Comments 373

Re: Poll: Final Fantasy IV - Do You Prefer The Original Or The DS Remake?

DemonKow

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).

Re: Mailbox: Nintendo Life Letters Page - Loose Carts, Old Fogeys, Other Ms

DemonKow

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.

Re: Poll: Super Mario All-Stars Is 30 Years Old - Do You Prefer The NES Or SNES Versions Of The Classics?

DemonKow

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.

Re: Talking Point: What Makes A Good Sidequest, Anyway?

DemonKow

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.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (June 24th)

DemonKow

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.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (June 10th)

DemonKow

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.

Re: Valve Confirms It Contacted Nintendo About Dolphin Emulator Coming To Steam

DemonKow

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.

Re: Radirgy Swag Delisted From Switch eShop As Dispatch Games Remains Silent

DemonKow

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.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (June 3rd)

DemonKow

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.

Re: Random: Square Enix's New Turf War Shooter Has 'Splatoon' Trending Online

DemonKow

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.

Re: Soapbox: If Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Isn’t Switch’s Swan Song, It Really Should Be

DemonKow

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).

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 13th)

DemonKow

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.

Re: Square Enix Game Sales Down 12.2% Despite Multiple High-Profile Releases

DemonKow

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.

Re: Talking Point: What Is A 'Traditional' Zelda Game, Anyway?

DemonKow

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.

Re: Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series Launches On Switch Later This Month

DemonKow

@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.

Re: Nintendo And Mobile Firm DeNA Launch Joint Venture Company

DemonKow

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.