Your 2020 Gaming Diary

[Aperson]

It's Seed time!

 

After the eventful Mogenar fight, what awaits us in this Seed on Elysia?

 

 

A robot, that's what!

[Londragon]

[Let’s Play: Together] Hypercharge: Unboxed (NO.2)

Old Nintendo Gamer & Son play through the regular mode and protect the 3 Hypercores of No.2 (aka the bathroom).

[Glen-i]

10 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

It's Seed time!

 

After the eventful Mogenar fight, what awaits us in this Seed on Elysia?

 

 

A robot, that's what!

You know, that's my least favourite boss in Prime 3.

Goes on way too long and it needs way too precise aiming.

[drahkon]

Bought Cat Quest on the eShop for 1,60€ a few days ago.

Played a bit and I have to say: A very simple, very cute, veeeeeeery hand-holding RPG. The latter fact may turn me away from the game pretty soon if it keeps going like this.

[Aperson]

4 hours ago, Glen-i said:

You know, that's my least favourite boss in Prime 3.

Goes on way too long and it needs way too precise aiming.

Funny you should say that, in my video I pretty much echo your sentiments. It's just so boring and not particularly challenging although I did die on my first attempt at the boss which ended up being off camera due to having to redo the entire episode. The reason I died was due to overuse of Hypermode.

 

Recorded up to Part 28 now, planning on how I will segment the rest of the LP now so that there's a natural flow, the hard part is that I barely remember how the Pirate Homeworld is structured other than certain notable set pieces and the order in which you get the powerups.

[Londragon]

[Let’s Play: Together] Hypercharge: Unboxed (DAWN OF THE TOYS)

Old Nintendo Gamer & Son play through the regular mode and protect the 3 Hypercores of Dawn of the Toys (aka the bedroom).

[Aperson]

So, with Skytown done only one major planet remains... the Pirate Homeworld.

 

Starting the Pirate Homeworld in this part in what becomes more of a stealth mission with a neat prize.

 

 

Said prize is in the thumbnail >.>

 

I've recorded up to Part 29 now and by my estimation the LP will be a 39 part LP. That means 13 more to go until the LP is complete, with three of those already recorded. Secured myself a supply of AA Batteries to help me last the rest of the LP since my batteries have hit the low point coming into Part 30.

[nekunando]

 

[Londragon]

[Let’s Play: Together] Hypercharge: Unboxed (TOY PALACE)

Old Nintendo Gamer & Son play through the regular mode and protect the 3 Hypercores of Toy Palace (aka Toys ‘R Us).  Great level this one, which introduces the parachuting Green Soldiers from an Aircraft Carrier.

[drahkon]

On 8/12/2020 at 8:31 AM, drahkon said:

veeeeeeery hand-holding RPG

Good lord, it gets worse. Quests (side or main) are pretty much: "Here's the story, here's where you have to go. Go there, do this, go here, do that. Quest done, next quest..."
Maybe it's more for kids. Which isn't a bad thing inherently. It seems to be a nice game to get kids into RPGs. It's just too easy and too hand-holdy for me.

Recently I also bought Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Deluxier Edition on Switch. Never had any experience with DnD or Pen and Paper RPGs, so it was a little weird at first. The game kind of simulates a DnD session (I assume) but as a solo experience. So far, it's quite interesting. Will see how it'll hold up after a few hours.

Aaaaaand my mate and I started Ghost Recon Breakpoint yesterday. Did the first few missions and it's good old co-op fun Plays similar to Ghost Recon Wildlands which is not a bad thing. We loved that game.
Breakpoint has a few bugs, but nothing game breaking (so far). Other than that: It's fun. We'll spend lots of time with this. Wildlands took us about a year to finish (and get the Platinum) so we all know where this is headed

Edited August 14, 2020 by drahkon

[Londragon]

[Let’s Play: Together] Hypercharge: Unboxed (AIRHOCKEY SHUFFLE)

Old Nintendo Gamer & Son play through the regular mode and protect the singular Hypercore of AirHockey Shuffle (aka The Arcade).  Short, sharp and sweet.  A single Hypercore in the middle of an Air Hockey Table, with a barrage of spinners.

[Aperson]

Today's episode is one of the longest in the series. I even had to cut it down to fit everything in.

 

However, I also feel it's one of the strongest episodes in the series. It suffered from a few technical difficulties but I tried to make light of it in certain situations. It also copies the thing of a running incident or catchphrase being the name of Part 26 of the LP.

 

So... let's...

 

PULL!

 

TWIST!

 

PUSH!

 

 

 

I'm sure that thumbnail isn't too much to worry about...

Edited August 15, 2020 by GenericAperson

[Londragon]

One of my son's favourite levels, set in a garage, with a Jeep present.  Three Hypercores to protect in disparate locations, and the introduction of the UFO, a super tough, and fast, flying enemy.

