Octopath is a unique example. This is because each of the 8 stories are their own separate campaign. Probably 10-20 hours each. Depending on how fast or slow you taken them. Very good for portable play as you can play through one story, finish it and then pick up the game later and not have to remember any story as the next story is new, mostly separate and a good starting point.
Most RPGs do feel samey after a while. All games do this. The only reason we feel it in certain games as we're still playing them after 40 hours. Most shorter games are long since finished by that point. When you say "since the gameplay isn’t very compelling" - I feel that's you just trying to force yourself to like Persona 5 when it's not really a game for you. That game's gameplay is great, but it's very niche and not for everyone.
That's totally fine. I've tried to like certain good games of other genres and can't do it, they are great games, just not my cup of tea.
My favourite RPGs are the ones that have their quirks and are a little on the more unique side.
Ni No Kuni Ni No Kuni 2 - I liked it a lot, based on the story and looks of the game however it's not as good as the first and the DLC is fundamentally broken Dragon Quest XI - Really liked this in PS4 Xenoblade Chroniches 2 - If you like RPGs that are not turn based, then this might be for you. Though I must say the Wii original is good too but it's very linear, to a fault. It looks impressive but it's not an open game at all. The Switch game is more open (on a per Titan basis). Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles - I really liked that on the GC and the Switch remake is looking pretty good too. Just read up on the chalice as that dictates the gameplay. If you ok with what that entails then you might like this. Trials on Mana - That SNES RPG with a new official translation now. I've played the fan translation of that for years. It's a great game and well worth checking out, especially how you get different playable characters. I don't know if the remake will be any good. The Secret of Mana remake was pure garbage. Will Trials of Man be better? Who knows.
For something a little harder to officially play these days Paper Mario 64 Paper Mario - Thousand Year Door Sure these two are old games but they both hold up really well are not that long to finish and are really fun games. Nimtendo needs to make a double pack and port both to the Switch. They would sell.
@Xansies Firstly what you said could be considered a spoiler, so just watch out ok. Secondly I do agree with you, the game is quite long and that's not for everyone. There is no post game content (in the traditional sense) so I think the game length is justified. Though it's not for everyone.
@Moroboshi876 The reviewer did want to explain what DQ is and they did a decent attempt at it. They missed out a lot butfor a newcommer it's not that bad.
Also switching from 2D to 3D is not an anytime thing. You can do it at anytime but you do lose a little progress. It seems you have to play each section of the story in a single mode and you revert back to the begin of that section if you swap between 2D and 3D.
Note well I mean small section and there is ao msny of them in the game so your progress lsot is not that much. I don't mean major part of the game. I can't say more because spoilers for those who have not yet played the game. I've finished it on PS4 and will double dip.
This review is actually quite a good one. Well done. There are two minor issues with it.
1. The review score is irrelevant. As usual the review score bears zero relation to the content of the review. I am sure NL will fight to keep them in but they'd actually do better to remove them entirely. NL just being stubborn.
2. The fact that Dragon Quest is just a text based RPG at it's core. Sure there's the music and visuals which are the reason many people (myself included) buy DQ games. However you can get the same core experience with this as a text based game.
The combat is all typed out with the visuals
Travelling can easily be done with NESW directions and some descriptive words.
The communication between the party members and with the NPCs is so well done that on it's own it tells the story.
All of the actions undertaken by the party, like resting or camping, all have onscreen text saying what is happening.
Even stuff like using the mini-forge has subtitles telling you in text, exactly what is happening.
This is exactly why DQ11 is a great game. The core RPG elements are done exceptionally well. The eye candy and eargasms just add to the experience and make it even better.
Those who are saying the game is dull - they are really saying "this game is not for me". DQ11 is not dull in any way at all. It is quite the amazing game. However not every game is for everyone. If DQ11 doesn't interest you, that's fine, it's not for everyone. It's still amazing but this kind of JRPG does not appeal to everyone.
Just note well: Just because this game is not your cup of tea, that does not make the game dull at all.
@cryptologous It's not just here. It's everywhere. It's why places like metacritic exist. It's why almost every review site still insist on having a review score at the end of their reviews. They all do it because the people want it.
Sure I'd prefer if everyone actually read all of the reviews and then made up their own opinion on what they read. But that's just me, everyone else has their own way of thinking about things.
The bias and rose tinted glasses in this "review" actually hurt. Super Mario World is a good game but it's no 10/10 masterpiece.
Some of the recent NintendoLife reviews feel like "A fanboy with a platform" and not an accurate reflection of their opinions. Though, anyone who thinks any game is a perfect masterpiece should not be writing game reviews as that opinion is not capable to accurately discuss both a game's good points and flaws fairly.
Every single game has flaws. The reviews should mention what they are.
Honestly Digital Foundry do better reviews without even trying to do reviews.
@ALinkttPresent Proof that review scores are worthless numbers that do not reflect at all how good or bad a game is.
@RappinRootbeer DW8XL is the best musou game in many people's opinion. Mine too. A must play for Musou fans. Also for spin offs, the two Dragon Quest Heroes games are very good as well.
I agree DQ9 is not that good. Not worth getting. I don't know how good the Empires games are. I've been looking at DW8E but I can't seem to find it as a price I am willing to pay.
Finally, I've never played WO4 but I do have WO3 and it's ok. The story makes zero sense and the three characters at once thing is quite strange. Also the prestige thing where you reset the character levels back to 1 is a terrible mechanic. However the game is fun and worth it on sale, but that's it. It's not great.
I do own S4 and S4-2 and I think S4-2 is probably the better game from a gameplay point of view but S4's story is done in a slightly less confusing way. I hope S5 does it's story better, in a similar way to DW8.
Why would Damien McFerran quote the Independent? They don't even know who made the game.
Also these quotes from the reviews show one thing. The gaming focused websites featured here all love the game whereas the non primarily gaming focused websites all hate on the game.
