Julius

I guess you could say that Sega were Switched off to the possibility.

Oh no it didn't come off that way at all, sorry if I sounded stand-offish, was more just excited because anime yeah anime was something I watched bits and pieces of growing up (Pokémon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, bits and pieces of Dragon Ball Z, some Ghibli films) but it wasn't really until I started getting into films way more in 2015, as high school was winding down for me and with The Force Awakens in sight, that I started to seek out new things to experience and learn more about how they're made, the history of it, and so on, and eventually I got onto really seeking out anime. I think there was part of me that put it off for so long simply because I'm half Asian and it seemed like unnecessary ammo for people around me to say unkind things, and while bullying hasn't gone away, a lot of the baggage that comes with being into these things has slowly faded since I've left highschool. My younger brother who is in highschool now, for instance, loves it, he has plenty of friends who love it, and there's no real shaming going on, which is always cool to hear. The globalisation of things like this has been pretty awesome to see from the outside. In terms of recommendations, I'd honestly point you in the direction of some anime films to get your feet wet, as jumping straight into a series (especially a long one) can be tough to commit to, so I'll recommend a few. It almost feels like cheating, but Studio Ghibli - and specifically the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki - would probably be an ideal place to start, as they are all very accessible, with well-written characters, purposeful dialogue, some beautiful hand drawn scenery and animation, and many of them are backed by amazing soundtracks from Joe Hisaishi (the only composer still living that I'd put on John Williams' level in terms of influence). They also have probably the most consistent voice for great female lead characters, and this stretches back to the early 80's. All of Miyazaki's works are worth checking out, but I think Spirited Away would be the obvious jumping in point, as it (somehow, ridiculously) is the only film from the East to have ever won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and it would be underselling it to not say that it's a masterpiece. It's a coming-of-age story which is incredibly heartfelt and relatable, I think you'd enjoy it. After that I would point you in the direction of Princess Mononoke, which is my personal favourite, and I'm convinced you'll love it for two reasons: it was clearly a huuuuuuuuge influence for Breath of the Wild, and it's also one of Filoni's favourite films (trust me, all of the wolves we see from him in Star Wars will make much more sense after you've seen it). It's an epic tale on morals and mankind's destruction of nature, and is by far the most mature of Ghibli's films, but I really don't want to say too much other than that it's a must-watch. For something a bit lighter, and perhaps more Disney-like, My Neighbour Totoro is a tale of two sisters and these cat/rabbit/bear-like creatures that are spirits, and it's just a very cosy time. I'm not even joking when I say that I could list all of Miyazaki's films and wholeheartedly recommend them, but those would be my suggested starting points, and then you can experience his other great work. A great thing about these as well is that, thanks to the English dubs by Disney, they all have stellar English voice casts. A good chunk of them - the three I mentioned above included - are also all currently available on Netflix. In terms of other anime films I'd suggest, Akira would have to be one. It's the film that helped anime break out in the West, and its influence on popular culture worldwide is immense. It's set in a cyberpunk Tokyo where things have, as in most cyberpunk settlements, gone awry, and things get weird. But I think it's also a great insight into Japanese creation in particular (the impact of the nuclear blasts in the dying days of World War II) and will help get over the hump for some of the other, stranger things in anime. Your Name would be another, imagine Freaky Friday but just, well...made about a million times better. Makoto Shinkai's and co.'s art is fantastic, it's genuine eye candy and it's hard to not be dazzled by it, but it also has a really well told romance, I think it's the only time I've audibly rooted for someone in a film. Also has a killer soundtrack. Last recommendation for an anime film would be A Silent Voice, it's a good bit heavier than some of the other things I've mentioned, but it's got a very endearing cast of characters and sinks it hooks into you. It's about a bully connecting with a deaf girl he bulled in school, and I think it can hit hard for most. Lastly, if I do want to recommend a series, I think there can only be one. As much as I've enjoyed plenty of other shows - and don't get me wrong, there are other great jumping in points - I think a lot of them can be hard to relate to because of the location, or how edgy some things are (or try to be), or just not that approachable in how they rely on some tropes of the medium. The one anime series I would recommend to anyone for a first time series would be Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Awesome set of characters, a great journey set in what is effectively an alternate universe's Germany, and another great soundtrack, it focuses on these two brothers and their quest to find a Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies after one of their attempts to perform alchemy goes wrong. It's on the same level as The Last Airbender for me, and it's a similar length too (64 episodes long). I've recommended it to a lot of people at this point and I don't think one of them hasn't ended up enjoying it. For its length, it also has surprisingly little filler and recap content, as it didn't need to stall (the 2003 series suffered for this and they needed to stall and then just ended up going in a direction not dictated by the manga). And all of those other films and the show I mentioned are all on Netflix too!

