Julius

I've never had trust issues in a game before like this I even attacked a random guy in The Nexus early on, just because I wanted to see how he'd react. I should probably tone my killing spree down...

3-2. 3-3. 4-2. 4-3. All done. One heck of a day for me making progress with this game! I might actually get to finish this before 2020 is over 3-2 I actually quite liked the level itself, at least, up until it's latter stages and the boss fight. I got through pretty much all of the level just fine on my first try, I liked how cramped the walkways were, going up and down the towers, it all just made the gargoyle fights very intense. Unfortunately...their AI seriously sucked, and they went down pretty easily. The AI for the scorpions with faces (obligatory: NOPE) was much better, but again, they didn't really give me much of a problem. First real issue I came across besides the boss fight was the Black Phantom Mind Flayer; whoever decided to stick them on tight stairways knew what they were doing, because boy did taking these guys out suck. I got past the first one by drawing him out and just sprinting past, but the later one on the spiral staircase up to the boss knocked me off, which is what caused my first death (thankfully, the level was quite forgiving because I'd already done everything I needed to by that point, so it didn't take long to get back to the boss fog gate). Came up with a strategy to go up to the eighth pillar up on the spiral staircase with a Thief Ring equipped, as it turns around on the 10th or so, then quickly run up behind it, backstab it, and kick it off the staircase into the depths below. For whatever reason I didn't get any souls for killing it, I think because it just phased out of existence before hitting the bottom, but whatever also noticed similar jank when I first completed the level and was trying to get to the spiral staircase, the wings and weapons of the gargoyles would turn up but their bodies wouldn't? On the upside though, I had good fun edging my way across some ledges in this one to get some nice loot, too! Also found a guy in a jail cell, seemed really suspect. Especially after he went nuts when I said I wasn't letting him go free. So, naturally, I let him out and knocked him off the platform, because his helmet looked cool and it had to be an actual item...right? I found it at the bottom, so I guess so As for the boss fight... Then collected my souls and went on my merry way. 3-3 4-2 Killed the boss and cleared this level on my first try, which got tense once or twice, that's for sure! For the level itself, I picked up a bunch of arrows I hadn't seen in the game yet (Fire and Light arrows) from the vendor early on, and used that to kill the Grim Reaper-looking dudes from range after killing any of their blue ghost guys who made it close by. I edged forwards through this level so slowly when I encountered them, knowing there was a Reaper dude somewhere nearby, and so kept an eye out; apart from the one hiding behind a corner (which gave me trouble because I got caught between two of the blue guys in the right passage just before him!) the others I could spot from a mile away if I slowly made my way through and constantly looked around, so I made light work of them. Fights with the skeletons got a little tense at times, but weren't too bad on the whole, it was just a case of getting them into an area which wasn't a cliff ledge where I was happy to take them on. Loads of loot on this level, and loved the change of scenery with the little slug guys before the final fog door. Annoying, but cute designs by this game's standards. Then onto the boss... And then, finally... 4-3 These Archdemon fights really remind me of Shadow of the Colossus at the best of times, which is great! Anyways, back to my least favourite Archstone so far to take on 5-2. I really need some Widow's Lotuses, but have no idea where they might be, so I might look that up before giving it a try (EDIT: wait...the Cure miracle should do, right?). With any luck, though, I'll finish the game tomorrow!

Reading this thread...you guys are really making me want to play this, even though I know I want to play 5 and 6 (and maybe even Judgment) before I get around to it. The only reason I've held out this long is I'm still waiting for the standard edition case which is making me justify the wait until at least the PS5 upgrade going live in March, but man, it's hard reading this thread! I love JRPG's, and I love Yakuza, but I really wasn't expecting this to do as well as it clearly has at nailing both, at least based on the discussions I've seen here and elsewhere. Seems like they've done a great job, once again!

