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Tony

Game Complete: Pentiment (Xbox Series X)

Pentiment is an odd game to review. I had no idea going in what kind of game it was. Solely based on a pretty sweet box art image and some positive buzz on Twitter I decided to give it a download. (I mean look at the box art. That dude’s head is ON FIRE)

It’s also hard to describe what it is. It’s a medieval mystery? A late Rennasiance detective story? A religious cover-up? I can’t explain. I was also stuck most of the time wondering “Is this fiction? Or based on actual events?” That both made it a little hard to believe and also a little exciting.

I would not be surprised to hear that many of the reviewers that scored the game high only played the first few hours and thought “yep, that’s a 10 out of 10!” I, too, was sucked in to the first act of the game. I was caught up in what I was playing. Did I make the right choices? I accused multiple people of being criminals and sentenced them to death (directly and through actions). Did they deserve it?

After the first act ended, it felt like the game had a good, but ambiguous (and short!), ending. I had no idea, no indication that it was the first of multiple parts. I thought my game began and ended with Andreas Maler’s story. Not so.

I bounced off the game for a while, somewhere in the third act. It was fine, the story was moving along at a decent pace but I just wasn’t in love with it. Ultimately I finished the game in a car, driving to NYC, on my iPad. These are not ideal conditions but I had wanted to try out Cloud Gaming from a mobile device for a long time and since I couldn’t be playing Tears of the Kingdom I figured Pentiment on an iPad, tethered to my phone, was the next best thing.

With my iPad jittering through frames provided by my poor phone as a hot spot, I played through the last 45 minutes (I hadn’t realized how close to the end I was) on a touch screen. Playing through the Cloud on the iPad is probably worth another post, but poor gaming experience matched how disappointing the end of Pentiment was. The 3rd act’s choices have less consequences (no one died by my actions) but raised just as many “did I make the right choices” doubts I had throughout the rest of the game. Unsatisfying.

Yes, the game wrapped up the dangling storylines with room for interpreting it how you’d like, but as a completionist who has to exhaust all dialog options and inspect every point of interest, Pentiment was not made for me.

6/10

Weekend Gaming, Freedom Holiday Style

It has been wall-to-wall Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom around the Casa de Buttonmashing since release, but now I’ve been feeling like it’s time for a little break. Not because TotK is getting boring, definitely not, it’s just time for something different. A palette cleanser, perhaps. Or maybe I just want to shoot something with a weapon other than a bow. Either way, the closed beta for The Division: Heartland came across the inbox this week so I downloaded it and decided to give it a whirl over the long weekend. What better way to celebrate freedom than by shooting something in the face!?

In addition we have the Summer Sale on Steam. Steam Sales have definitely lost their wow-factor but there’s always that chance you’ll find a hidden gem or finally pick up that X-Com bundle, so I may peruse the sales and my wishlist (thinking about Inscryption) and see what we can find.

And of course there will be much Zelda’ing over the long weekend, too. I can’t go that long without a fix.

What are you playing this weekend?

In my Weekend Gaming Hands

I didn’t finish everything on my to-do list, but nothing matters now. It’s Zelda time.

What are you playing this weekend (besides Tears)?

Clear my schedule

To-do list before 5/12:

  • Finish Resident Evil 4 Remake
  • Finish Hi-Fi Rush
  • Finish Pentiment
  • Finish garden
  • Finish job
  • Finish being a dad
  • Kiss wife good-bye, tell her how much I’ll miss her

In My Weekend Gaming Hands

Game Complete: Resident Evil 8 (and an RE Ranking)

I started this post last year, after I finished Resident Evil 8. Now that it’s sit in the Drafts folder for months, I figured I should finish it up before the next Resident Evil release drops this week. And boy oh boy what a drop that is going to be — the remake of one of the best video games I have ever played — Resident Evil 4. Excitement for RE4 Remake is at an all time high around the buttonmashing household.

But first, a quick review of Resident Evil 8. After two VERY solid remakes, RE2 and RE3, RE8 is a continuation of Resident Evil 7, another of my favorite Resident Evils. It took a little bit to get used to the first person mode after going back to 3rd person for the remakes. Overall, RE8 was a really good game. The story was another bonkers Resident Evil storyline, complete with rounding up trinkets and items to solve puzzles and move the story along but this time the “trinkets” were actually pieces of your daughter, dismembered and preserved in jars littered throughout the spooky village.

