The new Crew game has joined Game Pass, so I thought I’d give it a go. At first it felt like I was playing Forza Horizon 2, but after a while it felt more like Forza Horizon 4. It’s just so familiar, but with a slightly worse driving model, and more unlikeable characters in longer cut scenes. I’ve still got a third of FH4 and most of FH5 to complete, but maybe I’ll get around to trying this some day – through probably they’ll turn the servers off before I do.
SteamWorld Heist II (Switch): COMPLETED!
It may have taken a while for me to finally get round to playing SteamWorld Heist II, but when it – and all the other SteamWorld games – were reduced in a massive eShop sale I was reminded it was the only SW game I hadn’t completed. And now, it isn’t.
Like the first game, it’s a 2D, side-on, turn based strategy game. In that respect it’s more of the same as the original, and I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to figure out what that means in terms of gameplay as the internet surely can provide. What I will talk about instead, is just how good and well balanced it all is.
Each character in your party can have different classes, weapons and skills (and you can switch between missions as to what, if you like, and “borrow” skills from other classes with the right items as well) so your team is incredibly customisable. Sometimes, it’s good to have a few short-range but powerful weapons, other times sniping with accuracy from a distance. Or maybe being able to move further, or move twice, in a turn is helpful. There’s tradeoffs between sniping being great from a log way off but you waste a turn reloading, or big explody weapons dealing lots of damage to several clustered enemies, but it’s a bit hard to aim and can damage you, or your cover. There’s a lot to think about! As characters level up you get to choose more skills too.
It’s also really addictive. Most missions are probably only 15-20 minutes long, so the urge to do just one more mission is strong. Or, you missed out some (probably unnecessary) loot in a level, so you replay it just to make sure you’ve collected everything. Or, you boat around the overworld seeking things to destroy for other bonuses and see another thing to get, explore, or beat on the map somewhere. There’s always one more thing to do.
Oh yes, the boat. You see, you have a submarine to traverse the world, and as you progress you can upgrade it with better firepower or more oxygen for underwater boating. The seas are full of enemies that need to be run from, or defeated, for fun and profit.
There’s a lot to the game but the real pull isn’t the excellent gameplay, it’s the (as always) perfectly crafted SteamWorld, er, world. The humour, the silly robot characters, the puns, and the references to other games in the series. Plus the excellent gameplay, of course.
Playstation Wrap 2025
Overall less hours played than in 2024 (884) with only 647 hours & 215 of that spent enjoying Cyberpunk 2077.
I was more ruthless with quitting games I was not enjoying (although I did persist with Fantasy Life i) after a few hours like recent examples Pacific Drive & Thank Goodness Your'e Here.
Hoping to start on one of the big hitters from my physical backlog over xmas.
Moss Book II (Quest): COMPLETED!
I don’t know why it took me so long after completing the first Moss game to get into the second one, especially since I bought it almost immediately after reaching the end of Moss Book I. Maybe other games came along. Maybe dealing with charging and updating and wearing the VR headset was just hassle. Maybe I forgot. Who knows.
Anyway, it’s here and done now. And of my, what an experience. Book II follows on directly from the first game and is, really, more of the same. Beautiful little dioramas of action and puzzles with a cute mouse and her sword (and, later, deadly frisbees and a massive hammer). Objects you directly manipulate, creatures you can fight, or, in some cases, use to fight on your behalf.
Somehow, it’s even more beautiful than the first game. Especially when you bear in mind that I’m playing this on a Quest 2 which is the VR equivalent of a Citroen 2CV. Some of the areas are just incredible, and being in VR you can look around and even behind things with never gets old or fails to impress. There’s a massive boss later on – a blacksmith with a hammer – where the graphics and scale and VR-ness all combine to give quite the experience.
Adding additional weapons, some of which are needed for puzzles (like a dash power or a massive hammer blow), as well as some extra gimmicks like portals and walk-on-walls type gravity flipped areas mix up the formula from Book I too. There’s also a few scary and distressing sections (nothing too strong, though) which add heart to the cute.
I think I said before that I’m not a big fan of VR, but Moss (both books) makes it difficult to maintain that stance. It’s not what you’d expect from a VR game, at least, not what I would, but I’d happily play more games like this.
Radiant Silvergun: an abundance of weapons
I’m not great at scrolling shooters, though I enjoy their spectacle and the panic they induce as the number of bullets increases. Radiant Silvergun not only has a great many bullets, it also has a great many weapons, all but one of which I forget to use. This makes things very tricky indeed, especially when you’re supposed to be firing around corners using a homing missile and I’m stuck firing upwards like a lemon.
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