Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 22nd)

You all better be playing persona 5r on switch 🥰

Loads faster than the ps4 version 🥰😍

This week I will be mostly playing

Phantasy Star
Pokémon Shuffle

P5R mainly, maybe some OW2 with the crew.

Probably going to replay Links Awakening on the switch. Maybe I will sprinkle in some madden. At least in that I can make my cardinals a competent football team.

I played PS4 games today. 🙂
1. Race with Ryan
2. Youtubers Life 2

I have unlocked all cups until Royal Cup from Race with Ryan, but it only have 6 tracks without DLC.

Youtubers Life 2 got some new update with Skill Tree and daily challenges that you can redeem a certain points to upgrade your looking or working performance.

This week I started playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles again.
This game must be the work of love, because it seems like I am enjoying it more with every playthrough. I am in year 4 now and about to finish Conall Curach. Only one artifact missing.

Happy gaming everyone.

I’ve just finished chapter 3 of Bug Fables, which scratches my Paper Mario itch perfectly (thanks for the recommendation NL). I have picked up Dead Cells again after a few months hiatus, and cannot stop dipping in for one more run. And after the NL reader recommendations I played the demo for Foregone and loved it, so I will be buying the full game in the next day or two.

I finished Alien Isolation this week, a truely epic horror game which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't played it.

I'm going back to Dying Light now, I got it in spring but only played around 90 minutes so i'm starting fresh.

@Picola-Wicola
Hope you enjoy the rest of bug fables. IMO, I think it surpasses any paper Mario game. I hope they announce a sequel sometime.

I went down to my sister's and nephew's house for a games night yesterday. We tried to play a game but it kept requiring logins and updates and such so my sister decided to bring out the old PS2 with Tekken tag tournament and a dragon Ball z game!
We'd forgotten how good those old games where (also had to face the fact that we're old enough that our consoles need an adapter to work on modern TVs 🤣), we're going hunting for more old games now, hoping we can catch a few cheap!
Other than that not much this week. Xenoblade and Final Fantasy 7 DLC are going along smoothly but it mostly feels like the calm before the storm (Splatfest, Scarlet and Ragnarok next month!)

I’ll be playing Assassins Creed Valhalla and Horizon Forbidden West on Ps5
Mario Kart online, Splatoon 3 and botw on Nintendo Switch
If I find some time luigi mansion or Majora’s mask on 3ds

In another timeline where things are slightly different, I didn't give in and buy Persona 5 Royal on PlayStation after years of waiting for it on switch to no avail; I'd be playing that in portable form right now 😅

Still continuing with Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, just made it through a godawful sewer dungeon that just went on and on and on and finally gained access to the 4th, and if the menus are to be believed, last main area of the game.

Even with the sewer being a bit of a downer and the game being kind of jank at points, it's nonetheless been a pretty great experience overall.

Having a great time with West of Loathing, a delightful funny game with stick figures. Picked it up on sale last week and it's lasting longer than I had expected.

Continuing on with Monster Hunter Stories 2. I'm enjoying it so far! Also looking to start Ori and the Will of the Wisps since I snagged it on sale the other week.

Should really try to crack on with Majora’s Mask 3D, as I’m in the fourth temple. Still really enjoying it. However, I also want to knock off Backbone before it disappears from Game Pass. And I’m waiting at the window for the postman to bring me Persona 5 Royal… Yes, I have Game Pass, obvs, but I’ve been begging for P5 to come to Switch since 2017 and can hardly wait to finally play it.

My main game is going to be Resident Evil 7 on PS5. It was my first Resident Evil game I played back in late 2018 or early 2019 (don't remember which), and with the Village DLC coming in less than a week now, I decided I should revisit 7 while I wait. It's been a blast! I didn't remember a whole lot about it, so it's been fun revisiting it and exploring the Baker family's home again. The PS5 update's nice as well!

For other games, if I play anything on my Switch, it'll probably be returning to Xenoblade 3 to do sidequests. I still haven't picked it back up since I beat the game a month or so ago... On my Steam Deck, I started up Ara Fell, so it'll probably be that or MultiVersus.

