finalstan

Despite my disappointment with the game regarding the shallow, half-baked story (great gameplay, though, but also not without problems), I am happy a Xenoblade game got this recognition. It is still a quality title. If it draws more people into playing this and the earlier instalments, then that's great.

@ReaperMelia I am lucky enough to have the special edition 6x CD soundtrack, which is my favourite OST of all time. I will buy this one in a heartbeat because I already know it will be great. Really like this battle theme already.

Chross to me has the best game soundtrack ever. I have it physical and then a bluray edition released in Japan, which I bought when I went there on a trip pre-covid. And I will buy the remastered one as well. That tells you everything you need to know.

The game itself is pure nostalgia for me but I will probably not play it again, just watch my partner do it.

Not sure which I am hyped for more: Bayo 3 or the Astral Chain tease. Why choose when you can have both, yes, please!

I am really surprised by the number of negative comments about this trailer. I get it, everybody is entitled to their own opinion but I think you all watched it with closed eyes. If this was the next Pokemon game, everybody would absolutely lose their minds.

Love the meme roundup, had a good chuckle. You should do it more often! Re OLED Switch - meh.

These kinds of numbers probably get you a new IP, XB3 (can't wait!) and a remaster of something, possibly more.

I've tried demos of past MonHun games and could never get into them, they felt really slow and super clunky. I liked pretty much every other monhun-style game I've tried so I clearly enjoy this type of game. However, played the demo for this one (Dual Blades) not for very long but enough to notice that the fluidity is much better and it was fun. I've preordered this but will take my time learning the mechanics as I know that it's crucial to understand them for max enjoyment.

I had this coming to my email. I immediately cancelled my Amazon pre-order and went with ShopTo. I think it's because it must be a really slow month for game retailers. Can't think of any other reason.

I agree re gameplay that it needs more twists and wrinkles rather than just select something from a menu and execute. Spells affecting the environment are a good idea, though, and I hope the game builds on that.

My main problem was... camera controls. I always seemed to have been going the wrong way with it and haven't found a setting to invert it.

I've just been reading some backer updates. They have me a little worried. They are going a bit wild on the promises, I hope that they had these prepared in advance and included them in the workload from the start... All sound good, though!

@Rosona On the campaign page just scroll through to about half-way - the goal banner is there.

I think it's a problem of small development team = less resources to optimise performance on multiple consoles. You can cover up sub-optimal build with sheer processing power (which is likely what they will do just building the game for next gen consoles), something harder to do on Switch where you'd have to heavily optimise.

I backed the game regardless. I have PS4, likely will also have PS5, and whatever next Ninty console is. I also don't think that Switch 2 will be released by then. Pro - yes, that is likely, but whether that meets their criteria remains to be seen so it is a gamble for those who are Nintendo-only. I love Suikoden so would back this regardless and worry later.

@XO-Frats Unforgettable. The best villain in any game, period.

This is incredible news, I am very, very, very excited about this. Enough perhaps to even fund it... I've been waiting so long for a Suiko game, and this looks and reads amazing.

What I want to know is if those remastered tracks will have their own smaller OST release?

@RPGamer That was me yesterday.

Isn't that the working culture in Japan, though? That aside, I have never heard anyone in any workplace ever say: don't work longer hours, we are worried about what might happen to your health. Usually, longer hours come WITH the work itself. I've seen workplaces worry about health incl. mental these days, but nobody ever says: work less, even though that is exactly what is needed.

I adore X for its scope and excellent story pacing. Big set-pieces are delivered in this game at a steady pace, and so are the plot reveals - this never lets up. If you get invested in the story, it pays off big time. Also, for its time the presentation was mind-blowing, true next gen feeling I never truly felt since.

VIII is my favourite, also really liked Squall with him being so sarcastic, I laughed at his reactions more times than I can count, it just tickled me.

The bad ones for me include XII (boring), XV (an inconsistent mess, this game broke my heart as I really wanted to like it). Every other one falls somewhere in between. I've played nearly all of them. Xenoblade is where my jRPG heart is atm, can't wait to see what they do next with it.

@Entrr_username It is only abusable when someone abuses it. Just like he did. Trying to prove wrong by creating it himself, from scratch. I accept 10s and 1s as long as there are WORDS to back them up. Without them, review scores should frankly not be allowed.

The way internet conversations go is always about polarizing, and as discussions continue people get more and more stuck in their respective camps. There are no camps! VR can and will co-exist in harmony with everything else out there, it's a new way to consume media and has found its - expanding - place. This trend will continue, without a shadow of a doubt, with second generation of headsets. Those who played AstroBot and Beat Saber are sold on the tech and can see what it can do. And if you think it's isolating, I recommend throwing a Beat Saber party with your friends...

Edit: do a game with Mario that plays just like AstroBot, it will sell MILLIONS.

@Anri02 Tell me more, I adored Freedom Wars, the only game ever that I platinumed, still to this day. Is it the story, combat? I loved the verticality of the combat. Big Brother aspect of the story was cool, but the idea of abductions was a bit weird, I just ran with it, though, as it made the gameplay more interesting.

