Rewinder: What We're Playing This Week (August 31, 2025)

August is nearly over, and we're back with another round of What We're Playing.

We accidentally missed last week's edition following Gamescom, which saw both me and Lex in attendance. Our write ups are slowly appearing across Rewinder and other sites, so expect to see more from us soon. Also, Jason instructed us to tell you all he's a fake gamer, so he has no entry this week.

With that said, here's what the team's been up to.

Henry

I've not had a lot of time this week to play much. Between finishing my various Gamescom write ups and two major birthdays, I reached the Venice Film Festival four days after getting home from Cologne. More specifically, I'm here attending Venice Immersive on behalf of UploadVR.

So, my time has largely been spent going through more artistic, film-adjacent projects as opposed to games. Which is honestly fascinating sometimes, you see so much creativity here. Though admittedly, you often find gems and duds in equal measure. Between those sessions? Balatro. I'm back on that kick after buying the mobile version months ago, its a brilliant travel game. Also tried Chibi-Robo on Switch 2, but I'm gonna park that for when I'm home.

Lex

Ok, so I really haven't had time to focus on any one game in the last two weeks due to Gamescom travel and write-ups. So instead, this week I am going to list everything I touched over the last few weeks, a one-sentence summary, and a link to my further thoughts if they have been published.

• Phantom Blade 0 - I really like playing demos for this game, I would love to play more than 20 minutes at a time.
• Black State - They still make games like this? Huh, OK.
• Borderlands 4 - I really hope I can stop being embarrassed when I say I like Borderlands.
• [REDACTED #1] - Boy, I am very excited for this. Look out for my preview on the 4th.
• Directive 0820 - The influences aren't subtle, but that doesn't mean I am not excited for a Dark Pictures space horror.
• The Expanse: Orisis Rising - Y'all here of this game Mass Effect? What if they made a new Mass Effect?
• Crimson Desert - In the words of Spike Lee, "Not my cup of tea."
• Valor Mortis - Ghostrunner X Dark Souls set during the Napoleonic Wars? Sure, why not?
• Where Winds Meets - This demo was so broken I literally decided I could not write a preview of it.
• Scott Pilgrim EX - Man, Tribute Games have gotten pretty good at this.
• [REDACTED #2] - I had a fun interview around this one that should be up on September 2nd.
• Silent Hill f - Remember Konami? Its a company that used to make video games. turns out it is making games again.
• [REDACTED #3] - Yep. Combat in this sequel still feels awesome.
• Pokémon Legends Z-A - Going to save my thoughts on this one as I'll be previewing it on Rewinder soon.
• Replaced - After hearing everything Sad Cat Studio's has gone through, I really hope this game is good.
• Pragmata, Resident Evil: Requiem, Onimusha: Way of The Sword - All three of these will also get Rewinder write-ups, so stay tuned.
• [REDACTED #4] - This was another fun preview and interview, that should be posted next week.
• Romeo Is A Dead Man - EVERYDAY IS LIKE A MONDAY.
• Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival - Finally a triple-A video game brave enough to have a protagonist that hangs dong.

(I have also being playing Shinobi: Art of Vengeance since I got home and that game rules!)

Scott

Lex that is too many games.

I am playing Kirby and The Forgotten Land + Star Crossed Worlds with the very little free time I have this weekend, I will talk about it soon.

Are you playing anything this weekend? Let us know in the comments below.