Onion

Onion

Are you afraid of Onions?

Comments 1,197

Re: Hideki Kamiya Thinks The Switch Home Menu Is A "Piece Of Crap"

Onion

Not just the home menu but the eshop too. I recently booted up my Wii U to test out an HDMI switcher I bought and the first thing I found myself surprised at was how much better the Wii U menu and Eshop are. Same with 3DS. The Switch meanwhile has no folders, a rather poor layout in general, no music, no themes, nothing. This isn't even taking the other consoles like Xbox One X or PS4 into account. What we have right now looks more like a placeholder UI and Nintendo simply realized that fans will eat up any garbage we're given. On top of that, I don't know if it's just me, but there's noticeable lag when I'm using the Switch Eshop. I don't even understand how it can be lagging when there's virtually nothing on screen but some icons. I suffer no such lag on any other Eshop but the Switch. And don't tell me the Switch "can't handle" any of that, all of the features I've been talking about were on the freakin' 3DS.

All in all, yeah. It needs work. Hopefully we'll finally get folders in 2020.

Re: Best Of 2019: In Praise Of Save States, Rewinds And Walkthroughs

Onion

Mike is no stranger to this kind of controversy, having basically bashed the inclusion of 3D World's Silver Tanooki suit or whatever it was that becomes available when you lose so many lives in a row. Mike is a skilled gamer and also comes from a time where save states didn't exist, so I can see why he feels that way. Lots of people do. The only thing I fault Mike for is being a bit too "strong" in this opinion but I don't fault him much for it, being that I lived the same era he did and I know exactly where he's coming from. This is basically the old gamers version of the "Back in my day...!" rants old folks tend to give.

My take on it is that yeah I will sometimes use save states if I'm playing on a device that has them. I play on original hardware, emulators, everdrives, etc. so I don't always have the option, but if I do, I might take it. More often than not though I won't because like Mike, I have that old-fashioned stubborn view on gaming where save states would be considered cheating. For example I don't use them on Zelda II even if the option is there, but I won't deny the fact I did use it on Castlevania I and III when I replayed them recently because I didn't like losing a really good weapon to a silly mistake like whipping the wrong torch. If I ever play Ninja Gaiden on a device that has save states I will probably use a save state right before a boss (especially the final boss) so I can at least practice against them.

In the end I don't think it's important, really. I'm just glad more and more people are enjoying retro video games and I could care less how they're enjoying them. The more people who play them, the more I have to talk about them with. Expecting people to conform to your way of playing a game is just silly, play how you want. I mean, the PC community has been modding games forever and recently this has trickled over into console games, with lots of retro games getting patches that correct certain issues. There's one for example that adds a map to Metroid on NES and I'm all for that sort of thing if it'll help people enjoy it.

Re: Video: See How Sonic Gets His Shoes In This Latest TV Spot From Paramount

Onion

This kinda makes sense, I remember reading some book when I was a kid that explained that in the SATM universe, the shoes were a gift from Sonic's uncle because Sonic apparently burned through sneakers really fast, haha. The shoes were supposed to be custom made for his speed. Plus y'know, shoe upgrades in the classic trilogy. I can live with this.

Re: Select ACA Neo Geo Fighting Games On The Switch eShop Are Currently 50% Off

Onion

@pblive

I'd love a full collection as well. I still own a bunch of compilation discs for my PS2 and they remain some of my most played games. I'd love to see a collection for Sega Ages, Neo Geo, etc. on Switch. As of right now I'm just stalking the sales section every week hoping to get a Neo Geo or Sega Ages game at a good price.

Re: Poll: Which Starter Pokémon Is The Best? Choose Your Favourite Fire-Type Starter

Onion

Cyndaquil has always been my favorite due to the guy stomping so many of the early game dungeons and areas. Seriously, he absolutely smashes the Sprout Tower and Bugsy. He lost some ground when Gen 4's remake of GSC happened due to Totodile going from "meh" to godly, but Cyndaquil's ability to sweep a huge chunk of the early game makes him the best starter for me. Plus he's friggin' adorable!