Continued my journey yesterday. Started off by heading over to Andre in the Undead Parish and spent some souls on Titanite Shards, reinforcing my Broadsword to +5 and Tower Kite Shield to +4, also handing him a Large Ember I picked up at some point. He's asking for Large Titanite Shards to modify my Broadsword further, but that's on the burner for now as I don't have any. Looked around at the rest of what he had and found an item going for 20,000 souls called the 'Crest of Artorias', which mentioned something about unlocking a sealed door in a forest, so I've got to imagine that's for the door in the Darkroot Garden with that white glow in its centre. Hopefully I'll remember to come back for it! After that, I headed back on over to Firelink, and then onwards over to the Depths. Once I got down to where the butcher was before, instead of rolling through the boxes to go down the hole, I instead followed the path from the other side of the room down into some shallow water, where some dogs were waiting for me. Dispatched those and continued on, continued on, and suddenly I found myself in some tight and dark tunnels -- kind of grateful I'm not claustrophobic, because otherwise think I would've started freaking out! Came across some loot, went to grab it, and this slime fell onto me from the ceiling and sliced my health in half, so I diced it up in retaliation. Picked up the item and carried on, coming across some rats and getting poisoned a few times, so after dispatching them, I threw the Purple Moss Clump into my equipped item rotation and ventured forth. Eventually I came to a room with some barrels and a guy stuck in one asking to be freed, so I rolled into them (didn't want to risk angering an NPC by hitting him!) and learned his name was Laurentius of the Great Swamp...but I couldn't get any further interaction with him beyond that. Exited the room, read a note on the floor which said something was behind me, and so I quickly turned the camera to see I was face-to-face with one of those big boy butchers, like the one from before. Same tactic, stuck close to it and backstabbed it a few times, not too much of a problem. Carried on, had to sprint through a tunnel with slimes falling from the ceiling, then took a left and carried on down. There was a ladder in the room I found myself in, but the giant rat from before was down there, so I didn't risk it (from the perspective I was standing at, it looked like the ladder led down to it). Eventually I came to a network of really cramped tunnels, with some rats which scurried away from you when you got close, so I was careful about swinging my sword in here, as I didn't want to hit the walls while fighting them. Now, I check every corner before turning them in this game, and so I was hilariously met by the image of one of those tall, robed magic guys walking into a doorway which he was way too tall for and couldn't make his way through. There were some rats trying to get through too, but made use of the doorway and hacked them to bits from a safe position, and carried on through the door (the magic guy only took a few hits to kill too, which was nice after my last battle with one taking quite a bit of time). Found myself on a long balcony overlooking this massive arena with crumbled pillars (clearly a boss fight was coming up), and a fog door up some steps to my left. I carried on firm the balcony and found a Large Titanite Shard hidden away in a corner, before turning back. Figuring that the fog door would lead in the direction of the boss, I left the area in search of a bonfire - there had to be one somewhere, surely? In my search for a bonfire I found another fog door that I didn't step through, before eventually making my way back over to the end of the tunnel where the slimes had fallen from above before. Somehow I missed the door which is clearly right at the end of the tunnel, and so I tried to unlock it...and I did. Think I picked up a key through some bars by the giant rat, so that was a welcome surprise to not have to go searching for it! I then rested up, before heading back into the direction of the fog doors. I tried the one on the balcony first, but it just led straight back into the nearby tunnels. At this point I couldn't remember where exactly the other fog door I came across was, and all I could remember was that it was in a narrow tunnel (yes, I realise in hindsight that it was the other side of the fog door I'd just walked through, but it didn't dawn on me at the time!). So, I continued running back and forth through these tunnels, trying to be careful and rolling over these trap holes, circling the whole area multiple times...before I eventually fell down a hole and found myself in a very familiar location, with some of those big-eyed freaky curse lizards nearby. Pretty sure I audibly groaned at this point. With no clear way back up, it seemed I would have to make my way through these tunnels to get anywhere, but I was also fully aware of the risk of getting cursed again -- while I did have another Purging Stone to hand, I'd rather not use it for now, as I wanted to keep one to hand moving forwards. I made my way through these tunnels, then, in the same direction I went before, coaxing out these freaks and methodically slicing them up. I found some items, but it came to a point where I felt like my luck was wearing thin, so I used a Homeward Bone to get back to the bonfire -- I seriously didn't want to get cursed again! At this stage I'm down to about 7 Estus Flasks from the 10 I came in with originally, but the bonfire I guess only gives me 5, and so that number didn't go up when I rested. Turned the corner and this time tried the ladder down that I spotted before, and as it turns out, it doesn't lead to the giant rat, but a caged room next to it with a door nearby. I made my way over and...I can't open it from this side. Fun. The search continued for a good 15 minutes or so before I caved and jumped down one of the holes towards the basilisks, but I took a different turn and found myself in a pretty big room with a couple of rats and slimes instead. Dispatched them, found some stairs up which led to - you guessed it - the door that I couldn't open before, which gave me a nice shortcut. Went over and talked to this funny-talking NPC called Domnhall of Zena, but he didn't have much to say, or anything that looked particularly helpful to sell either. There was a massive metal door next to him, which I tried to open, but it was locked. Made my way through the other doorway in this area and up some stairs, which led me to an area below the balcony overlooking the arena from before. I slowly made my way down before coming to another fog gate. This was clearly going to be it, another boss fight. Heart rate went up, adrenaline started kicking in, and I was ready. I only had 4 Estus Flasks to hand at this point, but figured I'd give it a try, as the shortcut I'd unlocked wouldn't make the trek back too difficult. Stepping through the door, yeah, the arena was massive. Probably the largest actual arena that I've come across for a boss fight in my Souls journeys so far. Anyways, this creature called the Gaping Dragon makes its way over the ledge at the end of the arena, and it sure is one ugly critter. There are some pillars near me, so I stay in this area and it of course crushes the pillars and flops it's tooth-filled mouth onto me, instantly taking me to within an inch of my life. I actually get trapped inside its mouth, so have to roll out through the side of its mouth, which was a bit weird. I run away and put some distance between us before swigging down 2 Estus Flasks, which put me up to about three quarters of my health and down to only 2 Estus Flasks remaining. Not a very promising start to the fight, then. As I learned from some of the other boss fights so far, utilising the environment is key, and so naturally with this room being so big, I just start running around the room and away from this thing. This gave me ample time to watch it's (attempted) attack pattern, and I quickly noticed that it flopped it's teeth down onto the floor before charging in the direction it was pointing. After seeing this a few times, I start coaxing it towards me, and surely enough, it sinks its teeth into the ground and darts straight at me. It's not particularly fast, but it is big, so I had to be careful to not get hit by its legs or tail. After reliably drawing it towards me for a charge a few times, I start circling around and swapping over to two-handing my sword and then whacking away at its tail, figuring that it's either a weak point or will fall off (like the tails of the Gargoyles did in my fight against them). Surely enough, it's tail did fall off after a few times, by which point I was more than confident that my shield wasn't going to be much use, and so I stuck with two-handing my Broadsword instead. After hacking away at it, it would either fly up and crash down, or try swatting me with it's not missing tail (though it's arm did follow through too), so I just got in four hits each time and would run away. The battle continued like this for a good while, and I continued with my strategy of coaxing it out into flopping its teeth into the floor and charging at me, before circling around and slicing at its hind quarters. There was a point around halfway in the battle where it didn't seem too interested and would wait until I was in a tighter space to charge, so there were a couple of close shaves while sprinting away, but nothing too concerning. Eventually I got that comfortable with the fight that it would charge at me and I would just run to the side of its legs' trampling range, wait for it to finish charging, and then get some more hits in that way. At some point towards the end it starts spitting up this yellow liquid - I'm going to guess some kind of acid - but because of my tactics, I'm more than halfway across the arena anyways and it's not getting close with that attack. Eventually I get it low enough that I think I can get enough hits in to finish it off, so I get my usual four hits in (three using up my full stamina bar, one when it starts filling back up), and just as it starts to pick itself up to fly, I manage to land a fifth hit, and surely enough, it was down on my first try! Look, I know fully well that there are going to be other bosses in this game where they will kick my ass and it will take more attempts to get by, but I found this fight to be really underwhelming compared to some of the others. Even in some of the other boss fights where I got by first time and used the environment to my advantage - the Asylum Demon, Taurus Demon, and Capra Demon - I was still on edge throughout and felt like I could get killed at any time, whereas that just wasn't the case here. Other than its attack at the start, I don't think it did any more damage to me throughout the rest of the fight, and I didn't have to use any Estus after the initial two swigs I needed to recover. I'm happy that I'm moving on and making progress, but I think it's just because I've really enjoyed the other boss fights so far - and they are some of my favourite parts of these games - that I think it left me feeling just a bit unfulfilled. Probably wasn't help by having a really epic track for what was a pretty slow battle: Anyways, I made my way back over to the bonfire and did some levelling up, but not before using the key to unlock the big metal doors I came across before. Blighttown next, then! I've heard a lot about it, and I won't lie, I'm almost intimidated by it. The Fifth Archstone in Demon's Souls was by far my least favourite, and though I've got a good amount of items to relieve me from poison, I can't exactly say I'm looking forward to a stress like that again. Hopefully I can get through it today and the second bell isn't too far after that!

