EarthboundBenjy

the whole key card situation has made me very wary of getting any new Square Enix games.

Already I haven't yet bought Octopath 0 because I don't know whether the Switch 2 version's enhancements are "worth" having to use a dang key card.

Graphics look more Mother 3-ish than EarthBound-ish to me.

The focus on a body-horror "pulsating mass" does not really make the game sound very appealing to me lol, but I think I might give it a try anyway. I enjoyed Omori and Yume Nikki which, to be fair, both have their fair share of pulsating masses at various points haha.

Myles isn't an issue inherently, but there certainly are multiple game design problems that involve him.

• Myles tells you you can look for the keys in any order you like. But this is a lie. The game is very very linear.
• Myles radios you and tells you exactly where to go before you even have a chance to start working it out yourself.
• Myles radios you after spending time in the desert, thinking you might be lost, whereas in actuality, we're spending so much time in the desert because we're hunting down those stupid green crystals.
• Any time I ever actually pressed the radio button in my menu, it didn't work. It always said communication unavailable. Extremely strange.
• Having to return to Myles to install the shot chips exists purely because otherwise there would be no incentive to return to base camp often enough to see the GF members between areas. It feels very artificial and annoying.

I have no issue with the GF characters, and Myles's personality is fine with me. It's the game design problems I have a huge issue with.

Here's a tip to deal more damage during the very brief moments Sylux is vulnerable in phase one.

Before lassoing off the final tentacle, place a psychic Power Bomb in midair by holding the R button in morphball mode. Then unmorph, Lasso the tentacle, then immediately switch to Psychic visor and grab and throw the Power Bomb at Sylux. Then just spam regular shots.

I think this is the most damage you can do when he's vulnerable, though I'm not 100% sure.

I'm also eagerly anticipating the new Rhythm Heaven game. It will be wonderful to finally have some new material to obsess over for the rest of my life after so long.

@rvcolem1
tbh I actually have no problem with Samus in a bikini. I'm not prudish by any means. I just think it's interesting to contrast what was considered representation back in the olden days compared to now.

And it feels so natural too. It doesn't feel like any of the characters in this game exist as "pandering". The world of Silksong is so perfectly fully fleshed out, it would feel wrong if it was any other way.

I'm so glad videogames have come such a long way since "Samus in a bikini" was the best representation you could find.

I find Tetris 99 and Puyo Puyo way more comfortable with the split joy-con buttons than with a normal D-pad. The Pro Controller D-pad very often leads me to accidentally pressing up, which results in a hard drop in Tetris. I never get mis-inputs when I have the split buttons.

Also... PC gamers who play on keyboard use separate keys for movement all the time...? This feels like such a weird thing to make a big deal out of.

@Phantomensch1987
It's disappointing because it strays even further from what made Metroid Prime 1 so amazing in the first place. For a fan of Metroid Prime 1, Prime 4 offers basically nothing of note. The only "new" thing it does is the boring desert. And all of the "not new" elements are all done worse than in Prime 1.

...this isn't a game that's disappointing because it came out in the wrong era. This game would be seen as a huge disappointment even if it was released 1 year after Other M.

alright, I did my part - I rated UFO 50 with a ten star score. now everyone else do the same thing.

after finishing and being disappointed by Metroid Prime 4, I.... for some reason I felt compelled to return to my 3DS backlog and start playing Metroid Prime Federation Force for the first time. I bought this game a long time ago at a CeX for real cheap since I am a Metroid fan, but I never gave it a proper chance until now.

I guess I wanted to gain a clearer picture of what every Metroid Prime has been like, not just the main ones.

Federation Force isn't bad for what it is. I'm obviously playing solo, but the "Lone Wolf" equipment that doubles damage and defense during singleplayer is letting me get through the levels without too much issue.

The biggest issue I have with the game is the controls on the 3DS. This little handheld was not really made with twinstick shooters in mind, and it just cramps my hands like crazy trying to play one on it. I'm playing on a New 3DS XL so I have to use the tiny c stick nub. it's torturous.

