What Are You Playing This Weekend? (20th June)

Let’s keep that chilled vibe going into the weekend, shall we>

Jim Norman, Features Editor

What do you know, I’m still having a wonderful time in my Ocarina of Time replay. I’m up to the Forest Temple now (the score for which still creeps me out, I might add) and I’m showing no signs of slowing down. Am I actually going to finish it up before starting all over again with the new edition later this year? We’ll see!

Then again, I was just notified that Lorelei and the Laser Eyes currently has a tasty 50% eShop discount with a free Switch 2 upgrade. That one has been on my wishlist for ages, so it may sideline the playthrough a little. Hey ho!

Mai Ladyman, Video Producer

Since diving into Rise of the Tomb Raider for the video, I’ve found myself returning to it nearly every night this week. Suffice it to say, I see myself raiding more tombs and sweeping up collectables this weekend. Considering the sheer amount of relics there are to find and tombs to explore, it hasn’t overwhelmed me in the slightest.

My other half and I have also been playing a lot of Forza Horizon 6 lately, which isn’t a game I thought I’d enjoy, but here we are. Lately, I’ve been driving about in a Kirby or Animal Crossing-skinned Porsche, so I don’t feel so bad playing a non-Nintendo game. At least I’m representing.

Ollie Reynolds, Reviews Editor

I’m currently working my way through [REDACTED] for review, so hopefully I’ll have some thoughts up on the site very soon. Otherwise, I’m done and dusted with Ocarina of Time and I feel pretty well prepared for the remake (though a cheeky 3D playthrough might also be on the cards soon), so this weekend will be dedicated to Xenoblade Chronicles.

I’m not gonna lie, I think I might actually wind up playing the entire mainline trilogy again on Switch 2 this year. We’ll see though… There are a lot of games on the horizon.

Gavin Lane, Editor

The kids and I have gotten back into Mario Kart World recently, and with summer holidays fast approaching, I’ve invested in some of those Joy-Con 2 steering wheels for them – if they arrive over the weekend, we’ll be taking them for a spin.

Beyond that, a bit of Kirby, a bit of Indy, and a bit of frantically tidying my gaming gear in the basement ahead of an Ikea delivery. Have a good one, folks.

Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor

I have been playing Virtua Striker 3 ver. 2002 for well over two decades, and something quite peculiar happened: An unfortunate goalie bump slowly sent the ball to the back of the net for a very awkward own goal. Then, one of his defender teammates ran straight to him and gave him a good shove! I was like “Wait, did that just really happen?”, clipped the video, uploaded it online and asked if anyone else had seen this. I got my answer the next day: over 100k views. World Cup fever is very real!

Package from the far East arrived, so it’s all shooting for the rest of the weekend: Söldner X Complete Collection, Psyvariar 3, the incredible FZ: Formation Z (loved the original on Famiclo… erm, Famicom) and a couple of my old PSP favourites that got a fresh coat of paint: R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos. I’ve never played the second game properly, so it is time to fix that.

My game of the week is The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. You give me an action RPG with heavy vibes of Zelda, Mana and Soulblazer with a generous splash of HD-2D and much like the demo proved, I will be front and centre to pick it up on release. Will take my time to savour this one.

A footnote, if I may: I have concluded my months-old conundrum with a somewhat dubious financial decision – I will indeed partake in the whole Neo Geo AES+ madness. I consider it an investment in both my past and future gamer-self (…or another middle-aged crisis, take your pick).