I've played Mario 64 since the day it launched and dozens of times thereafter and yet - somehow - I literally never realized that the game was 100% devoid of |?| blocks. In fact, I have vivid memories of them being in the game - but, the memories are false! Craziness.
I hope that whenever he retires, Nintendo goes back to voicing Mario as the gruff sounding, masculine, alpha Italian-American plumber with a strong Brooklyn accent that I knew him to be as a kid. If that's the version of Mario that Pratt channels, then I would be all for it.
Don't get me wrong, I love Martinet - he's a talented and iconic video game voice actor - but I've always struggled with his interpretation of Mario in particular. Although over the last 26 years I've grown more than accustomed to it, I still prefer Albano's portrayal.
Of course, that's probably me speaking as someone who's 38 and dons thick nostalgia glasses when viewing the mid-late 80s and early 90s.
Either way, long live Martinet!
@CazSonOfCaz I only just saw your comment - you beat me to it and I obviously concur!
Such an iconic game - though primitive by today's standards, in its day, it set the bar high for all of the loot-based dungeon crawlers to follow. So, like - how is there still no review for it yet? Are you guys just waiting around for a server to work?
I was looking forward to giving the game a go, but no online multiplayer = a hard no. Sad stuff. Maybe it's my fault that I don't have any local friends who are into gaming.
Wow. This Eugene fellow has an insane amount of charisma - and an awesome way with words. A true conversationalist!
Like, I'm not even a huge fan of arcade style games, and yet - somehow - he roped me along for the entire interview. Heck, I'm even thinking of getting the game now!
His work on Actraiser and in the Etrian Odyssey series is just phenomenal.
Actraiser immediately pushed the boundaries of what the SNES soundcard was capable of and consequently set the bar pretty damn high for all other composers to follow. As a child who grew up with Atari and NES, the quality of the music in this game was just utterly mind-blowing to me.
As for the EO series - not gonna lie, I was initially turned off by the FM synth sound of it but - over time - I began to really love it. By the time the remasters appeared on the 3DS, a lot of the music received an upgrade with real orchestral instruments, guitars, and the like and...it was just fantastic!
I would cite a number of songs from that series in particular as having directly influenced me as a musician.
(As an aside, I really miss EO - it sucks that it's been stuck in a perpetual limbo.)
I still prefer Albano and Boone's voice acting over Martinet's. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up at a time when the Mario cartoons were a thing, but Martinet's voice always seemed weak, effeminate and miscast for the role. It was especially jarring after having spent so many years listening to Mario speak relatively gruffly, in a Brooklyn accent.
Needless to say, I think Boone did an excellent job here, and it is sad to hear of his passing. I agree with others that the tone of this article was a bit crass, but it's fine.
It is extremely baffling to me why Nintendo hasn't either released a "remaster" of Wii Sports, or has at the very least developed a new standalone entry in the series (which I would dub "Switch Sports").
But leaving "Switch Sports" aside for a moment and getting back to the article: I never actually played Wii Sports Resort, but it always looked pretty fun to me. I did thoroughly enjoy the original Wii Sports, tho - and I would be totally okay with buying a remaster of either one of those games on Switch.
Even still, I think I'd prefer to get a "from the ground up" "Switch Sports" title. They could take the sports that worked really well / were really popular from their Wii Sports entries and leave them largely intact - just add some new features (like online play for Tennis and Bowling, and more locations to play in, etc), and really overhaul the games that sucked (like Wii Sports Baseball), while adding some new ones.
This game would be so easy to make.
It would print money.
Even a half-arsed Wii Sports Remaster would also print money.
But they just won't do it.
It's like Nintendo sometimes seems to actively defy or reject the most fundamental principles of Capitalism 101. Like half the time, if they're not actively ignoring consumer demands (like with rebuffing the substantial number of customers who just want to have Earthbound on their Switch), they're creating supply where there is no demand (like trying to sell an online subscription service by providing a painfully slow trickle of SNES games that no one has ever heard of nor wanted).
Sometimes this "blue ocean" strategy works - the Wii, for instance, was a system that no one knew they wanted but as it turns out, it was exactly the sort of system that many people needed - and Nintendo obviously banked on this, big time. But, for every Wii, there is a game or product or service that Nintendo releases that no one really asks for and no one really wants, period. Just because Wii Sports was already released and was already successful, it doesn't mean they ought to be looking for the next thing to usurp it.
@Mystique I dunno, I actually think having every character dateable kinda cheapens the believability of each one of the characters as an individual.
Is every single person that lives around you openly bisexual? Statistically speaking, it would seem doubtful. And just how many openly bisexual people do you suppose live in extremely tiny farming villages?
Look, I'm not saying that having same sex partners in games is wrong. I've played gay characters in games before, and if this game gets favorably reviewed, it's very likely I'll get this game. I'm not opposed to LGBT representation in gaming.