Re: Sakurai Says Fatal Fury's Mai Isn't In Smash Because The Game "Is For Good Boys And Girls"

Onion

Makes sense, Mai has always been a male-pandering character whereas pretty much everyone else on the Smash roster are meant to appeal to everyone. Bayonetta pushes it a bit, but I know LOTS of female Smash players who really like Bayonetta. Of course she's also heavily toned down. I guess if Mai were to be included over Terry, she too would have had to be toned down in several ways.

It doesn't matter too much in the long run as both characters represent Fatal Fury and I think Terry is the right choice overall. He IS Fatal Fury. There's a reason why Mai was chosen for Dead or Alive 5 and not Terry, after all. I shouldn't have to spell out why.

EDIT: Also I've seen waaaay too many comments talking about Bayo and ZSS being in the game. Bayo is heavily censored and Zero Suit Samus is not even sexualized to the extent that Mai is. People saying this have clearly never played a single game Mai is from. ZSS is fanservice at best, Mai is borderline nude at times, including one of her win poses. Not that I personally have any problem with that but it may not be appropriate for a game like Smash.

Re: Review: Disney Classic Games: Aladdin And The Lion King - A Fine Package, But The Games Have Aged Badly

Onion

@BulbasaurusRex

Yeah someone already clued me in on that, prompting me to take a 2nd look. Bear in mind I haven't played these games in about 5 or so years, haha. The two arrows thing completely slipped my mind. But yeah outside of maybe one or two levels, I never found these games terribly difficult but that may be because I grew up in the NES era. Admittedly though as a kid I did get stuck on the "monkey stage" as everyone calls it before realizing you can do the high jump on the ostrich. I've heard some people say they had trouble grabbing the rhino tails as well but never really had too much trouble with it myself.

If it weren't for the steep asking price, I'd gladly buy and play these games again. Aladdin in particular is one of my favorite Genesis games. I would also like to see the Disney Afternoon Collection come to Switch, or a possible Rescue Rangers Remaster. The Disney games back then were pretty great overall. Also, a World of Illusion collection or similar would be really cool. Maybe all the Mickey games on Genesis and SNES bundled together. I remember Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion pretty fondly.

Re: Review: Disney Classic Games: Aladdin And The Lion King - A Fine Package, But The Games Have Aged Badly

Onion

@khululy

Honestly I don't remember that, it has been a while since I played these games. I did a quick look though and yeah they do show you the two arrows going up, so they do at least hint that you need to do something. Fair enough then. I just remember being stuck on that part for a long time as a kid, only to realize you press jump twice or something like that to get over the bird nests. I would assume that would trip up most gamers if they're new to the game. Otherwise I never found the 2nd level hard at all. Now the lava stage near the end of the game is a different story. That level is hard for me even today and I remember often getting game over on that stage as a kid.

Re: Review: Disney Classic Games: Aladdin And The Lion King - A Fine Package, But The Games Have Aged Badly

Onion

Why are the screenshots so ugly? Is that a scanline filter? It looks awful and doesn't do the games any justice. Visually speaking these games still look amazing even today when played on an actual SNES or a Super NT. Heck even a standard SNES emulator will look better than this.

With Lion King, I honestly never found it as hard as people claim outside of the level near the end of the game, which is quite literally Hell. I can beat the game pretty consistently and I never understood what was so hard about the "monkey level". The only cheap thing is that they don't tell you that you can do a high jump by tapping jump twice.

Aladdin is a much more fair game overall though, with a pretty good difficulty scale. There's a tough inferno-style level halfway through the game that can get pretty challenging, but nothing too serious.

With that being said though I think this collection is a tad ridiculous for what it is. Compared to the Disney Afternoon collection, they're charging way too much for what is essentially two games. They could have at least thrown in The Jungle Book or Rescue Rangers. I really don't understand the point of releasing a bunch of versions of Aladdin, throwing in The Lion King, and calling it a collection. If I had to guess, they're just trying to take advantage of the recent hype for Aladdin and Lion King with a quickly thrown together compilation.

