Comments 2,388

Re: Best WarioWare Games Of All Time

StephenYap3

Yeah, Mega Micro Game$ is definitely my favorite in the series, with D.I.Y. my second favorite. I haven't played Mega Party Game$, Smooth Moves, D.I.Y. Showcase, or Snapped!...but I fairly enjoyed the WarioWare series myself and while I'm never opposed to more games, I do hope we get another Wario Land eventually.

Re: Poll: What's The Best Atelier Game On Switch?

StephenYap3

Having only played a pinch amount of them (Sophie, Lydie & Suelle, Lulua, and Sophie 2), I can honestly say that Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream is one of the absolute best JRPGs I played in a very long time as I felt that that game was designed to my preferences; the battles and synthesizing always got me in the mood for them, the presentation was quite the treat for me, etc.

Re: Grim Guardians: Demon Purge Is Currently Unavailable On The US eShop

StephenYap3

@Magician That's what I think as well. That game does have some "Japanese" elements in there.

Edit: So, a name change due to a trademark troll? Wow.

I'll be honest: I actually liked "Grim Guardians" better because it sounds a bit more fitting to me and quirkier; "Gal Guardians" does help make the game closer to the Gal Gun series, but it just doesn't have that same charm as "Grim Guardians", in my opinion.

Re: Konami Teases "More" Bomberman On 6th Anniversary Of Super Bomberman R

StephenYap3

Though I greatly enjoyed Super Bomberman R and look forward to its sequel, I do hope Konami puts out a "collection" for the series.

Regarding Bomberman 64, admittedly that was the first game I played in the series and while it does hold a lot of nostalgic factor for me, looking back now I would say that I only had a decent time with it. The puzzle-focused element of the gameplay got in the way of the game in terms of pacing and the freeform/aggressive spin on the series' gameplay just can't beat the classic but strategic stigma of the 2D gameplay for me, not to mention that it doesn't really seem to push the 3D boundaries the same way that Super Mario 64 and even Crash Bandicoot did at the time.

That said, I do hope Bomberman 64, Bomberman Hero, and Bomberman 64: The Second Attack (among other titles) resurface on the Switch or another Nintendo system somehow. I kind of miss those games, despite their flaws.

Re: Poll: Six Years On, Which Was Nintendo Switch's Best Year So Far?

StephenYap3

2020 has been my favorite year thus far.

Despite the pandemic roaming about, 2020 was the year that I felt excelled the most on Switch, bringing a sublime balance of both first-party and third-party (and indie) games for me. I've long waited for another mainline Animal Crossing game since Animal Crossing: New Leaf and luckily, those seven years of waiting resulted in Animal Crossing: New Horizons not only became my new favorite Animal Crossing game after the Game Cube game, but my new favorite Switch game after Dragon Quest Builders 2 of last year. Then there was also the sublime Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, the US release of Pop'n TwinBee, my favorite versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (prior to Sonic Origins) and Puyo Puyo Tsu via Sega Ages, another good Puyo Puyo and Tetris game Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 since Puyo Puyo Tetris from 2017, a surprisingly good "shovelware" title Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, the digital release of Super Mario All Stars at last, an unexpected but good Super Smash Bros alternative Kirby Fighters 2...hoo man, I could go on.

The only "duds" for me that year were Paper Mario: The Origami King and Super Mario 3D All Stars, but those games were more "okay" than bad for me and I felt that they could've been much better in the end.

Re: Review: Clive 'N' Wrench - A Banjo-Kazooie-Style Throwback That Hits All The Wrong Notes

StephenYap3

Eh, I 100%ed the first world and I'm having a decent time with it (so far). The controls and mechanics are quite janky, but I got a bit used to them overtime and I've managed to roll with them as a result. The soundtrack is quite passable, but nothing too glaringly bad to me. The presentation does have some charm, but I've seen better in other (better) 3D platformers I played.

