Jamie John

I got up to this bit last night as well and all of a sudden found myself up against what I think might be the final boss. I think I've gone past the point of no return by accident.

Yet another recommendation for Heave-Ho (Switch). Utterly hilarious and with real staying power, although it does get a bit tricky later on. As well as that, my completely non-gaming wife and I enjoyed what we played of Super Chariot recently (Switch), which was going for peanuts last month. It's strictly two-player co-op however. Another Wife-Friendly game is Until Dawn (PS4). I controlled the character but we took it in turns to make decisions. It was pretty fun as I purposefully always chose the stupidest option which was bound to end in certain death, while she was a lot more sensible. Lastly, there's an overlooked puzzle game called Tumblestone that's available on everything going but is still great fun. It's sort of like a Bust-a-Move clone but more of a puzzle, as you have to pop the blocks in the right order otherwise you reach a dead end and have to reset. In 4 player mode, with all the boards adjacent to each other and each person having to solve the puzzle the quickest without cocking it up, it's fantastically tense. There's a few different game modes, too. I think it cost me about 99p.

Nice fight! How come you don't punish his sweep attacks, though? You've got the reactions as you always manage to jump in time, but you jump backwards instead of forwards so you don't get the head bop.

I had a similar experience with a few mates a couple of weeks ago. It is indeed hilarious. The funniest thing is waiting until the last person is in the cup and then farting them all out so they have to start again. Never gets old.

Blimey @Stopharage, how do you get through so many books so quickly? Good work! 2. The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey This was a simply-told, relatively gentle retelling of a fairytale about a childless middle-aged couple who move to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920s. One night they make a little girl out of snow and the next day they begin to catch fleeting glimpses of a young girl in the woods. From there, the entire thing revolves around whether the little girl is real or not, but the real story is about the character of the couple and their relationship. Overall, I thought it was very readable but it never really takes any risks and I'm not sure how long it will stay with me for. Still worth reading, however.

The one for the Division doesn't seem to be working (unless that's the joke, of course...). I've never even heard of Wreckfest. Is it online only?

Nope - I'd heard about them before but have never listened to any of their stuff. I'm in Devon.

Forgot about that one as well. It's all to play for going into the top three!

Although I agree that the Soulsborne games have a lot in common with metroidvanias, the proximity of the camera, mêlée combat and more closed-in environments of Asylum give it a very different feel. It the OP hasn't played Souls yet, however, then obviously he should. Immediately.

Forgot about UGG. I kind of hope it doesn't win, to be honest. It's a fun diversion while it lasts, but to say it's a better game than some of the others on the list is just silly. I bet it wins now.

Asylum, in particular, as a third-person, 3D Metroidvania, I think is relatively unique, really. While the sequels draw lots of comparisons with other open-world collect-em-ups, Asylum remains the best of the trilogy for me as it just keeps everything a lot tighter. I honestly can't think of a game that you could compare it to, like for like, although, strangely enough, I was reminded of it to an extent when I recently played the RE2 remake. The initial (and best) area in the police station, especially, although you can't judo slam or suplex the zombies like Batman would (or Resi 4 Leon, come to think of it). More's the pity!

My game of the year Great write up @Qazimod, and @Jolly's comments. What's left? Tetris 99 to take GotY? If Fallen Order or Shenmue take it then it'll be quite the surprise.

I didn't say that though, did I? Have another read of my post, please. The ship has probably already sailed now, but I'd urge you to give him another go. He's tough, definitely, but it's a magic feeling when you do finally beat him, and actually learning the moveset and watching yourself get a little better each time is pretty damn addictive. I found the skill that allows you to move whilst healing invaluable.

Ha, sounds good! After a few more listens, the Tool album is a dead cert. I'll be picking it up for sure. It'll be the first prog metal album in my collection...

I'd at least give it a go. It's hard, yes, but as I've suggested above, if you enjoy it enough to stick with it then there's a fantastic game there, my GotY for 2019, in fact. It's never anything less than entirely compelling, even if playing it can be somewhat exhausting, but you'll be used to that if you've played Bloodborne, of course. Set sphincters to squeeze!