Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th September)

This week I will be mostly playing

Mario’s Super Picross
Two Point Hospital

The video game time will be spent playing the Sand Land video game for the PlayStation made by Sony

Fantasy Life! Still got the itch from being the Switch one delayed so I'm playing the 3DS one. Maybe some more Mystery Dungeon as well. Happy Gaming everyone!

Ring Fit Adventure: I’ve started working on the titles I have left to obtain. Some exercises I avoided in the past I now feel like I have a better understanding of the body mechanics to perform correctly so that feels like progress.
Fitness Circuit demo: Yeah, this game is a great workout. I’ve never been a circuit training or super circuit kind of person and I’m seeing the benefit of this style of training. Great full body workouts and a nice change of pace from RFA. I will be purchasing this game when it goes on sale or I’m flush with cash.

I'm up to the last boss in Bõ Path of the Teal Lotus.
Started Batbarian Testament of the Primordials, what a great tough as nails Metroidvania. It has some very cool puzzles that break up the combat.

Also bought Dex, Beholgar, MO Astray and Unsighted off the eShop whilst they were on sale so I'll have them to play as well.

Have a great weekend everyone

Nintendo Switch:
Fate/stay night REMASTERED – got 1st Tiger Stamp.
Persona4 The ULTIMAX ULTRA SUPLEX HOLD – completed Arcade Mode as MINAZUKI(with Persona) and Kanji.
Windows:
The Cat Lady – finished 1st chapter and started the 2nd one.
Don't Starve Together – playing with my best friend. Downloaded all(almost) important mods.
Update #1:
Fate/stay night REMASTERED – stopped on 8th day or 7th day...
Vampire Savior -The Lord of Vampire- – completed the game as Q-Bee and Sasquatch.
Well, for now, it's all what I've played on this week. Have a nice gaming weekend, everyone.

This weekend I had originally planned to be all about my copy of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron that finally arrived from LRG. But after putting in the hour I promised it, I think our relationship has soured.

I think those sensitive to poor platforming, and loose combat mechanics may find that they are unable to look past the flaws in order to enjoy the resplendent visual feast.
Which is a shame. It does look honestly incredible, but fails being a game for me. There is so much incredible visual art, we are drowning in it across the spectrum of art, but even in video games! I think this game deserves its flowers, specifically as a project that is 13 years old, but something about leaning so strongly into visuals at the expense of gameplay dates this game in late gen 7 more than poorer quality graphics ever could.

So I guess I’m on to Curse of the Sea Rats

There can be only one - Astro Bot.

I’m about to finish the Emio demo and feel tempted to buy the game, but for 50 eur… I feel guilty about it, I am spending too much these days anyway. What to do, what to do…
If not that, then nothing new, just the usual Advance Wars (at mission 16), LEGO Star Wars, Theatrhythm.

Started Warriors Orochi 4 on the Switch. I am a huge Musou games fan so I am enjoying it so far (first of the series I am playing).

Sonic CD

Secret of Mana

Really enjoyed Sonic Superstars as the most original 2D Sonic in decades, but still can’t shake the feeling that it’s constantly referencing the Genesis era games (how many “casino” type levels go we need?? And the final boss was like a reimagining of S&K too..) still, it was fun and I might try the unlocked mode.

Otherwise playing Cadence of Hyrule with my young brother-in-law. This is one I tried a few years back and did not enjoy one bit, but discovering multiplayer made me give it another go and it’s a nice time.
Finally, I’m still creeping through my first playthrough of Tactics Ogre: Reborn at like 95 hours… I’ll complete it some day I suppose.

As an example for the people that maybe don't relate to those of us who mostly float from one game to another at whim (rather than playing one game solidly until finished with it), the other day I picked up on some references to Pinball FX in the 'Latest purchase' thread. This led me to installing Pinball FX, which I've barely played. This led me to realising that I'd bought the Crypt of the NecroDancer pinball DLC, which has inevitably led to me getting back into... Crypt of the NecroDancer, which is a game I really like but have never got very far with. So I'm on a CotND kick today.

Beyond that, a few physical purchases have been delivered this week, so I'm going to break a few of the seals, particularly on the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, and Emio: The Smiling Man, which I'd like to maintain some momentum with.

What else? Only the Byte Gods can know, but its gonna be fun.

Peace, love & pixels to all 😘

I finished Emio this week. I thought it was really good. The story had emotional impact I wasn't expecting, and the main characters were developed well. I thought I was going to really dislike a couple of them, but they grew on me as the story unfolded.
I think the game's biggest issue was that people thought it was a horror game. Certain parts are horrific, yes, but it doesn't really fit into the genre.
My only real gripe is that I won't want to play it again for a long time because the ending will stick with me so long.
So with that done, I'm now playing Tomb Raider 2 on Evercade, along with Stitch, Breakout and Forza Horizon 4.

Finally in the mood to begin Divinity: Original Sin 2…. Which has been in the Switch backlog for some time. I played BG3 last year, and adored it, so I’m really keen to get stuck into Larian’s predecessor game. Just yesterday I picked up D:OS2 on SteamDeck also, so I can double-dip on Switch and Deck thanks to cross-save functionality (I prefer to travel with Switch, as it’s a lot lighter with better battery- but at home I’d choose Deck due to optimisation and better graphical fidelity)

On the side, I’m playing MH World…. Mainly due to all the hype for Wilds! I put 800hrs into Rise, and am so far loving World. Very different, and IMO not quite as fun as Rise… but I’m still in Low Rank, so many of the new/DLC mechanics haven’t opened up yet. Hitting a GS True Charge Slash remains as satisfying as ever, albeit I still whiff 90% of them!!

Happy Grand Run! I still want to call the Big Run in Splatoon 3 that. It's been so much fun with the new music, exclusive stage and beating records. I quickly got the gold by my fifth time playing. I have an overall record of 206 golden eggs right now, as well as beating three Triumvirates. We'll clear that 700 million quota right away!

