@OmnitronVariant I am not defending GamePass in any way.
I am still buying a lot of games outright, as not every game launches on GamePass day one or ever!
It's mostly MS own first party titles that launch Day One and a handful of MS sponsored titles, which is no different than all the exclusivity deals Sony buys from Studios to cut out XBOX gamers.
All I am saying is the whole GamePass outcry is just hysterical and pure overreacting.
Especially when EA, Ubisoft, Amazon (Prime), etc have had their own launchers, digital stores and subscription service long before GamePass.
GamePass was actually created as answer to MS losing the exclusivity war with Sony, who was buying up major studios left and right and turn their games and major franchises into Playstation Exclusives.
@OmnitronVariant There are always ups and downsides with everything in life. So in business as well.
There will always be cases were a GamePass release didn't work out for a studio.
But for a lot of (especially) smaller studios, GamePass actually helped them get their game out of the door and made the difference of going bankrupt and not releasing their game or finishing it and launching on GamePass. So we have plenty of those examples as well.
And of course, like in any Capitalistic scenario, larger studios that develop bigger games will get more money from MS to launch on GamePass.
This is only logical, as bigger budgets are involved and hence they will get better compensation, as such games also generate more hype and exposure.
Either way, a game studio is not forced to launch their games on XBOX GamePass. Plenty of games, both indie and AAA titles still release normally in the XBOX Store.
But the fact remains, that GamePass wasn't even the first subscription service for games. Both EA and Ubisoft had already their own game launchers with own online store for their games and offered a monthly subscription to access their game catalog.
So of course those big bobo's have tried to take down XBOX GamePass and try to feed negativity around it over the years, to try kill off any competition. While at the same time still going in bed with MS and offer subscription add-ons to GamePass to gain access to their titles. Corporate capitalism and hypocrisy at its finest.
@OmnitronVariant Tell that to the Indie developers who have actually massively profited from GamePass, as it helped them exposing their games to a large audience.
Those big capitalistic corpo studios you talking about, like EA, Activision and Ubisoft, etc... they didn't release their games day one on GamePass anyway. Only MS first party titles were day one on GamePass, along with smaller studios that got sponsored by MS to launch day one on GamePass. And again, those smaller studios actually massively profited from this.
For us gamers it's actually worse on Playstation, as Sony wants you to double dip in both PS+ Premium and buying their first party titles at full price. As Sony only releases their own titles at least a year later on their most expensive subscription tier.
So honestly, you have it all backwards and you are just repeating the echo chamber of those greedy corporate suits at EA and Ubisoft and their ilk! Which are actually the worst to have happened to the Game industry, with infesting all our games with micro transactions, DLCs, season passes, etc.... just to fleece as much money out of our pockets!
They don't deserve our sympathy at all!
Gamepass isn't going away. In fact, GamePass was actually quite late to the party... as the whole Movie and TV series business already went full on subscription mode long before that. So the game industry is just catching up.
PS. Completely forgot about this, but unless you have been living under a rock.... both EA and Ubisoft have had their own subscription service for years already! Hence why they try to bring down MS and GamePass, as it's competition!
@OmnitronVariant for us gamers, GamePass was actually incredible value for money.
I have had GamePass Ultimate for years and saved myself a lot of money.
I have been able to try out games that end up not being worth their money and so saved myself for wasting a lot of money over the years.
So to each their own. Gamepass was actually very popular for Microsoft, as even Sony started offering their variant with PS Plus Premium.
If it was such a disservice by evil Microsoft as you say, then Sony wouldn't have started offering a similar service.
But the problem now is the Microsoft CFO imposed a 30% profit margin requirement on XBOX Division (which is unheard of in the game industry and outright impossible), is why we suddenly see the console price hike and the crazy price hike on GamePass Ultimate.
So I downgraded my GamePass to Premium for now.
Its absolutely nuts to be honest, as XBOX Division was actually doing really well and delivered around 12-14% profit margins, compared to Sony Playstation division that barely makes 6-7% in profit margins.
@RoboCube That's why it's so deeply worrying what is happening with XBOX at the moment.
And people are absolutely nuts cheering and celebrating for XBOX to go down, completely unaware of the dire consequences when that happens.
The result will be that Sony will have pretty much a monopoly of the Major console market and will drive prices up even more and do even less effort on hardware and software front.
So you will end up paying even more for less!
We need XBOX as a competition lever against Sony and now also Nintendo, who has gone down the wrong path too with price hikes, delevering less for more, with expensive DLC packs that contain less and less, filing ridiculous patents, etc.
It's a crying shame what is happening with XBOX right now, due to a clueless CFO at Microsoft.
I have both XBOX Series X and a PS5 and the XBOX is a superior console. /sigh
@LoneWolfSones Nintendo themselves have finally seen the writing on the wall.
It already happened with the Switch 1, where 3rd party devs just pay for the smallest 4GB cart that doesn't even contain the entire game and you had to download an additional 10 to 20+ GB before you could play the game.
So the whole point of buying physical was already lost with the Switch 1. As what's the point of a physical copy, when only a fraction of the game is pre-loaded on the cart.
Fact is, cartridges are heavily outdated and too expensive to produce. Especially the large capacity ones that are now definitely needed for the Switch 2.
Its different with the big XBOX / PS consoles.
A blanc Bluray only costs 1-2 USD, whereas a high capacity Switch 1 / 2 cartridge cost 15+ USD.
Publishers are not willing to take that huge of a cut on their profits and they know they won't sell the game on the Switch 1 / 2 if they have to raise the price with 15 USD.
So the reality is that GKC is the way to go with Switch 2.
And when it comes to game preservation. Well that is pretty much dead too, unless they digitally store the games somewhere and keep them patched up.
As the vast majority of games these days are rushed and of poor quality and need months of large patches, before most of the major bugs and problems are fixed!
So having the initial game on a cart or Bluray for game preservation is just pointless as well, when the 1.0 version is often just broken and/or bugged to hell and requires at least a large day 1 patch (which is often the same size of the entire game) before its playable.
@SwitchplayerJohn The merchandise, next to the TCG generates the most profit for The Pokemon Company.
Sadly but true, the games only bring in small pennies compared to the TCG and Merchandise. Hence, why Gamefreak will never get the budget and dev time they need.
The sole purpose of the games and the TV Anime is just to support the TCG and Merchandise.
@TomSupreme Unless you have been living under a rock these past couple years? It's already happening.
Tried calling Customer Support for various Online Stores, transport companies, insurance, etc?
Chat support had already been widely replaced by AI.
And now recently, many phone Support lines have also been replaced by AI. Its incredibly hard or neigh on impossible to get a human support agent.
Many of them had been fired during COVID and the execs used that as opportunity to accelerate AI implementation, so the human employees didn't need to be hired back.
All these stupid support AI's do, is just repeating the same useless FAQ slop you can find on their websites. The reason you call Support is to talk to a human about whats NOT in the useless FAQ!.
