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TalkBack / Re: Pokemon Winds And Waves Announced For 2027 Release
« Last post by Caterkiller on February 28, 2026, 02:50:20 PM »
Visually the game has passed it's first test. Seems to be generally loved or at the very least acceptable across the internet. Odd that this game is what is giving me "next gen" vibes more than any other Nintendo published title so far. Presentation wise there is still a chance for the game to disappoint with lame cut scene or gameplay animations. There is still the slightest hint of run, stop, turn, run in the last few games. I hope Pokemon reside on roof tops, tree branches, walls, etc. Each game tries to do a little more with that like Applin on tree branches or spider pokemon walking across walls. I was genuinely surprised to see Ariados hanging from its webbing in the sewers of ZA. Seeing Pokemon do real world, animal like activities goes a long way to make the games feel real.

Gameplay wise please give us something meaningful to do outside of battles. Ride Pokemon may be out. Take a look at those little boards the human characters carry. My guess is they will transform into a skate/hover board, a hang glider, a sea scooter and some kind of a grip/sickle for climbing walls. I hope not as I'd rather have a Pokemon do these things for me while I control it but lets see how it turns out.

Pokemon Gameplay that I long for consists of meaningful control and action outside of battle. There has already been little hints and nudges in past generations and then it disappears while that dang ol' Rotom takes over again. Each of these abilities could grow more powerful or useful with more badges, higher levels, etc.

Riding & Jumping - If it's big enough let us get on top. There are so many large horse, dog and cat shaped pokemon that could easily allow us to hitch a ride with our favorites.
Climbing - Plenty of Pokemon learn Rock Climb. Let us latch on to their backs and away we go.
Gliding - Large winged Pokemon we can ride on. Smaller winged Pokemon, the human holds on to their feet.
Sensing - Allow us to control a Pokemon and use its senses to seek out aromas, ghosts, or navigate darkness through their eyes.
Smashing/Cutting/Digging - Manually control your chosen Pokemon to break through, cut through and dig through things to find secret items, passages, caves, etc.
Hot & Cold System - You don't just go walking through a volcano without an Ice or Water type at your side to keep you cool. When in the snowy mountains make sure there is a fire type near by if your winter clothes aren't enough.
Field Attacks - Control a Pokemon and just randomly let it throw a flamethrower or punch at your whim. Could activate puzzles, start battles, whatever.

So much more could be done to immerse the players. Remember in Lets Go you could ride almost any Pokemon if it was big enough? Then never again. All that doesn't even include what the human could be capable of. Let's get some Arceus style dive rolling and sneaking around. Not to mention manually throwing balls. Though judging by the way Pikachu was captured I think that's out but we'll see. Tell me you wouldn't enjoy some of these things.

My 39 year old body is still conditioned for N64/Gamecube/Wii/Wii U droughts. I still can't get used to something decent almost every month. So this coming in 2027 is like wow that's not so bad, plus it gives more time to polish. First gen in a long time to wait roughly 5 years after the previous one. You know Nintendo cracked the whip after they had to publicly apologize for the state of Scarlet and Violet. Look at that landscape, you know Monolith is in the kitchen somewhere.
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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Classics GameCube To Get Pokemon XD In March
« Last post by broodwars on February 27, 2026, 09:43:02 PM »
Is this the first or 2nd of the GameCube Pokemon games? I remember playing the first one, but not the 2nd.

2nd. Colosseum came out in 2003 Japan/2004 elsewhere, XD came out in 2005

OK, thanks. Thought this was the one I hadn't played. Then that would mean Colosseum was the weird Stadium sequel with the campaign mode where you could only steal other trainers' Pokemon. That's all I remember about it.
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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Classics GameCube To Get Pokemon XD In March
« Last post by Mythtendo on February 27, 2026, 09:17:00 PM »
Is this the first or 2nd of the GameCube Pokemon games? I remember playing the first one, but not the 2nd.

