Diowine

Actually that is a good parallel. If Shadow of the Erdrtee had been released by Atlus probably they would have done this royal/vengeance monstruosity forcing original owners to buy the full game again just for some add-ons and enhancement to the story.
But on the other hand FromSoftware chads released this huge expansion that could have even been considered a full game on it's own as a DLC and is doing great..
Look I loved both SMTV and Elden Ring and know are completely different games, but definitively only bought SOTE and not Vengeance and am loving every second of it. I honestly hope for SOTE to do amazingly and Vengeance to be a flop for the way they released it.

I really really want a new Switch successor soon. My 2017 Switch feels very aged today. So I was not expecting much for Swan Song titles this year.
Well.... there was a lot shown here with at least 3 must buys for me, being Mario Party, Zelda and MP4 making it an outstanding Direct.
Hopefully I will end up buying MP4 as a launch title for the next console instead.

Amazing Direct, specially considering the age of Switch. The only bad part is that this amount of content just makes Switch 2 look farther than I hoped for

Please make it a Switch 2 release title too! At this point this game deserved next gen power. But looks great anyways.
Hoping for a BOTW kind of release for both platforms

Best announcement! Very unique. Day one for sure.
At first I was afraid this was going to receive the Princess Peach game treatment making it for soft children (challenge wise).
But then the trailer continued and this one looks absolutely creative and fun!!

40 minute Direct for only H2 games without any mention to Switch successor at this point in Switch's lifetime?
Either the trailers are going to be 5min for each game or something, because there can't be that many announcements for just a semester in such an old system... can it?

Making the original buyers buy it all over again is just sad.

• Loved the gameplay and challenge of the original release.
• Was disappointed on the bad story
  Now this enhancement seems to have improved the later one, so this could have been the version for me but this Atlus practice is just so lame that there is no way I am buying the full game again.
  Just release your final version of the games from the get go, let original users upgrade or make these enhancements a DLC.

Edit: Apparently there are people who bought the first one and are willing to pay again and not even wait for a sale. Well.. yeah this way Atlus will keep with these practices ofc.

HD-2D as everyone mentioned. I am tired of remakes but this one, this one would be nice with that treatment.
3D would be too risky and a recipe for ruining it

Good Enough Review, maybe I am using my Switch again for the first time this year this Friday? It was collecting dust in a corner due to the lack of good releases. Man, this year even got me again full into Fortnite for a time due to the lack of games for me other than FFVII Rebirth.
Glad to be back

@DDFawfulGuy yeah maybe the fanboy part was too much. Honestly not bait, but seems it touched a sweet spot on you with the " lack empathy or struggle to think logically" part.
Again, your best point is: "And then more often than not I receive it on release day." Yeah I have seen a lot of cases where they preorder and even then it arrives late.
In summary, no discount, no difference for digital, physical shipping can get delayed and physical pickup is the same as not pre-ordering if your local stores don't have shortages. So yeah, not much benefit there.
On the other hand you wait for critic reviews, audience scores, word of mouth, you can go to other store if the one shipping gets delayed, and can pay after, mostly.
But if you are 100% convinced that you are going to buy and don't care for an abysmal case where the game ends up being trash (Any game, not Paper Mario) then go ahead.
Again, not trolling, just pointing out why I don't see benefits of preordering.

@Tempestryke not at all. This was no bait.
6 people have responded to the comment and so far the best reason I was given to preorder a game, that doesn't offer extra bonuses nor discount for buying in advance, is to 'save around 15min of your time on launch day because it pre-downloads'. That is if you are waiting at midnight for release to play immediatley.
Other than feeling like a reciprocate fan I see no reason to preorder in other cases.

Hey that is ok, but for example other than the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, there is no game in 2024 that I would buy before confirming it's worth it when it launches through reviews and hands on impressions..

@Ryu_Niiyama @VoidofLight both are great reasons I cannot deny. Thanks for sharing!
Maybe in my case I just don't preorder because I went ~80% digital for a couple years now and because of some bad surprises related to games that I was expecting a lot but that when reviews came in the same week of release I just had to desist because they sounded like a big letdown.
Only 2025 game I 100% know I will get is Shadow of the Erdtree dlc. Other than that waiting for reviews.

Unless a discount is included in it, I will never understand game preorders, specially digital ones. Clearly I am missing something because it makes no sense. You can buy it digitally the same day and even wait to see if for some reason the game ends up being trash after reviews. Physical preorder could only make sense if you think there will be a shortage, but that is very uncommon I believe. Not even financially convenient to spend it beforehand. But hey clearly I am missing something because a lot of people preorder

Joy Cons are beautiful at sight, but are a big peace of trash that stopped me from buying intense games when in doubt just to avoid drifting more of them.
Horrible peace of hardware that must be updated

Nintendo is really pushing it to the limit this gen. They need to do some serious announcements even before Luigi's Mansion launch . Only 2 Nintendo games at sight and both are remakes from 3 gens ago with downgraded fps.

