I stopped playing Pokemon between Crystal and Sun/Moon, so I guess I missed out on the golden years somewhat. But I've said this for years now, they don't spend nearly long enough on developing the games. It always feels like they're more concerned with pumping out new games that have tie-in merch than taking time to develop something truly great. A new gen of Pokemon, along with new plushies to line store shelves, more cards, more figurines. That's where the money is.
Think about it, how long does it take on average to develop a new Mario or Zelda? Sure we get various spin-offs or remakes/ports between, but we haven't had a new full console Mario since 2018. Wonder is a different series within the franchise, but the last NSMB game before that was years ago.
The time between Skyward Sword and BotW was 6 years, and then another 6 to TotK. There's a new gen of Pokemon games every 3 years, and it really is THAT exact schedule between every release side from a 4 year gap between some of the DS games. It's like they have a schedule to keep and won't deviate from it, because the longer it takes to push out a new gen, the less new merch there is. This short development time was perfectly executable when the games were small handheld games. 3 years to make a Game Boy Advance game? Say no more. You just can't do it with a 3D game on a home console. This is why they end up looking rough. They need to just take more time with it to get it right. This is something I say about Sonic as well, where Sega seem to pump out a game every single year, usually around October or November, and they're often mediocre.
The other issue, I'm afraid to say, is the battle format. When was the last time they truly changed it in the mainline series? They haven't. They've added a few gimmicks over the years, gigantamax, mega evolution, that weird crystal thing in the last games. But the core has stayed exactly the same. Ok, it works. But most RPGs completely overhaul the battle mechanics every single time, so it never feels like the same game. It's gotten stale, predictable. Games like the Legends series, where they experiment with different systems, they're great! It feels fresh. But I don't think they'll ever risk changing the mainline battle system, and the biggest reason for that I believe is the competitive scene. People have their strategies, team builds, etc and they carry those through every release, tinkering to adapt to new Pokemon and moves. But if you suddenly ripped it all up and made it multi-pokemon battles, or real time fighting, or Active-Time Battle like the current Legends game, or even giving each Pokemon access to a 5th move, the competitive scene would be in absolute uproar. Perfect teams and strategies, Pokemon they've kept in their teams for 20 years - gone.
For me the open world area didn't work. Just didn't feel like there was tons to do, a bit empty. Much prefer the connected areas approach, which geographically might not make sense but you only need to add a lift or shuttle loading screen between them. Which is another thing that irritated me about this hub world, the fact there was a loading screen between each area. Not so unexpected, but when you have to travel back and forth between Fury Green so often that cannon sequence gets frustrating. That one area should have been seamlessly connected to the hub, at least. If hubs are the future of Metroid Prime, at least make them in space and traversed with the gunship imo. Much like MP3 was set on different planets. I guess the idea of Samus being trapped on this world meant such an option wasn't possible this time.
The game length was also quite disappointing. For the length of time it took to develop, I expected a far bigger world. The maps were really quite small and at times not even that complex. I think an online multiplayer mode would've been a great addition to beef up the playtime. But I suppose we'd have still been waiting for it if they did. All in all, enjoyed the game but wouldn't put it in the same conversation as the original trilogy. Just hoping there is a follow up, and that it isn't so long until we get confirmation of it and get to play it.
A gaming related tradition I have is listening to "A Snow Light", the theme music for Flanoir in Tales of Symphonia. I've done this every Christmas Day for maybe 15 years now. Just makes me feel all wintery and Christmassy.
@thesilverbrick I was the same when the DLC dropped for Scarlet and Violet, telling myself I'll pick it up at some point...and just never did. Sometimes DLC is just unnecessary.
As I've got got several other games I'm waiting to play, I'll get around to this probably this time next year lol. I didn't play OT2 until a year after release for the same reason. They always release these when there's so much else releasing too. So yeah, I have it coming but it'll have to wait sadly.
