Phantom_R

I loved this! Maybe it's just for being the first episode, but the writing, pacing, and voices are so much better than Ash's series. Liko has a strong, relatable personality and her starter Pokemon is hilarious.

A legend in the games industry. But a welcome departure now, considering how recent Pokemon games have become such a race to the bottom in terms of quality, content, and challenge.

@Andy_C444 There are so many similar games which get coverage on these sites--only difference is that this game isn't marketed toward straight men.

Anyway, @Zuljaras adding "a crucifix or Hannah Montana game" to phrases which have never been uttered before.

I would not be able to resist the urge to stick this behind a bush on a hiking trail.

Crazy how BOTW2 is taking as long as the original game, even though it's reusing the same engine. Refining that engine was the bulk of BOTW's development time.

@CharlieGirl Chex Quest is SO NOSTALGIC for me! I would only play it on the easiest difficulty and stop playing at the last level, because I just wanted to win over and over. Now I've beaten the full trilogy (you can find it online in one download).

I love that it recreates the fun, varied pacing of DOOM without the grotesque imagery. The remake hasn't caught my eye, though, because the gameplay looks much slower.

The announcer is screaming aggressively enough to sound like the world's most rabid Pac-Man fan.

I want to be hyped, but... I've literally seen better graphics on GameCube.

I really disagree on Castle Conqueror Heroes. Baffling story, insanely difficult, and unbearably slow gameplay.

Similar with Dragon Quest Wars, another Fire Emblem-like game. I felt that even decent plays require way too much high-level chess knowledge. Otherwise it's all down to luck.

Pictobits and Mario & DK are really great puzzle games! Though I didn't finish them, because they were a bit too stressful for me.

I give Rhythm Thief my highest recommendation! (Good luck ever finding/affording the physical version). It's a bit rough technically, but it's got more passion and charm poured into it than almost any game I've ever played. The music and art direction are unmatched. Also has a demo.

Longtime player here--of course Yugioh has changed since y'all played it 15 years ago! It does take a solid time investment to learn what all the new cards do and how to follow/stop your opponent's "endless" turns. It's a more mentally demanding than the days of Pot of Greed and Trap Hole.

It was a big mistake for them to launch Master Duel without an alternative PvP format to help acclimate old fans. Plus the game's slow speed & animations make those long turns take five times longer than IRL (where better regulations have banned many of these combo decks). I'd encourage returning players not to be too scared off at first!

P R A I S E F R O G G Y C H A I R

"Is this a Kate article? Yep, it's a Kate article." AND WURMPLE CAN EVOLVE.

@AtlanteanMan "our society was a lot happier and laughed a lot more before all of this PC mess"

Not true at all. Suffering has always existed--you just didn't hear about it because minorities were silenced and scrubbed from historical records. Whereas today, minorities are much louder about injustice... but trust me, no matter how much you're bothered by discussions of social injustices, we actual LGBTQ people have to hear about it far more than you (and live through it).

@Manjushri I'm sorry that other people want to be able to enjoy your same hobbies in different ways?

You can just tell which articles were written by Kate, and they're always the best.

China has a huge, huge, HUGE cultural problem with cheating. It's not just accepted--it's expected and rewarded. You can find tons of stories about Chinese students being caught cheating at international universities, which usually tolerate it because they pay so much in tuition.

The culture of cheating extends to video games and even simple activities like waiting in queues at a store.

@Edu23XWiiU Did you not read my comment? Read it again.

They thought, like you, that the imagery couldn't harm them because it was "just a game". By the time they learned the hard way, the harm was already done.

Additionally, many game developers can't "just leave". They would lose their income, and in this highly competitive industry, they might not find new employment for a long time.

@Edu23XWiiU Mortal Kombat may be "just a game", but psychological harm is not.

I would guess that most of the people who didn't leave before they developed PTSD were just like you: they thought that watching people die would be harmless to their psyche because it was "just for a game".

Also consider that they may not have been able to afford leaving that job. The video game industry is full of toxic and abusive culture, because every position has a stack of resumes waiting from starry-eyed fans like you, whose optimism will fuel your Stockholm Syndrome until one day you snap.

Miyamoto has VERY good taste... And I'm not just saying that because McVitie's is always on sale for a pound. Though I honestly love generic Sainsbury's biscuits more, so what would I know about class?

I will hop on the Hobnobs hate train though. Toss those to the star foxes.

Hey, thanks for slipping a few end-game spoilers for Odyssey into this article. Stay classy, NL.

"Does anyone even remember Nintendo Land?"

ExCUUUUUSE me, but Nintendo Land is seriously the best party game ever made. Even for single player it's got tons of content. Anyone who hasn't played Nintendo Land is missing out on so many unique experiences--my friends and I will all play just a single one of its games for hours, because they're so simple yet balanced and zany.

Imagine the Nintendo Land tournaments that could have been. But it looked like another Wii Party spinoff, so people didn't give it a chance.

Every part of that demo was physically painful to look at, and it doesn't look like much of that was changed--brighter environments but the sudden flashes are still there.

And what is with tiny text these days? So many developers now seem to be making their text as small as possible, even while still leaving swaths of empty space on the screen. I would never consider buying any of these games I can't even read.

@SM4SHshorts I think the mention of Klefki was a disservice to and distraction from your argument about Mega Evolution and Z-Moves.

I personally enjoy Mega Evolution because it can turn one of your favorite Pokemon into the killing machine you always wanted it to be (with an emphasis on bonds with the trainer). I think it's okay to have this one, single-use mechanic that exists just to realize power fantasies.

I do totally agree with you on Z-Moves though, with them being corny, over-the-top anime cringe attacks.

... Klefki is bad design?

Let's remember Seel the literal seal, Grimer, Muk and Ditto the literal dollops of goop, etc. The early generations were full of lame, uninspired designs, and evolutions like Magneton / Dugtrio / Weezing, etc. The starters were all reptiles. Half the generation was poison types.

Criticizing the new games' stories is valid. But even then, most people I see complaining about story-heavy games are just blindly mashing through dialogue without even trying to enjoy the game.

Hey there, NintendoLife! Thank you so much for once again putting the spoiler directly in the title and preview of the article. I know can always rely on you to spoil everything about upcoming games, regardless of whether or not I want every surprise to be ruined.

I stopped visiting this website for a year because of your glaring Sun/Moon spoilers. It's nice to know that this will continue to be the site's policy and it was a mistake to come back.

No 3D!? The Layton series had some of the most stunning 3D on the system, and that's why I was holding out to buy the more expensive 3DS version. How much more would I have to pay to relocate to a dimension where people appreciate 3D visuals?

It probably didn't help that there were zero activities at the end, one checkpoint to shove 20k people through, etc. If only connection problems could have been half the issue.

Nintendo's been falling into a lot of flat, ugly art styles--this, Mario & Luigi, and Yoshi's New Island come to mind. What are they going for here?

No Block Fort, no deal!

@BiasedSonyFan Nintendo does essentially resell their old games, traditionally through remakes and remasters. But how many times will someone pay for the same Virtual Console direct port? That's the competition here, and I know personally that I've only bought one in this generation.

@NewAdvent "Why sell someone 30 games on limited hardware for £60 when you can sell them each one individually for £7 each on new hardware. "

What's more likely? That I'll buy one NES Mini, or nine Virtual Console games? And my friend, who doesn't have a Nintendo system or can't be bothered to figure out how the eShop and downloads work?

Now what's more likely? That my friend and I will buy the NES Mini, or that I'll buy eighteen Virtual Console games by myself?

The NES Mini no doubt steals Virtual Console sales. But it also reaches a wider audience exponentially larger than the lost sales.

amiibo was a disaster for Nintendo in terms of lost profits--a new product being successfully scalped at 500%, and wave after wave Nintendo consciously decides to continue producing dramatically under demand. Then Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival comes out and for months every store display is full of obscure Animal Crossing characters with no function, which nobody wants and no one is buying, yet now of all times Nintendo continues to produce far above demand.

