Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 647

This ain't 10am on a Saturday, I need to speak to a manager about this!

I’m attempting to get C++ in Balatro. Just 3 more jokers need gold stickers…

@Oram77 I am the manger. How may I help you?

@tselliot Hi yes, this weeks "what are you playing this weekend" is approx 11 hours too early and has RUINED my plans

Playing Signalis and am enjoying it, alot!
Also playing Escape from Tarkov on the PC front.

Some more HLL: Vietnam, should finish Bioshock Infinite, and finally some Max Payne 2, which I'm about halfway through.

Bruh, isn’t this early? Until @Zuljaras shows up in the comments the weekend hasn’t started.

@Oram77 I realised I might visit this site too much when my first reaction was “ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!?!”

Star Wars Zero Company for me. So far it’s not clicking like I’d hoped but I’m going to persevere.

Im going to finish getting the platinum in Duskfade.

That game slaps by the way.

35 games in 12 months update
FFVII has been completed 🙌
Started Spiderman 2
Made the mistake of installing Vampire Survivors
Searching for a rehab clinic
Need to get back on track!

@Enuo interested in this one. Old school platform vibes with modern graphics

Hoping to wrap up 007 First Light so I can make a start on Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy. Happy gaming!

Finished first play though of banishers ghost of new eden took a while to do everything now rushing though my second play through making great progress. Will also play some legobatman with my GF we have finished the story just getting the collectibles its refreshing having someone else tick off collectibles while I do some other in game stuff 😂

Trying to work my way thru the Platinum for CrossCode, but I did get my physical copies of "The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales" and "MOUSE P.I. for Hire" so I might start one of them...Even though my backlog is getting ridiculous at this point

To my surprise, I’m playing Star Wars Zero Company. It’s got some weird bugs, but I’m really enjoying it.

Wrapped up Resident Evil 4 Remake Friday evening, loved it! Next up in the Resi franchise rampage is Revelation! But I'll also be starting a replay on Control!

Hell let loose Vietnam.

Have a great weekend!

AC Blag Flag Resynced on my Pro and OLED… still has the Ubi-Jank but god is it beautiful

GTA6. Oooooooops!

So far enjoying some Mouse P.I. For Hire.

Still unplugged. Will probably check out the PS Plus additions on Sunday tho.

Blades of Fire still. Gonna finish it up before I tackle Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy.

Kingdom come Deliverance 2. And I think I will be for quite a while. This game is really what Elder Scrolls has been promising to be.

Mm well technically weekend starts on Friday night as long as someone didn't drunk post this. Anyway since everyone decided to forget about Clair Obscur, I went back and started a new run, art direction still wowing like first time. Plus one of the best looking games if you favour resolution - MH Wilds. Wish I could start a 2nd Metaphor Refantazio run because I miss its incredible music but that typical Atlus box upon boxes of text...

Ah yes just the thing for insomnia, thinking it's Saturday afternoon, when it's not.

Edit: Seven-hours later.

This weekend I'll be playing Crimson Desert and though it came with more of a story (yet another update) I'm including a small one of my own. I've said it before that I started playing open-worlds to combat anxiety and agoraphobia, both spiked when I tried the game at launch. The world was massive, the jank confusing, the NPCs many, my progress was getting eaten by bugs, so I shelved it. I finally decided to brave it again, even after people reminded me that it's so vast.

I loaded in and sure enough anxiety flooded in with me, my plan as usual was to find, enter, or break into a building and watch the world for a little bit through a window. I did, and watched. I'm not sure how long went by but I did see it go from day to night then day again. Then I saw it, a cat. I watched it for a while and then opened the door. I needed to pet that kitty, instead I was greeted with 'pick up', I did, and ran back inside with them. I was sure they'd break free and run away, they didn't. It felt really calming, grounding. So I opened that door and two of us exited together.

I named them SirSootyButt and introduced him to everyone I met, including @Ravix old friend ShoeHatMan.

if I broke into someone's home he came with me, and if I was caught while doing it they too got to meet him. We went everywhere together, watched the sun rise, watched the stars come out and even had a Death Stranding moment where I managed to reverse Skyrim walk down a cliff with him cradled in my arms, we snuck past bandits, and kept going, we saw all kinds of animals, birds, trees, and though it was open and massive I wasn't afraid.