Looking forward to this. Not looking forward to the constant whining about certain details not being how people want them and overly harsh judgement and criticism of everything. Already people on here saying it looks bad. BAD HOW? It's three photos. It's going to be unbearable when the trailer comes out and we hear them both talk. Some people are literally beyond pleasing and waiting for something to complain about.
From my experience, some of the cutscenes played with out of sync voice acting on Switch 2. Namely the final scenes of the base game and the final scenes of the additional story, which was massively annoying and inconvenient timing.
It's obviously a movie. It makes sense to make a standard kids film and throw Pikmin into it rather than explicitly make "a Pikmin movie". It's a niche series, not many non-gamers know it. This way they've got kids wanting to go watch this movie and discovering Pikmin and all the associated media and merchandise is already waiting for them. It's a good way to introduce the franchise to more people
@Ryo_Hazuki it does have normal controls, you can use Y for the waggle input for Mario's spin. Only thing you need the gyro for is using the pointer but that's literally just optional if you don't care about collecting all the star bits. And if you play handheld then it's touch screen based anyway so really there's no waving your hand around
Definitely testing the waters to see if there's a market for a permanent store. Glad they've chosen London! I just hope the queues aren't crazy like the Pokemon Centre was and that they keep it well stocked. You ended up queuing for 5 hours and eventually getting inside where all the cool stuff had been snapped up, and stock was rationed out each day.
I wish they'd add back in the option to hold items behind you with a button too. I feel like people just accepted the auto-hold addition in this game too easily. At least have the option to turn it off for people who don't want it. I'd like a choice of when to deploy a banana or shell as a shield. If you withhold it, for example, people throw red shells at you thinking you're open and then sneaky sneaky, I've been holding this banana ready to defend myself this whole time. I miss that.
Definitely some welcome improvements. Though not really sure why they've decreased the item box refresh time? Did people complain they took too long? One of the few tactics available to you in Mario Kart is preventing your opponents getting an item box if they're following too close behind, and you nab it first (even when your item slots are full).
So now they'll be able to get them easier, that's lame. Especially since the intermission courses almost eliminate the effectiveness of placing bananas behind item boxes so people drive into them, because you only drive through each row of boxes once. And they should bring back the fake item box too, I can't believe they took those out.
Softening the force of landing on opponents and increasing invincibility after being hit is also an irritating slide towards making the game easier as well imo. Had no issues with either. Also, I didn't play Free Roam a huge amount but still spent a few hours in there...I had NO idea UFOs were a thing.
I was skeptical because it didn't look like a whole lot for the £18 price tag and I think you've convinced me to save my money, and spend my time more wisely on catching up with other games before the busy end of year release schedule hits.
I'll just buy the Switch 1 version and play it on my Switch 2. Any graphical enhancements the Switch 2 version has will be negligible I'm sure. At least to my eyes. This way I get it on the card and don't have to have a massive file eating up my storage.
One of the most annoying things about the key cards is having to sit and wait for the download to finish when you first put it in. It took an hour for me to download Bravely Default, I dread to think how long it'll take me to download FFVII Remake, which is 10x the size. And then having to have storage space for them. I'll need a new SD card for all of FFVII by the time it's complete. And I know it's too big to fit on a card but we had solutions for that once upon a time in releasing games on multiple discs. Tales of Symphonia was on two of those tiny discs on GameCube, you just pop in the 2nd one when it gets to a certain point in the game.
It's funny because if it's anything like the quality of recent Sonic games it'll be straight trash and not hold a candle to Mario Kart. Double Dash would probably give it a run for it's money
Just a side note, Monolith is the company that pulled off the amazing worlds of BotW and XC3. Retro is making this, so I don't think we can use them to reassure us. Rather, Retro gave us some amazing environments in the past so I think we're still in safe hands
Never had the chance to play any Virtual Boy games or try the original hardware, so I'll be getting this. However, slightly disappointing it doesn't include a replica of the original controller for the price, which is just for a plastic shell that isolates two images being directed into each eye on a separate screen, so no electronics necessary.
