#WrongLanding

[sohailjawaid]

A drunken pilot in America made a wrong landing, causing a major safety concern. ✈️🍻 Thankfully, no one was harmed, but the incident raises serious questions about flight safety. 🚨😟

For Details Watch Video: https://rb.gy/qv0anv

[maximuswolf]

So what the hell is going on with Level-5?

So what the hell is going on with Level-5? Title.Level-5 used to be the fucking studio to watch in Japan. You've got classics like Professor Layton and Ni no Kuni (the latter being one of the best RPGs ever made, period), and the cultural phenomenon that was Yokai Watch; they seemed pretty much unstoppable in the 2010s. But now? It feels like they’ve fallen off the map – especially outside Japan.Let’s take a look at their major IPs and where they stand right now:Professor Layton: This was arguably their most globally beloved franchise. After Layton's Mystery Journey (which didn’t quite land the same way), the series went quiet for years. Now we’ve got Professor Layton and the World of Steam on the way… but it’s been in development limbo since it was teased in early 2023, with very little shown since. No confirmed release date, no gameplay deep dive beyond a short-ass TGS demo. Just a vague shrug of "2025, maybe?" I'm not actually convinced they'd developed any of the game beyond what was shown in that demo since it's the only area we saw in the trailer.Ni no Kuni: The original Ni no Kuni was a love letter to Studio Ghibli fans, and Ni no Kuni II was solid, if not as magical. Then… we got Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, a mobile gacha MMO. Oh joy. It launched to middling reception and raised eyebrows for its aggressive monetisation. That’s the current state of the franchise. No Ni no Kuni III in sight, despite previous rumours. A gorgeous, Ghibli-inspired world, and it's being used to sell fucking loot boxes.Yokai Watch: This one stings. Yokai Watch was massive in Japan, a full-on multimedia juggernaut with anime, toys, manga, and games that were even outselling Pokémon at one point. Then Level-5 fumbled the rollout of Yokai Watch 4, which didn’t get localised until years later (and not at all in some regions, including the Anglosphere). The franchise got stuck in endless side releases, half-hearted spin-offs, and confusing timelines. Now, even in Japan, its cultural footprint has basically evaporated. It's like they wanted people to burn out, and it's particularly frustrating because there are several areas in which YKW actually ate Pokémon's lunch and I wanted to see it thrive.Inazuma Eleven: This football RPG series had a huge cult following, especially in Europe. Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road was announced what feels like a decade ago (OK, it was 2016, so pretty much a decade by now), and it’s been delayed over and over. It’s basically the Skull & Bones of anime football games at this point. Allegedly it's coming this year?Then there's all the other stuff. Level-5 claims to have at least five titles in development right now, including the aforementioned Layton and Inazuma Eleven sequels, a follow up to Fantasy Life (another great game left to rot), Decapolice, and another Yokai Watch reboot.But none of them have concrete dates AFAIK, and updates are few and far between. There’s a real sense that the studio is either stretched too thin or just really struggling with modern development pipelines.So what's going on? They keep announcing projects too early and failing to follow through. They shut down their North American branch in 2020, effectively ghosting the West. Is it just a classic case of trying to do everything and finishing nothing?It’s a shame, because Level-5 has a unique style, incredible art direction, and some truly original ideas. Watching once-golden franchises fade into irrelevance due to mismanagement is miserable, I tell you.Anyone else used to love Level-5? Which of their games do you miss the most? Submitted May 04, 2025 at 05:20AM by WrongLander https://ift.tt/LciV2wv via /r/gaming

[maximuswolf]

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour requires purchasing all the console's accessories to finish all its content

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour requires purchasing all the console's accessories to finish all its content https://ift.tt/lgF8Rse Submitted June 04, 2025 at 06:47AM by WrongLander https://ift.tt/mNKGzMO via /r/gaming

[maximuswolf]

Ico is one of those 'classic' games I just can't get into and boy I've tried

Ico is one of those 'classic' games I just can't get into, and boy, I've tried I know I’m about to commit gaming heresy here, but I’ve tried multiple times over the years to play Ico on PlayStation (as a veteran fan of platformers and story-driven games in general, it ought to be right up my alley), and I think I just have to accept that it’s not for me.I respect its legacy, I understand its influence, and I even appreciate what it was trying to do back in the early 2000s – but as an actual game, I find it pretty miserable to play.Something people fail to mention when recommending this thing is that, in essence, the entire game is one long escort mission. I know, that’s kind of the point - the connection between Ico and Yorda is the emotional core - but mechanically, it just doesn’t hold up. Yorda’s AI is simply awful, she is helpless and dumb as rocks. She constantly gets stuck on ledges, moves glacially when you need her to run, or toddles off down the wrong path when it splits in two (or three). You can drag her around by the hand, but that just feels like shackling yourself. At times I felt like saying "damn this kid," and just tried to leave her behind and press on alone, but of course that's an automatic fail state.She often just stands there blankly while shadow creatures are actively trying to drag her away to the game over screen. And when that happens? It’s your fault, even if you were stun-locked into a corner by endless hordes of mooks and your only weapon is a stick with the power of a damp pool noodle.The platforming doesn’t fare much better. It’s floaty and imprecise, and the camera seems more interested in showing off the artsy scenery than helping you navigate the world. There are times when I couldn’t tell if a ledge was jumpable or if I was about to hurl myself into oblivion. The infamous water wheel puzzle exemplifies this, and it never gets any easier.Combat is somehow even worse; sluggish, repetitive and reliant on clunky hit detection. The enemies feel like they’re actively designed to frustrate, rather than be taken on; I guess to drive home the narrative concept that you are a helpless kid? Then why bother including combat at all? Mashing until everything is dead, several times a room, is a chore. And then when Yorda gets taken, it's: backtrack to whatever portal the monster has elected to take her to, yank her out, beat up the enemies, repeat.The whole thing is just dour and directionless. And maybe that’s what bugs me most. The game is often described as "minimalist," "atmospheric," or "poetic" – and it is those things in tone and presentation. The art direction is gorgeous. The ambient soundtrack? Beautiful. The mood? Bleak but unique. But in terms of game design, it’s hard to ignore that a lot of its mechanics are either underdeveloped or just plain not fun. It’s the kind of game where “bad” decisions get rebranded as “deliberate.”I know people hail it as high art. I get that it paved the way for Shadow of the Colossus and Journey and all that. But it reminds me of how people talk about, say, Rick and Morty – the subtext and symbolism become the main reason it’s praised, not whether it’s enjoyable or functional as a piece of entertainment. It’s almost like you’re supposed to feel smart for appreciating how abstract and uncompromising it is. But if a game makes me feel more frustrated than engaged, I don’t really care how elegant the metaphor is.Anyway, I know this post might be blasphemy to some, but I’m open to a dialogue – if you do love Ico, what is it that clicked for you? Was it the atmosphere? The story? The vibes over the mechanics? I want to understand, but after three tries, I think I’m done trying to make it work. Submitted May 10, 2025 at 02:51PM by WrongLander https://ift.tt/b85IlLJ via /r/gaming