This is such a wonderful read. I had a pretty similar experience with A Link to the Past when I first played it. I had no idea how to progress once I got to the Dark World - I was stumped on how to beat the Palace of Darkness, so instead I just explored every other area that I could. Even if I didn't make a lot of progress in the campaign itself, I still had such a blast!
This looks pretty cool, but Merge Games doesn't have the best track record for Switch ports (at least as far as I recall) so I'm only cautiously optimistic.
At 10 bucks, Kill la Kill is definitely worth picking up, especially if you're a fan of the anime! The game itself isn't anything to write home about, but it's absolutely beautiful to behold and still a blast to play.
Played this a bit on Apple Arcade and I really enjoyed my time with it. Although the touch controls were actually pretty good, I definitely anticipate that I'll enjoy it a lot more on an actual console like Switch!
Cyber Shadow was definitely my favorite this month, but Olija also deserves special praise! It's a really fun and solid action platformer that's also a refreshing break from the brutality of Cyber Shadow.
I get some of the skepticism here, but c'mon, the original mobile game was actually pretty awesome from what I recall, and this looks even better. Very interested to see how this comes out.
What the...? I'm a little biased as a longtime Nitrome fan, but come on. I found it to be a fantastic little puzzle game that builds on its concept brilliantly. It's not the greatest thing in the world but I found it immensely satisfying. As a reviewer myself, I know there's a very clear difference between a game being bad and just not knowing how to play it. Appreciate a game for what it is.
Really want to give Dig 1 and 2 a shot, especially considering that Quest is the only entry I've played thus far. It certainly wasn't my cup of tea, but I hope that the mainline series fares better for me personally.
Unfortunately I've been playing through Contra Rogue Corps for review, and it's just as dreadful as everyone says. It's horrendous in every conceivable way, and it's also among the ugliest games ever made for Switch - an impressive feat indeed.
I ended up reviewing that on Switch, so I'll definitely be digging into it this weekend! And of course, I'll be exploring the absurdly wonderful demo for Dragon Quest XI. Seriously that demo is absurdly good! Absolutely cannot wait for the full release.
Huh. Once again my review and NL's are at complete odds with one another! Go figure.
I will admit that the roster feels a little small and that there could have been more modes, but everything else was pretty great. The combat is spectacularly fast and captures all the insanity of the anime. Quite a bit like Smash Bros. in terms of how it's simple on the surface but offers plenty of flexibility and complexity. Also, every character is super unique, so I thought that that made up for the roster size. I'd rather have ten distinctive fighters than thirty copy and paste characters. When it comes to the story, it's nowhere near as good as the anime but still offers an interesting new perspective for series fans.
Recently got a code of Vane on PC for review, so I'll be blitzing through that to get it over with as quickly as possible (spoilers for my review, it's not good...)
Once I'm done with that I'll dip back into Kill la Kill IF, which I'm also reviewing. It's an excellent tribute to the anime with gorgeous visuals, a diverse and well-balanced roster, and simple yet engaging combat mechanics.
If I can get both of those finished up, I hope to squeeze in some quality time with Final Fantasy X HD. I started it back in April and I'd like to finish it before the end of the year, at least!
I love Nintendo. Always have, always will. But the JoyCon build quality is nothing short of unacceptable.
I have original controllers for all Nintendo consoles dating back to the N64. Out of all of them, the Joycon is the only one to have any significant issues - and that's after owning it for less than a year.
Legal action may be a bit dramatic, but Nintendo absolutely needs to change this situation, especially for the Switch Lite. With that console, if the joystick goes out, the entire console is out of commission. That's simply not right.
I'll be blitzing through Kill la Kill IF for review! So far it's quite good. While I wish it were a 2D fighter like DBFZ, it's still gorgeous and intense with lots of flashy combos.
You know what annoys me? People who jump to review scores but ignore the review's actual content.
Everyone's freaking out about the 4 out of 10, but no one's actually acknowledging the reasons why it received that score.
