Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 583

Finally wrapped up the Oblivion platinum after 200 hours and a game breaking bug (PSA, don't visit Kvatch before giving Jauffre the Amulet of Kings!).

I'm on the Days Gone remaster now, which isn't messing about in Hard Mode so I'm going for super stealth mode. I really want to slam it before Death Stranding 2 comes out.

Have a great weekend Folks!

This weekend I will be finishing Spiders-men 2 and starting The House at Fata Morgana (PC) I've had a hankering for a new (to me) Visual Novel.

I'll also be exploring FFXIVs Occult Crescent and maybe even dropping into FFXI because the recent free login period has me wanting to continue levelling Dancer and trying to finish up the Voracious Resurgence stuff.

Giving V Rising a go and so far it’s really good! It’s a survival, crafting, base building game for anyone wondering, where your goal is to strengthen up your vampire character enough to work your way through 50+ bosses. You even have to stick to the shadows during the day otherwise the sun will slowly burn you to death

Been playing a lot of The Division this week and really enjoying it tbh. If I can find any time to game this weekend it’ll either be a bit of that (if @CaptD and I are free at the same time) or making a return to Dunwall with Dishonored. Love me some immersive-sims and it’s probably been about ten years since my last playthrough, so really looking forward to it. Happy weekend squarepushers!

After 125 hours I found out I can’t get the last Cyberpunk 2077 trophy to reach platinum because I didn’t save some guy early in the game. Oh well. Just finishing Phantom Liberty now.

After that I have a small backlog on my Pro to choose from: Expedition 33, Resident Evil 4 and Bloodborne. I also have that DS2 itch though…

This weekend mostly Oblivion Remaster, Tainted Grail The Fall Of Avalon and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Outside of RPG's Division 2 Battle of Brooklyn

Maniac - Another criminally overlooked and unreviewed title that came out last week on Playstation. I'm guessing most dont know it exists, however its a top down mix of old gta, vampire survivors and postal. Only cost £5 odds on the store and certainly worth it. I know PS fans don't really care much for indies and would rather hear of the latest AAA rpg but there you go 👍

Oh and ill be cheering on Inter tonight in the UCL Final ⚽️⚽️

Edit - Sorry for the rant, it just annoys me and i sometimes wonder why indie devs even bother to release on PS when there are far more appreciative platform fanbases such as Steam and Switch.

Hoping to wrap up the platinum on Astro then move onto Deliver at All Cost, looking forward to the final tonight, think PSG might just do it but as a neutral I can sit back and enjoy.

Happy gaming folks

I'm Currently Working on getting the Platinum for Both Fatal frame Mask of the lunar eclipse and Maiden of Black Water.

@Jrs1 "I know PS fans don't really care much for indies and would rather hear of the latest AAA rpg but there you go 👍." Well then you don't know much about ps fans then as pretty much every member on here loves the indi scene and fully supports it. Thanks for bringing maniac to my attention and I'll be checking it out. This weekend (and all this week) I'm predominately playing EA wrc rally which will obviously be a massive shock to everyone..have a great weekend folks 👍

@Northern_munkey Fair enough, im probably reading too many comments on the Playstation official youtube channel and forgetting that it's probably full of kids 👍
Regarding Maniac i actually couldnt bring myself to play it for a couple of days after recent events in Liverpool but im back at it now 👍

@Jrs1 I just checked out maniac and I'll be having some of that..a nice peacefull chill out game 🤣

@Jrs1 no worries..

On Thursday I finished the absolute amazing Indiana Jones and the great circle. I absolutely loved it. So glad it came to PS5 and I didn't miss out.

Started Revenge of the savage planet and finding that a fun blast so far. May also give Another Crab's treasure a try too

Behemoth and Expedition 33.

Playing Lords of the Fallen after picking it up a few sales ago. Definitely solid but hoping Lies of P DLC is a Summer Gamesfest shadowdrop that I immediately jump over to.

Star renegades (fancied a roguelike and this was on a great sale, definitely worth it), plus Stellar blade.