But from an entirely objective standpoint, I dunno...I guess it kinda diminishes the immersion for me whenever I can walk around town and just assume that every single unmarried male and female in town would be totally interested in banging me. However, if some characters were straight, and some were gay, and some were bi, would it not add more depth to each character individually?
I mean, I know that the above idea is pretty much impossible now since every company has to do everything they can to pander to folks who get easily upset about certain things, but even still - I think it would be kinda neat.
I enjoyed the game but it seems highly overrated. Not once in the entire game did I feel a sense of horror. There were some disturbing aspects to it, but - perhaps bc of all of the warnings in reviews and even in the game itself about just how scary the game is, it never really lived up to the hype.
My favorite part of the game is actually before it gets weird and dark. Like, I know I probably shouldn't admit to this, but I honestly would have preferred it had it just remained a cliche anime dating sim.
Yeah, the girls are a walking set of tropes, but in an anime dating sim, that is simply par for the course. They're all charming, sweet and likeable in their own ways. Sadly, all of these warm and endearing elements to the game are at some point tossed out the window, so as to make room for the (entirely expected) darkness to follow.
And while the descent into madness in the proceedings is interesting - at times genuinely thought-provoking and sad, and distressing to think about - it just feels like after the sweet, warm and breezy opening, the developers decided it best to quite FORCEFULLY buck the expectations of a cute anime dating sim.
The problem is, DDLC's subversion of said expectations largely fails, if only bc - aside from the guy who compulsively buys every anime VN dating sims without even reading a review - everyone is expecting it. By three quarters of the way in, it became difficult for me to escape the feeling that the writers of DDLC were dark and meta just for the sake of being dark and meta.
I'll note that meta nature of the plotline introduces a few plot holes, but...I won't knock it too hard for that, as I think that comes with the territory of being meta, and overall the meta aspect to the game is actually pretty neat.
If I'm sounding like I hated the game, I don't hate it at all. I enjoyed it. I'm in the midst of a second (real) playthrough. I wouldn't have continued playing if I thought the game was bad.
I just wanted to point out that while I appreciate passionately written reviews like this one, they can create unrealistic expectations that can't possibly be met. I didn't even read the entire review until today, but even just the sub-headline and opening paragraph were simultaneously hype inducing enough to make me want to buy the game while also knowing that I would likely be disappointed due to knowing the game's descent into "horror" in advance.
The game is actually guilty of this, as well. Through its multiple warnings during the game's initial start up, DDLC ends up revealing (some) of its hand BEFORE you even start the game.
As a result, these multiple (borderline hyperbolic) warnings about the game's "ultra dark" content kinda sorta undid what remaining opportunity that there might have been to still feel TRULY blindsided by the game's various subversions.
The effect of this was that I say through much of my first play through waiting around and anticipating the inevitable darkness to become manifest...thus rendering me entirely unsurprised when it did.
All of that having been said, I still love the game and will definitely try out a few other dialogue routes in future playthroughs. If I were to personally rate the game, I would probably give it a solid and respectable 7.
@Ventilator People are "begging" for Wii U ports NOT bc these games were the greatest, most unheralded games of it's generation - I would say that for the most part it's bc the vast majority of the people who own a Switch never owned a Wii U, nor even knew anyone who owned one.
There are doubtlessly some who think that the original Wii was the Switch's predecessor.
For those who fall into any of those camps, Switch's Wii U ports will for all intents and purposes be brand new games. I, for one, sure am glad that they're doing this, as (for various reasons, ncluding financial ones) I never owned a Wii U either.
It also makes sense that Nintendo would try and make a return on games that on just about any of their other consoles would have sold at least 5 times as many copies. It's a win-win for everyone.
Of course, one could argue about pricing but...for me personally... I'd rather pay a small Nintendo tax on the occasional port than through the hassle of trying to find a decent used Wii U + games on ebay. But, again, that's just me.
When I was in Ireland for a month, if I'm remembering correctly, there were long stretches of roads in the extremely rural, northwestern areas of the country (like County Donegal) where I would say most of the road signs were entirely in Gaelic.
Of course, this was in the late 90s tho, so it could be that that's changed, but it was really neat at the time. It's a lovely language to hear it spoken, and I think it's amazing that the developer included an Irish translation.
Of course if he's waiting for the "big announcement" to be greenlit, it seems likely that he would downplay or lie about the Switch's importance.
(Obviously, I'm just kidding. Mostly. I mean, it's not exactly a stretch to think that a huge corporate figurehead like Phil would lie about something if necessary).
@chapu2006 Thanks. You made some good points as well. As far as remasters go, SSHD doesn't appear to be the best but it's certainly not the worst.
Nintendo's certainly done some really cheap, barebones facelifted cash-ins for some of their games. The recent Switch collection of classic 3D Mario games is a recent example of this, with Mario 64 in particular representing maybe the laziest "remaster" I've ever - if you can even call it that. (Which is an absolute shame. A game of that sort of caliber and well-deserved praise and prestige frankly deserved a hell of a lot better of an refresh than what it got imo).
