Gaymer90

Zelda has never been about the story, it's the gameplay that shines. Explore the world/dungeon, find an item, upgrade your tools/stamina, reach new places.

I agree with the editors, the little life snippets that gives us lore and a sense of what that world is, is fun and very well done in Zelda games. BotW and TotK are awesome and gives us enough story, to be honest. This whole timeline nonsense trying to connect decades of games that clearly have at most, some Easter eggs of each other is fun, but not serious.

As Freud once said, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"

Toad is a great customizable character. He could easily fit into a bunch of different genres with some acessorizing, so I'd love to see Nintendo explores that.

A game similar to Fantasy Life I, starring Toad in a bunch of different jobs/classes would be very fun!

"How can you give GAME X a 7 when you gave GAME Y a 9, and this is objectively better?!"

HAHAH I love the dig here. I see people saying "objectvely" as if they are bringing the final argument to the table.
Reviews are mostly subjective in its essence, the objective part is what, fps and resolution? The whole review is SO much more.

So many beautiful pixel art RPGs in the last few years, I hope this one lives up to the level of Sea of Stars and especially Chained Echoes (what a masterpiece).

It looks very good!!

@kal_el_07241 I'd say it's gonna be very hard to get there, Animal Crossing had too much going for it: the pandemic was keeping everyone home, the global economy was in a better place, the games were a bit cheaper.
We can only hope, you never know! Maybe the pokemon brand on it can make up for everything else.

@Misima just know that all your comments have been very appreciated, thank you for for taking the time write down such necessary remarks.

I also appreciate NL for leaving the post open. I understand it must be hard work moderating comment sections, but this conversations are so necessary. It is important for people to understand how political gaming, tariffs, and our own freaking existence are!

@GoldenSunRM oh yeah, the companies are so evil for wanting more money against the behemot of the US economy, which spends a trillion dollars on the military annually.
It's not about just wanting more money, it's about not letting someone change the rules suddenly in an unconstitutional way targeting the economy of other less powerful countries as they see fit.
The freaking US court is ruling against their country, that's how bad it was.

@8bit-Man The fact that third party games are underperforming, up to now, cannot be associated with gkc. That's false cause fallacy. Or wishful thinking, for purists.

My guess would be bad sales projections from studios in many cases, for instance, but I won't be spreading this as an absolute truth, cause it isn't.

@koopababble It might now be for you cause it's a satire and and the criticism comes through humor, but pretty much every story contains criticism about society, that's how art is done.

George Lucas shows rebels fighting a controlling empire in Star Wars.
Tolkien makes Middle Earth a stage to criticize industrialization, concentration of power and the lack of environmental conscience in The Lord of The Rings.

I'm not an elf and I can relate to some of what he writes about lol you either chose to absorb the message, or just enjoy the ride.
I assume you're taking it a little too politically cause it doesnt align with what you care for, and that's fair, for me, what makes the world building immersion is the fact that we can relate to the characters, even though in a fantasy world.

@Yoshi3 I understand you're looking for different experience with different games, but you can't expect to have the same experience with the same series forever.
We need to twitch things a bit every now and then. They certainly took a risk with MP4 that didn't pay off, but when they tried the same with Zelda, it became the most successful entries, commercially and critically (along with OoT).
When they first launched metroid prime, they also tried something new. There wasn't any 3D metroidvanias, and it did work wonders.
It's hard to say something like, "MP4 didn't connect with the fan base", considering how the other entries sold similar numbers to this one. Maybe it connected ONLY with the fan base, and failed to connect with a new, broader audience like Zelda and Fire Emblem did recently.

@NintendoWife from my understanding, when you a buy a digital Switch 2 edition, you actually get the Switch 1 game + some kinda of texture pack. It's not a different SKU, it just has downloadble graphical content.

I got MP4 borrowed digitally from a friend (he has a S2, I've got S1) and it worked no problem.

