GOmar

I have this game for PS4 and was very excited to play it; turns out the game was trash (to me). I had intended to trade it in or sell it off but now I am glad I didn't.

Like many others here, I loved the first game. The sequel however was awful and a chore to get through for me with no payoff in the end (I could have felt less like I wasted time had the story gone anywhere or had a twist).

This "third" game will be the final strike if it ends up being as bad as or worse than the second game (even if it is a "spin-off" technically).

@Desy64 I played the original Splatoon on Wii U when it came out but casually, picked up Splatoon 3 to play with my brother (skilled at Splatoon 1) and friend (never touched a Splatoon game and I would say is less than skilled at most games) and we definitely got rocked in multiplayer at first.

However, after about 50-60 hours of playing (hard to tell because I played all of the single player + DLC content) we are fairly good now and just the other day had a 15 game win streak in the non-ranked match type.

My friend that never played Splatoon before? Yea, he consistently ranks at the top each match for points; so it is definitely doable to overcome the skill barrier needed to beat the expert players online (non-ranked) but it takes time and diligence.

I can't speak for children though, if they are old enough then they would may be fine if they played a lot to get better loadouts but a young child will completely get destroyed online.

@Kiefer-Sutherland @Saints Thank you very much for the explanations. I already pre-ordered the games (three of them because I planned on playing this with my wife and brother) so yes super disappointed since this is a step down from the first game however it still sounds like there is some fun to be had multiplayer; just different and maybe not as fulfilling / enticing.

@Cipher36 I am shopping around for a controller for my wife whom has tiny hands. Would you say this Ultimate 2C controller is similar in size to the official Pro controller, or smaller?

comparing this game with Monster Hunter is an insult to Monster Hunter. I am surprised this game lasted so long considering how bland of a knock-off it was.

This looks incredible.... it took a few seconds to grow on me how the models were being rotated and animated but it is super unique and surreal. Definitely keeping this on my radar if it gets a physical release. Reminds me of the quirkily whimsical games from the Playstation 1 and Saturn.

@Serpenterror I guess you have never seen the shelves full worth of Street Fighter and various SNK fighters that have comic books going back at least 20 years now; most notably giving the publisher UDON a respectable stake in the comic market.

Whenever anyone says Limited Run Games is the 'worst boutique physical game company' it makes me think I am the only one that ever ordered from First Press Games.

It helps my sanity seeing this that atleast more than one person (me) has had such an awful experience 'pre-ordering' games from First Press.

Still waiting 4+ years for a game is absurd and worse than anything Limited Run has done to me...

I do have to say though, the few games that did arrive from First Press were at least nice quality.

@Switch_Pro There are plenty of people that own more than just a Nintendo.

Why does the link for the text: "sign up for the official email now" go to Twitter instead of the actual place you can sign up?

This reviewer seems confused on what a remaster and what a remake is based on their criticism this game hasn't "improved" any of the issues from the original.

We all knew going in from multiple interviews with Suda that none of the gameplay was changing and this was going to basically be the same game on modern consoles... aka a port with some buffed up graphics and framerate (ideally).

@N8tiveT3ch The game has been on sale for months....

Much better than the American commercial.

What an awful & bizarre commercial.

Waiting for a physical release.

I'd rather this game sell well; and going against Zelda, Metaphor, Ys X, Mario & Luigi (soon after) would not bode well for sales.

Just hope it doesn't end up on Switch 2, this game is a system seller for me and I can't afford two new consoles.

@Samalik Excellent work on the rock-solid explanation and reasons for why why localizations are the way they are (and should be).

It bugs me when 'fans' want a literal translation instead of learning the language (which is the only way to experience a 'literal' meaning) and expect that media should cater to them with a translation they deem as "correct"; and anything less is mocking their intelligence.

Like anything in this world, quality spans a wide gamut and the real critique should be about that. Rarely do I see a granular breakdown of where or how a translation went wrong (in these comments of course), it generally is a blanket surface level statement that the "game has been localized ergo is not what the Japanese version said" type of statement and that gets old real quick.

