Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (11th January)

Hey everyone.
I'm near the end of The Last Faith, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Probably enjoy it more than Blasphemous 2.

Still going through Rebel Transmute, just over halfway through.
Still kicking my backside but I'm a glutton for punishment.

Also started
Voidwrought.
Absolutely loving it. Great MV, hope it gets a physical release.

Also ordered 9 Years of Shadows from LRG.

Good time to be a MV gamer.

Have a great weekend everyone

Witcher 3! So I suppose that gotta be for some weeks lol. Happy gaming everyone!

Currently alternating between FE: Engage, Donkey Kong Country on NSO and A Short Hike, happy gaming everyone! 🤘🏻

My gaming plans for the weekend:

• SMB Wonder: I've been playing through one world each day, and today is World 5. Super fun game, feels like it's even more fun on this second playthrough somehow.
• Melatonin: slowly going for the perfect scores where I feel it's doable, man this game has a really tight timing!
• Just Shapes And Beats: almost ready to put this one down, but I'd still like to get one of each sort of coins for some strange reason ...
• Tetris Effect Connected: I've been addicted to the 1989 theme recently and will participate in the community goal this weekend, I'd better start collecting the community badges before people stop playing this one online.
• Zelda: EoW: I've decided to start this one this weekend finally, don't want to leave my Zelda Switch get all dusty after I put TotK to rest last month.

Have fun everybody ✌🏻🧡🎮

1000xRESIST. Holy crow, what an incredible story. Can't stop thinking about it. On chapter 8 currently, so nearing the end. I have no idea what's going to happen though. If you have the slightest curiosity about it, don't hesitate!

Oh, and FrostyFest...

Same as last week. In Mario vs Donkey Kong, finished the plus worlds, now doing the expert levels. In Ace Attorney Investigations starting the 4th case.

I'm playing Switch 2. Popped to the local black market this morning and bought one. Honestly though, they aren't going to sell many at those prices.

After years of ownership, but on the fence about breaking open the seal on the Collector's edition, I've bought a second copy of Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin and am finally playing it.

It's been so long since it came out that I'd kinda forgotten anything about it, other than I knew i loved the concept (whatever it was) and the promotional artwork (of which I've acquired two t-shirts recently too).

Seems quite cutscene-heavy so far, which I wasn't expecting, but it's pretty entertaining stuff, what with Sakuna being an alch-y, and accompanied by better-than-anticipated voice work. Couple that with the platforming, that I'd forgotten completely was an aspect of the game, and it's turning out to be the unique experience I always hoped it would be.

Rice is power!

Also playing the obligatory Animal Crossing, and wondering if I might find time for some Splatfest. And Slipstream, which I bought cheap recently to see if I wanted to buy the LRG physical or not. It's not as good as the marketing wants me to think it would be. It's ok, but it doesn't deserve an inflated physical purchase in my book.

MVC COLLECTION:
X-MEN CHILDREN OF THE ATOM – beaten the game as Iceman.
MARVEL SUPER HEROES VS STREET FIGHTER – beaten the game as Mech-Gōki, Dan Hibiki, Ryū, Sakura, Chun-Li, Hiyake Sakura/Dark Sakura Kasugano, Shadow, Mech-Zangiyev, Zangiyev, Dhalsim, Ken Masters, Vega, Cyclops, Captain America, Blackheart, Hulk, Omega Red, Shuma-Gorath, Spider-Man, Wolverine.
MARVEL VS CAPCOM CLASH OF SUPER HEROES – beaten the game as Captain Commando, Chun-Li, Ryū, Rockman, Morrigan, Strider Hiryū, Zangiyev.
MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2 NEW AGE OF HEROES – beaten the game as Ryū/Ken/Chun-Li team and Nash/Guile/Jill team.
OGRE TALE – finished the game.
CORPSE PARTY BLOOD DRIVE – started CHAPTER 01.
Well, for now, it's all what I've played on this week. Have a nice gaming weekend, everyone.

Poe2, Metaphor, and Indiana Jones

mk8dx 99k coin grind - 97k rn. snowed in feelin cozy.

Just got Zelda echoes
About not sure half way through and up to date with side quests so far.

Spider-Man Remastered and Another Code Recollection. The latter is a seriously underrated gem

Playing on my switch 2 rumored console!!!

1:Mario&luigi brothership.
Still my nr1 game, love it. I am 35+ hrs in.
If the switch 2 has some big update for this game (graphics erc) i will start feom scratch again lol.

2: Smashbros (endless game)

3: Got mario party jamboree for christmas, so yeah playing that with my son.

Happy gaming!

Granblue Fantasy Relink. The combat is fun and quite action-packed. Currently in chapter 8.

Happy gaming everyone!

Back into Yakuza Kiwami, probably about halfway in I would guess, the main story is intense, yet some of the side stuff is hilarious...and I'm crap at karaoke.

