Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 445

Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, and it's really good

This weekend I’ll be continuing my extremely enjoyable journey in Indivisible via Extra.

If I finish that…well, I’m part way through both Ghost of Tshushima and Saints row 3. The first hasn’t really captured me. The later a little too similar to 4 for me to be too excited, although it’s fun in short stints still.
Also have my speedrun in Stray to do for the plat.

If none of that strikes me I might start Ys 8, but a bit put off by the enemy scaling.

MWII Beta this weekend. Missed the first week as I was abroad.
Loving it so far

that’s good to know some pushsquare staff play games with multiplayer

Fortnite (like always), Call of Duty MWII and maybe Gran Turismo 7 / NBA2K23

I played these games. 🙂
1. Taiko no Tatsujin Portable 2 PSP
2. Yonder the Cloud Catcher Chronicles PS4

Just one more song to be unlocked for Taiko no Tatsujin Portable 2 PSP.

I have obtained all the sprites in Yonder the Cloud Catcher Chronicles. My game progress was 97% to finish all the missions.

I’m playing cod vanguard, it’s was on clearance for $10, I think I overpaid. Other then cod I’m playing syphon filter 2. I also have a series X that should be showing up today, it was an impulse purchase…. So maybe I’ll check out flight simulator……maybe I’ll return it?🤷🏻‍♂️

Currently playing through Blasphemous to try and scratch more of my metroidvania itch. It's a largely enjoyable game, with pockets of deep frustration when you die and it simply isn't your fault. The world is awesome so far though, and I'm looking forward to getting thoroughly lost in it this weekend!

Me and my brother are also considering buying Monster Hunter Rise to play together online, but we've never played a Monster Hunter game before and it all looks quite intimidating! Think we might take the plunge though

I’ll probably finish up Catherine: Full Body & make a decent start on Doom Eternal with there being no domestic football this weekend.

Mainly final fantasy 14 but may fit a bit of halo in along the way

I had a fun couple of weeks on Sniper Elite 2, so I might have a crack at Hitman 2, which has been sitting waiting since appearing in PS Plus a year ago.

Just finished Return to Monkey Island and now about to get stuck into Elden Ring, which is so far kicking my arse.

I’m traveling this weekend so if I play at all it will be LEGO MARVEL’s Avengers on my PS Vita.

Bought Ghostwire Tokyo and Scarlet Nexus from Amazon for £50 for the PS5 so I'll be playing Ghostwire Tokyo this weekend. 3 hours in so far I'm enjoying it. After reading so many mixed reviews I ended up deciding that it was one I had to play to know if it would be for me. It's far from perfect but it's just fun wandering around in Shibuya petting cats and dogs, freeing spirit and fighting enemies.

Age of Empires: Castle Siege (Android) - Nearly gone as far as I can with this.

World At War (Windows Phone) - Progressing well, built up a nice army.

Temple Run 2 (Windows Phone) - Making it further and further

Cyberpunk 2077. Got the PS5 plat a few months back so I'm doing it all again with the PS4 version. Only a few hours in but have to say this last gen version plays great and holds up pretty well on the PS5.

Over on XSX I'm playing Soulstice which is an unashamed DMC clone that plays like DMC3. Combat isn't as tight but it's solid enough for a budget title. Definitely worth a look if you like the older DMC games. Have a good weekend all!

I'm still playing the life of Henry in the absolutely fantastic Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I'm also playing Immortals: Fenyx Rising on Game Pass which I must say is a pure joy to play. Great fun.
I've also just bought Divinity: Original Sin 2 in the current sale. Loved the first game so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. RPGs galore!

AC Origins on PS5, so good with 60fps and faster loading. Might give Deathloop on gamepass a go as well along with continuing Xenoblade 3

Playing Horizon Forbidden West. Hoping to finish it tomorrow before NFL Sunday. It’s been an amazing ride. Surprised I heard so much disdain for such an improvement over the first. It’s gorgeous on an OLED TV. So happy I didn’t delay it any longer.

