There's a GameStop between my home and my local Walmart, and I went grocery shopping at the perfect time to find a giant line in front of GameStop. The employee at the door was handing out what were basically permission slips saying you could come back anytime today to pre order as long as you had one. So I did that. Pretty smooth process.
The Direct might of actually convinced me to hold off on the game and maybe even the Switch 2 lmao. Doug Bowser blustering about "wait and see there's so much you haven't seen that makes this game worth $80", just for the Direct to show almost nothing new. Yep, somehow success Nintendo manages to be Nintendo at their absolute worst, go figure. I don't think I want to support that.
SNES, GBA, and GameCube came out swinging. N64 released with the best game ever made. Most of Switch 2's lineup are ports of much, much older video games a lot of people already played, many of which are likely to be inferior to their launch release. Despite how big the list is, Mario Kart is the only game here that's selling you on the switch 2.
As far as the best is concerned: I don't have the launch list on hand, but I know the PS2 had a crazy launch year so I think it's safe to give it to that.
Idk about genre defining, but both games are fresh concepts for their respective series. That's all I'm really looking for in a new Nintendo game. Obviously the game has to look fun too. I couldn't give less of a ***** about that Drag Drive game for example as much as I appreciate the originality, but that comes with the territory of utilizing new ideas. Strong start as far as the actual games are concerned.
Gungeon 2 was the biggest announcement for me. I put well over 100 hours into it on PS4 then did it again when it dropped on the switch. I'm a little worried that it'll just be the first game again in 3D, but I have faith they'll make another...
...
...banger
I mean I'm already sold on this game myself, but a few years from now they'll have a game "so big" and "so vast" that they'll just have to charge $90... Then $100... and so on. This is just PR bs, they're never going to be able to justify the price hike, and all it takes is one game that can get away with it before the floodgates open and the new price becomes a standard. We saw that with Sony's $70 games in 2020. Inevitably we're all going to be priced out of your average AAA video game.
I've only ever finished X years ago on the Wii U. At some point I will play the entire series to completion, but for now: 1.XC1 - Got close to the end of the game. Really fun and has a strong cast of characters and a compelling story. The only reason I stopped playing is because I got burnt out at the time and wanted to move on. That was the 3DS version. 2.XCX - Beat the game. Main story and characters are weak but some of the game's side quests have stuck with me for a long time. As has the ridiculous soundtrack. I enjoyed exploring X's world way more than 1 & 2's. 3.XC2 - Didn't much care for this one. By the time I got to the endgame I was so disinterested in the game's story that I never bothered finishing it. I like the main party in 2 but I thought Rex/Pyra/Mythra were incredibly boring.
And I haven't touched XC3 or any of the DLC campaigns. My Xeno arc will happen someday and that'll include Xenogears and Xenosaga too.
I've always preferred the original, I think WWHD loses quite a bit in the art direction, namely with the colors due to lighting. I assume we'll be getting GC Twilight Princess too. But yeah, they ought to port the HD versions anyways. That covers one or two years of annual Zelda releases at least lol, and they can charge you $80 for a double pack... Or more likely, $70 individually 💀
The actual switch 2 games are a-ok, but the switch 2 editions are terrible. Even ignoring the disclaimer at the bottom, you have the red banner at the top cropping the art and making the whole thing look amateur. Ffs the Metroid box makes my eyes bleed!
@Medic_alert Right, they've really been fumbling their big moment here. People have no idea if, when, or what to buy at this point, and all the hearsay is making it 10x worse.
@Medic_alert I agree, they have no good reason to not specify it being a download code on the box. But with there being a need to mention a distinction between the cart and the upgrade pack at all, I don't think there's any room to argue it being anything else. These disclaimers are only ever there to signify the product you purchased is not fully on the cartridge.
@MrCarlos46 If that was the case they wouldn't need the disclaimer. They might do that for future 'Switch 2 Editions' based off feedback, but for now they're taking the cheapest route and just slapping a switch 1 cart and a code into a box and calling it a switch 2 game.
But really it seems like Nintendo is making a push to eventually phase out physical releases entirely, judging on how botched this launch window lineup looks.
@MrCarlos46 And I'm saying what else could it be? They're very precise with the wording. "Nintendo Switch game" and "Nintendo switch 2 edition upgrade pack". Are we going to plug the upgrade pack on top of the switch 1 cart like it's Sonic & Knuckles? Of course not. It's the switch 1 cart and a download code, as lame as that is.
What's the confusion, it says it right on the box. They wouldn't need the fine print if it was just the whole package on the cart. How would the 'upgrade pack' not be a download code? Just buy a used copy of the original switch games and purchase the upgrade packs separately. You get a marked down game without the abhorrent switch 2 box art.
To anyone who hasn't played these yet. Octopath Traveler is a fun but pretty conceptually limited game. Octopath Traveler II is an improvement over the first in every single way and is extremely fun. The greatest flaw of both of them is that the story (stories more like) and characters are quite shallow, but I think the combat and presentation make up for it. Both are worth playing, but I recommend II way more than the original. And the games aren't linked in any meaningful way so you can skip straight to II if you like.
