CJD87

Kart racing games generally 'aren't for me' - but the MKW Switch2 bundle was too good a deal to pass on.

I enjoyed the little time I spent with MKW (maybe 20-25hrs tops) and challenged myself to get 3* rankings on all cups 150cc/mirror. The conventional grand prix mode was hard, but Knockout Tour was a level of difficulty spike that makes Silksong look fair! The adaptive AI is really jarring, in so far that it is almost actually beneficial to 'play worse' so that the AI doesn't overcompensate and wreck you.

The open-world element was what felt really undercooked as well, not to mention that only recently (last 2 weeks?) a 'checklist' function was patched in..... for the life of me I cannot understand why it wasn't a day 1 feature. But checklisting aside, so much of the open world element just felt like busy-work.... and not at all in the spirit of MK.

I would have personally preferred some kind of 'open hub' (similar to Monster Hunter) where you can zip around between races and perhaps upgrade your kart and characters stats + aesthetics. IMO this was a real missed opportunity to allow players to customise karts/characters as well as play with stats. Maybe even some minor crafting, based on items looted from particular tracks and/or open world challenges.... something to incentivise the exploration and reward completion of Pswitch challenges.

I basically put the game down once I'd got 3*** on all the cups, and played a bit of Knockout online. Admittedly though Knockout online absolutely pops IMO, pure chaos and insanity but a ton of fun.

Played a bit of Sonic at a friends on PS5. On face value, it seems a slightly better package (currently) than MKW and also far stronger value for money. I think if SEGA manage to pull off a decent Switch2 port then this thing will really sell.

Competition is good though, and I hope that SEGA infringing on the karting market might force Nintendo to re-look at MKW and look/work to expand the title via some solid DLC roadmapping.

Cracking game, and a really really solid port. The quality of this + SW Outlaws makes me hopeful for the next couple years where 3rd party efforts are concerned

I played the Early Access on Steamdeck last year, and even in its unfinished state the game really is a masterpiece.

I still think E33 will ultimately be my personal GOTY but it’s going to be a really hard call to guess how the award itself will land.

But yeah for anyone who enjoyed Hades 1, this is an easy recommend. Such immaculate writing and iconography as well, the characters you come across all look fantastic too. Chronos makes for just as interesting & nuanced a villain as Hades did in the first game

@BrewsterTea I think I'm sold! I played a lot of Hades 2 in Early Access, so I'm less fussed about that. (BTW, H2 is amazing)

FF Tactics gives me a week to finish off Silksong, which I am absolutely ready to say goodbye to

I've never played this game before, and am very interested. I've actually never really committed to a SRPG before....

I enjoy deck-builders, and the turn based elements of Slay-The-Spire + Balatro etc.... so I'd like to think I have the patience and strategy. Is FF Tactics penetrably enough for newcomers to the genre? Newbie friendly?

I really really want to believe that GF have a 'great Pokemon game' in them somewhere.... but they seem to keep missing the mark?

I'm not a huge fan of the franchise (just 'not for me' ) but I have incredibly fond memories playing Red/Blue on the original gameboy back as a kid.

I wonder if part of the problem is just how much of a mega franchise Pokemon is. The sales figures on the last 2 mainline games, especially considering the few years since release, are absolutely insane... even moreso when you consider how divisively S/V was met due to performance and graphical hiccups.

I guess GF are maybe conditioned to know that whatever they release, and in whatever state, the sales will always be there by virtue of it being Pokemon.

I must say I like what they are doing with the battle system in ZA, and it almost looks like they've cribbed from FF7 remake with a mixed turn-based/action hybrid system.

They seem to have a lot of good ideas... but execution of these, and performance/fidelity, seem a little haphazard?

