Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 457

This weekend I’m playing Chained Echoes on my Xbox Series X via Game Pass. I’m nearing the end of Act 1, and I have got to say - this game is phenomenal and deserves more attention. It’s essentially a love letter to throwback SNES JRPGs. It’s best compared to Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI in that regard.

The combat is fantastic and is always evolving in unique ways as the game progresses. There is also an overdrive meter that (admittedly some people aren’t a fan of, but I am) creates a nice strategic balance in combat. It’s one of those mechanics that really keeps each combat encounter engaging rather than spamming the same action prompt. When it comes to combat, you acquire SP points after the battle and those can be used to upgrade your skills since traditional leveling up via experience points isn’t a component in this game.

As you roam the world, you’ll collect items and come across battles that will reward you - kill this amount of enemies; receive this prize, and this will give you material to craft different gems to put into your weapon and armor to make you stronger. Everything has a propose.

Furthermore, the game offers an incredible amount of lore. The first few hours of the game creates a sense of scope, and builds on its world and characters. And, as many typical JRPG tropes do, there’s a variety of characters that have intertwined stories and they all eventually connect and create a party. However, it’s their back stories and motivations that really create more than a one note character. With that said, I wish there was more emphasis on character expressions and reactions when something occurs.

Other than that quibble, there is not much that is wrong with this game, including the great soundtrack - a must have staple in any classic JRPG. I hope more people play this game and review it. Those who have critiqued the game have praised it tremendously. It’s definitely a diamond in the ruff and a true hidden gem.

I finished Callisto Protocol which I thought was great. GOWR stuck on a certain optional boss. Evil West, Gotham Knights. Installed Witcher 3 for the current gen update and transferring the save from ps4 to ps5 was harder than any Sekiro boss but worth it to play the new quest and glorious 60fps

I've fallen right back into The Witcher 3 in a big way, absolutely loving it, when I'm not playing it I'm thinking about playing it, other than that It'll be some CoD Zombies and GT7 on Sunday nights with the PS gang.

I'm free from work for the next few weeks thanks to the christmas holidays though it's not gonna be me just kicking back and relaxing for days on end. I'm damn well try to as much as I can though!

I finally got past chapter 1 in Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous, pushing back the demon hoardes and saving the city of Kenabres!

... Now my Tiefling is Knight Commander of the 5th Crusade and... Well that's going to be fun!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order. I have some issues with it, but for the most part really enjoying it.
Will probably pop in for some FIFA at some point with the WC final coming up.

Go on France 🇫🇷! Couldn’t stand an Argentina win.

Planning to finish menu 39 on Gran Turismo 7 and then move on to Scarlet Nexus.

Witcher 3 of course. In RT mode as long as it's playable. Will have to judge after first boss/monster fight
FIFA 23 Pro Clubs. Because I'm addicted to scoring goals 😬
Skyrim I need to see a man about a black star

And wrapping presents 🎄

Played some Crash Bandicoot and Mortal Kombat on ps1 last night with my nephews and sister. Retro gaming nights > Fortnite nights! Even if my nephews don’t fully understand what the big deal is (guess I’m getting old!)
For the rest of the weekend I don’t know. Would like to say Ringfit but I’ve been putting it off today, not feeling it 😅
I got a bit of endgame stuff left in Ragnorok but considering the next ps5 game I want isn’t until next March I won’t rush it.
With a Splatfest in January I probably won’t boot up Splatoon too much until then. I’m still chopping away at Xeno 3 but I like the pace I’m taking it. It’s gonna take me like half a year to finish it but that cool, makes it feel like the grand adventure it’s meant to be not just a game that comes and goes.
So my answer is….. dunno 🤷

Playing wither 3 again and final fantasy reunion for the first time

I'm currently addicted to Hearthstone Battlegrounds but if I'm not playing that I will be playing the new dlc for Vampire Survivors and finally continuing chained echoes after beating the excellent Dodgeball Academia today.

If I get the time il be clearing up the Platinum on Forbidden West. Then I'm hoping to give High on Life some time before Monster Hunter comes out

I'm staying at my in-laws this weekend, but if I get time on Sunday I'll be finishing up Sonic Frontiers for the platinum. Just 3 trophies left to go!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

'Scuse the monotone format

PS5 - finishing up GOW Ragnarok/making more headway in Callisto Protocol

Series X - High on Life (not me the game obvs!)

Switch - Bayonetta 3

Went back to SFV, still on Cyberpunk and MHW 2nd runs but it's just hard to stop exploring the Lands Between. Dunno how FromSoft does it but their gameplay just keeps you hooked. And nobody does bouncing of clothes better than them. You just gotta stop and admire the silhouette art style that comes up often. Not surprising PS wrapup is saying I've spent 458hrs on Elden Ring alone.

