The release of a new console is then spent burning through as many of the launch titles as humanly possible. That’s even more true if you’re us, and the days and nights at TSA Towers have been spent blearily looking at the differences between docked and undocked performance, and trying out all our old games to see if they run better (they do!). I’m genuinely really happy to have a console that is a Switch but better, and it’s made a big jump towards what we expect from current gen consoles and handhelds. I’ve been playing a heap of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, loads of Street Fighter 6, a spot of Hogwarts Legacy and plenty of family Mario Kart World. Me and my wife also embarked on a highly romantic playthrough of The Last of Us Remastered, as we approach our 15 year(!) wedding anniversary. That’s true love.
We’re going to start with Steve this week, who’s played a wide range of titles as he hid from the fiery ball in the sky. He tells us, “I cleared the lovely Symphonia on Game Pass (highly recommend for fans of Celeste et al), the clunky but nostalgic Warhammer Space Marine MasterCrafted, finished checking out Next Fest demos and inflated my ridiculous wishlist even more. I also started the excellent Alters (although only played the part I had already done in the demo last year). Finally I got deep into Metroid Zero Mission which is still an astonishingly good game – beginning a full series playthrough to take me up to the launch of Prime 4.”
Miguel had a busy one, playing TRON Catalyst for our review, Elden Ring: Nightrein, Synduality: Echo of Ada, and Girls Frontline 2: Exilium!
Gamoc returned to Atomfall for its Wicked Isle DLC, continued on with Rebellion titles with Zombie Army VR, and then waggled his arms around in Maestro for review. That wasn’t all though, as he tell us, “There was also a bit of Balatro and, miraculously, a few hours of Fallout 4 on my severely under-equipped PC over the weekend. I forgot how awesome mods are and now I don’t want to go back to console.”
Tuffcub has been wrapping up our upcoming review of Death Stranding 2, but has also been playing Destiny 2, presumably. And do you know what? I’ve downloaded it so I can play it too. I was appalled by the 180Gb install mind you, but the new expansion is free on PlayStation Plus.
Keen for a kick-about, Aran has been playing Rematch for review, which has some really interesting ideas on how to handle video game football, and paired that with his old standby, The Witcher 3.
Nic B has had a heck of a week, reviewing Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster, and Survival Kids. He’s also been playing through Split Fiction on the Switch 2 (review to come) and finished Mario Kart World. I think he’s probably exhausted, as he told us, “I have no intention of ever sleeping — I am going to go make another coffee, however…”
Jim has been juggling a few very different games this week. First up was Nobunaga’s Ambition Awakening which he says, “just didn’t hook me in the same way previous instalments have done.” Looking to cross another game off his backlog, he booted up Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey which didn’t start out well, “I initially found it equal parts dull and frustrating, leading me to wipe the game from my PS5. However, the following day I decided to reinstall and give it another shake. With the help of a few guides (the in-game onboarding is lacking) I’m starting to enjoy the game as my primal tribe of apes gradually learn to explore, communicate, and use tools. To cap it off, I’ve been playing Rematch – the new action footie game from Sifu developer, Sloclap.”
Ade has been on holiday in the Lake District this week with the family, so that’s meant lots of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Rayman Legends on the Switch for evening gaming sessions after an epic walk or two! Sounds perfect!
Meanwhile, Reuben has been dealing with the world being a mess by playing a lot of games set ostensibly in post-apocalyptic worlds. He tells us, “I’ve been playing FUGA 3 (review coming shortly), Shin Megami Tensei IV and Stray. The last of which I have finished and didn’t overly enjoy all that much, but SMTIV is an incredible experience, if a little on the long side.”
And finally, Tef has been continuing his charge through the Switch 2’s library. This week’s seen Yakuza 0’s hefty cutscenes occupying him, plenty of back and forth to do our Hogwarts Legacy comparison (so he could use that punny headline he thought of weeks ago), and he’s pulling together patched game thoughts as well. Is that enough to do? Hell no! That’s why he’s been playing a bit of Remedy’s quirky co-op shooter spin-off, FBC: Firebreak. It’s an…. unusual game…
What about you? What have you played?
TSBonyman
I’ve almost completed Act 1 in Tainted Grail. Weird how it’s not affecting everyone equally but the devs are continuing to work on it. Apparently they are waiting on Unity to fix a VFX issue and a new version of Unity engine is in the works so they will test and migrate to that when ready. I’ve really enjoyed what i’ve played so far, 9/10 – but that may well change if i run into the issues that other players have been experiencing.