Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (30th March)

Not much for me this weekend. After a long hiatus I've decided to start painting miniatures again so most of my disposable time will be spent on that. It's been years since I've spilled paint on minis so I'm hoping what skills I previously developed haven't entirely deserted me.
If I do get any time for gaming I'll probably give For The Warp a go. I picked it up on sale months ago but still haven't started it

Finishing Hogwarts Legacy: Got one more beast, crypt, and a couple more field guide pages (plus the final stages of the main storyline) and I will turn the page on an excellently realized and gorgeous looking Harry Potter experience.

Assuming I finish that in two or three days, it's on to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown: haven't played an entry since Sands of Time but going back to its 2D roots has me interested.

I’ll be finishing up Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright, as it feels like I’m hitting the last chapter, as all but 1 of the mysteries are stamped gold.
For those that don’t know, the game has an epilogue chapter that is only unlocked after beating the game and connecting to internet, so it will only be available for about another week.
But yeah, I’m loving so much about this game, it’s amongst the best games in the Layton series. I treasure all the games in the series and I haven’t played a mainline one in so long, so I’m just loving my time. Biggest issue is that the puzzles are very very easy.

I'll be playing Vendetta, attempting to take down more punks with 2 lives than I've ever managed before, and earning myself a place in the top 30 of the leaderboard. I'll be playing some Edchatos, Darius Gaiden and G-Darius too.

House chores today but this evening I have a date with a pack of beers and the latest edition of Retro Gamer Magazine. Nice 🙂

I'll be continuing 'Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age' this weekend on the Switch, finishing 'Star Trek: Resurgence' on the PS5 (because I'm a HUUGE Trekkie and I'm super enjoying this game) and then maybe some platforming fun - for some weird reason, 'Kaze and the Wild Masks' is calling out to me...

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom & Dragon's Dogma II

I bought Princess Peach for the long weekend (4 days where I live), I’ve set every other game aside to play it. I love it, it’s gorgeous, it reminds me on the Disney park shows. Also it’s the Live-a-live of the Nintendo action games. Probably will finish the base game today, then going for 100%, which seems not to be that easy and obvious.

Most of my game time at the moment is going towards online games on 3DS and Wii U before the servers shut down. It's been fun going back to them, and it's a shame so much content will be unavailable after next week, especially for games like Splatoon and Mario Maker where the online is the biggest part of the game. But at least people are working on preserving it in an unofficial capacity.

I'm playing Mario Maker, discovering some really fun 7 year old levels. Also skiing in Wii fit U, which is always tons of fun even though I wish there were 7 or 8 diverse ski slopes.
But mostly I'm enthralled by Mario 64 render96. I cannot express how fun, and how much of a dream come true it is to play Mario 64 at 60fps, finally! I also love dropping the frame rate on my Deck to 44 or 50fps, turning on moon gravity, and just playing for an hour in the first level. It is incredible.
Also incredible is the ship of harkinian. Playing Ocarina of Time at 90fps is beyond a dream come true! I can't get enough of it.
I'm also still freshly astonished at how awesome wip3out phantom edition is. Absolutely the most fun and beautiful racing game ever!
Also just got Mario Sunshine running at 60fps for the first time this week. And just got Pikmin 1 and 2 back running at 60. Oh, and a day ago I saw Link's Awakening DX HD for the first time! Seeing that game scrolling at 90fps is a sight to behold! Amazing, amazing stuff.
I got Gematombe on steam. The demo ran locked at 90fps on my oled deck, then I bought the game and it's maxing out at 30fps with no graphics options in the menu! I've heard of steam games having nerfed deck versions. Ridiculous! I'll assume it will be taken care of with a patch at some point...
Pepper Grinder is perfectly fun at 90 on my Deck, as is Gylt (which likes to drop into the 70 to 80fps range, but still looks and plays great on Deck).
I also just got a Miyoo Mini plus and it is amazing. Mine is preloaded with Onion and an excellent game collection including many translations (Super Famicom Wars, Mother 3, and about 300 other Japanese games) and rom hacks. It's a dangerous tiny little handheld, hours can evaporate instantaneously! I'm getting to play many shoot em ups I've only read about up till now.
Happy gaming to all!