The nostalgic child in me wants to disagree with the review but.... I can't. They're asking too much this time.

Re: Port Specialist Virtuos Convinced Obsidian To Bring The Outer Worlds To Switch

Onion

Been playing this game on PS4 since launch and it's extremely good, albeit a little on the short side for the genre. Definitely the kind of RPG that Bethesda and Bioware fans have been waiting for. Reminds me a lot of New Vegas with a bit of Mass Effect thrown in. It isn't a graphical powerhouse either, so it should make for an easy enough port.

Re: Two Spooky NES Games Are Creeping Onto The Switch eShop This Week

Onion

Honestly, there were better games they could have picked to represent the NES for Halloween. Some examples would be Monster Party, Shadowgate, Gargoyle's Quest 2, Faxanadu or even Rampage. This is to say nothing of the excellent Famicom titles such as Sweet Home, Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti, or Devil World. On the plus side, there's some good Halloween NES games already on the service such as Ghosts n Goblins, Metroid, and maybe Vs Castlevania if you're willing to buy it off the shop.

Re: SNK Eager To Revive Metal Slug, But Still Unsure About One-Hit Mechanic

Onion

It's always kinda strange to me that standard difficulty for these kinds of games is usually considered "hardcore" these days and often gets delegated to it's own difficulty mode. I don't see a problem with one-hit deaths in these games, it was NEVER a problem. I never once met anyone who said "You know, this game is awesome, but I hate dying in one hit!". It's just how the games were and we accepted it. Nowadays this is apparently seen as a bad thing. I especially hate it when a reviewer reviews a game and docks points for "difficulty". same with Fire Emblem and how the game is meant to be actually played gets called Classic Mode. It's just so weird to me that these things even exist. What weirds me out even more is how other franchises get celebrated for their difficulty. So it's like gamers hate one franchise for being hard but then another can do it and people throw the devs a parade. It's all jacked up.

I would say just leave the one hit deaths in and simply give more credits on lower difficulties, with a "free mode" that has infinite credits for people just wanting to practice or enjoy the game. instead of difficulty modes, they can also opt to simply have the different characters have differing amounts of life, with one character having no lifebar and others having small or large lifebars. At least then there would be some notable difference between characters.

Re: Review: BurgerTime Party! - Too Many Cooks Spoil The Burger

Onion

I really feared this would be the case. The Burgertime games have really never had a true breakout moment where they enjoyed mainstream appeal, at least not that I can remember. If it's still on the eshop, I highly recommend the excellent and cheap Burgertime Deluxe, which is the pinnacle of the series as far as I'm concerned. I don't know if one exists or not, but an Arcade Archives version of the original arcade game would be sweet as well.

Re: Random: One Metroid Fan Has Fixed Other M For All Time

Onion

People need to stop saying Other M was good. It wasn't, it was hated by both Japanese and English fans, it was loaded with problems, and it completely ignored the majority of Metroid canon in addition to trying to destroy Samus' character. I could honestly go on and on about how terrible this game is, but I digress.

Is it a good game? No. It's objectively bad and it doesn't know what it wants to be. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it though. I can understand why this might be a guilty pleasure or a fun game for a lot of people and it does have a few good qualities, such as an amazing overall Ridley boss fight. To say it's good however is just incorrect and an attempt to try and be as contrarian as possible because hey it's the internet and that's the popular thing to do! Downplaying this game's criticisms does nothing but make its fans look bad, don't do it. Accept these flaws and don't make excuses for them.

TLDR; if anyone feels like giving it a shot, go for it. It's a terrible game but so are games like Golden Axe: Beast Rider and I will be the first to admit I had a bit of fun with that game. There's a lot of cutscenes in Other M that are so bad, they're good. For anyone interested, there's also a patch that attempts to remove some of the game's more annoying features called Maximum Edition or something like that.

