FX102A

Ordered the Asian English PS4 version a while back only for the case to have been crushed in transit, so back it went. Shortly after the Switch version was announced and was on the verge of ordering that until Red Art Games announced a European release so have ordered that.

The stuttering is a concern as I prefer buying Switch versions over PS4 yet that always comes with a risk of performance loss.

Phew, I was just about to order the import but I'd rather have a European copy.

I recently restarted Paper Mario Thousand Year Door with the aim of finishing. Currently playing the part of the Great Gonzales. Been reminded just how great the characters and writing were.

Also started up SD Gundam G Generation Genesis on the PS4 and need to fire up my Vita copy to allow for Cross Play. Although this does annoy me that the Switch version released later had no English subs...

What I wouldn’t give for an Ace Combat game on the Switch. The 3DS’ Cross Rumble was so much better than it needed to be, I still love going back to it. Unfortunately I just don’t see it happening. It seems that Project Aces will instead aim to develop and then support a single AC Project at any one time.

@BenAV Some people just enjoy the challenge of hacking regardless of how it impacts other people (like people who enjoy breaking bus stops and pleasuring horses). Either that or their life accomplishments are so lacking they’ll resort to anything to make them feel they have something to be proud of. It’s equally sad and pathetic.

D-pad is a little too far inwards for my taste, but then I’d need to hold it tonsee. Still I have my SNES & Saturn style pads for 2d stuff.

Interested, although what gameplay I could get out of the trailer kinda looked a little “static”, like it was missing the dynamics of an arcade flight shooter. Hopefully some gameplay videos come out soon.

Really?!?! And here I thought Ubisoft was just developing an open world stealth action game with crafting and collectibles (a Jiminy C***throat as has recently been coined).

The Ubisoft start up logo has become as alien on my TV as the EA logo for years; to the point that when it does appear whenever popping in a 6th Gen game I get a surprised look.

Seriously though I think everyone and their dog, and their dog’s squeaky toy could have seen that one coming.

Well that’s way to temporarily increas NSO membership. I may grab me a month or 3’s worth to give this a try at some point.

It’s reached the point that any game that’s free to play, outside of a select few, the majority will eventually succumb to some form of insidious micro transaction or aggregious monetisation practices. Usually under the “it’s optional” or “it’s just cosmetic”; two long debunked arguments.

At least I have an option to never install this game or any of its like minded ilk.

@Mrrabbitpuncher I still worry that having procedural generation it will potentially impact the experience due to the need to take precautions and apply limitations to prevent the generation of a layout that is impossible to beat. Also how the general ramping of difficulty is meant to go. Of course I don’t know how the algorithms work so maybe it’ll work out.

@Racecar Only played that in its earlier parts through ATF, NATO Fighters and US Navy Fighters 97. Still, IAF remained my favourite.

First alarm bell was it being procedurally generated. Second was that it seems you don’t leave the ship. I’ll keep an eye on it until I can read some reviews in detail.

Looks cool. Only concern is I find when they try to do high resolution sprites, they tend to look slightly worse than the older lower rez sprites of the past. Still looks nice and a very likely purchase.

@Creature Hollow Knight is yet another game I stopped playing after a while and need to head back too some day. I think the lack of a map (can’t remember if you can unlock one or it just wasn’t that good a map) was a major issue as I hate just meandering around looking.

I tried the demo of the first but it failed to grab me. The opening prologue was heartwarming and heart wrenching but when the gameplay started, it felt like one of the many atmospheric puzzle platforms that dominated the indie scene last gen and just kept on making me want to stop playing.

Nonetheless I feel I should give it another chance before the standard edition is released to see whether it is worth purchasing.

This makes me wonder what next generation will be like. At this rate we are going to see less multiplatform titles and more exclusives, which historically has pushed a fair number of console sales. The X360’s initial multiplat success was due to its head start and Sony’s screw ups with the PS3 price and online. Sony learnt (MS didn’t surprisingly) and realised it lacked exclusives to claw itself back like the PS3 did. So now, it seeks exclusives galore.

I kinda skipped through this presentation. I mean I thought the layout and concept was great, a chance for NLife to give visibility to some of the upcoming indie titles with potential. It’s just I’ve come to the conclusion that most indie games I like tend to be those that cater to nostalgic feelings like metroidvanias, action platformers and shm’ups. Many of the current trends like survival games, Rogue likes/lites, puzzle platformers and resource managing life sims just don’t interest me much; but I’m glad they exist as they diversify video games’ offerings.

Mindseize and another one I forgot about were the only be that interested me whilst want to see more of that Warrior Diplomat game.

Pretty decent showcase, although recently Nintendo has had the tendency to reveal at the beginning what I would wait till the end for.

