DemonKow

Finished up Trails to Azure. Can't get myself into TotK yet since I finally just completed BotW and it would be burnout (it was my first game on Switch, so it was overdue).

Launching into Death's Door and Persona 4!

I would like to see a successor to the Switch as much as anyone, and if Nintendo has one planned a full development cycle might be better targeted for the next platform to encourage adoption.

That said, I worked in software for years, specializing cross-platform applications and infrastructure. I've found that while having raw horsepower is good, 90% of issues I found other teams ran into were just failure to acknowledge even basic complexity theory and optimisation on the software side, or failure to utilize the resources correctly for specific target hardware. Without being in the developers room, I would suspect this is how we end up with some "miracle ports" while other mid grade games struggle.

I really think the bigger question is whether it's worth it for the publisher, even Nintendo, to pay for the good development time to make it work (which with some ports means a significant refactor).

Finally got thru BotW a few weeks ago, enjoying it immensely (largely driven by the TotK hype with a kick in the bum to get through). But I needed some time away to cool off, as is the case with the 60+ hour games I tend to favour. That is a curse of age now that I can afford the games I want but never have the time to just play them like 30 years ago. Responsibility is lame.

In chapter four of Trails to Azure this weekend as I get time. I'm enjoying the chaos and melodrama, the "Yes... AND" approach to plot is a lot of fun.

Honestly I think S/E took the absolute wrong lesson since in their eyes everything underperformed. A few (very good) AA type games and a sea of remasters and ports. What did they expect out of Various Daylife and a sloppy Chrono Cross remaster? When a company starts doing AAA games anything less is just a waste to the suits and then we start hearing grumbles about blockchain again.

I liked a good chunk of what came out of the last year (and voted with my wallet) but on a good day the ratio of good to bad decisions by S/E is 1:1.

I loved Hollow Knight, but I've got a backlog of quality games already that I don't have time to burn down, so a delay on this one isn't world shattering for me, but I'm an irritating lagging edge gamer that the business types hate. I hope the extra time makes it the game Team Cherry wanted.

Is it bad enough to be a campy B-movie (like Deadly Premonitions)? Or just bad?

Midway through Trails to Azure, it's so far delivered on the over-the-top plotline and melodrama that I came for. About to travel for work so I'm trying to get some time in when I can.

Eyeballing The Stanley Parable on sale in the eshop as a shorter change up from the usual bimonthly JRPG.

Huge disagreement on linearity - OG Zelda didn't at all have it, and even Link to the Past opened up fully once you got the hammer, you could exit L1 and go get the Titan Mitt and do just about anything in any order.

Exploration is really the key thing, and while I would have liked more formal dungeons than just the Divine Beasts, I think BotW definitely qualifies.

@GrowingWings it's never too late! TotK trailers were the kick in the rump I needed to actually go finish BotW, and I had a blast once I stopped trying to rush through

Continuing Trails to Azure and Mario Kart 8 with the kids!

OG FF with the obscene random encounter rate and an odd turn can wipe your party then back to the inn with you. 4 (2 in the US) was life changing and I've been hooked on RPGs since.

I really liked freeing Naydra at the spring of wisdom, I wasn't prepared for a fight that big and it was a new challenge (while also swapping in cold resistance elixirs)

Eventide was also a blast.

@Ade117 the SNES games are more tolerable to modern sensibilities, 5 and 6 aged better than 4. I would recommend any of those 3. 6 is still talked about in the breath of greatest of all time, for good reason.

The NES games are a relic that are good to see where gaming used to be but I would not call them good experiences, with the caveat that I originally played 2 and 3 via sketchy translated ROMs a long time back and a remaster might have smoothed some of the rougher edges. There's still immense grind.

I'm not terribly concerned, Nintendo has never chased trends and I don't think this is a hard commit to change core games based on the language presented. It would be generous to say Nintendo's online capability is lacking in some areas. Maybe this could help integrate platforms in a way that doesn't seem 15-20 years behind. That is non-trivial so maybe a partnership will help.

I remember the 1993 movie coming out when I was a kid and being utterly confounded as to what I just watched. "Passable" should be fine, which is about what I expect from Illumination.

While the winking may get tiresome, it helps to remember that you may be a huge Nintendo fan and have been for your whole life, the Easter eggs are for your benefit, so enjoy them because you're probably no longer the target audience. I'm sure my kids will enjoy it.

I think the new powers are interesting for the improvisation aspect, which I learned to love in BOTW after I realized I couldn't just bulldoze monsters anymore.

That said, I'm disappointed we didn't see more of the progression mechanics. I actually considered the divine beasts de facto dungeons, so what do we have now? 120 shrines were a fun treasure hunt, but it'd be exhausting to do that again.

