Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Category: 2020s

Some Games I Have Been Playing Lately

Posted on by Viljami

Here are, actually not two but even three different games, I have been playing a lot recently. These games are Gran Turismo 4, that I have now already spent on over 60 hours, for PS2 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 for Nintendo Switch. When it comes to Super Mario Galaxy bundle I managed to finish the first one in the series. I am currently on to finish also the second. But now actually I have been concentrating on trying hard to finish Gran Turismo 4. This racing game proves to be a very good game. It might be even the best game in the whole Gran Turismo series as it is tightly competing with the seventh and first game of the series in my own considerations. It is also the longest game in this racing series. It can take up to 76 hours to complete.

In Gran Turismo 4, in the career mode, you are going to have to get yourself some cars. I am saying some cars because it isn’t one or two. It is actually several cars. You have to figure which car you need and which one you could sell to buyt upgrades to the car you are using to try to complete races. You have to complete races to advance in this game and to eventually also finish it. You can check the completion percentage when you visit your Home that can be found from one of the menus that can be found inside the game.

There’s a lot to play. You can achieve yourself some driving licenses that enable you to compete in different kinds of races. There are many events available that are grouped to Beginner Events and Professional Events and then we have also Extreme Events. You have to complete all Beginner and Professional events to proceed to Extreme ones. There are also events in different countries that are for cars that are manufactured in the specific country. Also, you can find some events that are grouped by manufaturer.

You really much get to upgrade your vehicle. There are also many settings that can be enabled with buying an upgrade. Then you can make adjustments. You can for example edit your preferences for types of tires, some properties of transmission, your cars braking power and you can also adjust your suspension, driving height and many other settings. You can compete in the races without knowing every piece of the settings but this can give you a nice advantage. So, if you know about cars and can figure out these quite technical matters you will gain some well needed speed and winning races can become easier.

It is also necessary to know, or at least try to learn, about different car models. Gran Turismo 4, as all Gran Turismo games do, features very real cars and there are many car manufacturers involved. While the game was released in 2004 we cannot see these electric cars. It would have been nice to have also electric cars in this driving game. Maybe we are going to see some of these car manufacturers models some day in racing games. Gran Turismo 4 is a huge recommendation if you like PS2 games and racing games.

Now, I haven’t discussed about Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, yet. So, I managed to get through first of these games. It was a very good remake. At first I was a bit overwhelmed with the controls, since it is originally a Nintendo Wii game meant to be played with the motion sensor, but I got around it quickly. It seems only logical that this controlling method wasn’t altered so much as it is actually a keen part of the gameplay.

I spent about 14 hours playing the first Super Mario Galaxy. Then I proceeded to the sequel. Unfortunately I decided to start to play Gran Turismo 4 and that took my attention. So, I think I don’t have so much to say, currently, about Super Mario Galaxy 2. I was content that I bought this bundle of these two games. They offer a lot especially if you are into Super Mario games.

I think this is all this time. I might get back to you, later, when I might have finished at least Gran Turismo 4. I think I will have something else to write about the next time. I try to come up with a new topic. Thanks for reading and see you in the next blog post!

Mafia: The Old Country

Posted on by Viljami

I just finished Mafia – The Old Country. I played it for about 12 hours which is also the length of this game on “How Long To Beat” website. This time it was natural to follow the plot and i is actually a huge part of the whole experience that Mafia – The Old Country offers. I am not going to spoil the plot but it builds on romance and personal story of the main character of this game. I liked this game. It is also the only Mafia game in this series that I have played through.

The gameplay offers fighting (with knives and guns), conversations and a bit of driving around on horses and cars. A car means here something very old since the game takes place in the beginning of 1900s. Knife battles are challenging and you have to time your moves, swinging the knife and trying to dodge your enemy’s attempts to hit you, very well. When it comes to guns I found out that shotgun, preferably the pump-action one, that can have more ammo loaded, was my favorite weapon. You can actually hit your target from a very long distance. It is also a bit easier to hit if compared to the basic rifle that is also available, at least at times. You can also use the rifle if you want to hit even targets that are a bit more far away from you.

The graphics in Mafia – The Old Country are beautiful. The catchy accent of the characters feels just right. I found myself, as awkward it may seem, babbling the dialogue to myself in this italic accent. So, I have to say that the voice acting is in a good form in this game. It is a big budget game after all. I bought the digital copy of this game and played it on my Xbox Series X. I didn’t even have to think about any performance issues which in my opinion is a good thing. The digital copy had a price of about 50 euros.

