Camacho

Definitely a change of combat pace, but Demon of Hatred is still pretty doable with some practice and a strategy video. Wouldn't care try it without the fire umbrella though.

Sekiro is way more fair than Elden Ring. It's tough, but you've always got what you need if you learn the enemies. Sekiro is always capable of putting up a fight, whereas in ER your character feels like a 98 lb sissy armed with a whiffle bat moving through peanut butter fighting Mike Tyson in his prime. Unless you over level or know the most broken shit to lean on.

I agree with this- Sekiro's combat (which is ultimately the most important thing to me) crushes GoT's with no contest. But they are also very different types of game- ghost really nailed what they were going for and created an unforgettable experience.

Have you played hyper light drifter?

I'd guess the Victorian Era European look. Or maybe the HP Lovecraft influence? Perhaps the concept of "the hunt"?

I've found that having more than a couple days off makes a noticeable effect. My wife has a PF black membership, so we can still hit the gym while on vacation, as those are pretty much everywhere. Barring that, I've got a set of loop style bands that travel easy.

I love DMC, so that sounds nice to me. I'll be waiting on a PC port, so it will be a while regardless.

The action focus of FF16 has me more interested than I'd normally be. I bought 15 on steam a good while back and haven't even tried it yet due to the expected massive time sink.

I'm torn on the MGS collection. While I have nostalgia for them, I also know I'd be bored to tears watching all those cutscenes and codec conversations. Skip them, and the games are a bit paltry- less so with MGS3, but still probably enough to make me regret buying them again.

This explains why Google has pushed that site into my recommended news stories so often.

It's not new at this point, but did you try Furi? Tough game, but you're not a glass cannon (unlike From's games) in it either.

I didn't stop with 4, but I haven't really played them much since 5. I was looking forward to really getting into 5 early, but the online- which I don't normally even enjoy due to lag, the hassles of waiting around for people, and the fact that you're usually playing against people who play constantly- just wouldn't work for me initially. Turned out the game didn't like my router, but by the time I figured that out, I had lost interest. Had a group of friends I used to play them with in person, but we've since moved all over the place- trying to play with them online these days involves trying to line up schedules, waiting around endlessly, everyone having to have the same revision of the game, there inevitably being friends of friends in the group that don't have whatever game, etc, etc. And in the very rare instance I do get to play with one of those friends, they're way out of practice and get frustrated quickly. I do miss the days of playing FG's with my friends in person for hours on end as a kid or in my early 20's. Single player games are just way more enjoyable for me to jump in and out of for as long or as little as I have time for.

I think this one wins VGMF for the year. F-Zero X has a killer soundtrack overall. As good as GX is, I still think X is better. More courses, and the soundtrack beats the piss out of GX's comparatively lame (and repetitive) OST.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is all I'm excited about there. Kind of concerned that it looks like it's re-using a hell of a lot of assets though.

Bring back the Punch Out stereotypes!

I did say usually. And to be fair, a karate bear is way cooler than the KoFxHot Topic version of Rainbow Brite.

I remember when new fighting game characters usually looked cool- that was a long time ago.

Played through Vanquish for the first time since it was released on PC, still fun, albeit too easy unless you play "God Hard" mode, which is stupid hard. The game could use a notch up in the lower difficulties. Also messed with some boss rush in Sekiro for the first time in several months- got a little rusty at it, not mowing through them all like I used to. That boss rush/boss select update was the perfect addition to the game- the only thing it's missing is miniboss selections.

Kill them one at a time without explosives (at least until the last one) before you put the card in. Better yet, look up how to knife them to death, it's not too bad. Knife one, save, knife the next, repeat until they're all dead.

Missed VGMF, but wanted to post this while thinking about it:

I went with my good ol' Red 9 for the power. In hindsight, I'd probably recommend the blacktail over it now for the aim quality and the space savings. It's a little weaker, but the tradeoff is probably worth it.

Almost finished with my first replay of re4. Looks like I'll end up a couple hundred thousand below the cost for an IRL since I still upgraded some weapons and missed my chance to backtrack in the castle for loot. Contemplating trying a knife and handgun assisted mode run next, or could cash one of my main guns out and buy that IRL, then go for an A rank run in professional with that IRL to get the typewriter. Decisions, decisions. The game is a blast for sure, especially with that indestructible knife. Oh, and for anyone that hasn't played it yet, you can store your guns at save points, which eliminates the issue the original had where using a different loadout generally meant having to sell guns. Just one more nice touch that adds to the replay value.

I think it's more accurateally refined down to nerds on the internet. I'd like to see a Venn diagram of the interests of people who freak out like this over tiny things. Hell hath no fury like a scorned nerd online.

I found the voice change to be surprising and kind of weak, but goddamn gamers can be petulant douchebags. Seems like as soon as someone finds something petty to be upset about, shitloads of people have to jump on the bandwagon. Over and over this shit happens.