The Pathless. And I take back every negative word I’ve ever said about this game - it’s brilliant. I originally bought the game last Christmas, played around 30 minutes and decided it was boring. Those first 30 minutes aren’t exactly gripping tbf. But I decided to try it again this week and really got into it. Once the game opens up and you arrive in the main open area, it’s actually really good. I got the platinum last night and feel kinda bad that I dismissed the game so prematurely.

Also started TLoU Part II. It’s interesting what details you notice when you play it right after Part I. Like the little robot toy that Ellie picks up (for Sam) in TLoU Part I, is on her shelf in her bedroom in TLoU Part II. I’m still in the opening hour of the game so bad things haven’t happened yet. If only I could pause the story and spend the entire game at the settlement in Jackson County, like some post-apocalyptic version of The Sims 😫

I've just finished and platinumed Stray which was a wonderful game. Didn't think it would be my cup of tea but loved it.
Playing the updated remastered (?!) XIII which is in a far better state now and much improved and good fun. Loved the original way back in 2004
Also a bit of Halo Infinite multiplayer which is sublime as ever and Grid Legends a great racer
Have a great weekend guys ❤

I've got Deathloop ready to go which I'm hoping to start at some point this weekend. before that I'm continuing my journey back through God of War.

Dog report item: I am still enjoying Guardians of the Galaxy It is... an exceptional experience

I'm going to be starting The Ascent, looking forward to it and definitely going to watch Edge Runners. Still building my arcade in Arcade Paradise, some of the games you can play are absolutely brilliant, Zombat 2 being my favourite so far!

Finally found Valhalla and Mass Effect legendary on a decent sale, so just ploughing through that - also thought I'd go through the Orange Box...been years since I last played it 🙂

Elden ring for me..2 trophys left to go. I have the legendary ashes and the incantations and sorceries to collect. I would have had the incantions one but in my rush to get the 3rd ending trophy i forgot that at a certain point in the story the npc questlines shut off and i triggered it and so i'm on my 4th playthrough..good job i really enjoy it 🤦‍♂️..have a good weekend folks 👍

On PS5 I've decided to give Soul Hackers 2 and Soulstice a break as they are becoming quite a bore fest to complete, both started off great but the axis dungeon is the blandest dungeon I've ever explored and it doesn't help its massive, and the same for Soulstice the game is just set in one big city and everything looks the same and bland and the combat just isn't fun. I want both to end but can tell I've got atleast 10 hours left in both 😩
If I do play the PS5 this weekend it will be on Atelier Sophie 2

On the Switch I will be continuing with the excellent Pikmin 3 deluxe and will be playing the hell out of splatoon 3, it's splat fest time.

On my series S I'm continuing with Far Cry 5, once I've finished with the second zone (faith) I will give it another break and either start Deathloop or Tinykin

@Ravix I totally read that in the voice of Drax. Great game.

Currently working most of the weekend but some Prodeus and maybe a reinstall of Deathloop by the time Sunday comes around with the new update and all. Also playing a little bit of Dusk on my Switch during work breaks.

@ApostateMage That was my intention, Peter Quill

GotG is a really great game, highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in Marvel or sci fi.

I did have one almost unforgivable bug though, where my save randomly broke, loading in to nothing, but I managed to find a way to replay the previous chapter and force a new save. Thankfully grinding through a chapter I'd already recently completed and getting back to the point where my save broke in the next chapter (Brain Maze) wasn't too bad, because the dialogue in this game is so fun to listen to.

There's also genuine character moments, like talking with Drax at the Rift. Rocket about his past, Gamora and how she came to join. All really deep, serious topics, which grounds it from being just mindless fun.

It's so well written and performed.

And half the time in combat I have no idea what's going on, but it's still flarkin' awesome 😁

Metro Exodus on PS5.