I work in IT myself and Its a terrible development, as its being rushed way too quickly. This isn't going to end well, as the technology is far from ready yet, to be used in this way!
@OmnitronVariant Yep. This is the new "Corporate" Nintendo. Get used to it!
High price for their base game and then bare minimum effort DLC's at a premium price.
This Mega Dimension DLC is just another disgrace to add to the Bonanza DLC pile of Nintendo shame.
The DLC's in both Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet were 35 euro and added substantial new content and several hundred new Pokemon. Especially the second DLC in Scarlet/Violet was insane. They ended up being actual value for money in terms of what you got in content!
This Mega Dimension DLC is 30 euro and just being rushed out of the door, to increase the end of year profits! It just feels like a rushed mess and bare minimum effort! An outright rip-off compared to the Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet double DLC packs at almost the same price!!
@kal_el_07241 The whole DLC just looks bland and boring.
Just existing Lumious City, but with all NPCs removed, heavily desature the color and add a rainbow shine and then just some wandering Pokemon thrown in.
With Hoopa, I had expected an interesting story and for example going to different parts in time, like far in the past with a very lush ancient and small Lumious City with forests, etc and then maybe another dimension towards the future with a very futuristic Lumious City where they could have added those Violet Paradox Pokemon in it.....
Just more interesting Dimension zones with more variation.
This is such a missed opportunity and as low effort as it can get. Especially compared to the great DLCs in Sword Shield and the amazing second DLC of Scarlet Violet....
This is a huge disappointment and a huge rip-off, as they're charging almost the same price for this DLC ( 30 euro ) as the double DLC pack of Scarlet/Violet ( 35 euro )!
And people keep wondering why the Pokemon games are what they are.
The money the Pokemon games make are literally pocket change compared to the billions they make on the TCG and now also the digital TCG. /shrug
It’s a CATCH22 situation for Gamefreak and why they don’t get a higher budget and more dev time.
All the while the TCG is literally printing money for TPC with little effort.
@metaphysician It's the CFO at Microsoft that shouldn't be anywhere near the XBOX division that forced this 30% profit margin.
She just doesn't understand the gaming industry and thinks it's easy to hit 30% profit margins like the current AI boom and Cloud business, while in reality the gaming industry in general struggles to hit even 20% profit margins. 30% is literally not possible and realistic. Especially in todays economy!
To enforce this 30% profit margin on the XBOX division, they literally destroying the XBOX brand and pricing themselves out of the market.
And like it or not, if XBOX dies, SONY wins and we gamers loose!
As when SONY then gets Monopoly on the Home console market, with XBOX out of the way, you can bet SONY will heavily increase their prices on everything and will have free reign to do whatever they want and how they want, with all competition out of the way.
As like it or not, Nintendo lives in its own niche in a completely different segment of the gaming market, as the vast majority of major AAA games only launch on PC, XBOX and Playstation.
Especially all the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games will not even be able to run on the Switch 2, without too much effort and compromises. Since a lot of the current UE5 games already struggle on the regular PS5 and XBOX Series X.
We need XBOX to stay alive, to keep SONY in check and enforce competition in the market.
Lets pray and hope both the CEO and CFO come back to their senses, before it's too late. /sigh
I have always had almost all consoles. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
I always found the Microsoft console experience the best and Sony and Nintendo the worst.
Right now, the XBOX Series X is superior over the PS5. My PS5 has a noisy drive, that always spins up even when playing digital games and the coil whine is a b!tch too.
All the while my XBOX Series X is quiet as mouse and my old XBOX One X Scorpio edition is still going strong at the house of my Mother in law (when we're there during holidays), thanks to XBOX cloud working excellent on it.
Again, when it comes to Remote play, XBOX wins again. The PS Remote App is the absolute worst and after years it's still garbage. All the wile XBOX Cloud (which had its pains in the beginning) works like a charm today.... on any device.
Same with Sony PS+ Cloud. I have the PS Portal, which is an amazing device now it supports PS Cloud gaming, but it only offers a very restrictive library of games and I can still not Stream my digital purchased games! Absolute nuts!
All the while, Nintendo lives on in its own outdated bubble (when it comes to UX and Online experience) and only survives on their 1st party exclusives.
I am 100% sure, if the playing field was completely even with all games being available on all platforms, then both PC and XBOX would win, just for the hardware, UX and Online experience alone.
@iLikeUrAttitude It's that witch in Microsoft top management, which is driving all this.
Phil Spencer is literally powerless in all this and is forced to cave to the demands like 30% profitability per year, which is unheard of in the game industry and simply not possible.
That's why so many people had to be fired and why XBOX game pass and consoles got that price hike.
This is just really tragic and the result of a clueless hack overriding Phil Spencer and meddling with the XBOX division she has no business meddling with.
All the while, Sataya Nadella is enjoying his huge bonus stock payout and not paying attention to the XBOX division that is being destroyed on his watch.
It's also surprising, as I thought Phil Spencer had enough power and sway within Microsoft, but maybe he has grown too tired to fight back and has thrown the towel in the ring.
The Halo Masterchief Collection is over 120GB, so will never come to the Switch 2.
Unless Nintendo will allow piece meal download via the MasterChief launcher, like on XBOX, where you can individually manage which game to install, to manage storage.
So might be more reasonable to think they will start with the announced remaster first.
@1UP-HUSKY This is the first Pokemon game that actually offers a lot of side content. There are like 150 side missions, which explains why there are so many static NPC's in the city.
They are and/or will be mission givers at some point in the game.
Like I said in another thread. People struggle interacting with moving NPCs, that's why mission NPC's are often static.
You see this (and continue to see this) in all RPG games.
You actually see quite a few people moving around in Lumiose City and those are non-interactable NPC's.
Yes they could definitely have added even more moving NPC's, but I think its simply the Switch 1 holding them back at this point, which is annoying for us with a Switch 2 that just expect more out of the Switch 2 version.
But it is what it is, when Gamefreak has to operate with a small budget and only get max. 2 year development time per game.
And this is never going to change, as the games and Anime are just there to support the TCG and physical merchandise, which makes them way more money.
We were going through something called COVID and lockdowns back then, so gaming sales were out of the ordinary, as people were stuck at home. So game sales across the board were much higher than normal.
Today is totally different. Game sales have tanked worldwide due to current economic situation with high interest rates on mortgages, mass lay-offs in gaming industry and other areas. Game prices have gone up by 10-20 USD/Euro. Etc.
Then we have a console generation switch, going from Switch 1 to Switch 2.
If you just look at the sales figures, then they are impressive in today's market.
It's also not surprising that the Switch 1 version outsold the Switch 2 version, since the Switch 2 is new and is vastly outnumbered by Switch 1 users.
This also makes me worried that next year's new mainline Pokemon games will be mainly developed for the Switch 1 again (Like Legends Z-A) and the Switch 2 version will just be an afterthought again with just a resolution and fps bump.
