Messages

1

TalkBack / Re: It's Happening: Xenoblade Chronicles X To Be Remastered In March 2025

« on: October 29, 2024, 01:43:42 PM »

This is awesome news.  Xenoblade X is an incredible game that's still my favorite game in the Xenoblade series.  I put over 270 hours into the game to 100% it.  It's actually the most hours I've ever put into a game, I was that hooked.  Just being a port would have been enough for me to get it, but since they're adding new content that'll deal with the giant cliffhanger at the end, it really tempting me to have to buy it Day 1, even though that would kill my backlog for next year since the original game took me over 4 months, and I was hoping to spend most of next year cleaning out my Switch backlog since most new Nintendo games will probably be Switch 2 exclusive.

It's kind of funny they made this announcement now, when it was literally 8 years ago around this time that I started playing this game on the Wii U.  Feels like it wasn't that long ago since I can still remember so much of this game, while there's games I've played more recently I can hardly remember much about.  Goes to show just how much of an impression this game made on me, and how sucked into its world I was.

I really hope getting this version of the game that'll deal with the cliffhanger at the end will mean a sequel for the Switch Successor is in the works.  It's insanely impressive what Monolith Soft managed to pull off with this game on the Wii U's hardware, so I'd love to see them make a sequel to this on the Switch Successor which is rumored to at least be PS4 Pro level.  Damn that would be pretty mind blowing.

Port the remaining 2 Zelda and 1 Yoshi games now, you cowards. Apparently, Wii U s are dying off these days due to defective chips, so it'd be nice to get the last of the worthwhile Wii U exclusives off that thing.

With Echoes of Wisdom just coming out, and Tears of the Kingdom the year earlier, 2025 looks to not have any new Zelda game so I imagine they'll release Wind Waker HD, and then release Twilight Princess HD in 2026.  With Donkey Kong County Returns coming out with the 3DS content, it's only a matter of time before Wolly World with its exclusive 3DS content comes out as well.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Paper Mario: Color Splash comes out as well since both Paper Mario games on the Switch were miller sellers.  I also wouldn't be surprised if they even port Star Fox Zero since Platinum isn't doing much these days, so I could see Nintendo throwing them a bone to rework that game for cheap just to see what a Star Fox game on a system with a massive user base might sell.  There were also reports that Nintendo updated the trademark on Kirby: Rainbow Curse so I wouldn't be surprised if they reworked that game to work on the Switch with normal controls, with the option to still use the touchscreen in handheld mode.

Pretty much at this point I'd imagine every single player Wii U game is getting ported to the Switch.  With the Switch Successor coming next year, it'll be the cheapest way to still support the massive user base on the Switch while all their teams make new games for the new system. 

2

General Gaming / Re: Shocktober V: The Dream Child

« on: October 28, 2024, 06:26:53 PM »

OK so now I finally got some time to post what I've done.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Seriously, we finally got a new 2D Zelda so I had to get this one at launch.  I was still playing it the first 2 weeks of October, but like Kush said with Links Awakening, Zelda games have things like Skeletons and Ghost, so there's enough spooky things to still make them count for Halloween.

Anyway, I really liked this game.  I'd say this game has the best Overworld in a 2D Zelda game.  There's a lot of optional content to find, and most can be accessed pretty early on.  I actually explored almost the entire world before even going into the 3rd Dungeon because I was so hooked.  I really like how there's even some unique mini-bosses to find that are pretty powerful, and once you get their Echoes they really help with taking down enemies fast.  Also a lot of the rewards for exploring and doing side quest are things that'll allow you to stay in Sword fighter mode longer, and make the Sword more powerful while in that mode.  So all you people who complain about not being able to use a sword all the time have a good reason to want to explore the map and do side quest because that's what literally allows Zelda to actually use a Sword more often.

The dungeons on the other hand were just ok, with some cool idea's at times, but none of them really increased the complexity to what the series is known for.  I know some people will say Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were like that but I disagree.  BOTW and TOTK are still filled with a lot of moments that make you wonder what you're suppose to do, and require you to experiment a lot more to achieve what you need to do.  In Echoes of Wisdom, they make it way to easy to solve almost every puzzle with the same set of Echoes over and over again.

The boss fights are awesome though.  I was playing on Hero Mode and these bosses hit hard, with some having attacks that will take close to half your health if you get hit.  The game gives a good reason to want to explore so you increase your health and have lots of Smoothies, but bosses at least on Hero Mode don't mess around.

