Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 415

Horizon Forbidden West and GRID Legends both on PS5

For PS4, King of Fighters 15. Really loving the game. Just training and getting in a few online matches in.

Horizon fw. Ive only just reached the forbidden west, so i can see this being an adventure and a half!

I FINALLY managed too get a PS5 so as this is my first weekend with it I intend to play Horizon forbidden west all weekend, minus 2 hours on Sunday too watch liverpool win the cup 😁

Unfortunately I'm working most of the weekend, but any game time will be for Elden Ring. I absolutely love it and very likely a GOTY candidate already. Have a good one folks!

Mmm, yes, I'll continue to play Horizon II Forbidden West. I've finished the story, but I just can't get enough of it!

I'm kinda sad I finished the story, I really enjoy Aloy's character and interactions with everyone else. She truly deserves to be a PlayStation icon!

Still trying to do everything in Horizon. Looks like it’s going to take a couple more weeks at this rate

Switching between Kingdoms of Amular Re-Reckoning, and some of the Plus VR games we got recently. The wife is going out so I’m taking the opportunity to move the coffee table and lock myself in a virtual world.

Horizon Forbidden West and so far what a hell of a game! Guerrilla is one heck of a studio!

Still in awe at HFW's graphics. Any reviewer who thinks this is below 8 is a sad person and on some agenda, there's no opinion on this idc. And if you give it 8, I think you aren't that into Horizon to start with. Gameplay is awesome, them leaplashers didn't come to play. And chasing down a squirrel even with maxed out concentration is harder than Elden Ring's beginning.

Speaking of which I think these From games are fair to the AI y'know. 90% of games have your character overpowered compared to the AI. You use Medkits and are able to see from behind cover without actually moving from cover. Your opponents lives are like a fraction of yours, you're always winning. So if these From games say "hey look you're not the toughest in this world, you'd have to level up", I think it's fair and every game can't be the same. The world is extremely interesting to explore, you're not under pressure to find someone or do something. Most reviewers say ER is the most accessible From game so don't let the difficulty stop you from getting it. The art is lovely!

Like a mad man I’m trying to balance Horizon FW and Elden Ring. Using FW as a relaxation game when ER becomes too intense.

I'm playing Elden Ring in my head while stuck at work! Got a few hours in last night, I'm having a great time and can't wait to get back to it.

I've bought far too many games over the last week but I've got the weekend off so will be diving into Elden Ring all Sunday with bouts on Grid Legends and HFW which is a stunner
I'm also addicted to Total War Warhammer 3.... these will be my games for the next 8 months I think !
What a great time to be a gamer eh ?
Have a great weekend guys ❤️

@AchievingGamer Actual side quests are definitely better than in most open games and in general most activities lead to decent rewards so I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time at any point. This will obviously depend on the player though
The only one I didn’t like much was the mount race but I don’t think there are many of those.

I should probably also try the Cyberpunk free trial before it’s over.

Mainly be Horizon Forbidden West as it's just so so brilliant and I've barely scratched the surface.

I'm going to try Scarlet Nexus for the first time. I love anime-style games so I'm super excited to try it out 😊
Oh and I'm going to play Greedfall's De Vespe DLC.

@PenguinL I’m almost 40h in and the glitches have been very few and very minor for me. I’m sure it hasn’t been as smooth for everyone but it doesn’t seem bad.
I’m playing in resolution mode and I believe a lot of the visual stuff might only be happening in performance mode.

I finished Scarlet Nexus a couple of months ago. It's fantastic- the combat is superb. Make sure you play the campaign twice as both characters

Horizon Forbidden West of course. But my chill out game is Fire Emblem Three Houses. So a combo of those all weekend. My Series is enjoying a well deserved break after being my go to console since launch.

Quickly finished up Horizon Forbidden West in time for Elden Ring, so now Elden Ring get my full attention!

I’ll be playing horizonfw and watching bus routes in cities skyline.

