Probably won't play Kirby for that much though. It's a relatively limited demo, and you can't unlock anything. I'll definitely play the full game a lot though!
@AstroTheGamosian Yeah, I've had a lot of fun playing indie games. I wouldn't necessarily say more than games from big companies.. but the majority of big company games I play are from Nintendo, which doesn't seem to suffer from this issue (yet), thankfully.
Good to hear your cousin has a good job outside the industry though, which is probably for the best! Though if he ever does become a developer (indie or otherwise), I wish him the best of luck!
@breach187 Yeah I feel you there. It's a sad state this industry in. Makes you wonder where the problem really lies if it's such a widespread issue though.
Really don't like how mass layoffs have been a trend in the video game industry in recent times. I miss the days when becoming a video game developer was considered a dream job by fans, but seeing articles like this just makes you want to stay away instead. Hope all those affected can find jobs elsewhere!
@Casco I like them because they're nice to just turn your brain off for a bit and just go nuts. That doesn't mean every mission is free though, it can get surprisingly hard at times.
Not like Dark Souls hard of course. I think Age of Calamity (the BotW version of Hyrule Warriors) has a demo on the eshop, I would say give that a go and see if you enjoy that any.
@Nabbit01 Honestly I really hope it's not Arzest. Yoshi's New Island was atrocious and I never want them near the Yoshi franchise again. Good Feel I'll happily see making another attempt at a Yoshi game though, Crafted World wasn't the greatest either but was still good at least.
Not gonna lie, when I first saw this I was worried all of the art was AI made. I really don't like that I have to question literally everything I see online these days. Well.. even moreso than before.
That said, pretty cool calander. Not really a must buy for me though lol. I haven't even bought a real calander in well over 10 years.
Really solid lineup. Games in this list I'll absolutely be getting:
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (❤️)
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Kirby Air Riders
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Splatoon Raiders
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
Rhythm Heaven Groove
Not sure in which capacity yet, but will definitely get:
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch 2 Edition
Will wait to see how much content it will have among other things, but still eventually buy:
Mario Tennis Fever
Yeah, I'm a decently happy Switch 2 owner right now. Mario Kart World still burned me, DK Bananza couldn't keep my attention for too long, but the forecast is looking pretty bright right now!
Yeah there's no real reason to get this, even as a fan of Resident Evil, in my opinion. Slap the Umbrella logo on the front where the Switch 2 logo is, or make the Umbrella logo part of the control sticks, and it would already be infinitely better. Or do a Splatoon and make the handles the white and red Umbrella colors. I'm sure other people could come up with examples that don't make use of the Umbrella logo lol.
Either way, as it is, it's just boring, and not worth the extra money by a long shot.
And it's not even available everywhere. Not in my country at least. Which I should probably be thankful for lol. If it was available here I'd probably have downloaded it and opened free packs at every chance while also being bothered by prices of anything paid, if my Mario Kart Tour and Pokémon Go experience is anything to go by.
Honestly, just imagine if they celebrated Mario's 40th anniversary, but all the merchandise and whatnot around it revolved majorly around Fawful. Or Zelda's anniversary, and all the merchandise is around Beedle or Tingle. Yeah I can understand how big RE fans feel about it.
I'm finding it difficult to get excited for.. pretty much anything in this update. It's free, and it's neat, but... it feels like more of the same and too little too late.
Ehh. This update really just feels like more of the same. It's cute, and not bad, but it's really not enough to bring me back into the game. I stopped playing it because the game got way too boring not long after that first credit roll, and this update doesn't really bring much for me to bother jumping back in. Would have preferred a new entry, honestly. And bring back the rude villagers from the first game.
The fact that they keep asking for premium prices really bothers me as well. Two games for full price. Expensive DLC that you need to buy power version and is not a shared purchase between the two games. Expensive HOME system which really should come free with NSO+EP, not be an additional fee on top of that. Not to mention all the gacha bullhockey they have on the mobile and some Switch spin off titles. Pokémon has never felt more like a cash cow, and this poor cow has been run dry. Give it some grass for Pete's sake.
.... it's really whatever at this point though. I don't want to be that guy anymore who shouts at people to quit having fun. If people enjoy these games, by all means, go nuts. I'll continue standing by the sidelines hoping that the series some day gets the love it really deserves again, one way or another.
(Had to cut my comment on two, thanks NintendoLife comment size limit.)
