Krull

If only someone had told Game Freak to tighten up the graphics on level three, imagine what the sales could be…

So much quibbling about the visuals for Arceus - just let it go already!

@Zoda_Fett Great shout. Monark is by far the most interesting game for February. I’m actually starting to think it might be quite good. Like at least a solid 7, but maybe an 8 or 9.

@nofriendo Can’t lie, the camera does bug me a bit, but I think the visuals hold up fairly well. Depends how forgiving you are on older games. The combat, on the other hand, hasn’t aged a day. And the set pieces are ridiculous - I can see why the Bayonetta series has such hardcore fans.

Nearly four years after buying it, I’m taking on Bayonetta. Interesting to see the building blocks behind something like Astral Chain, but it very much has its own style. Don’t think it’s dated at all, really.

Features Rowlet, therefore I approve

I’m all for the “shorter games with worse graphics” ethos. Graphics are vanity; gameplay is king. Doesn’t mean I don’t like or appreciate pretty games, but the visuals are rarely the selling point.

I still play games on DS and PSP - those systems would kill for a game as pretty/ugly as Arceus.

@anoyonmus it’s not that - I just really rate the touchscreen controls. I think they’re excellent. It’s a completely different kind of game to anything else out there - and that includes the sequel.

Finally rolled credits (twice) on Shin Megami Tensei V, which I liked a lot but maybe not quite as much as IV Apocalypse. I think I’m going to see the other two endings, then put it away and play something shorter!

In between bouts of Halo Infinite, I might finally start Skyward Sword or I could investigate Majora’s Mask on 3DS. Or continue my Metroid journey with Super. Decisions, decisions.

Loved the storytelling, art and British Seventies/Eighties children’s television influences. Thoroughly did not enjoy the 8-bit collectathon platforming. I fell off this hard. Wasn’t a style of game I enjoyed in the Eighties, and no amount of polish could get me through it today. I am not disputing anyone’s 10/10 score - elements of this game are fantastic. I just didn’t enjoy playing it, personally.

I’m picturing a roadside kiosk, somewhere deep in rural Japan.

A driver stops, gets out of his car, maybe thirsting for some Pocari Sweat or something, and cuts a beeline to the shack.

“Gimme an iced tea and … what’s that?”

The stallholder looks behind him, where a PS4 has been sitting for the best part of a decade, the box coated in a quarter-inch of dust.

“Ah, that’s a PS4. Original. They don’t make them like that any more,” he replies, stroking his chin.

The driver pauses for a heartbeat, shrugs, then…

“I’ll take it.”

And the weekly sales figures for PS4s go from 16 to 17, just like that.

@Specter_of-the_OLED Actually, this is good news for anyone who likes Activision titles that aren’t COD. Activision itself was pretty much forcing all of its studios to work on nothing but COD. Microsoft, and its money, should mean the likes of Toys for Bob can make a new Crash Bandicoot or other projects.

The only gamers this deal is bad for is Sony players. Microsoft doesn’t really seem to see Nintendo as a rival.

I bought P4G on Steam ages ago. Can’t wait till I actually play it…

I don’t generally double dip, but I know this is one game I would much rather play on Switch than my laptop. I’d buy this in a heartbeat (on sale).

Same as last week, I’m still chipping away at Shin Megami Tensei V and Halo Infinite, and thoroughly enjoying both. Into what I assume is the final area of SMTV, and I’m getting wrecked by abscesses and by monsters ten or more levels above mine. And I love it.

As someone who doesn’t play shooters much, I’m also frequently getting wrecked in Halo. So this week I’ve added Unpacking into the mix. I’m not sure I love it, but it’s still strangely compelling, and I’m enjoying the environmental storytelling. More than the gameplay, TBH.

Oh, and I picked up Metroid Dread in Amazon’s sale. Won’t start it for a while, but I like to look at the box…

@JasmineDragon A lot of people seem to be playing that at the moment. From what I hear, don’t bother with the post-game. It can go on for ages after you’ve finished the main campaign. (Also, hope you and your family get well soon)

More SMT V for me, once my little darlings let me have the Switch back from Animal Crossing. Otherwise, back to Halo Infinite in the meantime.

