brakeman90

@Truegamer79 As someone who started playing games in the early 90s, framerate differences were noticeable back then, even if we didn't have the standardized language to address them. It's the reason why games seemed so much more sluggish when we went to 3D, as so many SNES/GEN titles ran at 60 and N64/PSX ones struggled to even hit 30. It's part of why the PS2/XBOX/GC era was cool, as we started to get 60fps games more frequently again. Framerate issues aren't new, and we definitely noticed them in the past. As to why a pixel-based 2D game can't run at 60fps on Switch when it was the standard for games of that style in the past, you've got me - a lot of more recent 2D games inexplicably struggle on Switch.

Eh, it made me chuckle when it got me - thought it was a good gag in the style of a Souls game

I'm surprised the reviews of this were mixed - I'm 65 hours in (doing Mask of the Betrayer now) and it plays like a dream on Switch 2. It has some amusing visual glitches and some patchy companion AI, but that was all there in the original. Tbh I think Aspyr knocked it out of the park with this port.

This sounds up my alley - I've been really impressed with Atari over the last couple years, so I'll snag this alongside Hollow Knight

(lest my comment above come across as overly harsh, I loved Daemon x Machina and am looking forward to playing the sequel - I'm just disappointed by the performance issues)

Geez, how the heck was this not configured to be 60fps on Switch 2? Wish they'd have just toned down some visuals to accomplish that, given that mech combat games are pretty dependent on quick reactions to a lot of on-screen stimulus. I guess I'll be looking at this on PS5.

This and Elden Ring make me wish it was more profitable for devs to focus on bringing PS4/XBO/PC games from the 2010s to the Switch 2. Titles that hit performance issues on the PS5 and XSX are bound to disappoint on a weaker machine (much as I love my Switch 2, playing it more than my PS5 or XSX). I'd love to get good ports of Assassin's Creed Odyssey or the Dark Souls Trilogy than bad ports of more recent games.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant Eh, this is pretty typical in my recollection. N64, Gamecube, and 3DS all launched with a dearth of first-party software. Filling in the gaps with updated old games is a nice bonus IMO.

I'm interested in Dark Deity 2, but only if the UI and text are made much bigger than they were in the first game. I wanted to play that one, but got eyestrain from text clearly designed for PC monitors.

@Olliemar28 Oh nooo, that sucks. I was pretty pumped to hear about more stable performance, but this series really benefits from a higher frame rate. Guess I'll still be sticking with my PS5 version for now. Thanks for reporting on the game!

I'm happier about this than I should be - Mythologies: Sub-Zero wasn't good, but it was interesting as a failed genre experiment. It was also, somehow, my first PlayStation game! Looking forward to finally revisiting it and being astounded at how badly it's held up. (the cutscenes are amazing)

This is an amazing game on Xbox - I'll be looking forward to double-dipping on Switch 2 is the port quality is high (and previous MachineGames ports have been, so I'm optimistic). The biggest impediment will be performance, since first-person games generally give me motion sickness without a smooth framerate and wide field of view.

It's genuinely ridiculous that a game which ran at 60fps on PS3 can't run at 60fps on Switch. Skipping this one.

Islets is one of the Switch's best Metroidvanias, so I'm very excited for this game!

Truth be told, I'm really excited for Yooka-Replaylee. The original version was a bit of a dud, but Impossible Lair was one of the best 2.5D platformers of its generation. I think a bit more time in the oven may have benefited the 3D version, so (assuming good performance) I'll be there Day-One on Switch 2.

@belmont I'm not sure it will be updated in the future. It may be - as with the Tetris or Atari collections - but references to additional games in the listing may just indicate more announcements before release (as with the Jurassic Park collection). Hard to say for sure.

In any case, I'm super-pumped for this! Glad it's getting a physical release - I'll be buying Day One, barring any major emulation issues.

