Julius

Woah woah woah, hold up. Did anyone else's mind just completely blank out the fact that Cyberpunk got a nomination for Best RPG? I can't speak to the quality of the game as it crashed on me enough to stop playing, but from what I've read recently, it's still not in a great state? Not that anything in particular comes to mind to take its place, but that just seems like a bizarre nomination.

So, I've put a few hours into this, and the good thing is that it's keeping my attention. Even if it's been a bit of a mixed bag so far, I'm having a pretty good time. I'm just about to head into Eterna City's gym; at this point my team is: Monferno - Lv. 24 Staravia - Lv. 22 Buneary - Lv. 18 Luxio - Lv. 22 Budew - Lv. 20 Buizel - Lv. 17 I've never had a Monferno as my ace starter before, as while I did trade a Chimchar over to Platinum back in the day along with a Piplup and (a superior to my in-game starter) Turtwig, it quickly fell to the wayside. I still hate Chimchar's design, but Monferno and Infernape are a lot better, and from what I remember from the Diamond & Pearl Dex, it's very light on Fire types, so figured now was as good a time as any. Back in the day on Diamond the first Pokémon I ran into after getting PokéBalls was a Lv. 2 Starly, and surely enough, the same thing happened in Brilliant Diamond. Naturally had to catch it in the same type of Ball, a Premier Ball! Think I'll be keeping Luxio around as well as Budew (I've had but never really used a Roserade in previous games, so I look forward to it!), but the other two spots at the moment are being kept warm for particular Pokémon I won't be able to get for a little while (Gible and Sneasel). The battles are a lot faster than they were back in the day, that's for sure, and that's something I'm very grateful for. Going back and seeing Diamond & Pearl battle footage these days is completely rage-inducing. Only problem I have with battles really, as has been the case since X & Y overhauled the EXP Share, is being overleveled. I walked over Roark's team with a Lv. 15 Monferno. I could go out of the way to apply limits to myself, but it's a bit too much effort for my liking to do so, and besides, if any games want you to battle everyone, it's Diamond & Pearl, seeing as you needed to see every Pokémon back in the day on the Sinnoh Dex to access a large part of the post-game. Based on my time with the game so far, I'll be very surprised if I find out that's changed. There's definitely a charm here that I just haven't felt in a brand new Pokémon game since the transition to 3D. Maybe some of that is nostalgia, but I've found myself smiling at the silliness of a lot of the NPC dialogue in the game so far, and far more frequently than in, say, Sword (which admittedly did have some funny moments). There's a hilarious nod to how you had to get access to Mystery Gift back in the day, which have me a good chuckle. In terms of the charm, I don't think it's the chibi models, which I still think are hideous and could end up damaging the more serious moments in the game, especially with their deadpan expressions during zoom-ins. It's definitely not the depth of field, which is all over the place and seems to change from location to location. I don't think it's just the music either, as some of the remixes I've heard so far sound almost identical in arrangement to the original games, but just come across much softer, to the point that I'd describe some as lacking energy. Maybe it's the locations? Because take away the NPC models and I think the game looks alright, the colours are nice and it looks like a low poly take on classic locations, even if it could've done with a higher budget and more time. It could also be the lengths ILCA clearly went through to include small details, like the background of the Pokémon using a HM and the animation for it matching that of the original games, or the TV changing over to show something which kind of matches what you're watching, or the battle transition animation matching up too. I also had my first excursion into the Grand Underground...man, that's surprisingly fun stuff. I forgot just how much I loved the minesweeper-like minigame for the dig sites, and finding the caverns with Pokémon has been pretty cool. Nothing too crazy, but still caught some pretty rare stuff (an underleveled Gastrodon and Houndoom, a Scyther, some Skorupi). Stocking up on PokéBalls before heading down there seems like the smart move, and honestly running out (I had 40 before heading down) after about an hour down there was probably my saving grace; I think I'm going to have to save this for the post-game, for my own sanity! Enjoying it so far, definitely some weird nitpicks I've got so far, we'll see if those (and my enjoyment) persist until the end of the game. One of the nitpicks is that they use a zoom-in before a lot of battles to show you your opponent up close in overworked chibi form, but then it quickly cuts to the typical overhead angle before going into the battle. It's just a little bizarre to see in action! There are some downsides to it coming so early: you can't post screenshots for the game yet (I like to illustrate my points!); and the Mystery Gift servers aren't up yet, meaning my wait for the Platinum outfit continues

Official trailer for No Way Home: Recently rewatched the Raimi trilogy, so it's fresh on my mind...there's no way they're going to bungle the handling of multiple antagonists in a single film again, right? Right?

