Completionist Challenge, starting with RDR2!

For a while now it has bothered me that both Dad and I sit there and browse the PS Store/Steam looking at new games when we have loads sitting there that we've never finished.  (Dad is worse than me - he hardly finishes anything, for various reasons.)  I don't know why I do this - I have plenty of games that I've been meaning to finish, but what with work and Seb it's hard to find the time.  Especially if they're PEGI-18 and I don't want to play them while Seb's around.

I have games sitting there that I know will be fun, like Uncharted 4 and Dishonored 2, and I was given Assassin's Creed Odyssey for my 40th birthday.  My main problem is that I like open world type games where I have loads of thing to distract me, and I find it hard not to try and tick every box.  (I have to accept that I can't complete everything though, I'm not good enough to do the elite combat challenges in Assassin's Creed, like all the Elephants in Origins.)  But hey, I do a lot of the stuff, and I do the main story, so that counts.  I just don't have the time as a parent to be any more completionist.

One day I will get a platinum trophy...  They have eluded me as yet!

Anyway, I challenged Dad to finish some things, and I'm going to try and finish something I had been enjoying but stopped playing for a while - Red Dead Redemption 2 (PEGI-18).  Now, I know I won't get 100% completion on everything, but I'm going to do the main story and as much of the other stuff as possible.  I've already been playing it for (apparently) 2 days, 3 hours and 29 minutes, and I'm a little over halfway complete.

I am Arthur, the likeable murdering gang member...

I'm sure other parents have this problem with playing 18 certificate games - you only have a while each night while your child's in bed to play.  And you can't stay up as late as you used to, because you have to get up for work, and make your kid's lunch and get them up...  You know what it's like, if you have a kid.  Not that I'm complaining..!!

Thanks to the Rockstar Social Club you can get loads of progress stats.  Here is where I am currently:

...not good at being a bandit but great at exploring...

...which goes with the survivalist skills I guess...

...but not a big fan of weapons really...

...met lots of strangers but only halfway through missions...

...doing well apart from those gang hideouts...

...and one type of robbery (but I have had several baths)...

...and I don't know what those shacks are!

I'll keep you updated with my progress!  And we challenge YOU to try this too...

What games have you been meaning to finish for ages?

Game Review: Steamworld Dig 2

So, Steamworld Dig 2 (PEGI-7).  Seb has been playing this and he told me I should play it too - we've both finished it now.  And yet Dad, who bought it in the first place, has not finished it!  (He's not very good at finishing things.)  It was a great game to play on the Nintendo Switch, really suits the small screen pick up/put down format.

I hadn't played Steamworld Dig, Steamworld Heist or Steamworld Quest, so this was my first introduction to the Steamworld series.  There are five games altogether in the series now, you see - the first was a tower defence game, then the 'Dig' games are platformers, 'Heist' is a turn based strategy thing, and 'Quest' is an RPG card game with deck-building.

As you might have guessed, Steamworld Dig 2 follows on from Steamworld Dig. You play as Dorothy, a robot who looks a bit like a frog.  She's trying to find her friend Rusty.  (In the first game you play as Rusty.)  Quite what has happened to Rusty is up in the air until the end of the game.  You have to hope he's not gone over to the dark side, but that's what the game keeps telling you.  A secondary (but not unconnected) objective is to find out what's causing the earthquakes that are affecting the planet...

The game functions a bit like Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight.  You roam around, able to access new areas as you gain new powers.  The game pretends you have freedom about where you're going, though it's actually not giving you much choice.  Although you can dig tunnels, there are some bits you can't dig through - you have to go where the game wants you to.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, when it's telling a story, but it does feel like it's pretending to offer more freedom than it is.  Perhaps I feel this more acutely because the time I've spent with games like Terraria and Minecraft, which let you dig wherever you want to!

Dig, Dig, Dig

As you follow the story there's plenty of exploring, mining and fighting to be done.  You end up in the town of El Machino on a regular basis, purchasing upgrades and talking to the inhabitants.  One of them wants you to collect artefacts for him; in return he'll give you blueprints to upgrade yourself even further.  There are three boss battles, the last of which took both Seb and I numerous attempts (I did give up for a while and make myself more powerful).  And along the way, there are lots of caves with puzzles to solve, which will net you cogs for upgrades or artefacts to swap for blueprints.  Helpfully, when you've completed everything in a cave it ticks it off on the map.

I like the 'steam-powered robot' vibe, and the western theme is fun.  The music is annoyingly catchy.  It's a very well put together game.  Image & Form are to be congratulated for their skill in making different game formats accessible.  This is a great game for both kids and adults.  They've taken the Metroidvania style game and made something that holds you by the hand a little more, and not to its detriment.  They've done the same thing with the X-COM style Steamworld Heist Heist and the RPG card battler Steamworld Quest.  I can't even hazard a guess at what direction they'll travel in next!