What Are You Playing This Weekend? (April 23rd)

Phew! It’s been a heck of a week, hasn’t it? It actually feels like springtime now at least, but our eyes are poised towards the summer with the slate of new release dates we’ve been handed. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has been brought forward from September to July! Unprecedented stuff. Splatoon 3 also finally has a release date — a very neat 9th September. Oh, and Sonic Origins is also locked in for 23rd June, but not without some controversy over those pre-orders. And, even though it’s been rumoured for ages, we’ve got more concrete proof that Game Boy and GBA games will be coming to Nintendo Switch Online at some point, probably.

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!

Thomas Whitehead, deputy editor

I’m wrapping up a review for Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles over the weekend, but my early thoughts are that it’s a lovely and clever puzzle game. When not working on finishing that I’ll continue my journey through Triangle Strategy, which is great for downtime and getting the old chess brain working a little.

Elsewhere I just started Shadow of the Tomb Raider, wrapping up a steady run through the prequel trilogy. It’s really good so far, just enjoyable Indiana Jones-style popcorn gaming. It also has more focus on puzzles and tombs than combat, which is fine by me!

Ollie Reynolds, staff writer

Hey folks! This weekend, the family and I are having a wee break in Wales. Does that mean there won’t be any gaming? Hahaha, of course not; I’ll be taking my Switch with me. I’ve recently been playing The Sinking City on the PS5 and I’ve been enjoying it so much, I decided to start it on Switch too! The tone and narrative are right up my street, so I’m looking forward to sinking (ha) my teeth into it.

Alana Hagues, staff writer

My gaming this weekend will be entirely influenced by this week’s news. The whole Sonic Origins thing has got me all fired up to replay some classic Sonic. Sonic Mania is of course on the table — it’s the best one, after all. My release-day GameCube is plugged in too, so I’m going to dig out Sonic Mega Collection so I can play through those classics without the pre-order discussion baggage.

I’ve also had an ongoing playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition burning since… it came out. So I should probably go back to it. Don’t worry, I have played through Xenoblade Chronicles before — 100%ing it, even — but I left my Switch playthrough in limbo at Eryth Sea. Am I telling myself not to do every sidequest? Yes. Am I listening? Ask again in a week.

Kate Gray, staff writer

This week while I’ve been sick I’ve been playing A LOT of Slay The Spire. I still haven’t Slayed the Spire, though, so wish me luck for my next Ironclad run please!

Also, more Elden Ring. We still have no idea what’s going on. People keep talking about fingers, which is super weird, and everyone has really similar names like Godrick and Godwin and Godtopher which is making the story super hard to follow!

Austin Voigt, contributor

This weekend will be another dig into the ol’ backlog! I have a bad habit of playing roughly halfway through a game, then dropping it when something new and shiny comes out… Planning to pull out Luigi’s Mansion 3, Paper Mario: The Origami King, New Pokémon Snap, and Pokémon Shining Pearl. However, still also plugging away at Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Triangle Strategy. As always, plenty to play!

PJ O’Reilly, staff writer

Hello. This weekend I’m gonna be polishing off some outstanding bits and pieces in the excellent Switch port of Zombie Army 4: Dead War. I’ve really enjoyed blasting through this one all over again on Switch and have just got a few stickers left to gather up in order to complete my album and 100% all collectibles.

Elsewhere, I’ve taken the advice of trusted friends and picked up both The House in Fata Morgana and Shadowverse: Champions Battle, so I’ve certainly got plenty to keep me busy over the next few days. Have a great weekend whatever you’re doing or playing!

Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer

Still very much messing around with the A500 Mini, with a vicious ongoing Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe league, still scrubbing at the bottom of Division 2 but with a choice of trade-in star players added to the roster things are looking up. Late game Kirby and the Forgotten Land along with physical arrivals of Haven and Rigid Force Redux ensure entertainment over this weekend.

Game of the week Arcade Archives Gaplus (aka Galaga 3 in the US). I used to be so much better at it… my gamer pride is offended with my poor efforts since this week’s re-release, so time to get back to it this weekend.

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