Last week I finally started playing the games on a "Best of PSN" compilation I bought, what, about 6 years ago? It comes with Sound Shapes, When Vikings Attack, Fat Princess and Tokyo Jungle.

Sound Shapes is a nice little rhythm platformer where you are a record player knob collecting notes and beats along your way to the end of the level, and those notes and beats constitute the soundtrack of each level as you collect them. It comes with music by deadmau5 and Beck, but you can download more "records" (worlds) on the PS Store. I haven't even checked, so I don't know what else you can buy. Each world's art is done by different artists, I think the second world was made by the same person/team that made Salt & Sanctuary.

When Vikings Attack is an action/adventure game where you control a group of people fending off attacks made by Vikings in modern times. You grab objects and throw them at the opposite group of Vikings while avoiding the same kind of attacks by them. There's usually a boss at the end of each level. Nice graphics but overall pretty average.

Fat Princess is the one I didn't like so much. I don't know if it was the game or if I already wanted to skip this one and go for Tokyo Jungle, but I was just not interested.

I'm currently playing Tokyo Jungle and I'm loving it. It's actually the reason I bought this compilation, I wanted to play it at the time, and somehow I ended up not doing so until after 6 years. You control various animals in a world where humans have disappeared and only animals remained, and you have to survive by hunting, feeding and mating until you die of hunger or get killed by some other animal. The gameplay is pretty fun and you get to customize your animal with items you find along the way. I feel bad for the chicks you feed on, though, they don't even stand a chance. One of the DLCs is apparently a businessman, which leaves me curious as to how they did the hunting/feeding/mating process on him.

Wait until Godhome. The Pantheon of Hollownest is unreal. I still need to do that + the Path of Pain.

I realized I probably need to take Dead Cells back down to 0BC so I can get the Spider Rune more easily. There's no consequence for jumping around from 0BC to 1BC and back right? I assume not, since that's part of the "fun".

I didn't move to 1BC until I felt comfortable with a few choice weapons and enemy attack patterns through my biome run.

Oh wow. Really? I couldn't wait to dive in lol. I started my 1BC run immediately just to see what it was all about. So far the only really new thing is the Predator-style knife throwers. But I usually play kinda slow and trap-heavy so they haven't been much of a struggle. I'm so hyped to unlock new weapons and traps.

Beating Conjunctivius on my first attempt was satisfying. Still nervous about the Slumbering Sanctuary though. It would be brutal to come all this way and die before I kill that Elite.

Edit: Uhhhhhhh..getting the rune was really easy. Not sure if I'll make it back out though.

Nope, the whole thing was super easy. Weird. Back to BC1! I only did one run on that difficulty and found that the Time Keeper (Clock maker?) was WAY harder. But my traps were also dogshit. I think I need to practice with a shield.

So, it looks like Blasphemy was a bust? I feel like everyone in here was losing their mind over it and now that it’s out no one gives a shit anymore.

The reviews put me off of buying it. 90% of them kept harping on the idea that the pixel art and atmosphere were magnificent but the gameplay gets repetitive really quickly. On watching some footage after release I was surprised how little combat options you get to spice things up. The occasional execution animations are sick but like...you just swing the same sword the same way over and over for the entire game? Doesn't seem good enough after some games like Hollow Knight and Dead Cells have changed the landscape.

I'm going to look for it on a hard sale. Like 50%. I can wait a long time.

Then to hell with it. I still need to give Control a shot.

I don't know yet if it was a bust. Some reviewers seemed to really like it and at least one user here was singing its praises a page or so back. Seems a bit divisive though, yeah. I'm definitely going to play it after I burn through Link's Awakening, which comes out tomorrow! I'll report back with my thoughts then.

I mean... what do you expect exactly?

I thought I would hear more hype for this game leaving me with no choice but to buy it.

Blasphemous is actually extremely good, but usually for me hype kills my interest in a game. Would rather just go in without any bias from other people leaning in either negative or positive directions, personally.

I'm going to get it. I like what I've seen from the videos online. It looks like what I wanted from Salt & Sanctuary.

I just bought it.

I have zero self control when it comes to buying video games.

Expect a non insightful review of the game from me soon.

I genuinely can't wait.

Almost beat 1BC today but I didn't have enough heals when I made it to the Hand. I'm loving the heavy turret. Also slow playing the head-detach move for safety. Cheese until you can't anymore!

I had that problem a few years back. I must've spent around $400 (after heavy discounts) on games, the majority of which I ended up either not playing, disliking, or otherwise losing interest in. Then I tried to refund some of them and it didn't work out. Eventually, I recouped all the costs (and more) on the Steam market. Now if I want to buy a game, I don't have to spend a single penny of real life money, as long as it's on Steam.

Then I finally realized that, for the most part, I'd rather watch other people play interesting games, which means that I don't even have to buy them anymore, even when they're practically free for me. *shrug*

Blasphemous has a pretty steep learning curve, and it seems enemy patterns are designed to be dealt with like one, maybe two ways. Timing on parries is both really loose and insanely tight, some enemies you can slide through their attacks, others you can't and must find another way to deal with them.

