Chamberlain and Chance

The Silksong counter is now at seven days. Chance and Alex are passing the hours by replaying Hollow Knight, with Alex wrapping the whole thing up in a new personal best time. Alex also found ALL of the Lego games on sale and is revisiting his childhood. And Chamberlain, who is so far removed from his childhood that he has forgotten it entirely, surrenders himself to one of his worst vices: a "new" Earth Defense Force game.

Spoiler! Hollow Knight Silksong has a release date! This is the happiest that Alex has been in six years. Also, we may not be recording in two weeks when it comes out, for science. Chance watched a ton of movies and has been inventing quests for himself in Tears of the Kingdom, this time at 60 FPS. And Chamberlain played a lot of things. The good (Ninja Gaiden Ragebound), the bad (Among Ashes) and the boring (Shadow Labyrinth).

The education of Chamberlain continues. This week: immersive sims are a thing that he has already played and he didn't even know it. Path of Exile II, which he has been enjoying, is not one. Alex has relapsed into XCOM II, which is excellent, but is not an immersive sim. And Chance has finished Donkey Kong Bananza and is struggling internally between Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Assassin's Creed Shadows, neither of which are immersive sims.

It is time for Chamberlain against the world (again). He tried Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and he hated it. A lot. No one else feels this way. He also threw money at Path of Exile 2 which is most enjoyable, when the sound works. Alex declares Final Fantasy XIII the worst Final Fantasy and Chance betrays not just some but ALL of his principles buy purchasing a Switch 2 and *gasp* enjoying Donkey Kong Bananza.

Chance has officially hit the credits of Death Stranding 2 and has almost nothing but nice things to say about it. It is hard to argue with shirtless hand to hand guitar battles. Alex is catching up on the Final Fantasy games that he never played. This week it is XIII, a game that still looks good and whose writing is still bad. And Chamberlain has returned to his gaming comfort zone: 7/10 games with obvious flaws and a lot of heart. Karma is a walking sim crossed with Orwell by way of Inception and Somber Echoes is a metroidvania with a good map, and sometimes that is all that is required.

Only one of your three heroes is not suffering from the annual summer games drought. Chance is still enjoying Death Stranding 2 and promises there is so much more to it than Tomorrow's feet. Alex took Chamberlain's lack of love for Metaphor personally and is playing it again to feel confident in his own opinions. And Chamberlain has gone all the way back to Hollow Knight, which is awesome, and whose map he still hates with more passion than is appropriate.

There is still only one new release of note, Death Stranding 2, and Chance is still all about it. Yes, Kojima still has somewhat cringey takes on the fairer sex, but the menus are awesome and walking from one place to another never gets old. Alex is working through his Steam backlog, this week sampling Chrono Cross and Mortal Kombat 11. And Chamberlain hates everything. He hated I Am Your Beast and he didn't exactly love Metaphor.

Alex spent some time outside, doing outside things, and this has stirred within him a desire to throw and hit balls with wooden sticks, also know as Super Mega Baseball 4. Chamberlain has to settle for Symphony of the Night at home, also known as Chronicles of the Wolf. And Chance has decided that walking around in real life is not enough and that it can only be improved by Kojima.

No Alex this week, but fear not! To make up for this Chamberlain played MindsEye to completion. All of it. So you don't have to (please don't). Chance also takes one on the chin this week by confirming that the Lollipop Chainsaw remaster is bad should feel bad about existing.

Good games soon, we promise!

It happens every year: the doldrums. Yes, 'not E3' is over, but trailers of games that aren't coming out for years does little to sate the needs of the addict. Alex tried Lies of P, tried being the operative term. At least Steam allows refunds. Chamberlain is wasting his time with a mediocre console port of Titan Quest. And Chance is doing the unthinkable: watching movies. And playing Overwatch.