Keldorek

@Questionable_Duck They're based in Oakland.

They're all great, but aesthetically, the remakes don't REALLY come close to the original. It's an eternally ageless game, and All-Stars feels VERY dated, somehow, in comparison.

I would LOVE to have seen them simply update the original graphical style with some neat new modern effects (see, for instance, what Leonard Menchiari did with The Eternal Castle, which is also available on the eShop). The style of the original was a huge, huge part of its appeal, not unlike Another World/OOTW, etc. If it plays well, great, but I sure would've liked to see this follow in the visual footsteps of the first, which is still one of the most visually jaw-dropping games out there.

@jump It really wasn't, and it definitely isn't, joking or not. Incredibly cruel punishment in this day and age when people who have committed far worse crimes don't even see jail time, and Balan is a bit of a rough-hewn gem. I enjoyed it a good deal, and quite a few game developers and even some at Digital Foundry have found the game not at all without its charms and merits. Neat little game that comes together by the second level.

@Xiovanni One of the best songs on one of the best albums of all time by one of the greatest acts of all time. Perfect choice of tune.

@antonvaltaz You read my mind. I did a page search just to see if I had overlooked it reading it! Bizarre; the character even looks nearly identical, design-wise.

Wonderful game.

For what it's worth, I absolutely loved the demo (and the control scheme). It all just clicked, and it also just looks really solid (literally); I really liked the graphics/design, etc. Maybe it doesn't hold up at game-length, but the demo was a blast.

Wonderful game that performed so badly on my PS4 Slim that it was genuinely difficult to pull off most of the combos in the game that were almost mandatory during certain Metroid Dread-style "hold every button on the controller while your middle-aged hand dies" boss encounters. Eventually, I added a decent SSD as my external storage, and the game was more or less fixed for me. Shortly after, I got a PS5 and it plays perfectly, to give you an idea of the power/storage speed disparity factoring in. It's really hard to believe they could get this running well on Switch, but I sure hope they do so more people have access to it. It's a marvelous game with utterly charming characters; a real underdog from the China Hero Project, which I'm very proud to support.

@Lord A true fan, I see. Can’t believe that’s not addressed. We played that ten times more than Powerslave itself. Hahaha...

@michaellivingjp Yeah, I believe the Doyle estate is rather draconian. Kind of absurd at this point, really, long after it should've been public domain.

https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-sherlock-holmes-public-domain-20140805-story.html

Best part of the Japanese Dub (which is great, of course) is that they all clearly say "Sherlock Holmes," instead of Herlock.

I just wish there were an option to turn down the volume of the text blips. They are fun, so I don't like muting all the SFX but too loud for my tastes. Small thing, though.

Extremely tangential: why the commas in the prices? Haha...

I will NEVER understand the people who scoff at using this in docked mode. The games look and play SO MUCH BETTER in docked mode, and the available controllers, though I genuinely love the joy-cons, are at least 50% better, analog-wise. I adore being able to take it with me or use it when the TV is occupied, but sweet mercy, the docked version of games almost across the board just puts the handheld versions, while not fully to shame, but at least to something considerably less impressive. To each their own, but it staggers me how often I see people say they've never played in docked mode, and I think of games like Xenoblade Chronicles that are such massive leaps from their handheld playback... Just blows me away. Even as I typed this, I saw a new comment come in saying they can't believe people play docked. Haha... just amazing.

@shani Get a new hill to die on. Yours is not helpful. If there's an audience for it, let them enjoy it. How many times does this need to be said?

@Apportal Well, I was making a playfully pedantic comment, but since you are being presumptuous and also wrong, I’ll just point out that what I said was completely accurate. The game literally called “Metroid” does not have a map in-game. Guess YOU haven’t played that one. Take it easy!

@Apportal "Metroid" didn't have a map either.

Brie is the best. Charming and promising first episode.

@ACNHislit My point was that deadlines and budgets go hand-in-hand. You can't push a deadline very often without blowing a budget, so games sometimes come out and features are added later. Blowing a budget means you even risk NOT releasing the game at all.

