No spoilers, but the final boss music goes hard. I got to it a couple days ago, and honestly almost started getting emotional by it, lol. That orchestra was COOKING.
Level-5 has a pretty strong partnership with Namco as well, although I guess they go by Bandai-Namco these days and would be "company B." But I'm pretty sure Namco published Ni No Kuni at the very least.
While these are the "traditional" dungeons fans have been asking for, they veer too far on the simplistic side. It's probably because they give you the freedom to create your own solutions, but none of the puzzles felt very cleverly designed. It was all pretty basic stuff, and now that I've beaten the game, not much about the dungeon layouts really stands out in my mind. The only thing I really remember thinking was kinda neat was the ice temple, where you have to change the temperature inside the rooms. But that was the only dungeon with a gimmick that felt like something you'd find in one of the older titles.
That said, it is nice to play a Zelda dungeon where I don't get stuck on a puzzle for an exorbitant amount of time. There are Zelda games where I've gotten stuck in a dungeon as a kid and eventually just put the game down entirely before revisiting it years later. I never found that level of frustration here, but at the same time, there does need to be some level of challenge to make the gameplay stimulating. It's a hard balance to strike, I guess. I do miss the dungeon items that make each one feel more unique and allow for more creative puzzles, though.
The game does make some notable improvements to dungeons, though, such as being able to activate waypoints that let you teleport to different rooms. It reduces on the backtracking and makes navigation way less tedious. I also like how on the map, you can see which rooms that doors and latters lead to. This was a big annoyance in Link's Awakening.
Overall, this is the most enjoyable the exploration has ever been in a 2D Zelda game, with a large map packed with tons of NPC's with side quests. But with that said, the more passive combat isn't very engaging to me. It's a neat concept, but I wish either that Zelda's spin move doubled as a light melee attack or that the Tri Rod could shoot projectiles like a fire/ice rod. The AI of your echoes is often not great, and I would always get really frustrated when my sword meter ran out and I couldn't easily refill it.
I'd still probably give the game a 9/10 though because the exploration was so good, and I also really enjoyed that this game had more of a story than most 2D Zeldas. When it comes to Nintendo games released in 2024 starring a female protagonist who is usually relegated to a side role, I enjoyed this one significantly more than Princess Peach Showtime, which I would only give maybe a 7/10.
Only ever had the 3DS version of Generations growing up as I didn't own a PlayStation or Xbox. I've wanted to play the console version of this game for years after all the good things I've heard. Can't wait for this to come out!
It's wild how the political paradigm has shifted so drastically in the last couple years. It felt like the West was becoming increasingly more and more Liberal, but the pushback has been immense as of late. Elon's takeover of Twitter was a massive turning point.
People are tired of constantly walking on eggshells--our culture's obsession with political correctness is, I believe, one of the leading causes of the depression and anxiety epidemic plaguing us. No one can have a normal human conversation without being paranoid that their words will cause offense, that something they said in a tweet from years ago would be used against them for the rest of their lives. It's not a healthy way to live.
I'm glad people are finally coming to the realization that it's okay to go against the grain, and that the policing of free speech is never a good thing. People also seem to be waking up to the bogus narratives that perpetuate both sides of the media. The free thinkers are the real woke ones!
This comment section, which would have been a lot more "progressive" just a few years ago, has a much more diverse range of opinions, and I think that's really encouraging to see. If you lean Left, that's perfectly fine, but cracking down on free speech and dehumanizing those who think differently under the guise of moral superiority instead of engaging in difficult but constructive conversations isn't okay--regardless of which party perpetuates it. (I'm an Independent, for the record.)
I'm proud of Nintendo Life that I don't see a bunch of deleted comments. I'm hoping they've finally come to the same realization about censoring people's voices. Anyways, I'm looking forward to finally playing Dragon Quest III for the first time, regardless of this nonsense.
Currently alternating between Echoes of Wisdom and Epic Mickey right now, primarily. I played the first couple hours of The Plucky Squire on launch day, but there's just been so many games that it's fallen by the wayside, unfortunately. I'll pick it back up in the coming weeks, though.
I'm wanting to start a new let's play series for my YouTube channel, "Nintentrovert," but I'm not sure which I want to do first! I'm thinking either Super Mario Galaxy or Sonic Mania. Other series I'd like to do in the relatively near future include Rayman Legends, Pac-Man World, A Hat in Time, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Metroid Dread, Super Mario Wonder, and Super Mario Sunshine. I've played all these games before so they aren't blind playthroughs, full disclaimer. Let me know which game you think I should start with! Or, if there's a similar title I didn't name that you'd like me to play! I have a strong bias for platformers if it isn't obvious, but I'm open to playing other stuff on my channel.
The hypocrisy with framerate elitists is that they claim to want a consistent 60 frames a second, but that doesn't account for the frames they miss every time they blink.
It hasn't been a problem for me, personally. Maybe that's because I almost exclusively game on Nintendo hardware so I'm just desensitized to it, I don't know. But I'm several hours into this game and I haven't particularly noticed.
It's certainly nowhere near as bad as Epic Mickey Rebrushed on Switch, which I'm also playing through right now. There are a lot of moments where the game will almost appear to buffer for a couple seconds, dropping down to like 1-5 frames a second here and there. Even that isn't enough to ruin the game for me, but it does make you say "yikes."
But Echoes of Wisdom's framerate isn't perceivable to me, personally. Ocarina of Time only ran at like 20 FPS back on the N64, right? My first time playing it was on NSO, and it took me a while to get used to it. I found it to be very disorienting. Neither this game nor Link's Awakening had that effect on me.
Only a couple games have had such bad framerates that it made me physically unwell. Maybe I could desensitize myself to it, but I find the original SNES Star Fox to be unplayable. The parade level in the Switch version of A Hat in Time, and any of the seafaring sections in Adventure Time: Pirates of the Carribean are also atrocious and will make you feel like you've suffered a stroke. The Switch version of Crash Team Racing had that problem after some updates but I don't know if they fixed it. (It's a much worse problem in fast-paced racing games).
But outside of those handful of examples, every other game I've played has had a frame rate that's been perfectly passable to me. I dunno. I know people said the 30 FPS thing with Thousand-Year Door was enough to make them pass on the game entirely, and I just think that's asinine. But, what do I know?
@Burning_Spear Yeah, I actually grew up with Activision Classics on my PS2, which is the only way I'd even know about those old Atari games. I just want to have it on a modern system that I can play portably. Thank you though!
I guess that's why they said the trailer was a "concept" for their new game. Even if it doesn't make it in the final game though, that's still uncool because what you're essentially doing is false advertising.
The hypocrisy, though, is that a lot of the shovelware on the eShop seems to use AI-generated images and basically directly plagiarize Disney and other IP.
I don't expect to hear about a new Sonic game or anything since Generations isn't even out yet. Probably the only gaming-related announcements would be a cross-promotiin like Sonic in Brawlhalla or an update on the mobile games or something. I'd say it will mostly just be merch. Best case scenario we get a console port of Sonic Dream Team, but I don't even think that's very likely yet.
Geez, this looks like it's gonna be a behemoth in size, lol. I know some people have expressed concern that it won't be as convenient to take on the go, but larger size at least means that playing with a singular Joy-Con will be much more comfortable in the hands for those who play in tabletop mode. A larger size may have also been a necessity to fit all the chip components or whatever in there to make it as powerful as it appears to be.
At the end of the day, this being a significantly more powerful version of the Switch that can stand toe-to-toe with PlayStation and Xbox fidelity is the most important thing, so I can't be too upset. But I was really hoping for like a retractable second screen or something to make it more compatible with DS/3DS games as well as to recreate the asymmetrical multiplayer of Wii U games if one of the screens can be detached and put in the dock while the other syncs up wirelessly and acts as a standalone controller. I even saw one person propose the idea that you could but these two screens back-to-back with each other for some really interesting tabletop play like a game of Battleshio, and I think that could've been awesome.
