WackerJr

Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx (PS5) How can a game be so fundamentally broken in the main mode it advertises you to play in? A game starring two superheroes and promotes the ability to play local co-op is a steaming pile of glitchy irritation when actually played in local co-op. There’s a decent concept here, but ultimately gameplay that feels unfinished and further emphasises that publishers care more about the picture on the box than its contents! For those unaware, Miraculous is a popular children’s show starring high school students and latex-wearing superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir. My daughter is a big fan, and the game sees you playing as the heroes in a new storyline facing a few of the game’s recognisable villains along the way. The premise is actually ok, split between action levels and exploration sections. The action levels see you play as the two heroes in single-player or 2-player co-op, negotiating linear 3D levels leaping platforms and collecting orbs. Encountering enemies forces you to fight them. The exploration sections see you playing as the female student Marinette (the female equivalent of ‘Peter Parker’ I guess, with the locals unaware of her superhero alter-ego) walking around a small suburb of Paris, talking with friends to move the story along. In a very basic Persona-style nod you’re occasionally given dialogue choices with friends to improve your friendship level. The characters look like they’re taken straight out of the show and it even includes plenty of voice acting for the main characters. So far so good. Then you come to the actual gameplay…. Glitches, janky animation, twitchy controls, all there to cause immense annoyance! The game involves a LOT of jumping between platforms, you tap the control stick to move and your character will shoot off in the direction you push, while jump distance doesn’t seem to change no matter how long you press the button for and judging landings is incredibly tough. In single-player you can switch characters on the fly. The option for two-player co-op is great for an adult to play with their child, except the game is painfully unfair to the second player. The camera is automatic with no manual control. It usually follows player one and the view is pretty zoomed in. Should the other player veer off screen, even slightly, they’re forced to respawn. As a result, player two will frequently disappear off screen and reappear elsewhere. Characters move so quickly that often in co-op by the time I’d respawned, the place I was respawning to would no longer be in view, so subsequently forced to respawn again and again! It’s infuriating! Besides this, sometimes orbs will be collected, other times the game randomly decides it’s not going to let you pick them up, and you’re forced to leave them behind, lonely and desolate. Spot the orb. It’s not going anywhere! Single player seems less glitchy to be fair, but the general lack of polish is evident throughout. I will give it some credit for the boss battles. A couple of difficulty spikes notwithstanding, the method to defeat them is varied, from simple battles to quizzes on the series (my daughter loved the latter one and carried us through it!). Playing on PS5 there were some design decisions I find just bewildering in the modern day. You have one save file with no option for loading or even deleting your game. Orbs are gone forever once collected, so once you’ve finished the game, while you can still re-enter levels, the collecting aspect is essentially voided once you’ve collected all the orbs. You are given the option to play the full game one more time once the final boss is defeated, but then that’s it. I understand the decision that once orbs have been collected they’re collected, but the inability to even start a new game (more than one time) is perplexing. Especially as my daughter would’ve been quite happy to play this again with other unsuspecting friends or family. I guess I could go into the system settings and delete the game from my PS5 directly? I figured that at least the trophies would be easy to get… Hah! Even these are buggy. Some involve reaching maximum friendship level with each character. However, it turns out there’s some RNG shenanigans as to how much your choices improve your friendship level. So even selecting the best possible answers in conversation is by no means a guarantee you’ll max it out. Since the game doesn’t allow you to load, you’re given your two playthroughs to get the trophies (more if you delete the game from your settings of course). I’m not that desperate, but for trophy hunters this is a kick in the teeth knowing that success is down to how lucky they get. Given time to fix the issues, this could be a good game. My daughter enjoyed her time with it, but then she got to be player one throughout, while my wife and I exasperatedly battled with controlling player two. Sorry I feel I’ve taken up your time with this post simply venting! I’m just fed up with publishers getting away with cutting so many corners when it comes to games aimed primarily at a younger age group. Needless to say I didn’t fork out an additional tenner to get the DLC (consisting solely of just three outfits). *Deep breath* Thanks for indulging me and allowing me to pour out my resentment towards this game! 60 seconds of me reviewing the game

Haha! Tell me about it! My parents produced a box of old games they’d found in their loft. They find it hard to throw things away! I got my daughter to try some of the games to make sure everything still worked/was there. She managed 5mins of the LCD games before she got bored! 😂 Disappointingly though when selling the Subbuteo, my team Exeter went for just half the price of our rivals Torquay!

