I already have SMG1 on 3D All-Stars, but I’ll probably pick up SMG2 on Switch. I have the Wii version but I think the game’s good enough to double-dip.
Ace Attorney 7. We know it’s coming sooner or later. Just drop a trailer already!
Release dates for Metroid Prime 4 (likely December) and Hyrule Warriors 3 (likely January/February) are likely. Layton 7 will be shown but probably delayed again. New Kirby Air Riders info is also likely, but probably not too much yet. I expect a significant amount of time for Pokémon, Metroid Prime and of course Mario.
For the Mario anniversary, Mario Movie 2 trailer and Mario Sunshine on NC are safe bets. New 3D Mario is probably unlikely, but a NS2 Edition of Mario Wonder is possible. (Maybe even Brothership, though that’s more of a pipe dream.)
And Mother 3. It won’t happen but I’m not leaving it off the bingo card. My optimism in Direct season knows no bounds.
I finally finished Mario & Luigi: Brothership…and what a game, man. It felt like it would never end but I’m sad it did. The game definitely lives up to the high standards of its predecessors, and it made me feel much like I did when I first played Dream Team ten years ago. Finished with Mario at level 53, Luigi at level 52 and over 60 hours logged. Overleveled, for sure, but that can be fun in its own right.
So it’ll be back to Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World for me! I’m replaying the main game and playing the new Starry Stages as I go. I’m currently about halfway through Everbay Coast. I’ve only played two Starry Stages so far but they feel so fresh and vibrant. Looking forward to more!
Might play some more Donkey Kong Bananza as well if I get tired of Kirby. Or I’ll just wait until I finish.
Mario Kart, Donkey Kong and the Kirby DLC are definitely the strongest showings on the platform so far. Considering it’s only been three months, that’s really not bad.
It can also play nearly every Switch 1 game via backward compatibility, a feature Switch 1 didn’t have. So its library is really much bigger in practice, even though the Switch 2 exclusive lineup is a little small right now. In many cases (at least for first-party games) the Switch 1 games are improved in various ways, from loading times to resolution to framerate.
It’s quite the upgrade from the Switch Lite. Didn’t realize I’d miss rumble so much lol, and I love the bigger screen. This system will be getting a lot of use from me…
I’m continuing Mario & Luigi: Brothership (three Great Lighthouses down!) as well as revisiting Kirby and the Forgotten Land on a new file, to check out the Star-Crossed World DLC and also to replay the main game. I’m currently on Everbay Ocean in the latter, at 13 % completion. I’ve been completing the Starry Stages as I go.
I usually pronounce it “ex”. But it sort of depends. When it represents the number 10, I pronounce it “ten”. Aside from that, I generally try to follow official usage in trailers and stuff. (Xenoblade Chronicles X specifically is pronounced “ex” in English trailers, even though in Japanese it’s explicitly spelled “cross” in kana.) But honestly, games like Drag x Drive using it as a stand-in for “and” is a bridge too far…
Having finished replaying Ghost Trick for the hundredth time and beaten the NS2 Welcome Tour at nearly 100 % completion (barring some third clear medals and the Procon 2 minigames), I’m at a bit of a loss here. So I’m pretty much simultaneously playing through Mario & Luigi: Brothership (just finished second Great Lighthouse), Super Mario Bros. Wonder (World 1 cleared) and Donkey Kong Bananza (at sublevel 200). I plan to beat all of them…eventually. But I’ll probably settle on one at a time before long. Probably SMBW, since it’s the one I’ve put off the longest.
Also planning to get the Kirby and the Forgotten Land DLC when it comes out. So I’ll have even more on my plate then…
Absolutely loved what I saw! Pretty awesome that Sakurai’s developing a Kirby game again and he seems really proud of this one too! Loving all the new characters (especially Bandana Waddle Dee, of course, but some more obscure picks like Starman are definitely a welcome surprise!) and the new City Trial mode looks really cool! 9/10 (Top Ride was conspicuously absent but you can’t have them all ig)
Got a shiny new Switch 2 a couple weeks back, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. I’m also still playing through Mario & Luigi: Brothership (slowly but surely), and I’ve noticed the occasional stutter is completely gone on the new system.
I’ve put all those games aside for now, though. I don’t even know how many times I’ve played Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective by now but I’m doing it again. Just finished Chapter 9. Still the greatest masterpiece of a game I’ve ever played. Some things never get old.
Was hoping for an Ace Attorney 7 announcement. Not today, I suppose.
There were some interesting ones I might give a look later. Adventures of Elliot looked cool. Was hoping for some release dates for previously announced games but no such luck, not even for Hyrule Warriors.
Of course, I imagine we’ll get a full general Direct before too long. Maybe then we’ll get AA7…
“I'm assuming everyone here tried reading Maxz's second line DK Rap-style...and then went, 'Hang on, "the remarkably beefy specs" doesn't scan at all, let alone rhyme with "upgrade"!'”
@Enigk Switch 1 has folders (well, ok, “groups”) so I imagine the Switch 2 will as well. But I also imagine that recent software is the default view and you’re still have to click into “all software” to see folders.
I wouldn’t hold my breath for themes, though. I guess an update adding them is possible, but there’s no telling when or if.
@Nick2054 News is archived and you can view previously viewed content. The rest seems to be randomly chosen based on your prior views and series preferences, and isn’t tied to a specific day.
@Pastellioli See, here’s the confusing bit. What is known as “season 1” in Japan corresponds to seasons 1 and 2 in the dub. It had 76 episodes and was dubbed in its entirety by Dentsu. Then SDI took charge for the dubbed season 3, which is really just select segments from the Japanese “season 2” rearranged into 26 episodes. About two thirds of the Japanese “season 2” and the entirety of the Japanese “season 3”, as well as the 2019 and 2021 revivals, were never dubbed at all.
Pretty neat my letter showed up here. Never heard of Marvelous or Treasure of the Rudras before but consider my interest piqued. And of the untranslated Fire Emblems, New MotE and Binding Blade definitely stick out. And of course there’s Rhythm Tengoku, The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls, and a bunch of other unlocalized games I’d love to try… (And the obvious Mother 3, of course.)
@Pastellioli Yeah, and as far as the first YW anime series went, we didn’t even get the full first series in English. There were 214 total episodes (348 counting the 2019 and 2021 revivals) and only 102 were dubbed, plus the first movie. And of course we never got Shadowside, Academy Y or the other five movies, either.
Anyway, yeah, lack of a YW4 localization really stings, not to mention Blasters 2 and the Academy Y game. Now that Level-5’s localizing games again there’s a chance, but HHM makes that seem unlikely in the near future. And Level-5 doesn’t really do many ports, which doesn’t help matters…but I’m still hoping! (And learning Japanese in the meantime…)
I finally decided to start Mario & Luigi: Brothership! I’ve played all five previous entries in the series and loved them all, so I’ve got high expectations for this one!