I really don’t have the option here to compare this game to some earlier games in the Mafia series. This was the first game of this series that I ever have played. I think we can talk a while about other games in this series. The first game was released already in 2002. The series has also games Mafia II and III. The second  game was released in 2010 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The third game in this series was released in 2016 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. There has also been a game called Mafia – Definitive Edition that was released in 2020. It was a remake. There is also a collection named Mafia – Trilogy. It was released in the same year that the remake was.

What did Mafia – The Old Country have to offer for me as a gamer? The story was immersive. You start as a young mine worker and advance to a mafioso. There is also the love story involved between Isabella and the main character, Enzo. I am not going to reveal the ending. The plot is important in this game. If you enjoy the plot I think you should choose a lower difficulty setting. If you prefer fighting, with knives and guns, you should pick a more challenging difficulty level. You might also want to first finish the game and then increase the difficulty level and play it once more. There are also lots of collectible items that you can try to find as you progress in the game. I found Mafia – The Old Country to be a comfortably enjoyable game that is well worth its 50 euros price. The game is of course available as a physical copy. Its just a matter of which format you prefer. The choice is yours to make.

What to Expect From PS6?

Posted on by Viljami

What a nice way to start a day with some coffee and pondering about the release of PS6 on a blog post. It is now September in 2025. PS5 was released in 2020. It faced success but also some very deep problems with availability since we were struggling with corona virus already some years ago. Despite of these problems PS5 has sold to this day already over 80 million consoles. And there is still time to sell some more. PS5 is still very much in the markets and in the production. We are not going see this console going anywhere anytime soon. But still we have to consider that there is going to be a PS6 released maybe, and this is speculation, in two to three years.

What to think about PS6 right now? Is it too soon for a new PlayStation console? When will it be released? Will it have a backwards compatibility? Also, it would be interesting to know if this new console will be a hybrid of a handheld console and the traditional console that has a dock so you can attach it to your television or a screen. As I have kept my ears and eyes open I have heard rumors about Sony very much admiring the success of Nintendo Switch 1 and 2. It would be interesting to see a new console like this. There are also many ways to create a console. So, it is very interesting to see what Sony can figure out and also will it be able to actually compete with its toughest competitors.

I haven’t to this day bought a PS5 console. If I would buy a PS5 I would like to have the version of this console that has the optical disc drive. The console is very much compatible with PS4 games. I do own a PS4. There are some reasons why I haven’t bought a PS5. Early when Xbox Series S/X consoles were released I figured that I want the Xbox. I decided to buy the new Xbox. While there are some exclusive games on both of these systems it was my decision to buy Xbox Series X. I have only recently thought about buying a PS5.

I do have almost ten consoles in my current setup. There just isn’t enough room for one more PlayStation console. This has to be considered also because the latest PlayStation is a big in size. It wouldn’t fit to my setup and I would have to place it to the side of my 55 inch television. It just doesn’t fit there. I already have a retro gaming PC on the left side of my TV and Xbox Series X on the left side of my television. Why would I buy it? There are some good games like Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank and Astro Bot but that’s about it. It doesn’t have a huge library of exclusive games. It is also possible to play these games as they are ported to PC.

Why would I need a PS6? I am assuming that it would have backwards compatibility to at least PS5 games if not even PS4 games. PS4 was for me a somewhat a disappointment. It didn’t renew gaming like PS3 did. It was just a slight update to PS3. PS4 doesn’t have a SSD drive which makes it a bit slow already. PS6 would need to bring some new games along if it gets released. Are we already ready for a new PlayStation? Could the fifth PlayStation still be utilized for new games? It has to be said that we are not seeing as many games released recently because they are more like huge projects than something that talented game developers are constantly innovating on. The gaming scenery is a huge business and not a child’s playfield anymore.

With all this talk about PS6 I am still very excited about it. We do need some good games for it. What will be the price tag of this new console when it gets released? There are so many questions that we will just have to wait and see if we want an answer of some kind. Probably Sony will publish some information. Until then this is all speculation. Rumors are spreading and news posts are getting published. Last but not least we have to consider what are the specs of this new console? Do we have to move from 4K to 8K? Do we need to buy a new television once more or is there some other way to improve? I have already exchanged my television for at least two times since I built my current setup. I actually went from Full HD 32 inch to Full HD 42 inch to my current 4K 55 inch television.

I am leaving you now with these questions. These questions are open and waiting to be answered. I might find the answer. It just isn’t, yet, published. We are experiencing the most significant era of gaming that involves some retro gaming but also some new consoles and also games for them. What a great time to experience something we call video games. We will get back in another blog post another time, soon.