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I thought it was a good show, there were plenty of interesting new announcements but for once they actually gave us updates on games they've shown before - was good to see Blanc, Sports Story and A Little To The Left get release dates. Of the new ones I think I'm most likely to pick up Denba, Dordogne and Pepper Grinder, while World of Horror looked pretty mad so I'll definitely keep an eye on that.

It's mostly done installing after an hour or so but the estimated time left is disconcertingly climbing again - hope there isn't anything wrong with my disc drive...

My copy of God of War arrived a day early - thanks Base.com! - so, even though I won't be ready to start playing for a few days, I figured I'd get the game installed straight away. Just put the disc in and it estimates its going to take 8 hrs to copy, I assume it'll gradually speed up but even so, thats pretty nuts.

Xenoblade had a solid start too, selling 1.72 million units. There was also good news about Kirby, Forgotten Land is now the best selling game in the series history. I still can't believe that New Horizons has passed 40 million though, absolutely insane.

Finished the story last night and I feel similarly to you guys, narrative is a bit of a mess and there are some huge discrepancies in visual quality but the underlying gameplay is so varied and enjoyable that it's mostly an absolute joy to play through. Has to be the most videogamey-videogame I've ever played through

That's the Emery difference!

I started off October by playing a game that's been on my list for a while, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence on the PS3. For some reason I had it in my mind that it took about 20 hrs to complete so I was surprised when I checked just before starting it to discover it was far shorter - taking most people about 8 hrs to finish. I've played a few of Platinum's other titles so the quite restricted camera and movement was a bit unnerving to begin with, Raiden moves swiftly enough during combat (and in exploration when you can engage the ninja run) but the game frequently slows things down to a crawl during exposition which seems completely out of character and I didn't get used to it at all. In terms of story it was about what I expected - completely batshit insane, some things didn't quite make sense but I liked that World Marshall abducted orphans to harvest their brains in order to create cyborg soldiers, giving Raiden a compelling reason to take them down. I never quite clicked with the combat so I'm not sure how sophisticated or multilayered it is, I seemed to get by with button mashing for most of it (much more so than I did with any other Platinum game) and it was only really during the final boss that I hit a brick wall. It was such a step up in terms of difficulty from the rest of the game, it didn't seem like I was making any inroads at all and it was only by using a set of DLC armor with a bunch of extra recovery items that I was finally able to defeat them. There are some greats nods to the wider Metal Gear series, most notably the reappearance of a particular character from MGS4, but it feels even more detached from reality than the mainline series and functions more as a thrill ride than a narrative experience. I certainly enjoyed my time with the game but it wasn't quite the revelation I'd thought it was going to be, it's a solid effort but it didn't have the same depth or impact for me as Platinum's other games - I might revisit it one day and connect with the combat more than I did this time but for the moment I'm happy to leave it behind and move onto other games. One of the systems I wanted to play more of after getting a Retroid Pocket 2 was GBA so I decided to revisit a title I had fond memories of from my youth, the GBA port of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. My brother got it at launch and I played it to death, constantly racking up high scores, so I was surprised by how awkward it was to play when I first fired it up again recently - the isometric viewpoint takes some getting used to, making it a challenge to navigate the levels and gather collectables. I was so clumsy to begin with, really struggling to pull off combos of more than a couple of basic tricks, but eventually I started to get the hang of things and work my way through each of the levels goals. I'd forgotten how frustrating it is in the early stages of Tony Hawk games, the skater's stats are so borked at the beginning that it can really screw up the learning curve, it isn't until you've earned some money and upgraded things like ollie, air, hangtime that you start to feel more capable, making learning easier as you go on. I wouldn't say I exactly loved my time playing through it again but I did still enjoy it enough to very nearly 100% - I think I was only one goal short, that secret tape on New York City was always just out of reach. I can't say I expected to love it as much as I did when I was a teenager but I was hoping it would stir up some of the same feelings, at least I know Tony Hawk 3 & 4 on PS2 still hold the same magic. Next up was another long overdue title, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. In terms of mainline Zelda games it was the only one I hadn't completed, I'd played it a few times on various systems but could never get very far - put off by the difficulty and how completely unfamiliar it was - so I thought it was high time I finally laid those ghosts to rest. Thanks to the Switch online's rewind function it definitely felt less daunting this time around, I still wasn't really sure where to go but I at least felt like I was making progress, levelling up as I blindly explored this iteration of Hyrule. The pseudo random encounters are pretty out of character for the series and at times feel unavoidable, no matter how much you move around one of them seems to catch up to you eventually. Visually it isn't exactly nice to look at, I suppose the side scrolling sections are a step up from the first game, with larger sprites and more detail, but there are so many strange angles inside buildings that just