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POKEMON Okay, I'm only actually saying that word right at the start of this because if I don't then it will remain the Copperajah in the room. There is just no escaping the sheer size of the franchise, so much so that even when a game does things differently to the template, it will still be compared to Game Freak's behemoth. Which may or may not be fair, but it is something that games have always done. Once upon a time we called every FPS a "Doom clone", and we still use Roguelike as a descriptor even when the game has nothing in common with the original other than randomness every playthrough. First, the website: https://www.cassettebeasts.com/ And here's the trailer: So, capture record monsters beasts in balls on tapes, and use them to battle against others. Beasts have types elements, and some are more effective against other types while being not particularly effective against some. So far, so utterly predictable. However, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve. For starters, beasts don't have moves, as such. They have stickers, which can be applied to and peeled off of the tape the beast is stored on. And you aren't limited to 4, a tape can store 8 stickers. Some of these are passive abilities, too, which means that you have a much larger range of strategies to play around with. Some of these strategies are extremely broken, so it really is for the best right now that the game doesn't have multi-player. You don't have PP in this game, either. Instead, you use AP, which is best thought of like Energy or Mana in card games. Start with 2, earn more each round, each move has an AP cost. Nicely, every beast comes with either Smack or Spit, which is a 0AP attack, so you will never be unable to do something. (Of course, you have the option to peel those stickers off should you wish.) These attacks are typeless, which is actually one of my favourite twists to the Pokeformula, because being typeless means that they actually inherit the type of the beast that used them. My poisonous Carniviper? It spits poison. My Fire type Pombomb? It spits fire. Type advantages and disadvantages also work differently. It's more akin to chemistry than to straightofrward Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanics. A good example of this is Healing Steam, which is what happens when fire attacks hit water type beasts. Not to mention, there are an entire set of stickers that change your type, or at least temporarily coat it. All buffs, debuffs, and transmutations are temporary, lasting a certain number of turns, and a second use of the move extends this duration. You are always with a companion, and this just adds in to the complexity of it all. Seriously, there are some deep chain reaction combinations that happen that leave you thinking "Whaaaaaaaaaaatttttt?" Another nice touch is fusions. Each beast can fuse with each other beast, and this is done via an algorithm, which means that there are technically 14,000+ possible fusions in the game. Fusions, though, are temporary, and can't be recorded. Finally, the game is open world. Some areas are ability-gated, but there is not much stopping you from getting in to battles with beasts way above your level if you are able to work out how to get somewhere. Each companion has their own story to work through, as well as there being your own overarching objective, and you can drop in and out of all these as you please. These stories aren't your standard "Evil team with evil plot" stories, and in fact the entire game is a bit more adult and certainly darker than its inspiration. For that, though, I've not seen anything (yet) that your 10 year old kids couldn't handle. In my opinion, this is excellent, improving in many ways on what Game Freak do. However, it also has inherited one of the same problems. NPCs can see you from way too far away, so sometimes you are thrust into another battle when you're just trying to get that little bit forwards because you've seen a campfire to rest at. And one or two of the gym leaders Ranger Captains could do with a touch of rebalancing, I was stuck in an endless battle with one because I simply didn't have a way to break his constant self-buffing and healing with the team I had on me at the time I found him, and the lack of PP meant that we were in stalemate. Similarly, it is possible to get into a battle with a much more powerful fusion than you are prepared for, as some of the puzzles and chests in the game are actually ambushes. Great rewards, but if you just happen to be grinding to remaster some of your beats this can be annoying. Otherwise, this is perfect for anyone looking for more Pokemon but not quite wanting to go down the whole Romhack route. Or, for someone who feels they have outgrown Pokemon a little. OH! It also has local co-op, (and Steam Remote Play co-op) which I've not yet tried but which simply gives player 2 control of the companion. Don't just take my word for it, though. It's sat at 84 on Metacritic, and Mighty on Open Critic. You can find out for yourself right now if you;ll like it, via a demo on Steam, and the game is already on PC Game Pass. It comes out on consoles on May 25th, and I'll quite likely rebuy it for Switch at that point because I still don't have a Steam Deck.