I had also really hoped the IR cameras would be moved to the top of the controller and that an IR sensor would be in the dock for Wii-level precision pointing. Maybe they've improved gyro enough that it no longer drifts or something. That would be amazing, but I'm probably just coping.
The whole thing with the OG Switch was being a "Swiss army knife" of all of Nintendo's past iterations and just hitting all that DNA into one system. I'd like to have seen them expand upon that. DS' dual screen approach and an included stylus, Wii pointer controls, Wii U asymmetrical gameplay, and even 3DS' stereoscopic 3D. The latter one is a complete pipe dream, but I thought it was such a great effect and not jusy a gimmick. I would pay extra for a 3D handheld.
But, again, while I wish there were more belle and whistles, we're at least getting the essentials. I'd rather there be no gimmicks than for Nintendo to invent some new, crappy ones that nobody cares about. I do hope that they improve upon HD rumble and make it more like the DualSense controller, though! And I'd also like the Joy-Con to be a glossy instead of matte finish and for the colors to actually match this time.
Last two things of note--it's a bummer that it presumably won't be compatible with current Joy-Con or other alternatives. I own several different colors as well as a Hori Split Pad Pro, a GameCube replica split controller, and probably more that I'm forgetting. What about charging the NES replica controllers that don't have a USB port? But I am very happy that it has a built-in microphone, which will be good for porting DS games and also presumably can be used for voice chat.
I would have picked up this game on Switch, but I recently quit my job, so I'm trying to save money where I can. The game is free on PS Premium, so that's where I've been playing it instead. I guess I made a good call. Hopefully this game gets patched later on Switch, though.
This would be a good start toward preserving legacy media, but let's not stop here. I still want the N64 DD, Satellaview, and Virtual Boy games on the service as well.
@Ashina Yeah, between this, LEGO Horizons, and that Sony baseball game coming to Switch... makes me dream of a world where we have games like Ape Escape but also Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Astro, Sackboy, PaRappa, and Ratchet and Clank on Switch. They'd all feel right at home and do incredibly well. And for those characters to be potential newcomers in Smash. I don't expect it, but it would be the dream. Each day we seem to get at least somewhat closer to that reality, albeit in small ways.
I sure hope we get a September Direct, but just a regular one. I think we could do with one final Switch-focused Direct before shifting gears to a new console. It's time for the niche stuff like Wario Land, Rythm Heaven, Kid Icarus, and Chibi-Robo! Also, a new Mario Baseball, and some new NSO games like Banjo-Tooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Super Smash Bros., Wario Land 1, 2, and 4, Donkey Kong Land 1-3, DK '94, Kirby Nightmare in Dream Land, and WarioWare Twisted. Finally, where are the ports for Metroid Prime 2-3 and Wind Waker / Twilight Princess? There's more than enough potential left on the current-gen hardware before we start looking ahead at what's next.
Hoping to finish up Bakeru, then maybe go back and finish Immortals: Fenyx Rising, which has taken a bit of a back seat. On my YouTube channel, I recently started a playthrough of Kirby's Return to Dream Land; hopefully I can finish that this weekend as I haven't recorded the past couple days, and then I can move on to maybe Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze as the next game I play on camera.
It's a solid game and a strong contender for game of the year. It doesn't necessarily bring a whole lot new to the table that we haven't seen in other Nintendo games, but that's okay--not every game has to re-invent the wheel. This game stands out, though, for being a lovely homage to Sony's most beloved franchises. It feels less like product placement and more like a love letter to gaming in the same vein as Smash Bros. I'm not even a big PlayStation fan, but I can still appreciate all the fanservice on offer. Team Asobi has something really special on their hands.
That said, if we're looking at this from the perspective of "console wars," games like this one and Concord do highlight how Sony isn't exactly the pioneer of original ideas and does largely copy the rest of the industry at large. Nintendo sets trends, Sony follows them. Even the DualSense technology iterates off Nintendo's own HD rumble.
That said, I can't deny that Sony's enhanced vibration technology is leagues ahead of Nintendo's. Astro Bot is a gorgeous technical showcase, not just for the controller, but also the raw horsepower of the console. It really emphasized to me how Nintendo needs to step up their game in the graphics department. There are literally hundreds of 3D models on screen at a time that can be interacted with individually. I love engaging with the environment and, on the ice cream level for example, sending dozens of sprinkles flying toward the camera when I spin into them. I'm pretty sure my Switch would catch on fire if you tried to replicate this.
It's too late now, but if this game releases a couple years earlier, I could see Nintendo taking notes and saying, "We need to implement some of this technology in our next console!"
Astro Bot is a must-own in everyone's PS5 collection, but it's not "better" than Mario. I enjoy the games leagues more than 3D World, and even Odyssey. But it doesn't surpass Galaxy, Super Mario 64 or even Bowser's Fury in my eyes. Nintendo isn't the only competition anymore when it comes to 3D platformers, though. I'm glad the genre has made a resurgence and hope it continues to last, although I'm admittedly getting a bit fatigued from them all, which is not something I even thought I'd say!
It's a pretty big deal to me and a lot of others. It's more convenient to have it all on one system, but even putting that aside, Nintendo will eventually run out of replacement parts for the original Switch like they did Wii U and 3DS. The online servers and the eShop will shut down. When your system breaks, those games will be gone forever, as Nintendo will likely discontinue cloud services on old hardware eventually.
Then, once those games are no longer accessible, Nintendo will find a way to sell them back to us again at full price with minimum upgrades in a neverending cycle. I'm not paying $60 for New Super Mario Bros. U a third time, now with 4k support. I was annoyed that if I wanted all my Wii U games on the next system I would have to buy them all over again, but it was at least understandable since the Switch used cartridges instead of disks and was such a drastically different form factor. But if the next system iterates off Switch hardware, there's really no excuse.
Gamers want the confidence to know their purchases are futureproof. I can't imagine how other industries could get by with it, like if you were to buy a new DVD player that doesn't support all the old DVD's you already have. It would be insane to ask your consumers to keep multiple DVD players in the house that each work with different products. Gaming should be no different.
I kid you not, I just woke up from a dream where there was a new Nintendo Direct and they announced a remastered collection of 6 SEGA games all in one package. Evidently this was the "super game" they've been working on. HD remakes of the Sonic Adventure games were two of the titles included, and they both looked really nice. In the dream, I was like, "I feel like it's cheating to remake 6 games in one and sell it for $60 and call it a 'super game,' but that's a steal, so I doubt anybody is going to be upset about this."
They also announced a new 2D Rayman with a hand-drawn art style like Legends, but it was less detailed and looked closer to something like Disney Illusion Island with a much more simple art style like you'd see in a children's book. I wasn't that happy about the art direction but was stoked to see Rayman come back. Especially considering Ubisoft did a fake-out and showed us a weird Rayman puzzle spinoff right before announcing the new mainline game.
They also had four members of the Nintendo Treehouse demoing Super Mario Party Jamboree and I think were showing off a new mode or something. It looked like the one from the first Super Mario Party and the 3DS games where you're moving on a grid. I haven't thought about that mode in a while until the dream reminded me, and now I'm wishing it was in Jamboree because it was honestly pretty fun lol.
That's pretty much all I remember from the dream. I think I woke up this morning before actually finishing the Direct to know what else was there. There was an indie 3D platformer shown off where the protagonist was a black woman. It looked really cool, and 3D platformers are my bread and butter, but for some reason in the dream I was adamant that I wouldn't like it because I thought too many games were copying Hollow Knight including this one. But Hollow Knight is a 2D metroidvania so that argument didn't really make sense.
