Amanda Kay Oaks

I am once again manifesting an actual release date for Witchbrook.

Royalty & Legacy seems like one of the biggest packs they've put out in a while, for sure!

I feel that! Anything you're particularly excited to pick up?

I need to play through the reboot Tomb Raider games, too! Resident Evil is too scary for me but it looks like it's going to be good for fans from what I've heard!

It feels like the gaming year isn't really going to kick off for me personally until March, but February seems especially slow for the kinds of games I enjoy. What are you looking forward to playing in February? Could be a new release or just something you're making time for, but I'm curious to see what's on everyone's plate.

I would say a new Animal Crossing, but with that big update they randomly dropped for New Horizons, I suspect that might still be a little ways off. But maybe at least a teaser confirming it's happening?

This one has my vote as well. The new Insomniac games are great, but nothing will quite capture the feeling of PS2-era Spider-Man swinging around New York. And the pizza delivery mini-game? Top-notch.

Yeah, I am in no hurry to have to replace my PS5. With the technology evolving more slowly and longer game development timelines, it seems like the only reason to churn out a new gen that quickly is to force everyone to buy a new console that isn't significantly different.

I think a lot of remakes and reboots fall short because they manage to somehow both fail to capture the thing they're trying to immerse us in nostalgia for AND fail to add something new. Makes them feel like hollow imitations. I'm a pretty big nostalgia person, but even I think it's gotten out of hand lately. An example of nostalgia done well in my Spider-Man (2002) loving heart is Spider-Man: No Way Home. It's a new story that is doing its own thing, but it also gave us some really fun moments with our Spideys and villains of yore. I prefer that to fully rehashing stories we've already seen.

It's not really my kind of game, but I'm curious enough that I might give it a go since it's on PS5. But from the looks of initial player counts and reviews on Steam, I think the amount of publicity from the Game Awards is probably hurting rather than helping the game. Hard for anything to live up to that hype.

That trilogy is largely what made me a superhero fan, so in many ways I'd love to see what a 4th film would've looked like. But that third film was such a mess and so much time has passed that it's hard to imagine the original vision would still make sense. Basically, if it ever got made, I'd be there to see it, but I'm not sure it'd live up to expectations at this point.

So long as we've got power, I'll be settling in for some gaming! Also hoping to get some reading done as well. Pretty much my ideal snowy weather combo.

It's already been delayed a few times, so fingers crossed 2026 sticks the landing. But yes, I'm always a little dubious when they give a vague window instead of a specific date like that.

Mine too! I'm really happy that it's confirmed for PS5 at launch so I can jump in right away.

Not in this direct unfortunately! Mainly focused on Forza Horizon 6, Fable, and Beast of Reincarnation, along with a game called Kiln.

I think investing in live-service games is a bad move in this climate. People can only really keep up with one or two of these at a time, and the market is oversaturated as it is. And "open-world" isn't really a sell anymore in and of itself, so they'll need to actually make those games compelling if they want to maintain any kind of audience. I'm not feeling optimistic about any of this, to be honest.

I don't replay games very often these days, to be honest. There are just so many to juggle that my days of annual Skyrim replays may well be behind me.

The day has finally arrived! We're getting the Xbox Partner Direct showcase today at 1 PM ET. It's coming with promises to see more from Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Game Freak's new creature-collecting RPG that's not Pokemon. I have to admit, this is the most excited I've been for something coming out of Xbox in... possibly ever? Will you be tuning in? Do you have high hopes for what we'll see today?

I haven't had the game installed since LEGO Fortnite came out, but I am pretty tempted to see what the D&D stuff is all about lol

I've been replaying FF7 Remake Intergrade on Switch 2 for review, which has been fun. But in my free time I'm definitely in my winter cozy area, alternating between Animal Crossing New Horizons and Cozy Caravan.

We're getting chickens in a few months, and I plan to name the most acrobatic one Ty Lee for sure.

For no reason whatsoever, my first thought when looking at him was "That's Gandalf." I cannot explain why. (P.S. my dog is named Azula and our cat's name is Mai. If you know you know).

Hoping to hit some Animal Crossing and Cozy Caravan on the Switch 2 for a bit after work. And a little reading time before bed if I manage it.

I just covered the news that Dungeons & Dragons is now in Fortnite in the form of a few different custom islands modeled after the TTRPG. It's definitely an unexpected collab and not what I thought D&D would be launching its 2026 news with. What do you think about D&D in Fortnite? Will you be checking it out? (You can check out my coverage of the news here, if you want the details).

Yeah, it's nice for fitting in appointments and things. When I'm working on Saturdays, I'm less thrilled haha. But it's not a bad trade off.