ShadJV

@anoyonmus I’d recommend in order. While the games improve in quality with every entry, it’s a story heavy game and if you start with the later ones you won’t even know who any of the characters are or their relationships.

@VoidofLight it’ll still likely be notably longer. There’s not a huge difference in any% or 100% for the first game because you get locked behind gates where you need a certain number of photographed Pokemon to proceed, plus you are required to replay areas for other exits and to photograph specific things. It’s impossible to just go through Snap playing through each area once, you have to backtrack. This one will have more areas and more branching paths so it will take longer, even to any%.

@VoidofLight the squeal is going to be much larger than the original, they’ve already revealed that.

I was actually happy I played the Wii version. The flipped map didn’t bother me, Hyrule’s geography varies enough that I didn’t even notice. And when I played the Wii U port with the original map, I couldn’t really be too turned around since my memory was too foggy anyways with the original game - I literally only played it once at the Wii’s launch. If anything, it felt like a new experience. I personally felt it was worth the slight graphical upgrade.

@Tott good news for you then: nobody can send ghosts your way, you control if you have extra ghosts.

@ludovsky @bolt_strike but it didn’t sell poorly. It sold 1.18 million in its first year and its lifetime sales surpassed games like Miitopia (which is getting a port), Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, and Bravely Default. It’s listed as one of the 3DS’s top selling games.

It should be a crime that we haven’t gotten a new Pokémon TCG video game in ages. I’d play that so much.

@VoidofLight that’s sorta how I (and some other) fans of Fire Emblem felt with Awakening. There is 100% a shift in style from games before Awakening and after, with less of a focus on mechanics like the long term impacts of who you level up early on or carefully budgeting resources, and more of a focus on character social dynamics and anime tropes. In the case of Awakening, it sold an unprecedented number of copies, so the entire series took cues from it. Which I’ve accepted and to an extent can enjoy but I really miss the old style.

I suspect the same is happening with Animal Crossing. Granted, I’ve seen half the fanbase asking for more social features for several games now, and so Nintendo listened to that part of the fanbase here and, partly due to the timing with the pandemic, it blew previous sales out of the water. I’d bet a lot of money that future titles will take inspiration from New Horizons. Customizations and social features likely will be the main focus from here on out. The most we can hope for is that they’ll bring back the mechanics from previous titles as well and compromise... but I wouldn’t hold my breath. This is Nintendo. When they find something that works, they love to milk it dry.

Really, Nintendo? First they ship incomplete games with the DLC arriving at a later date, now you’re doing the same thing for your theme park? Why can’t theme park designers release finished parks?

This was all a joke btw

“We know you loved having a stamina gauge to manage!”

@Wilforce uh... there’s a picture of it running on Switch... right in this article...

@WallyWest that’s a huge generalization. A lot of us don’t want gen 4 remakes, not everyone liked gen 4. There is no way for Pokemon to make all their fans happy because we all want different things.

@nab1 tbf, the game outright tells you that collecting 100 coins gets you a powerup.

Already preordered.

This was fun for a few hours on 3DS but quickly grew repetitive to me. I can’t imagine paying $50 for this, it wasn’t even worth full price at launch.

I mean, no offense to fans. I got it because it seemed quirky. It was, but after the novelty wore off it felt very bland.

@stinky_t what can I say? I’m a big fan of Greek mythology.

Less random than some might think. Pomegranates are fairly important to the myths this is based on. Persephone, Hades’ wife, was not originally from the underworld (she was the goddess of spring), but Hades kidnapped her. Stories vary a bit but many say she genuinely felt in love with him. Either way, pomegranates had a strong connection to the underworld, so Hades fed her 6 pomegranate seeds, which meant she HAD to live in the underworld for 6 months of the year (which is why we have winter).

Honestly I’d be less likely to go if Martinet voiced Mario. Yes, he’s iconic and I wouldn’t want anyone else for the games, but as others said, his Mario voice for 90 minutes would get grating. It’s a great voice for one liners. Full conversations... eh...

@Entrr_username was literally a joke, my dude.

Well, had some nice memories with Ubisoft. I’ll miss them.

@Northwind likely their entire dataset is multiplayer. I don’t think the game communicates with the servers when you’re playing solo, so they wouldn’t be able to collect those times.

@mlj11 the longest time limits for quests are 50 minutes. Never longer than 50 minutes. But rarely do monsters take that long, it’s a generous time frame. Heck, often elder dragons (the hardest monsters) give you 30 minute time limits (and those tend to push the full time unless you’re really good). In most cases, though, if you take over half an hour on a monster you either are under geared or rusty. With a few exceptions of course.

@FragRed still, the purple and green hearts seem very intentional. Those are a very odd and misleading color combination if they’re moving away from Yooka Laylee.

@FragRed the fanbase was sorta split, at least among those who kickstarted it, and it didn’t do great at launch, but it’s done decent overall. Impossible Lair was fairly critically acclaimed and did very well, turning the split fanbase around. It’s likely they’ll wanna keep that momentum going. Question is will they give the collectathon another try? The 2D DKC style game did much better.