I often have very vivid dreams and have at a couple points in my life kept a dream log that I would write in every morning because I think the subconscious mind is incredibly fascinating. Lemme know if you want me to share more gaming related dreams, lol. I don't comment in the forums much, but maybe I should start a thread in the "Other" category or whatever it is for people to share their non-gaming dreams as well. Like when I dreamt my hometown was flooded with grape soda. That could be fun.
The silver and gold ink on the Pearl and Marina ones is really cool. But I'll probably pass on these because I'm honestly just sick of Nintendo releasing more figures of the same characters over and over again when they could do so many other original characters.
Looks like Nintendo Life finally fixed the exploit that allowed me to make a singular comment as long as I wanted. Curse you, Liam Doolan! (Idk if you're to blame, but I see your name on this website a lot, so I'm using you as my scapegoat. )
•Aero the Acro-Bat - This game, and its sequel, I just downloaded out of morbid curiosity. I had never even heard of it before NL announced they were coming to Switch. I have a soft spot for second-rate platforming mascots, so I had to give this game a try. I love the concept, as you don't often see a bat starring in a platformer, and he's a trapeze artist at that, which I've never seen outside of Rasputin in Psychonauts, which came much later.
Unfortunately, the level design isn't great. I try to avoid using the remind feature in retro games, but here, it's a must. Spikes are instant death, and levels are absolutely scattered with them. Many of them are placed in death traps just offscreen, like there are times where you'll need to shoot yourself out of a cannon and can adjust the meter that determines how high you'll go. But there's no way to know how high you need to fill the meter without hitting a spike on the ceiling. This is a frequent occurrence and would be very annoying.
Enemies can also have weird hit boxes, where I often just can't get them to die and instead take damage despite seemingly hitting them in the exact same way that killed them before. Invincibility items are placed in safe areas with no enemies where they serve no real purpose. The 1-up sound effect isn't victorious but rather sounds like if you guessed an answer wrong in a trivia game. And levels can be tedious to navigate, as the end goal doesn't open until you achieve some weird task like stepping on all the star platforms. You may find yourself running around aimlessly through these levels and repeating the same platforming challenges over and over again because you've checked every corner of the map five times and still don't know where that last platform is that you need to move on.
It's... something else. The sequel looks better though, so I am looking forward to getting to that one. But the first Aero game is only maybe a 4 or 5/10. A lot of personality--the designs are pretty cool, and it's well animated and the music isn't half bad--but the level design and questionable hitboxes are where it all just falls apart, really.
I may also finish the Battle for Bikini Bottom playthrough I've been working on for my YouTube channel, "Nintentrovert." But, I've been lazy and haven't recorded in a week or so. And by "lazy," What I really mean is that I've gotten self-conscious and have started questioning whether I'm cut out for the whole content creation thing. But, I need to get out of my head and just do it!
•Immortals: Fenyx Rising - I've had this one for a while but only got around to really diving deep into it maybe a month ago or less. I'm getting pretty close to beating it, I believe. I've maxed-out my health meter but still have a ways to go with my stamina. Some elements of the game can be frustrating; I don't think the Vaults of Tartaros (which is this game's version of Shrines) are as finely crafted as the puzzles in BotW, so they tend to get quite tedious. The story can also feel nonsensical and while it tries to be funny, the comedy often doesn't land. I wish the game took itself a bit more seriously.
Overall, though, I think it's a perfectly competent BotW clone. It has many of the same elements, like gliding, climbing, and even using mushrooms to refill your stamina gauge. But it does add some new things to the formula, like being able to swim underwater (although this is a very under-used mechanic), being able to guide your arrows' flight path, and being able to summon your mount or change the time of day by holding a button instead of having to stop at a stable or rest at a campfire.
As someone who didn't really enjoy TotK, it was nice to play an open-world Zelda-like that actually had a unique new map for me to explore. I also enjoy how when you go into first-person mode to place markers, you can unveil locations of chests, vaults, challenges, etc. by slowly panning your cursor around and looking/listening for an audio and visual cue. It's kind of like using a metal detector or something. Not sure if I'm explaining it we'll, but it's very satisfying to do. There are only four materials in the environment though, which is a little lame. No mixing and matching ingredients for different recipes here. I'd give the game maybe an 8.5/10 so far.
•Astro Bot - I obviously haven't has as much time with this one, since it just came out yesterday. But so far, it's shaping up to be a game of the year contender, for sure. Every level is so varied, both in terms of aesthetics and gameplay, and many levels left me with a big smile on my face; I should note that I don't smile often, for whatever reason. Pretty much every issue I have with Bakeru is solved here. Levels are much shorter (many can probably be beaten in just a minute or two if you ignore all collectibles and just make a mad dash to the finish), so at no point does it feel like it's dragging.
The game looks and sounds great, and I love just messing around in the environment. Clearing out snow and knocking around the literal dozens if not hundreds of 3D objects strung about (i.e., apples, cubes, etc.) is mesmerizing, like I'm a cat pawing at a toy. And I'm not one who likes to stop and mess around with things in games like that because I usually see it as a waste of time.
One of the levels I played earlier may be one of my favorite levels in any game ever. You get this power-up that turns Astro into a mouse, and he shrinks down to scale. Small flowers thay were just decoration before can now be used as platforms. You can switch from being big to small on the fly, and they do some really clever stuff with this in the level design. It's so cool to get up close with these tiny objects and see just how detailed their textures and polygon counts actually are. It's really a fantastic showcase for the PS5's graphical capabilities, and the DualSense audio and rumble add an extra layer of immersion. My biggest concern is that the game does seem like it's going to be fairly short, much more so than Bakeru. That game has quantity, but this one is quality. At least a 9/10, but it's hard to say definitively. Oh, and some of the references to other franchises (including third-parties, not just other Sony IP) are really charming.
•Bakeru - I preinstalled this one ahead of the US launch. I had strongly contemplated importing this game from Japan but was glad I held off in hopes of a localization. I'm enjoying the game, it has a strong visual identity and a ton of charm and personality. But the combat (of which there is a LOT) gets pretty repetitive and monotonous, especially considering the levels are massive and can go on for like 30 minutes each. Due to the repetitive nature of the game, I don't know that I can give it any higher than an 8/10, but I'm still far from finished.
For a 3D platformer, the amount of content on offer is pretty staggering, though. I'm pretty sure there's like 50 levels, maybe more. This game has some of my favorite collectibles, as each one is a fun fact, usually pertaining to Japan. Also, each level takes place in a different real-world region in Japan, which is awesome. Makes me want more games like this set in different countries, like a game in America where you travel to all 50 states.
It's a good game, but like Princess Peach Showtime, it can sort of feel like a LEGO game at times with just how straightforward the core gameplay loop is. It can also be rather choppy. But due to how charming it is, I'd still say it's the best Good Feel title since Woolly World. The aeathetics give me strong Mario vibes, and I wonder if this is the devs testing the waters to possibly lend support to new, 3D Nintendo titles like a 3D Yoshi or Wario Land or maybe even Mario.
This would be really great to see. I'd love to have Crash, Spyro, and Cuphead in particular. And my best friend is obsessed with Tomb Raider (she's somehow put over 130 hours into the remastered trilogy), so she'd flip for a Lara one.
At the very least, it would be great to have one for all the Smash Ultimate fighters. Would love to rep my boy Pac-Man. This might be a little too ambitious, but can you imagine if we got a profile icon for every Smash Ultimate Spirit? Then we'd have stuff like Rayman, Shovel Knight, Bomberman, Resident Evil, etc. I proposed this idea once before, and I still think it would be sick.
