Definitely-Not-Leon

@Ryu_Niiyama Haha, I had more trouble with the religious and/or greedy and/or distrustful humans in those games . But I must admit, rats are often depicted alike humans when it comes to spreading plagues and being pests...

On topic: this rat does remind me of something I have seen before...very beautiful artwork...too bad the game will be PvP, was hyped for it, but will definitely not be getting it now. But hey, we also will be getting Elden Ring, so no bad blood there .

Edit: @RiasGremory And maybe The Blood of Dawnwalker?

@Samuel-Flutter Ghehe, comments like these make me wish I could filter the comment section to only show comments like these. Thanks for the laugh .

On topic: Lots of goodness here, had Cyberpunk, Elden Ring, Silksong and Final Fantasy VII on my Bingo Card, so very happy with that . Definitely looking forward to more background story and great Japanese voice-acting via Hyrule Warriors and getting to know more about Split Fiction, Project 007, Star Wars Outlaws, Reanimal and The Duskbloods.

And of course Metroid Prime 4 looks absolutely banger on the Switch 2!

Biggest concern is about my backlog getting even bigger than it already is, haha, so will definitely wait with upgrading to the Switch 2 somewhere along the way.

Ahhh yeah, trailer looks great .

Lots of nice small references to the Witcher universe and so far captures the same feels as the other Witcher games.
Ciri's personality also feels as Witchery as Geralt's (he partly did raise her of course) and I hope the writing will be as good and wonder how much time has passed since the ending of the 3rd Witcher and this one and the changes that have taken place in the world.
Also looking forward to meet a retired Geralt somewhere along the way, haha (I hope that at the beginning of the game you can enter the choices you have made in the previous Witchers, in example, who your Geralt ended up with and that you can visit them from time to time for advice or to celebrate or something).

Let's hope it will come to the next Switch.

Haha, the credibility of the translation aside, I am just wondering what Sakurai thinks of Bayonetta being for "good boys and girls" .

@DwaynesGames Oeehh, that would be very welcome . They have a lot of those and some of them are my go to songs when doing strenous, repetitive work.
@Snatcher Yeah, I am also mostly looking forward to the music of Xenoblade as well, especially songs as "Our Eternal Land" (also for doing strenous, repetitive work), but also can't wait for the theme of the "Desert Palace" from Tears of the Kingdom, which unfortunately disappears after clearing it...
So far it is looking good, hope they will stick to this formulae for many years to come .

@samuelvictor @gwyntendo Thanks really enjoyed it over there and wasn't able to see and do everything you guys and others recommended, so will (hopefully) be getting back there some day in the not too distant future . And maybe I will just drag my tiny house on wheels over to Brecon Beaks when I finish building it eventually and just start living there, haha - really loved the Welsh people as well, and still need to taste the Cheddar Cheese from the Blaenafon Cheese Company...I managed to find it, but it was closed when I arrived, haha...😇.

@samuelvictor @gwyntendo It has been a while (and took a little bit longer than I told earlier), but just wanted to let you know that I am in Cardiff with my cousin at the moment and will try to visit some of the places you have mentioned, though I must admit that just wandering around Cardiff is a treat already, haha . I will definitely be going to Castell Coch and the coming Friday I will continu my journey to Pen Y Fan and will do a lot of hiking there (I really love waterfalls) . Hope to be able to stop by Blaenafon Cheese Company on my way back. Thanks again for the tips and kind regards from Wales .

In the words of the late Mac Miller: "this was a very solid Direct", even though I was only able to stamp 1/16th of my Bindo Card, haha .

@Vil Haha, thanks for the laugh and making me nostalgic at the same time .

@Freek Ghehe , you should send that to the department remaking this game, I am sure they will have a genuine laugh about it .
Oohw and maybe the game has already been finished a while ago, but the department tried to add a real-time rewind-function to the game somewhere along the way and messed up big time. So now they are stuck in a time-loop in 2026 and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up before they can release it?

@GrailUK Haha, well I like reading stuff like the things you are predicting, it opens up a part of my brain I like to remain as active as possible for as long as I live. So keep those comments coming .
And you never know, maybe your predictions plant small seeds in the minds of developers and one day your ideas do come to fruition .

