Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (4th October)

This weekend I will be tucking into Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles, I can’t wait.
In between, I’ll dip into Hades 2, Yakuza 0 & Street Fighter 6.

Happy gaming all

Nintendo Switch 2 - Still having fun playing Mario Kart World
Nintendo DS - Replaying Elite Beat Agents

Greetings fellow video game enthusiasts. I finished Hollow Knight, and boy, WHAT a game. It’s always worth delving into your backlog. I’m now playing Sonic Racing Crossworlds as a pallet cleanser and having immense fun. Let’s weekend.

My games for the weekend:

Fast Fusion: playing the championship mode in supersonic league.

Tails of Iron: just started this one.

Krimson: reached circle 2.

Tetris Effect Connected: participating in yet another weekend ritual. Hope we achieve the community goal this time.

Majogami: if I find the time I want to give the demo a try.

Happy gaming!! ✌🏻🧡🎮

I'm having a blast in the Hatsune Miku event in Sonic Racing Crossworlds this weekend!

Sam and Max Season 3

the next game may will be Batman Arkham City on Switch 2

Toy Commander on my Dreamcast. Finished every mission in the first room. After playing... err working for so long in Fantasy Life i: The Game That Steals Your Time it felt really refreshing to play a real videogame again. I was grinning like a little kid.

Happy gaming everyone!

In Wind Waker I’m on my way to the 4th dungeon, I want to complete that and maybe the 5th.
Doing some rounds in Bananza, at 565/777.
Might look back to Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

Donkey Kong Bananza - just finished sub layer 300 (well, not finished-finished but you know). Also had a run of Hades - the first one so may play some more of that. I got the ‘proper’ ending a while back but haven’t done all the post game stuff, and it’s as fun as ever. I’m sure I’ll get the second game at some point but for now I’m happy to play this one a bit more alongside a ‘main’ game.

Dredge, trying to get all the fish. It is a grind, but a suprisingly relaxing grind

This week I will be mostly playing

Shining Force: Sword of Hajya
Broken Sword 2

Digimon Story Time Stranger for me, playing it on Steam Deck and it's freaking GREAT. I'm still on the beginning of the game but I can easily say that its the best digimon game so far and one of the best monster colector games of late years. Happy gaming everyone!

Galaxy 2 and finishing off XCX

This weekend i'll be playing some Fallout 4 and finish Silent Hill f on PC, and will also be playing some Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Revisiting Mario Galaxy. Maybe because of the controls of the Wii but never got into it. Loving it now.

Also some Forza and Resident Evil Village on Series X.

Happy gaming everyone.

I think I’m pretty close to beating Hundred Line- the Last Defense Academy. I’ll get in a workout with one of the Fitness Boxing games and probably play Mario Kart World.

@Zuljaras
Ooooh Faxanadu! A man of culture I see.

Just Tears of the Kingdom on Switch 2 for me this weekend

Just finished Xenoblade X's Chapter 13. And I still have the Xenoblade itch, so I have ordered NieR Automata which should be arriving today!

animal crossing new horizons- I got the happy home paradise DLC so I've been having fun with that.
the outer worlds- also got this on switch. single player RPGs are my favorite type of game.
destiny 2

Hades 2, and that is all. What an absolute masterpiece this game is.

Like many of you, I too play Switch 2 version of acclaimed Nintendo 3D platformer: Kirby and the Forgotten Land+ Star-Crossed World, obviously. (no, I didn't type it manually)

Will be trying to beat Klonoa on GBA (NSO)! Great game. On last few levels. Have a good weekend all!
I don't feel the need to do it again myself, but anyone experiencing Mario Galaxy 1+2 for the first time is in for a treat! That said, those replaying them will enjoy it too!

Busy weekend but currently replaying The Evil Within on PS4. Still a good game despite the performance issues. Also Mad Max on PS4 which has been fun to go back to and make some more progress. Retro wise picked up Toaplan Arcade Collection 2 on Evercade so will be trying to see if I can get any better at Hellfire, played the Mega Drive version years ago and it's a tough shooter.

Continuing with Galaxy 2, it's nice to be able to revisit this game though it's shorter than I remember so I may also start Pac-Man World 2 this weekend.

Playing Galaxy 2 as played Galaxy 1 to death.
Find the hub world in Galaxy 2 so inferior to Galaxy 1 such a shame they changed the hub and level select parts to be so different massively duller!

Also gotta push my love for monster hunter stories 2 if you haven’t played it’s a great game…so pumped for 3

I'm playing Dragon Quest VI (Super Famicom). My 12yr-old is at the last area of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64), and m 9yr-old is playing Ganbare Goemon 3 (Super Famicom).

