Late

I really hope XC3 wins at least something. In my opinion, it deserves all three it has been nominated for, but then again, I don't have PS or XBOX so I haven't experienced the other games and am unable to say if I'd feel differently if I'd played them. It'll be an uphill battle against games like Elden Ring.

If it were about the whole evolution line of each starter, I'd go with Gen 2 but since it's just the final evolutions, I'll give it to Gen 4. Now I want to see the same list but with middle evolutions instead since they don't get enough love.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
I think I'm in the final chapter. Doing side quests now and story stuff next week. Goal is to beat the game before Pokémon comes out.

Splatoon 3
I'd like to complete the catalog. ~30 levels to go. Playing a good mix of multiplayer modes and Tableturf.

I bought one of these recently. Volume 6, to be more specific. It's cool they exist but the one I read wasn't all that interesting.

I'll probably try Bloodstained and see how it runs on Switch nowadays. I really liked Curse of the Moon but haven't played "the main course".

My friend finished 999 last week and started VLR earlier this week. It's been fun talking about some of my favorite games of all time with him.

Voted for Animal Crossing 7pm (which is incorrectly titled as 7am in the poll). There are lot of good choices but seeing one of the Animal Crossing songs on the first page made me think of this song and then I saw it was also a choice so I had to pick it. I know it's not going to win or anything but it deserves a vote or two.

I would've bought the collector's edition if it were available at launch but lost interest as soon as they said it's exclusive to their store. I wish I could just buy the art book separately. Maybe they'll release a another book once all the DLC is out. Probably only in Japan but I don't mind importing. It's better than this whole situation.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Haven't made any story progress for two weeks now. I have couple more side quests I want to do before moving the story along but knowing me, it might take 10 more hours before I actually do.

Splatoon 3
I haven't been playing Splatoon since the Splatfest. I love the game but I have had some internet problems lately so I haven't been playing a lot. Planning on playing tomorrow though after my session of...

King of Fighters XV
Me and my friend had a brief break from KoF and played Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection instead but now we're back to KoF just as they added SamSho characters though I don't think either of us are going to buy them, at least for now. It's been fun introducing my friend to all these different games.

3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure
The original NES game is the first game I ever beat as far as I can remember. I already have it on multiple consoles and have beaten it more times than any other game but I just had to get the 3D Classics version after beating 3D Classics: Kid Icarus last week. I'm doing a no-ability run since it's something I haven't done before.

Days of Memories
I'll just throw this here too since it's possible I'll start another run in one of the 3 games in the first Days of Memories collection. Most of you haven't heard of this game but Days of Memories is SNK's dating sim series.

I was told a dating sim like LovePlus is great for practicing Japanese since they contain lot of everyday Japanese but I went with a weirder and more obscure choice. Pros: I know bunch of the characters from other SNK games and there are lot of funny references in general. Cons: While there is that everyday Japanese I was looking for, there are also characters who speak more like your typical anime characters and use words and phrases you'd never hear in actual daily life.

I got both Kula endings in the first game earlier this week so that's a total of 5 endings out of 13(?). Kula is the girl I like least but I ended up seeing her a lot so I thought I'd get her endings out of the way. Now the question is if I should go for another girl in 1, which would be the easiest option, or try to get an actual good ending in 2 or 3.

I love it. I'd like to have one but I'm not willing to pay hundreds for it.

I was pretty sure they'd do this as soon as they revealed there'd be 3 choices for each Splatfest. Perfect chance for cross-promotion.

I'll probably go with Fire since it's the type I used in the first 4 generations. I used Grass and Water for the next 4 but now I'm pretty sure I'll go back to my roots and choose Fuecoco.

I'm not much of an action game guy but this is one of those games everyone praises and it's cheap too. The rest of the year is pretty full, mainly because Xenoblade is a big game (100 hours in, chapter 6), but I'm currently planning on buying both this and Persona 5 early next year.

I'd also like to go back to Astral Chain. As I said, I'm not generally into action games, but Astral Chain grabbed me with its art style. I wanted to give it a go and bought the limited edition so I can get the art book. I liked the game but the individual missions were bit too long to my liking and I had pretty bad Joy-Con drift at the time so I never finished it. I also haven't taken a look at the art book because of it. It has a spoiler warning as soon as you open the book.

The video is fun though the Pokémon look bit weird with that wrinkle on their forehead. The song ain't bad either though not something I'd listen to.

