WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[The King Of Swing]

I'm still waiting for something Xenoblade or Shin Megami Tensei related, before I finally jump on the Switch 2 train.

Currently playing Borderlands 4 (PS5) 

It's alright, so far. But even with some tweaks, the series is really starting to feel like it's finally running out of steam, imo. 

Edited September 13, 2025 by The King Of Swing

[RedTwoster]

I’ve given up on Silksong. I wasn’t having any fun with it. The difficulty is artificially inflated through bosses with tediously long health bars and back-tracking, and it just makes the game a slog to play. There’s a great game in there, but they’ve spoiled it by turning it into an endurance test. It’s not a case of me needing to ‘get good’ either, I can overcome the challenges put in front of me. I just don’t want to. 

[Devon Malcolm]

Sadly finished Portal 2 and since then I've tried:-

Pikuniku - Funny little puzzle-platformer that felt like only half a game because of how short it is. Enjoyed it, though.

Mail Mole - 3D platformer weighed down by really bad controls. A nice idea poorly executed. Didn't know moles eat carrots.

Subnautica - What am I missing here? Swam around for an hour, picked up some acid mushrooms and had no idea what I was doing. Would it have harmed them to have given some hint as to what you're supposed to do or an objective of some kind? 

Lunistice - Another 3D platformer, but a much better one. Really poor camera angles at times but that seems to be the case with every 3D platformer I've ever played.

Left 4 Dead - More like it. Shoot lots of zombies, find the safe house. Got motion sickness playing it though. Maybe I should just stick to metroidvanias. 

[RedTwoster]

11 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Subnautica - What am I missing here? Swam around for an hour, picked up some acid mushrooms and had no idea what I was doing. Would it have harmed them to have given some hint as to what you're supposed to do or an objective of some kind? 

I’ve tried to get into this a few times now, and I find it a bit of a slog for the same reason you’re seemingly down on it.

I played through the Donkey Kong Bananza DLC, and while it’s very, very overpriced for what you’re getting I can’t pretend that I didn’t enjoy it. 

I’m now replaying Super Mario Galaxy, this time alongside my daughter. While I’m still enjoying it, I think I’d been viewing it through rose-tinted glasses. It controls quite badly, with Mario regularly bugging out and running in circles, causing us to die unfairly. The fact lives don’t carry over between plays is also really odd, making them rather pointless. The fact Mario has had some of his moves removed and the fact he has to charge up his spin attack is also a bit irritating.

Still, it’s an excellent game in spite of its flaws, but it’s not better than Odyssey. Our plan is to play the sequel next on Switch when it releases, so I’ll be interested to see if that’s aged any better.

I’m also playing Scribblenauts Unlimited with my daughter, after picking it up for a couple of quid on a Switch eshop sale. It’s been an absolute blast, with the two of us trying to outdo one another when it comes to ridiculous solutions to the problems put in front of us. It’s very easy, but the game isn’t designed to be a challenge - it’s just daft fun, and frequently hilarious. If you’ve not played it before, basically you’re presented with puzzles/situations, and you type in whatever you like and it appears (within reason, it’s a family game after all) to potentially help you solve your problem. It’s very entertaining.

[Merzbow]

So Yakuza/Like a Dragon: Kiwami 3 was announced and it's pissed off a bunch of people both in the west and Japan, they've recast a bunch of characters in both voice and model while seemingly making them less Okinawan, with some from Okinawa claiming it's cultural erasure.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

2 hours ago, Merzbow said:

So Yakuza/Like a Dragon: Kiwami 3 was announced and it's pissed off a bunch of people both in the west and Japan, they've recast a bunch of characters in both voice and model while seemingly making them less Okinawan, with some from Okinawa claiming it's cultural erasure.

 

I think from what I have seen the vast majority  of Yakuza fans are happy that it is getting the Kimami treatment as the original badly needed it.

They have recast three, and done the typical RGG model of making the character look more like voice actor.

The original really needed a rework for 2025. I'm day one for this. Looks brilliant.

Edited September 25, 2025 by Cousin Jim Bob

[The King Of Swing]

I'm more interested in Stranger Than Heaven, to be honest. 

[TildeGuy~!]

Yea, Stranger Than Heaven looks very interesting, the fact there wasn’t much shown on it from the RGG Summit is worrying but RGG games are always a day one for me. 

Edited September 26, 2025 by TildeGuy~!

[Chest Rockwell]

Had a little diversion from SF for a bit to play the new Shinobi game. Have been enjoying it a lot. If you liked the recent prince of Persia game you'll like this. There's a couple things that really annoy me though - when a checkpoint is a fast travel point they should start you again from there with full life when you die!  There's no reason not to. Also the map is not super clear so it's a bit of a hassle going back to revisit levels to collect stuff you missed.

[Merzbow]

The new Skate has great basic mechanics but fuck me is it also a soulless husk created by a committee trying to file down any edge the original titles had. From the visuals to the dialogue it feels half fed into ChatGPT to sound as Gen Z without actually sounding Gen Z at all, very much "how do you do, fellow kids".

[Devon Malcolm]

I started playing Hollow Knight. I do really like it but the save points are bad. Obviously I got murdered by False Knight but it spawned me on a bench about a hundred miles away and that just wound me up. It's hard enough without that. So I don't know how to feel about it overall.

Also been playing What the Golf? which is probably the most unserious game I've ever played. Reminds me of You Suck at Parking except without nearly as many near impossible levels. Extremely stupid and funny, the homages to other games are used in a really enjoyable way rather than just being set dressing, I've liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

3 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

I started playing Hollow Knight. I do really like it but the save points are bad. Obviously I got murdered by False Knight but it spawned me on a bench about a hundred miles away and that just wound me up. It's hard enough without that. So I don't know how to feel about it overall.

 

 

It's a design choice by the devs. It's sequel is the same. That the "run back" to bosses can often be really hard. It won't give you a save point right next to the boss.

I wanted to like Hollow Knight but it was far too hard for me. I've heard Silk Song is even harder.

Edited September 26, 2025 by Cousin Jim Bob

[Nexus]

I'm in the same boat with regards to Hollow Knight. I love a lot of roguelikes, and I like to think I'm pretty good at them, but Hollow Knight absolutely fucked me repeatedly and I have no desire to keep trying it. It just got to not being fun at all. 

[TildeGuy~!]

Just over half way through Silent Hill F and I’m really enjoying it, it definitely doesn’t feel like a Silent Hill title but they’ve got the psychological horror elements absolutely spot on.

[Merzbow]

On 9/26/2025 at 10:44 AM, Merzbow said:

The new Skate has great basic mechanics but fuck me is it also a soulless husk created by a committee trying to file down any edge the original titles had. From the visuals to the dialogue it feels half fed into ChatGPT to sound as Gen Z without actually sounding Gen Z at all, very much "how do you do, fellow kids".

Ended up uninstalling it, after a little longer playing all I was coming across were physics bugs and missions that don't work as intended or were obviously not play tested. Playing 3 again had me realising that the mechanics aren't actually half as good even down to basic pumping into bowls etc.

Edited September 28, 2025 by Merzbow