Messages

[The game is still great; the music, not so much.]

151

TalkBack / Super Meat Boy (Switch eShop) Review Mini

« on: January 22, 2018, 05:35:49 PM »

The game is still great; the music, not so much.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/46273/super-meat-boy-switch-eshop-review-mini

Because the game is more than seven years old now, I’m going to assume the majority of you are at least passively familiar with Super Meat Boy. If you’re not, maybe check out Daan Koopman’s review of the Wii U version. Pretty much everything Daan says there also applies here, and I’m going to talk about the things I particularly like/dislike about this version of Super Meat Boy. As a baseline, I love this game to death—I bought a used Xbox 360 specifically to play it all those many years ago.

Super Meat Boy on Switch is exactly as advertised: Super Meat Boy—but on Switch, making it portable. Yes, the game appeared on Vita several years back, but I cannot imagine playing it on that small screen, as everything is already very small. In fact, there are times where playing it in off the TV where some things (like keys) are a little too hard to make out unless your nose is up against the glass.

That said, having a portable version of Super Meat Boy is fantastic, especially now that I’ve played its spiritual successor, The End is Nigh. Switch functionality brings a couple new features to the table, such as leaderboards for every stage that rank folks based on completion time. I suspect this may elicit the kind of friendly rivalries among NWR staffers last seen in Runner 2, though I don’t see an option to only display friends’ times. Brand-new to this version of Super Meat Boy is a split-screen two-player mode in which each player takes a Joy-Con (or controller) to see who can beat an entire level first. I can’t quite recommend this for tabletop mode, because chopping the Switch’s screen in half makes very small things downright microscopic. However, it’s a great time on your TV. I will warn you that this is not a game to play with people who don’t play a lot of 2D platformers. They will quickly become frustrated.

But we have to talk about the elephant in the room: the soundtrack. As you may or may not be aware, the original Xbox 360 version of Super Meat Boy came with an exceptional hard-rockin’ soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky. You can listen to it here thanks to the power of the Internet. When the game was ported to Sony systems, Baranowsky chose not to license the music and so a new soundtrack was hastily throw together by various artists and implemented in the Sony, and all subsequent ports, of Super Meat Boy. Taken by itself, there is nothing inherently wrong with this new soundtrack…but it just can’t compete with Baranowsky’s iconic original. My solution has been to mute the TV and listen to Baranowsky’s soundtrack on my phone. Your mileage with that technique may vary. I want to stress that the soundtrack issue in no way compromises how good Super Meat Boy is from a gameplay perspective, but it doesn’t sound the same anymore and that makes me sad.

One thing I do appreciate about Super Meat Boy is that you can sort of tailor the difficulty to your personal preference. Just critical-path'ing the game isn’t that bad, but then you might try to get all the bandages and warp zones, which adds a layer of difficulty. After that, you might try to get A+ grades on every normal stage in order to unlock the dark version of that stage, which is another feat. And then, if you really want to torture yourself, you might go after all the bandages and warp zones in the dark stages, which is straight-up masochism.

It feels great to be playing Super Meat Boy again, despite the soundtrack problem. I can’t say enough good things about it, but you should know that the difficulty ramps up pretty steadily and somewhere during the third world, the gloves really come off. Enjoy the Warp Zone of World 5-7, kids! If you can find a similarly-experienced buddy, the two-player race is really quite fun.

[An interesting horror game with a crippling issue.]

152

TalkBack / The Coma: Recut (Switch eShop) Review Mini

« on: January 10, 2018, 06:18:00 AM »

An interesting horror game with a crippling issue.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/46153/the-coma-recut-switch-eshop-review-mini

Did you play, or perhaps watch other people play, Alien: Isolation? For those unfamiliar, it is a first-person game where the protagonist sneaks around a sprawling (one might say too sprawling) space station while being hunted by the titular Xenomorph. Your pursuer can appear anywhere at any time, which makes getting from Point A to Point B an exercise in stress management. You can’t do much to avoid the Alien besides hiding, praying, and distracting it momentarily. I bring up Alien: Isolation because The Coma: Recut is essentially that game, but in a 2D, side-scrolling environment. This is a very cool concept and despite being somewhat cartoony, is surprisingly stressful. When it works, it’s great, but one little problem really mars the experience.

You play as high school underachiever Youngho as he nervously goes to class to take what appears to be the equivalent of the SATs. A recent suicide has the entire school on edge, and Youngho’s teacher, Ms. Song, wants to see him after the test to discuss his poor grades. Youngho sits down at his desk, pencil in hand and…falls asleep. When he wakes up, the school is seemingly abandoned and run down. The second Youngho steps outside his classroom, he is confronted by a demonic version of Ms. Song, brandishing a carving knife. Your only option is to run for the hills and find a place to hide.

When Ms. Song shows up, the game briefly becomes an intense exercise in self-preservation, as Youngho can only sustain a few knife-gouges before dying. Some environmental obstacles cause a bleeding wound or poisoning. All three of these consequences (losing life, bleeding, being poisoned) have counteracting items that are found with some frequency. You don’t have many options while running for your life. The best bet is to hide in a closet or bathroom stall, but if it’s not sufficiently far from Ms. Song, expect to be found and relentlessly stabbed. A dodge maneuver also helps, but it was finicky to use. Thankfully, lots of audio and visual cues hint to Ms. Song’s presence and when she’s given up looking for you.

Most of the game is spent wandering the halls, classrooms, and offices of this unusually large school, casting your flashlight around in search of keys, money, and health items. Sometimes you’ll come across a fellow student who might give you a hint as to your next objective, or a note that will attempt to piece together a threadbare story. The real problem here is that the school is too big and too visually monotonous. I was getting lost not because the school is particularly maze-like, but because it’s hard to tell where you are when every room looks identical.