Yeah, I'm totally going to stretch my list of games played in 2020 (and add the qualifier of playing them for the first time) to a Top 10, just because I loved so many of the games I played this year, and I'd feel bad not mentioning more. Oh, and also because quite a few are probably on my All-Time Top 10 now honestly, the top 4 of that second list can be swapped in almost any order depending on my mood, but point is, I loved them! Released in 2020: 1. Final Fantasy VII Remake - I think my other list makes it very apparent that I've loved everything I've touched from Final Fantasy so far, and VII Remake is no exception to that. It can feel a little drawn out at times, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the final boss when I reached him...yet, the more I've thought back to this game, the more I've come to realise that I loved it. I could not put it down! Great evolution for action JRPG's in how the ATB system was adapted for this game, an awesome main cast of characters, and a stunning recreation of Midgar make this my favourite game of the year. Square Enix were as bold as I've seen anyone be, taking risks I think only in ways I think The Last of Us Part II did too this year, and I can't wait to see what comes next. Also, the original game's soundtrack was already a 10/10, so the fact that this adapts and rearranges tracks which is at least just as good, but in many cases even better, deserves all the praise I can afford it. 2. Ghost of Tsushima - my second favourite open world besides Breath of the Wild, which is very high praise for me. Exploration is intuitive, and it's probably the most beautiful game (those golden skies!) for me of the generation, as the 1000+ screenshots I took of the game while playing surely prices. Look, it has its issues: early story pacing problems, no lock-on (for seemingly no reason), and it could have done with more polish. But at the same time... it's just awesome. The sound design is great, the music is stellar, character arcs feel surprisingly meaningful for an open world game, it has what is probably my favourite title splash of any game ever, and there's just so much to find on your travels. Also, shout out to Sucker Punch for getting SSD-like load times on base PS4 consoles, that's some seriously impressive stuff! Not to mention the free online content added with Legends (which unfortunately I still haven't got around to checking out). 3. The Last of Us Part II - intense doesn't even begin to capture this game, even at the worst of times. Best in class for facial animations, rope physics (seriously!), and pretty much every other technical aspect a game could offer. Nails accessibility options in ways that other games could only dream of. The story is gripping, and it aims very high, much higher than I think any other game I've played before. Does it miss a few times? Yes. But credit where credit is due, Naughty Dog had the balls to take this story to places where no sane person would. It has pacing issues and can be predictable at times, given the subject matter, and it's depressing as hell. It made me drop games for nearly a month after completing it, that's how empty it left me feeling afterwards. Avoid the spoilers if you haven't seen them already, and, assuming you've played the first game, give this game a try and make up your own mind. You might love it, you might hate it, but I still think it's one of the best games of the year. 4. Astro's Playroom - yeah, this is the most fun I've had in a game this year. Easily. Blasted through it in a day and never wanted it to end, it has me struggling to not pick up a PSVR headset just to check out Rescue Mission, it's just that good. Incredibly charming and creative, packed with so many awesome references, and even has a mode for speedrunning. I don't know how, but they hooked me, and I had to delete the game because I knew I wouldn't stop playing it otherwise 5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons* - I'm sure this will come up a lot, but this was exactly what I needed at the start of the first lockdown. Yeah, I dropped it after 50 hours, but that was mainly because *DISCLAIMER: I'm nearing the end of Demon's Souls, and might finish it tomorrow. If I do, I don't think it's that crazy that it ends up on my Top 5 for the year somewhere (depending on how the rest of the game plays out), which might knock Animal Crossing: New Horizons off the list... Of the games I've played in 2020**: 1. The Last of Us - I honestly don't think I've ever been gripped by a game quite like I was The Last of Us earlier this year. I've mentioned it before in the Gaming Diary thread, but playing this after my only other exposure to modern Naughty Dog was playing the Uncharted Collection a couple of years back, it flipped my thoughts on them from being "I don't get what all the fuss is about" to "oh, I understand the fuss", pretty much singlehandedly. I pre-ordered Part II before the game was even over! Brilliantly paced, one hell of a soundtrack, intense and focused moment-to-moment gameplay, great characters, a super interesting post-apocalyptic world...hell yeah. Also my first completed game that I would describe as being a survival horror game, I'm really glad that I tried it out and put myself out there by doing so, despite my previous hatred of horror in video games. There's no way I'd be enjoying Demon's Souls right now if not for getting to grips with intense games through TLOU. 2. Final Fantasy VI - honestly, splitting one or two hairs between this and IX, the order of these two (and VII) all flip on a nearly daily basis for me as my favourite Final Fantasy. Stellar and enormous cast, snappy battle system, one of the best soundtracks from the greatest video game music composer of all time, a consistent and cohesive narrative vision (looking at you, VII's last third ), ...and I played it super close to the TV as the first game I played on my SNES Classic, which made me feel like a kid again. I absolutely adored this game. 3. Final Fantasy IX - so, uh...pretty much everything I said about VI, and just as passionately, but with probably a stronger main cast, but a much slower battle system (thank goodness for 3x speed!). It's one hell of a celebration of the franchise and I absolutely adored it too. VI gets the nod at this very moment for what I think is overall a slightly stronger soundtrack and probably more consistent pacing earlier in the game (the opening kind of slows down quite a bit immediately after the crash), but make no mistake, I loved this game too. Again, this could just as easily be sitting above VI, depending on what day you ask me 4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - as you can see by the rest of this Top 10... I have learned to absolutely love Metal Gear Solid this year. Excellent gameplay mechanics, awesome pacing, intriguing story and well written characters, it's quite clearly the strongest of the MGS games I've played so far (note: I haven't played any since...yet). I can't speak to modern Kojima, besides a few hours pumped into MGS V a couple of years back - having absolutely no idea what was going on - but I can say for damn sure that late 90's to mid 00's Kojima was a straight up video game directing genius. It's a game about circumstance, and how we're influenced in our every day by the world which surrounds us, having the nerve to pose the important hypothetical of the US and Russia one day being allies. It's such a special game. 5. Final Fantasy VII Remake - see above 6. Metal Gear Solid - clunky at times, but absolutely engrossing, seeing where MGS began over 20 years after its release and still adoring it says a lot about the quality of this game. One of the greats. 7. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - this game has really stuck with me, mainly because of its commentary on the modern era's use of information and how society can be controlled. It's...honestly scary to think about, in that it's totally accurate, and was discussing these things in a video game well before it was obvious. Again: genius Kojima at work. Even if it has aged poorly in some areas (I hate that damn camera), it's still absolutely worth playing today. 8. Yakuza 4 - the world would be a better place if more men (and women) were like Kiryu. Not even joking, probably one of the best male roles model around today. This franchise will make you cry tears of laughter, and without skipping a beat, you'll find yourself reflecting on important themes such as friendship, love, and honour. Returning to Kamurocho is like returning home after a long time away, and for me, this is probably the best narrative in the series, besides 0 (only played up to 4 so far...got some catching up to do I guess!). Side note: if you haven't played a Yakuza game yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! Start with Yakuza 0 and don't look back, you will have zero regrets! 9. Ghost of Tsushima - see above 10. Yakuza 3 - the fact that this is almost objectively the weakest Yakuza game I've played so far (probably alongside Kiwami) but still makes it into my Top 10 for the year speaks volumes about the year we've had more than the game itself. This is the Summer Beach Special of the Yakuza franchise, and it was a much-needed smile very early on into COVID (and coming off the back of TLOU). Probably the cosiest Yakuza game for me. *for the first time...because otherwise I need to include Chrono Trigger, and figured I could free up a space this way plus, it's hard enough to rank without taking Chrono Trigger into account, and it's my list!

Nice! And wait a second...now you mention it and I'm stopping to think about it, that's the only way those areas could have connected! I'm curious now I'm thinking about it whether I would have gone right had I died earlier or to Flamelurker... that could've been a few more deaths and a lot of wasted time! guess Oh well, I've gained some valuable experience from going the long way, I have no regrets Ah okay, that makes sense I guess, I'll try to reel in my expectations for the final levels of each Archstone, thanks for the heads-up! It does take away some of the tension of making it through an entire level and then having to face a boss, but then again, it adds a nice bit of variety and definitely still feels empowering to take a massive boss down with a little less pressure on the whole thing. And yeah, I weirdly get what you mean about Flamelurker being a straight up Dark Souls boss, because there have been a few "gimmicks" to some of the others that, once you pick up on them, become much easier. And again, there's been a lot of variety (good and bad) to them which I wasn't expecting, and much less dodge rolling than my limited knowledge of other From Software games told me there was going to be, from streams and reviews, things like that. From the little magic I've used so far, having put zero Souls into levelling it up and rocking Soul Ray with limited MP...it's been OP from my experience, when used on the right enemies at least. Generally after I encounter a new enemy type, where it's not super obvious what it's going to be weak to, I'll drawn it in to figure out its attack pattern, then give it a whack with my Long Sword, and then follow up with my Crescent Falchion; if it's weak to the latter, I'll blast it with a Soul Ray and see how it pans out. Generally though, magic seems to have done a decent amount of damage to a lot of enemies so far, and it's certainly made my Grass grinding much easier

