It’s been a week, huh? It looks like we’ll be paying a whole lot more for consoles and games as well as reading and watching a whole lot less great gaming journalism, and on top of all that, GTA 6 isn’t even coming out this year!
Yet the medium still matters, and there are still games well worth your time to remind you of it. So, if you’d like to get some gaming in and aren’t sure what to play, maybe reading about what we’re digging will spark some inspiration for ya.
2 / 7
Play it on: Windows (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Find every last secret
I played first-person shooter Wizordum back during its early access period and had a blast, but as is often the case with early access games), I found myself wanting to stop and wait for it all to be finished. And now it is, and oh boy, it’s great!
When you look at screenshots, Wizordum looks like it’s going to be one of those super-fast boomer shooters, and I was very much here for that. But it turns out this is a far more methodical affair, with huge levels made of multiple buildings and floors, each hiding those good old Doom-style secrets in their walls. Combat is a mix of melee and ranged, with extra one-off spell scrolls and items to use, oomphed up between levels by visiting a shop. And it’s just so much fun. I’m rather troublingly obsessed with trying to find every secret in the levels, which is certainly slowing me down, but I have so much treasure! — John Walker
3 / 7
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Actually progress the story
So here’s how most of my evenings went this week: I played a bunch of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Guess what my weekend evenings will consist of?
The same thing.
Well, hopefully they’ll be a bit different since I have ambitions to actually move the story along. These past few days, I’ve just been grinding on the hardest difficulty for hours. Hours and hours just messing up these Nevrons, learning the battle system in and out by way of brute force and trying everything I can think of to see what works, what doesn’t work, and what I enjoy the most.
It helps that Clair Obscur really does nail that classic battle feel I know well from classic Final Fantasy games. It’s not just about turn-based battle; it’s about the theater of it all. The camera swoops in and shows our cast project strong, confident battle poses and moves over the course of the fight.
As for the quick-windowed parries and dodges? I can now pull them off more reliably. Nailing the timing window also demands that I really, pay attention, observing precisely when an enemy’s attack is about to strike. Which means that I’m spending a lot of time staring at the enemy design, taking in the gorgeous art design even as I’m learning their tells. That sounds like a great way to spend an evening or seven to me! — Claire Jackson
4 / 7
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows (Steam Deck OK)
Current goal: See what all the fuss is about
“Despelote is a triumph, a work of art concerned with the ephemeral, the importance of a people often denied their personhood, and its own processes to try and deny the passage of time as well as the cruelties of the world.
But first and foremost, it’s about fútbol.” — Moises Taveras, Digital Trends
Reader, I hadn’t paid much attention to Despelote before this week. But my good friend and ex-Kotaku writer Moises Taveras paid me a visit a few days ago and told me that the game made him cry. I trust Moises’ opinion more than that of most people on this planet so I was already sold, but reading his insightful review over at Digital Trends took me from “I’m sure the game is good” right to installing it on my PS5 so I could play it myself this weekend. I trust him with my life. So I trust him when he says this game is worth playing. — Kenneth Shepard
5 / 7
Fortnite
Play it on: PS5, Xbox, Windows (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: STAR WARS TIME!
It’s a running joke at this point that I am planning to play more Fortnite. But whatever. I don’t care! I’m excited for this new Star Wars season because I’m a Star Wars sicko and I’m ready to spend far too much money on new skins and items. I’m a sucker. I know it. But I don’t mind because Fortnite is still a lot of fun and one of the best third-person shooters around these days. Plus, what other game can feature Darth Vader fighting Lady Gaga and Goku? — Zack Zwiezen
6 / 7
Play it on: Windows (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Burn someone alive with flammable hand sanitizer
I completely missed that Blendo Games was releasing something new this week. 2025 continues to be full of surprises. Billed as a sci-fi immersive sim, Skin Deep has you sneaking around a wonky, slapstick-comedy-filled space ship trying to take out a group of pirates. It’s garnered some rave reviews as well as some more lukewarm responses. PC Gamer called it an “indulgent masterclass in immersive sim shenanigans” while GamesRadar lauded it as “funny, never dull” and “one of this year’s must-play indie games.” But Digital Trends lamented some of the bugs and repetitiveness while The Guardian found the game’s humor too saccharine, calling it “Deus Ex for Disney adults.”
From Gravity Bones and Flotilla to Thirty Flights of Loving and Quadrilateral Cowboy, Blendo Games has a history of melding gameplay and storytelling in interesting ways, and I’m looking forward to digging into more of the game this weekend (I’ve only messed around with the first level so far). I suspect the overall sensibility might not hit for me either, but I can already see why some fans are calling it the immersive sim for imsim sickos between all of the options for stealthy maneuvering and dispatching pirates. I suspect the ever-bold Blendo still has some tricks up its sleeve. — Ethan Gach
And that wraps our picks for the weekend. Happy gaming!
7 / 7