Comments 884

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (28th February)

Zaruboggan

A little Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 on PS4. It's no BO1/2 but for co-op vs bots, it's fine. TTK is way too fast and the abilities are totally unnecessary. We only put like 50 hours into the online MP on release, compared to the hundreds we played of MW2 through BO2. Oh CoD, what happened to you?

Otherwise, a friend got a Switch 2 (her first console ever haha) and so we'll be giving island tours on Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Some Steam Next Fest demos. Some Pokemon FireRed. I did my traditional solo-Brock-with-Kakuna fight last night, based on beating him with Kakuna's Struggle attack in my original run all those years back. This one was caught as a Weedle, so I was able to fish for poison and speed up the fight significantly lol.

Re: Pokémon Presents February 2026: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate It?

Zaruboggan

The mobile games are getting a little long in the tooth, which really slows down proceedings.
I'm disappointed that the only retro Pokemon game seemingly on offer this year is going to be Fire Red/Leaf Green. Not that they can't release more, or that it's a bad pick. I just want them ALL.
New game has got me swept up in mixed feelings, as per usual. This'll be the last I let myself see of it until launch, so it's going to be a very long, and likely unsuccessful, year of avoiding spoilers.
Likely I'll have to stay off NintendoLife until 2027's launch just so I don't have to see every single individual Pokemon announced lol

Re: Community: Miltanks For The Memories - 30 Years Of Your Pokémon Stories

Zaruboggan

Ey, a fellow Natu lover!

Lovely memories, gang. Thanks so much for sharing.

Reading through, I was reminded about the transition from Elementary to Middle School, when liking Pokemon suddenly got you bullied. We had a friend over to our house to hang out, and I remember him asking shyly, "Do you guys still like Pokemon?" And us trying to be coy, until we realized we all liked Pokemon, and now, over twenty years later, we're messaging each other about the Pokemon Presents.

Re: 50 Best Nintendo 3DS Games Of All Time

Zaruboggan

@HammerGalladeBro Hell Yeah Rusty!
I've got two unopened copies of MP: FF that my brother and I are going to play at some point.
I have mixed feelings on Chibi Robo (sort of fun, RNG was bad, the world/setting should have been more chibi robo and less standard world themes).

Re: Poll: What's Your Favourite Gen 9 Pokémon?

Zaruboggan

Fuecoco the little apple gator is pretty great, but this is the first generation I went with a non-fire starter.
My team:
Quaquavel
Dachsbun
Kilowattrel
Revavroom
Baxcalibur
Gholdengo

Fantastic generation, so I gotta shout out Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, Clodsire, Flamigo, Toedscool, Bramblin, Bellibolt, Maushold, etc.

Re: Poll: What's Your Favourite Gen 8 Pokémon?

Zaruboggan

My team:
Cinderace
Drednaw
Appletun
Sandaconda
Centiskorch
Falinks

Absolutely have to give a shout-out to Cursola, Pincurchin, Ursaluna, Overqwil, Basculelgion, Grapploct, Applin, Cramorant, Wooloo.
Especially Applin. And Cramorant. God, what top-tier Pokemon.

Re: Anniversary: The Legend Of Zelda Turns 40 Today - How Did You First Play It?

Zaruboggan

I first played The Legend of Zelda on Wii's virtual console. I probably got a good 20 minutes into it. I was pretty whatever on it, if we're being honest.

I gave it another shot on 3DS, since Nintendo gave it to me for free (hooray for ambassadors!). Not sure what changed. Expectations, maybe? Portability? Nothing else to do? I played the whole thing between classes in college and quite enjoyed it.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (21st February)

Zaruboggan

I'm not sure. I finished playing Naruto: Path of Ninja on DS and finished reading My Hero Academia.
People are getting sick in my house. I'm probably next, so I'm hesitant to start a new game. But maybe I'll get lucky and skip it. We'll probably play more Highguard. I don't know. I don't like getting sick lol.

Re: Poll: What's Your Favourite Gen 5 Pokémon?

Zaruboggan

I'll give you two guesses!

Following your (probably) correct guess, I gotta go with my full team:
Emboar
Swanna
Krookodile
Cofagrigus
Galvantula
Ferrothorn

And special shoutout to Stunfish, Liepard, Beartic, Accelgor, Watchog, Maractus, Crustle, Trubbish and Garbodor, Foongus, Elgyem,Mienfoo, Durant, I mean I really love them all and I'm very sorry I'm not helping.

Re: Poll: What's Your Favourite Gen 3 Pokémon?

Zaruboggan

Such a great generation. My team was:
Blaziken
Breloom
Swellow
Ludicolo
Aggron
Manectric

Absolutely grade-A legends. And this gen also had some grade-A legendaries, too. Latias, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Regirock, Regice... Love them all.
Also lots of love for Medicham, Zigzagoon, Wingull, Gardevoir, Dustox, Plusle and Minun, Sharpedo, Spinda, Trapinch, Seviper, Lunatone, Crawdaunt, etc.
I think this is the third straight generation where the middle evo of the fire starter is my favorite. Expect this trend to continue.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (14th February)

Zaruboggan

Hooray for the weekend. I'll be catching more Olympic coverage (still thinking about that French dude landing all his shots in like 14 seconds!) and playing more Naruto: Path of Ninja on DS. Snappy little JRPG. When I first played it at release, I had never read or watched Naruto. Now I've got the whole set and have read it through several times, plus have played a dozen games in the series.

