Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 419

Hitman: Blood Money. The most complex one I've played so far but enjoying it.

Also trying to survive as the Odrysian Kingdom on Rome 2 Hard difficulty.

Horizon FW, Elden Ring and GT7. Perhaps this will be my answer for the next few weeks still. The Feb/Mar 2022 release schedule is one of my personal favourites ever and I'll definitely get Tiny Tina's Wonderlands as well.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on "hard" difficulty. (I'm nuts, right?)
I'll try to sneak in an hour of Life is Strange 2, but since I have plans with my boyfriend, I won't be playing much today.
Happy weekend everyone!

Lots more Gran Turismo 7 for me! I’m completely addicted to the sublime handling model and seriously moreish single-player progression system. So much so in fact, that two thirds of the way through, I’ve totally put Horizon Forbidden West on the back burner – though I do plan on switching discs after the weekend and finishing my journey through Guerilla’s stunning sequel next week.

Over on Nintendo Switch meanwhile, I’ll also squeeze in some Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with the kids. After close to a hundred hours of getting to know all 48 courses like the back of our hands, we’re now enjoying the comparatively fresh booster pass courses.

Happy gaming, folks!

Still Elden Ring for me with GT7 added on top ....Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Will also boot up GTAV and start a new campaign and trophy hunt !
Have a great weekend guys ❤️

Deadly Premonition Director's Cut. So says Mr Stewart. Have a good weekend all!

Not sure what to play, I've been making slow progress in Gran Turismo 7, can't get into Horizon Forbidden West and waiting for Returnal to get co-op to play with a friend. Debating starting FF7R or Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut.

Still unlocking stuff on COD Vanguard, Grid Legends and GT7 all on PS5.

Along with the usual flitting between GT7, GTA Online and Cyberpunk 2077, I'll be dipping in to Far Cry 6 again to rescue Chorizo from some strange things.

Elden Ring & HFW still. I had to beat Rennala twice because had a power outage and it didn't save the first time. I'm sure people now get the 96 on MC, the world is just something else! Elden Ring is HUGE, it is a MUST-PLAY! Now going for the 3rd lost surbodinate in HFW after 80hrs+, yes no rush, been doing a lot of side quests. These 2 masterpieces need all the time and patience they can get.

Nothing, got the builders in and the PS5 has had to be packed up for a few days. Might go outside if I get desperate

More Elden Ring, with a smattering of Horizon FW. Only just started both, and a chest in Elden Ring just teleported me to some sort of crystal maze I suspect I'm dramatically under levelled for, with centipede buggers firing at me, so I'm hoping to be able to make it out of there with all my limbs still in place

Just Fortnite for me this weekend as I wait patiently for LEGO Skywalker Saga release date.

Is it just me or are there no new games coming out now for rest of the year? The next few months looking very quiet.

Weather is too nice so might only sneak an hour on it takes two, we’ve just done something awful to a toy elephant 😱

Well its elden ring for me but i am going to have a proper go on the ascent this evening as a mate bought it too so he's up for some co-op..have a good weekend..

Playing The Last of Us Part II and really loving it.

Yep...still Elden Ring. I have mixed a little Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in there though. It's fun to be hanging out with the P3 and P4 cast again!

103 hours into HFW and still plenty to do. Got myself an extremely aggressive acid clawstrider called Ripper so just exploring with him and possibly another main quest later this evening!

Horizon forbidden west , gt7 and running around in gta5.

@TheArt I'm in awe that your playing both at the same time. Once I finish HFW I'll play some smaller games and then get ER!

Tried out co op for Returnal with my mate. Enjoyed it enough. The tower, however, will be getting a few runs to see that extended story. Then it’s finishing up Forbidden West I hope so that I can fully dive back into Elden Ring. Maybe if there’s time I’ll tackle that awful A9 driving license in GT7.

Had a tough week in work so I have fallen into the comfort of controlling other people's lives in the Sims 4.

@Sam_ATLUS co op arrived this past week. It’s enjoyable and hope that’ll get you into that fantastic game.