Some more NieR, Ori, Fortnite (level 90ish on the BP) and Overwatch 2 (finally unlocked ranked).

I also got Call of Juarez: Gunslinger as it was on eShop sale for $1.99. Been having a blast with it, definitely worth 2 bucks.

Back to the Animal Crossing grind between matches of Turf War in Splatoon 3 and Overwatch 2.

Glad they put Assault mode maps in the Arcade so I can still play them.

With what has become a tradition this time of year, I will spend the weekend replaying Luigi’s Mansion 3. I’ll try and get some gaming in with the kids as well, with either Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, or maybe Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate, or heck perhaps both games.

Rare for me to afford two splurges in a row, but here we are - so the usual Switch suspects (Xenoblade games and RF5, Isaac and the enticingly overwhelming No Man's Sky, plus other itches ranging from Dreamscaper and Bioshock 2 to Starlink and Children of Morta) are looking to share these couple days' gaming time with NieR Automata and Borderlands 2 (press F for Pillars of Eternity I shelved with a bitten lip to load these two), Road to Guangdong and Marmoset, Shinsekai and Tails of Iron... and possibly even a few items I'm still pondering over with the leftover funds (King's Bounty 2 is juicy but another 15 Gb I might not engage properly until I'm done with the first game elsewhere while Mummy Demastered is cheaper, compact and on sale for the first time in a year🤔), the total of which will likely push my estimated library to/over 1100... if anything, that might explain why I don't have particular cravings for "Switch 2" or "Switch Pro".😅

If I reach the handhelds, it will likely be more Fire Emblem, Endless Frontier, Strange Journey and the resident PSP playthroughs like Eternia or Persona Revelations (will the latter count to avoid invoking @Rpg-lover wrath?😄) while on the laptop I might spend a bit of time with the sluggish Drakengard or the surprisingly functional but also quite sluggish NieR Replicant, plus some GTA 4 or 5 and possibly Witcher.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Back to Nier Automata but may also add in some MK8 Deluxe or Splatoon 3. As much as I'd want to start Persona 5 Royal, I know it's a very long game so I'll wait on starting it until after I've finished Bayonetta 3.

@KBuckley27 I keep reading the title as "Mario and Rabid Sparks of Hope". Best band name to never exist.

Overwatch 2. Really enjoying it so far.

I haven't been playing much on the weekends, but I have had one obsession that I play on my breaks during the workweek - Downwell. Its something I keep returning to over and over, and I've been getting better and better over the weeks. This week I've been reaching the final boss relatively consistently, but it keeps destroying me since it's the point I tend to panic on (and its 4 phases long). My best was making it to the third phase, and i refuse to give up. The game is TOUGH, but it's also a masterpiece in game design that keeps me coming back for more.

I’ve got Nier and NMS to try out, but I’m playing more Skyrim, especially now that they’ve released today, an update that’s fixed the terrible lag and stuttering in the Anniversary dlc/update.

I'm doing the 'sensible' thing despite my recent pickups of P5R, Them's fightin' herds, taiko rhythm festival and Sparks of hope among others, I'm playing an older backlogged game in Miitopia. I'm scared of getting into a massive game commitment before Harvestella and Doraemon story of seasons come out, especially with Splatoon 3 and Sunbreak still nipping at my heels.

Miitopia is very chill, I just wish there was more actually playing it rather than watching it play out. That and the scenes, while funny are repeated a lot. it's such a drastically different flavour than Trails from Zero that I beat recently (and loved every minute of I might add)
I'm just such a massive loner that I only have myself and my partner as actual human characters in game, the rest are a smorgasbord of the many different franchises I like, and that makes me feel even more lonely than I already do XD

For me it’ll be Sparks of Hope & Dragon Ball the Breakers. Maybe Sunbreak as well but we’ll see lol.

Halloween season == I visit Luigi’s Mansion. This year, it’s Dark Moon and its several mansions.

Sparks of hope went physical for £42.99
Game a lot better and more bigger and expansive than I thought and that’s a good thing.
Good bit of adventuring as well.

