danielpholt

I was lucky enough to get one of those RG40XXV's for Christmas (for the playing of legitimately owned ROM's of course), and it's opened up an entire world of games I was too young to enjoy when I was a kid. Punch Out, Super Mario Bros (yes, I know), Rocket Knight Adventures (hard as fuck) and the absolutely wonderful Drill Dozer being the first four games I've chosen to play through since getting it. Does anyone else have one of these handhelds, and if so, what are you using?

https://ggapp.io/danielholt/lists/my-favourite-new-games-of-2024-YQy3oCHz So I'll admit that I played Astro Bot in 2025. I wanted to play it desperately, but well.....my eldest was getting it for Christmas and I chose being a solid Dad over my need to curate a kick-ass GOTY list. I'm still not convinced I made the correct call. I'm saying this because, if I made this list now, Astro would have walked it.

I've been playing some of that Khazan game that game out a few days back. I'm only through the first boss so far, but early impressions are positive. It's much more Sekiro than it is Dark Souls, and from what I hear some of the boss fights are perfect encapsulations of what I love and loath about this particular style of soulslike. Still, can't wait to see what the game has to offer.

Currently working my way through both Metroid Prime Remastered and HiFi Rush. Metroid Prime is just as good as I remember, only now I can play it on the toilet. Might actually finish it this time, which'll be nice. HiFi Rush is a game I've been playing in fits and starts for about 2 weeks now. I really like what it's doing, but for whatever reason, I struggle to jump back into it. That being said, I do intend to see this one through.

Real shame you grabbed Days Gone in a sale and not at full price which would totally have signalled to Sony that a sequel was due.

God of War Ragnarok Initial impressions were much the same as with the 2018 game in that I felt utterly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I could craft, upgrade, unlock and add to my 'build'. I think I'm beginning to get my head around that aspect now, although I'd still argue the game gives you far too much stuff in that regard. I've just runes coming out of my special attacks that are attached to my gauntlets (or at least it feels like it). I also had a pretty rough time with the combat. Maybe the game suffers a little from the fact that the previous game I played was Sekiro, which is held in pretty high standard, but Ragnarok like 2018 before it just feels....kinda rubbish in comparison. I've notched it down to the second highest difficulty, which alleviates a lot of the frustration, and allows me to get to the bits I'm actually enjoying; namely the story, characters and incredible visuals. HLTB says this is going to take me upwards of 40 hrs to complete. I'm a bit pressed for time these days, so I likely won't be going on too many sidequests, but I still imagine this one will take me the best part of a month or two to beat, and that's okay.

Yeah that thing beat the sh*t out of me for a good hour before I figured out how to beat him. You encounter a few more of them in the late game and they're still pretty tough outs.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 80 hours later and it's finally done. I've beaten Cuphead, I've beaten Elden Ring, but neither of those games can lay a torch on Sekiro. There were times, especially early that I thought I was going to have to give up on my quest, but through perseverance, and sheer stubbornness, I got through it. I'll likely never play this game again. That's not to say it's a bad game, far from it. I think it might be one of the better game I've ever played, it's just...it demands so much. I've now finished Elden Ring and Sekiro. I love both games deeply. Elden Ring was hard, but it allows you to outmanoeuvre it in some ways; if you're stuck you can go elsewhere, level up and come back later. Sekiro offers no such luxury, you've got to get up close and figure it out. All in all, it's probably going to end up being one of my most memorable gaming experiences going forward. A+ Elechead Super tight little puzzle-platformer that has a pretty simple core mechanic, but builds on it in some really smart ways. Without a doubt one of the better platformer's I've played in recent years. Doesn't overstay it's welcome, offers some extra difficulty for those that want it and feels super tight at the same time. B Hyper Light Drifter Oh boy. Over the course of 4 nights I started and finished this one and it left me with one question: Why did it take me so long to come to it? A

I was left a little underwhelmed by it all, but I think that's more a fault of my overly lofty expectations. The game itself is fine, the puzzles are bit lacking at times and I feel like towards the end they ditch that part of the game entirely. Biggest issue I had was that I found myself getting stuck in the environment a fair but, which I put down to the 3d/2d art style; that is likely something they'll get better with if they choose to stick with that style. I've just finished Signalis. It took me a little over 6 hours from front to back, and I ended up really enjoying my time with it. It fits well into short bursts, and isn't overly taxing on my mind, which is perfect for me right now. If I had one complaint it would be that the games plot is......I dunno, I've got no idea what's going on ( ). Visually the game is genuinely really stunning to look at, which for a game made up predominantly of brown and grey colours, is quite the feat. The art really pops during it's cutscenes and the occasional sections of the game where you go into first person are a nice change of pace. It's on Gamepass and I heartily recommend it for anyone who likes OG Resident Evil.

Has anyone been using the 'Deck with a dock? I thought it'd be an immediate purchase for me but 3-4 months in, I'm actually finding I've got no real interest in playing on my TV.

IIRC it's the follow up game from the people who made 80 Days. I heard some really good things about it a few years ago but for one reason or another it skipped me by....until now.

A lot of people either ignored this or bounced off it because of the (somewhat) hit-or-miss artstyle. For me? It worked. Once you get past the passed the opening ten minutes or so, the art itself blends into the larger game and you forget it was weird to begin with.

I'm working my way through Signalis right now and I echo what @TheMightyEthan says.