What are you playing this weekend?

It’s a long holiday weekend for many, and what better way to pass the time than with video games?

Many of you, including some of us, will be free on Friday and Monday to celebrate the Easter holiday and alongside eating Cadbury chocolates, Starburst Jelly Beans and Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs we’ll be cheering on a game or two.

Here’s what we’re getting into this Easter weekend.

Alex Donaldson, Assistant Editor – GTA 5, LEGO Star Wars, Chrono Trigger

This Easter long weekend is going to be a bit like a new backlog adventure for me. I’ve been working on a new backup file of the GTA5 Campaign, only my second since launch. This is of course inspired by the new generation update; I’m on Xbox Series X. Playing GTA Online with a bunch of cheery trolls with billions in GTA cash sounds pretty stressful, so I’m just enjoying muddying my way through the campaign.

I’m actually surprised at how impressive and futuristic this game still feels – it’s actually aged very well, character models aside. It’s making me really excited about GTA 6, which feels like a silly errand considering it’s probably quite a way away.

I’ll hack around there too LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga when I want something less stressful, and I also start another iteration of Chrono trigger, like I do here every few years. This one is of course inspired by the release of the Chrono Cross remaster – although the two games are barely related.

Connor Makar, Staff Writer – Sonic 2, Warzone

I’ll take a look at them this weekend Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with a couple of friends, this will definitely be interesting. I’m not the biggest fan of children’s movies to be honest, but I’ll still approach it with an open mind. It’s said to be pretty good, so I’m excited to see it, despite my past feelings about it.

To be honest, I’m not so sure about the games! Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 is coming out soon so I might jump in and complete some challenges that I haven’t completed yet. There is also more Genshin Impact content. What I will probably do is write down everything I should be doing before I lose several hours in League of Legends instead.

Dom Peppiatt, Features Editor – Nioh 2

I have yet to start Elden Ring; I know, I know – I feel like the only person working on games who hasn’t tried it. Even my buddies – the ones who don’t really care about gaming – are starting to talk about it all the time. As of today, however, I have a full 12 days off. So I might finally have time to venture into the Lands Between during my free time (I’m tempted to jump back into Final Fantasy 14 though, oh oh).

Before I embark on being eaten by tainted turtles my entire life—or whatever the hell is actually happening in Elden Ring—I’m going to prep my fingers and brain with a bit Nioh 2. I finished the game when it first released, but during the Great First Lockdown the UK was experiencing in 2020 I went back to flash both Nioh games on my then-new PS5. I managed to get the platinum in Nioh (for some reason), but got distracted before I could make it through game two. I’m hoping that the next week and a bit will be a good time for me to – finally – finish everything there is to see in Team Ninja’s majestic second attempt at a Souls-like one.

James Billcliffe, Gudies Editor – Chinatown Detective Agency

Hard-boiled detective work in a neon-lit near-future cyberpunk world? There’s not much left that could be my bullshit, so I’ll give it Chinatown detective agency a shot, despite the mixed reception.

There are actually a lot of these kinds of games out there, Gamedec and Foreclosed are just a few that I also have unopened installed on my hard drive and they usually deliver at least some solid futuristic ambience and fun RPG, although not worth it to the play completion.

The screens remind me of a few other games I like, 2064: Read Only Memories, Suda51’s OG point-and-click The Silver Case, and to some extent the more recent Shadowrun games. Hopefully I’ll get a good chunk of game time over the bank holiday weekend.

Kelsey Raynor, Gudies Author – Bloodborne, Kirby and the Forgotten Land

My boyfriend is absolutely keen for me to play bloodborne, except I don’t own a PlayStation. So this weekend I’m off to meet my family in Sheffield and visit a friend where I’ll no doubt spend an evening learning the ins and outs of Bloodborne.

> Whenever I have some free time, I practice self-care by playing Kirby and the forgotten landand by engaging in retail therapy.

Sherif Saed, Staff Writer – Destiny 2

although destiny 2 Often viewed as the most visible example of a long-running live service game, I see it rather differently. I was onboard the Destiny train when the original game came out early in the last generation of consoles, but my relationship with him has been on and off since the release of the numbered sequel.

Destiny 2 had just become too complicated and challenging for me to play casually, leading to my current relationship with the game; which I don’t doubt is not shared by others in the community.

These days, I enjoy new Destiny 2 content for exactly the amount of time it takes me to complete it. Once the predictable grind kicks in and the game gives you fewer and fewer opportunities to gain power, I’ll walk away and not come back for a year – then new content will come. This approach has served me quite well so far.

However, I missed the start of the Witch Queen thanks to Elden Ring. Now that I’m out of the Elden Ring hole, I’ve got Destiny 2 back in my hands. While I don’t find this campaign particularly special, I enjoy the same things that I’ve always come to Bungie’s shooter for: satisfying mechanics, rewarding progression, and spectacular sights. I’ve already finished the main quest, and this weekend I’ll turn my attention to other co-op activities that have been added since I stopped playing. If it offers matchmaking and isn’t PvP, I’ll probably like it.

Stephany Nunneley, News Editor – Pokemon Go, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

In between, drinking delicious strawberry wine, eating a big dinner of ham, eggs, potato salad, rolls, baked beans and my famous strawberry shortcake, trying and failing again and again to find someone to style my hair and apply my makeup on my wedding day i will play Pokemon Go.

Team Go Rocket’s main boss Giovanni is back and has brought Shadow Latias with him and I’m doing my best to try and defeat the bird creature. She’s proving to be a bit difficult no matter what Pokemon I use, but I want her for my Pokedex. Also, I’m still trying to find and catch Buneary with a Flower Crown and Whismur for the Spring into Spring Collection Challenge. Whismur is usually everywhere at this time of year, but not at this moment. Togetic with a flower crown is also floating around and I really want to have it. It’s just too damn expensive.

While Pokemon Go is pretty much the only game I seem to have time for lately, I plan to include it LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga because it looks pretty funny.

I usually prefer fantasy games with wizards and orcs to sci-fi, but this is a Star Wars game and like many others, I’m a fan of the series. Well, some of the films, not all. I won’t go into which ones I don’t like, but I’m sure the LEGO versions based on the films I don’t particularly care about will be pretty fun.

What are your plans this weekend? Are you chasing colored eggs or having a big family dinner? Surely you will also have time to play some games, so what are you planning to play?