Gaming Ramble Weekly

Welcome back to Gaming Ramble Weekly!  I’m so happy that you’re taking the time to read this week’s blog, it really is a pleasure.  We’re almost reaching the end of January and escaping what many consider to be the most miserable month of the year.  Don’t worry, that post-Christmas pay check is coming soon guys, hang in there!  This week’s felt like the first big week in the gaming space for 2024, mainly due to Xbox’s Developer Direct which was broadcast on Thursday, giving us an insight into Xbox’s headline titles for 2024.

Naturally then, I’m going to open this week’s blog by talking about my thoughts on what was showcased, and if any of you know the Indiana Jones franchise well, you may have recognised that the title of this blog is taken from a very well known quote to do with Indy’s fear of snakes.  Yes, that’s right, the big headline piece from this showcase was the first extended look of the upcoming Indiana Jones game which is set for release this year.  The first official trailer was shown off, showing a generous amount of gameplay, with developers MachineGames making the bold decision to make this a First-Person game, with some Third-Person traversal and cinematic sequences.  I personally really struggle with First-Person games, they often make me feel a little bit motion sick, and I just find that I struggle with the camera and field of view.  But I know that many people are excited for this after seeing the trailer.

As I mentioned in the title, a lot is being made of Todd Howard’s involvement in this game.  Todd has recently become known for his “sweet little lies” that he tells players, and Bethesda games are known to be clunky at launch.  Most recently, Todd came under fire for some exaggerations he made with Bethesda’s most recent title, Starfield.  He claimed that planets were fully explorable and filled with plenty to do, which at the time, certainly raised eyebrows, but also, had a LOT of people excited.  Then Starfield released, and let’s just say that Todd was found out to be a bit of a fibber.  I’m all for enthusiasm and excitement for a project you’re passionate for, but leading people on in this way is a difficult one to understand.

Thankfully, our good friend Todd is an Executive Producer on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and therefore his involvement in the development of the game is much more hands-off than his involvement in Starfield and some of the buggy-at-launch Fallout games. It seems that his name is being used to generate more interest in the title, with Microsoft being aware that Xbox fanboys tend to idolise Todd Howard in some way, shape or form.

The Developer Direct also gave us a closer look at Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Visions of Mana, and Ara: History Untold.  While none of these titles would make me want to buy an Xbox, I can see the appeal for the Xbox audience, and 2024 is looking to be a pretty stacked year for Xbox-exclusive titles.  I’ll be keeping my eyes on these titles and will be covering them here when they launch.

Burnout? No Idea what you’re Talking About…

Oh boy, this week has seen me click back into playing games very nicely, and it’s nice to finally have that Burnout feeling out of my system. I’m pleased to say that I played Deathloop for about 6 hours this week, and I’ve been really enjoying my time with it.  FIrst-Person perspective is still not my thing, and if my gameplay was released I would probably be very quickly laughed at.

One of Deathloop’s most fascinating elements is the way each area changes based on the time of day you go to them.  Let’s take my “comfort” area, Updaam, for example.  In Deathloop, you basically split the day into four sessions: morning, noon, afternoon, and evening.  Depending on when you go to each area, there will be different elements to explore.  Also, your actions at an earlier time of day will affect some missions later on in the day.  For example, one of the shops you’re asked to go to is Otto’s workshop.  If you go anytime from Noon onwards, you’ll discover that the shop has suffered an equipment malfunction and has burned down, meaning you can’t progress.  Start a new loop and go in the morning, you’ll see the shop standing, with an over-worked generator.  If you perform a certain action, you can prevent the shop from burning down and therefore, return later on in the day to progress that particular lead.

I’ve really enjoyed the progress I’ve made so far, and feel pretty confident that I’m a few play sessions away from finishing my first game of 2024.  Once this is done, it’s back to the backlog to find another game to tick off the list. Emptying the backlog in the next year could be a possibility…

Finally, Some Personal News…

In a change of pace for this blog, I’m taking the attention away from games for a brief second to let you know that last week, I got engaged!  It was just the funniest but most perfect moment.  Where we live, we were experiencing icy and snowy conditions, so I thought the best place to propose would be the beach, in the dark, while it snowed.  My fiancée couldn’t say yes fast enough, definitely couldn’t have been anything to do with the weather?  Right?

Thanks so much for reading this week’s blog!  I really love writing this, it keeps me engaged with the news in the gaming world, while also giving me an outlet to journal what I’ve been up to!  If you’re enjoying this, please let a friend know, and subscribe to the blog to get notifications every time a new blog goes live (I aim to post every Monday at 7pm).  Until the next time, we can only hope for a PlayStation Showcase, and if not that, maybe some more news on upcoming releases…please?