La5t Game You Fini5hed And Your Thought5

I agree on all counts about Bayonetta 3. The ending pissed me off a little bit. But I'd be up for Bayonetta becoming more of a franchise which tries random ideas to see what sticks, and it feels like they're doing that with that Cereza storybook game that I'm too lazy to Google.

There's a bit of me that wants to get Chained Echoes, but I just don't know if I'll have the time to dedicate to it. Marmots with flugelhorns could be the clincher...

It did take me 50 hours, which might clinch it the other way for you. A very good 50 hours though!

Hey baby, are you chained echoes, because I want you to clinch my flugelhorn in your marmots.

Aaaaaaaaand he's back.

Bowser's Fury



I liked this. Some people were talking about this as a prototype for the future of Mario, but I feel like it was just a fun little experiment to facilitate a cool boss fight idea.

Pretty much exactly my thoughts, except me being me I'm bigger on the 'wish it had the more elastic controls' and smaller on the 'finishes off this endeavour nicely'.




I don't cry much at games.  I don't cry as much as I'd like to at all, in fact.  Toxic masculinity blah blah blah.  I don't think I've cried at a videogame when sober since reaching adulthood.  If I'm right about that, A Space for the Unbound broke that streak.  I didn't proper ugly cry, but I made some faces and tears rolled down my cheeks in the middle of the afternoon.  

Unbound is a point-and-click, with all that that entails - item puzzles, lots of chatter, and a fair bit of running backwards and forwards.  I normally only like point-and-clicks that are funny, and Unbound doesn't really do that.  Instead, by having the main character able to 'spacedive' into people's heads to clear up their thoughts, it delves into reasonably dark topics through the lens of a small Indonesian town: not a culture I know anything about, so that was pretty cool.  The game is a slow starter plot and character-wise, with the dynamic between the two main characters seeming quite twee.  Give it time.  The tweeness certainly doesn't last.

The spritework and soundtrack are aspects that some have raved over, and that I liked well enough.  The  length: at a guess, 15-20h.  The one big flaw of the game is having to complete easily missable tasks to get the full ending, and I'd advise some strategic walkthrough usage before the telegraphed points of no return; but it still made me cry as it was.  

My first finished game from 2023's a little bit special.  Mas would love it.  8/10

Ah, I wondered if anybody picked this one up - I read a review on the Guardian where they lavished a lot of praise on this and gave it 5/5, so I figured it might be worth a look. Sounds like it is indeed worth said look!

That review was what pushed me into wishlisting and then buying the game (NL gave it an 8/10, which for a PnC tends to translate into a 6 or 7 in my money), and yes I'm glad it did! Following being very sad it did. THE FEELS, MAN.

Metroid Prime is, or was before I played this, my fifth favourite game of all time - with a caveat.  I'd only ever played it once, aged 13; and with my GameCube memory card lost to posterity, I could never be sure that it held up.  Other games like OoT (the original) and Mario 64 have fallen out of my top ten because they didn't.  I wasn't really sure, then, that MP1 still belonged.  It would work better for this paragraph if I therefore approached this remaster with some trepidation.  I didn't, though.

Metroid Prime holds up.  There, that's the TL;DR version.  It helps no end that it's been done up in pretty 60fps Switch-o-vision, of course, with dual analogue control and much improved loading speeds.  It also helps that nobody's done this sort of thing, at least on Nintendo machines and as far as I'm aware, apart from Nintendo/Retro themselves - and the other three games (I haven't forgotten Hunters!) are nowhere near as good.  Echoes spends too long in purple spaces that suck the wonder out of the world, Corruption ruins the atmosphere of quiet space exploration with rubbish NPCs, and Hunters was... well, Hunters.  MP1 might lack some of the dynamism of the later games (the wall jump and screw attack come to mind), but as far as 3D Metroidvanias with both a sense of isolation and a rapidly increasing and satisfying level of power for the main character go?  I don't think there's really any competition.