Pokémon is just.. really weird to me now. It really is "eh, good enough" now, and it deserves so much better. That's why I complained so much about it, I love Pokémon but they're really not showing the series the love it so deserves.
A lot of people still buy these games and enjoy them. And that's their right, and I'm happy they all enjoy the games. But at the same time it's heartbreaking, because it shows that these games still sell regardless, and that they don't need the love they deserve poured in. Everyone settles for good enough. Purely because it's Pokémon.
I really don't want to tell other people what they should or shouldn't buy. But I really do wish people would vote no with their wallets more on this series. I want to see it shine, thrive, be the absolute best it can be. Not a series that is known for sloppy models, textures and animations because it's all good enough anyway. And let's not forget about the complete lack of voice acting in key cutscenes.
Yes, the lack of polish is a big issue to me, not the fact that the series doesn't try new things. If that was the biggest issue, with Pokémon being treated like a triple A series but still playing pretty much exactly the same as generation 1 (just refined), I would still be buying every single entry. But instead, I haven't really played many of the new games.
For me the decline started with X and Y, the moment it went 3D. Those were still decent games though. Sun and Moon tried something new, but something about it still felt off to me. I also got the Ultra games, but those were the first I never even finished because something bothered me. I still can't even figure out what it was in those. I do recall not really caring much for the island challenge though, and just wanting gyms back.
I got Let's Go and that was decent, but kanto nostalgia probably plays a part there. Plus it was the first HD entry. I had an okay time. But something still felt off. Then came Sword and Shield, the first Pokémon games I canceled my pre order from. The stagnation from the last several entries, and the controversy around these new games, ended up having me vote with my wallet and just nope out. The only Pokémon game I've played since then was Legends: Arceus, which was a decent (but still somewhat flawed) game, that I got solely because they experimented with it.
All the other Switch entries though.. they just don't do it for me. Even with Arceus though I wish they gave it more time in the oven to make it really shine, just like all the other Switch entries needed. But it's always just...... good enough these days with this series. And who can blame them, with these sales numbers.
I do hope I'll be able to live long enough for that 100th anniversary- and still be sane enough to actually notice it lol. I think it's safe to say Mario will outlive us all though. He's the Mickey Mouse of gaming after all.
You can tell these were rushed. The image in the NSO app where you select the game/theme you want an icon from is stretched a bit, there's only 8 characters available, and there's only two backgrounds with no borders. On top of it being so late into the month. Really weird.
Oh absolutely. I loved the previous entries so I'll love this one too I'm sure. Should be a grand time! Looking forward to what they did with the story in this one, especially if it's truly gonna be canon with Tears of the Kingdom.
It's kinda surprising they didn't put these up last year considering the art has been around for a while.
Also surprising they haven't put them up closer to the start of the month since I'm pretty sure they usually put up the Christmas ones around the start of December. I think.
Splatoon 3. Splatfest vibes. Last time I chose team Zombie, this time I'm on team Ghost!
Skeleton is the least interesting one in my opinion. It's pretty much team zombie but all the skin and such is gone. Though if I'd pick it, it would be for Dry Bones!
EA, EA, come on, you shouldn't have! Nobody likes you as it is, you really shouldn't have bothered going out of your way to make people hate you even more!
This comment section will get a good dose more comments than it otherwise would solely because of Anti-Matter I feel lol. (That's not a bad thing of course.)
@John_Deacon It really deserves to have big sales. I'm certainly doing my part, and the reception of this game so far has been great, so that's a good sign! Hoping the sales will reflect that!
It's so funny to me how Kirby Air Riders can have two banger dedicated Directs but Mario Kart World did the very opposite of generating hype with its one singular Direct.
I'm much more a Mario fan than a Kirby fan but Kirby Air Riders seems to be blowing Mario Kart World out of the water for me so far.
I'm experiencing some kind of whiplash I'm pretty sure.
Really makes me wonder what they're going to show off tomorrow... I can't imagine there really bring enough to fill 60 minutes, but I'm looking forward to it regardless!
Sixty minutes.. only Sakurai could fill an entire 60 minute Direct about one game and still keep it exciting. I'll tune in. Though I'll be watching about an hour later since I'll be at work still when it starts.
@Dr_Lugae I know that's the case for this game, but no performance issues doesn't mean the other points I mentioned about it are suddenly not true. I need them to treat the games with the full respect they deserve. That means giving developers time to make them fully shine. Including making the world actually look good, polishing animations, and include voice acting where it's sorely needed (or just not include cutscenes at all where voice acting is clearly needed).
