RR529

@moodycat, "Tales of Berseria > Tales of Arise"

I'm interested why you think so. Granted, Berseria is a good game & I think it's core cast stands up to Arise, but Arise just seems like such a step up in every other regard.

Should have put Alba: a Wildlife Adventure in here somewhere too.

Between it, New Pokemon Snap, & Fatal Frame, I've played 3 photography centric games this year (each one quite different!), which isn't a phrase I ever thought I'd say. I eventually want to get Toem too.

@Casual_Gamer95, a Steam version was announced alongside the Switch version when it was announced to be coming west.

@UglyCasanova, @Nameless_Shame, Time naming someone "Person of the Year" isn't necessarily an endorsement of that person, just that they think that person had the biggest impact that year (whether for good or bad).

While it's true that they've mostly avoided naming super controversial people in more modern times, in the past both Hitler & Stalin were named (the latter twice). For something maybe a bit more in line with how controversial Musk is, they named Bill Clinton during the year the Lewinsky scandal broke.

I had Deep Cover Gecko on PS1, but I don't think I ever made it past the Christmas world as a kid (it was like the first world after the tutorial, lol).

I actually dug it up and tried to play it in earnest a few years ago and actually managed to make it all the way to a pyramid/Egyptian world before bouncing off (and that was more because I got to a point where I couldn't figure out where to go next more than anything).

Interesting curio from the era, and if they bring it back I hope to see some modern QOL updates, but hope they keep the 90's humor in tact.

@OldManHermit, I haven't checked them out in a couple years, but there used to be a series on YouTube called Man at Arms that featured blacksmiths recreating famous weapons from pop culture, and I believe they made both.

Hope this lands in the US on Switch or Steam.

@Don, they can fit more episodes on one BD than they can on one DVD, so it reduces the amount of physical space the collection will take up.

7/10 for me.

SM3DW + BF was absolute joy (the kind of game that has you smiling from beginning to end), and I thought Famicom Detective Club & Metroid Dread were pretty solid titles too (maybe not quite top tier for me, but they were VERY good). New Pokemon Snap was cute, though I can't say it stayed with me for long.

Luckily there were a good slate of 3rd party titles to help out, like Star Wars Republic Commando, Ninja Gaiden Master Collection, & SMTV.

12 games (down from 26 last year).
220 hours (down from 345 last year).
52 in XC:DE, 43 in SMTV, 30 in ACNH.
5 hours in one day for SMTV
100% playtime docked.

Contributed to SMTV's spot.

It's definitely a good game & nice to try out something new every once in awhile (it's my first in the series), but I think playing it definitely cements that I prefer JRPGs with more of an emphasis on story & a largely set party.

I'm working on it much more slowly than everyone else seems to be (I'm still only in the third main area), so we'll see how it goes by the time I get to the end.

Sad to hear. Both were the first two video game consoles I ever got to experience.

May he rest in peace.

Looks cool, but way too expensive.

I'll stick to the noodle stopper Mai figure I already got (I think it was 20-30$).

@iLikeUrAttitude, while he doesn't exactly scream Nickelodeon (since they only recently acquired the rights), as a character Garfield is older & more iconic than any of the ones you listed (Maybe Timmy comes close, but I think there's some licensing hurdles with him where Nick doesn't outright own him).

Left out Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 reveal in the 2018 show.

At this point they should entirely do away with the pretense of an awards show and make it a "second E3", so to speak.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love a big "legitimate" awards show akin to the Oscars for gaming, and think that at least in terms of aesthetic the Game Awards gets it right (I do think the statues look appropriately classy), and I think it hit close enough to that mark the first couple years, but when you're spending so much time on trailers that most of the awards are announced in throwaway "oh, btw" segments, it's clear that's not even remotely the focus of the show anymore.

Art style looks fantastic, though the player character's design seems a bit generic & inoffensive (sprite animation is good though).

Anything Rogue-ish isn't my jam either, so that's a shame.

@Greatluigi, it's been a long time since I watched Naruto & I never got very far, but I swear I saw a random character (not one of the Ninja) holding a rifle or shotgun (I think it was either some sort of villager or mafia type). Definitely not thinking of the farmer who tried to shoot Radditz in DBZ, either.

Also, Naruto doesn't take place in any "real world" time period. While the world is influenced by traditional Japanese culture, it is a fantasy realm that doesn't even have a "Japan" or any other connections to real Earth.

Dread gets my vote for GotY. Disappointed that Tales of Arise got snubbed for the big award, however I voted for it in the best RPG category (I'm liking SMTV, but I'm not nearly far enough along with it to say whether or not I like it more than Arise).

Good for those that want/need it.

That said, I didn't find it to be particularly challenging on Normal. Sure, there are a few cheap moments where you'll get surrounded in a tight place, but even then the game throws so many healing items at you you're never in any real danger of dying (you start out every mission with a restocked inventory, and can pick up more during the mission).

Just put in an order for SMTV, but I'll be sure to put this (& the first game) on my Steam wishlist for the future.

I own half of them. MK8D, ACNH, SSBU, BotW, & Odyssey.

Sounds good! I'm glad it's getting another chance, though I'll probably get it on Steam.

I've never had such a miserable experience trying to vote for something on my phone.

It'll randomly decide you've voted for something when just trying to scroll the screen down (no other mobile interface I've used has been that sensetive), and although there is a button to go back to the previous category it reloaded the current question the first 3 or so times before it did what it was supposed to, after the first few questions it slowed to a crawl (trying to load, or reload, the next question was taking over a minute each time), and I finally gave up after it said I voted for a choice that was at least an inch or two below the part of the screen my finger was touching.

