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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Star Fox (Switch 2)
« on: Yesterday at 08:58:32 AM »
Heh. Figures. I skimmed through the topic, but I didn't see that. Oh well. You may resume the pummeling, then.
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Heh. Figures. I skimmed through the topic, but I didn't see that. Oh well. You may resume the pummeling, then.
3
General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
« on: July 07, 2026, 10:55:54 PM »Whoever decided that the Dualshock 3 should only charge from a USB charger with an active data connection should be thrown into the sun.
It sure makes safely charging the things a gamble in one of the biggest lightning sites in the world in the middle of the summer storm season, that's for sure. Didn't think I'd ever miss Rest Mode this much.
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General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
« on: July 05, 2026, 12:27:25 PM »
Following this announcement, I brought my PS3 out of storage; hooked it up; and got it updated and ready to go again. Think I'm going to get some playtime in for Backlaugust in a month. Some words of warning to anyone else thinking of doing this:
1. Remember, the controllers used USB Mini cables, and the ones you have probably don't work as well as you would like. That's certainly been my experience trying to charge my Dualshock 3s back up.
2. Signing into PSN on a PS3 in 2026 is...an experience. You have to get a device code from your account manager to do it, and use that as your password to sign into your account.
3. You cannot buy games from PS3 PSN using a credit card anymore. You HAVE to use gift card wallet funds. Coincidentally, those seem to be a hot seller on Amazon right now.
4. As a corollary to 3, even if you DO add funds to your wallet with a gift card code, the PS3 PSN STILL won't let you buy anything because it wants you to confirm your CC details. Nothing I entered worked, so I had to delete my CC off my account before the PS3 would just bypass the CC check and use the wallet funds.
5. The PS3 is way, way, WAY slower than you remember to do anything online. You can basically watch an entire Extended Cut LOTR movie in the time it takes to download ONE PS2 game. And the PS3 store always was and always will be a colossal PoS with an incredibly clunky interface.
6. Consult these wikis to see what PS1 and PS2 games we're going to be losing once these stores shut down:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_downloadable_PlayStation_games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_downloadable_PlayStation_2_games
There are a LOT of PS1 & PS2 digital games I bought back in the day and completely forgot about. For instance, I forgot I owned Fatal Frames 1 & 3 and both Parasite Eve games. That ****'s never getting re-released; remastered; or remade. I have both Digital Devil Saga games. Those might get remastered...someday...if Atlus can give a damn, but it's not likely.
1. Remember, the controllers used USB Mini cables, and the ones you have probably don't work as well as you would like. That's certainly been my experience trying to charge my Dualshock 3s back up.
2. Signing into PSN on a PS3 in 2026 is...an experience. You have to get a device code from your account manager to do it, and use that as your password to sign into your account.
3. You cannot buy games from PS3 PSN using a credit card anymore. You HAVE to use gift card wallet funds. Coincidentally, those seem to be a hot seller on Amazon right now.
4. As a corollary to 3, even if you DO add funds to your wallet with a gift card code, the PS3 PSN STILL won't let you buy anything because it wants you to confirm your CC details. Nothing I entered worked, so I had to delete my CC off my account before the PS3 would just bypass the CC check and use the wallet funds.
5. The PS3 is way, way, WAY slower than you remember to do anything online. You can basically watch an entire Extended Cut LOTR movie in the time it takes to download ONE PS2 game. And the PS3 store always was and always will be a colossal PoS with an incredibly clunky interface.
6. Consult these wikis to see what PS1 and PS2 games we're going to be losing once these stores shut down:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_downloadable_PlayStation_games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_downloadable_PlayStation_2_games
There are a LOT of PS1 & PS2 digital games I bought back in the day and completely forgot about. For instance, I forgot I owned Fatal Frames 1 & 3 and both Parasite Eve games. That ****'s never getting re-released; remastered; or remade. I have both Digital Devil Saga games. Those might get remastered...someday...if Atlus can give a damn, but it's not likely.
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General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
« on: July 01, 2026, 09:28:02 AM »
So, Sony's just having a winning week.
First, they yanked hundreds of digital movies from customer's libraries due to expiring licenses.
Second, they're shutting down the PS3 and Vita PSNs in 2027, with owners temporarily able to redownlod games for now.
Finally, they announced no more disc games for PlayStation after next year.
https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/
Well, I guess the PS5 is my last Sony console. I understand that these companies want to go digital, but physical options give the consumer options and Sony is so far the ONLY console manufacturer with a history of stealing digital content from people who purchased them. I don't trust them AT ALL with my digital games.
