Comments 5,954

Re: Video: Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster Shows Off Switch 2 Mouse Minigames

nhSnork

Mice are nice but I'd rather clarify about the dual audio - a commonality in some Square Enix games but absent or subject to fine print in a couple comebacks like TWEWY or Minstrel Song.

@garfeek you can still reportedly download DSiWare/WiiWare purchases over a decade later, let alone the Gen 8 stuff. Same with delisted titles on Switch - as long as you've bought it, you can reinstall it. Except for select goofups like The Crew or general anomalies like retail "cloud versions", most exceptions are freemiums you don't purchase to begin with.

Re: Feature: Farewell, Nintendo Switch - It's Finally Time To Bid Our Old Friend 'Adieu'

nhSnork

Fat chance. I just grabbed a couple more games this week, wrapped up another game (leaving Burnout Paradise's Big Surf Island at 75% because I'm not doing the obligatory online multiplayer for the rest) and reinstalled yet another couple. And my combined four-platform backlog on 3DS and Vita keeps on keeping on as well, so why would my all-time fave console and the largest single machine game stash to date be any different? Especially with the still less commonplace storage format of its successor?

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (31st May)

nhSnork

Besides the usual RPG franchise binge pool from Xenoblades and Personas to Castlevanias and Ateliers, the advent of the Azuma adventure begets a particular itch for the sim RPGs from the other Rune Factories (I even squeezed RF4 back onboard for the occasion despite focusing on 3 and 5 as of late) to other genre gems like Portia, Mineral Town, Potion Permit and Deadcraft; I'm also eyeing the long wishlisted Grow: Song of the Evertree but that investment likely won't happen this weekend, especially after I already just pulled the trigger on Risk of Rain Returns and used it to fill most of the remaining storage gained from the KotOR shelving; I might gain more if I actually manage to mop up the last Burnout Paradise bits (implying it won't take me until November or so to spot the last two smash gatesπŸ•΅), but then those extra 4 Gb might instead prompt more archive juggling towards the return of Sakuna whose protagonist, lest we forget, will be a guest NPC in Azuma as well!).

Other Switch moods include a variety of roguelites (Downwell, Caveblazers, Undermine, Little Noah, Tallowmere 2, Vampire/Twilight Survivors and the aforementioned Risk of Rain) and a bunch of other variably frequented playthroughs (PowerWash, Mudrunner, Ara Fell, Guacamelee, Skyrim, Lost in Random, Crisis Core). The more stationary platforms are likely ruled out this time, but there may well be time and mood for a bunch of handheld sessions like Fantasy Life (but of course), Chase Begins, Eternia, Neptunia, Dishonored, Payback, FFXIII/XV and Morrowind (blame Reddit for that last oneπŸ˜‚). And yeah, with Minsk retailers seemingly settling on 1799 BYN for next Thursday's most important release (after Azuma, I mean), chances are the hardware lineup involved above will remain more or less the same until late June as predicted.

Re: PowerWash Simulator's Final Free Content Update Splashes Onto Switch

nhSnork

@The_Nintend_Pedant I can testify against the notion, at least in part because the PWS stages (heck, even the finished portions of in-progress jobs) boast fictionally enduring results until replayed from scratch.😻😏

@AussieMcBucket I personally didn't tweak anything, just making sure to toggle gyro (L button) every time I entered a location. For the record, it's a rare game that actually supports the feature even on the memetically neglected DualShock 4.

Re: Japanese Charts: Fantasy Life i Caps Off The Switch 1 With A Big Win

nhSnork

"We're morbidly curious to see what happens to those PS5 figures when Nintendo's new console hits. They're already... not good, y'know?"

That's one way to invite Anti-Matter into a discussion. But seriously, as long as at least someone in Japan is in the market for a home console after all, PS5 seems to be the new optimal choice for them by now, especially with a slowly increasing number of Gen 9 exclusive JRPGs over the years.

@molkom well, they're only the largest current gen console userbase in Japan. That does tend to factor in here and there (not saying the latter with condescending sarcasm, it's just not the only factor at play).

Re: Poll: With One Week To Go, What Are Your Switch 2 Launch-Day Plans?

nhSnork

Checking a few retail spots to see if they already have any stock (not likely) and if it's priced within what I can wring out of my wallet at the discussed moment (even less likely). Otherwise, playing the preloaded Guardians of Azuma on Switch.

Incidentally amusing that weekly release posts only allow for up to 5 votes, but this one humours the possibility of someone sweeping the console's entire launch lineup.πŸ˜† But like I said before, managing the hardware investment this summer would still probably leave me with funds for one nextgen option at most, and for now the scope reticle is on Cyberpunk. Of course, my meatiest influx of disposable income being tied to the last days of June, there's plenty of time for something even juicier (within my system of whims and interests) to pop up, so time will tell. Accessory-wise, I'll stick to internal storage for the visible future but might look into available cases and protectors (although the latter would have to be glass type for my posterior to have any chance in hell of properly applying itπŸ™„πŸ˜…).

