Hero-of-Time

Where is your review, @Glen-i? As per the yearly tradition, I wanna see the ludicrous amount of hours you've played in 2024.

Exactly and that's what's annoying the developers so much. It's one rule for the small guy and another for EA.

In Australia both it and EA FC are rated M, so at least there's some consistency there.

Confirmed for other platforms and out late next year.

Definitely the best outcome from those rumours. I was concerned that they would be acquired, which is something that needs to stop happening, and this seems to be a happy middle ground.

Nah. Still not picked it up. I've got far too many JRPGs to get through as it is. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of DQ3.

Given how many JRPGs you get through, I'm surprised that genre didnt win.

Shoddy year for me. Mixture of a quiet Switch release schedule and the majority of my time being on the PS4/5. 54 hours on Mario Party in single player is pretty hilarious.

Games leaving in January.

Nah, you did the right thing starting with this entry. It sets the story up for the rest of the series, as well as giving an idea on how the likes on Resident Evil 2 and 3 play out. Saying that, if you can't get to grips with the controls then the remake of 2 and 3 would probably suit you more. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. The original games are quite unique and the first time you play one will be a slow burn. Once you get a feel for the puzzles, controls and start memorising the area, you will be flying through it. I lived through the tank control era and so they come second nature to me but I can imagine them being rough for a young whipper snapper like yourself. Can't you change them in the HD version? I thought you could, it's just that they are still a bit fiddly due to the prerended background environments and fixed camera angles. As for the Crimson Heads, if you kill a zombie in an area you think you'll be returning to on a regular basis then it's best to burn the body. It's either that or risk having to face a tough enemy when going back and forth.

Yeah, Nix was cute enough but Sabaac I wasn't a fan of. It didn't help that I was playing it completely wrong for the first half of the game. I was baffled as to why my opponents were getting extra chips or placing limitations on me. I then realised I could do the same to them with the abilities that you unlock. Once I figured that out, as well as unlocking the cheat to draw 2 cards, it was a piece of cake.

A game that is a very mixed bag. The world of Star Wars is very well represented here. The planets, characters, music and overall look of the game certainly do the franchise justice. That's pretty much where my praise ends. The gameplay is very much a cookie cutter, Ubisoft game. They seem to have taken a lot of inspiration from their Assassin's Creed IP and slapped on a Star Wars skin. The stealth missions being a big comparison. Even when the game doesn't require you to sneak about, it still punishes you a lot of the time for being in open combat. A lot of the side missions start off being a little fun but soon become a grind and very repeatative, with the same kind of thing being repeated on each of the 4 planets. Despite the numerous patches the game has had since release, I still had a fair few glitches. I had one where my speeder bike got stuck in the ground and wouldn't move, a couple of hard crashes that lost some of my misson progress and this gem right here happened on more than one occasion... Yeah, I would have loved to have got a move on except I couldn't! In terms of SW games, this year I've played through this, Clone Wars, Battlefront Collection and Dark Forces Remastered and this was easily the worst of the bunch.

Poor dude is now getting harassed over his message.

Skyward Sword OST has now been added.

Absolute joke of a decision.

Yeah, but I've heard Okami really drags on for far too long. It's why I've always put off playing it.

I should really play the original. I've had the HD version on my backlog for ages now. Maybe one for a 2025 gaming pledge.

I think they do a good job leveraging their old and new IP. Certainly better than most publishers. Dragons Dogma 2, Dead Rising remastered, the Mega Man and Phoenix Wright collections, Ghost and Goblins revival, Exoprimal, Kunitsu-Gami...lots on offer from these guys. It's just that the games you mentioned are the ones that have more mainstream success. Anyway, this was my announcement of the show. Crazy that Era were kinda predicting it, what with the game going on sale just before the event. Love the original trilogy and Blade Warriors, with the first 2 games being two of my favourite PS2 games. I never did get around to playing Dawn of Dreams though. There's lots of discussion about whether or not Capcom will make this a Souls type game. It certainly would fit the genre nicely. I'd be happy if they kept it as it was or went the Souls route. Either way, it's great to see the franchise make its return.

The game finally dropped to a far more reasonable price of £36 and so I picked it up at Argos on Friday. Loved it. The game went back to the roots of what Lego games used to be, which is a fun, linear experience. I've spoke on here a few times about how bloated the Lego games have become since going all open world but this one went back to basics and it was a far better experience, IMO. The game is essentially a retelling of the first Horizon game, except they add a lot of Lego humour to it and give the characters a little more personality. You can tell the developers had fun with this side of things and it was great that Sony allowed them to play around with the IP. The game is an example of how my opinion doesn't really match with a lot of the gaming industry. The game was marked down in reviews for being too linear and easy but sometimes that's exactly what I want in a game, especially when most of them these days seem to be going with an open world setting.

Glorious.

This is your first time playing a Resi game? You're in for a treat. Yeah, the controls can take some getting used to but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. The game was something very special back on the Gamecube and it still holds up to this day.

@Julius https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/granblue-fantasy-relink-ps5-4486575

I played through it yesterday and loved it to bits. Very festive. Vibes kinda reminded me of Christmas Nights on the Sega Saturn.