The Callisto Protocol and I didn’t like it.

The combat is SO frustrating and sluggish (melee especially, which you’ll be using 70% of the time because bullets are scarce).

I actually dreaded facing enemies - not because they were scary but because they were so frustrating to take down. Each one taking five or six swings to kill - which is bad enough when there’s one enemy but even more annoying when you’re facing four of them coming at you from all directions.

I tried to play cautiously (to avoid taking damage where possible) but you lose health in every encounter regardless and I was never really sure what I did ‘wrong’. Whether it was the regular enemies who brush-off your baton attacks like you’re beating them with a swimming woggle, those annoying slugs that randomly latch onto you and take a chunk off your health every time, or those long-neck grappler enemies that surprise-attack you when you turn a corner. So annoying!

Then there were the vents! The game would have been half the length if you removed all the times you had to slow-crawl through bloody vents. And I think that’s the problem - it feels like the game has been padded and stretched-out to increase the completion time. Long vent crawls… enemies with Kevlar skin… reusing the same bosses several times.

I think the Dead Space comparisons made the experience less enjoyable too, because I was expecting it to be more like Dead Space than it actually is. There are obvious similarities but it doesn’t play anything like Dead Space really. It’s no way near as satisfying or tense (or memorable). I wish it was more like Dead Space because I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Warhammer Chaosbane from Extra. Recommended as a nice Diablo-like. First I downloaded the ps5 version, but it suffers from screen tearing so, after some faffing, managed to get the ps4 version downloaded (initially said I needed Premium, but managed it via the app).

Also just picked up a physical copy of Village in anticipation of the free VR upgrade. Not touching it until Feb of course.

Edit: scrap that. Chaosbane has a bug which made it unplayable (the white screen bug, not the companion bug). I retract my recommendation. Game deleted.

So, instead, I’m playing The Missing. Can’t really go too wrong with a Swery game.

I’m on a PS3 backlog clean up. ICO is the game of choice this weekend.

I picked up an OLED Vita so I'll be playing on that, I've downloaded quite a few of the PS1 classics and the likes of Jak and Daxter and Uncharted and have started to explore the modding side. The system is still amazing today and such a shame Sony never followed through or made a successor as it still feels more premium than something like the Switch.

On PS5 I'll be finishing off The Last of Us Part 1, I'm just at the part in winter so not long to go and then I'll be replaying Part 2

I’m a whisker over 30 hours into God of War Ragnarok and on the home straight, so that’s what I’ll be concentrating on this weekend. I’m doing a lot of side content, but hopefully, I should have it wrapped up this side of Christmas. What an outstanding experience, it has even managed to pip Gran Turismo 7 as my favourite game of 2022.

Other than that, I’ll also check out the PS5 update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a game I never finished on PS4. Hopefully this time, Geralt!

GoW Ragnarok all the way! So many games I want to play right now so feeling quite overwhelmed, and I really should be doing more productive things with my life but f**k it!

Completed GOW:R and The last of us within the same week so im craving something a little lighter. Will be playing through FFVII again and will give Crisis core a look in id suspect. Could all change tho once i start playing the witcher again tho.

The Witcher 3 PS5 for sure, playing it for the 3rd run and having a great time again!! I will go more hours in Ys Lacrimosa of Dana too, I think I'm close to the endgame. And Spider Man: Miles Morales, very good game!! I will go to a rock event today, so the time for gaming will be smaller. A good weekend for all of you folks!!

Today I'm playing murdered soul suspect I know I know but was under £2 on the store 😂😂😜

I’ll be playing Ashen, then back to god of war raggedy rock once I whack the final boss to death.

Witcher 3. It’s hooked me back in and I just wanna play all the time.

I’ve loaded up an old save, so I’ll be finishing up some Gwent bits and then hitting Blood & Wine for the first time! Can’t wait!

I played Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town PS4 All Day Long. 😊

I have reached Autumn season, have confessed to all 4 dudes (so I have 4 boyfriends), still building my money from planting Melon.

I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into Vampire the masquerade- Swansong. 🧛‍♀️

It's so cold and frosty here in the UK you'd think that the Wild Hunt were on their way. Yes, I am playing the still outstanding, The Witcher 3.
I've also got Addicted To Love stuck in my head now thanks to that gif from @Ravix

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion on PS5, played through FF7R Intergrade before this came out and have been craving more Final Fantasy since. Crisis Core has been very fun so far, the side content has been pretty addicting. I'm hoping the Pixel Remasters that were rated for PS4 and Switch not long ago will get dropped in the next week for FF 35th anniversary. Would be great timing as I have two weeks off and outside finishing Ghostwire Tokyo I am not sure what else I'll be playing.