@AchievingGamer I wouldn’t be trying CP now if it wasn’t possibly the only time I could do it before the trial (and PSN discount) ends
I’m not sure if it’s for me so I’d rather find out for free

Will be playing the brilliant open world game, Horizon Forbidden West. Can't believe some people have already finished the main story, what's the rush? Is it because another game is out or something?

😉

I'm going to take my time with it, games this special (and accessible to all) don't come along very often but weirdly they also do, as I'm playing Cyberpunk 2077 alongside HFW. This is another good game, it some people are sitting on the fence then get off it. It's not the Second Coming but does it have to be?

Some gamers need to learn how to forgive and forget. They messed up in late 2020 but have worked hard to redeem themselves and their baby. Buy it!

😝

@AchievingGamer Same here. But Im happy with the Series S as a Gamepass machine. Its funny. I also put Tales of Arise on hold for HFW. Enjoy your weekend!

Cyberpunk and forbidden west all weekend exp for the Liverpool game

@QualityGeezer enjoy mate.

I will mainly be trying to progress through some Elden ring but i will no doubt get a bit of forbidden west and Sifu in to curb the frustration.

Elden ring and nothing else..reminds me of dragons dogma just on a much,much larger scale..gotta take a break whilst i do the house work and have a spot of lunch..enjoy the weekend folks..👍

Staring Elden Ring on the good old PS4 slim. I have a feeling the game would have made my launch PS4 go into jet engine mode. It's very playable on PS4, better than Dark Souls 2 on PS3. So far I am enjoying the new gameplay elements and open world approach.

@Thenewguy So recognizable it is exactly the same for me haha. My series s is also having a break now while playing horizon fw mostly. I'm enjoying my time with that its simply so beautiful and good. Good change it will be my personal goty or at least top3

@Kidfunkadelic83 cheers mate 👍

Do I even need to say!!! 19.5 hours first 2 days says everything. Haven't been this invested in a game since Monster Hunter World and its Iceborne expansion. From what I've played I'd give Elden Ring an 11/10 even regarding the framerate issues which IMO are not frequent enough to hamper this must play game. For all those people who are scared about playing a Souls game this is honestly the best place to start with because of some major quality of life improvements.

1st main improvement is that there are checkpoint galore so if you die to a boss, which you will, the run back will only be 20 seconds max, most respawns put you right back to the boss door. Don't be disheartened about dying a few times, your are supposed to die, this game is all about learning from mistakes and improving yourself. These games punish you by not taking your time and you will be rewarded for learning enemy patterns.

The Second main quality of life is the fact that this game is open world in its self, meaning if you feel like you're struggling on a particular area, it is ok to leave and go explore somewhere else to level up and get stronger. In all other From Software games you'd get maybe routes A B or C to explore, making choice of where to go limited. But in Elden Ring you get A-Z options and then some!!! I'm not even exaggerating, there are so many different dungeons and areas that are completely opposite to the way you're "supposed to go" for the main story.

Anyways I hope this helps anyone daunted to try out this series, I'm not even a big From Software fan, I've only beat most of them once or twice, minus Bloodborne because I refuse to play that at 30 fps, so you know when I say this game is revolutionary for the series I'm not just fanboying. Have a good weekend everyone and to all the people who've already picked up Elden Ring, what's wrong with you? Get back to not having a life any more and play the game🤣

My getting into Cyberpunk really threw a wrench into my original plans these past few weeks. It's ok though its a pretty darn good game now that it's been fixed up. I have Horizon as well but now I also got Elden Ring.

My original plan was to play Horizon 1st, then Elden Ring, then Cyberpunk assuming it would have come later in the year at first. Now Horizon is on ice while I flip flop between Cyberpunk and Elden Ring. Cyberpunk for my more chill enjoy the story experience, Elden Ring for when I'm looking to test myself. Whenever I finish Cyberpunk that's when Horizon will finally get its chance but regardless I am not buying another game until they are all finished!

It's all about the shards and the eddies for me.
I've also just had my brand new Logitech wheel delivered, just in time for GT7 next week.

Playing HFW and loving every second of it, it's great to be back with Aloy once again.

