I haven't played all of the first expansion, but I completed the story of the main game and have done some endgame content. GW2 is the most satisfying MMO I've ever played, and my wife and I still dive back into it occasionally.

I love that they make their server upkeep money with cosmetic microtransactions, so there's no monthly subscription. I feel like I can enjoy it the way I want. With a subscription I feel like I have to play it a certain amount every month to get my money's worth. It's the free-to-play model but you have to buy the game first (their actual free-to-play version is limited) and there aren't any pay-to-win items. A few convenience items, nothing at all gamebreaking. It's the perfect MMO model I think.

But this expansion totally missed my radar, I had no idea it was coming! A rogue god? Mounts!? I'm stoked!

I hope this is good! I really want VR to be a legitimate thing!

I am waiting for Fallout 4 VR and Doom VFR

I'm waiting for the Oasis :P

Sad to see the game close up development but glad it's going to stay on for others to play. I knew the game wasn't something I was interested when I got a key for it and never redeemed it.

Wow. Really nice I was part of that by way of getting some great games and some of that went to charity. One such game I still play now I got in a bundle was FTL and that turned out really well.

What's the game you got from a bundle you played the most Travis?

I can't remember if I got Terraria from a bundle. If so, that one. If not, Mass Effect 2 from the Origin bundle takes that title.

OK I just checked. I *did* get Terraria from a bundle but I already had it by that point, so I don't guess I count that.

Right, I saw that Terraria bundle and I skipped it because I already had the game from a prior Steam sale where I bought it for something crazy like $5.

I think I got it for the other games, plus I never mind having an extra copy of Terraria. I've given that game to like 5 people at this point. Gotta spread the love!

It was nice to see some more AAA 3rd party support. There was also some more EA sports announcements. It feels like Nintendo has 1st party and indie down, they just need AAA 3rd party to really show up. So far it looks promising.

And thanks again for that tip! I think I got my preorder in literally seconds before they were out of stock.

Yeah man, I was glad you got one.

I better get a SNES classic. I have a few trackers that I am monitoring.

Most important question: How long are the controller cords?

I think 5 feet this time around.

Oh good. In a moment of weakness, I did attempt to pre-order an SNES Classic from ThinkGeek, but the site timed-out on me when I tried to submit the order. It's good to know that I may have another chance to fail my will save.

I almost got it from a Think Geek bundle too but couldn't because of the demand. Kind of glad that didn't work out, it was expensive and I didn't want that other stuff.

Well.. I tried to get one on Think Geek. The site was crushed immediately.

Cool review. I have it installed, but haven't tried it out yet. I haven't played Shovel Knight either.

You should give them a go. They are awesome.

I never beat Shovel Knight. I'm adding it back to my games to play based on your reviews. And because I had so much fun playing Mega Man 2.

I would say Plague Knight is my favorite, followed by Shovel and then Specter. Plague Knight is best played after Shovel though as there are some cool subtle story points of things that happened in Shovel Knight.

Cool, i'll make sure I check them out in order then. The new King Knight game looks interesting. I wonder if that card game will be fun? I guess if it's not there is plenty to like in the base game still

I think I get that with Treasure Trove, right? If so I will have to review it when it comes out.

Yep. Treasure Trove means you get all the content updates included.

Do you won the NES port? A speed run of the first level could be fun.

I don't have the NES port but a speedrun would be a good idea. I'll see what I can find.

You're a lucky Classic NES owner! I remember playing Mega Man on the Gameboy when I was much younger. I had friends that had the other games on console, so I got to see and play some of those, too. I do have the MM Collection on Steam, but I haven't played it much. You also reminded me of the Sega Mega Collection I have on Steam, too. I started playing Sonic, I've played it and others before, but I'm really grateful for those save features! The graphical upgrades are nice, too.

Yeah, it was fortunate I got one. That said I e been actively looking for some time.

I love how "glitchy" the Source engine is. I put "glitchy" in quotes because it's really not very glitchy, when you're doing normal things. But watching Half-Life 2 and Portal speedruns, there are so many little quirks people can exploit. I love seeing those boundaries pushed.

I wonder if the you can turn off the "fuzz" effect? It's not really a fuzz, kind of a blur / 30mm scratches effect?

They've really nailed the style of the game though but i've never looked at it and wanted to play it. Watch it sure, but maybe this is one of those games you have to try?

Are you getting it on PC?

No switch version?

Nope.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/7/4/15919210/cuphead-ps4-version

Good thing I have all the platforms. :P

Yep, I'm totally getting it on PC. I've been wanting to play it since the first E3 trailer a couple years back. The levels are done interestingly, with platforming segments and bosses separately, but the gameplay reminds me of some hybrid of Mega Man and a Metal Slug/Contra type of game.

That comparison seems apt. With that it's so unique that I really want to try it before I get it.

