I’ve had a great week of gaming this week. I’ve just really enjoyed myself, and a lot of that seems to come down to my returning addiction to Overwatch. The community has blossomed with the introduction of the five new characters, and everything feels somehow fresh and new, while also being reassuringly locked down. I know I enjoyed my time with Highguard, but, with limited competitive gaming time, it’s got to be Overwatch for me. I, perhaps, shouldn’t still be playing it at 1AM, but, what are you going to do? Sleep?

Jason has been playing Skyrim, which he’s playing with mods for the first time. He says, “I’m enjoying the mix of nostalgia and cool new spells a lot. I’ve also been playing more Lort, which is an excellent roguelike which might have broken the balance with the latest character, but I’m not complaining.”

Aran finished The Man Who Erased His Name, which he says, “Was a great Yakuza spin-off. I enjoyed playing as Kiryu and wandering around Osaka playing through a standard over the top Yakuza storyline. The ending was great and very emotional.

Gamoc has been played Styx for review. He also started NG+ in Spidey 2 since it’s on PS+, while also starting Phantom Doctrine, “Because it was £1-odd on Switch.”

Jim has been glued to Red Dead Redemption all week, again. He said, “For the past several hours, I’ve been roaming Mexico, crossing off side quests and challenges before heading back up north. I remember finding this middle act fairly boring during my initial playthrough many years ago though now I have a much greater appreciation for it and clever shift in tone/setting. I’m unsure whether I’ll go for the platinum trophy though I intend to at least finish the main story and Undead Nightmares.”

Laura has been trying out Planet of Lana 2 for review this week – she says, “So far I’ve “squee-ed” (I’m pretty sure that’s a word) at least nine times at how adorable Mui is and “flargh-ed” (yep, that’s a word too) several times at how perfectly tricky the puzzles are! I’ve also been enjoying all the new updated content and improvements to Absolum with Ade – it’s now even better than before!”

Ade confirmed, “Oh yes! Let me tell you, the Absolum devs have clearly been working hard post-launch and have now fixed all of the roguelike related issues I brought up in my review. As a result, Absolum is now more than likely the best side-scrolling beat ’em up I’ve ever played!”

Steve has been writing a heck of a lot this week, while also fitting in some of his own gaming too. He said, ” I managed to spend some quality time playing through Lost Records: Bloom and Rage in an effort to clear some space on my PS5 for a big download which I ended up installing on PC instead. That big download is my current play but I am not allowed to speak of it. I also made a start on Son of Sparta, which is  a perfectly solid search adventure game but hasn’t really got going yet. Aesthetically, it reminds me of a dialled-down Prince of Persia but doesn’t have the fluidity or innovation (especially the map screenshot feature) of Ubi’s most recent iteration. Whilst commuting, I enjoyed finishing Gumball in Trick or Treat Land, a modern GBC JRPG that I’ll have the review up for soon.”

Tef has swanned off to Munich to check out the latest updates to Rennsport, though he’s also spent a lot of this week squinting into the Nintendo Virtual Boy. Fancy!

What about you? What have you played?

I’ve been ill. Wallowing in a horrible flu-ridden morass, and sleeping a hell of a lot. I have had some companions through this Lemsip-flavoured fog, though, and I’ve especially loved my time with Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road. This is a football game that doesn’t feel like a football game, and it’s just a cracking JRPG that happens to feature kicking a ball. Besides that, I’ve been playing the demo for Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and that’s just lovely, while I’ve been balancing things out with Avatar: Frontier of Pandora’s bombastic newest expansion, From The Ashes.

Gamoc was first up this week, and he’s played Ghost of Yotei, Borderlands 4, and also delved into Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, though he worries, “I’m trapped beneath countless open-world games!”

Jim has been revisiting a couple of his favourites after wrapping up his playthrough Mafia: The Old Country (which was also a great game). He says, “For the first time in many months, I stepped back into the sandbox realm of Calradia for Mount & Blade 2’s War Sails expansion. As the name implies, this DLC is all about naval gameplay, having also introduced a Viking-influenced faction. I’m learning the ropes of how to run my own ship while making lucrative trade runs between cities, hoping to save enough to buy a big ‘ol warship.”

He continues, “I’ve also been playing Warhammer 40,000: Darktide after picking up the post-launch character DLCs. The nimble, punk-styled Hive Scum is fun to play as though I’ve decided to main the Arbites class, channelling my inner Judge Dredd as I dole out justice beneath the Undercity.”

Meanwhile, Aran has played a bit of Star Wars Outlaws, but most of his time has been split between Big Hops and MIO: Memories In Orbit for review.

Ade “thinks” he finished Hades 2 this week. That’s not due to some Roguelike dementia, but rather the difficulty level, saying, “There’s a few challenges remaining but they are well beyond my abilities. All in all, what an incredible game!” He also played ‘real-life’ games, telling us, “My son and I had an epic battle of Warhammer 40k down our local games shop. His Tyranids versus my Battle Sisters, pretty much everyone died after an epic battle, with us drawing on victory points. It was great fun and we’re booked in again for a rematch next week!”

And finally for this week, Tef has been having fun with skirting board in his free time, so hasn’t really carried on from his holiday Switch 2 gaming. And the thing that he has played? He can’t tell you about it until Monday.

What about you? Have you played any New Year games?

It feels like I’ve spent most of this week playing the game ‘avoiding the Christmas crowds’, but I did get to enjoy my own version of Thanksgiving where I just watched NFL for six hours, and didn’t have to think about turkey for another month. In terms of gaming, I’ve been playing a truckload of Octopath Traveler 0, as well as some more Tomb Raider Definitive Edition and Kirby Air Riders. Besides that, I’ve been checking out Assetto Corsa Rally, and messing with GeForce Now across a bunch of platforms to see how it performs.

First up this week, Gamoc has played Sweet Surrender for review, as well as Halls of Torment and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Bizarrely keen to try and take on the Marvel Rivals PlayStation Cup challenge next week, Ade has been practicing by polished off his review of the retro-styled scrolling beat ’em up Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The embargo for that is on Monday, so check out his review then!

Meanwhile, Jim has had a much quieter week. After flitting between a glut of new multiplayer games, he’s back to Ghost of Yotei as he focuses on finishing the main quest.

Aran has been playing Duskpunk for review, which is a mix of Citizen Sleeper meets the rough life in a town full of opportunities and misfortune. Sounds great to me!

Steve has been playing the natural pairing of Terrifier: the Artcade game and Spongebob Square pants: Titans of the Tide. This weird gaming concoction has had mixed results, with Steve telling us, “The first was unfortunately pretty rubbish but the second is a solid, albeit short, 3D platformer” He continued, “With those wrapped, I’ve moved onto an indie space horror that’s been years in the making and is wonderfully atmospheric.”

And finally, Tef has been curling himself up into a ball for an upcoming review, while also dabbling with some upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide DLC, and dipping into some cheap Black Friday sale pick ups, like Loop Hero.

And what about you? Have you played anything this week? Why not tell us about it!