RR529

Played Lydie & Suelle on Switch and didn't care for it much, so I'm kinda burned on the series. Is it considered a bad one by any chance?

Granted, it was partially due to poor performance (it had a really choppy framerate, which is something I don't tend to care about), but I felt like there were entirely too many random unsolicited cutscenes when walking through town which really bogged down progress. It was cute & I liked the general gameplay though, and finished with the most basic ending.

I haven't played Epic Yarn, but for me Planet Robobot & Super Star/Ultra are Kirby's best outings, though I also have a soft spot for Knightmare in Dreamland for being one of my first GBA games. Most Kirby games are pretty solid, though.

Going to give another shout-out to Sky Gambers. I have SG: Storm Raiders and while it's obviously no Ace Combat it's good enough to scratch that itch when it hits.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Ys Origin, & Prinny 1&2 look like the creme of the crop here, though the Mario Kart thing looks like it could be fun too.

Still working my way through SM3DAS, so probably won't get any of them (not right away, anyhow).

10/15. Given I've never played Minecraft or ever paid it much attention, that's a win in my book.

They both look good, but the Japanese version captures the spirit of the series much better, with it's themes of preserving the beauty of nature.

8/10. Got mixed up on the height & "ghost trap" answers.

Also, Nintendo's (and Japan's, I'd assume) interest in Popeye wasn't anything new at the time. They had been licensing him (and other American cartoons, like the Disney stuff & Peanuts) for years already in their playing card & toy business, so I doubt this magazine had anything to do with their interest in the character, or the inspiration for Mario.

Little did we know that the inclusion of Piranha Plant was part of a long term plan to set up this very photo shoot.

8/12, which is impressive as Indies aren't really my thing (and I don't think I've played any of these outside of Mutant Mudds, which I wasn't too keen on personally).

@playstation_king, what are you talking about? The two Monster Hunter games, Rune Factory 5, and Disgea 6 are all new games.

The only ports I can think of were Sniper Elite 4 & Ori 2 (maybe Empire of Sin? It might be new too).

Pikmin 3: Deluxe, Indie World, Partner Direct August, Super Mario 35th Direct, Hyrule Warriors: AoC, & now Partner Direct September have pretty much been revealed in back to back to back weeks, right?

I think I prefer these weekly info bombs over a few big events a year. I mean really, would it have really made all that much of a difference if all of the above (sans Indie World, which has always been it's own thing) were rolled up into a big September Direct instead of weekly announcements? At least this way there's something new to talk about every week.

@TheFullAndy, Despite it being announced in the Partner Direct, Fitness Boxing 2 is published by Nintendo so they technically do have a December game (granted, they often release two smaller games, or a small game with a big one, in the same month, so they could still have something else, but maybe not).

14/18. Is it bad that I got the 64 & Sunshine answers correct despite only playing the first in bits, and the other not at all, while flubbing on the Galaxy questions, which is a game I did play?

Lol.

It was nothing mind-blowing, but a solid action title with lots of content (similar to how I feel about most Warriors titles, actually), especially if you like mechs.

It just got the short end of the stick. While the Prototype Missions release was a way for them to get player feedback (which they really took to heart going by the finished release), too many people wrote it off as a bad demo, and then on top of that they smooshed it in between Astral Chain, DQXI, & Link's Awakening remake.

I hope it's the modern Trilogy. Didn't the Sigma versions add new content (like new characters)? If so I would rather have those, even if they're easier (maybe they could reintroduce the older difficulty as an unlock for those who want it?).

I played II a bit on 360 & although I didn't beat it I liked what I played. Also beat Dragon Sword on DS.

Definitely my favorite Switch exclusive of last year (and probably the first since 2017 that can stand alongside BotW, Odyssey, & XC2), and that's saying a lot because it was a pretty good year for exclusives considering Luigi's Mansion 3, Link's Awakening remake, Daemon X Machina, & Yoshi's Crafted World also released as well (heck, even LABO VR was pretty neat for awhile).

I don't play too many Indies, but something about A Short Hike caught my eye & it was a lovely time.

Also got around to playing Gato Roboto which was pretty fun as well.

The character designs mostly look atrocious, like almost everyone in the game looks like an annoying hipster (such as the dude with the pink pants, overalls, and a man bun).

I loved VIII & this is looking great too. May get it on PS4 though.

The Zelda and silver Mario designs are both pretty good.

I nabbed a Power A controller when my Joy-Con started to drift and it's served me well. It's just a basic black & red design (with a Switch logo in the middle), so I may get one of these for a more spruced up design.

It was definitely my favorite Switch exclusive of last year (up there with BotW, Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, & Smash Ultimate as one of the best exclusives on the system).

Would love to see a sequel.

Japan has the best design for Kaede, but isn't good otherwise.

I like the idea behind the EU art (which in general looks good), but it's more reminiscent of a western comic book than it is a manga or anime, which is what kills it for me.

So I went with US. Typical 80's action shot, but it looks good.

7/15.

I have a lot of history with Nintendo, but outside of DKC I've never really touched any Rare games, so they're not really an important part of my personal gaming history.

I enjoy playing Drum n' Fun from time to time (even though I can usually only keep up on the lower 2 difficulties playing with the controller), so I'm definitely interested.

Highlight of the Direct for me.

11/12. Missed the release year of Super Metroid.

Looked up a video of Kwaidan, and it looks pretty interesting, kinda like a PS2 era horror game.

Sounds like a fascinating read.

I'll just copy what I said in the forums.

I gave it an honest shake, but there honestly wasn't anything in that Indie World that excited me. I do enjoy indies from time to time (Shantae & most Inti Creates games, for example), but they're not a regular part of my gaming diet.