@GrailUK Haha, not your predicted catepillar platformer, but instead another nice new twist on the Platformer-genre .
I am not sure if I already really understand what is going on exactly gameplay-wise, but I love the artstyle and potential new-ness-ish it shows so far .

More information and even release dates for a few games on my "Missing-in-action-gamelist" (Schim and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, which both look promising when it comes to artstyle and gameplay) and showing some new games that also have my sincere interest (Europa and Refine Self) is always a good thing. But at the end even surprising me with a sequel to one of my favourite games from the 3DS-era (Steamworld Heist) is just utterly great . Overall I thought there was a lot of variation in what was on display, so not a bad Direct if I may say so .

With a backlog like mine I hope they will only announce Shovelware, haha .

Just kidding of course, I am always happy with the few unexpected potential gems (just like Hauntii, Farewell North and The Heirloom oohw and maybe Voidwrought, which were announced at the Future Games Show) these Indie Showcases throw my way.

But I am also wondering what is going on with the following as far as I know (some more than other) "MIA-games":

• Airhead
• Akatori
• Broken Roads
• Crowsworn
• Datenshi
• Death Trash
• Dreamed Away
• Gestalt of Steam & Cinder
• Hunt the Night
• Loco Motive
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Mina: The Hollower
• Moon Samurai
• Nairi: Rising Tide
• Oddventure
• Old Skies
• Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open
• The Perfect Pencil
• Pixel Noir
• Rune Fencer: Illyia
• Sacrifire
• Scarlet Deer Inn
• Scarlet Republics
• Schim
• She Dreams Elsewhere
• Shunjinkou
• Threads of Time
• Timespinner 2
• Verne: The Shape of Fantasy
• Vokubulantis

@GrailUK Hahaha, got really distracted by your comment popping up while typing mine and my mind drifted away into all the possibilities that game would have to offer. Throw in some sort of narrative (althought I don't know what more could possibly happen in the life of a catepillar) and I am in, haha. Thanks for the laugh again .

Edit: Maybe we can ask David Attenborough to do some sort of narration in the background about what your catepillar is going through during a run?

@CammyUnofficial Hahaha, that brings back memories. Yeti would be my number one if the list were about antagonists from my very early years of gaming .

Don't care much about this poll, but I sure am glad that Super Smash Bros is not a Brittish IP...let's hope it is not a "leak" for the next instalment in the series .

@Anachronism Ahhh yes, of course, that one was even more beautiful when it comes to the music used in the trailer - also a very good trailer overall. Will keep my eye out for the both of them and hope they turn out well .

Great line up of (also non-Switch) games . Looking forward to quite a few of them:

1.Voidwrought. @Anachronism I just hope it doesn't only just look like Hollow Knight, but has the same quality in sound, gameplay, smoothness and feeling. Then it will definitely scratch a huge itch in the wait for Silksong;
2.Hauntii, which looks fresh and promising when it comes to the art-direction and gameplay - looking forward to learn more about that one;
3.Farewell North, which reminds me of The First Tree. If they nail the story-telling and music, I will definitely love that one ;
4.The Heirloom. Got some Oxenfree vibes here, but then with a totally different art-style, more like a mix between Oxenfree and The Tangled Tower? - if it is anything like those two games, I will definitely like it.

Also hoping the following will come to the (next) Switch one day:
1.Harold Halibut. Just like Hauntii it has a fresh and unique touch to it;
2.Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. Really loved the first one, though this one looks even darker...and more disturbing;
3.Dragon's Dogma 2. I have yet to play the first one, but my gut-feeling tells me I am going to like this series a lot, haha;
4.Follow the Meaning. Shows a lot of character and looks like a real laid-back experience;
5.Blue Prince. I always hope I will be able to give a puzzle like this to the people I leave behind when I die, haha or that I receive an envelope myself after someone else's death (a) ;
6.No Rest for the Wicked. Definitely the best trailer from what I have seen of the show and the world and gameplay looks amazing. Also lovely singing during the trailer (don't know if you @Anachronism were also relating to this one ).

