Wow. This week has been so full of news, we would be hesitant to add any more for fear of bursting. After long anticipating the releases of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Persona 5 Royal on the Switch, who would have thought that Bayonetta 3 drama would overshadow it all? Hey, welcome to the world of Nintendo!
Aside from keeping all of you lovely readers up to date with all of the twists and turns in the aforementioned voice acting dispute, we have been busy ranking every Mario Party title ahead of the first two games’ release on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack next month, and breaking all of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet‘s new ‘mons into tiers (completely factual and objective, of course).
We have also managed to get our hands on some brand new games this week. From the immensely enjoyable Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Persona 5 Royal, to the less than pleasurable Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway.
Here’s hoping that this weekend is less filled with drama so we all have time for a nice spot o’ gaming. Below, a group of our writers have shared what their game plans are for the coming days and we would like you to do the same! Have a read then be sure to leave a comment below to let us know what you are playing this weekend.
Happy reading!
Jim Norman, staff writer
The Nintendo Gods have looked upon me in favour this week. I finished Tunic last weekend (big sad) and then had to renew my NSO membership this week (also big sad), but I have opted to go for the Expansion Pack this time and I am heading away for the weekend so have two lengthy train journeys ahead of me (big happy)!
All of this new power means that I will definitely be hitting up some N64 titles. At the risk of sounding like a literal child, the N64 was released before I was born, so there are a lot of holes in my knowledge that I am keen to plug. I am thinking of kicking off with some F-Zero X and Banjo-Kazooie before diving into Star Fox 64.
Of course, the power may just go straight to my head and I will end up playing Ocarina of Time for the 200th time, but would that really be a terrible thing? Yes it would Jim, you should play some different games.
Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer
Being a complete WH40K nut I’m quite looking forward to spend some quality time with Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef. October is coming to an end, but not without another two stellar AAA releases this past week which I hope to find time to enjoy: The long awaited and rumored Persona 5 Royal (my first time with the game!) and the charming new antics of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Add my ongoing SD Gundam Battle Alliance campaign and I’m fairly sure this weekend will fall short for all video game related duties planned.
Game of the Week is (still!) NieR: Automata. The game is living rent free in my head since release. So happy for this stellar conversion.
Alana Hagues, staff writer
This weekend, I’m going to be playing something I absolutely don’t need to (sort of) replay – Persona 5 Royal. I’ve beaten vanilla Persona 5 before on PS4, but didn’t grab Royal when it came out, so I really want to know whether the changes make this an even better game. I won’t get much time to make a good dent in the story, but I’m still looking forward to revisiting Shujin Academy in Tokyo.
I’ll also be picking up Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope for some lovely, light-hearted fun. The easier difficulty doesn’t bother me (I’m terrible at strategy games!), nor does the lack of multiplayer. I just really want to play something silly and colourful. I suppose Persona 5 also fits that brief!
Ollie Reynolds, staff writer
Listen… You know what I’m playing this weekend. You all do. Resident Evil 4. How could I not?! After watching the incredible gameplay demonstration for the upcoming remake (not coming to Switch, obviously), I’ve been drawn back, yet again, to a game that just brings me infinite joy and happiness. I’m not sure whether to take my time and experience the game as it was intended before the launch of the remake, or just barrel straight through it with a speed run. We’ll see…
Elsewhere, I’ve been playing a bit of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze; one of the best platformers ever created, without a doubt. It’s great to dive back into it again, as I’ve not touched it in a good few years. Whether I’ll finish it this weekend is another story, though.
Kate Gray, staff writer
This weekend I am going to be watching my partner finish off Virtue’s Last Reward, playing a ton of Disney Dreamlight Valley, and finishing Limbo (which I really don’t want to do, uggggggggggggggggggggggggggh).
But! I also wanted to give a shout out to a PC game that I want to recommend. It’s called The Case of the Golden Idol, and if you enjoyed Return of the Obra Dinn, you should absolutely give it a go. I finished it in a few hours, but I was really impressed by it!!
We hope you enjoyed reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend gaming plans!