Switch
Ori and the Will of the Wisps-Such a dope game!
Nier Automata
The Stanley Parable The game that plays you!
Splatoon 3 BIG RUN!!! Already more than halfway to that 700m target!

On Xbox Series X
Dead Space Remake I’ve finally maxed out my suit and weapons. I’m mowing down Necromorphs and loving it! This reminds me I also need to mow my lawn! 😝

Mafia 1st time playing the series and it’s great so far.

Call of Duty It’s been years since I played but have to admit it’s still a fun series. Will be pretty sweet on Switch Deux 😉

It Take Two Wifey really adores the game and the kids enjoy watching our relationship transfer into a video game. Gem of a game!

Recent Purchase$
Ace Combat 7 I bit after the sale, have yet to play it though.

Pizza Tower The animations are incredible, it’s a very fluid and frantic game. Haven’t fully grasped the gameplay but can def see the potential here

Strains on deck 🥴
Donegal (been a long time!), Jealousy, LA Kush Cake and Death Bubba 💀 !!

Quick side note…
I do find it funny with the launch of Astro Bot on PS5…the irony of them embracing a more colourful , whimsical and cutesey artstyle…a “kiddie game” as their mascot! All the while Nintendo used to get panned and written off for its creative and colourful “kiddie game” approach. 😂

Have a great weekend!

Finishing up Sonic Superstars and moving on to Stellar Blade: Really enjoyed this past week with 2D Sonic surprisingly enough. Difficult to master (especially in the later zones) but every time I make an error, I know it's my fault and more often than not I manage at least a B.

Stellar Blade has of course received rave reviews and the demo was quite fun, so I look forward to it.

Astro bot of course.
Waiting, what will be a minimum of 7 years and 7 month’s for a new Mario 3d platform is so painful and ridiculous really. Especially on a console that has lived nearly 8 years in 2025.

Guess I am the only New Denpa Men addict in here. I can't shake the habit.

I have a Pizza Tower to climb. See you at the top folks.
Happy gaming all

Obligatory Blue Archive. The 0068 event just ended, but they are giving a week to finish up all of the valentines episodes. Why yes it is Valentines in August, ya morons!!!!!

Other than that, my cousin is trying to get me into The Finals (that online game) and I'm kinda dreading it. He understands this isn't my kind of game, and aesthetically, the game seems like a mess of things that don't click, even if you can tell it's a competent game on it's own. But he wants to play this game with me. And as someone who's gonna become a parent sometime in his life, it's probably best to learn to roll with the punches that make kids and teens excited and try them out when prompt.

Of course, i still have the modern re-releases of DooM 2 to play while stuck on the sh***** because man it sucks being constipated.

Making my way through Metroid Prime Remastered and loving it! Just picked up the Spider Ball power up.

Still very much on 'Xenoblade 2: Torna - The Golden Country' and it has become quite the obsession.

I'm playing Astro Bot

Still playing Portrait of Ruin on the Dominus Collection on Switch, forgot how enjoyable these DS games were, and the rewind and save states do give you the option to avoid some more frustrating moments. This is a great collection.

On PS4 I started to properly play the System Shock remake last weekend and its a really good game, shame it didn't make it to Switch for the moment. Also almost completed TimeSplitters: Future Perfect on PS4, which I've found fun to play for the first time, I should have bought it back on GameCube.

Holyhunt, go check it out if you like twinstick shooters and gran turismo 7, I just picked up a dd and rig for it from the g29 and a stand.

Princess Peach Showtime! Doing some more post game stuff. Might give Pokemon Mystery Dungeon a play.
Likely another failing attempt to beat Toejam and Earl 4's Expert Mode too

@NinChocolate
I approve!

Enjoying the last bits of Summer, so no gaming this weekend.

Finished SMB Banana Rumble main Adventure mode yesterday evening. A few W9 and W10 levels were needlessly frustrating (e.g. W10 Tornado Ring), but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Trying to finish Star Ocean First Departure, but wow, the last area (at least, I assume is the last area) is really beating me down. Not sure if its equipment/accessory related yet, but wow, its tough. Haven't encountered any save points either, so every time I've lost, I get put right back to the beginning. Grrrr...

I’m going for the plat for Gori Cuddly Carnage. Also been doing some Risk of Rain Returns.

I'm finding new memories, completing the froggy suit collection (felt sad to be at the final closed down stable), and surviving the elements on a pillar. It's amazing how much is packed into TOTK. It's continually fun to explore and experiment with. I've also been playing as the awesome full Zonai version of Link (with his great gray fur), hunting golden enemies (I got a cool gold horriblin horn), and collecting more builds from the Hyrule Engineering group.
On Deck I've been having fun playing Ball-it Hell (a really fun game where you play as a dot with a bat aiming at dots and triangles on the edge of sort of water droplet. It has very pleasing music, 90fps graphics, and great gameplay), Frontline Crisis (slightly shootem up and tower defense, and feels like a lost DS classic), Pilotwings 64, Mario 64 coop deluxe, Ynglet (awesome little game from Nifflas. It looks amazing at 90fps on Deck and at 240fps on my laptop), satryn deluxe (fun berserk/robotron style game!), and 2 romhacks by bluesheep Daisy's Crazy Adventure and Mario's Ruined Seclusion (both seem excellent so far with fun gameplay and awesome music, some original, some from many classic games).
Movie of the week is The Mourning Forest by Naomi Kawase. She always seems to always make incredible films about authentic connection that include wonderful characters who heal, or transform, or demonstrate vulnerability or non-judgement (or acceptance) in a fresh way.
Also, I guess Ball-it Hell is AKA Circle Hitter.

