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"Would I ever lie to you, my son?"

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon Technically you're supposed to play through this game three times to see everything, but I still played enough to see the first ending which I think is enough to say I beat it. This is my first AC game so I have no idea how it compares to the rest of the series. I'm going into this franchise completely fresh, so what did I think about this one? I liked it quite a bit, except for when I hated it. I'll explain. Usually I don't gel with mech games because they're either too fast and just feel like people with robot skins or they're too slow and everything feels like a slog. This game finds the perfect middle ground where you have a decent amount of agility and maneuverability, but you're not so agile that you no longer feel like you're controlling a robot. Using your boosters to fly and dodge enemy fire always feels good, and while the controls take a little getting used to, once you get the hang of it piloting your core feels like second nature. The biggest draw of the game is customizing your bot both mechanically and cosmetically, and there were several encounters where I needed to change parts and approach the situation with a different build. It feels rewarding when you figure out just the right setup to plow through whatever obstacle is in front of you. I do still have two major complaints. First off, the camera can be really disorienting if you're locked on to an enemy that's right up in your face. If it's a particularly fast enemy, there will be moments where you have no idea what's going on because of all the lasers and explosions blocking your field of view while the targeting system is jerking all over the place. It's not a constant issue, but it does crop up enough for me to feel the need to mention it. My second gripe, and the one I suspect will turn off some people, is the seriously uneven difficulty. Most of the missions in the game are fairly easy and probably anyone could clear them. However, there are a small handful of boss fights, including the very first one in the game, where the difficulty dramatically spikes up to insane levels. Not every boss is like this, mind you. I can think of maybe four or five total in my playthrough that gave me serious hell, but these spikes happen so suddenly and are usually sandwiched in between much easier bosses and missions, so it feels jarring. Some of the bosses just straight up break the rules of the game and it becomes extremely tempting to use overpowered builds just to get them out of the way. Until it gets nerfed you're bound to see a lot of people dual wielding shotguns because they just do so much stagger damage. I wouldn't say using said builds ever feels required, but it does feel like you're gimping yourself if you don't in these instances. The game could use a little rebalancing and a couple of bosses definitely need to be nerfed, but other than that I had a lot of fun building and trying out all kinds of different robots, and the constant unlocking of new parts in the shop ensure you'll always have new toys to play with. If you have the determination to brute force your way through the roadblocks the game throws at you, it's a pretty cool time. I didn't try the PVP mode but I highly suspect it's full of shotgun users right now.

Gave in. Don't disappoint me, Todd!

Currently listening to Dune. Got some free Audible credits in the Prime Day thing, so figured I'd make use of them. I tried reading Dune a while ago but couldn't get too far into it but a "free" audio version sort of hit my method for the moment and given I'm halfway through (I'm in "Part 2" and coming up to where the first film ends. Also 11hrs left of 21hr audio book). As an audio book it's pretty good - got a broad range of VAs*, and done various sound effects for environmental elements and each of the chapter starts with the various scriptures of Prince Irulan. Bookwise quite enjoying it, and interesting to see where the film has removed a couple things (though really not much) and added in a few bits ahead of time, or things from other peoples viewpoints. There's a lot of internal monologue though, especially Paul and Jessica, that are somewhat missing from the film though - but that's always a difficulty. Certainly is a source of a lot of common tropes, in the same way LotR is for fantasy. *I've also had Guards Guards! from the recent releases (the original audiobooks - back when they were more for blind people) was by Tony Robinson (Baldrick in Blackadder if you watch that). Whereas the new one is by John Culshaw, a British impressionist (and "Footnotes" voiced by Bill Nighty, and Death by Peter Serafinowicz - who I don't particularly rate as a good Death tbh). Culshaw does most of the voices; putting on different voices for each of the characters. I think I like Dunes more play style, though I can see where that might be difficult/expensive to pull together. I know there was an audio play done of Sandman, with a pretty solid cast (I think some made it into the TV series) that might be worth a listen, though I'm not sure how well the medium of comic would translate to audiobook. I actually got Neil Gaimans Norse Mythology from my local library (worth checking if they have an audio book service - mine has two, the services also do ebooks and magazines too. Though both are quite shallow except for Mills & Boon types and biographies). It was read by Neil Gaiman in full and was really quite good - sort of felt like he was reading you various bedtime stories. Also meant I got this joke too. (the lyrics are from a Panic at the Disco song, in case you're more familiar wit the myth). Got one last credit - thinking of picking up Three Body Problem, though the synopsis didn't wow me. Though it has been recommended in various channels, and there is the show out soon-ish. (I do have it on Kindle actually from one of their many 99p sales). If there's any audiobooks any of you have really enjoyed happy to take suggestions (might not utilise them though)

I should just update the tags to "Nintendo" "Xbox" and PlayStation shouldn't I. I've not touched them in an age