Thanks for the advice, that’s really useful and much appreciated. Reading up I’m worried I’ll make a dogs dinner out of fixing it, so if you would like it then I’m happy to send it to you. I’ll drop you a PM (no pressure so if you change your mind it’s no problem). I’ve got a Space Adventure LCD game that’s on eBay finishing tonight, although no bids yet though and it’s the 2nd time of asking with no bids. I’ve got Sonic 2 by Tiger which I think I will put on eBay. If nothing else, I recorded some gameplay of it working and I want other people to suffer the horrendously repetitive and grating music that I had to experience! 😂

So my parents have found some of my old LCD games. I’ve discovered one of them (Formula 1 by Systema) is missing a spring and battery contact. Does anyone know if this is fixable? To be honest I’m simply selling them all on eBay and it’s to know whether I can realistically sell this or if it’s destined for the bin!

TOEM (PS5) Looking like the abstract doodles of a talented artist, I found TOEM charming and a rather delightful little adventure. It all takes place in a monochrome world with hand-drawn graphics and no combat. You’re gifted a camera to take while you explore a dozen different diorama-style locations. You meet a whole cast of off-beat characters, most of whom will task you to show them a picture of a certain creature or object, with the request taking the form of a simplistic clue to what they want to see. Whipping your tool out switches to a first-person viewpoint. The simplistic graphics make this transition quick and smooth, good since you’ll be doing it a huge amount. For each request you fulfil you’re rewarded with a stamp. Earn enough stamps in a location and you’ll be allowed to catch the bus to the next location (apparently money is not a thing in TOEM’s world). Each location is comprised of maybe a dozen small areas, each only taking a few seconds to travel through. Despite the simplistic graphics and lack of colour, the design makes these locations all distinguishable from one another, whether it be a jungle, a beach, or a snowy mountain for instance. While small, each area is pretty filled with characters or things to find. There are creatures found everywhere, usually in plain site, sitting on rocks or trees. Most requests refer to things located within the location you’re in as well, so it’s fairly quick to explore everything within each location. There could be 20-30 requests within a location though, so everything feels swift. Most requests are fairly simplistic, simply spotting the object needed. Thankfully there are puzzles to solve, such as finding mysterious cubes which alter part of the surroundings (one example is a grandmother who’s car has been upturned and the cube will cause it to flip the right way). As well as stamps, you’ll occasionally be rewarded with items, usually in the form of clothing. While these are mainly aesthetic, some have practical uses, such as glasses that enable you to see ghosts (who of course have photo requests of their own). You even get attachments for your camera, such as a horn which you can use to create new paths to explore. While it may be fun for some, I wasn’t too bothered with the camera filters you earn. If you so choose, you can simply take photos of your surroundings using a myriad of different filters. With the exception of using them for a couple of puzzles I had no desire to spend my time trying to take obscure-looking photos of a monkey, or adding comical sunglasses to a tramp! Each to their own I suppose though. Due to the game conditioning me that so many rewards and items were purely cosmetic, I was thrown by some of the smarter puzzles that actually required me to use some of them. I think I’d have appreciated those more had there been more requests using your items to solve puzzles as opposed to the higher number which were along the lines of ‘I’m going to give you a hint as to the object I’d like a picture of’. It was short at only a few hours long, and didn’t overstay its welcome. As you can probably tell, I rather enjoyed this! Admittedly I like Pokemon Snap and the photography aspects of Beyond Good & Evil, so this ticked the right boxes immediately. Oh, and praise too to the DLC (which was free alongside the game, which I picked up when it was a PSPlus monthly title), which managed to add some new gameplay aspects and enhanced the overall package. Link to my video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0HgNv6_4E

That’s brilliant and I never realised you could do that. Thanks @Julius I think I’ll try that!

Wow that looks great. It’ll be interesting to see whether there’s an interlocking story or whether they’re 15 standalone episodes. I wondered how they’ll cover Pac-Man, but that teaser certainly gives a hint (one I wouldn’t have guessed!). Excited to see how this turns out! 😁

Thanks both. Certainly an option to simply add it would be easier, and appreciate the risk of it starts to get abused. I haven’t tried image-hosting sites like Imgur before, but will give it a go in the meantime. Linking to X seems easier, but I’ve found (on the older version anyway) that having too many X links on a page causes it to take a long time to load, and in some cases was causing a page to simply crash. Of course the hard work on the update may have fixed that (I’m not criticising) I haven’t looked. I appreciate your help and replies on this.

