The Great CT - Community Thread

[MANGANian]

How to make me lose interest in a videogame through a demo: Inject tons of unnecessary story and then have me have to go through skipping and fast-forwarding multiple times, and still force me into a storied gameplay situation.

Squeenix, what the hell? It's a demo. I don't need an encyclopaedia for half of your videogame. I just want to play the damn thing. It's making me have second thoughts about a game I initially found interesting. The name of its temporary title is already bad enough "Project Triangle Strategy". I have a feeling it'd just be renamed to Triangle Strategy and then they'll call it a day. Bravely Default exists, after all.

 

[sjmartin79]

I brought this up in the GW Discord, but if TPHD, and WWHD do in fact get re-released on Switch this year on top of SSHD in July, then it's damn near too packed for BOTW2 to make an appearance in 2021.

2021, with the exception of a few hitters like Rise, Poke Snap, NMH3, and Mario Golf, will be teh year of the Switch for ports, and remasters, followed by 2022 full of the other games we've been waiting for.

Hell, I'm still holding out for Prime Trilogy making an appearance this year to coincide with Metroid's 35th like Zelda this year also. If Nintendo can send Aonuma to record him saying, "We know you're excited for BOTW2. While you're waiting, here's this:" then we should get the same treatment for Metroid.

It's almost too perfect for them to do the same exact thing for Prime 4. "While you're waiting, here's Prime Trilogy for Switch."

Close out 2021 on a high note, and lead that into 2022 with Splatoon 3, Triangle Strategy, BOTW2, Bayo 3, and yes, even Prime 4.

EDIT: And who knows, maybe Xenoblade Chronicles X will make an appearance on Switch as well this year in prep for whatever Monolith are working on (we know they did XCDE, and almost positive co-developing BOTW2 with Nintendo).

EDIT 2: Based on what we know, there's only bigger titles through summer, and nothing for fall/winter. I think there's more in store that we'll see during E3, or whatever equivalent event happens.

Yes, yes, yes to all of this. I would love a TPHD/WWHD this year. And maybe they'll do it next Fall as a 1-2 punch as part of the 35th anniversary. As has been said, with all the work done, there is no reason not to port them over. The audience is there. And I would triple dip (original, Wii U, and now Switch) and buy them/play them again.

It was pretty clear that July was the last release date for games from the Direct (for things releasing in 2021). Makes me think we're going to get something around E3 time for the second half of the year and early 2022.

And yes please to Metroid Prime Trilogy HD. I've been anxiously awaiting this for way too long. Tease more of MP4 at E3, get people excited, and tell them while they wait they can play the trilogy.

Also yes to Xenoblade X. I love that game a whole bunch.

 

[Shoulder]

Yeah. We saw mostly stuff coming up through Q2 of this year with a couple things for the latter half, plus two games for 2022.

E3 would be in line for Nintendo to show stuff coming this summer, and fall/winter.

And as we saw with Blizzcon, Diablo 2 Resurrected is coming to Switch. That would’ve been announced during the direct had Blizzcon not occurred.

 

[Goodtwin]

Nintendo announcing and releasing games within a handful of months pretty regularly for a few years now. When they announced Metroid Prime 4 and Beyonetta 3 back in 2017 the Switch was still in its infancy, so there was some benefit to laying out the kinds of software that Switch gamers can expect to enjoy throughout the lifetime of the console. Once Switch proved itself as a smash hit there wasn't a big incentive to announce games early in development. By announcing games very early some of the enthusiasm fades as time goes along. People are very excited, but the long wait can potentially result in fatigue setting in for consumers. We have also seen examples where games get overhyped and can never live up to expectations. Watch Dogs comes to mind.

 

[EvilTw1n]

I brought this up in the GW Discord, but if TPHD, and WWHD do in fact get re-released on Switch this year on top of SSHD in July, then it's damn near too packed for BOTW2 to make an appearance in 2021.

I'm in that boat. I see comments on "but it's a special anniversary!" No it isn't. 40 is special. No one gives a shit about 35. A trio of HD remasters is enough to mark the "occasion."

2021, with the exception of a few hitters like Rise, Poke Snap, NMH3, and Mario Golf, will be teh year of the Switch for ports, and remasters, followed by 2022 full of the other games we've been waiting for.