A lot of "that's pretty cool I'll add it to my list", but nothing that has me in anticipation. I understand why they decided on two directs but I really think the announcements here would've been better received if they were just included in the switch 2 direct.
I used Feraligatr in my Silver run last year so Chikorita is the one for me this time around. I really like Meganium's design. I dislike all three gen 5 starters, most of all Tepig/Emboar lol so that's a no go.
@roy130390 Sorry about the whole novel. I wanted to respond to as much as I could and got carried away with my thoughts lol. I might not be able to respond to as much from here on, I'm gonna be very busy for the weekend, but at the very least I'll give a like to your response just so you know I read it.
story and characters
If you liked the story that's fine, I'm not really interested in breaking down the narrative, my original point was that it wasn't any more or less impressive than Pokémon games before it, but tbh that wasn't a very fair statement, Pokémon stories have obviously been more detailed since gen 7, which I'd say has the strongest narrative of any mainline game thus far. Meaning S/V would probably make the #2 spot naturally because people really don't like sw/sh story. Fair point.
I don't find the story in general very engaging, and that's due to the structure, but the characters in s/v have stronger writing than most other Pokémon characters before them.
"Sorry for replying 2 times, but the comment reached its limit."
No problem dude, I'm doing it four lmao
stuff to improve
I agree with all of this, but my argument was these things should have been implemented in s/v, not a future game. These aren't just features that are in other open world games, these are features that were in previous Pokémon games. If the open world meant they needed to strip out everything else but the core mechanics of the series, then clearly they weren't ready to make an open world game.
I think the switch Pokémon games are criticized very fairly for their shortcomings and lack of innovation. If I had to put it bluntly I'd say critique has finally caught up to the series and the Pokémon name is no longer enough to ensure acclaim. That's a good thing, games like S/V shouldn't be accepted without backlash and given what it is it definitely deserves its reception.
And tbf I did enjoy my time with the game, the core experience of Pokémon games are very satisfying, even when they're riddled with issues, so I understand where you're coming from. I just don't think we should be praising a game with as many concessions as it has just because it adds open world to the formula.
And here's the crazy thing, you're talking about them not delivering their BOTW/Mario Odyssey equivalent yet, I don't even think they've delivered their Ocarina of Time/Mario 64 equivalent yet! They've been so focused on iterating on the same Red/Blue experience that they haven't really innovated the formula much. It's a unique problem of theirs that I don't really know the solution to other than I think the Legends games are the best step in the right direction. And considering there are five, soon to be SIX mainline Pokémon games on the switch, they absolutely have no excuse at this point to be as terribly optimized and mediocre as they are.
other open world games
What are these other open world games that are just as guilty of everything s/v fails to do that people aren't as critical of? You keep mentioning them but haven't given any examples, I can't speak on any of these if I don't know what they are.
"I could bet you that if this was a brand new franchise with a 1/4 of the monsters in them and better visuals and performance it would have been much more well received"
Yes, if it was a better game it would be better received, such a brave take. The only reason this game has as much defenders as it does is precisely because it's Pokémon. If it was a new franchise, the world would've forgotten about it already.
And yes, like I mentioned before, my expectations are higher for the billion dollar franchise open world adventure than the indie game inspired by it.
"You said yourself that you didn't play Sword/Shield. How do they run significantly worse?"
Again, this is the consensus people have come to about S/V. Make no mistake I am not complementing sw/sh, I've seen much of that game's performance issues including the world freezing when you climb a ladder, the game is pathetic.
Scarlet and Violet barely function. I couldn't go five minutes in s/v without encountering some sort of hideous visual bug and the framerate consistently dipping to a crawl. I don't need to play sw/sh to know that everybody says s/v performs worse than it, that's why it's the lowest rated game in the franchise.
movement animations are worse in sw/sh
Maybe so, but I never compared s/v animations directly to sw/sh, I said they were bad on their own.
how is s/v the easiest Pokémon game?
S/V is the only Pokémon game that doesn't balance its progression system. Meaning your laymen playthrough is guaranteed to result in your Pokémon being vastly over-leveled for more than half the challenges in the game. Speaking anecdotally, Grusha (LV48) was the 7th challenge I tackled in the game because I picked the right side of the map and moved upwards, beating him meant my team were over-leveled for the remaining 11 challenges and overwhelmingly so for every challenge on the left side of the map. This is not an uncommon complaint for this game, and unless you can name me a Pokémon game that facilitates such a huge level gap through normal gameplay, then yes, there's no way s/v isn't definitively the easiest. This isn't me saying previous Pokémon games are inherently more difficult, I'm saying s/v is the easiest because its progression system is broken and works against its own structure.
You can talk for you but you can't tell me what "most people expect" without assuming.