I don't mind lending a hand, can start downloading it now. Will warn you I haven't played the game before though, so not sure if that would stretch out the time it takes to complete a round? How long does a round normally take?

I couldn't help but chuckle at Geoff wanting to show off the theatre good for him, must be great fun and feel very accomplishing to head a massive production like this! I genuinely got chills when he reeled off the nominees for Most Anticipated Games: Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, The Sequel to The Legends of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Starfield). Next year is so stupidly stacked with potential it's insane! One game a piece from the GOTY winners for 2017, 2018, and 2019, a massive Bethesda RPG, and Guerrilla Games getting their second crack at a gorgeous looking RPG too. Sure, a few of those could get delayed out of the year (GoW, Zelda, and Starfield), but if most of those release next year, I think there's a lot to be excited about. I think it would be really smart for Bethesda to turn up with some gameplay of Starfield here. Less than a year out from their planned launch, their first tentpole release since Xbox picked them up, I think it's time. More than maybe even in the Oscars voting process, I have a very hard time thinking that the average gamer has any clue what good game direction actually entails. It's a massively different task from one game to the next, which is why I fully expect it to reflect whatever takes GOTY home/is the most popular. Now there's great stuff to Rift Apart and I had good fun with it, but yeah, maybe Game Direction ain't it. As for Horizon 5, I know the cut-off technically isn't until this Friday, but I wonder if it released too late to be in with a good shout for a GOTY nomination from the press. Based on what I've heard/seen/read of the game and it's reviews, it definitely looks deserving, but racing in particular is such a hard one. In all seriousness, when was the last time there was an objectively bad Gran Turismo or Forza? Even beyond that, I can't really recall many flops in the genre over the last few years (there aren't exactly a ton of racing games coming out in the first place, to be honest). I don't think it's a good excuse, but I think it's much more difficult to not only compare racing games to other games where you control a character with a more clear overarching goal, but even more so to be very noticeable as a racing game. It's a tough one, but yeah, like @Ganepark32 said, once the Sports/Racing category came up you just didn't feel like it'd be in with a shout, which I think is a shame. I'm actually pretty surprised that Resident Evil Village got nominated, as even though it reviewed very well, it went fairly quiet very quickly, and definitely hasn't had the same buzz around it as say Resident Evil VII or Resident Evil 2 in recent years.

Well, well, well, look at how the tables turn. This should be huge. Kotick is obviously not the only thing wrong with Activision Blizzard, the place sounds like it's been rotten to the core of its hierarchy for a while now, but the biggest change at massive companies almost always has to come from the top - even if (perhaps especially if) their hands are forced by great journalism like this.

Nominees for The Game Awards are about to be announced, you can follow along here: You can places your votes here. Game of the Year 2021 nominees: Deathloop It Takes Two Metroid Dread Psychonauts 2 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Resident Evil Village

First trailer for Adam McKay's next film, Don't Look Up: Looks great, guess I know what I'm watching on my birthday this year

Well I guess I'm glad I finished Galaxy last night! Time (heh) to revisit my childhood, and be a bitter old man disappointed by all of the changes they've made...or, rather, haven't?