Well, I'll be playing Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, to catch up on those Adventure Maps. I'm on the verge of clearing the Wind Waker Map! Also, I got a Bluetooth USB Adapter coming in from Amazon, so I can add Bluetooth to my laptop. This will be beneficial for my XBox Wireless Controller, so I can use it to play Mega Man X DiVE with, sparing me the trouble of using my Switch Pro Controller's USB Cable to connect it. it IS fickle.

Just picked up cruis’n blast really enjoying it quite a lot to take in on your first go but you get used to it great racing game takes me back to early 2000s with big loud and bright arcade style can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get hold of it awesome

Just got done with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 earlier this week. I like playing through shorter games between these epic, 100+ hour RPGs, so Undertale and likely Ori and Blind Forest are up.

On PS5 i will be playing Atelier Sophie 2 and Diofield Chronicle.

On switch I will be playing Mario and Rabbids sparks of hope and Xenoblade chronicles 3.

And on Series S it's Life is strange true colors and Beacon pines.

I’m attending a solar astrophotography workshop this weekend so no gaming for me.

I'm playing through the new content in Dreamlight Valley and trying to finish the last few races in Gravel.

I also took a trip to the past and spent some time on Space Cadet pinball, the old pinball game that came pre-loaded with Windows 95.

@Ooyah That's basically been me. I've bought like 4 other games since and haven't touched them because I've been so hooked on Xenoblade 3.

After 155+ hours though, I've at least beat the game and all the quests so I'm just about at a pretty good stopping point. I'll come back to revisit the superbosses at a later time, might save those for a NG+ run (I did my play through on hard mode so I'm also trying to figure out if I might swap to an easier difficulty). I'm also waiting on the DLC until the physical launch, likely next summer/July.

If I'm not busy with Halloween festivities, I'll probably startup Nier Automata this weekend.

Not Persona 5 Royal Though, it is an excellent game. Very excited for those playing it for the first time on Switch (never thought I'd see the day!).

On the Nintendo side I've been leafing through the Xenoblade 3 art book. It's quite a bit more substantial than I expected. Lots of great stuff in there. Now I just need to work out where on earth that huge box is going I've also continued playing the wave 2 content of the game too.

Towards the end of splatoon 3 story mode. Also a bit of turf war and salmon run, but I seem to be going through a particularly rough patch on both, so might give the game a rest for a bit (maybe until the next splatfest).

I'm taking a break from my Steam Deck that I got around 4 weeks ago.

I'm playing some Darksiders 3 on my Switch Lite and it is a quite different experience than playing on the Steam Deck.

The Steam Deck is big and manly and Switch Lite is, well, lighter.. but it's still a very enjoyable experience playing the Lite.

(and btw: the Switch port of Darksiders 3 is much better than its reputation on this site and it's fun too - even though it has quite a bit of a learning curve)

A big week for new releases…but I decided not to buy Gotham Knights based on the reviews. A plague tale requiem isn’t really my thing, so I went for Mario & Rabbids Sparks of hope! Looking forward to diving in this afternoon 🙂

Splatoon has officially taken over my life. I have no time for other games, only splatoon. Splatoon is my life now. But I did recently buy a capture card, so I'm going to try to get that working as well.

Switch- Persona 5 Royal, Nier Automata, & Chaos;Head Noah

PS5- Valkyrie Elysium, Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water, & Doki Doki Literature Club Plus

Series X- A Plague Tale Requiem, Dead Space 3, & Scorn

Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy gaming!

Been mostly on Trails from Zero now since knowing it's more or less a "start" of the game epic till the rest come stateside. Though Knockout City has a Halloween event going on, so that's probably what's going to be played this weekend.

finishing up monkey island and then sparks of hope....and some splatoon3

I’ll be flipping back and forth between Persona 5 Royal and Gotham Knights on ps5

Easy Come Easy Golf. I’m really addicted to this game. I’ve put in way more hours than I did with Mario Golf, it’s the better golf game in my opinion. Probably play TMNT Cowabunga Collection and some Cotton games too.

