riki_sidekicks

I liked BMZ but hated BMZ2, so I’ll be passing on this one for sure.

@tadams587 for sure I prefer release delays for a higher quality product.

I got really burned by Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was rushed to make a holiday release date and it showed. (Many of the worst issues were fixed in post-release patches, but it took like four months and even then a bunch of pointless irritants that would never have made it past a real playtester are still there.)

What I want:
BOTW2
Pikmin 4
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Xenoblade Chronicles X-2
Metroid Prime 4

What I expect:
Zelda II Remastered, $60

JUSTICE FOR JESSICA!

@BloodNinja the big issue is that the men with impossible muscular physiques are designed to be more like power fantasies for men than for their sex appeal to straight women.

Basically, male characters designed for sex appeal to straight women will look more like men’s underwear models—lots of skin, clearly visible and toned muscles that aren’t steroidal.

If Malos had been designed for sex appeal the way Pyra and Mythra are, he would look very different.

I already have Xenoblade Chronicles 2, don’t need another one.

@Xylnox I thought Soulslike referred to games that take the specific mechanics that distinguish Dark Souls: enemies reset at bonfires (or meditation circles or park benches or whatever), experience points/money that’s dropped at the spot where you died, and dodge and parry melee combat based on precise timing in response to enemy animations.

Celeste is difficult, but it’s not a Soulslike. Respawning is quick and painless, you don’t drop resources at your death point because there are no persistent resources, and “combat”, to the extent it exists, consists of the same sort of platforming challenges as the rest of the game.

@Baker1000 I would go the other way, “RPG” has become so expansive that calling a game an “RPG” conveys no meaningful information. “JRPG” is much more specific and evocative, though even “JRPG” includes a lot of variety.

Unpopular opinion: “Metroidvania” is a great word and we should absolutely follow its example rather than lazily sticking “-like” on the name of one other game.

“Imagine trying to build a bridge as you cross it, placing planks down, stepping on to them, and hoping it holds. That's game genres.“

I really like this metaphor, except it goes for all of language, not just video game genres.

Why would I buy something I already have?

Loved Celeste but I’m not sure the design skills for that game will transfer to Metroidvania.

This was true for some of the shrines.

The ones where I didn't like the availability of the "unintended" solution is where you have to rotate these cubes to light all the torches without them getting doused in water. When you realize you can just set the torches on fire with fire arrows and bypass the puzzle, it destroys the puzzle.

I played about two years ago. I liked the game a lot but the touch paintbrush controls were pretty unreliable and I don't think the instanced combat has held up.

@Deliesh the fanbase is dominated by whiny snowflakes who spent years complaining about how Nintendo of America "censored" the option to dress a thirteen year old girl in a Playboy bunny outfit, so I lack optimism on that point.

@Travelguy36 if you think MQ is the worst SNES RPG, 7th Saga is even worse. There’s a reason exactly nobody has suggested that it should be on this list.

I sure am impressed by the, um, editorial judgment involved in selecting Mystic Quest on a top ten list of anything.

The new version doesn’t seem to be nearly enough of an upgrade to pay $60 for a game I already own.

I paid full price for Xenoblade DE even though my old copy still works fine, but there was a major graphical makeover and a bonus ten hour postgame. Skyward Sword seems to have only increased resolution and framerate. I’m not paying $60 for that.

I love this game and I think it’s the best of the OOTlikes, but I’m puzzled by removing the motion controls. The motion controls were central to the game and I don’t see how it would work without them.

@Mr-Fuggles777 I got off the first island and got as far as flipping control of a region and then gave up because it was so repetitive even after the tutorial island.

@Mr-Fuggles777 big turnoff for me. I bought ACO on sale and gave up after about eight hours. Too many icons, and every icon is just a variation on the same bandit camp.

Haven’t gotten it yet.

Those icons are just such a huge turnoff. I’m done with open worlds where the “world” is a glorified loading screen between map icons. I want more games where you see something interesting, and start going there, but you don’t make it because you see something else interesting nearby, and on the way to that you find another thing, and eventually you’re in a totally different corner of the map from where you originally planned.

Removing all those icons was so simple, and so brilliant, and yet somehow nobody but Nintendo tries.