Took a bit of a break after finishing 2-2 and defeating Flamelurker, but just hopped on to give 2-3 a try and completed that too! Been a great day for me making progress in this game, hopefully can make some more tomorrow I actually really liked 2-2 - much more than I did 2-1, anyways - for the most part, what with the introduction of those proximity explosives in the carts, and the game giving you a chance to show yourself how far you've come (I guess unless you came straight here after 2-1?) by taking on the pickaxe-wielding miners and a Fat Official. Kind of brushed them aside. There was an NPC in the shaft who all the messages said was lying, but I'm not sure what about, because I accidentally hit him a couple of times when getting chased by those molten bees and the dude (rightly) wouldn't calm down, soooooo I kind of killed him. Self-preservation and all that then I quite enjoyed figuring out my way through the tunnels, how to navigate it with those chunky flame bugs lying around, though it did take me a while to figure out where to go from there (the lava river wasn't too giving in terms of how to progress). I actually only went left in the tunnel and stuck with it because I died twice getting caught on a plank sticking out where I was trying to drop down from, which caused me to go off course and plummet to my death; no idea what's to the right! In no real rush to go back there, mind And then it was the boss fight with Flamelurker, which I beat on my first attempt, which I'm both very proud of! Even saved the last 15 and 60 mins of footage once it was done because I couldn't believe it, I'd heard it was one of the tougher bosses for someone with a melee build, which I've been using. It far more stressful doing it first time in a way, because there was a lot of adrenaline pumping once I got it's health to tick down past the halfway mark. Overall, even though it was waaaaaaay too intense a fight, probably my favourite boss fight alongside Tower Knight so far! That's going to be a boss fight I cherish for a very long time, because unlike some of the others where I had to return after dying, I didn't get the chance to figure much out about it other than what I could on the fly. It felt so great to take it down! And then I took a break, before taking on 2-3, which was not what I had expected...at all. Anyways, yeah, I'm enjoying this quite a bit now, though I guess that's easy to say after a solid session with a decent amount of progress over a few hours spent on it today also, I made it to Soul Level 50, which feels like a pretty big milestone on my journey! Hope that means things are looking up for the rest of the game onto 3-2, and whatever else I can manage, tomorrow!

I just beat Flamelurker on my first attempt! I actually think I'm going to throw up...

