somnambulance

I just want to know about the first party stuff, though hopefully Mina the Hollower and Witchbrook receive a release date soon. Orbitals too, that was a highlight from the Game Awards. I want to know more about Yoshi and Fire Emblem though and whatever else there is cooking this year.

Honestly, Partner Showcase makes me uneasy that it’ll be a bunch of old ports “finally coming” to the Switch family of consoles. For those of us that want Switch to be their primary console but have PS5 and Steam, I hope it’s still an exciting showcase.

@Anti-Matter that description clarifies things a lot. Honestly, sounds like they’re distinctive enough to be releasing at a similar time frame. Might pick them both up then. I think one will end up for the kids and one will end up for the wife and everyone will be happy while I play Rubato and Pragmata instead. Lol.

@Zeebor15 Bubsy’s in May. That’s all anyone needs.

As someone that’s never played Tomodachi Life and skipped the Direct, which I’ll watch later, what exactly is the game? Is it like Animal Crossing? I’ll be looking into it more, of course, but I’m trying to figure out if it’s headscratching that Pokopia and Tomodachi Life are releasing one after the other or not. I mean, I’m planning on getting Pokopia for the wife and kids, and potentially Tomodachi too. Neither one is really massively my taste, but I’m casually interested in what I’ve seen in previous Directs.

I’d like to support more games that are releasing in March, but it’s absolutely ridiculous how many games have announced a March release date in the last week and a half.

It’s sort of neat how Nintendo is giving individual first party games (except Metroid Prime 4 for some bizarre reason) a Direct. Looking forward to this.

Hopefully a full fat Direct isn’t far behind.

I dunno, I’m just ready to buy it and play it!

I voted for Japan, but there’s only winners here, so it’s a tough vote

Still too expensive at $15.

@metaphysician That may be true. Unfortunately, I forget that the internet is a cesspool of rage bait and baseless toxicity sometimes which is at odds with what I’d personally enjoy, which is more direct engagement. I really enjoy following games I’ve backed on Kickstarter that are intelligently designed, as the regular updates make me feel like I’m informed and that I did something right by essentially preordering a game. If that’s how preordering was, I’d gladly do it for many games, even if they were 5+ years out, but you’re right that the public at large isn’t ready for something like that.

Personally, I really don’t care if games get delayed for years. Games should be developed as art and art takes time.

What frustrates me though is the lack of communication. We barely even get release dates in general anymore and it’s harder to plan and budget gaming these days, especially when we’re in an era where week 1 sales basically make or break every game’s longterm shelf life. We’re sold urgency by an industry that doesn’t allow us to plan for it.

To use March as an example, when Pokopia got a release date, it was the only thing that interested me that month and it stayed that way for about 3, 4 months. Then 007 got a release date and I was sort of meh on it, but still curious, but then that got delayed. More quiet. Then Rubato got a release date, then Life is Strange got a release date, then Ratcheteer DX got a release date, etc etc. Two months before release on all these games and they have release dates. You could say, “Well, that’s fine, you don’t have to buy them all at once and it’s a great thing to have things to be interested in later,” but Pragmata’s in April (and who knows what else?), Bubsy’s in May, and all those studios I don’t support immediately may be shuttered by the time I go back.

The rush to release and rush to sell ethos of the industry is far more maddening to me than any delay. Why not have more transparency? I think we would like it more and the developers would like it more. We’ve got the means to be more relaxed, but it’s gone the opposite way.

I have been itching to start this one on my Steamdeck. I thought, “Maybe after work and the kids go to bed…,” but now… after reading this, @PJOReilly, I think you’ve convinced me to DEFINITELY play this evening.

The game’s a perfect 10. I’d say it’s one of the top 10 games of the 2020-2025 time period. I’ve not played the Switch version, but it’s the same game I played on PS4 basically.

Played the Rubato demo on my Switch 2 last night and I just have to remark about that because it was utterly fantastic and I’m looking forward to buying the full game in March now.

But, for the weekend, I’m working today and my birthday party’s tomorrow, sooo… I’m sure we’ll play some form of party game tomorrow. Jackbox or Mario Party or something along those lines.

