It's 2023 and the lights are back on at Nintendo Life Towers. While January can often be something of a sleepy month as the gaming industry rears its head from a Christmas-induced slumber, we are up and raring to dive into what looks to be an interesting year for Nintendo.
This week, we have shared our thoughts on 2023's first big release, Fire Emblem Engage, as we got our hands on the game for a preview. We have also been looking forward to the year ahead as some of our writers got together to discuss their gaming predictions. Then, to top it all off, we dove into the ultimate question of Hyrule as we attempted to find the very best Zelda-themed Nintendo console.
Now, some of us have sat down to share our gaming plans for this weekend. Be it a new title or attempting to get through the shadow of 2022's backlog, it's going to be a big year for all of us Switch fans. Have a read and then take to the comments to let us know what you will be playing!
Enjoy!
Jim Norman, Staff Writer
I have seen in the new year by finally getting round to playing No Man's Sky on the Switch and.... I'm kinda mixed. The fact that the game runs at all is a huge surprise to me and I can't fault its ambition, but I am finding the controls hard to get to grips with and the incentive to come back for more is definitely tricky in the first few hours - we'll see if I make a breakthrough this weekend.
Aside from that, I can also see my weekend being defined by short bursts of gaming so I will probably be using these moments to play more Sonic Mania Plus and Into The Breach. A strange double bill, I will admit, but both are great for getting some playtime in when you only have 20 minutes or so.
Kate Gray, Staff Writer
My weekend is a bit stacked already and I'm not sure which ones I'll get time to play (I'M GOING TO IKEA), but it will be one of these: Wayward Strand, Norco (I'm close to the end), I Was A Teenage Exocolonist, Paradise Killer. I'll also potentially be watching my partner finish Outer Wilds — a feat I never managed myself because it got too scary and I'm a wimp.
Alana Hagues, Staff Writer
I’m starting 2023 off with good intentions and I’m diving into my backlog before the onslaught of JRPGs starts next month! First up, after playing lots of turn-based games, I’ve turned to the action-oriented Nobody Saves The World, which I’m having a delightful time with. I’m just heading to the second dungeon, and my favourite forms are the Slug and the Ranger so far. Yes, you can turn into a Slug, and it’s really fun.
That’s… kind of it, at the moment. I didn’t get any new games over the holiday period, so I’m currently trying to resist the temptation to pick up Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion. And I don’t want to over-promise on the backlog goals, of course. We’re kicking off the year gently, folks.
Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer
With January being a reasonably quiet month for me (I’m definitely not a fan of the Fire Emblem series), I’ve decided to use my time to go back and revisit a few titles that I haven’t played in a good while. At the top of the pile is Luigi’s Mansion 3, which I still hold as one of the finest games on the Switch and certainly one of the better looking ones. I’m not too far into it yet, but it will definitely be keeping me busy in the days and weeks to come.
Over on the Series X, I’m currently working my way through Halo Infinite on Legendary. The highest difficulty setting here is revelatory and really forces you to consider how to approach each objective. For as much heat as this game has been getting in recent months, I find it difficult to fault the campaign; it’s great stuff.
Thanks for reading! Add the main game you'll be playing in the poll below and leave a comment with your gaming plans for the weekend ahead!
Comments 87
This weekend I will finish Half-Life 2 Episode Two!
Castlevania III Dracula's Curse will also be on my playlist as I've only beaten 1 and 2.
And finally, I will play some God of War (I still do not have Ragnarok) and Dante's Inferno!
Splatoon 3! Will be defending the Spicy nation this weekend in what will likely be a chilling defeat for the Sweet and Sour teams
It will sting a little
I'm also drinking spice tea in the meantime. Puts my mouth on fire, love it.
Maximo Ghosts of Glory on the PS3 (PS2 version), Mario Rabbids SoH, Switch Sports Golf and SMB WII. Oh and (K9 toy) tug of war with the dog
I guess I decided that I hate myself so in some form of self-flagellation I set out to defeat all the super bosses in Final Fantasy X, something which I've never done before. I got all the super weapons (even the one from the terrible lightning dodging quest and the one from the mind numbing blitzball minigame) and captured of 10 every monster already, now the gargantuan grind to get my stats up and to get the armor I'm gonna need is ongoing.
