deKay's Lofi Gaming

Gaming Diary

Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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Sometimes, a game comes along which is properly hilarious. Sure, there are funny games, and games with funny events or “player made” hilarity, but it’s rare for a funny game to be this funny. Thank Goodness You’re Here! is what we used to call an arcade adventure game. I suppose, in some ways, it’s the spiritual successor to such British 8-bit computer games as Everyone’s A Wally and Jack the Nipper. You, as a little (although his size randomly changes …

Phogs (PS5): COMPLETED!

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One good thing about PS++++++++++, is that in amongst all the crap games and shovelware there are a load of co-op games that are fun for me to play with my daughter. It’s because of an afternoon where we were looking for something to play together that we were trawling through the library and spotted Phogs (or possibly “PHOGS!”), and now we’ve completed it. In many ways, this game falls into a similar category as other wonky-physics titles like Human …

Metaphor: ReFantazio (PS5)

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It’s rare I post about a game before I’ve completed it these days, but I felt I had to write something about Metaphor: ReFantazio. I’m only about 10 hours in, with the last five of those being mostly spent in the first proper dungeon, so it’s early doors, but oh my, is this a game. To begin with, I was a little disappointed in the graphics. I’m not All About The Graphics, as regular readers would know, but it’s sometimes …

Miss Rosen’s Wowtastic! Marching Band (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Note: A free code was given to me by the devs for review purposes for an upcoming episode of the ugvm Podcast. This isn’t a full review, just a record in my gaming diary. The full review will be over there anon. A while back, I played the totally ridiculous Switch game About An Elf. It had a very unique art style and gameplay which teeters on the very definition of what gameplay is, and was baffling before you even …

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country (Switch): COMPLETED!

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If the $hlmun of hours on the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 main game and DLC wasn’t enough, then thank $deity for this prequel spin-off! Yes, more Xenoblade! Amazing. To be cynical for a moment, it’s clear that this was likely originally supposed to be integrated in the main game. There’s a number of flashbacks to events 500 years ago, and it’s those events that are retold in full here. You could complain about it being money-grabbing to ask you to buy …

Rain On Your Parade (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Rain On Your Parade is one of those silly arcade games that things like Donut County and Pool Panic. In this, you’re a sentient cloud who – initially – is mainly tasked with raining on things. After all, what else can a cloud do? You have to soak so many people or rust so many vehicles, that sort of thing. Quickly things take a bit of a turn when you’re encouraged to cause chaos, set fire to stuff (you can …

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)

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So I did go back to it! I was prompted to by a Christmas Present though – I received a (physical) copy of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna -The Golden Country. This is a stand-alone prequel to XC2, but also contains a code for all the additional DLC for XC2, of which there’s rather a lot. When Xenoblade 2 was originally released, there was a “season pass” type thing going on with DLC drops every so often. Sometimes it’d be in-game …

Astro Bot (PS5): COMPLETED!

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Super Mario Galaxy 3 is a real love letter to Nintendo games, especially previous Mario titles. There are so many parts lifted from or referencing bits of the earlier games, as well as other Nintendo titles. You’ve the Mario 64 Bowser boss fights and Tiny-Huge Island, Super Mario Sunshine’s FLUDD and void levels, Super Mario Galaxy’s worlds and “flying into the level” sequences, a replica of Mario Odyssey’s Lake Kingdom, and characters and enemies from across the series like Thwomp …

Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure (Mega Drive): COMPLETED!

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Since I had my Retroflag GPi out for the Mandatory Playing Of Mega-lo-Mania, I thought I’d play something else afterwards. Perusing those Mega Drive games I’d not really played before, but I remember having reasonable reviews, I came across Buster’s Hidden Treasure and gave it a punt. And you know what? It’s alright actually. The 8 and 16-bit console eras were drowning in character platformers, and yet none really touched Mario or Sonic. Even the big games like Dynamite Headdy …

Mega-lo-Mania (Mega Drive): COMPLETED!

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Once more I was in the mood for some Mega-lo-Mania. I’ve gone into why I love the game before, but I just can’t stop playing it every so often. It is still The Best Game. This time, I chose Oberon (the camp yellow guy), and when I reached the final level not one but two other gods managed to squirrel away some people for me to fight! Which took about ten seconds as I had loads and they had very …

Toilet Chronicles (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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A game with toilets in it? Surely not. And me, here, with enough spare change in my Steam account from selling trading cards to afford to buy it? Serendipity! I went in knowing almost nothing about the game, except that it has toilets in it and you’re trapped in the toilets. And that is pretty much all there is to know. You’ve gone into the toilets of a party and then the door to the gents seems to have vanished …

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch): COMPLETED!

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This game is big, busy, and full of charm, even if it doesn’t quite hit the same epic scale as the first Xenoblade Chronicles. If you’ve played the first game, you’ll see some familiar creatures (like the adorable fluffball Nopon) and field enemies, but there’s no direct link between the two stories – at least, not initially. That said, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is prettier than the first game, with vibrant visuals and more detailed environments. It’s also much busier, with …

Joe & Mac Returns (Evercade): COMPLETED!

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Another two player Evercade game. I’ve played Joe & Mac (Caveman Ninja) before, and the sequel, but hadn’t even heard of this. In fact, I thought it was the sequel when I started it up. As it turns out, it’s a completely different sort of platformer. Whereas the other two Joe & Mac games were sideways scrolling platformers where you club baddies, Returns is a two player Bubble Bobble/Snowbros/Rodland type single screen “clear the baddies” type game. You still club …

Knuckle Bash (Evercade): COMPLETED!

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I broke out the Evercade VS for some games with my daughter, and this was one of those we played. It’s a Final Fight clone by Toaplan, and is very silly and badly translated. You’re wrestlers, I think, one of whom is Elvis Presley, and you have to fight your way through the streets and buildings to take down the bad guys, some of whom join your cause. It’s hilarious. But not (always) intentionally so. It’s just so ridiculous. Like …

Batsugun (Evercade): COMPLETED!

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Well isn’t this a slick little arcade shooter? I’ve heard of it before but never played it, and I don’t generally get excited over shoot ’em ups as they’re not really my favourite genre, but I couldn’t help be impressed with just how much is going on at any one time on this. I suppose in some ways it’s an early bullet hell shooter, in that there are so many bullets coming at you the main focus of the game …