B3RTAY

@axelhander this comment gets a big, chunky eye roll from me.

Metroid’s sense of isolation isn’t the only thing that’s diminished. It’s the strength of Samus as a character and you the player overcoming things by yourself, not alongside some goofy goober and space marines shepherding you through mid-00’s set pieces.

It’s a colossal detractor for people who, back in the day, couldn’t even find Kraid and were fine with it because the world felt so mysterious and cool. People don’t mind being stuck, but Nintendo have seemingly lost confidence in that approach and forgot the internet exists.

I don’t usually agree with passing judgement or getting in a cyber huff over something that’s not even in our hands yet, but meeting the generic cast in advance…and they actually named a character Duke?! It’s looking like something from the worst time for FPS, right before Doom turned it all around again.

The art and music of this game are remarkable. Devs usually neglect the sound aspect when going for that hazy CRT nostalgia but I can practically feel my childhood TV rumble when I hear the music in this game.

The biggest con of the review is likely a boon to some. I still don’t know what the benefit of ‘more tofu’ is but I’m looking forward to either finding out myself or googling it somewhere down the line.

Gameplay wise it’s neat, tidy, even generic, but it’s the vibes that elevate it.

@AlonditeFE Has anyone actually stopped to think that Dark Souls type experiences exist in anbundance and we don’t need another template entry? And that shifting the thrust of the game might actually make it a standout experience and invigorate the formula?

There are so many games and DLC from one dev alone and their replayability is why people are still revisiting them 15 years after release.

Let’s have one that’s a bit different. And, maybe, let’s not pass judgement until we have a running time of gameplay footage that amounts to more than 4% of those Air Rider directs.

Loving all the negativity so far - it’s like the very gist of the article doesn’t exist.

Miyazaki has a good track record with the old video games and if the leak is to be trusted it should at the very least shift expectations a little.

Why not relish all the fantastic games coming out in the coming weeks and then have something to get excited about in ‘26? Oh right…because it’s PvP

@HingryHuppo hey man, even Kriss Akabusi needs to kick back in a Fiat Uno from time to time. I’m outdoorsy but I’d take the anime bike if it was just collecting dust in some lightning tower.

This both fills me with hope that it’s an ongoing sentiment to update old games for free and despair that it’s over now that the cats out of the bag.

Do people ever stop to think that, sometimes, 60fps adds zero to or even detracts from an experience?

Shadow of the Colossus’s remaster on PS3 was apparently capable of being 60fps but the devs chose to lock it at 30 as an artistic choice, and they were bang on.

One of the very best - not a very charitable price considering how many physical editions it’s already seen, but I think it’s a price for the early birds paranoid about it dropping off the face of the earth.

Wait for a price drop - not exactly a game that needs to be played hot off the presses and Nicalis and it’s JP offshoot Pikii tend to have deep sales on their site.

Once picked up a fancy pants edition of Ikaruga for chump change.

NES themed? I’d want my keyboard to replicate the feeling of space battles in an Arwing for 500 smackers. Looking to my side and seeing a hologram of Fox whisk by - egging me on as I type my grumpy comments.

@shadowii I live in Osaka, been in Japan 10 years.

I found my best friend here and we have a beautiful son. I like it fine.

A brand new Katamari, Earthion physical release AND a game by the people who made MOON? What an October, what a year.

@WheresWaveRace I hadn’t watched the show in years, but look up ‘family guy purgatory’ on YouTube and you’ll arrive at my exact sentiments on The Touryst.

Thanks for making me chuckle on the way to work with that last sentence btw!

@WheresWaveRace ‘Expectations are set accordingly’ is just a different way of saying they’re lowered.

You’re the one assuming I only think AAA games can score highly, but the thing is: I like low key, easy breezy games - very much so. Just not this one, it’s missing something in its world that’s not so much to do with content, but atmosphere.

This game was like wandering through purgatory for me. But it’s one of those ‘nice wee games’ where expectations are lowered so it gets mad high review scores.

I’ll probably end up upgrading, double dipping for more of those purgy vibes.

Dying to play this. The argument that there’s not enough content is wild…it re-contexts every single level of the game into a supremely replayable, high score based roguelike.

I think it’s an incredible idea. MAYBE one that arrived a little too soon, but you can always play it outside of its release window.

The people complaining about the price AND that it’s not for them? Well, there’s a perfect base game that remains untouched for you.

Fall Guys, Human Fall Flat, Overcooked and now uh, Lollipop Chainsaw.

Not the Switch 2 Edition Paradise we envisioned, but the one we deserved…

People are complaining the desert area looks barren? Barren can be an artistic choice, and it can also offer a welcome contrast between the more claustrophobic exploration we’ve had in Metroid for 40 years.