Im still playing nioh 2 with the season pass.amazing game.and easily one of my favorite games ever.i finish watching texas chainsaw massacre movie.the new one.its actually pretty good.the ending was excellent.watching legendary 📺 sitcoms.saved by the bell.the Jeffersons.and martin.word up son

Playing The Diofield Chronicle this week. I don’t get why this game has such a spectrum of reviews ranging from excellent to completely mediocre, the game is just so much fun after my first 10 hours. It’s basically a prettier fire emblem that is real time, but there is so much more customisation on offer. Upgrading weapons actually matters aside from the arbitrary stat boost, each weapon decides which special skills each character can use, the game is just so diverse with there being a total of 4 classes, each having sub classes, drastically changing the gameplay and team compositions you decide to go with for the missions.

The story is interesting but I’d say the characters aren’t as interesting as Fire Emblem Three Houses. The only issue I have is the game is VERY easy, even on hard mode because you’re able to replay missions from early on and will be incentivised to do so because money is extremely scarce compared to the amount you need for literally any upgrade. But hey, I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes strategy RPGs or JRPGs in general, I’d say it’s a great introduction to the genre in general! Thanks for reading and happy gaming 😋

Trying to just complete those MAFIAII DLCs - Jimmy and Joe's stories. The game is such a joy to play, from a gameplay point I feel like it's better than LA Noire as far as Remasters are concerned. And GTA could take notes from some of MAFIA's little details. I'll be continuing III too, then it's whatever else I feel like.

I’m at the end of Gears 5, so I’m just chipping away at that.

Deathloop, started this week and it's very intriguing. Gonna mop some trophies in Assassin's Creed Rogue, explore more of the island in Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana, maybe do one ending in Cyberpunk 2077 and pop some beers and beans in my mother's birthday tomorrow. Happy weekend everyone!!

Probably some gt7 today with nations league racing at suzuka and in-between that I'll be outside enjoying the gd weather ,have a great weekend all:)

PS5: My Bloodborne playthrough was unintentionally derailed last week, due to picking up 'Thymesia' at a decent price (indie Souls-clone game, similar to Sekiro). Thymesia is relatively short, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.... scooped the platinum in about 30hrs.
Then this week I've played, and managed to (finally!) beat the 'Wu Long' demo released by Team Ninja. Began really not enjoying this, but now I understand the mechanics better I've done several run throughs with different weapons - really really like it!

N.Switch: As always, playing some Sunbreak and just finishing off a couple of new builds for Greatsword. TU2 update is released in a week, and looking forward to taking the new builds for a spin...
Otherwise my main focus in the next week will be a nice change of pace - aiming to play (and hopefully beat) the new Monkey Island game. I grew up with Point-and-Click games, and am genuinely excited for this one!

Tekken 2 & Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Hi there fellow gamers.
Since I got my own Xbox Series X last weekend, I´ve been replaying the Gears of War games and I´m on the last chapters of Gears 2 and will probably start Gears 3 either today or tomorrow.
I´ve missed playing this series and now I can finally play Gears 4 and 5.
Might also dable in some DnF Duel matches and more Horizon Forbidden West quests on my PS5.
Cheers, stay safe everyone and happy gaming weekend to us all

I've just found and fallen in love with Insurgency Sandstorm. Probably the BEST fps I've ever played. Can't believe I didn't notice it before!

@Bentleyma - It's level based. The game is structured exactly like DMC with fixed camera sections, locked in combat rooms and a secret mission in each level. You get ranked at the end of the level and can replay them at a different difficulty once completed.

The goal is to get close to finishing Steelrising. Probably my second favorite game after Elden Ring this year.

Then I’ll finish up the WoLong demo, tackle Triangle Strategy some more, and I’ve been itching to go back to Night City like so many others this week.

@CJD87 Thymesia was a nice indie to chew on. I’m in the same boat with Wo Long. I am not enjoying it but everyone says if I get the mechanics down it’s incredible. So I’m trying to push through.

I'll be playing The Diofield Chronicle if I get enough time. Going on a waterfall hike so might be too tired once I return 🥴

PS4
Hong Kong Massacre
This is basically Hotline Miami meets Max Payne. Tough game, but once it clicks, you'll be stylishing wasting fools like no ones business. Just near the end, will finish tonight.

