Takoda

As a Belgian myself, one that wrote a paper on video games so I had to look into our laws on this stuff, it sure feels like all it ends up doing is getting the games to leave our country because we are the exception. The law itself would be good in my eyes, it doesn't ban games outright at all, just more strict rules on games like this, if it didn't just kind of come down to 'only the big companies pull out', the smaller games with less attention get overlooked. So worse gacha systems than pokemon unite might be roaming free, while nintendo plays it safe and just pulls out altogether (though they probably could have just altered the game to fit the regulations, pffft. None of this 'this was a hard decision' BS.)

I don't personally care for the game and the other nintendo mobile games that have been unavailable here but it really just comes down to punishing players at this point who can play these sorts of games safely, for a law that's too inconsistent in its appliance to have my support. If other countries followed suit nintendo would find it worth putting in effort to change the game around maybe, but sadly Belgium is a small country, so maybe they just decided it was too much effort.

Seeing how serious people take this choice, I’m glad I care little for the idols and for what the theme winning might mean for the rest of the series.

Didn’t know this game had a tiny bit of Shogun Showdown in it.

Though I only enjoyed Toree 2 much, this looks promising!

Picked NA, because it shows what I should expect from gameplay, but also retains some of the absolute weirdness from the japanese boxart. I know it looks weird like others have stated, but I feel like that was the intention here, and it works for me.

Looks charming and right up my alley, for the right price.

May this give is ever more silly lore reasons for why the two games are but are not connected

Though I’m glad to see lesser known series get more of a spotlight, that teaser that got everybody’s attention really hiked up my expectations for how dark this would get, but having played the demo so far, yeaaaah… that teaser gave the complete wrong impression of what this game will probably end up reaching on that scale. 7 sounds about right, the mechanics don’t feel intuitive at all and should have been handled better in a brand new release, but the pace and writing are definitely decent.

Wow, 6 years for this?? I didn’t follow it at all but this is straight up embarrassing.

Looks amazing!

I loved the second one in co-op, and the first one was pretty good too, so this is a day one for me

This looks like with a more focused approach in puzzles and more actually creative ways to use these summons to break traditional 2d conventions, it’ll be better than Totk when it comes to the creative solutions it allows to more complex puzzles, nice! But well, we’ll wait and see

Hard to choose for any of the idols when I’m indifferent to all of them, but the themes have lots of potential for the next game at least

Shocked some people prefer the EU one when his eyes are so incredibly off, just doesn’t look right. The other two are great tho.

I count this as an absolute win.

Well, about time!

I just took the japanese one because the dark shadow behind the title looks cooler.

If they have reworked the grapple mechanics a bit so that it feels better, I’m sure this’ll be a slam dunk.

It looks just fine. About what you’d expect gimmick in a more modern artstyle to look like, at least from my perspective. No idea what else one should expect, besides pixel art, but making it pixelated wouldn’t have made it visually superior somehow.

Just can!t bring myself to buy the first one even on sale, just looks too bland, but I’ll bite at some point.

Why so many turtles games out of nowhere?? Or is there a popularity boom I’m missing? Welp, either way, this one looks more promising than that roguelite one.

Also, the turtles can definitely work in a variety of gameplay styles besides just beat em ups. Just comes down to competently making the game.

Pretty much looks the same as their other game, Ringo Ishikawa or something. Just recently bought that so if I enjoy that one, good to know I have this to look forward to.

Recollection collection, what a banger name

Pretty much a Bayonetta 3 situation huh. Announced way too early if they were just going to refuse to show anything for so long.

But GRIS neva made me cry.

The IDW comics are absolutely fantastic so I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the characters pop up.

I usually don’t really read through these for long but for a university subject of mine I wanted to see how it actually turns out in the long run.

Final conclusion is that it’s best to stay away from both extremes and always stay critical. Thankfully seems there’s plenty of people on both sides who are open enough to converse with. Stressful topic though, so enough reflection for now. Looking forward to playing more TTYD.

