Last Game You Finished and Your Rating

Just got the Platinum for Death Stranding Director’s Cut on PS5.
Never played it when it first came out; I was fortunate in that I grabbed it for a tenner from Tesco ages ago and then the upgrade path was announced, so I only started it in November in it’s upgraded form.
I don’t quite know what to think overall. The story is mental. I don’t really think I care about that aspect at all now, to be honest. But the gameplay completely gripped me. Loading it up and finding other players contributing stuff to help deliveries, working out how best to get the cargo places, creeping through heavy rain with stamina and supplies running low; it was compelling. Must have been - I’ve not stopped playing until I’ve done all you can do.
It’s such a weird game. I don’t know if I was ever EXCITED playing it, but I know I was captivated. I wonder how it will be evaluated 10 years from now.
Anyway, if you haven’t played it, I completely recommend it. 5/5

That’s a great review. I’m playing it at the moment and although I am enjoying the story, it’s just the way the simple act of traversing the world is so compelling that keeps me playing.

Also the shared world stuff is kind of incredible - seeing other players footpaths etc.

Yeah, it's good to hear that folk are enjoying Death Stranding. I briefly dabbled with the game at launch on PS4 and I liked the vibe; the simple but challenging gameplay and the setting combined to draw me in. I recently took advantage of the opportunity to upgrade to the PS5 version for (IIRC) five quid and I'd like to get into that soon.

The Gunk - a fairly simple and quick title. Has good characters and the final boss battle is fun. Is maybe too little variation across the 5 or so hours it took. 7/10

The Gunk 2/5

It’s short, there’s not much to it, and the story is incredibly generic and predictable. It feels like a game for kids, really, if it weren’t for the casual swearing from the main characters. Not sure why that was necessary, the game could have reached a universal audience if not for it, and it adds nothing to the script. Bizarre. Sucking up the gunk isn’t nearly as fun as it first looks, because it works by spread rather than volume, so being at a distance to get a good look at what you’re doing is completely ineffective. It’s much quicker to run to within an inch of the stuff and tap RT to have everything within arm’s reach instantly disappear, which gets you in an unsatisfying loop of stepping forward, stopping to clear some and repeat. Because the character movement while using the glove is so slow you can’t just get in there and clear it out the way it feels like you should be able to. Also, characters talking to you in gibberish language that requires you to read the subs during gameplay to understand them is stupid as hell. Nice environment design though, and generally inoffensive junk food gaming.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

8/10

Lovely game

Tomous wrote:Miles Morales - 8/10

Enjoyed this a lot. It didn't have the impact of the first Spider-man game but webslinging around the place was still a lot of fun as were the new venom powers. I enjoyed the Christmas setting and Miles is a good character. Much shorter than the first but that was fine. Plot was a little meh for me but I'm looking forward to both Spider-men being in the next PS5 game. My only concern is, will New York be feeling a bit stale by then?

Similar to my playthrough. I love the city but it’ll take a lot to make it feel different and a new challenge..

Just finished Resident Evil: The Village last week. Loved it 9/10

Lake

Does what it sets out to do well enough, but it’s all so low key and the characters are all so annoying in their own unique ways I struggled to really get in to it. A huge step down from Fire Watch, which it seems to often be mentioned in the same breath as.

6

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Lake

Does what it sets out to do well enough, but it’s all so low key and the characters are all so annoying in their own unique ways I struggled to really get in to it. A huge step down from Fire Watch, which it seems to often be mentioned in the same breath as.

6

How long is it, Kaz?

Buffalo wrote:
kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Lake

Does what it sets out to do well enough, but it’s all so low key and the characters are all so annoying in their own unique ways I struggled to really get in to it. A huge step down from Fire Watch, which it seems to often be mentioned in the same breath as.

6

How long is it, Kaz?

About 6 hours at a guess, but it felt longer. There’s not really a lot there.

Edit - 5 and a half hours.

jiggles wrote:The Gunk 2/5

It’s short, there’s not much to it, and the story is incredibly generic and predictable. It feels like a game for kids, really, if it weren’t for the casual swearing from the main characters. Not sure why that was necessary, the game could have reached a universal audience if not for it, and it adds nothing to the script. Bizarre. Sucking up the gunk isn’t nearly as fun as it first looks, because it works by spread rather than volume, so being at a distance to get a good look at what you’re doing is completely ineffective. It’s much quicker to run to within an inch of the stuff and tap RT to have everything within arm’s reach instantly disappear, which gets you in an unsatisfying loop of stepping forward, stopping to clear some and repeat. Because the character movement while using the glove is so slow you can’t just get in there and clear it out the way it feels like you should be able to. Also, characters talking to you in gibberish language that requires you to read the subs during gameplay to understand them is stupid as hell. Nice environment design though, and generally inoffensive junk food gaming.

All of this is spot on. It was boring as all hell and the characters were so annoying. The bad language is just mystifying considering how Mickey Mouse the game is in general. Bizarre decision.

The Last Campfire, Switch 7/10

This is an odd one - loved the game, the atmosphere, graphics, light puzzling, quite chilled. Was also enjoying the gentle nordic voiceover voice, well chosen. I was all ready to consider it an 8 or 9.

I was going though the game, trying to make sure I did all the 'quests', then in a moment of genius I thought I had a clever solution to an environmental puzzle. But I must have tried to solve it in the way the game didn't allow for. I fell through the floor, was stuck in the scenery and had to reset. When I restarted, a piece of the 'puzzle' I had been moving around was where I left it, but the rest of the environment had reset - I couldn't free it up as it was stuck behind something. This meant I couldn't complete the game fully, and given it was pretty much the last puzzle, there was no way I was going to restart. I finished the game, but felt really unsatisfied by that mess-up. Such a shame.

