Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week - our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! I need to start getting a ‘Gene Wolfe referenced’ reaction image for these things, I swear - although this reference is at least hidden behind a couple of links. Which links? That’d be spoiling the layered environmental storytelling that keeps you coming back. This week, it’s Senior Technical Narrative Designer at Remedy, previously of Fullbright, Bioshock 2, and Where The Water Tastes Like Wine fame, Johnnemann Nordhagen! Cheers Johnnemann! Mind if we have a nose at your bookshelf?

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It's not far away, you know. The promised land of never having to experience a game the way it was intended again. That long sought after holy grail of sticking your fingers in your ears and going wahwahwah. But it’s not going to be something created by people with talent, vision, expertise, drive, a dream, or a story in their hearts. No, as with everything in our imminent future, it will be achieved by putting a bucket over your head.

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Sundays are for making and freezing a bunch of sandwiches so I can later toast them at my leisure>. Not sure why, just fancied becoming the sort of person with a bountiful hoard of sandwiches. Before I get seriously locked in to some rhythmic bread slapping, here’s some writing I personally found interesting about games (and game related things!)

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The regular comments to this column inform me that many of you are cat owners, so this week, I would like to someone to explain to me how my cat can bound across a room, jump, and catch a moving dressing gown cord flawlessly, and yet fail to locate the stinky cheese Dreamie I’m holding out to her without several moments of smelling unrelated locations. Either way, this is my new favourite videogame, which gives every other game a lot to live up to.

Nevertheless, they continue to try. Here’s what we’re clicking on this weekend.

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Few games demonstrate the disconnect between graphics and aesthetic like Metaphor: ReFantazio. A pure technical analysis would conclude that it has the fidelity of an early Nintendo Switch game at best, and yet anyone whose heart flickers with even the tiniest ember of sentiment will instantly fall in love with its lavish pause screen animations. Yes, this RPG has style for days, maybe even an entire calendar, and an upside of its more dated aspects is that it runs fine on the modest internals of the Steam Deck.

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If you care about my opinion, I generally still think sticking with a micro SD is the safer and simpler option for Steam Deck storage, but if you’re set on upgrading the internal SSD of your handheld, the Corsair MP600 CORE Mini 2TB SSD is your best bet, now down to $129.99 on Amazon.

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Maximizing storage for your Steam Deck or ROG Ally is, frankly, essential. While the built-in SSD handles most games well, few will truly push it to its limits, meaning a good micro SD card is often your best bet. Enter one of the year's standout deals for Steam Deck owners.

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I will not lie to you, gentle reader. When I first laid eyes on Secret Door's Sunderfolk, while lurking to the rear of a gaggle of journomancers at a preview event last week, I let out an ostentatious sigh. Fortunately, I still mask up to preview events, and am thus free to adopt all kinds of snotty facial expressions without being set upon by burly PRs and shoved into the minifridge for later disposal. To sum it up, Sunderfolk is a hex and turn-based 2-4 player digital boardgame with fantasy animal characters and deckbuilding elements, reminiscent of Gloomhaven. Conceived during the pandemic lockdowns as a way to "bring back game night", but without the traditional 30-minute unboxing ritual, it's played on the big screen but controlled using a dedicated smartphone app, with players stroking and swiping to move characters and play cards.

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We've all used a Steam Deck, so we all know how poor the battery life can be when playing a more graphically extensive game like God of War: Ragnarok, or Cyberpunk 2077. Here's the trick, you need a good power bank to accompany your portable PC adventures.

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I’m told that if I do one more Prime Big Deal Days post, they’ll take off the metal clamps holding my eyelids open, and won’t put them back on until Black Friday next month. Result! So here’s a little after-dinner mint of a PC gaming hardware bargain: JSAUX’s Steam Deck thumbstick covers, which come packaged with some stick-on decals for £8 / $8. Both 20% off, they be, leaving a price so low I have real hope you’ll forgive me using the phrase "stocking stuffer" in October.

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