Still playing Balatro. Running out of steam with it a bit. Pretty sure theres a large element of RNG as to whether a run will work or not, thats part of the fun but also a bit frustrating when you pull the 5% draw for the 3rd time in a row and dont get the card you need to progress when you had a breally strong build going on. No saves in the game as its a roguelike, but they wouldnt suit it anyway.
Still playing Armored Core 6, its a good fast paced mech game. The campaign based around one planet and the various factions involved in trying to mine a substance called Coral. No idea what the story of any of the other AC games were so its a bit confusing with many different factions involved who hire you as a mercenary under your handler 'Walter'. Thats just a bit of a hallmark of FromSoft, even if this is straight up told through dialogue and exposition unlike their Souls games.
The AC's are very mobile unlike Mechwarrior. They jump and boost in the air and on the ground super fast. The missions are pretty varied and theres a lot of different mech weapons and body parts to collect, mix and match and try out. Speccing a mech is fairly simple, you have both an engine load and a weight load which is determined by your reactor and leg strength far as I can tell which limits the size and energy use capacity of the gear you can select. Then there are 4 hard points for weapons on the arms and shoulders. Bigger mechs are heavier and tougher and smaller are faster but more lightly armored, standard. Cash earned from completing missions gets spent on new weapons and parts.
There are self contained missions you select from a hub menu which progress the campaign and a duel mode where you face off in VR against characters in their AC's from the campaign. Doing the optional duels also gives you upgrade points which you can spend on extra damage for the various weapon types, damage mitigation and other bonuses. For me this is both the most exciting and least interesting part of the game. Once you select a loadout and start it seems to me a lot of the fighting is pretty button mashy, watching timers for weapons and pressing when theyre available and jumping/boosting around to avoid fire. Its really tense and the fights are usually close, but at the same time doesnt make me feel particularly skillful when I win. If the enemy AC wins, usually repeating with some more appropriate weapon types for the opponent does the trick using the exact same movement and strategy.
Speaking of strategy there is some to the missions, you can choose multiple paths forwards and flanking or finding high ground where you can launch an attack without being seen helps a lot. Sometimes charging forwards into the thick of it results in death, but only resets you to the start of the mission or last check point with no penalty. The missions arent long, maybe 10-15 minutes mostly so you never lose much progress. No quick saves though, but that never bothers me.
Then there are the boss fights at the end of some levels, sometimes its a duel with one or two special mech enemies which play out as I described above in the VR mode. theres always a checkpoint before them, and you can respec for free there if you die and have to replay as much as you need. Sometimes theyre more interesting, and theres a trick or gimmick to the boss with its weakpoints which keep it interesting.
Its a good looking game, but not spectacular by todays standards andthe in mission music is some pretty pumping electro which suits the action
I think I'm getting towards the end of the campaign, about 16 hours in but probably going to see it all the way. Recommend it for sure.