This week I will be mostly playing

3D Space Tank

I played 3DS games for this weekend. 😊
1. Yokai Watch Blaster
2. Yokai Watch 3 Tempura

I started to get motivated in exploring the dungeons in Yokai Watch 3 after I discovered the new areas I have never knew before.
Also, I tried to continue my progress of Yokai Watch Blaster while I still have some hype from Yokai Watch 3.

I will be going back to Princess Peach: Showtime! to mop up some of the items I missed.
Aside from that, I'm playing Dynasty Warriors 3 on PS2 and Undead Land on PC.

Not really sure! Gotta be with some friends this weekend. Maybe Mineko's night Market before they arrive, or some DS games I've felt tempted to play lately (dragon quest monster joker, children of mana). Happy gaming everyone!

I’ve put aside my exploration of the McDarkNet (I will find you, Ronald) and I’m onto my weekend fix of Paper Mario.

With a CRT TV and a composite cable the game looks quite good! I hadn’t played my N64 in almost a decade and I had forgotten how much the picture quality can vary from game to game. I find DK64 hard to look at, whereas Resi 2’s 3D models are quite crisp (and the pre-rendered backgrounds look great). Both of them ‘utilise’ the expansion pack too! Paper Mario is more towards the good end of that spectrum. In terms of gameplay, it’s still thoroughly enjoyable and I’m building up to Ultimate Hype for TTYD.

Dragon's Dogma on Switch and some Super Mario Party and Overcooked 2 with the family 😉
Happy Easter!

On PS5 i will be continuing with the excellent FF7 ReBirth and Unicorn Overlord, I've also downlaoded Eiyuden Chronicle Rising as I need to play that before Hundred Heroes comes out.

On Switch I will be playing some more Princess Peach Showtime which I've enjoyed more than I thought I would. I will hopefully be completing Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes as I'm on the last chapter. Once that's done I will be starting the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC

I've finished Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion and now onto Super Mario Bros. Wonder, am loving it so far. Also thinking about playing Metroid Prime Remastered.

Happy gaming everyone.

After finishing Bioshock 2 in the week (will return to the Minerva’s Den dlc some other time), I’m taking a short break from ‘big’ games and playing Golden Sun on gba switch online. I had this on cart and played on my og DS but for some reason didn’t get far at all and I don’t remember why. It has been quite a slow start but I’m enjoying it now, a few hours in.

Also playing Hotshot Racing for some 90s arcade style fun. Racing games never hold my attention for long but when they’re good I do return them every now and then. Maybe I’ll also give Fast RMX another spin too. It was the first Switch game I owned at launch but I definitely could do more in it than I have.

I finished Nobody Saves the World last week. It was fun moment to moment, but ended up being a bit underwhelming. The checklist levelling up system was very addictive.

I'm now playing Psychonauts 2 on PS4. I'm finding the controls a little frustrating, but the world design is great and the writing is super fun(ny).

Other than my usual Genshin Impact, I’m trying to get through Princess Peach: Showtime! Already cleared the first three floors 100%.

Pepper Grinder! I played a good amount yesterday, and I imagine I'll probably finish it up today, or tomorrow at max. It may be short, but ive genuinely enjoyed every single moment of it. For those who are in the dark, at least try the demo. The game is bloody brilliant and deserves more attention.

My family and I are also going to try to beat Mario Wonder today, and we'll probably try to get some Splatoon 1 online in before its gone forever.