Now we've got NES Mini, the same deal. Crazy moneymaker far under demand. Nintendo releases a statement acknowledging that they have not met demand, so what do they do? In the very same statement, they announce that they have no intention of ever addressing this problem, and are in fact cutting production altogether--"Sorry you're upset, valued customer and loyal supporter, but screw you, we didn't want your money anyway."

It's like everything they do is to create value on the secondhand market, where only scalpers profit, while damaging the customers' satisfaction and the company's reputation.

I've been a diehard Nintendo fan all my life, but if the Switch underperforms and Nintendo is finished, honestly, they deserve it. I've never seen a company fight so hard, so consistently, to avoid ever learning from the same mistakes they make at every possible turn.

@RupeeClock Yikes, you're right. Two models right next to each other, but with noticeably different lighting, texturing, and quality.

Nintendo's been having huge issues with recycling assets. They've been using the same stock photos, sound effects and music completely unaltered for years now. They want their IP to look consistent and professional, but it just comes off as lazy and uninspired.

It only stays fun for so long when 90% of the Pokemon you find are the same garbage, over and over. I can only collect so many Rattata and hatch so many Gligar before there's no point left in trying.

Profits surge during events when Niantic realizes that the game is fun when you can actually catch good Pokemon.

Where's the option for "I wish I could afford a Switch but I bought the 3DS and Wii U at launch price and Nintendo hates me"?

Gamestop is a magical, amazing retailer. Unlike normal retailers, who bundle products together and makes you pay less for them, Gamestop lets you pay extra for the privilege of buying in bulk.

You can even sell your game to them for $3, and but it back for just $40.

3DS/Wii U have gotten a whole lot of bland cash grabs with no unique hooks or even new graphical/audio assets. Hopefully this will be the last of them...

@TadpoleSHero Valid points, but in my experience, save points have mostly just been a way of forcing me to play a game longer than I want to, or longer than I physically can. You can't hold an audience captive and expect to engender good will in them...

It's 2017 and I guess save points still exist...

The deal breaker for me is that I'd be playing this game mostly off-TV, and the Wii U GamePad display is blurry and faded.

(Also my console's out of memory so that's the other deal breaker.)

8.8/10. Excellent use of recognizable objects and scenarios to illustrate activities made possible by this product.

I was really excited for these... but now that I've seen the price tags I wouldn't touch 'em with a ten foot pole.

Definitely excited for the tie dye and Princess Peach shoes, but I don't know if my wallet can take it.

@BakaKnight I mean, when you consider how many people want Goku in Smash... the fans aren't always right.

I think Bayonetta is like paying thanks to Platinum Games for their top-notch support of the Wii U in rough times, and not breaking their contract like Ubisoft did. And while The Wonderful 101 was more deserving of a fighter rep, Bayonetta made for the most interesting and unique character.

Nooo! Take some time to start this up and just look around someplace. I've walked away with vivid memories of what entire streets look like in three dimensions.

I won't be able to access my Wii U until two months after Wii Street U shuts down, so somebody get out there and explore that thing for me.

It drops to 30 FPS with two players on the same system... After Smash handling 8 players at 60 FPS, can there be an excuse? Or is Sakurai literally magical?

Every Amiibo display I see is absolutely packed with the Animal Crossing figures. Nintendo is making so many of them, and NOBODY wants them. I hope they get the message.

Every time someone name drops Rhythm Thief, my rhythm senses bring me to the scene.

This game (or at least some variant of it) is available on Android devices, but the Rhythm Thief iOS game is still exclusive.

I have to totally disagree with this review! It's one of the best-looking DS games out there. All of the animations are smooth, responsive, and full of life. There's WAY more content than other Kirby games, and multiple unique characters and power-ups that totally change the way you play.

It can seem gimmicky, but it's a "simple but complicated" approach. It's really fun to see what you can do with the way you draw your lines, and how quickly you can move through environments. Compared to Rainbow Curse it's more fast-paced.

If you like to play around with controls that feel good and produce captivating animations, you'll find a lot of satisfaction in this game. Just not if you want a game that's fast-paced and intense from the very beginning.