Do they own the Suikoden IP? Get something done about it Konami!

Persona 5 is a no brainer, and I really hope it will make it over. They are releasing a sequel on Switch, all jRPG fans have a Switch as it's a haven for the genre, they have a Royal version that they could release and drum up the hype for AND it was a PS3 game, so porting should not be that difficult from a system requirements point of view. The only thing missing is an official announcement that it is in the works. I will probably not get Royal on PS4 and hence, also not the sequel. But give it me on Switch and I am buying both, simple as that.

I will wait this one out, they will not make the announcement now as they want PS4 sales to not suffer, and there will always be people double-dipping, so I get why they would handle this with care (it's not the type of game to sell tens of millions).

A wild idea: new dock boosting Switch with extra power, obviously expensive enough to demonstrate value, to make the home experience a lot better and a handful of games only playable that way.

Timing will definitely be key with such a release and I think with new consoles on the horizon, it isn't good right now. Switch and Lite can still sell a lot better in the meantime as they definitely haven't reached their peak. However, things evolve and change, Nintendo will be ready for any scenario and if releasing Pro model will keep the interest going, then they will do it. We're looking at 2021 the earliest, folks.

Another issue is how will they 'nerf it' so that it complements the whole lineup. Lite is nerfed not to compete with Switch, so Pro will have to as well. Someone mentioned it being a home console only, this is possible although I don't personally believe it will be the case. Maybe the battery life will be abysmal? There will be something there to make owners of Switch and Lite not regret their purchases. Only exception to that would be when it no longer mattered ie close to the end of the generation. But then might as well just launch Switch 2.

@ShadJV Even if it created only a 100-200 kcal difference, over time it will pile on as fat. However, creating a deficit through exercise has always been overemphasised. Selling new dynamic classes etc. is much sexier for the imagination than having less food on your plate, and always will be. While it can certainly do that, what I believe to be a good, healthy and sustainable way of thinking about this is: create deficit for weightloss through food but exercise for health, wellbeing, building and/or maintaining muscle and fun.

Comments about how diet is key to weightloss make me happy. Someone mentioned keto, it's not a magic pill, your kcals still need to be below your maintenance to lose weight so if it worked, that is what happened. Exercise (I mean weights, really) is important to at least maintain muscles in a calorie deficit, otherwise you will waste a bit away and since they are a big part of your calorie-burning machine, you might end up with a lower maintenance than before you started, which is how we get the yo-yo effect.

Any movement is good if there is none, so if Ring Fit is a fun way to get someone moving, fantastic. To become and stay healthy, lean and strong, you need a bit more than that, though.

@BarefootBowser I don't believe it, precisely for the reasons you mentioned. Food in Tokyo (and Japan in general) was spectacularly good no matter where I went. I noticed that when people said it's not good somewhere, or reviewed badly, it ended up being very good still, just not as good as perhaps somewhere else. Standards are very, very high over there.

Oftentimes this is not about a political agenda but about representation. Those irked by political agendas don't want to be irked but those seeking representation want to be represented and see parts of themselves onscreen/games etc. as it matters to them. How to make that representation obvious enough to appeal to one group and not enough for the other to get irked about? I don't think this is truly possible so someone will end up disappointed - those not represented will feel left out (as they usually have been) or those irked will get their mindsets challenged at a time when all they want is to not be challenged. Producers who will have cracked it, though, will win.

P5 Royal has to land on Switch, it just has to. I have PS4 to play it on, heck, even an unopened (!) special edition of P5, which i got at launch and never played because backlog of games and life. And yet, I would still buy and play it on Switch because that is my preferred way of playing games these days.

I never got on with the game. Clunky combat, inventory micro-management (and - don't hate me for it - fairly empty and uninteresting open world despite all these ? scattered around) killed it for me. I tried, I put tens of hours in, and just couldn't stomach it.

@Sabroni Of course it has beneficial effects. However, when general population thinks about those they think: I will lose 10 pounds, get a six pack and transform my physique ('tone'), and will be able to run a marathon - all by playing a game once a week for 10 minutes (and replacing 10 with 30 here will not make a difference). They don't think: my insulin resistance will improve ever so slightly; even though that is what happens.

Anybody with even remote idea of fitness will know that a game will not make you fitter. This requires hours per week of activity/ies, breaking a real sweat, pushing yourself to the limits in order to grow and become better at whatever you are training; not to mention proper nutrition, lifestyle changes to reduce stress and improve sleep quality and so on. I am all for fun games that require more than just sitting on a couch; love my Beat Saber, loved Wii Sports back in the day, it is for fun though, not fitness.

Can anyone say what the performance is like?

And also, honestly, I can't keep going like this anymore: I've just come back from Japan and bought physical Oninaki and Okami, which I'd like to play once I am done with Fire Emblem and Astral Chain and there's this out now, arrgh! Won't even mention PS4 (Persona 5, I am looking at you). And more games are coming. I was normally very good at deciding what is must have and what isn't, but these days there are just so many must haves...

