Video Game Round-Up! - October/November 2020

Welcome to this month's Video Game Round-Up!

I'm a few days late, but it's no one's fault but my own: I simply forgot. I had written about half of it a week ago, and then I started writing fiction again, and I just forgot about this. Whoops.

I played 19 different games this past month, again thanks to streaming on a fairly regular basis. I want to finish my games, but I am also enjoying starting a bunch of new ones just to see what they're like, so Wednesday nights have become something I look forward to every week as that's my Adan Plays Through His Backlog night. I know I'm going to play at least one new game during the week, and it's going to be Wednesday night :)

In sadder news, I still don't have a PS5 :(

But enough about that, let's get to the games!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) - I didn't get a Scorpion :(

It left at the end of October and now I have to wait for it to come back in May, which is honestly fine since I won't be able to complete my Bug Critterpedia until June anyway because that's the only month the Firefly shows up.

I immediately caught the Tarantula, though :P

Halloween was awesome on the island. Jack showed up and we gave all our neighbors candies (and some of them gave candies to us). Both the girl and I pre-picked eight costumes to wear and put the in our wands so we could change at will, and it was super fun. Giving Jack candies and lollipops that the villagers sometimes gave us eventually netter us Jack's robe and pumpkin head, which was awesome. We also got a bunch of new Halloween-themed items and recipes.

After Halloween, mushrooms started sprouting on our island! I assume there will be some new recipes coming soon for the different kinds of mushrooms, and I for one can't wait for the Turkey Day and Toy Day stuff :D

Death Stranding (PS4) - Well, I finished the game, and that ending was ridiculous as hell. I don't really have anything new to add to the discussion about this game except that, beyond the two credits sequences (why, Kojima?!), I enjoyed the story even as I recognize how ludicrous it all was.

Gameplay-wise, it was fine (though Higgs' boss battle was some video game nonsense, and the flying whale was... odd, to say the least). I wasn't a big fan of having to schlep all the way back to the beginning of the game for even more nonsense video game reasons, but at least I was able to circumvent most of the truly annoying stuff. But, just like in his previous Metal Gear Solid games, there are some parts you just can't stealth through, and I don't mean the boss battles (which are a different matter that can be litigated at another time). While going back to the east coast, timefall would occur in various places, and I tried to avoid the BTs, as usual, but the game would force me into a mini-boss battle anyway, and I had to fight/avoid the large inky cephalopod-things or tiger-things, and that was friggin' annoying. That forced schlep across the US with its forced encounters was probably the worst part of the game, gameplay-wise (the sitting on the beach and waiting for more cutscenes in between the first credits roll was the worst part of the game, narrative-wise).

But I'm done now, and I never have to play the game again :D

But seriously, I mostly liked the game. The motion capture was excellent, and I liked all the time travel Mads sequences in the various battlefields (even if those were sections where you couldn't really stealth either), but this is definitely not my favorite Kojima game. I like at least four of the Metal Gear Solid games more than this :P

Borderlands 2 (PS4) - The 14th episode of Adan Plays Through His Backlog featured this weird and wacky looter-shooter. There are tons and tons of guns to grab with various attributes and special abilities, and Claptrap is damn annoying. I only played about two hours of this, but I have a friend in the US who has played through the whole thing three times: twice on his own, and once with his wife.

It's pretty fun overall. The shooting is nice and responsive, and there is a nice variety of enemy types, even in the opening icy area. The writing is pretty funny and I laughed out loud a few times (I even laughed at some of Claptrap's lines unironically). I beat the first boss, a bomb-throwing duo named Boom and Bewm, and did a couple of side missions.

I will eventually get back to this, but probably not for a while.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - New fighters dropped for SSBU, and they're Steve and Alex from Minecraft (PC)! ...Yay?

I'm not a fan of Minecraft, but I understand why people like it. It's a huge sandbox where people can build literally whatever they want, but there's no narrative, and I'm all about the narrative. Even fighting games have some narrative to hang their hats on. Minecraft is pure gameplay. Again, that is not a bad thing, and I honestly envy those who enjoy the game, because I cannot.

I got all the Minecraft spirits, and the three Trials of Mana (PS4) spirits (finally), but missed the three Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch) spirits, so I am still three down :/

But let's find out more about the new fighters!

Steve and Alex: These are the names given to the two default skins when one starts a new game of Minecraft. Steve is male and Alex is female, but both play exactly the same. There are also Zombie and Enderman skins for the SSBU fighters (enemies in the original Minecraft), but even though they look very different (Enderman even has different proportions), they still play mostly the same.