Was playing megaman the wily wars before weekend. First one. Fun time.

I’ve just bought the n64 controller for switch so will be playing orcarina of time for the first time.

I've started playing Octopath Traveler, which I've been enjoying quite a bit. I thought the character's stories have been pretty cheesy thus far (not necessarily a bad thing) until I got to primrose... damn that was sad.

But I've got more free time than I anticipated this weekend, so I'll probably also return to the battlefield and engage in gloriously brutal combat in Chivalry 2, and continue my months long campaign in Crusader Kings 3

I'm on chapter 5 still for Dragon Quest IV. I might make some more progress with that but I need to grind a bit before advancing the story and I don't really feel like it atm 😅

I've also started Triangle Strategy a few days ago. I've loved what I played so far.

@Mr_Gamecube Live A Live's translation quality is between average and poor, if I don't confuse...

I started Live A Live a few days ago and am continuing my playthrough with the Prehistory chapter. Definitely a fun turn-based RPG so far. I've never played the original, so I'm quite enjoying my romp through this game that originally released during my toddler years. The only chapters I've finished so far are The Wild West and Near Future.

Elsewhere, I'm still melding my way through Crimson Shroud on 3DS. On chapter 3. This game is...unique. Weapons entirely control your stats and combat prowess to an extent, and melding (and grinding) is apparently key to move forward. I expected dice rolls to be more akin to D&D, but that isn't quite the case. The plot is intriguing, so that's what's keeping me going right now.

As usual, a bit of Pokemon Go when I'm out and about. Happy gaming!

Replaying Persona 5 Royal myself, now that it's on Switch and all. Probably also find time to return to the replay I've been doing of either Life is Strange or Danganronpa V3.

Pretty much only sparks of hope with maybe a tiny bit of astalon sprinkled in.

Plenty of Rocket League playing Spooky Pumpkin mode. It's fun. Also Splatoon 3 - Salmon Run, maybe some turf war.

I did play Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope on release day, and will continue to play through this weekend. I'm enjoying the game a lot. I love the freedom in exploring and how fun it feels and plays. Just starting the second planet at the moment.

I am also someone who likes it a lot because it's colourful and just so funny at times. The cutscenes are very fun and well done.

Will keep playing later today & soon.

A really good game by Ubisoft and the teams that worked on this, overall, for sure.

I finally finished chapter 4 of Xenoblade 3 and decided to take a break and finish a few shorter games before diving back in. Good thing What the Golf? only has like... 2000 levels.

It’s going to be about Persona 5 royal but there are a couple of other things going on too. I need to finish XC3, and that’s the thing I am jumping into one big game from another big game. Also still playing Chaos;Head Noah, and then my girlfriend has been on a big Diablo 3 kick and we been playing that together. So there is a lot of gaming activity in my world. Have a great weekend!

Chaos;Head Noah, Fallout 4 (PS4) and Alan Wake Remastered. On Monday I'm picking up Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection and Persona 5 Royal from Best Buy. I've also ordered an am waiting for Harmonia, Needy Girl Overdose and AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative.

Primarily Trails of Cold Steel 3 some more, finally hitting the point where things seem to pick up in action so I'm excited. At first, I was worried because it was similar to 1 in pacing but it's speeding up now luckily. Also a bit of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, as I'm finally back in the mood to punch robots with other robots. I haven't picked up Persona 5 Royal on switch yet, but that's because I haven't beaten it on PS4 yet and I wanted to do that before double-dipping.

@Rpg-lover I definitely will after I finish Chaos;Head Noah, Alan Wake Remastered and Fallout 4 (PS4).

All the Persona talk has got me in the mood. I never replay games but I’ve started Persona 4 Golden on Steam Deck when my original playthrough was on Vita. I’ve got through the 3 hour opening now so the real game starts.

I’ve opted for 4 as I played Persona 5 more recently and I love 3, 4 and 5 all for different reasons. Each could be my favourite on any given day.

Kemco's Leige Dragon. It's a pretty good one.

