What are you playing this weekend? (April 23)

phew! It’s been a damn week, hasn’t it? At least it feels like spring now, but our eyes are on summer with the list 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 nice September 9th. Oh, and Sonic Origins is also locked for June 23rd, but not without some controversy over those pre-orders. And while it’s been rumored for ages, we have more concrete evidence that Game Boy and GBA games are likely coming to Nintendo Switch Online at some point.

Now it’s time to chill and discuss our game plans for the weekend. A few MMembers of the Nintendo Life team have done just that below, so don’t hesitate to read our posts and then join in with your own via our comments section. Enjoy!

Thomas Whitehead, Associate Editor

I’m finishing up a review for Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles over the weekend, but my first thoughts are that it’s a beautiful and clever puzzler. When I’m not working on finishing this, I continue my journey through triangle strategy, which is great for taking breaks and getting that old chess brain working a bit.

Elsewhere I’ve just started Shadow of the Tomb Raider and have completed a steady run through the prequel trilogy. So far it’s really good, just fun Indiana Jones style popcorn games. It also focuses more on puzzles and tombs than combat, which I’m fine with!

Ollie Reynolds, staff writer

Hey guys! This weekend the family and I are taking a little break in Wales. Does that mean there will be no games? Hahaha, of course not; I’ll take my Switch with me. I recently played The Sinking City on the PS5 and enjoyed it so much I decided to launch it on the Switch too! The tone and narration are right up my alley, so I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into it (ha).

Alana Hagues, staff writer

My game this weekend will be completely influenced by this week’s news. The whole Sonic Origins thing got me wanting to replay some classic Sonic games. Sonic Mania is on the table, of course – it’s for the best, after all. My GameCube on release day is also hooked up, so I’ll be digging out the Sonic Mega Collection so I can play through these classics without the argument baggage of the pre-order.

I’ve also had an ongoing playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, which has been burning since… it came out. So I should probably come back to that. Don’t worry, I’ve beat Xenoblade Chronicles before – even 100% – but I left my Switch playthrough hanging in the balance in Eryth Sea. Am I telling myself not to do every side quest? Yes. am I listening? Check back in a week.

Kate Gray, Staff Writer

This week while I was sick I played A LOT of Slay The Spire. I still haven’t slain the Spire though, so please wish me luck on my next Ironclad run!

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

Austin Voigt, Contributor

This weekend will be another look at the old backlog! I have a bad habit of playing about halfway through a game and then dropping it when something new and shiny comes out… I’m planning Luigi’s Mansion 3, Paper Mario: The Origami King, New Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Shining to get Pearl out. But also Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Triangle Strategy. Lots to play as always!

PJ O’Reilly, staff writer

Hi. This weekend I’ll be polishing up some outstanding little things in the excellent Switch port of Zombie Army 4: Dead War. Really enjoyed re-blow this one on Switch and have just a few stickers left to collect to complete my album and 100% of all collectibles.

Elsewhere, I’ve taken the advice of trusted friends and picked up both The House in Mirage and Shadowverse: Champions Battle, so I certainly have plenty to keep me busy for the next few days. Have a great weekend whatever you do or play!

Gonçalo Lopes, Reviewer

Still a lot of messing around with that A500 miniwith a vicious running Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe League still scrubbing at the bottom department 2 but with a selection of traded star players added to the roster, things are looking up. Late game Kirby and the Forgotten Land as well as the physical arrivals of Haven and Rigid Force Redux keep things entertaining this weekend.

Game of the week Arcade Archives Gaplus (aka galaga 3 in the USA). I used to be so much better at it… my player pride has been insulted with my poor efforts since this week’s re-release, so it’s time to get back to that this weekend.

As always, thanks for reading! Leave us a comment below with your game plans for the weekend!