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

Skullgirls 2nd Encore– completed Parasoul's Story Mode. She's a great character, imo. It took me 2 tries to beat Marie, lol.
The Last Blade 2 – tried to beat the game as Yuki, but... Have forgotten to change the game's difficulty level. Stuck on the 6th fight and left the game...
Persona4 The ULTIMAX ULTRA SUPLEX HOLD – completed Course B in Score Attack mode on the easiest difficulty level as Marie on rank A.
Well, that's all what I've played on this week. Have a nice gaming week, everyone.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA) - Playing a quick run on 50CC.

Contre Jour (Windows Phone) - Finishing this up this weekend.

Working through Sea of Stars. Really enjoying it, though it’s getting fairly punishing at the point I’m at where the damage is pretty substantial if you don’t manage to block certain attacks.

Also started Wonderful 101 Remastered again. I’ve tried this game on and off since the Wii U release and have never got more than a couple of hours in, I really love the aesthetic and I do enjoy the gameplay but for some reason it never quite grabs me fully. Hoping this time I’ll properly get into it

Just finished Lies of P. Very good yet frustrating game as a huge Fromsoftware fan. Probably wouldn't have finished if it wasn't for the patch. Now I've started Sea of Stars and so far its awesome, JRPG bliss!

I'm currently playing on Switch.

GTA - San Andreas

F-Zero 99

I’ve just finished AI Somnium Files nirvanA Initiative.
For the rest of the weekend it will be Splatoon 2 single player. Probably I will mix in some Diablo II, Theatrhythm and AA: Spirit of Justice.

Probably get back to Wind Waker, might take a side detour into Amazing Mirror or Super Paper Mario.

Today I played PS4 games. 😊
1. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
2. Team Sonic Racing

Ploughing through the last 2 chapters of RE4 Remake on XSS. I wasn't enjoying the opening chapters much, tbh, but the middle parts were more interesting. The over-the-top action set pieces at the end bring it down again, so I'll be glad when it's over.

Next weekend, I'll be playing on the SNES Mini. Bought that years ago and didn't get round to it. N64 was my first Nintendo console, so SNES era games are all-new to me.

I finished Octopath Traveller at last. Couldn’t be bothered with the ‘true ending’ quest so just watched that on YouTube.

Finally got the online expansion pack, since cdkeys had a good deal plus the bonus gold points at the moment, meaning that upgrading from regular family pass to expansion pack family pass has ended up costing me barely any more than just letting it auto renew.

So I’m dabbling in N64 and mega drive games this weekend. Wave Race 64 is the highlight, bringing the nostalgia. Plus some f zero 99.

Yesterday I finished Blasphemous 2 (true ending) and today I'm not sure what I'm gonna play. 13 sentinels, McPixel 3, Baten Kaitos and finishing Sundered are in the cards.

I started the new Sonic Frontiers story that came out yesterday but the platforming at certain points so far have been brutal difficulty to the point of not fun at all. I did notice my game was on hard mode so I'll try turning that down but I doubt it makes a difference to the platforming.

In the outcome progress remains non-existent, I'll ditch Sonic Frontiers and start Pikmin 2 among with playing some more MK8 Deluxe.

I've had a bit of a rough week, so I haven't really been able to sit down to play my Switch, but today I finally get to breathe a little bit, so it's back to Xenoblade Chronicles for me!

I want to start Skyward Sword again… feeling tempted..

Is it just me, or each weekend does it always feel like the @NintendoLife staff don’t actually play much Nintendo? Had to do an airport run early this morning for my cousin, so as I’ve been up for hours already, I’ve already got the Xenoblade theme in Tetris 99. I’ll be playing some more F-Zero 99 too and I’ve just reached Level 100 in Pikmin Bloom! Seems that’s the pinnacle, as there’s no ‘Next Steps…’ to level up any further! Have a great weekend all.

Anyone else remember the early days of Switch when this was the only article posted on Nintendo Life over the whole weekend? The last 6 years have been a blast!

Will try and play more DREDGE (on Steam) today and/or tomorrow, if it's not for my current addiction to Jupiter's latest Picross entry, Logiart Grimoire, on Steam. Seriously, who can't say no to an adorable wizard?

Stay safe and have a great weekend everyone!

This week I decided to continue my adventure in Tears Of The Kingdom. I can not believe how great this game is. Even after doing everything in Breath Of The Wild and over 200 hours of Tears Of The Kingdom, I still have moments, where I fall in love with this game.

I can not believe, that I thought, I could be dissapointed with it. It is incredible what the Zelda team accomplished. Also incredible is how they managed to give the world a fresh feeling.

Happy gaming everyone!

Pretty much the same as last week for me. I'll be playing more Shin Megami Tensei V. I put in 11 hours last weekend from Thurs to Sun, but I haven't played it all week. I'll have the house to myself for 4 to 6 hours, so I plan to put in a good chunk of time into the game today. I may also try booting up F-Zero 99. I never got the chance last weekend, but if SMTV gets its hooks in me deep, it may just have to wait some more.

I’ve gone back to Etrian Odyssey Untold, the first one, and it’s still great. Just about to enter the third stratum (if that means anything to anyone). They did a good job of adding story and characters for a little more flavour to what is already a really good dungeon RPG.

