hisownsidekick

@KayFiOS Hey, a Dragalia Lost mention! Well done getting that pop theme stuck in my head, haha.

Hey, big win for Central and South America!

Not to sound cynical, but it looks soulless and I don't buy for a moment that that's actual gameplay.

After seeing this article, I decided to check out the Wikipedia entry for the awards and the first winners back in 1997 were interesting! Best Work went to Sakura Wars for the Sega Saturn, which also picked up awards for design and characters. NIGHTS into Dreams won awards for programming and graphics, PaRappa the Rapper for sound and "new concept," and Resident Evil for its scenario (it also took home the Adventure category award).
Some other category winners of note:
Action - Super Mario 64 (definitely not a platformer)
Driving/Racing - Mario Kart 64
Fighting - Tekken 2
RPG - Dragon Quest III (a remake... we've been into them for longer than we like to think)
Puzzle - Puyo Puyo 2 Definitive Edition (rereleases, too...)
Simulation - Derby Stallion '96

I bet the Clair Obscur devs are thrilled with that acknowledgement!

@Asterix615 Agreed that it looks more style over tone/lore. I didn't check out Weird West yet, but it looked very interesting. It sounds like it scratched the Mignola itch for you; please tell me more!

I've read a lot of Mignola and I gotta say, they definitely nailed the look they were going for.

@ShadLink @Whirlwound I watched the Game Grumps struggle through some of Zelda's Adventure, the worst of the CD-i bunch. The "soundtrack" to that game is mostly wind passing through empty fields, an occasional monster scream or bee buzz, and some nightmare-fuel funhouse music, haha. What an addition to Nintendo Music that would be.

I just started Cyberfunk, so I can only comment on the first few hours, but it's impressive. It IMMEDIATELY felt right, it looks great, and the soundtrack kicks like it should. I'm interested in whatever this team puts out from now on.

@Jhena That sounds awesome; I'm genuinely jealous, haha. Most of my dreams are so mundane.

Well, I said in my earlier comment that I'd check it out based on this article, and I did. I haven't gotten very far AT ALL, but... I really like it so far. It's very hard and the jumping requires getting used to, but the fact that there's actually a skill tree that you can progress through makes it so much more interesting to me (I'm one of those people who loves RPG elements in nearly everything, haha). Part of what's getting me killed so much is the fact that it's a much more methodical game than you'd think, given its arcade roots. But of course the originals were also much more methodical than a lot of arcade games back then, I believe. You hear the intense music and you see all the monsters and baddies on the screen and all the effects are going off and sometimes you panic, and you try to treat it more like Metal Slug, which gets you killed. It's been very interesting so far!
@DashKappei I fully agree with you about the artwork. It's better in person than it is in screenshots or videos and it really is more of a marionette style of animation. I personally would have loved to see a modern, lavish pixel art style reminiscent of the older games, but I honestly don't mind what we got. I'd rather get this new game by the original creator with an "okay" art style than get nothing at all because the budget couldn't be worked out for a more elaborate style.

I sometimes give the Sonic franchise a hard time (for various reasons), but these racing games have been seriously, shockingly good. I'm excited to check this one out.
Sort of related: I don't follow Gamespot and haven't for a long time, but when I see their scores pop up lately, it feels like they're consistently (and sometimes surprisingly) lower than the average. Maybe it's just coincidence.

@PJOReilly Enjoy your weekend!

@DwaynesGames I found it good enough to enjoy. I mean, it's still Chrono Trigger, after all. I really wish they'd re-release the DS version, though.

@PJOReilly Just a heads-up, you call it "Resurrected" throughout the article but I think it's "Resurrection."
I think I heard about this game at launch, but I'd completely forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder; I'm gonna check it out! I'm with you in having always been interested in, but overwhelmed by, this series.

Builder's Journey was delightful; if I can find a co-op partner for this, I'll definitely pick it up.

Looks interesting. Hopefully we can see a review of it at some of point.

I love this Klonoa game! Much more puzzle-focused than the console entries, but still full of charm and platforming goodness.

Man, I remember the GUTS game being a very frustrating rental as a kid. Limited instructions, janky controls, unclear objectives... weird that I still kind of miss those days. You really grew to appreciate the rental stores that would list (with varying accuracy) some controls on the back of the box in an attempt to help the confused children of the area, haha.

Always good to see an upgrade path offered.

@Res462 Yeah, they've done that for years. But reporting to your shareholders that you wish you'd made an unrealistic amount of money isn't the same as hurting for cash. That's why they shuttered Hitman and Tomb Raider, despite those franchises selling millions, with Hitman being an undisputed success.

As to the PlayStation console exclusivity, I definitely don't know, but I feel that has more to do with a lumbering, slow-to-change Japanese publisher moving at a cautious pace with regards to a Western system.

