Kotaku’s Weekend Guide: 4 Awesome Games We’re Jumping Back Into

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S/, Windows PCs
Current goal: Defeat the Darkdrift Knight: Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow.

I can’t stop playing Elden Ring: Nightreign. I can’t remember the last time I was this hooked by a multiplayer game. Maybe Destiny 2’s Season of the Splicer? That was four years ago. I’m only 60 hours into Nightreign and it just keeps getting better. The more I learn about the world and its quirks, the better I get, the more I’m able to learn, the further I get in each Nightlord boss fight, and the even better I get, the more Nightlords I take down. Never has spending 45 minutes just to botch a run in the home stretch, either because I got greedy and died at the castle or we got overconfident and put in our place by a night two boss, been so exhilarating.

Instead of feeling defeated at 1:00 a.m., I rush to dive back in, knowing I’ll regret it in the morning but eager to break through the next milestone. Despite all of its modern influences, from MOBAs to Fortnite, it’s this aspect of Nightreign that makes it feel like a classic arcade experience with friends. If I sound breathlessly hyped about this game it’s probably because we finally beat the Equilibrious Beast last night, otherwise known as Libra Creature of Night. I have a million other things to play, including more Mario Kart World on my Switch 2, but three weeks after launch Nightreign still has me obsessed. — Ethan Gach

Play it on: Switch 2
Current goal: Finish it for the first time ever

As I recently lamented, I have never seen the end of one of my favorite video games, Metroid Prime. I couldn’t beat Meta Ridley. I tried as many times as my patience allowed in 2002, and then just gave up. I’ve been cross about it ever since.

With the arrival of my Switch 2, and the weird lack of a single-player launch game, I started a bunch of Switch 1 games I’d bought in sales, or out of impulse on launch, and never gotten around to, flitting hither and thither, until I booted up Metroid Prime Remastered. I’d bought that the moment it was released in 2023, briefly played the beginning, and then accidentally moved on. The moment I started it again this week, I was hooked. On the Switch 2 it looks so utterly lovely, the load times are almost gone, and oh my goodness, what’s this? A “Casual” mode?!

I beat Meta Ridley last night. I’m not sure it was any great achievement, given how much lower the difficulty was. I had found so many health upgrades that I was pretty much able to just hammer him with the Plasma Beam, with a bit of dodging here and there. And yet, on some level, I did feel like I’d addressed a 23-year-old gripe. Take that, you metal-winged fuckface.

I think my ideal version of this game would be Normal difficulty for most of the game, and Casual when fighting the bosses, but only because I get no enjoyment from boss fights and just want them to be over. Much of the rest of the game’s combat, however, ended up feeling like busywork rather than an entertaining challenge. Also, good gravy, I’d forgotten how much trekking back and forth there is in that game. I hate those stupid lava pits!

Anyway, the plan this weekend is to finish it entirely, for the very first time. It’s already become far more irritating: those stupidly annoying Metroids to bat off endlessly, when I’m trying to enjoy leaping around the levels, have already got me peeved. But I shall finally defeat this beast, even if it is because I’m playing on baby mode. — John Walker

Play it on: Switch 2
Current goal: Run laps around these motherfuckers

“Is Ken secretly cracked at Mario Kart?” my friend asks over a Discord voice chat as we’re racing in Mario Kart World. Yes, reader, I am.

I’ve never actually owned most of Nintendo’s favorite plumber’s kart racing games, but growing up, I played dozens of hours of Double Dash on my friends’ GameCubes. However, my true Mario Kart love was the DS game, which my friends and I would play every morning in our high school gym as we waited for classes to begin. So while I’ve only dabbled in entries like Mario Kart 8 and the motion-controlled Wii game, if you put a controller in my hands and a koopa shell on the back of my kart, my muscle memory kicks in quick. I’m rolling around at the speed of sound in Mario Kart World. I’ve quietly pivoted from a Bowser main to a Luigi main because I love universal healthcare and hot Italian men. Although if I find the Koopa King’s leather daddy costume, I might go back to the old me. — Kenneth Shepard

Play it on: Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs
Current goal: Finish it, maybe?

Early on in my time with Avowed, I knew this was going to be an “I need to do everything” game. A fantasy adventure with open spaces to explore and tons of sidequests and random things to discover? Yeah, time sink if there ever was one.

But though I spent many hours in love with Avowed, it was hard to get to the finish line because, a) I didn’t want the game to end, and b) I was just too busy collecting everything and finishing every possible sidequest. The constant activity has resulted in some great gear and high levels for my characters…but I still haven’t reached the credits just yet.

Then life took over and I drifted from the game while I tended to other things and checked out more of what this surprisingly great year for games has to offer. This weekend though, I’m going back to Eora hopefully to finish up Avowed. Although, there’s a slight chance I might dig into Pillars of Eternity instead. With Avowed being my first introduction to Obsidian’s beautifully-written fantasy world, I might want to go back and experience the game where it all started.

And that wraps our picks for the weekend. Happy gaming!