Ralizah

Based on the wording, cross-gen games should still be good, so vouchers will likely still be useful for at least a couple more years.

@TenEighty You and @Anti-Matter should become a power couple and stream yourselves burning M-rated video games or something. I'd watch it.

It's hard to imagine Microsoft won't be on Switch 2 in launch year with games that they couldn't port to the previous hardware. When a new platform releases, you want stuff to play on it, after all.

@Anachronism Picking a fight with Valve? All of their games are on Steam, and it's even looking likely that you'll be able to play your Steam games on the next Xbox hardware.

@shining_nexus I only buy at launch now for Nintendo games (since there's virtually no point in waiting for sales) and the odd third-party release I'm really excited about (like the upcoming Lunar remasters). Everything else only makes sense after price depreciation has maxed out. You get a more polished version of the game at a fraction of the price.

Yeah, I'm trying to buy games more consciously. They know gaming people with sales, launch discounts, etc. can make it harder for us to resist, even when we have multiple years worth of games in our backlogs and buying much of anything doesn't make a whole bunch of sense.

Honestly, I could never buy another game for the next ten years and probably still have stuff to play in my backlog across the various platforms! I won't fully get off the new game bandwagon (no way in hell am I missing the next Shin Megami Tensei, next 3D Mario, next Ace Attorney, next Persona, next Zelda, next Animal Crossing, etc.), but it's time to accept there just isn't enough time to play all of the games I want to play in one lifetime and just make do with the ones I own already, by and large.

@Splash_Woman Even if you can't stomach the films, you can definitely appreciate how an unknown filmmaker with virtually zero budget behind his films (the original cost $35,000 to make lmao) basically created the first major slasher icon of the 21st century.

Also, the success of Terrifier 3, in particular, has turned conventional wisdom about the potential profitability and viability of unrated films on its head.

@Olliemar28 I just feel like starting with the first film could scare off potential fans. It's not terrible, but Terrifier 2 is leaps and bounds better. Like, it's crazy how much better it is. And Terrifier 3 is much closer to 2 both narratively and production-wise.

@OldManHermit Tonally, the films tend to approach their gruesome subject matter with a surprising amount of levity, and the hilarious character acting of David Howard Thornton, the man behind the clown makeup, makes it difficult not to giggle even when objectively horrifying things are happening on-screen.

The first film is probably the most grindhouse in terms of its approach, and you can safely skip it, but the second film is really just a blast to watch if you can stomach the tremendously, outrageously violent images on-screen. The third film is kind of a mix of the first two in this regard.

I'd say give Terrifier 2 a shot, and if you enjoy it, consider watching the others as well.

Exclusive remaster of a game in a fairly niche JRPG series coming in second to the mainline release of a powerhouse Western AAA series that's multiplatform? Not exactly shocked.

@shining_nexus Oh yeah, no FOMO or hunting here. I'll buy the exclusives I'm interested in physically near launch (after I get one, anyway). Everything else will be on Steam.

I do inevitably have a moderately large physical Switch collection, but nothing compared to my digital library lol. I really loved the system and supported the hell out of it, and I loved the little ways they incentivized digital purchases. I grabbed big games, little games, exclusives, third-party ports, everything.

Since they're going the $70 and no discounts route, my purchases will drop sharply.

Of course Monolith has worked on both my favorite 2D and 3D Zelda games, in addition to Xenoblade 3, my favorite JRPG lol

Honestly, they're as much, if not more of a draw for me now than the teams working on Mario and Zelda games. I am super excited to see what they do going into the future.

I'd preloaded XCX lol.

Gal Guardians is also well under MSRP atm due to a pricing error, which will be corrected soon. Might pay to preorder now if you're going to want to play it anytime soon.

Some people want to contribute to society and make a living doing what they love without being recognized constantly in public. I feel this dude.

I hope there's not too much running and hiding from this Horned Man, ugh.

Beyond that, it's promising looking. If a little too stylized to be scary.

Cool beans. I have one voucher and $5 in Gold Coins left. I'll use the Gold Coins to get a discount on Lunar, a voucher for one of the inevitably final cross-gen/S1 releases later this year, and then go 100% physical for any and all Switch 2 games I buy.