And here’s where the game’s biggest issue crops up. When you’re wandering around, all sorts of context-sensitive icons will pop up to let you know that Youngho can pick up an item, make an observation, talk to somebody, hide, unlock a door, etc. Youngho has to be directly centered on the icon to do the thing, but the icon appears prior to and shortly after Youngho is centered on it. So, in a benign example, you want to pick up a coin. The coin icon has appeared. You press A to no response. You move forward a little and press A again. Still no response. You back up a hair and NOW it works.

Perhaps you can see how this becomes a big problem while being chased by a demon with murderous intent. You want to go into that room to escape from Ms. Song, who is hot on your heels, but you’re not standing in exactly the right spot for the action to commence. Thus, nothing happens, but now Ms. Song is carving through your kidneys. This gets old extremely quickly.Because of this, death comes more often than might otherwise be the case, and while Ms. Song could (in theory) be anywhere at any time, her appearances do tend to line up with finding keys or learning you have to go to some specific room. Just as the Alien in Isolation was kept on something of a virtual tether to the main character, Ms. Song is never all that far from Youngho.

The Coma: Uncut is a good game with some jump scares and a creepy atmosphere, and I like it overall, but having to be exactly centered over any given icon to activate the action really puts a damper on the experience.

[Some bizarre design calls make this one tough to recommend.]

153

TalkBack / Xenoraid (Switch) Review

« on: December 05, 2017, 05:16:27 AM »

Some bizarre design calls make this one tough to recommend.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/45944/xenoraid-switch-review

Xenoraid is the kind of game that initially hooks you, but soon afterward starts making you scratch your head. Aliens have invaded our solar system, and you control a four-man squad of space fighters to wipe out successive waves of enemy ships. The game is basically a single-stick shooter with a strategic element that I really enjoyed: you can swap between four ships at any time. This not only gives you four life bars, but it also lets you customize each ship so that you can, ideally, effectively counter any given combat scenario.

Your ships are easy to control but weirdly limited in their mobility: unlike other modern games of this type, you do not move with one stick and aim with the other. Instead you can only move with the left stick, and your ship can only fire forward. It tilts left or right as you move in those directions, but your attack window is pretty narrow. This isn’t initially bothersome but as more enemies and asteroids flooded the screen, I started wishing for true twin-stick control, especially since your enemies do have that ability.Between missions, you’ll earn credits to spend on tech upgrades (which apply to the entire fleet) and individual ship upgrades. You’ll also have to spend credits to repair your fleet. If you’re low on funds, you can actually sell your ships. I found individual upgrades more useful overall—things like improving weapon cooldown time, increasing missile yield, and improving primary fire rate (among others) are very handy. The risk is that you could spend a bunch of money on improvements only to have that ship destroyed during the next mission. It’s an interesting risk/reward system that I enjoyed.

However, none of these upgrades are entirely persistent. The game is divided up into different sectors, each of which is composed of several stages. All of your tech and individual ship upgrades are only good for a single sector. Once you move on, you essentially get a brand-new fleet and you’ll need to start the process all over again. I get the reasoning for this on individual ships because you’ll have different ship types the farther you go and the new ships have their own unique abilities to upgrade. However, going back to square one for your fleet-wide tech upgrades is a surprising kick in the teeth.

As a result, I tended to avoid investing in tech upgrades and focused heavily on individual ships. That worked for me, but I doubt that’s what you’re “supposed” to do. Another knock against getting too attached is that if your squadron is wiped out, you can restart…but only from a certain “checkpoint” stage, generally around the middle of the sector. While no individual stage is terribly long, having to redo three or four of them is a big ask.

Making strategic use of your different ship types by knowing when to swap out is critical to your success. Swapping can also act like an awkward-but-effective dodge maneuver. Different ships control differently—generally, the larger and bulkier the ship, the slower it is but the more powerful its arsenal. Larger ships can take more punishment but also present larger targets, so there’s also some strategy in the makeup of your fleet. And this is ultimately what frustrates me about Xenoraid: the game has an extremely solid core that’s weighed down by questionable design decisions surrounding it.

The game looks good, not great. The galactic backdrops are lovely but the ship designs (both yours and the enemy’s) are surprisingly generic. Critically, however, each enemy ship type has a particular attack pattern that’s instantly recognizable, so you can swap to whatever ship will get the job done quickly. I appreciated that. Between missions, you’ll usually see some characters talking to each other. The character art is…not fantastic, but it’s also not why you’re here. The music, however, is quite good.

I enjoyed the core concept of shooting alien ships in space with a customizable fleet of ships. That’s really fun. The problem is all the bulk surrounding it. Poor checkpointing, being unable to carry tech upgrades forward, and the persistent wish that I had more control over my own aiming all sort of dampen the experience. I like where this game’s head is at, but I’ve got a list of things they can improve if Xenoraid gets a sequel.

[Bow before your new master.]

154

TalkBack / The End Is Nigh (Switch) Review

« on: December 04, 2017, 09:25:15 AM »

Bow before your new master.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/45937/the-end-is-nigh-switch-review

Before I talk about this game, I’ll talk about another game: Mutant Mudds. Remember that game? It’s an entertaining little piece of platforming that was originally developed for the 3DS but has since been ported to pretty much every platform in the world (although I’m still waiting on a Dreamcast version). Mutant Mudds is a slow-moving, precision-based platformer that eases you into the challenging stuff, and there is some genuinely difficult stuff in there. Several years later, a sort-of sequel was released: Mutant Mudds Super Challenge. It’s basically the Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels of Mutant Mudds games. It is an order of magnitude more difficult than the hardest parts of the original game, especially if you’re trying to find all the characters, CDs, and gems.