Yikes, 5-1 suuuuuuuuucks. Plague is a thing all of a sudden, it is way too dark to be walking across these small planks, and you get caught on things or fall off at the most random of times (had to close the game twice to get to my last auto-save already because I've got stuck on things). Tried out my Crescent Falchion+2 and it seems to suit this place, and my answer to the darkness is obviously to crank up the brightness. Now if I can just get past that big guy with the club... EDIT: okay, just draw him in with an arrow from a distance and walk up the stairs to the weird woman and he got stuck in the corner also, noticed my character has started randomly dodging attacks after I attack with my Falchion a couple of times? Anyone know why that might be? EDIT 2: Okay, 5-1 cleared and Leechmonger down at my first attemot. That was probably the easiest boss so far, think the only tactic really needed is to keep your shield up and remember to heal? More of a war of attrition more than anything else. Guess I'm going to be heading back to 2-2 next...

Damn, making some quick work of it @drahkon! Nice job which is your favourite of the earlier bosses? I haven't really had a long session with the game so far, despite playing it for two weeks at this point (with many instances of taking days away from it at a time). Getting through 3-1 and then to the very end of 4-1 yesterday is probably the most time I've spent with it in a day so far. For now, I think my mind is made up: I'm way too stubborn and way too invested to walk away, so I'm going to try to stick it out. Now I'm a bit more determined in my approach, hopefully I can convince myself to spend more time with it in my play sessions I'm off for the week and I've been struggling to dedicate time to it! This was a week I booked off to just relax and do what I like, yet I find myself feeling guilty playing games, listening to music, reading books and watching films. I really need to get better at managing stress and my mental state, hate to feel like I'm spinning my wheels when I know I've got nowhere to go fast right now guess I just figured out my New Year's resolution! Back to the game though, it takes up so much of my mind share when I'm not playing it. Thinking about the atmosphere, attack patterns of certain enemies, the boss fights...it's not obsession, but I've definitely formed a lot of respect for what the game has offered so far. Well, apart from my experience with Adjudicator; whoever designed and programmed that guy's AI can get lost.

Throw 4-1 on the done pile. Thank goodness. Suck it Adjudicator, I hate your guts. The level itself is quite short, the fights are well laid out, and I love that you're basically circling the island to get to the boss. Today I breezed through the level itself and my only deaths were to the boss, so my number of souls by my bloodstain only kept going up and up; once I finally defeated the boss, there were some 60,000 souls lying around (in addition to the ones I was carrying from my final run of 4-1, and those rewarded for beating the boss). Used up some of the souls I had found too, so ended up spending around 100,000 souls to make me jump from Soul Level 28...to 41 feels good! Going to take a break for now, might give 5-1 a go later. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'm sticking with this or not, and I could see myself shelving this until the new year just because I'm in the mood for something lighter right now. We'll see!

Episode 4 of Attack on Titan Season 4 is another awesome episode. So far it's been all killer, no filler, and I'm loving it. Cannot wait for next week, really enjoying keeping up with the weekly release of new episodes, because there hasn't really been any redundancy in what we've had so far this season. Strong pacing, great animation, stellar soundtrack, and always an awesome tease for what's next. Loving it!

