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It's been another interesting week in this Nintendo Life, culminating in a rather big release. Yes, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is out and is causing plenty of excitement; we enjoyed it a lot in our review. Though there were a good number of game announcements - particularly for the eShop - and it was also a week full of fun stories. An old translated interview taught us that Shigeru Miyamoto doesn't much like Navi, someone went to extreme lengths to get an 'impossible' arrow in BoTW, and someone played GTA on a Game Boy.

After all of that delightful gaming silliness it's time to chill out and discuss our weekend gaming plans. A few members of the Nintendo Life team have done just that below, so feel free to give our entries a read and then join in with your own via our comment section. Enjoy!

Tom Whitehead, deputy editor

I'm playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus like everyone else and their mums, which is accurate in my case as my mum is playing it. I'm visiting my folks this weekend and have absolutely no doubt that she'll be further than me in the game, better at it, and dispensing wisdom and tips. I'll be grateful for the advice, frankly.

Like my mum it's my first Pokémon game, I'm taking the plunge because of its 'adventure' approach and the fact it's a prequel / origin game; I can't imagine a better jumping in point. I've played for a couple of hours so far and have to say I'm utterly charmed and constantly want to play more. People can go on about technical performance, which is perfectly valid, but I'm having a fun time with the game.

Elsewhere I've just about finished Rise of the Tomb Raider, which has been a good bit of gaming nonsense. Next I'll jump into Hitman 1 (which I've never played) through Hitman Trilogy, which is actually just Hitman 3 with seasonal 'packs' unlocked. It's a bit confusing but, whatever, it looks like a hoot.

Kate Gray, staff writer

Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer

Moving onto The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and SoulCalibur II on GameCube. I’m also back to my Front Mission campaign on SNES while also discovering a strange new longing for the Sega Dreamcast and its numerous “arcade at home” games.

Game of the week is unsurprisingly Pokémon Legends: Arceus. By now you all know I’ve never been into this franchise, but everyone swears this is the game they all dreamed of as kids while playing on the Game Boy, so I’m hopping into it.

Ollie Reynolds, reviewer

Hey folks! No Pokémon for me this weekend, as I'm still trying to decide whether or not I actually want to buy it. The reviews certainly look very promising and it's been a good while since I've truly enjoyed a Pokémon game, so who knows, maybe I'll have it by next weekend.

Elsewhere, I've restarted Bayonetta, with a view to move onto the sequel as soon as I'm done. I'd like to catch up with the series again before the inevitable launch of the third game this year (I hope..!), but I want to get them out of the way now so I don't feel burnt out.

Jon Cartwright, video producer

Am I the only one who said Pokémon Legends? I imagine I was. I'm playing Pokémon Legends! As someone who's never missed out on a mainline Pokémon game, I've been a bit bored. It's felt like an obligation to keep up with the series and while I always enjoy it, it's been eons since I've been blown away... and I think they've finally done it. Legends clearly has technical shortcomings but in terms of raw gameplay this is some of the most fun I've ever had with Pokémon and I'm only a few hours in.

I hope to dedicate a good amount of time to Pokémon this weekend but I've also been juggling my way through Horizon Zero Dawn. It unfortunately launched a week before Breath of the Wild which altered my perception of every open world game and made me drop my original playthrough. 5 years later and I'm giving Horizon another chance. It's good! Doesn't do much I haven't seen before but the combat still manages to elevate everything else. Hoping to get caught up before Forbidden West launches.

PJ O'Reilly, reviewer / news writer

This weekend I too shall be indulging in the poking of the ‘mon, along with pretty much everyone else, I’m assuming. However, I’ve also made the terrible mistake of picking up Dungeon Encounters in the past few days and I can already see that it’s going to suck away quite a lot – if not all – of my free time, so Pikachu and their pesky pals may not get quite as big a look-in this weekend as I was expecting they might.

Have a great weekend whatever you’re up to or playing!

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend gaming plans!