Weekend Gaming Playlist (7-15-22)

The next few weeks are going to be a one-two punch combo in terms of JRPGs, with Square Enix dropping a remade classic and Monolith Soft unleashing their certified-sprawling game world on us the week after. We can only wait and tremble in the looming shadow of these upcoming releases… or perhaps, we can continue to clear out our backlogs and tackle smaller titles in the meantime. I’m desperately trying to contain my Xenoblade excitement this week by focusing on a handful of releases that I can try to close out or come back to after August is decimated by Xenoblade. Here’s what I’m playing this weekend:

Carrion

I picked up Carrion during a recent sale and have been making steady progress with the game throughout the week, and am hoping to have completed it by the weekend’s conclusion. Being a fan of horror, science-fiction, and Metroidvanias, this twist on the power dynamic has some gorgeous aesthetic design and neat little tricks peppered throughout its relatively short campaign. The player takes on the role of some carnivorous, apex predator flesh-mound as it slowly accrues strength and spreads throughout a research facility, taking revenge on the humans that attempted to contain and understand it. The free-form movement accompanied by some sort of procedural tendril-mapping really amps up the momentum of your killing spree, but there are several points where you must slow down and spread yourself thin (literally!) in order to solve some environmental puzzles to progress. While combat isn’t terribly in-depth or rewarding, it is very satisfying to toss around hapless human scientists as a wrathful creature. Here’s hoping Carrion sticks the landing and gets two thumbs up.

Xel

This 3D Action Adventure has only just been released, but its tongue-in-cheek title reference and clear inspiration makes it a curiosity for Zelda fans (get it?) who missed out and/or passed over it on other platforms. Featuring combat, puzzle solving, and an enigmatic storyline revolving around its protagonist Reid, there’s not much I can say about the game myself having just picked it up, but I’m hoping to gain a better impression of it during the weekend.

Picross S7

I have become Picross, destroyer of free time. After having tapped out of the final pages of Picross S GENESIS & Master System edition due to falling off my daily dose of Picross, I’ve started anew with Picross S7 as a means of getting me warmed up for larger puzzles. At my current clip, I try to clear about five puzzles a day, though that will likely change as they increase in grid size. So far, I’ve made a few careless errors, but my ability to finish puzzles without assists has drastically improved, unlike my earliest bouts with GENESIS & Master System. I know that there are multiple modes for Picross, but I tend to stick with the original and clip art, as the other modes are a bit too wonky, but that might change with S7.

Super Lucky’s Tale

A recent sale finally caused me to bite the bullet on this 3D Platformer, a genre that I’ve always had a fascination with. I was hoping to get a solid and varied platforming experience, and after having played through the game’s tutorial and opening levels, I do think Super Lucky’s Tale can deliver. What I wasn’t expecting was the bizarre and in-depth narrative framing that introduces a set of Sonic-like freedom fighters and a mystical realm fighting against the forces of… cat-dom. While that part of the game seems to be mostly relegated to background noise, it does contribute some aesthetic theming to the various NPCs and architecture you encounter within. I guess I should have known better, considering 3D Platformers often come packed with their own lore, but I can’t say that I was expecting it from a game about a Fox in a t-shirt.

My weekend playlist is a mash-up of genres, and you might have noted a suspicious lack of RPGs. It’s more or less a palette cleanser in the face of what is looking like a packed end of the month. Are you looking forward to either of the RPGs on the horizon? Have you played any of these titles? Do you like Clip Picross? Feel free to comment below, or on one of our social media channels. Have a great weekend!