You could have made this list a lot shorter by having XCDE as the only option

A season pass purchase option would qualify, and that would be pretty unobjectionable. I’ll withhold judgment until we know what the in-game purchases are.

Honestly, hearing that it's different is kind of disappointing. I wanted a Breath of the Wild clone, because Breath of the Wild is great and I wish there was more of it!

Most of the games so far that have supposedly been "inspired" by Breath of the Wild are either nothing like it, flat-out suck, or simply aren't out yet.

The bigger problem is that it will probably just suck thanks to the free-to-play business model.

NL is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for content I see.

Switch Series N

I might try it, but there is no way I am “buying” it.

I wasn’t interested anyway, but if they start pulling this games I want to play I’ll be extremely disappointed.

@fafonio open worlds are great but so are linear games. But some open worlds just suck. Witcher 3 is a great game but not because of its open world elements—it has a really serious case of “there is nothing to do or find except walk from icon to icon” syndrome.

@Cevil Xenoblade Chronicles is not an open word game (and neither is 2). It is a linear RPG in which instanced regions must be accessed in a specified order.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is an open world game, but it isn’t on Switch.

This is going to suck. Mega Man’s “plot” and mechanics are great for a platformer but would make no sense in a movie. An android goes around fighting themed robots and stealing their weapons?

Is there anyone who reports total sales? I’m not convinced physical copies are a very meaningful metric.

@Agramonte I think comparing absolute numbers is meaningless. That was a holiday release in a strong economy. This is a May release in an unprecedented global economic crisis brought on by a global pandemic.

The Wii original is the best-looking game I have ever played, before or since. It’s a real triumph of the power of art direction over “graphics”.

But if they’re going to make a “definitive edition” they should be bringing it up to state-of-the-art performance, not better-than-Wii performance.

I guess they know fanboys like me will buy it anyway.

The greatest video game of all time in HD. I don’t think I can stand to wait another month.

@SomeBitTripFan what makes you say that? Is there some giveaway that they are using the same underlying models?

Not that I really care. The original is the most beautiful game I’ve ever played, a testament to the power of art design over “graphics”.

NOOOOO! They changed the dialogue and music! I wanted the remake to be exactly the same as the original! #logic

@earthinheritor why just $40?

I bought a used Wii copy in 2014 for the then-bargain price of $85, and that was some of the best money I’ve ever spent.

Do we have any idea how much the pandemic is affecting this? Is Nintendo having people work from home, possibly with reduced productivity? Are national ratings/censorship boards that haven’t rated the game still active? Is the supply line to produce physical copies still in operation?

@Wexter I liked XC2 but it was not good enough to come anywhere near XC1. Too many minor complaints that added up. The game was rushed to make the holiday 2017 release date and it shows.

Fortunately, the most egregious problems, like the unskippable blade bonding cutscene, were fixed in post-release patches, but the fact that the game was released with such egregious problems illustrates how nobody playtested it or was being paid to ask “would this be fun?”

I just hope they don’t try to “improve” anything other than the graphics and some QOL improvements to the UI. If they try doing something like importing XC2’s rhythm game I will throw my Switch into the wall.

UGG was fun for the three hours it lasted, but I don’t see how something with so little content and zero replay value could possibly be GOTY. It wasn’t even some sort of phenomenal three hours, more of an amusing novelty.

Most of my gaming time is on the bus, so it’s not much of a choice for me. I have a PS4 but use it exclusively for games that aren’t on Switch.

The game needs some dark-skinned human-ish characters. Ganondorf is the only one. Otherwise it’s all white, Japanese, and doesn’t-look-remotely-human.

Not one Xenoblade character? I want Addam, Elma, L, Lin, Lora, Malos, Melia, Metal Face, Mythra, Rex, Riki, Zazadan, and Zeke.

@NEStalgia there’s no way this is IP theft. IP laws protect Nintendo’s characters, script, and code, but they don’t cover art styles, thematic content, or gameplay direction.

Only Nintendo can make Breath of the Wild 2, but anyone can make a Breath of the Wild ripoff.

Too much Fire Emblem, not enough Xenoblade. With Chronicles DE coming out this year I was really hoping another Xenoblade character would make it in.

@chriscare yep. All the Xenoblade, none of the gacha!

@chriscare forget game of the decade. The original Xenoblade Chronicles is my favorite game of all time and I have been playing video games since 1985.