Hell yeah, this is exactly what I wanted it to be. Couldn't care much less if it's canon or not (you definitely get the sense it's up and down the timeline), this looks incredible, and you could sense the passion not just from those working on the anime, but also those on the Lucasfilm side of things. Studios involved and their episodes are: • Kamikaze Douga – The Duel • Geno Studio (Twin Engine) – Lop and Ochō • Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) – Tatooine Rhapsody • Trigger – The Twins • Trigger – The Elder • Kinema Citrus – The Village Bride • Science Saru – Akakiri • Science Saru – T0-B1 • Production IG – The Ninth Jedi I think to anime fans the most recognisable names here are Trigger (Kill la Kill, Promare) and Production IG (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho Pass, Haikyu!), without a doubt. Given that there are those big names on here, I'm really surprised by just how strong the "smaller" studios are: Geno Studio (Golden Kamuy) and Studio Colorido (Penguin Highway), Kamikaze Douga (some of JoJo's intros), Kinema Citrus (Made in Abyss, The Rising of the Shield Hero). Of the "smaller" studios though (I guess they'd be more borderline compared to the other smaller studios), the one that has me the most excited is without a doubt Science SARU, they do some really awesome yet unique and weird stuff! The most bizarre yet visually stunning episode of Adventure Time (Food Chain, it's seriously worth looking up if you haven't seen it already, it is real weird), Ping Pong The Animation, some work on Space Dandy, Devilman Crybaby...think we can safely say that will be the most uniquely animated and weirdest of the we'll see going in. There's a full press release here, but heck yeah, I'm all in on this. I was talking to a friend earlier who isn't as much of a Star Wars fan, and we were talking about how even though we've both enjoyed Disney-owned Lucasfilm's content to varying degrees, it feels like it's missing something a bit unique and off-kilter to keep it fresh -- this could be exactly that. Man I hope the openings for these are good. I know it's a fan edit of bits and pieces of Galaxy of Adventures using Shinzo wo Sasageyo, but this is still one of the most hype Star Wars trailers I've seen in the last few years: Praying that Visions is successful just so we can see some other studios take a crack at this too. Bones, MAPPA, Studio Wit (I know, technically Production IG, but it's a subsidiary and they're credited differently), Madhouse, A-1 Pictures, Ufotable...hell, I'm just imagining what Shinkai could make 5 minutes on Coruscant look like. Now that's the dream. @Ronnie I know you mentioned you've never really been into anime -- not to call you out or anything (!), but is it something you've given a go? Because I'd be happy to recommend some stuff which I think you'd really enjoy. The weird thing about anime is that sometimes from the outside looking in it can seem like its own weird thing, almost like it's own genre - I know because even though I grew up with some of it, it's only been the last 5-6 years where I've really sunk my teeth in - but it's a medium above all else with some great stuff that I don't think anyone who enjoys a great story wouldn't enjoy - and who doesn't like a good story? Heck, one of my three favourite movies of all time, alongside the likes of The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather, is an anime movie (Princess Mononoke). I'd really recommend checking some anime out, because there's absolutely an anime for everyone, and I'd be happy to suggest some things to you (if not in this thread, you can always shoot me a message ). And if my words won't convince you, hopefully Visions will, so fingers crossed it's good I think it could be a great gateway for a lot of people into anime, the only potential pitfall I guess being that there aren't any on Disney+, but there's plenty on other streaming services at least. Oh, and as a total side: The Bad Batch was good this week, definitely felt a bit like a boilerplate Saturday morning cartoon at times, but I'll take it, as I still enjoyed it. Hopefully the next episode or two will start setting up the final arc, which I'm nervous to see play out!

