judaspete

I also prefer Engage. Three Houses is a good game, and I get why it's so popular, but there is a LOT of fafing about between battles. And sooo much of it is fetch quests.

I say Battle for Middle Earth 2, RotK, Third Age, Conquest, and a GBA collection would all be welcome. Starting with War in the North is kinda limping out the gate.

@Jack_Goetz Yeah, this looks more like a traditional, high-fantasy jrpg than the more sci-fi fantasy of the rest of the series. It does hav Genesis in the title, so maybe it's some kind of prequel, or a sequel where the rebooted world after 3 is something of a do-over for civilization.

Or Monolith is just going to call anything they make from now on "Xenoblade" no matter what it's about.

@Kraven Ha! Everything is trying to release before GTA.

I heard 3 was pretty good, and it was a Eurocom game, but never got around to it.

@Hank_Scorpio The Remake trilogy is meant to be an expanded retelling of the original FF7. This is part 2. But...

...kind of a spoiler, but a lot of people get upset not knowing this going in...

... it's more like a direct sequel to the original, taking place in a parrallel universe. A lot plays out differently, and there is a subset of the fan-base that feel like they were misled.

@Tasuki What? Wii/DS was the last time Nintendo had consistent price drops. Remember the "Nintendo Selects" line? Those were all reprints at $20. Mario Kart Wii and Smash Bros were the two games I had to cave in and pay more than that for, and even then, they at least came down to $40 and $30 respectively.

Sure, the discounts never went quite as steep as XB and PS, but they were about as good as we ever saw with Nintendo. The company only got greedier after Reggie left.

@LastFootnote Yeah, they really are getting too big. The Samus Viola really went overboard. The deaign is neat, but the little amiibo puck under that giant thing make it look a bit silly. Should have just called it a figurine, that's not an amiibo anymore.

@Edd-O That was my first thought too. Never played Truxton, but the CGR review is great

They should have kept it secret. Fox isn't popular enough to move the needle on this thing's box office performance, but would have been a cool surprise.

That said, I'm glad he's in the movie.

@LazyDaisy I kinda hope they make Prime 5 next, but scale back their ambitions a bit. People seem to be rejecting the open world and companions, a back to basics entry seems in order. The original concept for MP2 was Samus trapped on a derelict space station fighting an out of control AI. Yeah, basically System Shock, but I would love to see a Metroid like that.

Then they should make something else after that. Like a new F-Zero.

@nhSnork Sorry, I think I misunderstood your post. Thought you meant you were port begging the Black Box era games.

@nhSnork I mean, on PC it's abandonware with a big modding community. You don't necessarily need to beg for a port.

@vanYth Certainly not the best NFS, but I used to say Nitro was the best Crusin' before Blast came around

@colecoletrane Don't look too hard or spend too much on the GC version. The piss filter is gone, but the graphics are otherwise noticeably worse; blury textures, worse lighting and reflections, plus they cut some music. I assume this was all done to fit on the small GC disks. That said, it still looks good and runs well. I certainly put many hours into this version.

As to the topic, I have not played every NFS, but am inclined to agree Most Wanted 2005 is the best. In fact I was pretty convinced it would forever remain the greatest open-world racer for all time, until Forza Horizon 3 came out and, maybe didn't top it but at least matched it.

That's barely even an amiibo anymore. Closer to a figma.

@Grumblevolcano I have a feeling Nintendo will focus on smaller acquisitions like Mercury Steam or something. They aren't the type to go for a leveraged buyout of, say, Warner Bros. They won't need to quickly make some huge pile of cash to please shareholders.

@shgamer Yeah, if we are really being objective, MK Tournament Edition on GBA might be the best game in this kollection.

I suppose I would be a "price-sensitive enthusiast". One who buys lots of games, but only once they are cheap.

Local wireless is something I guess, but wake me when they add split-screen.

@LexKitteh I think people would have taken to Viola a little better if that reveal at the end had happened earlier. In fact, it was an odd thing to try making into an end of game plot twist, just in general.

@KociolekDoSyta Yeah, I got the first one cheap on PC, and while the visuals are a bit bland, it's a fun game. The hate seems overblown.

@vio No, I didn't. Is there split-screen, or just online?

@vio Yeah, NightDive also seems reluctant to deal with multiplayer for some reason. Was really disappointed that got cut out of Turok 2, and they have made it abundantly clear they are not touching Rage Wars.

@vio Extreme G should be put on NSO, but XGRA should get a remaster. That was a good game even with some frame drops, but it would be fantastic if those were cleaned up.

@xzacutor "Beware! I live!"
Thank you. I was thinking it looked like Sinstar as well, but couldn't remember the name.

