"Wright’s insistence on proving her haters wrong pushes her away from Eastly and sends her down a rabbit hole of desperation and obsession."
Which at least implies some flaws on Narcissa's part.
But even if they do take time to depict Narcissa's many, uh, misadventures, how do you do that under the allegory of a Zelda game? Maybe you could portray Narcissa as Ganondorf, coveting Hyrule for herself, as a representation of when she bought a Zelda speedrun domain name just to prevent others from using it. That'd be kinda cute, for a relatively minor incident.
But once you get to the death threats part... you don't adress that in a fantasy way. It's not about lacking a proper Zelda allegory, it's just a matter of simple good taste. It's the equivalent of putting out an apology video while playing ukelele - any attempt at portraying Narcissa's actual flaws would just feel so disingenuous.
I just don't see how anyone thinks this is a good idea.
Full respect for wanting to make something that represents the trans experience, but I feel it's more than a little disingenuous to imply that's the only thing that happened.
She literally threatened to shoot up Twitch HQ. She live-streamed porn.
Now, do I believe people can improve and overcome their pasts? Yeah absolutely. But this article reads like a puff piece that doesn't give me any confidence the film will tackle those issues.
This and the Melodic Gardens both felt like more of the same to me (although I've yet to finish this DLC, I'm 3/3 through.
The biggest downgrade compared to the first game's DK DLC is the map randomization. DK's maps felt perfectly suited to his vine-swinging and throwing abilities. Rayman's got a similar ability, gliding with the hoops.in stages, but they're rarely placed in such a way as to make sense. They might trivialize a stage entirely, or be entirely useless.
Rayman's other abilities don't seem very coherent either. The costume swap seems like a neat feature, but it mostly exists to tack on elemental abilities to his basic, boring gun and his inexplicable motion-sensing turrets. Having these static (albeit carryable) turrets alongside Rayman's mobile hoop-gliding kit feels at odds with each other - although using his tornado and rocket abilities to toss foes around and trigger the turrets is fun, I just don't have as much fun with Rayman as I did with DK.
I do appreciate there's new music here, at least. Even if the main set is weirdly lacking it. Melodic gardens tried this too, eschewing music in favor of environmental noises. I don't know who needs to hear this, but while Rabbids + Mario is many things, a relaxing/vibes game it is not. Having areas without music is weird and feels unfinished- probably because they couldn't get the composers back for very long, but I digress.
"I think Pokemon showcases that it's possible to both cut down a roster and not actually lose any sales after the inevitable backlash."
Idk if that's true. I mean, Pokemon obviously isn't struggling for game sales, and even if it was, they have the rest of their merchandising empire to fall back on. The series is simply too big to fail, no matter how little time they afford their developers.
That said... look at Pokemon's sales, as a series, relative to each other, and then compare how other games in other series sell on Switch. Mario, Zelda, Fire Emblem, Kirby - all easily outselling previous titles, setting new records on Switch. But Pokemon? Let's Go and Legends "only" sold around 15 million. Sword and Shield took years to outsell Gen 2, and will never outsell Gen 1. SV haven't reached that, and may not ever.
The games are still selling incredibly well for how budget they are, with a shoestring development team that pales in comparison to the size of most AAA games. It's clearly working, for TPC. But, I wouldn't say they haven't lost sales over it.
"what gameplay benefit does starving to death really add to an exploration puzzle game?"
See, that's funny, because I'd ask "What gameplay benefit does having no pressure really add to a strategy game"?
Pikmin, at least 1 and 3, are about managing time. They're RTS-lite games where the enemy isn't another rival army, but just, the environment itself. Pikmin 4 seems to want to remind you of this, with its focus on repeating the word "Dandori" a lot - which seems to relate to the skill of time-management.
Like, watching Pikmin slowly bring an object back to base isn't fun. It's slow and tedious. But that transforms into something tense and meaningful when you REALLY WANT that ship part They're carrying before the end of the day. So do you assign more Pikmin to help carry it faster? But that'll leave you a bit short-handed for fighting an enemy...
That's the sort of decision that makes Pikmin appealing to me. But it doesn't exist in 2 and 4, where you can totally just bring the object to base with as many Pikmin as possible, end the day, and go fight the enemy the next day. Because there's no time limit, there's never any need to make a decision on what to prioritize.
That said, 4, unlike 2, seems designed such that I can make my own fun by assigning arbitrary time limits for myself. But my point is, we all view these games differently I guess.
