Ganepark32

Looks like one of the indie games that'll be turning up might be Humanity, the next game from Enhance (Tetris Effect), or at least thats what I get from this tweet: Its been a while since they've shown it but it was announced for PS4 and I'm going to guess it'll be heading to PS5. Could be reading too much into that tweet but the timing definitely makes it seem likely that we'll see Humanity during the State of Play.

Wreckfest is great fun so thats a nice addition next month. Amazed its the PS5 version and just curious to see it running as they've shown nothing but a 30 second teaser trailer when they announced it. Probably just pull it more in line with the PC version but should minimise the frame rate drops when things got chaotic. Not fussed for Battlefield V. Bought it when it released but just didn't take to its single player or multiplayer, after having played a ton of Battlefield 1. At this point, I just want a Bad Company 3 but I know that its not the same DICE these days so it'll never happen. And Stranded Deep is just so janky. Have it on Xbox One and its rough playing it on there. From what I've heard from those who've played it on PS Now, its still rough on PS4 and running on a PS5. Just a low budget survival game that runs poorly and doesn't really play well so not a great addition. So a mixed month. Not as great as previous but we'll get months like this now and then.

It continues to look fantastic in that release trailer. The buzz surrounding it from the press that have their review copies is sounding very good, and the couple of reviews that leaked early suggest that it'll make good on its showings and be a substantial experience (I've seen 30+ hours banded about). So looks like Housemarque appear to have nailed their first go at a AAA title. We'll see more from reviews tomorrow afternoon but seems that way anyway. The more I see of it, the more my mind seems to be drawing me to pick it up sooner rather than later. I'll have to see how things go as I'm working through FF7R for the first time but if I manage to finish that up next week, I may jump in after that. Want something to keep me going till ME Legendary Edition and Biomutant now that Deathloop has slipped and I'm not sure in RE Village so this would fit the bill unless I pick up Nier Replicant. With getting PSN top ups from Shopto, I'll get the price down closer to £60ish so I can deal with that. It just looks so good and to be honest, I'm a sucker for a flashy looking game with interesting art design and a weird narrative. I know that technically goes against my earlier post but damn if the trailers haven't been effective in making me want to play. Enjoy it on Friday those playing.

Glad you enjoyed it drahkon. The further I get removed from the game the more I look back on it more fondly. Its just such an incredible game. So meticulously designed and an utter joy to play through and explore the reaches of the system. I played it originally on the Xbox One when it launched on Gamepass but a few months back I bought the PS4 version to have so I could dip in an put of every now and again. I may have seen the game through to its end so some of it will never feel as good the second time around but its just so much fun exploring the system they created and piecing it all together. Even on this second time, I've forgotten stuff that I knew first time through so in some ways I'm playing it anew. Regardless, I just love the game. Oh and that soundtrack is genuinely beautiful, the music at the end is just perfect. Guess I'll be giving that a listen to this afternoon. It's easily made it into my favourite games of all time list just because no other game has given me the feeling this one has. Very curious to see where Mobius Games goes next. Outer Wilds is going to be seriously tough game to follow up. I'll be there to see what they do though. They've shown they can craft a game superbly and make it genuinely intriguing to go at your own pace and just bring it all together on your own.

Looking forward to seeing more of Rift Apart in action. With Deathloop delayed till September, its the big PS5 exclusive I'm really looking forward to now (though I will admit that review pending, my status as not currently picking up Returnable may well change because it looks so damn good and I've been having fun with roguelites this last year with Hades and Curse of the Dead Gods). As for the indie games, I'd say its likely that it'll be some of those that didn't turn up at the earlier State of Play this year, such as Stray, Jett and Little Devil Inside. Not expecting anything other than those and would be happy with any combination of them. No doubt people will still moan about the State of Play and say it was disappointing, that they expected more but Sony have done right by getting out ahead of it to lay the groundwork in saying its only going to be focused on showing gameplay for Rift Apart and updates to two indie games. No one should go into it thinking there'll be more (there may well be a "One more thing" announcement given the time of the State of Play but there may well not be) but we all know what the internet is like.