@FroZtedFlake See, uhm, when I said all that stuff about interpretation and respecting others, that was the opposite of pretty much all that.

Some people want understanding, some people really are best avoided on these topics-
I’ll be the first to advocate for more communication but sometimes the moderation is very much needed.

@Retro_Zelda Also, since you asked: Vivian can be read as trans because the experience she goes through is similar to what a trans person often goes through. Being treated as a boy, she could have been born a boy and wanted to be referred to as a girl instead, but her mean sisters didn’t acknowledge this. Thus, her story is about how words can be hurtful, sure, but it can also be about identity, specifically trans identity, and how other people can deny or accept that. It’s not explicitly stated but it can be read that way, and it gives it a whole lot more meaning for trans people to relate to that way too.

@FroZtedFlake I mean, in the same way Retro_Zelda’s interpretation can be seen as a valid way to interpret what Vivian goes through. One interpretation doesn’t rule out the other. He’s asked it 5-6 times because nobody gave an answer, and because trans isn’t an experience everyone readily relate to or understand. Their investment could be seen as a way to desire understanding of something that they didn’t understand before: ‘Why does this make somebody trans?’ So their dedication to it could come from there.

Calling it into question is not always a quest to disprove another interpretation. One could just argue that Vivian being trans is much more meaningful to her character and to the minority it would represent, than if she was just a girl the whole time, got gaslit into thinking she’s a boy and then realises, wait, no, I was always a girl! It’s a valid interpretation but doesn’t really warrant an article in that case, haha, unless maybe on the power of gaslighting. .

@rainbowtick This would be a beautiful comment when people who wrote positive comments can’t also come over very confrontational instead of conversational. But in that case, often, we don’t have to keep kindness and the feelings of the other in mind, because their stance is just wrong in the eyes of many.

And that’s why a lot of things stay the same. Even those written in a kind way get pushed to the side because ‘well, since they don’t agree immediately, that must mean they’re trying to start a flame war’. Some of them actually are trying to start a flame war, haha, but if we assume everyone is, then nobody gets anywhere. It might be surprising but a lot of people are either confused or in the dark, not necessarily hell bent on starting arguments.

@Beetlebum91
I mean, nobody forced you to read the article, and representation is a topic one can choose talk about in an article like soapbox.

The only issue is that only one stance is supported, and though it is a stance I agree with, I think all this does is just create a rift between both sides. If you can’t have communication anymore, then of course nothing is actually going to change.

I mean, as far as I know, the representation isn’t really in your face, and the character isn’t all about the representation either, it gets mentioned, then doesn’t really play a huge role in the grand scheme of things.
Soooooo… to the people who were overjoyed by the inclusion, good for you. To the people who dislike the inclusion, is it really big enough of a deal to complain? I feel like it’s only a small part of the character, so in that case, they did it well. A trans character shouldn’t just be about ‘being trans’. Having a character who just also happens to be trans (or whatever else minority) is usually the best way to go about it, focus on making them a whole individual.

I mean, they exist. So they get characters that represent them, at some point or another. It’s not always about making a statement. Do games need them? Probably not. Is it nice when they have them and they’re done well as characters? Yeah. We get good character, and people who don’t feel seen in the world get a character to relate to.

I didn't really like the feeling of the grapple all that much, I remember something about it felt off, but I finished it and enjoyed my time with it decently enough, so I'm certainly up to play the sequel. The visual style is as lovely as it was before, thankfully!

I kind of like the style, but it also looks rather… empty, lacking in detail in some way. I’ll wait for a review but it’s on my radar.

i’ve just heard that this port has turned worse and worse with the updates, anyone who can confirm?

A short hike, easily. Lasts as long as you want it to, but also as long as it needs to before the wonder can fade. Perfect.

@smithyo
I probably had a much harder time since I went in ill-prepared, with only three hearts left and the rest all gone so I had to essentially do the fight without getting hit. xD After I came back better prepared with the right items it was much easier but that challenge still made it pretty cool, even if unintended.

