Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we’ve been playing. This week, Victoria falls in love - at least aesthetically - with Replaced; Bertie pretends he’s been in Paris (he has been in Paris!); Connor is obsessed about catching a really rare fish; Kelsey’s got some strange relationship problems to help people through; Chris is still learning things about Pokémon; and Mat keeps it brief.
Here’s another question: do you remember what you were playing last week? You don’t have to! The What We’ve Been Playing archive has you covered.
I can’t get over the care and attention Sad Cat has put into making the post-apocalyptic world of Phoenix City come alive in its debut game, Replaced. Hands down, this is one of the most visually impressive games I have played in a long time. It’s stunning. I love the way 2D pixel art has been mixed with 3D rendering in this cyberpunk world. I also love how the game sounds, with its slightly melancholic synth music framing the gameplay.
As gorgeous as it is, though, I am finding Replaced’s story a bit slow. I don’t want to rush through it but at the same time, I feel as though I should be progressing more than I am. From reading other comments online, I know this isn’t an especially lengthy game - some have said it can be finished in 10 hours - but even so, I’ve found my attention wavering. I would love it if the main character Reach could move a bit faster. He seems sluggish even during combat sections.
Despite this, Replaced is an incredible achievement for the studio’s first game. Especially where audio and visual design is concerned, it’s something really special.
I’ve been in Paris for a couple of days seeing some games from Focus Home and Dotemu, although most of these are under embargo so I can’t talk about them yet. But on Tuesday evening, when I arrived, Devolver hosted a petit soirée at a small and Parisian bar and there were a few games to see. The most grabbing one of these, literally, was Heave Ho 2, a game Connor wrote a bit about recently. It’s a party game, really: a co-op game for up to four people where you control characters who have two arms, silly faces, and that’s it. You control the arms with a thumbstick and their grabs with the triggers, and by doing so, throw yourselves and other players around.
It’s a smiley kind of game, bright and cheery, and a little bit silly too (you can hold down a button to fart, which propels you or others around you a short distance through the air). But there’s also a deviousness to the challenges it throws at you. Can you all collectively assemble a gigantic chicken burger, for example? For 10 minutes or so, the answer will be no. The big addition in the sequel is online multiplayer, so you don’t have to coerce friends to come over to play.
I also tried Dark Scrolls, which was fun, and which is probably the best name for a game I’ve come across in a long time. Perhaps the name came first? It reminds me of Ghosts n’ Goblins in how it plays, in that it’s a fast and fairly challenging side-scrolling action platformer. But there are different characters here, there’s a roguelike structure, and it’s nicely put together.
My desktop PC is done for. Totally, perhaps irreparably so. So in the meantime I’m left with my PS5 and my work laptop. So rather than explore a massive library of new games on Sony’s big white beauty, I have instead reinstalled Old School RuneScape so I can catch sharks.
Why am I catching sharks? We’ll start with the good reasons and move our way down. Sharks, when cooked, make for great healing items, and as such, they’re a popular and reliable resource to bring to mid-to-endgame player-vs-monster content. And as I’m currently trying to level my Slayer skill and get all my attack styles up to 80, good food is what I need. I don’t want to eat trout or swordfish any more.
But there is another, stupider reason. When catching certain fish, there is a chance you can get a big fish.