Great result, goes without saying. Luke Shaw was fantastic, what a strange surprise that Sancho played great -- who would've thunk? (We did, literally everyone did, he better start against Denmark) Flashes of complacency do have me a bit concerned going into the Denmark match. Some passes too short, or too long, or too sloppy, Pickford looks like he's always capable of making a mistake or overthinking things, and to be honest we were lifeless for long periods in that first half of the match. Not looking forward to the next few days where everyone says stupidly arrogant things about this England side. It's an enormous result, but there are still games to play against hard-working sides. I'm hopeful, I want us to do well, but I think there are objective weaknesses to this side on show for all to see, and that's why I won't be running away with it. The clean sheet run is the main source of my optimism. Oh, and one last thing: Rio not knowing the last time England scored more 4 in a knockout match is heresy. Seriously, when else other than the cup win we don't shut up about would we have scored 4?

Nice to see us extend the lead, but Ukraine look knackered. Passing has been sloppy and they've look laboured since coming back out. It'll be a shame if this is how they go out. They might not be able to turn it around - I hope they don't - but I hope we still see some spirit from them in the remaining 40 minutes or so.

Yep, exactly what we needed after the break. Now control the game. We've been poor at managing games so far, let's see it now.

Maguire not accepting that hand up was embarrassing. He was looking for that foul and he got it, I can't blame Yarlomenko for pushing Yaremchuk. Commentators are blind -- it was clear to me that they weren't giving Maguire an earful over winning the foul, it was over the lack of sportsmanship. Ukraine have maybe been too respectful so far, but they've had chances of their own, and have looked stronger since their change. We should be 2-0 up, so the fact that it's only 1-0 means we need to go out there and get that second goal, because they're going to keep coming at us; we've been slowing it down too much for large parts of that first half, so we need to kill it off.