@GannonBanned I think it depends on the person - a lot of people actually do legitimately have fun speedrunning, but it’s not for everyone. Personally I don’t have the patience for it but I’ve gotten tastes of the idea from SMM2 and sometimes I do enjoy the art of planning a path, practicing the maneuvers, and trying to string it together. I don’t think I can do it for anything more than 5 minutes (I’d get way too frustrated with every little mistake), but for those with more patience, it can be enjoyable to practice something to near perfection.

Also, while not always true, a lot of speed runners either have more than an average amount of free time or video games are their job, and that always helps because they can turn to other games as an escape. Speed running does take work, but so do plenty of games that have steep learning curves, and work isn’t mutually exclusive to fun. 😅

Dang that timing, I just beat the game two nights ago.

That being said, I already stepped away from the game so maybe I’ll wait until all the DLC is out before I go back. Maybe they’ll fix the frame rate drops by then too.

I hate grinding. Just give side quests to fill that time and give enough xp. Seriously, the game is MUCH better if instead of having to grind I can just do side quests until I’m strong enough. Xenoblade usually let me do that, for example.

@FroZtedFlakerZz I played AoC and actually like Revali even less after that. I don’t care if he’s skilled, he’s incredibly annoying...

@BloodyMurder are you seriously upset you didn’t get a game with a near nude 13 year old?

God I don’t understand people who get upset over censorship when it’s just removing half naked children. It’s gross. Let studios fix poor choices.

@nessisonett most of us don’t have Wii U’s though. Even if every Wii U owner bought a Switch (they didn’t), only a fraction of Switch owners would’ve had a Wii U anyways. Given how poor the Wii U sold, it’s not really comparable to most console generations. Sure, backwards compatibility would be ideal, but the fact is we don’t have that and most of us never got to play those games. Most people asking for these games DON’T have them sitting around.

11/12 I thought the first one was Chandlerbing.

@Yosher unless you’re referring to Stories (which was a spin-off turn based RPG and nothing like the mainline games), no, none of the demos were. They’ve all been between 2 and 4 monsters. Pick your weapon, fight a monster, usually with multiplayer options. That’s it.

@Tyranexx the underwater combat was clunky in the main game too. A majority of fans didn’t like it, which is why it never returned. The series definitely has had some QoL improvements but yeah... I wish Capcom would just take the “play the beginning and transfer saves” approach here. Probably no series needs it as much as MH.

Either way, I hope you enjoy it! I always welcome new hunters to the series!

@Tyranexx definitely give it a chance beyond a demo. I haven’t played a single MH demo that was beginner friendly. I think the only way that would be achievable would be to have it just be the first 5-10 quests of the game with data transferring to the full game. To understand the appeal of MH you need the full gameplay loop, not just 2-3 random battles. I don’t get why Capcom doesn’t understand that more.

I can guarantee I hated the 3U demo too but loved the game. I’ve come to appreciate these demos because they let me try out new mechanics, but that’s only because I have an underlying understanding of the gameplay loop and I know how the weapons work. Just don’t be put off if the demo is a hard sell again, that’s all!

Hopefully a demo drops at that time.

That being said, new players should be warned that MH demos are notoriously bad for new players. The series completely depends on the gameplay loop of crafting equipment to fight monsters to get parts to craft better equipment. Throwing a newbie into a fight doesn’t do the game justice and is disorienting. You’re using armor you haven’t crafted and likely don’t know the skills of and a weapon you haven’t practiced. Most MH games start with non combat quests to teach the basics and training quests where you can practice the weapon in a stress free environment. And they start you fighting small monsters before large ones. The easiest monster in the demo still likely will be from hours in. So, to new players, if the demo feels clunky or overly punishing, know that doesn’t reflect on the game itself, you’re being thrown into a part where you should already have had time to acclimate to the system.

I started with 3U and HATED the demo. Friend encouraged me to buy anyways and I loved the game. MH just doesn’t demo well. The main reason most fans get excited for the demos are they’re used to the mechanics (and it essentially is like an arena fight from the games, where you use preset equipment). These demos tend to be for the existing fans, to showcase the changes to the series, less for new fans.

You’re only seeing part of the gameplay loop. You’re not getting to use your hard earned rewards to make weapons and armor, customizing your skills, and creating a build that tailors to your okay style.

Man I loved the challenge of the first one, I hope they don’t go overboard in making it easier (difficulty options would be nice I suppose, like maybe an easy mode and a “classic” mode). I wish we had a date though, and does that first bit mean Team Cherry is releasing another game before this? This wait has felt so long, I’ve been so anxious for a date!

That being said, this also sounds very different, I wonder if the game will feel entirely different than the first. I hope not but maybe I’m in the minority there...

12/12, have played all of these!

A little disappointed we didn’t get an image from Diddy Kong Racing though, there were a few festive tracks in there!

How is a Piranha plant scraping the barrel more than three Goombas in a lab coat?