It is an assumption, but it's based off openly available consensus. S/V is the lowest rated mainline Pokémon game on metacritic, an aggregate review site. It's the lowest for critic and user scores at 72 and 36 respectively. It's the most hated Pokémon game to date and therefore fair to assume that out of the audience who played it, more people left this entry dissatisfied than with other entries.
Outbreaks and Tera Battles
This is fair, I did forget about these. However, unless I was forgetting anything else, we've mentioned everything the base game has to offer. Outbreaks are a feature we've consistently had since gen 2, and tera battles are spin on gigantimax raids, which are credited to sw/sh. Not to say that old features aren't welcome in the game, they certainly are (though I thought the tera battles were terribly balanced in one direction or the other), I just don't find those features alone to be particularly impressive or at the very least satisfactory to make up all the extra content in the entire open world.
legendaries
These are just plain ass. I'm not against having one of these Pokémon unlocked through finding stakes, it's a fine scavenger hunt. But all four is just ridiculously uninspired. You're telling me they couldn't add an optional dungeon or side quest or anything else to make catching these a more unique experience? Something they've been doing since the very first game.
Pokémon interactions
Yes, if they're able to code behaviors into how wild Pokémon react to you, they can add behaviors to how they react to other wild Pokémon. A Pokémon doesn't need 400 unique interactions, they only need interactions and animations relevant to the creature sets available in the areas they're found in. Same with an ecosystem. You're telling me they can't design a pair of trees that contain large spider webs to signify a spider Pokémon lives there? Well, s/v can't make a forest at all because the only one in the game causes it to chug, but Tagtree Thicket actually does this with Grafaiai roaming around painted trees. It was one of my more positive reactions despite the performance. But as far as I remember that was the only unique habitat in the entire game.
Make nests for bird Pokémon, hives for Beedrills and Combees, dams for Bidoofs (they did this in Legends Arceus), algae pools for water/grass/poison type Pokémon, make a Lotad hiding among a bunch of lily pads, tree hollows for a whole bunch of smaller Pokémon. These are really simple and intuitive environmental details that is honestly baffling that are not in the game considering the game's primary attraction are these creatures. And yes, I'm aware S/V as we know it now maybe couldn't handle all this considering it barely worked properly as it was. But that's just another reason to axe incompetent devs like Game Freak. This is the biggest media franchise in the world, Pokémon has the resources to create something expansive that runs well on the console its made for. We shouldn't excuse mediocrity for AAA games and Pokémon might be the most inexcusable case of them all.
The execution of this kind of combat will be decided by how well the enemy AI works. Really hoping wild and trainer pokemon don't just stand around and eat attacks.
@roy130390 If a world being open is all you need to be engaged then that's great for you, but most people expect a higher degree of interactivity or at least things to do from their open world RPGs. S/V doesn't offer much of anything outside of its scripted content. There's no secrets or special events, no dungeons, all four legendary pokemon are relegated to a set of colored switches throughout the region, how creative. Towns and cities contain no optional content, brother the houses don't even have interiors.
The Pokemon strewn about don't have any unique interactions, they don't react to other species of Pokemon, their habitats give no indication that any said species actually lives there outside of super rare situations. It's the same awkward implantation that the other 'free roam' pokemon games have where they just pop in and meander around. It's absolutely a dead world.
You said in your original comment:
"That hate should have been directed to Sword and Shield, which not only ran poorly despite of being way smaller, they were also the games with the worst animations, annoying characters, linear places to explore, mediocre story and ridiculously easy."
I mean S/V is big, but other than that it suffers from all the same issues. It runs significantly worse than Sw/Sh and is riddled with bugs. It does NOT have impressive animations, the way people and pokemon move in the game is just as robotic as the other 3D games. The story and characters are not any less inane than other pokemon games, you're still forced through long dull cutscenes presented through a disjointed narrative that pretends to have a cohesive conclusion. And most important, the game IS ridiculously easy! In fact, thanks to how terribly they handled the map it is the EASIEST pokemon game to date.
So why is Sword and Shield being a cakewalk a problem to you but Scarlet and Violet isn't? Most other open world games do scale difficulty to progress and that's why you don't see people complaining about them like they do S/V. This game is an outlier in that regard. Just like it's an outlier in having a world with no interactivity or interesting things to find/do.
They thought simply having pokemon, the absolute bare minimum for a pokemon game, would be enough. And to their credit, to some people it is enough. But for most others it is not. And that, combined with its terrible performance, is why you see it get as much hate as it has. And probably why you see so much hate for Pokemon in general online. People are not impressed by the same rudimentary mechanics they've been seeing since Red/Blue, even if you graft them onto an open world.
If the next generation is open world (and tbf it should be open world) they have A LOT of improving to do.
@roy130390 What's baffling about it? I really wanted an open world Pokémon game, but the one in S/V is really poorly done. The objectives on the map are placed haphazardly and don't scale with your progress, leading to many challenges being entirely moot because the actual intended route based off the levels is unintuitive.