I'm rooting for ZA, and hope it comes good in the end

@Deemo37 just wait until you go through Mount Fay to get the double jump ability... absolutely the worst part of the game, and borderline unenjoyable! Aside from that though, I think SS genuinely delivers... and I'm pleased that Team Cherry delivered the game 'they wanted to make' without compromises or pandering etc. A good job, and the boss designs/patterns are really excellent I feel

I’ve actually enjoyed this game more since hitting Act 2, and so far I think it’s a solid 9/10.

I still slightly prefer Nine Sols, but Silksong is still a tremendous game…. And the quality of workmanship is quite something, considering the tiny dev team.

It’s had me banging my head against a wall quite a few times, but I really respect the devs for creating the game they wanted to - and not compromising by pandering to a mass-market.

It won’t be for everyone, and is perhaps even more obtuse than HK, but I’d definitely suggest giving it a shot if you don’t mind challenging games.

(The boss run backs though…! I must have done the run-back to Last judge about 100 times)

Question - when FF7R was originally released, you needed to beat the game on 'Normal' mode to unlock the 'Hard' mode.

Will this mean that 'Hard' is available from the get-go? Or similar to before you will need to beat Normal?

Interesting debate here, but more curious for me is the bosses they chose to nerf….

I beat Moorwing a few days ago (pre-patch) and genuinely didn’t think there was a balance issue here. I’m certainly no elite gamer (I still cannot beat Savage Beastfly… coming back to him later once I’m more OP lol) but Moorwing has pretty well-telegraphed moves, it’s just the projectile dodging that caught me a few times

Generally so far this game is hard for sure, but hasn’t felt insurmountable at any point yet.

Generally speaking though I’m actually a little against difficulty options in games, as I would prefer to play as per the developer’s ‘vision’. It’s not really clear what is the intended experience when selecting a difficulty option, at least not for me.

Not wanting to sound like a gatekeeper, but HK was a hard challenging game / made for people who like that kind of thing (I’m one of those people regrettably)

I guess not every game can be for every player and this also works inversely… for instance I’d be far more drawn to Bananza if there was opportunity to ramp up the difficulty

Anyway, nice to see SS out in the wild and complete. So far for me it’s probably an 8/10….. I still prefer Nine Sols and the Blasphemous games though!

A demo is a great idea. Perhaps Ubi themselves are surprised with how successfully this game has landed... with even Digital Foundry giving it a rubber stamp of acceptable performance.

Ubi probably want to ride this wave, and convince those on the fence that this game is worth playing (via a demo no less, a great convincer when the quality is there to show off)

Outlaws being a runaway success and performing adequately on Switch2 was definitely not on the 2025 bingo card for me... fair play to Ubi.

Admittedly I’ve downloaded the demo but not played yet…..

I understand this is kind of like Monster Hunter, in terms of gameplay loop/mechanics, albeit with mechs?

I really loved Armored Core 6, and am a huge MH fan too

How bad is the frame rate for those who have the game? I’m currently playing Wildhearts S, which absolutely has a few big drops occasionally…. But it actually hasn’t hindered my enjoyment at all (maybe my expectations are low, as MH Rise on OG Switch struggled a bit and the drops didn’t bother me then either!)

Obviously Silksong...

But concurrently I'm still chipping away at Wildhearts S, maybe the most addicted I've been to a game since MHRise/Break (!) Now at the chapter 5 stage, hunting the Volatiles and 'Deeply Volatiles'... not managed to beat any of the DVs yet, so constantly grinding materials to upgrade armor and enhance survivability.
Wildhearts is definitely a rough gem, and if framerates/performance were slightly improved I genuinely think it could/should have been viewed as a legit competitor for MH. Tons of great ideas that are relatively well executed. Just needs more monsters, more maps and additional weapon skills/playstyles.

Back to Silksong though... a few hours in and definitely enjoying it, great pricepoint. Its fun for sure, but I think I still favor the parry-based combat of Nine Sols (which is a top-tier Metroidvania, up there with PoP Lost Crown)

@crispfood2 In fairness, >80% of my playtime has been handheld - so I can't speak much for docked performance. Glad that a patch is inbound though for those who have noticed and/or been disappointed in the graphical fidelity

Ah ‘the game that broke the e-shop’ is a nice final publicity angle for Team Cherry (!)