Aside from the bonkers (and I find fun) changes in the original three Ace Attorney games (and the glaring typos cough) the Ace Attorney series is incredibly well-written and suits the world CAPCOM created fantastically. How can one compare a gritty and mature series like Yakuza to a bright and literally cartoony series like Ace Attorney? Of course they are not going to have the same feeling in their respective narrative and writing. Yakuza can get away more with a direct translation (putting aside your good points on the type of media it is mimicking) and still sound natural.

@DotNet Only European accounts are able to opt out of Meta AI scraping their content. So it is still a very big deal for a lot of users.

I grew up before Wikipedia was a thing, and I do not remember anyone every saying that "people would never have to think..." in regards to its existence when it showed up. The main criticism is / was of wikipedia is its credibility.

You say you are a student of art currently, so you must be a pretty old student if you were around when Wikipedia started. That is interesting for you to have this stand that AI is completely fine and everyone should stop with the negative narrative. Most older people realize the issues with generative AI and prefer the human element of the visual fields.

Your comparison of Photoshop and (insert AI media generator here) is weak. Sure you can use Photoshop to make / do something illegal, but that comes 99% down to the user and their choices. Most generative AI does all the illegal stuff behind the curtain, growing a database of unauthorized content of which the user has no control of. By time it gets to the user portion of the process, sure it is similar to Photoshop, but all the damage has been done. The end choice of how you use, display, or take ownership of the final work is similar for all kinds of media creation at that point. Even with a just a pencil and paper, someone could copy another persons art and claim it as their own (and profit from it). Of course that is illegal, but would you really make your same comparison using a pencil is the same as AI generators? Because that is essentially what you are saying.

@Grossly-Incandescent I would never consider playing a game in a public bathroom "better". That facet of the game relies COMPLETELY on personal preference, whereas something like fidelity and VALUES such as frame rate, resolution along with VISIBLE visual differences such as texture quality, pop-in etc. can clearly be compared and quantified as being better than something else.

You can go and say you PREFER portability over the better-performing game, but to do so, would mean you are putting one facet of the game above the other as far as your personal preference hierarchy ie "what is more important to you". And that fine.

Those ARE the facts, and you should have kept your comment how it was originally before you edited it (which had the word subjectives) because how it is now makes you sound sense-less.

Unless you are trying to be "funny", ironic etc., which in that case "haha".

@SirWalrus Well, therein is the reason I commented originally. This game (to me) NEEDS to be played at 60FPS; flight games are so enhanced by a smoother frame rate as it pumps up the exhilaration of barreling through the sky. Not to mention this review says "slowdown" which for me is an absolute pass for any type of racing or game with 'speed' nowadays.

Also, the lower resolution, pop-up (which is VERY important to me gameplay-wise in an aerial game where you need to see into the distance), and I would assume compressed textures would take away from the spectacle of this game. "Looking good" is a little basic and broad when describing a game especially if a better (really not up for debate comparatively speaking) version of the game already exists.

Thanks for explaining though you thought I was elitist (which I do find a little strange since I mentioned if the Switch is the only way you can play it, that is cool (meaning, everyone needs to at least be able to play this game even if it is at a lower degree of fidelity)).

@SirWalrus Nothing in my previous comment says or alludes to the possibility I do not own a Nintendo Switch.

Can someone not own more than one video game console? I really don't understand your way of thinking. I commented because Ace Combat 7 is one of my favorite games of all time. I am on this website because I play a lot of Nintendo Switch games.

My personal experience with the game and the console is incredibly relevant. Your response makes it seem "I should not be here", which is pretty rude and at the very least incredibly odd to post a comment asking me that.

There are plenty of multi-platform games; with the Switch being notorious for every port under the sun, with varying degrees of quality and concessions.

Ace Combat 7 is not a game that should be played on inferior hardware (performance-wise) if possible.

This game is incredibly good, but I can't imagine playing a watered down version of it. Cool for people that only play Switch games though and don't mind the visuals.

Crazy there is only 4% of the top 40 that I have bought, would buy, or will buy.

I like that the narrator tried his best to imitate the original voice from the cartoon.

Too bad the friction looks smoother than a piece of glass, otherwise this could have been halfway decent for a fan.

Another game that didn't need a port/remaster etc. And to make it worse, it sounds like they are making the game easier (with having the combos unlocked from the start, faster chainsaw and adjust input timings etc.

