Judgement. Fairly good, but has massive difficulty spikes

Batman: Arkham Knight -

Sooooo many backlog games to get through and I think I've started this about 3 times before. At times - especially with some of the additional "Most Wanted" DLC - this is the best the series has been. The visuals, the soundtrack, the atmosphere, the villains, the combat flow - it's great.

That said, it's also a post-Shadow of Mordor WB game, when they decided to chase the Ubisoft open-world formula. It loses most of its horror vibes when you're cruising around in a bat-tank and wearing a tank-like batsuit, while the filler content - especially for The Riddler - is pushed hard.

Started Lost Judgement right after Judgement. (Special note: The base game is free on PS Plus, but the DLC will run about R700. However, if you buy the Digital deluxe edition, you get it all for R350)

Right of the bat they fixed 90% of the issues Judgement had. Combat is faster and more rewarding, you can call a taxi (THANK YOU), Sp just seems to flow like water. Feels like a massive upgrade from Judgement!

War Hospital -

A budget but smartly-designed WWI field hospital management game that is 80% juggling resources and staff in menus, before watching events play out from a distance and hoping a poor decision doesn't lead to disaster down the line.

As patients with individual bios are a form of resource if they survive and rehabilitate - for sending to the trenches, acquiring requisition points, and boosting staff morale - it adds some decent weight to your triage decision and makes dealing with crises uncomfortable as hell (especially as outright denying treatment often works best to limit the morale loss and reduces the consumption of surgical supplies and food). It just needs a few more patches for wonky AI pathing and scripting that can soft-lock or end a campaign run.

Crisis Core Reunion - NS: I cannot understand the poor choice for the new VA's, Zack is absolutely terrible compared to the OG VA, Angeal is not much better. 8 hours in, on Chapter 5 -and about 60 Side Missions completed

Cyberpunk 2077 - PS5: I'm really enjoying it, way more polished that when i tried playing it back on PS4. 25 hours in and barely scratched the surface.

Marvel Snap - I p[lay this everyday, this season has been lame and felt like a slog. At least I have unlocked a couple of cards I was missing. looking forward to the next season.

Starfield - PC

This will probably be my only game for the next long while. Not that I mind, because my Lord it's filled to the brim with things to see and do. And, after having put 20 hours in so far, I think a lot of the vitriol towards this game is...kinda unwarranted? Maybe I'm missing something, but -- as to one of the larger criticisms I've seen -- it doesn't feel "surface level" at all. In fact, there are *so* many things going on, each having their own nuances (researching, ship building, base building, planet scanning and exploration, space combat) that it can get overwhelming quite quickly.

I have to give a shout out to the faction quests. Each faction has an interesting backstory, along with an immersive set of characters, missions, and decisions. And, not only will your active companion take part in conversations with characters, but they'll remark on the decisions you've made. It feels like some good ol' role-playing.

Gotta say, I'm I'm honestly amazed that my gaming laptop, with all 4GB's of VRAM, can run this thing at all. DLSS has been a big help... Though I've locked the framerate to 30 just to prevent overheating and whatnot.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth - GoTY contender right here.

Almost done with Lost Judgement.
The School Stories add a LOT, but varies quite a bit in quality.
I'm giving up on the Biker story, the last race is pretty much unwinnable:
Boss is immortal
Can kill you in 4 hits
MASSIVE rubber banding
Enemy weapons - Missiles, grenades, bats, kicks, sonics and mini-guns. Your weapons... you can kinda bump people
Seriously, this is the most flagrantly unfair boss I have seen in a while. You basically have to stay juuuuust behind him and then use your boosts perfectly. To fast and he will simply teleport behind, to slow and he just goes way past you
Every attempt also takes about 15 minutes so yeah, stuff that

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

This gives me so many Greedfall vibes - think smart use of a budget to make a game that feels as epic as its "AAA" peers - though it only took Don't Nod two attempts to refine their action-RPG formula compared to Spider's half dozen. It's a solid action-RPG with a slightly dated world structure (regions connected by paths) but it has great premise, likeable protagonists, streamlined RPG elements, and decent Souls-inspired combat that takes a while to get complex. It also has decent visuals and a great atmopshere.

My major issues are that it just takes a while to pick up pace, the impact of narrative choices are very transparent, and they've felt compelled to fill their big world with fairly bland collectible and gear that just offer incremental upgrades and rarely feel worth the time spent getting to them.

Oh, and the Tomb Raider 1-III Remasters -

An incredibly smart way to visually overhaul the classic games without looking inconsistent or changing the core gameplay. Well, so long as you don't use the "modern" controls (notably not the default setting) as they ruin the core gameplay loop of observing and navigating its grid-based world using Lara's grid-based movement abilities. It also runs brilliantly on any platform, including the Switch, and you can swap back to the (mostly) classic look at any time.

