Ganepark32

No sign of my copy from Shopto. Had paid for Royal Mail signed for so can't even track it to see where it is. Still a chance it'll drop later but probably unlikely it'll hit its next day delivery window with the post having already come this morning. At least I've got my copy of Borderlands Legendary Collection so I can sit and wait for all of that to download. Enjoy it for those who have it. And especially for those playing it for the first time, you're in for a great ride.

I wasn't intending to pick this up as I don't know if I would be willing to spend another 100 hours in the game but I've gone and ordered my copy through Shopto. Hopefully get it Friday (though if not I'll have the Borderlands games to try out on the Switch). Just seeing all the review scores and hearing bits of the soundtrack lately has had it stuck in my mind and so I just had to grab it. So combined with the Borderlands games, I'll easily be set for the next couple of months, though I'll probably be grabbing Paper Mario so that'll add to things (and TLOU Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima). Looking forward to jumping in and hearing that Gaur Plains music again in its remastered glory. Just need to remember to stay away from the area with the big spider when exploring the Gaur Plains as that caused some panic first time through.

Not a podcast but the latest NoClip documentary went up on YouTube last night about Arkane Studios and its definitely worth a watch if you're a fan of that studio and/or even just curious about the history of game studios and unreleased/cancelled games. Danny and the team did a great job with this, especially as if I remember correctly they were cut short with filming because of the covid-19 outbreak so to see it come together is great for them. I'm a big fan of the Dishonored games. They depth to them and the ability to process how you want has always been a captivating part of those games and so while it was a little sad not to hear more about them here (and about Prey), getting to hear the history of the studio and about some of the projects they worked on prior to those games was really eye opening. I knew about all 3 of their cancelled games. The Crossing I only knew in name and that it was a FPS. I remember the talk about Ravenholm from my group at school (we were all massive fans of Half Life 1 and 2, and of Blue Shift for the few of us in the group that managed to get a hold of that, along with the complete unreleased version of Half Life on the Dreamcast, play that) and knew that it was loosely about Father Gregory and where it was all set but seeing it in motion, that a more or less complete alpha build is there makes me so envious of those that get to try it at Arkane because some of the ideas in the footage Danny captured on sight looks so fun. That was really part of what I loved about Half Life 2, messing around with the different elements and seeing what you could do and it looked like Ravenholm would've taken that a step further. The one I remember most was LMNO as I'd heard all about how it looked and played. I remember the visual benchmark trailer from back in the day but seeing the rough outline of the game in motion, I do feel sad that it was cancelled because I could see myself loving that mix of Mirror's Edge style parkour, Dishonored hand to hand combat and the narrative style road trip that would come from Spielberg. Its such a shame it didn't work out as it could've been something really unique at the time during the 360/PS3 era. Hell, it would still be somewhat unique now and would probably be more feasible but it'll never happen sadly. A shame to see those 3 games fall by the wayside but really interesting to see them in the flesh for the first time here. Kudos to those involved for letting that happen otherwise they'd have probably been lost to memory. But yeah, another great documentary by the team there for a developer who's become a favourite of mine with the likes of Dishonored and Prey and I look forward to seeing what Deathloop brings. Well worth a watch for anyone interested.

The Wholesome Direct indie showcase aired earlier this evening, putting the video below for anyone interested in seeing a slew of new indie games. It's the first one of these they've done and they've pretty much follow the Nintendo Direct model to a T but it's a well put together Direct that showcases a lot of good looking indie games and moves along at a good pace. Well worth a watch, I'd say. Most of the games are late 2020/2021 titles with a few as far out as 2022 and most are only saying Steam as a release platform but I can see a few of these coming over to consoles as well, beyond the already announced Spiritfarer and Skatebird. Still, always nice to see more indie games getting some love. And it'll only be the start as there's the Guerrilla Collective event from June 6-8th, with the Kinda Funny guys, that'll showcase more from smaller studios again and some bigger ones, like Larian and Studio ZA/UM.

