DemonKow

Only 3 more games to get through before next Summer and then I can understand what the hell is going on in this one 😅

Planning to finally finish Chained Echoes this weekend.

Overall enjoyed the game, but the Sky Armor battles are wearing thin. It just seems like there are way fewer directions combat can take and it's become a slog, especially banging my head on spoiler and spoiler

LET ZELDA DRIVE YOU COWARDS.

Still super stoked.

You could say the same about the mafia 😉

Seriously though, I've done hiring in a technical field, and even if Japan is different, those numbers are absurd. These people, are employable elsewhere, so that speaks to a level of job satisfaction that is unheard of.

More than fine, my backlog is so filled with 40+ hour games that it's rare that I get to something on release day. I'm more than supportive of taking a few more months to make it right and let your developers get a little sleep. We'll still be here.

One of few games I'm not waiting for a sale for. I am the target audience and a sucker for everything they're selling. And I'm very happy with that.

I really dug him geeking out over the mechanics, there's something about you realizing there are ways you interact with the world that fundamentally change the "feel" of the game. I think it shows an understanding of game design and how you get introduced to those mechanics and how you build (reference SMB level 1-1 for perhaps the best example of in the industry). If you can do that, you can design the puzzles that interact with the world that don't pull you out of the story.

A second order of that would be Chrono Trigger cause and effect that's pretty much baked into the core concept of the game. Sea of Stars won't have to (and probably shouldnt) lean into the same mechanics, but can still use the same understanding to create something unique out of it.

Have I mentioned I'm super into the hype on this one??? 😁

I love DekuDeals as much as anyone here, but it takes a fair amount of curating to not be a flood of garbage games on perpetual sale.

Bringing back the Seal of Quality would help, even if not required to list a game. We could at least filter them out if someone didn't get Big N to vouch that it's a real game. You're always free to play a garbage game, but it shouldn't drown all the little and niche games made in good faith by indies.

Chained Echoes! A couple hours in and enjoying it a lot so far, waiting to get completely blindsided like every RPG when I finally figure out the systems and realize I've been doing it wrong the whole time.

Plus some Smash Ultimate and Mario Kart with the kids.

Late comment here because I rage quit due to frustration with the controls. To be very direct, the gameplay borders on awful at times. However this almost made me miss one of the most fantastic stories I've seen in a game.

It is dark, and you don't come away feeling good about a lot of the stories. But it's heartfelt and strange and in some cases, presented in a very unique and interesting way. There may be complaints for short runtime, but it will stay with you after the credits roll.

I loved the mood this game set and remember it fondly, but I have to agree the gameplay didn't age all that well. The cool down, charging, and leveling are tedious, especially after playing the Trials remake.

Also the music in that cave leading to the dwarf village really reminds me of Opeth's "Hours of Wealth." It's strange how some things can stick with you.

@CharlieGirl Serious Sam is a fantastic series that I don't think ever got the love it deserves. It's so fantastically nonsensical and over the top and its something the rest of the gaming world needed to take note of, especially in the early oughts.

Aside from Doom and Wolfenstein in the 90s I never really got much into FPS games, they frequently seem so joyless (as opposed to mowing down mutant nazis).

@Definitely-Not-Leon it can definitely be called out of hand when a sequel comes out for a game in your backlog that you've had since it came out.

It is really out of hand when the remake comes out 😅

Expecting to Triangle Strategy this weekend. Maybe onto Chained Echoes?

I also got Three Hopes on deep discount, so some stupid fun there too.

@Dm9982 they did one about Subzero under the Mortal Kombat Mythologies spinoff title. It was a lovely idea but it was... inconsistently executed, to be very kind.

Made it to chapter 14 in my rerun of Triangle Strategy. Fantastically dense plot and politics and gameplay is so much fun, but damned if Team Asano can't name a game to save their lives.

