Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 536

Bit of Elden Ring, bit of Arizona Sunshine, I’ve just got Undernauts and I want to give that a go (I wished Grimrock 1 & 2 would come to PS5!). Might get a bit of Talos Principal 2 dlc in too. Have a great weekend folks!

I’ll be playing all sorts this weekend. Starting with finishing Uncharted 2 Remastered, Dead Island 2, Fallout 4 and some Snooker 19 with a mate.
Hope everyone has a great gaming weekend!

Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door: Man, does it feel good to play a true RPG again! The combat is superb, with a well-crafted blend of badge usage, partner abilities, and timed button presses, and the story really serves to heighten your interest in this weird world. My personal favorite so far is Twilight Town for its almost Nightmare Before Christmas vibes, but every new area you visit oozes atmosphere and charm. Also, Vivian may best Geno for my favorite companion.

While I doubt it will topple certain of the Mario & Luigi entries, this is easily one of my favorite Mario RPGs.

ER Shadow of the Erdtree - it´s fantastic!

Have a nice weekend, everyone and happy gaming

Playing

• F1 Manager 2023 (XSX) - heading into Monaco and sitting 8th in the Constructor’s Championship with Williams. Par for the course.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS5) - just reached the chained ogre mini-boss. I think I’m going to be stuck here for a bit.
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) - completed the Kakariko Village side quests and am cleaning up the shrines and kook seeds in the surrounding area.

Paused

• Divinity: Original Sin (XSX)
• Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PS5)

Backlog

• Baba is You
• Days Gone
• Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
• Persona 3: Reload
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• The Case of the Golden Idol
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Going to be continuing The witcher 3. Had it for years but didnt really get that far in to it. Bit of Unicorn too id imagine. Some of the formations bamboozle me but im enjoying it. Also need to dedicate a few hours to see if DD2 is really for me. Im struggling with it.

Xbox: Witcher 3 (starting Blood and Wine dlc). Been a fun ride playing this game for the third time.
Also, BG3. I made it to act 3 and feel completely overwhelmed and have no idea what to do or where to start.
PS5 and Switch. Nothing.

I’m probably gonna play through the Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess demo for the 100th time. I like it - A LOT. Will also be playing Resident Evil Village. Going to try and finish it before Kunitsu-Gami comes out on the 19th. Village is only my 2nd RE game. I played 2 remake earlier this year. So far I’m enjoying it and I like it better than 2.

PS5
Elden Ring
Taking my time with this sucker, just exploring and chipping away. Beat the scorpion boss the last session, checking every nook and cranny in that region. Still don't get why several got their panties in a twist about difficulty, personally its as hard as your average From game.

Quest 3
Asgards Wrath
I put the PSVR 2 down to start wrapping my stagginating Rift library via PC streaming. Finished Lone Echo and Stormland last week, both were really good. Now this one, and yeah, absolute masterpiece. Inventory and quick selection really could do with refinement, but small compliants in a stunning RPG made for VR. On the 3rd Saga at the moment, look forward to getting back to it.

Finished Shadow of the Erdtree and went back into base game to get another ending (Elden Beast still sucks btw) for my first and probably only platinum, generally don’t care about those trophies at all but figured what the hell it was so close. Will dive back in to Robocop then hope Prince of Persia or Stellar Blade get discounted soon. Have a great weekend everyone.

Zenless Zone Zero

@ThorsHammer People ignored the new leveling system and freaked out that their meta builds didn’t allow them to breeze through everything. Like most online outrage it wasn’t tethered to reality.

The very underrated, Dragon Age 2. I honestly think that female Hawke is one of BioWare's best characters.

Trails through Daybreak! Love the new cast, especially Van - only in chapter 2 and he's already the best protagonist of the entire series, true fact

Rebirth and ZZZ on PS5.
Backpack Battles, Cobalt Core and Balatro on Steamdeck (I’ve accidentally just turned it into a roguelike machine)

I was inspired during my currently bugged platinum run of tomb raider legend to play underworld again, it’s been 15 or so years at this point since I last played it so it like 97% new to me so I’ll be playing that on my gamey Lappytop.
I’ll also be playing crow county on the 5, cold fear on pcsx2 and Luigi’s mansion 2 hd on the switch.