Yeah, I don't play SF much, but this list makes no sense to me. Why is the older version ranked higher? Is it nostslgia? If there's a practical reason for the ranking, the article doesn't convince me of it. The article seems to.be unconvinced, itself.
Anyway, the existence of rewinds/saves existing in 2 already notwithstanding, I have mixed feelings on this mechanic as a fan of Fire Emblem, where rewinds have, for better or worse, become a part of the series for 6 years now. I still think it sort of creates an environment that can permit bad game design to sneak through - instead of fixing Gaiden's archaic design for FE Echoes, they slapped rewinds as a bandage fix, for instance.
But it feels especially odd in Pikmin, especially a pikmin title with no time limit. While I understand the emotional attachment to them, Pikmin are not unique characters like you get in FE. If you lose a bunch, it sucks, but you can just get more of them. So to that end it feels a bit odd to have such a generous rewind, since it feels like it circumvents the existing game design that existed to account for such a scenario.
On the other hand, without an overarching time limit in this game... what does it matter? It's the same issue with Pikmin 2, I feel. There's no time limit save your own dwindling patience, so since regrowing your army after a loss is essentially free anyway, why not just let players rewind?
TLDR I don't have a problem with rewinds per se, and Pikmin 2 already had similarly generous saves in caves. I do take issue with the lack of pressure or time limit, though.
"We all remember the Submerged Castle and the Waterwraith within — what we would have given for a rewind mechanic then..."
You could literally reset to the start of the floor in 2 tho? And the only rewinds I've seen in 4 are to the start of an area too - are there more I've missed?
I mean... what do you expect Furukawa to say to that sort of question, lmao. It's a meeting about the future of the company, not about a slight disparity in animations in one game.
Don't get me wrong, I commend this fan for showing up. Based, honestly. I'd love to buy stocks then show up next year and demand a Code Name STEAM sequel. But, like, yeah, I'm sure they didn't expect Furukawa to bow, beg forgiveness, and immediately crack the whip to get the Splatoon team working on poses. Showing up was a publicity stunt, and a damn good one, but that's all.
As an aside, I do think it's weird that this article, and some comments, are painting all the female poses as a feminism/empowerment thing. I mean if you feel that way, cool, happy for you. But it feels to me like how Fire Emblem Heroes has like, 3/1 ratio of OP women in new banners. Something tells me it isn't about representation...
Were it just 3 houses I'd agree with you, but 3 Hopes does the same things again. It's pretty clear It's on purpose too - one of the more blatant minor examples being the Ashe/Shez support line, where the plot about Shez's backstory is just dropped entirely.
Now, you'd almost be able to argue that "Oh well that's the artistic intent, it doesn't matter what Shez's backstory is" but the conversation ends with Ashe actually getting a letter back from Shez's home village, and rushing off to give it to them. At the time I assumed this was just a plot hook for when the main story gets around to it, but... it doesn't.
But that's just representative of the larger issue, which is that 3 Hopes literally doesn't have a proper ending. The war remains unfinished in all 3 routes, and you can tell me I'm being cynical, but the devs literally confirmed it was intentional in an interview:
"Kusakihara: As Yokoda-san said, the story was the part that was given the most thought. If the result was something like “Even though the Professor tried so hard, the students were better off without them…” it would be too sad of an experience for players…"
And yet you didn't take issue with either of those statements because you agreed. We both agree that Engage's story isn't good, it wasn't until I riffed on 3H that you took issue.
This isn't about "haters", it's about people with different opinions than yours.
Failing that, you could always just write an incomplete story with blatant inconsistencies between routes to bait fans into arguing about it online for 3 years, then stoke the flames with a Warriors title that, instead of wrapping anything up, tells 3 new unfinished stories of its own.
Man, as much as Engage overall - the base game and DLC emblems - was a fantastic return to form for a series that seemed to have forgotten how to craft strategic situations after 2015's Conquest, the Fell Xenologue DLC just sucked. Feels like they must've gotten some completely different people working on it. Everything from the map design to the character balance to the fundamental mechanics introduced for the DLC, were terrible.
Ironically, the story's probably the best part. It's mostly cheesy, but has a few legitimately interesting and thought-provoking takes on some characters - and more importantly it's just unhinged, and each chapter contains some absolutely dumb, but very entertaining, bombshell moment.
I guess with terrible gameplay and an entertaining story, it really is the mirror version of regular Engage.
