First of all, never heard of this event until now, so that's not good.
Second of all, why do they only focus on old multiplayer games at this event? This would be a perfect E3 replacement, particularly for the Treehouse segments which they can't really replicate very well during Directs, we're largely missing the sort of hands-on coverage that Treehouse provided with E3 dying off.
@serouj2000 I was fine with it back then. I wished they had done a big show, but the format itself wasn't really bad. In fact 2014 was one of the best E3s I've seen from Nintendo. As for 2013, I was more disappointed in the content than the format, especially with how Iwata teased what they were revealing which got my hopes up sky high. He teased they would reveal 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash, and "a beloved IP by Retro", and I thought "awesome, we're getting a new sandbox Mario and Metroid Prime 4". I was utterly crushed when it was just 3D World, a samey looking sequel to 3D Land, and Tropical Freeze, a samey looking sequel to DKCR. Now I probably still wouldn't have liked that E3 because it didn't quite have the games I was waiting for (in fact I would have to wait until the Switch in 2017 for the games I was waiting for, which was even more crushing and disappointing), but Iwata's tease made it sound like 2013 was going to be what 2017 was and then the actual presentation pulled the rug underneath me and made me feel worse. Not very smart PR there.
@sd7232 No reason to believe this will cause a crash. E3 is an obsolete format now that publishers can livestream news whenever they feel like. Be real, why do we care about Nintendo showing up at E3 when they can air a Nintendo Direct at any time of the year?
@NewAdvent I don't agree, BW2 had a ton of new areas which we could tell going in, we could see some changes to even older areas, and we knew that there were going to be a ton of older Pokemon and new mechanics which changed up the gameplay. I'm not getting the same vibe from TotK. The map looks closer to USUM than BW2.
@MS7000 And that's another great point. Exploration is a central mechanic to Zelda that phoning it in like this with a largely similar map greatly reduces the appeal. So yeah, the heavy reuse of the same map is a big deal and the comparisons brought up in the article aren't very applicable.
@StarPoint @blindsquarel Name another sequel where the map looked about 80% similar to the map from the first game. That's the biggest issue with TotK. We can talk about games like Majora's Mask or Banjo-Tooie being asset flips, but most if not all of the game worlds in those kinds of games were new areas that did not exist in their predecessors. This just looks like it's mostly the same areas we already explored in BotW with little added, I agree with @ButterCashier on their comparison on Pokemon Sun/Moon to Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, that looks to be more accurate to what this is.
@tabris95 Don't read too much into that statement, I think it's PR speak for "F-Zero doesn't sell enough and we're looking for something that can boost its sales". The fact that they don't seem to think the Switch is enough is a grim omen for that fanbase, it may just be dead at this point.
I think whether or not a game feels "similar" comes down to two things:
1. Does the world look or feel largely similar?
2. Are you performing the same actions as you did for its predecessor?
If you're reusing the same maps, creating new maps that just look or feel similar to old ones, or just performing the same actions that you did in the last game, that can feel repetitive and boring. It just feels like you're making a new game for the sake of having something to sell and it doesn't feel like you actually have new ideas that make the same concept more fun. That's where the "this game is too similar" complaints come from.
Now in TotK's case, it doesn't fail the second point, abilities such as Fusing and the Ultrahand do seem to shake up what you're actually going to be doing in the game and those parts are exciting. But it does fail the first point, the overworld looks largely the same. It doesn't feel like Hyrule is significantly changed from BotW to make exploring it still fun (you have the sky islands, but that looks like maybe 20% of the overworld at best). It's one thing to reuse assets by bringing back some characters or objects. It's another thing entirely to reuse 80% OF THE MAP. Was MM just 80% OoT's Hyrule? Was Galaxy 2 just 80% of Galaxy 1's levels? This is the biggest sticking point with TotK for me, if you're reusing 80% of the map, it's not worth paying $70 and from the consumer standpoint, it's better off as DLC.
It looks slightly better than I expected, but still fairly samey. It's not quite DLC, but it does look more like BotW 1.5 than BotW 2. Guess now we know what took them so long to make, the Fuse mechanic probably took up a ton of dev time.
Has to be 2017. And no, I'm not a Zoomer who started on the Switch, I've been around the block for a while (since late 5th gen/early 6th gen). Sorry, but having BotW, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Metroid Samus Returns, and MK8D (which I experienced for the first time because I skipped the Wii U) is just too good a lineup to beat. That's like, a lot of my favorite IPs, many of which carry a similar but modernized spirit of the open 3D game worlds I enjoyed as a child, all in one year. It's going to be hard to top that.
2017 by far. Nothing beats having a new 3D Zelda game, a new 3D Mario game, a new Splatoon game, and an excellent Mario Kart port. That's some of Nintendo's biggest IPs all in one year. Insane that all of this released in the course of a year, I'm not sure Nintendo will ever have a lineup this good again.
Okay, this is actually a great lineup. If I cared about the Booster Course Pack, I'd be stoked with this lineup. Riverside Park and Bangkok Rush are the two courses I'd have most wanted to see make the jump from Tour and their both coming in Tour, Yoshi's Island looked really good in the Direct, and Waluigi's Stadium looks very well improved.
Pretty awful. Felt like time for NSO and/or some console spinoffs but nope, just mobile stuff and DLC (and even in those areas they didn't reveal all that much). Easily the worst one I can remember.
@Anti-Matter It's in a random Raid den all over the region. You'll be able to tell which one by searching for the respective Tera type icon and then looking for the one that has a sort of radar effect on it (on the map it'll be animated with concentric circles pulsing from it).
As for the Pokemon themselves, they're 5 Star raids at Lv. 75. They also seem to be locked into Rash (Walking Wake)/Naughty (Iron Leaves) nature.
@AllanMortom I feel like you have to put cross gen releases like TP and BotW in a different category from ports like MK8D. With ports, the game was already out there for several years so people might be double dipping. But for cross gen? It's a simultaneous release. Fans of both consoles are experiencing the game at exactly the same time. So you can't really discount the newer console for that.
As for Pokemon, the open world means more area to explore and there's also more Pokemon to catch. You simply get much more out of it than a game like Colosseum/XD which is just sort of a gimped Pokemon experience with no routes and no (or in XD's case little) wild Pokemon to catch. Also, I really didn't encounter a lot of bugs unless I specifically went looking for them, I feel like the complaints about bugs and lack of polish is overblown.
