Westen- BigNerdGaming

Only 2 of my top 20 most anticipated games of 2026 have come out so far this year.

I personally haven't felt like gaming has been off to as hot of a start as the last few years, but I also expect that to change within a month or two. Insane amount of stuff coming.

Also yeah. Anytime I have a fighter, it's such a game changer if you can level up their endurance. Getting a fighter to 28 hp + maybe a blocking item or two is sooo good

No surprise that you are obsessed 😂

I think thats wise! Probably helps the dev cycle a lot. More devs need to figure out logical ways to do this.

He be spinnin

I hope I can will myself to that point but its not looking good 😭

Mewgenics? 😂

Happy Gotcha Day to Daisy!

Daisy was my first time adopting a dog. Safe to say, I wasn't fully ready for some of the trauma a 6+ year old adopted dog could have. But time + stability have healed a lot of it. Im so happy to have her. I'll always adopt going forward ❤️

Nioh 3 is very cool.

Damn. This boss was awesome. Really interesting fight that wasn't much like anything else so far.

Got it first try, (it's not a major boss), but I took a super conservative approach so the fight took a while and was very intense.

World 2

#Nioh3

I have played quite a few games across multiple genres this year where you travel somewhat long distances and then unlock a shortcut back from your starting point.

-MIO
-Requiem
-Nioh 3
-Minishoot Adventures

There's a reason so many games do it. It's pretty damn satisfying when done right.

Its funny because as a Steam Deck player, I consider it small. But it's honestly not a bad thing!

SO DETAILED. THE MASTER IS BACK

a man in a suit and bow tie holds his hand to his forehead in front of a chalkboard that says subject ALT: a man in a suit and bow tie holds his hand to his forehead in front of a chalkboard that says subject

While its a bummer that I spent $70 on it, I can take solace in knowing I didn't spend $570 on it 😭

Lol that's a good point. I think I'd still be frustrated with the game in a lot of ways. I was at least pretty into Animal Crossing for 2 weeks or so. This one is way more annoying in a lot of ways. So much easier to make an aesthetically pleasing area in AC

Yeah, I've seen like 0 complaints so I thought it would really work. First 3-4 hours are amazing and then the issues pile up and it becomes a bit of a slog imo

I think if you are someone who likes to spend many months with these games it can make sense. But otherwise... yeah

I think I might like Pokopia more if it was something I was poking away at for 30 minutes a day. The game feels designed around being in your life for a year. As someone who is borrowing a Switch 2 and planned about 3 weeks with it, I don't think it works as well.

Same with trying to make my area look nice. You have to set up these "habitats" for each Pokémon, which is kind of cool, but makes things a bit of a jumbled mess. You can then move Pokémon to a house, but it's a clunky process. Making roads/paths and such look nice is also pretty cumbersome.

Frankly, the more I play Pokopia, the more I'm souring on it. The inventory management is atrocious. I feel like the game would function way better if I could do things like summon Pokémon from a menu rather than constantly having to find them for things.

I know it's common enough with these things, but as a parent, I really resent games like Pokopia that make you wait till the next day for things to get accomplished. I only have specific stretches where I can play! It's a bummer to want to play but have part of my progress stymied.

Also, the stuttering is exactly why Im not quite as high on the Grace performance as many. I thought it was a bit much after she had torched 100 zombies and thrown molotov cocktails to still be talking like that 😅

Great review man. Totally agreed on the Grace/Leon preferred split. And yeah, the first half-hour is terrifying, and then you really figure out all of the game's tricks. I appreciate that they don't lean hard on jump scares tho.

Game #6 of 2026 completed: Resident Evil Requiem.

Another very solid RE game. Grace is an excellent character, and I enjoyed getting both action and horror segments. The first half of the game is phenomenal. Pacing suffers a fair bit in the middle, but still a great experience.

👀

Very curious for your thoughts on this one! I was interested but didn't trust it enough to pull the trigger

There's a lot of elements of playing the Steam Deck that I prefer compared to the Switch 2.

But I've come around to much preferring the size of the Switch 2.

The SD takes up so much space if you want to put it on a smaller table. It's brutal on my night stand if I play in bed. S2 is nicer there.

Console warriors be like, "Hell yeah. This is what I voted for."

I thought of you, but only 1 blog post so far. Need more from you big dawg. Keep writing.

I did. But to me, journalism involves actually reporting. Working sources or doing interviews the way you do. With what I do, it's hard to feel like Im actual press.