Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 553

Three simple trophies left on GTA IV and then farming Adamantoises on Final Fantasy XIII.

The ps3 backlog adventure continues with The Darkness!

Had no idea this was based on a comic so I might check that out too😃

After finishing Ghost Recon Breakpoint, I went back to try Wildlands but it was too much jank at 30fps. Sad times. So instead I started Two Point Campus and having a great time with that! Will continue (mis)educating the digital masses with that.

On PS5 I've got the last dungeon to do in both Metaphor Re Fantazio and Trails Through Daybreak so I suppose both of them will take me all weekend to do. If I can finish them quickly then I will move onto either YS Nordics or Farmagia.

On Switch I will be playing some Mario Party Jamboree, time do 30 turns on the shopping mall board.

Dragon Age Veilguard and only this. About 4 hrs in so far and enjoying it immensely. Superb graphics and I'm playing as an Elf Rogue and the combat is snappy and visceral. Yes I do have a few reservations about the character models and the dialogue is a bit stilted and doesn't quite fit, but overall I'm loving it.
I'll probably do more MMOing with WoW The War Within so by Monday I'll be all fantasy world elved out lol
Have a great weekend guys and gals ❤️

On Gamepass I just finished CoD 6 campaign. That was a good one. Moving on to zombie mode now.
On PS5 Im playing Dragon Age Veilguard, or Manfred Dating Sim as I like to call it. I've gotten pretty far and this game is a GOTY contender in my book. Absolutely love to be back in that world.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin, the PSP version. I've played all the Persona games except for the 2 duo and it's a massive improvement over the first which I've played a few times. Looking forward to playing the fan-translated PSP version of Eternal Punishment after I'm done with it.

@colonelkilgore two stellar games there !

Also finishing up Metaphor: ReFantazio, what a great game. Next up is another run of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, I keep returning to this gem of a cRPG.

And Chrono Trigger on my handheld in bed makes sure I never get enough sleep. 😅

Atlus are just good with the stories, nothing straightforward, still Metaphor Refantazio. Went back to GTAV, been ages, still aging well, timeless! Trying to craft outfits I haven't still crafted before after 6 years in RDR2 and hopefully uncover some new secrets.

@colonelkilgore You'd think if Rockstar loved money so much, they would've released GTAIV for PS4/5 like they've done with RDR recently. I miss it.

I finished Alan Wake remastered the other day so I'm now full swing on both Metaphor and Veilguard. After both of those are done I'll be playing Alan Wake 2. So many good games to play!

@homelesscretin Loved that game, but man those controls are brain-melting. I think it was voiced by the guy from Faith No More and Mr Bungle

I’m finishing off Bendy and the Ink Machine that I’ve had for at least two years and wanted to play over Halloween. I’d have to say it’s more interesting than amazing, but they’ve done a lot with obviously a pretty low budget. Glad I tried it!

Edit: I also finally finished Astrobot (not sure about a platinum though, that Master Challenge, yikes!), and Silent Hill. Getting ready for Alan Wake 2 on the Pro next week (fingers crossed it turns up!)

@TheArt yeah I was always hoping that they would but just ended up biting the bullet and went for the PS3 version again in the end. Frame rate sucks but you get used to it tbh.

MonHan. 100%. I'm not gonna spend the ENTIRE time with the beta, I'm not that desperate to play Wilds, yet, but it's so much fun to just figure out what's new on the weapons and I really like the selection of monsters in the demo. Game's gonna be amazing.

Apart from that I'll continue to try to get more of Metaphor's trophies. I THINK I missed the debates a second now but I should be able to get the rest, at least. I hope. Game's really fun but I don't think I can go for a third run..

@homelesscretin I feel like I know that game's name, was that the one with the talking gun(s)?

Just forced myself to uninstall MH Wilds beta because if I don't do it whilst I'm fairly lucid I'll end up losing the whole weekend to hunting the same three monsters... Sooooo I'll be on Alan Wake'2 butt until I finish it probably!

I'll be playing Sonic Frontiers, Sonic X Shadow Generations and Metaphor: ReFantazio this weekend. All of those games are great imo.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster.

Loving this all over again and even get fresh trophy pops. It still looks gorgeous even on performance mode and the new dialogue animations are much much better. I also forgot how excellent the music is in this game. Still my favourite PS exclusive.