**** you, Sony. I hope the crash takes you and Xbox with it.
First, they yanked hundreds of digital movies from customer's libraries due to expiring licenses.
Second, they're shutting down the PS3 and Vita PSNs in 2027, with owners temporarily able to redownlod games for now.
Finally, they announced no more disc games for PlayStation after next year.
https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/
Well, I guess the PS5 is my last Sony console. I understand that these companies want to go digital, but physical options give the consumer options and Sony is so far the ONLY console manufacturer with a history of stealing digital content from people who purchased them. I don't trust them AT ALL with my digital games.
**** you, Sony. I hope the crash takes you and Xbox with it.
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?
« on: June 30, 2026, 07:14:26 PM »I didn't know Donkey Kong Racing was on the box for the GameCube. Do you have an image of that?
While we're at it, we might as well go mop wild and have them release whatever was completed for Conker before all the raunch was added. We can never have enough of these scraps!
Ask and ye shall receive.
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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: June 29, 2026, 11:25:06 PM »
Kirby Air Riders - Traded in a bunch of games I was never going to play again (little did I know at the time Mario Kart World should have been one of them), and grabbed this one on a whim for basically free.
Let's get the bad out of the way first: this game makes an extremely poor first impression with how it basically gives the player homework right at the start with a lengthy serious of generally pretty terrible tutorials that somehow break the game's mechanics down on an incredibly granular level while teaching the player next to nothing useful about the actual process of playing the game. I did all the tutorials in a row, and then went right into the SP Air Ride mode and proceeded to get my ass handed to me by the CPU over and over again despite doing what the tutorials drilled into me to do. Time after time, though, I'm still getting at best 2nd place.
And that's really the part of the game that frustrates me: I really enjoy this game's sense of speed when I CAN get boosts of speed, but I feel like I'm really bad at this game and I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I'm boosting on turns; I'm drafting behind opponents; and I'm attacking where I can. And yet I can never seem to get the consistent blasts of speed I KNOW the game wants me to do. It certainly doesn't help that attacking is relegated to either holding the Boost button (which also slows you down) or wiggling the stick. Why couldn't this have been an optional button press? I wish that acceleration was the feature mapped to the one button instead of what's basically the brake doubling as a boost. When I'm not boosting the game feels very slow, but when I hit the brake to boost it feels like I'm not making meaningful speed. Again, I feel like the game could make it a lot more clear what I'm doing wrong here. It really doesn't help when some challenges and entire courses feel like they were designed for only 1 vehicle to be viable, and it's never the one I'm using.
However, where I somewhat turned a corner on this game is when I started dabbling in the other modes, particularly Top Ride; the Stadium challenges; and now Road Trip. I'm surprised at how much I'm really digging the Road Trip mode, though I wish I could tweak the AI just a little bit more. After how the AI was routinely kicking my ass on the default settings in Air Ride, I kinda wish there was an middle ground setting between "Casual" and "Normal" in Road Trip. "Casual" just feels like the game's giving you a pat on the head and an automatic win, but I'm wary about dialing up to Normal until I'm remotely better at the actual racing. But with the constant cycling of modes and challenges, this is definitely the part of Air Riders that appeals to me and I'm glad I gave the game a chance.
Currently also making my way through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but I'll save my thoughts on that...mess...for another time.
Let's get the bad out of the way first: this game makes an extremely poor first impression with how it basically gives the player homework right at the start with a lengthy serious of generally pretty terrible tutorials that somehow break the game's mechanics down on an incredibly granular level while teaching the player next to nothing useful about the actual process of playing the game. I did all the tutorials in a row, and then went right into the SP Air Ride mode and proceeded to get my ass handed to me by the CPU over and over again despite doing what the tutorials drilled into me to do. Time after time, though, I'm still getting at best 2nd place.
And that's really the part of the game that frustrates me: I really enjoy this game's sense of speed when I CAN get boosts of speed, but I feel like I'm really bad at this game and I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I'm boosting on turns; I'm drafting behind opponents; and I'm attacking where I can. And yet I can never seem to get the consistent blasts of speed I KNOW the game wants me to do. It certainly doesn't help that attacking is relegated to either holding the Boost button (which also slows you down) or wiggling the stick. Why couldn't this have been an optional button press? I wish that acceleration was the feature mapped to the one button instead of what's basically the brake doubling as a boost. When I'm not boosting the game feels very slow, but when I hit the brake to boost it feels like I'm not making meaningful speed. Again, I feel like the game could make it a lot more clear what I'm doing wrong here. It really doesn't help when some challenges and entire courses feel like they were designed for only 1 vehicle to be viable, and it's never the one I'm using.
