It's the end of another busy week, one that's seen the release of Pac-Man 99, rumours of dock-based upgrades for a potential new Switch, confirmation of DLC for the really-rather-good Streets of Rage 4, and a Nintendo collector who went to the effort to build a full-sized replica of the company's first HQ. And we thought owning a pair of Famicom 3D Glasses made us fans!
Now, though, it's time to discuss our weekend gaming plans. 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!
Thomas Whitehead, deputy editor
I haven’t had many opportunities to play Monster Hunter Rise this week, so I want at least one extended session to clear 4-star and maybe get into the real meat of the game. I also picked up Immortals Fenyx Rising in a sale, as I like the idea of a colourful, charming adventure to dig into each evening; so far it's rather silly and fun. I need to sit down and give Narita Boy a fair go, too, it seems fantastic but I fell away from it this week.
Finally, I'll play some The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes for, erm, research. That’s certainly a varied batch of games…
Kate Gray, staff writer
This week I have been playing a lot of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, and a little bit of Cozy Grove. I'd love to have played more of Cozy Grove, but it kicks you out of the game after you've done all of the day's tasks, so it's been a tricky one to review!
I've also... get this... stopped playing Valheim. GASP. We've almost done all the game's content, so we're going to move on to something else and wait for the next big update. Maybe Astroneer? It's like Valheim, but in SPACE.
PJ O'Reilly, reviewer
Hello. This weekend is all about Monster Hunter Rise and Warframe for me. I’ve been spending as much of my spare time as I can blasting through Rise, it’s absolutely my favourite Monster Hunter game in the series thus far, and for some terrible reason decided that downloading Digital Extreme’s free-to-play Sci-fi shooter would be a good idea while I was already knee deep in Rhenoplos carcasses. To be fair I wasn’t expecting the Switch port of Warframe to be quite as spectacular as it is, I totally expected to dip in and out quickly and then leave it but, alas, I now find myself hopelessly addicted to its slick loops of quick-paced combat and loot collection.
Elsewhere, I’ll also be attempting to get stuck into The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV as soon as it goes live, losing my mind trying to win a round of Pac-Man 99 and jumping into the latest slice of Minecraft Dungeons DLC with my kids. A busy weekend! Have fun whatever you’re doing or playing over the next few days and stay safe out there.
Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer
Lots of Wii action inbound! Going for the 100% completion route in Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces plus I’m replaying Speed Racer, Batman: The Brave and The Bold, Godzilla Unleashed and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (you remember, the Super Smash clone one). I’m quite looking forward to play Zangeki No Reginleiv for the first time, the only Japanese import I skipped back in the day. Not a bad week for Switch either: Pac-Man 99, Astro Aqua Kitty and even Star Wars: Republic Commando should make into the rotation.
Game of the week is Say No! More. Adding the ability to say “Não!” in my native language makes this already ambitious sequel ever more delightful.
As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days...
Comments 94
Mostly Bravely Default 2 and some MK8 online 💨
Farming away in Olive Town. Now that the patch cleaned up the lag, my farm is doing quite well. Plus I need the stress relief.
Playing through Ys IX, with a bit of Killer Queen Black, Blazblue Crosstag and Rocket League on the side
I'm on a bit of a Zelda binge recently and now I'm playing Windwaker again and some Minish Cap which I haven't played much of before
Replaying Fire Emblem Three Houses (with Blue Lions) for the first time since the original play through (with Black Eagles) a while back - enjoying it even more this time!
Started Final Fantasy VIII for the first time ever. This combat system will take some getting used to. Otherwise good stuff so far!
This week I will be mostly playing
Ecco the Dolphin
New Horizons
Pokémon White
Age of Calamity
I'll be playing PAC-MAN 99, maybe Minecraft and Animal Crossing as well
Yakuza 0 - Put 50 hours into chapter 6 but did everything I could possibly do.
Pokemon shield (like always) - want me a shiny dhelmise.
Ratchet and clank - the ps5 patch will make this first playthrough great.
More Kingdoms of Amalur for me, I'm really enjoying the gameplay.