Got You Suck at Parking in the Humble Choice and gave it a try- what a gem of a game! Never heard of it before, very addicting

@Ooyah You piece a-! 🤣🤣🤣

It's not too bad anyways. Just eating too much cheese for keto, is all.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Halfway through, I think (just got the flippers). First time with the game but enjoying it so far. Hoping to finish it by next week so I'm ready for Echoes of Wisdom.

SMTV Vengeance - Still chugging through on the canon route. Unfortunately, I don't seem to like exploring Chiyoda as much as the previous zones.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & Secret Hideout - Randomly decided to try this again and I'm having a much better experience by pretending the game is just a VN with dungeon and alchemy gameplay sometimes. I think I'm about 2/3 of the way through it. Really looking forward to playing the second game as I hear that one is the best in the trilogy.

Splatoon 3 - I'll play a little for the Grand Fest Big Run.

I’ll probably continue my run in Pikmin 1, I am nearing the ending! Perhaps a bit of Paper Mario TTYD and Super Mario Maker 2 as well.

I'm knee deep in DOOM Master Levels and loving every second of it. Some of its maps are among the best I've ever played, with The Garrison being a real standout.

New games are just rolling in lately, far quicker than I can play them, and making me question my shopping habits. I’ll tamp down on the impulse buys, at least.

I’ll see if I can progress the story a little more in Grounded, build a goofy mobile suit in Gundam Breaker 4, or maybe boot up Hebereke 2 (Ufouria 2) - all physical games that delivered recently. Another is Outer Wilds, a game I was dying to try as recently as a few months ago, but I don’t want to commit to it just this moment.

Switch is the only modern console I own, and yet never in my life have I had such an absolute smorgasbord of games to choose from! Usually I’m too caught up in the hype and trying not to miss out on new releases to remember to appreciate and enjoy the games I already have! Maybe a good long gap between now and Switch Deux wouldn’t be so bad. 😅

Wishing everyone a happy weekend and may you find just the right game to play! 🕹👾

I'm doing more Banjo-Kazooie and Stardew Valley. (I can't stop playing Stardew, Help!)

Focusing on Splatoon 3 for Big Run. I get that this Big Run and Grand Fest are the end for Splatoon 3 events so enjoying them while they last.

(1/4)

I'm juggling a few different games this week:

•Bakeru - I preinstalled this one ahead of the US launch. I had strongly contemplated importing this game from Japan but was glad I held off in hopes of a localization. I'm enjoying the game, it has a strong visual identity and a ton of charm and personality. But the combat (of which there is a LOT) gets pretty repetitive and monotonous, especially considering the levels are massive and can go on for like 30 minutes each. Due to the repetitive nature of the game, I don't know that I can give it any higher than an 8/10, but I'm still far from finished.

For a 3D platformer, the amount of content on offer is pretty staggering, though. I'm pretty sure there's like 50 levels, maybe more. This game has some of my favorite collectibles, as each one is a fun fact, usually pertaining to Japan. Also, each level takes place in a different real-world region in Japan, which is awesome. Makes me want more games like this set in different countries, like a game in America where you travel to all 50 states.

It's a good game, but like Princess Peach Showtime, it can sort of feel like a LEGO game at times with just how straightforward the core gameplay loop is. It can also be rather choppy. But due to how charming it is, I'd still say it's the best Good Feel title since Woolly World. The aeathetics give me strong Mario vibes, and I wonder if this is the devs testing the waters to possibly lend support to new, 3D Nintendo titles like a 3D Yoshi or Wario Land or maybe even Mario.

Decisions were made and feelings were mixed as this weekend drew near - on the one hand, I just invested in Silent Hope (and still face quite a temptation to add the likewise generously discounted 13 Sentinels on top); on the other, my Deck just saw three mainstays since its purchase (FFXIII, Horizon and Xillia) shelved with a bitten lip to usher [what already amounts to the friggen 135 Gb of] ESO back in town - the game's 10th anniversary stuff still underway, there are two more DLC dungeons to get for free this month, and the region lock hanging on Bethesda lineup these days leaves these giveaways as the only option for expanding my 2E Tamriel. Here's to no more patch/repair curveballs making me juggle this mastodon of a game in and out anymore; as for the aforelisted "sacrifices", they WILL return onboard sooner or later. Unless, of course, Squeenix is holding a related surprise or three for TGS (I'm not mentioning Bamco because it's clearly not Milla and Jude's time to shine for now, and at least getting Graces on Switch soon is huge in itself🍻).

All that aside, the weekend session menu looks to be offering more Isaac, Xenoblades and RFs, the new expedition in NMS, GTA/TES/FF/Tales playthroughs across Switch and Deck, plus yet more stuff like Black Skylands, Fell Seal, BotW and Murder by Numbers on the hybrid queen, yet more stuff like Dishonored, Starbound, Payback and Nights of Azure on Valve's handheld... and there may also be time to find for the other platform options like Endless Frontier and Fantasy life on 3DS, God Eater and Eternia on Vita or Star Ocean IaF (leaving PS+ Extra soon but I should have enough points to convert into its next expected sale price afterwards) and MotorStorm Apocalypse on PS4.

(2/4)

•Astro Bot - I obviously haven't has as much time with this one, since it just came out yesterday. But so far, it's shaping up to be a game of the year contender, for sure. Every level is so varied, both in terms of aesthetics and gameplay, and many levels left me with a big smile on my face; I should note that I don't smile often, for whatever reason. Pretty much every issue I have with Bakeru is solved here. Levels are much shorter (many can probably be beaten in just a minute or two if you ignore all collectibles and just make a mad dash to the finish), so at no point does it feel like it's dragging.

The game looks and sounds great, and I love just messing around in the environment. Clearing out snow and knocking around the literal dozens if not hundreds of 3D objects strung about (i.e., apples, cubes, etc.) is mesmerizing, like I'm a cat pawing at a toy. And I'm not one who likes to stop and mess around with things in games like that because I usually see it as a waste of time.