I’m currently on Rumbla Island. The new battle mechanics will take some getting used to (seriously, why does Luigi select attacks with A but does everything else with B??), but so far I’m enjoying it. Of course, the game’s barely begun, but I can already tell this one’s gonna be a blast.
Still playing through Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit. I recently finished Turnabout Legacy, easily one of the series’ best cases, so now I’m on Episode 4: A Turnabout Forsaken, in the Middle section. I still remember a few of the twists from my last playthrough but the end of the Former section of this case still gives me chills.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit on Switch. I’ve played the fan translation in the past, but this is my first shot at the official one. Currently on the latter section of the second episode, The Captive Turnabout. Brilliant game, brilliant story, brilliant localization. Eddie Fender in particular is really well done here. Looking forward to playing more!
Taking a little break from Pokémon to finally finish my playthrough of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth on Switch. I left off just before the last case, but now I’m about halfway through. This case is quite a long one, which is probably why I held off on it for so long. It’s good, though! And once I finish I’ll replay the sequel as well, this time with the official translation. Looking forward to it!
Also, in honor of the recent announcement of Rhythm Heaven Groove, I finally started Rhythm Heaven Megamix on 3DS, which I was smart enough (read: FOMO’d enough) to buy just before eShop doomsday. Glad I did: I haven’t played much yet, but so far it’s a brilliant, varied and surprisingly challenging game. Looking forward to playing more!
I also find a new eShop-exclusive Kirby spinoff (similar to Dream Buffet) pretty likely. And of course MP4 and PLZA are basically guaranteed to get a mention, at least.
@KeeperBvK Thankfully this does appear to be the case for now…but it might not be in the future. It really depends on how long the individual developer decides to support redownloads.
It wasn’t a very substantive reveal in any case. It looks cool, but I’d have been more excited if they showed off more games. Guess I’ll have to wait for April for that…
Mario Kart 9 looked really cool though. 24 racers?!
I’ll be continuing Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth on Switch. I’m currently on the middle section of Episode 4: Turnabout Reminiscence. It’s a fun flashback case that tells the story of how Edgeworth, Gumshoe and Kay first met, five months before Turnabout Beginnings in AA3. It’s the story of a time long ago, back when Gumshoe was paid a living wage…
It’s finally time for me to wrap up the Ace Attorney marathon I started this summer, with Ace Attorney Investigations Collection for Switch! I’ve played both of these games before on DS, but only a fan translation for the second game, so it’ll be cool to see how Capcom handled the translation differently.
Of course, I’m beginning with the first game, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. I’m currently in the middle part of Episode 2: Turnabout Airlines. And I must say, the new sprites are really impressive. I didn’t know it would affect the experience so much, but I can actually make out characters’ facial expressions now!
I’ll probably just play a bit of Tomodachi Life this weekend. It’s been a little while since I last checked up on Never Ever Island, but I’m now at 27 islanders!
Not too much news to report. My Mii had another kid with Maya Fey recently. They’re still the only married couple on the island. Some Miis have taken my extended absence rather personally, and Katie Forester in particular managed to get into two fights back to back. I also have a few newcomers who haven’t had a whole lot of time to settle in yet, including Makoto Naegi and Aoi and Yuta Asahina from Danganronpa, as well as Ash Ketchum from Pokémon.
It’s a nice, relaxing game. It’s pretty cool how you can pretty much create any bizarre crossover you want, though the Miitopia makeup editor on Switch definitely spoiled me. Still, it’s something to do when I’m not frantically trying to catch up on the Pokémon anime…
Of the games I actually played on DS? My favorites are probably M&L: Partners in Time, Ace Attorney Investigations, Kirby: Squeak Squad and The Legendary Starfy. I also love M&L: Bowser’s Inside Story, Ghost Trick and the other Ace Attorney games, but I only played them on later ports and remakes.
@obijuankanoobie I think they probably will rerelease the icons worldwide. Both the EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound icons were released worldwide a few months ago, so no reason to region-lock them now. Only time will tell, though…
The games (or at least Rise of Lyric, since it’s the only one I played) were nothing more than cheap cash grabs. It’s a shame that those games are basically what the series is remembered for. Sonic Boom the show was fantastic.
So now I’ve finished the main Danganronpa series, along with Ultra Despair Girls. Whatever should I do now? I get so invested in a series and now you’re telling me it’s over?
I guess I still have one more game to play: the infamous Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp. Why is it infamous? It’s a paid gacha game with microtransactions. But it also has a lot of interactions between characters from different Danganronpa games (including Ultra Despair Girls, which was never ported to Switch), much like the Ultimate Talent Development Plan mode in DRV3. Also, you can play as Hina, so surely it can’t be that bad. Right?
Where are Yuta and Taichi from Ultra Despair Girls, though? If you’re going to include characters from that game, why not go all the way?
So I beat Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony last weekend. It was a great game; the story was very well written and the class trials were as varied as ever. However, the ending was quite…bizarre, and not quite as satisfying as those of the previous entries. But I can’t fault it for trying something different. Overall, it was another home run in a series full of them. (Trigger Happy Havoc is still my favorite, though I am somewhat biased there. I suppose it’s usually the originals that stick with you the most.)
I’ve played some of the Ultimate Talent Development Plan (the postgame board mode). It’s fun! In short bursts, at least. Once you unlock them from a gacha machine, you can play as any of the students from any of the three main games in the series…in a rather basic RPG mode. It’s not the most interesting thing, but the character interactions are fun. There’s even a bonus board which features encounters with characters from The End of Hope’s Peak High School. (And hey, you’re not going to see me complain much about a mode where you can play as Hina, Fuyuhiko and Kaito…)
I also started Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls on Windows, which I skipped initially because it wasn’t on Switch. Most people recommend you play this one before DR3 and DRV3, but that ship’s kind of sailed for me. It’s a third-person shooter, but people still die in the story, so I suppose it’s still a true Danganronpa. Actually, it’s a lot darker than I expected. They basically replace class trials by adding a lot more deaths. It does feature a lot of family members of Trigger Happy Havoc characters, most notably the protagonist, Makoto’s younger sister Komaru. I’m currently on the third chapter. The gameplay gets kind of repetitive but the story’s as gripping as ever.
Until Yoshi’s Woolly World and Paper Mario: Color Splash come to Switch, I cannot agree. And even if they do make the jump, there will still be gems like Kirby and the Rainbow Curse and Nintendo Land, where ports would be difficult at best.
I’m glad so many of the Wii U’s underappreciated hits can reach a wider audience now. But I’m still keeping my Wii U around.