....after playing Nintendo Switch in tabletop mode, I'm kind of wishing I could do the same here. I wish I could just wirelessly play 3DS with a pro controller. ... - Nintendo just hadn't thought of the idea yet, so it's not possible.

But yeah. I'm having a good time despite needing to take frequent hand-resting breaks. I can't believe this is the only Metroid Prime game that lets you do a side-dash at any time without having to be locked on. ...but the side-dash is faster than walking forwards, so in order to beat the target times for the medals, I guess we have to not look where we're going??? haha.

I'm not sure I want to go for 100% medals in this game - maybe after i've beaten all the missions I'll be satisfied enough.

I think this game could be salvaged in the eyes of fans if they made an expanded remake on Switch 2. If they made a Hunters + Federation Force double pack, that would be enough value for fans to give it another chance I think. As long as they do it right. This honestly would be more valuable to me than Prime 2 and 3 HD remasters, since those games aren't "stuck" with awkward handheld controls.

@Samuel-Flutter

I think a physical version is quite likely from Fangamer. They are selling physical Undertale, along with tons of Undertale and Deltarune merch, as well as the physical editions of lots of other popular indies like Celeste, Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Omori, Pizza Tower and some others. I see no reason why Fangamer wouldn't do a physical Deltarune.

noo don't powerwash BMO, he'd short-circuit

these online battles are so annoying because the prevailing strategy is to just keep running away all the time. Or so it seems. :/

The NSO version's save function doesn't work? What the heck they still haven't added controller pak emulation to NSO after all this time???

Team Cherry yet again proving themselves the best developers out there.

More older games should have Switch 2 upgrades. Especially games that suffer from poor performance. I hate that Bloodstained Ritual of the Night for example is still a hideous blurry laggy mess even when played on Switch 2. And the developers have stated that they have no plans to further work on that game, so it's just gonna stay like that.

Meanwhile Team Cherry are updating their game that didn't even run poorly in the first place, and releasing it for free. Because they're the best.

@Pat_trick
Not sure how this affects the argument here, but I did want to mention - There is one precedent for an update patching out access to a game that I can think of.

the Atari 50 physical version includes the Lynx game Warbirds as part of the collection.
However the game was patched out of the collection in a software update. After this update, in order to play Warbirds, you had to somehow play unpatched, which Nintendo makes it very difficult to do if you have ever installed the update.

Warbirds was patched back in in a later patch. But the precedent is there.

I find it absolutely terrible that a whole game can just vanish from a compilation like that.

Yesterday I finished Metroid Prime 4 Beyond.

The word that best describes my feelings toward this game is:
Disappointment.
I can't believe that this was the end result after so long between entries. It's...really really not what I was hoping it would be.

Anyways. Now that that's out of the way, I started Pokémon Mega Dimension. It's ok so far. I just enjoy having a new Pokédex to fill out. Though I can see it becoming repetitive / grindy pretty quick.

I'm half way through Metroid Prime 4 Beyond now.
So far............
it's ok.
it's not like Prime 1. It's definitely much more streamlined and much more dumbed down.

It's like the difference between Ocarina of Time vs Skyward Sword. Similar looking and playing on the surface level, but it's less player-driven and open-ended, and more kind of just shuffling you through each set piece in a row.
The open world desert also literally does not add any interesting gameplay at all, it's just busywork.

Even though this is a short game, I never finished it. As a teen I compared it unfavourably to other GameCube platformers like Mario Sunshine and never gave it its fair chance. I'm older and less dismissive now, so if I ever play Wario World again, I might play the whole thing.
.... though since I don't have the Expansion Pass, it'll have to be with the original GC disc that I still have.

Rayman 2 was a childhood game of mine. I played the Windows version (which I still think is the best version, and it's available on GOG), but the N64 version ain't bad either. Definitely better than the PS1 version and Nintendo DS version.

