuel me for quite a while

As for travelling to Norway, I'd claim that only masochists would enjoy this country for the next 6 months or so, even without Fosse book readings . Cold, dark, gray and bleak, that is the most likely state of things until at least April, maybe May. We Norwegians get even more grumpy, quiet and introverted than usual, as well. Not recommended