StephenYap3

Good. That's literally the only thing that has me hyped for this year's before the end. Been grinding for some Goddess Fruits in the mean time.

Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark: "Hold my beer..."

Christmas hasn't happened for me yet, but I guess it can't hurt to play one of my favorite Wario games of all time earlier

Kind of an odd choice to add this game's soundtrack, considering that it wasn't well-received by many that heard it...

I liked Banjo-Tooie as well, a bit more than Banjo-Kazooie, if only for its mechanical improvements and larger scope.

It's my least favorite Mario RPG to this day and it had a lot of shoes to fill in after the likes of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, alongside being too half-baked in many areas (time travel usage, overall gameplay depth and content), but I can commend Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for at least having a decent soundtrack and existing.

Either way, happy 20th, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

I only put a month's worth into Wild World and have since jumped back into the GameCube game (and later entries onwards), long before trading in the game at my local GameStop.

I wasn't impressed with Wild World in the slightest due to how "watered-down" it was on many angles (even for a portable Nintendo game) compared to the other mainline games for me. I felt like I was playing an early access release for the eventual City Folk on Wii and it wouldn't be until New Leaf when I would witness the series' first proper portable entry.

Either way, I didn't like Wild World.

Very disappointing news, though I can't say I'm surprised either considering that NoA did the same thing for the Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth trilogy...

What bothers me even more about this is that Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark had its "Japanese" content, yet it got the green light for release on the overseas eShop (and was rated Teen 13+).

My least favorite mainline Animal Crossing game...

Anyways, Japan, definitely. The two globes represents "connectivity" between players' worlds to me compared to a singular globe.

I am hyped for this one as I too liked Yooka-Laylee myself and I do dig some of the improvements here and there (fast travel, Rextro's revamped mini games), but there are some things that I'm not a fan of like all moves unlocked from the start and removal of stamina meter.

Either way, hopefully this remake proves me wrong and I do enjoy this over the still-good original.

6/10

Even for the $20 asking price, there just wasn't enough content for me to stay on board with it for long. No few additional Copy Abilities, no "crystal" versions of world bosses, no other reasons to spend Starry Coins besides more figurines, etc. Heck, even the new levels and Mouthful Modes didn't impress me all that much.

I was all hyped for this Upgrade Pack (at least, compared to Jamboree TV) until I saw that there are only 12 new/remixed levels. I'm of the sentiment that prefers quality over quantity, but that's just too low in count for me added on top of an otherwise amazing game, and this is all in addition to there not being enough reasons to collect Starries (unless if the figurines look really good). Maybe add in at least 25 levels, as well as a few more Copy Abilities, and I'll definitely get my $20 worth.

My favorite video game to this day.

Despite the improvements the later entries have, this one is the perfect "pick up and play" kind of game for me on many angles, especially for having my favorite vision of the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's role.

My favorite game of this generation getting even better is all the more good news to me. Keep it up, Level-5!

Around 10 hours, but that's basically all I'll give it.

Despite having unlocked Mirror Mode, there's just simply not enough reasons for me to play Mario Kart World over Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at the moment and the former's "open" mechanics (especially in its Grand Prix mode) still haven't caught me enough to keep me impressed throughout.

As much as I agree with Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash's placement, a few points that I'll have to give it over Mario Tennis Aces is that it had Gold Mario (albeit not playable) and Sprixie Princess, as well as most characters still having their default outfits available right out of the oven.

I'd put Yoshi's Crafted World somewhere at the bottom, to be honest. That game, while not "bad", encompassed on everything I never wanted out of a Yoshi and Nintendo platformer, which is especially so considering that its main game took zero skill to complete (even on Classic mode) while its post game content upped the difficulty for no real reason.

I find it pretty lackluster, to be honest. The entire map just felt like a mish-mash of areas without much in the way of cohesion and a lot of its "challenges" (namely P-Switches) felt too similar and simple to each other that I ended up losing interest to even find more than 50 of them.

And of course, all of that is on top of Free-Roam mode's only true incentive being to earn stickers, which isn't all that rewarding outside of "...oh, hey! Check out this sticker on my Kart/Bike!" and feels less satisfying than even the stickers from Super Mario Party.

7/10

It did good in some aspects like graphics and introducing high skill elements, but in many other areas (especially content) it is starved and I wish I could play as my Mii, not to mention that the Free-Roam mode is lacking on many aspects (I had more fun with Lego Racers 2's Adventure Mode). The lack of Kart Parts, Mario Kart TV, and "Custom" item setting didn't help either.

I haven't bought this game, so I'll have no problem buying it on my Switch 2.

I do feel bad for the Switch 1 owners, though, and Sega should've provided an "upgrade pack" for this game (among others in their catalog) as a result.

