swoose

Seeing the new Pokemon and forms has definitely gotten me more on the hype train than I was previously. Makes you wonder why they aren't just revealed officially.

As a kid I had a poster of the original 151 pokemon before ever playing a minute of the games. Most kids could watch an anime on TV with a rap that showed all 151. Obviously knowing all the monsters doesn't make you LESS likely to play the games to see them, that's asinine. It does the opposite.

The consolidation of bad game makers will make the bad games even easier to ignore. Hopefully this will be the last gasp of western """AAA""" development.

As usual with NFTs, the funniest part might be how bad the art is. Parts of the map are literally obscured by upscaled sprites. What's with the orange parchment background? They couldn't even sell the actual, original map asset with an NFT, it has to be stupid and garish to appeal to the market. This whole thing is such an awful branding exercise

Wait, is THAT what the little hole on the upper right of the back plate was intended for? Keychains? Like you carry your Game Boy around so much you put your keys on it?

My mind is blown by how ambitious that use case is.

I've gone from a day-one purchase to very on the fence since learning there's no held items or abilities in this game. That suggests to me an extremely de-emphasized battle system and a small pokedex - think of all the Pokemon like Shedinja and Slaking that would make no sense without their abilities.

I think of this as a more exploratory Pokemon Snap, rather than something like a main series game.

@JasmineDragon Oh boy. You're lucky if you even hear people say the right C sound.

The site is very much still live and ad-free, I've been enjoying it today. Also a tip for the Pokemon's height and weight stats, you can mouseover or tap the names you've guessed already and it will display their info.

I'm in the camp of welcoming more guest characters, but keeping the setting Mario-centric. The Mario world just has that charm that's perfect for the series. It wouldn't be the same with gritty Metroid or Fire Emblem tracks mixed in, or Koopa shells replaced by Arwing lasers, etc.

I just want to see Power Suit Samus or Captain Falcon squeezed into a regular go-kart, because that would be hilarious.

I watched this video when it came out and it's actually a super interesting insight into why badges had the gameplay function they did. It makes sense for there to be a progression gating system, so you can't just trade in a lvl 99 Charizard and trivialize the whole game. And it must have made sense for that progression gating to be tied to an object you actually train the Pokemon with, like a belt or whip. Little badges that sit in a carrying case? Why would Pokemon care about those?

As for the animal cruelty, I think about how horse racing is somehow still a thing, and those get hit by riding crops and get euthanized on the track all the time. Funny enough, GameFreak made a horse racing game too!

I'm tempering my expectations, because I think the rumours that proper Gen IX games are coming holidays 2022 might have some merit to them, and that would mean GameFreak split their resources on this on top of the short dev window.

But on the other hand I'm excited because unlike BDSP, this is actually a new game. Developed by GameFreak. With new Pokemon, new characters, new music, new Sugimori art, the works. So that's something at least.

When a fan game uses assets from a Nintendo property and gets shut down: "Wow what a waste. They should have changed enough to make it their own game."

When a fan game changes enough to make it their own game: "This is uninspired and/or plagiarism"

The most skill-based shooter on the market. Really unparalleled in its gyro controls and movement options. I'll be picking up anything they put down.

I followed the hype cycle for this game closely and really wanted to like it, but I only ended up playing through a couple stages. Some of my friends logged many hours in it so I understand there's depth there, but finding hidden paths and Pokemon animations just didn't feel that rewarding to me.

Hopefully Legends Arceus doesn't turn out the same way, since it's borrowing a "research goals" kind of mechanic from GO and Snap. And de-emphasizing trainer battles in favor of more exploration and collection. The trainer and gym battles always felt like the core gameplay loop of the series to me.

I've yet to see anyone explain why Triangle Strategy is a bad title. Something funny about triangles? Is it that you learn about simple geometric shapes as a child and then, what, never think about them again?

Do people think triangles denote too much simplicity?

Is "Super Mario" a good title for a game? Or "Donkey Kong"?

As usual, it's such an out-of-touch argument that these sites are for profit because they "feature advertising." All that means is they maybe, possibly, but probably not, manage to cover the cost of hosting. The amount of revenue generated by banner ads is negligible, and they're basically a necessity to just keep the lights on for a website, which is why ad-free sites are increasingly rare or supported by donations. Most archival sites are going to run ads or donation drives unless they're funded by a university.

Also, it's a horrifying precedent that ISPs can block any domain just because a company somewhere doesn't like them. The internet desperately needs to be an open utility.

This is my 2nd favourite recurring character in the series, after trash cans that are always empty.

This "head of people ops" saying "our attrition today is a few percentage points above where it typically is" sounds like a real people person.

I'm moderately interested in 3rd-party handhelds, but I've never seen anything over-marketed like this thing. What about its features justifies every Nintendo news outlet dropping previews, reviews, and follow ups about it? There are Chinese handhelds at this price that can emulate Gamecube games. It's not a prestige manufacturer, Analogue hasn't made anything to my knowledge. Are they sponsoring all this content directly?