Oh well, at least Grasshopper isn't wasting their time on this.

@Samalik A game like Retro Game Challenge does not need any kind of raw / dry / direct translation. It should be silly and fun, which can't be directly translated without embellishment and changes.

I understand your side and I agree that certain stories should be as close to direct as possible and I apologize that was not clear. I am very much against changing and adding in irrelevant topics to fit an agenda or for no reason other than the writer finds it funny . I grew up reading Working Designs' writing in games and watched anime in the 80's and 90's that pretty much was an entirely different story compared to what should have been. I am more seasoned in that regard so small changes don't bother me, but I stand by my point ANY story needs to have some amount of English specific writing done to make it palatable (within the bounds of not changing the meaning or intent of the original, of course). I by no means want a return to the era of Working Designs (I am not aware of any company that extreme), I feel 8-4 has been handling content with all the respect and accurateness needed to bring us a story that is still fun to read.

@Vyacheslav333 I can understand inconsistencies and "wrong" (if elsewhere in the game it differs or contradicts another item) within the same version of the game or story, but are you mainly upset with 8-4 because they actually write new English and not just a (hard to be 100% 1:1 anyway) direct translation?

I really don't like to defend them but I enjoy their writing (MH4 was especially amazing) and they actually hire / are run by smart writers unlike most things these days (this site included).

If you are that much of a purest Japanese fan then just play the Japanese version. Anytime a game has a direct translation it is super boring, dry, and uninteresting, (or just confusing) all traits that put me to sleep and make playing a game a chore.

There are plenty of people that are not held up on words matching EXACTLY to another languages words (solely for purity sake) and rather read a well-written, entertaining story.

@PikaPhantom I actually like Comcept and Inafune gets some unfair auto-negativity.

Did everyone forget that Fantasy Life i is coming out this year? That game alone will carry the end of the year (and beyond) and is much better than anything first party released lately.

Hoping Limited Run Games does a physical release of this, been waiting years to play.

Had to stop reading once you said Ghost Trick could be Game of the Year. Doesn't say much for releases if a port of an old game is one you mention.

The remake plague continues. I wish we could turn back time and stop the industry from this boring fascination with re-releasing old material.

@Browny Toriyama only does main character designs and (doubtful anymore) monster designs. All of his work would have been needed awhile ago. I know he was a procrastinator / lazy but I think his stuff was safely completed for XII or at least close enough that the dev team had what they needed.

XIII on the other hand will be the first Dragon Quest game to be truly different in sound and design (and based on Horii's age, story).

@XenoShaun do you even play Dragon Quest? It is one of the few series that is "untouchable" in regards to tradition. Square Enix is at least smart enough to not mess around with this franchise, I don't see that changing until all the old-timers are gone.

@Serpenterror as someone else mentioned, Toriyama just does Key Art and main character designs, the rest is re-used from the series' lineage. His style is so established and mimicked, there are plenty of designers and artists that can recreate his stuff nearly perfect. The actual visual style for Dragon Quest can always live on, it would be the new cast members that may or may not be as interesting anymore. Or they may be even better with someone else putting their twist to things.

@PosterBoy I have a question, have you even played a Halo game?

You may not like Master Chief's design but he is for sure iconic, especially for Xbox fans. Is he the best designed character? Heck no. But he is iconic (if you believe the dictionary's definition of the word is real).

@RareFan No you are not the only one, but if you say stuff like that in the comments prepare to be met with a large amount of fans defending this seemingly irreversible entertainment paradigm.

I gave up commenting on all of these ports / remakes because I don't have the energy. It is a sad thing but in the end it does mean I save money.

Sonic Heroes would be a mistake; releasing TWO console ports / remakes back-to-back. I am very thankful for Sonic Superstars and Frontiers (even though they are average) so it isn't like there has been a dearth of new entries.... but it could be time to take a break.

EDIT: I do have to chuckle though seeing people getting (I think truly) excited over playing THE SAME GAME again just on different hardware. It really boggles my mind. (see the comment above).

@-wc- Yea that is fair and one thing I do know is that the method they use to make modern carts are not as good as previous carts made during the Genesis and SNES era for instance.

