#i just did not have fun playing it when it came out on the wiiu

[eggydev]

pikmin 3 was the worst of 'em all tbh

[sherpawhale]

thoughts on game consoles? i kinda want to buy a console and i haven't gamed for a few years

Ooooooh, well, I'd say that really depends on what you're going for!

I'm lucky enough to have enough disposable income that I own a PS5, Switch, and Xbox One S

When I started getting back into gaming in 2016 after a 2 year break, I went with Playstation because their library of exclusives spoke to me. I wanted to get Uncharted because Naughty Dog made my favorite game series, Jak and Daxter on the PS2, and Uncharted was the only thing I felt I had missed by getting a 360. Pretty much all PS4 games are backwards compatible on PS5 (less than 10 won't work but I guarantee they're not things you'll miss). Uncharted, the Last Guardian, Until Dawn, Journey, Horizon Zero Dawn, Spider-Man, the Last of Us Remastered, the Last of Us 2... there's way more, and ones I have yet to play (God of War), and then there's some I've enjoyed on PS5 like Miles Morales, Bugsnax, Astro's Playroom, new Ratchet coming up. I love the controller so much: they give it a haptic feedback that makes it so you can feel raindrops, or moving across sand, or ice, etc. The downside to the PS5 is that it's $500, hard to find due to a chip shortage, and there have only been a handful of games so far only available on PS5 and not on PS4. If you're on the fence, maybe try finding a cheap PS4 to play some games. Another small factor was that a lot of my friends were getting PS4s and encouraging me to get one. I don't play as many multiplayer games as I did back in the 360 days, so that was not as big of a factor for me. But it might be for you

The Switch is also so good. They are porting more and more games from their old library so it's really becoming a hub to play some gems you've missed. I'm somewhat hopeful they're going to bring Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess to the Switch... it's funny, I've always considered Nintendo products to be the "Pokemon machine" but they haven't been my favorite experiences on the Switch. I enjoyed Pokemon Let's Go, and I really liked Sword and Shield, though I think it was one of the weakest entries in the series. But I love Breath of the Wild (first Zelda game I've ever beat, special experience), Hades, Gris, and Monster Hunter Rise so much. So tldr on the Switch: it's great for Nintendo exclusives, indies, playing in bed, and on the go. It's also probably the least expensive of all entries, if you go for the latest on each. The games don't tend to go on sale as much, though. A lot of the great Playstation games can be picked up for $10-$15, whereas a great sale for Mario Kart 8, a game that is technically 7 years old because it came out on the WiiU, is $30 and that's a blue moon price. People will say the games don't go on sale, but that's not true, they just don't go on sale as often and not for as much. Another downside is that their online multiplayer services really suck. They don't officially have a voice chat (but I have learned they do have it available for Fortnite, so the damned thing is capable of it), so you have to use something else to talk. A lot of their online service games have some lag, but they did recently update it from what was basically a ~17 year old service. Monster Hunter Rise multiplayer is phenomenal, so maybe that will change

Then there's Xbox. At some point in a few years, I'll probably get an Xbox Series X. I love what they're doing with backwards compatibility, and they're really pro-consumer right now because they fumbled the Xbone generation so badly. I have not yet jumped on Game Pass, but I think I will soon. Game Pass is basically Netflix for games. After your $1 month trial, it's about $12/month, and you get access to hundreds of games with tons being added all the time. It's really great for a budget gamer. I can't speak much to their lineup of exclusives... Halo and Gears of War have never been my bag. They've got State of Decay, which is a flawed but fun zombie game, the Ori games which are phenomenally beautiful (but also on Switch), and Sea of Thieves, a very chaotic but fun pirate game. Not the heaviest of hitters, but they're probably going to have more exclusive games in the next few years since they've bought a ton of studios

[stuffedtight]

Stealing Seconds

Thought I’d get back into the lab and write something up! I kinda want to be more active in this lil community!!! Even though I’m such a big fe head I haven’t played some of the old games so I’ve been playing Sacred Stones on my WiiU! After Sacred Stones I wanna play the Blazing Blade so expect stuff of those characters! I’ve fell in love with sum boys and wanted to write about Colm! Feel free to send in asks about old and new characters and maybe I’ll get around to it? (Sorry for this being so long!!💖) (Also I haven’t finished the game so I don’t know the endings so I guess this is like an au?)

-[ As the clock struck 1, Colm let a sigh of relief come over him, as he knew his castle watching shift is over, and can finally enjoy his lunch with his best friend, Niemi. Colm had seemed to be looking forward to his meals more and more. On top of this, he’s never been known to train. He has a bit of a dad bod thing going on. A bit of chub, but it’s just something to work off, right?

“Colm!” Niemi called, waving her hand up to get his attention. Colm couldn’t help but smile when he saw her. “What’s up, Niemi?” Colm said in a warm tone, a side he doesn’t really expose to anyone but her. He constantly needs to know if Niemi’s in any trouble, but can also get her into trouble with his own schemes. Niemi talked about her shift as they walked to the cafeteria.

Colm loved the smell of the cafe food. The food the cafe served was, to be blunt, fattening. Niemi knew that was the cause of her friend’s weight gain, but she wouldn’t comment on it. She insisted that she make him his own lunches, as she does her herself, but he refused. He gives into his craving to easily and can’t resist a greasy slice of pizza or a juicy burger.

Niemi followed Colm to the cafeteria, as he leaned his arms against the counter and exposed his rather plump behind in his tight trousers unknowlingly to his friend, distracted more by the food. Of course, Niemi tried not to stare at it, but she had to sneak in a few glances. She’s been crushing hard on Colm since they were little. Today, Colm would be served chicken breast. His favorite, despite being more of a fatty, greasy mess. Of course, he asked for extra and recieved a whole nother breast and extra fries. He payed and sat with Niemi.

She couldn’t help but stare at Colm as he devoured his into his belly. “Niemi?” “Y-Yeah!” She got caught, but Colm didn’t seem to care. He kept eating and Niemi slowly dug into her lunch. After the meal, Colm was definetly full. He snuck a hand onto his now expanded belly, but would be too embarrased to give himself a rub. Niemi stood up, and now done with work, they had the day to themselves. Colm let out a hand to Niemi for her too help him up with a smirk. Niemi grabbed his hand, and with a grunt from Colm, got him on two. Now, with his big lunch, you can see his round belly bulge through his shirt. Niemi, not knowing what came over her, started to tease him. “I guess you liked it, Colm?” She giggled. “Whatever...” Colm said, embarrased, as he put his hands over his head. However, doing this, he revealed his under belly and blue happy trail.

Niemi couldn’t contain herself, and had to touch that belly. She reached out to touch and snuck a little rub in before Colm swiftly put her hand away with a “Hey!” She laughed it off but she felt silly. What she didn’t know is that Colm secretly loved the feel of her soft hand on his taut tummy.

Niemi and Colm spent the rest of the day as they normally, playing games, talking about memories, and even a walk out to the market. When dinner rolled around, Colm exclaimed how hungry he was with a pat of his belly. Niemi said he should have a much lighter meal, and grudgingly, Colm agreed. He didn’t want to say no but he did to avoid a crying Niemi. Colm ate one of her meals, and eventually came the night.

Niemi and Colm’s room was an admittally small room, more of a small apartment, with two beds. Sometimes, Niemi daydreams of their room only having one, forcing them to share a bed. Colm undid his belt, looking down at how much his belly had actually grown. And when Niemi wasn’t looking, checked himself out in the mirror and even looked at his ass. He’d definelty grown, and could even see his butt through his usually oversized boxers, now tightly constrained down to his plump thighs, which were usually skinny sticks. He didn’t show any expression on his weight gain, but inside, he kinda liked it. He liked filling his belly with food and having it rubbed and cared for. He liked his new fat ass and how it had the slightest jiggle when he walked, and now his butt pushes out his trousers.

Niemi was in her bed, in much more classy pajamas compared to Colm’s tight boxers. Niemi took quick glances to see Colm’s belly and even his butt when he bent down to grab something. Still, Niemi knew she had to sleep soon, or else she’ll be kept up all night by Colm’s snores. Eventually, she found herself peacefully dreaming.

Untill she was woken up. She was being shaken by Colm. A drozy Niemi responded, “Colm, what time is it?” “I don’t know but I’m sooo hungry.” Colm said, almost whining. His stomach let out a growl. He was a little embarrased. “See? Hear him?” Niemi thought his antics were cute, and didn’t know he was one for midnight snacks. “So?” “So, Niemi, I’m gonna go steal some food from the cafe! Can you come with me?” Niemi knew Colm had always had a habit of stealing, but she would never confront him about it, fearful of an argument, and would let him do as he please. But if Colm got a lot more fat, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to do some sneaking around. She let out a sigh. “Sure, Colm.” They didn’t bother to change clothes, Neimi in her cutesy pjs, and Colm in nothing but his boxers.

Their pantry raid was successful, to say the least. Colm managed to steal fries, chicken wings, pizza, and even a few drinks to bring back. However, their trip was cut short when a flashing light of a gaurd shined upon them. Colm, quickly covering his crotch, wanting to hide his now blown up body, then went back into theif mode, got his loot, and ran with Niemi. They managed to lose the gaurd and safely get back to their room. Colm out of breath, bent down and put his hands on his knees. Niemi even did a little bit of scolding about how dangerous that was. “I know, Niemi, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t put you in any more dangerous stuff like that.” “You too, Colm! We could’ve been kicked out!” “Your right. I promise.”

With that out of the way, Colm dug into his findings. The food already warm, he dug into the chicken wings first. There were about 8 of them and he douvred them. He loved the crunch and the juicy meat inside of them. He took his first bite with a loud “Mhmmmm”. As Niemi and Colm sat on his bed, he dug into the fries and the 3 slices of pizza he managed to grab. The silence of the room with Niemi looking Colm up and down as he filled his belly with food, went away as Colm let out a loud blech. He held his belly with a hand as he let out the pressure of his belly. He let out a short “Excuse me” before he began eating again.

Colm finished his meal with burps and regret. He stuffed all that food inside his poor belly, left with the view of him in his boxers. He rubbed the crumbs of his mouth. “Well, I hope you enjoyed this little midnight ‘snack’, but I seriously need some sleep. But I’ll admit...it was a little fun.” Niemi said. Before Colm began speaking he burped. “Ah, excuse me. It was, but I’m sort of regretting it.” They chatted as they both got into their beds. Colm, laying on his back, could see the shape of his packed belly through his blanket. He gave his belly a rub, feeling the tightness of it, compared to the soft dough of his empty belly. He let out another loud burp. Then, through the pain of his stuffing, put his arm over his head, and not believing what he was about to say.

“Niemi?” “Yeah?” He was interrupted with a small burp. “Could you, uh, maybe, r-rub my belly.” Niemi smiled at the idea. Colm looked over to see her reaction and let out a nervous laugh as he saw her smile. Niemi got up, and went into his bed, and slid her hand under the sheets to his belly. Colm let out moans and groans as he layed there. They could hear his stomach growl in protest. “Settle down, buddy.” Colm said. Niemi didn’t know Colm was a tummy talker. “He’s not to happy with me.” He said, facing down to her. “Haha, I can tell.” Niemi laughed. Through the slight awkwardness and Colm’s discomfort of his full stomach, they enjoyed their intimate moment. After about 10 minutes of Colm letting out burps, he leaned over to Niemi’s forehead and gave her a kiss. “Thanks.”

She was too flustered to say anything. But she didn’t need to. She laid there on his slightly chubby pec and cuddled. In the morning, Niemi was met with more love for Colm and Colm was met with new pounds of fat and a struggle to reach his pants over his butt, a result of his greed from his night before.

[theomotaku]

Playing 3-D World

(Goemon omo. Probably even more ooc than my usual)

Lupin was going through a bit of a gaming phase. On a whim, he had bought a WiiU and a few games. He, Jigen, and Goemon were playing Super Mario 3-D World. Lupin was Mario, Jigen was Luigi, and Goemon was Toad. It was a little hard, but they were having fun, and laughing a lot.

It felt like Goemon had just used the restroom less than ten minutes ago, but his bladder was already getting full again. He had tried something new: a soda called Dr. Pepper. It tasted really good, and the food he had eaten with it was spicey, so he'd had two cans of it. Now, it seemed, he was paying the price. Apparently, the soda was a really strong diuretic, and it was wreaking havoc on his already small bladder.

They had just started the first boss level and they were already laughing a lot. They kept accidentally throwing each other, and Lupin had just thrown Jigen over the edge, killing him and causing another round of laughter from the three men. That's when Goemon felt it. His bladder contracted slightly from the laughter and a leak escaped him. Apparently, it was a big leak, because it already managed to dampen his hakama.

Goemon gasped softly and pressed his legs together. He had planned to try to wait a few more levels. He had just gone, and he didn't like interrupting the game and making Jigen and Lupin wait on him. They were patient and understanding, as they always are with things like this, but he still didn't like it. He would go after this level. It wouldn't take too long, right? The time limit was... shit, 300 seconds? That's 5 minutes! His bladder spasmed at the thought of having to wait that much longer, but he continued to play. They had been beating the levels with a few minutes to spare. It wouldn't take long.

