Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 442

Nintendo Switch: Still hunting daily in Sunbreak, and still having such a blast! Have now cleared all the 5* Anomoly Quests, and working towards AR100 (currently AR87). I’m fairly happy with my build now, but I still have 1 Armor piece in my main set that has potential for a better Quirio roll. Still maining GS - using the Lucent Narga variant, love the aesthetic and the skills are solid as well. Currently doing a lot of Multiplayer anomoly investigations to build my AR, mainly with ransoms, and having a good time. I’m hoping TU2 gives me a reason to keep playing, maybe new armors that lend themselves to GS skills etc
PlayStation 5: Carrying on with Bloodborne, and managed to beat Vicar Amelia first try last night… albeit I must confess I’ve been doing a lot of exploring/grinding, so perhaps my level (34) helped me out there! Found VA to be far less punishing than Father Gascoigne, who was a real wall. Flirting with the idea of going for the platinum, which seems to be doable based on some guides I’ve read

Next up: Xeno3 on Switch, and maybe Thymesia on PS5 (still can’t decide, reviews have been divisive…)

Playing through trek to Yomi alongside some FF14

Decided to focus on my PS3 backlog, starting with the Sly Cooper Trilogy.

Medievil from extra. Played it as a kid and got about as far as the 2nd level. Quite fun, but the camera, dear god.

Totally off subject but to do with gaming and my PS5.
Been looking for a new tv for a month now.
The contenders now.
LG C2, Sony A80K and Samsung QN90B.

To my shock when reading reviews at stores and of course only going by review amounts how Sony have fallen TV wise if you can go by purchased people reviews to units sold in the UK over a couple of big stores.

LG C2 had about 1250 reviews
Samsung QN90B about 850 reviews
Sony A80K about 20 reviews.

Wow it was always Sony when I was young back in the day, but they not selling that many TVs now a days I guess, roughly going on shop user review amounts.
They best keep being the top dog in gaming market, if true now I know why they been making a big deal over CODs future etc.

Still enjoying Saints Row as I wait patiently for TLoU Remake to arrive.

I’ve finished all of the story missions in Saints Row now and I was a bit shocked when it ended. I thought there would be a few more hours of story to do but then the game just ended. Did they run out of money again? lol

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed the game a lot and will carry on working my way to getting 100%. The gameplay and all the side content is really good, I just wish the main story had been longer.

I played these games. 🙂
1. Ni no Kuni PS3
2. DDR MAX 6th Mix PS2
3. Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly Gamecube

TLoU Part I and a bit of Steelrising which showed up very early today.

I'm off from work this week; so I'll be spending my time trying to Platinum Two point Campus and getting around to the Last of us part 1.

I’ll be continuing to place Soul Hackers 2. I like the rhythm of the combat and I am enjoying the story.

But given how much exploration there is compared to story. i’ve been putting a podcast on in the background and pausing it if something story related happens.

I'm currently watching the days tick by on Tribes of Midgard, looking to survive to day 100 to get the platinum. After that hope to get around to What Remains of Edith Finch, courtesy of PS+.

Tomorrow... Who knows?

Have a good one all. Hope the RNG gods are on your side.

I've been playing Depth of Extinction, a tactical squad RPG similar to XCOM, and Narcosis, an underwater horror VR game.

Tlou part 1 and that is all!

Genshin, Sumeru is superb. Also a bit of Fell Seal, Into the breach has sent me on a bit of a tactical RPG binge

A football match

Tmnt cow, rePac-Man world on the 5 and some Stuntman on the 2.

Arcade Paradise for me with a bit of TMNT Cowabunga collection thrown in for good measure.

Big match Sunday, hoping to keep our winning streak going but it's gonna be tough!

