Comments 1,609

Re: Reminder: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade 'Limited Early Purchase Edition' Offer Ends Next Week

Mgalens

While i very much preffer how the psone version of the original game looks (as opposed to the PC port which later versions are based on) this still definitely feels like a really good deal, plus the original is still very much its own thing so it feels like it stands alongside the Remake rather than the remake "replacing" it.

Remake as a whole is something im cool with double dipping on going by impressions of the port and am hoping that rebirth's port is as good (going by the PR talk square at least feels confident in the rebirth port)

Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake's Sequels Will Have "Exactly The Same" Gameplay As Other Consoles

Mgalens

@Kiz3000
yeah layout wise it feels closer to something like Xenoblade where its a series of large "Zones" which are visited in a linear order.

am also curious how they handle air travel, it could end up using a somewhat scaled down version of the map similar to some of the dragon quest games (only disguised better) since i think thats how the tiny bronco ocean travel was handled in rebirth.

Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake's Sequels Will Have "Exactly The Same" Gameplay As Other Consoles

Mgalens

@Ralizah
yeah thats what i was thinking.
It feels like while theres still some action based skill when it comes to dodging and guarding it also feels like learning the RPG side of it, such as character setups, elemental weaknesses, and in general chosing the right skills and making good use of your ATB charges, will end up having a much bigger impact on how well you do, wheres playing it purely like an action game will often lead to bosses taking a lot longer (and in hard mode feels absolutely vital to learn the combat)

overall yeah out of all the "action" FF games its by far my fave in terms of combat.

Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake's Sequels Will Have "Exactly The Same" Gameplay As Other Consoles

Mgalens

@IronMan30
its definitely one of those games i recommend players pace themselves with optional content if they are one to suffer burnout in these kinds of games, theres an obscene amount of optional stuff to do though fortunately like Remake nothing is technically missable due to chapter select (like newgame+ but you can choose any chapter rather than the start) and sidequest/open world stuff carries over (iirc the sidequests reset on remake on replays, could be misremembering though so dont quote me on that)

overall am glad to hear they are confident with the switch 2 port of rebirth since like remake i would gladly double dip.

Re: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Tech Review Of Final Fantasy VII Remake On Switch 2

Mgalens

@Debo626
did mention it in the review comments but from what i gather square seems pretty confident on the idea of rebirth on switch 2 saying they are aiming for something as good if not better than the remake port.

while only time will tell, it is at least reassuring that they have some confidence in the game and i imagine they would have learned from both their experiences with getting it working on steam deck and the switch 2 Remake port.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

Mgalens

@sportymariosonicmixx
yeah it also feels like they draw from multiple sources for the answer regardless of whether they contradict each other or are from completely different subjects, also assorted social media comments including joke answers since it cannot understand context which lead to the infamous "put glue on pizza" "advice" though it also feels like its getting to the point where its even drawing from other ai results resulting in even more of a complete mess.

it does at the very least feel like more and more people are questioning it or there is backlash in places like the relatively recent Grok controversy which apparently was even on TV news (at least where i live, unsure about other countries)

Re: Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (Switch 2) - A Big, Bold Reimagining, And A First-Class Port

Mgalens

@TheExile285
Yeah have really been hoping for native versions of those games for a while, it also feels like KH3 would be potentially viable now though honestly i would still be more than happy with just 1.5 and 2.5 since those being cloud was super confusing considering that while they were apparently somewhat rebuilt or something rather than just being straight ps2/psp ports both of them were on PS3 too

Re: Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (Switch 2) - A Big, Bold Reimagining, And A First-Class Port

Mgalens

@Sonicka
also going by several sites it seems like square enix are really determined to bring a good version of rebirth on switch 2 and from the sound of it their work on the steam deck version of rebirth seemed like it gave them the confidence that rebirths switch 2 port will be "just as high quality as the first game, if not higher.”

i know that while its good to take PR quotes with a grain of salt its at least nice to hear they are determined about delivering with the port, and will likely be more familiar and confident working with the hardware i hope.

either way am cautiously optimistic about rebirth but very happy with how remake seems to have turned out.