Im playing Sekiro and going for the platinum. Managed to beat the Monk 3 stage but getting my ass kicked by Owl Father where u fight Lady Butterfly previously. If I can put Sekiro down I got Horizon Forbidden West, Dying Light 2 and Far Cry 6 to play

Playing Elden Ring and Horizon FW. Eventually I'll probably focus on Horizon FW and then maybe start a new character in Elden Ring afterwards.

Still loving every minute of Horizon Forbidden West. Aloy suffers fewer fools this time around and I just love her attitude. Many funny moments to break up the loneliness and tension of the game. Dipping into No Man's Sky for tranquil respite. Work today, though, where I'll get to meet Bob Odenkirk. Shaping up to be a fine weekend. Happy gaming to one and all!

After a few months of not really playing anything, I got back into Warriors All Stars and Yakuza 4. I hope I can find some gaming time. I might continue with It Takes Two with the wife.

Nioh 2 with all the dlcs.one of my favorite games ever.amazing gameplay and good graphics on my ps4 pro.and cool story also.shadow warrior 2.lo wang is probably the most funniest protagonist ever.excellent game. Extremely fast paced fun gameplay.graphics looks good on my ps4 pro.and the story is pretty good.divinity original sin not only one of my favorite rpgs ever.but one of my favorite games ever.amazing gameplay.especially as a wizard.the story is one of my favorite in a video games ever.cool graphics also.and. manhunt.rockstar games masterpiece.what a game.extremely gory.the fun stealth finishing moves is fun. Gameplay still holds up.graphics still looks good.and story is really good.watching Michigan basketball.boston Celtics basketball.watching dont breathe 2.amazing movie so far.watching whats happening.good times.sanford and sons.saved by the bell.martin.word life.word is bond.word to your mother.word to god.word up son

Mass Effect and gradual work through the career in Dirt 5.

Made a fem-Shep this time. Trying to go renegade but I can’t help but be paragon most of the time.

Horizon and Elden Ring. Button mapping completely different in each game which is becoming just as challenging as fighting the Tree Guardian on a fresh new character. Let me crouch to sneak up on this guy....nope that just drank my last potion.

PS5 - Horizon: Forbidden West

Xbox Series X - The King of Fighters XV

Elden Ring and Spider-Man Miles Morales (PS5)

My PS5 came today, 1 hour ago, but I will travel later today, so I will install it and get it ready only tomorrow. Them, it's Cyberpubk 2077 time. On PS4 I would continue with AC Revelations, Hades, Wolfestein New Order, Valkyria Chronicles... So, tomorrow we will see. And next month I will get Horizon FW!!

Horizon Forbidden West for this weekend and many weekends ahead....

@Th3solution It's a video game. It's ok to be bad-ish. Just be a renegade, especially when you're fem-shep. You can do it.

Horizon just hit level 30. Loving it

@Kidfunkadelic83 You know it's bad when you turn to Sifu to ease frustration with another game.

More HFW, I've got Elden Ring but I am too absorbed in Horizon to stop and to be honest I can't really play 2 games at once.
Really Jealous of @LiamCroft playing GT7 looking forward to the review on Wednesday.

Still taking my time in Horizon Forbidden West, and just got past the Base, so I can't imagine, other than the rugby, I'll be doing much else sofa-based with my weekend.

SWITCH
Pokemon Legends: Arceus - finally starting this one after putting it off for a while! I hope I'll enjoy it.
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance - Attempting to clear some more challenges over the weekend. Some of them are really tough.

PC
Elden Ring - I am prepared to die, once again.
GTA Online - Multiplayer later with friends!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Picked up Ace Combat 7 from the PS store for £7, finished Lost Legacy last week, started AC7, so maybe I'll play some more but it is suddenly not as escapist as I would like, considering what is happening in the real world...so maybe it will be more relaxing 2K21 Golf for me

Playing guardians of the galaxy, great fun and banter between characters and in sound mind, interesting psychological horror game.

@KilloWertz Sounds like a challenge. 😄Accepted!

