GregamanX

I just picked this up on sale. It's actually a ton of fun! Kind of like Super Meat Boy, mixed with Downwell and My Friend Pedro.

Funny enough, all of the gear is based off of characters from later in the Splatoon manga that the main character has to fight (yes, I know these were based on Splatoon 2 first, but still an interesting tidbit). I know that because I read these books to my daughter during reading time. She's going to be stoked for this event.

After finishing River City Girls 2 (awesome game, if you can pick it up on sale) and Little Nightmares last week (A pretty good game, hampered by bad load times), I'm now playing Paradise Killer. It had a rough start, being dropped into a world and understanding almost nothing about the story, but being left to piece it all together myself. However, after putting a lot of time into it, things are starting to click together. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I feel like I am getting somewhere, and I'm hoping I reach an end results where it all just clicks together perfectly. The whole game will ride on that outcome at the end, so I'll have to see how it goes.

I also started Persona 3 Reload on PS4 this week, but I'll probably try to finish Paradise Killer first.

No Switch 2 for me. I've seen footage of Mario Kart World, and it just doesn't appeal to me. Also, the small battery life (and price of the games) is the clincher for me, since I primarily play in handheld mode. Having my OG switch run out of battery quickly was my biggest complaint until I got my OLED. I'm not going through that again. I'll just wait for a revision or an OLED model of the Switch 2. Hopefully some games will be on sale by that point.

As for Switch 1 gaming, I just beat Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, which is now my GOTY. It's an absolute hidden gem that does top-down Zelda better than most Zeldas. I really recommend giving that demo a try.

Now I've started up Little Nightmares. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, but I'm not a fan of those long load times between deaths. At least it's a very short game, so I should get through it quickly. I'm also hoping to play some more River City Girls 2 with my wife and daughter. I also really want to start up Persona 3 Reload on my PS4 soon, but my weekend might be too busy for that.

@Tipehtfomottob Pipistrello is absolutely amazing. It instantly became my GOTY, and I wasn't even expecting it. I recommend trying the demo on the eshop. I was hooked in minutes, and it was a quick buy for me.

This was the announcement of the year for me! Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game is one of my absolute favourite games. I'll be buying this Day One!

I can vouch for how good this game is. It's a GOTY contender for me, and does things better than even most top-down Zeldas I've played. The platforming can get really challenging later, but you've gotta remember to turn on some assist options instead of banging your head against a wall in those cases. But they're very few and far between. The majority of the time, it has that Nintendo magic, where they take one idea (the yoyo) and really expand on it, re-innovating the idea over and over throughout the course of the whole game.

But if the developer is reading this, please fix the slowdown in some of the more demanding sewer areas.

A late month release shouldn't affect a ranked place in this article. Pipistrello should have easily gotten #1 here. I bought and started it last night, and after a few hours of play, I can say that with absolute confidence. Even after the 10 minute demo I was hooked. I'd consider this the last absolute must-have release before the Switch 2 launches. I'm enjoying it more than most top-down Zeldas I've played, and that's saying something.

If it has to do with the fact that it needs to be reviewed first, then a game this good should have gotten higher reviewing priority. I think this will be a true hidden gem that's absolutely eclipsed by the Switch 2 hype, which will be a shame for the success of it.

There will be no Switch 2 in sight for me for a very long time, so I'm not saying goodbye to my Switch 1.

This week I've beaten Afterparty, which was quite enjoyable. Not as good as Oxenfree 2, but by the time I had reached the ending, I had realized how much I had enjoyed the characters and direction of the story. I know people complained they weren't as strong as Night Studios' previous works, but I still liked the different direction it took.

This weekend I'll be playing more River City Girls 2. I've gotten my daughter into the co-op, along with my wife, and we're having a blast wailing on thugs in the city. With the addition of more people in co-op, it's making it much more fun than the first game (which I still did enjoy).