If Rise has anything close to the success of World, it'll be a pretty heavy hitter. It might be a year late, but it has a good chance of moving the needle more than 3DS MonHuns...which were all still reasonably big sellers.

NMH3 will be the indie darling. SMT V is probably the big winter RPG. The Zelda remasters will fill in the blanks. The only thing missing is a new AAA exclusive fall game.

...a guy can dream of Monolith's new project...

Zelda TP HD and WW HD will certainly be released on Switch. All the work for a HD upgrade was already done. It would make no sense for them to let that work die on their least successful console every. Its easy money, I doubt they will pass up the opportunity to offer it these games to a userbase that will be approaching 100 million users.

It'd be silly not to. I mean, I won't double/triple dip, but WW HD alone has gotta see a bigger audience.

 

[Shoulder]

Monolith's project is a possibility of being revealed at E3, although I wonder it won't be announced until much later. That said, after the development of Xenoblade 2 in late 2017, I'm sure Monolith immediately went to work on their new project, and also at around the same time, they were likely working on XC: Definitive Edition, plus BOTW2 with Nintendo.

Looking into it further, Definitive Edition was announced in Sept. 2019, and launched in May of 2020, and I want to say Monolith said they worked on it for 2 years, so that would align with starting development after X2. BOTW was finished of course in early 2017, and its sequel started I'm sure right after that. So as a timeline, some of their staff started on BOTW2 after March 2017, followed by another set of staff working on XCDE in Late 2017, and then there's another team working on a new project. After DE was launched, that means that team could've been split between their new project, and BOTW2. It is also possible they're setting aside a team to launch a Definitive Edition of Chronicles X for Switch.

Based on this, this is what I how I think their staff are split up (A meaning top priority, and C lowest priority):

A-Team: BOTW2
B-Team: New Project
C-Team: Xenoblade Chronicles X

Monolith Soft is clearly a pretty big development studio, so the idea of them working on multiple projects, compared to another 1st party studio that may reside in Austin, TX, is not far-fetched. If XCX for Switch does exist, then I believe their new Project is a direct sequel to Chronicles X, which I'll refer to as Chronicles Y.

BOTW2 is likely to be a 2022 launch at this point, which could mean a possible Xenoblade Chronicles Y in late 2022, or sometime in 2023, and of course a Switch port of Chronicles X in late 2021 as a tie-in/catch-up for those who never played it.

There may also be a fourth team that is responsible for converting many of their previous titles such as Xenogears, and Xenosaga, although I am unsure if Square owns Xenogears, or if it belongs to Tetsuya Takahashi. Xenosaga would be much easier since it IS a Monolith Soft IP. Knowing this though, maybe a sequel to Xenosaga, or Xenogears is in the works, which would also possible mean a Switch conversion of either of those titles.

I don't think Monolith Soft are working on a non-Xeno type game outside of Zelda with Nintendo, so something "Xeno" related I think is what they're ultimately working on besides BOTW2.

 

[Goodtwin]

We as hardcore Nintendo fans often look at the lineup and expect a bunch of big hitters from Nintendo every year in order for the platform to remain successful, but Switch has been seen much better third party support and I think that is filling these holes in the lineup better than you may realize. For example, Tony Hawk 1+2 getting announced today for the Switch is a big deal to me. This wont be universally true for all Nintendo fans, but it feels like third parties are filling the gap for different types of gamers. There is just so many games releasing on a consistent basis and the back catalog is crazy. Switch keeps a lot of gamers interacting with their Switch on a regular basis because of games like Bioshock, Borderlands, Need For Speed HP, Burnout Paradise, and a ridiculous number of high quality Indie titles. Switch constantly has something for everyone and that mean s a lot of titles wont mean much to you but plenty will.

