psyraven76

Still no fix for the first Monster Hunter Stories, then? The audio issues in the cutscenes are terrible on Switch 2, but they play fine on the OG Switch...

Is Ollie not British? How can you not know that Eastenders is on the BBC, which famously has no ads? Hollyoaks would have been a more appropriate reference.

I'm actually way more interested in this than I would be in Space Marine 2. Gives Pillars of Eternity vibes.

Against the Storm is brilliant. For anyone who loved Caesar III, Pharaoh and Zeus back in the day, you need this game.

I'm intrigued by Wall World, which I had never seen hide nor hair of before. Might add that one to the old wishlist.

Edit: Checked on eShop and it's on sale for £3.59, so I figure it's worth a shot!

RELEASE THE NINJAS!!

The sooner we abolish all of this terrible generative AI bollocks, the better, for both our environment and our collective humanity.

Expect MKW and DKB to stay up there over the next few weeks. We're in prime Christmas present purchasing territory now and the kiddies will want the shiny new console under their Christmas tree...

I'm a bit sad that Donkey Kong Bananza isn't selling more... I've put over 50 hours into that game and loved every minute of it. One of my top 5 favourite games of all time.

The hardware dominance is insane, though. The Japanese really do prefer a handheld system, don't they?

The dancing animation in the Groove Layer is also amazing. DK really throws himself into it!

For anyone who doesn't know, you can go back there and play any of the song discs you've acquired through the epic disco sound system, which makes them sound much better than the gramophone in the Getaways! Just use the DJ mixing desk in either the speaker hall or the disco floor beneath.

I agree with PewnyPL that Daemon X Machina is the only one that gets a pass because of the clear homage to Deus Ex Machina. Other than that, it mostly just reminds me of Perdita X. Nitt (where X stands for someone who has a cool and exciting middle initial). It should have been Drag N Drive if they were going to pronounce it like that...

(Also, no-one mention Pokemon Legends Z-A to Jim - it might push him over the edge...)

@zool For what it's worth, I have terrible motion sickness in both cars and boats, but I didn't have a single moment of trouble in 30+ hours of Bananza. I did play it entirely in handheld, though, so I don't know whether that makes a difference. I suspect a lot of the people complaining are playing on massive 50" screens that they sit pretty close to...

I feel like the original release got almost no publicity and was buried in a bunch of other stuff. Personally, I got it confused with Star Wars Hunters, which came out around the same time and was a F2P live-service game that I had no interest in...

If they pull off a decent port, I might pick this one up finally as I'm a weirdo who quite enjoys UbiSoft's box-ticking open-world games (after waiting for the usual hefty discount, of course)

This is a really interesting perspective. Nintendo essentially creates giant Lego sets, where they can make the individual blocks into whatever they want. We're essentially seeing the same thing with Donkey Kong Bananza, where there are clearly assets (like the shop interfaces) that were probably based on some foundational code from Super Mario Odyssey. Reusing assets in this way probably brings down costs and shortens development times, but as long as you're coming up with a new and fun gameplay twist, the games will still feel fresh.

With only 15 minutes, I suspect this will be much like the Mario Kart World Direct and show us nothing that we didn't already see if we watched the Treehouse Live...

A fabulous, iconic voice that will live long in the memory... rest in peace, Ms Lim.

I always like to hold off for the Complete versions before buying Disgaea games, so this is great news!

@Darthmoogle I went back to RMX recently in preparation for this one coming out and, comparing the two, I find Fusion is much more forgiving in the handling (at least in the two 'cups' I've done so far). The tornado level is nuts, but even though it threw me off the track at least twice, I still managed to finish top three on Subsonic (and I'm not a particularly skilled player of racing games, even though I enjoy them). The Redwoods level also gives me vibes of the lightspeeder chase on Endor, which is super fun! For the price, it really is worth a shot.

