Bertie’s witcher skills are a bit rusty. Dom goes through the Gears. Kelsey enjoys a horror game that feels just like home. And Chris does an incredible impression of a butler that no one acknowledged.
That is the weekly roundup from Eurogamer, and it captures the strange mix of games people are actually playing right now. Some of these titles are massive blockbusters. Others are small, quiet diversions. All of them have one thing in common: they keep people hooked.
Bertie Bumbles Through Novigrad
Bertie is returning to The Witcher 3 for the Remastered release, and he is not having an easy time of it. He describes bumbling around like an idiot for a couple of hours, comparing himself to Roach stranded on a rooftop.
The problem is not the game. It is the player. The familiarity is there, but the muscle memory has faded. “It’s weird returning to a game I think I know really well only to discover I don’t really know it that well any more at all,” Bertie writes. “The familiarity slowly dribbles back and broad strokes of the game I can of course remember, but that muscle memory that was once so readily there has gone.”
The comparison to The Blood of Dawnwalker is telling. Both games share a director, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, and many of the same people behind the scenes. That shared history means Bertie keeps finding points of reference, even as the actual experience feels new.
One particular example stands out. The city of Novigrad. “It’s a place like few others I’ve experienced in a role-playing game, and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: that’s one of gaming’s great cities, that is.” The sheer number of people bumbling around, swearing at you, gives the place its character.
Bertie is also curious about how The Witcher 3 compares to what is coming next. “Let’s see what GTA 6 says when it comes out in November, eh?”
Dom Grinds Through Hardcore Difficulty
Dom has been reviewing Gears of War: E-Day for the past week, and he is not enjoying it the way he expected. The campaign alone runs at least 20 hours on any of the more advanced difficulties, and Hardcore has been a particular grind.
“I’ve been reviewing this game for the past week, and it’s taken me a much larger chunk of time than I thought it would to grit my teeth and push through the Hardcore difficulty than I thought,” Dom writes. He is staying on the game to test out Horde and PvP in the coming days, and he is not upset about that prospect either.
The game focuses on catharsis and release, which Dom finds comforting. It is a game that delivers exactly what it promises, even if getting there requires more effort than planned.
Kelsey Finds Home In Silent Hill
Kelsey has had little time or energy to play anything this week that is not embargoed. But she did make time to watch Jacksepticeye’s playthrough of Silent Hill: Townfall with her housemate, after playing it herself a few weeks ago.
“It also definitely helps that Townfall is where my favourite in-game place – Silent Hill – and my home, the UK, have finally managed to collide,” Kelsey writes. She admits she might be a little biased in that regard, but she is still excited for anyone who likes Silent Hill in any shape or form to try it.
Konami has revived the IP with real style and fervour, according to Kelsey. She is so excited to see Screen Burn get a lot more attention off the back of this. The game has a special place in her heart, and she wants others to feel the same way.
Chris Plays Heads Up!
Chris had a free weekend for the first time in ages. His parents went out together, child-free, for a low-key gathering around a friend’s house. They were supposed to bring something to play, not a video game, along with a dish. Everyone forgot, so they ended up with a lot of desserts and not a lot to do afterwards for a quick laugh.
Heads Up! became the solution. It is essentially Articlate!, which is basically Pictionary but with talking instead of drawing. Nobody kept score, and everyone kept flicking up on the phone to pass and down to mark the answer correct. It turned out the directions were wrong — or maybe Chris got them wrong — and even in entirely non-competitive circumstances he found it very hard not to get annoyed at someone not immediately recognising his note-perfect impression for the word “Butler”.
Sometimes the classics are the best.
What These Games Tell Us About Playing
The roundup shows a range of experiences. Bertie is exploring a sprawling fantasy city. Dom is grinding through a brutal shooter. Kelsey is immersing herself in a horror world. Chris is laughing with friends over a simple card game.
These are the moments that matter, whether that is a city you love or a card game you keep pulling out.
A Quick Look At The Numbers
- The Witcher 3 – Remastered: PC, 11 years old, now remastered
- Gears of War: E-Day: Xbox Series X, at least 20 hours on Hardcore
- Silent Hill: Townfall: PS5, reviewed by Kelsey
- Heads Up!: Mobile, played by Chris
How To Read The Roundup
The roundup is a snapshot of what people are actually playing, not what marketing is pushing. It is a reminder that gaming is a collection of individual experiences, each one shaped by the person holding the controller.
Whether that is a massive open world or a simple card game, the joy is real. It is a strange and wonderful thing, really.
The Four Entries, In Order Of What The Writers Talked About
- The Witcher 3 – Remastered: Bertie returns to the city of Novigrad, a place he calls one of gaming’s great cities.
- Gears of War: E-Day: Dom grinds through Hardcore difficulty, staying on the game to test Horde and PvP.
- Silent Hill: Townfall: Kelsey watches Jacksepticeye’s playthrough and plays it herself, calling it a collision of her favourite in-game place and her home.
- Heads Up!: Chris pulls out the card game for a low-key weekend gathering, finding it better than any new or clever game he could have brought.
The games themselves are the stars. The writers are just the ones holding the flashlight.
Source material: “What we've been playing – "That's one of gaming's great cities, that is",” Eurogamer.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.