Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 548

Looking at continuing my samurai platinum journey with the excellent Ghosts Of Tsushima. With some Bloodstained chucked in there too. Happy Gaming All.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: It is a very interesting change of pace and satisfyingly curious wrinkle to play as Zelda for a change. Every move must be carefully calculated (unless you want to go into Hero Mode) but you have such a variety of options it's still great fun.

There's a surprising amount of content on offer for a top-down Zelda game (especially when compared to Link's Awakening) and some truly gorgeous visuals with clever (if not particularly taxing) dungeon design.

Zelda, it's about time you got your dues, and it's proving to be a blast.

Been trying to get into E football and attempting to give this years FC25 a miss

This weekend I'm playing the Metaphor demo. I loved Persona 5 so I'm definetly interested.
Other than that I might do some sidequesting in Zelda TotK.

Recently finished: I honestly finished this game and got the plat a long time ago but the other day I unlocked the last outfits in Stellar Blade. It's my GOTY for sure with its excellent combat, boss fights and soundtrack. Oh, and the game has been completely bug free since launch day. A high quality game indeed that I highly recommend if you like action games.

So after finishing off the 100% run on Rage last weekend, I now have around 4 missions left on my Nightmare run for the plat.

Difficulty in games is such an interesting thing. For instance, I always play on the Normal/standard difficulty unless a harder playthrough is required for a platinum. More often than not I then find the harder playthrough actually improves the game as the player needs to understand the mechanics to a greater degree and execute at a higher level. Then, when I play the next game on the schedule and a harder play through isn’t required, I’ll just select Normal again for some reason 🤷‍♂️. Just lazy I guess.

@Member_the_game Master League. Why won't they make it?! It's crazy. I'm still playing the 2021 update. No way I can play that FIFA rubbish.

Having been up in Scotland for the week I am going to have another play through of Still Wakes The Deep, great game and atmosphere. Then back to Outlaws, just got to the 2nd planet and upgrading my speeder to go on water, loving it.

@Zuljaras I loved Blood Dragon, batsh*t crazy but in a good way, Rex Colt, what a guy!

Happy gaming folks

Im playing Broken Sword Reforged a timeless classic and one of my favourite Ps1 games

Today nothing as I'm in a nature reserve with my bird of prey obsessed son but tomorrow I'll get on Epic Mikey maybe start last of us part 1 New game plus

@riceNpea

It's madness isn't it... the game play is so good but basically just a bare bones game.

I don't mind FIFA to be honest, I think it's better than people give it credit for but this year I've just refused pay £70 for a reskin

Metaphor ReFantazio Prologue Demo, which is a pleasant surprise to me. Will start Zelda Echoes of Wisdom once I'm done with it.

I finished the story of the truly fantastic Astrobot so I will continue to search for the rest of those bots.I have 226 so far..
I have no jrpgs on the go after finishing TOCS 3 a little while ago so have been eagerly awaiting the release of Metaphor Refantazio and after playing the demo that wait is even harder!

On the Switch I am still playing Ace Attorney trilogy and I'm STILL on the first game..

I will be trying the Metaphor prologue, working towards the Astrobot platinum and some Space Marine 2 for good measure. Have a great weekend everyone.

Since last week

Star Wars Outlaws - finished and platinumed, really enjoyed this game. Sure, it has its flaws but on the whole I found it to be a great game. The Star Wars feeling is top notch. Would love a sequel but that’s not likely to happen sadly.

Stellar Blade - Did a new game + playthrough for the platinum, focusing only on the main missions. What an awesome game this is, love it!

Astro Bot - just finished the third world, or galaxy, or whatever, taking my sweet time and enjoying every second of it. Such an amazing game, my all time favorite 3d platformer and I haven’t even finished it yet 😊

Road 96 - Wanted to try this given the Life is Strange vibes I got from it, and even if its imo far from LiS level good so far the game has that something that’s got me wanting more.

Bloomtown: A Different Story and Vacation Simulator.

Tomb raider remastered and rise of the ronin on the 5. Half life alyx on the personal computer.