Not too important, specially for a low paced RPG. But it is a Gamecube game remake that already ran at 60FPS. That bothers me, feels lazy like the Tales of Symphonia remake. Doesn't sound too difficult for a game like that to be 60fps. Like it should not not even be hard for an aged system like the Switch today.

@PikminMarioKirby exactly this. Couldn't care less about how it connects, just use hal-effect or anything needed to stop drifting and I am in.

@Serpenterror Yes most people seemed to like it. Both critics, newcomers and old fans alike.
You can say you didn't like the remakes and it's perfect, but saying that they are garbage is nothing more than bait. "I know which one is garbage" Yes, everyone else is bad you are right....

Not a single mention in the post nor in the comments about Hades 2 shows how unlikely it is to be shown, but anyways that is my biggest hope, knowing that Earthblade has been delayed from this year and at this point not knowing if Silksong really exists or if it is just a concept we all imagined but is never really happening.

Both Prince of Persia and, specially, Dead Cells are names I like so I am most probably going to get it.
But although they already proved themselves great at 2d Roguelikes, I was expecting a new different route from the Dead Cells developers when they announced that they were over with that one.
Anyways good news in a very week year of gaming news

I loved SMT5, one of my favorite JRPGs in the last decade, yes the story was horrible but the mechanics and the challenge were great....
But this is a horrible practice from Atlus. Even the hated GameFreak stopped doing this and just released new content as DLC instead of a new "better and longer version of the same game". Just for principles there is no way I am paying for this.

@somnambulance yes totally agree. Covering both my platforms, the only remaining games for 2024 with release dates available for me are TTYD and Shadow of The Erdtree, which is a DLC anyways.
Very weak year in gaming compared to the last few.

I am glad they are taking their time to deliver a great game, anything close to Celeste is great.
But this was the only game other than Paper Mario that I was expecting for 2024 related to the Switch (Having already discarded both Hades 2 and Silksong for this year).
Sad but not surprised

TOTK is objectively better ofc, it is the same as BOTW but bigger, with better mechanics and a better story but.... I just prefer BOTW.
The best part of these games by far is the sense of adventure and discovering new areas, and altough there were certain changes to the map in the sequel + the addition of that underworld and sky islands; the underground is very repetitive and the islands are just not too many nor big enough.
Discovering the BOTW map for the first time is something unmatched that TOTK simply couldn't replicate.

@OldGamer999 yes totally unrelated comment you made. But I honestly agree and haven't bought any game for Switch since TOTK; having only finished older games in my backlog since then and moved into PS5 completely. The new system needs to be announced yesterday

@Tasuki

@SpaceboyScreams sounds harsh... but I agree with everything you said. They killed the franchise for me with the last 2 mainline entries. But sadly the sales say otherwise and people are still praising them for their "attempt" at open world, when they have done a horrible job at that too. They already had the budget and still created a mess of a game.
Also regarding the lack of challenge. People still defend them arguing that it's targeted for children.. C'mon! Very Poor excuse, children can deal much higher challenges than that and most R/B and G/S era are still buying these, so it's no excuse.

@Bratwurst35 XD!!
Yep dumpster, bottom of the trash can, etc etc, seems like my comment stressed you out, sorry for that.
To the contrary to that exaggeration, I never said 8 is bad . But reducing 2 points, a full 20% of the full mark only due to some random, not even constant, resolution issues sounds too harsh. Seems like, from the review, they could probably have given it a 9.
Again, not a game for me, but probably a 9 for it's target audience if frame rate is the only issue.

Considering this is a kid's game, so no one can be dissapointed by that, and that the only listed issues are frame rate and resolution, an 8 seems a little low maybe? I know this is not a game for me, but considering the audience I was expecting a 9 if those were the only issues

@HeadPirate definitively and I agree with you.
But if you are referring to my Pokemon reference by any chance, it's not that we have grown better, I played and left the last couple entries in disappointment. Like, honestly without grinding you could beat the whole games just with your starter without a sweat.
And if I jump back to f.ex Emerald or to Soul Silver now, those are much more challenging. Not SMT level close by any chance ofc, but definitively in a level that is fun still at least

@HeadPirate XD yes, that is most probably going to happen.
Definitively it is not targeted for me and I will not play it, but happy to see a "New" IP (?) that many people seem to be looking forward to.
I just get sad when stablished franchises such as Pokemon go from at least a little challenge to the whatever it is that we are getting nowadays with the latest entries.
But this one is clearly on the super easy side from the start and not fooling/deceiving any fan and that is good I believe

This may be a (very expected, we all knew it was going to be in sale sooner rather than later) sign to pick up my Switch for the first time this year. It has been collecting dust for a while, while I focus on other consoles.
After Paper Mario there seems to be nothing more left for me on the Switch sadly.

