apsham

Man - not to keep hammering on it, but I still am really enjoying Saints Row. I've hit the point where the enterprise building it taking place and just being able to select where they are and do their individual things to improve the venture is a great system. There's a bunch of small things too that I'm enjoying; All cars feel a little bit different, but regardless of what you're driving the drift and instant turning system means that you can pretty much make use of whatever you're in. The variety of stuff to do is fun as well - a lot of the stuff that improve ventures, you don't have to actively start a mission for. For instance, to improve the garage, the guy running it is going to want certain cars and if you come across them in the open world they'll highlight and you can grab them. Others are specific cars that he wants and they're marked on the map. You just jump in it and drive it back to him while getting chased. It's dynamic and I greatly enjoy it. Adding stuff to decorate the base is done by finding specific items and photographing them. Unlocking fast travel spots is also done like that - good use of the in-game camera. Cars and weapons all have a challenge assigned to them and if you do them, you can upgrade them with a special skill or ability - I really like that. Something about the game in general has just grabbed me more than any other open world game in a long while. Really neat!

Sharing this here because I know a lot of people like role based games - and I never thought I'd find one that works best with 2 people. So it's called Mantis Falls and it plays 2-3 people only - but it works best with 2. It works based off a simple premise - you live in a 1940s mafia controlled town and you saw something you shouldn't have, so you need to get out of town before sunrise. The only thing is, the person that you're with might be a fellow witness or they might be the assassin sent to kill you. Before you play - you shuffle up the 3 roll cards and then each of you takes 1 - so if you're playing with just two players, you are in a situation where you are either playing a co-operative game or a 1vs1 game - but the only way you would know for sure is if you have the Assassin role - otherwise, you might just be two Witness roles trying to play the game out properly together. Either way, the way you play the game remains basically the same - and sometimes bad things might be forced to happen based on what is in your hand. It's an ingenious system. I haven't played it with three - you add a new set of cards for that, and it's still good I just don't think it's AS good. The box also comes with 2 expansions you can add in, sleeves for the cards and a lot of really great looking and feeling components.

They were in WWE 13 to be pedantic.

Almost impossible at this rate, the companies were never meant to handle as much talent as they have - maybe raising their oneness a bit would help (an overness review in WWE and AEW might be needed anyways anyways) but back in the day, split scenarios for Raw/Smackdown were popular in part to solve this issue.

Yeah, honestly not a bad call especially if you've got other stuff to play. Unless they change some balancing - I for sure went into the custom options and made the lock on a bit stronger and gave ally vehicles a bit of a boost in health for those kinds of missions. The game allows you really granular levels of control over those settings which is neat. There's a good variety of stuff to do and it still feels like Saints Row to me - I for sure am in line with the people who feel like it's closer to 2 than 3+4 in terms of tone. Saints Row 2 was a the sweet spot for me - but by the time that 3+4 hit I was tired of the main cast of characters, etc. The character customization and feel of the game world is top notch as well - a much needed change of location and pace.

So on the subject of the new Saints Row - I seriously feel like I'm playing a different game from the reviewers. Granted that the Xbox and especially the Series X version seems to be the least bug riddled - but I'm having one hell of a time with not a lot bad to say about it.

It seems like the latest patch added in classic costumes for the Four Horsewomen and other characters from their NXT runs but that all seems to be locked to MyFaction - which is kind of lame. I know people like MyFaction but man oh man is it kind of predatory and I don't like how a good chunk of the challenges rely on multi-person matches when a) the AI is REALLY bad at helping you stop pin breaks and even stops your finishers when they're in the ring targeting the same person and b) it's fairly easy for you to lose a challenge due to one poorly timed moment.

Multiple developers have said that GamePass and even launching on it has covered their development costs fully. It’s been mostly tight lipped about actual details, but I’ve rarely heard anything negative about it if at all from their perspective. A report recently said that they paid 600K to have Cooking Simulator added recently.