However, where I somewhat turned a corner on this game is when I started dabbling in the other modes, particularly Top Ride; the Stadium challenges; and now Road Trip. I'm surprised at how much I'm really digging the Road Trip mode, though I wish I could tweak the AI just a little bit more. After how the AI was routinely kicking my ass on the default settings in Air Ride, I kinda wish there was an middle ground setting between "Casual" and "Normal" in Road Trip. "Casual" just feels like the game's giving you a pat on the head and an automatic win, but I'm wary about dialing up to Normal until I'm remotely better at the actual racing. But with the constant cycling of modes and challenges, this is definitely the part of Air Riders that appeals to me and I'm glad I gave the game a chance.
Currently also making my way through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but I'll save my thoughts on that...mess...for another time.
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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: June 29, 2026, 11:08:44 PM »
Alright, how about a trio of Racing games?
Mario Kart World - Well this game is just utter trash. I'm not here for the online, just for the Grand Prix experience and boy is that lacking here between the lack of multiple laps on all but the 1st track and the general underwhelming nature of the tracks in general. It really doesn't help that the tracks are as wide as they are to accommodate the expanded roster count. I was just kind of bored racing through the Grand Prix races, though not nearly as bored as when I dabbled in the extremely empty open world full of nothing of value to do.
This game is the very embodiment of that "I don't know what I expected" meme.
Sonic Racing Crossworlds - Been holding onto this one for a while now, basically waiting for Sega to finish making the game, but now they've announced an entire 2nd season of DLC content so that'll be a while. Played through the first 3 or so Grand Prix tracks, and I have to say I really dig this one. Compared to something like Sonic Racing Transformed, the roster is pretty bad since it's largely Sonic & his terrible friends. But roster gripes aside, the tracks I've experienced so far have been pretty stellar...aside from this one Crossworld track I've seen a few times that's really hard to read beyond just being an explosion of neon color. The rubberband AI is pretty damn tenacious, too, even on the lowest difficulty. Been a while since I picked that one up, but I'd definitely recommend it. And the DLC tracks are surprisingly excellent so far.
Mario Kart World - Well this game is just utter trash. I'm not here for the online, just for the Grand Prix experience and boy is that lacking here between the lack of multiple laps on all but the 1st track and the general underwhelming nature of the tracks in general. It really doesn't help that the tracks are as wide as they are to accommodate the expanded roster count. I was just kind of bored racing through the Grand Prix races, though not nearly as bored as when I dabbled in the extremely empty open world full of nothing of value to do.
This game is the very embodiment of that "I don't know what I expected" meme.
Sonic Racing Crossworlds - Been holding onto this one for a while now, basically waiting for Sega to finish making the game, but now they've announced an entire 2nd season of DLC content so that'll be a while. Played through the first 3 or so Grand Prix tracks, and I have to say I really dig this one. Compared to something like Sonic Racing Transformed, the roster is pretty bad since it's largely Sonic & his terrible friends. But roster gripes aside, the tracks I've experienced so far have been pretty stellar...aside from this one Crossworld track I've seen a few times that's really hard to read beyond just being an explosion of neon color. The rubberband AI is pretty damn tenacious, too, even on the lowest difficulty. Been a while since I picked that one up, but I'd definitely recommend it. And the DLC tracks are surprisingly excellent so far.
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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: June 29, 2026, 10:59:10 PM »
Might as well add some cents of my own...
Pragmata - Not too much to add to what's already been discussed about this game, but I 100%ed it and found it a perfectly charming little game. It does a good job of keeping things fresh between the game's hacking gimmick and a determination to throw a variety of different enemy encounters at the player. That final boss can seriously **** off, though, on Lunatic Difficulty. As much as I enjoyed it, though, I kinda hope it doesn't get a sequel. This feels like a perfectly great one and done.
Yoshi & the Mysterious Book - Finished the game with all flowers collected and all but one discovery obtained, and that's the discovery related to completely the absolutely infuriating final bonus level of Chapter 12. Overall, I quite enjoyed the game outside of some really annoying auto-scrolling stages or ones with annoying movement gimmicks. Incidentally, that last level is one of those. It has a very strong "pick up and play" portable design sense that makes it easy to plug in 5 minutes here or there between doing other things. REALLY could have done without the game being as long as it is, though, complete with a fake-out ending; a true ending; and a pretty substantial post-game.
