BenAV

Hopefully it's doing well enough that they keep it going as a series. Octopath Traveler II is one of my favourite JRPGs ever and 0 was also excellent so I'm really keen to see what they do with Octopath Traveler III.

I almost felt like getting back into the game a little while ago until I remembered that it had DLC on the way and decided to just wait. Nice to have a date and I'll probably grab it jump back in if I'm not too busy with other games.

I think I'm a bit over half way through Octopath Traveler 0 and I'm really enjoying it so I probably won't be playing anything else until I'm done.

I started incorporating wall strats into a few courses just a few days ago. Guess I better unlearn that if it's slower now haha.

I hope the matchmaking changes are significant as that's the only big issue the game has.

@michellelynn0976 Yeah nah

@Lizuka I was expecting something a bit bigger in scope with more innovative ideas after all these years and with much better hardware so honestly if this is the best they can do with 3D Metroid then I'll be happy for them to just go back to sticking to 2D until that changes.

That being said there's a pretty good chance I don't buy the next 2D Metroid either anyway. Dread was really good but I wouldn't pay Switch 2 game price for it.

I skipped Metroid largely due to it releasing on the same day as Octopath. I was planning to pick it up later if it looked good enough but it honestly just doesn't look like good value for money to me so I doubt I'll ever buy it now.

I haven't bought the game as I wanted to pay Octopath at launch which has given me a lot of time to decide if I want it or not. Right now I'm leaning towards just skipping as my impression from everything I've seen is that it would be a decent game but not really worth the asking price.

@Bck101 I've been playing it on Steam Deck with trackpads which has been pretty chill. I have over 250 hours in it and think I've still only beaten Cov10+Titans with barely over half the combos haha. Love how unique and different each run feels.

@FishyS Monster Train 2 is in at minimum my top three games of this year on any platform but it never got a review here (neither did the first game).

I've started Octopath Traveller 0 so between that and Kirby Air Riders which I can't keep away from for long, I'll be pretty busy for quite some time.

@Kyloctopus I've played 770 online Air Ride matches and I'd say it feels pretty random. I do feel like I see Galactic Nova less than the other tracks but that could just be coincidence.

The Dyna Blade one is kinda funny as I swear I come across them all the time when I'm playing City Trial.

Obviously not worried about the free run timer one but I hope that while they're at it they change it so that the timer stops running when the game is paused as I do a lot of practice in free run and it can be mildly annoying that I can't pause mid-lap without ruining the lap.

This is one of the games I've really been looking forward to. Going to need to finally pry myself away from Kirby Air Riders.

Don't care about Famitsu scores but excited for the game and will be starting it up launch day (sorry Metroid but you came out at the wrong time).

I've been on the fence about this one for a while and the pretty mixed reviews aren't exactly helping. Playing Octopath first regardless though so I've got plenty of time to decide.

@Thwomp_Stomper I live in Australia and started midnight our time so more like only ten hours.

100 hours and counting in Kirby Air Riders. Still don't feel like playing any other game.

I'm pretty interested in this one but the last few months of this year have been way too stacked with JRPGs I want to play so I don't know if/when I'll find the time to check it out.

@Jayvir Between the checklist and online multiplayer it's tons of content but if you're not interested in either of those things I'm not sure what else you're expecting the game to do. You could do a Super Hard playthrough of Road Trip, that's pretty fun if you're after a bit more of a challenge.

Easy 10/10. I was mainly excited for City Trial as that's the mode I loved in the original but I've been grinding rank in both racing modes and they're both awesome in this game. I've grown up playing Mario Kart games my whole life but Air Ride mode in this game feels better than any Mario Kart I've ever played.

Nothing but Kirby Air Riders for me. The most fun online multiplayer game I've played in a long time.

That's actually kinda funny. I'll keep an eye out on them showing up in City Trial.

I'll be playing the game pretty non-stop for a while anyway so I'll jump into the event when they're on, mainly just to get whatever the reward is.

@lovesushi @JohnnyMind @AverageSnomEnjoyer Enjoy. The game is just pure fun.

@Pillowpants I think that's largely why I enjoy his games so much. Too many games these days play it too safe trying to appeal to the mainstream masses. Just the same old stuff over and over with most of the unique and interesting stuff coming from indie devs.

Kirby Air Riders is a pretty niche game by design. There are pretty of things that could have been done differently to make it easier to get into and understand for casual players but Sakurai just seems to not really care about that and just makes the game he wants to make. Kid Icarus: Uprising is one of my favourite games of all time and it just wouldn't have been the same if it was designed with a more traditional control scheme to please the general audience.

Been playing for a few hours so far. Mostly just doing my first playthrough of Road Trip but also had a few rounds of ranked City Trial online which is even more fun now than in the test ride now that all the content is there.

