What Video Games did you play this week? (2024 Edition)

[wonderfly]

If you've not heard of "Freedom Planet", it's a "Sonic inspired" indie game. Here's the trailer for Freedom Planet 2:



And other than that....there's not really that much coming out this week.

 

[Moe]

I'm playing Fire Emblem Three Houses and Engage on my Switch.

Engage is superior because of use cleared save for endless skirmishes so cannot be done for Three Houses, so cleared save = game ends and can't load anymore, beside new game plus.

If you've not heard of "Freedom Planet", it's a "Sonic inspired" indie game. Here's the trailer for Freedom Planet 2:



And other than that....there's not really that much coming out this week.

It looks like indie version of 16 bit Sonic games.

 

[the_joker]

I finished the main story of Arkham City, and that final boss fight was was also really good. Lately, I've been trying to get the Riddler trophies to rescue his hostages. Admittedly, some of them involved interesting environmental puzzles, but there's ultimately way too many of them, and I think I spent too much time on it. The number of Rillder trophies could've easily been cut in half if they still wanted a large number of them. I suppose I would be willing to get the collectibles in a game if I like it enough and if it unlocked interesting rewards. In this case, there were some interesting interviews with Hugo Strange and the other villains. At least I wouldn't have to bother with the Riddler trophies again if I play New Game+ (assuming I can find time for that).

There are still the challenges for me to try out, particularly the combat challenges. Too bad I'm not a pro at the combat, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it.

I also have yet to play the "Harley Quinn's Revenge" story, but I feel like saving that for later, and I'm still dreading Tara Strong's performance as the character. It's not hard for me to imagine Arleen Sorkin's deliveries sounding infinitely better. I believe she retired from acting around this game's release, but Tara Strong was a lousy substitute. Hynden Walch sounded better and more natural. Hell, I watched clips of Harley from Gotham Knights, and Kari Wahlgren's performance also sounded better.

 

[khuddle]

I'm playing Assassins Creed: Mirage on my lowly (yet still relevant) PS4. I've finished about 80% of it, approaching endgame now. It's surpsingly good. Ubisoft this time around wanted to go back to their roots and make a primarily stealth game. So this one is all about stealth; melee combat is discouraged, in fact your character Basim is bad at it, even at later stages of the game with more skills and better loot.

It is not an xp based gamelike Valhalla and Odessey. It is also not a gear based game like those two -- there is loot, but not much of it. The emphasis in this game is acquiring skills and tools ie. to make you a better stealth player.

The tool part of the game in particular is very interesting. You can acquire throwing knives, smoke bombs, blowguns, concussive grenades and sound traps. Then, you can customize each of your tools to your style of play . For example, my throwing knives currently are adjusted so that they 1) have extended range 2) poison my foes on contact and 3) can damage heavy armored enemies without any penalties. All of this customization allows your character to really shine in stealth. And you'll need to, because many of the quests have bonuses that reward stealth. For example, I'm currently working on a mission where I receive a bonus if "I can complete the mission with being detected". Other missions have bonuses for "not killing anyone" or "not taking any damage". All conditions to encourage stealth.

Gamewise, much more streamlined than Valhalla, none of the endless filler that you see in that game. Also, ancient Bagdad is really brought to life in this one -- gorgeous graphics, and little touches like the "Call to Prayer" music that you get in a lot of Middle Eastern countries.

I've been pleasantly surprised -- feels like a completely different game from Odessey and Valhalla, in a good way. 8 out 10 for me.

 

[wonderfly]

What video games did you play this week?
4/08/24:


New Releases this week:

Botany Manor
(coming to Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC)


​

So what have you played this week?!?

 

[wonderfly]

Man, talk about a dry week.....

Here's the trailer for "Botany Manor" (if you like these type of games, which I sometimes do):

 

[the_joker]

Man, talk about a dry week.....

The week of March 18-22 was too packed, and the games could've been released more evenly, but whatever.

I started playing Metroid Dread, which I've been meaning to play for some time. I even played the demo a few years ago, but I never got around to getting the actual game for whatever reason until recently. It seems pretty interesting so far, and this would be my first "metroidvania" game on console at least. There are multiple and fairly large areas that are all (mostly) connected to each other so you can get upgrades to go through other areas and even parts of previous areas. I'm not against backtracking if the path isn't too long, and at least in here, the game somewhat gives you directions by generally placing teleporters near areas that suddenly became accessible due to an upgrade. One thing that is throwing me off a little is Samus being unable to move while staying in a crouched position, so she can't exactly shoot down enemies closer to the ground while moving, and that'll cause her to move into a shot at some points as she'll stand up and take a hit.

One thing I already knew about the Metroid games was Samus being not just being a woman, but a beautiful blonde woman. So I'm hoping the game will at least reveal her face and maybe even show off her nice figure at some point. Hey, at least I'm being honest about that.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Just about to wrap up Princess Peach Showtime. By its very nature as a gameplay roulette game, it's a very mixed bag. I enjoyed the ninja, kung fu, and cowboy levels because they felt more like a traditional platform/hack-n-slash game. But the detective levels slowed things down and weren't very fun, and the cooking levels were hampered whenever the cakes would rotate, making it more difficult to replicate the frosting patterns when things are moving around. The mermaid, ice skating and Zorro levels were also hit-or-miss.