Currently on the fifth class trial of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. What a ride it’s been…this game pulled a lot of twists far crueler than the series has done before. I imagine I haven’t yet reached the end of it, either. I’ll probably finish this game by next weekend, and the main Danganronpa series with it. That’ll feel weird, for sure.
OK, but do you mean to tell me that every single survivor of the previous killing games is now dead, in addition to the rest of humanity? After Danganronpa 3 had an actually happy ending, they just had to go and…ruin that? I suppose they’d absolutely do it. But man, that’s cruel.
Oh, and for this class trial I’m playing, they keep the victim’s identity unknown and you end up having to prove it’s Kaito. Danganronpa’s all about false hope too, I guess…
A real shame. I bought this game a few years back. It was great! Wish they gave some kind of warning about this. Now that it’s gone, it doesn’t look like I can redownload it…
At least the game’s on Switch now…but I wish they’d been a little more considerate of the people who bought the mobile version.
EDIT: Apparently it’s still on my phone after all! A little scary that I can’t delete it, though. Guess I’ll have to be careful…
Having now beaten Miitopia, it’s time to return to Danganronpa with its final main installment: Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony! This one is…quite different from the previous two games. There’s a major early-game plot twist that came completely out of left field, and nothing at all could have prepared me for it. I’m now on chapter 2…only time will tell if they carry that momentum, but I have a feeling I’m in for quite a ride with this one.
But wait: you might be here for the season finale of my Miitopia saga. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you. Obviously, major Miitopia spoilers follow:
Previously on Miitopia…
“My name is Aoi Asahina. A while back I set out to stop Dr. Andonuts, the Dark Lord, from stealing the faces of Miitopia residents. I met nine fellow adventurers on my way: Revali, Wreck-It Ralph, Captain Underpants, Miles Edgeworth, Ribbon, Peter Pan, Whisper, Ness and Inspector Cabanela. I’ve also been assisted by a horse named Yoshi and a Great Sage named Sans. Together, we’ve come all the way to the Dark Lord’s castle. Time to finish this! But do we really have what it takes?”
Cue Miitopia theme song, which quite possibly sounds like the Ninjago theme song? Oh, just figure it out yourself.
Aoi and her friends come face-to-face with Dr. Andonuts and engage in a battle for all of Miitopia. The Dark Lord loses, of course. A blue wisp known as the Dark Curse emerges from Dr. Andonuts, who is now just another normal, not-evil guy. Desperate, the Dark Curse attempts to attack Aoi, but Sans blocks the attack and suddenly transforms into…Sans, the Darker Lord!
Aoi and company proceed to chase Sans through the snowy Powdered Peaks, the peculiar Peculia and the sky-high Nimbus. (The entire time spent in these areas during the main story is mandatory sidequests, so there’s not really much else to say…) With the help of the Dragon they befriended in the Dark Lord’s castle, they finally reach the Sky Scraper, where Sans now resides. Dr. Andonuts, the former Dark Lord, helps them through the lair…sort of. He reveals that he accidentally unleashed the Dark Curse by following a mysterious voice, but he never wished any harm to come to Miitopia.
Upon reaching Sans, all ten of our heroes team up to battle him. Ralph, Ribbon and Underpants battle his right hand, while Miles, Whisper and Cabanela battle his right. Just when the remaining four are about to take on the weakened Darker Lord, Sans absorbs the faces of the other six and becomes the Darkest Lord.
A final battle ensues. Aoi, Revali, Peter and Ness skillfully attack the Darkest Lord until he is very weak, but he has one more attack up his sleeve. He blasts Aoi’s party with an attack that puts them at critical health. Revali and Aoi faint almost immediately. As revenge, Peter strikes the final blow to Sans, which releases the Dark Curse.
With the Dark Curse now utterly helpless, Sans reveals to Aoi that he was once a totally normal guy. But he was lonely, and came to hate his face, thinking his would-be friends thought it too boring. So he became faceless, and decided to take other people’s faces instead. So Aoi decides to show mercy to the Dark Curse, and he is reborn as Hajime Hinata and becomes Sans’s apprentice. Our ten heroes (and their horse) then return home, triumphant. And Miitopia became a utopia once more. Probably, anyway. The end.
“My name is Aoi Asahina. I’m the adventurer who stepped up to defeat the Dark Lord, Dr. Andonuts, who suddenly decided to start stealing people’s faces. The nerve of that guy! I met some friends on my journey: Revali, Wreck-It Ralph, Captain Underpants and a loyal horse named Yoshi. Together, we’re unstoppable! Or at least I thought so, while we saved King Dedede of Greenhorne and his daughter Princess Peach. But then Andonuts came back and captured my friends! I’ve met some new friends, namely Miles Edgeworth, Ribbon and Peter Pan, but will I ever see my old friends again? And who exactly is this mysterious Great Sage Sans?”
Now you’re caught up. But sit tight, because you’re still in for a ride…
Aoi and her new group of friends continue on their journey through Neksdor Desert, where they run into an evil genie named Jafar. Then the Dark Lord comes back and steals Jafar’s face, prompting a redemption arc, and once Aoi and her friends save him, Jafar is actually a pretty chill guy. Unfortunately, the Dark Lord then attacks Aoi’s team once more, and Miles, Ribbon and Peter are captured.
Once again alone, Aoi continues on to the Realm of the Fey. She meets another new group of friends: Whisper, Ness and Inspector Cabanela. The new party also meets Sayaka Maizono, the youngest of a trio calling themselves the Fab Fairies, whose older members Chiaki Nanami and Kyoko Kirigiri have had their faces stolen by Andonuts. After saving Chiaki and Kyoko, Sayaka’s face is stolen, and Aoi’s team has to save her, too. Oh yeah, and Tingle makes a cameo here, too…
Then the Dark Lord comes and once again kidnaps Aoi’s new friends. So she continues on to the volcano on which Andonuts’s castle is situated. There, she saves her friends one by one with the (temporary) help of Sans, and before long she has a party of 10! Happy day! Oh yeah, and they battled a dragon. Would it really be a RPG without one?
That about covers it. Next on Miitopia: Aoi and her now-much-larger party continue storming the castle until they come face-to-face with Andonuts! Stay tuned!
This is the town of Greenhorne. People are peacefully chilling about and just minding their own business. Then along comes a time-traveling-scientist-turned-evil-wizard who calls himself the Dark Lord, Dr. Andonuts, and suddenly the town’s residents have no faces. Oh no! Who can put a stop to this madness?
