Now Playing at SUPERJUMP, Issue 16

We're back with another issue of Now Playing at SUPERJUMP! We are fully into the meat of 2024's release schedule, with multiple blockbusters and highly-anticipated games mere days or weeks away from reaching our controllers. Our team is getting ready for it all, so enjoy this week's entries and we'll see you back here soon with more recommendations and odes to the games our team loves!

Marvel Maximus

I’ve finally gotten in the mood to play Metro Exodus. I finished the original Metro 2033 and its sequel Last Light back in the pandemic, and after years of putting it off, I’ve decided it’s time to cap off the trilogy. Straight from the main menu, the game immersed me without much effort. The sound design of post-apocalyptic wind and Geiger counter clicks brought back all the memories of its irradiated world. And then the fact that you have to wipe your gas mask once in a while to see clearly, just like the first two games, is a really nice touch that I’ve always loved; makes the world just a little bit more believable. It’s like I never left.

The other game that I’ve just started is Road 96, which is amazing so far, simulating what it’s like to be a hitchhiker meeting strangers with their own backstories. I’m looking forward to exploring both games’ worlds and getting to know the characters that dwell in them.

Charlotte Huston

Granblue Fantasy Relink is fantastic, and I honestly couldn't stop playing it. I'll be honest though, the story and characters don't really resonate with me, and they're frankly quite lackluster. Thankfully, though, Relink's story is only ~10 hours or so long, but the gameplay is fantastic. It's very ability-focused hack-and-slashy, being reminiscent of Final Fantasy XVI, but this game is more of an RPG with how different each character plays, along with the FFX-inspired skill trees. It's a hard game to recommend since the story is so short, and the "real game" as Granblue fans say is the Monster Hunter-style postgame, where you'll be focused on raids and progressively harder missions. If you enjoy that grind, it's definitely worth the time with how fun it is to play. I'd give the demo a whirl first before taking the dive just to be sure it's your cup of tea.

Robbert Boeijink

I've been trying to escape the House of Hades for the past couple of days. After 37 attempts, I just managed to do so, and man... that felt rewarding! It's my first real action roguelike experience. Hades has the replayability of an arcade game, while the gods, boons and backstories give it RPG-like levels of immersion. There were times I wanted to ragequit the game, believing it was unfairly mocking my efforts. I'm glad I persevered; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Can't wait for Part II.

Joshua Gautreaux

I've been bouncing around several games this week. I started the week off by finishing The Talos Principle. It definitely has me wanting to play the Portal games since I never got around to those. Then I set aside most of the week for some cozy gaming with Slime Rancher 2. While there haven't been any new areas added since it was first released, they've introduced a new weather system and a few new slimes to boot. And last, I finally managed to complete Celeste. I was getting bogged down the first time I played it trying to get all the collectibles in the one playthrough, but I decided to just go ahead and complete the campaign and found that I liked the pacing of that approach much better. And I love how the last chapter felt like both a gauntlet and a victory lap all in one. It really drove home the triumph of the character's achievement.

Bryan Finck

I spent the entire last week playing the brand new action RPG Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden for review over at Seasoned Gaming, and I can't say enough good things about the game. The story is excellent, with some of the best voice-acting performances I've ever heard. The action is really enjoyable 3rd-person stuff, reminding me of a simplified God of War model with both melee and ranged weapons.

Having a new IP set in the world of Colonial-era America was quite the risk for studio Don't Nod and publisher Focus Entertainment, but they knocked it out of the park. I only hope it won't get buried under the weight of all the other huge games coming out in the next month. It has a small pocket for itself before Pacific Drive, Skull and Bones, and of course, FFVII Rebirth come out so I'm hoping it can find its footing, as it deserves all the attention it could get. I'm excited to go back to an early save and see how different choices will affect the ending of the game, as there are said to be 5 in total.

Otherwise, I'll keep going with my Cyberpunk playthrough and likely a few runs in Super Meat Boy for a change of pace. I've recently bought several platformers so I'm keen to try several of those out in the coming weeks as well.

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.