danielpholt

Sektori It's Geometry Wars with a shiny coat of paint and some really great animations. I don't normally go for these games, but I'd heart it recommended on The Besties podcast and yeah, it's absolutely perfect if you're looking to kill 10-15 minutes. Honestly, if I'd had more time with it I could see it creeping into my top five of the year list. Super cheap too.

Not technically a game, but I got this for my Clone Hero playing on Steamdeck. Grabbed the GT Live controller a month ago, and I'm enjoying it enough to convince me to drop £120 on this thing, and actually play the songs I love with a 5-fret for the first time.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time After getting through Hades II I wanted to play a something a little lighter, so I grabbed the retro-console and gave this little slice of 90's gaming a look. Now, I'm not really a fan of the beat-em-up; it just wasn't something I played a lot of growing up, and as such it isn't something I gravitate towards. That said I had a good time with this. It's fairly brief, but that's to be expected from this sort of game. Had a good time with it though and I'm probably going to try and play more games in this genre going forward. Any recs? Hades II Technically I beat Hades II. Took me some 50 hours, but I finally hit credits and unlike Hades 1 I didn't have to enable God-mode. Go me I guess? I am however, not yet done with this one though. I want to get through the prologue before I consider putting it down. Dispatch Man, I fucking adore this game. It's been a breath of fresh air and a game I've been delighted to return to twice a week for the last month. I had some minor issues with the games 'tactical' mini-game (which may well be down to me not fully understanding the mechanics), but everything else from its story to it's characters and it's overall presentation was superb and I can't wait to see what Adhoc has in store going forward.

New VR Headset New Controller New Steam Machine No prices as of yet, but I imagine we'll find out more pretty soonish as these are coming in 'early 2026'. I'm mainly interested in the Steam Machine. I've got a library of some 700+ games on Steam, as well as many many more games on various other libraries. And as much as I adore my Steamdeck, sometimes it just doesn't have the power to play what I want to play on my TV. I don't have the space to go full gaming PC anymore, and I have been interested in a behind-the-TV option for a while, unfortunately price is always the issue on that front... If Valve can find a way to make this thing affordable, it might be my new go-to gaming platform. Big if though. New Steam Hardware

Not exactly a game but I've ordered a Guitar Hero controller as I'm looking to play some Clone Hero on the deck. I've done the research, the Guitar Hero Live (360) guitar seems like the easiest (and cheapest) way back into this, although it's not a guarantee. If I can't get it running on my Deck then it should (should) be plug-in-and-play on my Windows laptop. If this doesn't work, well, I guess I'm either letting go of the idea or stump down £150 for a new guitar from these guys

Hades II More of this. Inching towards the end now, one run at a time. I'm not sure if this one is easier, or if it gives you more tools to succeed, or if I've just become better with failure (I started playing Souls games after I originally played Hades 1) and more understanding of its role in these games....but I've not yet engaged the games 'God Mode' and I'm not sure I need it to get to the end-credits. Speaking of which. They've got a patch on the way that'll address some of the issues with the games true ending. I'm not sure what those issues are, only that it all feels a bit rushed. It now puts me in a position where I want to continue playing the game, but don't want to finish it before this new content patch goes live. That could be a few days, it could be a few weeks. Meanwhile I'm just gonna sit here with my dick in my hand I guess? Dispatch Low-key could be my surprise of the year. I wasn't expecting to fall head over heels for a story based game from some of the people who made those Telltale games back in the early 2010's..but here we are. It's got that episodic thing going on that those games had, only (and this is the key) I believe they've already finished the game and are choosing to release it in that way; two episodes a week, each episode being roughly an hour long. For a Dad of two with limited time, that's kind of ideal. Even better? It runs like a dream on Deck. I played through the first two episodes last week, and I'm eagerly anticipating the next dump in a few days time. All in all the entire series should be wrapped up by mid-November. Oh and for what it's worth, it's not got any of that janky free-roaming adventure stuff the Telltale games had. There's QTE's and some light squad management stuff, but for the most part it's all fantastic art and even more fantastic writing.

No one in the UK can see that image but I personally feel much better knowing that whatever it was can't be viewed by my children. Thanks Keir. Anyway. I started and I finished a little game by the name of Caput Mortum last week. It's a short little thing; maybe 3-4 hours if you get a stuck (like I did). It's a horror based puzzle game that isn't overly scary, but does have a really cool vibe and some nice moments. It won't change your life, but it was a fun way to spend an evening.

Hades II I don't like these games. I do like the Hades games. I'm not sure why that is, but I bet it's got something to do with the constantly feel of progression, the stunning art direction, the entrancing story and obviously the super-tight gameplay mechanics and overall loop. Hades I was one of my favourite games of the last few years, and it looks like Hades II is going to top it in that regard. It's taken what was so good about the OG game and improved upon it whilst also bringing new mechanics to the table that make the loop even more satisfying to play through time and time again. And maybe it's just me, but I feel like few people are talking about it? I wonder if that's down to it being a sequel, the fact that Hollow Knight came out a few weeks prior to it or (more likely) the fact that I'm not as invested in the gaming space anymore??

Anbernic have one coming out in the coming months too. Seems to be a bit cheaper than the Thor/PocketDS models that are launching now, and that's a good thing. I've been considering getting a cheap 3DSXL for a while, but with these three on the market early next year, I'm probably going to go down this route instead. The DS/3DS is a system I basically skipped because ...well handheld games weren't my jam. Until now.

