Tom Senior: A new hope
The hype machine has me in its clutches, so much so that a picture of a haggard lightsaber hilt has me excited about the prospect of a new third-person Star Wars game. If Respawn has just made their take on Jedi Knight then I will be delighted, though the leaked poster makes it look like a cumbrian rambling sim with bonus star destroyers. The tweet tagline “don’t stand out” implies stealth elements. Hmm! We'll find out from the Star Wars Celebration livestream on Saturday. It’s due out later this year.
In other good news, Sekiro has come out of the gates quickly, which bodes well for From’s future and the prospect of more games like this in the future.
James Davenport: Wow, now that's some Star Wars
(Since it's not happening until Saturday, I'll just write a generally applicable response to Respawn's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order reveal, which I am genuinely excited about.) Wow. I got chills, did you get chills? I can't believe that cameo. Pretty cool to see the classic lightsabers we all know and love make an appearance. Gotta say, I am a little concerned about that droid! Will it talk or will it just go bleep-bloop? Time will tell. How did that crashed ship crash? Not sure! Nice graphics, a little bit of the Force peppered in throughout, and some recognizable, albeit changed, musical motifs. This one's sure shaping up to be a Star War! Great work, Respawn.
Samuel Roberts: Butterfly swat
Lady Butterfly is dead! That's all I managed to achieve in games this week, as I threw about three hours at my first major Sekiro boss. Yes, I needed some tips on doing it, since her second phase has some slight bullshit going down, and I spent a bit too long fighting the big alcoholic drunkard guy before that. I've never beaten a From Software game, though, so even this progress feels like a miracle to me.
Finishing Sekiro seems unlikely, but I want to play it enough so I have an opinion on whether it takes Dark Souls' slot on the PC Gamer Top 100 this year. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of shake-up, there...
Fraser Brown: Elite Less Dangerous
Elite's getting friendlier, at least for new players. I think a lot of people get put off not because they're not up for playing in a meandering sandbox, but because Elite doesn't really do much to give you that first important nudge into the greater galaxy. You're just there and you have to muddle through. A beginner's area seems like a reasonable compromise, giving players a simpler region of space to play in while they get to grips with the game. It's one of the best space games on PC, so it deserves a better introduction.
For everyone else, there are some handy new additions on their way, too. Whenever I return to the game I always spend my first hour just figuring out what the heck to do, but a new Pilot's Handbook promises to fill in the blanks with available activities and requirements, letting pilots plan their adventures. The autodocking module, which is optional but comes standard on new ships, is also going to be such a boon. Look, I love flying my ship, but sometimes I'm really busy reading a list of goods for sale in other stations or seething over a particularly bad take on Twitter; I don't always have time to do my own docking. Multitasking is the future!
Chris Livingston: Dog watcher
I was a fan of the original Watch Dogs but I never got around to playing Watch Dogs 2 until this week. In addition to being pleased you could actually pet the dogs, after a couple missions I realized I didn't really want to play Watch Dogs 2. I kinda just wanted to walk or drive around the city. I didn't want to hack or steal or get into chases, I just wanted to sort of tool around on a scooter while flipping through the radio stations, listen in on conversations, and watch NPCs go about their simulated little lives with their simulated dogs. And it's been perfectly enjoyable doing just that. I'll get around to saving the world from Big Brother eventually, but for now I'll just literally watch dogs.
Bo Moore: Baba is me
I recently picked up Baba is You, which is great and deliciously frustrating. I'm not even that far into the game yet, but already I'm mashing my head against the screen as I push these little words around to solve increasingly complex logic puzzles. Honestly, the hardest part of the game so far has been resisting the urge to give up on particularly difficult puzzles. I'm a completionist when it comes to games like this, so just moving past a difficult challenge (even when the game allows it!) is a non-starter. Thankfully I've resisted temptation so far, and felt such accomplishment when I finally figured out that one I was stuck on for several hours last night.
