Comments 1,522

Re: Are You "Unsure" About Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade For Switch 2? Don't Worry, There'll Be A Demo

Mgalens

@ReaperMelia
yeah its definitely my fave of the "action" combat FF games thanks to how it incorporates the ATB stuff, falling on the "RPG with action game elements" side of the scale more than the "action game with RPG elements" which some fell on.

Really even ignoring the FFVII aspects, as an game in itself it felt like it was the most fun i have had with a single player FF in years and definitely for me captured that "spark" which some of my favorites of the series had, especially rebirth due to its wider location variety.

Re: Mailbox: Switch Game Pricing, Shovelware, Self-Nerfing - Nintendo Life Letters

Mgalens

@breach187
Honestly yeah i understand what you mean and also for me a lot of things like having a difficulty choice and a good balance of "risk/reward" gameplay to really help with enjoyment, ive never been a fan of the "just dont use it" explanation since i definitely prefer it when the game offers a difficulty setting which encourages players to use that entire toolkit.

As for the assist features which show up if you die a bunch a toggle to simply just disable them and play as if they weren't there i imagine would help since i think thats what odyssey and bananza did.

i went over some stuff in that FFVII remake article a while back in that for me since i have some bad obsessive compulsive (as in the full-blown on-the-spectrum kind) sometimes being able to toggle and disable QOL is QOL in itself.

Re: Newcomers Can Break Final Fantasy VII Remake With New Difficulty Settings

Mgalens

Was it mentioned if they are toggled through a menu or options or whatnot since as silly as this sounds i have some really bad obsessive compulsive problems (as in the on the spectrum medical definition) and having some of this stuff mapped to button presses like some of square-enix's previous rpgs (with often no way to disable said button mapping) makes some of these really difficult for me to play.

Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 For Switch?

Mgalens

somewhere in between the "price" and "need more convincing" category, since for me the main reason why i would want to get the game for switch would be the option to play it handheld, though going by what i heared about galaxy 1 on switch the handheld controls didnt sound ideal, and while i definitely wasnt a fan of the motion control stuff on wii i did hear that they were handled by the touchscreen on switch in handheld which sounded like a worse option, and with galaxy 2 having stuff like the yoshi controls heavily relying on the pointer it sounds like that could be a nightmare on switch.

in the end while galaxy and especially galaxy 2 were some of my overall fave Mario games it sounds like for me it would be easier to just break out the wii or wiiu for if i got the urge to play again, since i found the visual style held up will even in standard definition and the games were already 60fps.

Re: Mega Man Star Force: Legacy Collection Brings DS RPGs To Switch In 2026

Mgalens

@DTFaux
This is one of the megaman, series's which is kind of in a blind-spot for me since i couldn't really get into the Battle network games, im still likely going to give this collection a shot though and am glad they are becoming available on modern systems.

The legends games are definitely the dream for me though. (also makes me curious about some of the one-off oddities like "battle and chase" or "network transmission" which arent in the modern collections EDIT:also command mission)

Re: Dragon Quest VII Gets Reimagined For Switch And Switch 2 In Early 2026

Mgalens

@ecco6t9
Apparently a bunch of this version has been reworked to streamline the pacing among a bunch of other changes (i imagine thats why they went with "reimagined" aside from just being a fancier name for remake)

Not sure on the extent of it but it feels like those who found the whole thing too long and meandering may enjoy it more this time wheres some fans of the original may be dissapointed depending on how they felt about the pacing (i know some found the more cut-down intro of the 3ds release took away from some of the atmosphere in that part)

Re: Nintendo Direct September 2025: Every Announcement, Game Reveal, Trailer

Mgalens

A bunch of stuff which i really liked though there were definitely some stuff surrounding it which did sour things somewhat such as the Prices on things like Mario Galaxy 2, some of the DLC feeling like its a bit too close to the games release and the odd handling of the virtual boy stuff (the stand being mandatory rather than an option like the various "classic" controllers also meaning that the games are also unplayable in both Handheld and TV modes)

Re: Pokémon's Former Chief Legal Officer Believes Nintendo's Latest Patent Will Be Ignored

Mgalens

@JohnnyMind
oh yeah im definitely not a fan of how these patents can set a very bad precedent when it comes to things like lawsuits and as you and the article mentioned, potential deterrents.

its more that the initial version of the story (the original article was updated to include some of the specifics) was kind of poisoning a lot of discussion especially as it spread through social media, in that rather than some of the more realistic concerns brought up like in this article and the ones you mentioned discussion was more exaggerated hypotheticals.