After my Yakuza bender I wanted a change, so I thought I would give Steel Rising a chance. Dropped after 5 minutes the first time, but went back. It's actually... not to bad.
It's actually very approachable for a soulsLike. The game just has some very weird difficulty spikes, randomly while playing. Like you can kill 20 of a specific enemy and suddenly they get super agro and none of you dodges seem to work. They can hit you when you are clrealy behind them. But after dying 2-3 times they mellow out again. Glitch or feature?
The AI also randomly seems to get confused and looses sight of you, ans I THINK this is on purpose since the puppets randomly "break" and miss a shot?

Anyway, weapons are massively unbalanced as well.

Main point is, if you are aware of the issues, you can make them work for you. The game is extremely cheesable! I'll keep playing till I get bored, or I accidentally buy Like a Dragon ISHIN!

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden -

After a week's breather, I loaded up a save before the finale to see the conclusion of a few more sidequests and after another 5 hours in just one region, this game is way, way too long for its exploration and combat loop to sustain. Could have been a near-perfect AA example if they reigned in their scope for the sake of pacing. I wish developers and publishers would drop the size/length = value mentality.

Tomb Raider II Remastered -

TRII was the first game I got with my PS1 and I played the crap out of it. Last played through the PS1 Classic version in 2016 yet I still know these levels like the back of my hand.

Lies of P (PS5)

I have a really good feeling about this game.

Loving the atmosphere and sense of mystery so far, and the combat feels like it fits somewhere between Bloodborne and Sekiro; meaning it's generally fast paced, and rewards good timing, reflexes, and risky play. I can already see how relying solely on dodging could be a problem, as this game wants you to get up in the boss's grill to trade blows and perfect-blocks for that health regain, and get that sweet stagger-into-heavy-finisher.

Started tooling around In Assassins Creed Beard edition (Valhalla)
Game is obviously friggin massive. Just disappearing into the bush and exploring seems like a time sink you will never recover from.
Not to thrilled by the voices for the MC. Neither gender is great but male seems a bit better. female just sounds like a 2 pack a day smoker.

Will keep it up until Thursday, have a feeling we might get some good drops on PS Plus on Wednesday night

Also really feeling for South Park Stick of truth again....

Outcast - A New Beginning

An enjoyably weird game but one that feels a decade too late. It's the original premise finally given the appropriate audiovisual spectacle and modern open-world structure - but the missions are generic fare that (I hope) most gamers are tired of by now. What it has going for it - in addition to the quirky setting - is entertaining jet-pack traversal. You quickly unlock the ability to glide and boost, so you're often bouncing between map icons so fast you don't have time to stop and think about how mundane the quest design is and how clunky the combat feels. A fun but formulaic 7/10 for me.

Still in Valhalla. Thought I would be bored by now, but 50 odd hours in, there is still so much to do. The game is a lot more centered and having a base helps a lot to keep you grounded. I might actually go back to Odyssey after this, but it's going to take a loooong time

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Picked this up dirt cheap on the Nintendo Switch in the hopes I'll get around to playing through it fully this time before trying the sequel. So far the mechanics are decent fun, but it's also a reminder of how long it's been since I've enjoyed the narrative arc of a Japanese RPG. I think FromSoft has the right idea with cryptic/nebulous storytelling, as I hate the repetitive character archetypes and conversations that overexplain everything, from the plot to how characters are feeling. There's almost zero subtlety and nothing feels natural.

Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen (Switch)

Having a decent amount of fun with this as it feels like Capcom's attempt at a eurojank RPG. If someone had told me they'd collaborated with Pirahna Bytes, I'd have believed it. Decent action-based combat that rewards your skill - but you've still got traditional RPG level and gear progression to push through tougher battles, and you can break the AI to cheese encounters if all else fails. That said, the lack of easy fast-travel can be a double-edged sword when you're just trudging back through mobs of respawning basic foes. There are also far too many consumable/crafting/upgrade items that bloat your inventory but refine into the same damn thing,

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin (Xbox)

A surprisingly smooth console RTS experience but I've not played one in some time that's so unforgiving and has a campaign blatantly designed as training for multiplayer and the conquest skirmish mode. Missions are less about resource gathering and unit production, and more puzzles about unit-type, positioning, and triggered abilities. Get that wrong, and you'll lose irrespective of the difficulty.

Still on AC Valhalla.
Ok, so quick and weird question. For those who have played the game, does it actually have nudity? There is a toggle on the PS5 if you want to "allow" nudity, but I'm 80 hours in and I have seen nothing, not even a scene that looks censored? Is it left over from the pc version or what?

Apparently there is a single boss fight with free flying bewbies. (Not THOR)

Also a side quest that takes place in a house of negotiable affection.

Feels like it was put in there so they could slap a bewb warning on the game and get that sweet 14 year old mpney