Should've added this when they added the first game, but happy to see it finally arrive. 3rd one next? Also, may we hope this hints at an announcement in the upcoming Direct? Hmmm maybe not, but I will anyway.
I really can't see Playstation gamers wanting the trade-off in specs just so they can play on the go. They'll want the full spec version first and foremost, and judging by the price of the current gen they won't likely fork out for another model to sit along side it that they only use occasionally. Plus let's be totally honest, if the handheld has lower specs than the standard TV connected version, many games will be developed that can only run on the better hardware anyway. But nice try and proof Nintendo have their competitors scrambling to try and gain a share of their market.
@N00BiSH At the end of the day, sooner or later they'd have had to find a replacement for Martinet, whether he retired of his own accord or sadly passed away. Unless they just wanted to reuse the same clips forever. The fact they've found someone that folks like me can't tell the difference between without a comparison video, I'd say they've done a pretty good job.
Comments 2,493
Re: Talking Point: When Did 'Good Enough' Become Good Enough For Pokémon?
I stopped playing Pokemon between Crystal and Sun/Moon, so I guess I missed out on the golden years somewhat. But I've said this for years now, they don't spend nearly long enough on developing the games. It always feels like they're more concerned with pumping out new games that have tie-in merch than taking time to develop something truly great. A new gen of Pokemon, along with new plushies to line store shelves, more cards, more figurines. That's where the money is.
Think about it, how long does it take on average to develop a new Mario or Zelda? Sure we get various spin-offs or remakes/ports between, but we haven't had a new full console Mario since 2018. Wonder is a different series within the franchise, but the last NSMB game before that was years ago.
The time between Skyward Sword and BotW was 6 years, and then another 6 to TotK. There's a new gen of Pokemon games every 3 years, and it really is THAT exact schedule between every release side from a 4 year gap between some of the DS games. It's like they have a schedule to keep and won't deviate from it, because the longer it takes to push out a new gen, the less new merch there is. This short development time was perfectly executable when the games were small handheld games. 3 years to make a Game Boy Advance game? Say no more. You just can't do it with a 3D game on a home console. This is why they end up looking rough. They need to just take more time with it to get it right. This is something I say about Sonic as well, where Sega seem to pump out a game every single year, usually around October or November, and they're often mediocre.
The other issue, I'm afraid to say, is the battle format. When was the last time they truly changed it in the mainline series? They haven't. They've added a few gimmicks over the years, gigantamax, mega evolution, that weird crystal thing in the last games. But the core has stayed exactly the same. Ok, it works. But most RPGs completely overhaul the battle mechanics every single time, so it never feels like the same game. It's gotten stale, predictable. Games like the Legends series, where they experiment with different systems, they're great! It feels fresh. But I don't think they'll ever risk changing the mainline battle system, and the biggest reason for that I believe is the competitive scene. People have their strategies, team builds, etc and they carry those through every release, tinkering to adapt to new Pokemon and moves. But if you suddenly ripped it all up and made it multi-pokemon battles, or real time fighting, or Active-Time Battle like the current Legends game, or even giving each Pokemon access to a 5th move, the competitive scene would be in absolute uproar. Perfect teams and strategies, Pokemon they've kept in their teams for 20 years - gone.
(part 1 as it's too long to post)
Re: Nintendo's Investors Are Reportedly "Spooked" As Stock Slides
@Don I have no idea tbh, I've never bought stocks before lol
Re: Nintendo's Investors Are Reportedly "Spooked" As Stock Slides
Sounds like a great time to buy Nintendo stock
Re: Pokémon Lego Sets Are Already Being Sold On eBay For Stupid Money
You make something limited availability and this is what happens. And Lego knows this, it's why they have the gift with purchase items
Re: Review: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch 2) - Samus Returns In Prime Form
For me the open world area didn't work. Just didn't feel like there was tons to do, a bit empty. Much prefer the connected areas approach, which geographically might not make sense but you only need to add a lift or shuttle loading screen between them. Which is another thing that irritated me about this hub world, the fact there was a loading screen between each area. Not so unexpected, but when you have to travel back and forth between Fury Green so often that cannon sequence gets frustrating. That one area should have been seamlessly connected to the hub, at least. If hubs are the future of Metroid Prime, at least make them in space and traversed with the gunship imo. Much like MP3 was set on different planets. I guess the idea of Samus being trapped on this world meant such an option wasn't possible this time.
