ShaiHulud

Never really clicked with this series myself, but happy with the apparant quality of the game for the many fans out there.

Two point hospital for me. I'm about to open the Underlook Hotel!

I still mourn the short lifespan of the Wii U as it had a stellar first-party lineup with the likes of Mario 3D World, Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3 and the Zelda remasters.

Yeah, yeah, just give me Mario Kart 9 already!

@lloydcoombes Cheers! Sleep mode is amazing, certainly one of the best features of the Switch for me. Gone are the days of quickly looking for savepoints because you suddenly need to leave.

"if you've yet to experience the game on any system, the Switch version should probably be your number one choice"

Why is that exactly? Apparently there aren't any framedips at all on ps4. (no criticism, just genuinely interested) How are the loading times?

Ahh, those days when Blizzard was still a reputable company producing excellent games...

It's Blasphemous for me this weekend. Absolutely beautiful pixel art and music. Good sound design too. Up there with Axiom Verge and Hollow Knight.

@Iacobus Yeah, the squats were the things that did me in as well. I'm taking it easy like you said, only doing sessions every other day or so.

Well I certainly hope so, as I didn't get a long time to enjoy my Wii U!

I was one of the people who finally got a hold of Ring Fit, I'm already suffering from cramped muscles!

A new Mario Kart would be terrific as I haven't played a new once since the Wii U!

@AlexSora89 Fair play! I cook mine with bits of pancetta, eggs and pecorino or parmigiano, so I'm not far of it seems. I like the pineapple advice, would it help if I'd say that pasta bolognese is just some tomato sauce with mince?

@AlexSora89 I don't know where you from but I'd say carbonara is one of the staple pasta dishes here in the UK. (I do fancy eating it for lunch now!)

He seems like quite the miserable git. Still, his mention of Joe Abercrombie gets a +1 from me.

I already read Retro Gamer and Edge, so not sure if this will ad anything to that. It's a tempting RRP though!

Never played Cave Story for some reason so might just give that a go.

@arnoldlayne83 Yes, I'll be playing it on my ps4 too as I don't want to compromise on a rocksteady 60 fps.

Just got this in my inbox actually. Looking forward to Hollow Knight, Xenoblade and DOOM Eternal (although I'll be getting that for ps4).

@Jayofmaya It think it's been 10 years or so, so not sure if my growls are still working decently! Whereabouts do you live in the UK?
I've drummed a bit as well but no way I could drum something as Bleed
That latest Achspire album was brilliant! Good album cover too. Haven't heard of Beyond Creation, but I can see on last.fm that similar artists feature Necrophagist, Obscura and Gorod, which is a good thing

Is this the best game of the decade? Is the Pope a Catholic?

Would one describe the anthropomorphic rabbits as bipeds or quadrupeds?

I enjoy turn-based strategy games and thought the first one was a breath of fresh air.

@Jayofmaya Nice! I haven't recorded anything for a long time but I used to do some vocals for a mate of mine.
Thanks for the tips, hadn't heard of either of them! If you're into your djent/prog you can't go without mentioning the godfathers Meshuggah, who you probably know already. I quite like Inmazes by VOLA, which is a more mellow version of the genre. Otherwise Pelegial by The Ocean is terrific, which is more of a concept album with more hardcore-like vocals.
Have you listened to the Rachmaninoff piano concertos? I've found that most people seem to like them, even if they're not that familiar with the whole genre.
I'm not too much of a fan of death metal core I have to say - although I'm all over the place for things I do like Bands like Immolation, Bloodbath, Sulphur Aeon, Nile etc.

@Jayofmaya Oof, that would be a massive shout in de dark considering the width of these genres! What do you like? Classically I mostly listen to baroque and romantic stuff, metalwise it's mostly black, prog, death and doom.

@Jayofmaya Ah, not really my cup of tea normally (I mostly listen to metal and classical music), but might give them a go just because of their name.

@Jayofmaya Ah, you must be talking about the band! Not too familar with them I must say.

@Jayofmaya Come again?

@step_over Love it!

@step_over "into the beach"

Is that an alternative version that I do not know of?

I was actually a bit disappointed with Pikmin 3 as the control scheme was a lot worse than those found in 1 and 2. Still patiently waiting for 4 though!

@Dogorilla I've been looking for a while too but I've just ordered one from Asda of all places. Might be worth having a look.

@vyseofhr We still have an HMV in Exeter for what's if worth (I know, not much!).

@Kyranosaurus I'd agree with you there. The effects of Brexit will surely be felt - or are already being felt - in lots of sectors in the coming years, but the demise of Game has already been happening anyway.

I've tried supporting them as I like to pop into a brick and mortar store every now and then, but some of their pricing is ridiculous. I noticed some second-hand games in their own store being more expensive than new ones! Also, the last two times I tried buying something and brought the games I wanted to buy to the till, they didn't have the games in stock, so I left empty-handed.

@XCWarrior Not everyone lives in the US!

What spoilt the original campaign for me was that the levels were way too large. Give me Into the Breach any day.

@Tandy255 Your words, not mine The UK ranks very high in the obesity rankings of Europe, so don't think there's a correlation.

I feel there is too much emphasis placed on the difficulty of the Souls series. They're not THAT difficult (unless you're quite reckless), especially not compared to a lot of older games. I do think they're brilliant games, but for me it's more about the world-building and adventure if you like.

Still out of stock everywhere in the UK! There goes my New Year's Resolution :

None, as I've still got my Wii U hooked on to my telly.

Just finished Demon's Crest and Into the Breach for the first time. This weekend I'll be looking to finishing DOOM 3 Resurrection of Evil.

@Matthew010 I'll certainly keep it in mind if the stock shortage lasts longer than my patience does Thanks for your help, appreciated!

@Matthew010 Thanks for the tip! I'm on the fence about the website though to be honest, as I've never heard of it and most customer reviews seem sketchy at best. Would have ordered something cheaper, but 75 quid is quite steep for a first order.

I've been looking for Ring Fit Adventure for weeks but it's sold out everywhere here in the UK!

Doom Eternal baby! Although I'll probably pick that up for my ps4 because fps. I'm not expecting Zelda and certainly not Metroid in 2020.

@PickledKong64 Don't get me wrong, I buy a lot of indies and a lot of the time prefer them to AAA games. I've mostly had the wrong end of the stick though, and bought them just before a physical release announcement. The developers of Blasphemous have been talking about a physical release right from the get-go, so this time I've been holding out.

Still waiting on a regular physical edition of Blasphemous for which I don't have to dish out 50 quid or so.

Into the Breach is half price on the UK store.

Happy Christmas folks!

My own list after much deliberation:
1. Shenmue 3
2. Dirt Rally 2.0
3. Link's Awakening
4. Resident Evil 2
5. Bloodstained Ritual of the Night

Happy Christmas everyone!

Still got my original copy in mint condition and still like the look of it!