Finished getting all 120 Stars late last night Is Mario telling me to get some shuteye? Before anyone says it: I know you can go through again with Luigi for another 120 Stars, and then get a bonus level, but I'm good (for now) Those Purple Comets really went all over the place in terms of difficulty, ranging from beating them on my first attempt, to in a handful of attempts, to (in the case of Battlerock Galaxy, which of course was the last Star I needed!) 10+ attempts. I'll admit that one was a bit of a pain as that was the only Purple Comet where I felt that my issues with the camera really came up. Man, what a game. Best in class soundtrack; phenomenal level design; great level variety; awesome sense of movement (it was fun once again really having to get to grips with Mario's more advanced techniques); easily the most charming cast of characters I've encountered of the few Mario games I've played (Boos, Toads, penguin dudes); great and fun boss fights; a wonderful hub; and that goosebump-inducing hub theme. Favourite level off the top of my head was probably Matter Splatter Galaxy, I really hope the mechanics of that level turn back up in 2 somewhere. The only real wrinkle is what I said before about the camera, though I probably gave the impression before that it's a nonstop issue. It's not, it's an issue that only crops up sometimes, but when it does, I think can be a lot worse than some of the camera fighting you have to deal with in 64. That being said, it didn't actively take away from my enjoyment of the game in most cases, rather, I think it's the one thing I picked up on that could be improved to actively make the game a better overall experience. I still had an absolute blast! I think @EEVILMURRAY is going to be glad because Captain Toad is going to be on my radar before getting back to another 3D Mario, which will be me deciding whether to finish the collection and play Sunshine (I want to pick up a GameCube controller for when I do!), or to go and play Galaxy 2, for which @Glen-i (and, well, playing Galaxy) has set a very high bar. Either way, I'm looking forward to the next time I play the role of an Italian plumber with a spring in his step

Got nothing but respect for Xbox with the lengths they've gone to in order to make what's easily the best backwards compatible ecosystem on the current slate of consoles. Can't help but be envious as a PlayStation owner! Unfortunately, this will be Xbox's final backwards compatibility update from The Verge:

That long talked about Halo TV series (the one with Spielberg in the chair of producer?) is coming out next year on Paramount+: That's a good looking, high budget helmet wouldn't be surprised if Xbox roll out some sort of Paramount+ deal on Game Pass when this drops.

Digital Foundry have said that they'll be taking a look at all three of the games in the collection, starting today with GTA III: This is what they had to say pertaining to the Nintendo Switch version of the game, taken from the write-up on Eurogamer: And at a beefy 40 minutes, it still doesn't seem like John got to say/show everything he wanted to, not just for the Switch version either. And in conclusion: Yikes.

While I do think that's it tougher for a 2D game to be recognised, I do think it's simply part and parcel with where the industry has gone. Indie games have revived 2D efforts in a way the AAA industry by and large has very little interest in, but the problem is that the indie market these days is completely oversaturated with said 2D efforts. Like @Ronnie said, Hades and Celeste have been recognised through nominations, and I have no doubt that Hollow Knight would have been if it didn't launch first on PC. Like others here, I fully expect Dread to be nominated based on what I've seen read and heard about it. Now will it win? That's a whole other question. The Game Awards GOTY winners from 2014 to 2020 have been: 2014 - Dragon Age: Inquisition 2015 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2016 - Overwatch 2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2018 - God of War 2019 - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 2020 - The Last of Us Part II So I'd say that's 2 out of the 7 that fit your description, being God of War and The Last of Us Part II. Haven't played it, so I can't speak to its quality, but I can speak to what I read and hear: Deathloop came and went in an instant. Not saying that's deserved, might be a product of the year being so packed with competitive releases, but I've heard/read next to nothing about it since the week it launched, especially when compared to say Metroid Dread or It Takes Two. As @Ganepark32 said, it hasn't been a year with an outright runaway hit that's a clear favourite (do find it a bit funny that he mentioned Red Dead 2 though, seeing as it lost at the TGA's to God of War I do get his point about that type of game). I've seen it lovingly be referred to as "The Year of 9's", which honestly isn't a bad thing, it's just not going to be remembered in the same way that 2017 and 2018 were, and potentially 2022 with how it's lining up.