I’m playing TLOU:2 and about to have my first experience with the rat king. I’m so not looking forward to that. When I need to get rid of the adrenaline, I’ve got duck detective to start.

@Jrs1 eh this year has been the year of the indies on ps,with some great titles that have sold extremely well on playstation.

Got myself a new 40in monitor for my PC so I'm like a kid with a new toy ! Will be playing Command & Conquer 4 Tiberian Twilight and the brilliant new RTS Tempest Rising and the new, updated Half Life 2 RTX
Finished Crisis CORE FF7 on PS5 but didn't have the will to 100% all the missions. Life's too short lol
Now focusing on Death Stranding on PS5, been on and off since release so starting again. Pure genius.
Have a great weekend guys and gals ❤️

@Tsushima ...is Tainted Grail good ? Very tempted by it

Nothing but tainted grail , they've just released a new patch which fixes the screen tearing and reinstates the resolution toggle , its even better now and at a solid 56fps 🤣 and ive just found a sketch book that let's me sketch whatever I'm looking at which I'm finding very amusing.

@KingPev yes it is i love it , granted its a bit bethesda janky , but the world is massive and craps all over avowed , its like if morrowind and skyrim had a kid , im enjoying it very much and only 30 odd quid , they also seem to be on top of the patches and hot fixes which is more than be said for oblivion, if you like these types of games you'll love it.

I will be playing one of the best video games ever made in the amazing monster hunter worlds master edition and I will be playing the instant classic hit the incredible assassin's creed odyssey gold edition I will also be watching legendary sitcoms TV 📺 comedy shows in family matters.good times.the Jeffersons.sanford and son.different strokes.and saved by the bell.word up son

I think I’m reaching my fill of roadcraft so I might start Jusant or the alone in the dark with the cop from stranger things to avoid video game brain collapse

Battling through the last DLC of Dark Souls 3, then I’ve officially finished all of the From Software Soulsborne’s… although I’m not expecting a pushover so maybe 2 weekends for them! 😄

Thinking of picking up Into The Radius in the Sale and jumping into that to break things up.
…and maybe even brave the outside for a bit.

Have fun all!

@Jrs1 Awful logic. That's like saying if you ever got in queue at Burger King, you don't appreciate steak.

Switch has a captive audience because outside of the big first party releases, it's not a great format for third party games. Being portable also lends itself well to smaller games. Ever seen a Steam hardware survey? The majority of PC players don't run powerful hardware.

I mean, if there's no audience for indies on PlayStation, then when do a plethora of publishers release their indie games there?

I am playing Elden Ring, not Nightreign. I will also try Monster Hunter Wilds for the first time since I bought it. I’ll definitely try Nightreign soon. I am eager to start Shadow of the Erdtree cause I didn’t have the chance to play when I was on Xbox, so it’s something I am really looking forward to.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Its done, and the platinum trophy is mine 🥹 Its high on my list of the best games I’ve ever played, imo a true masterpiece in every aspect and it will stay with me in that way that truly great games do! I’ll replay it every now and then and I’ll also listen to the soundtrack from time to time.

Doom - TDA - Barely just started but seems like what I need right now, all action and no brain, and it runs good on the Series S so far.

@Dalamar i can’t believe i chuckled

I like to think of GTA3 as being the first true GTA game. 1 and 2 are just so unlike anything that came later and their mechanics have aged so poorly that they do not even feel like GTA games.
Honestly, at this point you probably could convince someone that Driver is the first game in the GTA series.

I'm still playing Wild Arms 1. Just finished ghost ship mission and now return to Adlehyde. I think my team is a bit overlevel which i blame the high random encounter rate. I wish there's an item to lower the encounter rate.

I'm also playing SF 6. I tried Jamie which i managed to reach Master rank with him. He's a fun character to play with so many combo routes. But i think he needs a little bit buff to ease up his bad matchup.

Have a great weekend everyone 🍻

@Jrs1 "I know PS fans don't really care much for indies and would rather hear of the latest AAA rpg but there you go"

Is this some kind of bait?