My guess would be what you just said, the physical can't be read on the switch 1, so that would count as S2 exclusive

@the_beaver your list is EXACTLY how I would rate all of them, it's rare to find someone that appreciates Zero Mission more than Fusion, I simply don't get it lol

Regarding the sales number, it seems on track with expectations, people are trying so hard to not believe in facts. It's OK to admit when a company doesn't live up to expectations, but arguing semantics to imply hard numbers are not real, it's such a stretch lol

I reccomend all conspiracy fans to watch Bugonia lol

I love the article, and the Kirby tobacco cigarette holder even more haha

Not trying to be too fanboyish, but i can't help but admire how Nintendo has been tackling this phenomenon ever since the Switch.
Not including MP4, pretty much every game has been announced 3 to 6 months prior, and they kept their word on the vast majority.
It avoids that anxious overhyping, keeps the schedule much more organized, maintain an interval so each game can shine on their own. Even my gaming budget becomes easier to manage lol

This was my busiest switch year ever since launch, got through a lot of my backlog, but the top 3 was regarding playtime were:
Hades 2
Ball x Pit
Ni no Kuni 2

Spent a lot of time with Unicorn Overlord, Chained Echoes and OT 2 as well, all great games

It seems like this was the trend for this Holiday season, Xbox also reported steep decrease in sales. I presume PS5 didn't also maintain past numbers.
And I mean, buy a new console, IN THIS ECONOMY? Haha things have been tough

@ImpromptuR now THAT'S something I've never heard before lol

The artsyle and humor in this game are top notch, the system and progression are very well made, hope this update refreshes the fun I had with it! Amazing little gem

It looks like those movies that are so so bad, that it ends up being entertaining (so in line with the 90s Street Fighter movie). I highly doubt it can achieve commercial success like this, though

Hades 2 is definitely my pick

Haven't played MP4 and a few others yet, but the list is solid. Such an amazing franchise. Metroid Fusion is where I differ from most, as I find it way too linear for a metroid game, I'd drop it too the one of the last positions. Great game, regardless

I can't help but start every Tales game I can, but I usually get burnt out midway through, I don't know if it's the combat that gets a bit boring. Tales of Vesperia was the last one I dropped after the end of act 2.
Is this one more engaging?

HAHAHA I'm dead with this article, the ShEO was everything!
It's so essential to talk about LGBTQIA+ rights and representations in such a natural, fun way. Being feminine does NOT mean being sexual.
Props to Nintendolife for this article ❤️

@Potimarron I see what you mean, as a Brazilian, I can fully understand the need for such award. It's a very old structural problem, and having worked in a consultancy project in which we had to map hierarchy, gender and race over time for big companies, it becomes very evident.

Its also nice to note this award has categories for best game by South American, Southern Asian, New Zeland developers for this very same reason, give them visibility they would not get otherwise, regardless of how good their games are!

@Jack_Goetz I think they just got a nomination for "Gameplay design", but it's competing against Hades 2 and Silksong, shouldn't have a chance against those.
But I feel you, I've been hooked for weeks lol

@Potimarron they are, but, historically, have had less opportunities in many fields, gaming being one of them.
Awards like this gives exposition and merit to people who have been snubbed many times before.

Hades 2 is so incredible, they've managed to improve on absolutely everything, and the first game was already amazing.
Didn't play E33 yet, but it's the one other game that, for my taste, might be a competition for Hades 2

After playing Hades 2 to death, I picked up the genre again, and on my way to finding new games, tried
metal gear tactics - sucker for SRPG but didn't find the genres were mashed well enough
rogue legacy 2 - how does this game gets high praise, it looks and plays like a browser flash game, no charm at all, hated it lol

Finally arrived at Ball x Pitt, and this game is FANTASTIC. I'm hooked, can't reccomend it enough!

I mean, the budget for the game is allegedly U$13M (not including marketing), so game is a massive success regardless

@kmtrain83 with Zeus boons, that's feasible 😜

Agree with my mates here, it's my GOTY so far, they've outdone the first in every single way, and it was already a spetecular game.
Is it to early to ask for Hades 3 or something like, Anubis? Lol

@sketchturner not so low addiction tendencies then... hahaha jk

I can't get over how bad MS managed Rare, and most of its studios honestly. Which makes this guy a hero, for putting up with it for this long

@sketchturner I agree with @JackieCMarlow , not sure what their reasons might be, but I'll try to explain mine:
I believe there are games which are very engaging (stardew valley), vast (BotW), grindy (pokemon, for competitive play) for intance, and can absolutely have people over-extending their play time, but it's less common cause the dopamine hits are less intense, more spread out, or the time investment is more of a job (for grinding) than for pleasure.
The "addictive" (and I'll insist on using it here, even though I agree with @hisownsidekick for the most part) term is usually more related to games that have extremely high dopamine hits, that involves repetition and the "just one more time" feeling. These can be hurtful, and I find roguelites to be some kinda middle ground, cause they are still limited in scope.
The real addiction comes on live service online games (LoL, Overwatch), it works pretty much like a drug/gambling addiction, and the updates and new features make it never ending.

