Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (26th July)

Finally going to play GRIS and if I have enough time to finish it, I'll start on Neva 😊

Switch 2 - Donkey Kong Bananza, Mario Kart World
PC - Amnesia: Rebirth

Well, I played The Sims 4 PS4 again on my PS5 machine.

I did some house renovation again, created new households and thinking about new combination of available venue from the purchased DLC.
I think I will buy another DLC packs of The Sims 4 PS4 before 31 July 2025 as I saw this DLC packs got discounted for 20%.

I'm still waiting for Strangerville get discounted again as I have a plan to make abandoned buildings.

Prince of Persia - The Lost Crown Busy with the Divine Trials and need to beat the DLC boss.

Tetris Effect Connected Weekly ritual + full moon

Mario Kart World Going for three stars in Grand Prix Mirror Mode.

Happy gaming! ✌🏻🧡🎮

This week I will be mostly playing

DK Bananza

Greetings fellow video game enthusiasts. It’s all about Ys X this weekend. It’s the last weekend before the Edinburgh fringe starts so I’m about to be a busy boy. Video games.

Still the same: MK World and Cyberpunk. Just started Phantom Liberty. I hope Metroid Prime 4 is right around the corner now. Can't wait.

Donkey Kong Bananza. Finished the game this week after 30 hours, I'm full on 100% completing it now.

DK Bananza. Not loving it as much as others seem to be. It's fun but I'm finding it very repetitive already. Maybe my opinion will change the further in a get. Only at the 4th layer so far i think. A 7 out of 10 so far for me.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: It's been quite interesting meeting other alien races such as the Ma-non or the L and slowly researching the different areas of Mira. Elma is of course a great leader to follow, but I also like Gwin and Hope. It's definitely different than the rest of the series, but I like that it has its own unique flavor.

Finishing the last couple of stories on Octopath II - it looks so beautiful on my Switch 2 screen! And I've done a couple of hours in Cyberpunk - but I'm not sure about the first-person perspective, it can make me feel quite nauseated.

In other news, I've exhausted myself on Mario Kart World... and I've gone back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - which I think I prefer over Mario Kart World. Anyone else feel the same?

Happy gaming!

I just might pick up rayman legends which is on a very tempting offer at the mo?? And tug of toy with the dog?

Was planning for it to be No Sleep for Kaname Date... but it wound up being so short I finished it in one day (without really even devoting that much focus to it) so, uh, not sure actually. Probably get back to the on-and-off replay I've been doing of Persona 5 Royal.

Bananza. I really liked Odyssey but this game goes above and beyond it IMO. Probably going to dethrone Galaxy 2 as my favorite 3D platformer when all is said and done.

Bananza, Mario Kart World, Angry Birds Bounce and the Jamboree TV Expansion.

Greetings, good people.

Today I'm going to watch new Mission Impossible, so not much gaming time. Yesterday I finally finished Atelier Lulua. Truly a wonderful charming game, but true ending grind takes forever, so I'm deciding if I just can watch it on youtube and move on to next game.

Also I started Wuchang. Yes, PC performance is far from perfect, I get stutter when entering new area, but luckily in actual battles everything works fine. And the game is very beautiful, much prettier than grey stone walls and dark caves from everyone's favourite developer. And while I have yet to encounter interesting enemies, skills and spells system makes combat much more engaging than From ever done.

That's all for now, have a great weekend.

I went on vacation last week, and ended up dabbling in Dragon Quest Builders 2 a bit, and now I can't put it down! The game has been in my backlog forever, but hadn't gotten around to playing it. I can't speak of its performance on the Switch 1, but it runs and plays great on the Switch 2.

I think im at 60 hours and nearing the end, so once im done there, ill hop back on TotK. Should keep me busy until the next direct (Xenoblade Chronicles X boost please!)

Just finishing off Donkey Kong Bananza, I've done the main story and post game quest, so just mopping up the rest of the Banana's. This game is amazing and has one of, if not the best end sequence I've seen in a game which i won't spoil

Once I'm done with that, it'll be back to finishing Death Stranding 2

Not very original but Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World! Still love the Free Roam in the latter, I have about 140 P Switches at the moment. Also started to work my way through getting golds on the offline Knockout Tours

Still playing Bananza. Reached end credits yesterday and my goodness …What a masterpiece. Thank heavens I wasn’t spoiled as that might've just been the single greatest finale to any video game I’ve ever played. I’ve never reacted quite like that to anything else I can remember. If you know, you know.

