Titntin

@Northern_munkey Happy Christmas mate! Im wasted and fat, just as it should be 😀

@EfYI I really am delighted you love it so much. If I didnt have a backlog its gonna take a year to clear, maybe Id try anyway, but it makes sense to play the stuff I think I might enjoy before the stuff I think I wont 😀 One day it might be really really cheap and I jump in and love it. Ill try and remember and message you here says ng 'you were right!'

@EfYI Thank you for advising me on all that. But you ask me what I want my RPGs to be and Ill answer : pure escapism.
I dont want real medieval history, its just not what I play games for. Id rather the tired old 'elves and dwarfs magic kingdom' or those poorly written but sweet childish tales from a 'cuddly' jrpg. Thats just what Im looking for.

It does sound like Im missing a fantasticly crafted world, well written characters and intelligent system designs though, which is a shame. But I just dont want to be a medieval peasent in a harsh world, the role itself is just not one I wish to inhabit.
Respect to everyone who does, and gets to enjoy such a well put together rpg though.. shame, but I cant change what Im seeking...

Arcade Archives are always pricey. BUT, the are incredibly accurate versions of the title, so if you want an accurate version of an old arcade classic, they are the way to go.
Ive bought a lot of classic schumups on arcade archives, like x multiply, and they are all really good, but bare bones. I recommend a decent arcade stick to play these like they originally felt!

PS Sammy, working today is commitment thats above and beyond. I hope you get some rest and chill time too.. 😀

7 and lucky to get that. When questions ask you 'what is the metascore' for a title, you either guess or look it up, and theres no point taking part if your looking stuff up!! Thats not general knowledge, but I guess everyone has the same questions 😀

AI as a tool is useful.
AI generated art however is other peoples stolen art mashed together to try and avoid copyright. Its using other peoples work and ideas with no credit and no payment, of course corporations love it.
I hope this team dont use it for producing art assets as they have great artists on the team - no need to steal others art work.

KCD2 might be the best open world, but I'll never get to know as its a game I'd hate. Since the inception of rpgs theres been two schools with one opting for total realism, eating, toileting, encumberence cleaning etc etc. Ive always been a guy who wants to escape into a virtual living world to not bother with such things so tge title has zero appeal.
I really loved GOY so that probably gets my vote, but Ive not played DS2 yet and I think that will be up there.
I did play Atomfall and Ive no idea why its here at all, didnt think the game was that good, and short of the art style, I didnt find the open world an impressive one at all. Horses for courses as they say and I appreciate we are all different, a subjective opinion is just that, it cant be wrong 😀

Great list, all worthy titles.. and its reminded me I should play Trials!

Blue Prince was so captivating. I loved the way you gradually exposed new levels of game play..

@EfYI lol, Im ever hopeful, but you make a good point😂

If thats a stipulation of the award then its absolutely the correct decision.
Theres an arguement for for stating that shouldnt be a rule, but given that it is and sandbox appears to have been a bit duplicitous, its a fair cop. Its hardly going to damage E33, and it does mean other titles do get a look in, so I dont have an issue with this.

Another for the pink hair & panties fan club.
I havent seen an interesting character design in a game of this genre for a long time, which saddens me.

At least this one seems to have some stand out differences such as the urban settings, so maybe the lack of originality in characters is balanced by some genuine inventiveness in the gameplay loop? At least you can find out for free, which is always genuinely welcome.

Appreciate the list Aaron. None of these titles would be in my list, though Ive not tried Hell is Us, so that could be a contender. Im not into multiplayer at all which is probably why our lists would be so divergent, Ive 410 hours in original Elden Ring for example, but would never play Nightreign it destroys most of what I enjoy about the original! Happy xmas mate 👍

Just made a big hifi upgrade, so Ive been revisiting old favourite music and listening with glee as I hear new details in recordings Ive listened to for 40 years!
I hope to game some on Sunday afternoon and will likely return to Unicorn Overlord, which Ive found strangely compelling.
Whatever you are playing, I hope you have fun!