Enter Aoi Asahina (Energetic Pop Star, formerly Warrior), our brave heroine. Formerly the Ultimate Swimming Pro at Hope’s Peak Academy and best known for her boundless love of donuts, she has since decided to take up a new occupation: defeating Dark Lords. Shortly after beginning her adventure, she meets three fellow adventurers with the same goal: Revali (Stubborn Mage), the stuck-up but highly skilled Champion of the Rito; Wreck-It Ralph (Kind Chef), the “bad guy” with big fists who’s really not so bad a guy; and Captain Underpants (Airheaded Thief), the…superhero of toilet humor who doesn’t really seem to know what he’s doing.
The party has met many memorable characters on their journey thus far. This includes King Dedede, his daughter Princess Peach, her fiancé Prince Farquaad and her true love interest Aladdin. It also includes a mysterious but powerful Great Sage named Sans, and a loyal steed named Yoshi who follows our protagonists to the edge of the earth.
Recently, the Dark Lord took the liberty to separate Aoi from the rest of her party, forcing her to find a new occupation and new friends. These new friends, of course, are just as colorful as the old ones: Miles Edgeworth (Cool Scientist), a highly skilled prosecutor eager to put the Dark Lord behind bars; Ribbon (Kind Imp), a fairy from Ripple Star seeking the lost Crystal Shards; and Peter Pan (Laid-back Cleric), the Boy Who Never Grew Up himself who loves nothing more than putting old codfishes in their place.
Will Dr. Andonuts have his way? Will Aoi and her friends put a stop to his havoc? Will the team ever reunite? Who is Sans, the mysterious Great Sage? Find out in the next episode of Miitopia!
So I beat Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair this week. Its ending might even be crueller than Trigger Happy Havoc’s, and that’s no small achievement. Anyway, that would put Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School next on the list…but that’s an anime, not a game, so maybe I can’t talk about that here. But there’s a Crunchyroll app on Switch, so maybe I can? In any case, might as well share some of my thoughts on the series so far anyway. Spoilers for DR1, DR2 and DR3 (through Future/Despair Arc 3) follow:
-So Byakuya didn’t die in DR2. His very presence in the game was totally bizarre to me, and wound up being a total red herring because it was just some other student called the Ultimate Imposter. I couldn’t stop laughing at the bizarre bait-and-switch when that was revealed…and of course the real deal showed up in the final trial, alongside Makoto and Kyoko. The game played me like a fiddle there…
-That ending in DR2 was…rough. Particularly the part about the real-world Hajime not even really being the same person anymore. That scene with Hajime’s impossible decision on how to return to the real world…the writing there was truly brilliant.
-Going slightly earlier in the game than that, Nagito’s murder may very well be the best case in the series yet. (Yes, I know I said he’d die first, but dying last definitely fits this guy’s role, too…) It’s the kind of mystery I really couldn’t have made up myself, and the plot twist was among the crueller of a game already full of cruel twists. Overall, this game’s cases were probably harder than the first game’s (no painfully obvious dying messages in sight this time…), and I wasn’t really able to predict the outcome of any of them this time.
-Regarding DR3, I’d first like to start by talking about a certain favorite swimmer girl of mine who was so cruelly snubbed in DR2. They brought her back in DR3! …And immediately killed her off in Future Arc 2! ……And then she came back in Future Arc 3, because apparently the killer went to great lengths to make her look dead for a few seconds with freaking tomato juice?? What is it with this series fake-killing members of the main cast??? This series really is cruel…
-Did I mention how ridiculous the writing around that was, just to make me cry over nothing?? Don’t you dare kill her off for real, Spike Chunsoft…
-Fake Hina deaths aside…I do question what exactly the Future Arc is supposed to accomplish here. Monokuma must be one bitter bear to force half the survivors of the first Killing Game to survive yet another…and for some reason, more than one person actively wants the three of them dead. Maybe it’ll make more sense later…better not make such judgements until I’m done.
-Despair Arc is pretty good so far. It’s tough to watch, knowing how it ends thanks to DR2…so I guess it’s sort of like Rogue One, in that regard. Despair Arc 3 featured the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case itself, and also had Hajime taking his first step toward calamity, so I imagine it’s only going to get harder from here. It’s Danganronpa, so truly happy endings are out of the question, I guess…
Anyway, I’ll probably start on the final main game in the series, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, sometime next week. Or maybe I’ll play something with less heavy narrative themes first. Guess only time will tell…
About to begin the fourth chapter of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, so I’m roughly at the halfway point. Just like Trigger Happy Havoc, this one knows how to hit you where it hurts. A lot of plot connections to that game are buried in here, though it’s impossible at this point to tell where the game is headed.
There are a lot of things I’d like to talk about regarding this game, but that’d be tough without spoiling anything. But this definitely isn’t just some retread of the first game.
Comments 329
Re: Can You Name These NES Games From The Mangled Box Art?
12/21. Most of those were just lucky guesses too…brutal…
Re: Notorious Group 'Crimson Collective' Claims To Have Hacked Nintendo
Their proof is a bunch of folder names starting with “nintendo”? I seriously doubt this is legitimate.
Re: It's Official, Minecraft Is Getting A Second Live-Action Movie
It’ll be called “Another Minecraft Movie”. Calling it now.
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 For Switch?
I already have SMG1 on 3D All-Stars, but I’ll probably pick up SMG2 on Switch. I have the Wii version but I think the game’s good enough to double-dip.
Re: Nintendo Direct September 2025: Every Announcement, Game Reveal, Trailer
No Ace Attorney 7, but I’m happy otherwise. Galaxy 2 + the movie, Virtual Boy on NSO and Danganronpa 2x2 were probably the highlights for me.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo Direct September Predictions - What Do You Hope To See?
Ace Attorney 7. We know it’s coming sooner or later. Just drop a trailer already!
Release dates for Metroid Prime 4 (likely December) and Hyrule Warriors 3 (likely January/February) are likely. Layton 7 will be shown but probably delayed again. New Kirby Air Riders info is also likely, but probably not too much yet. I expect a significant amount of time for Pokémon, Metroid Prime and of course Mario.
For the Mario anniversary, Mario Movie 2 trailer and Mario Sunshine on NC are safe bets. New 3D Mario is probably unlikely, but a NS2 Edition of Mario Wonder is possible. (Maybe even Brothership, though that’s more of a pipe dream.)
And Mother 3. It won’t happen but I’m not leaving it off the bingo card. My optimism in Direct season knows no bounds.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (6th September)
I finally finished Mario & Luigi: Brothership…and what a game, man. It felt like it would never end but I’m sad it did. The game definitely lives up to the high standards of its predecessors, and it made me feel much like I did when I first played Dream Team ten years ago. Finished with Mario at level 53, Luigi at level 52 and over 60 hours logged. Overleveled, for sure, but that can be fun in its own right.