Thanks Ashley. Yes that’s exactly what I mean. Not a problem about Tapatalk for me, I only used it in occasion when I wanted to upload my own image. For me, at the bottom when I reply I only get the option to “insert image from URL” and have to choose a web address. Is this what you and others do? Is there a way to insert your own images? (I’d add a screen grab of what I can see, but… you know! 😂)

Apologies if I should have found this elsewhere, but what’s the best method for including images within a post? I know you can insert an image via a url link, and in Tapatalk you could add your own images. With the updated forum (which I’m liking the look of) not working for me anymore in Tapatalk, is there a way to add in your own images? Thanks!

Congrats to her. The abuse hurled has been ridiculous and it was a great sight to see the medalists all celebrating together on the podium. I don’t think “trans” has ever been officially used, yet people have made assumptions on it and are constantly talking about it. There’s so much unknown with the whole story. Not helped when even the official explanations are contradicting each other. What a Games overall though. Thankfully the actual sport has been fantastic. I’ll be sad to see it stop. So pleased for Bryony Page of Team GB for her gold and in being selected to be flag bearer (ok so I’m slightly biaised being involved in Trampolining and being friends with her coach), she is so humble and likeable. Even today the Bhutan athlete who finished 90mins behind the marathon winner, while setting a new PB. The crowds were behind her, and she still did it in a time I couldn’t imagine doing in my wildest dreams!

Great topic! For how much I love gaming, there are quite a few major/popular aspects that I’ve missed. Souls-likes: reading this thread I’m glad to see I’m not the only one out there! I do have Elden Ring in my backlog though, so one day I’ll get around to having my butt kicked over and over and over again! MMOs: I don’t have any close friends who play these either, and I’m more a fan of games with a definitive start and end, or that I can play in my own time. Fortnite: Played it once, I was dreadful, didn’t have any desire to keep playing. Call of Duty: FPS aren’t my favourite genres (I don’t completely discount them, Goldeneye & Perfect Dark remain some of my favourite games), but I’ve never tried a CoD game, nor really mustered the inventive to do so. I think I’ve got one free via the PS+ monthly games, but I fully expect it’ll remain in my library gathering (digital) cobwebs. 3D Final Fantasy: Ok here I do start my gaming regrets. I loved Final Fantasy VI, but I don’t know where to start with the 3D games. I’d like to play 7 at some point, but don’t know if I should play the original or FF7 Remake. Any advice anyone? I admittedly still have Chrono Trigger (DS), Golden Sun 3 (DS) and Xenoblade Chronicles (3DS) in my backlog yet to play and I know whatever RPG I start will be a big investment of time. Metal Gear: I had a conversation recently with a colleague who’s a huge MGS fan, as I have never played a game in the series. With the majority of the games now available to play on Switch (& I have V via PS+) I could finally experience the series, as it seems such a major one to have missed out on.

If it is something that isn’t too time-consuming then having it as a site feature sounds a good idea, and deserving with all the effort going into this! I’m no expert on it, but being on the main site means it has a better chance of reaching a wider audience too, is that right?

Recognition for that fantastic reference! 😂👏🏻

Andy Murray’s not last match Sunday, the mountain biking yesterday, Andy Murray’s not last match tonight at the same time as the gold-winning GB relay team, Ireland’s Olympic gold in the pool, the skateboarders bus getting stuck in Paris, so they simply skated the 2km to their event… and so much more! I love the Olympics! 😁

It’s an odd choice for me, but I’m ok with it as I’m a big proponent of as many sports getting recognition as possible. The query I have with it though is now that ‘dance’ genre, what does it mean for all the other forms? Having a sister who used to compete in Street Dance as well as others, does this mean they’ll be considered in future? I suppose it’s a little like gymnastics, where some types are in the Olympics (floor, trampoline, etc), whereas many others aren’t (TeamGym, Rhythmic). I’m not sure why they aren’t mind! I LOVE the Olympics. The actual sports so far have been fantastic, even ones I’ve had no interest in before. There’s so much I’m looking forward to (I’m heavily involved in Trampolining so slightly biaises towards that!).