Jigen got hit by a fire ball and died. There were no lives left, so he couldn't come back in. The music sped up, signaling that they had less than 100 seconds left. Between the slight nervousness the faster music caused in him and the hard-to-dodge fire balls that Bowzer was throwing, Goemon died. He considered getting up and going to the restroom now, but there might be a chance that Lupin would gather enough coins to get a 1-up and bring them back in.

Lupin ended up falling off the edge and failing the level. Goemon quietly excused himself to the restroom, hoping the others couldn't see the wet spot. Once he got his relief, he checked his white hakama to see how bad it was. There was a small wet spot in the crotch area, but if he changed, they'd know notice for sure, and that would just delay the game further. He walked back to the living room and sat on the couch, relieved that there wasn't a wet spot on it.

Lupin was getting worried about Goemon. Was he going to the restroom again? That was the second time in half an hour! He knew the samurai had a small bladder, but it was never this bad. Was something wrong? He decided not to say anything this time, but if he went again soon, he would ask him about it.

Goemon's face was burning. He could feel Jigen and Lupin looking at him. He kept his gaze on the TV, trying to ignore them.

"You ready to play some more?" Lupin asked cheerfully. Goemon nodded, picking up his remote. They restarted the boss level. They managed to beat it with over 200 seconds to spare this time. Goemon made it maybe another 20 minutes before he had to go again. Embarrassed, he excused himself again at the end of the level. At least this time, he didn't leak.

"Hey, buddy, are you okay?" Lupin asked worriedly when Goemon came back into the living room.

"Yeah, you've gone to the restroom three times in the last hour," Jigen pointed out.

Goemon nodded, face on fire. "I'm fine." He sat back down on the couch.

"Are you sick?" Jigen asked at the same time Lupin asked, "Do you still feel like playing?" Not sure if Goemon heard either of them, Lupin decided to combine the two questions. "Look, if you don't feel well, we can turn the game off," he offered.

Goemon shook his head. "I'm fine. I can still play," he insisted. He was actually enjoying the game. Lupin and Jigen both gave him looks of worry and disbelief.

"Can you at least tell us what's wrong?" Jigen asked.

Goemon couldn't look at them. "I-I think it was the Dr. Pepper," he said quietly. "I don't know anything else it could be."

That made sense to Jigen and Lupin.

"So you should back to normal soon, right? It just has to get out of your system," Lupin said.

Goemon nodded. He hoped that was the case.

Lupin took them to the next level on the game. Before he entered it, he asked, "Do you need to go again before we start?"

Goemon nodded, blushing. He knew it had only been a minute or so, but he did already have to go again. He went to the restroom and came back, then they started the next level.

They played for a few hours, with Goemon having to go every 5 to 20 minutes, before his bladder finally started acting right again. Jigen and Lupin didn't said anything else about it. They were just glad he was okay. They both kept an eye on him, and Lupin would even pause in the middle of a level and tell Goemon to go if he noticed him getting desperate, but that only happened once or twice. When he stopped going every few levels, they were worried at first.

After they played eight levels in a row without Goemon getting up, Jigen decided to reassure him, in case he suddenly felt like he was being annoying or something.

"Goemon, you know we don't mind waiting if you need to go, right?"

Goemon blushed and nodded. "I don't need to." As embarrassing as it was, he was rather of happy about it. It took half the day, but he was finally back to normal.

[leftwriteb]

LeftWriteB's Loot Box: Original Game Soundtrack Discs & Their Stories

“LeftWriteB’s Loot Box” is a series that highlights the stranger parts of our gaming collection. Whether it be collectables, merchandise, custom creations or more, we aim to bring you a look at some items you probably won’t see on the shelves of every retailer. Today’s focus: a collection of the more interesting original game soundtracks.

A soundtrack can make or break a game. Just as solid gameplay can help you gloss over the other issues a game may throw at you, a solid game soundtrack can stay with you for years after you finish it. While many special editions of games now include a soundtrack CD or a digital download for the music, physical discs for game soundtracks aren’t exactly a common occurrence. Over the years I’ve been able to acquire a good amount of them for games that have left a lasting impression on me. Sure, many of them were rewards from Club Nintendo, but the likes of The Sexy Brutale, Little Nightmares, Bioshock Infinite, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle and The Witcher 3 don’t have as much of a backstory as the collected ones we are going to look at.

The Last of Us Original Score

The Last of Us is a game that many consider the best of the last decade, or one of them at the very least. Many aspects of the game were masterfully crafted; the story, the visuals, the voice-acting, the soundtrack. My lord, that score was something. The games main theme, which is retooled in various ways through the course of the game, is a haunting and beautiful piece of music that has stayed with me since the day I heard it but so too have other pieces. I didn’t own a PS3 at the time of the original launch, and instead went straight to a friends house on the day of the games release so I could simply sit and and watch him play. Months after, I watched the entire game via a YouTube playthrough and enjoyed it even more. The world captivated me even though I was yet to sit and play it properly myself.

It wasn’t until I bought a PS4 during the initial year of the consoles lifespan that I finally got to play it for myself and it remains one of the finest games I’ve ever had the joy to play. It is one of the most memorable experiences I will ever have and the lasting impression it left on me years after I’d concluded the story is certainly in large part because of the score. Thank you, Gustavo Santaolalla and those who helped make such compelling music.

Animal Crossing: Your Favourite Songs

A slightly more chipper soundtrack, this is actually an accidental favourite of mine. Animal Crossing is a series I’ve sunk literally hundreds of hours into over the years. I played plenty of Wild World on DS and, over the course of many years, had quite the time with New Leaf. I’d find myself glued to the latter solidly for months at a time before hitting a brick wall and putting it down. I’d tire of it and trade the game in. But, of course, 6 months later I’d want to play it again and would buy it yet again to eventually repeat this same cycle five times in the space of five years. Finally, I learnt that I should just keep it and not be such an idiot. One thing that remained pleasing through each binge I went through though was the ambient soundtrack that adjusted according to season, time of day and weather. Through countless hours playing, I always marvelled at how delightful the music was and how it always fit the mood.

When Club Nintendo were offering a whole CD of the ambient music, I jumped at the chance to grab myself a copy. Of course, I probably should have taken a second to think about it and read things properly. As it turns out, the CD was not a selection of the beautiful ambient soundtrack but instead a selection of K.K. Slider singing. Rest assured, his voice is not quite as soothing as tranquil tunes of a starry New Leaf midnight. Even still, the disc being covered in a cutesy Animal Crossing leaf pattern is a nice touch.

Super Smash Bros. Premium Sound Selection

Another item from Club Nintendo, the premium sound selection taken from Super Smash Bros. for WiiU and 3DS offered fans two discs of the finest pieces of music Smash Bros. had to offer. Having been introduced to the series so many years ago, Smash Bros. Melee was a cornerstone of the gaming time spent between me, my brother and our two cousins when we were kids. I stuck with the series for every iteration since and each one provided hours of friendship straining fun.

Not only was the artwork on this case great, but the two discs had a nice blue and red contrast with the Smash logo cutting through them. Given this was a selection from the WiiU and 3DS versions, these colours were undoubtedly chosen as they were the ones associated with the two console platforms. With Smash Bros. Ultimate having just been released, we’ve been treated to even more spectacular music and these two discs are just a small taste of what players get to listen to in the latest instalment in the series. More importantly though, Smash Bros. for WiiU and 3DS had the finest arrangements for Zelda and Luigi you’ll find.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack

Ocarina of Time is widely considered one of the best games ever created. It’s also one of my favourite games of all time and that might sound a little stereotypical but my reasons behind this are less typical. While I didn’t get to play it on the Nintendo 64 because of my age, the game still managed to take over a huge portion of my childhood. Having had a copy of the Zelda Collection thrown in to our bundle when we bought the Gamecube, I jumped into Ocarina after I’d replayed the Wind Waker demo roughly 700 times. The game completely hooked me but, as I was so about nine years old, it was a difficult game for me to conquer. In fact, it took me about 3 years to beat it. Every time I got stuck, I’d abandon the game for 6 months before eventually returning to it and miraculously solving what had stumped me for so long before. After a good few instances of this happening, I eventually defeated Ganon. Maybe I should’ve learned my lesson from this approach to games before picking up Animal Crossing: New Leaf years later - I should’ve just stuck with ‘em.

When the 3DS first launched and I was one of the few that bought them on day one and the news this was coming to the handheld in reimagined 3D made me just a smidge excited. To this day, the entire soundtrack holds a special place in my heart as the game was so present in my younger gaming years. This soundtrack came to Club Nintendo and was an instant acquisition. It was worth it just for the memories that the Hyrule Field theme can conjure, but the inclusion of everything else (and the Windmill Hut music) shows that the soundtrack is just as good now as it ever was.

The Legends of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Soundtrack (Japanese Import)

Also included on this Zelda Gamcube collection was the entirety of Majora’s Mask, the infamous Zelda release that followed Ocarina. I played this game in a very similar way, finding roadblocks that stumped me for what seemed like an eternity. I never actually got that far into Majora’s Mask and didn’t even manage to get past the first dungeon; the timing constraints were something I couldn’t overcome as a kid. What did baffle me though was how different Termina was to Hyrule. Everything was in a state of impending doom, people went about their days instead of standing still forever and the horrifying and mentally scarring image of the Moon hovered above you judging your life choices.

It was an experience, though small, that stayed with me. I’d never felt that kind of dread in a game as a kid, apart from perhaps seeing Ganon on horseback outside Hyrule Castle for the first time. Once again, when the game came to 3DS, I found myself eager to jump in and tackle the game with a brain that (as far as I could tell) was a little more well versed in puzzles, combat and gaming. But even having only scratched the surface years ago, the main title theme and clock tower theme still play in my head almost far too often. Having kept an eye on the soundtracks listed on eBay, I finally got to buying this Japanese import of the games soundtrack. While the music alone was a treat, the eerie artwork on the case and discs was so encapsulating of my feelings towards the game that it was a must-have when I saw it.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Sound Selection

The thunderous success of the original Wii was what helped catapult the console into so many homes. While many, myself included, found themselves hooked on Wii Sports, the main reason I wanted a Wii was for Twilight Princess. As we’d already discussed, I had fallen in love with the series thanks to the collection I had on Gamecube and couldn’t wait to transition from wrapping up Wind Waker to a new adventure. I’d been nagging my parents to get me a copy for Gamecube before I owned a Wii but the scarcity and price made that a slightly unrealistic dream.

When we managed to get a Wii for my birthday (but opened it a month early because I couldn’t contain my excitement) I got a copy of Twilight Princess too. I only played through the game the once, but strolling through the shootout at the Hidden Village and taking part in the jousting match on the Bridge of Eldin were unforgettable in the most detailed Zelda game to date (at the time). When the pack rereleased in HD for WiiU and came with a soundtrack and awesome Wolf Link amiibo, I picked it up on day one. Sure, I didn’t own a WiiU at the time but the soundtrack and amiibo were worth it anyway.

The Legends of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Original Soundtrack

Confession time: I’ve never played A Link Between Worlds. I bought a copy some time ago. I was and still am excited to play it. The thing is, my game library continues to expand as my time to play through it continues to shrink. Having enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, a game that was a little controversial, I couldn’t wait to jump in to a new handheld Zelda game that was getting far more positive buzz. I actually lost track of how long I’ve had this game in my to-do list and with the Switch now having taken my 3DS’ place, I may never get around to playing it at all.

That said, I’ve had a great time with every Zelda game I’ve ever played and had confidence in Between Worlds. When Club Nintendo had the soundtrack available, I nabbed it before it was too late in preparation. At the very least, the artwork for the soundtrack was absolutely gorgeous and two whole discs worth of music is something no sensible person would turn down for what was effectively free. Like the Smash discs, it came with two of alternating colours though this time for to reflect the worlds of Hyrule and Lorule. With the Master Sword sitting peacefully in the Lost Woods adorning the cover, it’s just as great to look at as it is to listen to.

For more gaming oddities, stay tuned to “LeftWriteB’s Loot Box” for more gaming oddities.

[shinyzango]

Hey got a question, Zango. I have Kirby Star Allies and Mario Odyssey, and I was wondering if there were some games you'd recommend. Would Breath of the Wild be a good investment?

YES. Please get Breath of the Wild, it’s such a good and huge game. Will surely keep you busy. (I mean I have spent more then 100 hours on it in the Switch version without DLCs trying to complete everything, and I’m sure I spent even more on the WiiU version when I firstly played it there)

Sadly I only got the Switch back in January this year so I missed out on a whole year of stuff, but let’s see...

I still have to buy Splatoon 2, but I did play a lot of the first game and I loved it, so I’m sure the sequel is hella good too. I know a bunch of friends who play it and they have a lot of fun with it.