I'm also thinking of starting another game today. It may be Little Nightmares. I also want to get into my copy of Persona 3 Reload on the PS4 this week.

@NatiaAdamo ah, I thought that was for the anime for some reason. I guess they did a good job with Kanji then. Although, who's to say they may not change him again? Hopefully that won't be the case.

I already didn't like the changes made to Chie and Teddie's VAs when Golden came out (I know most people liked Chie's, but I wasn't a fan). But getting rid of Yosuke's is a change I am not a fan of (they'd better not change Kanji's as well). The voice work really makes P4 what it is, and I can't see it retaining the charm if they change so many voice actors.

I'm deep into and quite close to the end of Arcade Paradise right now. I've been playing it a ton over this week and have been absolutely hooked on it. Once you get past the laundromat part, it becomes a really fun arcade business simulator, and most of the arcade machines you get are really fun and clever spins off of other arcade classics.

I also want to shout out to Road 96, which I had beaten last weekend. I haven't experienced such a uniquely told story that only a videogame could tell. It was such a chill, immersion experience that I would recommend to anyone for when it goes on one of those frequent, deep sales.

After I'm done with Arcade Paradise, I might start up Afterparty next. I also might play some River City Girls 2 with my wife.

The trial and error really killed the momentum of the first game for me. Unfortunately, I won't be picking this up since this is the case. Which is a shame, because conceptually, it was something I really wanted to like.

I could care less about whether he thinks I'm a real fan or not. I'll wait years for it to go on one of their usual dirt cheap sales and have just as much fun as if I had bought it on day one. Eat me.

I just finished Neon Abyss and Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate yesterday. Two roguelikes in one day felt really good to finish, and I enjoyed them both immensely.

As for now, I'm early in the 5th level of Thumper, and while I've been loving it, it may be getting too difficult for me at this point. I also want to get back into playing River City Girls 2 with my wife. I may also start up a new single player game from my backlog, but I'm having trouble deciding. I'm thinking of either Afterparty, Little Nightmares or Road 96, but it depends what I'll be in the mood for.

I would be if I was getting a Switch 2, but I think that's a purchase that would be years away for me. I always wanted a game chat feature like this. Unfortunately, I'm just priced out now.

I don't have anything super big going on at the moment. I'll probably pick at some games that I started up weeks ago. I made it to the final stage in a run of Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate. I absolutely adore it's roguelike take on chess, so I may try a few more plays of it. I also made it to stage 3 of Thumper. I'm really enjoying it, but I'm expecting it to get insanely hard. 30XX may be my most likely thing to play if I get a good chunk of time in to play something. And I want to continue some more River City Girls 2 if I get some time to play in co-op with my wife.

At least I beat Prodeus and Kaze and the Wild Masks this week. They were good games (especially Prodeus), and it was good to finish them, since I had started about 6 games at once a few weeks ago.

Borderlands 3 dropped in price in no time on Switch. With a little patience for a sale, that price increase won't mean squat.

I'll definitely be holding back on buying new games. At this rate, I'm sure it will be years before I get a Switch 2. But I've got such a massive library of games and a backlog of games to play, that I'll never run out. Plus, my secondary hobby is reading and buying manga, so I need to cut back on gaming if I want to afford that. I've never really been a person who cares that much about amazing graphics and performance. I tend to play indies and some 1st party games for the most part, so I won't really feel like I'm missing out. And if I want to play Nintendo's franchises, I'll just get more playtime out of what I already own.

Unfortunately for me, I just played Fire Emblem Engage and Master Detective Archives Raincode this year, so I'm really not in the mood for a mix of this dev and a tactical game right now. I'm also not in the mood for a long game for a very long time, so they couldn't have released this at a worse time for me. I don't think my one purchase would have really changed the course of history for them though. Unfortunately, this is the way things are sometimes. This is a pretty obscure, niche title, and banking their whole careers on it was a pretty risky move. It's a shame because I really have enjoyed the Danganronpa/Raincode games.

