Steelhead

I have the week off work. I'll be taking a break from Xenoblade Chronicles X and playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Hopefully I can get the game finished this week, but with the glorious weather we're having at the moment my wife will likely drag me outside a fair bit.

I've been wanting Boltgun for a while, but every time it was on sale I was too skint to get it. Worked out for me in the end. Will probably give Balatro a go, see what all the fuss is about.

Will be getting it for my birthday next month. I have the week booked off work.

I'll be getting Expedition 33 for my birthday next month. Will get the Oblivion remaster further down the line as I still have a long way to go in Xenoblade Chronicles X.

@sanderson72 they say early in the stream that their using the base PS5. Didn't notice any jerkyness myself, but I'm bad at noticing things like that.

@sanderson72 PlayStation Access did a stream earlier today using a base PS5 and it seemed to run very well. That's just based on one 90 minute stream though, may be worth looking for other sources too.

High On Life on PS5, and Final Fantasy VII on Switch.

My wife and I both got the Plat for It Takes Two a few days ago. We'll be leaving Split Fiction for a while as I'm just about to start a new job and have to travel for training.

After finishing Titanfall 2 I've made a start on God of War.

I had no gaming plans as I have a kidney infection and didn't have the energy or concentration to game. So I effectively just gained five free days of PS Plus.

Finished Ys X: Nordics and Little Nightmares this week. Now I'm playing Titanfall 2, picked it up for £3 in a recent sale just to do the story mode.

@Foxhound I'm about halfway through Ys X and I've actually been finding it a bit underwhelming. Combat and exploration both feel lacking compared to earlier entries. For me the old multi-character with varying damage types was really a core part of the series and Ys X is struggling to impress without it. The new combat is growing on me though, so things may improve.

@Lup somehow I've not gotten around to either of the new GOW games. Now that their both on plus I should probably get that done. At some point.

Ys X: Nordics and possibly some It Takes Two.

It's absolutely OK for games to have difficult mechanics like this.
Personally, I know I won't be trying POE2 because I don't like my limited gaming time to be wasted by losing resources that I can't get back. But many people don't feel the same way and it's great that there are games to match their tastes.

Not every game needs to be for everyone, nobody can play every game after all.

Does the digital sales figue include money spent on subscription services such as PS Plus, Game Pass and Nintendo Online, I wonder? If so that could be skewing the figures slightly. Either way it's clear that physical sales have fallen off hard.

Just have the Great Master Challenge to do in Astro Bot. It's been a bit frustrating, have nearly done it several times, only to just fall short.

Also will return to Baldur's Gate 3, previously put it down due to catching the flu and forgot about it for a while. My co-worker has been telling me about her playthrough and it's rekindled my interest. I just hope I can remember how to play.

Playing through it now and I've loved every minute of it (except To the Beat, that level can just do one). Platformers aren't a favourite genre of mine but this game is up there with the likes of Rayman Legends and Shovel Knight as the best of the genre for me.

Bought Astro Bot for my kids for Xmas, and absolutely, definitely, not for myself. We've been having a great time, I'm already over fifty percent done.

Also a bit of It Takes Two with the wife. We're planning to get the Plat together, which will be her first.

Merry Christmas and Happy Gaming to everyone.

Just got the Plat for Bugsnax, I'll probably play some Hades. Not getting into anything else right now as I have new games coming on Xmas day.

@16BitHero the main two issues I usually have with rogulikes are bad story/motivation and a lack of meaningful progress every time you play. Hades seems to do a good job of addressing both problems, and has great gameplay. I don't see myself being converted to the genre either.

Hades. I don't usually like roguelites/likes but I've always liked the audio/visual style of Hades so I finally decided to get it from the recent sale.

So far I'm really enjoying it. Managed to clear Tartarus on my third run, was my first time using the bow. Still have a long way to go overall, but now that I've finished Bugsnax I think I'll devote some time to it.

Intergalactic, Onimusha and Project Robot all caught my attention, but I'll need to see a lot more to be sure. Split Fiction looks great, currently playing through It Takes Two with my wife and loving it so will likely give this a go.

I want to finish off the last two episodes of The Wolf Among Us and start Bugsnax if I get the chance.

Resistance: Fall of Man and The Wolf Among Us.