Got a couple of cheap games on sale as birthday gifts for last week: I've played all but Lost Ember previously. The Crew 2 was simply because I wanted a racing game as I've been plowing through the likes of Dirt and V Rally 4 and have already tackled Forza Horizon 3 and 4 in the last year so it's something to pick at over the next few weeks. Already finished up both Alan Wake's American Nightmare and Lost Ember and made a dent in Beyond Good and Evil HD. Sleeping Dogs will be my 3rd time through it but it's a great game and it's a crying shame that United Front Games went under because a sequel would have been fantastic this gen. Also put in a pre-order for: Again, played 1 and 2 (though I've never finished the second as I always seemed to run out of steam near the end) but wanted something to plug away at slowly on the Switch and I wasn't feeling up to taking on Xenoblade Chronicles again (100 hours or so first time doing the main story and everything else is something I don't know if I can be bothered sitting through a second time, even if there's new content).

With this fast approaching, I was reminded I'll need to stuck in an order online somewhere for the game as my usual habit of just going into town and picking it up at a store won't be happening any time soon. So has anyone got any recommendations for online stores (Shopto, Amazon, etc.) that are reliable and can get you your game on the day of release? I'm not fussed about getting it early, just wanting to make sure I've got it day and day if possible and it's been ages since I've pre-ordered online for a new release so I don't have any idea who's reliable or not. I've managed to stay away from pretty much everything about the game, including the leaks and such, but ended up watching that last trailer and it's hot me pumped to play this. I can already hear the sound of my ps4 playing it already. May have to get some ear plugs to go along with it but really, it looks fantastic and I was a big fan of the original so can't wait to play this. Going to replay the original in the next week or two to get back into that narrative and head space for all the strife that's come with this sequel.

Watched the State of Play for this this morning and it looked gorgeous. Visually, Sucker Punch have done a fantastic job bringing that world to life as it looks so vibrant and lush. The combat looked visceral and I love how they're using less intrusive signposting for exploration of the island. It's such a small touch but losing the golden/bread trail for going to quest markers and locations and having it be that you need to use environmental cues, wildlife and the wind to find your way is such an obvious but nicely done piece of game design. It's looking great but I do have some slight handups about whether it'll be an island full of bandit camps and checklists and hopefully further info in the coming weeks will dispel that notion. I don't mind the occasional bandit camp but making them a bit more meaningful than the standard Far Cry trope would be great and even better would be to build up stronger story/side missions to give more reasoning behind then being there. Hopefully it won't be the standard open world trope there and be something a bit more engrossing (and this is something that I hope that both the Horizon and Spiderman sequels take note of too). Can't wait to play though. I can already hear the sound of my PS4 at the mere thought of playing this. Edit: Also, that black and white Samurai Cinema mode. God damn that got me going. I don't know if I'd play the whole thing like that but I'm so tempted to play some of it that way. I instantly went to things like Rashomon when I saw that and its just such an awesome inclusion.

Another digital event to add to the list: a 3 day (mostly) indie event from June 6th - 8th called the Guerrilla Collective. With these events coming together to shine lights on all areas of the industry over the next couple of months, this could well be the final nail in the coffin for E3, especially if they all come off well. Personally, I think I'm more excited for the game news in the coming weeks than I have been for an E3 in the last couple of years. Sure, new consoles coming helps somewhat but seeing such a wide swathe of events coming together from different places just means a steady stream of news and means plenty of good stuff will be on the way. So yeah, I can't wait for all these to kick off.