It took me over 30 hours to finish the game and 2/3rds of that was doing things outside of dungeons so the overall game was still amazing to me.  There's a good chance this will probably be my game of the year.


Lords of Exile

This is a classic Castlevania clone that came out earlier this year.  It's pretty much ripping off Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon with the main character looking just like Zangetsu from that game, right down to the red sprite and sword as a main weapon.  But I don't mind since the 1st Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is still my favorite classic Castlevania clone so somebody else just copying that game is good enough for me.  Plus the developers of this game were also able to hire fucking Yuzo Koshiro to compose some song for the game.  Damn, with all that going for it how can this not be a winner?

Well for starters, the level design could use some work.  The first few levels in particular are kind of dull and not very engaging.  Things do start to pick up by level 4 so the second half of the game is more fun to play, but even then, the difficulty never reaches the level of an actual Classic Castlevania or other varies clones.

The game also made the weird decision to have blocks in levels that require you to use a charge attack to destroy, but that's all they do.  So many times you just come to a set of blocks, need to charge up and attack to destroy them and move on.  It constantly stops the gameplay and literally adds nothing to the gameplay.  Also when you get the double jump, it's not the most reliable thing where there's several times where it just doesn't want to work and I'm not sure why.  This is why I hardly every use it except for moments where it's required.

The best part of the game is the boss fights which I found most to be pretty fun.  But other than that, it's hard to recommend this game to anyone, even other fans of Classic Castlevania.  The main game took me less than 2 hours to beat, and then I unlocked a second playable character that took another hour to beat, and then the boss rush took about 20 minutes.  It only took between 3-4 hours to do everything in this game.  There's so many other games in this stye at similar prices or less that are not only better games, but have more content as well.  Unless you're a big fan of Classic Castlevania that can get this game on sale for under $5 dollars , it's not really worth it.


Infernax

This game is pretty much if you combined Zelda 2 and Castlevania 2, and filled them with lots of gore and disturbing images, so it fits the Halloween theme very well.  So yeah I really enjoyed this game.  The gameplay is pretty much taken directly from Zelda 2, so I had no problem getting into it right away.  It started out rather challenging but as I got more upgrades the difficulty got easier toward the end, for the most part.  I got the basic ending for the Good path my first time though, which doing so gave me the password to unlock the rocket pack to give my character to now hover and fly around the air.  It's a good thing I did this first since when I went for the True Ending of the Good and Evil path, both sections have some rather BS area's and boss fights that probably would have sucked if I didn't have the rocket ability unlocked.  But hey, when a game has multiple endings I always like to see the bad ones first before getting the good ones, so I like that doing so gave me a reward this time that helped make getting the better endings easier.  Give a good reason to make people want to see the different endings this way.

Oh and I also got the hidden ending that just made me LOL the whole time.  I was not expecting that, but damn it was a perfect way to end things.  Of course doing so has unlocked a new way of playing the game that'll I'll come back to in the future, but right now I'd prefer not to get burned out on this game after ending on such a high note.


Crypt Stalker

Now this is another Classic Castevania clone except has an Egyptian theme.  It came out on Switch earlier this year but when I look it up online it looks like it originally came out on Steam back in 2020.  Now this is a game I originally bought reluctantly because it was being sold for $2 on the eShop and from a publisher that specializes in releasing a lot of shovelware.  But one of the Switch YouTube channels I watch that talks about new releases was praises the titles and heavily recommending people buy it.  So since it was only $2, I thought what the hell, even if it is bad at least it's dirt cheap so I'm not losing much.

Well I finally played it and it was actually pretty good.  The first 2 levels felt kind of basic so I started to worry if it was going to be like Lords of Exile again, but then it picked up in the 3rd level, and kept getting better as it went.  Unlike Lord of Exile, the later levels in this game had an appropriate challenge to them.

The gameplay is similar to Classic Castlevania, with the main character having a whip, but she also carries a gun.  For the gun you collect ammo, and the equivalent to sub weapons changes the types of bullets it shots.  The main character also moves faster than Classic Castlevania games.  Because of her speed, and the fact you have a gun to shoot, there are times where the game feels like Mega Man as well.

Now the main game had 9 levels, which is already one more than Lord of Exile had.  But there's also the option to pick something called, The Lost Sequel, which is 6 brand new levels that have new bosses and a new ending as well.  Even though there's only 6 Levels, these levels are harder than what was in the main game, so it balances out to a similar length.  Then there's something called Handheld Mode, which is 4 new levels that are done in classic Gameboy visual style, and these 4 levels are pretty challenging as well, and this mode also has a new ending.  Then there was DLC that you can download for free that has a new campaign with 3 new levels and another new ending.