Naturally, I'm currently in a state of getting hyped for inevitably being left somewhat disappointed by the Diamond & Pearl remakes. Which means listening to the official soundtrack a bunch, and a lot of covers too, the main one I'm excited about this time being Sengoku Game Music Brass' wind orchestra Gen IV medley: They have a few other great Pokémon medleys for Gen II and Gen V, as well as a variety for other non-Pokémon games too. So easy to forget just how awesome that Platinum Frontier Brain theme is...and now I'm a bit nervous it won't be in as Palmer's theme in the game (I think he used Cynthia's in D&P?)

Oh yeah, I know, I've actually been thinking about that since I started the game. To be clear, I don't have a problem that this was the solution they had back on the Wii (it makes sense, and I can totally imagine using the D-pad on the Wiimote to move the camera in fixed points), pretty sure I played a few other games that had that solution back on the Wii too. But pretty much like I said last year when I played 64, I think they could have considered the option of adding a fully controllable camera for this collection, as it would have helped modernise the game and, to an extent, future proof it. Yeah I'm aware, wasn't a huge fan of how the motion controls felt for the point. I tried both the pair of Joy-Cons and the Pro Controller in a couple of levels each back at the start, and while the controller feels like heaven, waggling it about to collect Star Bits just didn't feel right to me having to keep it pretty steady and aimed forwards, especially if I tried to do it while traversing a course. I want to say that maybe I've been unlucky with the camera, but I'm 82 Stars in, and so in my experience with the game I have to disagree. I'd actually say that, on the whole, it's worse than what I experienced with 64's camera, because at least that game is mainly dealing with hard, square edges, whereas here almost every level has a sphere or something for you to run around the edges of; the camera feels designed around linear spaces (where for the most part it excels, similar to how 64 had spaces where the camera organically followed you and didn't get in the way, such as when racing up Tall, Tall Mountain), such as Mario 64-esque levels or on flat surfaces where you're mostly speeding and jumping across, or on the spheres where the camera does follow you around the whole thing, but the abundance of objects you have to move around without it following you is where I think most of my issues with it lie. I guess this issue is also combined with the controls to an extent, so maybe wanting a controllable camera comes from wanting to avoid this: once you pass a certain point when running around an object with this fixed camera, trying to move "up" becomes "down", and vice versa, and when it switches I find myself needing to adjust Mario as he runs in circles two or three times at certain points on these objects. The auto-camera might adjust to an extent, but it also depends on where on a sphere or object you have moved from, as there have been multiple times where lining up a jump where my viewing angle has been terrible, so I've run around a sphere the other way and the camera lined up in a way which was a bit more generous. I think a controllable camera would absolutely fix this issue. It's functional at best and a bit of a nightmare at its worst, with a good amount of the lives I've lost playing this game so far being down to the camera giving me a hard time. This isn't me making excuses, especially considering just how quickly you can get through a level, but it's been very noticeable when that's been the case. I've still got 38 Stars to go, and I don't want to make it seem like I hate this game because of it (rather, I love it in spite of it), but so far this is my only genuine criticism of the game that I wish they'd put some time into adding other options in for, even if not in the original game. Heck, I've even loved being booted out of levels, because even though the galaxy might be the same, they do so much to change the level layout in terms of enemies, obstacles, what's accessible, etc., that it's constantly giving you a fresh experience.