It's a bit of Catch22 situation, as Nintendo probably still thinks they don't want to alienate that huge Switch 1 base out there, but on the other hand they really need to start selling way more Switch 2 consoles and then you really need to keep releasing great games that show the capabilities of the Switch 2.
Legends:Z-A was definitely not that! It's a good game and I immensely enjoy it on my Switch 2, but I am not blind to see they could have done way more for the Switch 2 version.
But again, I wouldn't pass it by Nintendo being still stuck in ancient thinking in that they don't want to alienate Switch 1 base by making the Switch 1 version look too inferior to the Switch 2 version. /shrug
@Dr_Lugae What people (and this article) also don't get is that the vast majority of these so called static NPC's are static for a reason. There are like 150 side quests in this game, so that means at least 150 static NPCs. So there is no way around this, as people will struggle to engage with a moving NPC. Literally all RPG games with quest/mission systems are designed like this and still are today.
Combine this with a fairly small and condense map and you get what you see. A city filled with static NPC's. But they did try to add a handful roaming NPCs in the city, like I described in detail in my earlier posts that got nuked.
From all the Pokemon games, Legends:Z-A actually has the most roaming NPCs in the game. So you can at least call that an improvement. Could they have added more? Of course! Sure! But I feel like they either ran out of time or it's just the Switch 1 that is holding them back at this point. Or both.
If they can't handle criticism, fine...at least just remove that single sentence then in my post and leave the rest intact.
It's just disheartening they just nuke my posts entirely. I took time to try write a lenghty (in my opion constructive) post with counter arguments and then its insulting and unprofessional to just outright delete them! That is just censuring people and not good.
@Retrograde I don't know what more to tell you. You are stubborn as heck and have your mind made up it seems.
CP2077 has cross-save. I didn't buy it to play docked on TV. I bought it for handheld on the go and then its incredible the way it looks and runs on the Switch 2.
On TV I play it via my PS5, but people that don't have a PS5 or XBOX Series X, then the Switch 2 version will still be a great experience for them.
A solid stable 30 fps is perfectly fine. Its literally the same framerate you get on the PS5 in Quality mode + Ray tracing.
Which is the mode I have been playing in for years WITHOUT issues!
So I literally get the same framerate on my Switch 2 as I get playing on my PS5!
So again. Bullocks! There is NO defending Atlus here. And for the record, the Persona games have their roots on handheld (PSP and PSVita).
Both Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reloaded are great games, but they are literally loading screen simulators with tiny zones. ( clearly developed on their same old toolsets and game assets as the old handheld games ).
There is absolutely no reason for these games to be that demanding that they can't run a solid 60 fps on the Switch 2. Especially when they can use assist features like DLSS!
@Retrograde I have it on the PS5 and believe it or not, Graphics wise the game looks neigh on 99% identical on the Switch 2 docked on my 4K OLED TV.
It's an incredible achievement and shows what a bunch of competent and highly motivated devs can achieve.
The compromises they have done are mostly a reduction in roaming NPCs and cars. That's it.
They make full use of NVidia's DLSS suite to achieve this miracle on the Switch 2.
Which shouldn't come as a surprise, as CP2077 has been constantly updated over the years, to support all the latest NVidia tech. That is why CP2077 continues to be an NVidia showcase game.
So believe it or not. The Switch 2 actually has an edge over the XBOX Series X and PS5 (which use an AMD SoC), by running an NVidia SoC that supports DLSS.
Hence, why this Switch 2 port of CP2077 is so good.
So no, this is nothing like the subpar, horrible blurry port of Witcher 3 on the Switch 1. Even though that was also a miracle they manage to get it to run on the Switch 1.
@Retrograde That is bullocks. All it takes is competence and Atlus is now showing all but that!
In the meantime. CD Project Red will want to have a word with you. If they manage to get friggin' Cyberpunk 2077 to run on the Switch 2 and fit the entire game + Phantom Liberty expansion on a switch 2 cart, then Atlus are really exposing themselves as incredibly incompetent and lazy, if they can't even get a Loading screen simulator game to run at a stable 30 fps on the Switch 2 lol.
@horizonisland I definitely agree with you that they could have done more with the Switch 2 version, graphically wise.
Its clear as night and day, that this game was primarily developed for the Switch 1 and all we got with the Switch 2 version is higher resolution and frame rates. This also explains why the game size is so smal and pretty much identical between Switch 1 and 2.
That is definitely a shame, but it is what it is. I really hope next year with the next Main line games, they are allowed to focus more on the Switch 2 version.
@horizonisland Experienced Pokemon players might hate the long tutorial, but I (as poke-vet) found it quite ok to be honest and didn't mind.
They introduce a lot of new stuff, like the new combat system, etc that they felt like needed to be explained well.
If you rush through the dialog, you can finish it within half an hour and with dialog in about an hour. Fine with me.
This game's story is actually quite good for a Pokemon game and so far thoroughly enjoy it and after 30+ hours I just barely reached Rank C.
This with a combination of story, exploring, doing wild areas and only a handful of side missions. And then there are still several areas in the City that are locked out for me.
What is also cool is, that when you start out in the game, you barely see any Pokemon outside the first few Wild areas that opened, but the further you progress into the Story and more wild areas get added... also more and more wild Pokemon show up outside these designated Wild areas too. Which is actually part of the story and quite a cool way to slowly increase the amount of Wild Pokemon you see outside the Wild areas.
I think this sadly needs to be spoiled/said, as it currently creates this misconception of Lumiose City being empty and pokemon just stuck in few wild areas. Which, yes is the case in the first hours of the game, when you only have 5 wild areas and barely see any wild Pokemon in the city (yet). I think this is what causes this general misconception that is being spread online!
Gamefreak should at least get some credit for that too. It makes the game a lot more interesting and gives you incentives to keep exploring the city, its roofs, lower underground sections, etc. Especially in Post-game.
@Reprise If you have only played a few hours, you barely got out of the tutorial phase and still very low rank and only unlocked few Wild areas and not able to access a lot of the roof and lower areas.
You unlock more and more Wild areas as you progress through the story and the final Wild area(s) you don't unlock after you complete the story and credits have rolled. So is actually part of post-game content.
Two "other areas" (which I will not spoil) only open up much further into the story. Just to give a non-spoil hint. I have over 30 hours in the game now and barely reached rank C. I still have not unlocked this second "other" area.
So yes, after a couple hours you barely scratched the surface and not even experienced the first mega evolution.
@eltomo That is the problem with many reviewers. They either just rush through the game, finish the story and ignore most of the rest or worse, only play part of the game, just to be able to drop a review on Day 1 of release.
With this game, after having played over 30 hours now (and just barely reached rank C), there are a lot of side missions that can be easily missed that open up access to new areas or unlock new "stuff" (won't go into detail to not spoil anything).
So, I can bet, most these reviewers most likely missed most of these and so never explored and experienced everything this game has to offer.
This game has plenty of content. I have followed some streamers on the side and from what I have seen, you can easily get 25-30 hours out of this game just doing the Story.