Re: Uh-Oh, We've Got Our First Reported Case Of Drift On The Switch Lite

Onion

Not trying to dismiss the issue but in my experience, these issues appear on Youtube and pretty soon it'll be treated like a widespread issue by the general community. Just like the so called "scratches" that appear when you dock the Switch. Never experienced drift nor scratches, and no one I know has either. Again, not dismissing the issue, just pointing out it's not a widespread issue. This is not the Red Ring of Death. Whatever it is, it seems to only impact a few of the systems. I mean, I barely had my Switch a year before one of the speakers on one side stopped working in handheld mode, so I know all too well these things can indeed happen.

Re: Review: Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition - A Pure Work Of Magic

Onion

Definitely agree the score should be 10/10, there's an obvious bias at play when it comes to 3rd party ports. Really though, still. 9/10 is an incredible score. As a general rule of thumb, I add an extra point to the numerical score if it's a third party game. For example if they give a third party game a 7/10, I always assume it's 8/10.

Really though, just read the words and ignore the numerical score. If it reads like a 10/10, then it's a 10/10. Whatever score they provide at the end doesn't matter.

Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Patch Revises Sensitive Dialogue

Onion

Looks like I was right to be concerned with the change to Byleth. At this rate, the VA change will only be the tip of the iceburg. Soon enough they'll have changed the game so much it'll be Fates' translation all over again. Let's take out anything bad! If it could trigger someone, take it out! At least with Fates we knew what we were getting, this is significantly worse because they're tampering with a game post-release. As someone who has suffered abuse in the past, I was not the least bit triggered by the original version and in fact, find it easier to relate to. The changed version just reeks of censorship, to the point where I would have probably been instantly suspicious had I seen it before the article. It just looks like something is missing.

I can only hope that I turn out to be wrong and that any significant changes like this end here. I love this game and it really pains me to see these kinds of changes being essentially forced on the player after they bought the game. Nintendo's choices with this game since release have been rather baffling.

Just leave Three Houses alone.

Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Update Replaces Byleth's Male Voice Actor

Onion

I really don't like this, I quite liked some of his critical lines. Just because someone did something bad doesn't mean they should be nuked from everything they did. It concerns me because this is an edit being literally forced upon us, and I fear it will set a precedent where any modern media can get a drastic change because someone was not a very nice person at some point in their lives. I get that the guy did some terrible stuff, but still. I just don't know about this. What happens if Charles Martinet admits to being an abuser of some kind later on, is Nintendo going to go back and start patching his voice of every game they can? It's just weird to me to handle the situation this way, but whatever.

Re: GameStop Set To Close 180 - 200 "Underperforming" Stores This Fiscal Year

Onion

I really hate to be one of those people as I never like to see a business go under and people lose jobs, but.... Good. This is the one video game store I refuse to purchase from as they have caused me NUMEROUS problems in the past. Their greed has pushed countless customers away and judging by the quick peek I took at the comments thus far, I'm certainly not alone in this.

Maybe this is will get the fat cats who run the Gamestop brand to take an honest look at their tactics and change them. If Gamestop could change their ways, that would be for the best solution, but if they can't, then let 'em burn I say. They've earned my wrath for their shoddy practices.

Re: Video: Digital Foundry Takes A Look At Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

Onion

Not really sure what people were expecting, considering this release doesn't have music bugs, it's actually releasing in a better state than 7 and 9 did. The improved models are a huge plus, but they do admittedly look a bit strange against the pre-rendered backgrounds and such. The only thing I find truly concerning is the lack of analog control. That is.... a very strange decision indeed. FF8 launched with analog support, so I don't get that at all.

I'm still going to wait a bit on this one. I was not terribly impressed with the porting work of 7 or 9 either, so I'm holding off to see if they make any notable patches to the game. Simply including analog controls would be a big plus for me. It's a shame because unlike most people, I actually really like FF8 and would love to play it in handheld mode.