Comments 926

Re: Poll: Are There Any Good Lord Of The Rings Games On Nintendo Consoles?

Zaruboggan

I have very fond memories of playing the co-op movie tie-ins back in the day. I liked the RPG one, too.
Unfortunately, the best LOTR games never came to Nintendo consoles. The first Mordor's combat and Nemesis systems were a lot of fun to play around with.
But of course the best LOTR game, bar none, and it's not even close, was Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Criminal that the servers were shut down in a year. You haven't lotrd until you've ridden a troll in combat against Gandalf in the middle of Helms Deep, fire balls and arrows flying all around you, and right when it seems you're backed into a corner, a pop-up appears, asking if you're ready and willing to bring the Witch King to the field of battle.

Re: Rumour: Switch Virtual Console Was Apparently Nintendo's "Original Plan"

Zaruboggan

I like the idea of both. Subscription because I'm already paying to play online, so trying out random retro games is a nice little perk.
But VC because then I can buy and own. If they ever price me out of the sub cost, I lose nothing because I'd own my favorites.

VC also means more third party drops, because they don't have to share a sub pool. They can sell em like they sell any other game. Might get more consoles like on Wii, too.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (11th January)

Zaruboggan

Played some Warhammer Darktide last night. The best thing I can say for it is that it has co-op! I don't know, it's decent fun. I kind of wish the incremental upgrades were more than a percent at a time.
More Granblue Fantasy Relink, just working through some lucilius/behemoth/proto Bahamut etc. I'm in desperate need of Silver Centrums. We've also started new files to play with friends, which feels like a completely different game from the one we've been grinding for the last 100 hours!
Working slowly through Arco. Act IV. Easy rec. Great game.
And finally Theatrythm: Final Bar Line.

Re: Nintendo Breaks Silence On 'Switch 2' Image And Video Leaks

Zaruboggan

Hope to hear from them soon, just so the articles start being more interesting than 'Here's Another Shot of the Switch 2's Backside! Allegedly!' or 'Switch 2 Case Manufacturer Reveals Indentation Required to Accommodate L4 and R4 Buttons!'

As long as all the games don't get leaked, the full reveal should still be fun, but damn, do ya'll peak into your Christmas presents early, too?

Re: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Trailer Sheds Light On Its Story

Zaruboggan

So excited! Played this game for 150 hours or so. I remember every moment was basically spent trying to build max-range gem stuff.
Totally pointless in terms of combat efficacy, but lots of fun for my sniper.
This time, I'll definitely take a little more time to figure out the systems (like the soul voice stuff) and build a party that actually works together haha.
Not that I won't use the sniper.

Re: Yes, We're Getting Closer To Pokémon Day

Zaruboggan

Please fix the battle system, please fix the battle system...

I enjoyed the catching and general Pokemonness of Arceus, but it was so hampered by its garbage-bin story, awkward trainer battles (and that's being generous), and sinfully ugly environments that I'm more than a little worried how the sequel will turn out.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (4th January)

Zaruboggan

Very little, since we'll be out of town. Some Granblue Fantasy Relink with friends this morning, and then we're off.
I'm hoping to get back to Arco (finished Act 3 on Tuesday) when I get back.
Next week, I expect some more Warhammer Darksomething with my brothers. I really don't gaf about Warhammer, but you wouldn't know it based on all the games we've gotten this year lol.
Come on, devs! What happened to all the co-op shooters?!
Anyway, we might also be playing Mario Party Jamboree for the first time while we're out partying this weekend. Should be fun!

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (New Year Edition)

Zaruboggan

Christmas gifts have changed my plans by quite a bit. On Steam, I was gifted Arco, Crossover: Roll for Initiative, Tyranny, Minami Lane, and Firewatch. I'll be starting Act 3 of the fantastic Arco this morning.
I bought myself stitch. on Switch, so I'm hoping to start in on that, too. But I'll probably wait until I finish Arco.
Otherwise, still playing Granblue Fantasy Relink and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Watching my brother play Indiana Jones, too.
Busy busy busy

Re: Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024

Zaruboggan

@BodkinDQ Haha yep, Tellius is king!
And hey, not every game is right for everyone, even in our favorite genres. If anything, that's when we're the most critical of our per peeves.
I guess what I'm saying is, I won't take it personally if you don't find a way to love Unicorn Overlord haha.

Re: Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024

Zaruboggan

@BodkinDQ I think Unicorn Overlord is less auto battle than you think it is. I mean, you do move your units individually, just like, say, FE, only in real time. The battles are about as automated as Fire Emblem, in that once combat starts, you're hands off. Only there's so much work to be done to make your units come together, so much fiddling with equipment, strategy, and more, that it's much more involved than maybe it initially appears.
I won't pretend playing further will change your mind, but I think it's worth giving it a fair shake!