Though I have many criticisms on Totk, that final fight ain’t one of them. Very, very well done, I loved it, and him using <redacted> against you making sure you couldn’t just brute force it, the spectacle of the phases that follow…

Best moment was when I started playing it with my girlfriend on call, both playing at our own pace.

The more I played, the less I enjoyed almost all aspects of the game, bu that beginning and the hype I felt was still magical.

@Bret Haha, it is a lot of the same thing with minor variations but it did remind me that some of the town themes and character themes are indeed great, even if they don't get used that much. Stiiiill not really that interested to have 9 discs with a lot of 'repeat' songs.

@Bret
Thanks for reminding me that Breath of the wild gave us Revali's theme and Rito village, I almost forgot that I love those tracks so much! Still probably a lot of music that doesn't do much for me since it's so 'in the background' and a lot of them pass by rather quick, but very impressive nevertheless-

What music?
How is there 9 discs worth of music??
I mean, sure, Botw and Totk have tracks, but 9 DISCS worth of tracks?
Genuinely surprised.
Though I guess a lot of the actual tracks in these games just kind of passed me by, not being that impressed by any of them, so maybe I just forgot that a lot of places have actual music.

Am I worried? No, but I am saddened by the fact it seems like they’re speedrunning the amount of bad decisions you can make with greed as the sole defining factor. Deeply saddened in Hi-fi rush’s case.

@-wc-
Very funny indeed, but hey, different strokes for different folks. Having given it a second look I’ll probably get it on sale because the games actually look decently fun.

Those animated bits in the trailer looked so darn good and then I realised it's just a collection and they're not actually using that style in-game, it was bye-bye interest.

@Samalik
Fair enough. I played Nier:Automata just fine with no issues, but if you worry about the ‘cleanness’ of a run, you probably shouldn’t be playing these on switch, yeah.

@Samalik
I’d hardly put action games on such a pedestal, plus, Hi-Fi Rush is unique in the sense that it is precisely a thing you should avoid to ‘chug a bunch of inputs’ at once, since everything moves to a very select beat.
Merely being playable is sufficient for any genre when you get a stable framerate to work with, no matter what weird standard you may hold action games to.
It’s just very suboptimal. I think we can at least agree that the game would benefit greatly from 60 fps if it’s doable on switch, and should be the goal.
It’s just very definitely playable. Playable and optimal are ways apart though, and I think where I talked about mere playability, you talk about what is optimal for an action game.As the switch has shown, it has some very suboptimal ports that are still perfectly playable.

@Samalik
… Yeah, and Hi-Fi Rush isn’t amongst the most complex action games ever, nor does it have to have 60 fps. It’s not a requirement at all, it never is. As far as I know, with fighting games it’s a very different discussion because there you have a select few frames where there might be a special effect you can use, which against another player could make or break a victory.

Hi-Fi Rush is a single player action game that benefits from 60 fps, but does not require it. None of the shared DNA between these two genres justifies what you’re talking about in Hi-Fi Rush’s case, since it doesn’t have the 1-vs-1 component to worry about.
It’s just like Penny’s Big Breakaway. It plays fine at 30, but since it’s rather fast-paced and action-focused, of course it’ll feel better to play at 60 fps. Same thing goes here. At least, as far as I understand it.

Either way, regardless of how possible it is, dunno in what state it would release with all the concessions they’d have to make for 30 fps rock-solid, let alone 60. Better for switch 2.

Does it need 60 FPS? Probably not. Does it need a stable framerate? Absolutely in this case. The whole game is built around rhythm, and if you miss a beat because of a few dropped frames that can really ruin the flow the game has got going. I played through it on steam and had a blast, and I’d probably double dip on a physical version, but it does need to have a rock-solid framerate, though I think 30 fps is probably just fine too, 60 is of course ideal.

@ClickBrick
FBI OPEN UP!! We know you're playing sticker star in there! OPEN THE DOOR OR WE'RE RAMMING IT DOWN! This is for your own safety, sir!

All jokes aside, so long as you're enjoying it, ish all gud.