joeplus

Strong agree, Gigawatt. I replayed this game in full (100% completion) recently, for the first time since it came out, and my appreciation has only grown, which doesn't happen with a lot of games. And especially surprising, given that I still remembered a lot of the tricks and "a-ha!" moments. So as a playthrough it was less exciting and revelatory than the first, but I think that let me take a slightly more detached view, and really appreciate the artistry. Forgive me donning the wank hat, but it is such a finely crafted thing. A jewelled puzzle box.

Enjoying this - all the moreso after reading a comment that likens it to Paddington Bear streaming games for the first time, which is hilariously accurate. "Oh thank you so much, you don't have to give me money..."

I have also fallen deep, deep, underworld deep in love with this. I had to consciously not take my Switch on holiday the other week, because I'd have gained a +130% buff to Unsociable. It's only got better since then. I'm in the early-to-mid stages of the post-game, I think. I still have some Prophecies to tick off: alongside the story stuff, there are still a few weapon upgrades and some Duo Boons. It's amazing how effective that is at distracting your build when you know you should just be trying for a win. The urge to hand-write notes is the sign of a genius game to me, and I'm a couple of dozen pages into my big notebook. Boon trackers, notes on run strategy with primary and secondary goals, and most recently my "Heat-o-meter". I think what really sealed it for me was the first time I constructed a Poseidon build that cleared the first Styx chamber in approx 1 second. Glorious nonsense. I don't even like roguelikes!

Just catching up on this series, wasn't totally won over by the first two. Loved how Heist was ballsy and silly, and Ninth Circle was grim and quite tight. Both of them engaging in different but fair ways with dickheads like us reviewing telly shows, which is a lot more than most shows do. Great casting and acting as always. What a standard this series sets. Lip Service a certified banger. Lovely stuff.

Crikey moses. This evening I broke into Silver with Rose, something I never once did playing my occasional but persistent Laura. Got a 13-match streak in ranked, beat some folks above my level, and almost steamed straight through into Super Silver without looking back - I was 6P away! Aaaah! I think it underlines that you have to click with a character, which I did with none of the launch characters from this game. A bit sad that SFVI will be round the corner and I will be tempted to abandon this unusual and interesting version of the Soulful Lass. I haven't learned how to properly use either V-skill, and I'm only slightly better with Soul Punish, in that I do something effective with it once every seven or so matches. I'm terrible at cancelling Spiral into Super when it could win me the match: I was always sloppy with my execution, now I'm sloppy and rusty. Still sliding too much when it's unsafe, and sticking out cr.mk when I should be predicting jumps. Lots of situations where I autopilot, I'm very predictable. But I am decent at using her good buttons in the right places, remembering to throw (Rose is a grappler), and I'm getting an awful lot of mileage out of VT2. It's very satisfying to land the throw when they're blocking, then next time the b.hk when they're teching. And I've only landed a few of those big EX Bind anti-air punishes but they are so good. I'd be up for some longer sets if anyone fancies it!

Celebrated moving in to my new flat, and getting the PS4 hooked up, by throwing myself into All Clear mode, which I love to bits. Finally got my first ever SS rank in this game . Tried to do the same in Combo mode, and I've managed 112. I think (not sure) that SS rank is 120. Consistently getting 90-110. Ooh, it's a bastard. Can't wait to try out Connected mode when it comes to PS4 (although I've been struggling in Tetris 99 recently). I love Tetris, I do.

Considering how disappointed I was by retrying Sunshine, I am immeasurably glad that 64 remains utterly brilliant. How on Earth Nintendo went from something so perfect to so janky, I find difficult to understand. Controls feel so much more solid and responsive, difficulty is perfectly judged instead of total bullshit, a few camera issues but nothing serious. 60 stars in and I'm going to absolutely rinse it this evening.

This bump isn't a sequel announcement, but that's another issue. Picked this up on Switch this week and it's very fun. Today I had the exquisite pain of getting within 1 hit of killing a boss (the one in the forest), but getting too greedy. The exact thing you tell yourself you won't do. The grinding feels a little slow (how am I going to reach level 75 on a stat?) but I also think I might just be playing too slowly and not taking risks to find exciting valuable things. That's my way I suppose. But I really love being the glass cannon Hokage - fave class by a mile, so far.

Hoo boy, even nostalgia's not going to convince me to finish Sunshine. I'm sure it's partly being spoiled by later, better 3D Marios, but the controls and camera combine into a symphony of frustration, even only 15 Shines in. I really hope 64 isn't this much worse than I remember it being.

Just want to say that I am very annoyed about certain aspects of this release (timed is bullshit, where is Galaxy 2). There, I've added my voice. Obviously I've still bought it, it's three of the best games ever made at a decent price on the best console. Time to finally 100% Sunshine. Bring it on, you weird, capricious bastard.

Absolute heartbreak. I spilled water on my Switch and I'm having to send it off for repair (or replace it if it's that bad). At least I finished the storyline, but...

Yep. Don't hesitate, just buy this and play it and enjoy it.

Had a heroic failure since this update. Really enjoying reading people's updates from first playthroughs too! This game has such character.

In preparation for Silksong, whenever that is, I've hopped back into this. Played a fresh file and just enjoyed the heck out of it, now trying to mop up some stuff I never did. Late-game spoilers:

...Rose, did you say?