skadoom

I put 150 hrs into this game...but I'm still going to need some faces to go with those names. A 4-decade-old brain doesn't recall things as well as it used to.

@Kyloctopus True, and if it wasn't as buggy as they're saying it might've been. Which is a damn shame since I love the first one.

Sigh. No mention of Chained Echoes. Maybe it's too recent? It's nonetheless incredible.

Please, don't give me hope.

Looks like an awesome and nostalgic hodgepodge of some of my favorite titles growing up. I'm in.

Also, that Star Ocean-like menu sound soothes me like a baby.

FWIW, I just started Chapter 5 on my first playthrough and already at 80hrs. I've also been chasing after every single side quest I can find while also really pushing myself to level up and take on all the higher leveled enemies I can find until I can take them out. So I'm also way overpowered by maybe ~20 levels. But I'm still having an absolute blast and still find myself intrigued by where the story is going.
Been playing RPGs for 30+ years and this is by far one of the best ones I've ever experienced, personally. For me it's been worth every minute.

"the veritable militia of minutia..."

Nice.

It's a beautiful thing to have spent part of one's time contributing to the joy and happiness of others–in whatever form it takes–on something that brings daily joy to countless strangers, that those who receive it can feel connected to other like-minded people and share in the community they helped bind together. Because of him, the world was made a happier place than the one he was born into. R.I.P.

The Gunvolt series is one I've really never had on my radar, but reading this and then spending the last 30 minutes watching gameplay/review videos has made it shoot right to the top of my need-to-play list (sorry backlog, again). Like, holy ***** this looks incredible and I didn't realize I'd been sleeping on something that looks this cool. And the fluid pixel art is just gorgeous to see in action.

Basically old school Adult Swim as a violent FPS. Awesome.

Would Yoku's Island Express fit? It's very much a metroidvania, but also a pinball game. Plus it's absolutely wonderful.

Blast Corps 2 (or a remake) let's freaking go!!!

Not to be that person but yikes... Gollum looks way more rough than I remember it looking a year ago. Like an early PS3 game. Could've sworn the older trailer looked a whole lot more polished. This... this looks like a proof of concept trailer. Something a dev team might pitch a publisher. With frame drops and rough character models and so on. I honestly, usually, don't care about this sort of thing as long as the gameplay looks fun (and tbh it's really not important). But that was just jarring.

"There's an entire banquet of delicious JRPG treats just sitting there waiting to be tucked into! I don't want to fill up on breadsticks and dip."

Chef's kiss

In answer to your question, it honestly depends on the person. I mean, what's their familiarity with video games in general? Lifetime player or (mostly) mobile-only? Are they a filthy casual or more of a "hardcore gamer"? How patient/forgiving are they with the medium; or, can they appreciate certain games both as a product of their time as well as for what-it-is in and of itself? Do they have any interest in how gaming has changed or appreciate how certain games were watershed moments in the industry?

I'm sure there's a hundred more personality factors to consider when approaching any long-running series, but we're complex creatures with strong opinions, and usually the best advice is to go for the one that grabs your attention the most, but be smart enough not to generalize an entire series based on your experience with one of it's entries. I mean, Zelda is in my top 3 franchises of all time and to this day can still get lost in a 8/16-bit adventure, yet I have no interest to ever again touch the NES original. Its just not fun. But I'm glad I've got plenty other Zelda's to choose from.

This honestly looks pretty great and I'm digging the mix of genres, but it's also a reminder I need to finish the actually great Golf Story (and then, maybe, we'll get a release date for Sports Story). But this looks plenty capable of being a blast.

Listen, FPSs all look identical to me, and plenty of fighting games do too. If this team wants to make something with the same aesthetic of BotW, while also doing what looks to be a lot of their own thing, then have it. Just make it fun to play and well made and I'll be happy. I'm definitely willing to give this a shot.

@fafonio You beat me to it, but I'm hoping for the same thing. Unlockable after completing all three games seems like a high bar to access such an arguably important game, but bring it on.