What are you playing on your Switch 2: Play Harder

Rubbish thing I learned today: Gunbrella the game doesn't seem to carry over saved data from the demo. Hopefully I was just doing the wrong thing, otherwise that's a bit bobbins. You can't skip cut-scenes either.

Aye no demo save was rubbish but at least since I knew what to do I bashed through whole demo bit in 30-40 minutes rather than the casual hour & thirty it took me the first time.

Time for another What Balla's Playing Six-Way Round-Up!  I've been playing a bit of all of the following:

• Tunic: Sod the Siege Engine.
  
• Persona 5 Royal: Still in what is effectively the tutorial stage of this, my blonde mate has just got his persona.  It's just more Persona underneath but the vibes are immaculate.
  
• Bayonetta Origins: I got this as a birthday present because I couldn't think of any other games to ask for, but what a bizarre game it is!  Who asked for the sexy sassy hair witch's baby self starring in the twee-est (tweeest?  Tweest?) slow puzzle thing possible?  It's pretty, and now that I'm finally through the opening section it's pretty fun to control Cereza and her giant monster cat at the same time, but it's a horribly slow start and the English VA makes me want to take a fork to my ears.
  
• Gunbrella: Not pretty, not twee, but a bit... clunky.  It's an odd word to use when at first feel the main character's lovely to control, but between the points above and some slightly unsatisfying shooting it is just a bit of a clunky feeling game.  The first boss was fine.
  
• Cocoon: The opposite of Gunbrella, a beautiful smooth-feeling ambient time but it feels like my brain's on autopilot and the first boss was tripe.  Still, I prefer it to Inside.  (This isn't saying much.)
  
• Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth: Record of Lodoss War: So this is based on an old anime I've never watched, but if you ignore that and let your brain go to mush during the mercifully few bits of dialogue, it's a solid Castlevania-like with the Ikaruga colour-changing gimmick.  Nowhere near as hard, but not trivial.  Actually one of the better Metroidvanias I've played on the machine so far, this feels like it's heading straight for 7/10-dom.

And that's that.  See you next time for the next WBPSWRU.

More Persona is always a good thing.

The VA, I found fine in BayOrigins as thought suited the twee game that I think might the the most underrated Nintendo games on Switch.

I've just started Cocoon and just beat the first boss, at the moment very much enjoying it.

Played a bit of Deedlit but got bored or something else distracted me.

The VA does suit the twee nature of the game well, in that it's twee itself, which is fine if you're here for twee games... but how many Bayonetta fans would be? I'm not a Bayonetta fan and I wasn't. It's just a very strange mix. Kudos to whoever at Platinum said 'hey we want to do this now' and got Nintendo to sign off on it I guess!

I can't imagine you getting on with Deedlit Mas, it's a very pure gameplay experience (unless I guess if you're a big Record of Lodoss War head).

Felt to me Nintendo or someone at Platinum wanted to make the character of Bayonetta more Nintendoy. Which to me is fine as I like Nintendo games and does add lore to Bayonetta.

I do like a Metroidvania now and again, even played & finished two Metroid game's this year.

Edit

Now on the 3rd world in Cocoon which is like 44% done already, so yeah is going to be pretty short.

I've had Bayonetta in its packaging and I'm excited for when I do get to it.

Cereza has had a presence in the games since the first, so it's not that unusual a choice actually.

I’m playing FC 24. I made AC Milan a transfer offer for Fikayo Tomori that was so derisory it bricked my Switch.

Oops.  Is it good otherwise?  Scullion said on Nintendo Life that it was actually decent this time.

Buskalilly wrote:

Cereza has had a presence in the games since the first, so it's not that unusual a choice actually.

I didn't think even Bayonetta fans really cared about the Bayonetta story though? Apart presumably from a select hardcore few. It's not necessarily a bad choice anyway, just a confusing one.

We don't care about the complex lore, but we like the characters a lot.

BINGO

Ah okay. I got the impression the characters were a mixed bag, but maybe I've just been reading the wrong sources.

Nope we love Bayonetta and the gang, why three is a bit of a letdown in story as it changes Bayonetta but then different timelines etc

Ohh I started playing Suika Game (Watermelon Game) that has blown up a bit on the Japanese eShop with it being number in the chart. It's a pretty addictive puzzler where you drop fruit instead of Tetris Blocks, that can combine to make bigger fruit all the way to a Watermelon.

Suika also only costs 240¥, which I had in gold some how in my Japanese account (Gold Coins from Ghost Trick, Various Daylife?) and if you not got coins think you can get 1000¥ cards from likes of PlayAsia bound to be something else for 760¥ worth getting or I don't know get a big card and just buy Super Mario Wonder as well.

Oooooh, I think a student asked me about that. Maybe I'll play it . . .
EDIT: I had enough gold points, so it's downloading now.

Huge streamer

It all kicks off from 3:05.

I've been playing Melatonin. If you want something like Rhythm Paradise, this is something like Rhythm Paradise. It's headed straight for 6/10-dom, and yet I've been enjoying it more than most of the other games on my list.

All a bit irrelevant for a while now, of course.

masofdas wrote:

Huge streamer

I regularly have upwards of one viewer.

I see Watermelon game also Number 1 on the eShop in UK (might be all of Europe, the chart) and much like you Luke I recorded what I've been playing

I had some friends around at the weekend - I made lasagne, Mercy made a cake. After all the eating was done, we had a big multiplayer session on Wario Ware move it. It was great! It has the motion control wackiness of Smooth moves with the superior multiplayer modes of the Gamecube game. If anyone is still at the point in their lives where regular in-person multiplayer shenanigans are happening, I highly recommend it.

Then, out of the blue, my friend James asks if I have Astro Bears. I do - it was an obscure game I reviewed for Gintendo in 2017 that I'm surprised anyone else even heard of, let alone considered a multiplayer staple of their old sharehouse. It's good fun with four players, I wish it had caught on.

Buskalilly wrote:

I had some friends around at the weekend - I made lasagne, Mercy made a cake. After all the eating was done, we had a big multiplayer session on Wario Ware move it. It was great! It has the motion control wackiness of Smooth moves with the superior multiplayer modes of the Gamecube game. If anyone is still at the point in their lives where regular in-person multiplayer shenanigans are happening, I highly recommend it.

Man, I wish I was in a position to have in-person multiplayer sessions as that sounds ace. That Smooth Moves session we had in Newcastle that time was good fun.

And that was without even unlocking the multiplayer modes, as I recall!
In this one, there's a party mode available from the start, which is a big improvement.

Aye, we just played that breakout tower game with the brilliant music all night, I think.

I manage to get the occasional multiplayer session so it's a must for me, thought it looked like a return to form from the trailers so glad to see it doesn't disappoint, the Gamecube game to date is still one of my favourite multiplayer games ever.

Dave the Diver has a distinctly roguelite feel to it. Why did nobody tell me this? Bah.