Whilst watching was constant dreading the words Roguelike or Roguelite would pop up but thankfully not. Metroid AND Megaman X inspired? Where do I sign up?

Gives me some Atelier vibes, without the time limits and “moeness” that the more recent games have had. Bit like the Iris trilogy. Interested in this.

Gameplay kinda looked a lot “simple”, kinda like the licensed property 3D action platformers of the past where perfectly functional and fun to a degree, but not outstanding.

Of course it’s early days and more insight needed so will reserve judgement. Just glad it’s a new non-indie IP.

Aiming to import the Japanese version as it supports English, but tempted to also get digitally. We need more flightsims on Switch; heck we need more of them on consoles period (which aren’t multiplayer centric so no War Thunder please). The 6th Gen was loaded with them: Ace Combat, Lethal Skies, Iron Aces, Energy Air Force, & plenty of WWII centric ones.

@HobbitGamer You and me both; had just about every game from ATF onwards. Pity it started to drop with Attack Squadron and then nosedived with JASF.

As a non online multiplayer gamer, only the classic games would draw me back in and so far, there isn’t much that would entice me as I’ve played all the ones I like. Hopefully more make their way; though I’d still prefer buying them outright.

Which reminds me, need to fire up the Wii U and buy another 1/2 VC games this month.

Tried to get into the series on both the Wii and Wii U it eventually deduced I wasn’t the target audience. Felt like a repetitive grind to get more gear in an endless loop. Sure with friends likely to be more fun and I hope the game is up to snuff for those that like them.

I literally just bought a copy I happened to find in Gibraltar last week! 🙄

Played on the Online service when I had it for a stint and wasn’t too impressed. However I love side scrolling shm’ups and would prefer to have full ownership (well as much as a digital download offers). Also sounds like the arcade version will be a better experience.

Now Sega, you own Technosoft right? About that release of Hyper Duel...

(Yes I’m gonna mention it whenever and forever until the day comes I don’t have to put down £600-£700 to play the dang thing!!)

Thanks for all the good times. I traded in my OG 3DS way back in 2018 but still have my Ocarina of Time one unopened, LBW XL, N3DS & SNES N3DS XL.

Plenty of JRPGs still to go through, think I may fire it up soon in honour.

More of a fan of the later Aleste games, but I’ll likely still buy this as gotta get all the shm’ups!

I’m thinking release dates for Doom Eternal and Bravely Default 2 (is it Ninty or Squeenix publishing?).

Then again, with my backlog they could announce only that Babyz game @Silly_G mentioned and I still would feel okay.

Oh what the heck one definite very very very unlikely announcement for old times sake; Ace Combat 3 Remake! I like the dream of the incredibly unlikely.

I wonder if Fact Hunt would still work?

OT (not in comments though) there was that Malaysian baby named Google that ended up getting a free gift from Google. I’m sure there are a few babies named Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X out there now.

The limited physical, I can somewhat understand. I mean I expect such a game to sell gangbusters so they could print more and still sell. But if they want to ensure to sell all copies at RRP we’ll then this would be the best way.

The limited digital however, they must have some plan to make the games available via some other method after the 6 months are up. Regardless it’s a sneaky method to entice purchases. If they were truly honest, they’d say what would happen after the 6 months (I.e. will become available on Switch Online Service); but I guess they want to maximise sales and avoid people waiting.

Con: “The game is still built around encouraging you to spend cash to speed up progress”

Sorry, but this alone is enough to dock anything from 4-6 points minimum. A game is meant to entertain, not a method with which to entice you to spend yet more money after already buying it. It is literally the antithesis of gaming and entertainment with the exception of one example...gambling. The only form of entertainment I can think of where spending money and enticing you to spend more directly as part of the “entertainment”.

This isn’t a game; it’s a con job disguised as one!

This has reminded me I still have to pick up Hyrule Warriors Deluxe. Was hoping for a price drop by now but looks like it ain’t happening.

Got my orders in!

Another theory (theory! Not rumour!) is that maybe in March the games will be offered as part of the Nintendo Online service; along with titles from all 3 platforms.

I’d still prefer non-subscription purchases.

This is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to the Max. The limited downloadable version is a real head scratcher; unless they plan to offer each game individually from March onwards so anyone who wants just 1 game will have to get all 3 or “risk” missing out as we don’t know what will happen.

It’s a nice touch, but frankly I’ll take anything that will speed the process up and stop the stuttering during scrolling (so keep music out as it’ll probably just slow it down further). Also the ability to arrange based on level of discount would be nice and as many filters as possible. I personally would like the ability to rearrange the layout when scrolling to show as many titles on screen at once to reduce the time it takes to scroll through 800+ items on sale.