@Hyena_socks You make a valid point. I met and befriended a lot of illustrators and concept artists in my 20 years in the industry. The majority of them are out of work and they all tell me it's because companies are using AI to make and then develop concepts. Whatever can be said of AI, it seems it is already making a lot of people redundant.

Excellent, exactly what I was waiting for.

@Fiendish-Beaver Thats an expensive year ahead, and some fine picks!

Ive been trying V Rising as a single player seeing as its on a service, and I must say Im having a lot of fun. You can change lots of options to reduce grind time if needed, and I do!
Was hoping to try DK on the switch 2 at last, but my wife is hooked on 'strange horticulture' so I think my options for switch gaming are gone for a few days.

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

@RoomWithaMoose Hey I put in 80 hours and still feel like I dont get it. I stuck with it because everyone agrees its the best thing ever and I felt sure Id get it eventually. Its almost something shameful to admit given the overwhelming sentiment around the title, but I just dont get it. I was relieved when the first major character died as I didnt like him, I did nt like the music (I know, everyone else considers it fantastic) and the idea of introducing parry mechanics to turn based jap style rpgs is an abomination to me which I never got over. Oh.. and much of the environment looks samey, so without any map its easy to run round in circles. The mechanics of the skills and those systems are excellent though, discovering new builds was my one joy.

I feel some catharsis having said all that. I accept that so many others see it differently and I cant say anyones wrong of course, so please dont feel obliged to reply and tell me why Im wrong, I heard a million viewpoints that diverge from my own, and its clearly me thats out of step!

It looks almost reasonable untill I remember Im playing series X and switch as well. At least when someone asks "what are you doing with your life?" Ive got the stats to prove Im wasting it 🤣

Voucher code was fine for me, but who wants that avatar?

Thanks for the thumbs up - I've been waiting on this one for some time.
Unfortunately I need to wait a little longer as its severely bugged on Pro, so I'll need to wait for the patch to fix.

Great read, thank you. Loved the game when, first played it. I suspect Ill enjoy it even more in 3rd person and now seems the time to pick up the dlc.

@Northern_munkey Test drive is actually playable...it has an intolerable opening intro thats trully cringe. Get past that and theres plenty of annoyance and reminder that your in AA territory and some awfull UI choices. But the world map is pretty decent and mostly looks good, and the few cars I've driven are ok, the handling being arcadey rather than sim. Ive been distracted from going back, but I do intend to. If your bored and want a new game world to poke about in then its ok for that money. But its by no means essential and I can see many thinking its a pos! Hope that helps 👍

Loved this in first person, but I'm now interested enough to play this a second time. One of the most beautiful worlds created this gen, and I loved the Navi culture which is depicted very well here.

I bought this game to support the developers, but looks like I was one of the few. The mechanics of the game are solid, good sensation of speed and takedowns feel as fun as ever, but the courses just aren't there at the start of the game and you dont get much time to make a first impression... Im really gutted for them, I lost jobs in this way several times in 20 years as a dev and it always sucked.

I really enjoyed Avowed, combat was fun, the rpg systems all worked ok and I thought the writting was ok. It lost some momentum before the anticlimactic end, but it was a decent ride and I played to completion.
I hope it does get a ps5 release as decent games in this genre are popular and Im sure many ps5 players will enjoy it.

Great to see the continuing support. Its been a while but I'll definitely fire it up to check out the new additions!

Time to reinstate my ban on E.A titles. I worked there - I know how awful they are for creativity and I expect that to get much worse.
However, everyone makes their own choices.

Lumines Arise. Nothing else even close for me this month.

Stabbed wildly at the first answers that came into my head and still got 8, which Im perfectly happy with!
If you get 15 you need to get out and touch grass! (Not really, congrats).

@Rich33 The figures quoted were for 3 days sales. Should be 50K for the week, so the ratio is not quite as you've suggested It's still a strong showing for the pro in comparison though...