Gavin referenced much more than mere nudity as his major criticisms. You may disagree with his conclusion, but you can't deny that he's amassed plenty of supportive reasoning for his opinion.
I wish her all the best in her new role! She'll be sorely missed in future Treehouse presentations, but I'm glad to see her move on to brighter horizons.
If I recall correctly, Nintendo's release calendar has it down for a Q4 release date, alongside Pokemon Sword and Shield, Luigi's Mansion 3, and Mario and Sonic Olympics, among others. Unless the port is ahead of schedule, that would rule out a September release.
At this point, a swift localization seems even more likely. They need to make up for missed Japanese sales. At the very least, I hope this is the case - the game looks really excellent and I'd love to get the chance to try it out.
Honestly, this looks insanely good. I'm cautiously optimistic after their previous two games didn't really hit the mark for me, but this looks like it could be a genuinely great game in the end. Color me excited.
Dull level design? Weird, I found the levels to be super varied in terms of their mechanics. Almost every single level introduced some new mechanic, idea, enemy, or gimmick, which kept the game feeling very fresh for me all the way through. Admittedly the environments could have done with some of this variety, but the gameplay is what always matters most and I thought it delivered in that regard.
Honestly, the Trials of Mana remake makes the remake of the original Secret of Mana look even worse than it already did. This and the Collection of Mana have single-handedly killed any slight interest I had in the SoM remake.
The game looks really good now, but gosh that was a bad trailer. The only thing about the story I learned was that...the world ended, and there's now a lot of people in big robots who talk to each other for a few minutes. It felt like a random assortment of lines, rather than any sort of cohesive narrative.
I don't really care about MMOs, but I'll be there Day 1 for this regardless of the platform it's on. We need to show Sega that there actually is interest in the Phantasy Star franchise in the west. It's a fantastic (phantastic?) series that deserves so much more attention.
Why does Japan get all the cool stuff?! I really hope that there will be an option to just get the blue joycons. They look absolutely beautiful, and I need a new pair anyway.
Makes so much sense for Smash. Dragon Quest XI S could be the biggest Switch game in Japan this year, so it's only right that Nintendo will take advantage of that.
Inject this into my veins. I could not be more excited for it. It just looks so dang good. Not to mention the music. Oh my lord, the mere fact that it's now fully orchestrated alone is reason enough for me to run out and buy it.
I've been playing Battle Worlds Kronos for review, and let me tell you - this game is only for the most hardcore strategy fans. Not only is it excruciatingly difficult, it's also massive, unwieldy, obtuse, and stylistically bland. If you love deep hexagonal strategy games then there's plenty to love, but for everyone else, you might want to reconsider it!
I found the Switch version to actually be the most consistent version I've tried. The fact that it's nearly locked at 30fps while other versions fluctuate regularly makes it that much smoother to play, despite the lower frame rate. That said, I haven't tried the PC version yet, so perhaps that really is the definitive edition as DF suggests.
While I agree with some other comments that the use of "The Nintendo difference" is misapplied in this case, it's still a fantastically written article and a pleasure to read. Great work as always Gavin, so glad you've been so active lately!
Comments 842
Re: Sonic Frontiers Was Originally Planned For A 2021 Release, But Sega Wanted To "Brush Up The Quality"
"We have a feeling that it will become a good game" doesn't exactly inspire confidence...
Re: Random: Now That Smash Is Complete, Sakurai Doesn't Have To Worry About What He Shares On Social Media
Say all you want about the Among Us toy, but the most important message of this tweet is that Sakurai's cat is freakin adorable.
Re: Feature: A Link To The Past's Dark World Changed Zelda Forever
This is such a wonderful read. I had a pretty similar experience with A Link to the Past when I first played it. I had no idea how to progress once I got to the Dark World - I was stumped on how to beat the Palace of Darkness, so instead I just explored every other area that I could. Even if I didn't make a lot of progress in the campaign itself, I still had such a blast!
