#zelda gameplay gets me on board. hell yeah finally

[thestarmaker]

ordered skyward sword for the switch bc eventually I'll try breath of the wild/tears of the kingdom and also I don't think I'll ever finish it if I'm confined to the wii and I want so badly to finish it myself

[prof-peach]

If you could cross over two of your favorite games, which would you choose? Please explain, why that crossover would be a good match.

Oh you’re going to regret asking this one, I’m bout to GET SERIOUS.

So Pokemon, obvs, I love the whole world it’s built in, but the games imo are REALLY boring, I haven’t enjoyed one a lot since gale of darkness, the main ones just are a little too linear obvious plots, pretty standard setups for story and style. Speaking of style, the games lack personality, the models aren’t animated well, moves have no dynamic energy or visual difference at times, and the turn based battle style just feels kind of, I don’t know, old? Slow? Just doesn’t suit what I enjoy personally, gives me a FInal Fantasy vibe and I just cannot stand the speed at which things happen in those games, plus not into 3rd person ‘let’s build a team of people’ much, but that’s a problem for another time. With this all in mind, the game I wish would happen is like gen20 Pokemon, far future sadly, I doubt I’d see it in my lifetime but god I’d be happy if I did!

Ok so take the newest Zelda graphics, the visual treat that was BOTW, open world, puzzles, not JUST combat, you got side missions, hunt the chickens, find missing pets, parcels, items, whatever. Love it! The horse taming?! Amazing you funky little game. Now take the bad guys and beasts from that. And put Pokemon in instead. Give them the diversity, the life and believable natures that BOTW gave the animals, I followed a frog in BOTW for 15 minutes, and it was a great experience, it felt like it was believable. Above world spawning, ACTUAL difficult gameplay, rare spawn rates, make dragons hard to get again, cmon, it’s too easy now, make it so we need a certain set of Pokemon for certain tasks. Water types big enough to carry you will be able to get you to new areas, rock types that can help you climb mountains faster, or break through blocking boulders. Actual towns with more than 4 houses in them, shops, barns, farms, homes. Like little link with the heat, maybe ice types would struggle in volcano areas, or bug Pokemon not be so comfortable in gale force winds. Give the weather more of an effect on your partners. Mounts, don’t even get me started that Pokemon Let’s go had you able to ride any of the larger species, but swsh did not???? Bitch please, give me my rideable Pokemon. The wild area too was far too closed, limited, online was laggy and a mess, camping is limited, let me do more with my team. Pokemon for me is all about the actual creatures, how they live with humans, and the many wonderful things they’re capable of. Yes of course it’s cool they can fight, but like what else you know?

I’d love a game that lets me buy a plot of land, maybe plant things, custom build things. I’m a sucker for the fallout4 settlement builds when they’re modded to hell and back, they’re fun! It can be a really calm and creative process. If I could do that and skip the main campaign and all the battles for a bit? Amazing, it sound perfect for me. I am that distracted hoe collecting flowers while the kingdom burns in the background. Side quests are everything to me. Let me give homeless people enough money to get them in a home? Let me adopt Pokemon that are stray around the town? Plz oh plz bring me a Pokemon game that allows me to work WITH my team to do more than KO other species. I want to save and buy a plow for my buddy gogoat, and grow amazing foods to sell to get currency to spend in decorations, to spoil my team. Give me actual game consequence, if I ignore that sick and injured Pokemon I find in the wild, later maybe it’s family don’t want to help me out with a different problem, too stricken from grief. I am all about the average bits, the old women who need help, the lost pets board in town, the general day to day stuff. Let me get cosmetic items for the Pokemon I keep, cute outfits, special gemstone items, let me actually live with them, or even feel remotely like they’re realistic.

Ok so in game, if it’s looking like BOTW it’s pretty beautiful but also stylised, I’d have it so you can send out a maximum of 3 Pokemon from your 6, using bumpers and such to throw them out. If you hit the trigger you switch from controlling the human trainer, to the Pokemon you’ve targeted with a standard lock on targeting system. You then can be the leader, but be the Pokemon. You could technically defeat the game without a human if you wanted, which incorporates the mystery dungeon games I think, and caters to that crowd. I’d love to see the use of attacks out of battle, things like using water gun to grow plants, using ember to start a campfire faster and stave off the cold. There’s no consequence to Pokemon anymore, and I think that’s where it’s lost me. I have to admit I miss the days of a poisoned pokemon fainting if you don’t heal them soon enough, I miss gym battles that were actually tough, damn, try picking charmander in red and beating brock without grinding in viridian forest first, it’s not easy. And I loved that. Yes it’s a child’s game, it will never be difficult again, but god it’d be nice to have a bit of a challenge, or maybe a difficulty setting, so some could play it with hostility turned off, great for kids, or you can be n adult like I know so many Pokemon fans are, and play it on expert mode and ACTUALLY have to work hard to beat the game. Alternate skill trees anyone? Train gun a fire type to ACUTALLy combat water moves?? Please! Cmon! It frustrated me that every challenger has pretty much a systematic set of moves to use to win. Grass opponent? Fire attack spam until you win. It’s dull, so at least with very difficult tricks to either find or learn in game would make it more achievable if you can send that fire type in and I don’t know, train them so much the heat evaporates the water mid-battle and you suddenly have a shot at winning. Pokemon has taught me that if you work hard enough you can achieve something, but the games just have such strict ways to win. Feels wrong.

In terms of battling, let us BE the Pokemon, let us learn to dodge, train our speed, train our defence, make a team of truly tough Pokemon instead of just, average? Some species have a cap on their skills, a squirtle has lower stat points than a Charizard, but you can’t ever change that? Let me choose the Pokemon I believe in, and let me work with them until they’re just as good, if not better than the game tanks. This would also make online battles more interesting. Everyone picks the top trio. Fairy, dragon, legendaries. And yknow what? It’s boring. That one IRL fight with the monster Pacharisu that won in the world tournament with follow me and the situs Berry? Unbelievable, I love that little rat so much because of this, so let us all have a chance to build a team that’s strategically viable, strong, and potentially a winner formula, even if they aren’t fully evolved, or the biggest Pokemon in the world. Yeah maybe you have to grind way harder with your unevolved Pokemon, but you get to the end game and win, because you put love and time into species that you enjoy, not just good fighters.

Unfortunately I am beholdent to Todd-idiot-Howard, and I love the Eldrescrolls and fallout games (before they got dumb, not that I don’t play the new ones. 76 I’m looking at you, you big asshole game.) honestly I hate online games, so none of that junk, just a good old fashioned open world sandbox game is plenty. Games for me are an escape from others, not an invitation to socialise. To each their own of course, and I do play online games sometimes, just pretty short lived ones, over watch and rdr2 for example. Would they be sometimes better on private servers? Yes of course, fallout76? Want to play with others? No. I do not. Please leave me alone. And if you buy a private server you’re feeding the monster that is Todd Howard, the man the myth the asshole, then we’ll get more bad games like 76. I just so desperately want the Pokemon company to see what a beautiful potential game they’ve got on their hands, that could be suitable for far greater audiences, but instead they’ve focused on the kids. It’s fine, it’s functional, but it’s lost to the fans from day 1, that are all 20+ years old now and want something meatier to play, something far more broad and inclusive. I also hate that there’s no wheelchair option in any Pokemon game. Like cmon, it’s not hard to include that.

In short, BOTW + Pokemon, with a sprinkle of open world sandbox to it, less fighting, more fun. Or, at least both options. Sure, go fight everything, great, but I want to farm carrots over here with 6sunflora, plz let me have some peace.

Edit: I forgot about harvest moon, chuck some of that in there too.

SECOND EDIT: someone in the comments mentioned to put this in Unova? Plz love yourselves, this game would be ALL MAPS. Stuff one singular location, this is the ideal game, put every map in it, join them, put islands in, make them more explorable, more detailed!

[coolgreatwebsite]

Cool Games I Finished In 2020 (In No Real Order)

Oh, hey! Right! I have a website! I’m like a week late on writing this, but what’s a week on top of an entire year of not writing, right? 2020 was... well, we all know what 2020 was. For me personally, it was simultaneously the best and worst year of my life. The worst in both ways you can probably assume and ways you definitely can’t (neither of which I’ll be getting into), and the best in ways I absolutely never would have guessed. That uncertain job I mentioned last year got very suddenly much more certain, at a much bigger company, for a much larger amount of money. That allowed me to get my own place, making my weird living situation much less weird. Still haven’t gotten the majority of my belongings off of the east coast, but if the entire world wasn’t currently fucked up by a global pandemic I’d have sorted all that out too. What I’m saying is that, for the third year in a row, my life has been a complete whirlwind that has left me very little time to get comfortable with any aspect of it. But I did manage to play more video games than I did last year! Which is perfect, because it’s once again time for another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2020.

Astro’s Playroom (PlayStation 5, 2020)

My one word description of Astro's Playroom is "delightful". It's just an absolute goddamn delight. A total surprise too! Included with every PlayStation 5, Astro's Playroom is, in my opinion, one of the best pack-in games of all time.

