Comments 2,119

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (1st February)

John_Deacon

@Zuljaras Since the DS times, I've been in love with Portrait of Ruin and I replay it from time to time. I usually play the igavanias randomly (less Circle of the Moon and more frequently the others), but I decided to start this year replaying them chronologically

The devs achieved an incredible level of balance between jonathan and Charlotte in terms of weapons and magic, so that you won't be able to forget one of them and use only one character throughout the game. The areas inside the paintings offer distinct environments, so we have interesting variations out of the (samey) castle environment.

Yes, Ecclesia is the next. I personally like it a lot, too. It plays differently, but it's as enjoyable as this one. And it's really challenging, too. After I beat Ecclesia, I'll try (once again) to play Bloodtained to the end, hoping that it's running better after version 1.6

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (1st February)

John_Deacon

  • Castlevania Portrait of Ruin - the 5th igavania I'm playing in a row and my personal favorite. I love the concept of paintings taking you to new areas, and the ability to play with two characters simultaneously makes this game so much fun. It's awesome and I never get tired of it!
  • Streets of Rage 4 - it's always time to replay one of the best beat them ups ever made. It's incredible how everything flows perfectly and the difficulty is spot on. The different characters extend gameplay possibilities, so I'm always getting back to this one

Since I'm working like a dog, I'm very likely to be playing these same two games next week again, which I can't complain about

Re: Square Enix Revives Super Mario RPG Soundtrack With Three New Music Products

John_Deacon

I know the physical media market today isn't what it used to be, but it'd be wonderful to have more releases like this one. At least for the most popular games. Collectors are still alive (and kicking) and as much as physical media has becoming more and more niche, it'll only disappear if companies decide to stop manufacturing it because there'll always be customers waiting for quality releases

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (25th January)

John_Deacon

I'm still on a Castlevania streak here. Apart from that, nothing has changed very much

  • Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow - I'm looking for a soul to be able to face the real final boss. After I beat it, I'll move on to my favorite Castlevania on the DS: Portrait of Ruin.
  • DKC Tropical Freeze - I keep working to get 100%. I love everything in this game, including the level of challenge. It's hard, but it's never disappointing. A wonderful game. I want to finish this one before starting Returns

These are the main games I'm playing. Add to them some Mario Kart 8 races and Picross puzzles and that's it

Re: Analyst States That Switch 2's Price Won't "Really Matter" For Early Adopters

John_Deacon

the eventual price of the console likely won't matter for the early adopters amongst us

oh, yes, it will. Remember that there are people like me who'd like to buy it day one but live in regions like South America, Southeastern Asia or Africa, where the dollar exchange rate plays a fundamental part when it comes to making a financial decision like this. A low price like 300 US dollars may become so high when transposed to other realities that maybe it will be prohibitive. Let's wait and see...

Re: The OG Mega Man Is Getting The 'Hand-Drawn Game Guide' Treatment

John_Deacon

@mlt Well, in my case, Mega Man 3 was the game that really made me dream about having an NES back in the day. I used to go to the video store and kept looking at games and systems for months. When I finally bought my NES, Mega Man 3 was the first game I played on it and it lived up to my expectations in every aspect. I still play it every year until today

Mega Man 2 is my number two in the franchise for sure. Although it is a marvelous entry and the game that set the franchise on the right track, 3 will be in my heart forever with its perfect soundtrack, great stage design, fair difficulty and the introduction of the slide to make gameplay even better than 2's.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (18th January)

John_Deacon

Having finished the three GBA games in Castlevania Advance Collection, now I'm moving on to revisit the DS trilogy in the Dominus Collection. So I'll be playing:

  • Dawn of Sorrow - since the DS trilogy borders perfection, this is going to be such a fun run!
  • DKC Tropical Freeze - trying to 100% it. Now I remember how difficult this game is if you wanna achieve everything in it

Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of Donkey Kong's Redesign In Mario Kart 9?

John_Deacon

This is like when the artist who's been drawing your favorite comics character is changed. You find the new art really strange, but after some time you get used to it. You might like the new one more or not, but in the end you get used to it. This blurry image or the trailer itself aren't enough for me to have a good look at the new design

Re: Nintendo's Share Price Dips Following Its Big Switch 2 Reveal

John_Deacon

God, I hate the stock market! It reacts just like an ultrasensitive person who gets affected by anything surrounding them, whether it's harmful or not. If someone shouts "I don't like this", the price might go down or if a positive reaction is staged, the price goes up. There's no relation with "reality" here, whatever reality might mean these days. That's the way it is

Re: The OG Mega Man Is Getting The 'Hand-Drawn Game Guide' Treatment

John_Deacon

I backed Hand-Drawn Game Guides in its first run. They're great productions! I really love to see the combination of two of the things I enjoy most in life: games and art. (Games are art, but you know what I mean). It's a shame he had to stop, but I'm really happy to he him back at work!

