Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - NWR_Neal

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 221
1
TalkBack / MLB The Show 24 (Switch) Review
« on: March 18, 2024, 03:50:39 AM »

A great baseball game marred by technical limitations.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/66648/mlb-the-show-24-switch-review

Even after three years, it’s jarring seeing the PlayStation branding appear on Nintendo Switch courtesy of Sony San Diego’s long-running MLB The Show series. Back in 2022 when The Show first hit Switch, it was an impressive port, taking a deep, full-featured simulation baseball game and making it run well on Switch complete with crossplay on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This is still an impressive port, but the sheen is starting to wear off as the Switch marches into its final days and some of the new content on The Show doesn’t look as nice downgraded to run on decade-old tech.

In spite of that, MLB The Show is still an incredible baseball game, especially in handheld mode. The gameplay on the field remains virtually unchanged, with some finetuning here and there. Hitting and pitching are still extremely nuanced and well balanced, with an array of smart options and variety. This year I got more into the PCI zone hitting option, which was added a few years ago. It’s a great embellishment on the classic timing-based swinging methods in baseball games, and I don’t know if I’ll ever go back at this point. Fielding feels a little snappier, likely thanks to the new animations added throughout the game.

In general, when the ball is pitched or hit into the field, The Show is great. It’s when you’re not doing that the Switch version starts shambling around. Load times were present before, but now it’s impacted my pace of play more often. That’s likely not being helped by the launch weekend server issues, but no matter what the true cause is, the menus in the game feel far more sluggish this year. Server issues are not guaranteed to level out, but the first days have been a debacle as I have regularly gotten bounced from online modes. Thankfully, the game seems to be smart about when it auto-saves because I have lost little meaningful progress when the servers crash. However, on top of the server problems, I just straight up had multiple game crashes in general, force-closing the game and making me restart from the Switch menu. Some of this could be bad luck since I’ve never had this happen in the past entries in the series, but it’s been sadly more frequent in MLB The Show 24.

Even as I wrestled with technical shortcomings, I still spent a lot of time in the Diamond Dynasty mode, which is this game’s card-based Ultimate Team-esque mode. Like recent outings, you do not need to spend much real money to field a competitive squad in the mode. You are granted a decent amount of packs at the start and there are easy ways to accumulate a decent roster. Early on, my outfield had Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, and Ken Griffey Jr; that’s an all-timer of an outfield. Diamond Dynasty didn’t get too many changes this year, with most of them being tweaks to the larger changes made last season.

The mode that seemingly got the most love this year was the Road to the Show mode, the create-a-player story where you take your player from the minors to the pros. The most noteworthy and awesome addition is that you can create a female player and take her on a history-making quest from the MLB Draft to the pros. I love the concept, but in execution, the narrative is told in a stale format regularly interrupted by some of the most compressed video of faux MLB Network sets I’ve ever seen. So much of this threadbare plot is told via clumsy text messages between your player and her friend or agent as you watch your created heroine awkwardly sit in a clubhouse. It’s a shame because the idea is so cool. You can see the kernels of an incredible mode in Road to the Show, but it’s sadly not ready for the big leagues, at least on Switch.

On the flipside, the Storylines section from last year returns with more fascinating history from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. 10 players get a feature this year, with four available at launch, including legendary home-run hitter Hank Aaron and the first professional woman player Toni Stone. The rest will be released throughout the year. Similarly, Yankee legend Derek Jeter gets his own Storyline as well. At launch, the first few seasons of his lengthy career are covered, which include the majority of his World Series wins. The rest of his career will be covered in content drops throughout the year as well. Storylines are such an incredible way to present sports history in an interactive and engaging manner. I hope The Show keeps adding to this in the form of long ago and recent history. These are so clever and polished that it makes the failing of the narrative in the Road to the Show mode stand out even more.

I remain happy that MLB The Show 24 is on Switch since it brings a quality simulation baseball game with current rosters to a Nintendo platform, something that has not been the norm in the past 20 years. While the Switch version is showing its technical limitations and age, it’s still a fine way to play through the bountiful content spread across the game. Optimally it’s best played in handheld, but no matter how you play it, the gameplay is rock solid. Additionally, the way it treats baseball history with the Storylines mode is incredible. Now if only the video wasn’t so compressed and I didn’t have to worry about the game or server crashing at any point.


2

We don't know what, but they cleared a space.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/66594/episode-397-nintendo-is-releasing-something-this-fall

John and Neal return after a month off with a new, somehow even less structured, podcast format. Nintendo has announced release dates for all of their confirmed 2024 games and they cut off in June. Nintendo has something unanounced happening this fall. Could it be Metroid? Mario Party? Hyrule Warriors?


3
TalkBack / The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered (Switch) Review
« on: March 15, 2024, 05:29:22 AM »

A late-gen Switch remaster of a late-gen 3DS RPG.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/66600/the-legend-of-legacy-hd-remastered-switch-review

The Legend of Legacy first came out in the west nearly a decade ago on 3DS courtesy of publisher Atlus. I reviewed it back then and while the difficulty spikes and minimalist story dragged it down, I walked away with positive memories of my time with the FuRyu-developed RPG. Revisiting it on Switch in the upgraded port published by NIS America–dubbed The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered–rekindles those fond memories. With the recent SaGa series explosion from Square Enix, the novelty of The Legend of Legacy’s combat system is less impactful, but it’s still an enchanting RPG in spite of the same threadbare story and difficulty spikes.

The focus of the adventure is more on exploration as opposed to combat, as after you pick one of the seven playable characters you set out to explore the various regions on the island of Avalon. Roaming around each area and filling out the map is the goal, with various battles and bosses along the way. The combat is heavily inspired by the SaGa series as your characters don’t traditionally level up with experience points. Instead, the more you use certain abilities, the more the stats related to them improve and you randomly unlock more abilities tied to that weapon or item. It’s relatively straightforward and approachable, but the element of RNG can make certain boss fights or even stronger regular enemy fights frustrating.

The visuals and music make those obstacles more enjoyable though. The soundtrack from Masashi Hamauzu (who most recently worked on the soundtrack for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) is incredible, made better by not being output on 3DS speakers. The visuals also translated better to Switch than I expected, looking especially stylish on the handheld screen.

But if you already played this game on 3DS, there isn’t much in the way of new features in this release. Some quality of life features make this obtuse game a little more manageable, essentially including instruction manual-esque detail in menus. The way they changed the StreetPass trading game to work without the notable 3DS feature is cute, even if it just makes it a simple side thing where you send off a character to get items as opposed to the fun real-world traveling aspect of StreetPass in the original.

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is a solid port of an interesting but flawed game. If you want to explore some dungeon-like areas, rock some SaGa-like combat, and listen to some beautiful music, then it’s worth journeying through Avalon. Otherwise, this remains a game I think is neat but wouldn’t necessarily emphatically recommend to most aside from the specific group I just described.


4

A new Shiren for a new generation.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/66363/shiren-the-wanderer-the-mystery-dungeon-of-serpentcoil-island-switch-review

Roguelikes are a dime a dozen in video games these days, but that wasn’t always the case. A handful of games drove the popularity of the style more than a decade ago, but I remember my first wondrous experience was with Spelunky when it came to Xbox 360 in 2012. I was shocked to see that Shiren the Wanderer - Japan’s preeminent ‘90s Rogue-inspired series - hadn’t had a new entry designed since the modern day roguelike explosion, as Shiren 5 (subtitled in the West as The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate) came out initially in 2010, though with an upgraded Switch release in 2020. That game is great, but the sixth and latest entry in the nearly 30-year-old series, dubbed Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, is an even bigger step forward, improving on some novel online features and expanding the fun and complexity of the awesome and oft punishing franchise.

