AJWolfTill

I'm actually welling up. I've been waiting for this for so long and to get a review that generally read like a 10 has been so cathartic given all the doom mongering about this 🥲

@romando
This may be a fairly cookie cutter Ubisoft/AAA game in terms of design but I don't think this is 'average' in terms of graphics and lighting.
I haven't played it myself but I heard multiple podcasters were really taken aback by how realistic and gorgeous a lot of things like the snow and wind effects were.

@dskatter
As an early adopter of the Wii U this actually doesn't suprise me. I feel Ubi actually put a lot of effort into that system out the gate what with Zombi U as an underrated launch game, lots of good quality ports and Rayman Legends originally being intended as a Wii U exclusive.

Switch gen was maybe less apparent although the Mario +Rabbids games are genuinely great and the Star Fox X Starlink stuff made the Switch the definitive version) but that might be more due to the fact that everyone else wanted to put their games on it.

God, that was a whole can of worms wasn't it!
Hellena seemed to be pretty misguided and somewhat dishonest about the whole situation but the moment she started throwing shade at Jennifer Hale it became pretty hard to get behind her.

Who would have thought the two longest awaited and teased Switch games would both go through controversies about voice acting.

This is the first I've heard that Sylux will be voice acted! So strange that they've only shown him standing or hovering silently so far.

Having a soundtrack radio while driving the motorbike sounds cool but I'm not paying for a new Amiibo just for that.

I thought for sure this was dead.
Whatever the work put into this game ends up being released in, I find it hard to believe it will still bare the name of Beyond Good and Evil.

I guess Skull and Bones did eventually release even though I don't think anyone was ever excited about it.

Be cool if we got some concerts out of this, I missed the last one!

I like to have a selection of games ready to play so I do get that excessively large download sizes are a detriment.

However it's pretty lamentable that we are so hooked on convenience that so many people are unable to handle focussing on 256-512 GB worth of games at a time and just removing and redownloading things as they need them.
Seriously, how many games are people juggling at a time XD

@Megaz23 @LightSpirit
Large parts of the UK internet went down.

I've never played this series but I've always been curious to give it a go.
There is a beauty to hand drawn animation in games that adds wonder to simple things.

@Nailz
Bear in mind that these are on-set photos not stills from the film. They are to show off the actors in costume not indicate the look of the film itself.

American's, you elected a group of people that think that telling children that some people are gay endangers and corrupts them.

Maybe don't be surprised when big companies like Nintendo don't take feel like takings risks with content that actively sexualises them.

@calbeau
You'd think so but there are people here who get so up in arms by the slightest de-sexualisation of teenage characters between regions that they bring it up whenever the game in question is mentioned as a reason to boycott.

Sounding positive to me, I liked the increased contact in MP3 as most of that game still kept you alone in hostile environments.

I take the view that the isolation will likely be more effective when it's not constant so you don't get completely used to it.
Getting unexpectedly cut off from all contact with people is more likely to emphasise how alone you are than your 5th hour in a row of constant ambience no?

So happy this game is finally emerging from it's chrysalis. Glad to see some extra Galactic Federation screen time. I'm hoping that there are so non human, non spirit ghost characters we get to interact with as well.

Also the music is living up to my high hopes and expectations so far! Probably the one area Dread let me down.

@Ooccoo_Jr
The exception I would plead that catches me out is reinforcement enemies spawning on me whilst I am multibind healing.
Its not a massive deal but has ruined a couple of boss/ arena attempts and it has felt unfair.
Overall I think the game is tuned really well for me. There have been a handful of boss fights that I have enjoyed the rhythm and flow of so much that I felt a pang of regret when I conquered them.

Was overjoyed to see Ghost Trick and 999 on there. Then absolutely devastated to see them at the bottom of the list of community rankings.
If you don't know the game, don't vote against it use the button to remove it. Otherwise incredible games that less people have played just get punished.

Oh hey my two main sources of gaming news are joining forces to rank my favourite companies greatest games 🤩!
To be honest I'm expecting the open world Zeldas and a bunch of SNES games to dominate the top 10. Hopefully Virtue's Last Reward gets included but I'm not holding my breath.

Ok well this significantly boost my interest in the game!
Can't wait to enjoy it on the Nintendo music app in 5 years XD

As a lifelong Zelda fan I'm at least intrigued about this. Exciting that production has started as we will probably start to get more tidbits of information coming through much faster now.

Whilst I love a lot of cinematic story first gaming experiences, no one quite just perfectly constructs 'video games' as well as Nintendo.
The comparison with Hitchcock initially threw me but I get it. They perfectly embody the core language of their respective mediums.

@Bobb @CupidStunt
I think Metroid would be enhanced by the introduction of more NPCs.
The Samus against the world isolation vibes are important, but my ideal would be to lean a bit closer to the way From Software and Hollow Knight handle NPCs. Potentially some sort of shaky truce base camp where you had a couple of distinct bounty hunter NPCs of different races to flesh out the World Building.

Then predominantly solo exploration where you might encounter them but with an added element of not knowing whether they are hostile to you.

Similar to Corruption, the herd would probably thin out as you went through the game either because they turned on you or met grisly fates from other antagonists or monsters.

@Zeebor15
I suspect not. Their working relationship with those studios is already great and they produce almost exclusively for Nintendo anyways. I don't think Nintendo gain anything from buying them unless their board/CEOs are trying to reposition away from their existing relationship.

I've always had faith in this game but this is probably the best trailer so far. Oh man that music is hitting the spot!
I've just realised I have no idea what the scope of this game is. I've been assuming it's probably a ~15 hour adventure but It's certainly possible the long delay is because Retro Studios just kept expanding the scope of the game. Exciting stuff

I've only currently played 2 of the 12 (Silksong/Hades2) but am genuinely interested in every nomination this year which is pretty rare.