For multiplayer, I’ve been playing GTA V, Overwatch 2, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with my friends lately. GTA is really fun for just screwing around, but I don’t really like the heists in the game very much, which is annoying because that’s how you get the most money to buy fun stuff. We’ve taken a bit of a break from Overwatch 2, but it’s still lots of fun and I’m sure we’ll play more this weekend. Smash Ultimate is just as fun as ever, even hundreds of hours later.

For singleplayer, I’ve just started Persona 5 Royal, and I’m hooked already. The story is awesome, and I’ve played for 5 hours already. I really hope that the game remains super interesting I’m the future, as I’ve heard it’s very long.

Reaching the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna the Golden Country. I have to say I have enjoyed this even more than the base game. It’s such a perfect, compact little 20 hour JRPG experience. Cheers!

I'll continue Bloodstained on PS4, which I think I'm half way trough or so, and I just stated Nier Automata on Switch and holly ***** it looks good.

persona 5 royal!

... is what i want to say, but my delivery is still nowhere to be seen -_-

waited for this port to happen for years, so what's another couple of days?

Well its definitely not P5R currently, since I didn't buy it yet lol. Told a friend I'll pick it up next Friday for payday.

This weekend, I'll be doing some shiny living dex work in Legends Arceus, and probably play some Great Ace Attorney tomorrow. I really want to see how Case 4 goes, and feel bad I haven't picked it up from my last bit of playing three weeks ago. :/

My backlog is screaming at me so I may have to dive into Digimon Survive or back in Yakuza 7 on my PS4, but not sure about that yet. Spirit of Justice is still waiting for me to pick the final case back up on my 3DS, so I should make some time for that either this weekend or sometime next week.

Sparks of Hope and Nier.

My Persona 5 shipment got delayed to Tuesday unfortunately.

Overwatch 2 mostly. Playing with buds and solo ranking. Other then that, continuing my play through of FE Three Hopes, SOS Pioneers of Olive Town, and Xenoblade DE. Oh, and Luigi Manson Dark Moon for those Halloween vibes.

Might start Diofield Chronicles as well. Been having that tactics itch.

@nhSnork absolutely my friend 😁😁😁😁

I'm playing the redirect game, where Nintendo Life keeps automatically redirecting me to http://2022325luckyday.top/prize/luckyus-ad/lpphone.php with the rest of the url making it painfully apparent that I need to start using a VPN

@theModestMouse I also got Call of Juarez: Gunslinger as it was on eShop sale for $1.99. Been having a blast with it, definitely worth 2 bucks.

Yeah awhile back when it was on sale for super cheap I picked it up randomly because it was on the bottom of my backlog at the time. Soooo glad I did because there was just something about that game that had me really hooked. There's nothing groundbreaking about it. There's just something to that game that hit all the right notes. I didn't finally put it down till I got a perfect score on every duel.

Mostly Splatoon 3 for me this weekend. My girlfriend's birthday is today though, so that takes priority.

Me, on Nintendo Switch

• Switch Sports - my new game.
• Windjammers2 - arcade, all characters, intermediate difficulty
• Taiko no Tatsujin Drum'n and Fun with 2 Taiko drums.
• Crash Team Racing Adventure, second "world".

Picked up Metroid Dread on sale and it's my first 2D Metroid title and whoa, it is incredible. Such love and attention and it's so obvious. My favorite game this year so far.

@MarioBrickLayer I just started playing Alien Isolation for the first time and am absolutely loving it. I haven't even seen the Alien yet, but the tension is soooo high!

Playing Them's Fightin Herds with friends, I convinced a fair amount of them to get it and some already had it on PC for a while. Me buying and playing it on launch day caused a chain reaction which was awesome.
Smash and Splatoon 3 in the meantime with friends.

Welp, I finally rolled credits on Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. Thought I'd be done with it, but now there's 2 post-game dungeons to peruse.

So I'll do that then likely take a short JRPG break (my next will be, at last, the massive mammoth that is Xenoblade Chronicles DE), probably starting Ender Lilies & GRIS as my next games. Definitely not getting to all of that this weekend alone though lol no way. Happy Gaming y'all.