I know Ed Sheeran is popular and his songs play quite often on the radio but I wouldn't be able to name any of them. The songs are quite forgettable and blend in with other similar songs.

Nice. I already have 2 and 3 and that's enough for me but it's still good to see old franchises chugging along.

I won't be getting it, at least right away, but I'm curious about the subscription song selection. Haven't been able to find a list yet. The base game song selection isn't all that interesting.

Hard Corps is my personal favorite.

This was one of my favorite announcements because it was so unexpected and random. I'm curious what the size of the target audience is. AFAIK Fitness Boxing isn't a bad game either. I tried the demo of the first game when it came out.

Splatoon 3
Just played my first few Salmon Runs. I never really got into Salmon Run back in Splatoon 2, I was more of a ranked battle guy. I've tried every game mode now. The only thing I haven't checked out are the lockers. Didn't come across them the first time I ran through the hub world.

The game is awesome. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up playing it even more than the first two. I'm also glad that the card game is actually fun too. I hope it'll get its online mode soon. There are plenty of tables in the lobby and the shoal but you can't actually play online yet.

Oh, and as a side note, I finished Octo Expansion just few hours before 3's launch and it's just as great as I've heard. I especially liked the stuff at the end.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Chapter 5. Haven't played much this week. There's a lot to explore.

PICROSS S MEGA DRIVE & Master System edition
~20 hours played. Last page of Mega Picross left and I've solved every puzzle in the game.

Wish they sold the Joy-Con separately.

I hope they make some changes to the UI at some point. I hate the accessory menu. You can only see couple of items at a time and there's no way to sort them. I ended up selling most of my accessories just so it's easier and faster to find the stuff I want. Shame that money is also useless. There's nothing to spend money on. It's weird they screwed that up when the other games have had plenty of stuff to buy.

Overall, these are pretty minor gripes in the grand scheme. The game is great. I'm 70 hours in and still in chapter 5. There's so much side content that I find it hard to make story progress. I like the side stuff, hence why I'm doing it but it can make the pacing fluctuate. Sometimes there's an hour or two of back and forth action and cutscenes and other times you spend 10 hours running around exploring every nook and cranny.

I wouldn't buy them since I already have both the originals and the remakes but I don't see anything wrong with them coming to Switch. Plenty of people haven't played them.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
70 hours in. Still in chapter 5. I've been doing side quests and exploring the map for the last 10 hours and I still have some I could do but I'm ready to make some story progress next time I boot up the game.

Splatoon 2 - Octo Expansion
Started earlier this week. Thought I'd play it before 3 comes out. I already finished the main story couple of months ago in preparation which is literally the same thing I did with 1 when 2 was coming out. I've heard universal praise when it comes to Octo Expansion and it didn't disappoint. I think I'm almost 2/3 done.

PICROSS S MEGA DRIVE & Master System edition
Got this from the recent sale and started playing last week. Already done with regular Picross and Clip Picross. 6 pages of Mega Picross and 10 Color Picross left.

NES Remix
Picking up games for 3DS and Wii U before the stores close and this is one of the games I never got for whatever reason. It's great. I wish I had played it sooner.

Still picking up missing 3DS and Wii U games here and there.

Actually bought NES Remix 1 & 2 yesterday. Games I should've gotten back when they came out but didn't for whatever reason. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Switch ports later down the line but I don't want to count on that.

Already played a little bit of NES Remix 1. Started by clearing all Balloon Fight stages because it's one of my favorite NES games. Quite surprised to find out how fast you have to be to get the rainbow stars.

Also picked up Bomberman '94 while I was at it. My favorite Bomberman game from my childhood, yet I didn't actually own in any shape or form, so it was about time I got it. I'll replay the story mode soon but I don't think I have a chance to play multiplayer for some time.

I haven't even gotten around to getting the latest Bubble Bobble and now you're telling me there's also a new Puzzle Bobble?

Interesting. I'll definitely give it a watch. I'm always interested in game development topics. I've been watching Mark Brown for a good while now and I really like his newest series: Developing. I should get back into making games on my free time.

EDIT: I'm glad the English version is subbed and not dubbed. I hate it when they dub Directs and stuff.

Mostly Xenoblade. In chapter 4. Taking my time with the game.

Forgot to mention this is actually the game I've played the most in my life. Not necessarily something to be proud of but thought it's worth sharing just to let people know how much grinding you have to do.