@AllanMortom Yeah, not sure your comparison is accurate here. For one, you're missing quite a few IPs here. Where's Smash, Kirby, and Yoshi? Smash had far more characters, stages, and mechanics in Ultimate than Melee. And Kirby and Yoshi were nonexistent on the GC (except for Air Ride which was a spinoff).
Second, I disagree with several of your comparisons here. Colosseum and XD are neat games for their time and good under the circumstances of the GC not having main series Pokemon game, but they don't hold a candle to a main series Pokemon game which has a fully fleshed out region (one of which is full OPEN WORLD), not a series of relatively small self-contained areas, and the main games on the Switch have twice as many Pokemon to catch as Colosseum/XD. The "smiling and jumping around" (whatever that means) is nothing compared to having actual, fully fleshed out content instead of some side project made to compensate for a "No Console Pokemon" rule instituted at the time. I also didn't like WW and TP and BotW are both cross gen, and Zelda is also getting a fully open world sequel in 3 months. A bit early, but I don't think you can give Zelda to the GC. Also Donkey Konga is a spinoff game and the Switch has a TF port, which while a port is at least something main game so you really have to rank that higher than a rhythm spinoff. Put Switch against the SNES, N64, Wii, or Wii U? Fine, those consoles all had original main series DK games so those would outdo the Switch on DK games (at least unless that rumored DK game gets announced, then the conversation will get a lot more interesting). But the GC? The GC didn't have much to get excited for for DK fans.
Lastly, I think you have to kind of weigh some of these IP comparisons instead of just counting them outright. Getting a cornerstone Nintendo IP like Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon right holds more significance than getting niche IPs like F-Zero or Star Fox right. And the Switch is really winning on many of the cornerstone IPs. The Switch has the better Mario game, the better Zelda games, the better Pokemon games, the better AC game, the better Smash game, and added Splatoon which is another higher selling IP. Whereas most of the IPs you're citing as being better on the GC are more niche, stuff like F-Zero, Pikmin, and (as much as it pains me to say it) Metroid. So quality wise the Switch has higher quality games in the IPs they really needed to get right. GC has some better games in largely niche IPs which is a good bonus but some of the cornerstone IPs were a bit more hit or miss on GC.
@Asaki I mean the Switch has Mario Odyssey, ACNH, multiple Pokemon games, Luigi's Mansion 3, Metroid Dread, and 2 Kirby games including the first ever 3D Kirby game, you don't think those games are enough incentive? I'd much rather play those games than the Wii U's mediocrity.
@HugoGED So then you could say the Wii U is no better when it comes to standing on its own lineup instead of relying on past games.
Also, most of the games I mentioned that the Wii U was lacking are some of Nintendo's biggest and highest selling IPs. 3D Mario, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing are huge, so lacking those kinds of games (or in 3D Mario's case, lacking the sandbox style of 3D Mario) are pretty glaring omissions. Most of the IPs you mentioned are largely not as significant to Nintendo's plans. About the only glaring omission from that list is Mario Kart (also 3D World, but there are also plenty of other linear platformer IPs whereas there were few alternatives to the Odyssey style sandbox on Wii U), the rest of those are relatively niche IPs or spinoffs.
@HugoGED So what games did the likes of Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Luigi's Mansion 3, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Metroid Dread, or Kirby and the Forgotten Land borrow from on the Wii U? Because last I checked, there was nothing remotely resembling those games from the Wii U originals.
Hate to break it to you, but these two IPs are niche and not a lot of people care about them.
"One Mario game"
Well 1 original Mario game. But tell me again where was the second Mario game for N64 and GC? Wii U also only got 1 3D Mario game whereas the Wii and Switch have had multiple (although again, the additional ones were ports/remakes, but still more than most consoles get).
"One Zelda game (thats actually a Wii U game)"
We'll be getting a Switch original Zelda game in 3 months.
"No original Mario Kart"
I'll give you this one, their treatment of Mario Kart has been utterly maddening this gen and it's clear that they've gotten cynical and cash grabby lately. Still, I would say this is the only major flaw in the Switch's library.
"A bunch of lame kirby games (sorry kirby fans)"
Star Allies was pretty meh, yeah, but Forgotten Land? The first 3D Kirby game that is brimming with tons of ideas like Mouthful Mode and ability upgrades? How is that lame?
"Some weird games as a service stuff"
You mean like DLC stuff? Meh, it hurts the sports and multiplayer games I guess but I don't care about those genres as much.
"and then PORTS from console that had BETTER libraries"
Better libraries? There's a few good games spread across various consoles, but again name another console that had a high quality open world Zelda, a high quality sandbox Mario, sandbox/open world Pokemon games, a highly engaging Animal Crossing, a Smash game with literally every character ever, a 3D Kirby game. I could go on and on, but there's much more to the Switch's appeal than "warmed over ports", some of the ORIGINAL games on the Switch are some of the best entries yet or at the very least take the IPs in groundbreaking new directions that expand what they can do.
@TheBigBlue Actually it's not even true that the Wii U ports are more successful. Let's look at the 10 best selling Switch games:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe- 52.00 million
Animal Crossing New Horizons- 41.59 million
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- 30.44 million
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild- 29.00 million
Pokemon Sword and Shield- 25.68 million
Super Mario Odyssey- 25.12 million
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet- 20.61 million
Super Mario Party- 18.79 million
Ring Fit Adventure- 15.22 million
Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee- 15.07 million
Only two of these games are Wii U ports, and one of them was a cross gen game so you could argue it doesn't really count. 3 of them are Pokemon games, with 2 of them being new generations and 1 of them being a remake. But the remaining 5? All new and original games. So this narrative of "the Switch is driven by Wii U ports" is faulty. Not only are there quality original titles as you point out, but they're actually selling extremely well. In fact many of them from that Top 10 list are from IPs that did not have a proper Wii U entry (no sandbox 3D Mario like Odyssey, no main series Animal Crossing, no main series Pokemon, and the main Zelda game was cross gen when everyone was beyond ready to drop the Wii U). You'd have to wonder that if the Wii U had gotten more entries like those maybe it would've been a little more successful.