Once they do that, I'll be able to look past the pricing, and the forced gimmicks. Because the former would be less bad since they'll actually start feeling like premium games and not just be priced like premium games, and the latter is a personal issue that I'll be able to deal with at that point.
I merely mentioned the performance issues because it's a thing that should never have happened to begin with. Not to the degree that they did happen. And it has severely damaged my already damaged opinion on this company and how they treat this series. It's now up to them to fix that damage. Which, as I've said, needs them to actually treat these games like the premium products they price them as. Which I also fully expect them to not do because they don't have much reason to.
For real though, please don't mind me. I'm an incredibly stubborn mule on these things, I'm well aware of that. I try not to judge others on how they spend their money. Though I personally wish they'd spend it differently for message sending, everyone is free to buy whatever they want with their own hard earned money, and if they do buy Pokémon games, I sincerely wish them all the fun in the world with these games. I'll just not be one of them, at least not until the developers improve their own stance on these games. That's all.
@LastFootnote I did pre order it, but the September direct where they announced the way too expensive DLC before the game even released made me cancel it. I did buy and play Arceus, and that was enjoyable. But this one just seems like another cash cow to me now.
Also I'm not really seeing the effort as much as I'd like. The environments still look bad, and the lack of voice acting in certain cutscenes is still very grating. Pokémon being in places they make sense to be in doesn't mean that much to me, since that's more common sense than putting in effort.
Sure, the game seems to be handled better than the average Pokémon game these days. But that doesn't mean it couldn't still use more time in the oven. They keep releasing half baked games, and I just don't want to support half work.
Also there seems to be a big emphasis on mega evolutions, which uh, yeah no thanks.
If I ever find it for a relatively cheap price, I'll consider getting it. But I doubt I'll ever find it for that cheap.
You enjoy the game though! Don't let my negative feelings to the game stop you from enjoying it to the fullest.
Poor graphics- I don't care about reused assets, but there's no excuse for the graphics being so bad. Certainly there's some good looking things, but too much of the environment also just doesn't look good.
Performance issues and glitches- if a game looks bad, I would like it to at least perform well. Which it only does, relatively, on Switch 2. Which comes with an extra price tag for the upgrade. Great. Everyone knows the glitchy state Scarlet and Violet cane out in too. That should never have happened, and to me proves that all they care about is making as much money with as little effort as possible.
Lack of voice acting- I don't really care too much if there's no full on voice acting, but having cutscenes that look tailor made with voice acting in mind, and then not using voice acting, makes it feel like an incomplete product and takes me out of the immersion.
Animations- not all the animations look bad, but some of it just looks God awful. Don't have any specific examples from this particular game, but Sword/Shield or Scarlet/Violet had a scene where a legendary just flew across the screen in their default animation pose. I'm not sure if that's still the case here, but I'd be surprise if there wasn't weird stuff like that in here. In the regular turn based games, the animations all look rather lifeless too. Yes I'm a Stadium animation stan, no I don't think the animations should all be that long, but to take notes from Stadium and give them life. I'll note however that the animation I've seen from this particular game thus far has been decent-ish at least.
Forced gimmicks- I just do not care about stuff like Z moves, Dynamax, or this game's Mega evolutions. They make Pokémon feel more like tools of war rather than wild creatures the trainers are.. well, training. Even if the player doesn't use it, opponents still will, so it's not something that can be ignored.
Dexit- while not necessarily bad on its own, and actually understandable why it had to be done, not having every Pokémon in any given game forces the usage of Pokémon HOME which I find too expensive. Which I'll come to in my next point...
Premium price tags- everything Pokémon costs too much. The games are full price, the DLC is expensive and, for the paired games, need to be bought separately. And slapping the annual Pokémon HOME price on top of that (when in my opinion this should at least be free when you have Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack), is just too much. Top it off with constant predatory mobile Pokémon games and the series feels like a cow that should have been dead ages ago because of how much milk she has been forced to give.
I could absolutely live with one or two of the above points. But it's pretty much a constant mix of all this, and it makes the games feel more like shovelware rather than full fledged entries in the biggest media franchise on the planet.
The series deserves so much better, but people keep buying them. And so they have no reason to improve much of anything. And as an old fan of the series, it's just kind of depressing and disheartening to see too many people just accepting it.
Still hoping that anyone who does buy the games has fun with them regardless. Just because I'm a grump about it doesn't mean that's the case for other people after all. As.. is obvious by the sales numbers.