Tried Link's Awakening earlier today on my new Switch 2 and it looks LUSH - so sharp and vibrant with buttery-smooth framerates. I know that one got a proper (free) patch, but I'm looking forward to seeing which other games can look this much better...

I mean, I'm sure it's fun if you actually have friends and/or family to play with...

I have put quite a bit of time into this on Steam and will definitely be double-dipping provided the port is decent. It's a very addictive gameplay loop (similar to old city-builders like Zeus) but sessions are nice and snappy because of the rogue-like mechanics and modifiers that provide different challenges in each settlement.

@Tdx They ARE offering free resolution and framerate upgrades for a whole bunch of games, including Mario Odyssey, Echoes of Wisdom and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - it's on their website. You can criticise the pricing - I can see both sides on that issue - but criticism should be based on the actual situation, not online misinformation

@jfp Yep, I just received an e-mail from them - finally! Worth checking your inboxes if you hadn't had one previously, as the offer is only valid for the day that you receive the e-mail. I imagine they will send out fresh invites every day this week based on how many people take up the offer each day!

I already have a pre-order with Argos because I had a gift card I wanted to use, so I'm going to skip this one (and hope that I don't end up regretting that if Argos cancel on me...) That does mean that at least one other person should get an invite tomorrow, though

@nocdaes THANK YOU! I'd asked them to notify me, but they didn't. I had a £100 gift card, so have managed to get the Mario Kart bundle ordered for £333 - score!

Based on that interview, why on earth didn't they call it The Bloodsworn, instead of The Duskbloods - that would have been a much more apt title and rolls off the tongue better.

@mariomaster96 Same, dude... same. I might still be interested in this and Nightreign, but I'm definitely less enthused than I would have been for new single-player games.

@AshleyGamer64 Player versus player... rather than PvE, which is player versus enemies (i.e. single player or cooperative)

Something no one seems to be mentioning in all the outrage on this topic is that the physical game cards are likely based on SD express card tech, which will allow for the fast load times and performance that everyone was insistent that they wanted. Those cards are WAY more expensive than regular SD cards, so of course the base price of a blank game card is also going to be much higher. This price hike is the price we pay for that (and, honestly, I'm kind of glad if it means I don't have to copy physical games onto my actual system like I do with the PS5).

It sucks in the current economy, sure, but inflation is a thing, however much we wish it wasn't, and game pricing was going to catch up with every other industry eventually and start to go up. All the people spamming the Treehouse chat just come across as entitled, honestly. Do they expect Nintendo employees to work for slave wages when games take years to make?

I genuinely rolled my eyes when I saw that rumour going around yesterday, so this has actually shocked me. I never thought they would do two Directs so close together.

Does this mean the 'amazing' Metroid Prime 4 footage is actually in this Direct rather than the Switch 2 one?

My first thought was new Paper Mario. But then I started to wonder if Nintendo has found a way to mimic the 3D visual effects of the 3DS with software instead of hardware... that would be very cool indeed.

I now have a hankering for a NintenDonut.. thanks, NL!

Also, I completely agree that there's no way the big N aren't going to come out with at least one totally barmy peripheral over the next 7 years, regardless of how much they're all sitting on their hands and trying to look normal and sensible at the moment.

Hang on! Sony have just found half a million extra PS2 sales down the back of the sofa...

@Anti-Matter That's not what it said - it said there are two VERSIONS of the game, and that it's for Switch 2. It will be like every other Pokemon game, released as two alternative versions of the same game, e.g. Sword and Shield, Diamond and Pearl...

(Also - [puts on tinfoil hat] - has anyone checked whether the Palworld developer has an alibi for this time period? 🤣)

Hmmm... sounds a lot like the spreading of incorrect rumours to drive up stock prices before selling. Isn't that sort of thing illegal?

I'm really hoping the leaks are real. Honestly, all I want out of the next console is a bit more juice so it runs games smoother and newer titles can be ported over, plus a slightly bigger screen for my ageing eyes, more ergonomic joycons and backwards compatibility for my Giant Backlog of Doom...