To start off with a positive, I've played through MiSide twice. It's an incredibly charming little horror game, though clearly not quite finished yet. The game has been making rounds across the internet so I'm sure it needs no introduction, but it's a recommend for me.
On the negative side I FINALLY got through the Silent Hill 2 Remake and my worries before playing were ultimately founded. The game is a tedious slog, nearly tripling the original game's runtime and adding incredibly little of value. The previously brisk pace and tightly designed levels are bogged down by an extreme emphasis on combat (which is far from good enough to be as prevalent as it is), and nonsensical geometry that has you regularly squeezing through cracks in the wall, pushing carts around, and crawling through gaps in the floor so you never really have your bearings in a place. The latter may not sound like a problem, but the way you're going about is an entirely linear stretch and I found myself very often forgetting what my current objective even was due to long gaps of time dedicated to meandering.
The remake sadly doesn't do the story any justice either. While it does stay close to the original script, Blooper Team really dropped the ball on voice direction, with Mary/Maria's VA in particular delivering her lines in a very theater actor kind of cadence, which tended to remove all emotion or tension from scenes involving her (which if you know, is incredibly disappointing). All this is to say I think Konami was less interested in properly remaking SH2 and more interested in having their own RE2R. And some combination of poor concept and poor choice of studio led to an ultimately shallow and inferior copy of both that fails to hold up to its inspirations and fails to be a good game in its own right. Not a recommend.

Sorry about the rant, NOW I'm currently playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance in anticipation of its sequel. I haven't put much time into it yet, but I definitely get the impression it'll be the kind of game I devote a bit of my life to due to all the systems at play. Medieval Simulator is an apt description for it so far lol, but it does have its own story to tell, and its devotion to a historical setting really sucks you into the game fast.

Also, just to be fair to SH2R, I started playing Resident Evil 2 to compare with RE2R afterwards. I consider both to be masterpieces, and am putting that to the test.
There's only a two month period between my first playthrough of SH2 and SH2R, so both games are currently fresh in my mind, but the gap between my RE2 playthroughs are 7 years apart, with an additional five years since I played the remake. Let's see what happens.

A brief return to Metroid Dread on Switch and finishing up Aurelia on PC hehe.

This week I will be mostly playing

Sonic Advance’s last Special stage

I expect it to take all week

I've recently been trying to play things on an ROGAlly and constantly being bashed in the face by frustrating Windows issues, quirks, updates and other annoying things.

Bring on the Switch 2!

I started my weekend of gaming, by playing F-Zero: GB Legend via the GBA app, earlier in the day. In a bit, I’ll finally be diving into Sonic x Shadow: Generations, no doubt playing that for the majority of the weekend. I might squeeze in some time for WWE 2K24, play through a few shows in universe mode.

@FishyS
Hey ! As you're back into MARIO MAKER 2..
I think I haven't posted my newest course yet!?
Heaven or hell highway (SMB3)
It's quite speedruny. Haven't got the code on me, as I lent out my copy over the holidays, but you'll find it at the top of my uploaded courses.

Got myself NAMCO PICROSS and was gifted M&L BROTHERSHIP, so that's my weekend!
Happy weekend everyone and as it's never to late, Happy 2025 !!

(Super Mario & the 36.Chamber
Maker ID : 62L-6MH-MQG)

For me, by far the most exciting new videogame related thing is the awesome new update to Lossless Scaling. It allows for going way beyond multiplying the base frame rate by 4. Now you can choose to multiply any game's frame rate by 5, 6, 7, etc up to 20!!! Nothing has me more excited for a high refresh rate screen than this new feature! I've been wanting a 480hz screen, and am excited about the newly announced 700hz screen, but I'll probably stick with my laptop's 240hz for awhile (it is awesome, after all). I've been playing Tears of the Kingdom at 60fps, then using Lossless Scaling for 4x to get 240fps. That's been awesome for months, but now I can just target the base game frame rate of 30fps and use the new 8x multiplier and it looks even better! It is simply amazing. I'm so glad that something like Lossless Scaling has come along for gamers and video watchers to enjoy! I just played Wipeout 64 using the same 8x frame generation and it is OK. I get snatches of time where it looks like 240fps (also playing at 1200p), but the emulation has some judder and frame drops. Oh, I also tried the 20x frame gen on TOTK and it produces an interesting visual effect that I like. It looks a lot like when you repeatedly drink alcohol in GTA 5. All these cool visual anomalies appear. On my 240hz screen there is also an interesting "smooth" judder. Oh, and that reminds me, when playing TOTK using 8x frame gen, if there is a stutter in the frame rate the frame gen feature makes it less annoying. I get more of an interesting visual anomaly instead of a harsh stutter. So that's cool too. Oh, and using the 20x frame gen makes the menus in TOTK look awesomely trippy! The icons for weapons, shields, items, etc. magically morph into each other in such a pleasing way! When I saw it I thought "this would be sick if devs used it in the menus of a vanilla game!" It really is slick and nice looking. I've never really used AMD or Nvidia frame gen, and I'm sure it's better with the motion vector info and everything, but I'm super happy with plain old Lossless Scaling! I looked today and Steam says I've used it for over 200 hours (it's a cheap app you can buy on Steam). The fact that it can fix basically any 30fps or 60fps game and make it look awesomely smooth makes me not want to play any games on any system that I can't run through my laptop's screen somehow. I highly, highly recommend Lossless Scaling!
I've also been enjoying Digseum. It's a "progression" game that has great music (sorta reminds me of the awesome Swedish psychedelic rock band Dungen) and is just well polished and hard to put down. I also like that it is relatively brief.
Also still addicted to ufo 50. Party House has been my favorite for weeks. A few days ago I discovered a nice new song that plays when you expand your house a lot so you can have like 26 people in a party.
Also been playing of bunch of great shoot em ups: Mirage Feathers, Xelan Force, Ganablade (feels like it could've been on PC Engine, awesome game!), Zakesta-Z (also awesome!), Crystal Breaker (love it!), and Airanblade (really nice 1 person dev team stg game that only has like 8 reviews, deserves to sell more!)
Also been playing Pikmin, Mario 64, and Rocket League.
I got Beach House's newest album Once Twice Melody. Probably my number 1 standout track is "Through Me"