The world itself isn't just ugly and glitchy, it's also dead. There's nothing to interact with outside of the Pokémon strewn about seemingly at random, it was extremely disappointing to see.
I haven't played sw/sh so I can't fully say on whether or not it's an improvement over that, but from what I've seen it's not a high bar to clear.
Yeah the city environment isn't exactly playing to Game Freak's advantages. It's weird seeing some wild areas in the city just being normal city streets. Like I hope your favorite asian buffet isn't located where the city decided to dump the lions lol.
To get the low-hanging fruit out of the way, the game is extremely ugly, and I'm not hopeful about the performance considering how much Scarlet/Violet ***** the bed in any area that was even remotely populated. But Legends Arceus was ugly and performed poorly too, and I still liked it, so that's not a deal breaker. Any spin on the old battle system is welcome. I remember in Arceus it was all about manipulating the turn order with strong and speedy strikes, which was cool, but in practice most fights boiled down to which pokemon could steamroll the other first.
Being able to maneuver in battle and replacing the turn order with an ATB system looks really promising. Potentially we'd have to start using our brains again lol, but we'll see.
I'm calling it here and now though: despite the game being set in a city, there will be sub 20 interiors we can enter in the entire game.
Nintendo 3DS has the strongest library of any Nintendo platform save for maybe the original DS. But you can play all DS software on the 3DS anyways, so yeah, 3DS reigns as king!!
@Corvus96 Worst performance out of the all the versions, highest difficulty out of all versions (which can get insanely *****). And lacks the presentation that the PCE version has (cutscenes / cheesy voice acting / insanely fantastic soundtrack).
@Salnax Challenge level - impossible. Or making a dating sim that's actually a simulation game and not a just a visual novel falsely advertised as one.
I'm sure they have an idea or two that sets it apart from the rest of the entries, but as far as Mario Karts are concerned all that's really needed is a strong course selection and multiplayer options. This is why people are still going back to MK64, Double Dash, DS, & Wii. They got a strong selection of tracks and extra modes and features that keep the games evergreen despite future entries being technically better. Mario Kart 8 definitely has the strongest and most quality track list out of all of them (even though the Booster Course pass kinda muddied the waters) but multiplayer modes were a clear afterthought and are half-baked. Give Mario Kart 9 some kick ass tracks like 8 and a quality multiplayer mode (you don't even need to innovate, just copy older games wholesale) and you'll have another masterwork on your hands.
Comments 693
Re: Bravely Default On Switch 2 May Have Removed One Of The Game's Best Features
I still have the original, I'll stick with that.
Re: Poll: So, Did You Manage To Get A Switch 2 Pre-Order In? (North America)
There's a GameStop between my home and my local Walmart, and I went grocery shopping at the perfect time to find a giant line in front of GameStop.
The employee at the door was handing out what were basically permission slips saying you could come back anytime today to pre order as long as you had one. So I did that. Pretty smooth process.
Re: Opinion: It's Time To Get Rid Of Fall Damage
Like every opinion piece on this site is some broad generalization to farm engagement. Boring
Re: 'The Knightling' Trailer Showcases A Stunning World Begging To Be Explored
Brings to mind the kind of platformers that came out on the Gamecube and PS2, instant get for me.
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Switch 2 Rating Spotted Online
Another platform for me to not buy this game on!!
Re: Nintendo Direct: Mario Kart World: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate It?
The Direct might of actually convinced me to hold off on the game and maybe even the Switch 2 lmao.
Doug Bowser blustering about "wait and see there's so much you haven't seen that makes this game worth $80", just for the Direct to show almost nothing new.
Yep, somehow success Nintendo manages to be Nintendo at their absolute worst, go figure. I don't think I want to support that.
Re: Marathon Isn't Currently Planned For Switch 2, Unsurprisingly
Wtf are those character designs
Re: Talking Point: Does Switch 2 Have Nintendo's Best Launch Line-Up Ever?
SNES, GBA, and GameCube came out swinging. N64 released with the best game ever made. Most of Switch 2's lineup are ports of much, much older video games a lot of people already played, many of which are likely to be inferior to their launch release. Despite how big the list is, Mario Kart is the only game here that's selling you on the switch 2.
As far as the best is concerned: I don't have the launch list on hand, but I know the PS2 had a crazy launch year so I think it's safe to give it to that.
Re: Nintendo: Switch 2's Launch Titles Are "Sort Of" Genre- And Franchise-Defining
Idk about genre defining, but both games are fresh concepts for their respective series. That's all I'm really looking for in a new Nintendo game. Obviously the game has to look fun too. I couldn't give less of a ***** about that Drag Drive game for example as much as I appreciate the originality, but that comes with the territory of utilizing new ideas.
Strong start as far as the actual games are concerned.
Re: Devolver's Awesome New Games Got Lost During The Dodgy Switch 2 Livestream
Gungeon 2 was the biggest announcement for me. I put well over 100 hours into it on PS4 then did it again when it dropped on the switch. I'm a little worried that it'll just be the first game again in 3D, but I have faith they'll make another...