Also not a fan of how the game only ran at 30 fps. Apparently it has to do with using Unreal Engine, but it's still baffling they weren't able to optimize the framerate very well.

 

[wonderfly]

What video games did you play this week?
4/15/24:


New Releases this week:

No Rest for the Wicket
(coming to PC)


​

So what have you played this week?!?

 

[wonderfly]

Another strange week for releases. I tend to focus on "brand new" releases, but I will say this week has a lot of "ports to Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch".

For example, "Planet of Lana", "Grounded", and "Dave the Diver" are coming to Playstation 5 this week (after existing on other systems). "Grounded" is also coming to Nintendo Switch.

And if you don't remember "No Rest for the Wicked", here's the trailer from the Game Awards 4 months back. It's from the developers of "Ori and the Will of the Wisps".

 

[the_joker]

I finished up Metroid Dread, and this will sound petty of me, but I'm disappointed that the game didn't show Samus in her blue spandex outfit (apparently called the Zero Suit). Well, when she dies in the game, there's a glimpse of it, but that's too small and probably not very flattering anyways. There is an option to unlock an artwork of her wearing the Zero Suit, but that requires you to get all items (some of which are too troublesome to bother with) as well as beating Normal and Hard Mode in a short time. Doing all that sounds like a chore, and even though the image itself can easily be found online (the Metroid Wiki also has plenty of pictures of Samus), I would like to earn that artwork in-game.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Played through Contra: Operation Galuga. Definitely liked it more than Hard Corps Uprising from over a decade ago, which was just too hard for me. This one felt more accommodating in its challenge, especially since it doesn't spit you back to the start of the stage if you lose all your lives. And love the orchestral arrangements of familiar Contra tunes!

 

[wonderfly]

What video games did you play this week?
4/22/24:


New Releases this week:

Another Crab's Treasure
(coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC)

Stellar Blade
(coming to Playstation 5)


​

So what have you played this week?!?

 

[the_joker]

I think the current gen upgrade for Fallout 4 is also worth mentioning. I remember this being announced a few years ago, and I've been waiting for that. Now, I just have to figure out a good time to play it.

Lately, I've been playing Diablo III on the PS5. I've been curious about this game for more than a while now, and I even got the game for the Switch a few years ago before deciding that I wanted a PS5, but I gave it away as I no longer needed it. I probably could've played Diablo II: Resurrected first, but I chose D3 first since I think I meant to play it before D2R released. Also, D2R is always online for some reason, so I'm hoping that get fixed at some point.

Diablo III is pretty fun so far. The game is all about slaughtering hordes of monsters and other enemies in an over-the-top fashion, and the combat involves pressing buttons to unleash various attacks also in an over-the-top fashion, so it feels like a pretty relaxed action game. It did take a while to level up and unlock those powerful new attacks, though. New weapons and armor get dropped so often that there's no need to buy any, and excess equipment are better off salvaged for parts to craft new equipment, so merchants don't seem to serve any purpose. As such, there has also been no need to craft anything until I reach the maximum level because old items don't take long to get outclassed, and that would also make merchants even more useless since they wouldn't sell optimal items. There are also followers (the enchantress seems quite attractive, and I wouldn't have minded getting a better look at her), and it doesn't look like they have impressive damage outputs, so I kinda wished they could be stronger if they're supposed to fight alongside you. It's funny that I should like bringing along a follower, but I would rather play solo and not with others. The game would and should want the player to do the heavy-lifting, but I guess I kinda like it when I get to see a follower also beat up enemies like in Dragon's Dogma or even Skyrim.

So far, I'm not too sure what to think of Diablo III, but it is fun at least.

 

[5YearsOnEastCoast]

I am playing Two-Point Hospital. Basically this is a hospital management game, where I run hospital and have to make hospitals success. I hire a bunch of staff, and they have to cure patients of weird diseases. This is a fun game and I am able to cure (most of) patients.

 

[wonderfly]

What video games did you play this week?
4/29/24:


New Releases this week:

Endless Ocean Luminous
(coming to Nintendo Switch)


​

So what have you played this week?!?

 

[Classic Speedy]

Bought a used copy of From Russia With Love (Xbox) yesterday. Only played one mission so far but it was a fantastic pre-credits level, complete with Bond facing off against a helicopter while wearing a jetpack. Talk about a showstopper! We'll see if the rest of the game is up to that level. Also love that they actually got Sean Connery to voice Bond again.

Also bought Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on XB1/Series, since it was on sale last week. Again, only played the first level so far but it was pretty exciting. I know COD has a hatedom for being "it's popular so it sucks" but you know what? Its single player campaigns are still solidly done.