@InJeffable Yeah, I forgot Xenoblade as well, that was pretty much the only other game like that. Still, the absence of a sandbox 3D Mario and Metroid Prime really took a toll on the variety, those are some key IPs for Nintendo fans that like open adventure games.
@InJeffable There's an argument to be made that you should just look at original entries that debuted on the console in question. So games like WW/TP HD or VC ports such as the Prime Trilogy should not count towards the Wii U's lineup.
And going by the original entries, I actually consider the Wii U's to be one of the worst. It has one fatal flaw that drags the lineup down for a large chunk of the fanbase (including me, because I especially like these kinds of games)- a lack of open, explorable adventure games. You've got BotW, but that was a cross-gen title that also released on the Switch and a lot of people consider it more of a Switch game then a Wii U game, but what else do you have that's even remotely close to that kind of experience? The only other kind of adventure games were linear platformers, there were no other first party open world games (BotW was the first) and there weren't even any sandbox exploration games. 3D Mario went totally linear and almost all vestiges of games like 64 and Sunshine were absent from 3D World (3D World honestly felt like the NSMB of 3D games until the Switch port gave us Bowser's Fury). Metroid was completely absent from the console with the Metroid fanbase wondering where Prime 4 was (and they're still wondering, but at least Prime 4 was confirmed to be in development on the Switch as opposed to the Prime fanbase waiting for something, anything on the Wii U and came up empty handed). Pokemon didn't yet get main series games on console and only had what, 2 spinoffs on Wii U (Rumble U and Pokken, which were more arena battlers and had no exploration)? The Wii U was a very dire era for anyone that grew up with games like the sandbox Marios, 3D Zeldas, or Metroid Primes and largely neglected those types of experiences. I'll admit it had some good things here and there, but missing an entire genre is kind of a glaring omission.
Switch by a country mile, so many groundbreaking, high quality entries and almost every IP pushed the limits of what it could be. Name another console that had so many open, explorable adventure games like BotW, Mario Odyssey, Pokemon Legends Arceus, and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and so many content rich multiplayer games like Smash Ultimate, MK8D, and Splatoon 2 and 3. Go on. I'll wait.
Just tell us when we can expect main series Pokemon games and I'll be happy to wait for anything else. Pokemon IS the Game Boy, you can't have a Game Boy lineup without them.
@Aawill91 You mean like how we never got them for VC? It's not "free". You're paying a recurring subscription fee for them instead of a one time payment. You don't think Game Freak's getting a piece of that pie?
I'll believe it when I see it, it certainly looks like it's dying now when we have absolutely nothing but DLC confirmed for after July. This could very well be smokescreen, we could get a handful of Switch titles after July while at the same time the successor is announced and we're really moving on, there's always cross gen titles and late exclusives, they've done that with past gen devices such as the GBA, GC, DS, Wii, and 3DS. The more accurate question here isn't "Are we getting any more Switch titles?", it's "Are there titles being held back for next gen hardware?". And the way the lineup's been looking lately I don't see how you can say no to the latter.
Fresh details? Please. We still know almost nothing about this game, they've just been showing off gameplay footage of random mechanics without giving any context or explanation about what the heck they are. Still skeptical about this game, we need a Zelda Direct badly.
I think late Odyssey DLC is on the table as far as main series Mario content. They did it for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Odyssey sold extremely well too, they could do late DLC to hold Mario fans off until next gen. There seems to be something going on with Odyssey because of that email.
@Herna Doesn't matter. They can't buy the DLC without buying the base game, and the base games are only selling 2-4 million. That's much closer to Metroid (1-3 million) than the likes of Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc. (which all have games that have sold 10+ million). The Metroid comparison is accurate until we get a Fire Emblem game that sells in the 5-10 million range.
It's probably because, for whatever reason, they think having major Directs in Spring and Fall is sufficient. They don't seem to like having major gaming news to show in the Summer, we've seen that in 2 of the last 3 years that they're perfectly content to stay silent during E3 time.
@I-U This. I kept looking at the 2022 lineup early in the year and thinking "There has to be more, right? Right?" and then when it became clear that they had nothing to show I thought "Wait, this is it?". Definitely disappointing that they didn't have more to announce for the second half of the year, it really felt like 2022 ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Overall it does feel like 2022 was a good year (not great like 2017, but good. Might've gotten there if Mario Kart and Splatoon actually did something new instead of dumb repetitive content), but mainly for the first half of the year, not the second half. But then there were only 3 major highlights for me in 2022, Legends Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and Scarlet/Violet, the rest was bleh.
@Tarolusa Nice nitpick. Yoshi's one of the smaller ones, but Mario and Luigi's Mansion sell high and you could make an argument for Prime 4 outselling Dread (also Dread is one of the few games I actually liked from the pandemic years), so those games overshadow much of the above list.
@Friendly Ehh, less than half of that list is 5+ million sellers, and most of those are more of the casual minigame variety (stuff like Animal Crossing, Switch Sports, Mario Party, etc.), not the AAA action/adventure variety. There are a few more that I just disregard due to personal preferences (such as Splatoon 3 because it's way too similar to 2), but in general that's where the lineup is lacking. Zelda is a good start, but we need 1 or 2 more to look forward to. And I do like action/adventure games more, so I'm more tolerant of some of the lower selling action/adventure games like Metroid, Yoshi, and DK, but I do play a few of the other genres.
Mario Kart has been consistently selling, but Odyssey and 3D World? Not so much. But if they are following the same logic as Mario Kart and thinking Odyssey is selling too high to cannibalize, I'd be down for late DLC for Odyssey like they did for the Booster Course Pack. I didn't like it for the Booster Course Pack because I wanted to see larger mechanical changes that the Switch could've facilitated (you mention that they like to use new hardware to implement new gameplay ideas, but they didn't do anything to take advantage of the Switch? I can think of 5 different things they could to do improve on 8D) instead of just mobile ports of courses, but new kingdoms and captures is basically all I want for Odyssey 2 so I'd be more okay with DLC in that case.
@Friendly Most of those games are either relatively low selling IPs (as in, they sell less than 5 million units) or they're small in size and scope. That's what I mean by "sideshow attractions".
Yes, I know Nintendo works in teams, but their teams have put out little the last few years, past the point where the pandemic is a legitimate excuse, and you really have to wonder just what is taking them so long. There's several teams I really have to look at and scratch my head as to why they have nothing to show.