Less than 17 £GBP in the UK, so I certainly don’t begrudge the additional waiting time from release… had a few mines crashes but managed to get it downloaded now

Maybe there’s hope for Elden Ring yet….!?

As others have said, as soon as Outlaws hits the inevitable Ubisoft price-drop then I’ll be grabbing this without hesitation.

Other Ubi games I’ve played recently, including PoP Lost Crown and Immortals Fenyx Rising, have been pretty enjoyable. Especially Lost Crown, which IMO is a criminally underrated metroidvania

@Picola-Wicola yeh it’s a weird space we find ourselves in today, regarding expectation and entitlement…

I’m definitely not defending games that are outright broken and/or buggy messes, but equally I don’t think an occasional frame drop is reason for mass outrage and boycotting (!)

I remember one particularly nasty thread about Donkey Kong, with various contributors spitting some real venom due to the 60fps occasionally dropping just slightly lower

The Switch2 is an awesome device, but it’s not a miracle machine… the portability factor + hardware limitations are always going to mean it’s ’behind the curve’ vs its competitor contemporary consoles

I’m fine with the trade off as I travel for work, so portability is ‘the only show in town’ for me.

But Shinobi looks and plays awesome as it is IMO - but hoping the new patch works to alleviate some of the negative discourse that is ruminating..

Maybe my standards are lower than others, but the game seems fine on Switch2?

I’m definitely not turning my nose up at any patch that will improve performance/fidelity… but seems that the occasional consumer outrage is somewhat unjustified?

I'm 100% going to get this.. but not right now.

Ubisoft games seem to go on sale super quickly, like a couple of months following release... so DekuDeals alert is set up

I'll grab this 100%, but only as/when it lands on sale

Aside from the lengthy period/s of absolute silence, and all the contention around whether or not this game would exist (!)…. You’ve got to hand it that TC have been extremely pro-consumer since the announcement at Gamescom.

Honouring the KS pledges of the original game with a free copy of Silksong, plus putting it on Gamepass Day1, plus an incredibly reasonable price point for everyone else….. it really is quite disheartening that TC are the exception here instead of the rule!

Would be great to see this kind of pro-customer attitude from other studios

Good luck to TC, and here’s hoping it lands well critically and commercially (I’m certain it will on both fronts)

Great to see the Birdman still hanging in at #10…! Would hope the sales revenue can justify a THUG remake - or even better, a completely new entry..?

@Notsoavid 100% mate..... I honestly think this game could have really 'taken off' if the performance/bugging had been resolved at the original launch.

Its defo scratching the MH itch. Not enjoying it as much as Rise, but I actually favour Wildhearts > World

I'm interested, but I'll just hang on a bit for gameplay footage via video reviews etc

I recently brought Wildhearts S, which many review outlets and gamers defined as 'unplayable' due to some frame drops in busy combat periods ... but genuinely I am 70hrs deep into that game and its a blast. Similar performance to how MHRise ran on Switch1.

Switch2 isn't a miracle machine, and some of these 3rd party ports will be a bit ropey....

$ 20 / £ 20 will be a killer price-point for this game, and probably the perfect sweet-spot to entice those that are 'on the fence' but not yet certain about committing.

I was expecting around ~30$ / 30£, and would have happily paid this, and equally I think Team Cherry wouldn't have been outrageous in asking this either.

If it turns out to be true, seems to be a very consumer-friendly pricing strategy.... even moreso considering the landscape of gaming becoming an increasingly expensive hobby.

My excitement is definitely tempered, mainly due to this title being BC with Switch1....

I appreciate it will still look and play remarkable on Switch2, but I'm really keen now for new titles to fully take advantage of the new tech.