The visuals are the most apparent change in Shiren 6, as the franchise sheds its pixel art roots for 3D visuals. I was hesitant at first, but the implementation of the new art style fits the series wonderfully. Characters and enemies are expressive and the game overall looks sharp on the Nintendo Switch. I wouldn’t call the 3D visuals head and shoulders better than 2D pixel art, but it ultimately feels closer to six of one, half-dozen of another when it comes down to it.

The gameplay is refined but generally unchanged from the Mystery Dungeon style. Through a novel narrative conceit where the titular wanderer is destroyed by the eventual final boss and awakens back in the starting town with no memory, Shiren sets off to solve the mystery dungeon of Serpentcoil Island. Floors of the randomly generated dungeon are all grid-based and each move or action you make is a turn. When you take a turn, other enemies and NPCs across the floor also take an action. The emphasis is on thoughtful strategy, making use of the items and scrolls you find to navigate traps and defeat increasingly difficult hordes of enemies. When you lose all your hit points, you start back at the first floor with none of your items or gear.

However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t progression. You can uncover alternate paths and explore different side quests as you likely fail numerous runs. The progression isn’t found in level-ups or gear, but in knowledge. You’ll learn the weaknesses of different enemies and the effectiveness of different items. You’ll learn when to get the hell out of a dungeon and when you can hang back and pick off foes. While I sometimes wished there was an easier difficulty setting, I had a blast trying to make use of my inventory to stay alive in the deadly mystery dungeon.

When you do inevitably die, you can make use of the rescue system. Originally introduced back in Shiren the Wanderer on Wii, the rescue system is an ingenious online component where, when you fail, you can request a rescue from an online player. When you attempt rescues online, you also earn Aid Points, which can be used to make your future rescues easier, letting you start at a higher level or with more health. Even if you’re offline, you can rescue yourself (though you don’t get Aid Points that way). During the review period, I primarily rescued myself, which was a fun and unique challenge in and of itself. While you can only be rescued three times over the course of a run, it’s a nice option to have for when you get pantsed deep into the dungeon.

Rescue isn’t the only neat online feature. You can also let other players try your current run while using Parallel Play, which creates a save point mid-dungeon that you can share with others to see who can do the best. That, combined with some of the stream-friendly UI options, makes Shiren more an online experience than I ever would have expected when I was getting my ass kicked by punishing dungeons back in the 2000s.

Even if you’re not dabbling in the worldwide mystery dungeon web, Shiren 6 is still a beefy game that holds a wealth of secrets. The main dungeon is only 30 floors, but by progressing through the game, you can unlock various shortcuts and side dungeons that usually come with a greater challenge and an even greater reward. This is a flavor of game that might not be for everyone, but if you’re looking for a thoughtful, challenging game that constantly evolves and builds, Shiren’s journey to the mysterious Serpentcoil Island might be perfect for you.


5
TalkBack / Picross S+ (Switch) Review
« on: February 28, 2024, 05:16:21 PM »

Preserving the 3DS’ library via a truckload of Picross.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/66444/picross-s-switch-review

When the 3DS eShop shut down in 2023, a wealth of games were no longer easily and legally accessible. Some of the games that were lost to time were developer Jupiter’s dozen or so Picross games only available via download. While the likes of Pokemon Picross and My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are potentially lost to time, the nine entries in the Picross e series are getting new life on Nintendo Switch. Unless you recently replayed the Picross e games or have a photographic memory, these puzzles are basically brand new Picross puzzles to play for the first time or revisit after a decade. And unless you imported Picross e9, this is the first time that game will be playable outside of Japan.

The way these are being sold is interesting, however. The package is dubbed Picross S+ and you can buy it for $4.99 (or equivalent regional pricing). With that, you can play through the 300 puzzles of Picross e, split between regular Picross and the tweaked Mega Picross. All of the recent niceties added to the Picross S series are present here, including button or touch control options. Once you spend the initial $4.99, you can buy Picross e2 through e9 as a la carte DLC for $4.99 each. If you don’t want to break out your calculator, that means you would have to spend upwards of $44.91 to buy the content of all nine games, which amounts to 1,350 Picross puzzles and 565 Clip Picross puzzles. That’s a solid dollar-to-puzzle ratio, comparable with Jupiter’s other Picross S releases. In addition to all of the puzzles from the Picross e games, bonus puzzles are unlocked as you buy DLC, adding another 70 puzzles.

Much like the last several entries in the Picross S series on Switch, Picross S+ isn’t reinventing the wheel, but if you are hankering for more Picross, this is a great value and an excellent package. Jupiter remains the king of Picross, sitting on a throne filled with puzzles and a user interface that is evocative of the Switch’s home menu: straight to the point with a hint of whimsy.


6
TalkBack / Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! (Switch) Review
« on: February 28, 2024, 04:41:53 PM »

One of the best sports games of all time comes to Switch.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/66443/pocket-card-jockey-ride-on-switch-review

Eight years ago, Pocket Card Jockey was released on 3DS outside of Japan, and it rocked my face off. Sincerely, Pocket Card Jockey is one of my favorite 3DS games ever, and I consider the 3DS one of my favorite systems ever. So when developer Game Freak (best known for Pokémon games and underrated Switch game Little Town Hero) brought back Pocket Card Jockey in an upgraded form, I was ecstatic. A year after its Apple Arcade debut, Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On is now on Nintendo Switch, carrying over the glory of the 3DS original with a handful of smart tweaks and a middling button control option.

The hook and progression of Pocket Card Jockey remains relatively unchanged from the 3DS game. You play as a horse jockey who isn’t very good at racing, but after being killed by a horse, you’re brought back to life and are now good at horse racing thanks to your ability to play a solitaire card game. The presentation echoes the insanity of the setup, with colorful cartoon characters and a rollicking soundtrack. The writing is charming, poking fun at the preposterous combination while staying engaging and amusing throughout with an evolving cast of quirky characters.

Races play out alternating between rounds of golf solitaire and positioning your horse on the track. Each race closes with a home stretch sprint, which is the only time you directly control your horse in real time. What makes this work is that everything feeds together and feels kinetic. Completing rounds of solitaire successfully will help give your horse more energy, while your positioning on the track at certain points will tweak your stamina. Collecting cards along the way can improve your horse’s happiness and boosts. Finally, all of these combine to power your horse to the finale at the finish line. What you do is far removed from the actual act of horse racing, but what has made this eclectic equestrian solitaire game so special is that it manages to capture the frantic immediacy of a race through unconventional means.

It’s still confusing at times, much like the 3DS release, but the altered and updated presentation helps to better communicate the nuances of races. Additionally, the tutorials are gentler, providing you a better intro and clearer reminders when you hit a wall. The upgraded visuals look sharp on the Switch’s screen and also translate well on a bigger TV. What doesn’t translate as well to TV is how the game controls. Artifacts of the 3DS design hold it back with full button controls. It’s workable but awkward to control fast-paced solitaire with an analog stick and buttons. The only part where buttons work best is in the final stretch. Otherwise, let me just sit back with the Switch in handheld mode and tap my cards away.

Even though this is more or less my third time playing through Pocket Card Jockey, the game is as enthralling as ever. The main thing holding it back is that it just doesn’t flow as well if you primarily play Switch on a TV. As a portable game, especially since the races are relatively quick and easy to pick-up-and-play, it excels. One of the unsung heroes of the 3DS is now on Switch, and at a minimum it should win, place, or show in the pantheon of Switch greats.


