Most recently Iāve been getting into the Skyrim mod: Enderal. Iāve actually been enjoying playing a magic user in skyrim because they actually have spells that have tiers! Itās not just one spell thatās at the same power level the whole time! Still pretty hard at times, but itās been a blast in a elder scrolls game.
I also tried Easy Delivery Co few nights ago. Absolute liminal space vibe with the low poly graphics and sound design. Highly would recommend that game to anyone.
Sounds like a nice mod, thanks for the recommendation! Iāve been playing Skyrim a bit here and there recently and this as a magic character, so this mod might come in handy.
Enjoy! Itās pretty easy to install on steam and gog too. pretty much just a one click install if you have skyrim paid through one of those services.
I will warn you it is a little harder at times partly due to some rebalancing of how food, and health work (health regen is not automatic, and food only heals out of combat) but Iāve been having blast and I can see why others rate it so highly.
Iāve got my fill of Lunistice on the Switch Lite for now, and I also played through the story of Easy Delivery Co. Both great games and I will be dipping back into them from time to time.
I started up Absolum on the Switch Lite after seeing the news about the crossplay update. As a big fan of Streets of Rage 4 itās been a lot of fun seeing how this builds on itās mechanics.
Iām still playing through Uncharted 2. I tend to play it less often but for longer sessions than the handheld games.
So Iāve basically fallen into playing through a big game on console and a small game on handheld at the moment. Iāve been enjoying the dynamic so Iām gonna stick with it for a while.
Been playing some Dirt 2 the last days. I had this game in my Steam library for quite some time now but didnāt really played it until now. I donāt have much experience with sim racers but itās fun so far, especially if I stick to the slower cars. I really enjoy rally games since I discovered the Art of Rally a few years ago. Itās just much more relaxing to race against the clock instead of other (AI) drivers.
Dirt 2 is probably the peak for the series, although itās definitely a shift from the Colin McRae games that came before it. I originally played through D3 on PS3 and started playing through it again on my Steam Deck last year. Itās been my session game over the past 7-8 months.
Dirt 3 is also really good. It added Gymkhana events based on Ken Block. Dirt 5 was developed by a different team (the defunct Evolution Studios who made Motorstorm/Driveclub/Onrush) and skewed to being a heads up arcade racers. Dirt Rally 1&2 went hardcore sim racer. Theyāre really great if youāre into that style. Sadly, their sale price hasnāt been as low as they used to be. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the EA purchase of Codemasters is the cause.
Thereās a new rally game from the Asetta Corsa team thatās currently in early access. The work so far is very promising, but has a ways to go before becoming content complete.
Iāve been jumping around. Finished Sly Cooper 2 a while back. Launched 3 and the initial feeling is itās Sly 2 part 2. If I hadnāt played 1 and 2 first, Iād be a bit lost with the story.
Instead of continuing Sly 3 right now, Iāve pivoted to playing Zelda: Twilight Princess. Originally beat the game on Wii right after release, but going through it again with the Gamecube version (emulated on Steam Deck). Gotta forget everything I know about where stuff is since the worldās are mirrored between the two versions.
With the announcement of Star Fox for Switch 2, I finally decided to play through Star Fox 64 on original hardware. Itās a good session game because you can go through an entire campaign in 45 minutes. Iāve beat it 3 times with the easy ending. I know what I need to do to get the hard endingā¦ Just gotta execute.
I actually meant Dirt Rally 2 instead of the older Dirt 2 from 15 years agoā¦ Based on the demo experience from the PS3 days, it was really good indeed, more of a simcade than a real sim.
Recently have started playing through Cities Skylines II now that it is seemingly in a more stable, less janky spot then on launch. I have a soft spot for city builders, but Iāve sort of kept them at an arms length the past few years because itās a genre that is far too easy to buy some slightly different flavor of one I already have, and is in early access with a lot of potential that never gets actualized.
The first one I sunk a good amount of hours as it filled a greatly sized SimCity shaped hole. Iāve been trying to play a little more vanilla with 2 though, as a lot of the core QOL mods seem to have some level of in-game implementation.
I recently replayed Sonic Rush. Good game,bid a little rough around the edges. I eventually dropped the difficulty down to easy to make the bosses less tedious.
Now that that isnāt on my plate, I have decided that I want to commit to PlayStation for a while. So I will be returning to Uncharted 2 on PS4 and trying to platinum SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (Sonicās Ultimate Genesis Collection) on PS3.
Iāve been playing a lot of Sonic Origins Plus last week. Iāve gone through Story Mode, which has you run through all 4 games back to back in chronological order as Sonic, tried out all the Game Gear titles and got the platinum. There are definitely some Game Gear titles I want to revisit, in some cases on the Master System instead for more screen real estate.
Iāve also been jumping into the odd event or two in Burnout Legends during my lunch breaks. Itās surprising how well the Burnout 3 formula translates to a handheld, my only gripe is that the Burnout 1 and 2 tracks arenāt really built for takedowns.
I beat Sonic Heroes as Team Sonic this week, I recently got a PS2 and used this game to break it in. When everything clicks this game has the same level of depth and flow as Sonic Adventure 2, unfortunately there is a lot more jank to play around to there. I will come back later to do the other Teams, but I want to avoid making the game feel too repetitive.
I also picked up the Vita version of Minecraft, itās nice to have a limited version of this game that doesnāt receive updates, makes it easier to jump in and out without worrying about how much things might have changed since the last time I played.
I came back to Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth after dropping it for no reason on the Switch, I definitely prefer it on the PS4 with better texture filtering and on the big screen.
I started up Rayman Origins on the Vita, itās nice to knock out a level or two in my lunch breaks.
