kalosn

kalosn

Switch 2 - The Future is Here

Comments 1,675

Re: Here's Your First Look At Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings

kalosn

Studio Giggex, I thought it was Powerhouse for a second, since they made some short 2D trailers for recent games too. Oh so many animation studios out there, they deserve to work on more long-form series!
We haven't seen Sonic this "anime" since Sonic X. It makes me wish for a longer animated series in this style, but maybe more based on the Sonic comics, that would be awesome to see tbh

Re: Soapbox: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Won't Be The Franchise's 'BOTW Moment', And That's Okay

kalosn

Halo 4-5, Uncharted 4, Gears 4/5, Pikmin 4....
You're right that they weren't groundbreaking to their franchises like BoTW was. What they DID were, though, were bigger, more expansive, technologically advanced iterations of them. Visually at least, MP4 is coping with that, though I still need to see more.

I don't want this game to be revolutionary to the point of not being Metroid Prime, what I want for it is to use the technology, horsepower and development time it has to create new gameplay opportunities, expansive worlds (open areas at least), a more immersive narrative, it has the chance to be Nintendo's western-developed masterpiece, to remind everybody what the new and bigger Retro Studios is truly capable of.

I think Nintendo intentionally made the first trailer look as familiar as possible so that we players can understand that this is indeed Metroid Prime at base. Who knows, then, what they will show after (hopefully we get a Metroid Direct someday!)

Re: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Confirmed For Switch, Launching 2025

kalosn

It's running at 60fps on the base Switch, that is impressive.
But how? Is it related to the game's size and scope? Hopefully not, this needs to be the biggest Metroid game ever.
It was previously rumored the game would feature open areas at least, but from what I'm seeing, it's looking as contained as the previous mainline Metroid games. Maybe we need to know more info soon?

Re: Gallery: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Is Looking Absolutely Stunning On Switch

kalosn

The game is looking pretty beautiful, yes. But if you look closely at the screenshots, you can see some small rough edges inherent to the Switch's limitations, mainly about detail. Not to mention, the resolution which clearly caps at 720p.
It's very impressive how they're making this look like a modern Doom game running at 60fps on the Switch, but it can look even better than that. With higher polygon counts, more reflections, geometry tesselation... maybe even more than just detail, like enemy counts and scope size.
They chose performance with this game, now they can choose to enhance the visual detail for the Switch 2.

Re: Reaction: A Direct That Delivered, And Shows That Switch Still Has Plenty Of Pep

kalosn

I still remember Midori saying this Direct would be 'peak' compared to the most recent Xbox Showcase.
This presentation was magnificent, being the Switch swansong it was, there were pretty good and colorful surprises there, and exciting announcements that I wasn't expecting even!

But without Switch 2 reveals, there were few chances it could even match the Xbox Showcase. I still want those Zelda remasters and Silksong... Oh well, Metroid was there, and that was definitely something huge.

Re: New 2D Adventure 'The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom' Announced For This September

kalosn

This is one of my favourite announcements. I suspected Grezzo was making a new 2D Zelda game, but giving it a twist and breaking new conventions?
Since this is Nintendo we're talking, I trust how innovative this will be. And it surely is. Zelda is the protagonist this time, and all the new mechanics look very interesting and enticing. I sense a lot of potential with the summoning staff.
Maybe with the Switch 2 you can summon everything at once

Re: We're Getting A Brand New 'Mario & Luigi' RPG This November

kalosn

Okay, that's definitely a lot of Mario games recently, but hey, this was common in the 3DS era, just like the desire of seeing a new Mario & Luigi game

But it's very very original. In fact, these characters could suit another franchise or medium easily. There's your potential for adaptations

Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Summer Game Fest 2024 Opening Showcase?

kalosn

When Nintendo unveiled the NX back in March 2015, it left a big room for companies to at least mention its codename during press releases. Remember Project Sonic 2017? Yeah you do

I wish Nintendo consoles joined the fun of being multiplatform, especially after Valorant was announced for current-gen consoles only.
Still, I enjoyed the presentation for focusing on developers and variety instead of simply big franchises and blockbusters, it felt so necessary after the tumultous state of affairs in the industry. In fact, seeing a huge diversity of games, initiatives (Outersloth!), newcomers like Blumhouse and so much more in the Day of the Devs presentation was a remark of how resilent, productive and profitable the game industry is.