That is if you not interested in any side missions, completing the Pokedex or reaching max rank in research to get the Shiny Charm or other post-game content. Which can easily add a minimum of 50 hours to the game.
So this so called "small" map of Lumiose City packs a hell a punch and has lot of content and things to do.
So again, people need to stop being so fixated on map size!
I rather have a smaller game map, that is dense, is interesting, has plenty of surprises and verticality with a ton of different things to do.... than a vast open flat map with some trees and hills and a small cave here and there, with some roaming Pokemon, which was Legends:Arceus.
@Reprise Pokemon are not limited to these Wild areas. There are plenty of Pokemon to be found outside too. There are some unique Pokemon I only found on roof tops for example.
I think its a bit of a misconception that people read reports about tiny wild areas and then assume thats the only place to explore and find wild Pokemon.
Also, some Wild areas you unlock much later on in the game are actually quite a bit larger and more interesting due to the verticality.
It's also nicely tied into the Story and why you start with few wild areas and how it becomes more and more, including why you also find Pokemon outside the wild areas. Again I won't explain it here to not spoil anything.
So again, much like the old mainline games, you don't unlock all areas right from the start. You cannot access all roof tops nor other areas (won't explain in detail as to not spoil anything) until you progress much further into the game.
Sure, game area size wise, its not as big as Legends:Arceus or the latest mainline games, but size isn't everything.
In Scarlet/Violet the Paldea area was just a big boring empty space with towns, gyms, etc dumped on the map and pokemon just spawning all over the place. You spend a lot of time just traveling from point A to point B in a boring landscape.
I liked the confined area of Area Zero and later the Biome in DLC2 much more interesting.
In this case with Lumiose City, the map is a lot more interesting due to all the verticality with lots of hidden nooks and cranies.
I like that a lot better than just having a huge open empty space with some trees here and there, with some roaming Pokemons like Legends:Arceus.
I find that getting boring much faster than I do with Legends:ZA.
So for me, I have a lot more fun in Legends:ZA than I had with Legends:Arceus, which I was never able to finish, as I just got bored pretty quick.
Its a common problem with many of these large Open World games. Only very few manage to do it really well, like most notably CD Project Red with Cyberpunk 2077.
You have to understand they have to offer unique rewards or why would anyone bother in competitive play? If they can just get it far easier in the game.
Its human nature to follow the path of least resistance.
It sucks, as I don´t play competitive myself...yet alone be able to reach rank A in competitive, but I understand why they doing it.
Its happening a lot in MMOs too that offer Competitive/Ranked PVP, like World of Warcraft for example... with PVP seasons for 15+ years already. So again, its nothing new sadly.
@MetalGear_Yoshi The problem is that it was made originally for the Switch 1 and this game needs to run on the Switch 1.
The art style was unique in Legends:Arceus, giving it a more atmospheric vibe. But all the NPCs were stationary there too.
Legends:ZA is just similar in very clean art style as Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet. Most likely developed on these same assets. Since Legends:Arceus is a historical game without modern buildings, etc.
Its a shame they removed a lot of extra details, decorations, etc (according to the hack leaks) to probably make it run acceptable enough on the Switch 1, while they could have kept those in place for the Switch 2 version. Sounds like typical time crunch and laziness to me, par de course with The Pokemon Company.
What was not clear from the review, are you able to catch wandering Pokemon outside these wild areas in Lumiose City?
Or are they just decoration and catching is strictly confined to these tiny wild areas only?
If Pokemon spawn in the rest of the city too, outside the wild areas and you able to catch those too…. then that’s great and Im a little less fuzzed about the small wild areas.
But if you are only allowed to catch pokemon in these small wild areas, then it really sucks and would be a huge disappointment! As then I really hope this gets addressed in the upcoming DLC and more expansive wild areas get added.
@NickOfTime90 I could be wrong, but I don´t think it works that way. If your Switch is set to Netherlands, Europe region, then it will still unlock at midnight our time today. Unless your Switch is set to Japanese region and timezone, but I thought Nintendo had taken measures with people changing time zones in other regions to circumvent release unlock times.
Comments 1,802
Re: Sony Once Again Takes A Leaf From Nintendo's Playbook In Japan
@OmnitronVariant I am not defending GamePass in any way.
I am still buying a lot of games outright, as not every game launches on GamePass day one or ever!
It's mostly MS own first party titles that launch Day One and a handful of MS sponsored titles, which is no different than all the exclusivity deals Sony buys from Studios to cut out XBOX gamers.
All I am saying is the whole GamePass outcry is just hysterical and pure overreacting.
Especially when EA, Ubisoft, Amazon (Prime), etc have had their own launchers, digital stores and subscription service long before GamePass.
GamePass was actually created as answer to MS losing the exclusivity war with Sony, who was buying up major studios left and right and turn their games and major franchises into Playstation Exclusives.
Re: Sony Once Again Takes A Leaf From Nintendo's Playbook In Japan
@OmnitronVariant There are always ups and downsides with everything in life. So in business as well.
There will always be cases were a GamePass release didn't work out for a studio.
But for a lot of (especially) smaller studios, GamePass actually helped them get their game out of the door and made the difference of going bankrupt and not releasing their game or finishing it and launching on GamePass. So we have plenty of those examples as well.
And of course, like in any Capitalistic scenario, larger studios that develop bigger games will get more money from MS to launch on GamePass.
This is only logical, as bigger budgets are involved and hence they will get better compensation, as such games also generate more hype and exposure.
Either way, a game studio is not forced to launch their games on XBOX GamePass. Plenty of games, both indie and AAA titles still release normally in the XBOX Store.
But the fact remains, that GamePass wasn't even the first subscription service for games. Both EA and Ubisoft had already their own game launchers with own online store for their games and offered a monthly subscription to access their game catalog.
So of course those big bobo's have tried to take down XBOX GamePass and try to feed negativity around it over the years, to try kill off any competition. While at the same time still going in bed with MS and offer subscription add-ons to GamePass to gain access to their titles. Corporate capitalism and hypocrisy at its finest.
Re: Sony Once Again Takes A Leaf From Nintendo's Playbook In Japan
@OmnitronVariant Tell that to the Indie developers who have actually massively profited from GamePass, as it helped them exposing their games to a large audience.
Those big capitalistic corpo studios you talking about, like EA, Activision and Ubisoft, etc... they didn't release their games day one on GamePass anyway. Only MS first party titles were day one on GamePass, along with smaller studios that got sponsored by MS to launch day one on GamePass. And again, those smaller studios actually massively profited from this.
For us gamers it's actually worse on Playstation, as Sony wants you to double dip in both PS+ Premium and buying their first party titles at full price. As Sony only releases their own titles at least a year later on their most expensive subscription tier.
So honestly, you have it all backwards and you are just repeating the echo chamber of those greedy corporate suits at EA and Ubisoft and their ilk! Which are actually the worst to have happened to the Game industry, with infesting all our games with micro transactions, DLCs, season passes, etc.... just to fleece as much money out of our pockets!
They don't deserve our sympathy at all!