Plenty of Indie games sold well on PS like Sifu, Kena, Flower, Journey, Guacamelee, Transistor, Vanillaware games, Housemarque games, Fall Guy, Rocket League, No Man's Sky etc.

Some assassins creed shadows on PS5 Pro.
Does this game look beautiful and now with PSSR no foliage shimmer, so much better.

The obscurantism of Clair

It's the mammoth (or behemoth) Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for me!! What a huge, impressive game!! Doing some runs of Vampire Survivor too, as the platinum is so close... I will return to F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch as well, very good metroidvania. Keep the good fight guys!!!

i’m playing twisted metal (ps3) & sly 3 on my ps3. i platinumed sly 1 yesterday & ironically grew to like it the best of series, i used to damn near hate it as a kid 😆

@PuppetMaster @MrPeanutbutterz come on guys he did correct himself and apologise for his misdemeanor. No doubt the poor lads got the cat o' nine tails out and giving himself a good lashing..

This weekend not much gaming. Going to skallyfest with a huge hangover from yesterday. Saw some good bands like sunami and headbussa. Today ill go for ronker, rotzak and congress.Tomorrow Will be more hangover and maybe a little bit of Roadcraft.

Have a great weekend!

Trying to get back into AC Shadows I'm about 80 hours in and haven't even seen half the map yet. On Xbox I'm halfway through Doom it's the first of the newer Doom games that really clicked for me. I also started Sand Land when it was added to plus so maybe try and play some more of that seems pretty decent so far only 4 hours in though.

Not a lot of gaming this weekend. Drove for most of the day yesterday with my family and arrived in beautiful Kansas City for Breaking Benjamin and Staind on Sunday. This will be my teenage son's first concert, and he's excited. I brought a Switch along in case of some downtime and have Triangle Strategy on deck, but it's looking likely that it will stay in its case.

Have a fantastic weekend, everybody.

I’m suffering with a fairly significant concussion from kickboxing on Wednesday so I’m struggling to play anything without feeling sick. I’ve downloaded xcom 2 on my phone in the hope that I’ll manage better on a small screen.

After the Platinum in Expedition 33 nothing has stuck with me the last two weeks. I started NG+ in it just to experience it all again.

Beyond that working my way through First Beserker slowly while playing a few new things including Trepang 2 and The Sinking City

F1 2025. Maybe some Helldivers .

I spoke about BG3 in the forum again, so I'm getting the... urge... to play some more for myself. Although the latest events of this Dark Urge run made me question whether I can keep killing characters I like without ruining the game too much for myself 😭😂

In a way, I kind of want to be my first Bard character again, simply relaxing and playing music with wolves

Rather than worry about brutally murdering everyone I come into contact with...

These moments just don't have the same feels, and the lack of musical talent is brutal 🙈

I've been wanting to play a platformer, So I'm playing 3 different ones. Epic Mickey rebrushed, Psychonauts 2 and Yooka-Laylee: The Impossible lair. Also still playing FFVI, Sekiro and Cuphead. Too many games and not enough time.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Picked up Death Stranding from The Game collection for £25 in the build up for Death Stranding 2, so far there a lot of cut scenes which reminds a lot of MGS4 (not a bad thing, just an observation)

@Jrs1 I bought it..its mental..I like it👍

@DrVenture69
I’ve started remastered in hard mode and yeah 3 freakers and dead! Stealth the way.
Enjoy

Dear friend @aethermath
I also play Elden Ring (with my friends). Not NightReign.
I never waste my time for shameless cash grab attempts.

@somnambulance i tried To a T , not for me , I found it extremely annoying,and the gaming equivalent of a child saying are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet. Oh and I wanted to punch that giraffe in the face , my kids love it though 🤣

Dear friend @DonkeyFantasy
Sounds great.
I also plan to play FF12 this summer.
Lovely game.
(Note: When it was first release, I had no PS2 back than. Now, I have solid PC which helps me to run it at 3840x2160 resolution )

@Northern_munkey is it green blood on the ps version only, or can you turn it off, the videos I've seen have green and I cant be arsed with that.