It seems those not focused fully on gaming don't have the knowledge to fully inderstand what this game is and also do not understand that a good game is good regardless of if you like it or not.
I know there are many great games out there I do not like. That does not stop them being great, it just shows my gaming tastes are towards other games.
In short, anyone who knows anything about gaming is saying Astral Chain is a good game.
This is not an apples to apples comparison. Best to only use reviews from gaming websites who are well respected within the industry and actually know what they are talking about, not mix in websites who have zero idea apart from PR spin.
@Ralizah you saying this is true of recent. But history shows that was not always the case. First party releases were often delayed for Europe or Australia and their prices were and still are higher. European and Australian gamers of the years 1985-2010 know this very well.
For first party Nintendo releases, usually Japan gets the best options there. Not anywhere in the west. Things like 1st party game soundtracks are often Japanese exclusive.
Also The USA has a Nintendo World store. Europe and Australia would like one too.
@Ralizah I wish Europe and Australia got the Mega Man collections, Mega Man 11, Cave Story etc etc on cart. But we didn't. Physically only. I had to import the lot. Also the BotW switch case from the CE was US only, other regions didn't get it.
Every region get the short end of the stick from time to time. Anyone who complains their specific region is worse off, is just biased. Every region gets shafted from time to time.
Hey everyone - Here's an unboxing of the Japanese version of the collectors edition. It's quite different to the European/Australian version and still good but no where near as amasing as the EU/Aus one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16CJmMLTjY
@Quarth It should. And I think it'll be a multi-disc release. The sound selection itself is 31 tracks. Source - My AC-CE, I bought it in Australia locally via pre-order.
@AstralSoul13 Europeans AND Australians. I bought this in Australia - here's my photos of the one I picked up. https://imgur.com/a/7c6eA4m
@progx Many games don't even release physically outside the USA. At least you can get the standard version locally. Games like the Mega Man collection games and Mega Man 11 were not even available on cart in Europe and Australia. So I was forced to import from Amazon US.
My point? Saying your regios is worse off is incorrect. Every region has had the short end of the stick from time to time.
@PBandSmelly All geniuses are messed up in some way. Be it eccentricities or flat out strangeness it just being an asshole. I think it just comes with the territory.
People saying how they act outside work hours matters as a game consumer is ludicrous. Are they good at their job? If yes, that’s all that should matter to us. Let their private lives be private.
@flapjack-ashley When a large number of reviews are PR exercises and not an actually a true representation of the person’s opinions on the game. . . it’s a fair call and understandable to be cynical.
I’m not saying this review is anything like that but it is something to consider. How much of a review is opinion and how much is PR?
This review is pretty good. Sure there is PR there but there is also a lot of decent fact about the game too. One of the better reviews out there. Personally I filter out the PR in reviews and focus in on the opinion and fact in the reviews.
The game here looks to be very good but also very niche. Not a game everyone will like. But those who do will like it a lot.
Just remember you can dislike a good game but that doesn’t change the fact it’s a good game. Differing tastes in games and all that jazz.
@PBandSmelly If you and Mr Skeleton can’t recognise genius in music composition when you both hear it, not our fault. The DQ base music suite is a genius work of art.
Yet again NintendoLife, not quoting their information sources in the article. For #$%^ sake, it's not hard to $#@%ing quote the actual source of the information. So why in hell are they not doing it?
Lazy? Ignorance of good journalism? Or intentionally pissing off those who actually read the articles.
If you know the WR agent strats which RWGoose knows being a Goldeneye speedrunner himself the this is not a hard challenge. The only tough part is getting grenades when you need them.
He is known as RWGoose. Get it right. Secondly it was as slappers only challenge which failed on the Dam due to the gate lock. Every other stage is possible based on the shots fired stat. Because the watch laser and grenades are technically not shots fired.
Sure a slapper only run is impossible so it was challenge failed. He got close though with the above grenade and watch laser technicality.
@JuiceMan_V It’s just a click bait article by someone from the vocal minority who are trying to make an issue out of something that is a relatively rare occurrence.
NintendoLife have better journalistic standards . . . or so I thought. Articles like this make me think otherwise.
@NEStalgia That's only partially true. I've read a lot of Japanese and Chinese history. Even when you spell the names in English, for Chinese the last name is first, but not the Japanese names.
There's a reason the book has SI and not IS on the front.
@Anti-Guy Want to play Witcher 3 away from a TV screen? Sure it's 540p in portable mode, but that's enough for most Switch owners.
Switch owners still get hyped of designing their own Super Mario stages from Super Mario games that were originally released in 240p. All proof that fun and great content trump better graphics - most of the time.
NintendoLife needs more cash? Are the finances not looking so good? RE all the affiliate links here.
PS. I've imported a few things from Amazon UK to Australia vis the affiliate links. I'm ok with helping out NL. You're one of my favourite gaming websites.
The games that interest me: Mario Maker 2 - Already pre-ordered. In Australia because we get the stylus and a MM2 graph pad as pre-order bonuses. Raiden 5 - I might get that later on as I did like the earlier games.
That's it really. I do think Cities Skylines is a great game but might need a mouse and keyboardto be played properly. Also not sure how a big city runs on the Switch late game. It's better than the latest Sim City. Better than Sim City 4 though? Maybe. SIm City 4 was quite amazing.
Do I like Gamecube era games? This is what we have here. A game that is 15 years old in design. It would have been a 9/10 back then but now? Nah. 5/10 at best.
I've finished both games. Zero 100% and Zero 2 100%. Here are some facts that are not exactly said correctly in the review.
Zero and Zero 2 are not that hard. In Zero using the right weapon at the right time in the dungeons and the car sections are not to hard either. With the save system, and unlimited lives, it's so much easier than the NES game.