The Pikman remaster was also kind of unimpressive.
With the added content 3D World could have been excellent, but they somehow didn't seem optimize it for Switch to the degree that it should have been
In all of these cases, Nintendo seemed to get a good score anyway, but I can't help but to wonder: would equally barebones remasters as released by just about any other company (with some notable exclusions) receive the same amount of claim as Nintendo routinely enjoys?
That's probably a rhetorical question.
At this point, it probably seems like I'm not really a fan of Nintendo, but that's not the case. Since 1988, I've owned every home console they've ever released (save for one), and in all but one generation, I've been a Nintendo only gamer (in the N64 era, I did eventually get a PS1, but it was at a yard sale for $50, so why not? Haha)
I love Nintendo and always will, but that doesn't mean that I love every single thing they do. Some of the decisions they've made defy all logic and are frankly as puzzling as they are infuriating. They rightly get lots od praise, but I'm not afraid to give them criticism where criticism is due.
@blindsquarel That seems like a pretty unnecessarily simplistic and loaded generalization, don't you think?
What evidence do you have that the "people" who "hate" the SS amiibo paywall are, broadly speaking, the same people who were perfectly "fine" with its implementation in Twilight Princess?
@chapu2006 I honestly thought it would be an 8 at best. Why? Because I don't care how great the remaster is, locking an important QoL improvement behind a ridiculous amiibo paywall is agregiously scummy.
That aside, I feel like in reality, the SS remaster is probably an 8 or a solid 7) but, of course, one has to take into account NintendoLife's usual +1 or +2 score inflation for all Nintendo published games.
(Although to be fair, it's not just NL - this phenomenon often seems to be the case with lots of major videogame review outlets).
And of course, there are many other major studios seem to get inflated scores, but - since we're on the topic of Nintendo - it does fairly clear that Nintendo published games almost always score extremely well. And while most deserve their high marks, there are definitely more than a few headscratchers, with scores that are pretty sus at best. (Incidentally, I would point you to IGN's ridiculous review of Skyward Sword on Wii for a great example of this!)
Kind of impressed by the increase to 60 FPS. I'm not a FPS w_h_0re or anything - and maybe I'm wrong - FPS at least seems like an area that Nintendo doesn't usually bother expending much energy upon improving.
I first learned about the importance of these carts from a pretty great AVGN skit (I'm sure I'm not the only one). Given the humor of the sketch, I could hardly believe the carts are worth that much, but no matter - I guess they're still widely considered to be the Holy Grail of retro gaming.
@Phostachio "points for his whiteness. swear white dudes love to say that everyone else gets triggered but they’re the most sensitive snowflakes I’ve ever seen, and I am one."
Your comment itself is bigoted and shows prejudice against an entire group of people based upon their pigmentation. Doesn't matter if you're white, it's still a highly prejudiced statement.
It's just interesting to me that the people who most vocally claim to be anti-racist are, in fact, typically the most racist folks you'll ever meet.
As for being sensitive, I'm not losing sleep over it. I'm making an observation. Clearly, my observation has upset you though (or at least enough to respond with a racist comment). Which is fine - to each their own!
Purposefully passing on a more-than-qualified hire simply because, for example, that person happens to be a white, cis-gendered straight male with a European surname is not only bigotry, it's practically the definition of bigotry.
Pathetic degree of censorship on this site now. How the times change. But why,tho? Just for saying I support trans people in Tony Hawk but dislike the when a reviewer tells me what I should applaud?
Here's an idea - if you don't like political comments on your site, then stop shoehorning them into your reviews.
Judging by other comments, NL's sure got a lot of thin skinned reviewers and/or mods these days.
As a huge fan of Rune Factory, and The Demon Blade, I've really, really, really wanted to enjoy this game. I'm hoping one of these days it clicks, but - as it stands - the (ultra realistic and complex but barely explained) farming of rice just isn't fun. And sadly, that detracts a lot of the overall experience.
Maybe wielding dogs and cats will help tho. Guess we'll see!
What are you even talking about? Providing a theory about what might be happening in a trailer while stating that maybe it's not a coincidence that Nintendo has opted re-release Skyward Sword ahead of BOTW2 is licking Nintendo's boot?
If that's what you're implying, then I implore you to go back re-read what I said. In fact, here - I'll make it easier for you. These were my exact words:
"What if it isn't JUST a cynical cash grab? What if it's ALSO being done to serve as a was to become reacquainted with that version of Link..."
Since you clearly can't read, I've added a capitalized emphasis to the words "ALSO" and "JUST", so as to demonstrate that I never said SS WASN'T a cash grab.
But, if the meaning of what I had said is still not clear to you, then let me
try to phrase it in another way:
"I'm of the opinion that the Skyward Sword remaster is cynical cash grab. However, if SS should happen to be in any way connected to BOTW2, then that could be one more reason for why Nintendo has decided to hastily re-release it."
