Weekend Gaming Playlist (10-28-22)

November nears. As the holidays rear their wallet-sapping head, we must hunker down and prepare for the onslaught of autumn’s end and the winter to come. This particular year will close out with another installment in the Pokemon franchise, arguably its largest yet. We can’t ignore the new Square Enix RPG Harvestella on the horizon, however, and Sonic Frontiers is another Switch release worth checking out, if only to see how that open zone gameplay manages to perform on Nintendo’s little console that could. And how could we forget the swaths of indie titles yet to drop on the eShop?

If you want to be ready for those games, you’ll need to clear out your backlog, and that means putting together a good weekend playlist. This is what I have queued up to clear out of the way, lest I find myself unprepared to tackle another Game Freak.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

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Step aside, Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Move over, Pokemon Legends Arceus. Hey, Triangle Strategy, take notes. This is the tactical RPG of the year, once again helmed by the passionate and creative Davide Soliani. Okay, so we’re clearly over-exaggerating here, but if you enjoyed the first game in this bizarre crossover series, this new installment strips away the grid so that characters can freely explore environments and plot out their attacks. It also adds some killer tracks from veteran RPG composer Yoko Shimomura, whose work adds an epic air to the usual Rabbid shenanigans. I’m only about 25% finished with the main campaign, but I absolutely adore the customization on display, as well as some wild (albeit broken) character builds. I haven’t added Bowser to the roster yet, but I’m hoping he’s not too far off!

Sea Horizon

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I am the guy who plays deck building games on this site, and Sea Horizon, though not exactly a deck-building roguelite, definitely falls into that camp. The random factor here are the faces on the dice you roll each turn, which reveal different kinds of mana you can use to execute different attacks. Now, you might think a playable character gains more dice upon level up, similar to something like Dicey Dungeons, but dice are actually informed by the equipment you put onto a character, with attacks unlocking upon level up, instead. Factor in special passive equipment traits and a slew of narrative and free form exploratory modes, and this is a surprisingly lengthy and diverse title, all wrapped up with a figurine-style aesthetic similar to For the King. Hey, I have to flex my genre knowledge somehow, right? Keep an eye out for further coverage and a review soon to come on the site.

Nier:Automata The End of YorHa Edition

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Regardless of how I feel about Square Enix, I can’t deny that they’ve been killing it on the Nintendo Switch this year. With Triangle Strategy and LIVE A LIVE earlier in the year and Harvestella still to come, they’ve shown that they’re more than just Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest- oh, hey, isn’t there a spinoff coming from the latter franchise this year, too…? But for a Nintendo-only console owner, the release of Nier:Automata has been a much anticipated release, only further boasted by how well the game has been ported to the system. With that said, I’m not the biggest fan of Platinum action combat, and the game really does leave the player to their own devices in its opening hours. All this hasn’t exactly gripped me just yet, but the continued buzz about the quality of this game’s story has me too curious to give it up. I’ll try to make some more progress, but Mario + Rabbids is just too fun to play…

That’s what I’ve got planned for this weekend. Are you playing through any of these games? Got any Mario + Rabbids character builds you want to share? Looking to hear more about Sea Horizon? Do you think you know what’s going on in Yoko Taro’s mind? Whether you’ve got answers or just want to share your personal playlist feel free to comment here or on any one of our social media channels. Either way, have a great weekend!