Zaruboggan

My Steam Deck has been operating as a Steam Machine since I bought the dock. This would look a lot cleaner in my living room...
Too bad the deck came out first lol.

More Absolum! We've finished the final final boss twice now, and just got the crystals for seeing the entire map. There are a couple of side missions still to clear, and then it's just make fun builds!

Time depending, I'll try to do more of the post game in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.
Otherwise, we'll be bringing our Switch 2's over to a lapsed gamer's house to party like it's 1998. Or whenever Mario Golf 64 came out.

I always enjoy reading lists. Even conglomerate ones that (almost inevitably) veer towards predictability.
Of course, reading people's personal lists is way more fun! That's where the real surprises come through.

Absolum, absolutely. Unfortunately, it's a bit laggy online. Presumably because we're on the switch versions. I'm tempted to double-dip to see if the Steam version also lags...

Another busy weekend, and not on purpose!
I should have gaming time on Sunday, when I'll be playing (if I have my way) a whole lot of Absolum. Absolutely fantastic co-op 2 player beat em up roguelike. We just got our first clear on Thursday (long live the chicken!!), and are eager to play more.
The only complaint I have is that when 2nd player clears a mission, it doesn't count. We rotate who's first, but every time we get the super high combo, we get it on 2nd player lol.

Selfishly, I'm willing to wait until further into the console's lifespan for Animal Crossing. A bigger Switch 2 install base globally and, more specifically, in my friend group, is vital to my enjoyment of the game. Right now, only one of the people I played Animal Crossing with has a Switch 2 (though technically they're not opening it until Christmas...).
For a title as social as this one, on the success of NH, I'm content to wait. Just don't make me wait until the NEXT home console.

I'm looking forward to hopping on and making an island with friends, even if the details of which remain to be seen (do we only have access to the host's furniture, or can we bring our own?).

Looking forward to playing this with friends. It doesn't sound like the slumber islands support asynchronous work, which is too bad. Anybody see anything that says otherwise?

I take umbrage with Palworld being pointed to as some sort of beacon of innovation in the space, but that aside...

IMO it probably started with "we're not doing an end game because kids want to get back to their phones" (paraphrasing) and the way legendaries were implemented not in the world itself (a la HG/SS) but via Hoopla hoops. But those are pretty minor compared to what happened on the jump to the Switch.

Sword/Shield literally guideposts you past anything you might want to look at (big explosion in the distance? just leave it to Leon! Powerplant building in the distance! Don't worry about it!). Add Dexit to that, and a largely ugly wild area (Neat idea! Poor execution), and you get a game that really didn't match the level of quality I expected. (Not to mention it was like 30-40 hours with Pokedex completion...)
Pokemon Legends Arceus is not an exception, with a dreadful battle system and even worse story. The catching and research stuff was fun, but the world still looks BAD. "Good enough" insofar as they're ultimately fun to play. But the writing doesn't even aspire to "good enough."

Scarlet/Violet and Pokemon Legends: Z-A suffer from the same problems of writing and presentation.

I don't agree that Pokemon should balloon its budget. I think it needs to design for its budget. I think it needs to design its story beats around the fact that they won't have voice-acting. I think it needs to design its worlds around the technical or artistic limitations of their team/engine/hardware. Design around the time permitted. Or, dare I say it, permit more time (but I suppose that would be an increase in budget).

I tried this one a while back, and found most of the staging and physics to be pretty contrived. It felt like how something would happen was brute forced into what they wanted to happen.
Ultimately, I bounced off after five episodes.

I'm about 30 hours into Pokemon Z-A and planning to make more progress on that front. More Baldur's Gate 3 is also in the cards. Possibly Borderlands 4.
I'll also be painting a library and watching some League of Legends Worlds.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, EA.

13 Sentinels, Unicorn Overlord, Lumines Remastered, Dicefolk, Fight N Rage, Crawl, Chained Echoes...

That's a good list of stuff! I'll be trying to do the responsible thing and hold off during this sale, since I'm still busy with about a hundred games, but if you've got the time for any of the above, I highly recommend them!

I hope we get the MP1 treatment for MP2, WITH multiplayer in-tact. MP2's multiplayer is still my most played Metroid game lol.

I'd like to add my hand to those raised asking for mission mode and campaign co-op!