Re: Rumour: Iconic Studio Codemasters May Soon Close For Good

nhSnork

I feel increasingly compelled to ask how many VG industry executives in current employment even boast a matching education as opposed to "shell games and financial pyramids for dummies". And whether the entire concept of public trading may have been a mistake.πŸ‘€

Re: Nintendo Updates Switch 2 Backwards Compatibility List

nhSnork

Too bad Palia is still on the list, I hoped to return to this 10 Gb freemium (or possible an even larger version thereof, considering the reported content updates since) on NS2... but at worst, I could always just put it back on Switch by offloading something else, and its "live service" nature suggests high odds of a compatibility patch anyway. I dare expect many other titles like the Square Enix-helmed NieR Automata and Harvestella will get ironed out in the visible future, too; it's the ones with rumouredly defunct studios or unresolved publisher feuds that would be a cause for concern, but so far I'm not spotting either kind of such [allegedly applicable] cases. If anything, the dawn of the new console generation can even make you wonder if some previously delisted games could resurface once again.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (24th May)

nhSnork

Among Switch ambitions, the familiar TBD mix of Xenoblades, Ateliers, Personas, Rune Factories and Castlevanias, more RPGs from Fuga, Crisis Core and Borderlands 2 to Cyber Sleuth, Minstrel Song and KotOR plus more possible sessions in yet other genres from Civilization 6, Tallowmere 2 and Mudrunner to Twilight Survivors, PowerWash and TerraTech. The handhelds may see more Dishonored, FFXIII, God of War, Valentia and Eternia while PS4 was set for a sampling of multiple fresh Catalogue additions before I faced the need to hook it up elsewhere, further from the router and beyond the already lengthy LAN cable procured back in January. Now the streaming process might become more tedious (although FWIW a brief shot at GoW'18 did get to the title screen without issues), and I'm reluctant to manage more storage this weekend, so perhaps the allocated time will end up revolving around the installed stuff like Hundred Knight, Crew 2 and Sakura Wars. I will also try resuming my GTA V Epic playthrough on the laptop but the game's long-term presence there depends entirely on the frequency of 50-60 Gb patches (then again, with GTA VI ever closer, the devs may not focus on new Online content to past extents anyway).

Re: Atelier Yumia Free Update #2 Now Available, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

nhSnork

I don't expect to need these charismatic difficulties anytime soon, even the standard one proving to be the umpteenth case of fandom-downplayed RPG combat that will wipe the floor with you if you heed the allegations, but no looking the gift horse in the mouth here. The game is easily one of this year's abundant JRPG highlights overall, and one of its franchise's, too.

Re: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Dev Used Procedural Generation To Manage 100,000 Different Assets

nhSnork

Nobody sane would confuse this for generative AI. Same reason my eyeball muscles get a workout at the sight of neural network "creations" while my lips praise titles like SuperMash. A human-controlled environment and a pool of dedicated original resources to generate combinations of is pretty much what everyone expected AI to continue evolving as a handy tool in before things went south. As with all computers in general, the whole point is to facilitate the act of creation by taking over select routines, not to substitute said act with an unauthorizedly digested and unconsciously regurgitated database.

Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Four More Titles

nhSnork

Survival Kids alone would make this update... or half the lineup, for that matter. One of THE handheld Gen 5 classics in my book - a codifier of many things in what would become a partly eponymous genre and still a somewhat Zelda-flavoured actventure at its core, the predecessor to Lost in Blue games and own upcoming NS2 sequel (which likely factored in with the emergence here)... I got several endings while emulating the game way back when, but this will be a good prompt to revisit it for the rest. The Game Boy additions are also neat, especially the relative deep cut that is Kemco's Sword of Hope (hopefully the sequel, already revisited on 3DS VC westside once, is also in the cards).

@HammerGaladeBro Kid Clown series itself is part of the aforementioned rabbit hole since Night Mayor's World was basically dolled-up for lack of a regional Disney license Kemco had procured for some of its home turf output. My post-Soviet bootleg childhood being packed with Japanese exotics of the era (Battle City alone was arguably bigger than Mario here in Belarus, and quite possibly an inspirational contribution to the eventual existence of World of Tanks series), I had the original Mickey Mouse Yume Fuusen (Dream Balloon) in my own "Subor" library, and what heck of a platformer it remains to this day! Fingers crossed either incarnation may also join the NSO ranks sometime.

Re: Random: Do You Recognise This Obscure Nintendo Console From The Switch Online Icons?

nhSnork

"You know, so you can cash in all those gold coins in Super Mario Bros. in real life. (Not really... but it'd be funny, right?)"

Well, people poking digital hamsters seem to take this subject quite seriously. But seriously, it's an awesome factoid indeed, in sync with what I've read in Wikipedia about Famicom being briefly envisioned as a more literal computer out the gate before Nintendo opted for a more affordable and more accessible approach. Looks like not everything about the former idea was scrapped, then!