7

A plan 10 years in the making is still catching everyone off guard.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/66270/episode-396-xbox-does-exactly-what-they-said-they-would-and-everyone-is-scared

John and Neal provide the NWR podcast update on the Xbox Business Update. Ultimately it's pretty much all exactly in line with what Xbox (and John and Neal) have been saying they would do for the past decade.


8
TalkBack / More Xbox Games Might Be Coming to Nintendo Switch
« on: February 07, 2024, 05:15:03 AM »

What Does it Mean for Xbox & Nintendo?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/66206/more-xbox-games-might-be-coming-to-nintendo-switch

John Rairdin and Neal Ronaghan discuss the effects of Xbox releasing more games on more platforms. Is this a change of direction for Xbox? What does it mean for Nintendo?


9

The Mushroom Kingdom brought to life, if life involved mobs of people at every turn.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/66090/how-to-tackle-super-nintendo-world-at-universal-studios-hollywood-with-kids-and-more

I recently made the trip to California to go to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. I was prepared for crowds and obsessively researched the best tactics to make sure the trip for me, my wife, and our two kids (age 2 and 5) had the best time. Even with preparation, I wasn’t totally prepared for the magnitude of people crammed into a small area. I figured I’d impart some of my learned wisdom to anyone curious about Super Nintendo World in California, as well as sharing some weird quirks I came across.

Avoid Holidays and Weekends If You Can

I went on Thursday November 9 and Friday November 10. It was the way my trip overall worked out, but if I could turn back time, I’d avoid that Friday like the plague. That was the observed holiday for Veteran’s Day, so it was likely a busier than usual Friday in November to begin with. In comparison, Thursday was downright heavenly, even if it still was a little bit crowded. You might be in a spot like me where your trip might necessitate a holiday or a weekend. If that’s the case and you have limited options, consider splurging on either/or the Universal Express pass that gets you on a shorter line for every ride once (except Mario Kart) or the Super Nintendo World Early Access ticket that lets you get into just the Nintendo area an hour before the official park opening. It’s pricey, but on busy days you might risk not being able to do much of anything. On a Friday in November, the Mario Kart had waits of up to three hours, and overall there were long stretches where no ride at the park had less than a 30-minute wait.

Yoshi’s Island Had More Representation Than Expected

The first area of the lengthy queue for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge has a lot of Yoshi’s Island pastels, complete with Yoshi popping up on a screen while you wait. It was adorable and somewhat unexpected. I was prepared for the Bowser’s Castle elements, packed with a lot of finer details referencing the Koopalings, but Yoshi’s Island getting some love was a surprise.

Get The Super Nintendo World Early Access

Just do it. It might be $20-30 per ticket, but if you’re going to Super Nintendo World in the near future, just do it. Get there early. Be ready to wait on a variety of lines. It will be worth it. My math that led me to have an extremely good morning.

The night before, we bought Power Bands at the Super Nintendo World store in Universal CityWalk (you have to pay for parking but it’s otherwise free to access). That allowed us to easily set up the Power Bands within the Universal Studios mobile app without a time crunch. If your trip does not permit you to swing by the night before, you do have opportunities to buy Power Bands while waiting in the morning or right as you access Super Nintendo World.

The day we were there, the early access began at 9 a.m. We arrived to park around 7:30 a.m. We parked in General Parking, which necessitated walking through CityWalk. If you’re running late or want to minimize walking, use Preferred or Front Gate Parking (both at an added cost). We got through security around 8 a.m. and waited in line at the front gate until a little after 8:30 a.m., where they let us in to then go wait inside of the park at another rope. After that, they led us down the four escalators (!!!) to the Lower Lot of the theme park, where they scanned our Early Access tickets. From there, it was the slow march into Super Nintendo World. It’s worth noting you can’t bring a stroller into Super Nintendo World, but there is the equivalent of a stroller parking lot outside of it.

While walking inside, there is a QR code to scan to get into the booking system for the Toadstool Cafe. It goes live when the park opens and if you want to eat in the cafe, you need to book ASAP. When I was there, it was fully booked shortly after the general park opening. Keep in mind that even after you get a time slot, you still have to wait in line to order. Lines, lines, lines.

Going With Kids? Take Advantage of Child Swap and Single Rider Lines

My 5-year-old could basically go on any ride (except Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and the Return of the Mummy) but my 2-year-old was just shy of being able to hit the coveted 40” height minimum for 80% of the rides. Universal Studios Hollywood offers Child Swap for every ride, whether your kid is too small or just scared. Most rides function like this: you all wait in the line together and at a certain point before boarding, the non-rider and a companion go to a separate area (either a specific room or the end of the ride) and are given a slip that essentially operates like a Universal Express pass for a rider and a guest. In an ideal world, my 2-year-old would have been tall enough to do everything, but this actually worked out great. My 5-year-old was able to ride Mario Kart and Jurassic World twice that way. With Mario Kart, we went there first thing during the early access period and basically walked on. And then my wife went with him a few hours later (and waited about 30 minutes even with the pass). For Jurassic World, we did it back-to-back, waiting only a few minutes in between.

Single-rider lines were very helpful for my wife and I both quickly riding the Harry Potter ride, but we were thwarted because the single rider line was closed for Return of the Mummy midday on Friday. There was no clear way this was signposted unless you were right in front of the ride, which was frustrating.

Super Nintendo World Technically Has One Ride But The Power Band Challenges Add A Lot

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is the showcase in Super Nintendo World, being the first place people rush into while also being a fascinating augmented reality dark ride experience. In Universal Studios Hollywood, it is the only ride, but there is much more to do, as long as you have one of the $40 Power Bands.

Yes, it’s another added cost, but if you’re going to Super Nintendo World, you’re not getting the full experience unless you have one of these wristbands. There are five primary games in Super Nintendo World where you need a Power Band. Three of them are visible out in the courtyard. There’s the Goomba crank, where you need to rapidly turn a crank to make a Goomba fall down. A Koopa Troopa one where you need to time hitting a POW Block to knock a shell into a block. My favorite of these three is the sleeping Piranha Plant one where you have to play a frantic game of whack-a-mole to not piss off a Piranha Plant. Nestled inside a cave is a Thwomp challenge where you have to frantically flip the colors of blocks in a time limit. Other ways to earn keys include finding a secret area in the park and hitting every block and finding all the 8-bit characters.

Earning three keys with any member of your party will let you challenge Bowser Jr. This is truly the most video game thing in the park where your silhouette is shown on a big screen (with up to 12 people total). You have to duck under Bullet Bills, swat away Bob-Ombs, and comically jump up to get power-ups. It’s a crazy amount of fun, even when your 2-year-old wanders over to you mid-game and you have to hold him as you duck, swat, and jump. My 5-year-old’s favorite thing in Super Nintendo World was the Bowser Jr. fight. It’s a good time.

Secret Upstairs Area Can Be An Oasis

So I mentioned the secret area and maybe I shouldn’t be saying this because that secret area wound up being a beautiful place in the shade that was chill to hang out during the peak of the day. My recommendation is keep an eye out for stairs. The stairs might take you to a magical place with more blocks to hit and nice views.

