Kingy

You will drive in a line and you WILL like it

@SurprisedRobinChu They are scorching goodwill at an unprecedented rate lol, it's insane

Finished the Country trilogy and now up to Donkey Kong 64...
I looked up the how long to beat and average completion time is 30-35hrs 😖

They really love burning goodwill for no gain over at Nintendo huh

I guessed 12 at a glance.

Looking like a proper follow up to Odyssey. I love how the DK games made by Nintendo themselves are about punching the ***** out of everything lol

@Ralek85 It's hard for me to say, because it could be the intermissions poisoning the well. But every track in this game hasn't really made much of impression on me, a lot of them are extremely wide and blend right in with the same straight lines and gentle turns the intermissions have.
I don't necessarily need every track to be something crazy like Neo Bowser City, but it's hard not to notice the significant amount of dead air in World's races. A good example I think is the Faraway Oasis track. Where the intermissions will have a bunch of Zebras and Ostriches running on the road in place of traffic (pretty neat), but get to the actual race and the track is completely barren and devoid of anything unique or interesting. Like it seems for whatever reason they thought the intermissions were more important than the tracks themselves, to the point where I feel like the only reason they made it a hassle for you race on them alone is because most of them aren't much fleshed out on their own and require the intermission as a sort of "full package".

As for Knockout Tour, I was more excited for that than anything during the pre-release footage, but the way it is now I think just showcases all of World's biggest issues:

• Not a lot of interesting ideas outside of making every rally essentially a super long Toad's Turnpike.
• Open World doesn't factor into the rallies, you drive on the singular road you're told to, makes the concept seem pointless.
• Comeback mechanics suck. You start every race spamming mushrooms and backdrafting through the pack, but once the pack splits apart you'll spend most of your time meandering in a single file line. Items typically become the only thing that matters from there.

You get it, at this point I'm repeating myself. Essentially I find any single race in 8 Deluxe more chaotic and engaging than anything I have played in World. None of World's flaws on their own would be so bad but all of them together just make it flat out boring to play for me.

I hope they improve the game with updates, or at the very least 200cc is a bandage for it. There's potential for really cool things to be done with this formula, but Nintendo's dedication to DLC is kind of a coin toss, so we could also be in for a free character every now and again and an overpriced track bundle that adds an island with four or five tracks to the game. We'll have to wait and see.

But yeah, I think for the time being 8 Deluxe is going to remain the reigning Mario Kart for myself and many others.

@BenAV Those tweaks alone would probably improve the game by a lot, yeah.

Free Roam isn't the worst thing about World, but possibly does the most damage overall to the game's design.
Not only is the open world not really utilized at all in the races, the tracks themselves needed to be made wider, simpler, and less visually distinct in order to allow for cohesion on the map.
It's the reason why 80% of this game is straight lines and the other 20% is overall less interesting than tracks made in previous Mario Karts.
There WAS a way to nail this concept, but again, the world map is highly restricted during races. There are no off-road detours to take, no alternate routes or layered tracks or much strategy at all really. It's why I find people praising Knockout Tour so baffling- It boils down to 20 minutes of getting the right item to overtake the next racer in the conga line.

Free Roam itself is underdeveloped, as everyone else already agrees. Lacks content, meaningful collectables, and as charming as everything looks- it's all skin deep with nothing to interact with outside of P-Block challenges. I wouldn't mind nearly as much if the open world added to the main modes of the game, but it primarily detracts.

So overall you have this one concept, which was likely only picked to maximize sales (open world = open wallets in corporate eyes) that spoils the quality of the whole game. That'll be $80 please!

Personally I could stand to move World down 2 or 3 spots but surprisingly I don't disagree with much on this list (these lists tend to be pretty wonky). 8 Deluxe and Double Dash are easy picks for the top, and arguably Wii should overtake DS, but I totally understand DS being in the #3 spot.

Pretty sure most people just move through them in order and 3-star them later (or never). Myself included.
I haven't bothered with 50 or 100cc in a long time though. Could you imagine if they made you lol no way, I already think this game is slow enough!!

@Samalik Gotcha. I figured it looked too good to be the mobile game but you can never tell these days.

Zenless Zone Zero got a huge 2.0 update so all my recent game time has been going towards that, but this weekend I'd like to get back to Expedition 33.
Also still trucking through 3-starring every GP and Knockout Tour in Mario Kart.
The only new game for this week is Donkey Kong Country 3. I've only ever heard people dog on this game but rn I can't really tell why, it's really good. It's easier than the first two DKCs sure, but not so much that it detracts from the excellent level design and unique ideas. Might not beat DKC2, but idk I think it's already better than the first one.