@JayJ I could not agree more! As a HUGE fan of all three on the Saturn, and as someone who has played them countless times (even, yes, Saga; thanks Toys R Us in a rural area! haha...) over the years, I've had a blast. It's a terrific upgrade from the original, visually, too. I saw people saying the graphics had barely been upgraded... haha... WTF.

@ACNHislit I'm sorry, but have you ever heard of budgets? What on earth are you talking about?

@AhabSpampurse dang! I was building them and placing a few around the island. It never even occurred to me to just carry one. Hahaha...

@invictus4000 You’re right. Button remapping and data transfers aren’t “generally useful” because there are no themes!or folders. Makes perfect sense.

Things can be good and also not everything you wanted.

@Nomad 100%. The complaints are ridiculous.

@rushiosan I’m telling you I’m playing the game. I own the game. I own the original. The issues aren’t a big deal. It’s a good remaster and the soundtrack is perfect and needs nothing since it’s a classic masterwork. It’s fine. Very glad to have it.

Cannot believe the comments here. This game is a dang masterpiece and worth paying full price for the soundtrack alone. A shame, really. Waiting for gyro controls? Too short? It's a good port and plays fine. I couldn't have been more overjoyed to downloaded it immediately after seeing it in the Direct. Loved the game and played it to death in 1996 (got it and a Saturn as a high school graduation gift I'll never forget), and I'll do it again on the go and home nearly 25 (????!?!) years later. Panzer 2 is great, but it is a lot more difficult as well. I always preferred 1 and Saga. Your mileage may vary, but what a treasure to have easy access to the game again, and the graphical overhaul is stunning, if you ask me, which you didn't.

@Mr_Pepperami Oh, right, I fully agree. I was pointing out that worrying over the purists can never be a con... haha...

@Mr_Pepperami Yeah, the "purists" are poisonous douchebags. Play your game any way you want. It's fun to feel the thrill of an unadulterated win for some, and for others, that isn't interesting at all. Sometimes, just seeing the way a game is put together at long last is a very rewarding experience when time or skill does not allow you to do so otherwise. It's such a non-issue.

Still no review on this one. Pretty surprising considering it's Square Enix and such a legendary designer, but it seems pretty niche, too...

@Gauchorino Wow, not only are you incredibly rude and presumptuous (and you even leaned into your rudeness when called out), you also clearly have no real idea what a tabloid is. Polygon may not be for everyone, as is the case with most things, but it's nothing like a tabloid.

@joezilla83 I loved it as well. But I’m 35 hours in and can’t progress past a late game boss because it crashes every time I beat him. I even bought the PS4 version just to keep playing it and see “how the other half lives”! It’s gorgeous but still has insane slowdown and crashes fairly often. Very surprising. Switch is the worst of the lot, sadly, but they’ve all got issues it seems, and major ones.

@Mr_Muscle @joezilla83 If I had to guess, I'd say that the downvotes for Mr_Muscle aren't being given because of his valid opinion but because his statement makes no sense in light of the review. Bloodstained had many problems, which were noted in reviews, and weeks and weeks later, it's still not fixed. That's a completely different issue than a game that is released in good working order. His comment simply makes no sense; that's why he's being downvoted, I'd wager.

Little things like potentially changing a map-zoom based on user feedback (if the dev wants to do that) are not part of users being "beta testers" but merely quality of life choices the dev might not have considered when making the game. The game isn't in need of patching, and it isn't deserving of your anger against Bloodstained or any other game that was released unfinished.

@Pod Yep, you sure do! You can easily beat Ifrit with at least a couple minutes to spare if you just run straight to him.

@SlimFreakinFast 100% with you.

@tendonerd So, what was the explanation, if you were parked? That makes no sense.

@GamerDad66 I got to a late-game boss in the Switch version, and it crashes after I beat him. I decided to get the PS4 version to play from scratch. The PS4 game has crashed nearly as much as the Switch version. The fact that it looks considerably better hasn't helped since the game slows down pretty badly in many of the same places it does so on the Switch and a beautiful game that crashes is still an often-unplayable game. I think the Switch has been raked over the coals a little TOO much and the other systems, not enough. But, I don't have all the data; just my own experience with Switch and PS4, and there's no doubt that PS4 plays a LOT better than the Switch, but it sure has a lot of problems, too.

