So I beat Stray and Venba this week. I had played most of Stray before and could have sworn I beat it, but apparently I never finished it. I can’t even remember why tbh. Anyway, decided to start from scratch and loved every bit of it. Even the ending was fantastic. I know a lot of people want a sequel from this, but honestly, I think it was perfect as-is. Unless the team has a great idea for a sequel, I wouldn’t want them to just churn out something just for the sake of it. I highly recommend it if you love immersive worlds. The detail and care put into each location is amazing, and it’s one of the most beautiful games out there. I beat it in about 5 and a half hours with plenty of time exploring but not getting 100%.

As for Venba, I loved it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s short. I finished it in just under 2 hours, but I loved every bit of it. It’s more narrative than cooking, as in the cooking parts are in service of the narrative, rather than the reverse. Don’t go into it expecting kitchen chaos. I wrote a whole review post here if you’d like to read more of my thoughts.

Cosmic’s Venba Review

As for this weekend, I’m going to be playing Bleak Sword DX on my Steam Deck. I wish it would come out for PlayStation (or at least Android), but I’m assuming that Apple’s original exclusivity deal is limiting their release options. Playing this on my living room TV in higher res would be ideal.

And finally, I am still near the end of Uncharted: Lost Legacy, so if I can get some TV time from my wife and kid I’ll hopefully drive that one to completion. Very excited to see how it ends. This game definitely holds up with the PS5 upgrade. So much detail.

Anyway, what are your plans for this weekend? Let us know below!

  • @slimerancherM
    link
    English
    11 year ago

    I don’t know, just the feel I got. 😀

    Yeah, it’s by same devs (Housemarque), and Alination was the next game, after Dead Nation. I played Dead Nation a bit, but it isn’t properly supported on PS5, so would crash after each level. Also, enjoying Alienation more.

    • CosmicSploogeDrizzleOPM
      link
      English
      21 year ago

      I love housemarque. Played the shit out of resogun. Still haven’t pulled the trigger in Returnal. So many 50% offers I’ve let slip by, so I might just fold and get it on the next one, or wait for PS+

      I’ve beaten the first 2 worlds of Bleak Sword today and I like it…but not as much as I thought I would. Levels are short. Very short. It was an apple arcade game so I kinda get it, and it’s not too difficult (yet). I didn’t die until the second world. The third world looks like a change of pace and there’s like 12-14ish worlds I think, so maybe I’m just early. I’m at the point in the game where parrying is becoming essential, but up until now I’ve been able to force most encounters. As long as I beat all the enemies before I lose my health, I start the next encounter with a full bar, so getting hit doesn’t really matter early on. Granted, I’m playing on the lowest difficulty. Also, if you die, you don’t restart the world, just the level. You have one chance to beat it to keep your lost XP and items (kinda like hollow knight), but other than that there isn’t a downside to dying. You can only carry 2 items at a time (so far).

      I loved the CRT aesthetic in trailers but in gameplay I had to turn off chromatic abberation, bloom, and depth of field. It was bothering my eyes.

      Enemies are cool. It’s fun when a new one pops up and you don’t know what the strategy is to beat them. I’ll let you know my thoughts as I delve deeper