I’ve also not enjoyed just playing a game this much in years. Like Astro Bot, it reminded me why games are important and why I still love them to this day …and Bananza just takes it to a whole new level. The absolute joy, creativity, talent and energy of the people behind this just know how to make art, still, after all these years. It makes me so happy and relieved after my disappointment with Mario Kart World. Nintendo is still Nintendo with this one, thankfully. What also struck me about it is the amazing depth to the story, lore and characters. You’d think that shouldn’t be too important in a platformer, but it adds so much to the experience, learning about their world and how every single element actually has a purpose and explanation behind it, making all the hints and incredible plot twists that much more effective. I also just absolutely loved the concept of diving further and further, layer by layer, to reach the very core of a planet. Made everything feel truly epic way beyond Odyssey, almost rivalling Galaxy 1 in its sheer adventurous scale and scope.

Well, this turned into quite the essay ...but to wrap it all up, I definitely can’t wait for what the next 3D Mario will bring after this quite literally groundbreaking achievement by EPD Tokyo, as all the new and vastly improved features in here, alongside the excellent game engine and destructible voxel tech they've created, could truly make for some revolutionary stuff.

I believe it easily deserves a 10/10, one of but a handful of games I’d ever give that score to, because it's as close to perfect as any game can possible get for me, and has been one of the very best, most magical experiences I’ve had with one since at least Mario Wonder. The only real flaws worth noting were the obvious frame rate problems when tons of stuff is happening on screen, alongside some fiddly controls here and there. Beyond that, getting stuck and in turn overly frustrated and annoyed at the occasional difficulty spike is always a given as well, but like any game that is actually polished and designed well, I can’t blame anyone but myself for such moments the vast majority of the time here, even with the odd severe stutter.

It's still a very easy game overall, but it's also very easy to make brutally difficult for yourself through either a stubborn refusal to follow the intended path, or when you inevitably brute force through your own, far more complicated and rage fuelled solutions to very simple problems because of either pride, overthinking or just plain stupidity. I fully believe these are all signs of a truly great game though, where you're totally free and even encouraged to completely break it apart. It might just be the purest possible definition of a video game overall, taking the form of a huge, wonderful sandbox made of concentrated nostalgia, polish and joy, literally made to be dug through and absolutely brimming with treasures to find. It will definitely remain one of the greatest games I've ever played from now on.

Completed my replay of PS1 Tomb Raider and first playthrough of SNES Dragon View on Evercade last week. Dragon View took about 15 hours and was a great find for a game I'd never played. I picked up the Renovation collection recently so moving on to Granada and Arcus Oddessy on the Mega Drive, I really like both games and they have great music. Also still chasing my own high score in NES Pacman.

On Switch might play some Turrican II (Amiga) or Rendering Ranger: R2 (SNES).

More modern games I have lined up to play are Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor on PS4, but not sure will have time this weekend.

Im more than halfway into Bakeru, so I'm going to try making significant progress with it. I'm also on the final boss of Shotgun Cop Man, but it's a hand boss combined with a boss rush mode...which are pretty much my two most hated things in gaming, so I'm not sure that I want to go through with it.

I also picked up Steamworld Heist 2 and Sheepo on some big sales this week before Nintendo will increase Canadian prices on Aug 1. I think after that point I'll be less likely to pick up games in the future, aside from a handful of future releases that I'll really want to play. I was thinking of possibly grabbing Crow Country as well. Does anyone recommend that one?

As always, I'll spend another weekend non-stop playing Vroom in the Night Sky.

No gaming for me this weekend! Somehow this summer I'm barely playing, family time. Some days ago started crash trilogy but I've not reached yet half of the first game, after that coming back to no man's sky. Happy gaming everyone!

Patapon on my own and Mario party tv when my cousin comes later, as I finished the DK story and only a clean up to do... though with no spoilers, I was a little disappointed with the "true" ending and length, though the "original ending" was cool, as a 30+ year player of DK's adventures!

After playing DK I’ve realised I can’t understand how NintendoLife didn’t give it a 10!

Donkey Kong Bananza. Now go away, I'm playing Donkey Kong Bananza.

Nearing the finale in Triangle Strategy! I’ll have this kingdoms history wrapped by Monday or Tuesday

@deecas yep im the same 3☆ everything and as soon as I did that, I came off playing it, whereas im still trying to get all the stars on 8! Maybe when they add more modes / live events, ill dip back into it, other than a game or two online with friends...