Gamepass isn't going away. In fact, GamePass was actually quite late to the party... as the whole Movie and TV series business already went full on subscription mode long before that. So the game industry is just catching up.
PS. Completely forgot about this, but unless you have been living under a rock.... both EA and Ubisoft have had their own subscription service for years already! Hence why they try to bring down MS and GamePass, as it's competition!
Re: Sony Once Again Takes A Leaf From Nintendo's Playbook In Japan
@OmnitronVariant for us gamers, GamePass was actually incredible value for money.
I have had GamePass Ultimate for years and saved myself a lot of money.
I have been able to try out games that end up not being worth their money and so saved myself for wasting a lot of money over the years.
So to each their own. Gamepass was actually very popular for Microsoft, as even Sony started offering their variant with PS Plus Premium.
If it was such a disservice by evil Microsoft as you say, then Sony wouldn't have started offering a similar service.
But the problem now is the Microsoft CFO imposed a 30% profit margin requirement on XBOX Division (which is unheard of in the game industry and outright impossible), is why we suddenly see the console price hike and the crazy price hike on GamePass Ultimate.
So I downgraded my GamePass to Premium for now.
Its absolutely nuts to be honest, as XBOX Division was actually doing really well and delivered around 12-14% profit margins, compared to Sony Playstation division that barely makes 6-7% in profit margins.
Re: Sony Once Again Takes A Leaf From Nintendo's Playbook In Japan
@RoboCube That's why it's so deeply worrying what is happening with XBOX at the moment.
And people are absolutely nuts cheering and celebrating for XBOX to go down, completely unaware of the dire consequences when that happens.
The result will be that Sony will have pretty much a monopoly of the Major console market and will drive prices up even more and do even less effort on hardware and software front.
So you will end up paying even more for less!
We need XBOX as a competition lever against Sony and now also Nintendo, who has gone down the wrong path too with price hikes, delevering less for more, with expensive DLC packs that contain less and less, filing ridiculous patents, etc.
It's a crying shame what is happening with XBOX right now, due to a clueless CFO at Microsoft.
I have both XBOX Series X and a PS5 and the XBOX is a superior console. /sigh
Re: Pokémon Pokopia Gets March 2026 Release Date, Brand New Trailer Coming This Week
@LoneWolfSones Nintendo themselves have finally seen the writing on the wall.
It already happened with the Switch 1, where 3rd party devs just pay for the smallest 4GB cart that doesn't even contain the entire game and you had to download an additional 10 to 20+ GB before you could play the game.
So the whole point of buying physical was already lost with the Switch 1. As what's the point of a physical copy, when only a fraction of the game is pre-loaded on the cart.
Fact is, cartridges are heavily outdated and too expensive to produce. Especially the large capacity ones that are now definitely needed for the Switch 2.
Its different with the big XBOX / PS consoles.
A blanc Bluray only costs 1-2 USD, whereas a high capacity Switch 1 / 2 cartridge cost 15+ USD.
Publishers are not willing to take that huge of a cut on their profits and they know they won't sell the game on the Switch 1 / 2 if they have to raise the price with 15 USD.
So the reality is that GKC is the way to go with Switch 2.
And when it comes to game preservation. Well that is pretty much dead too, unless they digitally store the games somewhere and keep them patched up.
As the vast majority of games these days are rushed and of poor quality and need months of large patches, before most of the major bugs and problems are fixed!
So having the initial game on a cart or Bluray for game preservation is just pointless as well, when the 1.0 version is often just broken and/or bugged to hell and requires at least a large day 1 patch (which is often the same size of the entire game) before its playable.
Re: 'PokéPark Kanto', The New Pokémon Theme Park, Opens Its Doors In February
@SwitchplayerJohn The merchandise, next to the TCG generates the most profit for The Pokemon Company.
Sadly but true, the games only bring in small pennies compared to the TCG and Merchandise. Hence, why Gamefreak will never get the budget and dev time they need.
The sole purpose of the games and the TV Anime is just to support the TCG and Merchandise.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC Scores December Release Date
@OmnitronVariant Same. I thoroughly enjoy Legends:Z-A and was really looking forward to the Mega Dimension DLC.
Re: Square Enix Aims To Automate 70% Of QA With Generative AI By 2027
@TomSupreme Unless you have been living under a rock these past couple years? It's already happening.
Tried calling Customer Support for various Online Stores, transport companies, insurance, etc?
Chat support had already been widely replaced by AI.
And now recently, many phone Support lines have also been replaced by AI. Its incredibly hard or neigh on impossible to get a human support agent.
Many of them had been fired during COVID and the execs used that as opportunity to accelerate AI implementation, so the human employees didn't need to be hired back.
All these stupid support AI's do, is just repeating the same useless FAQ slop you can find on their websites. The reason you call Support is to talk to a human about whats NOT in the useless FAQ!.
I work in IT myself and Its a terrible development, as its being rushed way too quickly. This isn't going to end well, as the technology is far from ready yet, to be used in this way!
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC Scores December Release Date
@OmnitronVariant Yep. This is the new "Corporate" Nintendo. Get used to it!
High price for their base game and then bare minimum effort DLC's at a premium price.
This Mega Dimension DLC is just another disgrace to add to the Bonanza DLC pile of Nintendo shame.
The DLC's in both Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet were 35 euro and added substantial new content and several hundred new Pokemon.
Especially the second DLC in Scarlet/Violet was insane.
They ended up being actual value for money in terms of what you got in content!
This Mega Dimension DLC is 30 euro and just being rushed out of the door, to increase the end of year profits!
It just feels like a rushed mess and bare minimum effort! An outright rip-off compared to the Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet double DLC packs at almost the same price!!
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC Scores December Release Date
@kal_el_07241 The whole DLC just looks bland and boring.
Just existing Lumious City, but with all NPCs removed, heavily desature the color and add a rainbow shine and then just some wandering Pokemon thrown in.
With Hoopa, I had expected an interesting story and for example going to different parts in time, like far in the past with a very lush ancient and small Lumious City with forests, etc and then maybe another dimension towards the future with a very futuristic Lumious City where they could have added those Violet Paradox Pokemon in it.....
Just more interesting Dimension zones with more variation.
This is such a missed opportunity and as low effort as it can get. Especially compared to the great DLCs in Sword Shield and the amazing second DLC of Scarlet Violet....
This is a huge disappointment and a huge rip-off, as they're charging almost the same price for this DLC ( 30 euro ) as the double DLC pack of Scarlet/Violet ( 35 euro )!
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC Scores December Release Date
Compared to the mainline game DLC's, this is anti-climactic as it can be.
Why in earth do they rush this DLC? Why not wait til February, spend more time on it and make it amazing, instead of this rushed mess of a DLC.
Re: Pokémon TCG Pocket Pulled In Almost $1.3 Billion In Its First Year Alone
And people keep wondering why the Pokemon games are what they are.