After spending most of my time on Mario Maker 2 making levels, I'm now done with my Super World!
..but have to admit the playing part of it is way more fun than I ever thought ! Fell in a rabbit hole which I can't/don't want to come out so soon !
So much good stuff by now, and if you avoid the music, don't move and troll level it's all good !
(Which really scared me off in the beginning)
But just follow people you like and see what they like or even their worlds is plenty of fun !
Feels like a second game after all the making, now it's over to playing! ...and maybe just some running around in Hyrule(TotK) with Ganon waiting and waiting for me !
Happy Easter everyone !
Cheers

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Finished chapter 4 yesterday. Today I will be doing the new sidequests before proceeding with the story. Really liking the sidequests, because they make me care for the people.

Happy gaming and happy Easter everyone!

Mostly finishing off stories in Octopath Traveler II, although I might have made the progress I'm going to make for the weekend already. Taking my wife for a modest getaway and I have some homework to do as well. Still, I'm close enough to be thinking about the next game, I'm waffling between 13 Sentinels and Persona 5 Royal for my next overly ambitious time commitment, even if that's probably a week off.

Happy weekend everyone!

Skyrim
No Man's Sky
Abzu
Super Mario Sunshine
Metroid Dread

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. A stealth tactics game that becomes hard fast.

Replaying on my SD, P4G Damn good game.

Fresh off SteamWorld Dig and proceeding with SW2 today, which could easily spill the metroidvania mood over to other stuff like Guacamelee, Bloodstained, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Afterimage and/or HunterX. Switch sessions also remain variably likely to involve RPGs from Xenoblade, RFs and DerQ to Dragon's Dogma, Dying Light and Outer Worlds, roguelites from Isaac, Neon Abyss and Road Redemption to Bad North, Rogue Aces and Little Noah, other stuff from RE0, Mudrunner and Pocket Card Jockey to One's Justice, Carto and SR4... and that still habitually leaves me making more plans for the other hardware with a straight face. NFS Rivals and RE3R on PS4, Horizon and FFXV on Deck, Endless Frontier and Valentia on 3DS, Eternia and Valkyrie Drive on Vita - that's actually me being reasonable unlike next weeke- never mind, better not jinx that one for now.🙄😏

Cyberpunk hopefully

@GingerNinja you know what a good game is 🔥🔥, I replayed it and I still can't get enough of it. You just need to be patient when making a move ☺️

I picked up two games last week (Prince of Persia got a nice discount in the eshop, and that game you subliminally made me buy NLife, even though I don’t care for card games)… and damn you, now I can’t put Balatro down!

I am playing P3R on my xbox (and lamenting it isn’t on switch, shin megami tensei games belong there) and Super Mario RPG on my switch.

A good dollop of Pikmin 4!

For me the weekend seems fully geared to the Switch, as it has for pretty much all of the week. I've been on a nostalgia kick for Story of Seasons having fully completed Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons, so had started Pioneers of Olive Town.

Then the series went on sale on Thursday, so I've sidetracked onto A Wonderful Life instead. Which I'll be continuing with for... a long time. And I'm also working toward finally completing Red Dead Redemption having let it sit on my Switch for far too long. Getting close now.

Might also give something on my Quest 2 a go, but with it warming up now, I'm not sure I could immerse myself into VR while my face burns.

Pretty busy weekend for me, but I just finished Shadow of Mordor last week, and am dying to get sunk into Shadow of War sometime over Easter Aside that, I'll be streaming Super Metroid

@Fizza
I hope you get well soon.

F-Zero for the Super Nintendo is my favourite. I have to try Maximum Velocity sometime.

On Switch, I’ve just started Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, unbelievably for the first time (I also had it, also unplayed, on PS3 via PS+) and I’m continuing along blowing things up in Just Cause 2 on PS3.

Stellar Blade demo, Tekken 8 and Final Fantasy XVI on the PS5.

On the Nintendo side, Princess Peach: Showtime and F-Zero Maximum Velocity on the Switch and Dead or Alive Dimensions on 3DS. I had the latter years ago but foolishly traded it in, been looking for it in recent years at a reasonable price and finally found a good deal at a local retro shop. Still one of my favorite fighting games on the system, always was very impressed with the way the 3D pops on that one despite cutting the framerate in half.

Splatoon 3 since I don’t know what else

I haven’t played much this week due to work and family visiting from out of state. Unfortunately, I won’t have much time this weekend, either. If I manage to squeeze in some gaming sessions, I’ll be attempting to finish Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

I’m currently on the last chapter and it has been an evocative experience. I’ve put in roughly 105 hours into the game, with all side quests and world region activities completed. In a way, I’m excited to see the end of the journey, but sad as well, as I’ve grown even more attached to these characters than I did in the PS1 original version.

Once I finish Rebirth I plan on starting Rise of the Ronin. Everything I have read about this game seems to be exactly what I enjoy about Team Ninja games, but expanded upon in ways I’m thrilled to experience. I’ve also been reading James Clavell’s Shogun. I finished part one a few days ago — nearly 700 pages, and I’m a quarter of the way through part two — so my mindset is honed in on this era of history that should be a good time to delve into.

Toejam And Earl: Back In The Groove.
160 hours in. No, I am still not bored. Lol. The levels are randomly generated each time, so every map is different each time.

Expert mode is brutal and unforgiving. I am not sure I will ever beat it, but I have fun trying.

Travelling today, but if I have time may play some Star Wars Battlefront (now I can invert Y) and also bought the Alwa's collection in CEX so started playing the first game.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) - Finally made it to the end!

Kingdoms & Lords (Windows Phone) - Just started on this one.

Lode Runner Classic (Windows Phone) - Also at the end of this as well. Then it will be time to delete and move onto the next one in the list...

With it being Easter weekend, I won’t be playing much, due to being busy with family. With that said though, I will be playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate, with the kids, in between Easter activities. Oh yeah and of course F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, was added to Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion service, so I’ll be checking that out as well.

Decided to start Tomb Raider 2 and then continue with Unicorn Overlord after I’ve beaten it or things get too annoying. I remember a ship level I found very hard when I was younger.

After an exhausting week of work I’ll try to kick back and play more Unicorn Overlord and Macross: Shooting Insight.

Uni-O is such a polished game, it’s been a real treat to just slowly savor expanding my roster and territory over time.

Macross, however,, sadly seems to have needed more care from its devs. It’s still very early stages of the game for me, but the story and action sequences seem so basic! My first impression is disappointment. I will keep playing as I love the IP dearly, but so far I’ve had more fun from PS3 and SNES Macross games. ☹️

Wishing everyone a peaceful time with family and friends on this Easter weekend! 🕹 🐣 🐰

After about 135 hours over 118 days I finally finished Persona 5 Royal. I’m glad I pushed through to the end. I do wish the same experience could have been packed into fewer hours though.

Now I am playing Tunic which feels like a really special game. A great sense of exploration and that in game manual is great.

Dipping into the Cyberpunk 2077 5-hour trial on XSS, but not much else.

Lots of Balatro. Working on winning with every deck.

Recently I started playing Persona 5 Royal on Switch, so I will mostly be playing that. Over on PC it’ll mostly just be some R6 since a new event started, and on PS5, maybe I’ll continue my playthrough of FF7 Rebirth as well as some of the Finals. It’s a holiday weekend this time around, so have fun gaming and happy Easter!

House-sitting, no I won't be diving into hell or beating fallen angels on PS5 since it's way too much of a pain to lug around.
But that's okay, because all I want to play is Unicorn Overlord anyway, and I've got that on my Switch.

Working on the Magolor campaign in Kirby RTDL

Mostly Unicorn Overlord. I recently completed the Drakenhold area and now I’m working through Elhiem. The game is wonderful so far. I hope it sells well for Vanillaware.

Also playing through Star Wars Battlefront 2 via the Classic Collection. Just jumping into offline Instant Action maps is great fun for short bursts.