This has a whiff of silicon valley tech speculation. Put all your budget into marketing, never scale up effectively.

@Yorumi This trailer shows a new trainer who uses Glaceon as her signature Pokemon, I'm surprised you're not excited for the game. We certainly didn't know that from the reveal trailer.

They never show every new Pokemon and element before release because then there would be nothing left to surprise the player. Instead we get the framework of the gameplay: totem/"alpha" pokemon, probably around 8 of them. 2 rival clans likely tied to Dialga and Palkia. A bunch of "wardens" affiliated with the clans, corresponding to each alpha pokemon, who it also looks like you battle. A Team Galactic precursor you're a member of, who give you Pokemon Snap style research goals. A number of open areas you fast travel to like in Monster Hunter Rise. Item crafting. A new stance-based battle system with consecutive actions. A merchant guild who must be important because 2 of them look like Cynthia and Volkner. I dunno, seems like a lot of info to me.

Came here just to praise the absolute banger of a track in this trailer. Loving the synthey prog-rock feel. And actually seeing the comment of "pokemon music has been bad for [x] time"... really confirms some people live in a bizarro world from me. Music is the aspect of the franchise that has delivered MOST consistently. D/P/Pt was one of the best game soundtracks of all time and this sounds like an ambitious follow-up.

What I don't like is a Darkrai encounter being locked behind BDSP data. I skipped that game for a reason... bonus outfits are one thing, but bonus Pokemon and events is going way too far.

@Silly_G There's not much online interactivity Advance Wars can have that isn't multiplayer. Downloading custom maps is the only one I can think of.

FWIW, there was a leaker that claimed to be from Wayforward who said they were implementing online PvP, but the devs were basically waiting until the last minute to test their netcode, which was a concern. This was before the delay was even announced. Anyway, I'm not optimistic they're using the delay to add "content" that wasn't already in the originals. They may just be ironing out the online kinks.

As a lifelong Nintendo fan I can't remember if I've even heard this man's name. It goes to show the engineering side of the industry doesn't get enough credit, relative to the game dev or business/marketing sides.

Uemura's name should be up there with Yamauchi, Miyamoto and Iwata. Really monumental impact.

If digital goods creators are going to insist that copying something that results in no loss of inventory is "theft", then yes, they should also offer full refunds if you "return" a copyable product.

Yeah, it looks like the aesthetic might be doing most of the work here. But anything with a reactive soundtrack might be worth keeping an eye on. That kind of thing doesn't come across in trailers well.

I'll never understand the reputation for "accessibility" that these gacha games enjoy. I prefer games that don't have 8 different resource types and 10 different timed events being promoted at any given time. Every time I check out a FTP game I get a headache just looking at all the crap on the screen.

Can't say I expected Marina's tentacles to be so uh, rendered, so far up like that

@Specter_of-the_OLED I did that! And I'll play the 2nd demo if they do one and give the same feedback again about character portraits, but I don't think they're listening to me.

It's a shame because I heard "too much story" as a common complaint after the 1st demo. I don't think the story segments would feel so long if they actually showed you who was talking, like every other story-heavy game in the last 20 years.

I'll say it until I'm blue in the face: they're doing this game a disservice by having their tiny map sprites do all the acting in story segments, instead of using character portraits.

Especially when they're using voice acting!! What generation of RPGs didn't have the space for character portraits in gameplay, but did include voice lines? It's so incongruous.

My answer would also be the DS, not for a "classic" version but in hopes that Nintendo's next generation can take cues from the DS/3DS again.

I use my Switch in handheld mode plenty, but it's just not as good to hold in the hands or toss in a bag as Nintendo's previous handhelds. After 4 years of playing on it I can admit that to myself. Even if it's not dual screen, I hope the Switch 2 can work in a clamshell design or a focus on touchscreen play again.

The added time to every battle is definitely the worst offense, along with no optionality. This mechanic originated in XY as a reward for time spent in Pokemon Amie, which was totally optional. BDSP cheapens it and makes it unavoidable.

Pokemon already has a pointlessly slow battle engine mostly intact from the Gen 1 games. Other RPGs can show weather and status without a halting text box every turn, or type effectiveness and crits with a simple "weak" or "resist" sign when the attack lands. I KNOW my Pokemon is asleep or confused thanks, you don't need to stop the battle to tell me every turn. I can SEE if there's a sandstorm or rain happening, also.

In a game where you do hundreds of these battles for just a casual run, adding another thing the game stops to tell you every single time is super annoying. My pokemon's model swiveling 45° in place so the game can say "Torterra is looking at you expectantly!" does NOT make me feel any closer to it.

I know there are still supply issues, but what an absolute stomping by every Switch model in advance of the holidays. The PS5 might as well not exist.

Yeah, this article is kinda written like there's a switch in the game's code for "turn cel-shading OFF", like it's binary. Instead they replaced the game's shaders with different ones, with their own particulars.

