Have A Cuppa
It is actually crazy to think that it has already been a week since I last wrote Have A Cuppa. I would say time flies while having fun but I think it's more work has been so busy that it rushed past in a blink of an eye.
Anyway, how have you been?
I hope you all had a good week and have fun plans for the weekend, for me this weekend will mostly be getting new plants for the apartment and hanging out with mates. Should be fun! But anyway let's have a look at what I have been playing/watching/reading this week.
What I have been playing
As promised I finally set some time aside last weekend to sit down and play a good 22 hours of Metaphor Refantazio. To not spoil it, I have beaten the first dungeon and have made my way to the next town after the starting area. So what do I think of this crazy high fantasy JRPG?
It is pretty bloody good.
The story is obviously incredible and interesting, the world is crazy, the combat is so much fun, and the music is brilliant. For me though what really stands out is the characters. They are so rich with story and oozing with style that I can't help but love all of them so far which is a rare highlight for an Atlus game. Normally there is one character that drives me crazy but so far each one has been a delight, even your little side companion. I am only 22 hours in this massive game so this might change but for some reason I don't think that will be the case. We will wait and see.
One kind of negative note though is I do feel like the music and art direction in Persona 5 is much better than in Metaphor. Now I am in no way saying it is bad in Metaphor, the music and style is incredible, but for me I adored the more jazz style that Persona brought followed with its high flair red menus and attacks. This is a personal preference thing but I do miss the Persona dungeon and combat music when I listen to the Metaphor soundtrack.
For now I have taken a break from the game again. I don't enjoy playing JRPG for only an hour or two after work and prefer waiting for another free weekend to jump back in. I have a pretty long weekend next week so hopefully I can get a good 10 hours in then.
Nine Sols
This was a game that kind of flew under my radar until this week. I kept seeing Nine Souls appear on everyone's game of the year list but didn't really give it much attention at the time. I have only ever really played and completed a metroidvania game once, that game was Hollow Knight. Once I finished Hollow Knight people kept telling me it is the best Metroidvania so I had no desire to play another one, that is until I finally saw Nine Souls gameplay which I then quickly downloaded onto my Xbox (which it is on for 'free' thanks to GamePass).
I have only played roughly 4-5 hours of the game but man what a game this is. It follows the classic high intensity style of gameplay that Hollow Knight provided me, meaning I am having to constantly parry (which is the preferred method of dodging/blocking in the game) and strike multiple enemies as I rush through an area trying to find a new save point. The combat is so clean in this game with parrying and attacking, you really get that tingle in the back of your brain just like in Elden ring when you parry perfectly. The movement is fluid and feels great on controller, and the world is a cyberpunky/ lost civilization style which is my complete sweet spot. The story as well seems to be really dark and twisted, with you finding out some pretty horrifying facts quickly in the game, it makes you want to explore more and search for every piece of lore you can find to try and make sense of the crazy world.
All I can say is this has got me back into Metroidvanias which is probably the biggest compliment I can give it. If you haven't tried it and are searching for your next fix while forever waiting for Silksong then give this a go. You won't be disappointed.
Wuthering Waves
Well I said I wanted to ruin my life and get back into gacha games and I can easily say that it has happened again. I booted Wuthering Waves back up and logged back into the game and within 20 minutes I was hooked again.
This game really is the gacha game that I feel I can most connect with thanks to its surprisingly adult themes and often intense storyline. This game is a master of bringing surprisingly human emotions to this style of game. I have just finished a storyline where one of the characters (a really cute girl named Encore) is taking you through one of her imaginative stories, which seems completely innocent and charming. However as you play through you learn about the power of story and what a story can mean to someone who heard it from a loved one that they lost, how hope can be found in a simple wooden sword and shield, and how people deal with grief in their own way. ALL THIS FROM A SIDE STORYLINE OF A CHILD TELLING YOU AN IMAGINATIVE STORY!
