shgamer

Still playing Remnant: From the Ashes (30 hours in).
Pros: Fun gun play and good level design - fast loading times when you die - runs well on Switch
Neutral: Lots and lots of grinding (especially when played solo) - but at least it's really fun to do
Cons: Long loading times between levels - some minor bugs - nothing game breaking at all though

@Cashews I got it for 10 € and I'm fairly satisfied with my purchase, just felt it got a bit samey (I prefer Doom (1993) and Duke Nukem 3D over this).

Probably ported by Nightdive, so it should be good with weapons wheel and all, but I haven't gotten very far in Power Exhumed (4 hours only).

I enjoy the gameplay, but I have difficulties figuring out how to progress (I'll look some Youtube walkthrough at some point to see if it can help me).

Quake (I) overstayed its welcome after 12 hours, and I've heard II is not as good as the first one, so I think I'll pass for now (at least until I'm done with Powerslave Exhumed).

I played an hour of it 8-10 years ago on my PS3 via a PS Plus trial version and although it did have an interesting narrative, the gameplay/action was the usual Rock* "jank".

Remnant: From the Ashes, a souls-like (meaning it has equivalents to bonfires, estus flask, consumables to cure ailments, boost various
abilities etc.) 3rd person action shooter from the makers of Darksiders 3.

The Switch version looks very much like the Darksiders 3 Switch version, although it does seem like they went for performance over graphics for this port (it does suffer from long loading times between levels though).

The game has some great shooting action and a lot of customization and has quite a bit of a learning curve (just like Darksiders 3 actually) but it's quite fun (tough though - it's a souls-like game after all).

@nimnio It's a divisive game I agree. Many people like it because it has co-op. Many people dislike because it's bad as a horror game. Personally I like it because it's a great over the top action game and because it's actually quite fun learning to tackle AI Sheva when you play solo.

There's also the problem with people craving discounts to keep it selling, that there's high inflation, the Joy Cons are complex and expensive to manufacture, the screens IDK, but they probably don't go down in price as much as chips or ram, plus the fact that Nintendo wants to turn a profit on their hardware (and the Lite model is already exceptional inexpensive imo - best value handheld I've ever had).

@SwitchForce Amazon's lists of bestselling video games, accessories, consoles, eShop/PSstore vouchers etc. in US/UK/Germany/France/Italy/Spain. PS5 is high up on all these lists atm while the Switch is not so high up (and I've following these lists daily since TotK released because I want new hardware - lol).

It's actually RE5 that is still number one if you put together all the versions accounted for (OG, Gold edition, remasters) plus the unaccounted for PC and Switch version.

PS5 is selling gangbusters right now because of the price drop, so who knows if Switch can keep up the pace.

Just ordered a game called 'Remnant: From the Ashes' that somehow had flown under my radar. The release of the sequel made me discover that there's even a fairly newly released Switch version.

Not a particular smallish game (I would call it an AA game), but somehow Nintendolife didn't deem it worthy for a review..

It's developed by Gunfire Games that also made Darksiders III (and the remaster of II) and looks a bit like III graphically (seems to be reusing some assets). But it looks like a fun 3rd person shooter with some melee thrown in as well (the Switch version should also run well).

Just shows that maybe there's still left some life in the old Switch for me personally (and if not I've got my Steam Deck for the long winter nights ahead of me).

Raid mode in Resident Evil Revelations 3DS version is what I'm planning to play later today.

@nukatha Football/Soccer is probably the most popular sport not only in Europe, but worldwide (as I often say to myself: "Bald spielen wir fussbald" ).

Only 7 of the games actually released in 2023 (GTA V is just behind TotK).

Still think we'll get a Switch successor by november. Switch hardware sales have fallen from 106,000 units to 64,000 in Japan in just 2 weeks for not apparent reasons other than market saturation.

I've been continuing my "Handheld Fighting Games Quest" (don't that to seriously - just an internal joke I'm having with myself ) the last few days.

I'm more or less done with Street Fighter Alpha 3 (and 1 and 2 also) - though I'm still not totally finished with Alpha 3 Max on my Vita, as it has quite a few more characters (and modes) than 3.