A perfect addition for me at exactly the right time. I watched a friend play a little of this decades ago but never played it myself! Time to right that wrong!

Any other European Wii U owners getting Tvii flashbacks?

See I could live without the customisable home screen but being unable to play VLR is definitely a deal breaker for me.
Sorry your haul was a bust, hope it didn't ruin the whole holiday.

Always a treat to get some fresh laughs from Kate the Great!

Seems like Retro has a long history of their games getting canned or pushed back on by Nintendo. I hope whatever they were working on before they handed the reigns on Prime 4 sees the light of day.

Happy to wait for feedback on the narrative/ story so won't be getting this at launch.
I think I burnt out on these Musou games as I never picked up Three Hopes despite having a good time with the previous Nintendo Warriors games.

@TheWokesterGamer @jfp
To be clear, Hazelight are not owned by EA. My understanding is the developers have full Creative Control over their games.

EA does make money from their success but I think they also front the cost of development and handle all the marketing and distribution. I don't like EA much but it does seem like Hazelight have benefitted a lot from the partnership.

Unless they start restricting the studios freedom it doesn't make sense for them to shop for other publishers just because EA in general is maligned.

Some good deals here! Might pick up a couple of bargains although I'm still eating well with Hades 2, hundred line and Silksong.
Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood wasn't on my radar before but I'm intrigued now.

@Quirky I completed the base game a month or so again so can give you gentle hints if you need any guidance. I did get a bit stumped towards the end with the hands off approach to signposting where to go.

Love this game! Surface of SR388 theme needs more representation in the series and it's cross over appearances such as Smash Bros!

You mentioned that there are bosses to defeat but I'm unclear if there is win state beyond just beating a previous score?
I have little experience with pinball games but I did enjoy Metroid Prime Pinball which had bosses and was beatable.

@GoombaJMR
Thanks for the detailed and candid insigjt!
I'm juggling Silksong and Hades 2 right now but I tend to make time for RPGs in the winter months. Rest assured you are now top of my list 😄!

@GoombaJMR
Nice job to you and the team on this game! I kept seeing it near the very top of this year's best reviewed games so excited it's come to the Switch now! As a fan of JRPGs and a Japanese language learner this game seems right up my ally!

Whilst this review does read more like a hands on preview as you pointed out, I would be interested to know if you were looking at optimising the switch versions controls as those criticisms seem valid.

@Simu001
I'm a University educated native English speaker and that is one of the most incoherent sentences I have read so don't sell yourself short!

@OorWullie
Fun albeit melancholic story, I guess subjecting yourself to that torment in his name is a fun tribute?

Also "December looks a good month for Sunshine"
is comedy gold whether or not it was intended.
(Unless you are Southern Hemisphere of course).

Amazing article, nice to get a deep dive over a specific amazingly executed but underappreciated aspect of the series.

I think all the 2s triumph for me in this situation. I used to let the title screen of Samus Returns loop after a session to help me drift off to sleep.

Thought Remake was fantastic when I played on PS4 years ago. If they can get the whole trilogy running at that level (or better) then we are all in for a treat!
Looking forwards to continuing the series on Switch 2!

Devastating! You are such a genuine, passionate warm presence and have both excellent takes and tastes!
You've come along such a long way since you started and I hope I run into further creations of yours in the future.

@Monkey54
I remember the same thing happened with the Le Chifre update. It did download that much but it didn't double the size of the game afterwards. Might be as fast to just remove local files

@Hank_Scorpio
Same here! Put well over a 100 hours into it already!

Reading this, I've realised I must have turned off rumble on the original Switch in 2017 and that setting has apparently been migrated to the Switch 2...

Let's freaking go!
This month has delivered an embarrassment of riches for me on Switch 2!

I think I'd feel much stronger about sticking with physical releases had Nintendo not allowed us to carry over all* our digital purchases from last gen.
It's somewhat of a risk to make this assumption but I just don't see them walking this back now.
Besides, there are no manuals with cool art and additional material anymore and the boxes themselves are now swamped by legal and copyright jargon so what's the point now. I do completely understand the game preservation aspect but I've got digital Steam games I bought half my lifetime ago I can still access whenever I want and physical media from the same time ago I would need to buy external disk drives to even attempt to boot up, that's if I can even track down the case to begin with...

Delighted to hear! To be fair it would have been insane for Nintendo to not have given Capcom Dev kits early on so glad to see they're making the most of the console.

I've played 2 and 4 and some of 7. Would be interested to pick the newest three up but I'd want to know if this is a partial continuation of 8 beforehand.

It's a great but of hardware. Not sure that award was fiercely contended this year mind.
Nice to see Hundred Line get some prestige and attention!

Hades 2, Metroid Prime Beyond and Fire Emblem will be bought asap.
I don't know if I'll repurchase FF7 remake but I will for sure pick up the rest of the trilogy.

@Not_Soos
I was so convinced Nintendo would add Metroid Fusion to NSO before Dread came out. I ended up plugging in my Wii U and purchasing both that and Zero Mission so I could be fully up to date.

Obviously I have not played Beyond but I would bet against Nintendo bothering and also doubt there is any reason you would need to have played Mp2 and 3 prior to Beyond.
At best we get get Prime 2 on NSO.

@MischiefMaker
I love them both dearly despite having some issues with them. Whilst I imagine VLR works perfectly well as a standalone experience, as you get deeper in it will spoil a lot of 999. I can see someone has already pointed this out though so nevermind! Hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I did!

@MischiefMaker
Ooh VLR!
Is that a first playthrough or a revisit?