Re: Foreclosed Looks Like A Cyberpunk Comic Book Game, And It Comes To Switch This Summer
This looks pretty cool, but Merge Games doesn't have the best track record for Switch ports (at least as far as I recall) so I'm only cautiously optimistic.
Re: Save Up To 87% In Arc System Works' Switch Sale (North America)
At 10 bucks, Kill la Kill is definitely worth picking up, especially if you're a fan of the anime! The game itself isn't anything to write home about, but it's absolutely beautiful to behold and still a blast to play.
Re: Get Radical As Skate City Flips And Grinds Onto Switch Soon
Played this a bit on Apple Arcade and I really enjoyed my time with it. Although the touch controls were actually pretty good, I definitely anticipate that I'll enjoy it a lot more on an actual console like Switch!
Re: Feature: Nintendo Life eShop Selects - January 2021
Cyber Shadow was definitely my favorite this month, but Olija also deserves special praise! It's a really fun and solid action platformer that's also a refreshing break from the brutality of Cyber Shadow.
Re: NIS America's January Sale Goes Live On The Switch eShop, Get Up To 50% Off
Don't sleep on Mad Rat Dead! Definitely one of the best rhythm games I've played in ages.
Re: Slayin 2 Will Bring "The World's First Endless Action RPG" Exclusively To Switch Next Week
I get some of the skepticism here, but c'mon, the original mobile game was actually pretty awesome from what I recall, and this looks even better. Very interested to see how this comes out.
Re: Review: Gunbrick: Reloaded - A Painfully Tedious Puzzler Which Isn't Worth The Effort
What the...? I'm a little biased as a longtime Nitrome fan, but come on. I found it to be a fantastic little puzzle game that builds on its concept brilliantly. It's not the greatest thing in the world but I found it immensely satisfying. As a reviewer myself, I know there's a very clear difference between a game being bad and just not knowing how to play it. Appreciate a game for what it is.
Re: Mini Review: Hero must die. again - A Unique JRPG That's More Than The Sum Of Its Parts
Awesome review. Very well-written critique of what seems to be a much more promising game than I'd assumed at first glance
Re: All SteamWorld Games Are Now On Sale On Switch, Up To 70% Off (North America)
Really want to give Dig 1 and 2 a shot, especially considering that Quest is the only entry I've played thus far. It certainly wasn't my cup of tea, but I hope that the mainline series fares better for me personally.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (September 28th)
Unfortunately I've been playing through Contra Rogue Corps for review, and it's just as dreadful as everyone says. It's horrendous in every conceivable way, and it's also among the ugliest games ever made for Switch - an impressive feat indeed.
Re: Nintendo Goes Discount Crazy With Up To 80% Off 150 Switch Games (Europe)
If only the US got the same deal...
Re: Poll: So, Which SNES Games Have You Been Playing On Nintendo Switch?
A Link to the Past is the only acceptable option.
Re: Review: Umihara Kawase Fresh! - An Appealing Platformer That Makes Itself Hard To Love
This is easily the best thing I've read on this site in a long time. Nice work, Roland!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (August 24th)
SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT.
I ended up reviewing that on Switch, so I'll definitely be digging into it this weekend! And of course, I'll be exploring the absurdly wonderful demo for Dragon Quest XI. Seriously that demo is absurdly good! Absolutely cannot wait for the full release.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (August 17th)
Just picked up Gris in the latest sale, so I'm looking forward to getting into that! Played it a bit last night and it's already breathtaking.
Re: Decade-Old DS Game Dragon Quest V Re-Entered The Japanese Charts This Week
It makes sense, considering that DQV is one of the best RPGs ever made and easily among the best DS games.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl #1 - Super Metroid
I'd never seen the Japanese box art before. I had no idea it was so much better than the Western art!
Re: Review: Kill la Kill: IF - An Underwhelming Arena Fighter That's Only For Fans Of The Anime
Huh. Once again my review and NL's are at complete odds with one another! Go figure.