How much magic between 1-9 you can draw at a time is not completely random as it is based on you MAG stat.

@Dellybelly 10s and 0s don't cancel each other out, they average out at 5, which is a pretty low score if you consider most people won't spend money on anything less than 7.

Scores should be dumped altogether. Review only makes sense if you read the detail to check if reviewers' impressions match what you know you personally like. Fans of a genre, or even a specific publisher, will review a game differently compared to those who are not. Platinum games are fairly consistent and carry their DNA. This is how I knew I would love this game but can see how someone who never enjoyed their games could not get into this one. It still manages to be very different with its focus on a myrriad of individual mechanics as opposed to combos like in previous titles such as Bayonetta.

These kinds of descriptions + some gameplay videos are the only way for me to get a good idea if I will like a game. So far, I've been spot on. Scores don't matter.

@Old-Red It's a new IP, they need to convince more people.

You're thinking about this all wrong. Lootboxes don't exist to get you in-game stuff, you are predominantly paying for the thrill of maybe getting that item. You think consciously that it's about that item, but on the unconscious level it is about something else entirely - a feeling, which acts as a drug. All fine if you know about it, not fine when you get caught up in it.

As a result of this disclosure I would expect to see more sophisticated mechanics being implemented e.g. lootboxes that have a very small chance of winning absolutely everything there is to win, which will bring this more in line with casinos, lottery etc., all proven to work. Etc.

...and it has great music, is there anything that they've messed up with this game so far? Not complaining, can't wait!

VR will keep getting better and see stronger sales because it offers a unique way to play games; everybody sees real growth potential in this market, which at the moment is relatively unexplored. And that's exciting. Studios can create VR games and truly stand out, which is harder to do on the traditional medium when competing with big studios and their big money, but even they will eventually start taking note. When you have software as strong as on PSVR already, and a lineup of upcoming games to truly get excited about you know it has been a success.

What I think will be holding VR back, though, is that it is such a personal experience that cannot be as effectively shared with others as traditional gaming (you can't even properly describe it to anyone who hasn't tried it). Once they crack that somehow, to a satisfying degree (the reality of it and people's perception), sky's the limit.

I can't forget when PS Now launched and there was a 30-day trial so I used that time to play FFXIII coming very close to the ending. And then the game got pulled never to be brought back, so I never finished it. That sucked hard, although some might say I was put out of my misery.

Give me super-fast internet everywhere, including tunnels, and then maybe we'll talk. Not happening anytime soon.

Also, particularly in Japan, this will never work, people there LOVE their physical media, and either way there will always be people in every part of the globe interested in owning them. Market value might decrease but it will still be high enough to be worth producing and selling.

Films and music, which this is being compared to, are fundamentally different: people stream those mostly because they are bite-sized (even then you can still usually download them to watch/listen to later - I wonder why?). With games, though, consumption of which takes a lot more time, and which are interactive, much larger audience will prefer to own those.

For a very long time I do not think we have anything to worry about. The real strength of Sony/Nintendo comes from the content they offer: stories, gameplay, nostalgia. Google have shown us next to none of that.

I think what aged least well for me are the painfully slow battles. Not only are they just slow, but every encounter starts with the camera panning, all animations are long etc. At least in this one you can make summoning animations shorter, in VIII it is best to just not use them at all (and use the broken Junction system to make yourself OP very early on).

Having said that, this was the game I was really dissapointed with at the time, after VII and VIII this one just didn't click with me. I enjoyed it but it was a step back for me in many respects. Chocobo Hot & Cold I loved, though, it was the standout minigame for me.

My laptop doesn't have a CD drive either, which is why I bought an external one that allows to rip CDs, which I take any day over the crappy MP3s they put on sticks. That way I can rip in high quality and make use of DACs, PM headphones etc. Makes a HUGE difference.

This looks spectacular, that's how you go from nowhere to instabuy in a matter of seconds.

The only one I would be looking forward to playing would be IWD2, which doesn't seem to be on the list. I must've sunk hundreds upon hundreds of hours into this game, played through it at least 5-6 times.

I wonder how 'enhanced' these will be, they need some serious QOL improvements to make me consider playing them. Played BG1 and loved it, couldn't get into BG2 no matter how hard I tried (by the time I played that one, ADD 2.0 rule-set was very dated and limiting). Probably why I loved IWD2 so much as it used the 3rd edition.

Um, that first pic made me giggle (sorry!).

I tried to play this on PS4 and got bored to absolute death.

I think it stems from two things: most of us gamers are now well into adulthood having grown up playing games. In my head, I am still that gamer that had all this spare time to play games, which I always just wanted more of (reality is very different, of course). This is why it's easy to fall for the hype and this is the second reason: hype. Websites like this one generate the hype, that is how they get their readers = money.

So we have an imagined reality of having lot's of time and wanting to play all these fantastic, amazing, almost life-changing games and the hard reality of having to prioritise other things and actually, when it comes to it, and now with well developed tastes, not actually enjoying those games all that much.