Been alternating between replaying Elden Ring on my PC and the original Ratchet and Clank on my new (to me) PS2. Making good progress in both.

Currently working through the last level in R&C and I forgot how brutally unforgiving that game is with the limited health and scarce checkpoints.

I'm almost through the academy in ER. Fixing to fight whatshername with the giant baby and the kamehameha attack. Already beat that god-damn OP knight guarding the entrance to her boss room.

Last week I went deep into Next Fest and came up with a bunch of demos, to varying success. Tried Synergy (promising), Sword of Convallaria (great, but deeply concerned about the mobile/gacha systems), Guild Saga: Vanished Worlds (not great, borrows shamelessly from Divinity: Original Sin 2), and Balatro (surprisingly interesting).

For now, I'm kind of bouncing around, not being able to settle on anything. Might go back to Atelier Ayesha tonight.

Replaying Ghost of Tsushima. I beat it on PS4 back when it came out and started a New Game Plus save, but stopped playing after that so never played the expansion. I got the Director's Cut on PS5 and have currently finished Act 1 and the expansion and am working on Act 2.

Archmage Rises on Steam. It's in Early Access so there are some parts that are rough especially since it has generations history and quests (go see SoAndSo in NewTown. How do I find NewTown? Ask SoAndSo, he knows the area. 🤪). But it's fun and not as difficult as I was first afraid it was going to be.

The UI is decent but doesnt feel quite there yet: close button for shopping doesn't feel like it's on the correct place, font size for time of day is a bit to small for my 15 inch laptop screen at 1080p (not sure if changing resolution would help but non-native resolution on laptop never looks good IMHO).

I'm on my first character playthrough. It's a perma death open world RPG that has a story to it. The story so far (I'm a few game months in) seems to wait for you but certain missions have time limits once you accept them.

The economy and the cost of things...seem weird. Not bad, but not like other games.. And I'm fine with that. I like the ability to haggle with merchants when buying/selling(?) certain items.

Developing relationships give you little bonuses (according to the interface).

When attempting skill checks you get a d20 from that uses your bonuses. A 1 seems to always fail even when you get enough to pass by your bonus. I'd rather see the Pathfinder 2e system than the D&D d20 system when it comes to rolls so that there isn't a guaranteed 5% chance to fail even an easy check but that's not game breaking.

I definitely need to start away from gambling. I suck at it.

Content warning:

As an open life simulator, the finished game allows the player and NPCs to participate in a vast range of human experiences both bad and good, including: slavery, murder, cannibalism, sexual activity (non-graphic), pregnancy, and religious worship.

Elden Ring and Dark Souls 1. And I intend to play them forever. Wish bb was on PC :(

Playing "Thief: The Black Parade"

It's a fan mod released this year, for a game that was released in 1998. It was a labor of love that took 7 years to complete and is the most stunning mod I have ever seen for any game period.

They push the engine to its limits, the scale, creativity, level design and story are near perfection. The story and playtime are so good it feels like an official game. You forget it's not canon.

I can't believe this came along, it was truly refreshing. It won the 2023 ModDB mod of the year.

Mandalore did a great review, and mini tutorial about how to launch a 26 year old game on modern systems.

Persona 3 Reload. Only played a bit of the original but I'm loving this remake. The QoL updates make it feel more fun and less of a slog. And I love the newer graphic style.

Did a bit of helldivers 2 with friends. Good fun but between work and kids I don't have a lot of multi-player game time anymore.

I'm playing persona 3 reload and like a dragon gaiden just now. Both really good games!

Just finished streets of rage 4 . still playing through super Mario wonder l, and also GTA 4 dlcs.

Resident Evil 4 Remake. Just recently became a fan of the series

I can't play any game