In any case, my advice to you would be to
1. brush up on your basic reading comprehension skills, and
2. GFY
Aside for a split second 5 seconds in, Link's face is never shown again. You also don't hear any of his typical grunts and whatnot. I found that to VERY intriguing. It makes me seriously wonder if maybe the hero in BOTW 2 isn't the same Link from the first BOTW.
If it's NOT Link, then there are all sorts of possibilities:
Maybe it's an entirely different character - one that isn't in the lineage of Link's family?
Maybe it's Zelda? (doubtful, but you never know. The long hair does make me wonder, though.)
Maybe it's a Link from a different game and era? I actually think this would be the most likely scenario. And if this would be the case, I think the most obvious Link would be the one from Skyward Sword. There were lots of elements to the game that seemed HEAVILY borrowed from Skyward Sword. Also the clothing.
That would also add a new wrinkle to Skyward Sword's remaster. What if it isn't just a cynical cash grab? What if it's also being done to serve as a was to become reacquainted with that version of Link so that we'll remember more of his backstory for when we play him in BOTW 2? (or in the case of those who never played that game, an introduction).
Of course, in the split second that Link was shown, it appeared as though he was being drawn into malice by his arm. That the hero seems to use an arm attachment in some of the combat sequences would suggest that it's the same Link that we see at the start of the trailer - but it could also be a red herring.
If it IS Link, could it be that his face is heavily scarred / mutilated from being taken into the malice?
@Johnny44 You have to have a hook. In the vast majority of successful video content creators, you'll frequently see the use of a specific catch phrase at either the start or the end of a video - or both. it's branding, and people like familiarity
I'm not saying that "Hello lovely people" is the best opening hook I've ever heard, but it's not the worst. I think it would be a mistake to abandon it now when it's clearly something that's become very strongly associated Alex's style and branding.
That said, I'm not dismissing your opinion - I'm just saying why it probably is that Alex uses it in every video
Comments 880
Re: Review: Dungeon Encounters - Square Enix Strips Away RPG Finery To Expose The Meaty Bones Beneath
So it's basically like Etrian Odyssey meets Final Fantasy and D&D. If you ask me, that sounds pretty great.
Re: Feature: LEGO Designer Reveals Why The Super Mario 64 Set Is A '?' And Not An '!'
I've played Mario 64 since the day it launched and dozens of times thereafter and yet - somehow - I literally never realized that the game was 100% devoid of |?| blocks. In fact, I have vivid memories of them being in the game - but, the memories are false! Craziness.
Re: Charles Martinet Wants To Voice Mario For As Long As He Possibly Can
I hope that whenever he retires, Nintendo goes back to voicing Mario as the gruff sounding, masculine, alpha Italian-American plumber with a strong Brooklyn accent that I knew him to be as a kid. If that's the version of Mario that Pratt channels, then I would be all for it.
Don't get me wrong, I love Martinet - he's a talented and iconic video game voice actor - but I've always struggled with his interpretation of Mario in particular. Although over the last 26 years I've grown more than accustomed to it, I still prefer Albano's portrayal.
Of course, that's probably me speaking as someone who's 38 and dons thick nostalgia glasses when viewing the mid-late 80s and early 90s.
Either way, long live Martinet!
@CazSonOfCaz I only just saw your comment - you beat me to it and I obviously concur!
Re: Diablo II: Resurrected Is Still Being Plagued By Hellish Server Outages
Such an iconic game - though primitive by today's standards, in its day, it set the bar high for all of the loot-based dungeon crawlers to follow. So, like - how is there still no review for it yet? Are you guys just waiting around for a server to work?
Re: Switch OLED Is Off To A Modest Start In Japan Due To Low Stock Levels
It's the sort of problem that Microsoft has spent the last 20+ years dreaming about.
Re: Ninjala Has Now Been Downloaded Eight Million Times On The Switch eShop
Can you choose who you play with/against, or will the game only pair you with randos?
Re: Poll: Cruis'n Blast Is Out Today On Switch, Are You Getting It?
@Leu10antFalcon Oh - well that is great news! I'll wait for the online features to be added tho. Thanks!
Re: Poll: Cruis'n Blast Is Out Today On Switch, Are You Getting It?
I was looking forward to giving the game a go, but no online multiplayer = a hard no. Sad stuff. Maybe it's my fault that I don't have any local friends who are into gaming.
Re: Rumour: Nintendo Will Expand Its Switch Online Service With Game Boy And Game Boy Color Titles
Words can't really effectively describe how underwhelmed I am by this rumor.
Re: Exclusive: Eugene Jarvis Talks Cruis'n Blast And The "Joy" Of Working With Nintendo Again
Wow. This Eugene fellow has an insane amount of charisma - and an awesome way with words. A true conversationalist!
Like, I'm not even a huge fan of arcade style games, and yet - somehow - he roped me along for the entire interview. Heck, I'm even thinking of getting the game now!