The Switch hasn't had as much that's interesting to me lately, other than Echoes of Wisdom which I thought was great. I've been catching up on older PS5 titles with PS Plus. I tried GTA5 but it just made me feel a little gross and then bored, like GTA usually does for me. I played Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, which I loved. The story was presented well but pretty childish other than a couple nice character moments with Rivet. I kinda wish they had more Pixar-level storytelling, which it seems like they are going for, but the villains are a little too silly and Saturday-morning-cartoon to take seriously. I mean I get that it's sorta a kid's game / comedy and should not be taken TOO seriously but they could have done more. But anyway, GREAT game overall, I played it a second time on the hardest setting.

Oh yeah and I played Humanity. Fun puzzle game if a little finicky. What precisely it's trying to say about humanity, I don't know, other than that we are dumb sheep and need a godlike dog to lead us.

After the borderline all-you-can-play fortnight prior, this weekend partly balances things out with sessions limited to the portable consoles... if "limited" is the right word for the hardware with the bulk of your backlog anyway.😅 Switch is moving on from Isaac's "Dead God" save file and the eye-watering 1065+ hours the system counter claims it took to reach it (not sure if this game's playtime was among the resets during the Mariko migration or not, so it could be even longer) but retains the variably familiar odds of Xenoblades, RFs, Personas, FFs (XII and Theatrhythm), Castlevanias and Bloodstained, Hogwarts and RDR, Minstrel Song and Atelier Marie, 13 Sentinels and Eiyuden Rising, Akiba's Trip and Little Noah, yet more of the newers like Timespinner and Choo Choo Charles, yet more of the olders like Great Ace Attorney and Skyrim... and all of that potentially mixed with strictly handheld playthroughs from Gravity Rush, Eternia and SotN to Endless Frontier, Fantasy Life and EOU.

As for the Genki debacle... what's there to add? It's tricky to hmmm one's way out of the writing on the wall (or, more specifically, in the catalogue which already appeared to have snatched the "new console" logo from a fairly older fake), but even if we're to humour a shotgun retcon conspiracy, what is the manufacturer banking on now - the customers to read their eyelid Morse code or something? Let's face it, these folks were kinda cooked the moment they decided to pull off this whole publicity stunt, and chances are it'll take time, luck and effort to live down regardless of how much the actual successor machine coincides with the sensationalist smorgasbord surrounding the dawn of Gen 10. ¯(ツ)/¯

Antonblast for me. It's filling the hole of Pizza Tower after having beaten it last year. I love how chaotic and crunchy it is. I'll also be playing some Splatfest (Team Presents). Last night was pretty aggravating with it though. I have a good team of 3, but over 4 matches, my 4th members collectively got 1 kill (0, 0, 1 and 0). At least I won a 10x battle after that. I had to call it quits for the night while I was ahead.

No Man's Sky
Super Mario Sunshine
My lil brother told me I should check out Nine Sols. Anyone here played it and can tell me if it's any good?

Going to be playing Fire Emblem Awakening, Tri Force Heroes, Ocarina of Time 3D, Echoes of Wisdom, Tears of the Kingdom, Happy Home Paradise, and Mario Party Jamboree. Happy gaming everyone!

Happy gaming everyone!

Picked up Celeste again, wow am I bad at this game. I can only play in short bursts but it is satisfying (and frustrating) and I love the music. Also playing both sonic 2 and castlevania on megadrive (switch online) - not sure if I’ll play either to completion but having fun.

Might also dabble in some other retro games, or start a bigger backlog game, we’ll see.

Close to 1st time beating OOT Master Quest.

Donkey Kong Country SNES

On chapter 12 of Xenoblade Chronicle...great game but I start to feel the wear.

Aside of that SoulsVania fest for me: Blasphemous (I absolutely love the setting and the graphics), The Last Faith (that runs surprisingly good and it really gives me 2D Bloodborne vibe), Dead Cell (every metroidvania should control like it) and Castlevania Advance Collection.

My focus is Splatoon 3 for FrostyFest, a nice change of pace prior to DKC Returns HD's launch on Thursday.

I finally competed Portal last week, on the Switch Companion Collection. Another game I started on PS3 but playing on the Switch that really made me appreciate how outstanding the game is. Started Portal 2, so will be playing some more of that. Also need to finish The Thing Remastered.

In terms retro I think will play some Batman Returns on Game Gear, finished the game a couple of weeks back but need to try the harder difficulty routes on the stages. It's a really good game, similar in style to G.G. Shinobi.