It's a good game, but rather spoilt by a bug right at the end

Summer Paws - Switch 7/10

Proper casual stuff, this - search several islands for sleeping cats, and give them a nudge to wake them up. However, the islands are absolutely filled with cats, just standing around, plenty wearing hats, some items around that look a bit like cats, and objects/buildings which cats may or may not be inside.

Just scroll around and click on the cats, and also search for seashells, which weirdly look like bits of meat.

Relaxing music plays too.

Relaxing, little to no challenge, and just right for de-stressing. Very nice if you like cats. :wub:

Note: Don't wake up sleeping cats in real life. It's not dangerous, it's just that they like sleeping - they will make a very sweet 'you disturbed my sleep' noise and you will feel guilty.

However, I can't stop myself, sorry String

Down In Bermuda - Switch 5/10

I've had a bit of a run of 'casual' games in the sale. After the greatness of Agent A: A puzzle in disguise a few months back, I had high hopes for this one from the same developer.

Sadly, it's a bit of a disappointment. I did play it through to the end, but not 100%. There was such a strange mix of puzzles that I can't really tell who this is for. Some of them are observational, some are 'rearrange this thing' tower of hanoi type things, and others are like 'pull the lever, another level will pop out, pull that, another will pop out etc.' which isn't really a puzzle, more of a 'bubble-wrap'-esq pastime. Then there were one or two that made zero logical sense to me at all, which I had to brute-force. Nothing like the logical sophistication of Agent A, sadly.

There were a few slightly more interesting moments but overall it felt a bit unsatisfying - neither simple enough to recommend to kids (although there is a fair amount of 'search for sparkly things', which they might enjoy) or complex/satisfying enough to appeal to puzzle fans.

Overall, meh. Glad I got it for a silly discount price.

Lime wrote:Summer Paws - Switch 7/10

Hidden Paws is out on Switch on the 27th, I spotted it in the coming soon section of the eshop last night but looking it up it was actually the dev's previous game before Summer Paws.

I'd also recommend you check out Hidden Folks, Hidden Through Time, Wind Peaks and Tiny Lands - any of those might also appeal!

OrangeRKN wrote:
Lime wrote:Summer Paws - Switch 7/10

Hidden Paws is out on Switch on the 27th, I spotted it in the coming soon section of the eshop last night but looking it up it was actually the dev's previous game before Summer Paws.

I'd also recommend you check out Hidden Folks, Hidden Through Time, Wind Peaks and Tiny Lands - any of those might also appeal!

Thanks for this, will check them out.

I'm enjoying these kind of 'chilled' games between bigger titles. I'm almost tempted with some of the 'detective'-style titles that seems to mix up hidden objects, some puzzling and a bit of a plot. However, there are thousands of them, and as such there are very few that seem to be reviewed. Still, for a couple of quid I guess I should just have a go!

Death Stranding Directors Cut

A wild experience, which, whilst never frustrating, did have me quesitoning certain design choices.

I am a big fan of the strand genre now - the way people impact you indirectly (and vice versa) was quite a powerful message, and sometimes, whilst playing in ultra wide, and then a song slowly fades in as you see your destination come in to view over the horizon, it can be quite a humbling experience.

The feeling when you come across an abandoned vehicle in the middle of nowhere is now one of gamings best feelings for me.

The haptics were used excellently - i particularly like the way the triggers would tense up depending on the weight on your back, and then would break altogether (ie no resistance) when you loose your footing.

Which brings me on to the negatives, and I really only have one area that all of these negatives sit within -

It felt like a lot of these brilliantly considered mechanics were just arbitary. My shoes never wore through once. I only fell over 9 times during the whole game.... I fall over more frequently IRL every week. Simply holding down both triggers all the time meant i could traverse everything safely with, seemingly, no downside. A full arsenal of weapons were available to me, but barely required (I am ok with this to be honest, I did not want a combat simulator nor a stealth game, and this really is neither).
Watchtowers could be built, but why bother? A scan is almost as effective and "free".
Oxygen masks.... I used one once. for about 30 seconds.

To continue the Tim Rogers analogy of DS being the Gran Turismo of walking simulators, It could be said it shares the same gut punching reality check as that games ability to hit the walls and other cars with no real penalty. It jus makes all the agonisingly detailed stuff seem a bit..... pointless.

So yeah, I kind of loved it? I actually dug the story, and found it to be far less obtuse than I anticipated. Graphically it was beautiful and it felt like a really uniqe experience. But it also felt like the layering of mechanics reached such a point that none of them really felt neccessary. Which was a crushing shame.

Oh - and my wife was sneakily wathcing all the cut scenes whilst pretending to read a book, so clearly it's production values were a cut above most of the games i play, where she completely ignores their existance.

8.5

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Death Stranding Directors Cut... So yeah, I kind of loved it?...

I enjoyed reading your updates about the game as you progressed, kaz; this is definitely a title I gotta move way up my "to play next" list.

It's a ga,e I'd certainly like to try, but I know there's a chance I'll only play it once so it'll have to be free on plus or gamepass.

Snowrunner is on Game Pass and shares a lot of the same mechanics. Death Stranding was far more engaging to me, but Snowrunner probably achieves it core gameplay mecanic (get from point A to point B doing whatever it takes) just as well if not better.

Last Game You Finished and Your Rating

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