Having said all of this, Clive 'N' Wrench does need some fix-ups and while I still managed to play the game just fine in most cases, the performance is a bit "foggy" to me. Hopefully the devs can address to most of these flaws to a more proper state on Switch.

Edit: 100%ed it. I had fun with the game and while it was good "waiting game" for the eventual Yooka-Laylee 2, Clive 'N' Wrench was surprisingly average to me. The boss fights and soundtrack were incredibly lackluster, the cutscenes lacked any sort of charm and distinction to help convey events in-game, you'll have to redo puzzles to re-enter some areas, etc. On the flipside, the gameplay was a ton of fun for me to go about exploring and it felt good flying about here and there.

Re: Review: Grim Guardians: Demon Purge - A Creative, Character-Swapping Ode To Castlevania

StephenYap3

I just played the first two levels and (while having no knowledge of the Gal Gun games myself) I had a bit of a blast with this one. The gameplay is quite fun and engaging, the level design is good, and the art style is quite charming. So far, I'm liking this more than Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (decently good game) for being more fluent and modern without coming off as a "NES game mod" for one bit, in my opinion.

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge also gave me that "true sequel" that I wanted from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, making Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 too "by the numbers" for me.

Re: Every Yoshi Game Ranked

StephenYap3

Okay list. Not surprised to see both the SNES and GBA versions of Yoshi's Island up top, but that and Woolly World (and in some cases, Yoshi's Story) are among the highlights of the series for me.

I would knock Yoshi's Crafted World far down the list, though. As someone who loved Good-Feel Ltd. for their excellent work on Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Yoshi's Woolly World...Yoshi's Crafted World got a truckload of things wrong for me in the "fun Nintendo platformer" department that it became pretty much everything I didn't want out of a Nintendo platformer: Slow and dull gameplay that often leans far past the point of "LeapPad Learning Device" easy (even for Nintendo platformer and Yoshi standards; by that point, for the most part, why even have a "Mellow Mode"?), levels that rarely put your most basic gaming skills to the test in any feasible way, mini game levels that last far too long than necessary, background-shooting egg system that is rarely ever utilized to any intriguing or fun extent, optional Smiley Flowers that are unfortunately required to progress through the game, costumes that grant far too much advantage to the player (and are a poor replacement for the different-colored Yoshis and Woolly World's Power Badges)...the list goes on, but I was extremely devastated with this game and all of that is on top of having the most pathetic and busted-up soundtrack throughout the series. Even for a "relaxed-direction" game, Yoshi's Crafted World was an utter kick in the right-here for me for how incredibly watered-down and monotonous it was for a Nintendo platformer. I would even go as far and say that it's my least favorite first-party Switch game (and I have played some of the "bad" ones like 1-2-Switch, Kirby Star Allies, Jump Rope Challenge, Paper Mario: The Origami King, and Mario Golf: Super Rush).

Good-Feel Ltd., you are a great developer and I look forward to your future as far as (Switch) games go...but good lord, you guys [BURP]ed up big time with Yoshi's Crafted World.

As for the other games...I'm sorry to the folks that enjoyed this game, but Yoshi Topsy-Turvy is an automatic rock bottom for me. I know I've thrashed on Yoshi's Crafted World like an Ultra Combo fighter from Killer Instinct, but at the very least I would label it as "somewhat playable" and has some of the best graphics I've ever seen on the system it released on (Switch). Yoshi Topsy-Turvy had neither of that and, in my book, has no redeeming qualities that I saw for it and its tilt mechanics were more torturous for me than fun.

On a side note, I do hope Yoshi's Safari (and for the NES' side, Duck Hunt) makes it onto NSO somehow, one of these days. I had a ton of fun with that game.

Re: The First Review For Kirby's Return To Dream Land Deluxe Is Now In

StephenYap3

@handyboots I'm still of the belief that everybody deserves their own pizza slices, so I apologize if I was being antagonistic around this site in any way.