Re: Pokémon's Former Chief Legal Officer Believes Nintendo's Latest Patent Will Be Ignored

Mgalens

@JohnnyMind
yeah im definitely in the field that feels iffy about companies having a monopoly on gaming mechanics though at the very least looking at the actual patent application this one feels super specific and also as the article mentions theres a bunch of stuff regarding "throwing motions" and a "ball".

again still not too hot on the whole idea of the situation but at the very least the patent itself feels far more detailed and specific than the descriptions weve been seeing

Re: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Patch Adds 60fps Mode, But There's A Catch

Mgalens

@SalvorHardin
kind of reminds me of how when watching older videos of retro games on youtube (back before the site would support 60fps) you would definitely see some oddities, a common one is sprite flicker effects which you would often see used to show invincibility frames in older games would just have the character often vanish in said videos.

Re: Nintendo's Patent On 'Sub Characters' Could Have Some Dire Ramifications

Mgalens

@GrailUK
just for some clarification on my end since i may have not worded things well.

Pet classes in things like MMOs (or rpgs like diablo) acted less like a smart bomb and more like an ally who would fight by your side in real time in the same way an CPU-controlled party member would only often with the ability to instruct them on what attacks they could use. (pokemon Z-A seems to look similar to this with skills based on cooldowns similar to an MMO or Xenoblade game)

The difference between monsters or a wizard/warrior also depends on if a game treats the summons as a party member in of itself, a summon in the majority of FF games for example would count more as a super flashy attack coming from a character wheres something like 1992's dragon quest V (at least the japan release) the monsters themselves would act as stand alone party members with their own skills and stats.

Dragon quest V handled things closer to Megaten than pokemon with the monsters themselves fighting alongside you rather than in your stead though the act of obtaining them was much simpler than megaten, iirc they would randomly join after beating them wheres megaten you would talk to demons and persuade/bribe them to join and could fuse them to create/summon new ones. i could definitely see how back in the day the concept of these games wouldnt have flown well in the west, you already had these hyper religious types calling pokemon "demonic" and attributing it to demon summoning (though iirc wasnt it based on bug collecting?) imagine how they would have responded if in the late 80s/early 90s a game series showed up where you actually did summon and control demons.

fun fact(maybe): things kind of came full circle when atlus did end up making a spinoff of the megaten series more inspired by the aesthetics of pokemon (down to having 2 versions) known as "devil children" in japan and one of them actually got localized (under the name "demikids") though i think the first time anything from SMT came to the west was jack bros in the mid 90s, a puzzle game on the freaking virtual boy.

Re: Nintendo's Patent On 'Sub Characters' Could Have Some Dire Ramifications

Mgalens

@GrailUK
if were talking turn based combat like others mentioned there was Digital devil story and dragon quest V being cited as some earlier rpgs with creature taming, unsure if Megaten was the first one (came out in 1987) though its one of the more well known though i wouldnt be surprised if the concept has some of its origins in pen and paper stuff like a lot of RPG mechanics.

In terms of real time where characters or creatures fight independently of you and can be issued orders a few examples of this concept would be something like a "pet" class in a real time rpg (mmo or otherwise) basically look at most "summoner" or "necromancer" kinds of classes though im unfamiliar with the PCrpg or MMO genres so others may be able to get specific examples.

looking at how general and widespread the concept is it wouldnt surprise me if its one of those ones similar to the example @Suketoudara used which i hear are not too uncommon especially in japan.

does make me hope that this one is also considered too vague and general for any one company to have a monopoly on.

