Zaruboggan

Kind of enjoyed this back in the day, but while its quirks made it memorable, I think they also prevented me from ever finishing.
Love the developer, though.

Just like authors can start from plot, characters, themes, twists, or world building, games can start from gameplay or story.
When gameplay and story are married together, we get something that can't be done anywhere else.
TOTK's storytelling was needlessly repetitive for no good reason. Even when starting with gameplay, the Zelda team can do (and has done) better.
Also, the idea that if you want a good story you should read books is silly. Good stories can happen anywhere and in any way. Even just a photograph can tell a good story. A musical piece can tell a good story. A combination of gameplay, writing, image, and audio can absolutely tell a good story. And trust me: I read a lot of books.

I don't need everything in life to be connected. I just want XCX 2.

Used to play so much of this with my cousins. Space pirates hanging onto the walls would have been crazy in the spider ball level. Or whatever they called that.
Can't say it felt like it needed them, though.
I know it's unlikely to have it, but I'd be a very happy camper if Prime 4 had some local multiplayer.

Man, I miss Chibi-Robo.

The entire family is back in the area for our grandfather's funeral, so we'll probably honor his memory with a long-standing tradition: playing a butt ton of Super Smash Bros.
If I'm not too busy visiting with them for the next few days, I'll be finishing Metaphor.

@Anachronism Ooh, thanks for clarifying.

I'm glad the emblems are kinda ugly, since I won't have to throw myself at 45+ battles.
Who on earth would pick one of those over slowpoke, a felt electrode, or any of the other emblems I've seen?

I think society would be healthier as a whole if we stopped calling people geniuses.
That said, he's clearly an intelligent, creative individual who has had a hand in a lot of my favorite games.

Just finished listening to the Mario Wonder OST while working this morning. Started the Scarlet/Violet OSTs next.

@RiasGremory That final boss was definitely a jump! I squeaked by on my second try once I woke up to the fact that attention was required, but I had been emotionally preparing myself for a third. Maybe fourth. I was strapped in for the long haul!

Fun game. As good as I remembered it. Balance the exploration of the new games with the world building and character design of TTYD, plus it's more traditional RPG battle system, and we'll have a real winner.

Lovely little game. Loved collecting kinstones for the picori.
I voted that it was a top 5 Zelda game, but now that I think about it, there are a LOT of Zelda games. It was definitely a top 5 Zelda game back when it came out, but since then we've had ALBW, EOW, BOTW, TOTK, TP, SS, two DS games, and more.
It's no mid game, but maybe it is in the middle of the Zelda pack?
Not that I'd change my vote

Seeing as the two-week free period is still here for the yearly pass (which costs an insane $120/year)...this has to be whales.
It's always the whales.
But who else could it be, when it costs $23 bucks for a digital skin set?

Metaphor. Dragon Age is waiting in the wings, but I expect I have a couple more weekends of Metaphor to get through.
That's probably it. I will be opening packs in Pokemon TCG, though.

I want...I want a lot of these. Mario & Luigi, Fantasian, LEGO Horizon...
But when a month is rich in releases, I am typically poor in both time and finances.

Maybe it's because I never wrote it down, but Farmagia's release date came out of nowhere! I was surprised to see the reviews were already here.

I had some fun with Zero in co-op, but it wasn't exactly something to write home about. I agree with the sentiment of making a new game. My favorites are still Assault (still holds up!) and Command, so I'm hoping that when more Starfox does come, it doesn't just follow the 64 mold to the point of near tedium.
(Not to say 64 was tedious; just that I want some evolution and invention in the franchise.)

@burninmylight Starting to sound like Chibi Robo Zip Lash lol

Uhhh that was sooner than expected. Guess I know what I'm listening to tomorrow morning. Should be fun--I haven't heard the OST outside of the game yet!

Pretty happy with it, since the UI is a lot cleaner than, say, Pokemon Unite. I'll just be opening a couple packs a day and that'll be it. I like that the daily missions don't actually require playing. I'm kinda tired of games having daily missions, tbh.
The art's nice, I enjoy a simplified take on the TCG, and the shop prices are so insane that I never have to feel tempted to shell out money.
$120/yr for an extra pack of digital cards a day is hilarious.

@Yalloo Like 225 currently

They've already got a Pokemon OST, Rare OST, DLC songs, and more of the things I figured they'd skimp on. I'm pretty thrilled about this app!
I think they've got to get the OSTs that are available on other services (Spotify, etc.) as quickly as possible. No way Nintendo can't be the best, most comprehensive place to listen to their own music.

Listened to one of their pre-built playlists offline on the way to the beach. Absolutely loved it.
Fun fact, it's also the cheapest ad-free music streaming service there is: $5 per year! Not that its library compares to other options lol

@StarryCiel Thanks for the heads up!!
And appreciate the Touhou avatar lol

Oof, only 40 Mario Odyssey tracks. There's way more than that on the actual OST

Hopefully it's as exciting in practice as it is in potential! As in, give me FULL OSTs, not those 9-song samples that often come with preorders. And add every game as it comes out. And fill in the back catalogue at a decent rate.
I have been WAITING for an official way to listen to DKCTF's OST since college, and while I still want that physical, I'll settle for this!

@batmanbud2 This guy right here!
I buy tons of game OSTs, many of them imported (by necessity, unfortunately). My most recent acquisition is the Granblue Fantasy Relink OST, which comes in a beautiful sky box (heh). I'll be grabbing Metaphor's as soon as there's a complete one, too. I've got a couple dozen Nintendo OSTs, like Mario Odyssey, too.

