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Rental (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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Rental is (or at least, was at time of writing, who knows what the Terrifying Future holds) a free game on Steam and nothing is more important in gaming than low, low prices. So why the hell not, eh?

Perhaps the best way to describe the game, assuming you can’t see the screenshots here, is What if Animal Crossing was Resident Evil on the PS1? Or maybe, Silent Hill: Sylvanian Families. It has the cute animals and the quaint little house and then Horrors.

As you take your cute little bunny into this holiday cabin, you quickly realise something isn’t right. In full BBC Ghost Watch style, you catch a glimpse of a thing. Or there’s a noise. Or a voice. It’s a bit creepy, especially given all the tweeity in the graphics.

I won’t spoil what happens, especially as it’s so short so, coupled with the freeness of the game, you’ve no excuse not to discover it for yourself, but after some hunting for items it gets even more disturbing and weird. Do you like cute free games that subvert your expectations and turn disturbing and weird? Then you’ll like Rental.

April 2024 Update – The weather today is "Cloudy"

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Playing NOW

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (PS5)

So much more content to this game compared to Remake, lots of side activities including an addictive card combat game "Queens Blood" and suttle changes to combat with co-op abilities.

Taking it open-world lets you explore more of the areas either on foot or on a chocobo. It uses the "Ubisoft" Tower formula to scan the area for activities which range from combat missions to excavation & lifestreams which unlock the area lore. 

You have a nice recap at the beginning to remind you of what happened in the first game before the story begins & it moves along at a rapid pace. I'm 30 hours in at the moment and have just completed Costa Del Sol.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 (PS5)

The new season "Myths & Mortals" brings along quite a few changes with thuderbolt strikes & wings that let you soar into the sky and then crash down on an enemy.

The Season Pass has a Greek Mythology theme & includes Cerberus, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Zeus & Hades skins. The Mid-Season skin is Korra from Avatar The Last Airbender.

 

 

I've mainly playing on solo this season because Nemo has not purchased the battle pass, I guess she wants to take a break from the game. Hopefully I can tempt her back for the odd session.

My Fortnite Playlist below including some Victory Royales, Boss Fights & the new Thunderbolt & Wings gameplay.

 

The Floor is Lava also made it's return, just a shame you can only play it with a squad of four players. I've being mostly playing solo with no fill & still managed to get in the top 10 on quite a few occasions.

I've not gone back to play the Lego Fortnite mode and waiting for the season reset for Rocket Racing.

Playing Complete

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1

I enjoyed the new Lego Fortnite & Rocket Racing modes but the Solid Snake Skin was the highlight for me this season.

Like A Dragon - Infinite Wealth

This game should come with a warning that it will eat into your life, truly a massive game that I sunked many hours into enjoying. The Sujimon & Dondoko Island mini games were both very addictive and just shows the work RGG Studio have put into ensuring the game offers new experiences for Yakuza fans.

The main plot does not disappoint with Kiryu & Ichiban teaming up together to explore Japan & Hawaii. I won't spoil the story but just to say I really enjoyed the Kiryu memories storyline.

Already a contender for Game of the Year.

Playing Next

Truthfully I'm not sure maybe Spiderman 2 but I've also not played the Xbox in a while so maybe something on gamepass?

Playing Backlog

Spiderman2
Judgement
Lost Judgement
Outer Wilds
Shadow Tactics
Like A Dragon Ishin
Sea of Stars

Playing Future
Quite a bit on my list but I'm not planning on purchasing any more games at the moment & just enjoying what I already own.
 
Midnight Suns has been added to PS+ so I will certainly give it a try.
 
Star Wars Jedi Survivor was on sale recently but I avoided purchasing because I expect it will come to GamePass soon.
 
Starfield - I should at least give it a try, it is the reason I purchased the Series X console after all!
 
Star Wars Outlaws - I know, I know it is a Ubisoft game & I'm sure will have lots of copy/paste features from other titles but it's Star Wars!
 
Metal Gear Solid Delta - Not sure it will be released this year
 
Death Stranding 2 - I'm expecting more Kojima-ness, I enjoyed the first game even if I was a bit confused by the plot!
 