It still holds up on its own too, without comparisons.  Chief among the things I still love about MP1 is the scanning, a way of absorbing information/'lore' quickly and dynamically.  Scanning is still a superb mechanic.  Linked is the fact that the game starts off, despite being easy, as essentially a horror game.  Everything you scan in that tutorial level has been horribly mutilated, bodies burst out of vents, the first boss is grotesque, then there's a stressful escape sequence... and then you touch down on the beautiful rainy shores of Tallon IV, with that music.  That's still a special moment.  See also: arriving in Phendrana, the plant battle in Chozo Ruins, the final boss.  Metroid Prime does a fine line in special moments, but it does the subtle things effectively as well.  Thermal vision highlighting shoals of fish, or the different guns having different heat signatures, or just blasting the birds out of the Chozo Ruins sky.  Incredible stuff for what was once a GameCube game.

I did spot more issues with the game this time around.  There are some long stretches between save points, and especially between save points and bosses.  (Fortunately I didn't die once. )  A lot of the backtracking to previous areas doesn't have Dread's elegance and can get dull.  The biggest issue I noticed, though, is how every two major rooms have at least one nondescript corridor between them.  By the end it felt like something of a running joke.  The remaster is largely very good (and not a lot needed changing!), but there are some obvious things I thought should have been added.  Breakdowns of item totals in every area, for instance.  (I ended on 97% because I couldn't face another sweep of the entire world.)  A way to scan missable objects, perhaps a combat simulator of some kind.  And of course, map markers.  Harder on a 3D map, of course; but still possible, and still should have been done.  So should putting the original team's names in the credits.

Do those flaws, especially the corridor thing, mean Metroid Prime is no longer my fifth best game?  No.  It just means that there's more scope for Prime 4 to be a better one.  Prime 1 stands alone doing what it does with this level of quality, and now that it's been glowed up for modern machines, it remains a must-play for every single member of this forum and every single person with a Switch.  I approached this remaster absolutely chuffed to play an old fave again, and it met my expectations.  I think it'd meet all of yours too.

Balla wrote:

and the other three games (I haven't forgotten Hunters!) are nowhere near as good. Echoes spends too long in purple spaces that suck the wonder out of the world

Nah, also Echoes has the best bosses.

Can't believe you're homing in on a point about a completely different game. You're wrong though, everything being wrapped in a purple mist absolutely did reduce the enjoyment of the world, and I don't think it's just me who's said that.  I'm not going to say you're wrong about the bosses, but Flaahgra will always be my fave from the trilogy.  (I do remember Quadraxis being a classic from Echoes though.)  Did you actually prefer Echoes Jas?

Somebody else needs to finish a modern game and post about it:




Chicken Police - Paint It Red! is probably a hard sell, 9/10 on NL notwithstanding.  It's an adventure game which I guess feels most similar to Ace Attorney than most titles... except all the characters are animals.  Specifically, animals with human bodies.  This can become decidedly uncomfortable when the character's a lady of the night, say, and this being firmly in the noir genre there are plenty of those around.  Still, the game sticks to its anthropomorphic guns, and even has a lot to say about inter-species dynamics - too much worldbuilding for the one game, arguably.  It feels like the start to a series.

You know what, I'd buy that next game.  The monochrome style drips atmosphere, but it's the substantial and quality voice acting that makes CPPiR a recommendation.  The actors sound like they're having a good time, especially the two chicken protagonists.  The script's strong throughout, with levity as well as politics and the noir genre's habitual sneering cynicism, and the tone is both consistent and enjoyable.  

It's the game itself that means this isn't a harder recommendation: apart from the odd shrugworthy minigame and interrogation segments, which are good but can easily be brute forced, there isn't much gameplay.  It feels more like a visual novel, where the only thing being tested is your patience to click on everything, sometimes repeatedly.  If you're okay to do that though, and listen to/read an impressive effort, you'll have a good time - as long as you can put up with the sexy cat ladies.  A high 7/10.