I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time but it definitely sets the Series X off on a weird footing with regards to game announcements. For sure, it wasn't the strongest showing out of the gate and while I wasn't expecting huge news, I was expecting a bit more than what they gave. But in terms of starting the ball rolling, its something. I know that won't be for everyone (or for pretty much everyone going by the responses around the web) but it does get some eyes on some of the smaller/more niche titles that'll be coming to the console early doors. I did jokingly say to the missus that they'd done a Nintendo with that screen of all the third party studios bringing games to the console and not backing it up with showing games from them. I think what they showed is something that's been cooking for a bit: that a lot of the games we'll see coming to both the Series X and PS5 in the initial launch window and beyond will most likely be cross generation. For a lot of developers, cutting off a substantial install base for what will be a restricted one on newer consoles isn't going to pay off. Attach rates will be low out the gate as console prices will be higher at market so I can see fewer games being bought around launch (I'm also expecting game RRPs to increase with the next generation of consoles from the £50-£55 tag currently to £60). Having more cross gen releases means developers can maximise profits on games, resulting in less risk out of the gate and gives consumers a leg up on a library for their new consoles when they release by offering smart delivery/upgrades to next gen versions free of charge. For a lot of these developers, this will likely be their only time in the spotlight and Microsoft, at E3s past, has been good about shining light on smaller games. Very little here will blow anyone's mind but it may grab some additional attention to these titles for when they launch (and being Gamepass releases as some are will likewise help). I'd agree they needed to show something that was purpose built for the Series X to start things off. Those games will obviously come, and Geoff Keighley's Summer Games Festival will likely bring one or two as well as one or two for the PS5, but a big first reveal for something that's next gen exclusive would've done a huge amount for creating some positive air around the showing and console. It was an ok showing. No worse than say some of Nintendo's own recent Directs and no worse than a State of Play but it's not going to win anyone over with a middle of the road third party showing. As for the games themselves, the stand out for me was Bloober Team's The Medium. Very much looks like they're going for that Silent Hills gap in the market, even going so far as to get the composer involved. Otherwise, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is already a purchase for me (especially as they're doing a smaller game this time, so less bloat compared to Odyssey) and Call of the Sea looked interesting enough. Even Scarlet Nexus looked interesting, though there's definitely some Astral Chain comparisons there. An ok showing then. Not great but in terms of getting word out about smaller third party games, not bad either. Sony will undoubtedly blow it out of the water with their reveal (that will lead off with a Horizon/GoW/Spiderman sequel trailer to really show things off) but this was always going to be a smaller thing and it was fine for what it was. I get why people are disappointed and being dismissive but it's not all the console will have at launch or in the launch window so we'll see how things fare going forward.

Final Fantasy IX coming to Gamepass on May 14th. Looking forward to jumping in and giving it a go. I had been playing through X on the Switch but I fell off after reaching Mt. Gagazet and getting stuck at a particular boss. I'm hoping the pacing is a bit better in IX and that there isn't as many road blocks/difficulty spikes as there are in X because I honestly don't know if I can be bothered jumping back in to finish X with the boss I'm at (which also means I'm unlikely to redeem the code for X2 that came with X on the Switch as there's no point playing a sequel if I'm not inclined to finish the story of the original). Should be the start of the Final Fantasy releases on Gamepass though. Expecting frequent drops for the rest of the announced FF titles over the coming months so I'll also get a chance to try others. Looking forward to trying IX though.

I'd wager that at least one of the other titles coming to the Switch from EA will be one last throw of the dice on another legacy edition of Fifa (in other words a roster and kit update with nothing more). Beyond that, I'd think they'll be looking to release more of their EA Originals titles that haven't made the jump. So things like the original Unravel, perhaps A Way Out and maybe Sea of Solitude and whatever else they've got coming along. That EA HD title is more interesting however. It being a remaster doesn't give much away but I wonder whether it'll be an older title from the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era as opposed to something from the 360/PS3 era. People have been asking for SSX 3 for ages so I could see it being that. Likewise, I'd guess releasing Burnout Paradise ended up being somewhat successful so bringing up other Burnout titles would be a no brainer. Those are the two older ones I'd guess. They also have things like Black, which would be a major outsider but could be interesting to bring forward, and they also did The Simpson's Road Rage. While that's not Hit and Run, I could see EA looking at that game as a quick cash grab for those wanting something Hit and Run-esque, especially with the license rights to that game being up in the air somewhat. I'd love it to be the Mass Effect Trilogy but I was listening to the Play, Watch, Listen podcast at the weekend (Alanah Pearce's new podcast with Troy Baker, Mike Bithell and Austin Wintory, well worth checking out) and as Alanah said on that, the reason I don't see it happening is that what studio at EA would work on it. There's a lot of work to get the game ported over to current game consoles, not least with ME1 which was an early Unreal 3 game that shows its age badly. Nevermind adding the DLC to the package (this EA after all, I wouldn't put it past them to make people pay for the DLC once again rather than put it in as a complete trilogy edition). Unless they've been working on it for a couple of years and have multiple studios on it, I sadly don't see them doing it. Curious what it'll be though. Guess we'll find out on atbrheir digital EA Play on June 11th.