I simply have to finish tales of vesparia this weekend. I'm liking but not loving it, but after 68hrs I can't not see the credits. May have to drop the difficulty as I've been parked on my arse in the back end of the last two boss battles at the tower of tarquaron and I don't really enjoy the combat too much.

I’m finally! For real this time finishing xenoblade one! Then I’m doing torna right after! And after that I will collect all of 2’s blades!

And I’m doing my first playthrough of ace attorney! I freaking love this game! And it’s just the first one! I now see what all the fuss was about.

Sea of stars for me! If I finish it on time I'll continue with ender lilies, that game is BEAUTIFUL. Happy gaming everyone!

I was going to be playing Minecraft to move my items from the old map of an online server I play on (for those wondering, Vox Populi, the server that famous YouTuber Markiplier played on in his Drunk Minecraft series) to a new map.

However, due to some major issues with the server (which has only been up for less than a year) after the latest update to Minecraft, causing the server to crash, it has been decided to shut down the server entirely, plus the old and new maps.

However, in a few months, a new server will go live, with minimal plugins, a major part of why the current server crashed (since many of those plugins were compatible with older versions of Minecraft, not the latest version).

In the interim, a vanilla map will go live, but all player data will be wiped (a first for the Vox Populi server, but probably inevitable, since it it was also part of why the current server crashed in the first place after the update to Minecraft). Thus, there's no point in moving stuff over from the old map to the one that went live last weekend, since it will all be gone in a couple of weeks.

Therefore, I am going to spend this weekend getting caught up with the latest Archon Quest in Genshin Impact. The story in Fontaine is getting pretty interesting.

This week I will be mostly playing

Tears of the Kingdom
Legendary Starfy
Resident Evil 2

Mario advance super mario bros 3 (for the Reader levels) and mario maker 2

Got burned a lot on Switch with Faefarm, Mineko's Night garden and monster crown dissapointing me. So I'm going to cry into pokemon emerald trashlocke to soothe the pain until I have faith to start something else on Switch.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
Spider-Man (PS4) and
Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Happy Gaming!😃

I beat TOEM and Ace Attorney: Justice for All last week and I’m currently playing Solar Ash and Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations.

With spooky month starting tomorrow I’m gonna play spooky games all month. My plan is to beat Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, House of the Dead: Overkill, Until Dawn and Luigi’s Mansion 3 amongst other games.
Very maybe I’ll try Silent Hill 2 but that game is too spooky for me.

I saw my boy The Defect on the article image and came running in. I'm STILL playing Slay the Spire, despite finally getting 100%, and beating the 20th Ascension with each main character (sorry, Watcher, but you don't count)

With nothing left to accomplish in the game, I put it down for quite a while before being drawn back in and deciding I'll try to beat the 20th Ascension WITH the 3 keys to fight the heart at the end. SURELY this will help my squeeze several more hours of playtime out if this game.

Also, F-Zero 99 and TotK

After playing RE4 remake and its Ada DLC intensively for 14 days, I decided to continue with my Veteran "clean sheet" (starting with absolutely nothing) run in RE5 a couple of days ago.

Unfortunately the game's save system is not that user friendly (only one single save file) and I managed to f*** up and had to start all over again, as I managed to quit the game (and save the inventory stats) at a certain boss fight after having used a large portion of my hard earned grenade launcher ammo.

But it's ok. Once again the game has surprised me with how great an action game it really is, despite its flaws (Sheva's AI isn't always as good as it could have been for example - she even has a habit of shooting you in the back sometimes).

So I'll probably continue playing that later today and see if I can finally get through a "clean sheet" Veteran run.

Im giving YX 9 another shot. Its barely worth playing on the switch, but I love the series, so Ill push through the lag and bad graphics.

@GregamanX SMTV it’s a masterpiece. I am a big persona fan and never played SMT until V , now I love that franchise more that the spin off (Controversial opinion but to me SMT it’s like persona without the fat , don’t care about social links) anyways Im still playing Master Detective archives (really enjoying it) and Kirby planet Robobot. Gave up on getting the platinum trophy on FFXVI , im just two trophies away, but I will give it a rest and unlock them in a future.

Rune Factory 5 and Octopath Traveller again for me. I'm sort of getting into Octopath, although the length between a single character's chapter is a bit much. Very fun to grind in it though. I also downloaded the Star Ocean: The Divine Force demo on the XBox and am loving it so far. Pity I didn't realise the sale for it ended the day I downloaded the demo!

Late last week I was visiting my father's and in there I decided to play a little bit of Final Fantasy 4, which really did get me in the mood for some final fantasy.

But unlike a normal person I decided that instead of one of the classics I'd try out Final Fantasy Blackmoon Prophecy a final fantasy fangame made in 2000s on RPG Maker 2003 by some rando using assets from the SNES final fantasies (4 most prominently), someone on the internet told me that this is the best Final Fantasy fangame, donno if there is any stock to that.

It's a little bit jank because of the (old) RPG Maker engine and the story is about what you'd expect from a fangame, bit of a mess with tons of new forgettable characters that get added at every turn and a simple plot that overexplains everything, but I do find that there is a degree of sincerity to all of it at least and the gameplay's been remarkably well paced roughly 8 hours in.