Splatoon for Wii U! Nine more days of fun, fun, fun 'til our Daddy takes our T-bird away. (Sorry for the non-reggae reference. Spear does not endorse the Beach Boys.)

@dartmonkey I was on Mario Golf Super Rush a couple of times yesterday. Motion controls matches have been dead for months.

Busy weekend between some early spring yardwork and Easter festivities, plus my work week was crazy too. So not a lot of gaming. What I hope to fit in this weekend:

• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + BJJ (3DS) - I didn't play this much over the past week. No movement on BJJ at all - might fix that later - and I FINALLY beat the Tower of Yikk giant boss battle (I find the forced touch controls annoying) and earned the drill power-up. So the session I did fit in this week was spent exploring as the Bros. outside of Bowser and drilling for beans.
• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch) - On Chapter 2 and just cleared the Eroded Valley dungeon. This place is confusing in the first half even with the full map filled in. I've now recruited 11 castaways, including everyone's favorite stuffed shirt, Sir Carlan.
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - I'm due to race online with some fellow NLers early this afternoon! Let's hope I'm not too rusty.

Happy gaming! And Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

@FishyS

Based on you mentioning it I've just checked out Void Terrarium and it looks pretty sweet. I think I'll pick up the first one next time it goes on sale. Thanks for the tip. 👍

For the most part, Spider-Man Miles Morales on PS4, and Diablo IV on xbox. Sparingly, I've been playing PM: Color Splash.

switch: animal crossing

xbox: star trek online, phantasy star online 2.

happy easter to those who celebrate.

Geez i woke up late.
Switch - Fury Unleashed still. Can make it to the final level every run, so i imagine i will beat the game this weekend. Also playing more Survivalists with muh gal.
Also i’ve had shmup fever and been stuffing my face with the likes of Lightening Force , Blazing Star , Mushisimehama , the Strikers games, Thunder Force AC , Espagaluda2 , 1944:The Loop Master , 19XX: War Against Destiny, Giga Wing and Tohou: Azure Reflections this past week. I need to pick up Eschatos. Also, i got Dakka Squadron and am waiting for a performance patch so i don’t wish for the touch of the reaper’s scythe every time i play it. I ran through the first Mega Man again. I don’t why. I used to run through the first four MM games yearly and i quit just short of a decade ago. Of course now i have to do 2, 3 and 4.
PC- Satisfied with what i’ve done with Natsuki Chronicles, i turn my full attention to the more difficult Ginga Force. These two phenomenal shmups are responsible for my current affliction.
Table- We never got to DnD last week but will for sure this week as i actually got sleep. I’ve been eyeballing a board game , Life of the Amazonia. Quite the looker!

This weekend, I will spend more time playing as Marie in Skullgirls 2nd Encore. I tried her out and went through her story mode (aka skipped the cutscenes) on her launch day, and I enjoyed what I played! I’ll maybe rewatch the cutscenes on my own time, or wait until they get fully voiced, because her story mode is really good, apparently.

Last night, I made some more progress in Sea of Stars. I got to Brisk and met the pirate crew. I’ll likely play more when I’m not celebrating Easter with my family. It would be nice to make some progress in Mega Man X4 as well.

The legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Princess Peach Showtime for me!

My friend got me into Disney Dreamlight Valley, and it constantly makes me wonder why Animal Crossing isn't doing half of the things it does differently. Bulk crafting, better storage, landscaping being done in an editor rather than manually placing everything by hand... And I thought I wasn't even going to enjoy this game very much. I was convinced after my experience with New Horizons that I might just not like life sims as much as I used to, but it turns out I just don't like New Horizons as much as New Leaf... DDV has moments where it feels buggy, and there are things that need to be patched, but it feels like more of a game than New Horizons does, and unlike New Horizons, it is still getting more updates.