Super Meat Boy : The End is Nigh :: Mutant Mudds : Super Challenge.

Now, if that analogy doesn’t send you running for the hills, keep reading.In The End is Nigh, you control a little black blob named Ash as he explores a post-apocalyptic world. The game’s structure is essentially that of Super Meat Boy, but without the stage menu. Here, each “stage” is a single screen, an obstacle course of varying difficultly, and after getting from point A to point B, you just wind up on the next screen. This gives the illusion of an open-world platformer, but that’s not quite right. Distinct “levels” are available, each containing a certain number of “stages.” You can, at any time, open the menu and warp to the beginning of any “level” that you’ve uncovered.

While Meat Boy feels fast and slippery, wall-jumping with reckless abandon, Ash’s move set is far more precise. He basically runs, jumps, and hangs on to ledges and hooks. From a ledge, he can look backward and vault away from the ledge, usually in an effort to reach another ledge or platform. Vaulting can break certain walls and dropping from a certain height can break through certain floors. That’s about it. Using this limited toolkit, you are expected to survive one of the hardest games I’ve ever played.

Most of the hazards will be familiar to Super Meat Boy fans. Spikes, whirling death machines, cannons, crumbling buildings, more spikes, noxious gas, the threat of drowning, ghosts and skull monsters, door switches, and did I mention spikes are all here specifically to kill you, and kill you they will. You will die literally all the time. You will die hundreds of times. Thousands, even. But the second you die, Ash respawns at the start of the “stage.” Trying again never takes very long and every death is a learning experience. Not one single death feels cheap, arbitrary, or unfair, which is something of a miracle.

Getting through any given stage is a feat unto itself, but of course collectibles are everywhere. If you have the patience, almost every stage has a floating “tumor” to collect. These tumors are often sitting right there in plain sight, but the trick is to maneuver over there, grab the tumor, and survive to the end of the stage. Some stages have alternate exists that lead to bonus stages that contain MEGA Tumors (+5 tumors). These bonus stages are often particularly nefarious. Your tumor collection will come in handy when you find big Gish-looking monsters who will, depending on the size of your cancerous bounty, let you access “The Future,” a blue-tinted nightmare realm that may as well be called “Git Gud.”

You can also find the rare Game Cartridge, usually one per level, that you can play on Ash’s home game console. These carts are akin to the Retro stages in Super Meat Boy and/or Runner 2. They task you not just with survival but also with grabbing 100 gems while dodging perilous obstacles. Generally slower-moving than the normal game, the cartridges were weirdly way more difficult, so it’s nice that they’re entirely optional.

I don’t have many complaints about The End is Nigh. The entire game is more-or-less black and white. I simultaneously like and dislike this. On the one hand, it’s a clean look with no distractions beyond the objects in a given stage. On the other hand, it means the aesthetic never really changes. I genuinely do not like that you can’t select which stage to warp to. The “world map” tells you what tumors you’ve missed, but if you’re missing the tumor from stage 19, say, you have to go through the whole level to get there, and some levels are more tedious than others. Alternate exists aren’t all that clear as well. At one point I accidentally vaulted the wrong way and wound up in a bonus area. I never would have found it otherwise. Most of the time, alternate routes are visible. But now I wonder how many I’ve missed.

There’s also the difficulty. It’s not for everyone. My feeling is that if you got through Super Meat Boy, you’ll also enjoy The End is Nigh. It scratches the same itch, but it feels like a harder game. I enjoy figuring out how to get through any given stage, but making it happen is where the challenge is. It’s a great feeling when you come to a stage and say “how in the world…” and then beat it a few minutes (and several dozen deaths) later. Personally, I love this game to death even if it does feel like beating my head against the wall sometimes.

[For the second year in a row, you can mute Joe Buck in game 7 and listen to us.]

155

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: The Budget Of New Donk City

« on: November 01, 2017, 11:38:24 AM »

For the second year in a row, you can mute Joe Buck in game 7 and listen to us.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/45752/nintendo-news-report-the-budget-of-new-donk-city

Hey everyone! Tonight's Nintendo News Report (10pm ET) will see Donald, Justin and Zach talking Nintendo's financial results, some interesting comments out of EA, the race to Black Friday, and why Nintendo wants you to work on Christmas Day (if you're in North America). Plus, Odyssey chat now that everyone's played it.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[We should really be saving the world, but have you been to the pool?]

156

TalkBack / Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the Moon Queen (Switch) Review UPDATED

« on: October 25, 2017, 08:21:00 AM »

We should really be saving the world, but have you been to the pool?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/45717/nights-of-azure-2-bride-of-the-moon-queen-switch-review-updated

UPDATE: It does have Pro controller support. You just can't switch from the Joy-cons to the Pro controller in the middle of the game. If you start the game with the Pro controller, it works just fine.

Nights of Azure 2 is a game about busty anime girls with big swords fighting demons in a vaguely musou fashion. While it never rises to the level of cartoonish fanservice typical of, say, the Senran Kagura games, you should know what you’re getting into. The game’s plot concerns a busty knight, Aluche, and her equally-busty BFF, Liliana, who are on a quest to seal away a busty evil woman called the Moon Queen who wants to enshroud the world in perpetual darkness. Liliana quickly disappears, and it’s up to Aluche and her merry band of busty companions to find her and save the world.