Yep. And then things get weirder. Your previously murdered wife wasn’t your wife, you have been dead since RE7 (you really didn’t think you reattached your hand when the tall, pale vampire lady sliced it off, did you?) and your daughter is supernatural. So ya, another bonkers Resident Evil storyline. It’s why we love them so much.


So having finished Resident Evil Village and before diving back into RE4 again, I thought I’d post my rankings of all the Resident Evil games I’ve played.

Resident Evil Rankings:

  1. Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube, PC)
  2. Resident Evil 7 (PC)
  3. Resident Evil 2 REmake (PC)
  4. Resident Evil 8 (PC)
  5. Resident Evil 3 REmake (PC)
  6. Resident Evil REmake (GameCube)
  7. Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)
  8. Resident Evil Revelations (PC, in progress)
  9. Resident Evil 0 (GameCube)
  10. Resident Evil Resistance (PC)

Haven’t played yet: Resident Evil – Code Veronica, Resident Evil Revelations 2 (and too many spin-offs/mobile games to list)

And with that, it’s time to get ready to go back to the remote Spanish village where it all began…

In My Weekend Gaming Hands

Just like the rest of the Xbox world, I picked up Hi-Fi Rush after its surprise release last week. I unfortunately haven’t had a ton of time to play it yet but I plan to rectify that situation this week with some quality Xbox time. Between Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment, my weekend is set!

What are you playing this weekend?

In My Weekend Gaming Hands

It’s actually been in my hands since Monday, but a busy week means it’s been plugged in, updated and then waited patiently for someone to download some games. (I did download and play Geometry Wars 2 just because, but nothing more)

Have I switched back to being a primarily console gamer? Maybe. I have been craving some laid-back couch gaming recently and I’ve been eyeing an Xbox Series X for quite some time, so when I found one in stock, I jumped at the chance. I have been enjoying the benefits of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on my PC for some time now, but now a whole new realm of possibilities sits before me. For now, I’ll probably fart around in:

  • Vampire Survivors
  • Halo Infinite/Master Chief Collection
  • Forza Horizon 5

After that, I think maybe I’ll try Pentiment, or Dune: Spice Wars, or who knows what. I’m open to suggestions!

(Oh, and lest I forgot, Marvel Snap has its claws in me. DEEP)

What are you playing?

Weekend Gaming

It’s been a while since any activity was happening around these parts (except for the Resident Evil 4 Translation Guide, which gets another surge in traffic every few years when the next update/platform release/re-imagining comes around). What better way to get things rolling again than with some weekend video games?!

Gaming around these parts has come in fits and spurts for me. Since I last posted, I finished some oldies (Dead Rising 3), some goldies (RE8, technically finished last December, but I didn’t finish writing about it so we’re still going to count it), and an actual 2022 release, Elden Ring.

Outside of the last boss fight, Elden Ring has entered the pantheon of best games ever. Top Ten for sure and possibly Top Five. Elden Ring routinely surprised and delighted me. On top of the gorgeous visuals (Elden Ring Gallery) and expansive world, nothing was more satisfying than the combat. I have no idea what happened at the end, but it was well worth the time spent.

Now that it’s officially stay-inside-and-play-video-games-season, what’s on your plate for gaming? I recently started Frostpunk, which has been good so far, so I plan to get back to that. Sprinkle in a little Vampire Survivors, maybe the Resident Evil 8 DLC, and of course, Dota 2 and The International 11 viewing, and then we have a nice little gaming weekend right there.

In My Weekend Gaming Hands

It’s actually been in my hands for almost 24 hours already and yes, it’s living up to all the hype so far. This is my first real foray into a “Souls” type game and I’m learning first hand about the difficulty and frustration that entails but that hasn’t dampened my enjoyment at all. When I’m not playing Elden Ring, I’m thinking about Elden Ring. When I’m playing Elden Ring, I’m thinking about Elden Ring. So far so great.

What are you playing this weekend?

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