What is the last video game you played?

[Jay 45,296]

Yup!  The spots where the Wardenfly shows up in Greymoor and Deep Docks, I must have just killed him right away.  I honestly don't remember, but that has to be the case.

 

Luckily there's a spot in Bilewater where you can get captured by him, so I did that last night.  I loved the whole Slab sequence!  It reminded me of the bit in Metroid Zero Mission where you get all your gear taken away near the end of the game.  I found it a good challenge, not too hard, not easy.  It was fun seeing a corner of Mount Fay on the way out.  I didn't find the third Key anywhere, but I assume you find it in Act 2 and can go back to the Slab with it if you want.

 

~

 

Overall, I don't recommend doing what I did, and trudging through some of this stuff in Act 1 just to say you did.  I think stuff like Hunter's March, Sinner's Road, and Bilewater would be better to visit later in the game when you have more abilities, masks, needle upgrades, etc.  Though, it's probably worth venturing into Hunter's March just to get the Fractured Mask and peace back out, as that a like the best blue tool and super helpful for boss battles.

 

If I ever play the game again, I'll definitely streamline getting the hover, cling, and defeating Widow as soon as possible, because its just more fun exploring with those abilities, and so much stuff unlocks after defeating Widow.  Might as well accomplish multiple things wandering around instead of re-treading the whole map after each new abilities.  But I still had fun doing it the slow way this time.

[The Score Cleaner 9,607]

That part where

Spoiler

Hornet snaps that Wardenfly's neck, and then destroys those fools while her battle theme from HK plays is glorious, I saw someone make a comment, that said that the white boss battle text saying "Hornet" showed up for them lol

 

[Jay 45,296]

Holy shit I didn't even notice what music was playing, that's incredible! I did notice that the dude was wearing your cloak and holding your needle before you jump down lol

 

I think that was definitely the best side quest from either game. It's funny that that Grindle dude was in there too 

[The Score Cleaner 9,607]

To be clear, it's not a straight up reuse of the original track from HK, but a new arrangment of the theme stated in the cue.

[Jay 45,296]

Yeah, I've heard it on the OST album (Red Maiden)

 

Which come to think of it is probably why I didn't take note of it, it was something I've heard 30 times already. Wish I hadn't listened so deep into the OST album. Oh well.

[Jay 45,296]

Played a couple hours of Act 2 last night.

 

Spoiler

Was cool to have that conversation with Lace!  All I really did after was wander around.  Ended up in places called Choral Chambers, Grand Gate, and Underworks.  Found two more Spool Fragments so already have 4 full spool upgrades, pretty cool.  Still haven't found any more mask shards.  Found a new red tool (Delver's Drill).  Hit 100 enemies killed so went back to Nuu and had her try to kiss me   Not much else to report, still have unexplored areas of choral chambers to go into.  At one point I ended up in The Slab, so I guess if you never get captured you can still explore the whole area and get all its collectibles.  Probably don't get to do that cool gauntlet battle though I would assume.

 

[Koray Savas 2,259]

On 23/9/2025 at 5:45 AM, Quintus said:

I hadn't realised they'd ported one of the greatest games of the past decade to Switch.

 

 

I understand people will play wherever they can, but the very small screen for this one seems very counterintuitive to me. It's got to be docked only for what is a hell of an immersive experience!

 

 

I always think of you when I see this game. Been meaning to actually go back and finish it recently. For whatever reason I never finished when I started it the first time years ago. 

[Jim 6,182]

15 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I always think of you when I see this game. Been meaning to actually go back and finish it recently. For whatever reason I never finished when I started it the first time years ago. 

 

Hi Koray. I think I'd have to start it again from the beginning if I left a game with a story of such complexity halfway through. 

 

I'm about 90% of my way through Elden Ring at the moment though, which has been a majestic experience.

[Jay 45,296]

Having a great time in Act 2 of Silksong

 

Spoiler

Filled in most of the map in the places I've been in the Citadel (Choral Chambers, Underworkds, Grand Gate, and now Whiteward).  Got a whole new ability - the clawline!  Getting used to it.  What was so freaking cool about that was realizing that the hanging rings I'd seen throughout the game were not just decoration, but for the clawline.  Amazing!  Went into Far Fields to try to get the mask shard in the lava hut but died a bunch in the gauntlet room then found out I had to escape rising lava with 1 mask and ate it pretty good.  Abandoning that and seeing what's in the Deep Docks simple key area that I missed.  Oh, and I found the first boss in Act 2, the Cogworks Dancers, and they were SO COOL!  Didn't beat them, decided I was having more fun after 4-5 attempts, but I did get to phase 2 of their fight every time. REALLY cool fight!