Aside from giving you a nice high-ground look at the whole park, this secret area also has a viewfinder that lets you look out at the grounds with some neat little AR additions. At first, I thought it was just a cool little touch, but I realized that it actually factored into all the fun Power Band stuff. The viewfinder assumes you have your Power Band on your wrist, so it automatically tracks that you’re engaging with it. In addition, there are different sparkles that randomly (I think) pop up on the screen. Zoom in on those and you can find secret views, such as Rosalina’s Observatory. This all ties into the 100+ stamps you can find by completing a variety of tasks and goals within the Super Nintendo World section of the Universal Studios Hollywood mobile app. It’s wild how much this helps to encourage repeat visitation and further exploration. I hope some amount of this also carries over to Universal Studios Florida and other Super Nintendo World locations, though my early guess is it might not (I don’t believe it does for Japan and Hollywood).

All in all, Super Nintendo World is incredible, though the current size of the area and the layout of Universal Studios Hollywood can make traversing the world a crowded pain. I do not expect to make the cross-country trip to go to Universal Studios again, especially when Super Nintendo World is slated to come to Orlando in 2025 with a bigger footprint and more room for expansion. When the park isn’t overcrowded, the hype is indeed very real. It blows my mind how cool this place is and I look forward to seeing how it develops and expands over the next decade.


10
TalkBack / Nintendo's 2024 Lineup Will Be Fine
« on: January 29, 2024, 05:32:18 AM »

Sure we only know about some ports, remakes, and a Peach game, but this is year 8 of a console and a new one is coming. Right?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/66144/nintendos-2024-lineup-will-be-fine

This time last year, we only knew about five video games confirmed to be coming out from Nintendo on the Switch in 2023. Those comprised four games in the first five months and an unidentified Pikmin release. We had all sorts of chatter back then about nothing of importance hitting the Switch after the May release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Now that we’ve made it through 2023, we now know those concerns were absolute malarkey.

Beyond those five confirmed for 2023 games, we had around 10 more come out throughout the year. We had the shadowdrops of Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 1+2, and F-Zero 99. We had the surprise Mario games in Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Super Mario RPG. We had a new WarioWare, the long-awaited Detective Pikachu sequel, and a 1-2-Switch sequel no one asked for. It was, by most accounts, a really solid year for Nintendo in what will likely be the waning days of the Switch.

And now we’re in 2024, looking ahead to a year that has similar unknowns. Much like 2023, we only know about five games that are publicly confirmed for 2024. Three of them have release dates, with Another Code Recollection in January, Mario vs. Donkey Kong in February, and Princess Peach: Showtime in March. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are currently slated for release sometime this year, likely in spring and summer respectively. Beyond that, we have a lot of unknowns and some DLC in the form of Splatoon 3’s expansion. Metroid Prime 4 is still a specter, hanging out ominously in the background.

It is noticeable that of the five games known for 2024, four of them are ports and remakes, with Princess Peach’s latest adventure being the only wholly brand new game. Also, we are about to enter the Switch’s eighth year, so this is frankly just an unprecedented territory for Nintendo. But this year might be different because Nintendo might have a new console launch. So let’s dig into some past precedents to see if we can use those to divine what we might expect from 2024.

So for the Switch, we first officially found out about the system in October 2016 - five months before the system came out. We got the official rollout of launch date and details in January 2017 - less than two months before. As far as the official reveal of a system, the Switch was a wildly quick turnaround. The 3DS was known for nine months before launch. The Wii U was officially known for nearly 18 months before launch. But in both cases, the rollout of launch date and details was similar to the Switch, with the Wii U and 3DS getting their launch lineups confirmed about two months prior to launch.

Using that, we can reasonably assume that Nintendo will give us a launch date and lineup about two months before a Switch’s successor’s release. They’ve been remarkably consistent about that for the past 20 years. I won’t quite call it a guarantee but I would be surprised if that doesn’t hold true.

But when will Nintendo officially acknowledge the existence of a new platform? I’d personally say as early as February, as that’s when Nintendo is next scheduled to address shareholders during their earnings release for the third quarter of this current fiscal year. Though more realistically we might not hear about anything until the spring or even summer. From there, it depends when this new platform comes out, as frankly Nintendo can pattern the release similarly to the Switch.

Using that as the guideline, let’s paint some potential reveal timelines.

Here’s what I’d say is the most likely: Nintendo formally announces the new console in June 2024, following that up with an exact release date and details in September in line for a November launch.

Of course there’s also the pessimistic view of something almost directly mapping to the Switch’s playbook. Maybe the new console doesn’t get the full reveal until October, lining up for a January 2025 launch date confirmation and a March 2025 release. Hey - it worked for the Switch!

But there’s also a more aggressive and dare I say exciting option. Nintendo could formally announce this sucker in April 2024, leading to a summer launch date details drop and a September or October launch. I’d favor that slightly more because Nintendo has been favoring putting out their marquee games earlier in the holidays than ever before. Nintendo’s biggest holiday title of 2023 came out in October in the form of Super Mario Wonder. You could even argue Tears of the Kingdom was Nintendo’s biggest 2023 holiday title and that was released months before the holiday season. In 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were November releases but The Pokemon Company sometimes marches to the beat of their own drum. Purely from Nintendo, Splatoon 3 was the biggest holiday title and that hit in September. 2021 was a similar story, with Pokemon’s Diamond and Pearl remakes taking the previously prime November period while Mario Party Superstars and Metroid Dread were both released in October, even if you could easily claim Mario Party and Metroid aren’t major releases.

At this point, it feels like October has taken over November for the highest concentration of marquee games. It extends beyond Nintendo, as Sony and Microsoft are releasing their major holiday games in September and October. Even your Ubisofts and EAs are putting out their biggest games in October instead. Call of Duty and Pokemon seem like the only two mainstays that hit consistently in November, and Call of Duty has had the occasional October release. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X both came out in November in 2020, but 2020 is also a unicorn year and I’m not sure how much we can divine from peak COVID entertainment launches.

To summarize, Nintendo’s 2024 will be fine, likely dominated by remakes and ports before we get closer to a new console launch. We still definitely have more games on Switch to look forward to, even if some of them might be cross-gen. Beyond that, we should probably find out about the next system by the summer. And also there’s probably a new Pokemon game in November. That just seems to happen every year unless there’s DLC, and we just had DLC in 2023’s holiday season.


11
Podcast Discussion / Episode 394: Games Take a While to Make
« on: January 26, 2024, 05:05:57 AM »

Unless of course you rip all your assets from Pokemon.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/66091/episode-394-games-take-a-while-to-make

Some listener mail leads us down a discussion of the development of Metroid Prime 4 before turning our attention to some recent Microsoft news (We recorded this before they laid off 1.9k staff). Finally Neal revisits a classic Pokemon game and John expresses his thoughts on the recent Palworld controversy (We recorded this before the Pokemon Company put out a statement).


12

Made with 50% real Nintendo games.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65950/episode-392-the-slightly-delayed-game-of-the-year-episode

Neal returns to join John for a countdown of the personal game of the year lists. But first, the fellas turn to some listener mail to discuss one of 2024's most mysterious upcoming games.


13
TalkBack / Super Mario RPG (Switch) Review
« on: December 18, 2023, 05:44:34 AM »

Mario's first RPG gets a loving remake.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65842/super-mario-rpg-switch-review

I owe a lot to why I’m here at Nintendo World Report to Super Mario RPG. It was the game that took me from an average child interested in video games to an obsessed weirdo venturing out onto the internet to track Japan-only games, upcoming release dates, out-there theories, and Nintendo enthusiast websites. The game holds a special place in my heart and I used to replay it about once a year through the early 2000s. Since then, while Super Mario RPG has remained important to me, I’ve accepted it as a relic of its time with its awkward isometric platforming and modernly rough visuals. I never fathomed that nearly 30 years after release, Super Mario RPG would get a fresh coat of paint and cement itself once again as one of my personal favorite games of all time after a few years of doubt.