Happy gaming folks

I was about to start Assasins Creed: Ezio Collection, supposed to be included in ps plus extra, but It's not... Only premium...
So I'm playing Brothers: a tale of this sons and maybe I dig in Cult of the Lamb

Living in a bit of an upheaval at the moment and doing some D.I.Y to the new house. PS5 is still in it's box but in my short bursts of downtime I've been playing Toem on switch. Perfect type of game after a hard day's graft.

Happy gaming everyone!

Hot Wheels Unleashed and Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. Let's gooo!

Probably finishing off BugSnax I started rushing through the side quests a little bit, and there's no way I'm going to catch every BugSnax from every zone as it got a little repetitive late game so I might just move on with the final area as I've pretty much hoovered up all of the story content so far.

No one warned me I'd be walking around with the incidental music stuck in my head for days at a time btw. Or saying "sweeetiefly. sweet sweet sweet sweet sweeeeetiefly" for no reason 😭

It's been fun though. Another PS Plus Extra win

Steelrising I do not own, but I'm mildly intrigued. I'm looking forward to seeing reviews and some more gameplay. The gameplay looks more advanced than Lies Of P, so far, as in the latter, I only saw someone spamming thrust over and over. It will be interesting to see which of these two is the better experience overall, as I don't think I can stomach two games that seem that similar to be honest.

Horizon Forbidden West or Guardians of the Galaxy which do I start next? I still can't decide. I'm leaning Guardians...

I kind of want to play Mafia 3 too, I think I have it downloaded on PS4 Pro, hmm

TLOU part 1!
I also started Episode Intermission this week so I might alternate between those - and of course gonna mix in some Guilty Gear Strive

Nioh 2 with all the dlcs.amazing game.and one of the best games ever made.the graphics looks good on my ps4 pro.the gameplay is one of the best i ever play.cool story.the bosses are legendary.i got a Lightning odachi sword.a water odachi sword.and a paralyzed odachi sword.cant wait to get the fire odachi sword.got a master archers bow. A thronecrusher cannon and a sakai rifle.a bedrock blaster.and a borehole bow.im having fun with this instant classic game called nioh 2.and cant wait to play all the dlcs.finishing watching the texas chainsaw massacre.its a good movie. Watching the 1987 classic movie Hollywood shuffle.watching legendary 📺 tv sitcoms in in living color.good times.familly matters.sanford and sons.saved by the bell.and martin.word up son

F.E.A.R 2 and 3 - they’ve aged graphically but damn do they play well as shooters. And Inscription which is weird but very good (love the stoat).

Going to try to finish off Deus Ex human Revolution, I got up to the DLC part in the Director's Cut which has completely broken the pace of the game. It basically removes all of your upgrades that you've earnt up to that point until you beat it, so I gave the game a rest for a few days. This is literally just before the final mission so once I get through this DLC I will power through to the credits from there.

Also playing Hedon Bloodrite, which is a "Boomer Shooter" where instead of playing as Doom guy you play as a sexy orc-lady and kill cultists instead of demons. I've only beat the first level and can say there is a lot more puzzles compared to doom, which is annoying to me as I play this type of game to shoot stuff up, hopefully the game opens up more because I've quite enjoyed the combat so far. The sound design is also the standout from what I've experienced so far.

Happy gaming everyone 😋

On my ps5 I'm still working on Trials of mana doing the post game content. Enjoying it very much. At first I was doubting if it was something I would like but since it's on plus extra now I decided to give it a try and glad I did. I'll get the other mana games as well when they are in a sale.

On my Xbox im playing Brutal Legend. Was in for a bit of Tim Schafer greatness. Played it a bit on steam years back but never finished it. It's a funny action adventure game mixed with rts elements. And Jack Black is doing the main protagonist. And it has rock/metal music as well.

Doing a bit of season 27 of Diablo 3 with my wife as well on the pc, one of the few times I actually turn my potato pc on anymore lol

Booted up Elden Ring just to check out some places I missed. I'm already Elden Lord and one-shotting enemies, found some armor can't believe I missed, found some Abductor Virgin bosses and finished them off easy. What incredible art, those armors, the world. Game is so sweet almost started Journey 2 but nah maybe another time. So back to finding collectibles in RDR2 I went.

