Game in Hand

I think coop reignited my love for simple deck building roguelikes. I did a solo run to start and felt like "not this again", and then suddenly having a group of people succeeding or sucking kinda finding a healthy balance as you try and make your run work. The love of RNG might be the factor if you love or hate this game but I've spent nearly 3 times the playtime of the original and feel I got way more value out of STS2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Struggling through the initial few hours definitely gets you set for upgrade combos later on but if the intended difficulty isn't your jam, you can pump up your damage dealt or ramp down damage taken if you just want to get a win for once. I did like the longer burn before I felt comfortable getting near azra every run, but the more you skill up, the easier it is to get there every time. A very fun game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not sure how a capcom game made it into nextfest demo front page but I guess you do what you gotta do. Probably over exaggerating but the selection of less than quality titles seems a lot higher this year. It definitely took a few days for the good titles to work their way to the top thanks to the steam community digging deep. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I think at this point they could add a 2026 honda civic as a playable character in diablo, and my primary response will still be "Okay... maybe I should go try and see what changes they made to my paladin and sorc?". The warlock is unnecessary pay to fun but I can give credit where credit is due. They made me pay full price for a game I bought 5 years ago and still makes me think path of diablo and project diablo 2 needed my $30 instead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some mixed signals in there with the story. But overall a very fun and playful atmosphere borrowing from some very strong themes. Easy recommendation in my books for any Paper Mario series fan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January off to a slow start for new games, and really, we could just be carrying on games from 2025 and still be in really good shape. February will size up better but for now, a lot of old junk is landing in xbox game pass ultimate.... not so ultimate calibre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seasons greetings friends. I can't remember the last time made a >1hr episode, so bare with me for the mega finale of 2025. A lot of content, a lot of feelings in reflection, a lot of comments, a lot of games. It was a strong year for all walks of gaming. Maybe we can thank GTAVI for being perpetually pushed as studios cracked the whip to get games released early this year. But that's it for me this year, cheers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here are some thoughts and sentiments after half a year with my switch 2. While I have at least enjoyed my time playing both new and old games, part of me wonders if we are seeing a bit of Nintendo slip-up in these 1st party titles developed through COVID. Whether it's dividings teams too thinly or following modern AAA garbage practices, I feel like Nintendo turned a new page on monetization. Before we received more out of the DLSS capable, VRR capable, handheld system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What starts as just bunch of jerks becomes you and your lovable bunch of jerks. Just remember, your choices matter to a bunch of reject villains who are coming together as a team to take on the true evil of the world; unemployment and the rising cost of rent and food. Great looking game from start to finish and well worth the wait ever since playing the demo at nextfest in the spring/summer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I kept my expectations realistic because like most pokemon games, the thrill is in recapturing the same 60 pokemon from the generation pool and evolving them until you've seen just enough pokemon to know it's not worth it to catch them all. At its fundamentals, the battle system was a good pivot from turn based combat. But the failure comes in polish and finish. It is quite unexcusable this is our intro to pokemon on the switch 2 and really I can only think we got a switch 1 game that was easily dialed up for a bump in vram, ram, and gpu performance. 30 FPS is quite suitable for how bad the animations are in this game and I can only wonder sometimes what they spend their development budgets on. I am not even entertaining the thought of the mystery dungeon DLC, and I think I am ready to move on from buying a pokemon game until a true 10/10 title shows up. Won't hold my breath though... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From over the moon feelings about Silksong, to realizing my half decade of having game pass is soon to end as I enter my final year of game pass ultimate. Soon this podcast is going to be called Dollars and (Common)Sense. The most insane thing to suggest is to continually buy switch 1 version of switch 2 games, using vouchers and discounted egift cards, until Nintendo 1st party titles start earning that MSRP. Can't really say I don't feel these games feel worth more than the 35% off price tag. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As an EA Insider who has played this game for what I can now confirm is over ~2 years now, I still think there is much to love about this game. Rooftop and current unpatched insane physics are going to make meme worthy videos but there isn't a lot inherently going for downtown island city for anyone looking for the keystones of original skate 1,2, or 3 in this game. For better or for worse, it's a free to play game, free to be notified of cosmetics every step of the way, free to have multiplayer first mechanics be melded into what was primarily a single player game. It's hard to be too pessimistic as Full Circle have a solid foundation and understanding of the mechanics, but I think they need to either grow in scope or give players the tools to instill old Skate into new Skate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As someone who LOVES Donkey Kong, treated to a Mario Odyssey inspired Donkey Kong, how can I feel/be more positive? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To say Silksong's 2 week heads up followed by path of exile 2's 4th act announcement was schedule disrupting would be an understatement. Definitely a whole bunch of cool games announced and some mid to less cool game DLC and updates announced. Overall I don't think we'll hit a lull of games to play any time soon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Enjoying a nice slow summer with only Donkey Kong Bananza on the go. The BF6 open beta was a nice surprise. Hopefully when it comes out in the fall it lives up to the beta expectations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THPS3 was as good as I remember. THPS4 was an improvement. THPS4 was culled for being poorly written and voice acted Definitely my hot take, the original THPS4 was a turn in the wrong direction for the series. That said, I just wish some of those stages like Hawaii and London didn't feel like they amputated half the content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Filler episode! <3 see you in August. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Early celebration for the (unofficial) 50th episode and 1000 downloads of Game in Hand! As much as I complain, I really love this game, hope they continue to put out more characters and map events. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I think Funcom has a good recipe here, I love playing sandcastles in the desert. But the sum of all pieces in the current end game cycle just kinda makes me wonder what makes this their choice for definitive end game for players. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sony State of Play, Xbox State of Xbox, Summer Games of Fest, Steam Next of Fest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am a Mario Kart simp, so of course I would like it. It is a huge ask to pay such a large price up front for what we have day 1. I think we will be more judgemental about what comes in the future as I do feel like they didn't quite nail free roam or incentivize completionist mentality, or simply WHY STICKERS. I did play around on the hovercrafts, helicopters and seeing what I could find. I did see a UFO but had to chase it over the ocean. I do think this game represents the best of what the switch 2 is capable of, and to me is a better showing than a few of the Switch2 upgrades I've tried. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sneaking this one in, as lame as it sounds, I can't put it down. Once you go 60fps, you never go back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I find the Dune lore fairly engaging so I was more than willing to jump on the beta weekend with an open mind and enjoy some survival craft. I do think the start needs to be accelerated a bit more than it already is with super respawn times, because the opening sprawl and time commitment to figuring things out is massive.Some people dig that, I imagine they are targeting those people, especially.The sounds of a truck running in the background was in fact, fun construction truck idling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Biggest flaw about the game is it treats itself like a less than full priced game. It's a game to remember. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1 for Gamepass, our cup runneth over. <3I don't think there is a better reason to need to re-play, or experience Oblivion for the first time. But man, no matter what, Bethesda going to Bethesda. What originally felt like a game on the edge of the limits of content and design, comes back almost 2 decades later, seemingly feels like realizing graphics both improves but does not make the game. I think the ability to scale graphics to any level is a benefit but at some point, you pass the point of wondering if you should just boot up the original with mods. I pray we get some quality of life announcements in the forecast.*edit - Just realized my old man brain time traveled 13 years back and said towerfall ascension unlocked today, Towerborne is the beat em up you should check out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You take the good with the bad. It's fun having a house designed by some cryptic guy, play out like familiar board games, and struggle like a poorly implemented rogue-lite function. Sounds a lot easier than the hoops most of us go through to get a house. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2/4/2025 - Nintendo Direct Recap and Thoughts. Nvidia states it is 10x more powerful than the original switch, therefore by Nvidia logic 5070=4090=switch 2.3/4/2025 - Apparently the follow up stream was filled with people just spamming about price.*List of edits and updates for accuracy!**The panel in handheld mode is capable of 120hz, VRR, and HDR. Metroid Prime 4 for example is being advertised as 1080p120 in performance mode.*Can use non-nintendo USB cameras but there is some vagueness about compatibility*Not all titles are $80 USD, Bravely Default Remastered is $40USD per a Target ad for example*Deltarune episodes 3&4 were announced, 1&2 already exist but I didn't have that on my radar*Digital foundary's visual critique was decent for expectations but obviously gameplay on the screen>youtube compression Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great pixel roguelite. It is a true sequel with extra classes and expanded advanced specializations. It still needs some TLC and polish, but it certainly has kept my interest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hints of Return of the Obra Dinn was the main reason to pick this game up, sad only the main game is included. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone should stand up and say the original was better while agreeing you can still have fun playing FF7 rebirth/remake. It is really an amusement park themed retelling, of the concept of final fantasy, using FF7 as a foundation, that was allowed to M.Night Shyamalan too many times. I just think people would have paid money for half the game this actually was but focusing on the right kind of character development and things that would make sense, more than how many mini games and multiverses one can fit in a final fantasy game. 6/10 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nostalgia bait, except they delivered on it. It's hard not to feel like the great circle picked up where the trilogy ended. I haven't enjoyed an indiana jones game since Fate of Atlantis and really the lego games were the only real contenders.Odd start to the year with Sony events and discussions, Xbox deciding even you can be an xbox if you want to be, and having two Take Two studios releasing games within months of each other. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Good start to a unpolished ARPG. I know it's not updated enough to say anything definite, but a month an a half later, there are more peak players logging into Path of Exile 2 than people playing GTA V. Banana has overtaken POE2, so... obviously it's not THAT good... I guess. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Honestly, there were a bunch of indie games I left off my top 2024 lists and should have slotted them in somewhere, somehow. Check out Cryptmaster, The Ten Bells, The Case of the Golden Idol, and Nine Sols. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Top 5s - Honorable mentions, Top 5 JRPGs, Top 5 non-JRPGs, Top 5(ish) Disappointments, and a handful of rambles. Happy new year everyone! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I promise I'll only call it Mario and Luigi brotherhood like 3 times.I am seriously at a loss here. Nintendo outlets rejoicing over Brothership, Media and User scores on Metacritic are aligned, calling this game an 8/10. Why am I not on the same wavelength? Worse, I am seeing the outlet I agree with is none other than IGN. The M&L recipe was followed but to me it tastes like a copper penny. Zelda on the other hand is staple Nintendo experience, but I was over the moon that Mario and Luigi returned. It just like if your parents replace your goldfish when it dies and you feel something is off. I have lost a lot of my will to keep playing Brothership and instead, playing a casual zelda game because it just feels better.Maybe I'll revisit this in the new year and see if my opinion changes but... man... not how I was expecting to feel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Atlus' studios are really good at the persona formula and despite some changes that made them try and indicate "yeah it's made by the persona team, but it's a "new" RPG!", blind taste test would say otherwise. The art style and music are simply interesting and refreshing vs some of the blandness we've been exposed to recently. The plot is a bit bonkers and again we're experiencing an "okay just go with it" in the plot arcs, but I don't think I felt I should stop playing at any point so it was hard not to just keep going through. I wouldn't put it on the pedestal that Persona 5 sits on, but it's probably not hard to say it's one of, if not the best turn based RPGS we received this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can I say... the NDS was not about fully 3D games, it was about interactive games. The forced touch experience was really make it or break it for a lot of games. Great to see a lot of developers embracing it because we all know how much developers loathed the nauseating 3D feature of the 3DS.A lot of these games have innovative aspects to their touch controls while others feel shoe horned into the concept. Really that was make or break for me. Hope at least we line up in a few of the top choices.**Just as a post upload edit, I just saw IGN gave Veilguard a 9/10. Someone pass me that koolaid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's talk about my favorite PSP games of all time since I am a bit busy, tired, and tired of being busy. Took everything I had in me not to mention FFT and Valkyrie Profile Lenneth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is it that is so appealing about tile based exploration and crafting games. It's very rudimentary but stole my interest longer than a few other titles I've played recently. It definitely has a lot going for it and aside from peaking a bit early in functions, it's a solid game.On the other hand, squeenix needs some tough love when it comes to PS5 exclusives being slowly re-released on PC. I am a fan of the lower sticker price for the base version, but I am just not loving it. 30 FPS games belong on the switch and is a full disappointment when you force someone to watch a stuttery cutscene when it could have just been a video.I bought Metaphor: Refantazio because the demo was great, so I'm pumped for the release later this month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Capcom said the game sold 500,000 copies on July 19th, we're 2 months past that point. Maybe players need a gentle reminder to review... or I guess play it since they are all probably part of the 500,000+ peak concurrent players playing wukong everyday.Don't sleep on Kunitsu-Gami, it has a lot of offer, plays well on handhelds, and we need capcom to hold the banner for other AAA studios to take a risk every once and a while and serve more games like this instead of Games that throttle you down As a Service. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rejoyce, summer release slump is over!I am having a fairly decent time with this game. It probably is worth more than the zero dollars I've spent on it, but it's cosmetics are also next to nothing in terms of appeal. Novice mode is the definitive casual way to play. Anyone else who is seeking even half a challenge should avoid novice servers.Wukong is out and I am definitely not a day 1 reviewer. I think it does a lot right and definitely will get to it when time permits. Judging from the other souls like games, it's going to be a steam sale target for sure.Starwars outlaws is out and as much as I am a fan of Massive Entertainment's games, they always seem to be above generic garbage that gets pumped out, initial reviews and performance results leave a bit to be desired. Hopefully it's not a "OH WE DEFINITELY ARE WORKING ON THIS, HERE IS A 5 YEAR ROADMAP FOR A GAME WE'RE GOING TO NOW STOP TALKING ABOUT AND ABANDON IN 9 MONTHS". Looking at you EA and WB.But at least we're ramping into the period known as back to school depression. New games to be had, many still coming down the pipeline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Serves us right for having such a strong new game library last year. Now we are stuck with a lack of (positive) new game news. Nothing worse than lackluster news either. I guess we can just sit around and wait for announcements to save the dates to hear about game release date announcements.... Boourns Dragon Age. Boourns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A change of pace from a summer of mind numbing shooters, F2P mediocrity, metroidvania like mazes, and card swiping waifu phone games. While I do think parts of the game do get a bit repetitive in terms of combat, it would be hard to say I didn't have to go into every interaction with something clever up my sleeve. The game isn't a chore to finish as the characters are lively, the comedic dialogue and crass responses fit the game well, and the puzzles you solve offer a decent breadth and depth to what could have been a very narrow focused game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Supergiant is back again with early access to a solid game. It does lose a bit of its originality from the original Hades but there is multiple modes and challenges to keep you satisfied with the price tag. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Definitely a premium remaster of the beloved original but I am praying for a 60fps mode with the Switch 2 or something. The highly touted partner wheel time saving vs hitting a button on the dpad is lessened by inputs that are just ignored when the game isn't quite ready yet to let you dismiss text boxes, menus, tactics, etc. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Only a lack of sleep and children not sleeping can interrupt game time, so let's take advantage of the moment to recap some of the most anticipated xbox and PC games, including hints by Phil Spencer regarding an xbox handheld. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I started history/fact checking myself to see the power difference between the NES and the nintendo handhelds, and it's crazy how everything progressed. Hand held episode with a smile. I was considering putting FFTA on my GBA miss games the more I remember those stupid rules, but FFT gets a pass. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hard to not go off the deep end sometimes where nostalgia probably interferes with games ranking, objectively. Still, this wasn't just me playing it safe, it's what drives my brain towards playing these titles on retro handhelds on a regular basis. Or at least when I need a dose of childhood. Right next to metamucil and big bowl of bran. I know exactly why people go to extreme ends to fulfill childhood gaming nostalgia once I had 4 game cube controllers when they brought smash to the Wii U and again when I bought a snes classic. A 1st party retro nintendo controllers was like a brain rub after not holding them for a while. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanillaware has put out another stellar title. Gone are the grid lines and take turns mechanics that held units and boredom in place. While the story is nothing spectacular it certainly wasn't sitting on my nerves or poorly written at any point. Tactical difficulty was an okay challenge right under gear cataloging. Easy to say by the end of the game you need to become really familiar with what items do otherwise, you're in for a scroll.Double excited to see more about Metaphor: Refantazio when it launches in October. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems South Park might be best experienced in the paper on 3D world. I know they likely didn't want a blockbuster budget game and in interviews Matt Stone mentioned Trey Parker likes RPGs and D&D, and Stone likes... mindless button mashers. I won't say that's the reason the game sucks but it's a complete deviation from previous quality. It's clunky, it's slow, it's repetitive, and I felt a real lack of compulsion to try anything new when I was face rolling through the game with the first thing I tried. It goes beyond being a "casual" game and all I can call it is lacking. Lacking in content, lacking in fulfilling end game. But obviously not lacking in Day 0 announced 6 DLC packs. It's tough not to just blatantly say I miss Obsidian's Stick of Truth and even Ubisoft Osaka, Montreal, uh Kathmandu? Greece? South Pole? Fractured But Whole. And division games actually. I hope Ubisoft gets well soon if this was South Park's break up game. But it feels like THQ is a bad influence ever since they went bankrupt while making the 1st game.I messed up on the sound settings on this one so apologies that I dropped XXXL bass on this one. I marginally adjusted for last episode in my recording settings and I lack the talent to fix it in post edits without it sounding like calling from a phone booth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.