At the time I really liked the remake - but with most forays into more "advanced" rendered graphics from the late 90s/early oughts, I don't think that they aged well and they're kind of distracting now. I thought the story additions were nice tho (the original was breathtaking in its day but it does show its age in its simplicity).

The eShop has some QC issues (which is well documented), although I consider the worst offenders to be akin to Amazon book scam artists who game the search results - there are even YouTube channels for instruction to people who give zero effs about anything but getting a busy uninformed parent and/or child to mistakenly hand over some residual profit, and the bar for entry is getting lower with ChatGPT.

I don't know if the old Nintendo Seal of Quality(TM) would be too cost prohibitive just to filter out the dregs, maybe still give everyone ability to list but consumers would be able to filter for the Seal? If someone wants to part with a fiver for The Last of Call of Modern Ghost of Warfare Horizon 2 - GOTY Edition, they still can, but they know they're getting something that will likely only be for laughs.

Im playing Triangle Strategy again, restarting after I forgot all the drama up to this point. Having more fun now that I understand how to properly use some of the units (and just flat out ignore others, you can't level everyone).

Also, my kids are wasting me in MK.

I like the look of the SNES version but there's something about the squirelliness of the original NES versions I love, especially on 3. Problem is NES hardware failed so quickly it wasn't a great way to keep playing.

Lost Levels felt like someone's lackluster showoff Mario Maker levels. They were difficult but just not any fun, I'm glad we got Doki Doki Panic reskinned instead. The idea that Mario can get reinvented went well with the series.

I think especially given the modest beginnings, the first game was a wonderful, compact ghost story, with a bit of teenage angst that didn't seem too over the top. It had an excellent vibe, I'm glad they went in a new narrative direction but with just a bit more polish. I'm definitely in on this.

It's a mixed bag on the tracks for me, I think I liked the previous wave better.

Having Kamek and Petey Piranha makes it worth it tho, my kids are stoked (especially after getting Birdo)

It's a lot easier to speak the truth now that NFTs have crashed and investors aren't convinced this is easy money anymore. I don't know that anyone made a credible claim that blockchain applications added anything that would be called "fun."

I like the world building and tie ins - Trails games are fantastic at this and the Crossbell duology is almost built on it as the prime mission of the SSS. If you meet a guy who says in passing he has a brother in Erebonia, you're likely to run into him sometime later, even in a later game. It makes the world feel more alive, like it's going on with or without your intervention, even if you can have an impact on it.

And sweet quest loot. I love that too.

Might be fun to look at this one altho it's different from way back when I didn't have money for new games so I might as well have patience 😅. I'd probably get halfway through the third level and rage quit in favor of my extensive backlog, so this might not be a full price purchase.

@Ralizah I've got a reasonably high threshold for anime/Manga tropes but it would be really cool if low grade assault wasn't a standard tactic for romantic or comedic effect. But then again, hot men would never commit a unwanted and likely criminal act, so maybe it's a presentation issue 🤔.

I still want to see CS 1&2 on the Switch in the West. I hear that means a ridiculous localization effort or a licensing agreement with XSEED, so I'm worried there will never be a strong enough business case for either.

Maybe GeoFront to the rescue again???

@SigmaNoire buttonmashy JRPG? I was eyeing it warily on deep discount but may give it another look

Idk, I'll readily concede that people can like multiple genres and may have overlap in interests between Zelda and COD. But FPS are typically better as multi-player, and Nintendo online stuff can have mixed performance, to be generous.

There is a VIP lounge in Hell for the dev team of Ghouls n' Ghosts. My buddy and I spent over a decade trying to beat it and when we finally did it went "lol do it again with a bracelet."

Man, gaming used to be wild.

We can discuss teraflops all we want, there are not enough games I can't get on Switch to draw more than a passing interest in XBOX, and Call of Duty does absolutely nothing to change that. I'm not super in favor of the merger but I don't think equating frame rates desirability on the market is that valid of a point.