Anyway, we'll probably also do some more Highguard, even if I don't like any of the changes in this latest update. I'll be picking up Mario Tennis Fever physical, but we'll hold off playing it until my brother finishes his exam.

That'll be it for gaming. Reading, I'm about halfway through My Hero Academia and I'll be starting Sullivan's Age of Myth. Looking forward to it.

Re: Community: Pokémon Turns 30 Soon - Send Us Your Pocket Monster Memories

Zaruboggan

Sent one in.
I'm looking forward to reading about everyone's memories.

I remember (not my submission) when Black and White came out, and I took the train on a rainy launch day to go pick it up. When I got back to my college dorm, I was hours behind my brother. We kept in touch all day as we played. I'll never forget when my Tepig evolved, and I called my brother and told him how much Pignite was the best ever Pokemon, and he said "I knew you would love it!"

It's validating to know someone understands my design sensibilities.

Re: Stunning 2D Adventure 'Neva' Is Getting An Expansion, And It's Cheap As Chips

Zaruboggan

@Zeeba It's mostly a case of paperwork. Publishers have to get lots of different things done before submitting. They can announce games before the submission process is complete, before they get first party approval or age ratings and other things required to put the store page up. Some studios like to have all those ducks in a row before announcement, some don't mind sending another press release out when preorders go live. Some want it to go one way, but things don't line up so this piece of the puzzle gets delayed.

As for time it goes live, I'm pretty sure that's up to the publisher. And whether it's featured prominently is a matter of communication with Nintendo.

Re: Absolum's Threads Of Fate Update Out Now, Includes Balance Tweaks, Corrupted Biomes & More

Zaruboggan

Updates like these always make me...concerned. Did the game need adjustments? Need's a strong word, but some builds were definitely powerful.
Karl's bullet casings off of dragonbreath bullet were awesome, so nerfing that in two ways I guess makes sense, but...why? It's a fun build. Who'd it hurt?
Less mana from all sources? Sure, I guess. You could get so much mana that you never had to stop using skills. But wasn't that the build? Wasn't that the point?
I hope the positives outweigh the build nerfs. This is my favorite game from 2025, so I'm excited to dig into the update. Just...hoping I don't like it less.
I don't see anything about the glitch that makes conversations around the campfire get stuck.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th February)

Zaruboggan

I finished Fire Emblem on the GBA app, and while I'm tempted to do another run immediately, I'd hate to lose steam in the middle of it. So I think I'll work through something else, first.

I think I am going to either return to the Etrian Odyssey remake or start up a playthrough of Naruto: Path of Ninja on DS while the Olympics play in the background. For the first time ever, I'll be rooting for Team Canada and Team Denmark. And that Team GB guy who peed in the snow.

Re: Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok Soars Onto Switch 2 In July

Zaruboggan

This game is fantastic. I've got 160 hours on it, mostly in co-op. It's annoying having to finish the whole campaign to play together, but the campaign is beautiful and has some great cinematography.
I am super excited that it's coming to Nintendo consoles, and even more excited that it will have cross play. But, of course, I'm most excited to fight Bubz and play with the new characters.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (31st January)

Zaruboggan

I'm up to chapter 25 on Fire Emblem, which I believe I mentioned before I haven't played in twenty years. Having a ball. The Four Fangs are everything Engage wanted its villains to be.
I just wish they made them like they used to!

I played through LEGO Island 2 for Gameboy Color on our GBA, partly to test the GBA (had some problems with a different cartridge; still unsure if it's the GBA or other cartridge). Enjoyed it multiple times as a kid, and while I had fun revisiting, I would not say it's good. Might test another GBC game.

May do a Shape of Dreams run and some more Highguard (fun game, despite being a combination of all the things I don't like).

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (24th January)

Zaruboggan

I finished off Metroid Prime 4 during the week, and started the game I kept saying maybe about: Fire Emblem for GBA.
I haven't played it in 20 years, so it's been lots of fun remembering all the characters and stages as they come.
We started Shape of Dreams on Steam as well, so we'll probably do more of that. Might have time to climb the Peak again, but it doesn't seem too likely. Busy weekend.
On the reading front, I'm still working through Erikson's Midnight Tides, and now that we have every volume of My Hero Academia, I'm finally restarting it from the beginning. I never read past volume 30 since they were coming out too slowly.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (17th January)

Zaruboggan

I'm coming up to 10 hours in on Metroid Prime 4. I got the last beam and the spider ball upgrade, so I've been clearing out a few of the items.

We'll be going again in Peak and dying in the kiln this morning, so that'll be fun. We're at the last upgrade for The Riftbreaker, so it may be we're polishing that off. Such a fun co-op experience.

Soren has been delivering some timely lines in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance that feel TOO relevant, which has made this playthrough a...unique experience.

I may be starting up Fire Emblem on GBA, too, if I can pull myself away from Erikson's Midnight Tides. And, of course, I may dive back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (10th January)

Zaruboggan

Little bit of Metroid Prime 4, little Peak. I beat MotionRec, and we're entering what I'd call the post game of The Riftbreaker.

My cousin and brother have both started Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. It's my cousin's first time, and he is totally engrossed, so that's fun. I just replayed it a year or two ago, but I might jump on Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, my personal favorite in the series. Or maybe I'll replay the GBA one. It's been more than a decade since I've played either...