ShadLink

@SpiffBo To be fair, I only spotted the difference when I looked down at my own keyboard. Then it's really hard to misss

@theconstellationiris It's a limited edition keyboard with a lot of nice "limited" mechanical keyboard functions. Those are often expensive. Sometimes even more.

@SpiffBo This is the 60% keyboard. The keyboards that are out now are 80% / TKL and the full size (which I have at home).

Chikorita. I usually pick the grass starter.

@Anti-Matter Nah.. those don't sound good at all. No emotion in the voices, like they're reading a script.

@Hams96 Pokémon Snap was not a GameFreak game. GF clearly doesn't want voice acting in their games. Only reason it's not in there, and only reason it might never be. And actually looking at any other Nintendo game. Most now have voice acting in some form now.

So Nintendo would be for it. But, to me, they are not the kind of publisher that forces their studio's or their partners into a certain technology or game element just becuase they want it. And I don't really want that to change either.

Maybe if another studio did another remake (Gen 5) it would be fitting to "test" adding VA.

This review is laughible even worse than the Switch 2 review.

I've played the game on Switch 1 and 2. On Switch the textures are lower res (very clearly visible), the game is 30fps, and there are a lot less particle effects. However, it still looks and runs good. Better than Legends Arceus or Scarlet / Violet. So this score is bad.

The Game on Switch ~8/10, the game on Switch 2 ~9.48/10 (scores aren't finalised until I finish the main story). Going by my own ranking.

Only if they also offer one in every language the game supports in text and also with a "no voice" option. (some games have those)

and if they do then only for major quests / cut scenes. Not for every dialog. That gets old realy quick.

@SpaceboyScreams I haven't seen any low res graphics in the game. The only graphical downside I've seen is that some tall buildings are flat. And like I said in pont 10. I stopped noticing that 2 seconds after I noticed it for the first time. Overall look and feel of the game is fantastic.

@Bolt_Strike Oh no... you actually need some skill to unlock something. I really can't understand people these days. Maybe they should just have made the Mega evolution stones part of a lootbox system. So people could just buy lootboxes like in any other game. Because god forbid you actually have to play the game in order to get something, smh.

You need to get to rank K. With some decent evolved Pokémon it's not that hard.

@Dom_31 It's technically an optional part. But it's still part of the game. And sure you have to pay to play online, but that's not the game's fault. You need to pay to play any (paid) game online on Switch (2). Same goes for any Playstation or Xbox game, for that matter.

Are people really complaining you have to play the game to obtain stuff? And yes, online multiplayer is part of the game.

It's like you have never played any online competitive game ever before.

@Emacster I agree. If you can vibe with this new battle system and are not deterred by the somewhat simple graphics, this game is absolutely somewhere between great and awesome.

Also tried some online ranked battles now. And yikes.. I have some training to do. But even online gameplay feels smooth and the battles are fast. Losing battles is also fast

Have already played about a couple of hours an collected the Mistery gift.

Here a few opinions I have:
1. The game is extremely focused on battles. This is very different than for example Legendss Arceus.
2. The battles are extremely smooth. It's basically the same system as Legends Arceus and Scarlet / Violet but optimised until (near) perfection.
4. The story is funny and decent for a Pokémon game.
5. Locations are really detailed and you remember them from Pokémon X and Y.
6. It's a LOT of fun.
7. The area's are really detailed.
8. Overall the graphics are good.
9. The controls are really good.
10. Sure the the buildings are flat, but you stop noticing that after 2 seconds.

All in all I am loving this game. I am not going to rate it before I finish it. But right now it has a range of 9-9.5/10 contender for Game of the Year. And I've already purchased the DLC.

Also people like comparing the battles to Xenoblade Chronicles (series) but I disagree there as well. Those games are often quite slow in switching betwen world and battle or even between battle and battle. Also the battles give less control in those games (a single normal attack and a lot of "wait until available" attacks). I actually compare them with the Mana series, but still smoother.

@Metazoxan The ROG Ally X is more powerful than the Steam Deck. The ROG Ally has the same CPU as the Steam Deck.

And honestly both are less than a midrange PC for the same price

So a new Windows handheld for which you can now pay €30 / month for GamePass Ultimate and a €1000 for the handheld.

Yeah.. I'll stick to my PC and Switch 2.

So basically the only complaints are that it's based inside a city and that the focus is on battles.

It's a Pokémon game, I am very happy that the focus is on battles.
And I don't mind a city world for a game. Scarlet / Violet / Arceus were more outside the cities. So a welcome change for me.