While the remake of Super Mario RPG on Nintendo Switch won’t convert everyone, it’s a fantastic update to a Super Nintendo classic. All of the off-brand weirdness and quirky characters are still present. The memorable moments and quotes are still there, even if some names have changed. Every little detail appears to be carried over from the original, often with a wink and a nod. If you’re new to the world of Super Mario RPG, this is a relatively basic traditional RPG originally made by Square Enix in the mid-1990s around the same time the company also made the likes of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. In a way, it’s more of a spiritual follow-up to the “My First RPG” ideas found in Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (even featuring some of the staff of that game) but laid out in a much more compelling and engaging way. It successfully marries classic turn-based combat with Mario elements, most commonly found in the action-oriented battles that feature timed button presses to do more or take less damage. Mario’s platforming also comes into play, but due to the isometric viewpoint, jumping with Mario does not lend itself to precision challenges. Those are few and far between here, but precise jumps are required just enough to make the isometric platforming frustrating. One of the troubles with being such a faithful remake.

In general, the challenge skews easy, though a first-timer might have some trouble with some tricky boss battles, especially if they aren’t experts at timed button presses. An easier difficulty is offered, which is perfect for the younger crowd. I can vouch it was very good for my 5-year-old. As someone who has played this game a whole lot, I lament the lack of a harder difficulty option. However, in lieu of that, the remake adds a sizable and charming post-game where you travel around to fight harder versions of bosses. These battles were a sheer delight with each focused on mastering a specific aspect of the combat.

In addition to the post-game, the remake tweaks some other aspects along the way, most notably in combat. Perfectly timed basic attacks now do splash damage to every enemy, quickening the pace of battles. Additionally, successfully completing timed button presses builds up a meter that, when full, can be spent to unleash a powerful attack or boost special to your three-person party. This deepens your bag of tricks in battle and like the splash damage, makes the game move a little bit faster. It’s wild how much faster the game plays on Switch compared to the original. I was finished with the entirety of the post game in around 12 hours whereas the SNES version generally hovers around the 15-20 hour range.

The visuals retain the feel of the original game but no longer have the dated pre-rendered muck of the ‘90s. The presentation perfectly nails the feeling of being what you remembered Super Mario RPG to look like, and even sounds like as it retained the original's memorable sound effectsl. The music features the original soundtrack from Yoko Shimomura as well as a fully remastered soundtrack also handled by Shimomura. You can switch between either during the game. I primarily stuck with the new soundtrack so I could continually be blown away by how Shimomura took her immaculate work from 1996 and made it even better today.

While the general simplicity might hold back some, Super Mario RPG still excels at what it intends to do: wax nostalgia and provide a gentle RPG experience. It’s a gorgeous adventure with tons of personality and a combat system that is often imitated but never fully duplicated. Even with Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi succeeding this game, they truly don’t make them like this wacky, bizarre game anymore. The playful vibe fits so well with the slightly off-brand Mario world that makes this game, with the grimy Wario-like Booster, goofy Axem Rangers, and evil wedding cake, unforgettable. Your mileage may vary with how much the straightforward adventure and unique brand of basic RPG works for you, but I walked away from this remake feeling like Super Mario RPG is solidly one of my favorite games ever.


14
Podcast Discussion / Episode 390: Words Mean Things Geoff
« on: December 07, 2023, 10:27:31 AM »

Cyberpunk is an indie game.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65706/episode-390-words-mean-things-geoff

In this raw unedited episode, John and Neal give their predictions for the show that drives God ever further from His children, otherwise known as the Game Awards. But first, listener mail!


15
TalkBack / A Highland Song (Switch) Review
« on: December 04, 2023, 07:01:00 PM »

A narrative wonder filled with contemplative mountain climbing.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65702/a-highland-song-switch-review

Developer inkle has a track record for making experimental narrative-focused games dripping with vibes, including the sky-faring 80 Days, the reverse murder mystery Overboard, and the language-translating Heaven’s Vault. Their latest game is the enigmatic mountain-climbing narrative adventure A Highland Song. Set in the Scottish Highlands, you control the young girl Moira who runs away from home in a mad dash to reach her uncle’s lighthouse and see the sea. The basic plot is relatively straightforward as your end goal is laid out right away, but through a few dynamic replays, impactful revelations and a wealth of tantalizing narrative threads add a gripping emotional weight to the whole experience.

A Highland Song tells a story that can only be told in games because the way it unfolds is all related to your play, building as you uncover new paths and figure out different connections. Moira initially has two maps that show off two different mountain peaks with hidden paths nearby. Matching the map to the right peak will give you the inclination of where the hidden path is and once you find the path, you can move to a new area, find a new map, and seek out more peaks and paths. It’s difficult to parse out the full scale and scope of the world, but that’s part of the overall point. You and Moira are desperately piecing together the right way to the sea and sometimes that can be disorienting.

Climbing and moving around the hills and mountains is straightforward, featuring a lot of context sensitive inputs that allow Moira to ascend, descend, run, and jump. Figuring out the right way to climb to a new height or safely get down to a new path in a valley requires planning and timing. Or you can just say “eff it” and jump down and incur some amount of fall damage (or lose all your health and fail). A day/night cycle and weather also factors into your maneuvering, so you need to keep an eye out on shelters to wait out storms and rest.

The flow of the game is glorious, and once I got a hang of it I was mesmerized exploring the gorgeous countryside, picking up intriguing clues and learning bits of wider lore that, at least in my time with the game, led to some gratifying and heartbreaking payoffs. This is a beautiful game with watercolor-esque backgrounds, impressive lighting, and gorgeous animation. The music complements the visuals with beautiful Scottish folk music (from acclaimed bands Talisk and Fourth Moon). I love the music, but I didn’t love the recurring rhythm game segments that highlighted the music. Especially in handheld mode, it was difficult to read the differences between buttons as you moved across the ground, tapping the right button as Moira ran over it. There are a lot of options to change the difficulty of different aspects of the game, including the rhythm game parts, but I generally like rhythm games and I was disappointed to have an issue with it.

Even with my relatively minor issues, A Highland Song is a powerful game filled with a distinct mystique. The overall goal requires playing through it a few times, but with each playthrough, you have more peaks and paths accessible right from the get-go. This is a game that is about optimizing your way through the mountains but also grapples with the reality that that level of optimization isn’t feasible. That ethereal otherworldliness lingers throughout every engrossing hour, beckoning you to find the most efficient path to the lighthouse while also tying up every loose end. This is a beautiful, gorgeous game that shouldn’t be missed.


16
TalkBack / Bluey: The Videogame (Switch) Review
« on: November 24, 2023, 02:03:34 PM »

A playful game ideal for Bluey’s target audience of preschoolers and grade schoolers.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65598/bluey-the-videogame-switch-review

The announcement of a Bluey video game felt like the logical next step for the Australian cartoon show that debuted in 2018 and exploded worldwide once BBC Studios gained the international distribution rights, leading to Bluey’s American success on Disney Jr. and Disney+. As a parent of young children, Bluey became a staple in my house, expanding culturally to the point where Bluey is more or less everywhere, showing up significantly more than I expected this past Halloween. It’s definitely a phenomenon, and now it has a video game to add to the saturation. Published by British games company Outright Games and developed by Spanish studio Artax Games (notably not an Australian studio, which is disappointing though BBC Studios holding the merchandising rights explains why), Bluey the Videogame is a neat little kid-centric sandbox trip through Bluey’s world, complete with full voice-acting, flexible four-player gameplay, and easy-to-understand controls.