I often remembered that depth quote as I played the game, it felt too fitting. However, just as you say, the game got deeper. I liked it to begin with, but some things got old, like trying to scan every fauna on a planet. I don't worry about those scans as much. I like that now there is plenty to do and reasons behind many of them.

I recently deleted the game that I had going and created a new one, mostly because of your warning regarding Atlas Rises and old saved games. I'm ok with it and I think it's a great time to start over from the beginning. I'd still like to be able to use freighters to transport my exocraft to different planets instead of having to build an exobay on planets I want to ride around on. I'd also like to see Nanite Clusters not take up a space in the inventory. Other than that, I can't think of much more I want from this game. I'm not too concerned with multiplayer, but it does sound interesting. Thanks for reporting on that.

In the end, the game has grown quite well in the last year. I think it's a better game now.

> I'd also like to see Nanite Clusters not take up a space in the inventory.

Oh man, you and me both. There's still plenty of interface tweaks they could make to make things more comfortable to use, and that's on the top of my list.

I should try to remember my minor current complaints about the game. I had a bug upon trying to exit my Nomad, I was placed some distance away. I did establish a base, but wasn't happy with the planet, due to the weather and lack of land mass. Luckily, I found a much better planet and moved.

I previously had an issue, when I first tried out the Missions Board. I accepted multiple missions and had trouble finding where I was supposed to go for of them.There was no icon for it on my map. I created a new save since then and decided to accept missions one at a time and haven't run into the issue again.

I have progressed a bit into the story and I can see how deep the game got. It's like they released a somewhat incomplete game. This year they have made a lot of progress in adding some of the finishing touches, especially the story. Really, I think things are a lot more "polished" now.

The game has crashed on me at two or three times recently. Otherwise, it's pretty stable.

GeForce Experience optimizes my AA settings to Ultra-SSAA x4, but the game seems to often change it to something else. I don't even see that setting in-game, the AA options don't include that one. I guess it doesn't matter too much, I'm not sure if I've seen a difference.

Don't use GeForce experience for this one (or like... most games). With NMS they are using old settings. It'll try to "optimize" your game to settings that don't exist.

Yeah, that seems to be what it's doing.

I progressed even more into the story. I know the significance of "16" or what it means. I made it to the point where you decide which path to take; Atlas, center, or free exploration. So, I feel like I've gone through the major changes of Atlas Rises and am now back to the game as it was before. I know my old save was about a year old and even after multiple trips through black holes, I don't think I was even close to the center. How about you? Have you made it to the center?

I don't like the new terrain manipulator. I prefer the old one. I tried the new one out, but wasn't successful at it, maybe I need to get more serious with it and figure it out.

I really do like a lot of what they've done to the game in the last year. I might not be able to think of them all at the moment. I do feel like I'm spending a lot less time switching to new ships. After my first ship, I found a really big class B ship and I've had it since. It has a lot of slots, even if I haven't repaired all of them, which is another new feature I like.

What do you mean new terrain manipulator? It was brand new with 1.3. Before that you could chuck grenades to blow up the ground (you still can). Unless I'm not sure what you mean. But I don't love the terrain manipulator. Its charge runs out so fast and it's faster to grenade things to remove ground, and adding ground is tedious.

And yeah I made a mad dash for the center once I felt like I was basically done with 1.0. So you finished the Artemis path, you got the choice at the end. I won't spoil what happens at the center but I will say it's similar to that.

Yeah, I miss the grenades and yeah I finished the Artemis path.

You still have grenades!

To clarify, you may not have them if you've replaced your multitool and didn't install them in the new one. I *think* my first few multi-tools back in the day had them already built but I could be making that up.

But every time I switch I forget to install stuff until I really need it.

Cool, thanks. I probably just haven't found that tech yet.

I miss the grenades as well! Now that Nanites are a thing, it's take a lot longer to find new tech. It used to be almost every waypoint with buildings had some blueprint in it. It's probably better balanced now, but was much easier before :)

I'd be shocked if you haven't, they have those plans weighted so that you get the tech for the base components early. But, if you've been focusing on Artemis and haven't done a lot of exploring and found those buildings that give you the tech, that could be why.

I'm pretty sure I've not found a grenade blueprint yet (I restarted my game after the newest update). I believe back in the day, you could simply find blueprints everywhere, but now where I used to find blueprints, I'm finding Nanite Clusters, and I don't think to trade them in at the trade stations often, but that seems to be the main source of blueprints now.

Mm yes. It seems like a lot of times those in the space station don't have the basic ones when you need them. "Those buildings that give you tech" should have been more specific: the buildings with NPCs that give you tech.

The outposts and things with NPCs that do a speech check give you the blueprints like they used to. Sometimes you'll only get standing, sometimes credits, but it seems it's the same rotation of blueprints for the ones that do. I got a lot of blueprints that way.

And Nada and Polo still give them to you as well.

You are welcome sir! While I like boxes, they tend to take up more space than needed. I am glad it found a good home.