For me it’ll mostly be Luigi’s Mansion 3 this weekend, perhaps with some Dragon Quest 11S sprinkled in between bouts of ghost-catching (I’m on Act 3 of the game, which is technically post-game, and oh boy, this is the gift that keeps on giving! This may just be my favourite JRPG of all time, I can’t recommend it enough!).
I love my Majora’s Mask New 3DS XL ( and my extensive DS/3DS game collection) to bits, but as someone with bad eyesight in spite of glasses, I find it difficult to go back to the comparatively blurry screen for longer than 30/60 minutes at a time now that I am used to the Switch. Which is a pity, because the 3DS is probably my favourite handheld of all time, and it had some really amazing games. Stopping making new games for it will never change that.
It should be waiting for me just inside my door when I get home...man, I can't wait to play it! Being an adult gamer in a full-time job sucks - I have to stay at the office late tonight for a meeting, so I won't get my grubby paws on it until 6pm at least. Still, so hyped for this!
I love that people are complaining about the Gigantamax Pikachu and Eevee only being available if you have a Let's Go save file...that's not a paywall, guys, just a bonus for people who actually played last year's games. Some games release expensive special editions that contain exclusive DLC (cosmetic items, quests), but I don't see people going up in arms about this stuff being locked behind a paywall.
And for the ones crying out in outrage about Gen 1 pandering...if we exclude Meowth (early adoption bonus) and Pikachu/Eevee (Let's Go freebies), Charizard and Butterfree are the only Gen 1 Pokemon getting a Gigantamax form so far. The devs will likely choose a handful of 'mons from each gen to give special treatment, don't fret.
@BootyMessiah That's an unfair comparison. The Switch version of DQ XI was announced to be in development in 2016, when the console was still known as the 'NX', and the team at Square is larger and has far more experience of semi-open world games in a fully 3D console engine than GF. As if that was not enough, the number of animations and models required for DQ XI are far lower than those required for Sw/Sh, since around 3/4 of all enemies and NPCs are reskinned versions of the same 100-ish base models. Even if we only get 500 pokemon in the game, that's still 500 individual models with dozens of different animations each - that's an insane amount of work to get done within a development cycle that was likely under 3 years long.
People need a reality check - Pokemon games just don't have the same manpower and lengthy development cycles as BotW/DQ XI-like games, and if we keep holding them to such an impossible standard, no one is ever going to be happy. Personally, I never cared much for graphics in games; as long as Sw/Sh are fun, bug-free and allow me to run around catching critters to fill my PC boxes with for a couple hundred hours, I'll be happy. But that's just me.
@princezorldo I 100% agree with this. When I first got Black I decided to go ‘blind’ to avoid any and all spoilers and picked Tepig, only to end up detesting its middle and final forms and phasing it out of my party as soon as I could. Starters definitely need to be a fully informed decision for me.
I guess I’ll decide when I know about their evolutions and their final typing, but so far I’m leaning towards Sobble. My partner is set on Scorebunny, so we’ll trade as soon as we reach the new games’ equivalent of the nursery and can get an egg, and then probably hustle for a Grookie online so we have all three fairly early in the game.
I believe this officially tips the scales in Shield’s favour for me. My partner and I are getting both versions in release next month, and we were still undecided on who gets which version, but since he loves Sirfetch’d and Ponyta is one of my favourite pokemon, I think we finally have a verdict.
I ended up giving up on Ni No Kuni for the time being (it’s a great game, but it can get a bit repetitive if you’re bingeing 40 hours of it over 10 days while off sick), and started DQ XI S instead, and boy oh boy, I’m not regretting it. I really enjoyed the demo (I got around 9 hours of play out of it before I reached the end), and the full game is not disappointing. Around 13 hours in now, and having a blast; I can see myself playing this until Luigi’s Mansion comes out at the end of the month.
I’ve been playing it for just over a week now, and I’m really enjoying it, though it feels a bit too linear at times (most of its locations are literally glorified corridors) when compared to other recent JRPGs. Pity to see it languishing so low in the European charts, but it can’t be helped - it released on the same day as Link’s Awakening, and only a week before Dragon Quest XI S, it never stood a chance.
I was initially planning on getting Trine 4, Yooka-Laylee, Doraemon’s Story of Seasons, A Hat in Time and Luigi’s Mansion 3, but since I caved and preordered the purple/orange joy-con (I love the autumn colours, and I like the idea of maybe mixing and matching with my current Splatoon set to have a purple/pink colour scheme), I’ve decided to cut back and only get Luigi’s Mansion at the end of the month. It’s not like I don’t have enough games to play, anyway - my immediate backlog includes Ni No Kuni (which I’m currently playing), Dragon Quest XI S and a Golden Deer play-through on Three Houses, and with Luigi’s Mansion, Pokemon and Rune Factory 4 coming soon, I’m probably set until Animal Crossing comes out.
I was planning on starting this the moment it got through my letterbox tomorrow, but I ended up spending all this week at home with the flu and eventually caved and started Ni No Kuni instead, so this may have to wait a few weeks. But then there’s Luigi’s Mansion, and Pokemon two weeks after that...man, I wish I was back at uni and had more time for gaming, being an adult in a full-time job sucks. Now I finally have enough money to buy games, but not enough time to play.
@KayFiOS To be fair, the whole Farfetch’d evolutionary line would be missing should they decide to rotate it out of one of the next games, so it’s not like they’re showing us a new evolution just to take it out in two years’ time and leave the base form in. That said, the fact that Farfetch’d is getting an evolution probably means that it’ll be included in the next few games at the very least.