Zero 2 is just as easy as Zero. You can spam the X special when in the dungeons vs the faster shooting enemies to cheese them. That X special (just use the first initial one, the rest suck) is broken. By that I mean without it, you can't avoid damage from certain enemies, and with it, you can spam those enemies dead without any damage. Also using it at the right times makes most bosses easier. The out of dungeon, in car bosses are easy too. You'll die a few times initially, I know I did, but you'll realise all their moves are well telegraphed so as long as you learn the telegraphs you can deal with every in car boss attack a head of time.
Also it's just as easy to get car energy in Zero 2 so you can spam your favourite car secondary weapon with only a short delay to refill energy when you run out.
I think Zero is slightly better than Zero 2, even though noth are good games. Why? Because of the NES game. Zero being based off the NES game had a good framework to start with, so each level/area was well designed, a decent length, had great music, had a decent level theme and really fit well into the game. Zero 2 on the other hand felt a little all over the place. The smaller planets felt a little unnecessary because you could have easily put that boss or loot item on the main planet in each zone. Also the main planets felt a little too short so you didn't really feel satisfied when you were done with them. Also the music from Blaster Master 2 was not as good as the original. Mind you the NES game had amazing music and Blastermaster Zero was inspired from that.
I think in my opinion Super Metroid SNES would be a better follow up to Blaster Master Zero. By that I mean a one planet game like Blaster Master Zero, but instead of a linear path between the levels, it could be more metroidvania where bosses are all over the place and there are really hidden loot items and you backtrack to new areas accessed with the better weapon you aquire along the way.
The one thing I do like in Blastmaster Zero 2 is that every dungeon had an item in it. This was not the case in the first game as a few didn't have items. I think them all having loot makes you really excited when you find a dungeon because you never know what loot item is in side. It's not a case of getting to the end, no loot and wondering why you wasted your time in there.
Everything in Blaster Master Zero made sense. There was no wondering what to do next. However in Blaster Master Zero 2, a few things you need to do are totally not obvious and many people just randomly work it out ro look it up. Not a good thing, they should be more obvious like in the first game.
Overall I do think both Blaster Master Zero and Blaster Master Zero 2 are well worth picking up. Both are very fun and well worth the money.
In my opinion I'd give both the following scores. Blaster Master Zero - 9/10 Blaster Master Zero 2 - 8/10
As an aside there have been quite a few Blaster Master games between the NES game and Blaster Master Zero. All of them were pure garbage. So bad they hurt to play. The NES game and two Switch games are the only 3 in the series worth playing.
If you think either Zero game is tough, go play the NES original on the NES online service on Switch. That game is similarto zero but much harder. Less save points, no in dungeon regrenerating shield and limited lives/continues before game over really do up the difficulty. In my opinion the difficulty is the only reason I don't give the NES game a 10/10. It's a masterpiece in every way. The music and diagonal screen scrolling (amazing tech for the time) were standout parts of the game.
Why is this via twitter and Nintendo Soup? One would think NintendoLife would actually read the Nintendo official game page and look up the information themselves.
So props for NintendoLife for staying up to date with the rumour and grapevines. But NintendoLife should be doing things like looking up the page themselves. Ie their own research.
I look up the NoA or NoE/N-ANZ official game pages for every new game release or announcement. So I have the first hand information and be able to ask the right questions.
So I am surprised NintendoLife didn’t source the official game page and source that.
Dragon Quest XI-S
Or a Final Fantasy port already announced.
If anyone thinks this means anything else, they are not up to date on the recent happenings.
You said "I never gave it much thought back in the day and still don't. I base all of my gaming decisions on part my personal taste and the experiences of other gamers. Not some silly seal"
I guess hundreds of QA testers making sure officially lisenced games actually work properly on your console don't mean much to you. That's fine, everyone has their own opinions on things.
@Hikingguy
The NES had it's share of terrible games. A decend sized share too. However what you said is correct. Nintendo itself really is the star here. Their 1st party games were solid, most of the time. So if some of the 3rd party stuff was bad, people could always rely on the Nintendo games. Thankfully there was a lot of good 3rd party games too.
The other issue was in the early 80's there was so many different consoles out there too trying to one up each other. Apart from the lack of anyone actually trying to make good games which you mentioned.
Yeah Nintendo did play a great rolein all of that.
@Damo The article clearly is about the seal being related how good the games are to play which is not true.
I'll quote from the above article
"The Seal of Quality stood for something once; sure, there were still 'bad' NES games, but Nintendo's stringent policy was arguably responsible for giving us hits like Contra, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Mega Man 2, River City Ransom, Tecmo Bowl and many, many more 8-bit classics. Today, it feels like a relic to the past; a symbolic reminder to Nintendo veterans that the company still remembers its formative years in the console space, but a badge which carries little weight in the grand scheme of things."
The seal of quality always stood for something. The exact same thing it stood for in 1985 as it does in 2019. The classic NES games you mentioned have nothing to do with the seal of quality. Yes all those games are great games. No one doubts that. That's correct but quite off topic.
Nintendo's stringent policy in relation to having 3rd parties make less games back in the day was a great move but also nothing to do with thge seal of quality.
The seal of quality shows that you are buying something that is guaranted to work with your Nintendo console. That's all.
Even if you disagree, the seal of quality is as relevant to day as it was in 1985. It didn't once stand for something. It always stood for something and it will continue to stand for something long into the future.
@Damo I read the whole article. I was actually alive in the NES days (1980's) so I know exactly Nintendo had to focus on back then. THose who took an interest in that kind of thing back in the day knew it all. It was not exactly a hidden secret. It was all played out in the public sphere.
Maybe you should actually read Game Over. Or actually visit the Before Mario website to learn about what Nintendo was doing just before the NES came into being so you know why the seal of quality even exists.
PS. Random trivia. The first NES game I ever played was Zelda 2. Sure sure I was not around for the 1983 crash and 85 NES launch but I did get Zelda 2 when it launched.