Greetings fellow video game enthusiasts. I’m very near the end of Atelier Yumia, after that I’ll start Nightrein. Still on the fence about going to a midnight launch of Switch 2. I’ve never been to a midnight launch before. Midnight lunch? Yes. Midnight launch? No.

I'll be grinding my relic weapon and Phantom jobs in Occult Crescent in FFXIV and grinding my lives in Fantasy Life. Im also gonna test some Pro Enhanced games on my new PS5 Pro and see how they look / run.

@lazarus11 red

After finishing all the classic God of War games, I'm playing Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z for the first time and some of Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe.

Shin Megami Tensei Vengeance and hell divers with some online buddies chaotic fun 😂

@Jrs1 we don’t all have the time to play as many games as we’d like everyday. With time being so limited the little they do get they might prefer to get the bigger titles in 🤷‍♂️

This week(end) I got the platinum trophy for Doom: The Dark Ages. It’s truly an extraordinary FPS. My initial impression was lukewarm. I felt the essence of DOOM was absent, but the more I played the more I became enamored with what it was trying to do mechanically.

Once you get past its lengthy tutorial stages the game ramps up the significantly. You are provided a plethora of weapons and upgrades that all feel unique and fun to use. Meanwhile, exploration is rewarding and feels more confident than its predecessors.

Overall, The Dark Ages is probably my favorite out of the trilogy. With that said, I could go back and forth any day of the week because each game does something unique that makes it stand out in ways that suit my play-style. Either way, these are a fantastic set of games that are worth adding to your catalogue.

In the last two weeks, I have obtained the platinum for Doom and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is my personal GOTY. Both games are emotionally draining in their own way, so I needed to change up the pace.

That brings me to Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo (Nintendo Switch). This game rules. If you are a fan of top down Zelda-like with a dab of Metroidvania elements, this game is a must play.

As the title suggests, your main weapon is a yoyo. It’s such a great weapon that intertwines real life tricks such as Walk the Dog as learned abilities that really expand how you interact with exploration and combat. There are many variants, with a large amount of abilities I’ve yet to find, so I’m curious how the game evolves.

There are also upgrades, but they are handled in a way that is a challenge in and of itself. You’re essentially renting them until you can pay off the loan. While you are doing that, certain upgrades may take a life point away from you until you pay back the money whilst learning the skill. It’s a keen balance.

You can see the developers were inspired by classic Zelda games. There are numerous secrets to uncover, one of which is heart petals. Once you find enough of them, you gain an extra life. There are also main dungeons to progress through. They all have a unique locale, and are really fun and clever, making you utilize what an actual yoyo can do. The way these dungeons are set up, and how you’re able to interact with the environment via the yoyo, it’s fun manipulating how to dispatch your enemies.

Speaking of enemies, this game is genuinely challenging. It plays like your typical 2D action platformers, but in a top down view. Moreover, it’s not just the enemies you have to worry about, it’s the levels themselves. The game is constantly moving, making the environment just as much as a threat as the bad guys. I’ve died numerous times, but it always feels like my fault. Thankfully, the game is generous and saves your progress every new room you enter, which is often.

I’m about eight hours in total, and I’ve completed two main dungeons out of four (I believe), along with a ton of optional content. I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of this game because looking at my upgrades and abilities that I’ve yet to find, I see nothing but endless possibilities. This game is going to be special, and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

@Northern_munkey Hahah the babies in prams is a bit grim like but hey its just a game 😃

Completed The Precinct, very enjoyable game so have now moved on to Deliver at all Costs... Which is enjoyable enough, could be better though... So much loading.

Also sprinkling in some FH5 and will be looking to fire up a new campaign on Civil 7 on the PC seeing as a new patch is out.

And my new Chroma Dual Sense just arrived so will need to give that a bit of use.

Have a good one!