I'm mostly doing other things this weekend, but the game I have been playing here and there is Burger Race. It's pretty basic in terms of modes (the usual time attack, single race, grand prix setup), but it handles well and the hook (you play as various burgers and other fast food restaurant staples like fries, chicken nuggets, etc.) is too good. I've been mainly playing the Time Attack mode, which has an online leaderboard.

Still in the Borderlands 3 mines until I hit credits. I’m thinking after it maybe diving into Atomic Heart and its DLCs or give Don’t Starve a whirl.

The anticipation is palpable lately, isn’t it? I’m checking NL multiple times daily waiting for the Switch Deux Direct announcement, but nothing so far. Truly well played, Mr. Furukawa.

But do I NEED another console right now? Heck no! As usual I’ve got the endless pile of unplayed games staring me down, but I’ll keep going in Astral Ascent. I had a bunch of consecutive successful runs over the Holiday break and feel like a breakthrough vs The Master is nigh, but I hit a new difficulty tier that’ll take some luck and a strong effort to get over at my current strength. It’s been such a satisfying game, though - tight gameplay, lovely music, so very much to unlock, multiple protagonists (though I’ve stuck with Ayla for the duration so far), and the screen can hit almost Vampire Saviors-levels of fireworks if you gain the right combo of powerups.

I’ll probably sprinkle in some Arcade Archives titles as the mood strikes, too - probably Sonic Wings or Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. And a game of Super Mario Party Jamboree with the kids is possible, if they’re up for it. It’s fun when they gang up on me. 😁

Wishing everyone a scintillating weekend! 🕹♎️✈️

I’ve recently completed Zelda Echoes of Wisdom. I’ll be continuing with Ys X and Dragon Quest XI.

I am in the last 25% of Valkyria Chronicles

I played the first few chapters when I briefly owned a PS3 so many years ago, but never did finish it. I did however at the 4Th one when it came to Switch and liked it well enough so when the LRG copy came out last year I finally jumped on the first.

This game is a masterpiece. I’ve cried, I’ve laughed, and I’ve yelled “KISS HER!!” At the screen a whole bunch. Top notch storytelling, and excellent writing and VO. The gameplay is not bad either though I think it may be a little busted lol.

I'm still playing through Final Fantasy IV (Super Famicom Hard Type version) and am about to get Edge in my party.

I beat Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure (GBA) this week. It was the first Game Boy Advance game I've played through on my RetroN 5. I generally prefer original hardware (the NES/SNES Classics are great too!), but in this case, it may be my favorite way to play GBA games.

My kids also beat Dragon Ball this week and are playing through Pokemon Blue.

These are always on rotation for family game night:

Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
Mario Party Superstars
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind
Sunset Riders
Super Bomberman R
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

I'm looking forward to playing:

Fantasian: NEO Dimension (unopened)
Bakeru (waiting on physical version to ship)
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Power Stone!)
Lunar Remastered Collection (loved Lunar 2!)

I have the Super Famicom cartridges for Final Fantasy V and Dragon Quest VI waiting to be played as well.

Took it upon myself to fight thee gods of old in my latest video game journey - specifically the Greek gods whilst escaping hell itself. I can finally say I finished a run in Hades. It was gorgeous & elaborate with a complex yet easy system. One of my first ever rogue likes & i must say I didn’t fall complete in love with the die/repeat/try again ideology they present. The story was phenomenal in the 10-12 hours or so I took to get that run in. I just can’t find myself going another 9 rounds when the rest of my backlog is screaming at me. I intend to finish Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle: DK Adventure DLC in celebration of the DK releases as of late & continue my backlog journey until a certain Monster Hunter graces our presence…

I’m mostly playing Pioneers of Pagonia on Steam. It’s pretty great.

Also Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, Mario Party Jamboree and Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch as our Family gaming night options.

Currently playing: Fantasian neo dimension - on the first half of the game. Liking it so far except for some performance issues on switch.

Zelda echoes - just beat the second dungeon. About to head to the next phase of the story it seems. A charming game but I don’t see the fuss about it. Liked old 2d Zelda games better still.

Reynatis - in the middle of chapter 11. Story is starting to pick up and it’s not bad but the performance and sometimes graphics in some areas are the worst. Don’t know why I picked this game up 🤦‍♂️.

Playing through bravely default 1 on 3ds. This game is so long ughhh. I still don’t like the game but I got to finish it. I just got to chapter 4. It better get interesting because so far it isn’t.

Had a winter storm last night but got less then what was forcasted so no loss of power which means no interruption to game time!
world of tanks(xbox and switch)
Destiny 1&2

@gaga64 preach! Love those games but the special stages are brutal. Advance 3 has really neat ones but I have never gotten the last chaos emerald. Tough as nails. Good luck!

@BringleWorkshop where are you playing sunset riders? I've heard nothing but good things about the SNES and Genesis versions but cannot convince myself to pay like $120 for a game I've never Even played.

Castlevania Dominus Collection. Still playing my favorite game in the series, Order of Ecclesia. Super Mario Party Jamboree, Pokemon Scarlet, and Resident Evil.

Look who else has just decided to join me this weekend...

Whoa, I’m the only one playing Ys Memoire so far? That’s somewhat saddening.