I have finished the campaign in Anno 1800 and am away for a few days, so while I consider if I want to keep playing it for a while post-credits, I’ll just be on Marvel Snap until I get home.

Finally completed the Tomb Raider Remastered trilogy (I loved it, but good grief TR3 is a pain in the A at times). Currently playing Planet of Lana, which is very enjoyable, lovely little game.

Also decided to play Tomb Raider Underworld as I'd never got round to that one and I was interested to see the contrast straight after playing the remastered trilogy. I think I prefer the originals: Underworld is not terrible or anything but the climbing is just better on the grid system with the tank controls. I keep dying on Underworld because either it's hard to tell where you can safely jump to next, or the game janks out on me when I try. I'm quite enjoying the puzzles though, but that sense of exploration that the originals had just isn't quite there.

Once I've completed that I'm in the mood for some Ys and Memories of Celceta is calling to me.

I’m unsure what to play so I’ve been looking through my backlog for some inspiration. I have Cosmic star heroine and police simulator on my backlog list. So I might give those a go.

Some PES 6 and Shadow of the Erdtree. One’s an insanely difficult game filled with death and grotesque abominations, the other’s Shadow of the Erdtree.

I'll maybe wrap up the FFXIV Dawntrail MSQ this weekend depending on how much of it is at lvl100 (I just started the lvl98 MSQs) This expansion has done my heart good, seeing my WoL smile so much and actually have fun with her friends has been the perfect start to a new era of adventure... even if I know Yoshi-P and team plan to break my heart as soon as they can!

My ps3 farewell tour continues this weekend with Remember Me. I’ve heard it’s… okay, so I’m not overly excited to start it but sometimes that actually helps me enjoy a game more.

On PS5 i will be playing Trails Through Daybreak, Tunic and Persona 3 Reload.

On Switch its Luigis Mansion 2 HD and Spy X Anya.

And on 3DS I will be continuing with Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright.

Getting to grips with the first descendant and I'm enjoying it a lot but seeing as @Kidfunkadelic83 recommended gran turismo 7 (a game I wanted but never got round to) I thought I'd purchase it and give it a go with my steering wheel and now I'm hooked on it. England vs Switzerland this evening..have a great weekend folks 👍

@colonelkilgore Remember Me has a strange but brilliant OST. I have really fond memories of it and always get a little sad it never properly took off and got sequels. Hope you enjoy.

Won't get much gaming time but when I do it'll be a mix of Still wakes the deep and penny's big breakaway

I got Thornbreaker the Witcher Tales in the sale, so started that. I also got Kingdom Come Deliverance, but not sure if I’ll start that yet as I’m still playing Tales of Vesperia and Football Manager 2024…

@Northern_munkey meant to reply to you the other day on PSN mate but completely forgot. Glad your liking GT7, its a great game, especially once to start unlocking some of the nicer cars.

Well I started at 7am for an hour of Uncharted 4 PS5 version.
Please Naughty Dog, continue this amazing game with a few new aspects and start Drakes daughter’s trilogy adventure.

@ApostateMage it gets a lot of flak but the writing in that game is superb. Some of the best in any video game

Started, and I'm gonna stick with Steel Rising on PS5. Very ho hum at the mo, but a more accessible Souls like. The main issue is fighting the same enemies all the time
More Diablo 4 my main drug of choice (well the only one 🤣) think I'll be playing this for years to come !
More Forza Motorsport on XBX ....
Have a great weekend guys and gals ❤️

@LN78.....a loooonnggg time by the looks of it ha ha. Max Payne 3 is superb. Enjoy

@Malaise fantastic ! ...at the end of August me and 2 friends are driving from the east coast of England to Prague, Vienna then Budapest and back home. Eekk

Currently playing Alien Breed 2 Descent on the PS3

I'll be playing Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Gran Turismo 7 and Zelda: The Minish Cap. And maybe Balatro if I have some extra time which I may well do as the Euros are proving to be terrible to watch.

