charliecarrot

Bring us our bandicoot!

Now can we get one of male Byleth in the same outfit/pose? For uhh, equality and all that

So happy to see y'all's growth over the years. Keep up the good work!

This seems like an incredibly bad idea. In fact, QA is probably one area you want to have large, robust human teams.

Maybe LLMs should replace the CEO and upper management instead.

Personally, the new years countdown in Animal Crossing New Horizons is very special to me. The music, the preparations, everyone counting down. That's the most memorable of all.

This remake looks so good. Can we please remake all PS1 RPGs in this style next? Thanks.

@Dang_69 Fair enough! I'm not taking a side here, and I think the attempted patent is far too broad to be allowed. I was more responding to the article title which suggests Nintendo has just lost the whole fight - I expect Nintendo to keep trying is all.

Nintendo not getting the patent doesn't mean they lose the overall battle against palworld.

Expedition 33 has the most hearts and minds. I wouldn't be upset if it lost to DK Bananza, but I'd be pretty sad if it lost to Ghost of Yotei or something

It just makes me miss this game's soundtrack.

Though without a doubt, I'll never forgive them for getting rid of the OG town hall theme from Wild World/City Folk. What happened to Pelly and Phyllis?? (not that we don't love Isabelle)

@Thomystic Sometimes the expanded version is significantly different from the original. On 3DS, SMTIV: Apocalypse is a full on different game with a different protagonist and story from the original SMTIV, but it takes place in the same world and reuses as much as possible from the original (kinda like Majora's Mask was to OoT)

@Vyacheslav333 did they? The dancing games, and I suppose the fighting game for P4? I wouldn't refer to any of those as being in a "Persona 3 series" or "Persona 4 series" personally, but I don't mind if you do

I'm happy for the success of Persona 5. But I cringed a little bit at "Persona 5 series". It's not wrong, but it's funny that they milked P5 so much that you could consider it a series in its own right (kinda like FFVII I suppose).

Remember, this is a game that originally released on the PS3 (though the better version was released at the same time on PS4). Same generation as the Wii. Game development cycles are out of hand these days.

I must be one of the rare ones who basically tried to change my outfit every day! I love all the options available, and the default fit looks really silly imo

The Devil May Cry 1-3 HD remakes are on sale so I picked all of them up... I just got past the first spider boss thing in DMC1 and it was quite a journey to get there for someone who's never played it before. But I'm having a blast and it's so satisfying once you start to get a feel for the controls.

I love love love this article. Thank you for sharing

Please, everyone, try out 13 Sentinels!

I don't even play many visual novels, but this is very much not a typical visual novel. I tried 13 Sentinels on a whim and it ended up one of the best experiences I've ever had on the Switch.

Super engaging story full of new mysteries at every turn, lots of fun references to classic sci fi, and a super original story told in a unique way (though multiple different perspectives and timelines) that ultimately ends in the most satisfying way.

Definitely worth $15!!

Switch 1 sales for ZA are well outpacing the Switch 2 sales now, which is more in line with what I expected! Was interesting that they were fairly equal on release when the Switch 1 definitely has a much larger install base.

Always happy to see bugs being addressed! Didn't run into these things in my playthrough, but it sounds like it would be unfortunate for any player who does.

Dragon Quest XI is a masterpiece that everyone should play if they haven't.

But it's hard for me to sit down and play a classic JRPG these days. Glad the remake is doing well, but I don't have a strong desire to jump into a game like this at this point in my life.

Monster Hunter Rise is still great and still worth playing, even the regular Switch version.

I bought Wilds for PS5 but I haven't played it yet because no one else I know plays it and it just had a really disappointing launch period.

I really don't think ZA is a bad game at all. I think the general sentiment toward Pokemon has soured from SwSh and SV, as well as the DP remakes (that didn't live up to what we historically expected from a Pokemon remake), and that negative opinion of Pokemon has bled onto ZA. It's actually a super fun game with great side quests and an interesting locale to explore. The gameplay is probably the most fun I've had with Pokemon in over a decade, easily.

