WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Retro Red]

If you go into the map, then hit I think Y for collection it gives you the list of bananas per level so you can at least track how many you have left to find.

[Jazzy G]

Some decent looking trailers from EVO this weekend. Sagat arrives in Street Fighter 6 tomorrow. C. Viper is coming this August. An update to Capcom Fighting Collection 2 that add the characters from Alpha 3 Max into Alpha 3 Upper. Virtua Fighter 5 is getting a new version that's even coming to Switch 2, and it looks like VF6 is in production. A fighting game based on Invincible, and I also learned they're making a new Art Of Fighting game, as well as having an Art Of Fighting 3 tournament as part of this year's SNK Pro Tour. I've not had chance to watch any of the top 8s or Grand Finalses yet, so no spoilers. 

Digital Eclipse is giving Mortal Kombat the Gold Master treatment, or at the very least the Capcom Fighting Collection treatment with timeliness, design documents etc. 

Oh, also Street Fighter 6 Outfit 4 is the swimsuit special. 

Edited August 4, 2025 by Jazzy G

[TildeGuy~!]

I was quite disappointed in the Evo reveals this year,  no surprises at all.

They usually do the reveals after the Grand Finals but done them before Top 8 this year for some reason

The new Tekken 8 character looks like she has the same appearance and look as 3 or 4 of the roster.

[Merzbow]

Tekken character aesthetics peaked at 2, while graphics improved I haven't felt the same way about the art style.

[The Gaffer]

8 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Tekken character aesthetics peaked at 2, while graphics improved I haven't felt the same way about the art style.

Tekken 2's where it's at. The music, the stages, the FMVs. It was the perfect mix of mid-90s cheddar cheese whilst still being to a high standard. There's an offbeat moodiness to it that they buffed out in the ultra-slick package that was Tekken 3 but - whereas everybody in school adopted to 3 - 2 still felt like 'my' Tekken growing up. Nina's green camouflage bodysuit gave me gender envy. 

That's why I love 4 as well. It can be a bastard to play but it went back to being a bit weird. 

 

[Jazzy G]

I had a 32X while everybody around me had PlayStation so Virtua Fighter was my 3D fighter of choice. As such, I feel obligated to remind you that the pinnacle of 3D fighters was VF4 EVO. That "story" mode where you went round arcades playing against people with the different AI fighting styles was something pretty special and you had to learn the game properly. Some of the AI fighting styles were based on the pro Virtua Fighter players of the time. 

[FLips]

Finished up Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza or whatever it's called. Like the other games in the series I thoroughly enjoyed it. This and Man Who Erased His Name are the perfect length for this kind of thing, with me getting all the achievements and doing all the side stuff in about 35-40 hours. I love the main series but they realistically don't need to longer than this.

[The King Of Swing]

Only real negative I can recall from Pirate Yakuza, is that I found the ground combat incredibly boring. Outside of that though, it's still a lot of fun.

Man Who Erased His Name, is better imo. Don't see anything ever topping Secret Agent Kiryu.

Interested to see what RGG are doing with Stranger Than Heaven. 

[Devon Malcolm]

I started playing Mark of the Ninja and it's superb. Taking me a while to get used to using stealth rather than just killing everyone but it's really, really good.

[RedTwoster]

I’ve given Super Mario Wonder another whirl, after not really gelling with it first time around. I’ve no idea why I didn’t though, it’s great! 

[FLips]

Think this might be my last generation of consoles with some form of online subscription. I'm fully off the online competitive game train now having recently played the beta of the new Battlefield and the remastered remaster of Gears of War. I'm just not getting any form of pleasure from them at all, winning doesn't feel fun and losing feels even worse. It's a young man's game.
Gamepass is obviously worth the money but my modern game playing time is lowering and lowering per month, so soon I don't even think that will be financially worth it either. I think the only modern game I've finished this year so far has been Pirate Yakuza and that wasn't Gamepass anyway, and before that it might have been the new Call of Duty which I think was last year?
I still don't have a Switch 2, but my Switch online expired and I can't say I'm that arsed. I have all the retro stuff they offer available on the actual consoles, and their online has always and likely always will be verging on a crime it's that bad. The only positive it had was that it was relatively cheap.

Pair all that with the email I got from Xbox this morning saying unless I do that god awful ID Verification thing or all my online features will be limited/removed, it doesn't look like I'm left with much choice. I'd sooner just throw my Xbox in the bin than give my personal details to some random data collection company the government is paying.

I mentioned in a thread a while ago the internet doesn't feel fun anymore, but I'm starting to find modern gaming isn't that fun either. I'm not going to say it's entirely his fault, but Keir Starmer is a spineless useless cunt and it's related enough it feels worth saying.

Edited August 28, 2025 by FLips

[Jazzy G]

I've just been dipping into Pinball FX3 or Pure Pool if I only have a couple of minutes to kill. Brotato is still keeping me interested if I've got a little more time, but at the moment while my mum's in hospital I don't really have the time to get really deep into an RPG or more Power Wash Simulator. I say as I pick up the DLC for Talisman, and buy the deluxe edition of Lawn Mower Simulator. It's from Sky hook games, and they made some of the DLC for Train Sim World. They're also quite local to me. 

I saw that Train Sim World 6 was announced. I don't have anything to play it on anyway, but the fact that it's become an annual update has really turned me off it. I fell out of love with it when I paid for an update that wouldn't run properly on my XBox One. 

[Merzbow]

Did anyone actually bother with the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake? Personally, I think it looks awful with so much of the character taken out and replaced with that weird realistic sheen from the Unreal Engine. 

Little things like facial expressions are totally lost in the translation. It's probably great to play but you can tell it doesn't have Kojima's soul in it.

[LaGoosh]

I'm playing Assassin's Creed Shadows. It's pretty much the same as all the others but I like all the others so I'm happy. It's comforting, easy to follow, satisfying and incredibly beautiful to look at. I like that they've upped the number of assassination missions in this one. I love having my target list and going through them one by one.

Does anyone who plays these games have any idea what the over arching storyline is? I have completely given up trying to follow it.

Edited August 29, 2025 by LaGoosh

[TildeGuy~!]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Did anyone actually bother with the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake? Personally, I think it looks awful with so much of the character taken out and replaced with that weird realistic sheen from the Unreal Engine. 

Little things like facial expressions are totally lost in the translation. It's probably great to play but you can tell it doesn't have Kojima's soul in it.

Yea, was never gonna bother it’s not Metal Gear if Kojima isn’t involved.