Still working my way through Metroid Prime this weekend. I could wax lyrical for hours on what a fantastic game it is: the world design, the lore, the visuals, the soundtrack, all the little graphical touches that bring everything to life, the brilliant way in which the visor is used to make your feel immersed... Just wonderful. Once I'm finished with it, I have the urge to return to the equally magical Shadow of the Colossus remake for yet another playthrough, then I'll be launching into Metroid Prime 2.

I’m still running around Horizon Forbidden west and I’m enjoying it more this time around. I’m going for the Plat, so it may take me a little while (ahhh the map is so big). Apart from that I bought Ace Attorney Investigations collection to round up my favourite courtroom family.

Red Dead Redemption 2

I've just put 12 rounds from double Schofields into Micah Bell's face. Immense satisfaction.

I will be playing one of the best rpgs ever made in the excellent assasin creed odysey gold edition.im playing as alexios.hes a excellent protagonist.the combat.the gameplay.the graphics.the story.the soundtract.and the boss fights is .phenomenal.i will also be playing one of the best underated rpgs ever in the incredible greedfall with all the dlcs.im playing the as a male technical.the gameplay is so fun as the technical class.its the best way to play greedfall.the boss fights is incredible.the art style graphics.the soundtrack.and i will be playing the amazing underated concrete genie.ash is a cool protagonist.and the artsyle graphics is incredible.the gameplay.the story.the soundtrack.the boss fights is amazing.i will be watching my Pittsburgh Steelers💛🖤 play.and i will be watching legendary sitcoms tv 📺 comedy shows in good times.sanford and sons.family matters.and saved by the bell.word up son

Playing:

• Street Fighter 6
  I unlocked Pao Pao Cafe stage (it has a cool theme) and tried Terry (he is pretty fun) with drive tickets. I also tried new feature V-Rival which I personally quite like it. But the AI feels kinda easy despite they at Master rank, so i think the feature aim for people who doesn't want to play sweaty ranked match but wants to taste advanced players playing style and got tips to improve their game.
• Metaphor prologue demo
  Played the demo for 5+ hours until Hulkenburg join my party. I really enjoyed it but it feels as if i played a Persona game but with different skin and not a complete new IP. It has Persona or in this game called Archetype with the awakening style very similar to Persona, it has time limits to finish the dungeon / main quest, it has social link, doing some activities move forward the day, and many elements from Persona series. I'm a bit dissapointed because i expect it can offer a very different gameplay experiences compare to Persona series. Oh well...
• Star Ocean: First Departure R
  I'm quite enjoying this game but it doesn't age that well and feels like a low effort remaster compare to Star Ocean: Second Story R.
• Valkyria Chronicles 4
  I lost my save so i'm playing this game again from the beginning. Right now i'm at chapter 2 part 5, liberating Reine.

Have a good week everyone 🙏

I will be continuing with my playthrough of Broken sword reforged. Got Zelda echoes but i will be selling it today as its really not my bag at all. Too far from the origional formula and far too much menu swapping for my liking.

TLoU pt1. Still amazing. Have a good weekend all!

Playing SEKIRO. It’s really kicking my butt. Still enjoying it though. I think I actually love it. Might try and get some more trophies in Vampire Survivors and MLB The Show 24, too. I’m not a baseball fan, but I’ve recently started getting caught up in the Ohtani hype

@Wazeddie22 I was thinking of getting into the Ace Attorney games for Japanese study! How do you like it?

LOZ Echoes Of Wisdom (Switch)
Astro Bot (PS5)
Epic Mickey Re-Brushed (PS5)
Modern Warfare 3 (PS5)

@Member_the_game FIFA still isn't as good as the 2021 update, and it's woeful offline. Career Mode has been broken since forever. I dont play footy online so FIFA will never appeal to me unless Pro Evo is as bad as it was in the PS3 era.

I picked up both avatar and stellar blade, after trading in some games.

So will be avatar this weekend as going to wait for the nier update for SB

I’m about to finish Chapter 7 in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I definitely did not expect Yuffie to be the most fun character play as. Her combat mechanics are great!

I’ve also gotten back into Marvel Snap.

I don’t have much to say other than I’m feeling accomplished for wrapping up Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and getting the platinum trophy. I can’t wait for Ys X to release next month.

