Moot wouldn't be able to handle Steam sales, he'd be buying at least 50 games per week.

8. Sonic Advance (GBA)
Pretty good with some qualifications. It's easy apart from the surprise spikes which are demented ring-stealing bitches. Sonics always have this weird trade off where it pushes you to go fast but then punishes you by throwing up some unavoidable environmental hazards. But here it's really bad. Two or three times per level I got stung by that. And it stands out more because it's the only thing getting in the way of ripping through the levels. 

The bonus stages are impossible. Musics good. Couple of real bangers in there that wouldn't have been out of place on the Megadrive. Level layouts tend towards the broad, expansive and multi-directional but mostly avoid the Sonic 3 situation of turning into a chaotic jumble of overlapping paths. Although sometimes you don't really know where to go and end up having to jump off a platform into the void and hope there's a path below. Mostly there is, sometimes there isn't, sometimes there's spikes. 

Although it's a bit rough around the edges, it's mostly strong and finds a good balance between taking you on a speedy 2D rollercoaster and giving you control. The bosses aren't hard but need a bit more thought and skill than usual. I liked the final level, a mini boss rush medley of some classic Robotnik contraptions. 
80%

Reviews suggest that 2 is the strongest of the GBA trilogy. I'll get on the rest at some point.

10: Little Misfortune (Switch) 8/10

This is the 5th game in a row I am awarding 8/10 to.  I nearly chickened out and gave it a 7 in case anyone noticed I don't know how to score games.  

Little Misfortune is from the same people who did Fran Bow a few years back. Fran Bow was a memorable point n clicker that I thought was hampered by the ridiculous puzzles the genre is famous for (combine the hammer with the mirror to fix the trebuchet that will launch you into Level 3 and all that shit).  It played out like a gruesome and dark children's story.  I understand that would be an instant turn off for many but I thought it worked very well.  If you've not played it and have any tolerance for point n click games it's well worth a look.

Little Misfortune keeps the disturbing themes and small child protagonist (Misforture herself) but does away with the puzzles.  It's now more of a narrative game where you'll have a handful of choices along the way.  I'm not sure how much your choices affect the game as I've only played once, but they're quite low key; choosing which toy to take with you at the beginning of the story, whether to fix something that you accidentally break, etc.  I understand there are a few different endings.

The story is pretty intriguing.  There's a narrator who addresses the player directly as well as Misfortune.  He invites Misfortune to play a game with Eternal Happiness waiting for her at the end.  You go on a 2ish hour journey to some surreal, excellently drawn locations.  Misfortune is a delight but there are a lot of unsubtle hints at what her life has been like, which can be a little upsetting.  For balance it has more than its fair share of fart jokes.  You don't get that in American McGee's Alice.

I'm not sure everything with the story works perfectly but much like Fran Bow I can tell this will sit in my memory for a while.   I'm keen to replay it at some point, if only to get the best ending, which I did not achieve on this play through.  It's the least a fancy little lady like Misfortune deserves.

PS the title of this game reminds me too much of Little Miss Can't Be Wrong by The Spin Doctors and I kept getting it stuck in my head whilst playing.  I tried not to let that affect this review.

5. Bloodborne PSX
Link: https://b0tster.itch.io/bbpsx

A PSOne style Demake of Bloodborne then...

So, there's quite a few games that riff on the whole PSOne aesthetic now and, honestly, a lot of them are pretty solid. Especially in the horror genre. I mean there's an entire movement of video nasties / banned tapes that wear their PSOne graphics as a badge of honour. But, and this is important, demakes don't have any right to be as good as Bloodborne PSX. This isn't just some nice fan project that sounds cool. It's actually really, really good.

The game oozes love for both Bloodborne and the PSOne era in general. Everything from the load screens at doors, to the beautiful CD quality audio, to the character models with contorting textures. The save screens, the inventory setup - this is not just Bloodborne with PSOne graphics, this is how Bloodborne would have worked if it had been made in 1998.  