Also, I liked how big the animation presence was in this event, the amount of amazingly animated trailers seen every minute, there's so much diversity to consider here.

Re: Poll: Is $60 Too Much For Nintendo's Switch Re-Releases?

kalosn

I think it's very obvious that $60 is definitely too much for remasters/faithful remakes in general, as the commenters have already pointed out.

In Paper Mario TTYD vs. Luigi's Mansion 2, the difference is even clearer. I think for the Paper Mario remake $50 would be high enough, but for LM2? The price shouldn't be higher than $30. It already had a fair price on the 3DS, over ten years ago!

For some reason Nintendo works like this currently. Who knows, maybe it'll take more AAA games for the upcoming console for them to realize how uneccessarily high those prices are, especially considering the popularity of these franchises (I know, high demand means inflation, but that is not an excuse for other publishers to do that to their beloved remasters)

Re: Soapbox: Square Enix's "Extraordinary Losses" And This Whole Xbox Mess Have Me Scared For The Future

kalosn

After finally reaching stability when the PS4/Xbox One released at the end of 2013, the rise of mid-budget games and the industry growth in general began after the release of the Nintendo Switch in 2017, many devs around the world noted such a big opportunity and thus, began an era of parallel growth for everyone in the industry, which led to it become massively profitable over the years after 2017.

How the heck, after these years of development increases, everyone firing on all cylinders, did it come to this? It makes no sense, it shouldn't have been this way, we should be seeing some optimization around studios who make too much, but never this kind of consolidation.
Look, I won't accept any of this until I give it reason. I have a consp--- belief that original Switch simply became too old for the big development picture ever since 2021, and that's why the Switch 2 could "save" this industry from shrinking, just like when the Switch generation brought growth to an stable, but mid industry before 2018.

Re: Rumour: Switch Successor's Codename May Have Been Uncovered

kalosn

I have another theory, if you turn the "M" upside down in Muji, you get Wuji, which is the absence of yin and yang in Taoism. Since the Switch logo was made to resemble the yin and yang (which represented how it balanced the handheld and home console concepts), there's something to dig about there.

Re: Nintendo Switch "Successor" Announcement Is Coming "This Fiscal Year"

kalosn

Basically, this means, before March 2025 we will see an announcement of the console! Nice way of not being specific!

But I seriously hope they don't make us wait for too long. The rumours previously said June would be the announcement of the console, and now they're saying a June direct will focus only on the current Switch. Like, what's with that? Are they really willing to test the patience of its audience like 8 years ago?!

Oooh... I still remember, still shuddering at every single mention of the word "NX" on this site. Right, @rumorlife?

Re: Review: Endless Ocean: Luminous (Switch) - A Meditative Marine Milieu, But Incredibly Shallow

kalosn

It must be a huge disappointment to see a Nintendo-published game get this score. I knew the online focus would make this experience noticeably different than previous installments, but not to that extent of affecting the overall gameplay. At least I can hope for a sequel to Blue World if this one sells to expectations, but with the conseus about the game being mostly this, I don't know...

Re: Poll: Are You Bothered By The Frame Rate For Paper Mario: TTYD On Switch?

kalosn

You're kidding, right?
Let's be clear with this once for all. This remake really pushes the Switch's capabilities to make it look even glossier than The Origami King, which was already a big, photo-realistic game and ran at 30fps as a result.
By comparison, the visual quality of the original game was more leaing on a simplistic stylization than actually pushing the GameCube hardware, as such, it could easily run at 60fps.
Besides, this won't be a problem if the Switch 2 is backwards compatible. Tearaway Unfolded on PS4 ran at 60fps at least, that is a minimum close comparison point.

Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For The Knuckles Paramount+ TV Show

kalosn

Well it's not exactly what I thought it would be, but at least it's an entertaining spectacle while waiting for the sequel. It's just a reminder that the film universe can have a different feeling than what we're used with Sonic adaptations, as it focuses more on human-mobian(?) interactions than one single character alone.

