{"id":135882,"date":"2026-01-31T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-196863"},"modified":"2026-01-31T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:00:00","slug":"talking-point-what-are-you-playing-this-weekend-31st-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/01\/31\/talking-point-what-are-you-playing-this-weekend-31st-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (31st January)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/a5edcdffc63e2\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/a5edcdffc63e2\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<figure class=\"picture\" data-uuid=\"a5edcdffc63e2\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Tomodachi Life\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/a5edcdffc63e2\/tomodachi-life.large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/a5edcdffc63e2\/tomodachi-life.900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" alt=\"Tomodachi Life\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Well done, everyone! We finally made it to the end of January! There was quite a bit of Nintendo news this week, so we&#8217;re sure everyone will enjoy kicking back with a couple o&#8217; games over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>We were treated to yet another Nintendo Direct this week, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/tomodachi_life_living_the_dream\">Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream<\/a> taking the spotlight. It looked really rather sweet, all in all, and it was nice to get some confirmation on the game&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/01\/tomodachi-life-living-the-dreams-price-and-box-art-have-been-revealed\">price<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/01\/tomodachi-life-living-the-dream-moves-in-on-switch-1-this-april\">release date<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/guides\/tomodachi-life-living-the-dream-nintendo-direct-every-announcement-how-would-you-rate-it\">features<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, we bid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/01\/reminder-todays-your-last-day-to-buy-switch-game-vouchers\">farewell to Switch Game Vouchers<\/a>, caught up with a load of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/dispatch\">Dispatch<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/01\/psa-dispatchs-visual-censorship-settings-cant-be-removed-on-switch\">censorship drama<\/a>, watched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/splatoon_3\">Splatoon 3<\/a> get new health bars in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/01\/splatoon-3-ver-11-0-0-update-launches-this-week-here-are-the-full-patch-notes\">latest update<\/a>, and checked out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/01\/nintendo-announces-launch-line-up-for-switch-online-virtual-boy\">Virtual Boy&#8217;s NSO launch line-up<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So then, what&#8217;s everybody playing?<\/p>\n<p><!-- cache: html:nintendolife.com\/ssl\/nintendo-switch\/related-articles:196818 @ 1769904194 --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"block object-related\"> <\/aside>\n<h2>Gavin Lane, Editor<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch-2\/animal-crossing-new-horizons-nintendo-switch-2-edition\">ACNH<\/a> done got me again. It&#8217;s like a transporter incident has sent me back to 2020 and I&#8217;m once again finding solace in New Horizons&#8217; custom design tool, slowly crafting Star Trek-related patterns for my own amusement, watching hours zoom by as I move a single &#8216;pixel&#8217; one square to the left and check the result. <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/dartmonkey.bsky.social\/post\/3mdntjiik6k2h\">It&#8217;s a happy place.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m steadily turning my upstairs room into Ten Forward, although I&#8217;m painfully aware that in the game somewhere, there must be better furniture to customise and more accurate green drinks to craft, which I just haven&#8217;t found yet. I&#8217;ve even taken to working through the dreary DLC, hoping to access more cool items. Send help.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube with-primis\" data-videoid=\"OFXtVS54GLI\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OFXtVS54GLI?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\"><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>Kate Gray, Contributor<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been playing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/hundred_line_-_last_defense_academy\">Hundred Line<\/a> for what feels like one hundred years, and I&#8217;ve JUST seen my first real indication that Uchikoshi is up to his usual nonsense. I knew he was, that crafty devil! It&#8217;s so good, although I will say that A) it must have been a nightmare to review, and B) you can really tell where the frosting gets a bit thin. They&#8217;ve definitely shaved the plot almost to nothing in some places just to achieve the illusion of overall fullness. But, eh, I don&#8217;t mind! The bits that aren&#8217;t thin are pretty darn great, and there&#8217;s more writing in this than I&#8217;ve probably read in a year.