Hey, how's it going? I see you played Fallen Order. I started watching all the Star Wars movies and shows in chronological order back in December including including the more recent games (Prior to this I had seen all the movies except Solo, but had never watched any of the TV shows). I replayed Fallen Order on PS5 and am excited to start Survivor today. I actually bought a tie-in book called Jedi: Battle Scars that takes place between FO and Survivor. Any plans on playing Survivor?

Looking forward to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as well, though I think I'm going to have to wait for the kids to finish it first. I think they are more excited than me this time around.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, it looks like I snagged an Xbox Series X as well, through the "All Access" program where it is bundled with 2 yrs of Game Pass Ultimate and you get a credit card to pay off over two years. I needed an extra credit card for my younger daughter to carry anyway.

Managed to get my 'qoata' up to a decent amount by playing some shorter games. I have a lot of vacation to use up before year end as well, so hopefully I will get even more done. I just saw that Call of the Sea and Haven are leaving Game Pass at the end of the month, so I'm going to try to smash through those.

Well, I ended up getting a PS5. Astro's Playroom comes free with it and is really good and shows off the features of the PS5 controller. I feel like most people skip it since it is free, but it is good quality.

Now I need to get some time to get back to gaming. The new position at work has had me working till late. I usually try to finish at least around 18 games a year and I have fallen behind.

It seems like I heard somewhere that they use cheap parts now.

Vampyr ended up being an enjoyable experience. I liked the story, I just wish there had been more ability to adjust the difficulty. Regular was way too hard and Story was way too easy.

I've actually been making a half-ass effort the past week to snag a PS5. I'm not that worried about it though so I doubt I will get one. I have plenty of other games to keep me busy. I finally started Horizon. The State of Play they did for the upcoming game looked really nice and gave me the motivation.

I heard this week that there are already drift issues with PS5 controllers. I've had issues with the Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 controllers in the last couple years. I don't know what is going on, but I hope they get it fixed. Never had any issues on previous consoles. But it doesn't sound like it something that is getting fixed if it is carrying over.

Vampyr was so difficult as to be a pain IMO. The idea was that you can go 'embrace' citizens to upgrade and make it easier but which would change your ending. I don't care for being forced to play a way I don't want. I hadn't embraced anyone by the end of lvl 2 and couldn't beat the boss. They added a Story Mode sometime after release but you can't change setting mid game, so I will have to start over to play it through on easy lol. Good thing I'm not that far in. I usually add all of the free offerings to my library. I don't even add them on backloggery unless I download them or know that I want to play them though. I'll defo play Beyond before Detroit. It is already installed on the PS4 in fact. Just need to get to it. I've actually forgotten what the January offerings were, but I claimed them.

How did you like Spider Man? I loved it and completed it and all the DLC, but my son finished the main game and then lost interest. I just finished A Plague Tale: Innocence and really enjoyed it. I think it plays similar to a Naughty Dog style game. Good story. Would recommend.

No, I haven't got a new system yet. I hope they will come out with versions that come with 2 TB of storage for the same price or less eventually. Hopefully the current problems have all been fixed with software updates, but I haven't really been following it.

I've got a little more use since Edith.. Three PSVR games and now Vampyr. One PSVR was a shooter which I only played for an hour or so though. I'm not sold on Vampyr yet... you have the choice to kill people and level up or not, but then it is too difficult if you don't. Or maybe I just need to stay on the chapter quests for now. I'm having a hard time staying into it, but I'll probably give it some more time. There's been a couple of other PS Plus games that I do plan on playing but haven't got to yet... Detroit: Become Human, and Beyond: Two Souls spring to mind.

We're all doing well. No one has had covid yet. The kids have been able to attend school full time so far, but it is getting worse around here. Hopefully we can make it until the vaccines come out. Hope all well for you too. And Merry Christmas if I don't talk to you before then.

I'm still leaning towards waiting awhile as well. To me the Series S has no appeal. In fact, I think it may actually be less powerful than the One X. It will have the faster SSD drive and some of those features, but can't even output 4k.

I used to feel the same way about PS Plus when the multiplayer was free, but since they made it required for multi, I feel like I am paying the sub for my son to play online, and the games are just a bonus. I claim them but never even install most of them and don't even log them here. I've been a PS Plus and Games with Gold member for years. Game Pass isn't really like PS Plus though, more like PS NOW, but without the streaming play and a much bigger library. 'Netflix of games' really is an apt description. All of their first party games are available on launch day (unlike PS NOW). I assume they will give out a free month trial with new consoles and if not you can get your first month for a dollar usually. I figure if you just play 3 full price games a year you get your money back, so it seems like a good deal, and I don't feel like I'm ignoring my backlog that way.

