It’s a funny old time isn’t it? After last night’s State of Play, it’s got me thinking about how we find out about all of those lovely games we’re going to be playing. It used to be practically once-yearly, the industry taking over LA for E3, and a blast of information that you’d pore over for months afterwards. Now, though, there’s practically an E3-like wealth of knowledge every week thanks to a Nintendo Direct here, a State of Play there, oh, and of course, Geoff’s TGA trailer extravaganza. As gamers, we’ve never been closer to developers and publishers, learning all the intricacies of a game before it even arrives, and in some ways, that’s good, but, as with everything now, there’s something to be said for a good old surprise. Thankfully, we still get those, and Sony pulled that off with God of War Son of Sparta last night!
While I’ll be giving that a go later, this week I’ve spent a lot of time hatching eggs. Monster eggs. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is already doing a lot of things better than its predecessors, and I think Capcom may have another big hit on their hands at this early stage in the year. Besides that, I played Citadelum on the Switch 2 and enjoyed the magic of Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, while getting involved in Dosas Divas and Earth Must Die too.
Laura was the first to show her face, but she did so in the kitchen, brandishing a wrench, which was a bit disconcerting. That’s because she’s been reviewing Clue: Murder By Death, which you’ll see a review about shortly. She also cheated the Wolf Spirit bosses in Spirit of the North 2, “by sitting my fox on a wall where the attacks couldn’t hit me. I stayed there all the way through while the wolves huffed and puffed and I occasionally popped down to get a hit in when they got tired. I probably wasn’t supposed to do it that way but it was much less stressful!”
It was the reviews train for Gamoc, who played Romeo is a Dead Man and the new Styx stealth ’em up, adding Halls of Torment to the mix. Coming down from the high of reviewing and playing Nioh 3, Jason put time into Hordes of Hunger, “which is fine”, and a lot more into Heretical, “which is amazing”. He also made a start on Mewgenics, the new game from the maker of Binding of Isaac, but he’s not sold on either its humour or playstyle.
Tuffcub’s gaming this week was all about the gruesome platforming of Reanimal, which he was filled with praise for in his review.
Jim returned to the 2010s with Red Dead Redemption’s remaster. “I originally played it at launch back in 2010 and it’s fair to say that I didn’t have as much of an appreciation for the story and setting that I do now that I’m (slightly) more mature. Given its age, I was also worried that it would feel a little too dated, especially given how busy open world games are nowadays. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at just how much I’m enjoying it. Turning off the auto-aim has certainly helped to make the gunplay more engaging, something that has always felt lacking in Rockstar’s games.”
He’s wrapped up Star Wars Outlaws this week, so Aran will be trying to convince you it’s a cosy game in a blog this weekend. He’s since moved on to The Expanse Telltale Series, “which is decent but suffers as a prequel, as none of the events are mentioned again in the show that I can remember.” So he’s also started Like A Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name, and is enjoying getting back into the Yakuza world.
Miguel played Arknight Endfield, which sounds to me like a shonky Batman game knock off, but he’s impressed by it: “A lot of new gacha games feel like they’re just vehicles to get you to spend money, but this one really takes its time just letting you play an interesting game for the sake of playing it. Soooo much Death Stranding style and vibes and even gameplay mechanics in it, too. I’m a fan!”
Having bounced around various genres with Mario Tennis Fever, Under the Island, The Prisoning: Fletcher’s Quest, and Crisol: Theatre of Idols, Steve has embraced the 90s nostalgia of Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, and is passing an eye across Steam Next Fest demos while waiting for Resident Evil Requiem.
And finally, Tef’s been getting into High on Life 2, which has much the same tone as the original game, but has evolved its bizarre riffing on the first person shooter genre.