Right now I'm working on Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers. And I've got to say that the game has been growing quite a bit on me; I've gotten a couple of new favorite fighters in T. Hawk and Vega, so I now have 5 in total.

Especially Vega I find interesting with his "slide kick" and some quite special combos (his "fence climbing" Super is not really useful though except on his "home level" Spain).

I use the short cut function in the game to map a couple of the combos to ZL and ZR; I don't really use Supers because I find them to slow to build up, so I just concentrate on getting used to using a couple of the combos instead.

After that I still have Super Street Fighter 3D Edition on 3DS, Street Fighter X Tekken on my Vita and a couple of King of Fighters games to attend to. But after that I will be done with my "Quest" and only play the very best of the games from time to time.

@Rykdrew Minecraft is the king of the world (and it released one week after Skyrim - so it did it in one week less time )

I'm perfectly fine with it. As a handheld player only these days, I don't care about neither Xbox or PlayStation anymore.

Yeah, the SNES version of Super SF II: The New Challengers is actually more enjoyable to play (solo at least) than the arcade version imo.

It's just a slight bit less punishing and I like the color coding more than in the arcade version (at least when played on my New 3DS XL), only downside is some low rate audio samples.

Centipede and Millipede Atari 2600 versions via the Atari 50 Anniversary Collection.

Happy to see the 3DS having had such a strong 7th year, as it's one of my favorite platforms ever.

Switch has an impressive line-up for the rest of the year (although I think you forgot about the Batman Arkham Collection) only thing is that it's not totally the biggest hitters that it gets (that would be a 3D Mario, Mario Kart 9 and Super Smash Bros. imo).

You do have some remasters, 2D games aaaaand Warioware, Detective Pikachu and the Luigi's Mansion remaster (the latter 3 just like on the 3DS in its final years).

It's a good set-up for a console (the Switch that is) going in to its twilight years, but I personally hope we get new hardware sooner rather than later.

I am playing an old Atari Lynx game called 'Turbo Sub' via the Atari 50 Anniversary collection. And it's actually a really cool game when you learn the ropes.

It's a bit like Space Harrier graphically and structurally (pseudo 3D via sprite scaling technique and set in a sort of fantasy sea world).

It's in first person though, as you man a submarine in which you fight creatures both above and under the water (as well as try to avoid/shoot down/blow up various mines under water).

The game's actually pretty deep as you can collect certain objects/gems during gameplay and use those to acquire extra lifes, extra fuel, extra smart bombs, missiles, a tracker of sorts etc. between levels.

It can feel a bit unfair at first, but then you learn to move around a lot to avoid enemy fire (the concept seems to be kill a certain amount of enemies and the game will move on to the next stage).

Against certain underwater mines it seems best to use smart bombs.

Really cool game imo.

@DwaynesGames Yeah, I had one of those. It was really great fun!

@DwaynesGames I had this Pac-Man clone that was really fun. You could build your on levels and I thought it was more fun than Pac-Man itself (played a bit different too).

There was a Space Invaders clone too that played a bit different from the original too plus an Asteroid clone that was quite good too.

(fun fact: did you know almost the entire library of the Odyssey 2/G 7000 was made by one man only - and his wife I think - Philips itself didn't have much faith in the platform, but they let this guy have his way - because he was cost effective probably).

Just "caved in" and bought the Atari 50 anniversary collection, for full price as I realized there was a good a time to be had with it (100+ games across 7 formats, developer interviews, nice interface etc.).

And there's IS a bit of a blind spot in my "education as gamer" , I admit.

And that really is Atari games - my first ever console was a Philips G 7000 back in 1982 (known as the Magnavox Odyssey 2 in the US) and a direct competitor to the Atari 2600/VCS - as I've been more or less everywhere else when it comes consoles and arcade games.

Looking forward to play some Centipede/Milipede etc. (only bummer is that Night Driver is not included).

Atari was.. first.. (kind of.. the first home console was actually made by Magnavox iirc). The first video arcade game WAS Pong by Atari.