@Dr_Lugae With all due respect, that argument really doesn't fly. Back then, Pokémon was still pretty much in its infancy, and they had no idea whether or not its succes would continue. They had not yet built the empire that they have right now.
Right now, they are much more secure of their future, they have built an enormous juggernaut in Pokémon, so I think it's more than fair to expect more out of them than 25 years ago.
Also, reusing assets is not a bad thing. Majora's Mask reused a ton of Ocarina of Time assets and is still an absolutely wonderful game. Smash Bros has been reusing models and animations since probably Brawl, and every entry is still great with lots of content. Mario Kart Wii reused Double Dash character models as well as stages that were lifted from Double Dash, and was still a phenominal game. Heck, Zelda: Breath of the Wild literally reuses most of Breath of the Wild, but is still an outstanding sequel because they added a ton of cool stuff that made it into a true sequel.
Reusing assets is absolutely not an issue, and I don't recall ever saying it was.
@RedfromKanto I'm still afraid it's not going to be enough though. Launch sales may not be the greatest but Pokémon games have legs almost as long as Mega Starmie, so those sales will probably still come.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how things will go though! It's just too early to really tell at the moment.
I can't lie, the Pokémon numbers just makes my brain go "look at so many people settling for less". And it's true, I do wish more people would vote with their wallet, because Pokémon quality really needs to go up.
But on the other hand, I also can't fault people for enjoying games, even flawed ones, no matter how much I wish they would not buy it and finally send them a message.
So here's to all you Pokémon purchasers: I do hope you all manage to enjoy the game(s) despite those flaws. I'm still holding out hope that one day, they will work on improving the quality, but that hope is very dim at this point. But when the quality is there again, I will be happy to jump back onto the Pokémon boat.
I don't know a lot of NES game box arts off the top of my head so this one was tough for me, only a 12 out of 21. Still decent I suppose. Good challenge though!
Both are kinda bad honestly. The Japanese one is boring, the NA one has too much clutter. I chose the NA one tot because the background is a bit more interesting at least, and it's not just peace sign Pikachu with a logo slapped on top.
Comments 6,527
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (6th November)
Absolutely Kirby Air Riders and Hyrule Warriors!
Probably won't play Kirby for that much though. It's a relatively limited demo, and you can't unlock anything. I'll definitely play the full game a lot though!
Re: Square Enix Hit By Mass Layoffs As Part Of Global Restructuring
@AstroTheGamosian Yeah, I've had a lot of fun playing indie games. I wouldn't necessarily say more than games from big companies.. but the majority of big company games I play are from Nintendo, which doesn't seem to suffer from this issue (yet), thankfully.
Good to hear your cousin has a good job outside the industry though, which is probably for the best! Though if he ever does become a developer (indie or otherwise), I wish him the best of luck!
Re: Gallery: Nintendo Updates Its 'My Mario' Product Line With Multiple New Yoshi Items, Here's A Look
DON'T DO THIS TO ME NINTENDO
Re: Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment Already Has Free Updates Planned
My copy should be arriving today. Looking forward to getting home from work and finding it at my door!
Re: Nintendo Reveals Three More Super Mario Wood Block amiibo Sets
I really need to import that full set, to heck with the fact that they're for kids. My inner child NEEDS these.
Re: Nintendo Announces 'My Mario' Yoshi App For Switch And Mobile Devices
Uhm yes hello this one is for me???
I mean it's a novelty thing but I love that they're making a Yoshi one!
Re: Square Enix Hit By Mass Layoffs As Part Of Global Restructuring
@breach187 Yeah I feel you there. It's a sad state this industry in. Makes you wonder where the problem really lies if it's such a widespread issue though.
Re: Square Enix Hit By Mass Layoffs As Part Of Global Restructuring
Really don't like how mass layoffs have been a trend in the video game industry in recent times. I miss the days when becoming a video game developer was considered a dream job by fans, but seeing articles like this just makes you want to stay away instead. Hope all those affected can find jobs elsewhere!
Re: Opinion: Third-Party Support For Switch 2 Is Already A Dream Come True
Yet my third party support is going to remain extremely low on Switch 2 if they keep using game key cards. Hardly a dream come true in my opinion.
Re: The Legend Of Zelda Movie Is Now "In Production" In New Zealand
Looking forward to how this one will turn out!
Re: Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment Receives Its First Switch 2 Update (Version 1.0.1)
@Casco I like them because they're nice to just turn your brain off for a bit and just go nuts. That doesn't mean every mission is free though, it can get surprisingly hard at times.
