Princess_Lilly

Keep it coming Clover, we got so many memories thanks to you. We gained so much.

just keep in mind that we are holding you to the 00s standard

I thought it was about a patent case lost against Palworld

those visuals are mesmerizing

I want it

I want this world to come back

@cedarhyped True, but the games from 90s and 00s are unmatched in what they are set out to do. They were exceptional and novel. If Suikoden deserves 8/10 today, what does the new Assassin's Creed or CoD deserve today - 3/10? 4/10?

As for the standards lowering, I am looking at the best games of the era. Sure, there are some fantastic games (mostly Indie and Japanese), but looking at the Western gamemaking for example, it's an almost vertical slope down. Someone who has no memories of the 00s wouldn't even believe that the Western AAA scene was once proficient enough to match the Japanese/Indie games.

But it was true. There were fantastic Western games back then. Morrowind, Jade Empire, Planescape Torment, Myst, Populous, Sacred, Disciples, Schizm, to name a few.

Coming back to the best games of the era - The top games from the 10s and 20s still pale in comparison, at least in the AAA sector. The stories are uninspired and written just for the sake of something being there. Most writers do not have anything to tell, they are just tasked to connect some places and characters and that's it. Gameplay has devolved, too. Progress is guaranteed, checkpoints await at every 2nd step, most games have autoaiming at the opponent so that everything you need to do is click one button to win. It's disheartening to see.

But that gave rise to countless Indie marvels, which is truly a sight to behold. I believe we are looking at what could be the 2nd Cambrian Explosion of Gaming, with all the novelty and integrity of what once made the medium great. The clear hegemony of Japanese games will probably be untouched, but to be honest, I do not pity the Western AAA studios. They reap what they sow

@dew12333 Keep it well preserved, it's a bit of gaming history:)

@Wisestfool like when many people remember something correctly?

@dew12333 it was the most hilarious part tbh

I played like one, without the prospect of going Andrew Tate on anyone

As much as I dislike Nintendo's practices, I have to admit - they are the only creative company out ther in this rotten industry where everyone tries to leech off everyone.

@gcunit I hate to say it but probably not long

@Olliemar28 oh yeah, that's what you meant. I didn't even notice his attempts to hide his intentions, so he did not do a very good job
@97alexk well he did initiate violence

"trying to block the kiosk without making it seem as though he's committing any kind of physical assault."

It's absolutely clear that he was committing physical assault

If it was a great game in the 90s, it should get at least a 12/10 by today's standards, where unremarkable cash grabs get 8-9/10.

@cedarhyped while it is certainly true that it has aged well, being given a similar score sounds kinda off. The standards have lowered significantly in the last 20 years. I guess this is the problem with X/10 scores, comparing them brings you to very random conclusions

Rise, our glorious creation!

For a moment I thought mar10 day is in May and was looking at the calendar frantically

I need coffee

This is an important game.

If anyone wants to delve deeper into our medium, this is the kind of games they should behold.

What bothers me is how reviews are raising points like not applying modern "standards" to landmarks of the past. Those games do not need to be watered down and simplified. They are perfect as they are.

On Your Tail and Atelier Yumia for me, this is going to be a fun month!

@BinaryMessiah I think there are valid points for both ways. Saying that there are 50 best games to play on Switch and not including FF 7 or 9 for instance would be pretty weird too <GAAAAAZEEE>.

Switch is a weird console because many games were straight up ported from Wii U, including Zelda BOTW, so I guess 2 lists would be in order

Turns out I can't leave Momodora, it keeps calling me back. Well then, I shall once more dive into it. I hope it's not as sad as the previous ones

Also why does NL pretend that Phantom Brave, one of the major 2025 releases doesn't exist? I know this section is for digitals only but it's sort of amazing we didn't get a single article about that one particular game, let alone a review, this is a Goty candidate

Both. They're jsut iconic

KAtamAAArIIII DamacYYYYY

gimmiegimmiegimmiegimmiegimmie

It's absolutely marvelous

Short version to the people not versed in Japanese - the MC was trying to find the sender of the letter with the yellow tuft, which turned out to be the kid. The kid wanted to give the letter by the end of the day as it was his father's birthday, but MC knew it wasn't possible. Dragonite came and made it possible. When the kid was reading the letter aloud (are you well, we are well, the're doing our best etc.) MC recalled that the letter she received from Dragonite when she was a kid was birthday wishes from her grandparents along with the bracelet she was wearing the whole time. Dragonite ate cake.