I'm getting a digital copy and dreaming about one of my favorite games ever receivning the same treatment: Mega Man 3

Re: Video: Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered "Meet The Bosses" Trailer Showcase

John_Deacon

I got the first collection when it was launched. Although 2 and 3 are too difficult in my opinion, all 3 are great games and still worth playing today. That is, if you've got the guts to face three mid to late 90s 3D platformers with the limitations imposed by their time.

I remember I really liked 4. It was a little more beautiful than the previous games and it was less hard, with a fair challenge. A fun game for me. As for 5 and 6, I've never played them, so I'm on the fence about this collection

Re: Japanese Charts: Super Mario Party Jamboree Surpasses 1 Million Units Sold

John_Deacon

This is just a guess, since I don't know what kind of numbers were expected for Brothership and Echoes of Wisdom, but although they're still in the top ten, their sales numbers seem to be really low. I mean, it's a Zelda game 3 months after release (holiday season gone by now) and it still hasn't sold 400k copies...

Jamboree, on the other hand, is doing really really well. And this is only for Japan (physical copies only??)

Re: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Estimated File Size Update

John_Deacon

I'm still on the fence about this one. It is a great game, but I've already bought it twice, so although the Switch could be the best place to play it, im not convinced after watching the trailers and reactions/comparisons. I'm gonna wait for reviews to see if there are any other "surprises" than those already revealed in the trailers

Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Has Been Nominated For Another Award

John_Deacon

When franchises are around for a long time, like Zelda, it's commonplace to have changes here and there, to test new systems, to try new mechanics. Some of these become fixtures, others are simply forgotten and never used anymore. This is a different Zelda game. The introduction of the echoes made it a very different game in the series

Whether you like it or not, it's up to you. Every kind of answer is fair here. The only thing that's unfair from my point of view is to say that it's a bad game, which it isn't. There's a lot of love poured into it and it's easy to see it. They took really good care of every aspect of the game and it shows. Maybe it's not for you, but it's really well done. It's not my favorite Zelda of all time, but I had a lot of fun playing it and I'll sure be playing it again in the future. It's a 9/10 for me. Take it for what it is, not for what you'd like it to be if you could call the shots

Re: Feature: 8 Games That Defined The Switch Generation

John_Deacon

Maybe I'm the only one, but I think the future of the Pokemon franchise would be much better off if it followed on Arceus' footsteps, not SV's

Besides, Odyssey could be considered the best 3D Mario so far, so it could be the way to go

Yeah, my list would be 70% different, so your list achieved its goal: people sharing their views and maybe their lists. There is no right or wrong here

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (11th January)

John_Deacon

I finished Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D last weekend, and now I'm playing:

  • Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance (Switch) - this is the Castlevania game in which I get lost more often. Changing from Castle A to B (which are basically the same in terms of general design) constantly through portals adds a layer of difficulty but also adds a layer of fun to the exploration
  • Picross S Genesis And Master System Edition (Switch) - finishing the Clip Picross puzzles (there are 50 in each puzzle! Picross S games have a ton of content!)
  • Super Princess Peach (DS) - playing again one of my favorite platformers ever!

Re: Nintendo's Punch-Out!! Series May Be Dead And Buried For Good

John_Deacon

It's a shame. One my favorite games on Wii. I'd really love to see a remaster with button controls added. Never was a big fan on the NES because the difficulty was too much for me, but the Snes game was great and recently I've bought the Hamster arcade version, which is impressive for the time it was released. I'm glad it's available. Hope one day the Wii version is, too

Re: Editorial: A Very Happy New Year From Nintendo Life

John_Deacon

Happy new year, everyone. I wish you all (staff and community) a great year with good health, a lot of great opportunities in life and fun gaming moments!

With Switch entering its ninth year come the start of March

It's shocking it's already year 9 in Switch's lifespan! It's been a great ride so far. I'm really glad I've been able to enjoy the system since 2017

Re: Stardew Valley Has Now Sold More Copies Than Mario Kart Wii

John_Deacon

I'm glad to know that. The dev made it all nearly alone (I'm not sure if he wrote the music) and kept delivering updates and additions long after the game was released. It's hard to know how many hours I spent playing it. It's nit only my favorite farm simulator but also one of my favorite games in the past 5 years