@Samalik I'm not sure where I lost you, so sorry if this comes off as repetitive:
The only thing the game took out was the boob slider. All the revealing outfits are still accounted for, it's just that the 13yo's have been made to be less revealing for Western markets. Murderess and Elma can still strut around the snowy continent with 90% of their body showing. The game's fan service is still in tact. Arguing otherwise is disingenuous.

@JohnnyMind Ah, I understand now. But that's not NOA's decision. That's on the parent company.

@Samalik I'm saying they're still in the game?

@JohnnyMind How far back do you have to go for this era of "used to be"?
Because just off the top of my head, they made changes to Mother 2, Super Mario Kart, Pokemon Red, and Super Mario RPG.
Do you mean, like, the 80s?
I don't personally think every change they made was necessary, but it's hard to deny that NOA's policies haven't had the intended result: Nintendo is synonymous with family friendly across the globe.

@Samalik Lol bro, you played the game. You know for a fact that several of the outfits you can equip are JoJo levels of ridiculous.

Just a reminder that this game still lets you dress everyone up as pornstars. Just not the 13 year old.
So any concern about not getting to have your fan service and eat it, too, is pretty disingenuous.
No boob slider, and the 13yo wears shorts or skirts over or under their bikini bottoms. That's it.

Sometimes I wish the comments allowed me to just put "Lol" and move on.
But I can't, so, uh how about...
Let's not pretend a boob slider was here to be more inclusive to women with different boob sizes when the literal only other slider in the game is height. (Iirc)

Also, and more importantly, I take issue with the idea that XCX is "generally inferior" to the other games. Do people really believe that? Maybe, I wouldn't know. Are those people wrong?
Absolutely.

Wish that console's store was still up... I'd still be buying more virtual console games.
I have no regrets about buying my Wii U back on launch day. It offered such unique experiences for local multiplayer (from day one, even, with ZombiU and NintendoLand) and fantastic franchise favorites (most of which are, yes, now on Switch). There'll never be anything like Miiverse...
The whole console had a lot of charm.

One of my top 10 favorite games of all time, with my favorite soundtrack of all time.
I've been dying for a sequel, rather than a remake, but I'm glad so many people will get to give it a chance! And who knows, if NintendoLife comment counts are indicative of future sales, we may get that sequel after all!

What's new will decide how much of a priority I make this remake. If they gave it proper co-op (explore and complete missions together), I'll buy a copy for me and my 3 closest friends. I don't expect they will, but it's what I dreamed of when we first saw four skells in the original's first trailer. If it's just story content based on that one party member, ehhh.

Will I buy it? Yes. Play it again? Certainly. But as for when...

Edit: lol I forgot my name here is a XCX reference. Loved how inventive the game was with its aliens!

Metaphor, and probably nothing else.
If I wasn't so busy with that, I'd probably try to sneak in some early access Windblown on steam or Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on Gamepass. Or start Neva on my Switch.
But there's a lot of Metaphor, and I'm not even a quarter of the way through. So...that!

Some people just shouldn't read reviews lol

I played this a few years back. Decent fun. Tbh, I too would use the words "not bad" to describe it. Haven't played another Yakuza since.

I like the tumblers! Alas, I actually just bought a Grimer sweatshirt for Halloween.

I think my favorites are Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 3, but I also haven't played one since Mario Party 7, so my opinion comes with a grain of salt for your convenience.
We got the most possible mileage out of the Volleyball mini game back in the day, which is what gives 5 the edge for me.

I do like the idea of a Pokemon game with more interesting puzzles. No reason to need HMs if any fire move can light a torch, any ice move can make frozen blocks, any electric move can provide a current, any water move can fill a bucket, etc. etc. I'd hazard that introducing these elements wouldn't necessarily require a complete reinvention of the gameplay loop in any way, either, since it's really just increasing the number of HMs, without needing more HMs. Also would take minimal effort, compared to a full Echoes-of-Wisdom-level implementation.

Really, Pokemon could do so much with just some small changes. Better environmental art and design would be my first choice, though.

My favorites for 3D are probably:
1. Mario Odyssey
2. Mario 64
3. Mario Sunshine
For 2D:
1. Mario Wonder
2. Super Mario Bros
3. NSMB Wii U

Dunno, just never could get into World or 3.

I beat The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom during the week (lovely game), and I'm home at last, which means I'm booting up Metaphor.
Loving it so far! Atlus RPGs are a cut above.

Neat. I think I played Eternal Duelist back in the day. Beat the snot out of the Bug character over and over again, with the same deck...Funny what'll keep a kid occupied.

Some real solid-looking titles! Thanks for the recommendations, gang. I'll get #blud, Desktop Baseball 2, stitch., and Jubilee added to the old wishlist.

I haven't played Mario Party since the Gamecube, when it used to be in our local multiplayer rotation. Now might be the time...
Well, now being when the gang next gets together.

I'm excited. But I'm also only paying $10 a year, so it doesn't take much lol

Maybe a Gamecube service will give us proper Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles, multi-player kept entirely intact!
Are they working on GBA to GC cables, too?

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom! Like BOTW and TOTK, it makes me forget my tools, and then makes me feel dumb for it. Like, just stack beds, moron!
If anybody has any tips for getting the, uh, Oasis minigame item (I'd be more specific, but I don't remember how to use spoiler tags!), I'm all ears!

My brother has been all in on Metaphor, which will be me as soon as I've finished Zelda and am back home to my PS5.