[Let’s Play: Together] Hypercharge: Unboxed (FORT JEEP)

Old Nintendo Gamer & Son play through the regular mode and protect the 3 Hypercores of Fort Jeep (aka The Garage).

[Nicktendo]

Finished The Messenger over the weekend. Managed to hit 100% after about 14 or so hours. I won’t share any opinions on it until the podcast but I will say that I enjoyed it more than Ori 😂

Just started the DLC.

[BowserBasher]

Thought this the best place to post these. Bought Lego City Undercover on Switch eshop as it was only £15 a few weeks ago and just finished 100%. I did this on WiiU and still enjoyed doing it all again. I’m sure I even found new things I missed first play through. 
 

Always loved that you could “drive” the train, just wished it wasn’t only half the map. 

[Londragon]

17 hours ago, Nicktendo said:

Finished The Messenger over the weekend. Managed to hit 100% after about 14 or so hours. I won’t share any opinions on it until the podcast but I will say that I enjoyed it more than Ori 😂

Just started the DLC.

Only two notes to go for me.

[Let’s Play: Together] Hypercharge: Unboxed (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE HALLWAY)

Old Nintendo Gamer & Son play through the regular mode and protect the 3 Hypercores of Big Trouble in Little Hallway (aka the L-Shaped Operation Alley).

[Aperson]

Going to try uploading at 7 for a few days. Editing may be slower due to the fact that I'm running out of space but I've recorded up to Part 31 so all I need to do is get through the backlog. Schedule won't be changed though.

 

In the new part, we go back to Skytown with all routes at the Pirate Homeworld leading to dead ends, even with the Grapple Voltage in hand. Fortunately a new route opens up at Skytown for us to traverse.

 

 

I only initially wanted to get the item from Skytown and do a couple of Red Phaazoids and wound up collecting everything in Skytown...

[Josh64]

I got a gaming PC recently, set up Steam and Xbox GamePass, dabbled in a bunch of interesting and different things...

 

... I'm also now about 20 hours into my second ever full Boom Street tour on Dolphin and it's every bit as wonderful as I remember. It's an absolute tragedy the newer PS4 title didn't get a release outside of Japan.

[drahkon]

Sorry Cat Quest but

The hand-holding is insane. I'd recommend this game for kids to have a nice intro to (action)RPGs but for everyone else it's not worth the money. Thankfully I've only spent 1,60€ on it.

 

[Jonnas]

In recent weeks, I've gotten back into Fire Emblem Heroes (that game's summoning tries my patience, but the army-building and strategy aspects are really good. I might be done with it again soon), tried my hand at an Ironman run on Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade (short-lived, but exciting while it happened. Might try again, in a different form), played a bunch of games with my little cousin, beating every 2-player level of Snipperclips in the process (we're still missing the 4-player puzzles, though), and also had the opportunity to clear a game from my eShop backlog:

Yoku's Island Express

There's Yoku, expressing on an island. Title checks out.

Music for ambiance

I first heard of this game thanks to Don Casanova of Easy Allies. He briefly covered this game while it was still in development, and I was intrigued. I eventually tried the demo on the Switch eShop, and got a good enough impression to buy it late last year, but only now did I finally come around to playing it. Probably should've done it sooner, but the game does have a groovy summer vibe to it, so I guess it fits.

Released in 2018, and developed by Villa Gorilla (whom I thought were Australian or New Zealander, but no, turns out they're Swedish), Yoku's Island Express is a Metroidvania/Pinball hybrid.

If you've seen videos of this game, you know how that works, but if you haven't... Yoku is a dung beetle that carries an ivory ball with him (attached only by a Joycon strap rope). He only moves left and right, but by pressing L or R, you also activate these "flippers" scattered through the environment in order to move around and navigate the surroundings. There are also a lot of caves that are just straight up pinball tables with small objectives. I recommend just playing the demo (or watching Don's video on it), it's very straightforward once you try it.

So yeah, Metroidvania with a twist. Is it a good one? I think so, the Pinball mechanic is very well utilised, and the game never really runs out of ideas for tables or mechanics. There are very few permanent power-ups, but the level design is so good, the game feels fresh from beginning to end.

Story and Presentation go hand in hand, and it's a delight. Set on what seems to be an island in the Pacific, the game has this colourful, bright, endearing charm to it that'll make you smile from beginning to end. In a world of talking animals, Yoku is actually a post office worker who's been assigned to this island, and while meetings with hostile eels or nagging bunnies are all well and expected, some bigger, stranger things are afoot when he arrives. Not to spoil too much, but there's some lore involving an ancient divine beast known as the Old One involved. All in good fun, the game's child-friendly.