Elden Ring and GT7, have arrived at the mountain top of giant's in Elden Ring and at menu 37 in GT7, will probably complete campaign on GT7 this weekend.

Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon Forbidden West, and then some more Horizon Forbidden West. I'm getting the feeling I like Horizon Forbidden West.

Nexomon Extinction Xbox XS. Also a load of 360 clean ups like usual and lego games on my vita while travelling to work.

@MightyDemon82 Only challenge is, when you start one, it's hard to put down and start the other haha.

@PapaGlitch Lol I made it out of that Crystal Mine, it was pretty annoying getting teleported like that, I haven't revisited that mine since, so many places to go, Elden Ring's world is spectacular!

After finally picking up the platinum for Horizon Forbidden West this week, I've picked up Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, and it's... Fine?

It's not a broken mess, and it's not a masterpiece (but I wasn't expecting that). It just feels like a much older game, and I was expecting something that felt like an improvement on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided? Instead it just feels kinda bland. As I say, it's fine.

PS5: Ghostwire: Tokyo. So far so good!

XBSX: ELEX. I just finished ELEX II and immediately decided to pick up the first game. It really hooked me. It’s definitely an acquired taste, though.

Still GT7 and CP2077. Don't feel like rushing through any of them. I did buy Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition in the last sale as I played it at launch on PC and enjoyed it immensely.

Horizon Forbidden West!!! Loving it so much.

Horizon forbidden west. Over 40 hours in and still half the map is fogged out! Just taking my sweet time, mixing it up between main missions and side quests, jobs, errands etc. Also playing the wonderful Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and some Gran Turismo 7.

Ghostwire Tokyo on Ps5. Tiny Tina on Xbsx. Maybe a bit of Ghost of Tsushima. Ghostwire Tokyo is a very good game from what I've played. Typical Japanese atmosphere with fun action and it looks very good.

Ghostwire Toyko 6 hours in. Tango gameworks have made a quality action title here. Seems more like an Arkane game than Deathloop which was a total letdown. Also enjoying Horizon which has now picked up 25 hours in

This weekend is hectic for me since it was payday yesterday, first of all I took the plunge and finally bought elden ring last weekend and I'm now level 44 and just beat godrick (though I rely heavily in online play) so will continue with that at some point today.

In the post today I just received Tiny Tina wonderlands, Kirby and the forgotten land, and Rune factory 5, I'm also still ploughing through horizon forbidden West and fire emblem three houses, and just bought scarlet nexus and immortals fenyx rising on the PlayStation store sale and rented ghost of tsushima directors cut.

So yeah in think I'm sorted for the next two months as there's no new games coming out in April or May for me.

My Series S and PS5 are taking a break this weekend because Kirby and the Forgotten Land on the Switch is all that matter right now. Lol.

Recently finished: Ghost of Tsushima NG+

Kena for me with a little bit of Frost Punk thrown in as well as GT7, gonna get my boy racer on and put some of those 1m credits kitting out a VW Golf for no real reason.

When the wee man goes to bed I'll nick the Switch and start a Kirby save as well I think, had fun with the demo.

On the off chance I get through Kena I'll move on to Deathloop.

My TV set is finally ready this week, so I'm playing Horizon Forbidden West, Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin's Creed III. I will play games between those amazing ones!!! Playing in 4k HDD is so incredible!!

@gollumb82 I'm gonna pick up KCD as well this weekend to add to the backlog.

Going to finish Ghost of Tsushima then check out Far Cry 6 (free this weekend on PSN). Hope everyone has a great weekend!

@Nightcrawler71 Started Horizon this week and will pace in this manner too!! Enjoy every part of this masterpiece!!

I'm part to blame if GTAV is in the download charts for last week. £9 couldn't argue. Its my first GTA game and I'm loving it, such a fun open world to get lost in. The story is keeping me engaged and Trevor has some great one liners. I'll definitely be getting no.6 when it does eventually come assuming it's not infected by the vocal woke brigade.i wouldn't want the satire being turned down it's great as it is.

