And suddenly, without warning, Eiyuden Chronicle Rising (PS5) ends. That was shorter than anticipated, but considering the questing was not doing anything new near the end I'm kind of relieved. The final plot twist (if you can call it that) doesn’t do much, but it does finally drop some potential political intrigue. It's very blatant almost to the point of fan service, but oh boy, did I get excited for a moment.

I’m now also realising that all those names I gave to stuff are going to pop up in the next game, aren’t they? Which is of course a Suikoden staple, but in this case it'll instantly cause 'member berry' moments in the follow-up. Hoping they might do a bit more with it though.

The ending itself was a let down with little too no build-up and a Spartan presentation that does little to provide a satisfying conclusion. The one thing it does do is explain what CJ’s name stands for, but then they introduce a teaser character with an even worse name than CJ, making me a bit anxious for the follow-up. This series might need an editor.

Due to the proper reveal of Return to Monkey Island, the Steam-bundle of the previous games is currently on sale. Which resulted in me playing through The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition (SD) once more.

First of all, it is great to come back to. I forgot a lot of puzzle solutions, yet they instantly slot back into my mind when certain sentences or situations are presented. That said I do think I prefer the pixel-art style of the original even though this special edition does a better job of showing you what you are supposed to see, making contextual clues work better. Slightly annoying that your inventory is now hidden though.

The real star is of course the script and its humour. It still holds up quite well. Other highlights include encountering the map overview. Mêlée Island™ still has this uncanny festive dark mood with its blacks and purples accentuated by pockets of light (never mind an actual circus tent). It's a great feeling to return to and I think I'll be enjoying this new run just fine. But why on earth the devs thought that new hair-do on Guybrush was a good idea is beyond me…

A smooth shooting experience. That's DOOM (PS5). It's so sleek and lean that it’s impossible to fault. You could say it is "merely" excellent.

Ran through the first episode just for the heck of and yes, it is a joy. Though every time I pull the trigger on the shotgun I mentally add a “bingo!” these days. Thanks, Tim Rogers.

Finding a new town on floor 27 in Dungeon Encounters (PS5) was a new breakthrough moment and I’ve been happily grinding deeper again.

The game has become a bit of a side dish to my usual game sessions. Something to wind down by after spending some more time on grander stuff. Not to say Dungeon Encounters is boring, but it remains a basic, highly entertaining itch scratcher. Likewise, it's great to use as a base level to compare other titles against.

I finally set aside some time for the Live-A-Live Demo Version (NSW) and boy, it did not disappoint. This is a classic Square (Enix) JRPG through and through.

Having never touched the original 16-bit game, I expected a more bitter SaGa taste to it. What I got instead, was something that felt like a precursor to Chrono Trigger's combat system. There's a grid battlefield, positioning matters, and attacks can and will vary in range and effect. All that topped with a chunky ATB implementation that also allows each unit of movement on the grid to function as another tick on the system's clock.

In terms of localization it's a hell of a lot better with Chinese/Japanese pronunciation of names than other games. Though the occasional voiced accent can feel slightly over-the-top. Still, its script manages to feel very comprehensive for a 16-bit remake, with the game only showing its dated origins when even an extended script can't fix the mechanical shortcuts of yesteryear.

The game also features interesting differences between the various eras and characters. Something that adds a welcome variation in style and difficulty to the mix. Yeah, I'm pretty much won over by this demo and I'll happily sink my teeth into the full version.

Playing Live-A-Live also reminded me that I abandoned Gato Roboto (NSW). It was just sitting there mocking me from the last tile in the main menu. I quickly gave it another spin and promptly completed it!

It is a short (around 3 hours) and fun little metroidvania and deploys a 1-bit pixel-art style to boot. Even though that can get rather straining on the eyes. The multiple unlockable colour palettes don't do a damned thing here, other than to remind you that the Virtual Boy was indeed a terrible idea.

Another thing that did stick out a bit, is that in its shortness the game doesn't spend any time in teaching you how to use certain skills. Often you just get dumped into the situation and need to learn as you go. Which is OK if you're into the genre, but it can lead to some crazy difficulty spikes as a newcomer.