So, I've been playing Super Mario Galaxy for the first time over the last week or so. I'm 82 Stars in, putting off pummelling Bowser because I want to get as many Stars as I can before that point, and though I do want to sit down at some point once I finish the game and write my thoughts out a bit more deliberately, I'm really chomping at the bit to talk about it, even if only a little, so here we are I've just unlocked what I think is the final room, and I've had access to Trial Stars since I got to 50 Stars but am leaving them for last. In short: I'm absolutely loving it. There's definitely a focus here on level design over character movement, which I'd argue is what Super Mario 64 was built on (based on the camera placement and just general gameplay), which I've really enjoyed getting the hang of. Really love the races in particular, those have been a blast, not to mention the Speedy Comet levels! The different power-ups have been greatly varied and really change up the style of play with the different abilities made available to you through them, and I've loved seeing some power-ups from the 2D games thrown in; I always found it odd that in the very little I've played of Odyssey and what I played of 64 that they never really made proper use of Fire Flowers, etc., yet here they are! My favourite move, the Long Jump, is in too, so I've been very happy just leaping nonstop through the air speaking of power-ups though, I was in awe of the most recent one I got access to, and I'm pretty amazed I never got it spoiled for me. Hands down, and I can say this with confidence with a good while still go: this is my favourite Mario game when it comes to characters, bosses and (weirdly enough) the story. Pretty much every level I go to, there's just a vibe which is matched perfectly by it's inhabitants. I had no idea a certain Captain would be in this game, so him and his brigade have been making me chuckle throughout the entire game, either when Captain Toad talks big but always end up backing down, or when seeing them saying hilarious things over in the levels. I've had Treasure Tracker on my shelf for a little while, but this game has bumped it up the pecking order. Then you've got Luigi, getting lost in his attempts to help his brother get some more Stars, sending postcards over to be saved. There's a Boo who races you with a helmet. Cosmic Mario is an asshole. The penguins give you grief over your age. What is not to love about the characters in this game? They're absolutely oozing charm. As for the bosses, they just seem more memorable to me than what I've experienced in other Mario games so far, apart from maybe the moles. The moles suck. But Kaliente wanting to play high-stakes tennis on a lava planet? Sign me up! And then yeah, the story. Rosalina grabs her storybook out for the Lumas every now and then (is it every room? I'm not quite sure), and just learning her story and the story of the Lumas is way, waaaaaaaay more touching than I was expecting. And the art in the storybook is just top tier stuff, it instinctively makes you nostalgic for the kind of books your parents read to you before tucking you in growing up. And then there's the hub, and sorry, but I prefer it to Peach's Castle in 64 (maybe I should hide this post ). Just seeing it all open up and having more characters and Lumas come in as you get more Stars and get through more of the galaxies, all while so much of it is visible from wherever you stand on the ground floor, really fleshes the place out. Which actually brings me onto the music, because again, it's awesome. I won't sit down and go through the soundtrack until I've finished the game, but I think it's pretty easily my favourite Mario soundtrack at this point. For now I've just got to say what everyone's who has already played the game will know: Comet Observatory is immediately a contender to be a favourite video game track. There's the way it builds; the way there size of the ensemble grows the further you get into the game which turns it from a whimsical bedtime jingle to an orchestra plucking at every heartstring; the way it perfectly suits wandering and circling around the Observatory, stepping into galaxies unknown. Perfection. Unfortunately, and not for the first time, I have to complain about the camera. It boggles my mind that they're still using the multiple fixed camera angles from 64, and it's genuinely a bit maddening here. I've lost count of the times I can't really see what I'm doing, or where the angle at which I'm jumping changes because the camera is circling the platforms I'm speeding through leaving me flying off at an angle which throws me into a black hole. If they ever make a Super Mario Galaxy 3 or port over 2 (assuming they didn't fix this in 2), I'm praying that you get a fully controllable camera. To be clear, I'm totally fine with the world and not Mario being the point the camera centres on, but when you can run all the way around a sphere, I can't believe that you can't follow that with the camera. Should probably also mention that I'm playing this docked with the Joy-Cons, and it's a lot better than I was hoping for. Missed a few Star Bits here and there when the pointer has jumped over the screen at times, but just tapping R to immediately calibrate the pointer to the centre of the screen has been good. Now, if only the Joy-Cons were as comfortable in the hand as the Pro Controller