Still Elden Ring. I did buy Pokémon Legends Arceus last week, but barely played it. Might put a few hours in this weekend.

I'm working all weekend... so nothing.... sadly.

Haven't really played anything new this week. I started playing Spiritfarer after picking it up on steam, I originally tried it on gamepass and played 30 minutes of it and said to myself, yep I'm buying this game one day. If I'm going to be honest about Xbox game pass, it is a glorified demo service for me, I try a game, see if I like it, then eventually buy it. I just don't see the point in subscribing to the service at all anymore as I'd rather just OWN the game and give developers money for a good product. I don't like the thought of playing a game, enjoying it for the $10 I payed for the month, then deciding to revisit the game months after and seeing the game pass label on it and you don't own this game, cough up another $10. This is why I'm not interested in the slightest of a playstation gamepass, I like ownership over the things I buy and the ability to go back to a game whenever I feel like it!!!

Rant over, I've mainly been going back to my regular games this week, starting with:
Monster Hunter Rise- I finally beat Crimson Glow Valstrax, it being the final main monster of the base game. I like casually playing this game, maybe 3 hunts a day or so until Sunbreak comes out, slowly grinding and upgrading my builds along the way, I might even feel like trying a new weapon, I use Sword and Shield so maybe Lance? Nobody uses it whenever I hunt online so that would be cool to try the least popular weapon.

More Monster Hunter Stories 2- Haven't sunk too much time into it this week, but progress is still going well, just a fantastic game for Monster Hunter fans and even for JRPG fans in general. I play it on PC, but wish it came to Playstation and Xbox as more people need to play this game, it's the most underrated game of 2021 IMO.

Slay the Spire- I've put in over 400 hours into this game collectively on literally every device that I own, PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC, great game to play if I'm bored and have 30 minutes of time. TBH Slay the Spire and Hades are the only Roguelites I even consider playing anymore because I'm so burnt out on this genre. I played the demo for a game called Cursed to Golf, I was enjoying the demo and then I realised that it was a roguelite, I noped out of that game as soon as I saw that headline in the games description. It isn't a knock to any game of this style but whenever I see Roguelite next to a game, my eyes roll into my head and I say just give me a concise experience of 10-20 hours and I will buy your game, but no, so many indie games just lose my interest immediately as soon as I see Roguelite.

Thanks for reading this weeks comment😊😊😊 and also sorry for wasting your time😂😂😂

Gonna have to be a big Elden Ring day for me. A buddy of mine who already "platinumed" it on PC just started another playthrough on ps5 and is already farther than me (last major boss I've beaten is Rennala). May try to put more time into the Ascent as well.

I'll be dipping in & out of Elden Ring, & some Tiny Tina. I've only played through the first mission of TT, but there were some horrible stuttering issues, with the game pausing for seconds at a time. Has anytime else experienced this on the PS5 version? Despite that, it seemed like mindless fun. Looking forward to trying out co-op.

I think I'm about 40 hours into Forbidden West. I'm just spending some time exploring and doing more side quests. The world is so beautiful.

Nioh 2 with all the dlcs.amazing game.and. the gameplay is amazing and the graphics is good also. Looks really good on my ps4 pro. And the story is cool.one of my favorite games ever made.the controversial classic manhunt the graphics still looks good. On my ps4 pro.and gameplay is really good.and the story is of the best the legendary borderlands 2. From the handsome collection.graphics is super smooth on my ps4 pro.story and gameplay is amazing.one of the best games ever made.and the witcher 3 complete edition.another iconic games.really wonderful graphics on my ps4 pro.and story.gameplay is pretty good also.watching the movie dont breathe 2. Watching legendary sitcoms retro comedies.whats happening.good times.sanford and sons.saved by the bell.in living color and martin.word up son

@Dudditz09
Good call. It really is a unique game. I haven't seen another such faithful representation of life in Medieval times in a game. Also, Cryengine really makes the game pleasing to the eye 👍

@BritneyfR_ee You're not wrong on that front, my most hyped game release isn't even a game, its DLC, Monster Hunter Sunbreak. Only other games I can think of is Starfield and Soul Hackers 2 as I don't see God of War Ragnarok and Breath of the Wild 2 coming this year in the slightest. I say it's a good time to look at upcoming indies, as there is alot I'm hyped for. Trek to Yomi, Souldiers, Devil Inside to name a few.