We're also still playing tons of Super Mario Kart (SNES). My kids are getting really good at it, so it's a lot of fun!

Mahreo Galaxy 2.

I arrived at the theme park in DK Bananza and somehow lost interest to keep going for now. So that one's gonna be put on hold now.

I got in both Final Fantasy Tactics and Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 though. I'll definitely be playing those!

Hello again, y'all! This weekend I'm playing:
Dragon Quest XI S Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition: now that I have access to the whole ocean, I need to collect the orbs to get to Yggdrasil, I currently have 4 out of 6 orbs.
Some people on this site convinced me to try out some older Metroid games, so I downloaded some new Nintendo Classics applications. If I have time today, I'll try that out.
Plus the usuals:
Pokémon Sleep
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket: just reached Player Level 40 earlier this week

I'll be playing Splinter Cell 3D on the 3DS this weekend, which is in preparation for Netflix's Splinter Cell: Deathwatch.

I finally hit 100% completion in Nikoderiko: The Magical World – Director’s Cut, after nabbing the very last collectible — a cursed “O” tile in the Secret World level Frost Flight (if you know, you know). That single tile was the last thing standing between me and a full clear. I nearly lost my sanity — hand cramping, soul fraying — but then came the perfect run. And with it, the joy of a clean, complete save file. I know The Final Battle unlocks 106% and a secret ending, but I haven’t decided if I’m chasing that particular dragon just yet. Savoring the summit for now.

Don’t let the plush aesthetic fool you: Nikoderiko may look like a breezy romp, but it hides a steel core. There’s real precision platforming beneath the whimsy — and if you go for full completion, prepare to sweat.

In other news, I caved and double-dipped on PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC for Switch 2. Last week I swore I couldn’t justify the Game-Key Card… and then bought it anyway. I’m finding that if the Switch 2 version offers meaningful enhancements — especially in action-heavy genres — I might just bite. But it’s not just action games that tempt me: if a new entry in a beloved series comes out in that format — even if it’s turn-based — I might still go for it. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is one such title. I need to preserve it cart-complete in my library, where it’ll nestle next to Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, but I also don’t want to miss out on the Switch 2’s rendering of those dazzling HD-2D graphics. It’s a compromise, yes — but one I’m increasingly willing to make for the titles that matter most.

Also picked up Marsupilami: Hoobadventure (I needed my next colorful 2D fix!) and the Super Mario Galaxy + Galaxy 2 physical bundle. Yes, I already own them on Wii. But this set immortalizes two of the greatest platformers ever made in a modern, hyper-polished form. A must-have, if you ask me.

So that’s me this week: celebrating a major completion and pondering the ethics of double-dipping — all while eyeing a slightly quieter release window ahead.

I'm at the Last Judge at the end of Act 1 in Silksong. The boss has been so brutal, that I haven't wanted to try it since my day off on Tuesday. I'll give it another go this weekend, but I think I'm going to put the game to the side for a bit after that boss. Because Silksong has been the only game I've been playing for the last few weeks, I almost save it exclusively for weekends, and im too tired during weekdays after work to think about slamming my head against a brick wall, with how difficult its been getting. Maybe I'm just not in the mood right now, and I don't want that to ruin the game for me.

With that in mind, I'm gonna start up The Plucky Squire today. I got it on a hefty sale a month ago, and I really need something chill and charming to relax to.

This week I’m getting in to Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. I’m not a huge RPG fan but I liked the look of it.

I love the world and the story is alright too. The only thing I’m kinda tepid on is the way I can’t fully control my team. I know I can give them tactics but I want to select the spells they use.

I finished up GTA San Andreas last night on the ROG Ally X, which means I have successfully completed all three games of the Definitive Edition. I'm working my way up through the series leading up to GTA 6, so I'll probably start IV in a week or so.

My time with Donkey Kong Bananza is also coming to a close, and I'm hoping this weekend is the one where I roll credits. While I have been enjoying it a lot, I am also looking forward to playing something else.

I've been also dabbling in the Persona 3 Reload demo on Switch 2. I've played it both on handheld and docked, and whatever performance issues that are people are complaining about seem unwarranted, at least in my opinion. I guess if I really focus on it, I guess the framerate might stutter a little, but no where near enough to call it a shoddy port in my eyes.

As for what's next... my backlog is quite large, so I'll have to look through the library and see what could be a good fit.

Oblivion Remastered - Finishing the Fighter’s Guild quest line and a few side quests.

@ParsnipHero, fellow Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake player here, just beat the game this summer. One of the options in tactics at the start of every battle is "follow orders", in which you decide everything the party members do. You have to set it to "follow orders" for every individual party member though, if that is what you want. Hope this helps! 😃

@ShieldHero The meeting of heroes.