Edit: Sorry @belmont, I wrote this comment before scrolling down far enough to see the conversation about additional titles, haha

@Kidfunkadelic83 Even as someone who played them at the time of release, they're more a novelty than anything else. Fun to boot up or find in an arcade and play a few rounds (ideally with friends), but the AI in them is brutal; needing to hold a button to block is hard to get used to as well. In any case, I'm still looking forward to the game but I'd imagine these games are a little hard to get into for anyone who doesn't already have affection for their unique style.

(though lord willing, DE will do a release of the PS2-era games at some point because I think those still hold up very well!)

I can't waaaaait for this game - September 29 would be lovely

Bought this and can confirm - it fits the Switch 2 well, feels sturdy, doesn't take up much space, and hasn't scratched the console. Great buy all around!

It'd be cool if they could get it stable, as the trilogy is a masterpiece on PS5/XSX - having a portable version that runs well would be chef's kiss, even if it can't look as good as the other current-gen one.

I'll be picking this up for the Switch 2 - great review!

Huh, that's legit bananas!

I remember Digital Foundry doing a cool video some years back about modern PC games viewed on CRT monitors - glad to see Zion doing the same with Switch 2!

Dare I dream it? This would be so rad. That Croc remaster is a model of the form, too, so I'd expect good things from this. Heck, a whole new generation could find out about the best theme song in gaming

@World Right?! I have the original on PSX and the PS Classic on my PS3 right now - aside from being lower-resolution than preferred for modern screens, it still looks and plays great!

@jojobar Yeah, I can't totally write them off because they do release a good one every once in a while. The Chrono Cross remaster was pretty good (especially once patched), and the Tactics Ogre remaster didn't have anything wrong with it IIRC.

Cheers for the review, and this'll be a hard pass from me. Square Enix continues to badly mismanage their pre-PS2 retro catalog through remakes and remasters that are worse than the originals (see also: the stuttering in Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters and the lack of full analog control in Final Fantasy 8 & 9). I was so excited to be getting updates of the sometimes-forgotten Front Mission series when they were announced, but each one has been disappointing for different reasons. I wish SE would just republish their PS Classics line that ran well on the PS3 and Vita instead of producing sub-par new versions.

It's not a big deal, but I've certainly noticed the ghosting (particularly in traditional 2D pixel games with fast on-screen action). Disappointing coming from the Switch and Steam Deck OLED models, but not a disaster.

@JohnnyMind I'm someone who couldn't play before (due to motion sickness from the inconsistent performance in an open world), and now I'm loving it!

Hooray! That's cool that they took a gamble, and cool that it'll pay off - looking forward to this game.

I'm interested, as I like that studio's past work and this is a genre that often works for me, but I'll confess that I wish it had more of their old chunky visual style - this looks a little too similar to Hades (which is good in its own right, of course!).

@PJOReilly Agreed - having played through the balanced 40fps mode in Horizon Forbidden West, I was struck by how much closer it looked to 60 than 30; that'd be perfect for the Hitman games!

Great preview - can't wait to play the game!

@Pickle_Rick They're actually fairly different! Arceus is a slightly more action-oriented game with a single town and wide open areas to explore/catch Pokemon (it's a little bit more Monster Hunter-esque, though most battles are still primarily turn-based). Scarlet/Violet, though 3D, are slower-paced and shift always to a turn-based format for combat in the style of 16-bit JRPGs. They also see you going through a lengthy quest and visiting different towns.

If you want to try a more traditional Pokemon experience, go with Scarlet/Violet. If you want a more modern, somewhat open-world and action-oriented approach, go with Arceus. I've only played Arceus (due to motion sickness problems in Scarlet/Violet that I understand should be resolved with the Switch 2 patch), but both are regarded as being great games - you can't go wrong!

This is wonderful news! I had to get a refund for Scarlet because the unsteady performance gave me motion sickness after about an hour of play, and I've been hoping for a fix ever since. Looking forward to revisiting this on Switch 2, since the world and new monsters seemed so appealing.

