Polvasti

I was planning on getting Divinity 2 if it's on sale, but that 10% discount feels like a joke, since it has been on sale with 50% off in the past. I guess I'll just wait for the next time there's a proper discount on it.

@PinderSchloss The introduction to list says "we've rounded up every game in the Nintendo's European Black Friday sale that we've awarded 9/10 or higher". So it's a list of every game Nintendo Life has rated 9 or 10 that's on sale now in Europe.

@calbeau Astral Ascent is only similar to Dead Cells in that's it's a roguelite action game with retro pixel graphics. But the general mood, the story, the gameplay mechanics and the levels are quite different from DC. As the review mentions, some of these aspects are closer to Hades, but it's not like it's just copying Hades either, it very much stands on its own.

I like roguelites but haven't played any new ones since Dreamscaper. Hadn't heard of this game before, so the review got me intrigued. I ended up buying Astral Ascent, and it seems to be pretty great indeed. The game looks and feels great and runs smoothly on the Switch. So thanks for the review!

Apparently "back to the golden age of JRPGs" means "gratuitous boob jiggle and sexist fanservice". That's not something I miss from this "golden age", so I'll give this one a pass.

@Friendly Super Mario Wonder is obviously not based on an original IP, but it's not a sequel either.

@Link-Hero
"If you only have a Switch, then it's no one's fault but your own for limiting yourself."

I know people who only play on the Switch because they can't afford to buy another console or a gaming PC. It's a bit disrespectful to say it's their fault for not being wealthy.

As much as I liked TotK, it's still obvious Baldur's Gate 3 is a better game, especially when it comes to the story and characters, which are wonderfully crafted while still allowing for an unprecedented amount of player choice. So for once you should believe the hype, BG3 is undoubtedly the best game of the year. I hope it will get ported to Switch 2, I'd love to be able to play it on the go.

This is a disappointed, a traditional anime style animated movie would've suited Zelda much better than live action, but I guess they thought it wouldn't sell well enough outside Japan.

The physical editions of Hollow Knight and Celeste came with proper manuals like this, and they're awesome. Nice to see Nintendo thinks so too, though I'm guessing this won't be a norm with them, and they're only including it here because it's a remake of a game whose original version had a manual too.

So this is basically a budget version of the Pro 2? Sounds great, because Pro 2 is the best third-party controller I've ever used, and Pro 1 one was good too.

I wouldn't mind if Switch 2 had more streaming apps than Switch 1. The Switch has a bigger and better screen than my smartphone, and better audio quality too, so I prefer to watch Youtube videos from it if I'm traveling or not in the same room with the telly. It would be nice to have other streaming services available too.

@Andee If you use groups, you can sort the games within them manually.

@HaileySheridon I agree 100% with that. If Nintendo would go back to having a separate home console and handheld console, I definitely couldn't afford to buy both + buy games for both, and it would be really hard to choose which one to get. As someone who likes playing games on the telly and in the bed and on the train while commuting to work, the hybrid nature of the Switch makes it pretty much my favourite gaming platform of all time, and it would suck if the next console wouldn't be a hybrid too.

Bigger and more ergonomic Joycons with bigger buttons and sticks would be awesome, at least as an alternative set you can buy separately. Ever since I got the Hori Split Pad I've never wanted to go back to the uncomfortable little Joycons. And yeah, I'm sure third parties like Hori will make such controllers for Switch 2 as well, but it would be nice to get similar ones as an official Nintendo product, with motion control, HD rumble and Amiibo support. Most of the third party Joycon alternatives available now lack one or more of those features.

@Rykdrew With Advance Wars 1 + 2 they could at least justify the price tag with it being a complete remake of the old games, not just a port, so it took a lot of work to make it. With this collection there's no such excuse.

@Mana_Knight The list is for the best siblings in games by Nintendo. Bubble Bobble is not a Nintendo game, so Bub and Bob are not eligible.

