Topic: What Game(s) are You Currently Playing?

@Fizza I thought about playing DS remake on gp. I might after Alan wake 2

Playing Splatoon 3 because of the Splatfest. I also haven't tried Eggstra Work yet so may as well play that for the first time while I'm at it. Then it's back to Mario Wonder.

My family has had a Switch for years, yet I've never actually played anything on it other than party games like Mario Kart or Mario Party. Thanks to losing access to my PC recently, I felt there was no better time than now to check out some singleplayer Switch exclusives. In the end my decision came down to Xenoblade Chronicles, Bayonetta or Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. I ended up going for that last one. Why didn't I start with Kingdom Battle? Well, partly because I had heard the gameplay of the sequel was improved, but mostly because I couldn't resist getting straight to my favourite Mario character, Rosalina (who upsettingly hasn't yet shown up in the nine-ish hours I've put in so far)!

I had always been casually intrigued by this spin-off franchise, but it's not until recently I looked into it more. You see, I just watched part of a full playthrough by one of my favourite YouTubers of... X-Com 2. Ever since, I've been aching for something to try out that has that turn-based style of combat. Mixing that recent feeling with the want to play something on Switch, this seemed like the perfect candidate all things considered. And so far, I think it has lived up to that expectation.

I've been having a great time with it. Sure, it's fairly easy up until this point. I've cleared three of the big Darkmess puddles you need to get the purified whatever, so I've practically finished 1.5 planet. Maybe the difficulty ramps up from here still, but if I'm honest... I prefer when my gameplay is leaning towards easy with the occasional challenge. I don't need to steamroll anyone or anything, but I don't usually get fun out of getting my ass handed to me and replaying sections. Cuphead was probably the one notable exception on that front and I think the fact that I played it in co-op probably had a lot to do with that. Point being, the difficulty or lack thereof has not been an issue for me in any way. I find it highly satisfying to plan out my approach and watch it all unfold gloriously (or occasionally incredibly stupidly).

I will say I'm a bit overwhelmed by the amount of Sparks available in the game and upgrading them. It just seems like there keeps being more and more of them and I honestly can't keep up with what I have and am getting anymore at this point. I also made it a point to switch out characters constantly on the first planet, but on the second so far I've just been playing an endless Peach + Luigi + Emo Rabbid tag team. I've found those three a very effective pairing. Peach for the protection and short-range, Luigi for the long-range snipes and overwatches and Emo Rabbid for taking out multiple enemies at a time from wherever. I know Emo Rabbid has a name, but I've forgotten it and this is now the codename he's taken up in turn.

I do worry that the planets are filled with a lot of side content. Okay, maybe not that much all things considered since you can clear it in a few hours, but it does essentially just repeat the combat over and over. So far I've not had a problem with that necessarily, but I fear it might start feeling repetitive sooner rather than later. I hope they keep introducing new mechanics and enemy types to keep things fresh and interesting, which I would say has been the case so far. I have the curse of feeling the compulsion to 100% whatever I do in games, so if this takes a turn for the worse it could really affect my enjoyment of the game. I'll just have to force myself to mainline the main content then, I suppose.

Anyone else played this and can either assuage my fears or confirm them?

Finally back to playing Mario Wonder after taking a slight detour to Splatoon 3's Halloween Splatfest.

After sitting in my backlog for years, I've finally got around to playing Yo-Kai Watch. Pretty fun so far. Baku is precious and must be protected at all costs.
The battle theme sounds like one song from FFIX (Jesters of the Moon to be precise) and keeps getting it stuck in my head though. And I swear the menu sound effects were reused from Professor Layton.

Started Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 Turbocharged today and am already loving it. It really is alot more fun, especially taking the curves. The game even has a campaign now. The vibes are simply awesome, like everything just wants you to have a great time for all time, I love it. The music is also really cool.

I bought the Pure Fire Edition and this is what the game is. Now I have my first real Hot Wheels car, the Twin Mill. I am also racing this car in the game.

My 'Random Genre Generator' picked 'Arcade' for my next game, so played a bit of Dig Dug from Namco Museum Arcade PAC.

Surprised I haven't played this before now to be honest. It's maybe a little old for me to have played it in the Arcades back in the day, but I'm sure I've got/had this on various collections over the years on multiple consoles so no idea how it's passed me by thus far.

Anyway, played it in handheld mode on Switch and it's pretty small - I did zoom to fit which made it slightly better, but I could do with playing docked or digging out the Flip-Grip and playing in TATE to make it a bit easier to see what's going on.