Finally got the plat on Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag this week, so already started AC Rogue!! I'm going to check What Remains of Edith Finch too, the PS5 version is free for all!! More Ghost of Tsushima and Uncharted Lost Legacy is in line too!! Happy weekend everyone!!

Got back into GT7 this week, so will be buying the McLaren F1 car to grind in Sardegna today

I just had surgery on Thursday and will be recovering for two weeks, so most of my gaming time will be spent with my Nintendo Switch. Right now, I’m playing (and the list is long):

Shovel Knight Treasure Trove. I remember buying this game day one when it originally released back in 2014 on the PS4, and loving it so much I got the platinum trophy for it. Since then, I haven’t touched it at all, including its subsequent DLC expansions - but I did buy it for the Switch and have been replaying it. My goodness - it’s such a masterpiece in all facets of its genre.

Continuing with my retro kick - I finished Super Castlevania 4 for the SNES. It was a tough game, but fun as hell. I thought the environments were really interesting, and the room spinning in circles was such a cool moment. Onward to Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (or a replay of CoTM - one of my favorites from the entire franchise).

I also completed two modern retro throwback games: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 1 and 2. Those games are short, sweet, and a total blast to play. There is a ton replayability with character swapping and branching paths. Moreover, Zangetsu’s character is really interesting and I love how in the sequel you can acquire an ability to provide a moveset up to three attacks with his Soul Eraser and then ultimately the Zanmatou. Also, Dominique is cool - and I just have an affinity for spears in a video game.

Another game on my list is I’ll be ANNO: Mutationem. The cyberpunk aesthetic will always garner my attention. So far, the pixel art and combat looks gorgeous and is fun to play. I almost bought this game for the PS5 when it released months ago but held off on the hope it would come to the Switch. The performance is great, too. The only major downside is the long load times, but that’s minimal compared to the complete package on offer. I can’t wait to see where the ride takes me.

Lastly, I’m going to be playing The Last of Us Part 1. The original from 2013 is my all time favorite game. It had a profound effect on me and changed me as a man, father, and simply impacted my life in ways I never even considered. I was initially skeptical about buying the remake - not because I don’t expect it to be phenomenal - but because I was worried whether or not it would have the same impact as it had before, or if its appeal would run dry for me. It’s safe to say I had nothing to worry about. I know for most people the $70.00 price tag might be too much for a remake, but I personally don’t see it that way. I can spend $25.00 for a two hour movie experience, and if it was good then I won’t have any complaints. So, spending seventy dollars on a product that I’ll always have and will spend a significant amount of time on is not a bad deal in my opinion.

Mahjong by Microsoft (Android) - Starting on this months challenges.

World At Arms (Windows Phone) - Just starting on.

Temple Run 2 (Windows Phone) - I love me an endless runner.

If I have any time this weekend I’ll be continuing my playthrough of The Last of Us: Part I. It is visually one of the most impressive games so far on the PS5, definitely beats Demon’s Souls to me and is right up there with Horizon II.

Happy gaming everyone.

I'll be playing as a blacksmith's son called Henry, on a quest to retrieve his Father's sword and get vengeance on the man who killed his parents.

I'll also be watching the Merseyside derby.

Still playing through Assassin's Creed Valhalla trying to get that finished. But also playing Everybody's Golf from PS+ Premium

Dragon Age Inquisition. Playing as a mage on my main play through for the first time. Trying to challenge my mindset as I usually find myself in agreement with the Templars.

@LN78
Make it a class action lawsuit. I'm playing TLoU Part 1 too. It's damn amazing.
@GorosBat
Agreed. I hated that Missing Link DLC for the reasons you mentioned. Made me rebuy the standard version so I wouldn't have to deal with it.
On XSX: Sleeping Dogs. Still a great game
On Vita: trying to get back into Uncharted: Golden Abyss after my friend borrowed the console and kept it way longer than he promised.

