What We Played - "I simply didn't know if a first-person shooter could work as a Soulslike."

Hello and welcome to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we've been playing. This week, Connor takes on a classic game and crosses it off his bucket list. Sharif isn't sure about the first-person shooter attack on Soulslikes. Matt visits a South Pacific island volcano and Jim Henson's labyrinth, all in one game. And Bertie discovers that playing D&D with the kids is a lot of fun. Eda

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A few of the things that have plagued us this week.

But enough: what have you been playing this week?

And don't forget we have a whole dusty archive of previous games, just in case you don't trust your memory and want to check which games you've played and see what you thought of them.

I spent some time removing a game from my bucket list. FTL has been sitting untouched and unloved in my Steam library for years. When people talk about FTL, I've smiled and nodded, knowing the merits of the game and yet, embarrassingly, having no experience with it.

This week is over! I booted FTL and threw myself towards it with gusto. The game is immediately attractive. I was very happy to discover the complex strategies that helped me reach the final boss, even though I still haven't taken it down (this drone stage is brutal).

I love the moment I realized that instead of having a crew manually put out the fire, I could open the airlock doors and walk a small path to the flame. I was quite clever when I found out. So yes, here's to those bucket list classics! Next up for me is Dwarf Castle.

I've been meaning to play the demo of Guns of Eschaton since its release and finally got around to it this week, just in time for its December 8th release date.

It's a first-person Soulslike, which is already an odd pairing, but one that — perhaps more surprisingly — has secondary melee combat. Your primary weapon is a single-action revolver, though you'll gain access to other period-appropriate firearms later on. Eschaton is set in a supernatural wild west inspired by folktales (weird west?), where magic, superstition and even faith are woven into the fabric. I simply didn't know if a first person shooter could work as a Soulslike. And after about two hours with it, I'm still not sure I have a solid idea of the gameplay.

Due to the nature of the game, most enemies will be from a distance, and it's very common for someone to shoot you from somewhere you can't see. If you're even a little bit slow to hear that gunfire, half your health is gone. A few encounters in the demo reminded me of some terrible tactical shooters. Lack of ammunition that prevents you from taking risks. works

It didn't help that the game controls were mapping to controller buttons I wasn't expecting and couldn't change (B for jump, what?). Struggling with control in a challenging game like Eschaton is not something I want to do. I felt so inadequate playing the game that I looked for other people's opinions to see if I was alone in my feelings, but I wasn't.

I'm still going to keep Eschaton on my radar. Fantasy is a ghost-like gunslinger too special to be ignored. Maybe next time I will play with mouse and keyboard.

I had a great time when I got my head around Valve's new Steam Frame a few weeks ago, and I played Walkabout Mini Golf a lot more than I probably should have, given all the other VR games I wanted to play. Well, the mini golf craze isn't over.

Walkabout Mini Golf, if you don't already know, is exactly what it sounds like: multiplayer mini golf, but in VR. Thanks to those motion controls, the business of swinging balls feels quite natural. But what really makes it work is the incredible design of the Mighty Coconut developer's mini golf course. There's a little bit of everything in the original tracks and its cheap DLCs: looping around 1950s-style Hollywood movies. Courses inspired by Atlantis, Jules Verne, and Mount Olympus and its current Greek gods. Matches that bob up and down precariously, and even spin in Jim Henson's maze.

Everything is good. A super relaxing alfarah for lounging solo or with multiple helmets. Sure, the air in the Steam Frame might not be as fresh as it is outside, but my outdoor space doesn't include an easily accessible South Pacific island volcano, so there's that.

Get D&D and Marvel Cosmic Invasion in person, PS5

I played a Dungeons & Dragons pick-up game at the beginning of the week, which I've never done before. Specifically, it was a D&D night held at Waterstones in Brighton. So my partner and I paid £4, rolled lots of dice and waited to see what would happen. And what happened was that we were paired with some lovely strangers and some very energetic kids. They must have been between 10 and 12 years old and full of energy and ideas. They weren't very good at waiting their turn, which would probably be a problem in a longer game of D&D, but that night, there and then, it didn't matter. They were a poignant reminder of a child's imagination and passion, and I love that they've taken an interest in D&D.

I'm finally cracking up at Marvel's Cosmic Attack this week. A retro-style, side-scrolling, beat-em-up starring all your favorite Marvel heroes, possibly. There's Captain America, Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine. There's Cyclops, who has always struck me primarily as a video game character. It's good fun. There's an interesting tag team system whereby you can switch between two heroes, temporarily summon the other hero for help and special moves, and there are plenty of high-powered attacks. And you can fly. It sounds insignificant, but it seems so powerful that it hangs in the air. A complete co-op game for the bench.

FTL: Faster Than Light is getting Steam Achievements later this week

Robert Purches: Bertie (he) joined Eurogamer in 2005 and has been synonymous with the site ever since. Sponsor writes, podcasts and takes care of it. He talks a lot