The end of another week brings one of gaming's best traditions: comparing notes on what everyone's loading up. Push Square's Issue 626 weekend check-in landed against a backdrop of PS5 price hike anxiety, but the community's response was clear enough. Controllers stay in hand regardless.
The Crimson Desert split is real
Crimson Desert is the weekend's most talked-about title, and the community is genuinely divided on it. Some players are fully absorbed. User KingPev called it a game they're "literally getting lost and immersed in" on PS5 Pro, while ErrantRob described it as "an incredible sandbox" with a story they're actually enjoying. lazarus11 is chasing a distant castle they spotted on the horizon, determined not to get sidetracked.
Here's the thing, though: the patience camp is just as vocal. mac_da_man went back and forth before deciding to hold off entirely, letting the developers patch it before committing. IronCrow86 made the same call, parking the game indefinitely while working through GTA III missions instead. The performance mode situation on base PS5 is clearly giving people pause, and that hesitation is reasonable.
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Push Square noted that Crimson Desert's performance mode is "not recommended" on base PS5. If you're not on a Pro, you'll want to check the technical breakdown before diving in.
Resident Evil Requiem is eating everyone's weekends
Resident Evil Requiem is quietly dominating the conversation almost as much as Crimson Desert, just with less controversy. JonnyAces is closing in on the platinum as a long-time Resi fan. Dalamar is on their third playthrough on Insane difficulty, hunting missed collectibles. GoodGame is speed-running it. somnambulance is playing it alongside Life is Strange Reunion. The game has clearly landed well with the Resident Evil faithful.
User Onearmbandit took a different approach, stepping back from Requiem after a heavy week of it to focus on Mass Effect and Alan Wake 2 instead. A new PS5 Pro arriving that same day probably helped with the motivation.
Marathon is building its player base one weekend at a time
Bungie's Marathon keeps appearing in these weekend threads, and the enthusiasm feels genuine rather than obligatory. KingPev praised the gunplay and PvP elements, Marquez called it "excellent," and thechetearly kept it simple with two words that said everything. Fuzzymonkeyfunk is grinding Outpost for Arachne upgrades and chasing a specific shotgun for their Rook build, which is exactly the kind of detail that signals a game has its hooks in someone.
PneumaPilot even offered to squad up with strangers in the comments, with five kids at home apparently ready to fill out any fireteam. The community side of Marathon seems to be clicking.
Marathon gunplay earns praise
The backlog wars continue
Beyond the new releases, there's the usual fascinating spread of games people are chipping away at. DrVenture69 is replaying Dark Souls III with the Bonfireside Chat podcast as accompaniment, while also returning to The Blue Prince after losing a 200-hour save to file corruption. TheArt is splitting time between The Witcher 3 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Markatron84 just finished God of War after starting it back in 2023 and is now into Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered.
Northern_munkey had arguably the weekend's best moment, buying a PSVR2 and immediately having their mind blown by Gran Turismo 7 in VR. Perturbator is working through Mirror's Edge Catalyst, LunarLux, and Asgard's Wrath 2 simultaneously, which is an impressive range of tones to hold at once.
Darude84 is fighting Promised Consort Radahn in Elden Ring, which explains the suffering implied in the comment. Some weekend plans are more relaxing than others.
Life is Strange Reunion is on everyone's radar
Life is Strange Reunion is generating real anticipation without anyone actually playing it yet. mac_da_man is waiting for more reviews before buying. Ichiban wants it but doesn't have it. Divergent95 mentioned early hands-on previews have been extremely positive. The game is clearly building momentum heading into its first full weekend, and the community discussion around it feels like the kind of organic word-of-mouth that actually moves units.
For the full community thread and to share what you're loading up this weekend, the Push Square talking point series is where the conversation keeps going. There's also plenty of weekend reading available if you want to browse the latest gaming news and guides:
