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What gmw3 has Been Playing: April 2022
What a busy month April has been, with stacks of exciting news across the XR and Web3 industries. This means taking time out and putting our feet up is pivotal to keeping us fresh and alert, and what better way to do that than with some of the latest videogames across console, PC, VR and AR – we cover all bases here at gmw3.
Dan
Ghostwire: Tokyo
I couldn’t leave this version of Tokyo. There was something so appealing about trawling a rain-soaked version of Tokyo haunted by yokai around every corner. By hour 35, when I neared the end of my playthrough, I’d collected everything I could, bought all the fancy clothing items and unlocked the best of all abilities. I was soaring above rooftops, absorbing spirits, fighting monstrous nightmare fuel and taking in the sights of neon-drenched Shibuya.
The main story, I could take it or leave it, but the characterisation of Tokyo stole me away from life. Everything from the little convenience stores to the iconic torii gates brought the city to life, despite the disappearance of all humans. Hell, I was happy dashing around talking to random cats and petting the dogs, all while KK, the spirit who took over my body at the start of the game, became less of a smartass and more personable.
While I could bleat on for hundreds of words about the cityscape, I won’t. However, I will give a nod to the gorgeous lighting system which brought my 4K display to life. Sparking magic fizzed and popped in hues of green and blue; the explosive red bolts felt delightfully effervescent as they tore holes in the faceless yokai. Some of my favourite moments happened in set pieces within the buildings, which were often locked off until a mission brought you in. Here, the game took on a wickedly dark and horrific tone, making me feel on edge more than once.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is the perfect game for fans of Japanese culture, with that edge of Video Nakata darkness.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
In perhaps the sharpest turnaround, my other main game for April was about a pink puffball who gobbles up other living creatures and takes on their abilities. Not too dissimilar to a yokai in some ways, I guess.
I always felt that Kirby should have the success of Mario, the platforming may not be as inventive or thrilling, but the variety of styles which Kirby can use to get through adventures are great fun. With the latest iteration, Kirby can now upgrade those abilities, making them more powerful or more versatile for the individual levels. For example, the bomb ability starts by simply throwing them, the first upgrade gives them wheels and the home in on enemies, while the last version chains them together for larger blasts.
The world in which you play is stunning in places – makes me glad I upgraded to an OLED Switch a few months back. The colours are sumptuous and eye-popping, the enemies range from cute critters to hulking dangers. As with every Nintendo property, it’s clear to see the love poured in from every angle; there are silly mini-games to play in the hub world, along with other distractions, such as collecting gachapon capsules which contain delightful models of the sprites from the game.
While it’s no Mario Odyssey, Kirby and the Forgotten Land offers so much content along with genuine grin-inducing moments from mouthful mode. Car Kirby is just as fun as you think it would be. I’ve not quite finished my time with the game, but I’ll miss it once I’m done. I think we all need a cute pink puffball in our lives nowadays.
Peter
Resident Evil 4 – The Mercenaries
I’ve always loved the Resident Evil franchise and still have my original Nintendo GameCube copies, so when Resident Evil 4 came to Meta Quest 2 last year I eagerly dived right in. But the release missed one big component, the horde-like The Mercenaries mode. I spent countless hours in the first one and now I’ve spent even more in the virtual reality (VR) version.
This time though it’s definitely better and seemingly even more hectic and stressful. Running around trying to find those hourglasses whilst removing Ganados’ heads from their shoulders whilst perfecting a path through each level to maximise points is ridiculously addictive. There’s no horror or scares involved – unless of them popped into my peripheral vision – just pure action.
And then there are the new, VR-specific challenges to unlock bonuses like Big Head Mode. It’s the sort of fast-paced, instantly accessible content Resident Evil 4 VR needed when I didn’t fancy stepping into the main campaign again. It means I get to enjoy Resident Evil 4 all over again and that’s no bad thing.
Tunic
The only problem though – and it’s not really a problem – is that after reading my colleague Will’s entry last month I downloaded Tunic because I’m also a big Legend of Zelda fan so Resi 4 took a hit. Having not read any other reviews regarding Tunic I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by this lovely little game. It’s full of heart and has no time or interest in providing an easy route to the finish.
Things like having to find the manual – which is mainly in a strange runic language – really made me want to dig deep into the game whilst the tough boss fights we’re certainly challenging. I love the isometric level design and the fact that even in an area I think I’ve thoroughly explored a new shortcut will suddenly appear.