@whitejessegpfc makes sense, also I'm guessing alot of ppl put the game down for a while and were a little rusty. All good, I'm just glad the goofy review bombing has stopped.

Shadow of the Erdtree opened the whole region now and might finish it soon. Going to jump back on Tears of the Kingdom to finish that

I am off on my hols today so it will be Vita only for a couple of weeks, I am going to take Batman Blackgate, Super Monkey Ball and Ratchet & Clank Trilogy!

Happy gaming folks

@Malaise and you !

@Kidfunkadelic83 it's a very good game I must admit. Playing the cafe mode at the moment working through the menus. After using a wheel I don't know how anybody can put up with the game pad as there is just no nuance compared to the force feedback provided by the t150..thanks again for the recommendation 👍

i don’t know man , anybody got any recommendations for me? i need something like the classic GoWs and Infamous , ive been looking at DmC5 , ive never played devil may cry before

I'm hoping the servers hold up for The First Descendant. Tomorrow will be my first day off since it came out. I really want to dive in.

Firewatch VR

I'm late to the party but this was a great experience, made even better with the PCVR mod that makes it pretty much like a native VR title. Interesting story, great voice acting, even though its a walking sim it rarely feels like one.

Elderborn

First-person hack and slash soulslike with metal music. I turned off the music pretty quick though. Enjoyable violence that is supposedly similar to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, although I've yet to play that one.

Gray Dawn

Another walking sim and this one definitely feels like one. It's a surreal story where you play a priest accused of murdering an alter boy. Great visuals but the gameplay is mostly walking around clicking things until the story progresses.

The First Descendant

It's Destiny in third person with some pretty characters. You have to grind to unlock new characters, and then you can pay real money to make them look like Stellar Blade Eve. Game is alright and I think it will do well, but since I have a big backlog I'm moving on to other games.

Switch: The Messenger - clearing up the last few optional challenges before I face the final section - not sure I’ve liked the second half as much as the first but will try to 100%

PS5: Sifu - on to The Tower - really feel like I’m in the flow with the combat at the moment

Still exploring every inch in the realm of the Shadow of the Erdtree. Met Messmer a week ago and told him to wait and that I needed explore a bit more, he's probably bored at the tower in his " embrace of Messmer's flames."

I’ve dipped into Zenless Zen Zero. I put about 50 hours into Genshin before deciding I couldn’t keep up. I want this to be the one I keep up with but I doubt it.

I’ll also mix in my Diamon Dynasty Season in The Show 24. Those homers aren’t going to hit themselves.

Lastly Rise of the Ronin is there too, and I need to finish Rebirth. Got to 12 and started to complete the checklist of side stuff and got burned out. 55 hours in I need to just finish the main story.

More Erdtree for me. Finally beaten the tree boss that has been driving me nuts. Beat Messmer straight after, but currently stuck on Romina (think that’s her name) which is a super tough fight.

Also trying to finish Dave the diver.

@KingPev loved SteelRising. It’s not FromSoft, but it didn’t have to be. Cool idea, fun setting, and before the patch, very broken grenades (you could wipe the floor with every boss if you had at least 4-5). Enjoy and if you’re planning on just one playthrough see which ending you may want to go towards!

I fell back into Baldur's Gate 3 and arrived at the eponymous city. I love the combat but is starting to feel like the many, many story threads are ruffling each other's feathers.

So, I took a break to just challenge myself in honour modes with X-COM 2 no saves mode. It wiped me quite quickly. A devastating round saw my team downed to a man whilst still building my team. That's game over.