Incredibly fun game with a ton of polish but it's a pretty unique and different game and wasn't designed in a way that caters to the casual mainstream audience so it's not something that everyone is going to get. But as someone who often isn't into all the big mainstream games, this is right up my alley. I'm a couple of hours into Road Trip and am having a blast with the game so far. Going to lose countless hours playing all three modes online.

@rallydefault I don't think I would have liked it very much based on everything I've seen. Honestly I probably would have skipped it even if it was cheaper but I might have at least been slightly tempted instead of having zero interest.

@turnmebackwards I feel you on the game prices. Back on Switch I found myself picking up most first party games that I was on the fence for but with Switch 2 I've already been skipping games like Hyrule Warriors and Pokemon Legends ZA that I might have been tempted by at a lower price point. This game and DK are the only two so far that I haven't really minded the asking price for.

Super excited to jump into this one in a couple of hours when it releases here. It's not going to be a big hit with the casual masses I don't think but just from the demo I know it's going to be an easy 10/10 for me.

It's going to be by far the best exclusive on the console so far so easy day one for me. My Switch 2 has been mostly collecting dust but now I'll finally have a good reason to play it.

Kirby Air Riders demo, finishing Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue and probably a lot of Monster Train 2.

Really enjoyed the first one as my first ever Trails game so pretty keen for the next entry. Glad it's not going to be too long of a wait.

I should really just wait for the full version at this point but I probably can't help myself playing more on the weekend. The game is too much fun.

Basically a sequel in name only from what I've seen from the Steam early access. It's a completely different game and seemingly nowhere near as good.

@LightSpirit It's going to be a significantly better game but with a significantly smaller player base which is sadly often how these things go.

Pretty solid endorsement for the new engine then as the game feels so good to play. Couldn't stop playing the demo last night. Definitely see myself sinking hundreds of hours into the full game.

Having a blast with the Kirby Air Riders demo so far. This is probably going to be my favourite game of the year. Easily my favourite Switch 2 exclusive.

Aside from that I'm still gradually working my way through Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue. Three routes left till I'm finished I think. Also some more Monster Train 2 runs, checking out the new stuff that dropped in this week's update.

@MeatSauce Breath of the Wild launched on both systems simultaneously so that counts IMO. Plus it was a game that lived up to all the hype for me compared to Mario Kart World which is one of the most disappointing games I've ever played.

There were also other new first party games before Mario Odyssey. ARMS in June was a decent enough game and then Splatoon 2 in July which I ended up putting over 1k hours in.

Add in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to end the year and it's actually a pretty strong contender for my favourite first party year ever so I don't agree with it being lackluster at all.

I really enjoyed DK Bananza but it was a fairly short game and my Switch 2 has basically just been collecting dust while I wait for Kirby Air Riders.

@bones @electrolite77 @Cakefish I don't think it being 'TBC' is an indication that it won't be a 2026 title or anything like that. These lists tend to just be a recap of previously announced release windows and they just never gave us a window for Splatoon Raiders so it's still TBC until they do. Fingers crossed they finally actually show off the game in the next general Direct and give us a release date/window.

Mostly just excited for Kirby Air Riders at the moments. Still need to know exactly what Splatoon Raiders even is before I can get too hyped and will probably get Fire Emblem and Rhythm Heaven but aren't crazy excited for them. Been feeling less and less sure about whether I'll be getting Metroid Prime 4.

@UltimateOtaku91 It was a bit of a weird choice to drop that randomly on their app out of nowhere and then basically never talk about it again for the rest of the year. They could have just left it as an exciting reveal for a future Direct.

I've been pretty underwhelmed by the game lineup so far but you can't argue with the results. No need to go all out with a lot of big hitters early if the system is going to fly off the shelves just by coming with Mario Kart.

I really don't mind special edition controllers being a little more expensive than the standard one but you could at least put a little effort into making the design look nice. This is one of the ugliest ones I've ever seen.

Finishing up my fourth route in Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue and working towards all card mastery in Monster Train 2.

To be honest, the annoucement of DLC before the game releases just makes it less tempting for me to buy the game at launch. Seems smarter to just wait till I can get it on sale for much cheaper and play all the content.

As much as I love the game, I already put all the time I wanted into it and moved on long ago and I really return to games once I'm finished with them even if they get updates and extra content. I'll just patiently wait for the next game.

@LoroTalby That's what I've been thinking as well as it's a bit of a waste of the series' potential to release it too close to launch. Perfect game to bring new life into the system once the sales start to drop off a bit.

They're busy adding obnoxiously loud engine noises over the top of every track so that you can't properly hear the music before they upload them for a more authentic listening experience.

@Dang_69 That's a good point. The Switch release has been pretty messy with different versions that aren't compatible with each other so it might be tricky to get saves transferred over (or the game upgraded) for all the different versions.