I've grown a bit tired of Final Fantasy XIV currently so on a whim I started playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune via streaming. To my surprise it runs buttery smooth, at least until my kids all start playing Fortnite on Switch.

@z0d15g0d @LowDefAI summed up what I was going to say perfectly, so I'll just add that Shadowbringers/Endwalker are widely considered to have the best Final Fantasy stories ever. The first two expansions are also notably better than ARR, which is the weakest part of the experience. Its still worth playing though due to the character development that is spread throughout the base game and expansions.

Not much on the 2025 horizon for me so far, just Trails through Daybreak 2 and Ys Memoire.

8/10 for me. Overall a really great game, with a few minor disappointments;

1. The first game did a better job of making you feel like a space marine. Even the basic enemies in SM2 can tear you down quick if your not careful. I think SM1 handled the enemy balancing and health systems better.
2. The story mode is great but could be more well fleshed out. I think the operations mode should have been scrapped and its contents rolled into the main plot. The way the first enemy faction were dealt with in the back end of the story was unfortunate.

Still great though, the long wait and anticipation has probably amplified my disappointment a bit.

My copy of Space Marine 2 arrived early so I've been playing that today. Will be playing co-op Sackboy with the wife later.

My personal favourite of the series. Mostly due to the much more robust and well presented story mode.

Currently playing through the trilogy on normal for the sake of nostalgia. Will save a hard playthrough for if the trophies arrive.

Timesplitters alone has me happy, rest of the lineup doesn't have anything for me but it's not bad I'd say.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner as an FF fan my advice is to think of each expansion as a standalone FF game. I've never played any other MMO, but love FF14. I just play an expansion then take an extended break and play something else for a while.

I hope Titus meets Leandros again. That will be a scene worth watching.

@Taiiromo Yeah it's tough to find the time. Sometimes I know I'll like a game but also know that I won't have the time to truly savour it and give it the attention it deserves.

Sad to say but I've learned that it can be better to let a game slip by instead of trying to rush through it.

I hope Eiyuden lives up to your expectations. Happy gaming.

@Taiiromo Suikoden was just one of those series that managed to pass me by. I didn't have a PS1, so couldn't have played the earlier ones. As for the PS2 releases my limited spending power let them fall through the cracks.

These days my lack of free time means that I rarely play more than 4-6 big games in a year and have to be very selective. From the start Eiyuden Chronicles fell in to my 'interesting but lacking in that something special' category.

Despite being a huge jrpg fan this has never appealed to me for some reason. It may be down to the fact I have no nostalgia for Suikoden, or perhaps just because playing a game with such a large cast sounds tiresome.

I'm sure many people will enjoy it though so I'm glad it seems to be reviewing well considering the long wait many have had.

I'm in the 2nd wave of preorders. Can't wait, sounds like a great game. I've had to listen to my FIL going on about the game for months.

I tried the demo and it just isn't for me. The lack of input in battles and the time limit in battles put me off it.

It's a shame as Vanillaware is one of my favourite developer but this is two games in a row that have missed the mark for me, the other being GrimGrimoire.

The combat system and the story padding were the two things I didn't like about the first, and it doesn't seem like much has changed there. Kind of dulls my excitement for the game but I'll likely pick it up eventually, when the feeling takes me.

Definitely more Helldivers 2, and probably keep working towards the Plat for Granblue Fantasy Relink.

One aspect of design I like from the game is the many ways you can make yourself useful to the team. I'm not very experienced at online shooters so I've been using the supply backpack stratagem to help out as a sort of ammo mule for the team. Can make all the difference in longer fights.

Having great fun with this, despite my usual preference for single player games. Only real issue I've had is the inconsistent nature of random players. Would be good to find a regular group.

I'm in the last story chapter of Granblue Fantasy Relink, so I'm planning to get that done. Also hoping to jump into Helldivers 2 for the first time.

I'll be getting started with Granblue Fantasy Relink. I have next week off work and I'll be spending most of that playing it too.

Loving the design of that Tonberry King. Different, yet familiar.

Final Fantasy XIV. Just finished the first expansion, Heavensward. Still have about 16 days left on my timecard so I'll probably mess about with trying out a few different jobs.

@SonOfPSXDave I'd say that Dragon's Crown is the weakest of their titles that I've played. 13 Sentinels, Odin Sphere and Muramasa are all much better offerings.