Here are my stats according to Activity Log:
Total Time Played: 810:33
No. Times Played: 3962
Average Play Time: 0:12
First Played: 18/02/2015 (launch day)
Last Played: 11/09/2020

Could I have done the same in half the time if I played more optimally? Absolutely. But I didn't bother looking up actual tactics before they added harder versions of the regular 700 stages. You basically just need to level up Eeveelutions and change their ability. Then you can plow through majority of the stages without any problems.

I don't really like EX stages since they're time based instead of move based, Ultra Beasts have stupid requirements and the addition of extra 700 stages was unnecessary but other than that I think the game is pretty fair. Back when the game launched, I beat the first patch of stages without using any items, except for the very last stage. There were times when I had maximum amount of coins and so many jewels I didn't know what I'd use them for. It was kind of irritating to realize how much money you can make with the weekend Meowth after I had spent them for acquiring money another way. Meowth event wasn't always a thing.

Anyway, I'm glad I played Shuffle. It was a fun experience for me and my family. My brother is actually playing it again after a long break. I think 3DS's free-to-play Pokémon games are bit underappreciated. This, Rumble (played for a good while) and Picross (completed) were all fun games you could play without ever spending money on them

I used to play Shuffle daily. I've done everything the game has to offer except S rank the last two expert stages because they are just stupid hard. I got tired of defeating Meowth for coins every weekend just to be able to try one of the remaining stages once before needing more coins.

I liked the game and wanted to be one of the few that have 100% completed it (without spending any real money as well) but I don't care enough to make it happen.

Went and downloaded Fantasy Life expansion right away. I'd forgotten it had DLC. I like the game but haven't finished it.

Other than that, I don't need anything else from the list. I have all the Ace Attorney DLC and the songs I want from Theatrhythm as well as the free stuff for certain games. I don't particularly care about Fire Emblem DLC. I would get the rest of the StreetPass games I'm missing if it'd still be possible to pass other people.

Either Metroid or Super Metroid. Not sure which one, I had access to both. I could never get far. Fusion is the one that grabbed me and I've since bought every Metroid game, other than Metroid Prime Pinball which I'd still like to play. I've beaten every 2D Metroid game but I'm yet to beat any other Prime game than the very first one.

My schedule is already pretty full for this year so I don't personally mind it coming next year.

I'm currently playing Picross e8 whenever I'm not playing Xenoblade. Started it about a week ago and I'm almost done. Just need to solve the last 60 or so Mega Picross puzzles. After that, I'm all out of Picross games so I think it's time to get the Sega one and play it once I crave for more puzzle solving action.

From what they showed, it looked fun. The only thing that worries me is that it has to compete with the actual main course. I liked the idea of a rhythm game in Splatoon 2 but it was pretty barebones so I just played online matches and pretty much ignored all the other content completely, including the story mode. I'd still be open for an actual rhythm game spinoff.

This card game looks like it has some depth so I'll certainly give it a try. There's a tiny chance it could become the thing I play more than ranked matches which is where I normally spend my time in Splatoon. As much as I love Splatoon, I also like my card games.

@ArceusSupremacy I just wish they'd use their time on developing actual meaningful mechanics instead of these one and done variations of the same mechanic. You are right, they don't generally interfere with the gameplay too much. Some lenghty animation here and there and possibly some frame drops due to all the special effects but at least they don't make using them a requirement. I'll probably try it once or twice and never touch the mechanic after that.

As I said, the game looks fine otherwise and I'm looking forward to playing it.

Here's a comment from me from last week:
"I hope Scarlet and Violet don't have their own version of the same thing. All three are pretty similar to each other. Hopping from one mechanic to another makes them feel like gimmicks. I liked Mega Evolutions even though I barely used them. The other two I'm not a fan of. I'd rather take new meaningful battle mechanics worth keeping for future games."

They decided to make another variation yet again. This time the Pokémon don't become bigger, they instead get a nice hat. Can't say I'm surprised. Just a bit disappointed. It comes off as if they don't really know how to improve on the current battle system but they want to have a new system so they have "a new exciting" marketing angle. Then they start building the story around that gimmick.

Other than that, it looks like Pokémon, and I tend to like Pokémon. I wasn't the biggest fan of Sword and Shield due to mostly nonexistent story, lack of things to do and the horrible Wild Area. So far it seems this game is going to fix the issues I had. I also really liked Legends Arceus so I hope it influenced this one a bit too.

I like that you can tackle gyms in any order you want to. I guess each gym has different team composition based on how many gyms badges you've gathered? I'm interested in knowing how they handle other trainers and wild Pokémon. I'd guess some areas are just easier to access in general. Either way, this could lead to even better replayability in a game with already high replay value.