People can say the Developers made the game too big, too complex, perhaps they did, I'd never seen an option to pick an animal up before and it changed my whole experience with the game. Bravery set in again some hours later, I brought him back to town, let him go, and started exploring on my own, I quested, looted, killed bandits, had fun.

I don't remember day one well enough to say 'they fixed this, they fixed that', I just know it felt brilliant. Combat was tight, my janky camera was fixed by finding a guide that offered looks from The Witcher 3, class RPGs, God of War and even Diablo, I kept finding I was doing so many fun and random things, a real adventure formed in the early hours of the morning (so did this thread apparently) So that's what I'll be doing, paws deep in the lands of Crimson Desert and if things get too much I'll return to town and go visit my friend again. I'll also be checking in on my Museum at some point and I bought my new Survivors game for the Steamdeck too so that will be coming with me if I have to go somewhere. I mentioned it to Northern_Munky and he seems to like it too. It's called Yet Another Zombie Survivors and like all of the others I've tried it's pure Dopamine, but with a zombie twist and so many weapons and shiny things to collect. Have a great gaming weekend Folks and don't forget to pet the kitty 🐈‍⬛

I'm 8hrs into Star War Zero Company that I bought on a whim and wow am I enjoying it! My 1st XCOM-like. This will hold me over nicely till Ghost of Yotei DLC in October.

Have a great gaming weekend people!

Fable 2 and some God of war 2 emulation.

Hell is us...Just started playing on ps catalog and I'm hooked...

Unusual time for posting this feature. Usually you guys posted this on Saturday.

Anyway...This weekend i will play Doom 3: BFG Edition on PS3.

I finished Doom 3 + expansion on PC many moons ago and i enjoyed it despite it's more on a survival horror type than the usual "Rip and Tear" Doom. One thing i didn't like from the PC version is toggling between flashlight and gun. Logically, it doesn't makes sense when human with advanced tech can live in Mars but they can't build an armor or guns with mounted flashlight lol. Luckily they fixed that with this BFG edition.

Also, it's nice they include Doom 1 and Doom 2. I only played Doom 1 a bit on PC but i never played Doom 2. So, this BFG edition almost complete my Doom collection.

Btw, for anyone who wants to buy PS3 (and Vita digital games), right now PS3 store search feature is broken the same as Vita store. Sony wants people to go all digital but they can't even make their store work properly lol.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/927750-playstation-3/81182833
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ErcdqXjhiPs&t=857s

Have a nice weekend guys 🍻

Hoping to finish Thomas Was Alone.

my slog through xenoblade 2 continues on the switch u. i also started the alters on the 5pro.

Doom Dark Ages. Having a ball. Not playing on too hard a difficulty, as I'm way too old to turn everything into a grind fest

Had a crack at Metal Gear Solid Delta (remaster). Boy did I bounce off that. It is so awkward and crappy to play. I don't understand the love on that one

Still working my way through RE4: PSVR2 damn it is great

Same thing I play every week. Snowrunner. I also might try and get back into KCD2.

Something in my backlog I dont know what game yet.

BTW, I'm happy the "What are you playing this weekend" post came early. Australians live in the future from you people

Making slow progress with TLOU PartII on Pro - 22 hours in at 40% but loving every second.

T8 screwdriver should arrive today- gonna take my Series X apart for a clean (fan getting louder).

Scary times all round! Have a good one all.

@Puketapu Is your government going to add gta6 to a ban list like they do for alot of games?

I picked up Marvel Tokon so I'll be playing that. My nephew wanted it for his birthday, so I got 2 copies to be able to play againt him. Lots of fun but it will take time to get any good.

Enjoy your weekend folks!

@XenonKnight probably. *****

Star Wars Zero Company (PS5) I didn’t fall in love with the game straight away, but after a few hours I’m now really starting to enjoy it. Once you start unlocking things like focus points, the armoury, black market etc the game starts to open up.
Ghost Recon Wildlands (PS5) Despite playing this game on and off for years, I’ve never actually finished it! I always forget just how big it is. Each area has a main boss, but also sub bosses beneath them. I’m determined to finish it this time 😂
iRacing arcade (PS5) Nice palette cleanser between other, bigger games. Good little racing game, though the AI is sometimes annoying af.
Super Mario Galaxy (NS2) Still having lots of fun playing this for the first time. I’m playing them in order, so once I finish this I’ll move on to Galaxy 2. I’m also going to be watching the Super Mario Galaxy movie over the weekend, though I’ve heard mixed reviews on it.
Onimusha Way of the Sword demo (PS5) The full game is out next week, so downloaded the demo last night to give it a go.