The game has an intriguing sense of urgency: Aluche can only be out in the field doing missions for a limited amount of time before her half-demon body needs rest.  At first, you only get ten minutes, but leveling up and learning certain skills (on a branching skill tree) nets you more time. However, you only have so many days in the field to complete your major story quests, because once the lunar cycle hits “new moon,” it’s game over, and you’ll have to restart from the beginning of the story chapter (which you can also do at any time voluntarily if things are going south).

What does Aluche & Co. do in the field? They goes after demons in the typical character action/musou fashion: using combos and special attacks to slaughter all kinds of foes on your way to whatever goal you’re trying to accomplish—which usually means finding somebody or fighting a specific character or monster. Aluche can bring along one AI-controller partner and two “Servans,” which are little demons who provide support and/or special weapons. You’ll come across new companions and Servans organically as you go through the story. You can switch your party members at the home base, Hotel Eterna, and upgrade Aluche’s level and skill set and the power levels of your Servans (who eventually evolve). Partners will level up on their own and doing combo attacks with them will very slowly build up a “Lily Meter” (just like in Hyperdimension Neptunia) that theoretically provides further combat benefit.

Aluche and her partners can equip a wide variety of items that provide buffs and resistance to status conditions, like poisoning or burning. Eventually you’ll be able to combine these items in order to strengthen them. You’re also given a list of optional quests to accomplish, many of which you’ll wind up completing while pursuing main story quests. Your reward for completing optional quests is experience points for your Servans, which you then apply manually between missions. Most maps, which tend to be overly-complicated, have gated paths in which you’ll need to return to once your party mix allows you to, say, jump really high or discharge an electrical barrier.

Nights of Azure 2 does have some problems. For one thing, everything is way too dark. Since it’s always night time and nobody has invented street lights, you’ll want to turn up the brightness setting on your TV or Switch if playing undocked. There’s a targeting system but the camera does some wonky things if you’re caught between your target and a wall. Worse, because of the darkness, it’s not always super clear that you’ve actually targeted. Like most musou games, the combat kind of drones on until you reach a challenging enemy or boss. The Lily Meter thing is inconsistent and obtuse. Why is Camilla’s Lily Meter higher than Rue’s if I spent more time with Rue and did more combo attacks with her?!

I do like the rhythm of the game, though: choose party, go on a mission, level up Aluche and your Servans, repeat. The plot isn’t great but there’s enough intrigue to keep me going and enough implied connections to the first game that I eventually read a plot summary (surprisingly similar plot). It’s not the best-looking game in the world, and you will encounter some framerate drops during combat (especially un-docked), but the character design is consistently over-the-top. Things fall apart a little bit when it comes to characterizations, mainly because all of the characters embody typical anime tropes. Anime is happening and sometimes it’s not great. Aluche, Rue, and Liliana especially have a weird “they’re besties but also maybe something more” thing going on that leaves a lot of their interactions feeling awkward.

Nights of Azure 2 has a hilarious habit of introducing a new character and then thinking up an excuse to get her in a swimsuit, which is then a swappable outfit. And yes I DID get all these characters in swimsuits and sent them out to slaughter demons because that is exactly the kind of game this is (although Camilla’s swimsuit is just awful).

I will recommend that you play this on your TV, because any text is hard to read on the Switch screen. I also suggest using the Pro controller if you can, because using the Joy-cons, even in the Grip, isn't great for this kind of game. Despite those warnings, Nights of Azure 2 is a pretty easy pick-up-and-play game given the timed mission structure. It’s not perfect, but I’m having a good time with it. I encourage you to save often, though, because the game crashed on me three times and resulted in lost progress. Annoying, but at least it’s not hard-locking the system.

[It's time for part two of the Galaxy replay.]

157

Podcast Discussion / Episode 236: So... * Chunks, Huh?

« on: October 20, 2017, 12:55:33 PM »

It's time for part two of the Galaxy replay.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/45686/episode-236-so--chunks-huh

The hungry Luma's still aren't satisfied, maybe after this episode they will turn into an Odyssey.

Nick, Curt and Zach are back with a part two of their Super Mario Galaxy replay. The guys played a bit more and have even more fresh thoughts on the game and how they think it stacks up to later Mario adventures.

Nintendo World Report is now on Patreon, and high rollers can name their topic for Connectivity, so head over to our Patreon page if you want to support us.

Connectivity has joined Twitter, so be sure to follow @ConnectivityNWR to be up to date on any announcements. We are wanting more listener participation, so feel free to ask questions, they may show up in the show!

Send us your listener mail by clicking here.

[You might also subtitle it “Stockholm Syndrome.”]

158

TalkBack / Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS) Review

« on: October 16, 2017, 12:05:28 PM »

You might also subtitle it “Stockholm Syndrome.”

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/45648/etrian-odyssey-v-beyond-the-myth-3ds-review

When I say I love the Etrian Odyssey games, what I really mean is that I love the Etrian Odyssey Untold games. I reviewed The Fafnir Knight a couple years back and fell truly, madly, deeply in love with it. These feelings carried me towards the eShop, upon which you previously could often find the 3DS Etrian titles on sale. I grabbed The Millennium Girl and Etrian Odyssey IV: Legend of the Titan. I played a good chunk of the former but never got ‘round to the latter. The difference between the Untold series and vanilla Etrian is that the Untold games have a story mode. This mode gives you five pre-made characters in standard RPG classes and, well, a story. Everything else about the game is the same as Classic Mode, which, in normal Etrian games, is just the default.

