So many games, not enough time.
Every year is the same. We go through a drought in the summer where we’re left twiddling our thumbs, then, come Autumn and moving into Winter, publishers and developers release their games like the apocalypse is coming. Just why do they do it? Surely they all eat into each other’s sales. Spread them out. Let us enjoy them one at a time, please!
Anyway, here are the games we ‘ave mostly been playing this week.
Rich: Starting last weekend, I’ve been playing a lot of Hitman 2. It really is bloody good, so if you’ve been on the fence about it, pick it up. It’s great how you import the the levels from Hitman Season One into it too. Spyro Reignited Trilogy is also a game I’ve spent considerable time with, but while it looks beautiful, its gameplay does eventually become overly repetitive and boring. I mean, just how many gems does a small purple dragon need in his life?
You know which game really has my interest at the moment though? Diablo III on Switch. I’ve played that game so much over the years that I should be sick of it by now, but it never fails to draw me in and keep me captivated. The Switch port of it is simply brilliant, meaning every day I’ve found some time to delve into it. Battlefield V and Fallout 76 have meant I need to keep my Diablo III playtime in check though. There’ll be more on them soon…
Kim: It’s been a week of lots of short, random games. God bless [email protected]! I completed Artifex Mundi’s latest offering, Noir Chronicles: City of Crime, a fun hidden object adventure that was a little darker than their usual titles. I also played Skyhill, a fun but simple game about descending 100 floors of a hotel during a zombie apocalypse.
I’ve also dabbled a little bit in Spyro the Dragon, which made me realise I remember absolutely nothing about the game from being a kid, and I started playing World of Final Fantasy: Maxima on Xbox One. I enjoyed it the first time round on PS4, and it’s just as good in this rerelease. The highlight of the week has undoubtedly been 11-11: Memories Retold, a beautiful story-driven adventure set during the First World War.
Becca: This week I’ve played a lot of different things inbetween pining over Red Dead Redemption 2 and Fallout 76 gameplay. My roommate and I continue to play Dead by Daylight every night. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it and getting better as survivor. I’ve begun levelling up multiple characters so I can experiment with who I like the best. Recently we’ve been dealing with killers that camp by you when you’re trapped on the hook so it becomes impossible to be saved. The game is fun, but there’s a lot about it that makes it not great to play at times.
I also played a couple of brilliant point and click games this week: Lucid Dream, a heartfelt story about a little girl trying to snap her mom out of her dream-like state; and Tsioque, which is about a princess who gets trapped in her own castle by an evil wizard who wishes to control the kingdom. Both of them are very unique and well worth a playthrough. Finally, I played a few hours of the news simulator Headliner: NoviNews, where you basically get to control what news goes out and watch how what you chose changes the world around you. It’s a very intriguing look at how the media effects world events.
Chris: I’ve been trying to capture a murderer in The Shapeshifting Detective, which I’ll shortly be reviewing for PC. Second time around I managed to put the wrong ‘un behind bars, but I don’t think Columbo has anything to worry about.
Hitman 2, on the other hand, has afforded me the opportunity to actually be a homicidal lunatic. So far I’ve brained someone with a didgeridoo, knocked a drug-smuggler out with their own cocaine-filled souvenir and generally got up to all manner of mayhem. I have also been playing the game using the “mission stories” but it’s much more fun if you just free-style the game.
Stan: Finally! The Stan has completed… Red Dead Redemption 2. (Imagine me saying that in The Rock’s voice – I know, cool, right?) After weeks of cowboying around, I finally got to complete the incredible journey of Arthur. What a game. I believe that Red Dead Redemption 2 proves that it’s time for games to get the respect that movies do. I’m going to miss Arthur’s journey… I already miss him more than he misses Mary Linton.
For Christmas I’m hoping to get a lump of Poke Balls in my stocking instead of coal – all to help me in Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu, which I also hope to get for Christmas. Sadly, my Nintendo Switch has been unused recently, and I’m worried that the Switch may have already played its best cards. Let’s hope for a good year next year. I’d love to see N64 games added to the Switch, especially Ocarina of Time. I’ve been reminiscing about Link’s first journey in 3D so much that I ranked the 10 most memorable moments in The Ocarina of Time. It’s nice to play a game where your horse can’t die… I won’t miss that about Red Dead Redemption 2.