...
...banger
Re: Nintendo Comments On Mario Kart World's Controversial Price
I mean I'm already sold on this game myself, but a few years from now they'll have a game "so big" and "so vast" that they'll just have to charge $90... Then $100... and so on.
This is just PR bs, they're never going to be able to justify the price hike, and all it takes is one game that can get away with it before the floodgates open and the new price becomes a standard. We saw that with Sony's $70 games in 2020.
Inevitably we're all going to be priced out of your average AAA video game.
Re: Best Xenoblade Chronicles Games Of All Time
I've only ever finished X years ago on the Wii U. At some point I will play the entire series to completion, but for now:
1.XC1 - Got close to the end of the game. Really fun and has a strong cast of characters and a compelling story. The only reason I stopped playing is because I got burnt out at the time and wanted to move on. That was the 3DS version.
2.XCX - Beat the game. Main story and characters are weak but some of the game's side quests have stuck with me for a long time. As has the ridiculous soundtrack. I enjoyed exploring X's world way more than 1 & 2's.
3.XC2 - Didn't much care for this one. By the time I got to the endgame I was so disinterested in the game's story that I never bothered finishing it. I like the main party in 2 but I thought Rex/Pyra/Mythra were incredibly boring.
And I haven't touched XC3 or any of the DLC campaigns. My Xeno arc will happen someday and that'll include Xenogears and Xenosaga too.
Re: Talking Point: Zelda: Wind Waker Is On Switch 2 - Do You Still Want A WW:HD Port?
I've always preferred the original, I think WWHD loses quite a bit in the art direction, namely with the colors due to lighting. I assume we'll be getting GC Twilight Princess too.
But yeah, they ought to port the HD versions anyways. That covers one or two years of annual Zelda releases at least lol, and they can charge you $80 for a double pack... Or more likely, $70 individually 💀
Re: 'Switch 2 Editions' Are Supposedly A Switch Game Card And Download Code For The Upgrade Pack
@Quarth Yeah, maybe. You make a good point, but it still sounds like wishful thinking.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Nintendo Switch 2 Special
The actual switch 2 games are a-ok, but the switch 2 editions are terrible. Even ignoring the disclaimer at the bottom, you have the red banner at the top cropping the art and making the whole thing look amateur. Ffs the Metroid box makes my eyes bleed!
Re: 'Switch 2 Editions' Are Supposedly A Switch Game Card And Download Code For The Upgrade Pack
@Medic_alert Right, they've really been fumbling their big moment here. People have no idea if, when, or what to buy at this point, and all the hearsay is making it 10x worse.
Re: 'Switch 2 Editions' Are Supposedly A Switch Game Card And Download Code For The Upgrade Pack
@Medic_alert I agree, they have no good reason to not specify it being a download code on the box. But with there being a need to mention a distinction between the cart and the upgrade pack at all, I don't think there's any room to argue it being anything else.
These disclaimers are only ever there to signify the product you purchased is not fully on the cartridge.
Re: 'Switch 2 Editions' Are Supposedly A Switch Game Card And Download Code For The Upgrade Pack
@MrCarlos46 If that was the case they wouldn't need the disclaimer. They might do that for future 'Switch 2 Editions' based off feedback, but for now they're taking the cheapest route and just slapping a switch 1 cart and a code into a box and calling it a switch 2 game.
But really it seems like Nintendo is making a push to eventually phase out physical releases entirely, judging on how botched this launch window lineup looks.
Re: 'Switch 2 Editions' Are Supposedly A Switch Game Card And Download Code For The Upgrade Pack
@MrCarlos46 And I'm saying what else could it be? They're very precise with the wording. "Nintendo Switch game" and "Nintendo switch 2 edition upgrade pack". Are we going to plug the upgrade pack on top of the switch 1 cart like it's Sonic & Knuckles? Of course not. It's the switch 1 cart and a download code, as lame as that is.
Re: 'Switch 2 Editions' Are Supposedly A Switch Game Card And Download Code For The Upgrade Pack
What's the confusion, it says it right on the box. They wouldn't need the fine print if it was just the whole package on the cart. How would the 'upgrade pack' not be a download code?
Just buy a used copy of the original switch games and purchase the upgrade packs separately. You get a marked down game without the abhorrent switch 2 box art.
Re: Did Donkey Kong Bananza Key Art Accidentally Leak A Big Surprise?
Calling it now. Mario fled to the mushroom kingdom after numerous court summons for lack of child support payments.
Re: PSA: Switch Online Includes Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack Access At "No Additional Cost"
Very glad to hear the upgrade packs work with physical games. I don't have to rebuy Tears of the Kingdom now lol.
Re: GameCube Games Confirmed For Nintendo Switch Online On Switch 2
Soulcalibur II is ***** nuts dude. And at RELEASE too!