I hope we get a remaster of Kid Icarus Uprising on Switch so we can get a Hades icon. He's one of my favorite characters from anything ever.
This is like my #1 must-have feature. Switch has the greatest gaming library of all time. If all that doesn't carry over to the next system, I'm not sure if I'd even be that interested anymore.
As an American, it comes as news to me that Shibata has been gone for all this time. I thought he was still president of NOE. I guess he left around the same time as Reggie? What was the reason for his departure? From what little I knew, he seemed like a fun-loving individual who embodied a lot of Iwata. Can't believe I'm only just now realizing he left. It's crazy how much of the company staff is no longer there.
This is going to be a jam-packed next few months, which is pretty much par for the course. Since like 2019, the fall season has been packed with more new game releases than I know what to do with. This is what I'll be picking up so far:
SEPTEMBER •Bakeru •Epic Mickey •The Plucky Squire •Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom •Astrobot
OCTOBER •Sonic X Shadow Generations •Super Mario Party Jamboree
NOVEMBER •Mario & Luigi: Brothership •Dragon Quest III HD-2D
Hopefully, we'll also get some good NSO drops these next few months as well. Still a decent handful of GB, GBA, and N64 games they could add.
All of that should be more than enough to hold me over for the rest of the year, then 2025 will kick off with DKC Returns. Who knows what else will be in store? We already know about Metroid Prime 4, Dragon Quest I & II HD, Little Nightmares III, probably Fantasy Life i since it was delayed from this year, and a handful of other titles I'm looking forward to--which is more than we've known going into other years. And those are all titles coming to original Switch hardware and exclude the fact we're getting a brand-new console.
I'm more of a casual Sonic fan, so I never really played any of the games where Shadow had prominent story significance. I never touched Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Heroes, Sonic '06, etc. I have almost no connection to the character and always associated him with the mediocre era of Sonic games where they prioritized edgyness over substance.
But that said... this movie looks great, man. One of the best movie trailers I've ever seen. Even as someone who isn't a hardcore Sonic guy, it looks great. This is the Mario Movie trailer all over again, with Bowser yelling "Open the gates!" and burning down the ice Fortress. Now we have Shadow's cinematic debut, which is just as bad-A as that was.
So happy Jim Carrey is repricing his role one more time as well. Despite the success of the Sonic movies, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last one. It feels like this is the perfect sendoff to a trilogy, like it's all been culminating to this moment.
It's hard to believe this is the same movie franchise we all thought would be terrible with the hideous original CG Sonic. This is the epitome of things that shouldn't exist due to Hollywood meddling and SEGA not always showing their properties the respect they deserve in favor of a quick cash grab. These movies are really something special, and we should all just appreciate the astronomically small odds that it ended up being as good of a ride as it had been. By all accounts, this isn't the timeline we should be living in.
I come from a devoutly religious background that promotes sexual modesty, so I'm probably more of a "prude" than most people on this website. But even I think that's going too far to disqualify him, especially with such a large jackpot on the line. I'd be devastated if I was him. Poor guy. At least he wasn't doing a Nazi solute or something.
Seeing as now Nintendo likes to revisit old ideas, I could see them taking what they learned from this and applying it to some sort of Miiverse-like platform in the future.
"One other consistent rule was that all posts on the board should be objective and nothing could be suggested based on subjective impressions — everything on the board needed to be backed up with facts."
That's right, if you start spreading misinformation, the Nintendo ninjas are gonna hit you with the community notes.
@riderkicker Well, someone should tell Purple Lamp to do that AFTER they remake the SpongeBob Movie game. I'm an entitled gamer and they need to listen to what I say.
Never got to play the original back in the day, but I was always very interested. I never really grew up with the Mickey Mouse shorts, so I don't really have a connection to the character, but I'm a diehard fan of 3D platformers and I love the Tim Burton vibes from this game.
I'm a big fan of animation, too, so maybe I should go back and watch some of the old Mickey shorts from back in the day. Any recommendations?
I mean, I would be willing to pay for it and wouldn't feel ripped off personally because I'm sure it will be a substantial hardware leap and that I'll get more than my money's worth of enjoyment from it.
But do I think it's a good idea? No.
Nintendo doesn't need to repeat the 3DS situation where they released the direct successor to their most popular system but charged too much for it, resulting in them having to slash the prices significantly just a few months later.
Granted--the situation now is very different. There's still a lot of buzz around the current Switch in ways there really wasn't with the DS, so it's not like they need to build momentum ahead of the new console launch. Especially if the console has a strong launch lineup, unlike the 3DS, which I fully expect it will.
Switch hype is a double-edged sword though, because while Nintendo isn't having to fight for the market's attention right now, they could end up competing with themselves. People might not want to buy a "Switch 2" because they still have so many other games to play on their current hardware.
I think $400 is a reasonable asking price. Any higher and I don't know that the console will be able to achieve anywhere close to the level of success of the OG Nintendo Switch. Or, at the very least, it will have a much lower install base for the majority of its life until the price of the hardware drops. And I don't think Nintendo wants that. They would probably rather sell each unit at a loss if it guarantees a large pool of customers will be available to purchase their games.
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Re: Masahiro Sakurai's Excellent YouTube Series Is Coming To An End This Month
I love him so much. Even my six-year-old nephew has commented on how young Sakurai looks. 🤣
Re: Zelda Speedrunners Are Already Beating Echoes Of Wisdom In Under An Hour
No spoilers, but the final boss music goes hard. I got to it a couple days ago, and honestly almost started getting emotional by it, lol. That orchestra was COOKING.
Re: Video: Mario & Luigi: Brothership New Trailer Introduces The Cast Of Concordia
I seem to be one of the few people who isn't sold on the art style, but Peach's character model is super cute. Probably my favorite depiction of her.
Re: Level-5 CEO Implies Nintendo Is To Thank For Professor Layton's Comeback
Level-5 has a pretty strong partnership with Namco as well, although I guess they go by Bandai-Namco these days and would be "company B." But I'm pretty sure Namco published Ni No Kuni at the very least.
Re: Opinion: I Didn't Realise How Much I'd Missed 'Traditional' Zelda Dungeons
While these are the "traditional" dungeons fans have been asking for, they veer too far on the simplistic side. It's probably because they give you the freedom to create your own solutions, but none of the puzzles felt very cleverly designed. It was all pretty basic stuff, and now that I've beaten the game, not much about the dungeon layouts really stands out in my mind. The only thing I really remember thinking was kinda neat was the ice temple, where you have to change the temperature inside the rooms. But that was the only dungeon with a gimmick that felt like something you'd find in one of the older titles.
That said, it is nice to play a Zelda dungeon where I don't get stuck on a puzzle for an exorbitant amount of time. There are Zelda games where I've gotten stuck in a dungeon as a kid and eventually just put the game down entirely before revisiting it years later. I never found that level of frustration here, but at the same time, there does need to be some level of challenge to make the gameplay stimulating. It's a hard balance to strike, I guess. I do miss the dungeon items that make each one feel more unique and allow for more creative puzzles, though.
The game does make some notable improvements to dungeons, though, such as being able to activate waypoints that let you teleport to different rooms. It reduces on the backtracking and makes navigation way less tedious. I also like how on the map, you can see which rooms that doors and latters lead to. This was a big annoyance in Link's Awakening.
Overall, this is the most enjoyable the exploration has ever been in a 2D Zelda game, with a large map packed with tons of NPC's with side quests. But with that said, the more passive combat isn't very engaging to me. It's a neat concept, but I wish either that Zelda's spin move doubled as a light melee attack or that the Tri Rod could shoot projectiles like a fire/ice rod. The AI of your echoes is often not great, and I would always get really frustrated when my sword meter ran out and I couldn't easily refill it.