The North American one is too weird for me, with the guy putting his foot on the scorpion's pincer (or just kind of holding it in the air in front of the pincer?). It screams 80s/90s "gosh, action poses sure are hard" artwork.

Square Enix has been in an "arrogant" phase for a while now. They've had too many major successes for them to truly learn from their mistakes; they simply don't need to as long as their major series continue to print money.

@Aispen Nice, I love Mystical Ninja 64! The soundtrack is a classic; the overworld theme gets stuck in my head at least once a month, no joke. I hope you continue to enjoy it! (No spoilers, but man does it get weirder and weirder...)

Kind of wild to me that the entries for the first half of the list are so negative. Some of them feel more like catalogues of perceived failings than balanced overviews. Also weird to not mention anything negative about Mario 64. It's a legendary game, but it's not without flaws.

The tone of this article is oddly inconsistent.

And I still have the Battle Network series to get caught up on... The backlog grows again. I'm not sure how far I'll get into these games, but I'm curious to at least check them out as I know very little about them.
And as others have said, please give us a Legends collection, Capcom!

@Ryu_Niiyama "Animal Crossing meets Don’t Starve in Australia?" If that's not an accurate description of this game, I'm gonna be so mad at you, because I really want that now, haha.

@ShieldHero I feel you on this. Protecting your interests is one thing, needlessly hampering others' games is another. I guess we'll just have wait and hope nothing stupid comes of it.

A few of these piqued my interest, especially Jet Set Radio Tricky.

Some of them looked interesting, but I'll need to see more. I also need to get a sense of what this new "Acclaim" even is. But I'm all for giving more indies more exposure, so here's hoping this is a good thing!

@Splash_Woman I applaud your bravery in sharing this.

@AussieMcBucket Your comment didn't come off as being rude at all to me, and clearly to others who were also uninvolved (see: @CaleBoi25). I think some people are just ready to leap at someone for a perceived bit of arrogance, whether it's real or not. Shrug.
Add another vote to the pile; language discussion is good and pure should be encouraged!
We could certainly use more of it, as a species...

@HalfAWorldAway It's a game created by an acclaimed movie studio based on one of the most beloved and enduring IPs on the planet. I agree that there are many other games more deserving of coverage, but it isn't hard to understand why people might be interested in this, and thus why a news site might produce a brief article on it. I think implying it's due to a hidden agenda or lack of integrity is, respectfully, kind of a wild leap to make. Occam's razor, and all that.

Just came across this review in 2025, so I'm sorry for the late comment, but I gotta remark how surprised I was to see such a detailed baseball metaphor in a review on a UK site, haha. Gave me cultural whiplash.

@AlanaHagues I think there's a typo in the headline. "More That."

@rvcolem1 That's a great idea! I love articles like that.

@shgamer Oh cool, I didn't know that about Cold Fear. I remember checking out The New Nightmare back in the day on the Dreamcast and I was so impressed that you could aim your flashlight all across the pre-rendered backgrounds! It felt like such a natural evolution for the genre that I figured more studios would do it, but of course pre-rendered backgrounds went out of vogue shortly after.

Whoa, I Am Alive?! I'm one of the 11 people who played that! It was an ambitious survival/action game that the original team couldn't finish, so Ubisoft acquired it and gave it to Ubisoft Shanghai, I believe, who patched it together and shipped it as a smaller, downloadable title. It was a solid 7/10. Early in the game, you're taught how to take out 3 or 4 enemies with only one bullet through tense bluffing and utilizing the environment. If they remaster it, I'll absolutely check it out again.

I have my little criticisms, of course, but overall this was extremely impressive. The mask transformation bit was breathtaking.

@JungleATK @Fighting_Game_Loser I really appreciate the extra context; I only casually follow fighting games so I didn't know who Bengus was.

Whoa, I did NOT expect to see a game based on that comic, that's awesome! Very weird comic, funny and creepy and brutal at times. I enjoyed it, and the setting is perfect for a "build by day, shelter by night" kind of game, so I'm excited for this.

@Papa_Emeritus Yeah, I just got my first Switch and while I'd known the number of ports of great PC games was up there, I've still been blown away by the sheer number of them. Having access to the Switch's unbelievable library has like doubled my backlog, haha. Fine problem to have.

Just a heads up, there are two small typos in the second paragraph, first sentence.
I enjoyed Shenmue III, but it definitely had its flaws. I'm all for sprucing it up and making it available to more gamers. Bring on Shenmue IV!

I just got my first Switch and I'm playing Breath of the Wild for the first time! I managed to avoid most spoilers, so I just keep getting caught off guard by the innovation. It's amazing, the number of things they threw out from the older games, the things I didn't expect them to borrow from other games, and the things they just straight up invented. I'm enjoying it so much!

Just a heads up, there's a typo in the fourth paragraph, second sentence. Double "won't."
This is super interesting to me as I've never heard of this game before. I may pick this up; thanks for the detailed review!

Awful taste but great execution?