The storytelling in the game is fantastic and I really enjoy each conversation I have in the game. The combat I think is better than any gacha game and while it got a lot of hate for VA at the beginning, I have always enjoyed it enough. It does also help that I managed to get my favourite character in any gacha game (except my goddess Kafka who is the only reason I want to play Star Rail) which is Chanli, she is an absolute queen.
But yeah, unlike Genshin, Star Rail, ZZZ and NIKKE, Wuthering Waves is the gatcha game I always seem to return to. I do plan to give Star Rail another try though just solely for Kafka.
Path Of Exile 2
Not much to say from the review I have done (you can see here) but me and my buddy finally beat the Act 2 boss and are now trying to complete the Trails of Chaos before continuing Act 3. Safe to say we are getting our arses handed to us.
What I Want To Play
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
WE FINALLY HAVE A RELEASE DATE!
The Xbox developer showcase came out yesterday and while all the games looked really great, the one I only really cared about was Expedition 33. I saw this game during Summer Game Fest last year and have been really excited to see more since then. A turn based game with FF16 graphics and sort of quick time events to parry and crit attacks, it had me hooked straight away. The story seems really fascinating too with a Paintress decreasing in number every year and everyone older than that number vanishing. Every year they try to stop the paintress from doing this but the expedition always fails so now this is expedition 33. How cool is that.
If that doesn't get you excited enough it has one of the best VA casts I have seen in years. Ben Starr is back again for what will be another 5 star performance (this guy is such a talented VA), The incredibly talented Jennifer English (bloody Shadowheart in BG3) looks like this will be an absolute award winning performance , Shala Nyx who plays my favourite ripperdoc in the Cyberpunk expansion is back (She has a really amazing voice), Rich Keeble who does the british proud with his Total War: Warhammer performances (and I just found out plays Fenrico is Wuthering Waves!?), and the stylish and upcommer in Voice Acting Kirsty Rider. This is already incredibly impressive but then they just smash it out of the park with ummmm I don't know only Andy mother******* Serkis and Charlie ******* best Daredevil ever Cox!? Goddamn just look at this line up. If they release an expansion with Troy Baker, Cherami Leigh, Melina Juergens and Nolan North I will generally believe they are starting to unite the Voice Acting equivalent of the Avengers Team.
So yeah I am very hyped for this game, and it will arrive April 24, 2025!
(Also bonus points to the devs for the badass mansion they work in)
What I am watching
Most the same as last week (see here). Not finished either Blue Lock or Fairy Tail yet but have been enjoying them.
What I have been reading
Gokurakugai
I normally read manga nowadays to help me learn the language of the country I am living in. This means that I read extremely slowly and take a long time to just get through a single manga, so the manga has to be good. Luckily I found Gokurakugai which so far seems to be a wild ride.
I have only read the first manga so can't tell you much about it but I really like the vibe so far and am excited to see if it keeps the tone and style.
Board Games + Card Games
The Great Wall
Another week, another big board game. Five of us met up on Wednesday and played The Great Wall, a board game where five players work together to protect the capital from a constant oncoming horde of enemies. You do this by sending your soldiers out to attack the enemies and building a large wall to block the worst of the attacks. However this is not a complete co-op game, there can only be one winner and that is the person who will gain the most favour from the emperor. This is done by either building up the wall the most, or slaying the most enemies, or other methods.
It's a fun game with plenty of options of play styles thanks to the many character sheets you can pick (however I always normally go for combat characters since they are my favourite). For this run I choose a character who can do additional damage to the horde from the amount of scrolls they have (which you purchase with gold). Because the scrolls cost more each time you buy one I could only get five before the cost became too much. That did mean though I could one shot an enemy mob which worked really nicely multiple times.
I did lose the game, the winner was a board game pro who managed to get almost 300 points. However I did finish in the middle of the group which I was pretty happy with since I only used one method to get points. We did all get over 100 points as well so everyone managed to achieve what their character did in one way or another.
Overall it was a great session and a good laugh.
Well that is all this week people!
I hope you all have an incredible weekend and enjoy some games and hopefully a little bit of sunshine!
Cuppa
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