One thing for sure though, is that an SD card can be rewritten and have data deleted, so already it is at a disadvantage comparatively. Not that you will purposefully delete data, but accidents happen and corruption is a real possibility. That can't happen with a game cart.

Same goes for your console, but like you said, you can simply get your data back and in order once you re-download everything. So yea, one can argue that a digital library is more secure and has fail safes. I agree with that.

Curious, which games of yours stopped working?

I don't know the exact number, but I have around 1,000 games and only ever had one break on me (Super Smash Bros. on 3DS). It was kept like new, I played it for 100 or so hours, boxed it, then last year I went to play it and it doesn't load. As far as I know, there are only two games for 3DS this can happen to, Pokemon Ruby / Sapphire and Smash Bros.

I have games as far back as Atari and everything in between and they all still work great (knock on wood). It stinks to hear you have had stuff stop functioning.

The gaming environment is so weird now with emulation and digital backups of physical media so I feel like there is no real way to totally lose a game anymore as long as you are open to playing ROMs. I think both digital and physical have their pros and cons, and with digital gaming only now reaching a point of longevity can we really start seeing if it will pay off having a digital library with these marketplaces.

One scary inevitability is that games purchased on Wii Shop are available to re-download 'for the time being'. They go further to elaborate: 'The ability to re-download WiiWare and Virtual Console games will also stop at some point.'

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27560/~/wii-shop-channel-discontinuation#s1q3

@-wc- Kind of feels obvious to say, but a game on a cart is permanently stored and functions like a custom chip which is much more expensive than a read/write type of SD card.

This inevitably is more durable and theoretically will outlast data on an SD card.

Secondly, you can't easily just download a game from the eshop, transfer to an SD card, and then package and sell it after you are done playing it. So the digital game is never really ever physical in the same way since it is tied to your (digital) account (console, and or digital marketplace).

You can look at it that yes, both are really just data on some kind of storage, but technically speaking are not the same thing and do not share the same benefits (and downsides) as each other using them as-intended.

@sanderev In what way is Monster Hunter anything like Pokémon that can be considered anything but a basic comparison?

I am an avid player of both series from the start, having played them for thousands of hours so I understand both of them.

Aside from both being:

• video games
• have ‘monster’ in the title
• have a form of multiplayer (online) gameplay
• are fictional worlds and characters
• contain a large map to explore (some entries)
• contain some form of third person gameplay
• both have capturing but one game is for preservation, the other is simply for materials and then the captured monster is "gone". So I don't consider this being similar enough but I am sure you will respond with it.

There are plenty of games that crossover or align with any or 90% of those things as well.

If you are willing the two series to become each other I sure hope they don't. For years people have incorrectly thought Monster Hunter was a Pokémon rip-off or "adult Pokémon" and I have never understood it so maybe you can finally enlighten me how they can even come close to being in the same thought.

@Magician @AlexanderDaniels Trigger Heart Exelica was an actual licensed GD-ROM game though, every release after 2007 were/are not licensed nor on GD-ROM so technically not official releases.

This game is average and I am kinda surprised it has gotten a re-release. I beat it one time when it came out and never felt the need to replay it. Much better STG's out there.

@roboshort Most creative people aren't going to want to go near an executive position, they would rather die on the vine. That being said, I also agree someone that knows and understands games would be good at the top; although it isn't likely and sometimes not the best thing for a company (especially such a large one). The white unicorn would be a dev that is also business savvy and can either do both or doesn't mind being sidelined.

My only question with her is does she care enough about classic Blizzard to invigorate them with passion or is this simply a bullet point on her resume. I don't know enough about the Call of Duty games to say whether or not she is leaving a sinking ship, so there isn't much to really be critical on.

I must be in the minority for this. It is hard enough keeping up with game releases and buying food, let alone spending a grand or more going to Florida and a place like this where water bottles are $10.

@Samalik @Poodlestargenerica The key word here is "classic". I have never heard of nor considered Evangelion (or any anime licensed game for that matter), to be given that adjective or deserve it. No one hears 'SEGA classics' and thinks of an anime-based game.

Anyway, my personal picks would be brand new games for Astal, Clockwork Knight, and Vectorman.

Like @themightyant said, it is better than companies ignoring devs/creators. Even if it was done as a slight towards Kamiya (I doubt it, and it wasn't even mean), Kamiya still got acknowledged in the end which is important.