In Etrian Odyssey IV and V, you have to roll up your party from scratch. You get several character races and classes and the ability to change their character art, eye color, hair color, and skin tone. You give them names. You try to remember which classes are front-line attackers and which ones are back-line supporters. In Etrian Odyssey V, you can make an overwhelming 30 characters and section them off into distinct groups for (I assume) different mission types. I was uncomfortable with this entire process, worrying that I’d be playing it wrong, or put together a group of mismatched classes.

And in fact, I did have to screw around with my classes, swapping out a Necromancer and Botanist for a bare-knuckle brawler and a mage. But now nobody in my party has a healing spell, so I’m rethinking the lineup again. This wouldn’t be a problem if new characters didn’t start at Lv. 1. Etrian Odyssey V tries to make this more palatable by allowing you to essentially double-class your characters, but in doing so you’ll only wind up with about half the skills of each class. You can also reorganize your spent skill points at the cost of losing several levels.

The game is also brutally more difficult than the Untold games’ Story Modes even at the same difficulty level. As you move through each floor of a given stratum, you’ll find the occasional resource-gathering spot and, sometimes, a campfire to cook food, which is used to heal up between battles. But overall it’s much more difficult to stay in the labyrinth for an extended period of time, as ingredients are rare, campfires rarer still, and there’s a real dearth of “rest areas.” What rest areas there are tend to be one-time use, which is frustrating. Enemies hit much harder right off the bat (it’s humiliating to be KO’d by a walking acorn) and you’ll have to learn your team’s best strategies quickly. You will also quickly figure out which classes are not pulling their weight.

To be honest, I was getting very frustrated with Etrian Odyssey V. Every new floor was an order of magnitude more difficult than the previous one and I was constantly limping back to town to heal at the Inn (never an economical decision), sell materials, and pray I had enough money to get a new weapon or piece of armor for somebody. You don’t make a lot of money in this game. I felt like I was playing a F2P RPG without spending any actual money. Grinding for experience and money wore me out, and the first time I made it to the boss of the First Stratum, he annihilated my team in about 30 seconds.

So I turned over a new leaf. I accepted the fact that I was going to have to grind for money and experience if I was going to have a hope of beating that boss. And I did. I spent several hours wandering around killing specific monsters (for materials), completing side quests, and learning new cooking recipes so I could cook better food. At a certain point, my persistence paid off. I was getting through all five floors of the First Stratum with relative ease, slaying monsters easily that, the day before, had easily slaughtered me. I began figuring out my team’s best strategies and I played around with Union Skills (which are poorly-explained multi-character special attacks).

Eventually, after killing a lot of monsters including FOEs (a holdover from previous games), I succeeded in accumulating the best armor and weapons for every one of my five characters. As I approached that First Stratum boss, it was like that scene in Guardians of the Galaxy where the team is walking together in slow motion towards the camera. And guess what? There were a couple tense moments, but I beat him! I beat him real good and nobody died. It only took fifteen hours.

And here’s the weirdest part: when I got to the 6th floor (2nd Stratum), I was actually overpowered. I was going through enemies like tissue paper at least until the turkeys showed up. Yes, nobody told me that game birds provided such a meaty challenge. So now I’m back to grinding for experience and money, and taking every side quest that comes my way. It’s going to be a slow haul, but now that I’ve leaned into Etrian Odyssey V’s punishing system of advancement, I’m enjoying myself. That old Etrian magic is still there, just obscured by terrifying acorn monsters and murderous turkeys.

Map-making is still a blast, and it seems like there are way more icons this time around. So many, in fact, that I grew a little tired constantly swapping them out. Navigating around environmental puzzles and FOEs is still enjoyable and pretty much all the FOEs I’ve encountered have been very challenging but ultimately doable. Navigating around Iorys (the town) is strictly menu-based, as always. The writing is fantastic—the Innkeeper has a lot of groan-inducing puns to inflict upon you. The graphics are good in that they look like pretty much every other Etrian Odyssey game but I’m happy to report that you’re not just limited to forests anymore. I’m not entirely sure how the 2nd stratum is above the first, but hey.

It may be that my complaints regarding this game’s steep difficulty curve are applicable to every non-Untold entry in the series. If that’s the case, and you were fine with it then, by all means jump onboard the Etrian Odyssey V train. However if you, like me, only have experience with the Untold story mode, maybe consider buying and trying Etrian Odyssey IV when it’s next on sale to see if the challenge is right for you. This new game also has a demo, and the save data transfers over to the full game. Etrian Odyssey V was a rude awakening for me, but I’m glad I powered through.

[Ten years of hungry Luma exploding across the starry sky.]

159

Podcast Discussion / Episode 235: Galaxy Princess feat. Luma

« on: October 05, 2017, 12:13:00 AM »

Ten years of hungry Luma exploding across the starry sky.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/45584/episode-235-galaxy-princess-feat-luma

Episode 235 is all about Super Mario Galaxy!

Nick, Curt and Zach all have been playing some of 2007's Mario game and talk all about it and their experiences on this weeks show. Spoilers, ten years on the game is still great! The gang also touch on Sunshine and Odyssey and promise to do a follow up for the second half of the game.

This week's song selection is the Galactic Suite performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, FILMharmonic Choir.

Nintendo World Report is now on Patreon, and high rollers can name their topic for Connectivity, so head over to our Patreon page if you want to support us.

Connectivity has joined Twitter, so be sure to follow @ConnectivityNWR to be up to date on any announcements. We are wanting more listener participation, so feel free to ask questions, they may show up in the show!

Send us your listener mail by clicking here.

Nick's fan commercial.

[As one source of retro games arrives, another is taken away.]

