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Why is it August already? That said, if any of you are like me, you’ll be pleased we’re nearly into Autumn. Though thankfully it’s been a rather cool, wet summer. Yes, I’m that person, but I’m sure there’s many like me.
I’m rambling.
We can return to the coffee shops on weekend mornings! I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but citizens seem to have different routines in the summer, whereas I have the same routine all year round. So come the summer, suddenly coffee shops are busy at 8:30 opening. Come winter, they’re dead. I just put on some warm clothes and bask in the steadiness of society October through May.
Still rambling.
In warmer countries, the populace gets on with it. During summer, and even though I live in the middle of the countryside, I can hear the hoi polloi from my local pub (3 miles away) – not that I ever go there - and the sounds that accompany their sunburnt summer madness in the beer garden.
Stop.
A game I was looking forward to (Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn), may as well have not been made, and another game I had no idea about (Dungeons of Hinterberg), turned out to have a cool concept and story, though boring gameplay.
Coming on to a game that I’ve previously played and am now playing through again… Wouldn’t it be great if we could leave the planet – courtesy of some megacorporation – and go somewhere new? I almost feel as though I’m walking amongst aliens most days, so I could put my experience to use on some other planet. That said, maybe I’m the alien.
Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition
I played and completed Journey to the Savage Planet when it was released. I’m sure it was on Game Pass because I wouldn’t have bought it. Well, if that’s the case, it’s back in its complete form and I’m playing it again.
You play an employee – classic – of some megacorporation that is sending people to other planets to gather rich data to bring back for bags of the green stuff. Your journey out to some far-off planet hasn’t been great and you need to repair your ship to be able to leave. Sadly, the megacorp parent didn’t furnish you with anything in the way of useful, so you need to sort it out for yourself.
The fun in this game is exploring a new world, scanning said world, building your knowledge and levelling your character via an addictive skill tree. The game mixes some basic first-person action, platforming, exploration and levelling up, with Metroidvania elements. It’s not original, but it’s certainly a fun world to be in and it won’t take you 300 hours to complete. I’m getting very tired of long games! I see straight through you…
Tchia
This is a stunning game immersed in Caribbean culture and clearly made by a team invested in the location. You can tell this right from the beginning of the game.
It does fall short in some areas though and this is why I can’t elaborate much because I stopped playing. The controls feel lose and the character animations look like they could do with a little more work. Think odd jumping animations and clumsy interaction movements.
The story is probably aimed at a younger audience and whilst that’s not always an issue, in this instance it is. I couldn’t relate to the story, and it felt like the equivalent of watching something that my friend’s baby would watch on YouTube.
Strangely, there’s also a lot to learn. For the first hour or two, you are bombarded with how to play instructions. This must surely be a problem for younger players, whom I doubt would want to be interrupted so often. There’s a lot going on in this little game and yet the world, despite its attention to detail, is devoid of stuff.
It’s certainly one to check out though, even if it’s just for the ukelele minigame.
What’s new?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
What’s coming?
What am I playing?
I’ve been having a blast recently, which is the opposite to what I usually have to say about video games. I should call myself the grumpy gamer, but that title is surely already taken.
If you didn’t already know, in December Forza Horizon 4 will be removed from the marketplace. Apparently, this is a thing with car games – though I’d never heard of this before. Brand licencing and rights and all that boring corporate stuff that the average human being doesn’t even notice or care about. What this is mean is, if you already own the game – yes, even digital – it’s yours to keep and carry on playing.
Because of this impending sentence, there’s a crazy sale on Forza Horizon 4, which means you can pick up the ultimate edition for £16.99. Still a bit too expensive for my liking, especially because I already own the base game (free with my Series S), but for a full game (for those that don’t already own it) two DLCs and a ton of content I thought why not.
Forza Horizon 4 is more of a game than 5 and I can’t recommend it highly enough. The world is stunning and it’s the closest to the UK you can get in gaming. You really feel a sense of place here, more so when you play Timeless FM on the in-game radio.
Forza Horizon is what great gaming looks like. It’s pure fun and doesn’t take itself seriously at all. It’s even 60fps on the Series S, so what’s not to like. It’s one of those nice to have games and although it will always be on Game Pass, the ultimate edition won’t.
I was recently craving a side scroller, so quite literally side-scrolled through the Game Pass library and stumbled across Unravel. It’s an old game and one with remarkable production quality.
It tells a seriously emotive story using both written and pictorial vignettes and highlights important themes directly through the yarn character you play as and the difficulties of your journey. It all combines to form one of those wonderful indie titles that doesn’t try too hard to be arty
I’ve also written a piece about why I think the Series S is the best console since the Xbox 360! Controversial, but hear me out. If you fancy a read, you can do so here.
In the meantime, let us know what you’re playing on Game Pass over on our socials.
Take care for now folks o7