The game length was also quite disappointing. For the length of time it took to develop, I expected a far bigger world. The maps were really quite small and at times not even that complex. I think an online multiplayer mode would've been a great addition to beef up the playtime. But I suppose we'd have still been waiting for it if they did. All in all, enjoyed the game but wouldn't put it in the same conversation as the original trilogy. Just hoping there is a follow up, and that it isn't so long until we get confirmation of it and get to play it.
Re: Random: Lego Fans Have Apparently Forgotten What Game Boy Cartridges Look Like
I have that exact Pikmin Terrarium I got from the blind box I picked up at the Nintendo Pop-Up London
Re: Feature: I Play This One Particular SNES Game Every Xmas As A Personal Tradition
A gaming related tradition I have is listening to "A Snow Light", the theme music for Flanoir in Tales of Symphonia. I've done this every Christmas Day for maybe 15 years now. Just makes me feel all wintery and Christmassy.
Re: Random: The Japanese Football Team Sponsored By Nintendo Now Has Pikmin On Its Shirt
Had no idea Nintendo owned part of a football team. Looks like I've got a Japanese team I can support
Re: Trails In The Sky 2nd Chapter Continues Estelle's Journey In Fall 2026
Not anotherrrrrrr one. But seriously, these things are being pumped out so fast I wonder how anyone has time to play them before the next one is out
Re: Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment's Next Patch Out This Week, Adds New Difficulty Mode
This is how I find out "Mysterious Golem" is a playable character
Re: Review: Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension (Switch 2) - Repetition Takes The Shine Off
@thesilverbrick I was the same when the DLC dropped for Scarlet and Violet, telling myself I'll pick it up at some point...and just never did. Sometimes DLC is just unnecessary.
Re: PSA: Copy Your Save In Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Before You Enter The Endgame
@swoose that isn't OCD at all btw
Re: Review: Octopath Traveler 0 (Switch 2) - A Bit Of A Retread, But Unmissable (And Enormous)
As I've got got several other games I'm waiting to play, I'll get around to this probably this time next year lol. I didn't play OT2 until a year after release for the same reason. They always release these when there's so much else releasing too. So yeah, I have it coming but it'll have to wait sadly.
Re: Review: Octopath Traveler 0 (Switch 2) - A Bit Of A Retread, But Unmissable (And Enormous)
@Exerion76 mate have you not played the other ones? They're all as big lol
Re: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Launch Streams Announced, Watch "Top Streamers" Play
No ta, why would I wanna watch someone else play it when I can play it myself? 😂
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Ranked Battle Season 3 Start Date And Rewards Revealed
Played this since launch and had no idea this was even a thing
Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade's File Size On Switch 2 Is Making Us Sweat
This whole trilogy is going to need a dedicated SD card. No way am I gonna get it on the card I have already
Re: Sorry Xillia 2, 'Tales Of Berseria' Is The Next Remaster From Bandai Namco
Ugh so soon, and so close to the FFVII Remake release, and DQVII Re-imagined. I haven't even had chance to start playing the last Tales remaster!
Re: Official Zelda Movie Photos Give Us Our Best Look Yet At Link And Zelda
Looking forward to this. Not looking forward to the constant whining about certain details not being how people want them and overly harsh judgement and criticism of everything. Already people on here saying it looks bad. BAD HOW? It's three photos. It's going to be unbearable when the trailer comes out and we hear them both talk. Some people are literally beyond pleasing and waiting for something to complain about.
Re: Top 100 Nintendo Games, As Chosen By Nintendo Life & IGN
Shocked that Ring Fit Adventure made it onto the list, honestly
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Switch 2 Compatibility Update Released
From my experience, some of the cutscenes played with out of sync voice acting on Switch 2. Namely the final scenes of the base game and the final scenes of the additional story, which was massively annoying and inconvenient timing.
