Comments 2,784

Re: Dev Explains Why Nintendo Made Mario's Anniversary Games Limited-Time

Darknyht

Yeah, the game never went into my wishlist for similar reasons. Wishlists aren’t shopping carts, their wishes of what you think you want. Mine currently has a lot sitting in it and to be honest most will never be purchased because they are wishes. Like if I had a million dollars and infinite time.

Nintendo games linger there for eternity because the ones in there I like the idea of, but something holds me back. Usually it is the years of history of disappointment caused by games that are really at the edge of what I prefer. If the price becomes right, which Nintendo never does, I might purchase if A) I have funds and B) I don’t have other games (or really anything else) that are higher priority to purchase.

Super Mario 64 is an edge game. I have no nostalgia for it, but I can purchase at a much cheaper rate elsewhere. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is perfectly playable on my Wii U that is still hooked up and is superior to the first game which I gave away. Super Mario Sunshine was tempting but not at a $60 asking price.

This does make me wish I had thrown them into the wish list now just to irritate their black Disney-esque hearts with their “locking it back in the vault” mentality.

Re: Mistwalker Boss Not Interested In Reviving Studio's Older Games

Darknyht

@Einherjar it was a strange gambit by Microsoft all around. I think they were trying hard to get some sort of base in Japan with those games (and a few others like them), and failed hard. Everyone already interested in jRPGs knew to go to PlayStation for them since the PS2 era. I remember having serious pain when I went to GameCube for the lack for that style game, and 360 had decent western RPGs but was a pretty empty place for jRPGs.

With the crapfest that was FF: the corridor walking simulator, Lost Odyssey was amazing. It is a shame that the majority of the target audience probably never experienced it and the majority that could didn’t care because it wasn’t Skyrim or a FPS. Hence why Microsoft eventually gave it away as a reward for searching the web with Bing.

Re: Mistwalker Boss Not Interested In Reviving Studio's Older Games

Darknyht

Lost Odyssey was one of the best free games I got from Microsoft Rewards when they used to do that. Loved every minute of it. Blue Dragon didn’t land as well for me and I don’t think I ever finished it.

Last Story was one of those games I missed in the Wii era that I couldn’t justify the inflated price for that I always found it at. Too many other games that I could play that stretched my dollars further. Maybe one day, or not...

Re: Feature: Zelda: The Wind Waker Proved We Don't Always Know What We Want

Darknyht

@Paej13 The swift sail makes everything much shorter as the biggest time sink was travel between islands (wind always at your back and you move twice as fast). The Triforce map quests were changed, but my memory of how they were originally is fuzzy to give specifics.

I also remember that chasing Tingle treasures and deep sea chests made up a large part of the gameplay for me.

Re: Feature: Zelda: The Wind Waker Proved We Don't Always Know What We Want

Darknyht

I had skipped the N64 and although I borrowed an N64 from a friend to play Zelda OoT, I had stopped paying attention. Playstation was cheaper, and I picked up a PS2 because of backwards compatibility and DVDs. When I picked up the GameCube after the price drop, Wind Waker was one of the first games I picked up.

The art style didn’t bother me, although the idea of a 12 year old crawling in dungeons and sword fighting still bothers me. But that is a Japanese cultural thing that just has to be acknowledged and moves past. The gameplay bothered me in that it seemed anti-climatic. Once you mastered the basic sword skills combat was a joke. It also had a “lot” of filler fetch quests, so much that it is almost comical how short the HD version becomes.

All that said, I enjoyed it but was most disappointed by not dealing with the other sages.

Re: Bethesda's Future Games Will Be "Where Game Pass Exists"

Darknyht

This all is not surprising. Microsoft paid a lot of money for Bethesda just so they could have exclusives, much like they purchased Rare back in the day. Eventually, this is going to become more the norm as each console tries to lock up more exclusives and gain an edge over the other. Hence why Nintendo purchased Monolith in 2007 and has acquired other developers along the way.

The costs are too high and the risks are too steep for them to not do this now. Plus this makes Game Pass more appealing, like how Disney is leveraging the Disney/Marvel/Star Wars properties to make Disney+ more appealing.