Ahhh yeah, nice to see this one finally getting a release date .
It is giving me mucho Muramasa-vibes, combined with a fair bit of Hollow Knight's special mechanics. I just hope (looking slightly resentful and specifically at some parts of the gameplay) that I don't continuously have to hastily run and jump through all these beautiful artistic painting-esce environments all the time...and that it runs well .

@BongoBongo I don't know if you did this already but I recommend reading a bit about the lore the artist has created around his protagonist (-Bo-), to me the name of this game is a very good example of a well-thought-out, beautiful title that still leaves enough room to my own imagination, unlike the more straight-forward titles such as Mario Odyssey or the more random titles such as Unicorn Overlord (a) .

@gcunit Hopefully one day we will be able (not just when it comes to collector's editions but with everything we are able to buy in this world) to just buy the things we want...for there are often one or two really cool trinkets in these collector's editions, sometimes even better than the games itself, haha, but mostly these also contain a lot of not so cool items (probably not necessarily in this specific case. I trust Blasphemous to be a wonderful game when in the near future my backlog-dice rolls it for my next to play game).

@JohnnyMind Yeah, I think the world would be a much better place if people would feel free to speak up their minds like this more often, especially in situations like these, somewhat in line with what @LadyCharlie also mentions somewhere above. It is a shame people often feel they can't do this, because of the imbalance of power that is unfortunately a part of this world...

Hmmm nice try Nintendo...showing us different kind of games inside a new trailer of a single game when rumours about a direct are sky-high...not the bestest of directs ever...

Just kidding of course, and though I won't be picking up this game, I think it will be a lovely game for the young (or maybe also older) ones out there getting into gaming. Good job Nintendo .

@Ryu_Niiyama I already loved the pixelated Peach in Super Mario Bros over the other characters when I was little, but if this was around when I was was little I probably would have been a huge fan myself. Hopefully she will bring a lot of smiles to the new young ones .

@Ralizah @RupeeClock @ChromaticDracula This looks indeed like Axiom Verge and Xeodrifter had a baby .

Loved both those games, so if it is anything like that (or even better if the personal and heartfelt story adds even more spark to this game) than this is a definitive on-the-wishlist game for me .

@DwaynesGames Haha, I hear you...I hear you...

Phone rings...person picks up (alarms buzzing on one side, cheerful Super Nintendo World sounds on the other)...

"Sir Miyamoto, can you read me? Nintendo HQ here, we have a problem...Leon is entering the last "phase" of Tears of the Kingdom and we have nothing to satisfy him after that...what are your orders". "No worries HQ, Leon is a very slow gamer, so even the last "phase" of Tears of the Kingdom will keep him busy for a while...and look at his backlog...pfffff...142 games (why isn't he gaming more hours than he is doing right now?...Well sir...not everyone has the privilege of remaining a child forever...) but to be sure just upload the Golden Sun games to NSO GBA. If our collected data about his gaming history is correct, GBA-era-games tend to soothe him easily and keep him occupied until the next direct drops. For now I have to go...I have...uhmmm...some urgent matters to attend to over here...so uhhh...ganbatte, Miyamoto out."

Me after seeing this announcement and looking at my backlog: whooopwhooop ...and uhhhh...I am really sorry backlog-games I have never played before but could possibly easily fall in love with, our first dates have to wait a bit longer...I have to revisit a few long lost loves for now, but I promise I will come back to you some day.

@Axecon @LikelySatan Yeah these are real gems (such as a lot of the GBA-era games) . If I recall correctly, there was a topic somewhere in the past week(s) about which games you would like to be able to forget, so you can experience them all over again...Golden Sun is such a game for me (and the second and even the third one as well).

I really love the aesthetics and overall feel of this game, and it is a big plus it takes place in one of the best places I have ever been in my life , but I really, really hate Rhythm sections, haha, especially combined with a lot of repetition. I guess I just prefer doing stuff at my own pace backed-up with a really good story or something like that, especially when scenery and potential folklore like this are involved. Guess I will skip this one and just start planning my next vacation to Scotland, haha. Thanks for the read though Kate, good to see your writing again .

