Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 550

Dishonored 2 is a masterpiece. Jealous you’re playing that for the first time in 2024!

I’m a bit late to the party but completely obsessed with Unicorn Overlord at the moment. Aside from that me and the wife have started a Cat Quest 2 co op campaign and I’m enjoying it way more than I thought I would.

Finally finishing off The Division 1 platinum out of my backlog. Having fun going back to this old game. Whilst also playing Astro Bot with the son. He is loving it a lot. Happy Gaming All.

Just over halfway through my third (of four) Dead Space 3 playthroughs. Was hoping to have all four done by the end of this week but I’m nowhere near 😅. I was planning on starting Alice: Madness Returns this weekend but I don’t think my OCD is gonna allow that… so more Dead Space 3… loads more! 🤣

I’m going to start Life is Strange 2, get my story on.

@FinneasGH that’s my favourite one of the series tbh, hope you enjoy.

This weekend I'm jumping between TotK (Switch) and Alan Wake 2 ng+ (PS5).

Still working on Sekiro. It took me exactly 123 tries to beat G.A. but hey, I did it. I may not be good at this game, but I sure do love it. Tonight I’m trying to take down this headless mf 😆

Max mustard, vampire survivors, and story of seasons friends of mineral town

Some games finished and one started since last week

Astro Bot - Its done, and I got the platinum. I feel like everything has already been said about this game, simply amazing! The last challenge level took me some a couple of runs (many) but it made it even more satisfying when I made it and the last trophies poped 🤩

Termintor Resistance enhanced - also finished and platinum. Very good AA game, great Terminator feeling and nice tie ins with the first two movies.

the Plucky Squire - very nice and cosy game, especially in the 3D bits, but it has some gameplay mechanics and a pace that takes away from the other really good stuff. Still, enjoying it 🙂

Because I'm obviously a glutton for punishment, I've decided to replay AC: Odyssey 🙂

Still at it with the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection. Want to get in some Dragon Dogma 2 and Lollipop Chainsaw as well. Getting back into Stellar Blade as well.

Atlus are a genius when it comes to making music that stick in your head when you're not even playing their games. Back to back catchy soundtrack playing in Metaphor Refantazio. Elden Ring's main menu theme goes hard and it's just got a new partner up there. Started a new game because I felt trophies weren't unlocking in the demo, and I was right, I've had 3 trophies pop just 3hrs in the full game. Stylish art, beautiful towns, lovely music, it's just going to be Metaphor Refantazio for me for a long time!

Fallout 4 on the PS5 - I am really enjoying playing this again about 6 years later. I played Outer Worlds a few weeks back and that game was really poor compared to Fallout 4.

A bit too much at the moment!

• Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the heavenly bride
• Space Marine 2
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Vampire Survivors
• Doom 1 + 2 collection
• Mark of the Ninja

I'm at the endgame of Silent Hill 2 Remake so I'll be finishing it soon. Toluca Prison was the most intense section I've had in years. Really good remake.

Just riding into Mexico to some José González. 🐎

I'm playing War Hammer Space Marines 2 and Hell Divers 2. Both great games in my opinion 👍

Silent Hill 2 is awesome! Im playing on Quality mode. Persona 3 Reload halfway through June now. Im considering to get the Ps5 Pro but is it really worth the upgrade

I’ve put FF7 Rebirth on hold right at the start of chapter 8 as I could no longer resist the urge to try Black Myth Wukong. And wow…I did not expect that game to become my GOTY. I don’t say this about many games but it is perfect.

I also snagged Far: Lone Sails on my Indie Box (Switch) for dirt cheap so I’ll be playing through that this weekend as well.

I might start Metaphor, but things have been crazy recently so I want to finish Broken Sword first. Also, my regular helping of Planet Zoo, I feel obligated to care for my heaps of pixels as if they were real.