Pragmata - Not too much to add to what's already been discussed about this game, but I 100%ed it and found it a perfectly charming little game. It does a good job of keeping things fresh between the game's hacking gimmick and a determination to throw a variety of different enemy encounters at the player. That final boss can seriously **** off, though, on Lunatic Difficulty. As much as I enjoyed it, though, I kinda hope it doesn't get a sequel. This feels like a perfectly great one and done.
Yoshi & the Mysterious Book - Finished the game with all flowers collected and all but one discovery obtained, and that's the discovery related to completely the absolutely infuriating final bonus level of Chapter 12. Overall, I quite enjoyed the game outside of some really annoying auto-scrolling stages or ones with annoying movement gimmicks. Incidentally, that last level is one of those. It has a very strong "pick up and play" portable design sense that makes it easy to plug in 5 minutes here or there between doing other things. REALLY could have done without the game being as long as it is, though, complete with a fake-out ending; a true ending; and a pretty substantial post-game.
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?
« on: June 28, 2026, 10:32:38 AM »Since we got Turok 1 and 2, I would think 3 is also on the table at some point. There's actually good reason to put it on here, as the remaster totally axed the multiplayer mode. It would also be nice to see Turok Rage Wars, which will likely not see a remaster.
Why no remaster of Rage Wars likely?
Consider how many people in the world likely care about the Turok games. Now consider the subset of THAT that care about a mostly MP-only spin-off. And you're going to have to build online into the game and host servers for that remaster to have any value whatsoever, since local shooter MP seems to be something only the Halo community cares about these days. The numbers just don't add up to the project being worthwhile.
Frankly, it's something of a miracle that we even got pretty good remasters of the original 3.
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?
« on: June 26, 2026, 07:09:17 PM »On that note, who currently owns Midway's properties? We need the Rush games to return! Though this one would be complicated if they didn't emulate the Controller Pak.
I would imagine the first stop for those rights would be Warner Bros., since WB bought Midway back in their Mortal Kombat days. Who knows where the rights are now, though. Atari's been scooping up the rights to all sorts of obscure games these days. I wonder if WB still owns the publishing rights to stuff like the Shadow Hearts series that Midway owned back in the day.
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?
« on: June 24, 2026, 07:28:57 PM »Banjo-Tooie hitting the app now.
Banjo-Tooie came to the app in October 2024. In the 21 months since that point, there have been 5 additions in the regular app. DK64, Tonic Trouble, Rayman 2, Killer Instinct and Ridge Racer 64. For the Mature 64 games, Shadow Man and Turok 2 were both added in October 2024. In the 21 months since just Forsaken 64 has been added. That's 6 games in almost two years. Things have really slowed down when it comes to N64 games. What do you think lies in store for the app at this point?
At this point, I'd say there are two major games in Super Smash Bros. and Diddy Kong Racing that people are likely still expecting to show up. With most other Rare games now available, I do think Conker's Bad Fur Day will likely show up for the Mature app at some point. Although Microsoft is now going through a shake-up with a new leader so maybe it doesn't.
Will we see more additions from third parties? I'd like to see Mega Man 64 show up as I'm curious to experience what that game was like. Capcom clearly didn't think there was much interest in the GB Mega Man versions to let them come to the service. Do they put much value in MM64 like they do the NES and SNES games which they keep re-releasing in various collections?
What do you think of the N64 app at this point in time? To me, it seems like the best collection of the N64 library since Nintendo started doing the Virtual Console releases with the Wii and a pretty good representation of the software that made the system special.
I feel like there are still some very notable omissions that could come to the service. You already mentioned Diddy Kong Racing, which just has to come to the service at some point if Rare games are on the table.
Some other ones that I'd expect at some point:
- Ogre Battle 64 - this was on both console VCs and is a very well-regarded game. Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't made it over already.
- Resident Evil 2 - the N64 port of this game is renowned as a technical marvel, as well as being a port created by what's basically known as Rockstar San Diego these days. The question for this one is whether Capcom even still has the source code, as we already know they don't hold their back catalog in this series in high regard.
- Hybrid Heaven - Probably the best RPG on the N64 before OB64 released. It's a cyberpunk conspiracy action game with turn-based wrestling combat. It's a Konami game. It could happen.