I will admit that the roster feels a little small and that there could have been more modes, but everything else was pretty great. The combat is spectacularly fast and captures all the insanity of the anime. Quite a bit like Smash Bros. in terms of how it's simple on the surface but offers plenty of flexibility and complexity. Also, every character is super unique, so I thought that that made up for the roster size. I'd rather have ten distinctive fighters than thirty copy and paste characters. When it comes to the story, it's nowhere near as good as the anime but still offers an interesting new perspective for series fans.
Regardless, that's just my opinion on the game!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (July 20th)
Recently got a code of Vane on PC for review, so I'll be blitzing through that to get it over with as quickly as possible (spoilers for my review, it's not good...)
Once I'm done with that I'll dip back into Kill la Kill IF, which I'm also reviewing. It's an excellent tribute to the anime with gorgeous visuals, a diverse and well-balanced roster, and simple yet engaging combat mechanics.
If I can get both of those finished up, I hope to squeeze in some quality time with Final Fantasy X HD. I started it back in April and I'd like to finish it before the end of the year, at least!
Re: US Law Firm Opens Switch Joy-Con Drift Class Action Investigation
I love Nintendo. Always have, always will. But the JoyCon build quality is nothing short of unacceptable.
I have original controllers for all Nintendo consoles dating back to the N64. Out of all of them, the Joycon is the only one to have any significant issues - and that's after owning it for less than a year.
Legal action may be a bit dramatic, but Nintendo absolutely needs to change this situation, especially for the Switch Lite. With that console, if the joystick goes out, the entire console is out of commission. That's simply not right.
Re: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition Complete Launches On 30th July
Harvest Moon or not, this game looks purely atrocious.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (July 13th)
I'll be blitzing through Kill la Kill IF for review! So far it's quite good. While I wish it were a 2D fighter like DBFZ, it's still gorgeous and intense with lots of flashy combos.
Re: Review: Senran Kagura: Peach Ball - A Shiny Casing Full Of Used Pinball Machine Parts
You know what annoys me? People who jump to review scores but ignore the review's actual content.
Everyone's freaking out about the 4 out of 10, but no one's actually acknowledging the reasons why it received that score.
Gavin referenced much more than mere nudity as his major criticisms. You may disagree with his conclusion, but you can't deny that he's amassed plenty of supportive reasoning for his opinion.
Re: Samantha Robertson Leaves Treehouse And Moves Into A New Role At Nintendo
I wish her all the best in her new role! She'll be sorely missed in future Treehouse presentations, but I'm glad to see her move on to brighter horizons.
Re: Rumour: Czech Retailer Lists The Witcher 3 Switch For A September Release
If I recall correctly, Nintendo's release calendar has it down for a Q4 release date, alongside Pokemon Sword and Shield, Luigi's Mansion 3, and Mario and Sonic Olympics, among others. Unless the port is ahead of schedule, that would rule out a September release.
EDIT: @Ninja84 beat me to it!
Re: After Five Years, Shovel Knight Has Now Sold More Than 2.5 Million Copies
Utterly fantastic game in every way that deserves every bit of success it's gotten.
Re: River City Girls Brings Classic Beat 'Em Up Action To Switch This September
Looks pretty amazing! Everything WayForward does is awesome, so I have very high hope for this.
Re: Netflix Shares First Images Of Its Live-Action The Witcher Series
I love the fact that a Nintendo site can report on Witcher news now. We really do live in the best timeline.
Re: Japanese Charts: Yo-Kai Watch 4 Takes Number One Despite Lower-Than-Usual Series Sales
At this point, a swift localization seems even more likely. They need to make up for missed Japanese sales. At the very least, I hope this is the case - the game looks really excellent and I'd love to get the chance to try it out.
Re: Feature: Meet Axe, The Smash Bros. Underdog Who Changed The Competitive Scene Overnight
insert complaint against competitive Smash here
Re: Review: The Last Remnant Remastered - An RPG With Fine Ideas Scuppered By A Lack Of Clarity
Big props for saying "Scuppered" in the headline.