Tossing a coin to my Witcher.

About 12 hours into GoW Ragnarok. Loving it but hoping the Ironwood mission finishes soon, getting a little snooze fest without the rest of the clan!

Im playing greedfall with all the dlcs.its a really good rpg.im having fun with this game.the gameplay is extremely fun especially as a technical.the graphics is cool.the story is really good.and boss fights is amazing.star wars jedi fallen order.a trully fun souls like game.graphics is amazing.and gameplay is extremely fun.the story is really good.the boss fights is amazing.eldest souls.a extremely fun boss rushs indie games.the gameplay is fun.and borderlands the handsome collection.im playing borderlands 2.its a classic.the cel shade graphics looks really good.im playing as axton.boss fights.funny game also.the gameplay is extremely fun.and the story is really good also.watching my Pittsburgh Steelers💛🖤 play.watching classic legendary sitcoms tv 📺 in in living color.sanford and son.the Jeffersons. Good times.family matters.saved by the bell and martin.word up son

Witcher 3 ps5..i'm really getting into this big time but i had to turn off those new close cameras..really annoying and made me feel a bit queezy..enjoy your weekends everybody👍

Finally made a start on Assassins Creed Brotherhood, after being meaning to have played it all year. Looks surprisingly good on the PS4 Ezio Collection and already feeling the hook of the story. Hoping to get this and AC Revelations done in the next few months or so.

I'm going back to Sackboy: A Big Adventure. I had finished it when it first released but now I'm trying to get all the collectibles in every level. I have to admit, I am not very good at platformers but some of the later levels in this game are kicking my ass which I didn't expect to that extent. Also, I think this game is underappreciated.

Yakuza 5. Just got to shinada´s chapter. Haruka´s chapter was actually realy fun and refreshing for a yakuza game.

God of War Ragnarok for another weekend... "You will never finish my game, boi!"

More GOWR, I want to get the platinum before Xmas so I can start Evil West but I might need a palate cleanser in between as the perspective and combat look similar. Not sure what though 🤔

Finished High On Life the other day. Decent game, not too long so it didn’t overstay its welcome.

Now I’m onto Crisis Core Reunion and also Blacktail. Picked it up on a whim. Surprisingly good, don’t sleep on this little gem!

PC GAME PASS
Destroy All Humans remake
Never played this one on the PS2, but what a blast. Yes, its design is dated and the mechanics take a learning curve, but hell this pure silly and irrevant fun...they dont make them like they used to.

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
Fun to dive back into the series after finishing the first a while back. Its more of the same with some streamlined improvments, but the characters are sharp but goofy, the puzzles tough but rewarding, and the premise tense and involving.

Quest 2
The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Wonderful VR puzzle game. Its thick with a cool creepy atmosphere, and the puzzles are strong and never too obtuse. Really enjoying my time with this one.

Wraith: The Oblivion: Afterlife
Man, i really wanted to like this one, and it has some great moments and ideas, but the stealth and movement is so clunky, its more frustrating then gripping, espcially compared to something slick like Jurassic World: Aftermath.

I just finished the story in God of War Ragnarok and now I'm cleaning up the rest of the trophies.

This game is something else. The first ending was beautiful, and the secret ending was absolutely devastating.

@jdv95
To my mind 5 is the best. The most varied. And the most complete.

Against all odds I finished Ass Creed Valhalla AND got the platinum before the game was pulled from the PlayStation subscription. I felt like giving up a few times from the tedium but I stuck with it and managed to knock it out. Now...I have no idea what I'll play next, probably indies or whatever for a while until I find the next big game...or until playstation decides for my by threatening to remove more from the service.

Side content in Ragnarok, more FIFA World Cup stuff, and Bayonetta 2.

My main focus though will be Terror of Hemasaurus because I loved Rampage as a kid.

If I wrap those up maybe I’ll purchase Tactics or Evil West.

I’ve got a busy week pre-Christmas but any time I have will be spent on Diablo 3. It took a while to click but I’m enjoying it now. Just finished Act 2.

I’m annoyed I didn’t buy the Witcher 3 when it was on sale for pennies recently because I quite fancy hopping back in on PS5. I bought it on switch ages ago but it was so blurry I never really got into it.

I actually have the weekend off for once so I'm planning to delve back into Witcher 3 (PS5) readying the silver sword.

My copy of Elden Ring will be delivered this afternoon. I’m very curious how this will work out, since I gave up very quickly with both BloodBorne and Demon’s Souls. Willing to invest more this time though.