Re: Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (Switch 2) - A Big, Bold Reimagining, And A First-Class Port

Mgalens

This (and rebirth) were some of the most fun i have had with a (single player) FF in years, so am glad its a good port and am hoping for the best with the eventual rebirth port.

It feels like one of those remakes where it can exist alongside the original rather than "replace" it, which makes it (for me at least) easier to view as its own thing, just with familiar character,s settings and story beats, the gameplay also i found to be the most fun ive had with the more "action" oriented FF games due to leaning more towards the "RPG" side of "action RPG" with emphasis on the skills you use and elemental weaknesses wheres some of the other ones tended to skew more towards the "action" side.

Re: Switch 2 Predicted To Follow In PlayStation And Xbox's Footsteps This Year With "Global Price Hike"

Mgalens

@LazyDaisy
yeah i feel like while comments responding to and discussing the criticism can be good for said discussion i feel that when people start accusing others of things like "whining" or being "entitled" it just ends up feeling more dismissive than constructive, really anything that feels more like its going directly for others and their feelings rather than the point they are trying to make, its similar to when you get the whole "shill" and "bootlicker" comments on the other side of the discussion.

Re: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Gets A Free Switch 2 Update And Adds Dixie Kong

Mgalens

@BrazillianCara
Those would be neat, Xenoblade has some lovely locations and a resolution bump would definitely do wonders (am hoping the apparent memory leaks in 2 and 3 would also get fixed, it was an issue in 3 since iirc on longer play sessions it could cause quest NPCs to vanish) and TTYD on switch also looks really nice but it would be nice to have the 60fps like the original GC version.

i would say Xenoblade (any of em) would be my most wanted upgrades at least when it comes to first party (third party would be any of the Trails games especially Daybreak 1 and 2)

Re: Sonic The Hedgehog Kicks Off 35th Anniversary Celebrations In Style

Mgalens

@Gamecuber
i do wonder if some of the "hold right" arguments partially came because some of the later 2d games, especially advance 2 onwards, had a greater emphasis on the "going fast" aspect of the series with more automated segments, objects such as dash-pads and in the case of sonic rush, a button which instantly made you go from 0-Fast instantly, not saying those games are bad but there's definitely a big difference between the original-games/mania and something like the advance/rush or even sonic 4 games, and while we had mega collection on gamecube and whatnot i imagine quite a few peoples first exposure after sega went third-party were games like the original sonic advance.

Re: Sonic The Hedgehog Kicks Off 35th Anniversary Celebrations In Style

Mgalens

@RainbowGazelle
mentioned it in another comment section when the "nostalgia" argument came up but For me if anything the Classic sonic games are something i enjoyed much more as i got older since i appreciated the game physics and momentum based gameplay more, and while the first game still felt like it was figuring out the level design, from sonic 2 onwards it felt like everything flowed much better.

@HammerKirby
i am definitely curious to see where the next game is going, i really enjoyed shadow generations and feel if they can capture that kind of feeling with a full lenght game its something i would really love.

Re: Tales Of Berseria Remastered - Switch Performance And Resolution Detailed

Mgalens

@GoldenSunRM
and in the case of the switch versions (in Graces and Xillias case) running at half the combat framerate of the original versions.

Berseria is an odd case in that while it did have a ps3 version which iirc ran at 30 it wasnt released in the west though fortunately unlike Zestiria they got 60 for the ps4 version which is more in line with the rest of the series.

While the 30fps combat didnt bug me too much in the later symphonia ports and the 3ds port of abyss i imagine it would make more of a difference with something like graces, Xillia and Berseria which all have some kind of perfect dodge mechanic and a lot more going on with the combat (from what i hear Graces on switch also introduced additional input lag which sounds like it would make bosses a nightmare on harder difficulties considering the emphasis on last second dodges)