Re: Switch JRPG Oninaki Gets Gorgeous New Screenshots And Character Info
Honestly, this looks insanely good. I'm cautiously optimistic after their previous two games didn't really hit the mark for me, but this looks like it could be a genuinely great game in the end. Color me excited.
Re: Review: My Friend Pedro - Totally And Utterly Bananas
Dull level design? Weird, I found the levels to be super varied in terms of their mechanics. Almost every single level introduced some new mechanic, idea, enemy, or gimmick, which kept the game feeling very fresh for me all the way through. Admittedly the environments could have done with some of this variety, but the gameplay is what always matters most and I thought it delivered in that regard.
Re: Feature: Behind The Scenes On Collection Of Mana And Trials Of Mana
Honestly, the Trials of Mana remake makes the remake of the original Secret of Mana look even worse than it already did. This and the Collection of Mana have single-handedly killed any slight interest I had in the SoM remake.
Re: Video: Witness Annihilation In The New Daemon X Machina Story Trailer
The game looks really good now, but gosh that was a bad trailer. The only thing about the story I learned was that...the world ended, and there's now a lot of people in big robots who talk to each other for a few minutes. It felt like a random assortment of lines, rather than any sort of cohesive narrative.
Re: Phantasy Star Online 2 "Will End Up On All Platforms" Eventually
I don't really care about MMOs, but I'll be there Day 1 for this regardless of the platform it's on. We need to show Sega that there actually is interest in the Phantasy Star franchise in the west. It's a fantastic (phantastic?) series that deserves so much more attention.
Re: Dragon Quest XI S Is Getting A Lovely Switch Hardware Bundle In Japan
Why does Japan get all the cool stuff?! I really hope that there will be an option to just get the blue joycons. They look absolutely beautiful, and I need a new pair anyway.
Re: Nintendo E3 Demo Reveals Brand New Pokémon For Sword And Shield
This is objectively the best pokemon ever designed.
Re: Konami Just Revealed The PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mini
If it doesn't have Castlevania Rondo of Blood/Dracula X here in the west, I riot.
Re: Dragon Quest's 'The Hero' Revealed As The Next Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Character
Makes so much sense for Smash. Dragon Quest XI S could be the biggest Switch game in Japan this year, so it's only right that Nintendo will take advantage of that.
Re: Cris Tales Is An "Indie Love Letter To Classic JRPGs", And It's Coming To Switch
The game looks gorgeous. I'm sold, and I can't wait to hear and see more.
Re: This Fall, The Luminary Rides Again In Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition
Inject this into my veins. I could not be more excited for it. It just looks so dang good. Not to mention the music. Oh my lord, the mere fact that it's now fully orchestrated alone is reason enough for me to run out and buy it.
Re: Nintendo Download: 6th June (North America)
I've been playing Battle Worlds Kronos for review, and let me tell you - this game is only for the most hardcore strategy fans. Not only is it excruciatingly difficult, it's also massive, unwieldy, obtuse, and stylistically bland. If you love deep hexagonal strategy games then there's plenty to love, but for everyone else, you might want to reconsider it!
Re: Gallery: Artist Imagines The Skeletons Of All 151 Original Pokémon, And It's Terrifying
That Dugtrio is the stuff of nightmares.
Re: Gallery: Fresh New Screenshots Appear Online For Zelda Crossover Cadence Of Hyrule
The Bass Guitarmos Knights are absolutely amazing. Any reference to A Link to the Past is good in my book!
Re: Video: Digital Foundry's Analysis Of Team Sonic Racing On The Switch
I found the Switch version to actually be the most consistent version I've tried. The fact that it's nearly locked at 30fps while other versions fluctuate regularly makes it that much smoother to play, despite the lower frame rate. That said, I haven't tried the PC version yet, so perhaps that really is the definitive edition as DF suggests.
Re: Talking Point: The Changing Definition Of ‘The Nintendo Difference’
While I agree with some other comments that the use of "The Nintendo difference" is misapplied in this case, it's still a fantastically written article and a pleasure to read. Great work as always Gavin, so glad you've been so active lately!