@Desrever, just for mentioning Reboot you've earned a like

Quickly went through both articles' comment sections, and it seems odd how much more hate McDonald's is getting for this than KFC did (there were some naysayers, but the reactions in that article tended to err on the neutral or positive side, in comparison).

7/12. Some of these really tripped me up, lol.

@impurekind, are those lists supposed to have all first party launch year games?

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario + Rabbids, Super Mario Odyssey, & Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also all launched in the Switch's first year in the US as well.

I had to go with 2017. BotW, Odyssey, & Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are still some of the system's best exclusives, and I enjoyed some of the smaller titles too, like Fire Emblem Warriors & Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero.

I loved growing up with NES, SNES, GB, N64, & GBA, but the first three systems were hand me downs, and while I loved them I wasn't "there" for them during their prime, if that makes sense. As for the latter 2, while I again loved my time with them I still only got a few games a year each at the time & wasn't actively following gaming yet.

Really the only years that can compete with 2017 for me is around 2009-2010, when I got my first job and was really expanding my Wii & DS libraries in a way I hadn't been able to do before with my consoles. Also 2019 believe it or not (Astral Chain, Link's Awakening remake, & Luigi's Mansion 3 were all stellar, I again fell in love with FFX due to the HD remaster, & I enjoyed my time with Demon X Machina as well).

Both are good, but I slightly prefer the Japanese one due to the more scientific aesthetic.

Also, while I know which line you're referring to in the NA boxart, I think it's stretching things quite a bit to say it's a double entendre.

14/15.

A couple lucky guesses with the Animal Crossing & F-Zero questions (particularly AC as it's not a series I traditionally follow. I knew the F-Zero one had to be the 64 or GCN game though, so that was a 50/50 chance).

I slipped up on Mario 64 DS as I got in a hurry (just saw all the characters jumbled up and assumed it was Mario Party).

2016 was probably worse than any Switch year on record. On Wii U you either bought whatever title Nintendo released every other month (many of which were becoming little more than schedule filler at that point) or nothing at all since 3rd party support had long since dried up at that point. 3DS was probably still getting a few good things, but I imagine that by then most of it's big hitters were already out.

Yes, 2020 has been slow for big announcements, but between Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Brain Training (in EU), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Animal Crossing, Xenoblade, Clubhouse Games, & Paper Mario, they're still averaging about 1 first party release a month, and unlike Wii U it's getting quite a bit of 3rd party releases still (ports are better than the nothing that system was getting a few years in) as alternatives, so other than recency bias, I can't see how anyone could choose 2020.

9/15. Looking at the comments at least I'm not alone.

I nabbed it for free as I have a lot of gold coins doing nothing, and it's worth it for the lulz at that price (not sure it's something I'd have actually paid for otherwise).

It can get so visually chaotic it's hard to tell what's going on at times, and I swear the asteroid swarms are so thick in some levels that it's impossible not to take damage as even with a fully powered up ship you just can't break up the larger ones in enough time. While I cleared the "Normal Mode", I haven't beat "Arcade Mode" (which features an extra level) as in addition to the previous issues, you recover less health in this mode, and the later stages feature 2 bosses instead of just one like they do in "Normal Mode", making things even more chaotic.

But hey, it's the first fanservice game I've played that features some actual nudity somehow, which makes it surreal seeing it's icon next to Animal Crossing on my home screen, lol.

21/21

I had to stop & think a bit when it came to the first Oracle Link, but when I saw the harp has a dual color scheme it brought to mind past & present rather than 4 seasons, so I guessed & got it right!

Never been one for rhythm games, but I bought it on sale a few months ago just for the absurdity of seeing Kirby dance to Evangelion's "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", and it's been worth it.

I can't handle much beyond the first two difficulty settings, but it's a fun game to return to from time to time.

None of them are great by any means, but I chose the US box as the scene has a sort of refined subtlety to it.

15/15. The easiest quiz yet.

@GameOtaku, the ESRB has more in common with the film rating system than it does the Comics Code.

The latter actually limited what could be shown in a comic, while the ratings boards for game & film don't.

I love robots, but I couldn't vote for EU knowing that it's not really what the game is supposed to be, even though it's cool.

Really tough call between Japan & US. Either is a winner, but I went US because of the more vivid art, but that could just be a scan quality difference.

8/10

Don't think I've ever seen Terminator 2 all the way through, and have never played OutRun.

Loving how Japanese centric it is! If Bandai Namco, Capcom, & Square Enix signed on I probably wouldn't need any other events.

It'd be nice if Nintendo & Sony signed on too, but since they host their own events (even if Directs are on hold at the moment) I don't expect it.

@WoomyNNYes, @EmmatheBest, NeonWall & Spice & Wolf VR are the only ones I know of (& the latter had some of it's content cut due to LABO's limitations).

The Switch's gyro doesn't allow the same range of movement that more high end VR units have (affecting gameplay), plus the Switch has a lower screen resolution than PSVR (the lower the resolution, the more likely motion sickness will occur, and even PSVR is considered bare minimum in this regard), which makes conversions to LABO harder to achieve than you may think. Plus, there's always the chance that they may have to lower the framerate too (which can really induce motion sickness), and no official means to keep it strapped to your head (which may put off developers).

I love my Switch & like digging out my LABO VR from time to time, but it's much more limited for VR purposes than I think most realize.

None of these are particularly good, but I went with Japan as it's the cleanest (it could definitely use a bit more flair, though).

@TossedLlama, like the Netflix Castlevania series, the Last Airbender is a Western headed production (with I think some animation being done in South Korea).

Because there is little (if any) Japanese involvement, it's debated if series like that should count as anime (at least the western definition of anime, as in Japan the word just indicates animation of any type). They're certainly influenced by the medium, though.

I take it this is the same Kemco that churns out all those budget JRPGs on the eShop? Looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same.