It's a shame really that NL does not understand what the Seal of Quality was for. They wrote this whole article without understand what they were writing about.
@Borngis It also meant that too. A way to legally get back at fake products and 3rd party knockoffs trying to predend to be officially lisenced. Basically Nintendo wanted to save $$ by not repairing consoles in which you used unlisenced games or attachments like controllers with. Also not get sued when people whinged that a certain unlisenced thing didn't work with their Nintendo console.
NintendoLife don't understand what the seal of quality actually stood for. I think it's time I educated them.
The seal of quality made sure that every game or officially released product did play well with your console. As in games don't brick your console and official accessories just work (for the most part).
This is not about how good the games were. It's about how well the hardware was made and if the software worked as intended and didn't negatively affect your console.
Every Nintendo console has it's share of bad games. As long as those games didn't insta crash your console every time, brick your console or fail to work, it passed the Quality Assurance and ratned the seal of quality.
The seal of quality lets everyone know, this game or this whatever will work with your console. Even terrible games still work on the Nintendo console. No one should buy bad games because they are bad, but they still technically work on your console.
Nintendo has always enforced the seal of quality. Still does today. When is the last time an officially lisenced product bricked any Nintendo console with normal use? When is the last time a lisenced product continually crashed your Nintendo console?
Wery rarely I bet. That's proof the seal of quality is being enforced.
PS. I doubt NL will fix up the article to correct all the mistakes in it.
“No fighter is below 40%, and no fighter is above 60%... As for one on one matches among VIP players, the lowest win rate for any character is 43.7%. The highest win ratio is 56.8%.”
How does NL get 54% from that? Making up random numbers?
The Hat in Time even deleted all their tweets about them not wanting to ever port the game to Switch. Quite arrogant if you ask me. They could have made up for it by apologising and saying "Our opinions changed because of how well the Switch has performed".
No one would care if they are just chasing the money. We're all just annoyed that they can't be honest about it. Just arrogant developers.
For anyone who has an open mind and has played Yooka-Laylee it's obvious. Many reviews at the time just unfairly hated on Yooka-Laylee. They wanted something the the game was not and thus the bad review scores. The review scores were a symptom of the reviewers not understanding the design goals of Yooka-Laylee.
Yooka-Laylee is a better game than Hat in Time. After the patches Yooka-Laylee is even better.
Also this is nothing about releasing the same time as Mario Odyssey. The Hat in Time develoeprs said the game will never come to Switch. They made sure every one knew that meant never ever. Of cause their attitude on that has changed.
Engine issues is a possibility though. Hat in Time does use quite a few programming hacks to get the job done. Programming shortcuts and other things. The end result is mostly good though. Just under the hood it's not pretty at all. Thankfully if you don't glitch out of bounds or delve into Hat in Time's code you won't see most of it.
The developer has since deleted their tweet saying so.
It seems originally they didn't want to but for whatever reason they backflipped. Was it customer demand or the huge potential revenue on Switch? Who knows. But they did backflip. A good thing as it's a good game.
Of cause games like Mario Odyssey and Yooka-Laylee are objectively superior games, but Hat In Time is a cute 3D platformer. Sure Hat In Time is not without it's flaws, but at the right price I'll probably get it too.
Comments 430
Re: Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition - A Gift That Keeps On Giving
@Xansies
Most IPs don’t change that often. DQ is no different in that respect. The same but expanded upon in a new and improved way sells well too.
Re: Switch Lite Added To Joy-Con Drift Class Action Lawsuit
This would be thrown out of court by any competent judge.
Re: Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition - A Gift That Keeps On Giving
@NotTelevision
Octopath is a unique example. This is because each of the 8 stories are their own separate campaign. Probably 10-20 hours each. Depending on how fast or slow you taken them.
Very good for portable play as you can play through one story, finish it and then pick up the game later and not have to remember any story as the next story is new, mostly separate and a good starting point.
Most RPGs do feel samey after a while. All games do this. The only reason we feel it in certain games as we're still playing them after 40 hours. Most shorter games are long since finished by that point. When you say "since the gameplay isn’t very compelling" - I feel that's you just trying to force yourself to like Persona 5 when it's not really a game for you. That game's gameplay is great, but it's very niche and not for everyone.
That's totally fine. I've tried to like certain good games of other genres and can't do it, they are great games, just not my cup of tea.
My favourite RPGs are the ones that have their quirks and are a little on the more unique side.
Ni No Kuni
Ni No Kuni 2 - I liked it a lot, based on the story and looks of the game however it's not as good as the first and the DLC is fundamentally broken
Dragon Quest XI - Really liked this in PS4
Xenoblade Chroniches 2 - If you like RPGs that are not turn based, then this might be for you. Though I must say the Wii original is good too but it's very linear, to a fault. It looks impressive but it's not an open game at all. The Switch game is more open (on a per Titan basis).
Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles - I really liked that on the GC and the Switch remake is looking pretty good too. Just read up on the chalice as that dictates the gameplay. If you ok with what that entails then you might like this.
Trials on Mana - That SNES RPG with a new official translation now. I've played the fan translation of that for years. It's a great game and well worth checking out, especially how you get different playable characters. I don't know if the remake will be any good. The Secret of Mana remake was pure garbage. Will Trials of Man be better? Who knows.
For something a little harder to officially play these days
Paper Mario 64
Paper Mario - Thousand Year Door
Sure these two are old games but they both hold up really well are not that long to finish and are really fun games. Nimtendo needs to make a double pack and port both to the Switch. They would sell.
Re: Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition - A Gift That Keeps On Giving
@Xansies
Firstly what you said could be considered a spoiler, so just watch out ok.
Secondly I do agree with you, the game is quite long and that's not for everyone. There is no post game content (in the traditional sense) so I think the game length is justified. Though it's not for everyone.
Thanks for the comment
Re: Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition - A Gift That Keeps On Giving
@Moroboshi876
The reviewer did want to explain what DQ is and they did a decent attempt at it. They missed out a lot butfor a newcommer it's not that bad.
Also switching from 2D to 3D is not an anytime thing. You can do it at anytime but you do lose a little progress. It seems you have to play each section of the story in a single mode and you revert back to the begin of that section if you swap between 2D and 3D.
Note well I mean small section and there is ao msny of them in the game so your progress lsot is not that much. I don't mean major part of the game. I can't say more because spoilers for those who have not yet played the game. I've finished it on PS4 and will double dip.
Re: Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition - A Gift That Keeps On Giving
This review is actually quite a good one. Well done.
There are two minor issues with it.
1. The review score is irrelevant. As usual the review score bears zero relation to the content of the review. I am sure NL will fight to keep them in but they'd actually do better to remove them entirely. NL just being stubborn.
2. The fact that Dragon Quest is just a text based RPG at it's core.
Sure there's the music and visuals which are the reason many people (myself included) buy DQ games. However you can get the same core experience with this as a text based game.
This is exactly why DQ11 is a great game. The core RPG elements are done exceptionally well. The eye candy and eargasms just add to the experience and make it even better.
Those who are saying the game is dull - they are really saying "this game is not for me". DQ11 is not dull in any way at all. It is quite the amazing game.
However not every game is for everyone. If DQ11 doesn't interest you, that's fine, it's not for everyone. It's still amazing but this kind of JRPG does not appeal to everyone.
Just note well: Just because this game is not your cup of tea, that does not make the game dull at all.
Re: Review: Super Mario World - Phenomenal Platforming Perfection
@cryptologous
It's not just here. It's everywhere. It's why places like metacritic exist. It's why almost every review site still insist on having a review score at the end of their reviews.
They all do it because the people want it.
Sure I'd prefer if everyone actually read all of the reviews and then made up their own opinion on what they read. But that's just me, everyone else has their own way of thinking about things.
Re: Review: Super Mario World - Phenomenal Platforming Perfection
The bias and rose tinted glasses in this "review" actually hurt.
Super Mario World is a good game but it's no 10/10 masterpiece.
Some of the recent NintendoLife reviews feel like "A fanboy with a platform" and not an accurate reflection of their opinions.
Though, anyone who thinks any game is a perfect masterpiece should not be writing game reviews as that opinion is not capable to accurately discuss both a game's good points and flaws fairly.
Every single game has flaws. The reviews should mention what they are.
Honestly Digital Foundry do better reviews without even trying to do reviews.
@ALinkttPresent
Proof that review scores are worthless numbers that do not reflect at all how good or bad a game is.
Re: Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate Adds New Characters, Storylines And More
@RappinRootbeer
DW8XL is the best musou game in many people's opinion. Mine too. A must play for Musou fans.
Also for spin offs, the two Dragon Quest Heroes games are very good as well.
I agree DQ9 is not that good. Not worth getting.
I don't know how good the Empires games are. I've been looking at DW8E but I can't seem to find it as a price I am willing to pay.
Finally, I've never played WO4 but I do have WO3 and it's ok. The story makes zero sense and the three characters at once thing is quite strange. Also the prestige thing where you reset the character levels back to 1 is a terrible mechanic. However the game is fun and worth it on sale, but that's it. It's not great.
I do own S4 and S4-2 and I think S4-2 is probably the better game from a gameplay point of view but S4's story is done in a slightly less confusing way. I hope S5 does it's story better, in a similar way to DW8.
Re: Round Up: Is Astral Chain A "Platinum-Plated Masterpiece" Or "Flavourless Disappointment"?
@NintenDan_
One would think the author of this article would know the same. But alas this is not the case.
Re: Round Up: Is Astral Chain A "Platinum-Plated Masterpiece" Or "Flavourless Disappointment"?
Why would Damien McFerran quote the Independent? They don't even know who made the game.
Also these quotes from the reviews show one thing. The gaming focused websites featured here all love the game whereas the non primarily gaming focused websites all hate on the game.
It seems those not focused fully on gaming don't have the knowledge to fully inderstand what this game is and also do not understand that a good game is good regardless of if you like it or not.
I know there are many great games out there I do not like. That does not stop them being great, it just shows my gaming tastes are towards other games.
In short, anyone who knows anything about gaming is saying Astral Chain is a good game.
This is not an apples to apples comparison. Best to only use reviews from gaming websites who are well respected within the industry and actually know what they are talking about, not mix in websites who have zero idea apart from PR spin.
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
@Ralizah
you saying this is true of recent. But history shows that was not always the case. First party releases were often delayed for Europe or Australia and their prices were and still are higher. European and Australian gamers of the years 1985-2010 know this very well.
For first party Nintendo releases, usually Japan gets the best options there. Not anywhere in the west. Things like 1st party game soundtracks are often Japanese exclusive.
Also The USA has a Nintendo World store. Europe and Australia would like one too.
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
@Smigit
I was burnt the exact same way here in Aus. I feel your pain.
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
@Ralizah
I wish Europe and Australia got the Mega Man collections, Mega Man 11, Cave Story etc etc on cart. But we didn't. Physically only. I had to import the lot.
Also the BotW switch case from the CE was US only, other regions didn't get it.
Every region get the short end of the stick from time to time.
Anyone who complains their specific region is worse off, is just biased. Every region gets shafted from time to time.
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
Hey everyone - Here's an unboxing of the Japanese version of the collectors edition. It's quite different to the European/Australian version and still good but no where near as amasing as the EU/Aus one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16CJmMLTjY
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
@Quarth
It should. And I think it'll be a multi-disc release. The sound selection itself is 31 tracks.
Source - My AC-CE, I bought it in Australia locally via pre-order.
@AstralSoul13
Europeans AND Australians.
I bought this in Australia - here's my photos of the one I picked up.
https://imgur.com/a/7c6eA4m
Re: Gallery: The Astral Chain Collector's Edition Is From Another Dimension
@progx
Many games don't even release physically outside the USA.
At least you can get the standard version locally. Games like the Mega Man collection games and Mega Man 11 were not even available on cart in Europe and Australia. So I was forced to import from Amazon US.
My point?
Saying your regios is worse off is incorrect. Every region has had the short end of the stick from time to time.
Re: Poll: Have You Played The Dragon Quest XI S Demo On Nintendo Switch Yet?
@PBandSmelly
All geniuses are messed up in some way. Be it eccentricities or flat out strangeness it just being an asshole. I think it just comes with the territory.
People saying how they act outside work hours matters as a game consumer is ludicrous. Are they good at their job? If yes, that’s all that should matter to us. Let their private lives be private.
Re: Review: Astral Chain - Platinum's Best Game Ever? You'd Better Believe It
@flapjack-ashley
When a large number of reviews are PR exercises and not an actually a true representation of the person’s opinions on the game. . . it’s a fair call and understandable to be cynical.
I’m not saying this review is anything like that but it is something to consider. How much of a review is opinion and how much is PR?
This review is pretty good. Sure there is PR there but there is also a lot of decent fact about the game too. One of the better reviews out there.
Personally I filter out the PR in reviews and focus in on the opinion and fact in the reviews.
The game here looks to be very good but also very niche. Not a game everyone will like. But those who do will like it a lot.
Just remember you can dislike a good game but that doesn’t change the fact it’s a good game. Differing tastes in games and all that jazz.
Re: Poll: Have You Played The Dragon Quest XI S Demo On Nintendo Switch Yet?
@PBandSmelly
If you and Mr Skeleton can’t recognise genius in music composition when you both hear it, not our fault. The DQ base music suite is a genius work of art.
Re: WayForward Reveals Shantae And The Seven Sirens, The Half-Genie Hero's Next Adventure
Yet again NintendoLife, not quoting their information sources in the article. For #$%^ sake, it's not hard to $#@%ing quote the actual source of the information. So why in hell are they not doing it?
Lazy? Ignorance of good journalism? Or intentionally pissing off those who actually read the articles.
Here's the source.
https://wayforward.com/wayforward-reveals-official-title-and-new-details-for-shantae-and-the-seven-sirens/
Re: Random: GoldenEye N64 Can Be Beaten With Just One Bullet
@gaga64
If you know the WR agent strats which RWGoose knows being a Goldeneye speedrunner himself the this is not a hard challenge.
The only tough part is getting grenades when you need them.
Re: Random: GoldenEye N64 Can Be Beaten With Just One Bullet
He is known as RWGoose. Get it right. Secondly it was as slappers only challenge which failed on the Dam due to the gate lock. Every other stage is possible based on the shots fired stat. Because the watch laser and grenades are technically not shots fired.
Sure a slapper only run is impossible so it was challenge failed. He got close though with the above grenade and watch laser technicality.
Re: Soapbox: Sorry Nintendo, Joy-Con Drift Means I Won't Buy Switch Lite At Launch
@8bitdaysaweek
The issue is isolated cases that rarely happen. Nintendo is correct in their assessment of the situation.
The timing was strategic. Proving the lawsuit is all about $$ and not about getting the relatively rare issue fixed.
Re: Soapbox: Sorry Nintendo, Joy-Con Drift Means I Won't Buy Switch Lite At Launch
@JuiceMan_V
It’s just a click bait article by someone from the vocal minority who are trying to make an issue out of something that is a relatively rare occurrence.
NintendoLife have better journalistic standards . . .
or so I thought. Articles like this make me think otherwise.
Re: Soapbox: Sorry Nintendo, Joy-Con Drift Means I Won't Buy Switch Lite At Launch
The vocal minority trying to scare off the majority over a very rare issue.
Only a fool would put purchasing this off.
Only a fool would be sucked in by the screams of the vocal minority.
Re: A Book Celebrating The Life Of Satoru Iwata Announced For Release In Japan
@NEStalgia
That's only partially true. I've read a lot of Japanese and Chinese history. Even when you spell the names in English, for Chinese the last name is first, but not the Japanese names.
There's a reason the book has SI and not IS on the front.
Re: A Book Celebrating The Life Of Satoru Iwata Announced For Release In Japan
@NEStalgia
That’s Chinese as far as I know, NOT Japanese.
Re: The Entirety Of Witcher III Will Be Squeezed Onto A Single Switch Cartridge
@Anti-Guy
Want to play Witcher 3 away from a TV screen?
Sure it's 540p in portable mode, but that's enough for most Switch owners.
Switch owners still get hyped of designing their own Super Mario stages from Super Mario games that were originally released in 240p. All proof that fun and great content trump better graphics - most of the time.
Re: Guide: Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games And Accessories For June And July
NintendoLife needs more cash? Are the finances not looking so good?
RE all the affiliate links here.
PS. I've imported a few things from Amazon UK to Australia vis the affiliate links. I'm ok with helping out NL. You're one of my favourite gaming websites.
The games that interest me:
Mario Maker 2 - Already pre-ordered. In Australia because we get the stylus and a MM2 graph pad as pre-order bonuses.
Raiden 5 - I might get that later on as I did like the earlier games.
That's it really.
I do think Cities Skylines is a great game but might need a mouse and keyboardto be played properly. Also not sure how a big city runs on the Switch late game. It's better than the latest Sim City. Better than Sim City 4 though? Maybe. SIm City 4 was quite amazing.
Re: Nintendo Hosts Huge 'Go Digital' Sale, Up To 90% Off More Than 130 Switch Games (Europe)
@Dellybelly
I bought my Switch for an indie game. Blaster Master Zero. Also soon after for Vostok Inc. Some people actually prefer the indies on the Switch.
Also even if you hate 95% of the o does on Switch. At nearly 1000 indies on Switch, that’s still 50 games for you.
Re: Review: Shadowgate - A Faithful And Tricky Remake Most Suited To Retro Fans
@algol
This is basically "The reviewer didn't like it so 6/10"
The reviewer can't differentiate between game quality and personal opinions.
Re: Review: My Time At Portia - An Engaging Life Sim That Will Eat Up Your Spare Time
Do I like Gamecube era games?
This is what we have here. A game that is 15 years old in design. It would have been a 9/10 back then but now? Nah. 5/10 at best.
Re: Nintendo Removes Inappropriate Custom Stages From Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
I reported a few of them myself
Pewdiepie begging for subs
Crapping out poop
Penises
Drawn out letters in the formof profanities
All garbage that needs to be banned.
Re: Review: Blaster Master Zero 2 - Pure, Retro Platforming Goodness At Its Finest
I've finished both games. Zero 100% and Zero 2 100%.
Here are some facts that are not exactly said correctly in the review.
Zero 2 is just as easy as Zero. You can spam the X special when in the dungeons vs the faster shooting enemies to cheese them. That X special (just use the first initial one, the rest suck) is broken. By that I mean without it, you can't avoid damage from certain enemies, and with it, you can spam those enemies dead without any damage. Also using it at the right times makes most bosses easier.
The out of dungeon, in car bosses are easy too. You'll die a few times initially, I know I did, but you'll realise all their moves are well telegraphed so as long as you learn the telegraphs you can deal with every in car boss attack a head of time.
Because of the NES game. Zero being based off the NES game had a good framework to start with, so each level/area was well designed, a decent length, had great music, had a decent level theme and really fit well into the game.
Zero 2 on the other hand felt a little all over the place. The smaller planets felt a little unnecessary because you could have easily put that boss or loot item on the main planet in each zone.
Also the main planets felt a little too short so you didn't really feel satisfied when you were done with them.
Also the music from Blaster Master 2 was not as good as the original. Mind you the NES game had amazing music and Blastermaster Zero was inspired from that.
I think in my opinion Super Metroid SNES would be a better follow up to Blaster Master Zero. By that I mean a one planet game like Blaster Master Zero, but instead of a linear path between the levels, it could be more metroidvania where bosses are all over the place and there are really hidden loot items and you backtrack to new areas accessed with the better weapon you aquire along the way.
Overall I do think both Blaster Master Zero and Blaster Master Zero 2 are well worth picking up. Both are very fun and well worth the money.
In my opinion I'd give both the following scores.
Blaster Master Zero - 9/10
Blaster Master Zero 2 - 8/10
As an aside there have been quite a few Blaster Master games between the NES game and Blaster Master Zero. All of them were pure garbage. So bad they hurt to play. The NES game and two Switch games are the only 3 in the series worth playing.
If you think either Zero game is tough, go play the NES original on the NES online service on Switch. That game is similarto zero but much harder. Less save points, no in dungeon regrenerating shield and limited lives/continues before game over really do up the difficulty. In my opinion the difficulty is the only reason I don't give the NES game a 10/10. It's a masterpiece in every way. The music and diagonal screen scrolling (amazing tech for the time) were standout parts of the game.
Re: Number Of Players For Link's Awakening On Switch To Be Determined
Why is this via twitter and Nintendo Soup?
One would think NintendoLife would actually read the Nintendo official game page and look up the information themselves.
So props for NintendoLife for staying up to date with the rumour and grapevines. But NintendoLife should be doing things like looking up the page themselves. Ie their own research.
I look up the NoA or NoE/N-ANZ official game pages for every new game release or announcement. So I have the first hand information and be able to ask the right questions.
So I am surprised NintendoLife didn’t source the official game page and source that.
Re: Square Enix Producer Retweets Nintendo Direct Announcement, Sends Speculation Into Overdrive
Dragon Quest XI-S
Or a Final Fantasy port already announced.
If anyone thinks this means anything else, they are not up to date on the recent happenings.
PS. It's not Kingdom Hearts on Switch.
Re: Talking Point: What Does The Nintendo Seal Of Quality Mean In 2019?
@UmbreonsPapa
You said
"I never gave it much thought back in the day and still don't. I base all of my gaming decisions on part my personal taste and the experiences of other gamers. Not some silly seal"
I guess hundreds of QA testers making sure officially lisenced games actually work properly on your console don't mean much to you. That's fine, everyone has their own opinions on things.
@Hikingguy
The NES had it's share of terrible games. A decend sized share too. However what you said is correct. Nintendo itself really is the star here. Their 1st party games were solid, most of the time. So if some of the 3rd party stuff was bad, people could always rely on the Nintendo games. Thankfully there was a lot of good 3rd party games too.
The other issue was in the early 80's there was so many different consoles out there too trying to one up each other. Apart from the lack of anyone actually trying to make good games which you mentioned.
Yeah Nintendo did play a great rolein all of that.
@Damo
The article clearly is about the seal being related how good the games are to play which is not true.
I'll quote from the above article
"The Seal of Quality stood for something once; sure, there were still 'bad' NES games, but Nintendo's stringent policy was arguably responsible for giving us hits like Contra, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Mega Man 2, River City Ransom, Tecmo Bowl and many, many more 8-bit classics. Today, it feels like a relic to the past; a symbolic reminder to Nintendo veterans that the company still remembers its formative years in the console space, but a badge which carries little weight in the grand scheme of things."
The seal of quality always stood for something. The exact same thing it stood for in 1985 as it does in 2019. The classic NES games you mentioned have nothing to do with the seal of quality. Yes all those games are great games. No one doubts that. That's correct but quite off topic.
Nintendo's stringent policy in relation to having 3rd parties make less games back in the day was a great move but also nothing to do with thge seal of quality.