- Beetle Adventure Racing - It'll never happen because of the Beetle car license, but one can dream.
- Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon + sequel - Another game I'm surprised we haven't seen on any Nintendo service at some point, being a pre-Ocarina Zelda-style action game. And we never got the 2.5D sequel in North America.
- Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness - I wonder if Konami's been considering some kind of collection of the 3D Castlevania games, and that's why we haven't seen these 2 yet.
Space Station Silicon Valley - Another notable Rockstar game.
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TalkBack / Re: Rapidly Analyzing The United States’s 200 Best Selling N64 Games
« on: June 24, 2026, 09:04:20 AM »Of course Ogre Battle 64 isn't on the list - I own the only English-language copy.
*Raises hand*
"We" own the only English language copies. I still have mine in storage. It's worth noting that OB64 was back when if you wanted copies of an Atlus game, you preordered them because the games usually got one print run and that was it. And Atlus' print runs were tiny back then. People forget just HOW boutique Atlus was before Persona. First game I ever personally preordered, too.
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Star Fox (Switch 2)
« on: June 23, 2026, 05:59:24 PM »
I have the game preordered due to the launch day physical price matching with the digital price, but I don't know how much time I'll invest into it. I just wrapped up Yoshi yesterday, and I'm currently playing FF7 Rebirth right now. I've been using my Switch 2 mainly as something to dabble with during my lunch hour at work, and after playing the demo it doesn't seem like the game works all that well as a handheld experience, just in how much of the screen real estate has to be shrunk down. Might go back to Engage or start up Xenoblade X first.
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TalkBack / Re: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (Switch 2) Review
« on: June 20, 2026, 06:28:47 PM »It's interesting that the game is often compared to Zelda. I can see why, but I feel like it should be compared to games like Secret of Mana just as much. For example, the puzzle elements feel lighter than Zelda, and instead of an "overworld setting ala Hyrule in LttP, the world I played, at least in the Prologue demo, feels more like mazes and corridors that lead to the points of interest. The focus on a improving a stable of weapons, their arrangement in a ring, and the "charge" attacks are also very SNES Secret of Mana Vibes.
The way people talk about the game taking place in "Ages" is giving me Terranigma vibes, myself.
Still haven't gotten around to playing the demo. Got a lot on my plate right now, and I'm not a big fan of the HD 2D art style. Feels like a whole lot of muted colors in nearly every game that uses it.
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TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Series Blowing Up On Switch 2 With New Game, Switch 2 Editions Of Original Trilogy
« on: June 09, 2026, 06:09:03 PM »I still haven't gotten around to Xenoblade 2 and 3, so a new one doesn't excite me at the moment. I'll probably download the NS2 editions of 2 and 3 if and when I finally get to them; definitely 2 since I've heard the performance in that game is awful.
I played Xenoblade 2 recently on my Switch 2 (original Switch version), and the performance is OK but there's definitely some graphical shenanigans going on and the load times aren't great. I don't think the game is all that good in general, but if you're going to play it definitely wait for the Switch 2 upgrade.
You mainly play 2 so you can get to 3: the good one.
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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Serves Up October 22 Release
« on: June 09, 2026, 12:39:14 PM »
Someone at Nintendo really thought we needed a deep dive on thumb wrestling in a Direct that was already struggling to justify its existence at that point in the show.
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TalkBack / Re: Xenoblade Series Blowing Up On Switch 2 With New Game, Switch 2 Editions Of Original Trilogy
« on: June 09, 2026, 12:36:44 PM »
Can't say I'm all that excited for yet another JRPG centered around school life, but eh...we'll see what they show as we get closer to release.
As for the Switch 2 editions, I'm definitely in "wait and see" mode on those after what happened with X's Switch 2 edition. They're welcome additions if they're good, but I've already played all 3 of those games fairly recently and don't plan on playing them again any time soon.
As for the Switch 2 editions, I'm definitely in "wait and see" mode on those after what happened with X's Switch 2 edition. They're welcome additions if they're good, but I've already played all 3 of those games fairly recently and don't plan on playing them again any time soon.
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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Online Adding Special Challenges, Starting With Donkey Kong Series Including Ban
« on: June 09, 2026, 12:35:01 PM »
Considering that lack of content was one of the big complaints about Emerald Rush considering the price, this being time-limited seems a bit ridiculous to me.