Up to four players can join in, with the core family of Bluey, Bingo, Bandit, and Chili available to choose from. Regardless of whether or not you have four players, the unselected characters will still be around, leading you on to the next objective or just milling about. The structured meat of the game is found in four episodes that come complete with their own title card like the show itself. The writing here doesn’t rival the quality the cartoon reaches at times, but it does a good enough job of capturing the spirit as the kids put together an old treasure map from Bandit’s past. The episodes play out as very light point-to-point adventures where you solve simple puzzles and take on extremely light challenges. The lack of complexity makes it great for children, especially since I’ve seen an anecdotal surge in Bluey interest among parents of toddlers.

The episodic structure is neat, but it’s also over in about the same length as four episodes of the show (ETA 30 minutes). Beyond that, you can explore different locales from the show, most notably the Heeler house. In each area, you have a handful of collectibles to find. When all is said and done, there is probably about an hour or so of distinct content in this game, but the joy of this game is found in just messing around in the world even if playing Keepy-Uppy is disappointing in execution.

The reality is, for better or worse, as a game for adults, this is light, frivolous, and boring. But Bluey is aimed at an audience of children. To that end, it’s ideal. Full voice-acting means the game is approachable for a kid who can’t read yet (or well). The multiplayer gameplay allows for parents to play with their kids, made even better by how the game usually just needs one player to complete an objective, so you’re not spending all your time coaching the 2-year-old to succeed in Floor is Lava (I say this from experience). Bluey the Videogame feels like the developer actually put some thought into how to make a video game for the young children that this show is made for. It’s a success in that regard and it’s hard for me as a parent and a player to be frustrated at a game that works so well for my 5-year-old.

On Switch, the visuals are passable though not outstanding. In some moments, it mimics the show’s style perfectly. In others, it’s janky and stiff. My kids weaseled their way into some situations that necessitated rebooting the game, which is more of an illumination on the fact that kids play games in weird ways and they likely broke the game in a unique manner.

Bluey the Videogame’s worst aspect is how short it is. What’s there is enjoyable for its audience, even if it’s over so quickly. It does a good enough job of capturing the look and feel of the animated series, and even after completing the four episodes, my kids keep going back to mess around in the world. There’s a framework here that could make for some electric little kid gaming experiences and I hope to see the world of Bluey in video game form expand beyond this opening salvo. Bluey the Videogame is the kind of game Bandit would roll his eyes about but begrudgingly play with Bluey and Bingo anyway, and that’s okay, because Bandit’s the kind of dad that recognizes not everything is meant for him.


17
Podcast Discussion / Episode 389: A Game in the Life
« on: November 24, 2023, 05:20:57 AM »

Not currently available at your local grocery store.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65596/episode-389-a-game-in-the-life

NWR Reviews Editor, Jordan Rudek joins John and Neal to discuss his new book A Game in the Life. You can find store links where you can purchase A Game In The Life here. Next, Jordan and Neal dive deep into Super Mario RPG while John takes a nap. The boys wrap things up with a discussion of media bias and of course, a little Zelda talk.


18
Podcast Discussion / Episode 388: Neal's Trials in the Desert
« on: November 17, 2023, 08:46:41 AM »

Journey to Super Nintendo World

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65506/episode-388-neals-trials-in-the-desert

Neal returns from a successful expedition to Super Nintendo World to give his impressions of Universal's Nintendo themed park. Afterwards John puts his claim of being able to separate art and artist to the test and visits the wizarding world (while flipping off its original creator) to discuss Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch. Finally, we reply to your thoughts on the Legend of Zelda movie with some listener mail.


19
TalkBack / Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch) Review
« on: November 01, 2023, 05:23:30 AM »

A full remake in hand is worth two ports in the bush.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65365/star-ocean-the-second-story-r-switch-review

The Square Enix RPG series Star Ocean has been around for nearly 30 years but only recently made the leap to Nintendo platforms in the west. The Super Famicom original came to Switch (in PSP remake port form) in 2019 and now a fully remade version of the PlayStation sequel is hitting Nintendo Switch in the form of Star Ocean: The Second Story R. Unlike its predecessor, Second Story R is not an upgraded port of a PSP version. Instead, Square Enix and developer Gemdrops took the foundation and put together a modern remake with a gorgeous art style and presentation and refined combat and gameplay mechanics. It is a marked improvement from First Departure R that allows the quality of the ‘90s RPG to be easier to see in 2023.

Set 20 years after the events of the first Star Ocean, Second Story R kicks off by giving you the choice between two protagonists: Claude or Rena. Regardless of your choice, the pair will quickly team up and set off on an adventure to find out what’s up with the Sorcery Globe, a meteorite that landed on Rena’s home planet Expel and has brought about monsters and destruction. Your choices and decisions matter in the grand scheme of the plot and combat. Claude and Rena are locked in as playable characters, but the rest of your eight-person party can be filled out with a number of others, which can alter aspects of the story, leading to different endings. Similar to First Departure R, some of the finer details of party-building feel like they aren’t conveyed as clearly in the game itself, but it’s less obfuscated in this sequel.

Beyond the characters themselves, a robust skills and specialities system deepens them beyond the story. Skills all funnel into the action RPG battle system, where you upgrade special attacks and abilities to fine-tune your different party members using points accrued in battle. Separate from that are specialities, that factor into more than just battle. You use a different bucket of points earned from battle to do things like increase character’s blacksmith or writing ability. Some of the abilities unlocked fall in line with RPG tropes, like being able to cook healing items, while others are weird, like a book-making skill that lets your team publish a book and collect royalties on it. The full breadth is daunting, but if you figure it out, you can do some wild game-breaking things like be able to pickpocket the world and vastly improve your experience points by upgrading the training skill.

The action RPG combat is quick and snappy, in spite of the slightly too long load times on Switch. In the same vein as the Tales series, you run into a battle on the overworld and go into another screen where you actively attack, defend, and use abilities. The remake adds a lot of flourishes to the combat to make it better and more engaging, including the “break” system where you can stun enemies and Assault Action, where you can call in secondary characters (generally from other Star Ocean games) to help you out in battle. It’s a fine combat system and the new twists keep it from feeling stale. A few difficulty spikes would occasionally slow my progress, but that makes the inclusion of three difficulty levels all the more helpful.

The visual presentation might be the overall highlight for Second Story R, as it takes the original’s late ‘90s PlayStation art and modernizes it in a 2.5D blend spectacularly. All characters are sprite-based, rotating in the full 3D environments. Running around the overworld is often stunning, especially as the updated Motoi Sakuraba soundtrack blasts in the background. Those snazzy visuals help to paper over some of the slower pace in the opening hours of the 40-hour-long journey. It’s worth sticking around because the story opens up and gets more interesting in the back half. And honestly the slower pace is just because the game shows its Enix roots by having a lot of Dragon Quest-style vignettes in towns.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a great remake of a less heralded PlayStation RPG. Unlike First Departure R and some of the other ports and remasters out there, this is a smart, modern upgrade to a decades-old adventure. It’s an enjoyable action RPG with a wealth of player choice and a lot of charming quirky aspects. If you’ve ever been curious about Star Ocean and have an affinity for old-school action RPGs, this is a must-play. Even beyond that, the beautiful presentation might be worth the price of admission by itself.