Pffff have I been lurking for such a long time already...?
Haha just kidding, though I must have been using NintendoLife on a daily basis for Nintendo News for a few console generations by now .
Thanks for all the news, laughs and indepth information in the past years .
Oohw and congratulations of course! I am not really active here (or anywhere on the internet), but I have fond memories of the few conversations I had on this site and would have loved to be able to teleport to England to have a drink, talk and laugh with this great community on this special (or any other, haha) day .

@eaglebob345 Thanks for the laugh .

@Madlena Amen. In my opinion, story, character, atmosphere, sound(track), artstyle et cetera over graphics any time .

This is exactly why I really love Indie Game Developers . Such a lovely good vibes trailer, which somewhere reminds me of the (was it Cartoon Network) series Flapjack. Now maybe I will turn the audio file into my new alarm clock (A) .

@DemonKow Hahaha, will keep that in mind and hope it will never come to that...but then again with the time I spend on gaming nowadays I will probably still be wandering aimlessly through TotK for at least half a year before I finish that game, haha .

Blasphemous 2, The Rewinder and Sea of Stars are already on my wishlist for quite some time now and I will probably add these somewhere in 2024 to my never-ending backlog when they are discounted enough for me to break.
All so that these games can sit comfortably in my backlog next to games such as the first Blasphemous, The Lost Door and Chained Echoes, haha. Ahh well, maybe one day I will have time to game to my heart's content again, right...right?

@Astral-Grain Haha, the same here, everything Edo and I am instantly interested. Hope the narrative and characters are well worth my time .

What I value most in side-quests you ask?

Well, maybe those that not suddenly end up in your failed-list after casually proceeding the main story or exploring certains parts of the map, without being aware there was a side-quest to begin with, haha .

A little bit more on topic: I like it when a quest is centered around character development, especially when you have to choose between different options or factions just like in the Witcher, Thronebreaker, Cyberpunk, Disco Elysium, Mass Effect, The Outer Worlds, Fallout, et cetera.

@samuelvictor @gwyntendo Oohw whoow, thanks a lot for these suggestions . I am not really a good (a huge understatement, haha) planner (mostly because I am easily distracted or swayed by the moment) but I will be making a small handwritten list with interesting stuff to do and see and put that somewhere save in one (or both) of my boots before I start my journey. And extra points for mentioning cheese, haha, as a Dutchman I love my fair share of cheese, so looking forward to that. Thanks again .

What a lovely article (and replies of different people) .

I always hope stuff like this remains somewhere in my slightly active memory, so these little hidden gems can bring a smile to my face every time I stumble upon them in real life or in games.

Though I must say, I mostly play these games in Japanese, haha, so I don't know about their specific English-ish (not meant to be rude here, for I really like all these different accents) accents...also I don't really care about Dutch representation anywhere, but get it that it makes people happy to see or hear these things from time to time.

@samuelvictor @Toadie @gwyntendo (and others, sorry if I missed any, that was not intentional) Slightly off topic, but I will be going to Wales somewhere in the coming months to visit my cousin who is studying in Cardiff and want to do a little trip on my motorcycle through the country before and after that visit. Any recommendations or hidden gems I should take into account? (I have been to the North-side of Wales before (really loved the mix of the roughness of the country and the gentleness of the Welsh people and I love hiking, getting lost in bookstores, listening to local musicians and of course doing some melancholy drinking in a good pub from time to time, haha).

Oohw, and fun fact: my picture is from Wales, haha, which my brother turned into a kind of hybrid "A link to Breath of the Past Wild" birthday card for me.

Thanks in advance .

@EaglyPurahfan Totally off topic, and it ain't much, but here are a few people who might be able to answer your question . https://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/final_fantasy_x_x-2_hd_remaster

@GrailUK @EaglyPurahfan

@GrailUK @EaglyPurahfan Totally of topic, but just wanted to say: It is really refreshing to read this kind of honest and mature discourse once in a while. Venting, reacting, reflecting, comforting and thanking all within a few interactions...thanks for that .