Re: Marvelous Celebrates 15 Years Of The Rune Factory Series With A Special Anniversary Video
Removed
Re: Quick Beats: Streets Of Rage Composer On Musical Heroes And The Series He'd Love To Work On
His work on Actraiser and in the Etrian Odyssey series is just phenomenal.
Actraiser immediately pushed the boundaries of what the SNES soundcard was capable of and consequently set the bar pretty damn high for all other composers to follow. As a child who grew up with Atari and NES, the quality of the music in this game was just utterly mind-blowing to me.
As for the EO series - not gonna lie, I was initially turned off by the FM synth sound of it but - over time - I began to really love it. By the time the remasters appeared on the 3DS, a lot of the music received an upgrade with real orchestral instruments, guitars, and the like and...it was just fantastic!
I would cite a number of songs from that series in particular as having directly influenced me as a musician.
(As an aside, I really miss EO - it sucks that it's been stuck in a perpetual limbo.)
Re: The Voice Of Mario From The Early '90s Has Passed Away
I still prefer Albano and Boone's voice acting over Martinet's. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up at a time when the Mario cartoons were a thing, but Martinet's voice always seemed weak, effeminate and miscast for the role. It was especially jarring after having spent so many years listening to Mario speak relatively gruffly, in a Brooklyn accent.
Needless to say, I think Boone did an excellent job here, and it is sad to hear of his passing. I agree with others that the tone of this article was a bit crass, but it's fine.
Re: Random: Super Nintendo World's Goomba Tower Fell Down, Sparking An Official Investigation
The Leaning Tower of Goomba?
Re: Soapbox: A Strange Desire For Switch Sports And A Return To Wii's Wuhu Island
It is extremely baffling to me why Nintendo hasn't either released a "remaster" of Wii Sports, or has at the very least developed a new standalone entry in the series (which I would dub "Switch Sports").
But leaving "Switch Sports" aside for a moment and getting back to the article: I never actually played Wii Sports Resort, but it always looked pretty fun to me. I did thoroughly enjoy the original Wii Sports, tho - and I would be totally okay with buying a remaster of either one of those games on Switch.
Even still, I think I'd prefer to get a "from the ground up" "Switch Sports" title. They could take the sports that worked really well / were really popular from their Wii Sports entries and leave them largely intact - just add some new features (like online play for Tennis and Bowling, and more locations to play in, etc), and really overhaul the games that sucked (like Wii Sports Baseball), while adding some new ones.
This game would be so easy to make.
It would print money.
Even a half-arsed Wii Sports Remaster would also print money.
But they just won't do it.
It's like Nintendo sometimes seems to actively defy or reject the most fundamental principles of Capitalism 101. Like half the time, if they're not actively ignoring consumer demands (like with rebuffing the substantial number of customers who just want to have Earthbound on their Switch), they're creating supply where there is no demand (like trying to sell an online subscription service by providing a painfully slow trickle of SNES games that no one has ever heard of nor wanted).
Sometimes this "blue ocean" strategy works - the Wii, for instance, was a system that no one knew they wanted but as it turns out, it was exactly the sort of system that many people needed - and Nintendo obviously banked on this, big time. But, for every Wii, there is a game or product or service that Nintendo releases that no one really asks for and no one really wants, period. Just because Wii Sports was already released and was already successful, it doesn't mean they ought to be looking for the next thing to usurp it.
Re: Kickstarter Success Farming Sim 'Cloudscape' Gives Us Fantasy Life Vibes
@Mystique I dunno, I actually think having every character dateable kinda cheapens the believability of each one of the characters as an individual.
Is every single person that lives around you openly bisexual? Statistically speaking, it would seem doubtful. And just how many openly bisexual people do you suppose live in extremely tiny farming villages?
Look, I'm not saying that having same sex partners in games is wrong. I've played gay characters in games before, and if this game gets favorably reviewed, it's very likely I'll get this game. I'm not opposed to LGBT representation in gaming.
But from an entirely objective standpoint, I dunno...I guess it kinda diminishes the immersion for me whenever I can walk around town and just assume that every single unmarried male and female in town would be totally interested in banging me. However, if some characters were straight, and some were gay, and some were bi, would it not add more depth to each character individually?
I mean, I know that the above idea is pretty much impossible now since every company has to do everything they can to pander to folks who get easily upset about certain things, but even still - I think it would be kinda neat.
Re: Kickstarter Success Farming Sim 'Cloudscape' Gives Us Fantasy Life Vibes
Wow, this game looks awesome! I'll definitely keep any eye on it.
Re: Netflix Shares First Teaser Of Its New Anime Movie The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf
It would almost have to be better than their abysmal live action adaptation. I mean, it can only go up from there, right?
...Right?
Re: Review: Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! - A Cute And Absolutely Horrifying Dating Sim
I enjoyed the game but it seems highly overrated. Not once in the entire game did I feel a sense of horror. There were some disturbing aspects to it, but - perhaps bc of all of the warnings in reviews and even in the game itself about just how scary the game is, it never really lived up to the hype.