I did play Tonic Trouble before but I never finished it. I remember the power up for becoming Super Ed was a product placement Nestlé chocolate bar iirc? I bet that's not in the NSO version lol

The fact that the extremely expensive Virtual Boy replica is just a piece of plastic that still requires a Switch console and an onoging subscription to play these 14 old and not-very-noteworthy games is just ludicrous.
If this was a "VB Mini" console separate from the Switch, just like the nes and snes minis, then it would be justified. But Nintendo's hubris is at al all time high with this one.

...why would you need to release a completely separate new version to add language options? If they didn't want to increase the file size too much with one patch, then why not put free language pack DLC in the eShop? This just seems silly and confusing. Not to mention it's kind of rude to the fans who already have the older release.

I've been playing Once Upon A Katamari. As a huge fan of the Katamari series, it's great to finally see a new game that's on par with the classic We Love Katamari in terms of content and variety.
This game doesn't really evolve or elevate the gameplay of Katamari in any ways - it really is just "let's make a second game that's as good as WLK".
I don't have a problem with this because it's been such a long time between entries. I do wonder what they're gonna do next though.

I have run into a couple of bugs when playing on Switch 2. I've had two crashes, and there was also a point where the results screen was just a blank grey screen, which was weird. I wonder if it's some incompatibility issues or if the Nintendo Switch version in general is just more buggy.

I also have obtained Metroid Prime 4, but for the moment Katamari is taking priority. And maybe Pokémon Mega Dimension will take priority over Metroid once I'm done with Katamari. And I do also want to get Octopath 0 at some point too...

So many games are coming out all at once... I definitely want to play Metroid! Just gimme a moment...!!!

Octopath and Metroid releasing on the same day is a bit annoying as a fan of both series. But the Game Key Card situation has made me hesitate on buying Octopath.

Preferably I would get the game on Switch 1 so I have the full game without additional downloads required. However, I am aware that the town building limit is increased when playing the Switch 2 version.

I would like some advice regarding this if anyone knows - how important is this difference between the Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions of Octopath 0? Is it worth putting up with a Game Key Card so I can make the most of the town building aspect of the game? Or will the Switch 1 version suffice just fine?

Until I know which one I'm getting, I'll be enjoying Metroid Prime 4, Kirby Air Riders, and Once Upon a Katamari... all at the same time. ...I'm in no rush to add a fourth game to my lineup at the moment.

The event is called Project M, huh? I remember when Nintendo would ban anyone who dared utter the words "Project M" on Miiverse lol.

@Spider-Kev
I played Darkened Skye for the first time earlier this year. I really enjoyed it despite its generous amount of jank. Great sense of humour and fun, if simple, exploration and shooting gameplay.
Happy to see another positive opinion on it since it does get a lot of negativity online.

What does that opening line, "Banjo-Tooie isn't the most beloved adventure in the bear and bird's series" mean??

The games that came afterwards are Nuts & Bolts, Banjo Pilot, and Grunty's Revenge. These are the games I would say this about. Not Tooie.

Wow, there are so many Mega Man Legacy Collections.
If only there was a Mega Man Legacy Collection Collection.

the last 3DS game I played was Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. I played it around the time Donkey Kong Country Returns HD released on Switch - the release of the new version reminded me I never actually played the one I already had, so I decided to just do it. It also helped that the Switch version was receiving some criticism for its loading times, so it felt extra appropriate to stick to the older version, haha.

I don't plan to retire my 3DS. I've got plenty of games in my backlog, many of which are 3DS games. I'll get around to them all at some point. ... hopefully.

Wild World was the only Animal Crossing game I ever played. Once I had my fill of it, I never felt the need to play any Animal Crossing again. I'm glad I understand the appeal of the series, but yeah, I really don't need to introduce any additional real-time obligations in my life like that.

Sega might think temporary collaborations would make people want to play their games more. ... But it actually has the opposite effect on me. If any game content becomes permanently inaccessible, then that makes me want to engage with the game significantly less.

Kirby Air Riders for me. I'm having a good time with the game.

I decided to prioritise the "Online" tab of the checklist first and foremost - I was thinking that maybe this tab would be easiest to complete immediately at launch, when most players are online at once. But it seems that this isn't something to worry about - the Online tab can actually be completed mostly completely singleplayer if you make a Paddock and populate the empty slots with CPUs. it still counts as being online.