NPD Tokyo, which works on the 3D Mario games, hasn't had a big new entry in 5 years. You seriously expect me to believe that all they've been working on most of that time was 3D All Stars and 3D World + Bowser's Fury? I also don't buy that the 3D Mario is being reserved for next gen because if that was really on their minds now they wouldn't have released Splatoon 3 and TotK now. They seem to be saving Mario Kart 9 for next gen, but that's only because people won't stop buying 8D. 3D Mario has no such issue, so you really have to wonder where's Odyssey 2?
5-6 years doesn't usually happen unless there's development troubles, and we already know about the development troubles from 2019. 4 years since the restart sounds about when we should be seeing something on Prime 4 or at the very least Prime trilogy/remaster.
NLG was bought by Nintendo. Have they expanded into a second team? I'm not utterly counting on Luigi's Mansion 4 happening this year, but it's a possibility.
Yoshi's a bit smaller, but it's well known, sells reasonably well, and long running. Also there's a potential for them to do something big and bold like HAL did with Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Again, not counting on a new game this year, but this is about when we can start questioning if new Yoshi is happening.
Good, Fire Emblem is so oversaturated. It gets the same release schedule as Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon but sells like Metroid. Give Fire Emblem a rest, clearly not enough people care about Fire Emblem to justify it being a yearly (or at least near-yearly) IP.
@InTree A lot of B and C tier IPs on that list and some of the A and B tier games are missing. Where's Mario (a new Mario game, not a Wii U port. It's been 5 years since Odyssey and 3 years since Mario Maker 2, we should be getting new 2D and 3D Mario games soon)? Where are the Zelda games besides TotK (is it time for a new 2D game? What about WW/TP HD?)? Where's the rumored Metroid Prime trilogy/remaster and Prime 4? Where's the rumored DK game? Is it time to start talking Luigi's Mansion 4 and another Yoshi game? A lot of prominent IPs feel due for new entries, several of which have felt due for the last 2 or 3 years. What we've actually been getting is okay, but it mostly feels like we've had a bunch of sideshow attractions and we're missing the headliners.
Don't care about E3 itself, livestreams have made it obsolete, but does this mean Nintendo's going to be silent in June yet again? The rumored February Direct better be killer if so, Nintendo's lineup's been underwhelming since the pandemic and we need some big games again.
One thing I'd really like to see in Prime 4 is a sidequest system. There's really nothing to do in Metroid besides explore the areas and collect expansions and it would be nice to have more to do within the worlds. In particular, I'm thinking that having side missions you can take on for the Federation, simple things like defeat this powerful enemy, find this relic, etc. that reward you with a type of currency. You can then exchange this currency for customization options for Samus and her ship and further expansions. That would be a great way to get more out of the game as opposed to right now where you simply explore the areas, collect the expansions and scans, and then set the game down for good.
Also, they really need to do something about missable scans. It's really aggravating when you've made so much progress in the game only to find that you had to scan something at a particular point in the game that you didn't know you had to. They should stop regular enemies from disappearing at certain points in the game and provide a simulator to rematch bosses for their scans. The simulator could also potentially tie into the above idea and provide you currency for beating them and potentially provide twists to make rematching them more interesting (perhaps there could be a boss rush mode in the simulator or harder variants of the bosses?).
@EarthboundBenjy Yeah, the new underwater mechanics in Tropical Freeze pretty much took Enguarde's niche. Enguarde was useful in the classic trilogy because the Kongs couldn't attack underwater themselves, now in Tropical Freeze they can. So all Enguarde offers is better control underwater. If they're intent on keeping these new underwater mechanics (which I think they might, it does feel more natural and fair) IDK if Enguarde serves much purpose anymore. I do think there is room for a new Animal Buddy under these mechanics to give the Kongs infinite air (perhaps a jellyfish where the Kongs ride in its sac), but Enguarde is so nostalgic that IDK that they'll go for that. Quite the conundrum here.
That is one thing I miss from Retro's DK games, no Animal Buddies besides Rambi. There were some really good ones back in the original trilogy, Enguarde and Squawks were good, I especially miss Squitter, he was so fun to play. I do want to see the next DK game bring back the Animal Buddies (I want to see them do a lot more than that, it feels like DK's gameplay is too stale and repetitive lately, but I do think bringing back Animal Buddies should be a priority).
18/20, with 2 lucky guesses on the Honchkrow and Steenee questions.
Also, no mention of Turtwig, which is turtle + twig? That counts I think (twigs are considered plants, right?) but again, for the two answers Turtwig are in not all of them are plants + animals.
Comments 2,605
Re: Nintendo Live 2023: Dates, Everything You Need To Know
First of all, never heard of this event until now, so that's not good.
Second of all, why do they only focus on old multiplayer games at this event? This would be a perfect E3 replacement, particularly for the Treehouse segments which they can't really replicate very well during Directs, we're largely missing the sort of hands-on coverage that Treehouse provided with E3 dying off.
Re: Miyamoto On New Mario Game: "Please Stay Tuned For Future Nintendo Directs"
It does feel like we're overdue for a new Mario game now, we typically don't wait 6 years for one. Wonder what's the holdup?
Re: It's Official, E3 2023 Has Been Cancelled
@serouj2000 I was fine with it back then. I wished they had done a big show, but the format itself wasn't really bad. In fact 2014 was one of the best E3s I've seen from Nintendo. As for 2013, I was more disappointed in the content than the format, especially with how Iwata teased what they were revealing which got my hopes up sky high. He teased they would reveal 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash, and "a beloved IP by Retro", and I thought "awesome, we're getting a new sandbox Mario and Metroid Prime 4". I was utterly crushed when it was just 3D World, a samey looking sequel to 3D Land, and Tropical Freeze, a samey looking sequel to DKCR. Now I probably still wouldn't have liked that E3 because it didn't quite have the games I was waiting for (in fact I would have to wait until the Switch in 2017 for the games I was waiting for, which was even more crushing and disappointing), but Iwata's tease made it sound like 2013 was going to be what 2017 was and then the actual presentation pulled the rug underneath me and made me feel worse. Not very smart PR there.
Re: It's Official, E3 2023 Has Been Cancelled
@sd7232 No reason to believe this will cause a crash. E3 is an obsolete format now that publishers can livestream news whenever they feel like. Be real, why do we care about Nintendo showing up at E3 when they can air a Nintendo Direct at any time of the year?