Ever since I bought the Steam Deck oled, PS5, Series X, & Switch haven't been played as much...

I'm currently playing RDR2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 6 & Max Payne 3 all on the Deck oled. Steam Deck is my first PC/handheld so PC gaming is new to me.

Being able to adjust resolution, frame rate, and add gyro to any and every game makes this system a dream come true to me!

@Rpg-lover Thanks again for the Steam Deck info. I fell in love with the original Deck so much that when the oled came out, I sold my Deck and immediately upgraded and put a 2TB SSD in it.

I'm amazed by what this handheld can do. I play it daily. It's easily my favorite electronics purchase since the Switch back in 2017.

Funnily enough, it seems like I'll be playing Princess Peach: Showtime! I say that because I didn't originally plan on playing it, it just didn't strike me as something to go out and pay full price for. I'd only play it if I somehow got it at a super low price. A family member had planned on gifting one of my little cousins the game, but as it turned out, they didn't have a Switch. Before she returned it she called me and asked if I wanted it. Seems like the world itself is telling me to play it, so I guess I have no choice. XD

Terra Memoria, a lovely little turn based RPG that released this week out of nowhere on Switch. Very laidback and whimsical, fun characters/battle system/exploration/questing. Really cool graphics that remind me of Grandia/2D-HD and the soundtrack is wonderful. Such a gem so far!

@Novamii I’ll admit that is fun, but it’s an odd game that doesn’t seem to have a place within the Mario universe. So far I’d give it a 7.5/10.

@KayFiOS wow, Dreamlight Valley is that good? I’m not a huge Disney enthusiast anymore, but still love the classic stuff. Huge AC fan and it sounds like this makes some fun improvements.

@TheExile285 is it a good game for someone who doesn’t play many SRPGs? I have my few favorites, but wasn’t sure what the gameplay for this was like.

Now that the update is live, I will be properly diving into the BATTLEFRONT CLASSIC COLLECTION on Switch and, of course, more HELLDIVERS 2 on PS5. FREEDOM DOESN'T SLEEP!

Man, I'm really trying to like Unicorn Overlord but keep putting it down. Maybe I'm too dumb to enjoy it?

@DTfearTheBEARD No worries😊, I enjoy playing on the OLED steam deck, to be honest, I hardly touch my PlayStation these days.

@Keegsy I've been playing it on the steam deck, so I can't speak for the graphics on the switch version, but apparently it looks decent on the system. By now there are plenty of people who have posted gameplay footage on YouTube, so I would check that out and see if you might be interested in it, but I've definitely been having a nice, cozy time with it!

I finished Crisis Core last weekend! It was actually quite a bit shorter than I was expecting and the encounter rate was pretty high but I enjoyed my time with it. Pretty much immediately after finishing it I started up Final Fantasy VII Remake. I have been wanting to play this game for quite some time but never got around to it. Now that I've replayed the original and finished Crisis Core, it feels like the perfect time to jump in lol. I'm only 3 hours in but so far so good.

For this week, I'm playing...

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Continuing the venture up Eldin. I'll feel so much better once I get two phenomena done. But I'm enjoying this one slowly, one because BOTW satisfied me so hard way back when, and two I just want to go with the flow and get there when I get there since it's such an even larger game. It's basically a Zelda life sim to me at this point lol.

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
I had always wanted to get my hands on this game, but between time, money, and chance, I didn't get a good opportunity until now. I like how it's not the same tried and true vehicles and courses, which feels like a breath of fresh air for me. The look of the game also reminds me of why I loved the sprite based F-Zero to begin with.

F-Zero 99
Lots of new goodies and toys abound to play with. Not to mention F-Zero: Maximum Velocity taught me how to feather my vehicle, so I'm pleased as punch to utilize that technique, and it's made a big difference to how I approach curves.

Cuphead
I technically beat this game in the wee hours this morning, but it still counts as a weekend game. Great, great game, I see why people raved about it. Base game and DLC were awesome.

