Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 594

Still playing Hades. I now know what addiction feels like.

This weekend is mostly family (beer and football) with very little chance of long gaming sessions so it’ll be trying to beat Gold stake on the mighty Balatro and grinding on Diablo IV to get that paragon level 200 trophy 😭.

I also tried the Hell is Us demo which I really liked. Having no map and using clues to find where to go was new to me so that is why I’m thinking about a day one purchase!

My son has just got his first platinum trophy on Astros playroom and he was ecstatic so may have another trophy hunter on our hands!

Having a great gaming weekend Pushsquarians! 🍻

GT7 for me this weekend and the usual forza 5 and EA wrc sessions too. @Kidfunkadelic83 has challenged me to a GT7 face off tomorrow so I need to get practicing as I know he's better at track racing than I am..I smoke him at the rally though..have a great weekend folks 👍

Just started elden ring yesterday. Slowly exploring and levelling up (including a bit of grinding on that huge beast that’s drops on you). Really liking it so far. I do wish the controls where more responsive, particularly the rolls. Even after releasing the button it takes a good while to engage the move which can feel a bit unfair with faster opponents. Still, I see myself playing this for quite some time.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 for me. I’ve finished 1 and 2 for the first time this year, time to make it the hat trick.

@naruball I have a sim-ilar problem with driving games 🤣

@Zuljaras
Agree about Diablo 4. As soon as I realised the extent of the enemy scaling it was immediately deleted. Such a disappointment.

Not commented on here in a few weeks as I got tired of saying 'I'm still playing Trails in the Sky Second Chapter", ha. I finally finished that game a couple of weeks ago (it was great, just as much fun as the first chapter, but so looooong).

I then replayed The Last of Us (remaster) in preparation for finally playing Part 2. It's a few years since I last played the first one and I was surprised how janky it felt at times, but of course it's still an amazing game.

Now having my first run of Part 2, which I believe is pretty divisive. So far I'm having a great time, but yeah an early narrative decision definitely rankles as the big narrative hook of the first game has been discarded, but hey ho. I'm playing it with an open mind and we'll see where this all goes 😀

I’ll be playing Asscreed syndicate, two chapters left so hopefully I’ll be done by Monday.
I’ll also be getting more and more agitated in the battlefield six beta.
Outside of gaming I’ll be slowly weathering a Sherman tank model.

Absolutely romping through Lies of P. I haven't seen this many puppets get battered since I watched a Punch and Judy show

watching boxing & madden 26 for me

Continuing and hopefully finishing my play through of Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Then I’ll be moving onto Alone in the Dark or Beyond Hanwell I haven’t decided yet!

For some reason I want to torture myself, so I'm trying to get platinum on Outlast 2, yeah insane mode is not fun......

Finished:

• Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
  I finally Platinum'd this badass game. Someday i would to try to get S++ rank on every mission. But I wish there's more unlockable, gallery & soundtrack mode, and maybe a more challenging mode with limited live or something.
• Furi
  I finished this game for the 3rd time and it still a great game. This and Shadow of the Colossus probably the only two games where you fight boss after boss without any fodder enemies. Love the 80's sci-fi / fantasy art style and soundtrack too.

Playing:

• DMC 3 / DMC HD Collection
  This game is one of those timeless masterpiece. I'm replaying it right now and it just feels very solid and fun, even better compare to DMC 4 and 5. Not saying DMC 4 and 5 as a bad game, they are still great games. But DMC 3 feels like the peak of the series.

Outside gaming, i'm just gonna do some clean up my room and bike then watch Alien: Earth episode 1 & 2.

Also, i reccomend Weapons for anyone who loves horror movies. Possibly one if not the best horror movie for this year.

Have a great weekend everyone 🍻

Greetings, good people. Today is the last day when the temperature is above 20°, so I'll be outside. Been working my way through Mafia Old Country and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound until Iwakura Aria released on Thursday, now I can't tear myself off it.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Finally got a Skell and it's really opened up the world. The alien races are fascinating to get to know, particularly the Qlurians and Ma-non. Another concern I am happy to report unfounded is the performance: this game is gorgeous and runs pretty much flawlessly even on a Switch 1. I've sunk 50 hours into this adventure and look forward to many more!