I honestly can’t wait to get my hand on this on Friday - I adored the original release of the game on PS3, but I never got to finish it since my decrepit console gave up the ghost when I was around halfway through the game and I decided to upgrade to a PS4 rather than replace it. Still, it may have to wait until the holidays to be played - Link’s Awakening takes precedence, as does DQ XIS, as I am itching to continue the story after playing 12 hours in the demo. And with Luigi’s Mansion and Pokemon coming soon...man, it’s such an awesome time to be a Switch owner! I just wish I didn’t have a full time job so I could sink way more time into these games...
It looks interesting, but I can’t get over how slow the running animation looks...I’ll keep an eye out for reviews and maybe get this once it goes on sale - there are way too many retail games coming out between now and March for me to even consider buying anything on the eShop until I have whittled down my current (and future) backlog.
@Danksparce Thanks for correcting me! I honestly had no idea...Litten the only starter from S/M I didn’t have, I just assumed Incineroar would be fire/fighting because of its appearance and its inclusion in Smash.
Makes me think this may be Scorebunny’s intermediate stage...are we about to see the starters’ evolutions?
EDIT: I just realised this is pure fighting type rather than fire-fighting, which makes the above point moot. All the better - I’m getting tired of fire-fighting starters after Gens 3, 4 and 5 (thank you to those who corrected me, I had also included Gen 7 here mistakingly thinking Incineroar was also fire-fighting). Hopefully the devs will get a little more creative with the fire starter line this time.
I won’t splurge for the special edition - there are so many games I want coming out between next week and the end of the year that I won’t be able to buy them all as it is - but the standard physical copy is a day one purchase for me. I played this on my 3DS some 5 years ago not knowing what to expect (I had never played a RF game before), and I ended up LOVING it. I’ve been meaning to play through the game again for a couple of years, but after getting used to the Switch screen I’ve been struggling to go back to the now blurry 3DS one. Now we just need a release date!
Having never played a DQ game aside from Builders 2, I initially had zero interest in this game, but that demo...bravo, Square Enix - after spending 8.5 hours with it, I have now preordered a physical copy of DQ XIS so I can get my grubby paws on it on release date and play through it to my little gamer heart’s content. Between this, Ni No Kuni and Link’s awakening, I’ll be absolutely skint this month...worth it though! These three, Luigi’s Mansion and Pokemon (and Rune Factory 4S, if that’s still on track to release soon) will happily keep me playing until Animal Crossing comes out in March (when I will wave my social life goodbye for good). What a time to be a Switch owner!
I’ll be playing the DQ XI S demo this weekend - I’m 7 hours in, and still haven’t reached the cutoff point, so I’ll squeeze as much gameplay as I can out of it. I originally had no plans to pick the game up, but I’m now going to get it on release date, so the demo definitely achieved its purpose! Square demos seem to work like a charm with me, since I also had no intention of picking up Octopath Traveler and DQ Builders 2, and yet...ah, well, the more RPGs the better in my opinion!
I’m going to keep my predictions conservative this time...I’d expect to see:
brief marketing pushes for Link’s Awakening, Daemon X Machina and Dragon Quest XIS
footage for Luigi’s Mansion and Pokemon (as already announced)
hopefully no longer than a couple of minutes on Banjo’s moveset and release date (as someone who isn’t interested in Smash, the amount of Direct time that has been dedicated to the game since its announcements baffles me)
a release date for Rune Factory 4 in the West
some news about Town
a port/remaster (probably chosen among Mario 3D World, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, Sunshine, Galaxy, Pikmin 3 and an older 2D Metroid) coming in December or early 2020
a bit of Animal Crossing news/footage (they left fans hanging for 9 months, I’d be surprised if they showed nothing new after the full reveal at E3)
maybe a quick update on Bayonetta 3 or Prime 4 (probably with no footage)
potential reveal of one of the Monolith Soft projects
If I had to ask for one wild thing, however, I’d hope for a Fantasy Life port/remaster, I adored that game. Or a Layton collection including some of the older games.
For me, it’ll be Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni and Dragon Quest XI S in September, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and maybe Doraemon’s Story of Seasons (how is Zumba: Burn It Up on the list, and this isn’t?) in October, and Pokemon in November (not sure of which version, my partner and I are getting both and have not yet decided which one goes to whom). My poor wallet...
@Chimaj Sorry for the unintentional spoiler! I hope it doesn’t detract from your enjoyment of the game, it’s probably my favourite in the series so far (though I have only played Awakening, Fates and Echoes). I haven’t been able to put it down since it launched, it’s literally the only Switch game I’ve played in the past month!
While my partner watches his beloved F1 this weekend - which means I’ll get a few hours of blissfully uninterrupted gaming time between Saturday and Sunday - I’ll be diving into Fire Emblem to hopefully finish my Blue Lions playthrough. I am on Chapter 20 (out of 24, I believe), and I really want to know how Dimitri’s story ends before I inevitably start a New Game + for a Golden Deer round. Aside from that, I will also probably fire up the DQXI demo to see what the game is all about. I have never played a DQ game (in spite of being a big JRPG fan), and the demo may just be what I need to finally take the plunge into the series. Which would mean I would get Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni and DQXI in the space of a week next month...gah! So many games, so little time!
