The Backlog Check-in Vol. 245: 9/10/22: Freedom Planet 2 Edition

[argyle]

I await your thoughts on the Steam Deck. I've thought about getting one but the placement of the controls seems like it would be annoying.

Yeah, that was my thought when I first saw it, but every single hands-on impression I've seen has said it is very comfortable & everything feels great, so we'll see.

The 2 main draws to it for me are 1) Gamepass & 2) emulation. It will also probably become my home for indies.

[canedaddy]

The 2 main draws to it for me are 1) Gamepass & 2) emulation. It will also probably become my home for indies.

It would be super useful for me, especially after I gave away my Switch. It would give me a high-end portable along with a massive library of games that aren't on Playstation.

[isthatallyougot]

That quote of yours was the first thing that I thought of when I started playing the game. My first impressions of it weren’t very good, but I figured that there had to be something there since you liked it so much so I kept playing. And once I started to learn things more and understand it better, it started to appeal to me. I’m enjoying it now, so I don’t plan on quitting it. Of course there’s always a chance that I will eventually, but as of right now I don’t have an urge to.

Izzy,

The Good Life is totally absurd.

That is all.

Yeah, it's surely unique, but that's a big part of what I enjoyed about it. It's surely got some issues, but for me, they weren't enough to detract from my overall positive impression. If you like the off-beat, it's easy to be charmed by its qualities.

And for you guys talking about the Steam deck, it's surely a nice piece of tech, but for me, I rarely play on a portable - outside of some on the DS still. I like it in principle, but I don't think I'd use it too much. But it's easy to see the appeal, no doubt. I'm glad Valve made it. I'm curious to see further iterations too.

It would be super useful for me, especially after I gave away my Switch. It would give me a high-end portable along with a massive library of games that aren't on Playstation.

All that PC gaming goodness...

[canedaddy]

Ha. Can you stream it on your TV? Is that stupid and backward to even ask that?

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Stray

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 43 games

[Phaseknox]

Yeah, it's surely unique, but that's a big part of what I enjoyed about it. It's surely got some issues, but for me, they weren't enough to detract from my overall positive impression. If you like the off-beat, it's easy to be charmed by its qualities.

I’m enjoying it because it’s different and zany, but since it’s a life sim in a lot of ways I’m disappointed by some aspects missing from it that I expect from the genre. Eating, sleeping, showering, etc. aren’t actually shown, there’s just a black screen. A short cute cutscene of these activities would add some charm IMO. This might seem like a small addition, but it adds to the overall immersion. A bigger thing missing is the lack of any dating and romance. Dating and romance are a staple of life sim games, yet they’re not included in this game. At the very least some of the locals should be flirty and pervy with Naomi which would add some humor to everything more, because her reactions to things are some of the funniest moments in the game.

I’ve been primarily focusing on the main story since the side stuff isn’t that interesting. I do some of it, but a lot if it just seems like busywork that doesn’t really add to the experience. I’m having fun for the most part, but it could have been better overall.

[argyle]

Ha. Can you stream it on your TV? Is that stupid and backward to even ask that?

There's a dock coming, but in the meantime you can just wire it up manually to your tv and use it like a standard console.

[jfissel]

Anyone watch the State of Play today?



Yakuza: Ishin coming to the US in Feb 2023!

[argyle]

Anyone watch the State of Play today?

Yakuza: Ishin coming to the US in Feb 2023!

I forgot all about it (it started @ 5:00 my time, right when I got off work) - just skimmed through it. Looks like Ishin was definitely the highlight. A few other things that could be interesting, but more cinematics than gameplay shown so who knows.

Wasn't a ton to get excited about in the Nintendo Direct this morning either, outside of a Pikmin 4 announcement (but that's all it was, an announcement, nothing shown) and a title & date for the new Zelda - Tears of the Kingdom, May 21. Assuming that holds, I'm pretty jaded at this point & believe a game is coming out when they tell me it's gone gold.

[canedaddy]

Ishin, Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade all look good to me.