Re: Final Fantasy 9 Remake Hopes Rise As Square Enix Teases Anniversary Projects
Ngl, remaking FFIX to me is like saying we're gonna remake the Mona Lisa... Good luck.
Don't let Nomura get his sticky fingers all over this one and you may have a chance lol.
Re: Octopath Traveler I + II Physical Switch Bundle Announced
To anyone who hasn't played these yet. Octopath Traveler is a fun but pretty conceptually limited game. Octopath Traveler II is an improvement over the first in every single way and is extremely fun.
The greatest flaw of both of them is that the story (stories more like) and characters are quite shallow, but I think the combat and presentation make up for it.
Both are worth playing, but I recommend II way more than the original. And the games aren't linked in any meaningful way so you can skip straight to II if you like.
Re: Poll: So, How Would You Rate The Nintendo Direct For March 2025?
A lot of "that's pretty cool I'll add it to my list", but nothing that has me in anticipation. I understand why they decided on two directs but I really think the announcements here would've been better received if they were just included in the switch 2 direct.
Re: Round Up: Everything From Japan's Nintendo Direct Broadcast (March 2025)
It'd be really awesome if Konami brought that Tokimeki Memorial remaster over to the west, but I doubt they ever will.
Re: Random: Not Even Horror Maestro Stephen King Can Crack A Good Pokémon Joke
Nintendo Direct can't come soon enough
Re: Koei Tecmo Is Bringing Atelier's Ryza To 'Warriors: Abyss'
@Princess_Lilly
"Thigh great bouncy boisterous personality will be done."
There, fixed it for ya.
Re: Japanese Charts: Game About Picking Up Girls In A Dungeon Enters The Top 10
@Maxz That's my favorite one.
Re: Inside Dev Threatens Legal Action Against Studio Co-Founder As "Bullying" Allegations Arise
Every instance of quotations in the article I read like Dr. Evil.
Re: Nintendo Confirms Removal Of Switch Online SNES Game
Now there's nothing left in this world for me to live for : (
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
@roy130390 Thanks, and likewise. We'll just have to agree to disagree but I enjoyed the discussion nonetheless!
Re: Poll: Which Starter Pokémon Will You Choose In Legends: Z-A?
I used Feraligatr in my Silver run last year so Chikorita is the one for me this time around. I really like Meganium's design. I dislike all three gen 5 starters, most of all Tepig/Emboar lol so that's a no go.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
@roy130390 Sorry about the whole novel. I wanted to respond to as much as I could and got carried away with my thoughts lol.
I might not be able to respond to as much from here on, I'm gonna be very busy for the weekend, but at the very least I'll give a like to your response just so you know I read it.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
If you liked the story that's fine, I'm not really interested in breaking down the narrative, my original point was that it wasn't any more or less impressive than Pokémon games before it, but tbh that wasn't a very fair statement, Pokémon stories have obviously been more detailed since gen 7, which I'd say has the strongest narrative of any mainline game thus far. Meaning S/V would probably make the #2 spot naturally because people really don't like sw/sh story. Fair point.
I don't find the story in general very engaging, and that's due to the structure, but the characters in s/v have stronger writing than most other Pokémon characters before them.
No problem dude, I'm doing it four lmao
I agree with all of this, but my argument was these things should have been implemented in s/v, not a future game. These aren't just features that are in other open world games, these are features that were in previous Pokémon games. If the open world meant they needed to strip out everything else but the core mechanics of the series, then clearly they weren't ready to make an open world game.
I think the switch Pokémon games are criticized very fairly for their shortcomings and lack of innovation. If I had to put it bluntly I'd say critique has finally caught up to the series and the Pokémon name is no longer enough to ensure acclaim. That's a good thing, games like S/V shouldn't be accepted without backlash and given what it is it definitely deserves its reception.
And tbf I did enjoy my time with the game, the core experience of Pokémon games are very satisfying, even when they're riddled with issues, so I understand where you're coming from. I just don't think we should be praising a game with as many concessions as it has just because it adds open world to the formula.
And here's the crazy thing, you're talking about them not delivering their BOTW/Mario Odyssey equivalent yet, I don't even think they've delivered their Ocarina of Time/Mario 64 equivalent yet! They've been so focused on iterating on the same Red/Blue experience that they haven't really innovated the formula much. It's a unique problem of theirs that I don't really know the solution to other than I think the Legends games are the best step in the right direction. And considering there are five, soon to be SIX mainline Pokémon games on the switch, they absolutely have no excuse at this point to be as terribly optimized and mediocre as they are.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
@roy130390
What are these other open world games that are just as guilty of everything s/v fails to do that people aren't as critical of? You keep mentioning them but haven't given any examples, I can't speak on any of these if I don't know what they are.
Yes, if it was a better game it would be better received, such a brave take. The only reason this game has as much defenders as it does is precisely because it's Pokémon. If it was a new franchise, the world would've forgotten about it already.