Here's an unexpected pleasure: Kohta Takahashi of Ridge Racer composer fame, has basically created a "new Ridge Racer soundtrack" for a non-existent new instalment called Reiwa Type 4. Cheeky.

The above Youtube vid is a sampler of the entire album which you can buy and download on his Bandcamp-page. That's going straight into the Ridge-playlist.

Now if only Bandai Namco would join in on the fun…

It's been a while since I plunged into the depths of Knytt Underground. Last time I've played it was on my PlayStation Vita, earplugs and all, wallowing in its warm darkness.

This is still an effortless 2D metroidvania providing a soothing experience. There's not much frustration here with instant respawns when something fails and consistent physics making the environment readily readable. And its soundtrack is still divine.

Replaying it on a Steam Deck has proven to be an excellent choice, and if you've never experienced this game, I urge you to give it a go. Word of warning, the first two "chapters" are both essentially tutorials, allowing you to switch between both characters in chapter 3.

While Cyberpunk 2077 had some trouble in making its world feel sufficiently cyberpunk-ish, Cloudpunk just dives head-first into the Blade Runner aesthetic. All while rendering this world in a slightly higher cubic resolution than Minecraft.

The game is essentially a string of fetch quests feeding you exposition while travelling. While basic, the game is rather upfront about it and as such doesn't frustrate with aspects being or not being there. I even experienced a bit of a wow moment as the game allows you to jump out of your car and venture on foot in either third and first person views. It's crude, but somehow its atmosphere is just perfect.

Also fun is that I picked this up after its pseudo-sequel Nivalis was announced, which is actually the city Cloudpunk takes place in. Can't wait for that wow moment to evolve into a light management sim.

I'm not quite willing to give up on Cyberpunk 2077, hoping that it'll come into its own eventually. And guess what? It kind of does. With the introductions out of the way, the main story quests all highlight some core aspects of the genre and slowly flesh out some characters. It's not mind-blowing, but at the very least it can stand on its own two feet now.

A bit of a bummer is that cyberspace is rendered in the same way as the Braindance edit scene, but instead of using a pixelated cube filter, it's using a pixelated dot filter. This made the cyberspace experience a lot less impressive and I suspect some players might not even have noticed the difference.

On the weird side, bumping into a full-blown, none-to-subtle Portal reference of all things was a bit of a head-scratcher. It's fun, sure, but ancient¹ by now and it feels quite out of place. Unless all the Delamain cars are supposed to be references to famous fictional AIs, in which case, I've just been blissfully ignorant so far.

Though I’m not enjoying the game fully, I’ve gotten to the stage that I’m… tolerating it? Strange, but I'm glad to be past the point of forcing myself to keep playing.

Eiyuden Chronicle Rising is still mindless questing and grinding.

Whereas Cyberpunk 2077 has some highs and lows, Rising just meanders along. I would pay more attention to the NPCs talking, but everything is presented so minimally, it’s hard to get excited by it when you could be bashing monsters instead. Because, yes the combat still has a nice rhythm to it, especially when you manage some link attacks.

Still, there’s little here to break up the monotony, and while that is similar to how Suikoden did things (in that game, the personal stakes of all characters involved made mundane events into potential minefields), Rising just remains simplistic, and I do hope its upcoming big brother will stick closer to the Suikoden template.

¹ Yeah, well that remark didn't last long thanks to a Nintendo Direct…

A simple rescue takes a lethal turn. Being ambushed by some wolf-men (don’t call ‘em werewolves) is definitely a bit more than we bargained for.

I like Streets of Rage 4, I really do, but the game is a bit dogged down by its technicalities. The aggressive specials-cost-rally-HP system isn't too welcoming to casual players, for example.

Enter Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. This game seems tailor-made for those casual players, while having some fun twists for veterans as well. The amount of players allowed (up to 6 online) is real good, but with a dodge button and a low-key allowance for button mashing, this is really fun to pick up and play. Once the details sink in, you can actually start to pay proper attention and get more out of it. Even though it isn't as technical as Streets of Rage 4.