@faint I mean it’s free on mobile, so that’s not entirely true. It depends if they’re going the mobile route, which is always possible.

@nessisonett fair. If he gets busted. It’s for trying to make money off this. I believe that’s pretty much the only thing one can do when modding that is outright illegal.

@nessisonett sure, modding and even ripping your games is not illegal. Pretty sure selling the mods is the bigger problem here.

@JayJ yeah can confirm that a lot of things possible in SMM aren’t possible in SMM2 due to various tech being removed for the sequel or passed out. It doesn’t affect most “regular” levels but insane kaizo tends to exploit all sorts of obscure tech. Heck, even simple thing like a few frames different timing on a shell jump can make it unbeatable.

@GTHOLLAND it’s practically irrelevant if the game is in there, they may as well be selling a sealed box. It’s at best being sold to sit on a shelf - if not just hoarded to be resold again - and the value is more based on a concept (it being nearly one of a kind) than the actual item.

That being said, it’s plastic, metal, and cardboard. It doesn’t “want to be played” and it in itself is only worth how much value is placed on it. It doesn’t really hurt the world by not being opened, the only shame here is that people with that much extra money are choosing to buy a rare decoration rather than help the less fortunate. But other commenters already have given opinions on capitalism so I won’t open that can of worms.

And someday they’ll sell this for even more.

This kind of thing feels like a trap to me. Like, people mainly buy these to sell back when the value increases moreso. I’m willing to bet this sealed copy has traded hands multiple times. At some point, someone is stuck with it or has to sell it for less than they paid for. I mean, even collectors tend to sell things eventually.

Definitely feel they made the right choice. Regardless of people complaining that the game is $60 rather than $40, there was no way a new first party Switch game wasn’t going to cost $60. It’s the price full releases go for. Gen 1 they were, what, $30? And then by the time DS came along and the price jumped to $40, Pokemon followed suit. No matter what, these would’ve been $60... and so the “Ultra” versions would’ve also cost $60, meaning $120 if you buy one version from each pair, as opposed to $80 in this scenario.

And even if we DID go with the $40 + $40 numbers (so $80 either way), we’re not factoring time. Generally these later versions have minimal changes until postgame (with the exception of B2W2), and not everyone wants to play through the same story twice. I greatly appreciate not having to put another dozen or so hours into a slightly different story, my time is more valuable than that. Heck, my free time in this case is more valuable than my money, so saving me over a dozen hours to get to the new content is great. I don’t understand why someone would prefer to just buy and play the same game again - if you want to play the story mode again with the included DLC, start a new game! Forcing everyone else to replay it was archaic. And I’m aware of the “wait for the definitive version” argument but many of us have friends we want to keep up with and don’t wanna wait a year to get the games. This really was the preferable option. I have numerous complaints about SwSh but the handling of the DLC wasn’t one of them.

And tbh, I wouldn’t be surprised if next year they release it all on one card for people who want it all physical anyways. Definitive versions are just as popular as DLC these days, they just come after the DLC has run its course in sales.

I haven’t finished this game, need to go back (though I got the worst ending). Still, I love this boss and felt she deserved more backstory. If I recall, she wasn’t even necessary to beat the game... and with a name like Bloodless, I for some reason expected her to be more important to a game called Bloodstained. I’ll settle for playing as her.

@Menardi Because Game Freak has been innovating less and less. They’ve tried innovating in the past and it rarely was well received. But the more they just stick to the tried and true stuff, the more sales they get. The last few gens have innovated less and less, and sales keep going up. The lesson I’d learn as GF is “keep doing the same thing if you want to make money.”

@Menardi oh I mean I’d agree there. Unfortunately, I can’t think of capture mechanics in any monster collecting RPG that lacks RNG of some kind. Besides, I can’t see Game Freak changing how the main capture mechanics work at this point. Pokemon rarely innovates and, when they do, the fanbase seems to get upset.

@Menardi well yeah, Eternatus is a bad example because it’s forced upon you, but this isn’t being done in the same way, I just brought that up because the focus is still raids. Have you tried the harder raids, like Zeraora? They were pretty brutal, and you needed a solid party of human players who knew what they were doing to have a shot at taking them down. And the difference here is you have to do 3 raids just to even get to these legendaries without healing in between. I can see this being a headache with randos who come in with Pokemon that are too weak or don’t add much to the party. These aren’t cutscenes that you go through the motions, they rely on players properly preparing and skillful battling. From what they’ve described, these will be the hardest challenges in the game, so yes, I would argue this absolutely takes skill.

@Menardi personally I don’t think it adds drama or tension, just annoyance, since you get unlimited throws (run out of balls and you can just reset).

That being said, the focus of this gen has been raid battles. That’s how Eternatus was caught (once again, it already had 100% catch rate too). The only reason they’re even bringing back every legendary is to have plenty of goals for the new Raid Dens. That’s the motivation for trying to get through 3 raid battles back to back in a team without losing. I personally am for ditching RNG mechanics for something skill based. Just because it’s how they used to do it doesn’t mean it was the best way.