So this one is the spin-off or full offline release of the mobile game that came out last year I believe?
It's cool how successful they've been with such a niche franchise, they have to be pushing 30 games by now. I gotta put more under my belt.

Maybe I'll rate it higher with future updates but there is currently nothing praise-worthy about World that doesn't come with some sort of caveat. And of course I don't find the races in ANY mode fun at all.
5/10 though I'm still pondering a 4, idk if it's fair to call this game mediocre when it has as many problems as it does. Regardless of score World is a massive downgrade from MK8 and massively overpriced. Bad start for the new console.

This is one of those games where every single still shot is like wallpaper worthy. Looking forward to this and NG4.

I can't get into this game at all. I'm sticking with it to get 3 stars on every GP and Knockout Tour, which is a decent challenge, but the purpose of that was to see if there was something about the game I had overlooked, something there that would finally click.
There isn't. The game really is just a slow plodding mess, and I'm finding more issues the more I play, especially with Knockout Tour.
I noticed this time around your actual knowledge of a track and skill at driving it is entirely secondary to item RNG. When the pack splits up you kind of just hover in the position you're in until you get the correct item to overtake whoever is in front of you. It really is akin to driving on a highway lol.
I've had plenty of KTs ended on the spot because there was literally nothing I could do to catch up to first place, and plenty others where the only reason I won was due to a lucky random Blue shell thrown by some cpu 15 positions behind us.
Other Mario Karts, namely 8, have similar interactions with random item pulls, but you always had an opportunity to catch up with some good maneuvers. Not the case here.

So what a successful Knockout Tour looks like is you quitting the first leg of the race until you get the right item combination to pass the first checkpoint in first place (that's required for three stars), then you drive in a straight line for 15-20 minutes and pray you don't get hit by a red / blue shell right before each checkpoint, or God forbid the end of the race! At worst it's frustrating, at its best it's boring.

@The_Nintend_Pedant Once the honeymoon phase is over for this game I bet there's going to be a lot more "8 people" crawling out of the woodwork.

You really don't need this trick lol, you'll have 3000 in no time just playing normally. I picked up a lot of those big coin piles when unlocking all of the costumes in free roam.

World has a lot of these mini challenges that start to get repetitive real fast, and the rewards don't really compel me to search them out. Meanwhile the game has so much unlockable content through straight up baffling means, a lot of which requiring trial and error / RNG.

Feels like they could've solved two problems here by segmenting the challenges into tiers, that yield greater rewards based off its challenge level (easy challenges give you a sticker, harder ones unlock costumes, karts, extra characters).
But no, seems every idea this game has likes to remain in its own realm of existence and doesn't interact much with any other idea. What in the world were they thinking with this one?

Idk I guess Boo Cinema. It's hard to pick something not based off aesthetic because 15 hours in and I still don't feel like I've meaningfully engaged with any of the tracks thanks to the intermissions.
I can tell you what the absolute worst track is, it's Rainbow Road. The epitome of this game's entire ethos in the form of a long, wide meandering track filled with nothing but straight lines and soft turns (despite being the game's FINAL challenge). Feigning any sort of depth with superficial changes to the scenery and references to better Rainbow Roads of yesteryear.
This is what Nintendo thinks is deep and rich enough to charge $80 for, this is where they've set the bar now. Lame.

I guess technically he didn't work on the game but that still doesn't feel right. Imagine making something set in Middle Earth and not crediting Tolkien for the original work.
That being said, I'm sure there's plenty examples of this and Miyamoto was never a one-man army working on those original games, so how many people would deserve a special thanks at that point?

Currently in Act 2 in Expedition 33 and loving it. Last time I played I did nothing but optional areas and bosses, which this game has a lot of. Pretty much everything kills me in a single hit lol, but thanks to the parry you can theoretically beat any high level enemy as long as you learn the timing. The rewards and exp are absolutely worth it, to the point where I'm now way over leveled for main story encounters.

I've also been playing through the Donkey Kong series in preparation for Bananza (near the end of DKC2 as of writing). Rare really put a lot of effort into making every level have its own unique theme or challenge (which ik Retro will carry on with), so I'm starting to understand why these games are as renowned as they are. I ***** hate the spider with my whole being though

Oh, and I guess I put both of them on pause to check out Mario Kart World. I've already ranted about it in a previous article and not much has really changed since. It's not a terrible game, and I've found plenty of little things to appreciate about it so far. But then I go into another GP or Knockout Tour and the boredom sets in as the tracks just meander on with long stretches of nothing.
Most likely I'll finish 3-starring all the cups and leave it at that. I'm not really interested in hunting down every sticker in free roam.
Disappointing, but me and my friends have been playing MK8 for 11 years. And as far as I care, I can play it for 11 more.

