@Tjuz I actually enjoyed the recent Layton game even though most people didn't. The puzzles were much more enjoyable in general, because they were easier! The further you get into Lost Future, the trickier the puzzles get and I'm actually starting to lose my patience with some of them. I should probably take a break from the game whenever I feel like that. It's definitely that kind of game that you should avoid playing too often if you want to have a somewhat enjoyable experience.
I ended up picking it up MH Stories 3 on PC, cause there were a lot of really conflicting reports out there on the Switch 2 performance, some acting like it was a miracle and some saying it was really rough. It runs flawlessly on PC, not sure about PS5, it seems like the reporting says it runs great.
The game itself is absolutely wonderful. Capturing all of the magic of the mainline games. Filled to the brim with QOL, meaningful additions and changes over previous story games. My only criticism and it isn't really a "criticism" I guess so much as an observation, is the game is surprisingly hard.
Previous Stories games had spikes, but when you overcame those big wall bosses, you tended to get a bit of a rollercoaster effect of a chain of much easier bosses to face after that point. 3 seems to have tried to sand off the peaks at both ends to try and smooth out the experience, and they have been mostly successful at this goal. However, while you now don't get those crazy spikes any more, you also lose that rollercoaster effect in the process, which just makes everything feel so much harder overall.
But again, I want to stress, this isn't really a criticism here in this context exactly, part of the core charm of the entire series is "mastering a monster" and overcoming them, and since the turn based combat is so expertly designed and captures the main series combat so well, you get that same incredible feeling of dodging and countering every move you will get in a mainline game, when you learn the patterns here too. I guess my point is though is that just sometimes it is nice to face a boss once and then get to move onto the next thing, but that happens very rarely here as each one takes a good few tries to finally nail down, and it did create a bit of player exhaustion for me.
@nessisonett Thank you for the tag on the front page story about the Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Challenge Mode update. You do seem to be reverse-manifesting a lot lately!
Unfortunately, the update is not good news. I don't like making negative posts, but Aspyr have done the worst, most upsetting thing to the remastered collection, taking a finished game which worked perfectly well and recklessly breaking it with a bunch of vibe coding and AI slop from an outsourced blockchain developer, all in order to cram in a randomiser challenge mode which nobody asked for and which doesn't even suit the gameplay of the classics to begin with. Old bugs and glitches, fixed in prior patches, have made a comeback alongside all new ones that impact the entire collection, not just the challenge mode. Cutscenes are missing, animations are broken, textures are going bonkers, saves are being corrupted and crashes are frequent.
It's a modern horror story of everything wrong with gaming right now, and it's all Aspyr's fault. I used to defend them when they were busy resurrecting old Star Wars games, but considering the awful state they left most of those in (not just Battlefront Classic Collection, they royally screwed Jedi Power Battles... and honestly, Bounty Hunter didn't fare much better, either) this shouldn't have been a surprise. There are petitions to roll back the update and re-hire Saber Interactive (which won't happen, but it's nice to make some noise on their behalf, they're awesome).
Anyway, whatever happens, I'm just praying they don't go after IV-VI Remastered next. If I were you, I'd finish Angel of Darkness as quickly as you can, just to be safe.
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog I’ve seen nothing but horror stories about these devs that Aspyr have shipped in to bastardise the game. AI slop galore. Saber did a great job with these remasters too, it feels a real shame that their work is being undermined. I’ll try to play through Angel of Darkness as soon as I can, I’m at the Louvre so I’m still early on!
@Yousef- You can play 1-6 with modern controls and it plays pretty well. The tank controls are best for certain jumps but I was surprised how well the level design holds up with 360 degree movement.
Started playing Forza Horizon 4 on Series X today. It's been such a long time since I played a Forza Horizon game. I think my last one was FH5, which I played around five years ago.
Absolutely loving the game so far, which doesn't surprise me as Playground has nailed every FH they've released so far. Great music, fun racing, it's just a pure delight. The concept of changing seasons is interesting on paper, but I feel like it's completely unnecessary. Moreover, having Britain as the setting is such a boring choice. There are so many interesting locations to choose from. I'm at least glad to see that FH6 takes place in Japan, so I have that to look forward to.