The base game of Xenoblade 3 and Torna: The Golden Country are definitely my favorite Xenoblade experiences.

XC1 is a slog in any form, and Future Redeemed felt more like a sequel to it than I cared for.

@LXP8 Nah. The way the exploration and world open up almost simultaneously combined with some of the best plot beats in the series makes Ch. 5 peak Xenoblade. XC1 has nothing on par with it narratively. XC2 might hit similar highs across its second half, but never in such close succession.

I've never seen a game pop off to the extent that XC3 did in Chap. 5.

XC3 is possibly my favorite game of all time. Just wonderful from beginning to end. Exactly the sort of experience I buy consoles to play. The expansion is excellent as well, although I very much prefer the direction the main game took with its story.

XC2 has some major issues, but I enjoyed it. Very much a 7/10, but it worked for me in the areas that mattered most. Torna is at least a 9/10, though: addressed nearly every issue I had with the base game, and is, to date, my favorite expansion in the series.

XC1 is... not my thing. I've played it across three different systems, and only managed to get through it on Switch, but even with all of the improvements, it was still a slog. Easily my least favorite game in the series. Haven't touched the expansion yet in the DE.

XCX had some annoyances, and I didn't get far enough in to judge it fairly. I'm going to play through it fully on Switch, though, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Overall, it's a series that, broadly speaking, improves from entry to entry, and to a pretty dramatic extent as well. Can't wait to see what Monolith is cooking up next.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 might be my favorite game of all time, so it gets my vote.

Breath of the Wild is also high up there. What a superb game to play alongside a brand new console!

I mean, that's still a pretty strong start for an expensive set of PS1 ports.

I feel like 18+ Princess Peach sets would go over even better.

Wife Quest on the Steam Deck. It's quite a bit of fun! Really enjoy Wonder Boy-style action platformers like this.

It's a 10. There aren't a lot of GB titles that I think have aged particularly well, but this one requires no nostalgia to enjoy fully. Just fantastic from beginning to end.

Donkey Kong '94 is so good. Top ten GB game, for sure.

@BenAV Rise worked really well because it was designed around the target specs of the platform. A new exclusive portable MH that pushes the Switch 2 hardware will look and feel fantastic, whereas Wilds is clearly suffering from the multiplat approach they took with its development.

Pity they appear to have messed up the Ever17 re-release. Really loved the original PC version back in the day.

@Rob3008 Really hard to imagine they'd port Wilds to Switch 2, considering how poorly optimized it is for vastly more powerful platforms.

I'm guessing the Rise devs are already working on something for the new console.

@wanghosom Sure, but Switch is also wildly more popular in Japan. These are good numbers for a PS5 game. Especially one that's not exclusive or available on last gen hardware.

A lot of Switch games can't manage 720p undocked. What's the point of a 1080p screen?

Easily Nintendo's golden age for me. So many great releases and memories. Hopefully Nintendo can carry that momentum into 2025 with Switch 2.

@Banjo- It's just their most lucrative generation, period. By such a huge margin that their Switch-era profits exceed those of all their previous generations combined, apparently.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/05/nintendos-profit-during-the-switch-generation-is-absolutely-wild

Absolutely unfathomable.

RE Engine is a mess with these more open worldy games.

Honestly would rather just have an exclusive from B Team that isn't washed out and technically sloppy like Wilds.

Is it easier to heal and revive in this version? It was absolutely miserable running out of TP and being unable to revive party members, and trying to rely on annoying mechanics like Soul Voices to heal your party a bit.

I've never had this particular issue with any other Xenoblade game, but it was a major roadblock when I played X.

In general, I also just found the systems and customization to be confusing. Even moreso than XC2.

@NintendoByNature A lot of people aren't when they say it.

Yeah, that's the big danger of announcing things way too early in development. Silksong will be successful, of course, but the wave of hype for the game has largely crested for most people.

A much more recent announcement, leading into a release window, would have maintained a ton of momentum up to release.

The demo seems to run really well on Steam Deck in the limited time I played it. Excited to see more tomorrow. This interests me quite a bit more than Rain Code.