I'll be wrapping up my playthrough of Prodeus. It's a Doom-like game with visuals that look like they're from the 3DS, which is making me very nostalgic for it. It's been a ton of fun. Certainly up there in my Top 10 FPS games, I'm sure. I've also got several other games that I started a week or so ago, so I may play Kaze and the Wild Masks, Thumper, Shotgun King or 30XX if I have time. I also started River City Girls 2 with my wife, so I hope to get some of that in.

Due to being between jobs for a month, I decided to go for broke and dive into my backlog by sampling a bunch of games at once. I've been trying Prodeus, Shotgun King, 30XX, and Thumper, as well as a bunch of arcade titles like the Atari Recharged series, Snow Bros, Murtop, Goliath Depot, Gunbird, etc. So my gaming has been all over the place, but ive been having a lot of fun with everything. I'm also hoping to start River City Girls 2 with my wife.

I'll be playing Easy Come Easy Golf. I'm in between jobs for a month, so I've needed something relaxing to play, after my last stressful job. This has been the perfect game to unwind with. I have great memories of doing the same thing when I played through all of Everybody's Golf on PS4 years ago when I had a few weeks between jobs, so I wanted to relive that feeling again.

I just finished playing Master Detective Archives Raincode yesterday. I loved the story and characters, but after 40 hours of total playtime, I'm starting to feel wiped out on longer games. I'm going to focus on very short games that are a few hours long for awhile (im eyeing Boomerang X), or small arcade games, like the Atari Recharged series, Atari 50, etc. In terms of multiplayer games with my family, I may play some Splatfest, Very Very Valet, or I may possibly start River City Girls 2.

I also quit a terrible job and have a new one lined up early next month, so I've got some extra time for gaming. I'm also eyeing up playing Easy Come, Easy Golf for the week (not expecting to play it for hours on end. It's just something to pick at from time to time).

I'm halfway through the second chapter of Master Detective Archives Raincode, so I'll be playing more of that. I do feel in the mood soon to just try a bit of a bunch of different games I have bought over the month. I normally play one thing at a time, but I want to dip into a bunch of arcade games and indies, like Kill Knight, Marble It Up, the Atari Recharged series, Atari 50, games I picked up on Capcom Arcade Stadium, etc. I'm not sure if this will be the weekend I do it, or if I'll wait until I finish Raincode first.

@ScalenePowers Ah, you remembered me playing Nier! I did finish the A Route, and it was pretty solid. I'd say it was still a B+ kind of game for me. The highlights were the music, combat and boss fights. I'm not sure if I'll be returning to it to see the other routes. The story didn't captivate me enough to make me want to dive right back in. I'll never say never though, but I still do have a hefty backlog of stuff to play, so I'll see. I definitely think it was worth experiencing. For a dozen hours, I did get my money's worth.

Also, Star Ocean 2 is one of my favourite RPGs. You're in for a treat!

I'm on the second case of Master Detective Archives Raincode, and I'm really digging it so far. The first case got really interesting by the end of it, with plenty of twists and turns, and im looking forward to seeing how the others play out. Also, Shinigami steals the show, but I love her ghost form, and wish they just stuck with that for the whole game.

@ScalenePowers I just got to an area that has to do with a "King of the Forest", where 2B and 9S are questioning if robots can have loyalty. It's still pretty good, but I found myself getting a bit lost off the beaten path for a bit and wandering around aimlessly looking for the bext save point. I ended up traveling all the way down this waterfall side route just to fight a bunch of robots and encounter a LVL 50 one that was too strong, so I had to double all the way back. But I think I'm hitting the main quest line of the area. I'm still giving it a decent shot. It's not bad (pretty good I would say), but there are a lot of little things holding it back from greatness for me. I do hope it picks up far more than what I've been experiencing up to this point.