Yes, I can't turn away from Star Allies in terms of its bland level designs and lower difficulty...but my main wants from any mainline Kirby game is having "Super Star" mechanics and being able to go on rampages in the most zaniest ways possible as the Pop Star hero, and Star Allies (and heck, all of the "Return to Dream Land" games) checks off those boxes for me.

All of this may sound like Star Allies or Return to Dream Land is my first Kirby game in the series, but I've gotten into this series since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and while I've only experienced that game as a rental at the time (before owning it via Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition), the first true Kirby game I owned was Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (when's that coming to Game Boy Advance NSO, Nintendo!?). I've tried and gone back to playing the other mainline games since, but Kirby's Return to Dream Land is when my fanaticism for this series is solidified.

Re: Review: Kirby's Return To Dream Land Deluxe - A Suitably Dreamy Encore For One Of Kirby's Best

StephenYap3

Glad to see this game review well here (though the "con" is...awkward, considering that the low difficulty has been the norm for the series), therefore I can't wait for a "Strike Turkey" with this mainline Kirby entry on my Switch.

I gotta say, though, as far as mainline titles go, Kirby has become the better "Super Mario" on Switch for me, and this is coming from someone who labels the Mario series as his favorite game series of all time.

Re: The First Review For Kirby's Return To Dream Land Deluxe Is Now In

StephenYap3

@Midna The only part of Star Allies I found "awful" was the mini games and the fixed boss orders in The Ultimate Choice. Everything else, I had a blast with and though it is far from my favorite Kirby game in the series (that's the original Return to Dream Land), I don't regret any of it.

And I've played all of the mainline Kirby games.

Re: Mini Review: PowerWash Simulator - Scrubs Up Well On Switch

StephenYap3

I'm having a bit of a blast with this game myself and therefore, it's one of my favorite Switch games right now. As someone who always preferred fast-paced action games, this one was just therapeutic enough to me to genuinely enjoy it.

Having said all of this, gyro aiming definitely would've been nice to have.

Re: Review: The Outbound Ghost - A Heartfelt But Ultimately Thin Paper Mario-Like

StephenYap3

The only things I weren't a fan of were the long loading screens (particularly during battle transitions) and the handling of the finale, the latter which I thought was a big misstep that lasted way too long than necessary.

Otherwise, I greatly enjoyed The Outbound Ghost myself. It was a bit of a blast for me to playthrough left and right, the numerous accessibility options were great to see to help alleviate the common problem of having to grind in RPGs (albeit satisfying to certain degrees), and the overall vibe of the entire game was quite intriguing to me. This game and Bug Fables are equal to me, personally, but I'm always down for more Paper Mario-like indie games like these.

Re: Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2022

StephenYap3

This year was quite the banger for me in the third-party and indie departments, though pretty ho-hum for the first-party department (even with the amazing Kirby and the Forgotten Land).

1) Atelier Sophie 2 ~The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream~ (Switch)
2) Infernax (Switch)
3) Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Switch)
4) Lil Gator Game (Switch)
5) Sonic Frontiers (Switch)
6) Rogue Legacy 2 (Switch)
7) Nobody Saves the World (Switch)
8) Little Noah: Scion of Paradise (Switch)
9) Sonic Origins (Switch)
10) Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)

-Honorable Mentions-
Cotton Fantasy (Switch)
Kao the Kangaroo (Switch)
The Outbound Ghost (Switch)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch)
ElecHead (Switch)
RPGolf Legends (Switch)

Here's hoping 2023 will see both first-party and third-party (and indie) libraries at the equal qualities and quantities...

Re: N64 Classic Yoshi's Story Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary Today

StephenYap3

This came outta nowhere...

Anyways, Yoshi's Story is definitely a stepdown from Yoshi's Island and it is nowhere near a "classic" to a degree, but I still enjoyed this one for what it was and even then, I liked how "flexible" the fruits system was for a game's goal in that you can either blindly grab them all for speedrun purposes or try and get multiples of the same ones for a higher score.