The_Jaster wrote:

Balla wrote:

and the other three games (I haven't forgotten Hunters!) are nowhere near as good.  Echoes spends too long in purple spaces that suck the wonder out of the world

Nah, also Echoes has the best bosses.

I can count 6 games with Prime in the title

Double post of two games with a female lead where she has an arm cannon, also both I'd say are Jas games


A while go now I finished SS which is one of those sort AA games like think it's £20 at retail though I got via Boomerang. SS is an FPS where it's all about movement, being fast to pick off your enemies and get through the levels. SS is only about 3hrs, and I even did a New Game Plus+ where it took me maybe an hour as knew what to do and enemies locations to bam headshot.

Feel it had high scores but no like online leader board which seemed daft, also a horde mode and some roguelite/like thing was added in a patch that there is content here if you pick up.


I've now finished two Metroid games, yay and as said elsewhere keen for Zero, Fusion to be on NSO GBA and if I see at a good price pick up Samus on 3DS. I say that, and you might think I thought Prime is a 10/10 like Balla, unfortunately I don't, as this might sound silly as a Wind Waker fan, yet the end really annoyed me and I had get a guide to finish that section to get the actual end.

Also, this might be me from looking from the outside, yet I didn't find the bosses the memorable, yet that's something I've heard about the series and Mother Brain etc talked about.  

I'm came into Prime with no nostalgia for it and littler experience with the series, and maybe if I had that I'd be higher on the game than I am, though it does hold up to modern stands and I can easily put side-by-side other games I played this year more so than like a Crisis Core which feels like a 2007 game.

Balla wrote:

Can't believe you're homing in on a point about a completely different game.    You're wrong though, everything being wrapped in a purple mist absolutely did reduce the enjoyment of the world, and I don't think it's just me who's said that.  I'm not going to say you're wrong about the bosses, but Flaahgra will always be my fave from the trilogy.  (I do remember Quadraxis being a classic from Echoes though.)  Did you actually prefer Echoes Jas?

I homed in on that part because there wasn't much else I disagreed with, as for do I prefer Echoes? Yes I do but it's very close, 2 just edges it due to the aforementioned better boss fights (Flaahgra is great though) & I liked the fact Dark Aether added a bit of danger to the exploration side of things not to mention I remember the map being connected a little better which made backtracking less annoying overall.

mas wrote:

Double post of two games with a female lead where she has an arm cannon, also both I'd say are Jas games

Severed steel has been on my radar for a little bit actually but I'm waiting for it to go on sale.

Also with the end of Prime I assume you mean the artifact hunt? It's not the best especially on that first play through as it isn't quite clear from the first temple visit than you can find some of them after that with missiles/super missiles.

Yeah, the artefact hunt, which I needed to get 7 come the end.

Not liking the artefact hunt is absolutely fair, even if you like the Triforce hunt (the movement and worlds are entirely different); and honestly not thinking it's a 10/10 in this era may be absolutely fair too!  I'm honestly too wrapped up in nostalgia and at-the-time Stockholm Syndrome to judge this anywhere near 'fairly', if there is such a thing.  I won't have you insulting my boy Flaahgra though.

I will make two comments in my defence, however.  For the artefact hunt, I think it fits nicely into the 'sweep the world to pick up all the power-ups' that quite a lot of people do in Metroids, and that doesn't have an analogue in the Triforce case.  Much easier to swing by an artefact location between missile extensions than to go out to some godforsaken tiny island for some fishing (although the world isn't as well connected as it could be - see Jas' point below).  Secondly on the score topic, I've just not played anything else like Metroid Prime apart from the aforementioned worse (yes Jas ) sequels.  I get the impression that Dark Souls may be similar?  But Prime has progress-by-upgrading and a more optimistic ending, in addition to the completely different setting.  If a 10/10 is the absolute best at a particular thing, Prime doesn't have that much competition.  Keza McDonald made a similar point in the Guardian newsletter thingy this week.