So in the end, this game is like 4 classic style games in one.  There's also a set of different challenge levels that added about another hour of gameplay.  I think I got about 6 hours of gameplay out of this game by the time I was done, which is pretty good when it only cost me 2 dollars, compared to something like Lord of Exile that cost my $14.  Seriously, it show that price doesn't equal quality when a game that only cost me $2, had better gameplay and more content, then something that literally cost 7 times as much. 

I'd heavily recommend this game for anyone who's a fan of Classic Castlevania games.  It's not top tier, but it's a solid 8/10 game.  The fact it's constantly on sale for $2 makes it a great deal for fans of this type of game.


Overlord: Escape from Nazarick

This is something I got over a year ago when I've seen several Youtube channels refer to it as an underrated Metroidvania title.  It's based off of some anime series, and it's filled with skeletons and other undead creatures so it fits the Halloween theme.  So is it really an underrated gem that some Youtube channels say it is?

No it's not.  The game does eventually give the main character some really good movements, where you can move pretty fast and swing around certain blocks like Bionic Commando.  The problem is the game doesn't really do much with the different abilities it gives you.  I mean there are some fun sections that do take advantage of your abilities, but they're pretty brief and then you're back to doing some pretty basic platforming and combat.  The combat in particular is dull, since you have a very small selection of enemies and they don't pose that much of a threat, and I was playing the game on Hard mode.  The boss fights are the only time combat gets fun, and some had a decent challenge that killed me a few times.

It took me about 6 hours to beat the main game, and another 3-4 to collect all the memories to get the True Ending.  Overall I thought it was OK, but nothing special.  It had the potential to be great if they would have done more with all the abilities they give you, and focus more on the tricky platforming challenges that where the best part, as well as increase the variety and types of enemies.

3

General Gaming / Re: BacklAugust 2024! (Forums Are Dead Edition)

« on: September 25, 2024, 04:25:49 PM »

Age of Calamity took its self too seriously trying to be a prequel to one of the best games ever made.

Age of Calamity isn't a prequel though, it's a full blown alternate universe that has Future Trunks from DBZ time travel shenanigans going on where by the end of the game the events of Breath of the Wild will never take place because the events of this timeline are now completely different.

Yeah it starts out more serious than Hyrule Warriors, but by the end of the game it's pure fan fiction that's just as silly and light hearted.

4

General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.

« on: September 12, 2024, 02:36:41 PM »

Even for people who want to go Digital Only, a $700 console is still insane for what's just a mid-gen upgrade.  I'm sorry but when I watch the presentation of this thing, the side by side comparisons were the very definition of splitting hairs.

This whole thing feels like Sony has seen how popular PC gaming has gotten in recent years, one of the reasons why they even port their own games to PC now, and is trying to make something that appeals to that audience and thinks they can get away with a price tag that high.  The only problem is Sony doesn't seem to realize that their system doesn't offer the other benefits that an actual PC offers, which is why people are willing to pay more for PC's since they can do more then just play games on it.  Plus they do realize that if their own games are being ported to PC's, why would anyone pay that much for a PS5 Pro when they can spend more to get a PC that will also play a lot of Microsoft's games as well.  People who want the best graphics possible will just go PC since it's literally offering much of the same as the PS5, plus a lot more.

I also find it really funny how the PS5 was marketed as such a powerful system at launch, and yet many of its games still had PS4 version released.  Even to this day, there's only been 21 exclusive PS5 games announced.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:PlayStation_5-only_games

Keep in mind some of these titles like Marvel's Wolverine haven't even been released yet, and other titles like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Stellar Blade have PC ports that are coming.  Seriously, Sony hasn't even justified the PS5's reason for even existing even though it's been on the market for close to 4 years now, and now they're asking people to spends an insane amount of money to get the experience that they originally promised with the PS5 at launch.

Hell, you also have to wonder how many developers will even try to take full advantage of the PS5 Pro's power.  We already know these major companies have been struggling with how expensive AAA development has become, which is why even Sony has been laying people off and closing studio's to save cost.  So for a system like the PS5 Pro that will be lucky if it even sells half of what the Wii U sold, just how much effort and cost will really be put into it's upgrade, which will make it even more pointless then it already is?