First off, it's an incredible tech demo for the PS5's new DualSense controller. It was easy to brush off Sony's talk about the controller's haptic feedback and triggers as some Nintendo-style HD Rumble bullshit, but it really is incredibly cool once you get your hands on it. The game is obviously more than a tech demo though, or else it wouldn't be on here. It also just so happens to be an extremely solid and fun platformer on top of that. Astro controls exceptionally well and the levels are all well-designed and fun, even the gimmick vehicle ones designed to show off different features of the controller. It also has an oddly compelling speedrun mode, made all the more compelling by the PS5 notifying you when your friends beat your times and the ability to load into it within two seconds from anywhere on the console. But the biggest thing for me and, call me a mark, because I am, is that the game is an honestly incredible love letter to PlayStation history.

For the first time ever, Sony has pulled off a nostalgia piece without it ending up as embarrassing garbage in the vein of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. There's a Nintendo-like joyful reverence for all things PlayStation oozing out of every single corner of this game. There are so many nods and references and gags for literally every PlayStation thing of note throughout the the last 25 years, and then on top of that there's a whole heap more for the things that AREN'T of note that only hyperdorks like me would get! A sly reference to the ill-fated boomerang controller? Yep. A goof on the fat PS3's Spider-Man font? You betcha. A trophy you can earn by repeatedly punching a Sony Interactive Entertainment sign until it breaks and reveals the Sony Computer Entertainment sign it was slapped on top of? Yeah buddy. It's deep cuts all the way down, even up until the final boss which had me grinning like a total dipshit the entire time. The game is endlessly, effortlessly charming.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the perfect game at the perfect time. That doesn't mean it's a perfect game, I actually have some issues with it, but it could not have released at a better time than when it did. It came out at the very very beginning of everyone going into lockdown due to the pandemic, and it was the biggest game in the world for a couple of months as a result. I played like 300 hours and that pales in comparison to the amount of time many others put into it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most different Animal Crossing game there's ever been, and I'm of two minds on it. Like, I loved the game, I played a ton of it, but it's lacking so much of the stuff that made me love Animal Crossing in the first place. The series has been slowly trending in this direction for a bit now, but it's not really a game that happens around you anymore. It's all about total player control. You select where everything goes, you customize every detail of everything to your liking, hell, you can even terraform the landmass to be exactly what you want. Your neighbors take a backseat in focus and end up as little more than decorations with limited dialogue and next to no quests associated with them. Series staples like Gyroids are missing in action. Facilities and services that have been around since Wild World aren't implemented. It's similar to past Animal Crossing games in a lot of ways, but on the whole it feels like a different thing.

But like I said, two minds. New Horizons strays from what I truly want from an Animal Crossing game, but I can't deny that the game as it is is a hell of a lot of fun. There's SO much you can do and SO many options, it's super addictive. Plus it implemented my long-requested feature of letting you effortlessly send mail to friends online! Too bad the actual online play is as cumbersome as ever.

In conclusion, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a land of contrasts. I'm kidding. It's good, but definitely missing something in a way where I can understand some people being disappointed in it. I had a ton of fun though, and I'm probably going to get back into it later in 2021.

Trials of Mana (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

Late in 2019, with the physical release of Collection of Mana for the Switch, I decided I was going to play through each game on it for the first time and finally find out what this whole Mana thing was about. I went into Final Fantasy Adventure (the first game in the Mana series, because every RPG had to be Final Fantasy back then) with zero expectations and found a totally serviceable little Zelda-like with light RPG elements. I enjoyed my time with it. I went into Secret of Mana with the expectation of it being a beloved classic and found the worst game I beat that year, hands down. That game fucking sucks. I get why it made an impression on people at the time, but it's just so so SO awful to play. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. Honestly, I would have been disappointed even if I hadn't heard it was one of "the best games" for so long. It would have been a disappointing follow-up to Final Fantasy Adventure, a game that in and of itself isn't anything incredible. Secret of Mana is just that rotten.

I braced myself for more disappointment when (after a much needed vacation from the series) I started up Trials of Mana. This game had a reputation too, as a long-lost classic that never made it stateside. One of the best games on the Super Nintendo, criminally never released for western audiences! Like Secret of Mana before it, I'd heard nothing but effusive praise. Unlike Secret of Mana, however, I was very pleased to find out that Trials of Mana mostly lives up to the hype. From a gameplay standpoint, Trials is an improvement on Secret in almost every single way. It's not perfect. The menus are still kinda clunky, animations for things like magic and items are still frequently disruptive. But the main thing is it actually plays like a sensible video game designed by humans with brains. Attacking is responsive! Hitboxes aren't complete nonsense! You don't constantly get stunlocked to death! There are more answers to combat than casting the same spell for five straight minutes to kill your enemies before they get a chance to move! It's great!

On top of being an enjoyable video game to actually play, the presentation is top notch. Secret of Mana could be a pretty game with decent music in some spots, but Trials is consistently gorgeous and the soundtrack is across the board great instead of randomly having songs that sound like clown vomit. And while Trials of Mana doesn't have the deepest story in the world, it manages to avoid being completely paper-thin like Secret. The story actually kind of has a reason for being a bit straightforward, and the reason is that it has a really cool system where you pick your three playable characters from a pool of six. Each character has their own goals and storyline, some of which line up with other potential party members, some of which don't, and you'll even run into the characters you didn't choose as NPCs along the way. This and the relatively brisk pace of the game make it highly replayable.

I'm really glad that Trials of Mana made it over here in an official capacity, even if it was like 25 years late. It's as good as I expected Secret of Mana to be and singlehandedly saved my interest in seeing any more of the series. I'm aware the quality of what came after is very spotty, but I'll get to the rest eventually!

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PlayStation 4, 2020)

They (almost) did it. They (basically) pulled it off. They remade (a chunk of) Final Fantasy VII and (for the most part) didn't fuck it up. Ok, funny parentheticals aside, Final Fantasy VII Remake is astoundingly good coming off of over two decades of just absolutely dreadful post-FF7 sequels, side games, and movies.

Final Fantasy VII has been historically misremembered as this kind of miserable, angsty, brooding thing, both by fans and by the company that made it. FF7-branded media after FF7 itself is a minefield of changed personalities, embarrassing original characters, and monumentally lame stories. Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first post-FF7 anything that actually remembers the characters, setting, and plot of Final Fantasy VII and what made them memorable and special to people in the first place. Which isn't to say it's a slavish recreation! There's a ton of changes and additions, and I actually like almost all of them! Except for some really big stuff I'll touch on in a bit!

The combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake is great. I was super skeptical about it when the game was first announced, but they actually managed to make the blend of real-time action and turn-based RPG menuing fun and engaging. The characters all play super differently from each other too, which is a huge and welcome difference from the original game. The Materia system fits like a glove in this revamped combat system as well. The remixed music is good as hell, and the visuals are beautiful (outside of a couple of very specific spots that I'm kinda of surprised they haven't fixed in a patch yet). It's a well-executed package all around.

But alas, as always, there are negatives. For starters, this is only part one of the overall Final Fantasy VII Remake project. It goes up to the party leaving Midgar which, as you may or may not recall, is the first six hours of the original game. They compensated for this by fleshing the hell out of the Midgar section the game, ballooning the overall playtime to total of about 30-ish hours. The game feeling padded is a common complaint but for what it's worth, I didn't really feel it until the unnecessarily long final dungeon, There's also the previously mentioned and funny parenthetical'd changes and additions I don't like.

This is big time spoilers for this game so if you don't want that jump ahead to the next game on the list. The Whispers suck ass. Final Fantasy VII Remake should have been brave enough to be different without having to constantly derail everything in the most ham-fisted and intrusive way possible. You can have Jessie twist her ankle without making a spooky plot ghost trip her. I don't want to fight the physical manifestation of the game everyone thought they were getting as an end boss. If you're not doing a straight remake, that's fine, but have the fucking guts to stand by your artistic decisions without feeling the need to invent the lamest deus ex machina I've ever fucking seen. The last couple of hours of this game are 100% about the Whispers and are awful for it. It's a true testament to the strength of the rest of Final Fantasy VII Remake that this aspect didn't completely sour me on it. I can only hope that they stay dead and gone for good in the games yet to come and the remake can be different while standing on its own two feet.

I truly cannot wait for the next entry in the Final Fantasy VII Remake project. I'm excited for Final Fantasy VII in a way I haven't been since the late 90s. I have a bit of trepidation that they could royally screw it up. I mean, they already got kinda close, as I said in my last paragraph. But they got so much right in this entry that, for the first time in decades, I'm willing to believe in Square Enix when it comes to Final Fantasy VII.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PlayStation 4, 2020)

My one word description of 13 Sentinels is "fucking crazy". I realize that's two words, but shut up. A bizarre hybrid of visual novel, adventure game, and strategy RPG, 13 Sentinels not only makes that work, but makes it work incredibly well. 

The story is fucking bonkers. It's told entirely non-linearly and is purposefully dense and confusing, but it does an amazing job of hooking you with a cast of likable characters and some impressively well-paced twists, made all the more impressive by the fact that you can tackle the story in basically whatever order you want. I'll say it again for those in the back, the story is Fucking Bonkers. Wherever you think it's going, it's not going. Where it is going is PLACES. Seriously, if you want a wild goddamn ride, this is the game for you. The presentation is also stunning. It's a drop dead gorgeous game with a really nice soundtrack. Easily Vanillaware's best looking game, which is saying something seeing as looking good is Vanillaware's whole deal.

