Now Playing at SUPERJUMP, Issue 12

We're back with another issue of Now Playing at SUPERJUMP! We're all in the post-holiday times now, where we're playing the games we received as gifts or whatever we didn't have time for with friends and family around for a few weeks. Our writers are getting back into the swing of things, so here's what they're currently playing, obsessing over, thinking about, and looking forward to in the coming weeks. So enjoy, and we'll see you back here each week for more recommendations and odes to the games our team loves!

Robbert Boeijink

To balance my Donkey Kong arcade obsession, I needed something less exciting. I remember buying a boxed copy of Disco Elysium on a recent trip; a rare 50% off - ‘I can always resell it back home’, I thought at the time. As I finally had some extra time during the holiday, I pulled off the seal and slid the cartridge into my Switch. For the first time in years, I played for six hours straight. And now that I commute much longer for my new job, I found myself playing it daily for 1-1/2 hours on average this week on the train.

Nathan Kelly

Over the holidays I picked up a copy of Sword & Sorcery, a tabletop dungeon crawler that I’m really enjoying so far! My roommate and I got through the prologue quest and despite my reservations about the size of the rulebook it was very intuitive and ran smoothly. It definitely has a lot of inspiration from tab target MMOs, Final Fantasy XII’s gambit system, and D&D’s action system. Luckily we are geeks for all three of those things so we fell in love instantly. We also played a game of Age of Wonders 4, which is quickly overtaking Fire Emblem: Three Houses as my favorite strategy game (and that’s a hard feat). Age of Wonders 4 is missing a good fishing mini-game though.

Joshua Gautreaux

I've been making my way through several games lately. Goat Simulator 3 has been a madhouse of fun. I'm steadily making progress through Kaycee's Mod in Inscription after beating the phenomenal campaign mode. And I've almost completed my playthrough of Cuphead, a trying but worthwhile experience so far. If I find the time this week, I'd really like to try out Cocoon,

Maris Crane

I’ve been playing Yakuza 2: Kiwami to get in the zone for Like A Dragon 8’s release at the end of the month. The Yakuza games in general are pure video game comfort food to me. These games have achieved perfect harmony between melodramatic crime soap opera plots, silly side stories, minigames and genuinely moving character moments. The game worlds are small, but dense and detailed. It feels very immersive, and specific to Yakuza 2 Kiwami, the combat music is excellent! I’ve been actively seeking out fights so I can beat up random goons to that music. I’m really enjoying my time with this game, as I have with the rest of this series

Brandon Chinn

I started a new file on Elden Ring, which after nearly two years feels pretty fresh and strange again. I've also been playing Chrono Trigger on my Steam Deck and if no one has said it before, that's a pretty good game.

Lawrence Adkins

Sifu is my first game of 2024 and man am I stoked that I started it now. I changed the way that I approach games to try and get them in any chance I get and with how focused Sifu is on replayability and mastering combat, it’s going to take a huge chunk of my time in my backlog. There are 5 main areas (that I know of - no spoilers!) but I’ve been going back through the first two to get my own badass martial arts movie feeling.

PJ Walerysiak

Lately, I've been feeling like an accomplished juggler, giving my attention to an orbit of great games without letting any fall to the wayside. Baldur's Gate 3 dominates my PlayStation Portal anytime I use it, where I'm in the middle of Act 3. My TV on the other hand sees me heavily enjoying Remnant 2, Chivalry 2, and my recent obsession with God of War: Ragnarok's Valhalla DLC. My wife and I also started It Takes Two, which has been a pure joy to play together. My Switch has seen less game time lately, but when it does I'm on either Octopath Traveler 2 or Super Mario Bros. Wonder. So many great games, so little time! I may use some PTO soon to finally finish a couple of these!

Bryan Finck

While I didn't have a ton of time to game over the holiday break, every available minute went straight to Cyberpunk. The game continues to impress me with the quality of the acting and writing, the variety of side missions, and the sheer amount of things to do and see in Night City.

Just in the past few days, I've also started playing the gorgeous mountain-climbing puzzle game, Jusant, the latest release from noted studio Don't Nod. It is one of my favorite experiences in a long time, a meditative experience with an incredible sense of scale and adventure. I'm only halfway through but I can't recommend it highly enough, though maybe not if you are afraid of heights.

That's a wrap for this week's Now Playing at SUPERJUMP!
Thank you for checking out the veritable treasure trove of games our team is playing right now, and be sure to check back next week when we're back with more.