I’ve not completed it yet, I’m slowly savouring each moment (read: stuck on a boss).
Half-Life: Alyx
Half-Life: Alyx, on the other hand, was more of a side treat. I reviewed the game back in 2020 and just like everyone else, loved it. Why play it again now with so many other games available? Well, this job does have its perks and Varjo sent me its high-end, $2000 USD Varjo Aero headset to play with for the month.
If you’ve not read my Varjo Aero review then here’s the gist, the visuals on the thing are incredible but there was some peripheral distortion. So Varjo fixed the issue with a new update and I tested it again with Half-Life: Alyx. Wow, think I spent the first ten minutes looking at the detail on the Gravity Glove, easily picking out the textures on each intricate part, it looked glorious.
Stepping back into Half-Life: Alyx after so long reminded me again why Valve is integral to VR.
Will
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
The best thing about being the parent of a baby is being able to justify game purchases based on them being played at some future point by your kid (OK, one of the best things). Enter LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. If you’re a long-term veteran of the series, you’ve probably played LEGO game adaptations of most of these films before, but this is not a cynical rebundling of old games. Instead, The Skywalker Saga makes a reasonably successful attempt at reinventing the well-worn LEGO game formula, successfully cramming all nine films into a single game by combining shorter levels with massive hub worlds full of collectables.
It all makes for a fun, Star Wars-themed collectathon, and fans of the films will definitely appreciate the many references to and details from the series. The Skywalker Saga is also, weirdly, often quite beautiful to look at. Perhaps taking cues from The Lego Movie, which wore its inspiration of stop-motion animated lego fan films on its sleeve, in cutscenes I swear you can sometimes see the faint thumbprints and grime characteristic of real-world lego pieces. It gives the game an enjoyable toybox atmosphere that pairs well with its silly retelling of the Star Wars story.
Resident Evil 4 VR
In VR, meanwhile, I was dragged back into Resident Evil 4 following a recent update (though I’m yet to try out the new mode). Being a scaredy-cat, it’s an experience I’m only able to play in relatively small chunks, but as soon as a zombie’s head satisfyingly explodes into chunks before me, I’m glad I made the effort to boot it back up.
Where the game really shines is as an exercise in nostalgia, allowing you to revisit a bonafide classic from a new perspective. In that sense, it has a lot in common with real-world attractions built around letting attendees visit the worlds of fictional IPs, the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour or Super Nintendo World being prime examples.
Here’s hoping that more game studios realise the potential of properly porting older games into VR and spare me the hassle of flying to Japan!
Coral
Pikmin Bloom
Spring has finally sprung, but this isn’t just any spring season — it’s the first where it looks like our lives are finally no longer dictated by lockdowns, mandates and other restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. So while I feel like Pikmin Bloom would have been a godsend during days when my only option was to walk outside, my life has nonetheless become way more eventful once again — making this the perfect time to get into an AR game that will reward me for, well… moving around much more.
Pikmin Bloom, which was launched last year in October, follows a similar framework to Pokemon Go — players are encouraged to go outside and explore their surroundings, where they can collect seedlings and create a squad of Pikmin — endearing little half-plant, half-animal creatures that were first popularised in 2001’s Gamecube classic. As you continue to walk alongside the different types of Pikmin you interact with and collect Nectar from the fruits they gather, you’ll leave AR-powered trails of flowers behind you.
As was the case with Pokemon GO, it’s hard not to love the idea of bringing nostalgic critters into your world — a concept I think we all would have adored if it’d only been around when we were kids. As I look forward to spending the rest of this year travelling (finally!) and visiting more parks and trails across the course of London, Europe and Canada, it’ll be fun to see which Pikmin I can pluck and take with me on my adventures.
What Has gmw3 Been Playing?: March 2022
As gmw3 continues to grow and expand our coverage so too does our team of writers, all of whom love tech, videogames, Web3, and anything else with a digital signal. We’re all continually playing videogames for fun (and for work) so now seems like the ideal time to see what everyone has been passing the time with; from epic blockbusters to fringe virtual reality (VR) titles, here’s what we’ve been playing during March.
William Smith
Elden Ring
This month I’ve mostly been playing Elden Ring. Although playing might be a strong word for someone whose play style mostly involves summoning spirits then dodging around frantically until they kill the boss for me.
