DomsRoundtable joins us this week as Ben shares his latest obsession, Planet Zoo 2, which has been keeping him up until the early hours. But with the game receiving a mixed reception, is the criticism justified? We discuss what's changed from the original, why some players are frustrated and what makes it so difficult to put down.

Ed's also been playing Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, and we get into Star Wars Galactic Racer, the best games of 2026, Steam Next Fest and whether GTA 6 is worth buying on day one.

Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 00:29 Intro & DomsRoundtable 02:45 Star Wars Galactic Racer 07:44 Steam Next Fest 13:00 My Arms Are Longer Now 15:17 Jackbox Party Pack 12 21:14 The Blood of Dawnwalker & Onimusha 23:50 Best Games of 2026 29:43 Planet Zoo 2 53:52 Castlevania: Belmont's Curse 01:06:36 GTA 6 & Upcoming Games 01:11:35 Buying Games at Launch

Planet Zoo 2 review copy kindly provided by Frontier.

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes available at http://swappingjoysticks.com

▼ Ben's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/biggusbennus.bsky.social ● Follow on Instagram - http://instagram.com/biggusbennus ● Join the Discord - http://discord.gg/biggusbennus

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▼ DomsRoundtable ▼ ● YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DomsRoundtable

This week, we're both playing Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, but is it too easy, and does it take far too long to get going? Ben's finally finished The Blood of Dawnwalker and gives his verdict after 45 YouTube episodes, while Ed's looking forward to Phantom Blade Zero.

We also chat about Dragon's Dogma, the frustrations of PC gaming, the return of Ben's Minecraft server and whether the Rides and Relics DLC for Two Point Museum is secretly a test run for a theme park game.

Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 00:29 Intro 09:03 Gears of War and PC gaming 12:27 Dragon's Dogma 19:55 Upcoming games and Phantom Blade Zero 20:46 Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave 31:45 The Blood of Dawnwalker 49:22 Minecraft 52:16 Two Point Museum: Rides and Relics DLC 01:02:53 Minecraft Dungeons 2

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes available at http://swappingjoysticks.com

▼ Ben's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/biggusbennus.bsky.social ● Follow on Instagram - http://instagram.com/biggusbennus ● Join the Discord - http://discord.gg/biggusbennus

▼ Ed's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/ed_nights ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/ednights.bsky.social

We've both been playing Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and it seems that mixing Star Wars, Burnout and a roguelite is very much our thing. Ed has also finished Control Resonant and has plenty to say about what worked and what really didn't, we've tried the Castlevania: Belmont's Curse demo, and we ask how many hours a game needs to give us to feel worth the money. Plus, Ed went to a Sonic concert and Ben's music taste gets a thorough inspection.

00:00 Intro and Ben's music taste 09:18 Ed's Sonic concert 16:55 Star Wars: Galactic Racer 37:07 Our Game of the Year contenders 45:21 Castlevania: Belmont's Curse 50:25 Control Resonant (includes spoilers) 1:06:36 How long should games be? 1:26:29 Outro

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes available at http://swappingjoysticks.com

▼ Ben's links ▼ ● Twitch: http://twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/biggusbennus.com

This week, Ed's been playing Control Resonant and has a few things to say about it, while Ben's very excited about the Destiny 2 news. We also went to Xbox FanFest (and missed out on playing Fable), Ed's seen the new Resident Evil film, and we look ahead to the games coming out in October.

Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 00:25 Intro 00:45 Xbox FanFest and Fable 18:44 Resident Evil 29:26 Control Resonant 53:35 Fire Emblem 57:00 Destiny 2 01:11:00 Our favourite and least favourite gaming trends 01:26:41 October's biggest game releases 01:35:00 Outro

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes available at http://swappingjoysticks.com

▼ Ben's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/biggusbennus.bsky.social ● Follow on Instagram - http://instagram.com/biggusbennus ● Join the Discord - http://discord.gg/biggusbennus

▼ Ed's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/ed_nights ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/ednights.bsky.social

This week, Ed’s almost finished Wolverine and has some strong thoughts on whether it actually lives up to the hype, while Ben can’t stop playing Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and has jumped into World of Warcraft Forever. We also get into the never-ending discourse around game reviews and critics, and look back at some of the best - and worst - video games based on films and TV shows.

Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 00:28 Intro 07:35 Wolverine 20:32 Game reviews and critics 28:44 Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave 39:15 World of Warcraft Forever 55:50 Ed’s name is in a game! 57:06 The best and worst movie & TV games 01:08:00 What we’re playing next 01:10:41 Outro

#Wolverine #FireEmblem #WorldOfWarcraft #GamingPodcast

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes available at http://swappingjoysticks.com

▼ Ben's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/biggusbennus.bsky.social ● Follow on Instagram - http://instagram.com/biggusbennus ● Join the Discord - http://discord.gg/biggusbennus

▼ Ed's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/ed_nights ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/ednights.bsky.social

This week, Ed’s finished Onimusha: Way of the Sword after spending far too long fighting its final boss, while Ben’s still loving The Blood of Dawnwalker and experimenting with its day and night quests. We also chat Blizzard’s latest announcements, Nintendo’s latest Direct and why Ed really isn’t happy with the Ocarina of Time remake.

Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 00:28 Intro 22:02 Onimusha: Way of the Sword 32:37 The Final Boss From Hell 44:12 The Blood of Dawnwalker 58:51 Blizzard announcements 01:18:32 Nintendo Direct 01:27:58 The Legend of Zelda Direct 01:29:04 Ocarina of Time remake

Find all previous episodes of Swapping Joysticks at https://swappingjoysticks.com

This week, Ed’s been loving Onimusha: Way of the Sword, while Ben's been getting stuck into The Blood of Dawnwalker and discovering that becoming a vampire does terrible things to his usual moral compass. We also chat Star Wars Zero Company, Final Fantasy Resonance, Exodus, PlayStation’s latest State of Play and somehow end up arguing about the N64 controller.

Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open 00:28 Intro 01:04 What we've been up to 16:01 Onimusha: Way of the Sword 26:10 Star Wars Zero Company 34:12 PlayStation State of Play 38:38 Final Fantasy Resonance 46:44 The Blood of Dawnwalker 57:33 Exodus 01:11:08 The worst controller ever?

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes available at http://swappingjoysticks.com

▼ Ben's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/biggusbennus.bsky.social ● Follow on Instagram - http://instagram.com/biggusbennus ● Join the Discord - http://discord.gg/biggusbennus

▼ Ed's links ▼ ● Follow on Twitch - http://twitch.tv/ed_nights ● Follow on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/ednights.bsky.social

We’re back from Gamescom 2026! After a week in Cologne, we’re talking through the best games we played and saw at the show, including Fable, The Blood of Dawnwalker, The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, Castlevania and Gears of War.

We also go through the biggest announcements from Gamescom Opening Night Live, before getting into GTA VI and whether Rockstar’s latest showing has made us any more excited for what is probably going to be the biggest game ever.

Plus, we look ahead to a ridiculously busy September, pick out the games worth keeping an eye on and share some of our favourite stories from Gamescom.

And somewhere along the way, Ed squirts a pickle.

Timestamps

00:00 - Cold Open 00:28 - Intro 01:04 - We’re back from Gamescom! 23:34 - The games we played at Gamescom 25:08 - Fable 30:02 - The Witcher 3 36:04 - The Blood of Dawnwalker 01:01:15 - Gamescom Opening Night Live 01:37:50 - GTA VI 01:41:10 - September’s biggest games

▼ Swapping Joysticks ▼ ● All previous episodes: swappingjoysticks.com ● Instagram: @swappingjoystickspod

▼ Ben’s links ▼ ● Twitch: twitch.tv/biggusbennus ● Bluesky: @biggusbennus.bsky.social ● Instagram: @biggusbennus ● Discord: Join the Discord

▼ Ed’s links ▼ ● Twitch: twitch.tv/ed_nights ● Bluesky: @ednights.bsky.social

#Gamescom2026 #Fable #GTA6 #TheBloodOfDawnwalker #TheWitcher3 #GamingPodcast