GT7, although I've finished the Cafe, done my licenses and only have a few missions to go, I won't be doing online racing, it's not my thing, so after all that there's not really many races left to tackle....I'll be looking forward the improvements they say are coming, but it definitely feels lacking compared to older GT games, maybe I'll dig out 5 and 6.

Got sucked back into Elden Ring after a LOT of Horizon. I'll wash down my Elden feast with a splash of The Ascent, which I'm loving so far but I've only spent a couple hours with it.

I'm also dipping in and out of GT7 which continues to be fantastic... apart from the server downtime 😬. Recently suped up a Ford Focus and donned a livery that took me literally hours! I've been racing the Nurburgring against other people in supercars - there are two types of GT players out there 😂

The Japanese servers for Grand Kingdom shut down on Monday so I have been participating in as many online wars as possible before they’re gone.

Rayman Origins (Vita) - I forgot how awesome this looks on the oled screen!

Mahjong by Microsoft (Android) - I'm close to my final gold medal needed for the achievement.

ExZeus 2 (Windows Phone) - Just starting this on rails shooter and having fun.

YAKUZA 6 = chapter 9 (of 13, I believe)
> had such little play time recently : (

I'm enjoying the game and cant wait to see it through... but also ready to try something new.

@RubyCarbuncle The Returnal update has definitely refreshed the experience for me. Had a lot of fun dying in that tower already.
Plus co-op really helps with some of the tricker bits even with the difficulty scaling. I gotta say though, I had my mate do that second boss for me cos it's ******* hard as nails. Supposedly one of the most difficult in the game.
Have a happy continuous death cycle!

Just playing gta 5 on Ps5. Playing it again reminds me just how great the game is-amazing world, enjoyable story & brilliant characters. Most of my time I just spend it cruising around Los Santos. Also it has a phenomenal open world, that feels like it’s real. Only issue for me are the controls. But my number 1 game.

I would love to play King of Fighters 15 and Persona 4 Arena but I’m out of town so I won’t be playing those for awhile. 😢 Got my Switch with me though.

Been having fun on Fortnite this week, weird to say but also about to finish Death's Door and after that I'll probably start Tunic.

Still working through Elden Ring. I haven’t been this taken by a game in some time. It’s really quite something.

@gingerfrog Don't know when you were born but how'd you manage to swerve GTA all these years...🤔

Ghostwire: Tokyo on the PS5. Elden Ring and Tunic on the Series X. Probably some racing games (GT7, Grid: Legends or FH5) in between things.Yes, I jump around a lot.

Two more pages in the GT7 menu book to go. Love this game!

@TheArt
I was born in the mid 70's. I know it's like I've got mates that haven't got round to seeing starwars. Think I was always distracted at launch. Then once it's on the back burner there is always something new to play. Just happened to be at £9 when I'd finished a game, and I don't really have a backlog. This gen I'm trying to buy to play

I'm currently playing a few games together on ps5:
Gt7
Stranger of paradise
Pes21
Grid legends
Judgment

Cold War Zombies

1. Save Chorizo 😀
2. Elden Ring
3. GT7

F1 race and GT7 again this weekend. Good times for racing fans 🏁👍

HFW, Kirby and Super Mega Baseball 3

Wow what a great time to be a gamer,weather is so nice at the mo in the uk ,that my gaming may be limited this weekend ,but if anything ,then gt7 it is, brilliant game ,happy gaming to everyone here

And gt7 is awesome on the ps5 with dualsense ,feel very lucky to have a ps5 ,have a wonderful weekend

I'll be doing Ghostwire Tokyo been really enjoying it so far and also gonna start tiny tina's wonderlands at some point this weekend also a bit if the ascent

Still Elden Ring, only a couple bosses left but damn, the game is really getting hard, it started out pretty easy.