Re: Ubisoft Celebrates Rayman's 30th Anniversary With An "Epic" Event In Brawlhalla

Mgalens

@SillyG
yeah that would me the dream for me, a good collection of classic rayman games, maybe even including other versions and as you mentioned oddities like the edutainment ones as a bonus.

Sadly it feels like at most it will be rayman 2 on NSO which is fine for those who enjoy NSO but i would have loved an ability to have it on switch 2 in a form you could buy/keep (again a lovingly crafted collection would be an amazing way to celebrate the anniversary)

Re: Ubisoft Kicks Off Rayman's 30th Anniversary, Says New Project Is In "Good Hands"

Mgalens

@Not_Soos
thats the dream for me, would be awesome if it included different versions of certain games too since rayman 2 specifically had quite a few differences with the psone version (also the ps2 revolution one) and the GBA games were a whole other beast.

Though even just a good collection with the "definitive" versions of the original 3 games would be awesome too.

Re: Talking Point: Would Drag x Drive Be Better With Miis Or Non-Mouse Control Options?

Mgalens

@TitanSix
yeah ive always been one who feels like things such as controls are ideally up to the player, both as a comfort thing but also in cases it can be a big accessibility thing (especially in a world where adaptive controllers exist) and while a wheelchair basketball game is a win in terms of having some rep for the sport it feels like there's an unfortunate irony given both the lack of controller options and nintendos odd history when it comes to accessibility (especially since even in the days of wacky peripherals and giant plastic instruments those games would often allow people to play with a controller)

Re: Rumour: Sony Is Gunning For The Switch 2 With A Handheld, Dockable PS6

Mgalens

@contrarian @Yosher
Yeah i would be more than happy with some competition in the console handheld market (since theres already quite a few portable PCs)

Really i think the main thing im hoping for is if this is backwards compatible, even if it ends up digital-only thanks to the format it would still give it a decent back catalogue especially if it supports PS4 games alongside PS5. (i think there was a rumor that PS3 emulated games may eventualy come to PSN like the PSone,PS2 and PSP games that are on it)

but yeah, always happy for more options when it comes to this kind of thing.

Re: Rumour: Sony Is Gunning For The Switch 2 With A Handheld, Dockable PS6

Mgalens

@GrailUK
I mean it wouldnt be the first time sony made a handheld which you could "dock" to play on the TV using a controller, we had the PSP-go back in 2009 (though the "dock" was referred to as the "Cradle" and was compatible with the PS3 controller) i do remember earlier versions of the psp having TV-out but unsure if they had controller support.

Re: Ys Memoire: Revelations In Celceta Is Coming West In 2026

Mgalens

@JohnnyMind
i feel like with this one there were a couple of gameplay aspects which could be frustrating which future ones fixed such as how its easy to get to 99% of the map explored and be searching for that extra 1% (with VIII onwards they also showed the % of each area so you could narrow down which zone the missing % was in) and having to keep swapping exploration accessories (think something like the movement power ups in a "metroidvania") from the menu (iirc ys VIII let you equip multiple at once so you didnt have to swap as much and could keep ones you would often use on)

I havent played Ys IX yet, did play some of YsX but thought i would wait until proud nordics to play more.

There was also Ys seven on psp i enjoyed a lot, it had a lot of elements which would carry over to this one, iirc it got a re-release on PC but no modern console one like Felghana and this.

Re: Ys Memoire: Revelations In Celceta Is Coming West In 2026

Mgalens

@JohnnyMind
i loved origin, its actually a hard choice between it and felghana for me when it comes to that style of Ys game.