You're probably someone with very low tendencies to addiction, but as someone who's been there before, I try to stay away from those lol

@GrailUK well, the franchise is doing well cause it's really not aimed at the mature audience. My nephew really don't mind graphics, and I have a blast playing pokemom with him.
We've outgrown franchises, bands, cartoons, no need to spoil the fun for the new generations

@ShieldHero you've got your answer, but i second that, Zero Mission is an absolute blast, def a great starting point to the series.
The only reccomendation I'd give is, even though Fusion is really well done, it def doesn't have the traditional metroid flow of discovering and going anywhere, it's by far the most linear in the series. Great game, though, but try playing it after zero mission or super metroid!

@Jedrus_Lilac hahahahaha I love FE with all my heart, but I'm right there with you on that, had the exact same experience

Love this article! I'm a fellow "job system" addict, and have fond memories of many games for that aspect alone.
I'll tell you one thing, though: I have not, and will never have, a memory where the mage isn't the most op character in my party. Such heresy, Alana!

I don't mind the visuals, pokemon from the beginning wasn't any thing to write home about. I really wish they could find a charming artstyle though, it would make the games more appealing, but it's not like they are not fun because of that.

The battles look so fun, hope they are fluid and challenging (not just super long).

I'm so pumped for this game, I'm not into roguelites, and still, the first is one of my favorite games ever.
I love when a developer makes some magic and get you into a different genre of what you're used to!

Shut the front door, adventure mode is all I need in a new Mario Tennis game. Reminds me of the amazing gba games! This direct was a KILLER

A new fire emblem and I'm GOOD

It sounds that for Octopath 0, they are focusing on features that were implemented in the mobile Octopath game (a kinda town builder and 8 members party fights), I wonder if it'll be something akin of FE Engage, which was nice, but less ambitious/smaller scale than 3H.
The city building done right could be an absolute blast though, Ni No Kuni 2 had that aspect and it was a joy.

In a time when reviewers are critized for not giving 0 or 10 for games players love or hate, I love to see a good reviewer standing their ground on their opinion, and being respected for that like here at NintendoLife!
Great read!

I'm a sucker for TRPGs and the first Dark Deity was already pretty good, gonna pick it up right after finishing Overlord Unicorn, which has been sooooooo good

Well, I see a couple of fellow Fire Emblem fans that didn't like the first, I'd like to say that I'm a Fire Emblem fan that actually thought it was great lol

It has a very nice class system, a balanced gameplay, and a number of well designed maps (with a few exceptions). The story isn't the best, but I mean, it's not like it's constantly great in FE as well.

Out of the Fire Emblem clones, I'd say it's one of the best

@JHDK when the Switch 1 came out, I used to play while watching TV shows and movies, but it didn't work for me.
I wanted to empty my backlog in both medias, but it's an impossible task, too much being released all the time, plus work, sports, dating, social events, the gaming and TV shows took so much time from everything else, and i was doing them both at the same time lol
I started selecting just what I REALLY had an interest on, playing only docked, and man, it changed my life, and my enjoyment of videogames/movies lol and the fact I'm not trying to empty a huge backlog, brought me peace not to fill my backlog for the next 5 years, which resulted in creating free time for the rest of my activities.
But each to their own, if it works for you, go for it!

I love what the game represents, how creative it is and had an amazing time back then.
But just recently replayed it on NSO, and it might be an unpopular opinion, but besides the beautiful artstyle and RPG mechanics, I don't think it holds up that well.
The writing got much more inspired in subsequent entries (in TTYD and specially Origami King), the flow of the game isn't well paced (there is a lot of backtracking and progression feels glacial at points), and the characters have new designs but aren't nearly as charming as I remembered them to be.
I'd hope a new entry would make a better use of development resources

I'm currently playing Chained Echoes and it's OUTSTANDING! What a masterpiece, really, every location, character, sidequest, the progression system, it's honestly top 10 RPGs of all time, and it was developed by one guy.
I can't get over this fact, especially considering we have less enjoyable RPGs developed for years by whole studios.
I'm yet to play Sea of Stars, but if it's anything as good as, we are truly living the return of the golden age of RPGs

Tomorrow the Chained Echoes DLC is supposed to be released, and that's all I need, but a little Hades 2 wouldn't hurt