I'd still probably give the game a 9/10 though because the exploration was so good, and I also really enjoyed that this game had more of a story than most 2D Zeldas. When it comes to Nintendo games released in 2024 starring a female protagonist who is usually relegated to a side role, I enjoyed this one significantly more than Princess Peach Showtime, which I would only give maybe a 7/10.
Re: Shadow's Sonic Generations Campaign Length Reportedly Revealed
Only ever had the 3DS version of Generations growing up as I didn't own a PlayStation or Xbox. I've wanted to play the console version of this game for years after all the good things I've heard. Can't wait for this to come out!
Re: Dragon Quest Creator Chimes In On Characters Showing Less Skin In Upcoming HD-2D Remake
It's wild how the political paradigm has shifted so drastically in the last couple years. It felt like the West was becoming increasingly more and more Liberal, but the pushback has been immense as of late. Elon's takeover of Twitter was a massive turning point.
People are tired of constantly walking on eggshells--our culture's obsession with political correctness is, I believe, one of the leading causes of the depression and anxiety epidemic plaguing us. No one can have a normal human conversation without being paranoid that their words will cause offense, that something they said in a tweet from years ago would be used against them for the rest of their lives. It's not a healthy way to live.
I'm glad people are finally coming to the realization that it's okay to go against the grain, and that the policing of free speech is never a good thing. People also seem to be waking up to the bogus narratives that perpetuate both sides of the media. The free thinkers are the real woke ones!
This comment section, which would have been a lot more "progressive" just a few years ago, has a much more diverse range of opinions, and I think that's really encouraging to see. If you lean Left, that's perfectly fine, but cracking down on free speech and dehumanizing those who think differently under the guise of moral superiority instead of engaging in difficult but constructive conversations isn't okay--regardless of which party perpetuates it. (I'm an Independent, for the record.)
I'm proud of Nintendo Life that I don't see a bunch of deleted comments. I'm hoping they've finally come to the same realization about censoring people's voices. Anyways, I'm looking forward to finally playing Dragon Quest III for the first time, regardless of this nonsense.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (28th September)
Currently alternating between Echoes of Wisdom and Epic Mickey right now, primarily. I played the first couple hours of The Plucky Squire on launch day, but there's just been so many games that it's fallen by the wayside, unfortunately. I'll pick it back up in the coming weeks, though.
I'm wanting to start a new let's play series for my YouTube channel, "Nintentrovert," but I'm not sure which I want to do first! I'm thinking either Super Mario Galaxy or Sonic Mania. Other series I'd like to do in the relatively near future include Rayman Legends, Pac-Man World, A Hat in Time, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Metroid Dread, Super Mario Wonder, and Super Mario Sunshine. I've played all these games before so they aren't blind playthroughs, full disclaimer. Let me know which game you think I should start with! Or, if there's a similar title I didn't name that you'd like me to play! I have a strong bias for platformers if it isn't obvious, but I'm open to playing other stuff on my channel.
Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom's Frame Rate Is "Even Worse" Than Link's Awakening
The hypocrisy with framerate elitists is that they claim to want a consistent 60 frames a second, but that doesn't account for the frames they miss every time they blink.
Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom's Frame Rate Is "Even Worse" Than Link's Awakening
It hasn't been a problem for me, personally. Maybe that's because I almost exclusively game on Nintendo hardware so I'm just desensitized to it, I don't know. But I'm several hours into this game and I haven't particularly noticed.
It's certainly nowhere near as bad as Epic Mickey Rebrushed on Switch, which I'm also playing through right now. There are a lot of moments where the game will almost appear to buffer for a couple seconds, dropping down to like 1-5 frames a second here and there. Even that isn't enough to ruin the game for me, but it does make you say "yikes."
But Echoes of Wisdom's framerate isn't perceivable to me, personally. Ocarina of Time only ran at like 20 FPS back on the N64, right? My first time playing it was on NSO, and it took me a while to get used to it. I found it to be very disorienting. Neither this game nor Link's Awakening had that effect on me.
Only a couple games have had such bad framerates that it made me physically unwell. Maybe I could desensitize myself to it, but I find the original SNES Star Fox to be unplayable. The parade level in the Switch version of A Hat in Time, and any of the seafaring sections in Adventure Time: Pirates of the Carribean are also atrocious and will make you feel like you've suffered a stroke. The Switch version of Crash Team Racing had that problem after some updates but I don't know if they fixed it. (It's a much worse problem in fast-paced racing games).
But outside of those handful of examples, every other game I've played has had a frame rate that's been perfectly passable to me. I dunno. I know people said the 30 FPS thing with Thousand-Year Door was enough to make them pass on the game entirely, and I just think that's asinine. But, what do I know?
Re: Every New Game For Atari 50's New Paid DLC Has Been Revealed
@Burning_Spear Yeah, I actually grew up with Activision Classics on my PS2, which is the only way I'd even know about those old Atari games. I just want to have it on a modern system that I can play portably. Thank you though!
Re: Level-5's New Yo-Kai Watch 'Holy Horror Mansion' Teaser Supposedly Features AI Artwork
I guess that's why they said the trailer was a "concept" for their new game. Even if it doesn't make it in the final game though, that's still uncool because what you're essentially doing is false advertising.
Re: The Nintendo Museum's Exclusive Merch Looks Seriously Cool
Is that a Nintendo 64 keychain in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
That GameCube shirt is sick.
Re: Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom's Map Is Eight Times The Size Of Link's Awakening's
Nice! How large would that be in comparison to Link to the Past, since it's based on that map?
Re: Every New Game For Atari 50's New Paid DLC Has Been Revealed
I just want an Activision Atari collection. Kaboom, Pitfall, etc.
Re: Nintendo Is Reportedly Targeting AI-Generated Mario Pictures
So, fighting fire with fire?
The hypocrisy, though, is that a lot of the shovelware on the eShop seems to use AI-generated images and basically directly plagiarize Disney and other IP.
Re: Yo-Kai Watch Returns With 'Holy Horror Mansion' Teaser
I've never really had any interest in Yokai Watch, bit this looks sick. Will definitely keep an eye on it!
Re: Sonic Central Presentation To Give "Sneak Peek" At Upcoming Projects On 24th September
I don't expect to hear about a new Sonic game or anything since Generations isn't even out yet. Probably the only gaming-related announcements would be a cross-promotiin like Sonic in Brawlhalla or an update on the mobile games or something. I'd say it will mostly just be merch. Best case scenario we get a console port of Sonic Dream Team, but I don't even think that's very likely yet.
Re: 8BitDo Is Now Selling NES-Style Keycaps
I misread this as "NES-style kneecaps." Now I'm disappointed that I'll never get prosthetic gaming appendages.
Re: Random: Someone 3D Printed The Rumoured 'Switch 2' Design
Geez, this looks like it's gonna be a behemoth in size, lol. I know some people have expressed concern that it won't be as convenient to take on the go, but larger size at least means that playing with a singular Joy-Con will be much more comfortable in the hands for those who play in tabletop mode. A larger size may have also been a necessity to fit all the chip components or whatever in there to make it as powerful as it appears to be.
At the end of the day, this being a significantly more powerful version of the Switch that can stand toe-to-toe with PlayStation and Xbox fidelity is the most important thing, so I can't be too upset. But I was really hoping for like a retractable second screen or something to make it more compatible with DS/3DS games as well as to recreate the asymmetrical multiplayer of Wii U games if one of the screens can be detached and put in the dock while the other syncs up wirelessly and acts as a standalone controller. I even saw one person propose the idea that you could but these two screens back-to-back with each other for some really interesting tabletop play like a game of Battleshio, and I think that could've been awesome.