With my birthday being so close, I’m sort of using that to play more games than usual. I did finally start Terranigma after years of wanting to see what it was about and it’s a really beautiful 16 bit JRPG. I’d really like to start the Seance of Blake Manor tonight. I was also able to find Vib Ribbon recently and that’s been a definite go-to game for me. Man, do I wish Sony would revisit Vib Ribbon and Parappa… That’s a wish for the birthday candles…

@Dm9982 I’d imagine some third party games may have a second life on Switch 2 just as they did with Switch 1, but we don’t have enough data to know just yet.

@Dm9982 Switch 2’s sold roughly a third of the Series lifetime sales in half a year. Could be the case, but could be that Nintendo didn’t send out development kits early enough. It’s hard to say. You’d think Series S to Switch 2 conversion might not be a huge hurdle

Doesn’t feel like Xbox is rushing to get things on Switch 2 in their crossplatform efforts. Strange to see better crossplatform support with PlayStation than Switch, but it is what it is, I suppose.

I’m considering it, but haven’t decided. I haven’t upgraded many of my S1 games at this point, but I love Wonder. It’s my favorite 2D Mario since SMW. I’ll take a look closer to release and make a rational decision

Could be something Nintendo has pigeonholed for a Direct if it is coming to Switch 2. Not expecting it, but it could always be a possibility. That said, I’m strongly considering this game right now it looks great!

It’s a shame that any conversation that has to do with Gamefreak melts into people complaining about Pokemon, by the way.

Give that this has been in development for around 8 years now, just based on what we know, if it wasn’t being fleshed out at this point, that’s ok as long as the talent is going to other projects rather than being laid off. It sounds like there may have been something deeply off with the development. It’s a shame because I was interested to see more, but ever since Tencent got more integrated into Ubisoft, I’m not sure I want to buy into the company much anymore anyway.

Can’t believe Beyond Good and Evil 2 hasn’t been cancelled at this point, but maybe it’s truly exceptional… or there may be contractual obligations with a government to release it, as there was one with Singapore with regards to Skull and Bones.

For the sake of us that used to love Ubisoft decades ago though, I do hope that Rayman gets one final release that is worthy at least. If The Lost Crown and Rogue Prince of Persia are the end of the line for Prince of Persia, they ended on a high note, you know?

@SalvorHardin interesting. Didn’t realize that Christian Whitehead created a separate studio for Penny. I suppose I’d been confused as I thought the Mania team went on to Penny after they weren’t asked to continue with Sonic. Either which way, Rubato looks like it may be more interesting than Penny. I hope it showcases more of that impeccable level design that Mania had. Don’t get me wrong, Penny’s not bad. It just doesn’t feel nearly as focused as Mania, and I suppose that could be because the team from Mania split apart.

Didn’t know they had another one coming. Penny was sort of a disappointment to me, so hopefully I like this one more. I’d like to support the team. They’ve got talent and they want to push boundaries.

That’s an awesome update for this one. The game’s an absolute pleasure and the utter unexpected surprise of this is honestly what I would hope for with future Switch 2 upgrades.

@Gabe250 It’s not exactly complaining, but rather stating the obvious that, outside of a port of FF7 Remake, there are no marquee releases this year in January, so it would make absolute sense that SW2 version of a very popular game would dominate over the other evergreens.

In previous years, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, DK Country HD Returns, Fire Emblem Engage, Forspoken, Hi-Fi Rush, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Hitman 3, The Medium, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot launched in January and that’s just the last five years. Typically, there’s one or two big launches in the month.

Also, keep in mind that, as I said earlier in the comments to another response, that I typically buy myself a new game for my birthday, so it’s more noticeable for me personally when January is quiet. It’s a little less fun to preorder a game for the next month instead. Lol.

@Pillowpants Lol, usually January isn’t a huge month, but this year does feel lighter than usual. February’s a strong month that makes up for any lull in January though.

@RoboCube Very true, but I like to buy myself a birthday present this month and I won’t be doing that this year, so I’m a little bummed out about it! 😂

At least February has Mario Tennis and Resident Evil. Not 100% on DQ7 yet, but it’s far better than I expected too!

Well, I mean, nothing came out last week except a Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing, sooooo… suprise?

This year is off to a really slow start for new games.

Personally, I’d give the game a 9/10. I’d give Pokemon Legends Z-A an 8/10, 8.5 if decimals are allowed. I’d give Clair Obscur a 7/10. I liked Forspoken, I thought Concord was flawed but ok, and Friday the 13th on NES is far more creative and unique than people give it credit for.