Hmm, so Waku Waku 7, then? That game is great, and still looks and sounds fantastic.

@Funneefox What did the Square CEO say?

(checks internet…)

Nope. Still no wiser. That reads like it was put through a random word generator then passed a couple of times through Google translate.

Either way, no NFTs in Triangle Strategy, as far as I can tell, so all good.

Sold. Very pretty box art. Maybe not as pretty as that Sonic Frontiers art - but I’ve got much more confidence in the finished product for Triangle Strategy!

Dicey Dungeons has also got a chunky discount. Combine that with Slay the Spire, and I think that’s all my roguelite needs sorted for 2022.

@nocdaes I agree that mass production of non-recyclable plastic is bad. But, to play devil’s advocate, the indestructible Lego I played with in the Eighties is being played with by my kids now. And presumably can be handed down to their children, if they have any, one day too. That is recycling, in a way.

Whoever voted enough to put The Legend of Zelda at #52 should do themselves a favour and play some later entries in the series. It gets better.

They could have collated votes better - don’t think Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal should be counted separately - but the real indicator of a small sample size is Dragon Quest II finishing above DQ8. Even being above DQVI and VII is a big stretch.

Do enjoy checking out rankings like this, though. Dead By Daylight took me by surprise! Had no idea it was anyone’s favourite game of all time.

Are we ranking for design or utility?

Don’t care. It’s Vulpix.

Snorlax, Bulbasaur, Gyarados and fat Pikachu fill out my top five.

You need more RPG fans on the site! But that’s a good list, regardless. I guess not as many played SMT V, Neo TWEWY, MH Stories 2 or Bravely Default II.

I bought all three Bravely Defaults this year - yet to start any of them. Oops. Argos fire-selling physical copies of BD II at half-price within six months was too good to turn down, though. Hope 1m+ sales is enough for Square - I don’t want traditional turn-based RPGs to bleed away into retro and indie gaming.

Don’t get the Quake love. An important game, and a big deal in its day, but third best port in 2021? Is it a technical achievement to port a game that old? Has the FPS genre really not superseded it since? Glad people like it, but meh for me.

Subnautica for me. Dying Light wins the technical achievement category, though.

At no point in roughly 30hrs so far in SMTV has a frame skip affected me in any important way. I’ve noticed them, and the resolution drops - but all deaths and bad battle decisions have been my own.

That’s a very good list of games. At least, considering it was clearly compiled by people who clearly don’t like RPGs. No Scarlet Nexus, Tales of Arise, Shin Megami Tensei V, Neo The World Ends With You, Monster Hunter Rise, Bravely Default II, Monster Hunter Stories 2 or even Loop Hero.

Not saying they should all be in the top ten. But maybe one? But it is a good list.

I love this review. Got my kids into Pokemon, so occasionally I’ll sit down with them when they’re watching the anime. It’s never a bad time.

Having so much fun poking into every nook and cranny of Shin Megami Tensei V finding secrets. Even when stuff is marked in the map, it’s not always obvious where things are. It’s like they crossed SMT with Xenoblade, and I love it. About 20 hours in now, and still only on the second netherworld. I might be some time.

If I can find any other time, I’d like to check out Halo Infinite. Haven’t played any Halo since the very first one (meh), but this seems like a good time to give the series another go.

Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch. It’ll look and run better than the PS4 version…

The visual novel element is the real meat of the game anyway, right? The RTS is just a distraction.

@SNESDisney When that handheld has an install base of over 90 million, then yes, I do think third-party publishers will consider exclusives.

Or, I guess, a console exclusive. With PC coming at the same time or later. Which seems to be the best-case scenario these days for console makers. Unless you are willing to drop a metric ton of cash for exclusivity (see Sony and Squenix).

I don’t need 4K on a handheld. Nobody does. And TBH, while I get why some would want it, I don’t need it on the big screen either, as long as the art style is good.

The SteamDeck is cool - I hovered on the buy button for a bit. But the Switch can handle the indies, and my laptop can handle the AAA third parties. Do I need another portable so I can play Control at 30fps in bed? Not really.