The presentation more than makes up for it though. The bold colours and animations are great with some excellent callbacks and a reverence for the cartoon series that makes it a labour of love. Special mention goes to Tee Lopes' soundtrack. Sure it has some heavy hitting names on it, but the most important part to me is that it features those distinctive 16-bit Konami horns and orchestra hits. Some of the levels even have a short Gradius-style front-end attached. So yeah, definitely pick of the week.

Another week, another Playdate batch, but this time around both games caught my eye. Zipper sounds like a Konami arcade game from the 80s, but instead it's a strategic puzzle game involving ninja.

Move your ninja carefully and be sure to zip towards enemies and strike them down in one turn. However, position yourself into their movement reach and you get equally sliced and diced.

Great fun and I can see this one jumping to other platforms as well!

Hyper Meteor is the kind of game that innocently asks "what if Asteroids, but better?" Instead of shooting asteroids in this game, you just crash into their weak spots to break them up. The simplification of merging the shooting into the movement is facepalm-ingly good and the crank controls are just icing on the cake.

Definitely one of my favourite Playdate games.

Cyberpunk 2077 marches on and finally dropped its title card. Which was really unexpected considering how much of the game was already open to the player.

With that drop, the game shows its entire hand and the collectible quests start to pop up, while doing as much as breathing in a new zone will instantly cause its current crime boss to contact you. It feels like the game is desperate to throw content at you and it's a bit of a shame that all it manages to do is emphasize the classic open world game rhythm.

The main take-away though is a point that has been made right at the start already by various outlets: Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand is just awkward. When Silverhand shows some form of kind-heartedness it's functional, but as soon as the character needs to exert himself it all falls apart. Reeves just seems incapable of displaying the amount of anger needed in this. He's a great actor and person, but I suspect his voice actor chops are still a bit minimal in that respect.

Tangentially connected to this is the annoyance of Silverhand being or not being present whenever he starts to talk. It's perfect in showing how irritating it is to have another person stuck in your head, but if the most immersive part so far is also the most annoying, it kind of makes you wonder what else the game is planning…

LEGO’s Optimus Prime set is one chunky bot! Was awesome to build some of the parts only to realize how they would fit in and convert in the complete build.

Probably the closest I can come to actually making a Transfomers toy myself.

I bumped into the braindance sequence of Cyberpunk 2077 and this is without a doubt the most cyberpunk-ish aspect of the game yet. It's a cool little reference to Blade Runner while also reinforcing its own setting. Yet, it's locked to very specific lore-circumstances, meaning it's function is that of a glorified FMV scene. I mean, it's clear the focus groups had a difficult time with it, as the game points you towards the solution in none to subtle ways, but you kind of want to have this sprinkled throughout the entire game at any moment without the guidance.

It does reinforce the idea that this won't do much on its own outside of the main story. Still, excellent sequence.

• Cyberpunk 2077 (PlayStation Store)

Here's a stupidly fun game: Yakiniku Simulation let's you grill virtual meat on a virtual yakiniku-grill and score points on timing the perfect nom-moment. Stupid as can be, yet it seems to have garnered some form of attention over in Japan.

The game has received a new update to include different cuts of meat, so who knows. This might become the next Vampire Survivors.

• Yakiniku Simulation (Steam)

Speaking of, Vampire Survivors keeps going from strength to strength with its latest update. It's the perfect more-ish game to play on Steam Deck while whittling the time away, and I have to admit, this game is basically how I survived "watching" Summer Games Fest.

But yes, every update keeps introducing weirder and more obscure stuff, daring you to delve ever deeper into the dodge'em up. I lastly attempted the Moonglow level and boy did that take a turn...

• Vampire Survivors (Steam)

Over in Dungeon Encounters I'm currently levelling up my B-Team as the main party is struggling a bit on Floor 30+. I'm anticipating some KOs before long, so I'd better have some back-up heroes at the ready.

• Dungeon Encounters (PlayStation Store)

I've been replaying killer7 on Steam Deck and surprisingly it's so much better than I remembered. The "puzzle challenges" are still rather obscure than interesting, but the shooting has a nice rhythm to it and the design and style of the game is just incredible on higher-than-Gamecube resolutions.

Aged like a fine wine, this one has.

• killer7 (Steam)