I think Nintendo will give Skyward Sword the spotlight until it releases. I'm certain we will see TP and WW HD, but I could see them holding a direct the first week of August to layout the rest of the years lineup. Im not certain that BoTW2 will slip into 2022 and believe its still likely for December of this year. Releasing a couple of remasters in the months of September through November wouldn't really change enthusiasm for BoTW 2. I will admit that if any game doesnt need Christmas to sell well, BoTW 2 would be it. Just like Mario 3D World released in February, I could see them holding BoTW 2 for a February or March release in 2022. Maybe even line it up for exactly 5 years after BoTW's release. 2022 will be Nintendo's last big push with the Switch. They will need to start preparing software for Switch 2 starting next year. I do agree with @EvilTw1n the 35 year anniversary is only important to the marketing team. Basically, they get to advertise anniversaries for Mario and Zelda with every console they ever release by moving to increments of 5 years.

In a way, we should be expecting something really really fucking awesome with BoTW 2. The original took so long because they were developing a brand new engine. BoTW 2 will be in development nearly as long without having to do that. Now I am sure they have done a lot of tinkering to get more out of the Switch since the game engine was developed around the Wii U. Lots of GPU advancements they can take advantage, far superior CPU performance and more meaningful use of nearly 3 times the available memory. Memory bandwidth seemed to choke the Switch in certain areas, but if they were to implement an advanced CPU culling system like Panic Button did with Doom Eternal, Im sure they can iron things out.

 

[Juegos]

I'm honestly concerned a bit about BotW2. If it's one of those cases of "we've been making more and better of BotW with the same engine for 5 years" then it's going to be great. But what happens so often with the Zelda team is more like "we initially intended to do one thing, but decided to do a different thing, then we realized we were being too ambitious/not ambitious enough, and we decided to fully commit to something totally different and had to restart development halfway through." I think if we'd seen more of BotW 2 since its reveal in June 2019, I would trust them to be nearly done. But at this point, I think it's still possible they'll just show us another teaser that shows a different direction.

But I'm rooting for BotW2: Bigger and Better.

 

[Goodtwin]

Nintendo's people are always thinking up new ideas for their games. Mario Galaxy 2 was a thing just because they had so many ideas untapped in the original Galaxy. Im thinking BoTW 2 will likely be similar. With Switch doing so well, they probably haven't felt the pressure to get BoTW 2 out the door. Nintendo has also been known to use a small team during the early parts of development. The teams only balloon up when development hits the final stretch. Its not like they have artist working full time for 5 years on the game. You will see plenty of the same names on listed in the credits of first party Nintendo games. BoTW2 could easily have been in the concept and idea stage for a couple of years with a small team. Im still guessing we will see BoTW 2 release this fiscal year. My hope is that it launches in December, but I have a strong feeling it will relese no later than March of next year.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

My biggest concern with upcoming Nintendo games like BOTW 2, Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 is the performance. Every Zelda game on Switch has its frame rate chugging moments and whatnot. It seems like every day there’s a rumour about the Switch Pro, and based on how some games ran like shit on the base 3DS towards the end of its life, Nintendo doesn’t seem to care too much about making sure all their games run smoothly. I’m not just talking about 60 FPS either, I’m talking dips to 20 or below.

I know not everyone cares so much about it, and I’m sure they’ll be playable, but I can’t help but feel like these games are gonna have its rough moments on the current Switch.

 

[MANGANian]

Nintendo doesn’t seem to care too much about making sure all their games run smoothly

I believe that's always the priority, at least when it comes to Nintendo EAD. With the Zelda series, not so much. I vaguely recall an article from a long time ago when journalism was a thing that was common on IGN where Nintendo mentioned they would deliberately sacrifice framerate for certain aspects in Zelda games, particularly Ocarina of Time, where they deem it negligible to do so.

 

[Goodtwin]

N64 games including Zelda OoT and MM pretty much never ran at 30fps, at least not consistently. It was common for games to run at 20fps. Zelda WW and TP were pretty much a lock on 30fps. Skyward Sword was a lock at 30fps. Zelda BoTW is 30fps most of the time except in a few forested areas, but I would consider it be mostly 30fps. I cant speak for 3DS games because I never purchased a 3DS, but I would adamantly disagree that Nintendo doesn't care about framerate. Especially their 60fps where they are more consistently than almost any other major publisher.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Fair enough. Hey Pikmin, Hyrule Warriors and Luigi's Mansion in co-op on base 3DS ran poorly.

BOTW, Link's Awakening and the Warriors (especially Age of Calatmity) games aren't perfect performance wise. Maybe its because the transfer from Wii U to Switch had some snags, and Grezzo isn't use to HD development. Maybe after this amount of time the Zelda team will be more comfortable with the Switch hardware.

