Starlink

Sitting at the end of a week which has seen two particularly high profile Switch releases, it perhaps comes as no surprise that many members of the NL team are getting stuck into Ubisoft's space extravaganza and FromSoftware's exploration of hellish landscapes. As always, you can check out all of the games that we'll be playing this weekend down below, and even get involved yourself via our handy poll and comment sections. Enjoy!

Glen Fox, guides editor

So I read a few reviews of Starlink: Battle for Atlas and I'm now absolutely sold on it. I preordered it when the previews rolled out a few weeks ago but then cooled off around the time Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (now returned – too twitchy for me!) came out. It definitely seems to be the Star Fox stand in I hoped it was so I've ordered it again and it arrives today. That will be my weekend, though I still have my concerns.

I wonder what's going to drive me forward if you're not going to be unlocking new weapons and ships as you progress? Don't get me wrong – I won't be leaving the Arwing for a second – but I still like progression systems. Hopefully it will have something similar to stimulate me, or it will be just a lot of enormous fun. Seamlessly blasting everything that moves in a variety of different planets in the fricking Arwing definitely sounds like fun to me! So yeah, I'll play that. Definitely didn't just buy it for the physical Arwing. Nope – definitely not.

Gavin Lane, contributing writer

Assuming I can resist the allure of Dark Souls: Remastered, my Switch’s fan will get a well-earned rest this weekend as I dip into some older games. My new TV’s lack of legacy connections meant forking out for an HDMI adapter for Wii, so I’ll be testing for lag with Rock Band 3. I’ll probably crack out a Wavebird and see how F-Zero GX and Soulcalibur II hold up, too. Assuming I don’t lose hours fiddling with TV settings, my 'pile o’ shame' is calling me – Killer7 and Metroid Prime have been sitting near the top for a long time now.

Liam Doolan, news reporter

This weekend I might revisit the free-to-play offerings on the Switch. This includes the usual suspects - Fortnite and Paladins. When I’m not in either of these games, I intend to finally take a look at Arena of Valor by the Chinese developer Tencent. From what I’ve experienced so far, it’s a relatively straightforward MOBA with heroes, lanes and all the other usual content you would expect to find in a game like this. As I've played my fair share of these types of games on PC over the years, it's been interesting so far to see how such an experience has been translated to couch and portable play. When I’m not playing these titles, I’ll probably spend some time in Super Mario Odyssey saving up for the recently added zombie headwear and outfit.

Steve Bowling, US editor

This weekend I'll be exploring Starlink as much as I can, courtesy of Team Star Fox. From our review and Alex's thoughts, I'm already sold on the game, but I want to experience it for myself. I have the starter kit with the Arwing and a handful of other ships, pilots and guns on hand, but I'm unsure of if I'd prefer to play this way or digitally. Playing with the toys was fun when I played the game at E3 this year, but I'm not sure how much that'll hold up for extended play sessions.

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

What an incredible week and an even more incredible weekend ahead. Let's just get Splatoween out of the way; you'll find me online doing my sacred Splatfest duties in Splatoon 2 so if you happen to spot me among the enemy team with my glow-in-the-dark hockey mask, don’t run - you'll end up both splatted and tired.

Two of my all time favourite PS3 games landed on the Switch this week - Valkyria Chronicles and Dark Souls: Remastered and I couldn't be more stoked about replaying these two. While it's true that Valkyria Chronicles 4 is the defining chapter of the franchise, it is a nice bonus to have the series' origin so conveniently accessible. If I began talking about Dark Souls on Switch, we may need an entire article on that subject alone... so let us gaze to the stars above instead.

Everything (including my bank account balance) was eclipsed by the latest toys-to-life craze compliments of Ubisoft Toronto. Truth be told I was already on board the whole Starlink: Battle for Atlas shtick when I first had a glimpse of the project, many months before I would ever have imagined it would become the Star Fox game we never knew we wanted. I am rather looking forward to spending this upcoming weekend exploring every nook and cranny I can fly my eight ship squadron into. To top it all, it was released on birthday, one I will never forget!

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

While my dear friends and colleagues are off getting hopelessly addicted to Dark Souls: Remastered and Starlink: Battle for Atlas this weekend, I'll actually more than likely find myself still enjoying a few rounds of Super Mario Party. I'm sure my newfound interest in the game will fade eventually, but I'm still enjoying playing for just an hour or so when we get the chance, and I've finally started to make my way through the solo-player portion.

My sights are now set a little more on the horizon, with the likes of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun!, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate being the main games on my mind. Until then, I'm happy to get a little more playtime out of the games that I've already treated myself to, which is a strangely forward-thinking and money-saving stance for me to take and one that will no doubt end pretty soon.

Which games are you playing this weekend? (336 votes)

  1. Starlink: Battle for Atlas16%
  2. Dark Souls: Remastered14%
  3. F-Zero: GX1%
  4. Soulcaliber II1%
  5. Killer71%
  6. Metroid Prime1%
  7. Fortnite4%
  8. Paladins1%
  9. Arena of Valor2%
  10. Super Mario Odyssey4%
  11. Splatoon 217%
  12. Valkyria Chronicles3%
  13. Valkyria Chronicles 43%
  14. Super Mario Party6%
  15. Something else (comment below)27%

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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...