Mainly playing Steelrising: Bastille Edition this weekend. I’ve finished up my first play through so now I’m reloading my save and getting the second ending. Still loving the game and haven’t gotten bored with it!
Besides that, I’ll be messing around with the DLC for Gotham Knights and playing a little bit of COD: MW2, enough to do the daily challenges.

I've got the worst hangover but trying to ease some of it with some games and crimbo movies with the family. Tried some high on life earlier and while some of the humour hasn't hit, some has. It looks pretty incredible though, I'm surprised at the quality of the graphic. Hoping to play a bit more stray later too and though the world is interesting and the cat is cute, it has never really grabbed me. I've traded in a few games and have 50 quid in CEX vouchers and am trying to decide between sekiro (love souls games but have always been unsure as this game seems harder than any other souls game) and xenoblade chronicles 3 (last jrpg I played was nier automata) as I've heard nothing but good things about the story.

I was gonna replay Witcher 3 and actually start the 2nd dlc finally but I fell completely in love with Trails from Zero so I decided to just fully focus on it. An absolute joy it's been to play so far

NFS Unbound and mucking about Gamepass app on Samsung TV, Forza is great with a dualsense for me

I was lucky enough to get into the SF6 beta. So that’s where my time will be going

The Street Fighter 6 closed Beta. I’m really enjoying it. Managed to get in some wins.

On my second play through of Horzion FW, have to say it is much more enjoyable second time around. New Game+ seems to give you the tools to balance the machines much more and have spent more time with each weapon/ammo type. I actually enjoy the story. I wasn't expecting how it went first time around but it sits much better for me second time.
Also playing Front Mission 1st on Switch. I had forgotten gow brutal it is until you unlock some skills.

I've been playing Sonic Frontiers. It took me a while to fight with the controls but I'm starting to get a hang of it now.

I may also jump into VR with a friend of mine. That's always a blast!

LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (PS2) - Finally coming back to start on Episode II.

Rayman Jungle Run (Windows Phone) - Nearing the halfway point with this one.

Age of Sparta (Windows Phone) - Working on upgrading buildings and fortifying my defenses.

AC Unity alongside Crash 4. During Holidays I might play again Miles Morales.

Giving Horizon Forbidden West another go, seems to be going better this time, could see myself playing for awhile. I guess I'm playing with lower expectations, which is probably helping a bit.

PS5 - God of War: Ragnarök, Gotham Knights, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (so far, it's just wanted from a remaster of one of my favorite PSP games)

Xbox Series X - Sonic Frontiers, Dead or Alive Ultimate

I've been playing witcher 3 and it is mid! World traversal and combat are shockingly bad... Im off back to sport mode on gt7.

How anyone can big up the Witcher while slating other open world games that perform better in every way, is beyond me.

Must be the nudity....which is just sad!

@Zuljaras sure do love the little gba sp. truly could fit in a pocket.
Gonna have to find myself one I think.

Let’s see….
Been playing a good deal of Marvel SNAP! Especially during evenings after a long workday when I don’t want to commit to holding a lovely controller in my hands. I can throw on reruns of Anthony Bourdain shows and have these little nibbles of gaming. It’s excellent, and you can legit still be pretty competitive without sinking money into it. I just wish the season passes were longer than a month, since I don’t think I’m gonna be forming over 10 bucks every 4 weeks. We’ll see though.

Vampire Survivots was recently released GRATIS on the android and app stores, so I downloaded that and gave it a go, being as I had a good time with the iteration that’s currently free on GamePass. Well, the touch controls aren’t quite as tight and the characters are super-tiny in my iPhone….so I’ll probably stick with getting my VS fix on Xbox.
I finished up spiderman yesterday and wow….what a game. If I hadn’t played Elden Ring earlier this year, Spider-Man would definitely be the best game I’ve played. Probably going to dive into Miles Morales and go all the way through that before Christmas…that 10-hour finish time is definitely tempting.

I hope you’re all well and staying warm. Happy Holidays!

I am playing Shadow of tactics right now, planning to complete the game in the next few days.
I chose it because it reminds me Desperados 1 on PC era.
Interestingly this type of game is not my favourite and still, it seems it's going to be my 2. completed game on my PS.