Update: I watched the Mario Galaxy movie today. I really enjoyed it, thought it was better than the pretty average first movie. The fact that I didn’t reach for my phone during the movie speaks volumes 😂 loved all the references to various Nintendo games, and even one to LOTR! I watched it in 4K, which looked amazing.

Bought Wukong on sale 2 weeks ago and got my Platinum 3 days ago. Now I just killed Erlang for the "true ending" on NG+ and after some cleanup I'm going to start NG++ just because. I'm also dabbling in Mortal Shell 2 but I give that a proper go next week.

@Anke I've just ordered my copy from cex as had a voucher to use. Won't arrive till maybe Wednesday but looking forward to it. Should tide me over until wolverine comes out

@Enuo it's decent but can be a tad glitchy at times but it's to be expected from a smaller studio.

Glad I bought it though

I thought there were 50 comments in 10 minutes What's going on!

I've just got my Doom Dark Ages platinum, absolutely loved that game. Still playing System Shock 2, but I've got drawn into GTAV again. I wouldn't say I'm hyped for 6, but if it's a giant sandbox where I get to poke into every corner, I'm probably up for it

Kirby's Dream Land (GB) - My daughter has been struggling with the King Dedede boss battle, so I promised to help her this weekend.

Dragon Warrior (NES) - I'm grinding away for loads of Gold?XP.

Angry Birds Stella (Windows Phone) - Been making great progress here as well.

Its AEW All In weekend and I can't wait to watch the best of England vs the best of Canada do battle for the World championship

Well i had plans to play golf this morning but the weather is shocking so i decided to have an epic dirt rally 2.0 session but then @GirlVersusGame made me purchase yet another zombie survivors game and I can't stop playing the bloody thing.. if anybody likes their vampire survivors type twin stick shooters then this will definitely be right up your alley. Have a great weekend folks👍

Crimson Desert is life. Or at least I have banned myself until I reach 50% achievement minimum.

Still working through Atomic Heart. While the game definitely has flaws, its really grown on me.
Enjoy the weekend all.

Beyond Words... My newest addiction.
Couple of runs on Ball X Pit.
Probably will have a look at the Ascension DLC on Returnal now that I'm done with the main game... And maybe have a look at my PS4 backlog. I've neglected that console in recent months.

Have a good weekend people.

'La Santa, La Santa, La Saaaaaaaanta Blanca' 🎶

@Yapzehemnem that picture nathan drake as gone from being american to a fat asain bloke lol

@Zuljaras I thought you were doing that Sony protest. Some were, are? I didn't, but we both preserve so much physical so that alone is enough. Did you find any games on your travels?

@Northern_munkey I bought a second copy of that today, I figured if I had to leave for somewhere random that it would do well on the Seatmdeck and it became so addictive so quickly that I needed to. I'd never even heard of it until I saw it land on the PS Store, it was more the colours than anything else that made me think of trying it and I have a thing where I try to buy an Indie every couple of days to balance things out. I'd put in hours without even realizing it, hopefully it gets good reviews, and good updates and DLCs.

@old_gamer74 You are making crazy good progress with your list, but you just started Vampyre Survivors? say goodbye to your list, progress, life, sleep, to time itself. If you do want to try any others I'd recommend Soul Stone Survivors, Army of Ruin, Halls of Torment (it's like Diablo if it were a Survivors, but can crash a little, it needs some tweaks) and the one I mentioned today 'Yet Another Zombie Survivor' is really good. Very fast too, and guns lots of guns.

@ApostateMage 'If you're not listening to NarcoCorridos, you're a (meow) and you're not getting a Christmas Card.'

@Marquez Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on StarWars (at some point) I did pick it up but won't get around to it for a while, I saw that new Rainbow Six Tactics game too and that will be day one. It reminded me of a Romanian game on Steam called Door Kickers. It's that same breech/tactics kind of game but really hard. When I saw the trailer I thought it was making the jump to PS5.

@GirlVersusGame i am being very committed to my list. I needed some VC after FFVII and although it took all my willpower to break away and start up Spiderman 2, I am now committed to a story game again with no VC until Spidey is done - and I am smashing through it, as I am not working this weekend and my daughter is entertaining herself with her horse! I hsve started a little 2 Point Museum with her but very early days! Letting her take the lead so the museum is going to be pink 🤦‍♂️

Going omd school with Witcher 3 - I started a new playthrough before the remaster was announced, and just can't hold myself from playing it for a month.