Re: Soapbox: Nobody Does 'More Of The Same' Better Than Nintendo
@NewAdvent I don't agree, BW2 had a ton of new areas which we could tell going in, we could see some changes to even older areas, and we knew that there were going to be a ton of older Pokemon and new mechanics which changed up the gameplay. I'm not getting the same vibe from TotK. The map looks closer to USUM than BW2.
Re: Soapbox: Nobody Does 'More Of The Same' Better Than Nintendo
@MS7000 And that's another great point. Exploration is a central mechanic to Zelda that phoning it in like this with a largely similar map greatly reduces the appeal. So yeah, the heavy reuse of the same map is a big deal and the comparisons brought up in the article aren't very applicable.
Re: Soapbox: Nobody Does 'More Of The Same' Better Than Nintendo
@StarPoint @blindsquarel Name another sequel where the map looked about 80% similar to the map from the first game. That's the biggest issue with TotK. We can talk about games like Majora's Mask or Banjo-Tooie being asset flips, but most if not all of the game worlds in those kinds of games were new areas that did not exist in their predecessors. This just looks like it's mostly the same areas we already explored in BotW with little added, I agree with @ButterCashier on their comparison on Pokemon Sun/Moon to Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, that looks to be more accurate to what this is.
Re: Soapbox: Nobody Does 'More Of The Same' Better Than Nintendo
@tabris95 Don't read too much into that statement, I think it's PR speak for "F-Zero doesn't sell enough and we're looking for something that can boost its sales". The fact that they don't seem to think the Switch is enough is a grim omen for that fanbase, it may just be dead at this point.
Re: Soapbox: Nobody Does 'More Of The Same' Better Than Nintendo
I think whether or not a game feels "similar" comes down to two things:
1. Does the world look or feel largely similar?
2. Are you performing the same actions as you did for its predecessor?
If you're reusing the same maps, creating new maps that just look or feel similar to old ones, or just performing the same actions that you did in the last game, that can feel repetitive and boring. It just feels like you're making a new game for the sake of having something to sell and it doesn't feel like you actually have new ideas that make the same concept more fun. That's where the "this game is too similar" complaints come from.
Now in TotK's case, it doesn't fail the second point, abilities such as Fusing and the Ultrahand do seem to shake up what you're actually going to be doing in the game and those parts are exciting. But it does fail the first point, the overworld looks largely the same. It doesn't feel like Hyrule is significantly changed from BotW to make exploring it still fun (you have the sky islands, but that looks like maybe 20% of the overworld at best). It's one thing to reuse assets by bringing back some characters or objects. It's another thing entirely to reuse 80% OF THE MAP. Was MM just 80% OoT's Hyrule? Was Galaxy 2 just 80% of Galaxy 1's levels? This is the biggest sticking point with TotK for me, if you're reusing 80% of the map, it's not worth paying $70 and from the consumer standpoint, it's better off as DLC.
Re: Poll: What Did You Think Of The New Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Trailer?
It looks slightly better than I expected, but still fairly samey. It's not quite DLC, but it does look more like BotW 1.5 than BotW 2. Guess now we know what took them so long to make, the Fuse mechanic probably took up a ton of dev time.
Re: Talking Point: What's The Best Year In Gaming?
Has to be 2017. And no, I'm not a Zoomer who started on the Switch, I've been around the block for a while (since late 5th gen/early 6th gen). Sorry, but having BotW, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Metroid Samus Returns, and MK8D (which I experienced for the first time because I skipped the Wii U) is just too good a lineup to beat. That's like, a lot of my favorite IPs, many of which carry a similar but modernized spirit of the open 3D game worlds I enjoyed as a child, all in one year. It's going to be hard to top that.
Re: Back Page: Forget Pokémon Sleep, Here's 7 More Pokémon Lifestyle Apps We Definitely Need
Actually a Pokemon exercise app isn't a bad idea. We've seen how popular Ring Fit Adventure is.
Re: Poll: Six Years On, Which Was Nintendo Switch's Best Year So Far?
2017 by far. Nothing beats having a new 3D Zelda game, a new 3D Mario game, a new Splatoon game, and an excellent Mario Kart port. That's some of Nintendo's biggest IPs all in one year. Insane that all of this released in the course of a year, I'm not sure Nintendo will ever have a lineup this good again.
Re: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 4 Launches Next Week
Okay, this is actually a great lineup. If I cared about the Booster Course Pack, I'd be stoked with this lineup. Riverside Park and Bangkok Rush are the two courses I'd have most wanted to see make the jump from Tour and their both coming in Tour, Yoshi's Island looked really good in the Direct, and Waluigi's Stadium looks very well improved.
Re: Poll: What Did You Think Of The February 2023 Pokémon Presents, Then?
@FawfulDX We didn't get either really. The rumors about this being a light year seem to be spot on.
Re: Poll: What Did You Think Of The February 2023 Pokémon Presents, Then?
Pretty awful. Felt like time for NSO and/or some console spinoffs but nope, just mobile stuff and DLC (and even in those areas they didn't reveal all that much). Easily the worst one I can remember.
Re: Round Up: Everything Announced At The February 2023 Pokémon Presents Showcase
Re: Latest Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Tera Raid Event Starts Today, Features New Paradox Pokémon
@BrazillianCara Really? Then maybe I just got extremely lucky because mine both had beneficial natures. I thought that was intentional.
Re: Latest Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Tera Raid Event Starts Today, Features New Paradox Pokémon
@Anti-Matter It's in a random Raid den all over the region. You'll be able to tell which one by searching for the respective Tera type icon and then looking for the one that has a sort of radar effect on it (on the map it'll be animated with concentric circles pulsing from it).
As for the Pokemon themselves, they're 5 Star raids at Lv. 75. They also seem to be locked into Rash (Walking Wake)/Naughty (Iron Leaves) nature.
Re: Pokémon Presents Showcase Announced For Next Week
As expected. Biggest news is probably going to be the DLC, but a lot of this is probably in the cards.
Re: Miyamoto: "Other IPs" Like Splatoon Were Considered For Super Nintendo World
It's sad that they only went for Mario, a Splatoon paintball attraction would be fantastic.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@AllanMortom I feel like you have to put cross gen releases like TP and BotW in a different category from ports like MK8D. With ports, the game was already out there for several years so people might be double dipping. But for cross gen? It's a simultaneous release. Fans of both consoles are experiencing the game at exactly the same time. So you can't really discount the newer console for that.