If the article includes characters like the jugglers from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, there's really no excuse not to include Rauru and Mineru from Tears of the Kingdom too. They're both awesome and have a lot more importance in the game than some of the other Zelda characters listed here.

I'm disappointed the entry on Cotera, Kaysa, Mija & Tera didn't mention you can actually play as them in Age of Calamity. Since you control all four of them and their floating flower fountain at the same time, the Great Fairies are among the most ridiculous player characters in Nintendo history, but they're still awesome!

@Peteykins "Young, hot Poirot"? Based on the trailer he looks like he's in his 40s or 50s in the game, and he isn't depicted as stereotypically sexy either.

I don't really play any Activision/Blizzard games, and I'm definitely not gonna play them in the future either. Consolidations like this typically mean the publishers want even more profits and are less willing to take risks for the sake of art, so AAA games will become blander and less creative as a result.

Could you imagine what would happen if Microsoft had bought Nintendo like they wanted to? Probably we would never see more of those odder and more innovative titles Nintendo still puts out, like the Wario games or even Fire Emblem.

@Ooyah Didn't you notice that the list is for the best video games of the last 30 years? That's why they didn't include oldies, and games like Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands or Secret of Monkey Island 2 weren't eligible.

Me and my spouse already have our own Switches, there's no need for a third one in this household. And with the next Nintendo console probably coming out next year, I'd rather save my money for that.

A LotR farming/village life sim sounds like a great idea, if they do it well.

This is great news, I love Pauline! Can't wait to play as her.

Looks awesome, this one will be day 1 purchase for me.

@Lone_Beagle Maybe yeah, but this the third time in a row when NL has just repeated Hello Games' information wholesale without even checking whether it's true for the Switch. This is supposed to be a Nintendo specific website, so it's quite misleading to provide us with release dates that don't apply to the Nintendo port, and completely ignore issues like the crash loops a lot of Switch players suffered from after the previous big update.

I wish that Nintendo Life wouldn't just copy-paste Hello Games press releases instead of actually looking into how things are with the Switch version. For example, the Echoes update didn't come to Switch "last month" but last week, three weeks later than on other platforms, and that's hardly the first time we've gotten an update long after everyone else. The game is still great on Switch, but it's undeniable the Switch port has had several issues, with Hello Games taking a long time to respond to them, and maintaining a total radio silence over these issues at their website and social media.

@Reztobi Did you read the introduction to the article? They explicitly mention Witcher 3 not being on the list because Nintendo Life has a separate list for the best action RPGs for the Switch, and this list is for traditional RPGs.

@NorthwestEagle Okay, I guess I understand it then. Thankfully newer games in this genre are usually plotted so that players have more options for their character instead of limiting them to one character type.

@NorthwestEagle I haven't played this one, but presumably all they would've needed to do to allow for a female PC was to change the character model in the gameplay and cutscenes? Or is there something in the plot that requires the player character to be a man?

It's funny how some people get offended when players ask for options to play as a queer or a non-male character in RPGs, as if giving those alternate options somehow stops these people from being able to play however they want to. Historically, the majority of video games have pandered to straight men, but a large percentage of gamers are not straight men, and that number as only grown during the last couple of decades. I don't get why it's so odd to ask for more options for those people who want to play a role they identify more with in a role-playing game.

Edit: this was in response to Andy Witmyer's comments above, I guess my comment looks a bit odd now that they've been removed.

Nicely written review, as always with this reviewer, and thanks for warning us about the shallowness of the social sim part. I was interested in Fae Farm, but boring NPCs are pretty much a dealbreaker for me in a game like this, so I guess I won't be getting it after all.

@JimNorman No prob, always happy to nitpick. 😄

@nhSnork It was mentioned above in the comments that Quest for Camelot was originally published by Nintendo, so that might explain why they included it, despite it being a licensed IP. It could even be that their original license agreement with Warner still covers this re-release. With licensed games published by other companies, OTOH, I doubt they're gonna bother to negotiate a deal and pay for the license just to get the game to NSO.