Honestly I feel like barely a week goes by between each upcoming game being met with a haze of needless doubt. The trailer also offered plenty of classic looking Metroid, but it’s the rail shooter-ish segments that deserved the spotlight this time around.

Have some faith.

@Thomystic
It’s the distance light travels in a year and ‘light years ahead’ is a pretty common expression used to describe something vastly superior to it’s competitors.

Cheers though Professor Waddle Dee…

This is the point for me where the ‘switch 2 edition’ tag changed from being attached to a scant few titles at launch, to something we’ll likely see for the console’s entire lifespan.

Are multiplayer, almost Mario Party style mini games worth a double dip if you’ve traded in your Switch copy?

Absolutely no thanks.

Genuinely, genuinely a top 5 for me. A maturity in art direction and world building light years ahead of its time.

The remake of the original, however, messed its trousers on the first level. Taking the originals perfect matching of music, vast ocean and mysterious, sparse ruins and filling it with unwanted current gen levels of detail and scenery. Completely blew it.

I’m an optimist and hope they can stick the landing here…

There’s too much happening already. It’s wild - and the amount of people saying otherwise or that it’s poor are making me lose my already vague understanding of humans.

Bananza alone…are people seeing this *****? It was honestly spellbinding for me - at points I thought it might be the best game I’d ever played - and I’ve been waggling joysticks for nigh on 40 years.

I can barely manage to trickle through the new Kirby game in the scant solo time I have and there’s still Metroid blinkin Prime 4 coming out…oh and Elden Ring.

What a year it’s becoming… genuinely don’t get how people are not seeing it.

@JakobU Woke?…Not one little bit.

Anyway, it’s a dud, pure and simple. You can glance at 5 seconds of footage and see it’s missing speed, dynamic movement, personality and rocket powered cars.

I think adding Miis is a bit out of the equation when considering the subject too.

Honestly, there’s just too much great stuff to play this year. I’d forgotten this already…

Even if you limit your diet to a few select Nintendo releases, boomer shooters, shoot-em-ups and a indie darling or two like me…what a year.

I’d need a drastic upturn in my career just to afford all the shmups on the horizon this year, never mind finding the time to play them.

I’ll just go ahead and echo sentiments that it’s entirely ridiculous to set your expectations based on over the shoulder cam footage, and add that From Software have released games with entire biomes that bring consoles to a standstill, and that they are also some of the best games of all time.

Sweet Fancy Moses what a game Burnout 2 was…Sega and Namco foundations honed to perfection. 3 stripped out the nostalgia but still gave us one last classic course oriented banger before mainstream racing went open world forever.

Something tells me that this isn’t just going to be a Kart style racer. No gameplay footage yet, 45 minute Direct, we already had Mario Kart this year.

Color me mildly jazzed. They’ll absolutely shadow drop the original too. I’d bet my last remaining gonad.

@Milk_

Not wanting to be the guy who says I live in Japan so I know better…but scalping, rudeness, shamelessness and littering ALL exist and occur here daily.

Some of Mac’s other recent Happy Sets have had similar consequences and I think it’s fair to say native people will more readily call out foreigners on social media than fellow Japanese. Of course I agree with them, it’s all of the above to do such things, but posting about it has the knock on effect of damaging relations with foreigners and some of us here are working very hard to be model foreign citizens.

All over Pokémon cards too. Sweet Jesus.

This scores less favorably than some really bare bones comps…Taito Milestones 3 springs to mind.

Harsh to knock a game with ‘origins’ in the title for not including the back end of the series. How many games do M2 have to meticulously restore to get a 9? An entire new game goes a bit beyond their usual workload, too.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not sat fuming in my chair or anything but maybe give them a bit of slack? They’re a real treasure.

An M2 Shot Triggers and Nightdive release on the same weekend. Fans of immaculate game preservation are eating good.

This looked brilliant. Brought Panzer Dragoon to mind but also seems really unique and counter to all the current trends in art style and gameplay.

Pinned every last one of my hopes on this being good.

@TerribleTerabytes it’s Doctors Without Borders, dude…

Nintendo raining on the parade of an earnest, wholesome charity event isn’t a good look however people try and swing it. The issue is not just that permission wasn’t asked, it’s that further permission has been denied.

Full blown corporate coldness.

@Uncle_Franklin Is anybody here thinking that?

I’ve got a copy of Hitman just kind of sitting there, the pull of Bananza forever outweighing the urge to stop and download it. Not only is it doing massive damage to consumer trust, it’s a bit of a faff too.

One thing that pisses me off about it, is that Nintendo have given the option of key cards to publishers and then not used it themselves. Which speaks volumes to how damaging they really think it is.

Oh well. Hopefully it’s just to get publishers releasing early in the lifespan, and one of those three withdrawn direct games was Elden Ring changing to an on the card release.