Over the years, I have owned a GBA SP, an original DS, a DS Lite, a DSi XL, a 3DS XL, a New 3DS XL, a Gamecube, a Wii, a Wii U and a Switch, and aside from a L bumper that stopped working on my original DS (probably due to being dropped or to years of usage, I have no idea) and a bit of a drift on one of my Joy-Cons, I have never had any issues with any of my Nintendo consoles. I did, however, end up with a faulty PS3 and two faulty Xbox Ones (also owned a PS1, PS2 and PS4 with no faults), so overall, I had issues with 50% of my non-Nintendo consoles versus 20% of my Nintendo consoles. It’s homemade statistics, but still, it looks pretty good in my book.
Going to pick this up on day one (hopefully a physical copy, if they release one here in the UK)! I am a huge Story of Seasons fan, and Doraemon actually aired for years in Italy when I was a kid (dubbed, of course), so I am very familiar with the characters. Besides, the art style is absolutely gorgeous!
I have to admit, I really love the purple/orange combination (very autumnal), and I am in the market for new joy-cons...I might nab myself a set, and maybe mix and match with my current Splatoon set if I get tired of the purple/orange combination - I’m pretty sure purple/neon pink would look adorable, if the Japan-exclusive Tsum Tsum special edition console is anything to go by.
Nice! I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, but I doubt it will be a day one purchase for me, since it’s coming out smack-dab between Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Pokemon.
Awesome to see this! I got my copy on Friday afternoon, and am loving the game so far - it definitely deserves the top spot. I still can’t believe it managed to sell more than Wolfenstein in the UK, though - shooters on PS4/XbOne are all the rage here!
Even though I tend to play 90% handheld, I still like the option of being able to play on the TV if I want to, so I may give the Lite a pass (unless they decide to make a sweet, sweet Animal Crossing-themed console, in which case I might just cave depending on cuteness level).
I may, however, get myself an upgraded model Switch sometime in the spring for the better battery life and temperature efficiency, and sell my current one to my brother-in-law, who will definitely want one as well once my partner gets his own to play Pokemon in November.
I have no idea of how people would be playing this in super hard/lunatic mode...I’d go mad! I’m no FE veteran, but I have played Awakening, all three Fates games and Echoes (the first in Normal/Casual, the other four in Normal/Classic once I got the hang of it), and I’m finding Normal/Classic mode in Three Houses tough as nails - far tougher than the other games I have played (even Conquest, which I believe was generally agreed to be a rather difficult FE game).
Am I just super-rusty after two years without playing SRPGs, or is anyone else finding this game harder than its predecessors? 😛
I’m going to go with Blue Lions, though I will make multiple save files when it’s time to make my choice so I can play the other houses later down the line. I’ll probably go with Black Eagles for the second playthrough, then Golden Deer for my third. I’ll probably be playing this on and off for a solid year or two to see all possible routes.
I’m not a huge fan of the pattern on the dock and joy-cons, but I LOVE the purple and pink combination! The right controller seems to be the same shade of pink as the one in the Splatoon set; I might just have to buy the purple/orange set in October to get this same colour combination on my Switch!
Had no issues with my two sets of joy cons (one grey that came with my launch-day Switch, and one green & pink Splatoon set) until around a month ago, when the green joy con started drifting upwards really noticeably. I dropped an email to Nintendo UK, and it turns out the Splatoon set was still covered by the warranty, so I packed the joy con up, slapped a pre-paid postage label on it and sent it on its way. I got it back less than 10 days later, with a new control stick and another 12 months of warranty on the whole set of controllers, for free. Not bad in my book!
EDIT: I play almost exclusively in handheld, so both sets of joy con got a lot of use since I got them.
This deal has finally convinced my mum (who is 54 and has been a casual Nintendo gamer for over a decade) to take the plunge and buy a Switch! She wanted to get one in the next few months to play Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion and Animal Crossing when they came out, but the console + £30 credit + Mario Kart was too good to resist. Hooray!
@Ryu_Niiyama I have a feeling that it will be coming soon! Level-5 has published five notable games/series on 3DS (the Layton games, Inazuma Eleven, Yo-Kai Watch, Fantasy Life, and Snack World); now, Snack World is already out on Switch in Japan, they have announced ports of Layton’s Mystery Journey and the first Yo-Kai Watch, and there’s new Inazuma Eleven games coming (plus the Ni No Kuni port coming out in September). Fantasy Life is LITERALLY the only major 3DS game in their library that they haven’t ported over or made a Switch sequel for. I really hope they do re-release it on Switch, it was my favourite game on 3DS and one of my top-5 overall!
Can’t wait to get my copy in the post tomorrow! I wasn’t planning on getting this game at all, not being particularly into Minecraft or Dragon Quest (big RPG fan, but I never played a DQ game before for some reason), but then I tried out the demo while I was on holiday, and loved it - so I ended up preordering it, and have been eagerly waiting for it to release ever since.
As a bonus, I’m working from home tomorrow, so I can take an extended lunch break to play this, and then pick it right back up the moment I clock off!
As someone who plays undocked 80% of the time, the new Lite looks really appealing - especially considering that there will likely be an Animal Crossing special edition console, which I would be pretty much unable to resist. It would be great if we were able to seamlessly switch (pun intended) from the OG console to the Lite and vice versa and pick up our games where we left off on the other console, as it would allow games that usually do not support cloud saves (like Pokemon or Animal Crossing) to be played on the big screen without requiring a full data transfer every time. Fingers crossed this is what Bowser means!