I’m a Gran Turismo 7 junkie at this point. Will hopefully also finish off Little Nightmares, and either play more Immortals or try something new.

On PS5 I've been playing Destroy All Humans 2 Reprobed, which I'm enjoying alot. I'm also playing Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie for Switch.
Have a nice weekend everyone!

eFootball 23. Awful name, but actually plays a good game of footy. I didn't play it during its first year, but from the outside looking in it seemed pretty disastrous. I've not seen any glitches so far. Not brave enough to play online at the mo, as I'm still building my team.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition on my Switch. Still plugging away at it. Now at around 67 hours and on Chapter 12.

Cowabunga Collection

@Dezzy70 Go for the LG, it's the best option

Still on Returnal. Just finished biome 3 last night

@Talkshowhost
Think you right there either the LG or Samsung
Years ago it would a Sony tv for sure.
How times have changed.

I’ve been playing Pillars of Eternity through PS+ Extra and it has me gripped. Can’t quite decide on my next big current gen purchase!

Might try and clear a couple of unfinished games before I start anything new. Maybe Crash 4 or It Takes Two

Steelrising beta for me until the game releases. Also wrapped up Thymesia and almost done with Rollerdrome so I’ll kill time in Yakuza LAD and maybe Triangle Strategy.

Several GamePass games also caught my eye this week so I may dip into some of those.

I’ve just started Forbidden west and I’ve downloaded BF2042 with the new season pass which I’m really enjoying to be honest. It’s so much better than it was before.

I'm in the thick of Soul Hackers 2. I'm really loving it thus far after about 30 hours! Probably at least my 2nd favorite game the year so far only behind Elden Ring. What can I say other than when it comes to JRPGS Atlus just doesn't disappoint!

On PS5 i will be continuing with Soul Hackers 2, 27 hours in and it's been ok so far but the soul axis dungeon is starting to bore me, they should of made each floor look slightly different but no, the most generic dungeon I've ever experienced in a game which bumps the score I'd give it right down.

On switch I will be continuing with the masterpiece that is Xenoblade chronicles 3, just reached the castle and even though I'm only half way through I've sank 50 hours into this and is my game of the year, so far.

On my series S I have just done the first big area in far cry 5 (John seed), but I will now give it a rest whilst I try and complete guardians of the galaxy and downloaded Tinykin for my next game.

I’ve finally started Horizon Forbidden West. At this point I’m still completely mesmerized by just how pretty it all is so my first impressions aren’t particularly balanced. Hope to have it wrapped up in time for Ragnarok. Beyond that, I’ll continue to chip away at Gran Turismo 7, Crash 4 and The Delicious Last Course. Happy gaming!

I finished Ghostwire Tokyo last night, and after going back and re-reading the PushSquare review on it, I do agree with a lot of the cons in the review.
The game has a lot of neat stuff going for it, but so many questionable decisions by the devs really bring it down for me. I'm hoping for a sequel that can improve on it one day.

Now that Ghostwire is done I'll likely either start Last of Us Part 1 or buy Cult of the Lamb. I know Lamb has a physical copy on pre-order but I really want to play it now.

TLOU Part I and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. When, oh when, am I going to be able to start Elden Ring? As usual. Too. Many. Great. Games. Argh!

The last of us part 1 just arrived in the mail I can’t wait!!!

@Ravix Guardians was one of my game of the years! I might even say I enjoyed it more than horizon forbidden west.

South Park Fractured but Whole, Ghost of Tsushima (taken a bit of a backseat), Last Stop (just started Chapter 2 and enjoying it so far), and will probably Remote Play some Marvel Puzzle Quest on my phone as I’ll be at family’s for much of Saturday.

PS Extra proving value so far, lol.