I started the Future Redeemed DLC story in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 last weekend so I'm gonna continue making progress on that. Exploration is really good here though so I'll be taking my time doing sidequests and completing the Collectapedia Goals.

I think I just need to complete Extra Mode and then I'll have 100% completion in Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe so I'll play a few levels in between.

Freedom Wars Remastered came out yesterday so I'm enjoying that just as much, if not more, than I did on Vita. I'll probably hop online and hope Switch servers are populated despite the lack of advertising before launch. I kinda want to get my fill of this before Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition comes out.

Still working my way through Link's Awakening on my YouTube channel. After I finish that, I'm thinking I'll do a playthrough of Kirby's Adventure.

Otherwise, I've been dipping back into Super Mario Maker 2 for the first time in years. A long time ago, I set out to make a "sequel" to Super Mario World with 40 new levels that try to stick at least somewhat closely to Nintendo's design philosophy while also offering a bit of extra challenge.

I intended to complete it for my brother, who isn't really much of a Nintendo fan or a big gamer in general, but he grew up on Super Mario World and always considered it his favorite game. (Although he's since gotten into Breath of the Wild, and I think that may be his new favorite.) I'm finally planning to finish it this time and have made a handful of levels since yesterday. I also revisited some of the other levels I finished years ago to see how they hold up and made some adjustments.

I'm pretty proud of how it's coming along, and I'll be sure to share the World Maker ID whenever it's live for anybody who wants to try it out. I have no idea how long this project will take me though, so I might go radio silent on it for a month or longer... Hopefully, I don't drop it again. I'm trying to commit this time!

I've been primarily playing my PS5 the past couple weeks, but on the Nintendo front it's been my daily check-ins for F-Zero 99 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I feel like I should start chipping away Dragon Quest 3 and Yakuza Kiwami, but I'd rather play the other remakes coming out next week 🤣

I'll be playing some Echos of Wisdom as well as Hades

I got my first cracked rating on ANTONBLAST this morning. It took some dedication. 11 more to go.
Going to chill with some Battle Brothers for the rest of the day though. Maybe play one of the many Capcom Fighting collections as i picked them all up over Xmas.
Happy gaming all x

On Switch:

• Circuit Superstars: 4th Championship. Wonderful Top Down Racing Game (I have it on Steam & Switch)
• Ultimate Racing 2D 2: First Season (I have 100% achievements on the first game, on Steam)
• Ori and the Blind Forest: I think I´m on the final part of this wonderful game.
• Undernight in-Birth sys: Celes: playing a lot with the friends and wife. My wife is great in fighting games.
  Both she and I participated in several local tournaments and also outside the country.

@obijuankanoobie We play it on the Switch. The arcade version is on the eShop. I actually have the SNES version as well, but the arcade version is my favorite since it allows 4 players.

I just finished Sea of Stars. Great game, 8.8/10.

• Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin: Had the craving for a nice farming game and actually found the recommendation here on NL. Was not disappointed! A great, chill game to play before bed.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2: I have reached the 130 hours mark and the game is finally starting to get good... kinda? Still way too much unnecessary grind for my tastes though.
• Sonic Generations: Completed the game in like 6 hours, trying to squeeze out some more content by going for all red stars and chaos before moving on to the main attraction, that is, Shadow Generations.

Played some Warhammer Darktide last night. The best thing I can say for it is that it has co-op! I don't know, it's decent fun. I kind of wish the incremental upgrades were more than a percent at a time.
More Granblue Fantasy Relink, just working through some lucilius/behemoth/proto Bahamut etc. I'm in desperate need of Silver Centrums. We've also started new files to play with friends, which feels like a completely different game from the one we've been grinding for the last 100 hours!
Working slowly through Arco. Act IV. Easy rec. Great game.
And finally Theatrythm: Final Bar Line.

DQIII HD2D on switch
Visions of Mana and WWE 2k24 on xbox

I am overloading my unicorn playing Unicorn Overlord. Very, very glad I gave this game a second chance. Legitimately cannot put this game down. I've already mapped over 60% of the game and I've not skipped over any fights. Liberated to completion about 3 full regions. Combat is fun, nice and strategic just the way I like it. Story is good, definitely a very solid presentation. Pretty art style/graphics too.

Treated myself to Sheepo and Crypt Custodian after finishing (and really enjoying) Islets, and have been flicking between the two. Feels like you can chart the development of ideas across the three games and Crypt Custodian is definitely the most polished and accomplished of the three, but they're all fun and different enough to be worth checking out all of 'em.

Also splashed out a bit on Octopath Traveller over Christmas, and was looking forward to throwing myself into a nice big traditional rpg but have to admit the really, really badly done Olde Worlde dialogue got right on my Bristols so much I put it straight down. Will go back, sure it's magnificent, but whoeth in the fudgen didst decidest to make all the characters speak like a terrible parody?

Making my way through Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition and got past the part on prison island. I've played the original Wii version back in the day so going through the game again has been great seeing all the visual improvements and remastered soundtrack.

I put the game on the back burner back in 2020 since I was more focused on Final Fantasy 7 Remake. After the announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles X DE I knew it was time for me to finally revisit the series in preparation for it.

@BringleWorkshop thanks for the tip! I just wish listed it for next time I get an E-shop gift card.