Shield wall at the ready arselings! (I'm watching Last Kingdom so I'm ready for this) The rumours and leaks have had me excited for this for awhile and now to have it pretty much confirmed has me even more hyped for the game especially as I love the time period, particularly in relation to some of the history of Scotland and how things like the Icelandic Sagas suggesting that those who went to Scotland did so at their own peril or their interactions with the Picts. I'm hoping for a bigger emphasis on conquest battles (plenty of shield wall bracing and breaching) and plenty of raiding of monasteries and burning villages to the ground here. And hopefully it'll strike that fine balance between being historical but incorporating elements of the mythos of the time period without going over the top with it (and I'm meaning like having a giant world eating snake or giant wolves swallowing the sun and moon). Its a time period ripe for the picking and especially if the leaks are true, focusing on the invasion of Britain and Paris could be very interesting. In many ways, it's a setting that could easily have not been an Assassin's Creed game and could've been its own thing but I get why they want to keep things under intellectual property banners as it helps boast sales. Still, looking forward to the trailer tomorrow and from the sounds of it, we'll probably only have to wait another couple of weeks at most before we see some gameplay (some are suggesting Microsoft will have a direct style event soon to showcase next gen games). Definitely going to be a cross gen game, I'd be shocked if it wasn't.

My partner got a message this evening confirming that 3 residents at the care home she works at have tested positive for Covid. Had to wait 72 hours for the results due to Tayside being one of the areas which doesn't conduct tests over the weekend. One of the 3 residents died the other night, with 3 others having died through last week of suspected Covid. She's back in work tonight and will be for the whole week so it's pretty much a waiting game for the both of us to wait and see when we both develop symptoms as like most care homes, PPE has been hard to come by and the manager has been slow to bring in measures to safe guard residents, never mind staff. I always knew it was going to be a waiting game for getting it given that every time the norovirus has gone around we've both got it from there. Just annoyed at how it's all happened given we've both been doing everything we can to protect us from it, including now only doing online shops and only going out to the pharmacy. We're not even going out for walks or anything just because of the nature of our work and not wanting to risk bringing it into her work but it seems others have already done that. So I'm more than a bit annoyed but I guess I can only hope that what we get is mild but it sucks that its inevitable and could cause me big problems given I've already for health issues (stomach issues which already cause breathing issues as well as seizures). Hoping for the best but prepared for the worse. And will only get a test if my partner shows symptoms. All these false claims of help for care staff and the social care sector really grind my gears. Yes the NHS is the front line but there are other sectors that are and have been hit badly and the government has blustered enough. Things need to improve but I don't see the government taking anything away from any of this with the current lot in charge.

I've passed on to the in laws about the box thing from the likes of Morrisons. My partner and I are vegan so they might not be great for us but they'll definitely be handy for the in laws as they also work in social care so can give them some piece of mind for some of the basics at least. Thanks Ashley, after speaking with some people it seems most likely that I've got a bout of sinusitis as my cheekbones have been hurting a lot the last couple of days and my sinuses have seemed stuffy so that's at least a potential positive. Still staying in doors for the time being to be safe in case especially as up here in Dundee l, the older generations are reported just going out for walks through town as if everything was normal so better safe than sorry. Look after yourself as well. Yeah, I managed to get a Sainsburys shop last Saturday before they put in the measures to prioritise vulnerable people (we put it in at 7:30am on last Friday and by 10am that day they were saying that only those considered vulnerable were eligible for delivery) but half of what we'd put in the shop was missing so we've just been trying to get another big shop sorted so that we're set for the next week and a bit but no luck so far. Have had my partner trying Sainsbury's in the early hours as she works night shift as well as Asda, Morrisons and Tescos but there's been no luck. Have heard that Tescos are adding more delivery slots through the start of next week because of the influx of new staff so fingers crossed for then. In the mean time, I have managed to find a few local grocers and stores that are doing home deliveries. One local new cafe that was set to open last week was selling off stock so we managed to get a bunch of pasta and sauces and vegan stuff and we managed to get fruit and veg in (sister in law ordered it and ended up ordering 4 kilos of pears when she only meant to order 4 pears ) so managing to get stuff. Just wish I could get a big shop in as with not driving and buses being infrequent, walking 30 mins with a full shop isn't fun. Hopefully manage in the coming days.