... Wun can only hope.

Ring Fit Adventure, Fitness Boxing, and Xenoblade Chronicles: Torna: The Golden Country.

Dragon Quest V

@Guitar_bard it's great isn't it!! It's one of the best games I have played in ages! How tension is built up os excellent!!

I was playing in bed in handheld mode one night when I almost jumped out of my skin, my wife wondered what the hell was going on!!

@Pokemaniacal If I enjoy Dying Light 1 and the technical reviews of the cloud version are good when it is released on the Switch, i'll be playing it too!

@MarioBrickLayer Haha, the same thing happened to me! My wife was sleeping, and I woke her up when I jumped straight up into the air. Amazing game.

Marvel Snap - now that its support helpline has actually stopped trying to blame me for not being able to log in via mobile data - and Special Tee Shot. Just as good as Kirby’s Dream Course - if not better; it’s an actual ball you’re belting around, not a sentient marshmallow, and it’s a lot more technical in both its courses and control method.

On the Miyoo, I’m into the last few laps of VVVVVV, trying to figure out mapping controls so I can play C64 Armalyte - I need the Commodore key to switch supers - and having another bash at those last two levels of GB Puzznic that I didn’t clear back in the 90s.

I've been playing Coromon, Stardew Valley, and Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe.

Coromon is a pretty good Pokemon clone. I think anyone who likes the older games would probably like it.

Battle Chef Brigade is a neat little match 3/action hybrid thing. If anyone is curious about it, it has a demo on Switch.

So happy that Atlus did a midnight release activation for Persona 5 Royal eShop download on Nintendo Switch.

Found it more enjoyable if you turn up the game’s brightness in the options menu.

Finally got my NSO N64 controllers so I have been trying out all the games with them. WINBACK finally feels right (I have an N64 controller pre-set)! Also picked up NO MAN'S SKY for Switch and GOTHAM KNIGHTS on PS5.

Wario Land: The Shake Dimension!

Too much great stuff to play this month!

Continuing my long and wonderful journey through my SNES mini. This weekend will have me exploring Hyrule and the World of Ruin.

No Man’s Sky has me firmly addicted - I’ve never before played such an immense, open game. I’m content to just take my time exploring the few planets I’ve been to and look for Korvax vocabulary.

If not for NMS, I’d be playing P5 Royal, as just the opening movie and intro sequence were top notch and reminded me how awesome a game P5 was.

@TheBigK
Yes, I’m getting the redirect spam, too.
I hope NL clean it out of their site soon…

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season (Windows Store) - I'm done with the main campaign now I'm onto the 400 Days add-on.

Panzer Geekz (Windows Phone) - Finally getting back to this after a nearly week long break.

Temple Run 2 (Windows Phone) - I feel I've hit the glass ceiling with this one. Might move onto another game now and remove this from the phone.

I’m playing through NieR Automata, but I discovered Howl-o-ween Hero in the eShop this morning (for less than $5) and got sidetracked trick or treating. Definitely a treat!

I’ve had a few mishaps with gaming this month since finishing Xenoblade Chronicles. Real life stress has just taken over. Tried Spider Man, Bloodbourne, & Demon Souls on PS5. Gave Nier, FF8, & Undertale a shot on Switch. Even tried FF6 last night! Nothing is grasping my attention the way I’d hoped! So I just bought Persona 5 Royal on Switch seeing if it can suck me in.

After knuckling down and making a concerted effort to pay attention to my surroundings I've finally made headway once more in Metroid Dread, though also returned to Mario Odyssey for a few rogue moon (and balloon) hunts. I swear there is more fun per inch in that game world than is scientifically feasible.

I fired up Alien: Isolation. It is spooky season after all!

@Pokemaniacal you should, a really well made game!

@MontyCircus, I completed it this week and loved it! Have you played it before?

