Thrillho

@Vermines Enjoy! I still think Returnal is one of the best games of the generation but beating that first boss takes some effort.

Definitely one I’m keen to finally play though, although probably not at the £50 price point.

A 9?? So you’re saying this is better than Baby Steps??? /s

@Kairuuu Two different speed run trophies is mad. I didn’t get the platinum for HK and looks like I won’t get it here either!

I loved Hollow Knight and it’s one a “white whale” platinum trophy for me as I could never complete the pantheons.

I adored the world and exploration, and though the platforming and combat felt great.

Very looking forward to this at some point!

Just give us the Expedition 60 game we all want. SMASH!

@LiamCroft Any idea on how it runs on the base PS5 given there are frame rate drop offs with the beefed up machine?

@Truegamer79 I always forget this was a PS2 game with how good it looked. That said, MGS2 was a pretty good looking game on that console too.

It also can’t possibly have been on PS2 as there is no way this game is twenty years old 💀

@Oram77 I mean, you could try actually playing it.

It’s one of my favourite games of all time. The artwork and music are sublime, and I loved the sense of exploration in the game. The combat felt really tight to me with some excellent bosses and the platforming also felt great.

Can’t wait to finally play this!

@Czar_Khastik No worries, sorry I forgot to tag you in my reply!

I’ve had to drop things down to story mode to just plough through these bosses now as I just want it done. And while the Maelle glass cannon build helps speed things up it takes even more of the pleasure of the combat away.

@get2sammyb I’m almost there now with one trophy to get but honestly the grind has kind of soured my experience of the game somewhat. Getting a character to lvl99 in particular has been a chore.

So many areas are just constant boss rush setups though which is fun for a bit but gets somewhat tedious after a while, especially if you get KO’d after spending 20+ mins on one fight.

After playing so much Yakuza, having a Japanese dub with subtitles doesn’t bother me.

However, in the first game it did feel I was missing out a little as there were no subtitles or anything for some of the general chatter that NPCs made as you moved around areas which felt a bit strange to me.

@nessisonett That’s the real game.

I found Evil Genius 2 really disappointing. The fact you only own one lair is rubbish too as any early design mistakes are tricky to rectify. Quite repetitive too.

Damn, I reckon I’ve been a PS+ subscriber since around 2013 now when they used to give away loads of games a month on PS3.

The only benefit to closing it down was that it made me finally cash out my points. A nice £30 for free.

A shame I didn’t realise some of my points had expired though..

This game will be dining off the Jason Schreier seal of approval if nothing else. His comments on the game are what’s had it on my radar though but this review confirms some of the worries I have about it.

Some odd comments about the scoring of the review though; it partly shows why numerical score are nonsense but also the mentality that anything not given a 9 or 10 is utter garbage.

The original game was weird; I thought the overall story and premise was quite neat. But then it seemed like there weee only about four types of enemy and three weapon types, and with only a small number of planets to land on you ended up with a ridiculous number of quests and side quests within seconds of landing on each one.

Some fun companions though and their side quests were some of the highlights.

Inscryption is an excellent game. Such a crazy game that is spoilt by knowing too much about it but well worth it. A really tough but satisfying platinum too.

Dredge is a great chill game but also pretty dark at times. I thought the minimal story fell a little flat at the end and there was a bit too much faff for the platinum but still a good game.

Knights and Bikes is a gem. I played it solo where you can switch between characters but it would be amazing played couch co-op. So many neat little nods to Cornish life if you know the area too.

@QiaraIris Next year? It was three years between the initial release and final DLC for the last game (on PC). Don’t expect that definitive edition until the end of the decade!

I actually had the PSone mouse that I used for Player Manager back in the day..

With the literal billions they’ve made (and are still making) off GTA5 across three(!) console generations, they could probably release this for free without financial concerns, especially if they’re going to monetise an online component.

A fun game but a weak main story and a bit too much bloat, even for a Yakuza game. But the two main protagonists are some of the best in gaming and work wonderfully alongside each other.

Minus points also awarded for locking the high XP dungeon behind DLC, making the grind for the top level trophy pretty infuriating without it.

I only just finished the game with the platinum and loved it. The main gameplay loop is pretty chill but fun, and I loved the random mini games throughout.

Some spin-offs with different focuses and game styles would be good fun and the variety of different directions they could go could be really interesting. Perfect for a shorter indie title.

@Ryne-Gaia I’m almost certain something like the level 20 mod would allow you to start at that level. So not necessarily a “super easy mode” for the whole game but certainly for a lot of it.

That pill needs an “I played the demo to death” option. I can’t remember if that was an OPM demo or from somewhere else.

