Comments 323

Re: New Shenmue III Publisher Asks If You Want To See The Game On Switch

Kestrel

They absolutely should. The more people that can play Shenmue III and discover that all of the goodwill for the series is due to misplaced nostalgia, all the better.

Doubly so if it's a half-assed Switch port. Shenmue 3 is enough of a fever-dream to play through at a stable framerate, but just imagine going through it with long loading times, crashing, and dipping down to 15fps. It would be glorious.

Re: Feature: 9 Things Nintendo Could Add To Switch 2 So It's Not 'Just Another Switch'

Kestrel

There's something distinctly gross about a wishlist of features for a new Nintendo console talking about wanting to spend even more money on controllers, and citing avoiding Joycon-drift to justify the hypothetical expense. The NS Joycons are literally the most expensive controllers Nintendo has ever produced (unless we count the WiiU gamepad, but even that was basically the same price as a pair of Joycons iirc) AND the first Nintendo controller to have such widespread failure rates.

We're already paying more money, and we haven't been getting a better product for that money. Not by a long shot.

Re: Nintendo Has Seemingly Taken Possession Of The Ryujinx Switch Emulator Website

Kestrel

@JohnnyMind I mean, you can say that, but the past 7 years or so have been full of people gleefully bragging about how they'd never "lower" themselves to buy a Switch, citing weak hardware specs, while extolling how much better NS games play on PC. Who knows how big that group of people is, but there's clearly been a vocal group of gamers doing this.

Which is a pretty unique situation. I can't think of any other platform in modern history that has had such an active contemporary modding scene.

We can argue all day about to what extent NS emulation is affecting Nintendo's business, but it's very obviously having an effect.

Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting Xenoblade Chronicles X For Switch?

Kestrel

It's my only MUST BUY out of all currently-announced upcoming titles... so, yeah, as soon as possible. Hopefully there'll be a CE, but it's not looking like that'll happen. In which case I guess I'm stuck waiting until after the game comes out to order it from Amazon, since Nintendo games aren't listed for preorder any more, for whatever reason.

@AvianBlue No, it needs a completely overhauled UI. While it wasn't as bad as XC1's... it was still pretty bad. Needs more legible fonts, menus and maps.

Re: Random: Spare A Thought For The Kid Whose Dad Returned Zelda: A Link To The Past

Kestrel

I've never really been able to get into ALttP for the same reason I could never get into Mario 64: both games were good for their time, but in retrospect are hampered by design issues that were quickly fixed with their respective sequels. So Mario 64 is the only 3D Mario platformer with those slippery, floaty movement mechanics, and ALttP is the only top-down Zelda game where Link's basic sword attack is an arc <90° (which isn't even centered).

Neither is a big deal if you've got nostalgia and fond memories to compensate, but without that crutch? Just hard to enjoy either game when the most fundamental play action feels wrong. Like every subsequent Zelda game gives Link a (properly centered) arc of 140° or more.

Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom?

Kestrel

Great game, but odd how it suffers from some of the same design issues as BotW and TotK (inventory navigation being a pain, disincentivizing combat, etc.). And not Bein able to attack enemies directly feels much weirder than I thought it would — Zelda's little spin move should at least stun enemies or knock them back slightly. EDIT: oh, right. I gave it an 8.

Loving the game so far, but doubt it'll be one of my favorites — though that says more about the series in general than any one specific entry.

Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Was Built Around 'Being Mischievous'

Kestrel

I feel like some of y'all somehow managed to get through life without ever once cottoning on to the fact that folks'be been making fun of the Zelda series for its overly simplistic puzzles for decades. "Far too easy puzzles" is no more of an issue in 2024 than it was in 2004, or 1986 for that matter.

Nintendo is a Toymaker; they make games for children. The puzzles aren't getting any easier, you've just gotten older.

Re: Talking Point: What Game Should Be 'Switch 2's 'Skyrim Moment'?

Kestrel

I have to go with "none of the above." In the first place, I question the validity of the premise; but even accepting it as genuinely transformative moment in the Switch's history, I have to question why the Switch 2 would require or benefit from a repeat. In 2017, the original Switch needed to "prove" it could handle big, expansive AAA games on a handheld platform, back when that was a totally new idea... and it proved that at launch, with Breath of the Wild. The Switch 2 doesn't have to prove that in a world that already has the Switch, the Deck, the Ally, and even modern iPads all offering the same.