@themightyant its not worth it mate, that particular person is out to paint the PS as a complete disaster with every post. You can see his comments.
"I can hardly wait for the catastrophe that's coming for Sony" was just one recent post and shows the mind set your dealing with here. No proper conversations to be had!

@PuppetMaster A lot of people value having 2tb of storage as standard? When you consider a normal ps5 has a 825GB drive with maybe 680gb left after the OS, in practice you can store almost 3X the amount of games on a pro.
It's the one thing about the pro you hardly ever hear mentioned, yet it's worth at least £100 of its price and is probably a key reason for the 33% (ish) of Japanese players who like to buy digital.
It is surprising figure though, despite my attempts to rationalise it

Just put it out of its misery already. When a game has gone this wrong and been trapped in development as long as this one, it never comes out as a good game. It appears to have nothing to do with the first game either.....

Nice to see. I played a couple of hours of this over the weekend - primarily to stop myself buying gears in the sale!

@themightyant Sorry mate, to me thats like saying "some people like black and white 540p images" Does not compute! 😀

@themightyant Ditto. Ive never understood people who want a scanline filter. Mind you, I dont understand people who want pixelation like a master system game in 2025 either, but it appers everywhere!
I must say, I like what I hear of this game, but given my backlog I must turn away!

I'll never buy a Bethesda shadow drop again. The game is an unoptimized mess and they have done precious little to fix this mess since they dropped it.
I feel stupid for buying into it once. Never again.

Im completely stuck in the pit! Ball x Pit is adictive af.
Im also playing the wonderfully compelling Unicorn Overlord.
I will take some time for Outer Worlds 2 via GP soon, but I suspect I wont get the chance this weekend!

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

So many titles here I wouldnt mind. I dont NEED anything of course, but Im afraid that wont stop me! its about time I picked up Tekkan 8, 60% off is a sweet spot.

Wonderful! I must add this to the schumup collection...

I thought it was a useful mechanic for helping the plot develop. I dont believe the game would have benefitted from more of it, but I liked what was there.

Love this series and I'm delighted it's sold so well.
What other people like is up to them, it certainly won't influence my feelings.
People who state their own feelings are 'the truth' are deluded and not worth having any conversation with.

I really like landing in the welcome hub and have found it useful. Updates are very welcome.

This will launch at about £750, which is competitive for entry level PC's. Power will be between Series S and base PS5.
It won't be picked up instead of a PS5, itll be more enthusiast than that. but as an under TV PC with simple access to your steam library I quite fancy one.

How excellent! I dont know if I'll find time to return, but now I know theres several good reasons to do so.

@Amnesiac I try to buy as much music as I can through bandcamp and save my purchases till Fridays when the Artists get the lions share of any takings.
It helps that I like a lot of obscure and underground stuff you cant buy elsewhere.

I love the game and the soundtrack works perfectly in that situation, but its not something Id play if Im not playing the game.
I cant ever remember playing a game soundtrack when not playing the game. I did discover SoundGarden though via 'Rusty Chain' as the title track on the 3do version of Road Rash. Happy Days!

I didnt personally gell with Expedition 33, but that aside, it clearly deserves a win in several catagories.

Wont touch it with a barge pole. I'm sure it's a bit of extra fun for those already invested in the game, but for me it just means I won't play this game no matter the circumstance.
I was going to say same with EA games, but to be fair, I've tried to not play any EA games for many many years now since I worked for them and saw Evil first hand! A little over dramatic of course, but even 20 years ago there were huge issues with their approach to creativity.
Please note, I'm not here to judge anyone, people can and will do as they will, but I will remain in solidarity with anyone making similar choices.
Have a great day!

Microsoft will be riding this pony at the head of the field and doing anything they can to cut jobs and use AI.
Unfortunately, you can't undo it. It's here, and for those that have no goal except the making of money it will be exploited for all its worth while still claiming there's nothing to see here.
60% of the illustrators and designers I worked with in my Dev days are unable to get employment and are out of work and all of them state its because of AI. Difficult times for many in creative industries..