Everything I played this past week over my vacation…let’s see…
I started and finished Metroid Dread. Aside from a few minor nitpicks it was very fun and likely my new favorite 2D Metroid(granted the only other one I’ve finished being Super). As hard as it was and how it feels some stuff is legitimately unfair without memorizing things after a few deaths, it is nice to have something that isn’t piss easy and it is really satisfying. Emmi we’re a nice change of pace for the most part, having to think and be engaged on the fly instead of your standard Metroid fair. I just wish the zones themselves didn’t all look the same, could have used more unique backgrounds so each area would feel more distinct.
Started Far Cry 6. New Dawn had been fun but kinda small and not a gigantic change. This kind of feels like some weird mix of more of the same but also has some distinct changes that I think make it more immersive. I’m only just past what is essentially the tutorial island and dang it feels huge, kinda excited to explore the more urban areas but I’m not sure when I’ll get back to it yet.
EDF3 released on the Switch. For those that don’t know, that was released back on the 360 in the US as Earth Defense Force 2017. Don’t know why they don’t release the English version on here, really wishing they would, but even so it’s a bit nostalgic to play through again after all the others. There’s just something about going back to basics that’s real fun. They did add the Wingdiver class to it, though, for anyone interested in anything new, though I think that might have been in the Vita version as well.
Finally finished up Deadly Premonition 2 again, just in time for The Good Life to come out. While I’m glad it was made and overall I do like it, playing it again just reaffirmed that the first game was all around better even with its own faults. Too short, some quests were good but not enough side characters nor any good rewards and I feel some just bugged out on me and wouldn’t work properly, not enough NPC interactions in general, skateboard tricks are kinda useless, same for the survival mechanics and shrine upgrades. I feel they tried to fix the other world segments by having fewer, but they are all the same so it makes them feel repetitive and they still go on for way too long. Enemy designs are more interesting but still jank as hell tbh. Only thing I feel is as good is the story and characters, and with it being shorter it unfortunately feels rushed and a bit too simplistic.
Starting The Good Life, it almost kinda feels Swery and his team had more passion for this project instead. For all the similar elements it has and still being pretty rough around the edges, I feel it’s a lot more deliberate in a similar sense to Shenmue where you are meant to take your time with it and have a sort of naturalistic experience with it, asked to do stuff you wouldn’t quite normally be told to do in many other games. Sure, individual pieces are taken from here or there, but they all mix together for a bit of a fresh experience.
To be fair though, I think I already had 65% of the items when I first beat the final boss, so collecting the rest only took about an hour (I’m really glad that completing the game links all of the teleporters together as this saved a bunch of time!).
