6th December
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve been playing. This week, Marie is unable to resist replaying a torturous old PS1 game; Connor finds himself wrapped up in more obscure Guild Wars 2 challenges; Ed forgives shortcomings because of immaculate vibes; Bertie finally finishes Dispatch; and Dom discovers a whole half of the game in Dave the Diver he didn’t know existed.
M&M’s Shell Shocked, PS1
Technically I haven’t played it this week but I’ve been thinking about it non-stop. This colourful game about stopping the M&M Minis from destroying the factory takes the top prize as the most frustrating game I have ever touched, but which always keeps me coming back for more.
I’m not exaggerating. It’s genuinely the most rage-inducing game I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve played Crash Bandicoot. Yet somehow I keep going back for more. Even now, if the game was in front of me, I’d play it and regret my choices all over again. I fear that my love-loathe relationship with this game will be eternal.
-Marie
Guild Wars 2, and Guild Wars: Reforged. PC
Did you know that to unlock the title ‘Gods Walking Amongst Mere Mortals’ in Guild Wars 2, you have to achieve something truly impressive in the original, preceding Guild Wars games? I didn’t. I only learned about that about a week ago while feeling all nostalgic about the MMOs of my youth.
Gods Walking Amongst Mere Mortals, dubbed GWAMM by the Guild Wars community, is a title granted by completing ‘title tracks’ in the original game and its expansions. Think of them like meta-achievements, marks of acclaim. The grind to earn said title takes over two months to complete, and roughly 1000 hours, according to player estimates, so yeah sure, why not.
Thanks to Guild Wars: Reforged I can go back to the old game and have other people there to play with, and I’ve also, in the process of going back, discovered some entertaining facts about the game. Did you know you, for instance, you can grind all the way to the max level of 20 in Guild Wars: Prophecies’s tutorial zone? Did you know that doing so is necessary to obtain GWAMM, and that there’s a whole subset of Guild Wars players dedicated to this slice of the game? I bet you did not!
Needless to say, I’m doing this right now, so if you need me, I’ll be hanging around pre-searing Ascalon. Toodaloo!
-Connor
Demonschool, PC (Steam)
A good soundtrack can really elevate a game. We all know this. But Demonschool’s horror-funk music just makes me love it even more. The game is Persona-meets-Buffy, as a bunch of kids wind up in a demon infested school on a mysterious island in the late ’90s. The RPG and relationship side of things is a little light (I’m a few hours in), but the turn-based combat is strategic and chess-like in the best way, rewarding clever positioning and character combinations as you put a menagerie of horrible-looking monsters into check-mate.
But what really elevates combat is the music, a sort of melange of jazz, funk, Italo Disco, and Castlevania, which has my head bopping as I contemplate each move. It fits so perfectly with the technicolour anime visuals that I can forgive any shortcomings in favour of exceptional vibes.
-Ed
Dispatch, Where Winds Meet, PC
Only I could manage to string a game like this out for so long, but I finally finished Dispatch ahead of an interview with developer AdHoc – keep your eyes on the site – and generally, I loved it. Playing it feels like taking a sunbeam of energy to the face. It’s so condensed, so energetic, so funny, so stylish. Those several hours of running stuff pack a lot in. Perhaps it’s because episodic gaming like this has been away for so long that it feels so refreshing, or perhaps it’s because Dispatch is simply that good, but I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending it to everyone.
I tried playing Quantic Dream’s surprise new 3D MOBA game Spellcasters: Chronicles, too, but my 16GB of RAM was causing impassable problems, no matter how much I lowered graphics settings. I haven’t come across a RAM-related issue like that in a while – years, in fact – and given the global RAM economy at the moment, it seems like a very bad time to encounter it.
I also had a go at Where Winds Meet, messing around with the AI chat bots and – I kid you not – uploading a picture of myself to the game so it could map my likeness onto my character, which it did. The result didn’t look anything like be but the character did have very sad eyes.
-Bertie
Dave the Diver, PS5
Anyone that’s been reading my stuff on Eurogamer since I came over here in the summer might have picked up that I’m a foodie. I read recipe books for fun. I spend multiple hours a day in the kitchen. I have a secret Instagram account where I recreate food from games as closely as possible (no, I won’t be sharing it). I can forgive Final Fantasy 15 for its flaws purely because of “I’ve come up with a new reci-pey!” Ignis, and the main draw of Monster Hunter as a series for me is sitting down with your pals before a hunt and – quite literally – chewing the fat.
So how the hell didn’t I know that the diving in Dave the Diver is only half the game!? The other half is breathing life into a quiet little sushi bar set in an idyllic Hawaiian-like island, and every time you research some new ochazuke, or ramen, or onigiri, or karaage, you get these intricate, sumptuous little cutscenes realised with absolutely beautiful pixel art that shows a deep appreciation for the process, craftsmanship, and colour of Japanese cuisine.
The game has so much heart, and you tend to access it through its stomach. I can’t think of the last game that made me feel like a gourmand artisan just by watching how many dishes come together based on the fruits of my undersea labour. I know I’m late to this game, but I am so, so glad I found it. Itadakimasu!
-Dom
Sektori, PC/Steam Deck
It’s incredible.
-Chris