Going to preface what I'm about to say about 4-1 with this: I'll be totally honest, I'm getting to a really weird spot with this game, and it's something I haven't felt when playing a game before. While I'm enjoying it when I'm playing it, I don't find myself in the mood to return to it often, nor do I actively look forward to picking it up. It's a totally different type of tension to something like TLOU, where, even though that game was tense, the story kept pulling me back. Even TLOU2, which might have been even worse, I pushed on, because there was something outside of the gameplay - the story - which kept pulling me back. I have nothing but praise for the atmosphere and gameplay Demon's Souls offers, and I think I finally understand why there are so many fans of these games having played through these early parts, but...maybe it's just not for me. Dreading going back to the game and actively putting off playing a game is something I never do, even when I'm not enjoying a game, and here's a game that I do enjoy when I play it, but dread the thought of returning to. Is it because this year has been bleak enough as it is, and it's just pushing me over the edge a bit? Maybe. Is it because I'm off from work for a week, and the thought of playing this for the next week and the real possibility of not having finished it just depresses me a bit? Maybe. To clarify, it's not the thought that I need to finish this before I get back...but it's not exactly a great way to relax during a break from work, and it still not being done by the time I return and potentially having not enjoyed it during my week off is what I'm getting at. It might just be that I'm in the mood for something lighter right now, and maybe I'm forcing myself to play this instead, seeing as I normally only play one game at a time. I don't want to say I'm dropping it, because I do want to see this game through to the end, but I might see how my next session with it goes. If I'm still not feeling it, it might be worth me putting it on hold, at least until I've played something a little lighter? And then I might give it another go, and then if I'm still not feeling it, then...yeah, I might shelve it. I'll see. Anyways, 4-1: 4-1 Got to the boss at the end of 4-1 after a few attempts, it's definitely a level which can be quick to breeze through once you know what you're doing. Taking out the Vanguard Demon was good fun, using Soul Arrows a lot more on this level than others, given just how many enemies are probably best to take on with it (the manta ray things and the golden - ? - skeletons with the larger swords in particular). They haven't caused me too much trouble since the first two attempts where I got killed by them, but now I know a bit more about the strategy to take when facing them, they're not too bad. Those black skeletons though? Screw those things. The one in front of the fog door before the boss in particular, whoever decided to put one there is on a list of developers I never want to meet got to the end just to be killed by it three times, the time I beat it was attacking it with Soul Arrows and running in circles. I fell off a cliff with it targeted, got carved to pieces because the staircase it's on isn't long enough at my level to take it out with just magic, etc. And my one attempt at the boss wasn't fun at all either. Peered through the hole in the floor to get a look at what I was facing, locked on...and got whipped by something through the floor. And then when I went to heal immediately after moving out of the way, I got whipped through the floor again (I was in the corner and had a clear view that it came up through the floor) the sort of jank I really hate in games, where it makes the game seem a little on the unfair side (of the opinion jank should only ever favour the player, or developers will never hear the end of it). Experienced this back on 1-2 as well, when a guy put a spear through me when he was on the other side of the wall. I know it's a faithful remaster/remake, but I do feel like being hit through walls/floors is something they could have cleaned up, because it's a clear sign of the game showing its age (or lack of work after QA? You get what I mean). So, going to be giving 4-1 another go in the morning. Got some 40k souls left by that boss now...going to be pretty hard to not think about those when getting back there!

That's good to hear then! I was coming from it more of the perspective that it has less subtle, "adult" visual humour in it (the hooker toy in Toy Story, or Lightning getting flashed in Cars comes to mind) and rather more planned bits clearly aimed at adults (which still might even fall flat for some; I know I was looking up Andrew Jackson afterwards) and more evident, physical comedy, which as you said, is lighter in tone. And yeah, I guess it depends on the age of the child to some degree too. If I watched this at 3 I probably would've enjoyed it, because like you said, it's colourful and has a lot of physical comedy. But if it came at 5 or 6, after I'd had my first existential crisis? Probably not Do agree that the plot was fairly predictable, though I still had a good time with it in the end. Don't think it's one I'll be in a rush to return to, though, and even though I enjoyed Onward earlier in the year, it's the same with that for me too. Don't know if it's just me getting older and not being at the age where falling in love with one film in particular happened a whole lot, or if Pixar films just aren't as strong as pulling the audience back in for further viewings?

