General gaming discussion

johnny_ultimate · 05-02-2026 07:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124209025#Comment_124209025

Ah didn’t know you could separate out burst counter and style shift, would definitely make life easier!

If it’s Jakotsu-baba you’re on, main thing is to just not be greedy - chip away with one / two hits when you can, and the Spirit attacks are really good for some easy damage with good range!

I did try one of the NPC helpers at one stage but they rarely draw aggro and like FromSoft games seem to buff the boss health / defence so much it’s not worth it. Was easier just to do it solo. I do think overall the bosses feel a bit damage spongey, but they do seem learnable too - despite the sometimes tight burst timing.

EoinMcLovin · 05-02-2026 11:29PM

Looks good, same developer who made World War Z

https://youtu.be/I4Ea7bMBNGQ?si=At4T3QOKncAIawdx

Potential-Monke · 06-02-2026 09:26AM

Pragmata demo available on PSN. Gave it a spin last night. Doesn't give much away, but gives you an idea of the combat and movement. 3rd person FPS with hacking in combat. You hacking the bots to open them up so your shooting can do damage. I can see it leading to some tense encounters as time keeps going while you hack. Seemed fairly smooth. Demo even gets you to try ahain and beat your time qoth additional unlocks the second time through. Took me 24min the first time, 12 the second. Apparently demo has 8 "endings".

Graphically it's pretty impressive. Very white and clean. Story is hinted at and seems mad but doesnt give anything away. Hard to tell how it'll perform tbh, modern audiences are weird.

Zero-Cool · 06-02-2026 09:39AM

Cairn is exceptional. I'm about 70% of the way through at about 12 hours in and already can't wait to start my next run. For 30 euro (27 for the next couple of weeks), it is an absolute bargain. Only negative is the patch yesterday broke photo mode where it crashes to the dashboard on ps5 which they are currently fixing. Pity as i use it so much. They are also working on a performance patch for ps5 as it can be a bit choppy. Other than that, it will absolutely be in my GOTY list.

Zero-Cool · 06-02-2026 10:22AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124210896#Comment_124210896

Update this morning fixed photo mode bug so no more crashes.

johnny_ultimate · 06-02-2026 01:17PM

I see Leap Year has just been released on Switch - good timing as I played through the game over the bank holiday on PC :) It's a Sokpop game - same collective that made the excellent Grunn (which I definitely recommend to Outer Wilds fans), though different lead designers here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4G8tXrqqQ0

A 'Metroidbrainia' puzzle platformer where the main goal is to collect 29 calendar pages by figuring out the mechanics that are available to you. First thing you discover is that most of the time you do a standard jump you'll actually just die, as your avatar can deal with very little fall damage. The ideas are expanded from there though, and figuring out why and how you die from jumping is the start of uncovering various secrets that were right in front of you the whole time. Similiar to Elechead and Ooo in that regard.

Can easily be finished in one session. There's also a 'March' DLC that by most accounts is basically a full sequel.

Zero-Cool · 06-02-2026 08:57PM

The Division Realism mode is a bit of a dud. It's only a mode for The Division 2 Warlords of NY DLC and it only lasts for a season in March. Devs said it's more of a tester but to hide in dlc ,and not even the latest dlc, is just disappointing.

Retr0gamer · 09-02-2026 10:51AM

Got some old school 3D specs and played some virtualboy via emulation. For such a reviled console with a tiny library, there's a quite a high ratio of really good games on that system.

Played some Warioland and Jack Bros and both are classics. Jack Bros is a really interesting game. It was the first SMT game localized for the west. It's a weird twin stick shooter that feels like a dungeon crawler. Jas some excellent boss battles. Really has no right to being as good as it is.

Warioland is excellent, very inventive if a little short.

Jordan 199 · 09-02-2026 11:07AM

Warioland. Blast from the past.

Zero-Cool · 10-02-2026 09:18AM

Replaced looks so good! Delighted I have it on my fantasy league but sickened it's not coming to PS5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVo4d0FqtWY

Penn · 10-02-2026 02:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124222396#Comment_124222396

Saw some chatter on it yesterday and went to put a sneaky bid on it only to see not only did you have it, it was one of your top picks. Fair play, could be a huge one!

