Strawblaze

Considering the original detail-rich pixel art style has aged super well, I don't see much of a reason to play this unless there are loads of new stages. And even then, Rayman Redemption is such an excellent fan "remake" of the original entry that I'm honestly not sure they could best it.

Does the soundtrack feature as much insufferable hand-holding as the actual game?

Why the heck do they feel they have to explain this? It's quite logi— Oh... It was a question made during the financials Q&A session... Yeah, unfortunately that completely makes sense now.

@smoreon Daytona, Outrun, SEGA Rally and similar series all had their own art styles. The assets matched and had a set goal in order to achieve a desired tone. This, however, feels just like a mishmash of assets made by different people with different art styles and LoQs. The overall visual quality screams generic and the games I have mentioned are simply better looking despite their age.

Interesting to hear Kenji Sasaki is involved in the making of this game. But it looks like a low budget Unreal/Unity asset flip. Even the promo content is lacking oomph. If I may be so bold, it feels like the project had no art direction at all.

Maybe they'll consider making us a new Sonic Riders now. Hopefully.

@OmnitronVariant Indeed. I really hope we do get a system update changing this someday, but I have hoped for so long with Switch 1 that it is mostly copium nowadays. It's come to a point I can't really imagine the Switch OS featuring cool stuff like the 3DS badges and menu BGMs.

Hypocritical move, as usual. I've said it before; Nintendo taking action on such instances and then not giving a care when slop games with explicit thumbnails and "Hentai" on the title show up on the Great Deals page side by side with their first party games disqualifies any allegations Nintendo does this for the sake of children.

Holding this feature until later this year instead of making it available from the get go is the pinnacle of drip-feeding. Ridiculous.

Edit: Hold on... What the... these are PHYSICAL FILTERS instead of post-processing?! If so, Nintendo really is living in the stone age. I hope it's just weird wording on the story.

@TheRazor Indeed. I wonder how much they spend to create one, though. Because I do feel Nintendo is going for a very high profit margin.

Very good game. This and Lost Odyssey are hands out some of the best RPGs I have ever played. Sakaguchi does a wonderful job creating enjoyable (and usually grindless) RPGs with inventive mechanics.

Crazy to think this plastic mounting piece is $100 while Quest 2 AiO goes for $200 or sometimes less than that. And no — the lens they are using are not expensive. At least, there's no reason for them to be. The software isn't visually demanding enough to warrant good quality lens.

@BentIeyma That's something I really don't understand. Besides emulation not being perfect, they insist on adding games that already have a definitive (or at least much better) version, Wind Waker being an example. As I see it, anyone interested in playing older games on NSO would also be willing to go the extra mile in order to play the definitive version of said games. This is almost like tricking people into playing inferior versions and/or showing you don't really care whether you are delivering something inferior.

@ThatOneLevel They really are messing up their priorities at this point. Releasing game trailers randomly through the week and having Directs for movie marketing.

I couldn't care less about movies and really wish they'd give gaming more attention once again.

@PanAndrzej The Great Deals section is the one most filled with such games. Which is a shame, 'cause if you ask me, that's precisely one of the sections kids are the most likely to access in a daily basis. Regarding other platforms, Steam does have a pretty sturdy system that completely blurs all thumbnails and screenshots for adult games until you enter the game's dedicated store page and confirm your birth date (or tick in a checkbox in your account settings page to disable this protection). There's even an option to hide games with an specific type of content or specific tag from showing up for good. PlayStation Store doesn't feature such a system, but the rubbish is usually buried on not as accessible category pages. Not sure about the Microsoft Store.

You're right it may have been a decision taken because of player reports and the possibility of videos covering the island going viral. It's just I think it's hypocritical for Nintendo to take action on such instances and then not give a care when slop games with explicit thumbnails and "Hentai" on the title show up on the Great Deals page side by side with their first party games.

@PanAndrzej My argument is that the random games you're speaking of are being explicitly shown on the Nintendo eShop side by side with first-party games aimed at children, while this player island not featuring anything as explicit as the thumbnail of said games — and requiring a code or added friend to visit on top of that — was taken down.

If Nintendo really cared whether children are being exposed to adult content, they'd be moving the fake hentai games on eShop behind an age gate (and allowing them to actually feature adult content. Because as it is, they're just misleading scams) instead of banning an AC island a kid would have to go out of their way to visit and would probably still not even understand what it is about.

What's more likely: Googling "Hentai" after seeing the word pop up so many times on eShop, or being led to anything explicit by a nigh inaccessible ACNH island recreating a Japanese red light district?

@McBurn Very good point. The misleading fake Hentai games and their thumbnails are way more explicit than anything from this. And they're showcased side by side with Nintendo's first party titles.

@KayFiOS New Horizons isn't old. They should've known better than to make mechanics and physics tied to framerate in 2020. Other devs such as FromSoft realized that was a mistake a long time ago, 2015, when Dark Souls 2 had loads of issues because of FPS tied mechanics.

So at the end of the day that's still their fault.