Battlefield 4 (PS4) - I'm trying to beat this game since starting on-stream last month, but it's harder than I anticipated, and I haven't been able to find a way to drop the difficulty now that I'm the middle of the campaign. I am well stuck on like the fourth level (the one where you go into the sinking battleship). I'll try to figure out how to drop the difficulty, and if I can't, I may have to just give up until some later date, where I'll restart from the beginning at a lower difficulty.

Super Mario Bros. 35 (Switch) - I finally played this somewhat odd battle royale game in the vein of Tetris 99 (Switch), and it's pretty fun! Basically you run around the original Super Mario Bros. (NES) but any time one of the other 34 players kills an enemy, those enemies can appear in your game, and then you have a bunch of extra goombas, koopa troopas, buzzy beetles, and even King Koopas to contend with. Your deity of choice help you if you don't have a Fire Flower or Invincibility Star.

It's slated to stop in March 2021 (for reasons), so if you're interested, download it now. It's free with a Switch Online subscription (which you should already have to play all those sweet NES and SNES games).

Bloodborne (PS4) - Yes, I continued playing Bloodborne, and yes, I did it mostly on-stream. I got stuck on Father Gascoigne for a bit, but eventually beat him off-stream (but recorded my many deaths and ultimate victory for posterity) and continued into the Cathedral Ward on-stream. I am now stuck on that hunter at the top of the building who shoots me with some kind of medieval mini-gun. I hate that guy.

Fall Guys (PS4) - And now for something completely different. I've been pretty behind on my YouTube videos for quite a while (though I'm a lot more up to date now), so I watched all my favorite YouTubers play this game two months ago when it first came out. This looks like an amazing party game, when you're playing with a bunch of people you know, but it's not as fun when you're by yourself... though it is still pretty fun. Basically, you're a bean among 59 other beans, and you have to run, grab, jump, and dive your way through a number of obstacle courses and team sports to try to be the last bean standing. I made it to the last event a few times, but was nowhere near first place.

There are still some server issues, where I can't join a game for a long time, or get kicked out of games I'm already in, but nowhere near as many as I saw in many streams at launch.

Boxboy! + Boxgirl! (Switch) - This is a really fun puzzle-platformer that I played on the 15th episode of Adan Plays Through His Backlog. You control a little box person and manipulate them in various ways to traverse various levels by walking, jumping, making extra boxes, etc. I like it a lot, and I think I'll like it even better when I play with the girl, as this is supposed to be a really good co-op game (I only played it by myself).

Watch Dogs: Legion (PS4) - The newest game in the Watch Dogs series features the most hackers there has ever been in a game because everyone in the city of London is a hacker... potentially. I've only played this for about two hours (on stream, of course), but even in that short time I was able to recruit two random Londoners to join my hacker collective and take back London from a fascist government, a violent PMC, and a very murdery criminal gang. I enjoyed the first two games a great deal (the second more than the first), so I expect I will enjoy this one as well, but I haven't had a chance to come back to it yet. I will admit that I'm not sure how not having a main character will affect my gameplay. I really liked Marcus from the second game, and sort of liked Adrian from the first (he was a sour sumbitch), so not having someone to latch on to in this third game might make me care less? I'm honestly not sure. Bagley the AI is an ever-present companion, but he may be more like Claptrap and less like Jarvis :P

Hades (Switch) - I only played this for like 20-30 minutes on Halloween night, but it was pretty good. I wouldn't have bought it normally as I'm not a big fan of roguelikes (games in which levels and layouts and such change after every death), but the girl really wanted to play it, so she's been playing it a lot more than I have. I do like the artstyle quite a bit, and the combat is fast and hefty. She's unlocked a fair amount weapons and upgrades, so I think she might beat it soon.

Mulaka (Switch) - I played this and the next game in a special Dia de Muertos stream to celebrate Mexican culture. Mulaka is made by a Mexican dev team in Mexico, and is based on the stories and culture of the indigenous Tarahumara (also known as the Rarámuri). It's an action-adventure game with some light puzzling, and a very distinct art style. I had some trouble with the running/jumping, but I think that was only because my muscle memory was channeling a different game (Bloodborne, probably). I will eventually finish this.

Guacamelee 2 (Switch) - The sequel to one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played, this game continues the awesomeness of the first, but now with more alternate dimensions! I only played about an hour, but I immediately got all the right vibes. And of course I'm a lot more familiar with this Mexican culture than Mulaka's as it features tequila, mariachi, luchadores, amazing mustaches, and overweight forty-year old men.

The Bridge (PS4) - The 16th episode of Adan Plays Through His Backlog featured another puzzle game (because I love them and have a lot of them, but never got around to actually playing them) that melded the worlds and ideas of M.C. Escher and Sir Isaac Newton, which should tell you everything  you need to know about how ridiculous these puzzles eventually get. And man, they get friggin' ridiculous! Physics are highly involved and while the first few puzzles are relatively simple (though some made me sweat), they get increasingly more difficult and the stream thankfully ended just as the really hard puzzles started and I could pretend I wasn't as dumb as I clearly am.