2 in 1 Cross trainer for £190. Its a bit basic but it'll do out the gate. Wanted a 2 in 1 for the cycling part as with my height (6ft 4), using the elliptical trainer part is a bit unsteady on the cheaper machines. The missus has been using the elliptical and says its great and I had my first proper session on the cycle part this morning and despite a rather hard seat, it felt good. 10km in 22 minutes isn't too bad for a first go. Been doing a lot of walking recently and decided its time for some trainers for it. Current pair I have aren't up to the task of the longer brisk walks I've been doing and I've ended up hurting a tendon in my foot (doesn't help that I walk on the outside edge of my feet) so have been rested up for a couple of days before today but hoping these will do the trick. Also grabbed some extra exercise tops and shorts.

Annapurna titles, Road 96, TMNT Shredder's Revenge and a surprise of Oxenfree getting a sequel. I'd say that alone makes it a solid presentation, though I can understand if people were expecting more from it even if some were expecting things that were never going to turn up due to how the Indie World presentations are structured. I'm just shocked that Night School are going back to Oxenfree. I suppose that they didn't find as much success with their subsequent title Afterlife (I certainly didn't take to it as I found it very disappointing) and had a solid idea for a sequel. Very happy either way and looking forward to getting my hands on it when it launches.

Thought I'd try my hand at something different comic wise. Since finishing Sandman, I've jumped between different things but nothing has really clicked that well, other than The Umbrella Academy. Saw Hedra came up and liked the look of it visually, just wish I could grab a physical copy as I love the colouring in it. Never read a TMNT comic. Was a big fan of the IP growing up (cartoon and movies mainly, had the action figures, all back when it was Hero Turtles) so curious to see how this darker take pans out. Sold on my PS4 and games last year but recently watched Age of Samurai on Netflix, I ended up picking up this on sale as I've had a hankering to go back to it. Burned out after Act 1 because I did all the additional content in the first region so a more focus approach is what I hope will help.

I think I'm in the "wait for a price cut" camp. The combo of it being a roguelite (even though I loved Hades and have enjoyed what I played of Curse of the Dead Gods) and an asking price £70 means its a hard sell to me. Yet I do like the look of it (it looks incredible visually and the art direction looks fantastic for enemies and environments) and I could see myself enjoying it as there's definitely a lot of Control in how you move. If there's even a semblance in reviews that it plays as well as that title, then I may reconsider. I just can't put down that on a game, even with being able to get PSN credit cheaper (so it'd probably be nearer £60). Its a shame as Housemarque definitely deserve a win but I think the price point may be what hits sales hard. Put of the gate at least, I suspect as there are discounts they'll shift more units and garner more sales. Do wonder if this is a long tail game that Sony are looking at as one that'll bring money in over the long term rather than short term. Grab some out the gate at full price, the majority later on provided it reviews well.

Neo: The World Ends With You, the sequel seethe World Ends With You, is releasing on July 27th. Square Enix announced it with the below trailer: Seeing the combat in motion, I'm not entirely sold on how it'll all play out but I loved the original so I'll likely give this a go down the line.

Sadly, this has been delayed from its May 21st release date to the new date of September 14th: Gutted that it won't make its release, especially as it was only a couple of weeks away. But if they need to make sure the game is done to the quality that we've come to expect of Arkane and that they need to make sure the staff are well and healthy, then I'll happily wait. I'll still be there day and date at release regardless of when it releases as its Arkane and they've not put a step wrong. Does mean that what was looking like a ridiculous month of releases that would hit my wallet hard has eased slightly. Still Mass Effect Trilogy: Legendary Edition, Subnautica Below Zero, RE Village and Biomutant (I'd forgotten this had a launch date of May 25th, after all these years its finally coming) to look forward to.