Dead Island 2 - finished the story ealier in the week but was having so much fun I decided to go for the platinum as I didnt have that much left anyway. Very fun game, very fun platinum 🙂

Max Mustard VR - still very fun, the camera isnt the best and the checkpoints can be a bit far apart but other than that its a good game 🙂

Horizon ZD remaster - love this game! Its a very nice upgrade and the game looks amazing. Been wanting to replay it for a long time so this is perfect for me 🙂

I will continue playing one of the best video games ever made in the incredible darkest dungeon with all its dlcs.im close to the end.im doing some dlcs first.i will continue and play one of the most coolest underated video games ever made in the excellent kingdom come. deliverance royal edition.and i will continue playing 2014 game of the year winner the amazing dragon age inquisition game of the year.i just beat the descent dlcs.im playing jaws of hakkon now.im at the end of dragon age inquisition.the last boss is waiting for me.its a amazing video game.im playing as a mage.the magic is one of the best ever.i will be watching my boston Celtics 💚🖤 play.my Pittsburgh Steelers 💛🖤 got the weekend of.i will be watching legendary sitcoms tv 📺 comedy shows in family matters.good times.sanford and son.and saved by the bell.word up son

Will be playing Alien Fireteam Elite. As well as Astro bot with the son. Also just got the £10 upgrade on HZD. So will be starting that sometime soon also. Happy Gaming All

@Dom_31 No clue 😂. I've only just booted up the game to see if the disc works 😅

@playstation1995 Darkest Dungeon is fantastic, one of the few games that have stayed installed since it's release. The mood and VA is untouchable.

Still working on Meraphor.

Started back up Black Myth. Near the end of Chapter 4. Difficulty is getting there.

The rest of the weekend will probably be spent on some co-op in Dead Island 2 or smaller indies like Kill Knight

Continuing my playthrough of the amazing Hollow Knight, currently exploring Crystal Peak. I have a week off work next week so hoping to really sink my teeth into it and make some progress.

I finished Trails Through Daybreak on Monday, and as a result I've been somewhat flailing about. A year and a half of playing the same series has taken the decision about what to play next away from me! I'd love to play Daybreak 2 but a) I'm not sure about the fan translation, b) my Japanese would probably be just about good enough but also it would be very slow going and c) I probably do need a bit of a break. It's not too long to wait until the English release in any case.

I did think about diving into Ys X or Tokyo Xanadu for something a bit different, but still in the Falcom world, but I've instead been playing Stellar Blade and some of my old favourite, Doom.

Another reason not to get into anything too long now is that my Pro arrives this week and that seems like a good chance to go back to either FF7 Rebirth or BG3 to really see the system sing. I got about half way through BG3 before resuming Trails, and would love to finish it. I do remember the inventory management being a total pain but besides that it's a great game.

As same as last month... Vampire Survivors.
Maybe I'll jump back to PS2 Prince of Persia Trilogy

And finish painting of Chaos Chosen, Pink Horrors and Royal Warden.

HZD remaster for me. I started from scratch and it's bloody good. Everything feels so familiar yet so new and fresh and it's very responsive. Have a great weekend everybody 👍.

I’m taking some much needed time off work. So I decided to be very responsible and buy Veil-guard and, HZD PS5. Very financial responsible 😂😂.

I finished up Firewatch and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap yesterday, so I'll be starting up something new this weekend as well as resuming something old.

I'll be first and foremost playing the first The Great Ace Attorney on Switch. I played through the first three cases earlier this year but then I took a break from the game. So now I've decided to pick it up again and finish it.

I'm also considering starting up Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. I'm a bit hesitant since it's a long game, but what I've realised recently is that even if a game is long, as long as it's addicting I'll be blazing through it in a short time span. So I'll probably give it a shot today to see if it clicks with me.

A bit of Monster Hunter wilds and some Helldivers 2. Holding off on Horizon until the Pro arrives.

I’m continuing my underwhelming journey through ys x nordics on the 5 along with forza horizon 4 of the pc.

Going for my 9th winning run on Balatro whilst waiting (rather impatiently) for Undisputed to arrive today.
Enjoy your gaming weekend people!

I'm on some Horror classics before my Pro comes. Condemned 1 and 2. Clocktower and Siren. @ Sammy Barker I pre ordered Slitterhead physical. Hope it reviews well!

Astro Bot: I thoroughly enjoyed Astro's Playroom and can honestly say that this has been one of my most anticipated games of 2024. It's light platforming with a bit of an edge for those wanting a challenge and lots of PlayStation game homages (my favorite being an Uncharted game level).

Here's to many more hours with Astro and his pals.

Horizon Remastered of course ^__^

I’m wrestling moral quandaries in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and taking in the sights of the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Happy gaming!

The Crew Motorfest, Dark Souls 1 and GTA San Andreas. Enjoying all three immensely, and I might start Wo Long this weekend as well

Ys X Nordics. I'm saving Metaphor for the Winter break.

Horizon zero dawn remastered. Looks amazing. Performance mode is win win as resolution is practically impossible to tell it's not4k without right tools and runs at 60fps.

I was worried I might not get into it again but it's got me hooked again like it did in PS4 in 2017.

