Browny

I'll be getting the Persona games for replays down the road in later 2023.

Engage is one I'll keep my eye on, because I don't trust the series after the string of waifu focused entries dating back to Awakening. And because Nintendo continues to hold back the actual good strategy game in Advance Wars Reboot Camp.

The DS Lite (gold with the Triforce logo) and original model 3DS for me. And yes, I am biased because those two were models owned by myself and my brother.

But aside from that, the N2DS XL model, with the striking blue Hylian Shield design is very nice. It's a model I'd have bought, had it released a year or two sooner than it did. You tend to expect gold themes with Zelda models, but the blue was such a departure from that, it stands out quite well.

I appreciate the mission, respect it too.

But alas, my 3DS has been stored in a drawer for the last few years, and I doubt it'll ever see the light of day again for use. Only for display purposes in the next decade.

I'm actually looking forward to the new series. I haven't seen the anime since... heck, the original run in Kanto. But I'd like to see what the new protagonists are like. At least the design of the girl is cute.

I've read enough articles on here about this game that it's certainly caught my eye, but I'm not sure I'm ready to pull the trigger quite yet. I have a bit on my plate at the time to add yet another to the line-up.

Also, nitpick: the combat system of FFX is Conditional Turn Based, not Press Turn (that's SMT).

I'll gladly take the ugly chibi Offline version if it means I can finally play the game in a language I can understand.

After all, we will never get to play the original MMO version here anyway.

The Prime Trilogy getting a port would be nice, if only to help push the IP forward before the release of Prime 4. Dread was a strong release last year, and it would be nice for Nintendo to ride that strong momentum leading into Prime 4.

Seeing Marvel Snap get a port would be... surprising. But I do play it regularly on my phone; it's been a fantastic experience since day one, and a worthwhile replacement for Record Keeper after that game shut down.

Xenoblade 3 was my personal GOTY; it surprisingly had some great competition, though none of it from the Switch side of things.

Runners-up:
Splatoon 3 (great return to the world of squids, but I burned out fast on the paltry content, and haven't bothered to return)
Horizon Forbidden West (fantastic follow up to the original, and sets a ridiculously high bar for Tears of the Kingdom that likely won't be surpassed)
Tunic (one of the greatest gaming experiences I've had in many years)

Having played both Ritual of the Night and Curse of the Moon, I actually found the latter to be the better experience overall. And that's actually coming from someone who has always preferred the Metroidvania approach.

Something about Ritual of the Night has always been... off, compared to any of the Metroidvania games that came before. Like a weaker copy of Symphony of the Night, versus how Curse of the Moon felt like a fantastic revisit of Dracula's Curse.

I'd like for this sequel to be better, but I'm not exactly thrilled. I'd actually be on board for another Curse of the Moon (I've yet to play 2, however) before a sequel to Ritual.

Way back when, I got into buying old consoles to play a bunch of the old "classics". This was among them.

I played the game for about five or so hours, and then dropped it. For all the praise and hype, it was such a lackluster, by-the-numbers RPG that I couldn't be bothered to get past that point. I'll give the game a point for the setting, which is indeed awesome, but the rest of the game around it?

Yeah, this is one that a full remake would be for the best. I'd love to see a new studio give this some much needed TLC, because those nostalgia goggles are something magical to make one think this is anything other than a 5.5/10.

I wish they'd just add it in as a standard option to play alongside 4v4 turf war.

Sometimes, you just wanna shake things up. And having to wait for a weekend with a Splatfest is such a bore.

I remember trying this one out, but it not grabbing me.

I love Vanillaware's visual aesthetic, but the only game they've made that worked for me was Muramasa.

I'm glad these are finally coming over. I knew it was only a matter of time, though why this was even the case is beyond me.

I never understood the issue with the font; I would play this mirrored to my TV from my phone and it was a fine experience. Could they do better? Sure, but I won't use it as a reason to pass.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to replaying the first four games. The original with the Vancian magic system is such a great throwback, and being able to play a modern take on 3 that isn't the punishing DS release is something to look forward to.

Shame I missed the physical copy, but I'll buy digital without too much hassle.

Petition to have all Killing Machines don bunny ears moving forward incoming.