Re: Falcom Reiterates Support For Switch 2, Currently Working On New Port

Mgalens

@xenobladexfan
Yeah cold steel 1 and 2 would be the most exciting for me since those (and sky 3rd depending on if they plan on remaking) are the only ones not playable on switch 2 (in the west at least)

though to be fair even if it ends up being a switch 2 version of a previous one i would be cool, especially something like daybreak 1 and 2 since from the sounds of things those would benefit the most from an upgrade. (as for zero/azure, still hoping that those at least get a fix for the FMV issue)

though does make me wonder how many games would be viable for a port which aren't CS 1/2 or a game released on switch 1, without going into PSP or prior territory (not that i would complain seeing something like Ys Seven come to switch)

Re: Opinion: Metroid Prime 4 Does This One Thing Better Than Any Other Nintendo Game

Mgalens

@BrazillianCara
Yeah the Xenoblade comment felt odd, especially when with an RPG people go in expecting and wanting character interactions and the like, look at FFXIII for example where one of the criticisms is the lack of slower moments where you can explore towns and talk to NPCs.

As for the other stuff while i still do feel like the subject of "accessibility" in gaming can often begin and end with player skill/difficulty Nintendo is at least slowly making progress when it comes to things like control options, especialy if you compare back with the wii where things like adaptive controllers wouldnt have even been a viable option though there are some exceptions (feels odd that the game centered around Wheelchair basketball doesnt support a lot of these kinds of accessibility options)

Naturally they still have a way to go and i do appreciate articles raising as much awareness as possible and keeping dev's/publishers on their toes which hopefully will help with progress.

a bit of a ramble here but im not good with editing or brevity.

Re: Tales Of Berseria Remastered - Switch Performance And Resolution Detailed

Mgalens

@Ashina
Graces F was odd since the original Graces on wii ran at 60 in combat and while graces F had some improvements it was still 60 back on ps3, same with Xillia.

Does make me hope they end up getting native switch 2 versions but its odd that they got Vesperias combat running right (was 60fps on 360 and stayed that on switch 1) Maybe something changed in how the remasters are developed or something (or different teams)

Re: Review: Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance (GameCube) - Aged & Easier Than You're Used To, But Still A Winner

Mgalens

@Expa0
Thats interesting regarding difficulty levels, ive seen a few examples of the opposite where an easy mode was named "normal" in a later release, such as megaman 2, FF4 and recently Fantasian, where said later releases added an easy mode called "normal" while the original difficulty was presented as the "hard" mode but forgot if ive seen other examples of the normal being called "easy", i think Devil may cry 3 may have done something similar, i think the japanese hard mode on that was "normal" in the west (none DC version) or something

Re: Today Is Doug Bowser's Final Day As Nintendo Of America President

Mgalens

@Mariotag
an RPG on wii, was more of an old school style one with a world map and whatnot, it had a lot of elements similar to the Tales-of series but had turn based combat instead of real-time.

I remember really enjoying it, the voice acting was infamous but the game itself i found a lot of fun, boss fights in particular could be very punishing but it didnt really feel grindy due to how much you could mess around with your character setup.

iirc the devs (imageepoch) went bankrupt a while back and their last game was an rpg called stella glow on 3ds in 2015, the publisher was marvelous entertainment in japan who are still around i think.

it was initially planned to release in europe down the line (this was a time when european releases for japanese rpgs would often be months later than the US release) but that was later canceled and unfortunately the wii was fully region locked (i eventually imported a US wii and some games since the price wasnt too high at that point since it was a few years into the system lifespan)

Region locking was an unfortunate thing back then especially for fans of japanese rpgs, since it was often a crap-shoot whether they would even make it over to europe (many classics from back in the day didnt) and when they did it could be months or more before they did, it was why i was dissapointed that the 3ds was region locked since most handhelds (at least the previous ones from nintendo plus the 2 sony ones) were region free, then it was later revealed the wiiu would be region locked during a time when other systems had been moving away from region locking (iirc xbox it depended on the game, i think a similar case was with playstation but i think only 2 or 3 games in the whole library were region locked)

Re: Today Is Doug Bowser's Final Day As Nintendo Of America President

Mgalens

@Samalik
Thats one of the reasons why i dont miss region lock, while i live in England so that particular game made it here, the amount of games (mainly rpgs including a bunch of known classics) which skipped europe during the nes>ps2 era made me dread it when i found out that not only was the wii region locked in an era where region locking was on its way out (i think only a couple of games on ps3 were region locked and one of them was an MMO) but then the 3ds was region locked which was extremely rare for a handheld (GB, GBC, GBA ,DS were all region free) further still the wiiu was also.

