Happy Saturday eve! We’ve finally rolled into December, which means it’s friggin’ freezing outside in many places. But hey, perfect weather to stay inside and play some video games, preferably with a warm drink of one’s choosing. But if you’re unsure of what to play, we have a few recommendations for what to check out.
This weekend we’re taking a look at some tactical, and stealthy, third-person shooters, some Marvel shenanigans, and more.
Let’s get into it!
Elden Ring Nightreign: The Forsaken Hollows
Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Playable”)
Current goal: Not get lost
I told my friends to hop on at 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday morning to dive into Nightreign’s DLC with me. I dared them to chicken out. Told them just to pink me if they end up hopping on. Only to instead fall asleep myself at 9:00 a.m while putting the kids to bed. I tried a couple runs with randos the following day but, man, did it not go well. Have I played this game before? Had they? Didn’t feel like it!
I feel the same way about Forsaken Hollows as I did about Nightreign at first: are they serious? I’ll be diving in full-tilt this weekend to find out the answer and see if I can finally start wrapping my head around the new map. – Ethan Gach
Destiny 2: Renegades
Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Unsupported”)
Current goal: Defeat temu-Kylo Ren
It feels kind of good and very weird to be back playing Destiny 2 around the holidays again, something I’ve done every year except last for a decade. The new Star Wars expansion is very well done, if seemingly pretty short. It feels a bit like a Star Wars-themed one-off episode of a Rick and Morty or Family Guy, except it’s deathly serious. I’m not sure what it says about the future of the sci-fi MMO just yet, but there’s some really neat stuff here and I’m not done checking it out yet.
Whether I commit a dozen hours to grind for every lightsaber color, well, we’ll see. – Ethan Gach
Arc Raiders
© Screenshot: Embark Studios / Kotaku
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Verified”)
Current goal: Avoid the intervention my friends are staging (and work on my PvP game)
Of course I’m playing Arc Raiders this weekend. Just like I did last weekend. And last night in fact. And this morning. God forbid a girl love a video game.
I’ve hit the level cap. I’ve got no quests to do. My expedition project is loaded up and ready to go when the window opens. Right now, most of what I’m working on is finding blueprints, playing a bit of Rescue Raiders by setting up my watch as a sniper and helping players successfully get to extraction (I took out a rat yesterday from like 300 meters away. It was awesome). Honestly, providing overwatch for other players is proving to be one of the most rewarding playstyles I’ve come across yet, though maybe I’ll try my hand at selling fruit or snapping some nice shots of the battlefield, too.
But I really do need to work on my PvP game. Especially if I’m to be of any use to Raiders in need. I’m getting jumped fairly regularly and seem to have lost the impulse needed to fight back. Instead, I’m kinda fumbling around with gadgets as I try to get away and pull off something that in my head is cool, but clearly isn’t working out.
It’s hard to exclusively drill PvP in Arc Raiders without turning into a giant dick and opening fire on random people. But I’ve got a healthy arsenal of weaponry burning holes in my stash, and someone’s gotta pull those triggers. – Claire Jackson
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Unsupported”)
Current goal: Actually match into a game of Fox Hunt
MGS Delta, the fabulous remake of Snake Eater, recently got a multiplayer mode and…I wish I could tell you about it! It seems no one’s playing it. I’ve tried to match three times this week, only to sit and stare at the screen for more than five minutes at a time before I just give up and load up Arc Raiders instead.
The brief preview that exists looks promising. It’s really just an overview of the mechanics, including the special camo unit that’s somewhat reminiscent of MGS4’s Octocamo, which let you change camo patterns on the fly. I really want to play with some folks and see what the latest iteration of Metal Gear Online is like.
At least there’s a phenomenal single-player campaign I can fall back on, and I’ve been neglecting the higher difficulties Snake Eater, in my humble opinion, is of the weaker stories and campaigns of the series, but this year’s revisit makes for a dramatically better return to the fictional jungles of Russia. – Claire Jackson
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
Play it on: PS5, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Unknown”)
Current goal: See if I can stand it
I love me a good fighting game, and I love me a Marvel game that lets me play as Star-Lord, but I’m worried if Arc System Works’ Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is gonna hit for me. The 4v4 anime fighter has a lot of characters to manage at once, and as someone who likes to get really good with one or two characters, learning four of them sounds pretty overwhelming. That said, I love Arc System Works’ games like Persona 4 Arena, so I can at least give it a shot. The beta is running this weekend, and I’m gonna see if I can find four characters to make up my squad and complement Star-Lord. Wish me luck! — Kenneth Shepard
Horses
Play it on: Windows PCs (Steam Deck: lol, no)
Current goal: Figure out if it was worth all the hoopla
Another game I’m gonna try and carve out time for this weekend is Horses. This horror game has been banned from multiple storefronts, has a lot of uncomfortable subject matter, and is causing a lot of debate about censorship and the storefronts we buy video games from. It also seems pretty divisive, as some people think it’s a great horror-based social commentary and others think it’s not worth the hype. I’m gonna see if I can stomach some of the stuff it’s apparently talking about, and then see if any of this controversy was merited, or if we’re all yelling about something we’ll forget about in a month. — Kenneth Shepard
And that wraps our picks for this weekend. Happy gaming!
