What You've Been Playing This Week

[MarioMark]

Ghost of Tsushima - PS4 version on PS5. I'm trying to platinum this. I'm about 35 hours in, at hour 14 I got to the 2nd act but I've put the main story to one side and focussed on doing all of the side quests before continuing the main story. It took a while to click but now I love this game. It's looks incredible at 60 FPS.

Halo Infinite - Xbox Series - I posted in the first play thread, I've been doing side quests after finishing the main campaign at launch. I've been alternating between the Series X and S version (in different rooms) and it holds up surprisingly well on Series S. Also, if you can find a buddy to play with I recommend team doubles in mutiplayer, 2 v 2 is great fun.

[fuse]

Air Twister - finally got the clear on this, landing 62nd on the leaderboard out of some 300,000 odd folks who probably took one look at it and ran for the hills. I shall retire my flying goose and hang up my crossbow for now.

Vampire Survivors - went back to this deceptively complicated little thing, that at first seems almost like a spoof (remember those 'idle' games where stat logs and numbers just go up endlessly?) but turns out to be fairly strategic and with a relatively impressive amount of depth. Think I have 'completed' it now, so it'll be casual, infrequent dips in from now on to cross off the last achievements.

TOEM - well damn, if this isn't just the most perfectly charming little adventure game. You bumble about taking photos of things to cross off various goals that are set for you, but it's all very low pressure, chilled out beyond belief, and just stuffed full of charming characters and moments. Don't let the monochrome put you off; it has a great art style (inc. great fonts!) and moves about in a really slick and pleasant way. Was free on PS Pauper the other month, and cannot recommend it enough as a nice little palate cleanser.

Observation - saw a lot of excitement regard NoCode getting to work on a Silent Hill game, so figured I'd check out some of their other games. This one's a tight little 6ish hour sci-fi thriller, and I thought it was great! There's a couple of movies it reminded me of, but name dropping them would likely ruin the experience, so let's just say that it does smart things with both its story and its mechanics that really draw you in. Does a really good job with the visual effects too as your perspective shifts about between different screens, cameras, and interfaces too, which really helps draw you in. Top stuff.

[Neon Ignition]

Literally bits and bobs of all sorts. Minor progress on many fronts amidst waned interest the last few weeks

[Atticus]

Finished Cyberpunk 2077 late last week, one of the best games I've played in a while. And this left my schedule clear for some MWII action. Been getting a few rounds in here and there and having a great time.

[QualityChimp]

Deffo need to get my arse in gear and finally play Cyberpunk 2077.

[wakka]

Yeah I'm scheming on doing the same now too. Need to clear Planescape: Torment first though. Can't be doing two RPGs at the same time.

[wakka]

Now that I think about it, I'm unsure whether this should be in the 'What retro are you playing?' thread, but, eh.

Continuing to play Planescape Torment, anyway.

Something that is really interesting about this game is that in some ways, it has a remarkably similar storyline to the film Memento. The game was released in 1999 and Memento was 2000 (but obviously worked on long before that), so I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence or what, but it's certainly something that struck me as I played it last night.

Both concern amnesiacs who move through a world where others know and recognise them, but who they cannot remember. Both protagonists have left notes for their future selves, knowing they would not remember their past. And both are unclear on whether to trust those who appear to be their friends.

It's probably a case of simple coincidence, but in any case it's a happy one. I'm really quite intrigued by the plot of this game.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm just past halfway through GTAV again on Series X whilst being also just past halfway through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's campaign which is sagging in the middle atm. Picking at achievements in Telling Lies also

I'm on Chapter 5 on Yakuza Zero on Deck

[Dogg Thang]

For some reason I have ended up playing Dead Space again. It still plays great after all these years. It’s very samey but manages to keep a sense of progression so avoids getting boring. I have hit a severe difficulty spike in chapter 5 though. It was plain sailing up to now. A good game! If I see it through to the end, I might move right on to 2. I have 3 as well and that’s one I have never played.

[randombs]

Resident Evil 2 (PS5)

Crikey, this is pretty scary! Playing it on easy and sprinting everywhere instead of creeping around seems to help me overcome the jump scares. I’m not sure why exactly. Maybe it’s because I’m always expecting a surprise when bursting into a room? It works for regular zombies, at least, although I’ve been scared ****less by a few Lickers and their ear-piercing screeches.

I’m going through as Leon and am currently playing hard to get with Mr. X. I’m quite low on ammo but I just got the Magnum which is wonderful.

I’ve never got on well with Resi games - I’d always leave them for a week or so, forget what was going on and give up - so I’ve been playing this every night to keep on top of things and it’s very enjoyable.

I’m about to finish up at the Police Station and start making my way towards the sewers…

[Atticus]

^^^ Dead Space and Resi 2 … what a couple of corkers chaps

My relationship with MWII went from fun to somewhat less fun so I’ve cashed out and will save the voucher for Ragnarok.

[nonny]

Modern Warfare II on Series X... Finished the campaign on veteran and don't recommend it as there's some real difficult spikes and horrible bullet sponge armoured enemies.

Stick to Hardened or Normal.

Actual story was decent though and missions were fairly varied.

On Steam Deck:

God of War
Zelda Breath of the Wild

[randombs]

This morning at 2am I bought a code for Gran Turismo 7 (PS5) from someone on Yahoo JP. The seller was also burning the midnight oil, for they sent the code within a few minutes

I’ve never got on well with the GT series but a coupon dropped the price to a ridiculous ¥500 (£3) so I decided to give it a chance.

Music Rally was fun, although I really didn’t appreciate the snarky “Now you can play Gran Turismo 7” message that popped up after I finished the race.

I’m typing this post during the seemingly unskippable intro. You’re on thin ice, Yamauchi.

[wakka]

£3?! That is an incredible price!

[randombs]

Yep

I had a nice hour with GT7 tonight and I must say, it’s a lot of fun.

Driving round a single corner, repeating it umpteen times until I finally get a bronze medal is gaming bliss.

It looks beautiful and playing with the DualSense is out of this world. I usually disable the adaptive triggers but they’re great in this.

I really wish the Xbox had haptic feedback. Whenever I go back to it after a while with the PS5 it just feels… ancient.