Just got my Sifu platinum on Friday so may well start immortals of aveum today

Well I purchased the diablo 4 expansion so this weekend is all about d4. Just got to chapter 5 on wukong and even though its an epic game I need a break from it so this weekend is diablo 4..have a great weekend folks 👍,

Finally bought robocop rogue city and really enjoying it. So much so I've convinced my mate to watch the 1st film later

going to finish silent hill 2 remake this weekend then going to start another until dawn play through have a great weekend everyone

I started a playthrough of Detroit become human... It'll be my second playthrough but I remember little of it so I'm looking forward to it! Have a great weekend everybody

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and Astro Bot.

This week i finished some retro games.

• Mega Man Zero 1 (Mega Man Zero/ZX collection)
  Beat this game for the first time and i think it's a pretty solid MM game. The story kinda sad too with what happened to X. Although, 'Protect Factory' mission was quite a pain in the ass and it feels weird that Zero can't do slide.
• Bayonetta (Bayonetta/Vanquish remastered)
  Beat this game again for the 3rd or 4th time. I really like this game but sadly us PS owners probably never get the 2nd and 3rd game.
• Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Mega Drive Collection)
  Got the urge to play this game after Shinobi live act movie announcement and it still the masterpiece that i remember back in Genesis day. The music also amazing despite Yuzo Koshiro absent.
• Streets of Rage 1 & 2 (Mega Drive Collection)
  I beat these games more than i can remember and i never feel bored playing them. A lot of classic games got memorable and fun + quick to play vibe and that is the testament of excellent game design that many modern games doesn't have.

Also, i'm playing Wonderful 101 Remastered. It's a pretty fun game and it kinda reminds me of Pikmin / Army Corps of Hell.

The Last of Us Part 1. I played it when it first came out on PS4, but this is my first time playing the PS5 remake. Needless to say, the graphics are amazing.
Astro Bot. I so far have around 230 bots, so still plenty to find. I’m currently tracking down all the lost galaxy levels. Last night I unlocked the “Horzion” themed level, which I look forward to playing later today.
Diablo IV: Vessel of hatred. Hadn’t played the main game for quite a while, this was the perfect reason to jump back in!
Zelda Echoes of Wisdom Literally just started this this morning.

Almost finished on my playthrough of Metroid Prime. I've been playing on hardest difficulty and for some reason the trio of final bosses have been giving me a lot of trouble - like Souls-level punch the air when I actually succeed trouble. On the final boss now and I've been doing fine up until the fourth stage when it always seems to mess me up. The bosses are such damage sponges in hypermode difficulty that it's starting to irritate me. But I've come so far I want to beat it!

Also been introducing my 13-yr old daughter to the joys of thinking with Portals this last week. She loves the twisted sense of humour and air of menace which I think is just pitched right for her age. Listening to her scream whenever one of the gun drones started shooting at her was an absolute joy 😁 Will likely be starting Portal 2 with her this weekend, can't wait to see what she thinks of Wheatley. Have a topper of a weekend all.

I am playing Sea of Thieves with my friends! Even though Rare seem to be doing everything they can to completely destroy the game and everything that was fun about it, we are all Trophy hunters, so we are in it for the long haul

The excellent Kill Knight and some Riders Republic.

I will continue play one of the best video games ever in the excellent sifu.i will continue and the the awsome classic hit in hollow knight voidheart edition.i will play the instant classic horror the wonderful little nightmares complete edition.i will play one of the best horror video games ever in the incredible the evil within.im close to beat the game.and i will play the masterpiece the amazing resident evil 7 gold edition.i will watch my Pittsburgh Steelers 💛🖤play.i will watch my boston Celtics 💚🖤 play they're preaseason games.i will watch legendary sitcoms tv 📺 comedy shows in the Jeffersons.family matters.good times.sanford and son and saved by the bell.word up son

Gonna continue Silent Hill 2 Remake, can't wait to get my mitts on the shotgun and show those monstrosities the real meaning of PAIN! ^__^

And mix it up with Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred - that Evade Eagle Spiritborn broken build that's floating around is the very definition of fun! If you play on PC, and have a mouse that has "free scroll" wheel, then go to Options and put evade to be also on the "Mouse Wheel Down" - give that wheel a twirl and hold on to the mouse cursor 'cause there'll be no stopping you!