Didn't notice the by-line when I read the review. Saw "gubbins" in the conclusion. Knew it was Olney.

I know scores don't matter much, if at all, but it sure feels warm and fuzzy to see a "10."

@NintendoFan4Lyf I cannot believe it took 21 comments to find someone saying what you’ve said. Everywhere I look, including the massively dramatic polygon article, it’s as if the Switch version is abominable. It’s anything but. It has a few hitches and bugs, but they aren’t omnipresent, and I’ve played for quite a few hours now with nothing more than minor blips here and there. It’s really not a huge deal, and it’s clear that either people are parroting overblown nonsense they’ve read, or they are easily put off by minor technical issues. Really enjoying the game. No input lag (that I can notice affecting gameplay at the very least). No massive frame rate issues. Just a few hiccups here and there and a really fun continuation of a series I can never get enough of.

It’s really a shame that all their hard work is now considered laziness because things aren’t perfect. AAA games release with massive patches on day one all the time. This is a much smaller budget game, and they’ve delivered a fine game that could benefit from further tuning. It’s a bummer to see all the negativity. Criticism is one thing. It’s okay to be constructive. But this has all been quite over the top.

Edit: Rudek’s impressions at NWR mirror mine very well. He points at simple issues and concessions made for handheld hardware compared to much more powerful consoles, and expressed a much more palatable and believable impression.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/50982/505-games-issues-statement-on-bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-technical-performance

Final Edit: Funnily enough, after 3-4 hours of play, I came upon a character that triggered a short cut scene, and the game encountered an error and sent me to the Switch menu instantly. That was more than a little unexpected and, with the old school save system, about 30 minutes of shard and gold progress lost.

@Fake-E-Lee Four... hundred... and... fifty...... ??????? That's jaw-dropping.

@GrailUK Just going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing a game this small and this cheap wouldn't get a physical release, or that it would be super unlikely. Have you heard it might?

@TheDanslator Brilliant movie, The Last Jedi.

Guess this'll have to be the THIRD time I purchase this game...

@Nincompoop An absurd, exaggerated statement. Read any technical review of Kart 8 on Switch, and you'll see the amount of work and care that went into porting it to Switch. It's a terrific port and far, far more than "nothing."

For what it's worth, Gearbox said on their Twitter last week that all three games were planned for the cartridge. When someone mentioned the Amazon listing's box art, he said he was told all three games would be on the cart, but that making that 100% certain would have to wait, apparently.

I would kill for a Popeye arcade port, and hope the licensing doesn't keep it buried forever. What a terrific little game. Probably last played that (at a pizza joint) 33-35 years ago.

That [optional] GFX filter is an atrocity. The game looks absolutely perfect as it was. Brilliant, brilliant, strange, unforgettable, mysterious, beautiful game. Blew my mind on Sega Genesis back then.

@Spanjard Ah. The old “don’t cast stones” argument.

Listen, you may find his use of the N-word excusable. It’s absolutely inexcusable to use that word without proper context and using the word carelessly often indicates a serious character flaw, not some isolated incident. And then there’s his Nazi foibles. And there’s the fact that I find him deeply annoying in general.

This isn’t about mind reading or not believing in forgiveness. This is about a pattern of behavior I choose not to reward. Simple as that. Support him if YOU like; that’s absolutely your choice and right.

@Spanjard Separating the art from the artist has merit in some cases, depending on the misdeeds, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with deciding that someone isn't worthy of your cash or that supporting a person's creation is tantamount to a vote in their direction. And, frankly, a flawed person's work could be important and meaningful enough to sway you into investigating it, but the vacuous idiocy and frankly racist underpinnings of PewDiePie's character have been weighed against this trifle of a game, and I find myself uninterested in the game itself and further bolstered in my decision in knowing that I'm in no way supporting someone who needs less of a pulpit, not more.

So many people who aren't scumbags deserve money for their efforts; this one's easy to pass up for me.

Only $78,000 left to go with 4 hours on the clock. That's an impressive turnaround, no matter the outcome.