"but it also makes me wistful for that era of Konami. Lane mentioned Capcom, too; the PS1 and PS2 era felt magic for those two developers"

I felt that

As a major RPG fan I bounced off DQ series twice, but who am I kidding, I'll give it a try someday

You know it's for lolz when the original Red/Blue are placed 11 (even placing them outside the podium would be kinda weird)

Dayum Typhlosion really got hit with that latest drama

Guitar Hero is such a treat

I have a working guitar but I'm still thinking about the blueberry one

@wildesttimelines true, but honestly it's pretty tame by 2025 standards of weird

The Bubble Bobble artbook is calling me...

@Whirlwound True. Whenever I see a shady company (and I often check before buying on Steam for instance), it 90% is a chinese company, but I guess some other countries are just as troubled. Could be that Moldavia devs just make shady games that didn't pique my interest

Backpacks backpacks come get your backpacks

Can't even trace the country of origin of "COOL DEVS S.R.L", only one mention of it that it could be Moldavia. I'm half sure it's gonna be owned by some chinese publisher, as per tradition

It's so bad they even have AI in the cover of their other games. Wow.

Even the legendary plagiarism game "Limbo of the Lost" had only assets stolen, not the whole game

I want rich story. The girl who steals time, the titular protagonist probably has some lore, and we need stories from people who have something to tell

Doesn't Steam already have something like that? It works how it works but it's there

Punko Flop

<please disregard this line - for minimal post length purposes>

A masterpiece is a masterpiece, no matter how well it sells, but it really is a joy when more people appreciate hard work and quality.

Definitely on a "to watch at least a couple of times" list.

The eyes are not creepy like in Scarlet Violence but I would still prefer the OG pokemon eyes

But still type disadvantage to people outside of UK

Many great recommendations, Shovel Knight and Lunistice need more spotlight. Okami is a thing that I will never not recommend.

Ace Combat 7 sat well with me too (ps5) - the story was actually written by someone who had something to convey, it's not just a bang bang background filler. It's rare for action games.

Also Phantom Brave Lost Hero 10/10 review when

This is wonderful. This truly is s magnificent year

@Tyranexx word up. It's not even a matter of price anymore, literally I can't "afford" my shelf space

I know it's a work of love but I can't help but think "come on guys, your talent and effort is better spent elsewhere, here the best thank you will get for making free advertisement is a takedown notice"

@demacho welcome to clownworld 2025, where everything has gone comically wrong for the last 15 years and it's only gonna get worse

"I don't know who to trust."

Hoping this time they'll enlist more than 3 people to work on Pokemon Zaza

@-wc- Exactly. Nintendo just doesn't offer any volume options, and it wasn't an issue 20 years ago, but today, not presenting any options at all feels very barebones. Also it was just an example of how Nintendo doesn't really care all that much about the details anymore. I could have gone with any other instance of them being either behind everyone or downgrading things

@Serpenterror the seal of quality was a joke, explained above. As for not having volume options, again:
1. it's just an example, it was when I started noticing how they cut corners.
2. It was not an issue 20 years back, but today? Almost every game has it
3. TV volume doesn't allow tuning the music/sfx volume. Sometimes you want to turn music off or turn sfx down to better hear it.

Lushfoil Photographjy Sim is the only one that caught my eye, but I'm mildly interested.

Hoping for some good surprises

A demo version is always a green flag. (Almost, vide Balan)

@EarthboundBenjy yeah I know. It was just a little joke from me, maybe it didn't land. Many people associate the Seal with Nintendo games which were traditionally of very high quality until recently. (explaining the joke that didn't land is more embarrassing than I thought)

State of the industry, 2025

@EarthboundBenjy the seal of quality itself is kinda fading away, N is getting more and more sloppy. It's a continous process, but I realized this when I got MK8 on Wii U and there wasn't even a sound (music/sfx) volume setting. The rot probably started earlier though

These pieces are magnificent

Also there is nothing wrong with pink hair and P/Link

The descent continues

The clo... I mean judges won't rest until the corporations have it their way

If N forces this ridiculous outcome, it will never get the respect back