I’ve now started The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and it’s great. I’m not that far, but I have completed one main dungeon (yay, proper dungeons are back!), a handful of optional dungeons and side quests that are incredibly rewarding, and just reached the Zora region.

It’s what you expect from a Nintendo game—abysmal framerate rounded out by charm, creativity, fun gameplay, impeccable sound design, and a gorgeous Hyrule that beckons to be explored. The best thing about the game so far is how it blends old school LoZ design with its modern counterparts, allowing for a fantastic adventure ripe with creative puzzle solving, making you, the player feel intelligent when you solve a problem. Not many games can provide that sense of satisfaction, but this game does it in effortlessly.

I've just finished Star Wars Outlaws on Xbox and Under The Waves on PS5 now trying to decide what to play next. I'm seriously thinking about buying Stellar Blade or Dragon's Dogma 2 but i should really try and clear some of my backlog.

@Malaise I've just downloaded Red Dead Redemption myself. Time for Marston to hunt down the rest of the bad eggs from the Van Der Linde gang.

Defeated Lady Butterfly second time in my I'd say 2nd run of Sekiro after meeting Sword Saint and my data getting corrupted. Plus Divinity OS2.

@PuppetMaster Yeah Metaphor felt all too familiar to Persona, I was hoping for a more open world and freedom.

I finished the main campaign of "horizon forbidden west. I haven't touched the burning shores yet. Great game! Just the ending felt a little cheap.

Then I started Harold Halibut. I haven't finished it yet so maybe I will change my opinion. Certainly the art style is fantastic, also the music and sound design. In general it creates a superb atmosphere in my book. In contrast to push square's review I actually like the dialogues and presumably appreciate the story more. Since I haven't finished it I have no opinion on its impact, but there is certainly some food for thoughts here and there. There is not much of a game. It is more like a slow paced anime of which the player controls the progression speed to some extent. Anyway so far I really liking it ... very much, actually.

@Mikey856 Yeah I’m gonna go for HZD remaster as well. I blame Astro Bot for my return to HFW, the music got to me 😂.

Playing the excellent space marine 2. What a throwback to the PS3 Xbox charm of the bro shooter. It’s Gears of War all over again.

Also workin on Black Myth Wukong.

If time allows I’d like to revisit Rise of the Ronin or start Blacklight.

About to start my first ever journey into The Last Of Us with Part 1. So that’s probably my entire weekend sorted! (In between killing myself during small bouts of Pistol Whip)

Have fun everyone!

@Mikey856 thats sounds promising, your wife seems to have good taste in games 🙂

Welp can you guess what I'm playing?

Yeah, more Unicorn Overlord if/when i get some time this weekend. Been a rough one as co workers are on Holiday.

Have a good one folks!

Star Wars Outlaws

@gaston The Burning Shores ending is better. Thst dlc is really great 😃

My PlayStation feels a little neglected. I don't think it's been turned on in 10 days or so.

About to head up to the venue where my brother is getting married to help set up. After that, I'll run my son home and try to knock out a trip to the grocery and auto parts stores. My lawn mower needs a full on carb rebuild and valve adjustment, so I'll knock that out if I have some time before the wedding tonight.

Maybe tomorrow evening after the football game, I'll spin up the Metaphor demo. We'll see.

@KyushuTrail
Hey, I’m looking for good games for Japanese study too. It’s annoying that many Japanese games don’t have Japanese voice and text. Any good recommendations you’ve come across? Any emulated games with rewind would be ideal I think, so I can hear the audio over.

I was going to play, Lies of P but if its enhanced for Pro ill hang fire. Im catching up with Blasphemous (excellent metroidvania). Have a great weekend folks!

@thefourfoldroot1 I liked the Famicom detective games on my switch for studying. There’s a conversation log where you can repeat voiced dialog. 13 Sentinels was good for that too, but the Japanese was a little more difficult. Games where you can’t repeat cutscenes or other dialog I broadcast privately on YouTube and review the game footage later for study. That way any game can be used for study. I would recommend games that aren’t sci-fi or fantasy to get more useful Japanese. Something like the Crayon-shin chan summer vacation game

@Michael2008ish Oh I’ll definitely go back to Cloud after Chapter 7.