The dev clearly loves dungeons, dragoons and invisible walls.

I guess I’m the only one showing Fate/Samurai Remnant some love.

FC 24. Man am I rusty at this game. Lots of practice required before I take on people online.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Black Eagles.

Just bought shovel knight dig and eastward on eshop, will play those 2 games tonight 😃

And I've been playing all sort of classic games on my analogue pocket this 2 weeks, man this thing is great, I remember why I really like my gba sp back then.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Didn't have much time to play it for the past week or so but I'm now back to it. I'm about halfway through it. The story is interesting but I don't really want to go in detail. Just play the game yourself.

As for the strategy portion, I have it on harder difficulty and got S ranks and all extra tasks on first try for the first set of stages after the tutorial missions, except for one early mission where I was still getting used to the gameplay and got B, but the second set of stages ramped up the difficulty and now I'm getting mostly B ranks. A welcome change.

F-Zero 99
Had a quick go at 3 of the new stages yesterday. Trying out the new Grand Prix today. Maybe I'll finally get first place in something other than Team Battle.

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
I want to play this later with my family but for now, I decided to play it alone on a whim. Started earlier today, I'm at 6/8 mirror shards now. Might finish it later today. The game's pretty short when you know what you're doing. This is probably my 5th or 6th playthrough. It's a lovely game.

More Tears. Got all the lightroots and all the shrines, I think I need to make up a few meals and get some more slots before finally facing Ganondorf...it's only taken me since launch day minus a couple of weeks off. Yet there's still so much more to do!

A good portion of this weekend will be dedicated to Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, via Nintendo Switch Online. Speaking of NSO, Eastward is the current game trial, so I’ll be playing that as well. I might also try and squeeze in My Hero Academia: Ultra Rumble, if for nothing else than to try it out.

Got the Xenoblade theme on Tetris 99, tried the new tracks on F-Zero 99. Planning to go back to GTAV, as it's been part of my backlog for too long and I'm finally nearly at the end of it. I really enjoy playing it, but as it's very much not a game I can play with the family coupled with work pressures it's been difficult to find decent chunks of time to really get into it in long sessions.

I’ve been playing f-zero 99 a lot really got into it although I’m not the best I have been slowly climbing up the ranks. Bought ACA Pulstar in the sale keep buying Neo Geo games since I got my 8bitdo Neo Geo controller gives the games an authentic feel to them

COCOON!!

Awesome game by the lead gameplay designer behind Limbo & Inside. It has beautiful environments and really well designed puzzles.

This weekend's stars have somehow aligned to leave me with one gaming machine out of the usual seven or eight to juggle... but this machine is Switch so I suppose I can still TRY to entertain myself with the 350+ titles on board.😅 Aforesaid number includes a couple newbies like Tangle Tower and My Hero Ultra Rumble (battle royales are fleeting guests in my Switch storage, but at 3 Gb and for Ochako's sake I can at least give it a roll until I'm bored of sitting through matchmaking routines yet again), but you can bet there are way more plans beyond that, ranging from the familiar stuff like Xenoblade trio, Portia, RF5, Borderlands 2 and Terraria to other itches in need of scratching like Undermine, Yonder, King of Seas, TMS and Vostok Inc.

still playing ACNH. started a Halloween spooky forest theme island so I will be working on that. Might even get into some Violet so I can do the Clefairy outbreaks to try and get a shiny. Also might try some of the demos I downloaded like Silent Hope, new DQ game and Star Ocean Second Story R.

Ridge Racer DS on the Nintendo DS. Don't let him get away!

Just got Tears of the Kingdom earlier this week! I’m gonna head to Rito village first, then do some general exploring.

I’m also checking out the new update for Sonic Frontiers. I was able to get the spin dash before I started, and MAN it makes the game so much more fun!

Wrapping up my second playthrough of luigi's mansion 3

I’m currently having a 30-day detox from the eShop because for reasons best known to no bugger, Nintendo blocked both my debit card AND PayPal account. They say I should be able to use it again from the 10th - because they don’t seem to have a clue why it’s happened either.

So I’m gonna have a plonk about in Speedstorm, see if it’s any good now it’s free.

On PS5 theres a lot for me to do this weekend, i will be continuing with 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim which is good so far but I'm still confused as its keeps skipping parts, I will also be continuing with Monochrome Mobius, currently 22 hours in and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes turn based JRPG's. I have downlaoded the Foamstars Demo which I can't wait to start later, I've also downlaoded and played a few matchea of My Hero Academia Rumble which is ok but I absolutely get destroyed every game so I may give up on that one. Finally I shoukd be getting my copy of Fate Samurai/Remnant today so I will save that for tomorrow and have a long session on that, reviews have been solid so far which make me more hyped to play it.

On Switch, it's just the Pokémon Violet DLC for me this weekend, I mainly waiting for Silent Hope and Detective Pikachu 2 next week.

After finishing Resident Evil 4 Remake, and having a great time with that one, I have now moved on to playing Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 5. I also have never played that game either, so both remake experiences were/are brand new experiences I have not played before, and a true joy. Honestly, at this point, I do not know which one I like more. They have both been friggin fantastic so far. I guess I will have to see when the credits roll which remake I liked the most. Hopefully everyone else has a great weekend.