 

[Jay 45,296]

Wow in Act 2 you can do a ton of stuff without having to do any bosses.

 

Spoiler

In addition to the clawline I also go the sharp dart, and found out how to get the double jump (very difficult, gave up for now).  Most recent session I found the sands of karak!  Also found a cool boss deep down in deep docks in the simple key area, that you need the clawline to open up.  The bosses are kinda hard so I left for now but will come back

 

[Koray Savas 2,259]

On 30/9/2025 at 10:37 AM, Quintus said:

Hi Koray. I think I'd have to start it again from the beginning if I left a game with a story of such complexity halfway through. 

 

I'm about 90% of my way through Elden Ring at the moment though, which has been a majestic experience.

Oh for sure, I wouldn’t even remember the controls 😂

 

Just started Ghost Of Yotei last night. 

[Jay 45,296]

So @Little Ghost, how goes your progress into Silksong?

 

I LOVED Act 2, felt like it was better than Act 1.  I quite enjoyed that for a long long while, it was very easy to keep exploring and getting more and more upgrades and tools without fighting any bosses.  In Act 1 it felt like I constantly had to stop and spend an hour learning a boss before I could do anything else, while in Act 2 before I defeated my first boss I had a TON of stuff: Clawline, Sharp Dart, Faydown Cloak, 3 mask upgrades, every spool fragment and craftmetal, the blue and  yellow verticrest, just about every tool, I don't even know what else, just tons of stuff!

 

When I finally decided to go try to Cogwork Dancers again, I defeated them so easily (probably 2nd or third try), I then started going around and thwacking all the bosses I hadn't done (and finding more), and got to the point where I decided to just do everything possible in Act 2 before going to face the final boss.  I ended up with 4 mask upgrades, Sylphsong, most Bellhome upgrades, just about every tool, etc etc.  I believe I was at 93% completion when I decided to go against the final boss and I beat her on my probably 3rd time and was quite satisfied to get the end credits rolls.  I love that the bad ending in this game is extremely similar to the bad ending of Hollow Knight, where there The Knight becomes the new container of The Radiance's infection, and here Hornet becomes the new silk master.

 

Immediately after, I literally just went back into my save file and instead of going to face the boss, went and talked to The Caretaker in Songglave and got the Silk and Soul wish.  I already had the Snare Setter from going back into Weavenest Alta with the Faydown Cloak, and already had the Seeker's Soul from having defeated Groal, so all I had to do was go talk to the lady in the first chapel and the hermit in the bells, go back to Grandmother Silk and easily defeat her again, and this time just press X instead of A after I won.  I actually missed the prompt the first time I did it and thought maybe I was supposed to Bind for a while then Needolin her, so I just ended up with the bad ending all over again, so had to go back in and defeat her AGAIN and this time I saw the prompt and held X right away, lol.  It was cool that the "good" ending sort of mirrored HK's in a way, in the sense that you destoy the evil instead of just containing it, but then it was a cool spin that the result is that you actually unleash The Abyss on Pharloom and make things WORSE than before! I love that the credits still roll anyway and then your save file has the black threads on it and you have to smash your way back into the game to get another cutscene and reveal that there's an Act 3. Would have been an even cooler revealed if it wasn't already all over the internet that the game has 3 acts, oh well.

 

My time for the bad ending was 82 something hours and then it only took me 30 minutes to get the good ending after that.  I'll share my thoughts on Act 3 so far later!

 

Oh, and I'm already looking forward to starting a new save file and this time not getting the Twisted Bud -> Cursed Crest until after defeating Lace in the Cradle, so that I can defeat Grand Mother Silk while Cursed and see that ending.  I like that you don't have to do anything while Cursed except the final boss, it'd be annoying to have to play a ton of the game Cursed to get that ending because the short period I was cursed was so nerve-wracking!

[The Score Cleaner 9,607]

I haven't played in a while, I got distracted by Star Wars Outlaws, work, and 3D modelling!

[Jay 45,296]

Nice.  I'm at 96% completion now (got the thing in the game that shows it to you) and know everything I need to do to get 100% and finish.  I think it will take me a while to get there though, lots of bosses to fight...