I could do without the bugs though. A whole faction questline is blocked to me as the game crashes everytime I talk to a certain NPC, and the same thing happens with a different, minor side quest.
Stomping through Dead Space 1 and maybe someFire Emblem Three houses DLC
Back to Hades
I just started playing Warframe too this week after I upgraded my SD card to 512gb. I've got a friend who has put literally over 5,000 hours into that game and it's almost all he plays on Switch. He's urged me to pick it up often and I finally gave it a shot now that I've got more storage and wow, what a phenomenal free to play game. I should've gotten in on it a long time ago. It's truly remarkable it's free, I love the gameplay, combat, the frenetic pace, and bite-size missions.... I really cannot find a bad thing to say about it. After just a few hours, it seems like there is a truly staggering amount of depth to the game so I'm a little worried about being really far behind but it does seem like it's super easy to just come in blind & at least have a lot of fun with it, unlike some other online multiplayer games I've tried (Fortnite). I'm not sure why I don't hear it mentioned more, a game of this quality being free seems like it'd be more popular. I wasn't surprised to see the Panic Button logo on it.
I still need to get further into MH: Rise but I've been playing a lot of Wrestling Empire, finishing up my playthrough of Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu, knocking out things in my first playthrough of BOTW after I bought a set of NFC Amiibo cards (loving playing with Wolf Link), and jumping in & out of The Messenger to scratch my retro itch. I picked up the Pokemon Sword DLC Expansion in anticipation of coming back to it after finishing up on Let's Go, which I've done Friday night, all I've got left after the 4 Elite trainers after you get all 8 badges. I picked up Diablo III: Eternal Collection & Ni No Kuni: Wrath of The White Witch on the eshop sale, I plan on at least trying out Diablo & creating a character this weekend. Ni No Kuni I couldn't pass up again for 12 bucks after I did on it's last sale, the game looked too good to be that cheap. Besides that, I'm sure tomorrow afternoon/evening my friends/roommates and I will play some four player Mario Kart 8 & SSBU or Super Mario 3D World before we watch the first night of Wrestlemania Saturday, then likely repeat that Sunday afternoon before Night Two. Looks to be a fun, entertaining weekend for sure!
Mostly Smash Ultimate World of Light and Miles and Kilo.
Gotten to the point in Monster Hunter where there doesn't feel like there's much left to do so I'm more or less done with it now till they release more content except for a bit of multiplayer with friends here and there.
Started Root Double a few days ago and that's been exceeding my expectations so far. Really interested to see what happens so I'll probably mostly be playing that.
After finishing Xenoblade 2 last week, I went straight into Xenoblade 2 Torna Country.
I really love this game. To see the backstories of the characters from XC2 is really touching. I do not buy DLC as a general rule, but Monolith did an exceptional job with Torna.
I’m also playing Good Job. It was on sale last week, so made the splash. Good Job is good fun!
@GalacticBreakdown - I loved Ni No Kuni, and yes the price right now makes it crazy good in terms of value.
May dip in some Rampage quests in MH rise. I didnt really like them to begin with but i need to farm for a couple of bits. I just wish there was an easier way to get in contact with people so quests would be easier to arrange as i dont personally know anyone that has the game.
After milking my budget rather audaciously this week (in the "mmmmkay, so what are my odds of having work break lunches for the next couple weeks?" way) and begrudgingly shelving a lot of installed stuff (I go for quantity because up-to-4-Gb ones are still easier to redownload at the end of the day than the those anywhere between 6 and 22 Gb in size😄), I've got my Switch loaded with a lot of last year's wishlist highlights in particular (splurging now in part to rule them out of summer sales and make more wallet room for Vita), and a couple others on top. Immortals, Truck Driver, Katana Kami, NFS Hot Pursuit, Will: A Wonderful World - all the backlog attention magnets this week. But I don't intend to neglect the rest either - Xenoblade, Burnout, Portia, the earlier recruited Rebel Galaxy Outlaw and Broforce remain in the plans, as do the handheld semi-staples like God Eater and Spirit of Justice. That said, I've also got an opportunity for a good few Namco x Capcom maps in a row this weekend, two already down, hopefully one or two more to go.