Went out for shopping on Sunday morning, which proved fruitful as there were no queues and plenty of stocked shelves bar a few things. The only issue was a 25 minute walk to the supermarket and then having to walk back again as I don't drive and the buses up here are on what is essentially an evening/sunday service so it would've been a half an hour to wait as opposed to getting up the road home before the bus arrived. Did mean I didn't jump on public transport but that walk in the cold ended up giving me a sore throat which has been niggling me since Sunday. Been tracking temp in case that goes up but I seem to be fine there and any coughing feels more like trying to shift something in my throat than a dry cough. Had some lemsip at hand and that's helping soothe it but the sore throat is sticking around which does have me slightly worried. Didn't come into close contact with anyone shopping as it was quiet and I've been exclusively going to the same supermarket to minimise exposure if its going about. But with colds still going about, it's hard to tell what's happening and whether I've got something or not. At the very least, my cough isn't persistent and seems to be intermittent, more or less an extension of the coughs I already get from my reflux issues but I'm keeping an eye on it to say the least and staying home. Have noticed that it's impossible to get an online shop up here though. Sainsbury's is prioritising vulnerable people going by a government list so if you're not on it, you have to go in store to get your shopping. Asda has now gone to only having a weeks worth of time slots available as they've got too many bookings and even then, you can't get anything for the next 2 weeks. As soon as a new days worth of time slots are made available they're gone within seconds. So at the moment if i need anything from the shops in the coming days I'll have to go out which I'd rather not do while I've still got a slight niggle in my throat but I'll have no choice soon as my partner works night shifts in an EMI care home which hasn't been provided their PPE by the government and I can't risk her catching anything (though she doesn't seem to have caught the sore throat from me so that's a plus and makes me hopeful it isn't any serious). If she gets this, she's off with only statutory sick pay for 2 weeks (£90 odd for each week) which is shocking given what she has to deal with in there but that's private care. As I say, hopefully my throat will settle in the next day or two but I'm keeping an eye out given how vague a lot of the advice is and how much cross over there is with other winter flu/colds.

So Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is suggesting that all non-essential shops that do not sell food or medicines should close. I suspect that this afternoon's update with Boris Johnson will relay the same information. After seeing the shear number of people who were out and about this weekend, and especially yesterday, a lockdown has to happen. Shops have been very quickly announcing they're closing down left, right and centre so it's only a matter of time before everything else goes into lockdown. It was noticeably quieter when I went for a walk this morning. Very few people about but the roads were still busy-ish. Walked to the local Asda and the shelves were noticeably more stocked as well but still no pasta or flour. Managed to pick a last couple of things to get us through to next Monday but while most people are managing to distance themselves, there are some who are still not getting it. I suspect it'll have gotten worse as when I was leaving the carpark was filling up fast for the shops so I do suspect people will be bulk buying again in prospect of a lockdown.

Already surpassed my playtime for Stardew Valley on this (I'd put 7 hours in 1 and a half days on that game) so yeah, it's going to be the time sink I thought it would for the next couple of weeks. Woke up early this morning and cracked on with paying off the first house, getting the materials for the shop and handing in the 15 donations I needed to get the museum started. Also managed to get 3 peaches in the mail and after a trip to a mystery island, where I came back with about 40 odd oranges, I've now got 3 different fruits growing and some coconuts too. Also invited a snow leopard named Bianca if I've remembered her name right (she said she was a tiger but she looked like a snow leopard and as they're one of my favourite animals I had to invite her) and have saved up 70,000 bells towards paying off the first house upgrade, cleared all the weeds from the island that can be reached without the ladder, helped the pelican guy with NIS phone and have set aside fossils, fish and insects to hand into Blathers tomorrow when the museum opens. So a productive day on Eilean. Finding it very therapeutic at the moment as my seizures have been flaring up over the last couple of weeks and especially this last week have been really bad so its helping to keep my mind off of that. And just generally enjoying the daily routine. Between this and Stardew Valley, I don't think I'll touch another one of the many other games I've got sitting waiting to be played for months (though I did manage to fit in Yoshi's Crafted World beforehand and that was, well... bland). Taking a break for the rest of the afternoon and evening. May jump on later to try and catch some night fish I didn't get lost night for the museum but not fussed if I don't. Trying to decide whether to use my gold coins on the eshop for NSO but I don't know how much I'd use it, even with the social aspect of this game. I quite enjoy the peace and isolation but I'll see. I do have Smash Bros which could also be used with it and I could play some of the NES and SNES games, though I wish they'd put Chrono Trigger up as I've a real hankering to play that.