One of the levels I played earlier may be one of my favorite levels in any game ever. You get this power-up that turns Astro into a mouse, and he shrinks down to scale. Small flowers thay were just decoration before can now be used as platforms. You can switch from being big to small on the fly, and they do some really clever stuff with this in the level design. It's so cool to get up close with these tiny objects and see just how detailed their textures and polygon counts actually are. It's really a fantastic showcase for the PS5's graphical capabilities, and the DualSense audio and rumble add an extra layer of immersion. My biggest concern is that the game does seem like it's going to be fairly short, much more so than Bakeru. That game has quantity, but this one is quality. At least a 9/10, but it's hard to say definitively. Oh, and some of the references to other franchises (including third-parties, not just other Sony IP) are really charming.

(3/4)

•Immortals: Fenyx Rising - I've had this one for a while but only got around to really diving deep into it maybe a month ago or less. I'm getting pretty close to beating it, I believe. I've maxed-out my health meter but still have a ways to go with my stamina. Some elements of the game can be frustrating; I don't think the Vaults of Tartaros (which is this game's version of Shrines) are as finely crafted as the puzzles in BotW, so they tend to get quite tedious. The story can also feel nonsensical and while it tries to be funny, the comedy often doesn't land. I wish the game took itself a bit more seriously.

Overall, though, I think it's a perfectly competent BotW clone. It has many of the same elements, like gliding, climbing, and even using mushrooms to refill your stamina gauge. But it does add some new things to the formula, like being able to swim underwater (although this is a very under-used mechanic), being able to guide your arrows' flight path, and being able to summon your mount or change the time of day by holding a button instead of having to stop at a stable or rest at a campfire.

As someone who didn't really enjoy TotK, it was nice to play an open-world Zelda-like that actually had a unique new map for me to explore. I also enjoy how when you go into first-person mode to place markers, you can unveil locations of chests, vaults, challenges, etc. by slowly panning your cursor around and looking/listening for an audio and visual cue. It's kind of like using a metal detector or something. Not sure if I'm explaining it we'll, but it's very satisfying to do. There are only four materials in the environment though, which is a little lame. No mixing and matching ingredients for different recipes here. I'd give the game maybe an 8.5/10 so far.

(4/4)

•Aero the Acro-Bat - This game, and its sequel, I just downloaded out of morbid curiosity. I had never even heard of it before NL announced they were coming to Switch. I have a soft spot for second-rate platforming mascots, so I had to give this game a try. I love the concept, as you don't often see a bat starring in a platformer, and he's a trapeze artist at that, which I've never seen outside of Rasputin in Psychonauts, which came much later.

Unfortunately, the level design isn't great. I try to avoid using the remind feature in retro games, but here, it's a must. Spikes are instant death, and levels are absolutely scattered with them. Many of them are placed in death traps just offscreen, like there are times where you'll need to shoot yourself out of a cannon and can adjust the meter that determines how high you'll go. But there's no way to know how high you need to fill the meter without hitting a spike on the ceiling. This is a frequent occurrence and would be very annoying.

Enemies can also have weird hit boxes, where I often just can't get them to die and instead take damage despite seemingly hitting them in the exact same way that killed them before. Invincibility items are placed in safe areas with no enemies where they serve no real purpose. The 1-up sound effect isn't victorious but rather sounds like if you guessed an answer wrong in a trivia game. And levels can be tedious to navigate, as the end goal doesn't open until you achieve some weird task like stepping on all the star platforms. You may find yourself running around aimlessly through these levels and repeating the same platforming challenges over and over again because you've checked every corner of the map five times and still don't know where that last platform is that you need to move on.

It's... something else. The sequel looks better though, so I am looking forward to getting to that one. But the first Aero game is only maybe a 4 or 5/10. A lot of personality--the designs are pretty cool, and it's well animated and the music isn't half bad--but the level design and questionable hitboxes are where it all just falls apart, really.

I may also finish the Battle for Bikini Bottom playthrough I've been working on for my YouTube channel, "Nintentrovert." But, I've been lazy and haven't recorded in a week or so. And by "lazy," What I really mean is that I've gotten self-conscious and have started questioning whether I'm cut out for the whole content creation thing. But, I need to get out of my head and just do it!

destiny 2- so much to do so little time
world of tanks(xbox)- A collab with star trek started and as a huge star trek fan I must take part
fallout 76- This is actually a pretty good game despite the hate.

Looks like Nintendo Life finally fixed the exploit that allowed me to make a singular comment as long as I wanted. Curse you, Liam Doolan! (Idk if you're to blame, but I see your name on this website a lot, so I'm using you as my scapegoat. )

Good evening.
Today I played two Arcade games at my local Arcade centre. 😊

MaiMai DX Buddies +

DDR MAX 2

Waiting for playing MaiMai DX Buddies Plus at my local Arcade TimeZone was really overwhelming as there were a lot of players wanted to play that machine so they have to write down their names for queue registration before playing.
While waiting for my turn, I played Yokai Watch 3 Tempura 3DS.

@Anti-Matter is MaiMai DX Buddies + a dance game, too? I assume so from the artwork, but the character design left me wondering.

Balatro, Splatoon and maybe a bit of MK8 Deluxe. Enjoy, everyone!

I picked up Astrobot (PS5) because it reviewed well and I'm kind of in between games right now. I'm not really a fan of 3D platformers but perhaps this game will convince me. It definetly looks fun enough. And I love all the Easter eggs in it. Looking forward to playing it later today.

Wylde Flowers. Still. XD I'm in winter now.

It just got a pretty big update too. New recipes, jewelry and animals, among other things.

Like a number of folks I'm playing Astro Bot over on PS5. I'm also going through the newly released Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Other games include Luigi's Mansion 2 HD where I'm on the third mansion, Princess Peach Showtime!!, Vampire Survivors and finally Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

Good gaming, everyone.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Still enjoying my hangout with Sully in the jungle

Microsoft Wordament (Android) - Still doing dailies and working through adventure mode.