5

TalkBack / Re: Capcom Fighting Collection Brings Multiple Lost Classics To Switch In 2025, Release Date Reveale

« on: August 31, 2024, 08:41:31 PM »

Alright, looks like it's time to finally buy myself an arcade stick.  I already have a huge backlog of fighting games because I get so addicted when I play these games and have to try and beat them as every character to see all the endings, which starts to get almost impossible in later games that have a ton of characters.  That's why I keep putting them off because I know they'll be a huge time sink when I start playing them, but with this and the upcoming Marvel collection, looks like it's the perfect time to start playing them again.

6

TalkBack / Re: First Game In Long-Running Trails Franchise To Get 3D Switch Remake In 2025

« on: August 31, 2024, 08:28:39 PM »

This is very cool but almost happening a little too late.  Ideally we want the entire Trails series available on the Switch but the Switch 2 is right on the doorstep.  So what are the odds that remakes of all three of the Sky games actually get released on the Switch 1, let alone the two missing Cold Steel games?

Now all the Cold Steel games actually are on the Switch, just the first two aren't localized as they were originally published by XSeed and the series is now published by NIS.  XSeed owns the rights to their English translation and aren't willing to license it to NIS and NIS doesn't want to invest in doing their own.  So from a Japan-specific point of view it's only the Sky games that are missing.  But even then the timing here is tight.  Even if they make one remake per year, the third one would likely show up after the Switch 2 has been out for at least a year, maybe two.

The Switch successor will be backwards compatible so it really doesn't matter.  This way they can sell the games to both systems user bases and since these games have never been graphical showcases anyway, so it's not like the audience for them will be angry they're not taking advantage of the more powerful hardware.

Plus if the PS4, a system that sold under 120 million, is still getting games when it's successor has been on the market for almost 4 years now, expect the Switch which is on track to hit 150 million by the end of this year to be getting support well into 2028.  The Switch still has an insanely active user base, that isn't going to disappear when it's successor is released since it'll literally take several years for it's successor to even sell half of what the Switch is currently at.

7

General Gaming / Re: BacklAugust 2024! (Forums Are Dead Edition)

« on: August 31, 2024, 08:04:07 PM »

Well I managed to finish Tales of Vesperia last night.  The final time on my Switch says my total playtime was somewhere between 85-90 hours.  The playtime is important since this game almost feels like 2 games to me.  The first 40 hours I was really enjoying it and would say it was a legit great game during that time.

The combat took me a little while to get used to at the beginning since it was clunkier than all other action games I've played in recent years.  Even though I knew there was no dodge button, I would still accidentally hit the ZL or ZR triggers sometime since most other action games I've played in recent years had something like that, and take damage.  Still after a few hours I got used to it and when the game finally game me a full team of 4 characters, then it really took off since I had more options to help me with combat.

I was also really digging the story and setting early on as well.  I liked that there were all these different factions within the Empire and all the different Guilds and how they interact as well.  This made me really enjoy talking to all the different NPC and I liked how their dialogue was constantly changing thoughout the game.  The interactions between party member and the various skits would also be pretty funny at times as well.

But then I reach the halfway point of the game and the games quality just drops off a cliff.  The combat that was interesting in the beginning now just becomes a slog since it's the same thing over and over again.  Despite the games monster log saying it has hundreds of enemies, most of them are just reskins of each other.  A lot of the enemies are behaving the exact same as earlier version of said enemies, except they now take longer to kill.  It also doesn't help that the game starts making the dungeons longer and longer as the game progresses, so you have to fight even more of the same enemies over and over again, making things more of a slog.

It also doesn't help that the combat also stops progressing so you're literally doing the same moves over and over again.  Now if the game had a wide variety of characters that were fun to use that could have helped change things up, but it doesn't.  Every other character just sucks compared to Yuri, so the game gives you no reason to ever change things up.  He's the easiest to control and can do more damage faster than anyone else.  And even with Yuri, despite the game giving me new special attacks, the best thing to do in 99% is the same combination of attacks that cause the most damage and are fastest to do and the game doesn't even try to give you enemies or bosses that force you to change things up.

Oh and the story just hits a total brick wall when the true villain shows up and reveals he was behind every thing that has happened in the story so far.  All the interesting world builing and relationships goes out the window when now everyone in the world is united behind Yuri and his group.  Plus the whole morality debate it was trying to have between Yuri and Flynn also is dropped when Flynn turns into a giant Yuri fanboy who doesn't even try to question was Yuri does anymore.

