Julius

It's been available on Xbox and PC for a while now, but Deep Rock Galactic is finally coming to PS4 and PS5 next month! Dwarves, mines, alien creatures and guns. Looks like a hell of a lot of fun, already convinced my mates to hop in with me when it launches if you need further convincing that this game might be for you, I definitely recommend checking out Skill-Up's video:

Oh yeah, I get that. But I don't know, when it comes to online multiplayer games like this I'm definitely one of those "it's the journey not the destination"-types. Not saying that the journey is always going to be good (like you say, the campaign reviewed pretty terribly), I just think it's an odd thing to cut from the game when bringing it to PS+, even if it makes sense. I don't know why you'd choose to upgrade for the poorly reviewed campaign, either? It's just...weird. I want to say that the Monster Hunter World approach with Iceborne and XIV's approach with its DLC, basically paying your way into the newest content / endgame and being given appropriate gear / levels for the challenge, might have been a more convincing approach...but yeah, the fact that no-one is interested to begin with makes that a bad idea. Oh well, just another one to throw on the pile of PS+ titles I'll probably add to my library and never boot up

The games of December: People have (rightly, in my opinion) been kicking up a fuss over Godfall's Challenger Edition, which seems to cut out the real meat of the full game. From PushSquare: We've seen some bizarre decisions over the last 12 months with these PS+ titles, but I think this takes the cake for the weirdest.

Todd Howard talking over more concept art in this latest update, before they start talking about it in vague terms and oblique concepts: We've been getting a fair bit lately, and we're less than a year out; this game feels nailed on to appear at The Game Awards, right, with an actual gameplay trailer? Really feel like it could be a missed opportunity for Xbox / Bethesda if not, given how Xbox have good ties with Keighley, there will be a lot of eyes on the show from owners of other systems, etc., from a casual perspective maybe even more so than Xbox's E3 might get. I just want to see more

Nintendo Switch recorded it's best sales week in the UK off the back of some crazy Black Friday sales: We're just four months away from the console turning five years old, so that's pretty insane. Crazy to think what might happen next year if they were to slash their console RRP's a bit (not that they need to, but clearly the massive savings to be had were a big reason for it's great sales last week).

Next-gen update aiming for a Q1 2022 release: Please don't release in February, please don't release in February, please don't release in February...

That's fair enough honestly going through and releasing them all individually after has been a bit of a pain, but it's faster than the alternative for getting all the Ultra Balls and Quick Balls I'll need to get my Dex to where I want it (as opposed to the resort couple + Vs. Seeker to farm money), so I'll take it. Can't help but find it hilarious how many methods there are to exploit the game, just like back in the day. I'm not going to do it, but I've seen that it's possible to break boundaries with Surf again to go get yourself a Shaymin. Yeah, I've got to play the DLC at some point anyways, but I've got Sword so I might take you up on your offer when Home launches, if the offer still stands then, would greatly appreciate it Unless my luck drastically improves before we trade, I might be interested in both an Aipom and a Heracross if you don't mind? Slathering honey over trees in this and getting nothing, I'm very confused about how easily I got a Heracross in Platinum for my first playthrough back in the day...

Welp, there are multiple methods now to clone Pokémon now, meaning much faster ways to duplicate items. Fastest I've found: Reminds me of hearing about the GTS cloning method back on the original games. Man, this game is so busted, but still, guess this will save me having to buy loads of Balls now, as well as the time that the other exploit took. It's tough because I don't like making use of such exploits, but it just saves time plus, I still need to catch the things! @Glen-i let me know if you'd be interested in a Dialga clone that you can keep for a Palkia clone, until there's an event I guess this will probably be the only way I can get a Living, BDSP-Caught #387 - #493

Atlus really are bringing everything to the Switch besides mainline Persona, huh? Thanks for reminding me that I've had the PS4 version sitting on my shelf, SEGA hopefully this will bump it up the pecking order some!

Finding an Electirizer took around two hours, probably 30+ Elekid, and that's with a Super Luck Absol out front using Thief, a Pokémon with Static in my party, and only Electric-type statues in my base. That was painful. On the upside though, I now have 10+ Electirizers for anyone who needs one

@Glen-i I've got the remaining four exclusives you need hatched and ready to trade for Thursday: Caterpie, Ekans, Seedot and Kecleon. I'll keep them to the side for you will also have a few trade evolutions to do when the time comes too, which could help with your Dex also: Graveler, Machoke, and Porygon > Porygon2 > Porygon-Z (I have a few Upgrades and Dubious Discs ready for that one). The Ditto trade is definitely helping because there are now eggs popping out of these Pokémon I'm breeding like Catholic rabbits So I've got all of the non-legendary exclusives apart from Larvitar ready to go, if anyone else needs them / wants them earlier in the game: In terms of rare Pokémon, a Feebas would be greatly appreciated, and I'm also looking for a Yanma if anyone manages to get one at the Great Marsh (I've had no luck so far). I'll also need a Magmarizer to evolve Magmar, though it's a pain to find (seems like the only place to find it is in the Grand Underground with a 5% attach rate to Magby; thanks to the duplication exploit, you should only need to find one to duplicate!), so that would certainly be appreciated, and I'll be hunting down an Elekid with an Electirizer next and duplicating that for trade too. Why they didn't keep the attach rates the same as they were in the original games I have no idea, that's got to be one of the strangest decisions in the game given some of their other decisions, like how many starter Pokémon I'm encountering in the Grand Underground. Think I'm adjusting my aims to a completed Sinnoh Dex and then a Living, BDSP-caught #387 - #493 (I mean, bar Palkia of course!). Beyond that I've got a list of things I want to do now before I put the game down, not sure how much I'll bother with the Battle Tower and National Dex at this point, so at least I've set myself an endgame of sorts. Already spent much more time with this than I did Sword... though that does make me want to check out the DLC and even Let's Go. Though I might save my hunger for more Pokémon until Legends: Arceus so that I don't burn out! Also... Yeah, still works like a charm. First Mesprit encounter, Mean Look + False Swipe + Hypnosis and then caught with the first Ultra Ball. I guess making faithful remakes meant keeping quirks like that around

Thanks again Glen!