I like the game, but I think once I complete all five checklists, I won't have much reason to keep playing to be honest.

oh yeah, I still need to play Lufia II. I played Lufia 1 recentlyish, but before I could start the second one, Silksong came out... and now I'm in the midst of playing Pokémon Z-A and Kirby Air Riders and soon it'll be Metroid Prime 4 time too... um. when will I actually have the opportunity to play these classics???

It kind of bothers me that they're adding mouse mode to these ones but not updating the older ones to include it too.

Each new Picross game is pretty much just another set of puzzles to add to the pile. So there really shouldn't be major feature differences like that between them.

If a player plays these ones and get used to mouse controls, when they run out of puzzles and buy an older entry, they'll have to unlearn the controls. In order to have a consistent experience, you pretty much have to use the basic button controls.
...It doesn't sit well with me.

...couldn't they at the very least put 64 of those gigs on the cart and have us download the rest? Having to get a new express SD card just for one game seems like a tall order if you're trying to appeal to a wide audience.

@Vyacheslav333 They're probably not going to do Dawn of the New World due to its massive unpopularity - it got its chance when it was included with the previous Symphonia remake on PS3.

This announcement is meaningless unless they let us actually obtain Zeraora lol. Will it be a timed event exclusive? Or will they just make it available normally like the mythicals from Legends Arceus.

I see the Castlevania collections are in this list. ... that's my cue to tell everyone to check out the Castlevania collections! Especially Dominus Collection. They're suuuuper good.

it's kind of bizarre seeing the "don't write a letter ruminating on The Legend of Heroes" in the guidelines, when this round of letters does in fact have one about Trails in the Sky. i dunno. feels weird.

I remember in... I dunno, around 2010 or so, I bought the PC CD-ROM "Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Deluxe Edition" for Windows XP, for like 50p in a charity shop.

it's funny how a change of platform and a change of context can increase the value of the same content by so much.

so they're combining Galaxy and Odyssey stuff and just calling it Galaxy, I guess?

It's nice that they actually are using recognisable elements from the games, but I guess it also feels weird because the movie version of Mario feels so distinct from the real Mario

everyone's talking about IDW or Archie, but when are any of the Fleetway characters ever gonna be acknowledged? Tekno the Canary anyone?

It's so bizarre to think about this nowadays, but reskinning games to change or remove a licensed IP was really commonplace. Not just on NES, but on Sega too, as well as GB. It really was a thing.

Imagine if this happened today - image if Dragon Ball Fighterz was reskinned into generic kung fu guys for the international market. It would be insanity.

Nowadays audiences are so much more clued-in than they used to be. Fans want the original games, so reskinning them just completely isn't a thing any more.

In fact, there is one example I can think of of a more modern reskin that went poorly - in 2015, Sega tried to localise their Puyo Puyo Quest mobile game under the name "Cranky Food Friends".
It was shut down in less than a year, with the main criticism from players being how Sega changed it from beloved Puyo Puyo characters to generic mobile rubbish. So even ten years ago, reskins didn't fly with fans.

I'm very much glad that reskinning games is a thing of the past.

nooo. Link's Awakening remake did not sit well with me. It was a quality game but it felt so tonally neutered compared to the GB and DX originals. :/

@BriskSunrise
oh for sure. Pokémon just loves its exclusive content, and I've always been annoyed at how they do it.

For the moment though I'm not going to worry too much about it since they did not announce a timeframe - Pecharunt's mystery gift is still up after all.

@Lord
to roll the credits is just a term meaning to reach the ending of the game where the credits start playing.
basically the quest in Looker Bureau to catch Diancie doesn't become available until postgame. The article could have been a tad clearer about that.

If they're not time-limiting it, then why not just have it be in the base game like the mythicals from Legends Arceus? Why require the Mystery Gift that isn't guaranteed to always be part of the game?

the real answer is probably something like Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 that lets you design your own fireworks show.