@gingerfrog Oh I see. Still, it's interesting how you managed to swerve GTA of all games. Well I must say I haven't seen Star Wars but it's more like I'm not into movies, else I would've seen it already.

PS5
Returnal
This one has got me hooked finally. I'm a Souls fan through and through so took some adjusting to this one's specific tough but fair ruleset. Just finished the first boss and biome. The constant upgrade grind can get exhausting, but the action, atomsphere and odd plotline keep me coming back.

PC Game Pass
Last Stop
On the final chapter(s), what an awesome hidden gem. Great story threads, it plays like a comedic Black Mirror, with snappy dialogue and likeable characters. Ive heard the ending peters out, but ive really enjoyed so far. If you like cinematic narrative games...this is probably one of the best in my book.

Quest 2
Half-Life: Alyx
Recently sorted my Airlink issues, so am playing this one wireless via the headset and...wow. I dont know what i can say that hasnt been said before. Its an absolute masterpiece, not just the best VR game made but one of the best games made, full stop. So happy to get to play a Valve campaign game again, they always have a great balance of pacing, plot and keeping the action fresh and evolving.

@Sam_ATLUS Returnal has co op play as of earlier this week. Im currently playing for first time so can confirm.

Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure

Today morning I finished and platinumed (through savescumming) Elden Ring with 200hrs of gameplay under my belt. Holy sh*t, what a great game and that epic boss fight, wow! Looking forward to my NG+ with a respecced build.
Anyway I'll seriously need a break from Soulsborne games now (finished Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne again in preparation for Elden Ring), so I'll switch to Ghostwire Tokyo for the weekend and upcoming days. Also have a started run for Horizon: Forbidden West, but I'm not in the mood to continue with that game.

Took the plunge and got Returnal. Absolutely no idea what im doing or where im going or whats going on apart from dying alot. Im not sold on it yet but i just keep hearing good things. Apart from that it will GT. On the last menu now.

Playing GT7 and returnal with a friend.
Returnal is such a great game, even more so with a friend.
She gave up on it like many others after failing to progress past the 3rd level. We are currently at the beginning of the sixth level and she is loving it. 😍😍😍
Adding Co’op was a genius move, in that it enabled players to see the story to it’s conclusion and Without sacrificing the hardcore feel of the game😉👍 happy days

That DP made me boot up dmc5 again. Man that game is sweet. I would love to see them colab with the Platinum A team and see what kind of children they create. It would be mind boggling and be a franchise for the ages.

GT7 with my new G923 racing wheel

On Xbox One X I’m actually replaying Half-life 2 on the Orange Box. I haven’t played it since it came out in the original Xbox. It’s still an amazing game. I forgot how much it just grabs you and pulls you through it’s world. On PS5 I’m still working almost daily on Gran Turismo 7. I finished the Cafe mode. It was a great way get into the flow of the game. Now I think it’s time to jump into more online racing. Have a great weekend!

"Oh, Elden Ring!" Unexpectedly huge game. Who would have thought that the game map is fairly doubled with underground areas? Lots of exploring to do, sometimes too much. In the Capital at least, you follow one path, then it splits, you choose one, then it splits again, you choose one of those then it splits again... and it just keeps on going. As up top, so below in the sewers.
Started using those colored pebbles when I was in the pipes in the sewers last night... I usually don't need them but the intersections were too many to remember.
Then I ended up in the Lyndell Catacombs... another area that leaves you scratching your head, since it's actually doubled.
Same labyrinth times 2, one below, one above it, and the transition from one to the other is so smooth and well done, you don't even realize what's happening, you think you're back at the start... but the boss door is already opened even though it was closed when you came in, and you didn't pull any levers in between... "wtf?? o_O How did this... But i didn't... I'm sure I didn't... did I? Came from over there, boss door is here now opened, and that's the exit there.... or is it?... Heeey what's going on here? " moment right there.
Very good implementation of what is simply just a copy paste of an area to make it bigger... I mean I understand the trick, and normally "copying an area just to make it bigger" would be a big minus for any game. But it's too well done and unexpected to be something to comment against ^_^
Well done From Software, fresh and new!
Which is something that can actually be said for the whole game. They took the nowadays Open World genre that became so boring and cliché of late, and put some spins on it that changed it completely. Here's hoping other devs can find much inspiration in Elden Ring, and stop milking the same ideas over and over again.