Just got out of the hospital and have a weekend of bed rest.

Tony Hawk 1+2
Sea of Stars
Piffle
MLB The Show 23
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered

Starfield has my time until Mario RPG

Continuing my first play through of Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. And while it’s fun, I probably should have played this game much sooner or at least before Odyssey.

Loving Sunmum Aeterna so I started Aeterna Noctis last night lol. Really digging the gameplay in both, and didn't really see that coming. Started Ender Lillies too.

@Desrever I got pretty excited for a minute hoping I missed the news on a DLC drop.

Sorry switch, but this week I'm continuing my play through of Octopath Traveler 2 on steam and dealing headfirst into whatever jp 2nd Anni content pjsk pulls out.

I actually haven’t played Street Fighter 6 in a few good weeks so I want to get back on that. Still playing Monster World 4 on the Genesis Mini and I’m halfway done with Danganronpa on the Switch.

Gonna explore more Hyrule in TOTK this week. I just got it, and thirty hours in-it’s just beautiful. Also I’ve been debating between getting Portal: The Companion Collection but I’m not sure

Work has been so hectic this week. When I finally hit the couch at night I don’t have the energy to seek out game cartridges, so I’ll just play 5 min of Darius (currently bargain-priced in a rare Arcade Archives sale in NA!), Frogger, F-Zero 99, or Vampire Survivors before I zonk off to sleep.

I’ve got a little more time to play this weekend, but I’m not sure if I’ll stick with arcade experiences on Switch and Egret, or maybe go back to Zelda TOTK. Guilt is building for leaving Link to wander the chasms without me like 3 months ago. 😅

Wishing everyone a fun weekend! 🕹👾

Playing Cocoon on PC for the framerate and sharp visuals. Fun and trippy so far.

Just finished Phantom Brave and I have no idea what to do now

Have a great weekend everyone!

Am I right in thinking this week's Arcade Archives title skipped Europe?

If so, I'll be getting my kicks from Alien Syndrome on the Astro City mini, Rush Rally 3 on Switch and dabbling with Starfield. I definitely find I enjoy Starfield more if I only play in shorter bursts.

i just finished the Nintendo DS version of Another Code, but because I didn't click on some specific things, one of the plot threads wasn't wrapped up in a satisfying way. I don't know if I will feel like replaying it with a walkthrough so I can make sure I don't miss anything and can get the best ending. Maybe it will happen.

If that doesn't happen, then I guess next on my "to play" list is... I dunno. Maybe Ys IX?

@Jigglypuff439 You should definitely be getting Portal as well! Amazing games and if you are enjoying solving shrines in Tears at all, this should be right up your alley.

Beat Super Mario Odyssey(God tier platformer) in preparations for Super Mario Wonder, which I'm really hyped for.

I'm between games right now, cos I don't want to get too involved with anything before Wonder comes out, however Persona 4 Golden is calling my name something fierce, haha.

Cocoon and Link’s Awakening.

I picked up Symphonia on switch after hearing about the 1.3 patch, also got the Pokemon DLC despite wanting to wait until part 2 was out. Enjoying both so far I'm really glad bandai didn't abandon the Symphonia port. Also playing through the Sonic Frontiers Final Horizons update.

Some Luigis Mansion 3 and Tetris99 for me this weekend … But also excited to try out COCOON and Faerie Afterlight today or tomorrow. Happy gaming!

Had little time for gaming in the week, so still playing Doom Eternal on Switch, might also get back to No Man's Sky after the recent updates.

Not much time to game lately, but I have been continuing to jump on on Vampire Survivors. Cheers!

I did my part in Tetris 99, absolutely love the music of XC3, especially the guitars that sound like they're really pissed off. Together with the lovely strings/horns arrangements, it sounds really nice. XC is not my kind of games unfortunately.

I'm also maxing out all of the guys in survival mode in Shredder's Revenge. Really cool addition to a really fun game.

Happy gaming happy gamers!

Beat Neon White and got the true ending. Real cool game and the dialogue didn’t bother me as much as some others. Actually got pretty hooked on the story more than the speedrunning aspect.

I’m planning on some Lies of P thereafter.

Steam:

• Vampire Survivors (179/190 achievements)
• The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt (at the beginning, 1/78 achievements)

Switch

• Warioware Get it Together

Mostly just starfield and SotN on xbox as I finished Underdungeon on switch a few days ago.

@Bucket
Yeah, it looks like Hamster skipped NA, too, for this week’s release of Finest Hour. Which is a bummer, because it’s a great-looking Gundam-like run ‘n gun that I’ve wanted to try for years.
I may just buy it from the Japanese e-shop, since I still have a little credit there.

Maybe the Western release is just delayed, though? A copyright conflict or something? Has Hamster had to delay or alter releases like this in the past, I wonder?

Zelda and Starfield mostly

@Teksetter they announced Trio the Punch as an 'upcoming release' in 2020 and it didn't come out until may 2022. Not sure if that was ever explained or counts

Distractions, distractions is the word this weekend as it's been all week for me. The feature will be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but F-Zero 99, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and the Eastward trial are all threatening that playtime. Please Nintendo, give me a moment!