It would be tempting fate; it is a cup competition after all, and just because Italy have been the best team in the tournament until now, it doesn't mean they're above bottling it. I agree with @Hero-of-Time that they have their own set of weaknesses. After the first match, because of how Spinazzola roams forwards and their RB tucks in to form a back three, I said that they'd be susceptible to some fast-paced wingers if they came across any later on in the tournament, and surely enough Doku pretty much was that last night. Unfortunately for Belgium they just couldn't make better use of him, but at least he managed to win them the penalty. I do think Spinazzola's injury - out for months with a broken Achilles - will have a big impact on how the rest of Italy's tournament plays out, though, because he's been one of their standout players. It's not just that he's looking to go forwards and overlap, it's the fact that he's also a right-footed left back, which makes him difficult to predict and defend against. Him being right-footed also plays a big part in why his linkup play with Insigne is so natural despite only playing together for the national team, as neither of them have to accommodate for the fact that the other player is left-footed. I think the game slowed down for a number of reasons after his injury when Emerson came on - defending the lead, the initial shock of a big injury, and Emerson sitting deeper and staying back - and while Emerson is adventurous moving forwards, he simply isn't Spinazzola, and Mancini might need to adapt. Speaking of fast wingers, though, there aren't many left in the tournament. Against Spain you've got fast players like Ferran Torres and Oyarzabal who could cause problems, but because of how Spain play - slowing the tempo and passing it around to spot a gap, which they do most of the time centrally - they won't get to make any long sprints against Italy unless they adapt. Sure, they could pass it around the middle before launching someone down the wings, but assuming Mancini adapts and keeps Emerson in position, while it's still their weak spot, I think they could handle it. They also have an advantage where Spain have faced two rounds of extra time in a row, being pegged back late on in normal time in one and facing a penalty shootout in the other, so that'll be another thing going their way. But football is football, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Belgium has been the #1 ranked team in the world for long stretches over the last 5-10 years, but it's a tournament, and I think it's as simple as that: winning the Euro's is making the best out of seven matches (once you've qualified). There's also the fact that Belgium haven't had many wingers or centre backs come through that Martinez has deemed worthy of a call up, so they've been getting by with an aging squad -- they're still using Chadli and Vermaelen for crying out loud. International football is so different to club football in that way, because these managers are basically left waiting for a new crop of promising players to come through, so it's making the most of what you have now. Anyone can be beat, even on a good day, and that's just football. The "Golden Generation" thing is something that needs to be dropped because I think it does more harm than good, there's already more than enough pressure on these players to perform, but to be fair, at least Belgium made more use of their modern Golden Generation than we did. They'll have one more chance at the World Cup next year to go all the way with this team, and the quality is undoubtedly there, but I think the issue now is more the mental side of things. Let's also not forget that Hazard is in the worse shape of his football career and couldn't even play last night after struggling to even make it to the tournament, so if this team is to go further I think he needs to find some drive and get in tip-top shape over the next year and a half.

Italy were imperious today, they've been the best team in the tournament from the first day until now -- if they carry on like this, I seriously doubt that anyone can get between them and the trophy. It's a rare thing to see an international team so energetic and forward-thinking, yet so disciplined in their defending. I said it during the group stage and I'll say it again, because I think it was made all the more clear after tonight's match: their game management has been superb so far. They're a resolute unit, they get behind the ball, the flow of their play is great through the middle, they're lethal on the wings with Chiesa and the overlapping Spinazzola (who they will sorely miss in the next game if that is his tournament over, he's been perhaps their standout player in the tournament so far), they have players like Insigne who can shine with a moment of pure magic (though hilariously he's tried that a few times every match he's played at this tournament so far!), players like Chiesa and Barella who are just as competent and adventurous going forwards as they are willing to defend...and they have insane depth all over the pitch just to top it all off. Donnarumma has been fantastic (he's my age for goodness' sake and he's playing like a prime Buffon), so it's a bit of a shame he and his Raiola have been a thorn in Milan's side and have been making outrageous demands, otherwise he could've become one of the best players in Italian football on both the domestic and international stages. Genuinely think if Mancini wins this he deserves to be awarded as Manager of the Year, he's done a phenomenal job so far. I think Italy are the only team where I've proactively chosen to watch all of their games (watching England is an obligation, and a dull one at that), they're genuinely that exciting to watch. Roll on tomorrow, then. I fully agree with @Fierce_LiNk -- I get wanting to support your home nation, but I find it almost disrespectful to Ukraine, Sweden and Denmark to just brush them off. Is it a favourable draw? Compared to being on the other side where we'd have been up against some of the best teams in the world right now, so sure. But we can't take it for granted, the teams on our side of the tournament tree right now wear their hearts on their sleeves and are courageous in their forward-minded play, two things this England team have been sorely lacking to this point.

Kroos is retiring from international football: I was initially surprised considering there's a World Cup next year, but he's been pretty vocal about his thoughts on Qatar holding the competition, so I guess it makes sense. Anyways, I know it's only a retirement from international football, but he's undoubtedly one of the best central midfielders of the last decade, and I've always admired how calm he remains in the most tense of situations. One of the few players I watched with the intent of basing my football on back when I was still playing, it's definitely going to be strange seeing so many of my football idols from back when I was still in high school retiring in the next few years!

Who said he was still a plumber?