I played pretty much girlie games this weekend. 😀
1. Bolt PS3
2. Animal Crossing New Horizons
3. Pretty Princess Party
4. We Cheer 2 Wii
I have finished 9 from 25 episodes of Bolt PS3. the game was really mediocre but i have to finish the storyline.
I played for approximate 1 hour for ACNH as Redd boat arrived on my island, i did Time Travel again to exploit art leftovers and other colors furnitures.
I continued my progress of Pretty Princess Party by participating in Mini games to increase the parameter of Cute / Cool / Elegant in order to decorate some rooms that required higher level of Cute / Cool / Elegant parameter.
I have unlocked All songs on We Cheer 2. Some songs have very quick routines and i have to pay attention with the coregraphy as i missed some routines due to the arrows appeared very sneaky and quickly before i noticed them.
Xenoblade Chronicles DE as usual. Octo Expansion for breaks from it
Playing MHR and getting worried it lacks content!....as I do t think I’ve ever come across so few quests per HR!
Mainly SOS Olive Town, with a little Hades here and there.
Doom Eternal, it’s outstanding
Mainly Rise, with some Republic Commando thrown in. On PC, probably some Loop Hero or Valheim if I get the time. Want to play a few rounds of One Deck Dungeon with my kid too.
Apart from watching Exeter Chiefs vs Leinster (come on Chiefs!!), I'll be playing Jet Kave Adventure (Switch), Tomb Raider HD (ps3) and TMNT in time on my beloved SNES
As far as Switch is concerned I really want to have a look at Pacman 99.
On Ps4 I'm right at the end of Assassins Creed Unity and loved every bit of it.
Also will continue with Need For Speed Hot Pursuit.
On the PS5 I have been playing Persona 5 Royal.After finishing Strikers last week I was really missing the gang.So now I can spend another 100 hours with them
Going back in time a bit and playing some Wii games I never played back in the day. Been playing Sin and Punishment 2 and then will move onto The Last Story.
Outriders on Game Pass while still dabbling in Age of Calamity. Find the game is better in small bursts, 3-4 challenges or a big mission at a time before I need a break.
Switch - Smash Ultimate!
PS4 - Weekly GTA Online session with friends!
PC - Gonna try Hypnospace Outlaw via Game Pass!
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Playing Donkey Kong Country 3 for the first time. Finished world 6 last night. It’s...ok. Pretty easily my least favorite DKC game, but it’s fun enough.
EDIT-ok, I’m at Lightning Look-out now. I no longer think this is what I will be playing this weekend.
Playing some swiss on Gamecube
Birthday this past week gave me Crash 4, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, and Balan Wonderworld. Will be playing all three of those this weekend.
So far, enjoying both Crash 4 and Balan Wonderworld (sorry for disagreeing with popular opinion), but I'm hoping to put time aside to play Bowser's Fury as I want to check it out without distractions.
FF7remake, Mario Odyssey and maybe a little Ghost of Tsushima.
After beating Hyrule Warriors last weekend and basically crushing my backlog (and making it to my 650th game beaten since the start of 2009), I'm not entirely sure what I want to play. I have a couple unfinished games I could pick at, like Cuphead and Horizon Chase Turbo, but I may also take it easy and play some games that I can enjoy in the moment, like Pure Pool, Lonely Mountains Downhill, or even my Arcade 1ups. I've been getting burned out constantly beating games over the years, so I'm thinking of leaning towards the latter.
Back to work this week means less time for Switch play.
However, still managing a little time to go through three superb platformers for the first time.
Super Mario Bros 3
Up to World 5. Got up into the clouds before I got game over.
Donkey Kong Country 2
Eventually got past a stretch of levels where I’d been slightly struggling, Levels 26-29. Beat Parrot Chute Panic and now onto level 31, Web Woods.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
34/48 bees saved. 139/200 Twit coins found.
Still think Yooka is the best of the three and is criminally underrated. Enjoying all three games immensely. Will be sad when they are completed.
Well actually, I’ll be straight onto Donkey Kong Country 3 and Super Mario World. That £15.99 purchase of Bioshock Collection will have to wait, for I am addicted to 2D platformers! Even the Mrs is getting into it as she’s eyeing up Yoshi’s Crafted World which is currently on a deal.
