AJWolfTill

So happy it's finally happening!
Big step in mainstream acknowledgement of vgm legitimacy!
I probably would have bought tickets if they had been more up front about the length and content.

@Henmii
Not sure that's fair. I remember reports where Platinum had self censored the redesign for Bayo in 2 and Nintendo pushed back on it for being too neutered. Similarly they told Platinum to remove the undershirt of the Link outfit as they didn't feel it made sense for the character.
Difficulty is more questionable, they might push them to include more accessibility features but I can't see them having an issue with higher difficulties. I believe they continue to fund this series and other Platinum projects because they recognise they offer things Nintendo doesn't have in house.

On my second playthrough and loving it all over again.
The map is starting to fill out nicely although I haven't reached any of the three essential bosses yet.
Does anyone else keep longnail equipped religiously?

This is pretty sweet and tempting as I do enjoy making the odd lego set here and there.
I don't necessarily have a problem with the value but it isn't something I'm going to justify purchasing

For everyone who gets stuck or lost a lot early on. I definitely remember picking up a lot more pace in the third area.
I may actually start replaying this as I never actually finished the main game despite doing most the endgame dlc stuff.
My favourite game I've played on Switch so far (BOTW on WiiU)

The list of options made me realise just how much I have been neglecting my Switch for Elden Ring...
I think that might be the only game released this year I have bought so far...

In my defence I bought up a bunch of hidden gems on the 3ds during the sale 😬
Finally finished Valkyria Chronicles 4 though.
I will however be playing AI2 as soon as that lands here

@KateGray
Ahah! I was wondering where that fit in as I completely missed it! Thanks for elucidating!
I placed a couple of people thanks to that scene anyway such as the tattood guy but I always thought I was missing something.
I'll try and be a more active member of Backlog club going forwards 😊

Which character was the one that had you stumped for the longest time?

It's been awhile now but I seem to remember struggling with which of the Chinese topmen were which (that sounds bad written down :/)

Which character was your secret favourite?

Either the carpenter for his bravery and reversing my assumptions or the guy who dies trying to release the last merperson.

What was your best nickname for a character?
Beanie baby?

Did you take physical notes to solve the fates of the crew?
Nope
Who do you think was to blame for the Obra Dinn's fate?
Nichols and the captain. The epilogue/ hidden scenes of the captain torturing and executing the captives clearly doomed the last of the crew.

Did you get all 60 fates correct?
Hell yeah, with a bit of trial and error.

Are there other games that use narrative devices in interesting ways that you recommend?
The Zero Escape games for sure! It's the weakest of the three but Zero Time Dilemna does some bananas things by giving you most of the sequences without knowing the where they are in chronology or even which 'route' they are in. In the narrative this is explained by the characters getting periodically drugged with something that knocks them unconscious and takes away their short term memory.

There is also a fairly obscure game called J.U.L.I.A among the stars that had some very Obra Dinn like sequences of determining the fates of different space colonists.

What I want most is release dates for Bayo 3 and Silksong and info on the next (proper) Fire Emblem. I'm surprised you didn't add that last one as an option. Signs of live from Kid Icarus would be great too!
Not going to expect anything from the tent pole franchises so they can surprise if they do rock up.

Baffled at everyone thinking this eliminates the summer direct.
It's very common for Nintendo to do a game specific direct followed by a general direct a week or two later. See for yourselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Direct

@eaglebob345
My thoughts exactly!

I'm only really expecting Marvels Midnight Sun's news. Will watch it as I enjoy Geoff's events most of the time.

Frustrating.
If they were in competition with some official means of listening I'd understand.

Very excited although I've stopped watching the trailers as I don't need to see more!

@Korgon
Glad someone else here is on board!
The last game awards felt more corporate than celebratory and definitely got the balance wrong.
Over the last 5 years or so I've always enjoyed these, particularly the orchestral performances.

Hopefully SGS will have a bit more clout now that E3 is absent this year 🤞

@SteamEngenius
Sure, but it still required someone to think to add that for that specific scene (there will always be a photo in every other case) and for them to do the no photo animation.
It's a remarkable level of attentiveness at least.

Genuinely relieved Okami is getting such a strong vote share. Absolutely deserves a third entry than just rereleasing HD versions on every platform.

Love it!
Much warmer and closer to the original concept art than anything else we've seen.

@solarwolf07
Definately depends on how the game tries to promote spending money in game.
When it's a purely cosmetic like in this case but there are still rewards dolled out for continued play its no issue to me. None of the experience is pay walled which
If a game is built to push people into its marketplace by time wasting or gating you out of content then it can go do one.

I had some fun with Pokemon Unite but wouldn't have touched it if it hadn't been f2p.

@Cia
It's a multiplatform roster which includes Switch games?
Personally, I'd rather not have to go look up what else was planned over this period after reading this article.
That would be like posting sales charts with only the Switch releases on which seems less meaningful without the context.

An organisation dedicated to tracking down missing persons that uses the word 'persons' over and over again,
Some sort of time travel murder mystery,
Nine monitors, nine eyes...
Ai features a strange machine that allows people to access each others brainwaves,
The original teaser site having Clover as its icon...

.... I got nothing 😉

I seem to be more of a fan than most here but did feel like the last Game Awards felt extremely corporate.
Still looking forwards to this as there will be some nuggets of joy in there.