Played for about two hours and I've very quickly fallen into the routine of going round the rivers and ocean to fish, catching bugs along the way to turn in for bells. I'm going to end up playing this and Stardew Valley so much that I'll never get to anything else any time soon. Named my island Eilean, which means island in Gaelic. I had headphones plugged in while playing on my Lite and there was strong winds on my island, which reminded me of Scotland so I went for something straight to the point. How un-Scottish got Pears on my island. It seems most are getting oranges/apples so I was happy with that. Don't have NSO so won't be able to trade for fruit and such but I do have enough gold coins to grab a month or 2 so might do that down the line when I want other fruits. I do have a question, I know its early doors but does it make any difference paying off your first payment with bells rather than nook miles or should I just use the nook miles? I wondered if it would make later payments less of a pain if I saved them up for later house upgrades.

I wasn't intending to pick this up as the direct on it didn't exactly spark much interest in me. Move to today and I've ended buying it. Really shouldn't have for money reasons and because, if anyone has seen me posting in the What Have You Bought thread, I already have a tonne of stuff to play. But there we go. I've got it now and no doubt I'll be suckered into the gameplay loop alongside Stardew Valley. If a lockdown happens, you'll find me knee deep in island life, farming and Final Fantasy X. Not a bad way to spend time.

My partner was telling me about that and I suspect it probably does relate to it. Still, if people think they can get away with drinking dettol, then there's really no helping them. Had to into Dundee city centre to pick up a prescription and you'd think there wasn't a health crisis going on. The city centre is just full of people, predominantly older people but people nonetheless. It's scary how few people seem to be taking this in any way seriously. I was having a near panic attack this morning over the thought of going out and it seems I was right to with everyone just going about their days, going into coffee shops and pubs. The government has to bring in stricter measures because what they're doing at the moment isn't working from what I can see. People are carrying on as normal everywhere except in supermarkets where people are just stacking trolleys and baskets full of basic items. I had to grab toilet roll, bread and granola and even the more run down shopping centre up here that houses the likes of Home Bargains and Iceland and such was just wall to wall people. The idea of social distancing is completely out of the window. I had people standing right at my back as if it wasn't a problem in Iceland where I had to wait 20 minutes in a massive queues of people just to buy a single loaf of bread (while everyone else is buying 3 or 4 and shouting across the shops how there's no limit on the number of loaves they can pick up). I'm genuinely shocked at how stupid people are. Well... both really but the current health crisis has exacerbated the worse elements in people. I'm personally restricting my goings out now because others clearly can't. I'm at least sorted for a week or so in terms of food and basics so I should manage but yeah, something really does need to be done to stop people just going out as they are. Shops, pubs and restaurants need to be closed. I know it's going to hit many businesses but they need to do something now as people are still going out who clearly shouldn't be out.

Went out to do a shop at 9am this morning at Asda to cover the next week or so but they've clearly struggled to restock as there are so many shelves lying empty. Some things like pasta and beans just don't look like they've even been replaced since the last time I was in a few days back and other areas like toilet roll and milk and bread are apparently going out as quickly as they're put on the shelves. It's ridiculous seeing people hoarding up jars of passata and large cartons of eggs, the latter of which will probably end up in the bin in their majority. And even with them implementing limits on how many of one item you can buy, people were literally running round the shops with arms full of bleach and meat. My partner and I overheard someone arguing about the lack of Dettol on the shelves and when she was recommended she buy bleach instead she responded by saying that she couldn't drink bleach The weirdest thing is that because all the UHT milk has been bought up, people are bulk buying the milk alternatives like soya and coconut milk despite many not drinking it. I actually needed to pick up both and although I managed to get the latter with a carton of rice milk, people are scrambling to grab anything like these on the shelves (though many are forgetting that the refrigerated milk alternatives still have a month best before date on them). People are doing the same with the Linda McCartney meat free stuff as well. It's still mobbed out though and worst of all, there are so many people out and about coughing heavily at the moment as they walk around the shops. Why are people not understanding that if they've got a heavy cough and such they should be staying at home, not wandering around supermarkets coughing openly. I don't get it. My partner's work is similarly being far too laid back about things and it's a EMI care unit. They're only just now starting to get some PPE in but they're not preventing residents capable of going out the home from doing so. Mix that with everyone still going out as they are and a general mentality of "Its not too bad" from older generations, this thing is going to end up crippling everything economically and health care wise. Have to go out again on Friday to pick up a prescription and not looking forward to it.

