Dark_Isatari

Still working through Talos Principle (still short 3 stars) and FFVIII Remastered. Also dabbled in a replay of Iconoclasts before hopefully starting either FF Tactics or Xenoblade 3 next.

I don’t think a film counts toward making it a fuller Nintendo year, because it does nothing to justify the purchase of Switch 2 or not.

@Shepdawg1 They didn't literally say that. But their lack of response to Reggie's rebuttal was implied to mean that. I'm also not sure that it was exactly "illegal" but in any event I think it's right for Nintendo to treat vendors equally. I don't want the game stores and smaller retailers to die out or stop selling games because the MegaCorps suck up all the business.

I like left hand. Just a minor little thing that makes him unique. I don’t think it needs to mirror the player anyway, but even if it did, I wouldn’t mind trying my left hand at swordplay. You don’t need strength for waving a controller anyway.

If there isn’t an interconnected story, I don’t see the purpose of having the same world (Hyrule, with death mountain and a forest and lake etc) and characters (blond Link, namely).

For me the story is equally important to gameplay. I still enjoy the ones with weak stories, but ultimately a dynamic world of characters is a top priority for me.

Haven't had much time lately, but I'm still working through Final Fantasy VIII Remastered and Talos Principle. My brother-in-law's wife (is that my sister-in-law-in-law?) got really into Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and has been getting our other sibling-in-laws to play it with her, so this weekend my Switch has been kind of out of my hands! haha.

For those who play MMOs I've been told this is the best out there. I can't take that kind of long-term commitment, myself.

Miyamoto’s bias against deep storytelling, which has long hindered the Zelda series imo, is proving to be harder to forgive in the medium of film.

@Shmoo I'm in no way opposed to skipping a generation (i'm still waiting to have sufficient cause to get Switch 2 or not), I don't understand why the docking feature would be a complaint! That's the coolest and most useful thing about Switch/2 and I see no reason why it would be a negative. You don't even have to engage with the feature if you don't want to .

I’ve only played NH and my main disappointment was that the villagers don’t feel very dynamic. Are the other games like that? I thought interacting with the neighbors was one of the main thrusts of the games, but Ain NH they really don’t do anything.

For all the people saying "no, they should make a new game instead," I don't think these remakes cause new titles to be significantly delayed, as they usually take far less time to make than the ones starting from scratch and Nintendo has said that the new games constantly have a team working on them in the Zelda series.

Oh man I have so much to say about this.
First off, I would prefer for any remakes to have expanded and added content and lore. The Link's Awakening Switch remake was really disappointing to me because nothing of significance changed from the GB release, and it even had LESS worldbuilding content than the DX edition because no more photo cutscenes! I would like the world of a remade game to be enlarged and deepened some.

I have always wanted Holodrum and Labrynna to be further developed in the larger narrative of the Zelda series (the latter having its own royal dynasty seems especially ripe for more stories), and generally I think the the Oracle games are the best of the 2D entries so far in terms of lore design. So I would love to see them remade and also get sequels/prequels! BUT like @CaleBoi25 said, the LA19-EoW "diorama" art style would not be a good fit for those games (take note @FX29) , so I am hesitant to suggest a remake too soon. (3D sequel?)

The other two that I love but are not so accessible now are Spirit Tracks and Link Between Worlds. Both are excellent, the former is less appreciated I think and it may be too soon for LBW. MC has been a while but I don't really know that it needs changing. It needs a sequel.

I would be interested to see what they could do with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link nearly 40 years later. It gets a bad rap but the combat is actually pretty fun.

And personally my beloved WW is just too inaccessible to me since I never bought WiiU....

I'll rank it:

1. Oracles (and make a sequel!)
2. ST (and make a sequel!)
3. AoL (with significant lore development)
4. WW
5. LBW
6. PH
7. TP
8. LoZ
9. OoT
10. MM

Is this like Stadium?

While I do have Switch 2 fomo, I’m still holding out for an OLED version.
This week playing Talos Principle and Final Fantasy VIII. I’m finding the latter hard to connect with, it’s so clunky to navigate the world and various menus; I think the PS1 era is kind of hard for me even though I’m fine with N64, PS2, GCN

He's certainly right that you can't communicate the same "flavor" of personality just by translation; there are so many nuances in any culture that don't really communicate in a different language. However, it isn't accurate to say that one is "simpler" than the other. English is much more precise, which entails a form of complexity. Japanese is more nuanced and contextual, with implications that constitute a different form of complexity.

Looks fun, and I'm not usually a pokemon guy. But at this point I'm still waiting for an OLED or some kind of superior version for Switch 2. We'll see..

@UpsideDownRowlet you forgot “globular”

My vote goes to Greninja in this crowd. Surprised by most of the results.

Pending their final forms, (and assuming I actually play this game, which is unlikely) I think Gecqua is a significant frontrunner.

For me:
1. Bulb/Char
2. Cyndaquil
3. Treecko
4. Piplup
5. Sniv/Osh
6. Fenn/Froak
7. Rowlet
8. n/a
9. Fuecoco

After years of hearing positive rumors about Return of the Obra Din I’ve finally picked it up and started it for myself and it is truly engrossing!
Still wrapping up a campaign in Brigandine: Legend of Runersia as well.

This was a weaker Gen imo. Xerneas is very cool though

No Agro from Shadow of the Colossus is sad but I guess that never came to Switch!

Ralts for me.
Grovile, Kyogre, Shiftry, Jirachi, Mawile, Shedinja, Sableye, Chimecho, also great.