Might give frogun a go to satisfy my recent re-obsession with 3d platformers. Nothing gets up to Astro Bot though

Wukong all the way, great game, just starting chapter 3

Metaphor for me. I'm currently grinding levels at the imp forest before continuing with the story. Feeling like my party is getting pretty strong now, but putting a few levels into different archetypes across the board, and hoarding money to buy some stronger weapons

14 hours into Persona 3 Reload and still feels like I’m at the intro level. loving it though! Just about to do my first exam… wish me luck!

Juggling that and some Legendary Tales on the PSVR2 which is just excellent, and recently returned to Granblue Fantasy Relink, had forgotten how fun that one is!

Happy gaming folks!

Nioh 2
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Little Nightmares 2

Beat Dead Space Remake. It was fine. Still a great game but I didn't care much for the additions of the remake (backtracking at any time, side quests etc). Talking Issac didn't add much either and detracted more often than not. 10/10 game. 7/10 remake.

Played Some Tomb Raider 2013. Completed over 40% before I hit a game breaking bug so that's that. Still the best of New Trilogy though but the writing is really bad compared to Uncharted. 8/10

Beat all 3 speed run levels in Astro. Fun.

Edit: I completely forgot I beat The Lake House DLC which was fine again. Interesting story for the Marmonts and the house and some intriguing ruminations on AI and what is art. Still got horrible gameplay and some very bad dialogue. 7/10. Marmonts as villains 10/10. Hyper for Control 2? 11/10.

From tomorrow I start Armored Core VI. Plan to get HZD remaster soon as well. I love Horizon so I'm definitely not gonna say no to playing it again.

I'm playing Mafia Definitive Edition and will be trying out DA Veilguard on PC.

For the last week and a half I’ve been in a gaming slump and I wasn’t aware of it initially. It has been strange. Once I obtained the platinum trophy for Silent Hill 2 Remake, I subsequently dove head first into Metaphor ReFantazio. And then it hit me.

I was enjoying it, particularly its UI, combat, characters, story, setting, and political strifes. However, it wasn’t fully grasping my attention. I was feeling overwhelmed. I found this peculiar because P4G is my favorite RPG of all time, and P5R is exceptional. I’m accustomed to the calendar structure, knowing content will be missed by choosing to do one activity over another. It was bothering me immensely even though time management is a core game design.

This feeling carried over with the Archetype mechanics. I was I immensely engulfed by options and it was ruining my experience. It was difficult for me to switch up my vocation because I had certain archetypes maxed out, with great skills, but switching classes and starting from scratch felt counterintuitive because I’d have to change armor, weapons, and be underpowered. I appreciate the flexibility, but not when it’s almost essential.

My brain just couldn’t handle any of it. In fact, it’s odd because of my affection with Atlus games (not just Persona), and while I was liking the majority of aspects of the game, I just wasn’t having fun. Ultimately, I set the game aside and will come back to it another time.

I then scrolled through my cross-media bar on my PS5 and saw Kunitsi-Gami: Path of the Goddess. I’m a huge Capcom fan and love their odd side projects. The glowing reviews for this game definitely piqued my interest. I played for five hours and was enjoying it; but it wasn’t holding my attention as well.

This trend repeated itself two more times; once with Shadow of the Damned: Hella Remastered; and secondly Ys X: Nordics (my favorite RPG series). At this point, I decided to take a break from gaming altogether and decompress. Maybe the depressing nature of Silent Hill 2 Remake took more of a toll on me than anticipated.

And suddenly, something changed. Monday rolled around and the reviews for Dragon Age: The Veilguard went live. The positive reception the game has been receiving from critics (and definitely not random strangers on the internet who hadn’t played the game but want to hate on anyone who likes it; seriously, the vile things said all over YouTube channels—Eurogamer, IGN, and other mainstream outlets—is absolutely out of control and incredibly disheartening) brought back that sense of excitement for games.

I started Dragon Age: The Veilguard on release day and have put 15-hours in it. I’m having an absolute blast. I’m an Elven rogue, part of the Antivan Crows association, with a slight affection for Neve. I’m slowly swooning her, but unlike my organization I work for, I won’t be stabbing her in the back.

TL;DR - Gaming is fun again; thanks, Dragon Age.

Pondering whether to buy Dragon Age: The Veilguard - because fantasy and swords. Or whether to wait for the Pro to arrive and to finish at least one other game before I try it.

I'll probably play some more TLoUP1 for now, or maybe some Hellblade which is super visceral. Or maybe Yakuza LAD if I'm in the mood for something silly instead.

I'm very much noncommittal right now 😬

All I know is I won't be heading to Grant Williams' house for dinner any time soon (that's one for the Celtic's fans here 😂)

Bit of RE4Remake, bit of Tormented Souls, bit of Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed and a couple of rounds of Iron Crypticle... Still finishing the Haloween games playlist!