Fate-series and Edo-era , count me in, haha. I hope the Switch will handle this one well. Now if only I could upload my "self" into the game somehow...one can have dreams...one can have dreams...

@Ryu_Niiyama Hahaha, no worries. So far I have only read of Griffins being very proud creatures, and "being proud" and "canceling others" are like oil and water in my book.

Hmmm, I thought Prince of Persia was about either getting sliced in halve by trapdoors, being pierced by spikey traps, falling to death through badly constructed floors, wither away due to drinking poison instead of health potions or mysteriously being stabbed by Jafar-like swordsmen before entering the next screen...as long as the game has a few of those things, I might be in...otherwise I prefer more atmosperic stuff that show a lot of character right off the bat, like Everdeep Aurora from the Wholesome Direct .

@Ryu_Niiyama Sorry, I don't mean to be rude or anything (especially because I completely understand the points that you make and really hate how stuff seems to turn out like this more often nowadays), but I had to laugh a bit about your use of both monsters and griffins and immediately fantasized about Griffins protesting with signs like: "Griffins are also monsters".

Poor Snow White, having a tough time again...
Lots of atmosphere in the myriad of these games, though , looking forward to Sacrifire, Terra Memoria, Forgotlings, Lil' Guardsman, Bye Sweet Snow...uuhhh Carole, Three Minutes to Eight, Nocturnal and A Void Hope.

@GrailUK And this made me chuckle .

People seem to miss the point here. The title for this game is EVERYBODY 1-2-Switch. It is not a question about whether you will be buying it or not, EVERYBODY will be playing 1-2-Switch, eventually. It is the first step Nintendo is taking towards an alternative 1984.

Edit: I couldn't have been more wrong here...this is not 1984, this is the Matrix. Why else the need for smartphones? Surely not for turning us all into something alike Agent Smiths, right? I can see Playstation and Xbox waking up one morning and see what is going on in the outside world, hastily creating countermeasures, but all to no avail... Soon the whole world will be a Re-Dead-ish obedient Nintendo fanboy stuck in a world where Everybody 1-2-Switch is the norm...this my people is the true definition of Nintendoomed...

Dear Nintendo (I know you(r) ninjas read everything on the internet), please let us mix & match these (and every other) beautiful Joy-cons when buying a new console...do that and you can add at least a whole quantity of one Switch Oled to your total numbers .
Hell, I will even quit my job and come work for you, so I can be the one to pair everyone's mix & match wishes with their newly bought console.

@FishyS As a person with medium motion-sickness, a slight disposition towards masochism and whose biggest enjoyment in games is the narrative and the music, I am really loving your whole comment .
Every once in a while the soundtrack pops up in my Spotify-lists, really lovely music . Let's hope there is still enough music in-game and not too much motion sickness stuff going on.

@Anachronism Haha, my thoughts exactly, although I also liked Tetra in the Wind Waker. If the real me ever ends up in a Zelda game, I want it to be with one of those three Zelda's .

@Varkster Totally agree with your concise break-down of the music in BotW .
BotW is a completely different game-experience than most Zelda's, especially in length and atmosphere, and the music is, in my opninion, a perfect addition to that game-experience.

After just playing through Majora's Mask again (a game which took me 20-ish hours or so to slowly play through) I couldn't help but think about the Town-song (tuu tuu duu duu duu duu duuu, tuu tuu duu duu duu duu duu du...) being in the background for the 200-ish hours I wandered through BotW's Hyrule. I think I would have turned into a DekuScrub myself somewhere along the way, haha .

@CharlieGirl Sorry I am new to this site and you probably know about this already, but Deku-Deals keeps track of most of the digital and physical prices in your own country. By adding TotK to my wishlist there I was able to buy TotK physical for "only" 52 euros .

@Friendly Haha, right about that (both your posed question and the obvious answer). One of my friends even quitted his current job with tomorrow (the 11th of May) as his last day at the office. Just so he can play TotK for a few weeks before he starts his new job on the 1st of June.

@Friendly Noooo...my backlog would grow even more with remasters like that, haha .

Good to see TotK is still slated for the 12th of May .
And thanks Nintendo, for giving us time to work on our backlog, haha .