@CammyUnofficial @Teksetter I guess the streak for Hamster releases is finally over.

Return of the Obra Dinn
It's a must play for people who want to play unique games and like puzzles

I’m playing Metroid Prime Remastered! I was worried whether I’d like it or not when I bought it but I’m loving it so far. It doesn’t even look like a Gamecube game, if you told me this was a current gen game and I didn’t know anything about Metroid beforehand I would believe you. The gameplay also holds up really well. I’ve died in a lot of silly ways such as getting the morph ball stuck in lava but I’m getting better at it and the upgrades help too. I’m only about 5 hours in but I can’t wait to play more!

I just bought Theatrhythm last week so I might play more of that. It's pretty funny I never thought I would enjoy rhythm games but I found myself really liking this one.

If time permits I'll also continue playing Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I've been playing Dredge and the Resident Evil 4 DLC but I've finished those now so I'll probably get back on Tears of the Kingdom. I've been exploring every region and doing all the sidequests as I go so I've only just made it to Gerudo Town and still have Zora's Domain to go after that. I see by the results it's still the one most people are playing so I'm obviously not alone!

For this weekend I am going to try finish Chaos;Head Noah. I only need two more endings. It’s been awesome but I been way too busy with other stuff. And same with Sea of Stars which is great but I been to busy too. But I have time this weekend so I should be able to finish those. It will be a good gaming weekend. Happy gaming.

Continuing Sea of Stars, but just a couple of checkpoints. Working the rest of the time.

Second week on the Tears of the Kingdom quest, realizing the game is worth every bit of hype it gets. I'm bouncing around from things over the next hill, in that next chasm, taking quests, and just getting lost in an ADHD kid's playground.

Side pitch, my daughter just got thru Harvestella, which got mixed reviews but if you're into farm Sims and ARPGs (which she very much is) it delivers on exactly what it says it is.

I'll be playing more Wartales on Switch. Fantastic game, except for the fact that it crashes 1-2x an hour...

That may be it for me this weekend. I'm away house-sitting, so no local MP. I played ran some raids with my friends on Pokemon Scarlet/Violet last night, and might pop onto F-Zero 99 to check out the new maps, but otherwise I might open a book to pass the time.

No gaming for me this week-end and not the next one either. It's going to be work work work. If I don't f this up I'll get more down time afterwards so I need to hold on to that perspective and not think of my switch too much for a couple weeks. I can do it! Probably. Hopefully I will.

I'll manage to play an hour of Baten Kaitos HD remaster before bed I'm sure but not much more.

2 Temples, 81 shrines, 6 tears, 316 koroks… i’ve got a ways to go.
Did play a little Ultimate Chicken Horse though!

I don't know yet.... Right now I'm addicted to Meta AI's Dungeon Master chat in FB Messenger.... The time of us being able to talk directly to NPCs and ask any question is upon us... and it terrifies me.

Grisaia: Phantom Trigger 7, Amid Evil and Soul Hackers 2 are what I'm putting most of my attention into currently.

@Themagusx1 The true ending makes it totally worth it.

I've got a lot of games on my plate that all released within the past week or so. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Ty 4, Disney Speedstorm, Avatar: Quest for Balance... Hoping to beat at least one of them this weekend, if not a couple. They're all relatively short games, except for Disney Speedstorm, which doesn't exactly have an "end."

@CammyUnofficial
Yikes, 2 years is quite a gap! I never realized. I saw Trio listed but it looks so out there I was never tempted to buy.

Other than always feeling slightly tempted to just commit and buy the Arcade Archives release every week. I know I could subsist solely on what Hamster publishes, if I had to, and be happy. We’ve come a long way from the NES days of begging for stripped-down ports of arcade games.

I wonder if anyone out there does actually buy EVERY Arcade Archive game? I’ve only bought 9 myself, though I’ve got about double that wishlisted, waiting for a sale.

@Levantine Is the port mostly fixed? I'm eager to pick it up, but I really don't want it in shambles!

@MeloMan
Was the Guinness Record streak limited to weekly consecutive game releases in the US market, though, or in any major market worldwide?
They did publish Finest Hour this week, after all, but just in Japan.

Either way, it is a bummer not to see Hamster in this week’s new releases.
Another opportunity to appreciate just how awesome Nintendo is for removing region-locking this gen.
MAY IT NEVER RETURN 😝

Playing a bit of Pokémon Unite and Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel like every day.

Continueing my playthrough of Tales of Symphonia Remastered. Don't know how much though, not feeling so well at the moment.

@Zaruboggan the only remaining "issues" are 30 fps, which will never be fixed, and longer loading times than the original.

I'm enjoying my playthrough a lot, I'm biased though because it's my favourite game ever. This is the first time I'm playing it in Japanese though.

@JustMonika awesome looking forward to it. I really need to get back on it soon.that’s great The true ending is worth it

@Zaruboggan I would say mostly fixed aside from the load times! They're still kind of long. I don't mind, but it's weird considering the GCN is like instant loading lol. The overworld and battles run at a smooth fps now though compared to footage I've seen of how the game used to run. From what I heard a major issue of Colettes wings causing slowdown has been fixed, but I'm not far enough yet to see it myself.