Have a fun weekend everyone!

Silent hill 2make and tomb raider 2master on the 5 and probably nothing on Xbox, switch and pc.

Making more progress in Trails Through Daybreak. I love the Trails series, having pretty much played the games back to back since May 2023, but I am kind of ready for a break now. And that despite thinking Daybreak is probably one of the best games in the series.

So I did what I "shouldn't" have done last night and started Metaphor. It's going to be a wild ride and will be my main game once Daybreak is done.

Besides that I'm still continuing on through Stellar Blade. Stuck on one of the later boss battles.

@Stephen Wow, Worms Armageddon, what a blast from the past!
It's been a lot of years since I've last played it, but I can still hear that Holy bomb go "Haaaallelujah!" ^__^
Fun times, especially if you play it with friends!
Enjoy!

I bought dishonered 2 like half decade ago and yet to install it.

I’ve just got my platinum for HFW, it took me forever to do the stupid spinning move; I started having nightmares about spinning teacups (yes the kids ride) 😂😂. I’m now running through burning shores dlc for HFW.

Nothing new but hit a bit of PS5 lull. Started playing Wildlands although I bought more games last week but unsure what to play.
But I finally got a winning run on Balatro 👍(been playing nearly ever day for 4 weeks)
Enjoy your gaming everyone!

More Silent Hill 2. Bloober has far exceeded my expectations. This is a Resident Evil quality remake - the GameCube one. It's 6:30 am on a Saturday, and I've already played more this morning (about an hour) than I have in an entire weekend lately. I'll give myself another hour or so before I get my day started.

Continuing the Demon's Souls and Bloodborne double header. HURT ME MORE

Just finished Chapter 4 in Valkyrie Elysium. Absolutely loving this game! I’m now very tempted to order the soundtrack and art book online. Hope everyone has a brilliant weekend of gaming!

Silent Hill and Refantazio, very good month to be a gamer.

Mario Kart and Monster Hunter with friends this weekend. It will be fun.

I've been playing various different games the past few weeks with nothing really sticking. Hopefully that will change with the following this weekend: Metaphor: ReFantazio, Diablo 4 and Astro Bot. And maybe Broken Sword: Reforged on the PC if there's time.

This weekend there will be a birthday party in my house, and my girlfriend will come to town, so there will be less gaming. I will continue Star Wars Outlaws, a game that keep getting better with time (play it!!), and show to my girl the worlds. She is a Star Wars fan like me, but not a gamer, so she likes to see it. I will try to play Dave The Diver too, I'm close to plat, just 4 trophies remaining. And squeeze Yakuza 4 in the bunch. Let's see what happens. A great weekend lads!

Very likely nothing for me, we are in Maine for one last weekend before they close the cottage. I brought my Steam Deck so if I can’t sleep I’ll jump into Skyrim. Otherwise, I’ll dream of Metaphor.

Urgh I have so much to play at the moment.

Been dragged back into my long running FM24 save.
Got Frostpunk 2 on PC to start after buying day 1
Got Astro to start
Been flitting between Dead Space Remake and SH2 for some spooky fun

And I wanna buy Refantazio

Giving Pal World co-op a try later and then I’ll be playing some Harvest Moon Winds of Anthos tomorrow along with some 7 days to Die in the evening. Also be popping on Starship Troopers Extermination for a bit too, which is a fun game. Seeing as Sunday and Monday is my weekend I’ll be playing Silent Hill 2 all of Monday as well.

Loving Silent Hill 2, it’s one of those remakes which feels like the original did in your head. I’ve just got to the toilet scene, and I keep hearing Groundskeeper Willie saying “Ach! You’ve got yerself a little friend!”