Not like Dark Souls hard of course. I think Age of Calamity (the BotW version of Hyrule Warriors) has a demo on the eshop, I would say give that a go and see if you enjoy that any.
Re: Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch 2 Games
@Nabbit01 Honestly I really hope it's not Arzest. Yoshi's New Island was atrocious and I never want them near the Yoshi franchise again. Good Feel I'll happily see making another attempt at a Yoshi game though, Crafted World wasn't the greatest either but was still good at least.
Re: Random: Balatro's Charity Calendar Is Ludicrous, And An Absolute Must-Buy
Not gonna lie, when I first saw this I was worried all of the art was AI made. I really don't like that I have to question literally everything I see online these days. Well.. even moreso than before.
That said, pretty cool calander. Not really a must buy for me though lol. I haven't even bought a real calander in well over 10 years.
Re: Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch 2 Games
Really solid lineup. Games in this list I'll absolutely be getting:
Not sure in which capacity yet, but will definitely get:
Will wait to see how much content it will have among other things, but still eventually buy:
Yeah, I'm a decently happy Switch 2 owner right now. Mario Kart World still burned me, DK Bananza couldn't keep my attention for too long, but the forecast is looking pretty bright right now!
Re: Resident Evil Pro Controller Is Available To Pre-Order, But Its Price Is Terrifying
Yeah there's no real reason to get this, even as a fan of Resident Evil, in my opinion. Slap the Umbrella logo on the front where the Switch 2 logo is, or make the Umbrella logo part of the control sticks, and it would already be infinitely better. Or do a Splatoon and make the handles the white and red Umbrella colors. I'm sure other people could come up with examples that don't make use of the Umbrella logo lol.
Either way, as it is, it's just boring, and not worth the extra money by a long shot.
Re: Pokémon TCG Pocket Pulled In Almost $1.3 Billion In Its First Year Alone
And it's not even available everywhere. Not in my country at least. Which I should probably be thankful for lol. If it was available here I'd probably have downloaded it and opened free packs at every chance while also being bothered by prices of anything paid, if my Mario Kart Tour and Pokémon Go experience is anything to go by.
Re: "Jill / Chris Would Be More Befitting" - Resident Evil's Obsession With Lady D. Is Getting Fans Riled Up
Honestly, just imagine if they celebrated Mario's 40th anniversary, but all the merchandise and whatnot around it revolved majorly around Fawful. Or Zelda's anniversary, and all the merchandise is around Beedle or Tingle. Yeah I can understand how big RE fans feel about it.
Re: Poll: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is Getting A Huge Update In Early 2026, What Are You Most Excited For?
I'm finding it difficult to get excited for.. pretty much anything in this update. It's free, and it's neat, but... it feels like more of the same and too little too late.
Re: PSA: Don't Expect Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition To Include The DLC
I mean, the hotel stuff basically IS the DLC lol. Only thing you'd be missing out on is the furniture and such exclusive to it.
Re: Surprise! Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Arrives Next Year
Ehh. This update really just feels like more of the same. It's cute, and not bad, but it's really not enough to bring me back into the game. I stopped playing it because the game got way too boring not long after that first credit roll, and this update doesn't really bring much for me to bother jumping back in. Would have preferred a new entry, honestly. And bring back the rude villagers from the first game.
Re: Nintendo's Pokémon Catching-Related Patent Has Been Rejected In Japan
Screw Palworld, but also screw Nintendo for trying to patent this in the first place. I'd say this is a good outcome as well.
Re: Talking Point: When Did 'Good Enough' Become Good Enough For Pokémon?
The fact that they keep asking for premium prices really bothers me as well. Two games for full price. Expensive DLC that you need to buy power version and is not a shared purchase between the two games. Expensive HOME system which really should come free with NSO+EP, not be an additional fee on top of that. Not to mention all the gacha bullhockey they have on the mobile and some Switch spin off titles. Pokémon has never felt more like a cash cow, and this poor cow has been run dry. Give it some grass for Pete's sake.
.... it's really whatever at this point though. I don't want to be that guy anymore who shouts at people to quit having fun. If people enjoy these games, by all means, go nuts. I'll continue standing by the sidelines hoping that the series some day gets the love it really deserves again, one way or another.
(Had to cut my comment on two, thanks NintendoLife comment size limit.)
Re: Talking Point: When Did 'Good Enough' Become Good Enough For Pokémon?