Eh, I'll still double dip on this game under a good sale of sorts ($20, maybe).

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is still my favorite falling puzzle game of all time and I'm really curious in this Puyo Tetris Double mode.

Well, as long as this game doesn't lock anything special behind those additional acessories, I'll take it.

Eh, 10/10 for me. It improves upon Fantasy Life in every nook n cranny for me and while I'll admit that the Farmer life could've been "better", I still very much like it as is as someone who isn't a fan of farming games. Far and away my new favorite Switch game (after Animal Crossing: New Horizons) and my favorite game this generation.

Cool.

Hopefully Kirby Star Allies, Kirby's Dream Buffet, and many others get their shares of the pie.

@PikaPhantom ...I guess I'm the only one who liked Kirby Star Allies' main campaign. Heroes in Another Dimension was cool, but I felt that its only reason to play through it was unlocking the three Mage Sisters as Dream Friends.

Enhanced tea table in Maxim Castle. You can now teleport to the most recent tea table used. With this feature, you can more easily resume your journey after visiting Maxim Castle.

Now THIS is something that should've been in the base game (and even that's a stretch for me to say). There were too few opportunities for fast-traveling across the entirety of the game and it was especially annoying when you need to stop in your tracks to level up or do something back at Maxim's Castle, only to have to find the closest fast-travel point to continue on.

That said, there are still numerous other issues that plague Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, in my opinion (bland and padded levels, no "map indicator" for collectibles, most of the progression locked behind Maxim's Bones in general, etc.). On most occasions, I'm tired of this whole "release now, finish later" strategies game studios have taken and it really pains me to see Inti. Creates follow that same path like they did with Dragon Marked for Death.

I've beaten this game last week and as someone who liked Gal Guardians: Demon Purge and Metroidvania games, I expected (much) better out of Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark. Probably one of my least favorite Metroidvania games on Switch.

A lot of this game's elements just felt too half-baked to me in a lot of ways, to the point that leveling up is enough to put me on higher grounds than any enemy in the game, thus most of those treasure chests containing Sub Weapons are pretty much "pointless" to me, not helped either by the bland levels (and boss fights) that made the very little fast-travel opportunities and traversals very boring for me. In fact, the Sub Weapons themselves felt too unbalanced for me in the sense that some of them can polish off most enemies and bosses in the cheapest way possible while others felt like novelty ideas that rarely did anything.

Granted, Gal Guardians: Demon Purge wasn't "amazing", but I felt that that game had more care and thought put into it and its level design did prevent those "second visits" from being as annoying, in my opinion, not to mention that I felt that the game leaned more towards the "quality over quantity" route.

There's more for me to unpack regarding my feelings for this game, but all-in-all I can commend Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark for at least existing and I'm glad to have more Inti. Creates games, but it's too difficult for me to praise this as a Metroidvania game after having been amazed by Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition, Hollow Knight, Tevi, and (just recently) Guns of Fury prior.

After spending 15 hours, I can honestly say that as someone who liked both Gal Guardians: Demon Purge and Metroidvania games, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark left me disappointed.

It felt too half-baked and padded for me on many angles, not helped either by the numerous mechanics and elements of its predecessor being too watered-down or insidiously unbalanced; I rarely ever found myself using any Sub-Weapons to fight anything since leveling up (by finding and depositing Maxim's Bones to his throne) is all I ever needed and the lack of any tutorials for the controls for using certain abilities bites too, the latter especially for this one unlocked Demon Power move that I found out how to use by literally mashing whatever buttons necessary.

There's more for me to unpack here, but I really wanted to enjoy this game as an Inti. Creates myself and I had hoped that this game would've been the one game to help bring my faith for them back on its feet after most of their recent efforts not appealing to me much, and seeing this game being far from what I wanted out of a follow up to Gal Guardians: Demon Purge and a Metroidvania game just breaks my heart. A real waste of my $23 as a result

Hopefully this "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Games" will expand to third-party games as well. The upcoming Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time could use the upgrade in its performance.

4/10

Outside of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, High on Life port, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and Nintendo Today...nothing else caught my eye.

I can't argue with this, honestly, even for a huge Nintendo fan myself. At least for non-remake/port games, there was just rarely anything that caught my eye from Nintendo's hands; even their Princess Peach: Showtime! game wasn't much for me to write to the missus for, despite enjoying it. The only other new Nintendo games I bought that same year was Super Mario Party Jamboree and Mario & Luigi: Brothership, both of which weren't "bad" but I expected better out of.

If anything, I was more amazed by third-party and indie games like Bakeru, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, Crash Puzzle! Hammer-san, and Fruit Mountain.

2/10

There wasn't anything that caught my eye, even for a Pokémon Presents direct, and the new Pokémon Champions looks to be a glorified multiplayer mode of the mainline series, which is something I'm not too keen on. Pokémon Legends: Z-A looks intriguing, but that's basically all I can say about it.