NBA Jam (Windows Phone) - Still playing daily.

Almost solely dawn of sorrow and wind waker HD. I may fire up my xbox for something but not sure yet. But I'm trying to decide what else to play once i beat either one. There's a bunch coming out this month I want to dabble in too.

Edit: went out and bought gunbrella in the sale. So I'm playing a bit of that too.

I’ll be finishing up Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club this weekend. Currently on the tenth chapter, so I’m pretty close. As I said last week, the gameplay’s really just more of the same for the series, but the story’s gotten really interesting now. There are also a lot of references to the previous two games sprinkled around…

After that, I’ll probably continue on in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. I’ve mostly been focusing on Emio, so I haven’t gotten very far here just yet. But from what I can tell so far, the plot is going for something pretty different from Trigger Happy Havoc. Looking forward to seeing exactly what that is.

This weekend, I find myself diving deeper into Black Myth: Wukong—a game that’s captivated me more than any other title this year, even more than Dragon’s Dogma 2. Even after completing one full playthrough, I’m now embarking on New Game Plus, something I rarely do unless I’m truly hooked.

When I first started playing Black Myth: Wukong, I didn’t expect it to become my Game of the Year (GOTY), but now, I can’t imagine any other title taking the crown. The depth, boss encounters, and the incredible combat system have all made it a standout experience. I’ve already finished one playthrough, where I managed to unlock every secret area and boss fight—including a secret, God of War-style ending—without using a guide. I’m still amazed at how I managed that! Despite this, I’m looking forward to relying on a guide for my NG+ playthrough, as I aim for the coveted platinum trophy.

What sets Black Myth: Wukong apart for me is the sheer immersion. The world feels alive with mysteries waiting to be uncovered, and the combat constantly challenges me in the best way possible. One moment, in particular, that truly blew me away was stumbling upon the optional Yellow Loong boss fight. It was nighttime, and I found myself battling this massive creature on a ragged cliffside under the light of the moon. The way the lightning from Yellow Loong’s attacks lit up the sky created a thrilling, almost cinematic atmosphere. There are countless moments like this scattered throughout the game, especially if you take the time to explore.

At the same time, I’ve been alternating with Ys: Memories of Celceta on my trusty Vita, which has proven to be a delightful surprise. Having already played and platinumed Ys VIII, my first introduction into this storied franchise, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Memories of Celceta more, but surprisingly, I do—especially in terms of the story and the characters. The game has a light-hearted charm that’s kept me smiling, and on more than one occasion, I’ve found myself laughing out loud at the dialogue and character interactions.

What really makes this game shine is its sense of adventure. The world feels vast, with lush forests, ancient ruins, and a rich, mystical atmosphere that makes exploration rewarding. Sure, there are a few frustrating mechanics like the limited fast travel early on, but by mid-game, this is resolved, and the flow of the game really picks up. I also found the upgrade system to be a bit clunky at times, but these minor issues don’t detract from the overall experience. I’m aiming for the platinum trophy in this one too, hopefully before Ys: Nordics drops next month.

Coming up, I’ll be diving into Space Marine 2, a game that looks absolutely stellar with its intense, action-packed battles in a futuristic setting. I’ve also picked up Astro Bot, which I’m excited to explore with my daughter once I’m done with my current adventures. This has been a sensational year for gaming.

Lego City Undercover: Finished it back on the WiiU, had some good fun with the game so I double dipped and bought the Switch version when it came out . GTA for kids? Yes. Great fun for everybody? Also yes.

Pokemon Blue.

Platformers should have the character automatocally run, and have you hold a button to make them walk rather than the other way round.

Sorry, as you were.

Big Run is this weekend so i’ll be dipping into that. Already have the special slop suit.

Primary: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES)

Made it through the land of the dwarves and am scaling the tower of Babil. Everything seems to be happening so fast compared to modern JRPG's which feel more padded and drawn out. I almost can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think I am enjoying replaying 4 more than I liked FF7 Remake. I actually feel more of an emotional connection with these little sprites, suffering from a spotty language translation, than I did with the characters from FF7R as well. It's strange, but I think there is something in the power of imagination that helps to bond an audience to an experience. Like the difference between reading a book and watching a movie. Both can be special experiences, just in different ways.

Alternate: Dragon Quest 6 (SNES)

One-hour-a-day job class grind continues. Making good progress. The main character only has a few jobs left to master and his list of completed jobs includes Metal Babble, Dragon and Hero. I also successfully captured a Slime Knight and am training him up in the process, so that by the time I am finished mastering all jobs, he will be ready to annihilate the arena!

Other: Games added to the physical collection this week include Star Fox (SNES), Eiyuden Chronicle (Switch) and Visions of Mana (Xbox). I have no idea when I will get to playing any of those since I am currently working my way through the SNES library, but as a mega fan of both Mana and Suikoden, I needed to have these represented in the collection.

Finally, is anyone else loving the EGG Console releases as much as I am? I find it absolutely incredible that these historic and influential Japanese PC-88 and PC-98 games that had been lost to time and locked away from a western audience for 30+ years have suddenly become available. I have often dreamed of playing classic Falcom games like Xanadu, Sorcerian and the original Popful Mail, but had given up hope due to the improbability of them ever being ported. And then, suddenly, a gift from the heavens! I was a little concerned about them not being translated, until I discovered the power of Google Lens. Pointing my cell phone at the TV screen instantly transforms the text into English, like magic. The Lens of Truth!! With this power, no Japanese exclusives are off limits any longer. I think I will start looking into importing some games for my Saturn!

Adventure on, everyone, and happy gaming to you all!