This weekend I’m playing the iconic Silent Hill 2 (Remake). This is my first foray into this franchise, despite owning the original on PS2 back when I was a kid. And I have a lot to say.

The beginning two hours were incredibly dull to me. However, once I got to explore the apartment complex—and having just completed Brookhaven Hospital—it quickly became a tour-de-force in the survival horror genre once I tasted what this game had to offer.

The game has a unique setting, where the town of Silent Hill is a character just as much as you are. One thing that stuck out to me was how there is quest log or an objective marker. This allows a sense of freedom in a relatively linear experience, yet vast at the same time, so there’s a sense of feeling confined and trapped, but always rewarding.

All of this is enhanced by its brilliant art direction and visuals. The fog surrounding the town makes each step feel purposeful. When you enter buildings, each location feels different but believable. Brookhaven Hospital—more or less a psychiatric ward—is a perfect example of this. There is a sense of dread and abandonment, and you can feel the anguish of those who resided there. It felt old-timey and unsanitary, providing an extra level of immersion. A lot of games I feel suffer from making you feel as if you’re truly in this fictional world, but this remake manages to capture that essence.

Furthermore, I really appreciate the approach of no jump scares. The horror comes from the tension of discovering the truth about what’s occurring in the town, the characters that inhabit it, and why. But it’s also the idea that something could happen. It plays with you psychologically. It masterfully teeters the line of reality and paranoia, particularly since enemies are humanoid in nature.

As for the story, it immediately compels you because the main protagonist, James Sunderland, is self aware of his situation and how absurd it is. However, he is still grieving the loss of his wife and those types of processes can make people do inexplicable things they otherwise wouldn’t. Regardless of the dire situation he is in, his calm demeanor draws you in. He has determination, and is willing to see his journey through to the end no matter the cost, all the while not going off in the deep end mentally. It’s a really interesting balance. He is casually dressed which also lends to his personality.

The moment to moment gameplay is also fantastic. Combat has a real crunch to it—but it never feels janky or unintuitive. You can feel the weight behind bludgeoning enemies with melee weapons, and you can even hear the exhaustion in James’ voice when he finishes them while they are squirming on the ground. You’re also never overwhelmed with enemies, so each encounter feels unique. It’s simple, but effective.

So far, I’m only halfway through the game but I’m very impressed, top to bottom. I’m deeply invested in the characters and unfolding story. In a space where there are a ton of survival horror games, this one stands out amongst the rest. I can see why the game received high praise in 2001, and I will now sing its praises for the first time in 2024. It might go down in my top 10 of all time.

Star Wars Outlaws

@FinneasGH @colonelkilgore the one game in the series I couldn't get into. Not sure why. May try a 3rd attempt sometime

@mac_da_man astro bot was awesome. Got the platinum too and took many many attempts at the master challenge.

Terminator resistance was a really decent game. Great atmosphere. Decent story.

Plucky squire was great but I was expecting more. Too much talking. Too much hand holding. They seemed to go out of their way to drag the experience down

@mac_da_man Terminator Resistance rules, man. I was super impressed with the game, and the platinum was fun to get. You should check out RoboCop Rogue City from the same developer, if you haven’t already. It’s an easy platinum as well.

Funnily enough I picked up Dishonored 2 on PS4 in a charity shop last month for £1.50. played it before but sold it when it was still worth selling.

I've been playing Star Ocean Second Story R, followed a guide to fast level because back on PS1 it was too hard.. but now there's this easy mode I've made it a breeze lol, oh well I'm still having fun.

@Kraven I did play and platinum Robocop, awesome game!

I'm playing Arcade Paradise at the moment, excellent fun between all the washing

@KyushuTrail Would you believe I got to the final boss in Sekiro and my entire save data for every game got wiped out due to system corruption...still hurts to this day looking at all those bosses I went through. Sekiro is just so hard because there's nothing really like leveling up like in the other From games.