Re: The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky Remake Is Real, And It Looks Amazing

Kestrel

@gcunit I seldom react, either. Not a lot of affect with the ASD in general. Thought I did say "**** yeah!" to myself when the Deku Scrubs popped up in that recent Zelda trailer. Deku Scrubs are just the best.

Anyway, I'm still fixated on the Sky games. The first Cold Steel duology is no great thing in my spestimation, but FC and SC in particular I rank at the very top top of the genre — and it's really sucked not being able to have physical copies of the trilogy to put on my shelf. I won't be able to fully relax until they get the SC remake out, too — and, if we're very, very lucky, a The Third Remake, too.

Certainly, we'd all benefit from more Kevin in our lives.

Re: Talking Point: Would $499 Be Too Much For 'Switch 2'?

Kestrel

A lot of people seem to have forgotten that Nintendo's been steadily shedding what few pro-consumer policies they had since Iwata's passing (EG durable hardware, no DLC, backwards compatibility). A modest price point to make it affordable for children and multi-console homes... seems like the next logical addition to that list.

Re: Poll: Which Is Your Favourite Nintendo Game Cartridge Design?

Kestrel

In terms of utility? The NS carts are ideal. Small size makes them great for portability, or storage for folks who don't otherwise have space; their cases are slender enough that you can fit a lot onto a shelf, but also tall enough that they don't took too out-of-place next to DVDs and/or BDs.

In terms of tactility? Can't beat the N64 carts. Between the curve at the top, the rounded edges, and the deeply-satisfying clunk you get on insertion, they're the most fun to manhandle.

On balance? Probably has to go to the 3DS carts. They're pretty big for handheld carts, so they feel more durable and are less easy to lose, and the big notch on the side makes orienting them properly a non-issue. They're also just big enough for the cool art on the carts to be easily visible, and even come with fully 3D little dioramas in the UI when you insert them, which never ceases to be be fun.

Though, admittedly, they may be getting a boost here due to just how great the overall UX is with the 3DS. Absolutely peak Nintendo.

Re: Hideki Kamiya Still Wants To Make Okami 2 And Viewtiful Joe 3

Kestrel

I a, very skeptical he has an Okami 2 in him, or at least an Okami 2 worthy of that name. Platinum's made some great games, sure, but none of them have really excelled in the same areas as Okami, which makes me think some of the people most responsible for that game didn't wind up following Kamiya after.

Re: Review: Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition (Switch) - Returns For Another Pass With A Top-Flight Port

Kestrel

@LikelySatan I've never heard of an enhanced PS5 version, but there was some pre-order exclusive stuff for the original release, most notably the remasters of AC5 and AC6, for digital pre-orders on PS4 and XB3, respectively. I think they later changed that to make them free to anyone who purchased within a year of release, though.

They had to be locked behind a pre-order because licensing agreements prohibit their sale — the same reason none of the older AC games are available for purchase, and the reason why anyone who wants a digital copy of AC7 (on any platform) would be wise not to sleep on it, because those licenses are likely to expire in a year or two.

Re: Feature: "Only Pokémon Can Make Pokémon" - Dicefolk Devs On Finding A Voice In A Crowded Genre

Kestrel

The only reason Pokémon is as big as it is now is because they were fortunate enough to be the first ones out the gate on handheld. The core concept of the games is lifted straight from Dragon Quest 5, which itself borrowed from the older MegaTen games. All series that have continued to do well, before and since, utilizing those same "Collect-Em-All" mechanics. But none will ever achieve the ubiquity of Pokémon because that was a zeitgeist thing.

The lesson to take from Pokémon isn't that it's some inimitable aberration — it's not — but rather that for games like these to succeed, you need to give players a reason to **want** to collect a bunch of interchangeable digital trinkets in the first place. A strong art style and cute monsters can do the job (in fact, I'd say this is the one area where Pokémon falls flat, as their designs seldom have that same sort of **character** as Toriyama's creatures) but so can a good story, or interesting context. After all, in the MegaTen games and their spin-offs, you're gathering up various deities from a dozen or so different pantheons. You could just as easily orient a game around collecting characters from classic Victorian literature, or horrific, Lovecraftian abominations. If I had to guess at any one reason for why most Pokémon-imitators fails, it's because they don't provide players with anything meaningfully different to collect — and players are only gonna be able to care about generically cute anime-styled monsters so many times before they get bored.