Syarted doing regular exercise at the start of August last year as I'd put on a little bit of weight with lockdown, though I wasn't heavy by any stretch of the imagination as I'd got up to 99.1kg (which isn't bad considering my diet hadn't been the greatest through early lockdown, lot of convenience vegan foods) and was only starting to see evidence of my belly sticking out. I managed to keep going through to the start of November before my downstairs neighbour at my old place started his nonsense and threatening me but I'd lost 5kg by December so I was chuffed. Had a few months of down time in between moving into temporary accommodation to get out of my old flat which meant I couldn't really exercise as there wasn't room but started again 2 weeks after moving into my current place and its now been 5 weeks and despite it being a little difficult getting back up to speed, I'm now back to my full hour workouts in the morning and feeling great for them. A combination of slowly increasing the intensity of my workout and sorting my diet out has meant I've shed another 1kg and a bit. So I'm down to 92.9kg from my initial 99.1kg last year. Still needing to work more in getting the stomach to look flatter but definitely getting there. Just making sure to keep adding extra reps or more dedicated spots for ab workouts as well as strength training on legs and arms, though slowly as I don't need a repeat of last year where I managed to both mess a tendon up in my right knee for a bit and then cracked a rib. Doing 9 straight weeks without a day of rest really took a toll but I've learned and I'm now set for specific days of workout, a day for a long walk and rest days as well as making my diet more beneficial to back up what I'm doing. At this point, I'm the lowest in weight since about 2019 but its now about building that strength up, especially around my knees and my shoulders as I seem to get a lot of pain and stiffness with both. I've got hypermobility in my shoulders, which means that my shoulders tend to slip and pop out when trying to do things like press ups so not ideal, so don't know whether that's why my shoulder strength has been lacking up its getting there. Looking at getting a crossfit machine in the coming weeks as my partner is on the exercise kick as well and we're looking for something for days when we're not doing as intense a workout and thought this would be a great idea. Will also need to look into getting new weights as my dumbbells are from my partner and are a bit old at this point (they're one that you fill with sand). So need to find some good modular ones and a bar for down the line. Hoping to also eventually get back into doing some running. Haven't done long distance runs since I was in college and that quickly wound down with me going to University and having to commute every day. But going to slowly lead up to that, from doing longer walks to jogging and then on from there. Long term goal but I'll hopefully get there. But yeah, very happy with my progress so far. Food habits have changed for the better and woth the exercise, physically I feel better than I have done for a long time (even when I'm sore after exercise from doing sets of 10 second planks). Hoping it'll finally kick my mental health in the right direction as lockdown has obviously taken its toll on many, myself included but I've always struggled with it and more so in recent years. But yeah, going well so far, just got to stick at it.

Out today, launching at 10am PST/ 6pm BST. Guessing that they're trying to make sure its a simultaneous launch on all store fronts as Steam and the EGS usually launch titles around that time. There'll be a 20% launch discount as well apparently. Game looks to be launch at £34.99, so £27.99 with discount, on PS4/PS5. Looking forward to jumping in later this evening.

New Drinkbox game has been announced during the ID@Xbox indie stream (which has so far been awful because of the format they've chosen, Twitch streamers interviewing select devs, lots of talking and very little time spent on the games, also its a 4 hour stream apparently so something they might want to figure out for next time): Looks great. Different to Guacamelee but you can still see similarities here and there. Coming to Game Pass on launch which is a big one. Can't wait as I loved the original Guacamelee, the sequel was good but had the misfortune of coming out in the same year as Hollow Knight and just wasn't as good as the first. Do still need to play Severed at some point. Edit: Another highlight from the stream so far is The Wild At Heart which is releasing May 20th and looks fantastic. Very Don't Starve meets Pikmin with a Knights and Bikes visual style. One to keep an eye on.

Don't know if its been posted previously but came across this indie game called Cosy Grove courtesy of Twitter and turns out it'll be releasing on April 8th on PS4, Xbox One and PC and its also set for release on Switch as well, possibly releasing on the same day but don't see anything concrete there. Still, one to keep on the radar as it looks lovely. Really like the art style and seems to be another of those chilled, laidback experiences like Animal Crossing with a bit more narrative.

ID@Xbox and Twitch are doing the first indie showcase for Xbox next Friday, March 26th at 9am PST/4pm GMT: They're saying that they'll have over 100 games to showcase with games like Stalker 2 and The Ascent being shown off with new gameplay footage for both of those. I'd even imagine a release date for The Ascent given it was originally a launch title. Apparently Drinkbox (Guacamelee) will have something new to show so interested to see what that is.

