What Are You Playing This Weekend? (April 16th)
If you celebrate it, Happy Easter! If not, we hope you at least have a nice, long weekend, or perhaps you’re just going to relax more than normal. Whatever you’re doing, we hope video games factor into your plans. This week, we got a new Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes trailer, which introduces us to protagonist Shez. Nintendo has had to change automatic online renewals following a government review. And it sounds like Bandai Namco is working on a remaster of a Nintendo action title.
While we’re here, why not go and vote for what you think is the best Nintendo console generation! Some of us have had our say, and now it’s your turn to tell us who’s right or wrong.
Now 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!
Gavin Lane, editor
The list of games I’d like to play this weekend is long. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I’ve got Dragon Quest VIII ready and waiting to be tucked into. I also took delivery of Xenoblade Chronicles X — I want to download the improved texture pack off of the Wii U eShop before it’s gone! I’ve got other housekeeping to do on Wii U, too. I’m going to transfer my external hard drive to a much bigger SSD I’ve got, although that involves getting everything already on it safely stored elsewhere before the Wii U formats it, which will take a while. Also, I have no house internet at the moment, which complicates matters when I want to download a whole bunch of GBs.
What I’ll likely end up doing is downloading the tiny Nintendo Switch Online update and diving into Mario Golf. It’s one of my favourite N64 games, an incredibly relaxing sports game with personality. It’s a shame I won’t be able to play as my GBC Mario Golf character, but I’ll enjoy a quick round of 9 holes sometime over the weekend. Have a good one, folks!
Thomas Whitehead, deputy editor
Aside from a mini review, on Switch I’ll probably put the most time into Triangle Strategy; it’s a long game! I’ve been enjoying it a lot so far, and it’s perfect for little 30-minute sessions for taking on a battle or just following the story.
Elsewhere my attention is split between LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and MLB The Show 22, the latter of which has definitely got me hooked again.
Alana Hagues, staff writer
Kirby, Kirby, and more Kirby. My Switch pickings are getting a little slim, so after I beat Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I think I’m going to move on to my second Kirby game. A few weeks ago, a couple of lovely readers — Munchlax and YoshiFlutterJump — made some fantastic suggestions as to what Kirby game I should play after Forgotten Land. And, after thinking about it, I’m going to give Kirby Super Star a whirl! Oh, which reminds me — you should totally vote for the SNES in the best Nintendo console generation poll. Just do it.
In reality, this weekend looks like a PS5-heavy one. I play this little game called Final Fantasy XIV — you know, the one with the free trial up to level 60? (No, I’m not sorry.) The latest major story patch for Endwalker dropped on Tuesday, and my word, the new Alliance Raid is amazing. I’ve almost got all of the mechanics down. Almost. Aside from gaming, I’m also going to try and get out to the beach this weekend. I hope it’s sunny where you are, too!
Ollie Reynolds, staff writer
With everyone celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in the US, I thought it was high time I give the game another go. It’s been a while since I last played it, and funnily enough, this will be the first time I play it on the SNES (technically on the Switch); I only ever played it on the GBA previously, and it’ll be odd not hearing Link shouting “hyah!” every time he swings his sword.
Otherwise, it’s going to be a quiet time for me this weekend in terms of gaming; my wife and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary on the 16th, so it’s not really going to look good if I spend the whole time glued to a game!
Kate Gray, staff writer
It’s Easter this weekend, but my COVID test is going to determine whether I hang out with family or just… stay inside playing video games. We just got an Xbox Series X, which means ELDEN RIIIING, but we also need to finish Skyward Sword (which just keeps going) and I’d like to get into something farmy, like My Time At Portia, or something murdery, like AI: The Somnium Files. If only there were something farmy AND murdery!
Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer
Great week for the eShop with two games that took their time to get here but do not disappoint: Formula Retro Racing and Bush Hockey League! While on the subject of waiting, Nobody Saves The World is proving to be another Drinkbox Studios hit!
Game of the week is a bit of a cheat this time since there are hundreds of them: The A500 Mini arrived and took residence under the TV. This version of me you know today owns a lot to the Commodore Amiga: The digital artist who began pixelating things in Deluxe Paint III. The audio producer who began making noise pollution in ProTracker. And of course, the greatest Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe player in the known universe. Ice cream, I scream!
As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend gaming plans!