What we're playing: Forza Ruiner
After two years, SAG-AFTRA comes to an agreement with selected video game companies, ending the voice actors' strike. Gaming hardware developer Razer is releasing a gaming-focused mobile device "by the end of the year." And there are 50 colleges across America, right now, offering partial scholarships to esports players.
What are you playing?
Sean Colleli, Staff Writer, @scolleli
I'll be starting Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions for an upcoming review. I never got around to playing the original Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and considering it kicked off an entire RPG side-series, I'm intrigued to finally take a crack at it. I might also re-tool my RetroPie build, because I have a snowball's chance in Magmoor Caverns of landing an SNES Classic this weekend.
Charles Husemann, Editor-in-Chief, @chusemann
This weekend will largely be more Destiny 2. I'm not quite raid ready but I have enough light/power to do the Nightfall strike. Now it's just a matter of finding a few folks to do it with me. I'm still digging the game but I'm already starting to get sick of killing the Modular Mind—who I'm calling Sepiks Prime 2 now.
Outside of that I'm going to try and check out either Hob or Ruiner, which are on opposite sides of the spectrum. I've been a big fan of Runic games for years and I'm interested to see what their first non-Torchlight game is like. Ruiner just feels like a bad ass game and it looks like Devolver has another big hit on their hands, from the buzz in my timeline.
Finally I will be fulfilling a promise I made to my wife before we got married by watching all of the Saw movies. When we started dating she binged all of the Marvel movies so she would be current for Iron Man 3. When she did I promised that I would watch all of the Saw movies before the next one came out. With a new iteration of the movie coming out next month it's time to pay up.
Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, rkalista@gamingnexus.com
At the severe prompting of my seven-year-old ("Dad, please, play it, please!") I'm replaying Hyper Light Drifter. The game is all ominous determination. And gut-wrenching hope. And a rebellion against it-is-what-it-is. Even as I'm playing it again, I'm slashing through the legend and mythology that Hyper Light Drifter has built in my own mind over the past year. But underneath the legend and mythology—I'm finding even greater legend and mythology built up inside it. The game has only grown. It's only gotten better.
On my phone is King of Dragon Pass. It's from 1999, and it's a mind-boggling slide show of barbarian clan relations and farming and magicking with the gods. A ring of elders passive-aggressively advises me on matters of trade, war, and in the building of my clan's saga. I just chased off a poet that impregnated a betrothed woman in my clan. I just sacrificed 20 head of cattle to Chalana Arroy to heal my wounded warriors. I think I'm supposed to meet with some duck-headed people soon. I'm scared to death of how to actually lead my people once the tutorial let's go of my hand.
Nicholas Leon, Staff Writer, nleon@gamingnexus.com
Last weekend I discovered that I am actually not that bad in casual Smash Bros. I mained Link, and managed to kick some of my friends' butts pretty handily. I still suck compared to the pros though. But that's okay. I also finally got Ryuji to unleash his Persona in Persona 5, so this weekend I'll probably head further into that rabbit hole and see what's up.
Kevin O’Connell, Staff Writer, koconnell@gamingnexus.com
I will be playing Forza 7. I will linger on in darkness and in doubt as nightfall in winter that comes without a star. On Forza 7 I will dwell, bound to your grief under the fading trees, until all the world is changed, and the long years of my life are utterly spent. Whether by the sword or the slow decay of time, the game will end. And there will be no comfort for me. [This is absolutely the first time I've seen such a deep cut from The Lord of the Rings franchise applied to Forza. -ed]