I'd say that this game does its job well in presenting its gameplay ideas as "fun", despite (of course) the whole package not being anywhere near as good as Yoshi's Island or Yoshi's Woolly World. At least I liked Yoshi's Story more than the recent Yoshi's Crafted World, though...

Re: Poll: Rate Your Favourite Switch Games Of The Year 2022

StephenYap3

1) Atelier Sophie 2 ~The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream~ (Switch)
2) Infernax (Switch)
3) Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Switch)
4) Lil Gator Game (Switch)
5) Sonic Frontiers (Switch)
6) Rogue Legacy 2 (Switch)
7) Nobody Saves the World (Switch)
8) Little Noah: Scion of Paradise (Switch)
9) Sonic Origins (Switch)
10) Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)

-Honorable Mentions-
The Outbound Ghost (Switch)
Cotton Fantasy (Switch)
Kao the Kangaroo (Switch)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch)
ElecHead (Switch)
RPGolf Legends (Switch)

First-party-wise, it was definitely hollow for me, even with the amazement that Kirby and the Forgotten Land gave me. Third-party and indie games, on the other hand, was quite boomer for me, especially for Atelier Sophie 2, which happens to be one of my absolute favorite RPGs of all time (and that surprises me, considering how the few other games I played from that series were "...pretty good" for me).

Hopefully 2023 will have an even quality and quantity for both first-party and third-party (and indie) games, though.

Re: Review: Sonic Frontiers - A Bold But Ultimately Failed Attempt At Something New

StephenYap3

Eh, I actually enjoyed it. It's far from being a flawless experience nor my GOTY, but I longed for an open world Switch game that retains the legacy traditions of its own series and building upon it without putting in anything to hold it back (i.e. durability system), and Sonic Frontiers delivered on that for me.

"A Bold But Ultimately Failed Attempt At Something New"
That's exactly how I felt with WarioWare: Get It Together!. The multiple characters gimmick had some promise, but in the end it completely destroyed the focus and skill-based nature of the series' gameplay for me. It wouldn't surprise me to say if it's my least favorite entry in the series (though I haven't played Mega Party Game$, Smooth Moves, Snapped, or Gold).

Re: Poll: So, Animal Crossing: New Leaf Or New Horizons - Which Do You Like Best?

StephenYap3

I've been playing this series since the Game Cube game and my vote goes to New Horizons on Switch. Though the formula still worked like a charm for me, NH was the game that felt like a true evolution to the formula to me, especially given the increased customization options and other QoL improvements. Sure, the villager dialogues were too biased towards you, but that's not what I play this series for.

New Leaf is a great game and I'm definitely glad to have it on my favorite Nintendo handheld, but there are a few things I have against it:

1) Though I'm happy to see more additions added to the formula, the Public Works Projects and unlockables felt too tedious to achieve (especially the museum's second floor and such...hoo boy...), the former especially given that you can only undertake one work at once, even for something as simple as a bench. I'm always down for more things to do in games, but I often felt like I was going in circles when trying to accomplish something in New Leaf.

2) I am glad to see more buildings around, but New Leaf's overall urbanization was something I wasn't a fan of. Part of what made me love the series is living in a nature-filled village and the urbanization kind of ruined that sense for me in New Leaf. All of this urbanization started off in City Folk, yes, but it didn't go a bit overboard for me in pale contrast.

3) I'm always down for my favorite series playing things safe for the better in improvements, but a major part of why I liked New Leaf so much was simply due to how underwhelming Wild World and City Folk were, in my opinion. WW felt so half-baked and stripped-down (even for a portable Nintendo game) while CF felt like an "apology" game to me. New Leaf, once again, is still a great game in my book, but it honestly didn't have to go far to be that.

Regardless, the only things New Leaf has over New Horizons for me are Puzzle League, Happy Home Showcase (why didn't you bring Streetpass back for Switch, Nintendo!?), and the Museum's second floor and customizable exhibits. Everything else, New Horizons reigns supreme for me.

