RR529

@larryisaman, believe it or not the Gran Turismo movie is actually going to be based on a true story of a player who won a competition that saw him receiving a series of lessons to become an actual race car driver (& I assume managed to succeed, given they're making a movie about it)

kinda like the Tetris film, there'll probably be a bit of Hollywood embellishment of course.

The US box for me this week (a reminder that Golbez isn't grey on the cover, but rather a nice shiny holographic effect, which easily trumps the EU version).

I was close to voting for JP though. I like the background, but the sketch like character design doesn't do it for me, as sacreligious as it sounds.

Played it back when it first released on Switch.

Tough in spots, but a pretty good game.

I actually like the look of the Star tin more than the Steelbook, but it looks like it only comes with a standard BD instead of a 4K one.

@Mario500, yeah, I'm not a prude in that regard, but it seemed to have a couple dozen F-bombs for no other reason than to have them.

Not that it particularly bothered me, and I still thought it was a great film, but there's absolutely no reason for it to be R rated.

I will admit I started to chuckle a bit in the later half when it got all political thriller-y (like the aforementioned car chase) for the sake of fictionalized drama, however the core true story behind it all was very interesting, and it's not all that often you get to watch a movie with Soviet era Moscow as the backdrop for most of it.

I actually liked it a lot more than Sonic 2, which I watched the week before.

I actually really like both this time, but I think the US art actually edges it out this week (and this is saying something, as I usually don't like western box art from this era).

I've actually really gotten into buying Blu-Rays (& some 4K UHD discs as well) within the past year. Mostly anime, but I've been trying to add in more live action/Hollywood stuff recently as well.

Will almost certainly nab this Steelbook once it releases (will also try to see the movie in theatres, especially since that's practically the only way to see a movie in 3D these days).

While the pink border is a bit much, the JPN box is overall much better, with art that more accurately represents the game. Also, who wouldn't love "USA" as a Mario game subtitle, lol.

In the minority for sure, but I went with JPN this time. It really tells you nothing about the game sure, but it's a nicer looking cover.

Neither are great, but I'll go with JPN.

They're both okay, but I'm gonna go with the US art because of Wolf Link.

@gcunit, it's just light daytime talk fluff on broadcast tv. It's up against stuff like the "Drew Barrymore Show", the "Tamaron Hall Show" & the "Jennifer Hudson Show", so I can't imagine it does particularly worse than those.

I only know this because I work as a receptionist & the lobby TV only gets in local channels.

US this week. Weird that the JPN box opted to simply use the US art... and do nothing with the extra space.

Usually the JPN box is the original, & then the US box crops it or goes with something else entirely. Unusual that it seems this is the other way around.

@Diowine, not being at E3 doesn't disconfirm a June Direct (or even keep them from having one during the same week).

This only means they won't have a booth on the show floor, and if they do have a Direct in June, it won't have any "E3" branding. Sony & MS are skipping the event as well, so this is more E3 being irrelevant & not that Nintendo specifically has nothing to show.

Both are pretty good, but I gotta give it to JPN this time.

It's pretty much doing everything the US box is doing, but then adds a better sense of place (actually showing a corridor of the station) & it looks like Samus has recently splattered an enemy all over the camera (or as others have said, could be seen as an "X" tease).

I voted no, but only because I already have it on Steam (I started it a few months ago, after havimng bought it in a sale a long time before that, but haven't delved into it outside of the first couple hours though).

3. Other M
2. Fusion
1. Dread

Never realized how distracting the big shoulder pads are in some of these (not that I'm against them in general).

They're both pretty good, but I think I'll have to give the slight edge to the US box. While her pose is more basic, I like that it does a bit of a better job placing you in the world itself.

US this week. I do wish it had a white logo like the EU variant (pops better against the red/black of the rest of the art), but otherwise the US art is just more interesting.

Also, really rare 'L' for JPN.

@sunny63, I think they may be referring to the "Mario" crowd chant (not sure about the newer Smash games, but in the OG there'd be a chant just like it if you were doing really well as Mario) as well as the general fight set up.

US pretty easily this week. Colorful & shows off the game's action.

JPN would be second. It's more simple, but in a deliberate artsy kind of way.

EU variants in last because it looks like they simply took the US art & sucked out the energy.

