Weekly Notes (July 28 – Aug 03): Sequels, Nostalgia & Second Breakfast in the Shire

Niklas Borglund

Author

2025-08-05

This week was sequel-heavy. The nostalgia was strong.

Grounded 2 returned with improved mechanics and familiar bugs. Titan Quest II stirred memories of late-night ARPG sessions but brought a few modern headaches with it. NINJA GAIDEN went pixel-art.

And Tales of the Shire showed up for players who just want to cook, garden, and avoid Mordor entirely.

Let’s take a look.

Grounded 2 by Obsidian Entertainment & Eidos-Montréal

Largest audiences: ~60% English, ~16% Chinese (Simplified), ~7% German

Obsidian's sequel to their hit survival game launched into Early Access this week. It’s fun, familiar, and mostly delivers - until you check your framerate. Players love the refined gameplay mechanics that build on the original's strengths. The visuals and graphics get consistent praise.

But again, the main critique is a common one: performance. And as we've seen before, the Chinese audience is notably less forgiving when it comes to that - sitting at just 51% mixed reviews compared to 81% positive from English speakers.

The core premise still works though. Players recognize the potential for growth, but right now it feels like paying to beta test a promising sequel according to many.

Titan Quest II by Grimlore Games

Largest audiences: ~45% English, ~14% Russian, ~13% Chinese (Simplified), ~9% German

The long-awaited sequel to the classic action RPG Titan Quest is here.

Players love the nostalgia and say the sequel captures the spirit of the original. Combat, build variety, and world design all get solid praise. Generally well liked, but some players feel the content is too thin even for early access. Performance issues show up too, with several pointing out that the visuals don’t justify the high hardware demands.

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound by The Game Kitchen

Largest audiences: ~44% English, ~22% Chinese (Simplified), ~9% Russian

A new entry in the NINJA GAIDEN series, blending classic and modern gameplay.

Players praise the fluid gameplay, beautiful pixel art, and nostalgic soundtrack. The challenging boss fights get praise for being difficult but fair, and the fast-paced action keeps people engaged.

The main criticisms center on a lack of unique mechanics compared to other titles in the genre. Some mention repetitive enemies and minor performance issues, but these does not seem to be deal-breakers as the game has a solid 93% positive.

Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings™ Game by Wētā Workshop

Largest audiences: ~78% English, ~7% German, ~6% French

A cozy simulation RPG where you live the life of a Hobbit in the Shire - and not everyone’s convinced it’s second breakfast-worthy.

The cozy atmosphere and graphics are getting lots of praise. Players appreciate the charming gameplay and fun cooking mechanics, especially those seeking a chill experience.

But expectations vs. reality is hitting hard. Limited content, lack of NPC interaction, and no voice acting disappoint players who expected more depth. Performance issues add to the frustration.

It seems to appeal to fans of the cozy genre but may leave others wanting more. The Lord of the Rings license brings expectations that a farming sim might not fulfill.

⚔️ Early Access Graduates

• Gatekeeper - A cooperative action rogue-lite game. Players love the co-op experience & challenging gameplay. Some dislike the difficulty balance and bug issues.
• Driftwood - You play as a fast sloth longboarding downhill. The soundtrack is getting much praise along wiith the fun, yet relaxing gameplay. They dislike the technical issues they've had lately and the lack of content & polish.

Notable Mentions

Here are some games or DLCs that were on the top but didn't get its own section in the weekly notes.

• Keep on Mining! - (Collectathon. Idler. Mining)
• Achilles: Survivor - (Action Roguelike. Bullet Hell. Top-Down Shooter)
• Terminull Brigade™ - (Action Roguelike. Hack and Slash. Looter Shooter)
• A World of Keflings - (City Builder. Base Building. Resource Management)
• Dead Take - (Walking Simulator, Survival Horror, Puzzle)
• FUMES - (Automobile Sim, Driving, Open World)
• Dead by Daylight: The Walking Dead - (Action. Strategy. Survival Horror)

Full List: Top Releases for July 21 - July 27 (2025)

BONUS: Top Releases for all of July

Since it's a new month, here's the full list

Updates to Niklas Notes!

The site just got a big update. You can now create an account and log in! Register HERE if you haven’t already.

In an effort to make this site sustainable long term, I've switched to Patreon for supporting. They have an API I can use, which means backers get access to exclusive features - starting with advanced search. It is the system I've used programmatically for a while, creating the lists on the dashboards as well as in these posts. I'm excited to have this available to all of you!

The free version of the site isn’t going anywhere. I’ll keep adding new features, and some of those will be available to everyone. Some might require just a free account. Right now, if you sign up, you’ll unlock the Last Month and Last 6 Months analysis, plus the ability to download any list or search as a PDF.

If you’re a backer, you’ll also be able to export in more formats - like CSV, XLSX.CSV, and JSON.

And that's it! Thank you for reading!

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