Marquez

Cracking on with Star Wars Outlaws - very early on but enjoying it so far. A couple of minor gripes with the control scheme and mechanics but they have absolute nailed the sound, look and feel of a good Star War.

Not enough blood - 3/10

Based on the review and comments, happy to wait for the inevitable £20-30 bundle of both games that will probably be a thing by the time Black Friday rolls around.

As of tonight I can play literally anything I want to and I imagine I'll be paralysed by choice; my son finally got his own PS5 with his 18th money and the monitor for it arrives today. Setting it all up in his room later, which means I now get the OG PS5 all to myself... finally! No longer restricted to the Portal and its cloud offerings, much as that's fun, or watching him score another platinum (he already has 45 to my 26, the young upstart).

Looking to finish off Veilguard - story and platinum - this weekend, after being distracted by game after game. The writing is so clumsy I get the criticism, but it's a really enjoyable romp with great combat and stunning environments. Recommended.

Away at the in-laws for the weekend so my Portal is a Balatro machine, and maybe something turn based - Sea of Stars is on sale and I started it when it was on Plus, so that could be a plan. Happy weekend all!

UPDATE So the in-laws upgraded their internet and I was able to play Death Stranding (and a bit of Arcade Paradise ) instead!

I did OK in terms of additional store credit out of Stars, so it's a shame it's going. However I was constantly penalised for buying new releases early, only to see a points-related campaign go live for new titles a couple of weeks after release. No doubt deliberate, and anti-consumer/early adopter.

I managed to get the Dualsense and the Edge last time around, the Dualsense has displaced my Spidey version as my go-to controller and I might grab another one. Shame the Pro will seemingly never resurface, as a true limited edition.

I've spent the day in a shaded room with all the windows open, watching the cricket, beers in hand. And now it's (almost) cool enough to think about gaming it's back to Dragon Age: The Veilguard and picking something new out of the backlog to go alongside it.

@MindfulGamer Thinking that it's only violent, gory games that have a potentially negative impact on readers' mental health demonstrates a surface level understanding of the human psyche. Strange comment mate.

@NathanKang That requires getting a PC, so I'll hold out for a PS5 version thanks.

Didn't Banishers just get added to one of the Plus tiers? Probably worth mentioning if so!

Rattling through the story in Dragon Age: The Veilguard as I 1) finally picked up Star Wars Outlaws in this weekend's PS Plus sale and 2) am being driven by serious FOMO from all the glowing reviews of Death Stranding 2 to finally complete the first one... so much to play!

Between the PS5 crashing every couple of hours (we think it's the stinking heat) and me picking up an amazing new car this morning, gaming will be limited this weekend - but I'll be back in Dragon Age: The Veilguard at some point and The Alters looks so tempting!

@Channel42 At least it sounds like it won’t take long and like you say, a good excuse to replay anyway!

Bumped into Mike Bithell during the pandemic and had a brief but lovely exchange about podcasts and video games outside the local Tesco, six feet apart. And for that reason alone I will support everything this man does. Also, he makes consistently interesting games.

Now I've scrolled past all the predictable dross from the same people on these forums I'd like to be one of the few to wish Bungie the absolute best of success in reworking this. Stick in a short but memorable single player campaign alongside taking on board all the feedback so far (solos and duos, balance more towards PvP etc.) and they have a solid chance.

@Channel42 Pretty sure there's only one missable and it's right at the start of the game, so a quick restart should do it?

Chipping away at Dragon Age: The Veilguard and, broadly speaking, still enjoying it. I'm finding the gear progression lacking and the dialogue does occasionally grate... but overall - very good so far.

I didn't spend all that time building up to a 148,000,000 damage one shot for Simon to come back... curse you Sandfall!

shakes fist at GOTY

It won't take long for it to be £50 on Amazon, at which point I'll be interested.

@graymamba I was out with a friend for beers yesterday and we spent a while debating getting back into The Division together - thanks for reminding me how good that game is.

With the Clair Obscur platinum finally in the bag (thanks for the optional boss tips @Kraven), anything is going to be a disappointment by comparison - so I figured it's the perfect time to start Dragon Age: The Veilguard! So far it's way better than I expected after all the negative commentary, and I can already see myself enjoying it through to conclusion.

AC Shadows on the back burner for now with 50 hours played, and Balatro on standby as always.