I had also really hoped the IR cameras would be moved to the top of the controller and that an IR sensor would be in the dock for Wii-level precision pointing. Maybe they've improved gyro enough that it no longer drifts or something. That would be amazing, but I'm probably just coping.
The whole thing with the OG Switch was being a "Swiss army knife" of all of Nintendo's past iterations and just hitting all that DNA into one system. I'd like to have seen them expand upon that. DS' dual screen approach and an included stylus, Wii pointer controls, Wii U asymmetrical gameplay, and even 3DS' stereoscopic 3D. The latter one is a complete pipe dream, but I thought it was such a great effect and not jusy a gimmick. I would pay extra for a 3D handheld.
But, again, while I wish there were more belle and whistles, we're at least getting the essentials. I'd rather there be no gimmicks than for Nintendo to invent some new, crappy ones that nobody cares about. I do hope that they improve upon HD rumble and make it more like the DualSense controller, though! And I'd also like the Joy-Con to be a glossy instead of matte finish and for the colors to actually match this time.
Last two things of note--it's a bummer that it presumably won't be compatible with current Joy-Con or other alternatives. I own several different colors as well as a Hori Split Pad Pro, a GameCube replica split controller, and probably more that I'm forgetting. What about charging the NES replica controllers that don't have a USB port? But I am very happy that it has a built-in microphone, which will be good for porting DS games and also presumably can be used for voice chat.
Re: Review: The Plucky Squire (Switch) - Enormously Charming, But Not So Plucky On Switch
I would have picked up this game on Switch, but I recently quit my job, so I'm trying to save money where I can. The game is free on PS Premium, so that's where I've been playing it instead. I guess I made a good call. Hopefully this game gets patched later on Switch, though.
Re: Rumour: Nintendo May Be Looking To Add SNES Mouse Support To Switch Online
This would be a good start toward preserving legacy media, but let's not stop here. I still want the N64 DD, Satellaview, and Virtual Boy games on the service as well.
Re: Sony's PlayStation Vita Exclusive Freedom Wars Is Getting Remastered For Switch
@Ashina Yeah, between this, LEGO Horizons, and that Sony baseball game coming to Switch... makes me dream of a world where we have games like Ape Escape but also Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Astro, Sackboy, PaRappa, and Ratchet and Clank on Switch. They'd all feel right at home and do incredibly well. And for those characters to be potential newcomers in Smash. I don't expect it, but it would be the dream. Each day we seem to get at least somewhat closer to that reality, albeit in small ways.
Re: Poll: With 'Switch 2' Rumours Swirling, Will There Be A September Direct This Year?
I sure hope we get a September Direct, but just a regular one. I think we could do with one final Switch-focused Direct before shifting gears to a new console. It's time for the niche stuff like Wario Land, Rythm Heaven, Kid Icarus, and Chibi-Robo! Also, a new Mario Baseball, and some new NSO games like Banjo-Tooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Super Smash Bros., Wario Land 1, 2, and 4, Donkey Kong Land 1-3, DK '94, Kirby Nightmare in Dream Land, and WarioWare Twisted. Finally, where are the ports for Metroid Prime 2-3 and Wind Waker / Twilight Princess? There's more than enough potential left on the current-gen hardware before we start looking ahead at what's next.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (14th September)
Hoping to finish up Bakeru, then maybe go back and finish Immortals: Fenyx Rising, which has taken a bit of a back seat. On my YouTube channel, I recently started a playthrough of Kirby's Return to Dream Land; hopefully I can finish that this weekend as I haven't recorded the past couple days, and then I can move on to maybe Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze as the next game I play on camera.
Re: Random: Sakurai And Team Asobi Exchange Pleasantries Over Astro Bot
Uhm, ackshually, there's 301 of the little guys to collect. I guess Sakurai didn't complete the final challenge. Git gud! /s
Re: Does Astro Bot's Super Mario 'Inspiration' Cross A Line? Fans Seem Divided
It's a solid game and a strong contender for game of the year. It doesn't necessarily bring a whole lot new to the table that we haven't seen in other Nintendo games, but that's okay--not every game has to re-invent the wheel. This game stands out, though, for being a lovely homage to Sony's most beloved franchises. It feels less like product placement and more like a love letter to gaming in the same vein as Smash Bros. I'm not even a big PlayStation fan, but I can still appreciate all the fanservice on offer. Team Asobi has something really special on their hands.
That said, if we're looking at this from the perspective of "console wars," games like this one and Concord do highlight how Sony isn't exactly the pioneer of original ideas and does largely copy the rest of the industry at large. Nintendo sets trends, Sony follows them. Even the DualSense technology iterates off Nintendo's own HD rumble.
That said, I can't deny that Sony's enhanced vibration technology is leagues ahead of Nintendo's. Astro Bot is a gorgeous technical showcase, not just for the controller, but also the raw horsepower of the console. It really emphasized to me how Nintendo needs to step up their game in the graphics department. There are literally hundreds of 3D models on screen at a time that can be interacted with individually. I love engaging with the environment and, on the ice cream level for example, sending dozens of sprinkles flying toward the camera when I spin into them. I'm pretty sure my Switch would catch on fire if you tried to replicate this.
It's too late now, but if this game releases a couple years earlier, I could see Nintendo taking notes and saying, "We need to implement some of this technology in our next console!"
Astro Bot is a must-own in everyone's PS5 collection, but it's not "better" than Mario. I enjoy the games leagues more than 3D World, and even Odyssey. But it doesn't surpass Galaxy, Super Mario 64 or even Bowser's Fury in my eyes. Nintendo isn't the only competition anymore when it comes to 3D platformers, though. I'm glad the genre has made a resurgence and hope it continues to last, although I'm admittedly getting a bit fatigued from them all, which is not something I even thought I'd say!
Re: Onward And Upward! This Upcoming Mario Wonder Plushie Actually Talks
(sweats profusely) "Gimme dat flower."
"Sir, it's a sentient being!"
"GIMME... DAT... FLOWER."
Re: Rumour: Switch "Successor" Will Be Backwards Compatible, It's Claimed
@stevep
It's a pretty big deal to me and a lot of others. It's more convenient to have it all on one system, but even putting that aside, Nintendo will eventually run out of replacement parts for the original Switch like they did Wii U and 3DS. The online servers and the eShop will shut down. When your system breaks, those games will be gone forever, as Nintendo will likely discontinue cloud services on old hardware eventually.
Then, once those games are no longer accessible, Nintendo will find a way to sell them back to us again at full price with minimum upgrades in a neverending cycle. I'm not paying $60 for New Super Mario Bros. U a third time, now with 4k support. I was annoyed that if I wanted all my Wii U games on the next system I would have to buy them all over again, but it was at least understandable since the Switch used cartridges instead of disks and was such a drastically different form factor. But if the next system iterates off Switch hardware, there's really no excuse.
Gamers want the confidence to know their purchases are futureproof. I can't imagine how other industries could get by with it, like if you were to buy a new DVD player that doesn't support all the old DVD's you already have. It would be insane to ask your consumers to keep multiple DVD players in the house that each work with different products. Gaming should be no different.
Re: Video: Early Gameplay Of Sega Revival Projects Leak Online
I kid you not, I just woke up from a dream where there was a new Nintendo Direct and they announced a remastered collection of 6 SEGA games all in one package. Evidently this was the "super game" they've been working on. HD remakes of the Sonic Adventure games were two of the titles included, and they both looked really nice. In the dream, I was like, "I feel like it's cheating to remake 6 games in one and sell it for $60 and call it a 'super game,' but that's a steal, so I doubt anybody is going to be upset about this."