This is a thread for anyone who has gone on an unnecessary journey to get the highest player level, or find all of the orbs, or complete the legendary armour set. Cheevo hunting is one thing, but even that is something explicitly set as a goal by the developers, rather than your own dogged endeavour. What recent examples have you had where you’ve chased a certain goal that may not even be a mandatory requirement in the game you’re playing? I think a recent one for me has been the stamps in Persona 5 Royal. P5R is a dungeon crawling RPG, and in addition to progressively harder dungeons in the story, there’s one ever-growing dungeon that can be repeatedly revisited called Mementos. In the original P5, the goal was simply to unlock the final area in Mementos and ultimately finish the game. However, Royal added locations in Mementos where you could get “stamps” that could be redeemed for modifiers - it seems innocent enough, but the compulsive trigger was the fact that the game explicitly tells you the number of stamps in an area... so that record of “17/20 stamps found” is the worst gamer itch. To be fair, you do get an optional extra thing after getting enough, but it’s by no means mandatory if you just want to see the ending. And I only knew about the optional extra thing after the fact. In vanilla P5, I finished the game at level 83; in Royal, most of my party was level 99... and I’m pretty sure that this stamp hunt contributed to most of this. Worse still, there’s an ability you can unlock late in the game where you can run into a low-level enemy... and instead of the battle sequence initiating, the enemy will instantly die and you still get the exp, cash and item rewards. This meant that in my search for stamps I was mowing down enemies and getting all of that experience. I’ve played through pretty much every mainline Persona game now (unless you’re counting P3: The Answer) and until now I’ve never reached level 99 on my first playthrough. I have a pretty strong P4G save on my Vita but even that is just me goofing around with fusion for the heck of it. Anyway, where are you at with your own compulsive pursuits? (I kind of expect Animal Crossing to feature in this thread - isn’t there an element of collecting themed furniture or something in there?)

The SUPER Retro Games Fair is back for its biggest event yet! This is the biggest video game sales event in West Yorkshire with over 130 tables of gaming goodies and over 65 sellers with 1000s of retro games, consoles, computers, artwork, imports, accessories, toys, modified consoles, bartop arcades and much much more all for sale No need to get up early for the car boot or wait for the postman from ebay! Here you can see the condition in person before you buy! Whether you are a big collector or just getting into old gaming there will be plenty of common titles and rarities on offer on all formats from all ages. Pay on the door and you can come and go as many times as you want in the day too. There will be retro games to play, tournaments to enter a bar and cafe too! THE DATE Saturday 23rd June 2018 OPENING TIMES 11am-4pm THE VENUE Leeds University Union, Refectory, Lifton Place, Leeds, LS2 9JZ ADMISSION £2 per adult, Under 16s - 50p, Under 6 - Free Find out more information on the links below: RETRO EVENTS WEBSITE RETRO GAMES FAIR WEBSITE RETRO EVENTS FACEBOOK PAGE Let us know you are coming on the official Facebook EVENT PAGE Follow us on TWITTER Check out the PHOTOS from a previous event

The Retro Games Fair is back! If you love retro gaming, playing and collecting then this is the event for you. A wide range of sellers covering every videogame and home computer format since the beginning of video gaming. Nintendo, Sega, Atari, Sinclair, Amstrad, Sony, Microsoft, Commodore, SNK and much much more. 1000's of retro games, consoles, computers, artwork, imports, accessories, toys, bartop arcades, artwork, plushies and much much more all for sale at the Retro Games Fair! No need to get up early for the car boot or wait for the postman from ebay! Here you can see the condition in person before you buy from some of the biggest and best sellers in the country. Our sellers range from professional traders to private collectors reducing their collections so there is a guaranteed range of prices and items for sale. Whether you are a big collector or just getting into retro gaming there will be plenty of common titles and rarities on offer on all formats from all ages. The perfect event to build up a great gaming collection. As well as the stalls there will also be a room to play on some old arcade cabinets provided by the amazing guys from Arcade Club! Our amazing Prize Draw will return for the chance to win something pretty special too! Pay on the door and you can come and go as many times as you want in the day. THE DATE Saturday 27th Jan 2018 OPENING TIMES 11am-5pm THE VENUE Marriott Hotel, Boar Lane Leeds, LS1 6ET ADMISSION £2 per adult, Under 16s - 50p, Under 6 - Free Find out more information on the links below: RETRO GAMES FAIR WEBSITE RETRO EVENTS FACEBOOK PAGE Let us know you are coming on the official Facebook EVENT PAGE Follow us on TWITTER Check out the PHOTOS from previous events