November 1
Hello and welcome back to our regular column where we write a little about some of the games we've played. This week Bertie tries to get into a rhythm Hades 2; Chris presses Q to say “thank you” after being resurrected many times; Connor plays the flute to diffuse tension, like a musical negotiator; Dom begins to hallucinate; Marie wonders why she rebuilt her island; and Will shares with us a secret game in which he tests mechanical keyboards.
What did you play?
Hades 2, Switch 2
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I've been playing around with Hades 2 Switch 2is a joy to write about and, as you probably know, is a great game for handheld devices. While my partner watches Korean dramas (and I secretly watch them too – have you seen Dear Hongrang?), I take Melina for another attempt at fighting the titan of Greek times, Chronos. I'm not very good at this yet. I'm at a point in roguelikes where I'm still getting the hang of it. I haven't done enough work to make attack habits instinctive rather than actively thought through, and there are layers to fast-paced strategy that I don't understand yet, although I obviously don't know what they are yet because I don't understand them. I'm in the learning phase. And it's sometimes frustrating. I completely understand why some people are afraid of this structure, which forces you to seemingly “fail” several times before you make what seems like meaningful progress. It takes persistence, especially in Hades 2, which feels grittier than Hades 1. But I won't let it defeat me.
-Bertie
Battlefield 6 PC
TCG Pocket and Football manager 26 lurking in the background as usual, but I spent a few hours with BF6 this week and let me tell you this: it's definitely a Battlefield game. Some cool cards. Some real hellholes. There are a lot of people who don't know how to drive tanks. Great with a squad but terrible without one, although I do like being able to press Q to say “thank you” after respawning and I'm not ashamed to say I have to do quite a lot.
–Chris
Arc Raiders, PC
Look, here's the thing. I've been glued to Arc Raiders since its launch yesterday, spending every hour (except nine-five, of course) launching Topside and hunting for loot. It is indeed a vicious circle, at times painful, but deeply Moorish. There's some real piquancy to it.
Of course I made a few short-lived friendships along the way, playing the flute in front of people tends to dissipate any tension, although interestingly the further I get in the quests the more people become interested in the scrap metal. Perhaps this is because their inventory, like mine, is filled with loot. When you have a lot of supplies, losing all your weapons on the run isn't as bad as you might think.
So yeah, an absolute blast of a game. Also, as always, it will be a 2XKO. I try to spend at least an hour every day on this.
-Connor
Deep Rock Galactic Survivor, Xbox Series X
Help. Help. When I went to bed at night, I saw small blue shards of XP magnetized to the center of my vision. As I sit at my desk and type, I feel the Deep Rock Galactic Survivor icon on my Xbox calling to me like the Green Goblin mask. I daydream about the synergy of a flamethrower and an acid cannon, wondering where I can find 20 minutes to do a “solo run” through the damned mines of distant planets. This game made just as much of an impression on me as Vampire Survivors. Help.
-House
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Switch 2
Following the news of the 3.0 update and the release of the Switch 2 in January, I raced back to my island and discovered that I had left it in a state of disrepair. I restarted it a while ago and that choice is still in question and I'm currently trying to get it back to five stars to get KK back. And I can't wait for the update. The Happy Home Designer add-on is where I spend most of my time now, so having a hotel where I can do that, on my own island, feels like bliss.
-Maria
Glyphica: Typing Survival, PC
Essentially a cross between Asteroids and The Typing of The Dead, indie game Glyphica has become my favorite test of mechanical keyboards. It starts off slow enough, with cool ambient music and three or four letter words floating slowly towards your spaceship as you type to destroy them, but the intensity increases significantly as it progresses. Soon, $10 words are everywhere, shooting missiles, hiding behind shields, and your weaponry should become equally complex, with turrets, saws, and mines appearing when you type certain letters or maintain a streak. After a few sessions, I feel like I've only just scratched the surface of its roguelike elements, with brand new arsenals to unlock, constant stat boosts to unlock, and plenty of other challenges on the horizon. I loved Mavis Beacon's typing lessons as a kid, always trying to set new WPM records and learn weird new words, and now Glyphics is scratching that same itch.
-Will