That would be great if you don't mind! Also @Ike I just tested the duplication method you shared and it works like a charm! Definitely going to be helpful in avoiding the Dex evolution grind and to duplicate trade evolution items, thanks for sharing it going to make a rule for myself to only use those Rare Candies to evolve Pokémon I'm not going to use (because these post-game battles are proving to be a fun challenge!), but man, as if this game needed something to make it even easier for newcomers. Then again, it gets rid of the need to grind out the post-game, which might be nice. Oh the sweet, sweet irony of the last Pokémon game I cheated in also being the first one I cheated in, with a friend's Action Replay months after we'd all finished the original Diamond & Pearl, and the remakes being the next one's I could potentially now go for 999 Rare Candies in. Doubt I'll need that many, but this takes me back for sure

Awesome, I've got to cross all my fingers for a Porygon to turn up at Trophy Garden and find some Electirizers, but for now it's back down into the mines for me to find those other exclusives! Cheers @Glen-i

Yeah I'm trying to catch them in the same Balls I used back on the original Diamond! Also, that's what the Mean Look Ralts are for

Oh yeah that's fine, these poor things are going to be stuck in the PC a loooooong time

Just coming in now

Yep, sounds great my only trade evolutions are Dusclops and Rhydon, so that's cool too. I'll be a couple of minutes, just going to sort out a box so I don't lose track

Cool did you want them all as eggs, or just the Elekid? As most of mine are already hatched or are freshly caught, so if you do want them all as eggs, I might be a little while did you want a Mean Look Ralts? Also got a couple of trade evolutions to trade and trade back too (Dusclops and Rhydon)

Well, that could definitely save me needing to farm cash for more Poké Balls...might have to give it a try Also, re: breeding / exclusives / rare Pokémon, I'm not done getting all of the version exclusive Pokémon yet, but here's what I've got so far and am starting to prep for trading through breeding or catching duplicates: I also have two spare Mean Look Ralts for anyone looking to get an ultimate catching Gallade going (Mean Look / Hypnosis or Thunder Wave / False Swipe / etc.) if anyone is interested. Also up to swap my Ditto with someone else's to make breeding easier for both of us @Glen-i I'm in the process of breeding Elekid right now if you're still waiting on one (sorry, I know I've taken a while, so you might already have one?); if you do still need it, do you still want it as an egg? I have Lv. 1 Elekids and an egg too, so either way, if you still need it I've got you covered! I've seen that the Electirizer is Brilliant Diamond exclusive and can seemingly only be found with a 5% attach rate to Elekid, which I've only come across once in the Grand Underground (walked in and out of the room 10+ times too!), so that could be a pain to get a hold of if that is the case. I might just need to just keep walking in until I find one and then try to duplicate it as Ike shared.

Man, this really is a game of two halves. Playing last night I heard their take on Route 228 (Night), and it might be one of the most botched tracks in the game when compared to the original version. It actually makes me wince hearing what they did at 0:25. I paused a podcast to walk into the area last night, and at what cost?! But on the other hand, they nailed Route 228 (Day) and I spent hours exploring a small fraction of the Grand Underground. What they did with the Pokémon Hideaways and having so many rare Pokémon around and visible might be one of my favourite Pokémon-hunting experiences in a Pokémon game, the only real downside seems to be that I'm quickly running out of Poké Balls! Got to imagine the resort / Vs. Seeker exploit is still around with how faithful this game is to the originals, so I might need to do some cash farming

Housemarque and the Returnal team seem to be teasing something... DLC in time for The Game Awards perhaps?

If anyone is into musicals, would highly recommend Tick, Tick...Boom! after watching it last week. Guess I would also recommend if you aren't into them, too It's Lin-Manuel Miranda's film directing debut, and while it's not without flaws (it can get a little preachy and the pacing is a bit off at times), Andrew Garfield carries the entirety of the film portraying Jonathan Larson (the playwright for Rent who passed away on its first day of Off-Broadway previews), and I fully expect him to get an Oscar nomination for this performance. Dude can sing! I typically avoid musicals (they aren't really my cup of tea), but while there were still some performances I cringed at a bit, there are some great performances in there. Therapy might be one of my favourite sequences to lace together separate acting and singing performances, and there are some other songs I just haven't been able to get out of my head, like 30/90. Good stuff, worth giving it a watch

Everyone knows that you just pass your little brother the controller that's not connected, and suddenly everything's multiplayer

Yeah, first place I went to check just to see what they said after seeing everything in the Sinnoh Dex great reward, though in handheld mode it sounds awfully...tinny? Anyways, haven't been able to play too much this week unfortunately, so will probably spend the weekend focusing on catching more exclusives