Eagerly awaiting the Blood of Dawnwalker reviews before I throw money at it.

Hoping to finish AC Black Flag this weekend and I've been playing a bit of the Modern Warfare 4 beta not sure about it it's better than Black Ops 7 but thats not exactly a high bar.

I’m wrapping up my playthrough of Mortal Shell 2 on Xbox Series X. I’m three achievements away from 100%’ing the game, but I’ll wrap those up during a NG+ later down the road when there aren’t so many good games out. It’s been a fantastic experience, and it’s definitely worth the money.

Wrapped up my first ever playthrough of Onimusha Warlords! I’ll check out Dawn of Dreams while I wait for latest installment come September.

Otherwise, now and for the foreseeable future it is all about Mortal Shell. I adore this game and it’s right behind Pragmata for my GOTY this year. I assume it will keep me busy until Onimusha Way of the Sword and DawnWalker drops.

If time I’ll continue some racing in Screamer as a palette cleanser as well.

Enjoy the weekend all!

@old_gamer74 Go you, seriously you are zooming through games faster than a lot of us. I'm all for the pink Museum, right now mine looks like (loads the game) this, I tore it all down and re-did everything, fixed the A.I. pathing, weaponized consumerism with giftshops and vending machines at key choke-points, and even started working on a spooky museum. Those attractions are a lot louder so it's a different kind of vibe but it works. It's all a work in progress, I don't want to rush it, just enjoy it while it lasts.

I'm all for the horses too, I saw mine again recently. I'd been weeks at sea, away from literal civilization just floating and waiting. When I got back I went straight to the countryside to see them, even slept in the stable that night. I woke-up covered in straw but when you know horses you know they are more like people than animals and I can't bring them everywhere, even if I could shrink them down it still wouldn't be right, I went to a petting zoo too, even more animals.

I don't know which Spiderman games you've tried but Miles Morales is worth playing too, shorter, a little more depth and direction, it felt like everything in the world had it's place and that every minute I spent in his world and in his shoes was worth it.

So many games released now or coming soon, its hard to choose what to play. Not even counting the backlog. And on top of that, I just had to play an old classic that just got an update. Such nice problems to have though 🙂

Mafia Definitive Edition PS5 - I just had to play it again, loved this game back in the day and I still love it. Its a nice little upgrade with 60 fps which makes the gameplay much smoother. I've finished the game on classic difficulty, which I dont recommend if you're not going for the trophies/achievements as there are some pretty hard parts in the game and it can get really frustrating. The race however, which is the hardest part, I got on the 7th try. I grinded that ***** race so many times on the ps4 version that I still got it, probably till the day I die... Some collectibles left then the platinum is mine. Still a great game imo 🙂

Star Wars Zero Company - I had my eye on this and after the great reviews I had to get it. I've only played the first mission, but this is very, very promising. Its a great evolution from the Xcom games and Star Wars is a very good setting for it. Cant wait to play more!

I also want to play Resonance - a Plague Tale Legacy but that will have to wait a few months...

Have a great weekend!

I shall continue with my Bloodborne platinum run. ( and probably watch the GTA6 gameplay another couple of times ) 😄. Happy gaming everybody

I will be playing Mw4 beta

I’ve randomly picked up Old market simulator. I thought I played it for an hour last night; lo and behold 5 hours later and I had just progressed into Spring. I’m excited to carry on with this for the long bank holiday; and cannot wait for my banana tree to grow.

So far nothing cuz binging tv stuff but I’d love to replay some older gta games a bit.

I will continued playing one of the best video games ever made in the excellent onimusha warlords I'm about to fight the last boss.i will continued playing fan favorite the incredible bully.i Will continued playing one of the best jrpgs ever made in the amazing dragon quest 11 echoes of ulisive age.and I will be playing fan favorite jrpgs in the phenomenal scarlet nexus and all the dlcs .I will be watching legendary sitcoms TV 📺 comedy shows in family matters.good times.the Jeffersons.sanford and son.different strokes.martin.the wayans brothers.married with children.and saved by the bell.word up son

Coming to the end of my first Mortal Shell II run, pretty sure final boss is up next. Absolutely loved my time with this one, easily one of the best none From Soft Souls-likes I’ve ever played. Will probably jump straight into NG+ right away to play as other shells, which is rare for me.