So it’ll be back to Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World for me! I’m replaying the main game and playing the new Starry Stages as I go. I’m currently about halfway through Everbay Coast. I’ve only played two Starry Stages so far but they feel so fresh and vibrant. Looking forward to more!
Might play some more Donkey Kong Bananza as well if I get tired of Kirby. Or I’ll just wait until I finish.
Re: Poll: Three Months In, How Would You Rate Switch 2's Library So Far?
Mario Kart, Donkey Kong and the Kirby DLC are definitely the strongest showings on the platform so far. Considering it’s only been three months, that’s really not bad.
It can also play nearly every Switch 1 game via backward compatibility, a feature Switch 1 didn’t have. So its library is really much bigger in practice, even though the Switch 2 exclusive lineup is a little small right now. In many cases (at least for first-party games) the Switch 1 games are improved in various ways, from loading times to resolution to framerate.
It’s quite the upgrade from the Switch Lite. Didn’t realize I’d miss rumble so much lol, and I love the bigger screen. This system will be getting a lot of use from me…
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (30th August)
I’m continuing Mario & Luigi: Brothership (three Great Lighthouses down!) as well as revisiting Kirby and the Forgotten Land on a new file, to check out the Star-Crossed World DLC and also to replay the main game. I’m currently on Everbay Ocean in the latter, at 13 % completion. I’ve been completing the Starry Stages as I go.
Re: Opinion: We Need To Talk About X Games
I usually pronounce it “ex”. But it sort of depends. When it represents the number 10, I pronounce it “ten”. Aside from that, I generally try to follow official usage in trailers and stuff. (Xenoblade Chronicles X specifically is pronounced “ex” in English trailers, even though in Japanese it’s explicitly spelled “cross” in kana.) But honestly, games like Drag x Drive using it as a stand-in for “and” is a bridge too far…
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (23rd August)
Having finished replaying Ghost Trick for the hundredth time and beaten the NS2 Welcome Tour at nearly 100 % completion (barring some third clear medals and the Procon 2 minigames), I’m at a bit of a loss here. So I’m pretty much simultaneously playing through Mario & Luigi: Brothership (just finished second Great Lighthouse), Super Mario Bros. Wonder (World 1 cleared) and Donkey Kong Bananza (at sublevel 200). I plan to beat all of them…eventually. But I’ll probably settle on one at a time before long. Probably SMBW, since it’s the one I’ve put off the longest.
Also planning to get the Kirby and the Forgotten Land DLC when it comes out. So I’ll have even more on my plate then…
Re: Kirby Air Riders Direct: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate It?
Absolutely loved what I saw! Pretty awesome that Sakurai’s developing a Kirby game again and he seems really proud of this one too! Loving all the new characters (especially Bandana Waddle Dee, of course, but some more obscure picks like Starman are definitely a welcome surprise!) and the new City Trial mode looks really cool! 9/10 (Top Ride was conspicuously absent but you can’t have them all ig)
Re: Nintendo Download: 14th August (North America)
Got a shiny new Switch 2 a couple weeks back, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. I’m also still playing through Mario & Luigi: Brothership (slowly but surely), and I’ve noticed the occasional stutter is completely gone on the new system.
I’ve put all those games aside for now, though. I don’t even know how many times I’ve played Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective by now but I’m doing it again. Just finished Chapter 9. Still the greatest masterpiece of a game I’ve ever played. Some things never get old.
Re: Reaction: Switch 2 Needed A Partner Showcase With Pep; This Wasn't It
Was hoping for an Ace Attorney 7 announcement. Not today, I suppose.
There were some interesting ones I might give a look later. Adventures of Elliot looked cool. Was hoping for some release dates for previously announced games but no such luck, not even for Hyrule Warriors.
Of course, I imagine we’ll get a full general Direct before too long. Maybe then we’ll get AA7…
Re: Feature: Nintendo Partner Direct Predictions - What Do You Expect To See?
Ace Attorney 7 let’s gooooooo
Re: Mailbox: Ninty Getting Its Freak On, Area Codes, The 'Discourse' - Nintendo Life Letters
“I'm assuming everyone here tried reading Maxz's second line DK Rap-style...and then went, 'Hang on, "the remarkably beefy specs" doesn't scan at all, let alone rhyme with "upgrade"!'”
lol this was actually me though
Re: Poll: With One Week To Go, What Are Your Switch 2 Launch-Day Plans?
I’ll be waiting for the holidays in all likelihood. Very excited to get one though!
Re: Now Switch 2 Setup Walkthrough Videos Are Popping Up Online
@Enigk Switch 1 has folders (well, ok, “groups”) so I imagine the Switch 2 will as well. But I also imagine that recent software is the default view and you’re still have to click into “all software” to see folders.
I wouldn’t hold my breath for themes, though. I guess an update adding them is possible, but there’s no telling when or if.
Re: Nintendo Today! Update Prevents Users From Recording Promotional Videos
@Nick2054 News is archived and you can view previously viewed content. The rest seems to be randomly chosen based on your prior views and series preferences, and isn’t tied to a specific day.
Re: Mailbox: Switch 2 Innovations, Localisation Dreams, "That Big Playtest Thing" - Nintendo Life Letters
@Pastellioli See, here’s the confusing bit. What is known as “season 1” in Japan corresponds to seasons 1 and 2 in the dub. It had 76 episodes and was dubbed in its entirety by Dentsu. Then SDI took charge for the dubbed season 3, which is really just select segments from the Japanese “season 2” rearranged into 26 episodes. About two thirds of the Japanese “season 2” and the entirety of the Japanese “season 3”, as well as the 2019 and 2021 revivals, were never dubbed at all.
Re: Mailbox: Switch 2 Innovations, Localisation Dreams, "That Big Playtest Thing" - Nintendo Life Letters
Pretty neat my letter showed up here. Never heard of Marvelous or Treasure of the Rudras before but consider my interest piqued. And of the untranslated Fire Emblems, New MotE and Binding Blade definitely stick out. And of course there’s Rhythm Tengoku, The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls, and a bunch of other unlocalized games I’d love to try… (And the obvious Mother 3, of course.)
@Pastellioli Yeah, and as far as the first YW anime series went, we didn’t even get the full first series in English. There were 214 total episodes (348 counting the 2019 and 2021 revivals) and only 102 were dubbed, plus the first movie. And of course we never got Shadowside, Academy Y or the other five movies, either.
Anyway, yeah, lack of a YW4 localization really stings, not to mention Blasters 2 and the Academy Y game. Now that Level-5’s localizing games again there’s a chance, but HHM makes that seem unlikely in the near future. And Level-5 doesn’t really do many ports, which doesn’t help matters…but I’m still hoping! (And learning Japanese in the meantime…)
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (17th May)
I finally decided to start Mario & Luigi: Brothership! I’ve played all five previous entries in the series and loved them all, so I’ve got high expectations for this one!