And yes, like I mentioned before, my expectations are higher for the billion dollar franchise open world adventure than the indie game inspired by it.
Again, this is the consensus people have come to about S/V. Make no mistake I am not complementing sw/sh, I've seen much of that game's performance issues including the world freezing when you climb a ladder, the game is pathetic.
Scarlet and Violet barely function. I couldn't go five minutes in s/v without encountering some sort of hideous visual bug and the framerate consistently dipping to a crawl. I don't need to play sw/sh to know that everybody says s/v performs worse than it, that's why it's the lowest rated game in the franchise.
Maybe so, but I never compared s/v animations directly to sw/sh, I said they were bad on their own.
S/V is the only Pokémon game that doesn't balance its progression system. Meaning your laymen playthrough is guaranteed to result in your Pokémon being vastly over-leveled for more than half the challenges in the game. Speaking anecdotally, Grusha (LV48) was the 7th challenge I tackled in the game because I picked the right side of the map and moved upwards, beating him meant my team were over-leveled for the remaining 11 challenges and overwhelmingly so for every challenge on the left side of the map. This is not an uncommon complaint for this game, and unless you can name me a Pokémon game that facilitates such a huge level gap through normal gameplay, then yes, there's no way s/v isn't definitively the easiest. This isn't me saying previous Pokémon games are inherently more difficult, I'm saying s/v is the easiest because its progression system is broken and works against its own structure.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
@roy130390
It is an assumption, but it's based off openly available consensus. S/V is the lowest rated mainline Pokémon game on metacritic, an aggregate review site. It's the lowest for critic and user scores at 72 and 36 respectively. It's the most hated Pokémon game to date and therefore fair to assume that out of the audience who played it, more people left this entry dissatisfied than with other entries.
This is fair, I did forget about these. However, unless I was forgetting anything else, we've mentioned everything the base game has to offer. Outbreaks are a feature we've consistently had since gen 2, and tera battles are spin on gigantimax raids, which are credited to sw/sh. Not to say that old features aren't welcome in the game, they certainly are (though I thought the tera battles were terribly balanced in one direction or the other), I just don't find those features alone to be particularly impressive or at the very least satisfactory to make up all the extra content in the entire open world.
These are just plain ass. I'm not against having one of these Pokémon unlocked through finding stakes, it's a fine scavenger hunt. But all four is just ridiculously uninspired. You're telling me they couldn't add an optional dungeon or side quest or anything else to make catching these a more unique experience? Something they've been doing since the very first game.
Yes, if they're able to code behaviors into how wild Pokémon react to you, they can add behaviors to how they react to other wild Pokémon. A Pokémon doesn't need 400 unique interactions, they only need interactions and animations relevant to the creature sets available in the areas they're found in. Same with an ecosystem. You're telling me they can't design a pair of trees that contain large spider webs to signify a spider Pokémon lives there? Well, s/v can't make a forest at all because the only one in the game causes it to chug, but Tagtree Thicket actually does this with Grafaiai roaming around painted trees. It was one of my more positive reactions despite the performance. But as far as I remember that was the only unique habitat in the entire game.
Make nests for bird Pokémon, hives for Beedrills and Combees, dams for Bidoofs (they did this in Legends Arceus), algae pools for water/grass/poison type Pokémon, make a Lotad hiding among a bunch of lily pads, tree hollows for a whole bunch of smaller Pokémon. These are really simple and intuitive environmental details that is honestly baffling that are not in the game considering the game's primary attraction are these creatures. And yes, I'm aware S/V as we know it now maybe couldn't handle all this considering it barely worked properly as it was. But that's just another reason to axe incompetent devs like Game Freak. This is the biggest media franchise in the world, Pokémon has the resources to create something expansive that runs well on the console its made for. We shouldn't excuse mediocrity for AAA games and Pokémon might be the most inexcusable case of them all.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Introduces Thrilling Series First "Real Time" Battles
The execution of this kind of combat will be decided by how well the enemy AI works. Really hoping wild and trainer pokemon don't just stand around and eat attacks.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
@roy130390 If a world being open is all you need to be engaged then that's great for you, but most people expect a higher degree of interactivity or at least things to do from their open world RPGs. S/V doesn't offer much of anything outside of its scripted content. There's no secrets or special events, no dungeons, all four legendary pokemon are relegated to a set of colored switches throughout the region, how creative. Towns and cities contain no optional content, brother the houses don't even have interiors.
The Pokemon strewn about don't have any unique interactions, they don't react to other species of Pokemon, their habitats give no indication that any said species actually lives there outside of super rare situations. It's the same awkward implantation that the other 'free roam' pokemon games have where they just pop in and meander around. It's absolutely a dead world.
You said in your original comment:
"That hate should have been directed to Sword and Shield, which not only ran poorly despite of being way smaller, they were also the games with the worst animations, annoying characters, linear places to explore, mediocre story and ridiculously easy."