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TalkBack / Re: Zelda 40th Anniversary Release Is Ocarina Of Time, Launching This Year
« on: June 09, 2026, 12:34:20 PM »
The lack of any gameplay shown this close to release tells me this is probably, blatantly, obviously going to get delayed into 2027, whatever Nintendo says right now.
As for the game itself, Nintendo decided to remake IIRC still the top-ratest game in gaming history.
Good luck meeting those expectations!
As for the game itself, Nintendo decided to remake IIRC still the top-ratest game in gaming history.
Good luck meeting those expectations!
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?
« on: June 05, 2026, 06:49:32 PM »Obviously, I'm rather pumped about this. Immediately dove into yesterday and again today. Likely take up a lot of my weekend. Thinking about it, it's probably over 15 years since I have last played it. I just can't think of any time where I'd have played it in that span I'm ready to revisit this one again. Who else "is in the mood" and getting their walnuts, peanuts and pineapple smells on?
Tempted to, but from all accounts the minigames are still as broken as they've ever been since Nintendo started emulating this game. Not really in the mood right now for the 100% nonsense of that game.
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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: May 30, 2026, 04:13:53 PM »
Last on the list, I'm currently playing my way through Yoshi & the Mysterious Book, a game that ended up being absolutely not what I expecting. I thought it was another Yoshi platformer and I was eager to play another Yoshi platformer, but what we got was...an adventure puzzle game about unlocking achievements. Yeah, I enjoy trophy hunting, but I really wasn't expecting an entire game based on that and I still think I would have preferred something like a Woolly World port over this.
It took me a while to start vibing with the game for what it is, but I'm enjoying the game in short sessions. It feels like Yoshi-meets-Winnie the Pooh. Like the modern Zelda games, though, it feels like this is meant to more be a collection of mechanics to just poke at and see what happens than an actual coherent game experience with goals and stakes.
I'm working my way through the Chapter 2 creatures right now, and I'm not sure what the actual point of this game is going to end up being. It really doesn't help that some of the hints towards Discoveries are very badly written, particularly the ones based on music. There were a few I had to look up online because even the Level 2 hints you pay 100 tokens to unlock can be extremely vague about what the game expects you to do.
It took me a while to start vibing with the game for what it is, but I'm enjoying the game in short sessions. It feels like Yoshi-meets-Winnie the Pooh. Like the modern Zelda games, though, it feels like this is meant to more be a collection of mechanics to just poke at and see what happens than an actual coherent game experience with goals and stakes.
I'm working my way through the Chapter 2 creatures right now, and I'm not sure what the actual point of this game is going to end up being. It really doesn't help that some of the hints towards Discoveries are very badly written, particularly the ones based on music. There were a few I had to look up online because even the Level 2 hints you pay 100 tokens to unlock can be extremely vague about what the game expects you to do.
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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: May 30, 2026, 04:01:20 PM »
Next up is Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, a game I picked up when Amazon was offering the +$20 deluxe edition for the same price as the regular edition.
The game is, overall, a tribute to all the Batman '89 and onward live action movies, with a little Batman '66 and Batman: TAS love and a LOT of the Batman Arkham gameplay sprinkled in (including a pale imitation of its combat system).
The story attempts to clumsily string together the stories of all those movies, and sometimes it really works and sometimes it feels like Traveler's Tales just really didn't give a damn. I get the distinct impression that the devs don't particularly like The Batman or Batman Begins, because the early parts of the game focused on their versions of Batman's origin story feel like they go on forever and are utterly boring. I don't feel like the game really hits its stride until Chapter 2 when it starts adapting the Tim Burton films, when suddenly life enters the cutscenes and performances.
Baffling-ly, Batman Forever gets 1 whole stage devoted to it in a chapter that's mainly devoted to Batman & Robin's version of Poison Ivy. It's a real shame, because Traveler's Tales clearly "gets" the neon-infused style of that movie, but barely gets to use it. And Batman & Robin's Mr. Freeze gets 1 whole boss fight in a chapter that's mainly devoted to homaging Batman: The Animated Series. Why even GO with that (terrible) version of Mr. Freeze if you wanted to homage the version of the franchise that MADE people give a damn about Mr. Freeze?
The writing is pretty hit-or-miss, especially at the start when the game just seems aggressively not funny. Like the rest of the game, it improves a lot once the movies with more personality come in, and there are some pretty solid jokes at the expense of the Snyder and Nolan films by the end. Hell, the game somehow makes The Dark Knight Rises' version of Bane an enjoyable character by completely taking the piss out of his "returning Gotham to YOU, THE PEOPLE" message. The vocal performances are all over the place. There were times I wanted to reach out and punch Batgirl's voice actress because she was over-acting when it wasn't warranted.
