Wart, voiced by Idris Elba.

I really dig this art style.

Keep the rumor mill running full blast, baby! I love it!

It’s interesting how quickly some commenters want to turn this good news into an exercise in subtle victimhood/oppression discourse. Let’s congratulate Koji Kondo for this good fortune and the fact that VGM continues toward increased recognition among a broader non-gaming audience.

The Japan box art could be for any generic adventure game. EU captures much of the empty ominousness that the game’s music does as well.

After having finished this game within the past few days, I agree that this one stands right alongside SMB3 and SMW. It’s an easy 10/10.

@Synecdoche You read my mind.

Keep up the great work, Nintendo Life crew! You continue to do quality work, which has well earned the supportive reader base that you have.

Interesting to have such a lame week of releases in the middle of the Christmas buying season.

The Japan box art is gross.

I’ll be curious to see more about Holstin.

I was surprised by how disappointed I was with this game, even after the “fixes” via updates.

Alaina, you spoke the magic words (Lunar Eternal Blue), and will forever be my friend.

My weekend will hopefully see the completion of the fantastic Triangle Strategy.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Blasphemous is of my favorite Switch games. Glad to see the sequel lives up to its predecessor’s very high bar! Definite buy.

I don’t understand SE’s dedication to this game. Everyone seems to have a low opinion of it.

After having been underwhelmed by the last 3-4 games I’ve played (which were all supposed to be great, based on reviews), it has been a true joy to now be playing TRIANGLE STRATEGY. Wow, this game is fantastic! 10 hours in, and I’m loving every minute of it.

Thanks, Alaina. A beautiful love letter to an unforgettable game with tremendous heart and imagination. I agree, others may be technically superior, but this one captivates me like no other has since.

I would love to see a new Mario game at launch, but knowing Nintendo, it’ll wind up going with some stupid wiggle waggle party game.

ALBW is my personal favorite on the list, but my vote went for WW.

I would think that many creative processes would seem “chaotic” to outside observers when comparing to a typical office space. How many great films, plays, games, and albums that turned out to be masterpieces didn’t also suffer from at least some messiness along the way?

Hopefully it will exert positive pressure on developers moving forward.

I love both the NES and SNES versions for different reasons. They’re both aesthetically beautiful graphically and musically in their unique ways, and equally fun to play. I couldn’t choose one over the other.

GBA sucks, though. That soundchip…

I’ve tried to like the M&L games since GBA, but each one has left me disappointed.

The art style is a fever dream of bad ideas.

@Ooyah Also playing Trinity Trigger here! I thought I was the only one, as it was kind of here-and-gone overnight. But I’m a sucker for Mana, so I shamelessly and gladly jumped in feet-first. The fact that you’re almost done with it suggests that it’s worth taking it to the end.

The remake has a persuasive aesthetic and as has been mentioned, QOL improvements, but framerate issues compromise the immersiveness of what should otherwise be an enveloping world, especially one as unique as Koholint.

Just got to the Blue Dragon in Lunar: The Silver Star. I feel like I can see the end of this awesome game just peaking over the horizon and want to savor every minute before it arrives.

If the reviews for Illusion Island are solid, then I’m in!

Lunar: The Silver Star! One of the best RPGs of all time.

Is the amount of hype that this game seems to be getting at all reflective of the demand for it?

After finishing Chained Echoes, which was fine but ultimately underwhelming, I’m revisiting one of the best RPGs of all time: Lunar. Only a few hours in, and this game is wonderful; filled with so much heart, imagination, and a sense of adventure.

Despite having many strong actors on GoT, Clarke’s performance was consistently narrow in range and ultimately unconvincing in delivery. It was kind of like seeing Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman run circles around a young Keanu Reeves in Dracula.

@Decapre Thank you; that soundchip, yikes terrible. It ruins a lot of otherwise great GBA games.

I’m so happy for everyone who’s excited for TOTK, and I hope the game is everything they want it to be. To say its release is a special occasion is indeed an understatement.

For whatever reason, I’m not that drawn to the game myself at the moment, despite being a Zelda fan; maybe that will change in time. My weekend will see what I expect to be the conclusion to Chained Echoes.

They’re both gross.

I think I’m done with Hades now. It was quite good, and I’m glad I checked it out. Now I’m into Chained Echoes. After a somewhat underwhelming and generic start, it’s begun to grow on me.

Week 3 with Hades, and I’m back to considering it a solid 8.5. Unless it has more surprises up its sleeve, it’s just a completionist slog at this point. Good while it lasted, but merely good.

Still playing Hades, and have warmed up to it more than last week. While not quite on the 10 bandwagon (yet?), it’s a solid 8.5-9 for me. Still, I’ve more to do in the game, so who knows? I might eventually hop on board after all.

It’s probably going to be some god-awful return of wiggle waggle controls, but even worse than in the bloody sinful Wii era.

Finally jumped into Hades after hearing for forever that it is a masterpiece. I’m enjoying it, but it’s just okay. Not really sure why it got such gushing praise. Still, it’s fun.

I can’t help but think that certain games’ box art is chosen for these brawls with an assumption about which will win. Since last week it was NA, this week it must be Japan.

First new game I’ve purchased since August: Radiant Silvergun. I am loving it!

Majora’s Mask (3DS). Never really loved this game, but there are some incredible ideas peppered throughout. I can see why it’s some people’s favorite Zelda.

Played it back on the GC and just remember being really bored by it. Boring usually doesn’t get fixed with a lackluster remaster job.

Glad to see Diddy Kong Racing get so much support; great game.

Upvote for Hyper Light Drifter, The Messenger, and Blasphemous. Not just beautiful games, but great games, period.

Narita Boy is hypnotically engrossing in its style, but lacks balance in gameplay progression, making it not as satisfying to play.

It was sad to see the N64 in comparison to PS and Saturn back in the day. SNES games often still look beautiful but most N64 games make people gag.

For those of you on the fence about diving into the Persona series, I would count P4G as one of the ten best games I’ve ever played in my life.

“…I’m trying to manifest a brand new 2D Mario game from Nintendo. Come on, it’s about time, right? Just not in the ‘New’ style though, please…”

I support you 100%, Ollie!

Reggie’s a huckster salesman, that’s all, people. His entire job was to make you excited to buy Nintendo products, and now to make money off his own persona. It’s not like he actually made games.