Probably I will stay in the Japanese line and I try Ghost of Tsushima 😉

@Darude84 the horse is a game changer. You’re going to become a mobile harbinger of death ☠️

Excellent game. I hope you get as absorbed in it as I was

I’m playing the game called work. 70 hours this week. :/

Hi there fellow gamers,
This weekend I´ll be playing some Guilty Gear Strive online on my PS5, continue my Bayonetta playtrough on my Switch and be all over The Outer Worlds on my Xbox Series X as I´m having a pure blast with it.
I was going to play Halo Infinite, but I was very curious to try this game and I´m super glad I did.
Been a while since I´ve played a western rpg that felt this engaging and imersive.
Love the dialogue options like Persuade and Lie, the sci-fi setting wich is one of my favourites, the wacky characters and even the gunplay, wich could be a little better tough.
If Starfield is any similar to this, then it´s going to be a banger.
Cheers, stay safe folks and happy gaming weekend to us all

Just spent an hour and finally killed a giant puppy named Great Grey Wolf Sif. Usually I feel bad when I have to kill canines in games, but I don’t now.

@Th3solution how difficult is this game? I’ve had my eye on it

Just got the platinum trophy for the PS4 version of Cyberpunk. Promptly installed the native PS5 version to see what the improvements are like. 😂 I have so many other things to play in my backlog but I plan to make my way through the story again very slowly in the lead up to the expansion coming out next year.

@Mgene15 If you know what game I’m talking about but haven’t played it then you definitely need to get it 😄 - Dark Souls Remastered is great. As for difficulty, it’s largely overblown at how difficult it is, but it’s definitely not easy. Sif is the first boss I actually struggled with and died multiple times to, and I’m about half way through the game. The hard part of the game is just navigating the world without a map or any solid direction and learning the mechanics with the lack of much tutorial, but that’s also part of the charm of these games. But I see that you beat Returnal, and so I’d say that was a harder game as far as skill requirement. If you’ve played Demon’s Souls, I’d say Dark Souls 1 is a little bit harder, but not as tough as Bloodborne.

@Mgene15 @Daleaf The game that keeps on giving.

@Gloamin yeah, I was worried about towns anyway tbh lol. Hopefully I gets fully optimised, like you say. So far all I've got is a little stutter on saves and quests starts etc. In general I'm loving how there's no question marks until you get really close so there's more impetus on exploration, especially for new players (if there is such a thing 😄) and just looking at the world once more, and trying to avoid large packs of monsters on Death March!

It's great to see just how many people are playing it again too. In a way it's a shame it doesn't have an online element to share that experience again with people.

I haven't fully dived back in to it yet, as I'm still wondering whether to use a new game plus save I started, so I might just play up until the bloody baron and then decide whether to switch to a build with mutations (and aerondight) or not.

Played a bit of The Pedestrian, and also finishing up a Platinum for God of War Ragnarok, 1 more trophy to go, but the most tedious one probably (except for berserkers and valkyrie queen)

The Witcher (again) of course!…and that Rampage type game, can’t quite remember the name, Terror of Somesaurus!…

got mortal kombat ultimate on sale soooooo FINISH HIM!

@Daleaf Thanks! I’ve been enjoying the first few hours (after I started over because I attacked the friendly dude at the start that kept on killing me because of that…). When an enemy looks too deadly I just run away/go somewhere else for now. Stealthing the regular dudes in the first camp is easy fun, don’t know yet if there are more of those easy challenges scattered around.

I also feel like I made some progress so far by finding permanent stuff. Having played Returnal helps a lot for that mindset.

Christmas party on Friday = sofa and movies yesterday, but today I shall be back on to The Outer Worlds

TLOU2 and some drunken Rocket League

Still playing immortals Fenyx Rising (almost at 100 hours and loving it. I’ve even got the DLC for after the main game). I’m also eying-up Rime which has been on my wishlist for ages. I’ll probably get around to GOWR and HFW in 2026!

Playing Witcher 3. Such an amazing world & story! Unfortunately, I am having a bit of issues with Ray tracing mode though. I have no clue any of the terminology but there’s a lot of times the screen doesn’t fully load the textures and cuts off. The in-game music is overbearing compared to the dialogue as well which never happened on the PS4. Roach has caused my death many times due to him glitching out when he’s near a fight. And more but I’m too tired to last it all. It didn’t really detract too much. I’m just nitpicking so my apologies.

On a positive note: Character models look great! When the world isn’t glitchy, it looks superb. Action is definitely more fluid and the fast casting for signs is amazing (cannot remember if the original had that). I’m gonna have a blast with it. I finished White Orchard & got to the first Inn in Velen. But I decided I’ll wait for another update or two to play the most (or at least a more) optimal version of one of my favorite games of all time.

Marvel Midnight Suns and Calisto Protocol , both this excellent games are keeping me away from GOW and Gotham Knights. Gotham Knights looks bad in retrospective - unpolished. Midnight Suns is great , can;'t stop playing

High on Life, it's pretty funny