I’m currently on Rumbla Island. The new battle mechanics will take some getting used to (seriously, why does Luigi select attacks with A but does everything else with B??), but so far I’m enjoying it. Of course, the game’s barely begun, but I can already tell this one’s gonna be a blast.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (12th April)
Still playing through Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit. I recently finished Turnabout Legacy, easily one of the series’ best cases, so now I’m on Episode 4: A Turnabout Forsaken, in the Middle section. I still remember a few of the twists from my last playthrough but the end of the Former section of this case still gives me chills.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (5th April)
Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit on Switch. I’ve played the fan translation in the past, but this is my first shot at the official one. Currently on the latter section of the second episode, The Captive Turnabout. Brilliant game, brilliant story, brilliant localization. Eddie Fender in particular is really well done here. Looking forward to playing more!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (29th March)
Taking a little break from Pokémon to finally finish my playthrough of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth on Switch. I left off just before the last case, but now I’m about halfway through. This case is quite a long one, which is probably why I held off on it for so long. It’s good, though! And once I finish I’ll replay the sequel as well, this time with the official translation. Looking forward to it!
Also, in honor of the recent announcement of Rhythm Heaven Groove, I finally started Rhythm Heaven Megamix on 3DS, which I was smart enough (read: FOMO’d enough) to buy just before eShop doomsday. Glad I did: I haven’t played much yet, but so far it’s a brilliant, varied and surprisingly challenging game. Looking forward to playing more!
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo Direct Predictions - What Do You Want To See?
Ace Attorney 7 let’s gooooooo
I also find a new eShop-exclusive Kirby spinoff (similar to Dream Buffet) pretty likely. And of course MP4 and PLZA are basically guaranteed to get a mention, at least.
Re: Rumour: A Switch 1 Direct Presentation May Take Place This Week
@vio Not bad. Like cotton candy, but without the candy. Great source of fiber. Would recommend
Re: Nintendo Direct Confirmed For Tomorrow, 27th March 2025
…Hat eaten.
(obligatory filler)
Re: Rumour: A Switch 1 Direct Presentation May Take Place This Week
Guys, just let it go. The Switch 2 Direct is just one week away. One week!
If we get a Nintendo presentation of any kind before then I will eat my hat.
Re: HAL Laboratory's Lovely Physics Puzzler 'Part Time UFO' Has Been Delisted On Mobile
@KeeperBvK Thankfully this does appear to be the case for now…but it might not be in the future. It really depends on how long the individual developer decides to support redownloads.
Re: Talking Point: Did All The Switch 2 Leaks 'Damage' Nintendo Or The Console's Reveal?
shrugs
It wasn’t a very substantive reveal in any case. It looks cool, but I’d have been more excited if they showed off more games. Guess I’ll have to wait for April for that…
Mario Kart 9 looked really cool though. 24 racers?!
Re: Poll: Does Anyone Actually Use The Switch Joy-Con Straps?
To the 68 % of you who voted you used the strap “sometimes” or less: the Reckless Wii Safety Man was not intended to be a role model…
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (New Year Edition)
I’ll be continuing Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth on Switch. I’m currently on the middle section of Episode 4: Turnabout Reminiscence. It’s a fun flashback case that tells the story of how Edgeworth, Gumshoe and Kay first met, five months before Turnabout Beginnings in AA3. It’s the story of a time long ago, back when Gumshoe was paid a living wage…
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (Christmas 2024 Edition)
It’s finally time for me to wrap up the Ace Attorney marathon I started this summer, with Ace Attorney Investigations Collection for Switch! I’ve played both of these games before on DS, but only a fan translation for the second game, so it’ll be cool to see how Capcom handled the translation differently.
Of course, I’m beginning with the first game, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. I’m currently in the middle part of Episode 2: Turnabout Airlines. And I must say, the new sprites are really impressive. I didn’t know it would affect the experience so much, but I can actually make out characters’ facial expressions now!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (23rd November)
I’ll probably just play a bit of Tomodachi Life this weekend. It’s been a little while since I last checked up on Never Ever Island, but I’m now at 27 islanders!
Not too much news to report. My Mii had another kid with Maya Fey recently. They’re still the only married couple on the island. Some Miis have taken my extended absence rather personally, and Katie Forester in particular managed to get into two fights back to back. I also have a few newcomers who haven’t had a whole lot of time to settle in yet, including Makoto Naegi and Aoi and Yuta Asahina from Danganronpa, as well as Ash Ketchum from Pokémon.
It’s a nice, relaxing game. It’s pretty cool how you can pretty much create any bizarre crossover you want, though the Miitopia makeup editor on Switch definitely spoiled me. Still, it’s something to do when I’m not frantically trying to catch up on the Pokémon anime…
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Top 5 Nintendo DS Games?
Of the games I actually played on DS? My favorites are probably M&L: Partners in Time, Ace Attorney Investigations, Kirby: Squeak Squad and The Legendary Starfy. I also love M&L: Bowser’s Inside Story, Ghost Trick and the other Ace Attorney games, but I only played them on later ports and remakes.
Re: EarthBound 30th Anniversary Merch Will Include A Giant Mr Saturn Plushie
@obijuankanoobie I think they probably will rerelease the icons worldwide. Both the EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound icons were released worldwide a few months ago, so no reason to region-lock them now. Only time will tell, though…
Re: Feature: Sonic Boom At 10 - The Good, Bad & Ugly Of Sonic The Hedgehog’s Brief, Nintendo-Exclusive Sub-Franchise
The games (or at least Rise of Lyric, since it’s the only one I played) were nothing more than cheap cash grabs. It’s a shame that those games are basically what the series is remembered for. Sonic Boom the show was fantastic.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (9th November)
So now I’ve finished the main Danganronpa series, along with Ultra Despair Girls. Whatever should I do now? I get so invested in a series and now you’re telling me it’s over?
I guess I still have one more game to play: the infamous Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp. Why is it infamous? It’s a paid gacha game with microtransactions. But it also has a lot of interactions between characters from different Danganronpa games (including Ultra Despair Girls, which was never ported to Switch), much like the Ultimate Talent Development Plan mode in DRV3. Also, you can play as Hina, so surely it can’t be that bad. Right?
Where are Yuta and Taichi from Ultra Despair Girls, though? If you’re going to include characters from that game, why not go all the way?
Re: Nintendo Download: 7th November (North America)
I’ll definitely be hopping on the Brothership soon. Probably closer to Christmas.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (2nd November)
So I beat Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony last weekend. It was a great game; the story was very well written and the class trials were as varied as ever. However, the ending was quite…bizarre, and not quite as satisfying as those of the previous entries. But I can’t fault it for trying something different. Overall, it was another home run in a series full of them. (Trigger Happy Havoc is still my favorite, though I am somewhat biased there. I suppose it’s usually the originals that stick with you the most.)