I'd say it's a solid version to play now but I'd still wait for a sale. It really should've released like this and not taken 3 patches to fix a GCN game

I'll be playing Mario Party Superstars online if I can find the time for one game, and playing Pilotwings (SNES) on NSO, too. I'm still delving into Eastward during the game trial period, and I'm quite surprised to be enjoying it.

@Teksetter Yes, they didn't release Metro Cross in Europe when they did that. So I wonder if it's a Bandai Namco issue rather than theirs.

Oh well, plenty of other great Arcade Archives releases to enjoy.

Lies of P and Final Fantasy IV (PSP) for me this weekend

Not really playing anything this weekend but I'm watching the new Castlevania season which has been amazing so far!

Lunistice on my 4090. Good music, good level design and one of the best tight controls out there. Excellent value for a fiver.

I'm playing TOTK, the Commodore 64 hidden gems 4 game pack, episode 1 racer, Dusk, Dusk 84, Atari 50, Tetris 99, F zero 99, Pacman 99, and Mario Golf Super Rush. On laptop and Steam deck I'm playing Rocket League, Cocoon, Father Forgive Me, Truxton, and Slap Fight.

gal guardians trying to get the best ending.

My current obsession is Persona 4 Golden on the Switch.

@AmplifyMJ probably they are not yet allowed to talk about all the Switch games they're busy testing ahead of launch

@luckyseven I really enjoyed Prime, for the first time a month ago. I think the graphics are brand new, it does look great and there's lot of really cool ideas for such an old game. Took me about 30h to finish it and I did have to look up one of the artifacts, after all I had tried I still don't think I would have found it on my own. Have fun with the game!

@Not_Soos how is Ty 4? Is it maybe a fun modern platformer with some challenge?

Fire Emblem Fates (Birthright)! I'm getting really close to the end so I want to finish it this weekend since it won't be busy for me. After Birthright I want to move into either Revelation or Conquest
next. I'm leaning towards Conquest but I kind of suck at Fire Emblem so who knows.

@Yalloo I haven’t found the other 11 artifacts yet, I accidentally found the first one while exploring. I’m thinking about getting all of the upgrades first then I’ll go back and find them. Also thanks! There’s so much cool content in game such as all of the lore from scanning stuff and the enemies, it’s insane how detailed Prime is. I’m planning on playing 2 and 3 eventually even if they haven’t been remastered yet, hope they’re just as good! Worried about playing 3 with the Wii controls though lol

Me and a friend have figured out that Mario Golf is a super chill way to hang out online, so we've been doing a lot of that today

@geshem Yeah, I saw frame rate drops into the 50s in Switch gameplay on YouTube, so bought Cocoon on Steam. Looking forward to playing it! And hopefully they patch the Switch version!

@Hinade The game is an absolute treasure, which is why I'm so disappointed the port was botched. I'm glad to hear it's basically fixed at this point!

@Yalloo

1/2

I've enjoyed my time with the game so far. The more I play it, the more its underlying issues become more apparent, but I still think it's a good game. NL gave it a 7/10, and I think that's pretty fair. I might actually score it a little higher, but a lot of that stems from having a soft spot for the franchise.

I guess you're aware, but unlike previous Ty games, this one is a 2D platformer, not 3D. I think they made the conversion to 2D quite well, though. The physics are almost exactly as you remember them. It took no time at all to get used to the controls, as all my muscle memory carried over. This is probably the most faithful conversion of a character's moveset from 3D to 2D I've ever seen--for better or for worse. Ty's jump height, movement speed, gliding, throwing, and ledge-grabbing abilities all feel exactly as you remember them.

There are only a couple elements that don't work quite as well in 2D; for example, when you stand near the ledge of a platform, Ty will just slide off. This can be particularly annoying when trying to jump onto a moving platform. I also think Ty feels just a bit too slow here. The ledge grab is very responsive though, and it's really satisfying that Ty can pull himself up through a semisolid platform you wouldn't otherwise have been able to reach.

The game does lack polish in some areas, though. An issue that's hard to overlook is that I've already softlocked my game twice and had to restart the level. Both times, Ty landed on the edge of a platform and got stuck in an endless falling animation. No amount of button presses would get him out of it. Fortunately, I don't think I lost any of my collectibles when I restarted.

The amount of content seems pretty substantial. I believe there are over 40 levels, and each one takes around 10 minutes to complete. It does repeat a lot of the same environments, though: beaches, rainforests, canyons... I'm probably over halfway through the game, and I think that's pretty much been the only variety. The first Ty game had a snow level, and while I guess that isn't very authentic to Australia, it still feels like the game could do a bit more to make the levels stand out from each other. There's also strangely no world map or a hub area. Levels are accessed from a menu, which is kind of disappointing. You boot up the game, press Continue, and you're just in the last level you left off on. It's really strange.

The music, the sound effects, the enemies, and the different boomerangs at your disposal are all as you remember them. It's very nostalgic. Lots of returning characters, and the voice acting is pretty solid. The story is inconsequential, but thr writing has given me a couple genuine laughs, like when this guy almost accidentally destroys a building full of underprivileged orphans.