7/10 Too much flat... You can really feel the IGN with this review. Sadly Nitendolife has been falling into a lower quality review site now.

Correction, it's even worse than the IGN review... Who could've thought that would happen?

"ROG Xbox Ally X - A Gaming PC On The Go"

My SteamDeck: 'You sure about that?'

Well.. let's see what Pokémon Legends Z-A will do next week Can't wait.

Got them in the e-mail from the MyNintendo store. And the game is downloading now to my Switch 2.

@N00BiSH New Pikmin short movies? They released some in the 3DS Era.

@Pillowpants

@ShadLink There's a big difference between complaining and voicing concern, if you ask me. If something you love is changing into something you don't like you should be vocal about it. Of course it matters in what way you voice it, on that I think we can agree.

Sure I agree here. But when talking about Pokémon it is not a few people voicing their concern. But it's a smal extremely vocal group complaining at every opportunity they get. That is NOT the same thing as voicing concern.

In the case op Pokémon Legends: Z-A, there's been a LOT of footage and in-depth videos to get a very good idea of how the actual gameplay will be.

Yet we have only seen a few area's of the game. Just like with previous titles. This says absolutely nothing.

But from what I've seen now PL:ZA is not a game I think I will enjoy, specifically because I don't think the mechanics are particularly well designed

And this is something you absolutely can't say without playing it. This game is going to have a completely new battle mechanic never seen in earlier Pokémon games. So how can you ever assess if it's well designed or not?!!

What you're basically saying is that "if you don't like something, keep your mouth shut."

WHERE DID I WRITE THAT?! No, my point is now and has always been: if you don't like it, don't buy it. And if you want to voice your concern, tell Nintendo. Every single Nintendo website has a contact@ address. Which is a lot better than complain in an echo chamber. (it is not going to change anything, and takes away enjoyment of people who are wanting to play this game (like me))

@Pillowpants But my point stands. People are complaining about a new game, of which they don't know how it's going to be played. Just because the game doesn't fit exactly with what they want that game to be. Or don't like the play style. Or the graphical style. Or the story.. or anything really.

All this before they play the (final version of the) game. Just remember that games change during development. Also developers/publishers rarely show every aspect of a game before release. And no game caters to everyone, and that is okay too.

For example, I don't like Warriors-style games. So I won't be buying Hyrule Warriors. I have played the previous entries but could never really get into those games. But do I complain about it? No. I will just skip it and buy a different game later on (Kirby AirRiders).

I've seen a lot of times that people complain about Pokémon games being stale and boring because they keep repeating the same formula. Now GameFreak changes the formula and even before the games release, people complain about the formula being changed. (about it being in a city, about the new battle mechanics, etc..)

People really don't know what they want.
Anyway, I do think this game looks awesome and I can't wait for the 16th. And the ad looks exactly like most of the "celebraty game ads" Nintendo has made before. Boring, but the whole reason is "look this celeb is playing our game, buy our game now!" Which is boring, but well.. it's an ad.

I just think it's a cute short video, like the Pixar shorts, that doesn't have any direct relation to any game or media by Nintendo. It does have Pikmin music, but that doesn't say anything since Nintendo Pictures also worked on Pikmin content before.

[s]Also like others have pointed out. There are no humans in the Pikmin universe. This couldn't be related to any Pikmin game.[/s]

Edit: Ah yes, it was indeed linked to Pikmin

Pokémon Legends Z-A for this month

@Slideaway1983 Nintendo has their own Animation studio as well.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Pictures

lol.. at al the speculation for a simple short video.

Two of the best Mario games.. so 20/10.

@EVIL-C Actually it's not a real issue.

@Medic_alert If we didn't have gamekeycards these games either

A. wouldn't be released on Switch 2
or B. would be codes in a box.
or C. games would be a lot more restrictive in capabilities.
and D. games would've been (even) more expensive.

A would be far worse for Nintendo and B would be the same as just buying the game in the eShop.
C would just hurt games in the long term because of the slow eMMC storage on the cartridges.

The complaining about GKC just means that next Nintendo console will be a download only console.

Nintendo releases MarioKart 8 Deluxe:
Nintendo 'fans': "We want something new!"

Nintendo releases MarioKart World:
Nintendo 'fans': "We want more of the old!"

Nintendo: ...

@KociolekDoSyta There are way more good horror games not on Switch. And most of the horror games that did release are either old ports* or cloud editions.

*) Where the competition got full new remakes.