But looking back at the wii and that situation it was odd how things went down since usually its europe that misses out of games like that but games like Disaster, Xenoblade, Last story, Pandoras tower etc the situation was reversed, but at least the latter 3 did eventually release over there, on the other hand i was dissapointed that Arc rise fantasia had its EU release canceled (ended up importing it down the line alongside a US wii with some other games, was a fun RPG with some not so great voice acting but some fun bosses which i sadly dont see getting re-released/remastered since i think the original devs went under or something along those lines)

Re: More Switch Games Have Received Compatibility Updates For Switch 2

Mgalens

It can be harder to find out if games got BC fixes when they are marked as "compatible" such as games like the Klonoa collection getting fixed a while back (found out from a forum post)

As usual im still hoping that one of these firmware updates can fix the issue of FMV cutscenes not playing in Trails from Zero/Trails to Azure, since as mentioned prior they are 2 games which are listed as compatible but have issues where most FMV cutscenes just dont play which is frustrating since these are games which like a lot of older rpgs, use FMV cutscenes for some major moments in the game.

@Thomystic
iirc they dropped the ps2 compatibility in some of the later 'phat' ps3 systems, i think that was the case with mine, i got it around a year or so before the slim and it ran psone games but didnt have ps2 BC

Re: Bethesda Releases Skyrim Switch 2 Patch Addressing Input Latency Issues

Mgalens

@mackers84
at first i thought they were saying that like the gamecube it sold poorly but the "." in the sentence makes things a bit confusing since yeah, it didn't have gamecube VC.

there were a lot of aspects i did enjoy about the wiiu but wasnt a big fan of the whole 2-screen thing, i did like the off-tv play but for me it felt like the switch improved on that aspect with full handheld play.

really the only thing i miss from that era is the Virtual console (i hate that you cant purchase NSO games independent of the service like with the psone/ps2/psp games on PS5) and how online was handled (such as the social features, messaging etc) though there were also definitely aspects i am glad arent following on from that era such as region-locking, no account system (initially) and the whole limited uses on demos.

Re: Octopath Traveler 0 Receives A Small Update On Switch And Switch 2

Mgalens

Curious if one of the other issues mentioned is the apparently compressed audio quality since iirc square enix mentioned that a patch was planned for it but unsure if its this one.

havent tried it yet and while its one of those things which some may not even notice, it has been acknowledged by the devs/publishers so is nice to hear it will be improved considering how the music is definitely one of the high points of the series for me.

Re: Multiple Switch Games Have Received Switch 2 Compatibility Fixes

Mgalens

@Gs69 @link3710
Yeah the compatibility thing can be odd sometimes, theres definitely games which work fine despite some minor issues while there are also games which are marked as working but have some notable issues (Klonoa for a while wouldnt boot, also the FMV issues in Trails from zero/azure i mentioned prior in other comment sections, though unsure how they are now)

Kind of feels like the steam deck verification thing, more of a general guideline than a gospel truth and can often be worth looking into some games if you are unsure.

Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Switch 2 Edition Out Today, Includes Paid Upgrade Path For Switch Players

Mgalens

One thing i recommend is trying the game with the "dynamic" camera option, i remember something not quite feeling right initially in how the game "felt" and this option made things just feel better to play, from what i gather it changes the FOV somewhat and has the camera lean when taking corners and for me made the overall gamefeel better, and shows how seemingly minor things can have a big overall effect on how a game feels to play.

Granted it depends on the person and i imagine those with motion sickness or other potential sensory issues may be better off with the default camera but for me dynamic gave a better sense of speed and movement.