Adding the Tower of Latria to the list of places I never want to return to in a video game. The sense of dread and tension in this game is already insane, never mind the fact we've got tentacle-headed dudes and places which are so dark you're questioning whether to crank the brightness way up Beat 3-1 on my third attempt at the level, and the Fool's Idol boss on my very first try! Probably the first and last time I'll be saying that, but I'm proud of it The first couple of deaths in the level were down to the Mind Flayer and figuring out what my attack strategy was going to be, on 3F the first few times you encounter them. Pretty much just turned into me slicing them up once I'd drawn them into walking towards a corner and giving them the jump, and the few times that didn't work just needed me to roll away to get a bit of space. Quite a few stabs in the back too, they totally deserved it. Freed Freke and ran into some other guy, Rydell I think? No idea what I need to do to save him, but something nearby mentioned world tendency...so probably not something I'll go back to do speaking of which, I got invaded for the first time just before the doors to the boss fight. Is that always supposed to be there? I walked around as much as I could, so killed the guy up top who told me to trust him (I trust no-one in this game so he's dead now), and then yeah, someone with a short sword and crossbow was trying to take me out. Was taken by surprise and a bit frustrated (I'd only just got to where I imagined the boss was, and now there's someone else trying to kill me!). Took it slow, kept my distance to make them use the crossbow, then rushed them with some slashes of my sword whenever they went to change to their short sword. Also, would just randomly change from shield to my Wooden Catalyst, and still holding L1, would immediately cast a Soul Arrow at them, so stunned them and rushed them again. Way too tense to have that happen to the first time just before I reached the boss! Going to start throwing my boss fight encounter descriptions in spoilers from this point, I'll probably drop names once I'm a little deeper in too. Just because I want to avoid spoiling it for anyone, the boss fights are a good chunk of the fun! Great atmosphere to 3-1, quite enjoyed the boss fight, and thought the track for the fight itself was cool. A lot of choir in this game though? Looked up the original and gave it a listen, and I do feel that taking away the choir definitely offers an entirely different tone, more malice and pure horror than with the addition of the choir, which seems to be trying to make it sound a bit more epic? Think I might give the original OST a listen once I've finished the game, because based on this track at list, some of the remake's OST seems to starkly contrast against the tone of the original. Anyways, onto 4-1!

Sucks to read your were having those issues @Ganepark32, is it sorted now? Had my own issues today with the PS5 when returning to Demon's Souls. Took the disk out the other day to watch a film, put it back in today, press 'Play', and I get the error reading "Can't start game or app. Please delete the game and reinstall.", etc. Didn't even get an error code, and it still showed as being installed in my system storage. So got to copy the game over again and wait for the update to install. I know it's a small thing, but still, it takes enough to be in the mood to play this game normally anyways!

Here's mine: I'll be honest, I'm surprised it's even that high. Can definitely see the Animal Crossing (~50 hours of play) and Xenoblade (~70 hours of play) bumps, though! My Switch is in such a weird place. I really enjoy what I do play on it, but I feel like I'm way more selective when it comes to playing things on it when compared with my PlayStation. There are long stretches where it gathers dust, even when there are things I want to play on it. Got to imagine being stuck at home because of COVID probably takes a chunk of time away from it that I might have spent playing it outside...maybe. Guess my unofficial aim for 2021 is to get over that hump and play more Nintendo games

Just finished watching Soul, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Onward earlier this year as well, so hopefully this means Raya turns out well too! Something I do have to say about Soul, though, is I think it might be the least child friendly Pixar film so far? Deals with heavy topics like purpose and the concept of souls, and while it does have some funny parts, most of its comedy is referential (and specifically aimed at North America, a couple of times where the jokes went over my head too!). I feel like a lot of it might go over a younger viewer's head, or make them worry a bit (I know a film discussing things like this when I was younger might have distressed me a bit). Pretty much the opposite of a normal Pixar affair in that way, where it's normally aimed at children with a good message, and there might be some more subtle comedy for adults watching with them. Just might be something to consider for any parents who are thinking about watching it with younger children?