@Mana_Knight Im trying the SoM Turbo RH

Finally beaten baten kaitos origins. Have mixed feelings about it. I didn’t hate it at all but I felt that it wasn’t really necessary to make a prequel to the first game. What really ticked me off is that the game has a crazy bug where one of the side quests, the biggest side quest becomes undoable 🤦‍♂️. Well whatever, the game was long and hard actually. Had some crazy difficulty spikes. Story was a little darker then the first one. Well the series is finished unless there is going to be a new one which I don’t think there will be unfortunately.

Getting through everyone’s first chapters in octopath traveler 2. Game will be a long one 😂.

Downloaded the card en ciel demo yesterday. It’s interesting so far. Gameplay isn’t perfect and it’s slow but I am enjoying it I think. 😂.

For non switch/Nintendo games, I am only playing a little of drakengard 3. Hopefully I will finish it soon. 😂

I’ve been absurdly busy lately, but i have managed to make it through most of Dawn of Sorrow in the Dominus Collection. A lot of fortuitous soul drops this time around. I got the Witch soul first bop! The eyeball guy(which i always get first chance) dropped after just a few attempts too.. and some others. Anyways, just beat Bat Company, so i’ll finish the game this weekend and move on to Portrait.
I decided to spend some time spiffying up my yard in Moonstone Island. I really love Widdle Walls. They are the only walls i use. They’re just babies, ya know?
My friend’s partner is going to climb Kilimanjaro, so he has some time to himself, and he’s an old friend so we’re gonna be doing some serious co-op over the next couple of weeks. As time permits, of course. I’ll let him plot the course so i imagine we’ll be trimming our way through thickets of foes in some arpg and probably a little Darktide. I picked up a new 3d card on the cheap.
Oh, i bought The Boy and the Heron and finally gonna watch it.
Take care and game well!

Emio the Smiling Man, Ace Attorney Investigations, Easy Come Easy Golf, King of Fighters 13 Global Match, and Mario Party Superstars.

• Pokemon Scarlet. Just completed the epilogue for Indigo Disk, and the whole expansion was such a fun ride! I can't believe how much unlocking the ability to fly for real actually reinvigorated my appreciation for the Paldea region! Soaring across the valleys, over the mountains and ocean is amazing; I haven't felt this jubilant riding on a Pokemon since ORAS! And after all the updates, the game really is so beautiful, especially with the lighting of the sun or moon in your view. Haters be damned!
• ACNH. Small daily tasks while saying hi to my favorite villagers (Marshal, Molly, Sasha, Shino, Ione) never gets old. Plus I'm still plugging away at the Paradise DLC at my own speed, saving each new vacation home for when I'm really in need of a good moment to relax. Now that I'm pretty close to completing the museum, I'll have to google the last remaining bugs and fish for me to catch and how to get them!
• GBA NSO. While I was on vacation in August, switching between titles on GBA NSO was the perfect way to preserve battery life and get lose in a ton of wonderful retro replays. I swear, the GBA NSO sips on the Switch's battery so slowly that I could have gamed all day, and I never realized that before! I'm now swapping between Fire Emblem, completing a quest or two on Lyn's campaign; Golden Sun, completing the tutorial; Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid Fusion, beating the first bosses and unlocking a few suit upgrades; Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, laughing unexpectedly at my very first playthrough of the original game, the dialogue is actually pretty funny; and Starfy, enjoying the stellar music and Kirby-like action, not to mention all the subtle mechanics stuffed into a deceptively simple button layout!
• Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. And of course still cracking away at the storyline of TOTK at my own pace. I just maxed out the green layer of zonai cell batteries, visited all the Tears about the Kingdom, and began the fire dungeon after just completing the water dungeon.

A lot of Pokemon Go this weekend. This was easily the biggest update in years.

Of the FFIV options you listed, though I personally prefer the SNES version because of nostalgia, I think the PSP version best. The Pixel Remasters are a good alternative.

I had a hankering for some old school Final Fantasy as well. Playing FFVI this weekend and using the PR bestiary just to run boss fights.

Sonic Advance 2, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, & Black Myth Wukong.

When my weekend starts I plan on wrapping up the last of the expert levels with gold stars in Mario vs Donkey Kong (Switch). Great game. I definitely prefer the Plus and Expert levels over the main ones.

I also found myself having the bug of replaying Company of Heroes Collection (Switch) so I redownloaded it. It's real time sink but the game just hits all the right notes when you're in the mood. Because of that now I'm forcing my fiancé to watch "Band of Brothers" with me

I’m way too obsessed with persona five. I have already done about 40 or so hours! I love it so much! Part of me wants to not play to never see the end because I don’t want this to end either. Bright side after I do finish this game I plan on finally playing Nier at along last.

Also started castlevania for the first time last week, I also manage to beat rondo as well and moved on to sotn, I am now see what all the fuss from this series is about…I think I’m in love.

I've been playing Shining Force CD on Sega CD. I've played through 1 and 2 so many times, but figured I would give CD a try before I went to 3 on Saturn.

Also, Visions of Mana, which is gorgeous, and relaxing and engaging all at the same time.

I just finished Dark Deity on switch, and I'm going to fire it back up for Echoes of Wisdom in late September or early October.

@daveMcFlave +10 gamer points for playing Shining Force CD, and an additional 10 for having a Sega CD and a Saturn!

Today I bought Astro Bot and Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble. I will be playing Astro Bot. This game is unbelievably awesome so far. I am glad Sony did not give up on platformers. This is easily one of the best.

Happy gaming everyone!

Still on Persona 5 Royal nearing November 18th, with everything important about that date. Also a little meandering in Ori and the Blind Forest, which is absolutely stunning and I get distracted from the gameplay at times.

If I had to throw my two cents for FF4 version, I'd say GBA, as it was the only one with really good bonus content, altho the pixel remasters can let you bypass the grind a bit.

Happy gaming everyone!