Still No Mans Sky, this game just seems to get better and better. Loving the expeditions
Easy Come Easy Golf and River City Girls 2 for the Switch. Maybe TMNT Cowabunga Collection.
Great to see the PS3 gets so much love in these comments. I feel like playing LA Noire on the PS3 and also am replaying Assassins Creed 2 on PC.
My Switch library is exploding I could play so much, but I am waiting for the Skull & Co Neo Grip and Thumb Stick Grips to arrive to not get a seizure from holding the tiny putsy joy cons.
Started the year with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Never played an Assassin’s game but heard/read Black Flag was one of the best. Safe to say I’m terrible but enjoying it so far. Looks great in handheld!
Lots of games since doing a recap on everything Nintendo Switch. BOTW, Odyssey, Smash
Hey, can you guys let Ubisoft know that their servers are broken?
I've recently got back into playing Rayman Legends and I've been trying to do the Daily and Weekly Challenges to get enough Lums to unlock the last characters, but a couple of weeks ago it didn't give me the Lums for 3 out of 4 Challenges, the next week it didn't give me any for 2 of them, yesterday it didn't give me the Lums for either of the 2 Daily ones, and today it's being really weird.
Actually now that I've checked, I haven't received any from the Daily Easy since the 3rd, and haven't got any from the Daily Extreme since the 4th...
Little bit between games at the moment, and not sure where to go next. I am a few hours into Tales of the Abyss (3DS), and am surprisingly intrigued by the story. Which isn’t something I’d expect with a Tales game. So I’ll probably play a bit more.
Also tempted to try Horizon Zero Dawn, which I picked up in the Epic sale, or one of Citizen Sleeper, Norco or Signalis.
I’ll probably just end up doing some Picross…
Splatoon 3, Ring Fit Adventure and checking out the new Mario Kart 8 tracks since I've finally got my internet working again. Also playing some Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright on 3DS which is fun, would be a good idea to port it to the Switch.
@Expa0 I remember the lightning dodging quest, that was so annoying. In the end I completed it by muting my TV.
Still equipped with some home time for the holidays, so PS4 stuff like Horizon, Nioh games, Mass Effect, NFS Rivals/Payback and the newly added Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order should definitely see some action, but Switch is where most appetites are as usual - Xenoblade trio, RF5 and NMS, Mary Skelter 2, DerQ and Fuga, this week's (read: fortnight's) new investments like Citizens Unite, Puyo Puyo Tetris and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus... and quite likely more potential sessions across older ones like Shining Resonance Refrain, Feral Fury or Disgaea and the more recent ones like Attack on Titan 2, Yonder and Diablo 2.
On the latter note, the first Diablo has good limelight odds on Vita as well, as do Eternia, Exile's End and Xenogears. The dual screens may see some Etrian Odyssey, Fire Emblem Echoes and/or Endless Frontier again, but I also may make some progress in Layton's Unwound Future (doubling as copium for once again failing to allocate the funds for Katrielle's adventures on Switch😅), tend to Pokemon Gold/Moon (and then perchance even drop by Sword on Switch as well) and Ever Oasis... maybe even actually start Fantasy Life this time.😆 All of that should rationally elbow the laptop out but nope - I still dare consider stuff like FFXIII, Wolfenstein New Order and Grid 2 over there, too.
Finally landed myself a PS5 so it’s gonna be some R&C Rift Apart.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town PS4 All Day Long. 😊
I have accumulated more than 120 hours of gameplay, still working my butt on collecting gems for Spirit Request.
Engrossed in To The Moon at the moment. Maybe find time to squeeze some Spiderman or Dark Pictures Anthology in later on. And at some point I have to make a date with the Star Fox team and Lylat Wars. Slippy nooooooooooooo"
This weekend marks the first community day event of 2023 in Pokemon Go with Chespin getting the spotlight. A new year also means a new play-through of Super Mario World AKA my all-time favourite video game. If I have the time, I’ll continue to make my way through Monster Crown while I’m at it.
