What we’ve been playing – co-op games, sort of visiting Essex, and a relentless desire for Pokémon

26th July

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve been playing. This week, Tom O really is playing a proper game that isn’t Rematch, Mat ‘social’ Jones has not been in Essex, Alex has been struggling to sleep, Chris has been fighting against his worst desires, and Dom has attempted to come down after a festival.

What have you been playing?

Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We’ve Been Playing archive.

Split Fiction, PS5 Pro

As it’s the school holidays I’m back on Split Fiction with my son in the evenings. It’s still good fun, although my simplistic view on it compared to the studio’s previous offering (It Takes Two) is that I preferred the older game’s set up. I’m a bit tired of the fantasy and sci-fi stuff, and if I’m being honest some of the stages feel a little dull.

When it works, it really works though. The space sequence that makes you use a grappling hook to propel yourself forward was thrilling, and I enjoyed all the racing sequences (the one with the giant squid thing was cool), but the overall pacing of the game stalls at points.

That sounds rather negative. I like Split Fiction a lot, it’s just not hitting the same highs that It Takes Two did, at least not yet… I’ve heard the final stage is an absolute delight!

-Tom O

Expelled!, PC

Keen Eurogamer readers might remember Expelled or even have already played it, as this neat little tightly-wound not-quite-murder mystery adventure was reviewed by Katharine back in March. I missed that – I didn’t work for Eurogamer then – and the whole thing rather passed me by. Then a few weeks ago someone in a Discord server mentioned it gushingly – and I knew from the description alone I’d missed a total winner. I quickly picked it up on Steam and installed it.

Weeks pass. It’s bloody busy right now, you know? But last week I was a bit sick and suffered a painfully sleepless night – and instead of laying in a darkened room feeling miserable, I trudged down to my office and had a good old fashioned 3am gaming session. Looking for something low-stress, I booted Expelled, remembering my friend’s evangelism of it – and wow, it is lovely.

I don’t want to undermine our role here, but sometimes it is very nice to go into a game relatively blind. I hadn’t read the reviews of this, and until I booted it didn’t even realise it was loosely connected to the also-excellent Overboard. It was just a really pleasant surprise, a lovely little time loop driven adventure game that has heart, soul, intrigue, and stakes that are suitably light-touch but nevertheless meaningful. I’ve experienced a fair chunk of what it has to offer – and I’m looking forward to jumping back in this weekend.

-Alex

Pokémon TCG Pocket, Mobile

I’m still playing Pokémon TCG Pocket and only partially hate myself for it. While out at SGF earlier this year and heavily distracted, I managed to completely miss the entire promo Ultra Beasts set and the Necrozma EX card you could get with it. At first I thought that might be a kind of freeing moment – I’d finally missed something, I’ll never be able to get it (unless they change trading rules again). Maybe this is my chance, I thought, to be at Stoic peace with the idea of never having a complete set, and allow myself to simply play this game when I feel like it, rather than when I need to play it to maximise every single possible hourglass for getting new cards.

Alas, nope. Still playing it every day. Still opening every single free pack. Still butting my head against the wall in Ultra Ball Tier 1 of competitive play. I could get to 2 if I tried – maybe even 3! – but do I want to try? Probably not. Probably will do it anyway.

-Chris

Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot – an arcade not in Essex

I would never recommend anyone travel to Romford willingly, but should you be unfortunate enough to pass through, there’s a single ray of hope in the seemingly only copy of Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot in existence being there. It’s a fine-enough lightgun shooter painted with just the aesthetic design of one of the best games of all time, but you get to say that you’ve played something that no one else in the world has access to, which may never even actually come out. How often do you get to do that? Never. Unless you’re a games journalist, in which case it’s always

-Mat J

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, PS5

Over the past few weeks, when I’ve had a bit of spare time, I’ve been booting up Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. It’s been the perfect game to help me come down off the high I got from attending 2000trees, the best festival in the world (yes, I mean it). It’s a hub for everything hardcore, punk, and emo – this year headlined by Coheed & Cambria, Kneecap, Pvris, Alexisonfire, and Taking Back Sunday.

Whilst none of those bands actually make it onto the playlist for this title (for shame), the game represents everything I love about the vibe of Britain’s leading small festival: community, an adoration of alternative culture, and a ‘f**k it, we’ll do it ourselves’ ethos. For this instalment, I’ve made American-Finnish skateboarder Lizzie Armanto my de facto avatar: working under Hawk’s own Birdhouse brand, and generally known as one of the best femme skaters in the biz, it’s really nice to have the option to take her on a world tour. But maybe it’s just my way of thanking her for the all-gender capsule collection she put out via Vans (representing the first signature skate shoe designed by a woman in over 20 years!)

THPS 3+4 has its problems, sure – there are some weird choices in how the menus lead into the career modes, and some of the challenges are so obscure they go beyond fun and just get irritating – but the fun factor of the game remains as compelling as ever. Strange to think that some 24 years later, this series has as much appeal as it did back in 2001 – when THPS3 originally came out – and has continued to be a bastion for inclusivity and diversity to this date. That’s what punk is all about, really. And I’ll fight anyone that says otherwise.

-Dom