If I had to levy one criticism against the game, it's that the strategy RPG portion is just kind of ok. It's enjoyable enough, it doesn't get in the way and there's not too much of it, but once it starts introducing armored versions of previous enemy types it's kind of done doing anything different. It is really good at getting people to out themselves as having no idea what tower defense is as a genre though!

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

I haven't really historically been a "Musou Guy". Not to say I've actively disliked them, they're just not something I've seeked out very often or played very much of. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition kinda turned me into a "Musou Guy" a little bit? It's good, surprisingly-less-mindless-than-you'd-think fun.

I actually super don't care about the Zelda branding. I think all the fanservice stuff is meh at best. What I do care about is that there's a ton of character variety and a metric shitload of content. There's so many different characters and weapons for those characters that all play differently from one another and SOOOOOO many levels to play. Like the story mode is, again, kinda meh, the real meat of the game is the Adventure mode and there's a ton of it. It's 8 different world maps, each based off a different Zelda game, with each square of the map containing a little mini-scenario with unique objectives and rewards. There has to be at least 1000 scenarios between all the maps. There's so much. And that's not even getting into some of the other side stuff like the challenge modes and the fairy raising. It's a crazy amount of game in this game.

And again, it's not as mindless as it'd seem. It's not really a game ABOUT destroying 5000 guys, it's an area control and resource management game where the 5000 guys are one of those resources. Knowing who to send where and when to fight who is way more important than pressing the XXX YYY XXX YYY on the more than one million troops.

I'd say that if you're even cursorily potentially maybe interested in a musou game, this is the one to try. And if you like it, it could literally be your forever game. A sequel came out recently too, and I'm looking forward to trying that out soon.

Phantasy Star Online 2 (Xbox One, 2020)

Phantasy Star Online 2 finally came stateside in the year 2020, eight years after its initial Japanese release and initial American cancellation. It's no Phantasy Star Online 1, but it is a really fun game in its own right provided you can find the willpower to break through its clunkiness and eight years of confusing poorly tutorialized free-to-play MMO cruft.

The main thing going for PSO2, and this is a major improvement from PSO1, is that the act of engaging in its combat is fun. The combat is just feels really really good. There's a bunch of different weapon types and classes, and once you find the ones that really click with you you're in for a good time, whether you're izuna dropping dudes with wire claws or literally doing air juggles and rainstorm from Devil May Cry with the dual machine guns.

The other stuff around that combat is weird. I generally like it, but it's weird. The story mode is one of the most bizarrely presented things I've ever seen. It apparently used to be something you'd seek out in the levels themselves, but presently it's just a list of scenes you pick from a menu and watch with next to no context until it makes you fight a boss sometimes. There's some weird moments in there that MIGHT have been cool if it were presented in literally any other way?

The systems and presentation are also way more... I dunno, pinball? Pachislot? In very stark contrast to how chill original Phantasy Star Online was, everything in PSO2 is designed in a way to maximize that flashy light bing bing wahoo you got ~*~RARE DROP CHANCE UP~*~  feeling. Which isn't to say I don't like flashy light bing bing wahoo, but it's a weird different thing.

Was it worth the wait? Yeah, sure! For me! This is another one that I played like 300 hours of! I haven't even seen half of it, I fell off right before Episode 4 released because it coincided with my move! I'm gonna go back and see all that shit! PSO2's fun! A different flavor of fun than the original, sure, but fun all the same. Another one that I'm glad finally made it over here.

Riichi Mahjong (A Table, 1924)

Holy shit I fucking did it I finally learned how to play Mahjong and it rules.

It started when I picked up Clubhouse Games for the Switch. I saw that it had Riichi Mahjong and something in my brain snapped. For whatever reason, I decided that this was the time I was going to rip the band-aid off and figure this shit out. It wasn't too dissimilar to the first time I decided to try eggs, but that's a different and much stupider story for a different time. I did the tutorial in Clubhouse Games, looked up some more basics and advice because the tutorial wasn't super amazing, and I kept playing while being aided by the game's nice helper features like the button that pulls up recommended hands. I kept playing and... sorta got it. I learned the basic rules, but none of the strategy. And then I stopped playing for a few months.

In that few months, for whatever reason, a decent amount of people I know had their brains snap the same way? Like a more-than-two amount of people I'm either friends with or following online also decided to learn Mahjong. I decided to get back on the horse and downloaded Mahjong Soul and I don't know whether it was perseverance or the power of anime babes, but this time I got it. I still refer to a sheet with all the hands and whether they work open or closed, and I'm by no means a master player, but I actually honest to god understand what I'm doing and it's an incredible feeling.

Mahjong has such a huge amount of what I like to call "Get That Ass" energy. It is the energy you feel when you get someone's ass. In Mahjong you are either constantly getting someone's ass or getting your ass gotten. Someone puts down the wrong tile and you fucking GET THEIR ASS DUDE! They're got!! They're a fucking idiot that put down the wrong thing and now you have their points!!! Or you draw what you need yourself and you're a brain genius all according to plan and everyone gives you points because you're so wise!!!! It's great!!!!!

Mahjong has long been one of those games where I'd say "I'll learn this someday" and never reeeeally actually try to learn, and I'm so glad I finally took the effort to because it's good as hell. And, truth be told, it wasn't THAT hard to learn? Like you can get to the point where I was where I didn't know the strategy fairly easily in my opinion, and once you do that It's just a matter of continuing to play to understand the rest. I highly recommended that you also go out and learn it if you similarly revel in getting that ass, it's so satisfying once you do.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PlayStation 4, 2020)

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio took a big gamble with Yakuza: Like a Dragon. After seven games (more if you take spinoffs and remakes into consideration) they decided to focus on a new main character and, even more unexpectedly, they decided to change things up by turning the series into a turn-based JRPG. Their gamble paid off in spades. This is easily in my top 3 favorite Yakuza games.

The JRPG gameplay is surprisingly solid. There's definite room for improvement, but they nailed a bunch of it right out of the gate. Some mechanics are a little janky and I wish the job system was more fleshed out or just worked more like Final Fantasy V's, but they nailed one of the most important things and made the battles brisk and fun. It's a great foundation, especially for a team that's never attempted anything like this, and it's way more fun than the combat's been in any of the previous Dragon Engine games. I can't wait to see them iterate on it.

Everything else is top fuckin' notch. The music is great, the side content is fully fleshed out in a way it hasn't been since before they switched to the Dragon Engine, and I love the characters and story so much. Yakuza has a new main character in Ichiban Kasuga, and he's my son and I love him. Kiryu was great, and I love him too, but he was a bit of a passive protagonist. Stuff happened around him and he mostly just stoically reacted to it. Ichi is a much more active lead and it's great. He's a big lovable dope, and his tendency to keep an upbeat attitude and eagerness to leap into action is such a breath of fresh air. And it's not only Ichiban, since this is an RPG you have a whole party of characters and they're all great! Having them with you at all times bantering with each other and reacting to things is another great change of narrative pace, too. 

Yakuza: Like a Dragon just straight up rules. As someone who has historically not been too much of a fan of the Dragon Engine games, it's simultaneously a refreshing new take on the series and a fantastic return to form. I can't wait for what comes next. Wherever Ichiban goes, I go.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

After 23 years of Japanese PS1 exclusivity, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure finally got an English release this year for Nintendo Switch. I'm glad it did, because Moon isn't just the very definition of A Sebmal Game. It's the Sebmal Game missing link. In addition to being just a great video game, it helped me make a mental throughline for a bunch of games I love and a large part of my taste in video games.

To keep a long story short (seriously, I have a much much longer version of this saved in my drafts that I'll maybe finish someday), Moon turned out to be not the JRPG I assumed it was, given the title and basic story pitch, but a secret prequel to a game I love named Chulip. Moon's developer, Love-de-Lic, was formed by a handful of ex-Squaresoft employees, many of which worked on an extremely formative game I love named Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Love-de-Lic broke up in the year 2000 and its staff went on to form a bunch of different studios that ended up making a BUNCH of different games I love like Chibi-Robo, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Dandy Dungeon, and the aforementioned Chulip. These games, when you make the connection and line them up, all have a very distinct weirdness in common that makes perfect sense once you've realized many of the same people worked on them. Figuring this all out felt like snapping a piece of my brain back in place, and it was really crazy to come to understand exactly how much this studio that formed and disbanded decades before I'd even heard of them had impacted my tastes and, hell, my life.

So what is Moon, for those who don't innately understand what I mean by "a secret prequel to Chulip"? Moon is an adventure game where you explore a world with a day/night cycle, learn about that world's inhabitants, and eventually solve their problems. Think of it kind of like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but if the sidequests were the entirety of the focus with no Groundhog Day time reset mechanic and none of the Zelda stuff like combat and dungeons. You play as a young boy who, after a late night JRPG binge session, is sucked into the world of the game he was just playing. Everything is off from the way it was portrayed while the boy was playing the game, though. The hero he had previously controlled is actually a silent menace, raiding peoples' houses for treasure and slaughtering every innocent animal that crosses his path in an endless quest for EXP. The townspeople seem more concerned with problems in their day-to-day lives than the supposed world threatening crisis outlined in the game's intro. It's up to you as the boy to investigate this world's mysteries, help the townsfolk, mend the damage the hero has done, and eventually restore love to a loveless world.

