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
Welcome back to our weekly ‘Eyes of the Week’ article, and a slightly belated Happy New Year to everyone! I’ve got an incredible feeling about 2026; I cant wait to see what’s in store for the gaming world!
Going back in time a little, Lewis got me Contraband Police for Christmas – A game I’ve played on Steam, thoroughly enjoyed, and was happily shocked to see it had come to Xbox! I played through the campaign first, which I finished this week, and I’ve also been spending time in endless mode, up to around Day 50 in-game. I’ve started my second playthrough too, and I’m aiming to get the remaining achievements over the next week or so. I’m considering challenge mode (basically ranked compared to other players), but this will be once I’ve done everything else, minus the upcoming DLC.
Lewis and I have also returned to Phasmophobia after seeing the Diner update, and it has been an absolute blast. I’m around Level 90, and Lewis has now prestiged. I’m trying to gradually learn the ghost abilities so we can advance the difficulty to do 2-evidence runs, but I want to be more confident with them before permanently upping the difficulty. I’m still a scaredy cat and hide whenever the ghost hunts, unless it’s a Deogen, but we all enjoy games in different ways, and that’s ok.
Returning to Overwatch 2 after a month or so off has been enjoyable. I’ve found myself queueing tank and support now, as I’m finding myself becoming more fond of the tank role, but it’ll never overtake support as my favourite. Orisa remains my go-to, but I would still like to spend more time learning D.Va so I can have another hero in my tank hero pool. I’ll admit that three ‘Play of the Game’ highlights in a one-hour session felt pretty good!
Most interesting news of this week: Twitter (X) being potentially banned in the UK.
Looking forward to playing: More of the above!
Robby
After completing the main game (check my review HERE), I’ve been playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension and having a blast. The loop of baking donuts, catching new pokémon and some optional challenges on top, has been oddly addictive. Clocked about 80h in it now.
On Xbox, I’ve been playing Anima Gate Of Memories I&II Remaster. It feels like a PS2-era action RPG, but in all the right ways. Something about this game gives me nostalgia of when I was 15 and playing in my old bedroom at my parents, playing on a way too small TV, but having the time of my life. The story/setting is intriguing, and the exploration is a lot of fun. Bosses are relentless, though, and spam you with ranged attacks 😁 (Check Colombo’s review HERE)
And on Steam Deck, I’ve started playing Septerracore again. An oooooold turn-based RPG inspired by Final Fantasy but with Western point & click narrative adventure elements. It plays terribly on the Steam Deck, since it requires Mouse controls, but I really want to play this on a small screen and in bed 🤣
Most interesting news of the week: Rising costs of RAM make it look like we won’t see the Steam Machine soon, and console costs may continue to rise…
Looking forward to playing: Finishing Anima first, then going back to Spiderman DLC, and then Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC. I’m going to clean up some backlog this year!
Colombo
Since I love the Yakuza franchise, I started playing Judgement, and it has been a pretty good game so far. It’s similar to the Yakuza games in tone and set in the same city as well.
I played through Hidden Cats in Paris, and I had some trouble with making bonus levels unlock as they should have, forcing me to complete the advanced puzzle 3 times. Eventually, I managed to complete it, and it was as fun and simple as the other games in the franchise.
I decided to go back and start both the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX and Fable II: 2 games that I’ve played quite a bit and love. I also played a bit of Marvel Rivals with friends.
Most relevant news of the week: The New Game + conference happened, and showed quite a few interesting games.
Looking forward to playing: More Fable II, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX and Judgement.
Benny
This week, I’ve been playing Baseless for my upcoming review, a challenging, visually striking planet-hopping shooter that blends fast-paced combat with movement-driven gunplay.
I’ve also been playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the first time, and the Switch 2 upgrade makes this classic feel incredibly fun and fresh, and it’s hard to put down.
Another game I’ve been playing, which I recently picked up in the Nintendo Holiday Sale, is Fast Fusion. A spiritual successor to F-Zero, it combines high-speed racing with tight controls, sharp cornering, and boost management, making every race fast, thrilling, and hard to put down.
Biggest news of the week: Xbox have announced a Developer Direct on January 22, promising fresh gameplay from Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and a look at the biggest upcoming Xbox games.
Looking forward to playing: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Baseless.
Derek
Happy Belated New Year Everyone! And what a start to the year it has been with freezing temperatures, Flu season again and a lot of things making us stay indoors. Perfect weather for gaming, I say. So far this year, I have picked up my Meta Quest 3 and revisited Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted VR, and the original FNAF section is still terrifying to play. I also started to replay Moss VR as well, which, if you haven’t played it, is such an adorable, stressful wee game.
Talking of that flu…. I managed to catch it, so my energy levels are really low. As a result, I’m also playing some less intensive games like Stardew Valley. I also got into Blokees over Christmas after getting a Megatron Action Series kit, which was super fun to build.
What did the rest of you do over the holidays?
Most interesting news of this week: Fable – finally, possibly, maybe – getting a release date for this year…soon?!
Looking forward to playing: BrokenLore Unfollow.
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!
