Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (April 18-19)

Elements: Epic Heroes (Windows Phone) - Started playing this again in bursts.

World at Arms (Windows Phone) - Most of my attention is going to this atm. I just want to wrap it up now.

Other than the usual Mewgenics and Pokémon Champions (I'm still languishing in Great Ball tier) I'm kind of at a loss when it comes to what I'll be playing next, because I finished South of Midnight last night and, my goodness gracious, I loved it. Below is the review I put on Steam immediately after finishing the game. It's not comprehensive or even particularly well written, but I think it sums up how I feel about South of Midnight:

South of Midnight has an immediate initial wow factor; the stop-motion style animation is cool and the visuals are extraordinarily pretty. Then I got to the platforming and puzzle solving, which are both inoffensively by the numbers. Then I got to the combat, which is slightly too stiff for my liking and not in the least bit remarkable. At this point, I wasn't sure how much of this game I would actually play.

I'm glad I carried on.

Some might argue that a gorgeous visual style or a fantastically told story that takes inspiration from Southern American folk tales shouldn't excuse the actual "game" parts of a game being so unremarkable or by the numbers. Hell, up until about 20 minutes ago I might very well have agreed with you. But, my god, South of Midnight is exponentially more than the sum of its parts.

Could the story have been told as a film or a TV series? Absolutely it could have, but by being a game - having you guide Hazel through the environments she must traverse and discovering the fates of the various mystical creatures and human inhabitants of Prospero - South of Midnight's tales of heartbreak, suffering, regret and love are so, so much more powerful than they would have been if you were merely passively observing them.

Special mention also has to go to the soundtrack. Every piece of music and every song is exceptional, whether it's just setting the tone for a scene or going full-on musical theatre to further bring the tragic stories of characters like Two Toe Tom, Huggin' Molly and others to life. I'm glad Xbox Game Studios started just giving out the digital deluxe extras with the standard edition of the game, because this is a soundtrack that I'll want to listen to again without question.

I could probably count on one hand the number of games that have made me so invested in a narrative or feel for characters as much as South of Midnight did, or games that are as beautifully animated, or games that are just such a joy to experience. South of Midnight is one of the best games I've played in a very, very long time.

• Sea of Thieves
• LUNARK
• Tomb Raider III
• Hi-Fi Rush

I finally earned the platinum for Marathon, and since progress carries over to Xbox, I wrapped up all the achievements there as well. I’m still pretty hooked—Bungie’s latest update has been nothing short of excellent.

Starting Monday, I’m on a ten-day vacation. I’ve begun Pragmata and it’s been great so far. It definitely has those familiar Capcom traits which isn’t a bad thing. The combat is adrenaline driven with its mini-game hacking gimmick, but it’s done remarkably well. In addition, the opening hours strongly remind me of Dead Space, and oddly enough, Death Stranding. And yet, it captures the essence of an Xbox 360 game.

My goal is to finish that, then move on to beating and 100% completing Replaced. I’ve put a few hours into it—on chapter 4—and it’s been fantastic. The 2.5D aesthetics are some of the best I’ve seen, even rivaling Square Enix’s Octopath series. The world-building is top notch, and the combat feels reminiscent of the Batman: Arkham games. I’ve yet to encounter any bugs the game is reported to have, so that’s a major plus.

I’ve also realized that, as much as I love PlayStation’s trophy system, I prefer the Xbox ecosystem overall. It’s where I’d rather play most third-party games—and Sony’s first-party output is starting to wear thin on me with its formulaic design.

However, I think my preference boils down to timing. I was a young teenager when the Xbox 360 launched, and that era left a huge impression on me. I grew up with the NES and owned just about everything—SNES, PS1 and PS2 (Max Payne, Manhunt, Vice City we’re very influential), N64, GameCube, Dreamcast, original Xbox—but I vividly remember the day my parents surprised me with a 360. We didn’t have much money. My parents were on disability, so bills were tight and food was scarce. One day when my mom picked me up from school, she told me to check the glove box—inside were Perfect Dark Zero and Condemned: Criminal Origins (still one of my all-time favorite horror games). I freaked out. When I got home, the console was already set up, with Call of Duty 2 on the screen, ready to go. I actually broke down in tears. It’s a moment I’ll never forget. To this day I have no idea how they managed to afford all of this, and I’ll never ask.

I also remember going to the public library back when that was still a “thing”—and reading previews for Gears of War. The screenshots blew me away. I had watched the launch trailer hundreds of times, with “Mad World” stuck in my head. When it finally released, it felt like nothing I’d ever played before. It completely revolutionized the third-person shooter genre. I became obsessed, and was ecstatic when I finally earned every achievement, including the 10,000 multiplayer kills.

My best friend and I would play through it co-op endlessly. Our summer vacations would consist of Gears of War, Halo: CE cooperatively, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series split-screen. It was pure magic. That entire generation is packed with countless memories that I look back on fondly.

Anyway, I’m not sure how I ended up on that tangent, but yeah—Pragmata and Replaced are my main focus. Of course, I’ll more than likely get sucked into Hades 2 once again, and may even finally try out Crimson Desert, but we shall see. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

All sorts...Bit of Replaced,Mouse P.I, Modern Warfare 2019

Planet of Lana 2 - finished and platinumed. Really enjoyed this beautiful game, its more of the same but better so if you liked the first game you’ll def like this one. Short and sweet, looks incredible with a nice soundtrack and fun gameplay and puzzles.

Also picked up Pragmata but havent had the time to boot it up yet, but hopefully I’ll find the time to play some later this weekend. Really looking forward to it!

Finished up my current run of Starfield. New dlc is ok I guess but they overuse some of the new mechanics so it feels a bit repetitive game play wise. The story its quite good with some funny interactions with new companions & a lot of unflagged side quests / lore to discover.

7 / 10 (though probably lower if you are not into the game lore.)

Playing Hades 2 when I can. Its very addictive & fun but it can easily time travel you to early morning with the "just one more run then I am going to bed" thing that it does so well. Oblivion also released on Premium so I will be picking up where I left off there when I dropped Ultimate.

@Markatron84 good little review of SoM there - it's not a great game in terms of mechanics but if ever a game could be described as more than the sum of its parts then it's that. Benji's sad little tale still haunts me to this day.