If it nails a similar vibe and pathos to Journey it will be well worth a play.

Can we just make it Clair Obscur again instead?

@Neither_scene Oh I know… I'm terrible at waiting.

It's a race against time to finally finish the original Death Stranding if I want to play DS2 at release, Clair Obscur definitely got in the way! No doubt I'll buy DS2 on launch day, regardless...

@Kraven Only managed two attempts today as life got in the way - good news is I’ve found a way to keep him almost permanently in break status using Monoco and Verso as a tag team. Can get him halfway through stage two just using them as the team. So it is only a matter of time! Apart from that party switch I am basically using your strategy 😉

@Kraven Thanks - plenty to go on there! I'm actually missing a Pictos you mentioned that I will go and get, other than that I'm set up very similarly. If I learn his longer combos I'm confident.

@Kraven Well it's been a long morning trying to beat him so any tips appreciated.

So close on the Expedition 33 platinum and I've absolutely rinsed all the content I've found.. it will be a sad time when it comes to an end. Then it's back to finish AC Shadows which will no doubt feel underwhelming by comparison.

@Splat If it's the optional boss I have left (just them and the grind to 99 to do) your comment doesn't fill me with hope!

I watched my son - who excels at Souls-like games - play through this at launch for the platinum and I loved what I saw but thought 'probably a bit tough for slow old me' and didn't play it myself. So I really welcome difficulty options and will give the game a go in the future.

As a D1 Beta>Final Shape 10 year Destiny veteran it's so sad to see Bungie's current plight; but the more I read the more it looks self-inflicted, by an out-of-touch core of veteran leaders. Sony will need to step in, it's only a matter of time - and I believe they will do, regardless of how Marathon ends up landing.

I've played plenty of excellent games this generation, but Returnal remains the only one that made me sit on the edge of my seat and think 'so this is what PS5 is all about'. An outstanding experience and I can't wait for Saros. Keep 'em coming, Housemarque!

I just finished the story in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 after putting off the last mission for a few days and it absolutely sticks the landing. GOTY, time for the platinum and NG+.

The ongoing support for this game continues to be excellent. Love to see it.

@Rich33 I'd have to assume the multiple references to the military are simply an underscoring of the bullying tactics the orange one thinks he can employ on the rest of the world - and a frightening underscoring at that.

Not the best update but I'm glad Humankind is in there - I've had it on my Wishlist for ages but every time I've thought about purchasing my brain says 'nah, I've got Civ'. Now I get to give it a go without the £.

Just started Act III of Clair Obscur and the end of Act II really went places. Incredible, that's all I can say.

Not sure how I fit in finally completing the first one before this releases, but I'll give it a go. At worst, I'll wait until I do! SkillUp's preview has me 100% sold.

Pretty underwhelming compared to my Spidey and 30th Anniversary versions... I'll pass.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Definitely. I still worry though.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner - 'And after fighting the same enemy after a while the animations get a little repetitive so dodging gets a little easier'.

I agree that the enemies are a little repetitive/recycled, with you on that. But you do realise you've basically just described the gameplay loop of pretty much every Souls game! Learn the enemy pattern, dodge the enemy pattern. Or parry, if I ever manage to git gud.

Nearly at the end of Act II and, so far, an easy 10.

@Shepherd_Tallon Indeed. Looking forward to the unhinged responses to follow... grabs popcorn

I was 50 hours in and loving AC Shadows and then... Clair Obscur happened! But I will be back, and it's nice to see the game will have received improvements in the meantime.

@XanderTigerclaw It's crazy isn't it - even in the UK we suffer a small premium vs. the US but you're even further out the other side! Even is if cost Sony x amount more to run servers and other infrastructure down under, it surely wouldn't be 12-16% more and not all of it would have to be passed on to the consumer. But here we are.

@NeonTiger

Me (and most others it seems): This is up there for GOTY, incredible stuff. Story, music, gameplay, systems...

You: Yeah but the running animations are meh, and those flowers in the prologue look off.

Each to their own I guess, but after admitting you've managed a couple of hours only, I'm not sure you have the full picture on what is the most welcome gaming surprise of the year so far.

@Kraven I have no notes. I couldn't agree more - it's a generational game that paves the way for sure.

Clair Obscur for me, it’s a generational game. Play it whenever I can, think about it when I’m not. Can’t wait to see how the final act unfolds.