I loved Odyssey, but i didn’t really care for all the matrimonial vibes and salary workers in the streets of New Donk. It sounds so trivial but art direction misfires are a big thing when you’re dealing with worlds steeped in nostalgia.

The confidence and boldness of the level design lead us to Bananza, though, and I was sat playing it this morning adamant I have a new favourite game of all time. I’m just bowled over by the little touches and inspired design from moment to moment - that a game with such a singular, violent mechanic feels so broad and radiates love and kindness. I’m on a second loop through of all the levels and I’m only just noticing how incredible the music is. Genuinely in awe.

I barely thought of Odyssey at all to be honest, it made me think more of N64 Rare titles. And how collectibles and NPCs were always pulling you in new directions. So nostalgic but also Nintendo at their boldest. Can’t fathom how they’re going to top it…

EDIT: Nice article!

Title prediction for the next HD2D release:

Chronicles of Ian: A eunuch’s plight.

Underrated announcement.

Katamari games at their best are like unalloyed sunshine poured directly into your soul. A perfect blend of unforgettable sights and sounds and janitorial gameplay. The levels set in different time periods is a nice move… second Where’s Wally book vibes.

I’d quite like a wee announcement for some switch 2 updates. Nier Automata and its slightly compromised port pals all deserve a Switch 2 glow up.

Game wise I’ll take all the obvious rumors, I’m honestly too enamored with Bananza to give a real hoot.

They’re not so bananas for DK over here. Most people would still plump for Mario Kart, gibbon the choice.

@SillyG

My personal take on long story short for this article is…

Tony Hawk: Nice Lad.

Returning to the same location with a new soundtrack in hand is pretty emblematic of skateboarding as a whole actually. Good on him.

Having paid 20,000円 more for my Switch 2 to have English, it sure would be nice to see some Japanese publishers become mindful of Japan’s 2 available console types and include English language options as standard.

Otherwise I’ll wind up taking this bitterness to the grave.

ION FURY

Capitalized because we’re 220 comments below surface and it’s not likely to be covered here or on YouTube.

If my memory serves (and it often doesn’t) the Switch’s 60fps mode was locked behind a cheat code, and it very rarely hit 60.

I returned to it with this knowledge in hand and it runs like an absolute peach. The gyro aiming is snappy and silky smooth too and it just perfectly serves what an absolute love letter to early FPS this game is.

Belter.

This reminded me of when Bioshock came out.

We had the CRT in the front room and the tiniest flatscreen known to man in my room. I felt Bioshock merited big screen heft so I took the Xbox downstairs. The game’s art direction popped even more, with the soft edges of the CRT image bringing out the retro tech flavors and giving world and character textures a painterly vibe.

It was totally transformative and I couldn’t go back to playing it on my A4 size flatty. Then we got the red ring of death right after meeting Andrew Ryan.

Cannae fathom that I’ve pumped more time into this than I have the new Mario Kart, but here I am. I honestly love how this game keeps pulling you in different directions. It’s like an ever expanding pizza base with all these exotic toppings navigating you through the unending, doughy tundra.

What an absolute job they’ve done refining things since launch too. About the only thing I don’t care for are the trope-tastic anime princess type character and her royal cohorts that jibe against the more appealing children’s book art style. Plastic oven pizza style cheese amongst the buffalo mozzarella sourced from Italy.

Getting caught up in a frothed-up funk over AI background foliage is taking away from the thousands of hours of actual human craft that goes into a game like this. Physics, UI, course and character design, music and sound design, animation, coding, textures, lighting.

This is not a big bucks mega team at work, it’s a comparatively small dev working on a golf game in an art-style that doesn’t cater to the core sport audience. They’ve made excellent golf games for close to 30 years, and at this point, a little AI leg-up to render peripheral shrubs is absolutely fair game.

“If you're someone that only looks at 'specs on the box' and doesn't understand anything about displays then you might be impressed”

Wow what a neat guy.

Mind playing the OG game boy? Finding that one sweet spot in the house where you could make out the screen without a handful of excited button presses changing the screen angle so you couldn’t see again?

Look at us now.

I’m curious to try We Love Katamari when mine arrives. Perfectly playable as is but some art styles just deserve perfect clarity.

I hope Metroid Dread gets a specific update too before Prime 4 arrives.

@The_Nintend_Pedant
I wasn’t telling anyone anything it was a question.

Oh and you’re complaining about my complaining about people complaining.

If you call yourself a pedant be prepared to pedanted upon.

Miyamoto himself probably doesn’t even give a solitary fart about this.

Are we really calling people who comb through credits for something to be woke about ‘fans’?

It’s a growing trend in journalism - unnecessary credit rage on someone’s behalf. Sweet baby Jesus…just enjoy your new console.

As excluding as it feels to have to pay 20,000円 more than most of my fellow Japan residents, I applaud Nintendo JPs scalper clampdown game.

*sound of middle-aged clapping *