Octopath Traveler

Another Saturday is upon us, and so is another weekend full of opportunities to play our favourite games. As always, members of team Nintendo Life have gathered together to discuss their gaming plans, and this weekend sees a lot of Octopath Traveler, some other stuff, Octopath Traveler, some very lovely cardboard, and then just a little bit of Octopath Traveler. What can we say? We love our RPGs.

Dave Frear, retro reviewer

For about a week or so, my Switch has been telling me people are playing Octopath Traveler. Feeling left out, I decided to purchase it - backlog be damned! I love the “HD-2D” visuals and the music, although in typical Dave fashion I haven’t actually done much in the game so far. I’ve not even reached the point I did in the first demo, but I have a weekend off now to get stuck into it. Based on that demo, I’m playing as Primrose as I’m curious to see how the story plays out; I will have my revenge! Or I will get distracted by sidequests. Either way, I’m expecting an enjoyable couple of days.

Glen Fox, guides editor

I'm still playing Paladins so I'll probably have a few rounds of that. Fancy something new though so I'm eyeing up Golf Story or Axiom Verge as potentials. I'm travelling this weekend, so I need something 2D that won't drain my battery super quickly, and those two meet the criteria quite nicely. Probably should be Stardew Valley or Hollow Knight but I've bought these two already so shush.

I haven't really played my Switch much recently though; I kind of feel like I'm waiting for the new shiny things to play. I'm super excited for Warframe, for example, and really just want to get started on the big old grind in that. Then there's Pokémon Let's Go and Tales of Vesperia – two games that will literally have to fight each other for my time. I hate waiting!

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

I have reached the bit of Octopath Traveler where you [tiny spoiler alert] gather all eight main characters and am now facing the impossible hard choice of making a team with just half of them. There are so many great combination possibilities that this will require a lot of experimentation. Besides the regular JRPG fever, I got struck with another massive dose of 'mech madness' so SD Gundam G Generation Genesis is also back on the Switch rotation, along with GameCube import favourites Gundam: The Ace Pilot, Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam and the delightful SD Gundam Gashapon Wars. So many Gundams, so little weekend...

Richard Atkinson, contributing writer

Sun, Sea and Switch… my weekend in a nutshell, basically. As well as frantically trying to tan my embarrassingly pale skin at the local beach, I’ll be rounding up some friends on and offline for some free-to-play gaming sessions. Paladins and Fortnite (this member of NL staff still needs to figure out how to build and run at the same time) will be getting my undivided attention as whenever I take a peek at my friends list to take a nosey to see what my fellow gamers are playing, these two titles are, without fail, always being played. Time to 'git gud'.

The new stage, Ancho V Games on Splatoon 2 looks to be in rotation for a lot of the weekend, and with the new weapons to try out and some serious levelling up on the cards, inking fellow squids on the battlefield is an absolute must. Oh, and losing on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's 200c mode, too.

Alan Lopez, contributing writer

Bomb Chicken isn’t Mozart, okay? This isn’t Francis Ford Coppola lining up the perfect shot. As far as I can tell three levels deep, under no condition does this game deviate from its name; I’m a chicken and I lay bombs, and bombs help me not get eaten. Why can I lay bombs? Shut up.

I’m enjoying this little platforming game, though it’s sliding dangerously into tedium only a few levels in. Will I stop playing before I get eaten? For both me and my little chicken friend’s sake, let’s hope I can keep these bombs blowing.

Austin Voigt, contributing writer

This weekend, we’ll be in the process of adopting a new dog - and one of my secret burning ambitions is to design Nintendo Labo toys for pets. I plan to hunker down and try my hand at a dog treat dispenser or ball launcher - but if anyone else has additional ideas for dog-friendly Labo designs, leave them in the comments! I’m determined to cross the canine-human lexicon via videogames. If I manage to succeed at this endeavor, I’ll be sure to share the results (fair warning: I will likely fail miserably).

Side note: our newest furry family member is a white wolfhound/lab mix, so we’re thinking of naming her Ghost, à la Jon Snow’s direwolf. Speaking of which - can we get a Thrones game on Switch sometime in the near future? I’m going to need it after Season 8 ends.

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

As always, top priority this weekend will be making sure to keep on top of my daily challenges - and, hopefully, the harder weekly challenges - on Fortnite. Once they're all cleared up, though, I might actually brave the potentially time-consuming and addictive world of Octopath Traveler.

I've been holding off from playing, partly because I'm not sure how well I'll get on with the actual gameplay itself (I love some RPGs, but sometimes they just don't really do it for me), and partly because I'm scared that I'll get hopelessly hooked on it and have even less time for anything else in my life. Anyway, I've finally downloaded the demo and might play through its three-hour limit over the next couple of days - at least that way I'll know what to expect if I take the plunge!

Liam Doolan, news reporter

I’m still hooked on Sonic Mania Plus. It’s mostly because it’s a game you can jump straight into rather than having to wait around in a lobby for half an hour while other players join. The new encore mode featuring Mighty and Ray has been giving me the quick fix I need. I've even been playing the competitive mode with family and friends. 

When I’m not speeding about in Sonic this weekend, I’ll most likely be spending my time laying bombs in Bomb Chicken. I love its style and especially the art design; it really does remind me of the SNES classic Yoshi’s Island.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

This weekend I'll be shooting up a sweary storm in Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition and channelling my inner Mort for some reaper-esque duties in Flipping Death. Both games couldn't be any different in terms of gameplay, but they both share an irreverent and dark sense of humour so they've already scored some brownie points with me (tune into Nintendo Life next week to find out just how many).

I'll also be getting stuck in the Call of Duty Blacks Ops 4 private beta on *cough* PS4 *cough* (shock horror), but I'm sure I'll find some time to leap back into my ongoing love affair with Paladins. Since it's now free-to-play, I imagine its already busy servers will be jam-packed with fresh meat - I mean 'champions'...

Which games are you playing this weekend? (357 votes)

  1. Octopath Traveler27%
  2. Paladins10%
  3. Golf Story1%
  4. Axiom Verge1%
  5. Stardew Valley2%
  6. Hollow Knight6%
  7. SD Gundam G Generation Genesis1%
  8. Fortnite6%
  9. Splatoon 211%
  10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe5%
  11. Bomb Chicken1%
  12. Nintendo Labo1%
  13. Sonic Mania Plus4%
  14. Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition  0%
  15. Something else (comment below)25%

Please login to vote in this poll.

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days...