dartmonkey

@mattb994 @MikeSpags Ha, feel free to doodle and link a pic!

@MetaCrystal This is an NL thing. And it might be odd for team members to submit letters rather than just drop a message in Slack, but hey, why not?

@octokid TBD, we'll see what the response is like. With Zelda coming out, I'm tempted to start in June so everyone's had a chance to spend some time with it — I'm sure it'll be a popular topic of conversation!

@somnambulance @Narwhalnut @SwitchVogel

We review a huge number of games every year, but with so many releasing we're not able to cover everything we'd like to, unfortunately! That's the primary reason we started this series, to showcase gems our readers have enjoyed that we weren't able to highlight with a review.

@FishyS I've tweaked the tags on all the past 'Games We Missed' articles in the series, so now the relevant one will appear on the relevant game page. That should make finding the specific recommendation easier!

@Cashews The article contains relevant details as to what led to Bowser's incarceration and a prominent link to our previous coverage of the story, which we've covered various times over the past couple of years.

The info is there, with more detail available for those unfamiliar with the case or who just want a reminder, so I have to disagree we're "essentially" saying anything, and also with your assessment of our audience. I think many readers have followed this story from the beginning, but even if not, the article above catches them up and offers the opportunity to dive deeper.

@Cashews I don't see where the sympathy for Bowser is in the article. It states the facts and the reasons he's in this situation. Where are these "excuses" being made for him?

I…I did it!
https://twitter.com/dartmonkey/status/1646637352788410371

Looks alright, dunnit.

@xiao7 @SlowPokemon As I mentioned above, Seth Rogan revealed the DK rap was in the movie last week in official promo:
https://twitter.com/supermariomovie/status/1641485445816102920

@gaga64 This seems to be a popular misconception, so I'll address it. In what way does "flooding the comments page with disappointed people" benefit us or anyone else?

I can assure you, absolutely nobody on staff is slapping their hands and congratulating themselves when a comments section goes awry for whatever reason — it's quite the opposite! In terms of 'clicks', the traffic generated on an article from people voicing displeasure or arguing in the comments is minuscule, statistically insignificant in page view terms. There is zero benefit to our fostering negativity here, let alone 'trolling' readers.

@Sam_TSM As I said, it certainly wasn't "thoughtless". The rap has featured in the film's promotion — Seth Rogan said last week, "This is how my character comes out in the movie, to the Donkey Kong Rap":

https://twitter.com/supermariomovie/status/1641485445816102920

@KingDunsparce The headline was a big consideration before publishing. In this instance, the info is very much 'out there' already and omitting that specific detail didn't feel right.

The film is absolutely jam-packed with things like this, so there's an incredible amount to dig into — we won't be highlighting it all, but it felt appropriate in this case.

@nukatha >>AntonioBanderasLaptop.gif here<<

@Dr_Corndog Yes but no but yes but no. But YES!!

It's easily and officially playable on Wii and I couldn't resist adding it to the list proper.

@JaxxDuffer We only picked up on it recently and while stock is still there we thought it worth highlighting for people who might be in the same boat.

@DrGonzo And if you read that review, you'll find that it discusses that game's issues in detail and offers an overall subjective assessment, too.

And again with the generalisations. Comments here are removed for a wide variety of reasons when they contravene our Community Rules, which includes unfounded or ill-expressed criticism of staff. Our writers and contributors work hard to deliver as much information and analysis to readers as possible on as many games as we're able. Regardless of your opinions, they don't deserve grief in the comments and we'll continue to remove anything that breaks our rules.

@DrGonzo There are over 1100 words above discussing the game, the issues encountered, and Lowell's opinion on it as a whole. Saying it was docked five points from a perfect ten because it uses analogue aim and has repetitive dialogue, and then suggesting user error, isn't fair or accurate.

The text is there. A 5/10 means 'average', not 'bad'. If you've played the game and don't agree, there's a way to come here and strike up a meaningful, polite discussion — we're all for that. Accusing us and our writers of just being bad at games isn't the way to do it. Please be mindful of that in future. Thanks.

@somnambulance It ain’t now. 😉 Thanks 👍

@IceCatraz @Strumpan A tagging mishap — they're all present now.