My favorite part of the game is actually before it gets weird and dark. Like, I know I probably shouldn't admit to this, but I honestly would have preferred it had it just remained a cliche anime dating sim.
Yeah, the girls are a walking set of tropes, but in an anime dating sim, that is simply par for the course. They're all charming, sweet and likeable in their own ways. Sadly, all of these warm and endearing elements to the game are at some point tossed out the window, so as to make room for the (entirely expected) darkness to follow.
And while the descent into madness in the proceedings is interesting - at times genuinely thought-provoking and sad, and distressing to think about - it just feels like after the sweet, warm and breezy opening, the developers decided it best to quite FORCEFULLY buck the expectations of a cute anime dating sim.
The problem is, DDLC's subversion of said expectations largely fails, if only bc - aside from the guy who compulsively buys every anime VN dating sims without even reading a review - everyone is expecting it. By three quarters of the way in, it became difficult for me to escape the feeling that the writers of DDLC were dark and meta just for the sake of being dark and meta.
I'll note that meta nature of the plotline introduces a few plot holes, but...I won't knock it too hard for that, as I think that comes with the territory of being meta, and overall the meta aspect to the game is actually pretty neat.
If I'm sounding like I hated the game, I don't hate it at all. I enjoyed it. I'm in the midst of a second (real) playthrough. I wouldn't have continued playing if I thought the game was bad.
I just wanted to point out that while I appreciate passionately written reviews like this one, they can create unrealistic expectations that can't possibly be met. I didn't even read the entire review until today, but even just the sub-headline and opening paragraph were simultaneously hype inducing enough to make me want to buy the game while also knowing that I would likely be disappointed due to knowing the game's descent into "horror" in advance.
The game is actually guilty of this, as well. Through its multiple warnings during the game's initial start up, DDLC ends up revealing (some) of its hand BEFORE you even start the game.
As a result, these multiple (borderline hyperbolic) warnings about the game's "ultra dark" content kinda sorta undid what remaining opportunity that there might have been to still feel TRULY blindsided by the game's various subversions.
The effect of this was that I say through much of my first play through waiting around and anticipating the inevitable darkness to become manifest...thus rendering me entirely unsurprised when it did.
All of that having been said, I still love the game and will definitely try out a few other dialogue routes in future playthroughs. If I were to personally rate the game, I would probably give it a solid and respectable 7.
Re: Random: Team Xbox Has A Bit Of A Soft Spot For Paper Mario On GameCube
@Ventilator People are "begging" for Wii U ports NOT bc these games were the greatest, most unheralded games of it's generation - I would say that for the most part it's bc the vast majority of the people who own a Switch never owned a Wii U, nor even knew anyone who owned one.
There are doubtlessly some who think that the original Wii was the Switch's predecessor.
For those who fall into any of those camps, Switch's Wii U ports will for all intents and purposes be brand new games. I, for one, sure am glad that they're doing this, as (for various reasons, ncluding financial ones) I never owned a Wii U either.
It also makes sense that Nintendo would try and make a return on games that on just about any of their other consoles would have sold at least 5 times as many copies. It's a win-win for everyone.
Of course, one could argue about pricing but...for me personally... I'd rather pay a small Nintendo tax on the occasional port than through the hassle of trying to find a decent used Wii U + games on ebay. But, again, that's just me.
Re: Feature: Why Was Among Us Translated Into Irish?
When I was in Ireland for a month, if I'm remembering correctly, there were long stretches of roads in the extremely rural, northwestern areas of the country (like County Donegal) where I would say most of the road signs were entirely in Gaelic.
Of course, this was in the late 90s tho, so it could be that that's changed, but it was really neat at the time. It's a lovely language to hear it spoken, and I think it's amazing that the developer included an Irish translation.
Dying languages need to be preserved!
Re: Random: The Switch On Phil Spencer's Shelf Was A Gift From Nintendo
Of course if he's waiting for the "big announcement" to be greenlit, it seems likely that he would downplay or lie about the Switch's importance.
(Obviously, I'm just kidding. Mostly. I mean, it's not exactly a stretch to think that a huge corporate figurehead like Phil would lie about something if necessary).
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - A Remaster That Truly Soars
@chapu2006 Thanks. You made some good points as well. As far as remasters go, SSHD doesn't appear to be the best but it's certainly not the worst.
Nintendo's certainly done some really cheap, barebones facelifted cash-ins for some of their games. The recent Switch collection of classic 3D Mario games is a recent example of this, with Mario 64 in particular representing maybe the laziest "remaster" I've ever - if you can even call it that. (Which is an absolute shame. A game of that sort of caliber and well-deserved praise and prestige frankly deserved a hell of a lot better of an refresh than what it got imo).
The Pikman remaster was also kind of unimpressive.