Looks lovely! We are going to buy another Switch later this year (my partner and I fight over my Switch often enough as it is, and with Fire Emblem, Zelda, Pokemon and Animal Crossing coming soon, we’ll definitely need another console to avoid literally nicking it off each other every five minutes), but the lack of TV output makes me lean more towards a second traditional Switch rather than a Lite. I would likely be the one getting the smaller console (being the person with the smaller hands), which would mean I would be unable to play Pokemon or Animal Crossing on the big screen (since dear old Ninty does not allow cloud saves for either of those games); while I do play undocked around 80% of the time, it would still be nice to have the option. Such a pity! I’m 100% sure they’ll do a really cute Animal Crossing edition...which may still make me cave in the end, depending on how cute it looks. 😝
In the next couple of months, I’ll get Dragon Quest Builders 2, Fire Emblem and maybe (depending on reviews and on the price of importing a physical copy) Oninaki, so the rest of the summer won’t be too hard on my wallet. It’s autumn that’s going to break the bank, with Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Rune Factory 4S, Doraemon’s Story of Seasons, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair and Pokemon Sword. 😭
Awesome, glad to see it review so well! I will definitely dabble in Story Mode, but the level creator is the main draw for me - my partner and I are going to have insane amounts of fun trying to one-up each other and create crazy difficult courses for the other to try (and repeatedly die on). 🤣
That’s so many games! 😱 R.I.P. my poor wallet...skimming the list, I already know I’m going to get Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem, Oninaki, Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Super Lucky’s Tale, Pokemon and Animal Crossing, plus Crash Team Racing, Trine 4, Rune Factory 4S, Rune Factory 5 and Doraemon Story of Seasons, which aren’t even on it! And these are just the ones on my day-one list...I should probably just quit my job and lock myself in my house playing games all day to keep up. 😝
To be honest, I was sort of expecting this to happen in this gen or the next. As my partner put it when I told him the total creature count in Sun and Moon (he is a Pokemon newbie, bless him, with only Go and Let’s Go for reference), >800 is an almost absurdly staggering number of ‘mons to catch and keep track of. Besides (and this is just my personal opinion), even though I am a bit of a completionist myself, I find that completing the Dex is only fun while hunting for Pokemon in the wild, battling and catching and breeding; simply going into a menu and mass-importing Pokemon from older games is not really fun or exciting in the least, and I find it has no real bonus aside from completing the list in and of itself.
Now, I do have a handful of Pokemon I have been religiously moving from game to game since I started playing Pokemon Ruby 15 years ago, but aside from a lv.100 Swampert and a few other ones (which are admittedly unlikely to be cut from Sw/Sh as they are rather major), the rest of my collection can happily stay in my X cartridge for the rest of time. Long story short, I’d much rather “only” have a pool of 500 Pokemon to catch in the wild than having 800+ and having to import half of them through an app. But that’s just me.
To everyone calling on Nintendo to delay the game...that just ain’t gonna happen, sorry. There’s simply no way they are going to delay a massively anticipated game that is likely going to sell 10-15 million copies by this time next year to pander to completionists. Or were you expecting GameFreak to keep supporting and including every single Pokemon even after we reach the 1000 milestone?!
I LOVE the new concept; it looks like a breath of fresh air for the series, and will hopefully incorporate the Happy Home Designer mechanics for town buildings and villager houses as you develop the island (how fun would it be to be able to design EVERYTHING?). The crafting mechanics shown in the Treehouse segment look interesting as well, and I’m very much looking forward to the game. I’m a bit disappointed in the delay, but considering that I was expecting this to come out in December, it was only pushed back by three months; besides, AC games are always more fun to start in Spring/Summer because of the nicer weather and all the fish/bugs you can catch.
Comments 388
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 2nd)
For me it’ll mostly be Luigi’s Mansion 3 this weekend, perhaps with some Dragon Quest 11S sprinkled in between bouts of ghost-catching (I’m on Act 3 of the game, which is technically post-game, and oh boy, this is the gift that keeps on giving! This may just be my favourite JRPG of all time, I can’t recommend it enough!).
Re: Nintendo Finally Hints That It Has Ditched Game Development On The 3DS
I love my Majora’s Mask New 3DS XL ( and my extensive DS/3DS game collection) to bits, but as someone with bad eyesight in spite of glasses, I find it difficult to go back to the comparatively blurry screen for longer than 30/60 minutes at a time now that I am used to the Switch. Which is a pity, because the 3DS is probably my favourite handheld of all time, and it had some really amazing games. Stopping making new games for it will never change that.
Re: Poll: Luigi's Mansion 3 Is Out Today, Are You Getting It?
It should be waiting for me just inside my door when I get home...man, I can't wait to play it! Being an adult gamer in a full-time job sucks - I have to stay at the office late tonight for a meeting, so I won't get my grubby paws on it until 6pm at least. Still, so hyped for this!
Re: Pokémon Sword And Shield Will Feature New Gigantamax Forms Of Charizard, Pikachu And More
I love that people are complaining about the Gigantamax Pikachu and Eevee only being available if you have a Let's Go save file...that's not a paywall, guys, just a bonus for people who actually played last year's games. Some games release expensive special editions that contain exclusive DLC (cosmetic items, quests), but I don't see people going up in arms about this stuff being locked behind a paywall.
And for the ones crying out in outrage about Gen 1 pandering...if we exclude Meowth (early adoption bonus) and Pikachu/Eevee (Let's Go freebies), Charizard and Butterfree are the only Gen 1 Pokemon getting a Gigantamax form so far. The devs will likely choose a handful of 'mons from each gen to give special treatment, don't fret.