100% this, I've been thinking the same, think it would've helped to keep things fresh too. I also found it weird that unlocking an item as Ratchet you'd automatically get the same weapon as Rivet, and vice versa. It's even weirder if you consider that you can only (re-)visit certain planets as each character, you'd think that would've been down to them having unique mechanics rather than "uh, I guess they won't go here?". Especially after things open up too! Rivet even has a bionic arm -- how do you not do something unique with that?!

Yeah, it's definitely one of those games where I feel like you have to be in the mood to play it, and for me personally I've found trying to sit through longer sessions with this and Demon's Souls pretty tough. I can plan to play it for most of a day but feel like I've got my fill after a few hours, because it takes much more out of me - focus and determination - than most other games. I love it, but once you've taken a couple of days off of it, I feel like it gets exponentially tougher to return, as there's almost an intimidation that can easily creep in. Thankfully for me it was more a case of stuff going on elsewhere rather than being tired of the game, and I'm hoping like with Demon's Souls, the closer I get to the end (a long way to go yet, I know) I'm able to spend more and more time with it. It's really weird to have to be in a certain mood or level of confidence to play a game, but I really love it for that reason. Even in my short time away from the game, I've been thinking about my build, attack strategies, figuring out what I'll try differently when I next visit The Depths, and so on. Oh thanks, good to know! I'm guessing that's Blighttown then -- yeah, let's be honest, it would be more surprising if I hadn't heard of that place! Thankfully, I have a heck of a lot of those from my time in Darkroot Garden, when I had to keep making my way back on over to the Moonlight Butterfly. I really hope I've got enough

Just to add to what @Glen-i mentioned about Bidoof (great read by the way), the reason that they're making such a big deal out of Bidoof this year seems to be for the same reason that they made a big deal out of Eevee a few years ago: the impending return to Sinnoh in the Diamond & Pearl remakes, as well as in Legends: Arceus. I genuinely think that if Let's Go games were made for Sinnoh, they would have gone with Bidoof as one of the starters/version mascots. Pokémon has been focusing more and more on having these almost secondary mascots to Pikachu, like Bidoof and Eevee, in recent years, and honestly, I think it's a brilliant idea from a business perspective. Everyone owns some Pikachu merch in some form or another, so if they let it share the spotlight with some other Pokémon during the marketing for remakes and the like, they'll inevitably see their merchandise sales rise to some (probably small, but noticeable) degree. What's interesting about picking Bidoof is that, while it's certainly not the least popular Pokémon by a long shot, I don't think it's the obvious choice for a secondary mascot from Sinnoh (at least not in the same way that Eevee perhaps is for Kanto). You've got Shinx, Riolu, heck I think some were under the impression that Piplup might step back into the spotlight, so while it's not totally out of left field, it's been nice to see it get some of the spotlight!