What, no Kong the Konqueror?

(I don't know why, but Bill Kong is just making me giggle uncontrollably. It really shouldn't be that funny...)

@timp29 Actually, it's even more complicated than that. Some of the more complex echoes use more than one triangle to summon - the moblin is two, for example, while the redead is three (you can see the number required on the icons in the top right corner). Essentially, Tri seems to be functioning like the zonai batteries in TotK, and seems to be similarly upgradeable (only has three triangles in total during the prison break / presumed tutorial section, but it's increased to four later on). This seems to be a really clever way of gating content until you are able to summon enough echoes to make a path... Very cool.

The Nintendo Switch generation truly has left us with some great gaming mammaries...

(I'll see myself out.)

Thanks for the tip! Have just placed my order! It's nice to have something to spend the platinum points on...

@Waluigi451 I found that multiple jokers giving xMult rather than + Mult are the key (especially ones that increase over time with your actions, e.g. +0.25 for every enhanced card, or steel card, or every tarot card played) - that and opening every planet pack to upgrade your base chips and mult can rack up huge scores in later antes. I picked up a lot of tips watching the Balatro University channel on Youtube and have now beaten both Red and Blue decks on base difficulty. Getting a joker or two that give extra gold or tarot cards early on is also very helpful.

My life belongs to FFVII Rebirth at the moment, but I'm definitely wishlisting this one for a future purchase. Should probably get round to playing Tactics Ogre and Triangle Strategy first, though - bought both on sale but haven't touched them yet. The plus side of a backlog is not feeling the need to buy games at launch - I can afford to wait for a sale on this one, too.

Glad I held off on purchasing this one now (as I was previously burned by buying Persona 5 right before Royal came out). I will get the expanded version instead.

Noooooooo... I have a work meeting at that time. Could you not have done it an hour earlier, Nintendo?!!

♫ "Chikorita, tell me what's wrooooooong?" ♫

@picola-wicola It's Not Safe For Work

That extra quarter of an inch makes all the difference...

I think the issue here is that when the first game has been heavily discounted on such a regular basis, most people are going to be expecting that this will follow a similar path. I know that's why I haven't picked it up yet.

Ubisoft are kind of their own worst enemy in that sense - we may all hate that Nintendo never puts their games on sale at more than 35% off, but that does mean you can confidently pick up those games at launch (or the first time it drops to that standard sale price) without worrying that you're going to feel cheated when it drops to a fraction of that price three months later.

Had originally planned to pick up Sea of Stars, but it's been announced as day one on PS Plus so will play that one on PS5. Definitely tempted to pick up Vampire Survivors, though - spent quite a lot of hours on the Steam version, but I can imagine it being perfect for a 30 minutes before bed session on handheld...

Edited to add: Honestly, I will probably still be playing Pikmin 4 all through August; I am loving every minute with that game!

@mjharper I'm pretty sure this counts as parody, so they wouldn't have needed permission from anyone, legally speaking. Still pretty brave, though, given how litigious the big N usually is!

Considering how much it threw me out of the story when Ciri's eyebrows changed colour between the final scene of season 1 and the first of season 2 (a time-span of around 5 minutes within the show), I don't think I'll be able to adjust to a new Geralt...

It's really sad, as (unlike many here) I haven't read the books or played the games yet, so I've actually really enjoyed both seasons of the show.

@daggot It's the first one, I believe. I've spent a crazy number of hours on TV2 on Steam, so I prefer that one myself, but the first one was still a nice little game (and I think they've included more game type options to extend replayability a bit)

Does this mean Unlimited SaGa might also appear one day? (fingers crossed) I had that on PS2 and it's slot-machine style battle system confused the hell out of me at the time because it was so different than Square's usual turn-based battles. Would love to give it another go, though...