Re: Talking Point: How Do You Define 'Retro'?

Kestrel

Retro doesn't simply mean "old," it means out-of-date, so pretty much any game from before controls were standardized along the DualShock gamepad qualifies as retro, to my view. So that's everything up to the PS2 and GCN generations.

Anything from those generations or later can be an old game, but because they're in effectively the same style as modern games, I don't think they can be considered retro.

Re: Dragon Quest XII: The Flames Of Fate Minor Development Update Shared

Kestrel

I don't understand why anyone would be concerned about XII having a darker tone. The best games in the series, V and VIII, both had darker tones than the rest. And DQXI was — by far — at its best in Act 2, the one time it tried to go just a bit darker.

The juxtaposition of these "dark tones" with the bright, cheery visuals is kind of one of Dragon Quest's biggest strengths. The more the games try to lean into those aspects, the better they tend to be.

Re: Soapbox: Fire Emblem’s Future May Not Be In Turn-Based Combat

Kestrel

I think Engage was going to have problems selling no matter what social or narrative elements it did or did not focus on. Do y'all remember when it was leaked, and ,after announced? Fire Emblems fans weren't excited: they were literally incredulous. They dismissed the leak as "obviously fake," and then once they game was properly announced it just confused people, since the whole aesthetic and premise just screamed "mobile game."

Engage never really did anything to make it stand out as more than a disposable spin-off game, and after it came out... the reviews did nothing to change that perception.

Re: Poll: What's The Best SaGa Game? Rate Your Favourites For Our Upcoming Ranking

Kestrel

Gotta give it to Minstrel's Song, owing mostly to the stellar presentation, which does a lot to make the more frustrating aspects of the game tolerable — frustrations largely shared with all the other entries in the series. As far as I'm concerned, it's not just the top contender, but the only contender.

Would love to see RS2 and RS3 remade someday, with a similar level of love and care... but that's not something that will ever happen in this world, with this Square-Enix.

Re: Video: Digital Foundry Talks 8-Inch 'Switch 2' Screen, Joy-Con Compatibility

Kestrel

IMO the biggest problem with the Switch concept is that the Joycons are just... too small to be comfortable as individual controllers. A larger tablet necessitating slightly bigger Joycons may fix that, and maybe even reduce or remove the need to add those clumsy button cap-things to them when used separately.

And also, if the Switch successor is going to be backwards compatible... it's gonna have to support Joycons. Ain't no way around that.

Re: Don't Expect A Remake Of Final Fantasy 6 Soon, If Ever

Kestrel

Pure nonsense. The only reason FF7R is as expensive and time-consuming to develop as it is... is because it is very emphatically not a remake. Or, rather, not a faithful remake — or even close. Well, that and the typical SE mismanagement, which at this point we pretty much just have to accept as the house style.

If they wanted to, they absolutely could remake FF6 — or FF7, for that matter — at a fraction of the cost of the 7R trilogy, in a fraction of the time, provided they were faithful to the original game. It's not like FF6 represents a bigger challenge than Star Ocean 2 did last year — or Live A Live or Dragon Quest 7 or Trials of Mana or any of the many other big, expansive RPGs of that type that they've remade before.

This is why, really, the Final Fantasy series has lost so much of the prestige and respect it used to enjoy. SE cannot even imagine a Final Fantasy Game as anything other than overproduced pablum. Not even a little.

Re: Reminder: The New Xenoblade Chronicles 3 amiibo Are Out This Week

Kestrel

Well, I'm still collecting Amiibo. --Or I try to, when I can get them cheap. But I don't care at all about the game functionality — they're just cool little display figures that look really nice, and doubly nice for the price point. Like if you want a Toon Link figure, the nearest ones to Amiibo are several orders of magnitude more expensive.

Re: Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition Soars Onto Switch This July

Kestrel

This is cool, but... yeah, I just cannot imagine it would run well on the Switch. I'm definitely a big enough AC fan that I'd buy it anyway... but not at full price. Especially when they can't be bothered to bundle in all the DLC (which could easily wind up doubling the asking price).

Here's hoping we get some AC8 news soon. It's been... so long.