I decided to kick back with Ridge Racer 2 on PSP. I gotta say, playing that on original hardware with a good set of headphones is one hell of a vibe.
Just completed the story on Driver: San Francisco. Itās been 15 years now since it was first released (on PS3/360/PC), so a short explanation: itās the last entry of the Driver series that started on PS1 and was a precursor of the early GTA games (3/Vice City), except that you do not play as a criminal but an undercover cop who infiltrates criminal orginazations. This entry is special because of the shift mechanic: when doing missions you are not constrained to one vehicle but are able to āshiftā to other vehicles. This allows for some real creative gameplay during the missions: in races for example you could let the CPU drive your car and try to obstruct the other vehicles. The shift mechanic can feel gimmicky but in combination with the solid simcadey driving model provides for a very nice open world racing game.
The one thing that bothers me about this game is that they applied the Ubisoft formula to a Driver game: the map is also filled with optional side activities/money to earn/vehicle upgrades to buy/ā¦ I really donāt like this stuff anymore. I wish they had just focussed on the main story with some optional side missions.
Just wrapped up Mina the Hollower. Overall I found the game rather fun, with a lot of great options for personal expression in terms of build variety. Coupled with a great sense of setting, enhanced through a great use of color in the zone specific tile sets & sprite work, solid scores & great NPC dialog. Story is a bit bland, shallow and obvious but I donāt think it is really bad, as it serves as a reasonable enough plot device for the adventure youāre on.
I personally felt like there was some technical and mechanical issues that persisted for the sake of adhering to the period accurate design style. The game is incredibly punishing early, but the power scaling does not even come close to matching how strong the player is able to build Mina up to. Many of the early game frustrations become really inconsequential as you get a ton of trinkets that ease or eliminate much of what would punish you early, and the ability to recover bones becomes easier and easier as the game goes on. The experience should either be flipped, or just stay kicking my teeth in the entire time IMO.
The art style is really sticking to itās guns for better of for worse. The slight slant in the tile work can be a little frustrating or janky when it comes to the boss fights, as those dudes have an insane amount of movement. The tower sections are particularly offensive, as it is by far the most boring and restrictive segment of game playā but in particular the āroundingā effect of the tower is incredibly jittery and I found it personally nauseating. I dreaded doing them.
Overall, super fun play through. My frustrations though will probably leave this as my only play through, as I would just run into those again with a new game+ run.
Iāve just finished completing LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. Itās the newest TT LEGO game and itās a very unique one as well. For a LEGO game, the graphics are very pretty as well. My PC couldnāt even handle the highest settings steadily, but the game looked nice on medium as well.
What makes the game unique is mainly the way this game approaches character. Usually, a LEGO game has tons of playable characters, but most of them are just reskins of one another and have a lack of variety in terms of abilities. In this game, and what was a big plus for me, was the fact that you only have 7 playable characters. Each character has its own very unique abilities and also has a purpose.
Another unique and very nice thing about the game was the combat and the enemy variety. Each character had a different approach to combat and then there were all the different enemy types which also have unique ways of beating them. The boss fights were also pretty nice and not super easy
The open world was fun to roam around in and felt a little alive, but not too much. The fact that the activities were varied and that 100%āing the game was not a super big task was a big plus for me as well. I remember copleting The Skywalker Saga and it being really painfully long. This, together with the character roster, felt to me like a good usage of āless is moreā.
The story is also very nice, but itās not an original (which is not a problem though, but just something harder for LEGO to possibly mess up). The only thing that was lacking for me was the humor from time to time. Sometimes the game felt too serious, but maybe that was on purpose. After all, the game was clearly more focussed on an older audience, seeing that the difficulty could be set and the hardest one was a little bit more of a challenge than your average LEGO game, and it is still Batman.
Overall I really enjoyed my time with this game. Since itās a LEGO game, I decided to get completion as well. What sometimes can feel like a task with other LEGO games, it didnāt feel like that with this one. If you want a unique LEGO experience and/or are a big LEGO fan, I would def recommend this game. Maybe wait a few years and you could probably buy it for cheap on a Steam sale.
Iāve always wanted to give Star Fox a try and the new remake felt like the perfect time. I can definitely say that it has made me a fan of the series, since getting it on Thursday I have already put in three runs and gotten the true ending twice.
Itās also got some of the best HD Rumble I have ever felt, which is fitting considering that the original is that game that introduced the world to rumble.
In fact, this feels like the first Switch 2 game I have played that really justifies the system to me. The overall presentation feels like a true step above what Nintendo were doing on the Switch 1. And that if they were to put it on the Switch 1 the compromises to get it there would completely change the vibe of this remake. Obviously it could work on Switch 1, it is still the N64 game at itās core, but on S1 I feel like it would be a lot closer in style to the 3DS remake in HD.
After Star Fox Iāve been on a big Switch 2 (something Iāve been even harder into after recent news). Iāve just been bouncing around between Crash Bandicoot 3, Super Mario 64, Ridge Racer 64, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart World and Sonic Mania.
I have been having an absolute blast. Whether Iām playing handheld mode in my breaks at work or on the big screen with the Switch 2 Pro Controller or SN30 Pro for 2D stuff.
Iāve been having a good time with Far Far West with a friend. Itās Hoard extraction shooter with robots fighting skeletons in a weird west setting. Gun play has been fun, there a ton of builds with different stats for your player, and guns with bonuses. It also has a cool magic system with spells interacting with each other in fun ways. Like if cast a fire ball then a acid bubble spell you make a fire tornado appear that roasts enemies!
Some of the most fun with a multiplayer game ive had in a long time.