The money the Pokemon games make are literally pocket change compared to the billions they make on the TCG and now also the digital TCG. /shrug
It’s a CATCH22 situation for Gamefreak and why they don’t get a higher budget and more dev time.
All the while the TCG is literally printing money for TPC with little effort.
Re: Persona 5 Series Sales Just Won't Slow Down As Games Soar Past 13 Million
It’s a fantastic game. It’s a shame we don’t get a resolution/ framerate patch for the Switch 2. 😞
Re: Warframe's Switch 2 Version Is Officially Launching In 2026
@SalvorHardin They don’t have to go that far. They can use 1080p and use DLSS.
Re: Warframe's Switch 2 Version Is Officially Launching In 2026
Yeah can't wait, as current version of Warframe looks terrible on the Switch 2.
Re: Nintendo's Pokémon Catching-Related Patent Has Been Rejected In Japan
@breach187 You actually bring up an interesting point.
Fishing is essentially also throwing items, this case lures, at fish to try to catch them.
Re: Microsoft On Its Gaming Business Going Forward: "We Want To Be Everywhere"
@metaphysician It's the CFO at Microsoft that shouldn't be anywhere near the XBOX division that forced this 30% profit margin.
She just doesn't understand the gaming industry and thinks it's easy to hit 30% profit margins like the current AI boom and Cloud business, while in reality the gaming industry in general struggles to hit even 20% profit margins. 30% is literally not possible and realistic. Especially in todays economy!
To enforce this 30% profit margin on the XBOX division, they literally destroying the XBOX brand and pricing themselves out of the market.
And like it or not, if XBOX dies, SONY wins and we gamers loose!
As when SONY then gets Monopoly on the Home console market, with XBOX out of the way, you can bet SONY will heavily increase their prices on everything and will have free reign to do whatever they want and how they want, with all competition out of the way.
As like it or not, Nintendo lives in its own niche in a completely different segment of the gaming market, as the vast majority of major AAA games only launch on PC, XBOX and Playstation.
Especially all the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games will not even be able to run on the Switch 2, without too much effort and compromises. Since a lot of the current UE5 games already struggle on the regular PS5 and XBOX Series X.
We need XBOX to stay alive, to keep SONY in check and enforce competition in the market.
Lets pray and hope both the CEO and CFO come back to their senses, before it's too late. /sigh
Re: Monster Hunter Wilds Sales Hit The Brakes So Hard Last Quarter, Even 'Rise' Outsold It
@MamaSymphonia Yep didn't like Wilds much either and got bored real quick.
MH:World was a way better game. The maps were much more interesting due to all the verticality and the Monsters were more interesting too.
MH:Wilds just felt really flat and boring by comparison. Boring map design and the monsters weren't all that interesting either.
Re: "Go Tell Nintendo" - Ex-Blizzard President Responds After Xbox Calls Exclusives "Antiquated"
I have always had almost all consoles. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
I always found the Microsoft console experience the best and Sony and Nintendo the worst.
Right now, the XBOX Series X is superior over the PS5. My PS5 has a noisy drive, that always spins up even when playing digital games and the coil whine is a b!tch too.
All the while my XBOX Series X is quiet as mouse and my old XBOX One X Scorpio edition is still going strong at the house of my Mother in law (when we're there during holidays), thanks to XBOX cloud working excellent on it.
Again, when it comes to Remote play, XBOX wins again. The PS Remote App is the absolute worst and after years it's still garbage. All the wile XBOX Cloud (which had its pains in the beginning) works like a charm today.... on any device.
Same with Sony PS+ Cloud. I have the PS Portal, which is an amazing device now it supports PS Cloud gaming, but it only offers a very restrictive library of games and I can still not Stream my digital purchased games! Absolute nuts!
All the while, Nintendo lives on in its own outdated bubble (when it comes to UX and Online experience) and only survives on their 1st party exclusives.
I am 100% sure, if the playing field was completely even with all games being available on all platforms, then both PC and XBOX would win, just for the hardware, UX and Online experience alone.
Just my opinion and 2 cents.
Re: Xbox Reiterates Its Support For Switch 2
@iLikeUrAttitude It's that witch in Microsoft top management, which is driving all this.
Phil Spencer is literally powerless in all this and is forced to cave to the demands like 30% profitability per year, which is unheard of in the game industry and simply not possible.
That's why so many people had to be fired and why XBOX game pass and consoles got that price hike.
This is just really tragic and the result of a clueless hack overriding Phil Spencer and meddling with the XBOX division she has no business meddling with.
All the while, Sataya Nadella is enjoying his huge bonus stock payout and not paying attention to the XBOX division that is being destroyed on his watch.
It's also surprising, as I thought Phil Spencer had enough power and sway within Microsoft, but maybe he has grown too tired to fight back and has thrown the towel in the ring.
Re: Xbox Reiterates Its Support For Switch 2
The Halo Masterchief Collection is over 120GB, so will never come to the Switch 2.
Unless Nintendo will allow piece meal download via the MasterChief launcher, like on XBOX, where you can individually manage which game to install, to manage storage.
So might be more reasonable to think they will start with the announced remaster first.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sold 5.8 Million Copies Globally In Its First Week
@1UP-HUSKY Yes same here. They play roblox 90% of the time.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sold 5.8 Million Copies Globally In Its First Week
@1UP-HUSKY This is the first Pokemon game that actually offers a lot of side content. There are like 150 side missions, which explains why there are so many static NPC's in the city.
They are and/or will be mission givers at some point in the game.
Like I said in another thread. People struggle interacting with moving NPCs, that's why mission NPC's are often static.
You see this (and continue to see this) in all RPG games.
You actually see quite a few people moving around in Lumiose City and those are non-interactable NPC's.
Yes they could definitely have added even more moving NPC's, but I think its simply the Switch 1 holding them back at this point, which is annoying for us with a Switch 2 that just expect more out of the Switch 2 version.
But it is what it is, when Gamefreak has to operate with a small budget and only get max. 2 year development time per game.
And this is never going to change, as the games and Anime are just there to support the TCG and physical merchandise, which makes them way more money.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sold 5.8 Million Copies Globally In Its First Week
@johnedwin You cannot compare from back then.
We were going through something called COVID and lockdowns back then, so gaming sales were out of the ordinary, as people were stuck at home. So game sales across the board were much higher than normal.
Today is totally different. Game sales have tanked worldwide due to current economic situation with high interest rates on mortgages, mass lay-offs in gaming industry and other areas. Game prices have gone up by 10-20 USD/Euro. Etc.
Then we have a console generation switch, going from Switch 1 to Switch 2.
If you just look at the sales figures, then they are impressive in today's market.
It's also not surprising that the Switch 1 version outsold the Switch 2 version, since the Switch 2 is new and is vastly outnumbered by Switch 1 users.
This also makes me worried that next year's new mainline Pokemon games will be mainly developed for the Switch 1 again (Like Legends Z-A) and the Switch 2 version will just be an afterthought again with just a resolution and fps bump.