I finished Tormented Souls a couple days ago, so I’m not sure. I have a lot of horror games I want to get to this fall so maybe the Fatal Frame series.

Baldur’s Gate 3 - Nearly done with Act 2.

The Witcher 3 - Trying my hand at Gwent finally after 40 hours into the game.

What Remains of Edith Finch - Another gem recently discovered on PS Plus. Will probably be done with it this weekend, but a very intriguing and enjoyable short game so far.

Shadow of the ninja reborn and gotta say its hard as hell even on normal mode.

Recently started Persona 5 Royal and Ori and the Blind Forest.

Persona 5 is very interesting so far but I have to admit that I can't always stick to playing it for over an hour at a time. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think maybe I'll enjoy it more if I let myself take it in slowly. There's just so many tutorials and dialogue and so little combat that even though I'm really curious about the story, my mind starts to wander off after a certain point.

Ori and the Blind Forest is interesting so far. So far there's a much bigger focus on storytelling than most metroidvanias that I've played. It has a very strong aesthetic as well. I'm not far enough in to judge much, but I'm definitely liking what I've played so far.

On Nintendo Switch:

• Brotato: I cannot stop playing this game (25 hours in, Finished 9/84 characters difficult 0, 1/84 characters difficult 1...I unlocked difficult 2. I need to unlock difficult 3 and 4).
• Dragonball FighterZ: revisiting this game...Great port. I have now all the DLC characters.
• Mario Golf Super Rush: having a lot of fun playing "tournament" against 3 CPU players.

SteamWorld Heist II
All stars from all stages, veteran difficulty, just the final boss left. I think this is the time to give my final thoughts since it's the last time it appears on my list.

There isn't much wrong with the game but it lacks the impact the first game had. It plays things too safe. It's the same game again but twice as long. The story is basic and dialogue lacks substance. I was afraid the real-time overworld combat would distract from the experience but it was honestly pretty good addition. Turn-based combat hasn't changed much but I liked mixing and matching skills.

SteamWorld Heist was so good I finished it and instantly wanted to replay it on harder difficulty. I completed it twice in very short time. I don't see myself going back to Heist II anytime soon.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Chapter 4. I enjoyed the talk with Kuze's grandma. Progress is still slow because my original goal was to beat SteamWorld Heist II before Emio came out. Now I'm really behind the release schedule as Investigations Collection also came out and I want to play it too. It will have to wait for now.

Samurai Shodown VI
I have friends coming over in couple of weeks and one of them wants to try out SamSho VI since it has a weird roster. You can play as Galford's dog, Poppy, as well as the other animal buddies. I dug out Anthology to check which controllers it supports. I only have one Classic Controller Pro so the other player has to use a Wiimote.

Anyway, I decided I'd just quickly beat the arcade mode while I'm at it. I picked a random character and got Earthquake. I did pretty good and finished all matches before the first mini-boss without using continues. The mini-boss wasn't that hard either. Then it was just a boss after boss. I was already ready to be done after Zankuro but there was one more boss after him. I'd player for about an hour so far, I thought I'd be done in another 30 minutes. WRONG. It took me 2 hours to beat that final boss. SNK boss syndrome is real.

Picross DS
I did all the regular puzzles. Now I'm just doing daily Picross because I'd completely ignored it until now. You have to play for certain amount of days to unlock all the modes.

Adventure Bar Story
Started playing this on a whim. It's almost a good game. I'm not that fond of the default RPG Maker look. I think the game would benefit from randomly generated dungeons since it seems to make you go through dungeons multiple times for materials.

I found a way to make infinite money and experience in the first hour of playing. One would think they'd have limited the amount of water you can take from the well each day but no, you can just fill your pockets with water, walk 30 steps to the store and sell it all. Rinse and repeat. You can then use that money to buy ingredients, turn them into food and eat it for experience. Pretty funny stuff. I won't abuse it too much.

Switch: still on Minish Cap - enjoying the Kinstones but everytime I feel like I’m progressing I run into a wall about 10 minutes later so quite slow going at the moment

PS5: Sifu - still working on lowering my age and trying to beat the final boss

Immortals of Aveum - having fun with this at the moment - great feeling to the combat (even if it is just reskinned guns) and the lore is really interesting. Shame people would get turned off by the technical issues and very slow opening

@Grail_Quest

Thanks. I got really lucky with the hand-me-down consoles.

@Bucket
MaiMai is Rhythm game by SEGA with gameplay like DDR, but you play with your hands.
The way you play is tap the circle on the circle area, sometimes there are two circles you have to tap together, the hold circle, the slide arrow.
MaiMai DX introduced the tap square in the middle of the screen like OSU.

The songs in MaiMai divided into several categories: Pop & Anime, TOHO Project, Game & Variety, niconico & Vocaloid, Ongeki & Chunithm, MaiMai Original.

There are a lot of songs from SEGA games in MaiMai such as Sonic, Virtua Fighter, Puyo Puyo, Chain Chronicle, Horuka.Toruka, Hero Bank, Phantasy Star Portable, Sakura Wars, Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure, etc.
Also, some crossover songs from Bandai Namco and Konami such as KitaSaitama 2000 from Taiko no Tatsujin, FLOWERS from jubeat, Scars of Fauna from jubeat, etc.

MaiMai have five different difficulties from Easy (Blue), Basic (Green), Advanced (Yellow), Expert (Red) and Master (Purple). Sometimes certain songs have extra difficulty that called Re:Master, the even harder than Master (Purple White).
The range difficulty numbers in MaiMai capped to level 13 while on MaiMai DX capped to level 15.
The level interval in MaiMai separated with Plus level that introduced from MaiMai Pink, for example there is level 10 song then there is level 10+ songs, kinda like level 10.5
There is NO Easy (Blue) difficulty in MaiMai DX so it started Basic as the easiest level.
Also, you cannot failed in the game so don't worry about Game Over, except the Challenge mode to unlock certain Boss songs that you given by certain amount of lives until 300 lives and it will decrease by 1 live if you get anything below than Perfect.