Re: It's Official, Minecraft Is Getting A Second Live-Action Movie
Cinema staff will be taking vacation
Re: Random: The Super Mario Galaxy Games Are Full Of Secrets, And This One Is "Horribly Inefficient"
So I'm confused, is there a way to trigger seeing them all in the sky like the photo or....
Re: Nintendo Updates Animated Short Film 'Close To You' With Some Familiar Faces
It's obviously a movie. It makes sense to make a standard kids film and throw Pikmin into it rather than explicitly make "a Pikmin movie". It's a niche series, not many non-gamers know it. This way they've got kids wanting to go watch this movie and discovering Pikmin and all the associated media and merchandise is already waiting for them. It's a good way to introduce the franchise to more people
Re: Poll: So, Did You Get Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 For Switch?
@Ryo_Hazuki it does have normal controls, you can use Y for the waggle input for Mario's spin. Only thing you need the gyro for is using the pointer but that's literally just optional if you don't care about collecting all the star bits. And if you play handheld then it's touch screen based anyway so really there's no waving your hand around
Re: Go Fast With Puma's Brand New Sonic The Hedgehog Collection
The Shadow ones look pretty sick actually
Re: My Nintendo Store Reveals Kirby Air Riders Pre-Order Bonus & Plushie Bundles (UK)
I thought Dedede in the middle of the picture was one of the bonus items
Re: Mario And Yoshi First 4 Figures Statue Back In Production, Early Bird Pre-Orders Live
That is absolutely huge!
Re: Nintendo Announces First Ever Pop-Up Store In UK, Opens Next Month
Definitely testing the waters to see if there's a market for a permanent store. Glad they've chosen London! I just hope the queues aren't crazy like the Pokemon Centre was and that they keep it well stocked. You ended up queuing for 5 hours and eventually getting inside where all the cool stuff had been snapped up, and stock was rationed out each day.
Re: Are You "Unsure" About Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade For Switch 2? Don't Worry, There'll Be A Demo
That'll be like 20GB then. Hopefully the progress carries over
Re: Mario Kart World Has Been Updated To Version 1.3.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
I wish they'd add back in the option to hold items behind you with a button too. I feel like people just accepted the auto-hold addition in this game too easily. At least have the option to turn it off for people who don't want it. I'd like a choice of when to deploy a banana or shell as a shield. If you withhold it, for example, people throw red shells at you thinking you're open and then sneaky sneaky, I've been holding this banana ready to defend myself this whole time. I miss that.
Re: Mario Kart World Has Been Updated To Version 1.3.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Definitely some welcome improvements. Though not really sure why they've decreased the item box refresh time? Did people complain they took too long? One of the few tactics available to you in Mario Kart is preventing your opponents getting an item box if they're following too close behind, and you nab it first (even when your item slots are full).
So now they'll be able to get them easier, that's lame. Especially since the intermission courses almost eliminate the effectiveness of placing bananas behind item boxes so people drive into them, because you only drive through each row of boxes once. And they should bring back the fake item box too, I can't believe they took those out.
Softening the force of landing on opponents and increasing invincibility after being hit is also an irritating slide towards making the game easier as well imo. Had no issues with either. Also, I didn't play Free Roam a huge amount but still spent a few hours in there...I had NO idea UFOs were a thing.
Re: Rumour: New Zelda LEGO Set Rumour Links It To Fan Favourite Entry
It'll be a diorama of that artwork with Link fighting Ganondorf
Re: Nintendo Adds One Of The Most Divisive Zelda Entries To 'Nintendo Music'
Maturing is realising Zelda II isn't divisive, it's just different
Re: Why Remake 'Dragon Quest VII' Before The Zenithian Trilogy? Yuji Horii Comments
Personally I'd love to see DQ9 given the remake treatment. All the others have been remade already
Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More
I was skeptical because it didn't look like a whole lot for the £18 price tag and I think you've convinced me to save my money, and spend my time more wisely on catching up with other games before the busy end of year release schedule hits.