20

Bookended by segues.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65314/episode-386-the-one-where-we-talk-about-super-mario-bros-wonder

The 2D Mario Game Club squad plus Alex assemble to to discuss the very good new Mario game. They of course also get distracted by other stuff.


21
Podcast Discussion / Episode 385: Super Sonicstars
« on: October 20, 2023, 10:09:41 AM »

Stars Supersonic

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65250/episode-385-super-sonicstars

Noted Sonic fan John Rairdin gives his initial impressions of Sonic Superstars. Surely this time he'll like Sonic. Meanwhile Microsoft completes their purchase of Activision, Blizzard, King, and most importantly, our hearts. Finally we round things off with some follow up thoughts on the New Super Mario series in the moments before we start Mario Wonder.


22
TalkBack / Subpar Pool (Switch) Review Mini
« on: October 19, 2023, 07:53:33 AM »

Mini-golf blends with billiards for your new mobile obsession.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/65247/subpar-pool-switch-review-mini

A good mobile game can be hard to find, which made my past discovery of Holedown a pleasant revelation. This snazzy twist on Breakout and Peggle initially came out in 2018 on mobile (with a Switch release later). If you haven’t played Holedown, it’s worth checking out on your phone or your Switch. My affinity for Holedown was rekindled because developer grapefrukt games just released Subpar Pool - a spiritual followup to their previous work. Combining elements of billiards and golf, this excellent slice of arcade brilliance continually iterates into more absurdity and complexity.

It starts off relatively simple. Shoot your cue ball into other balls, hurtling them into pockets within a certain number of shots. Complete a few boards and you’ll complete a run. As you play, you unlock more themes and modifiers. The themes change the type of board you’re on entirely, including ones with teleporting walls and rotating conveyor belts. The modifiers make the game more ridiculous and/or difficult. “Fixed start” doesn’t let you place your cue ball at the start of a level, while the simply named “more balls” fills the board with more balls. On top of all this, you also unlock different ball types. You’ve got big ol’ Chonkers that are harder to move and you also have delicate Crystals that can shatter after they’re hit too much.

Unlocking all this variety happens as you complete different challenges that ask you to execute certain goals. Some are as simple as completing a run on a theme, while others ask you to bounce a ball into another ball and then into a pocket, or go back and forth through a teleporting wall multiple times. It just keeps going, always giving you some new twist that demands you tweak your strategy and play a different style.

All of this allows every run to feel wildly different so Subpar Pool stays fresh over time, making it an ideal mobile game. On Switch, it’s still super fun, but it truthfully isn’t the ideal system for this game. I, for one, am now playing it on my phone after playing it on Switch. Not to say it’s a bad experience on Switch, just that Subpar Pool is best made for cranking out a round or two on your phone as opposed to sitting down and spending hours at your TV. Subpar Pool absolutely rocks no matter where you play it, though.


23
Podcast Discussion / Episode 384: The New Super Mario Quadrilogy
« on: October 13, 2023, 07:57:24 AM »

Part 3 of the 2D Mario Game Club

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/65177/episode-384-the-new-super-mario-quadrilogy

In the final part of our 2D Mario Game Club leading up to Super Mario Bros Wonder, we discuss the New Super Mario Bros series. And also for some reason Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate. Were these games good? How do they compare to the rest of the series? Can they inform our expecations for Wonder? Is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate better than anything Arzest has ever made? Let's find out!


24
TalkBack / Wild Card Football (Switch) Review
« on: October 10, 2023, 04:00:00 AM »

Baffling play calls in a second-half collapse keep this from being a first ballot Hall of Famer.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65168/wild-card-football-switch-review

The last time a Nintendo platform had an NFL football game, current reigning league MVP and Super Bowl Champion Patrick Mahomes was a 17-year-old high-schooler. Hundreds of NFL players had their careers begin and end without ever appearing on a game for a Nintendo system. Even if Saber Interactive’s Wild Card Football only has the NFL Player’s Association license (so it has real players and no real teams or stadiums), this is an important release on Nintendo Switch as it’s the first time America’s most popular sport has appeared on America’s most popular gaming platform. It might not be the simulation-heavy experience that a Madden provides, but it’s a fun stab at bringing football to a Nintendo system after all these years, even if it doesn’t totally stick the landing.

First and foremost, this is purebred arcade sports, with 7-on-7 games in lieu of football’s traditional 11-on-11. Players are cartoony and impossibly bulky. Playbooks and mechanics are simplified. Quarters are two minutes long. At times, it feels NFL Blitz-esque, with over-the-top bomb passing plays and vicious tackles. The big twist is the “wild card” part of the game. In most games, you have a deck of game-changing cards that can speed up your players, make your opponents more susceptible to drops, or do even wilder stuff like push the opposing team back five yards or make them lose a down. Some of them even unleash player abilities, like making the ball carrier invisible or have them turn into a giant for a few seconds. It adds a high-key chaotic aspect to the proceedings, layering in a good dose of strategy as you and your opponent both have cards that you can use to try to cancel out the other one’s hand.

With how fun the card manipulation can be at times, it’s a shame the actual football it supports doesn’t land. I enjoy the passing part of the game, as it does a good job of taking the tried-and-true controls of football games through time and distills them into a pleasant arcade form. Timing passing routes and trying to outsmart defenders is good. Unfortunately the running game boils down to a timing-based button press. Land it, and you’ll bust through the crowd. Miss it, and you’re more or less doomed to lose yards. It’s especially maddening because in my experience, the CPU - even on lower difficulties - seems to nail the timing every time. Also the AI for the CPU seems busted overall, making baffling decisions with regularity, ranging from not calling timeouts near the end of a half to not going for two when down by two.

Beyond the gameplay, there just isn’t a whole hell of a lot to do in Wild Card Football. Offline, a basic season mode with the built-in teams (collected by their real-life teams but named for their starting quarterback) is the only non-multiplayer experience. Two player local matches are enjoyable, though at this point, I can’t fully vouch for the longevity. The meat is found online in the Dream Squad mode, which is Wild Card Football’s Ultimate Team mode. You unlock packs of cards to build up your custom team of NFL players, taking them to compete online against other humans or the computer. The full breadth of the online competition and micro-transaction elements aren’t accessible yet, but I have spent a lot of time in the Tour mode, which allows you to unlock new cards by playing the CPU. This isn’t a mode I would play much of if it weren’t for the fact there is almost literally nothing else to do, but I’ll admit it’s been fun. The Tour mode puts you into different game variants, whether it’s with or without Wild Cards or even a race to a specific score total.

The pressure put on Wild Card Football to be the one single NFL game on Nintendo Switch might be undue, but regardless, this opening kickoff for a potential sports franchise fades down the stretch after a promising start. Parts of the game are good, making for a decent multiplayer game and a lacking solo experience due to limited modes, a borderline worthless running game, and janky computer-controlled opponents. If you’re hard up for playing as your favorite NFL players on your favorite Nintendo platform, this is an acceptable placebo, but here’s hoping Nintendo gets a high first-round draft pick for their next console so they can pick a more well-rounded football game.


25
TalkBack / Talking Cozy Dino Farming with Paleo Pines Developers
« on: October 09, 2023, 11:26:48 AM »

Paleo Pines brings real-life dino science into an adorable farm setting.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/65163/talking-cozy-dino-farming-with-paleo-pines-developers

If you have followed Nintendo World Report over the years, you might know we have a dinosaur guy in the form of longtime staffer Zach Miller. Naturally when a dinosaur game hits Nintendo systems, we unearth Zach's fossils and see what we can do. We sent over some questions to the team behind Paleo Pines, a new Nintendo Switch game that combines the likes of farming sims with ample dinosaurs. It was a pleasant surprise when we found out that the developers at Italic Pig took into account actual dino science into their largely cartoony and colorful game. So here's some questions and answers with Executive Producer Aimee Beimers (and a guest appearance by Animator Yazz Herron).