@NieR_Dark I envy you. I wish I could experience that game for the first time again.

Haven't played any Astro Bot for a week or so, i'd better play some of that.

Then there's the matter of seeing how Ireland would handle the running of north Africa in the middle ages on CK3. Not sure I'm playing the tutorial "right" but I'm enjoying it haha.

Training with Terry in SF6 and trying to squeeze every bit of content out of the Metaphor ReFantazio prologue: it’s a really generous offering.

PS5/PS4- Marvel vs Capcom Collection, Lollipop Chainsaw Repop, and Dragon Dogma 2. Maybe Stellar Blade.

Series X- Street Fighter 6

Switch- Ace Attorney Investigation Collection, and TMNT Reshelled.

So far I've been loving the Metaphor Demo!

Haven't had a lot of time to game so other than that it's been just a few runs of Slay the Spire.

Currently a split between Darkest Dungeon 2 and the endless torture of a good run being scuppered by an encounter from hell, and the Metaphor demo. The goalposts of "okay, time's almost up" are finally there, but I've been genuinely impressed by the scope of it; the runtime is easily two or three times what I'd expected, and each time I thought it surely had to be coming to an end... nope, it just kept going.

I might finish the prologue for Metaphor. Tbh it's pretty interesting so far but it's not clicking for me the way persona and smt do. It feels and looks a lot worse than either of the 2. But it's only the prologue I'm super curious to see where this game goes

And I think I might finally try Death Stranding. I'm hoping it lives up to the hype of that sequel trailer! And the memes 😂

@XscapingReality I missed out on PS3 and PS4 dabbling with other consoles, so jumping to PS5 has given me this whole world of exclusives I’ve missed out on over the years, which has been a lot of fun 😀

Just finished replaying Days Gone I don't really want to start anything else that's too long at the moment since Sparking Zero's release is so close

Maybe some Broken Sword Reforged, Sonic Frontiers and UFO 50 this weekend. I may also start the new Zelda game at some point. Enjoy the weekend everyone.

@Judal27 so interesting! I think it's better than SMT in literally every way and I put it on the same tier so far as Persona, and 5 is one of my favorite games of all time.

I'm having a blast and the only aspect where I think it's not quite up to Persona's standards is the music, which is still quite good! The battle theme is a little...bizarre

Sorry that you're not connecting with it as much as you would have liked.

Splitting my time between the new DLC for the absolutely EXCELLENT Remnant 2 (which has become one of my top 10 favorite video game series of all time) and the very good but overly long Red Dead Redemption 2 which is starting to become a bit of a grind TBH.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Chase and I are reunited for a brief bit..

Microsoft Wordament (Android) - Dailies and Adventure mode.

Free Slots Fun Factory (Windows Phone) - I can't seem to get this running. I'll watch some YT vids on it and then delete it from the list of games remaining on the Windows Phone...

Likely continue my adventure in Dark Souls Remastered.

My wife took the kids for a sleepover at my sister in law’s house, so I’ve been taking some relaxation time for myself and doing some heavy gaming. Mostly I’ve been playing Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, I expected to enjoy it, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. I don’t think it’ll beat out Astro as my GotY, but it’ll be a close second. I also jumped into a few rounds of Space Marine 2 with a couple of friends, my very rare multiplayer gaming time. I’m almost exclusive a single player kind of guy, but every now and then the right game comes along.

@KyushuTrail Yep I love it but I played the first one on the DS I think it was?That was so long ago I can't really remember it so I'm having a hard time now my brain doesn't work like it used to!lol

I have a new steam deck and echoes of wisdom so the ps5 is having a rest.

I’ve actually just started Dragon Quest 11 which I’m loving so far.

@ztpayne7 lol it's actually the music that I'm really loving from the game especially the battle theme, at least the one you get for striking 1st. But yea, idk. They kinda promoted it to be some kind of hybrid action/turn based game but you really only use the action part to start a turn-based fight with an advantage. Which is fairly normal these days lol. And that's fine, but actually hitting things felt kinda clunky. And visually, it's not too appealing to look at 😅. A lot of jaggies and theres like particles constantly on the screen that make it look weird. I honestly think soul hackers 2 looks a lot nicer. I'm still overall enjoying it but it wasn't what I was hoping for

Crushing vile tyrannids in Space Marine 2, and blasting various alien races in Destiny 2!