Pretty basic game by today's standards, but still really fun to play. Controls are a bit odd though, as it felt as if there were certain points that I couldn't change direction when I wanted to. I suspect it's to do with the technical limitations of the time and there's maybe a fixed movement 'grid' that restricts the characters movement. Not sure if I'll spend a huge amount of time on it, but maybe something for a quick pick-up-and-play session when I don't want to think too much about a plot.

Playing some of the new gb/nes online games. I'm also playing pikmin 4 which I absolutely love.

Still playing alan wake 2 on xbox

Ni No Kuni II (Series X). I loved the first one in spite of the messy combat. I've played the sequel for 14 hours now and I'm being put off. It has beautiful graphics. The music is a bit too epic and repetitive. Lots of interesting ideas from the genre are put together but the result feels half-baked and tedious. Everything is basically a tutorial or an errand. For instance and mandatory, find me a rose to access this book, find this girl to teach you a spell to find the rose, the girl asks you to defeat some monsters... The UI and map are worse than in the first game, too. The story of the first game gripped me quickly, but I don't care about this so far.

The idea of managing a kingdom is nice in theory, but it also feels tedious because you need to do that kind of side quests to get people and, basically, you upgrade the facilities to get armour, items, etc. I also see a little inspiration in the armies by Little King's Story (Wii), one of the best games I've ever played, but here it's just another superficial piece of this huge puzzle of ideas that are not working as smoothly as the developer thinks.

Opinions?

Since Mario RPG isn’t out for a few weeks, I’m just playing Madden to fill the time. Extremely flawed game but it’s decent this year. You can customize draft classes and progression/regression. So Running-backs can decline when they are younger while QB’s stay better into their 30’s. Plus superstar mode and mini games are back. Probably a 6/10 game and the best Madden since 25.

It's time to finally beat super mario world. A personal shame of mine that I've never finished it. So that and pikmin 4.

@NintendoByNature Enjoy Mario World! Wonder makes me miss riding Yoshi.. although the Yoshi in World is a whee bit over-powered.

@FishyS I've played a very good amount of this game over 25 yrs, but I've never completed it. Usually I've stopped halfway through. It's time to finally change that.

Finally playing Live a Live, and one of the first bits of dialogue already has actual censored swearing.

I think outside of an old WWF game I've played, this is the only game where I've seen censored swearing.

This is genuinely funny, in case you're wondering. Normally I say things about the game, but its more important people know this.

Suika watermelon game is melting my brain and I can't stop playing.

Time to dig into the Backlog a little with the help of a randomiser app...

Mario vs Donkey Kong on GBA - was actually in two minds whether to play this given there's a remake coming but having played the first few stages, I can't help thinking this is something that doesn't really need a remake. Adding it to the GBA selection on the Online Expansion would've made more sense to me and I doubt I'll be picking up the new version. It's pretty enjoyable so far - nothing to taxing in the first half-dozen or so stages I've played, but I expect it to get a little more difficult.

Lost Planet 3 on Xbox. Think I must've got this as an Games with Gold freebie as I'm sure I didn't buy it. Installed and ready to go, but not started yet. I've seen mixed reviews, so not sure what to expect.

Simpsons Arcade Game on PS3. Won't be starting this until I dig out the PS3 out and set it up. I used to love playing this one back in the day, so hopefully it's as good as I remember.

Been playing quite a few Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online races lately since wave 6 launched, and also played a few Splatoon 3 matches tonight.

Hoping to finish Sonic Frontiers before Mario RPG and Persona 5 Tactica release. Actually got the game last year on sale, but didn't get around to it mainly due to marathoning the Persona series, followed by Mega Man Battle Network. It works out though, since all of the DLC updates have been added since then.

Picked up double dragon advance so a little of that

Started up Super Mario World: Mario Advance 2 the other day on NSO (made it to the end of World 5 so far).

....man I was really hoping playing through SMW again would improve my opinion on it but I think I just notice all it's shortcomings even more with the Advance rerelease. The spritework is fantastic, the music is phenomenal and the enemies are all so charming....but it comes at the cost of possibly the worst feeling Mario game I've ever played. Mario just feels way too slippy for the level design at play here and when it wants you to do fast precise platforming in levels such as the Fortresses? Yeah I'm sorry, that really does just kill the entire vibe for me personally, especially after Mario Bros 3 which I feel nailed how Mario should control. At least the Advance port made Yoshi Coins an actual collectable and added in Luigi (who, ironically given how known he is for his poor traction, feels a lot better to use than Mario as his flutter jumps allow for a lot more careful movement when platforming XD) but other than that? Yeah it's pretty much the same story as base SMW for me: great presentation....but crumbles under scrutiny.