@boxyguy I suppose whatever is written on the custom design signs could be the problem. Otherwise, I agree that punishing someone for making creative use of what's already in the game is a double-edged sword. As far as I know, New Leaf's Aika Village has never been banned before. And I'd argue that was a lot more visual and easier for a kid to understand and get scared from than this.

@HammerGalladeBro First time hearing about this feature. Pretty neat.

@Duncanballs I understand your point, but I'm not sure it's accurate. Older Apple products, for instance, have experienced all sorts of crazy shell material degradation and screen vinegar syndrome. And pretty much every hardware that's over ten years old has probably needed a battery replacement by now. Not to mention a lot of old tech simply had poor design decisions that hurt its lifetime. N64's stick degradation, PS2's disc drive ribbon cable coming off and scratching discs, and Dreamcast's PSU being connected by unreliable contact pins being but a few examples out of many. When you stop and think about these things, it doesn't really feel like quality has decreased since then.

Perhaps I'm biased because I'm into hard modding and retro collecting. But as I see it, there's always going to be people on the fight to keep older hardware rolling, whether the original materials are time proof or not.

@Kiz3000 Nobody said there's necessarily an "issue" with not providing game updates through physical cartridges. Just that it's a welcome convenience.

"Your Switch will likely be dead before the servers get shut down for allowing game updates."
What about it? There's plenty of hardware from the 90s still being used, and even if it ends up "going dead", there's always people willing to do modding and maintenance in order to keep their stuff from turning into tech waste. Precisely the reason why projects like WiiLink exist.

@BTB20 As far as I know the only Wii server still up is the system update one. Still, someday it's bound to happen, and it's not like there's anything difficult or wrong with including updates on new physical cartridges. It's good practice.

@Kiz3000 Because someday the servers are going off and except for people using CFW and installing dumped files, that's going to be the only way to access the update on a factory reset console.

@kkslider5552000 Really wish we could play Luminiscent Platinum on Switch 2!

@KevinP They're barely riding that train, either. We're starving for Xenoblade upgrades amongst others at this point.

@Whirlwound My thoughts exactly. They probably didn't like the final composition of the photos taken and started blending in parts from different shots to try and create one that fit their expectations.

Once again, friendly reminder that this rerelease has loads of issues, including but not limited to a completely butchered soundtrack. Many of the tracks had to be cut because they were licensed (one of the game's biggest pros), but even original tracks such as the loading screen theme end up removed and were not even replaced. If you're interested in Lollipop Chainsaw, I highly recommend playing the original Xbox 360 version instead.

@Discostew Cheeky of you to assume I'm blaming your country's tariffs for the price we pay for videogames. I'm talking about the pricing of digital goods with no taxes, mind you. That's solely on Nintendo's fault. There was absolutely no need to get that overprotective all of a sudden...

And yes, unfortunately when it comes up to physical goods, it's my country's fault. They overtax anything tech, especially videogames (as they claim it's "gambling", but we know it's just for filling up the banks). It's been like that for decades, no matter the party in control.

Either way, you have missed my point. It's an expensive system that becomes even more expensive for pretty much anyone overseas not earning USD/EUR, especially as Nintendo fails to provide the necessary support of regional pricing and similar stuff. A $50 difference isn't a make or break under these conditions.

@Discostew Does $50 even make that much of a difference, though? Especially for people buying overseas, the price goes through the roof either way because of importing taxes and lackluster distribution. Then there's also the lack of regional pricing for first-party software, which makes things even worse. Nintendo is charging $100 USD for digital Mario Kart World in Brazil, believe it or not. And we have no taxes over digital purchases. That's their choice, and they're receiving 100 USD from us rather than 80, which is already considered blatant.

For people earning their money in USD or EUR, $450 or $500 is a steep price for sure, but still an "one month" one and done expensive acquisition. For pretty much anyone else it's a nearly two-year long compromise of install payments that sums up to about $1000 USD at the end of the day. Interest-free.

@MARl0 It makes me wonder how much of an impact scalpers had on the Switch 1's sales number. A great impact, I assume. Because it was nearly impossible to get a Switch 1 through any means other than scalpers the first couple years.

@Max_the_German Right. I still can't believe how bad the screen ghosting is. Fortunately I don't really use portable mode, but I'd enjoy a better quality screen either way.

@Discostew That's on their end. Mario Kart World isn't worth $80, so the idea that they're "giving you a deal" doesn't really stick to me. The way it is, you're purchasing the console and simply getting a launch title you deserve. They should have planned this better. Maybe have World be sold standalone for $60~$70 and then make so that all bundles come with something else if that'd make it cheaper.

@breach187 The problem this time is that they are going to have a hard time cutting prices the way they did with the Nintendo 3DS. They want to turn a profit by selling consoles and that's just not the way it goes nowadays. You have to compromise by selling systems with a slight loss/profit margin and then earn it all back through software sales.

Surprise, surprise. That's what a 499,99 USD MSRP does to you. And that's coming from someone that did end up getting a Switch 2 to play Kirby Air Riders.