look amateurish nowadays. I was surprised by the depth of the gameplay though, the map is much more sprawling than I expected it to be, progression can be cryptic and obtuse at times (I don't mind admitting that I had to look quite a few things up) but it all adds up to create one of the most comprehensive NES games I've played. The RPG systems aren't the deepest, pretty much pointing you to which attributes to upgrade, but they add a flavour that is unique in the series, even when you're repeating the same screens over and over trying to work out where to go next it doesn't feel like time wasted - you're still earning experience points and building up Link's strength. Like Metal Gear Rising though I struggled to really connect with the combat, controlling Link obviously isn't anywhere near as versatile as controlling Raiden but with some of the later bosses I really struggled to work out their patterns, making me resort to using rewind more than seemed fair, so rather than feel like I conquered the final boss it felt more like I'd fudged my way through it. I think one of the reasons I left Zelda II for last was because I expected it to be a bad game, one that would be a real chore to play through, so I'm glad to have been proven wrong on that point. It certainly isn't the greatest Zelda game ever made but it's still one that's worth persevering with, especially with the additional QOL features that emulation affords, it's a strange, unique and ultimately rewarding entry in the long running series that I can safely say I'll look back on fondly from now on. Getting the Halloween mood, I intended to close out October by playing through Deadly Premontion 2: A Blessing In Disguise on Switch. As I documented last year I'm something of a recent convert to Swery65's work, moved by The Missing and engrossed by the clumsy charm of Deadly Premonition Origins, so I was really looking forward to playing another entry in his gameography. I was aware that DP2 had divided opinion in a similar fashion to the first game, critics unable to overlook glaring technical issues and awkward design choices, but even with tempered expectations first impressions of the open world were rough to say the least. There is so much pop-in while skating around Le Carre, so many hitches in the framerate, that it was impossible to ignore it - it made exploring the town an incredibly disorienting experience at first, but the real problems came when I first encountered enemies. The engine seemed to stutter for a full second when I aimed York's gun, making combat feel even more sluggish, I'm not really one for complaining about framerate or resolution, I can generally overlook some jank and still enjoy a game, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to overlook it this time if the issues were so glaring throughout. In terms of the story DP2 functions as both a sequel and a prequel to the first game, jumping between present day (2019) where a now retired Morgan is being questioned by two FBI agents about a case he worked in 2005, a series of gruesome murders in the quiet Louisiana town of Le Carre. There was thankfully enough intrigue from early on in the narrative that I was able to push past the technical problems and begin to engage with the gameplay and once I combat encounters towards the end of the first episode I was relieved to discover that the hitches in performance were nowhere near as impactful as I had feared. As the story unfolded and the mystery unravelled I found myself getting more and more engrossed, perhaps more captivated than I was by the first game. Some of the performances are fantastic, even if the dialogue can be stilted at times, there were still some incredibly touching and beautiful moments. Besides the glaring technical problems my main complaint with the design is how much padding there is, there is no need for the story to take 20 hrs to complete - it would have benefitted hugely by being 5 or 6 hours shorter - an issue that isn't helped by the implementation of yet another empty open world. It would also be remiss of me not to mention the use of backwards and disappointing tropes around trans, overweight and mentally challenged characters, something that is particularly frustrating given that Swery himself showed how to sensitively handle representation in The Missing. Still, those very real problems aside, DP2 is as goofy and engrossing as the first game, with Swery managing to deliver a fresh take on the formula he established with the 2010 original - I hope we see more from the series in the future. I finished Deadly Premontion sooner than expected so there was just enough time to squeeze in a short one before the month was out so I fired up Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters on my Retroid Pocket 2. I played the original NES game towards the end of 2016 and didn't really feel like I clicked with it, it suffered from familiar 8-bit problems in that it seemed unforgiving and unfair - a proof of concept that was a little rough around the edges - so I was pleased to discover that the GB follow-up is more of a complete package. Visually it's a huge step up while the levels are larger and more freely explorable, offering continuous scrolling rather than the more limited screen-based levels of the first game. Although it wasn't quite as challenging as the first game I still found myself relying on rewind during some of the later boss fights (the final boss especially) but my main criticism is with how much HP the bosses had - it could be my fault, I only used Pit's standard bow - they took an absolute age to defeat, real arrow sponges they were. Again, not the most revelatory experience but it definitely felt like a solid, natural progression for the series to take, it's strange that Nintendo never revisited the series on the SNES or GBA, it seems like it had a lot of potential to be a mainstay among Nintendo's line up - will definitely check out Uprising at some point down the line. Currently enjoying the latest witch hunts in Bayonetta 3 which I should finish this weekend so hopefully I can squeeze in another short one before God of War arrives next week.