<\/p>\n<p>Other than that, I bought a few cheapy games in the Steam Sale \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3862670\/Shelldiver\/\">Shelldiver<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3069810\/Rocket_Rats\/\">Rocket Rats<\/a>, most notably, from the same developer. They&#8217;re well-polished little incremental games, and they very much give me the feeling that this developer has what amounts to a well-oiled factory machine for making incremental games in his head. I bet he can crank these out as soon as he has the inkling of a new idea. Honestly, I have such a huge respect for developers that can do that! Making games in a particular genre is like working out a muscle \u2014 it sucks and hurts and takes forever at first, but then it becomes second nature. Having the basic frameworks already built helps a lot, too!<\/p>\n<p>Oh, god, I just read that the developer is only 25. Gonna go lie down and have an existential crisis. Gagonfe, if you&#8217;re reading this, I HOPE YOU&#8217;RE HAPPY.<\/p>\n<h2>Mai Ladyman, Video Producer<\/h2>\n<p>I reckon it&#8217;s pretty predictable what my games will be this week! After rolling credits on Dispatch, I know I&#8217;ll be diving back in this weekend in an attempt to change up my ending and explore more of the what-ifs from my original playthrough. Knowing me, I&#8217;ll likely rummage the eShop for some Telltale Games I may have missed out. Other than that, it&#8217;s likely another weekend of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/pokemon_legends_z-a\">Pok\u00e9mon Legends: Z-A<\/a> or finally starting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/3ds\/tomodachi_life\">Tomodachi Life<\/a> on my trusty 2DS when it arrives!<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube with-primis\" data-videoid=\"JDRJCVNGIj4\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JDRJCVNGIj4?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\"><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>Gon\u00e7alo Lopes, Contributor<\/h2>\n<p>Made my way to chapter 9 of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch-2\/final-fantasy-vii-remake-intergrade\">Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade<\/a>, loving it! But being a confused antisocial military bad boy who somehow is the love interest of three brilliant non-existent women is not the only fun way to spend the weekend: I have picked up <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/283160\/House_of_the_Dying_Sun\/\">House of the Dying Sun<\/a> on PC, and it is brilliant! I always loved the <strong>Starblade<\/strong> \/ <strong>Star Fox<\/strong> untextured polygon aesthetic, and this game takes it to the absolute extreme with combined fleet micro management. <strong>Rumble Roses XX<\/strong> is proving to be a rather solid wrestling title, but a bit too much of a grind for my tastes. It will take me forever to unlock the playable roster, but it does help that I was a fan of the PS2 original. It remains better than the current Switch 2 offerings.<\/p>\n<p>My game of the week is GRID Legends: Gold Edition. I will finally fully recover my investment on the GameCube controller for Switch 2 because no way I will ever play this without the analogue triggers. I was oblivious that the story mode for this uses old-school full-motion video and actors, which gives it a bit of nostalgic charm. I will be spending the next few weeks quite entertained in the virtual tarmac.<\/p>\n<h2>Jim Norman, Staff Writer<\/h2>\n<p>Last week was good timing for picking up a copy of Tomodachi Life, eh? Yes, I&#8217;ve been diving back into the 3DS original over the last few days, and I had forgotten how much I love this silly little game! I&#8217;ve scanned in all of the celebs (obviously), and have been dropping in every day to see what&#8217;s happening with Reggie, Shaq, Christina Aguilera, Miyamoto and&#8230; Zendaya? I caught Aonuma rolling around his apartment floor the other day. GOTY stuff, right there.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube\" data-videoid=\"uZEyOzIjR-I\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uZEyOzIjR-I?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\"><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>Alana Hagues, Deputy Editor<\/h2>\n<p>While a chunk of my time has been spent playing a game for review (more on that next week), Animal Crossing has taken up most of my Switch 2 gaming. We&#8217;ve been snowed in basically all week here in central Ohio, so not much good trying to go out and have a social life.<\/p>\n<p>But I&#8217;ve mainly been catching up on an RPG white whale, which I&#8217;m shocked isn&#8217;t on Switch: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pushsquare.com\/games\/ps1\/valkyrie_profile\" class=\"external\">Valkyrie Profile<\/a>. What a weird, cool game \u2014 triAce esoterica aside, I love the tone and combat here. It&#8217;s perfect for handheld play. Thank goodness for the PlayStation Portal&#8230; I&#8217;m eyeing up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch-2\/mio-memories-in-orbit\">MIO: Memories in Orbit<\/a>, but February is looking stacked. So we&#8217;ll see. Keep warm, folks!<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em>That&#8217;s our plans for the coming weekend. Now it&#8217;s your turn to tell us yours, so make sure to get busy with our poll, and let us know all about your weekend gaming plans in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image: Nintendo Life Well done, everyone! We finally made it to the end of January! There was quite a bit of Nintendo news this week, so we&#8217;re sure everyone will enjoy kicking back with a couple o&#8217; games over the weekend. We were treated to yet another Nintendo Direct this week, with Tomodachi Life: Living [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}