Based on some games on the base 3DS and Zelda's Switch history, I'm just a bit worried. If this was Mario or something I know it'd be fine.

Edit: Maybe I'm just not explaining it the best. I'm not saying BOTW 2 is gonna be Cyberpunk 2077 levels of awful or anything. I played Link's Awakening just fine, I can handle some dips here and there. I'm just saying if the Switch Pro exists, part of me will just want to get the best experience and wonder how well it will run on base Switch.

 

[sjmartin79]

I would love for Grezzo to do HD remasters of Oracle of Ages/Seasons as well as A Link to the Past and Minish Cap. And maybe to a Metroid Zero Mission type of thing with the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. Time to update all the top-down Zeldas. I love what they did with Link's Awakening, so I'd love to see what they can do with the rest.
Also, I would love for someone to do a rebuilt from the ground up or a reimagining of Zelda 2. I think there's potential there.
And since I'm on a roll with my Zelda wishlist, I would love an HD remaster of OoT and MM. Update them, make them gorgeous, add some quality of life improvements where needed.

 

[Goodtwin]

The list of games I like to replay has gotten so large that I could not buy a single new game and I would stay busy for at least a year. I got an NES when I was five, but didnt get a SNES until 1995. N64 was the first system I bought with my own money. I got my N64 in March of 1997 and that was when I became a full forced gamer. Games like Mario 64, Zelda OoT and Goldeneye were milestones in you gaming world. On N64 alone I replayed Zelda OoT at least 15 times to completion. Mario 64 not quite as many times, but probably completed it to 120 stars 8-10 times during my years with my N64. As I moved to Gamecube I brought along a handful of N64 games that I would regularly replay. The list of course grew on Gamecube with plenty of new games that were worthy of being replayed like Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime and Zelda WW. Then Wii comes around and we once again add more titles like Zelda TP, Zelda SS, and Mario Galaxy 1+2. Even the Wii U with its more limited software lineup offered plenty of games I like to replay, Bayonetta 1+2 being the biggest stand out for me. Switch has offered up not only a plethora of new titles but also brought many of these past titles to the platform making it even easier and often times more enjoyable to replay them. In all honestly when Switch 2 launches, I "should" hold off a year and just spend that year replaying my favorite games from the past, but Im weak and wont have the will power to hold off on new hardware.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I would love for Grezzo to do HD remasters of Oracle of Ages/Seasons as well as A Link to the Past and Minish Cap. And maybe to a Metroid Zero Mission type of thing with the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. Time to update all the top-down Zeldas. I love what they did with Link's Awakening, so I'd love to see what they can do with the rest.
Also, I would love for someone to do a rebuilt from the ground up or a reimagining of Zelda 2. I think there's potential there.
And since I'm on a roll with my Zelda wishlist, I would love an HD remaster of OoT and MM. Update them, make them gorgeous, add some quality of life improvements where needed.

I'd be shocked if we don't see the Oracle games updated. It's been a long time since I played them but I remember Ages being one of if not my favorite top down Zelda. Only question is will they be bundled together or sold separately? The only thing I could possibly see preventing this is if Capcom has some say in it. Given how both N64 games got remade and both Gamecube games got remastered, I'd say it's a safe bet all the Gameboy ones will too.

I would love a Zelda Collection though. I'm pretty lukewarm on Skyward Sword HD, unless they do some QoL updates like fast traveling between bird statues, shutting up Fi, not having a cutscene play explaining what a green rupee is every time a new game session starts, etc. But a collection of all Ocarina - Twilight or all the top downs would be delightful.

Lastly, I remember reading a few years ago that the president's (or someone high up at Inti Creates) dream project is a remake of Zelda 2. Given how an indie studio was able to make Cadence of Hyrule, you never know.

 

[MANGANian]

Sign me up for a Minish Cap re-release (because the sprite work is perfect and I'd be upset if they change this) and a Majora's Mask remake.

I haven't seen @FriedShoes here in a while. Does anyone know if they're okay?

 

[Juegos]

I haven't seen @FriedShoes here in a while. Does anyone know if they're okay?