Pokémon is just.. really weird to me now. It really is "eh, good enough" now, and it deserves so much better. That's why I complained so much about it, I love Pokémon but they're really not showing the series the love it so deserves.
A lot of people still buy these games and enjoy them. And that's their right, and I'm happy they all enjoy the games. But at the same time it's heartbreaking, because it shows that these games still sell regardless, and that they don't need the love they deserve poured in. Everyone settles for good enough. Purely because it's Pokémon.
I really don't want to tell other people what they should or shouldn't buy. But I really do wish people would vote no with their wallets more on this series. I want to see it shine, thrive, be the absolute best it can be. Not a series that is known for sloppy models, textures and animations because it's all good enough anyway. And let's not forget about the complete lack of voice acting in key cutscenes.
Yes, the lack of polish is a big issue to me, not the fact that the series doesn't try new things. If that was the biggest issue, with Pokémon being treated like a triple A series but still playing pretty much exactly the same as generation 1 (just refined), I would still be buying every single entry. But instead, I haven't really played many of the new games.
For me the decline started with X and Y, the moment it went 3D. Those were still decent games though. Sun and Moon tried something new, but something about it still felt off to me. I also got the Ultra games, but those were the first I never even finished because something bothered me. I still can't even figure out what it was in those. I do recall not really caring much for the island challenge though, and just wanting gyms back.
I got Let's Go and that was decent, but kanto nostalgia probably plays a part there. Plus it was the first HD entry. I had an okay time. But something still felt off. Then came Sword and Shield, the first Pokémon games I canceled my pre order from. The stagnation from the last several entries, and the controversy around these new games, ended up having me vote with my wallet and just nope out. The only Pokémon game I've played since then was Legends: Arceus, which was a decent (but still somewhat flawed) game, that I got solely because they experimented with it.
All the other Switch entries though.. they just don't do it for me. Even with Arceus though I wish they gave it more time in the oven to make it really shine, just like all the other Switch entries needed. But it's always just...... good enough these days with this series. And who can blame them, with these sales numbers.
Re: Super Mario 3D All-Stars Updated To Version 1.1.4, Improves Gameplay On Switch 2
@Serpenterror Monkey paw curls, it becomes available but costs more than the Switch 2.
Re: Shigeru Miyamoto Is Confident Mario Will Be Around For "A Long Time To Come"
I do hope I'll be able to live long enough for that 100th anniversary- and still be sane enough to actually notice it lol. I think it's safe to say Mario will outlive us all though. He's the Mickey Mouse of gaming after all.
Re: PSA: You Might Need To Free Up Some Space For Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment
Thankfully this isn't a game key card game so I'll be able to save that space, yay!
Re: Boo! Mario's Halloween Switch Online Icons Are Now Available
You can tell these were rushed. The image in the NSO app where you select the game/theme you want an icon from is stretched a bit, there's only 8 characters available, and there's only two backgrounds with no borders. On top of it being so late into the month. Really weird.
Re: Poll: So, Will You Be Getting Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment?
Oh absolutely. I loved the previous entries so I'll love this one too I'm sure. Should be a grand time! Looking forward to what they did with the story in this one, especially if it's truly gonna be canon with Tears of the Kingdom.
Re: EA Staff Are Reportedly Less Than Happy With Their Much-Hyped AI "Helpers"
"EA" and "happy" are not two words that go together very well anyway. Not present day EA anyway.
Re: Boo! Mario Halloween Switch Online Icons Arriving This Week
It's kinda surprising they didn't put these up last year considering the art has been around for a while.
Also surprising they haven't put them up closer to the start of the month since I'm pretty sure they usually put up the Christmas ones around the start of December. I think.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Duel: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
I like Japan's just a little more because it has that feeling of solitude a bit more. Can't go wrong with either though, they're both good.
Re: Xbox Reiterates Its Support For Switch 2
They'll put Halo on Switch solely to give Master Chief a chance to get into Smash Bros.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (25th October)
Splatoon 3. Splatfest vibes. Last time I chose team Zombie, this time I'm on team Ghost!
Skeleton is the least interesting one in my opinion. It's pretty much team zombie but all the skin and such is gone. Though if I'd pick it, it would be for Dry Bones!
Re: EA Is Diving Headfirst Into Generative AI With New Partnership
EA, EA, come on, you shouldn't have! Nobody likes you as it is, you really shouldn't have bothered going out of your way to make people hate you even more!
Re: Bluey Is Going On A New Quest And It's Coming To Switch And Switch 2 In 2026
This comment section will get a good dose more comments than it otherwise would solely because of Anti-Matter I feel lol.