Luigi I can agree is OP, but that's no different than the first game. I got through more of the game running him with Bowser, who everyone swears sucks, but I found to be a great long-range partner for Luigi, blowing up enemy cover and forcing them into Luigi's crosshairs. So I kinda get the impression most characters are pretty usable. I'd say Rabbid Luigi sucks, but I know others like him, so.
On the other hand, I've never seen anyone defend Rabbid Yoshi's design from the first game. Just a poorly thought-out character all around, joins way too late to do anything and does nothing well.
I prefer the first game's approach to map design too, but the sequel still has a lot of great moments despite there being an element of generation in the maps. The map where you have to activate a series of blowers to blow a bomb to the end was really fun, and the train map, were particular standouts.
I enjoyed the worlds in the sequel, and liked having more characters that have dialogue. Brings the world to life that much more.
I do prefer the bosses from the first game though - save for the final boss, the sequel's final boss is definitely the better fight.
Really enjoyed the DLC so far. It's a fun little roguelike mode. Not incredibly challenging, but definitely forces you to think and engage with the game's mechanics and characters in ways the main game wouldn't be able to. I for onr feel absolutely spoiled for great strategy games this year, and am looking forward to the remaining DLC.
How will replays still be compatible with the old version? The reticle bug is just visual, but the squeezer bug affects gameplay. Did someone finally implement a system to store old patch versions and call on whichever version is relevant for that replay?
That, plus the dev seems to be poking a lot of fun at the situation, with the "Goofed too close to the sun" line and then doubling down on the bit. It's a silly situation, and one that's pretty unfortunate to happen right before your game is set to launch, but they're treating it in good humor.
Kinda reeks of projection for @coalescence to characterize it as a "Tantrum". But hey I'm sure they've played the game and can identify these "shovelware mechanics" they're complaining about, right?
Hi all, I'm from Ukraine and I just wanted to say, those of you in the comments condemning a 20 year-old Pokemon book really make me feel supported with the current war. You all are really showing Russia who's boss. Thanks.
Freaking love how this guy is over here gatekeeping people as "so called fans" for enjoying the game but admitting there's bugs, while admitting themselves that they haven't played the game in months because of the lack of post-game.
"Thank goodness I got so sick of so many people whining and crying about this, now they can get back to whining and crying about the performance issues, while the rest of us can get back to enjoying the tera raids and waiting for the dlc."
8/14 here. I got a few right just by examining the phrasing to guess if it was a native english quote or not, but a lot of these were pretty much guesses.
Do you know if online is friends-only? Can it be played with randoms? Or is there no matchmaking? I know you can't really PLAY online yet, but surely the menus would show that sort of thing, yeah?
Overwatch's April Fools is great. The new patch seems to be teasing upcoming PVE abilities, which are a lot of fun. And they also recorded several new joke voice lines for everyone's ultimates- laughing at them mid-match has gotten me killed a few times.
I'd sort of be OK with just the raid limit, but increasing their prices too sure is a convenient way to limit how many people play them, with no other motivation whatsoever, huh Niantic?
It's too early to say for sure, but I'm loving the Engage DLC so far. The meat of it will probably be the upcoming "Fell Xenologue" DLC, but the Emblems added by the current DLC are already very fun additions to the already broad array of strategies available in the base game. Each one has got me considering their implications and possible uses in a way that previous FE DLC simply never did.
So TPC is actively hostile towards players who get their game later, then? If you don't buy Pokemon games at launch, you're playing an inferior version where you have to live with the temptation of possibly choosing to import your old Pokemon?
And instead of solving this by forcing players to beat the game first or even complete the Pokedex first, they do this by... time-gating the feature. And, incidentally, the last several Pokemon games have been incomplete at launch. But that's unrelated to Home's delay, which is totally an artistic game dev decision that nobody but you understands, right?
I'd just like to say, something I feel goes overlooked in this review is you can turn on motion controls WITH dual stick mode. It's the "Camera" option under the dual stick control style. You can of course tune the gyro and stick sensitivities separately. I use the stick for turning Samus, and the gyro to adjust my aim at things already on screen. It works great with my pro controller, surpassing even Splatoon for me (which doesn't let you look up/down with the stick for some reason).
So yeah, motion controls on their own probably aren't the best option, but if you enjoy dual stick/gyro combos you're in luck.
The story is definitely simpler and I never said otherwise.
It's also at least complete, and doesn't entirely contradict itself. Claude's route in Three Hopes has the most consistently godawful writing in the entire franchise, and yes that includes Fates.
The characters are every bit as complex, on the whole.
Crimson flower literally ends several chapters early and never sees you actually fight the villains they built up the whole time.