ARMS is a fun game. I mainly got it for the characters since I’m bad at fighting games, but ARMS got quite the unique gameplay. Even tho I would suggest getting it if you intend in battling online, as in singleplayer there isn’t too much to do.

Then let’s see... I’m currently drowning myself into Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition that came out last Friday. Had a lot of fun with it back on the WiiU and I’m having a blast with this one since it got all the content released from both the WiiU version and the 3DS’ version Legends. They’ve distribuited all the stuff in a rather pleasant way. The only couple things I’m kinda meh about it is that the game tends to glitch a bit visually (maps looks a bit glitched overall and it causes the cutscenes to mess up), also had the game crash on me a couple times. Nothing too serious, I guess it’s just an optimization issue. Hopefully they’ll release a patch to fix these. But other than that, if you’re familiar with the Warriors games or if they interest you, I highly suggest this one. (just as a fyi, I never played the Dynasty Warriors series. The only Warriors games I played are Hyrule Warriors and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, so I can assure you that you don’t have to be in it to start enjoy them)

Other games... Can’t think up of anything else atm that’s already out, but if you want there’s Sonic Mania Plus coming out this summer, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in late August and The World Ends With You: Final Mix at an unknown date (I really hope they’ll finally give a date for it at E3 or something).

But I’m sure that others can suggest you many more games for it. I tend to be very strict with my range of games (mainly because of lack of money;;; )

[kayliemusing]

Survey 6

Put your music player of choice on shuffle and list the first 10 songs - Betty by Taylor Swift - Broken by Lovelytheband - Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus - One More Weekend by Against The Current - When We Were Young by Adele - Honestly by Gabbie Hanna - Carousel by Melanie Martinez -Brokenhearted by Karmin - Ashes by Celine Dion - Lover by Taylor Swift

If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Would you take anyone with you? - I’d love to go to NYC, because it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go and it seems so inspiring and lively there. I’d take my mom and sister with me.

What is your preferred writing implement? (eg. Blue pen, pencil, green pen) - Blue or black pen, and I like for my ink to feel super flowy and smooth.

Favourite month and why? - I love December because of Christmas time but I also really like May because the sun feels so much brighter and it’s starting to warm up.

Do you have connections to any celebrities (even minor)? List them. - When I was a kid, my dad’s cousin knew Michael J Fox.

Name 3 items you could pick up from where you are. - My phone, my notebook, and my headphones.

What brand logo is closest to you currently? - Asus (the computer I’m currently using. Don’t know about a “logo” tho. Just a brand name.)

Do you ever play board games or other non-computer games? Got any favourites? - YES. I’m obsessed with matching games on my phone. Right now I love My Home, Property Brothers, and Design Matters. I love them because they make me not think and then when you win levels you get to decorate your home which I find totally fun.

A musical artist you love that isn’t well known - Of Monsters and Men. I think they’re a little known, but not overly. One of my fav bands of all time.

A musical artist you love that is well known - Taylor Alison Swift

What is your desktop background currently? - A portrait of trees in the mist

Last person you talked to, and through what you talked to them - My mom and we talked in person.

First colour name you can think of that isn’t in the rainbow - White

What timekeeping devices are in the room you are currently in? - My phone, computer I’m currently using, and my switch.

What kind of headphones do you use? - The apple ones that came with my phone.

What musical artists have you seen perform live? - Lmao the Jonas Brothers when I was 10 and Marianas Trench when I was 15. 

Does virginity matter to you? - Yes, but I don’t care what others choose to do. 

What gaming consoles do you or your family own? - Switch, WiiU and PS4

What pets do you have? What are their names? - 2 Siamese cats, Archer and Misty.

What’s the best job you’ve ever had? - Sephora as a cashier, which I’m currently at. Obviously it’s not a dreamboat but they’ve treated me the best and I’m not totally miserable there.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? - Chapters. I feel like it had potential to be a good job, but I was in a really bad place so I feel like I didn’t perform to the best of my ability, but in saying that, they also lacked community there. I could go in and out of that store during my shift and no one would say hi or bye to me. I didn’t have any work friends, and I found management not that nice. Whereas at my job now, it has its flaws but I do feel like we’re kind of a family which I never would have expected because of my experience at chapters.

What magazines do you read, if any? - I don’t read magazines unless it’s an article about Taylor Swift because I love her lol

Inspiration behind your URL? - I have three blogs, so the inspiration for this one was just to the point; I do surveys. My main blog @autumnsletters was inspired because I love words and love letters and autumn so I just threw them together and then my Taylor Swift inspired blog where I geek out about Taylor was inspired by a lyric from a song called I Think He Knows. (@sixteenavenue)

Inspiration behind your blog title? - For this blog, it’s a spin on a Taylor Swift song called All You Had To Do Was Stay where I just inserted the word survey, not that smart lmao. On my main blog my title is “Give you my wild” which is from a song called Peace from Taylor, and then on my Taylor blog, it’s “You’re not my homeland anymore” which is from her song Exile. So I’m very Swiftian.

Favourite item of clothing? - My turtle neck sweater from Dynamite. (I bought three just in diff colours but my favourite is the red one.)

Are you friends with any exes? - I don’t have exes, but I always find it kinda weird when people are friends w their exes because I feel like you can’t come back to friendship once you’ve crossed the line but what do I know.

Name at least one book you loved as a child. - I’ll Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. (I think that’s the title but I’m not totally sure.)

What’s your native language? If that language has distinct regional variations, which variation? (eg. AU English, US English) - US English

What email service do you use? - Gmail

Is there anything hanging on the walls of the room you are currently in? - I’m in the family room so there’s a few things. Some canvas’s of random patterns, shelves, a nyc painting, and then a big rustic canvas of a bible scripture.

What’s your favourite number, and why? - 22, because of Taylor has a song called 22 (surprise surprise) and it’s also doubles and an even number which I like.

Earliest moment in your life you can remember? - I always have this random, very faint memory of being in this double stroller with my sister when I was probably 2 or 3 and she was in the seat in front of me and I was in the back and my parents were behind me talking and it was sunny outside.

What did you have for dinner yesterday? - Chinese!

How often do you brush your teeth? - Morning and night. Sometimes I escape to bed before brushing my teeth if i’m super tired but definitely every morning.

What’s your favourite candy/chocolate? - Maltesers

Have you had other blogs on Tumblr? Do you have any other blogs currently? - Yes, I talked about them just a few questions ago. I have this one, my main, and my Taylor inspired one lol. My main blog has gone through a series of phases throughout the years lol.

If you were suddenly really hungry, what would you choose to eat? - I like to go for easy to grab food. So bagels, muffins, cereal. Something super quick.

What fandoms would you consider yourself a part of? - Swiftie and A Court of Thorns and Roses fandom

If you could study anything, what would it be? - English and Communications, but I’ve always stayed away even though I’ve wanted to study those because I’m terrified of public speaking and I also feel like I’m not quite smart enough. Sad but true.

Do you use anything on your lips? (eg. Chapstick, gloss, balm, lipstick) - I like wearing Fresh watermelon lip balm when I’m not wearing makeup or I have my mask on. Generally when I have a full face of makeup on, I gravitate to lipsticks or lipstains.

How would you describe your sense of humour? - Dry/self deprecating and sarcastic.

What things annoy you more than anything else? - Kanye

What kind of position are you in at the moment? - I am sitting on my couch with my legs stretched out in front of me and resting on the coffee table.

Do you wear much jewellery? - I never wear jewelry but I’d like to start wearing necklaces and getting my ears pierced so I could wear earrings again. 

Who is the leader of your country, currently? Any other levels of government with leaders? (State, region, province, county, district, municipality, etc) - Trudeau

Last 3 blogs on your dashboard, not including any of your own - I won’t name them, but one was a Taylor related blog, one was a writing blog, and another was a literature blog.

What do you carry your money in? - My wallet/debit card

Do you enjoy driving? Why or why not? - I don’t mind driving, but I’m obsessed with other people being angry at me for some reason so sometimes driving is stressful if I make a mistake or when people are behind me, I’m constantly checking my rear view mirror so they won’t think I’m bad at driving. It’s dumb, I know.

Longest drive you have ever been on? - When I was a kid and we drove to BC and stopped at literally every freaking town on the way there.

Furthest away from home you have ever been? - Victoria BC

How many times have you moved house? - Once and I was like four lol

What is on the floor of the room you’re currently in, not including furniture? - A blanket, suitcase that needs to be put away, some cords from the lamps, and a random canvas that hasn’t been hung up yet.

How many devices do you own which can access the internet? - Four,  I think.

Is there is anything that is guaranteed to always make you happy? - Feeling creative and Taylor Swift music. Money, too lmao

Is there anything that always makes you sad? - Books where the two people pining for each other don’t get/stay together, getting super existential, seeing homeless people on the street, thinking about my dad who passed away.

What programs do you currently have open? - Tumblr and Word, because I’m avoiding writing because I don’t know what to say.

What do you associate the colour red with? - Taylor Swift lol. But also Christmas and passion.

Last strong smell you can remember smelling? - My garlic knots coming out of the oven <3

Last healthy thing you ate? - One (1) apple slice lmao

Do you drink tea or coffee, and how much per day? - Neither, both are gross.

What do you associate the colour blue with? - Sadness or gloom, usually. 

How long is the closest ruler you can find? - I don’t think we have a ruler and if we do, it’s in a drawer upstairs somewhere and I don’t feel like digging for it.

What colour pants/skirt/etc are you currently wearing? - White sweats.

When was the last time you drank water? - Probably yesterday yikes. 

How often do you clear your browser history? - Never.

Do you believe nude photos can be artistic, rather than erotic? - I guess it could be interpreted that way, but nude photos just kinda annoy me.

Ever written fanfiction for anything? - Yes and I’m not telling you for what.

Last formal event you attended - Oh, I don’t even know. It’s been YEARS. Probably my cousin’s wedding way back when in 2014.

If you had to move your birthday to another date, which one would you choose and why? - December 13 so I could have matching birthdays with Taylor Swift 

Would you prefer to be at a beach or in the countryside? - Countryside. I hate the beach. The idea is nice, but I hate feeling hot and then I’m surrounded by people with nice bodies and I’ll just start to hate myself, and I never feel like I can wear the summer clothes I want to so it just makes me spiral.

Roughly how many people live in your town? - I have no clue. Thousands maybe.

Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? - Yes. A girl I went to school with and also Jensen Ackles and Justin Bieber 

Favourite place to shop? Can be a certain store or a place where there are multiple stores - Dynamite and Colourpop.

Do you have a smartphone? What kind? If you don’t, do you want one? - I have an iPhone 11 Pro.

What is your least favourite colour, and why? - Navy blue, because it’s ugly.

How do you spell grey/gray? - G R E Y

Go to your dashboard and describe the image shown in the radar section (below the “Find blogs” link) - N/A

What difference is there between how many followers you have, and the number of blogs you follow? - I have 1,374 followers and I follow 1,969 blogs.

How many posts do you have? - Good lord. Too many.

How many posts have you liked? - Not sure.

Do you post mainly reblogs, or your own content? - Mostly reblogs and occassionally I share my writing but I do this thing where I share my writing and I get 2 notes and then I start re reading my writing over and over until I hate it and delete it and fall down this spiral of shame.

Do you track any tags? - no

What time is it currently? - 6:17 pm

Is there anything you should be doing right now? - I’m supposed to be writing because I’m trying to turn it into a routine so I can be more successful with it, but I’m avoiding it because I get so overwhelmed with how little I’m writing/what I’m writing/not knowing what to say, etc.

[lurkdragonstuff]

Metroid: Samus Returns

I went into Metroid: Samus Returns with very lowered expectations.

I held off on getting it until the earliest adopters had spoken, and until friends I trusted said it was good. In and of itself, that isn't particularly unusual for me: the last game I pre-ordered was The Last Guardian, and that was because I had an order in for it from before I stopped pre-ordering things.

You see, I pre-ordered The Last Guardian before Metroid: Other M came out.

Bluntly, Metroid: Other M is the single worst videogame I have ever played. Oh, I've played games that are undoubtedly worse mechanically, and seen games that are worse philosophically, but Other M is the worst game I have ever played: it's the game that left the most bitter taste of bile in my mouth, and has become my ultimate litmus test. Sure, I might be struggling against an unfair boss, I say to myself, and this game may have been written by people with more than two issues with bigotry to work out, but it always comes down to the singular question: does this game, in all its crappy glory, make me feel the utter frustration and simmering, lingering anger that Other M did?

So far, seven years on, the answer has always been no.

Maybe that means I should play more bad games, but the thing is, I can shrug off a bad game. It's harder to shrug off a game in a series I've loved for a long time that seems to indicate that everything I've ever enjoyed about a series is Wrong, and that I should be enjoying the series for These Reasons instead of Those Reasons. That everything I'd ever known about a hero I've loved and looked up to for years was wrong. That silent storytelling and environmental hints and a scrapbook of inferences can't possibly tell a story, that I should be happy that finally - finally! - we were learning things that couldn't possibly have been conveyed before. Never mind that these things are the antithesis of everything the series previously stood for.