7 Days to Die

I love and hate that game.

@Judal27 Sorry to hear that. Played a little more of the demo and it's been everything I was hoping for.

Daggerfall Unity

@3Above looking forward to it !

theatrhythm final bar line and vampire survivor

Ace Attorney 3. Just finished the first case

I’m probably waiting until the PS5 Pro arrives before I play bigger games. Anyone have any VN/point & click/graphic adventure game suggestions on the PS4/PS5 like Disco Elysium (I guess you can count it as point n click), Nonary Games, Doki Doki, AI Somnium Files, etc.? I’ve played others like Broken Sword, Full Throttle, Deponia, and more.

I’d preferably want something closer to Ace Attorney if possible! I’ve been thinking about Gnosia for awhile now too.

The pixel remasters finally came to Xbox so ffvi 😎 i forgot how good the soundtrack was 😮

A mixture of Palworld, Mortal Kombat 1 and Enotria .

@CWill97 You can try The Silver Case if you want VN with detective vibe and weird murder case. It's one of Suda 51 early games. And if you like it, there's a sequel The 25th Ward: The Silver Case.

As for adventure games, i think Blacksad: Under the Skin is kinda fun. But i don't know if you're okay with slow pace, janky control, and anthropomorphic characters.

@Duck_Farmer You’ve got like 1,000 hours waiting in your backlog!

I just finished the Metaphor Re: Fantazio Prologue Demo, clocking in almost 8 hours. What a game. This past week I also got the platinum for Vampire Survivors, and I'm now close to getting 100% completion on that game, I just need to finish some adventures. I've also started The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and aside from the framerate issues, it's being very fun and whimsical. Finally, I'm finishing Secret Agent Clank over on PS5.

Good gaming, everyone!

I'll Finish Metaphor Re: Fantazio demo.
Probably will be playing some SF6 or GBVR if my best frenemy is online
If I'm really, really, really courageous, I'll try to complete some Ghost Of Tsushima's mission for the plat (got bored and finished the game out of principles rather than love, but in small doses, who knows...?)

@Tsushima I've been interested in that one, like a good point-and-click adventure once in a while, they're great palatecleansers after more sweaty games.

Speaking of sweaty games, still going at the Doom Eternal - Ancient Gods Part I DLC on hard this weekend.

@MichaelNau I took 2 breaks with GoT, each time I went to a new island, cause the open world, while beautiful, is just too big

I've been able to beat Chapter 4 in WuKong during the weekend and oh boy I suffered a lot this last week against Yellow Loong, Scorpion Lord, Duskveil and 100 Eyes Daoist Master but glad I've been able to beat them finally during this weekend.

I played some matches in EA FC 25 too and so far so good!

@Bramble
You were right to do so.
Sadly, those kind of games play on my OCDs lol I'm one of those guys who wants to see everything if possible.
For example, the only AC I did was Odyssey (because Ancient Greece) and, while I enjoyed this wonderwoman simulator, I ended up almost doing everything twice because, at first, I stupidly thought it would be fun to tour the entire map and discover everything until I discovered the story would send me back to the same places because, on certain missions, unless you got the assignement first, you can't solve it lol

I kind of resigned myself to double every game's completion time. I see (30H to plat), I know it's going to be 50 to 60 in my case, from getting lost to spending too much time looking at the menus and wondering why this peculiar asset has been placed there or admiring models and animations...

I admit, those are fake real problems though xD

I have been playing a lot of indie /AA games lately.

Hard West 2
Tactical Breach Wizards
Capes
Thaumaturge
Expanse Telltale

I'm pleasantly surprised on how good they are.

It's a cold rainy "autumny" day today, not much to do outside, so it's time for some indoor activities.
Playing Astro Bot with my son on his PS5, helping him to do some double passes on a few levels where he didn't find every bot and puzzle piece. He's playing 'cause he's much better at it than I am (didn't play it for now, and i'm a little rusty since Astro's Playroom). And I'm watching, and suggesting hidden paths to take. Sometimes the scanning bird doesn't warn you if the start of the side path is too far from the target, so you still need to look out for them.
Works very well overall, we've got the golden crown on many areas so far 👍
And going for a little God of War Ragnarok for myself on PC in the evening, for the Steam achievements.
Have a fun weekend everyone!