@PenguinL I'm only probably ⅓ of the way in, I've had

• A small handful of insignificant visual glitches (missing particle effects, models clipping through scenery, pop-in during the intro, and sometimes the focus later being incorrectly active/inactive during cutscenes). None of this has been persistent, maybe one to three examples of each, I proudly wouldn't have noticed a lot of it if I hadn't used to work in QA.
• One (physics) clipping problem which made me reload a save to complete a puzzle (kept falling through a box which I needed to put something on, which meant I couldn't pick it up)
• One area with major slowdowns where it became a slideshow. I had to save and reload mid-mission as the frame rate was literally unplayable (1-4 FPS) (seems to be a specific mission set around Plainsong, as part of the main quest-line, probably not unloading an area used in the previous cutscene before loading the next area which is combat-heavy)

Other than those issues of varying degree, playing on resolution mode, I've barely seen it ever dip noticeably under the targeted 30fps, the graphics and artstyle are stunning, and you really appreciate the effort they've put into dialogue scenes, fabric meshes, etc etc if you look back at the original.

@KilloWertz @Th3solution
I always have the compulsion to be the good guy too! Can't be helped...
...
Unless I get a trophy for being the bad guy, then I'm all over it.

HFW mostly, along with some Control UE and original Dying Light. Seems I am thinking about HFW even when I am not playing it. Best looking game on PS5 with Rift Apart a close 2nd. Have a great weekend everyone!

Personally hope I will get to spend some time on Hades, Bastion, Celeste, Lost in Random and Remnant from the Ashes.
Just getting into Lost in Random - it's a lot funnier than I was expecting.
Have a good weekend and happy gaming all.

I was really looking forward to playing elden ring this weekend, but sadly my grandfather passed on Friday. So currently I'm not in the mood to play anything and I feel absolutely broken.

@lolwhatno Haha you know something, your name always reminds of that bounty Trevor captures hiding out at the quarry in GTAV. On the ride to Maud's when Trevor asks if he's a sex offender or something and he's like "what? No!" Lol

Metroid Dread Item hunt before final boss.
Borderlands 3 final trophies hunt.
Oracle of Seasons in my first replay for years.

@Th3solution @Sorteddan Honestly, I was more Paragon than I planned to when I did my Fem-Shep Renegade playthrough of Mass Effect. I still did enough to be considered a Renegade and get the trophy, but I changed it up and did it "right" in Mass Effect 2. I only chose Paragon choices if it was something that would set me up a lot better for Mass Effect 3.... which I still need to play.

@LiamCroft - why aren't you doing the video reviews anymore ?

No offence to the new bloke.

@hypnotoad I never was, that was a different Liam!

@LiamCroft Who am I thinking of then ?

All Liams look the same to me.

@hypnotoad Liam Richardson, our former video producer.

@Korgon I'm juggling HFW & ER right now, and I think you should too and maybe drop CP2077 cause you waited this long for it to get fixed plus it's a big game, I beat it at 125hrs with still a heap of side quests not completed, it can wait.

If I find a few brain cells willing to operate, I play Cyberpunk. But most of days I'm carefully watching lots of information channels because of Putin's War.

I'm chipping away at Horizon, which is pretty decent. Not knocking my socks off like the original though. Beautiful, but a bit boring.

finally playing Yakuza 6. been a fan since the PS2 days but just getting around to the final game for Kiryu-san. it's nice to be back in Kamurocho.
> after I'm done with the game (in a few weeks maybe months cuz adult-ing/parenting), I'll likely jump in to another backlog game (Nier:A / NnK2 / Batman:AK)

Enjoying Horizon Forbidden West.

Has anyone else encountered a bug where you complete a Relic Ruins or a Cauldron but it still shows as ‘unknown’ on the map (and remains greyed out, not green)? Only seems to have become an issue since the last patch. Hope it’s not going to mess up my save as I’m going for 100%.

Edit : I closed and restarted my game and the markers are green now. Must have been because I suspended and resumed earlier.

Horizon Forbidden West still. I’m so hooked on this game.

Yokai Watch 3 Tempura 3DS

I'm playing Resident Evil Village and CP2077. Both excellent games! GT7 is pre-loading as I'm typing this. The hype is real!