@PlatinumMikey Aye good point bud, for me i like to squeeze a few smaller titles in during short sessions.

Playing mostly Stardew Valley with a friend all weekend. It's been very fun

I'm playing Doom the dark ages and loving it

@Jrs1 I've played about 20 mins..gotta scoot out but I'll murder a few pram dwellers later 👍

“It’s in the sand”
Finishing off PGA 2k21 before the servers are turned off, cut off in their prime.
Plus The Division 1 which I’m finding very enjoyable despite being a bit apprehensive before starting it.
Oh and some more Cult of the Lamb.

Trying to play Black Ops 6 and Forza 5 on PS5.
They both constantly crash though, and I have to send an error report every time. Frustrating but I will keep trying.

After a few weeks of going off gaming and only playing for the odd 10 minutes before "i really cant be bothered" sets in im starting to go through the Mass Effect trilogy via the legacy collection. Apart from that not alot really.

Replaying FF16 on Final Fantasy mode. Absolutely love Clive as a FF protagonist. Him & Cloud are probably my top 2. The Eikon fights are otherworldly beautiful on my LG G4

@Kidfunkadelic83 that stand looks OK mate.

@lazarus11 ....you've convinced me. I'll get it tmrw, looking forward to it

@Northern_munkey hahaha you do you man 🤣

I’m on my second playthrough of DOOM: The Dark Ages and having a blast with it. Hope everyone enjoys what they’re spending their time with this weekend!

Nearing the end of yet another Baldur's Gate 3 run. I'm stumped on what to play after this though. Maybe Alan Wake 2?

Finally got around to buying Astro Bot - what a gem of a game. On Series X - Age of Empires 4 and some more Call Of Duty MW2.
Have a good one everyone.

I ended up going against myself and grabbing Elden Ring Nightreign. I’m almost strictly a solo gamer, so this isn’t normally a game I’d play, but after several hours with it last night, it was a ton of fun. Solo was brutally hard, some of the randoms I played with weren’t great, but others were great to play with and we made it pretty far together. Overall, I’ve had a great time with it.

@Jrs1

I've seen it in the Store. I'm always checking what's releasing, but honestly didn't give it a second glance.
Not really a fan of old GTA, but I love Vampire Survivors, would you still recommend it to me?

@Lup Aye its just like trying to survive a 5 star gta rampage, plenty unlockables and has a roguelike structure 👍 Certainly worth a fiver.

Getting sunk in Destiny 2... Oh... how I hate loving this game... And now newest DLC is in PS+...

Having a blast actually. 😁

Continuing to catch-up on the PS4 library.

Finished Spider-Man (decent fun, addictive traversal, overlong combat sections). Dropped Horizon ZD again (hate how the game feels to control, cluttered systems, combat feels imprecise, voice acting is distractingly bad, no atmosphere/vibe).

PS4 - Ghost of Tsushima

PSP - NHL 07

@Lup @Jrs1 ill 2nd that..

@Northern_munkey @Jrs1

Well, you guys convinced me. Gonna buy it right now. 👍🏻

Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card DLC

Now that I'm finally done with Baldur's Gate 3, I have moved on to something else. I know Star Wars Outlaws was a popular game to crap on, but I always enjoyed it. Now going back to it after all the patches were applied, it is basically what the game should've been from the beginning. I also am finding the Wild Card DLC to be fun so far.

@Lup 👍enjoy

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and spreading democracy for Super Earth

2064: Read Only Memories Integral (NS) - Way darker then I had first thought. I'm now starting chapter 4 and hoping there is a tangible ending in sight.

Fragger (WP) - Almost clear of the last levels.

Plan on playing some more Nightreign. Already beat two bosses so far, and I'm having a lot of fun.

Also the Stellar Blade PC demo dropped yesterday and I tried it on PC and it is really well optimized on PC, I'm excited for the full game's release.

Having a souls lite weekend. Alternating between AI Limit which I picked up on the sale this week and Remnant. Enjoying both for some mindless fun. Still trying to plow through Demon's Souls which is incredible. Funny, I could never get into these games before, but after playing through Lies of P they are all I want to play now. Happy gaming everyone.