I’m all about Witcher 3 at the minute. Last played it about 8 years ago on PS4, and I’ve got to say it is a joy to play again on switch in handheld (plus I never did any of the DLC, so that’s like having a whole new Witcher game to look forward to).
Well just finished Harvestella, and wow, cozy farm sim it is not, it has one of the most bleak and depressing undertones that I have played in recent memory, and SO MUCH dialogue! So much in fact, that I've opted to play the lego Harry Potter collection because I am that done with reading, and that's coming from a VN fan.
Before I get to the 'boy who wingardium leviosas innocent school children and drops them to their death' I have to fight for team sweet and contribute absolutely nothing of value because I was squidding it up even back in the Wii U days and yet I still suck.
Hope everyone gets lots of game time in, its a form of self care (probably)
Mostly Splatoon 3 for the Splatfest, I couldn't make the Pokemon one so I haven't played a Splatfest since September.
On Switch:
Cuphead with my eldest daughter
Blazing Beaks with my youngest.
Slain by myself.
On PS4:
GoW Ragnarok
Honestly, probably Tetris 99. Since she got a Switch for Christmas, my wife has been hooked on it and it brought me back to it, even though, man, does it make me miss Mario 35 so much! I’ve yet to win so far in Tetris, but jeez it gets intense once you’re in the top 10.
I do have Aegis Rim to play too and Tactics Ogre. I started both of them, not knowing how far I’d get in either before Fire Emblem and Forspoken battle for my time, as I race to play them both before Hogwarts Legacy.
I'm finishing the post game of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX. I like this game but since it came out march 2020 it was obviously overshadowed by another bigger game.
Aside from that I'll probably play a bit of Splatoon 3 due to Splatfest.
Finally started Persona 5 on Switch. Only an hour and half in but the story is cool and the production value on everything is unreal, especially surprised at how many anime cut scenes there are.
Also Peggle on Steam Deck. Why that game (or Peggle 2) isn’t on Switch yet is beyond me and why they haven’t made another since 2 is even more baffling
In approximate order of how much I may play of each:
Rogue Legacy 2 - seems much harder to me than the first game, but I'm slowly inching along and trying to decide what my favorite class is.
Pokemon Violet - working a bit on completing my Pokedex.
Super Mario 3D All-stars - I haven't decided which game, but I'm in the mood for some 3D Mario.
I may also start a new visual novel, but I haven't chosen one from my backlog yet
p.s. I like the new vote in this article, but I wish it would let me choose more than one game (maybe top 1-3 games?); I often play several different games during a weekend and don't necessarily have a main one.
Fallout 3 on my Steam Deck. Am going to see if I can move the story line on a bit.
I am at the ship/town south of DC and need to find some documents belonging to my father in order to move the story line on. Had the game on Xbox 360 and did finish 4 of the DLCs.
This time I've finished the Point Lookout (which imo is by far the best) and Mothership Zeta DLCs (by far the worst of the DLCs imo), but now I'm going to concentrate on getting through the main game.
Going through a GBA phase at the moment so Spyro: Season of Flame and SimCity 2000 if the postman brings it!
I’m maining Crazy Taxi on Dreamcast (after I do a round of DCDigital HW2 installs) but that wasn’t an option. Rude.
Just started Grid Legends. A stunning racing game. A few hours into Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Even though it seems worse than the first game in every way it is still a good game.
Probably Sifu, as I just got it yesterday, Live A Live, which I got for Christmas but still haven't played, and maybe Chaos;Head Noah, if I get a chance.
@shgamer Not going to lie ... I am jealous that you play Fallout 3 on the Steam Deck!
@Zuljaras I understand you. It runs at a solid 60 fps almost all the time and I have to say I doubt it will come to Switch. I think Skyrim appeals a lot more to Nintendo fans in general.
I'll be playing The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC on my very old laptop, as the second step towards eventually playing through the whole series.
On the side it'll be Pokemon HeartGold.
