Well that’s another week in the books and we’re now only 21 sleeps away from Christmas! Perhaps you’re getting a new console, or that game you’ve been lusting after for the past couple of months. Personally I love surprises, and my wife is terrible at keeping them, but she’s managed so far not to let slip what she’s got me.
Of course, Mad Catz had other ideas, as it turns out I’m getting the Rock Band 4 Band In A Box, which turned up with the cardboard emblazoned with all the details. Good one, Mad Catz! At least I know I’m going to be rocking out on the 25th of December!
First on the team to reply this week was Cael, and he had one or two words to say about Bloodbourne: The Old Hunters!
Somewhat criminally, I’ve not had the time to play too much recently. I have, however, managed to squeeze in a return to Yharnam this last week, and what a blissful return that is. Perhaps prematurely I labelled Bloodborne as my GOTY back in March, but returning now after a short hiatus, I can once again confirm that this is absolutely my favourite. A modest challenge in a year packed with great titles.
The Old Hunters DLC is simply sublime. Further building upon what was already some of the best art and world design, I’ve managed to whittle away playtime merely basking in the views – taking screenshots and occasionally drooling. It hasn’t been entirely passive, the expansion’s new areas, enemies, bosses and atmosphere are as tense and frightening as ever – with one new area standing somewhere between The Duke’s Archives and the Tower of Latria.
I think I’m on the last boss, it’s hard to tell without spoiling things by looking online, but so far I’m absolutely enamoured with the new weapons, armour and Hunter’s tools – such wonderous playthings. Many of the new weapons’ second forms are still single-handed, meaning there should be an interesting mix-up for PvP. There’s also enough new NPCs to remind me that there’s something about the understated voice acting in these games I adore. The eclectic mix of regional British accents, certainly helps. The lore is enticing too, and delving into the historic machinations of the Healing Church is eye opening. No mercy for anyone in this world. If there was any reprehension over Dark Souls 3 and the Souls games’ near-annualisation, then there is no longer. I don’t care. I could play these games forever. Do you hear the bell?!
Somewhat shorter was Tuffcub’s rundown, where he’s still playing Fallout 4, though he’s still not sure if he likes it. He’s also found some time to grasp his Vita, playing Rocketbirds and one of this month’s Playstation Plus games, Freedom Wars. Finally he’s also returned to Beyond: Two Souls for its PS4 outing, which you can read about here.
Kris has been on the go, and by that he means playing Lara Croft Go, which while not the smartest of titles is “distinctly not rubbish”. Glowing praise, indeed. He’s also managed to play some WWE 2K16, and his review will be appearing soon – as long as he manages to beat The Rock. He definitely can’t smell what he is cooking.
Aran has been sneaking his way through MGS V: The Phantom Pain, though he has occasionally resorted to simply hammering the tougher camps with aerial bombardments. Along with the rampant aerial assaults, he’s also on a bit of a downer in Football Manager 16, where Southampton are on a losing streak. Rumours that any of the losses included a 6-1 kicking by Liverpool are purely fictional.
Our illustrious leader Tef has been waiting, and then waiting some more, for a chance to play the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta. Of course, as with so many recent betas the servers are quite ready yet, and much like a bottle of Grolsch, are likely to disappoint you. He may have said some unprintable words about it, but it’s best not to type them. The whole debacle has been moderately saved by the square aviator glasses he bought for Elena. And who can argue with that?
He did eventually manage to get into some matches, so you can expect to hear about that soon. He’s also found time to play and make videos of Just Cause 3, Star Wars: Battlefront and Rainbow Six Siege this week, which is a quite remarkable output around these parts, and you can even hear him talk about strange food this week as well, if you haven’t yet tired of hearing his disembodied voice.
As for me, I’ve been blowing things up in Just Cause 3, and it’s just an immense shame that the technical issues get in the way. If they’re able to patch it soon, it will easily be amongst the games of the year. I’ve also played the requisite Jurassic World with Noah, and whenever I hear the theme song, a wave of Lego-based hallucinations seem to wash over me. I can only hope that we’re reaching the end of the obsession, but he’s as stubborn as I am, which doesn’t bode well.