@OorWullie Various team members have tested and haven't found any issues with the Pro Controller. We'll keep an eye out for other reports, but let us know if there's any change.

'87 is a real shout. And there's no denying 2017, either. If you're a cross-platform player, it's pretty much impossible to pick a dud! Ah, games.

@ralphdibny Ha, I'm not sure we'd be able to convince Capcom to run a sale, but I've reached out to see if there are plans in the works. Not long now, but a final weekend blowout would be amazing!

@TeaCatherine You saw nothing. 👀

@Nancyboy Don't know what you mean. Move along, nothin' to see here. 👀

@Magician Ha, I considered putting all the 3D Classics into one entry tbh. They're all worthy, even the 'lesser' games got such good treatment. It's an amazing series.

We'll see how we go, only ten more days! We might do ONE more — if we don't, it's certainly not a slight against any of the others! I wouldn't do that to my boy, SOR2.

Edit. Also, we just numbered the countdown for our own amusement, it's not supposed to indicate a ranking. Otherwise, Pocket Card Jockey and Affordable Space Adventures would be tied in first place and we wouldn't have bothered with anything else.

@Krull I 100%-ed the first, but fell off the second when the difficulty spiked. I think I overdosed tbh, BUT I've just downloaded the Fullblox bundle after investigating the NES Retro pack. Time to return!

@Greenmanalishi Oof, you're not wrong! I've added green, blue, and red-haired Link to the poll (single entry, let's not go mad) and I'll see about getting Jim to insert the trio into the ranking soon. Cheers!

Edit. Actually, Jim did mention them in the Four Swords entry, and that's just about where it would rank anyway. Let's leave them embedded there, but I'll also leave them with a separate entry in the poll for all the Tri Force Heroes fans out there.

@amixForever As a general rule, we don't include import-only titles in these lists. The only exception that springs to mind is Mother 3 on the GBA one.

@dew12333 Refresh

@Tyranexx @TheBigBlue That's my bad — I wasn't signed in when I checked the page, so the 'No longer available' message didn't appear for me. Thanks for the spot, I've removed that line from the text.

@Browny I think from a community POV, dissecting leaked material would segregate readers who want to digest and discuss EVERYTHING from others who want the intended 'mystery' preserved for when they actually play. If we ran spoiler articles discussing leaked material in-depth, inevitably you'd get people from one article mentioning it in another without spoiler tags, and what should be a fun chat turns into a gauntlet for a lot of readers!

There are other factors, of course, not least that those of us on staff don't want the game spoiled for ourselves! It's a similar deal with Pokémon. Those games and their 'dexes were leaked online in their entirety weeks in advance. Once that info is online, it's simple enough to find for those who do want it.

@Matroska There's nothing noble about it, I just want to communicate clearly and specifically to regular readers and Zelda fans that they don't have to worry about stumbling on spoilers in our articles themselves. As I said, we'll still cover leaks and link out to the relevant material where appropriate. This isn't some conspiratorial case to be cracked open and 'exposed' through reportage. It's a video game, a piece of media built to be explored, discussed, enjoyed. Discussing and enjoying games is NL's MO, and we understand the potential impact of a juicy, spoiler-filled article plastered over our homepage.

Obviously, we'll continue to highlight officially released material — are you suggesting we shouldn't cover new trailers or a potential TOTK Direct if we were serious about spoilers? We're a Nintendo-focused outlet, so naturally we'll cover that. We've recommended that people on a total media blackout start muting keywords if they want to know nothing.

The vast majority of Nintendo fans visiting Nintendo Life, though, will be interested when a new TOTK trailer drops or an amiibo is announced or whatever. Ultimately readers themselves also have to take personal responsibility if they're sensitive to any information whatsoever. We're simply trying to give as much information about our approach as possible.

@Shambo Ha, zapped! Thanks

@Stocksy We cover physical releases from a range of 'boutique' publishers, large and small, and our coverage depends entirely on if we're excited by the game or the specific package that's been announced. If we think a particular physical release looks good or that readers have been waiting for the announcement, we'll run a post, regardless of the publisher. Simple as that.