Most of the reviews I've dived into have hit on things like "you can't play the arcade machines or go into the casinos and gamble" directly comparing it to GTA Online and like. I get it. It's kind of neat, but the whole big ass casino parts of GTA Online were put in there years after the game came out. There hasn't really been a game like this in the Saints Row series since Saints Row 2 - that was 2008. Reviews about what a game isn't instead of what it is... eh, I'm not a big fan of it. I get why the big divide happens, and for sure the bugs need to be fixed but the focus on reviews on "everything needs to push gaming forward" hurts genuinely fun games sometimes. Even things that get praise sometimes only end up with a good week or so in the spotlight before the next thing comes along.

The negative reviews I've read mostly say "it's Saints Row" and then the positive ones are essentially "it's Saints Row" and both mention bugs. If you like Saint's Row, I don't really see much in there that really pulls away from that - it sounds like a step away from the full on ridiculousness of 3+4 at the very least... and I'm kind of excited to be away from the old Saint's Row cast. I'll probably take a look down the line.

About 98% of battle royale games are so I just assumed that was a given.

There is already a wrestling battle royale, just not as a traditional wrestling video game - but it is more brawling/melee based.

I forgot they added that - I even got a subscription back to that recently.

I guess that's where stuff like Cities and Knights and the other expansions kind of helps - but it adds complexity which as I've found is the balance to introducing other people to the hobby.

Oh man, Catan is something I wish I got to play more! Most of my games are played solo or with my partner - and although I found a ruleset for Catan that works pretty well with two people, there are just other things I'd rather play that work better at those counts. I was trying to do at least one board game a day for a while. I did it successfully for a couple of months in a row and then it dropped down. I get to play a ton with my partner when she's out of school like now in the summer, but other than that it's mostly me playing solo or with my friend across the street.

Mint Works is still thought of as a pretty good portable game from what I remember - I never got around to playing it but it should be good for a bit! I did an inventory today. With full games and expansions (and some of the games have little expansion that really blow this out) I'm sitting at 250 games or so currently in my inventory and that's likely where it's going to hover.

Achievements are a possible guide to fun things to do in a game that I might not have thought of otherwise, I think they can be great for that reason. If something is unfair or too hard to go back and get I don't really bother. I don't really begrudge people who want to 100% things either. I think that getting everything out of a game - especially if you can't buy a ton of them is a good way to do things.

It's really fun too!

Oh yeah, she's been popping up nearly everywhere with the same kind of shit. She's a complete moron, but the complete morons have at least found out how to be viral.

Whelp. Stopped into the music store today on a whim, left with a bass. I had actually entirely forgotten what you said about shorter necked bass' @VerbalPuke - but when I spoke to the salesman, and told him that I had a history as a guitar player he said the same and guided me towards a couple of them. I ended up going with the higher scale one that he recommended as it just felt right. Ibanez SR300E - which isn't what I was looking at going in there, but I got sold on it pretty well. Nabbed it with a headphone amp so I can practice without bothering anyone - so now I have the daunting task of teaching myself. I already sat down with a friend's bass not too long ago and had a good time with it - played a bunch of Pixies songs and some other bass lines I always wanted to play and that's what sold me on the idea that I was indeed going to grab one. Just wasn't expecting to so soon.

Very, very, very big fan of this - especially the soundscape in headphones. The 1975 continues to evolve with every album that they do and I love it.

Look up Tower of Power's history - probably the best long running Funk band out there.

That was the $130 version of Battlefield 1 - where you could pay $190 if you wanted the luxury of ALSO owning the game.... 's base version. Add another 20 if you wanted the deluxe. All in all, I enjoyed my time with God of War - I was sick when it came out and I blazed through it in a couple of days but looking back on it I don't really have any connection to it and I have no real excitement for the sequel. At the very least, being so into it in such a short period of time led me to Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology so I consider it an overall win.

These videos having low views is a crime - glad to have found out about it.

I can and will watch this for Jeff Anderson.