PixlBit

Games Beaten

-Mario Kart World (Switch 2)

I am glad Mario Kart World is not Mario Kart 8 with a new name. But how do you follow up the most robust, track-rich kart racer ever? You do something different and I appreciate that. I just don't like MK World as much as MK8. The game looks great, controls great (though there seem to be invisible guard rails that keep you from falling off the course, which is disappointing; if I mess up, let me suffer the consequences), and has great music. That's par for the course with Mario Kart. But I don't care for the new mode, Knockout Tour, which is somehow crazier than Grand Prix and has such aggressive rubberbanding. And while the move to 24 racers is cool on paper, it has lead to many of the tracks having large open sections that are kind of dull. Oh, and I hate the water physics in the game, don't know why, but I do.

Despite my list of gripes, I am fully comfortable saying Mario Kart World is a great game that is fun to play...I just don't know why I would go back to it when I can just as easily play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Games Bought

April was a light acquisitions month. For my wife's birthday I got her Star Wars Outlaws (PS5), which I really think she will enjoy if she actually gets around to playing it. For myself I bought Sea of Stars (Switch). I have heard such good things about this RPG and, most importantly, I got a really good deal on it. PS+ had some interesting monthly PS5 games. First was a reboot of the Lords of the Fallen "franchise" (I think there was only one game). They called the game Lords of the Fallen, just like the previous game, ensuring confusion for years to come, but it seems like a good Soulslike, a definite improvement over its predecessor. Then there was Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. I actually have quite a few Tomb Raider games (and not all of them from PS+) but I haven't played of them. (My wife and I played the two Lara Croft multiplayer action games and those were quite fun but they're not branded as Tomb Raider.) It is cool to have these but I don't know if I will click with the deliberate 3D platforming of these older games. Last of all there was Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream, an online multiplayer game. I probably will not play this but I grabbed it in case it ever comes up as an option for my Monster Hunter group.

Games Being Played

-Donkey Kong Bonanza (Switch 2)

I really thought I'd have this done before the end of the month but life got busy and I hardly touched it for a couple weeks. I think the fun in this game is immediate but shallow, with the boss fights being the main casualty.

-Piczle Cross: Rune Factory (Switch)

The music in this game is really good. I find the music in picross games often becomes repetitive, even when pulling from a longstanding franchise, and I'm glad this one doesn't fall into that trap.

-Earth Defense Force: World Brothers (Switch)

We are nearing the end of the Hardest difficulty (which, ironically, I don't think is the final difficulty setting).

-Destiny 2 (PS5)

Somehow we got into a rut of trying to improve our Guardian Ranks, which have very specific and sometimes tedious requirements, so I have been working on completing kill requirements for various "exotic" weapons. I'm getting close!