That generous summoning mechanic is partly why I find myself getting much less frustrated with Elden Ring than in previous entries in the Dark Souls series. It’s also because, being open-world as the game is, Elden Ring encourages you to bypass the tricky bits.
Indeed, one of the first enemies you meet once emerging into the game proper (Tree Sentinel for those in the know) seems designed to ram home this message by ramming your face into the floor, repeatedly, until you learn to simply walk around them. Cue many happy hours of running past enemies, whether on foot or on my trusty steed Torrent, taking in the many wondrous sights of the Lands Between. Except Caelid. We don’t talk about Caelid.
Tunic
If you’re interested in playing Elden Ring but wish much of the eldritch horror was replaced with cute foxes, the charmic Tunic is surely the game for you. While it takes much more than a leaf out of the Elden Ring book, with unlockable respawn points, nail-biting boss fights, and one opportunity to recover your experience points upon death, the best thing it replicates is the sense of mystery.
You’re dropped into the game with almost no information and, in a very meta twist, are required to work everything out for yourself by finding pieces of the manual scattered throughout the world. Even these are mostly written in a mostly indecipherable language, so establishing exactly what you are being told becomes a puzzle in itself.
There are doubtless people who will be put off by Tunic’s obtuse nature, but it is skillfully designed to (mostly) avert frustration and make you feel smart for figuring out its secrets. Tunic has served as an excellent side dish to the Elden Ring main course this month.
Walkabout Mini Golf
In VR, meanwhile, I’ve been whiling away the hours in the supremely relaxing Walkabout Mini Golf VR. This is undoubtedly the VR game I find myself coming back to more than any other.
Why? First, there’s the music, which is much better than mini golf game music has any right to be (particularly the theme for the pirate world, which is pretty much playing non-stop inside my head at all times).
Equally as good are the gorgeous environments, from wild west saloons to Japanese gardens to weird candy fantasias. Every time I look up to curse the heavens regarding my latest triple bogey, I’m distracted by some lovely piece of detail and all is once again right in the world.
Pair all this with some lovely swinging physics that ensure the ball always seems to go where you intended it to and you have a supremely enjoyable package. I mean, who hasn’t wanted to play crazy golf in space?
Daniel Lipscombe
Gran Turismo 7
Like much of the games playing public, I’ve spent tens of hours playing Elden Ring. I chose a sorcerer, it’s dope. But you all know how great it is, so I’m going to tell you about Gran Turismo 7, AKA the best racing game for years that is being abysmally handled by creators Polyphony Digital. Gran Turismo is known, for one thing, gorgeous car models. There’s something wonderful about starting the GT journey in a clapped Mini Cooper and working up to a Ferrari F40. But that’s damn near impossible for casual players since Polyphony is only interested in our micro-transaction money.
Want that Aston Martin? Grind this race multiple times. Fancy hopping into a McClaren and tearing through the countryside? Well, open your wallet and make it rain. Recent news shows that the developer, and Sony, are willing to shift this balance. Apparently, we’re getting better rewards for finishing races, which is handy because, despite all the drama, Gran Turismo 7 really is the best racing game to emerge for many years.
The actual driving is a delight and, as expected from the PlayStation 5, it looks bloody glorious. A special shoutout must go to the DualSense controller which elevates the experience beyond a basic rumble of tires and picks up the smooth changes in asphalt and dirt in America, or chatters over storm drains in Tokyo.
The Binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac is my favourite game. No other game holds a candle to this McMillen masterpiece, so I’ll preface this entry with some useless stats. On PC I’ve played 846 hours. On PlayStation (across Vita, PS4 and PS5) I’ve stacked up over 500 hours. Now playing on Nintendo Switch my total currently reads 921 hours. I’m a fan.
Isaac has become a comfort game for me. That’s right, a game about religious institutional murder, Munchausen’s syndrome, faecal matter and gore, is a comfort. I’ve played this game in my low times, my high times and those moments in life when nothing made sense. The addictive gameplay loop of discovering items, pairing them with others to create an overpowered character is, to me, as moreish as crack cocaine.
With the latest DLC, Repentance, the game has become a whole new beast. It’s maddeningly difficult, features intricate routes to secure success and some of the new character variants are punishing. Many times I’ve wanted to launch my Switch across the room as I pick up an item that breaks my progress. But I still love it. It’s still my comfort. My favourite.
