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
This week, I continued my playthrough of Beasts of Maravilla Island, which I started last weekend. It’s incredibly relaxing and has you taking pictures of creatures and vegetation in the environment, with your goals being to photograph everything possible and experience the phenomenon of the island. It’s been in my library as a ‘Games with Gold’ title so I’m glad I claimed it and got around to playing it.
I’ve been continuing with my grind of Genshin Impact by doing my daily and weekly tasks, and getting close to finishing the battle pass. I have also been completing various side quests, gathering resources, grabbing collectables, and progressing slowly with the main story quest. I have completed everything except the Drills by Lamplight for the Lantern Rite Event as I can’t seem to get the hang of it but I’ll keep trying for that free outfit for XiangLing! Also, doesn’t Hu Tao look adorable in the screenshot I took for this post?! One of my favourites!
As for a couple of extra games I played (Dead Cells, A Little To the Left and 890B), these were only played momentarily to obtain some achievements to finish off my monthly TrueAchievements medals.
Most interesting news of this week: I’m seeing too many people being salty about Forza Horizon 5 going to Playstation this spring.
Looking forward to playing: Genshin Impact and something new, perhaps? I’m not too sure right now.
Dae Jim
I can gladly reveal that I have been playing Avowed. Can’t say anything else… BUT THERE IS A LOT TO WRITE.
Anyway, I have been playing Marvel Rivals too. I’m still figuring out my favorite character, I am leaning towards Thor but destroying teams with Moon Knight is rewarding too.
Most interesting news of this week: Great news everybody! Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PS5. Even less reasons to own an Xbox.
Looking forward to playing: More Avowed.
Robby
I’ve mostly been playing Slay The Spire just before bed with one run each night. I’m enjoying myself, but I do feel like there have been better copycats than the original in the meantime. Most of my runs feel too similar.
I’ve also been playtesting Pirates Outlaws and that has similar issues where the start of each run feels too similar to the previous one. but I do approve of the pirate theme of course. you can check the review for that by Colombo [HERE]
I also played a lot of demos like Disastory and Ruffy and the Riverside (the latter of which will be publicly available as of February 11th).
Most interesting news of this week: OpenCritic updated my account, so I went through 2.5 years of LifeIsXbox reviews and started adding all of them.
Looking forward to playing: I want to get back to High on Life’s DLC so I can put that game behind me ^^
Colombo
This week I’ve played more Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Persona 3 Reload, and Balatro. I also finished playing It Takes Two, which was a great game that I believe did deserve the GOTY award it was given. I also played through Hidden Cats in London, a short but relaxing game to play.
Most interesting news of this week: Forza Horizon 5 being announced for PS5.
Looking forward to playing: More Call of Duty Blacks Ops 6, Persona 3 Reload, and Balatro.
Missi
Let’s first get the obvious one out of the way of what I have played this week… Balatro! I’m not in the mega hype anymore but doing a few runs a week is still so much fun.
I also finished Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection last weekend. Great game, I enjoy the original and I enjoy this one as well. While the store is the same, the game feels quite different.
I played a bit of Bolt Bot Screwy Viruses, which looks great. Sadly, it gives me motion sickness, which means I won’t be able to finish it, but what a great love letter to the old 3D platformers.
Another game I finished this week is Defender’s Quest 2: Mists of Ruin, a story-driven tower defence game. It is great and a good entry into the tower defence genre for newcomers.
And last but not least I started Keep Driving, which is an interesting and fun adventure game about making a road trip toward a music festival, but being able to pick up hitchhikers and having many different endings.
Most interesting news of this week: The Summer Game Fest announcement for the beginning of June. I hope we will also see a new Wholesome Games event, as that is my favorite gaming-related showcase event. (Including buying the new Wholesome Games T-shirt each year :P)
Looking forward to playing: More Keep Driving.
Benny
This week, most of my time has gone into playing Cuisineer, a game I was eager to try after really enjoying Rolling Hill: Make Sushi, Make Friends, which was released on Game Pass Ultimate last year. You can check out my Cuisineer review [HERE] I have also just started playing Eternal Strands, the debut fantasy action-adventure from Yellow Brick Games, which I will be covering in my next review.
Most interesting news of this week: Capcom has announced that they will have two showcases next week. The first will focus on some upcoming games, including Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and right after, there will be a Monster Hunter Wilds stream.
Looking forward to playing: I’m really looking forward to playing more Eternal Strands and also want to check out Shady Part of Me, which has just been released on Game Pass Ultimate.
Derek
I haven’t really had much time for games this week as I am recording 6 Audio Books to help sleep-deprived people get some rest. But what I have been playing when I get the chance is Resident Evil (1996) and Slay The Princess. Plus, I’m going to be starting an old point-and-click adventure called Toon Struck soon as well.
There are 4 games I also have on the go which you will see reviews for very soon, so watch this space. Sorry, it’s a short update this week, but hey better than no update at all.
Most interesting news of this week: BioWare are apparently laying off people after a lack of sales of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and are instead concentrating on Mass Effect from here on.
Looking forward to playing: Terrifier The ARTcade Game is getting a release on Steam at some point and I love the Terrifier series so…yeah I want to play it!

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!