Also, Kamiya isn't dead or dying. Having a fun backtrack with him comically carrying his belongings out of the building was light-hearted and jovial and fit with the rest of the video.

NintendoLife is looking too into this....

EDIT: I can't remember exactly since it was so long ago, but a former founding member of PlatinumGames, Shigenori Nishigawa, left PlatniumGames and he didn't even get a mention on PG's website, let alone be in a video (if I recall). I know he isn't as important as Kamiya, but at the time he was a pillar at PG. I found out about it months later and was shocked. Same thing with JP Kellams, I don't think PG ever acknowledged him leaving either (again, he isn't a "Kamiya" level figure, but he was the "face" of the company during their burgeoning years for us in the west).

@MinusKid To be nit-picky; Contra is a 'run-n-gun' while games like Gradius are considered 'shoot-em-ups'.

@FishyS I would definitely describe yourself (and myself) as outsiders looking in to the SHMUP genre from the perspective of fully understanding and mastering them. I have played all the great SHMUPs, own well over 50 of them (and still collect/buy new ones), and I would say I don't play them at the skill level needed to fully appreciate and value the depths of their game systems and craftsmanship.

As I said before, the STG fanbase is just small and super hardcore which comes across as exclusive to anyone not that skilled at them so it can make scores for them in reviews feel rather "nostalgia-based" for anyone that is only looking at these games from the surface.

Also I don't really get your point about old games being reviewed high (10/10). If a game was spectacular when it released and was a 10/10, why would it be any less great 10, 15, 20 years later? As long as the port didn't mar anything, of course.

The whole "Game of the Year" thing is so subjective you really can't say all 10/10's need to be entered as a candidate. It is fairly accepted that ports, remakes etc. aren't qualified for such a nomination (publication, not personal) anyway since a game of the year should be new and define an era or benchmark in the industry.

In relation to the STG genre specifically, it's just that older games in the genre from the "golden era" were tuned and made better because you had professional developers re-defining and expanding the genre constantly. I feel the same way with most genres that they haven't evolved or aren't as good nowadays compared to a certain era in gaming.

We have a lot of hobbyist and indie developers making all sorts of games now, and STG's are one of the "easiest" to develop. Therefore, new games in the genre can mostly be lame or derivative. It takes a very special mind and a lot of passion to create a masterpiece like Daioujou.

@gcunit Yea that is fair and makes sense with your clarification. I do think though any genre of game (not just SHMUPs) should be reviewed by a "qualified" reviewer, as reviewing a game means knowing a game; and the only way to truly know something is to wander its depths with understanding. The score here reflects that and is deserving.

What I suggest (and what I miss about old gaming magazines) are supplement reviews by someone not as adept at the reviewed game's genre. That way you can get a perspective from someone that is looking at it as a beginner, average player, first-timer etc. and they can score/rate etc. for people coming from that angle so more people get an idea how broad the appeal is. A simple paragraph or bullet points would suffice.

@romanista I agree that reviews of ports should be a little more clear on those things you stated.

@gcunit I think you are misinterpreting "cliqueyness" with skill-level / mastery of the genre. There is a reason why SHMUP are so revered by fans of the genre (and why that fanbase is so small). Not everyone has the skills nor time needed to master these games; and the only way to really appreciate them fully IS to master them. This is why many gamers feel either left out of this "members only" group or think they all look the same / don't make sense / haven't changed in 30 years.

Being around SHMUP players I actually find them VERY friendly and welcoming to new players and want people to experience what they do. Which is the opposite of what I get around a lot of fighting game or first person shooter "masters". Of course there are exceptions and not everyone is like that, but I find the SHMUP peeps to be the least cliquey as far as keeping players away.

@FishyS is a good example of an "outsider" not really getting why this game deserves a perfect score.

(I am not belittling anyone that can't play SHMUPs or don't like them, it is just my observation looking at both sides). I personally love SHMUPs so I understand the sheer magnitude of overcoming the game systems and difficulty to uncover what makes them so great, but on the surface they definitely don't look like 10/10's.

Still patiently waiting for physical on this; easily the definition of pure fun that many games lack these days.