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
It’s been a good week overall. Overwatch has made its consistent appearance in my games currently in circulation. My competitive games are abysmal, with not a single win since I finished my placements, but quick play has been a little more forgiving at times. My current hero rotation is Illari/Juno/Moira, with the occasional Ana/Lucio/Mercy/Zenyatta game. The daily conquest tasks are a huge incentive to play each day, as they earn rewards by completing them.
Of course, I have been waiting for the release of TCG Card Shop Simulator since it was announced for Xbox, and I’ve been on it almost every day since it launched. It’s exactly what I needed, and I’ve made decent progress. I’m not playing with an achievement/completion mindset – I’m playing the game at my own pace and experiencing everything there is to offer. I’ve opened two god packs, got my first ghost card, and I’m happy with the layout of my store! It’ll be something I chip away at over time, but I can’t see myself putting it down any time soon.
Finally, Lewis and I jumped on Phasmophobia for half an hour to complete the weekly challenge mode.
Most interesting news of this week: Seeing Phil Spencer retiring from Xbox and Sarah Bond resigning was a shock to the system this week. Although it saddens me to say this, I’m not confident in the new head after reading ‘Microsoft’s CoreAI Head is new CEO of Microsoft’s Gaming’. I really hope I get proven wrong.
Looking forward to playing: More Overwatch, TCG Card Shop Simulator, and UFOPHILIA.
Robby
I started my week off terribly, with Tokyo Scramble. A game that is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 and looked to me like a Dino Crisis revival, if we were lucky. Turns out we weren’t, and it’s a terrible stealth game with shitty AI dinosaurs and not a hint of fun to be found. It had 1 funny gimmick, and that was putting a raptor on an escalator and seeing it stuck on it. But that was clever for all of 1 minute, when the game asked me to do it two more times on the same level. Expect a more detailed review next week!
And the majority of my time this week went into playing Steam Next Fest demos. Instead of talking about those here, I’ll just LINK you to our team effort article, and you can maybe discover some cool demos that you hadn’t heard of before.
Most interesting news of this week: Bad news week all around: Bluepoint was closed by PlayStation, lots of people fired from sites like Eurogamer and PureXbox, an AI press reviews for Resident Evil made it onto MetaCritic.
Looking forward to playing: Hoping to beat Dragon Quest VII next week, but also having a great time with Collector’s Cove.
Aaron
This week I’ve been playing quite a bit, but mainly finishing up God of War: Sons of Sparta for my review, which you can read [HERE], and also playing through the Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which will be up early next week for its final score.
Other than that, I have managed to squeeze in some time finishing Resident Evil 6 (why did I do this to myself), and also finishing up Resident Evil: Revelations 2 in the run-up to Resident Evil: Requiem. Given how important the franchise is to me, I managed to find a couple of friends who hadn’t played before, so it was a good opportunity to dive back in.
Most interesting news of this week: Phil Spencer retiring from Xbox & Sarah Bond resigning. I wish the new head of Xbox Gaming, Asha Sharma, all the best.
Looking forward to playing: Resident Evil: Requiem!
Colombo
I’m still playing Yakuza Kiwami 3 +Dark Ties for my next review. It’s been pretty enjoyable, but there are quite a few noticeable changes to the original so far, and I’m sure there are more changes I’m yet to see.
I played a little bit of Funguys Swarm, and it’s a very good survivor-like game that does scale in difficulty quite a bit after not too long. It’s also very nice looking.
Neon Abyss is still my Xbox Game Pass game choice for Microsoft Rewards points. There’s still quite a bit to do in it, and playing 15 minutes of an Xbox Game Pass game is still a requirement for a streak bonus.
I also played a little bit of Marvel Rivals and Sonic Racing Crossworlds with my friends again.
Most interesting news of this week: Resident Evil Requiem has just released, I’ll probably be playing it sometime in the next few months.
Looking forward to playing: More Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties and Neon Abyss.
Benny
This week I’ve jumped back into Ball x Pit, and it’s quickly pulled me into that “just one more run” loop again. Progress can feel like a slow grind as I build up my base, but breaking that up with the frantic shoot-’em-up gameplay is exactly where the game shines for me. Every new character you unlock genuinely changes how you approach a level, which keeps runs feeling fresh. You’re also encouraged to replay stages with different characters to progress, so there’s always another goal on the horizon. Each character levels up as you play, and even after sinking more than 24 hours into it, I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. It’s become an easy daily pick for knocking out my Game Pass reward quests, and honestly, I’m always happy to jump in.
I’ve also been spending time with Mario Kart World on the Switch 2, mainly diving into the online Knockout Tour mode I mentioned before. After months of chasing that elusive win, something has finally clicked. I’ve added another first-place finish this week, meaning I’ve now racked up a handful of victories in just a few weeks. It turns out persistence really does pay off.
Rounding things out, I’ve played a few ranked multiplayer matches in Mario Tennis Fever, which has delivered some genuinely intense matches. There’s nothing better than those long, back-and-forth rallies where neither player wants to give an inch. Chaotic, competitive, and a lot of fun. You can read my review [HERE]
Most interesting news of this week: Xbox’s latest console update lets Game Pass Ultimate subscribers stream games at up to 1440p, offering sharper visuals and smoother gameplay on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. The update enhances Xbox Cloud Gaming, improving the experience for players without needing local installs.
Looking forward to playing: Resident Evil: Requiem.
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!