I get what you mean about not being a person who keeps playing when someone tells you it gets really good later. I'm on that cusp of finding it just enjoyable enough to want to keep playing. If it gets better, than all the better for me. But if it gets worse, I'll be dropping it. Not every game needs to be a 10/10 for me, but there's a fine line that I have for when things are worth continuing with. My standard has gotten higher over the years, and there's just enough here for me to want to keep playing a bit more.

Nier Automata for me. It's pretty enjoyable to me so far, but I was kind of expecting more, since many people were reviewing it as this 10/10 experience. The story isn't gripping me, the environment feels kind of empty, the quests feel random and uninteresting (collect this, get that), and the map is terrible. I do really enjoy the combat and music though, as well as the set-pieces that involve bosses and mechs. I'm hoping it gets better. It's sitting as a B+ kind of game right now. Any lower and I might drop it. I've put in 7 hours and I hope it picks up more. I guess ill just have to see.

Afterwards, I'll probably start Master Detective Archives Raincode, but I have a feeling it won't be this weekend.

I got this awesome little 3D platformer called Lunistice this week. It was only 6 bucks and had a demo. I played a level of the demo and was hooked, so I'll be playing that this weekend. I've heard it's only a few hours, but it runs so buttery smooth and feels like a modern PS1 game. I may also jump into Nier Automata if I have time once I finish Lunistice.

I just started playing Islets, which is the previous game from the developer of Crypt Custodian. It's pretty enjoyable so far. But I like CC more and can see how far they've come as a developer. If there's time, maybe some Very Very Valet with my family. It's a real underrated Overcooked-like gem that I'm glad I picked up for a couple bucks on sale.

I'm really going to be trying to wrap up Fire Emblem Engage this weekend. I've only got 2 chapters left, so it should be attainable.

I'm not sure if I'll have time this weekend, but I plan to start up Islets after, since I loved Crypt Custodian, and it's their previous game.

If I have any gaming time with my family, I picked up this hidden Overcooked-like gem called Very Very Valet on a massive sale. It was only a couple of bucks and it has a very fun, chaotic feel to it. There's a demo on the eshop and I'd encourage anyone to give it a try if they have someone to play with, before that sale ends in a few days.

I'm going to try to finish up Fire Emblem Engage if possible. I'm on Chapter 21 out of 26, so I'm pretty close. I'm actually enjoying it a lot more than Three Houses. I also have no idea as to what I'll want to play afterwards. It's a choice between Islets (I loved Crypt Custodian. It's the same devs), Neir Automata, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, and Persona 3 Reload on my PS4.

More Fire Emblem Engage for me. I'm on Chapter 17, so I think I'm 2/3 through the game at this point. I'm actually enjoying it more than Three Houses. I also picked up Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip. I may boot it up this weekend, even though I typically play only one game at a time. It's a short game, and im starting to grow fond of small open worlds like Lil Gator Game/A Short Hike/Alba/Loddlenaut. I've been really stressed out lately and I need something positive and relaxing to chill out with.

Nothing too exciting this weekend. Just some more Fire Emblem Engage (I'm on Chapter 10) and some Splatoon 3 Splatfest (Team White Chocolate). It's also my birthday on Monday, so I've received Master Detective Archives: Rain Code and Persona 3 Reload (PS4). Although I'm not gonna be starting those up for at least a month or so with what I've already got on my plate.

Getting a mint in-box system is a hilarious waste of money, because without charging the Switch if it's not in use for too long, the battery will eventually degrade, and the thing will become unplayable, even if its docked or using a charger. Also, since the Switch 2 is backward compatible, that lessens the need for a mint in-box Switch. I hope no one is seriously investing in that (unless they know how to change a battery, I guess).

I'll be playing some more Fire Emblem Engage. I haven't been much in a gaming mood all week though. Hopefully that'll change today with a good chunk of time to play.

I also got my kid Hello Kitty Island Adventure yesterday, so she's hooked on that.