Seriously, the whole game feels like Namco gave the team enough time and money to make a 30-40 hour game but then demands it be turned into something that can be close to 100 hours.  I finally understand how they were able to pump out so many of these Tales games every year despite the fact the games are suppose to be very long.  The lack of time and budget just becomes so apparent in the second half when it's constantly reuses content, not introducing anything new, and the story and characters that actually started interesting, become incredibly boring and one dimensional versions of themselves.

The only part I still enjoyed from beginning to end were the boss fights that were where the combat really shined.  Unlike the normal enemies that become very boring and predicable, the boss fights actually have some new gimmicks to them each time that require you to change strategies more often and sometimes even switch up my supporting team members for.  Even when I turned down the difficulty to normal mode for regular enemy encounters, I would turn it back up to Hard mode for the boss fights.  The final boss fight in particular was a great time, with the boss being level 65, while my team was around level 57, and I finally had an excuse to go all out with all the items I had in my inventory that I had been saving up.

Of course I would love to hear what the **** the developers were thinking with that Gattuso boss fight.  I've constantly hear about that fight when people talk about game that have their hardest boss early on and yeah, now I understand what they talk about.  It's literally the type of boss fight you deal with in the second half of the game, put in the early part where your team doesn't even have the abilities and techniques the deal with it.  I eventually turned the difficulty down on that one, since that was literally impossible to do on a first time Hard mode run when your characters are under leveled like mine were.  I actually came really close once, but all my characters ran out of magic and I had no items to refill their magic meters since the nearest town doesn't sell items to refill magic.  Then after that fight is done, the town you visit after starts selling items that refill the magic meter.  It's like really guys, that's a massive oversight to not do that before this boss.

Oh and I also finally understand when people say Sakuraba likes to phone in his soundtracks for the Tales games.  The man has done amazing soundtracks in other games but in this one, his work is very forgettable.  That's another thing that made the game drag in the end as well, when the soundtrack outside of a few tracks was pretty forgettable.


So yeah in the end, I really loved this game for the first 40 hours.  The gameplay, story and characters were really clicking during this time but then they all start dragging out and getting more and more boring the longer the game goes.  Outside of the great boss fights, the rest of the game just doesn't justify being longer then 50 hours when the story, characters and normal enemy encounters just keep getting more boring and repetitive the longer it goes.

If you play another Tales game, I highly recommend Symphonia (especially if your only other Tales game is Vesperia, which is similarly styled). But from what I've heard, don't play the game on Switch. Every other version of the remaster apparently runs fine, but Symphonia on Switch was apparently a REALLY bad port.

That said, I can tell you that Symphonia kinda set the bar of all Tales games being 100+ hours long. IIRC, Arise does buck that trend, though.

I don't mind the long time as long as the games do a better job of justifying their length then Vesperia did.  Of course it's kind of funny the same week I beat Vesperia, we get the announcement that Graces F is getting remastered, and even more remasters will be on their way for the series upcoming 30th anniversary.  So it looks like I'll be getting more choices soon.

I hope they remaster the older 2D games since I've read they're much shorter and don't have all the filler the later 3D games have.  After Vesperia, I'd happily take games like it that are shorter and don't wear out their welcome.

8

TalkBack / Re: Konami Announces Castlevania DS Collection And Updates Suikoden Remasters Status

« on: August 27, 2024, 11:33:10 AM »

**** yeah that Castlevania Collection announcement just made my day.  Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia are my favorite IGA vania titles so this is great new.  Still got a lot of stuff in my backlog right now I'm trying to finish up, but this Collection will make a great month of gaming early next year.

9

General Gaming / Re: BacklAugust 2024! (Forums Are Dead Edition)

« on: August 25, 2024, 03:05:06 PM »

Ugh. My condolences to you. That's an awful one-two punch you received there. I hope things go better for your second half of August.

I am sorry to hear about your cat. I have lost quite a few in my time and it is never easy.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

Yeah, when it comes to my gaming collection, the Tales series is my dump stat. They're all so long and so complicated that I never feel like jumping into one of them. Doesn't help that I only particularly liked Phantasia & Symphonia (of which there is only one, and don't you dare suggest otherwise).

This is actually the first Tales games I've every played and it's kind of making me not want to play any of the other because of this reason.  I'll save my full thoughts for when I finally beat the game but right now, this game has been going on far longer than it has any right to.  Other games that go on too long at least give new gameplay to spice things up, but this game hasn't done anything to change up the gameplay in over 40 hours now.  I was playing on Hard mode for much of this game, but I've recently turned down the difficulty to make fights go faster because I'm just so burned out.