160

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: SNES Classic Concentration

« on: September 29, 2017, 10:30:11 AM »

As one source of retro games arrives, another is taken away.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/45562/nintendo-news-report-snes-classic-concentration

Hey everyone! This Friday at 10pm ET we'll have a full crew talking about Day 1 of the SNES Classic. Donald, and Justin have their preorders, Zach was be able to find one, and we'll break it down along with the about fifty other games that came out this week and the impending closure of the Wii Shop.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[It got a bit dusty in here.]

161

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: The Most Important Golf Ever

« on: September 22, 2017, 10:58:46 AM »

It got a bit dusty in here.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/45506/nintendo-news-report-the-most-important-golf-ever

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10pm, Donald will lead Justin and Zach on another Nintendo News Report. On the show tonight: A good luck charm in every Switch, the battle of convenience vs resolution, and some of what we're playing - including a whole lot of Metroid.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[You get nothing for a bundle, not for this game.]

162

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Splatoon 2's Sales Heat

« on: August 18, 2017, 10:30:00 AM »

You get nothing for a bundle, not for this game.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/45186/nintendo-news-report-splatoon-2s-sales-heat

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10pm join Alex - fresh from trying to sneak into a Retro Studios BBQ - Donald, Zach and possibly more as we talk Poké-news, Splatoon 2 sold a squidload, and who knows what else. Also, Sanic.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[The finals trip is to New York, not California.]

163

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Video Armageddon 2017

« on: August 12, 2017, 04:08:29 PM »

The finals trip is to New York, not California.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/45159/nintendo-news-report-video-armageddon-2017

Hey everyone! This week's Nintendo News Report was delayed a bit due to illness and Alex was in training, but Donald, Jusitn and Zach talked the 2017 World Championships (and a Smash tease?), Metroid amiibo controversy and more.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

And if you would like to see Nintendo News Report say positive things about the Wii U, check out our Wii U-logy panel from PAX East!

[Dynasty Warriors anime is happening.]

164

TalkBack / Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star (Switch) Review

« on: July 28, 2017, 05:41:01 AM »

Dynasty Warriors anime is happening.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/45064/fateextella-the-umbral-star-switch-review

I come at this series from a different place than most—the world of figure collecting. There’s an endless variety of Saber figures and a smattering of her cohorts. I had never consumed any Fate-related media, though, so when an opportunity arose to learn more about the property, I volunteered. What I got was confusing anime nonsense in a game that’s essentially Dynasty Warriors with a new hat. There’s a better Dynasty Warriors game on Wii U and New 3DS—something involving Zelda—but if you’re itching to slay thousands of identical robots that don’t put up much of a fight, Fate/Extella’s got your number.

Surprisingly, this is actually a sequel to a PSP game called Fate/Extra. I imagine even hardcore fans of Fate/Extra might’ve forgotten some of the lore after this long, but for somebody wholly unfamiliar with SE.RA.PH and its Moon Cell Automaton, the story of Fate/Extella is best ignored. There’s not even a recap of Fate/Extra to get people up to speed. The noun-heavy word salad does eventually start to make sense, but good lord, it takes awhile. The short version: you and Saber are trying to win back SE.RA.PH territory from evil digital avatars (Servants). You’ll read pages upon pages of dialogue—much of which is fully voiced (in Japanese) as you struggle to decide whether or not to just skip to the gameplay. There’s at least one dialogue scene that’s all about A-Cup Angst, which I chuckled at, having just recorded a Connectivity podcast about Senran Kagura.

When gameplay does actually occur, it’s a cut-and-paste Warriors game. You traverse several small sectors, defeating enemies and winning territory while keeping an eye on your mini-map, which tells you what your priorities are. The writing makes things seem way more complicated than it really is: all you really need to do is kill enough enemies for Aggressors to appear, and then kill those Aggressors to win back that sector. Do this enough and a boss will appear. Rinse, repeat. Make “Plant” enemies your top priority, as they push new Aggressors to already-conquered sectors.

It’s all very fast-paced, but missions can last a little too long—I was averaging about 25 minutes—and as your performance is graded, there is some incentive to go back in to get a better reward. The combat is generally satisfying, you have a lot of attacks including a super move and a timed Mega Evolution-style enhancement. If you collect three Phantasm Circuits, you can use a hyper-powerful attack that can single-handedly defeat bosses (so save them up). There’s blocking, dashing and counters, too. Most missions come with a small checklist of goals like “kill 120 enemies while transformed” or “use six health items,” and doing so will increase your connection level with different characters.

There are also side-stories, which are just like normal missions except they’re locked to a specific character (it’s more than just Saber). The rewards are similar, although this is also where you unlock new costumes.

Outside of combat, you can craft different clothing to let your character access some secondary abilities like healing, swapping characters or deploying a decoy. You’ll constantly be collecting “skills” during missions which add buffs to characters. You get more skill slots as your connection level to a particular character increases, and there’s some strategy in how the skills are arranged (but not much). There’s a gallery where you can listen to music, look at character models, and read the game’s ever-expanding glossary.

As a Warriors game, Fate/Extella is a fun time, but I didn’t love everything about it. The cutscenes are poorly staged—usually just two or three characters standing there, talking to each other. The level design can be a little confusing, as some sectors just have really strange layouts, and it can be difficult to know, on the fly, where the exits are. Your relationship with Saber is weirdly romantic. Half the dialogue between you and Saber involves gazing longingly into each other’s eyes and wanting to tell the other how you feel and your heart is ready to explode out of your chest and it’s all very tween romance. Not my bag. Get a dating sim, you two.