Sly Cooper Thieves In Time

Capcom Fighting Collection on PS4 for the most part.

@ApostateMage Jesus Christ be praised

@Ward_ting @Gloamin

Cheers. Yes I was thinking GotG is probably the more enjoyable for right now, and a fair bit shorter I'd imagine than HFW, I think I'll save the longer more involved games for Winter. Hopefully a good test for an OLED too, with it being a very colourful sci-fi, as I've done barely any gaming on OLED screens as of yet and want to be wowed 😬

TLOU P1 and Madden 23. TLOU may be the most gorgeous game I've played thus far on the PS5!

Jumping back-and-forth between The Last of Us Part 1 Remake, Destroy All Humans 2 Reprobed, Tinykin and A Hat a Time

Finishing up the new ALIENS: FTE - Pathogen DLC as well as continuing my slow play through of both LEGO DC Supervillains and LEGO MARVEL Superheroes 2. I really do enjoy the LEGO games despite them being a bit grindy, but man the racing in those games SUUUUCKS!

Cowabunga Collection and Shredder’s Revenge! Hoping to walk out of the long weekend with a platinum in each!

Backlog, baby!
— I’ve been grinding away on the retro twin-stick shooter Riddled Corpses (PS5).
—I remembered not liking campaign missions on Worms Battlegrounds (PS4), so I’m giving those another chance.
—I might dabble a bit in Death by Daylight (PS5), but I stink really bad and the folks who still play that game are so good.
—I’ve been digging into Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and that’s been fun.
—I’m still hacking and slashing away at the roguelite Conan Chop Chop (PS4) when my friend comes online. He just beat the fourth The slowdown with multiplayer is annoying, but the game is so damn good

F1 manager 2022

Finally got the plat on gt7 today. Working on the dreaded level 100 trophy for Tony hawk's to finish that off. Mix in some final fantasy 8 and all is well.

@jgrangervikings1 I did riddled corpses this year on the vita. What a fun game it is.

@Deadlyblack My nephew is considering buying a PS5 just because he wants to play Ghostwire Tokyo. I’m like, I hear it’s pretty good but flawed…that’s a lot of money if that’s the only reason for buying a PS5. He’s a pc gamer, so there’s not much he can’t—and doesn’t already—play through his laptop.

Trials of Mana, Cris Tales, maybe Demon Turf and another platformer.

@Dezzy70 the Sony is still decent, but the LG really is the top choice. I would have liked to get the LG C1/2, but I wanted as big as I could get and was still worried about OLED burn (no worries any more), so I went with a Sony X95J in it’s largest size. It’s good and Sony finally updated it with the PS5 features. LG has them out of the box.

Check out HDTVTest youtube page for detailed analysis and comparisons of the best TVs and very dry humor.

@Gloamin nice, thanks! Good to know beforehand. I'm someone who doesn't care about frame rate as much as others, as I was always fine with 30fps games anyway, so unless it's a bonus on a game that is as close to 4K as possible with performance mode, I won't feel like I'm missing out on anything. And don't want to set it to performance expecting it to be near 4K and be disappointed

@Dezzy70 no point in making your own stats up. 😂
Tv division seems to be doing well, and they have about 10% market share in third place. Samsung have huge share and have for years, and LG are a few percent ahead of Sony. In the us market at least tgey seem to growing their share: https://advanced-television.com/2022/04/25/research-sony-increases-smart-tv-market-share/
Given they are more a premium brand in the tv market, that seems pretty reasonable.

@Dezzy70 I went for a C2 recently. Not gamed on it much yet or put it through it's paces in that regard, but it is pretty perfect for 4K streaming and the upscaling is strong. Great out of the box, but Dolby Vision can be made to look sensational with some slight tweaking adding a bit of brightness and colour and ignoring the "cinematic perfection" that some strive for.

Stray with forced HDR in PS5 and some fine tuning for my tastes looked great, but I'd basically finished that game when I got the OLED.