He's been waiting by the P.O. Box for me to send him my copy of Flower, Sun, and Rain. Little does he know I haven't sent it yet.

 

[mattavelle1]

Sign me up for a Minish Cap re-release (because the sprite work is perfect and I'd be upset if they change this) and a Majora's Mask remake.

I haven't seen @FriedShoes here in a while. Does anyone know if they're okay?

I talk to Fried on text atleast normally once a week. He’s still kicking

 

[MANGANian]

He's been waiting by the P.O. Box for me to send him my copy of Flower, Sun, and Rain. Little does he know I haven't sent it yet.

I talk to Fried on text atleast normally once a week. He’s still kicking

That's assuring to hear.

 

[sjmartin79]

I'd be shocked if we don't see the Oracle games updated. It's been a long time since I played them but I remember Ages being one of if not my favorite top down Zelda. Only question is will they be bundled together or sold separately? The only thing I could possibly see preventing this is if Capcom has some say in it. Given how both N64 games got remade and both Gamecube games got remastered, I'd say it's a safe bet all the Gameboy ones will too.

Would love for the Oracle games to be bundled together for a remaster.

I would love a Zelda Collection though. I'm pretty lukewarm on Skyward Sword HD, unless they do some QoL updates like fast traveling between bird statues, shutting up Fi, not having a cutscene play explaining what a green rupee is every time a new game session starts, etc. But a collection of all Ocarina - Twilight or all the top downs would be delightful.

Definitely hoping for QoL improvements with Skyward Sword. I have faith that if they are spending enough time to remap buttons that they'll take care of the Rupee thing. Fingers crossed.

Lastly, I remember reading a few years ago that the president's (or someone high up at Inti Creates) dream project is a remake of Zelda 2. Given how an indie studio was able to make Cadence of Hyrule, you never know.

This would make me very happy. I'm sad to admit that this is the only Zelda game I've never finished. I need to just push through it at some point.

 

[Shoulder]

I'm honestly concerned a bit about BotW2. If it's one of those cases of "we've been making more and better of BotW with the same engine for 5 years" then it's going to be great. But what happens so often with the Zelda team is more like "we initially intended to do one thing, but decided to do a different thing, then we realized we were being too ambitious/not ambitious enough, and we decided to fully commit to something totally different and had to restart development halfway through." I think if we'd seen more of BotW 2 since its reveal in June 2019, I would trust them to be nearly done. But at this point, I think it's still possible they'll just show us another teaser that shows a different direction.

But I'm rooting for BotW2: Bigger and Better.

I wonder if when the teaser trailer came out, it was similar to what we've seen in some reveal trailers where what we see is purely made up for the trailer, and not indicative of what the final game will not only look like, but what we'll end up seeing. It does feel rather strange like you said we haven't anything from Nintendo about it since that reveal. Same also applies for Bayo 3. I feel in both those cases, the trailers were create before much of the game itself was even developed.

My biggest concern with upcoming Nintendo games like BOTW 2, Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 is the performance. Every Zelda game on Switch has its frame rate chugging moments and whatnot. It seems like every day there’s a rumour about the Switch Pro, and based on how some games ran like shit on the base 3DS towards the end of its life, Nintendo doesn’t seem to care too much about making sure all their games run smoothly. I’m not just talking about 60 FPS either, I’m talking dips to 20 or below.

I know not everyone cares so much about it, and I’m sure they’ll be playable, but I can’t help but feel like these games are gonna have its rough moments on the current Switch.

At least in the case for BOTW2, it'll be designed from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch's hardware. Compared to BOTW that was dual-developed on two different systems with two entirely different architectures, this time they can focus on the particulars to make the game as best as it can be. I can see BOTW2 not only looking better than BOTW1 ever did, but run more consistent, and also at a higher resolution. I think 1080p30 docked, and 720p30 handheld is what they'll be shooting for, and possibly even including a dynamic resolution during those more intense moments.

Speaking of 60fps though, at least with Skyward Sword HD, we'll be getting full 60fps gameplay, which I think will be quite something when the time comes. Who knows though? Maybe Nintendo found a way to make 60fps work in BOTW2? Yeah, I can dream, but imagine...

