Finished Hi-Fi Rush. Don't get the hype, it's a spectacle fighter without much spectacle. The mid-game really drags by going 5 or so levels without a boss fight. It also teases you about boss fights you don't get to have 3 different times, which isn't great. Imo the worst thing I can say about it is that the music in this game all about fighting along to the beat is utterly forgettable, with the exception of Roquefort's boss theme which is cheating anyway.

On Chapter 8 of Yakuza Like a Dragon. A neat premise/gimmick (the MC is deluded and thinks the world works by Dragon Quest logic), but the filler encounters you fight just walking around the street are frustrating. It's also not clear what any of the stats do, which is annoying. I'd only ever played 0 before this and I'm seeing a lot of similarities (chicken business consultant, yakuza boss who dresses up as a baby for fetish reasons, MC is kicked out of the Yakuza at the start, many minigames are copy-pasted) and it makes me wonder how different the rest of the series actually are from each other given the story isn't especially interesting. I could never really recommend this to anyone but I admit it has its own strange charm.

Rotating through Brotato, Soulstone Survivors, and Holocure when I need a podcast game. It really pains me to say it but Holocure is the best Vampire Survivors-like (excluding VS itself).

Started a coop Elden Ring playthrough with the Seamless Coop mod with a buddy and we're having fun even if it's still a bit buggy.

What are you most anticipating for 2024 in terms of games?

Shadow of the Erdtree.