This is ONE way it can look without cel-shading, but there's lots of different lighting methods you could explore that aren't cel-shading, and they probably wouldn't all look this bad.

What's funny is I don't even think that's the best Kirby cover by the 8-bit Big Band. Check out their Gourmet Race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RisNultpv0M

Gourmet Race is slept on as an all-time great videogame composition, and they knock it out of the park.

It's like a Picture of Dorian Gray situation where Pokemon makes a game that's uglier and uglier and they get more and more sales

I sleep when I see a black Gamecube. So lifeless.

The platinum one at least had a nice shiny finish to it. Very space-y.

“I think in the end, if we said, ‘Hey, anybody should be able to buy any game, or own any game and continue to play,' that seems like a great North Star for us as an industry.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the industry: "Eww, own? What is this own?" Netflix doesn't let you own movies. Spotify doesn't let you own music. If people can buy something and have it permanently, then they won't give you more money every month!

@Ralizah I get what you're saying, but Monster Hunter Stories and SMT5 don't have Turtwig in them. Hard pass

I do think the review focuses on the art style a little too much, since it's a subjective matter. Sometimes I think the chibis don't look too bad, sometimes in motion they look awful. Honestly I wish ILCA committed to the artstyle even more and gave the overworld Pokemon chibi models too. Then Dialga and Rayquaza could have big heads to match their trainer's art style, instead of being fully proportioned but scaled down little lizards like everyone is memeing right now.

I DO however appreciate the review mentioning the Houndoom you can catch in the grand underground early game. Like seriously, a HounDOOM? Houndour wasn't enough?? This kind of curve breaking drives me crazy, the whole appeal of the game is training up and evolving weaker Pokemon.

Finally, in general I think the forced EXP share has gotten a lot of attention, but not enough attention is paid to the forced "friendship" effects in battle, such as shaking off status effects and surviving knockout blows. This is even worse for game balance imo, and makes every battle take longer to boot.

I appreciate The Gamer review comparing these games to Platinum. The most baffling choice in these remakes is keeping them faithful to DP/P and excluding the Platinum content, dex, and improvements. This was a chance to make the definitive Sinnoh games. It's not just a matter of "you'll like this more if you didn't play the originals"; there's no justification for putting less content in a Switch game than a DS game from 2008.

@Pillowpants I think they knew Penny was more difficult, and that's why she's unlocked in her own level in the postgame where you can't switch to anyone else. It's kind of like a challenge mode.

That said, the coding of her water gun is pretty funny. Any minigame that involves manipulating water to wash or put out fire or something, Penny can just aim at the problem directly.

Since the data is collected regardless of context, I'm guessing a lot of the negativity is coming from Pokemon Unite and its balance discussion. With competitive games that get patched frequently like that, all the discourse becomes about how Gengar and Snorlax are "broken" or Gardevoir is trash tier, etc.

The moral of this story is don't put your characters in a MOBA.

I would settle for games that aren't even easier than the Game Boy games that made the series a phenomenon in the first place. Pokemon was already supremely accessible, one of the most accessible in concept and execution in the whole RPG genre.

The changes made recently to force an EXP multiplier for your whole team, force unavoidable friendship bonuses like added crits and surviving knockout blows, and removing cave sequences and letting you switch out your team anywhere on the map, all serve to make the games completely frictionless. Even for an audience of children, which the originals also had.

If they want to design games for players to spend less time playing them, then players will spend less and less time with them and eventually stop justifying the purchase.

Huh, bit of a genderswapped Hamlet situation in the plot? If MY dad wants to be seduced by a demon mistress, more power to him I say.

"It's worth noting that unless you're running the game illegally on a hacked console,"

Or you could play it legally on a hacked console, after purchasing a license to the game, as is your right. Using a ROM isn't illegal. Hacking a Switch isn't illegal, Nintendo just reserves the right to ban your account if they notice.

I'm not even a stickler about these things, but it's weird to see such imprecise language used on a site that covers ROMs so often.

Wow, this has isometric pixel art AND actually uses character portraits for story cutscenes! Triangle Strategy doesn't have that!

...Anyway that was my initial thought, until I saw the sprites move and got big flash game vibes. Pixel art really needs to be animated with traditional frames, not smoothly tilted and puppeted like this.

A texture drawn by a low level asset artist at Nintendo EPD who is actually young enough to know what Discord is.

It is not remotely on the radars of the actual decision makers at Nintendo, trust me.

I've been missing my DS and revisiting games on it again, it was such a fantastic platform. The Switch just doesn't work that well as a handheld - too big, too expensive, not as interactive.

I hope Nintendo finds some way to explore that product space again, either with an even MORE hybrid console, or going back to a family of systems.

Waiting on the reviews to find out if they're even feature-complete compared to the originals and Platinum. Can't say I'm optimistic.

It's too bad this is inferior to the original GBA in that it makes you use joy-cons.

I look at a Gamecube every day and this looks very little like a Gamecube. I would probably also have a moment of "what is this nondescript appliance supposed to be"