More XB1 stuff like Master Chief Collection, if I do return to Switch this weekend it'll probably be MH Rise or Bravely Default II. I made sure I did the Bowser's Fury spirit event for Smash yesterday.
What happened to having polls for these articles??
Mainly just Monster Hunter Rise! Tackling some more high rank quests to craft more awesome weapons and armor.
@karatekid1612 I like your schedule except i'll be rooting for Leinster 😉
Still working on my first play through of BOTW. Also getting towards the end of Star World in Super Mario 3D World. Last night I ended up spending some time with Pac-Man 99. Best I have done so far is 7th. In Tetris 99 I think the pest I’ve done is 2nd, and I did get 1st in Mario 35 once but only played it the first weekend it was out so it probably got harder.
Super star saga, shantae riskys revenge, minish cap, and some n64 rassle games
Finally finished Super Mario 64 this past Monday ! So I took an off chance at my back long- ran through the short story mode of Super Bomberman R (meh) & currently diving back into Sonic Mania after work. Loving the challenge. A few more zones & that’ll be complete! Gave Pac-Man 99 a shot. Not my cup of tea. Holding off on starting any big new games to make time for the new entry of Pokémon Snap later this month
Hunter Hunter Rise, Life is Strange 2 (so good!) and probably some Hades as well.
Switch - Monster Hunter: Rise
PS5 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon
I'm trying to knock off the final few moons in Odyssey after a few years away. It's still my favourite game on Switch. Also Pac-man 99 and Tetris 99, and might give Akuto Showdown a whirl too.
I ended up buying Balan Wonderworld. Why? I don't know, but I did so I'm going to play it this weekend. Outside of that, I'll also be playing more of Hades this weekend, it's a pretty addictive game. Also, I'm gonna (most likely) download Pac-Man 99 and try that out as well.
MH Rise for me! I’ve just started the 3-star village quests. as life’s been busy.
Also I think today is the last day of sakura season in ACNH, my last chance to get a few cherry blossom recipes...
I’ll see if one of the kiddos wants to play co-op in Knights and Bikes, too.
Have a fun weekend everyone!
@Oswinner Some awesome games right there, sounds like you'll be having an enjoyable weekend of gaming. Super Mario Bros. 3 and Donkey Kong Country 2 are absolutely fantastic old school games, two of my favourites from a by-gone era.
I'm not sure if you've played Super Mario World before, or if that'll be your first playthrough of it as well, but it's my all-time favourite game and I fire it up once every year to play it myself.
Labyrinth of Refrain. I tried the demo and was soon hooked.So I picked it up on EBay for £9.95. I would have paid full price and been just as happy with my purchase. It’s going cheap on the Nis store as well.
It’s definitely worth trying the demo 😀.
Just got into Monster Hunter Rise, hope to play a good helping of that in between remote job sessions. Might also get some gaming comfort food and play Megaman a bit today, jury's still out on exactly which one.
Mostly Let's Go Eevee! this weekend. I currently have four badges and am making my way to Fuschia City. Not sure I'll have time for much else on the console front. I did get around to a little Trials of Mana (original) yesterday evening.
As usual, a bit of Pokemon Go will be sprinkled in. Community Day is tomorrow, and it features my favorite Gen 5 starter, Snivy! I'll likely get out for an hour or so despite this damp, windy weekend.
Have a great weekend! Stay safe, and happy gaming!
Pokémon Blue Version (Game Boy) - I've finally made it to Cinnabar Island. I'll be heading for Seafoam Island to catch Articuno soon.
Angry Birds Stella (Windows Phone) - Nearly done with this one.
Gerbil Physics (Windows Phone) - Still plodding along with this one.
Monster hunter rise and Outriders.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
Definitely some Balan Wonderworld and Fortnite with my son. <3
Immortals Fenyx Rising, too.
Bravely Default on the 3DS - just got to the Benemoth, I do well against him and randomly get 1 turn party wiped.