@DarkTron We're a Nintendo site covering Nintendo news — in this case, various details around the latest financial report which always deliver interesting nuggets. We've picked out what we consider to be the most interesting stories, including figures for fans of specific games/series that may not be interested in overall hardware sales stats or other details from the report.

Feel free to use the contact form if you'd like to discuss our approach further.

Game Freak's best game.
The 3DS' best game.
Apple Arcade's best game.
Best game.

Some excellent suggestions for collections in these comments!

@progx You are of course correct. I've tweaked it to clarify that SE was the previous owner of the IP and have added another line with some more context.

@Bunkerneath The game launched this month and will be of interest to readers who are Paper Mario fans, hence the review.

The relationship status of the developer and publisher and all the drama around the launch (which we linked to coverage of in the review text) ultimately can't factor into our assessment of the game itself. It's available to purchase on the Switch eShop, and this is our verdict on that product.

@Jooles_95 Unfortunately, we weren't able to review Bear & Breakfast but it's still eligible and available to rate via its game page.
https://www.nintendolife.com/games/switch-eshop/bear_and_breakfast

@Wexter Thanks for flagging. I've updated the review and the headline to correct the mistake and add the names of the writers. Our apologies for the error.

@Bunkerneath @Lunatic002 Tweaked.

@Wisps We absolutely welcome constructive criticism and questions in the comments, but I wouldn't class "Where do you get these reviewers and what is their background with the games they are playing....." as such.

In this instance, perhaps an optional ability to target specific areas would have been a good addition to a remake that has been modernised in various other ways. Trent's suggestion that you might knock the difficulty down so as not to miss out on other stronger parts of the experience is naturally a personal take — as is the entire review. He finishes up by clarifying that uberfans of the original and genre devotees may find more to like about it, which simply means he expected more from this remake, not that he hates the game or TRPGs.

Anyhow, I've got nothing more to add. I just wanted to address this odd sentiment that a reviewer is somehow 'wrong' for the game because they weren't enamoured with a core element of it. If you enjoy the RNG, great! You'll likely want to add points to the score above. That doesn't invalidate their opinion of someone who didn't enjoy it.

@Herna Tactics Ogre got a 7/10, hardly "craptastic".

Trent's got plenty of experience with TRPGs, and the review states clearly the elements of this particular one that he didn't get on with. A 5/10 is 'Average', which aligns with his overall thoughts. It's fine to disagree, but let's not start calling into question his appropriateness for the review because you disagree with his opinion, please.

@dluxxx What TRPGs have we been hating on?

@BLD Ha, of course not! We had one each.

@Snatcher I adore the first one, my personal game of 2020 or whatever year it was when I finally caught up with it! Having played about an hour of this so far, I'd say you may as well start here - the basic setup is very similar, just further refined and polished.

Then again, you can get the first one very cheap these days, so if you had any doubts at all, it might be an idea to try that and see how you like it first.

@gcunit @Key19 Scott has simply teed up the introductory revenge story premise here, as introduced at the beginning of the game! I don't see how we've spoiled a thing.

@MarioBrickLayer That's an interesting idea, although publishers sometimes stipulate that you can't indicate you have review code in the first place, which would make any reviews-in-progress list incomplete.
We have asked for 'Reviews We Missed' nominations in the past, perhaps that could return in some form during a quieter period!

Hello everyone. We've adjusted the headline here to more accurately reflect the situation and Chiplock's exact comments. As pointed out, it is possible that an NDA prevents him from discussing the project.
We'd love to see any of Chiplock's characters return in some capacity in TotK, so we hope that is indeed the case.

A quick reminder to everyone that many of the games above are extremely close in NL user ratings terms! Just a handful of ratings could quickly change the complexion of the entire list. RE2 is #1 at the time of writing but RE4 is snapping at its heels.

It's going to be very interesting to see how things have changed in the morning

Thanks to everyone who rightly pointed out that Sparks of Hope hasn't launched in Japan yet! We've updated with a note.

Okay, it's the end of the day in our part of the world, so we'll be closing down the comments section for the evening.

Thank you to everyone who contributed constructively to the conversation. Our Community Rules can be reviewed here.