(That's not a bad thing of course.)
Re: Kirby Air Riders Direct #2: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate it?
@John_Deacon It really deserves to have big sales. I'm certainly doing my part, and the reception of this game so far has been great, so that's a good sign! Hoping the sales will reflect that!
Re: Kirby Air Riders Direct #2: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate it?
It's so funny to me how Kirby Air Riders can have two banger dedicated Directs but Mario Kart World did the very opposite of generating hype with its one singular Direct.
I'm much more a Mario fan than a Kirby fan but Kirby Air Riders seems to be blowing Mario Kart World out of the water for me so far.
I'm experiencing some kind of whiplash I'm pretty sure.
Re: Kirby Air Riders 'Global Test Ride' Demo Kicks Off Next Month
Oooh, very nice. Looking forward to trying this demo ahead of the full game!
Re: Three More Kirby Air Riders amiibo Have Been Announced
Oof. I love these amiibo but they're really expensive and this does hurt the wallet for sure. I'm still getting them though.
Re: Sakurai Reveals Even More Kirby Air Riders Footage Ahead Of Tomorrow's Direct
Really makes me wonder what they're going to show off tomorrow... I can't imagine there really bring enough to fill 60 minutes, but I'm looking forward to it regardless!
Re: Nintendo Direct For Kirby Air Riders Announced For Thursday, 23rd October
Sixty minutes.. only Sakurai could fill an entire 60 minute Direct about one game and still keep it exciting. I'll tune in. Though I'll be watching about an hour later since I'll be at work still when it starts.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@Dr_Lugae I know that's the case for this game, but no performance issues doesn't mean the other points I mentioned about it are suddenly not true. I need them to treat the games with the full respect they deserve. That means giving developers time to make them fully shine. Including making the world actually look good, polishing animations, and include voice acting where it's sorely needed (or just not include cutscenes at all where voice acting is clearly needed).
Once they do that, I'll be able to look past the pricing, and the forced gimmicks. Because the former would be less bad since they'll actually start feeling like premium games and not just be priced like premium games, and the latter is a personal issue that I'll be able to deal with at that point.
I merely mentioned the performance issues because it's a thing that should never have happened to begin with. Not to the degree that they did happen. And it has severely damaged my already damaged opinion on this company and how they treat this series. It's now up to them to fix that damage. Which, as I've said, needs them to actually treat these games like the premium products they price them as. Which I also fully expect them to not do because they don't have much reason to.
For real though, please don't mind me. I'm an incredibly stubborn mule on these things, I'm well aware of that. I try not to judge others on how they spend their money. Though I personally wish they'd spend it differently for message sending, everyone is free to buy whatever they want with their own hard earned money, and if they do buy Pokémon games, I sincerely wish them all the fun in the world with these games. I'll just not be one of them, at least not until the developers improve their own stance on these games. That's all.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@LastFootnote I did pre order it, but the September direct where they announced the way too expensive DLC before the game even released made me cancel it. I did buy and play Arceus, and that was enjoyable. But this one just seems like another cash cow to me now.
Also I'm not really seeing the effort as much as I'd like. The environments still look bad, and the lack of voice acting in certain cutscenes is still very grating. Pokémon being in places they make sense to be in doesn't mean that much to me, since that's more common sense than putting in effort.
Sure, the game seems to be handled better than the average Pokémon game these days. But that doesn't mean it couldn't still use more time in the oven. They keep releasing half baked games, and I just don't want to support half work.
Also there seems to be a big emphasis on mega evolutions, which uh, yeah no thanks.
If I ever find it for a relatively cheap price, I'll consider getting it. But I doubt I'll ever find it for that cheap.
You enjoy the game though! Don't let my negative feelings to the game stop you from enjoying it to the fullest.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@Dr_Lugae Fair, I'll note them down for you.
Poor graphics- I don't care about reused assets, but there's no excuse for the graphics being so bad. Certainly there's some good looking things, but too much of the environment also just doesn't look good.
Performance issues and glitches- if a game looks bad, I would like it to at least perform well. Which it only does, relatively, on Switch 2. Which comes with an extra price tag for the upgrade. Great. Everyone knows the glitchy state Scarlet and Violet cane out in too. That should never have happened, and to me proves that all they care about is making as much money with as little effort as possible.