Silent Hill 2.

Dead Space: continuing hard mode, plasma cutter only run. About near the end of chapter 6.
DPA: Little Hope. Will put another hour or so on this each day. Should be finished with first play through Monday or Tuesday I think. Interested to see how the story plays out.

@JVCIOM70
Great game. Took me too long to realise you can just ignore the laundry (as long as the arcade is making enough money)

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Time for the showdown with evil general.

Plants vs. Zombies (Android) - Still making my way through the first levels.

Free Slots Fun Factory (Windows Phone) - Still watching some videos on YT.

I haven’t played Fortnite in a month but I came back yesterday for Fortnitemares, which apparently starts today. Did win my 1 match though so that was nice.😄

Just started playing Tunic last night. Maybe only for about 30 minutes, but great so far.

After getting the Platinum for Silent Hill 2 yesterday, Absolutely amazing remake, great job Bloober Team! I'm debating on what to start playing next to keep spooky season going with horror games.

It's a choice between Alone in the Dark or Still wakes the Deep.

Other then that I'm slowly progressing through Dying Light (Steam Deck OLED) co-op with a friend when we both have the time to do so.

Have a great weekend, and happy gaming, everyone!

Finished up Silent Hill 2 before selling off my PS5 (no pro until next month!😨) and it was probably my favourite game of the year next to Dragon's Dogma. Bloober did an incredible job adapting and expanding the source material.

Without a PS5 and with everlasting a taste for horror, I'll be playing Silent Hill: Homecoming and then Silent Hill: Downpour on PS3 😁. I have the SH collection too but... Yeah. Nah. I'm happy to wait for better versions (or emulate).

Trying to be a good boy and finish Rise of the Ronin and Black Myth before I go crazy and buy Silent Hill 2 and Metaphor Re.

But I only have so much patience and my wallet is burning with the cash for both!!

Edit: forgot I was also dipping into Kill Knight which is excellent!

Still delivering packages in Death Stranding and I'm like half way through Episode 3. I'm loving it so far. The game play loop is so satisfying, and it's made even better and smoother once you get the power skeletons and vehicles. And the story beats in this episode have been the most interesting so far

Sadly I can tell you what I'm NOT playing: Sparking Zero! as I have to make a short notice international flight and won't be home ( or even in one place) for at least a week 😔
At least I got some Unicorn Overlord in last night and I'm taking the PS Vita with me.
Cheers @Link41x

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I just want to apologise to everyone here who has been preaching the awesomeness of OLED displays and their superiority over everything else (because I dismissed them, sometimes in a vocal manner). Got my first OLED a few days ago and I’ve just been floored by Horizon Forbidden West, which I chose to play through on it first. It’s the most beautiful game I’ve ever played in my 30+ years of gaming. CP2077 comes as a close second. In addition to HFW, some WRC 23 and Generations on the side. Happy gaming all!

@TheArt Noooooo I’m lucky to have never had that problem on any game before

going for silent hill 2 platinum trophy.

I bought Palworld to see what the (months-old) hype was about - seems pretty good, but I'm conflicted over whether my six-year-old should watch it; 95% of it seems fine, with 5% bludgeoning violence.

I'm nearing the end of Silent Hill 2 so very likely finish it this weekend.

Need For Speed: Underground 2

Just finished Shadow of the Erdtree, so not sure what I will do next. Great game overall but didn't quite reach the level of Dark Souls or Bloodborne for me. The game is to big and lacks the focus of the smaller earlier games. The other main issue I found is that all roads lead to bleed in the DLC. You can obviously play any build but Bleed is just so damn powerful that its not even close.

Might keep chipping away at RE4 VR next before starting either Hogwarts, Kena or The Sinking City.

@Judal27 Nice to see you still playing and having fun with DS.

Keep On Keeping On 😊 🤝

All over Silent Hill 2.
What an outstanding game it is

Chrono Cross. Got bored of new games.

