The Video Games You Should Play This Weekend – November 7

With the digital launch of the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined issue this week, which I wrote the cover story for, my head continues to be in a Dragon Quest space. Yesterday, while I was writing an upcoming Dragon Quest history breakout story from my 90-minute interview with series creator Yuji Horii, I learned that the original Dragon Quest is available to purchase on Switch (and playable on Switch 2), and it's on sale for $2.99 until November 20! As someone who's been consuming a lot of Dragon Quest content this month, I was thrilled to stumble across this – I had no idea I could play the original Dragon Quest so easily on my Switch 2 (and for so cheap, too)!

Anyway, it's definitely an RPG from the 1980s, but man, if there isn't something incredibly charming about playing such a now-primitive game. It's a reminder of how important it is not only to look forward as someone who loves video games, but also sometimes to look back and dive into the past. It's been an illuminating experience so far playing this classic, and I recommend you do the same if you're looking forward to one day jumping into the recently released Dragon Quest I & II: HD-2D Remake (I still gotta finish III) and the upcoming Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. 

While you could certainly go old-school and dig into an older version if you're looking for the pure experience (see Wesley's entry above), the brand-new HD-2D remake of the first two Dragon Quest games is a phenomenal way to experience these games, whether it's a return trip or a first visit. The new visuals are vibrant and exciting, the musical score feels epic and classic, and the adventure itself makes it clear why these games helped to launch the entire JRPG phenomenon. While simple and trope-filled in many ways, the storytelling is engaging and fun, while the combat and exploration establish the tone you'll recognize from many other later games that often didn't do it as well. Even as these two remakes do a great job of recalling the originals, there's also a wealth of updates across everything from dialogue to quality-of-life features and more. It's precisely what this duology should be - a fantastic rebuild of a couple of foundational classics.

I am eager to dive into Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment both for fun and for review (keep an eye out for that soon!) this weekend. I generally like musou games. I have reviewed quite a few during my time here at Game Informer, including at least one Dynasty Warriors, the first Hyrule Warriors, and both of the Dragon Quest Heroes games. I also reviewed the second Fire Emblem Warriors game for GameSpot during my time there. I am mainly just eager to be back in the world of Tears of the Kingdom, even if it's a spinoff. I will say, though, that I found the previous Hyrule Warriors game, Age of Calamity, to be a huge narrative disappointment. I really, really dislike the ending of that game. I won't spoil it here, but the developers at Omega Force (and Nintendo is to be blamed, as well) had the opportunity to create an incredible, and potentially stirring, lead-in to Breath of the Wild, one of the greatest games of all time, and they completely whiffed it. I am really hoping a similar mistake isn't made for Age of Imprisonment. I will let you know soon!

As the year winds down, I've been venturing back to The Bazaar, an auto-battling pseudo-deckbuilder I got into, then out of, throughout the course of 2025. It's been through some ups and downs in development, and I figured, why not see where it's at as we deliberate over end-of-the-year topics?

Things change and still stay the same. The Bazaar has a lot of alterations, mostly to how its progression and randomness are applied throughout runs, and what levers players have to control it as they match up against others throughout each day. The new character Jules has a fascinating mechanic where items on her board change properties depending on whether they're hot or cold, which throws a wrench (in a good way) into board-state planning. I'm not sure if I'm back at the fever pitch I was with The Bazaar compared to earlier this year, but I do think it's worth dipping back in if you fell off, just to see how Tempo has updated it over the last few months. It's made for a nice end-of-day wind-down game.