With the added content 3D World could have been excellent, but they somehow didn't seem optimize it for Switch to the degree that it should have been
In all of these cases, Nintendo seemed to get a good score anyway, but I can't help but to wonder: would equally barebones remasters as released by just about any other company (with some notable exclusions) receive the same amount of claim as Nintendo routinely enjoys?
That's probably a rhetorical question.
At this point, it probably seems like I'm not really a fan of Nintendo, but that's not the case. Since 1988, I've owned every home console they've ever released (save for one), and in all but one generation, I've been a Nintendo only gamer (in the N64 era, I did eventually get a PS1, but it was at a yard sale for $50, so why not? Haha)
I love Nintendo and always will, but that doesn't mean that I love every single thing they do. Some of the decisions they've made defy all logic and are frankly as puzzling as they are infuriating. They rightly get lots od praise, but I'm not afraid to give them criticism where criticism is due.
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - A Remaster That Truly Soars
@blindsquarel That seems like a pretty unnecessarily simplistic and loaded generalization, don't you think?
What evidence do you have that the "people" who "hate" the SS amiibo paywall are, broadly speaking, the same people who were perfectly "fine" with its implementation in Twilight Princess?
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - A Remaster That Truly Soars
@chapu2006 I honestly thought it would be an 8 at best. Why? Because I don't care how great the remaster is, locking an important QoL improvement behind a ridiculous amiibo paywall is agregiously scummy.
That aside, I feel like in reality, the SS remaster is probably an 8 or a solid 7) but, of course, one has to take into account NintendoLife's usual +1 or +2 score inflation for all Nintendo published games.
(Although to be fair, it's not just NL - this phenomenon often seems to be the case with lots of major videogame review outlets).
And of course, there are many other major studios seem to get inflated scores, but - since we're on the topic of Nintendo - it does fairly clear that Nintendo published games almost always score extremely well. And while most deserve their high marks, there are definitely more than a few headscratchers, with scores that are pretty sus at best. (Incidentally, I would point you to IGN's ridiculous review of Skyward Sword on Wii for a great example of this!)
Re: Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - A Remaster That Truly Soars
Kind of impressed by the increase to 60 FPS. I'm not a FPS w_h_0re or anything - and maybe I'm wrong - FPS at least seems like an area that Nintendo doesn't usually bother expending much energy upon improving.
Re: The Pandemic Is So Bad In Japan That A Special Edition 'Pokémon GO' Pikachu Has Been Delayed
absurdly large eye roll
Re: Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Is A "Smash Bros-Alike" Fighting Its Way To Switch This Fall
The lack of any Rocko's Modern Life representation = FAIL
Re: Nintendo Highlights "Smoother Play Experience" In The Opening Hours Of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
@SuperToadie "Quality of Life features" - you keep using that phrase, but I do not think it means what you think it means 🤣
Re: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Is Getting Free DLC Inspired By The Netflix Show
Hopefully the DLC isn't as bad as the show.
Re: After Months Of 'Switch Pro' Rumours, Nintendo Officially Unveils The Nintendo Switch OLED Model
I'll give it an automatic 11 out of 10 if only just for looking like a Panda <3
Re: Random: The Yiga Clan Will Even Steal The Master Sword In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Yiga-tta be kidding me.
Re: Nintendo President Quizzed By Shareholders On Switch 'Pro' And Classic Mini Consoles
@HeadPirate "SNES was because Super Mario Kart needed mode 7"
That's literally not the reason why the SNES was created.
Re: This High-Grade Nintendo World Championships Cartridge Could Fetch Over Half A Million Dollars
I first learned about the importance of these carts from a pretty great AVGN skit (I'm sure I'm not the only one). Given the humor of the sketch, I could hardly believe the carts are worth that much, but no matter - I guess they're still widely considered to be the Holy Grail of retro gaming.
Re: Nintendo Underlines Its Commitment To Diversity And Inclusivity
@Phostachio "points for his whiteness. swear white dudes love to say that everyone else gets triggered but they’re the most sensitive snowflakes I’ve ever seen, and I am one."
Your comment itself is bigoted and shows prejudice against an entire group of people based upon their pigmentation. Doesn't matter if you're white, it's still a highly prejudiced statement.
It's just interesting to me that the people who most vocally claim to be anti-racist are, in fact, typically the most racist folks you'll ever meet.
As for being sensitive, I'm not losing sleep over it. I'm making an observation. Clearly, my observation has upset you though (or at least enough to respond with a racist comment). Which is fine - to each their own!
Re: Nintendo Underlines Its Commitment To Diversity And Inclusivity
Purposefully passing on a more-than-qualified hire simply because, for example, that person happens to be a white, cis-gendered straight male with a European surname is not only bigotry, it's practically the definition of bigotry.
Re: Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 - A Rock Solid Switch Port For A Pair Of Pros
Pathetic degree of censorship on this site now. How the times change. But why,tho? Just for saying I support trans people in Tony Hawk but dislike the when a reviewer tells me what I should applaud?
Here's an idea - if you don't like political comments on your site, then stop shoehorning them into your reviews.
