Yep, negatives only for the ones claimed.
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+1 Resident Evil RE:Verse
Servers are closing down in a week, so it was now or never! Knocked it out with a group all in one go.
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Great thanks everyone.
Thinking I’ll take a -2 right now for The Entropy Centre and Murders on the Yangtze River - the others I was glad to get as I’d not got round to them on Game Pass, they sound interesting (Frank and Drake I didn’t like the demo but the premise still interests me, and Dustborn reminds me of Road 96) and I’ll claim + play eventually, or they sounded decent enough.
Only a few was I not particularly interested in - but all these for under 30 quid and helping charity it was an easy decision.
If anyone’s got any recommendations (either to play or avoid) for the below I’d be grateful!
- Venba
- Mutazione
- Frank and Drake
- SEASON: A Letter to the Future
- Dustborn
- Harold Halibut
- Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out
- Song of Farca
- Lacuna
- Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishment
- Murders on the Yangtze River
- Brok the Investigator
- Between Horizons
- Paper Trail
- A Guidebook of Babel
- Kingsgrave
- Homebody
- The Entropy Centre
- The Abandoned Planet
- The Star Named EOS
- Behind the Frame
Also if anyone wants a Steam key for Heavy Rain let me know - it was in the bundles but I’ve got it on PlayStation from years ago.
Thanks again!
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The only one I’ve played is Venba. Short game with an interesting, personal, story and lots of food. Game made me hungry! I liked it.
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I enjoyed these, probably in that order. They’re all on the short side as well.
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Thanks both! Will try and get round to them after the first 2, and claim them at the time.
Thanks again
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- +1 - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2: THPS1 (XSX) - I grew up with the Tony Hawk series (the first and third were my favorites/most played), so getting to relive these with a new coat of paint and some new additions (and some wonky changes/removals), has been pretty rad. What can I say about the game that started it all - it’s close to perfection. Getting 100% was a blast from the past and there are a few additional things to do/find after it’s all over.
- +1 - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2: THPS2 (XSX) - I only ever rented this for the N64 when I was a teen, so I didn’t get as much time with this one as the original. That said, it was just as cool a reminder to see how the level design had evolved and expanded in just one game. Solid game overall that’s only slightly edged out by the original IMO. Highly recommend this collection and if you can get it on sale, it’s some of the best money you’ll spend on a game
- +1 - Red Dead Online (XOne) - I originally bought RDR2 at launch, but ended up picking up a RDO bundle deal that had an extra horse and a couple weapons to help get started. Recently fell back in love with the game again (being back out West really helps stur that frontier-spirit… but it’s too hot to be roaming in the heat atm) and ended up finally completing all of the content: I hit level 100, maxed out all my roles, and completed all story missions. RDO is the type of game I log into to roam and relax, I rarely ever play any of the PvP (and unlike games like Destiny, I’m not punished for it)… it’s really something special, and even if you don’t ever experience all the content, I’d still recommend it to just about anyone.
Total = 22.5
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I never spent much time in the Online part, only checked it out basically. RDR2 is my GOAT so I should probably give that a go sometime.
Also, nice completions!
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It’s also Monday so might as well do this weeks update! Picking up the pace a little bit this week with the completions, nice nice. Keep it up!
The Leaderboard:
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@Knottian 22.5
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@MasterLeePhD 14.5
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@Zip 9.5
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@profjjj 9
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@SilentJay76 8.5
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.@ Mort 5.5
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.@ TechWendigo 5
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.@ vrinn 4
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@Widey85 -3
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@APOPHIS1989 -6.5
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Im still just over here beating a bunch of games that dont count. Crushing it.
I have finished new saves of breath of the wild and Tears of the Kingdom since the switch 2 launched. Well technically I will probably finish totk today (obviously not doing/seeing everything there is to see. I did that all the first time around).
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I used to get the PlayStation magazine (alongside PC Gamer and PC Zone - my nan really spoiled me with pocket money!) and play the demos as back then it took so long to save up to buy games you had to be really sure.
I’m unsure whether it was Tony Hawks 1 or 2, but I used to love skateboarding round an early level just doing as much as I could before the demo ended - but I sucked enough that I didn’t risk the full game as an olly was about as good as it got for me 
Really fond memories of it though, may give the new ones a look on Game Pass…
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Just as an aside, this is my running list of games I have finished since mid December (I do a game completion challenge with coworkers from mid-December till end of November every year).
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+1 Metaphor:ReFantazio
I did it! It took 105 hours, but I finished it! I think this is the best game from the Persona team, and one of the best examples of engaging turn based combat. I highly recommend anyone remotely interested to play it, especially since it’s currently on Game Pass.
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Awesome! This is on my list too, it looks more interesting than any of the Persona games for me.
(Also, I’ll get your point on next weeks update. Didn’t bother this week as there was no points coming in.)
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-0.5 Powerwash Simulator: Wallace and Gromit
Don’t think I took the negative when I bought this with reward points - was a busy day and forgot!
+0.5 Powerwash Simulator: Wallace and Gromit
Good cleaning fun as always, did love the moving parts in some of the levels (the train in the kitchen / living room job, the machines in the basement) and they were a good size for the money.
