Steifybobbins

The picture shows Austrian Audio Headphones. Somebody knows good "budget" headphones

@GraniteFraggle it absolutely is! I suck at games like dark souls but Tales of Iron was so cool I pushed through and beat it. It deserved more attention for sure

@gcunit you wrote a note addressed "publisher" telling them you don't buy DLC so don't bother. There was no other way to interpret that other than you speaking on behalf of everyone. I'm not trying to antagonise you, I'm just surprised you can't see how that reads

@Thumbsofsteel The first game was more like a 2D Souls. So there are Metroidvania elements but I wouldn't call it one. I'm not great at souls games but I like the idea of them and I did manage to beat this. You should absolutely try it if this sounds good to you

Oh wow the first game was a real surprise for me and the very definition of a hidden gem! I'll look forward to this!

Don't sleep on these! I'm not really a fan of visual novels but I absolutely love these. The atmosphere alone totally engulfs you in a way that's rarely seen. It's almost tangible, it's weird. There's also just enough "game" to break up the reading. All three games are less than 3 hours long too, which makes repeat playthroughs to see the different scenarios and grab the achievements a really easy ask.

@LadyCharlie OMG I forgot to mention Sayonara! I love that game deeply. I play it every year at least twice

Most recently I'd say Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I'm very much a lapsed JRPG player and I only bought this because I was bored one day and I loved Xenoblade 1 on Wii. Man this game nails the JRPG template. No action is wasted or meaningless it was all so moreish. I couldn't stop playing after a slow start. I could go on and on but I won't.

From my youth I'd have to say Links Awakening, Tony Hawks Pro Skater, Final Fantasy 7. Out of those 3 Final Fantasy 7 probably hasn't aged as well but it was the first game to have a more profound impact on me and expand my idea of what games could be. The soundtrack still lives in my head too.

I could probably list at least 20 but I'll finish with Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Galaxy. Breath of the wild is the best open world game ever made (with TOTK) and Mario galaxy is just pure joy. I really wish I had one of those M.I.B pens now!

I never owned an N64, I never played this game until 3 days ago and I think it's FANTASTIC! Yes the controls are horrible but if you allow yourself to set it to easy with auto aim it's brilliant! Levels are carefully designed rather than boombastic shooting galleries. The multiple objectives tied to difficulty make it super replayable. The sound design is still great and the feedback loop from shooting baddies still feels great! I'm genuinely surprised how much I'm enjoying it. Like many on here I find the 32 bit era hasn't aged well but this still holds up much like SM64 Banjo FF7-9 etc.

Anybody on the fence about this, if it's half as good as New Star Manager this will be an absolute steal. I must have put over 100 hours into that game

I recently commented on a eurogamer review following similar complaints and I'll repeat what I said there. It's good to have different viewpoints. If one person was disappointed by what Bayonetta turned out to be, I'm sure there will be many others who feel the same. How is that not valid in a subjective medium? I'd actually like to see less focus on mechanics and tech and have more reviews focus on the feelings a game elicits. That's where the fun really is, mechanics, graphics, tech, writing etc. These things are basic ingredients. Like all art forms games are more than the sum of those parts and that's where the magic often lies. We'll never find it by looking at games in such a prescribed way.

There's probably hundreds do I'll go with my immediate thought - Ballad of the Goddess Skyward sword. It's Rousing, epic and encapsulates the spirit of adventure from LOZ

Ballad of the windfish would be another

@BloodNinja I only compared the combat to add context that most people could visualise Tales of Iron is very much it's own thing. I agree it should stand in it's own

Thank you for featuring Tales of Iron and my Comments. I hope you didn't have to edit it too much!

Has to be The Wonderful 101. The Saturday Morning cartoon vibe, slick platinum combat and a fun story was a massive suprise to me on its release. It became one of the rare examples of a game I go out of my way to persuade others to try. It was a 10/10 to me and a rare example of creativity and joy in an increasingly formulaic gaming landscape. The internet seems to strongly disagree with me

@Mauzuri oh, ok, that's your response. In that case there is absolutely no point in me explaining further. It seems to me that the problem is not a lack of innovation on Nintendo's part but your inability to perceive it.

@Mauzuri there are tons of examples of creativity from Nintendo over recent years...

Splatoon, Arms, BOTW, Mario Odyssey, the Switch itself. Labo, game builder garage. Not all of it might be your cup of tea but there's certainly no evidence to suggest there's no creativity.

@NintendoEternity So weird! I had basically that exact experience at the same time! I'm now also re-married too

@Mauzuri Really?

@Pirate1 "Hens Teeth" is used when talking about something that is hard to find, because hens don't have teeth.

@TotalHenshin The term "Hens Teeth" refers to anything that is hard to find because hens don't have teeth. It's not used only in the context you suggest.