Robotics; Notes on Switch
Yakuza 0 on PS4 - got to chapter 10, now I’m distracted by the real estate business aspect
Just finished the Pokédex in Sword so I’ll be shiny hunting and finishing the DLC in that. Also I’ll be playing a lot of Pac-Man 99. That game ended up being a ton of fun!
I also have NBA 2K21 coming in the mail today as an attempt to get back into the NBA. I’ll be playing that as well.
Bloodstaind: Ritual of the Night, FF VII (OG on the Switch) and since the Masters is this weekend, PGA Tour 2K1. I also got a bunch of games added to my backlog from all the sales because yeah, I needed more games I'll never get to, haha
Stardew Valley and a bit of modded terraria.
I’ve been playing me some Crash Bandicoot 4. After I finish it I plan on returning to Mario Galaxy 2 to collect the rest of the green stars. I just ordered Metroid fusion and zero mission for my ds lite and am looking forward to playing them in the near future.
Just finished Root Film. So I’ll be playing Monster Rise, Animal Crossing, Atelier Ryza.
I plan on playing Murder by Numbers chapter 4 this weekend. I’m also finishing up the final areas of Super Mario 3D World and then I will try Bowser’s Fury. I will also probably get some Wii U Skylander’s Swap Force in with my daughter at some point.
@Lony85 yeah I’ve been going through them steadily and really enjoying both games (DKC2 and SMB3).
I’ve started Super Mario World before but then thought I ought to play through in chronological order.
I don’t know where my love of 2D platforming has suddenly came from (bought the switch mainly for Breath of the Wild but not a fan of it) but the Switch is a haven for the genre.
Of course more PAC-MAN 99!!! SAINTS ROW IV, and hopefully some more SWARM on my Oculus Quest; that game is absolutely amazing.
For the past week I have been playing EVERY game I own on the Switch (over 330+ titles, both digital and physical). Put at least 30 to 60 mins into each one, even the ones I beat already. I do this every April, and then play all of the new games I get after this point, so that at the end of the year, I can check out my Nintendo Year in Review website by Nintendo, and check out my stats. Also, some games I just like to beat again and again. Or just play for a while, just because. So, for the rest of the month, I'm playing every game I own on the Switch. Some games I haven't beat, so, making a list of them as I go, so, when I'm done replaying everything, I can go back and try to beat the ones that I haven't beat yet, so that I can try to beat as many games I can that I own. Hopefully all of them, one day. But, even if not, will be fun to try.
Finishing up the few badges that I haven’t earned in Pikmin3 Deluxe, and hopefully I can get properly stuck in to DOOM Eternal: #NintenDOOM edition 😊
Since the PS3 shop is gonna nuke in July, I got some games from there. I started playing Mega Man Legends yesterday night so I'll likely play that. (I got MML2, Klonoa, and Tomba, as well.) I do want to play more Pac-Man 99 as well though. It's been a while since I played Animal Crossing: New Horizons so I kinda wanna get back into it! Hopefully I'll find some new DIYs for my friends if I learned them already.
@PhatToad May the best team win just gutted I can't be up at Sandy Park watching it live! BT Sports it is then
I just beat Magnamalo in Monster Hunter Rise, but I'll be continuing that game with more hunts because I'm addicted now. Other than that, I'll be playing some Streets of Rage 4. The new DLC trailer got me hyped, so I'm returning to that fantastic beat-em-up.
I've been continuing my 100% playthrough of Ys VIII and I'm currently on chapter 5! I'm so glad I chose to replay it because now I'm even more amped for Ys IX! I also did make some more progress into FF XII, I think now I'm at king bomb. I only did one attempt and got destroyed lol.
Recently I caved after a stupidly long day at work and bought Doom Eternal since it was on sale. So far it's really fun! I'm only about 5 hours in but for all I know, I might end up making this my main focus.
I'm doing what I'm considering to be my own head canon chronological playthrough of the Doom series. I'm starting with Doom 3 and switching between it and Lost Mission to sort of combine the two into one game since they take place at the same time. It'll go something like this:
Doom 3 + Lost Mission
Resurrection of Evil
Doom 1 (including Thy Flesh Consumed)
Sigil
Doom 2
No Rest for the living
Final Doom
Doom 64
Doom 64 Lost Levels
Doom 2016
Doom Eternal
Ancient Gods Part 1
Ancient Gods Part 2
I'm also popping in and out of Animal Crossing. Still trying to make blue roses, but I'm getting close.