Now just finishing up the last free job (the Muckingham Files, sculpture park) then I guess I’m set for Powerwash Simulator 2 as I’ll have completed every single level available, many multiple times…
Otherwise hoping to get a plus point for AC Shadows soon, 55 hours played so far but I’m a completionist so doing all the sync points etc before the last 3 or 4 targets - may complete a few of my smaller games after to get back into positive points lol…
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I recommend the new Critical Roll/Rufino questline. Although it includes another syndicate, it doesn’t take long to complete.
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+1 Far Cry Primal
A bit of a slog at times, but I enjoyed it overall. The story’s pretty forgettable. But it was certainly something a little bit different for a change.
Pilgrims was another fun little puzzle game from Amanita Designs. I’ve played a few of their games now. They’re always amusing.
The rest just wasn’t good enough or too frustrating to continue. (I’m definitely getting better at quitting games I don’t enjoy. Life’s too short.)
Back to Halo again!
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Monday and time for an update! A few points coming in at least… @SilentJay76 moving up the board and parking at a shared third place!
The Leaderboard:
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@Knottian 22.5
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@MasterLeePhD 14.5
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@SilentJay76 9.5
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@Zip 9.5
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@profjjj 9
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.@ Mort 5.5
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.@ TechWendigo 5
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@vrinn 4
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.@ AbhorredGunt 0
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@Widey85 -3
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@APOPHIS1989 -5.5
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Thought I would pop in to say ‘hi’ even though I have nothing to report. So far this summer I have completely replaced my gaming obsession with a new (or renewed) reading obsession.
According to my Kindle, I have read 47 books over the last (roughly) two months - almost all in the LitRPG or GameLit genres. So, even though I am not actively playing games, I am reading “game like” books. Ha.
Here are a few recommendations for anyone interested:
- Dungeon Crawler Carl series - seven books to date. This is a wildly popular series about aliens wiping out Earth and forcing many of the survivors into an intergalactic Running Man-like game show. (That all happens in chapter 1, so no real spoilers) The survivors are basically in a real-life MMO with no respawns or resurrections. While that sounds absolutely horrific (and the book is ultraviolent) it is actually a comedy as much as it is fantasy or sci-fi. The tone is much closer Douglas Adams (HitchHiker’s Guide) than Stephen King.
- Beware of Chicken series - I think there are four (or five?) published books to date, but I read a few more yet-to-be-published volumns on Royal Road. This is a very funny, wholesome genre mashup of isekai (resurrection/new world fantasy), slice of life, farming sim, and cultivation novel. If that doesn’t mean anything to you - it’s a story about a guy who suddenly resurrects into a new body in a Far East inspired fantasy world. His new “host” was basically a low ranking magical monk in one of the most powerful sects in the world. On his first day there he decides he wants nothing to do with magical monks so decides to travel as far away as he can and become a farmer. Of course, after becoming a farmer he finds himself still embroiled in the world of magical monks and (inadvertently) becoming more powerful than ever. Throw in an ever growing contingent of sentient farm animals who also develop magical monk powers and you have the basic elements of the story.
- Jackal Among Snakes - This a completed twelve volume series. Another isekai/resurrection story. The protagonist finds himself in a fantasy world, and is shocked to realize the fantasy world is “based on” his favorite role playing game (or vice versa?). The additional twist is that the protagonist was obsessed with this game and had spent thousands of hours writing the wiki for the game, so he is blessed with near-omniscient knowledge of geography, hidden treasures, character backgrounds, etc. Of course he quickly realizes his knowledge is not perfect since the “real” characters in the game have agency and don’t always behave has he might have thought. This is a very traditional fantasy novel in many ways - with an overarching good vs evil meta plot like Tolkien, lots of political maneuvering on the scale of nations like Martin, etc. But the special “wiki powers” of the protagonist are an interesting twist.
I will be getting back to gaming at some point, but I have very much enjoyed reading for pleasure again (not just for work).
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Wonderful reading tips! I haven’t heard of any of these, or even that the genre existed. I think I might look up that last one, Jackal Among Snakes, it sounds very interesting.
I too am reading a lot more lately, lost a bit of enthusiasm for gaming with all the shite going on with Xbox in particular and the industry in general. Books are where my escapism and nerdism begun after all, I always circle back to it as it is the stories I’m drawn to in all my entertainment. Books are of course superior in that aspect.
This year I finished one of the greatest fantasy epics I’ve ever read: Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. It is not an easy read, incredibly complex and with so many layers that you don’t really know what’s going on until much later (if at all) when things start to click. It’s amazingly well written with an incredible breadth and depth, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s not for the beginner though, and I think I will have to do a re-read at some point to fully grasp everything. It was an awesome reading experience.
Speaking of re-reads, after Malazan I picked up The Wheel of Time again and I’m currently on book 6. Being a bit older than when I first read these gives a lot of new perspective to it, very fascinating how I notice a change in which characters I appreciate the most and how it’s almost a different story to me. I figure the other 8 books will take up most of my summer.
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