Wasn't a huge amount that caught my eye but nice to see Dicey Dungeon is on the way. I've had my eye on it for some time for looking forward to playing that in the summer. But there really wasn't any big wow moment and there was a lack of updates on previously announced games (I'm not meaning Silksong but things like The Red Lantern, Roku and things like that) so it felt a bit flat. The Last Campfire continues to look nice though. Had been wondering about that the other week as it was announced at The Game Awards 2018 IIRC so nice that it'll be here soon-ish. Hopefully if the rumours of a general Direct next week are true, there'll be a few bigger indie games in there as they tend to do that alongside the other third party offerings. May give Exit The Gungeon a go but I wasn't enamored with the original so I don't know. Just picked up Stardew Valley to play on the Switch so that'll take up my indie game time as it did when I put 60 odd hours into the PS4 version.

I finished this last night and after an additional hour today, I've now got 100% complete after just under 16 hours. I've got a small number of things left to do, mainly the spirit trial races and I need to upgrade the last 4 spirit shards but I think I'll leave those as they're not needed. Off the bat I'll say that the performance of the game and that it got released in the state it is is shocking. The game had an additional month delay to iron things out yet I had frequent bugs and issues of frame rate drops, stutters and freezes and I ended my play through with 4 complete hard crashes to the dashboard during play (I had an additional 2 from simply trying to load up my save which bugged out, leaving me with a blue screen that had Ori falling down it repeatedly till it froze and crashed back to the dashboard. Thank god there are frequent back up saves made). The day 1 patch has also screwed up Achievement unlocks as despite finishing the game and having max health, these achievements haven't unlocked and I had several stacked up last night that didn't unlock but unlocked earlier today. It's a bit of a sorry state for the game because the constant freezes when going between areas or in battles can really throw you off. I do wonder if it has something to do with how they've implemented the auto save system and needing to be on the ground for that to kick in. Even still, I doubt none of this came up in testing across any of the platforms (I know I played on the weakest one, the OG Xbox One, but these issues are apparent on the S, the X and on PC too) so how they put it out like this is beyond me. They're at least being open about trying to fix it the problems but I know some damage has been done going from forums elsewhere. Even with those rampant performance issues, I absolutely loved the game. It took the original and improved on it in pretty much every way. The character movement and traversal felt even more fluid here compared to the original. Combat felt more of an active thing and not simply button mashing with a weak weapon set. The different moves and spirit weapons all added to the gameplay and allowed for so much experimentation in combat and in stringing them together to traverse dangerous scenery. The game played so well and like the original, when things click its beautiful in motion. Managing to nail a tricky parkour section feels great and as I said, the addition of the new moves and how quickly you get them means there a really nice sense of progression and improvement. The chase sequences did feel a little more easy going than the original but they were nonetheless still great moments that again showed off how well the level design and character movement systems work together. The boss fights as well, though few in number, all felt unique and though they didn't throw anything new into the fray, they simply felt and looked great. None of these or any of the encounters throughout felt cheap and even when things got hectic and hard to keep track of Ori in amongst the flashiness, it always felt great. The story was really nicely done and although I would have perhaps given a particular character the redemptive ending they deserved in light of their backstory, it was touching and the ending was beautifully handled, giving room to allow future games to grow from what's there and also closing this chapter nicely. Though there isn't much interplay between Ori and Ku, what's there in the beginning nicely teases with some of what you'll achieve later and it's enough to show their connection and propel you to reunite them in this strange land. And when events turn as they do, you really feel that gut punch which again, pushes you to resolve things with a nicely foreshadowed conclusion. Just like the original, it's a visual and auditory delight. Even on an OG Xbox One, where the backgrounds are very low resolution at times, it looks beautiful in motion. Bright colours mix with dark and dank ones to really create an atmosphere and though a lot of the locations have been done before in other games, they still feel uniquely their own. The underground section with the spiders in particular looks haunting when its fully unveiled. I do wish some of the areas were a bit more distinct visually so they didn't blend but they still looked fantastic. The soundtrack, as I said previously, is just straight up beautiful. Gareth Coker has done an incredible job with it to once again make a moving and evocative score, with some beautiful remixes of tracks from the original and some beautiful vocal work from both the woman involved. I downloaded the digital soundtrack that came with my collector's edition and I've listened to it away from the game and it's just brilliant. It hits the right notes to punctuate moments and builds up nicely during chase and battle sequences. I loved the game and I'm sad that it's now over. The wait for it to release seemed like a lifetime and now it's over. I'm hopeful it foes well for Moon Studios as I'd love for more. As it is, it's a fantastic game that improves the formula of the original for the better and though it doesn't bring a lot be to the table, it still feels remarkably fresh and just a joy to play. If you've got access to Game Pass on PC or Xbox One (which I know isn't many on here) you should 100% play it. Even then, it's an easily recommended buy at the £24.99 price. Fantastic game.

