Welcome to the weekend!
No megaton announcements over the past seven days, but plenty going on. Nintendo revealed a new mobile game and released a Switch 2 exclusive, The Pokémon Company is looking to use government ID to combat TCG scalping in Japan, and a potential launch for Switch 1 in India might give it a shot at taking PS2’s lifetime sales crown.
Elsewhere, our friends over at Digital Foundry discovered that using GameChat can actually boost performance on Switch 2 in some games, Doinksoft’s Dark Scrolls was delayed a few weeks to avoid Mina The Hollower, and Jim went hands-on with Square’s upcoming game, Zelda The Adventures of Elliot.
Beyond games themselves, Alarmo got an update, filming on Sonic 4 wrapped, and we’ve had a spate of Lego news — official and otherwise — with a barrel-rolling tease for a Donkey Kong set and a leak of the next wave of Pokémon using Lego’s new(ish) Smart Brick. Thankfully, they look a tad more affordable than the previous sets.
Reviews-wise, we looked at Coffee Talk Tokyo (8/10), Tales of Arise (7/10), Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (6/10), R-Type Dimensions III (5/10), Bubsy 4D (7/10), and the new Bluey game (7/10).
Enough waffle. Let’s catch up with Team NL and see what’s in their slots this Saturday…
Gavin Lane, Editor
I was having a great time with Pragmata and will definitely go back, but Henry Jones Jr. dropped in and I’ve played nothing else this week. Wandering around the Vatican, pocketing pamphlets and medicine bottles, and giving Blackshirts a hiding has kept me up into the small hours. I’ve never been a huge immersive sim guy, but all the elements here are gripping me. Helluva game so far.
I’ve just arrived in Giza, so yes, Indy will be keeping me busy for a while yet. The Great Circle is still a rubbish name, though.
Alana Hagues, Deputy Editor
So, after this weekend, my WAYP entries will disappear again for a bit, as my partner and I are welcoming our first child, and taking care of other humans is hard! Video games will be firmly on the back burner.
For the time being, though, I’ll be jumping between Constance and the new Adventures of Elliot demo. I’m hoping the latter will be the perfect game to play with my daughter held close. Perhaps she’ll become an adventurer one day…
Have a good one, all!
With Alana heading off on maternity leave, it’ll be a little quieter around NL Towers for a few months whil—hold up…
Yes, he’s been lingering in the background for a couple of weeks, but please join us in officially welcoming Matthew Reynolds to Team NL!
You may have read Matt’s work at places like Eurogamer and Polygon, or on his new Pokémon site One More Catch. We’re very happy to have him filling Alana’s shoes, keeping her seat warm, and stuffing her desk drawer with Rare Candys and autocatchers for the rest of the year. Over to you, Matt…
Matthew Reynolds, Acting Deputy Editor *NEW*
I’ve picked up Mario Kart World again after a short hiatus, and was quickly reminded how captivating the open world is. My ongoing challenge of finding all P-Switches without help continues, and despite having hundreds ticked off so far, I’m still somehow finding new locations — tucked away next to train lines, or besides shipwrecks — by exploring nooks and crannies I’d previously overlooked. The variety and depth of the world is quite something.
I’d highly recommend experiencing Mario Kart World this way, as despite my love of guides nudging me in the right direction in games, I’m happy to continue drinking it in through pure discovery alone.
Elsewhere, I’m also playing Titanium Court on Steam Deck, a brilliant match-three / strategy / visual novel hybrid that won this year’s Independent Games Festival. It’s as befuddling as it sounds, especially with its capacity to derail your session with surprise new rules and mechanics. I have to be in the mood to play it, mind, but it’s largely keeping my Switch 2 at bay until I see it through to the end, as I have to know where it’s going.
Ollie Reynolds, Reviews Editor
We’re due for a heatwave in the UK this weekend, so I suspect I won’t have a lot of time for gaming as my wife and daughter drag me out into the back garden kicking and screaming. That said, I’m eager to play more Bubsy 4D and I’d like to give the new Adventures of Elliot demo a shot.
I also recently blasted through season two of the Devil May Cry anime, and it inspired me to go through the games again on PS5. The fifth entry came out in 2019, so I think we’re due a new game soon, even if Itsuno-san is no longer in the driver’s seat.
Mai Ladyman, Video Producer
Lately I’ve taken up the habit of disconnecting from the world on a Sunday and focusing on it being purely a game day. So this weekend I plan on finishing up missing explorations in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book during the day and exploring the world of Tales of Arise in the evening.
I’ve been finding some comfort in both of these games this week, likely due to nostalgia. They remind me of being a teenager again, spending some time during the weekend to see how far I can get before my school week comes back around.
No doubt I’ll be in need of a palate cleanser, so I have Sea of Solitude: Director’s Cut in my back pocket so I get my weekly dosage of ’emotional feels’.
Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor
I need to put my fedora back on and make some proper progress in Indiana Jones. I am still unsure if Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will arrive in time for this weekend’s plans (the joys of physical edition gaming), but I will for certain give the freshly patched Raiden Fighters Remix Collection a revisit.
News of Sektori being a runaway success on Switch 2 gave me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings inside… or maybe it is just the pounding bass and kick drum from the game’s OST in my chest. Warhammer 40.000: Space Marine II latest patch dropped with a brand new Operation, so duty to the Empire demands I grab a few mates for some online late-night shenanigans.
Game of the week is XGIII: Extreme-G Racing. The GameCube is never really off for long in my place, and the need for speed mixed with Ministry of Sound’s electronic hits made me revisit this underrated gem. I always loved the series and I quite welcomed the surprise addition of the very first game of the franchise on NSO. Bonus, as each bike looks straight out of TRON and/or Akira.
XGRA next week? It is certainly an option…
Those are our plans, but what about yours? Let us know what you’ll be slapping in your Switch (2) in the poll below: