OptometristLime

@Anti-Matter the idea that you vaunt your personal taste, in may I say very eccentric preferences and then want to do away with what others might attractive in a fantasy dating/relation ship element. To me that says you maybe need to seek some time away from games rather than doubling down on very specific elements of a fantasy world. That's just me though.

For me a remaster is about taking a victory lap, it generally includes all the bells and whistles / fanservice whatever could have been left out of the original game. It's a celebration of the game itself ... obviously the studio with its developers who master minded the thing in the first place. You'd think padding out the credits would be completely normal, I mean half the time movies credit the snack team so by all means give what's due.

@Mauzuri haha I guess the origins are that when the portraits overlapped during the game it made for quite a curious image.

Since it looked funny I dressed the resulting guise up a little and turned it into a character for this forum (and a bit beyond).

Would love for them to take a break from all the rehashes and take the time needed to come up with something truly innovative. The series is in such a rut, which it seems the endless reskins will not be able to course-correct successfully.

Need to cool it with these games, only a really fantastic trilogy needs 5 sequels. Ironically the first game was fairly innovative a decade+ on now lol.

Are we not doing spoilers anymore, is this real?

Would love a dark shroud cast around games with wide exploration potential, but our Internet culture is far too desperate for tidbits to crop up.

@-wc- you've really nailed it, sucks to read through the list of games all the while knowing that it's true in 90% of cases.

My theory is that they mostly rely upon younger generations picking up Nintendo (and the power of nostalgia too of course) to drive sales towards a market base that assumes the standard quality is essentially level. It's hard to vote with your wallet in a world of quasi-deceptive marketing and against franchises which typically are excellent, or used to be. But at least avoiding preorders does protect against some of those pitfalls.

This needs to be truncated; IMO totally unreadable in the format it takes currently.

I was really expecting to read some lingering note of indulgent thinking in the delivery of such a companion article, but it's surprisingly terse and inline with how I felt in this new Hyrule.

The original game was so pure in its openness, taking the first steps from the Shrine of Resurrection and emerging into the bright vista of that first plateau. Even this moment echoed seems to highlight a difference in design ethos, a contrast in the moment to moment focus between the two games.

My main gripes would be... the proliferation of materials into the environment as the article mentions, such as those constant wagon building depots. There is no way any of the citizens in Hyrule are using these items and it takes away from the purity of the space to see all this clutter laid out for you alone to utilize.

Framey is perhaps not the best descriptor, particularly when it is the main grievance compelling this to relative mediocrity.

@Switch_Pro it's certainly not a mash-up that I myself am familiar with, can you maybe elucidate other examples of this genre?
It seems from the reviewer's perspective the visual novel elements were those in particular which carried the most tiresome effect.

@F-ZeroX

this is just some re-digested version of a bunch of news blurbs. I really hope you don't build your model of society based on what some talking heads have said about our world...

(Equally) that you find GTA to be a compelling influence any more than countless other software. As someone who consumes this material I would reasonably presume, you are also versed enough to understand that moderation and variety go just as far here as in any other entertainment medium.

I doubt this game was ever meant to be an edifying road to adulthood, and more of a divergence just like any game. It's fun to climb into the mind of someone with aspirations which might diverge from your own. The whole thing is escapism into fiduciary extravagance, as the world turns on a dime.

Golden Sun is probably the most high caliber reference that can be made in this sort of endeavor. Guess I am not being sold on these visuals so far... looks very generic whereas the GS games had an extremely vivid color palette / and exciting gameplay.

@johnvboy I think you've been very petulant in this section by choosing to alienate fans of earlier entries in the series. That to me creates some dissonance between your celebration of the new all the while bad-mouthing what created the present.

Cinematic elements seem to be very high on the list of people who have converted their enthusiasm from other great mediums like anime and movies. My feeling is that we've reached a maturation point in terms of the player base, such that the game itself speaks volumes more than can be conveyed by hand-held sequencing. Now that the game is out in the wild the zany and player lead elements of the game are in the forefront, with the story mostly absconded. But perhaps that is a matter of perspective.

Terrible opening; this kind of lusty over-coverage of these games makes them totally immune to any constructive changes going forward. Of course one can simply avoid the Internet (or sites like this) to a certain degree, but it still feels like breaking the hand to pat the back.

I think the intro should have been a flashback sequence positioned as Link falls asleep on one of the floating islands. It would have allowed players to get a feel for the controls / enjoy the freedom of the game without losing (my biggest gripe) the potentially alienated new players. For a Zelda which wants the story and even music to intrude little into the gameplay, that whole sequence beats vetarans/ new players alike over the head with confusing story elements.

@HistoricKombat you just said some word salad which still equates to the game being released in an unbalanced state. Whether it passed some arbitrary human checks is hardly notable when you consider some of the abysmal content which makes its way onto the eShop. First line of defense is the developer itself which should stand accountable and not release content until they can stand behind it as their (near-final) work.

That is an extremely reasonable price, sounds like some collectors are living in a bubble lol.

@fenlix that game actually looks amazing.

I just dropped a fat stack in hopes it may come to fruition.

Maybe I'm the only one who sees a soulless bird with eyes that penetrate into oblivion lol.

I thought we all collectively agreed to stop with these word salad title mash-ups. The usage of major franchise titles as key descriptors is a practice that has long ceased to carry any meaning... it would be nice to see descriptions for games that are collated on their own merits.

I think Ollie was forthright in his description of a lull in passion which is, at minimum, within the boundaries of expectation towards a series which fails to reinvent itself. Personal stance here from me: with any series, it should be quite acceptable to place yourself at either end of the Love/Hate spectrum and be treated respectfully.

It doubtless took some courage to post a non-homogenized viewpoint towards these rather ebulently praised titles. Hopefully by taking chances with new mechanics there will be an opportunity to appeal veterans and less devout RPG enthusiasts.

@cowntsikin those in charge of the selling appear to be taking a stingy approach; perhaps the license issue at stake has their hands tied in some fashion when it comes to making price changes.

Only a theory though.

Great game for awhile, it has nice graphics and some definite cross-over with Darkest Dungeon in terms of the town dynamics and the ever encroaching threats of evil. It does have a drop off point where you feel like you've seen everything; this does come rather early unfortunately due to the boring nature of the labyrinths which you traverse. Also the mechanism of grinding out quests for modest advancement of the storyline can become a poor return on time invested.

I will say that I went into it for the reasons advertised: stylish hand-drawn graphics, a unique slate of themed classes, and the rogue-like exploration mechanics. On these fronts I mostly enjoyed the game and do feel that I will return to it again from time to time.

While a top-notch explanation by Kate, this would seem to be an example of name accreditation which has far far exceeded the boundaries of description and/or homage to source material.

Damn you alex this is so well done this feels like one of those reviews that probably wrote itself out of sheer inspiration.

"Alex was so flustered that he forgot to write anything down, which for the purpose of avoiding spoilers he considered effortlessly convenient."

You had me at Metroidvania

... wait no you didn't.

I think this one sells itself with the artstyle but we probably need developers to take the gas off this particular pedal.

Really nice to see this article shine a light upon the more obscure "hobby" games that exist in the wild. It's no mean task to take our innate thinking processes, and "gamify" them out of their shrouded complexity. All the if's, or's, (whose butt and when?), take up the role of rudimentary logistic functions and clever developers then impress those notions onto small, graphically pleasing puzzle pieces. Behind the scenes the powerful chemistry of our brains can then some how map our ideas of mathematical consistency into a game that people play for fun. Big picture aside, there are some excellent examples in the genre and I would be hard pressed to find a more complete list then is featured here.

@BenAV you seem to have a regularly bleak outlook on games and the events surrounding them. I find it curious that you would choose to take the lead spot on the replies just to point out how you are personally disaffected by something. For a lot of us games mean more than the few hours you can blitzkrieg through the core content, and feed drips like this are welcomed.

This makes me sad in an odd nostalgic way. I think kitsch marketing has an honest quality that overly produced / generic brands often fail to capitalize on.

This site pushes the publicity of these projects out into the ether as much as any other, so I'll merely cup a hand over the mouth in a feigned gasp that actions have consequences.

Jank [sic] may be too meme-ified of a phrasing for its intended use. Yet I think perhaps for someone accustomed to the game you've found a way to describe its infectious and happy state of mayhem.
Clearly, people will judge this game on its "skin" first. My hope is for the audience to embrace this goofy modality, as a welcome departure from the ever more "severe" survival genre.

It's immoral in my opinion (deceitful for sure as it appears to play havoc on the metrics) from the sheer standpoint of fairness. Assuming this is the correct way to handle game pricing, then everything should launch by throwing darts at a target board: Mario is $1,000 and your RPG of choice is $500. This exaggerated scenario would seem likely to compel a boycott of the market place.

tldr: Creating an atmosphere of distrust towards the pricing model seems like a failed strategy.

These videos seem less and less like an articulation of the Nintendo Life scribes for our community, and more of an outreach to other parts of the Internet. Doing both is more than possible and I would say it's a basic expectation that you support your constituency first.

A blah blah way of saying: it would be nice to see more in the way of fleshed out descriptions or articles to accompany these video pieces.

I can't believe people have the time to waste resetting a game over and over, and that's just to get a shiny starter.

Even odder people watch that biz, to each their own I guess haha.

NGL ... I do appreciate the little nod to the Metroid series, that helmet has maximum cuteness.

People are misinterpreting the article because the title is completely DISINGENOUS. But hey anything for some corny "hehe read the article pls" upvotes. I really enjoyed the content of this website but it seems like they dived right into the cesspool of click-a-doo doodoo.

Couldn't these be reasonably collapsed into titles that are under the same umbrella? If this is the kind of output it takes to make a double digit list...

Lest it be not said: these are almost entirely ports, so I'd like imagine people own some or a number of these titles already.

It's nice to see some love for Girafarig, it really wants to be a novel critter and there's a lot they could do with it. Maybe as an evolution the tail could do some kind of dark type damage with its own animation. At least they could use that as inspiration for a theme... can't just make a psychic giraffe Pokemon and leave it out to dry right?

@Bakfug appreciate you reading my comment and responding politely. I think if there's anything at all I take issue with on the cheating spectrum, it's the bevy of defenses that are procured. As long as one is fully comfortable in making this choice and are spotless earnest, I see no reason to produce any excuses at all.

Of course speaking for my own self I can make the choice not to participate in the cheating if only because personal experience has taught me that seeing the boundaries and edges of a game often makes me lose interest rather quickly. And Pokemon for all its rehashes across time is a very likely candidate for a case of burnout.

Entitlement culture is so luxurious: essentially "I" bought this game so "I" should be able to do whatever "I" want with it. Yo except it's a game that was designed not by you, without the intent to cater to your whims, but according to somebody else's design parameters. Those are likely to include discouraging things which could inhibit or spoil the fun of the game such as (artificially) bypassing the barriers and thus diluting the value of items intended to be precious.

It just feels like a world gone upside down when it's now the cheaters who feel a need to rise up and lay claim to their territory. Maybe when it took an actual hex editor or buying a game genie where there was some tangible clout (and risk) whereas this is just some erroneous code which is soon to be patched.

At least it caught me off guard some what. Ironic would perhaps help to convey the situation present in this article.

@Maxz the tagline says: "I don't know why I'm here either"

@somebread I don't understand the tenor of your reply, are u offended that I have a counter viewpoint to the one expressed in the article?

@FishyS the opinion you shared is precisely the concern I have with this review. Unfortunately it seems to be very strongly skewed towards a biased Pokemon fan rather than a larger audience of consumers.

As usual the holes of the echo chamber are sealed in by those who are resigned to the thoughts they entered with. It's okay to like or dislike a game. It's also okay to think well or negatively of a review depending on how well it caters to your needs as a consumer / curious individual. This ship sailed in with a motley collection of holes and the naysayers are there with their sticks to poke at the ensuing spectacle.

[EDIT] fun fact but as of right now the Nintendo Life review is the lowest on Metacritic... so "rofl" and "lmao" at the fake fans preaching this pablum like it's the words of life.

@tanaka2687 what if the article included a tagline such as: "this reviewer was paid by Game Freak to comment on this game?" Obviously this is not the case, but its clear that bias is always something to be aware of and can certainly interfere with one's judgement. Until review scores are handed down from a divine power I think it's okay to subject them to further inspection.

@Bolt_Strike so you're justifying bias? It's been plain to me from reading all the prelude to this that all we would see is clown car criticism. All the comment section was lined up wanting this game to fail. It's the epitome of fanbase toxicity and it's maybe the worst in the Pokemon circles.

I would like to see a reviewer approach this with a genuine thesis seeking to be tested, and it should be able to stand on its own without the context of other Pokemon games. What if someone has never played a Pokemon series game before it would be impossible to discern anything from this review... this website demands a higher standard.

@Znake already points out everything I was aiming to say.

This reviewer clearly fulfilled their own prophecy: entering into the game with a negative mindset and then manifesting every single one of their personal phobias into the game proper. You should have a capacity to illustrate how the game functions without continually kicking the baseboards in the shins. At least for me it seems lopsided, but I will know more once the game is in my hands as well.

Couple of asides: I think random battles (with wild Pokemon) will always make a lot of sense for this format, and since Repels exist this was always manageable. Also I'm not sure anyone ever thought this game would slap graphically, the aesthetic was always going to skew into a more chibi style.

I think when having a conversation about value it's necessary to keep all the cards on the table. Ignoring length as a metric seems foolish since for most gamers on limited budgets, it's about how far that dollar can take you. There are some diamonds in the rough for sure but with every transcendent 2 hours-of-power game, are many many crummy and half-baked adventures.

I'm kind of at a loss to the purpose of this article; maybe innuendo isn't the best substitute for an aim/purpose?

Comparison footage would have allowed us to cast criticism on a supposed inferior port... raw footage of a (widely understood to be) antiquated game hardly seems like a watershed moment.