Dualmask

Love the symmetrical analogs, but I never really liked the Gamecube's button layout. Worked great for games designed around it, but not in general.

Looks good to me. The unique art style makes it stand out. Seems like the kind of game I'd like to sink my teen into once I'm done with Trails of Cold Steel IV.

Ah dang, the combat wasn't what needed tweaking, it was the platforming.

I may still get it, if the game ever ends up on sale. I try to support games that feature attractive female leads as they seem to be fewer and further between these days, and there are worse titles than this.

Soon as I saw the article I immediately thought of Boktai. I used to love that game. Never beat it though.

I was satisfied with beating the game and finding all 100 shrines (not including the DLC which I never bought). I'm not that much of a completionist. Still an amazing game though. No idea of the percentage, I don't have the game anymore.

I loved everything about this game when I first played it except for the absurd challenge...if they tweaked that, I might see myself double-dipping, especially since I no longer have a PS3 to play the original on.

I remember finding the original Rayne sprites on a website somewhere when this game first came out--I was shocked to see how huge the originals were, like over 5000px tall. I studied them to learn various ways of making sprites for my own game projects, so...this game kind of means something to me.

Keep 'em coming, Inti Creates. I'll buy pretty much whatever 2D action games they release.

Grand Exile is the only one here that catches my eye. The gameplay looks nice and varied, even if the animation seems a little slow. Great character designs too.

Not interested at all in the PvP part, but the game looks neat enough...hope the single player is worthwhile.

Inverted Y should be the default...let everyone who insists upon doing it wrong have to go to options and change it.

/s

Anyway, bad game is bad. Moving on...

The game is conceptually strong, but I agree that the character designs are a bit bland. Still, it sounds like fun, and I like the idea of branching paths and multiple endings--Peace Keepers did the same thing back on SNES and it made the game a lot more fun and replayable than expected. Guardian Heroes was another one that had the feature.

Interesting character choices. I'm intrigued.

I loved the SNES design. My third favorite hardware after Wii and Switch. NES...eh, it's definitely iconic. At any rate, godspeed to a legend.

I bought the original but it was way too repetitive. Loved the character designs in the game and it seems the sequel has even better ones, but the gameplay looks like it's going to be just as shallow. Shame.

As someone who finds 3D, so called AAA games increasingly dull and stiff, I'm glad to see pixel art and 2D animation are still viable ways for game developers to make their mark.

I'd kill for them to expand their horizons as far as character design goes though...I mean, another spiky haired youth wielding a sword and similar weapons?

Art's nice, but I feel like this is also-ran.

Great feature. The SOR series on Genesis and ActRaiser were great parts of my youth and the music was a major part of that. Fillmore still gives me chills, even this way: https://twitter.com/yuzokoshiro/status/1413185677420765189

I had this for PS3. Couldn't beat it, but I loved the presentation. The gameplay was pretty good, but there was one point in the game that was nightmarishly difficult and the game is pretty straightforward and linear.

Not sure if I'm going to double-dip.

I agree with the assessment that to me, there's no distinction. Indie, AAA, whatever's in between, I look at games on their own merit based on whether the title's gameplay interests me in some way. Maybe it's a holdover from being there since the 'game industry' was in its infancy and thus can enjoy a game made with pixels, high-def models or whatever, but I believe every game must compete with others in the field regardless of the resources of its developer, and every title should be looked at as its own animal.

The term 'indie' means nothing to me as a buyer, although I do enjoy the idea of smaller teams and lone devs making their own games and standing shoulder to shoulder with larger companies and developers. There should be room for all who want to be there and can provide worthwhile entertainment, labels be damned.

Despite the mistake in having Marle throwing fire, the dynamic action on the NA box shows a great deal of what CT is about on a surface level and looks much more engaging than the Japan version.

Sigh, what an incredible game.

Looks like it could be fun. I'm becoming more forgiving of rogue-like games these days, because they tend to be affordable and nice little time-sinks between bigger games with more depth. A fun thing to boot up between sessions of RPGs and Metroidvanias even though I am almost never good or patient enough to finish them.

For some reason, I could never bring myself to pull the trigger when it comes to Axiom Verge. I love non-linear action platformers, but something about the aesthetic bothered me. I keep hearing how amazing this game is, but I can't get past the almost minimalist graphic style. Now I'm on the fence yet again.

My first Nintendo game was Pro Wrestling, but I consider Zelda to be my 'true' first game. While everyone I knew was getting the set with SMB and Duck Hunt, I didn't want it. So my dad got me a regular NES and let my brother and I pick our own games. He picked Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! and I picked Pro Wrestling, but barely played it. Then later on because of good grades or something I was allowed to get another game, saw the gold cart and the rest was history.

For me, create-a-character has often made the difference when it comes to my interest in a game. Maybe it's because I spend tons of time creating my own characters for creative projects. I will play a game that has pre-designed characters, but oftentimes I have shied away from a game because the character designs didn't do it for me. Being able to make my own and having gameplay that interests me just makes it that more likely I'll check the game out.

I reserved a Steam Deck, looking forward to getting my hands on it. No plans or expectations of abandoning my Switch, I'll just be using it for games that are a better fit from Steam (power and price considerations) or simply unavailable for Switch. I already think the Steam Deck be more fun and useful than a PS5, at any rate.

