Game in Hand

Definitely a premium remaster of the beloved original but I am praying for a 60fps mode with the Switch 2 or something. The highly touted partner wheel time saving vs hitting a button on the dpad is lessened by inputs that are just ignored when the game isn't quite ready yet to let you dismiss text boxes, menus, tactics, etc. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Only a lack of sleep and children not sleeping can interrupt game time, so let's take advantage of the moment to recap some of the most anticipated xbox and PC games, including hints by Phil Spencer regarding an xbox handheld. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I started history/fact checking myself to see the power difference between the NES and the nintendo handhelds, and it's crazy how everything progressed. Hand held episode with a smile. I was considering putting FFTA on my GBA miss games the more I remember those stupid rules, but FFT gets a pass. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hard to not go off the deep end sometimes where nostalgia probably interferes with games ranking, objectively. Still, this wasn't just me playing it safe, it's what drives my brain towards playing these titles on retro handhelds on a regular basis. Or at least when I need a dose of childhood. Right next to metamucil and big bowl of bran. I know exactly why people go to extreme ends to fulfill chil...

Vanillaware has put out another stellar title. Gone are the grid lines and take turns mechanics that held units and boredom in place. While the story is nothing spectacular it certainly wasn't sitting on my nerves or poorly written at any point. Tactical difficulty was an okay challenge right under gear cataloging. Easy to say by the end of the game you need to become really familiar with what ite...

It seems South Park might be best experienced in the paper on 3D world. I know they likely didn't want a blockbuster budget game and in interviews Matt Stone mentioned Trey Parker likes RPGs and D&D, and Stone likes... mindless button mashers. I won't say that's the reason the game sucks but it's a complete deviation from previous quality. It's clunky, it's slow, it's repetitive, and I felt a...

Helldivers 2 has exploded in popularity and rightfully so. While I've limited most of my experience to one coop night a week with friends, it is definitely worth the praise and I can see the appeal grinding to level 50. It will be interesting to see how the devs at Arrowhead handle season 2 but it seems they are reactive and receptive enough to not screw up a good thing. Balatro on the other hand...

It's tough to not just reminisce this game is the true spiritual successor to Diablo 2. It borrows a lot but uses it as a foundation for the depth of the game it provides. I feel the replay value isn't watered down through effortless respecing or uniques that dictate your build. A lot of this jives with my mindset but it will also be a test how well the monolith, echos, and dungeons feel to grind...

It's a solid game. I have 91 in game hours at this point on my premium save, realizing I said 65 hours instead of 85 at the point of recording (tired, lol). It was absolutely a joy to play from start to finish. Playing as Kasuga and Kiryu at the same time was the ultimate tropical bromance. Even though it felt like Kiryu was more of the main character and Kasuga was Like a Dragon: Infinite Puppy E...

For the final 4 months of 2023, BG3 almost all my free time. Although I admit that it may have some flaws, such as the third act being a PC resource hog and less fulfilling compared to the first two acts, that's the end of the list of my complaints. It's an extravagant Dungeons & Dragons experience and Larian Studios truly went all out with it. Now playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and it...

Jokes aside, limiting lists to top 5 in 2023 should mean I need 6 lists alone just to mention games I really enjoyed this year. But I narrow my choices down for the best showings. Hopefully this should help anyone with a burning hole in their wallet looking for the best value for your steam wallet. Or even those big EGS sales that get scoured at by the religious cult of Steam. And their followers...

Nostalgia triggered. I beat it in 4 sessions. While I can't make my brain process I paid full price for a very short game, I am enthralled at the opportunity Nintendo presented to players. Now do Chrono Trigger! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I don't think I can be too harsh about Nintendo reusing the New Super Mario Bros formula. It is the safest bet that Nintendo's holiday sales projections are safe. I think it's just all stop gap measures until we get the new switch. It was casual enough I didn't feel odd being compelled to completing the game over other titles. Really I just needed a mindless break after the month I have had. So co...

Starfield has been out for a month now, it is good enough to not warrant red flags like we should have used for Fallout76. But it's not polished, and it's that final polish, proper upscaling tech, and time and time again bethesda problems that makes me think they need a good hard look at how or why this became a 200 million dollar game. It's currently my side game as Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't know I...

Armored Core 6 is the star of this week, although I can't say it's the only game on my plate. Sea of Stars is as good as I had hoped. Need to pace myself a little better before backlog gets out of hand. Still can't believe Sony is going through with the Portal, half step measures to pretend to be relevant in handheld gaming. Ended up returning and buying the ROG Ally again at an open box discount,...

LONG LIVE AMAZING, PASSIONATELY MADE GAMES. What started as an episode for Dave the Diver, which by all means is likely being the top indie game of 2023, became an show stolen by BG3. Larian fans, Divinity Original Sins fans, Baldurs Gate fans, D&D fans, get your wallet out right now. Metacritic best games of all time #1 AND #2 are current held by ISOMETRIC RPGS, the genre that was abandoned d...

A jump back into the podcast with a recap of my time divided across 4 fronts. Tears of the Kingdom is worth every penny, Diablo 4 makes me concerned for every penny. I was so torn between the new handheld PCs that I cancelled a pre-order and now will wait for the dust to settle. And as always, I have indie games to pile onto the backlog. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's looking like a proper sequel to Diablo 3 and not a faithful remake of Diablo Immortal. It's just not the innovative genre changer we would hope to get out of a billion dollar company being developed for 8 something years. I wish it wasn't just a beta because I could have accepted a new ARPG even in an early access state such as this. But as always, this beta is meant to help Blizzard. It sell...

Portkey Games has a pretty solid Harry Potter universe addition to their development resume, it's simplistic and casual friendly but balanced enough that I couldn't see myself not seeing it through to the end. Performance requirements for this game makes me wonder about ports to PS4, XBONE, and Switch if the majority of PC users are already struggling. High end GPU owners will breathe a sigh of re...

Happy new year! What did we gain in 2022 worth talking about? You have the Steam Deck cleaning house at affordable handheld PC gaming. You have Elden Ring that was a gorgeous reminder that From Software is still the master at making you suffer. I have 8 indie titles that I got more game play value with than any of the other big AAA titles anticipated for 2022. A lot of games were jammed into the f...

Tribute Games has released a solid arcade beat 'em up. It hits all of the familiar points of a quality arcade game... unfortunately copied the game length too. But will Tribute games start reviving all old arcade beat 'em ups? X-Men, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and Alien vs Predator next please! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Valve's Steam Deck experience is a state between hype and reality. In this episode, I talk about the progression of handheld gaming and emulation, and where a niche handheld PC gaming has improved with the Steam Deck. Providing some insight into the Deck if you already have a unit or are waiting for yours to arrive. Check out gamingonlinux for detailed updates for the deck: https://www.gamingonlin...