No Man’s Sky still. Tempted to buy a couple of games in the current sale too but not sure when I’d get round to playing them. Plus it’s a local music festival all weekend here in Sheffield and food and drink is not cheap there!

@MischiefMaker tramlines! Woop! Was gonna go with the Mrs as she lives there, but she left it too late to buy tickets!

@Lizuka that’s disappointing that you were able to finish it in a single day. My preordered copy wont ship until next week unfortunately, but Ill know not to commit too many evenings to it. Hopefully the journey was fun at least!

This weekend is mostly about Wild Hearts S with a smattering of combo work in Street Fighter 6 and Donkey Kong Bananza on the side. OH BANANA!

Just entered Dracula's castle in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia so will hopefully polish that off over the weekend. Fantastic game either way. Have a good one folks!

🎶 DK - DONKEY KONG 🎶

I’ve just made it to SL400 last night. Approx 10 hours in.

I have about 150 bananas, which seems absurd this early in the game. I’m not actively trying to clear each surface level (SL). I’m just finding myself wanting to explore and in doing so, I end up collecting majority of the collectables.

On average I’ve noted I’ve grabbed about 80% of the items before I moved on, and it was all natural. I am curious what the post game will be like.

P.S. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing “BA NA NA”

Pokémon Go: Latios and Latias Max Weekend

No shinies so far today (a mate got the shundo!), and a few of the bloody things had run from me. This also might have been my highest-attended event so far (of the ones I have hosted).

Community Ambassador is hosting tomorrow, and will continue the hunt for those annoyingly elusive shinies.

This week I'm playing:
Among Us: been wanting to get back into this game on Switch after a hiatus of several months. I'll be playing this and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for a bit, then I'll attempt to make a course in Super Mario Maker 2 for the first time in 2 years!
Mario Kart Tour: already got almost all of the new drivers and karts from the Mario Kart World event. I'm not going to be able to get one of them since I don't pay for the Gold Pass, so I'll be skipping that one.
Plus the usuals:
Pokémon Sleep: the new pro mode is coming out in early August, but you need to have gotten Master 18 on Greengrass Isle at least once to unlock it. The highest I've managed is Master 18, so it will definitely be a while before I unlock pro mode.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket: I'm super excited for the new Johto expansion coming out next week. Also, my card collection currently has 3,602 cards.

Grownup responsibilities notwithstanding, I’ll continue indulging in some DK Bananza while the kids are about and a little Cyberpunk 2077 when on my own.

I didn’t touch Bananza all week and haven’t even met.Pauline yet, so I’ve got a lot of smashing left to do.

In Cyberpunk I’ve kind of hit my first wall, in the shape of a jacked-up beast mode boss lady who zips around and hammers my poor little netrunner character dead in like 2 hits. My trusty “sting them from afar” tactics are useless. I probably have to turn tail and go see a ripperdoc to get cyborged up, and finally learn how to slide and dodge. Ah well.

Wishing everyone a fun weekend! 🕹️🍌🦾

I finished the Soul Reaver 1+2 remaster collection yesterday so now I'm returning to MK8 Deluxe. As for my next single player game, it's probably replaying Prime 1. I want to replay the trilogy before Prime 4 releases, hopefully Prime 2+3 is announced for Switch when Prime 4 gets its release date but if it isn't then I'll just play Prime 2+3 on my Wii U.

Just finished the story of DK bananza yesterday (can’t believe that ending wasn’t spoiled for me!). This weekend I’ll be working on the postgame and hunting bananas. This is definitely a game I want to 100%!

I'm still working my way through Lunar 2 (Switch - Lunar Remastered Collection). I've also been playing a ton of Super Mario Kart (SNES) with the kids and just got to Doppler's fortress in Mega Man X 3 (SNES).

My kids have been practicing a lot on Super Mario Kart and playing a bit of Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch).

My 8yr-old also played and beat Mega Man X 3 without any assistance this week!

Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed

Rex is the ultimate gigachad.

Continuing my quest to 100% Balatro

Finally started playing FE Three Houses and really enjoying it so far.

guardian tales this is a good little free to play game on switch.
destiny 2
asphalt legends

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3 (NSO NES)

MEGAMAN III (NES Console)

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK'S AWAKENING DX (NSO GB/GBC)

SUPER METROID (NSO SNES)

(Accidentally clicked enter before listing the other games after SMB3.)