Looking forward to seeing what's coming along. The last Indie World didn't exactly blow my socks off but I'm hopeful for a few bigger announcements now. Silksong will most likely be saved until the summer (I have a feeling that if the game is wrapping up, Nintendo will want to try and do another shadow drop ala the original around E3) so I'm not expecting that but hopefully there'll be something to catch the eye and perhaps a shadow drop or two (just as well that I put money on my eshop account in case). Does seem like this will lead into a general Direct next week. This Indie World falls around when they would normally do one around GDC so it's looking likely that the general one is next week (and I'm hopeful of some more Wii U ports seeing as I've a real hankering to play Wind Waker and would love Nintendo to port the HD remaster to the Switch so I don't need to track down a Wii U).

I got my first experience of all the panic surrounding this at the weekend when I went to the shops to pick up a few every day essentials, like bread and toilet paper and soya/coconut milk. Shelves bare and people squabbling over what was left, not a single package of pasta anywhere to be seen and people buying bottled water as if the end of the world was fast approaching. This is all while people are walking about coughing without covering their mouths thus causing more bother. As I say, I was lucky that I only needed a few things as I'd done my normal big shop for dinners and stuff the week prior but even trying to get the small bits was ridiculous. I understand the psychology of people panic buying (it's the least they can do to feel as though they have some semblance of control over the unknown) but the sheer amount people are buying of certain items is getting ridiculous and then fighting over tinned food just takes the biscuit. I've not changed anything I'm doing other than just being a bit more cautious and not going out as often. I already wash my hands regularly because it's just what you're supposed to do, especially if you go out and get on public transport as I do. Does beg the question of what were people doing before hand with the panic buying of hand soaps and anti-bacterial hand gels (which won't work anyway as its viral, thank god my partner works in care and has access to that for us). I had a message from my doctors late on Friday telling me that the daily drop on sessions they do in the mornings are being cancelled from today until further notice, which I'm sure will go down well with everyone up here. Got to phone and speak to a doctor to see whether you need to have an appointment or not which is reasonable but I live in Dundee and they're not exactly the understanding type up here. The lack of appointments does have a knock on effect for me though. While I'm not panicking about the virus, I do have an underlying health condition (don't know what it is because both my GP and the hospital stopped caring after a gastroscopy came back negative for stomach ulcers and PPIs don't help with the nausea/cramps and other symptoms but I get shortness of breath frequently so that concerns me in then long run with this) and take medication on repeat prescription that ends this month and I'd need an appointment for reassessment after that but it would be considered a non-essential thing so a bit worried there. Like others, though, it's my parents I'm worried about the most as both have health problems, my dad especially as he's on various heavy medications (statins and such for his blood and liver and intestines). They're fine at the moment but given how things are likely to pan out from here, I do worry for them. Not going to be a good couple of months riding out this, if it lasts a couple of months as I don't have much faith in the government's plans.