{"id":2049481,"date":"2026-07-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2049481"},"modified":"2026-07-18T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T04:00:00","slug":"what-weve-been-playing-he-takes-great-joy-out-of-my-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2049481","title":{"rendered":"What we&#8217;ve been playing &#8211; &#8220;He takes great joy out of my suffering&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"features\" data-article-group=\"feature\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/features\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Features<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">What we&#8217;ve been playing &#8211; &#8220;He takes great joy out of my suffering&#8221;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">A few of the things that have us hooked this week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/emperor-palpatine.jpg?width=690&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The hooded figure of Emperor Palpatine - Darth Sidious - cackling merrily to himself.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"emperor-palpatine.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"690\" height=\"388\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Star Wars.com<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"features\"><br \/>\n                    Feature<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-07-18T07:00:00+00:00\">July 18, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/what-weve-been-playing-he-takes-great-joy-out-of-my-suffering?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          43 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"24adb1e6-72cb-4443-8b19-1f32869e160f\" data-name=\"007 First Light\" data-follow-text=\"Follow 007 First Light\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following 007 First Light\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow 007 First Light\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following 007 First Light\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow 007 First Light\" title=\"Follow 007 First Light\"><br \/>\n  Follow 007 First Light<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<h2>18th July<\/h2>\n<p>Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we&#8217;ve been playing. This week, Connor is expertly trolled by his friend and shares a controversial take on a game some people will love; Chris revisits an all-timer while remembering a time when it didn&#8217;t seem so; and Bertie ruins a game for himself.<\/p>\n<p>What have you been playing this week?<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s another question: do you remember what you were playing last week? You don&#8217;t have to! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/topics\/what-weve-been-playing\">The What We&#8217;ve Been Playing archive<\/a> has you covered.<\/p>\n<h2>Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea, PS4<\/h2>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Why BioShock is More Relevant Today Than It&apos;s Ever Been\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V5TjQu4VaRQ?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/V5TjQu4VaRQ\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Why BioShock is More Relevant Today Than It&#8217;s Ever Been<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V5TjQu4VaRQ\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I have a friend &#8211; a good friend &#8211; who recommends me games I should try. Every now and again, their recommendation will be a booby trap. A game he knows is bad, and he knows I will hate. He takes great joy out of my suffering, and this time around he has done a truly terrific job.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I remember playing Bioshock Infinite when I was&#8230; 13? Maybe like 15? Too young to really see the game for what it was, I remember being mostly impressed by grappling around the place, and I thought Song Bird looked cool. That&#8217;s about all I took away from it at the time, and it was only when going back and replaying the entirety of the series (for the most part) that I realised it was &#8211; in my humble opinion &#8211; a narrative nightmare. I also learned Bioshock 2 was brilliant, which I took away as a win overall.<\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t, however, play Burial at Sea. A DLC story expansion to the game, Burial at Sea is truly terrible. Shockingly bad in a way I struggle to convey in a shortform piece like this. I&#8217;m not even done yet, but I have killed a Big Daddy in a frankly depressing boss fight. Ah well, positive mental attitude. I&#8217;m sure things can only get better.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Connor<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, PC<\/h2>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"We Don&apos;t Need an Oblivion Remake, We Deserve Morrowind Instead\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FH0bzE6hGhE?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/FH0bzE6hGhE\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">We Don&#8217;t Need an Oblivion Remake, We Deserve Morrowind Instead<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FH0bzE6hGhE\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I played Morrowind many, many, <em>many<\/em> years ago, but always bounced off quite early on. In fact the first time I played it almost put me off Elder Scrolls games altogether, as pre-teen Chris found himself swinging his little dagger wildly at some poor villager I found on a trail, being repeatedly called a s&#8217;wit and a n&#8217;wah and generally getting pummeled into the ground while failing to land a single blow.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, it&#8217;s a slightly different experience now. I&#8217;m working on a little side project related to Morrowind, plus Oblivion and Skyrim, and what struck me about its opening as I revisited it is just how extraordinarily complete it is. There&#8217;s an entire game contained within the first few yards of your arrival here, a kind of Elder Scrolls diorama, from dungeons to sidequests to weird lore and one of the great video game jokes, in poor Tarhiel and his Scrolls of Icarian Flight. The sheer complexity, in this tiny area around Seyda Neen, is unparalleled.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Taps<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>007 First Light, PS5<\/h2>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"007 First Light - Official &apos;Bawma Will Return&apos; Trailer | IGN Summer of Gaming 2026\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y69l1hBaLqY?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/y69l1hBaLqY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">007 First Light &#8211; Official &#8216;Bawma Will Return&#8217; Trailer | IGN Summer of Gaming 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y69l1hBaLqY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I thought Chris had written &#8220;The Elder Scrolls 6&#8221; there. I nearly fell off my chair.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m still only a few hours into 007 First Light so in preparation for an interview with the game&#8217;s lead writer, I ruined the entire experience for myself and speed-watched someone else&#8217;s walkthrough, because I wanted to know what happened so I could talk about it. Usually, doing something like that is a desire-breaker for me to go back to a game (or a book or a TV series or whatever) and actually play it. Without an unknown to discover and know, my brain slacks off, isn&#8217;t bothered. But not here.