@ShieldHero ohhhhh okay. Thank you so much. Totally missed that. I wonder why my hero stopped showing the spell options when I switched their tactic.

For the most part the tactics AI are pretty good. I’m glad they have them in. That plus Ultra-fast battle really helps with the random encounters.

@TheSaneInsanity lol. ParnsipHero wasn’t my first choice. It was actually “Heroic Parsnip” but the doesn’t fit within Nintendo’s username 15 character limit so I went for this. The name stuck!

A lovely eShop sale has me busy with multiple City Connection arcade and S-Tribute games on the Switch 2. I'm also back on the SNES and diving into dozens of SA-1 hacks and translations that I recently updated in my library. Bahamut Lagoon is my current favorite, and playing so many classic games with improved performance fills me with joy.

I’m still playing Silksong. I am about 40 hours in and just got to Act 2. It takes me a lot of tries on bosses and gauntlets, but somehow after finishing one I end up thinking “well, that wasn’t too bad.” I also bought the 8bitdo arcade controller (the leverless one). I replayed a bit of Celeste with it to get used to it, then picked up Street Fighter 6 while it was on sale in spite of the fact that I never got into fighting games in the past. I have to say Street Fighter 6 has a really nice tutorial and that has helped me understand it more than any fighting game I’ve tried before. I also ended up deciding to use the leverless for Silksong as well and I was okay enough with it that I decided I was going to beat the last boss of Act 1 with it and last night I finally did!

So far I’ve beat Touryst which was an interesting little game, I loved its design but some of the platforming killed me.

Lego party will most likely get some play this evening as my daughter and I had a great time with it. I got stomped in it by her and the cpu which was kindve a suprise for me. I’m used to holding back a little to let her have that fighting chance but nope she took off and had absolutely no mercy on me.

I’d like to get the Mario galaxies out of the package and give 2 a whirl as well. It’s such a magical game.

I will play working. My weekend starts Monday 10/6. I will be continuing my playthrough of Cold Steel 3

@Umbrius Funny, I also finished Nikoderiko during the week. And I can tell you that the final "final" battle only gets you to 101%, and I'm still missing the equivalent of playing through the game three times to get all the unlockables. What a disappointment! Hope that you had more fun with it than I did...

My goal is to finish DK Bananza main story this weekend, but it will be quite hard having a new copy of my favorite game of all time in 4K. Yes, I'm obviously talking about Super Mario Galaxy!

Happy gaming everyone!

Working today, but I will make some more progress in Super Mario RPG on Switch, and Pikmin Bloom as usual.

My Gameboy Pocket arrived during the week and just received Super Mario Land 2 as an anniversary gift so will be playing that and a bit more Tetris. Also playing Patrick’s Paradox on Switch Lite, ace puzzle game and I’ve bought the soundtrack too. Happy gaming all!

@Yalloo Oh wow, that’s wild — I hadn’t realized the “final” final battle doesn’t even get you all the way to 106%! I was teetering on the edge of chasing it down, but that might be the push I needed to call it here. Honestly, I did have a great time, but only because I treated 100% completion as the finish line. Any more than that and I might’ve burned out. Sorry to hear it left you cold — it really is a strange mix of charm and steel. Curious what you moved on to afterward?

When I can find time I plan on be all over Hades 2 (Switch 2). I'm finally starting to get better grips with it now that I feel like I'm playing it right. For the first X amount of hours I was playing it like Hades 1. As similar as they both look, play, and feel, they actually are quite different from each other. I have so many hours into Hades 1 that it was hard to drop that game's playstyle.

Also, if there's time I take a break from Hades 2 and continue the Season 1 DLC in Snowrunner (Switch). That one is a real doozy!

Mario Galaxy 1&2 is now nestled happily on my game shelf, but it’ll have to float in orbit for a while because I can’t break away from Hades II. I was worried Supergiant Games wouldn’t be able to repeat the magic of the first Hades, but this sequel may actually surpass it! It’s going to end up my GOTY.

If I need a break from Melinoë’s Hellenistic adventures, I’ll probably dip into Pinball FX. It has such a great mix of well-simulated real Bally/Williams tables and fun imaginary ones at this point. Often, the original tables have licensed movie or TV themes and are quite faithful to the source material - I pumped many virtual coins into their original Knight Rider, Princess Bride, and Pacific Rim tables, along with the different Marvel Comics ones. I’ve found that building your table collection slowly, as you await sales, is not only an excellent value, but it compels you to enjoy the intricacies and climb the leaderboard for each of the tables you’ve got.
If you don’t have any actual pinball machines in your vicinity, well, here’s a fun substitute!