2 of the other routes are literally like, the same route, but with one unexplained final boss replacing another.
And then Azure Moon is maybe 80% the same as those 2 routes, the main difference being it just has a couple less maps than either and never even pretends to explain the Slitherers.
All 3 routes of 3 Hopes are literally unfinished, by design, by admission in interviews.
They should've just left Engage unfinished. They did that for 3 Houses AND 3 Hopes, and it's tricked people into arguing for years that it's actually like, super deep and intentionally vague.
The characters in Engage are largely great too, but most people see one or two conversations about tea from a character like Celine and then write them off entirely.
"We want depth!" The community cries, but what they really want is someone to trauma dump their sad backstory on the first conversation so that they can feel like they're playing a "mature" game.
Comments 549
Re: Pokémon Collaboration With Van Gogh Museum Announced
I'm disappointed in all of you for missing the obvious "Pokemon Gogh" pun.
Re: Feature: 'Break The Game' Tells Speedrunner Narcissa Wright’s Story Through The Language Of Zelda
@LXP8
Right? I mean, to be fair, the article says
"Wright’s insistence on proving her haters wrong pushes her away from Eastly and sends her down a rabbit hole of desperation and obsession."
Which at least implies some flaws on Narcissa's part.
But even if they do take time to depict Narcissa's many, uh, misadventures, how do you do that under the allegory of a Zelda game? Maybe you could portray Narcissa as Ganondorf, coveting Hyrule for herself, as a representation of when she bought a Zelda speedrun domain name just to prevent others from using it. That'd be kinda cute, for a relatively minor incident.
But once you get to the death threats part... you don't adress that in a fantasy way. It's not about lacking a proper Zelda allegory, it's just a matter of simple good taste. It's the equivalent of putting out an apology video while playing ukelele - any attempt at portraying Narcissa's actual flaws would just feel so disingenuous.
I just don't see how anyone thinks this is a good idea.
Re: Pokémon GO's Pokédex Is Now Bigger Than Any Mainline Entry
@VoidofLight
>No other monster collecting games have over 1,000 species in one single game including forms. It's bloat
The POKEMON in a POKEMON game are just bloat, lmao.
Void of light, indeed.
Re: Feature: 'Break The Game' Tells Speedrunner Narcissa Wright’s Story Through The Language Of Zelda
Full respect for wanting to make something that represents the trans experience, but I feel it's more than a little disingenuous to imply that's the only thing that happened.
She literally threatened to shoot up Twitch HQ. She live-streamed porn.
Now, do I believe people can improve and overcome their pasts? Yeah absolutely. But this article reads like a puff piece that doesn't give me any confidence the film will tackle those issues.
Re: Review: Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope: Rayman In The Phantom Show - Enjoyable And Brisk But Rayman Deserves Better
This and the Melodic Gardens both felt like more of the same to me (although I've yet to finish this DLC, I'm 3/3 through.
The biggest downgrade compared to the first game's DK DLC is the map randomization. DK's maps felt perfectly suited to his vine-swinging and throwing abilities. Rayman's got a similar ability, gliding with the hoops.in stages, but they're rarely placed in such a way as to make sense. They might trivialize a stage entirely, or be entirely useless.
Rayman's other abilities don't seem very coherent either. The costume swap seems like a neat feature, but it mostly exists to tack on elemental abilities to his basic, boring gun and his inexplicable motion-sensing turrets. Having these static (albeit carryable) turrets alongside Rayman's mobile hoop-gliding kit feels at odds with each other - although using his tornado and rocket abilities to toss foes around and trigger the turrets is fun, I just don't have as much fun with Rayman as I did with DK.
I do appreciate there's new music here, at least. Even if the main set is weirdly lacking it. Melodic gardens tried this too, eschewing music in favor of environmental noises. I don't know who needs to hear this, but while Rabbids + Mario is many things, a relaxing/vibes game it is not. Having areas without music is weird and feels unfinished- probably because they couldn't get the composers back for very long, but I digress.
Re: Best Nintendo Switch Graphics - The Most Beautiful Switch Games
This is a crap list no matter how many times you repost it.
Re: Random: The Pokémon Center's Official Wiglett Plush Looks A Lot More NSFW Than We'd Imagined
@Link-Hero
Blud sees a plush that looks like a penis and starts talking about the end of the series lmao
Re: Sakurai Can't Imagine Future Super Smash Bros. Games Without His Involvement
@Dr_Lugae
"I think Pokemon showcases that it's possible to both cut down a roster and not actually lose any sales after the inevitable backlash."