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"3\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In fact, it was the opposite. Instead of feeling as though I had to barge through the game to experience it to &#8216;know&#8217; it, I chilled out a bit, I slowed down. I found myself better enjoying the craft of environments and savouring the banter, and poking around areas I&#8217;d otherwise barrel through. I relaxed. And it opened my mind to a whole new way of doing things. Maybe I&#8217;ll ruin every game for myself this way.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Bertie<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<h2>18th July<\/h2>\n<p>Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we&#8217;ve been playing. This week, Connor is expertly trolled by his friend and shares a controversial take on a game some people will love; Chris revisits an all-timer while remembering a time when it didn&#8217;t seem so; and Bertie ruins a game for himself.<\/p>\n<p>What have you been playing this week?<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s another question: do you remember what you were playing last week? You don&#8217;t have to! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/topics\/what-weve-been-playing\">The What We&#8217;ve Been Playing archive<\/a> has you covered.<\/p>\n<h2>Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea, PS4<\/h2>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Why BioShock is More Relevant Today Than It&apos;s Ever Been\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V5TjQu4VaRQ?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/V5TjQu4VaRQ\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Why BioShock is More Relevant Today Than It&#8217;s Ever Been<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V5TjQu4VaRQ\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I have a friend &#8211; a good friend &#8211; who recommends me games I should try. Every now and again, their recommendation will be a booby trap. A game he knows is bad, and he knows I will hate. He takes great joy out of my suffering, and this time around he has done a truly terrific job.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I remember playing Bioshock Infinite when I was&#8230; 13? Maybe like 15? Too young to really see the game for what it was, I remember being mostly impressed by grappling around the place, and I thought Song Bird looked cool. That&#8217;s about all I took away from it at the time, and it was only when going back and replaying the entirety of the series (for the most part) that I realised it was &#8211; in my humble opinion &#8211; a narrative nightmare. I also learned Bioshock 2 was brilliant, which I took away as a win overall.<\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t, however, play Burial at Sea. A DLC story expansion to the game, Burial at Sea is truly terrible. Shockingly bad in a way I struggle to convey in a shortform piece like this. I&#8217;m not even done yet, but I have killed a Big Daddy in a frankly depressing boss fight. Ah well, positive mental attitude. I&#8217;m sure things can only get better.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Connor<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, PC<\/h2>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"We Don&apos;t Need an Oblivion Remake, We Deserve Morrowind Instead\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FH0bzE6hGhE?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/FH0bzE6hGhE\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">We Don&#8217;t Need an Oblivion Remake, We Deserve Morrowind Instead<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FH0bzE6hGhE\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I played Morrowind many, many, <em>many<\/em> years ago, but always bounced off quite early on. In fact the first time I played it almost put me off Elder Scrolls games altogether, as pre-teen Chris found himself swinging his little dagger wildly at some poor villager I found on a trail, being repeatedly called a s&#8217;wit and a n&#8217;wah and generally getting pummeled into the ground while failing to land a single blow.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, it&#8217;s a slightly different experience now. I&#8217;m working on a little side project related to Morrowind, plus Oblivion and Skyrim, and what struck me about its opening as I revisited it is just how extraordinarily complete it is. There&#8217;s an entire game contained within the first few yards of your arrival here, a kind of Elder Scrolls diorama, from dungeons to sidequests to weird lore and one of the great video game jokes, in poor Tarhiel and his Scrolls of Icarian Flight. The sheer complexity, in this tiny area around Seyda Neen, is unparalleled.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Taps<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>007 First Light, PS5<\/h2>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"007 First Light - Official &apos;Bawma Will Return&apos; Trailer | IGN Summer of Gaming 2026\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y69l1hBaLqY?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/y69l1hBaLqY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">007 First Light &#8211; Official &#8216;Bawma Will Return&#8217; Trailer | IGN Summer of Gaming 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y69l1hBaLqY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I thought Chris had written &#8220;The Elder Scrolls 6&#8221; there. I nearly fell off my chair.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m still only a few hours into 007 First Light so in preparation for an interview with the game&#8217;s lead writer, I ruined the entire experience for myself and speed-watched someone else&#8217;s walkthrough, because I wanted to know what happened so I could talk about it. Usually, doing something like that is a desire-breaker for me to go back to a game (or a book or a TV series or whatever) and actually play it. Without an unknown to discover and know, my brain slacks off, isn&#8217;t bothered. But not here.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"3\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In fact, it was the opposite. Instead of feeling as though I had to barge through the game to experience it to &#8216;know&#8217; it, I chilled out a bit, I slowed down. I found myself better enjoying the craft of environments and savouring the banter, and poking around areas I&#8217;d otherwise barrel through. I relaxed. And it opened my mind to a whole new way of doing things. Maybe I&#8217;ll ruin every game for myself this way.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Bertie<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home Features What we&#8217;ve been playing &#8211; &#8220;He takes great joy out of my suffering&#8221; A few of the things that have us hooked this week. Image credit: Star Wars.com Feature by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on July 18, 2026 43 comments Follow 007 First Light 18th July Hello and welcome back to our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2049481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2049481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2049481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2049481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2049481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}