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend! Moonlight guide us!! 🕹️🌙

Hollow Knight: Silksong
Beginning of Act 2. I've had a small break from the game but I'm planning to go back soon.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Borrowed digital copy from my sister while she was visiting. About to finish it. Short and sweet. I wish the game would actually save the pictures though.

Astral Chain
I played the first 10 hours back when the game came out. I decided to start over on Switch 2. Getting used to combat again.

Karaoke Joysound for Nintendo Switch
I like singing. It's a fun way to practice Japanese. Also a good way to assess progress. I've come a long way since I first downloaded this app back in 2021.

Playing more Octopath Traveler 2, about 60 hours-worth now. Discovered a number of things now that they've added that weren't in the first game which really do add to the experience. Also, Partitio might be my new favourite character in the series! Still so far from completing any of the main stories, this playthrough could get into the triple digits it seems (my slow pace of play aiding that of course).

Playing some Super Mario Galaxy 2. I had it for the Wii but didn't get very far with it. I wasn't a big gamer at the time, plus I don't think the controls were doing it for me, so ended up not playing too much. Time to rectify that now, I liked the controls set up for Galaxy 1 in All Stars so I'm enjoying it much more.

Plan for today is to finally get some more runs in Hades 2! Only done 6 attempts so far. My partner doesn't want to see much of it as he's waiting for the PS version, but he's away for a little while so it's time to fire it back up! Only early on but love it already.

@Umbrius Check out my post #7 up above 😉 And have fun with your games! 🧡🎮

Last weekend I finally beat the final boss on Octopath II, a game I've been playing on and off all year. Now, I need shorter and more linear - and as it's October, I'm going for 'Ghostbusters - The Video Game'. On PS5, still slowly making my way through Clair Obscur.

I want to lend more time to other hobbies this weekend, so not as much gaming as usual. I plan to assemble my newly arrived LEGO Game Boy today and also hope to finish a book I'm reading (Doctor Sleep).

I'm in the home stretch of the fifth and final case in Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (AAIC/Switch). It's a long, amazing, and convoluted case, full of twists and turns that tie the rest of the game to the proceedings. I hope to wrap this one up within the next couple of days, then back to my recently started Pokemon Scarlet file (Switch) and Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii/Wii U).

Happy gaming! Remember, be kind to yourselves.

Started The Ivalice Chronicles and dang, the presentation is fantastic. I have the original, the PSP release, and the better-than-you're-likely-assuming mobile port and I've never seen this game look so slick. The pixel artwork is great but honestly, I keep staring at the textures on buildings and rocks! The devs took so much care to mimic that lo-fi PSX look but it's so clean. It would've been easy to "upgrade" them so much that they no longer blend with the 2D characters or even oddly upstage them, but the artists showed careful restraint and I love it.

The people who make great modern interpretations and remakes of older titles often say that they try to recreate not how the source material played, but how it made you feel when you played it. Similarly, this new version of FF Tactics doesn't look exactly like the original, but rather how I remember the original looking in my rapt, reverent mind. Very cool.

Currently playing:

• Hades
• Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
• Tears of the Kingdom (30% completed)
• Pikmin 1 (17/30 ship parts)

This week I played:

Borderlands the Handsome Collection (PS4): Got the last four trophies on Borderlands the Presequel.

Borderlands 3 (PS5): Played the Handsome Jackpot DLC, got the Shoe Money Tonight trophy, completed a few side missions, obtained one of the best Class mods for Zane (Seein' Dead), destroyed one Hot Sauce bottle and burned one Pretty Boy statue; Zane is already level 62.

Borderlands 4 (PS5): Reached Carcadia Burn, completed a couple of side missions, farmed Splashzone a few more times (that boss is really fragile and that's good); Vex is already level 27.

This weekend I will gave the Mahjogami Demo a try.

Happy Weekend & gaming everyone!!!

Recently restarted Smash Ultimate on the Switch 2 a few days ago, trying to 100% the Spirits now... and I forgot how awful farming Spirit Board was when trying to get the last 10 or so spirits left. Arcanine's Spirit was removed from the game I won't believe it hasn't shown up yet and is still coded in after buying 5 billion shuffle items.

Excited for this weekend. Finally bouncing around a few games for once. Tried this a while back with Blue Prince and Xenoblade Chronicles X….. and that was just pure folly. Both games owned all of my free time.

Putting in a few hours at a clip in Sonic Racing, Hades II(!!! So good!), Hyrule Warriors: AoC, Mario Galaxy 1&2, Puzzle Quest: Immortal, and Home Squeak Home

Another weekend of Yakuza 0!