I also reviewed Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is definitely amongst my games of the year, and pushes the Wii U to levels almost no-one would have expected. It is a huge world, and utterly daunting, but it’s the kind of game that RPG fans should actually buy the console for. I also played Star Wars: Battlefront and Sword Art Online: Lost Song, which is pleasant enough for fans of the TV series but a bit too twee to draw in anyone new.
That’s enough about us, so why don’t you sound off and let us know what you’ve been doing?
MrYd
Cheap things all week.
Game of Thrones was a bargain for £8. The odd artistic choice (slightly wobbly painting filter?) quickly grew on me.
Neptunia U is draing my Vita battery quickly.
And I picked up a cheap copy of Elder Scrolls Online (not from PSN), which I’m enjoying. It’s just Skyrim thinly spread out so it takes twice as long to get anywhere, and even longer to level up.
Then they went and did another update to Driveclub. Since I’m obviously old and shit at driving, the easy mode is great. Actually get to play all the DLC events now. Stupid lock them all behind a number of stars thing. Now you can unlock them with silver (easy) stars. And get most of the trophies doing so. The “gain all stars” and unlocking the trophy events trophies work for silver. Just the “champion” trophies for winning the trophy events need to be done on gold star difficulty. (First time I’ve seen a trophy description being updated too)
Starman
Halo 5 multiplayer, which is great, telltales game of thrones, which was depressing, and Just Cause 3, which is good so far and not nearly as buggy as I expected.
R1MJAW
More Borderlands 2 co-op with Forrest and Pixel.
Started and finished Rayman Legends, just 2 trophies left (and both require a mammoth amount of grinding).
Made a start on Just Cause 3, great fun so far.
Also made a start on Schrodinger’s Cat, seems like it could be quite a fun little puzzle platformer.
Crazy_Del
Continue my progress on Fallout 4 and do as many quest and main quest over the weekend
Then just a few quick matches of Fifa 16 to try get another Legend.
Carrot381
Managed to grab the Platinum for Fallout 4 this pm taking my total up to 6. Gonna work through some of my ps plus backlog now until the New Year.
Andrewww
I’ve not really played that much, only drove a couple of races in Driveclub, that was it.
And I was just completely caught by surprise by the Game Awards, had no idea that was approaching, makes me wonder whether my RSS feeds have a problem.
MrYd
I now have a new best thing I’ve played all week…
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist
Put your Playstations away for half an hour, go to Steam, download it for free and enjoy. Just don’t ask for any more details. Or read anything about it. Anywhere. That’d spoil the fun. Also, don’t come back here and spoil the fun for anyone else.
TSBonyman
I’ve run into a game-breaking bug in Fallout 4 so that’s put a damper on things. I can still play on – i just can’t see anything more than 20 feet away, even scopes are affected. I’ve tried the suggested fixes but no luck so i’m going to have to go with my alternate save which means i’ll be discarding 20-30 hours progress.
In the meantime i watched a lot of shows, revisiting classics like Phoenix Nights and discovering new (to me) stuff like Inside No. 9.
And i fired up my PS3 for a quick look at Chariot and then chilled out for a bit with the good old match-3 dumbness of Bejewelled.
Carrot381
Have you tried using the doctor in Diamond City or other (won’t mention due to spoiler potential) locations?
I used a ridiculous amount of manual saves for fear of bugs – I use a rolling 10 individual save files on Bethesda games and usually 3 or 4 on rpg’s.
TSBonyman
I tried that too Carrot but doc doesn’t register me as being sick/injured, thanks anyway. I should have known better with my manual saves but i took the risk and now i’m paying for it.
Pixel_nme
Well for me it’s been Borderlands 2 Monday with R1MJAW and Forrest,some Destiny again with Forrest and Toutski a few rounds of Battlefront and a few laps of Mx vs Atv Supercross a little Black ops 3 more Destiny,some Just Cause 3 and downloaded and played tutorial to Uncharted 4 multiplayer.
Eldave0
Nothing major for me this week. Played a few rounds of BLOPS3 but am really getting sick of playing that Combine map over and over.
Checked out the Uncharted beta this evening. Its pretty good, though one mode and two maps can only hold my interest for so long.