Maybe I'll try later on my computer.

Man, Tales of Arise should definitely be up for GotY (and though I haven't played it, I'm surprised Monster Hunter Rise didn't make the shortlist either).

I'm not through with it yet, so I don't know how I'll feel about it overall, but I am enjoying Dread as well.

Fantastic game. After experiencing it in VR I'm not sure I'd want to play it the traditional way, but I'm glad more people get to play it.

Looking at those Kirby shots, there must be some sort of licensing getting in the way of letting anyone else use the Keyblade (probably because of the Mickey keychain).

Definitely Metroid Dread, though I'll likely also get Fatal Frame (on Steam though), and I'll keep my eye on SMTV too.

Just spent about $100 in the current Steam sale (Final Fantasy Type 0 HD, Gun Gun Pixies, Neir Automata, Onechanbara Origin, Star Ocean: the Last Hope HD, Sword Art Online: Re:Hollow Fragment, Sword Art Online: Lost Song, & Tales of Symphonia) so I need to watch my next purchases.

Feels really sterile. Guess it's not a huge deal though.

The video is titled Rom Com 2004, but the Wii (along with it's Miis) didn't arrive until 2006.

Yes, I'm going to be "that" person, lol.

Metroid Dread, Kirby & the Forgotten Land, Castlevania Advance Collection for sure.

Also will look into SMTV & Chocobo GP.

@Clarice, it's being patched into the JP version at a later date.

I thought Star Allies was kinda dull, however the skyscrapers have me hoping that we might be getting another "Planet Robobot", which was fantastic, so I'm optimistic.

Disappointed to see Tales of Arise out of the top 10, but it's already one of the best selling Tales games of all time, so I can't be too upset.

Hoped to see Cruis'n do better as well. I haven't gotten it, but I liked USA & World as a kid, so I'd be happy if it had a successful revival.

Great news all around!

Playing Arise on Steam and it's definitely the best Tales game in quite some time. Combat just flows so smoothly & it feels so awesome when things chain together perfectly.

Sounds good to me.

The first game wasn't revolutionary or anything, but a solid, fun time (kinda like how I feel about Warriors/Musou games). I did enjoy the scale of the massive boss mechs (and the occasional unique mission such as one where you got to play as one such boss mech), so hopefully the sequel has more of that.

Didn't Switch already get a Nintendogs-like game a couple years ago? I think it was called Little Friends: Dogs & Cats or something like that.

Anyone know how that one turned out?

Weird they'd release this when the new Brain Training isn't available worldwide yet (I believe it STILL hasn't been released in NA).

Looking forward to this, though I think I'll get it on Steam just in case someone manages to mod all the Wii U costumes back into it (both the Japanese swimsuits & US Nintendo costumes).

I've only had my gaming laptop for a few weeks though & haven't yet tried adding mods to anything so I'm still unsure about how the whole thing works, though.

Until I saw this I completely forgot the first game even existed, and this is coming from someone who actually bought it.

It was a fun enough game, but I never finished it as it became a bit to repetitive (it had a great deal of artwork to unlock though, much of which was fan art I believe, which was really cool). Unfortunately this doesn't look like it's going to shake things up, aside from the more detailed character models.

The miniaturization route looks really cool.

I'd love it if they were to add an urban or industrialized zone though. The lab grounds is the closest thing the game currently has.

@Clyde_Radcliffe, the games would presumably be running on high end PCs somewhere in a Netflix warehouse, with the image streamed to whatever device you're playing on. Assuming your internet is good enough, the experience would be the same no matter whether you're streaming it to your phone, console, or TV.

I have Xbox Game Pass, and while my internet while out & about isn't quite good enough for xCloud, while at home I can play on my phone or tablet (either using one of those phone controller grips or using my PS4 controller) really well.

I haven't played this in awhile but might jump back in for this. While mostly pretty plain there's just something I really like about these "real world" tracks.

Surprised (in a good way) to see XC2 still on the list!

Also surprised Among Us is so high, as I figured that was a western fad, and that it's lazy/ugly art direction wouldn't appeal to the Japanese market.

I've only ever played (most of the) 2D games.

Fusion > Super > Samus Returns > II > Metroid.

Only 2D game I haven't played is Zero Mission.

I've played through Tokyo School Life & Famicom Detective Club: the Missing Heir and liked them well enough, though I can't say they've made me a fan of the genre as a whole.

Certainly have nothing against them, but I will admit it's a little disappointing browsing the Japanese eShop and seeing a bunch of seemingly niche titles I've never heard of before, only for 9/10 of them to be budget VNs, like they're the only thing small budget/indie Japanese devs seem interested in making.

To be fair the game still lets you try to pull it out, like it's there but invisible.

What would happen if he had enough hearts to successfully pull it?

Both are really good this week, but Japan edged it out with a look that's a bit more artsy.

@Dezzy, you can see PS5's total Japanese sales in the chart in the article. Regular is sitting at just above 680,000 units & Digital is just over 135,000 units, so just over 800,000 units total.

Metroid Dread, Fatal Frame V, Shin Megami Tensei V, & Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania all looked great (Monster Hunter Stories 2 looked more appealing here as well, perhaps due to a larger focus on actual field gameplay compared to the cutscene heavy trailers elsewhere).

It was cool seeing BotW2 pop back up as well, though as it's still at least a year out I'm not getting too excited for it yet.

So overall great Direct.