A lot of people complain about the visuals, and from the trailers, it did sort of look like a Flash game you'd play in a web browser. Instead of having different frames of animation for the 2D characters, they mostly rely on the bone tool to manipulate the characters' appendages, which looked a bit cheap at first. But once I actually started playing the game for myself, it wasn't a problem. I actually think the environmental details look quite pleasant. While not on the same level, it reminded me of Rayman in a way. If people can overlook the stiff animation in Mega Man 11, they should be able 6o do the same for this game.

@Yalloo

2/2

Levels are large and open with some sidequests you can complete, but they're pretty basic. It's usually just "find x and bring it back to me" or "defeat this many enemies." Oftentimes, there are objectives you have to complete before you can end the level. They don't really add anything of value, but I wouldn't say they make the levels worse, either. All the branching paths in each level almost makes them feel like a Sonic level--minus the speed and the loops and stuff. You'll encounter several forks in the road where it's up to you where you want to explore.

Water levels can be very annoying. Not because the swimming controls are bad or anything, because they're actually decent. But the amount of enemies firing projectiles at you is unfair, and there are even sharks and other enemies layered behind walls as they swim, so you can't even see them coming half the time. Fortunately, checkpoints are frequent and you have no lives to worry about, so when the level design is bad, it's more of a nuisance than anything. For the most part though, these levels have been enjoyable. Boss fights are so easy they're pointless, though.

There's also lots of unlockable costumes you can buy at the store with orbs you collect--many of which being totally different playable characters. As a $20 game, I think you get your money's worth. It might not be as good as Tropical Freeze, but it's also not 60 dollars. If you've played Ty before and enjoy them, you can expect more of the same. They're not AAA experiences, but I also wouldn't call them mediocre. The games are consistently above average, and you can always tell that there was heart that went into them by developers who are passionate about the natural wonders of their home country.

So yeah, there's my full review on the game, lol. Hopefully this answers your question and then some.

Finally beat Super Mario Odyssey this weekend. As a Nintendo fan, I'm ashamed it took me 6 years to do it. (Especially since I contributed the title of the game to Nintendo!) I can't believe I prioritized other games over it for so long. I think Odyssey might be my favorite of the Mario series. It's probably a little too easy, and the controls are a little too floaty and loose compared to the razor sharp precision of something like Sunshine, but it had a perfect balance of new innovations and nostalgic nods to the entire history of the franchise. The game is absolutely jam packed with content, discoveries and secrets, almost overwhelmingly so. It really pulls you in to a "just one more moon" frame of mind where the time just melts away without you realizing it. Many nights were lost this way over the last few weeks. The art style is gorgeous, graphics dazzling and music a perfect fit. I love this game. Now the road to 100%.

This past week I also beat the post game dungeon and secret boss Gabriella in Star Ocean first departure R.

This week coming up I'll be grinding out my characters to beat the secret boss and obtain the true ending in Octopath Traveler.

After achieving 100% in Odyssey, I'll finish up 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim before moving on to Dragon Quest 11, a perfect game to sink into as the weather starts to turn chill and damp. That one will probably be my answer to this column for the next month or so.

@BodkinDQ Congrats Bodkin, I just beat Odyssey today too. Agree with you on your Godtier take. Loved every second of it!

@GregamanX "House to myself". My God, it's been so long I've forgotten what it feels like. What I'd give for a quiet afternoon at home alone. Enjoy.

@Grail_Quest Super Mario Odyssey absolutely deserved all the hype it got! I really enjoyed the platforming, using the hat as a weapon and/or mind control, the exploration, and man, those graphics are beautiful! (Something I never thought I'd say about a Mario game)

If I can be candid, I got the game not long after it game out, but it got shelved cos of a debilitating gacha addiction I had at the time. I've been gacha free for almost 3 years now and I started tackling that unchecked backlog. This was one of those games I sadly missed out on at that time, BUT thankfully I went back and played it again without shelving it. It was a special game that had me smiling a goofy grin when I beat it--- final area and game itself was just that good. So glad you got to enjoy that piece of magic with me!

Been going through Pikmin 1 and 2.
1 is a delight, but playing 2 you're constantly interrupted by dialogue abd cutscenes.

I often wondered when this development for the worse happened in gaming, and apparently it was between 2001 and 2004.

@BodkinDQ Ha! Interesting how our Mario Odyssey experiences were similar. I bought the game when it released. My first collected moons show October 2017. I shelved the game too in favor of other titles. With my excitement around Nintendo's next system growing, I figured I'd better rearrange my backlog priorities and take care of some unfinished business, lest my Nintendo fan card be revoked! Very glad that I did.

Congrats on breaking through the Gacha thing. Thanks for sharing your experience of persevering to rise out of the mire of that addiction. That is an inspiring feat, and worthy of respect!

I'm trying with Forgive Me Father, but the shooting feels so stiff and janky I'm not sure how far into it I will actually get. Cool enemies and environments, but it just feels bad to play. Also, the voice acting is obtrusive and awful. Turning down voices does nothing...cool. Lastly, no gyro.

@120frames-please You know, sometimes I look at your username (and the old one with the 60) and it pisses me off.