Also, it's plenty bright enough, way brighter than expected, too bright in some cases, and after reading some things about OLED brightness that's a comfort.

@jgrangervikings1 It's on Steam, unless his laptop can't handle it than I understand.

@Ravix
Good to hear about the brightness of the C2 I currently have a Samsung Q90T 65” and that gets very bright and really pops colour etc in HDR, hence the Samsung QN90B being in the running.
I know it’s QLED tech not OLED tech.

Just finished bayonetta now playing dead rising 4

@Titntin
It’s a fun way to look at sales going by the amount of user reviews. I think it does give a slight indication just going by the amount and the percentages etc.
meaning the more user reviews, possibly more initial sales, unless a certain brand of buyer ie Sony in this case never post user reviews.

Actually if you do the user review thing in the UK with the PS5 and Xbox series consoles it does almost match the real as we can get sales statistics.

@Itsacardgame
Yes I have checked out good ole Vincent on HDTV have followed him for years.
He actually doesn’t live that far from me and when they used to do the TV showdowns before Covid the school lecture room he users is at my old senior school.

I've been enjoying some cyberpunk 2077! I'm about 8 hrs in now and my attempts at stealth and cyberhacks have given way to shooting people in the face and cutting em up with a katana. I'm very surprised by how much Keanu Reaves is in this and while the driving is pretty horrific, the feel of the city and the tone of the main quests has been pretty great. I've been playing some citizen sleeper too, the writing is excellent as is the art style (though the music is very limited). Have a good one folks

I'm playing God of War. I've just gotten to Muspellheim. I'll eventually get back on track and listen to the head.

Hi there fellow gamers.
This weekend I´ll be playing The Last of Us Part I on PS5 and a bit of Mass Effect Andromeda on PC, with mods.
Since I only finished once on the PS3, I can clearly see the upgrades on the game. I just finished the Hotel part and the last scene seemed a bit different from what I remember.
It is kinda interesting seeing both Joel and Ellie´s relationship develop knowing what´s going to happen in the future.
Just makes me appreciate the game even more.
Cheers, stay safe everyone and happy gaming weekend to us all

Continuing with The Sinking City, the setting and story have me gripped and I'm liking that you have to figure out where to go next using archives, however the backtracking can be a bit of a slog and the combat has no weight to it but thankfully the story carries it through and it's good to support Frogwares.

Playing PHantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis with a mouse and keyboard on my PS5. Pretending it is the original PSO on my Dreamcast…

@Dezzy70 oh, that’s awesome!

I’ve found digging through specs and sorting out what all the models of TV are is very time consuming and overwhelming. Vincent and a few others have made it more digestible.

@MightyDemon82 Toem is wonderful. Glad people out there are soaking up it's charms

only TLOU PART 1 this weekend . I only played it once in 2013 and has become one of my favourite games ever . It's much better now . worth the full price in my books .

Of which game is the picture on top of this article?

@KidBoruto - Destroy All Humans 2 was a classic back in the day, no way was I missing out on the Remake, just arrived at Takoshima today, glad to hear I'm not the only one enjoying the game.

@Darude84 - It's called 'Steelrising' and it releases on the 8th September, think of it as combination between Bloodborne & Devil May Cry with a dash of Code Vein.

@JustPlainLoco Thanks! Looks very interesting, as long as it’s not TOO difficult.

Just platinumed Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate and working on Fallout 76 and The Unfinished Swan.

GTA 3 on GTA Trilogy DE

@KidBoruto - I only experienced one crash during my entire playthrough, during the Kojira Boss Fight defeat cutscene, thankfully autosave loaded me right into the end fight cutscene. However I noticed that if I played it for 8 hours or more, even if I put my PS5 into Rest Mode, occasionally the framerate would drop pretty badly ESPECIALLY during really action-packed segments, but closing the game down and loading up the game seemed to fix this issue.
Other than those two issues, I had a smooth experience.