Playing drive club for the first time. The game still looks fantastic tbh

@mac_da_man I just finished Terminator Resistance too, and really enjoyed it. Just like Robocop Rogue City, they got the atmosphere of that world perfect. I would have been happy if the story of Resistance had been the sequel to T2 instead of Rise of the Machines.

My only complaint is that the Enhanced edition was really buggy, with some crashes etc. Most strangely, Some trophies I earned refused to pop, including unmissable story trophies even though I completed the game. I have never seen story trophies not pop before. Still a good game.

I am now playing El Paso Elsewhere. Fun, Max Payne meets supernatural horror game perfect for spooky season.

Astro Bot and DQ11

@Westernwolf4 Shame about the trophies not popping, really annoying.I only encountered some minor bugs that restarting a checkpoint fixed luckily!

The First Berserker: Khazan Closed Beta Test. This game is a lot of fun. Crunchy & difficult combat. Love it.

Nearly finished with the new Zelda and might start raganarok after which still remains sealed on my shelf.

@PuppetMaster I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much 😆. But it's so good. Can't wait to get further in

@mac_da_man Glad you had a mostly bug free experience! The strange thing about the trophies is, I got the game to start giving me trophies again by deleting and reinstalling the game. So I have a bunch of trophies in the middle missing, and then I got the story trophies after them that I should not be able to have without first getting the others!

Apparently this is a known bug that the developer has been trying to patch for a while to no avail. I find it annoying but also fascinating-I haven’t encountered anything like it with a PS game before.

Still: RoboCop and Terminator are excellent games. Which 80s property should they tackle next? Someone here suggested Total Recall, which would be amazing!

I’ve had my fill of Red Dead Redemption 2 for the time being, so I decided to take a break from it for a bit and picked up something in the most recent PS Store sale. I grabbed Still Wakes The Deep for a little over $20 and I’m quite enjoying it! It’s a very well done little game with a good creepy and isolated vibe that fits quite well with the Halloween season. Definitely recommended for fans of horror games.

I´ve struggled for some time to find a game I´d like to play and enjoy, but it´s about my birthday time so I pushed the button on bying WH40k Space Marine 2 and Stellar Blade for my ps5...started with Space Marine 2 and that´s what I´ll be playing this weekend.

I´m also very tempted to buy Silent Hill 2 remake after all great reviews and reception overall, but performance mode needs some improvement so I´ll wait till it´s patched, but definitely will buy later on.

Have a nice weekend and happy gaming, all!

Currently Hi-Fi Rush, while I wait for the Pro to play pro-enhanced games.

Road Redemption
I was a massive Road Rash fan back in the 90's, and this game rocks! Been grinding to max out my stats, and starting to make good progress.

Also done another speed run playthrough of Sniper Elite 5 today, and found a glitch that made me fall through the floor and endlessly through nothing 😂

GoW Ragnarok, DDLC and Diablo II.
I own GoW R for two years, came with the ps5, but had other things to do, and honestly I played Valhalla, and as an old school fan of Kratos, from PS2 era, I was very irritated with Atreus. Same story with Ragnarok, but it's a very good game overall... When I set my feelings and prejudice aside. Good combat, plenty of diversity and probably will love to see it on PRO.

DDLC got me surprised. After one-two hours of boring conversations and reading, and writing poems to some digital girls, I felt like I was swung with a bat with rusty nails on it....got dark fast. I wanna platinum it. Don't know if it's hard...

Diablo....well D2 Remastered is a great game, and since I still think that D4 is too expensive and can wait...I have two children and two motorcycles that I need to work on. They swallow money like a Maelstrom.
I did watch MKiceandfire playing the D4 (the video is 15 hours, took me two weeks) and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'll give it a try.

Still on The Outer Worlds. I'll probably 100% it. I haven't enjoyed an RPG this much in a long time.

@Kenobi42 I was looking at that. I have it on Switch but the performance is pretty meh. Think I'll pick it up for PS5.