I finished Wuchang Fallen Feathers. A game I completely bounced off twice before returning to about a month ago. I loved it. Yeah. I dunno. Sometimes I need to be in the right frame of mind to fully enjoy a game, and eventually I got to that point and I allowed this one into my heart. Is it the best Soulslike ever? No, but it's a very worthy entry into that pantheon and something I'd be tempted to revisit if I ever found myself with a few months of free time (I won't). Far more Souls than Sekiro, which I think will please a few of you here as well. The best part? I finished it just in time to cancel my Gamepass sub. Perfec'

Ahem. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers I decided to take another look and started the game totally fresh. I'm now 10 hours deep and having a really good time with it. Being in the right mental space apparently has a lot to do with my enjoyment of a game I guess.

Man, if you don't like Parrying Lies of P is going to be a rough time. As for Wuchang, it's still tempting me to play it. Maybe it'll finally get it's mitts into me on the third run. Which is what happened with Dark Souls.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers I can usually tell if I'm going to stick with a souls-like inside the first hour or so. Some games (Khazan, Lies of P, Wu-Long) will immediately click and I'll push through any early-game issues. Some games however just...don't click for whatever reason (Thymesia, Lords of the Fallen). I fear Wuchang is one of those games. I've gone back to it 4-5 times now; spent hours trying to get into it and it's just not happening, and I'm not sure why. Combat perhaps? Not being able to parry feels...well, kind of primordial to be honest with you, especially coming off of Khazan and to a lesser extent Clair Obscur. The combat also has a weightlessness to it that doesn't feel very satisfying, and whilst dodging does fell good when you get it down, having to rely on perfect dodge timing in order to do anything resembling decent damage (you earn magic or some shit for a perfect dodge, the magic can then be spent to perform more powerful attacks) to the enemy that'll absolutely decimate you if you mess up just doesn't feel great. At the same time, man I feel like I should enjoy this game. How long do I give it before I throw in the towel for good?

We're over half-way. What's your GOTY so far? Clair Obscur for me. It's been about a month since I finished it and I can't get the damn thing out of my head. I'm watching youtube essays on it's mechanics, it's story and it's overall design. I've been contemplating a NG+ run, which is something I never (ever) do. The game has wormed it's way into my life like I never expected, especially coming from a genre that frankly, I wouldn't have looked twice at before. I fucking hate turn-based games. Special shout-out to Rematch. There's been a fair amount of talk about the games flaws and somewhat janky mechanics, and whilst those aren't without merit, I'm having an absolute blast playing this thing on my Steamdeck. I'm currently sitting at 34 hours played through the games opening two months. K

Series X Me and my brothers have been looking for something new to play on our Sunday night gaming sessions, and this is finally coming to XBOX so we can all play. Very excited to take a look at it. 99p on CDKeys. Couldn't say no.

Ditto this. It's grabbed me in a way that no game has grabbed me since Outer Wilds. Probably my GOTY, and it isn't even close.

Wario Ware, Inc My only real exposure to mini-game collections came in the form of the wonderful (but underappreciated) Frobisher Says on the PSVita, but I'd heard good things about this one and it gave me an excuse to play on the RGV40XX. And yeah, this thing is great. To the point that I've got my eldest hooked on it, and I think we'll be investing in the Switch game (not sure which) soon.

The OG game is on my to-play list on the retro handheld. Just need to find the time.

https://www.nexusmods.com/clairobscurexpedition33/mods/25 That's the link to the mod. I finished the game on XBOX last night, and this might actually force me to double-dip. If you end up going with this, let us know how it goes if possible?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 A videogame masterpiece. 5/5.

Rift Riff Little tactics game that is sort of perfect for what I want from that genre; quick, easy to pick up and put down and not overly taxing. It looks super cute too and as ever, runs great on my deck. I can see this inching into my favourite games of the year list, it's wonderful. 4/5 - A gem of a game. Suit for Hire This seemed so cool for the first twenty or so minutes, but then it rather quickly becomes a little boring. It's not that Max-Payning your way around this level's isn't fun, it's just that without a story, or any real progression it all feels a little flat. 2/4 - Fine, I guess. Without A Dawn Without A Dawn is a striking horror visual novel with a focus on a young women's struggle with her mental health. It's about an hour of gameplay from front to back. Given it's a VN it's relatively light on mechanics but there's some light puzzling that you could probably brute force with the right combination of button presses. Where the game really shines is with it's use of its stunning ascii-art. It's almost breath-taking in it's beauty. 3/5 - Good Drop Duchy Another 'puzzle' game. Drop Duchy is erm ' ...... a unique roguelike puzzle game that combines Tetris-style block placement with strategic deck building. You'll build your duchy by strategically placing territory blocks, managing resources, and battling enemies through card-based mechanics.' I think it's probably a better game than I'm capable of experiencing, given that I suck at it. Looks and sounds real nice though. 3/5 - Good. I've been away for a week so I spent a lot of down time whilst the kids were in bed playing on the ol' Deck and reading. Which is how I managed to clear two games and start two more. Now I'm home I'm hoping to get back to Clair Obscur and wrap that wonderful web right up.

For what it's worth I've read on Reddit that there's a mod available that makes it run at a solid 45FPS (medium settings IIRC) on the Deck. I haven't used it myself, but the SD Sub was very positive on it. I could find the link if you're interested?

Signalis is a fantastic little game.