When it comes to the party based one i definitely am among those praising the ever loving heck of of Ys VIII though i do have a soft spot for this game, maybe its because it was a game i was super hyped for back in the vita days but it always had a really cozy vibe among the Ys games especially with the different towns you visit, it kind of feels like a trails games in some ways when it comes to things like sidequests (though the actual halfway point between trails and ys would probably be something like tokyo Xanadu which i also enjoyed)

Re: Anniversary: The First DS Castlevania Game Turns 20 Today

Mgalens

i enjoyed Dawn, though not as much as aria, felt like aria had a slightly tighter design and a lot of the good weapons in dawn being tied to the weapon upgrading system and random soul drops was not something i enjoyed as much as just finding them around the castle even if it was an interesting way to make souls more important.

hard to really pick a fave DSvania, they are all amazing games, i enjoyed the amount of content in portrait though was not a fan of a couple of the portrait worlds and enjoyed Ecclesias gameplay a bunch though felt the level design was a bit repetitive with a lot of wide rooms full of enemies (the combat itself being as fun as it was with how weapons got more powerful with use made it a lot of fun though)

though TBH there wasnt really any of the exploration vanias i outright disliked, yeah circle of the moon could get frustrating and had a big reliance on enemy drops and Harmony could get confusing with its castle gimmick but the games just had too many things i outright loved.

do wish bloodstained got a native switch 2 version since it looked a lot of fun though i hear its still messy on switch 2.

Re: Former PlayStation Head Praises Nintendo For Being "In Touch With Their Fan Base"

Mgalens

@MrDocena
Yeah i feel like the same kind of thing also applies to how each group deals with the oposite end too, like there are those who treat people enjoying something or praising an aspect that they like as being a "bootlicker" or "shill" wheres on the flipside you have those who are too quick to dismiss criticism of nintendo or their actions as "whining", being "entitled", "haters" or things to similar effect.

it feels like it generally comes down to a common strategy on the internet in arguments where it feels like trying to remove agency from another persons argument in order to prop up their own take similar to the whole "mindless fanboys" or "hate train" rhetoric.

fortunately both of these tend to be the extreme of each side and while it can feel common in comment sections or the internet in general it does feel like for the most part people can enjoy something while understanding why someone would be critical of it and vice-versa which i would say the general "nintendo enjoyers" would fall into

Re: Opinion: We Need To Talk About X Games

Mgalens

Having an X on its own at the end of the title kind of makes me think back to 90s Xtreme marketing where X was largely considered the coolest letter and while it wasnt the first example it also makes me think of the Megaman X series (though "Zero" also shows up in a bunch of game titles too though not for the same reason as "megaman Zero") we also had the ocasional "EX" like StreetfighterEXplusalpha!

in terms of X in the middle of something i think the first time i saw that was Namco X capcom back on ps2 though like the Megaman example this was just the first thing i thought of and not necessarily the first time it was used. (though its also associated with fan pairings, you could definitely find a bunch of "sonic X shadow" content LONG before the games announcement)

honestly much rather have X catch on like it did than like "epic" almost did in the later 2000s.

Re: Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings Of Ruin Switch Online Game Trial Now Available (Europe)

Mgalens

@Ralizah
does make me wish the octopath games would get the DQIII HD-2D treatment leading up to octopath zero.

not holding my breath but DQIII looks really nice on switch 2 now and plays so much better (yeah its a turn based game but just walking around locations feels nicer)

nice to hear this holds up better than those games (and the xenoblade games) also iirc didnt this one have an uncapped framerate or something.

Re: Rare Arcade Version Joins Two Of The Worst 'Mortal Kombat' Games In Legacy Kollection

Mgalens

@JohnnyMind
im definitely curious about this kollection despite the fact that i havent really got into fighters too much but am a sucker for a good retro compilation and find them a good way to experience a series i missed.

These 2 games only made me more interested since when it comes to games with a very bad reception often they can be at the very least a fun morbid curiosity and/or guilty pleasures.

am definitely hoping the live action FMVs for the sub zero game are retained since they are delightfully campy and i imagine the actors had fun.