Playing the excellent Forbidden West. Amazing so far.

On a pilgrimage through The Lands Between, savouring every minute.

At the moment I'm playing grid legends, gt sport and Judgment. Picking up Gt7 asap as I have pre-ordered on psn. I'm curious about Assetto corsa competizione ps5 next 👍😁

Cyberpunk and Sackboy for me this weekend, tempted to start Kena and Deathloop but I'll wait.

This week its been all about:
PS5
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
What a gorgeous game, aweome game...prob best out the franchise. Ive alway enjoyed the series, and have played nearly all of them, but always forgot about them quick too (doesnt help that i did them in random order over 2 decades). this is a slick, impressive spin on the formula with a more intresting plot. Once i get hooked on bolts and upgrades, i cant play anything else...will wrap this then pick up Elden Rings in the new week.

@thefourfoldroot Plus gave a great collection, Saints & Sinners is prob the best VR game made, but make sure to also check out the The Persistance...such an awesome underrated title. Enjoy!

@strawhatcrew That one is not bad, really enjoyed the refined combat and new engine, just temper your expectations on that ending.

Mahjong by Microsoft (Android) - Still working on Dailies as usual.

Dragon Mania Legends (Windows Phone) - Just started on this one.

Ridiculous Marathon (Windows Phone) - Also playing this in bursts here and there.

@TheArt
If I wasn't as invested in the story for Cyberpunk I might have taken you up on your recommendation. As it stands though I think I'll be fine with the way I'm currently doing it. It's an embarrassment of riches for open world games at the moment!

@ThorsHammer
Yeah just been playing saints and sinners. It’s undoubtedly great, but just not my type of genre. Same for persistence. Resi7 and others that have been given. Will be playing moss and paper beast for a while. For me the best has been Astro Bot Rescue Mission.

I’ll be playing more Horizon Forbidden West this weekend. I’m currently 15 hours in and having a blast. For me, it went from okay, to good, to great, to absolutely incredible in the space of five hours of gameplay.

It looks stunning in resolution mode, the combat is phenomenal, and the story is getting better the more the game goes on. Even the platforming isn’t as bad as some would have you believe. My only negative is Aloy. I’m just not super keen on her. Other than that, HFW is a masterpiece.

@AchievingGamer I picked up a Series S at Christmas to compliment my PS5 and Switch OLED. It was worth it for Forza Horizon 5 alone! What a game. Probably the game I’ve had the most fun with since Super Mario Odyssey. The PS5 is my main console though, with my Switch probably getting the least attention. Well, at least until BOTW2 finally shows its face.

Horizon is amazing and has its hold on me for sure. Been a while since I've enjoyed a game this much

Finishing the trophies on Tomb Raider and Desert Child.

I'm only a few hours into Forbidden West so I plan on continuing that.

I have to work this weekend but I'll try to get some time on elden ring

Still playing through Forbidden West. I'm now convinced that reviewers simply speed ran to credits and did just enough to get the plat before dropping the game. This is one of those titles where getting the plat doesn't mean doing everything, so a lot of content winds up getting skipped.

Oh and I'm also playing breath of fire 2 on switch when I have some free time.

@thefourfoldroot thats fair enough if its not ur style, at least u gave them a go. Love Astro Bot too, prob best 3d platformer since Banjo Kaazoie. Moss was great, but Paper Beast sortve petered out for me in the last hr. Luckys Tale is pretty good 3d platformer if ur looking for more in the genre, i believe its been ported to psvr by now...i played it on quest 2.

I've owned Cyberpunk for months but held off playing it until the PS5 version came out. I'm doing a mixture of side quests and the main story at the minute. It looks stunning, even on performance mode.

Elden Ring. Of course! Barely got enough time to be on here

Forbidden West and then setting the wheel back up in anticipation of GT7.

I've been so busy with Elden Ring I almost forgot comment on here...

I'm playing Circuit Superstars and still carrying on with F1 2021

Diablo II Resurrected for PS4, Resistance: Fall of man for PS3 and Gran Turismo 4 for PS2....