I'd love to say that I've made a load of progress since my last update...but I actually haven't played since then. I've had a busy week and a half which ended up being a bit stressful, and so when I have had time to return to the game, I've chosen not to, and have either watched the football or a film instead. But picking back up from the Undead Asylum, I read over my notes from last time and had a hunch I might be able to trade. I started to walk on over to the nest, through the room where I vanquished the Asylum Demon at the start of the game -- and the floor crumbled beneath me and I came up against a boss: the Stray Demon. Still cursed, I didn't even get close, and it killed me pretty quickly. This is about a minute after picking it back up, so...welcome back, I guess? So, edging my way around the room this time, I make my way back on over to the nest where I landed...and there's nothing other than the eggs and the option to curl myself up into a ball (I guess to go back to Firelink). I start heading back down, a bit disappointed, but as I do I see a little outcropping of the ruins and a strange shape -- another nest! I head on over and surely enough, just like in Demon's Souls (is the voice the same? It sounds really close to the voice in Demon's Souls) I'm being asked to leave items. I'm not proud to admit it, but I used a guide here just to check if I could trade for a Purging Stone, and surely enough I could, and I had the necessary item to trade - the Red Cracked Eye Orb - and so trade I did. Quit out and came back in like in Demon's Souls, and I got two Purging Stones for my troubles. I used one and BANG! The dirt is gone the curse was lifted. I wanted to explore the Asylum a bit more to see what had changed before trying to take on the boss down below, and so I made my way back to the courtyard with the bonfire and made my way up. I took on the guy from before (his Undead form I guess, like he was warning of before) and killed him without too much trouble - it was a nice crash course in parry and riposte - nabbing his Crest Shield after. Made my way back up the stairs and I completely forgot that there was a boulder trap, so that was a nice way to get the heart going took out the guys above, hooked around back to the skeleton knights I'd chosen not to fight the last time was here, and then unlocked the door ahead with the key I'd picked up for 2F West. Picked up the Rusted Iron Ring, which just says it helps with "uneven footing" -- I'm assuming there's a swamp somewhere in this game, and that this will be helpful there after my experiences with the swamp in Demon's Souls, so I equipped it. Couldn't see much else going on after nosing around, wasn't really in the mood for making my way back over to the cell where I started, so I dropped down to the Stray Demon after resting at the bonfire (I really didn't want to have to waste Humanity on kindling this bonfire, so gave myself the challenge of doing it with five Estus Flasks). I died multiple times without even getting a scratch on it, just trying to gauge it's moves and range. After a few attempts, I got the timing down for its sweeping attack and club smash to make use of some i-frames, but it's explosion attack (not the one where it charges up and stabs it's weapon into the ground for an AoE, but rather when it just decides it wants to make stuff explode without much of a build-up) got the better of me: I couldn't shield against the explosion effectively (though I could to some degree against its physical attacks), if I managed to avoid one in front of me and it dropped another it would somehow be behind me and so I'd take more damage, and so on. When I did finally manage to land a scratch, it barely did any damage, so I knew two-handing would be the way to go again. Died some more, but after a couple of attempts I made a dramatic leap in progress and got it down by about a third of its health -- yeah, the explosion got me. My strategy at this point was to get in close, aim some two-handed slashes at its belly, and back off before it could charge it's explosive AoE ground stab or fly above and drop on me. Died a few more times after that, one of the times accidentally downing way too many Estus at once. I didn't realise it didn't have to go through the whole animation again once you start chugging, which will be good to know moving forwards. My main issue at this point is reading it's explosion attack, as it's initial feint looks similar to its sweeping attack, and so I would roll towards it - expecting to make use of some i-frames - and instead get destroyed by the explosion. I died a few more times (yeah, that happened a lot!), but I knew I had the timing on its physical attacks more or less down, it was just trying to find a way to minimise the damage from that explosion attack. I figure I might as well test the Crest Shield I picked up before, and what do you know, it absorbs the explosion (so long as I'm facing it) pretty well! I died on that test run, but quickly made some more progress, getting it down to nearly half of its health on one of my attempts. After getting it down to nearly half one time, I then managed to get it down to less than a third before succumbing. Things got really rocky for a while after that: my dodge roll timing was all off, I was consistently facing the wrong way during its explosion attacks, and I was dying much earlier. Taking a short break to regroup my thoughts would have been the smart thing, but I decide to double down and focus intently instead. I wasn't a fun of how uneven the ground was as it meant having to try to keep it in one spot (the mound in the middle of the room) to up my chances of successfully landing attacks, but the camera could be really unhelpful at times (in classic boss fashion, which I'm starting to get used to, locking on is your enemy, and so is the size of the enemy!). I started picking up on certain things, specifically what range I have to be at for it to attack in certain ways. Close up meant it would try to fly above (and I quickly learned I could simply walk away from it instead of having to run) or attempt it's AoE stab; mid-range would be its explosion attack; and at a longer range it would be its overhead slam, sweep attack, or even longer range still it would jump across the room in an attempt to skewer me. There were definitely a few times here where I would burn through Estus really quickly and then just offer myself up to its attacks -- it was clear that particular run would fail to get very far. My next frustration was either getting to around halfway, or the one time where I got it even closer to being down than before, eventually just not managing to escape the clutches of its AoE ground stab. Continued some more, I felt that I was getting close, and got it down to halfway, before the magic run happened. I managed to get it down halfway without using an Estus since my initial use of one to heal up (after falling through the floor), but things very quickly went south as it caught me off-guard with its explosion attack, and moments later I had chugged all four of my remaining Estus Flasks. Something weirdly consistent about these runs is that if I make it past the initial hump (where I get it to destroy all the pillars, which I started doing after getting caught on one) I'm normally already down to two Estus Flasks due to likely triggering its explosion attack, so this was going really well up until that point, but something I noticed happened with earlier bosses consistently happened here -- once I've downed my last Estus, there's a weird sense of there being less pressure, and I hone in and get to work. And so get to work I did, keeping my distance and getting it to use it's physical attacks as I used i-frame after i-frame to close in, get some two-handed slashes away, and either sprint away if it charged up it's AoE ground stab, or walk away a few yards if it started flying up before doubling back once it crashed down to deliver a few more hits (and I'd always feel pretty lucky to coax it into doing that 2-3 times in a row). Once it got down to about a third, not for the first time, an Estus randomly flew in and so I had a spare, which felt like the game urging me to carry on, and so I did. It managed to knock me a bit with one of its attacks after I ended up with less stamina than expected (due to a similar thing I came across in Demon's Souls, where for some reason I start doing a mostly unhelpful lunge attack?), and so I chugged that final Estus Flask with just over a third of my health left, while it has two and a bit bars. I rolled, sprinted away, and just tried to keep myself calm, as I find when I get close I either get too confident or get consumed by the heat of the moment, that anticipation of victory. Got it into one final loop of flying up and crashing down, landing a few slashes on its belly, and... ...it was done! Picked everything up, made my way over to the ladder...but I saw something above moving around before (one of those Black Knights, maybe?) from the boss arena, and so chose to play it safe and use the Homeward Bone instead. Back at the bonfire I levelled up a bit before I made my way back over to the nest, curled up into a ball, and it was back to Firelink I went. Hilariously I immediately fell off the narrow path to my death next to the nest in Firelink, so after making my way back over and being even more careful than I was before, I finally made it back to the bonfire at Firelink. I think my plan for next time is to make my way over to Andre, as I have a few spare souls on me and I think it's time to level up my gear a bit more before I head back on over to The Depths. It's definitely good to be back with this - taking a bit of a break from a game can definitely get in the way of getting back to it - and I look forward to kicking on over the weekend, and hopefully finding that second bell!