Hollow Knight (PS4) - Speaking of excellent Metroidvanias, I finally stared Hollow Knight! I had heard about this game long, long ago, and everyone gave it glowing reviews, but I didn't want to buy it until I had made at least a small dent in my backlog (this did not stop me from buying other games FYI). I was getting closer and closer to pulling this particular trigger when lo and behold, it was announced as one of the free PSPlus games! I downloaded it and immediately started streaming it.

I love this game! Besides being a Metroidvania, it also has a little bit of Soulsborne mechanics. The bosses are usually massive and difficult to defeat. Also, when you die, you lose all your currency (called Geo in this game), and have to go back to where you died and defeat your ghost to get all your currency back. Thus far, I haven't lost anything, but I can only assume my ghost will get stronger as I get stronger. The art style on this game is excellent. It has a little bit of that old-school cartoony look, but also some of that Super Mario World (SNES) vibe. I cannot recommend this game enough, and I've only played like four hours.

But you guys, it also has maps! Metroidvanias for the win!

Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS4) - It's Viking assassins! I've only played this for about two hours on stream, and it feels a lot like Odyssey (PS4), which I loved. My Eivor is female, of course, but I can switch back and forth between male and female because apparently the Animus doesn't know? It's a weird explanation, but all the present day stuff is weird, so whatevs. I like that instead of the usual sidequest stuff that the AC series has had since its inception, it instead has colored dots in three different colors: gold for wealth, blue for mysteries, and white for artifacts. Sometimes, you get a thing, sometimes you get a sidequest that eventually leads to a thing. It's pretty neat. I'm probably more excited about this than Watch Dogs: Legion, but I am still technically trying to play every AC game in order, so this is still a long ways away... technically...

Broken Age (PS4) - The 17th episode of Adan Plays Through His Backlog featured this really funny point-and-click adventure game from Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions. There are two protagonists in this game, a girl in a fantasy world where monsters need to be placated by being fed maidens, and a boy in a sci-fi world where AI are raising him in a spaceship going to many different places in space. The puzzles haven't been too difficult or esoteric yet (though I am stuck on one particular bit thanks to a very obnoxious bird), but again, I've only played about two hours of this, one hour with each of the two protagonists. I will definitely finish this, as I'm pretty sure it'll turn out to be a pretty short game all told.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4) - This. This is the game I've been waiting for this year (I mean, besides Cyberpunk 2077, which may be vaporware at this point). I love the character of Miles Morales; I've loved him since his first appearance in Ultimate Fallout #4, and I've read almost every comic he's appeared in since then. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the greatest comic book movie of all time (yes, even better than Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and that was really damn good too). I loved when he appeared in the first Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) game from 2018, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love this game even more. I've only played about 4.5 hours so far, and I understand this is going to be a shorter and smaller game than the first one, but c'mon. This one stars Miles Morales.

All the great mechanics from the first game are here, but slightly tweaked. For example, the swinging is still awesome, but because Miles isn't as good as Peter, his swinging animations are a bit wilder, with Miles extending or flipping in odd directions. I love it. Miles also has more powers than Peter: his bio-electricity (which Ganke has dubbed "venom blast" [side note: how great is Ganke? so great] and his camouflage power. These both add great new combat and stealth possibilities, and I love them.

This is the game I'm most excited about playing right now, even more than Hollow Knight.

Ball and Super Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) - I may not have a PS5 yet, but I did get the limited-edition Mario 35th Anniversary Game & Watch handheld that has both Super Mario Bros. (NES) and the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (Famicom), also known as Super Mario: The Lost Levels (SNES) in the west, as well as Ball an original Game & Watch game now with a Mario reskin. The games themselves are exactly what you expect, so I won't talk about them. Instead, I'll talk about the hardware. The games play pretty great on the handheld device, but I wish the screen was a bit larger. I know it's like the original Game & Watch handhelds, but still. The clock function is pretty great, though. I think I'm gonna start using it as my alarm clock :D

And we’re done! Thanks for getting through my increasingly longer write-ups and reading about all these games that I'm playing. I can definitely say I'll be playing more Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Hollow Knight, but I'll also be playing new games on Adan Plays Through His Backlog, including Bully (PS4), Burly Men at Sea (PS4), three different games in the Call of Duty franchise, and the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle (Switch). I may also play more Battlefield 4 and Assassin's Creed Val--I mean Assassin's Creed: Revelations :D

Until next month, play more video games!