Have a good one everyone!

@Fiendish-Beaver I hate those guys, they hit soooo hard! Have you got to the women with the rapiers yet? They’re equally horrible… them and those damn bats 😄. I have a stone that lets me jump in the air and do a slam attack, that’s been my go-to for those enemies (and my boss killer).

I am just playing Highwater and Rollerdrome while I wait for Dawnwalker and Wolverine to come out already.

I am mainly posting to say I am glad the Square reviews of Zero Company and Wolverine are in progress. I am looking forward to them!

@Marquez well I am impressed you have 4 plats! I am counting "completion" as "main story" done.

Probably no help to you but I am getting through them for a few reasons
A) i have so many games in the backlog that OCD is taking over
B) i am reviewing the games and feeding them into a chatgpt algorithm
C) that in turn is then selecting what game i play next, what games i add (remove) from wish-lists, and what i prioritise to buy
D) that is giving me i) a nice document showcasing my gaming journey ii) some interesting games that maybe I wouldn't have ended up playing
E) with regard comfort games - like Vampire Survivors/Balatro etc - they get a play at the end of each story game and are treated as a "palate cleanser"

Playing through SMT V and thoroughly enjoying it. I like it a lot more after finishing SMT III.

I'll also spend some time with Blue Dragon. The Re:Blue recomp is really damn impressive, and I haven't played this game since the year it came out.

Also also, I just discovered Dusklight, and WOW. I was thinking about hooking up my GameCube to finally finish my Twilight Princess save from back in the day, but now I'm ready to start over. Some of these recomps are just incredible.

@sorteddan i love word games but have seen mixed reviews for Beyond Words. You would recommend though?

@Marquez The only tip I have is to play what you enjoy. Video games aren't homework or tasks to complete. Treating them that way introduces stress and can lead to burnout and loss of love for the hobby. Play your comfort games if it helps you unwind, and do it guilt free.

KCD 2, Marathon, Helldivers 2 and assorted other games. Into reading at the moment so that's what I'm doing more currently.

Guess none of the editors are participating in the blackout.. I'm playing my snes classic.

@Marquez that's exactly how AI has helped with the order - if i have played a 40 hour RPG then the next may be a 20 hour fps and then a classic superhero game. It ensures I don't get burnt out playing same style of game with epic lengths 1 after another.

And another point is limiting the number of games on the go. I only ever have 1 main story game, 1 game I am playing with my daughter and a rotation of 2 or 3 palate cleansers.

I would never be able to have the number of big story games like you have all on the go.

I also have a strict "stop playing" and "remove" games that start to feel a grind. I know pretty early on if a game is for me and the likelihood of me seeing it through

I'm playing Halo 3 on the Halo Master Chief Collection on my PC, with a bit of Toem and NFS Payback on PS5 in between to keep things fresh. I've played a bit of Spacemarine 2 online with my friend as well, not sure if that counts as well.

@get2sammyb I think it's better on a Friday evening. For those of us who work Monday to Friday he weekend starts when you finish work on a Friday evening

Almost finished with Mortal Shell 2, hoping to wrap that up this weekend.

I’ll be splitting my time this weekend between 2 excellent but very different games. The first being Mortal Shell 2 which is a massive improvement over the first one in every way. It’s really good and very enjoyable but it’s got it’s flaws as well. The lock-on system and camera being chief among them at times. But still, it’s just an incredible game.
The other is the COD MW4 Beta which is incredibly addictive and far better than I thought it would be. I dare say this is the best MP COD has done in quite a while and I’ve played every COD since World At War (except BO4).
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys their time gaming this weekend and as always…….no rage quitting! 😉

The classic character Duck King was released for Fatal Fury COTW, so I will definitely be playing that while also training on Marvel Tokon. Will make time for Pragmata, WWE 2K26 and Expedition 33. Or at least try too.

I beat the peak Reanimal and wanted to go through it all over again. It's short, but I think that's what makes it great. Focused, intense, and jarring in how abruptly it ends. Certainly getting the DLC once they all release.

After that, and really just early this morning, I beat Oxenfree again. Spooky game with less horror.

I've no idea what I'll be playing now. I've been jumping from game to game, but just haven't been impressed by any of them.

@PuppetMaster Your Dooms look really good, what are those flat black things behind it? They look to be in plastic so comic-books?