Ordered Y’s Origin and Sakuna.

Never played a Pokemon game despite having both on the Cube, their Wii enhanced versions and the 3rd in Wii U. Do the Wii versions offer much of an enhancement? As they are still both sealed.

Some Saturn or Dreamcast games, or even the Polygon-based arcade games would be amazing. Personally I’d like to see Wing War on the Model 1 board.

The idea behind Sega Ages was good, except Sega botched it by once again releasing many of its usual titles. There were a few unique stand-outs but so many other titles were looked over. In the end I only bought the 2 Thunder Force titles at release and G-Loc and Virtua Racing when on sale.

@TG16_IS_BAE At least Battle Garegga is on PS4. Hyper Duel however remains the walled off gem. Since Sega owns Technosoft and has released 2 Thunderforce titles, I pray it will release Hyper Duel under Sega Ages; the Saturn version though.

Looks interesting, but worries about the slow feel and the small weapon firing arc. As it was released in 1990, it was just a few years prior where I feel the sweet spot era of 2D shm’ups, during the latter half of the 16bit era and the first half of the 32bit.

Still holding out for the Raiden Fighter Aces Collection and Battle Garegga making its way to Switch. That and the Saturn’s Hyper Duel.

The outlier is of course UN Squadron but that would be a licensing nightmare.

Raji, A Short Hike and the 2 Subnautica games interest me. A physical edition of Subnautica is reportedly planned to be released. Raji will wait for reviews whilst may pull trigger for A Short Hike due to low cost.

As for the rest, too many puzzle platformer, rogue-like and management games for my tastes. A decent selection overall shown off though I have a feeling that Metroidvanias may have dropped in popularity due to burn out. I believe Roguelikes May be the next genre to be burned out.

Was at least hoping for a general 2d action platformer reminiscint of the 16bit era.

If I’m reading it all right, the original Western PS2 release swapped out Raidou Kuzunoha for Dante. So if Raidou Kuzunoha is present in the base remaster, I can sorta understand Dante as an extra piece of DLC (can argue that the remaster is a remaster of the JP version). Still to have Dante as DLC is blatant money grabbing, especially for a remastering.

The fact that some Sega Ages titles have had bigger reductions than others (approx. 60p) makes me wonder if it shows which titles have been the more successful. Unfortunately for me it suggests the 2 Thunderforce titles have been less successful which may impact the release of more of Technosoft’s Classic titles.

As much as I love Gundam, I tried the Gundam Vs title on the PS3 and basically if you’re not interested in multiplayer, ain’t worth it. Shame as I remember the PS2 titles that had full on campaigns.

The great thing about the PS2 was that it practically had games from almost every genre under the sun, and was back during the time when publishers were actually willing to take risks and fund unique games. Therefore rather than feel like there were certain games and genres you were “expected” to experience if you wanted to have a library of any size, you could literally build a library out of a single genre. Heck, I could have a double digit PS2 library out of purely flightsims.

That all changed when Gen 7 became the era of Sp*nkgarglewee and Gen 8 was enamoured with Jiminy C*ckthroat.

Free digital cookie for anyone who gets that bit.

I have to agree with him; the Switch eShop started out good when the titles were limited but now; with an average of 600-700 titles “on sale” at any one time it becomes a nightmare to search through them all. And as already said, after a few swipes it hangs for a bit before continuing; sometimes even skipping a row (and some people want the music back from the Wii & Wii U era...). 9 games is not enough per page; should be closer to 20. There are so many suggestions to fix things in the store but if I could there are 2:

1) Heavily overhaul filters to be extremely specific, even if you end up with 30+ genres and having to insert the price range manually (and have Nintendo set the genres to prevent playing the system).

2) And the elephant in the room; Quality Control. I understand there is concern that this could lead to lesser known titles or hidden gems being missed but when the alternative involves the opening of a sluice gate of calculators and rapid development mobile games then I’d gladly take the risk. I try to check the PSN & eShop stores weekly but I’ve started skipping the eShop or ending my scan of Sales less than half way through as I have better things to do than scroll through 700 squares for 20min of which 75% is pure dreck.

I’m still not convinced the Switch will pass the Wii, but I feel it will at least get close and who knows, maybe it will surpass it. I do believe the next big test for the Switch will be the end of this year when the PS5 & XBSX are released. Whilst arguably not direct competitors, there will be overlap as many people are likely to find themselves having to make a choice. The question is how many more potential Switch owners are there out there and what does Nintendo have to do to entice them? New model? Price drop? Specific software? I myself remain tempted for a version with an enhanced battery life but I keep on holding out, especially as my lack of commuting means I don’t need the extra battery yet.