2nd. Colosseum came out in 2003 Japan/2004 elsewhere, XD came out in 2005
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2026?
« Last post by Mop it up on February 27, 2026, 04:22:17 PM »
Perhaps I can still get a half-point for Pokémon being announced this year...
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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Classics GameCube To Get Pokemon XD In March
« Last post by broodwars on February 27, 2026, 04:18:55 PM »
Is this the first or 2nd of the GameCube Pokemon games? I remember playing the first one, but not the 2nd.
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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Classics GameCube To Get Pokemon XD In March
« Last post by Mop it up on February 27, 2026, 03:55:47 PM »
Finally! I was always curious about this one but never got around to picking it up, so I'm looking forward to try it out.
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TalkBack / Re: Pokemon Winds And Waves Announced For 2027 Release
« Last post by Mop it up on February 27, 2026, 03:47:59 PM »
I'm honestly surprised they're not releasing them this year, but this also makes me (perhaps foolishly?) hopeful that the extra time will result in a more polished product this game. I do wonder if they're still going to wait until November 2027, or if they plan to launch them earlier in the year.
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TalkBack / Re: Pokemon Winds And Waves Announced For 2027 Release
« Last post by Ian Sane on February 27, 2026, 12:18:51 PM »
With this and the new Fire Emblem my brother has realized that a Switch 2 purchase for him is now inevitable, it's just a matter of time.

Despite all of its technical issues Pokemon Scarlett was still one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played.  It was pretty much the Pokemon game I wanted on the Gamecube (with visuals to match lol).  So if this is more of that except the game actually runs half decently, that will be pretty tempting.  But it's not coming out until 2027 so I have lots of time to think about any future Switch 2 purchase.  And I'm pretty infrequent in buying Pokemon games.  I tend to get on board every three generations or so.
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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What will Nintendo release in 2026?
« Last post by Evan_B on February 27, 2026, 10:09:00 AM »
Score for me on Pokemon NOT-releasing this year! That counts, right? The trailer was the thing released.
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General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?
« Last post by Evan_B on February 26, 2026, 10:32:13 PM »
I hope you're all ready for HOT TAKES.

I started my extended snow day weekend with giving Ultra Age a try. It made a bit of waves as a shockingly good-looking action game for a relatively small developer/studio back around its release, and the Switch version... looks like the Switch version of any good-looking modern action game. That is to say, it runs, but it doesn't look wonderful. I guess I'm always looking for that action game that is going to make me feel the way people say that DMC3 makes them feel, but Ultra Age certainly isn't it. I've come to understand a bit of the game's mechanics as I sunk about four-ish hours into it, but without some deepening of the mechanics and customization, I worry it will lose its luster. It also has a roguelike mode, which I'm a bit more interested in and will report on after having sunk some time into it.

Then I played Crow Country, and while I do like games that emulate visuals from the early polygonal days, I'm not so sure I love games that are slavish in their commitment to 90s game design. This is a survival horror game with tongue in cheek dialogue, but its core gameplay design is "here's an esoteric puzzle to solve while you're stressed about dying." The map system sucks and the game has a hint system that is actually pretty unhelpful, with some puzzles being absolutely absurd in their design- the special puzzles being mercifully optional but ridiculously obscure. Then, the game commits the cardinal sin of most throwback survival horror games: it tells you that you have to conserve ammo and resources due to a small inventory and then has a sequence where you need to go in guns blazing. After playing this and Signalis, which was another moody and punishing survival horror game, I worry that this genre isn't for me, though I have previously enjoyed some Resident Evils and Evil Tonight. The puzzles are always a bit frustrating when they are too lock-and-key focused, and while the combat in this game in particular is more imprecise due its super puffy character models, I can at least accept the poor controls when its not asking me to throw its previous notion of careful, considered resource management to the wind.

Lastly, I finally booted up Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven after having conspired to play it long ago (and having picked up the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade pack). SaGa games are a big swing due to their incredibly obscure game mechanics, but I've dipped my toes in the pool with SaGa-lites like The Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive. In short: what the hell, I think I love SaGa! The presentation and some quality of life features are definitely helping with the whole experience, but it's been very positive even when I see myself making very rookie mistakes. I have several save files backed up, which makes me appreciate a game complex and weird enough to justify making several save files. You progress through generations of characters in this game, some of which you can lose from fainting too often in battle or by missing a side quest, and while that might be frustrating for some, it actually makes me incredibly excited to play around with the game's systems and try to find a proper solution to my issues. Sure, I've "lost" some progress by accidentally advancing the game-clock and generations, but those multiple save files have helped me reconsider what choices I could make in a certain generation. I want a mermaid dancer, dammit, and I'm gonna get my mermaid dancer.

I can see how this game had a marked positive reception in Japan that might have contributed to the decision for a remake, particularly in how I see several of its narrative beats being echoed in later games. Maybe this game is also referencing some earlier work, but it does feel like the origin point for some of these side quest narratives I've found in later JRPGs, which makes me excited to see what the future holds.

...I'll be ranking these in my other thread.
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