They also announced a new 2D Rayman with a hand-drawn art style like Legends, but it was less detailed and looked closer to something like Disney Illusion Island with a much more simple art style like you'd see in a children's book. I wasn't that happy about the art direction but was stoked to see Rayman come back. Especially considering Ubisoft did a fake-out and showed us a weird Rayman puzzle spinoff right before announcing the new mainline game.
They also had four members of the Nintendo Treehouse demoing Super Mario Party Jamboree and I think were showing off a new mode or something. It looked like the one from the first Super Mario Party and the 3DS games where you're moving on a grid. I haven't thought about that mode in a while until the dream reminded me, and now I'm wishing it was in Jamboree because it was honestly pretty fun lol.
That's pretty much all I remember from the dream. I think I woke up this morning before actually finishing the Direct to know what else was there. There was an indie 3D platformer shown off where the protagonist was a black woman. It looked really cool, and 3D platformers are my bread and butter, but for some reason in the dream I was adamant that I wouldn't like it because I thought too many games were copying Hollow Knight including this one. But Hollow Knight is a 2D metroidvania so that argument didn't really make sense.
I often have very vivid dreams and have at a couple points in my life kept a dream log that I would write in every morning because I think the subconscious mind is incredibly fascinating. Lemme know if you want me to share more gaming related dreams, lol. I don't comment in the forums much, but maybe I should start a thread in the "Other" category or whatever it is for people to share their non-gaming dreams as well. Like when I dreamt my hometown was flooded with grape soda. That could be fun.
Re: Splatoon 3's New amiibo Are Now Available, Will You Be Getting Them?
The silver and gold ink on the Pearl and Marina ones is really cool. But I'll probably pass on these because I'm honestly just sick of Nintendo releasing more figures of the same characters over and over again when they could do so many other original characters.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th September)
Looks like Nintendo Life finally fixed the exploit that allowed me to make a singular comment as long as I wanted. Curse you, Liam Doolan! (Idk if you're to blame, but I see your name on this website a lot, so I'm using you as my scapegoat. )
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th September)
(4/4)
•Aero the Acro-Bat - This game, and its sequel, I just downloaded out of morbid curiosity. I had never even heard of it before NL announced they were coming to Switch. I have a soft spot for second-rate platforming mascots, so I had to give this game a try. I love the concept, as you don't often see a bat starring in a platformer, and he's a trapeze artist at that, which I've never seen outside of Rasputin in Psychonauts, which came much later.
Unfortunately, the level design isn't great. I try to avoid using the remind feature in retro games, but here, it's a must. Spikes are instant death, and levels are absolutely scattered with them. Many of them are placed in death traps just offscreen, like there are times where you'll need to shoot yourself out of a cannon and can adjust the meter that determines how high you'll go. But there's no way to know how high you need to fill the meter without hitting a spike on the ceiling. This is a frequent occurrence and would be very annoying.
Enemies can also have weird hit boxes, where I often just can't get them to die and instead take damage despite seemingly hitting them in the exact same way that killed them before. Invincibility items are placed in safe areas with no enemies where they serve no real purpose. The 1-up sound effect isn't victorious but rather sounds like if you guessed an answer wrong in a trivia game. And levels can be tedious to navigate, as the end goal doesn't open until you achieve some weird task like stepping on all the star platforms. You may find yourself running around aimlessly through these levels and repeating the same platforming challenges over and over again because you've checked every corner of the map five times and still don't know where that last platform is that you need to move on.
It's... something else. The sequel looks better though, so I am looking forward to getting to that one. But the first Aero game is only maybe a 4 or 5/10. A lot of personality--the designs are pretty cool, and it's well animated and the music isn't half bad--but the level design and questionable hitboxes are where it all just falls apart, really.
I may also finish the Battle for Bikini Bottom playthrough I've been working on for my YouTube channel, "Nintentrovert." But, I've been lazy and haven't recorded in a week or so. And by "lazy," What I really mean is that I've gotten self-conscious and have started questioning whether I'm cut out for the whole content creation thing. But, I need to get out of my head and just do it!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th September)
(3/4)
•Immortals: Fenyx Rising - I've had this one for a while but only got around to really diving deep into it maybe a month ago or less. I'm getting pretty close to beating it, I believe. I've maxed-out my health meter but still have a ways to go with my stamina. Some elements of the game can be frustrating; I don't think the Vaults of Tartaros (which is this game's version of Shrines) are as finely crafted as the puzzles in BotW, so they tend to get quite tedious. The story can also feel nonsensical and while it tries to be funny, the comedy often doesn't land. I wish the game took itself a bit more seriously.
Overall, though, I think it's a perfectly competent BotW clone. It has many of the same elements, like gliding, climbing, and even using mushrooms to refill your stamina gauge. But it does add some new things to the formula, like being able to swim underwater (although this is a very under-used mechanic), being able to guide your arrows' flight path, and being able to summon your mount or change the time of day by holding a button instead of having to stop at a stable or rest at a campfire.
As someone who didn't really enjoy TotK, it was nice to play an open-world Zelda-like that actually had a unique new map for me to explore. I also enjoy how when you go into first-person mode to place markers, you can unveil locations of chests, vaults, challenges, etc. by slowly panning your cursor around and looking/listening for an audio and visual cue. It's kind of like using a metal detector or something. Not sure if I'm explaining it we'll, but it's very satisfying to do. There are only four materials in the environment though, which is a little lame. No mixing and matching ingredients for different recipes here. I'd give the game maybe an 8.5/10 so far.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th September)
(2/4)
•Astro Bot - I obviously haven't has as much time with this one, since it just came out yesterday. But so far, it's shaping up to be a game of the year contender, for sure. Every level is so varied, both in terms of aesthetics and gameplay, and many levels left me with a big smile on my face; I should note that I don't smile often, for whatever reason. Pretty much every issue I have with Bakeru is solved here. Levels are much shorter (many can probably be beaten in just a minute or two if you ignore all collectibles and just make a mad dash to the finish), so at no point does it feel like it's dragging.
The game looks and sounds great, and I love just messing around in the environment. Clearing out snow and knocking around the literal dozens if not hundreds of 3D objects strung about (i.e., apples, cubes, etc.) is mesmerizing, like I'm a cat pawing at a toy. And I'm not one who likes to stop and mess around with things in games like that because I usually see it as a waste of time.
One of the levels I played earlier may be one of my favorite levels in any game ever. You get this power-up that turns Astro into a mouse, and he shrinks down to scale. Small flowers thay were just decoration before can now be used as platforms. You can switch from being big to small on the fly, and they do some really clever stuff with this in the level design. It's so cool to get up close with these tiny objects and see just how detailed their textures and polygon counts actually are. It's really a fantastic showcase for the PS5's graphical capabilities, and the DualSense audio and rumble add an extra layer of immersion. My biggest concern is that the game does seem like it's going to be fairly short, much more so than Bakeru. That game has quantity, but this one is quality. At least a 9/10, but it's hard to say definitively. Oh, and some of the references to other franchises (including third-parties, not just other Sony IP) are really charming.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th September)
(1/4)
I'm juggling a few different games this week:
•Bakeru - I preinstalled this one ahead of the US launch. I had strongly contemplated importing this game from Japan but was glad I held off in hopes of a localization. I'm enjoying the game, it has a strong visual identity and a ton of charm and personality. But the combat (of which there is a LOT) gets pretty repetitive and monotonous, especially considering the levels are massive and can go on for like 30 minutes each. Due to the repetitive nature of the game, I don't know that I can give it any higher than an 8/10, but I'm still far from finished.
For a 3D platformer, the amount of content on offer is pretty staggering, though. I'm pretty sure there's like 50 levels, maybe more. This game has some of my favorite collectibles, as each one is a fun fact, usually pertaining to Japan. Also, each level takes place in a different real-world region in Japan, which is awesome. Makes me want more games like this set in different countries, like a game in America where you travel to all 50 states.