@RubyCarbuncle im struggling with it and ive not even seen a boss yet 🤷‍♂️

Still playing Horizon: Forbidden West. I've no interest in Elden Ring and the jury is still deliberating on Gran Turismo 7.

@Sam_ATLUS Have you played Ghost before? If not I can't recommend it enough

@TheArt I keep hearing how massive Elden Ring is. I'm so interested, but as someone who has limited time to play it's daunting lol. It'll probably take me a year to beat

@ibchuck33 trust me when i say go on ebay and get a magnetic padel shifter mod. Makes the feeling of shifting so much more satisfying. They are awsome and only a few quid. Ive done loads of mods to mine and its so much better that stock.

@SolarSailor It's definitely massive, what a world! It doesn't matter if it takes you months, it took me 3 months from launch to beat RDR2. You don't rush masterpieces. I'm 87hrs in Elden Ring since launch, would've been 160hrs+ if I hadn't spent 80hrs+ in HFW also. Seems like I haven't gotten to the half of both games, but I'm in no rush.

@SolarSailor I played through Ghost of Tsushima in 2020 on PS4 and got the Platinum. Funny enough it's what I ended up playing again this weekend. I bought the Director's Cut and have been playing through again and plan to beat the main game before tackling the new DLC. It's one of my favorite games from Sony in recent years.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I still haven't made it to the first boss. I love the fast paced combat and atmosphere but man is it brutal.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I have seen those magnetic things on eBay but honestly I don’t know what they do. I just received the separate stick shift from Amazon on Friday but have yet to connect it/try it. I’ll have to look into this mod. Thanks for your advice

@ibchuck33 it bolts up around the collar behind the wheel and the magnets connect to the padels giving it an extremely satisfying click and lock feeling when pulled. Makes them really feel like an expensive wheel as opposed to the slightly spongy feel of the stock. Honestly the first time you pull a padel you will say wow.
Ive also inverted my pedals and changed the stock springs for uprated ones. It defenately improved my lap times.

@Marquez It's shocking how Elden Ring is From's first open world and they managed to pull it off making it one of the best open worlds of all time. The world is magnificent I tell you!

Mafia 3 definitive edition PS4 Pro. My second play, my first was 5 years ago on my regular PS4. This play i have the 3 dlc and some weapons, outfits, and cars included at the start.

The game looks better than i remember from 5 years ago, the frame rates are smooth, but there is a stutter sometimes when leaving places like Burke's junkyard. Also the daytime lighting is better but still needs work. Adjusting my monitor helped some.

After playing some and viewing the map, city and country, i thought what a great map for a GTA game, single and multiplayer. I find it fun just to park my T-Bird on a city street to watch the peds and listen to the radio play 1960's music.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I bought the steering column/paddle shifter mod. And you’re absolutely right about the feel. Thanks for your recommendation!

@ibchuck33 awsome man. Now on to inverting you pedals and installing a real handbrake, or Ebrake across the pond isnt it? 😁

I have a magnetic H shifter order I’m awaiting the arrival of. The inverted pedals, I’m not so sure on wanting to do. I need to do research on how it’s done and the benefits of the change. But yes, I’m way over on the opposite side of the pond. Thanks for your experienced input. I really appreciate it.

@Kidfunkadelic83 if it’s alright, add me on PSN: ibchuck33. I might have more questions. Thanks again.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I have a magnetic H shifter order I’m awaiting the arrival of. The inverted pedals, I’m not so sure on wanting to do. I need to do research on how it’s done and the benefits of the change. But yes, I’m way over on the opposite side of the pond. Thanks for your experienced input. I really appreciate it.

@ibchuck33 sent 👍