The game seems to have a problem picking a tone. Sometimes it's just "silly" like every other Lego "thing" out there, and other times it wants to be sincere when I'm not sure it's earned it. The game struggles to find a balance until late into the game.
From a gameplay perspective, this is one incredibly buggy game. The grappling hook often just plain doesn't work. You'll hit the button mid-flight, and the game will send you right into the bottom of an object because it ended up between where you were and the thing you were grappling. You can't grapple onto tether lines like you can in the Arkham games, so characters like Nightwing and Robin that specialize in stringing tethers to walk across feel somewhat pointless. I had my PS5 hard crash on me at one point for no apparent reason, not to mention quest lines that broke until I closed the game completely and re-loaded. My camera got locked facing a spinning floor any time I try to play as Nightwing during the Mr. Freeze fight. The game is just a technical mess at times.
And yet, like Escape from Ever After, I do think this is one of the best games of the year when it's firing on all cylinders. There are some inspired levels in here, there are some solid jokes, clear love for the source material (and those involved in making it), and we haven't had a good Batman Arkham game like this since...Arkham City. They even paid for the licensed music from the films in question, including a surprise entry for the end credits. It is worth a playthrough, and I look forward to playing the story DLC whenever it comes out.
The game is, overall, a tribute to all the Batman '89 and onward live action movies, with a little Batman '66 and Batman: TAS love and a LOT of the Batman Arkham gameplay sprinkled in (including a pale imitation of its combat system).
The story attempts to clumsily string together the stories of all those movies, and sometimes it really works and sometimes it feels like Traveler's Tales just really didn't give a damn. I get the distinct impression that the devs don't particularly like The Batman or Batman Begins, because the early parts of the game focused on their versions of Batman's origin story feel like they go on forever and are utterly boring. I don't feel like the game really hits its stride until Chapter 2 when it starts adapting the Tim Burton films, when suddenly life enters the cutscenes and performances.
Baffling-ly, Batman Forever gets 1 whole stage devoted to it in a chapter that's mainly devoted to Batman & Robin's version of Poison Ivy. It's a real shame, because Traveler's Tales clearly "gets" the neon-infused style of that movie, but barely gets to use it. And Batman & Robin's Mr. Freeze gets 1 whole boss fight in a chapter that's mainly devoted to homaging Batman: The Animated Series. Why even GO with that (terrible) version of Mr. Freeze if you wanted to homage the version of the franchise that MADE people give a damn about Mr. Freeze?
The writing is pretty hit-or-miss, especially at the start when the game just seems aggressively not funny. Like the rest of the game, it improves a lot once the movies with more personality come in, and there are some pretty solid jokes at the expense of the Snyder and Nolan films by the end. Hell, the game somehow makes The Dark Knight Rises' version of Bane an enjoyable character by completely taking the piss out of his "returning Gotham to YOU, THE PEOPLE" message. The vocal performances are all over the place. There were times I wanted to reach out and punch Batgirl's voice actress because she was over-acting when it wasn't warranted.
The game seems to have a problem picking a tone. Sometimes it's just "silly" like every other Lego "thing" out there, and other times it wants to be sincere when I'm not sure it's earned it. The game struggles to find a balance until late into the game.
From a gameplay perspective, this is one incredibly buggy game. The grappling hook often just plain doesn't work. You'll hit the button mid-flight, and the game will send you right into the bottom of an object because it ended up between where you were and the thing you were grappling. You can't grapple onto tether lines like you can in the Arkham games, so characters like Nightwing and Robin that specialize in stringing tethers to walk across feel somewhat pointless. I had my PS5 hard crash on me at one point for no apparent reason, not to mention quest lines that broke until I closed the game completely and re-loaded. My camera got locked facing a spinning floor any time I try to play as Nightwing during the Mr. Freeze fight. The game is just a technical mess at times.
And yet, like Escape from Ever After, I do think this is one of the best games of the year when it's firing on all cylinders. There are some inspired levels in here, there are some solid jokes, clear love for the source material (and those involved in making it), and we haven't had a good Batman Arkham game like this since...Arkham City. They even paid for the licensed music from the films in question, including a surprise entry for the end credits. It is worth a playthrough, and I look forward to playing the story DLC whenever it comes out.