@LtSarge is Forza an Xbox only series? I loved Test Drive: Unlimited (& 2) and thoroughly enjoyed the open world exploration and car customisation - have played Gran Turismo since the first as well - always jealous of how Forza looked as especially in the early titles looked a generation ahead.
'It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." - Captain Picard
Wii is now on RetroAchievements. I spent the last hour playing Wii Sports like it was the Christmas of 2006 again. Still a brilliant tech demo, felt like magic back then. Realising that was 20 years ago makes even me feel old so I definitely feel bad for you lot who are all collecting your pensions soon 😉
@Yousef- PS2 games on the go is pretty cool, I just use my Switch for anything PS1 and earlier that I want to emulate on a handheld but it struggles a bit with DS and N64 games.
@DemonStar89 Well not anymore, as FH5 is on PS5 and FH6 comes out later this year on PS5.
Forza Motorsport is like Gran Turismo, i.e. it's a racing sim, while Forza Horizon is open world semi-arcade racing. I love racing games and Forza Horizon is the best racing series I've played. Every entry is simply phenomenal, so definitely check out FH5 on PS5.
The problem is, just like with other racing series, that the games get delisted over time due to the licensing of cars. Forza Horizon 1-4 are not available for purchase digitally on Xbox and probably won't be coming to PS5 either. So grab FH5 while you can.
@Yousef- That's awesome. I've got my OLED Vita playing some old SNES / PS1 games but am tempted to get something much newer. PS3 emulation is getting to a point where it's somewhat feasible to get something that can handle those games now.
I'm back to the Ace Attorney series with Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit and once again enjoying its ability to instantly make me vehemently loathe a new character with nothing more than a text box and a couple frames of animation. I'm a little disheartened by how long its second case dragged on for, though. Felt a little too self-indulgent. I'm hoping that it was just necessary set-up for the evolution of Miles' arc, and that the rest of the game picks up the pace. We'll see!
After watching and absolutely loving Resident Evil Requiem this past week, I found myself wanting to re-attempt re-engaging with the series, and have therefore re-started Resident Evil: Director's Cut as a PSone Classic on PS5. I'm already much further ahead than I ever got before, largely thanks to the ability to instantly rewind and retry any mistakes, which I didn't have before on PS3. That being said, I'm still trying to play it as "properly" as possible, using ink ribbons at typewriters to save my progress and back-tracking between chests to horde herbs. That latter tactic is helped by Jill's extra inventory slots, which I never had as Chris. With any luck, I'll at least be able to complete her story, if not his.
I have also installed its sequels, which I'll get through due course. I did manage to finish those on PS3 before, but I wanna revisit them to refresh my memory... because then my plan will be to purchase the remake trilogy, as well as Requiem, to play them all for myself.
If this all works out, then the series might replace Deus Ex as one of my 2026 gaming resolutions.
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog Happy to hear you're giving the Resident Evil franchise another proper go! It's been a blast familiarising myself with it over the last year or so, though I haven't gone back to the classics as you have so far. I intend to play the first game's Director's Cut as well, so I'm glad to hear it's still holding up as well as I'd hoped. Whenever you have more thoughts to share, I'd love to hear how you're getting along!
@Tjuz Thanks! Managed to clear Jill's campaign last week, but decided not to do another run as Chris after I looked up the differences and realised they weren't as stark / deliberate as Resi 2. Chris is basically "hard mode" and his support character isn't nearly as relevant as Barry is to Jill, and I feared I'd burn out halfway through a second playthrough, even armed with foreknowledge of what to expect. I'd recommend keeping that in mind when you approach the game, but I also hope you enjoy the experience regardless! It's fascinating to go back and see the building blocks of the series.
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
I started this year off by completing Baldur’s Gate 3, a game that spanned the last few months of ‘25 and the first two months of ‘26. So, counting that, it’s far and away my personal GOTY. Fantastic game. Otherwise I’d say Silent Hill 2 is next, I really loved that.