Personally speaking, I always thought Ash would depart after Kanto, but when he stuck around, I thought they'd never get rid of him.

I'm curious to see how the anime is handled without him.

Throwing my hat into the side discussion about RPGs and resource management:

It all depends on how the combat system was designed, whether resource management of items/MP pools was part of the concept or not. For those of us who have been playing RPGs for years, we expect to be conservative in our use of these resources, and so often approach every game in this manner, even if the game isn't "meant" to be played this way.

If the game replenishes your resources at the end of every encounter, then the developer can design every encounter around the constant truth that the player will ALWAYS be ready to throw everything they got at it. It would allow for more varied battles, versus the chance that a random encounter or boss battle will end a drained party and cause frustration.

Neither approach is right or wrong; it's just a bit of a challenge at times to shift gears in our brains, especially when it goes against decades of habitual behavior.

I had planned to only get P3P myself on Switch, but I think I'll splurge and get both. Just to have them for an eventual replay later in 2023 or beyond.

Last time I played P4G was about 5 or 6 years ago, and P3P was more than 7 or 8 years back.

Where does the time go?

Haven't played the first, mostly because this type of game isn't for me. I enjoy a run or two, but that's about it.

My contribution to this chat: Kyoko is best girl.

My top game was naturally my GOTY 2022.

Xenoblade 3 at 133 hours.
Xenoblade 2 at 99 hours.
Splatoon 3 at 98 hours.

I expected to play a lot more Splatoon this year, but I burned out on the game fast, sadly.

I'll get it, but on PS5.

Given the way it'll look on Switch, I'd rather have it on PS5 for the full benefit of the remaster over something closer to the PSP release on Switch.

@LastFootnote
I long ago downloaded the soundtracks once they hit the net, starting with gamerips and then the official releases.

About darn time.

I'll buy the entire collection, even if I dislike a few of them. But I have to support for the music alone.

@Wilforce
Well, what I recall most is anything with a 50HP attack was something that you had to carefully build up. I'm thinking Pinsir which required 4 energy for Guillotine, as an example. Scyther with 30HP damage for 3 energy is another example of a decent hitter for a base 'mon.

But yeah... how things change.

I've been out of the TCG for so many years, my heyday being Base Set through Jungle.

It blows my mind to see a base Fuecoco with 80HP and a 50 damage attack.

Power creep is real.

I'll probably buy this one when it releases (on Switch).

The first game brought me equal amounts of fun and utter frustration. Never beat it, because after a fantastic run leading up to the final boss, the game glitched out during the fight and cost me the entire run.

Couldn't load the game up after that.

I actually chose to pass on this once I saw the kind of gameplay it had. I suppose I expected DQ Monsters, but got something not quite that.

Ultimately fine; I will wait for the DQ3 HD2D coming hopefully in the next six months. I also hold out hope that Square will port the other (mobile version) DQ games like they did with 1-3, so I don't have to break out the 3DS to play them.

I'm glad I saw the video before the takedown. Very interesting.

As for those who would like to see it, I'm sure it'll bop around some part of the internet in mirror form. Just look around and it should turn up eventually.

Won't pass judgment on Nintendo's legal ninjas, they're doing as they should. Nintendo be doing this all the time, so why the shock, awe and ire?

True madness is 200cc with only Crazy 8s enabled.

I gave up on X after less than a dozen hours or so, mostly because it wasn't more of the original, which disappointed me considerably.

I feel that if it were to be ported to Switch, or I simply have a chance to go back to the Wii U release, I'd appreciate the game a lot more. I had the same disappointment and disdain for 2 at release, and when I had the chance to replay it before 3's release, I found myself appreciating the game considerably more as a result.

Here's hoping the game isn't left to rot on the Wii U.

Cleaner visuals, but still can't get the game to run 60fps like the Gamecube original. Sad.

I remember playing this for like an hour at launch, and then uninstalling. Something about it never clicked with me.

But for reasons like this, I am adamant about never spending a dime on mobile games. When all is said and done, you'll be left with nothing to show for your investment outside memories. And you can get those for free.

@Maxz
I mean…!

I guess the booyah bomb and sprinkler are better than those on the silver aerospray…

I was really holding out hope for the crab tank… 😭

But which weapons are getting the variants??

Please give me Aerospray in gold...