It's very rigid in its combat, and the way it feels is the antithesis of a Dead Cells where it's super fluid. I'm not entirely sure how fast or slow I should be going, but a lot of times I walk away from an encounter feeling like I didn't do it right, instead of finding my way to play, or a solution that works for me. It's clearly a game that has to be played on its terms, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

Rigid combat seems to be in line with what I've heard and a bit of what I've seen.

Speaking of lack of self-control I bought The Messenger on PS4 even though I already own it on PC. I just wanted to replay it comfortably, and mess around with the Picnic Panic DLC.

Any other PC players looking forward to info on Total War Warhammer 3?

I finished Star Wars: Republic Commando. Really good FPS, albeit short, in a way. Three chapters, but divided into multiple little levels. Unfortunately, since the sequel was cancelled, it just ends, like just before the third act of sorts was about to begin. The team mechanics are great, and it's nice that the dialog/chatter is varied, makes the AI characters more organic and lively.

How is that DLC? Still haven't checked it out.

I got the Link's Awakening remake! It's fan-fucking-tastic, and the graphics are so adorable. Just beat the third dungeon last night, and I'll probably dive back in later today.

I don't know yet! I think you have to beat the game to play the DLC. I'm pretty sure it's just a few extra levels and bosses, but the writing is so quippy and sharp I just want to experience it myself, and I knew it was never gonna happen on PC.

Man, I've been wanting to play the old Zelda games so bad lately. I'm really looking forward to a few newer games who might just capture that old magic. Hazelnut Bastille has my eye most of all. I'm glad the remake isn't a let down!

Been super deep into Total War: Warhammer over the past few weeks and it has consumed my soul. And I am extremely excited for #3 coming out, can't wait to play with the Ogre Kingdoms, Chaos Dwarfs and Daemons of Chaos!

And hopefully Kislev!

...and hopefully Cathay

Someday I may enjoy watching others play video games, but not now. Video games are a very selfish experience for me.

I’m enjoying Blasphemous so far. Here are some thoughts:

There’s a lot of platforming involved which means a lot of cheap deaths to spikes. It seems pretty heavily influenced by Ninja Gaiden at times, so I’m real happy the character doesn’t fall backwards after taking a hit.

I like the overall “feel” and environment of the game. Even though I barely understand what most of the NPCs are explaining to my stupid ass, I have enjoyed most of the lore pertaining to the collectibles you get throughout the game.

I read a review that described the first encounters with enemies as a fun experience, but the subsequent encounters when backtracking became tedious. So far nothing has felt any more tedious than any other Metroidvania game I’ve played.

I bought Blasphemous last night, and I'm going out to grab Code Vein today. My old roommate is raving about Control, so I might get that too.

I'm still playing Remnant and Hollow Knight on and off. I really want the HK Platinum.

If there's anybody in here playing The Division 2 on PS4, if you need build help or assistance clearing missions or going into the Dark Zone, I'm more than happy to help and show you the ropes. If you're not new and want to run some missions, the invite's open all the same.

Elden Ring gameplay supposed to be unveiled at the Game Awards in December. Reddit rumor is April 2020 release date. More Demon's Souls remasters rumors too this week...

The Reddit rumour is bullshit.

Totally forgot how insanely hard and mindbending the last two dungeons are in Link's Awakening. I thought I was good at Zelda games

Finished GreedFall. Loved it. 50-60 hour game for 50 USD. Worth every penny. Spiders finally made an unambiguously good game, and it's BY FAR the single best story-driven action RPG I've played this year, and possibly even over 2 years. I think it slightly edged out Vampyr due to better quest design, a full character creator and mountains of great looking gear, although both are quality games. Also, the voice acting is handled by the amazing SIDE, who did Vampyr, Witcher 2/3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. If people are interested in hearing more, just ask!

Noita (witch) is a new game just released, even though as early access. I haven't bought it as yet (where's the time flying anyway?!!), but am totally sure I soon will.

It's a roguelite action game where one plays as witch. Speciality of this game is that every pixel is simulated. Fire pixel melts snow pixel, water pixel exhausts fire pixel etc. Witch can kick dead bodies, too. I love this kind of sandbox games.

Remember to check out some songs from the gane's soundtrack on Nolla Games' Youtube page, too!!!

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is hilariously broken with end game gear. I can't believe there is basically the Crissaegrim in this again obtained via crafting rather than a drop and that chip barrage basically stun locks everything. Difficulty is about limiting yourself really, the game won't ramp it up after a point.

Yeah for a while I ran with that Crissaegrim equivalent + Welcome Company and wrecked everything, but this setup has its limitations against some late-game bosses. My end-game loadout was basically stacking int + spamming Void Ray (it's how I beat Iga), and then I used Iga's shard to nuke everything else in seconds...

Chisel barrage shard and timestop was my go to for later game bosses as its basically a shotgun blast to the face. This was the best way to get Gremory's medal. OD wasanother story, but Beast guardian provided pretty good defence against almost everything.

I picked up Cold Vein and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's going to be a good week!

Tell me all your thoughts (on God) about Code Vein. I just got Control over the weekend, but I’m ALWAYS in the market to blow more money on video games.

Will do! I hear Control is awesome. What do you think?