I'm happy to be proven wrong about headcanons, but the new canon has to make sense. And not insult me. Other M was a baffling anomaly, a worst hits compilation of gameplay mechanics from the rest of the series reinterpreted in boring and frustrating ways, with a story that seemed to be gunning for everything I liked about Samus Aran and the wider Metroid universe.

What's worse, very little that Nintendo has done with the series since Other M has filled me with any kind of confidence that the Metroid they want to make going forward and the Metroid that I fell in love with playing Prime and Fusion were the same thing anymore. And, you know, that happens sometimes, but either way, Samus Returns had to compete with seven years of frustration at how Nintendo's been handling the Metroid series and its star.

It had to compete with Other M. It had to compete with Super Smash Bros. For WiiU and 3DS and the jet heels. It had to compete with Metroid Prime: Federation Force, a game I had and have zero interest in because I'm not into multiplayer, that from what I know about the final boss continued to tell me that Nintendo still had no idea what I find appealing about Samus as a character. And, yes, it had to compete with Another Metroid 2 Remake, a joy of a fangame that is everything I've wanted out of Metroid since beating Prime 3. It had to compete with Nintendo's reaction to AM2R, which to me is one of those things I believe copyright holders should probably have the right to do but probably shouldn't do except in much more dire circumstances than what led to AM2R, because they are shooting their own legacies in the foot. (It's the same way I feel about authors banning fanfic. Okay, sure, you do that, you own the thing and it's your right if you don't want people playing in your sandbox, but I'll usually think you're being an ass and probably won't buy your books.)

So. Yeah. I was not expecting much.

But. I am pleased to say I was wrong.

Much like what Zero Mission did for the original Metroid, Samus Returns is a retelling of the 1991 Game Boy game Metroid II: Return of Samus, with updated graphics, an updated moveset, a map system, and some expansions on the story. Famed bounty hunter Samus Aran has been commissioned by the Galactic Federation to wipe out the last of the Metroids, an alien species that has proven to be a dangerous living weapon in the claws of the Space Pirates. To that end, she's been sent to their home planet of SR388 after a squad of soldiers were wiped out on the same mission.

It's not the most complicated story in the world, and it doesn't need to be. If you've ever played a Metroidvania, you know the drill: Samus begins relatively weak at the start of the game, progresses through the labyrinthine caves of SR388, finds powerups that increase her durability, firepower, and movement options, and by the end she’s an unstoppable force and it's great. 

I found the bosses to be a fair bit more challenging than usual for the series, but nothing undoable, and the addition of a checkpoint system to pop you right back into the action if you die is a very welcome change from series standards. I didn't really use save points much at all beyond force of habit - the 3DS' sleep function worked just fine.

There's a nice balance between exploration and fighting, and I had a lot more fun with the combat system than I worried I might. New to the series are four Aeion abilities, super moves which I was hesitant about but ended up enjoying a lot. The puzzle-oriented ones are used for some very nice little puzzles, and the combat-oriented ones give you an optional emergency boost that I didn't use all that much, but it was nice to have for a couple of bosses.

Also new to the series is a melee counter move, and not really new but vastly improved are the quicktime counters during the boss fights. Other M had something kind of like them, but the thing is, the conditions to activate them felt super arbitrary: they were fiddly to get to work, and rarely had a clear tell that This Was The Moment. In Samus Returns, melee counters for all enemies have a distinctive clicking sound and visual effect that tells you now is the time, including with bosses, but you still have to be quick on the draw - but not too quick! - to get them as the enemy charges you. 

When you get them against an enemy, it's a little jolt of satisfaction: Samus backhands enemies with her Arm Cannon (so, backguns?) to knock them dizzy, giving you an opening to fire. During bosses, Samus smacks the boss (usually a Metroid) with her arm canon right as it's attacking her, then goes to town on them, wrestling them, throwing them by their tails, firing missiles at point blank range into their mouths and it's great and I love it and this is how you do quicktimes right! 

It feels like a genuine rally, like you're getting an opportunity to be a badass because you found an opening in your enemy's defenses. You still have some control in the sense of pressing fire to shoot off missiles during these rallies, and later bosses will recover and attack right at the end, too, and you'll need to be very quick to get out of the way.

I was leery of quicktimes in the trailers, because I was afraid it would be more of the same final strike garbage Other M did. I was wrong, and I'm happy about that.

Do I still have some reservations about Nintendo as a company? Sure: locking content behind Amiibos is still a shitty thing to do, and I hope that when 3DS emulation becomes more viable that people break that nonsense wide open. (For the record, I did play without Amiibos.) Shutting down AM2R, even if understandable in light of Samus Returns being in the works, was still a shitty thing to do. And Other M still burned me badly enough that it would take something truly, truly special to get me to pre-order anything ever again.

But, hey. Samus Returns is, at the end of the day, a true return of Samus Aran, Galactic Warrior. I absolutely loved a lot of the silent storytelling here; it's been a staple of the series for a long time and oh, it's so good. I particularly enjoyed Samus' return to a silent protagonist role, and one that let her personality shine through loud and clear once again. There's a particular couple of boss intros and outros that just had me going "Yeah!" at how, well, extremely Samus they were. I think if I say the penultimate and final non-Metroid bosses, that will tell folks who played the game which ones without spoiling anything.

And, yes, they handled the original game's signature scene at the end wonderfully.

I was worried about how Samus was going to be written because of frigging everything, and I was wrong. I was wrong! I have rarely been so happy to have been so wrong.

I'm not here to tell you that you need to get it to save the series, or whatever. That kind of talk always rubs me the wrong way: get this game, get any game if it piques your interest and you'll think you'll have a rewarding experience playing it. Don't buy games you don't think you'll like. There's not enough money or time for that in the world. 

But I am here to say this: If Metroid has ever meant anything to you, if Other M disappointed you as badly as it did me, or if you're new to the series and think you'll enjoy exploring an alien world filled to the brim with grungy beauty and a lot of strange and cool monsters, I highly recommend Metroid: Samus Returns.

Welcome back, Samus. It's so, so good to see you again.

[breegullbeakreviews]

Summary: Mario sets out on a globetrotting adventure with his sentient replacement hat to stop Bowser who is seeking the best of the best in wedding supplies for his forced marriage to Princess Peach.

Overall: Is this my game of the year? Probably. Super Mario Odyssey is a joy from start to finish with just a few noticeable blemishes to its name. If you own a Nintendo Switch than Super Mario Odyssey is a must have for your library.

           I’m going off format here because I’m not sure I can do this game justice painting by the numbers. I will paint a picture of where I stand on major Mario releases. Born in 1994 I wasn’t playing games until I got a Nintendo 64. As a result of when I was born my major Mario titles during my formative years were 64 and Sunshine with Galaxy hitting just after I was already set in a certain mindset with Mario. Galaxy I didn’t hate, but saw no replay value in. Galaxy 2 was better if just for the Cloud flower, but still weak. I never played 3D Land, but I absolutely hated 3D World. After Galaxy 2 I was done unless they went back to 3D exploration based Mario and only ever got 3D World because it was bundled with the WiiU.  Even when Odyssey was first shown in the Switch’s reveal trailer I wasn’t confident, and up until E3 I was still skeptical. Luckily it turns out Super Mario Odyssey is really fucking good. It’s almost perfect. I’ll start by getting the bad shit out of the way.

1.    First and foremost the Jump rope mini-game can get fucked. It’s not fun at all and is in the same category of shit that Yooka-Laylee’s awful mini-games existed in. While everything else is pretty much fine, this shit danced way to close to the fire and is such a flaw that despite how great everything else is this game will never crack my top 10.

2.    Forced motion controls suck. I played docked almost entirely and if not I was in tabletop mode. Handheld mode just doesn’t work. Several moves are tied exclusively to motion controls and a handful of other moves are awkward as hell to pull off without motion controls. Homing cap was a life saver that requires a simple shake of the controller but that’s not ideal when you’re shaking the screen at the same time. Numerous capture abilities are tied exclusively to waggle despite the fact that 2 of the four face buttons get reused to keep in line with the 2D games. It’s 2017 Nintendo. Motion control can be an option, but as a mandate it’s bullshit.

And that’s it. No other problems, at least not on that level. Now let’s talk about that good shit.

           While I was never a speed runner or anything like that, I always appreciated the crazy jumps and sequence breaks that people pulled off in Sunshine and 64. The craziest I got was trying to get as many stars as possible on 64DS with just Mario and Yoshi unlocked. I’ve dabbled in a few mods of 64 and the skill level those games were designed for were far out of my league. While DS has its haters, 64 and Sunshine are both in the top 3 most speed-ran games of all time. I think Odyssey is going to make its way up there for a number of reasons. First of which is the fact that it’s built in such a way that, at least as of now, you can’t really skip any level entirely. Sure you can skip certain boss fights, but you need a certain amount of moons in each kingdom. Second is that not since Sunshine has movement been this good in a Mario game. Mario can single, double, and triple jump, long jump, and wall jump. Those have been staples of Mario since 64. The spin jump returns, though not as cool, but the new additions are the ground pound jump, the dive, and the collection of Cappy jumps including the Cappy catch jump, the Cappy bounce, the Cappy jump. Also Mario can dive for some extra height. That’s a lot of fucking jumps. Separate they are pretty weak, but used in combination holy shit this game is on another level. Not only are people going crazy speed running this game, but some crazy people are breaking the game and trying to beat the game as much as possible without capturing anything that you don’t need to capture to progress, and even then minimizing captures. Google this shit because it’s fucking nuts.

           Now onto what Nintendo intended. Super Mario Odyssey despite hitting a lot of the generic level tropes you’ll find in a platformer somehow feels like it’s avoided all of them at the same time. It’s probably because outside a handful of clumped Toads in each world, most of the NPCs are brand new or ancient. Pauline and a bunch of realistically proportioned humans populate New Donk City. While Penguins show up in the snow level, the main NPC species is some weird polar bear looking things. While Mario games have brought in new species before, it’s usually one at a time and tied to the entire concept of the game: see Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and Galaxy with the Bean people and Lumas. I don’t think we’ve seen this many new species at once since maybe Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and if you know anything about me you know that’s a huge point in this games favor for me.

           The change from Stars to Moons is merely an aesthetic thing. Personally I wish the worlds were more equally weighted in terms of moons, but that is a nitpick. What I really don’t like is the post-game. Not that it exists. I like the Dark and Darker sides of the moon. Wish they were proper crazy hard kingdoms instead of a boss rush and an obstacle course but they’re fine as is. What I’m not a fan of is locking moon arbitrarily until after you beat the Bowser and hit the moon rock. This is not a nitpick. Super Mario Odyssey is a game about exploration. So that’s what I did. I hit 100%ish completion of each Kingdom before moving on. Obviously there are some moons that pop up post game like the Koopa races, finding Peach, and a few others. These moons hidden behind the moon rocks are arbitrary. While some are harder, others are not. Numerous moons show up in places off the beaten path you already checked and came up empty on. That’s bad game design. These either need to be there from the jump or not at all. I get gating harder content for the post game, but as is this doesn’t work. I like the plated grey metal warp pipes to hide the harder content. Should have been like this to start with.

           This game is colorful and creative and Cappy is at its core. Capturing all 52 foes changes up the gameplay for just long enough to keep things interesting. What’s great is that you can get by without it most of the time allowing for player choice. Are all the captures super fun to play as? No, but those ones generally aren’t the focus and more often than not one off things. The ones that are good keep coming back and often get a lot of use. Hell some even become the core of boss fights.

           Speaking of boss fights, I’ll be blunt. I fucking hate the Koopalings. Bowser Jr. is fine because outside of New Super Mario Bros where his boss fights for the entire game were just the same thing but with a world themed gimmick, he’s generally mixing things up with some sort of vehicle. The Koopalings are always the same damn thing every game and it’s really unimaginative. Luckily Bowser invited none of his kids to the wedding and instead has hired the Broodals to help plan his wedding and deal with Mario. All five of these evil rabbits are just well designed boss battles. They are repeated to pad the game out, but the game has several other boss monsters I won’t spoil because they are entirely new species to the Mario franchise that are also super fun to battle. The Broodals are built around Mario’s core mechanics but the other boss fights are generally built with a capture mechanic in mind with only one exception I can think of.

           I want to talk about one other thing and that’s the songs. Even when a game song is terrible I appreciate it. Mario Odyssey has two and both are fantastic. If you’ve seen any marketing at or after E3 you’ve likely heard at least a segment of Jump up Superstar which is the big set piece finale track to New Donk City. Anyone who has beat the game knows about the second song which plays during the very end of the final escape segment after the final boss fight. It is all great and ends the game leaving me wanting more.

[argetcross]

Boku No Hero Adventure [1/?]

After a Decade, UA Games Announces New Sequel to Popular Fantasy RPG Smash Hit, Hero Adventure: Symbol of Peace.