Suddenly much more interested in this game for... no particular reason lol

Some scattered thoughts after a few hours with World:

Lots of dead air during races and I feel like I'm driving through molasses.

It's hard to take anything away from any of the new / revamped tracks because GP and Knockout Tour prefer 65% of your race be pure straitaways. Knockout Tour is forgivable given its elimination rules, idk who thought this was a good idea for Grand Prix. It's a showcase of tracks I barely get to see.

Roads need to accommodate 24 racers so they are absolutely gargantuan. Again - dead air seems like the most appropriate term here. Initially at the start of the race you'll be eaten alive by the pack, but as they spread out you're going to notice a significant amount of nothing. Granted I've only played with CPUs and my brother, but this game is significantly less frantic than MK8, especially with a lack of 200cc.

I've only done a little bit of free roam, seems like the best way to get all the costumes and collect coins for karts, but other than that it's pretty underwhelming and completely removed from the main game. Like this game doesn't benefit from an open world at all, the actual races don't utilize it in any way. I see it effectively as a waste of resources.

Nintendo is allergic to good UIs now. The character select menu is an abomination.

The OST is ***** incredible, it's easily the best thing about this game.
The costumes are cute and creative. I like some of the new miscellaneous racers, but most are clearly just here as reused track assets. That's not a problem in of itself, but there were a lot of ACTUAL characters cut from the previous game and I wouldn't exactly call these suitable replacements.

Feels akin to the underwhelming Mario sports games that came out on the switch. Hopefully the game will improve with future updates and DLC but right now nothing about it feels particularly put together. A collection of good ideas and the bones of something great but clumsily executed.

...80 ***** dollars btw.

To anyone who hasn't gotten a switch 2 yet: you can hold off for a bit. I feel like this game being so lackluster is an omen for things to come.

They really saw the random ass extra characters in Sonic & Sega Racing games and said "less SEGA, more of THAT!"

Don't see myself sticking with the game without it. I predict this game isn't really going to hit its stride until they start doing DLC, which I don't doubt 200cc will be included in... hopefully

This guy's gonna lose it when he finds out about the little games on the back of the cereal box

Bison swiped Terry's MotW jacket

Haven't played this one yet but jumping in to say that all older iterations of this game are easy to emulate, including the PC-98 version if you so wish to experience the ridiculous premise uncensored
There is also an english fan translation for the pc-98

I don't hate the concept but this definitely is not a game for everyone. This is a game made by people from the LGBT community for the LGBT community, which isn't a problem but that IS going to limit the game's audience.

Also how great of NL to shoot these guys in the foot by picking the most divisive tagline possible for clicks. Ray mentions AI a single time for his closing thoughts and here you are spinning it like it's a feature of the article. Despicable.

So the game is $60. But we're expected to pay an extra $10 just to have it run properly. And this looks like it'll be a trend for most Switch 1 to Switch 2 conversions (granted that the Switch 1 game isn't already $70).
Idk, overpricing is a serious risk for killing this console's momentum out of the gate. After the initial push of sales from the die hard Nintendo fans, how many consoles do they reasonably expect to sell with these prices?
Mom and Dad aren't going to spend $500-$600 on a console and 1-2 games for little Timmy on Christmas.

I suppose I should add this to the list since apparently it's quite good and its right up my alley being a tactics game. But man do I hate these character designs. It's what's kept me from playing Danganronpa too, despite loving similar series like Zero Escape and Ace Attorney.

They really don't want me buying games on the Switch 2 lol, PS5 it is as usual. I recommend the Super Famicom remake of DQ I&II to anyone who doesn't want to buy into the key card nonsense.
The original Dragon Quest is worth playing at least once (it's very short! under 10 hours) and if you want to play DQII you can fast forward through the endgame grind on an emulator.

As for the new games, I'm excited to see what they add, especially to DQII - which is the one Dragon Quest game that would benefit the most from a remake.
More excited for I&II than I ever was for III even, mostly due to DQIII not really needing one.

Played all of Frictional's games up to SOMA last year. Gameplay wise SOMA doesn't do much to separate itself from your stock standard horror themed walking sim, but it makes up for that with outstanding writing and presentation. Without spoiling anything the game hosts some pretty heavy topics and makes you an active participant in them. Solid stuff, I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't played it yet.

If you want something more gamey from this team try Penumbra Overture. It's not much of a horror game but it puts your logic skills to the test more than any game that comes after (though The Bunker looks similar from what I've seen of it WHILE also being plenty scary, so you could try that instead).

Their June direct is usually around the second week. This statement is vague enough to conveniently fall into that time frame lol so yeah, not exactly a surprise.

@Polvasti You're not wrong, I'd put Bravely Default in the same boat as the GameCube games, and it only being $40 is great, more people will buy who wouldn't have otherwise.