Coral Cripps
Virtual Virtual Reality 2
The metaverse has pretty much just been born — and yet we’re already fantasising about its collapse. In this fun-filled, brightly-coloured comedy-adventure game adapted for Meta Quest 2, it’s easy to forget that the premise sits on top of some dark undertones. With that being said, however, the juxtaposition is perfect — and the tongue-in-cheek humour featured throughout the game is also on-point.
The game starts off with, well… basically your character dying and being recreated inside a new mech body situated inside the fictional realm of Scottsdale. In short, you are tasked with using your new body to save avatars and digital identities from a metaverse on the verge of collapse. It poses the important question: “When a metaverse shuts down, what happens to the avatars left behind?” After spending the last few months creating a surplus of avatars inside various games and ecosystems, it’s a fitting inquiry.
Through becoming more acquainted with my Meta Quest 2, it’s been exciting to start a game with a great metaphysical backstory. These types of things are my bread and butter — as a fan of other storylines like Ghost in the Shell and Fullmetal Alchemist, I love a good cyborg storyline. However, what’s more notable is that VVR2 also does a great job at poking fun at the absurdity of our current transition into the metaverse and the fragility that could follow it. If we’ve one day put all of our stock into virtual worlds, how catastrophic might it be to see them collapse? At this point in time, I suppose the best thing we can do is laugh.
Pokemon Shining Pearl
I’ll admit, I was a bit late to the Nintendo Switch party. However, making a move from Canada to the UK and being subjected to steep baggage fees meant I was best off leaving most of my consoles behind. It was also the perfect time to finally get my hands on the one, more portable device that would overcome a transatlantic barrier.
Pokemon Shining Pearl was an easy choice. A remake of Pearl and Diamond for the Nintendo DS, it’s a formidable reinvention of the 2006 fan-favourite and a perfect bridging gap between classic and modern games, equipped with the right level of nostalgia. The reinvented Sinnoh region looks bright and crisp on the Switch’s display, with a simplistic and colourful art style that doesn’t feel too bloated.
The gameplay mechanics are also great, with just the right amount of additions to differentiate it from its predecessor. Amongst the coolest new features are definitely the Hideaways — areas where players can find more powerful and exclusive Pokemon. These can be accessed through the Grand Underground — a reworked version of the Sinnoh region’s more challenging underbelly seen in the earlier titles.
Peter Graham
Hades
Now, this was one of those random picks from Xbox Game Pass. You know how it goes, you vaguely recognise the name and might take a look at a screenshot or two but in reality, I wanted to pick something at random to while away a few hours.
What I got was this epic roguelite dungeon crawler from Supergiant Games that I’ve been ploughing hours and hours into during spare moments when I’m not reviewing VR games or heading to events like GDC. And it has got me hooked, easy to master gameplay mechanics allow quick access to the rich world of Hades and the huge amount of lore the developer has put into it. I almost love simply unlocking all the narrative and info on each character as I do storming through the underworld killing wave after wave of monstrous creatures.
Plus there are plenty of upgrade options to play with, altering my character each time to try a push that little bit farther. I’ve come to realise that I’m a bit of a roguelite fan having enjoyed VR versions such as Outlier, YUKI and In Death: Unchained. I’ll likely continue playing Hades for quite a bit longer.
Cosmonious High
There had to be a VR game in here somewhere as I do spend a fair amount of time using the tech. I’ve spent a fair chunk of time in Owlchemy Labs’ latest project Cosmonious High – of which you can see the full review here – because it’s quite a laid back experience in all honesty.
Sure it’s a brightly coloured intergalactic high school with daft students, and even dafter names for everything but that silliness offers a welcome break from things. I can use my hands to paint the walls, freeze random objects or step into the chemistry lab to mix up random ingredients to see what they do. There’s no time limit on anything and I find completing some of the side challenges more enjoyable than the main campaign itself.
The only downside is that there isn’t a proper challenge to be faced. As a veteran VR player, I appreciate the technical achievement when looking at aspects like the water effects but I honestly don’t see myself playing it much longer; unlike Hades which has hooked me.
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The post From ‘Tunic’ to ‘Killer Queen Black,’ here are the best indie games from E3 2018 appeared first on Digital Trends.