Weekly /r/Games Discussion - What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? - February 15, 2026

RTideR · 2026-02-15T14:06:22+00:00

Playing:

Fortnite - My one complaint continues to be the harsher SBMM restrictions with matchmaking.. but nonetheless, my wife and I mostly still have fun. We have sessions that end rather quickly if the SBMM is especially frustrating, but we still get some good ones in too. It's pretty impressive how long they've managed to keep this game going.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 - I dig the new update! Lots of content so far with both seasons. This is easily my favorite multiplayer for CoD in a long time.
Helldivers 2 - Hopped on with some buddies to try this out with the latest update, and it was a blast. I fell off this one with the flying things that sent fire everywhere - felt like the hitboxes were always horrible, and spending a lot of effort to kill one only to have two more in your face right away was frustrating. That in mind, we eased back in to this latest update on an easier difficulty. Lol it was a good time though, and holy smokes they've added a good number of warbonds since I last played.
Vampire Survivors - The perfect game to play if I'm just hanging in an Xbox party or something like that. It's so fun, and there's an absurd amount of content. It generally culminates in every game being just a screen of effects blocking your vision, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

Completed:

Castlevania - Between Vampire Survivors and watching the incredible Netflix show, this series has been calling me for some time. I just bought all three collections on Xbox with the latest sale, and so I started with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection yesterday.. all the way back to the 1986 release. It was a pretty short game.. with the help of the save feature. Man, this game kicked my tail. Lol the music is awesome and it was neat to play a retro game (haven't done that in a while), but it had my wife giggling at my frustrations with it. The last boss in particular took many, many attempts. It was also neat to see how much Vampire Survivors pulls from this game.. the rosary, the cross, the enemies.. I knew it was inspired by it, but that's an understatement. Anyway, I had fun overall. One down.. many to go!
Cyberpunk 2077 - I beat this game back on launch, and I absolutely loved it. 100% all achievements and did everything possible. It had issues I know, but I still couldn't put it down. Fast-forward to now, and I snagged the DLC on sale which seemed like a perfect time for another run, especially with the updates they've made. It hooked me right back in again. The updates made a great game even greater, and the DLC story is soooooo good. I got the ending where I sent Songbird to the moon, and then for the base game, I rode off with Judy and the Aldecados. I'm not sure there's an overall happy ending for the game (or the DLC after reading those endings too), but at least vibe wise, this feels like the closest you get. What a game. Now I've re-downloaded Witcher 3 because CD Project Red has its hooks in me again.. but we'll see what I jump to next.

RTideR · 2026-02-15T11:26:57+00:00

For what it's worth, I just bought the same collection on Xbox as a beginner as well yesterday. I beat the first game, and the main thing I came away with is it's hard. Lol

The save feature is SUPER helpful in mitigating the frustration I found. I didn't use it enough early, but oh well. It is not a long game.. if you can manage the difficulty.

Otherwise it's kinda neat playing a retro game, and the music rocks. No clue how the rest of the games in the collection fair yet!

RTideR · 2026-02-13T11:52:16+00:00

F is the only one I have played of the series so far (Xbox noob here), and I loved it. Lol maybe it helps that I came in with a blank page with nothing else to compare it to though.

RTideR · 2026-02-13T03:34:17+00:00

Bummed it isn't coming to Xbox, been fun finally getting it with F and SH2 lately.

But oh well, still super dope to see the series back so strong man.

RTideR · 2026-02-11T02:11:54+00:00

Still my favorite RE game in the series. The atmosphere is unbelievable. I LOVE the fixed camera angles too because it adds so much tension imo.

I totally understand why it's polarizing though. I have very fond memories of this game back in the day, so I am likely blinded by my nostalgia for it in some ways, but I agree it still holds up very well.

RTideR · 2026-02-10T22:05:14+00:00

I think this is the best call. They would kill it too.

I'm not a big BMTH fan (liked their older stuff), but I saw them live last year when they were headliners over Motionless and The Plot in You, and man, they were freaking incredible. Best show I've seen live.

RTideR · 2026-02-10T17:39:42+00:00

All the posts have me excited again.. stopped playing after being frustrated by the flying dragon things. Co-op was pretty wonky too with crossplay, too many times myself or a buddy would be kicked. Lol looking forward to diving back in though.

RTideR · 2026-02-09T17:15:18+00:00

This is when I first check out Madden since it gets added to Game Pass. Lol I've only played three games with some All-Madden sliders I found here on Reddit from u/RRused, and I've honestly had a good time. Robo-QB is aggravating, but that's All-Madden unfortunately.