Its... fine. That would be the word I'd use.

BOTW didn't click for me the first time because I charged in with objectives and just wasn't having fun (and getting my rump handed to me in the process). I had a lot more fun later when I appreciated the meandering experimentation and exploration as the core of the gameplay. This definitely checks the experimentation box.

I'm more curious about exploration, and there are a few sky islands but I'm not sure what else we got at this point. I see this as a general positive, but I don't know that I see a revolution in gaming as claimed.

Finally getting to BotW... it was the first Switch game I got but never got too far into it the first time. I was playing in a hurry and that is absolutely not the way to have a good time with it. Enjoying it much better this time around, hit about 25 shrines and I'm just now thinking about Vah Rutah 😀.

My wife also observed that the Koroks are just teaching the youth to walk into fae traps in the name of exploration.

@Rambler this was interesting - Martin Amis is a reasonably big deal in literature now, although I don't know if he was then.

Game novels are definitely still around as a niche genre at least that I think is good to get a certain segment of the youth motivated to read. My son has a bunch of Minecraft books that get him off the Switch.

I remember a Mega Man 2 book when I was a kid pretty fondly. If I were to go back it'd probably be revealed as be glorified licensed fanfic. I do still remember the deviation on Air Man's weakness being noteworthy. Shocking even.

Found it!
https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Mega_Man_2_(Worlds_of_Power)

I got Final Fantasy III (VI) and a Super Scope for Christmas as a lad, and the characters always ran from battle with no input. I was inconsolable. After two days I convinced my parents this was not how the game worked and called the Nintendo phone line. The guy who answered said "unplug your Super Scope."

@Kirgo I've worked a few estimates like this, and it was frequently a management issue. If you don't understand the original well enough to make a mod (and even a simple remaster is a mod), you need to take the time to do so or you will almost invariably get in over your head. That activity is sadly frequently viewed as overhead.

Bonus points for being told "we have to do it for $X," to which I usually respond "tell the customer they don't get it then." That should be an acceptable outcome if you're actually looking to make money. Obviously sometimes that doesn't happen, but a bit easier to get the point across working in flight software 😀

Loved the first, it felt how I remembered JRPGs from the 16-bit days. But it's a tough sell to get someone else into a game that really doesn't hint the greater story until 50 hours in and you can easily miss the cohesive narrative if you didn't complete certain side quests.

The original was a big risk, new graphics, different story, with sophisticated battle, and they hit more often than they missed. Refinement is good, I just wish I wasn't crushed under my own backlog.

This finally answered the question "IS THERE FISHING IN THIS JRPG?"

Yes. Yes, there is fishing,

Cold Steel 1/2... can I dream of Trails in the Sky?

Illusion of Gaia! It was a delightfully odd game that gave me a few places I want to see before I die.

Terranigma too.

Since I am a neutral third party, I can definitely say that if your partner does inventory differently they are most certainly wrong. Whether you need to reevaluate your future together is a more personal call 😀

I started with Zero, I'm sold for Azure. Anyone have advice if I should hold out for Cold Steel 1/2 (assuming localization is actually coming) or just get on with it already? I hear the end of 2 and the Crossbell duology have a bit of an intersection but wanted to avoid spoilers.

I'm excited for Reverie but it seems like an odd choice to be so dependent on the NINE PRECEDING GAMES and not yet having them all available in the west. I'm hooked, now shut up and take my money!

Started Tales of Vesperia on a whim, my backlog is imposing and I'm not sure why but this seemed like the time.

The new tracks in MK8 running as well

Y'all hit on a bunch, but if you haven't played Undertale, now is as good a time as any to give it a whirl.

I really liked the first one, but it is a seriously tough sell to ask someone to play a game for 50 hours before the story actually starts to emerge. I hope they get to the point a little faster with the second.

No thank you, I'd prefer a non canon musou version of the games people actually want to play on other platforms.

Still haven't done a Golden Deer route in Fire Emblem Three Houses. Lorenz might have a tragic accident early in the campaign.

Played as Earthbound Zero some time ago. It was cute, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend to anyone who wasn't already big EB fan. Good lord, the grind.

Working on the Origami King. Got it for my daughter and I ended up playing it more than her

Hype aside, my 7 year old loves Mario 64, and my 9 year old is owning Galaxy. Worth it from what I've seen.

@SoManyHaveDied because Harv is a creepy dude, feeling the love of the universe or not.

My kids bought into it and I got it on sale. Agree it looks and plays like garbage, but the kids are having a blast.

I don't understand youth these days.