(the wiki and social media fic about a game that doesn't exist)  

Read it here on AO3.

June 15th, 2016 - Game Announcement

Hero Adventure posted:

6/15/15, 4:02 pm

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After a Decade, UA Games Announces New Sequel to Popular Fantasy RPG Smash Hit, Hero Adventure: Symbol of Peace

By Maya Lurelin

June 15, 2015, 3:42 pm

Boku no Hero Adventure is the upcoming new installment to the popular fantasy RPG franchise, Hero Adventure. Known for its memorable characters, engaging mix of simulation and RPG combat, and an engaging fantasy world, Hero Adventure defined the early 90s as one of the most beloved RPG games. The story of All Might and Shimura Nana’s struggle against the villainous All for One inspired spin off light novels, 4-koma, and even one questionable live action movie.

However, after a decade, fans had begun to lose hope that UA release a sequel to continue All Might’s adventures. So imagine the collective shock at the UA panel’s presentation when those familiar chords of “You Say Run” began to swell. At the panel, UA debuted their a 30-second long teaser trailer, mainly showcasing nostalgic environments like the Ingenium Manor and the Pussycat Woods now rendered beautifully in 3d. The trailer ended with a stunning cut of the One for All blade emerging from molten lava and a white gloved hand grabbing its hilt. The title card revealed that the sequel is to be called Boku no Hero Adventure and UA Games is expecting a release date next year in June 2016.

Already fans are clamoring for more details, but at the moment, information seems to be sparse. Little is known about the content of the game or its characters. Many speculate that All Might will no longer be the protagonist, comparing the hand in the trailer to All Might’s, and the game will naturally follow the eighth wielder of the One For All blade. At the panel, lead developer Horikoshi Kohei said:

“It’s been a decade since the original Hero Adventure game was released and so we want to deliver something that will both satisfy fans of the original as well as bring in new fans to the series. In every way, Boku no Hero Adventure is meant to be the next step in the Hero Adventure legacy.”

Likely trailers and other promotional material will begin to be released as 2016 rolls around. So far, Boku no Hero Adventure has been confirmed for the PS4and PC.

Boku no Hero Adventure is set to be coming out Summer 2016 in Japan, English localization not yet confirmed.

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(via kotaku.com) | [Reply | Read Comments]

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AllMightiest

IT’S BEEN 84 YEARSSSSSSSS

*champagne emoji* *clapping emoji* *crying emoji* *champagne emoji*

nyoomenginenyoom

BUT WHAT ABOUT ENGLISH LOCALIZATION, UA DON’T DO THIS TO ME

ghoulparty

I think my heart stopped when I heard those first few notes. My mom came in and asked me why I was crying. THE TREES TILES, MOM, THE TREES TILES. 

X9

im so hype but also if u play as the 9th one for all user, doesn’t this mean all might is dead????

       Sniperforlife > X9

       Spoilers!!!! Also maybe not? Nana giving All Might her powers only made her weak, it didn’t kill her.

       crimsonparty > Sniperforlife

       lol this game has been out for 10 years

       edgelord ruth > Sniperforlife

       but it does mean all might might (heh) be weak and old! I’M NOT READY TO SEE OLD ALL MIGHT. OTL

       Sniperforlife > edgelord ruth

       GRAN TORINO IS GOING TO BE GRANPA TORINO

boombaby

hallelujah i praise the gods of one for all and PLUS ULTRAAAAAAAAAA

now please UA just confirm localization *prayer hands emoji*

[<< 1 2 3 … 18 >>]

Hero Adventure posted:

12/22/15, 5:49 pm

--

BNHA in Famitsu scans, First Look at Midoriya Izuku, the 8 th wielder of One For All, and Exclusive Interview with Neda Hirofumi, Art Director

By Kevin Lee

December 22nd, 2015, 2:28 pm

This week, Famitsu released the first artworks of the protagonist for Boku no Hero Adventure, the highly anticipated sequel of Hero Adventure: Symbol of Peace, coming out June 2016. The issue confirms long held fan suspicions that the game does not feature All Might, the protagonist of HA: SoP, as its main character. Instead, fans can look forward to playing as Midoriya Izuku, the purported student and eight inheritor of the legendary blade, One for All. The game setting is said to take some twenty years after the original Hero Adventure.

[image]

(thank you to Tanaka-san for the scans!)

This magazine issue also included a rare interview with the game’s Art Director, Neda Hirofumi, who talks about the difficulties in moving designs from 2D into 3D. Here are some excerpts below:

Neda: When I was brought on to do the design work for Boku no Hero Adventure I was very nervous! I had actually played the original Hero Adventure when I was in college, on the PS1. So the series was very nostalgic for me. My friends all asked me when I got the job, isn’t it fun to design for the characters and environments you grew up drawing? But I ended up being the unhappiest when the design wasn’t working. *laughs*

Neda: You see, the original Hero Adventure was 2D and it was the era of beautiful sprite work. Your impression of the landscapes and those American comic book battle scenes were really strong. So we had a long debate of whether Boku no Hero Adventure should try to look like that. But Horikoshi-san [the lead developer] really wanted to push our boundaries and not just create something easy. But the effort to really translate the feelings in a 2D world into an original 3D world isn’t easy. *laughs*

Neda: Horikoshi-san knew from the start that we wanted to make a game that was the reverse of a sequel. That became a bit of a catchphrase around the office. How to make a sequel that wasn’t a sequel. And so I let those feelings express themselves in the art and that’s why in 3D, we went with a richer, more stylized design and a kind of visual charm, to really try and make our players go, “oh, this is the world I saved ten years ago, but it’s completely new and I want to explore it”.

Boku no Hero Adventure is set to be coming out July 2016 in Japan, US, and EU for the PS4, WiiU, and PC.

(via kotaku.com) | [Reply | Read Comments]

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[video]

Boku no Hero Adventure - Official Story Trailer - UA Games 2016

UA Games | Subscribe 1.7 m

Published January 12, 2016

Boku no Hero Adventure - coming soon to PS4, WiiU, and PC. Preorder here!

The long awaited sequel to Hero Adventure: Symbol of Peace, is coming soon! Step into a fantasy RPG rife with a rich history and complex stories as the aspiring young hero, Midoriya Izuku, must battle the hidden evils that have begun to move again. At the end of the All Might era, who can hold back the twilight of villainy that threatens to engulf the world? Gather rivals and comrades from the corners of the land and fight for your right to be the successor of One for All!

Show More

Comments 37,843 | Top Comments

nchauz13

[Audio Translation]

In a world that has flourished under the peaceful light of All Might,

The roots of evil have begun to worm their way to the surface.

One young man must be ready to risk everything.

For his greatest dream.

Midoriya (VO): I want to save everyone with a smile!

Midoriya (VO): I might not have any special powers, but if I use my mind and work hard-

Bakugo (VO): Move out of the way you backwater peasant! I’ll be the one to claim the legacy of All Might.

Uraraka (VO): For the sake of my family, I have to do my best! I’m not going to let anyone die on my watch!

Iida (VO): It is the duty of a knight of Ingenium to conduct himself with poise and dignity at all times. I cannot tolerate such abhorrent prices for these radishes!

Find friends and rivals alike and unravel the truth about the festering evil. Choose wisely, for your decisions will affect your friends, their stories, and even the fate of the whole world.

Villain (Name?) (VO): You’re a fool if you think the world needs a hero like you! You can’t save everyone!

Nana (VO): Just remember, Toshinori, a hero’s smile can save their hearts!

Midoriya (VO): GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!

              View 173 replies +

              Supersonicfan

              nchauz13 thank u!!!!

              boomboombaby

              nchauz13 omg the voice acting is so good, is the whole game going to be voice acted?

              ghoulparty

              THE RADISHES RETURN xD

              nchauz13

              boomboombaby no confirmation yet for voice acting. my guess is it’ll just be for cutscenes, knowing UA

              Im still shook over branching paths, i can’t imagine them having the resources for full va

              boomboombaby

              nchauz13 yeah holy shit no wonder they’re releasing on pc

              deathfingers

              nchauz13 hand villain’s voice is sexy af you go ukiyama koki #dontkinkshameme

AkatsukiRed

DID I SEE THAT RIGHT? BRANCHING PATHS IN HERO ADVENTURE?????

              View 53 replies +

              pearable

              AkatsukiRed fuck this changes everything

[sebastiankerben-blog]

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Review

When UbiSoft's first game for the Switch got leaked to some amount, many players were furious. The beloved Nintendo characters of the Mario universe together with UbiSoft's silly casual-game figureheads? How would that not be a recipe for total disaster? But E3 came, Mario + Rabbids got announced properly with Miyamoto taking a spot on UbiSoft's E3 stage and very quickly, sentiments began to change. The game would turn out to be a mix of exploration adventure and turn-based tactics. But did it turn out to be any good?

The story is a silly but fun narrative about the dimension traveling Rabbids stumbling across some sort of fusion device, crash landing in the Mushroom Kingdom and the device causing trouble everywhere by fusing Rabbids with the flora and fauna of the kingdom. It's pretty clear from the start that there is no serious overarching narrative; the story is the silly foundation for a game that wants to exploit the artdesign of Super Mario and the Rabbids in all possible ways and it's really good at that. Speaking of the audiovisual design: lush graphics, a lot of animated background assets and the creative world design all help bringing the game to life but the characters are without any doubt the diamond core of the design. I never liked the Rabbids much but in this game they often made me laugh through their actions and the quality of the animation of those actions; the designers really worked hard to work out the essence of slapstick. The music is also very good, with one particularly outstanding piece of opera interpretation.

Technically the game runs fine after the first patch. Before that it would noticeably dip below 30 Fps in certain situations but after the patch the game always remained at a solid 30 for me. This is important in a larger context because the game runs on UbiSoft's Snowdrop engine, the game engine introduced with The Division and also used in the upcoming Starlink: Battle for Atlas (which is coming out for Switch as well), South Park: The Fractured But Whole and the license games for the next Avatar movies. This means together with AnvilNext 2.0 UbiSoft has already 2 graphic engines for Switch and based on the huge success of Mario + Rabbids it stands to hope that we will see more games and ports from UbiSoft coming to Switch.

The gameplay loop consists of two main parts: you will run around the transformed worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom, solving puzzles, finding switches and looting treasures. Your progression through the worlds is linear but the game does a good job of hiding it most of the time by giving you alternative routes to explore and secrets to find. Regularly you will come across areas marked with pirate style flags. Entering those areas will initiate a turn-based battle, the second big part of the gameplay. In general there are 3 types of those battles: beat all enemies, beat a specific enemy (those are the boss- and miniboss-fights) and reach a certain area within the battlegrounds (sometimes with a certain sidekick character which turns the mission into an escort mission). Your party will only ever consist of 3 different characters and one of them has to be Mario. The other two you can choose from a roster of 7 characters but you need to have at least one Rabbid character on the team (so no Mario, Luigi and Peach team). Each character has a different set of abilities and can use a different type of weapon which means you have a lot of freedom to experiment with your team throughout the game, especially because you can at any time freely redistribute the skillpoints of each character. Can't beat a certain mission? Maybe try out a different team with different skills and weapons. The game's difficulty is fine most of the time; it shouldn't be too hard to make it through most battles okay-ish but if you're after that "perfect" rating for each battle, the difficulty will raise significantly. The perfect rating basically depends not only on your success in the mission but also if none of your characters went KO in the battle and if you managed to finish the battle in a certain amount of turns, forcing you to play as efficient as possible.

The game contains 4 worlds each divided into 8 chapters (except for the last world who has 9 chapters) and those kept me busy between 25 and 30 hours but I will admit that I tried from the very beginning to solve every battle with a "perfect" rating, making me replay some of them 5 to 6 times. If you rush through the game I guess you will still be busy for 20 hours though. Once beaten, every world will open up additional challenge missions and you can also try to find every secret after the game ends and you unlock the last environmental manipulation skill which will keep you busy an additional 5 to 10 hours I guess. And last but not least there is a dedicated set of coop missions that you can play with an online partner. So all in all, the game doesn't just offer good gameplay and fun adventure, it will also keep you busy for a while especially if you're a completionist.

However, the game has some flaws that I don't want to forget. First of all, there is a planning mode at the beginning of each battle which doesn't really deserve the name. You can view the battlefield and change up your team but you can't change the character's starting points or even see their weapon range after moving. And while the difficulty is mostly fine, at the end of the game there is a noticeable spike in difficulty because the game presents you with a set of three consecutive battles and doesn't save in between, so if you mess up one turn in the third battle this means you will have to replay the first two as well. And the biggest issue is this: there is no confirmation prompt before your character moves. This is bad because it means if you carelessly chose one field too much or too less in your movement turn, the character will move there without the possibility of rewinding or changing but since positioning is crucial in a game like this you really have to be focused at all times during the battles.