Re: New Pokémon Sword And Shield Info Drop Coming Tomorrow, 16th October
@BootyMessiah That's an unfair comparison. The Switch version of DQ XI was announced to be in development in 2016, when the console was still known as the 'NX', and the team at Square is larger and has far more experience of semi-open world games in a fully 3D console engine than GF. As if that was not enough, the number of animations and models required for DQ XI are far lower than those required for Sw/Sh, since around 3/4 of all enemies and NPCs are reskinned versions of the same 100-ish base models. Even if we only get 500 pokemon in the game, that's still 500 individual models with dozens of different animations each - that's an insane amount of work to get done within a development cycle that was likely under 3 years long.
People need a reality check - Pokemon games just don't have the same manpower and lengthy development cycles as BotW/DQ XI-like games, and if we keep holding them to such an impossible standard, no one is ever going to be happy. Personally, I never cared much for graphics in games; as long as Sw/Sh are fun, bug-free and allow me to run around catching critters to fill my PC boxes with for a couple hundred hours, I'll be happy. But that's just me.
Re: New Pokémon Sword And Shield Info Drop Coming Tomorrow, 16th October
@princezorldo I 100% agree with this. When I first got Black I decided to go ‘blind’ to avoid any and all spoilers and picked Tepig, only to end up detesting its middle and final forms and phasing it out of my party as soon as I could. Starters definitely need to be a fully informed decision for me.
Re: Feature: Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2019 (So Far)
I totally agree on #1 so far - I’m 40 hours in and having an absolute blast, DQ XI S may well become my favourite JRPG of all time.
Re: Game Freak Discusses Pokémon Sword And Shield's Three Starters In More Detail
I guess I’ll decide when I know about their evolutions and their final typing, but so far I’m leaning towards Sobble. My partner is set on Scorebunny, so we’ll trade as soon as we reach the new games’ equivalent of the nursery and can get an egg, and then probably hustle for a Grookie online so we have all three fairly early in the game.
Re: Galarian Ponyta Officially Confirmed, Will Be Exclusive To Pokémon Shield
I believe this officially tips the scales in Shield’s favour for me. My partner and I are getting both versions in release next month, and we were still undecided on who gets which version, but since he loves Sirfetch’d and Ponyta is one of my favourite pokemon, I think we finally have a verdict.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 5th)
I ended up giving up on Ni No Kuni for the time being (it’s a great game, but it can get a bit repetitive if you’re bingeing 40 hours of it over 10 days while off sick), and started DQ XI S instead, and boy oh boy, I’m not regretting it. I really enjoyed the demo (I got around 9 hours of play out of it before I reached the end), and the full game is not disappointing. Around 13 hours in now, and having a blast; I can see myself playing this until Luigi’s Mansion comes out at the end of the month.
Re: Video: Ever Wondered What An 8-Bit Ni no Kuni Would Look Like?
I’ve been playing it for just over a week now, and I’m really enjoying it, though it feels a bit too linear at times (most of its locations are literally glorified corridors) when compared to other recent JRPGs. Pity to see it languishing so low in the European charts, but it can’t be helped - it released on the same day as Link’s Awakening, and only a week before Dragon Quest XI S, it never stood a chance.
Re: Video: 16 Exciting New Games Coming To Nintendo Switch In October
I was initially planning on getting Trine 4, Yooka-Laylee, Doraemon’s Story of Seasons, A Hat in Time and Luigi’s Mansion 3, but since I caved and preordered the purple/orange joy-con (I love the autumn colours, and I like the idea of maybe mixing and matching with my current Splatoon set to have a purple/pink colour scheme), I’ve decided to cut back and only get Luigi’s Mansion at the end of the month. It’s not like I don’t have enough games to play, anyway - my immediate backlog includes Ni No Kuni (which I’m currently playing), Dragon Quest XI S and a Golden Deer play-through on Three Houses, and with Luigi’s Mansion, Pokemon and Rune Factory 4 coming soon, I’m probably set until Animal Crossing comes out.
Re: Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition - A Gift That Keeps On Giving
I was planning on starting this the moment it got through my letterbox tomorrow, but I ended up spending all this week at home with the flu and eventually caved and started Ni No Kuni instead, so this may have to wait a few weeks. But then there’s Luigi’s Mansion, and Pokemon two weeks after that...man, I wish I was back at uni and had more time for gaming, being an adult in a full-time job sucks. Now I finally have enough money to buy games, but not enough time to play.
Re: Pokémon Sword And Shield's 'Glitched' Pokémon Is Sirfetch’d, A Version-Exclusive
@KayFiOS To be fair, the whole Farfetch’d evolutionary line would be missing should they decide to rotate it out of one of the next games, so it’s not like they’re showing us a new evolution just to take it out in two years’ time and leave the base form in. That said, the fact that Farfetch’d is getting an evolution probably means that it’ll be included in the next few games at the very least.
Re: Review: Ni no Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch - Level-5's RPG Classic Will Bewitch Your Switch
I honestly can’t wait to get my hand on this on Friday - I adored the original release of the game on PS3, but I never got to finish it since my decrepit console gave up the ghost when I was around halfway through the game and I decided to upgrade to a PS4 rather than replace it. Still, it may have to wait until the holidays to be played - Link’s Awakening takes precedence, as does DQ XIS, as I am itching to continue the story after playing 12 hours in the demo. And with Luigi’s Mansion and Pokemon coming soon...man, it’s such an awesome time to be a Switch owner! I just wish I didn’t have a full time job so I could sink way more time into these games...