Pepper Grinder demo
I've heard nothing but praise for this game, so I will give it a go, but I've never been drawn to the Drill Dozer-esque style of game. If I like it, it'll go on the wishlist.

Last but not least, my weekly weekend "retro" game is... Hah, that's right, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity! Good times this weekend.

@KayFiOS thanks for the feedback, looking forward to checking it out!

Prince of Persia, tents and trees, WRC 10, Art of Glide.

Happy gaming everyone!

I hope to give Pepper Grinder a proper go. Only had a few minutes with it so far, but it's excellent. The other night I completed the demo for Princess Peach: Showtime! I'm surprised by how fun it was. One chapter remains in Detective Pikachu, so hopefully I'll wrap that up.

@Rpg-lover Have you tried Chiaki 4 Deck? I use it to remote play my PS5 to my Deck oled and it works great if you have decent wifi. It even supports HDR now. I think it's a better way to remote play than the Playstation Portal.

I’ve got the same two games as last week to play this weekend:

Yo-kai Watch 4 - Now in Chapter 8 (of 10). I haven’t progressed a whole lot since last week, but I’m still very eager to press on. Didn’t take long for a simple time travel story to turn into demon possession and ominous visions and prophecies. Ooooooooh…

Super Mario Maker 1 - 100 Mario Challenge, before it disappears. Most of my progress has been made trying (and failing) to win Super Expert, but I’m getting better! Even still, nine days might not be enough time if I want the Normal costumes as well. I really hope Pretendo is ready for public release soon…

I'm taking a break from Tears of the Kingdom this weekend by starting Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe! Already got past World 1.

Will also play a little bit of Suika Game. It's very addicting

I've got one week off and we're abroad visiting family and friends, so I've been playing a bit less Switch than normal.

I really enjoy Tetris Effect in the morning, it's a different rythm than 99. I hadn't played it in a little while.
I finished the story of Batman Arkham Asylum, and I did have fun with the infiltration missions. Everything else was just ok. I'm around 85%, I'm missing 7 Riddler's trophies (mostly teeth) and I guess the challenges, but I'm not so sure I will go through them all. I'm pretty much done with this game.
I've also started Ghosts'n Goblins on NSO NES, but I'm stuck, I think in world 4, I don't seem to have enough time left to beat the boss, so I may have to start over or back at a previous save point.
Let's not forget Project Diva Mega Mix, I wonder if/when I'll have enough of this game.

Happy gaming!

Helldivers 2 and I'm probably going to download Pepper Grinder at some point.

I’m going to be playing Luigis Mansion Dark Moon and Mario Kart 7 as much as I can before the online servers shut down.

I reached the Master Sword in TOTK this week, so now I need to gear up for the final battle.

I also located my old Gamecube the other week and got that hooked up, so have been enjoying some WWE Day of Reckoning on the side. An oft overlooked gem of a wrestling title.

Finally got 100% on Super Mario 3D World yesterday. 55 hours playtime, off and on for the last few years since it came out. To be clear, I mean beat every level with every character. Hard work for the last couple, but satisfying!

Back to God of War Ragnarok and Side Order dlc for the rest of the weekend's gaming time.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (PS5) - I'm about two-thirds of the way through the game but will probably put it down for a bit now and pick up where I left off in Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

Gears of War: Definitive Edition (XSX) - I've just completed the third chapter and will try to push through and complete it in the next day or two so I can start on Diablo IV.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch) - finally finished this. Way to much grinding for my taste and the final chapter didn't really respect my time with hundreds of repetitive combat encounters and fighting the final boss through multiple stages. I also found the combat, systems, and story overly convoluted. Happy to close the chapter on this one.

Half-Life (Steam) - have just got a Steam Deck and am catching up on classics I haven't played when I'm not losing my life in Balatro.

@DTfearTheBEARD yes I know about it, but never cared to give it a try. May consider it.