I’ve played some of the Ultimate Talent Development Plan (the postgame board mode). It’s fun! In short bursts, at least. Once you unlock them from a gacha machine, you can play as any of the students from any of the three main games in the series…in a rather basic RPG mode. It’s not the most interesting thing, but the character interactions are fun. There’s even a bonus board which features encounters with characters from The End of Hope’s Peak High School. (And hey, you’re not going to see me complain much about a mode where you can play as Hina, Fuyuhiko and Kaito…)
I also started Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls on Windows, which I skipped initially because it wasn’t on Switch. Most people recommend you play this one before DR3 and DRV3, but that ship’s kind of sailed for me. It’s a third-person shooter, but people still die in the story, so I suppose it’s still a true Danganronpa. Actually, it’s a lot darker than I expected. They basically replace class trials by adding a lot more deaths. It does feature a lot of family members of Trigger Happy Havoc characters, most notably the protagonist, Makoto’s younger sister Komaru. I’m currently on the third chapter. The gameplay gets kind of repetitive but the story’s as gripping as ever.
Re: Reaction: With Xenoblade Chronicles X On Switch, The Wii U's Demise Is Complete
Until Yoshi’s Woolly World and Paper Mario: Color Splash come to Switch, I cannot agree. And even if they do make the jump, there will still be gems like Kirby and the Rainbow Curse and Nintendo Land, where ports would be difficult at best.
I’m glad so many of the Wii U’s underappreciated hits can reach a wider audience now. But I’m still keeping my Wii U around.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (26th October)
Currently on the fifth class trial of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. What a ride it’s been…this game pulled a lot of twists far crueler than the series has done before. I imagine I haven’t yet reached the end of it, either. I’ll probably finish this game by next weekend, and the main Danganronpa series with it. That’ll feel weird, for sure.
OK, but do you mean to tell me that every single survivor of the previous killing games is now dead, in addition to the rest of humanity? After Danganronpa 3 had an actually happy ending, they just had to go and…ruin that? I suppose they’d absolutely do it. But man, that’s cruel.
Oh, and for this class trial I’m playing, they keep the victim’s identity unknown and you end up having to prove it’s Kaito. Danganronpa’s all about false hope too, I guess…
Re: HAL Laboratory's Lovely Physics Puzzler 'Part Time UFO' Has Been Delisted On Mobile
@Ramouz Thanks, but unfortunately I’m an iOS user, so using third-party solutions is a little more difficult.
Re: HAL Laboratory's Lovely Physics Puzzler 'Part Time UFO' Has Been Delisted On Mobile
A real shame. I bought this game a few years back. It was great! Wish they gave some kind of warning about this. Now that it’s gone, it doesn’t look like I can redownload it…
At least the game’s on Switch now…but I wish they’d been a little more considerate of the people who bought the mobile version.
EDIT: Apparently it’s still on my phone after all! A little scary that I can’t delete it, though. Guess I’ll have to be careful…
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (19th October)
Having now beaten Miitopia, it’s time to return to Danganronpa with its final main installment: Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony! This one is…quite different from the previous two games. There’s a major early-game plot twist that came completely out of left field, and nothing at all could have prepared me for it. I’m now on chapter 2…only time will tell if they carry that momentum, but I have a feeling I’m in for quite a ride with this one.
But wait: you might be here for the season finale of my Miitopia saga. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you. Obviously, major Miitopia spoilers follow:
Previously on Miitopia…
“My name is Aoi Asahina. A while back I set out to stop Dr. Andonuts, the Dark Lord, from stealing the faces of Miitopia residents. I met nine fellow adventurers on my way: Revali, Wreck-It Ralph, Captain Underpants, Miles Edgeworth, Ribbon, Peter Pan, Whisper, Ness and Inspector Cabanela. I’ve also been assisted by a horse named Yoshi and a Great Sage named Sans. Together, we’ve come all the way to the Dark Lord’s castle. Time to finish this! But do we really have what it takes?”
Cue Miitopia theme song, which quite possibly sounds like the Ninjago theme song? Oh, just figure it out yourself.
Aoi and her friends come face-to-face with Dr. Andonuts and engage in a battle for all of Miitopia. The Dark Lord loses, of course. A blue wisp known as the Dark Curse emerges from Dr. Andonuts, who is now just another normal, not-evil guy. Desperate, the Dark Curse attempts to attack Aoi, but Sans blocks the attack and suddenly transforms into…Sans, the Darker Lord!
Aoi and company proceed to chase Sans through the snowy Powdered Peaks, the peculiar Peculia and the sky-high Nimbus. (The entire time spent in these areas during the main story is mandatory sidequests, so there’s not really much else to say…) With the help of the Dragon they befriended in the Dark Lord’s castle, they finally reach the Sky Scraper, where Sans now resides. Dr. Andonuts, the former Dark Lord, helps them through the lair…sort of. He reveals that he accidentally unleashed the Dark Curse by following a mysterious voice, but he never wished any harm to come to Miitopia.
Upon reaching Sans, all ten of our heroes team up to battle him. Ralph, Ribbon and Underpants battle his right hand, while Miles, Whisper and Cabanela battle his right. Just when the remaining four are about to take on the weakened Darker Lord, Sans absorbs the faces of the other six and becomes the Darkest Lord.
A final battle ensues. Aoi, Revali, Peter and Ness skillfully attack the Darkest Lord until he is very weak, but he has one more attack up his sleeve. He blasts Aoi’s party with an attack that puts them at critical health. Revali and Aoi faint almost immediately. As revenge, Peter strikes the final blow to Sans, which releases the Dark Curse.
With the Dark Curse now utterly helpless, Sans reveals to Aoi that he was once a totally normal guy. But he was lonely, and came to hate his face, thinking his would-be friends thought it too boring. So he became faceless, and decided to take other people’s faces instead. So Aoi decides to show mercy to the Dark Curse, and he is reborn as Hajime Hinata and becomes Sans’s apprentice. Our ten heroes (and their horse) then return home, triumphant. And Miitopia became a utopia once more. Probably, anyway. The end.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (12th October)
Previously on Miitopia…
“My name is Aoi Asahina. I’m the adventurer who stepped up to defeat the Dark Lord, Dr. Andonuts, who suddenly decided to start stealing people’s faces. The nerve of that guy! I met some friends on my journey: Revali, Wreck-It Ralph, Captain Underpants and a loyal horse named Yoshi. Together, we’re unstoppable! Or at least I thought so, while we saved King Dedede of Greenhorne and his daughter Princess Peach. But then Andonuts came back and captured my friends! I’ve met some new friends, namely Miles Edgeworth, Ribbon and Peter Pan, but will I ever see my old friends again? And who exactly is this mysterious Great Sage Sans?”
