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
A literal mixed bag of games this week for me and it’s nice to have some enjoyment back in playing a variety of games. Continuing on from last week, I’ve kept playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II DMZ with Lewis and working on the faction missions now that the battle pass has been fully completed. Our luck with games has been very hit-or-miss but we’re still having plenty of fun with both the PvE and PvP.
A game that has made its way back onto my radar is Dead by Daylight with the 7th Anniversary Twisted Masquerade event taking place right now. The games have been pretty fair but I’m sad that over the past week, I’ve only seen one Michael Myers. On the overhand, it was the best game I’ve had in ages; If you know what scratched mirror Myers is and know the Midwitch Elementary School map, you’ll understand why it ended up being a great experience.
Other than these two, I also completed the visual novel called Murder on the Marine Express and it was pretty bad in my opinion. One of the worse visual novels I’ve played for sure due to its lack of plot and overall detail. I also played Geometric Sniper and, although this was originally for my TA medals, I’m really enjoying it. I’ve done adventure and elite mode but still have to complete find mode.
Most exciting news of this week: Another month is approaching which means it’s time for the new monthly medal targets on TrueAchievements. PowerWash Simulator just got its new DLC but it seems some achievements might be bugged currently. In addition, Stray coming to Xbox in August is fantastic. I’m going to be spoilt for choice when it comes to my Birthday month for games to play!
Looking forward to playing: Pokémon Y, Dead by Daylight, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and more review games!
Robby
I’ve mostly been playing two games: Costume Quest 2 for the daily MS Rewards. it’s a fun turn-based RPG in a Halloween setting. I recalled loving the first one and this is pretty much more of the same.
But the game that’s been pulling at me to play more is Final Fantasy XVI. It’s such a great surprise: Just enough Final Fantasy to silence the hunger from the fans, but at the same time it has a brutal presentation with allies dying left and right, people swearing everywhere and Game of Thrones-like political intrigues. Funny enough, even though people keep comparing it to Devil May Cry, I think it shares more DNA with another Capcom title: Asura’s Wrath. A strong focus on setpiece cinematics with some fun combat in between. Take a look at the first hour below!
Most exciting news of this week: The Belgian Game Awards are behind us and we know the big winner: Spookware. But many other Belgian games and studios were celebrated! Here is a list.
Looking forward to playing: More Final Fantasy XVI obviously!
Rafael
A slower gaming week for me. Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to finish a few games… but thanks to a bug in The Big Con, I was unable to do so. And Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution is taking way more time than I expected.
Completed some more online achievements for Tomb Raider (Xbox 360) and helped the crew to do the same. While we plan our next sessions for Dante’s Inferno, Dead Rising 2, and Forza Horizon (damn those servers’ closure), I played some Hero Defense, Blue Estate, and Tokyo 42, after finishing Doug Hates His Job.
Most exciting news of this week: Not something ‘new’, but it was nice to know that many studios DO support Game Pass, contrary to what PlayStation head, Jim Ryan said in his testimony.
Looking forward to playing: For the upcoming days, I need to catch up on the last episodes of FTC x MS. And hopefully, focus on the online achievements of Forza Horizon, Dead Rising, and Dante’s Inferno before their servers are gone for good.
Aaron
Hello dear readers! I hope your week has been great and that whatever you have been up to, it has been fun and enjoyable.
This week, I’ve been playing a little bit more than usual while I enter the final stages of releasing my own game. I’ve been pretty tied up with Final Fantasy XVI most of the week but I have also managed to get a few hours in on some review games too.
The Book Walker which is also on Xbox Games Pass game is actually pretty fun & has been my main focus for the 3 games I am currently reviewing. It’s a surprisingly deep game with some good puzzle mechanics, along with turn-based combat elements. Definitely one to try out.
AEW Fight Forever is another wrestling game that has been released this year, and while not as deep as the WWE entries, it’s still a.solid wrestling game with a decent career mode and various other modes to keep you going.
Finally, I also spent a couple of hours in Minabo: A walk through life. A surprisingly hard, yet addictive game about a turnip who must go through life achieving goals, like raising a family, making friends and finding love. It’s a simple game but it’s got some amazing hand-drawn 2D graphics with seasonal changes as the years progress. Very cute!
