Sunday, June 14th 2026

This Week in Gaming (Week 25)

by
TheLostSwede
 Discuss (27 Comments)
Welcome to midsummer week and a tad slower week when it comes to new releases. This week's major release is an anime inspired APRG set in its own universe. If that's not your style, then the week kicks off with some underground drilling, followed by driving cars in a city and a salvage operation. We round the week off with a new RPG from Square Enix and a job interview from your worst nightmares.

Zenless Zone Zero / This week's major release / Wednesday 17 June
Zenless Zone Zero is HoYoverse's brand-new urban fantasy ARPG. Players act as "Proxies" who explore Hollows alongside a wide range of unique Agents, fighting enemies, and completing commissions on their journey to unveil the mysteries behind New Eridu. Steam link
MOLE / Monday 15 June
Pilot the MOLE, a monstrous post-war drilling machine built to descend deep below the Slavic soil. Fix failing systems, follow voices of the dead, and pray you can survive whatever is sharing your coffin. Will the vessel or your mind break first? Steam link
City Car Driving 2.0 / Early access / Tuesday 16 June
City Car Driving 2.0 is a driving simulator designed to help novice drivers master driving in a setting as close to reality as possible. Choose your car - explore an entire region where every sign, traffic light, and road marking follows real traffic laws. Become the ultimate driver in the city. Steam link
The Last Salvage Squad / Wednesday 17 June
Battle enemy forces reminiscent of alien weapons from retro sci-fi works in this single-player 2.5D FPS. Steam link
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales / Thursday 18 June
A brand-new action RPG from the creators of Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default - The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales combines stunning HD-2D visuals and exciting action-adventure gameplay for the first time. Steam link
Thank You For Your Application / Friday 19 June
Thank You for Your Application is a story-driven interview simulation game. After 15 rounds of interviews, you are reassigned as a junior interviewer, tasked with screening candidates' resumes according to company requirements and issuing the appropriate thank letters. Steam link





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27 Comments on This Week in Gaming (Week 25)

#1
Kwadratowicz
Trrrryt
Demos:
MOLE_Demo
The Last Salvage Squad Demo
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Prologue Demo
Thank_You_For_Your_Application_Demo

No gog games this time,
but I'm mad at Myself cause MiO is now released on gog, and now I would own 2 instances of that game -.- (Cause I bought it on steam at the release.)
Posted on Reply
#2
Sithaer
I was confused for a second with ZZZ since its been out for a while but then noticed that its for the STEAM relase.
I don't play Hoyo games but ZZZ was the only one I was at least somewhat interested in I just can't play more than 2 gacha actively 'and those spots are already taken by Wuwa and Nikke' w/o destroying my free gaming time and the already slow progression of my backlog games.:laugh:
Posted on Reply
#3
AGlezB
Zenless Zone Zero:



:roll:
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#4
dyonoctis
AGlezBZenless Zone Zero:



:roll:
Well, it's a gacha...Hoyo bread and butter
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#5
AGlezB
dyonoctisWell, it's a gacha...Hoyo bread and butter
And I will continue to keep them and their bread and their butter in my ignore list. :D
Installing kernel-level garbage in a single-player game is bad enough, the account is just the cherry on top and I bet the EULA (which I haven't read) would be enough to cross them off my list even if the rest wasn't there. BTW they list partial controller support and still recommed using a controller to play so I'm guessing their PC controls are, if I'm being polite, an acquired taste.
Posted on Reply
#6
QuietBob
Two games for me today:
MOLE - for combining psychological horror and puzzles with a metaphorical personal journey and lo-fi aesthetics
Thank You for Your Application - for mixing corporate shady dealings and absurdities with moral choices affecting individual people's lives and pixel graphics

Downloading both demos now.

