Eyes on the Week (23rd-27th September)

It’s time to look back on the week we’ve just had! What did the weekdays look like for our writers? What was the biggest news from the week? and what are we looking forward to playing during the upcoming weekend? Our Eyes on the Week article will answer all three of these questions!

We’re curious about your opinion and played games, so be sure to share your stuff on our social media channels!

Victoria

I played through Firewatch, which is on Xbox Games Pass, as I needed to get my final medal on TrueAchievements for the month. I enjoyed the game far more than I anticipated and I hope to get the remaining achievements soon.

Lewis and myself finished our first ‘Die Together’ playthrough of The Casting of Frank Stone. I was a little disappointed at the lack of jump scares, quick-time events, and overall length but I did hugely appreciate all the Dead by Daylight backstory and all the references included. It didn’t quite live up to what I expected but it certainly had its memorable moments.

I completed episode 2 of Life is Strange 2 but I’m unsure if I’ll be playing the rest anytime soon. All I will say is I got extremely annoyed at Daniel for not behaving so I’ll be keeping a closer eye on my decisions from now onwards.

As for multiplayer games, I played some competitive games in Overwatch 2 and ended up in Gold 3 after my placement matches. After that, I only played a few as my teammates were being about as useful as a chocolate teacup. I also played Dead by Daylight as they brought back the Chaos Shuffle modifier which I thoroughly enjoyed the first time it was introduced.

Most interesting news of this week: All the announcements at the Tokyo Xbox Game Show! Mostly not for me but I am interested in Tanuki: Pon’s Summer! Also, it’s time to prepare for the October medals and Trick-or-Treat Event on TrueAchievements.

Looking forward to playing: Dead by Daylight and Overwatch 2. Also, I’m thinking of getting some more achievements in Resident Evil 7 and obtaining the remaining achievements in Firewatch.


Robby

Mostly still playing Astro Bot because I want to get 100% and a friend of my kid deleted my previous ~95% complete save 😬

On Xbox, I’m playing Necro Story, a lighthearted RPG in which you play as a necromancer and can recruit defeated enemies to your team. It’s made by a small Belgian team and I’m helping with the PR, so won’t cover it myself, but I can still appreciate a nice game when I see it 😁

I’m also playing Metal: Hellsinger in VR. I will have a review for this up soon but you can already find my Xbox review [HERE]

Most interesting news of this week: TGS has some announcements for us and with it: The Final Fantasy pixel remasters coming to Xbox!

Looking forward to playing:  I really want to start playing Visions of Mana.


Colombo

I played through Twin Mirror this week. It’s a pretty short game but I did enjoy its story.

I played more The Case of the Golden Idol for easy Game Pass achievements again. I don’t know if I’d be able to finish it without a guide though I never tried the in-game tips.

I also started playing Mark of the Ninja: Remastered. I remember playing the original but I don’t remember if I ever did finish it.

Most interesting news of this week: More Japanese games coming to Xbox and Game Pass.

Looking forward to playing: More Mark of the Ninja: Remastered and The Case of the Golden Idol.


Missi

I started my weekend with The Holy Gash Darn, I was a bit scared of the humor.. as humor can be such a hit-and-miss, but this was a hit with me! And I love the gameplay loop in which you are a time traveller and change things to solve obstacles along the way while you’re trying to save heaven. It reminded me so much of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

I have also played a bunch of Bloomtown: A Different Story. What a lovely indie game which looks like it got its inspiration from the Persona series. One part is life sim to increase your starts and gear, while the other part is going through the dungeon. I’m having a great time with this one and ohh that artwork.. have you seen the artwork? It is beautiful with so many details added.

Last but not least I just finished Fowl Damage when writing this. This is not my typical game. I don’t enjoy precision platformers and most of the time don’t feel smart enough for puzzle platformers. However, this game is such a nice entry for both genres. You play as this egg that breaks very easily (aka you die).. however, you instantly respawn and it has many many checkpoints, so you never lose much progress.

Most interesting news of this week: Xbox adding the newer “of Mana” games to Game Pass. I’m such a sucker for the Mana series as they were one of the first RPGs I played when I was a child. However, I ended my P Gamepass subscription recently, as I barely used it and rarely finished anything on it. A typical case of not using it when you have it and missing it when you stopped the subscription…

Looking forward to playing: So hyped to play Necro Story very soon! The developer’s earlier game Healer’s Quest is such an underrated hidden gem. I’ll also play more Bloomtown: A Different Story.


Benny

This week I’ve been playing Mining Mechs and I completed the main game and the DLC. I’m hoping they will add more in the near future. While it’s pretty simple gameplay mechanics and can get repetitive, it always leaves you wanting to complete one more mining run, which does get addictive. I’ve also been playing more Star Wars Outlaws, spending more time in dog fights in the orbits of some of the planets to get some valuable loot.

Most interesting news of this week: Ubisoft has announced the open-world sci-fi adventure Starwars Outlaws will get its first bit of previously announced post-launch story DLC – starring Lando Calrissian – on 21st November. This will be part of the season pass along with a free update introducing new Contracts for all players arriving on the same day.

Looking forward to playing: A little more Star Wars Outlaws. I’m also in the mood for some racing so maybe get back into  Forza Horizon 5, along with some new Game Pass additions such as Wargroove 2.


Derek

This week I have been going between Hogwarts Legacy and The old school Dungeon Keeper games. I have just been feeling a little nostalgic for games that allow you to be evil, what that says about my personality I can only guess, but I do enjoy the first Dungeon Keeper a lot, especially with KeeperFX the community mod. Hmmm, Should I do a top ten list of games that let you be the villain? Are there ten games that do that? I’ll look into it.

Most interesting news of this week: Sony site putting people in waiting rooms at random numbers again. It worked soooo well last time… And scalpers already putting PS5 Pro online for extortionate prices. Think I’ll just wait.

Looking forward to playing:  I might continue with my nostalgia trip and see what games I haven’t played for years on Xbox… Possibly The misadventures of P B Winterbottom.