Boring week for me as I'm fighting that weird mental state of wanting to play awhile at work then not wanting to play my games when I finally get the chance.

That said I have bounced between MH Wilds, Ghost of Tsushima (finshed Iki island story) and HZD Remastered

Hope everyone has a better gaming weekend than i.

@themightyant OMG, same, 125 hours in and ive got a spreadsheet with 7 tabs. Im dangerous close to a corkboard, pushpins and red string!😂. Might be worth a look at Lorelei and The Lazer Eyes too if you havent. Loved that game too

Took a notion and bought Nine Sols. Just muddling through the first proper area, getting the hang of the parrying.

Pretty good so far

I bought the Suikoden remasters on Amazon and accidentally ordered them to go to my folks' house. Oops.

So I guess it's Elden Ring and Bloodborne until I can be bothered to make the drive to pick it up. Could be worse.

@Northern_munkey been weighing up the money situation and apart from the lack of storage space i dont really have the disposal income atm.

@Onearmbandit im betting Sawmill horde is going to be “fun”!

@themightyant i was getting Copilot to give me hints for the safes and by the end of it, i was like “dude, just give me the code”. I think ive legitimately solve a couple but a lot are impenetrable. I actually found most of the Lorelei puzzles easier to solve than the blue prince safes. I did crack the boudoir safe

@Jrs1 Jesus brother what have you done to me..I can't stop playing maniac..just cleared the drunken santa segment..👍

@DrVenture69 haha yeah, I’m no where near that yet!

@Northern_munkey Pure class, i think i may have to put it on myself, i had a tenner on Inter 🤣

Don't know what I'll be playing, honestly nothing I started recently was able to grab my attention to really stick with the game for any longer than 2-3 hours. In such case I usually start with some souls(like) game and problem solved so maybe time to start Lies of P or at least Stellar Blade, both in my backlog for some time and saving them for the situation like this.

Have a nice weekend and happy gaming, everyone!

@themightyant i know what you mean, ive had a week of root cellars and no shovels or the magnifying glass has disappeared from this mortal coil (seriously look at everything with a smudge using the magnifying glass). Its the Dark Souls of puzzle games😂

Trying to wrap up the platinum in Sea of Stars. I adore this game, what a gem! After I knock that out I’m going to play The Precinct. The old school GTA top down camera along with being a cop sounds like a grand ole time.

@Bkzgr8ezt There's nobody left in the precinct, ive arrested them all 👍

@Jrs1 there’s always civilians to harass 😂

@Bkzgr8ezt That's the spirit 😃

FANTASY LIFE I THE GIRL WHO STEALS TIME

Playing a very-very-very Nintendo like game through Steam, is kind of jarring. This game is very good. I'm not even a huge fan of these type of games, got bored 200 hours into 100 Line Defense Academy and thought I'd give this one a shot. That is a very long game and reminds me of CYOA books I read as a child.

Almost always Doom. Will complete and then get back to 33 which I've already put in 60 hrs

Im on the mend from a work injury, and decided to start Witcher 3 now that the final update is out. I've only played a few hours of the game before, and decided to put down Tainted Grail until it gets some patches.

Dear friend @DonkeyFantasy
FF12 deserves all the love & attention it gets.
I, not only plan to enjoy it this summer I also plan to install reshade to make it's graphics even more eye candy

@themightyant i wont spoil it, but the deeper you get in, you can unlock things that make it easier, unlocking the garage door is a biggie, and there are methods of changing the rarity of rooms too. But yeah, im still trying to power up the pump room. Its almost zen now, i just play it as an evening chill out game

I’m playing Expedition 33 and Fantasy Life when I need a break. Slowly working on the fantasy life plat.

My vacation starts now, but I’ll be without my PS5 for a few days. So it will the Switch with the Lunar Remastered Collection.

I play Aliens Colonial Marines and try to finish it and catch up trophies ^^