Since you have played both are they pretty similar gameplay wise and level design the only difference being the amount of players?

@Not_Soos sounds like a fun project. I'd love to try it when it's done. I'll have to keep an eye out for your post on it, you know giving you however much time you need with it, I've only ever made like 10 or so Mario maker levels.

I’ll be playing sea of stars when I get chance on 5 hours in and loving it.

Ai the Somnium Files. Such a twisted murder mystery...

@Not_Soos are these levels you created online for anyone to play ?

Balatro and maybe a little Splatfest. I'm still grinding away at Completionist++ in Balatro, with more than 75 percent of the jokers gold-sealed. It's a fierce challenge!

@obijuankanoobie The SNES version is very good, but the aracde version is probably better. I think there's more things going on at once, and it doesn't have some things censored out. Even with 2 players, I'd probably choose the arcade version.

TMNT: Turtles in Time is one of the cases where I'd choose the SNES version every time unless we needed more than 2 players. The arcade version is fun, but the SNES version plays way better to me.

This weekend I'll be playing more Monster Hunter Rise. About to start 6 stars high rank hub quests. I also have Mario and Luigi Brothership to play.

Next week, I think I'll be taking a break from gaming and entertainment. So if the Switch 2 is announced or we have a direct, I probably won't be there for the initial hype.

Happy weekend!

@BringleWorkshop turtles in time is a classic, I've played both and own the SNES version and I think I agree with ya, never given that too much thought before.

Thanks for the tips on sunset riders, I'm sure I'll pick it up soon!

I started Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury last weekend, due to a hankering for level-based Mario. Since then I've done everything in 3D World except finish every level with every character, because bugger off I'm not doing that. I've also got 69 (nice) of the Cat Shines in Bowser's Fury. I'd never played it before and it's pretty damn good; I'll definitely be going for all 100 shines! I'd like the next mainline Mario game to really flesh out the idea of open world Mario.

Also still playing New Pokémon Snap, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Helldivers 2.

Ys: Oath in Felghana, 5th playthrough overall, first time on Switch. Still awesome.

@Meehanuk_1987

They're not online at the moment, but they will be when I'm finished with all of them. I have a couple unrelated levels from years ago that are available to play online though, like a Bikini Bottom one.

The code for that one is GP0-T97-JKF.

The other levels I wouldn't necessarily recommend playing, as I don't know if they're particularly well-balanced. One of them in particular is incredibly brutal. But the SpongeBob one is pretty straightforward, and I'm proud of how it turned out.

Working my way through Paper Mario TTYD and still enjoying how each area is a bit different.

Due to holiday sales I have also built up a big backlog of switch games that I own but have not yet played:

• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (will be my first game in the series)
• Pikmin 4 (also will be my first in the series)
• Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp (played a bit of 1 on Wii U virtual console previously)
• Unicorn Overlord
• 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim

So I really don’t need a Switch 2, but that probably won’t stop me from preordering one as soon as I can, especially if we get a new 3D Mario game.

This backlog likely represents as much or more time than I have to dedicate to gaming for the entire year. (Assuming I stick with each game to complete the main story).

'planning to dive back into Zelda OOT on my 2DS.

That and a little bit of Metroid Zero Mission or Fusion.

Ring Fit Adventure - I’m working towards finishing the post post game and then I’ll probably be starting back at the beginning with the challenge cranked up to account for my character’s level.
I’ve bounced off of literally everything else I’ve tried playing so I’m just going to keep playing Ring Fit. 🤷🏼

@BodkinDQ unicorn overlord released in 2024

@obijuankanoobie thanks!

I'm alternating between Prince of Persia and Dragon Quest III HD-2D this weekend.

@FishyS
Cheers ! Thanks for playing !
Have a nice weekend !
@Not_Soos
My copy is out of house atm, will check your stuff when I'll get it back !
Took me 2 years to complete my Mario World, just to find out that there's not much going on in the MM2 community! (....and Miyamoto didn't call either) Just don't expect to much , I think we just came too late to the party ! (But FishyS is there with us)

I've started my 2nd run thru of TOTK.
Still playing Factorio
Playing my boyfriend in marvel v Capcom in-between.

dragon quest 3 hd remake almost done with this game fighting the gargoyle boss at volcano.

@Not_Soos Hello, Soos. I wanted to talk to you tete-a-tete. Unfortunately, I am unable to do on this site. Where can we chat?

I'm still playing Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, I'm about half way done with the third case. It's not a particularly good case so far, but hopefully it gets better. I also started Final Fantasy VII on Steam, I'm about to do the first boss fight, and it's an amazing game so far, I'm loving it. Last of all, I'm still playing Fire Emblem Heroes, I've started replaying Book III on Hard Mode.

As I wait for DK Country Returns HD to release I'll keep killing the time with Snowrunner (Switch). I'm getting really close to wrapping up Taymyr map and I've never flipped so much in the game ever until this map. Michigan and Alaska had some areas you had to tread carefully but Jesus Taymyr is so topsy turvy all over the place!

I finished Neva (Switch) last weekend, too. What a game! Perfect palate cleanser and/or something in between bigger games.