Couple of days late. I was trying to use the code last week and noticed the discount wasn't currently available. I bought Nintendo Online vouchers so I already saved 10€ buying Xenoblade but another 10% off would've been nice.

Oh well, I can still use this deal to buy some 3DS/WiiU games I'm missing. These discounted eShop cards have been really nice for that.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
I've been playing Xenoblade for couple of months now. Finished Torna and Xenoblade 1 so I'd be ready for 3. I got 100% completion in Future Connected on Thursday, just in time, so this weekend will be dedicated to 3.

The game is good and looks great in handheld mode. Big improvement over XC2 visually. I'd even say it's the best looking game I've played on Switch. The first area is quite large which made the start of the game bit slow but that may just be me. There was a conflict of wanting to explore everything and making story progress to get it going. The premise is great. I wonder where it goes.

I just got to the "seeing the vast world" moment of this game. You know, like in BotW when Link exits the cave or in XC1 when you get to Gaur Plains. So in other words, the game just opened up and has truly started.

Interested in Live A Live but Xenoblade takes priority. I think I'm good for RPGs for a while once I'm finished with Xenoblade 3 but I'd still like to play Live A Live before the year ends.

I hope Scarlet and Violet don't have their own version of the same thing. All three are pretty similar to each other. Hopping from one mechanic to another makes them feel like gimmicks. I liked Mega Evolutions even though I barely used them. The other two I'm not a fan of. I'd rather take new meaningful battle mechanics worth keeping for future games.

So first we got bunch of mini consoles, now we're on to LEGO?

I'm surprised Splatoon isn't on the list, though I'd imagine Splatoon rhythm game to look and play more like Project DIVA games.

There are too many great series to choose from so I'll just cheat and combine them all into one. Imagine if Super Smash Bros. had rhythm game mode in it and you'd be able to play any song in Ultimate.

I have the first Death Mark but I'm yet to play it. It is something I want to play soon but I'm currently deep into Xenoblade.

I'll keep an eye out on Inescapable as well. I'll gladly support Finnish developers. I just hope the game has some originality. The trailer was basically just a carbon copy of Zero Escape's trailers.

I discovered their Mario Odyssey hide and seek videos a month ago and they are just really fun to watch.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country
One unique monster left to defeat but I need to grind a bit first because of the large level gap between my party and the monster. Once I'm done with that, it's time to go back to XC:DE and hopefully finish it before 3 comes out.

Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX
Finally got this game earlier this month. It's been on my wish list since it came out but I believe it only got discounted once on European eShop and I didn't go for it then so I just never got around to buying it.

I gotta admit, despite having way less songs, the package as a whole is way more complete than Megamix. It's really charming. I'm almost done perfecting all songs on normal. I've also played some songs on hard. It's much easier game than Megamix. This feels like something I could complete while I can barely finish the easiest songs on extreme in Megamix.

Multiplayer games
I have friends coming over tomorrow. We'll probably start with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as usual and then go from there. Good time to try out the new Turtles game as well.

Awesome news.

My focus will be on Triangle Strategy. I don't think I'll be able to finish it this weekend but I'll be close. Then I'll finally continue Xenoblade Chronicles DE and/or Torna in hopes of finishing both before 3 comes out. I think I'm about halfway through both though I'm still not even as far as I got in Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii back in the day.

@RudyC3 The VRAM isn't only for the tiles but the tile maps as well. The area for tiles can hold 384 unique tiles but that area is divided into three blocks. BG can use either the first two or the last two while sprites can't use the last block at all. Since BG can only use two of the three blocks at a time, the actual limit for BG tiles in memory is 256 tiles which isn't enough to cover the whole screen of 360 tiles unless some are reused.

I've actually been playing it lately on my 3DS. I believe I'm just about to finish it. It has a fun main mechanic but it's pretty basic otherwise.

It's nice art but displaying a static image or even a simple animation with background tiles on GB isn't all that impressive. The only limitation you need to worry about is tile count. You need to reuse some tiles but that's not a problem when the images above have large areas of solid color.

The actual fun begins when you start thinking about how you can make an actual game. Then you suddenly have many more limitations you have to overcome. I've dabbled in it myself and it's been interesting.

I know Splatoon 2 had a rhythm minigame but I'd love an actual full-blown rhythm game. Something like Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA or Persona Dancing. They could use the same models they're already using for live performances.