The ire at ZA is incredibly misdirected, but it's hard to blame people who have been disappointed over and over with the switch games so far.

I'm not convinced Pokemon has ever been a super polished or a graphical juggernaut on any system. They've always been a bit simplistic throughout the generations. I think their development process just never really caught up to modern standards. It takes a whole lot more effort to make a good looking and fun game in an HD, 3D world compared to a top-down 2D game (just look at how development timelines have ballooned in the past decade for most other game series).

Gen 1 was fairly on par with other Gameboy RPGs, but when you get to Gen 3 on the Gameboy Advance, it's clear they wanted to keep the same simplistic formula with minor enhancements when you compare RSE against other GBA RPG juggernauts (like say, Golden Sun). Gen 4 is basically Gen 3 but with some 3D buildings. Gen 5 really shook things up visually as much as possible within the confines of still basically being the same core, grid-based game.

Even going into Gen 6 where everything is fully 3D, the core formula is hardly touched - you have the same basic grid layouts, same towns connected by routes - it still doesn't feel totally removed from the Gameboy games.

When you have a core formula like that (towns are arranged in grids, routes connect towns, random encounters with Pokemon in tall grass on these routes), I imagine it's easier to iterate and slowly improve graphics and mechanics. I think with the switch generation, they kinda upended that core formula and now things are just a bit of a mess. There's a struggle between trying new things and staying true to the core identity, and I think the balance is really off there. I think they need someone like Monolith Soft to handle the world and help with the graphics, but their dev teams are just pretty out of touch at this point.

Like what do you do? Do they try to make a Pokemon XY-esque game and revert back to the core mechanics, abandoning free roam for a more grid based gameplay with a limited camera angle? Maybe that would be for the best if they're not gonna significant change their development process to facilitate a true 3D open world type game.

On the mainline vs spinoff thing... At least right now, there's a clear divide between the core games and Legends. Game Freak may consider Legends to be mainline, but Legends acts in every way as a side series to the main games.

From the beginning, main series games have had dual releases (Red & Blue, etc) and turn based battles, while Legends seems more experimental and willing to eschew series norms. In any other circumstance, I think most people would easily place the Legends games as a side/gaiden/spinoff series, but I guess Word of God has said otherwise...

I decided to pick this up last minute and I decided to use a voucher to get it for $50, so I got it digitally myself.

However the Switch (1) box art is so beautiful that I kinda wanna own it for my collection.

Legends Z-A might be last on your list, but it's the most fun I've had with a Pokemon game since Generation V 🤷‍♂️

Glad to see it's doing well!

@johnedwin Metacritic just aggregates critic scores, and critic scores are subjective. A great game is a game I think is great. I don't care if the majority of critics agree with me.

Nier on the PS3 has a 60-something on metacritic, but I think it's a great game.

It's so weird to say "no, you cannot say this game is great because critics in aggregate scored it 6 points lower than what can objectively be considered great!!"

While I think the city could definitely be more lively, I don't think it's lifeless. There are some occasional NPCs wandering around. It never got into liminal space / creepy territory for me.

The whole city feels more like a playground to explore instead of a city, but it kinda fits the game. It's fun to wander around and explore.

Would definitely be nice to have the occasional rollerblader or moped flying by, but it's not exactly creepy just because it doesn't have that.

I can finally Burn My Bread once again!

Then why release it now?

I didn't plan on buying this, but I downloaded it on a whim because my friend was enjoying it.

I've been completely sucked in. Already played 20 hours over the past three days. The battle system is so fun and there's a nice gameplay loop that keeps you moving and doing different things.

There's no part of me that wants to play the DS library on the Switch 2.

Go grab a used DS or 3DS (or maybe an Ayn Thor) and play those games on two stacked screens with an actual touch screen and stylus, the way they were meant to be played.

