Jim Norman, Staff Writer
The Christmas spirit is well and truly underway at Casa Jim this weekend, so I’ll be bringing out the big guns with Super Mario Party Jamboree and Nintendo Switch Sports. As has become something of a tradition in recent years, I’ll probably end up dusting off the Wii U GamePad and setting up a few rounds of Nintendo Land to keep everyone happy — they just don’t make ‘em like this any more!
Sure, I technically still have a bunch of 2025 games that I’d like to finish before the year is up, but hey, that’s not very festive now is it?
Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer
I'm checking out Layers of Fear: The Final Masterpiece Edition on the Switch 2 at the moment, so please keep an eye out for my review very soon!
Otherwise, since I've pretty much finalised my list for Game of the Year, I'm in no hurry to try and play games that I might have missed over the months. With that in mind, I'm going to go back to something familiar and comforting... Yes, Resident Evil – how did you know?
Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor
My head has been up in the (virtual) clouds since the VGA announcement of Ace Combat 8: The Wings of Theve so I got back into Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, a game that is begging for a Switch 2 update. The final physical games arrived so there will also be some Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree and Old School Rally thrown into the rotation along with Halo: The Master Chief Collection (on my way to Halo 3 now!).
Game of the week is Yakuza Kiwami 2. It is my goal to wrap it up before 2026. So far up to chapter 9 and loving every bit of it. It reminds me we are but two shy months away from Kiwami 3! Happy holidays everyone!
Kate Gray, Contributor
I'm playing... oh dear. The same games as last week. Aren't I boring. That's Outer Worlds 2, Hades II, and Astro Prospector. They're good! And I don't have the brainpower for anything new in the run-up to Christmas!
I'm also playing through the festive content in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, but that's because I wrote a lot of it, so... does that count? Probably not. Also, does this count as self-promotion? Am I in trouble? Please don't give me a lump of coal. Or whatever the Nintendo Life version of that is.
Alex Olney, Video Producer
My weekend should be pretty full this side of Christmas (we're having duck), but if I manage to find some time to squeeze in a game or two, I'll definitely be diving into Layers of Fear: The Final Masterpiece Edition. I loved the original, but never delved into anything beyond the base game, so I'm keen to see what this new version can throw at me.
Felix and I are also planning to continue our time with We Were Here Together at some point as well, but that is... unlikely to happen over the immediate weekend.
Alana Hagues, Deputy Editor
Octopath Traveler 0 is going to take Zach and I a long time to get through. We're maybe 35 hours through and the town building has only just opened up more. How long do we have left? No idea, and that's kind of exciting!
But for the holidays, I've picked up Tiny Bookshop and despelote. The latter I've been waiting to come to Switch for a while, and the former seems like perfect cosy Christmas gaming. However you celebrate, readers, make time for your loved ones and get some rest!
Well, that's what we have planned for this weekend, but what about you? Let us know your picks in the following poll.