It's a bit of Catch22 situation, as Nintendo probably still thinks they don't want to alienate that huge Switch 1 base out there, but on the other hand they really need to start selling way more Switch 2 consoles and then you really need to keep releasing great games that show the capabilities of the Switch 2.
Legends:Z-A was definitely not that! It's a good game and I immensely enjoy it on my Switch 2, but I am not blind to see they could have done way more for the Switch 2 version.
But again, I wouldn't pass it by Nintendo being still stuck in ancient thinking in that they don't want to alienate Switch 1 base by making the Switch 1 version look too inferior to the Switch 2 version. /shrug
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
@Rhaoulos it is for the TCG and physical merchandise.Those earn them way more than the games.
Gamefreak is very much treated like an Indie dev studio with the small budget and 2 year time they get per game.
Both Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are to blame for this.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
@Dr_Lugae What people (and this article) also don't get is that the vast majority of these so called static NPC's are static for a reason. There are like 150 side quests in this game, so that means at least 150 static NPCs.
So there is no way around this, as people will struggle to engage with a moving NPC.
Literally all RPG games with quest/mission systems are designed like this and still are today.
Combine this with a fairly small and condense map and you get what you see. A city filled with static NPC's.
But they did try to add a handful roaming NPCs in the city, like I described in detail in my earlier posts that got nuked.
From all the Pokemon games, Legends:Z-A actually has the most roaming NPCs in the game. So you can at least call that an improvement.
Could they have added more? Of course! Sure! But I feel like they either ran out of time or it's just the Switch 1 that is holding them back at this point. Or both.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
@OmnitronVariant Yes this is just ridiculous.
If they can't handle criticism, fine...at least just remove that single sentence then in my post and leave the rest intact.
It's just disheartening they just nuke my posts entirely. I took time to try write a lenghty (in my opion constructive) post with counter arguments and then its insulting and unprofessional to just outright delete them! That is just censuring people and not good.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
@Jedrus_Lilac Well this site is now devolving in sensoring people and has removed all my posts. So take that for what you will.
I guess this post will be removed too in short time.
Deeply disappointed in this, as we should be allowed to call them out for posting articles that skew the truth.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
Removed
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
Removed
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
Removed
Re: Atlus To Address Persona 3 Reload's Switch 2 Frame Rate Hiccups In "Future Patches"
@Retrograde I don't know what more to tell you. You are stubborn as heck and have your mind made up it seems.
CP2077 has cross-save. I didn't buy it to play docked on TV. I bought it for handheld on the go and then its incredible the way it looks and runs on the Switch 2.
On TV I play it via my PS5, but people that don't have a PS5 or XBOX Series X, then the Switch 2 version will still be a great experience for them.
A solid stable 30 fps is perfectly fine. Its literally the same framerate you get on the PS5 in Quality mode + Ray tracing.
Which is the mode I have been playing in for years WITHOUT issues!
So I literally get the same framerate on my Switch 2 as I get playing on my PS5!
So again. Bullocks! There is NO defending Atlus here. And for the record, the Persona games have their roots on handheld (PSP and PSVita).
Both Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reloaded are great games, but they are literally loading screen simulators with tiny zones. ( clearly developed on their same old toolsets and game assets as the old handheld games ).
There is absolutely no reason for these games to be that demanding that they can't run a solid 60 fps on the Switch 2. Especially when they can use assist features like DLSS!
Re: Atlus To Address Persona 3 Reload's Switch 2 Frame Rate Hiccups In "Future Patches"
@Retrograde I have it on the PS5 and believe it or not, Graphics wise the game looks neigh on 99% identical on the Switch 2 docked on my 4K OLED TV.
It's an incredible achievement and shows what a bunch of competent and highly motivated devs can achieve.
The compromises they have done are mostly a reduction in roaming NPCs and cars. That's it.
They make full use of NVidia's DLSS suite to achieve this miracle on the Switch 2.
Which shouldn't come as a surprise, as CP2077 has been constantly updated over the years, to support all the latest NVidia tech. That is why CP2077 continues to be an NVidia showcase game.
So believe it or not. The Switch 2 actually has an edge over the XBOX Series X and PS5 (which use an AMD SoC), by running an NVidia SoC that supports DLSS.
Hence, why this Switch 2 port of CP2077 is so good.
So no, this is nothing like the subpar, horrible blurry port of Witcher 3 on the Switch 1. Even though that was also a miracle they manage to get it to run on the Switch 1.
Re: PSA: Switch 2 Launch Title Cyberpunk 2077 Gets A Big eShop Discount In New Sale (US)
@SpaceboyScreams This game doesn't need mods
I have replayed it over 4 times now since originally release 5+ years ago and all without mods.
I am not dissing on mods mind you, but honestly. This game is absolutely fantastic without it.
Now...Bethesda games on the other hand....yeah that's a different matter lol.
Re: Atlus To Address Persona 3 Reload's Switch 2 Frame Rate Hiccups In "Future Patches"
@Retrograde That is bullocks. All it takes is competence and Atlus is now showing all but that!
In the meantime. CD Project Red will want to have a word with you.
If they manage to get friggin' Cyberpunk 2077 to run on the Switch 2 and fit the entire game + Phantom Liberty expansion on a switch 2 cart, then Atlus are really exposing themselves as incredibly incompetent and lazy, if they can't even get a Loading screen simulator game to run at a stable 30 fps on the Switch 2 lol.
Re: Atlus To Address Persona 3 Reload's Switch 2 Frame Rate Hiccups In "Future Patches"
@iLikeUrAttitude I agree. Their games are literally loading screen simulators. So they shouldn't be anywhere near that demanding.
That a game like this can't run 60fps on the Switch2 really exposes Atlus as incompetent developers.
Why do we also still not have a frame rate / resolution unlock patch for Persona 5 Royal?
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@CielloArc That is interesting and didn’t know they were in charge of that specifically.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@horizonisland I am sure we get a greatly expanded Pokedex (and thus more Pokemon) with the upcoming Mega Dimensions DLC.
Both Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet added a lot of new Pokemon with their DLC´s, so I count on it will be the same here with the Mega Dimensions DLC.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@horizonisland Its just legal mumbo jumbo.
Creature Inc., Gamefreak and Nintendo have an equal IP split. 33%.
In reality though, everyone knows Creature Inc. is nothing and is basically owned by Gamefreak and Nintendo.
So in reality, The Pokemon Company is a 50/50 split between Gamefreak and Nintendo. So Nintendo management has a 50% say in whats going on at TPC.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@horizonisland I definitely agree with you that they could have done more with the Switch 2 version, graphically wise.
Its clear as night and day, that this game was primarily developed for the Switch 1 and all we got with the Switch 2 version is higher resolution and frame rates. This also explains why the game size is so smal and pretty much identical between Switch 1 and 2.
That is definitely a shame, but it is what it is. I really hope next year with the next Main line games, they are allowed to focus more on the Switch 2 version.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@horizonisland Experienced Pokemon players might hate the long tutorial, but I (as poke-vet) found it quite ok to be honest and didn't mind.
