Been playing a mix of games.
On Switch I played and finished Luigi’s Mansion 3 a couple of months ago. Which is a bit of a misnomer because it takes place in a hotel, but whatever. It was fun, not particularly difficult or anything, but definitely a cute game. I have not found all the Boos, but I’m not all that interested in spending the time trying to do so.
I played a bit more Metal Gear Solid 2, but wanted to do something different, so started up Star Wars: Outlaws on the PS5, which is Ubisoft’s open world SW game. I’ve been really enjoying it so far. I think the best comparison I can make for it is a SW version of Red Dead Redemption. There’s a lot of exploration available as you ride around on your speeder, but also missions to get money. As you perform some tasks you unlock new skills, and can also get upgrades for your blaster, speeder, and spaceship, as well as outfits and charms that can give you some bonuses. Plus you have Nyx, your little pet, which you can use to open doors, fetch items, pick pockets, trigger explosives, attack and distract enemies, and even cheat at cards. Good fun, and just a few bugs so far, though I waited for some time before starting the game, so I’d like to think they’d have most of them cleaned up by now.
On my Meta Quest, I’ve been playing In Death: Unchained and Iron Man VR. In Death boils down to an archery game where you are either preventing an invasion of Heaven, or cleaning out Purgatory, depending on which mode you play in. One thing I don’t particularly like about it is the teleportation movement. You shoot an arrow to move, warping to where it lands, although thankfully they were smart enough to not drop you off ledges or anything if you miss your intended target. There is also a sort of “quick step” item you can fling and warp a couple steps to whichever direction you throw it. Good for a fast dodge. The physics feel a little wonky, as slight alterations to how you hold the controller can have a massive effect on where the arrow goes, but I do like that it measures your arm length so that when you pull the “string” back further, the arrow does travel further and faster, just like it would in reality. Still, feels really crappy to be shooting at an enemy and keep missing it by an inch again and again as you try to adjust your aim as it shuffles towards Heaven’s gate. And it really tires out your bow holding arm, as you have it extended a lot as you play.
I’m not too far into Iron Man, but it’s been fun as well. I get a bit frustrated during the “cutscenes”, as you trigger them by standing on the provided icons, at which point you can’t move anymore, though you can look around. The number of times I’ve wanted to move just a little bit closer to something for a better look, but you can’t… Just annoying. The actual gameplay sections are pretty cool, as flying around in the armor is incredibly entertaining, though I’m still getting used to maneuvering as your hands need to be angled in just the right way or you might accidentally ascend when you’re just trying to go straight. Then when needing to shoot you need to have your palms out for the repulsors, and if you don’t have them out enough, it goes to secondary weapons, which for me at the moment are smart missiles that take a chunk of time to reload, so it sucks when I fire them accidentally. Meanwhile, I’m falling because I’m not using the repulsors to fly! There is a way to hover, but in the middle of action I’m forgetting to activate it. Still, it’s been very enjoyable so far, and I’m just to chapter 4 out of 12, so a ways to go yet.