Re: Soapbox: I'm Tired Of Ports And Remakes - Where Are All Nintendo's New Ideas?

Darknyht

Innovation has become a casualty of demands for 4K and 60fps that drive up the costs of development. These push publishers to go with known money makers.

But Nintendo has published smaller stuff this gen. Sushi Strikers, Snipperclips, 1-2-Switch, Arms, Fitness Boxing, Deamon X Machima, Flip Wars, The Stretchers, Good Job!, Jump Rope Challenge, Super Mario 35, Nintendo Labo, Mario Kart Live and Part Time UFO all are new IPs (or new branches of IPs) from this generation.

Re: Feature: The 10 Best SNES RPGs

Darknyht

Shadowrun is one of my favorite SNES RPGs that are not well know, but it brings a lot of the frustrations of western RPGs of the time. Surprised Mystic Quest got anywhere near this list as it made The Final Fantasy Legend look deep and complex.

Wizardry V (well really the series) has so much history in the forming of what we consider JRPGs, but it too suffers from the porting.

Re: Rumour: Nintendo Switch Pro "Will Have Exclusives", Says Insider

Darknyht

This totally will not be just like all those exclusives for the 32X, PS2 HDD, DSi, New 3DS that we all remember so well. Or even all those awesome games for the SNES Mouse, Wii Zapper thingy, Bongo drums, or other optional add-ons. This always works and never, never backfires when they upgrade a system or create an optional add-on.

Re: Introducing Pokémon Legends: Arceus, An Open-World Prequel To Diamond And Pearl

Darknyht

@Seacliff I highly doubt that footage from roughly a year before release is final product. The point was the announcement that the game exists, not to compete in a “look at our specs” peeing contest.

I think you are also forgetting the primary target audience. 6-12 year olds don’t care about frame rate and key frames. Mine are just as happy to be playing Asphalt 9 as Need for Speed or Gear Club. Their thoughts are more “does it have cool cars and crashes” more than “that frame rate stinks”.

While you can still enjoy them, it is sort of like complaining that Paw Patrol doesn’t offer a deep, mature plotline.

Re: Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Tops "Best Seller" Chart On Amazon, As Pre-Orders Sell Out

Darknyht

@NEStalgia partially copyright is too long and partially games fell into the same stupidity that Hollywood did after Star Wars. They constantly bet the farm on Blockbusters and use/manipulate the gaming media to shill it to us (unintentionally as they report on what they are allowed to see and interact with). Then they setup “Awards” to give accolades to themselves while ignoring the deplorable work conditions people suffered under to create their blockbuster.

I miss the days where companies experimented with smaller budget titles instead of trying to build the next mega-franchise. As much as I disliked it, Cadence of Hyrule was at least an interesting experiment. It seems like the major publishers have just abandoned the spaces that brought us games like Mega Man, Link’s Awakening, or something weird like Jet Set Radio and Space Channel 5.

Re: Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Tops "Best Seller" Chart On Amazon, As Pre-Orders Sell Out

Darknyht

I said this before, we are the reason Nintendo is pushing ports and remakes over new IP right now. They know we will pay top dollar out of nostalgia, so why release this as a $20 virtual console game when they can get $60 out of it by up-ressing the assets and adding in normal controls? Nintendo could remake Urban Champion and there would be people lining up to throw $60 at it.

All companies have caught on to this and are milking their past IP. This is why there is no virtual console and NES/SNES online is so pitiful. We have collectively told them we will happily pay more for Collections of ROMs and lazy remakes.

Re: Rumour: Zelda's 35th Anniversary Will See The Return Of Wind Waker And Twilight Princess

Darknyht

All I’ll say is that with the Wii U we would regularly see things like the “Summer of No Games” droughts. It appears that 2020-2021 will be remembered as the “Years of the Remake” for Nintendo. I really hope this is a sign of the times and not a new trend for them.

My copy of Skyward Sword still works and an HD facelift is not going to address the problems I had with that game. The controls were bad because of the motion, but the gameplay was equally uninspired. But if I am honest, so are the other two (Wind Waker and Twilight Princess). Twilight Princess is probably the best of the three as it wasn’t mostly filler (WW) and gave enough nostalgia nods to Ocarina of Time.