As for Pokemon, the open world means more area to explore and there's also more Pokemon to catch. You simply get much more out of it than a game like Colosseum/XD which is just sort of a gimped Pokemon experience with no routes and no (or in XD's case little) wild Pokemon to catch. Also, I really didn't encounter a lot of bugs unless I specifically went looking for them, I feel like the complaints about bugs and lack of polish is overblown.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@AllanMortom Yeah, not sure your comparison is accurate here. For one, you're missing quite a few IPs here. Where's Smash, Kirby, and Yoshi? Smash had far more characters, stages, and mechanics in Ultimate than Melee. And Kirby and Yoshi were nonexistent on the GC (except for Air Ride which was a spinoff).
Second, I disagree with several of your comparisons here. Colosseum and XD are neat games for their time and good under the circumstances of the GC not having main series Pokemon game, but they don't hold a candle to a main series Pokemon game which has a fully fleshed out region (one of which is full OPEN WORLD), not a series of relatively small self-contained areas, and the main games on the Switch have twice as many Pokemon to catch as Colosseum/XD. The "smiling and jumping around" (whatever that means) is nothing compared to having actual, fully fleshed out content instead of some side project made to compensate for a "No Console Pokemon" rule instituted at the time. I also didn't like WW and TP and BotW are both cross gen, and Zelda is also getting a fully open world sequel in 3 months. A bit early, but I don't think you can give Zelda to the GC. Also Donkey Konga is a spinoff game and the Switch has a TF port, which while a port is at least something main game so you really have to rank that higher than a rhythm spinoff. Put Switch against the SNES, N64, Wii, or Wii U? Fine, those consoles all had original main series DK games so those would outdo the Switch on DK games (at least unless that rumored DK game gets announced, then the conversation will get a lot more interesting). But the GC? The GC didn't have much to get excited for for DK fans.
Lastly, I think you have to kind of weigh some of these IP comparisons instead of just counting them outright. Getting a cornerstone Nintendo IP like Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon right holds more significance than getting niche IPs like F-Zero or Star Fox right. And the Switch is really winning on many of the cornerstone IPs. The Switch has the better Mario game, the better Zelda games, the better Pokemon games, the better AC game, the better Smash game, and added Splatoon which is another higher selling IP. Whereas most of the IPs you're citing as being better on the GC are more niche, stuff like F-Zero, Pikmin, and (as much as it pains me to say it) Metroid. So quality wise the Switch has higher quality games in the IPs they really needed to get right. GC has some better games in largely niche IPs which is a good bonus but some of the cornerstone IPs were a bit more hit or miss on GC.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@Asaki I mean the Switch has Mario Odyssey, ACNH, multiple Pokemon games, Luigi's Mansion 3, Metroid Dread, and 2 Kirby games including the first ever 3D Kirby game, you don't think those games are enough incentive? I'd much rather play those games than the Wii U's mediocrity.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@HugoGED So then you could say the Wii U is no better when it comes to standing on its own lineup instead of relying on past games.
Also, most of the games I mentioned that the Wii U was lacking are some of Nintendo's biggest and highest selling IPs. 3D Mario, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing are huge, so lacking those kinds of games (or in 3D Mario's case, lacking the sandbox style of 3D Mario) are pretty glaring omissions. Most of the IPs you mentioned are largely not as significant to Nintendo's plans. About the only glaring omission from that list is Mario Kart (also 3D World, but there are also plenty of other linear platformer IPs whereas there were few alternatives to the Odyssey style sandbox on Wii U), the rest of those are relatively niche IPs or spinoffs.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@HugoGED So what games did the likes of Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Luigi's Mansion 3, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Metroid Dread, or Kirby and the Forgotten Land borrow from on the Wii U? Because last I checked, there was nothing remotely resembling those games from the Wii U originals.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@gojiguy "No F-Zero
No Star Fox"
Hate to break it to you, but these two IPs are niche and not a lot of people care about them.
"One Mario game"
Well 1 original Mario game. But tell me again where was the second Mario game for N64 and GC? Wii U also only got 1 3D Mario game whereas the Wii and Switch have had multiple (although again, the additional ones were ports/remakes, but still more than most consoles get).
"One Zelda game (thats actually a Wii U game)"
We'll be getting a Switch original Zelda game in 3 months.
"No original Mario Kart"
I'll give you this one, their treatment of Mario Kart has been utterly maddening this gen and it's clear that they've gotten cynical and cash grabby lately. Still, I would say this is the only major flaw in the Switch's library.
"A bunch of lame kirby games (sorry kirby fans)"
Star Allies was pretty meh, yeah, but Forgotten Land? The first 3D Kirby game that is brimming with tons of ideas like Mouthful Mode and ability upgrades? How is that lame?
"Some weird games as a service stuff"
You mean like DLC stuff? Meh, it hurts the sports and multiplayer games I guess but I don't care about those genres as much.
"and then PORTS from console that had BETTER libraries"
Better libraries? There's a few good games spread across various consoles, but again name another console that had a high quality open world Zelda, a high quality sandbox Mario, sandbox/open world Pokemon games, a highly engaging Animal Crossing, a Smash game with literally every character ever, a 3D Kirby game. I could go on and on, but there's much more to the Switch's appeal than "warmed over ports", some of the ORIGINAL games on the Switch are some of the best entries yet or at the very least take the IPs in groundbreaking new directions that expand what they can do.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@TheBigBlue Actually it's not even true that the Wii U ports are more successful. Let's look at the 10 best selling Switch games:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe- 52.00 million
Animal Crossing New Horizons- 41.59 million
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- 30.44 million
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild- 29.00 million
Pokemon Sword and Shield- 25.68 million
Super Mario Odyssey- 25.12 million
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet- 20.61 million
Super Mario Party- 18.79 million
Ring Fit Adventure- 15.22 million
Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee- 15.07 million
Only two of these games are Wii U ports, and one of them was a cross gen game so you could argue it doesn't really count. 3 of them are Pokemon games, with 2 of them being new generations and 1 of them being a remake. But the remaining 5? All new and original games. So this narrative of "the Switch is driven by Wii U ports" is faulty. Not only are there quality original titles as you point out, but they're actually selling extremely well. In fact many of them from that Top 10 list are from IPs that did not have a proper Wii U entry (no sandbox 3D Mario like Odyssey, no main series Animal Crossing, no main series Pokemon, and the main Zelda game was cross gen when everyone was beyond ready to drop the Wii U). You'd have to wonder that if the Wii U had gotten more entries like those maybe it would've been a little more successful.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@InJeffable Yeah, I forgot Xenoblade as well, that was pretty much the only other game like that. Still, the absence of a sandbox 3D Mario and Metroid Prime really took a toll on the variety, those are some key IPs for Nintendo fans that like open adventure games.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
@InJeffable There's an argument to be made that you should just look at original entries that debuted on the console in question. So games like WW/TP HD or VC ports such as the Prime Trilogy should not count towards the Wii U's lineup.