Cyndaquil is my favorite of all Pokemon, so he gets it here. I do love Wooper, Shuckle, and Misdreavus too though.

Wow, I didn’t see that coming at all! I’ve been playing my fourth nation in Legend of Runersia now; it’s a great little tactical rpg.
I’m disappointed in the more generic “anime” character design this time though.. kind of kills my appetite.

I love both. HK had more content when I started I think, due to all the dlc being there. But Silksong is bigger and the movement feels so great. So hard to choose, both are the best “metroidvanias” ever made.

@AccessibleDaydream Makes me think of Dr. Mario

@Tyranexx Good point, I was thinking the yellow one looked much better and assumed it was because it had two instead of one character. But now that you mention it, it's the only one that looks like it got original artwork — or at least not the same exact pose/art we always see.

Same as last week:
1. Brigandine: Legend of Runersia this is a fun tactics game where you can choose between 6 different nations to lead. I revisit this one every 2 years or so. Now on my third nation and it's been a bit more challenging than the previous outings.
2. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a great little adventure platformer type which I've always wanted to replay some time and after Silksong felt right.
3. Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. This will be my 6th mainline FF game and it definitely shows its age but I'm intrigued so far.

@MoldyPasta Aw man come on, don't do genocide! Take the high road and enjoy what you've accomplished for that little world.

I'm usually not one for multiple simultaneous games, but this week I have gotten in to a sort of pattern of:
my third campaign in Brigandine: Legend of Runersia, first time trying Final Fantasy VIII, and replaying the fun and accessible Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.

I enjoy the 2D Metroids, but probably not as much as most. My first was Fusion, which remains my favorite by a significant margin. Was excited to try the Switch remake of the lauded Metroid Prime and found it pretty dull. Thus I haven't been interested in this game, but maybe I would enjoy it if it doesn't resonate with whatever makes people like the original.

Only 13 cents per piece

@RickStar Ah, a man of culture.

I absolutely love seeing this kind of data! Being able to look back on all 9 years was great too.
My top 10:
1. TotK
2. BotW
3. Tactics Ogre: Reborn
4. Hollow Knight
5. Xenoblade Chronicles, DQ XI
7. Animal Crossing NH
8. HK:Silksong
9. Unicorn Overlord
10. Brigandine: Legend of Runesia

@JR150 I’ll give my two cents as one of the offending parties you reference. I think it’s mostly that the appeal of CoD is, generally speaking, not very similar to the appeal of Nintendo and their IP, and is more in the vein of what sends people to Xbox/PS. Could be wrong but I’ve always seen it that way. Focusing on grey realism rather than colorful magic.
That doesn’t mean I’m opposed to anyone’s enjoyment of CoD; but I do feel like “why put that on a Nintendo console?”

None for me, thanks.

@MoldyPasta yes! I feel like all this talk about difficulty really belies the fact that the difficulty is part of the appeal

Why won’t this team take money?? Two of the greatest games of all time and they simply won’t charge for their work 😂

Finally in the final stretch of Silksong — what an incredible game! Really fulfilled all expectations built up over the years of development. Hope they add more lore-rich dlc before wrapping it up.

@DennyCrane I couldn’t put NES games too high personally but I agree that AoL is a fun time that gets a bad rap

I would like to nominate Link's Awakening (any version) for the best game to start the series with. It is one of the easier games with a mix of puzzles, exploration, combat; has memorable characters but not too many to keep track of, great memorable story, and it's fairly short. A perfect entry point imo.

What a stacked year! Expedition 33 was fun, fresh, and cinematic.
Silksong has been a dream come true for me, so that’d be my choice but I haven’t played most of the others.
Based on the comments here I’m interested in giving Absolum a look.

ALBW needs it more for accessibility reasons. With LA I was really disappointed they didn't do anything to expand the world or story. I was really hoping for some kind of surprise like another back of the island opening up behind the mountains. But nothing.
These remakes are better when they expand the original imo. Not just recoat it and add some item.

I'm still waiting for something I must play but can't get on my OG Switch.

It's definitely my all-time favorite! I didn't help the numbers much though — still playing the launch model and never bought a different edition! Though I did get a lot of Joycon and games.

@Turbo857 I think the timing is the more significant factor. TotK coming late in the Switch's life and not being as chronologically ground-breaking in its freedom (being able to climb anything and go anywhere was astounding when BotW came out). The price difference may be a factor but I'd be surprised if it's a big one.

I'm curious about the sales numbers for Switch 2 editions of the Switch 1 list, in the event that it would change the numbers significantly. It's probably 99% upgrade packs though.

Fun series; I feel it’s never quite topped Pirate’s Curse. Half-Genie Hero is my second-favorite but it’s a little disappointing that it departed from the freer exploration. Seven Sirens was a real “vania” game but a little shallow imo, though I haven’t tried it after the rebalance.
I have hopes that this new one will top them all.

I’m a die-hard Zelda fan but Musou gameplay just feels mind-numbing to me, and I’ve been really disappointed with the direction they’ve been taking lore and narrative in the past decade.
I’m not at 0%, but I don’t expect to get it.

I think it would be a huge improvement if they added more specialized solo battles that force you to use all different cards. Like if you could only use cards from a certain region, or something like that. The battle missions often have things like "use only this type" or "use a deck without trainer cards" but they could do a lot more with it. I also think they could do solo boss battles where you have to knock out 6 pokemon like in the games. Because solo battles can be paused any time (unlike the online) it could work and ultimately it's fun to use more things than just your regular standbys.