I'm about 4 chapters in and I'm mostly loving it - still haven't quite got back up to speed with the controls but I'm enjoying how balls to the wall wild it is. Unfortunately I've come down with a nasty virus so haven't felt up to playing it today - hoping it clears up soon, I'm terrible at being ill.

Not surprised by the price tag, Sony can't loss lead like Meta have been able to do and it's much more advanced than the first PSVR. The real disappointment is the inconsistency with patches for original PSVR games, they never actually sold that many units so it feels like Sony should have stumped up to make conversions free. I am interested in picking one up but won't be stumping up that much, unless I come into some money between now and February - the cost of my PS5 was subsidised by selling my PS4 Pro and some Pokémon cards so there's no way I could afford £500+

If medical science progresses to the point that I could be healthy, mobile and in my right mind then absolutely, I'd love to stick around for as long as possible, but I'm not optimistic about that being the case. I wouldn't be averse to cybernetic upgrades if that was an option, would love an artiforg heart and reinforced bones to keep me going into my 100's, anything to delay the inevitable.

Review embargo is up and as expected it's getting pretty much universal praise, sitting at an 89 on Metacritic. Plenty of publications saying it's the best entry in the series too. Don't think I'll be able to play it straight away, just started another game, but definitely looking forward to digging in.

I hadn't watched Taylor's videos or read much beyond a brief overview when I posted my initial reaction so I wasn't aware of her comments about Jennifer Hale, which definitely seem out of line. I was mostly appalled because by how under valued voice actors have become, if the star of an established franchise is only offered $4k to voice an entire game (that seems a genuinely criminal rate thats against all union regulations), but I think the headlines were misleading - it seems as if the $4k may have been another form of compensation rather than her absolute take home pay but I'm not exactly an expert on voice acting contracts and I don't think we'll get much more detail on the matter considering all the NDA's people have to sign. It definitely doesn't seem as black and white as it first seemed, and I think Jennifer Hale's statement about the matter was very respectful, Hellena Taylor's dubious social media activity certainly raises some red flags, but whatever transpired voice actors are certainly not as respected as much as they deserve to be and its an industry wide problem that needs to be rectified.

Yeah, that's pretty disgusting. It really seems like they just wanted to hire someone else so offered her a pathetic amount knowing she would never accept it. I know voice actors aren't compensated as well as they should be but $4000 for the main role in a big franchise really is insultingly low - a slap in the face considering the excellent work Hellena has done in the previous games, I can totally understand why she's speaking up. Hopefully this makes Nintendo and Platinum rethink their behaviour in future but I can see it being more likely for them to pursue a legal case against her for breaking the NDA.

