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
Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express has been the game I’ve spent 90% of my week playing and I’ve finally managed to conclude my case and the game with just a few miscellaneous achievements missed along the way. I’m sure I’ll find the time to go back to grab them when I have some free time but, for now, I’m focused on writing my review.
My biggest mistake this week was starting Emily Wants to Play as my horror game for this year. It had me throwing my controller and headset on the bed (Well, Lewis’s headset) when I got jump-scared. As I hate clowns, I thought this would be the worst thing for me to handle… However, Chester was a force to be reckoned with too. I’ve only got to 3:00 AM, and although I would like to complete it, I don’t know if my body and soul will be able to cope with the future hours.
To relax on Thursday night and Friday, I have been writing my reviews and I have also started Mineko’s Night Market which has recently been added to Xbox Games Pass. As soon as I noticed this, I watched the trailer and was instantly captivated by the sight of cats being everywhere! They need to be saved! It’s a very cosy game that I can see myself sinking time into so I look forward to playing more in the colder months while snuggled up in bed with my hot chocolates!
Most interesting news of this week: Microsoft will be blocking the use of third-party accessories later this month which could affect many people in regards to what controllers they use. Also, I was happy to see an update on the development of Control 2 as it feels like ages since I played the first.
Looking forward to playing: Diablo IV, Deflector, Truck Driver – The American Dream, Mineko’s Night Market, and Emily Wants to Play if I can stomach it.
Thomas
It seems like my life has a habit of getting in the way of my game time as of late, meaning I didn’t really get up to much as I had to travel on short notice. This week I only really had time for a bit of Final Fantasy XIV where I started levelling the Marauder, which turns into Warrior, class. It’s no longer my first rodeo, so levelling it is going rather smoothly. I’ve had the glamour for it ready for ages too. Aside from that, the new Fall Guys collaboration event also started, quite literally bringing the fun and whimsy of Fall Guys to Eorzea. It’s been moderately surreal to play through the shows in a way that approximates the Fall Guys experience all within the Final Fantasy XIV framework.
I also played some more Honkai Star Rail where I further solidified a team with Topaz & Numby. I uhh, had lots of time in the car when I was not the one driving to and from the south of France.
Most interesting news of this week: I saw Microsoft will make non-licensed peripherals incompatible with the Xbox consoles. My immediate thoughts go out to players who maybe built their own fighting game controller (the big, arcadey kind) and players who might use highly specialized controllers due to a disability. Something I hope they’ll quickly reconsider.
Looking forward to playing: Anything really: Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, FFXIV,… So long as I get more time again.
Colombo
I’ve been playing My Time at Sandrock for an upcoming review; it’s been a pretty relaxing experience. It reminded me of how the Harvest Moon series made me feel and definitely has some inspiration from it.
Most interesting news of this week: Microsoft blocking third-party accessories, increasing Xbox Series S prices in Brazil, and it seems like they “nerfed” Microsoft Rewards points gained from at least one quest again.
Looking forward to playing: More My Time at Sandrock, and maybe something else.
Missi
I have not gamed as much this week as I hoped to do. Only played a little bit of Ooblets, which I still enjoy but it doesn’t pull me in the way I hoped it would be. I was hoping it would consume me and that I would play it every free minute I had, but (gladly) not every game can do that.
Yesterday I played a small Tower Defense game called Zombo Buster Rising. A fun game and I was so glad that you could upgrade and boost yourself a lot. I suck at TD games while I do enjoy them, I just don’t get it somehow, but this was one I could complete and unlock all the achievements.
And today the newest Iron Marines, aka Iron Marines Invasion, was released and I’m having so much fun with it. In my opinion, the Iron Marines series is the best series from Ironhide Games, but that might also be the case because as stated above, I just suck at Tower Defense game, and this is an RTS game. I have started it on hardcore.. because there is an achievement for playing through it on that difficulty level, but I doubt I’m that good, we will see 😛
Most interesting news of this week: The news about the controller support for Microsoft sucks a bit. I hope everybody who uses an unofficial gamepad because they need to will still be able to use it. Other Xbox news that is weird is about the staff of Microsoft not having GamePass through the company anymore. Only those who work directly on Xbox will still have it as far as I understand. Then some good news, Discounty got a publisher. I’m happy to see that as I’m always hyped for a Shop Sim. They are just so interesting and there aren’t enough of them. I really hope this one is awesome and will do really well.
Looking forward to playing: More Iron Marines Invasion, as I only did the first 5 levels so far.
Genethical
I got to try several games this week! One thing many of you don’t know about me is that I quite enjoy sad and even depressing games. Why, one of my favourite games of all time is Pathologic, not the 2019 remake, but the original from 2005. And in that vein, I got to try Rain World this week! An incredibly punishing exploration and survival game that throws you as one of the weakest animals of a brutal ecosystem where anything that doesn’t want you dead could still contribute to your demise.
A few days later, I got reminded of one of the games of my youth and, much to my surprise, it is now available on Steam! So I immediately bought Hexplore and began reliving the memories of 7-year-old me playing the demo over and over. Hopefully, I’ll get to finish it this time!
And that’s without mentioning the usuals, Noita for my downtime and Phasmophobia and Remnant: From the Ashes with my group.
Most interesting news of this week: Steam has announced (technically last week) a change in the way they will handle regional pricing in South America and Turkey. While the news was aimed at Argentina and Turkey, there are several regions affected. The change is sadly not in favour of the consumers, but it is hard to argue with it when the economic situation and the buying power of some of those currencies are in such dire straits.
Looking forward to playing: Simple enough, Rain World and Hexplore, of course!
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!