So I presume the three previously Japan-only games won't have their menus translated to English and you'll have to either know Japanese or try to guess what to choose from the menu, like with Panel de Pon and other Japan-only games they've added to the NSO?

@JimNorman There's a small mistake in the review: Usagi's actual name in the comics is not Miyamoto Yojimbo, it's Miyamoto Usagi. "Yojimbo" means "bodyguard" in Japanese, and the name of his comic book is "Usagi Yojimbo", i.e. "Bodyguard Usagi". (Or "Bodyguard Rabbit", since that's what the word "usagi" means, but Usagi is also his name.) A lot of people confuse the title of the comic with the name of character, since they don't know "yojimbo" refers to his job and not his name.

@Ryu_Niiyama Thank you for that text wall, it was extremely well put. I hope people who don't think about inclusivity in games or don't feel inclusivity matters that much would consider what you're saying there.

@Arawn93 That is true of course, but a lot of the games in this genre and (like you say) even some in this series do give you the choice to play as a female and/or queer character. So I think it's fine to criticise Marvelous for doing a remake/remaster of the game that has some new content, yet not bothering to add content which would take into account a large percentage of farming sim and RPG fans.

@Arawn93 It's not a tradeoff at all to those who prefer bachelors, though. Or those who'd rather just play as a woman with no romance subplots.

@Princess_Lilly I totally agree that playing as a girl is a superior option for those of us who like to play a female character. Just like playing as a boy is superior to those who prefer to play males. Too bad the game doesn't give you a choice.

I'll be skipping this too since you can only play as a male and only have a hetero romance. Too bad they didn't consider the large number of players who'd rather play as a female and/or queer character with this "special" remake.

@RendoFonzarelli You should try Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, a game which came out on the Switch last month and which Nintendo Life gave a (deserved) 9/10 review. It features some deck-building mechanics, but they are pretty light, and it's much more of a fantasy visual novel with some deep, adult themes.

I guess the Xenoblade Chronicles games count more as fantasy than scifi, otherwise you'd think they would be on the list? Nier: Automata's omission is more baffling, since that game is science fiction through and through, and it's easily one of the top 5 games available on the Switch, with an excellently made port to boot.

@duerer There's definitely some shots of Willow and Labyrinth there, as well as Dark Crystal.

I guess the new robotic race is the ones whose emergence they teased in the previous big update and the subsequent expedition? Based on the images, they look quite similar to the robot body skin you got as a reward for finishing the expedition.

Also, let's hope this update doesn't break the Switch version like the previous big one did last spring.

City builders are not my genre really, but I loved all the previous Steamworld games; Dig 2 especially is my all-time favourite metroidvania alongside Hollow Knight. So I guess I'll give this one a try too.

There's nothing wrong with saying "this game is strongly feminist, so take that into account". But your comments aren't simply about giving a well-rounded view of the game: since you equate feminism with sexism and man-bashing, and seem to think groups with way more power in society cannot be criticised any more than groups with less power, it's clear you don't know anything about even the basic ideas of feminism. So your content warning is not at all unbiased, it seems to come from you wanting to bash feminists. Again, it's like going to black metal concert and complaining that the songs were blasphemous: it's kinda pointless to criticise something you don't even understand.

Came here for the stability jokes, was not disappointed.

The game is very decidedly and openly feminist (it has "sisterhood" right there in the title) so complaining about that is like going to black metal concert and complaining that the songs are blasphemous. Some art is just meant to be political.

Also, you can't judge gender politics just by saying "what if the roles were reversed", because men and women are not interchangeable like that. Men as a whole have historically had way more power than women, and in most societies we still do. So men have done way more harm than women simply because we've had (and often still have) more opportunities and resources to do so, and more to gain from behaviour that harms others. That's why men could and should accept critiques of sexism and not automatically label them man-bashing or something.