@Galaxy2IsTheGOAT I sure own one, but it got buried under the accidentally knocked-over pyramid of all the Virtual Boys I also own, and my procrastination still prevents the cleanup.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (17th May)

nhSnork

Besides the usual franchise-wide itches like Xenoblades, Ateliers and Castlevanias, potential Switch sessions may come to include stuff like Crisis Core and FFXII, PowerWash and Minstrel Song, Crime O'Clock and Baten Kaitos, Assassin's Creed 2 and Mudrunner, Saints Row 4 and Resident Evil 0... Ministry of Broadcast might also elbow in if I pull the trigger on it before Monday AND clear the 2 Gb required for it. The handheld moods revolve around Strange Journey, God of War, Eternia and Dishonored while the [comparatively] more stationary ones beckon with GTA V in the continuing wait for its hybrid incarnation (I stuffed the thing back on PS4 where its updates can be downloaded in rest mode, though I do also ponder the return of the EGS version which housed my latest and relatively longest playthrough before it stopped cooperating with my Deck and still has the benefit of user tracks), but other backlog items from Witcher or Port Royale on the laptop to NFS2015 or Witch & Hundred Knight on PS4 aren't improbable either.

Re: The Hundred Line Director Has Already Announced A Brand New Game

nhSnork

Well, it suggests they have enough confidence in the studio's current state and capability - amen to that. As for Tribe Nine, it's not even region-locked on Belarusian Steam (although it is on Google Play)... and this is still the first I've heard of it, padre.πŸ˜… Then again, freemiums reportedly have complicated relationships with Deck's Linux-based SteamOS, so no telling if I'd even have much of a chance with it.

Re: Nintendo: "Physical Games Are Still A Key Part Of Our Business"

nhSnork

As someone still waiting for the friggen Dragon Quest Heroes pack in the west (the title whose Japanese demo was my first Switch playtime back in April 2017!), I can see where he's coming from. Of course, you'd think a digital release would suffice in place of a plastic DRM piece like it has widely done this gen, but in the case of the aforementioned DQH it clearly didn't, so publishers clearly work in mysterious ways.[/salt]

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (10th May)

nhSnork

This weekend's whims are spread among the familiar time sinks (Xenoblades and Ateliers, Rune Factories and Personas, Castlevanias and Zeldas, survivors and warriors) and another motley bunch of moods ranging from Langrisser, Momodora and Windbound to Downwell, Crisis Core and Assassin's Creed 2. Some NSO stuff like Yoshi's Island and Zero Mission is possible, too. Other itches include a general racing one looking to translate into varied sessions like Wreckfest, Super Mario Kart, NFS2015/Payback, Grid 2, Gran Turismo PSP and even its eponymous progenitor (which I put on Deck instead of Vita for lack of confidence in how many buttons a home console simcade might require), and then another whim even led me to install God of War Collection at long last. A nerd's mind works in mysterious ways.

Re: Gearbox's Randy Pitchford Admits Borderlands 4 Might Follow Nintendo's New Pricing

nhSnork

@Vyacheslav333 the majority of my gargantuan library is owed to eShop sales as well, and I was talking third party discounts on Switch in my first comment here, so that's no news and a practice that arguably stems from the same Steam environment as well. But 30% being lower than 90% doesn't make it remotely insignificant within a given range of 100 either. There are many third party games that barely even see that big a sale for most of their shelf life, and select ones like Factorio even consciously rule out any discounts at all. Comparisons can be multifaceted like that.

@Alcea "ripped off" as in, forced to buy an entertainment experience they don't need for a living and only seek on the basis of crippling hedonistic addictions?

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Re: Gearbox's Randy Pitchford Admits Borderlands 4 Might Follow Nintendo's New Pricing

nhSnork

@Vyacheslav333 mostly those that were delisted before ever they had time to get a sale, from what I've seen. Most of the rest eventually hits the double threes, and a fair lot boasts technically on-demand discounts courtesy of NSO vouchers, too. In itself, a third of the price is only "a joke" for someone spoiled by other platforms like Steam, but those platforms come with varied fine print from a TV-shaped ball'n'chain to the joys of streaming to the fluctuating whims and mercy of Linuxoid handhelds.

Re: Gearbox's Randy Pitchford Admits Borderlands 4 Might Follow Nintendo's New Pricing

nhSnork

@tiakai92 I bought the first game around launch at full price and certainly wouldn't trade the resulting fun and memories for the reputation of a so-called "sane man" with other fans. I've completed almost everything in that "nightmare" (except for a couple DLC sidequests including Crawmerax) and have been having as much of a blast with the second one. I like my nightmares natively portable and gyro-equipped.😏

PS. Borderlands 3 originally came out in 2019, so it's a literally current-gen "old game".πŸ˜…

Re: Gearbox's Randy Pitchford Admits Borderlands 4 Might Follow Nintendo's New Pricing

nhSnork

@tektite_captain and Steam-spoiled fans are infamous for treating Nintendo's traditional 33% off as a non-discount, but you'd think 2K's history of eShop sales would at least leave a different impression. I'm still neck deep in B2 myself, and even B3 has come to recurrently lose more than half its launch price in the meantime. Is the "Nintendo tax" in the room with us right now?