10

General Gaming / Re: BacklAugust 2024! (Forums Are Dead Edition)

« on: August 17, 2024, 09:57:14 PM »

I was hoping to get quite a few games done this August.  I started playing Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, in the later half of July.  I was hoping I could finish it by the first half of this month and then move on to several smaller games but things haven't worked out.  At the beginning of last week a storm knocked a tree on top of my garage which had me dealing with things that didn't leave time for gaming.  And then at the end of last week, I had an 11 year old cat die, which really made me depressed.  So yeah, this has not been a good month for me.

I did start playing again the last few days so hopefully I'll be able to at least finish Tales of Vesperia by the end of the month.

11

TalkBack / Re: New Famicom Detective Club Announced, Mystery of Emio The Smiling Man Launching August 29

« on: July 17, 2024, 11:25:00 PM »

This Furukawa era of Nintendo is not so bad. We get remakes of the original two games, remakes of Another Code, now a new game in the FDC series. Someone at Nintendo must love this stuff.

This is why it's a good thing when Nintendo has an insanely successful system like the Switch.  They're making so much money that they have no problem green lighting a lot of these smaller niche titles.  They were doing the same thing during the Wii and DS era, but then slowed down during the Wii U and 3DS.

I wouldn't be surprised if after the Switch sales really exploded in 2020, is when everyone at Nintendo who wanted to either remake or make a new installment of an older series put in a request which is why we seem to be getting a lot of them recently.

12

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Direct To Air June 18 At 10 AM Eastern

« on: June 17, 2024, 09:25:49 PM »

If Metroid Prime 4 is still coming to the Switch this will finally be the moment it's revealed.  With how long that games been in development, it's either a final Switch going out with a bang title, or a killer app buy our new system after launch title.  So tomorrow will finally tell us what it's going to be.

13

TalkBack / Re: Five Mega Man Game Boy Games Added To Nintendo Switch Online Library

« on: June 09, 2024, 03:47:27 PM »

So far, the only Mega Man games I've played and completed/finished are Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge and Mega Man II both for GB. Probably a weird place to start, especially for the date of 2023, but I found myself warming up to and enjoying the games as I working things out and get better at it on the first game (although I followed a poor path for the order of bosses to face based on what I thought the weaknesses of each would be by their names), plus ample use of save states helped keep things moving. That said, I wasn't a big fan of the face four bosses in row that occurs late in Mega Man II after you beat the initial 4 bosses and that trend seems to get continued in these other games.

The 4th and 5th games are by far the best of the GB Megaman titles.  They're a massive step up in quality compared to the first 3 games.  Now I do like the 3rd game, but it does have some rather BS level design at times that aren't the most fun.  The 4th and 5th game really nail the level design if you ask me, and have some of my favorite levels in the entire classic series, right up there with the best of the NES and later Classic titles.

14

TalkBack / Re: Lego Horizon Adventures Coming To Switch Holiday 2024

« on: June 09, 2024, 03:18:17 PM »

It's just incredible too see the turn around from 10 years ago when Wii U was bombing and gaming articles were making a big thing about phones dominating the portable gaming scene using the 3DS selling slower than the DS as proof that handheld consoles with going to be obsolete.

It just goes to once again show the bubble that many in the gaming media and message boards live in.  Mario Kart, Pokemon, Animal Crossing and both Mario Platformers were 10 million plus sellers on the 3DS.  The rest of the industry has companies spending hundreds of millions of dollars just to have 1 or 2 games that can get those types of numbers, meanwhile the 3DS had 9 games sell around that or over.

It's like Nintendo's in danger of being obsolete, even though they have literally some of the best selling games in the entire industry?  It's like seriously, people don't pay attention to the actual data.  Just like how when discussion the Switch successor many online worry it won't be backwards compatible, when there's not a single reason to worry when every other Nintendo system over the last 20 years had it, and the only reason the Switch didn't is because the system was a total reboot, combining both the handheld and home console division, something the Switch successor won't have to worry about.

It's always funny how so many in the gaming media and message boards act like Nintendo is this mysterious company that we can't predict what they might do and apparently is in danger of going bankrupt at any moment.  When in reality, Nintendo has been a pretty easy to predict company that's literally the most finically stable in the entire industry.

That's kind of the ultimate irony that many of the decisions Nintendo has made the last 20 years that gamers complain about and use these reason as to why Nintendo was destined to go third party, are why Nintendo has managed to stay so profitable, while Microsoft and Sony's decision to please these same people with the highest graphics possible, are having to go more and more third party to keep doing that.