Okay they probably took it too far: But on the other hand, I need this:

Yeah, I thought the same, but that was more based on when it seemed like it would be a spin-off in the guise of Miles Morales or Lost Legacy. I think that with it being an expansion of the base game vs its own thing, it's probably best to share that now rather than at the next State of Play. I think there has to be one by the end of August, even if it's just one focusing entirely on Kena, because that's something they definitely leaned into for early PS5 marketing (I know it was as E3 briefly, but it wasn't one of the major events, and no stage is going to be as big for that game as a State of Play). To be honest, I just want to see some more of XVI already, they've taken much longer than I had expected to show us more, at least considering that they told us right after the event in September last year that more news was coming in 2021. I know Endwalker is releasing for XIV in November, and once we learned that was the case I think it all but confirmed XVI wasn't coming out this year, but with that being an MMO I think it's hard to cross any wires when it comes to your potential audience (compared with something like VII Remake). I'm holding out hope for one this month, mainly based on Keighley saying during Summer Game Fest that more news would be on the way in the coming weeks for Death Stranding's Director's Cut. I rambled a bit there, so back to Ghost of Tsushima: is anyone else a bit concerned about the upgrade pricing structure? I think it's great that we've had a free next-gen upgrade before for GoT, but that next-gen upgrade price if you supported the game at launch seems pretty steep, and I think it feeds a wider concern of mine that next-gen upgrades have been a scattered mess across the AAA board, ranging from free (Final Fantasy VII Remake) to £25 - £30 (for this). It has me concerned for a potential upgrade to Horizon Zero Dawn, and maybe even more so for something like The Last of Us Part II - I don't even know what else you could do to add more to that game after the most recent update, but considering they've seemingly managed to squeeze more out of Ghost of Tsushima, it wouldn't surprise me; I could see it being bundled with whatever Factions has grown into. It was inevitable, obviously, it's just been bizarre. I don't think it's being handled as well - or consistently - as it could be.

Think I completely skipped over it looking through the next-gen and expansion details, but there is also an upcoming update for the game coming from Sucker Punch outside of this: new photo mode updates, new accessibility options for controller remapping, option to turn on lock-on during combat, option to hide quiver during gameplay. I loved Photo Mode so I'm all for more for that, accessibility options are always a good thing to have, the option of hiding the quiver is neat, but the biggest thing has to be being able to lock-on to enemies during combat. Looking back at my original thoughts on the game when I played it last year... .. it's safe to say that's an update I'll be happy with (but seriously, can't believe it's taken them a year to finally bring a lock-on)

Based on the upgrade path it doesn't seem like it will be? I'm imagining something like a fisherman NPC taking you out there from Tsushima. After the leaks a week ago I was fully expecting a Miles Morales sort of situation, but I guess not I loved this on PS4, I took thousands of photos, I still listen to the soundtrack in a pretty regular basis, so...yeah, I'm probably picking this up I don't know if I'll be doing so at launch, though -- considering how much other upgrades have cost (or haven't), £25 - £30 to upgrade from the base PS4 version to PS5 feels steep. I didn't play in Kurosawa Mode at all last year precisely because the Japanese lip sync was completely broken, but now that it's fixed (that being listed as a PS5 feature is definitely a bit weird) I'll definitely be using it whenever I get around to a New Game+. Which won't be anytime soon I guess because of the save transfer, so I'd probably upgrade, take some quick photos, and then beeline for wherever Iki Island is

Director's Cut is coming 20th August: Upgrade path: Some more details on the PlayStation blog. Highlights: - fixed Japanese lip sync (!!!) - DualSense support - 3D audio enhancements - load time improvements - 4K options - targeting 60 FPS - save transfer

Pack it up, the celebrations this year can't possibly get better than this

Based on the last few weeks I'm surprised it wasn't: "We've acquired Nixxes to support our friends at Bluepoint as they collaborate on Hideo Kojima's Silent Hills"

The best place I found to do this was in the first Bronze Battleplex Challenge, clear the first wave and then just keep your distance from the pirates, soak up their shots, and then fire them back (remember to keep them in the middle of your screen). Clear this stage a couple of times and you should have it in no time. Only difficulty you might have is if you've upgraded the Void Reactor, your shield blast radius will be increased, so you might need to absorb their projectiles and then make sure you're far enough away (such as standing in a corner with them at least halfway across the arena) and then firing their shots back.

Well there it is: I held off on A Plague Tale the last few months after word for around that it was coming. Other games I'll gladly pass on