Despite the lack of support at the end of WiiU's lifecycle, UbiSoft has always been one of the most important 3rd party partners for Nintendo, often trying to make the best of the respective Nintendo console's gimmick. Just think about the sword fighting of Red Steel or the gamepad use in Zombi U. Often those games suffered from a lack in polish, resulting in disappointing sales. But Mario + Rabbids is different in many respects. First off: they took their time to polish this game and didn't rush it just to meet the Switch's release date. Second: they didn't try to do something fancy that relies on HD Rumble or motion controls or JoyCon sharing. They focused on a solid idea, perfectly suited for a console that you can take on the go and executed it very well. The result is a game that is neither revolutionary nor relying on some weird hardware feature. It's just really, really good and fun and the fact that Nintendo was willing to let UbiSoft use their characters to boost sales and really make this a Nintendo exclusive is a very good sign for the Switch's future and tells a lot about the new openness of the video game traditionalist from Kyoto. Unless you really don't like turn-based tactics, this game is worth a buy in my opinion.

8 / 10

[mechanintendomaster]

Chemistry (tentative title/ draft 3)

Chemistry (tentative title/ draft 3)

By: C. Mechayoshi

Created 5/30/17 (first draft)

6/4/17 (second)

7/7/17 (Third)

Summary: Not all Mario characters get along. When they get mixed up anyway, shenanigans occur. (Based on Mario Super Sluggers but is commentary on silly roster choices in a lot of Mario games)

Author note: Yes, this is silly. Enjoy.

Chapter1: Chemistry Crisis

Scenario 1: Shaggy Dog

Toadette marched down the street gang style with her good chemistry pals, Peach, Birdo, Toad, Toadsworth, Noki, and Pink Mii. It was a warm sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom and they were heading down to the park where they would continue to own Toad Town with their tight friendship and good chemistry, or at least while playing baseball..

Peach whipped back her blond ponytail. She was wearing her signature sports attire consisting of a pink tank top and shorts. “It's great to have such amazing friends, isn't it?” she asked no one in particular.

Birdo straightened her bow. She had no special outfit, but she proudly wore a diamond ring (rumored to be a gift from Yoshi) that glistened in the sunlight. “Of course darling! We have the best fun!” However when the two girl’s eyes met, a spark ignited between the two.

“I can't stand you, Birdo!” Peach spat as she stopped walking and crossed her arms. “I’ve hated you since SMB2! You are always spitting eggs ever where you go! How unladylike!! Also as if-”

“Go there darling, and I will slap you to the dream world again,” Birdo warned, glaring back.

Toadette stepped in between them and held her arms out. “Guys! I mean, girls! Stop!!!”

Toadsworth laughed. “Indeed, young ladies! Cannot our mutual love for Toadette bridge the gap between us all?”

Toadette gave the elder a weird look. “Umm...don't say it like that... Let's keep it at having good results on the baseball field.”

“This is about baseball?” Jelectro Bond, the Noki asked. “I feel I am in the wrong story.”

BEEP BEEP. A car loudly honked at the septet. They were in the middle of the street after all. Everyone immediate got on the sidewalk but Birdo and Peach avoided eye contact, Toadsworth stood too close to Toadette, Jelectro was still confused, and Toad and Pink Mii continued to stand around.

Toad grabbed a handful of the popcorn he had. “Anyway, of course you belong. All Nokis love Toadette, and we're the Toadette Typhoons, right? So are we gonna have a cat fight or not?” Toad asked, looking at Peach and Birdo ammusingly.

“No!” Toadette yelled. “Let's just hang out at the park.”

“Yay, the park!” The pink Mii piped up. She was a really basic looking Mii. One might say she was a 'default' one, but she still got along with Toadette and that was all that mattered.

Just around the block, Toadette's arch-enemy Bowser, Goomba, and Paragoomba showed up before the gang could start moving again.

“Well look at these losers!” Bowser teased. He and the goombas stood in a line, taking up the whole sidewalk.

Toadette turned red in frustation. “We just wanna go to the park! Oh-” She abruptly leaned over, wrapping her arms around her self. A second later, the same happened to Peach, Toad and Toadsworth and they lay with Toadette on the hot concrete sidewalk.

“We... all hate Bowser, Goomba, and Paragoomba for…. obvious reasons.... Our fielding stats will now suffer...” Toadette gasped.

Bond scratched his head. “Excusez moi?”

Birdo shook her head in pittyance. “Bad chemistry, dear.”

“That's right pipsqueak!....Wait, I don't feel so good...” The extra large goomba stumbled forwards. “I just HATE Toad and Toadsworth! They think they're better than me!”

Bond lifted his sunglasses. “Richard? Is that you? I feel we should know each other.”

“I don't know you from Adam, shortie!” Dick stammered.

Bowser stepped past Dick. “That was weird.. So anyway, only the greatest king ever could reduce you all to-”

“Bad chemistry is mutual, honey.” Birdo said offhandedly.

Bowser then fell out to the ground in a thud, having bad chemistry with Peach, Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth. “How is this happening?! Besides I secretly love Peach!!!”

Peach opened one eye despite her weakening. “Bowser, you fool, that's no secret!”

Now only Birdo, Bond, Pink Mii, and Paragoomba were left standing.

“What's it gonna be?” the Paragoomba teased. “I got no bad chemistry, what about you all?”

“I am still not sure why I'm here, but I have an odd dislike for Bowser Junior and Petey,” Bond replied. “Junior put a dent on my one million coin Aston Mushroom with his bike and never paid for it. Petey literally ate me on a spy mission, but I would rather not speak about that.”

The paragoomba thought for a moment. “Who knows where that Junior brat is, and Petey Piranha got departed somewhere when WiiU came out. I guess you're safe, spy dude. What about you?” He looked to Birdo.

She put her hand on her hip. “I cannot stand Peach, Tiny Kong, Wario, Blooper, and Waluigi.”

“Peach? Why did she not make you physically ill before?” Bond asked.

“I guess our mutual friendship with Toadette canceled it out the worse effects. And besides, Peach now is on the floor knocked out, like she should be!”

The paragoomba smirked. “Oooh! You two got some bad history, don't ya?”

Birdo huffed. “She's only the stupidest blonde ever! And Tiny? Such a tease. Wario, Blooper and Waluigi are just gross!”

“I do not think I understand how these chemistry rules work, but now what?” Bond asked.

“Leave?” Birdo asked. Birdo, Bond and paragoomba dropped what ever confrontation there was supposed to be, and left everyone else on the floor. Because their chemistry was bad with each other, no one was ever able to move again, thus making this a pointless (shaggy dog) story.

Scenario 2: Buddy Jump?

Mario and Bowser were in the center and left outfield together. Why a player would do that is unknown, but anyway King Boo was at the bat and predictably got a great hit, right between the hero and villain.

“Out of the way, plumber! It's mine!” Bowser growled. His heavy feet moved rapidly in an attempt to follow the ball's shadow.

“It's too high, we'll have to buddy jump!” Mario called, having reached the wall before Bowser.

The ball was still in the air, and about to leave the field when Bowser caught up.

“It's now or never! Trust me!” Mario urged.

Bowser shot him a look. “Well okay, come here!”

They stood by each other to activate the move, but something went wrong. Mario picked up Bowser instead of Bowser picking up Mario. The unnatural power of bad chemistry made Mario fling Bowser over the wall into the audience. Popcorn and hot dogs went everywhere as Bowser’s massive body belly flopped on the stadium seats and audience. Meanwhile, the ball continued souring and went into space resulting in a grand slam with King K. Rool, Funky Kong, and Wario already on bases. King Boo's team won 4-0.

Mario and Bowser,  were standing around in the baseball center lobby, because they weren’t allowed in the party room.

Bowser punched Mario’s shoulder.

“Oww!”

“That’s for making me lose, plumber.” Bowser growled.

Mario distanced himself from the Koopa King. “I think we did the best we could considering we were the only players on our team!”

Just then, Toadsworth entered through the glass doors to the lobby. He had a noticeable tan, as if he’d been lying in the sun on a sidewalk, but that’s oddly specific imagery, isn’t it? His shuffle became a brisk walk the moment he noticed Mario and Bowser.

“Tally ho, Master Mario! The Koopa King is right behind you!” Toadsworth called as he approached.

“I know,” Mario muttered, holding his sore shoulder.

“What did that old man just call me?” Bowser asked.

Toadsworth slowed down to his usual slow pace with a relieved look. “I apologize. It escaped me that you two were the losing team earlier. I had heard that you were partnered with someone unexpected but I assumed that to be anyone but that tyrant!”

“Watch it, old man!” Bowser warned, smoke threatening to pour from his nostrils.

“Well I am proud to announce this!”

“What?” Mario asked.

Toadsworth handed Mario a paper. He looked over it while Bowser stomp his foot impatiently and Toadsworth stood in front of him.

It read that Mario and Bowser's team would be given the win because King Boo was discovered to have been using illegal Boo vitamins, King K. Rool had threatened a coach, Wario had bribed someone, and everyone realized that it was ridiculous that Funky was using a surfboard as a bat.

“We won?!”

Bowser snatched the paper from Mario’s hand. “What? Hey, we did!”

“Congradulations-” Toadsworth’s praise was cut off Bowser’s flame breath.

Mario and Bowser were standing outside the baseball pavilion with ribbons around their necks. Mario looked at his appreciatively. “We might not work well together, but I guess it's good we didn't cheat!”

Bowser responded by punching him in the shoulder again as a spaceship came out of nowhere.

Rosalina came out of the spaceship disgruntledly holding a ball. “Who sent this ball into space? It broke a window in my bedroom and made all of the Lumas cry!”

“Run!” Mario said.

Author note: Jelectro Bond is the telekinetic spy from Mario and Bowser: Frenemies Forever, in case no one gets it. Richard/Dick the goomba is too.

A tale begins with a quote from “SuperLuigi13” of Gamefaqs.

“Bowser Jr.: Dad, what's the roster say about the baby count"

Bowser: IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....I mean 5...”

(Will be relevant later)

[pokemon-go-live]

Pokemon and the Nintendo Switch

Bear with me, Trainers, this is going to be a bit of an opinion piece.

We’ve sure had a fun last couple of years in the Nintendo franchise.  We saw the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon games pass us by in 2016, along with a whole year of events and the release of Pokemon Go.  There was a limited showing around the U.S. of “The First Movie,” a Mythical Pokemon every month for the XYORAS games, and a whole new focus on the world that we know and love.  We saw the release of Sun and Moon, issuing a whole new generation of Pokemon to love - not to mention Alolan forms of some of the original species, and a nod to the original protagonist and rival of the RBY series, Red and Blue.

Cue the year 2017, and we know there’s another important 20th anniversary coming up -- the anniversary of the Pokemon anime, which began in Japan on April 1, 1997.  And this year, 20 years later, the film focuses on an apparent retelling of Ash’s first adventures with Pikachu. The concept of the movie has the Pokemon fandom in a bit of an uproar -- is this just a retelling in modern-style animation as a homage?  Is it just going to gloss over Ash’s original adventure to make the current child watching the XY/Sun and Moon anime series up to speed on his history?  Is it a true relaunching of the anime?

Also, today is March 3rd -- the release date of Nintendo’s new promising console, the Switch.

I only bring up the 20th anniversary of the games and anime to highlight a point that some people are quite adamant about (me included), and some are horribly against.

What would everyone think about revisiting the worlds of Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal as combined HD 3D remakes on the Switch?

“But, Lacey,” I hear you argue, “RBY and GSC both got remakes already!”

I hear you.  But remember, Red and Blue were remade during the Game Boy Advance era -- Gen 3, the era of Ruby and Sapphire and Emerald, which has already been remade on the 3DS.  These games are 13 years old, having come out in 2004.  There is no current, accessible way to play Fire Red or Leaf Green unless you’re running an emulator.  The GSC remakes are not much better -- having come out on the original Nintendo DS in 2009 -- 8 years ago.  Also, keep in mind that Pokemon also focuses on kids, and kids in the target demographic were likely not even born or were too young to play when the remakes were released.

“But,” you say, “RBY came out for the Virtual Console last year.  GSC probably can, too.  So you can play those games.”

As much nostalgia as I enjoyed when I listened to the old Game Boy music and watched the dated pixels, children (and adults without nostalgia glasses) nowadays are less likely to be interested in the Virtual Console releases.  The demographic here is clearly the people who played the original games on Game Boy in 1996+.  

So you’ve got an entire two generations of Pokemon who have never received full 3D graphics, which have aged likely too much for Pokemon’s target demographic.

Let’s also keep in mind that Nintendo has everything to lose this console generation, and everything to prove.  The Wii was a success in itself, but the WiiU was a comparable failure.  It sold fewer units, and had a much smaller library.  Nintendo is clearly doubling down with the Nintendo Switch and the response by the community has already seemed fantastic with sold-out preorders and hyped midnight releases.  I haven’t heard much else from Day 1 Switch’ers, however, because I assume they’re all playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which got amazing reviews.