This video was amazing! So well done it felt like a TV show. Absolutely loved it and I'd devour more videos like this

Links Awakening is one of the greatest games of all time. Cannot argue with it at 1. Tetris is well placed at 2. My dad played Tetris for hours and hours sometimes in one sitting. I'm not sure he played a video game before or since. That tells you everything you need to know about the significance of Tetris on Gameboy

@nhSnork you really should it's excellent

@nhSnork have you played Tails of Iron?

@kateGray if you haven't already you could try Littlewood. It's kinda Stardew Lite and admittedly it fizzles out quicker, but while it lasts it prompts the same compulsive play. I got a good 20 hours of solid fun out of it

@eleven I'm sorry but according to the dictionary playing videogames can very much be considered escapism. Recreation Is a broader term that could include escapism... Some of the responses in these comments are clearly arguments for arguments sake.

OMG Tom Saved Sayonara Wild Hearts! I was slowly reading through hoping to see it pop up and it did! SWH Is absolutely glorious and I too play it through regularly. I bought it the night my Wife got the all clear from the hospital after surgery. After months of misery this beautiful game beamed itself into my eyes and the soundtrack buried itself in my head. I finished it that night, cried in relief as I checked on my wife who was fast asleep. I "fell back into my groove" Thank you for picking it Tom

@thiz- you do realise all this buying and selling is costing you more than just keeping the original right?

@Yodalovesu thank goodness for this comment. You have restored my faith in humanity.

The writers only crime was assuming the readers were smart enough to understand this piece. Apparently many of them were not.

@Ambassador_Kong classic case of a human on the internet not being able to think beyond their own extremely narrow viewpoint and have a discussion. I get it

@ATaco you are looking at it to simplisticly it's not intended as a like for like comparison it's attempting to theorise what it is that makes a game feel like a place where your interactions make sense and have meaning and purpose. I think....

@BulkSlash BOTW is the most dense and interesting open world there has been. vomiting pointless tasks and icons all over a map only serves to break immersion it also encourages players to chase after boring activities rather than get lost in another place. BOTW's open spaces make it feel like a walk in the wilderness where you make your own fun like kids used to in my day. It feels lived in like every interaction or activity has genuine purpose but it's expansive enough to illicit feelings of wonder and curiosity. The writer here is not simply making a "weird" comparison they are picking up on a very common problem in modern video games where the realism of the world's created often isn't matched by the things you can do in them which fundamentally undermines the reason for making it look real in the first place and shatters any illusion that you are inhabitting an actual place.

This is something that has been bothering me for some time and I've often argued that immersion is more likely to be affected by a belief that the structure and systems in any given game "make sense" much more than trying to trick your brain with photo realism. Case in point Half life 2 feels much more believable and "alive" than many modern games and the lead character in that game doesn't even have hands when climbing ladders but the physics, art, sound and environmental storytelling still does a better job of suspending your disbelief than most games made today. I've always found the GTA games super fun to mess around in but extremely rudimentary if you play the actual story missions because the scenarios and tools at your disposal are simplistic and often dull. That said I can happily grab a coffee from the roost in AC despite it being ultimately pointless because everything about that cafe feels like it belongs. It's a place and not just pretty backdrop. I for one can't wait for some of the current trends to die a death and let creativity run free again for developers and players. Imagine how good GTA could be if it was free from its anriquated systems and built with real freedom at its heart. That would be really something.

I have many issues with games today but one of the biggest is overly long games with nothing to justify that length. Some of my absolute favourite experiences have been the "right" length. Sayonara Wild Hearts is extremely short but the experience is pure concentrated fun. Links Awakening is 10-14 hours but there's not an ounce of fat on it. There's tons to do but none of it worthless. All games should be made this way. Too many games leave a bad taste because they contain hours upon hours of pointless activities that detracts from the rest of the game. Metroid Dread is another good example of a game being paced perfectly. The writer mentioned movies and a key problem to solve when telling a story is pacing. Games should be no different but at present pacing comes a distant second to content. I hate not completing games but there are so many I have to force myself to finish. A perfectly paced game is also much easier to replay because you don't have a list of boring chunks swimming round your head convincing you not to bother. Do yeah, give me games that are the "right" length all day long

@witters it's definitely your own fault, nobody forced you to use a knife or use it carelessly. If the knife had been at an appropriate angle and used delicately it would be virtually impossible to stab the cart slot not to mention possibly yourself. Add to that that there are smaller safer options like credit cards or paper clips and there's your answer to who's fault it is. It bugs me that everyone wants to blame someone and nobody wants to take responsibility for bad decisions. That said I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself and I hope you get it fixed ASAP

@sketchturner Finally someone else who found this awesome game! NL have dropped the ball in not reviewing this one. Tales of iron would also get my vote. It's basically Dark souls with Rats bugs and frogs bit more forgiving to make it more accessible. It's just as rewarding though. Great art, great sound design and meaty combat. If you like games everyone you should absolutely play it.