Have an excellent weekend, everyone! God bless, stay cool, don't get so sick you can't do anything (Not currently an owner of Bonanza, my guess would be it's probably flashing lights, colors, and quick movement.), enjoy your gaming!

I'd like to finish the post game for Bananza and Mario Odyssey. Bananza absolutely delivered overall. It was a weak start but every level just kept getting better until it was just hit after hit. The first worthy game for the Switch 2 lol
Here's how I think all the DK games stack up after playing through them all -
1. Donkey Kong Country 2 (9) - The Country games are like a masterclass in level design, with DKC2 being the strongest showcase with I'd say the most variety of ideas in a single game. Also the only game that I felt was worth collecting everything.
2. Donkey Kong Country 3 (9) - Nearly as great as DKC2 for the same reasons, though a lot easier all the way until the end where it ramps up the difficulty to much frustration.
3. Donkey Kong Bananza (8) - Like I said before, this game just keeps getting better the more you play, and it has the best end sequence of any DK game hands down. It could move under the retro DKCs in the future when that new game sheen begins to fade, but with the skill tree and the lenient progression (I've seen plenty of crazy sequence breaks already), I think Bananza has a lot to offer and deserves to be up here.
4. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (8) - The Retro Studios DKCs just have a lot of charm and some really dope levels. I don't think they reach the heights of what Rare did, which is why they're lower, but I'd still certainly call them two of the greatest platformers ever made, and I hope they get to make a third one day. Tropical Freeze is the better of the two, but not by as wide a margin as I thought it'd be.
5. Donkey Kong Country Returns (8) - I had never played Returns and for some reason I thought it would be underwhelming (something technically good but a bit bland like New Super Mario Bros.), but no, I wound up being very impressed with it. This one establishes much of the gimmicky themes and mechanics that Tropical Freeze would go on to lean into, but for the most part its just pure platforming and I have a lot of respect for it there.
6. Donkey Kong Country (8) - Speaking of pure platforming, that's basically what the first DKC is. A collection of challenging levels without much to distract you through to the end. Probably the most replay friendly because of that.
8. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (7) - Wild ass game, it is one of the most unhinged Nintendo games ever made. Super fun high score combo meter that makes me want to keep replaying kingdoms to see how long I can go without touching the floor. But the controls are finnicky thanks to the bongo drum controller, and I feel like the game would just be straight up better without it.
9. Donkey Kong 64 (3) - My deep-seated childhood nostalgia for this game completely and totally crumbled under the weight of how dog ***** it is. I don't think I have EVER played a game that respects your time LESS than DK64!! At its best its tedious... at its worst its making you constantly play these ***** little minigames that you could not convince me were ever playtested. The only DK I will NEVER play again lmao

BONUS - Donkey Kong: King of Swing (unranked) - I played this for like an hour got bored and moved on. It's a neat idea, but maybe not something worthy of an entire game.

A typical bunch of playtime ambitions spread across Xenoblades, Tales, Ateliers Rune Factories and Personas (particularly the latter under the influence of chugging through the mobile Phantom X this week) plus other hybrid sessions like Cyberpunk, Immortals, Skyrim, RE0, Deliver Us the Moon, 13 Sentinels, Tallowmere 2 and Doom 3. Handheld stuff from Dishonored, Nioh and Ar Tonelico to Endless Frontier, Valentia and Neptunia as well. More stationary sessions up in the air but definitely ruled out for next weekend, so perhaps I'll spare some time for the likes of GTA V, Hundred Knight and Crew 2 after all.

I'll be playing Mario Kart World this weekend... and also Breath of the Wild (Switch 2 edition). Started a master mode playthrough on the latter, and it is pretty challenging, lol. Hope you all have an awesome weekend.

Finally started DK Bananza—what a game!! So much fuuuuuuun!!
OH, BANANA!!!

@Kingy I have heard many times that the number one problem of DK64 is the collect-a-thon nature of the game? Is it the title's only major flaw?

@Jimmy_G_Buckets

How many hours you got there!? That is quite the goal! May the odds be ever in your favour

Definitely will be putting in more time into Donkey Kong Bananza. LOL I'd be a lot further into the game if I didn't keep getting sidetracked with going on destructive hunts for goodies. I believe we all have a problem with that

I haven't decided on the next DLC Season I'm going to start with in Snowrunner (Switch). Whatever I choose will be such a commitment it's hard to decide.