@Quintumply TP Hospital was great fun and obviously a must play if you enjoyed Theme Hospital back in the day.

I found TP University didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It was cool that each level had a theme around it but there was a lot of waiting around when objectives required you to wait to the end of the academic year.

KIRYUUUUUUU CHAAAAAAN!

Both my music and gaming collection has gone predominantly digital over the last few years.

For both, it’s partly a storage issue but also a bit of a feeling of unnecessary waste; buying CDs just got pointless as I’d import it to my laptop and then never use it and in both cases it’s more plastic etc that just isn’t needed.

I do buy some of my favourite albums on vinyl but have never done the same with games as the price difference between the two media is so great.

The nostalgia of reading through Mega Drive manuals and things like the RDR maps people have posted are strong (Witcher 3 even came with some stickers I seem to remember) but the only reason I bough a couple of PS5 games on disc were because there were no sales on games when the console was new. Almost all of my purchases are through PSN sales now.

@johncalmc The question is can you build a hostess club on the island that you then need to run yourself?

@MrGilly69 as the previous comment said, there is so much in the game that isn’t explained to you and that I’ve found out via spoiler free Reddit posts.

But the sheer freedom to do what you want is insane. It’s kind of amazing that Larian were happy to make a game where you will miss significant amounts of content. Again, it’s funny reading Reddit posts where people have completely missed (or straight up killed) companions. And there was a video on Twitter recently that showed the insanely different ways people had approached one of the early big encounters.

Extraordinary game.

@Nepp67 it isn’t the last one with Kiryu…

@AFCC This game is all about linking Kiryu’s timeline in LaD so it might not make much sense to you in places but it’ll I don’t think it’s essential. Probably more important to have played the main games, especially Y6.

@LiamCroft I can stack my Essential subscription at the discount price through the app (although 25% discount, not 30%)

https://i.ibb.co/nR9wp3Y/IMG-9633.png
https://i.ibb.co/r63Bp2F/IMG-9634.png

Never change Sammy.

One of the most extraordinary gaming experiences over the last few years. It’s not for everyone but I’d highly recommend jumping on the route and enjoying the ride.

I really enjoyed 2P Hospital but thought Campus fell a little flat. But I’ll keep an eye out for this as it seems an interesting crossover.

@ChakaL00T Sorry to hear about your console. If it’s any consolation, my first PS5 died within 24 hours of having it!

I was pretty impressed with how quick the turnaround was from sending it back to Sony and the console I got back has been absolutely fine since. Fingers crossed for better luck with your new one too.

@Quintumply Thanks. The Pedestrian was a little bit shorter than that and didn’t outstay it’s welcome with only a few new mechanics through the game. Will just wait and see what price they go for!

This has looked like a really cool concept since I first saw it so glad to hear it just about works as a full game. A shorter length doesn’t bother me too much as I’d rather it not get too repetitive but what was the rough play time for you @Quintumply ?

Marvel’s Midnight Suns at £35 is pretty good. I really enjoyed the game and if you’re a fan of XCOM style games then don’t be put off by the deck building mechanic!

It’s also a neat array of Marvel characters with plenty of obvious choices but some less well known ones too.

My main memory of playing the first game was just how quickly such an iconic theme tune can start to annoy you when you hear it every time you boot the game up..

Hollow Knight was one of my favourite games from the last gen so I’d rather they take the time and get it right.

I used to love some of these games on the OPM disc back in the day. Some excellent names of games in the article and comments so far but may I also add;

Rocks and Gems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfN_K20j4og

Psychon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TU2yNbT0k8

Blitter Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diF0qOWxQ0A

The whole point of the second game was that it was about the pointless need for revenge and what Ellie and Abby lose in their pursuit of it.

It would either have to be a completely different plot to the game or it would be a complete disservice to the whole story.

Death’s Door is a wonderful little game, especially at that price.

And I had great fun worth Cult of the Lamb recently too. I think you’ve got the price wrong in the article though @Quintumply as it’s showing it as £14.99 on the store for me.

Duller NPCs than Dragon’s Dogma?

Good lord.

I enjoyed Elden Ring but found too much of it was overly cryptic and I would never have found out about some t hi MGS without vaguely using a guide.

The open world was amazing but I ended up feeling a bit aimless at times, plus I found a lot of the catacombs etc felt a bit repetitive and filler.

Still an incredible game though and, as said above, there will be plenty in ER to inspire future games.

Robert finishing his article and scheduling it to auto-post before signing off for his Christmas holidays like;

@ShogunRok ignore the haters choom, it’s the best game I’ve played (twice) this year too 🙌