Speaking of love, I fucking loved Moon. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the music, I loved the way it looks (even though the Switch port is a little crusty in that basic emulator-y kinda way), I loved how constantly bizarre and surprising and funny it was. Like I said earlier, it's the very definition of a game made for me. It was essentially the progenitor of a long line of games made for me, and of games potentially made for me but I don't know yet because I haven't played them due to not understanding Japanese (UFO: A Day in the Life translation next please? Anyone from Onion Games reading this??). For as similar as Moon and Chulip are in their systems and pacing, I think I might actually like Moon better despite it coming earlier? It's not as full force maximum impact absurd as Chulip is, but it is a lot more playable and less obtuse once you get a grip on the time limit mechanic. You don't need a full strategy guide included in the instruction manual for Moon, and you don't need to exchange business cards with every single character to get information vital to finishing the game either.

I truly cannot recommend Moon enough if your taste in games ventures anywhere off the beaten path. Maybe this is a little conceited of me, but I assume if you're reading this article, let alone this far down into it, you relate to my video game opinions at least a little bit? You should play Moon. Everyone reading this sentence should play Moon. Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is my game of the year for the year 2020.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Death Stranding (PlayStation 4, 2019): Death Stranding, much like Metal Gear Solid V, was a game I enjoyed for the gameplay and not much else. The story, characters, and writing were a huge disappointment for me, but man if I didn't enjoy lugging those boxes around and setting up my hellish cross-continental goon summer camp lookin' zipline network. Mr. Driller Drill Land (Nintendo Switch, 2020): I am a known Mr. Driller Enjoyer, and I enjoyed this Mr. Driller. Originally released for the Gamecube, Mr. Driller Drill Land is another long-time Japanese exclusive that finally came stateside this year and it's packed with new and novel twists on the Mr. Driller format. It looks super sharp, the music's great (also the credits music is the most impossibly out of place and extra as hell shit in the world and it's hilarious), and it's just a good ass time. The main campaign is pretty damn short, but if you're a post-game content kinda guy it has that and it's all super hard. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (PlayStation 4, 2020): They finally made another good new Tony Hawk game, and all it took was perfectly remaking two of the best old Tony Hawk games! Plays exactly like you remember it with the added benefit of the best mechanics from up to THUG1, looks great, packed full of content, even has most of the music alongside some mostly crappy new stuff. It's the full package as is, but I do hope they end up adding THPS3 to it eventually. Mad Rat Dead (Nintendo Switch, 2020): Mad Rat Dead was a pleasant surprise that I only picked up because I saw a couple of people on my Twitter timeline constantly talking about it. A fun and inventive platformer where all your actions need to be on beat with the music. The gameplay feels great (aside from some not so great performance issues on Switch), the soundtrack is fun, and it's got a real good style to it. Demon's Souls (PlayStation 5, 2020): I love Demon's Souls and this is Demon's Souls. It plays exactly the same with some minor quality of life changes. I don't agree with many of the artistic changes, but there's no denying it looks incredible on a technical level. If you want to play Demon's Souls again or for the first time, this is a perfectly valid and fun way to do so. Groove Coaster: Wai Wai Party!!!! (Nintendo Switch, 2019): Groove Coaster is one of my favorite rhythm games, and they finally made an acceptable at-home version with Wai Wai Party. It's not a perfect replication of the arcade game control-wise, I have some issues with the song choices, and the pricing is frankly fucking ridiculous if you're not a Groove Coaster maniac like I am, but the same ultra satisfying gameplay is all there. You can even play it vertically in handheld mode! Flip Griiiiiiiip!

And we're done! Phew! Honestly didn't realize I played that many good games until I typed all this out. Thanks as always for reading this far. I'm gonna try and get back to regularly posting Breviews this year at the very least. Honestly don't know if I'll get anything else up on here, but we'll see. Here's to hoping 2021 is a little bit less of a nightmare!

[bbs-backlog-challenge]

BB’s Games Of 2019

2019 as a year felt like it lasted two years, and a lot happened in my personal life. Got a new job, learned to drive, got my first car, moved out of the in-laws’ basement into our first real apartment, started my first long-term game of DnD (which in itself has involved a new relationship and an emotional breakdown)- and between it all I somehow managed to play 77 games. Backlog’s down to 35 titles, lads- at this rate, I’ll be down to zero by July 2020. (Not gonna happen.) In 2020, I’d like to explore the SNES catalogue a little more, but before that happens we have to review everything 2019 brought me, in a somewhat chronological order.