Flying pig scenario, but I would love to see Tony Hawk's Underground 2: World Destruction Tour get remastered. It is still my favorite Tony Hawk game to this day for its zaniness, humor, charm, and content.

So, bringing this game to all other platforms was the reason for the multiple "delays"?

I mean, I'm happy that this game is getting released to many other platforms so that more people can play it (especially with cross-play), but you promised Switch owners this game at October 10, 2024. Why not just release the Switch version then and bring it over to other platforms afterwards?

Either way, still getting this game on my Switch D1B, especially the Digital Deluxe version.

Edit: This almost reminds of the Rayman Legends situation, where Ubisoft originally had the game set for Wii U back in February 2013 before delaying the game to September 2013 to release on other platforms, though Wii U owners at least got a early access demo a month prior to the game's overall release. Please tell me I'm not the only person to remember this, guys...

So freaking hyped for this game. The only thing that would make this game better for me is being given the option to wear whatever clothing or equipment over your strongest equipment, which is "Equipment-Hiding Fashion" in TV Tropes' case.

That awkward moment when a Nintendo fan makes a better eShop than Nintendo themselves...

Anyways, this is already a massive improvement over the Switch eShop we have now. I would maybe add to the "filters" feature by letting us filter out publishers/developers (there are a few publishers I no longer want to support, namely Digerati).

Either way, Dickens does what Nintendon't...

Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii is still my favorite Donkey Kong game of all time and I prefer it over Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (slightly) for having boss death cutscenes and more worlds, but this port is going to be a "later buy" for me and even then, the unsteady 60 fps is a bit baffling to me and I hope that gets fixed.

@Bucky No. Mighty Gunvolt Burst is "Mighty Gunvolt 2".

Hopefully Mighty Gunvolt 3 builds upon the gameplay and mechanics of Mighty Gunvolt Burst, though.

Can I get Mighty Gunvolt 3? Please?

7/14, but I'm fine with it.

Personally, I thought Nintendo wasn't at their best this year, even with the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake in front of my face.

There's quite a few hidden Switch gems I found:

Crash Puzzle Hammer-San - A neat little Lode Runner-style game with nearly 300 levels, plus the option to make your own levels.

Fruit Mountain - Suika Game in 3D, leading to this being the one "Suika Game" to rule them all for me.

The Legend of Dark Witch Episode 2 - The best version of the best game in the Dark Witch series, sporting an additional third playable character Riva (despite the Steam version doing that first), among other things.

This absolutely bites. I don't know what those "guidelines" are, but something tells me Nintendo (of America and Europe) themselves haven't seen each of those games thoroughly and just drew the line. I have played most of the Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth trilogy myself and honestly, most of their risque content is "Tom & Jerry" compared to most of the other anime-like games I played/seen that went towards that same risque route.

I'd be surprised if we didn't. I mean, we got the other Donkey Kong Country games on Virtual Console and NSO, so Donkey Kong 64's appearance is inevitable.

Eh, at least it's not a significant delay like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time was...

Eh, I played and beaten it myself.

Divine Dynamo Flamefrit wasn't bad and I enjoyed the game when it was enjoyable, but even for an "April Fools/joke" sort of game it felt like the game just didn't have enough to offer to impress me with and the gameplay felt a tad too substandard even for Inti. Creates standards, in my opinion (you can easily dodge-counter enemies, the specials are too OP'd, you're literally only finding health and mana pickups without any sort of upgrades, etc.). The lack of any additional modes didn't help either.

Now, I suppose Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is at least still better than Dragon: Marked for Death and being a $7 game is a tiny bite at the least, but that same price tag also gave me loads of replay value for The Legend of Dark Witch remake on Switch and even then, Mighty Gunvolt costed $3 on the 3DS eShop and that gave me loads of fun times for that price.

Good game, despite it not wowing me as much as the first five Paper Mario games.

I'll check this update out later, though.

15/19

Whatever.

1) WarioWare: D.I.Y.
2) Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
3) Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver
4) New Super Mario Bros
5) Super Princess Peach

7/10

I still enjoyed this game and I'm glad to see another entry from this series, but it would've been a 9/10 or 10/10 from me had it not been for its tedious elements and dry presentation (and humor).

Best Mario & Luigi game yet? I'll have to see it to believe it because Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on GBA is my favorite in the series (currently) and I'm hoping this one follows up well on that.

So happy to be able to play this game on my Switch at last. My favorite Banjo-Kazooie game, even, though I still think the predecessor is amazing too.

Now, all that is left is Donkey Kong 64 on N64 NSO and my personal holy trinity of 3D N64 Rare Ware Collectathon Platformers will be complete