Re: Review: Mario Party 2 - Party Like It's 1999 With One Of The Best In The Series

StephenYap3

Eh, I had some fun with it, but it's a 6/10 game for me.

The costumes were pretty neat and Horror Land is perhaps one of my favorite boards in the series. New mini games like Shell Shocked ("Tread Carefully" in Mario Party Superstars) and Move to the Music were fun as well.

On the flipside, the mini game unlocks were absolutely cumbersome in the sense that you have to play that mini game once during a board game before actually buying them to permanently unlock them (at least the predecessor lets you play Mini Game Island from the get-go to make all of them "available for purchase") and if that's not enough, you'll need to buy all mini games in order to unlock the Mini Game Coaster...like, why? Adding to this, the recycling of mini games from the predecessor is depressing to see (though fun fact: Mario Party 2 was supposedly meant to be an "Expansion Pack" for the predecessor via Nintendo 64DD). And while I did enjoy the Horror Land board, the other boards were "whatever" to me (though Mystery Land was terrible. Glad the latest Mario Party Superstars never brought it back).

Re: Review: NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition - A Modern Classic Shines On Switch

StephenYap3

Good to hear that the Switch version manages to fare pretty good, especially since those pessimistic thoughts I had for it only passing off as a "cloud" version if it ever came to the Switch.

Anyways, I already played (and 100%ed) NieR: Automata years prior to the Switch release and while I'm happy to see it natively ported to my main system, I'm in no rush to double-dip on it. I'll buy it later.

Re: Talking Point: What's The Worst Game That You Still Love For Some Reason?

StephenYap3

There's quite a handful of "worst" games I liked a fair bit at the least, but one of those is Paper Mario: Sticker Star. No, it's not a good "Paper Mario" game, but I still greatly enjoyed it (and its Wii U sequel Paper Mario: Color Splash) for what it was.

The resource management system kept me on my very toes on what I should use at the right time, leading to a satisfying experience on my end that led me to replaying the game eight times (taking different paths on the map). And contrary to the crowd, the puzzles weren't even that problematic as while they do often give "vague" clues, solving them felt like an accomplishment to me and even then, there were only fewest few instances where I had to resort to a guide to get it all figured out.

Re: Review: Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival - A Solid Entry That Marches To A Familiar Beat

StephenYap3

Glad to see this series still drumming along and I do hope it goes on for another decade, but everything I've seen in both info and demo regarding the game made it too similar to the Drum 'n Fun, in my opinion, the same way I felt with the Splatoon series after the first on Wii U.

I'll definitely be waiting out on a big discount on this game and even then, that's only IF I ever have an interest in buying this.

Re: Talking Point: What Did You Think Of The Latest Nintendo Direct?

StephenYap3

4/10

I usually (fairly) enjoy any general Nintendo Direct myself and leave with fairly happy feelings, but this direct left me disappointed. Probably the first time I felt this way for a general Nintendo Direct.

Outside of Goldeneye 64 and Mario Party 3 on N64 NSO, Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, and Tears of the Kingdom, nothing else from the direct left me impressed and many of the things I expected (Game Boy NSO, Metroid Prime/Wind Waker/Twilight Princess, the new Mario or Donkey Kong game that the SMO team is working on) were nowhere in sight, not to mention that that Fist of the North Star game being a reskinned Fitness Boxing game was a gut punch to me as I would've vastly preferred a traditional action game instead.

Re: Talking Point: What Did You Think Of The September 2022 Nintendo Direct?

StephenYap3

I always fairly enjoyed general Nintendo Directs myself as a huge Nintendo fan, but this one I found to be a little "wah wah", in my opinion. Probably the first direct I've actually been disappointed with.