15

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: May 08, 2024, 11:02:55 AM »

You have to figure Prime 4 is Switch 2-bound at this point.

I still think it's about 50/50.  It depends on how much progress Retro made on the game before Nintendo started getting serious on Switch 2 development.  I mean, something like Fire Emblem Engage was literally done around a year before release but Nintendo intentionally sat on the game because they wanted to get the 3 Houses Warriors game out first before starting a new mainline installment.  Plus Tears of the Kingdom was done in 2022, but they spend the next year just bug testing to make sure everything worked right.

So if Retro managed to have this game mostly done by last year, then I could see Nintendo sitting on it to release in the second half of this year once they realized the Switch successor wouldn't be out in 2024.  Otherwise if there was any major delays, then I expect it was moved to the Switch Successor as soon as it's dev kits became available.

16

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces Final Financial Results For 2023-24 Fiscal Year And 2024-25 Projections

« on: May 08, 2024, 10:41:42 AM »

f the New Super Switch 2 U is 100% b/c with Switch, unless there is a significant price difference, I could see a lot of folks just buying the newer system.

This is where the Switch Lite will play a major role.  The Switch Successor will probably cost $350 at the very least, so people that want the hybrid model the difference in price might not be as great, but for people wanting to buy the cheaper handheld only model for kids, that will be a big difference.  Especially since it's doubtful the Switch Successor will have a handheld only lite model until at least a year after launch.

Plus if Nintendo cuts the price of the regular Switch and Switch Lite either later this year or next year, and the Switch Lite is price at around $150, that right there will guarantee a few million Switch sales after the successor is released. 

17

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces Final Financial Results For 2023-24 Fiscal Year And 2024-25 Projections

« on: May 07, 2024, 05:56:27 PM »

Nintendo doesn't have a stellar track record of first party support once the new system launches

We already know a sequel to Pokemon Legends is coming out next year.  Plus I expect the next mainline Pokemon game will still come out next Holiday as well for the Switch, similar to how Black and White came out for the DS after the 3DS was released.  Yeah in Japan Black and White came out before the 3DS but even there Black and White 2 come out over 1.5 year after the 3DS was released.  That was still a huge release for the original DS to have well after the 3DS .  I still expect several more remasters and remakes to hit the Switch in the next 2 years, since they'll be a cheaper way to still sell games to the Switch massive user base.  So I imagine the Switch post successor support will at least be similar to the DS and 3DS post successor lineup.

So if the DS could sell 7 million after its successor and the 3DS over 13 million, I don't see how the Switch doesn't at least do something between that range.  Unless they just stop making units next year which I find hard to believe when they still made 13 million more 3DS after the Switch was released and the 3DS was performing way worse toward the end of its life then the Switch is right now.

18

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces Final Financial Results For 2023-24 Fiscal Year And 2024-25 Projections

« on: May 07, 2024, 02:23:26 PM »

"160 million". 🤣

Hey I'm just taking Jim Ryan at his word, even though Sony's own reports have the PS2 at 155 million.  Either way the Switch will still surpass either number by the time it stops selling.  I already said the Wii still sold an extra 2 million after the Wii U came out and that was a system with no support at the end of its life.  The DS managed to sell over 7 million more systems after the 3DS came out and the 3DS sold an extra 13 million after the Switch came out. 

Unless Nintendo outright stops making Switch hardware next year, it's pretty much guaranteed to surpass the PS2 in the next 2-3 years.

19

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo To Announce Switch Successor In Current Fiscal Year, Direct Next Month

« on: May 07, 2024, 02:13:09 PM »

Interesting that they would just casually mention this in a shareholder's meeting.  This pretty much means a 2025 Switch 2.  I'm both excited and nervous.  With the Switch Nintendo finally had good third party support again for the first time in 20 years.  But do they know why?

Well yeah, they actually designed the system with third party support in mind.  It's been well documented the Switch hardware was designed to be scalable with all the major game engines at the time of release.  Nintendo was also really aggressive to build up relationships with indie developers going into the launch of the Switch.

Some even speculate one of the reasons Nintendo waited so long to start releasing NES/SNES games was to help indie devs who specialize in retro style games build up a good audience early on, and didn't want there own retro games taking attention from the Indies.

So yeah the Switch good third party support is a direct result of Nintendo designing a system that was at the time easier to design for and went out of their way to build relationships with many smaller devs.