To not be a contrarian and go with the mainstream, yes, Chrono Trigger and FF6 ARE the best JRPGs on the SNES. Mario and Zelda practically crank out 10/10s seemingly effortlessly. Elden Ring was so good that it was able to change my opinion on an entire genre, as well as the opinion of most of my closest friends.

Fact of the matter and what I’m trying to say is that opinions are subjective. In 2025, it felt like commentary on the industry was far more critical than ever and I definitely felt more “did I play the same game everyone else did?” last year than any year I could remember, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, does it? Let’s not forget that diversity in opinion is important and to feel the way we feel about anything, whether thats the common critical consensus or not! 😁

I really hope the people behind this viral campaign make things happen and get this one to be the top rated game on Metacritic. It’s funny. It’s great to see a group of gamers having dumb, wholesome fun like this.

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, perhaps. I’m really considering finally starting my Terranigma playthrough as well. The Seance of Blake Manor is sitting on my backlog, calling to me too. My cousin asked me to pick up this game called Fretless too and said it was basically a game made for him and I specifically when we were 14, so I’m sort of compelled to learn more.

@CaleBoi25 E33 didn’t innovate anything. It’s a turn based rpg with a parry system. It plays like Mario and Luigi with high end AA visuals.

Hopefully Bananza gets the GotY… or Silksong?

@niner After that article you wrote last year, I’m glad a Switch 2 was under the tree!

@garfreek When I was a kid, I felt like Gen 3 and 4 were both slogs. I think Gen 1 and 2 have that dated charm to them, but you can see where the games could easily be improved with modern QoL updates. I like Gen 3 better than Gen 4, but I’d say they need more than QoL improvements to stand up to the test of time. It’s my personal opinion and I know many don’t agree with me about that, but Gen 4 in particular feels like Pokemon hit a saturation point where they needed to pivot the series.

It’s no shock Gen 5 sort of abandoned the old Pokemon for two games and made some wild changes only to do a soft reboot and strip back of sorts for Gen 6 and then go in another wild direction for Gen 7 for a genuine reboot with the Let’s Go game.

It’s about time! 5 of the 6 games (sorry Tailspin) are flat out NES classics. I don’t think I’ll double… er quadruple… dip since I have these games on 3 platforms currently, but it’s still really cool to see. With rumors starting to mount, I’m starting to wonder if a January Nintendo Direct might be in the cards. It feels like stuff is leaking earlier in the year than typical.

@garfreek I would recommend any other Pokemon game on the Switch series of consoles over BDSP. BDSP was perhaps the most boring, lifeless Pokemon game I’ve ever played. I will admit that I feel Diamond and Pearl are already the worst mainline game, in my opinion, being the games that have the most franchise fatigue, so to speak, but I know most don’t agree with that.

Anyway, it’s a pretty faithful remake to the Gen 4 games, though it doesn’t feature any Platinum content, which is baffling, considering that Platinum made the generation far more interesting. To add to that, anything modernized in the game feels like it sucked the Pokemon charm out of it. It’s simply the ok-est Pokemon game ever made. The Let’s Go games were far better remakes in the Switch era. Both Legends games and ScarVi are far more ambitious games. And SwSh just slightly edges it out on the ludicrous premise that you can deform your Pokemon into stretched out or bloated giants.

1. Silksong
2. Pokemon Z-A
3. Mario Kart World

Really surprised I played MKW more than Bananza, but also not really. I definitely sank into Silksong and Pokemon way more than most games. Silksong’s my favorite Switch game last year.

It’ll bounce back with a Direct. There’s nothing to buy this January.

Developer or Nintendo Direct shadow drop perhaps

The Virtual Boy is honestly easier on my eyes than current VR technology. I had a corneal abrasion over a decade ago that makes watching 3D films impossible to watch and VR games make me nauseous pretty instantly. I’m not sure what Nintendo did right with the Virtual Boy, but it only gives me a mild headache after a duration of playtime. I don’t own one, but I’ve played it at trade shows for long enough to get the gist of how it would feel to have one and play it if I did.

Personally, I love that Nintendo is willing to own the Virtual Boy now. Perhaps they got over it due to the WiiU flopping and the Switch being a meteoric follow up. Even the worst of consoles can have something to appreciate and the Virtual Boy is far from the worst console, even if it might be Nintendo’s biggest miss.

Will be playing the Metal Gear Solid board game tonight with friends. Got my Steamdeck with me in case we do a bit of Arc Raiders too.

