Comments 783

Re: Retro-Inspired Indie Sea Of Stars Receives A New Switch Update

FredsBodyDouble

This game is really good and really overrated. The story is very good but the characters are generally quite boring. The combat is fun but lacks depth. The game looks and sounds great but the progression system and "leveling" system is unimaginative and again, lacks any real depth. They've nailed the look and feel but really needed flesh out the characters both from a story and gameplay perspective. It's still a lot of fun and generally does scratch the SNES RPG itch pretty well.

Re: Video: We've Played Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Here's 8 Minutes Of Gameplay

FredsBodyDouble

I'm currently playing Mario Deluxe on the Switch. I tried it months ago and it didn't really click. I'm back into it now collecting gold coins and honestly, it's pretty good. It's not Super Mario World but I feel that it's got solid level design and controls pretty well. The "powers" are a little lacking and not being able to take Yoshi from one level to another is bogus, but I think overall it's "better" than most give it credit for. That being said, I will take a wait and see approach with Wonder. It doesn't really feel like the huge refresh I think fans of 2D Mario have been clamoring for.

Re: Best Nintendo Switch Metroidvania Games

FredsBodyDouble

Salt and Sanctuary absolutely should be on the list. My favorite from the list is probably Ender Lillie's. Not sure if other metroidvanias have emulated it, but ender Lillie's tells you if a room is "complete," (i.e. all items obtained) which was a great quality of life type of improvement. I'm actually playing the Metroid Prime remake at present and wish this game did something similar.

Re: Soapbox: Switch Is Only A Classic Or Two From Being The Perfect PlayStation History Lesson

FredsBodyDouble

I appreciate SotN, but I really feel there are better modern metroidvanias out there. The Silent Hill franchise not being on Switch is a tragedy. Konami is a company that seemingly has no idea what it's doing. Silent Hill 3 was the most graphically impressive game of the PS2 era and it was never used to make another game. The Room actually looked worse than Silent Hill 3 graphically. The trailer for the reboot also didn't really do it for me. Ashame because the original 3 silent hill games stand among the best the genre has ever seen.

Re: Feature: Donkey Kong Cymru: The Extremely Brief History Of Welshness In Nintendo Games

FredsBodyDouble

@samuelvictor X is probably the hardest Xenoblade to start with. If you like more linear, start with the original or remake. It's linear in storytelling and progression, but let's you wander of the path a bit, not unlike some of the classics from days past. Xenoblade X is pretty much straight open world. 2 and 3 are maybe slightly less linear than 1, but they're all great. X is just the least traditional.

Re: UK Charts: Unsurprisingly, Final Fantasy XVI Knocks Zelda: TOTK Down A Peg

FredsBodyDouble

@CoastersPaul I'm not saying the games since 12 are bad, I actually like 12 and to some extent 15, but they're no longer the gaming events they once were from FF7 to FF10, where every game was hyped to no end and mostly delivered. I'd also make the case that combat evolved relatively slowly from 1 to 10, and then Changed entirely thereafter. I'll end by saying FF13 is a disgrace. Terrible plot and characters, terrible pacing, horrible battle system which could be exploited to no end, and as I recall the introduction of hard level caps which to me represents terrible game design. I will eventually play 16 when a console I own inevitably gets a port down the road, but I'm not super excited about it. Likewise, I'll probably eventually play the FF7 remake but again, a decade ago I would've considered pre ordering a game in this series for day 1 release, now they're just another "pretty okay" series.

Re: 'The Lara Croft Collection' For Switch Has Been Rated By The ESRB

FredsBodyDouble

The 2013 era re-imaginings of TR were great, but I never tried these spinoffs. I've always thought they looked interesting so maybe at the right price I'll bite. I do agree with the commenter saying a remake of the original would be great. Even though the TR game from 2013 was excellent in its own right, nothing matches the atmosphere of the original TR. Clunky controls aside, the game has great puzzles and was genuinely creepy the further you got into it.

Re: Round Up: The Previews Are In For The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

FredsBodyDouble

I've played Elden Ring and BotW. I have no problem going between the two because even if one runs smoother, you stop noticing once you play the other for more than 10 minutes. If you're that obsessed with the difference between 30 and 60 fps, be happy you didn't live through the PSOne and N64 era. I used to play games like Turok 2 at sub 20 fps and still had fun, because I appreciated their gameplay and ideas. 60 fps is great for Elden Ring, but that game has tons of other flaws that aren't technical (namely the entire second half and sharp decline in quality after the first big dungeon). Elden Ring is basically just a giant killing field. An open world with enemies placed in specific spots, but that is otherwise void of life. There are some killer dungeons in the game, but I'd take Dark Souls and BB over Elden Ring every day of the week.

Re: Mario's Creator Shigeru Miyamoto Teases More Nintendo Movies

FredsBodyDouble

A Zelda movie would be a money printer if they can pull it off. The whole silent protagonist thing presents a real challenge though. Metroid could be an interesting live action movie. Earthboard could be like a goonies style live action film too. Lots of different things they could do with Mario. I look forward to what's to come.

Re: Poll: Which Was Your First 'Final Fantasy'?

FredsBodyDouble

@Finntendo VIII is actually one of my favorites. A lot probably had to do with me being a teenager at the time, so the introverted Squall was someone I could really relate to, but beyond that, I think it has the best graphics and music of the PSOne era. I also think it was a game that tried something new with the battle system but without changing the feel altogether like 12. Not everything landed perfectly, I don't fondly remember drawing 50x from enemies per fight to boost my stats, but it was interesting and strategic nonetheless. XI returned to a more traditional "learn x by equipping y" and it just felt very "been there, done that" to me. I'd also add that while the summons in VIII should have been "skippable," they are in my opinion still the best ever representations of the classic Shiva, Ifrit, Odin, etc. in any game in the series.

Re: Poll: Which Was Your First 'Final Fantasy'?

FredsBodyDouble

VI, and it's been mostly downhill since then. The pixel remasters would be interesting if I hadn't played all those games 3 and 4 times. The PSOne era games were good but the remasters, not including whatever the 7 remake is, were pretty weak with what was on offer. It'd be nice if someone would give them the Resident Evil GameCube style remake they deserve, but that would require effort from Square, which they're incapable of these days. The series is a shell of it's former self, and even if the newer games aren't "bad," they're definitely not great either, but hey, 20 years from now maybe I'll be able to play the entire FF7 remake in it's totality.