Playing through Bayonetta 3 and very much loving it!
Eiyuden Chronicles Rising: 10 hours into it and I like it. Playing a bunch of my racing games one after another for comparison: it's kinda fun to play them back to back.
Tried the Sonic demo: eh.
Rocket League!
Happy gaming everyone!
Splatfest! Not played much Splatoon since the new season started so enjoying getting back into it. Seems to be loads of new players which is great.
Also a bit of Hades. I want to put it down for a bit and tackle something from the backlog but it’s just so addictive. I can’t get past the 3rd stage yet but I am still improving.
Bang bang shoot shoot
Mostly watching Brooke Monk dance compilations on YouTube. I think she is the future of what we know as the internet. Xx still waiting for goldeneye sigh xxxx
Been working on Amatsutsumi. I did Kokoro's route and now I'm working on Kyouka's.
Having just finished Tiny Tina's Wonderlands on the PS4 with my wife (super fun game that they should totally bring to Switch), that frees up more time for me to dip into Xenoblade 3. I'm about 10 hours into it, and I certainly like it much more than 2, but still not as much as 1 (or even X for that matter). The story is the biggest hook for me as I really love the concept.
@shgamer Rivet City. My home away from home. Many hundreds of hours poured into that game on PS3 over the past 14 years. Heck, just did my last playthrough in the Summer. Would love a Switch port but Bethesda only knows how to port Skyrim every 6 months, lol
Divinity: Original Sin II. I picked it up in December, and I absolutely love it. I will probably sink more hours into this than any other game on my Switch. I still occasionally struggle with the controls, but they have been well thought out, for the most part.
I'm seeing my friends tonight and we'll mostly play board games, but we might play some Pokémon Scarlet/Violet and/or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Tomorrow I'll be back to my schedule so Persona 5 Royal (I'm securing the route to the Treasure in Madarame's Palace) and alternating between Fire Emblem Three Hopes (finally finished my first route, Scarlet Blaze, will start Azure Gleam and try to do all the pre-timeskip chapters before moving on to Engage), Pokémon Scarlet (2 Gyms and 1 Titan down) and Sparks of Hope (just done both main missions in Palette Prime, will do more side quests there before starting the next planet)!
i continuing my expert playtrought of Bayonetta 3(i nearly done with the game) i tried to beat Rodin, but he hard as hell.
I bought Crisis Core Reunion and Neon White for Switch last week and I will mostly be playing those.
Tackling my backlog HARD this year. Little Town Hero which I'm almost done with, then it's on to the next one.
I've been playing Fossil Fighters on my DS lite. Game has a lot of charm.
For singleplayer I have great time ahead of me. I’ll finally be finishing Breath of the Wild once and for all by collecting the last Korok seeds in the game. It’s honestly really surreal that after so much time playing this game (my favorite of all time), I’ll finally be finishing it off this weekend. Needless to say, I am ecstatic for Tears of the Kingdom in only a few months. I’ll also potentially be playing Cadence of Hyrule. It’s on sale right now and it looks really interesting, so considering I’m on a Zelda kick right now, it just makes sense to go for it.
For multiplayer, I’ll be playing Splatoon 3 for the splatfest. I’m on Team Sweet, and I reached champion level last night. I’ll also likely be playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Smash Ultimate with friends.
Splatoon 3 Splatfest on Switch and Sonic Team Racing on my Series S...
I’ll be finishing up Grapple Dog (which I’ve loved and highly recommend) and playing the splatoon 3 splatfest. Go team Spicy!
I played a lot of sale pickup AIRHEART: Tales of Broken Wings this week. It’s a fun little top-down twin-stick shooter with crafting, but sadly the game crashes every other time I return to base! I guess you get what you pay for…
I really can’t complain, though, as Earth Defense Force 4.1 arrived from Japan this week. A few sorties in, and it’s just as fun blowing up giant insects and War of the Worlds robots now on Switch as I remember on PS3 years ago. I’m not sure yet what updates come with that “.1” suffix, but it’ll be fun finding out. Hopefully it gets an English language release someday so more people can enjoy it - for now it’s Japanese-only.