My anecdotal experience is that the Switch Lite doesn't offer enough of a benefit over the OG Switch to justify its existence at all. A price drop would help, but I still believe it's a device solving a problem that didn't exist. Kind of like the Game Boy Micro.

I sure did think it was 'Grand Upper', which sounds much more powerful than 'Ground Upper'...that good old Genesis synthesizer at work I suppose.

But as mentioned by someone else, I'm much more interested in what Blaze says during her moves...

Sounds like it will be as much a blast as the previous two.

BMZ3 for me, nothing else seems all that compelling.

I liked the demo, but now that I think about it, I have played too many modern RPGs (like Trails of Cold Steel III/IV) to deal with things like long load times, frequent random encounters and restrictive saves. The art seems to be the only thing this game has going for it...maybe they can patch things. The great thing about this day and age is that games can start out archaic but patch things up to modern standards, at least to some extent.

Probably not going to buy the Switch OLED until I need to replace my Switch, should that happen before the mythical/rumored Super Switch or whatever arrives. But OLED Switch, OG Switch or whatever comes next, my support for Nintendo isn't going anywhere.

Definitely feeling strongly about the Steam Deck though. I already put in a reservation.

Too much backlog to deal with. I'm still working my way through Trails of Cold Steel IV and I try to avoid taking on more than one heavy adventure game at a time. Maybe I'll grab CrisTales once that's done.

I destroyed my left Joy-Con trying someone's DIY fix (admittedly I'm no handyman) and decided to buy a pair of third party controllers instead. They've worked great for me for over a year now....but sadly I can't play Ring Fit with them.

If I ever get official Switch controllers again (perhaps when I end up getting a Switch OLED) and they drift, I'll keep this in mind.

I could really go for some six player versus in Guardian Heroes with my friends right about now...good times.

Lost interest in RWBY ages ago (the story/series that is, but I like the characters), but a 2D action game by WayForward is always going to get my attention.

The demo didn't seem too bad to me, and I pretty much only game on Switch nowadays (plus I prefer the option of handheld play) so that's how I'm going to nab this one. Loved Ys VIII and other games in the series, so I see no reason why I wouldn't enjoy this one too.

I'll give it a rent. Probably won't grab me the way a true MH game does despite it being based in the MH world and my having a love for turn-based RPGs...but we'll see.

Geez, that is a lot of light and flickering. I love an action-packed shooter as much as the next shmup fan but my eyes were starting to hurt.

Hope the game does well but these old eyes might just have to pass.

I don't get into the bullet hell games, so I'm very picky about what shmups I bother to play, I really enjoyed Steredenn (despite being unable to actually beat it) and Sky Force Reloaded.

An honorable mention that I don't hear anyone talking about is Jets 'n Guns 2...an amazing shmup with lots of replay value, tight visuals and incredible music. It's a little short and linear, but the gameplay and customization are excellent for a really fair price. And there's also Black Paradox, a simple but enjoyable shmup with upgrades, great pixel visuals and great music too.

Can't wait to get Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. The demo sold me almost instantly.

I was just reliving Skyblazer on an emulator the other day. I didn't even know there was a comic for it. By today's standards, pretty cringe, but the game is one of the better ones on SNES.

"Fixed a bug causing the charge blade's Amped Element Discharge to stray left or right too often."

I thought it was just me. I stopped using CB because I kept missing my AED attacks and thought something about the weapon was changed. Never thought it was a bug. Now I need to try it and see if it really is just me now.

Looks neat. Kind of reminds me of CrossCode. I'm interested.

I love Monster Hunter, and I love turn-based RPGs. I'm also not the kind of person who shies away from a game just because of some family-friendly, even childish aspects (I love Kirby games). But...'monstie'? I... I just don't know if I can with that. And that cat thing too...hmm. That's going to make it a tougher sell. Haha.

Metroidvanias are my favorites (next to turn-based RPGs) and I hope developers never stop making them.

I'm currently playing Blasphemous, and while I hate the lead character's design (that stupid helmet), the gameplay made me forget about it. It's punishing but not unfair, artistically amazing in all its disturbing glory and just all around engrossing.

I've been meaning to try The Messenger. It's been on my watchlist and it's been on sale, but something has always held me back from pulling the trigger. Maybe I'll give it a look after I finish Blasphemous. That or The Mummy Demastered. Played the demo of Astalon and I'm thinking I'll nab that in due time too.

Pixel art/hand drawn tends to age better than 3D, but AW is not the kind of game that relies heavily on frame rates and what not, so as long as the loading time is not excessive, the switch to 3D isn't a big deal to me. I'm going to be all over it just because it's Advance Wars.

I'm in the camp of '2D does not equal simpler, bad or worth less'. I agree with this article. Only time will tell if this game will be great or forgettable, but most Metroid games tend to trend great, so I think pricing it the same as any other top-tier first party game is fair.

@solidus I caught it on sale a while ago, actually. Think I paid $15-20 for it, but it's been a while since then, so I don't remember. Thanks though.

I was just thinking about these games...loved playing them on TV with the Game Boy Player with my friends. A pleasant surprise.

Akatori is the best thing shown here. Batora looks interesting too. The rest is meh.

Aw, now I'm sad because both my nearby local Gamestops have closed down.