Re: Video: Zelda-Inspired Open World Adventure Stranded Sails Gets Gorgeous New Trailer
It looks interesting, but I can’t get over how slow the running animation looks...I’ll keep an eye out for reviews and maybe get this once it goes on sale - there are way too many retail games coming out between now and March for me to even consider buying anything on the eShop until I have whittled down my current (and future) backlog.
Re: Official Sword And Shield Website Teases New Pokémon With Glitching Image
@Danksparce Thanks for correcting me! I honestly had no idea...Litten the only starter from S/M I didn’t have, I just assumed Incineroar would be fire/fighting because of its appearance and its inclusion in Smash.
Re: Official Sword And Shield Website Teases New Pokémon With Glitching Image
Makes me think this may be Scorebunny’s intermediate stage...are we about to see the starters’ evolutions?
EDIT: I just realised this is pure fighting type rather than fire-fighting, which makes the above point moot. All the better - I’m getting tired of fire-fighting starters after Gens 3, 4 and 5 (thank you to those who corrected me, I had also included Gen 7 here mistakingly thinking Incineroar was also fire-fighting). Hopefully the devs will get a little more creative with the fire starter line this time.
Re: Rune Factory 4 Special Archival Edition Announced For North America And Europe
@King-X It looks like it’s only up on the North American Amazon/Marvelous websites for now, nothing yet for Europe.
On a different note, Amazon US lists the game for release on January 21st - I wonder if that’s a placeholder or the actual date?
Re: Rune Factory 4 Special Archival Edition Announced For North America And Europe
I won’t splurge for the special edition - there are so many games I want coming out between next week and the end of the year that I won’t be able to buy them all as it is - but the standard physical copy is a day one purchase for me. I played this on my 3DS some 5 years ago not knowing what to expect (I had never played a RF game before), and I ended up LOVING it. I’ve been meaning to play through the game again for a couple of years, but after getting used to the Switch screen I’ve been struggling to go back to the now blurry 3DS one. Now we just need a release date!
Re: Feature: Dragon Quest XI S Developers On Bringing The Definitive Edition To Switch
Having never played a DQ game aside from Builders 2, I initially had zero interest in this game, but that demo...bravo, Square Enix - after spending 8.5 hours with it, I have now preordered a physical copy of DQ XIS so I can get my grubby paws on it on release date and play through it to my little gamer heart’s content. Between this, Ni No Kuni and Link’s awakening, I’ll be absolutely skint this month...worth it though! These three, Luigi’s Mansion and Pokemon (and Rune Factory 4S, if that’s still on track to release soon) will happily keep me playing until Animal Crossing comes out in March (when I will wave my social life goodbye for good). What a time to be a Switch owner!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (September 7th)
I’ll be playing the DQ XI S demo this weekend - I’m 7 hours in, and still haven’t reached the cutoff point, so I’ll squeeze as much gameplay as I can out of it. I originally had no plans to pick the game up, but I’m now going to get it on release date, so the demo definitely achieved its purpose! Square demos seem to work like a charm with me, since I also had no intention of picking up Octopath Traveler and DQ Builders 2, and yet...ah, well, the more RPGs the better in my opinion!
Re: Nintendo Direct Confirmed For Tomorrow, 4th September
I’m going to keep my predictions conservative this time...I’d expect to see:
If I had to ask for one wild thing, however, I’d hope for a Fantasy Life port/remaster, I adored that game. Or a Layton collection including some of the older games.
Regardless...all aboard the hype train!
Re: Guide: Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games And Accessories For September And October
For me, it’ll be Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni and Dragon Quest XI S in September, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and maybe Doraemon’s Story of Seasons (how is Zumba: Burn It Up on the list, and this isn’t?) in October, and Pokemon in November (not sure of which version, my partner and I are getting both and have not yet decided which one goes to whom). My poor wallet...
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (August 31st)
@Chimaj Sorry for the unintentional spoiler! I hope it doesn’t detract from your enjoyment of the game, it’s probably my favourite in the series so far (though I have only played Awakening, Fates and Echoes). I haven’t been able to put it down since it launched, it’s literally the only Switch game I’ve played in the past month!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (August 31st)
@Chimaj I’m actually not sure of how long the Azure Moon path is, I’m just assuming it will be 12 chapters/months long like the first half. 😊
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (August 31st)
While my partner watches his beloved F1 this weekend - which means I’ll get a few hours of blissfully uninterrupted gaming time between Saturday and Sunday - I’ll be diving into Fire Emblem to hopefully finish my Blue Lions playthrough. I am on Chapter 20 (out of 24, I believe), and I really want to know how Dimitri’s story ends before I inevitably start a New Game + for a Golden Deer round. Aside from that, I will also probably fire up the DQXI demo to see what the game is all about. I have never played a DQ game (in spite of being a big JRPG fan), and the demo may just be what I need to finally take the plunge into the series. Which would mean I would get Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni and DQXI in the space of a week next month...gah! So many games, so little time!
EDIT: corrected a few typos.
Re: Poll: Have You Ever Had Problems With Nintendo Hardware?
Over the years, I have owned a GBA SP, an original DS, a DS Lite, a DSi XL, a 3DS XL, a New 3DS XL, a Gamecube, a Wii, a Wii U and a Switch, and aside from a L bumper that stopped working on my original DS (probably due to being dropped or to years of usage, I have no idea) and a bit of a drift on one of my Joy-Cons, I have never had any issues with any of my Nintendo consoles. I did, however, end up with a faulty PS3 and two faulty Xbox Ones (also owned a PS1, PS2 and PS4 with no faults), so overall, I had issues with 50% of my non-Nintendo consoles versus 20% of my Nintendo consoles. It’s homemade statistics, but still, it looks pretty good in my book.