I think a track/battle track maker would be the best, significant inclusion they could do. Plus, they need to include Block Fort this time. For retro tracks, I really want to see more N64 ones re-imagined, like Boswer's Castle and Koopa Troopa Beach. A bigger roster with some more non-Mario characters would be nice. And a Battle Royale mode would give it some serious legs.

I just finished Antonblast yesterday. It was an awesome Pizza Tower-like experience. It came close, but I think I enjoyed Pizza Tower more. Still, I highly recommend playing both games if you can. They're amazing 2D platformers that scratch that itch until Nintendo ever decide to make a 2D Wario game (in fact, I think both games surpass the Wario games).

As for now, I'm going to start up Fire Emblem Engage this morning. I need something a bit more chill after the frantic Antonblast. If I need something with a bit more action, I'll play some more runs of Neon Abyss.

I'll be trying to finish up Antonblast if possible. I've just got a couple stages and bosses left. I just hope there are no frustrating difficulty spikes sitting at the finish line. I've also been playing some runs of Neon Abyss. It's funny because when I first played the demo, I hated it. Gave it another try down the road and it just clicked, so I got it on sale. It's a fun little roguelite for $5, and plays well in bite-sized chunks.

If this happened, I would be very excited, because the same guy put the rumour out there of Halo coming to Switch 2, and that's all I really want at this point.

Antonblast for me. It's filling the hole of Pizza Tower after having beaten it last year. I love how chaotic and crunchy it is. I'll also be playing some Splatfest (Team Presents). Last night was pretty aggravating with it though. I have a good team of 3, but over 4 matches, my 4th members collectively got 1 kill (0, 0, 1 and 0). At least I won a 10x battle after that. I had to call it quits for the night while I was ahead.

Wow, I had the opposite experience that some of the people here did. I played it when I was off for the week of Christmas, and finished it by the end of the week. It slipped in as my GOTY, and I had many strong contenders for it.

I loved everything about it. I felt that the world was dense with always something interesting to discover. I loved the echo system and finding all these tools to solve problems in so many different ways. I also felt that the game had some of the best dungeon designs that I've ever seen from the franchise (and I've played just about every Zelda game out there, apart from the original NES games and Oracle of Ages). It had me smiling the whole way through, and it felt magical to me. It's too bad some other people didn't feel the same. To each their own, I guess.

Also, I never felt those technical hiccups that so many people complained about.

I would cry such tears of joy if this happened. The Halo games were the first games that my wife and I ever played together. They broke the ice and brought us a lot closer together. And it could possibly give the chance for my ultimate dream to come true: Master Chief for Smash Bros.

I'll be wrapping up Vitamin Connection in co-op with my wife. It's an incredibly underrated co-op title that I recommend picking up on a cheap sale. Also, I'll be playing some more Crypt Custodian. I just got this one recently, and I made a huge amount of progress over New Years Day. Time to get back into it. It's so engrossing when I play it.

I just finished Echoes of Wisdom and it squeaked in as my GOTY. It's great to see this piece of art after beating it yesterday. I love the chill vibes it brings.

I bought this game on sale months ago, and I've planned for it to be one of the first couple of games I play next year. I'm excited to try it out since I've heard such good things.

I'm on the last 2 days of my holiday break, so I'm going to try to finish up Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. It's been an absolutely incredible game. Such a perfect way to spend my break. I may also try to squeeze in one last co-op game with my wife before the end of the year. I'm thinking of Vitamin Connection.

Since I got some money for Christmas and they said that this was patched, I decided to take the chance and buy it. I haven't tried it yet (still playing Echoes of Wisdom), but it'll probably be the first game I play in the new year. Fingers crossed that it doesn't crash.

I was going to buy it Day One, but I heard about the performance issues and decided to hold off. I'll see what others say about the performance once the new patch comes out, and I'll decide from there. I've been extremely excited about this one, but Id prefer to have a solid, polished experience if I'm going to jump in.