Penn · 10-02-2026 02:24PM

At endgame of Dark Souls 2 so been going through the DLCs. On the whole I've felt the DLCs were a bit of a mixed bag, with some areas and enemy type/placement just being annoying.

But just spent the last hour battling the Fume Knight, and damn was that a great fight. Best one of DS2 anyway and up there among the pantheon of best Souls Bosses for me. Just absolute classic, no messing around, no bullsh*t… just you hit me and then I'll hit you. Every time I lost felt like my fault, everytime I got greedy I was punished for it, and everytime I died I learned a little something (though didn't always succeed in putting it into practice right away).

Retr0gamer · 10-02-2026 02:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124223204#Comment_124223204

I think with the DS2 dlc there's like 2 bosses for normal players and 1 boss that's an absolute frustrating whore that is only really meant for multiplayer. Some of the dlc is better but the gank squad and the snowy area with multiple cars bosses seem to be designed around multiplayer as they are complete bullshit otherwise.

Penn · 10-02-2026 02:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124223224#Comment_124223224

To be honest I'm feeling like I might actually skip the last DLC (the winter one) because I do kinda want to be done with the game at this stage and move on to something else (probably Nioh 3), and after the Fume Knight I don't think it's going to get any better than that anyway. Will have to look into it to see what I miss out on by not doing it and if it'll be worth it.

Retr0gamer · 10-02-2026 02:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124223252#Comment_124223252

That DLC is excellent, other than the multi boss fight which is optional and should be missed. The end boss fight is a real epic battle and not like any thing else in the series. Definitely worth playing that and not skipping it and it rounds off the dlc story as well.

Also you should give Sir Alonne a fight as well, it's one of the all time best dark souls boss fights.

Zero-Cool · 10-02-2026 03:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124223181#Comment_124223181

I had it on my list last year as well but was able to drop it when it was delayed, i really wanted on my 2026 list but you never know, those old school side scroller games can be hit and miss.

Penn · 10-02-2026 08:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124223316#Comment_124223316

Alright, because I was at f*ck all today anyway, beat Sir Alonne, Magic Smelter Demon, the third DLC, and the final bosses of the main game.

Third DLC was a balls. Boss fight was cool, but those hedgehog bastards, Phantoms (including a white phantom I thought was a friendly NPC and was helping me before he literally stabbed me in the back, and a phantom disguising itself as a barrel), and some enemy layouts/rooms... that was a really tough DLC.

Final bosses weren't that tough. Had three NPCs helping so they took a lot of aggro. Plus because of the DLC I was probably 30 levels higher than you'd normally be.

Enjoyed DS2 a lot all the same. I'd still rank it below 1 & 3, but at the same time not sure why it seems to be considered a lot worse than them. Maybe it's the Scholar of the First Sin version I was playing which seemingly rebalances enemy placement and other such things which improved the balance of the game. The bosses in general aren't that interesting, a lot of just large Knights (though the Pursuer, Looking Glass Knight and Fume Knight were big highlights). Some great environments too.

Glad I ticked it off the list, but not sure it's one I'll revisit in the future either.

Retr0gamer · 10-02-2026 11:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124224292#Comment_124224292

It kind of looks awful, even compared to the first game as they had to revamp the engine last minute. Loads of areas are obviously rushed with throw away bosses and lots of ideas just don't work. But there's loads to like about it and the combat options of DS 3 felt like a step back from how much stuff was in DS2.

People also forget that the New Game plus of DS2 is really robust with loads of new stuff, rearranged levels and some bosses like the mirror knight have some nasty new surprises. Every other From NG it's just a stat boost to enemies.

Penn · 11-02-2026 09:24AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124225171#Comment_124225171

Aye I had to remind myself at times that I was playing with mods which really improved lighting and textures a lot so looked great in a lot of places, but hard to know how the original compared.

Retr0gamer · 11-02-2026 10:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124225504#Comment_124225504

They were going for a real time dynamic lighting. You can see it in the original trailer. The consoles just didn't have the memory to handle it, and the game runs like **** anyway so it seems it was all stripped out for very basic lighting model. So all the textures are normal mapped to look gorgeous with dynamic lighting and end up just looking flat and boring. Torches were meant to be a major part of the gameplay.