Gonna go with Japan. Yes, there's more going on, but it also makes better use of real estate so it still doesn't feel too busy, you can see the full scale of the castle, etc. The bubblegum colored logo may not quite gel with the rest of the art, but it's placed in a way as to not be intrusive while still being noticeable.

The US box on the other hand removes some elements & squishes others just so it can add some unnecessary borders & needlessly large & intrusive titles/logos.

Not sure if those are great numbers for One Piece Odyssey, but unless something changes it's what I plan getting on PS5 next after I finish Ragnarok.

Nintendo is absolutely a beast in it's homeland though.

This one is tough because I don't think either look particularly good (though sub par scan quality may play a part).

Japan's on the plus side looks more menacing (I particularly love the blood soaked logo) & gets the idea across better that this is "Dracula" related media, however the main character art looks absolutely rubbish. The US on the other hand has a better looking protagonist & the sweeping scenery looks cool, however it's not as dark as it's competitor & the castle furthest in the background looks out of place (looks too much like a retro "futuristic city").

It's close, but I went with JPN.

Maybe it's just not a very good scan, but that overabundance of red on the JP/EU cover (listing Japan first as it's a Japanese box art Europe is borrowing, not the other way around) kinda ruins the admittedly great artwork.

Because of that I went with the US, even though it's not as artistic.

Glad to see Kirby & XC3 so high up. Both fantastic games.

I know it was always going to be unlikely, but I was kinda hoping Samurai Maiden would have squeaked by on the lower end of the list. Probably not too many people around here have played it, though.

Japan easy this week, the full art looks nice.

Understanding that the article mixed up the US & EU boxarts, I think I'd choose the US art at a (distant) second. The colors are kinda ugly, but it has a simpleness to it that works better than how cluttered EU manages to be despite cropping JP's art.

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
2. Kirby & the Forgotten Land
3. Pac-Man World RePac
4. LEGO Star Wars: the Skywalker Saga
5. Samurai Maiden (so far)
6. Klonoa Phantasy Reverie

TBF, I didn't play the Switch version of every single game I listed (I think only the exclusives), however I've enjoyed every single one of them at some level (ex. In spite of Klonoa being at the bottom of my list I still had fun with it & am happy to have been able to play a couple games I never got to play as a kid).

Really enjoyed Maiden of Black Water last year, so I'm really excited for this!

@Tobiaku, @Ralizah, Can confirm the existence of the "black void" on PC, so it's definitely release wide, but as others have mentioned, it only appears once you pause the game.

During gameplay the game is happy to blatantly fully show everything... with about every action you take (jumping, dodge rolling, getting knocked on your butt, etc.), so if you really feel the need to take screenshots of such things for whatever reason the game makes it ridiculously easy even without pausing.

Really, the game is so blatant with the fan service (all the girls have jiggle applied to the usual area, plus bottom, & even tummy believe it or not, even if it's not entirely apparent with their default costumes), that I can only assume the pause blackout is some sort of (pointless) Sony effect, though of course we'll probably never fully know.

And yeah, the localized text removes all instances of High School or Schoolgirl with "Gen Z". I don't have nearly as much an issue with this as I would visual censorship, but surely they could have come up with a better alternative as it's a very clunky solution, as she sometimes refers to "Gen Z" like it's a place. A minor issue at the end of the day though and the game seems fun so far.

@Tobiaku, I mean if the "censorship" exists in all versions of the game, then that's likely how it was intended to be.

I mean, it's also entirely possible that it was "censored" during development to adhere to Sony's policies so that issues didn't pop up later & they decided to apply that to all versions, but even in that case Switch isn't missing out on something other platforms are getting.

Unless there are confirmed differences between the Steam/PC version & what's available on console (Switch, PS5, & PS4).

Bought it on Steam though I haven't played it yet. Glad to hear it's pretty decent.

Despite it's many (technical) flaws/issues like the field skill system & gacha system, I still think this is my favorite in the series.

The tone, vibe, & character design top the series IMO (though I'll admit I think it'd be even better if you could freely change the costumes of the main characters at least, like XCDE), and once you get the hang of it the battle system is super rewarding.