Switch
Planet Alpha
Overlooked platformer. Is bloody gorgeous, and an engaging and immersive title. Dead simple but really enjoying so far, sortve a hybird of Another World's setting with Limbo's playstyle.

Quest 2
Resident Evil 4 VR
The original is likely my favorite game ever made, of course its showing its age, but playing in VR completly refreshes it. Its easier, since you can aim and move, and dual wield, but hell if it isn't as fun, and possibly even better. Been having an absolute blast with it, would be great to see more same era games be ported to Quest 2...GTA San Andreas VR has shot up in my excitment book now.

I'm working on the TLOU2 platinum to pass the time until Trails from Zero comes next week. I appreciate the collectable walkthrough by the way @get2sammyb. It's been quite useful as some of those coins are very sneaky where they are placed!

@playstation1995 yaaay you finally finished watching it !! 🤣🤣

@RaZieLDaNtE Gears 4 & 5 are fantastic, particularly 5 which has an open world slant to it. Enjoy!

Going to finish up Stray. It's kind of losing it's luster with me after initially loving it, as it's way too easy to get lost and go around in circles at times. Still enjoying it overall, but I'm not loving it like some people have.

After that, I may finally start Fire Emblem: Three Houses on my Switch.

@Ravix You've inspired me to go find one of my fantastic photo mode pics from RDR2 and use it as my pic on here, when I get around to it.

AC Liberation! I bought the AC3 Remastered for 10 bucks the other day and man, I didn't know charming dudes to get what you want would be so much fun😂😂🤣🤣

Still The Last Of Us Part I and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for me.

13 Sentinels and Cyberpunk

@TheArt aha, yes! Cold Arthur is back! I try to only use photomode captures as my profile pics on here, and RDR2 are where most of the best ones are found 😁

Even out of cutscenes the mood and expression of characters is captured so well in that game. I'm almost feeling the draw of another playthrough calling 😬😬

playing these games this weekend

Resident Evil Director's Cut for my old Playstation
Mortal Kombat 11 for my Playstation 4. Hoping to get the game anyway since im going to the Walmart store today to do a little bit of shopping
Mega Man X 7 for my Nintendo Switch LIte

Continue playing through Last of Us Part 1.

On the PS3 I’ve recently started Army of Two: The 40th Day and liking what I’ve played so far.

On the PS4 I’ve started playing Carrion and I’m absolutely loving it! It is everything I hoped it would be from the trailer.

On the PS5 I’ve been playing the Valkyrie Elysium demo. I love my hack n slash games and it’s better than I thought it would be. The music is fantastic, too! May not be enough to tempt me day one but I’ll definitely pick it up sooner or later.

This week I've been replaying my favorite games this year elden ring and horizon and also started ff type 0. 2022 started great but it's been dry for so long bayo3 and gow ragnarok are the only upcoming games I'm gonna buy.

Picked up Space Invaders Invincible Collection on Switch on sale, so playing some Arkanoid Vs. Space invaders, and Space Invaders Extreme.

I’m playing Steelrising (Xbox Series X). I’m going to be honest - I bought this game on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. The setting is an alternate French Revolution, and automats created by greedy people are in control. The atmosphere and overall style of the game — a Soulsborne— is reminiscent of Bloodborne. While the game isn’t as good as that, nor polished, it is still an enjoyable romp.

The combat is pretty good, and there are a variety of weapons you can use at your disposal. Furthermore, the more you progress in the story, the more you’ll unlock abilities that will allow you to reach new areas in the map. These abilities can also be used in combat, which makes for a fun dynamic.

Speaking of traversal and maps, the level design is also quite excellent. It’s structured the same way the Souls games are - where there are many locked doors or areas, but you’ll eventually find a way to unlock them, making backtracking much quicker. That said, movement is janky, though I believe that’s intentional since you are an automat.

As for side quests, they are quite good. They aren’t on the level as some other deep RPGs, but they are multi-faceted and run entire game length deep, which I find very intriguing.

Overall, the game isn’t the best. It’s janky, linear, and flat out rough around the edges. However; the game goes a lot of things brilliantly with the budget they had to work with. I hope they get a chance to make a sequel with a bigger budget because this game has tons of potential, and I’d love to see the game world expanded upon further.