@Zuljaras I seriously gotta know something because it's driving me nuts. You may have explained/answered this previously but c'mon do you work at or own an independent video game store that sells everything? Or know somebody that does and you just raid the store every week? I ask this because 52 weeks of the year you post pictures of what you're up to and it's literally a Picasso of the most obscure games and systems. Stuff from virtually EVERY generation of video game existence. All that's missing is the old Tiger electronic handhelds (or maybe you already have posted them and I missed it!). There's hardly any carryover, too. It's such a "throwing spaghetti at the wall" approach to how you play games I'm always completely dumbfounded of what I see. Especially the picture evidence! What's going on over there?

We’re snowed in this weekend so I’ve finally beaten Mario and Luigi brothership. I played this a bit when it first came out and was pretty bored with it at first but picked it back up a month ago and since have really enjoyed myself after the slow start. I really enjoyed the boss battles in this one and some of the puzzles were fun. It saddens me the team behind this game has left Nintendo tho.

With that out of the way I may try to finish off Kirby forgotten lands. This weekend we’ve been watching a lot of football and I’ve been helping my daughter crochet something while the wife makes me jump with all the yelling between plays.

@Ganner haha yep I can attest to that…after Taymyr and the painful loss I took after a very long trek, I put the game down and haven’t gone back. Maybe one day but right now I’d rather keep the rest of my hair.

Good on Ollie for a very Zelda weekend! I’m touched by his end of Switch BotW sentiment.

For me, it’s attempting to finish Dragonquest III HD-2D. I’ve really been enjoying this last section in Alefgard. In DQ 4&5 you also go to an underworld place but it’s much less involved than this one, so I’m impressed. I was pushing through this game a bit begrudgingly, but after 40hrs I have really started enjoying it haha.

Other games I might dabble in are Rayman Legends, Mario 3D World, and Sonic Superstars.

Shin Megami Tensei V:Vengeance:
Currently in the end game and doin the last quests before the finale. Im enjoying the game and really happy about this overhauled version of SMT V^^
Looking forward for NG+.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet:
Theres an event where you can currently catch some snake Pokemon in shiny boosted outbreaks for this weekend.

Purchased Hellblade a few days ago and maybe trying it a bit.

@obijuankanoobie, @BringleWorkshop
So random you both mention Sunset Riders, I’ve been considering purchasing it via the Eshop. Nostalgia is something else!…I remember the game in arcades. I remember trying to rent the SNES version at Blockbuster but it was ALWAYS rented out. Great co op 90s game…I also recall a picture on the back of the box with them running atop the bulls! 😝 Hopefully the game still holds up?!

@Ganner
That post cracked me up! @Zuljaras…always cool seeing a nice diversity of games over many systems, genres ! In case I missed it, the real question should be..what deal with the devil did you strike to ensure you’re the #1 post every single weekend?? 😝

@Ganner
I did try out Snowrunner btw…i can see its bizarre allure. I didn’t make it too far in but it has no business making getting stuck in mud and navigating rough terrain as intriguing as it does!! 😆

Microsoft Wordament (Android) - Adventure mode and Dailies as usual.

Gravity Guy (Windows Phone) - I'm still enjoying this here and there.

iStunt 2 (Windows Phone) - I'm finally at the end! Can soon delete and move onto the next WP game.

@Zuljaras I’m another that always likes to see your games played or your nice sculpts you’ve made. I’ve noticed some constants in your selections. You sure do love your castlevania and resident evil. Those are mainstays. I’m curious to how many times you’ve beat them over. As far as Nintendo first party titles it seems they aren’t as well liked. I’ve seen you play Pokémon, Zelda, and I assume you’d like the Metroid games as well. An obscure game I’d think you’d like is spartan total warrior for the GameCube. It’s a very good hack n slash, sort of plays like a gauntlet legends.

@Rainz Sunset Riders holds up really well. I've had the SNES version for awhile and still got the arcade version on the eShop the day it came out.

My wife/kids and I regularly play 4 players and it never gets old. My kids now try to get a higher hit percentage on bosses than me so they collect the boss rewards

Well here we go with another awesome WAYP. The week was some new games and some of the GOTY hunt again. Trails Through Daybreak, Emio and Metaphor with some Mario and Luigi and WWE2K24. Got to start that Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Honestly it’s a little disappointing story wise being so bare bones but the artstyle is just so charming it makes me wanna play more and more and more. Most of the weekend was spent with Yakuza Kiwami and Spy X Anya Operation Memories. Yakuza Kiwami is honestly just a good comfort game especially on the switch now and I love doing small side stuff and the Majima Everywhere system. And with Spy X Anya it’s a game that honestly may not have reviewed too well but is just cute as a button it’s genuine Spy X Family goodness from top to bottom I love it. It’s not the best I’ll admit but I love it. Rest of the weekend I’m thinking is gonna be some Trails Through Daybreak as like Alana I wanna destroy it before the sequel comes out. As well as maybe some Marvel Rivals or YS Memoire The Oath in Felghana or even maybe some of the story mode not the showcase mode of WWE2K24. Maybe even some Fantasian Neo Dimension. Lots to play but no idea what to pick ahahaha. Otherwise I’m thinking this week is mostly gonna consist of some Trails Through Daybreak, Emio, Dawntrail, Metaphor, YS, Mario and Luigi Brothership, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and WWE 2K24. Try to start Wuthering Waves too. Preordered Tales of Graces F Remastered, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Dynasty Warriors Origins, Trails Through Daybreak 2, Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Monster Hunter Wilds. Very excited to pick up all of those. And I did some trades and got money for the first battle pass of Marvel Rivals, Spy X Anya, and YS. The wrestling thing this week being more of WWE on Netflix. This first week of it was basically just oh look how cool we are. So hopefully this second week is much more yeah storylines and of course the debut of Penta. Anime of the week gotta go to Dragon Ball Daima and Shangri La Frontier and Yakuza Fiancé and Ron Kaminohashis Forbidden Deductions and Ranma 1/2. Finished off Ranma and it’s a really cute show really solid one of my favorites easy. Now we gotta focus on the picks for Winter dunno what we’ll do with those. Podcasts of this week gotta go to Castle Superbeast, Big Think Dimension, Into The Aether, RPGsites Tetracast, Minnmax, Jeff Gerstmann, Kit and Krysta, Last Stand Media, Easy Allies, Second Wind, Nextlander, Cultaholic Wrestling, Weapon Wheel Podcast and Remap Radio. As always yall stay safe, be cool to each other. Have a totally awesome weekend and of course Happy Gaming.