I would be happy with XC3, Stray, & Kirby winning anything, given they're what I played this year out of all the nominees. Oh, I played SW LEGO: Skywalker Saga as well, but it's up against Kirby in it's only nomination & while I enjoyed it I think Kirby was the better game.

Shouldn't you list all the nominees in your chart & not just the ones available on Switch?

Sure, absolutely highlight the ones that are available due to this being a Nintendo centric site, but it feels a bit disingenuous to not list the others in the overall breakdown (if this was the only site someone visited they may genuinely believe that some categories may only have one or two noms, lol).

EDIT: It appears the article has been edited now, thanks!

Finally, a fighter that allows you to kick some butt with John Hammond from Jurassic Park, lol.

Um, isn't Cooking Mama already the Asian inspired Cooking Mama? Being Japanese and all.

Anyhow, glad that this exists for those interested. Not my jam, but it has an interesting art direction.

No Ninja Gaiden Master Collection on this list is a crime. Samurai Jack is probably a pretty competent licensed game, but no way it's on the same level.

Also, I enjoy a Warriors game from time to time so don't take this as a slight, but they're sort of like the junk food of the hack 'n slash genre (which this list is seemingly centered around), and in no way should there be three of them on a list when Ninja Gaiden is left out.

EDIT: Just so I don't sound too overly negative, good shouts to Astral Chain, Onimusha Warlords, & DMC though.

I'm actually kind of shocked that that's all it took to be best selling in the series (I didn't imagine it pulled Mario or even Sonic numbers, but I figured 2-3 million wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for this franchise given it's pedigree amongst gamers). Then again, gaming was much smaller back when the series was in it's heyday.

Glad for the success though, even if I'm not a huge fan of the series (I did have a couple of Game Boy entries I played religiously as a kid, though I can't remember which they were. I remember an Elec Man & Snake Man bosses).

Not too excited yet, however they managed to pull off a great single player Star Wars game in Fallen Order (albeit from a different EA owned studio), so I won't write it off either. Hoping it's good, as I'd love an Iron Man game.

In related news I just finished up Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS5 tonight, and it was a great time.

They're both pretty decent. I think the image of the girl on the EU/US box is better, however that garishly bright age rating & the review snippet knock it below the JPN variant (which is pretty effective itself with it's black boarder).

I think if they had went with specifically the US box instead it may have faired better thanks to the more neutral color scheme of the ESRB rating, which wouldn't be as intrusive.

EDIT: Never mind, the US box includes these even more garish IGN & Gamespot award/recommendation icons in place of the more understated review snippet on the EU cover, so they are relatively even. JPN box is definitely the best one then.

Guess I'll go with EU this time.

JPN definitely, and by a good margin.

US in a (very distant) second. It's terrible, but at least it has a style & sticks to it (as much as I don't like the "westernization" of Japanese box arts that's so endemic of the era).

EU in third because they couldn't make up their mind in terms of art direction (I also can't un-notice how they split up one of his fingers so he'd have 5 instead of 4 like on the US box).

I'm of a mixed mind on this.

If the stream was only open to existing subscribers/accounts of a certain age then sure, go for it (it might annoy YouTube/Nintendo, but that's whatever, & apparently the point).

However if it was open to everyone (including kids, who the game would generally attract), I definitely agree this was very poor judgement on their part & need to be reprimanded in some way.

Went with JPN on this one.

Excited that 3D showings seem to be confirmed. I enjoy going to the theatre, so hopefully I'll be able to make it.

For I think maybe the first time ever (outside of instances where they share art with US or JP), I think I'm going to give the vote to the EU cover.

Usually when all 3 regions have unique art, they tend to be the weakest IMO, but not in this case. I could see the EU art working as a poster.

For whatever reason I never felt the urge to get Three Houses, but this game seems to speak to me in a way that one didn't & I'm seriously thinking about picking it up.

While the main character looks a bit silly, so far I don't have a problem with anyone else (& even then I think the female version of the MC pulls off the look better than the male version).

While the US art is more action packed, I went with JPN because the background looks like it might not be "grey" (like the article states), but instead holographic, which would make it an instant win.

I could only find one (short) video on YouTube about the region's box art, but the guy only focused on the back art before removing it from the sleeve, so I couldn't get a good look at the front (which did look shiny, but I'm not sure if it was a genuine holographic effect or just glare). Can anyone shed some light on this?