The_Jaster wrote:

I homed in on that part because there wasn't much else I disagreed with, as for do I prefer Echoes? Yes I do but it's very close, 2 just edges it due to the aforementioned better boss fights (Flaahgra is great though) & I liked the fact Dark Aether added a bit of danger to the exploration side of things not to mention I remember the map being connected a little better which made backtracking less annoying overall.

Ah yes, reading back I'd missed the bit where you say 'solidarity comrade, everything else you say is right' before homing in. I can see that stance, but I'm definitely the complete opposite of you in that I value the different aesthetics of the different areas more than the added danger: I found the health drains in the dark and the stress of rushing between safe zones more annoying than enticing.  If anything it discouraged me from exploring.  I don't remember the areas in 2 being that great either until you get to Sanctuary Fortress (the absolute state of Torvus Bog).  Although having done the MP1 map sweep in recent memory, I can well believe 2 is better connected.

masofdas wrote:

I can count 6 games with Prime in the title

Imagining nitpicking that I haven't compared it to Metroid Prime Sodding Pinball.

Balladeer wrote:

If a 10/10 is the absolute best at a particular thing, Prime doesn't have that much competition.

I remember this when someone gave Bayo 2 a 10/10 and then had to follow it up by saying it's a 10/10 character action game.

I looked at my Top 100 after finishing Prime, and I've got Batman Arkham Asylum on the list near the bottom, which is a 3D Metroidvania though played from 3rd person not first and thinking about the two games Batman does more for me from what I want from a game with story & characters compared to Prime where the lore is told via stuff to scan etc

Hello, this is Luke's mother.

Luke saw this score chat and died on the spot.

Ah, tell your son corpse that's a shame, I even worked in a Dark Souls reference for him.

masofdas wrote:

I looked at my Top 100 after finishing Prime, and I've got Batman Arkham Asylum on the list near the bottom, which is a 3D Metroidvania though played from 3rd person not first and thinking about the two games Batman does more for me from what I want from a game with story & characters compared to Prime where the lore is told via stuff to scan etc  

Okay this makes a lot more sense. You like what you like in terms of story. No fault of the game's though, natch. I imagine I'd usually be similar to you: I've not played any other lore-heavy games, yet the thought of having to delve into menus to find a game's plot and character development fills my heart with dread. The dynamism of scanning changes all that though. (What's more the Prime subseries tries for cut-scenes and dialogue later on and it is awful. )

I suppose I technically finished
ATARI 50
(sorry, was trying to find a thumbnail that wasn't really big and obtrusive, and failed)

in that I read all the articles and watched all the videos, and played all the games for at least 1 second. As a documentary it was fascinating, especially hearing about the early days. Also very honest too, as it's not really the same company any more, people were happy to talk about when things fell apart and big names drifted away.
The games though... it's difficult because this isn't my nostalgia. I wanted to learn about it (hence my pleasure at the interviews and old docs and what-not). The first chapter shows the evolution in the arcades, with a lot of the games at least still fun - and really impressive too, e.g. something like I Robot churning out polygons in a Super FX chip style, but a decade prior. Then it jumps you to the 2600, and... oh fuck. Unless you do have nostalgia for it, everything is either too simple to register as entertaining, or too convoluted for the hardware to show properly, making it incomprehensible; I'd heard about the 4 "quest" games as revered examples of world-building and story-telling, but I just bounced off it. Things get better when they show off the successor consoles and the old 8-bit computers, and those games are comparable to some of the old shit I'd play, and I'm definitely going back to finish some of those properly.
But then we need to talk about the Jaguar. I remember even as a kid watching Bad Influence, when they started talking about Super-consoles like the Jaguar, with their 64-bit processors, but the games they'd show looked like basic-ass shmups and shitty platformers, and you could tell they weren't as fun as the SNES/Megadrive games we already had access to. I thought maybe there was some trade-off between graphical heft, but actually everything was made by people who didn't really know what fun was. Humans aside, everything on the Jaguar that they've curated is shit.
Oh and because of the split in the companies, and the difference in distribution in different regions the Atari ST isn't mentioned - I want someone to be accountable for MIDI Maze / Captain Blood / Oids.