Now you’re caught up. But sit tight, because you’re still in for a ride…
Aoi and her new group of friends continue on their journey through Neksdor Desert, where they run into an evil genie named Jafar. Then the Dark Lord comes back and steals Jafar’s face, prompting a redemption arc, and once Aoi and her friends save him, Jafar is actually a pretty chill guy. Unfortunately, the Dark Lord then attacks Aoi’s team once more, and Miles, Ribbon and Peter are captured.
Once again alone, Aoi continues on to the Realm of the Fey. She meets another new group of friends: Whisper, Ness and Inspector Cabanela. The new party also meets Sayaka Maizono, the youngest of a trio calling themselves the Fab Fairies, whose older members Chiaki Nanami and Kyoko Kirigiri have had their faces stolen by Andonuts. After saving Chiaki and Kyoko, Sayaka’s face is stolen, and Aoi’s team has to save her, too. Oh yeah, and Tingle makes a cameo here, too…
Then the Dark Lord comes and once again kidnaps Aoi’s new friends. So she continues on to the volcano on which Andonuts’s castle is situated. There, she saves her friends one by one with the (temporary) help of Sans, and before long she has a party of 10! Happy day! Oh yeah, and they battled a dragon. Would it really be a RPG without one?
That about covers it. Next on Miitopia: Aoi and her now-much-larger party continue storming the castle until they come face-to-face with Andonuts! Stay tuned!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (5th October)
This is the town of Greenhorne. People are peacefully chilling about and just minding their own business. Then along comes a time-traveling-scientist-turned-evil-wizard who calls himself the Dark Lord, Dr. Andonuts, and suddenly the town’s residents have no faces. Oh no! Who can put a stop to this madness?
Enter Aoi Asahina (Energetic Pop Star, formerly Warrior), our brave heroine. Formerly the Ultimate Swimming Pro at Hope’s Peak Academy and best known for her boundless love of donuts, she has since decided to take up a new occupation: defeating Dark Lords. Shortly after beginning her adventure, she meets three fellow adventurers with the same goal: Revali (Stubborn Mage), the stuck-up but highly skilled Champion of the Rito; Wreck-It Ralph (Kind Chef), the “bad guy” with big fists who’s really not so bad a guy; and Captain Underpants (Airheaded Thief), the…superhero of toilet humor who doesn’t really seem to know what he’s doing.
The party has met many memorable characters on their journey thus far. This includes King Dedede, his daughter Princess Peach, her fiancé Prince Farquaad and her true love interest Aladdin. It also includes a mysterious but powerful Great Sage named Sans, and a loyal steed named Yoshi who follows our protagonists to the edge of the earth.
Recently, the Dark Lord took the liberty to separate Aoi from the rest of her party, forcing her to find a new occupation and new friends. These new friends, of course, are just as colorful as the old ones: Miles Edgeworth (Cool Scientist), a highly skilled prosecutor eager to put the Dark Lord behind bars; Ribbon (Kind Imp), a fairy from Ripple Star seeking the lost Crystal Shards; and Peter Pan (Laid-back Cleric), the Boy Who Never Grew Up himself who loves nothing more than putting old codfishes in their place.
Will Dr. Andonuts have his way? Will Aoi and her friends put a stop to his havoc? Will the team ever reunite? Who is Sans, the mysterious Great Sage? Find out in the next episode of Miitopia!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (28th September)
So I beat Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair this week. Its ending might even be crueller than Trigger Happy Havoc’s, and that’s no small achievement. Anyway, that would put Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School next on the list…but that’s an anime, not a game, so maybe I can’t talk about that here. But there’s a Crunchyroll app on Switch, so maybe I can? In any case, might as well share some of my thoughts on the series so far anyway. Spoilers for DR1, DR2 and DR3 (through Future/Despair Arc 3) follow:
-So Byakuya didn’t die in DR2. His very presence in the game was totally bizarre to me, and wound up being a total red herring because it was just some other student called the Ultimate Imposter. I couldn’t stop laughing at the bizarre bait-and-switch when that was revealed…and of course the real deal showed up in the final trial, alongside Makoto and Kyoko. The game played me like a fiddle there…
-That ending in DR2 was…rough. Particularly the part about the real-world Hajime not even really being the same person anymore. That scene with Hajime’s impossible decision on how to return to the real world…the writing there was truly brilliant.
-Going slightly earlier in the game than that, Nagito’s murder may very well be the best case in the series yet. (Yes, I know I said he’d die first, but dying last definitely fits this guy’s role, too…) It’s the kind of mystery I really couldn’t have made up myself, and the plot twist was among the crueller of a game already full of cruel twists. Overall, this game’s cases were probably harder than the first game’s (no painfully obvious dying messages in sight this time…), and I wasn’t really able to predict the outcome of any of them this time.
-Regarding DR3, I’d first like to start by talking about a certain favorite swimmer girl of mine who was so cruelly snubbed in DR2. They brought her back in DR3! …And immediately killed her off in Future Arc 2! ……And then she came back in Future Arc 3, because apparently the killer went to great lengths to make her look dead for a few seconds with freaking tomato juice?? What is it with this series fake-killing members of the main cast??? This series really is cruel…
-Did I mention how ridiculous the writing around that was, just to make me cry over nothing?? Don’t you dare kill her off for real, Spike Chunsoft…
-Fake Hina deaths aside…I do question what exactly the Future Arc is supposed to accomplish here. Monokuma must be one bitter bear to force half the survivors of the first Killing Game to survive yet another…and for some reason, more than one person actively wants the three of them dead. Maybe it’ll make more sense later…better not make such judgements until I’m done.
-Despair Arc is pretty good so far. It’s tough to watch, knowing how it ends thanks to DR2…so I guess it’s sort of like Rogue One, in that regard. Despair Arc 3 featured the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case itself, and also had Hajime taking his first step toward calamity, so I imagine it’s only going to get harder from here. It’s Danganronpa, so truly happy endings are out of the question, I guess…
Anyway, I’ll probably start on the final main game in the series, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, sometime next week. Or maybe I’ll play something with less heavy narrative themes first. Guess only time will tell…
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (21st September)
About to begin the fourth chapter of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, so I’m roughly at the halfway point. Just like Trigger Happy Havoc, this one knows how to hit you where it hurts. A lot of plot connections to that game are buried in here, though it’s impossible at this point to tell where the game is headed.
There are a lot of things I’d like to talk about regarding this game, but that’d be tough without spoiling anything. But this definitely isn’t just some retread of the first game.