I will continued playing fan favorite the incredible nier replicant. I will also continued playing the horror classic in the amazing little nightmares 2.i will also be continued playing the smash hitt the excellent blasphemous.i will also be continued playing one of the best video games ever made.and the best non from software souls like games next to nioh in remnant from the ashes and all the dlcs.i will be continued playing the underrated wonderful bomb rush cyberfunk.and I will continued playing one of the best video games sequels ever in the awesome middle earth shadow of mordor definitive edition.i will watch my pittsburgh steelers 💛🖤 play in preseason game.i will also watch legendary sitcoms TV 📺 comedy shows in family matters.good times.the Jeffersons.good times.sanford and son.different strokes.and saved by the bell.word up son

Good afternoon.
This weekend I played Fantasy Life I PS5. 🤓

I have finished the storyline so I focused on upgrading my other jobs rank to Master in order to raise the Marco's shop rank to 5 stars by getting the recipes for making the items to be delivered to Marco.

Nothing is more immersive than playing Red Dead Redemption in these hot summer days. Another sacred cow I wanted to clear off my backlog.

Finally decided to go for COD BO6 Vault edition and even playing the first few minutes made me realize how amazing this game was. Went for the online match and boy how intense it was.
Also trying to finish cyberpunk 2077. Great game that one too.

This week I've been playing...

Beneath Oresa

Another roguelike deckbuilder, this one with some great Moebius-inspired art and fully animated fights. Enjoyable but very difficult compared to most games in the genre, almost to the point of feeling unfair in some fights. The achievement for clearing the game at the easiest level is only 29% on Steam. I'm still enjoying it though, and its perfect for listening to music while playing.

Behind The Frame: The Finest Scenery

I've been trying more Epic Game Store freebies this week, and while most of them were not to my liking, this one was a fine surprise. I cleared it in one sitting, as its only about 1-2 hours long. It's a art-themed puzzle story about a woman revisiting her life through paintings. Beautiful Ghibli-like art and bittersweet story almost had me tearing up towards the end. Just almost!

Ogu and the Secret Forest

Another Epic Game surprise. This looked like a kids game to me at first but in truth its a very competent old-school Zelda-like with good puzzles and exploration. And very cute!

Finished Mafia The Old Country got a few more trophies for the platinum. I'm also near the end of Arkham City first time ever playing it and it's pretty fun if i get that finished I'll start Arkham Knight. I'm trying to clear as much of my backlog this year as possible.

Finished off my first run on RE: Revelations yesterday and thought it was just a real solid survival horror fair play. Another playthrough on Infernal difficulty now… and then an absolute boat-load of co-op in the Raid mode. As someone who generally prefers the more solitary gaming endeavours out there, I’m actually quite looking forward to some jolly co-op with this one.

I’ve been in a bit of a flunk lately and can’t seem to enjoy anything that I’m playing. I’m just waiting around for Ghost of Yotei and nothing else seems to grab my interest at the moment.

Mafia the Old country on the ps5 and Ori and the will of wisps on the PC. I'm continually blow away by the first Ori and this. Mafia is good .

@Bentleyma I like the look of that. Got a few games on the go at the moment but will get this when it's on a good sale

Banishers - I´ve finished the story. I felt like the game started to drag on a bit in the end so I didnt do all the optional stuff, which led to me getting the bad ending. Which I actually dont mind, it fits the grimness of the story and the world. I dont see myself going for any of the good endings so I watched them on youtube instead. Overall, a good game with a nice story but gameplay mechanics, a world looking pretty much the same everywhere and a bit of bloat dragged it down for me a bit.

Forza Horizon 5 - still going strong, just the one trophjy to get before the platinum. This game I´ll keep installed, pretty nice for some short plays here and there.

Hellblade Senuas Sacrifice - So I stumbled on a free ps5 upgrade the other day that I had missed was coming so I thought I´d check that out just to see, but then the opening is so good and its been a while since I played it so I just got stuck playing for two hours straight wich wasnt the plan. Anyhow, its a great game imo, much more "game" than the sequel, and its a good upgrade so I´ll be finishing this and then I might go for Hellblade 2 to experience it on the Pro. Even if the sequel isnt as good as this game, its pretty short and I kind of want that platinum in my collection 🙂

Happy gaming!

Very retro week, I finally bough the new Spectrum so will play some Great Escape (I originally has this on C64) and might put Scuba Dive on a USB (one of my favourite 48K games). Both games are so visually simple, but still have such stark atmosphere for me. Still playing God's on the Amiga too on Evercade, got to the third stage where the game gets tough.

In the modern(ish) world, be some PS4 as still playing Jedi Survivor.

Playing as the caped crusader in Batman Arkham City and a Greek Goddess mercenary in AC Odyssey.

Some Minter Madness for me with Akka Arrh and I-Robot
Mooooo !! 🌈🐂🐂🐑🐑🌈 🤓

I got the platinum on the excellent Tails of Iron 2.