24
General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: May 30, 2026, 03:34:21 PM »
I've rolled credits on 2 games recently, so I'll start with Escape from Ever After, a blatant Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Clone I only knew existed because Yahtzee reviewed it.
Overall, it's excellent and surprisingly polished for what I believe is a 2 person-developed Kickstarter game. I've had bad experiences with Kickstarter games, but this is one of the good ones and at half the length (and price) of your typical Paper Mario game it ends just when it's starting to overstay its welcome.
The premise is pretty simple: you are the hero of a fairytale story. You arrive at the castle at the end of your story to slay your dragon...only to discover the place conquered already and turned into a white collar office workplace by an evil corporation invading the worlds of literature to exploit them for resources. In order to take the company down, you to journey to several other worlds based on fairy tales; pulp Sci-Fi; pirates; and Lovecraft and recruit more followers to your party.
The writing in general is pretty solid with some poignant moments towards the end, but I don't feel like it's as funny as it wants you to think it is and as a fan of the character, I feel like Sherlock Holmes was extremely under-used and out of character.
Unlike other games like this "inspired by" Paper Mario, Escape From Ever After restricts itself pretty closely to the general game design of Thousand Year Door, including its 2-character battle system, though it does let you swap out both characters instead of just having 1 dedicated partner character. Definitely don't neglect the Tower of 100 trials, as some of the 10 floor rewards you can get fairly early feel almost mandatory for the later parts of the game.
I quite enjoyed the game, particularly the soundtrack (which ranges in style from chiptune to Big Band). If you like these sorts of games, check it out.
https://youtu.be/Z1hHZlAJ2E0?si=D-gomRf1LOMjTrbR
Overall, it's excellent and surprisingly polished for what I believe is a 2 person-developed Kickstarter game. I've had bad experiences with Kickstarter games, but this is one of the good ones and at half the length (and price) of your typical Paper Mario game it ends just when it's starting to overstay its welcome.
The premise is pretty simple: you are the hero of a fairytale story. You arrive at the castle at the end of your story to slay your dragon...only to discover the place conquered already and turned into a white collar office workplace by an evil corporation invading the worlds of literature to exploit them for resources. In order to take the company down, you to journey to several other worlds based on fairy tales; pulp Sci-Fi; pirates; and Lovecraft and recruit more followers to your party.
The writing in general is pretty solid with some poignant moments towards the end, but I don't feel like it's as funny as it wants you to think it is and as a fan of the character, I feel like Sherlock Holmes was extremely under-used and out of character.
Unlike other games like this "inspired by" Paper Mario, Escape From Ever After restricts itself pretty closely to the general game design of Thousand Year Door, including its 2-character battle system, though it does let you swap out both characters instead of just having 1 dedicated partner character. Definitely don't neglect the Tower of 100 trials, as some of the 10 floor rewards you can get fairly early feel almost mandatory for the later parts of the game.
I quite enjoyed the game, particularly the soundtrack (which ranges in style from chiptune to Big Band). If you like these sorts of games, check it out.
https://youtu.be/Z1hHZlAJ2E0?si=D-gomRf1LOMjTrbR
25
General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« on: May 30, 2026, 03:14:13 PM »I finally rolled credits on Hades. As it turns out, when you go to people who have played a ridiculous amount, they can explain all the mechanics that the game itself does a pretty terrible job at communicating.
I find Hades incredibly frustrating. I've made 2 serious attempts to get through that game, but I've never managed a successful run and I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I haven't had too much trouble getting through all the Rogue-likes inspired by Hades (shout-out to TMNT: Splintered Fate & The Rogue Prince of Persia), but I just find this game incredibly tedious; often boring; and just overly punishing. Like, what is even the point of the little gem you can throw at enemies? Yeah there are some boons that made enemies take additional damage if they have one of those things, but if you don't have those boons that attack seems pointless. And most of the weapons just plain suck in my experience, particularly the bow, and you have to dump a fair amount of difficult-to-obtain special currency just to make them suck less.
It just feels like you have to put in way more time and energy than you should to "unlock the fun" of that game, because you are so underpowered at the start that it feels almost a waste of time to try to make a serious effort at getting through the game.
I know the game has a "God Mode" where the game starts permanently upping your damage reduction the more times you die, and the last time I played the game I swallowed my pride and started using it, but I still just find that game not very fun to play.
Got a few games to talk about, myself, but I'll use some separate posts for that.
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