Re: Doraemon Story Of Seasons Harvests An October Release On Switch
Going to pick this up on day one (hopefully a physical copy, if they release one here in the UK)! I am a huge Story of Seasons fan, and Doraemon actually aired for years in Italy when I was a kid (dubbed, of course), so I am very familiar with the characters. Besides, the art style is absolutely gorgeous!
Re: New Purple/Orange And Blue/Yellow Joy-Con Now Available To Pre-Order In The UK
I have to admit, I really love the purple/orange combination (very autumnal), and I am in the market for new joy-cons...I might nab myself a set, and maybe mix and match with my current Splatoon set if I get tired of the purple/orange combination - I’m pretty sure purple/neon pink would look adorable, if the Japan-exclusive Tsum Tsum special edition console is anything to go by.
Re: Harvest Moon: Mad Dash Will Get European Switch Release Thanks To Rising Star Games
This looks so bad, it could be a bad Farmville clone playable for free on Facebook in 2010.
Re: New Super Lucky's Tale Burrows Onto Nintendo Switch This November
Nice! I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, but I doubt it will be a day one purchase for me, since it’s coming out smack-dab between Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Pokemon.
Re: UK Charts: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Gets Number One, Almost Doubles Awakening's Launch Sales
Awesome to see this! I got my copy on Friday afternoon, and am loving the game so far - it definitely deserves the top spot. I still can’t believe it managed to sell more than Wolfenstein in the UK, though - shooters on PS4/XbOne are all the rage here!
Re: Soapbox: Should I Wait For Switch 'Pro' Or Is The 'New' Switch SKU Worth An Upgrade?
Even though I tend to play 90% handheld, I still like the option of being able to play on the TV if I want to, so I may give the Lite a pass (unless they decide to make a sweet, sweet Animal Crossing-themed console, in which case I might just cave depending on cuteness level).
I may, however, get myself an upgraded model Switch sometime in the spring for the better battery life and temperature efficiency, and sell my current one to my brother-in-law, who will definitely want one as well once my partner gets his own to play Pokemon in November.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Will Get A Super-Hard Mode In Free Update
I have no idea of how people would be playing this in super hard/lunatic mode...I’d go mad! I’m no FE veteran, but I have played Awakening, all three Fates games and Echoes (the first in Normal/Casual, the other four in Normal/Classic once I got the hang of it), and I’m finding Normal/Classic mode in Three Houses tough as nails - far tougher than the other games I have played (even Conquest, which I believe was generally agreed to be a rather difficult FE game).
Am I just super-rusty after two years without playing SRPGs, or is anyone else finding this game harder than its predecessors? 😛
Re: Poll: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Is Out Today, Which House Will You Choose?
@playstation_king Your students won’t be the only units in your army; there are plenty of other characters to recruit, too.
Re: Poll: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Is Out Today, Which House Will You Choose?
I’m going to go with Blue Lions, though I will make multiple save files when it’s time to make my choice so I can play the other houses later down the line. I’ll probably go with Black Eagles for the second playthrough, then Golden Deer for my third. I’ll probably be playing this on and off for a solid year or two to see all possible routes.
Re: Disney Tsum Tsum Festival Receiving A Themed Switch Bundle In Japan
I’m not a huge fan of the pattern on the dock and joy-cons, but I LOVE the purple and pink combination! The right controller seems to be the same shade of pink as the one in the Splatoon set; I might just have to buy the purple/orange set in October to get this same colour combination on my Switch!
Re: Poll: Have Your Joy-Con Been Drifting?
Had no issues with my two sets of joy cons (one grey that came with my launch-day Switch, and one green & pink Splatoon set) until around a month ago, when the green joy con started drifting upwards really noticeably. I dropped an email to Nintendo UK, and it turns out the Splatoon set was still covered by the warranty, so I packed the joy con up, slapped a pre-paid postage label on it and sent it on its way. I got it back less than 10 days later, with a new control stick and another 12 months of warranty on the whole set of controllers, for free. Not bad in my book!
EDIT: I play almost exclusively in handheld, so both sets of joy con got a lot of use since I got them.
Re: Deals: Grab A Bargain With These Nintendo Switch Console Bundles On Prime Day In The UK
This deal has finally convinced my mum (who is 54 and has been a casual Nintendo gamer for over a decade) to take the plunge and buy a Switch! She wanted to get one in the next few months to play Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion and Animal Crossing when they came out, but the console + £30 credit + Mario Kart was too good to resist. Hooray!
Re: Level-5 Is Releasing The Original Yo-Kai Watch Game On Nintendo Switch
@Ryu_Niiyama I have a feeling that it will be coming soon! Level-5 has published five notable games/series on 3DS (the Layton games, Inazuma Eleven, Yo-Kai Watch, Fantasy Life, and Snack World); now, Snack World is already out on Switch in Japan, they have announced ports of Layton’s Mystery Journey and the first Yo-Kai Watch, and there’s new Inazuma Eleven games coming (plus the Ni No Kuni port coming out in September). Fantasy Life is LITERALLY the only major 3DS game in their library that they haven’t ported over or made a Switch sequel for. I really hope they do re-release it on Switch, it was my favourite game on 3DS and one of my top-5 overall!