That was their biggest contribution to gaming really (that and the Atari 2600 - and no that wasn't even the first console where you could change out games - that was something called the Fairchild F - or something ).

They did make some reasonably innovative games; Pong (of course); Night Driver (1976) is impressive from a gameplay point of view (and also kind of graphically); Breakout; Asteroids was really, really popular at the same time as Space Invaders and Galaxian; they had Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Centipede and later they had Gauntlet and Paper Boy (but those 2 weren't "old" Atari - but developed and released after the split up/reconstruction).

One thing they probably lacked though, was their games being truly simple fun. Contrary to especially games from japanese companies like Taito, Namco, Konami, Sega etc., Atari games were often of a more serious/simulatorish nature.

The japanese games were more often of a cartoonish/silly nature and therefore (almost by definition) more fun (at least imo - I'm sure there were people that enjoyed Atari's vector based games etc.).

@WallyWest I didn't say it could be done without compromises (plus it is also a matter of how much effort - read money and time - Warner is prepared to put into it - Knight wasn't the best in the series - too combat heavy imo).

It's only Knight that really should pose a problem. But if Witcher 3 can run well enough on Switch it should be doable (isn't Witcher 3 an open world game too?).

Inspired by the announcement of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 (and the rumors of a Vol. 2 being considered too), I've been firing up my Vita the last few days trying out MGS 1, 2, 3 and Peace Walker.

And yeah, it's still Peace Walker that does the trick for me. It's a great stealth/action game with some RPGish depth to it with your building of the Mother Base (upgrading weapons and items, managing staff etc.).

The stealth sections works well in the game and it has some really tense over the top boss fights too. Yeah, it still works for me even after all these years and in spite of its PSP graphics and poor framerate.

I will definitely get this once more if it comes to Switch (or its successor) with 60 fps performance. MGS4 wasn't bad either as I remember it; it had better, more modern controls than 3 for example imo (very loooooooong cut scenes though). So I might get that too.

Peace Walker although apparently not very popular outside Japan sold almost 575,000 copies in the first 2 weeks in Japan. Kinda hope that Konami will touch it up a bit graphically (other than the 60 fps treatment it had in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on PS3 and Xbox 360).

I've been playing the PSP version on my Vita at its 20 fps for a couple of hours today and it's still a really great game, when you get adjusted to the low fidelity graphics (and framerate).

The artwork is great for a PSP game and has that special asian/japanese aesthetic that you also see in Resident Evil games and the earliest Bruce Lee films among others.

Ok, regarding my previous post for this article (#5); MGS 2 and 3 looks kinda "off" on my OLED PS Vita screen too.

I'm beginning to think - because I also noticed it when I played Street Fight Alpha 3 Max and Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower on my Vita vs Street Fighter Alpha 3 and the 3 first Darkstalkers games on my Switch Lite - that screen technology has advanced quite a lot since the OLED Vita was introduced in late 2011.

In fact so much that a good LCD (like the one on the Switch Lite)
actually looks better than an OLED screen originating from 2011.

Imo MGS 2 and 3 looks just as "off" as Peace Walker on my Vita (could have something to do with the "nature" of OLED screens, with their "unnaturally" "popping" arcade game like color code though).

One thing that WILL be better in a Switch port of Peace Walker will be the framerate. The PSP version (which is the one I play on my Vita) has a framerate of around a measly 20 fps, while the 2011 remaster (for PS3 and Xbox 360) runs at a solid 60 fps (those look bad though - but that's what happens when you port a PSP game to TV screen consoles with out touching up the textures and the geometry).

I hope they will do more than just a mere port/emulation of Peace Walker, as I feel the "colorization" is quite "off" as it is.

What's a bit interesting for me personally is that it's the volume 1 collection, so there might be a volume 2 collection too with 4 (maybe 5), Peace Walker and Portable Ops (and other bits and pieces too probably).

I really enjoyed Peace Walker on my PSP, as I felt it had much better controls than 1, 2, 3 and Portable Ops. The only problem Peace Walker had was the 20 fps performance.