Lack of voice acting- I don't really care too much if there's no full on voice acting, but having cutscenes that look tailor made with voice acting in mind, and then not using voice acting, makes it feel like an incomplete product and takes me out of the immersion.
Animations- not all the animations look bad, but some of it just looks God awful. Don't have any specific examples from this particular game, but Sword/Shield or Scarlet/Violet had a scene where a legendary just flew across the screen in their default animation pose. I'm not sure if that's still the case here, but I'd be surprise if there wasn't weird stuff like that in here. In the regular turn based games, the animations all look rather lifeless too. Yes I'm a Stadium animation stan, no I don't think the animations should all be that long, but to take notes from Stadium and give them life. I'll note however that the animation I've seen from this particular game thus far has been decent-ish at least.
Forced gimmicks- I just do not care about stuff like Z moves, Dynamax, or this game's Mega evolutions. They make Pokémon feel more like tools of war rather than wild creatures the trainers are.. well, training. Even if the player doesn't use it, opponents still will, so it's not something that can be ignored.
Dexit- while not necessarily bad on its own, and actually understandable why it had to be done, not having every Pokémon in any given game forces the usage of Pokémon HOME which I find too expensive. Which I'll come to in my next point...
Premium price tags- everything Pokémon costs too much. The games are full price, the DLC is expensive and, for the paired games, need to be bought separately. And slapping the annual Pokémon HOME price on top of that (when in my opinion this should at least be free when you have Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack), is just too much. Top it off with constant predatory mobile Pokémon games and the series feels like a cow that should have been dead ages ago because of how much milk she has been forced to give.
I could absolutely live with one or two of the above points. But it's pretty much a constant mix of all this, and it makes the games feel more like shovelware rather than full fledged entries in the biggest media franchise on the planet.
The series deserves so much better, but people keep buying them. And so they have no reason to improve much of anything. And as an old fan of the series, it's just kind of depressing and disheartening to see too many people just accepting it.
Still hoping that anyone who does buy the games has fun with them regardless. Just because I'm a grump about it doesn't mean that's the case for other people after all. As.. is obvious by the sales numbers.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@Dr_Lugae With all due respect, that argument really doesn't fly. Back then, Pokémon was still pretty much in its infancy, and they had no idea whether or not its succes would continue. They had not yet built the empire that they have right now.
Right now, they are much more secure of their future, they have built an enormous juggernaut in Pokémon, so I think it's more than fair to expect more out of them than 25 years ago.
Also, reusing assets is not a bad thing. Majora's Mask reused a ton of Ocarina of Time assets and is still an absolutely wonderful game. Smash Bros has been reusing models and animations since probably Brawl, and every entry is still great with lots of content. Mario Kart Wii reused Double Dash character models as well as stages that were lifted from Double Dash, and was still a phenominal game. Heck, Zelda: Breath of the Wild literally reuses most of Breath of the Wild, but is still an outstanding sequel because they added a ton of cool stuff that made it into a true sequel.
Reusing assets is absolutely not an issue, and I don't recall ever saying it was.
Re: Absolum And Ball X Pit Post Excellent Initial Sales, But They Deserve More
I've only heard of the ball game, I don't recall the other one. I haven't bought either game though. Suppose I should check them out!
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
@RedfromKanto I'm still afraid it's not going to be enough though. Launch sales may not be the greatest but Pokémon games have legs almost as long as Mega Starmie, so those sales will probably still come.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how things will go though! It's just too early to really tell at the moment.
Re: UK Charts: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Almost 50/50 Across Switch And Switch 2
I can't lie, the Pokémon numbers just makes my brain go "look at so many people settling for less". And it's true, I do wish more people would vote with their wallet, because Pokémon quality really needs to go up.
But on the other hand, I also can't fault people for enjoying games, even flawed ones, no matter how much I wish they would not buy it and finally send them a message.
So here's to all you Pokémon purchasers: I do hope you all manage to enjoy the game(s) despite those flaws. I'm still holding out hope that one day, they will work on improving the quality, but that hope is very dim at this point. But when the quality is there again, I will be happy to jump back onto the Pokémon boat.
Re: Can You Name These NES Games From The Mangled Box Art?
I don't know a lot of NES game box arts off the top of my head so this one was tough for me, only a 12 out of 21. Still decent I suppose. Good challenge though!
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Duel: Hey You, Pikachu!
Both are kinda bad honestly. The Japanese one is boring, the NA one has too much clutter. I chose the NA one tot because the background is a bit more interesting at least, and it's not just peace sign Pikachu with a logo slapped on top.