And going by the original entries, I actually consider the Wii U's to be one of the worst. It has one fatal flaw that drags the lineup down for a large chunk of the fanbase (including me, because I especially like these kinds of games)- a lack of open, explorable adventure games. You've got BotW, but that was a cross-gen title that also released on the Switch and a lot of people consider it more of a Switch game then a Wii U game, but what else do you have that's even remotely close to that kind of experience? The only other kind of adventure games were linear platformers, there were no other first party open world games (BotW was the first) and there weren't even any sandbox exploration games. 3D Mario went totally linear and almost all vestiges of games like 64 and Sunshine were absent from 3D World (3D World honestly felt like the NSMB of 3D games until the Switch port gave us Bowser's Fury). Metroid was completely absent from the console with the Metroid fanbase wondering where Prime 4 was (and they're still wondering, but at least Prime 4 was confirmed to be in development on the Switch as opposed to the Prime fanbase waiting for something, anything on the Wii U and came up empty handed). Pokemon didn't yet get main series games on console and only had what, 2 spinoffs on Wii U (Rumble U and Pokken, which were more arena battlers and had no exploration)? The Wii U was a very dire era for anyone that grew up with games like the sandbox Marios, 3D Zeldas, or Metroid Primes and largely neglected those types of experiences. I'll admit it had some good things here and there, but missing an entire genre is kind of a glaring omission.
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best First-Party Games Lineup?
Switch by a country mile, so many groundbreaking, high quality entries and almost every IP pushed the limits of what it could be. Name another console that had so many open, explorable adventure games like BotW, Mario Odyssey, Pokemon Legends Arceus, and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and so many content rich multiplayer games like Smash Ultimate, MK8D, and Splatoon 2 and 3. Go on. I'll wait.
Re: Switch's Game Boy Library Doesn't Have A Set Schedule, According To Nintendo
Just tell us when we can expect main series Pokemon games and I'll be happy to wait for anything else. Pokemon IS the Game Boy, you can't have a Game Boy lineup without them.
@Aawill91 You mean like how we never got them for VC? It's not "free". You're paying a recurring subscription fee for them instead of a one time payment. You don't think Game Freak's getting a piece of that pie?
Re: Soapbox: I Scoffed At Switch Lite, Then I Backpacked Through South East Asia
You know, they wouldn't have as much need for a Lite version if they found a way to keep the Switch a clamshell design.
Re: Nintendo's Investor Q&A Promises Switch Isn't Dead After Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
I'll believe it when I see it, it certainly looks like it's dying now when we have absolutely nothing but DLC confirmed for after July. This could very well be smokescreen, we could get a handful of Switch titles after July while at the same time the successor is announced and we're really moving on, there's always cross gen titles and late exclusives, they've done that with past gen devices such as the GBA, GC, DS, Wii, and 3DS. The more accurate question here isn't "Are we getting any more Switch titles?", it's "Are there titles being held back for next gen hardware?". And the way the lineup's been looking lately I don't see how you can say no to the latter.
Re: New Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Trailer Shows A Flying Vehicle And Fresh Details
Fresh details? Please. We still know almost nothing about this game, they've just been showing off gameplay footage of random mechanics without giving any context or explanation about what the heck they are. Still skeptical about this game, we need a Zelda Direct badly.
Re: Feature: Our Predictions For The February 2023 Nintendo Direct
I think late Odyssey DLC is on the table as far as main series Mario content. They did it for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Odyssey sold extremely well too, they could do late DLC to hold Mario fans off until next gen. There seems to be something going on with Odyssey because of that email.
Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem Engage Tumbles Down To Seventh Place
@Herna Doesn't matter. They can't buy the DLC without buying the base game, and the base games are only selling 2-4 million. That's much closer to Metroid (1-3 million) than the likes of Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc. (which all have games that have sold 10+ million). The Metroid comparison is accurate until we get a Fire Emblem game that sells in the 5-10 million range.
Re: Ex-Nintendo Host Kit Ellis Says We May Find Out Why Nintendo's Skipping E3 "Sooner Rather Than Later"
It's probably because, for whatever reason, they think having major Directs in Spring and Fall is sufficient. They don't seem to like having major gaming news to show in the Summer, we've seen that in 2 of the last 3 years that they're perfectly content to stay silent during E3 time.
Re: New Kirby's Return To Dream Land Deluxe Trailer Showcases Magoland Mini-Games
Checkerboard Chase is back? I loved that one so much in Kirby 64, I played that one to death after discovering the subgames in 64.
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
@I-U This. I kept looking at the 2022 lineup early in the year and thinking "There has to be more, right? Right?" and then when it became clear that they had nothing to show I thought "Wait, this is it?". Definitely disappointing that they didn't have more to announce for the second half of the year, it really felt like 2022 ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Overall it does feel like 2022 was a good year (not great like 2017, but good. Might've gotten there if Mario Kart and Splatoon actually did something new instead of dumb repetitive content), but mainly for the first half of the year, not the second half. But then there were only 3 major highlights for me in 2022, Legends Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and Scarlet/Violet, the rest was bleh.
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
@Tarolusa Nice nitpick. Yoshi's one of the smaller ones, but Mario and Luigi's Mansion sell high and you could make an argument for Prime 4 outselling Dread (also Dread is one of the few games I actually liked from the pandemic years), so those games overshadow much of the above list.
