What are you playing this weekend? (August 6)

It’s been a busy week for Nintendo fans, and for us at Nintendo Life! Not only has Mario Kart 8 Deluxe wave 2 finally dropped, but Game Freak and The Pokémon Company have given us plenty of news on Pokémon Scarlet & Violet! Nintendo also released its first quarter financial results, where it reported a drop in overselling.

And while some of us really want more Mario Kart DLC tracks like Baby Park, others of us are feeling pretty excited about the new Pokemon details. Finally, we all have a few games on our Switch that are hard to categorize, so why not check out our list of the best games that don’t really have a genre? Or have multiple genders? They’re just hard to categorize. Unique, let’s say.

Now is the time to relax and discuss our weekend game plans. a few mMembers of the Nintendo Life team have done so below, so feel free to read our entries and then join yours via our comments section. Enjoy!

Alana Hagues, Writer

It’s been a full week of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and it should continue this weekend. At 40 hours, I’m a bit in chapter 4, and I’m not bored at all. The side quests are brilliant, the combat is almost entirely open at this point, the characters and story are fantastic, and the music is then good. Every time I do a chain attack, I wanna jump out of my seat and cheer thanks to this music.

So Xenoblade 3 is phenomenal and practically impossible to put down, yes, but I think I’m also going to challenge my Mario Kart 8 Deluxe partner. The new courses are pretty good, so I’m excited to play them online with him (and beat him, of course).

Ollie Reynolds, Editor

So you know I said last week that I won’t be getting Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for the foreseeable future? Well, I lied. It’s not my fault though! I had a very busy week and kinda forgot it was my birthday, so I used some money for my birthday and downloaded Xenoblade a few days ago. I’m not far off, but I just beat my first Elite Monster, so I guess you could say I’m a bit of an expert at this point. I absolutely love it so far, though; the more mature tone of the narrative is a stark contrast to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which I didn’t really get along with.

Elsewhere, Cyberpunk 2077 finally hooked me. I bought it back on Xbox launch day, but it clearly wasn’t ready for prime time yet, so I got a full refund through Microsoft. Now that it’s been updated for current-gen systems, I bought it again (at a discount, might I add), and wow, it’s a completely different experience! I think it’s such a shame that CDPR didn’t give themselves enough time to get the game in the right state for launch, because that could have been a game-changer. As it is, it’s an amazing game that feels a bit like an underdog now.

Kate Gray, Editor

I’m in Montreal this weekend, cat sitting for a friend, so I only have my Switch… and access his PS5.

I’m still playing Rune Factory 4 and just passed what I think is Act 1, but I can try Demon’s Souls too!

As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend game plans!