I will always have time for the exploration and music of this series (although some of X was very grating) but I've never really been that taken with the combat. The original was solid but 2 just did not click for me at all.

@Dogorilla
Having looked it up that character never died so I imagine we are talking about the same one. I guess I had just been wishing for it rather than relieved.
Oh yeah, I had forgotten the Hina stuff.

@JasmineDragon @Dogorilla
That to me was the most egregious issue with Danganronpa1. It felt shockingly poor taste and also ruined any likability for that character to the point I was hoping they died so I didn't have to cringe at them anymore.

I would add that there is a scene in the first game where all the (teenage) male characters spy on the (teenage) female characters changing into swimwear. If I remember correctly the game let's you 'choose' to disapprove of this but your character does it anyway. The accompanying image wasn't graphic but it felt shockingly purile to me and my partner. I guess the characters are all similar ages but

I haven't played the sequels yet but the overall quality of the writing is nowhere near as deep as the Zero Escape games (at least to me) even if it was engaging and moreish.

The Zero Escape games are a top 3 series for me (Zelda + Mass Effect). Picking a favourite between the first two is painful but I would maybe say VLR edges it slightly despite 999 being my first love (even though Clover's redesign is horrendous).
Whilst ZTD is a letdown from the heights of the first two the 3rd of the game following the VLR characters is masterfully written.

Not entirely sure how this lines up. I'd assume it was a sequel story for each branch although the whole Byleth/ Ashen Demon thing is confusing.
Still, interested to hearing more about the the mechanics outside of the battles.

I never finished this game but had a wonderful time with it. This article is definitely inspiring a revisit though.

Hopefully now everyone can make Capt Panaka the saga spanning hero of legend he deserved to be!

Great to hear the Switch version performs well! I will add it to my wishlist for when I've made more inroads in my backlog.
I take it the co-op is consistently split screen rather than tethering people together?

Git hub, the code repository added some janky retro filters and one of them was Mario Bros.

@Grackler
I would say it's an excellent place to start, maybe even the best. Other than a few Easter eggs in the background you wouldn't be at any disadvantage. It's a self contained story that starts and ends strong.
Biggest risk would be loosing the advancements and QOL of TGAA if you then went on to play the original trilogy.

Will get Gnosia and Heaven's vault soon. Lots of games I love on this list. Great Ace Atorney, Obra Dinn and AI are wonderful.

I'm intrigued by the fact that Damn Can Romping 3 isn't on here when 'your' review suggested that was the best 🤔

Nier & Automata are my personal highlights. Can't deny the nostalgic glory of Final Fantasy though.

@KateGray
I reckon if the five of you each got 1 bin diver pass you could turn this into a pretty definitive list!

Articles like this really demonstrate which games have had a truly lasting impact.

@MrYuzhai
I'd even say the same about a remaster/remake to be honest. Prime deserves to be cutting edge graphically.

@LiNeR
Don't overlook Donkey Kong 94!
Starts out as the original donkey kong game but becomes this excellent puzzle platformer that has aged incredibly well. Well worth the time and low price.

I just hope this is the one where they finally make Co-op a less compromising experience. (Assuming it's even there to begin with).

The music X exploration is the best thing about this series so making the music a more integrated theme of the game can only be a good thing.
Weird how there is nothing on the combat in this or the trailer.

I love Uchikoshi and his work (hence the avatar choice).
I thought AI showcased his brilliance well but could definately do without the tonally jarring porno mag powered QuickTime event action scenes.
Hopefully the shift in protagonist cuts that out!

Bundling a single player only game with the NSO subscription. That checks out.
I wonder if they have any good bundles on meat grills and vegetarian cookbooks.

To everyone commenting on the price, 4000 yen is nearer to 25 euros than 30 so it definately seems... off?

@Giancarlothomaz
I feel like a game awards reveal would have made more sense for Silksong but I don't know the economics of getti g your games shown there.

I'm hoping we get to see some of the AI: The Somnium Files sequel but don't know whether Spike Chunsoft published games count as Indie.

No, sorry I meant the end of the first one. I forget her name but the dual personality girl felt like a very tasteless and tropey portrayal of mental illness by the end of the game. Some of the other finale stuff didn't land for me either. I probably will give the sequels a go at some point.

I'm more of an Uchikoshi guy than a Kodaka guy but I'll definitely keep an eye out for further news.

@Ralizah interesting, I wasn't aware people thought the sequels were a big step up in writing. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit, but was a bit turned off from the sequels by the ending and the way a few characters were written.

@Bobb
Yes but we would all be calling it:
Project The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for another 6 months yet.

Smash bros cinematic universe here we come...
Not really sure why they haven't done a Fire Emblem anime to be honest. Valkyria Chronicles, TWEWY, Persona 5, Phoenix Wright and more all had them.
I'd totally get behind one if they were bold enough to kill off the supporting cast as it went on.

@PortuGuy
This seems like the right thing to do next!
When there are no galaxy level threats going on, what kind of morally grey activities does Samus have to do to make a living in this universe.

It definitely could work in the horror or suspense genres. There have been plenty of successful films with minimal casts.
Gravity, Hush and The Red Turtle are the first three that came into my head.
However I don't think it's been done with a pre existing property and not sure Nintendo are brave enough to go down that route with their movies.

@Bret AAH I see! Thanks for correcting me! Maybe I will try a speed run after all 😊

Aww, I saw the fact that the play time wasn't getting added on boss game overs as a feature!