114 stars into Galaxy 2 (handheld), going to do the last 6 and the Green Stars can wait......maybe

Gave up on Silksong after getting too frustrated. So I started up Super Mario Galaxy 2 and im also playing Dark Deity 2

@dartmonkey I bought a PS4 for cheap just to play The Last Guardian, after playing it and Spider-Man I sold it for more, so no loss there. But, as for the game, please, play it. It is very special game and whilst it has it's flaws, it sets out what it wanted to achieve and succeeds wonderfully and for me Tean Ico's best. It will always be a treasured experience.
I warn you though, you may fall in love with Trico.

Still have a lot on my mind, but I'm doing the best I can. Here's what I'm planning on playing...

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Still playing a little bit of this game each day. It's been a little while since I played Happy Home Paradise, so maybe I should come back to that. Really hope my Able Sisters shop will have the conductor hats... I do have two variants of it at least, and every variant of the outfit.

Tetris Effect: Connected - Another ritual event, and hopefully we'll get 100% of our goal this time.

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams - This is actually a really good platformer. Been playing it on GBA - Nintendo Classics, and I made a decent amount of progress in it. I think I finished the first three worlds.

I might play one or two other games besides these, but not sure what I'd want to pick yet. You all have a great weekend.

I'm back after spending last weekend on vacation with the Spearess. I spent a couple hours in Mr. Driller 2 on the GBA last night (not NSO). I improved my high scores on all three Endless difficulty settings.

On Civ VI, I'm about one-third through a run as Cleopatra leading Egypt. I'm just about fully settled and ready to start the push for a culture victory. The run as Joao III of Portugal ended in a glorious space-race victory last Friday night. Joao's trading empire let me buy my way past everyone else, and I actually would have had a culture victory if I'd chosen to play it out that way for another 10 turns or so.

Happy gaming, everyone!

I’ll definitely play more Silksong… I did “finish” the game, but I’m exploring a lot more to get into Act 3 and finding more bosses and stuff I missed. I’ll also try out the recent Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 rerelease on Steam.

Less than a month until Xillia arrives, and it's not even the only one bell tolling for the current roster of my installed Switch games as the shamelessly stuffed memory card continues to deal with new backlog recruit temptations (from the freshest picks like Dead Cells, Project Nimbus, Kingsgrave and Brotato to the less recent ones still warming the bench like Railgrade, Arcade Paradise and Time Loader... and Akiba's Trip U&U only skips this list for now because I'm still chugging through the first game) and a flow of updates for the mainstays like Azuma or Warframe. All of this, in turn, encourages allocating some of the hobby time to stuff like Little Noah, Layers of Fear 2 or Little Inferno that I could expect to put behind me and back on the figurative shelf comparatively soon, but it does look like I'll end up benching other playthroughs (or offloading them to Switch 2, likely at the cost of benching other already offloaded stuff like House of the Dead or Astria Ascending on the latter).

Is that the end of offtopic FWPs to bellyache here about? Well, this and belatedly finding that all three Red Colony titles DID go poof some fortnight ago despite the respective Delisted Games report having only seen the Steam announcement. NOW I can move on to the trademark gleeful gluttony of my general weekend hopes ranging from the frequented JRPG franchises like Xenoblade, Atelier, Tales, RF and Persona to various other hybrid-facilitated whims like Cyberpunk, NMS, Tallowmere 2, Danganronpa and My Hero One's Justice - plus the other portable possibilities like Horizon, Starbound, Gran Turismo(s), Luigi's Mansion or Endless Frontier.😄

Silksong has been the only the game I’ve been playing. This game is a marriage between beauty and brutal and fun and frustration and yet..I love it! I’m in Act 2 currently looking to track down 1 last food item (Courier’s Rasher) for the food snob of Pharloom. I just beat Lugoli…which was quite the challenge! I do have Hades 2 already downloaded but I’m gonna wait on that one until my Silksong addiction has subsided.

@GregamanX
Ah yes..The Last Judge. Probably the 1st wall I hit in the game. Don’t give up…the fight is a bit of a marathon, once u are familiar with their move set you can slow the fight down so to speak. Worst part about that fight was the traversal!…one of the more annoying bench placements in the game for sure. Best of luck to you!..if I’m not mistaken you are Canadian so “elbows up”!! 😆

On a side note it’s a bit sad watching Xbox self destruct its own brand. I do own a Series X but it’s looking like my last console I’m buying from Microsoft. Competition is a good thing but it’s clear there’s no more Big 3 in gaming. It looks like it’s down to just Sony and Nintendo now.

Happy Gaming everyone, enjoy this weekend like it’s your last!