- Near A Tomato Carry-over from last year’s post since I was in the middle of playing it at the time. I definitely never quite got a handle on the combat and I think some of the themes went over my head, but I still had fun here, and the 9S hacking minigame never got old. It was a gift from an old friend who I miss. Was nice to reconnect. - SSBU With my new main Zelda, I cleared all of WoL and got every spirit on the Spirit Board. I never really used her before but she’s cute now! Really liked the attention to detail in the spirit encounters. Unfortunately, Cloud is still in the game. - Mega Mans 1 2 and 3 I actually spoke about my experiences with the Mega Men in my BBLC post for Mega Man Eggs, so you should read that right now. - Metroid Samus Returns It’s Good. Like, a solid Good. Never Great, never Bad, just Good. It’s nice to see one of the least accessible games in the series get a remaster, but it feels very disposable, if that makes sense. Like they just needed a Metroid to keep people busy while they reboot Prime 4 development. AM2R is vastly superior, go play that. One point of amusement- the game tells its story without narration, and also seems to pre-suppose you know Metroid lore. I was entertained by the thought of a newcomer to the series being completely mystified by the sudden space-dragon that comes out of nowhere to wreck you at the end of the game. - Khimera: Destroy All Monster Girls You can click here to download it, ‘cos it’s free, which is almost criminal. This is one of the higher tier games I’ve played this year. A little bit Mega Man, a bit Metroid, with hints of Touhou and Undertale, it’s pretty tough at times but never to ‘precision platformer’ levels. It’s a lot of fun and the dev deserves your support. - Steve And Ollie RPG Oh, I made this one. Making something else next year? Question mark? - Prof Layton 3 Feels like these are getting weaker as they go along. The story has always been absolute boohockey, but the puzzles feel like they’re degrading in quality too. With over 200 in each game, that’s not super surprising, and I’m glad they didn’t bulk it out with a load of the awful block-slider puzzles. Still, it’s Layton, if you liked any of the other games you’ll like this cos it’s the exact same thing. - Fault Milestone Two Yo, there ain’t a damned thing I can say about Fault, so go play the first one and then play this and you’ll understand. - Full Throttle I never bothered to finish it. The obtuse old Sierra puzzlers were hard enough to deal with back in the day, and just feel kind of inexcusable now. I don’t have the patience for it. - eXceed 3rd Slick and fun bullet hell with a nigh-incomprehensible story and great music. Touhou fans will like it. Music by SSH who is relatively well known in doujin circles. - ASAMU Finished it before writing my BBLC post! - Eternal Senia Everything I said in my post rings true- do your best to look past the wonky translation, because there’s a heartfelt story underneath it. Very accessible gameplay, by design. - Inivisble Inc You have never before been, nor will you ever again be, so aware of having left a door open. I fully expected to hate Invisible, but I got hooked pretty hard. Quite tempted to do another run of it once the backlog is clear. - Pyre GOTY. Supergiant’s best game so far, and that’s not an easy thing to say for this Bastion veteran. I sobbed by the end. I’m not being dramatic- literally sobbed. Please play it. Music and writing and, just, heart, are all top tier. All the Nightwings are the best, but Hedwyn is the best best. - Ellipsis Finished it before writing my BBLC post! - Just Cause 2 I found myself getting bored very quickly. The main missions are all identical (really, they are) and the side missions are very uninspired. Blitzing around in a jet or grappling around a mission target is a lot of fun but it feels very shallow. There’s a lot to do but not really any reason to do any of it. I dunno, it’s a kind of hollow experience, that I nonetheless had fun with. - LiEat It went over my head a little, but that’s more on me I think. These horror-esque, eccentric japanese RPG Maker games usually do. But, it’s neat, and short. If this sort of thing usually sticks on you, I think this is a good title. - Shantae Pirates Curse These games always felt non-essential to me; I’m not sure why they never stuck. They never really go below or above Good. Entirely enjoyable but I don’t feel like I’d have really missed anything if I hadn’t played them. It is, however, absolutely worth investing in for the utterly superb sprite work. That doesn’t sell a game by itself, I know, but Shantae is a pixel art masterclass. - FF5 I’d more or less finished it by the time I wrote my BBLC post, so I don’t have much to add. It’s a refreshingly goofy entry in a series known for taking itself too seriously, even compared to its predecessor. Look forward to my entry for this game in my Games Of 2020 post, having played the Four Job Fiesta! - Touhou 17 It’s mid-tier in the touhou hierarchy, IMO. Didn’t set my soul alight but I did enjoy it. Playing as Wolf Marisa makes the final boss too chaotic to really enjoy, but playing through again with Reimu made it more fun. I beat Extra on my third run through, which gave me false confidence that after 10 years I might actually be good at these games- to then be quickly humbled by attempting Th11’s Extra. Final Boss’ theme song has one of the greatest lead-ins of all time, especially given you start the fight by running away from her! Also really loved the Stage 4 theme as you barrel head-first into Hell (the real one this time), and the haunting, calm-before-the-storm serenity of Stage 5, overlooking the City Of Beasts. - HackNet + Labyrinths GOTY. (Yes, I know I already said Pyre was GOTY; it’s my post, I can have two GOTYs. Make your own damned post!) It’s hard to say what I loved about these games without spoiling too much- just know that they play very much like investigation games, and figuring out the puzzles feels great. Labyrinths technically takes place during the events of Hacknet, with a somewhat more Black Hat approach to things- despite this, play all of Hacknet first, and then play Labyrinths. The expansion introduces a lot of new stuff and much trickier challenges, such that going back to the base game afterwards to finish that would leave it a little hollow- a disservice to how great the ending is. - Mega Man X I said everything I wanted to say in my BBLC post, and anything I didn’t cover was better said by Egoraptor. - Octodad Finished it before my BBLC post! - Chroma Squad The final mission is disappointingly poor, but everything up to that point was pretty good. Huge variance and creativity in the bosses. However, the most fun I got from it was when I realised the game allowed me to customise my team name, transformation name, and other such terminology. Dave, Dayve, Davy, Davina, and Dehve shouting “It’s time to Chromatise, Chroma Squad!” very quickly became “It’s time to shit, you bunch of fucks!” and it was funny every single time. (Personal favourite bit of dialogue- “I tried to shit! It worked!”) - Pyrite Heart Finished it before my BBLC post! - Starfox 2 Finished it before my BBLC post! - Burly Men At Sea Finished it before my BBLC post! - Disc Room Finished it before my BBLC post! - Kokurase Finished it before my BBLC post! Should have broken these ones up a bit! - Metroid Rogue Dawn Very, very impressive romhack let down by a distinctly un-fun final section. They managed to fix so many of OG Metroid’s problems, I’m surprised the gauntlet of terribleness that is Tourian escaped with only a cosmetic change. Nonetheless, it’s free, and the other 95% of the game is superb, even from a purely technical standpoint. - Wuppo I dunno what happened here! I was full of praise for Wuppo when I played it, but somehow I just couldn’t stick with it and just never felt like playing it. It’s a very aimless game, and I wonder if that might be why? It’s a shame, I feel disappointed in myself for not seeing it through, but ultimately I play games to have fun and I just wasn’t quite there with Wuppo. - Super Mario Odyssey I loved it, obviously. I wrote my BBLC post towards the end of my time with Odyssey so most of that stands- I do want to add that the controls always felt a little loose, like I wasn’t quite as in-control as I was in Galaxy. Also Mario prioritises walljumping over ledge-grabbing and it’s super-hard to unlearn that instinct after 20 years. Finally- Long Journey’s End is just bullshit. - Secret Of Mana Dropped it pretty soon after Finning it. There’s some logic to the way the game works, some kind of hidden turn-order system, that I could not at all figure out. My AI companions (useless, btw) would hit an enemy which meant I couldn’t, except sometimes the hit would still register but only actually go through 3 seconds later, without any way to tell which way it was going to go. It takes like 7 months for your character to get back up after taking a hit. It’s just, wonky, and I couldn’t solve the puzzle of how to make the game do what I wanted to do. - Pokemon Shield Still working my way through it. It’s- yeah, it’s pokemon. Get a similar vibe to Sun/Moon with it that it’s kind of unfinished- lots of small (and some not so small) parts of the game just feel like there were bigger plans that couldn’t be realised in time. I’m still enjoying it! They did a great job of making the gym battles, and the whole process of 8-badges-then-champion, feel like a spectacle. I think only the anime has managed it to this degree before. - Earthbound Man, I really, really want to like this game, but the battle system is terrible. I need to play through the game again buffing my party up with cheats or something, because it’s so unbalanced and cheap. Everything else about the game is wonderful, but I got so frustrated with the fights! - Mario Kart 8 Didn’t play any of the single player this time, it was midgi’s christmas present so I just joined a couple of multiplayer games. Absolutely baffled that the game features F-Zero style anti-gravity courses, has Mute City and Big Blue, and even has the Blue Falcon as a selectable vehicle, but they haven’t put Captain Falcon in it. Like he’s ever going to get another game of his own? Let him have this! - Carmageddon 2 It’s pretty clunky by now, being 20 years old, but still plays well enough. The physics are super loose so you slide around like your tires have been buttered. It was more fun when they were zombies instead of just normal people. Missions are brutally hard and should be skipped with cheats. - Neopets After 15 years of playing, I finally got a Ghostkersword. The site as a whole has gone through a lot, and certainly its heyday is long gone, but there’s no other game quite like it. I’m playing the Food Club every day, still. - SIF New phone can’t run the actual gameplay section well enough, so I just log in occasionally to grab free scouts. Here’s another one whose golden years are behind it, sadly, but I certainly still have a lot of affection for SIF. - FF1 Mobile version, which fixes a lot of the bugs with the NES original. This year I completed a solo run with 1 Red Mage, a 4-black belts run, a low-level run, and a 4 White Mages run (which ended up being a lower-level run than the low-level run). I’m fairly comfortable in calling myself an expert in FF1, now. There’s still not really any other games like it- build a party as balanced or imbalanced as you like, and see how they fare. I’d like to build my own game in a similar style, one day. - Re: Live Gacha games and RPG just don’t mix! Both gacha and events do not gel with core RPG mechanics of your character(s) developing in strength as the game goes. It seems impossible to balance the game well- do you cater to the whales who spend and spend until they have the strongest teams possible, meaning the free players or the terminally unlucky can’t stand a chance, or do you cater to those players and give them no reason to spend for the more powerful characters? It’s a shame, because the anime was baffling but in that enjoyable way where you just kind of go with whatever it throws at you, and exploring that in a non-freemium game with a solid beginning middle and end would be really interesting. - Tiny Thief Mobile game that’s not available any more, I think my BBLC post covered it well enough. - F-Zero One of the criticisms most commonly levied against F-Zero is that it wont hold your attention for long. While that’s true, it’s not like you have to make a purchasing decision about it any more- it comes bundled in with the other games you’re buying, so the only investment is time. Ignoring that, it’s still fun to burn around the tracks, and the sense of speed hasn’t ever diminished. The music, too, is underappreciated, with Port Town being my personal fave. - F-Zero GX I can’t believe Nintendo hasn’t done anything with this ridiculous universe for 15 years now. The cutscenes are so hilariously overwrought, and the cast of characters is huge! It could so seamlessly intersect with the Starfox universe, too. There were rumours of a Starfox Racing title some time ago, and I really hope that’s the case. It’d work so well (by which I mean, a particularly enjoyable kind of awful). Anyway, the game still plays great, Story Mode is WAY too hard, Dr Stewart’s theme is a Tune. - Stratosphere This game is from 1998! Build a flying fortress, deck it out with fortifications and weapons and power supplies, then use it to destroy other fortresses. I only ever played the demo as a kid, never got the full game. Took some cajoling to get it to work on modern hardware, but eventually I got in and it wasn’t worth it at all. Wow, that performance, apparently it was designed to run at a terrible frame rate and it wasn’t just a result of my 1998 PC not being up to the task! A shame, but I guess it put one of my ghosts to rest. - DKC 2 The best of the three SNES games, despite the inclusion (and protagonism) of Diddy Kong. Lots to love here, but the OST is top notch. - DKC 3 Not as good as 2, but IMO better than 1. There was a much heavier emphasis on gimmick levels in 3, not all of which hit their target, but does provide a great deal of variety. Consensus is that 2 is better, but if someone claimed 3 was the best DKC, I’d let them get away with it. - King Arthur’s World (SNES) Speaking of putting ghosts to rest… We somehow always managed to get this game whenever we got a SNES, and kid!Beebs most certainly didn’t have the patience for it. Adult!Beebs barely does, either. It’s a very ambitious attempt at some sort of RTS/Puzzle hybrid, somewhat comparable to Lemmings? King Arthur must make his way from his starting position to the throne elsewhere in the map to claim it as his own, using the myriad abilities of his soldiers to get him there in one piece. I decided this year that I was finally going to play through the whole damn thing, start to finish, for the first time ever. With copious use of save states and rewinds, I was finally able to slay this demon. For as fiddly and frustrating as it is, I would still say people should check it out if they have the tools to do so- there’s not really anything else like it, on SNES or otherwise; you’re guaranteed a unique experience, if nothing else. - Oscar (SNES) Terrible. - Spanky’s Quest (SNES) With a name like that, how could I refuse? It’s a weird little puzzler, aping (wahey!) Bubble Bobble and Parasol Stars a little. You’re a monkey who can blow bubbles that stun enemies, but if you bounce the bubble on your head it gets progressively larger and can be burst to send a barrage of similarly-sized sports balls at your opponents to knock them out. You know, just like real life. - Addam’s Family (SNES) This easily-dismissible movie tie-in is actually a very competent platformer with some very, very light metroidvania exploration involved. Gomez has to go through Addams Mansion and rescue the members of his family who have been kidnapped by… something. There’s hidden secrets everywhere and the family can be rescued in any order you like. Genuine recommendation. - Panel DePon/Tetris Attack The only vs puzzler I enjoy (yep. Not even puyo puyo. I know.) I played the HECK out of this in my teenage years, and got crazy good at it. Tendonitis says I’m not allowed to do that any more, but once I shook the rust off I was still pretty strong! It was released as Panel DePon in Japan and was fairy themed, but for the western release they replaced all the fairies with Yoshi characters and renamed it Tetris Attack despite having nothing to do with Tetris at all. Up to you which you prefer- language isn't too much of a barrier here. Soundtrack is killer. - Subsurface Circular Finished it before my BBLC post. Still not decided if I liked the way it ended. - Master Of Orion 2 C’mon. After playing three other pretenders to MoO2’s throne, I had to give the real deal a couple of spins too. It’s Civ 5 in space. Customisable race builds. A whole galaxy to bring peace to, by whichever means you prefer. Would love for someone else to get into it. - Touhou 8 Last minute entry I just played yesterday ‘cos I wanted some Touhou and I haven’t played this entry in a long while. A Solo Marisa Normal Final B run, if you’re interested. Kaguya beast-mode tearing apart the Spell Of Imperishable Night at the end of the game is still an awesome moment, but it’s a shame you can miss the last couple of spells if you take some unlucky hits. - And here’s the list of Bins, which are all covered in their BBLC post: No Time To Explain MoO Skyborn Jumpjet Rex StH 4 Ballistick Munch’s Oddysee Outland Project CARS RiME Magicka Waking Mars Urban Chaos Divinity: Dragon Commander Strike Suit Zero Hell Yeah! Lambda Wars Beta Stranger’s Wrath MoO 3 XCOM Lots more Fins than Bins this year! Good to see!