Have a good weekend and enjoy your gametime people.

Hogwarts Legacy. And I don't care, I love it.

Still Horizon Forbidden West. I’m enjoying it immensely and personally feel it’s better than Zero Dawn in every possible way. As it should be with it being a sequel (still love Zero Dawn and the universe in general). Also, the game might be the most beautiful game I’ve ever played. It’s just a feast for the eyes everywhere I look.

@LuXifer. Yep definitely.darkest dungeon is such a amazing video game.one of my all time favorite.back to the pit.word up son

Just got to Toluca Prison in Silent Hill 2, and wow… I forgot how oppressive this section of the game was. Bloober pulled out no stops here. Cheese and crackers…

I will be playing Super Mario Party Jamboree alone.

I have an amusing anecdote to share with my fellow gaming enthusiasts. I tried out Xbox Cloud on my Amazon fire stick and the only ftp game is Fortnite, which I’ve never played. It was so laggy that my movements were very unpredictable and I ended up winning.

Tl;dr: Sometimes lag can help you win at Fortnite.

@gollumb82 I love Forbidden West and think it is over hated by a very loud minority. Their is one narrative choice I dislike (their handling of certain character) but otherwise I love the story and think it has some of the best ranged combat in recent games for those who are willing to engage with it's many mechanics. Also the world looks stunning!

Playing SF 6 and watching CPT Super Premier Japan. I finally got Manon to Master rank, which is my 6th character who reach Master rank. Ngl, i didn't like grapplers since SF 2 but in SF 6 i had a lot of fun playing them.

I'm also replaying some retro games like Super Contra and Contra 3: Alien Wars.

Have a good weekend guys 🍻

Guys...
I got Barbie: Project Friendship PS5 this afternoon! 😁
My GOTY 2024 on PS5.

I still at the beginning part of the game.
So far so good, I can see beautiful resort with smooth 60 fps on PS5. 😊
Barbie on PS5 is a big surprise for me.
I would like to see another Barbie games by Outright Games.

Playing Dead Island 2 and Horizon remastered on PS5 Horizon is gorgeous really enjoying going through it again. I'm also really tempted to buy DA Veilguard. On Xbox I'll try and finish the Black Ops 6 campaign.

@breakneck
Yeah, I guess some people didn’t like the game as much as Zero Dawn (and hated Burning Shores) but it seems it’s the same with any game that launches these days (the new Dragon Age being the most recent example). I love this franchise, the universe and Decima Engine is just leagues better than UE4/5. All this coming from someone who hates most open world games lol.

@BIG3 ...yeah I'm so pleased Veilguard has turned out fantastic! Especially after the ME Andomeda awfulness

I should be able to get a good amount of time in with Metaphor tomorrow, my wife is taking the kids to watch football at my in laws and I’m staying home. I also played some Skyrim on Steam Deck but am debating setting that to the side for now for Persona 5 Royal because I bought it for $23 on Steam. I’ve played P5 but never beat it.

Helldivers 2 and Dead Island 2. When Im finished with DI2 I Will start Horizon remaster.

@PuppetMaster Well done on getting your characters to Master. I've Blanka at Diamond 5, been meaning to push through.

What controller do you use? I'm on a standard Dualsense, though I get phantom inputs on L2, so I have it disabled. It happens on both controllers, and also when playing Tekken 8. Maybe putting pressure on the d-pad makes the L2 mechanism have a mind if it's own.

Playing Horizon ZD Remastered and plan on finally finishing Horizon FW right after. Already bought Burning Shores in the past sale too, so ill be busy the next few weeks. Lego Horizon ill get when its on sale or if it comes to Plus before getting discounted low enough.

@Marquez I’ve got news for you mate.
You’re a competitive dad! lol
Hope you catch him up

SANDLAND it's not setting the gaming world on fire but it's fun and controls well although I'm going out for my cousin's birthday tonight so have to pull myself away... grumble grumble

Gonna run around for a little, do a few standard orders and maybe rebuild some roads in Death Stranding after that I think I'm finally done with the game. Wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The story, lore and world building was very interesting if a little confusing. It introduced me to some amazing tunes to add to the playlist. I love everything about the death stranding itself. The bt encounters, the designs, the lore behind it. It's all so good. I'm honestly so ready for more in DS2

Not really sure what to play after. The MH Wilds beta is getting me back into a MH high so maybe I'll download World and just keep it going or get back into grinding in Rise Sunbreak

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered for me this weekend, and what a fantastic game it is! It looks gorgeous and I’m completely sucked into this fantastic world and the story and lore is so very interesting, I LOVE it!!