LazyBoy

@Happenstance @WackerJr sorry gents I have to disagree with the sentiment of your posts. This is the happiest I have felt about football for a while, but in a bittersweet way that acknowledges that this probably still is not enough. I guess I should take a moment to condemn any violence that occurred, but I actually resent having to do so. You as the reader should have enough respect for your fellow poster to presume that they condemn violence, as you should think of the vast, vast majority of the protestors who attended. More importantly it further distracts from the point. You are always going to get a tiny minority taking it too far, but focusing on that is like rallying against a kids birthday party because Tommy got manic on undiluted squash and broke a vase. All you're doing is following a narrative capitalized on by those who are against the protests. Pick any popular protest in history that you broadly agree with the aims of and I guarantee you'll find counter-pieces in the press of the time highlighting and discrediting it based on minority actions. Your responsibility as a critical thinker is to not be distracted by the actions of the 0.01%. --- The question I have is how many protests in popular history have had any kind of tangible, tactical success as this one had? The protestors set out with the goal of delaying the game, and succeeded. They had a message - we decide when you play - and they showed that they have the power to enforce that. It probably won't result in long-term victory - the billionaires have too much power and the government lacks the political backbone - but the tactical win is significant. Largest game in the world, bank holiday Sunday, world is watching, social media blackhole (due to the boycott), and sure enough its all over the news. Sad thing is I cannot remember any protests in the UK in my lifetime that have had any kind of success, no matter how small. Please remind me if I have forgotten something, but its kind of sad to think, and certainly works to show the value of direct action like this.

Haven't played Sekiro, but no maps in any of their games otherwise. Good digging Julius. I'd be gutted with a delay, but I'd rather they took their time and got it right. And this will be tough for them. Not so much putting everything in everything that needs to go into an open world - they'll give us a big map and plenty of quests no problem - but maintaining that incredible atmosphere and gameplay/difficulty balance will require a lot of tuning. So yeah, take your time Miyazaki.

When I have my PS4 back out in a couple months I will come back to this, despite my time with the switch version being a real letdown. Its either this or warzone, and as much as I've enjoyed parts of warzone, the increased mobility of Apex really appeals to me, as do the far more interesting levels. My only concern is that the looting seems to really benefit from mouse and keyboard, but maybe I'm over egging it.

Anyone still playing this? I needed an FPS fix, so I thought I would give this a go, downloading now. edit: Archived, can’t find a game anywhere but on the Tokyo servers and when I do it’s unplayable. Disappointing.

Congrats - how good is that second stage music on the final boss? Gets me pumped every time. What weapon did you use? Try to resist the god mode. Even though I still struggled for a while after completing my first run, after about completion 5 I was succeeding every 2-3 runs. Its worth sticking with it as the game has the depth to reward that level of mastery, especially as you start unlocking the different weapon aspects. On that point:

Will wait for the switch release. I know there’s a lot of reading, which I’ll prefer to do in handheld. 7/10s of my excitement for this game is because of the title.

Bought Bastion early this morning for £2.

You see I felt a little let down by the race issue. I don't think in the current media climate making the - "the world ain't ready for a black cap" statement is particularly bold. Instead what the series needed to do was show, don't tell. Where do we see the push back? We're given new white Cap, but we're not shown why. We're told about Isiah Bradley's struggle, but its second hand. What form does the institutional/structural racism that prevents a black cap take, and how does it manifest itself? Compare for example with The Boys, where institutional biases are presented brilliantly by the marketing side of the business - how Starlight is asked certain questions in interviews and how A-train is sold to certain audiences. F&WS could of at least given Falcon the shield initially, and then had some push back so we could see what that was like. Instead we're just told - nah, USA too racist. I agree, but prove it. I'd need more time to consider why this is so inferior to Civil War and Winter Soldier (which I love), but I will say Chris Evans is a big miss. Also the pacing is a lot tighter in those movies, the set pieces are superb, the tension is felt strongly. Anyway I'll think on it a little more.

I will do. As soon I'm in the new house I'll get Pyre downloaded on the PS4 too - love the concept and a heard one of the songs the other day and had a right giggle. But mate get Hades. Seriously. It exceeds its genre.

Just finished F&WS - thought it was crap. Boring, tensionless, insubstantial. No fault on the actors, just substandard direction and a wet fart of a script. Shame because for it all its faults Wandavision was at least bold. Thats maybe the reason - a Vanilla palate cleanser to follow Wanda. On to Loki then.

Nope, but picked up Transistor in the latest sale and will start it tomorrow. Monster Hunter can wait.

Just seen the end credits roll (which comes after a certain number of completed runs). What a game. The kind of achievement which restores faith in the industry. The sort of game that I will point to in years to come and go “that’s what video games can do”. Not because it was particularly poignant or groundbreaking, but because it could only be done as a video game. The way the narrative unfolded, the way the complexities builds in layers, the way the world deepens the more you explore it. A top 10 of all time for me. Im going to go through the developers back catalogue now, starting with transistor. Cant wait.