[dragonlizardjareth]

Microsoft E3 2018 Report Card

Halo Infinite: Okay... so what the hell is it?

Ori and the Will of the Wisps: Meh, Cutisy game as ever.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: SUPERNATURAL SAMURAI! It does look interesting, we’ll have to wait and see a bit more before passing final judgement on this, But I might be able to get into it.

Fallout 76: It sure looks pretty, the Bethesda press conference is later tonight and I have no doubt we’ll hear more then.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit: I’m just not a fan of the Life is Strange games, but I am familiar with them to know… this doesn't seem to fit with the past games. At lest based on this trailer.

Crackdown 3: At this point… I don’t give a shit… It’s been delayed so many times I just… don’t care.

Metro Exodus: This game looks really cool, it looks a lot more interesting to me then the previous two games anyway.

Kingdom Hearts 3: Well that took me by surprise. Well I guess it’s about time Square brought this to Xbox. That said… the dubbing seems a little… meh. Gameplay does look solid and I’m sure fans will be happy to see the conclusion of the story.

Sea of Thieves: I SO WANT THIS GAME!

Battlefield V: I skipped Hardline and ONE, but if they can catch my interest with this one, I might thrown in a few bucks.

Forza Horizon 4: This is the first racing game to make me go OOOOOOO in a long time. I may very well pick this up because it is an Open world Racing game.

We Happy Few: Looks like the game is almost done and the story is look dark and EXCELLENT!

Player Unknown Battleground: Meh, sorry, but there’s just other, better and cooler stuff out there. This game had it’s chance, but it’s time has come and gone for me.

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition: ANIME THE GAME! No thanks.

The Division 2: Nice to see them continue the story. Could be interesting to see the events continue in Washington D.C. Sadly after seeing reviews on how the first game was handled, I’m gonna have to wait awhile after launch before getting on board.

X-Box Gamepass: So… Netflix for X-Box games. I admit, It’s a neat concept, But I don’t feel like paying money to rent video games every month.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: I mean… it looks pretty and all… but it.

Session: Another skateboard game. PASS!

Black Desert: A new MMORPG, it does look interesting, let’s see where they go with it.

Devil May Cry 5: Well fan boys, looks like you’re all gonna have some fun with this one. Enjoy your fun, I’m not a real fan of this series.

Cuphead and the Delicious Last Course: Cuphead looked neat, and it’s cool to see it’s getting

Tunic: Top down Legend of Zelda… WITH FOXES!

Jump Force: It’s cool to see some of these anime characters fight in spectacular three dimensions… ALSO LIGHT YAGAMI!

Dying Light 2: I never really took much interest in the FIRST dying light, but the idea of a zombie game where your actions shape the world around you, could be interesting.

Battletoads: Oh hey... they were a thing... neat.

Just Cause 4: Never really had an interest in this series... but driving up to a tornado and FLYING INTO IT! Looks neat.

Gears Pop: Are the Pop Figureans getting into Videogames now? Because that would be a little much.

Gears Tactics: So Gears of War get’s it’s first true Spin off.

Gears 5: Yeah, another Gears of War game. I’ve never gotten into this series. Still, if your a fan of it, glad you guys have more games coming to ya.

Cyberpunk 2077: Well it looks nice. But like Crackdown 3 this feels like a game they’ve been talking about for awhile and we’ve STILL heard almost nothing on it. I’ll wait for something concrete before jumping on the hype train.

[beardycarrot]

Nintendo E3 Hopes and Dreams

It’s probably dumb to actually hope for...anything, BUT HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS DAMNIT. Nintendo will have a twenty-five minute video spotlight, presumably showing off trailers for new games, while Treehouse Live will be going more in-depth with gameplay.

Nintendo’s big game this year is Super Mario Odyssey, which will be playable on the show floor, with Treehouse Live probably showing off some levels not available to the public. This is pretty much all we know for sure; anything else is just speculation (and wild hopes) on my part.

No Arms

Rebel that I am, I decided to start my list of things I want to see with something that I don’t want to see. Arms is coming out just three days after Nintendo’s presentation, and the reviews are already in. Anyone attending the event who would be likely to put out good press has already reviewed the game, so there’s not much point in making it playable on the show floor. I can see Treehouse Live dedicating a few minutes to showing off the game and maybe teasing some of the free DLC that will be coming out, but I really hope that’s the only focus this game gets. The spotlight video is only twenty-five minutes long, so they’d better not waste time on Arms.

Kid Icarus: Downfall

That title is completely made up, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sequel to Kid Icarus: Uprising. Sakurai is working on a new game, which probably isn’t just the Switch port of SSB4. I can totally see Sora and Platinum collaborating on a new Kid Icarus game for Switch. Maybe this time with an option to keep in the Japanese voice acting? It’s a crying shame to dub over Minami Takayama.

Mo’ Like NOkémon

Yeah, I, uh... I don’t want to see any of the stuff from this week’s Pokemon Direct in the Nintendo spotlight. That trailer for Pokken Tournament was great and really showed off the potential of the Switch, but it’s a game everyone expected to see a Switch port, and we already know everything important about it for the time being. I’m okay with Treehouse showing off some of the new content, but I don’t want it in the spotlight. Same with Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. A trailer wouldn’t be useful to us at this point, so just show some gameplay during Treehouse Live and explain what the game is there. Speaking of Pokemon, I hope that we’ll finally see an English release for Detective Pikachu, though I don’t know whether that’s really worthy of showing during the spotlight.

Golden Sun 4

This is a long shot, but a friend recently reminded me of the cliffhanger ending to Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Unfortunately, that game wasn’t great, and didn’t sell well, so it’s entirely possible that nothing will come of the sequel bating. Which sucks, because the first two games in the series were fantastic. Since Dark Dawn, Nintendo’s just had Camelot working on bland Mario Sports titles... but with the latest one, Mario Sports Superstars, they’ve finally brought all the Mario Sports games (...and... horse racing) together into one package! They had the team from Namco that worked on Mario Super Sluggers helping out, so maybe the extra man power meant they were able to divert some resources towards a new Golden Sun pitch? I mean, with five sports games in one coming out just a few months ago, there’s no need to release another in the near future, so that totally opens them up their schedule, right? Right? Please, Nintendo, even just a teaser image showing silhouettes of the four Djinn types will do. PLEASE?

Retro Studios 2D Metroid

I know what Nintendo was trying to do with Metroid Prime: Federation Force. They knew that there was a big market for online gaming, and Splatoon’s unexpectedly huge success encouraged them to push ahead. Tri Force Heroes was... less, of a success, but people clearly liked online play and were clamoring for a new Metroid game, so it seemed like a perfect fit. Unfortunately, this is one of the few instances where Nintendo’s “develop a gameplay concept and then choose a Nintendo franchise to use it in” approach didn’t work. People seem to thing that Nintendo doesn’t care about the Metroid series, having done nothing special for its thirtieth anniversary... but bear in mind, Federation Force DID come out during the anniversary month. It just... would’ve been nice if they’d actually acknowledged it. ANYWAY, while Metroid isn’t nearly as popular in Japan as it is in the US, Nintendo DOES care about the series; it’s their only franchise in the Metroidvania genre, and it’s bad business to leave a market untapped.