But I'm now realizing that I am exactly the same sort of framerate snob.

@luckyseven so the artifacts will be your last task before the end boss, and I don't think you can get them all without all the upgrades anyways.
The storytelling through scanning/log entries is just genius imo. It doesn't break the pace of the game. And you can read about all of the stuff they imagined, it's pretty neat.
I can tell you that once you're done with the game you only have the choice of a new game +, I was a bit disappointed as I didn't see the point of restarting everything just to collect my missing entries.
I also felt that the end was a bit rushed/not as great as the rest of the game. Just so you manage your expectations and be less disappointed than I was maybe. But usually in older games it often felt like the developers really gave all they had and the ending was often rushed out.
I'm also looking forward to #2 and #3, but I think I would enjoy they more if they also redid the graphics. According to reviews though, they are not as good as the first one.
Anyways, nice to share on such a cool game.
Have fun!

@Not_Soos thanks a lot for that! I think I have a good impression on the game, thanks to your review. I already noticed NL was often generous in their scoring.
No hub is not a deal breaker but surely a strange decision.
It feels like the game is more frustrating than challenging.
And reading how you describe it, it kind of reminds me of Disney's Illusion Island, both a little bit odd in their genre. Not bad, just not up to the standards you would expect, gameplay wise.
Ty is somehow familiar, but I can't really remember playing it when I was younger. I was affraid the nostalgia was a reason why the game would be more appealing. Seems like it is the case.
I've been playing Shredder's Revenge (which I enjoy a lot) and I keep asking myself: would I still enjoy this game should I have never played TNMT games in my youth. And I'm not so sure about that. On the other hand, some games I loved when I was younger I find absolutely boring nowadays... but that's another topic.
Thanks again for your detailed review!

@geshem the smoother the better! Maybe someday I'll change my name to 240 frames please... But with Steam Deck I've learned that I also like 45fps and 50fps etc.

Slay the Spire and possibly some Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

@Sequel Thanks, it was nice, and I can relate. I don't think that I've had the house to myself for somewhere between 6 months to a year. Played a ton of SMTV and it was glorious.

@Judgedean ooh that looks cool, I might try it.

@lechugajr @Desrever If you own Slay the Spire on steam then I highly recommend to check out the free mod Slay the Spire: Downfall.
It has a new main character and the Downfall mode, where you can play as one of 7 boss characters and reverse the spire to kill the heroes.

It is incredibly well made and adds an insane ammount of content.

@Yalloo Sure thing! Glad I was able to help! The first two Ty games are available on Switch, so if you're curious about the franchise, I'd recommend starting with the first one and see how you feel. It's a sandbox-style 3D platformer that's also not of the same caliber as a 3D Mario game, but it's a fraction of the price. And I'm sure it goes on sale quite frequently. The story isn't like super important, but if you jump straight into 4, you're not going to have any real connection with the characters. As a big 3D platformer buff, I would recommend them to fans of the genre. Even though I enjoy the 2D game, the Ty franchise is a 3D platformer at its core, and that's where it excels. Not as many moments of frustration. The first two are solid games, the second one is even somewhat open-world in its design, which for a PS2-era game is pretty ambitious. I think they're worth a try!

Well we got a interesting week for sure. Was able to beat Trails To Azure and try out A.K.I and the Sonic Frontiers update. All top of the line excellence all around. This weekend is kinda simple tho. Doing some more Rain Code to finish out the weekend that’s definitely on the list of games I wanna beat next but I wanna try to do something this week for both Switch and PS5. And that’s play a different game each day instead of going ham on one game to finish. That means after Rain Code and the Foamstars beta on PS5 tonight I wanna play one of these games each day this week. Over on switch: Zelda TOTK, Pikmin 4, Fire Emblem Engage Fell Xenologue, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed, Pokemon Scarlet The Teal Mask and Disney Illusion Island. And on PS5: Baldurs Gate 3, FFXVI, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Mortal Kombat 1, Sea of Stars and Sonic Frontiers. Guess we’ll see in next weeks journal if I was able to do that. Also decided on the games the rest of the year. That’s Detective Pikachu, Sonic Superstars, Super Mario Wonder, Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, Like A Dragon Gaiden and Super Mario RPG. Very excited for all of them we have a excellent holiday season of gaming ahead. As for anime we finished a lot this week like Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. While some fall anime have started outside of Spy X Family I can only give one small tease of the ones I’m excited for and that is…… Frieren. Yes that cute little elf girl has stolen my heart already. Very excited and interested. As for podcasts it’s the usual. Castle Superbeast, Big Think Dimension, Nextlander, Remap Radio and RPGsite’s Tetracast. Also special shout-out to Critical Roles Zelda TOTK One Shot I think I’ll be using that for my 7 hour cart shift at 9 am on Saturday hahaha. Have a awesome weekend everyone and Happy Gaming.

@Not_Soos thanks! You definitely helped and I very much appreciate all your feedback!

@dBackLash I don't have it on Steam, but you make a compelling argument to double dip

Easy,
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door…
Yep, that’s it. Lol.

@dBackLash Thanks. Play it on Switch, but I'm guessing my laptop could handle it on steam. May have to check it out!