Here is the example of gameplay from MaiMai.

https://youtu.be/Ahaq70dfhSo?si=H9e8Wl6_M3Qcma-q

And here is the official website of MaiMai DX with the song list.
https://maimai.sega.com/song

I think it's a Splatoon 3 and Street Fighter 6 type of weekend.

After a week of laughing at Concord, I'll be mostly either working or be at church. Can't wait to finish me and my friend's JRPG Guess That Track. When I can, I'll be playing TTYD. In chapter 3 and I have to be honest, it's WAY too long. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but between match after match (some which don't even increase my rank), the story moments, and doing smaller things, it's a little bit of a drag.They probably should've had 15 rounds instead of 20, at least. Other than that, it'll probably be a little Team Kirby Clash Deluxe here and there, for the gem apples if anything.

On a random note, talking about films and robots have made me kinda want to watch a new animated film or rewatch something like Wall-e sometime soon. Definitely want to watch Transformers: One and even The Wild Robot later this year. For now, the official Transformers youtube channel FINALLY posted another episode of TF Animated! Saw it, it was pretty good. Want to finish the series before the end of the year.

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Peglin. They just got the switch updated with all other versions.
Dead Cells

Pikmin 4. Towards the end I think.

Also been playing slay the spire again and done ascension level 9 with the 3 main characters (I gave up with the Watcher character after about level 6 - really liked playing her at first but struggled as the game got harder).

The Castlevania DS collection coming out inspired me to pick up the Castlevania Advance collection and I just today finished up Circle of the Moon and have moved on to Harmony of Dissonance.

The jump in gameplay between the two games is surprising. Harmony of Dissonance feels like a portable Symphony of the Night and I love it for that.

mario kart 8 dx as usual. trying to get 99k coins, Im at about 72k.

Just put in my time with Astro Bot. I’m pretty sure I’m 100% save a final last bonus level (like all good platformers!). I went in expecting to ‘like’ this game, this game brought another level of enjoyment.

Strapping in with FDC: Emio to give the fingers a break. Enjoyed the first two games, excited to see how this plays out.

For this weekend...

Ring Fit Adventure
Time for me to begin World 6

Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I need to get moving with this game. The next game has been consuming my time...

Rocket League
Season 16 has emerged, and it feels good reclimbing the ranks. Such an addictive game.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Been procrastinating. Time to continue. There's a little game coming called... oh I don't know... Echoes of Wisdom about to release, smh.

@Anti-Matter thanks for the comprehensive explanation. The game looks intriguing, but sadly also something I would be terrible at.

Falinks raids in Pokémon Go today. I wasn't aware at first that we were eligible for five free daily raid passes (until I got home 🤦🏻‍♂️), but I used my two standard ones (the other being unused from earlier in the week) and called it a day as I thought I'd have to use my Premium Battle Passes, and I didn't want to waste them on a non-legendary as I've only just recently gotten back into the game.

No shiny Falinks for me, unfortunately, but I did score a shiny Kyogre during Raid Hour earlier in the week.

My Go Plus+ is also due from Japan tomorrow, and I've recently maxed out all of my inventory, and I'm at a point where I keep having to dump lower tier items.

Well here we go with another wild WAYP. Been a wild cool week around here. Most of the week was just the usual games like Dawntrail and SMTV: Vengeance and some new stuff like Star Wars Outlaws and BAKERU which both were exceedingly amazing. Most of the weekend when not working was taken up by the Big Run in Splatoon 3 and more Visions of Mana. Got those new Splatoon Amiibos in and they are absolutely beautiful. Also picked up my copies of Ace Attorney Investigations Collection and Astro Bot. Very excited to play those. Also got like 100$ in Eshop money for lots of cool stuff like Baten Kaitos HD and even preorder money for Yakuza Kiwami. Once I’ve spent it on my day off I’ll list what I bought next WAYP. Also with the news on Concord this week I got my refund so I’m gonna go ahead and preorder something special. Rest of the weekend I’m thinking is gonna be some of the COD Black Ops 6 Beta as yes if I enjoy that beta I’m going to use the refund money for a copy of Black Ops 6. Pretty sure it’ll be my first Day 1 COD. Otherwise I’m thinking this week is mostly gonna consist of some Ace Attorney, Trails Through Daybreak, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Paper Mario, Bakeru, Dawntrail, Astro Bot, Emio, P3R: The Answer, Star Wars Outlaws and Visions of Mana. Think this is also the week Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP comes out so I’ll be excited for that one. Only wrestling thing I wanna mention this week is short and simple. AEW All Out. Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage Match. I’m now a AEW fan too. Anime of the week gotta go to Nokotan, Alya Sometimes Speaks in Russian, Oshi No Ko and Mission Yozakura Family. Yeah got some new ones in here and one of them Nokotan is actually anime of the season I’m absolutely loving it. Alya is extremely cute too. Podcasts of this week gotta go to Castle Superbeast, Big Think Dimension, Into The Aether, RPGsites Tetracast, Minnmax, Jeff Gerstmann, Kit and Krysta, Last Stand Media, Easy Allies, Second Wind, Nextlander, Cultaholic Wrestling, Weapon Wheel, Aetheryte Radio and Remap Radio. As always yall stay safe, be wildly awesome to each other. Have a totally cool weekend and of course Happy Gaming.

Fam is playing World of Goo 2, and I'm finally getting to those DS Castlevania games which are better than expected, so far. I slept on SotN back in the day, but recently played through it and that game is very good but flawed (great ideas sometimes mashed together, incomplete and imbalanced). So far, Order of Ecclesia plays like a careful and well-designed game using many of the same ideas. Fun!

Also got Astro Bot (PS5), but haven't played it yet.