All that said, Retro Studios has been quiet since Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze came out three years ago. They apparently didn’t like working with Kensuke Tanabe, and his role as a producer on Retro games and point of contact with Nintendo was supposedly filled by Yoshio Sakamoto, the director of the Metroid series. Considering Retro’s history with Metroid and their recent foray into 2D platforming with the Donkey Kong Country games, with or without Sakamoto, their secret project definitely feels like it must be a 2D Metroid game. When they finished working on DKC:TF coincides with when Nintendo should’ve started really thinking about the next Metroid game, and the silence on both the Retro and Metroid fronts is telling. It’s gotta be time to reveal what Retro’s been working on, and all signs point to it being Metroid... and a 2D one, I hope.

Zelda Maker

Somehow, it’s been over a year and a half since Tri Force Heroes, and three and a half since A Link Between Worlds. That’s not too soon for them to be far enough into the next handheld Zelda to at least tease it, right? Tri Force Heroes was barely even a game! Okay, maybe it’s too early for the next main series Zelda game, but they could definitely show Zelda Maker. It would need a lot more variation in visual styles than Mario Maker so that every dungeon doesn’t look exactly the same, and a ton of items and interactive elements so that people can make original puzzles, but I think it can be done. Realistically, I don’t think Zelda Maker is likely to happen... but this isn’t a “realistic expectations” list, it’s a HOPE AND DREAMS list!

Ice Climber. Wait, what?

This is completely out of left field, but... new Ice Climber? Nobody’s asking for it, nobody wants it, but I think they could do something with it on Switch. Y’know, a competitive co-op mode to make use of the Joycons? There are plenty of developers this could’ve gone to... Next Level, Sora... maybe a even Namco or Capcom? This game is probably never happening, but if it ever does, I can see it as a Switch eShop title.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

A Mario/Raving Rabbids crossover RPG was rumored months ago, and while there wasn’t really anything to support it, it seemed too weird of a concept for someone to just start a rumor about. Then, a few weeks ago, what appear to be internal materials from Ubisoft regarding the game were leaked... and then the Brazilian ratings board issued a rating for the game, pretty much confirming it. It’s unfortunate that all this was leaked, as this game was probably going to be one of Nintendo’s big reveals at E3. I don’t imagine the leak will impact their plans that much, so this will probably take up a good portion of the spotlight.

Fire Emblem Warriors

Nintendo’s been all about the Fire Emblem lately, and while I don’t expect any details on the next major game in the series, Fire Emblem Warriors is supposed to be coming out sometime this year. The reveal trailer told people pretty much everything they need to know, but I expect it to show up in Treehouse Live, and at the very least in a sizzle reel during the spotlight. Assuming the only sizzle reel isn’t indie developers, which it might be.

Animal Crossing Something-Or-Other

Switch is a great console for Animal Crossing, and I’m excited to see what they do with it. They’ve already announced some kind of mobile Animal Crossing game, which is another perfect platform for the series (assuming it’s not some weird Animal Crossing-themed puzzle game or something). If Katsuya Eguchi’s been working on the mobile game he probably hasn’t had time to work on one for Switch in addition to everything else he’s been involved with... buuut, if they originally started development on Wii U, the game could be close to release by now. Either way, I’m hoping to see something Animal Crossing in the spotlight.

amiibo-Centric Games

I love amiibo, but I’d like to see more games (other than the ones they’re made for) that use them. amiibo Tap is basically just demos of NES and SNES games, and I don’t know anyone who played that Mario vs DK-type game that uses amiibo. The best use of amiibo I’ve seen is in Super Mario Maker, where scanning an amiibo unlocks that character as a skin, and Breath of the Wild, where every amiibo gives you random materials (and Zelda ones give you special items). Codename STEAM also has playable Fire Emblem characters unlocked via amiibo of those characters, which is... random as hell, but still pretty cool. I want Nintendo to put out some games that make use of amiibo in a cool way, something like Skylanders or Disney Infinity.

Switch VR

I’m not all that interested in VR... at least, not as it currently stands. The Switch, however, seems to have been designed with VR in mind. Sure, the main appeal is that it’s a home console that you can take on the go and even has portable multiplayer... but it could also easily become a portable VR system as well. I mean, the unit is a screen with two detachable motion controllers; all they need to do is release a headset to mount it in. I think the screen on the Switch may be kind of a low resolution to use for VR, but it’s definitely a much more attractive solution than other platforms that do VR and nothing but.

Monster Hunter XX

I’ve been waiting for another console Monster Hunter game, and it’s finally coming to Switch with Monster Hunter XX! Currently it’s only announced for Japan, but the series is also incredibly popular in North America, so I’m sure we’ll get it. C’mon, Capcom, give us a date! Also, while you’re at it, work things out with Arthur Conan Doyle’s family (or just ignore them, they have no legal claim to early Sherlock Holmes stuff) and release Dai Gyakuten Saiban here!

RPGs! JRPGs! ARPGs! SRPGs!

I want Japanese role-playing games. We’ve seen enough of Ever Oasis that if it’s in the spotlight it will only be part of a sizzle reel, and... I’m really not sure what’s up with Octopath Traveler, but hey, weird lighting engine aside it looks pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it. I feel like they’ll finally be showing off the Switch version of Dragon Quest XI, though I expect it to be close to the PS4 version. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is pretty much guaranteed to make an appearance. That’s all nice and good, but I want more. I want the Switch version of Dragon Quest X to come out in North America. I want Slime Morimori 3 to finally come out here. Hell, Nintendo and Namco have been working together a lot recently, how about a new Tales game? A NEW MARIO & LUIGI GAME WITH WARIO AND WALUIGI PLAYING AN IMPORTANT ROLE.

I think that’s about all I’ve got. I really don’t know what they’ll have time for in a twenty-five minute spotlight, but there will supposedly be announcements made during Treehouse Live as well. Hopefully the trailers for things we already know about will be short and most of the new stuff for them will come from Treehouse. I really don’t want ten minutes of the spotlight to be taken up by Super Mario Odyssey, Mario + Rabbids, and Xenoblade 2.

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Super Mario Odyssey evaluation

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Super Mario Odyssey evaluation

I guarantee you that after enjoying his newest journey, Tremendous Mario Odyssey, the sudden profession pivot of Nintendo’s most iconic character makes lots of sense. After all Mario isn’t a plumber, or at the least not simply a plumber. As a result of professionally talking, Mario wears many hats.

He’s a physician. He’s the lead in a mariachi band. He’s a constructing inspector. He’s wanting to fill no matter position the event requires. Tremendous Mario Odyssey expands on Mario’s chameleon-esque nature by giving him a brand new, all-encompassing skill: the ability to take over and management different characters and enemies by tossing his hat upon their noggin.

So now, with the zip of his cap, Mario can be a Goomba. Or a Bullet Invoice. Or a wierd woodland creature that may prolong its legs to achieve untold heights. Or a classy statue with the power to see invisible platforms.

That’s the pitch, the hook to Tremendous Mario Odyssey: that Mario will be no matter you want him to be. However that’s actually only a reiteration of what Mario has at all times been to each Nintendo and his followers (he’s beforehand been a professional golfer, kart racer, time traveler and rather more), and maybe that’s why the brand new cap-slinging mechanic appears like such a pure match. Tremendous Mario Odyssey is an prolonged riff on the legacy of its hero, a mustachioed man who started life as a humble plumber earlier than changing into a bona-fide professional in virtually every part.

And so what initially looks like an oddball centerpiece (the ghoulish skill to own the world round him) involves really feel like a completely apparent and important addition to this historic canon.

This can be a two-person evaluation. Polygon evaluations editor Phil Kollar and deputy information editor Allegra Frank each spent the final week enjoying as a lot Mario as they might cram into each waking hour.

I do know that is going to make me sound historical by Allegra requirements, however a lot of my earliest gaming recollections contain the unique Tremendous Mario Bros. for NES — a recreation that, I at all times wish to level out, was launched on or simply earlier than the day I used to be born. Thanks, Nintendo!

These recollections of Tremendous Mario Bros. are tinged with a profound sense of chance. Clearly this was an early 2D platformer, and it’s very primary by at the moment’s requirements. However as a baby, I keep in mind being stuffed with awe as I found every new factor I might accomplish with the sport’s restricted transfer set. I keep in mind getting my first hearth flower and really leaping from my seat in celebration of my newfound flame-spitting powers.

The latest time a Mario recreation captured that very same feeling of discovery was when Tremendous Mario 64 first took the collection into 3D. Then this week, as soon as once more, I felt that shock and pleasure with Tremendous Mario Odyssey. There’s a lot on this recreation; Mario himself has so many strikes and skills, after which on prime of that over a dozen completely different enemies or allies will be taken over with Cappy, his new ghostly hat companion. Every of those “captures” has new strikes of their very own.

The entire recreation is mainly structured like a large playground. Spend as a lot time as you need messing round; likelihood is you’ll be rewarded for it. And, similar to I keep in mind from my youth, this emphasis on exploration and discovery serves as a bottomless properly from which to attract buckets of excellent emotions. I can say with confidence that there hasn’t been one other recreation this 12 months that has so constantly had me grinning.

So Allegra, as somebody with out my old-man fondness for the Mario collection, how have you ever appreciated Tremendous Mario Odyssey?