Balatro - Poker Themed Roguelike
 
Banishers Ghosts of New Eden - The latest game from Don't Nod where you play as a ghost hunter.
 
Pacific Drive - I'm curious but will wait for a PS+ or Gamepass release
 
Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes - Spirtual succesor to Suikoden
 
Sandland - Akira Toriyama Open world vehicle combat RPG
 
Rise of Ronin
Open Roads
Dave the Diver
The Plucky Squire
Baldurs Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Shadow Gambit Cursed Crew
 

Portal: completed again, and the boss battle

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I have now lost count of the number of times I’ve played through Portal. The last time I posted about it, back in 2010, I said I’d completed it on four platforms; by now I must have completed it multiple times on each of those, and additional platforms since. This latest completion is due to the Portal collection (both games) being cheap on Switch, and the desire to try playing through Portal 2 on a convenient platform. But I couldn’t let the first game just sit there.

I actually played through the game twice, the second time listening to the developer commentary – I meant to only do this for the first couple of levels, but each time a new level started I could see the speech bubbles hanging temptingly close. It is still magnificent, with its short length adding to its genius. But I’ve said all that before.

What I found interesting this time, following so close to my completion of Metroid Prime Remastered, and also various other games over the past couple of years, is how the boss battle in Portal was so clearly signposted. As you enter, one of GlaDOS’s orbs falls to the ground and before you are in any danger you have to incinerate it. Once that’s done, you know that you will have to do that again, and you can see where the orbs are, and it’s very soon after that you realise how to get them after some of GlaDOS’s commentary hints at the rockets. Even with the one-hit-kill nature of Portal’s gameplay, it’s easy to both understand what to do, and also to do it.

This is in contrast to some of the bosses in Metroid Prime, for example. The last boss, in particular, had no signposting on how to damage it, until I accidentally stood on some of the deposited goo and realised that the HUD now read “hypermode” (or similar). The Omega Pirate killed me many times until I realised that missiles dealt huge amounts of damage. Thinking back to Sonic on the Mega Drive, bosses often required a little trial and error before you worked out how to hit them consistently.

As I’ve grown older I think that the signposting is appreciated – but the challenge of Metroid Prime came as a welcome surprise, and the bosses in the Zelda games are an appropriate crescendo – plus the minor bosses across the worlds of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, optional as they are, are a great focal point for adventure.

Moving day

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19 years.  I started this gaming diary 19 years ago, because I wanted to write something. It's fair to say there have been ups and downs in my writing frequency.  It's time for a big change now, though - after a few years of procrastination I'm moving this over to Wordpress.

Blogger has been fine, but there are some limitations that I'm not going to overlook any more.  As I've included more and more screenshots in my posts, the lack of a gallery function has annoyed, and the interaction between my Google account and Blogger files has annoyed me.  It's time for a move.

I won't be updating this blog any more.  See you on the other side.

Portal 2 (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Having completed Portal 2 in co-op, I thought I should really play the single player too. I’d remembered the overarching plot from my first playthrough, and the end boss fight (including how to beat it), but almost none of the puzzles and areas were familiar. Or rather, were but in a fuzzy sort of “this looks like something I have a very vague recollection of” in terms of graphics more than anything.

So as with Portal, it was a nearly new experience and it still holds up well today. The new additions over the first game such as the bouncy gel and slidey gel are fun, but I seem to remember that those bits of the game, specifically in the Cave Johnson areas, made up a much larger proportion of the game than it turns out they do. As in, I was sure they took up at least 90% rather than the 20%-ish they actually do. Memory, eh? It isn’t how it used to be.

Cave Johnson is great, by the way. His audio recordings and descent into old man lunacy as they progress are hilarious. As is the rest of the dialogue, actually, with Wheatley being excellent and Potato-GLaDOS an excellent alternative to the unhinged normal-GLaDOS.

Portal 2 may not be as fondly remembered as Portal but it is still fantastic. If only Valve knew how to count to 3, eh?