They introduce a lot of new stuff, like the new combat system, etc that they felt like needed to be explained well.
If you rush through the dialog, you can finish it within half an hour and with dialog in about an hour. Fine with me.
This game's story is actually quite good for a Pokemon game and so far thoroughly enjoy it and after 30+ hours I just barely reached Rank C.
This with a combination of story, exploring, doing wild areas and only a handful of side missions. And then there are still several areas in the City that are locked out for me.
What is also cool is, that when you start out in the game, you barely see any Pokemon outside the first few Wild areas that opened, but the further you progress into the Story and more wild areas get added... also more and more wild Pokemon show up outside these designated Wild areas too. Which is actually part of the story and quite a cool way to slowly increase the amount of Wild Pokemon you see outside the Wild areas.
I think this sadly needs to be spoiled/said, as it currently creates this misconception of Lumiose City being empty and pokemon just stuck in few wild areas. Which, yes is the case in the first hours of the game, when you only have 5 wild areas and barely see any wild Pokemon in the city (yet). I think this is what causes this general misconception that is being spread online!
Gamefreak should at least get some credit for that too. It makes the game a lot more interesting and gives you incentives to keep exploring the city, its roofs, lower underground sections, etc. Especially in Post-game.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@Reprise If you have only played a few hours, you barely got out of the tutorial phase and still very low rank and only unlocked few Wild areas and not able to access a lot of the roof and lower areas.
You unlock more and more Wild areas as you progress through the story and the final Wild area(s) you don't unlock after you complete the story and credits have rolled. So is actually part of post-game content.
Two "other areas" (which I will not spoil) only open up much further into the story. Just to give a non-spoil hint. I have over 30 hours in the game now and barely reached rank C. I still have not unlocked this second "other" area.
So yes, after a couple hours you barely scratched the surface and not even experienced the first mega evolution.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@eltomo That is the problem with many reviewers. They either just rush through the game, finish the story and ignore most of the rest or worse, only play part of the game, just to be able to drop a review on Day 1 of release.
With this game, after having played over 30 hours now (and just barely reached rank C), there are a lot of side missions that can be easily missed that open up access to new areas or unlock new "stuff" (won't go into detail to not spoil anything).
So, I can bet, most these reviewers most likely missed most of these and so never explored and experienced everything this game has to offer.
This game has plenty of content. I have followed some streamers on the side and from what I have seen, you can easily get 25-30 hours out of this game just doing the Story.
That is if you not interested in any side missions, completing the Pokedex or reaching max rank in research to get the Shiny Charm or other post-game content. Which can easily add a minimum of 50 hours to the game.
So this so called "small" map of Lumiose City packs a hell a punch and has lot of content and things to do.
So again, people need to stop being so fixated on map size!
I rather have a smaller game map, that is dense, is interesting, has plenty of surprises and verticality with a ton of different things to do.... than a vast open flat map with some trees and hills and a small cave here and there, with some roaming Pokemon, which was Legends:Arceus.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@Reprise Pokemon are not limited to these Wild areas. There are plenty of Pokemon to be found outside too. There are some unique Pokemon I only found on roof tops for example.
I think its a bit of a misconception that people read reports about tiny wild areas and then assume thats the only place to explore and find wild Pokemon.
Also, some Wild areas you unlock much later on in the game are actually quite a bit larger and more interesting due to the verticality.
It's also nicely tied into the Story and why you start with few wild areas and how it becomes more and more, including why you also find Pokemon outside the wild areas. Again I won't explain it here to not spoil anything.
So again, much like the old mainline games, you don't unlock all areas right from the start. You cannot access all roof tops nor other areas (won't explain in detail as to not spoil anything) until you progress much further into the game.
Sure, game area size wise, its not as big as Legends:Arceus or the latest mainline games, but size isn't everything.
In Scarlet/Violet the Paldea area was just a big boring empty space with towns, gyms, etc dumped on the map and pokemon just spawning all over the place. You spend a lot of time just traveling from point A to point B in a boring landscape.
I liked the confined area of Area Zero and later the Biome in DLC2 much more interesting.
In this case with Lumiose City, the map is a lot more interesting due to all the verticality with lots of hidden nooks and cranies.
I like that a lot better than just having a huge open empty space with some trees here and there, with some roaming Pokemons like Legends:Arceus.
I find that getting boring much faster than I do with Legends:ZA.
So for me, I have a lot more fun in Legends:ZA than I had with Legends:Arceus, which I was never able to finish, as I just got bored pretty quick.
Its a common problem with many of these large Open World games. Only very few manage to do it really well, like most notably CD Project Red with Cyberpunk 2077.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z‑A Ranked Battles Season 1 Now Live, Reach 'Rank K' For A Special Reward
You have to understand they have to offer unique rewards or why would anyone bother in competitive play? If they can just get it far easier in the game.
Its human nature to follow the path of least resistance.
It sucks, as I don´t play competitive myself...yet alone be able to reach rank A in competitive, but I understand why they doing it.
Its happening a lot in MMOs too that offer Competitive/Ranked PVP, like World of Warcraft for example... with PVP seasons for 15+ years already. So again, its nothing new sadly.
Re: Review: Pokémon Legends: Z-A - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Stellar Battles, But A Step Down From Arceus
@MetalGear_Yoshi The problem is that it was made originally for the Switch 1 and this game needs to run on the Switch 1.
The art style was unique in Legends:Arceus, giving it a more atmospheric vibe. But all the NPCs were stationary there too.
Legends:ZA is just similar in very clean art style as Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet. Most likely developed on these same assets. Since Legends:Arceus is a historical game without modern buildings, etc.
Its a shame they removed a lot of extra details, decorations, etc (according to the hack leaks) to probably make it run acceptable enough on the Switch 1, while they could have kept those in place for the Switch 2 version. Sounds like typical time crunch and laziness to me, par de course with The Pokemon Company.
Re: Review: Pokémon Legends: Z-A - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Stellar Battles, But A Step Down From Arceus
@SViper It doesnt seem to auto save constantly, but every few mins or so.
So you can still save scum.
Re: Review: Pokémon Legends: Z-A - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Stellar Battles, But A Step Down From Arceus
What was not clear from the review, are you able to catch wandering Pokemon outside these wild areas in Lumiose City?
Or are they just decoration and catching is strictly confined to these tiny wild areas only?
If Pokemon spawn in the rest of the city too, outside the wild areas and you able to catch those too…. then that’s great and Im a little less fuzzed about the small wild areas.
But if you are only allowed to catch pokemon in these small wild areas, then it really sucks and would be a huge disappointment! As then I really hope this gets addressed in the upcoming DLC and more expansive wild areas get added.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Version 1.0.1 Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@NickOfTime90 I could be wrong, but I don´t think it works that way.
If your Switch is set to Netherlands, Europe region, then it will still unlock at midnight our time today.
Unless your Switch is set to Japanese region and timezone, but I thought Nintendo had taken measures with people changing time zones in other regions to circumvent release unlock times.