Overall, Fate/Extella is a fairly simplistic Warriors-style game with a visual novel component and pretty enough graphics. I was impressed that there’s never any slowdown, either in tabletop mode or on the TV. As I said, there’s already a better Warriors game on the Wii U and 3DS, but so far this is the best one on Switch. If you like anime nonsense and slaughtering robots, you could do worse than Fate/Extella.

[Callie who? Twintelle what?]

165

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Marina Is Best Girl

« on: July 07, 2017, 11:32:46 AM »

Callie who? Twintelle what?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/44976/nintendo-news-report-marina-is-best-girl

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern, join Alex, Donald, Zach and Justin for Nintendo News Report as we break down the debut of Marina - oh, and there was a Splatoon 2 Direct this week. We'll talk about that and more.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[Plus live impressions of fish runs and morph balls.]

166

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: We're Super, Thanks For Asking

« on: June 28, 2017, 12:45:15 PM »

Plus live impressions of fish runs and morph balls.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/44921/nintendo-news-report-were-super-thanks-for-asking

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10:30 ET Donald, Zach, Justin and potential special guest Neal host a raucous Nintendo News Report. The Super Nintendo Classic Mini is coming with frickin' Star Fox 2, while the New York-adjacent crew played Nintendo's E3 lineup.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

167

TalkBack / Re: Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (Wii U) Review

« on: June 10, 2017, 12:44:43 AM »

Well, that might explain it. My review copy was a download code.

As far as I know, the game doesn't have any new features or content. Seems to be a hybrid port of the last-gen and current-gen versions. It does not run at 60 fps (as John Rairdin investigated) but it's pretty steadily 30. There are dips during boss fights if there are lots of effects going on. I actually like it more than Darksiders II. The loot stuff was a grind, and I so often felt like Death was an errand boy (as I said in the review). War's quest is very directed by comparison.

168

TalkBack / Re: Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (Wii U) Review

« on: June 09, 2017, 01:19:26 PM »

Oof, crashes are no good. It hasn't crashed on me yet, but there have been a few oddities like War stepping into an invisible platform and some interesting enemy animation loops.

[Back for the first time.]

169

TalkBack / Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (Wii U) Review

« on: June 08, 2017, 03:47:19 PM »

Back for the first time.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/44785/darksiders-warmastered-edition-wii-u-review

This seems weird, doesn’t it? Darksiders is/was an excellent Zelda-inspired character action game that was initially released in 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. While it borrows heavily from other games (there’s even a Portal gun), Darksiders managed to forge its own path largely through the brilliant character designs of Joe Madureira. It never came to a Nintendo console. In fact, a sort of Game of the Year edition of Darksiders II launched with the Wii U—you may recall that I reviewed it for this very website back then. Our story moves forward to the present day: THQ has remastered—I’m sorry—warmastered—the 2010 original for modern consoles. Well, not the Switch; that would make sense. This enhanced port is for the Wii U.

If you’ve never played Darksiders, I highly recommend it. You play as War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who is framed in the game’s opening sequence for beginning Armageddon early. Brought before his bosses, the “Charred Council,” War swears his innocence and that, if returned to Earth, he will find the real culprit. The Council agrees, and War is sent back to Earth along with a chaperone: “The Watcher,” tasked with keeping War on task. The Watcher is voiced by Mark Hamill doing his Joker voice, which is always entertaining.

War travels a fairly small (but pretty) overworld in an effort to reach four dungeons. You’ll constantly spot blocked paths that new equipment will doubtlessly breach. The dungeons are the most Zelda thing about Darksiders—they contain keys, switches, maps, and equipment that you use to “solve” the dungeon and beat the boss. The first dungeon holds a Predator blade that functions as the Wind Waker Boomerang. You’ll find the Darksiders equivalent of Pieces of Heart as well as analogous items that increase your magic meter. I forgot how long and complex the dungeons are, but they are always enjoyable and I was rarely stuck.

While the game’s overworld and dungeons are pretty much ripped from Zelda, the combat has more in common with something like God of War or Bayonetta. War starts things off with his enormous Chaos Eater sword and eventually finds ways to augment its power and the power of other weapons that he eventually brandishes. These weapons level up with use, and you can purchase new abilities from the demon merchant Vulgrim—voiced by Phil LaMarr but, let’s be honest, really should be Keith David. In addition to your increasingly-robust melee arsenal, War also accrues magic attacks which can be helpfully hotkeyed to the ABXY buttons. One of my only real complaints about the game is that, like so many character action games, there are way too many attacks and button inputs to keep in mind. I often found myself unable to remember how to access my magic attacks or some of the more complicated melee attacks. Sure, part of that is I’m getting old, but there’s something to be said for Zelda’s comparatively simplistic combat.

As I said before, the game would be derided as a knock-off was it not for Joe Mad’s crazy character designs. Any random screenshot from Darksiders could be the album art for a heavy metal record. The demon lord Samael, in particular, is incredibly awesome and I wish he was in the game more. Darksiders does boss fights really well—bosses are huge and the fights are intense. The game has one gigantic, pus-oozing open sore: the griffin segment. On his way to the first dungeon, War commandeers a giant griffin and plows his way through a legion of angels and demons through subterranean tunnels. The griffin’s movement is independent of its aiming reticle, so you’re already using two sticks in addition to locking on to multiple enemies and firing when ready. It’s already somewhat unnatural, given that you expect things to be a bit more like Star Fox (aiming where you’re pointing), but here’s the real curb-stomper: while you can invert the X/Y axes for aiming, you cannot invert the X/Y axes for flying. The result is maybe the most mentally paralyzing control scheme I’ve ever experienced in this sort of game. It’s unforgivable. This was a problem in the original game as well and I’m flummoxed that nobody thought to fix it for the remaster—sorry, warmaster.