To mix it up so that Bananza doesn't eat up all the time I might start the next game in the backlog. I'm leaning towards Metroid Zero Mission on the NSO app. I missed that one back in the day. We'll see if I get it started.

Totally in love with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Donkey Kong Bananza! I wish I had more time to play this weekend.

DKB, amazing game.

This weekend for me will be Monster Hunter Wilds, Fatal Fury COTW, Lunar Remastered Collection, and Capcom Fighting Collection 2.

Cato:Buttered Cat
An absolutely brilliant puzzle platformer that may just be the best game Nintendolife hasn't ever reviewed. Can't recommend it highly enough.

gonna be smashing through more layers of dk bananza. this game has blown my mind actually, surprises are everywhere, and its just so…addictive!
i also mighttt jump and continue my retro zelda journey by jumping into Wind Waker on switch online, but donkey kongs very distracting! i gotta collect everything there first 😕
and of course, mario kart world with family
@JohnnyMind have a good vacation!!!
@ShieldHero oh my god i havent seen someone say theyre playing among us in a longgg time. i dont wanna talk about the money i spent on that game during its popularity. or my hours 😅 great online multiplayer though!
@MarioVillager92 i havent tried master mode of the sake of being scared of the challenge! good luck with it!

I’ll probably be playing some DK Bananza, this is my favorite Switch 2 game so far!

Donkey Kong Bananza: Made it to the Resort Layer and taking things at my own pace. Fantastic game. Also got Misc. A Tiny Tale. Really cute.

@urfaverenegade That game requires a 2nd playthrough, though!

@OctolingKing13 Thanks! I wanted to try out the Switch 2 edition since I have the NSO expansion pack, and since I finished the game on normal difficulty a couple years back I wanted to try out the master mode. I can tell I'm gonna need a heck of a lot of heart containers, lol. Hope you're having a good time with Bananza, I heard it's really good.

I'm still working my way through DK Bananza and enjoying it I like how they mix some things up a little bit as you progress. I feel like based on the number of Kingdoms in Odyssey I may be getting close to the end, but who knows. I also may want to backtrack and do a bit more collecting (at least finding and doing all the challenge levels — I've been doing them as I come across them if I find them).

I also played more TMNT: Splintered Fate with a friend the last two days. Still really enjoying that game. It definitely has some bugs, but they don't really affect the gameplay. And there are some tweaks I wish they'd make. I wish that in multiplayer it did a better job of tell you when you get hit (in single player there is a red overlay on the screen). I also wish it did a better job of communicating when your special and tool charged with controller vibration or some graphical effect close to your character. The corner of the screen where it tells you is too far away to really look at at least when playing in TV mode. So I just have to do it based on feel and timing.

I've played a little Dead Cells in between other things lately. I bought it a few years ago and never got into it, but I am liking it now. It is definitely difficult and I've only gotten to the first boss once in the few hours I've played recently. I need to be better about remembering that refilling health is manual and takes a little time.

More Donkey Kong Bananza, and so far that's the only guarantee, since I'm in the last 150 pages of Memories of Ice and reading that's all I've been wanting to do.
Otherwise, there's always the possibility of some MP gaming--Windblown or Nightreign, probably.
I did try out a few steam demos, of which Absolum is a definite winner. I think it's by the Streets of Rage 4 guys, a 2-player co-op beat-em-up rogue like.
I'm also installing several hundred feet of Ethernet cables and wiring into a new construction, whee.

I love some metroidvanias. Prince of persia the lost crown. I want to see what all the hubbub is about.

Still playing through DK Bananza and having a blast. Besides that I'm also playing Rune Factory GoA, it's my first time ever playing Rune Factory and it's pretty good.

@Slideaway1983 Yeah it’s been a lot of fun so far! Pulp were great last night, and Hot Chip (dj set). Love the user name btw - one of my fave songs from teenage years

Well I beat one of my favorite games of all time again, this time on Switch 2. Saga Frontier 2 Remaster. And can I say this is one of the best remasters ever made. The new scenarios they added to the game really cleared up a few lingering plotholes original release on PS1 had. They also made it easier to build up Meythia, a really good late character that you never got any time to build before because she popped up so late. They gave her a few new scenarios that both flesh out her story (in the OG release she just sort of appears for you to use and they never explained where she came from or what he whole deal was) as well as time to build up her stats . Many of the lesser used characters from the OG release got their own scenarios to help flesh them out some more and they added content to existing scenarios. But it doesn’t break the flow of the game at all. They’ve even added some unused music they developed for the OG release but was never put into the game.