Idk if that's true. I mean, Pokemon obviously isn't struggling for game sales, and even if it was, they have the rest of their merchandising empire to fall back on. The series is simply too big to fail, no matter how little time they afford their developers.
That said... look at Pokemon's sales, as a series, relative to each other, and then compare how other games in other series sell on Switch. Mario, Zelda, Fire Emblem, Kirby - all easily outselling previous titles, setting new records on Switch. But Pokemon? Let's Go and Legends "only" sold around 15 million. Sword and Shield took years to outsell Gen 2, and will never outsell Gen 1. SV haven't reached that, and may not ever.
The games are still selling incredibly well for how budget they are, with a shoestring development team that pales in comparison to the size of most AAA games. It's clearly working, for TPC. But, I wouldn't say they haven't lost sales over it.
Re: Poll: Which Dormant Nintendo Franchise Would You Most Like To See Return?
You guys forgot Code Name S.T.E.A.M.
I would've settled for StarTropics, too.
Re: Review: Pikmin 4 - Relaxed, Refined Real-Time Strategy, Ready To Crack The Mainstream
@somnambulance
3 is the best, for sure
Re: Review: Pikmin 4 - Relaxed, Refined Real-Time Strategy, Ready To Crack The Mainstream
@FishyS
"what gameplay benefit does starving to death really add to an exploration puzzle game?"
See, that's funny, because I'd ask "What gameplay benefit does having no pressure really add to a strategy game"?
Pikmin, at least 1 and 3, are about managing time. They're RTS-lite games where the enemy isn't another rival army, but just, the environment itself. Pikmin 4 seems to want to remind you of this, with its focus on repeating the word "Dandori" a lot - which seems to relate to the skill of time-management.
Like, watching Pikmin slowly bring an object back to base isn't fun. It's slow and tedious. But that transforms into something tense and meaningful when you REALLY WANT that ship part They're carrying before the end of the day. So do you assign more Pikmin to help carry it faster? But that'll leave you a bit short-handed for fighting an enemy...
That's the sort of decision that makes Pikmin appealing to me. But it doesn't exist in 2 and 4, where you can totally just bring the object to base with as many Pikmin as possible, end the day, and go fight the enemy the next day. Because there's no time limit, there's never any need to make a decision on what to prioritize.
That said, 4, unlike 2, seems designed such that I can make my own fun by assigning arbitrary time limits for myself. But my point is, we all view these games differently I guess.
Re: Feature: What's The Best Version Of Street Fighter II On Nintendo Systems?
@topher6490
Yeah, I don't play SF much, but this list makes no sense to me. Why is the older version ranked higher? Is it nostslgia? If there's a practical reason for the ranking, the article doesn't convince me of it. The article seems to.be unconvinced, itself.
Re: Nintendo Sees Potential In The Metaverse, But Thinks It Would Be 'Difficult'
There's tons of potential in the metaverse.
It's called Second Life, and it's probably older than most users on this site.
It's this idea that it's a "new" thing that's deeply flawed.
Re: Activision CEO Made 'A Bad Judgement' In Not Supporting The Nintendo Switch More
Damn, well at least that's the only mistake Bobby Kotick has ever made.
Re: Pikmin 4 Will Let You Erase Your Mistakes With A Handy New Rewind Mechanic
Anyway, the existence of rewinds/saves existing in 2 already notwithstanding, I have mixed feelings on this mechanic as a fan of Fire Emblem, where rewinds have, for better or worse, become a part of the series for 6 years now. I still think it sort of creates an environment that can permit bad game design to sneak through - instead of fixing Gaiden's archaic design for FE Echoes, they slapped rewinds as a bandage fix, for instance.
But it feels especially odd in Pikmin, especially a pikmin title with no time limit. While I understand the emotional attachment to them, Pikmin are not unique characters like you get in FE. If you lose a bunch, it sucks, but you can just get more of them. So to that end it feels a bit odd to have such a generous rewind, since it feels like it circumvents the existing game design that existed to account for such a scenario.
On the other hand, without an overarching time limit in this game... what does it matter? It's the same issue with Pikmin 2, I feel. There's no time limit save your own dwindling patience, so since regrowing your army after a loss is essentially free anyway, why not just let players rewind?
TLDR I don't have a problem with rewinds per se, and Pikmin 2 already had similarly generous saves in caves. I do take issue with the lack of pressure or time limit, though.