Re: Review: Dragon Quest Builders 2 - Beating Minecraft At Its Own Game
Can’t wait to get my copy in the post tomorrow! I wasn’t planning on getting this game at all, not being particularly into Minecraft or Dragon Quest (big RPG fan, but I never played a DQ game before for some reason), but then I tried out the demo while I was on holiday, and loved it - so I ended up preordering it, and have been eagerly waiting for it to release ever since.
As a bonus, I’m working from home tomorrow, so I can take an extended lunch break to play this, and then pick it right back up the moment I clock off!
Re: You'll Be Able To Transfer Save Files Between Switch And Switch Lite, Eventually
As someone who plays undocked 80% of the time, the new Lite looks really appealing - especially considering that there will likely be an Animal Crossing special edition console, which I would be pretty much unable to resist. It would be great if we were able to seamlessly switch (pun intended) from the OG console to the Lite and vice versa and pick up our games where we left off on the other console, as it would allow games that usually do not support cloud saves (like Pokemon or Animal Crossing) to be played on the big screen without requiring a full data transfer every time. Fingers crossed this is what Bowser means!
Re: Nintendo Switch Lite Officially Revealed, Launches This September
Looks lovely! We are going to buy another Switch later this year (my partner and I fight over my Switch often enough as it is, and with Fire Emblem, Zelda, Pokemon and Animal Crossing coming soon, we’ll definitely need another console to avoid literally nicking it off each other every five minutes), but the lack of TV output makes me lean more towards a second traditional Switch rather than a Lite. I would likely be the one getting the smaller console (being the person with the smaller hands), which would mean I would be unable to play Pokemon or Animal Crossing on the big screen (since dear old Ninty does not allow cloud saves for either of those games); while I do play undocked around 80% of the time, it would still be nice to have the option. Such a pity! I’m 100% sure they’ll do a really cute Animal Crossing edition...which may still make me cave in the end, depending on how cute it looks. 😝
Re: Guide: Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games And Accessories For July And August
In the next couple of months, I’ll get Dragon Quest Builders 2, Fire Emblem and maybe (depending on reviews and on the price of importing a physical copy) Oninaki, so the rest of the summer won’t be too hard on my wallet. It’s autumn that’s going to break the bank, with Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Rune Factory 4S, Doraemon’s Story of Seasons, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair and Pokemon Sword. 😭
Re: Review: Super Mario Maker 2 - The Last 2D Mario Game You'll Ever Need
Awesome, glad to see it review so well! I will definitely dabble in Story Mode, but the level creator is the main draw for me - my partner and I are going to have insane amounts of fun trying to one-up each other and create crazy difficult courses for the other to try (and repeatedly die on). 🤣
Re: Level-5 Is Appearing At Anime Expo For The First Time Ever
Am I the only one hoping for a Fantasy Life port? 😝
Re: Nintendo Shares Colourful Graphic Outlining Upcoming Switch Releases
That’s so many games! 😱 R.I.P. my poor wallet...skimming the list, I already know I’m going to get Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem, Oninaki, Link’s Awakening, Ni No Kuni, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Super Lucky’s Tale, Pokemon and Animal Crossing, plus Crash Team Racing, Trine 4, Rune Factory 4S, Rune Factory 5 and Doraemon Story of Seasons, which aren’t even on it! And these are just the ones on my day-one list...I should probably just quit my job and lock myself in my house playing games all day to keep up. 😝
Re: Pokémon's Junichi Masuda Explains The Decision To Limit Sword And Shield's Pokédex
To be honest, I was sort of expecting this to happen in this gen or the next. As my partner put it when I told him the total creature count in Sun and Moon (he is a Pokemon newbie, bless him, with only Go and Let’s Go for reference), >800 is an almost absurdly staggering number of ‘mons to catch and keep track of. Besides (and this is just my personal opinion), even though I am a bit of a completionist myself, I find that completing the Dex is only fun while hunting for Pokemon in the wild, battling and catching and breeding; simply going into a menu and mass-importing Pokemon from older games is not really fun or exciting in the least, and I find it has no real bonus aside from completing the list in and of itself.
Now, I do have a handful of Pokemon I have been religiously moving from game to game since I started playing Pokemon Ruby 15 years ago, but aside from a lv.100 Swampert and a few other ones (which are admittedly unlikely to be cut from Sw/Sh as they are rather major), the rest of my collection can happily stay in my X cartridge for the rest of time. Long story short, I’d much rather “only” have a pool of 500 Pokemon to catch in the wild than having 800+ and having to import half of them through an app. But that’s just me.
To everyone calling on Nintendo to delay the game...that just ain’t gonna happen, sorry. There’s simply no way they are going to delay a massively anticipated game that is likely going to sell 10-15 million copies by this time next year to pander to completionists. Or were you expecting GameFreak to keep supporting and including every single Pokemon even after we reach the 1000 milestone?!
Re: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Finally Shown Off For Nintendo Switch, Delayed To 2020
I LOVE the new concept; it looks like a breath of fresh air for the series, and will hopefully incorporate the Happy Home Designer mechanics for town buildings and villager houses as you develop the island (how fun would it be to be able to design EVERYTHING?). The crafting mechanics shown in the Treehouse segment look interesting as well, and I’m very much looking forward to the game. I’m a bit disappointed in the delay, but considering that I was expecting this to come out in December, it was only pushed back by three months; besides, AC games are always more fun to start in Spring/Summer because of the nicer weather and all the fish/bugs you can catch.