I'd still recommend this if you're into gaming history, but perhaps get it if it's cheap and treat it as an interactive documentary.

Also, I think I want revenge, and for someone to encompass all the European 8/16-bit computers and their shitty games.

I don't know what Jag games are on the collection but it should be AVP, Tempest and the other 2000 series games, Rayman.

DP as I've finished two games


Kirby was a bit of a pallet cleanse after Prime & Revelation, though also been playing a lot of Destiny 2 which falls into the play between the next game camp. I don't think Kirby RTDLD does anything special, it's just a nice looking fun 2D Kirby game, and you'll know if you want that or not at the moment.


You may remember me talking about BYE a few years ago, it's the game at the time played on PC that used your webcam to track your blinking to move the narrative forward. I really enjoyed BYE at the time, and it did get some praise from critics.

Now it's just come to PSVR2 which now has eye-tracking, think you can guess why BYE has had a VR version for PSVR2 as you can move your head around more naturally along with blinking work with the tracking.

BYE far more immersive in VR and helps elevate the title to new heights, which has also been seen in the praise it seems to be getting from outlets now, more so than it did. If I was to show one of you my PSVR2 now, sure GT7 would be a graphically impressive feat, but BYE would be the experience that make you go yes VR makes this game better.

Jimbob wrote:

ATARI 50

Unless you do have nostalgia for it, everything is either too simple to register as entertaining, or too convoluted for the hardware to show properly, making it incomprehensible...

Cheers for this write-up. I'm looking forward to the historical pieces and I'm curious about some of those Jaguar games that haven't been legally emulated before now. What you've typed there is mostly my assessment of Atari's games too though. I can measure the fun I've had with Atari's games on Evercade and other compilations in seconds.

masofdas wrote:

I don't know what Jag games are on the collection but it should be AVP, Tempest and the other 2000 series games, Rayman.

Tempest is on there in all fairness - it's just a bit basic I suppose.

masofdas wrote:

I don't think Kirby RTDLD does anything special, it's just a nice looking fun 2D Kirby game, and you'll know if you want that or not at the moment.

I always feel bad as I like Kirby's "universe" for want of a better word, but really you can only play 1 every 5 years.

masofdas wrote:

BYE far more immersive in VR and helps elevate the title to new heights, which has also been seen in the praise it seems to be getting from outlets now, more so than it did. If I was to show one of you my PSVR2 now, sure GT7 would be a graphically impressive feat, but BYE would be the experience that make you go yes VR makes this game better.

I bloody well hate this though - this sounds to me like the most uncomfortable way to "play" a game.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

What you've typed there is mostly my assessment of Atari's games too though. I can measure the fun I've had with Atari's games on Evercade and other compilations in seconds.

Yeah, it's difficult - I do feel like this for the Atari 2600 games, but I have to accept they were of their time. It's the Jaguar games that are unforgivable, at that stage people should have had a better idea of what they were doing, and didn't.

Jimbob wrote:

masofdas wrote:

I don't think Kirby RTDLD does anything special, it's just a nice looking fun 2D Kirby game, and you'll know if you want that or not at the moment.

I always feel bad as I like Kirby's "universe" for want of a better word, but really you can only play 1 every 5 years..

This, only I don't feel bad. Even with Forgotten Land it felt so much like 'traditional Kirby but in 3D'. It just always feels like they're missing a hook beyond 'here's the same thing again with a nightmare at the end'. Robobot's robot hook is the best I've seen I reckon.