Started Deathloop when it was added to Extra on the 20th, and having a great time with it. I had a flu jab yesterday, so I'm feeling rather under the weather, but once I get up, I'll be diving into that again.

Discovering everything is great, and the gunplay is awesome, a lot better than Prey, with the same first person platforming that the Dishonoured series inexplicably made work, but without feeling like stealth is the only valid approach.

Really loving it, sad that it's likely to be the last Arcane game on PS5. Never saw it coming that there was the twist you discover about Juliana (while solving the RAK puzzle), real WTF moment!

Still hammering away at Forbidden West! Incredible game, I’m even completing all the side quests that I never do.

Kena Bridge of Spirits for me

@kyleforrester87 Usually a walk in the river, upstream until we reach the waterfall. Then climbing up to reach the pool above the waterfall. It's very Uncharted-like honestly. Lot of fun! 😁

@ErrantRob I was in exactly the same boat - IMO the game does a terrible job of explaining the 'spirit bar'!
Basically I was using too many heavy/triangle attacks, which put spirit into orange (negative). To get spirit into blue (positive) you need to use a lot of light/square attacks, and take as little damage as possible. When spirit is blue, the parry/deflect window is much more generous and you are more difficult to stagger....
Also, first time I beat the demo I played with an Earth build using spear - which is solid for blocking. I'm still not convinced Wu Long will measure up to the Nioh series though.

I saw your earlier post re Steelrising, how are you finding this? I'm quite on the fence as to whether to buy or not

1. SteelRising (PC)
2. Granblue Fantasy: Versus - RPG mode (PS5)

Got the platinum for Little Hope this morning, thought it was Supermassive's best game, I have picked up House of Ashes, will be starting that. Will give Chicory another go, was a bit tired on Tuesday after work, it didn't really click. Maybe I'll start Voice of Cards The Forsaken Isle, the only Voice of Cards game I haven't played, I enjoyed the other 2.

First time commenter here. I will be trying out deathloop.

@LN78 I already did before I posted it (not seeing any edits). Odd that it didn't show immediately for you though, and makes me consider editing the spoiler out completely

I’ll try out that Valkyrie Elysium demo

Rollerdrome. I'm 2 trophies off the plat (no cheats, because im not 12)! Then it will be on to topping the leaderboards...

I'll be playing the moving game all weekend. A fun little adventure where you pack up all your life's ***** into boxes. You then put them in a car whilst playing tetris with said boxes trying to maximise use of space and limiting trips, to move them to a smaller, yet more expensive, place, because your landlady is a bint and has decided to threaten you with homelessness and uproot you and your daughter's whole life for the sake of making a few pound.
F you, Abbie.

But after that, back to Guardians of the galaxy. I like that one.

@KingPev. Haha.it was worth it.the ending 😳 was amazing.word up son

Wrapped up the story in Yakuza 6 last night. What an amazing series it is. Looking forward to all the other RGG games I've yet to play and have only just been announced. Not sure what game I'll play next!

Have a good weekend everyone

Prodeus and I I started another Cyberpunk run on PS5 this time.

@ErrantRob Thymesia sounds painful, did the dic give u anything for it ?

Soul Hackers 2. Yeah it isn't as good as Persona/Shin Megami Tensei, but some of the reviews were a little harsh it seems.

@Ravix Same. I've captured a ton of wonderful moments and applied fitting filters. Yes and I can say I've used RDR2's photo mode more than in any other game with that feature. You're feeling for another playthrough you say, well I'm on my 4th, but on break now, don't like to rush it.

finished days gone.

playing the valkyrie Elysium demo. really enjoying it, will pick it up after ive done stranger of paradise, which ill start tomo.

@CJD87 I love Steelrising. It is admittedly on the easy side for a “souls like” but I found that the weapons are very unique in design, encounters are fun and fair, and I like the setting. Story takes a bit to ramp up and isn’t incredible by any means, but it’s made up for by the overall experience. The two hour trial on Premium makes it worth testing out.