I won't lie, I probably spent about an hour and a half just messing around in the open world and trying to see what connected to what, seeing what I could jump to on horseback, finding various NPC's*, trying to figure out a decent way to take out camps with a melee build that wasn't just stealthing, etc. Definitely think a melee build might not get the most out of this game, at least based on the network test? At least in the open world, there's definitely a need for ranged attacks that aren't necessarily a bow and arrow. It's not that the horseback fighting isn't fun (quite the opposite), just think it feels very limited than what I imagine some of the other classes were like, albeit in this vertical slice. But man, there's some really cool stuff I found out in the open world! Some shots felt straight out of Shadow of the Colossus with all of the decaying bridges and ruins, but especially the guiding light of Sites of Grace, reminds me a lot of Wander holding up his sword to see which boss you were taking on next in SotC. *That guy calling me maidenless once I got out into the open world pushed his luck but I might have whacked him a few times too many (figured, hey, it's just a Network Test, I don't mind making him a bit angry), and he might have attacked me immediately upon respawning multiple times to the point he outright tanked the frame rate, I'm not really sure what was going on there. Naturally, I came back a bit later on after managing to escape his weird-faced clutches and pummelled his dumb mask into the dirt, but that was an interesting introduction after the very easy to miss tutorial. Tried out a few dungeons, not really sure how I feel about them - or rather, the ones they chose to include here. The boss fights are fun, but the dungeons themselves just felt...really short? I guess it's this game's counterpart to Breath of the World's shrines, but hopefully there's a bit more depth and complexity to some of the ones you come into later on in the actual game. I'd imagine that's the case, so not really a criticism, heck there might be one in there I just didn't get around to that is exactly what I'm asking for. It was my first time stealthing around in a From game, and that was pretty cool. I really don't like the change to Triangle + L1 / R1 to two-hand though, in a boss fight the last thing you probably want to do is accidentally open a message on the ground or watch how someone else died! But Guard Counter is awesome if a little OP, and hey, I like shields, so I hope they stay that way and Ashes of War seem really cool, tried one out which basically powered up your next attack, feel like there's a lot of space to play the game how you want to play with how customisable that could become. I did sprint past a lot of stuff to go straight to the boss fight at the entrance to Stormveil at the very end, with about 10 minutes left on the clock. Died a few times (naturally), but he definitely felt beatable, I got him down to just over a third of his health in a few attempts before I got booted out. Having only played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls (minus the DLC), seeing all of the awesome flourishes and twirling leaps into the air in a boss fight was awesome, I haven't really had that yet from the games I've played I'm honestly torn on loading up into the Network Test session tomorrow, because while I really enjoyed it...man, I kind of feel like I don't need to see anymore? I was sold before, and now I'm very, very sold on the game after. Now just let it be February already please

Well...that was fun

Nominees for The Game Awards coming this Tuesday. Think this might be the first time in the last few years I don't have a horse in this race, think the only 2021 game I've played is It Takes Two, which I still need to sit down with my brother again to finish For those who have played 2021 games, are there any particular games you're backing to win a certain award at the TGA's next month?

Not totally unexpected that this would have hit a brick wall once Ancel left. I know there's been the Space Monkey Program, but for people who have just seen the game turn up at E3's (such as myself), so far this game isn't much more than a bunch of great CGI trailers. Which is a massive shame, because I know the first game has a pretty noticeably sized fan base. Let's hope someone can step in and right the ship

So, a whole lot of supposed insiders are coming out to say that the Halo Infinite multiplayer will be launching...on Monday?! Apparently it is to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Xbox and Halo, but man, this seems like a very poor idea if true. Horizon is still very much in the spotlight still having it's moment, and just because this is launching prior to the nominee deadline for The Game Awards (next Friday), I struggle to see it really getting a grip on it. Would be weirdly on point for Xbox though, it does seem like it's been a while since they've taken a misstep. But I hope it's not true, it really does seem like short notice and a last minute way to grab some attention on the 20th anniversary. Then again, I guess it would mean when the campaign drops, fans are already acquainted with systems and can focus solely on the campaign? And if it's ready to go, and with Game Pass...I guess why not?

X-Men's legendary animated series is coming back to Disney+ with a sequel series next year in X-Men '97! And then onto the MCU and other Marvel stuff (a lot of it admittedly promoting things they told us about last year?): New footage at the end of the Marvel Disney+ Day 2021 Special on Disney+ (only available for viewing by subscribers).

Technically not MCU..? But this is the closest thing to a Marvel thread, so: '97 returns next year with a sequel series!

Disney+ Day news for Star Wars has started dropping... ...and then they switched over to Pixar, which will be going on for the next little while, followed Marvel. I hope that's not all there is for Star Wars, was really hoping for a Kenobi trailer, especially as this leaked yesterday.