I'm probably done buying NES games, tbh.
However, I've barely begun buying up Gamecube, GBA, and above. While I have working consoles, hardware doesn't last forever. Having the option to play these games on newer hardware would be appreciated.
More importantly, my Pokemon Gold cartridge battery is dead. I missed getting it on the 3DS eShop (stupid; I figured if I haven't even finished my Red file, why should I get Gold? Well, I've since finished my Red file). God darn it, Nintendo, let me BUY these games!

Most importantly, VC pushed third parties to release games, too, and they're most of what I want rescued from the limbo. If they even can be... So many companies have disappeared since those days, it's hard to say there'll ever be an avenue to play their games that isn't legally grey.

Grabbed Absolum at release, and super excited to play more!

@Banks 24/7 Baby Park

Pokemon Legends Z-A for me.
Maybe some Baldur's Gate 3, but probably just Pokemon.

The sequel we didn't know we were waiting for! The return of TMKB got a laugh out of me, as did the final picture of the toilet paper. The dudes at the shop were probably wondering what upcoming doomsday event they hadn't heard of yet.
Now you can scalp the extra TP to the preppers!

I got a friend who extolls this game's virtues pretty frequently. Might be time to give it a look.

Yeah, I'll be playing it this weekend.

@topsekret Thanks for the heads up about the demo! I'll queue it for download.
$70 is pretty steep, though... For now, I'll put it on the wishlist and consider an import!

Curious about Bad End Theater and Cardfight!!
I've liked TCG RPGs since playing Yu-Gi-Oh on GBA, so hopefully this is more like that and the Cygames one.
I played Call of the Sea and if you're into that kind of puzzle adventure, it's pretty easy to recommend. Wall World is in my Steam library (gift from a friend) but I haven't gotten to it yet. And Barony has been on our local MP maybe list. Maybe next get together we'll have to give it a shot!

Yo, I'm super down for this. I think it looks smooth. I don't love how fighting games launch with a tiny lil roster and then fill it out for over a few seasons for some big $$$, though...

I'm away this weekend, so as much as I'd like to continue Expedition 33 or start Absolum (which I am so stoked for!), I will likely be doing very little gaming. I had planned to bring my Switch 2, but I realized I don't have a case, so...
Might fire up something on my Steam Deck. Otherwise, I'm itching to get home for Absolum, Pokemon Z-A, and Ghost of Yotei!

Great! I had to put this one on pause while playing DK. It'll be nice having it upgraded on my Switch 2 when I get back to it...after the October releases.

I'd like a physical 9, but probably not for that price.

The video felt pretty vapid to me, tbh. A little corporate slop. An above comment said "whelming" and I think that's pretty accurate, if not too generous.
I hope the next Pikmin game doesn't try to have people walking around. The post-people nature of it is part of what makes the world-building interesting and fun imo.

Absolum immediately and Scurge: Hive for the wishlist. I will keep Ball x Pit in mind, too.

Seems pretty slick! I'll put it on the wishlist for when I'm not bogged down by, uh, everything else.

I never had an N64 at home, so I missed this one, despite playing the N64s of all my cousins for hundreds of hours.
I somehow missed it on all the Virtual Consoles, too. An absolute crime. I really want to have a chance on this one!

I guess I will play it a couple weeks or so later then. I'm quite looking forward to it, after the demo!

Wild blast from the past. I originally saw this one in a game mag, I think around the same time as Sigma Star Saga?
I never got this one, but I find myself wanting to return to those days, so...

Almost absolutely nothing, as fate would have it! I was away, and decided to bring a book (House of Chains by Steven Erikson) instead of a gaming console.
I might still have some time to sneak out some Expedition 33 or Baldur's Gate 3, but that remains to be seen.

Yo, Rounds?!
This is fantastic 1v1 fun! The roguelike card mechanics let you customize your build from match to match, and they can get pretty insane.
My local gaming group loved it back on steam, where mods turned it into 2v2 and added a bunch of wild new build possibilities, but we were hooked before the mods. I recommend it!

Just Pokemon and Kirby for me for Switch 2 until December (Metroid Prime 4). Unless Lumines Arise is surprise released for Switch 2 as well as PS5...

