10th January
Hello and Happy New Year - is it okay to say that now? I'm not sure where the cut-off point is. Some people still have their Christmas trees up. We had ours out before New Year. Welcome back to What We've Been Playing! Or as I like to call this particular edition of it: What We Played Over Christmas, because it's been a couple of weeks since we've talked.
This week, Bertie's obsessed with balls - you did try to tell him; Connor does his best Lottie impression and gets hooked on old-school RuneScape; Tom thinks he's experienced the pinnacle of gaming; Dom can't resist going back to Atlus' best game; and Marie finds life as a dinosaur rather exciting.
Ball x Pit, PC
Why did no one tell me Ball x Pit was good? Oh - *looks at the top 50 list*, they did. To be fair, anything baked with Vampire Survivors ingredients is likely to tempt me, though there's a lot of Slay the Spire here too, which again is a good thing, and plenty of Breakout. It's inspired, really, how creator Kenny Sun has taken that old Breakout template and reimagined it by way of popular modern roguelikes.
I love the presentation, the way the ball-bouncing concept stretches into the base-building part of the game. Most of all, I love how in love the game is with the idea of delirious overpoweredness, which is the real draw of Vampire Survivors and Slay the Spire - the quest to break the game in your favour and make your power outrageous. Build cleverly and your projectiles will ricochet around the game's arenas like demolition balls. There are few things quite so satisfying.
Bonus entry: I also played a chunk more Sektori and discovered a mode almost exactly like Geometry Wars - Classic - where you fight in a fixed arena, rather than those that keep morphing and changing around you. It's just brilliant - a faceful of energy, an arcade rave on your screen.
-Bertie
Old School RuneScape, PC
A good friend of mine has been recommending I play Old School RuneScape for years, and during the holidays I finally gave it a shot. It has dominated my life ever since. This morning before work, I was killing 80-ish crabs for a Slayer task. I then made fishcakes and fed them to a time-frozen lad called Pirate Pete.
I've started valuing immensely the degree of British-ness in games. I get joy from lines like: "would you like a cuppa tea?" after a furniture-building house call. Or when my character shouts Oi when kicking a golem awake in a dwarven ruin.
Right now I've hit a bit of a wall though. I need loads of money to continue building out my fancy new sloop for sailing the open seas, and I'm dead broke. Oh well, an excuse to go out and explore I suppose!
-Connor
Thank Goodness You're Here!, PS5
I haven't played much of this, certainly not as much as I'd have liked - for that I'll blame a Christmas lethargy, children, football, and general life. But what I have played has been brilliant fun. I don't know if I'm really doing much other than wandering about until stuff happens, but when a sausage-making machine spurted out an enormous banger only to end up on a woman's lap, who then drew a nice face on it and put on a silly voice, I think I may have experienced the pinnacle of gaming.
-Tom O
Persona 5 Royal, PS5 Pro
I have no idea why I was drawn back to Persona 5 Royal over the break. Something about it was just tugging at my heartstrings, like a pack of thieves had left a calling card deep inside me summoning me to reconsider some deep part of myself. It hasn't aged a day, has it? I find it a really nice coast as I prepare for the likes of Nioh 3 early this year.
Incredible production values, music so good I let fights linger longer just to hear the choruses, and some tasty narrative hooks all combine to make this one of the best all-around packages Atlus has delivered. Roll on Persona 6, or Persona 4 Revival, whichever comes first.
-Dom
Lego Jurassic World, Switch 2
I've already made a start on my 2026 gaming resolution by picking up Lego Jurassic World again after watching the original film and Lost World this past week. While I will say that, currently, Marvel Super Heroes is still my favourite Lego game, Jurassic World has a charm I'd previously overlooked.
Fitting multiple movie plots into one game is impressive, balancing enough to keep me interested without overwhelming me. Smashing everything in sight to collect Studs is deeply satisfying, but I think I've found something even better: charging around as a dinosaur!
-Marie
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