Nintendo World Report (NWR): What led you to make Paleo Pines? Were dinosaurs always the focus? When did the idea of linking dinos and farming come into play?

Aimee Beimers (AB): The concept originally came to life out of a Game Jam in 2019 from its original creator, Jordan Bradley.  The concepts struck a chord with so many people and within the Italic Pig studio that the game as we know it today began to take shape in those early days of development.  It was in the summer of 2020 that we really hit upon the core vision for the game beyond befriending dinos:  as a whole it is a love-letter to childhood, and those long breezy summers we all remember. This vision helped tie everything together – mechanically, visually, and in the audio too. Paleo Pines as we know it now was born.

NWR: I see a lot of different gameplay "types" in here, from Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley to Fantasy Life and Jurassic World: Evolution. How do they all feed into each other? What is the player trying to accomplish each day?

AB: These games have a lot in common, even if they don’t look like it at first! Within each, you generally start out as a new member of a community- an island, a town, a city or anywhere and begin to figure out what you need to do.

Paleo Pines makes good use of the trope with a fun blend of the usual standards; you’re new to the valley but you’re fixing up an old property. You don’t know anyone, but you’re throwing yourself into the community as soon as you can! You’re immediately given clues as to your quests and can get stuck in right away.  

The similarities to Jurassic World are clear - finding dinos, building pens, and caring for them - but in Paleo Pines, we live by the rule that it is Survival of the Kindest.  Our dinos don’t attack one another and live in harmony on your ranch.  

As with games like Slime Rancher and Pokémon, Paleo Pines hugely appeals to the collectors.  Even with farming and exploration being huge parts of the gameplay, befriending a wide range of dinos seems to have the most appeal with our players! What we’ve discovered is that Paleo Pines goes beyond this simple mechanic and our players form real bonds with the dinos they befriend - a joyful experience that should be credited to our dev team for putting so much personality into each dino!

Another aspect of Paleo Pines that we were keen to ensure was in the game is the idea of passive game interaction - we wanted a world where you have jobs to do and areas to explore, but other things you don’t ALWAYS have to be doing. We have players that simply have a hard day at work and have told us they sit on a bench in the game and just soak in a herd of dinos playing in the valley for 20 minutes as a way to relax.  

We’ve tried to ensure that a player’s day can be what they make of it - they can explore, follow on with a quest, venture out to befriend more dinos, farm on their ranch, seek out townsfolk… they day is full, but without stress - unless the ultra-rare dino you’ve discovered doesn’t like the treat you give them, of course!  There’s something in Paleo Pines to appeal to everyone who enjoys farming, creature collector and exploration games.  

NWR: I'm absolutely tickled by the list of genera in the game. Carnotaurus is my favorite dinosaur! I'm also impressed that you have some notable (and relatively obscure) non-dinosaurs in the game, like Desmatosuchus! Was it tough to pare down your list? Were there any critters that didn't make the cut that you were sad to see go?

AB: It was very tough to pare down our list! Our decision on which to include was based on the dinos that we knew would offer the most gameplay for players in the regions we have launched with. The Spino is definitely a fan favorite that we want to get into Paleo Pines eventually!

NWR: Similarly, I'm very appreciative of your attention to detail with these animals. Despite the very cartoony aesthetic, I'm surprised by how recognizable they are. How did you match the art style with the real design and look of the dinosaurs?

AB: We were lucky enough to have the input of a real-life paleontologist to turn to when our modelers and animators had questions!  Natalia Jagielska was brilliant in allowing our team to reach out throughout the production and has even done an analysis for us of several of our dinos to evaluate how close to known scientific fact they are.  It was this knowledge that we layered over the wholesome style originally created by Jordan Bradley.  

NWR: What are the different "classes" or "jobs" that the dinosaurs have?

AB: Every dinosaur in the game will have two skills - one farming and one wild skill. Farming skills can be tilling the soil, harvesting, planting seeds and watering crops. They make handling your daily farming chores so much easier! When exploring the world of Paleo Pines, dinosaurs can also assist by smashing rocks, stomping logs, slashing bushes and sprinting - meaning you can discover new and hidden areas! It's not so straightforward, though. Before a dino will do any work for you on the ranch and beyond, you first need to befriend them and earn their trust!

NWR: How do you find and befriend new dinos?

AB: Dinosaurs can be found all over; some roam in herds across rolling hills, others lurk alone in waterfall clearings. It's your job to get out and discover them all! If you decide to try and take one home, you will need to befriend them. Mari will take you through the process of feeding treats and soothing creatures until they are ready for the secret ingredient - a delicious poppin in their favorite flavor! If the dino takes the treat and likes it, you have made yourself a new friend and can seal the deal with a little pat on the head or boop on the nose. After the befriending process, you can begin to work on building the trust of your new best friend until they trust you enough to allow you to saddle them up!

NWR: How large is the game world? Is exploration a big part of the gameplay?

AB: Paleo Pines is an expansive island with three different biomes holding two marketplaces and a bunch of NPC homes! From the forested Dapplewood to the sandy Ariacotta Canyon, there are tons of areas populated with 38 different dinosaur species - some of which you'll need to look extra hard for or even enlist a dino's help to unblock! Of course, everyone plays differently, and there are certainly people who get so distracted by cute Styracosaurus’ that they haven't even begun to explore, but your main goal for coming to the island was to help your best friend Lucky find other dinos like her, and to do this you will need to fully explore Paleo Pines!

NWR: Launching a game on multiple platforms is always a challenge. What was the process for making this game for Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC?

AB: For most of the development we worked exclusively on PC, not knowing which consoles we'd eventually be asked to support. However we'd always expected to port it in general, so we had a framework in place to abstract important platform features like save data, achievements and so on. When the time came, we had to write implementations of that for each platform, then deal with features unique to particular platforms (e.g. PS5 activities). We also had to optimize for each platform without disrupting the others.

Switch was a special case, so we had a partner to help us port the game, and in particular to optimize - it started out very beautiful, but running at what felt like 2 FPS. We had to duplicate all our levels in order to make the necessary changes for Switch without affecting the other platforms.

Our approach to porting to different platforms is probably very similar to other developers, but the biggest challenge for us was ensuring that the visual experience on the Switch was comparable to the PC version - or at least as close as it’s possible, given the nature of the Switch console.  This was a very high bar to meet and we’re very pleased with the result.  

NWR: What are your favorite dinosaurs and did that lead to any biases during development as far as how different dinos were used and implemented?AB: The people closest on our team to the dinos are the animators so we put this question to Yazz, who was responsible for animating many of the dinos in the game.

Yazz Herron:  As an animator, it's always easy to start to find favorites among the herd. Archaeoptryx, for example, was so fun to animate that he quickly came into my top three! Although every dinosaur got the same amount of love and attention, there may just be some secret animations that belong to a few favorites of mine! Have you ever put a picnic table in your gallimimus pen?

NWR: What is a fun dinosaur fact you uncovered during development that stood out to you?

AB: The one that’s stood out to us time and time again is the two ‘dinos that aren’t dinos’ in our game - Postosuchus and Dimetrodon are in the game but aren’t scientifically dinos.  We get a lot of reminders of this!


Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 221