Riff Machine

Episodes 46 and 47 are LIVE!! Another 2 eps again. I've really been slacking, but I've had some injuries that kept me out of one episode here but I returned for the big PlayStation talk this past week.

I was holding out hope for the MGS1 remake, but I get why it's this one. I'll play the hell out of it still.

Another double-shot update. Episodes 44 and 45. Controllers from all generations, and does Nintendo get a free pass with review scores?

Thank fuck it's on game pass. 🤪🤘🏻😂

Episode 43 is LIVE!!! We discuss the Microsoft/Activision sale block by the CMA in the UK, the new ASUS steam deck competitor, as well as some conversations about some classic systems and games.

This one releases next week on all platforms and man, does this look friggin good. It's a metroidvania with a beautiful hand-drawn art style and it really looks like it flows fairly well. I can't wait to check this one out.

Episode 42 is LIVE!!! This week, I'm out as I blew my back out at work, but we're super happy to have the folks from Odyssey Dice come in and chat about their successful dice Kickstarter and how they came into being. A nice chat with a Canadian dice maker! Yay!!

This one was released a little while ago, and I've started playing it on my Steam Deck. New characters, a new story, and new land, but the same wonderful gameplay of the first with some new additions that add some nice tweaks to the formula. I'm enjoying it so far. Started with the samurai Hikari. He's the "warrior" class for this one. If you liked the first one, there's more to like here.

Alright. I finally finished this one this past week. Mostly due to having far too many other things on the go to devote the time needed for it, but damn. I wish I finished this one sooner. What an amazing game! It reminded me a lot of Chrono Trigger at first, but the fact you don't gain levels, rather you upgrade your skills, both passive/active, and battle, which increases your power every so often. It has a ton of accessibility options to scale the game to your liking as this one is tough. Make no mistake about it. Finding the right mix of skills to use in big-boss battle situations will be trial and error. I won't spoil anything but this one has one of the best stories in a jrpg I've ever played. The twists and turns along the way were actually surprising. Thankfully, the cast of characters each has their own distinct personality and you'll find certain members butting heads with others at various points. I could go on for days, but if you're a fan of JRPGs, you really owe it to yourself to try this. It's a nice retro gem for the modern era.

I picked it up, (Released on my Birthday! YAY!) and @Rumelyladystarted playing it the other day. It's funny when you haven't played something in a while and forget how to do certain things. I had a good laugh at her expense. Lol!

I'll stand by my previous "Not interested" statement. I want my new Splinter Cell dag nab it!!!!!!! 🤪

I'm going to wait for this to go on sale before I grab it. I still feel 4 didn't need the remake treatment, considering they already released an upscale version of the classic version on last-gen consoles. I honestly wished they gave RE:CV the remake over 4. I'm glad you managed to snag it for cheap @J4MES OX4D

Episode 41 is LIVE!!!! We discuss the upcoming changes to the Xbox series X/S UI, our thoughts on the current crop of open-world games, and Sony's new handheld in development.

Episode 40 is LIVE!!!! We talk about the new Tetris movie currently streaming on Apple TV+, as well as Asus handheld competitor to the Steam Deck, Diablo 4 endgame conversation among other things.

Episode 39 is LIVE!!! We discuss the demise of E3, as well as the recent demo of DnD's new VTT among other things.

I called that back in episode 31 of my podcast. Not surprising at all. At least we have the memories.

I've been slacking. Both Episodes 37 and 38 are now LIVE! We discussed the diablo 4 closed and open betas from the past two weeks and the Unreal 5.2 tech demos shown this past week.

It honestly felt, gameplay wise, to be very similar to 3. I like the more “realistic” approach they’ve taken with the visuals as oppose to the more WoW-like look of 3. My biggest complaint? Why did they change the inventory?? 3 had the perfect breakdown of everything being sectioned off into its own area. Now, it’s all lumped together again and you run out of space halfway through a dungeon. It got to a point where I would only pick up yellow or orange gear and leave everything else. I’m also not a fan of the “always online” shit. Why must everything be online? It really does suck especially with something that a lot of people will play by themselves for the most part. Day one is gonna be a Bitch. I also wish there was more classes to choose from. But, I guess they need DLC down the road. I did pre-order it though. I enjoy the games, and hopefully the few annoyances I have won’t deter that enjoyment.

I wonder what Bungie will do with Zavala? If they kill him off, Saint-14 could potentially take over the Titan Vanguard, but I really hope they don't re-cast him. Lance had that voice that just doesn't seem to be one to mimic IMO. He really fleshed out and made Zavala the character he is today.

I enjoyed RE5. Never got into the co-op side of it, but it was fun. It felt like more of the same coming off of RE4, but just felt a bit off. I think once I finished up and received some infinite weapons, I managed to rip through the game in less than an hour. Lol

Sad news today. Lance Reddick, the voice of Destiny's Zavala and Horizon Zero Dawn Cylus, passed away at 60. 'The Wire' Star Lance Reddick Dead at 60 WWW.TMZ.COM Lance Reddick, known for his work on 'The Wire' and 'John Wick,' has died at the age of 60. RIP.

Welcome to FG!! 🤘🏻

Fall guys, rocket league, and wreck fest were fun FG Friday games as well. I think I only ever played the GTA5 races once, but I did watch a few times. Those were just crazy. Lol

I know I brought it up recently on a separate forum thread. Lol!! God, that was awful. "Jill, wait.. DON"T go through THAT door!"

I'm like @SWAINEY84 and I've been playing since the D1 beta as well. Honestly, the biggest reason I stopped playing was the lazy copy/paste development issues, as well as the season model. I HATE it. H-A-T-E IT! Remember dropping a bright engram every time you hit another level at max? What was wrong with that if the reward was cosmetic? Ever since they implemented the season model, it's been monetized more and more each season. I'm just done with it all, especially with the aforementioned copy/paste design. The balls to call old weapons, armor, and areas, "new" is just absurd and disrespectful. The last season was honestly the tipping point for me. It's gonna take a lot to get me back into it. Also, Why should I have to wait a week to play a story mission? The biggest thing is, If I went back and replayed D1 from start to finish, I could replay the entire story from start to finish. You can't do that now with D2. I get the size of the game hurt performance, but that's what sequels are for. I feel like the shit started with beyond light should have been the start of Destiny 3. The foundation is there already. Improve on it. Thankfully, the biggest saving grace in all of this is I've had the chance to play some really good, and not so good, games as of late that I probably wouldn't have had the chance to thanks to D2 addiction.