@Keegsy I would say so. I don’t play many SRPGs either (mostly just the recent FE games) and I’m finding it accessible even on the “Tactician”/Normal difficulty.

The only problem I had was trying to figure out what units to use as the game throws so many at you but eventually I just settled on my favorites with a few generics for utility.

There’s a demo available so I’d highly recommend trying that. It allows you to play 7 hours of the game and you can transfer your save data to the full version if you buy it.

Not too much game time, so far. Snuck in a game of Spaceteam, the fast and silly physical card game, during break in my game design course.

Got to play more of the feast-for-the-eyes metroidvania, Ultros, on PS5, and a bit of Slice & Dice on a Mac (it's also on mobile). Almost got some physical tabletop 7 Wonders going at an Easter get together, but not yet. Nothing on Switch, though Slice & Dice really should be on there.

The deckbuilding sale on Steam got me to buy the digital version of Ascension, one of the original physical table top deckbuilding games that was hot on the heels of Dominion but I never got to play. I probably won't have time to dig in to that just yet, as it's a bit more involved and time is limited (and the backlog grows).

@Yalloo Good luck on Ghosts 'n' Goblins on NSO. That was brutal even on original NES hardware with lower latency analog CRT.

@appleseedeon I really want to play pepper grinder, too. Seems to be a very solid game.

Kingdome Come Deliverance, Resident Evil 4, 13 sentinels

@aaronsullivan Yes, thanks! I think I like torturing myself a little bit here and there. There's always at least one boss/level that is always really hard in those games, I'm more surprised that it's already there on world 4, so I'm guessing the rest will be even more difficult. Even relying on the rewind option is not enough here!
Anyways, that's the whole point I guess. I can see that it left quite an impression on you as well

I'm just seeing now in the list Link's Crossbow Training, what a fun little game that was. I hope they would include it with Twilight Princess HD when it comes back to the Switch ...

Just got a PS5 so it's Nontendo days for me. Really want to play FFVII Rebirth but need to get through Remake first so... that's what I'm doing!

Brilliant Diamond and Celeste for me. Wonderful games

@Woderwick is it warhammer you're painting? I tried back in the 90s but I was terrible and didnt stick with it unfortunately but always appreciate decent painters

@Yalloo I was playing links crossbow training the other night on emulation but with the wiimote and wii blaster, it's still a lot of fun 👍

I finished up Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night on Steam Deck (which I adored), and now I am currently playing Quake 2 on the same system. This is my first time playing that game, and it has been so addictive. And the QOL improvements that have been made makes the game feel more modern.

Nearly 80 hours in with just half of the world map uncovered, Unicorn Overlord continues to dominate, recently entering my top ten most played games on my Switch.

@Deljo

Not Warhammer, I simply don't have the time to dedicate to painting huge numbers of models so I'm planning on playing some small scale skirmish games. Currently I'm painting a very cool little sci-fi dog man from Hasslefree Miniatures.

@Deljo I have good memories of it. It was short, but definitely fun. Amazing that you still have a Wii Blaster, I wonder where mine ended up, maybe I sold it, since I don't really play (first person) shooters.
That's one reason I like these talking points, everybody plays completely different games.
Cheers!

@JohnnyMind where am I able to purchase the slower clock?

@JohnnyC That is sure satisfying. I remember when I first beat the very last level for the first time, probably after trying at least 150 times. Funny enough, it then took me few attempts with the 4 other characters. Very satisfying challenge indeed. Congrats & kudos!

@Yalloo Yep, they're not as hard when you do all the levels one after another with each of the characters. I beat the whole game with Mario a year or two ago, and then came back to it in the last few months to beat with the other characters. First time doing Challenge Road and that last mystery house level therefore didn't have the benefit of muscle memory, so took quite a few fails to get the hang of it again. Must have died dozens of times on those levels as Mario on my first play through. Thanks, same to you.