Gotta say it looks great in portable mode on my OLED screen. Many of the visual shortcomings are less noticeable on the small screen.

I'll give you one guess...

@The_Nintendo_Pedant 🙌 Good job, you're starting to get it! Welcome to the world of nuance and looking at things through a more thoughtful lens rather than just relying on gut-level feelings

@The_Nintendo_Pedant what I'm saying is that the line of demarcation is somewhat arbitrary, and I don't think your reply specified where that line should be any more clearly than it was before.

The cotton gin didn't pop into existence out of thin air. Similar machines have been used for hundreds of years. Eli Whitney is just credited with the specific modern version that's more effective or does things in a slightly different way.

The light bulb is somewhat similar - people have noticed the incandescent properties of burning metal for an extremely long time. Electricity provided a means by which to do it, and a vacuum tube around the filament provided a stable way to keep the material lit up. But before all that was put together, we had vacuums, we had incandescent metal through electricity, etc. The light bulb didn't just happen - it was an iteration of many things that came before.

The point is that what we tend to label as an "invention" and an "inventor" is mostly a story we tell ourselves about our past, and pretty much nothing popped into existence out of nowhere with no more rudimentary technology preceding it. I'm not arguing the Switch 2 should or should not be labeled an invention, but I'm not exactly sure why the Switch 1 would be if the Switch 2 is not. What's the distinction? Portable handhelds existed, tablets existed, dockable computers existed. Switch 1 was an iteration.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant Probably every piece of technology is some sort of iteration of something that came before. Nintendo didn't invent the concept of docking - business and gaming laptops have done that for decades. They didn't invent tablets. They just rearranged some existing things. The Switch 1 feels more innovative than the Switch 2 in the space that it's in, but how much novelty does a new piece of technology need to fit the requirement of "invention"? Is there a line somewhere that can be drawn? I think it's splitting hairs at some point or just going off some base gut feeling of how "new" or "different" something feels. The Switch 2 didn't exist before Nintendo invented it.

Switch 2 is a pretty perfect console given the current landscape. Easy to dock, feels great handheld, really powerful. Just not very innovative, but I don't think we needed that - and compared to the PS5 (aka the PS4 Pro Ultra), it definitely offers a lot more than just an alternative to PC gaming.

Kinda interesting to see Animal Crossing: New Horizons so high up. You'd think if it's still selling so well, they could have put in some more updates, or at least some DLC!

Could really be a game that is supported for many years, but they just kinda left it alone at some point.

This is one of the most unique games out there right now and I love to see it. The trailers grab your attention. I've had it on my wishlist for PS5 for a while but haven't taken the plunge yet.

Combine the sales for Final Fantasy Tactics across the different platforms and it also easily beats the Galaxy 1 & 2 pack

I really thought this was some sort of colorful ergonomic keyboard at first

Way too many! Now just don't ask how many games I actually beat in a year.

Hades 2 will likely end up being my favorite. Hades 1 was a clear classic and I ended up playing and enjoying it much more than the original Hollow Knight.

Any game that makes you feel like you're progressing when you die instead of being set back will always be a winner in my books!

A great price for a pair of outstanding remasters!

Why are we arguing about the PS5 in the comments y'all. It's not even one of the contenders.

As for what I'm playing...

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
FFT has fully captured my attention. The music is stuck in my head at this point and I love it. I spend hours just unlocking new abilities for different jobs. The story is so engaging and the writing offers memorable line after memorable line.

I played Galaxy 2 a little bit when it arrived and I know I'll love getting back into it at some point... But after getting a couple stars, I jumped straight back to FFT and played that late into the night.

@JohnnyMind Anytime I try juggling multiple games I end up dropping them all except the newest one. Cheers for being able to keep that many in your rotation

@JohnnyMind how are you actually playing 20 different games in one weekend?