@old_gamer74
If you like scrabble you will probably enjoy it. If you also enjoyed Balatro then yes just ignore reviews and buy it. Cost me about £8 in a recent sale and I'm going to put in plenty of hours into it. Some stages seem a bit reliant on getting the right boosts early on it you want to fully complete but you can always go to another. A good game to get your brain working for 30-60 minutes

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on PS5.

@GirlVersusGame Yep those are comics.

Continuing with Death Stranding 2 and loving it. Couldn’t tell you what’s going on but I still enjoy every cutscene I watch. I also like reading the little pop ups when other players use things you’ve made or given you likes!

I started Atomfall on Thursday and have already put 9 hours into it. I've had it in my backlog for a few months and nearly decided to play something else instead, but I'm really glad I went with it.

Zero company or finally finishing pragmata

Nothing, I'm taking part in the blackout. Stop enticing!

Zero Company and going back into AC Shadows a bit (because of Black Flag); next to the awful cutscenes and voice acting, Shadows is such a beautiful immersive game.

After pissing about trying to find something that felt right for weeks, I've settled on Hell is Us and it is definitely impressing so far. The combat, atmosphere and music are all great.
What I really like is the reliance on investigation, no waypoint or mission markers. You have to rely on what people tell you or what you find to piece information together to help you on your way. A npc will tell you the compass bearing and that's all you've got. Intriguing game and looking forward to experiencing more.

Have a boss weekend everyone and happy gaming 👍

Finished Kena Bridge of Spirits just 2 days ago - really great indie game, looking forward to a sequel now. Not quite sure what to start new. Trying to get some remaining trophies in Darwin's Paradox to platinum the game which is rare thing for me. On Steamdeck replaying Limbo but mainly because it's short game.

Beside gaming, will watch some football in TV and darts too. Happy gaming and enjoy the weekend, ya'll!

Edit: platinum in Darwin's Paradox achieved, recommend to those who have kids. Initially played by my sons and I only helped with harder sections, but then ending up replaying by myself

I've been playing through Zero Company myself. It really makes no attempt to shy away from the label of XCOM-but-Star Wars, though I'm quite liking their twists on the formula.

I thought I'd settled on my main team... and then I unlocked Cly. Cly may be slightly (extremely) overpowered.

After finally finishing a half played Guardians of the Galaxy last week. I decidednit was time to siveninto Silent Hill 2 remake that i have has since it hit PS plus. I’m twnty hours in and completely sucked into it. I hope to finish up this evening or tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

Playing Star Wars Zero Company on hard. Good stuff. Most of my original crew was just sidelined with injuries after a nasty fight but that pushed me to give some new guys with new skills (shot and it’s working out pretty well so far.

Also got in some Helldivers 2, Death Howl, GT7 and Marvel Tokon.

@Neuromancer I pay for the privilege with a stressful and under paid job to be fair lol

@Oram77 I have filed your complain and refunded the money you spent

@old_gamer74 I'm really bad about starting multiple games at once, and never finising any of them. I used to be so good at not doing that.

@sorteddan yes to scrabble. Yes to Balatro. Have wishlisted and will wait for it on sale 👍

@tselliot that used to be me! Cyberpunk, Alan Wake 2, AC Odyssey. The list goes on. Far more cathartic this way!

Skull and Bones, sorry.

RDR2 and Gears of War Reloaded

Mortal Shell 2

As a huge Star Wars fan and someone who enjoys tactical games like XCOM, Aliens: Dark Descent, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, STAR WARS Zero Company™ feels made for me. I love planning each move, managing a squad, and watching a strategy come together—all within the Star Wars universe. It successfully combines the atmosphere and excitement of Star Wars with the thoughtful, squad-based gameplay I enjoy. Highly recommended for Star Wars fans who love tactical combat.

I'm giving an update on Crimson Desert, the game deserves it.

I didn't think I would or could have this much fun in the game. I'm really surprised how well the world itself works with the content and the quests. In most games like that I let side-quests stack up then eventually get to them. This time I was so overwhelmed with how fleshed out the world was that I made them my goal, or rather I did a quests as I found it. They haven't felt forced, or like filler, just fun. The NPCs themselves are so well designed that I find myself stopping to stare at them, I don't know how they got that much detail into one game. Their armor, gear and facial expressions are fantastic.