I played through a few more games in September, starting out revisiting a game I had fond memories of from my childhood, Mr Nutz on the SNES - it's a game I probably would have played through already if it had ever been released on the Virtual Console or Nintendo Switch Online but the rights are probably tied up in limbo now that Ocean are defunct. As a kid I don't remember ever seeing anything beyond the level when you get washed down the plug hole so it was interesting to see how things progressed as the game went on but I can't say I particularly enjoyed playing through it. There are some neat visual effects and sprite work, with plenty of secrets to find if you want to dig deeper but it didn't really click for me, I never felt the urge to explore more than I needed to. As 16-bit platformers go I can see how it would have been impressive to critics at the time, and it was definitely captivating to my 6 or 7 year old self, but going back to it now it is a bit of a slog. I finally picked up Unpacking on the Switch so I played through that over a couple of nights. It's a charming and relaxing experience for the most part but it didn't really grab me the way I had expected it to, from the little I'd heard about the game I assumed the story would be more impactful but in the end it was a pretty simple tale. There was one moment, I think during the third level, that hit me quite hard though - it was the act of shifting things around, trying to fit in your new partner's things, that took me back to when I moved in with my ex-girlfriend, stirring up a range of emotions that made me a bit teary eyed for the rest of the night. That was probably the high point of the game for me though, by its nature it isn't very complex so I suppose there isn't much room for the gameplay to evolve, but it would have been more rewarding if there was more of a puzzle element to where you place things - besides a few rules about which room certain items need to go in, it seems like you can put things pretty much wherever you like. Still, I spent an enjoyable few hours with the game so would recommend it to anyone looking for a game to chill out with. Next up I played through Stray on PS5, another game that didn't quite live up to my expectations. Things started off quite strong, it had a laid back and slow paced feel to it and I was enjoying scurrying about with the other cats in the opening section, but even when the story took an inevitably tragic turn I was still under its spell, taking my time exploring the run down and abandoned parts of the city. I appreciated how unconventional it was, drawn in by the concept of an almost wordless narrative, even if the movement options were more restrictive than I would have liked, exploring the environment at my own pace with the goal of reuniting the main cat with his friends was really appealing to me. Unfortunately things started to tail off once the robots, or Companions as the game calls them, showed up, shattering my hopes and expectations for the game. That's not to say I didn't enjoy those aspects on their own merits, there were still some great moments as I played through the game but it became much more conventional than I had hoped, I can see why some people are tipping it for GOTY, there's plenty of charm in its visuals, world design and gameplay but it just didn't hit the right notes for me personally. Lastly I played Wave Race 64 on the N64 Switch Online app, the only entry in the Wave Race series that I was yet to get around to playing. Compared to my experiences with the GB entry a few weeks earlier, I instantly felt more at home when I fired this up and did the first courses in the Championship mode, and I made quick work of clearing the Normal difficulty. There was certainly a bit of a steep learning curve with some of the later courses though, and there was more finesse to the controls than I had initially given them credit for so things got steadily more challenging as I worked my way through Hard and onto Expert. Expert mode lived up to its billing, on my first couple of attempts I didn't earn enough points to be able to progress beyond the fourth or fifth races so it took a bit of practice to familiarise myself with the intricacies of each course and eventually I managed to make it all the way through to the final course, somehow managing enough points to finish top of the rankings. Moving onto Reverse mode I expected the challenge to ratchet up another gear or two but in the end it was actually surprisingly easy, I finished in 1st on the first four races which set me up pretty comfortably and I didn't finish any lower than 2nd on any of the final four races, coming top of the rankings by a long way. In terms of ranking alongside the other games in the series its quite easy to slot it into second spot, behind Blue Storm - beating that felt much more rewarding, it was less about chance and more about skill - but 64 was still a tonne of fun to play through, it's a real shame Nintendo has never revisited the franchise, it deserves better! Lots of big games on the horizon, I definitely haven't played as many games as I'd have liked so far this year so hopefully I can get a few more under my belt before the likes of Bayonetta and God of War arrive on the scene.

That's good to know, I was definitely a bit worried about the Switch release of GoldenEye being pretty rough compared to the Xbox if it stuck to the same framerate as the N64 original so this sets my mind at rest that it'll be a smoother experience. I'm not as confident as you that we'll get Perfect Dark though - as amazing as that would be - I just can't see Nintendo giving us everything we want.

Forgot they were dropping the trailer at 9pm so only just watched it. It was okay I guess, Mario does look a bit weird in motion at first but I'll probably get used to that, definitely wasn't a fan of Pratt's performance though - yes it's a bit unfair to judge it on such a short clip but it did seem a bit phoned in. I've never seen any other Illumination films but I can safely say they're probably not for me so I don't really care whether this film is any good or not. Will be interesting to see what the rest of the cast sounds like.

It does look like they're plushies, making me think that Mario starts out human but turns into a toy when he arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom

I had no idea Nintendo released such a high capacity memory card - though 259 was as high as it went

I can kind of understand it if they're just bringing it up the same spec as Forbidden West, basically tweaking things slightly to implement accessibility options and take advantage of new graphical capabilities of the updated Decima engine but it does sound like they're taking the same sort of approach as The Last of Us Remake. No doubt they'll charge full price for it too. I haven't played Zero Dawn yet but I have the Complete Edition in my library, which has been patched to take advantage of PS5's extra power so it really doesn't seem necessary to go to the trouble of making a brand new native port. I don't think it's entirely fair to say that the only first party releases are Returnal, Ratchet and Demon's Souls (the cross gen releases haven't been held back as much as they might have been in previous generations) but there has definitely been a dearth of games that take full advantage of the new hardware. I haven't really noticed, I've still got plenty of PS4 games to play through, but I can see how it would be worrying to more die hard PS fans to see major studios getting tied up working unnecessary ports of very recent games.

It's ridiculous, it wouldn't even be surprising if he scored 50 league goals this season. Could have Shearer's record wrapped up before he even turns 28.

