Kiz3000

This has been a mess. How have they managed to keep adjusting the date when I would've thought organising a global release would be hard enough as it is?

@andyg1412 2023 is shaping up to be the best year in gaming across the whole industry regardless of platform.

The pandemic pushing a lot of projects back has given us a year with plenty of heavy hitters (certainly for Switch and PS5 anyway, I do not follow Xbox news)

@Brutapode89 What about Altaria? They've got to be the cuddliest dragon for sure

@timp29 Why would they? The game is cheaper than one of the tickets anyway

@Liam_Doolan I mean, you're not entirely wrong

Should have it landing through my letterbox at lunch time today. I wasn't a fan of the controls back in the day so hopefully the new twin stick controls gel with me better.

I am looking forward to the release of Echoes as that is the only one in the Prime Trilogy that I have not played. I loved Corruption on the Wii.

"This pocket monster made its debut in the Ruby & Sapphire generation"

You might want to fact check this...

The absolute worst part of all of this is what the named the new peripheral for this.

New Pokemon Go Plus would've been a better name than Pokemon Go Plus Plus.

Many people got paid far too much money for this terrible naming decision

@OstianOwl Probably so they can surprise launch something ready for MAR10.

Definitely going to get the physical for this game. I am hoping 2 and 3 come out at points during this year as welll so I can get up to speed on the series.

I remember really enjoying 3 on the Wii but never got round to playing the others.

Just locked in a preorder for £49 just in case the UK retailers up it by £5. I definitely expect some sorta limited edition to be announced however

@DarkTron It is a slow news time for Nintendo so I can see why it has been done. We are all eagerly awaiting the Feb/Mar Direct to really show what this year has in store for us fans.

@RobTheIII It does probably depend on why she plays Emblem. All the reviews I see say it is the best game in the series in terms of the actual combat, what you can do, character upgrades etc. but everything else has regressed from Three Houses.

I have enjoyed my time with it so far but I do agree the characters (at least up to chapter 10) are a bit meh and I do not care for the bond sequences. The mobile game elements have also creeped in with gacha mechanics and mundane tasks to do in the main hub after every mission.

@HalloHerrNoob Whilst you are right, 30% is a lot, there is other context at play for why it's sales are stunted.

The main reason will be that the UK is currently in a cost of living crisis and many people simply cannot afford the luxury of videogames right now. To see Engage do so well is actually very surprising.

Three Houses also launched in late July, which seems to be the golden time to release RPGs as people have time off over summer. Releasing a game so soon after Christmas does not seem as wise.

@Kiz3000 Just finishing a run on Dicey Dungeons and the postie turns up with FE Engage. Well then guess I'm playing that today and tomorrow then. Nice one

Got back into Dicey Dungeons this week after getting frustrated and putting it down a few months ago. Maybe I've grown more intelligent, or I've got out of bad habits as I seem to be breezing through the levels so far. Yes I realise it could just be a lot of good fortune.

I bought FE ENgage on a whim yesterday thanks to the steller reviews and eeing it online for a good price. That won't come to Monday however so I'll probably dabble with some Sparks of Hope until I wait for FE. Unfortunately Sparks of Hope has not grabbed me like the first one did.

Another game to look forward to in February. Oh my.

I just bought FE Engage due to the positive reviews and will now add this to my list of "February games I should probably not buy and wait for my birthday but will inevitably buy anyway"

@flightsaber Potentially not quite 20% with some people owning multiple consoles but it is staggering for sure.

On one hand I'm not surprised Pokemon has done really well. On the other I am disappointed that Game Freak have let us down time and time again and the games still sell like hot cakes.

Kaizen is very much a principle that is not being seen with the Pokemon franchise and with these numbers there is no reason for them to strive for it either.

£27 for a remaster of an Xbox Arcade game seems very steep. I am sure the developers have spent a lot of time making sure this runs flawlessly on the Switch but you can get some real modern greats for less than this.

I may pick it up if there is a deep sale but otherwise there is far too much else I need to play before the big hitters of 2023 start being released.

The newest voice of Toad is going to be at the Game Awards?

Captain Toad 2 announcement confirmed

@mariomaster96 I don't think they did. The Switch console had surprisingly good discounts for Black Friday, so I think that contributed more so than Pokemon.

Looking forward to this but i will definitely wait on Switch reviews before purchasing. FF7R was a fantastic game and I hope this game paves the way for FF7R to somehow make its way over to the Switch as well.

Well doesn't that look lovely. Shame they won't ship this to the UK

720p and 30fps, even in handheld mode, is good enough for me.

