What videogames are you playing in 2025?

[Ralif Redhammer]

Currently playing Citizen Sleeper. I'm a little surprised at how engaging the gameplay is, replicating the use of dice.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I've just about completed Spider-Man Remastered. I'm enjoying it, though it suffers from a lot of the same issues that Arkham City and Arkham Knight did in terms of repetitive open-world play that I only find mitigated by the fact that combat feels fun. It's a joy to hop around and web up bad guys (web bomb + concussion blast is really satisfying in big fights). This is good, because some of the big set piece fights are somewhat illegible in terms of what to do at first (especially if you're not paying attention to the text pops on the upper right part of the screen; like, I'm kind of busy here dealing with Doc Ock).

 

[MarkB]

I've just about completed Spider-Man Remastered. I'm enjoying it, though it suffers from a lot of the same issues that Arkham City and Arkham Knight did in terms of repetitive open-world play that I only find mitigated by the fact that combat feels fun. It's a joy to hop around and web up bad guys (web bomb + concussion blast is really satisfying in big fights). This is good, because some of the big settled set piece fights are somewhat illegible in terms of what to do at first (especially if you're not paying attention to the text pops on the upper right part of the screen; like, I'm kind of busy here dealing with Doc Ock).

As a game I prefer this one to either of the follow-ups, web swinging still feels fresh and it does a great job of ramping up the stakes and tension. The enforced-stealth side character missions are clunky, but I don't have the antipathy to them that a lot of people do.

I do turn off the quicktime events, though - aside from the whole "which button am I supposed to press now?" factor, they generally occur during some of the game's most cinematic moments, which are worth fully appreciating without distractions.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

As a game I prefer this one to either of the follow-ups, web swinging still feels fresh and it does a great job of ramping up the stakes and tension. The enforced-stealth side character missions are clunky, but I don't have the antipathy to them that a lot of people do.

I do turn off the quicktime events, though - aside from the whole "which button am I supposed to press now?" factor, they generally occur during some of the game's most cinematic moments, which are worth fully appreciating without distractions.

I haven't picked up either of the follow-ups, and I'm not sure I'll bother for a while yet. I enjoyed the stealth sequences, mostly, but I didn't like that they were usually prelude to a fifty-man donnybrook. It made me feel like my effort was wasted. I had no idea that the quicktime events could be turned off, but I agree that they're more of a distraction than an enhancement. (And coming from having used Xbox controllers for ages on computer and Xbox, I'm still learning the PS controller icons for the face buttons. When they pop up on screen, it takes me a while to get myself sorted.)

 

[MarkB]

I haven't picked up either of the follow-ups, and I'm not sure I'll bother for a while yet. I enjoyed the stealth sequences, mostly, but I didn't like that they were usually prelude to a fifty-man donnybrook. It made me feel like my effort was wasted. I had no idea that the quicktime events could be turned off, but I agree that they're more of a distraction than an enhancement. (And coming from having used Xbox controllers for ages on computer and Xbox, I'm still learning the PS controller icons for the face buttons. When they pop up on screen, it takes me a while to get myself sorted.)

Yeah, turning off the QTEs was an accessibility feature they patched in after release. You can also disable the puzzles in DocOck's lab, but I enjoyed those so never did.

This is one of the few games I've 100%ed. The only parts I found a drag were the Taskmaster traversal challenges - I never bothered getting above bronze for those, they made one of the most fun parts of the game - the web-swinging - feel like a chore.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

The only parts I found a drag were the Taskmaster traversal challenges - I never bothered getting above bronze for those, they made one of the most fun parts of the game - the web-swinging - feel like a chore.

Those were tricky, but I found that once I got used to what it wanted me to do (point launch) as opposed to what I wanted to do (web swing), they became more doable. The controls aren't quite as precise/responsive as they need to be to make them fun, and the fact that there's no trophy for getting the gold medals and no use for a lot of the extra Challenge tokens suggests to me that the developers knew it, too.

 

[Kaodi]

The helicopter quick time event caused me a lot of grief on my first playthrough. Maybe I too will turn them off if I play it again.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm trying to decide if to buy a Steam Deck, X-Box, Switch(2?) or something else. Any comments?

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm trying to decide if to buy a Steam Deck, X-Box, Switch(2?) or something else. Any comments?

Any console or already have ps5?

Xbox is good for gamepass beyond that get a ps5 (we have xbox1 and ps5). Switch is good, switch 2 is expensive unknown library at this point.

If you like Nintendo get switch 1. Overall PS5, bulk games to kill time Xbox.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Any console or already have ps5?

Xbox is good for gamepass beyond that get a ps5 (we have xbox1 and ps5). Switch is good, switch 2 is expensive unknown library at this point.

If you like Nintendo get switch 1. Overall PS5, bulk games to kill time Xbox.

No, I don’t have any PS. I usually game on my PC (and have a Steam library) but it’s getting a bit old and slow for gaming these days, whilst remaining fine for work. The grandchildren have Switch and Xbox. Partner wants me to get handheld so I spend more time with her.