I also like the urban setting of City Car Driving 2.0 and the game looks promising.
Posted on Reply
#7
Anby
AGlezBAnd I will continue to keep them and their bread and their butter in my ignore list. :D
Installing kernel-level garbage in a single-player game is bad enough, the account is just the cherry on top and I bet the EULA (which I haven't read) would be enough to cross them off my list even if the rest wasn't there. BTW they list partial controller support and still recommed using a controller to play so I'm guessing their PC controls are, if I'm being polite, an acquired taste.
You can link HoYo account with Steam and forget about it.
ZZZ is out on Xbox and PS and the controller support is excellent. Seamless switch between MKB and Controller on the fly, without any annoying pop-up messages or going into Options.
These gacha games are monetized and moded a lot, it is natural for HoYo to protect their game. That's why they need anti-cheat in their game even though it is mostly a singleplayer experience.
Posted on Reply
#8
Dr. Dro
AGlezBAnd I will continue to keep them and their bread and their butter in my ignore list. :D
Installing kernel-level garbage in a single-player game is bad enough, the account is just the cherry on top and I bet the EULA (which I haven't read) would be enough to cross them off my list even if the rest wasn't there. BTW they list partial controller support and still recommed using a controller to play so I'm guessing their PC controls are, if I'm being polite, an acquired taste.
Your loss, it's a fantastic game. Their "AC" has the sole purpose of preventing you from cheating premium currency in. It does not require any installation, it's as clean as it gets: loads when game is running, unloads when it's not. Completely transparent, just like say, ThrottleStop's or GPU-Z's drivers
Posted on Reply
#9
Sithaer
Dr. DroYour loss, it's a fantastic game. Their "AC" has the sole purpose of preventing you from cheating premium currency in. It does not require any installation, it's as clean as it gets: loads when game is running, unloads when it's not. Completely transparent, just like say, ThrottleStop's or GPU-Z's drivers
While I don't play the game it always amazes me how some ppl have such strong noping outs cause of whatever reasons like that.
I mean the moment you connect to the Internet you are setting yourself up so who cares really.
Also gacha doesn't necessarily mean a cheap low effort cash grab either, some of these so called F2P gachas are actually better than most of the fuly priced shit AAA we get lately but hey like you said its not our loss who enjoy these type of games just fine.
Posted on Reply
#10
Gucky
dyonoctisWell, it's a gacha...Hoyo bread and butter
My problem is that those gacha games are all the same. Its the SAME boring gameplay/fighting mechanic in all those games. Why boring? Because its made for mobile and thus very simplistic.
Tried others but never stayed there. From Genshin, NVE (on PC) to Girls Frontline 1 and 2, Azur Lane or Reverse: 1999 and so on.
The only gacha I play is Arknights, which is the only gacha game I play on mobile for over 6 years.

But most of the time I play Indie, AA or AAA games on my PC.

(Don't get me wrong, the games I mentioned have different kinds of gameplay, but I never got stuck. Some took too much time for dailies, others I just didn't like long term.)
Posted on Reply
#11
dyonoctis
AGlezBAnd I will continue to keep them and their bread and their butter in my ignore list. :D
Installing kernel-level garbage in a single-player game is bad enough, the account is just the cherry on top and I bet the EULA (which I haven't read) would be enough to cross them off my list even if the rest wasn't there. BTW they list partial controller support and still recommed using a controller to play so I'm guessing their PC controls are, if I'm being polite, an acquired taste.
As it's been said, while it's a solo game, it's also a gacha where you can potentially spend a lot of money if you want to, and that game has been released on other platforms for a long time. So the account allows you to keep your progression across platforms.

And the anti-cheat is indeed to prevent hackers from unlocking everything, thus negating the business model of the game. It's a F2P.
Posted on Reply
#12
AGlezB
Dr. DroYour loss, it's a fantastic game. Their "AC" has the sole purpose of preventing you from cheating premium currency in. It does not require any installation, it's as clean as it gets: loads when game is running, unloads when it's not. Completely transparent, just like say, ThrottleStop's or GPU-Z's drivers
dyonoctisAs it's been said, while it's a solo game, it's also a gacha where you can potentially spend a lot of money if you want to, and that game has been released on other platforms for a long time. So the account allows you to keep your progression across platforms.

And the anti-cheat is indeed to prevent hackers from unlocking everything, thus negating the business model of the game. It's a F2P.
I understand your points and I'm not saying the game is bad or not fun. What I'm saying is I don't play single-player games with online-only or 3rd party account requirementes and I don't play games with kernel-level anything and I don't play games with shitty EULAs. Also, I don't feel like I'm losing anything by not playing it because I already am way behind the curve because there are more games I want to play than time to play them. For instance I'm now playing Rogue Trader with focus on both the newly released Infinite Museion and the older Lex Imperialis DLCs because when I bought Lex Imperialis a year ago I was so busy I decided to postpone it a whole year and wait for Infinite Museion to play both at the same time. When I'm done I'm going to do at least one GAMMA 0.9.5 run and after that I have the new Blood West DLC and RAIDBORN and Space Haven and Banquet for Fools, in no particular order, all of which I already have installed and ready to go.