I would say the number 1 big improvement (since I’m a huge fan of this game and I’ve completed it a bunch of times; I basically wore out my PS1 disc) is that they added the Pocketstation mini game into the main game itself. It fixes one of the worst balancing issues the OG version had, access to tons of tools to chip to actually unlock custom tools and weapons. It made the JP version way more fun than the NA version but now there is parity between the two.

Also the new parameter inheritance system is just plain awesome. It actually rewards you for being a maniac like me and building every character you encounter like me. Since all those stat gains can be shared with other characters. On this most recent play though I did by the time I got to final party Ginny had a sword level of almost 40 because I spent so much time building up Rich earlier in the game.

I used a different party for the final boss that I tended not to use back in the day. I typically left Meythia out because you just don’t get enough time to build her and used Roberto. This time I used her instead of Roberto.

If I had one complaint with this remaster, it’s that it changes Gustave’s ultimate fate. I prefer the mystery the OG release had although the scenario they added was really touching and well written.

Gonna start the NG+ content and go for the new super bosses next. They added the ability for you to fight all the end game bosses again but in new powered up forms. .

Finally! Nintendo sent my invite! Hopefully soon I will hold it in my hands and see it in person for the first time. I am excited!

As my time with switch 1 wears down, I have returned to my island in ACNH. It is still fun to putter around.

Happy gaming everyone!

Street Fighter 6, it's really really good. Even the goofy World Tour mode is fun for some more character development for the cast. On Steam admittedly but the Switch2 version seems pretty much the same except some muddier textures and lesser AA, nbd.

Paper Mario Sticker Star continues to hold my interest now for a second weekend. If this weren't a PM game, I think it would have done much better. With so little Paper Mario DNA, I can see why it was (and maybe still is) such a despised entry. But, as a quirky puzzler with more depth than I expected, I'm rather enjoying my time with it.

Nothing, we are having a yard sale

I also played some Mario Kart World online as well. Got 1st on the Moon rally. First time I’ve done that. I know folks have some issues with this game, and the online track race mode is flawed. But knockout tour is basically crack to me. It’s my favorite Mario Kart mode they've ever done.

@Obi-WonTheHighGround I'd actually say DK64 being a bloated collect-athon is one of least worst things about the game.
It definitely makes the whole campaign a huge slog, where you have to constantly backtrack to certain points in a level to change your Kong in order to vacuum up a bunch of color coded collectables, and it only gets worse the further you go in where levels just keep getting bigger and introduce mazes, steep vertical levels or a day/night cycle to waste even more of your time. It is probably the most egregious example of padding in a video game save for maybe Bravely Default or Devil May Cry 4.

But I think there are much bigger issues that get overlooked because of the padding. Like how DK64 is a terrible platformer. All five Kongs are extremely slow and stiff, and awkward to control. So you have multiple segments in the game that require precision and the controls keep failing you. It sucks.

But by far the worst offense of this game is that it keeps assaulting you with these GOD AWFUL mini games that get repeated over and over again. Sometimes they'll be relegated to bonus game barrels, other times they'll be played in the overworld or a special area, but they're crap 100% of the time and they just suck the life out of me lol.
Even if you don't go for completion like I did, I don't think there's a single thing about DK64 that's worth playing for - other than the personality I guess - but then just watch the cutscenes on YouTube, or better yet, play Banjo Kazooie.

Down in Devon this weekend for a friends wedding so I’ve not been playing DK bonanza. I’ve been dipping into my first professor Layton game (curious village) and solving puzzles with my wife which has been a lot of fun.

I am at the end of Donkey Kong Bananza. Donkey Kong is still hungry for bananas and I will not let him starve.

Happy gaming everyone!

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for me. Clearing out Necluda Archipelago, then Eventide, then Eventide depths. Bringing that back around to Faron afterwards hopefully during this weekend.

I got spoiled on a character in DKB, so I will be trying to roll credits today so I can at the very least not get spoiled on said individual's role! I am quite enjoying it so far!
I will also play some INK because I love lowering my times by a whole .01 second lol!
Of course, Paliawill be filling its usual slot as a wind-down game for whenever I have a moment.
And then, it's on to Mario Sports Mix with my siblings! It's been a few months, so we figured we'd dust it off.