The graphics look absolutely fantastic. Most NPCs look unique and have their own quirks. The environments remind me of Ori and the Blind Forest, if that game wanted to look more like a bright rainbow, though there are places with darker (and even monochrome) colours in Yoku, too. But none of the hidden thorns!
Music is also amazing, going for a chill, relaxing sound most of the time, and always somehow matching the necessary vibes for each part of the map. Though the beeline theme (not an ambient theme) can be super catchy too.

Also, Yoku himself has a horn you can blow at any time with A, and it's one of those meaningless, but endearing things. You can also customise your ball's colours. In fact, this game is filled with charming things like these, like how sometimes a straightforward jump is actually a series of predetermined, overly complex bumper collisions.

How about exploration? Actually pretty good! There are multiple sidequests scattered through the map, several cool collectibles, and navigating the island is super fun. Plus, even though characters give you quests and goals, you can actually do these in any order, or take your sweet time exploring the entire island before doing so. Best feeling in a Metroidvania is exploring what seems to be an optional cave and finding a major item/power-up out of the blue, and Yoku provides plenty of those moments. I felt like there was something cool hidden in every corner of the map.

The only main flaw I see is that certain quests (main and optional) put markers on your map, and I wish that part was optional, not really a fan of that particular design choice. Also, certain mechanics can be finicky when going for certain collectibles, and the developers may have not fully tested this. For example, one specific jump, if done badly, can launch you a huge distance in the wrong direction. Another one only allows for two or three tries before you need to leave and allow that table to reload. There are also certain flippers and bumpers that just don't launch you correctly, like you have to try a couple of times before they do it properly (imagine being launched by a barrel in DKC into a trail of bananas, only for a couple of those bananas to be just slightly outside of your resulting trajectory. That's what it feels like).

But all of those are isolated incidents, honestly. The game feels great most of the time.

Game turned out to be pretty short, some 10 hours to finish it 100%. Not a bad thing, because I never really felt bored, though I do wish it was longer!

Creativity........5/5
Level Design..5/5
Presentation...5/5
Exploration.....4/5
Length............3/5

Yoku isn't just a creative concept with great execution, it's the whole package. A really good, well designed, wholesome game, perfect for some summertime chilling

  My 2020 log (Hide contents)

Played/Beat/Completed:

-Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (2018) Completed (January 13th)

-Mr.Driller: Drill Spirits (2004) Beat (January 30th)

-Dragon Ball Fighterz (2018) Beat (February 22nd)

-Advance Wars: Dark Conflict (2008) Completed (February 25th)

-Capcom Beat'em Up Bundle (2018) No Goal (March 13th)

-Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2008) Completed (March 23rd)

-Kirby's Pinball Land (1993) Completed (March 28th)

-Pikuniku (2019) Beat (March 31st)

-Ori and the Blind Forest (2015) Completed (April 18th)

-Atomicrops (2020) Beat (May 24th)

-Infliction: Extended Cut (2020) Beat (June 28th)

-Bravely Default (2013) Beat (June 28th)

-Super Mario Land 2 (1992) Completed (July 13th)

-Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (2000) Beat (July 19th)

-Snipperclips (2017) Beat (August 15th)

-Yoku's Island Express (2018) Completed (August 18th)

 

Currently Playing:

-Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)

-Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (2017)

Edited August 20, 2020 by Jonnas

[drahkon]

Once you get the wistle, Yoku's Island Express goes from a 10/10 to a 15/10.

[Dufniall]

Glad to see some more praise for Yoku. I reviewed it when it came out and thinking back it is indeed a perfect summer game due to the whole island vibe. If I wouldn't have so much on the backlog I would revisit it.

[Nicktendo]

The Messenger: Picnic Panic = 100% Done.

A nice 3 hour extra adventure which throws up a lot of new and interesting stuff. Very challenging compared to the base game. 

Again, I'll say more later 

But I will say it is fantastic that this DLC was free. Top stuff, Sabotage. 

New Game + is calling...

[Jonnas]

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention: the credits in Yoku had someone credited for "Director of Fun". That's just great.

1 hour ago, Vileplume2000 said:

Glad to see some more praise for Yoku. I reviewed it when it came out and thinking back it is indeed a perfect summer game due to the whole island vibe. If I wouldn't have so much on the backlog I would revisit it.

Nice! I somehow missed that review (maybe I was avoiding spoilers?), but I read it just now, and I agree with most of it. The final score is spot-on.

[Dufniall]

 Throwback Thursday #34  

  Star Wars: Rogue Leader  

I'll do another long post before the end of the month with an update of my diary, but for now I'm just going to plug a new #TBT. I'm guessing a lot of folks here have fond memories of this game seeing it got picked quite a few times in the 30 Days Challenge as well.