Confirmed for March 30th:

Sony are doing another indie spotlight through the blogs, with several announcements over the next couple of hours (new title every half an hour if they're following a similar pattern to previous spotlights). First title is Operation Tango, an asymmetrical co-op game that was shown off a couple of days ago during one of the recent Mix indie streams. Expect a release date announcement for Disco Elysium at some point today with this being announced, and with their head of press relations saying on their Discord that today would be a good day. Edit 1: Second game is Chicory: A Colourful Tale coming this Spring on both PS5 and PS4:

Fantastic news for Jade and the team she's got there, which is likely made up of many of those she was working with at Stadia Games and Entertainment. Their loss is our gain as with the first title being a PlayStation exclusive, her studio will finally get the support it needs to finalise their vision. Excited to see whats to come from them but kudos to the team there.

Bumping this thread as it looks like we may finally be getting a release date for the PS4/PS5 versions of the Final Cut at some point this week. Its supposed to be launching this month so seems like it may well launch next week at earliest, though some people are suggesting a March 30th release date. Regardless of when it hits, looking forward to jumping in. Didn't get too far with my play through on PC as I was having to stream it through GeforceNow as my current PC is pretty much a potato that despite meeting minimum specs couldn't run it very well at all. But from what I did play, I can't wait to dive in again. Would love to be surprised and have it shadow drop later this week but don't see it happening. Still, bring on release and the return of my karaoke disco dancing cop

Outriders, the new game from People Can Fly and published by Square Enix, is coming to Gamepass day 1 on April 1st Played the demo on my PS5 and enjoyed what was there. Its maybe a bit generic but it not being a GAAS title and all content being there from the start is a big plus, curious to see how it expands beyond the opening and to see what they do with that world. Probably picking it up on PS5 but still cool that it'll be available day 1 on Gamepass for others. Also coming later this month, Genesis Noir: Been waiting for this since it was on Kickstarter. Looking forward to playing it when it hits on March 26th. Not a bad couple of weeks for Gamepass with these and woth Narita Boy on March 30th, on top of the Bethesda titles.

Starting off the week with some vegan brownies. Half pecan, half raspberry/coconut. Made them as a treat for the missus as she's in the middle of a week of night shifts so they'll go down nicely with both of us.

We took out the extended warranty as with it being from Argos and my track record for stuff from there, it was just safer to do so. Got it a few days ago though and its surprisingly firm. Had expected it to softer but happy as it seems like it'll last longer with being firmer and its far more comfortable than my previous sofa so I'd say a good buy considering we can't go into a store and try them. Funny thing happened on delivery. Sofa came in the house easy enough but they suddenly appeared with a second package the same size, put it down and left. We opened the first one thinking that its probably just the frame but nope, it was the whole sofa. They'd left us with another of the same sofa meant for someone else. Had to get them to come back as there's not enough room in our living room for two of them with how things are laid out but I've never seen two more grateful delivery guys when they came to recollect the second one. Probably saved them their jobs (and gave them a change for a coffee break apparently), though not great covid safe delivery for the next person even though myself and my partner are clear. Some digital purchases in the last couple of days for my PS5: I've already played and finished Puter Wilds on my Xbox One through Gamepass but wanted to play it again and support the devs of what is one of my favourite games of the previous gen. Heard great things about all the others so as there's a bit of a lull in bigger releases, thought I'd give them a go. Hoping Curse of the Dead Gods itches that Hades itch.

Played and finished Maquette myself earlier today and I have to agree, the narrative is probably its weakest element. It was IGN who, in their review, drew parallels with Florence and how the games have a similar narrative but Florence handled it better and I have to agree. Florence felt more succinct, more well rounded and just gave a better all round inpression of a burgeoning relationship and its decay. Maquette drags out a short script in snippets through its run time when it could easily have been handled better within a shorter experience. Its a narrative that doesn't seem to fit the game its wrapped around which is a shame as there's an interesting gameplay mechanic here (that's been 10 years in the making apparently) and there could've been a stronger narrative if they'd pulled it back a bit and parred down the length. Nothing on Seth Gabel and Bruce Dallas Howard as they do work well together, its just there's not enough of the narrative to really push it home within the game. Enjoyed the game otherwise, will probably write more thoughts later on for the Gaming Diary thread.

New sofa: Had got a new sofa for our new place but its proving too small and doesn't really have much back and lumbar support so hoping this will do the job. Most I've spent on a sofa before, even though its still pretty cheap at £330.