We’re coming to the end of it now. The autumnal deluge of games is starting to dry up, with only a few notable titles like Final Fantasy XV and Dead Rising 4 left to arrive, and while your wallets are probably glad of the respite as we hunker down for Christmas, attention has already begun to turn towards 2017. Could it be Nintendo’s year? Or Microsoft’s? Or will Sony’s solid grip on the industry continue unabated as they clean up with their powerful hardware and range of exclusives?
In some ways it’s a shame that we’re an industry constantly teetering on the edge of the next big thing, but then when it’s driven by technological advances and consistent improvements in game engines and development languages it’s probably not all that surprising. 2017 will be a telling year either way, where Nintendo’s third way will come under scrutiny once again, and the mid-generational upgrade will attempt to prove its worth. Hopefully there’ll be plenty of excitement left to go around from the end of this year anyway.
I’ve been stuck firmly in the past this week as I’ve continued to dive into the thirty games squirrelled away in Nintendo’s NES Mini, with Super Mario Bros. 3 and Gradius proving that some things only improve with age. In more modern gaming, I’ve been enjoying the upgrades that PS4 Pro brings to Titanfall 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, as well as being a pretty bridie in Eagle Flight and concluding that Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is the best use of the license so far. Now they just need to make a PSVR Sword Art game and all will be right with the world. As long as it doesn’t kill you. That would be bad.
As TheSixthAxis’ version of Craig David, Dave told me that on Monday he played Pokémon Sun. On Tuesday he played Pokémon Sun. On Wednesday he played Pokémon Sun. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday he played Pokémon Sun. By Sunday… he was playing Pokémon Sun. I think perhaps he’s in love.
TC has been playing Titanfall 2 which he thinks is the best multiplayer game since Destiny – but it’s still no Killzone. He’s also found time for Skyrim, Metal Gear V, and the incredibly broken and short The Martian VR. Finally he’s reviewing Blue Rider, an old-school shoot em up, and had some fun in Trackmania Turbo VR.
Kris dropped in to tell us about his time with Uncharted 4, which he’s kind of enjoying;
I have played Uncharted 4. I’m up to chapter 12 or 13, which I think is about halfway? Some bits are good, but it has hard swings in tone and a lot of the gameplay feels a bit like filler.
I really enjoyed the more open section where you’re exploring with the jeep, and the bit where you’re trying to escape, but the car chase was more of a just OK section.
It’s been a quieter week for Steve who’s been playing Tyranny and Darkest Dungeon for review, with some sessions on “Phonic Racing” with his five year old son, who’s loving Sonic Racing Transformed. It would be a bit easier if only he was good at racing games…
Miguel has been playing a metric-ton of Watch Dogs 2, as well as Shadow Tactics and Steins;Gate 0, while Overwatch and Ace Attorney Dual Destinies continue to putter along. Aran meanwhile played some Volume Coda which he says is a great VR experience, as well as having a good time with Dishonored 2, which is an improvement on the original in every way apart from the plot and characters.
Stefan’s been delving into Killing Floor 2’s zombie horde gameplay, enjoying a bit of Rise of the Tomb Raider in co-op and tinkering with the excellent Super Mario Maker. It was quite a while ago that he actually played it, but he also has some lovely things to say about Forgotton Anne.
Finally Jim has had a pretty packed week thanks to his new hardware:
Been very overrun with games this week as I continue to fiddle around with my PS4 Pro.
With HDR and 4K, I had simply had to dive back into Uncharted 4’s campaign. It’s certainly more taxing on its Crushing difficulty but looks absolutely stunning – the prettiest game of the generation so far.
Next to that there’s only been a couple of rounds of Overwatch as I focused mainly on Dishonored 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Despite not getting along with its multiplayer, that campaign is fantastic.
Now then, what have you played?
aerobes
With gaming taking a backseat to real life I made a decision to avoid paying full RRP on any titles I wanted. With that in mind the upcoming few months should be pretty great!
I played Firewatch start to finish last Sunday and it was as excellent as it was first time around. As usual I got solid helping of R6: Siege in too.
hornet1990
Caved in and bought a Pro, just need to get it setup and everything transferred. Also picked up Battlefield 1 and took advantage of the Titanfall 2 discount so looking forward to playing them.
On original PS4 I went back to Tales from the Borderlands only to find my save has reverted to early in episode 1 when I know I was almost at the end of ep2 – pretty annoyed at that.
ron_mcphatty
I’ve been playing Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, it was quite a slow starter and I had no idea how to get the best of the story but after some background reading I’m starting to love it. Shame the ‘run’ button seems to have been programmed by an old lady with knitting to do, in fact I’ve seen old ladies with suitcases full of wool move much faster.
Andrewww
I’m seriously stuck with Until Dawn, really love this game, played through it a second time, jumping at the same scares again, mostly. Such a shame Sam died at the very last moment this time around, so I’ll have to play some chapters again. I also wonder whether it’s possible to let Emily die at all, that seems quite difficult. So many excuses to play Until Dawn once again… :o)
Besides, I’ve still not revealed all of the story, and I find the mechanics of uncovering totems, clues and video snippets a really cool reward system. It’s a truly excellent game with a surprisingly high replay value, exploring different outcomes. Easily gets into my top ten of this gen. Here’s hoping for a sequel…!
tactical20
Watch Dogs 2. Plenty to like, plenty to dislike. Let’s see how it pans out over the next week.
wonkey-willy
Titanfall 2.
And oddly enough Rainbow 6 siege.
I crumbled and picked it up cheap and I am quite impressed despite the negative vibes people gave this game
Dave Irwin
Tuffcub pointed out that this sounded a bit like Craig David, so I’ve reworked the lyrics to fit my week:
Pokémon Sun on Monday
Pokémon Sun on Tuesday
Pokémon Sun by Wednesday
and on Thursday & Friday & Saturday, Pokémon on Sunday
You’re welcome!
TSBonyman
A few more planets in NMS and Driveclub is back in my ‘current games’ list thanks to the new tracks.
I played RotTR up to the final battle, then quit when the chopper took me out for the 12th time. If i was invested in the game i’d give it another crack but i think i’m done with it for now.
And so now i’m playing Dishonored and so far it’s exactly what i expected. I’ve spent a few hours on the first mission and haven’t reached the Dreadful Whale yet as i’ve been exploring all the buildings and alleyways en route…. and seeing how many bodies i can get into the small guard cabins… a lot as it happens.
freezebug2
Not sure which difficulty level you were playing RotTR at but the chopper level before the final battle was quite easy on my first playthrough after figuring out what to do, playing Tomb Raider difficulty…..to enjoy the ride ;)
I’m now playing a Survivor difficulty playthrough and finding some of the battles that were tough on the easier difficulty a bit of whizz in comparison…familiarity breeds success :O
TSBonyman
Oh, i eventually figured out what i was meant to be doing but at that stage my overall disappointment with the game made completing it seem unimportant. Might return to it in a few months but just as easily might not.
freezebug2
Cracking tagline btw Dom ;)
CR8ZYH0RSE
Been using my remote play on the Vita to play Adventure capitalist and Shadow complex remastered.The former is free on the store and it’s addictive as hell,even though it’s a basic game where you start off with a lemonade stand pressing square to get as much money as you can to invest in a manager.Then you make more money to invest in a paper delivery service and so on until you buy an oil well.You just keep ploughing more money in to maximize your profits.Shadow Complex is as good as i remember,picked it up for a fiver as i thought it was well worth it.