Looks good. I'm curious to see if they're going to use classic game Peach personality, or dare I say, dabble in the old comics approach where she was more volatile and badass?

Curious.

Because of Nintendo's weird policies regarding refunds, I'm surprised some are getting them at all.

The games have been shown to be a mess in general, and nearly all reviews or impressions point this out. I personally didn't expect these kinds of issues when the game launched, but Pokémon has finally found a way to surprise me at last.

I'm glad I skipped this.

I don't know why I expected something far more lewd going by that main thumbnail...

Still waiting for reviews on this one. I hope it turns out better than the last couple FE games have, but I might still hold for a sale (and just get the game at $40 or less next holiday).

I cannot fathom why anyone would spend $90 on a device that plays your F2P mobile game for you.

Sure, if it releases before Nintendo releases their stranglehold on Reboot Camp, I'll drop some cash for this.

I just want to play Reboot Camp, Nintendo. Stop virtue-signaling and/or being overly cautious and just release the game. It's a remake of a 20 year old cartoon warfare game, for crying out loud.

Since Gen 1. I usually go with a theme for names each game, just to keep it consistent and easily identify which game the Pokémon came from.

The last theme was food.

I might have to download these onto an external drive for posterity, given the likelihood they'll be struck down by some legal demand.

I long ago lost my collection of Nintendo Power; the first 39 issues were lost to rain when a storm damaged my home and turned them into a blob of papery pulp, and after that I never held onto to too many at a time.

Regardless of who wins, in my heart, I have my own GOTY Awards.

And the victor was already decided: Xenoblade 3.

Runners-up include Splatoon 3 and Tactics Ogre Reborn. Haven't gotten a chance to try Ragnarok, but I'm sure it'll be a blast. Just not Xenoblade 3 levels of good to me.

I just hope we don't have to wait this long again between updates. I burned myself out on the game after the first month when the content became dry as hell. Gotta keep it fresh, Nintendo.

I'm happy to see the return of Flounder Heights, it was always my favorite map from the first Splatoon. Some of the new weapons also look neat, even if none of them really speak to me. Call me boring, but I just want variations of the Aerospray with different specials.

I bought Sticker Star on sale, only because I had the exact $17 in my pocket in cash when I saw it on the store shelf years ago.

I played it for a few hours that day, and immediately felt like I'd been cheated. Haven't touched Paper Mario games since (outside replaying the original and TTYD).

It's a shame, especially with Mario & Luigi developer Alpha Dream gone, that all we have left now is the rather weird Paper Mario series. But... well, we'll always have the fond memories of the first two games.

My physical copy of Tactics Ogre should be here tomorrow.

I cannot wait!

New Horizons had a ton of improvements and new features that worked wonders for the franchise. However, what truly held it back was the utter lack of content compared to New Leaf.

And it's a shame to think about, given that New Horizons launched at such a fantastic point in time (relatively speaking). Had Nintendo been quicker to get more consistent updates with greater amounts of new content, the game would likely have had longer legs for those with it since Day 1.

If anything, I look back on my time with New Horizons fondly, but sadly, too. I wanted to get more from the game, but there just wasn't enough there to hold me longer than half a year.

I'll keep an eye out for the deals the closer we get to Black Friday, but I doubt I'll do any major spending this year.

With Tactics Ogre dropping next week, and hopefully new Splatoon 3 content coming sooner rather than later, I'm set for gaming until 2023.

That is not what I expected when I clicked the trailer.

I'm not against the idea, and the little witch is super adorable, but I'd have to read many reviews before committing to a purchase.

@BrazillianCara
Imagine playing a game, where the main draw is the adventure fantasy and the act of catching magical critters, and rather than get a small event where you see a unique locale and get to capture a rare monster, you're just handed it and told to be on your way.

I don't know, seems it would be a lot more memorable if you had to put in even a token effort to collect the Pokemon, even if it was all staged (you're given a special Pokeball that has a 100% catch rate), rather than just punching in a code and getting something that will just go into a box and never have any real value.

But that's just my take.

Bomberman Hero was probably my favorite Bomberman game on N64, if not my favorite game in the series overall.

I hope this one gets added to the NSO eventually, because it would be a delight to replay this after over 20 years.