But there was a PS3/Xbox 360 60 fps version of it on the Metal Gear Solid HD collection from 2011, so maybe we could get Peace Walker 60 fps version for Switch (THAT I would be willing to pay 20€ for!).

A typical tail end of a (Nintendo) console's life release schedule. It kinda reminds me of the release schedule of the 3DS after Switch had been launched.

3DS had a Luigi's Mansion game remake/remaster, it had a new Detective Pikachu game, it had a new Warioware game (and there's probably more similarities if you dig into it).

But what really matters is that there were no 3D Mario game revealed (or other real big hitters for that matter) and that leads to me beginning to like REALLY believe that the Switch successor will be revealed in a September direct (along with a 3D Mario game to cash in on the movie's success - and of course help sell some new hardware).

Then they will launch the successor by november (along with a healthy launch window line up). Super Mario RPG remake is a typical tail end release and 2D Mario (well it had to happen rather sooner than later plus being a 2D game it's not the most taxing production tbh) IS not 3D Mario.

Yeah, I firmly believe that new hardware will be coming this holiday as there's nothing really big on the horizon for Switch the next 6 month.

@sketchturner First of all I never really managed to get a real grip on the stealth gameplay in 3 (and these games are supposed to be played stealthily imo).

1 and 2 played better (except for the final bosses - which I never finished) because they were simpler by design in many ways (you weren't able to control the camera like in 3's expanded/altered version "Subsistence" for example). The stealth played better (and then I just think 1 had something very special going for it storytelling wise)

I always really loved the graphics in 3 though; especially the jungle parts were extremely good looking for a PS2 game. But I never really got into the gameplay (I liked the 3DS version more because it controlled - I actually finished that one - never finished 1, 2 or 3 (PS2 version)).

Wow 20€ a piece if you buy 1, 2 or 3 individually or 60€ for the whole collection. That's almost double what I paid over 10 years on my Vita. I hope MGS1 is the enhanced PC version or something or I'll have to wait for an at least half price sale. Not paying 20€ for an emulated PS1 version.

@Ashina It will probably just be emulated versions of the Xbox 360 (or PC) versions of 2 and 3 and PS1 version of 1. So no port of the 3DS version I'm afraid.

I've had all three games on my Vita for more than a decade now, so not really that excited to be honest.. but I might get MGS 1 individually in a sale down the line as it is the best in the series (not graphically of course - but it's the best GAME imo).

I'd have been all over it 10 month ago, but having played Asylum, City, Origins, Origins Blackgate and Knight for at least 100 hours totally since august on Wii U and Steam Deck, I'm completely burned out on the "concept". Too late I'm afraid.

Wouldn't really be surprised if there were a "sneak peak" reveal of new hardware (plus some announcements of big hitters to go with the new platform).

@ElRoberico I think there's a possibility that they will show a short "sneak peak" of the Switch's successor (and maybe reveal some of the major games for it).

It won't be a full reveal, but just short teaser. And then they will do a full reveal in a September Direct dedicated to the new hardware and its most important games (all with a late november launch in mind).

"Will MAINLY focus on titles launching later this year"

Could it be possible they will reveal new hardware as well?

I've been revisiting Resident Evil 4 remake on my Steam Deck the last few days. And I got to say it's been quite a lot more fun than in my first playthroughs of the game.

I've been fiddling with the control and camera options, and I've come to the conclusion that it's best to set the controls as close as possible to how they are in the original.

So I've set the control type to "C-2" which means the "A" (equivalent to "B" on Nintendo consoles or "X" on PlayStations) is the run button.

Furthermore I've set the "Running Camera Assist" camera option to "Horizontal & Vertical". That way the camera auto adjusts after a few seconds when you start running.

Vertically it levels out if you're for example looking into ground when you start running. And horizontally the camera sways in the direction you turning while running. It's very much how it is in the original (and 5 for that matter).

One thing I didn't like about the game on my first playthroughs was that I found it quite bloated (overloaded). There were to many shoot blue medallions, kill 3 rats, fetch golden egg etc. "side missions" imo.