I realise I am not a brilliant tactician (tough realisation) and the depth of gameplay in both titles will continue to humble me😂

I will be playing one of the best video games ever made.my favorite ps4 video games ever made in the incredible god of war 2018.2018 game of the year winner.kratos is the g.o.a.t. 🐐 👑.the best video games protagonist ever made.god of war gameplay.boss fights.graphics.his son atreus.the soundtrack.the story are all brilliant. I will also be playing one of the best rpgs ever made in the amazing ni no kuni wrath of the white witch remastered.oliver is one of the best protagonist ever.and the graphics.the boss fights.the gameplay.and the story.and the soundtrack is magnificent.i will be playing one of the best fps shooter ever in the excellent doom 2016.doom guy is a icon.the graphics.the gameplay.the story.the soundtract.the boss fights is excellent.i will be also be playing.the instant classic.the wonderful fps prey. Amazing gameplay.with the powers you got.the gunplay is incredible.the boss fights.the graphics.the story.the soundtract is excellent.morgan yu is a cool protagonist.i pick the male version.and i will be playing one of the best good times video games to play in the awsome just cause 3 xxl edition.rico Rodriguez is a cool protagonist.one of my favorite protagonist.the graphics.the gameplay.the story.the boss fights.the soundtrack is amazing.i will be also watching legendary sitcoms tv 📺 comedy in good times.sanford and son.the Jeffersons.the wayans brothers.and saved by the bell.word up son

The Elden Ring prep for the DLC has got out of hand. What was supposed to be a straight-up samurai/katana build has turned into a Wolverine-style character, running around with fire grease on his claws and no top on. He was overpowered for a while but the lack of decent armour is catching up with him, so this weekend's job is to find some good gear.

I'm level 130 now so I'm almost ready, but there's still loads to do in the base game yet.

Playing Still Wakes the Deep.
Heard some good things about it and I'm enjoying what I've played so far

I'll probably get some AC Mirage and GT7 in 🙂

I just finished Nier Automata (all relevant endings). Such a great and unique game.

Now I am playing Bioshock 1 from the collection. Somehow I got the urge to replay it, finished it back in the Xbox 360 days and how much I enjoy this game. Great artstyle, capturing story and environment.

Later I will watch football in the hope that England starts to realize there potential and finally will deliver a decent game. In general this Euro is pretty weak, I think the players, well most of them, are out of juice. Too many games all year.

Enjoy whatever you are doing, no illegal stuff, naturally. ^^

I’ve been on vacation with my wife and daughter for the last seven days so I haven’t been gaming much. I think I needed a genuine break from working and gaming altogether. With that said, I did bring my Nintendo Switch to play on the off chance of downtime.

I finally beat Beyond Good and Evil. I did all of the optional content — collect all pearls, photograph all wildlife, and did the Volcanic Treasure and Map to the Past side quests. I can see why this game is hailed as a “masterpiece”, especially for 2003.

There is a minuscule part of me that hopes the sequel doesn’t come to fruition. I don’t think Ubisoft necessarily knows how to make minimalistic games any longer; granted, BG&E is large for its time, especially due to hardware limitations; but that’s what makes it special. I’m afraid they would over indulge and lose sight of what makes the first game so endearing.

I also decided to pick up The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero. I unfortunately never played Trails in the Sky. I do own a Vita and could buy the PSP versions, but I don’t feel compelled to do so. That said, I have played Trails of Cold Steel 1-4 and love those particular entries.

I’m glad I bought the game on Switch rather than PlayStation because I forgot how much banter there is. There is no way I would have been able to make significant progress on PS due to commuting to work, pausing the game during heavy dialogue moments and hoping my wife and daughter don’t turn off the light switch and ultimately the PS5. I also purchased The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak on the PlayStation.

Much to the dismay of some, I personally love the slow pacing of these game(s). There is an incredible sense of world building and character development that really keeps me invested. The long amounts of dialogue can become monotonous, but if you are patient it will pay off in the end. I’m also impressed by the fantastic voice acting and localization. And the soundtrack is top tier.

I’m not too far into the game to really give in-depth thoughts, but if it keeps up this pace then I have a feeling it’ll turn out to be a very special game. Hopefully, Trails in the Sky can get ported to modern consoles because this is a series every JRPG fan needs to experience.

Managed To Pick Up the Dark Souls Trilogy For £15 Brand New So That's Me Sorted For A While 🤣

Hoping to play some Rebirth this weekend. Didn't play anything last weekend due to the Hurricane.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (3DS) - Around halfway through Episode 1 so far.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - I'm starting a Hard playthrough this weekend.

