GTA VI Trailer, Gears of War on PlayStation and Clair Obsur First Impressions

Welcome to the first instalment of ‘The Cleanup’, which basically says, ‘Here’s what I want to talk about, but I don’t have enough things to say to justify an entire post about it. ' The idea about this blog is less to spread the word and more about getting better at the word. To do that, I need something to talk about, and sometimes those things to talk about don’t have enough things to talk about… or something, I don’t know. Anyway, here’s how I’m feeling about things this week.

Grand Theft Auto VI Will Make All The Money In The World

2025 and 2026's Most Anticpated Game

What I would comfortably say is the most anticipated game of all time got both a significant delay to May 2026 and a brand new trailer this week and holy shit this game looks incredible. Rockstar has always been the studio that goes over the top in the AAA space, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no different. The scope and detail in this game go well beyond anything else out or currently in development. I used to think The Last of Us Part II was the best-looking game ever made at the time. Still, GTA VI not only completely blows it out of the water but does so on a much larger and grander scale than anything Naughty Dog or anyone else, for that matter, has even attempted.

Rockstar's satire of American culture in 2026 will be nuanced, I'm sure

It’s also a little sad because I believe Grand Theft Auto VI will be the last traditional major release we will ever see. What I mean by that is that back in the early 2000s, big tenpole releases used to have massive marketing campaigns leading up to midnight launches and those kinds of “events” have become less and less over the years. I remember seeing bus stop signs for Halo 3 and television spots for Grand Theft Auto IV. Massive releases like this used to be an event, but now most, if not all, major releases culminate in a digital copy being unlocked at midnight. These feelings might be nostalgia talking, but I miss those kinds of releases. To be completely honest, I didn’t even like midnight launches. The last one I attended was the midnight release of Modern Warfare 3 in 2011, which ended up with the EB Games store that held the event being trashed. Still, it’s just another one of the things the video game industry used to do that’s just gone now. Grand Theft Auto VI will have enough mass market appeal and accompanying marketing budget where we get at least a version of this kind of release, but I doubt we will ever see something like this ever again. At least not unless Grand Theft Auto VII.

Gears of War on PlayStation Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

*chainsaw revving noise*

With Microsoft essentially throwing up their hands at being a competitive console platform, I knew it would lead to weird situations like this. However, seeing Xbox exclusives on PlayStation consoles is still so strange. I know they have done stuff like this in the past. Still, it usually falls into two categories: games that already had roots in other platforms (Minecraft, Doom, Elder Scrolls) or multiplayer-focused games (Forza Horizon, Sea of Thieves, Grounded) but this is one of the Xbox pillars that probably would have done fine being exclusive to Xbox just now on Playstation: Gears of War. I was a big Gears fan in the 360 era, but fell off pretty hard after Gears of War 3. Judgment wasn’t something that appealed to me, and Gears of War 4 just came out when I didn’t care much for cover-based shooters. It was only just before Gears 5 was released that I even played 4, and the only thing I remember from 4 was ‘I played it’. I enjoyed Gears 5 when I played, but so much time had passed that Gears went from a ‘must buy and play on release’ to ‘I’ll get around to it if I have nothing better to do’. Honestly, the Gears game I enjoyed the most throughout the years was ~~Gears Pop!~~ Gears Tactics mainly because a decent X-COM game hadn't been released in a while.

Gears Pop! was definitively a game that made you yell "Aww come on!"

Still, this is Gears of War, one of Microsoft’s biggest franchises. It was the game that kicked Halo 2 off the top played Xbox game position for 2 years straight. Now, it’s just another multiplatform release. I’m not some purist who gets upset because my video game is playable on one overpriced box rather than the other, but it feels like Microsoft is just giving up. Maybe I’m just upset that the new Gears of War Reloaded remaster will be given out for free to owners of the Gears of War Ultimate Edition… digitally. Unfortunately, I bought the game physically because I am a stupid person who did not think Microsoft would remaster this remaster.

Once Halo is on a PlayStation, all is lost!

I Played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Liked It?

Clair Obscur is quite the looker

After the buzz around grew in strength, I decided to forgo finishing Oblivion Remastered and start Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It’s been a while since I went in on an original turn-based RPG. I’m a massive Persona fan, so it’s becoming problematic. While Clair Obscur isn’t quite a French version of Persona, it took some obvious lessons from the recent Persona releases. To the point where I 100% believe they took the combat UI straight from Persona 5. It was enough similarities to give it a shot.

A game that is illegally French

I’ve only played Act 1, and while I enjoyed it, small parts of the game keep me from loving it. The biggest one is the environmental design. While the game's playable dungeon areas look incredible, they are not fun to play through. The first normal area you traverse is a coral reef-inspired area, and while visually stunning, it was often confusing to navigate. I would walk down a narrow path, see a small alcove with an item and forget which direction I came from on my way back. I’ll get stuck on a cliff edge and run back, only to find I was on the right path. I missed a button prompt from the other side of a ravine I didn’t see. Clair Obscur badly needs a mini-map.

Looking cool... uh... guy from Clair Obscur

Most of the other mechanics are solid with minor annoyances. The story is intriguing, but they introduce too many characters all at once to the point that I tried to find a glossary in the game (there is none) because I did not know who the characters were talking about. Combat is well designed and fun, but relies too heavily on the active dodging/parrying system. I’ve run into a few bosses where you will wipe if you aren’t parrying or dodging 90% of attacks. These minor nitpicks are still minor, and the good outweighs the bad. I’ll be playing this until Doom: The Dark Ages releases next week.

A Brief Word on the Tron Legacy Blu-Ray

A terrible movie that I love

Did you know the Tron Legacy Blu-Ray has a SmartGlass-esque second screen function? Weird!