And then current game HFW is looking like a personal GOTY contender. It’s really well crafted and has some nice improvements on the first game. I’m far enough along where it’s become a game I think about during the day when I’m not playing it, which is a sign of a favorite in the making. According to the PS5, I’m only about 20% complete, but I’m really into the story, more so than the first game. The combat is a little harder than I remember HZD being; I’ve died quite a bit. I ran across a Thunderjaw for the first time last night and holy moly that guy just slaughtered me. I’m trying to push myself to progress the main story and not stick around doing every little question mark on the map, and as a result I’m not leveled up excessively, so maybe that’s why it feels harder. I think the game design of HFW is more balanced to leave it open to player preference whether to grind and level up, or push forward and have a more challenging time in the new map areas.
What was it specifically that turned you off on HZD? Just the general burn out of the open world formula, or did the narrative and characters not resonate?
Regarding your list you mentioned, I’ve seen lots of adoration for RE9 and I highly anticipate playing it. I’m behind in the series though, so still need to play 7 and 8 first. I might get one of those done later this year, I don’t know. Having just finished SH2 I won’t be doing another horror game for a few months. Requiem looks brilliant though.
I’m not familiar with the other two games you listed as GOTY so far, so I suspect they are Switch or PC exclusives. What are they all about?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Ah yes BG3 - personally that is/was my "Game of the Generation", just so immersive.
I played this year Divinity Original Sin 2, which is a great recommend if you're looking for something to scratch the BG3 itch left.
RE9 is really class, best of both worlds (action style 3rd person with Leon, or more classic survival first person Grace)
My other games, Pokopia - kind of like Animal Crossing / Dragonquest Builders with a Pokemon skin... genuinely great, and this is coming from someone who isn't a huge Pokemon fan! Mewgenics - this is a bonkers strategy/roguelike game in which you breed cats and send them off to battle... from the creator of Binding of Isaac. It is absolutely nuts, but i best possible way! PC port to Consoles is impending for Mewgenics, high recommend!
Been a weirdly quiet year for gaming, at least for my tastes. I guess the deck was cleared for GTA 6's original May release date? And when GTA was then moved again, they didn't have the time to push things earlier, so the year has felt like a bit of a wasteland so far to me.
As such, I've found myself with these long stretches with nothing new to play and that seems to put me into hyper fixation mode through sheer boredom.
For most of the year, that has surfaced as a crazy addiction to Survivor Likes, including playing a good 20 hours of OG Vampire Survivors with a friend in co-op and I have slowly over the months picked up practically every Survivor Clone or Survivor Adjacent type I could get my hands on on Steam. A lot of them are really terrible, but there is actually more diversity in this space than you might expect at first glance. The games often also go really cheaply, and your playtime often dwarfs the cost of entry. Like even if you "only" play 15 or so hours of a title, but it is less than 3 quid at it's full price on Steam, bargain. If I had to list my GOTY right now, I'd possibly be picking between either Rogue Genesia or RIP, two indie Survivor likes, Genesia just going into 1.0 and RIP into Early Access.
There was also a stretch where my friend and I were totally obsessed with Slay the Spire 2, putting in around 45 hours before feeling like we had largely burned through all the content it had to offer at its current stage of early access.
Once again then lost at sea, my hyper fixation shifted to arcade racing. Not wanting to do the "thing, but Japan" meme, but Forza Horizon 6 going to Japan forced me to pay attention, and as I started looking deeper, I was just surprised to see how many of the arcade racing brands of my youth are now gone, or just how we don't really get games any more like Blur or Split Second.
After bouncing around a few racers, maybe most tragically of all was Screamer, a game I was so sure I would love, but a convoluted control scheme caused me to bounce right off of it, I eventually landed on Forza Horizon 4 and ended up basically spending every waking moment from Friday evening to Monday morning playing it, and think it might be one of the best games I have ever played and I am sorta annoyed at myself I didn't play these games at the height of their power, but I won't make that mistake with 6.