I know football has been going this way for a while, and the club I follow (MU) has been at the centre of it, but you've got to have a line right? A point at which all the bullshit, greed, disrespect is too much. Well we've reached mine, I'm done. I love some of our players but I can't support that any more. I'll be getting a Hartlepool season ticket.

Too many interactive stories for my liking, but each to their own. The Longing was the one that really caught my eye there, will keep a look out for that.

I'm having so much trouble beating the game with the twin fists. I can breeze through every part of the game, even Ornstein & Smough, but I just destroyed for damage by the final boss. I've tried a deflect build, and a damage build, but no luck so far. I think I'm just going to try a tank build with a heal next.

Just completed my 2nd & 3rd runs back to back, sword and spear. My sword run was full try hard, 4 overlapping status effects, sweaty cast>dash>special>attack combos and button mashing to the max. Then on the spear I just upgrade the special, get a boon that regens health after a revive and do little else but kite, and breeze the thing. Funny how’s that works.

Gameplay-wise are there any innovations? I love the setting, tone and all that other good stuff, but last time I played something similar I got bored quick.

I think I was at maybe 30 runs when I first beat it, but I'm now at 50 and haven't beat it since. Trick with bone hydra is having a strategy for getting through the 2 stages of minion hydras as quickly as possible. So if I have a good cast boon I make sure I have all my bloodstones ready for that stage (and not lodged in the bone hydra), or if I have a damage dealing dash then I am lined up, ready to dash end to end through them. When you just have the single bone hydra head to deal with you can pace yourself and take your time. The next boss is a whole different kettle of fish.

Quite possibly, I never bother learning the names. Ugly bastards all the same.

Its definitely easier than previous iterations. I've only had to make one real alteration so far and that was to craft a fire hammer to get past the Khezu, who funnily enough was the bastard I got stuck on in Tri. Still loving it though, and the game is such a time sink that I don't know if I'd stick with it if I hit a wall too early. I just love the way matchmaking works - find a monster you want to fight and enter via a join request, and you're right in it, racing to the rescue of a guy who is already engaged. Great fun Does anyone know how the scaling of monsters works? Do the up the HP of an monster when someone joins the hunt? Does it decrease if they drop out?

I love the turf wars - great emergent gameplay opportunities. Beyond wyvern riding does anyone have any tips for making the most of them? As a hammer user I kind of have to stand by and watch at the moment, as getting into the fray is asking to be trampled.

So my game finally came today, and I managed to plug a couple hours in. Did the Great Jaggi and the Azuros, and just explored a bit. Obviously far too early to give any kind of verdict, but I will say I've never been tempted by the exploration before in these games, where here the wirebug and dog just make it easy and fun. I didn't play world, but the quality of life changes here are what I have been begging for from these games. I'll be up for some hub quests tomorrow if anyone has time to help a scrub.

As the tortuous wait for Monster Hunter Rise dragged through the weekend, I thought I would get prepped and get the Switch all plugged in after it being in storage for a couple months. I decide to boot Hades up again, and I'm so glad I did. I haven't beaten the game with the sword yet, so I decide to plug away at it. I managed to recycle some materials into weapon upgrades, and unlocked the aspect that allows you to retrieve your cast from an enemy by using your special. I try a couple different variations before getting the Artemis boons that cause damage when the bloodstone dislodges, and the seeker arrow cast. Combined with the Weak special attack, and rapid casting, I started destroying. Theseus and the Minotaur have never gone down easier. Get some distance, three casts, close the gap and special - insane damage. So I'm thinking this is it, this is the one, but I go into Hades far too arrogant and loose 100hp in like 5 seconds. Foolish of me, but I'm just going to try and replicate that again, maybe with Poseidon boons instead of Artemis.

Completed Shovel Knight last night, becoming the first game in a while I’ve actually seen to the end. Maybe it was just the old school simplicity, or the charm, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the final boss in particular was clever, in the way it kinda turns the tendency to shovel bounce all the time against you. Some really tough sections, and I rage quit once after accidentally breaking two lamps in a row. I’d tried Kentucky Route Zero, which was dumb of me because I rarely take to interactive stories. Got bored watching a section that was just a theatre piece and gave up. May go back to it but I’m in no rush. The one I was really disappointed in was Persona 5. I had been sick of JRPGs for a while, but my understanding was that this was different. And I get why - unique setting, deep characterisation, style - but it solved none of the problems I had. Nothing particularly innovative about the battles, endless clicking through dialogues, seemingly endless waiting until you get to do something. And I hate the music. Hopefully Monster Hunter arrives today

Doesnt look like mine is coming today. Gutted