Thankfully, there’s only one griffin segment and it’s relatively short. But dear god, why?

I forgot how large and complicated the dungeons are, but they train you to do things with your equipment that you otherwise might not consider. Thankfully, you will not need to return to any given dungeon with later equipment to find all the treasure chests; this is something I always worry about and it’s not the case here. That’s not to say you won’t be re-traversing sections of the overworld to pick up things you might have missed, because there’s plenty of that.

Aside from the griffin sequence, there’s not a lot holding Darksiders: Warmastered Edition down. It remains an excellent heavy metal homage to Zelda games that’s satisfying and quite lengthy. I enjoy it more than its sequel, although that’s also a great game. The only real downside is that this game is on the Wii U, not the Switch, so it probably won’t get the attention it deserves.

170

TalkBack / Re: Cave Story+ (Switch) Review (UPDATED)

« on: June 06, 2017, 02:41:43 PM »

Tyrone is correct--a second test with the Pro Controller worked. Not sure what the problem was before, but I've updated the review to reflect this.

[Still great after all these years, but is the Switch version worth it?]

171

TalkBack / Cave Story+ (Switch) Review (UPDATED)

« on: June 06, 2017, 05:09:00 AM »

Still great after all these years, but is the Switch version worth it?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/44750/cave-story-switch-review-updated

It was inevitable, really—Cave Story has already come to pretty much every Nintendo system going back a couple generations now. Heck, I myself reviewed it for WiiWare back in the day. I should note that this will be the first time Cave Story+ is available on physical media. Cave Story 3D is technically a separate game (with fewer features). Read those reviews (as well as our 3DS eShop review) if you’ve never played Cave Story—the bottom line is that this is a monumental platformer that you should definitely experience if you never have before and maybe even if you have. I’ll be going over what makes Cave Story+ unique in this review, but not much else seeing as I’ve reviewed it already.

The game uses the WiiWare game’s updated graphics, but no option exists to switch between the original and updated styles, something the WiiWare game allowed. I understand this option is also in the Steam version of Cave Story+, so its exclusion here is puzzling. You are, however, able to switch between four different versions of the soundtrack on the main menu. As you experience different musical tunes in the main game, you’ll unlock them individually in a “Jukebox,” where you can listen to all the music (including all possible versions) on the main menu.

Otherwise, not much new stuff is here. Finding Curly Brace’s panties (sigh) unlocks Curley’s Story, which plays a little differently than Quote’s campaign. As you accomplish different things in the main game, you’ll unlock time trials that are…sort of fun if you want a change of pace. I will say that, although this is my fourth or fifth time beating Cave Story, this is the first time I’ve attempted to earnestly tackle the Blood Stained Sanctuary, a brutal sequence that hides the “final” ending. There are people who speed-run the Blood Stained Sanctuary (in fact, it’s a time trial), which seems impossible. That level is masochistic.

Cave Story+ feels great on the Switch, though unsurprisingly, the map feature is nigh-unreadable in Handheld and Tabletop Mode. UPDATE: The game does support the Pro Controller. I thought this was not the case, as the D-pad and face buttons didn't work the first time I tried it (but the Pause button did). However, a second attempt was successful!

Cave Story+ isn’t the definitive version of Cave Story—I think that crown still belongs to the WiiWare version, but then again, that version isn’t portable. I do miss the ability to switch graphical styles, but it’s really the only regrettable absentee. The real takeaway here, though, is Cave Story is great and you should play it.

[We're trying to get the puns out of the way early.]

172

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: A Call To ARMS

« on: May 17, 2017, 07:35:06 AM »

We're trying to get the puns out of the way early.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/44659/nintendo-news-report-a-call-to-arms

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10pm Eastern time, join Alex, Zach and Donald for Nintendo News Report as we break down the ARMS Direct (with bonus Splatoon 2 trailer) as well as the other news of the week. Was the world really calling for Sonic games to get a character creation tool?

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes or in your podcatcher of choice!

[You can buy Donald's rant for $12.99 on its own.]

173

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Season Pass Incoming

« on: May 03, 2017, 12:57:00 PM »

You can buy Donald's rant for $12.99 on its own.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/44585/nintendo-news-report-season-pass-incoming

Hey everyone! Nintendo News Report will be on tonight at 10 pm Eastern with Alex, Donald and Zach. This week's bones of contention may include: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold a ton, the first part of the Breath of the Wild season pass, and the existence of a Fire Emblem Echoes season pass that costs more than the base game.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes or in your podcatcher of choice!

[Let the fantasy booking commence.]

174

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Classic Racing

« on: April 20, 2017, 10:14:00 AM »

Let the fantasy booking commence.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/44530/nintendo-news-report-classic-racing

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10 Eastern time, join Alex, Donald and Zach for this week's Nintendo News Report. Up for bids this week include the possibility of the NES Classic's replacement, get ready for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe next week, and bless/curse some of what we've been playing.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes or in your podcatcher of choice!

[You knew the job was dangerous when you backed it.]

175

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Bafmodad Bashing

« on: April 05, 2017, 09:36:50 AM »

You knew the job was dangerous when you backed it.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/44410/nintendo-news-report-bafmodad-bashing

Hey everyone! Normal service resumes this week on Nintendo News Report with Alex, Donald and Zach (possibly more) convening at 10 pm Eastern. On the show this week: The last word, we promise, about Lego City Undercover on Switch, indie titles keep coming, we preview Yooka-Laylee and try and pull two of the hosts out of Tokyo.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes or in your podcatcher of choice!