Re: First Footage Of Elden Ring Running On Switch 2 Appears Online

Mgalens

@RasandeRose
I remember with original switch there were things like dragon quest heroes 1+2 which came out at or close to launch in japan and was apparently a disaster performance wise, and yeah as you mentioned things tended to get better as it went on and while the bad ports were still bad it felt like the good ports got better.

Definitely felt like an odd era when it came to that kind of thing was the psone/N64 era in that towards the end of those you got games which pushed the visuals at the cost of performance but even then the fact that FFVII and FFIX were on the same console definitely showed how much a console can progress.

Naturally i expect in a couple of years when PS6 and whatnot come out it could be a challenge but if that rumoured sony handheld happens there will still be games made with handheld specs also targeted plus im hoping the rumor is true since it would be nice to have additional options when it comes to dedicated portable consoles.

a bit of a ramble but i imagine the general gist of this comment is able to come through.

Re: Tales Of Xillia Remastered Coming This October, Confirmed 30fps For Switch

Mgalens

@missingno_fgc
Ditto, does make me curious also if the input lag issue was caused by having it run at 30 purely because from what i gather the other versions of the game dont have that issue (again including the ps3 version and original graces on wii iirc)

issues like that especially weren't the best for graces considering how perfect last-second dodges were a key point in that game especially on harder difficulties. (i think Xillia and Xillia 2 had some similar mechanics but remember graces it being vital at times)

Re: Donkey Kong Bananza's Dig Button Placement Is All Thanks To Miyamoto

Mgalens

@GoldenSunRM
yeah for me ive always been for the idea that HOW a game is played (such as controls) is ideally up to the player as much as possible since its something thats so subjective, plus while for most its simply a matter of comfort for some it can be the difference between literally being able to play the game (there was an article a while back where someone with a disability not being able to play games like mario galaxy because the motion controls were mandatory and ended up having to use a modified controller or something similar)

plus offering controll options can lead to some creativity such as people trying to beat games with a dance mat or other controllers not intended for the game (someone beat dark souls using custom controllers made from actual bananas, now THATS the definitive DK experience) and in other cases it can open people up to new control methods, for example i wasnt really much of a fan of mandatory motion/gyro controls in the wii/3ds era but fiddling around with the control settings on the switch version of quake 2 i was opened up to the joys of gyro aiming in games.

Re: Kirby And The Forgotten Land Updated To Version 1.1.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

Mgalens

@KayFiOS
Star allies was definitely one i was hoping to get a 60fps patch since from what i gather its one of the few if only kirby sidescrollers to run at 30 (though i think 64 may have run at 30 too) considering the wii and even 3ds games were running at 60 (i think it was due to some of the more fancy lighting effects star allies has) i remember while i didnt notice it much on release going back to star allies after playing return to dreamland deluxe definitely made it more noticeable.

Re: Video: Uh Oh, Elden Ring On Switch 2 Has Issues In Handheld Mode

Mgalens

The no footage thing does at least make me hope that the "early build" reasoning holds some weight to it and it could end up at least a bit smoother at launch but im usually very skeptical about improvements down the line unless the devs/publishers state that said improvements will happen, after all there were people dismissing criticisms of scarlet and violets performance in previews using the "earlier build" rhetoric though that was when the game was only a month from release.

going by the comments it does seem like it was expected going by the track record when it comes to optimisation of fromsoft games (along with comments how it also had issues on other systems)

Re: Tales Of Xillia Remastered Coming This October, Confirmed 30fps For Switch

Mgalens

@Dimjimmer
with Graces it also seemed to run worse than the original Graces on wii too (the none F version)

it does make me curious whats going on with some of these tales remasters, at least the previous 2, while it does feel like the curse of the ps2 version has followed symphonia for many releases they were able to get 60fps combat on Vesperia:DE and i think that game even had the framerate unlocked (it wasn't the most stable outside of combat but im curious to see it on switch 2)

again my hoping/coping is that we eventually get some kind of switch-2 patch or something, maybe even one for graces-F but thats really pushing expectations though it also makes me curious if the specific dev team behind this remaster didnt have switch-2 dev kits or something, either way it feels like something down the line didnt go right with this and the graces F remaster.