@Segakid
And here I am loving it. The game is really fun and the missions are varied and crazy in the right way. I was just rescuing a helicopter from a big spider, using a bulldozer. Then I freed the helicopter from the spider's net. The last part was the most fun, because I was able to shoot down the big mother cockroach and its offspring. And all this, while listening to music, which you will not find in newer games anymore.

Edit: Whoops silly me, you were probably talking about Fantasy Life i. Yep, too much work with no real reward, like cool quests, cool places, just more work.

This weekend will be Final Fantasy Tactics Ivalice Chronicles and Mario Galaxy 1&2. Picked up both yesterday for my OG Switch.
Out of the backlog I might start 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim along with a bit of my SNES Mini to round off the evening.

playing galaxy on wii and holding up on the analog so much cramps my hands bad which Ive never heard brought up. meanwhile everyone complains about eye strain on virtual boy but Ive had zero problems. galaxy+2 on switch probably fixes this but I'll only buy to make a profit down the road (3d all stars has nearly doubled in price)

@JohnnyMind how are you actually playing 20 different games in one weekend?

@JohnnyMind Anytime I try juggling multiple games I end up dropping them all except the newest one. Cheers for being able to keep that many in your rotation

As for what I'm playing...

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
FFT has fully captured my attention. The music is stuck in my head at this point and I love it. I spend hours just unlocking new abilities for different jobs. The story is so engaging and the writing offers memorable line after memorable line.

I played Galaxy 2 a little bit when it arrived and I know I'll love getting back into it at some point... But after getting a couple stars, I jumped straight back to FFT and played that late into the night.

About 6 hours into Octopath Traveller II I think I will continue that this weekend!

Hollow Knight and Dead or Alive 2 (working my way through every DoA and Ninja Gaiden in preparation for NG4).
Dead or Alive is such a trip dude, it's been a long time since I've played it but I was quickly reminded why it's my favorite fighting game next to Soulcalibur.
Also getting into the Clock Tower series for Halloween.

@Vortexeo that game was a masterpiece and top 3 Switch games for me next to Breath of the Wild and Three Houses. Please report back somehow after with your reactions to some of the story lines and the battles and the MUSIC. Partitio's theme is my alarm clock/ringtone music, the soundtrack is phenomenal. Enjoy!!

I started a 100% playthrough of Tears of the Kingdom on Monday, and I've been mainly clearing out the depths and enjoying Master Kohga's Voice Memories in Zelda Notes (I'm still irritated they brought back Erik Braa for the app, but not the actual game...).

Well it would have been Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 - but Jeff the Tax Dodger decided to nobble my order yesterday, and conveniently hiked the price up when I tried again. AND back down afterwards.

He’s never that strapped for three quid, is he…?

I somehow find myself in a deluge of great games to play at the moment.

Final Fantasy Tactics Remastered - I played the original on PS1 when I was young but could never make it far. This time around I'm better understanding the nuance of the character customization and the job system. Holy hell, there are so many options and it's so deep! It's really addictive even if I've barely made a dent in the story. I just keep doing the random battles and leveling up jobs. It's fun.

Divinity: Original Sin 2. I had the CRPG itch and started this up. It's quite good! Really enjoying the story and the battles. I just made it to the point where I can escape Fort Joy but I am mopping up all the enemies and finishing the quests there.

Cyberpunk 2077. Actually it's been a couple weeks since I've played this, but I think I will come back to it. Enjoying it, but somehow I find that AAA games like this with zillions of lines of spoken dialogue tire me out quickly and I want to return to something snappier.

Hollow Knight: Silksong. Man, this game is good. It's just so beautiful to look at and feels great to play. I'm nearly to the end of Act 2, I think. I spent way too long on a certain battle arena only to find out it has seemingly infinite waves.

Super Mario Galaxy. This is one of my favorite games of all time so of course I had to pick it up. This and SMG2 always blend together in my mind because I originally played them back-to-back like one very long game. I'm finding picking up the star bits a little bit tedious with the touch controls. It's decent, but not as seemless as it was with the Wiimote. I kinda have to stop what I'm doing for a sec to use the touch screen and I find the motion controls for it to work poorly. But anyway, there's almost nothing as joyous in all of video games as launching yourself into orbit around one of the tiny planets.

I’m playing Ghost of Yōtei. For the hours I’ve put in so far, what impresses me the most is how each thing you do feels personal, but purposeful. Similar to the first game, you’ll discover bamboo strikes, hot springs to reflect, endearing NPCs, side quests, and bounties—it all feels connected because everything in Japanese culture is intertwined with the human spirit. How Sucker Punch managed to capture that essence in video game form is nothing short of incredible.