Most of us are hoping for a Switch 2 but Nintendo might double down on Labo instead or something like that.  They're very unpredictable.

Not really.  Outside of the Wii and Wii U, the rest of Nintendo systems have been natural evolutions of its predecessors.  Even the Switch itself is basically a perfection of the idea they had with the Wii U of people playing on TV then playing on the tablet if others want to watch TV.

20

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo To Announce Switch Successor In Current Fiscal Year, Direct Next Month

« on: May 07, 2024, 12:14:26 PM »

It'll probably depend on Switch hardware sales.  If hardware sales are keep at expectation or surpass them, then they'll probably hold off until early 2025, so they can get on last big holiday season out of the Switch without the general public knowing anything about a successor.

If Switch hardware sales start to sell below exceptions, then I could see them announcing the new system later this year to please shareholders that even though the Switch is selling worse then expected, here's the new system that will turn all that around.

21

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: May 07, 2024, 12:07:13 PM »

Yep they always have a big Direct in June, as long as something like covid doesn't mess it up like in 2020.  And look at that, Nintendo just announced a big Direct in June this year that will show off the second half of the 2024 Switch games.

22

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Announces Final Financial Results For 2023-24 Fiscal Year And 2024-25 Projections

« on: May 07, 2024, 11:49:40 AM »

Interesting to see they forecast it to pass DS sales. It would be cool if it happens, but now that a new system is official, I think sales will drop like the end of Wii

You do realize they only need to sell over 13 million systems to surpass the DS?  The Wii still sold around 10 million units in 2011, which was the year they first announced the Wii U, and then it still sold around 4 million in 2012, the year the Wii U came out.  The Switch successor is not coming out this year and the Switch software is still selling way better then Wii software was it's second to last year, so the Switch sales for the rest of this year alone have a good chance surpassing the DS.

Plus the Wii still sold 1.22 million units in 2013, over 400k in 2014, and 100k in 2015.  That's over 2 million more Wii's sold after the Wii U came out.  With the Switch guaranteed to have better post life support then the Wii did, the Switch hardware will be guaranteed to sell a lot more then 2 million after it's successor is out.

At this point it is 100% guaranteed the Switch will surpass the DS at 154 million, and still has a good shot of surpassing the PS2 at 160 million.

23

TalkBack / Re: ESRB Posts Rating For

« on: May 03, 2024, 02:30:56 PM »

This has the potential to be pretty sweet depending on how many games are included, what types of challenges are in it and whatever online support they include.  Also wonder if they might get some third parties to include some of their games in this as well.

24

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 30, 2024, 03:38:23 PM »

Well I got two more done by the end of the month, so I got 4 all together for the month after all.

Raging Blasters

Well this is an indie vertical scroll shmup, that's clearly based off of older titles from the early 90's.  Not much to say, since it was a pretty short game that doesn't really do anything different from other vertical shmup's, but it was still a fun game.  If you like shmup's, then I'd recommend it.  It's actually on the easy side of shmup's , since I was actually able to beat the hardest difficulty, which is something I'm almost never able to do in these kind of games.

I find it kind of funny how when I beat the game on Normal mode my final score got me in the 600's on the online leaderboard.  When I beat it on Hard mode by top score was in the top 200's.  Then when I beat it on Expert mode I'm rank at 48.  Goes to show that most people really don't play games on the higher difficulty settings.  Beating the game on Normal mode made my score nothing too special, but just beating it on the highest difficulty makes me one of the top 50 players in the world in that difficulties rank.


Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

Now this game is awesome.  It's like if you combined the Shinobi games with the Mega Man X/Zero games.  If you're a fan of either of those series, this game is filled with call backs to both.  The one negative is it's kind of on the easier side and I wish it had a Hard mode like Joymasher (the developer of this games) previous titles all had.  The game took me less than 5 hours to beat and that was with finding 100% of items, so it's a pretty short titles as well.  But like I said earlier, if you're a fan of the older Shinobi games, the Mega Man X/Zero games or both, the game has more then enough stuff going on to give you a good time during those few hours.

25

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 29, 2024, 03:03:14 PM »

Say, what are they up to now...

They've been publishing several games from other studio's, but haven't made a game themselves in about 5 years now.  They say there's working on a new title, but haven't announced what it is yet.  They've said the biggest problem with the first Yooka Laylee was they needed more people and more time, so the fact they been able to work on a new game for 5 years without having to resort to kickstarter again is a pretty good sign.

So yeah I can't wait to see what the next game they've been working on will be.