Yeh I like the style, albeit the length of development time still fascinates me.... I'd love to be a fly on the wall 'behind the scenes' just to understand what took so long? I'm delighted its finally here, and it will be a day 1 for me - but my mind is blown that the development years are pretty much the same as Baldurs 3!

@H3X3NH4MM3R - that is a great quote! A podcast I regularly listen to (WhatCulture Gaming, UK) quoted the same words last week, and rings very true.

Props to Team Cherry, as ultimately I want to experience the nature of the game as the devs intended it - in its purest curated form etc

Quite looking forward to it actually, bring on the 4th

I like that Team Cherry have 'stuck to their guns' in terms of difficulty/challenge.

I appreciate that this may make the game inaccessible for some players who appreciate an easier ride, but equally I think that arbitrary 'difficulty sliders' can sometimes compromise the artistic vision...

@PeterPanana Sorry to hear that but I haven't experienced this at all! Maybe something else? Have you since re-tested the Nintendo dock??

@Divide_and_Wander On a serious note.... I wonder if Nintendo have been purposefully waiting to hear/lock-in the Silksong release date, and holding back on MP4 until it is clear when the release window will be.

Likely that MP4 and SS have a similar audience(?) and Nintendo is perhaps wanting players to have time to play, complete, digest SS... and then maybe this means MP4 in November/December?

@Spedfrom Fully agree re. FromSoft... they are missing an open goal here. The game just needs to mirror how it runs on Steamdeck, decent/steady 30fps with medium graphics. Also, if they put it on an actual cartridge then it would be like printing money! (ala Cyberpunk)

This news is great of course, but I fear that expectations of this game have surpassed the reality of what will be delivered.

I'm sure that Team Cherry will have created a great game, but the development time + hype might hurt the landing somewhat..

As much as I personally didn’t gel with Starfield, I think that it’s transition to S2 is a ‘good thing’ in terms of hopefully paving the way for more ports… assuming it sells of course!

Downloading now…

It seems like less devs than ever are putting out demos, which seems strange as surely this is a great way to secure pre-orders and/or sell people on the game who might be sat on the fence?

A good chance to test performance also. I downloaded the Wildhearts demo and had a great time, so much so that I preordered. Without the demo though I fear that review may have put me off due to the frame blips (still v playable though in my opinion and a ton of fun. Performance is similar to how MHRise played on OG Switch)

Ha..! I have a lot of time for Geoff, and am personally thankful he does his bit in keeping Gamescom and TGA alive.

And obviously there will be HK:SS news this week. The game has been confirmed playable (on the ROG Xbox Ally I believe?) so it makes sense that a release date will land

This wasn’t in my radar at all, but the preview has genuinely got me interested.

Upcoming 1st party lineup isn’t doing much for me, not a huge fan of Pokémon / Kirby etc…. But this has me invested

In a huge fan of monster hunter and that comparison sounds intriguing

@zander_dale the TomToc cross body is a class act so far. I’d say actually that most of TT’s peripheral accessories are pretty decent.

The main/official dock is sadly way too big for the bag. However, swapping it out for the Travel Dock means that it comfortably houses the Switch2 console, needed cables (HDMI and Charger) + pro controller 2.

The cross bag is actually now my default storage for all the aforementioned, with the original dock now actually boxed away

4 days in the travel dock is proving really solid. So much less cumbersome to drag around to hotels and set up etc

Not sure I’d recommend if you’re just wanting a ‘spare’ dock for another room at home… but if you’re after a travel option then it’s an easy justification to buy 👍

I got this a couple of days back - and the review hits the nail on the head "a great travel accessory" .

I basically brought this for hotel hopping, and it does the job brilliantly. Worked straight out the box, no firmware updates or messing required.