Outside of Goldeneye 64, Return to Dream Land Deluxe, and Tears of the Kingdom...nothing much else caught my eye, with a few of them disgusting me outright. I would say that I'm somewhat interested in Fire Emblem Engage, but that's pretty much it. Then there's also the Pikmin 4 announcement, but the lack of any gameplay is no good to me.

That Fist of the North Star game, especially, is a gut punch to me since it's basically a reskinned Fitness Boxer game. I was hoping for an actual action game on Switch, not this.

A great deal of the first-half of the direct just bored me. No disrespect to the Square Enix and farming fans, but neither of the games shown from them caught my eye. The closest that caught my eye was Octopath Traveler II, but given the "meh" feelings I had for the first game, I'm not getting my hopes up for this one unless if a lot of modern touch-ups and improvements are made.

I'm happy to see more N64 games coming to NSO (especially Mario Party 3 and Goldeneye! Hooray!), but the lack of anything else regarding classic systems on NSO is a downer. I mean, when is Game Boy (Color) getting added?

Re: The Hardest Games On Nintendo Switch

StephenYap3

I would replace Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury with Infernax.

I love 3D World on my Switch (and Wii U) to the bone as a huge Mario fan myself, but the "difficulty" was only hard for a modern Mario game.

Re: Jump Force Update For Nintendo Switch Shuts Down Online Services

StephenYap3

A real shame to see this game closing its doors because despite all of the missed potential and rooms for improvement it had, I still had a ton of fun with Jump Force (at least, for what was still there). Sure, there are better 3D (anime) arena fighters out there like Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Pokken Tournament, but there was just something about Jump Force that made me grow attached to it to a certain degree. Could it be the CaC system? The story? The massive roster? I dunno, but all I know is that this game deserved better, in my opinion.

Anyways, I wouldn't mind seeing another Shonen Jump game, provided that its presentation stays more focused on the source materials for each represented series, as well as expand on the options and the CaC system.

...but regardless of what the reviews say about Jump Force, I would much rather take a vacation with that game than spend one minute with One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows (which has not appeared on the Nintendo Switch, thankfully). Now THAT game was bad >.<

Re: Review: Kirby's Dream Buffet - A Delicious Spread To Put You In The Party Mood

StephenYap3

I just played through a dozen matches with this.

Though it doesn't peak to the likes of Star Allies, Fighters 2, or Forgotten Land in my book, Dream Buffet is quite the addictive fun on its own. I especially liked how fast-paced and "bite-sized" the events are, even in Gourmet Grand Prix Mode.

A few knocks I have to give it are the lack of 4-player split screen, the controls get kind of wonky at times, and the Battle Royale events tend to get a little too chaotic for its own good (at least, in my experience)...but neither of those were enough to ruin this game for me.

Either way, HAL Laboratory has been killing it for me with their Switch catalog, even though Super Kirby Clash was "just there" for me.

Re: Kirby And The Forgotten Land And Star Allies Were One Big "Connected Project" For HAL Laboratory

StephenYap3

I think both Star Allies and Forgotten Land are amazing to me, especially the latter for being my new favorite Kirby game on Switch.

I really liked how Star Allies became the "greatest hits" of the modern 2D entries in terms of gameplay mechanics and the nostalgic callbacks, making it a 9/10 to me at least. Sure, the game didn't get "better" until the updates and the game was "too easy" (even though I'd argue that the other mainline games fall in the same hole, Forgotten Land included even with Wild Mode, but not a bad thing), but I had a blast with it regardless.

And while Forgotten Land is a phenomenal entry for the series and one that left me surprised in the end, FL also happened to be my favorite "3D Mario Switch" game for being closer to what I wanted in that regard (Super Mario Odyssey is amazing, but it felt "too open" in many areas and while Super Mario 3D World is a blast left and right, it's a Wii U port).

Either way, I feel like HAL Laboratory has been carrying my Switch the most for me in terms of quality, so...yeah, keep it up, guys

Edit: Adding to this, aside from Yoshi's Crafted World (yuck), I enjoyed all of Nintendo's platformers on Switch