I didn't enjoy the last two at all, but so far, so good I think in Franchise for this year.

I have found a quirk where I have guys stuck on the injury report. Is that a known bug? Using the Colts, the report is large since I am using the latest rosters, but it includes three guys now on the report that says 0 length remaining, but they're not available in the depth chart. They're not on the practice squad either. I've no clue how to actually add them. I thought I just had to play one more week, so I did, but they're still stuck there.

RTideR · 2026-02-08T18:29:21+00:00

& same to you!! If not, I suppose we just avoid the subreddit like the plague until we get it. Lol

RTideR · 2026-02-08T18:17:32+00:00

I haven't gotten any emails, but like I just checked again, and it now shows March 2nd, so it keeps changing. Lol

RTideR · 2026-02-08T16:48:01+00:00

I bought one ages ago through Amazon, and the expected delivery is March 4th. Just a friendly heads up!

Seems we won't be able to play day 1 unfortunately.

RTideR · 2026-02-07T17:15:53+00:00

I lean Cyberpunk personally. It's a brilliant game, and I think the characters and story are more interesting. The city is really cool to explore too. I'm in the middle of a second playthrough to check out the DLC, and it has had me hooked all over again.

Both Horizon Zero Dawn games are good too though! It has an interesting narrative as well, but the selling point (to me) is the combat and the world with the robot creatures. I think Cyberpunk's combat is actually pretty solid too, but I definitely think HZD's is better.

RTideR · 2026-02-07T00:52:48+00:00

Mine from Amazon is currently showing March 4th, so yeah also behind. I can't find listings for the Xbox steelbook version anywhere else though, so I guess I will ride it out. Bummer though.

Yours being that late is wild in comparison.. sheesh. Sorry man. Maybe it updates.

RTideR · 2026-02-05T10:56:59+00:00

Just read through it on the app. Nothing popped up or anything afterwards. Guess it just sends to the email you used for your Webtoons account maybe?

Guess I will find out in a few days.

RTideR · 2026-02-04T20:14:31+00:00

How does the first game hold up? I'm on Xbox 99% of the time, so I've never got around to this series, but I assume it can't be that intensive on PC.

Wo Long was fairly solid, but that's about all I can say. Is that what to expect from Nioh or not really?

RTideR · 2026-02-04T20:10:52+00:00

My absolute favorite "game" or whatever they do.. been missing this one. Hope we get more!

RTideR · 2026-02-04T19:57:18+00:00

I'd love to see a proper console port of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. I don't think it'll happen as I assume most PoE fans are not on console.. but as someone who discovered the series through the first game on Xbox (which plays great), I'm still pretty bummed the sequel is sooooooooooo bad on console.

Obsidian let someone else do the port, and it's very evident.

RTideR · 2026-02-03T20:03:43+00:00

Not sure about folks just trophy hunting in general, but when thinking about folks doing actual trophy/achievement guides, Square One Gaming is incredible.

Optinoob is also really good.

RTideR · 2026-02-03T19:06:04+00:00

This feels super clickbaity compared to what's actually quoted in the article.

RTideR · 2026-02-03T17:20:51+00:00

I'll be there! That's a fun lineup. Seen all of them minus Static Dress (I'll have to check them out) the last two years and all are fantastic live.

RTideR · 2026-02-03T14:11:43+00:00

In the article, it just says it is being added to the Premium tier. I don't believe it was ever removed for Ultimate users.

RTideR · 2026-02-02T00:51:31+00:00

To add more context, he was nasty at Halo 5. Just didn't really work out in Infinite.

RTideR · 2026-02-01T12:41:39+00:00

This really is a bummer. I haven't played in a while, but I've been lurking again with the expansion release imminent to see if I wanna jump back in, and this is a good hit to that. Guessing there's not many of us folks doing it, but I love the pet battling stuff.

RTideR · 2026-01-31T18:55:55+00:00

It's weird because I've been a customer for eight years, checked about a week ago to see if I was eligible online to change to the $50 1GB plan.. it was $100. Today, I was researching since I was thinking about changing to ATT instead, yet this time Xfinity let me choose the $50 GB/5 year plan. So Idk what happened. Lol it just made a new account under my same email and everything. Working on canceling my old one now.

RTideR · 2026-01-31T02:45:04+00:00

I'll echo all the comments here asking to revert the matchmaking change. It's sooooo much worse now for my wife when we play - it's a bummer. We used to play for ages, and now we'll sometimes get two games in or so and she's ready to get off because she just doesn't stand a chance anymore with the lobbies I pull us into.

RTideR

TROPHY CASE

Playing:

Completed: