Comments 114

Re: Poll: Octopath Traveler II Is Out Now, Which Character Will You Start With?

tgt

I started with Primrose the Dancer last time and would probably choose Agnea this time. The ability to boost another character's skills was really useful. Since I cycled through the stories, completing one chapter per character, I was unable to swap her out until the end. She never felt limiting; I imagine other characters could be in some situations.

Re: Poll: Would You Pay $70 For The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom?

tgt

Zelda is probably my favourite series, so I answered yes, but reluctantly. If other games increase in price, I'll end up buying fewer “AAA” games at launch and buy more indies whilst waiting for a price drop or to buy them second-hand.

I assume developers can charge less than in the 90s, inflation adjusted, despite games costing more to make because the market size and number of sales has increased faster.

Re: Nintendo Direct Confirmed For Tomorrow

tgt

I don't really understand the desire for TotK news; I want to go into it with as little spoiled as possible. Encountering Farosh over Lake Hylia in BotW, for example, was magical and I want that feeling again. From a hype / marketing perspective I understand including it in the Direct, but not as a player.

Hoping as usual for F-Zero, Silksong, Pikmin 4 and Prime 4. (Although at this point I think Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch and 4 on the Switch 2 might make sense.) Dates for Advance Wars, Sea of Stars, The Plucky Squire, Nine Sols and Little Devil Inside would be nice.

Ideally, I'd like a moment akin to realising what was being introduced when the Prime 4 teaser occurred at E3 2017.

Re: Feature: The 15 Best Zelda Bosses, Ranked

tgt

No love for Majora's Mask? I haven't played it since 2002-ish so maybe they don't hold up (or it being my first Zelda affects things), but I remember them being pretty inventive. And who can forget Majora's Incarnation?

Re: Feature: 5 Accessibility Features That Every Game Should Have

tgt

Text size adjustment is definitely my most needed accessibility feature. I sadly haven't managed to play Fire Emblem: Awakening due to contrast/text size. Octopath Traveller was a struggle. I'm debating whether or not playing Triangle Strategy will be worth the struggle.

I'd also like:

  • to be able to remove transparency (e.g. from text boxes)
  • to be able to disable auto-advancing text
  • to be able to remove timing in button press events
  • for button press events to show the button to be pressed spatially rather than by letter (i.e. show A/B/X/Y laid out as they are on the controller with the button to press highlighted)
  • to be able to remove effects that reduce contrast such as fog and lens flare. The push for more realism often makes newer games harder for me to play

Various other thoughts:

I don't have issues with hearing, but I remember reading something about someone's tinnitus being triggered by, I think, Horizon Forbidden West, which made me more aware of other accessibility issues.

I think Celeste is a good example when it comes to difficulty. Those who could play it without any assistance weren't affected by the developer providing a range of difficulty features up to making the character immortal for those who needed it.

Apple's done an amazing job of providing dynamic text, contrast controls, colour filters, voiceover, etc. I know games are more difficult, but game engine developers and platform vendors could do more. Accessibility should be considered at the foundations, not added at the end when it's hard to impossible to make changes without huge and expensive changes.

It's unfortunate that accessibility is considered too expensive given a it isn't needed by almost everyone since everyone will need accessibility features eventually: the people who can currently play games will eventually be older and have worse eyes, ears, or reactions; or might injure a hand playing sport; or might have a friend or child they want to experience a game with.

There are so many things that aren't considered and reviews rarely cover these issues (which is fair enough given how diverse issues can be).

Perhaps there should be a certification for games that do well on accessibility.