Don't get me wrong, I thought shooting the ten blue medallions in the original was fun. But I didn't find doing it 5 or 10 times in the remake was fun. I felt it took the focus away from the core gameplay.

Actually I've found out that if you play the game on assisted difficulty (but with auto aim turned off) and you don't really do any of the "side mission" the difficulty sort of levels out.

You are not able to tune up you're weapons etc. as much, but the easy difficulty level makes up for it and you end up getting a pretty fun and focused experience over all (not having to spend time doing the "side quests").

My personal score of the game went from 7/10 to 8.5/10 after doing these adjustments. Over all I find it's a pretty fun horror themed shooter. Still not as good as the original (that's a 9.5/10 in my book), but then again not bad at all.

@Ryu_Niiyama You're probably right that the online games (there's also Fallout 76 that they haven't given up on yet) are made by a different team(s).

But Fallout 4 was released in november 2015, so that almost 8 years old when Starfield releases. I just find kinda odd that one of the best selling games of all time still hasn't got a sequel after 11½ years (but of course it's games made by artists that want to something new/different from time to time so it's kinda of understandable in the end)

I do like that comparison image of Diablo IV woman/female demon and Zelda. Says quite a lot about many things (ok, mainly gaming of course).

@Divinebovine Personally I feel gaming as we've known it for the last 30 years (ever since Doom was released in 1993) is dying.

Sometimes I even wonder if Nintendo themselves has any real faith in their own business model, as it seems games are getting more geared towards the online/free to p(l)ay/micro transactions/service model.

Just look at something like Skyrim; 60 million copies sold and yet now almost 12 years later they still haven't released a true sequel.

They have released Elder Scrolls Online yes, but that just supports my point of view imo; it's online/free to p(l)ay/micro trans-actions/games as a service that a larger and larger portion of the industry sees as the future.

Nintendo hasn't really gone down that path yet (or does Splatoon come with micro transactions too?), but as I said I think that Nintendo themselves (despite their tremendous success with the Switch) are actually doubting if they can pull off another Switch level success (and after the Wii U fiasco I don't blame them - there just aren't a sure proof way to success - things also goes up and down in the video game business)

Personally I'm waiting anxiously for new hardware to be revealed by Nintendo as I feel I've exhausted the Switch's library (and I feel I've duck really, really deep).

I hope we'll see something from them in the next 2-3 weeks as I've got absolutely nothing to look forward to on the gaming front (and that goes for any platform I own)

The Switch successor will by a high possibility be the last gaming platform/device I'll ever buy. And I don't even have big expectations to the new games coming out for it (I simply don't think they will be for me).

I basically want a handheld platform where I can play my favorite
games in 60 fps/720(maybe 800)p. Of course it will have to be 100% backwards compatible with the Switch (with upgrade paths to achieve those 60fps).

And I sincerely hope Nintendo will release at least 2 SKUs right out of the gate. One for those who wants the removable Joy-cons/motion control option and one with a more traditional design with non-detachable sticks (think Switch Lite design, but bigger - as they won't be able to fit the hardware into such a small form factor from the get go)

That would be the perfect handheld for me. And would enable me to play my classic games in a perfect "environment"; with Steam Deck specifications (or a bit better) and in a more stable system without the need for continuous updates of games (and very drawn out system updates as well)

I of course do hope that there will be some new games for me as well; Darksiders 4 and Resident Evil IX are on my wish list (but none of them has been announced yet - so that's a bit of a pipe dream - especially the former)

Hope they don't axe Darksiders 4 (if that was ever a thing) now they are going to push Lord of the Rings and Hobbit (according to Eurogamer)

Haven't played the new Street Fighter, but I played RE 4 remake and wasn't too fond of it (I think it's way overrated)

Maybe Capcom's current golden age (from RE7 - 2017 and onward) is coming to an end (I thought RE4 remake was quite lazy and even bloated with all the "side quests" etc.)

I think there's a possibility we'll see a Direct in late june/early july focusing entirely on the reveal of the Switch successor and the games it will release with in the launch window.