KotOR is the best 7/10 of the year. Sometimes, a 7/10 game can be more enjoyable than another 8/10 or 9/10 - and I don’t even necessarily think that’s a contradiction in terms. A game can be flawed (or in this case showing its age), but still be lifted by good writing or a unique gameplay aspect or something.

Also, just because one reviewer on this site gave it 7/10 doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t give it a 9.

Great, the amorphous blob of video game events in the summer shows no sign of taking any cohesive shape or form. One of the admittedly extremely minor annoyances from the pandemic that looks like it’s here to stay.

This has been in the ether for so long, glad it’s finally confirmed. I’m very interested. And at least it’s the full series (coughs, looks at Trails of Cold Steel III and IV).

Looks like a rich man’s version of FF Tactics. Can’t wait to take this on.

Picked up Inside, which somehow I’d never got around to playing, despite loving Limbo. I’m flicking between that and the fantastic SMT V this weekend

I think it’s safe to say that Bravely Default II undersold Square’s expectations. Because, you know, Square…

Retailers were selling it new half-price within a few months, which isn’t exactly encouraging - but it meant I picked it up when I was on the fence. I hope the series sticks around. Lots of people say JRPGs are ten a penny, but there aren’t many with such a strong focus on the mechanics of a job system. I’ll always have time for that.

@WallyWest Let’s agree to differ. Otherwise Horizon Zero Dawn wouldn’t count as a Sony game any more, even though it’s multiplat

@BlackenedHalo At least FF Tactics and Valkyrie Profile made it to the EU on PSP! Still got my UMD for Valkyrie Profile Lenneth in the attic

@WallyWest Microsoft own Double Fine, so Psychonauts 2 was a home win for Xbox. More surprising that something like Ratchet and Clank couldn’t beat a third-party title. Although, saying that, if something like MH Rise had beaten Metroid Dread for best Nintendo game, it wouldn’t have been a travesty.

What a year for Capcom. On Switch alone, MH Rise, MH Stories 2 and Great Ace Attorney are all up there with the best of the year.

Jumping between Shin Megami Tensei V and, strangely, Metroid Zero Mission. One is bloated, talky and dark, the other is super-condensed, enigmatic and dark - and I am loving them both.

I mean, I was sure this was going to be the first 18 rated Kirby. Edge lord Kirby, full of graphic sex and violence… Guess we’re still waiting. Thankfully.

@MrSquee TBF, all the Atlus games you mentioned are rereleases. Bit harsh to say Switch owners haven’t supported Atlus when SMT V is literally the first new game the developer has released on the platform. And comparing anything to a mainline Persona title is going to come off badly.

If Persona 5 had been re-released on Switch, I suspect it would sell more than Catherine and TMS#FE put together. But it still would be affected by the fact that it’s a re-release.

Edit: Oops - Persona 5 Strikers would be the first Atlus release. Sorry! But it was a dual platform musou title so, er, not for me. Switch sales were comparable to those on PS4, even though it was competing with stuff like Age of Calamity.

This is fine. Anyone angry about Switch losing its exclusivity should at least be consoled by the fact that Atlus actually designed and built SMT V for Switch, rather than starting with a PS4 or PC build and then gimping it. Bit like MH Rise. This is a good thing.

And if SMT makes more money by hitting other platforms, then great. Keeps Atlus solvent and shores up the future of the series.

It’s not the production of Falcom games holding things back on Switch, but the localisation. Be good if they bought the rights off Xseed for ToCS I and II.

I beat Human Resource Machine, but Baba Is You beat me. That said, I think it is one of the best games on Switch. Can’t think of another title packed with so many eureka moments.

I started this on mobile/tablet - also an Aspyr port - but didn’t get that far because touch controls. They weren’t terrible, but it was just a bit clunky. Quite tempted to double dip.

Song I most associate with Vice City: Billie Jean.

Gone.

Song I most associate with San Andreas: Express Yourself (specifically the NWA version)

Gone. As is the original.

Still, loads of good tracks have made the cut.

Level 5 is too big and good a developer to be Japan only. And they were brilliant at localisation. Seems a shame that we might need to rely on someone like NIS to pick up the pieces.

However, a part of me also likes that we still have weird, interesting and maybe even good games limited to some markets. Means there are still points of interest even in this saturated world of software. And we can begin a new Operation Rainfall.