Rune Factory is also more of a draw than the other third parties too. That being said, it's also releasing on the original Switch (and steam deck), so idk how much I'd say it's a reason to buy a Switch 2 at launch if someone was only in the market for that game, you know.
Definitely good picks, but not enough for me to call the S2 launch lineup impressive all things considered.

@BTB20 There's not really a good reason to buy a switch 2 at launch other than Mario Kart. You're probably like me and buying in early for future releases, but for most people all those third party ports have been available for a long time on more powerful (and frankly more affordable) hardware.

The GameCube titles are at least exclusive to this console, so I'd argue they're a bigger draw than something like Cyberpunk.

@Anakin Tbf it's not like there's a whole bunch to be hyped for with the Switch 2 launch. The GameCube games are pulling a lot of weight.

9 out of 13. This game had excellent levels but all in all the first game has stuck with me more over the years.

It's not cheating if it's parallel universes 😎

I'm very proud of the comments here being able to see this kind of language for what it is and call it out immediately. People tend to use this "positivity-focused, good vibes wholesome chungus" narrative when they want to divide people.
Not the kind of content worth watching imo, find someone who loves what they're talking about AND is able to see it for what it is.

Another thing - and I don't want to harp on too much about this guy cause he seems well-meaning - but you give a bad impression when your introductory video is already going on about the algorithm and SEO. Makes it sound like this is just a money venture to you even though you seem to understand how unrealistic that is (not to mention it paints the strict positivity in an even worse light). That's it really, best of luck with the channel wherever you decide to take it.

I probably have a combined hour of hearing the first 15 seconds of the Heavenly Flight theme smh

The iconic DK (Donkey Kong) and DD (Diddy Dong)!

Well I have no reason to expect it'll be bad with the team working on it and with Ancel consulting. But something about "AAA Rayman game" doesn't sit right with me.
I can only hope his extremely cringe appearance in that Captain Laserhawk show isn't a sign of another shift in identity with this series.

@Kiz3000 I try to finish every game I play. It's rare nowadays that I don't at least get to the credits, but I got bored of subjecting myself to Outlaws and wanted to move on.
I also rotate between two or three games regularly, so that play time was spread across three of four weeks in three hour intervals.

The same thing is happening right now actually, where I'm not really enjoying Monster Hunter Wilds at all, but I have KCD and Clair Obscur to mitigate that (Wilds isn't terrible like Outlaws though lol so that also helps)

@The-Chosen-one I gave up on it about 20-25hrs in. From what I did play I'd give it like a 3.0, and I feel like that's being generous given how broken it was.
The jank did make me laugh though, so there's that at least. Definitely wouldn't endorse a $70 (or whatever they'll be charging for the Switch 2) purchase for that however.

To anyone who hasn't played this one yet...

...keep doing that, it's not good.

Not exactly shedding tears or losing sleep over this news. Polygon wasn't some bastion of journalistic integrity. They dug their own hole and nothing of value was lost.
Perhaps this could serve as a wake up call for other outlets to start taking their jobs more seriously, but I'm not hopeful that will be the case.

I'm playing this game on hard mode, which -accurate to the in-game description - makes it so you're required to get the dodge/parry timing down on bosses if you want to have any chance of beating them.
It adds an extra layer of pressure to the battles that go beyond my level and loadout and I love it. It fits the game's oppressive 'doomed journey' atmosphere like a glove. And it doesn't trivialize the combat because enemies have multiple attacks with different timings to learn, and bosses will start using new attacks as a fight goes on.
Great stuff!

I love Sacred Stones aesthetic and art style. It's up there at the top with Fates and Valentia.

I'm still making my way through Kingdom Come Deliverance. At about 120 hours clocked in and I don't seem to be coming to an endpoint anytime soon. But I can easily say KDC is likely to be one of my all-time favorites. This game is wonderful - jank and all, and I'm highly anticipating KCD II seeing as how everyone says it's even better than the first.

I also just started up Clair Obscur Expedition 33 and was very impressed with the opening hours of the game. It doesn't waste any time to hook you into the story and setting, and the combat system is dream mix of a bunch brilliant mechanics from JRPGs of the past. I've only put 3 hours into this one so far and it's already an easy recommend.

Finally, while I rotate between KDC and Expedition 33, I'm also trudging through Monster Hunter Wilds, which has been boring so far. It seems the accessibility Icarus has finally flown too close to the sun and turned Monster Hunter into a shallow hack and slash that completely undermines the monsters AND the hunting the game is named for. Disappointing.

So basically I've decided to play three massive RPGs concurrently and there's still more to come. It's looking like the Kingdom Come saga alone is going to take me an entire year 😭