(again though, hoping at least for the best in the future at least)

Re: Tales Of Xillia Remastered Coming This October, Confirmed 30fps For Switch

Mgalens

@ottoecamn
from what i gather one thing which had been changed is that the moustache with a pipe accessory is now a moustache with a beard, iirc this was on the japanese site so maybe there was some big change in how smoking affects the age rating, kind of similar to how gambling can effect things in europe to the point Trails from zero and Trails to azure got Pegi-18 ratings in europe purely because they had a casino.

Re: Tales Of Xillia Remastered Coming This October, Confirmed 30fps For Switch

Mgalens

@Sylamp
kind of similar to how confusing square-enix can be when it comes to things like upgrade paths where things like FF tactics gets one but dragon quest I and II remake doesn't, then dragon quest III remake gets upgraded to what is essentially a switch 2 version via a free patch.

@Isaix
iirc this one also later got a physical bundle with Xillia 2 down the line on ps3 , and the Symphonia chronicles got a physical bundle including tales of graces F too (again back on ps3).

Re: Tales Of Xillia Remastered Coming This October, Confirmed 30fps For Switch

Mgalens

Honestly wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt that the ps3 version was 60fps in combat, it was a similar case with tales of graces in that the switch version was the only version to be 30 in combat, all previous versions iirc including the wii original were 60 in combat, also from what i gather the switch version of graces had input lag in combat which considering how much the combat relied on some snappy reactions was unfortunate.

Re: Random: The Pokémon Company Is Putting This Pronunciation Debate To Bed

Mgalens

@JohnnyMind
yeah names and regional stuff can always be confusing, even when theres material with voice acting and/or a dub things can still get confusing, i mean the dynasty warriors series pronounced Cao Cao as "cow cow" for a while and that was the name of an actual person and not a fictional creature like in this case.

(still aint pronouncing Gif as "Jif" though)

Re: Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac Is A Big Glow-Up On Switch & Switch 2

Mgalens

@Elbow
i remember really wanting to play this when younger, think i did get around to trying it and enjoyed what i played but didnt finish it so this could be a good chance to do that.

no expert on classic pac man but did pick up that collection a while back and had fun (even had a bit of a soft spot for pac-land)

Re: Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac Is A Big Glow-Up On Switch & Switch 2

Mgalens

@HammerKirby
yeah its like the ramble i went on in the topic about pixel perfect vs 4:3 in which while someone remembering a game looking better is often attributed to "nostalgia" there are a lot of reasons why a game would of actually looked better back then than how it is being presented in a modern context, another reason would be things like how some older games just look more natural on CRT (my go-to would be the modern ports of the psone FF games which have an issue with the modern resolution characters clashing with the original-res backdrops)

that aside though i do think the remaster looks really nice, there are a few areas i preferred in the original look such as the geometry in that grassy area (also the death pit is gone) and the fog/trees in that area with the bouncy platforms and the big-net and while i would love more remakes to have the option of playing the original for comparison and preservation sake (since its interesting to play them together and can often make me appreciate some aspects in remakes) i do understand that in a lot of cases things like licensing and not being able to access the original assets or whatnot make this not viable.

Re: Opinion: We Really Don't Need A Donkey Kong Timeline

Mgalens

one of the things i love about the kirby series is that while the games stand on their own they will often throw a bone to fans who enjoy speculating through things like continuity nods and little tidbits of info in things such as boss pause screen descriptions along with various fun aspects of the plot, yet for those who dont care about that kind of thing they can easily be ignored, you can enjoy a kirby game on its own, you can still enjoy their narrative without having played any of the other games

Its not turning the games into a big cinematic (or rather gaming) universe where individual media often requires other media to prop it up but at the same time its just letting who enjoy this kind of thing have their fun discussing and speculating, so yeah i wouldn't really want them to release some official timeline for their games like that zelda one since that would also take away from some of said fun.