And when I'm not playing Doom, I'll be working on my thousandth playthrough of Ghost Recon Future Soldier plus its Raven Strike DLC. I love that game.
@HamatoYoshi It sure is outstanding. I didn't like it as much at first because of how different it is from 2016, but it's my favorite Doom now.
ACNH & Aetelier Ryza for me this weekend. Finally was able to start the latter last night.
Usual Splatoon 2 and ACNH. Taking a break from Pokemon Sun.
Enjoy the weekend everyone.
Nothing. Vacation this weekend in San Diego!
I've been playing a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 this week, and I only have a couple chapters left, so I'd love to get that finished and start on Torna. I also got Atelier Ryza 2 this past week so I'm gonna be diving into that and I'm super excited!
Still pouring hours and hours into Monster Hunter Rise.
Grinding for endgame gear now and for the perfect tailsman.
Bowser's Fury
Finally, I have the time!! One week off.
Afterwards, back to AC: Valhalla.
Afterwards, back to work....
For myself, I will be continuing playing Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories to completion as best I can, and playing Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury! Both excellent games and I have no one else to thank for these fun games other than my wonderful girlfriend. I will buying New Pokemon Snap for her at the end of this rainy month!
@Mgene15
Weird so be so happy to see another gamer taking time off, not to game but to do other stuff. I would too if I could, I guess. Restricted by the virus, work, geographics etc. Enjoy your time in San Diego Mgene15
Rocket League
Spyro 1
Mario Sunshin or Mario Galaxy.
Sunshine is maybe a touch harder than I remember. Some things are cooler than I remember.
Blasphemous
The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa
Pac-Man 99
Ys Origins
Nintendo Switch: Bravely Default 2
PC: Brutal Doom 2
Horizon Chase Turbo
Pikmin 3
Link's Awakening
If I have any spare time I will start Bioshock the Collection, couldn't resist it at £15.99 and no point in buying physical in this case.
Attempting to finish Mario 3D World,,, some Pacman 99 - its funner than I expected!,, perhaps some Narita Boy, and always a lil Ring Fit or Fitness Boxing to keep me moving
Rocket League: new season!
New Horizons: always a peaceful 30 minutes of gameplay.
Travel Mosaics: 10 minutes? Solve the puzzle!
Lost Words: I am loving this game! So far the game play is pretty simple--but so imaginative. The voice acting and story telling are great. I have put a couple hours into it and I am eager for more.
Happy gaming everyone!
@GregamanX I can't let your achievement go by with out a comment. "650 games beaten". That is wild! Congratulations!
Curious: what is your definition of "beaten"? For me, it is getting to the credits, or in a puzzle game, finishing all the levels. I do not 100%, but I do try to attempt most side missions, special items, etc. What is your criteria? And, how do you keep track of the number of games?
My Time at Portia
PAC-Man 99
Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
Muse Dash, started playing it today, can you say UNDERATED GEM?
@dugan Thanks! My definition of being beaten is the same as yours. Making it to the end credits, and usually I will tackle a healthy amount of side content to get my value out of each game. At first, I started keeping track of my progress in a text file (I would add the game, date, rating of how i felt the game was, and an image of the game), but soon after I started using the backloggery.com to track my progress. Since then, I've used a combination of both, and it's been a nice motivator to keep me going.
Mario Kart 8 online and a switch between Super Mario sunshine and galaxy. I’m tempted to buy luigi mansion for the 3ds, I really miss that game
Smash Ultimate (Got Hero, Terry, and Byleth, already had all DLC fighters except for Min Min) and 3D World, Unlocked Champion's Road. Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Boy.
Xenoblade Chronicles DE, still. Currently Level 43 and wandering around the Eryth Sea.
@GregamanX Wow, very cool! I thought that I played a lot of games, but nothing compared to 650! Thanks for replying.
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