 

And the carnival games are SUPER hard!

[The Score Cleaner 9,607]

Part of it, is I still have to properly beat Widow (I beat it for my Dad previously)

[Jay 45,296]

Widow is fun once you get to know all the moves and then Phantom is even more fun!

[Jim 6,182]

Finished Elden Ring a couple of weeks ago, it's deserving of its rep. The reason I know it's so good is because it is open world and I played it for 250 hours. Normally this is my worst gaming nightmare, but once you get into Elden Ring and really get on its level, it consumes you. I was happy that it was taking me so long. That shit never happens, not anymore. I'm too old and played out to be inhibiting a single game's world for that amount of time, to get so invested in its systems. But Elden Ring makes you feel like a god.

[Jay 45,296]

Yeah that's what I love about metroidvanias, that feeling you get near the end of the game when you're super powered and can tear through areas that caused you fits in the early game

[The Score Cleaner 9,607]

On 21/10/2025 at 3:04 PM, Little Ghost said:

Part of it, is I still have to properly beat Widow (I beat it for my Dad previously)

So I did that, and found the courier.

[Jay 45,296]

Fun!

 

I'm at 97% completion now, just need the beat the damn flea games for the last pale oil, beat the damn race competition for hte last mask shard, then do the final main story things.  Basically at a spot where I'm done exploring the world and just have to git gud at the late game competitions and bosses. Not as fun.  But should be rewarding when I do it all!

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

After some delays, I'm finally playing Control on PC. I did start it on PS5 a while back, but I got sidetracked with other stuff.

The first thing that stands out to me in Control is it feels almost like a third-person version of Half-Life with that similar sterile-industrial architecture, but this time less science-fictiony, and more surrealist horror. Especially with those Hiss voices chanting and muttering a load of unintelligible meandering.

But what's really frustrating is how damn hard this game is. The combat is friggin brutal, where enemies take about five or six hits until they're beaten, but poor Jesse only needs to take two hits before she's dead. Unfair! So to ameliorate that, Remedy introduced an "invincibility" mode within its main menu options - an admission from the developers that their game was too damn hard if there ever was one.

 

I'll replay Alan Wake II on PC as soon as I'm done with this. I just finished playing the first game and Alan Wake's American Nightmare. Those were fun, and the latter had some real babes in it, including that sexy astronomer sheila with the pommie accent. Shame we never got to see her again.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

This is deep shit, mannn

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the goldmine of this other channel:

 

https://youtube.com/@gaminguniversityuog?si=8n2WsJ0ym8LJJouI

 

[Jim 6,182]

They could make a cool movie out of Control, kind of like the Cabin in the Woods style when it all kicks off.

 

I'm playing Arc Raiders. It's ridiculously addictive and I warn people off if they don't want it to cancel their engagement with anything else that is currently out (it took me off Battlefield 6 which I had been absolutely loving).

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

4 minutes ago, Quintus said:

They could make a cool movie out of Control, kind of like the Cabin in the Woods style when it all kicks off.

 

Courtney Hope would have to do it. Let her take a break from The Young and the Restless for a while.

[Jim 6,182]

The saddo sexist brigade on the mouth breather YouTube channels were mean about Courtney.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

They just hate daytime soaps.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

Been trying out The Last of Us Part II on PC these last few days. It doesn't go quite as reliably as it does on PlayStation, but after torching some settings, it's doing alright. Cleanses the bad taste of that awful show adaptation nice and fast.

[The Score Cleaner 9,607]

@Jay have you found Weavenest Alta yet?

[Jim 6,182]

On 23/11/2025 at 5:34 AM, FBC Director said:

Been trying out The Last of Us Part II on PC these last few days. It doesn't go quite as reliably as it does on PlayStation, but after torching some settings, it's doing alright. Cleanses the bad taste of that awful show adaptation nice and fast.

 

Abby is a brilliant character, for me one of the most memorable in recent games. But the game overall is bloated and loses focus in the overlong middle section. 

[Jay 45,296]

1 hour ago, The Score Cleaner said:

@Jay have you found Weavenest Alta yet?