And with the slow pace that Switch 2 upgrades are coming out? It's hard to get behind the idea of getting the console just for playing previous games. Switch 1 performance was terrible and most games were locked to 720~900p 30 FPS, meaning the Switch 2 hardware can't improve the experience by brute force. You can get a Switch Lite for about $200. There is no reason to go for a Switch 2 just yet if all you want is to get up to date and play what you have missed so far.

What a waste of potential. Why even bother doing alternate colors if they're just going to be mostly the same?

@Shade_Koopa It's not about what you buy it for. In fact, you only have to think this way because they're keeping you from doing whatever you want with it. It's about what you can do with what's inside. If it has potential for being multi purpose, it doesn't matter if you originally bought it for gaming. You should be able to use it for whatever purpose what's inside can achieve.

What's inside a computer, a mobile device or a gaming console is essentially the same. Not being given the opportunity to use it for the same purposes as well is nonsense. Beer cups are sold and shaped for holding beer, but you can fill them with whatever you want for the sake of it. It's a glass all the same.

The raw truth is that they're afraid of giving anything that empowers the user. Streaming apps, web browsers and similar stuff always have some sort of vulnerability underneath that can be exploited for installing custom firmware.

@metaphysician Nobody — especially not someone who already owns a gaming console — is going to skip playing first-party games or even just games in general just because there are other services available. If anything, streaming services on gaming platforms may encourage non-gamers give games a try and possibly hook them into gaming. I have absolutely no doubts someone has a history about a parent booting up a console to watch Netflix end up playing something only to find themselves loving gaming.

Besides, Nintendo themselves are going more multimedia as time goes, with Nintendo Pictures and similar stuff.

@Shade_Koopa That's copium. Hardwares should not be self-limiting themselves. It's up for the consumer to decide what the machines they bought and legally own are meant for. Why force someone to waste their time, money and natural resources by purchasing similar hardware just for a purpose it could cover? Not to mention it's a clever way to get people to try out new things and possibly draw them into gaming.

@Potimarron Not as much of an enigma as it may seem. It's the same tale retold with twists, as if different people with different ideas were telling their kids different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. "What if Riding Hood was the villain?"; "What if the Grandmother ate the Wolf" and so on.

That's why playing as many of them leads to a better enjoyment of the series, even though you obviously won't enjoy all of them the same. You get to experience different renditions of a similar tale and pick your favorites.

@Mariotag As long as you have not bought the game yet, you should be able to play the next generation's trial version without any issues. And even if you do end up buying the PlayStation 4 version, they usually let players upgrade their game for free for a limited time whenever they end support.

@charliecarrot PlayStation 4 support is still going to end once the next expansion arrives. The reason they drop support for older generations is the loading times start to get way too slow and end up holding back other players. However, Switch 2's microSD Express reading speed (800 mbps) isn't much of a concern in comparison to the PS4's HDD (80~120 mbps at best).

@N00BiSH Doing 100% doesn't unlock the feature. It's an Amiibo exclusive. The misconception that the radio feature gets unlocked once you complete the game came from people with the Amiibo receiving a pop-up regarding the unlocking of new tracks for the radio.

@Spider-Kev The Metroid Prime 4 Samus amiibo lets you change the BGM that plays while riding the Vi-O-La in the overworld. Otherwise, there's no BGM whatsoever.

@Anti-Matter That's precisely my issue with ACNH, though. It's much more of an spin-off than a main-series games. They compromised Villager interactions and general immersion (such as Villagers actually having opinions and decisions of their own, including picking a spot for their houses and leaving the village whenever they want) just so everything would be more convenient for players. Except the convenience still isn't quite there, because now you have to bother with crafting, inventory bloating, tools breaking and a lot of nonsense that didn't really add much to the game in my opinion (especially as existing furniture and features end up removed).

That's not to say I'm blind to what ACNH did right. Fingers crossed the next entry manages to mix the best of both entries.

Discontinuing Gold points? No Nintendo Selects? NSO+ being exclusive to 12 months purchases? Game key cards? $10 tech demo? Locking a basic feature on Metroid Prime 4 behind an Amiibo? No price drops?

So none of that qualifies the company as greedy? Come on... You wouldnt be so kind towards your neighborhood convenience store if they took the same approaches.

It's time for Nintendo to pull up their sleeves and start working on more Switch 2 upgrades as well. The Xenoblade series could really use them. I really want to play Xenoblade Chronicles X, but I'm not doing it on nauseating 30 FPS dynamic resolution full of pop ups and bad LOD, especially when I've got hardware that can do much better than that.

@PinderSchloss Right? It's usually Rayman 3 that doesn't get as much attention as it deserves.

People here are clearly unfamiliar with licensed mechanical keyboards with swappable keycaps, metal frames and custom switches.

@Lady_rosalina I don't know the guy in person, but most people don't realize that his "toxic" social media behavior is a result of YouTubers (especially LATAM ones, some of which live in my country) telling their subscribers to annoy him by spamming his inbox with regional memes he would never understand.