The seal of quality shows that you are buying something that is guaranted to work with your Nintendo console. That's all.
Even if you disagree, the seal of quality is as relevant to day as it was in 1985. It didn't once stand for something. It always stood for something and it will continue to stand for something long into the future.
Re: Talking Point: What Does The Nintendo Seal Of Quality Mean In 2019?
@Damo
I read the whole article. I was actually alive in the NES days (1980's) so I know exactly Nintendo had to focus on back then. THose who took an interest in that kind of thing back in the day knew it all. It was not exactly a hidden secret. It was all played out in the public sphere.
Maybe you should actually read Game Over.
Or actually visit the Before Mario website to learn about what Nintendo was doing just before the NES came into being so you know why the seal of quality even exists.
PS. Random trivia. The first NES game I ever played was Zelda 2. Sure sure I was not around for the 1983 crash and 85 NES launch but I did get Zelda 2 when it launched.
Re: Talking Point: What Does The Nintendo Seal Of Quality Mean In 2019?
@Xaessya
Do you even know why the seal of quality exists?
Re: Talking Point: What Does The Nintendo Seal Of Quality Mean In 2019?
@subpopz
It's a shame really that NL does not understand what the Seal of Quality was for. They wrote this whole article without understand what they were writing about.
Re: Talking Point: What Does The Nintendo Seal Of Quality Mean In 2019?
@Borngis
It also meant that too. A way to legally get back at fake products and 3rd party knockoffs trying to predend to be officially lisenced.
Basically Nintendo wanted to save $$ by not repairing consoles in which you used unlisenced games or attachments like controllers with. Also not get sued when people whinged that a certain unlisenced thing didn't work with their Nintendo console.
Re: Talking Point: What Does The Nintendo Seal Of Quality Mean In 2019?
NintendoLife don't understand what the seal of quality actually stood for. I think it's time I educated them.
The seal of quality made sure that every game or officially released product did play well with your console. As in games don't brick your console and official accessories just work (for the most part).
This is not about how good the games were. It's about how well the hardware was made and if the software worked as intended and didn't negatively affect your console.
Every Nintendo console has it's share of bad games. As long as those games didn't insta crash your console every time, brick your console or fail to work, it passed the Quality Assurance and ratned the seal of quality.
The seal of quality lets everyone know, this game or this whatever will work with your console. Even terrible games still work on the Nintendo console. No one should buy bad games because they are bad, but they still technically work on your console.
Nintendo has always enforced the seal of quality. Still does today. When is the last time an officially lisenced product bricked any Nintendo console with normal use? When is the last time a lisenced product continually crashed your Nintendo console?
Wery rarely I bet. That's proof the seal of quality is being enforced.
PS. I doubt NL will fix up the article to correct all the mistakes in it.
Re: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Balance Isn't A Concern For Masahiro Sakurai
“No fighter is below 40%, and no fighter is above 60%... As for one on one matches among VIP players, the lowest win rate for any character is 43.7%. The highest win ratio is 56.8%.”
How does NL get 54% from that?
Making up random numbers?
Re: Nintendo's Stance On Directs Hasn't Changed Despite Gap Between Presentations
All directs are "proper".
NL saying otherwise is factually incorrect.
Re: A Hat In Time Is Coming Soon To Switch, According To The Gears For Breakfast Support Page
@setezerocinco
You'll not find that tweet anymore, they deleted it.
https://twitter.com/HatInTime/status/960491996707213312
That's the link to the tweet as shared in the previous NL article.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/02/a_hat_in_time_developer_confirms_the_time_travel_platformer_wont_leap_onto_switch
Re: A Hat In Time Is Coming Soon To Switch, According To The Gears For Breakfast Support Page
@ritouf
The Hat in Time even deleted all their tweets about them not wanting to ever port the game to Switch. Quite arrogant if you ask me. They could have made up for it by apologising and saying "Our opinions changed because of how well the Switch has performed".
No one would care if they are just chasing the money. We're all just annoyed that they can't be honest about it. Just arrogant developers.
Re: A Hat In Time Is Coming Soon To Switch, According To The Gears For Breakfast Support Page
@SmaggTheSmug
For anyone who has an open mind and has played Yooka-Laylee it's obvious. Many reviews at the time just unfairly hated on Yooka-Laylee. They wanted something the the game was not and thus the bad review scores. The review scores were a symptom of the reviewers not understanding the design goals of Yooka-Laylee.
Yooka-Laylee is a better game than Hat in Time. After the patches Yooka-Laylee is even better.
Also this is nothing about releasing the same time as Mario Odyssey. The Hat in Time develoeprs said the game will never come to Switch. They made sure every one knew that meant never ever. Of cause their attitude on that has changed.
Engine issues is a possibility though. Hat in Time does use quite a few programming hacks to get the job done. Programming shortcuts and other things. The end result is mostly good though. Just under the hood it's not pretty at all. Thankfully if you don't glitch out of bounds or delve into Hat in Time's code you won't see most of it.
Re: A Hat In Time Is Coming Soon To Switch, According To The Gears For Breakfast Support Page
The developer previously has said Hat In Time will never come to Switch.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/02/a_hat_in_time_developer_confirms_the_time_travel_platformer_wont_leap_onto_switch
The developer has since deleted their tweet saying so.
It seems originally they didn't want to but for whatever reason they backflipped. Was it customer demand or the huge potential revenue on Switch? Who knows. But they did backflip. A good thing as it's a good game.
Of cause games like Mario Odyssey and Yooka-Laylee are objectively superior games, but Hat In Time is a cute 3D platformer. Sure Hat In Time is not without it's flaws, but at the right price I'll probably get it too.
Re: Surprise! Goat Simulator: The GOATY Is Available On Switch Right Now
@gangsterswedish
Are you going to list all 620 by name as you said you could?