Even GameFreak stated, back when the Switch was still the fabled “NX,” that if the console was truly a home/portable hybrid, “We would absolutely make games for that system.”

A Few Reasons These Remakes Makes Sense:

Pokemon Go relaunched the franchise into general public, not just among gamers, anime watchers, or longtime fans.

Nostalgia is obviously a moving force that Nintendo heavily capitalizes on.

Pokemon sells consoles.  

It seems like there’s an even split between the fandom, at least among vocal members, on loving or hating the idea of Kanto remakes on the Switch, based on the Pokemon subreddit communities.  The main argument against Kanto remakes themselves tend to be the following:

- Fire Red and Leaf Green exist (which I debated why this matters less, now)

- The Virtual Console games are out (again, more of a moot point)

- Kanto is boring*

- Kanto is poorly designed**

- I believe that GameFreak can only make so many games, and I don’t want them to remake a game I’ve played when they can make new content+

* Woah!  Let’s think about that for a second -- the world we know as Kanto as made in the simple engine of Pokemon Red/Blue and Yellow on the Game Boy is certainly simple.  Heck, your character doesn’t even move on the screen - the background actually moves around them.  This was an effort to save space during development.  Remember, the Game Boy is ancient in technology standards -- and the Game Boy Advance is still worlds away from the Switch’s power.  GameFreak can have all the creative license it wants to change up and add flavor to the region when especially technology limitations kept them back in the past.

** Again, see my above point -- Kanto is a product of its generation.

+ I can see this point, I really can.  However, Nintendo did something unprecedented when it came to its system -- they have now condensed the need for having essentially two development teams on separate handheld or home consoles -- they now have the one.  And yes, GameFreak isn’t necessarily a part of this, but certainly some equal ground must exist here.  Also, in developing the 3D engines in the first place, assets are more “recyclable” in this form than the old sprites, which needed to be redone EVERY. SINGLE. GAME.  Remember how often Assassin’s Creed games came out?  Call of Duty?  Madden and Fifa?  Why can’t GameFreak produce a steady stream of Pokemon games every year as they mostly have in the past?  Especially with Pokemon Bank, it becomes more valuable to have more and more iterations that touch different parts of the world and the PokeDex because the “generation gap” is not necessarily going to be more pronounced.  Collectors already pride themselves on having generation-specific movesets or rare Pokeballs on Pokemon -- this only adds more flavor as well and opens the games, past and present, to more individuals.

My proposition is to combine both Kanto and Johto into one (or two, if editions are made) games that gives you an option in which region to start.  If you pick Kanto, you select from the Kanto starters, go through the Kanto storyline, with Johto post-game.  If you pick Johto, you go through the GSC storyline, with Kanto post-game.  Of course, plenty more features could be added to supplement perceived gaps in quality.

What do you think?  Would you want to revisit Kanto and Johto on the Switch?

[ntslttrspxls]

Games I finished in 2016

(not necessarily from that year) Sooo, I’m a bit late when it comes to my personal gaming retrospective of 2016. BUT here goes. It has been a successful year when it comes to gaming for me. I completed a few titles that have been really fun, long overdue or just surprisingly surprising because I hadn’t heard of them ever before. I completed 16 games, which not necessarily came out in 2016 but were still on my list. So here’s what I played last year and below you’ll find detailed opinions on them. 

1.  Transformers Devastation (PS3)

First game I finished in 2016 ‘cause I got it for Christmas in 2015. First things first: I love Platinum Games, although I don’t love all their games alike. But the company itself I appreciate a lot, especially for the Bayonetta series. And they made a Transformers game that looks like the old 80s cartoon and not the dark, modern Michael Bay crap the Transformers have become these days? ‘Awesome’, I thought and I wasn’t disappointed. Yes, the level design is very repetitive and has a lot of, well not back tracking but let’s say they recycle the setting a lot: there’s a city, one part is active for one mission, then you proceed to a different part for another mission and eventually come back to the first part for the third mission. Not exactly refreshing but you still get to shoot or punch Decepticons in the face with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Sideswipe or Wheeljack. Plus later in the game the settings vary a little more. The gameplay is classical Platinum games style: run around, beat shit up, collect stuff mainly to get stronger, proceed, repeat. Exactly what a proper Transformers videogame needs. It has the typical Bayonetta-style “witch time” effect where you evade an attack at the right moment just to enter a slow-motion mode for a few seconds where your enemies are slow and you keep on banging. All is well. It looks totally like the TV series which kiddo-me loved to death, the soundtrack is a mixture of badass metal, dubstep (ugh, I used the word) and neo-/modern metal. RAD! So: nothing to complain here. Sure, it could be more diverse and stuff, but it gave me exactly what I wanted and expected from the game. I had a hell of a time with this one. And you could even get more out of it because there is a looting and crafting concept where enemies drop parts and weapons which you then can combine into more powerful or more diverse weapons (take a strong machine gun and combine it with an ice-effect machine gun and you get a strong ice-effect MG; you get the point). It’s fun to experiment with different weapons and combine so many until you find the perfect weapon for every Autobot. So if you’re a fan of the 80s cartoon series: pick it up! Now! It’s become dirt cheap pretty quickly. No excuses. (picture credit: Steam)

2.  Yoshi’s Woolly World (WiiU)

Got this as a present, too. For my birthday in 2015 by my good friend and gaming buddy Christian.  Not much to say here, either. It’s a Nintendo game. So naturally it looks gorgeous, the gameplay will work just fine and it will be a lot of fun. To be precise: yes, it did exactly this. But in a really great way. The graphics are extremely unique and innovative. The wool&yarn setting provides so many new takes on level design, art direction and gameplay ideas that the Nintendo team could just go nuts with it. With Yoshis tongue as a tool you can for example untie parts of the level to “unravel” (sic!) hidden passages it’s just adorable how you go “Aaahh”, each time you find something. Everything looks like good ol’ grandma knitted it herself with all the love she can put into a woolly stuffed animal or pillow. Everything looks organic and handmade which sets the game into a very graspable and physical world. Plus, typical for Nintendo: it’s not only for kids. Sure, it’s cute and all but the levels are actually pretty challenging. Especially if you want to collect all the thingamabobs and collectibles you can get in each level: collect five balls of yarn in each level to unlock a new colored Yoshi you can pick to play with. So the completionist really gets something out of this. Long story short: it’s a wonderful title and not just another Nintendo game but really creative, especially in game design and level design.  (picture credit: Amazon)

3. Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture (PS4)

I heard about it shortly before I got a PS4 and I simply don’t play games on my PC or Mac that often. So I bought it right away because the idea and art style stoked me. The art style is not very, unique, since it’s basically pretty realistic. But the town they created is selling it. It’s authentic. You can visit the houses, they look as if people lived here a short time ago. Which is what actually happened.  It’s one of the slightly patronizingly named “Walking Simulators”. I don’t think that this genre specification is derogatory because it just says what it is: you walk around a setting and explore things without too much interaction. In the end the voice acting and the mystical story behind the game took me by the hand and led me through the experience and left me thinking. I love it when games make me think about what I’ve just witnessed. So here’s to a great Walking Simulator with wonderful sound, story and voice acting.  (picture credit: Polygon)

4. Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon (Wii)

This was recommended to me by a friend who told me that I’d love it because he knew my preferences in videogames, which he does. Farewell Ruins of the Moon is some kind of, well, it feels like a survival horror adventure at the beginning of the survival horror genre. Think early PS2 or Dreamcast era. The battle mechanics are dusty and wodden, the item management is tedious and a little annoying, the graphics are one step behind what was standard on the Wii. But still I grew to enjoy the game because of the beautiful setting, characters and story. Your main character is kind of left in a world where there’s not much left at all. He has to find out what happened and if there are others left, too. You find a girl which then runs away. From then on you try to find her. And after accepting that it’s like playing a good PS2 game instead of a polished Wii game I started loving everything about it (apart from the things I just criticised). I played it with original japanese voice and subtitles which made me enjoy the game a helluva lot more. I love japanese culture and it made the game better! Now it felt like an early take on what later became NIER, which I totally adore. The battle system is not really similar, but in a small scope I guess does have comparisons. But setting and look feel a little bit like Caviars masterpiece on Xbox360 and PS3 NIER. Over the course of the game you meet different characters and their respective background stories, which is really similar to NIER.  All in all I recommend this game to anyone who can overlook the obvious flaws and who still enjoys PS2-era action-adventure games in an anime setting with a great story. (picture credit: Romulation.net)

5.  Until Dawn (PS4)

Well, this is interesting. I heard a (german) podcast (Insert Moin) about Until Dawn before I owned a PS4 and heard them speak about this horror game with stereotype story, stereotype characters and overall very flat features. But they still said that the looks and the execution of these uninspired basic ideas totally hooked them. So I tried it and MAN was this a good horror game. And not only because they hired so many good actors to play the parts of the characters (like Rami Malek from Mr. Robot) but because the horror just kept up with the pace of the game. Each time I thought, “All right, brace yourself for the next expectable jump-scare” - it didn’t happen. The setting was just about right, the sound, the camera angle, the tension and then… nothing. “Whoops, okay. Maybe lat— BOOM”, and there it was. Shocked me to the core. Every_flippin’_time! I love myself a good horror game. But I’ve played so many that most of the “scary effects” just don’t touch me anymore. So here’s Until Dawn which actually has an intriguing storyline that makes you want to find out what’s behind all of it, with it’s stereotypical characters who actually react pretty well to each other depending on how you decide to play each and everyone of them. It’s a little like Heavy Rain with more characters that you can all play and a more horror setting (and with less shitty controls and a less shitty ending). Any horror game or -movie fan should play this! (picture credit: Until Dawn Wikia) 6.  Uncharted 4 (PS4)

Well, it’s Uncharted. It’s like Indiana Jones but without Nazis and, well, that’s about it. I loved Uncharted 2, didn’t care for part 1 too much and haven’t played 3 because everybody said it’s boring and focused too much on the failed 3D-TV feature. But part 4 really got me again. I think it’s the best Uncharted after 2, as far as I can compare them all. Pirates, wonderful graphics, good ol’friends and foes, nice acting… A very good game.  (picture credit: Playstation.com)

7.  ABZÛ (PC)

I already posted something about this game right after I played it. Short: It’s JOURNEY underwater. But it’s not just that. It’s very beautiful, a lot of fun to just swim around and for every diving-fan a must play. The more you play it the more gorgeous it gets. Wonderful game.  A story told without words. Always totally gets me. Plus like its spiritual predecessor Journey the soundtrack was written by the amazing Austin Wintory (link in the next bit). (picture credit: abzugame.com) 8.  Journey (PS4)

There’s not much to say about JOURNEY these days. Anyone who hasn’t played it yet misses out on one of the best and most artistic approaches to videogames in the entire history of the medium. It is the first video game that was ever nominated for a Grammy for its marvellous soundtrack by amazing composer Austin Wintory (it didn’t win, but it was nominated!). It has one of the best online-multiplayer experiences ever where you meet other players along the way through the game who are in the same level as you and you then simply meet. Since there is no teamspeak, nor can you see the gamertag of that person, you have to communicate (if you want to approach the other player) through jumping, making a noise and walking and waiting if the other player follows you. Play it. Please play Journey. I finished it about 4 times now since release and in 2016 for the first time on PS4. It’s always a unique experience.  Here the story is also told without any words, spoken or written. Absolutely my joint. (picture credit: thatgamecompany.com) 

9.  Love You To Bits (iOS) 

This little 2D-puzzle adventure on iOS comes from a few artists behind Tiny Thief (which is very visible, but not in a negative way). You are are guy who’s in love with a robot girl. She gets destroyed and you have to search the whole universe to collect her bits and reassemble her. It’s incredibly detailed and shows a great deal of thought they put into the level design, little anecdotes and reminiscenses to other games. For example in one level there you go to an arcade and have to collect tokens from the arcade machines in order to exchange them for a prize that you need. These arcade machines are all teeny tiny games on their own. One Zelda-style, one Metroid-style and one other classic I just forgot about (I think it wasn’t Mario but something similar). Also it has the classic point-and-click humor to it that you want to click on a person or an item more than once because it’s just funny to watch what happens each time. There’s not only one single reaction. Each level has so many different layers of obvious beauty, deeper design of the puzzles and incredible re-defining ideas of how the level design and game design can be altered in order to keep up the playing experience. Very well done and it has a lot of levels that kept me playing for a long long time for a mobile game. Plus there are some collectibles that are actually fun to discover because they mostly are incorporated in little extra puzzles that you don’t have to solve to complete the level but if you like the challenge it’s great.  Again: story without words. I LOVE it to bits.  (picture credit: loveyoutobits.com)