Re: Random: 'Days Of Our Lives' Character Gets Lucky By Name-Dropping Xenoblade
Xenoblade being a total babe magnet doesn't surprise me
Re: Sega Reignites Its Nintendo Rivalry In New Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Trailer
@GinMiguel Superstars yes, the Shadow part of Sonic Generations, no.
Re: No Switch 2 "Upgrade Path" For Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined Planned
I'll just buy the Switch 1 version and play it on my Switch 2. Any graphical enhancements the Switch 2 version has will be negligible I'm sure. At least to my eyes. This way I get it on the card and don't have to have a massive file eating up my storage.
Re: Nintendo Is "Acting To Protect The Industry" With Switch 2 Game Key Cards, Says Ex-Capcom Composer
One of the most annoying things about the key cards is having to sit and wait for the download to finish when you first put it in. It took an hour for me to download Bravely Default, I dread to think how long it'll take me to download FFVII Remake, which is 10x the size. And then having to have storage space for them. I'll need a new SD card for all of FFVII by the time it's complete. And I know it's too big to fit on a card but we had solutions for that once upon a time in releasing games on multiple discs. Tales of Symphonia was on two of those tiny discs on GameCube, you just pop in the 2nd one when it gets to a certain point in the game.
Re: Sega Reignites Its Nintendo Rivalry In New Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Trailer
It's funny because if it's anything like the quality of recent Sonic games it'll be straight trash and not hold a candle to Mario Kart. Double Dash would probably give it a run for it's money
Re: Opinion: Metroid Prime 4 Reminds Me Of Gears 5, And It's Making Me Nervous
Just a side note, Monolith is the company that pulled off the amazing worlds of BotW and XC3. Retro is making this, so I don't think we can use them to reassure us. Rather, Retro gave us some amazing environments in the past so I think we're still in safe hands
Re: Virtual Boy Is Being Added To Nintendo Switch Online
Never had the chance to play any Virtual Boy games or try the original hardware, so I'll be getting this. However, slightly disappointing it doesn't include a replica of the original controller for the price, which is just for a plastic shell that isolates two images being directed into each eye on a separate screen, so no electronics necessary.
Re: Nintendo Direct Announced For Friday, 12th September 2025
60 minutes is huge!
Re: Nintendo Adds Another Golden Sun Soundtrack To Nintendo Music
Should've added this when they added the first game, but happy to see it finally arrive. 3rd one next? Also, may we hope this hints at an announcement in the upcoming Direct? Hmmm maybe not, but I will anyway.
Re: Nintendo's Pikmin Invade London This Month For A Special Trafalgar Square Mission
Never heard of Japan Matsuri before. May have to have a look at going some time
Re: Video: First 'Lego Game Boy' Review Gives Us Our Best Look Yet
The cartridges having circuits and batteries inside is a real nice touch
Re: Rumour: LEGO Pokémon Collection May Include One Of The Biggest Sets Ever
It's a life sized Snorlax!
Re: Rumour: Sony Is Gunning For The Switch 2 With A Handheld, Dockable PS6
I really can't see Playstation gamers wanting the trade-off in specs just so they can play on the go. They'll want the full spec version first and foremost, and judging by the price of the current gen they won't likely fork out for another model to sit along side it that they only use occasionally. Plus let's be totally honest, if the handheld has lower specs than the standard TV connected version, many games will be developed that can only run on the better hardware anyway. But nice try and proof Nintendo have their competitors scrambling to try and gain a share of their market.
Re: Nintendo Releases 'It's Me, Mario!' Stop Motion Shorts, Watch Them Right Here
@N00BiSH At the end of the day, sooner or later they'd have had to find a replacement for Martinet, whether he retired of his own accord or sadly passed away. Unless they just wanted to reuse the same clips forever. The fact they've found someone that folks like me can't tell the difference between without a comparison video, I'd say they've done a pretty good job.