@NintendoByNature I see people saying something is "vaporware" any time it's announced too earlier and takes years to come out.

Games take time to develop. Especially ones from small developers with detailed, hand-drawn animation like this.

Yuck.

Their loss. I spent a LOT of money on the Switch 1 eShop with the existing incentives. I'll just transition to full physical and exclusives only for Switch 2 when I get it, and continue making PC my go-to platform for everything else, since Valve is continually making their ecosystem and services more and more attractive and consumer friendly.

@nhSnork I dunno, even one of my friends who isn't all that bent out of shape about performance issues found it to be almost nigh on unplayable.

I'm glad you were able to enjoy the experience on its own terms, though.

I'm actually really happy about Astro Bot's critical success. Nintendo has so little competition in the 3D platforming space as is.

Hopefully they go all out with a new 3D Mario this year for Switch 2.

I really love the hard shift in setting and aesthetic. It's a delightful looking game.

Will be copping on Steam if it's Deck verified, which I can't imagine it won't be.

Really hope the Switch version is less of a dumpster fire than RF5 for console players, though.

@Lightsiyd Thanks for explaining your reasoning.

I feel like, if this pivot does occur, it'll be more of a return to roots moment for Sony than anything. Traditionally, they published quite a few family friendly titles on PS1 - PS3. The current association of them with violent third-person adult-oriented action-adventure games almost exclusively is relatively recent, once the majority of their output was Naughty Dog-ified.

Either way, I'm happy to see they have a team that absolutely loves Nintendo and is capable of producing experiences that are also Nintendo-tier in terms of polish and fun factor. I'm still very salty about what happened with Japan Studio, but Team Asobi is probably the most exciting developer in their stable at the moment after how good Astro Bot turned out to be.

In general, Playstation as a brand will only benefit from introducing more genre diversity back into their stable again.

MM3D. It adds so much across the board to the experience.

I couldn't care less that some random youtuber doesn't like the way certain mechanics were changed.

@Itachi2099 That would be a bit like arguing that showcasing the new Sonic Racing game is them going after the Mario Kart dime lol

@Lightsiyd What exactly did Sony's SoP have to do with Nintendo?

I'm genuinely curious. Please don't be coy about it.

As if the plastic-to-cartridge ratio for Switch games wasn't absurd enough. At least put in manuals or art cards to make the difference less pronounced.

It's an industry standard this generation. The blowback from not including it would've been pretty massive. Also, Switch 1 games are still selling pretty well, so it'd be dumb for the latest platform not to support them.

My favorite PS1 JRPGs literally releasing on my birthday!

Steam digitally on day one. Then physical on one or both consoles, depending on whether I actually get a PS5 at some point.

I feel like this list really does a disservice to the console when you load it up with a bunch of random ports and indies.

How about the rebirth of Metroid and Pikmin? Kirby's foray into 3D? Mario freakin Odyssey? Fire Emblem going full ambitious with Three Houses?

Mine was cancelled awhile back.

Just as well.

@Bret Which is why it stands out so much historically, because it was so egregiously greedy and weird of them. I just took it as him goofing on that.

@VoidofLight The 3D gimmick was extremely prominent and transformative, though. It changed the way games looked, and added depth to the image that was impossible on NDS. That made it feel VERY different.

It's not really the equivalent of some random extra buttons.

We also got the AR games included, Street Pass, etc. Which also distinguished the system. And themes. And Virtual Console. etc.

I guess it's possible Switch 2 comes out with a massively different UI, but it'd have to work to be as different from Switch 1 as the 3DS was from its predecessor.

BotW always seems to top these lists, and it always makes people angry, and it's always extremely funny.

I don't know about it being the best game of all time (what does that even mean?), but I do think is one of the five most important releases of the 2010s alongside Dark Souls, Skyrim, Minecraft, and sigh Fortnite.

@Bret What does the price matter? The basic expectation you have of any electronic device that works off a specific charger is that it'll come with said charger. Even devices that run on batteries tend to ship with batteries.

This game is so good. Perfectly paced. The Super Metroid of Action RPGs. I'd recommend it to almost anyone.

Gal*Gun 3 on PC, please.