Penn · 11-02-2026 10:32AM

Yeah I was sparsely using the torches because they felt so limited (as most consumables in Souls games are, and ended up with about 3 hours worth by the end).

Was using a mod called Scholar of the Second Sin (even changes the name on the title screen to that) and an associated texture one.Game really looked fantastic in so many areas, especially in areas where you did use the torch.

https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls2/mods/1160?tab=description

As much as I generally don't like sitting at my PC to play games, it does have its advantages when it comes to mods like this.

johnny_ultimate · 11-02-2026 06:35PM

Definitely intrigued by Mewgenics based on the first 90 mins or so. Still not entirely on the same wavelength as the McMillan artstyle and humour, but there's lots of very cool stuff happening mechanically. Even in the first level I've discovered some very fun synergies and builds. You can definitely see the Binding of Isaac DNA there, but a tactics RPG is definitely more my jam than that game's Zelda-esque twin stick action. Especially as I'm playing the excellent but quite restrained FF Tactics on my Switch at the moment, the battles here can descend into all sorts of chaos as various powers start interacting and spilling out across the battlefield. Other times it's hugely satisfying to completely destroy a boss by totally besting their toolkit.

Early days but I can imagine the possibilities as you unlock more items and skills in later levels. And the whole cat breeding system is a good laugh as you end up with kittens with fun hybrid abilities from its parents.

Retr0gamer · 12-02-2026 02:37PM

Very tempted to pick up that super bomberman collection on PC and Switch. Bomberman was pretty much the end of every night out during my college days.

The one complaint seems to be no online play but sure bomberman just doesn't really work unless it's couch multiplayer.

Zero-Cool · 12-02-2026 03:22PM

Finished Cairn. Incredible, **** incredible. The mechanics, the story, the journey and one of my favorite endings in recent memory. Just over 16 hours done and going straight into a new playthrough on free solo mode (no ropes or pitons, smaller bag & permadeath).

Aava is an incredible character and they journey is gonna stay with me a long time. I feel like I've ripped off the devs only paying 27 quid for this. Wouldn't want to spoil the amazing summit so here's a pic of the start of the accent. I feel like a i could print a photo book of all the snaps I've taken. Only downside is that it's making me look at other games and see them as generic soulless 1's and 0's.

MikeRyan87 · 12-02-2026 05:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124229807#Comment_124229807

Okay you've convinced me, I'll get it before the discount is up on the 14th.

Finished first playthrough of Silent Hill F last night and I'm not going to go back to finish the other 3 or 4 endings. Theres just too many things to play so ill watch them on Youtube probably.

I enjoyed it for what it was, particularly how it looked, the atmosphere and the soundtrack/VA but wouldnt recommend it at full price. Combat was also better than i expected apart from bouncing off walls too often when indoors. Got worn out by the focus/dodge followed by build up heavy attack loop by the end. Bought off Adverts for 40e and traded in for 30e so not bad.

MGS Delta next and then Cairn unless something gets shadowdropped tonight after the SoP like Ghost of Yotei Legends.

Corvo · 12-02-2026 05:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124229807#Comment_124229807

Honestly, you've cost me some money.

SOLD.

Zero-Cool · 12-02-2026 05:27PM

Ha enjoy lads, a thousand apologies if it's not yer cuppa 😊

JimBurnley · 12-02-2026 05:42PM

I have it downloaded, all ready to play once I finish Mindseye. Speaking of which, still enjoying it. It's maybe slightly basic, very linear missions. But thats not a bad thing. No bloat. No bugs or glitches either so they must have been fixed since shoddy release. If people enjoy the likes of GTA and Watch Dogs without any big menus or skill trees or crafting/looting, then there is something to enjoy here

Retr0gamer · 12-02-2026 06:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124230214#Comment_124230214

The endings are excellent and while the second playthrough changed enough of the game to keep it interesting, the final two playthroughs were the same as the second playthrough. The game does let you skip big chunks of the game and let's you know if you've seen a cutscene before but there's some long sections of the game where you can't skip them.

One note is to not just watch the endings because there's a lot of cutscenes during the new game plus playthroughs that add a lot to the story.

Retr0gamer · 12-02-2026 06:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124230356#Comment_124230356

Was going to ask why are you finishing mindseye but the correct question is why are you playing mindseye.

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