In addition to how the game feels personal, Yotei also provides a great lesson in how we take for granted the little things in life that make this world churn. And despite its inherently violent nature narratively, it is a deeply calming game that teaches patience, humility, and compassion to people, animals, and the environment. It is a reminder to be content with the basic essentials to survive as a human being.

On the gameplay side of things, it’s more Tsushima, but with a larger variety of weapons and tools at your disposal. Every weapon feels unique in its structure and satisfying to master. There is a level of strategy involved when encountering foes with different weapons. You may be able to hack-n-slash enemies by brute force, mashing the same button relentlessly, but it’s not an optimal experience. You’re encouraged to spice things up in the fly. It’s a system that offers a lot of depth, although stealth almost seems like a tacked on mechanic similar to its predecessor.

As for exploration, I think this may be Sucker Punch’s finest work to date. It flawlessly manages to be an open world that feels alive, and full of organic encounters. It reminds me a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2; one moment you’re cooking food by the campfire, the next there may be a wanderer stopping to rest, sharing their story that could lead to new clues for something to explore. This culminates into an open world where side activities feel as interval as its main narrative because you are rewarding with beneficial upgrades. It’s a very fun gameplay loop that is consistently compelling.

All of this would be meaningless if the story wasn’t engaging; thankfully, that’s not the case. While it may feature your typical (revenge) tropes, they are handled with precision and care. I love how the narrative is drip fed through flashbacks and current time simultaneously, and you piece the past together bit by bit as you traverse the world. What may feel like riding to point A-to-B may turn into an introspection on why and how you are where you are. Again, it harkens back to that organic nature of discovery.

I’ve yet to touch on other points that make Yotei standout, particularly with its cinematic fight scenes, the music that encapsulates your every moment, customization to fit your play-style, and graphics that are some of the very best I’ve seen. There is such a wide array of positives that wash out the negatives. I really can’t get enough of this game, and funnily enough it has given me an unexpected sense of purpose, like a ghost in the dark.

SMG off 3D all stars, not paying £50 just for the sequel!

It's always Balatro.

im about to face king k krool on bananza and honestly this is my goty choice.

Dragon Quest XI S continues. I’m well into Act 2, and it just keeps giving me good feelings. What a game. Just a shame the play time I manage to squeeze out isn’t enough for the big ones.

Then there’s DQ III HD waiting for me, and I+II.

Also trying to get some time with Silent Hill F, given the season. So far, it’s great.

Good morning.
This weekend I played Wii U and PS5 games. 😊

1. Animal Crossing : Amiibo Festival Wii U

I have unlocked Advanced Maps and have finished the first Advanced Map in Amiibo Festival from Desert Island Escape minigame. I think I can make my own style of Desert Island Escape as my own board game.

2. BRATZ: RHYTHM & STYLE PS5

I have finished the game just now.
It was pretty short game, I could finished the game within 4 - 5 hours.
The game was pretty decent with very standard world exploration in limited area + locked camera angle.
The Rhythm style game was consist 3 different style Rhythm games.
The first is Catwalk session.
You have to press the D-Pad button scheme finished with action command during the catwalk session.
Iit seems you have to input the Street Fighter style special attack command by following the music LOL.
The second is Pose challenge by pressing the Action command buttons that coming from four different direction like the first American Idol gameplay style on PS2.
The third is DDR style Rhythm game with songs from BRATZ and the scroll is Reversed which means the fallen star shaped arrows came from up to bottom.
The fashion style you wear in this BRATZ game just only for dress code purpose to participate in Pose Duel and the DDR style Rhythm game.

Bit of Mario Kart World and back into Fire Emblem Engage for me. Dropped off Silksong. Just waiting for the inevitable masterpiece Prime 4 now!

Oh and a bit of Ori and the will of the wisps too as it was on sale. Loving it!

galaxy 2 is what i'm playing. first time.

Well, I just got my gaming laptop out of the pawn shop. Lol. Been tough times. So I got that and my Switch.

Never got into Hades early on, but finally put a gave it a go at the $6 sale price. Wow, just wow. Addicted. Can't wait to hop in Hades 2, but I want to play the first one until I get all the endings.

On PC, playing Gears of War: Reloaded. Beat it the first time and the first remake, but the game is awesome, so here we go again. Also, still need to finish Avowed. Totally underated game. The combat of both magic and melee is some of the best I have ever seen in a game of this type.

Then there is always Balatro on my phone, when I'm not on a system. Never gets old, as I like to play real poker at the casinos, in my spare time.

@Zuljaras Yes, Faxanadu! Kudos!