Microsoft Bingo (Windows Phone) - Nearly finished with this now.

All the talk about Snake Eater Remake made me finally boot up the original to finally put down that sacred cow for once.

Think I’m finally going to take a break from Stellar Blade. Won’t be too much this weekend, mostly WWE 2K24.

The First Descendant

Just got a PS5 (again). I’m replaying Spider-man Remastered and it’s a graphics showcase this time. Also some GT7 for good measure. On ROG Ally, I’m playing Football Life 24 and Forza Horizon 3.

Working through Tomb Raider 3 NG+, High Security Compound was the first challenge, slightly dreading Antarctica 🙃

Still lost in ASSASSIN’S CREED Odyssey’s ancient Greece and loving it. Just finished the main quest line yesterday and now I’ve got more side quests, activities and DLC content than I know what to do with! A good problem to have! 💪🏽😉👍🏽

@Northern_munkey i sold my set up but was looking at a T300RS-GT yesterday reduced on amazon. I just dont have the room anymore but was very tempted.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I bought the T150 with the stand as its a solid entry level wheel and I was not sure if I was going to take to it. I did like a duck to water and I'm seriously considering a direct drive wheel which are expensive but I know its money well spent as I'm hooked. I don't have the room for a full race frame but If i did I would have one..

I think it’s going to be a Dreamcast weekend! I dusted that bad boy off and I’ve got Resident Evil 3 snd Code Veronica on deck. Couple that with a VGA to HDMI converter I just bought and I’m a happy camper! Happy gaming everyone!

@MegaManX-7 Dreamcast is top tier, enjoy!

Finished:

• Strider 2014 (PS4) on Hard difficulty, 80-85% trophy completion. Capcom, a new Strider game please!🙇‍♂️

Playing:

• SF 6 (PS4)
• Ruiner (PS4) with Hard difficulty
• Blazing Chrome (PS4) with Hardcore difficulty
• Alien Soldier (PS4) with Superhard difficulty
• Rollerdrome (PS4). Why no one talk about this game?! It's a very fun and quite challenging game and it also reminds me a bit Arnold movie called The Running Man.

@PuppetMaster Rollerdrome is great. Check out the 1970s RollerBall it’s the more direct comp you may enjoy it.

Watch Dogs on my steam deck. I have a playstation somewhere.

I played Youtubers Life 2 PS4 on my PS5 machine all day long. 😊

I have obtained Silver rank (Have gained more than 100K subscribers) so I can accessed the Fitness Club and met with other residents.
I'm still working on getting Golden rank (Have more than 500K subscribers) so I can get into Dock54 to interview DJ Cerulean.

@Northern_munkey i used to have a dedicated rig but now i dont have a dedicated gaming screen and it took uo too much room (for the wife) racing wheels are alot of fun tho, entry lvl or pro.

Mainly P3 Reload and Ghost of Tsushima Directors Cut.
Also hoping to play some Cult of the Lamb, Star Ocean Second R, Days Gone and Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen.
Hoping to start Dragon’s Dogma 2 in a few months after finishing Dark Arisen and P3 Reload.
Hoping to start going through Stray in a few weeks, originally played through the PS4 version when the game was on PS Plus, got the physical version of the PS5 as a Christmas present just haven’t had the chance to start going through it again yet

I may play some Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania and Super Bomberman R2. Via PS Plus Extra/Premium, I'm playing Monopoly Plus and Star Wars Racer Revenge.

This weekend its: the first descendant. Love that game.
Second is starwars Jedi Survivor

Decided to go back to south park the fractured but whole to get the platinum, I also started Resogun.

The First Descendant on PS5

Resident Evil 2 (1998) on the PS3

@whitejessegpfc This is the first time i heard RollerBall and from the image it looks like a closer comparison than Running Man. I'll check it later and thanks for the reccomendation 👍

Luigi’s mansion 2 Hd

Stray Blade and Z3.