Judging by other comments, NL's sure got a lot of thin skinned reviewers and/or mods these days.
Re: Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 - A Rock Solid Switch Port For A Pair Of Pros
Removed
Re: New Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin Update Allows You To Dual Wield Cats And Dogs
As a huge fan of Rune Factory, and The Demon Blade, I've really, really, really wanted to enjoy this game. I'm hoping one of these days it clicks, but - as it stands - the (ultra realistic and complex but barely explained) farming of rice just isn't fun. And sadly, that detracts a lot of the overall experience.
Maybe wielding dogs and cats will help tho. Guess we'll see!
Re: Yes, Cruis'n Blast Is Getting A Physical Release On Switch
@Clyde_Radcliffe For real?? No online play? Was this actually confirmed somewhere? If true, then that's seriously disappointing.
Re: New Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 Footage Shown, Aiming For A 2022 Switch Release
@Euler "keep licking those boots"
What are you even talking about? Providing a theory about what might be happening in a trailer while stating that maybe it's not a coincidence that Nintendo has opted re-release Skyward Sword ahead of BOTW2 is licking Nintendo's boot?
If that's what you're implying, then I implore you to go back re-read what I said. In fact, here - I'll make it easier for you. These were my exact words:
"What if it isn't JUST a cynical cash grab? What if it's ALSO being done to serve as a was to become reacquainted with that version of Link..."
Since you clearly can't read, I've added a capitalized emphasis to the words "ALSO" and "JUST", so as to demonstrate that I never said SS WASN'T a cash grab.
But, if the meaning of what I had said is still not clear to you, then let me
try to phrase it in another way:
"I'm of the opinion that the Skyward Sword remaster is cynical cash grab. However, if SS should happen to be in any way connected to BOTW2, then that could be one more reason for why Nintendo has decided to hastily re-release it."
In any case, my advice to you would be to
1. brush up on your basic reading comprehension skills, and
2. GFY
Re: New Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 Footage Shown, Aiming For A 2022 Switch Release
@Euler That's literally the dumbest, most hyperbolic and melodramatic comment that I've ever read on this site - or maybe any site for that matter.
Re: New Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 Footage Shown, Aiming For A 2022 Switch Release
Aside for a split second 5 seconds in, Link's face is never shown again. You also don't hear any of his typical grunts and whatnot. I found that to VERY intriguing. It makes me seriously wonder if maybe the hero in BOTW 2 isn't the same Link from the first BOTW.
If it's NOT Link, then there are all sorts of possibilities:
Maybe it's an entirely different character - one that isn't in the lineage of Link's family?
Maybe it's Zelda? (doubtful, but you never know. The long hair does make me wonder, though.)
Maybe it's a Link from a different game and era? I actually think this would be the most likely scenario. And if this would be the case, I think the most obvious Link would be the one from Skyward Sword. There were lots of elements to the game that seemed HEAVILY borrowed from Skyward Sword. Also the clothing.
That would also add a new wrinkle to Skyward Sword's remaster. What if it isn't just a cynical cash grab? What if it's also being done to serve as a was to become reacquainted with that version of Link so that we'll remember more of his backstory for when we play him in BOTW 2? (or in the case of those who never played that game, an introduction).
Of course, in the split second that Link was shown, it appeared as though he was being drawn into malice by his arm. That the hero seems to use an arm attachment in some of the combat sequences would suggest that it's the same Link that we see at the start of the trailer - but it could also be a red herring.
If it IS Link, could it be that his face is heavily scarred / mutilated from being taken into the malice?
Just some thoughts. What do you think?
Re: Cruis'n Blast Is Coming To Nintendo Switch
This looked like utter trash - graphically, it was almost on par with the N64 version - maybe just a little better, but not by much
Re: Shin Megami Tensei V Is A Switch Exclusive Launching This November
This looked pretty great!
Re: Video: Check Out These Amazing Game Builder Garage Creations
@Johnny44 You have to have a hook. In the vast majority of successful video content creators, you'll frequently see the use of a specific catch phrase at either the start or the end of a video - or both. it's branding, and people like familiarity
I'm not saying that "Hello lovely people" is the best opening hook I've ever heard, but it's not the worst. I think it would be a mistake to abandon it now when it's clearly something that's become very strongly associated Alex's style and branding.
That said, I'm not dismissing your opinion - I'm just saying why it probably is that Alex uses it in every video
Re: E3: Get Your Nintendo Life E3 2021 Bingo Cards Here!
That card is completely unwinnable.
Re: Video: Check Out These Amazing Game Builder Garage Creations
That Sonic game is literally better than anything Sega's done with the series for at least the last 25 years.
Re: 'Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania' Box Art And Screenshots Surface Online
The first Super Monkey Ball was pure gold. The rest - not so much. As such, I really hope the new game will take its cues from the original.
Re: Rune Factory 5's Local Switch Release Arrives "Early" In 2022
Ugh.
I have nothing more to add.