What We're Playing: Persona Automata Edition
When put into a clinical context, maybe it's time we stop saying that video games are "addictive," says the New York Times. DJ2 Entertainment is partnering with Compulsion Games and producer Paul Brooks (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Pitch Perfect) to make a We Happy Few movie—but keep in mind DJ2 is also wrangling Blacklight Retribution, Life Is Strange, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sleeping Dogs, and Hawken to the big screen; well, at least to the big screen in your living room. And Waypoint gets deep with a session of Everything that took the author from their hopeful childhood to the ongoing effects of the Big Bang.
What are you playing?
Russell Archey, Staff Writer, @NeoScyther
I recently finished up the main story in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, so I've started up The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+. Being my first actual outing with the series after having watched plenty of it on Twitch, the game is enjoyable but difficult at times, especially when you have no idea what some of the items do until you use them. I'll also probably get back into I Am Setsuna which I haven't touched since launch, mainly because I've been plunking so many hours into Breath of the Wild.
Nathan Carter, Staff Writer, @natedoggcata
This weekend I will be leaving my social life behind and will be returning to high school with a new social life in video game form with Persona 5. I have waited years for this and I'm already six hours or so into it. It was well worth the wait. Everything about this game is fantastic. It oozes style, the music is phenomenal and Atlus has absolutely nailed the gameplay—which is a huge improvement over Persona 3 and Persona 4. I can already tell I am going to sink hundreds of hours into this game and probably play through it multiple times because with the huge amount of things to do. I don't see how it will be possible to do everything and max out everything on a single playthrough.
Chapel Collins, Staff Writer, @ChapelCollins
I still can't stop playing 2001's Ghost Recon. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like I've devolved into a total retro hipster, but oh my God, the game is so good. I just discovered that there is a mod for it, Heroes Unleashed, that a guy spent 15 years of the only life he'll ever have making. This mod adds literally hundreds of weapons, missions, vehicles, etc., as well as totally revamping the game's presentation. Unfortunately, mods and I have a troubled history together, so I imagine a significant chunk of this weekend will be spent attempting to play Heroes Unleashed. I'm sure at some point I'll give up and play more Battlefield 1.
Kinsey Danzis, Staff Writer, kdanzis@gamingnexus.com
Nothing new on the front over here. Due to a severe shortage of time I've still barely cracked Mass Effect: Andromeda (past the main story, that is). I haven't played a video game in earnest for over a week—can you believe it?—and briefly thought it would be a much, much longer dry period when I finally booted it up and was met with a two-hour updating screen. That aside, I'm still (I know, still) working on getting a golden weapon for my main girl Mercy in Overwatch, which is how I'm biding my time until games like RiME are released. Who knows—I might splurge on a PS4 before then so I can actually play Horizon Zero Dawn instead of subsisting on Let's Play videos. It's the waiting game for me on all fronts.
Charles Husemann, Editor-in-Chief, @chusemann
This weekend I'm going to make some time to check out the Dishonored 2 demo. I was a bit wary of making a purchase as I don't do well with stealth games. I'll also be logging heavy minutes with Elite Dangerous and MWO. Both games are super grindy but both are still a lot of fun.
Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, @randykalista
Thimbleweed Park is on the docket. This is one of those Kickstarter success stories, three years in the making. It's a spiritual successor to both Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island, and are certainly made to look and play like they stepped out of a late-'80s/early-'90s time machine. While there's a large window of pixel art to soak in, there's also an overlay of almost Zork-like commands: push, pull, open close, pick up, talk to. Plus you can switch on the fly between the detective agency duo, each with separate inventories, and each with conspicuously shady backgrounds themselves. And there's a foul-mouthed clown that makes everybody—except for himself—contribute money to a cuss jar. There are few things funnier to me than an expertly placed string of bleeps. And it's the explorer's life for me in Elite Dangerous. I'm bouncing through NGC 1514, also known as the Crystal Ball Nebula, somewhere between the Taurus and Perseus constellations. I scan stars, scan planets, scan moons, and take pictures. It's perfect. I haven't physically owned this game for very long, but it's become the most-played game in my (admittedly humble) Steam library's history. Skyrim is still the crown holder (both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4 versions), but Elite Dangerous is on track for a very, very good year with me.
Matt Mirkovich, Staff Writer, @Stillmywords
I've got Persona 5, and I've got NieR: Automata—what more do I need? I'm going for the Platinum trophy in NieR after getting ending E (yes, I did the thing). Now that I know the full story, I'm getting a lot more context in some smaller actions you see characters take. Persona 5 meanwhile, for all of its Youtube kerfluffle, can we talk about the lack of English subtitles during the news reports in the animated cutscenes? For all the "we're delaying this to get JP vocals in the game," this seems like a glaring omission. But the gameplay and story are interesting so far. But NieR! NieR is an absolute masterpiece, and I am fully enjoying this second playthrough.
John Yan, Senior Hardware Editor, @TheJohnYan
This weekend I'll continue my not so fun hording of Elite Dangerous scanning missions. The nerf is coming in a week or less, so might as well grab as my credits as I can before I go back to playing it the regular way. I'm also setting up my underground base in 7 Days to Die. It's coming along well, and I'm kind of anxious to see how it will stand up to a Blood Moon Horde. Finally, I'm going to try to start Mass Effect: Andromeda. It's something I need to see for myself, even if the reviews have been less than stellar.