I downloaded it because it looked cool, I like the dev, and I was in the mood for a short burst of nostalgia. What I got was something special. 
Do yourself a favour and play this on a controller with a decent d-pad - there's no analogue movement here, so i'd recommend something like an 8BitDo, Dualshock /sense or Xbox Series controller. I used the 8BitDo Pro 2 and honestly it felt perfect.

For those worried that it will be uncontrollable jank - the combat and dodge mechanics are surprisingly great. Use lock-on and dodge and the whole thing feels fluid. Or, as fluid as a game limited to 20FPS can feel. Beyond that, it doesn't just replicate the source beat for beat. It adds to it with remixed areas and progression. Nothing that feels out of place, though. I absolutely love this - an early front-runner for GotY. 


[10]

Minnesänger wrote:

1. Ready or Not Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1144200/Ready_or_Not/

2. Here I Come Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1010560/Here_I_Come/

I like Cintys games

26. Just Shapes & Beats - Switch (2hrs)

A quick replay on casual mode, mostly in two player but briefly with three before my wife bailed early.  It works perfectly in mp, with a surviving player able to save a downed buddy if they're quick enough to chase the ghost, Cuphead style.  I can't recommend it highly enough if you think synced up big choon avoid 'em ups might be your jam. [9]  

Gets the full [10] from Tilly though:

I would say that it's the best game I've ever played in my life and I really really hope that other people like it as much as me.  I like the pretty colours and I like the fact that you can help others play along and help them when they're stuck.  The story mode is the best bit because you do boss fights and you have friend characters that help you get to the last boss.  The best song in it is called [sings] Close To Meeee but the best level is the one that sounds like a spy game although that one is a bit too hard at the end.



27. Infernax - Xbox Series S (7hrs?)

Nick sent me a video of this a few weeks ago and I must admit I thought it looked like a bit of a bandwagon boarder.  I'm not one to roll my eyes at 8-bit style offerings but even I didn't think the trailer screamed play me now.  Then I noticed it stealth dropped on Gamepass, then I realised it was made by the same team as Just Shapes and Beats and it instantly leapfrogged all my shiny new PS5 games.  

I basically hammered it over the course of three days.  At the name select screen I foolishly wiped ALCEDOR and attempted an Alucard approximation by calling my guy MOOTARD, which didn't radiate as much heroicness in dialogue exchanges as I'd intended.  No backsies though, so off I went with big some people call me....Tim energy and the adventure gradually buffed itself up to early GotY contender territory.     

The template is reminiscent of Castlevania II/Zelda II, although I've only played those games briefly so Wonderboy III would be my main frame of reference.  It mimics that sort of simplistic, proto-Metroidvania style anyway.  The closest modern comparison is the okay-ish retro inspired Aggelos, which comparatively speaking isn't even fit to polish Mootard's helmet. Simplicity is probably the keyword for the controls, as the basics are....pretty basic.  You can prod your weapon straight ahead while standing, jumping or crouching, and - a smattering of findable abilities aside - that's it for the combat.  An early confrontation with an oversized beastie sets the tone.  If you think you might crave a dodge button, a parry, a double jump, a downward plunge or maybe some sort of slide attack I presume 'is this it?' will be your main takeaway from the opening hour.  Even Rastan had a wider array of moves.  Embrace the barebones mechanics it becomes an absolute joy though - the timings and tactics felt just right for me and it ended up being possibly the best sidescrolling hack 'n slasher since Volgarr.  It's just so well designed in terms of layouts and enemy placement.

