Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing. This week, Kelsey remembers why Resident Evil 5 isn't an all-timer; Connor self-inflicts a strange challenge on himself in Guild Wars 2; Marie finds herself digging out her Game Boy Advance again; Ed makes a good point about horror games; Victoria accidentally completes Shadow of the Tomb Raider again; Dom sees lemons; Chris doesn't impress his wife with Sean Bean; and Bertie makes a confession.
Resident Evil 5 is certainly not a game of all time. Upon revisiting it, however, I don't completely hate it. Sure, it's not a very good Resident Evil game nor is it a good co-op game in my opinion, and let's be real, most of its best moments are ripped straight from Resident Evil 4.
Alas, I've had pretty good fun mowing down the undead with my friend either way, and Wesker - in all of his camp and over-dramatic glory - is the star of the show (aside from Chris Redfield's boulder-punching capabilities, of course). The ultimate showdown against Wesker is largely a frustrating mess and I can't wait to see the back of him at this point, but he certainly makes sure that it's entertaining.
-Kelsey
My journey through Guild Wars 2 continues without interruption, as the game has taken over my life in a very real and borderline worrying way. I've assigned a self-enforced challenge upon myself: I'm not allowed to move forward into the many exciting expansions I own before totally finishing each story chapter's mastery achievement. As of writing I am still stuck in season one.
There are multiple reasons why, but the most pressing right now is the Nightmare Tower, a bit of old content that no one really runs any more. Back in the day you and other players in the open-world would have to run a gauntlet through the tower, battling the toxic alliance and opening a tri-colour chest at the top.
Nowadays, you can just skip to the top to finish up the single-player story component of the chapter - a nice quality of life addition by Arenanet. However, there are achievements in there, and thus I have been trying to convince folks to run it over a decade since the content was relevant.
A guild comes in handy here, and I've actually managed to beat the tower once in what was apparently a real trip through memory lane for some of the older players roped along. The loot was actually pretty good too! There's a special item called a Pristine Toxic Spore Sample that is quite rare out in the open-world but drops regularly inside the tower. They sell for almost 10 silver a pop, and you leave the tower with quite the haul of 'em. Safe to say, I'll be stuck in this tower for some time.
Hopefully by next week I'll be on the Heart of Thorns expansion, but no promises. Other games I've played on the side I cannot talk about - sorry!
-Connor
I'm back on my Game Boy again. The first thought that hit me was the size difference between it and the Switch 2. My second thought was how great it would be to have all the Spyro games available on Switch 2 - which then somehow translated into me playing them all again.
I'm currently at Winter Mesa in Spyro: Season of Flame, an aptly festive-themed level. I find most levels in this game enjoyable, but Winter Mesa is one that's firmly planted in my mind and has been for years. The glittering trees dotted and the snow dusted around the level give a cosy feeling to it, and even torching the bad guys with Spyro's flame breath doesn't disrupt the calm I feel whenever I'm there. However, at the moment, I'm preparing myself to take on the ice hockey activity, and if you've played the game, you know that it can make even the most patient of people snap.
I usually play horror games on easy mode. Really, it comes down to what you want from the experience - for me, I want to relish in the atmosphere, the slow dread, and the intricate puzzle-solving without stumbling nurses breathing down my neck. And dying in horror games is always a reminder you're playing a game, which takes you out of the experience.
This is my first time playing a Silent Hill game and I really appreciate the split in difficulty level between combat and puzzles. It means I'm fully immersed, sitting on the edge of my seat, the tension creeping into my bones. And if there's one thing this game thrives on, it's revelling in the weirdness of it all.
-Ed
Last weekend, I decided to try out some new Game Pass games. "I may as well restart Shadow of the Tomb Raider to kill some time while I wait for these others to download," I said to myself. Fast forward 12 hours later and I am approaching the final boss. Turns out, I killed a lot more than just time that day, and completed Shadow of the Tomb Raider once again.
Ah, roguelikes. My kryptonite. My catnip. My downfall. After it hit Games Pass last week, I've been chewing on CloverPit in my downtime. Imagine Balatro with one-armed bandits and you're some of the way there, though I'd say the game lacks the killer X-factor that makes Balatro an all-timer.
Actually, the game reminds me more of Inscryption, thanks to its grotty, slightly violent undertones and sleazy atmosphere. But as someone that once made a pilgrimage of sorts to a Japanese pachinko arcade to see what all the fuss is about, I will say that fits the brief quite well for this world.
I've 'finished' the game at this point, insofar as you can finish a roguelike, but I still seem drawn back for more, my field of vision full of clovers, lemons, cherries, and sevens. As the machine likes to say Let's go gambling. Let's go again.
-Dom
I've gone back to The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered this week, which predictably has been brilliant. I told my wife "hey guess who that is... it's Sean Bean!" and she did not care at all, which is fine. Then I Googled some extremely niche questions about levelling and spent many hours on Reddit threads confirming what I already suspected (namely that I did not, in fact, have to spend many hours on Reddit threads any more). Then I closed an Oblivion gate, persuaded some Dark Elves to stop being so miserable with a conversation minigame, and picked flowers. So more or less a standard Oblivion experience. It genuinely never gets old.
-Chris
I haven't finished it, alright? Are you happy now I've confessed? I played seven episodes and then, in true Bertie fashion, stopped there. I got distracted. But this morning, before work, I hurried to my desk to carry on. And there's something about returning to a game, to have been out of it and then to go back, and feel that warm wave of familiarity again, and perhaps admiration. And I do like this game - I like it very much. Absence has only made the heart fonder. Returning to it has reminded me how well put together it really is.