Played through and beat Needy Streamer Overload a few times, since I'm interested in the anime. It's... okay. It's one of those high-concept games that's fun for the first hour or so, but pretty much collapses as a gameplay experience once you realize how little there actually is to it. I actually love the concept of a game that immerses you in the darker aspects of streaming culture, but the game is more interested in being deliberately edgy than really doing any sort of character study. But, I mean, this was a game where the streamer girl you're managing tells you she wants to do this because she's desperate for approval from strangers within the first few minutes, so I probably should not have expected any subtlety.
I continue to peck at Pokemon Pokopia, a game I was sure I would love, being a fan of Pokemon and Animal Crossing, but I find the whole experience vaguely anemic. I think it's the pacing. There's no ebb and flow to it to give it a sense of continuity. So far, it's just an endless series of mind-numbing crafting requests from Pokemon, and... that's pretty much it.
I played Slay the Spire 2 with my boyfriend for almost fifty hours. It's a lot of fun, but that's mostly just because of the multiplayer element. The game itself is almost identical to the original, a suspicion I confirmed by going back and playing a few runs of the original again.
I snagged HunieCam Studio on sale for, like, a buck, and surprisingly ended up having a great time with it. For those not in the know, it's a spinoff of HuniePop, a somewhat older ecchi game on PC that inspired an army of imitators by combining a dating sim with the gameplay of a match-3 puzzler. The theme of this one is still pretty risque (you're essentially building and managing an army of amateur camgirls), but the overtly cutesy presentation and focus on business simulation means this barely even registers after a while. I spent almost twenty hours with it chasing all the trophies. It was fun trying to synchronize fetish appeal between the girls to maximize the amount of money earned per viewer. Funnier still was having to relegate some to perpetual shopping duties because certain camgirls are addicted to booze and cigarettes. It has an arcade game-like appeal where you try to get higher scores with each run, and the game rewards higher scores with more tokens that you can use to unlock new outfits and hairstyles for the girls.
Finally, I grabbed Into the Breach, and it's... I dunno. Like the developer's prior game, FTL, I do admire the purity of its construction, and would say it's a well-designed game, but it just sort of feels like a game where you're always on the backfoot, struggling to even hit some of the optional objectives when it feels like you're always just barely managing to keep enemies from overwhelming the map, and I'm not sure I find that to be particularly fun. I did manage to beat it once (on "easy" mode, after tiring of hours of torturing myself on normal difficulty lol), so I've given myself permission to stop playing it.
@CJD87@Pizzamorg@Ralizah
Slay the Spire 2 seems to be sizing up to be a strong game, so I’ll be curious to see what the final build ends up like. The multiplayer aspect is a unique take. It will be nice if it’s able to include local couch co-op as I guess it’s only online at the moment?
I played some of the original StS on PS4 back in 2022 and was enjoying it fairly well, but I got distracted and never made it very far. At the time it was my fist real attempt at a deck builder and it did its job of at least piquing my curiosity to the point that I went on later to play Inscryption, then later Midnight Suns, and Balatro and really loved all of those immensely (especially Inscryption).
I don’t do much multiplayer in general, but every once in a while I do some couch co-op with a friend and so StS2 could fill a void if it goes on to include that. There’s certainly a market for local co-op on console, as evidenced by the huge success the Hazelight Studio games.
Oh and Mewgenics sounds totally nuts! 😅 I actually never got around to Binding of Isaac, despite hovering over it a few times and almost trying it. Until a port for the cat breeder comes, maybe I need to keep Isaac in mind when I’m looking to try something different. I’m in the opposite situation from Pizzamorg, in that I have more games than time, and so my list of ‘want to play’ is rather impenetrable in the context of my life right now. DOS2 is actually one of those many games in the backlog as well; I bought it quite a long time ago, way before BG3 even came out and launched Larian into superstar status. BG3 was only my second CRPG, after Disco Elysium, so I’m still a rookie with the genre. But these Larian games are so long that it’s tricky to fit them into my schedule.
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