Black Myth: Wukong

Bout to be 2k

cyberpunk 2077

would not consider myself much of a gamer these days but cyberpunk had me hooked this weekend. i thought it was kind of boring the first time i tried playing but i came back last week and im fully immersed. about 30 hrs in, level 30 build focused on stealth w silenced pistols, throwing knives, katanas and cyberware. once you get the double jump leg mod and airdash s*** gets f***ing insane gameplay wise.

i've played like 5 different games this year but this and deathloop are the only ones that have held my attention.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2001)

Played on Xbox Series S (Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility)

When I was kid, going to my grandparents place, I was always so excited to play my grandma’s GameCube, where I would spend countless hours playing Sonic Adventure 2 Battle over and over again. Playing the amazing first level countless times (also more so because grandma didn’t have a memory card for the longest), the amazing soundtrack and the kickass story mode. As I got older, and stopped going to grandmas less and less, and my overall decline in interest in the franchise, the game became a distant memory. But many years have passed since I originally played it, and with the 3rd entry of the movie franchise taking inspiration from it, I thought it was finally time I revisited this.

And from the introduction of the Hero Story with City Escape, I fell in love with this game all over again. The bright visuals of sliding down downtown San Francisco on panel from a helicopter, the upbeat and catchy tune, and Sonic’s cheesy ass jokes are overflowing with charm and charisma. It’s much more action packed and entertaining than damn near anything in Adventure 1, and sets the stage for what this adventure brings.

But then the rest of the game happens.

Sonic and Shadow’s stages don’t reach the same highs as City Escape do, but they do get some bangers. Metal Harbor, Green Forest and of course Radical Highway are amazing stages as well. Just as when Sonic & Shadow’s abilities are “working”. Because stuff like homing attack works maybe 70% of the time it’s intended, and that’s me being generous. Light dash is also finicky, as I had died plenty of times of that move clipping me through something or falling out of the world.

Tails and Eggman’s stages are ok when it’s just a shooting gallery, but become a pain in the ass when the platforming starts. These things are slow, awkward mechs that serve only to just be an excuse to play as Eggman. Like it’s cool to finally play as him, I just wish they had improved on fixing Tails’s gameplay from Adventure 1 instead of just making him parallel to Eggman. I also feel like the Tails levels are like way worse in terms of platforming and enemy placement lmao

Knuckles & Rouge have…levels. And to be honest, they aren’t as bad as some people say, as I found them much more enjoyable now than I was a kid. Yes I’m still dealing with an annoying ass camera and the emerald indicator, but navigating the levels isn’t bad. I will say though, when the third act of the game takes place and sets everyone in Space, the level design, mechanics, everything takes a nosedive in quality, ESPECIALLY the Knuckles & Rouge levels. Rouge getting TWO of the worst stages in the game.

Chao Garden & Battle Mode are fun for what they are, but Kart Racing sucks. Battle Mode is unbalanced as all hell sure, but at least it utilizes the core game mechanics versus Kart where it’s just more s***ty driving mechanics from ONE level in Dark and Hero.

Story wise, yeah it’s miles ahead of Adventure 1, as it feels like there was an actual script this time around versus a dart board. It’s still Adventure 2 though. A character theme plays whenever they pop in on screen and the audio mixing is infamously bad. There’s a lot of dumb nonsense, but there’s actually some real “mature” themes lightly mentioned. It’s interesting and kind of a shocker considering what the franchise had been doing to this point.

Everything being said, I still feel the same way about Adventure 2 as I did when I was a kid for the most part. Back then I thought this game had some really goofy s*** and seeing as an adult now is just like “Yeah, that sucks and is objectively bad, but it’s kinda funny”. I think this game taught me a lesson early on about a piece of advice you could apply to any media.

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. As long as you’re having fun, that’s what matters. And for as much stupid dumb bullshit Sonic Adventure 2 has, it’s still one of my favorite games of all time.

They wanna play with my Emerald??? They playin with the wrong guy!

i'm playing almost every decent looking demo on the switch eshop and this was one of the funnest one recently

prolly not something i'd buy full price though

ya it’s a fun game, but it seems like the type of game that’ll go on sale eventually

Mass Effect 1, kinda so far

you better finish it

I'm trying

Controls are f***ed in the first one. 2nd game is amazing. No comment on 3rd.

It’s….pretty rough lmao

The story is really interesting once it gets going, but it definitely does suffer in the gameplay department, especially with the mako

i played the fan translation already but it was so long ago i pretty much forgot everything lol

Just finished Jusant. Nice little game

just copped assetto corsa any recs for mods?

Astro Bot (2024)

Played on PlayStation 5

For about a decade now, Sony has been dead set on delivering these big-budgeted AAA cinematic single player games that are essentially playable movies. The Last of Us, Horizon, & God of War are the top 3 examples, and have been the face of PlayStation. However, there are so many other franchises that have been dormant or straight up dead for years. Many people, including myself would do anything to bring these franchises back in some capacity. Sly Cooper, Ridge Racer, Parappa the Rapper, etc. Sony’s catalog used to be so diverse and fans are desperate to see that diversity again. And that’s where Astro Bot comes in.

Astro’s Playroom was an excellent showcase of the power and capabilities of the PlayStation 5, a showcase that hasn’t been really matched since outside a handful of games. Astro Bot being a full realized game, they turn it up to 11. Level after level, there was so much stuff the PS5 and the dualsense could do, I genuinely forgot. At times Astro Bot feels like a Nintendo platformer, from the charm of the animations and aesthetic, to the top tier level design. It’s great.

But for how much it wears its inspiration on its sleeve, maybe it does it a little too much? It’s hard to not compare it to Nintendo as it really so much like it, I don’t know if it really sticks out THAT much outside of the PlayStation cameos. You strip those cameos away and you’re left with a Nintendo platformer on a Sony console. Jak & Daxter, Spyro and of course Crash Bandicoot were all uniquely their own thing, but Astro Bot isn’t.

The other thing is…while it’s not the game’s fault. It’s kinda of eerie to walk around this virtual graveyard that’s the hub world. So many franchises that are straight up gone or dead hang out there, and while it’s cool to see people like Joker from Persona 5 or the Apes from Ape Escape, seeing people like Kat from Gravity Rush hurts considering what happened to Japan Studio. Plus, there’s a lot of games referenced that aren’t even playable on PS4 or PS5. And with Sony’s stubbornness of not implementing backwards compatibility like Microsoft, it continues to hurt.

Overall, I REALLY like Astro Bot, and I think it’s grand love letter to PlayStation and gaming as a whole. A much better representation of the brand way more than PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale ever was. I would love to see more Astro games and also Sony taking this games success seriously, and do more diverse things like this, while looking back at their catalog of franchises that people care about so deeply

can get stressful at times, a lot of time management and stuff, but super fun haven’t been able to put it down

update on mass effect?

Finished and got all the trophies for ME1 last week (although I botched the relationship bonus trophy and have to play again), lol it was okay.

Been playing ME2 now it feels more like a modern RPG with better cutscenes & worlds although I prefer the way combat was handled in the ME1 oddly enough.

Currently at the part of recruiting Tali & Kasumi before this “suicide” mission while also trying to bang Miranda and Liara

wargroove

if anyone plays this game hit me up for a match (i have WG1 and WG2)

Boltgun

ME3 is the best playing one for sure, but ME2 is the best in terms of story and writing.

Kasumi's loyalty mission is one of my favs too make sure u do that.

good to hear and will do

Also Jack