I think this is a nice move - it'll help Japanese consumers, in the home and primary market for the device. It's functionally an import for us in the West (as omnipresent as Nintendo's been for decades), so I don't mind my price being higher, especially since it comes with no regional restrictions.

@Apebitmusic Agreed! Even in an era of strong 2.5D platformers, YL & The Impossible Lair stood out for its excellence. I'm sad to hear about the cuts, and hope the studio finds a way to move forward. I've mentally wishlisted Yooka-Replaylee, but (as with others) am waiting to play it on Switch 2 - tbh I never even knew that devs could see which games got wishlisted!

@RupeeClock Oh yeah, good call! I snagged Bakeru on Steam Deck for 60fps, but I'll definitely pick up a physical edition if it runs at a steady framerate on Switch 2.

I have a slight preference for the Returns/Tropical Freeze design, but those games will always exist - it's nice to see Nintendo continuing to tweak their characters to suit new projects. My personal aesthetic preferences notwithstanding, I'm happy that Bananza is moving in a new direction.

Hooray! Glad to hear this turned out well, and I'll be scooping it up shortly based on this review - thanks

@Tyranexx I'd be shocked if they aren't currently working hard on the second part (if it's not finished already). Falcom was in a much more precarious position in the West back when the original released on PSP, and the biggest challenge was the localization - there's a great article on the behind-the-scenes struggles to get it done over here: https://kotaku.com/the-curse-of-kiseki-how-one-of-japans-biggest-rpgs-bar-1740055631. All of that being said, the popularity of Trails and Ys in the 2010s and 2020s, along with the more robust tools and staffing assigned to this franchise, make the sequel very likely within the next two years.

Whoa, I'm surprised to see a patch for this - just played it recently, and I was shocked how well-made the remastering job was; a darn sight better than the Nintendo 64 original I played back in the '90s.

Great review! I missed this on the PSX way back when (despite thinking it had a lovely art style), so this is a good opportunity to check it out. Does anybody know whether the performance is worse than the original? We've had many instances of Square Enix 16-bit and 32-bit ports with less consistent framerates/frame pacing than the original versions, so I want to confirm whether it's better to go with the remaster or find a copy of the PSX version.

Cool interview! It's always nice to hear from Nate Bihldorff.

Whoa, the upgrades are free to NSO Expansion Pass members?! That's very cool! I'll definitely be picking up a physical edition of the TOTK Switch 2 version at some point - as I took advantage of the voucher program for a digital copy on Switch 1 - but it'd be cool to upgrade my digital copy in the interim.

My guess is that it's some kind of video capture (though that's currently done with a long press of the other button), or - as someone else noted above - a cursor mode. I would love the ability to connect a la the Wii U, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

@Daniel36 I'd still give it a try! I just remember disliking everything about it back when it originally released, haha.

Yeah, it's much better to have a less-than-ideal version than no way to access the games! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for future remasters of 3 and 5...

@Daniel36 I hear you - it's not as essential as it is for action games. That said, there are a few reasons why lower performance is disappointing for me: (1) anything running worse than it did on original hardware is a step down, and dispiriting; why can't something that ran at 60fps on a PlayStation run at 60fps on a Switch? (2) For some folks - not all, of course - the lack of smoothness is apparent. This is especially prominent in top-down RPGs, because a lot of us grew up with games in that style on the NES, SNES, and so on that ran smoothly at 60fps. So a step back from that is jarring, and makes the game feel choppier than the ones we grew up with. To that point, I remember being bummed at the time when N64/PSX games ran much less smoothly than the previous generation, and being thrilled when the PS2/GC era was smoother once again.

In short, it's hardly a huge deal. Just disappointing, and reason enough for me to buy an alternative version of the game. If the Switch was my only console, I'd play it there.

A follow up to my last post, lest I seem too negative: I'm super excited for all the new folks discovering the series, and it sounds like the remaster is excellent overall!