Re: Madcap Platformer 'Antonblast' Is Getting One Final Update This Month

Mgalens

@DashKappei
curious how it is currently on switch 2, while it would be cool to see 120fps for this kind of game (for me personally i would love to see that with a 2d sonic) i remember hearing it had issues in the past and am unsure if they were fixed or not, as it is i would be more than happy if it runs fine and doesnt have any notable issues on switch 2 (crashes, bugs etc)

Re: Sorry Xillia 2, 'Tales Of Berseria' Is The Next Remaster From Bandai Namco

Mgalens

@Krlozgod
This one did have a ps3 version that ran at 30fps but iirc it was only in japan though whether or not the switch version ends up having issues which that one didnt is unknown since after all Graces and Xillia both had 60fps combat in their ps3 releases (i think the original wii version of graces too) wheres the switch versions of both of them ran at half that.

Re: Multiple Switch Games Get Switch 2 Compatibility Fixes

Mgalens

@imgrowinglegs 'from that i gather cutscenes which would normally crash the game when viewed from the gallery instead just dont play when encountered in game and are just outright skipped.

it apparently is a problem across both Zero and Azure which is unfortunate since some of the most memorable moments in the story feature FMV scenes.

an example i used in the past would be imagine playing FFVII and when THAT moment occurred the FMVs didn't play (if you havent played FFVII then disregard this example)

Re: Kirby Air Riders Looks To Be Powered By Bandai Namco's New In-House Engine

Mgalens

@dazzleshell
yeah im definitely curious to see how DLC tracks are incorperated into mario kart world.

as for the classic GP thing for me i think it would also be nice to have an option for online races to choose between having all traditional 3 lap races, all highway races and the current mixed option where all can show up. for me personally i was cool with the open world though it did feel more like the base for something really cool, like if they built upon the idea it could be something awesome wheres as it is its neat that it contextualizes the courses and it fun to do some chill driving while enjoying the music remixes though i can see how many would hope for something more to do in it.

As for air riders i havent actually got into any matches on the demo so i only have the tutorial stuff to go by but it feels like a lot of fun and looking at some of the gameplay the regular courses look flashy and fast paced wheres city trial looks like pure chaos (in a good way), i sadly never played the original game though was curious and am happy to also see that the old courses are in it.

Re: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Switch 2 Compatibility Update Released

Mgalens

@xenobladexfan
ah its nice to hear Xillia runs well since i heared Graces F had an issue with input lag in combat, do wish that the Xillia switch port had 60fps combat like on ps3 but is nice to hear its stable at least (i remember while xillia still had some perfect dodge mechanics with jude it didnt feel as intense as Graces F could be on harder difficulties where perfect dodges are vital)

Re: Octopath Traveler 0 Demo Now Available For Switch And Switch 2, Save Data Carries Over

Mgalens

@SpaceboyScreams
Seems like there's volume options in the menu, forgot if one of them was for VA but would be surprised if it didn't have voice volume, you can also play in English or japanese voices.

had a quick poke around the demo, game can feel a bit choppy in places when it comes to camera movement, is nothing game-breaking or anything but can be distracting when moving around. (switch2 handheld would be nice to have a visual/performance toggle like DQ 1-3)

other than that combat and exploration is in line with previous games, visually it looks a bit closer to the original than 2 which makes sense considering aspects of it are from a game which came between 1 and 2.

definitely interested to see more.

Re: Best Dragon Quest Games Of All Time - Switch And Nintendo Systems

Mgalens

@mackers84
i know for me personally the GBC versions would be higher, especially GBC III which is probably my fave version of the original DQ3 (not as nice looking as the SFC one but nice to play portable)

would definitely love to see VIII get a "definitive" modern release, i found the world in the 3ds one felt somewhat empty with a lot of the scenery/foliage in the distance missing (not just grass/plants but whole trees only appearing when close to them)

XI i loved and its one of those ones i would love to get some form of switch 2 upgrade since it does look rough on switch 2

i would say one of my most wanted modern releases with the series though would be some modern way to play IX, i absolutely loved that game and ended up getting surprisingly attached to my custom party (it also made reaching new towns more exciting since it meant more outfits and more fashion)

a bit of a ramble im sorry but yeah, also love the games (also on the subject of switch 2 DQbuilders 2 is nice on it since it means being able to make larger builds without it chugging to the underworld and back)