It's a good game, but like Princess Peach Showtime, it can sort of feel like a LEGO game at times with just how straightforward the core gameplay loop is. It can also be rather choppy. But due to how charming it is, I'd still say it's the best Good Feel title since Woolly World. The aeathetics give me strong Mario vibes, and I wonder if this is the devs testing the waters to possibly lend support to new, 3D Nintendo titles like a 3D Yoshi or Wario Land or maybe even Mario.
Re: Soapbox: Switch Really Needs Third-Party Profile Icons - Here Are Our Top Picks
This would be really great to see. I'd love to have Crash, Spyro, and Cuphead in particular. And my best friend is obsessed with Tomb Raider (she's somehow put over 130 hours into the remastered trilogy), so she'd flip for a Lara one.
At the very least, it would be great to have one for all the Smash Ultimate fighters. Would love to rep my boy Pac-Man. This might be a little too ambitious, but can you imagine if we got a profile icon for every Smash Ultimate Spirit? Then we'd have stuff like Rayman, Shovel Knight, Bomberman, Resident Evil, etc. I proposed this idea once before, and I still think it would be sick.
I hope we get a remaster of Kid Icarus Uprising on Switch so we can get a Hades icon. He's one of my favorite characters from anything ever.
Re: Rumour: Switch "Successor" Will Be Backwards Compatible, It's Claimed
This is like my #1 must-have feature. Switch has the greatest gaming library of all time. If all that doesn't carry over to the next system, I'm not sure if I'd even be that interested anymore.
Re: Nintendo Of Europe Announces Leadership Changes As President Resigns
As an American, it comes as news to me that Shibata has been gone for all this time. I thought he was still president of NOE. I guess he left around the same time as Reggie? What was the reason for his departure? From what little I knew, he seemed like a fun-loving individual who embodied a lot of Iwata. Can't believe I'm only just now realizing he left. It's crazy how much of the company staff is no longer there.
Re: Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games And Accessories For September And October 2024
This is going to be a jam-packed next few months, which is pretty much par for the course. Since like 2019, the fall season has been packed with more new game releases than I know what to do with. This is what I'll be picking up so far:
SEPTEMBER
•Bakeru
•Epic Mickey
•The Plucky Squire
•Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
•Astrobot
OCTOBER
•Sonic X Shadow Generations
•Super Mario Party Jamboree
NOVEMBER
•Mario & Luigi: Brothership
•Dragon Quest III HD-2D
Hopefully, we'll also get some good NSO drops these next few months as well. Still a decent handful of GB, GBA, and N64 games they could add.
All of that should be more than enough to hold me over for the rest of the year, then 2025 will kick off with DKC Returns. Who knows what else will be in store? We already know about Metroid Prime 4, Dragon Quest I & II HD, Little Nightmares III, probably Fantasy Life i since it was delayed from this year, and a handful of other titles I'm looking forward to--which is more than we've known going into other years. And those are all titles coming to original Switch hardware and exclude the fact we're getting a brand-new console.
Re: Zelda Timeline Featuring Breath Of The Wild And Tears Of The Kingdom Spotted
Wait, there was a civil war?
Re: Sonic 3 Movie Director Reflects On "Full Circle" Shadow The Hedgehog Moment
I'm more of a casual Sonic fan, so I never really played any of the games where Shadow had prominent story significance. I never touched Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Heroes, Sonic '06, etc. I have almost no connection to the character and always associated him with the mediocre era of Sonic games where they prioritized edgyness over substance.
But that said... this movie looks great, man. One of the best movie trailers I've ever seen. Even as someone who isn't a hardcore Sonic guy, it looks great. This is the Mario Movie trailer all over again, with Bowser yelling "Open the gates!" and burning down the ice Fortress. Now we have Shadow's cinematic debut, which is just as bad-A as that was.
So happy Jim Carrey is repricing his role one more time as well. Despite the success of the Sonic movies, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last one. It feels like this is the perfect sendoff to a trilogy, like it's all been culminating to this moment.
It's hard to believe this is the same movie franchise we all thought would be terrible with the hideous original CG Sonic. This is the epitome of things that shouldn't exist due to Hollywood meddling and SEGA not always showing their properties the respect they deserve in favor of a quick cash grab. These movies are really something special, and we should all just appreciate the astronomically small odds that it ended up being as good of a ride as it had been. By all accounts, this isn't the timeline we should be living in.
Re: "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" Sees Pokémon TCG Player Disqualified At World Championships
I come from a devoutly religious background that promotes sexual modesty, so I'm probably more of a "prude" than most people on this website. But even I think that's going too far to disqualify him, especially with such a large jackpot on the line. I'd be devastated if I was him. Poor guy. At least he wasn't doing a Nazi solute or something.
Re: Random: Nintendo Created Its Own Zelda-Themed Social Media To Help TOTK Development
Seeing as now Nintendo likes to revisit old ideas, I could see them taking what they learned from this and applying it to some sort of Miiverse-like platform in the future.
Re: Random: Nintendo Created Its Own Zelda-Themed Social Media To Help TOTK Development
"One other consistent rule was that all posts on the board should be objective and nothing could be suggested based on subjective impressions — everything on the board needed to be backed up with facts."
That's right, if you start spreading misinformation, the Nintendo ninjas are gonna hit you with the community notes.
Re: Hands On: Epic Mickey: Rebrushed - A Fresh Coat Of Paint For A Once-Flawed Platformer
@riderkicker Well, someone should tell Purple Lamp to do that AFTER they remake the SpongeBob Movie game. I'm an entitled gamer and they need to listen to what I say.
Re: Hands On: Epic Mickey: Rebrushed - A Fresh Coat Of Paint For A Once-Flawed Platformer
@riderkicker Haven't really watched any of the Donald or Goofy shorts either, so I'm open to hearing suggestions for those as well!
Re: Hands On: Epic Mickey: Rebrushed - A Fresh Coat Of Paint For A Once-Flawed Platformer
Never got to play the original back in the day, but I was always very interested. I never really grew up with the Mickey Mouse shorts, so I don't really have a connection to the character, but I'm a diehard fan of 3D platformers and I love the Tim Burton vibes from this game.
I'm a big fan of animation, too, so maybe I should go back and watch some of the old Mickey shorts from back in the day. Any recommendations?
Re: Talking Point: Would $499 Be Too Much For 'Switch 2'?
I mean, I would be willing to pay for it and wouldn't feel ripped off personally because I'm sure it will be a substantial hardware leap and that I'll get more than my money's worth of enjoyment from it.
But do I think it's a good idea? No.
Nintendo doesn't need to repeat the 3DS situation where they released the direct successor to their most popular system but charged too much for it, resulting in them having to slash the prices significantly just a few months later.
Granted--the situation now is very different. There's still a lot of buzz around the current Switch in ways there really wasn't with the DS, so it's not like they need to build momentum ahead of the new console launch. Especially if the console has a strong launch lineup, unlike the 3DS, which I fully expect it will.
Switch hype is a double-edged sword though, because while Nintendo isn't having to fight for the market's attention right now, they could end up competing with themselves. People might not want to buy a "Switch 2" because they still have so many other games to play on their current hardware.
I think $400 is a reasonable asking price. Any higher and I don't know that the console will be able to achieve anywhere close to the level of success of the OG Nintendo Switch. Or, at the very least, it will have a much lower install base for the majority of its life until the price of the hardware drops. And I don't think Nintendo wants that. They would probably rather sell each unit at a loss if it guarantees a large pool of customers will be available to purchase their games.
Re: Nintendo Museum Tickets Will Feature Your Mii
Switch 2 will be compatible with Miis confirmed.