Now on DK Bananza (I can see why it got 9s and 10s, it's superb) and the PS5 version of Hellblade

Started two new games this week.

Ready or not. Freakin good shooter. You have to take it slow in this game. Brilliant atmosphere!

Sandland. I played for two hours. Just Stole the tank. I dont know anything of anime or manga but its fun so far. Reminds me a bit of the ps4 mad Max game.

After a couple of hours of the bf6 beta, i felt like shooting people, so a couple of matches of hell let loose will scratch that itch.

Have a great weekend!

Started two games this week, Astro Bot and Cocoon. Loving both so far

XCOM 2, difficult game but great fun

@iPaud I've got Coccon on my backlog. Looks really good. Astro Bot is genuinely up with my favourite games ever made

I’ve all but surrender on First Beserker as I’m at the final boss and I can wipe the floor with him first stage but he annihilates me in the 2nd. So that platinum is in hold.

Meanwhile I’m working on Wuchang where I just passed the first arguably tough boss; a certain female in a pond.

Edit: throw Hell is Us in there too absolutely loved it.

Ninja Gaiden RageBound and Battlefield 6 beta round out my weekend. I never thought I’d enjoy a MP shooter again as much as I am this one. Enjoy the weekend all!

I have the chance for a 100% gaming weekend this week. So I will sink most of the time into Kingdom Come Deliverance and then Balatro. I finally beat the Black deck, so will see how many minutes I last in endless mode, before moving on to whatever deck I have unlocked that's next in line. Happy days 🙂

@PuppetMaster Furi is fantastic and one of those games I often think about. The speed and bosses and aesthetic are all perfect. More boss rush games of that caliber are needed. Titan Souls is the only other game I recall from an indie dev being up there for me.

Tekken 2 via the PS1.

I finished up the platinum trophy for Mafia: The Old Country this week. I found it to be the epitome of a 7/10 game which is a compliment. I honestly would rate it higher if not for a couple of nagging issues that prevent it from excelling.

The story and characters are very well written and acted. I managed to get invested in their arc(s) and care about the main protagonist and his fate. It may have been a predictable tale, but that didn’t stop it from being effective. My complaint, however, lies with its ending. It wasn’t bad—it was rushed. There should have been a few more chapters sprinkled in to flesh out the narrative. There are character perspectives that go from adoring someone in the Mafioso family to complete defilement in the span of one chapter. It didn’t make sense. Thematically, I understand, but how we got to that destination felt diluted.

On the other side of things, I found the gameplay solid and enjoyable. The driving felt more intuitive than Mafia 1, and the combat and stealth mechanics were great, albeit uninspired. It felt like an Uncharted game from the early PS3-era, with its cover based shooting, stealth elements, and set pieces.

The only real annoyance I have with the game - and this dates back to Mafia 1 - is the collectibles. My goodness, talk about atrocious. The developers really needs to come up with a better system for how you acquire these items, particularly when it’s an limited open world that encourages you to stay on the main course by having a countdown of 15 seconds to return to the main objective if you stray off the beaten path. Guess where at least a partial amount of those collectibles are; yep, you guessed it.

Thankfully, once you beat the game there is an option for chapter replay and “explore” mode, meaning you have access to the entire world map. This sounds great in theory, but it still makes hunting for collectibles tiresome. They won’t appear on the map unless you are physically next to it. This wouldn’t be much of an issue if there was an incentive to get out of your vehicle or dismount from your horse, but there isn’t. Speaking of the map, you can’t set any markers, so you are constantly opening and closing your map to see how close you are to your destination.

What doesn’t appear on the map regardless if you are near is the infamous foxes that you can obtain. There are 50 of them total, and unlike other collectibles such as Newspapers, Saint cards, and Photographs, they don’t have a specific name registered to them. Moreover, some of these collectibles are exclusively tied to main missions, and since there is no tracker for what you have or haven’t collected in the story, good luck with the hunt.

Overall, I think the game is good to borderline great. If you’re a fan of a tight narrative with compelling characters and serviceable gameplay you should definitely try this game out. There are a few stumbles along the way with its pacing, but if you’re looking for something to beat over a weekend then you can’t go wrong with this game.

Stellar Blade. (PC)

Hasn't grabbed me quite as much as Bayonetta or Nier Automata, but it's still a very good game nonetheless. It's also extremely well optimised meaning I can push it far beyond the PS5 version while maintaining visual clarity and high performance.

@EYEBALL

"Tekken 2"

Remains an absolute classic. While I have access to all the Tekken titles I do wish Namco would put
together a Tekken anthology, one with QoL improvements.