Most exciting news of this week: The FTC court activity has kept me intrigued all week and seeing some of the stuff come out of the woodwork has been interesting, to say the least.
Looking forward to playing: AEW Fight Forever & Minabo.
Colombo
This week I started playing Deathloop on my Series X, I’m really enjoying how the loop mechanic works and how the story progresses. Now that I’m a Series X owner I see just how good Quick Resume really is, it fits so well with Deathloop as well, considering you can’t save in the middle of a “run”, and I imagine it’s great for roguelikes.
Most exciting news of this week: This involves video games, but it’s more personal: a friend exposing his, and his team’s, game called So Fart Away at a festival here in Brazil called Big Festival.
Looking forward to playing: More Deathloop and another game after I’m done with it, but I am unsure which one yet.
Thomas
I was out on a city trip to London from last weekend since late on Wednesday, so I ended with virtually no time on anything other than Honkai Star Rail. Because doing my dailies on the London Overground, automatically farming some relics on the Thames or doing a quest or two before hitting the hay doesn’t take much time. Wednesday also saw the Silverwolf character banner end and the Luocha character banner begin. While I’m not going for Luocha per sé, I did do a couple of pulls to for Yukong, the imaginary type 4-star character that was also released that day. I was lucky enough to get her in my second 10 pull, which also brings me closer to another 5-star character.
But I did get some time with Final Fantasy XVI that afforded me the time to play through the prologue. It’s a lot more linear than I would have expected, but I’ve been told it opens up a LITTLE bit more. One thing is certain, and that’s that this will be on my Steam wishlist ASAP.
Most exciting news of this week: Baldurs Gate 3’s release date for PC has been moved up to the 3rd of August, while the PS5 has been moved back until the 6th of September. This means Playstation players will have something to occupy themselves with when we all get Starfield 😜
Looking forward to playing: This time I’m really really really intending to finish Tears of the Kingdom.
Missi
I still have been playing Army of Ruin but getting closer and closer to completion and still enjoy it so much.
I’ve also played and completed Kingdom: Eighties. What an amazing game and it looks so stunning with so many small details. I had a lot of fun completing that one.
Since yesterday I have also been playing Cat Lady, a digital version of a card game. The night before I played Dog Lady at a friend’s house during a board game evening and I thought it was fun. Afterwards, I remembered I had the cat version unplayed in my Steam library, so decided to start it.
Most exciting news of this week: That publishers “unanimously” disliked Xbox Game Pass…and other stuff that came from the court case. On a more positive note, I love that 6 more Annapurna games are on their way to Xbox Game Pass
Looking forward to playing: More Cat Lady and Army of Ruin. Would I be able to complete them this weekend?
Genethical
I swear I haven’t been trying to eat at every restaurant in the city in a week or something, it just so happens that I went to 3 or so this week alone. Swept up in social events, I devoted most of my free time to Trepang², a game I have had on my radar for a while. You’ll be able to read my full thoughts on it soon!
We also continued expanding the base in Astroneer. It’s wonderful when an idea for a design just works as it was planned. We are starting to add some automation now (or we’re trying to,) so wish us luck!
Beyond that, I have been checking out two old PCs that landed in my house, one of which being my old Core 2 Duo that I used up until 2012. I’m half tempted to install a version of Windows XP in it and leave it as the Retro Computer.
Most exciting news of this week: On a positive note for a change, the Steam Summer Sale has begun! Spanning from yesterday (29th) till the 13th. However… Even though I said ‘on a positive note,’ 4 items are already in my cart, so not that positive for my wallet, I guess.
Looking forward to playing: I have a blank slate for once! Watchdogs 2 is still waiting for me, though no idea if I won’t get something great in the sale.
Hello, I’m Victoria. I’m from the UK and have been playing video games for as long as I can remember; back on DreamCast. I’ve pretty much fallen for Xbox since I was around eight years old and remember BioShock being my first game on the Xbox360. Although I find it thoroughly enjoyable to not only experience gameplay, I also find comfort in getting lost and engrossed in the online worlds that sometimes differ greatly from what we know. Another side of my Xbox passion would be achievement hunting and gamerscore. I thrive when I hear the little sound of one popping up on the screen and I’m always finding ways to work on my backlog when possible. Horror is my favourite genre so if you have any recommendations, don’t be afraid to send them my way!