Davros sock drawer

Surprised you say that about the pacing. One of the complaints I heard (on The Incomparable podcast) was that they slowed the pace down for the scene between Ryan and his Dad in the cafe. Personally it didn’t feel rushed at all, and I enjoyed the way they actually took time to explore these character moments. There was also plenty of screen time for Dalek Lyn to establish itself as a memorable baddie.

Only just watched the NYD episode, but I thought it was an absolute belter. Loved how scary the Dalek was, especially while possessing Lyn, which really reminded me of classic Dr Who (Planet of the Spiders springs to mind). And I thought the relationships stuff was wonderfully handled, especially the scene with Graham and the boxes of toys kept by Grace for her son. I've also been catching up with the back half of Capaldi's season, which I skipped at the time as I was thoroughly sick of Clara and the show in general just wasn't doing much for me (despite liking Capaldi). I have to say, I couldn't be happier that Chibnall is in charge now. I think anyone unhappy with the current season would do well to re-watch tripe like 'In The Forest of the Night', and the total shit-show that is 'Dark Water/Death in Heaven' before judging the current show too harshly. I hope Chibnall has as decent a crack at the Cybermen as he did the Daleks, as they really have been treated badly as villains by both Moffat and RTD. I mean, the Brigadier as a re-animated corpse Cyberman FFS...

Bad luck!

'Motivations' - Ha! I love that. No, no, there can't possibly be any merit in this, you must have motivations for liking it. I just think it's been fab. Great, succinct story-telling, a welcome lack of the half-arsed story "arcs" which were really no such thing, some very small stakes (always hated it when the entire universe was at stake each week), and most importantly of all some extremely moving and well wrought interactions between the supporting cast, which really does comprise the best Tardis crew ever. It stumbled once, and once only IMO, otherwise I've enjoyed every minute. And enjoyment is actually my only motivation, thank you very much.

Fucking hell. You live on planet wrong. This has been the best series of New Who in some years.

This deserves more pozzes!

Further improvements: Sentinel behaviour is much more engaging now. You now have Dog Sentinels patrolling outside Secure Installations, just in free roam mode, and Walkers arrive when you destroy depots. Sentinel ships will also warp in and attack pirates now, f you get picked on. That was nice to see. There seem to be much more aggressive predators now. I got attacked by packs of wolf like creatures on a lush blue planet yesterday, and it was actually fairly challenging to survive. Oh, and there were dinosaur bones to dig up on that planet! I found a rare one which netted me about half a million credits. The terrain generation and colours are much nicer now, especially around and under water. I'll have a ton of screenshots to post soon, if anyone still cares!

The latest 2 updates are such an improvement. The underwater topography is so much better - more atmospheric, and less barren. I found all sorts of unusual things in a lake last night, including Living Pearls in an Armoured Clam, a Rock that vented hot steam at me, and a much better variety of fish. There are also some nice little touches which I think are new, such as the way the guys selling the vehicle and ship upgrades at space stations have a garage/hanger behind them. I've completely dropped RDR2 to play this for hours last night, so it's definitely got its hooks back in me.

Just caught up the last week's episode (Kerblam or whatever it was called) and I thought it was the first stinker of the series so far. It seemed very confused as to which message it was trying to convey, and tonally it just really didn't sit right with me, especially the way they killed off Kira and the rather careless/callous way the janitor guy was killed by the Doctor at the end (no need at all for her to instruct the robots to press the bubble wrap!) It also looked very cheap in parts, like they filmed it in the studio car park, and they may as well just rename the Sonic Screwdriver to The Doctor's Magic Wand at this point.

So I started a new game in Normal mode at the weekend, which is the first time I've done so since launch (my other New Games have been in Survival mode). I have to say, the early part of the game is night and day compared to the original version. It's so much friendlier and streamlined, and you get a much better sense of the game systems from the get-go. I hadn't realised that Normal mode doesn't require the use of an Advance Mining Laser etc, so it's all far more relaxing, whilst also giving you enough to actually do to keep you engaged. Considering how much I've played the game since launch I was surprisingly engrossed. Not seen any of the new features yet, but looking forward to seeing what's new. The fireworks sound fun!

I may well do so you know! If I re-start though, I'm going to do it in Normal mode. I just want to get all the new goodies and then start chilling/exploring.

Wow, the new update is out already? I think I'm going to need to take some leave to catch up!

Right-oh, thanks all. It's good enough for me to persist, but it's definitely detracting from the experience.

I'm finding the systems and controls in this to be overwhelmingly complicated. A good few hours in and I'm still not sure if what I'm pressing will aim my gun, or simply blast someone's head off. At times I'm sure I've got a certain weapon equipped, but then when I go to shoot the Legendary bear say, it's a different weapon. The game seems to overwrite my weapon choices. I'm constantly mixing up what does what, and it all feels uncomfortable and non-intuitive. The weapons/item wheel for example, feels like I need to engage full crab grip - Hold L1, navigate with the stick, press R2 to cycle between Weapons/Items/Horse, navigate with the stick again, cycle available choices with R1, then release L1 to select? Yuck. Some things need a quick press, others need you to hold the button. Can I remember which? No I cannot. It's very, very cluttered feeling IMO. None of the actions feel easy or natural, and I don't remember feeling that about the original at all. That said I had an enjoyable time rescuing the reverend and playing Poker last night. Although of course instead of punching the guy who was attacking him after the poker game my fingers got muddled up in the menu and I ended up stabbing the guy to death, whereupon a hitherto unseen witness managed to somehow dob me in for murder. It's still beautiful and compelling, but I'd be happier if it was simpler. Or at least if I could simply cycle weapons on the d-pad. Just me?

It's much easier and IMO more essential in Bloodborne than in Dark Souls. If you haven't already, this is still the best guide out there for the "beginner". FFWD to 07:10 for "parrying", or what should really be described as "Interrupting their attack with a gunshot, so as to stagger them"!