I just got a PS5 Digital Slim with Hell Divers 2 which I am really enjoying ❤️

Well here we go with another exciting WAYP. Been a nice and chill week around here. Most of the week was just the usual games like Dawntrail and Astro Bot and Emio. Most of the weekend when not working was taken up by Emio The Smiling Man and more The Plucky Squire. Plucky Squire is seriously so charming and an easy GOTY contender. Rest of the weekend is probably gonna be a little Emio and some Visions of Mana. Maybe Star Wars. I do have Zelda but I’ll probably save it for the day off on Friday. Otherwise I’m thinking this week is mostly gonna consist of some Ace Attorney, Trails Through Daybreak, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Paper Mario, Bakeru, Dawntrail, Astro Bot, Emio, Star Wars Outlaws, The Plucky Squire and Visions of Mana. Also got some PSN money that I think I’m gonna use to preorder Sonic X Shadow Generations, Slitterhead and Lego Horizon Adventures. That State of Play and Sonic Central were seriously awesome I loved them a lot. Very happy with the Monster Hunter Wilds news. Wrestling this week is quite simple this upcoming Saturday is WWE Bad Blood and I couldn’t be more hype this is gonna be the blow off of all blow offs for so many feuds. Suffice to say I’m pretty sure everyone with a match at Bad Blood has some bad blood with their opponent. Got plans to cook something from my FFXIV Cookbook with a friend that day too. Anime of the week gotta go to Nokotan, Alya Sometimes Speaks in Russian, Oshi No Ko and Mission Yozakura Family. Again all of these anime are absolutely killing it they rule. Also gotta mention Mr. McMahon on Netflix a very very interesting little documentary I’m interested to watch more of. Saw Transformers One this week too and it was seriously excellent one of the best movies of the year. Podcasts of this week gotta go to Castle Superbeast, Big Think Dimension, Into The Aether, RPGsites Tetracast, Minnmax, Jeff Gerstmann, Kit and Krysta, Last Stand Media, Easy Allies, Second Wind, Nextlander, Cultaholic Wrestling, Weapon Wheel, Aetheryte Radio and Remap Radio. As always yall stay safe, be super awesome to each other. Have a totally exciting weekend and of course Happy Gaming.

@riceNpea

I appreciate this may not be the right place to ask..... but regarding PES 2021

Have you any idea how I can update it so that you get all the upto date kits and squads?

I should add that I don't have a PC so I'm wondering if there's maybe a pre loaded usb drive I can pick up somewhere.

If you don't know then don't worry.... just thought I'd ask

@Member_the_game you can find Option Files online free, but the one I use I bought from PES Universe....

https://efootballuniverse.com/

It's changed its name, apparently. Get yourself a USB stick.

@riceNpea

Thank you I'll look into it.

I managed to get myself a pre owned copy of PES 2021 this afternoon.

Cost me a fair bit as they seem to be selling for silly prices but I feel it was a good investment.

It's a million times better than that Free E Football rubbish

I finished the campaign in Space Marine 2. Now, I'm trying out the multiplayer side of the game while also playing 'Vampire Survivor', 'El Paso Elswhere' and I just started 'Stellar Blade' and 'Dragon Age: Inquisition'.

@KyushuTrail
This just popped up for me a few hours ago

https://youtu.be/cXICXCSIfrQ?si=GgZWDx7RLXsgzZ4o

I was in London this weekend for the FFVII Rebirth concert at the Royal Albert Hall, was really good!

@thefourfoldroot1 Nice, thanks!

@riceNpea

I ordered a Pre loaded usb off eBay for £12.99

It came this afternoon and I've now got all the latest kits and squads.....

I'll never need to play FIFA (Sorry EA Sports FC) again 😂

@Member_the_game

Fantastic. It's still the best footy game around. What a crying shame they're not making it every year like they did for decades. Nothing comes as close to getting it right.

@riceNpea

Yeah I can't understand why they don't, that free version of E football is just awful