I'll wait for reviews but I'm definitely looking forward to this. I never played the original so this will be like a whole new game. Bring it on

I dismissed this game because of it's "artstyle" but to see it get a 9 has me interested. A Short Hike had similar deliberate graphics and I had a good time with that. For a fiver here, I think I might just have to give it a go

February is becoming quite packed for me:

7th Feb - Hogwarts Legacy (hopefully on PS5 if I can afford one)
16th Feb - Final Fantasy Theatrhythm
17th Feb - Tales of Symphonia
22nd Feb - Digimon World: Next Order

Goodbye wallet, it was nice knowing you.

Watch Advance Wars be announced for February as well and my gaming for the year will be complete in only the second month of the year.

There would be no justification, absolutely none, for a Switch price rise considering it has not had a price reduction since it launched in 2017.

The gains and cost reductions they will have gained in 5 years will vastly outweigh the global price increases we are seeing right now.

I've not seen it mentioned anywhere but is this game really a "code in the box" scenario for the Switch? Every retailer image I've seen has that on the boxart.

@Grumblevolcano Pokemon games have always ran badly since the 3DS days with X and Y so I don't think these games running badly is indicative of anything.

Whilst I do want a Switch 2 I don't think we'll have it in May 2023. I'd love to be proven wrong however.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Judging by this I take it you never played Digimon World on the PSOne or were a kid in the 90's with a Tamagotchi?

The rebirth mechanic is deliberate and brings an extra challenge that everyone may not appreciate.

Been waiting on this one for Switch for a while. I tried to like Survive but it was not for me. Bring it on.

Sorry what? 10 years? That can't be right. Sigh.

I did play BD2 when it came out but I just gave up on it. The boss difficulty spikes were just obnoxious and it kinda encouraged you to cheese the system to win. Not my idea of fun sadly. I did enjoy the first game but not this one sadly.

@Fizza Thanks for the reply and not attacking me for not also feeling the love for these games.

I don't think I can put my finger on one thing. I think maybe the formula has just grown stale for me now.

@Type_Trubbish To be fair most of the trailers have been filled with Trubbish.

It makes me a little sad that these are the first Pokemon games I am not excited for. Feels like the end of an era

@Bunkerneath See the second screenshot in the article above. You can find the missions by navigating to that little red symbol at the top that, in this picture, says 3/5 have been completed.

I had Mario & Rabbids Gold Edition pre ordered, but I've since cancelled due to already having a backlog and a wedding to pay for. I'll definitely get it in the new year, probably for a good chunk off considering Ubisoft games drop in price fairly quickly.

Otherwise I've got nothing else on my radar before 2023. Hogwarts Legacy, Theatrhythym and TotK are all day one buys for me.

Those 8bitdo controllers do seem pretty snazzy though.

@Type_Trubbish Except the legendaries and their tyres

Maybe a new evolution of Diglett?

@gcunit Whilst I agree I do think it will look better in motion.

This has a lot of what the newest Pokemon games wished it had and I may have to pick it up in the new year.

@RupeeClock Agreed. The environments also look quite lifeless. We can only really judge it fairly when it comes out but going off this trailer, I think this needed more time in the oven.

@Arawn93 I agree with your argument, it would just hold up better if the games you mentioned weren't full price titles. They both should have been £25 games max.

But they were/are full priced and people have every right to expect the content of a full priced game.

My favourite announcement of the Direct along with Pikmin 4. bring it on.

@UltimateOtaku91 Exactly this.

I was saying this when they announced that there would be 3 stories to follow. Pokemon games have always had 3 stories and this is nothing new for the series.

@JonWilson But they gave Pac-man a 7...

I was gutted that this failed kickstarter and I didn't think it would see the light of day. I was very surprised to see the name change and for it to come put just after my birthday, and with a nice 20% discount.

Bought it with my birthday pennies but not actually booted it up yet

I was already excited to get this but this really does push it over the edge for me. Fantastic pack in and i hope they bring this to the VS in the future. With Capcom now on board i wonder if we could see a Sega collection next.

@sanderev Technically it ran well on Google Stadia...

@Max_the_German The fact we still don't know makes me believe it is going to be a cloud version, despite what the developers may have said in the past.

Considering the Diamond and Pearl figures went MIA, I won't hold my breath for these, even if they are announced as a Nintendo Store and GAME exclusive here in the UK.

@dmcc0 Jungle Buzz was the most played between my brothers and I for sure. Elephant Baseball was by far the most competitive we ever got with a videogame ever. Good times