Shiren the Wanderer 6. Only found out about this series in November and am loving it.

I've been playing...

Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I think I'm about to wrap chapter 9.

Rocket League
Finally out of "ban jail", caused by internet and game crashing.

Astro Blaze
It was 40% off so I grabbed it. Nice Defender clone since the real Defender is in jail.

@Not_Soos Brilliant mate will give it a go thank you !

@TYRANACLES Haha yeah that's why I said previously I like to have a good diversity of trucks. I often times have some just chilling around the maps after I finish using them for something. Comes in handy when I flip and/or get stuck. For example, on Taymyr one of the contracts has you delivering a big cargo container. In order to complete it I HAD to have a truck with the big crane ready to go because I seriously lost the big container like 3 times before I got it to the destination! It was a pain but in a strange way it was fun beating that b@stard!

@Rainz Yeah that game has some serious voodoo magic about it! When I first got it my attitude was very whatever I want to try something out of my usual go to game(s). In the beginning there were many moments I was like "yeah this is alright I'll put in just a little more then move on to the next game". I completed a few more things, earned some XP/found some upgrades and again was like "yeah alright I can now traverse that nasty mud a little better I'll just go a little more and turn it off". Fast forward 200 hours later and I'm looking at trucks and big rigs while out in the real world a lot differently now...

@Zuljaras Honestly about 6 months ago I was thinking about opening up an Excel spreadsheet and start keeping track. Obviously, I didn't but between you and @JohnnyMind you two have the most interesting gaming lives I've ever known. As much stuff as you keep posting you make the Nintendo Museum look like a liquor store in the ghetto. Just looking at the wide variety of items in the pictures I kept thinking either you own a video game store OR you have a very unhealthy addiction to Ebay

Speaking about @JohnnyMind, bro have you ever completed a game? I mean straight up rolled the credits never looked back? I see your list every week and wonder at the rate you post about your game activities I don't recall ever see you saying:

"Insert Whatever Game (All done! Thanks for the memories!)

I wanted to open an Excel file on you also but between you and @Zuljaras it'd be a full time job!

@Zuljaras well I’ve been told I like a lot of cute video games haha but I have quite a diverse pallet. I can’t think of too many Nintendo franchises I do not like. I could do without fire emblem since I’m not much on traditional rpgs with the exception of the Mario ones, Kirby I’ve only recently gotten into a bit mainly because it’s something easy to play with my daughter, Star fox has had more misses than hits for me to. Resident evil I do enjoy fairly well, 4 and the remake of 2 and 4 were a lot of fun. Castlevania I just wish we still got games from. I’ve liked most all I’ve played. I haven’t played all of the lords of shadow games but the first one was ok, the 64 games I couldn’t get into all those years ago, and then there’s the odd fighting game that came out on the wii that I never played. I loved all the metroidvanias and classic level based vanias tho, did you ever try the two bloodstained games? They were great. Classic vanias rondo of bloods my favorite with 4 right there with it and then sotn would be my favorite of the big open world ones.

@gaga64 I feel your pain.

@obijuankanoobie @shiftbarackyeaugh I did it! Took a few days of practice (not solid, I have work and life stuff too) but I finally bagged the 7th emerald as Amy with 200/200 rings.

Tough, but doable, and oh so satisfying in the end

@gaga64 nice! Those are tough!

@gaga64 That's epic. Have you beaten the game with every character for the true final battle?

@shiftbarackyeaugh yeah, I broke up the repetition of practicing the last special stage by getting all the characters through the game

@Meehanuk_1987 @FishyS @SGE2000 @obijuankanoobie

Tagging y'all to let you guys know I finished my Super World! It's been uploaded online, so you can play all 40 levels now! I know I said it might take me a month or longer, but I've been playing obsessively over the past week. Probably put in like 8-10 hours of editing a day, lol. My Maker ID is: LT6-LN9-5PG. Let me know what you guys think!

@Not_Soos Hey thanks for letting me know! I'll check it out Monday and let you know what I think!