 

I think I posted above that I'm at 97% completion. The only things I haven't done are final nail upgrade, final mask upgrade, and the things you do to beat Act 3 and get the good ending (of which I've done 2/3)

 

So yeah, I've been everywhere and found everything

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

1 hour ago, Quintus said:

 

Abby is a brilliant character, for me one of the most memorable in recent games. But the game overall is bloated and loses focus in the overlong middle section. 

 

It is long but I got my money's worth from it. The more I play it, the more I prefer Abby to those two psychopaths from the first game.

[Jim 6,182]

@FBC Director

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/606160/ROUTINE/

 

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

12 hours ago, Quintus said:

@FBC Director

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/606160/ROUTINE/

 

 

Whooaa I just added that to my cart alongside Song of Horror.

[Jim 6,182]

@FBC Director

 

Control 2 is rumoured to be getting a trailer this weekend.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

Can't wait to work at the Oldest House again.

[Jim 6,182]

@FBC Director

I regret to inform you that in the latest Tomb Raider reboot they have moved away from your preferred waifu design and mostly reverted back to the original look.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

I saw her. She looks pretty.

 

(Had to look up what "waifu" meant)

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

I've been hearing talk around X that the new TR will be 180gb. I mean come on, talk about bloat.

 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a nice, lean 40gb and still looks like a million bucks.

[Jim 6,182]

Doubt. I don't know why anyone would be privy to that snippet of specific information already when the game hasn't even been unveiled yet.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

Rumour mill stuff. Wouldn't shock me though. These game sizes are already out of control.

[Jim 6,182]

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

Last night I played about an hour of Quantum Break, which has been the only gaping hole in the modern Remedyverse that I hadn't played yet. Not a bad one but the combat is a little on the Uncharted side. The time freezing abilities really spoke to my own boyhood fantasies of freezing time and committing back robbery while nobody can see me.

 

Today, I played through some of the Pragmata demo. Nice graphics and some learning curve in the gameplay that can really bite when you're in a boss battle. The controls get really fiddly when you have to prompt Diana to hack the robots so you can kill them. Maybe Capcom will simplify it a little in the final game, I dunno. See how it goes.

[ThePenitentMan1 1,498]

KLONOA!

 

 

Like other video games I'm a massive fan of, like Kingdom Hearts and OneShot (the protagonists of both bearing striking similarities to Klonoa), I was introduced to this franchise by my brother.

 

It's a 2.5D side-scroller, and I've gotta say it takes more advantage of the concept than any other one I've played.  It's not just going left-right with automatic turning, there are objects in the foreground and background that you can interact with as well...  some of which are actually later parts of the level!

 

I absolutely love story-driven games, and this one's no exception.  I don't need my game stories to be particularly complex (and they often start to lose me when they do get that complex) but charm and emotional depth can take you a long way even with a simple plot, and these games have got both in spades.  (I do recommend going into the games blind)

 

The music's great too!  At the very start of the first game, the music is pretty bright and cheerful, which I'm sure would grate on many here, but I don't mind it so much.  Especially because 1: the game and its music are very capable of getting quite dramatic, and 2: even the early music, in spite of its bright cheerfulness, is actually still pretty varied.

 

Even the title screen music (Inquisitive Waltz) develops in interesting ways before looping back to its bright, cheerful opening:

 

Jugpot Falls is quite possibly the most aquatic stage music I've ever heard in a video game (I could feel the aquatic-ness before we even got to see any water!):

 

And an example of the other, darker end of the spectrum, we have Dawn Over Dawn/Dark Into Dark, the stage music for one of the last few stages of the game, which periodically switches from standard gameplay during the parts where the sun's still out, to invincible enemies and revealed platforms during the parts where the sun goes down; this change is reflected in the music as well, with the high-toned instruments dropping out for the dark sections and low strings and timpani dominating instead:

 

 

 

So yeah, great game overall, gets a recommendation from me!

[Jim 6,182]

 

God I want another Arkham game. But who would they get for Batman now 😢

[Jim 6,182]

The usual quality from GN:

 

 

 

It's gonna be messy but bring it on, I can't wait.

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

They better hurry up, because people out there want to build their own PCs.

[Jim 6,182]

I've started looking at cheap GPUs I don't even need, just out of price rise fear in the event of developing an unlikely fault with my existing card. 

[Jill Sandwich 10,800]

The 5070 Ti is cheaper now than when I bought it in September.

[Jim 6,182]

They're saying that once the stock refresh comes in they're going to shoot up again. Could be a ploy, hard to say.