Re: Pikmin 4 Will Let You Erase Your Mistakes With A Handy New Rewind Mechanic
"We all remember the Submerged Castle and the Waterwraith within — what we would have given for a rewind mechanic then..."
You could literally reset to the start of the floor in 2 tho? And the only rewinds I've seen in 4 are to the start of an area too - are there more I've missed?
Re: Hands On: Pikmin 4 Promises Heaps Of Gorgeous Exploration For Fans And Newbies Alike
Thrilled to hear there's some sort of timer in caves now, but is there a time limit for the game as a whole, like in 1 or 3?
Re: Random: Disgruntled Splatoon 3 Fan Complains Directly To Nintendo's President About Male Poses
@Bobb
I mean... what do you expect Furukawa to say to that sort of question, lmao. It's a meeting about the future of the company, not about a slight disparity in animations in one game.
Don't get me wrong, I commend this fan for showing up. Based, honestly. I'd love to buy stocks then show up next year and demand a Code Name STEAM sequel. But, like, yeah, I'm sure they didn't expect Furukawa to bow, beg forgiveness, and immediately crack the whip to get the Splatoon team working on poses. Showing up was a publicity stunt, and a damn good one, but that's all.
As an aside, I do think it's weird that this article, and some comments, are painting all the female poses as a feminism/empowerment thing. I mean if you feel that way, cool, happy for you. But it feels to me like how Fire Emblem Heroes has like, 3/1 ratio of OP women in new banners. Something tells me it isn't about representation...
Re: Feature: Fire Emblem Engage Devs On "Drastically Different" DLC And Characters "Living As The Person They Want To Be"
@sinndec
Were it just 3 houses I'd agree with you, but 3 Hopes does the same things again. It's pretty clear It's on purpose too - one of the more blatant minor examples being the Ashe/Shez support line, where the plot about Shez's backstory is just dropped entirely.
Now, you'd almost be able to argue that "Oh well that's the artistic intent, it doesn't matter what Shez's backstory is" but the conversation ends with Ashe actually getting a letter back from Shez's home village, and rushing off to give it to them. At the time I assumed this was just a plot hook for when the main story gets around to it, but... it doesn't.
But that's just representative of the larger issue, which is that 3 Hopes literally doesn't have a proper ending. The war remains unfinished in all 3 routes, and you can tell me I'm being cynical, but the devs literally confirmed it was intentional in an interview:
"Kusakihara: As Yokoda-san said, the story was the part that was given the most thought. If the result was something like “Even though the Professor tried so hard, the students were better off without them…” it would be too sad of an experience for players…"
Re: Feature: Fire Emblem Engage Devs On "Drastically Different" DLC And Characters "Living As The Person They Want To Be"
@sinndec
And yet you didn't take issue with either of those statements because you agreed. We both agree that Engage's story isn't good, it wasn't until I riffed on 3H that you took issue.
This isn't about "haters", it's about people with different opinions than yours.
Re: Feature: Fire Emblem Engage Devs On "Drastically Different" DLC And Characters "Living As The Person They Want To Be"
@sinndec
Why you hating on Engage's story and characters?
We can do this all day. I'm "hating" because I don't think something was very good, same goes for you.
Re: Feature: Fire Emblem Engage Devs On "Drastically Different" DLC And Characters "Living As The Person They Want To Be"
@sinndec
Failing that, you could always just write an incomplete story with blatant inconsistencies between routes to bait fans into arguing about it online for 3 years, then stoke the flames with a Warriors title that, instead of wrapping anything up, tells 3 new unfinished stories of its own.
Re: Feature: Fire Emblem Engage Devs On "Drastically Different" DLC And Characters "Living As The Person They Want To Be"
Man, as much as Engage overall - the base game and DLC emblems - was a fantastic return to form for a series that seemed to have forgotten how to craft strategic situations after 2015's Conquest, the Fell Xenologue DLC just sucked. Feels like they must've gotten some completely different people working on it. Everything from the map design to the character balance to the fundamental mechanics introduced for the DLC, were terrible.
Ironically, the story's probably the best part. It's mostly cheesy, but has a few legitimately interesting and thought-provoking takes on some characters - and more importantly it's just unhinged, and each chapter contains some absolutely dumb, but very entertaining, bombshell moment.
I guess with terrible gameplay and an entertaining story, it really is the mirror version of regular Engage.
Re: The Next Scarlet & Violet TCG Expansion Is A Throwback To The Original 151 Pokémon
I like how genwunners all have the same personality, and that's hating Vanillite specifically while ignoring all the basic-as-heck designs in gen 1.