Apparently Catching Some Zs was on my gaming list; I slept in longer than I normally do today. Granted, this is my last full lazy Saturday for awhile, so I may as well rest. My Sundays are some degree of busy anymore.

• Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (Switch) - Wrapped up Chapter 4 during my last session and picked up my fourth party member - who's unique, to say the least. It seems as though Balduq Prison always yields more questions than answers while exploring. I'm currently doing side quests and trying to unlock more of Balduq before advancing the story in Chapter 5.
• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - Well, it turns out Peach was already kidnapped by Bowser right under Toadworth's nose, so the Bros. are now working on reviving the Zeekeper in order to reach Bowser/Antasma's flying fortress. Not looking forward to an upcoming fight since I've heard it infamously doesn't cooperate with the 3DS gyro controls....This game would be more enjoyable without the filler and gimmicky giant battles IMO.

Happy gaming!

On Xbox, some small amounts of Rise of the Tomb Raider.

On switch 2, a whole lot of DK Bananza. Also some MKW with the fam.

On N64, playing some WCW/nwo world tour and revenge in remembrance of hulkster

Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World.

I started The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition about 9 days ago, and I've been working towards 100% completion on my first Master Mode playthrough (thankfully, Trial of the Sword is not counted towards this goal). I'm currently at 32% so far, and I haven't set foot in any of the regions that have a Divine Beast yet. Zelda Notes has been a big help!

@larryisaman yea bananza is great right? Also surpassed odyssey for me! I finished the main part two days ago and now I am still playing Just a great game to spend my time in and enjoy some bananas

@MischiefMaker thats who i wanted to see as im a massive fan of Jarv; and kasabian... but my Mrs is from Greece, and she's used to waiting for tickets and they were gone when we decided to try and get a weekender!

And yeah, I like the song too - well chuffed when they played it in cardiff day one. That and the masterplan are my two favourites personally, and two stone cold classics!

I know my Mrs is going to one of the parallel / adjacent festivals instead, as well as she saw wet leg in the week. Off to see Public Image Ltd myself at the foundry this week... busy summer of retro music for me!

Twins (Windows Phone) - Fun little puzzle platformer so far.

Gears POP! (Android) - Still watching vids for it.

Gun Bros (Windows Phone) - Been stuck the past couple of days. I might cheat a little and look up a solution to this last one.

@Joe11 I’ve heard! I’ll take a good break before jumping in for Serenoa’s true path. Love this game

I am going to finish up Silent Hill 2 on PC.
Maybe start DKB on switch 2.

I just tried GRIS for the first time. The visuals and the music are both beautiful, but the gameplay is so unengaging that I quit not too long into the game. A shame, I was looking forward to enjoying it, but it just turned out to be rather boring. It's like Mario Kart World where there's just a lot of going straight for a while before anything exciting happens.

I'll probably play a bunch of Ace Attorney Chronicles 2, instead!

dead or school really challenging side scrolling hack and slash anime type switch game.

Hi everyone.
Just the same as last weekend again for me. So it’s F1 2020 on Xbox one, Final fantasy adventure on switch and Gottlieb pinball classics on PSP. This last game is a great handheld game with a brilliant one more go to try and beat your score side to it. Would be really good on switch with a remake!
Have a great weekend everyone 👍

Well, I finished Final Fantasy XVI last week and man, that game had me pretty emotional towards the end. It really pains me how it has such great moments and eikon fights but the low moments in the story REALLY drag it down.

Now that I've finished XVI I just started the last remaining mainline title in the final fantasy series that I haven't beaten: Final Fantasy V. I'm only 5 hours into it but I already think this game is going to have my favorite combat system out of all the pixel remasters. Can't wait to play more!

Continuing Donkey Kong Bananza on Switch 2. On the PS5 side, I may start Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, but DK is taking up most of the free time I have for gaming at the moment.

I haven't bought Donkey Kong for the switch, I'm still considering whether to or not. I understand the people are feeling sick cuz I felt that way watching the reviews but I put that down to the reviewers not controlling their controllers properly and just whizzing around. Just saying.

waiting on my wii zapper to play resident evil 4

@Kingy Thanks for your opinion. I appreciate it. I have always heard mixed reviews on the game.

