Week: End Game: On 05.15.2016

Welcome to another installment of Week: End Game: On! What games are the staff playing this weekend? Read on to find out!

Marc Deschamps

The curse of being a gamer often means an overwhelming desire to start up a new game, even when you’ve got about ten more to finish. On Wii U, I’m still playing Shovel Knight and the twin Star Fox titles, but, after seeing the fantastic Captain America: Civil War, I felt compelled to crack the shrink-wrap off Lego Avengers on Wii U. I reviewed it on 3DS a little while back, but I snagged the console version when it went on sale a few weeks ago. It’s a fun game, and I’m enjoying my time with it, but it does give me more of an appreciation for what Warner Bros. and Traveller’s Tales pulled off on the handheld iteration. This particular version has quite a bit more to offer, though, so I’m excited to really sink some time into it.

This week, I took down the Elite 4 in Pokémon Red and caught Mewtwo in the Unknown Dungeon. With those milestones completed, I have a decision to make: with my Pokédex at 83 Pokemon caught, should I continue trying to catch all 150, or move on to another game? It’s hard to believe it, but I’ve sank more than 30 hours into this game since it re-released in February! I completed the ‘dex back in the day, but it’s been a long time since I’ve caught them all in any version. Its portable nature makes it easy to pick up and play for just 30-60 minutes each night (a godsend for someone with a one-year-old), but I do own a few other 3DS games I could get around to. I’ve been tempted to jump into The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. I kinda like the idea of going from one 1998 release to another!

This weekend also features another Splatfest competition, so I know I’ll sink some time into that. It’s just too hard to stay away from Splatoon for too long! I wish this game kept track of the time you put into it. I’d really love to see how many hours I’ve sank into the game since it released last year!

Having bought the Friends of Nintendo Humble Bundle last week, I have started playing the 2012 3DS game Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure. I missed out on this gem back when it released, so I’m really glad that this gave me an incentive to go back and try it. I haven’t got very far yet, but the songs in it are fantastic and if you enjoy the rhythm based action of games like Theatrhythm, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go if you haven’t already.

Outside of that, I’m still wading through my giant backlog of PC games and have come to the conclusion that I will never get through them all– especially not with exciting games like X-Com 2 and the upcoming Total War: Warhammer to play. And, of course, if that wasn’t enough, it’s not long now until Fire Emblem Fates (another great looking strategy game) gets released in the UK. I have a very strong feeling that that’s what I’ll be playing next week!

Anthony Pelone

I swear, I can never escape from the clutches of Animal Crossing: New Leaf! I always got bummed out whenever I left the game alone for a few days and a favorite villager had moved out (why, Del, why?!?), but I just keep coming back to it. So even now, I’m back in the grind of collecting Bells, catching elusive bugs, smacking boring villagers I don’t want with my Bug Net (hehe) and observing the daily routines of Hazel the Unibrow Squirrel. It’s tough being the mayor. It helps that I’m playing Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, too. I don’t know about you guys, but I find it highly amusing to design public buildings as torture dungeons (bedside skeletons for every hospital patient!)

Also, have I ever mentioned I could playPikmin 3 forever if I wanted to? The game’s beautiful, gorgeous, lovely, awe-inspiring aesthetic alone sends me into sweet reverie every time I play it, and I’m currently on my fourth playthrough. This summer, I’m going to make it my mission to finally nab all the Platinum Medals in the Mission Mode! Actually, I think I’m going to go to play the game now.

I haven’t been playing a lot of games recently because I’m contributing to the standards to which society upholds me, but I have been getting some in here and there. I recently scored a copy of EarthBound. Like, a real one. The one that costs $200 on eBay? Yeah, that one. I got one.

Anyway, I’ve been playing it for some time and I had forgotten how much I love this game and why it’s my second favorite video game of all time. The game progresses in a slow way, which is a world of difference from games released today. Even Pokémon, which is inspired heavily by EarthBound, finds some way to incorporate a “bad guy problem” early on. EarthBound just has some bad dudes doing some shady stuff, so you go beat them with bats and fists.

I made get myself involved with Star Fox Zero if my life can permit enough time to do so. So far, I own the game and have placed it on a shelf. We’ll see if I can open it and play it before the NX launches.

Robert Marrujo

Despite working some very wonky hours, I’ve been squeezing in some time with my 3DS this past week. A friend of mine came over my place a week ago and played Shovel Knight, and ever since watching her take on the Order of No Quarter, I’ve been plugging away at the game ever since. I loved Shovel Knight back when it first came out and I feel the same way now. It’s a brilliant retro-themed platformer that manages to feel old and new at the same time, pushing the platform we genre forward while simultaneously paying respect to its past. Plus, who can resist that animation of Shovel Knight digging around in treasure chests?!

Beyond that game, though, I’ve been enjoying Sega 3D Classics Collection. The games are ridiculously fun and the way M2 has remastered everything is sublime. It feels like genuine fans got hold of all these games and were given the chance to polish them up, and that affection really shines through in the finished product. Sonic is of course my favorite in the collection; yeah, I know, I’m boring, but what can I say, the hedgehog is near and dear to me and his first adventure is still one of his best!

What games are you playing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!