I’ve slowly gotten better at the rhythm for WoLong. I think if it weren’t for the tigers I’d have it down by now.

@Bentleyma what even is toem I picked it up on plus but no clue 🤣

Started with MLB the show 22, had limited exposure to baseball before, but as a cricket fan - thought it might resonate with me. It certainly has, the gameplay flows beautifully and the ball physics feel very realistic. Also enjoying the amount of different gamemodes which helps with accessibility for a noob like me. All in all, hugely impressed with it.

@KingPev Hey there friend and thanks.
Already finished Gears 2 and just started Gears 3.
Being able to play all three games again, but now with 60 fps has been great.
Looking forward to play Gears 4 and 5 and finally continue with the new story.
Probably going to enjoy both of them a lot just like you said.
Cheers, and have a good one

@kyleforrester87 The Caribbean 😎🏝

I’ll be playing Overwatch. On the basis that I’ve been a long time player but specialise in Roadhog and everything points towards off-tanks being totally defunct once OW2 hits in very early October.

Mainly playing the aplatfest in Splatoon 3 bu need to get back on The last of us R again.
@BranJ0 Monster hunter Rise is amaaaaaaaaazing. Ive clocked 195 hours so far. I never play single player and always play the campaign with other folk, even if they are just randoms looking to do the same quest. Its one of the only multiplayer games i play.

@PenguinLtd Ha oh wow.... one playthrough was enough for me, especially after the 2 week period it took me to beat Ishiin at the end!
Do you agree yet it is the best FromSoftware game??

I've just finished TLOU part 1 last weekend so this weekend i got into Return to monkey island which has been excellent - able to not look at hints so far.

Also into Guardians of Galaxy which has been a excellent surprise in terms of gameplay and story

Dying Light 2 and The Quarry - all good

@PenguinLtd Ah fairplay mate! Demons Souls was my lowest ranked tbh (Sekiro #1, Elden Ring/Bloodborne @ #2)

I played a game I bought a few years ago but never played much because I was so disappointed initially:
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3.

I originally bought SGW3 because I wanted more Sniper Elite 4. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 because of its first-person perspective. And, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 didn’t feel enough like SE4 to scratch that sniper-y itch. Yes, there’s a slo-mo sniper death cam, but it’s not as cool or satisfying as the Sniper Elite kills. But…

I tried SGW3 again yesterday, and I’m diggin’ it. After further review, this is what SGW3 is: It’s Far Cry-lite with enhanced sniper mechanics, bad guy voices from Just Cause 3, a flying drone reminiscent of Call of Duty Black Ops 3, and graphics that resemble Crysis or an old Far Cry game—largely because the game uses the same CryEngine software. That said, it’s got goofy charm: When you look at the construction workers up close, there are two character models—a younger guy, and an old, wrinkly dude, and there are lots of the same old, wrinkly dudes walking around…some smoking, some carrying things, some just standing around. Wrinkly construction dudes don’t care if you point your gun at them or try to stand in their way—they keep doing their thing, they keep walking even if you’re in their path.

While Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is frustrating, I’m ok with it. There aren’t enough checkpoints, so if you die you have to basically restart the mission. You won’t find health upgrades out in the field. You won’t find sniper ammo; if you want more sniper or handgun ammo, you have to craft more at a workbench in your safe house. And, if you try to stay in a good sniper spot for more than about 2 kills, they fire mortar at you and you’re toast. Also, the initial loading time seems like it takes forever, but perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by PS5’s fast loading screens.

Anyway, instead of being annoyed and putting the game down, I’m having enough patience to enjoy the Sniper Ghost Warrior 3’s frustrations and limitations and quirks…and I’m kinda digging the game. A game of the year contender it is not! But, there is some good fun to be had.

@BartoxAbrasiveness
Same here started on PS5 ,switched to PC on m+k so much better .

@Kidfunkadelic83 this is a glowing recommendation! I'm hopefully gonna get it this week, so I'll let you know what I think!

Yakuza Like A Dragon! New game+