Unfortunately we won't be getting any more seasons of the Shenmue anime, Adult Swim have confirmed that the series has been cancelled. Crunchyroll will keep the episodes available to stream but HBO Max will be deleting it from their service. It's a bit of a shame, it seemed as if it the first season was pretty well received, and its a big blow to the franchise in general. I watched the first season earlier this year and I enjoyed it, even if it felt a bit rushed (wish they'd focused on the first game, gone a bit more in depth, perhaps fleshing it out with new side stories and characters, rather than cramming the story of the first two games into 13 episodes) but despite some issues it definitely had promise so I'm pretty disappointed we won't be seeing any more episodes. I was hopeful it would renew interest in the series enough for Yu Suzuki to be able to finish telling the story in Shenmue 4 but at the very least I thought we'd get to see it wrapped up in subsequent seasons of the anime - now that its cancelled the chances of Ryo's story being completed seem incredibly remote.

Sorry to hear how much you've been struggling, take care of yourself - hope you feel better soon

I'm a little late to the party with my August update, and I only managed to play two games because most of my time was taken up by playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on Switch. I won't go into too much detail about the specifics of the story or the characters but it definitely had the weakest start of any of the entries in the series that I've played, it all felt a bit too fragmented and overwhelming, throwing too many characters at you in one go, the earlier entries allow you to focus a bit more on one main character which helps to ease you in, so it was a little jarring not to have that this time around. I appreciate that Monolith have made more of an effort to make the game more accessible to new players this time, they do a better job at explaining the mechanics, but it does feel like they went a bit overboard at times, holding your hand to the point of forcing you to follow the on-screen instructions as it walks you through switching classes or assigning gems which can be a bit irritating and break the flow early on in the game. Despite the developers being more accommodating to new players the battle system still felt pretty overwhelming, even as a veteran of the series the pace at which new systems are introduced made my head spin at times and the changes from XC2 took me a while to get used to. I soon got the hang of things though, it wasn't long before the story and characters drew me in and as I reached the end of the first chapter I was well and truly hooked. Visually I think it might be the most stunning game in the series, Monolith seem to have ironed out the most glaring issues in terms of image quality, I haven't watched the DF analysis yet so I'm sure if you really nitpick the resolution isn't very high on paper, but it holds up really well in motion and really allows the characters and environments to pop. Some of the locales are absolutely stunning, Xenoblade has always done scale really well but 3 takes it to a whole other level, there were countless awe inspiring moments as I was exploring the world, it really is a gorgeous looking game. One aspect of the presentation that really impressed with me was the sheer number of characters on screen, having so many party members actively taking part in battle can certainly be overwhelming and chaotic at times but I hardly ever noticed the frame rate suffer, even with all the effects going on, definitely Monolith's most accomplished technical achievement yet. Another major improvement over previous entries comes in the side quests, forgoing the fetch quest heavy design in favour of deeper and more involved quests, the most notable being the addition of Hero quests. It is so easy to get side tracked and spend hours at a time away from the story, delving deeper into the lives of the NPC's and building affinity with each colony - some of my favourite character moments came from entirely optional quests. It's hard to know where to rank Xenoblade 3 among the other entries in the series, in terms of the story it is definitely has the strongest 'Saturday morning cartoon' vibes that make it feel a bit daft at times, but it also had some of the most touching moments I've experienced across the series. I didn't click with the battle system in the same way I did during my playthrough of 2 or Torna but in the end it turned out to be the easiest game I've played in the series, allowing me to beat the final battle at my first attempt. There are obviously drawbacks and negatives from my time with the game, it's practically impossible for a 100 hour + game to be utterly perfect, but on the whole Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was a very special experience that will stay with me for a very long time - definitely a contender for GOTY. Once I was finished with Xenoblade, I wrapped up August by playing through the original Wave Race on my Retroid Pocket. I don't have too much to say about it, I really struggled to get to grips with the controls so when I got to the higher classifications I was quickly left behind by the CPU so I didn't feel up to pushing on and actually 'completing' the game. It seems like it was pretty impressive for the time and the hardware but I think I'm too used to playing more modern racing games to be able to click with a top down racer. I might go back to it in future, see if I can learn the intricacies of the controls, but at the moment I'm happy to leave it behind and move onto other things. It's been a while since I played anything on PS5 so I'll probably try and play through a few games on there next, try and clear my backlog before the big end of year games arrive to monopolise my time.

Do you guys think there is any chance Nintendo release the first two Pikmin games on Switch before the new one comes out? I've never completed any of them but would like to play through the series, would be nice to be able to do that on Switch rather than setting up my Wii to play those versions

Sweet, will definitely pick this up when it comes out