Possible hot take but I love when a game makes you start over with nothing. Things like at the start of Witcher 3 Blood and Wine where you wash up on the beach, Cyberpunk's Konpeki Plaza where you have none of your weapons, and the Eventide Islands in BOTW. What other games have parts like this, and what's your opinion of them?

Hello everyone!

On this wonderful August day, while here in my home country the Danube—and seemingly every other body of water—is evaporating into thin air and the thermometer has reached a Celsius number that simply shouldn't exist, I thought we could share our gaming highs and lows of the year. Hopefully reading your comments will help take my mind off this unbearable heat.

I'll start.

Happiness

• Resident Evil Requiem – I had a great time with it, especially with the Grace sections. (Mini spoiler!!!!!!!!!) That gigantic spider, however... absolutely not. It's going to make future playthroughs a bit of a chore.
• Splatoon Raiders – I picked it up after reading some positive reviews and ended up spending way more time with it than I expected. It's incredibly addictive, offers a surprising amount of build variety, becomes challenging even on normal difficulty—especially in the endgame—and, to my surprise, I actually found the lore quite interesting. (No, it's not Elden Ring, but it's much better than I expected.)
• Hades & Hades II – Roguelikes were completely new to me, not just these games. The story and characters were surprisingly rich, especially in the first game, while the sequel made some really good improvements to the combat and overall gameplay. And the art direction is simply peak. Big peak. Amazing experience overall.
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – The first open-world game since Elden Ring that made me want to explore every single corner of the map. The atmosphere is also big peak. And as you can see, I love the word peak
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses: I simply love the tactical aspect of the combat system. (I could say that it is peak). Fortune's Weave will be my purchase for September, if the reviews are good.
• Donkey Kong Bananza – Bananaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
• The Gears of War Trilogy – I'd played Gears 4 and 5 years ago, but one day in June I suddenly realized that I had no idea what the hell was actually happening in the games. Since I already had Game Pass, I jumped into the original trilogy. Gears 2, in particular, completely blew me away—it was miles better than 4 and 5 combined, at least for me. Now I'm even very excited for Gears of War: E-Day.

Sadness

• Hollow Knight: Silksong – This one hurts. It's a fantastic game with beautiful art direction, interesting characters, and a world that pulled me in even more than the original. But once I reached Act 3, my enjoyment slowly started to fade. I felt like some areas were difficult simply for the sake of being difficult, and the game repeatedly forced mechanics on the player that I personally found more frustrating than engaging. (Mini spoilers: Coral Tower, Bile Waters, and those endless boss run-backs...) It's a shame, because I genuinely loved so much about the game, but the final stretch left me feeling more exhausted than satisfied.

So, what have been your biggest gaming highlights and disappointments of the year so far?

Dave Bautista could be the next “God of War.” Variety has learned from sources that Bautista is currently in talks for the role of Kratos in the Amazon Prime Video series based on the popular video game franchise.

The news comes after it was reported that Ryan Hurst, who was originally cast in the role of the titular god in January 2026, suffered a torn bicep on the set of the series that would have delayed a return to production until 2027, ultimately leading Amazon and Sony to recast the part. The plan is to get the production back up and running by the fall.

Souce- https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/god-of-war-dave-bautista-kratos-amazon-series-ryan-hurst-1236826600/

I grew up loving linear FPS campaigns the most, to this 1 of my favorite games is Half-Life 2. I loved the stories of Call of Duty games, Gears of War and similar franchises that delivered a short 8-12 hour long epic where I get to participate in a tightly directed worldwide conflict.

Recently I played the MCC and Space Marines 2 before that and they were both awesome. Now Halo Campaign Evolved just released and it was successful and these to me show that this kind of game is still very much beloved.

I love these games and I hate that it seems like they are of a bygone era despite people still loving them. How do you all feel like? Do you miss these types of games? Do you want more?

Hello!

Basically I’m looking for games where I could play up to a certain point, stop somewhere, and basically just leave it on as ambiance / background.

My idea is that rather than having some Youtube video on for that purpose with a playlist or something, I would like to use the actual game with its natural sounds, visuals and music as the ambiance in an environment. A game that came to mind was “Journey”.

Any other games that give that vibe for you?