Barely takes up any space at all, great for just stuffing in the bag with the charger and HMDI (For reference I am using both official charger and official HDMI that came with Switch2)

I use the Tomtoc Sling Crossbody Bag for travel, and now can very comfortably fit in: Switch2 console, Official HDMI Cable, Official Charger, ANTANK Travel Dock, Pro Controller 2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/tomtoc-Crossbody-Protective-Cartridges-Accessories/dp/B0DXZJLY8G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MB8LK98F0OFO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yMBxpvFejf93PlvvTS0v-WduSzPIHgAn5OQWvyicp8R_nUkt8r_NNr_1hqqyFzL5cAeC5_vDbAiya-jxMMaLLOgBrSVTUEUW1hyxs47BSuOSiOGxbvWfPjPc8lUBVEV8v8L7qKsiAW_0yBg9zY1mZvrPBMPfTe-R_zc1TOkwT8ljpIJ4oupiCqkzwaoQsV6__kScpmko1W-7OdbWNfvQnT4eZEDb36DzyxaDDge43A97HK17WeelX2WaAw-6aa6dKrbIu2bNfjHpcf9S9moIZQ.SpnAQBj0E1dXZslKHuRrPXhCyZfZcV2wnXwJE6DKzpE&dib_tag=se&keywords=tomtoc%2Bsling%2Bswitch%2B2&qid=1755451107&s=electronics&sprefix=tomtoc%2Bsling%2Bswitch%2B2%2Celectronics%2C102&sr=1-1-catcorr&th=1

Last I played was Sw/Sh …. Following a departure from the series since classic Blue/Red

Enjoyable but way too easy for it to engage me

Similar to how people want Soulslikes to have easier sliders, I’d love this game to have something to organically ramp up the difficulty

For anyone reading this article and wanting a first-hand experience... yesterday arrived the SIWIQU Switch 2 TV Dock (1st listed 3rd party dock in the article)

Ran fine straight out the box, very light/compact and exactly what I wanted for easy travel use. No cables included, so I just use the official HMDI and official charger that came with the Switch2. Delighted with it, seems working fine.

Wherever possible I'd actually prefer to use official Nintendo peripherals... but for some reason they don't seem to want to manufacture any smaller/portable docks? Perhaps they did for Switch 1 and I missed it

Anyway, SIWIQU Switch 2 TV Dock is a solid buy IMO. 24 hours later and still not bricked... yet (!)

Really intrigued by this. As a huge Disco fan, and relatively fond of time travel/loop narratives, this game is definitely on the watch list

Always good to see Switch 2 as part of the distribution roster, hopefully the mouse controls can be put to use here

@nmanifold yeh my plan was to use that 3rd-party mini cable/dock with the official Switch2 charger.

Any negatives experienced from the device? Or anything lacking in your opinion?

I basically want something small and 'no nonsense' for travel. I used to have the Genki Covert Dock 2, which was incredible btw, but not compatible with Switch2 sadly

@nmanifold I’m really interested in the Jemdo adapter

How long is the cable please? I think I read it is approx 2M…. Which makes it longer than the Switch 2 official HDMI cable? (Which is approx 1.5M I think?)

I’m hesitant about the choice to go live-action. I think the casting decisions (so far) seem pretty decent, but I can’t help thinking this project might have worked better as an animated endeavour… something really stylistic, similar to Arcane / Edgerunners / Spiderverse

The tonality is my biggest concern though, and just praying it doesn’t turn into another quip-fest

Hopefully they’re rustling up a new S2-compatible Covert Dock? Their CD2 was one of my best accessories for OG Switch

Nah, I'm sure its 'fine' but there are just so many other great games competing for my time!

Nothing about this game excites me in any way, but I can appreciate the effort in showcasing the mouse functionality... But it would also be great to see this implemented in existing/new games, things like D:OS2 for example... or Disco Elysium, anything that would/could benefit from mouse controls

Baldurs 3!
Larian is technically an indie dev 😉😂

Well, Larian is 'technically' an indie developer..... BG3 port inbound!