However that is mostly my opinion and not worth much.

Re: Review: The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon - A Solid Expansion To A Cracking Sci-Fi RPG

Darknyht

@sirmrguitardude there is a machine on the ship you can use to respec. I used it because I had capped out on my primary abilities and had started dumping into other skills before the change. Had the game allowed the over 100 specs before, I would have done what I did. I didn’t run back to it every time I needed to access something, but used it once.

Technically it was my second respec, but the first was a restart when I realized Science was way more important than Engineering. I also realized I preferred pistols to long arms.

Re: Review: The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon - A Solid Expansion To A Cracking Sci-Fi RPG

Darknyht

It wasn’t a bad expansion. I finished it in a weekend. The skill checks required me to rebalance my character on the ship, but with the right perks and/or buddies I got past everything that mattered. Of note, this also adjusts the skill checks in the entire game not just the expansion.

As for combat, I was clocking in at level 30 at start so most battles ended with a few time snipes to the head with my favorite heavy revolver. Overall it was a nice addition to the game and I look forward to the second one.

Re: UK Charts: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Launch Sales Are 190% More Than The Wii U Version

Darknyht

Well, with 65+ million more consoles sold I would hope that the game performed better on the switch. At most, only roughly 7-8% of Switch owners have purchased the game previously (5.86 million sold) so it should make bank for them. That said, I will pass as my kids are contently playing the Wii U version still, and there isn't enough to justify repurchasing at $60. Hopefully, Nintendo will actually produce something I haven't already previously purchased. Metroid Prime 4 or Breath of the Wild 2 would be a good start.

Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online SNES And NES Service With Four More Titles

Darknyht

@Bolt_Strike it isn’t tone deaf, it is speaking with the only thing they listen to, $$$’s. Why would I purchase something I already own again (and am happy with) at full price just to get a tacked on $15 DLC? I am glad other can enjoy the game, but frankly Nintendo has published little I am interested in on Switch. I bought XC2 and XC2: The Golden Country, Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon, Link’s Awakening (my favorite Zelda which I haven’t been able to play since the original GB cart (no 3DS) and Animal Crossing. Historically that is very few Nintendo titles, and for me it is mostly due to not seeing the value in buying something ported from five years ago or less.

But we, as collective video game purchasers, have shown (an industry data agrees) we will pay full price for remasters and re-releases. If Nintendo announced today that Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Prime Trilogy, or any of the Zelda HD remakes were being ported they would have record sales and a significant portion would be repurchases. Heck, I have purchased Super Mario Bros. Multiple times myself (NES, SNES, GBC, GC, Wii, and Wii U), and that was a game they gave me “free” with my NES. So why would they put their Crown Jewels on a subscription service? They see value in their back catalog more than someone like Microsoft which is using theirs to grow their install base.

EDIT: that isn’t even getting into the new ploy of “limited” release before going back in the vault.

Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online SNES And NES Service With Four More Titles

Darknyht

@Bolt_Strike maybe true, but the development costs were minor and they are banking much more than a $5-10 Virtual Console sale will get them. I happen to agree with you, but we (myself included) have told Nintendo and others we will pay high dollar for remakes by what we purchase.

I have purchased a lot fewer Nintendo published titles the past few years specifically because I already purchased them on Wii U.

Re: The Outer Worlds' First Expansion Comes To Nintendo Switch Next Week

Darknyht

@Casual_Gamer95 I played the entire game and never once felt cheated by frame rate. It wasn’t unplayable, just what you would get on a slightly under spec machine. I would agree that it isn’t the best way to play the game, but if it is the system you own it is an enjoyable game on Switch.

Digital Foundry’s XBO vs Switch comparison would be like comparing a Porsche against a Japanese K car. Both are cars for passenger transport, but the designers built with different objectives and purposes. Dinging the K car because it cannot go 0-60 in the amount of time as the Porsche is just obviously stupid, and to me that equally applies to someone holding the Switch version of a game to a vastly more powerful console then acting surprised it cannot compare. Hence why I put it in terms of low power PCs which would have made more sense for Digital Foundry to hold the Switch version against (that being a PC w minimum specs, not a i7 gaming system running low settings).