Fair point 🤣

Having just read the rather confusing interview in Nintendolife I feel the developers are sending out a few mixed messages about the game. ”After announcing the game the other day, a lot of people have referred to this game as being heavily inspired by, or a heavily similar game to the Chibi-Robo series. But I think that’s just because they’re looking through these lenses that are tainted with their experience of having played Chibi-Robo. And actually, this is its own very different sort of game.” Surely part of the reason this is getting so much attention is because it’s being thought of as a spiritual follow-up? They’ve advertised it as being a little robot who traverses the house cleaning up mess, solving problems, meeting a kooky cast of characters and being careful because it has a limited battery life before needing to be recharged. Whereas Chibi-Robo was all about being a little robot helper who traverses the house/garden, cleaning up mess, solving problems to spread happiness to the humans and cast of kooky characters it meets, all the while being mindful that it has a limited battery life that needs to be regularly recharged…

I’d never played a baseball game before, but got quite excited that this was coming out (to this day I’m not really sure why!). HMV used to show me the release dates and when I went in to pick up this newly released title… well it has disappeared from the list and no-one had any idea when it had moved to. Months down the line I spotted it in the wild and I found a similar experience to you. It was alright, and while it could end up anywhere I was able to get bat on ball. The major issue I found, which I really should have known, was that it was still just baseball. Nothing more, nothing less. No bells and whistles, so while I played a decent enough game, matches weren’t quick and got repetitive quickly. I haven’t bought a baseball game since.

Ratchet & Clank (PS4) So the 2016 game is a game based on the movie based on the original PS2 game (think Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game methodology, only this game’s actually decent and the movie was much closer to the source material). I’m new to the series and what I found was a likeable 3D Sci-Fi platformer with more emphasis on the shooting aspect. Gameplay is really smooth, levels are fairly short, and the enemies are all well animated and are satisfying to take down with the huge arsenal of weapons collected. Some are more serious than others, ranging from your basic pistol to bombs to some of my favourites which cause enemies to stop and dance, making them easy pickings. Clank’s levels tend to be more puzzle-based and I would have liked a few more to be honest. I came away impressed and looking forward to seeing how the gameplay’s improved for Rift’s Apart, which I was gifted but is currently on my backlog. One-minute video review

I hope they keep the character in the other toys/people you encounter, as that was one of the charms of the original. If the campaign is successful and it looks to be progressing well I wonder if Nintendo will take it on and simply update the main character since nothing else needs changing for this to be a Chibi-Robo game! They’ve added flying too! It may be less of a chore now to cover long distances!

Maybe they’ll finally put the other FDC games on sale to help promote this? Hey, I can but hope. I’m keen to play them but my backlog is still so large I need a really good reason to justify buying them…

I got back to the UK by plane yesterday afternoon, so just in time it seems. I’ve seen some airports abroad using white board and pen and it’s working. Whatever did we do before? Hope everything’s ok with the wife and baby #2 @Will

Bastion (Switch) Virtually always on sale now, I found the 13-year old Bastion to be alright, but a little underwhelming considering the positive things I’d heard about it over the years. Lovely hand-drawn graphics hide what is distinctly ok gameplay. Run and battle through isometric levels where the land rises up and appears close to you as you move. Or it deliberately doesn’t and you learn to jump gaps or plummet to the abyss with, thankfully, no consequence. Prior to each level you can select two from your growing arsenal of firearms and melee weapons. They tend to grow in power so I tended to stick with the latest ones. Each weapon has a short graded challenge level too, which are all rather neat and serve as tutorials for each. The similarity of the weapons and levels means I found it got rather repetitive. The bosses were neat and overall it didn’t do anything really wrong, the game just didn’t grip me. One area that did raise the quality of the whole package was the wonderful narration by Logan Cunningham. His gravelly tone not only narrated the story, but throughout the game there were context-sensitive lines that he’d say to me as the player. He’d comment on the combination of weapons for instance, mock me when I fell off the edge, or where one particular enemy leapt at me but I dodged it and instead it dropped off the edge of the level he dryly remarked about their lack of intelligence. If it wasn’t for the entertaining narration this was forgettable for me. Link to my one-minute YouTube review.

I love this! Completely out of nowhere and it’s Nintendo genuinely teasing us with something we know nothing about. It all seems very un-Nintendo, which just makes it even more intriguing. If I were to guess I’d go with a new Fatal Frame title as opposed to a new franchise. Didn’t Nintendo and Koei Tecmo strike some of deal a few years ago? I really don’t know, but what a terrific surprise regardless!