Weekend Gaming Playlist (12-16-22)

2022 is winding down and all of the year’s major releases have finally been released – except Sports Story, of course. Maybe Sports Story will have a date at or around the time of this posting, though. I want to get to some of December’s releases, such as Dragon Quest Treasures, Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, Sonic Frontiers – too many games, but it’s a good problem as it means there should be something for everyone and my backlog will never end. Here is what I am playing this weekend.

Persona 5 Royal

I have hit the 70 hour mark in Persona and have just finished the fifth palace (or dungeon). I will say, the fifth palace boss is one of the worst boss battles I have encountered and shouldn’t have been a mainline boss battle and better suited as a side quest or hidden boss. Either way, I am glad I got past the boss as the game is fantastic and it’s my favorite game this year. I look forward to hopefully finishing Persona 5 Royal up before the end of the year. I do want to play Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden, but I think I will take a short Persona break before I jump into those.

The Knight Witch

I always like to be playing an indie game on the side as I play through bigger releases, and currently The Knight Witch is fulfilling that for me. I am only a couple hours in, but it’s an interesting Metroidvania. I have heard a lot of praise for this game and it also has some shoot ’em up mechanics. Most of the Vanias I play are of the side-scrolling action variety, so it’s been interesting to see a different take on the formula.

Pokemon Violet

I haven’t made much progress in Pokemon Violet, but what I have played so far has been fun. I look forward to spending a lot of time with this one over the holiday break and playing co-op with my son. My very early impressions on the game: I like the direction and scope Game Freak and The Pokemon Company are taking with it. I like the freedom and openness they are offering the player; it’s just disappointing the game has serious performance issues.

That’s it for me this weekend! What are you going to play? Let us know in the comments below, or over on Twitter. Enjoy your time playing, stay safe, and be well!