My relationship with Mario began from a extra unconventional place: I realized to like the Mushroom Kingdom by means of Mario’s aspect adventures. By the point I first checked out the collection, Mario was already a kart racing champ, big-time partier and tennis star. Ultimately I acquired round to the core Mario video games, and whereas I beloved adventuring round kingdoms and islands and galaxies as Mario, I nonetheless credit score his expansive record of extracurriculars with sustaining my endearment to his quirky crew.

Whilst I’ve at all times identified Mario to carry quite a lot of jobs, one factor remained the identical: He was nonetheless Mario. Cappy might as soon as once more give Mario a brand new hat to put on, however the core distinction right here is that with these hats comes a rediscovery of how each the sport and Mario himself work — he’s nonetheless punching blocks and ground-pounding, however he isn’t bodily the Mario we’re used to. Rediscovering how Mario works is a serious a part of what makes Odyssey a pleasure, in addition to one thing particular.

I’ll say that the unconventional departure from Mario’s typical ability set does nonetheless take some critical getting used to, although. Did you discover something to be disappointing and even irritating with how a lot the gameplay deviates from the standard Mario type? Or did you would like it went even additional?

I had one single and minor frustration: the controls. Let me be clear right here that the controls aren’t dangerous by any means, however given the sheer variety of doable strikes at Mario’s disposal, there’s, uh, rather a lot to be taught. Sure advanced strikes can require finally holding down three or extra buttons, all pressed with excellent timing, or letting go of buttons on the proper time. And most annoyingly, a couple of choices require the usage of movement controls.

In the event you’re enjoying with the Swap’s Pleasure-Con controllers, the movement management strikes are fairly straightforward. However as somebody who nonetheless frequently experiences desyncing issues with the Pleasure-Cons, I most popular utilizing the Professional Controller or enjoying in handheld mode. Whereas movement controls nonetheless work with each of these setups, they’re awkward as hell to tug off.

I can not stress sufficient, nevertheless, that it is a minor quibble. There are a restricted variety of factors all through the sport that require movement management; even spots that appear like they want it typically have a workaround should you’re actually determined to not waggle your controller. That freedom is absolutely Tremendous Mario Odyssey’s best power, too.

We’ve talked rather a lot about how the sport permits Mario to step into the footwear of all these completely different creatures, however we haven’t but defined how the sport places all of these choices to work.

The place different Mario video games have ranges or worlds for our hero to discover, Tremendous Mario Odyssey has kingdoms, every one outlined by a central theme and unified by a story thread. There’s the Woodland Kingdom, which is all pastoral and plush; the Snow Kingdom, during which Mario shivers if he stands nonetheless for too lengthy; and, after all, New Donk Metropolis, aka the Metro Kingdom, amongst others.

For as bare-bones as Odyssey’s storyline is, it’s nonetheless clear how and why every of those worlds suits into it. Mario and Cappy are each on quests to rescue crucial girls of their lives — Princess Peach and Tiara, respectively — who’ve been kidnapped and thrown into Bowser’s absurd marriage ceremony plot. The pair boards the great ship Odyssey to journey from kingdom to kingdom, chasing after Bowser and his pack of rabbit marriage ceremony planners whereas additionally on the lookout for moons, collectible objects that energy their vessel.

The Odyssey takes the place of a central hub world, which is a bit disappointing; it is a small ship, its cramped inside seemingly designed to make us need to return outdoors and run round. That’s tremendous, as a result of every kingdom is wealthy with issues to do and locations to discover. Each kingdom includes a new set of enemies with wildly various powers, and it’s a pleasure to be taught the patterns of every new kingdom and remedy assorted puzzles, unlock secrets and techniques, and take down enemies with a unique, easy-to-learn set of skills.

Claims that Tremendous Mario Odyssey is a contemporary, open-world entry within the collection (like what The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was for Zelda) are overstated, however once I say that this recreation has actually, actually, actually large ranges, I imply it. Though I recognize how the primary marketing campaign retains Mario on a linear observe, I’m extra impressed by how a lot the sport invited me to discover the place and the way I needed.

Yeah, I’m 100 % in settlement with you that Tremendous Mario Odyssey just isn’t an “open-world” recreation in any conventional sense. What it shares most with Breath of the Wild just isn’t the dimensions of its worlds, however the density of them. Moons are much less like the valuable stars of Mario video games previous and extra corresponding to Breath of the Wild’s ample korok seeds. There are a whole bunch of them, rewarded liberally for duties each main and minor, whether or not it’s finishing a platforming problem, answering riddles for a sphinx or discovering a deviously hidden space in a retro 2D sequence.

The extra moons you collect, the additional a visit the Odyssey will have the ability to take, opening up increasingly more kingdoms as you go. It’s a satisfying loop, one which consistently motivated me to maintain exploring.

Nintendo can be good at urging gamers to revisit already-explored kingdoms. In your first journey by means of a kingdom, earlier than you’ve solved no matter main storyline conundrum is aggravating its individuals, you’re solely capable of entry a fraction of the full variety of moons accessible. Once you return to the dominion, new areas and challenges can have opened up, and dozens extra moons together with them. After which, after you “full” the sport and watch the credit, you’ll be able to unlock much more moons in each kingdom, prompting a worthy return tour of the the entire recreation.

Particularly good is that for each apparent method of finishing a puzzle or amassing a moon, there are different hidden options (and skills) to tinker with as the sport expands. This makes what can generally really feel like a formulaic journey — journey to a kingdom, gather moons, beat a boss; repeat — keep contemporary and, as you mentioned, free.

Yeah, there’s simply a lot to do right here. In the event you’re aiming to get each moon within the recreation — all 800-plus of them — it will probably simply refill 50 hours or extra, which properly exceeds my expectations from a Mario recreation. To perform all of that with none of the content material coming throughout as filler is fairly astounding, however Nintendo has pulled it off. And it’s pulled it off with a tremendous quantity of character.

I feel what you’re referring to right here — this pervasive sense of confident type — is my favourite side of the sport. It drips everywhere in the kingdoms; it’s intrinsic to the Cappy mechanic, as every captured being instantly infuses Mario with its personal particular taste. Small particulars like traditional Mario character sigils stamped across the worlds are pretty surprises.

There’s additionally loads of type within the boss battles, though maybe to much less successful impact. Boss battles really feel pure and particular to the worlds during which they exist; after all it is smart gigantic octopus monster, for instance, can be fought utilizing Mario’s newly inhabited tremendous jet stream consciousness.

The battles do generally interrupt the extra free-flowing nature of the sport’s collectible-hunting segments. Whereas it’s novel to see Mario’s new powers examined on a grand scale, difficult a boss normally feels much less satisfying than discovering all of these many, many moons — like a obligatory evil that’s getting in the way in which of the larger good.

For what it’s value, I feel the bosses are wildly profitable, and wouldn’t describe any of them as dragging on — as much as maybe the elective post-credits boss rush, which fully destroyed me many occasions over. The factor I like about Mario bosses generally, and these bosses particularly, is that Nintendo is so good at signposting what it’s worthwhile to do to succeed.

I by no means felt like I entered a boss encounter set as much as fail, or like I needed to die a few times simply to determine patterns. For instance, once I went up towards a large stone head with huge fists, it solely took a fast look on the battlefield to comprehend that there have been small pockets of ice arrange throughout. By getting the monstrous opponent to smash his fists into the ice, I used to be capable of swing my cap onto the fingers and rocket them again into my enemy’s face. If I used to be paying consideration and enjoying properly sufficient, I used to be capable of beat each boss within the recreation on my first attempt.

These boss encounters are additionally aided by a few of Tremendous Mario Odyssey’s most frantic music tracks. For a collection identified for its iconic tunes, among the best components of Odyssey is the way it takes probabilities with its soundtrack. From the jazzy riffs of the Woodland Kingdom to this weirdly catchy lounge track with precise lyrics, the music is simply as filled with little surprises as every part else within the recreation.

And whereas we’re speaking about aesthetic parts, I’ve acquired to notice one thing that’s apparent should you’ve ever watched a trailer for this recreation: Tremendous Mario Odyssey is completely attractive. For no matter individuals would possibly take into consideration the Swap’s comparatively underpowered , it doesn’t present for a second right here. Whether or not enjoying on my 4K-capable 65-inch TV or having fun with the sport in handheld mode on the Swap’s display, I’m consistently impressed by how crisp and colourful its worlds are. In lots of fashionable video games, I discover it straightforward for visuals and music to type of fade into the background; in Tremendous Mario Odyssey, they play practically as necessary a starring position as Nintendo’s mascot himself.

For a personality nearing 40 years outdated, it’s wonderful that Mario has remained not solely a beloved character however one whose video games are typically anticipated to be nice. From that perspective, it’s no shock that Tremendous Mario Odyssey is, sure, a fantastic recreation. However greater than that, it’s a implausible, even basic addition to Mario’s legacy. From a plumber to a physician to a tennis star to, uh, a Goomba, Mario has endured. No, this is not going to be the final Mario recreation, however it’s virtually sure to be lauded as one in every of his finest.

Tremendous Mario Odyssey was reviewed utilizing ultimate “retail” Nintendo Swap obtain codes offered by Nintendo. You will discover further details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.