Merry Christmas all

I got to the end of 2-1 on Saturday, lost to the boss once, and then called it a night. It was quite late! But I got back to it today, and yeah, Armour Spider is now down! had a similar issue with Tower Knight (...though for nowhere near as long) where I kept locking on and finding myself in weird positions, or too slow to react. It might be the new camera for the remake now that I think about it too? But anyways, first attempt back on Saturday, I got in close and then was pushed to the side by it's pincers, trapped in some webs, and got doused in oil before being set on fire. Fun. First few attempts today I didn't use as many healing items, to give myself a better idea of what I'm up against (getting over losing Souls has really freed me of the burden of dying), and got used to timing some of the dodge rolls. Final attempt I didn't lock on unless I was backing away, either from the sea of flames or when in close getting some attacks in, but had a blast just dodge rolling into attacks (pincers, fire balls, and webs), the only real issue I had when in close to the thing was avoiding it's body slam (would kind of lose my bearings a bit because of the camera). Really enjoyed the boss fight in the end! Much easier to say when it's over, mind you Really liking the atmosphere and visual storytelling in this game so far, the little description of the level before jumping into an Archstone, and then seeing it all in action, really just makes this game feel so grand and epic in scale. The lighting has been phenomenal too, the yellow eyes of the miners piercing through the darkness, the occasional fire lizard dude pouncing down from above and lighting the place up (as well as setting me ablaze once or twice too!). I did a little bit of grinding and farming at the start and end of my session today, mainly because I remember I didn't find many healing items in 2-1 when I last played, so made the decision to hop back to the end of 1-2. This game is weirdly fun to farm items in, considering that you're put in a position where sneaking up on guys who gave you trouble before, and stabbing them in the back, is a very real option to go with. Got quite a bit of grass now, should do me for a little while, but it's a nice way to familiarise with the controls again. Also upgraded my sword a couple of times, so now returning to the end of 1-2 definitely let's me play out the power fantasy of annihilating those blue-eyed knights and archers who gave me troubles before Busy the next couple of days (for obvious reasons!) but then off for a week from work, so I can finally sink my teeth into this. No rush to it, but I would like to have it completed by the time 2021 rolls around; I'm enjoying it, but it's so damn tense!

Time for Beastars Season 2 news! New OP looks great, though I'm definitely going to miss the stop motion we got in the first OP. Also been confirmed that the series will be releasing on Netflix Japan on 6th January 2021, whereas the international release is being saved until July 2021. Quite the wait, but I'm sure it'll be worth it! EDIT: totally forget to link the trailer for it

Also, just to clarify, The Mandalorian Season 3 isn't going to be releasing next Christmas; The Book of Boba Fett is what Kathleen Kennedy was referencing when saying that the next chapter would release at that time. Looks like you were right, @Ronnie Bit of a shame in my opinion - and that phrasing they used for an Investors Meeting seems risky at best! - but doesn't seem like we'll be waiting too long after then, seeing as the show's already in pre-production. I'm thinking we probably get it somewhere between late Q1 and early Q2 2022? That year is going to be stacked. We could then get Cassian in late Q2/early Q3, Obi-Wan Kenobi firmly in a summer blockbuster position in Q3, and then Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic later that year too, if they wanted to fill that year up completely, and not to mention we'd probably be getting a second season of The Bad Batch - if they plan to do one - in that time too.

Yeah, totally agree, and think this makes the most sense. He's the most recognisable face and name at Nintendo (think that goes without saying), and for investors and the board, I would have to imagine he's the guy with the most clout on the international stage, so he's the guy they'd be pointing at to give such presentations outside of their usual sphere. Think it was a similar justification for why he was a pretty big part of the promotion for Super Mario Run (and Switch) with his appearance on The Tonight Show, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he played a role in the promotion of the films currently in the works too.

The Book of Boba Fett officially announced on the Twitter account, with the show's logo:

Episode 3 of Attack on Titan Season 4: easily my favourite of the season so far. Really, really looking forward the next episode! Also, My Hero Academia Chapter 295...