Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (16th March)

Image: NintendoToday we ask the age-old question… Will it corndog? Wait, no… What are you playing this weekend?!

Before we take a look at the staff picks this week, let’s take a look at what’s been going on the last few days or so. First up, we got word that The Pokémon Company has set up a new subsidiary called ‘Pokémon Works’, but no one knows what it’s up to yet. We also caught a glimpse of some unseen concept art for the Super Mario Bros. Movie, so that’s cool.

Elsewhere, Nintendo revealed the box art for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the Switch, and then revealed the box art for Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, so it’s all poppin’ off. Red Dead Redemption also got a minor update on the Switch, while Konami laid out its plans for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1’s next update.

We also reviewed a few games, including Contra: Operation Galuga, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered, and the excellent Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Jim Norman, Staff Writer
I am tempted to dip into something new this weekend. Weeks of Balatro have turned my brain back to its most goblin state, so something far away from a roguelike would be ideal. I still have an hour or two of the Unicorn Overlord demo left before I have to cough up for the full version, but that sitting firmly at the top of my list at the moment. Then again, I’m also very keen to hit up Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection after playing them to death back in the day — assuming the multiplayer clears up, that is. Decisions, decisions (I’m definitely going to buy neither and end up playing more Balatro).

As for something that I actually own, I made the mistake of starting a new save on Pokémon X and I am once again reminded of how much Gen VI slaps. There will definitely be a little more of that on the cards.

Gavin Lane, Editor
This weekend I’ll be playing Balatro first. I’ve yet to finish a run, but I’m eager to get it ticked off and flush it from my mind as there’s so much else I want to get to! Namely, with the 30th anniversary looming, a first-play of Final Fantasy VI would be timely. I also have to hit the remaining chapters of Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, carry on with Pikmin 4 (that game really needed a ‘Yes, I’ve played a Pikmin game before – Skip Tutorial’ button), dip into the Unicorn Overlord demo, continue with Astrologaster and Outer Wilds… Oh, and check out Cavern of Dreams, too. And Mars After Midnight.

That’s the loose plan. The reality? It’ll be 11 hours of Balatro, innit. Wish me luck.

Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer
Mario Day got me all excited to play some Mario games again, so I’ve been diving back into Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey recently. I might play both as various intervals over the weekend, we’ll se ehow busy I wind up being, but I’ll more than likely just focus on Sunshine and try and get it done.

I also plan to break out the 3DS this weekend and play some Luigi’s Mansion 2. I find myself confused as to why Nintendo would remaster this one for the Switch, because I’ve often found it to be the worst of the three games so far. With that in mind, I want to give it another shot and see if my opinion has changed at all since I last completed it.

Kate Gray, Contributor
This week I’m sick which means that I gave myself permission to buy a ton of games, as well as finish off some backlog ones! I bought Lil Guardsman, Dungeon Drafters, and Core Keeper (that one’s Steam-only and Early Access for now, but it was on a big sale).

I also tried to play Paranormasight: Seven Mysteries of Honjo at last, but I didn’t realise it was SO SCARY. I am a baby when it comes to horror so I gave up about 15 minutes in. Can someone reassure me it’s not that bad (or that it’s worth it)?

Fraser Gilbert, Contributor
Hello from the world of Pure Xbox!

As the editor of Nintendo Life’s sister site, I’m obviously going to be busy playing a lot of Xbox games over the weekend, but I also wanted to wax lyrical for a moment about how much I’m adoring my 2DS right now. I’m talking about the cheap-as-chips, standard model of the 2DS. This is a bold statement, but it might be my favourite handheld of all time, and that’s including the original Game Boy, my beloved PSP, and of course, the Nintendo Switch.

With that in mind, I’m going to be playing a lot of Pocket Card Jockey (I prefer the DS version to the remaster) and the amazing Nintendo Pocket Football Club this weekend, and I’m still very slowly making my way through Pokémon X. I might even treat myself to GTA: Chinatown Wars if I can find it.

Anyway, come and say “hi” over at Pure Xbox sometime! We’d love to have you.

Craig Reid, Contributor
I am well and truly addicted to a game I initially hated. I mean, I say “hated”, hate is a strong word, but I really didn’t vibe with the Unicorn Overlord demo and uninstalled it shortly after. What’s funny is because I kept hearing from the NL team just how good the game was I decided to head on over to Amazon and buy the full freaking game, I didn’t know why, I thought I’d regret it y’know? Fast forward 20 hours of gameplay later and I am absolutely obsessed with Unicorn Overlord.

So if you’re wondering what I’ll be playing this weekend? Well, I’ll be playing Balatro.

Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor
Progress through Unicorn Overload continues at a steady pace. But the eShop fights back with the outstanding Berserk Boy, run’n’gun retro antics of Orion Haste, the incredibly addictive New Star GP, the seizure inducing Death of a Wish and the outstanding sequel Valiant Hearts: Coming Home. I am also replaying Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure on the GBA, going for a Krillin run this time.

My game of the week is Contra: Operation Galuga. Indeed Unity once again is not exactly the perfect game engine to build on Switch games, but I still manage to keep wanting to play more of this flawed but otherwise quite good Contra entry. Let’s attack aggressively indeed!

That’s what we have planned for the weekend, but what about you? Fill in the following poll with the game that you will be maining over the next few days and then slide into the comments to let us know what other titles are on the cards.