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
@Friendly Ehh, less than half of that list is 5+ million sellers, and most of those are more of the casual minigame variety (stuff like Animal Crossing, Switch Sports, Mario Party, etc.), not the AAA action/adventure variety. There are a few more that I just disregard due to personal preferences (such as Splatoon 3 because it's way too similar to 2), but in general that's where the lineup is lacking. Zelda is a good start, but we need 1 or 2 more to look forward to. And I do like action/adventure games more, so I'm more tolerant of some of the lower selling action/adventure games like Metroid, Yoshi, and DK, but I do play a few of the other genres.
Mario Kart has been consistently selling, but Odyssey and 3D World? Not so much. But if they are following the same logic as Mario Kart and thinking Odyssey is selling too high to cannibalize, I'd be down for late DLC for Odyssey like they did for the Booster Course Pack. I didn't like it for the Booster Course Pack because I wanted to see larger mechanical changes that the Switch could've facilitated (you mention that they like to use new hardware to implement new gameplay ideas, but they didn't do anything to take advantage of the Switch? I can think of 5 different things they could to do improve on 8D) instead of just mobile ports of courses, but new kingdoms and captures is basically all I want for Odyssey 2 so I'd be more okay with DLC in that case.
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
@Friendly Most of those games are either relatively low selling IPs (as in, they sell less than 5 million units) or they're small in size and scope. That's what I mean by "sideshow attractions".
Yes, I know Nintendo works in teams, but their teams have put out little the last few years, past the point where the pandemic is a legitimate excuse, and you really have to wonder just what is taking them so long. There's several teams I really have to look at and scratch my head as to why they have nothing to show.
NPD Tokyo, which works on the 3D Mario games, hasn't had a big new entry in 5 years. You seriously expect me to believe that all they've been working on most of that time was 3D All Stars and 3D World + Bowser's Fury? I also don't buy that the 3D Mario is being reserved for next gen because if that was really on their minds now they wouldn't have released Splatoon 3 and TotK now. They seem to be saving Mario Kart 9 for next gen, but that's only because people won't stop buying 8D. 3D Mario has no such issue, so you really have to wonder where's Odyssey 2?
5-6 years doesn't usually happen unless there's development troubles, and we already know about the development troubles from 2019. 4 years since the restart sounds about when we should be seeing something on Prime 4 or at the very least Prime trilogy/remaster.
NLG was bought by Nintendo. Have they expanded into a second team? I'm not utterly counting on Luigi's Mansion 4 happening this year, but it's a possibility.
Yoshi's a bit smaller, but it's well known, sells reasonably well, and long running. Also there's a potential for them to do something big and bold like HAL did with Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Again, not counting on a new game this year, but this is about when we can start questioning if new Yoshi is happening.
Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem Engage Tumbles Down To Seventh Place
Good, Fire Emblem is so oversaturated. It gets the same release schedule as Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon but sells like Metroid. Give Fire Emblem a rest, clearly not enough people care about Fire Emblem to justify it being a yearly (or at least near-yearly) IP.
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
@InTree A lot of B and C tier IPs on that list and some of the A and B tier games are missing. Where's Mario (a new Mario game, not a Wii U port. It's been 5 years since Odyssey and 3 years since Mario Maker 2, we should be getting new 2D and 3D Mario games soon)? Where are the Zelda games besides TotK (is it time for a new 2D game? What about WW/TP HD?)? Where's the rumored Metroid Prime trilogy/remaster and Prime 4? Where's the rumored DK game? Is it time to start talking Luigi's Mansion 4 and another Yoshi game? A lot of prominent IPs feel due for new entries, several of which have felt due for the last 2 or 3 years. What we've actually been getting is okay, but it mostly feels like we've had a bunch of sideshow attractions and we're missing the headliners.
Re: Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
Don't care about E3 itself, livestreams have made it obsolete, but does this mean Nintendo's going to be silent in June yet again? The rumored February Direct better be killer if so, Nintendo's lineup's been underwhelming since the pandemic and we need some big games again.
Re: Feature: 6 Things We'd Love To See In Metroid Prime 4
One thing I'd really like to see in Prime 4 is a sidequest system. There's really nothing to do in Metroid besides explore the areas and collect expansions and it would be nice to have more to do within the worlds. In particular, I'm thinking that having side missions you can take on for the Federation, simple things like defeat this powerful enemy, find this relic, etc. that reward you with a type of currency. You can then exchange this currency for customization options for Samus and her ship and further expansions. That would be a great way to get more out of the game as opposed to right now where you simply explore the areas, collect the expansions and scans, and then set the game down for good.
Also, they really need to do something about missable scans. It's really aggravating when you've made so much progress in the game only to find that you had to scan something at a particular point in the game that you didn't know you had to. They should stop regular enemies from disappearing at certain points in the game and provide a simulator to rematch bosses for their scans. The simulator could also potentially tie into the above idea and provide you currency for beating them and potentially provide twists to make rematching them more interesting (perhaps there could be a boss rush mode in the simulator or harder variants of the bosses?).
Re: Enguarde The Swordfish Almost Returned In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
@EarthboundBenjy Yeah, the new underwater mechanics in Tropical Freeze pretty much took Enguarde's niche. Enguarde was useful in the classic trilogy because the Kongs couldn't attack underwater themselves, now in Tropical Freeze they can. So all Enguarde offers is better control underwater. If they're intent on keeping these new underwater mechanics (which I think they might, it does feel more natural and fair) IDK if Enguarde serves much purpose anymore. I do think there is room for a new Animal Buddy under these mechanics to give the Kongs infinite air (perhaps a jellyfish where the Kongs ride in its sac), but Enguarde is so nostalgic that IDK that they'll go for that. Quite the conundrum here.
Re: Enguarde The Swordfish Almost Returned In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
That is one thing I miss from Retro's DK games, no Animal Buddies besides Rambi. There were some really good ones back in the original trilogy, Enguarde and Squawks were good, I especially miss Squitter, he was so fun to play. I do want to see the next DK game bring back the Animal Buddies (I want to see them do a lot more than that, it feels like DK's gameplay is too stale and repetitive lately, but I do think bringing back Animal Buddies should be a priority).
Re: Quiz: Do You Know The Meaning Behind These Pokémon Names?
18/20, with 2 lucky guesses on the Honchkrow and Steenee questions.
Also, no mention of Turtwig, which is turtle + twig? That counts I think (twigs are considered plants, right?) but again, for the two answers Turtwig are in not all of them are plants + animals.