I just played the Mojogami demo. I'm usually team "All Inti-Creates!", but there's a couple of games lately where I've been "eh", but this one actually was pretty entertaining to me, so I'll scope the full game out. I beat Berserk Boy last night... Good indy game, well worth my time. I'm on to focus on Lords of Exile this weekend. I've been dabbling in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lately, just for fun... I missed the boat, so I'm just enjoying the spirit of it until the next inevitable iteration. I might slide in a little Rocket League. And the real one I need to get back to is Chrono Cross-- I need to see this through to the end.

As always it will be Vroom in the Night Sky for me!

The greatest game ever made!

A new one I'm enjoying is the demo for Under The Crown. These new chess games that are kinda like Balatro are really fun to me. I also like Passant and another good one whose name I can't remember right now.
Oh, I'm also playing a fangame that I saw on youtube. People were making fun of how bad the person was who played it, but I understood once I started playing myself. Really weird physics. Anyways, it's still interesting and fun to mess with even though it doesn't want to run smoothly at 90fps (or any other frame rate I set it at).
Also enjoying the Jumping Flash mod for GZDoom, wipeout phantom edition, 55 or 60 mods I've gotten working smoothly, and I'm also marveling at how fun and joyful all these character and resource packs are that I'm experimenting with.
Oh, a very cool thing I just found out about is that Utopia Must Fall is getting updated. I switched to the beta channel so I can use the new features, and yeah, it's awesome! They've drastically improved performance, added good controls on Deck, and improved tons of stuff. It's way better now than when I first started playing it a year or so ago (and it was great then!).
And Rocket League, I'm playing too much of it!
Happy gaming, and take care! And don't tempt fate, save your state!

@XE77 amazing you can have fun with the game still, without DLC it got old faster then Mario kart 8 even did. I got bored only after a week.

Galaxy 2 mostly, need to get back to Silent Hill F. Wondering about picking up Urban Myth Dissolution Center.

I overprepared for the final final boss of Trails into Reverie and completely rolled it with the power of friendship and an avalanche of S-crafts. It was a great ride but it's good to wrap up Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs, having just revealed all that [erratically waving hand at spoilers within spoilers].

I also finally had the moment in Silksong in which I really went in deep, after my first battle with Lace. I knew Hornet was more agile, but that was the first time the game really forced me to play fast, and then I truly appreciated what Team Cherry has been polishing. Kind of like Hornet herself in the previous game, the skill checks are there to teach you something, not just to bludgeon you, and I really love when good game design naturally walks you into that.

Happy gaming everyone!

@DominionGamma

It's a you problem.

@XE77 na it’s not, it’s a flawed game, a downgrade from 8

Final Fantasy Tactics and Trails in the Sky for me this weekend. I’m having a blast with Tactics, it’s crazy it’s taken me so long to give it a shot, it’s awesome.

Mad respect to the 2 of you playing N64 Wave Race!

(I'm all over Hades 2 this weekend, though.)

Switch 2 - Super Mario Galaxy 2. One of my favorite video games of all-time, very happy to be able to play it on a modern system.

Almost absolutely nothing, as fate would have it! I was away, and decided to bring a book (House of Chains by Steven Erikson) instead of a gaming console.
I might still have some time to sneak out some Expedition 33 or Baldur's Gate 3, but that remains to be seen.

@kmtrain83 ...I like this weekly poll, due to the variety and overall positive attitude compared to the other articles

I'm so with you on this. I've noticed lately this site has been sneaking in more bait and/or framing articles in a way to 'wack the beehive'. There's nothing wrong about constructive criticism and/or reporting on relevant information on a subject, but it's being done in a way to make sure to 'poke the bear' in the slightest way. If you know, you know. Sad.

@Ganner I’m looking at picking back up snow runner myself, it’s been months. I remember you had been playing Ace Combat 7, did you complete it? I started playing on it this weekend but I’m on a pretty frustrating mission right now.

@TYRANACLES Yeah, I beat Ace Combat 7 earlier this year. Really LOVED that game. For me the learning curb and getting to grips with everything took more time than I thought. While it's not a full on simulator, it's not a Star Fox style game by a long shot. Once it all "clicked" for me (and unlocking better planes/gear), I was rolling. There are some missions that whooped my @ss but I enjoyed the hustle & challenge of figuring out the mission strategy. Added to that "Top Gun" style atmosphere. I think maybe one or two I had to give in to online guides to figure out the best strategy but that was after too many tries.

Ghost Of Yotei

@Ganner yeah the Top Gun dlc totally works for this. I actually found myself humming Danger Zone a few times I was rolling and weaving through the sky dodging rockets. Its a terrific flight sim, I’d love to play it with a flight controller.