@4fold Are you sure you are playing on 60fps I never had that problem myself playing the game??
Definitely one on my favorite games ever made!

Battlefield 6 beta. Please add Sanquine91 if you want to play online together

I’m in a bit of a rut at the moment. Got metaphor refantazio and far cry 3 (first ever far cry game) on the go but struggling to get through either. It’s me not them!

I have a few on the go atm which is unusual for me.
Just started the grind fest that is Aliens Fireteam Elite, this game strikes me as something that started out as a MTX based game.
Aliens rogue incursion VR. A little hot for this atm.
Lies of P. My main game. Enjoying this although little old P does seem to take a battering.
And Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Enjoying this in small doses.

@Marquez Well I support man united so once you're not and arsenal fan I wish you a happy weekend to Haha ✌️🤣

Playing a bit more of the Battlefield 6 beta with a friend. It's...fine. The gunplay is a lot more satisfying than previous entries. But, aside from that, it's really just the same Battlefield. I don't think any of the beta's maps are particularly interesting, though. Kinda makes me miss Battlefield 1 in that regard.

Hoping to finally finish Donkey Kong Bananza. I've been collecting every banana (oooh, banananaaa), so it's been a long process. I am a Bananza stan that would say it's one of the best games I've played in years. But, to be fair, I haven't played half of the GotY candidates from the last 5 years. Still, though, Bananza is phenomenal regardless.

I don't expect this to happen this weekend, but after I'm done with Bananza I'm planning on starting Expedition 33 and returning to Tears of the Kingdom to beat it already.

@Ricky-Spanish
Yep, performance mode. It’s more about the way the game is designed, and a known issue after researching it. It takes some adjustment, and some trial and error to anticipate enemy movesets well in advance, but you can adjust.

@4fold No worries hopefully you enjoy it it's a great game the sense of achievement when you finally own that boss that beat you a few times ina row is mighty!✌️

@Project13 Yeah man same. If they did i would buy it but the music tracks are what keeps me going back an playing it, i reckon the music wouldn't be the same though due to better technology and the old copyright problems.

@Marquez I hope it's a red side the one that is rising again to greatness if things go pear shaped again this year for city I can see pep jumping ship not that I'd hope for that to happen or anything haha 🤣✌️

@EYEBALL

It still baffles me that on T7 they have practically every piece of music from the series bar Yoshimitsu's stage from Tekken 2, which is arguably the best.

@Marquez Well I'm sure we can agree on one thing neither one of us want to see the Scousers win it again 😒🤣😂

Well, I gave Lies of P a shot but I'm not sure it's for me. I've been playing MH Wilds with friends to grind out the new RNG Talismans and that's been a blast! I'm still progressing throught HZD Remastered hoping to platinum it in a few weeks

Game on PushSquare Clan members!

I grabbed all the DLC for Resident Evil 7 recently in a sale for $10 so I’m working on playing through all that. I have to say the amount of content and variety of it is quite impressive. That’s probably the best DLC Resident Evil has ever done. And some of it is quite difficult too! Hope everyone enjoys whatever they’re playing this weekend!

I'm having a palette cleanser from Death Stranding 2 now I've completed it. I'm replaying Resident Evil Village, I did try to start it on Village of Shadows, mode by after 10 minutes was like "Nope!". I've had the DLC for over a year and haven't played it. Plus after this I'm going for a replay of Silent Hill 2 Remake just in time for Silent Hill F to come out it just over a month! Spooky season!

I've been working diligently at Death Stranding 2 - just got to Chapter 9, around 78 hours in. Haven't been able to sink in as much time as I wanted but I'm getting there. Still absolutely loving it. Not trying to rush but I would like to complete it before MGS Delta and possibly Lost Soul Aside.

It's been tempting to get into Hellblade 2 finally, and even Echoes of the End looks appealing

Finished SH2 remake last night (unbelievable game especially with headphones). Today a few lightgun games, virtua cop, house of the dead and a bit of point blank before I pick something new

Just finished The Knight Witch and starting on Gravity Rush Remastered

Ghost of Tsushima

@Project13 I know right, maybe they couldn't get the correct producer/composer on board with it, my personal nostalgic favourite is the Nina Williams track but when the Yoshimitsu's song plays it gets you proper locked in that's for sure doesn't it.

Finally finished Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth yesterday - fantastic Yakuza game and pays a wonderful homage to Kiryu's journey.

This weekend I'll start either Furi or Nier: Automata... or both!