I mean S/V is big, but other than that it suffers from all the same issues. It runs significantly worse than Sw/Sh and is riddled with bugs. It does NOT have impressive animations, the way people and pokemon move in the game is just as robotic as the other 3D games. The story and characters are not any less inane than other pokemon games, you're still forced through long dull cutscenes presented through a disjointed narrative that pretends to have a cohesive conclusion. And most important, the game IS ridiculously easy! In fact, thanks to how terribly they handled the map it is the EASIEST pokemon game to date.
So why is Sword and Shield being a cakewalk a problem to you but Scarlet and Violet isn't? Most other open world games do scale difficulty to progress and that's why you don't see people complaining about them like they do S/V. This game is an outlier in that regard. Just like it's an outlier in having a world with no interactivity or interesting things to find/do.
They thought simply having pokemon, the absolute bare minimum for a pokemon game, would be enough. And to their credit, to some people it is enough. But for most others it is not. And that, combined with its terrible performance, is why you see it get as much hate as it has. And probably why you see so much hate for Pokemon in general online. People are not impressed by the same rudimentary mechanics they've been seeing since Red/Blue, even if you graft them onto an open world.
If the next generation is open world (and tbf it should be open world) they have A LOT of improving to do.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
@roy130390 What's baffling about it? I really wanted an open world Pokémon game, but the one in S/V is really poorly done. The objectives on the map are placed haphazardly and don't scale with your progress, leading to many challenges being entirely moot because the actual intended route based off the levels is unintuitive.
The world itself isn't just ugly and glitchy, it's also dead. There's nothing to interact with outside of the Pokémon strewn about seemingly at random, it was extremely disappointing to see.
I haven't played sw/sh so I can't fully say on whether or not it's an improvement over that, but from what I've seen it's not a high bar to clear.
Re: Opinion: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Looks Cool, But It's Lacking Arceus' Unique Style
Yeah the city environment isn't exactly playing to Game Freak's advantages. It's weird seeing some wild areas in the city just being normal city streets. Like I hope your favorite asian buffet isn't located where the city decided to dump the lions lol.
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailer Confirms Starters And Mega Evolutions, Coming Late 2025
To get the low-hanging fruit out of the way, the game is extremely ugly, and I'm not hopeful about the performance considering how much Scarlet/Violet ***** the bed in any area that was even remotely populated. But Legends Arceus was ugly and performed poorly too, and I still liked it, so that's not a deal breaker.
Any spin on the old battle system is welcome. I remember in Arceus it was all about manipulating the turn order with strong and speedy strikes, which was cool, but in practice most fights boiled down to which pokemon could steamroll the other first.
Being able to maneuver in battle and replacing the turn order with an ATB system looks really promising. Potentially we'd have to start using our brains again lol, but we'll see.
I'm calling it here and now though: despite the game being set in a city, there will be sub 20 interiors we can enter in the entire game.
Re: Talking Point: The 3DS Library Is Ripe For Switch 2, But Is NSO The Way To Go?
Nintendo 3DS has the strongest library of any Nintendo platform save for maybe the original DS. But you can play all DS software on the 3DS anyways, so yeah, 3DS reigns as king!!
Re: Pokémon Presents Announced For 27th February 2025
Surely whatever they have is gonna be better than the dumpster fire that was Scarlet/Violet...
Surely...
...surely...
Also, people keep asking when's the direct. The direct's in April, how short are your memories??
Re: Acclaimed Horror Title 'Mouthwashing' Is Making Its Way To Switch
Not the masterpiece its outstanding reputation makes it out to be, but it's worth your time.
Re: Random: Oh No, You Can Buy A Life-Sized Gardevoir Plush From Pokémon Center
Not a single one of these will be bought with good intentions
Re: Best Ys Games Of All Time - Switch And Nintendo Systems
@Corvus96 Worst performance out of the all the versions, highest difficulty out of all versions (which can get insanely *****). And lacks the presentation that the PCE version has (cutscenes / cheesy voice acting / insanely fantastic soundtrack).
Re: Sorry Romantics, "Bonkers" Dating Sim 'Date Everything' Has Been Delayed To June
@Salnax Challenge level - impossible.
Or making a dating sim that's actually a simulation game and not a just a visual novel falsely advertised as one.
Re: Talking Point: What Do We Actually Want From 'Mario Kart 9'?
I'm sure they have an idea or two that sets it apart from the rest of the entries, but as far as Mario Karts are concerned all that's really needed is a strong course selection and multiplayer options.
This is why people are still going back to MK64, Double Dash, DS, & Wii. They got a strong selection of tracks and extra modes and features that keep the games evergreen despite future entries being technically better.
Mario Kart 8 definitely has the strongest and most quality track list out of all of them (even though the Booster Course pass kinda muddied the waters) but multiplayer modes were a clear afterthought and are half-baked.
Give Mario Kart 9 some kick ass tracks like 8 and a quality multiplayer mode (you don't even need to innovate, just copy older games wholesale) and you'll have another masterwork on your hands.