@Broosh It's me! And I am hyped someone else remembers this exists.

Geist is certainly rough around the edges with loose controls and a spotty framerate, but the haunting around is unique and a lot of fun. I had hoped this would get a Wiimake that polished things up, but it never came to be.

@datamonkey And Kirby's Avalanche was Puyo Puyo. And Balloon Fight was Joust.

I love the idea they have been building this massive world and story over 20 years, and I would love to experience it. But holy crap do I not have time for that.

@OrtadragoonX Look up Retro-bit. They make the most accurate Saturn controller recreations you'll find, right down to the nub under the d-pad.

Well, that pretty much kills my interest in this. Would have been fun to play with the family. At least they priced it accordingly.

@GASEOUS Absolutely true. I love ARMS, but it feels like a $30 game.

ARMS remains my favorite game on Switch. It's just simple, goofy fun that gives me flashbacks to a Capcom Dreamcast 3D fighter.

@LavaTwilight Yep. Monkey Ball 1, 2, and GX were all made by Amusement Vision. Play the games back to back sometime, and you'll notice some similarities in how they feel, look, and move.

@Galaxy2IsTheGOAT Others have given pretty good answers, but I kinda want to throw in my two cents anyway. The GBA games are both good ones to start with. Sacred Stones has a few more elements of the modern games, so play through that first. If you still want more, both the Switch games are great, but focus on different things.

Three Houses has a much better story and interesting characters. There are three different main paths depending which house you align with, and you kinda want to play all of them to get the whole picture of what's going down and why. There is a lot to be done between battles to recruit allies, and forge bonds with your units. You can even play matchmaker with many if your the shipping type. Battles are a bit more straightforward than usual though, and the famous "weapon triangles" don't play a role in this one.

Engage still has a fair amount to do between fights, but streamines it a lot compared to TH. There is one story route, and it's kind of a tropy Saturday moring anime for kids tale. Characters tend to have one trait that defines their whole personality. Gameplay is excellent though. Probably the most polished and refined the series has ever had.

TLDR: Play Three Houses if you like RPGs, Engage if you like strategy games.

"They look and sound and feel incredible to play still, every last one of them, but it's in how some so cannily sat between the 2D and 3D trends of the time."

YES! I loved this brief era where a lot of fighting games played much like a 2D fighter, but with side stepping. I don't who eventually mandated that you can't shoot quarter-circle punch fire balls in a 3D game anymore, but I hope they chip a tooth on their favorite beer mug.

@OorWullie It wouldn't surprise me if DxD ends up being my favorite S2 game, since ARMS is my favorite thing on S1. I tend to enjoy simple, goofy, arcadey games, stuff like that made the Dreamcast great. But just like ARMS, it will probably be hard to recommend this to other people. Expecting about $30 worth of content, but charged full price.

@Poco_Lypso Yeah. I know Min Min came to Smash, but ARMS feels otherwise abandoned. Which is weird, because it oustsold all the Xenoblades and even a few Mario sports games. Haven't tried recently, but online managed to stay surprisingly active for years after release.

@maulinks I might have to get the steelbook if they make one.

This is a SMT sub series I didn't expect them to do anything with again. Glad to be wrong.

@Coalescence We still don't have any eXtreme-G remasters. I'd be down for those.

Are they fixing the camera? Even for the time, the 3D Gex's had a terrible camera. Could be fun games if they touch that up.
@LikelySatan I don't like seeing games censored, but I would honestly enjoy these more if most of his in game diaogue was cut out. Another "even for the time" issue, his one-liners were a glass bottle of pure, distilled cringe that repeated way too often.

Come on Microsoft. Put these guys to work on a new Killer Instinct.

Third Age on GC is good, and both the GC and GBA versions of Return of the King are a lot of fun.

@nomither6 Ah, I see. In my theory, the home version would be the same as playing a docked hybrid. Lower priced due to lack of screen and battery.

@nomither6 The hybrid thing has been too big of a success to abandon, but I do think adding a dedicated home version on top of the handheld could make sense. Like, if I were to guess prices, a $450 hybrid, $350 home, and $250 handheld.

Switch is already too big to really work well as an on-the-go handheld. It's more like a console, that travels well. I don't take it on the bus, but will bring it on trips to play in the hotel room. So yes, Switch 2 is too big.
What I really want is an ExtraLite original Switch, that is clamshell and about as big as a mid-sized model DS.

I've been replaying Phantasy Star Online recently, and XCX looks kinda similar to that. Last remnants of humanity exploring a hostile new world and... killing all the wildlife.

@Aurumonado You found the connection! It all makes sense now!

@Coolmusic Terry looks bad in SF6. Like, the kind of bad that would cause quite an internet ruckus if he was female.