Re: Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Final DLC "Coming Later In 2023", Here's A Teaser
I enjoyed the game immensely, so ... pppbbbbbttt.
Luigi I can agree is OP, but that's no different than the first game. I got through more of the game running him with Bowser, who everyone swears sucks, but I found to be a great long-range partner for Luigi, blowing up enemy cover and forcing them into Luigi's crosshairs. So I kinda get the impression most characters are pretty usable. I'd say Rabbid Luigi sucks, but I know others like him, so.
On the other hand, I've never seen anyone defend Rabbid Yoshi's design from the first game. Just a poorly thought-out character all around, joins way too late to do anything and does nothing well.
I prefer the first game's approach to map design too, but the sequel still has a lot of great moments despite there being an element of generation in the maps. The map where you have to activate a series of blowers to blow a bomb to the end was really fun, and the train map, were particular standouts.
I enjoyed the worlds in the sequel, and liked having more characters that have dialogue. Brings the world to life that much more.
I do prefer the bosses from the first game though - save for the final boss, the sequel's final boss is definitely the better fight.
Really enjoyed the DLC so far. It's a fun little roguelike mode. Not incredibly challenging, but definitely forces you to think and engage with the game's mechanics and characters in ways the main game wouldn't be able to. I for onr feel absolutely spoiled for great strategy games this year, and am looking forward to the remaining DLC.
Re: Review: Star Gagnant - Takahashi Meijin Tests Your Trigger Finger With A Simple Shmup
How star get gagnant?
Re: Splatoon 3 Gets Another Update To Smooth Out Sizzle Season, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
How will replays still be compatible with the old version? The reticle bug is just visual, but the squeezer bug affects gameplay. Did someone finally implement a system to store old patch versions and call on whichever version is relevant for that replay?
Re: Random: Indie Game Blocked By Nintendo Over Confusion On Microtransactions
@HammerKirby
That, plus the dev seems to be poking a lot of fun at the situation, with the "Goofed too close to the sun" line and then doubling down on the bit. It's a silly situation, and one that's pretty unfortunate to happen right before your game is set to launch, but they're treating it in good humor.
Kinda reeks of projection for @coalescence to characterize it as a "Tantrum". But hey I'm sure they've played the game and can identify these "shovelware mechanics" they're complaining about, right?
Re: Current Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Tera Raid Battle Events Suspended Due To Reward Bug
@FirstEmperor
You're bringing up Zelda sales... why, exactly?
Re: Random: Russia's Unofficial Pokédex Presents A Hilarious, Alternate Take On Pokémon
Hi all, I'm from Ukraine and I just wanted to say, those of you in the comments condemning a 20 year-old Pokemon book really make me feel supported with the current war. You all are really showing Russia who's boss. Thanks.
Re: Pokémon HOME Support For Scarlet And Violet "Mistakenly Announced"
@michellelynn0976
Lol.
Lmao.
Re: Current Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Tera Raid Battle Events Suspended Due To Reward Bug
@Kiyata
"I think their ambition overshadowed the limitations of this switch"
I understand not everyone is familiar with Xenoblade, but at the very least - you cannot say this with a straight face 1 week after TOTK came out.
Re: Current Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Tera Raid Battle Events Suspended Due To Reward Bug
@MagicMan @Bobb
Freaking love how this guy is over here gatekeeping people as "so called fans" for enjoying the game but admitting there's bugs, while admitting themselves that they haven't played the game in months because of the lack of post-game.
Re: Current Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Tera Raid Battle Events Suspended Due To Reward Bug
Lmao at the people in the last thread like:
"Thank goodness I got so sick of so many people whining and crying about this, now they can get back to whining and crying about the performance issues, while the rest of us can get back to enjoying the tera raids and waiting for the dlc."
@michellelynn0976 how u holdin up?
Re: Quiz: Can You Guess Which Game Industry Figures Said These Quotes?
8/14 here. I got a few right just by examining the phrasing to guess if it was a native english quote or not, but a lot of these were pretty much guesses.
Re: Hands On: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - Slicker, Shinier, Sassier Strategy
@Nanami_Ataraxia
As a huge AW fan, Tiny Metal is... not great IMO. The sequel is better, but I haven't bothered to finish either.
That said, tbh, I did also like AW2 far more than 1, but I'd say I enjoyed even 2 far more than Tiny Metal.