My son has said multiple times now that he wishes he could go back in time and play RDR2 again for the first time.

It seems like the rumors are starting to agree about XSX being $600 and releasing the first week of November, and PS5 being $500/$400 and releasing Nov 13th-21st. I looked at some PC prices to see what it would be to upgrade my PC to match the performance of the XSX, and the recommended graphics card alone is $600, so I'm guessing it will technically be a pretty good deal even though it seems really expensive. A comparable full PC would be at least $1800. I told my son we'll probably play all the next gen games on console instead of PC.

I saw the other day they have re-made the original Mafia game from the ground up. I watched a bit of gameplay and it looked good. They are releasing Mafia Trilogy with all definitive editions. I may have to get that one when it goes on sale. It didn't say anything about next gen systems, so maybe I'll wait and see. That's what I've been excited about this week anyway.

My daughter wanted to play Minecraft on Xbox 1, so I ended up buying another subscription to Game Pass Ultimate. I've been playing 3rd party games off of there lately cause you never know for sure when they will leave.

Read Dead 2, I would probably have to pick as my favorite of all time.

I finished Marvel's Spider Man and I have to recommend that as one to move up the list. Really fun game and actually feels like isn't very long, without feeling like it is lacking in content.

I saw where a company supposedly leaked a price point for the PS5 of 400 for the digital and 500 for the disk version, except I think it was Euros, but that's about what I figure it will be. I still haven't decided for sure to get one right away or not, but my son said his friend is saving up for one, so that may be an excuse to adopt early. It sounds like it might be fully backwards compatible with PS4 games too. Sounds like there will be another presentation later this month, hopefully with official prices.

How are you liking Horizon? That's one I was really looking forward to playing. I think I have a problem with pushing back the games I really want to play to delay the satisfaction or something. I need to just play the big ones.

I watched the Xbox presentation today and Fable is no longer just rumored. lol I thought the games looked pretty good, The Medium and Everwild look particularly interesting to me. On the other hand, It appears that Xbox has taken away the option to buy 1 year ofGames with Gold leaving only monthly or quarterly. It seems like they may be trying to coerce everyone into paying more for Game Pass, which I'm not happy about.

I found a good pic of it laying horizontally. [Link]
As far as making room, I'm thinking it is time to retire my Wii, PS3, and 360 to the basement TV. That should make enough room to shuffle things when the time comes. I have to say I'm a little tempted to get the PS5 right away, I probably won't but the temptation is there. Like you say, the Playstation is a must have for the 1st party games (and Nintendo too IMO), and Microsoft 1st party is a little less exciting. They have bought the Hellblade IP and studio though, so they are getting better, and I'm sure I'll get one, but probably the PS5 first. I agree about the games at the end of the console cycle being great, but ait seems like they have made versions of them for the next gen system as well... for example, The Last of Us Remastered.. GTA 5 had a next gen version ready right away. I think God of War 3 had a PS4 release. I've already heard Control might have a next gen release, because it barely ran on the current gen systems lol.

It lays horizontally, but still uses the stand underneath either way. I guess the sides are too curved to have a built in surface. Here is a size comparison pic in case you haven't seen one: [Link]

I doubt I'll be buying anymore games for the current consoles since I have plenty of backlog and most of what I want that is already out, God of War for instance, will likely have a next gen update. Although, it sounds like Xbox is doing away with different console versions of games. It sounds as if, like PCs, you will buy just buy the game you want and the system will download the version of the game that is optimized for it. As far as what I plan to play next, my son wants to play Spiderman so I have installed it and plan to play it soon. Arkham VR has me in the mood to play the two games I still haven't got around to, Origins and Knight, plus I got Enemy Within a little while back too. In addition I have been catching up on all the DC and Marvel movies I am behind on. My stimulus check and then some are already used up. My 25 yr old Air Conditions unit got to where the compressor couldn't do the job anymore, so I bought a new Trane in April.

I've had the mid gen consoles the last couple generations. Especially after the Red Ring of Death, I like to wait at least a year or two and make sure there are no design flaws. Did you see the PS5 reveal presentation? The new Horizon and Spiderman games were my highlights. A lot of the other stuff I wasn't that excited by, and some of it didn't really look "next gen" if you ask me. What do you think of the design? From an artistic standpoint it looks nice, but it looks like it will have to sit on the stand regardless of if it is vertical or horizontal, which I don't know how I feel about. It also sounds like it is bigger than the fat PS3, making it the largest console ever. I haven't seen any photos with comparison shots though so...

It sounds like you are a bit like me: 'Social Distancing' is my middle name. I miss going to restaurants and movies and theme parks and vacation and stuff, but definitely not the long commute to work including public transportation. My oldest is going to be a Senior, so I definitely hope they get school going back to normal.