Tomorrow, I’d like to play more of the DQ7 demo too and maybe start Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I’d still like to start The Seance of Blake Manor with the wife too.

Realistically though, I’d not be surprised if I play some NES games and Cast ‘n Chill instead. I’ve been having more fun with my NES library than my modern library the last couple months. I’ve been loving exploring the lesser known games in the catalog. Things like Panic Restaurant, Whomp ‘Em, and even Japan only games like Mitsume Ga Tooru. One of these days soon I’m going to hop to the SNES too. As an American, I missed out on Terranigma. I’m definitely going to find time to play it this year. January could be a good month.

There’s so much to play! I’m glad nothing is coming out for me til Mario Tennis and RE9. I get so caught up in new releases sometimes that looking back feels so good right now.

I can’t wait for this one. I didn’t even realize how much I loved Aces, but my family was all sort of like, “It’s one for Daddy” when this was playing during the Nintendo Direct. I never would’ve believed it if I didn’t look at my playtime, but I’ve got more hours in Aces than BotW…

Cast ‘n Chill for me. It’s a special piece of calm.

I’ve been torn on Caves of Qud for all of 2025. Wish there was a demo for it given its price tag. I don’t believe it coming to Switch clears any of my not sureness of the game. The Cassette Boy demo was neat, but I’m waiting to see the reviews… because I’m trying to limit my purchases this year and I’m not sure if I want to use one of my 30 purchases so early in the year 😅.

I’ve got the AC update preordered though. I’m not counting that in my 30. It’s for the kids.

@Shepdawg1 That’s what I was thinking. Never even heard of this guy. This is standard IP maintenance. These would be flop announcements at a Direct since they are two of the worst entries in their particular series… and where’s the proof of a new Direct date anyway? I mean, granted, one is bound to be coming because 2026’s release schedule is barren right now, but still…

Myles was just sort of there, so no strong opinion on him. Prime 4 was one of the best games of 2025 and it’s a shame gamers have gotten so picky that the game elicited more complaints than excitement for what it was. The real Myles that frustrated me was the talking heads on YouTube that droned about all the “problems” the game had.

Maybe this is the weekend I finally tackle that Pragmata demo. I think I’ll play some Counter Strike and Cast ‘n Chill. I feel like going back to Sektori, Earthion, and Toree Saturn too for the fun of it. I bought Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders yesterday too for old time’s sake. Maybe I’ll indulge in a classic for a bit. I don’t anticipate I’ll be playing anything consistently til February, so I’m just going to have some fun.

Direct incoming?

I’m sort of assuming this and Pikmin might be low tier Switch 2 versions that are simply optimized rather than anything else. I mean, the AC Switch 2 version seems to be getting a substantial upgrade for cheap and a bunch of games got free upgrades. I’m ok with Nintendo doing things like that. As much as I want new games, I also know those are coming too, and it’s sort of cool that my kids get re-excited about games I already own for the upgrades. Again, bringing up AC, my kids AND my wife are more excited about AC Switch 2 than most new releases announced this year and, if this is just an excuse for Splatoon 3 to run better, that’d be a big thing for them too.

Well, we know about Mario Tennis, Pokopia, Yoshi, and Fire Emblem. I’m anticipating Yoshi being an April release and Fire Emblem being a summer release. I think Tomodachi Life and Rhythm Heaven will sandwich Fire Emblem on both sides. I’d imagine Nintendo will do something with Zelda, but what? I’m not sure. I sort of feel like they backed themselves into a bit of a corner with the IP with TotK to some extent. To top that, it may take a while, and that’s fine. The rumors of an Ocarina remake have been a thing for a while, and that’d pad time out to allow for the next Zelda reboot. I’d like Luigi’s Mansion 4, Pikmin 5, and 3D Mario but I don’t necessarily expect any of them. Splatoon and Pokemon are definites, MKW dlc has to be a thing. I get the feeling there will be three big titles toward the end of the year, so the Christmas push is bigger than this year. Kirby will likely get a port too.

I’m really hoping that either Clair Obscur doesn’t launch next year or it directly competes with Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3. I’m burned out over the game’s coverage, as I do feel the game is perhaps the most overhyped game this generation. However, if it must be oversaturated for a second year, let it compete with games that will knock it down a peg in the gaming culture at large. Personally, I’ve already played all three games and won’t be double dipping on any of them, but I’ll bring the popcorn and watch the battle between Switch 2 port supremacy.