FINALLY got relatively “good” at Elden Ring (not the DLC) so all my spare time is consumed by that…Dabbled in Dragon’s Dogma 2 too as it’s on sale…might even dip into my ever-growing backlog too

@MegaManX-7 hello there. Not sure if you’ve seen the Moza range? They have a killer entry level DD set. Pedals are not great (still thrustmaster level so all good). I am in South Africa, and the bundle cost 30 - 50% more than a T300RS.
I play on a T300RS, with a gt elite folding chair; i mainly play GT7, and all racing games via PSVR2 (the only use I have for PSVR2). Even non VR games (F1, ACC, etc) still works really well in PSVR2 cinema mode. Yes, the resolution is not great, but at max zoom level, you still end up moving your head to look at the apex. So good fun

Dune Imperium

Picked up The Ori Collection on Swith along with Black Ops: Declassified and FFX on Vita. So I’ll be dipping into those. I need to get some rounds of XDefiant in as well as dabble a little in The First Descendant and play as Geralt of Rivia. Also, I’ll likely plow through the final few missions in Jedi Survivor. Going to be a busy weekend!

Shadow of the Erdtree for me. I'm on to what I think is the last area now. Overwhelmingly massive, but such good fun!

@colonelkilgore I was pleasantly surprised with that one back in the day, had some cool mechanics and pretty solid story, not sure how the combat holds up now though.

Well here we are with another stupendous WAYP. Been an odd week around here. Think I’m dealing with a bout of genuine depression but that’s not what these spaces are for so that’s all I’ll say. And a really bad cold too hahaha. Don’t be afraid to ask for help yall. In terms of good things this week? Beat Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth which is a GOTY contender it was so good. Enjoyed the demo of Kunitsu-Gami so I’m gonna secure a preorder on that and Nintendo World Championship NES Edition. Also a really nice time was WWEs PLE for July, Money in the Bank. Sad to see John Cena leaving by the end of next year but hey just means we gotta go see him eh? Definitely the standouts of last night would have to be Tiffany Stratton the new Ms Money in the Bank or should I say Tiffy in the Bank. Amd Jacob Fatu in the Bloodline match. That dude is physically an enigma like a genuine work of art. Also enjoyed some Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD alongside that and that game is so freaking cozy I love it. Great summer or fall game honest. Thinking the rest of the weekend will just be a Persona 3 Reload or FFXIV Dawntrail weekend. Depends on how I feel honest. Not gonna aggravate more depression. Otherwise I’m thinking this week is mostly gonna consist of some Trails Through Daybreak on my day off hopefully, Stellar Blade, and maybe some Paper Mario. Maybe Zenless Zone Zero too I think I found a huyoverse game I like. Anime of the week gotta go to Kaiju No.8, Demon Slayer, Delicious in Dungeon and Urusei Yatsura of course. Anime Expo happening this weekend has been quite fruitful with TRIGUN Stargaze, RWBYxVIZ, the three Demon Slayer Infinity Castle movies, NEW Panty and Stocking and so much more. Definitely think I’m gonna secure a preorder of that Delicious in Dungeon box set they announced. Podcasts of this week gotta go to Castle Superbeast, Big Think Dimension, Into The Aether, RPGsites Tetracast,Minnmax, Jeff Gerstmann, Kit and Krysta, Last Stand Media, Easy Allies, Second Wind, Nextlander, Cultaholic Wrestling and Remap Radio. And yet we wouldn’t be done without a incredible huge lovely massive wonderful shoutout to my dear friend over at twitch.tv/akibread and their wonderful streams please give them a look. As always yall stay safe, be wonderful to each other. Have an excellent weekend and of course Happy Gaming

@Bunchesopuppies how's stray blade? Not into dark souls etc. is it more accessible? More forgiving?

@rusty82 it’s a souls like with a Difficulty Setting! Very metroidvania, semi open world. Over 20 weapons. Decent enough story. Some tricky puzzles to figure out, various death scenes from weapons.

The Witcher 3 but I did watch all of Blue Lock from Wednesday through Saturday. So I’ve been shifting back & forth between the pair until today

@Bunchesopuppies may have to check that out. Cheers