Paramount+ is going well in terms of video game adaptations. No matter what you think of Halo, its viewership success serves as an access for more of them on the platform, like the recently-released ARK Animated Series that definitely deserves a watch.

Re: 3DS And Wii U Users Say Goodbye To Online Play

kalosn

And to think the first time I saw Nintendo Network, I could only think of Nintendo finally making their move into more integrated online features. So many memories playing with 3DS online, especially Kid Icarus and Pokémon...

Re: Video: Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis Of Kingdom Come Deliverance On Switch

kalosn

The visual design and core experience are intact, and that's great for a game this caliber on Switch.

Considering the "typical" Switch port, this is a miracle on the same level as Crysis and Witcher 3. In fact, the sharpening filter gives the landscape a photoreal vintage look, a surprise for the Switch. Now what, it includes the more advanced Global Illumination solution from the PC version?! Now that's truly something to behold! Not even my 2018 self could've thought that'd be possible.
Now had this port existed 5 years ago, everybody would have lauded it as a tech showcase for the handheld.

What people want to know now is if the Switch 2 could run games like GTA 6 and Alan Wake 2. We'll definitely see this kind of "miraculous port" equivalent for the successor as the generation progresses, and that includes "next-gen" patches!

Re: Nintendo And Illumination Announce New Mario Bros. Animated Movie

kalosn

It's a wait of 3 years for the sequel... yeah. Long-form animation is known for taking such time to be finished, not too dissimilar from video games huh?
What I really wish right now is Nintendo to announce more projects. Look at what Playstation Productions is doing with live-action... there are never enough animated productions that give you that level of satisfaction.

Re: Poll: So, Have You Finished Pokémon Legends: Arceus Yet?

kalosn

I've completed all the main stories and I still find it enjoyable to play every once and again.
That game was important for the mechanics of the main games, and everything felt very complete, including a post-game that felt like the second part of the story. Since S/V were developed simultaneously, it lacked these new gameplay features, they should become the norm in future games.

I just wish they had gone further in adding new powerful forms and exploring more of the lore in-game. That alone is something I hope they do much better in Z-A, especially since Mega Evolutions could be finally back...

Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Is Apparently "Set Entirely Within Lumiose City"

kalosn

Like the previous Legends game, this will likely be a AA game for Game Freak where the main focus is experimentation, well maybe bigger this time if they take more time. Like I was speculating before, this could be like the classic Assassin's Creed games (since this is Kalos, something like Unity ) or Watch Dogs in terms of city scale (and maybe some exploration zones as part of missions). Maybe this is Game Freak experimenting with big, immersive 3D cities where you can actually enter buildings.

In terms of genre, well, it could be a objective-based city exploration game like these games, but with the action-adventure RPG (or simply RPG battles if that will be the focus) instead of stealth or hacking. In these game will be as contained as they're implying, I hope they try the not too far risk of bringing back the cinematic battles of the Stadium-style games.

There is also speculation of simulation elements. Of course, the other option could be a GTA-like sandbox game... now that would be out of the ordinary stuff lol

Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Announced, Coming To Switch In 2025

kalosn

Now that I've seen in again, to be honest I don't know what this game could actually be. There wasn't even any gameplay footage, unlike PLA's reveal trailer. And to be fair, PLA's style should become commonplace with every Pokémon game onwards, in fact, that experimentation for the franchise was its purpose in the first place.
Just in any case, I hope it's still an action-adventure RPG, but that it introduces new gameplay elements that Game Freak wanted to experiment with recent Pokémon titles. The setting will be (a potentially futuristic) Lumoise City, which reminds me of open-city games like the pre-Origins Assassin's Creed games and Watch Dogs...

Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Announced, Coming To Switch In 2025

kalosn

Lol, so many Gold & Silver teases, yet this was definitely not Johto. Troll Freak, you game.
But analyzing this, this is indeed a surprise. This will be Game Freak's second AA experimental main Pokémon game after Legends: Arceus, and that 2025 release date only ponders about cross-gen.

But I'm still worried about some stuff, I hope Game Freak knows what they can do and save the Gen 10 game for 2026 so they can accomplish that 4-year (or more) development cycle a modern AAA Pokémon game deserves.

And as long as Mega Evolutions return, I'm all for it! They are not strictly Kalosian, mind you.