I couldn’t really settle on what to play this week so I ended up with a bit of a mess.

First things first, Counter-Strike 2 is no more. As engaging as the game is something just doesn’t feel right for me with this one. My main issue seems to have something to do with controls since I never had this many issues getting stuck on corners and doorways with any of the previous games. I don’t know what it is, I just can’t get the feeling for them.
There’s also a pretty severe performance issue which feels like a memory leak that happens quite often in the middle of a match - again, don’t know why since it doesn’t happen every time or only on certain maps.
All in all, I can safely say I had way more fun with CS:GO but since the legacy branch won’t work for me (game only flickers for a second and closes) I can safely put this experiment to rest.

Second, my The Sims playthrough might be finished because of the sequel. I installed TS2 to refresh my memory and compare it with the original - I ended up playing through the night with barely any breaks. As much as I love the first game TS2 is just on another level and I ended up launching it whenever I had some free time, in contrast to the original which requires me to be in a specific mood to enjoy it.
I didn’t have this much fun with the series in a long time now so it was funny to go through this return arc only to see EA release the legacy packs. I hope lots of new folks get to enjoy those games as both hold up really well despite their age.

I also spent some time playing Euro Truck Simulator 2. It was my main choice whenever I couldn’t focus on anything.

Daggerfall is on hold until I had my fill of The Sims. It might take a while but I’ll be back, eventually.
Medabots also took a back seat to some extent but I’m still actively playing here and there.

I’m still staying with the last week’s list for the most part.

I’m continuing my low combat Daggerfall playthrough “lifethrough”. I’m just traveling around and focus on doing everyday tasks for people. It’s nice.

Time management in The Sims is slowly getting easier - it’s still a bit of a pain but I’m improving. I’m thinking about reinstalling TS2 to compare whether it’s just me or if these parts of the game were improved there (I genuinely don’t remember as it’s been a while since I played the game).

I’m mostly fine with Medabots: Kabuto combat system now as it can be worked around to some extent. More surprisingly however I’m not as annoyed with random encounters in this game as I usually would be, even though games like Pokemon or Final Fantasy tend to have shorter fights overall. Don’t know what’s the reason for this change but I’ll take it - I’d have a difficult time trying to finish it otherwise.

Last but not least, I’ve been playing a few games of Counter-Strike 2 here and there. I don’t expect to stick with it for long but it was interesting to jump back after few years of not touching the game (the last time I did CS2 wasn’t even out). I’m positively surprised I’m not complete trash despite my break though it’s not like I had any expectations to begin with. No way I can compete with peeps playing it nonstop for years.

RPCS3 is pretty great as far as emulating PS3 is concerned. You can check compatibility of specific games here but overall most of the library is playable to completion.
I can only vouch for Dark Souls, Drakengard 3 and Nier at the moment but all of those worked really well even on Steam Deck.

I can’t say much about Xbox emulation but the two emulators I’m aware of are: xemu (has native build), and Cxbx-Reloaded (requires Wine). Don’t know how well either of those works from experience, however xemu does have a compatibility page which looks promising.

While I did like what I played so far I just can’t be bothered to start from scratch right now. I’ll get back to it eventually but the backlog beckons and there’s A LOT of titles waiting for their turn.

Still playing Daggerfall and The Sims.
With Daggerfall it’s more of a research project rather than a playthrough at the moment, will probably go back to playing soon. As for The Sims… were days in the first game always this short? It really feels like there’s barely any time left after coming back from work and taking care of basic needs. Man, if I wanted more of that I would just focus on my own life.

Besides these two I was thinking about going back to Hollow Knight but then I found out I didn’t backup my saves before reinstalling the OS on my desktop. I was half way through the game. I decided to play Medabots: Kabuto for GBA instead.

I played this game a bit before - don’t remember when exactly or for how long though. I also forgot pretty much anything about it besides the Medabot customization system (it’s neat). I’m still not sure whether I like the combat (not being able to select exactly who and where you attack can be a pain) but I got a hang of it and have enough fun to keep playing. It’s also super easy to cheese, at least early on.
Other than that game is pretty dope. Story is simple but fun, music and visuals are great and the already mentioned unit customization add a lot of choice to combat (especially if you’re willing to avoid minmaxing). I honestly didn’t expect to have this much fun with the game.

While I don’t keep up with her religiously it seems like she was able to avoid more drama and just focused on doing her thing lately. I really hope things go well for her this time.

Yeah, Tetris still got it. The DX version was my most played game on the Steam Deck for a few months, despite hundreds of other games waiting the backlog. Kid made a great choice.

Still trudging around Daggerfall. I did touch the story briefly but since my character is mostly non-combat oriented I don’t even have access to the quests needed to progress anywhere (not that I mind).

I also started playing original Sims again. I expected to have a lot more problems getting used to the lack of quality of life changes and features present in the later titles but it’s not too bad so far. I guess I really did take the “just immerse yourself in the world” approach to heart recently.
The only slightly annoying things is the fact I couldn’t get the widescreen patch to work but whatever, it’s not the first game I’ll play in 4:3 aspect ratio.