I think saving for the PS5 is the wise choice. PSVR is a cool novelty, but a novelty nonetheless. Most of what is available tends to be on the shorter side. I've actually considered getting No Man's Sky since it is a full length game that is compatible.

How have you been doing with the epidemic? I've been working from home since March and won't be going back soon, maybe not this year. Which is fine by me.

You mentioned being interested in playing Moss. I can definitely recommend it. I don't know that it is good enough to buy a PSVR for by itself, but I think it is the best thing on it I have played so far.

I think I said once when I got my daughter Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for Christmas that.. lets see if I can find it... oh yes, two years ago: " I'm going to bet that you finish Xeno 2 before our copy is even unwrapped." Well, it finally got unwrapped a couple of weeks ago, not sure if it was before or after you finished yours. Turns out she does not like it... it wasn't what she thought it would be she says. She wants to play Moss though.

On the gaming front as well, I was lucky to get in 16 last year as I didn't really start until August. I was playing Sea of Thieves now and again, but there is really no end game to that.

That is interesting that they took a new approach to the dungeons of P5. It does make me more interested. I thought Xenoblade was pretty different than the Xenosaga games in that it was more focused on the open world. Does Xenoblade have strong characters and story? I do want to check out Nier Automata at some point actually.

I don't ever play my 3DS anymore, though I still need to play Link Between Worlds. My wife already played and beat that, as well as Link's Awakening for the Switch. She loves to play Zelda games but not much else lol.

Thanks for the info on the visual novels. I'm definitely interested playing some, but I think I need to go on a vacation to be able to play more portable games lol. Whenever I'm at home, I don't play on the Switch much even if she's not using it. I'd rather just play on the PS4 lol.

I'm having a great time with Spider-Man on the PS4. It wasn't really on my radar, but it was on sale and I saw good reviews for it. It is actually pretty similar to the Arkham games (especially City and Knight) from the combat to gadgets to traversal and even stealth. Well, the stealth sequences feel more like Arkham lite as there aren't a lot of options on how to do takedowns and it's also really easy. Overall, I don't think it reaches the level of the Arkham games but I'm really enjoying it regardless. I see that you own the game already. When do you plan on playing it?

That seems to be the case, though Pillars and Divinity OS II are more modernized and updated than those Baldur's Gate games. They should be much easier for you to get into. Plus, they are adapted well for consoles so it won't be like that time where you tried to play the first Fallout haha.

Not sure how many hours in The Witcher III but probably less than you did haha. I think I can put more hours into WRPG's without feeling the repetitiveness though. I can't say the same for those Persona dungeon crawls lol.

Yeah, playing portable JRPG's on portable systems would be easier. I did love FE: Awakening and had a great time throughout.

Interesting. Is Chaos; Child like Hakuoki in that it is a visual novel where you make decisions to change the plot yet there are no puzzles? I see you played this and the Muv Luv games on your Vita. Are there any good ones on the Switch? It doesn't look like you've played too many games on your Switch yet. Has the Vita been your main handheld system?

Yeah I also want to play Divinity II. I'll probably get to it sometime this year. We recently started to watch The Witcher on Netflix. It's pretty interesting so far. It is like a prequel, but I don't want to say too much yet as I saw on Jeff's wall that you haven't watched it yet.

I can't remember the last time I played a JRPG haha. Persona 5 would have been a no-brainer, but these days I'm not sure I have that same commitment to play through such a long one. I do want to play Valkyria Chronicles 4 though. I felt that their approach was more refreshing. Have you played it yet?

Yeah, Cyberpunk and The Last of Us 2 are at the top of my list for sure as well. Visual novels on the Switch do sound good. Which ones have you been playing? My wife's sister got her Untitled Goose Game recently which we loved playing. Pretty unconventional game but you know how I like to experiment and figure out how to complete a task in a game.

Hey man, looks like I'm the second person to write on your wall in a year haha. How have you been? I've been on holiday break since the 24th so I had some more time for games. Just beat Pillars of Eternity. Fantastic game with the usual party based dungeon crawling goodness, rich story, and plenty of choices in the quests. Any interest in playing this? You don't have any excuse now that they did a great job of bringing to the consoles. Even I prefer to play these games on my PS4 now haha. Looking at your reply to Jeff though, you'll have to get your consoles back first lol.

Anyway, it seems that I am able to beat longer games and RPG's now. I usually take breaks that may last a few weeks to a month or so, but I always get back to the games. I don't think I've left any game unfinished since a few years back. Witcher 3 was fantastic too. The only mistake I made was that I tried to romance both Triss and Yen and you probably know how that turned out haha. If I had to guess, you probably picked Yen?

Happy New Year man. What are you looking forward to playing in 2020?