TGIF: Gaming Trend’s Weekend Lineup

It’s the weekend before the Fourth of July, so happy Fourth of July, everyone! In the movie Independence Day, before the menacing aliens were about to decimate the Earth and all of its inhabitants, President Bill Pullman said, “we will not go quietly into the night!”

After years of rumination, I think I finally understand what he meant. It was that he wanted us to stay up all night and play video games. It is the only way to repel the evil alien forces. So play on, my friends! And know that you’re saving lives, both in your game world . . . and in ours.

Josh Devlin – Editor and first-time visitor to Morrowind

I’m going to be diving into The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. I hope my job title didn’t give it away. Firstly, I’m going to finish eradicating the Nazis in Wolfenstein: The New Order. Then I’ll put on my fanciest mage robes before jumping into Morrowind. I hope there are mages in that game or I’m going to feel really stupid. My goal, before the weekend is through, is to get the bear. I don’t know how, or if you even can, but I will find a way.

Sean Anthony – Editor and Excited to die in Zelda(@Sparkymuffin3)

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC, bay-bee! I’m excited to run through the Master Trials and see what kind of cool stuff I can do in Master Mode, besides die a lot. I don’t think I’ll get every shrine like I did in the base game mode, but I at least want to kick some Golden Lynell butt. Other than that, I’m totally going to be playing some Crash Bandicoot. The trilogy is out and I have some gems I need to collect!

Elisha Deogracias – Editor who’s trying to main Alisa in Tekken 7 (@katamaris4ever)

Well, I got the Tekken 7 platinum earlier in the week (oddly enough, the last trophy I unlocked before the platinum was the one where you had to deal 50,000 damage in practice mode). I’m thinking of upping my Alisa main game for it (I’m still basically terrible with most characters, but at least I can mix up my playstyle with her.) I also picked up a lot of stuff from the recent PSN and Steam sales, so I guess I’ll go play some Overcooked, Drawful 2, and Crypt of the Necrodancer this weekend!

Kyle Movius – Editor who’s still overjoyed from the TWO Metroid announcements (@OrangeKyle91)

To celebrate the announcements of Metroid Prime 4 and Samus Returns, I’ve been replaying the Prime Trilogy before it becomes a tetralogy. Revisiting the original Prime last week, I realized I had forgotten just how much backtracking there was. I love the environments, but I wish there were other ways to get to Phendrana Drifts besides just going through Magmoor Caverns every single time. I was also surprised at how well the graphics hold up, except Samus’s hair when she takes her helmet off in the >75% ending. Moving on to Prime 2: Echoes this weekend.

John Farrell-Tabletop Editor and surprised at how Nintendo is slowly eating away at his cynicism

Steeeeeaaaammmm saaaallllleeeee! It has been good to me. I now have some greats that I never got around to in their heyday but I am very excited to see what they have to offer. Lords of the Fallen, even with its “clunky souls” nickname, seems to have a great deal to give a man in need of more soulsborne in his life.

I will also be digging into Alan Wake, the horror title that made a splash when it came out but not much has been heard of since. As far as tabletop goes my friends and I will be breaking into another old classic: the Riddle of Steel, and I am sure we will be debating the new Vampire the Masquerade playtest, as well as White Wolf’s controversial statements on the recent criticism.

Hunter Wolfe – Editor EDITOR (editor)

I’ll be bunkering in my basement with some beer and zucchini enchiladas to start my second playthrough of Get Even, the first-person thriller developed by The Farm 51 that launched this week. I know where all the jump scares are now, so hopefully I won’t be as freaked out on my second run. When I get too frightened — I know it’s going to happen — I’ll just pop over to the milder experience of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. I’ll take near-future Prague over abandoned insane asylum any day.

Besides fireworks, what else might you be blowing up in the virtual space this weekend? What games are you playing?