Re: Square Enix Reports Increased Annual Sales, Despite Individual Game Losses

Darknyht

@diwdiws no thanks. Mobile isn’t something I enjoy gaming on unless I have no better option, and definitely not on anything Google produces. Their security record on Android is sketchy (partially mobile companies and shady manufacturers fault) and I prefer not to be a “product” as much as possible. If I am desperate to play, I can purchase the Steam version.

@TheFrenchiestFry Unfortunately that is the version we will probably get unless it is a collection or ROMs. Just look at the horrible mobile ports of DQ 1-3, and the released FF on switch. I am pretty sure they are mostly the mobile versions.

Re: The Outer Worlds' First Expansion Comes To Nintendo Switch Next Week

Darknyht

@Heavyarms55 The Switch version got dinged at release because it sacrificed a lot of visuals to run compared to the more powerful consoles. I would say it ran on the lowest PC settings with a lot disabled at first compared to high or better on other consoles. They patched it around when I bought it and it plays fine except of some pop-in when you are full out running (which was rare for me to do). I would say that it is running on medium with some options disabled or low with things turned on now for Switch.

I am looking forward to the expansion. The delay means that hopefully any bugs are resolved, and I really enjoyed the game. Still need to complete the game on the hardest settings at some point.

Re: Capcom Reveals The Most Used Weapon In The Monster Hunter Rise Demo

Darknyht

I struggled with the MH3U demo on WiiU but picked it used eventually and found that Sword and Board worked best for me. The ability to guard some things and use items without putting stuff away somehow made the game easier. I’ve tried the other weapons, but they just didn’t feel right control wise for me.

This demo was hard because I had not played a Monster Hunter in a while and forgot most of the controls, so even Sword and Board felt off to me. Never got around to trying anything else.

Re: Talking Point: So, What Are The Chances We'll See A 'New' Nintendo Switch In 2021?

Darknyht

@Crono1973 I am happy for the most part. I was a huge fan of the Wii U, so the number of ports annoys me but there enough other stuff that I haven’t lacked for games. After chasing the latest and greatest since the PlayStation first launched (everything before that my parents bought going back to Intellivision), I am trying to learn to slow down and avoid the hype/envy machine.

I managed to stick with the WiiU until 2019 and my goal is to do the same with the Switch. So a “New Switch XL” might be completely missed by me unless they actually fix Joy-Con drift on it or make the Joy-Cons better fit my giant hands.

Re: Ori Director Criticises "Snake Oil Salesmen" Behind No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk, And Fable

Darknyht

@KateGray I couldn't imagine having to play through a game like Monster Hunter Rise or Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in a week or two in order to write a coherent review of it. There is just too much ground to cover and in that way I almost pity reviewers that get them. But I also feel like there is also a bias introduced when journalists review online experiences before a game is released. Those journalists end up playing mostly with only other journalists and the developers themselves in an ideal situation, unlike what most of us experience when we play something online. Then there are situations where journalists are almost victimized by only being allowed to speak of certain parts of the game which is used to hide the warts and less appealing things about the title. It doesn't make for anything resembling what I would call "fun" or even "normal" gaming.

As I said previously, I try to generally purchase games well after their release these days with only a few exceptions for games I pretty much know what I am getting. I think that helps me greatly, but I know it can also hurt developers that are under publishers with "Blockbuster" mentalities. I appreciate reviews and the work sites like this do, but I am just as likely to listen to the review or let's play of the game a few months after release to understand it.

Re: Ori Director Criticises "Snake Oil Salesmen" Behind No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk, And Fable

Darknyht

@rallydefault There will always be foolish people that will buy the hype and make dumb purchases, and there will always be those that prey on them. The rest of us probably need to stop pre-ordering games for a good start, and perhaps punish those publishers that are the most hostile to consumers by simply not supporting them. As for the media try to find those that behave the best and fully support them, but since so much of the industry is consolidated it is hard to find independent media that isn't effected at some level by the way our world absorbs information as entertainment.