Wishing everyone a fun first full weekend of 2023!
Between my PS4 and Switch, I’ll continue to get my butt handed to me on a consistent basis playing Elden Ring, finish up The Messenger DLC, and play some Smash Bros as Zelda. Then sometime after that, play Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I recently purchased No Man’s Sky. I’m amazed at how it really works on the Switch and this game is a beast of its own. So many games to play lol. I still haven’t beaten RDR2, Sonic Mania, BOTW: Trial of the Sword on Master mode….I’ll get to it before TOTK releases. Oh yea, I’ll be picking up Dead Cells finally after all this time!
Playing some of my purchases through Xmas.
Matchpoint Tennis
Lego Star Wars
WRC Generations
Just started Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion today after finishing Cave Story+ yesterday, also just bought Phantasy Star Sega Ages so I might try that too.
I'll be spending plenty of time defending Team Sweet in the Splatfest this weekend. I'm already a bit into Champion rank, I want to see how much catalog progress I can make during the event. When I'm not playing Splatoon 3, Dragon Quest Treasures will be my go-to Switch game.
On other platforms, Ara Fell on Steam and The Quarry on PS5 are the main ones I'd like to get back to still. My Switch has really been stealing my attention, though!
@nhSnork I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I look forward to your comment here every week!
I play Splatoon 3 pretty much every day, and of course this weekend I'm doing it for the splatfest. Aside from that though, I've been playing Horizon: Zero Dawn on the PS5. It might become one of my favorite games, I am enjoying it that much.
I’m trying to go back to The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls, but I also am making my way through Mega Man X5 on Switch. I also need to finish Tunic on PC game pass. So one of those three.
This week I will be mostly playing
Mario Is Missing!
Mario’s Picross 2
Pokémon Shuffle
Currently maining Paper Mario: The Origami King on my Switch. I'm working towards unraveling the second streamer at Shogun Studios. The world, characters, and writing are definitely carrying the game for me. Combat is a mixed bag however.
Elsewhere, I plan to give the 3DS eShop a final browse as I pick up a couple of wanted Virtual Console stragglers. Not sure if I'll play them yet though. Edit: Picked up the charming Mole Mania, so that's now my side game.
Finally, today is Chespin Community Day in Pokemon Go. Honestly...It's my least favorite starter ever - I'm not a fan of the entire line's design - but it'd be remiss of me to not grab a couple of shinies to satisfy my collector mentality. The main draw for me is Kecleon post Cday since it's FINALLY in the game.
Happy gaming!
I just beat Celeste (recommend it highly), so right now I think I'm gonna mainly focus on Dicey Dungeons (and they do get dicey indeed, survived a boss fight with like 3 hp). Might throw in some Downwell if I have the time. Also, I've been playing Human Fall Flat with my dad and mainly my brother, and I think "hilarious suffering" defines the game perfectly.
Probably getting on with Xenoblade 3 and watching some anime. Might finally try and finish Danganronpa V3, eh, who am I kidding, probably will get sucked into playing Smash with my siblings.
After finishing Cathedral a few days ago, I'm going on to the next in my backlog, UnMetal-- I need some satirical, self-aware humor right now. I will also be playing the Sonic Frontiers demo to get a feel for the game. I also need to stop procrastinating on playing the latest MK8D wave, too, but I don't think I'll have THAT much time this weekend to do so. Good ol' real life. Sigh...
I'm 13 hours into Persona 5 Royal. It's been okay so far but it hasn't really hooked me yet. I'm a bit surprised because I was already hooked on Persona 4 Golden by this point when I played it.
I've also been playing OlliOlli World. I did not expect this game to be so addicting lol. Ever since I've figured out how to do combos I've been adamant on doing the whole level in one run. I think I'm on the 5th world which looks like the last one.
P5R on Switch.
INSIDE (Switch), Duke Nukem: Time to Kill (PS1), Pharaoh (PC)
Beat Sonic Frontiers this week and it delivered in every way I could have hoped.