Finished up Persona 4 Golden, it was okay but didn't fully resonate with me since I cared more about the mystery than the characters. Playing a few runs of Hades and Mario Kart while I'm figuring out the next 40+ hour game forever stuck in my backlog since an eShop sale. Maybe Ys VIII or Valkyria Chronicles?

My kids are stoked about Petey Piranha and Kamek.

Maybe overly reductive, but doesn't this look like a really stylish first person Gauntlet?

Not a bad thing if the gameplay works.

I did not expect this at all, but it's just piling on for the direct. It's such a wonderful, odd game that captured a bizarre time in gaming. I'd love to get that feeling again.

It's always my backlog that suffers.

I know there isn't much to go on but I hope they nail the mechanics. Like, y'know, floaty without FEELING floaty?

Otherwise, pretty excited. I'd love to see a Rosalina game, but that may be too much to ask.

I missed the original so I was piqued by the rumours of this coming. Definitely looking forward to this.

Wut.

They had me at the caterpillar pipe. I have no idea what I was looking at and I want to be a part are this.

Not sure if it's my cup of tea but I think my daughter would be all over this if it's fun to play. Looking forward to the reviews.

Octopath is the best game I can't bring myself to recommend to anyone who isn't already a JPRG fan. It really doesn't hit its stride until chapter 2 (or even 3 for some characters), which is like 30+ hours into the game. And you won't even know the actual story if you just happened to miss some random jerk asking for a healing grape.

I'm definitely interested if it comes to the Switch. A competent remaster is all I'd ask, although a remake is good too.

I get a unfairly negative tone around the first game here. It had a great tension and a fun story, even though its obvious it had modest beginnings. It's not like it's the first ghost story with a bunch of kids, right?

That said, more resources and actual adults within 20 miles of the happenings might be a good direction too 😀

@Zuljaras you're in for a treat, Castlevania III is by far the best of the NES games, and I think you could argue it's the best until the franchise morphed into its more modern form (styled like 2 but not terribly limited).

The mainstream appears to have lapped me while I've been playing P4G (just got into November)! Does that mean I'm ahead of the curve if at least one other person is now claiming it for the weekend?

Sadly, it looks like it will be that way next weekend, as I have to be at work for the next two consecutive weeks.

I'm kind of curious if Nintendo couldn't just let it go with the provision that the major emulators report statistics and gauge relative engagement based on usage to figure out which remasters would likely be profitable. If people are gonna do it, at least get the marketing data.

They absolutely never would go for it, but I think it's an interesting alternative approach.

If you're physical only I can see preorders for niche games, but I have a hard time justifying preorder for digital. This kind of reinforces that.

If I put down money I expect it to be downloading within 30 seconds. I'm not receptive to "floating" credit for publishers. Kickstarter is one thing and at least you know there's a risk of project failure before you commit.

Taking a break from Persona 4 and poking around at other games to see what suits my mood. I have a tonne of consensus "great" games in the backlog but I have a hard time getting through any of them if I'm not in the right frame of mind. Maybe one of the Ori games finally?

Also Mario Kart and Smash with the kidlets.

Sauntering thru Persona 4 Golden and possibly looking at Inscryption. Getting out to touch grass for a bit too. Important things 😀

@FX29 right?! Doesn't have to be fancy, maybe a stupid fun over the top Sailor Moon brawler. I don't know if the business case works out but I'd totally get it and play it with my kids.

I'm a little baffled by who this is intended for. If you wanted to play a Splatoon-like, odds are you already have a Switch and will just play Splatoon 3. It's not immediately apparent what this actually does better.

See also Chocobo GP or whatever, that took the idea of a broad IP Kart racer BUT ALSO featuring fewer tracks, more grind, and microstransactions. I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to wedge NFTs in for good measure.

Gris was a lovely experience that didn't overstay its welcome. The good faith from that alone and what I see here is enough to convince me to give it a try.