Picked up Steel Seed on the PS5 sale. Decent game, nothing earth shattering but pretty solid. Still working through Wuchang. Was stuck on the Commander but somehow I beat her drunk the other night. Also just beat the Hell is Us demo, I really enjoyed it. Will be playing on day 1. Happy gaming everyone.

Finally playing Gat Out of Hell for the first time. I've owned it for years, just never had an interest in playing it, but since I played through SR 2022, I figured I should play this.

Would like to get more Ishin! in at some point as I'm still on the fence of liking it or not.

After a two week hiatus from gaming, I'm going to try to finish Alien Rogue Incursion and also continue with my wonderful midlife crisis purchases Euro and American Truck Simulators (don't laugh, I did and now I'm hopelessly addicted!)

Happy gaming all.

Angry Birds (Windows Phone) - The defacto time waster is back and I'm wasting my time playing it.

Gears POP! (Android) - Still watching my YT LP.

Battleship (Windows Phone) - Still a blast to play(pun intended). But I still prefer the tactile feel of the actual board game myself.

I'm on my way back from a short holiday but tomorrow I'm looking to play fantasy life i

I’ve Aliens Dark Descent And Prince of Persia Lost Crown on the go. These type of game are great on the portal am buzzin for Shinobi next wk or so

STILL working through the end game in Expedition 33. Having fun right now just finding game-breaking builds. Played my first game of Madden in about 20 years - I bought a copy of 26 for my son that should be arriving today, so I played a game in 25 to pick up the controls. I am terrible, but Rookie mode is quite forgiving.

Grabbing dinner with my dad this evening - haven't hung out with him one on one in years, so that'll be fun.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

@ErrantRob I think i've seen Titan Souls trailer years ago but i didn't know it plays similar to Furi & SotC. But yeah, we need more boss rush games especially that plays with fast pace like Furi.

@CajunShooter Fantastic game! I love Gravity Rush

PS5 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Street Fighter 6

Switch 2 - Donkey Kong Bananza

Street Fighter 6

Battlefield 6 Beta
Lies Of P
Balatro
Death Stranded Directors Cut

Heretic on Retroid w mods, Metal Arms, and I guess I should finish Doom...damnit.

I'm currently through the last chapter in the fantastic Lies o P, but got stuck on boss fight last night and after that possibly the final boss waiting...I'm playing on easy and it was only until King of puppets boss fight, from there it's quite hard even on easy difficulty. Right now not sure if I buy DLC, probably not as I'm usually pretty exhausted after playing a souls(like) game

Have a great weekend and happy gaming, everyone!

I've been a chicken all this time, but I'm finally putting my foot down to play Silent Hill 2.

@DrVenture69 The DLC is worth a go as it almost gives a proper epilogue whilst also setting up plot points in a possible sequel whether that is RE9 who knows? I think that's the game I'm most hyped for at the mo, Silent Hill f will hopefully be good but still don't trust Konami. To think we could have had a Hideo game with Reedus in it the mind boggles. On a totally nerd related almost OCD level I'm thinking now what the soundtrack would have been like obviously Akira would have done the score itself but could we have had other tunes like in DS/DS2? Keep thinking Trent/Atticus maybe Numan or Depeche. Damn you Konami!

@Jammer totally agree, i was so hyped after the PT demo, i really hope F is good, ill wait for the pushsquare review. And the sound track for SH2 is superb (I was actually a bit cooler on the remake’s sound track), but wow, Angel’s Thanatos, Heaven’s Night & Theme of Laura! I’ve got the OST on my Spotify playlist. I’ve almost finished RE8 so I’ll be checking the DLC out tomorrow!

This weekend I played Helldivers 2 (using a mix of fire and poison against the bugs, the target of the current major order), The Wandering Village (a lovely but sometimes brutal city builder set on the back of a dinosaur), Gran Turismo 7 (driving and getting the feel of different cars in VR never gets old for me), Death Stranding 2 (messing around exploring and doing side stuff) and even a bit of Phoenix Point (trying to start a second successful playthrough though it’s been so long I’m relearning some stuff).

Playing Silent Hill 2 for the first time.

This genre isn't normally my thing, but it is growing on me. About a 1/4 the way through. Getting mildly freaked out a lot so that's cool. Health and ammo economy is kind of perfect

Completed Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (best game titel ever, it has a ".", a ":" and a "-") which was a absolute banger but a so short (less than 3 hours), and started Jusant, which seems like a nice, short, zenlike indie game

@rusty82 I'll report back to you on Cocoon when Im finished but so far its really good. Some tough but rewarding puzzles