Nintendo Switch:
NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition — 18 and half hours in. Well, I will try to not spoil the game, so... I've completed 17% or 18% of sidequests. Beated 3 or 4 bosses. Leveled up character to 19th level. Found one pod/bot. World and characters in the game amazes me. Also, seiyūs done a great job with voicing characters. I like characters' and robots/machines' voices.
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r] — completed Arcade Mode playing as Carmine.
Android:
Minecraft — continue to expand my mine. Found big source of lava and got 5 baskets of lava.
On the next week, I will continue to play NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition. And will continue to play game actively until I get one of the main endings, at least. That's all what I've played on this week. Have a nice gaming weekend, everyone!
Also, that's will be nice to have option to choose at least 3 games in the poll, not only one game.
LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (PS2) - Four levels remain to complete.
Tetris (Windows Phone) - Just started to kill some time.
Age of Sparta (Windows Phone) - Still haven't played in nearly a week. I should really get back on this this weekend.
Splatoon 3 for me since the Splatfest is happening now.
I'm trying to finish at least ome route in Fire Emblem 3 Houses before Engage comes out. So close yet so far. I feel like I'm not too far from the end of the war, but I also enjoy playing games slowly and thoroughly.... so finishing in just 2 more weeks feels a little bit of s stretch.
Part time ufo, dragon quest x and three houses for me. And likely VF 5 on xbox.
This weekend i'll be playing
The Sims 3 (PC)
The Sims 2 (PC) just got Pets,
Monopoly Tycoon (PC)
THPS2 (PC) just got the game
Xenoblade (Switch)
still stuck in tactics ogre world and been enjoying the hell out of it. just wrapped up the chaos route and getting ready to explore the other ones
Tales of arise(PC) , DQ11 (Switch) and Wizards of legend(Switch)
Bioshock (Switch) Picked this up on sale. Been wanting to explore Rapture again.
Sports Story (Switch) Trying to wrap this one up before moving on to a new game.
Far Cry 6 (Series X) Been enjoying my time with this one recent got it on sale as well.
Splatoon 3 for the Splatfest.
I picked up Demons Tilt while it was on sale and I’ve been playing the “hell” out of it
This weekend I'm trying too 100% complete xenoblade chronicles 2 torna the golden country while trying to finish life is strange before the storm. It's very hard to do both in the same day
PS5
Horizon Forbidden West
I got all the way to reviving Gaia a few months ago then gave this a pause as i landed four months of free PC Game Pass. Thinking to dive back in, want to finish before i play Call of the Mountain.
Quest 2
Until You Fall
Bloody difficult but rewarding and addictive. Pretty awesome VR roguelite, and what a soundtrack!
Mare
Its a bit meh. Lovely visuals and decent puzzles, but it leans so heavy into Team Ico's aesthetic that it feels more like a rip then a homage.
PC Game Pass
Deathloop
Pretty fun, and its style has clicked with me. Am a bit annoyed that the Roguelite aspect sortve makes my favorite part of an Arkane game (the skill tree and finding upgrade items) irrevelant. Fair enough, they tried something new with their formula, its still quite fun.
Pentiment
This one took a while to warm to me, but now im near the end of the first act and im hooked. As an intreractive narrative, it is really on another level. Fantastic and gripping stuff.
I was gifted pokemon violet, so im playing that as much as possible! It's so good! I can't believe all the awesome quality of life stuff they added
Astronite, Chained Echoes, and Halo Infinite.
Continuing into Hollow Knight!
Castlevania Anniversary Collection
Splatoon 3 for the Splatfest. Go Team Sweet! I don't want to play much of anything else, but I did finally complete the last cup in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with 200cc to get three stars in all modes. Not that it was hard but I've just been too deep in Splatoon. Once the Splatfest is over, I'll see if I can finally get back to Pokemon Violet and maybe start playing Disney Dreamlight Valley now that it's the beginning of the new year.
@Pikki Bowser's Fury, I forgot about that one! What an awesome and fun game.
@PepperMintRex this is still my favorite ps5 game so far…2nd place is miles morales
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