BTW the date there there is day of the last update, not the original install date.

So, do I care about some gacha game? No, I don't. Even if it didn't have any disqualifying features I still quite likely wouldn't care about it.
Posted on Reply
#13
Chomiq
AGlezBZenless Zone Zero:



:roll:
You won't miss a lot, it's all about jiggle physics, silly plot lines and repetitive gameplay loop.
Posted on Reply
#14
Onasi
ChomiqYou won't miss a lot, it's all about jiggle physics, silly plot lines and repetitive gameplay loop.
You just described every single gacha game in existence with the arguable exception of, like, Limbus Company, and even there it’s only because the writing is semi-competent.
Posted on Reply
#15
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
"Gacha" is one of those things I will remain willfully ignorant about.
Posted on Reply
#16
Onasi
Frick"Gacha" is one of those things I will remain willfully ignorant about.
It really isn’t complicated. It’s gambling, but instead of money you get a virtual big tiddy catgirl waifu. If you are lucky. Most probably you will get a lot of shiny nothingburgers or, worse, a character that is *spits* a man.
Posted on Reply
#17
PLAfiller
Does the City driving simulator include people oblivious of the existence of their blinkers? People not knowing how a round about works :D
Posted on Reply
#18
dyonoctis
OnasiIt really isn’t complicated. It’s gambling, but instead of money you get a virtual big tiddy catgirl waifu. If you are lucky. Most probably you will get a lot of shiny nothingburgers or, worse, a character that is *spits* a man.
In Captain Tsubasa, you can only pull guys. So nostalgia is another element that can sell a lot. It's all about getting the coolest card of your favorite character growing up. I would argue that the predatory tactics are even worse: it's not just a random waifu, it's your childhood heroes
Posted on Reply
#19
Isaak
ZZZ is not "brand-new"
Posted on Reply
#20
AGlezB
dyonoctisSo nostalgia is another element that can sell a lot. It's all about getting the coolest card of your favorite character growing up.
That's a clue right there. This will sound like blasphemy but I never cared about Yu-Gi-Oh! (had to look up how it's written), Pokemon and the rest because for the most part I find them silly but also because at the time I was more concerned with partying and getting drunk and the female half of the population and when I did have the inclination to play I usually went for Interplay, LucasArts and MicroProse games. As a matter of fact I'd say to whomever is reading this: if you never played Day of the Tentacle (remaster availabe on GOG and Steam) it is you who's missing out. :D

PS: Yes, I know I'm old. :p
Posted on Reply
#21
Freedom4556
Sithaer...Also gacha doesn't necessarily mean a cheap low effort cash grab either...
No, sometimes it means expensive high effort cash grab. And occasionally the additional effort nets the devs additional cash. But don't be fooled, gacha is always about cashflow first and everything else second. Always will be.
Posted on Reply
#22
Sithaer
Freedom4556No, sometimes it means expensive high effort cash grab. And occasionally the additional effort nets the devs additional cash. But don't be fooled, gacha is always about cashflow first and everything else second. Always will be.
I meant the quality of the game in general, the word gacha still has that stigma around it.
Most games are meant to be cashgrabs one way or another like all of the gaming plaforms so thats nothing new.

Personally I play all of my gacha games almost completely free2play, in Nikke I allow myself 1 single character skin/year and in Wuwa I pay for the $5 monthly sub as a token of my support for the quality enjoyment I get out of the game.
That is basically $60/year so barely a single AAA game's standard edition price nowadays and to me this game offers better quality and more fun than most of the so called AAA games in the past years.
Posted on Reply
#23
Dr. Dro
I spend a little more, but when I put it to the pen, even in the months where I end up throwing $300 at miHoYo (it is usually around $120-$150, keeping in mind I play three games), it's not too far off from what I used to spend on Steam every month. And those mountains of games on Steam I'll never play are quite real.
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#24
colossusrageblack
City Car Driving was very rudimentary. Glad there's a new one, my kid is about to start driving, so I'll put my sim rig to good use.
Posted on Reply
#25
Freedom4556
SithaerMost games are meant to be cashgrabs one way or another like all of the gaming plaforms so thats nothing new.
No, most games really aren't polluted with phycological skinner box garbage the way gacha games are designed to be. They have more in common with a Las Vegas slot machine than a $60 buy-it-once title.
Just because AAA has moved on to live-service doesn't mean that single player titles that aren't built around FOMO no longer exist.
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