It's very difficult, and it wants you to know that it knows this. Every time you die you'll be pulled back to your last manual save shrine and offered the choice of persevering with the default Classic Mode (all progress since your last save is wiped), or dropping it down to casual (more checkpoints, some XP and gold retained upon death).  If you manage to resist this perpetual temptation keeping one eye on save points will be crucial for all but the l33test of knights.  There were numerous occasions where I broke the back of a dungeon and headed outside to bank a key rather than push on and risk losing all post-save progression.  You can buy lives in certain villages, so by the end of the game I could die three times before being whisked back to a checkpoint in the distant past, but the challenge is real.  The more you play the more XP you earn, which can be used to boost either power, health or mana, so if you do hit a wall there's scope for improving your chances outside of the simple git gud approach.  As usual with this sort of thing methodical play + learning from mistakes is key to success, but as the game controls so well if you're anything like me you'll lose plenty of lives thanks to carelessness caused by getting a bit carried away.  Some magic abilities offset the balance slightly (one is particularly OP, and made absolute mincemeat of the final boss) but the game is malleable enough to withstand being messed with.  Case in point: it leans heavily into optional cheat codes for post credits fun, and 
doesn't actually break the game.

There's a hidden morality system running through the adventure, with multiple endings resting on your choices at key moments (which do occasionally have some neat repercussions), so there's replay value here too, even without the smorgasbord of cheat codes.  I'm still sulking at the Blasphemous devs for adding 8-bit mode to one of its umpteen title updates but tucking it away deep within the game (which I'd already restarted as a new game + when prompted, so I'm hours away from accessing it).  This scratched that particular fomo itch perfectly though; it's basically a pseudo 8-bit Blasphemous with the cheeky flourishes/character of Shovel Knight and I absolutely lapped it up.

I only managed 82% completion, despite thinking I'd done all the optional quests (I managed to get the 'ultimate good' ending), and I'm quite proud of myself for sticking with the standard difficulty.  AFAIK it doesn't punish you for selecting casual mode so anyone half interested but wary of the difficulty should check it out anyway. [9] An unexpected Game Pass treat, but I'd have no complaints if I'd spent £16 on it. I will now play anything developed by Berserk Studios.

Love Moot for just playing anything and then dishing out 9s.

Muzzy probably won't like Infernax though, it leans into 8-bittery slightly too much for his tastes I reckon. You have to be hardwired to lovehate flying eyeballs carefully placed at the most perfectly irritating space between two platforms. Member the frogmen in Shinobi? This has hiding/leaping knockback water cunts too.

Cracking game.

I'm too old for it.

11: Nier Replicant (PS4) 7/10

I've only seen 2 of the 5 endings, so it might be that I'm missing out big here, but that this point I'm quite burned out on the game and would rather just watch the other story branches on Youtube (I have a hunch that this is the kind of game that will have enthusiast videos that are more entertaining than actually playing it through a couple more times).  I'm a big fan of Nier Automata and I think Replicant really suffers in that game's shadow.  Really similar stuff, but it's all done so much better in Automata IMO.  

I did enjoy the music and the story is intriguing (with some really neat surprises), but not enough to carry the games fighting (I had my fill about halfway through the first story branch) and the constant back and forth travelling.  Absolutely done with this game's few levels.  I did like a few of the fixed camera (they go a little survival horror at points!) bits but didn't really want to play them again right away.  Also contains side quests right out of a 2002 MMORPG.

Mixed bag of graphics with some pretty cool looking locations that are a little barren.  The enemies are generally a bit rubbish (the wolves in particular look shocking).  On the other hand if you are a connoisseur of lovingly crafted anime girls' asses then this is the game to you.  Cutscenes will be dropping exposition dialogue then cut to a shot of Kaine's (the lady in your team) ass, the camera slowly panning around it like it's a prize on Wheel of Fortune.  I think they give her a kayfabe reason for only wearing lingerie and heels but it her back story was buried in a heap of prose and I was a bit sick of reading by that point. 

It's pretty good stuff on the whole, I do like a good action RPG and this does a lot right.  It's a bit of a weird position to be in, in that I would have enjoyed it more if it was just 1 story branch, but then I'm still keen to read and watch a bit of content about the other story branches.  I'm glad they had a crack at doing things a little differently, and I guess that set the table for the great Automata.

I might dip into Infernax this week then, loved Volgarr so this sounds somewhat up my street.

KEEP PLAYING PLEASE WARIO