I love all these horror games coming to Switch 2. Something that was quite lacking on the original Switch.

I got the physical combopack. I loved the games on Wii and even though I have the 3D All Stars pack, the upgrades for Switch / Switch 2 are enough to warrant a triple dip.

(I did get it for €10 cheaper than on Nintendo's own website, though.)

@Anti-Matter Honestly I feel the opposite. I always liked the large A button, since it's the one you use the most. And I don't have any issues with the analog triggers. Only downside the GC pad has, for me, is that it doesn't have a select button and that the sticks don't 'click'. Which means they are not really usuable in modern games.

The PlayStation controllers are decent as well, but I hate the stick placement on those. And I much rather have the XBOX / Nintendo GameCube/Switch/Switch 2 placement of the sticks.

@Anti-Matter Funny. To me the GameCube controller is still the best controller ever. The PS5 controller looks like a frisbee.

That AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D though.. such a powerful gaming console. Also a face cam or an SSD is gaming hardware now?

Donkey Kong Banaza is game of the year for me. And the Switch 2 is the best console released this year.

Not hard, since it's also the only console released this year.

For me Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2

For me:

Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2
Pokémon Legends Z-A
Metroid Prime 4
Kirby Air Riders
Octopath Traveller 0

Again complaining about the price in 2025 in a review devalues the review. Also with some looking around on differen online stores you can easily find the games for €10-15 cheaper.

@Skunkfish indeed, these articles should include a size comparison of some sort. Because that would absolutely show why it's priced the way it is.

On Switch 2 usually this means that they added support for more Switch games, which is always welcome.

@Vegeta937 Pricing isn't really Nintendo's fault. Since cost have gone up nearly everywhere. The age of cheap games is over, sadly.

They should make a Switch 2 "Lego game collection". I would buy it in a heartbeat.

I played the original on PS4. I might try the demo just to see how it runs on Switch 2.

And I'm okay with 30fps, as long as it's stable.

@purple_shyguy So basically like on any console, first year titles aren't that much better than best games on last gen console. Same was the case for PS5 and XBOX Series and in the past as well. It really is, when we see games that are designed for Switch 2 that we will see performance improvements. But that is going to take time.

@lumothesinner If you want stable 60fps in all games you shouldn't be buying a console at all.

Finally a dev that is honest about it. Not that I care, I just buy download versions.

@FancyJehuty It also had a very broken "good AI" that meant that the opponent always picked the most effective move. Even if that move was only a stat change. And Psychic was literally overpowered. Get yourself a Kadabra, Alakazam (or Mewtwo) and you basically destroy everything.
And that is before you look at even crazier stuff like Missing No and the Badge Boost Glitch.

And backsprites were unique, but they were also very, very awful for some Pokémon. (which was fixed in Yellow) And Pikachu saying "Pikachu" in Yellow was indeed neat. And Yellow did fix some of the issues, but Yellow was also one of the final games on the original GameBoy published by Nintendo. But "graphical showcases of the platform"? Nope, that has it never been.

Gold / Silver was indeed because of Iwata's compression algorithm. But before that it was going to be a very different game (shorter) so basically Nintendo there saved the Pokémon franchise.

And I honestly think that after the Scarlet and Violet backlash, Gamefreak basically toned their game down drastically. I also think that when we see a specific Switch 2 Pokémon game (2027 at the earliest) that we will get something different.
(next year will be Pokémon Pokopia and Champions as a stop gap)

@FancyJehuty Gen 1 was riddled with bugs and glitches. Gen 2 was better, but only because GameFreak got help from Nintendo directly to fit Kanto on the cartridge as well. And even then it has some baffling choices in Gym Pokémon levels.

Honestly every single Pokémon game has it's downsides.

It looks like it's a very fluid battle mechanic. Leaving less memory (etc) for other graphics. It's what you prioritise. Also I think it looks decent in trailers, sure a bit simple but I can live with that.

" It really is baffling and overwhelmingly disappointing that Pokémon games continue to fall short in the looks department, especially when you consider that historically (on handheld devices) they were graphical showcases many moons prior."
Honestly this was never the case. Even on original GameBoy / GameBoyColor the games weren't that great in comparison to other games. The best "graphical" Pokémon games were Black/White for their generation, but those were honestly the worst in battle mechanics. And many older Pokémon couldn't be caught. X&Y (3DS) was also quite bland and had graphical issues (but was a great game). Sun/Moon, well we won't talk about it.

@quinnyboy58 It's SquareEnix, most of their 2D-HD games have questionable names. But the games are good.