What are you playing this weekend?

Billowing backpacks, Radioactive Man! Is it the weekend already? Where did the time go?

You know, why dissect it? The week is over, two days of nothing but whatever you want to do is upon you, so just enjoy it. Right? Right.

This weekend, we're actually leaving the house, playing old and current favorites, messing around with our Steam Deck, and getting our groove on.

Here's the rundown on our weekend plans:

Connor Makar, Staff Writer - Warframe and Warzone 2

This weekend I'll be doing some feature work, messaging folks, and doing a bit of relaxed writing. In terms of games, I'm still deep into Warframe, still grinding mastery levels and pumping up my Helminth. I recently bought the final syndicate-exclusive weapon that I needed this week, which basically means one of the bigger grinds of the game is now behind me. I hope to soon get the Wolf Sledge, but I doubt I'm that lucky.

I'll also be putting some more time into Warzone 2 ahead of season 2's launch in February. I'll be honest, aside from my one session a week with the game I've dropped off fairly hard, but here's hoping that the next major update can win us all back.

Dom Peppiatt, Features Editor - Final Fantasy Theatrhythm Final Bar Line demo

Yes, a demo. That’s probably what I’m going to be putting most of my time into over the next 48 hours. Why? Because I put a couple of hundred hours into both Final Fantasy Theatrhythm and Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Curtain Call on the 3DS, and could still go back now and sink even more time into each game. The prospect of a new title – one with over 380 Final Fantasy tracks in the main game alone – all dressed up and looking lush in HD on the Nintendo Switch… the prospect is liable to make me emotional.

I love music, I love rhythm games, and I love Final Fantasy. These three elements, combined in a gorgeous-looking (and sounding) package, and with some really nice input tracking and mechanics flanking it, is more than I’d ever hoped for from the series. I’d have settled with a port of Curtain Call, or something. Instead, I get a game with pretty much all the Final Fantasy music you could want, as well as tracks from Nier, TWEWY, SaGa, Live A Live and many more besides… it’s any RPG fanatics’ dream!

So I’ll be playing the Final Fantasy Theatrhythm Final Bar Line demo to death. I’ve already maxed out the characters and songs available in the generous test version of the game, and the progress from there (available on PS4/5 and Switch) can port over to the final game. So, sorry to my partners and sorry to my dog who will be there waiting for me to play with him or take him for a walk, but I’m going to be trying to get a perfect score on Man With A Machine Gun, all over again.

James Billcliffe, Features Editor - Elden Ring and others

The Steam Deck is a marvellous machine, capable of playing a huge amount of full-fat games from your Steam library at decent fidelity.

In one sense it's the ultimate backlog burner, but where's the fun in that? Surely all anyone ever uses the Steam Deck for is to buy new games and never play them, and do challenge runs of games you've played loads of times, right?

As well as HiFi Rush and Persona 3 on Game Pass, I'm currently neglecting Bayonetta (which I've never played) and Devil May Cry 5 (which I started but never finished on PS4) in favour of starting new saves on Elden Ring (I did Holy on my first playthrough so I want to try another build) and The Witcher 3 (I want to play the lesser spoken about but equally as awesome first DLC Hearts of Stone again).

Stephany Nunneley-Jackson, News Editor - visiting a neglected friend

I actually have plans to leave the house this weekend, so I won't be playing much over the weekend.

The Oddities and Curiosities Expo is coming to a town near me tomorrow, so I have taken the day off to attend this strange, macabre, traveling vendor show of sorts. Basically, it showcases dealers, artists, and small businesses from all over the country whose wares are extremely odd or maybe even off-putting. Attendees can expect loads of taxidermied animals, preserved specimens, artwork, horror and Halloween-inspired pieces, antiques, handcrafted oddities, quack medical devices, creepy clothing, strange jewelry, animal skulls/bones, funeral collectibles, and who knows what else.

The description says that all items at the shows are legal to own, and are sustainably sourced - whatever the latter means because I am still trying to figure out how a fox head or stuffed parakeet is 'sustainably sourced.'

While this sort of thing is not my usual cup of tea, my goal this year is to get out of the house more and experience new things and step out of my comfort zone a bit. I am tired of being a homebody and missing out on things. As you get older, you tend to hole yourself up in the home so much that one day, you look out your window to see life giving you the finger as it passes by - and then you cringe and start to ask yourself questions.

These questions inevitably lead to you kicking yourself in the ass for not attending the Depeche Mode concert in Nashville; grabbing tickets for the traveling Egyptian exhibit; thinking it would be too much trouble to attend the Thriller parade downtown; not being bothered enough to have lunch with your friends at that cool, new restaurant that has since shut down; or for not going with your cousin to that hippie music festival in the Appalachian hills. Things like that.

Because of this, I am going to that strange expo to see what sorts of weird things are on display. I may get dismayed at seeing all those poor, stuffed creatures, or become grossed out seeing body parts floating in jars, but it will definitely be an experience.

But, setting my existential crisis aside for a minute, Sunday I plan on firing up Lord of the Rings Online. I know I always say that I am going to play it, but to be honest, I never really do. I will plan on it and then skip it. To be honest, I haven't actually played the game in almost two years. I log in, pay the rent on our Kinhouse and my houses, check the mail, and log out. That's it.

I don't know what happened. But I honestly plan on playing it over the weekend, because I kind of miss it. Plus, I have missed out on plenty of new content, not to mention tons of festival goodies. I also need to clean my house chests and bank out to make room for items coming with the Spring Festival and the Anniversary Event this spring. I tend to hoard items in games, and outside of games too (to an extent) if I am being honest. You never know when you are going to need something. It's funny how sometimes your virtual life and real life can reflect one another, isn't it?

Those are our plans for the weekend. What about you? What are you playing this weekend? Or are you going to be busy doing something else? Share your plans with us. We are truly interested in your lives.