Desperate to play another run of XC2 but waiting on the possibility of a SW2 upgrade.

Anticipating a direct next week where we might get some Xenoblade news.

In summary. I'll probably be meandering around NSO this weekend not commiting to anything new with some SNES and Megadrive.

Mind you, Golden Sun keeps tempting me on GBA NSO.

@Hwatt Getting all the Jokers on the gold runs is quite challenging. I'm around 600 hours playtime. Thanks for the support lol

Mostly continuing with Donkey Kong Bananza. It's been an up and down ride so far. Loved it, then found things a little repetitive and frustrating around the middle, thought I was souring on it a bit. But now, working through the latter stages, the fun has returned and all is well once again! The last few layers have been really fun, I'll refrain from specifying for spoiler reasons of course.

In my other main playthrough, Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, I feel like I've play playing for an age. And yet, I've just been hit with a "prologue complete" followed by "Chapter 1...", so um, still early days I guess. Partly through taking my time, that did still take around 10 hours! Fantastic fun so far, love it. First time playing a game in this series.

That's it for me! other games are currently on hold which means no progress this week in: Donkey Kong Country, Fast Fusion, Guilty Gear, and Switch 2 replays of TOTK and Pokemon Scarlet.

@zool For what it's worth, I have terrible motion sickness in both cars and boats, but I didn't have a single moment of trouble in 30+ hours of Bananza. I did play it entirely in handheld, though, so I don't know whether that makes a difference. I suspect a lot of the people complaining are playing on massive 50" screens that they sit pretty close to...

👍Sickness aside, would you recommend DK, is it worth the asking price?

In Case 3 of Layton's Mystery Journey (Switch). Quite a silly game by Layton standards, but I'm still enjoying it.

Have a good weekend, and God bless!

I've been playing through the Castlevania series. I'm currently on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate on 3DS

The latest update for Mega Man Maker dropped so I'm playing that. I've also been going through Super Metroid again.

Donkey Kong Bananza like just about everyone else. It truly is a special game, never played anything quite like it. With only 4 months left in the year it’s going to be a very business end to 2025. Metroid Prime 4, Elden Ring:Tarnished Edition, Silksong, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Kirby’s Air Ride, Hades II…it really will be quite the launch year for Switch 2!

@Teksette
Im at the same part of the story in Cyberpunk:2077. You hit the same wall I did. She’s cute!! I just beat her and it was an intense fight. Try targeting her back to start, and stay on the move and keep unloading! 😉

I thought I'd be playing DK Bananza, but I can't stop playing Assassin's Creed Shadows. If it really is coming to Switch 2, that's gonna be such a fantastic fit.

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (GOG) and Killing Time Resurrected (Switch)

@Rainz ... Hades II…it really will be quite the launch year for Switch 2!

Seriously, bro. Hades II will definitely be the biggest c*ck block for my backlog, for currently playing game(s), and anything coming out around in proximity of the release date. As badly as I want that game (now!), it gives me weird anxiety because I want to polish off as much as I can before it drops

@Ganner
I believe on console Hades 2 is gonna be a timed exclusive on Switch 2 as well! I’ve got about 100 hrs on Hades so I feel your anxiety!..maybe double that cuz Silksong is also a day 1 for me! Hades 2 and Silksong in the same year could make for one the greatest Metroidvania years ever. All hail the eternal backlog!! 🥴

Ender Lilies and Botw mainly

I am now practically done with the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, I'm on the final testimony. For those who have played it, Simeon Saint is the best final culprit up to AAI2.. For those who haven't played it, Case 5 of AAI2 has the best final culprit up to said game. In The Oath in Felghana, I continued in the Quarry, beat the first boss after dying, like, 16 times (11 of those were for the achievement, I swear). It's a great game so far, and a nice challenge, as well! And in Fire Emblem Heroes, I did more side content. School has really cut down on my gaming, that's for sure. Happy gaming!

NOT Switch 2... Cant afford it

Got a Switch 2 a couple weeks ago. Still slowly working my way through DK Bananza. The latest world I've found is very neat! I have Mario Kart World too but I've barely played it.

Also re-playing Majora's Mask. Got to Stone Temple so far. What a game.

And, I've stalled a bit on Suikoden II. I want to finish it but a certain fight destroyed my a huge part of my party, appaprently with perma-death. Yes I can reload to an earlier save but it's still aggravating and I have too many other distractions.