Re: Hands On: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - Slicker, Shinier, Sassier Strategy
@PJOReilly
Do you know if online is friends-only? Can it be played with randoms? Or is there no matchmaking? I know you can't really PLAY online yet, but surely the menus would show that sort of thing, yeah?
Re: Hands On: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - Slicker, Shinier, Sassier Strategy
Pretty sure the War Room isn't new, but that aside, I'm super excited for this game!
Re: Round Up: It's April Fools' Day, Here Are The Best Gaming Gags We've Seen
Overwatch's April Fools is great. The new patch seems to be teasing upcoming PVE abilities, which are a lot of fun. And they also recorded several new joke voice lines for everyone's ultimates- laughing at them mid-match has gotten me killed a few times.
Re: Pokémon GO Increasing Remote Raid Pass Prices & Limiting Daily Participation
I'd sort of be OK with just the raid limit, but increasing their prices too sure is a convenient way to limit how many people play them, with no other motivation whatsoever, huh Niantic?
Re: Best Nintendo Switch DLC
It's too early to say for sure, but I'm loving the Engage DLC so far. The meat of it will probably be the upcoming "Fell Xenologue" DLC, but the Emblems added by the current DLC are already very fun additions to the already broad array of strategies available in the base game. Each one has got me considering their implications and possible uses in a way that previous FE DLC simply never did.
Hopefully it ends as strongly as it's started.
Re: Super Mario 64's "Impossible 1-Up" Has Finally Been Grabbed Without Dying
Wait, didn't everyone used to get the 1up this way? I thought it was pretty obvious when I was a kid.
Re: The Pokémon Company Is Looking To Hire Someone With NFT Knowledge
@Axecon
How does an NFT help anyone own anything?
Re: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Get Pokémon HOME Support In "Early 2023"
@YoshiF2
So TPC is actively hostile towards players who get their game later, then? If you don't buy Pokemon games at launch, you're playing an inferior version where you have to live with the temptation of possibly choosing to import your old Pokemon?
And instead of solving this by forcing players to beat the game first or even complete the Pokedex first, they do this by... time-gating the feature. And, incidentally, the last several Pokemon games have been incomplete at launch. But that's unrelated to Home's delay, which is totally an artistic game dev decision that nobody but you understands, right?
Re: Review: Metroid Prime Remastered - A Long-Awaited And Stunning Return Of A Legend
@LEGEND_MARIOID @Sarkos @carlos82
I'd just like to say, something I feel goes overlooked in this review is you can turn on motion controls WITH dual stick mode. It's the "Camera" option under the dual stick control style. You can of course tune the gyro and stick sensitivities separately. I use the stick for turning Samus, and the gyro to adjust my aim at things already on screen. It works great with my pro controller, surpassing even Splatoon for me (which doesn't let you look up/down with the stick for some reason).
So yeah, motion controls on their own probably aren't the best option, but if you enjoy dual stick/gyro combos you're in luck.
Re: Overwatch 2 Announces Its First Ever Anime Collab, Available In Season 3
@nessisonett
Please explain the lore of LEGO Bastion.
Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem Out Of Top Ten While SpongeBob Sells Well On Switch
@sinndec
The story is definitely simpler and I never said otherwise.
It's also at least complete, and doesn't entirely contradict itself. Claude's route in Three Hopes has the most consistently godawful writing in the entire franchise, and yes that includes Fates.
The characters are every bit as complex, on the whole.
Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem Out Of Top Ten While SpongeBob Sells Well On Switch
@Kirgo
Crimson flower literally ends several chapters early and never sees you actually fight the villains they built up the whole time.
2 of the other routes are literally like, the same route, but with one unexplained final boss replacing another.
And then Azure Moon is maybe 80% the same as those 2 routes, the main difference being it just has a couple less maps than either and never even pretends to explain the Slitherers.
All 3 routes of 3 Hopes are literally unfinished, by design, by admission in interviews.
Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem Out Of Top Ten While SpongeBob Sells Well On Switch
They should've just left Engage unfinished. They did that for 3 Houses AND 3 Hopes, and it's tricked people into arguing for years that it's actually like, super deep and intentionally vague.
The characters in Engage are largely great too, but most people see one or two conversations about tea from a character like Celine and then write them off entirely.
"We want depth!" The community cries, but what they really want is someone to trauma dump their sad backstory on the first conversation so that they can feel like they're playing a "mature" game.
Re: Talking Point: Who Did You Marry In Fire Emblem: Awakening?
I mean, if you don't count the S ranks in Engage, I don't know you can say 3 Houses really had Marriage either.