The combat has grown on me so much that I keep finding myself running into the wilderness looking for trouble, my main weapon is a kind of halberd and the flow of combat is so satisfying. I'm focusing my build/XP? on strength and melee so I can Dark Souls my way through the world. A moment in combat that really highlighted the games mechanics for me was when I swooped my halberd sideways at a group of them, watched them all fly backwards and as one hit a tree it naturally broke and fell on another one of them. Then I learned I could chop trees. I then threw a sack at a tree and it got stuck, I pressed the wrong button and realized I could climb that same tree.

Unrelated but I also realized I could beat bandits up, knock them down, tie them up, and throw them off a cliff, I had to try. @Ravix said 'oh yes it has loot and many shinies' but that was an understatement, everything not nailed down comes with me. The inventory itself is slot based, not weight based so it makes me want to take things even more. I don't know what they did with the story (I know they updated it) but I really like it, the progression feels really natural and not at all rushed. My only complaint is that the theft system needs a little tweaking because if I'm going to pick some pockets I want to do it from behind, not a simple bump and lift. I do like the thief mask system though, I used it frequently in Red Dead Redemption 2. It's lost on arrest though, now I have many stored away.

Another slight complaint is that the music though beautiful needs to be used more, I disabled it and used their official score through Spotify instead then tweaked the levels and outputted it through the game myself. I'm glad I waited this long to play it, the mechanics can be deep, the controls were a little confusing (but now I've learned them) and my mouth genuinely did drop when I saw the map from the skybox. It's an incredible game and had I not watched the recent GamesCom trailer on here I probably would have missed out on it for months or years to come.

Also I found a baby goat, his name is ChefGoldblum and he is very Metal. For anyone curious the official PearlAbyss soundtrack is four-hours long. I expected it was half of that, it's a massive game.

Edit: The bounty system is so much fun too. Some of them walk around living their daily lives. I found one man chatting to his neighbor and leaped on him, the door went flying back and hit the other guy, I then seasoned him a little, tied him up, cashed him in and bought some new shoes for my horse, it has some really funny moments like that. Also being able to refine weapons/gear into stronger items by using doubles is so good.

@old_gamer74 it's ok you'll be able to ween yourself off vampire survivors after a month or two. I've been there, be strong 😂

I was enjoying the game play in zero company, but was disappointed with the flickering, stuttering cut scenes even on pro so have stopped that for a while to see if it gets patched. That worked out well though as I started Resonance a plague tale and I am very impressed! The review here said it was a slog at the beginning but I found myself engrossed from the start and the visual quality in cut scenes and gameplay along with the art direction is top notch. It's a shame this may get missed due to the ridiculous amount of big games coming, but anyone who was slightly interested I recommend giving this a shot. Have a great weekend everyone

@GirlVersusGame ah, this is why I originally thought you'd enjoy the game, as it is a massive sandbox in the most sandboxy sandbox kind of way, more than any game I think i've ever seen! How long the feeling last will depend, but it's great that it is fulfilling at the moment 😄 hopefully it lasts!

@Ravix It's been brilliant and right as you said that I'd just found a camp full of ShotHatMen drinking and making merry by the fire. Also the refinement system is really good, so many games don't let you refine doubles anymore. I'll eventually do a big write-up because I'm sure I'm not the only one said 'I'll get back to it eventually', had you not said to go for it I'd still be working on my dusty old Museum. It's good to play games like this sometimes, it's a reminder of what games can be about if and when you have the time to invest in them. I do wish they'd put a simple L1 and R1 to make the camera climb/lower for photo-mode, I feel like I'm playing WipeOut each time I try to take a picture. Adjusting the settings also sounds like firing off a machine-gun at a barrel of water down range, just tatatatat and all I'm doing is adjusting the Aperture Values. Thank you for recommending it. I imagine others might be considering it after this new emphasis on the story, which by the way seems solid enough.

Edit: That's as good as it gets, I've been taking a lot of pictures since I started. It's really hard not to when the world and everything in it looks so well made. Their NPCs feels really lifelike, the motion-capture is so on-point. I think the one on the right regrets giving up the sauce.

Edit: The Smithy automatically using materials from your storage chest is such a good feature. I wondered why I could craft things when I had no materials in my bag, the chest is pretty far away too. Such a good system.

Playing games on disc, full of content, forever in my physical library

Currently playing through GTA5 (PS5 version). I've never actually finished it even though I've owned it on both previous gen consoles.

Thoroughly enjoying it. I hope to get the platinum and squeeze in another game before GTA6 rolls around.