10.  The Bug Butcher (PS4)

Buddies of a buddie of mine made this Super Putty-like game. It kinda looks like some sort of Super Meat Boy in space with the Super Putty game mechanics. It’s good, short fun with very well animated enemies, a good weapons and upgrades system and a nice fast paced gameplay. Definitely a recommendation for all of you old school gamers out there.  There’s really not much more to say about it. You play some sort of pest-control bug smasher and have to rid a lab from alien bugs and other creatures. Level by level you eliminate waves of bugs, trying to keep up your combo and collecting nice temporary weapon updates. It’s good fun and also a great co-op title, I suppose (haven’t played in two player mode yet). (picture credit: awfullynicestudios.com) 11.  Shovel Knight (WiiU) 

Wuahahaha, Shovel Knight is SO MUCH of everything I loved about the NES. It’s Mega Man, Castlevania, Metroid, Contra, Faxanadu and Zelda II in ONE GAME COMBINED. I love it a lot. The gameplay surely is inspired by all the aforementioned games but Yacht Games made it clear that they simply took everything they loved about these kinds of games and forged something beautiful out of it instead of just copying the good. It’s highly detailed in art style, music, game design and feel of the game that I couldn’t leave my hands off of it until I finished it. Some levels were actually too challenging so I left them out (well, the optional ones, naturally; otherwise I couldn’t have finished it) but overall it’s never too frustrating. Like in Super Meat Boy (my go-to example of perfect game design) Shovel Knight lets you know where you went wrong when you die and gives you a chance to make things right in collecting the loot that you lost dying. All in all it’s a great game for all the NES-lovers out there. Play it! No matter the system (Wii, Vita, PS4, 3DS) - it’s awesome! Oh, and check out the soundtrack by Jake Kaufman who also did some wonderful soundtracks for my beloved Shantae series, Double Dragon Neon and Mighty Switch Force. Get it here on Bandcamp for name-your-price (and please pay a buck or two for it; it’s totally worth it). (picture credit: yachtclubgames.com)

12. Pony Island

Yeah… one of the weirdest and still most intriguing games I’ve ever played, I’d say. It makes you think that the game actually f*cks with your computer. It’s fascinating how for example it tricks you into thinking that your computer does something regularly only for you to realize that it was a decoy. Overall the coding sequences, the weird jump’n’run passages and the general “genre”… it’s one of a kind. I also wrote a seperate review on this one. For that check this older post.  (picture credit: giga.de) 13.  The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4) 

Yet another “walking simulator”, but with a twist. We have some strange meta-puzzles going on here, some David Lynchian shenanigans going on and overall a sad but interesting story to unravel. You’re a detective or PI of some sort who tries to find out what happened with Ethan Carter. The story is told via ghostly visualizations of past events of the former townspeople. Setting/graphics is good and the whole game is always good for a surprise. Check it out.  (picture credit: theastronauts.com)

14.  Adventure Time: Finn&Jake Investigations (PS4)

“Who wants to play videogames?” I love Adventure Time and this game feels basically like playing Adventure Time. It’s an adventure (duh!) and this genre suits the TV show very well. The dialogues are funny, the voices are real (except, I’m not sure and too lazy to google but Lumpy Space Princess didn’t sound quite right; she might have been voiced by someone else) and the graphics are beautifully detailed. Just as in the show. And you have Marceline, Ice King, Tree Trunks, Finn and Jake of course, Beamo, LSP, Cinnamon Butler, Starchy, Bubblegum Princess, Flame Princess… everyone you love. The puzzles are rather simple and overall it’s a game for kids, I’d say. Still I had a lot of fun with it.  (picture credit: Steam)

15. Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (3DS)

Now here’s my discovery of the year! I actually downloaded the Game Boy Color game on my 3DS before after a buddy of mine recommended it to me. But I haven’t spent much time with it. Then Humble released a 3DS bundle, so I got Shantae and The Pirate’s Curse, too. And this is one of the best (even if it’s not the deepests but still good) Metroidvania games I have played in a long long time. The setting is utterly fresh and unique with Shantae being a half-genie who protects an island from pirates and such. The graphics are like a mixture of anime and Disney and the characters are adorable, even the bad ones. The level design is beautiful and very diverse. There’s Metroidvania-typical back tracking which is still fun because of the great level design and art style: you can remember where there was that one particular item you could only get if you are able to jump higher, if you know what I mean. The boss fights are great, the items are good, the only thing I would have wished for is more character development as in Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night. There are some permanent improvements of Shantae but some of them I didn’t use that much. But I guess that’s true also for Metroid and Castlevania.  I fell in love with the franchise, bought XSEEDs boxed version of the new “1/2 Genie Hero” for PS4 (finally HD sprites) and the older versions from Limited Run Games. I’m happy that Shantae is in my life now. :) Awesome Soundtrack by Jake Kaufman again. (picture credit: Playstation Store)

  16.  Dragon’s Crown (PS3)

And finally I completed Dragon’s Crown. I simply adore Vanilla Ware’s art style. It’s perfect. It’s manga style with a traditional japanese AND a traditional medieval touch. It’s so unique. Although the overly lascivious looks of some female characters in the game stirred up quite the discussion. I myself think that it’s beautiful and not sexist. The women characters are just as overly exaggerated as the male ones and just so they are equally strong. But it’s not just the looks of Vanilla Ware. They make astonishing games, too. The gameplay of Dragon’s Crown is basically a simple side scroll hack’n’slash like Castle Crashers or Golden Axe. There’s much more character development though, like in Diablo. With the use of Runes you can use magic, you grind for nice weapon drops and stats increase and you constantly mix up your party with the revived warriors whose bones you brought back from your battles. The story is told well without cinematics but with great slightly animated still pictures of the characters, each of which you could print and hang on your wall easily. So well made. Plus after one complete run (it took me 18 hours) there’s the new game + with new tasks, side quests, harder enemies and basically the same levels in more difficult if you want to get the most out of the game. I highly recommend this to any fan of the aforementioned games or any real time RPGs. 

(picture credit: dealspwn.com)

 P.S.: all pictures I took from teh internets. I credited each page where I got the pics from. If any owner of these pictures wants me to take them down, just let me know and I’ll follow accordingly. 

[ohifonlyx33]

Ha ha ^^ that's nice! Everyone was a noob and is a noob when you start a new game. And yes I play on PC and on Consoles (ps4 at the moment) and since a very long time actually ^^ I love rpg and j-rpg I finished Witcher 3 and FFXV not long ago ;) But I play almost all kind of game ! I have bought Syberia 1 and 2 in the last Steam sales so probably next (I just finished Just cause3 lol) My favorite are FF7, Zelda oot, Mass effect, uncharted, tomb raider, the last of us (a master piece!) so many

fun fact: when I was a pre-teen,   my parents asked me if i wanted something like a Nintendo for Christmas. i said yes! I thought I’d get like maybe a Gameboy or something... and instead they got me some really lame plug-and-play controller that had like 100+ pointless arcade games and I resented each one of them. I tried to play with it for like a month and gave up because it was soooo boring. I’m really not into arcade games. There’s no appeal to me at all. It was like retro, but from before my time and not even in a cool way. One of my older brothers also had a PS3 at the time and I felt it was very unfair. 

Then when I was 17 after my brother had moved out and took his PS3 and my parents once again asked me if I wanted a gaming console. I clarified what they meant, and said I would. I started to get excited. My parents, not knowing much about gaming or tech, even asked me about the different kinds and different games, etc. I think I said an Xbox would be my first choice, but that it was also more expensive and I told them playstation was cool too. I told them that I didn’t think a Wii was really worth the money because there weren’t many wii games that appealed to me.But I was immensely surprised that they even offered to get me a gaming console because I knew they didn’t like video games and because such things cost about 2 or 3 times the amount of money my parents would usually spent on a child for Christmas (as a lower-middle class family with 5 kids, we didn’t have big luxuries). Of course, I then got a Wii... SIGH. I mean, I can’t really complain. It was a nice gift and they meant well... but they could have just given me... IDK a gift card to buy computer games or something. 

My wii came with freaking Mario Kart (which is okay if you have parties and you want to have races with friends... but I don’t have friends come over and do that sort of thing). Unfortunately, there are not a lot of dragons in Mario Kart. I think that was intentional on their part. I mean, who wants their young daughter becoming a level 20 dragon-slaying Elf Rogue when she could be racing down Rainbow Road? Oh... and by the very next Christmas, they had stopped producing Wii in favor of WiiU. So the possibility of even getting games for my Wii went waaay down. I did get to play a few cool games though Zelda: twilight princess (actually, I never finished it), Spider-man: EoT, and a Marvel Superhero game (I think it was Lego?).

So no, I don’t do consoles anymore. Mostly because of the cost. But you know what? My TV looks like crud anyway. And I’d rather hide in my room.

I really, REALLY wanted to [play Uncharted, but it’s not for PC as far as I can tell. :( That’s the one downside. What about Assassin’s Creed? ‘Cause I was having trouble following that one, but I really wanted to play it. The controls and gameplay just seem tedious and confusing. 

if you send me your steam account i’ll add you, but like... idk if there would be any reason since I don’t really use steam for anything but downloading games.

[thatguysamaniac-blog]

Acid rounds is a semi regular, irregular spot on TGAM for games we have beasted from start to finish. This week it's 10 year old Super Mario Galaxy 2 originally released on the Nintendo Wii. Richie: Galaxy Eh, that implies this game is pretty huge... Is it? Cunzy1 1: Well yes, but I haven't spent the last ten years solid on it. After finishing the first Galaxy game, I downloaded it on the WiiU where it sat for quite a while. Richie: What Classes/Races can I play as Cunzy1 1: You can play as Mario Mario or sometimes at random intervals, Luigi Mario. Both are acros although with high enough skill levels can DPS the aggro. Unlike class based games like WoW and Elder Scrolls though, button mashing won't get you far in this one (did I do it right?). Richie: How do you define Beasted in this game Cunzy1 1: Okay, so I just got to the main credits which, in true Mario style is around halfway through the game. As you may imagine there are secret worlds, hidden stars, prankster comets, green stars... Richie: Is it as good as Odyssey? Cunzy1 1: You know, I don't know because I have this backward rule where I can only play through gaes chronilogically so there's another 6 Mario games to go before I get to Odyssey. OH NO THAT'S YOU THAT IS. Richie: I like microtransactions they not only make a game more enjoyable but also facilitate climax, this game has microtransactions, right? Cunzy1 1: When this game came out it was getting high scores despite not having any microtransactions at all. I'm very dissappointed in this as I can now just play it straight through on a legacy console without missing out on a time limited, store dependent, licensing kerfuffle content. Maybe reviewers missed this at the time? Richie: Why do furries like Yoshi when he is not furry? Cunzy1 1: I think that technically, they're yarnies not furries you racist. Richie: What two Mario games does this one sit between in the scale of Mario games? Cunzy1 1: Musical scale? Chronological scale? Quality scale? Fun scale? Smooshing all those together I'd say it wasn't quite as good as Galaxy but better than New Super Mario Bros. Richie: Do Mario and Peach wear cat outfits in this game, is it Yiff? and is that sort of thing "cool"? Cunzy1 1: No they don't and I think you've got one more furry based question before we need to have an introspection about your likes, interests and fetishes. Richie: Is there any point in playing this since Mario 64 was better? Cunzy1 1: There are more graphics in this one, like 82 or something. Richie: What is the story arc like, is it your typical 3 arc story? Cunzy1 1: The story is like, so remember Mario Galaxy and Rosalina was on this space hub and you had to get the starries to open up the space engine? Well now you're on a Mario Head Ship with a linear level selection and Rosalina and the lumas aren't in this game at all... OR ARE THEY? Richie: What resident evil game would you most liken this one to, and why? Cunzy1 1: Because this game is quite platform heavy and set in space I'd say Dino Crisis 3. Richie: Does Mario have a penis? Thoughts.... Cunzy1 1: The Internet beat you to it. Richie: Are the pipes in Mario a living organism? There seems to be some sentience behind them which disturbs me late at night... Cunzy1 1: I wouldn't say they were living in a strict sense, more like a huge neurologically triggered network so they react in limited reflex action-like ways but otherwise couldn't be said to be living. Richie: Nintendo or Nntendont, that is the question... Cunzy1 1: Nintendo right now. Richie: What did you do in the war daddy? Cunzy1 1: Listen I tried to sign up, I did but it was mt eyesight, no my hearing. Plus I was too tall or was it short? It was arguably harder on the folks at home than those dying on the frontlines anyway. I'm THE VICTIME. SYMPATHISE MEE. Richie: Dungarees... Fashion statement or pure comfort? Cunzy1 1: The Mario Bros and their evil mirrorses are THE only people who can carry off dungarees in non-trade settings. If you're wearing dungarees and not saving the Mushroom kingdom or doing plastering or painting, honestly, you're just signposting how awful you are. And no, wearing dungarees doesn't instantly make you a 'creative' that's just lazy writing in teen rom coms. Dungarees and no other clothes isn't sexy either it just makes you look like you flaunt basic health an safety regulations. Second only to that fringe that won't go away, you know the one, dungarees are a crime against aesthetics. Yes I'm gatekeeping dungarees.

http://www.thatguys.co.uk/2020/05/acid-rounds-super-mario-galaxy-2-wii.html