Mid. Third party games have never been among Nintendo Consoles' strongest selling point, it just doesn't have the technical power to compete against other platforms where you would end up playing these with better quality and even sometimes included in their subscription services.
This unless ofc the game really benefits from the handheld option.
But still, I was hoping for a little more from Square Enix and others.

So the best part was definitely the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer

Definitely I am not in the target audience, but seems specially nice for kids. Hope it does well anyways

@Znake great recommendation thanks. I have been looking for a nice 2D platformer Challenge for a while, something in the Celesteish style for example, or similar, and though Mario Wonder looks beautiful, the lack of challenge mentioned by mostly everyone made me look elsewhere.

I'll be honest, I've never played a DK country game. The only DK game that I have ever played was at the same time my first console game ever: DK64, and the nostalgia is huge with that one, I love it no matter what anyone says about it.
But I have been tempted to give Tropical Freeze a try for a long time, and considering how weak this 2024 year in gaming looks right now for all platforms, this may be the year.

@XiaoShao @bluemage1989 @Qwiff As I have stated above, I completely disagree with his position regarding those games. Again, it's not just those "pretentious journalists overhyping" the game, it's the user scores all over the place and the comments online that by a huge majority praise the game.
But this time I disagree with removing his comment, it is related to the game in the article and opened a debate. Does not seem like he is trolling nor insulting anyone. Shouldn't have been removed.

Update: Though, I agree that saying that a game is rubbish when the article mentions related layoffs is a little harsh ofc. Not too nice having that as the first of the comments, but anyways I wouldn't have removed it.

If this is true, then considering the current 2024 Switch lineup, as is that of both PS5 and XBox, this looks like the weakest year in gaming that I can remember.
FFVII Rebirth and Paper Mario TTYD for me maybe, but nothing else at sight, unless there is a shadow drop for either Silksong and/or Hades II by EOY, but seems unlikely.

@bluemage1989 "Disco Elysium was rubbish anyway"
Yeah I won't lie, that take got my attention, not sure if bait.
So I wanted to know what you considered a masterpiece and according to your user scores, a game like Persona 4 Golden is a 1/10, and both BOTW and Hollow Knight are 8/10 but Pokemon Brilliant/DIamond is a 10/10 and Pokemon SV is a 9/10! (wtf)....
It's ok to have a different taste, it's only that yours is definitively against the general consensus.
So yeah... Disco Elysium = Masterpiece as both critics and Audience have constantly stated, not Garbage.
I got really bored with Animal Crossing for example, but I am not saying it is garbage, just not my cup of tea.
You can like it or not but can't say it's garbage because it is objectively wrong.

All I care about here is the "a full-fat February Nintendo Direct is probably off the cards..." piece sadly.
Other than older games (Ori and Metroid Dread) that I had pending and finally found the time to buy and play due to the lack of new games, there has been no Switch game for me since TOTK. Only looking forward to MP TTYD, and nothing else from Nintendo at the moment. Sad

Keep them dual and maybe let the current ones be compatible for multiplayer if possible, not a must, but please please PLEASE let's have new controllers that don't drift again. Joy cons are beautiful and the PS5' Dualsense is amazing but in the end both are drifting garbage.
Fix it for the new gen. Either return to old sticks or implement hall sensor ones. Don't be cheap

@Euler Not a chance that the next Nintendo console launches after 2026, not even after 2025. It has really shown it's age by now as mentioned by @KoopaTheGamer. It will happen this year or the next

@Ryu_Niiyama I honestly expect not only Metroid Prime 4 as a launch year title, but also a new 3d Mario which is long due and hopefully a new Mario Kart too.
Just give me 2/3 of that as a release lineup and count me in.

So, officially no Switch 2 announcement in this week's Nintendo Direct at the current rate, they just want to reach that milestone.
Jokes aside, they will reach that number this year with or without a new console announcement probably. Big numbers

So... we are betting on a Nintendo Direct due for Wednesday Feb. 7h based on recent trends? ...Please?

One of my favorite JRPG games of all time. Played both twice and I liked this one better both times. The random battles may not be the way to go for today's standards but such good games anyways

@dr-gorgo nah they only do that with AAA Nintendo titles. They are less forgiving with third party titles. Also as pointed out by @anothergamer100, it is also doing great at Metacritic, so I think the score seems legit

~10% did not even finish the game, (including myself), on a gaming site poll. Adding kids to that poll who don't get into this page, and who are the main target of mainline Pokemon games nowadays, would just increase that % I believe.
Just shows how bad and boring these games have become

Everyone complaining about humanoid / bipedal Pokemon, yet Mewscarada being voted as the most popular.... Yeah maybe that is the same case as with the recent absolute lack of challenge in those games; maybe that is part of why they sell so well even if I can't understand it.
Seems like it is really time for me to turn the page and leave this franchise behind for good. Definitively not their target anymore (been playing since Crystal version in my GBA)