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (Christmas 2024 Edition)

Zaruboggan

Started the weekend off with some Windblown, which added a couple new weapons and balanced some mechanics about a week ago.
Snuck in another Proto Bahamut fight in Granblue Fantasy Relink. We're tryna do one a day, at least until we have every weapon. Two to go for my brother. Five for me! Then it's back to sliver centrums and fortitude crystals...
This weekend might be when I finally start Another Code, but I'm also tempted to buy Balatro. My brother's working through Eldin Ring again with our cousin, this time on PC with a sweet MP mod. It's just distracting enough that I don't think I could get as immersed in Another Code as I need. Hence Balatro.
Still busy with holiday stuff, too, so I might not get to either of them!

Re: Your 'Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024' Stats Are Available Now

Zaruboggan

284 hours this year compared to last year's 654. And 74 of those hours were for work lol.
Most played was otherwise Unicorn Overlord, which I also put as my favorite.
Part of the reason for the drop is my PS5 going from 45 hours in 2023 to 450 hours this year due to Eldin Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Granblue Fantasy Relink (among other games).

I think I actually played a similar number of games on Switch. They were just shorter.

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

Zaruboggan

Had a little bit of trouble getting my brother's Windblown to launch properly last night, but we think we know the problem, so hopefully we can get that sorted out and try out the update.
We might do a night of Dragons Age: The Veilguard (been progressing at the same rate), but tbh I don't foresee a whole lot of gaming this weekend. Lots of holiday prep to get through.
We are going to do some hotpot tonight! Not a game, but good for warming up all the same.

Re: Review: Fairy Tail 2 (Switch) - Hurt By Its Breakneck Pace, But Still A Step Up

Zaruboggan

@Daniel36 Stop me if you've played this one, but iirc Tales of Symphonia had a great balance between world saving stuff and the ol fireside chats. Because it had literal fireside chats. Plus, a lot of city and side stuff had the pace pulled back for some downtime. It also had the skits referred to in this review where you got some silly, casual conversations between party members.

Re: Poll: It's Almost Time For The Game Awards, But Are You Expecting Much Switch News?

Zaruboggan

Doubt it. As has been said, the switch logo will probably appear at the bottom of the screen after a few trailers, but that's it.

I've watched every TGA to date, so I'll probably sit through this one, but eh. The players choice awards have showed their true colors (remind me again why an ancient gacha game is in the running?) and highlighted why the actual awards are so heavily weighted against the popular vote.

I'm mostly just curious to see how/if they respond to last year's backlash.

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

Zaruboggan

I just beat Kunitsu-Gami (fantastic game!), so I've got to decide on another game to play. I miiiight start up Another Code on Switch.
Otherwise, my brother and I are continuing Dragon Age: The Veilguard side by side. Last weekend we got the last party members.
I started Infinity Nikki, and my main takeaways are: awkward loc that forgot to fix the sentence structure; absolutely gorgeous cloth animation; great open world feel; relatively lame side quests; unfortunate gacha/live service daily BS.
But it does have an awful lot of cosmetics to purchase with ingame money that doesn't require gacha, so it's actually pretty nice in that regard. You can slay without slaying your time or wallet.

I'll probably also do another run of Trash of the Titans, a fun lil roguelike strategy game on Steam that's good for a few playthroughs, but relatively light on content (early access).

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (30th November)

Zaruboggan

I will probably be doing a lot of staring at my wishlist today and trying to decide if I want to get anything on my Switch.
I bought Kunitsu-gami earlier in the week for PS5 (not on sale), and am about 4 hours in so far. Really satisfying game. Was working out how to cut down on my boss times last night.
My brother built himself a very powerful new computer, so I bought him Technocide off the Steam sale. We played about a half hour of it while waiting for dinner to come out of the oven. It's a vertical shmup for one or two players with roguelike business going on. Easy recommendation at the price, and definitely doesn't require the specs of my brother's computer.
Still working my way through Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Closer to twenty hours in and still love exploring and fighting. Still giving me an itch to go back to Origins and Inquisition, but neither is on sale right now...
More UFO50, just playing one game at a time. More Element TD 2 with family. Axon TD: Uprising hit 1.0 a couple months ago and made the campaign playable in co-op, so some of us might fire that up, too.
Oh, and I got Trash of the Titans on Steam for myself. Might try that today.

Re: 'Nintendo Music' Adds Another DS Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included

Zaruboggan

TBH I'm probably giving Nintendo more of a pass than I normally would because 1 OST a week is WAY better than I expected.
And I'm with some of the other commentators in that I LOVE that they're going with some out-there picks, and not just the most expected.
It helps that I have brand-new, expensive earbuds to get the most out of these tunes. There are entire instruments I had no idea were in the background...

I enjoy listening to the newly added OSTs while I work, and one a week is honestly about as many as I have time for.