This weekend is Baldur's Gate 3, Borderlands 4, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
It is the last weekend before I get busy, so hopefully I can make some good progress in each of them. I'd really like to beat E33 before Pokemon Z-A comes out... because I definitely won't have beat it before Ghost of Yotei.

Just Shapes and Beats is a thrill. Berserk was demoing it at PAX West, and I got a kick out of watching families stop by and get addicted!
Supreme co-op game that anyone can pick up and play!

Team Reptile is my freaking JAM. After the Lethal Leagues and BRCF, I'll be all over this.

Now "I got my nails done" will be stuck in my head all day again.
And now I look good, and now I look great...

Last night, I tried the Alabaster Dawn demo on Steam, and lads, this is gonna be a good one. (Developed by the Cross Code people)

This weekend will be the continuation of two multiplayer big boys, Baldur's Gate 3 and Borderlands 4. I started Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for when those groups aren't available, too.

I polished off Donkey Kong Bananza early in the week, enjoying all the surprises at the end. That credits song rocks.

I also started Chibi-Robo, but I decided to save it for when I'm away from home next month. I'm excited to revisit this wacky world after almost two decades!

I would love a proper BW remake, but first I'd need a proper DP remake, just to be sure they can do remakes right again.
Clearly I'm a big BW fan (see profile avatar). If the remakes can't be given the effort they deserve, then I'd prefer genuine drag n drop ports. Retro Pokemon collections, please.

I've been stupid excited for this one, ever since playing the demo on Steam.
Can't wait.

Started BL4 with my group, and while we're having fun so far, I'm reminded of my problem with looter shooters: when your loot grows stale, everything is a bullet sponge. Shotguns and snipers feel like trash, and the player is paper-thin. Like Outriders, prior Borderlands games, and even Destiny to some extent, the game awkwardly tumbles through feeling great to play, and feeling like a slog, dependent entirely on whether or not you get decent drops.
We're not 10 hours in yet, of course, so that cycle moves along fast enough.

New prices are too much. I got a few when they were $13 or whatever, but $30 and $50 are eye-watering. Sorry, Sylux.
Also, big shame that Pauline's classic outfit was locked behind amiibo.

Time to step it up, IS. I want to be excited for Fire Emblem again, and that means better writing, better world design, better maps, and less chores.
The dialogue in the trailer has already lowered my expectations. I expect I'll get the game, but I swear at this point it's more so that I can have my own opinions about the franchise's modern incarnations, rather than because I actually enjoy them.
Like with the Tales games, it's a motivation that won't last forever.

I'm a little late to answer since I was in the mountains until late last night, but now that I'm showered and once again human, I'm planning to start Borderlands 4, make more progress in Donkey Kong Bananza (1400s!), and try and decompress after catching that Nintendo Direct this morning.
Lots of thoughts on Fire Emblem, Metroid Prime 4, and Pokopia.

@Pandaman Yoops, I totally forgot about the whole Switch specific thing! Yeah, I don't think anything on my list was Switch confirmed...

OH, sorry, but I forgot The Rabbit Haul, a cute farming TD game. Grow crops during the day, and play Tower Defense at night when the racoons come to steal your haul. Flowers act as towers, and there's some town restoration meta game.

I was AT PAX, and I didn't even see some of these!
Granted, I was working, so my time to check stuff out was pretty limited. I'll definitely add some of these to my wishlist.

In the spirit of the article, I'd like to give a nod to a few other titles:
From Shueisha publishing, Anthem#9 is probably one of my favorite games from the show, and not just because I won a T-shirt. Imagine if all the style of Persona menus was a game. Select gems to cast spells and combo them into crazy chains. A roguelike RPG that is less like Bejeweled than I made it sound.
Then there was dodgeball-Dark-Souls Bakudo, plus roguelike FPS bossrush Unyielder.
I also got to sit down with Starlight Re:Volver and Nullpoint Protocol, two co-op roguelikes for up to four players. The former had fantastic music, great key art, and 30- person hubs for hanging out. The latter was a boss rush described to me as "MMO raids without the grinding". I had to play them alone, but have put both on my list.
Song of Maya (I think that was the title) was a cute indie bird game metroidvania made by some passionate people just out of college.
There were a few others that sounded cool, but those are the ones I remember best!