On Nintendo Switch:
BLAZBLUE CENTRALFICTION Special Edition — completed Arcade Mode playing as Jin Kisaragi and Noel Vermillion. Now, I'm finished with playing Arcade Mode. Jin and Noel was the last 2 remaining characters. So, I'm fully completed Arcade Mode!
On Android:
Despotism 3K — survived for 12 days on Normal Mode. Got 2 achievements - 1st for surviving 6 days, and 2nd for generating 36000 energy.
Minecraft — continue to expand my mine.
Well, that's all what I've played on this week. Have a nice gaming weekend, everyone.

On PS5- taking it easy and just playing a bit of online co-op Returnal… still love this game and enjoying helping out others, especially those that are struggling with early game

On Switch- Return to Monkey Island - beat the game this weekend after approx 11-12 hours of play.

I’d ultimately recommend to anyone that enjoys the genre, or has familiarity with the older games in the series (and presumably had fun playing these games).

A fun romp and a nice change of pace from more action-orientated games, nice to actually use my brain for once… and fortunately most of the puzzles are solved through cerebral rationalities - instead of obtuse/random solutions.

My only critique would be it’s a little on the easy side… and only really ‘hits its stride’ in Act IV (total of 5 acts in the game).

Act IV has a lot of moving parts, location variety, and ramps up the challenge…. And it is a real shame that all the acts don’t follow this blueprint!

I set out to avoid using the in-game hint system …. But let myself down and had to utilise the hint book for the very last puzzle in Act V (in fairness I was totally barking up the wrong tree in my solution/tactics… probably would have had me stuck for a few days!)

Overall I’d give it a solid 7/10, and maybe 8/10 if you are a huge fan of the genre.

I pre-ordered star ocean divine force and am waiting for that. In case you don’t know, the publisher is not doing well financially and they are in a square Enix final fantasy situation, where this is their last game unless it does well enough to save the company. I bought it because I love the star ocean games.

@GregamanX I’ve been the same with Downwell! Had it for a little while but only put serious time in to it in the past two weeks. I cannot get past The Aquifer though 😅 have you any pro tips for me?

@Vil That’s a game I’d really love to try, and see given another shot on Switch

@MarioBrickLayer "I completed Alien: Isolation this week and loved it! Have you played it before?"

Nope, first go at it! Life-long Alien fan, so I can't go wrong.

@AmplifyMJ It's great fun with an amazing art style and a very interesting development history. Makes me really wish Nintendo would finally bring back the Wario Land series, be it a remaster of this one or a new game. Shame it sold so poorly.

@AmplifyMJ Ill give it a shot. I had to look up a bunch of tips to make progress myself. Overall tips are to focus on not getting hit and buying HP items to increase your max HP whenever possible. Buying extra charge every now and then helps for the bigger weapons. Grabbing weapons in the caves will give you an extra HP or charge as well, but only switch for weapons you'll be comfortable using, or you'll just waste more HP (my go to's are laser, burst, machine gun and sometimes shotgun if I have enough charge).

For upgrades, knife and fork is essential. When you defeat enemies, if you can land on their corpses before they disappear, itll go towards getting you an extra HP. I think you need to consume 10 enemy bodies to refill a hit point (or getting 1 block out of 4 in the bar below your health bar towards increasing your max HP). When you get used to it, it's one of the most useful ways to get back HP, or to increase it. The upgrades that magnetized gems, fuel your jet boots with gems and the one that pops bullets up when you get gems are essential (the latter will be very useful in the water stage and the following stage). The water stage is still pretty tricky to me. The most dangerous thing to take note of is if you wont defeat squids, they will divebomb you from the top of the screen once you scroll down. In the 3rd water stage, I mostly lose health to the red guys that track you. I dont have a good strategy for them, other than hoping I get them before they chase me.

Also, the laser is essential. By stage 3, I think it's the most useful weapon of all since it cuts through everything.

@GregamanX thank you so much, I appreciate it

Still NieR: Automata. The 'B' playthrough.

@GregamanX keep going - I finally beat the final boss on Downwell after playing on and off for about 3 years and it felt so good!

@BongoBongo I actually just beat the final boss today, with only 1 HP remaining! It's probably the most satisfying victory I've ever had. It took months of practice, but it paid off (I played it on and off for years, but I really buckled down over the last couple of months).