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Anyone see the new Pokemon Legends trailer? I think this is the most excited for a Pokemon game I've been since the DS era, and that was for the Silver/Gold remake. I'm also stoked for New Pokemon Snap. I'm nowhere near as familiar with Pokemon fromGen 3 onward as I am with Gen 1 and 2, but hey, maybe that'll work in my favor as I take pictures of them and wonder what they are.

I wonder if when the teaser trailer came out, it was similar to what we've seen in some reveal trailers where what we see is purely made up for the trailer, and not indicative of what the final game will not only look like, but what we'll end up seeing. It does feel rather strange like you said we haven't anything from Nintendo about it since that reveal. Same also applies for Bayo 3. I feel in both those cases, the trailers were create before much of the game itself was even developed.



At least in the case for BOTW2, it'll be designed from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch's hardware. Compared to BOTW that was dual-developed on two different systems with two entirely different architectures, this time they can focus on the particulars to make the game as best as it can be. I can see BOTW2 not only looking better than BOTW1 ever did, but run more consistent, and also at a higher resolution. I think 1080p30 docked, and 720p30 handheld is what they'll be shooting for, and possibly even including a dynamic resolution during those more intense moments.

Speaking of 60fps though, at least with Skyward Sword HD, we'll be getting full 60fps gameplay, which I think will be quite something when the time comes. Who knows though? Maybe Nintendo found a way to make 60fps work in BOTW2? Yeah, I can dream, but imagine...

This is part of the reason why I dislike companies releasing trailers so early. I get why, but it's just frustrating. Doubly so when it's just a logo like Metroid Prime 4 or Elder Scrolls 6.

 

[Shoulder]

This is part of the reason why I dislike companies releasing trailers so early. I get why, but it's just frustrating. Doubly so when it's just a logo like Metroid Prime 4 or Elder Scrolls 6.

I feel these developers would be much better off either not confirming the game in development at all it's mostly done, or simply just make an official announcement on Twitter or something when they begin development.

Similar to what they do for movie productions. They'll announce something is being filmed, but not show anything until much later, whether it be some behind the scenes footage, or an official trailer.

 

[MANGANian]

Anyone see the new Pokemon Legends trailer? I think this is the most excited for a Pokemon game I've been since the DS era, and that was for the Silver/Gold remake. I'm also stoked for New Pokemon Snap. I'm nowhere near as familiar with Pokemon fromGen 3 onward as I am with Gen 1 and 2, but hey, maybe that'll work in my favor as I take pictures of them and wonder what they are.

I'm keeping my expectations in check for this one. I've seen some of the infamous framerate issues Gamefreak seems to struggle heavily with during the reveal trailer (please, Monolith Soft, just help them). I don't want to get my hopes up at all. Sword and Shield single-handedly killed every single ounce of enthusiasm I've had for the Pokemon series. I already didn't want to buy it, and then buying it for my brother because he wanted the thing; I decided to at least try the game, and it's the first time I couldn't get myself to care enough to play it. Despite the much-needed QoL changes, everything about the game just pissed me off. I put it down after 2 hours. The only thing I liked about the game was its Pokemon designs outside of the starter pokemon (who looks awful). It's always 5 feet forward, 20 steps back with Gamefreak.

Although my brother wouldn't admit it, this is probably his least favourite Pokemon game, as it's the first time I've seen him retire the game shortly after completing it. For the past games, he'd be playing online matches, trading and breeding pokemon religiously. Now the game is just taking up space on the console.

I'm one of the few who is satisfied with what I've seen of the Gen 4 remakes.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I'm keeping my expectations in check for this one. I've seen some of the infamous framerate issues Gamefreak seems to struggle heavily with during the reveal trailer (please, Monolith Soft, just help them). I don't want to get my hopes up at all. Sword and Shield single-handedly killed every single ounce of enthusiasm I've had for the Pokemon series. I already didn't want to buy it, and then buying it for my brother because he wanted the thing; I decided to at least try the game, and it's the first time I couldn't get myself to care enough to play it. Despite the much-needed QoL changes, everything about the game just pissed me off. I put it down after 2 hours. The only thing I liked about the game was its Pokemon designs outside of the starter pokemon (who looks awful). It's always 5 feet forward, 20 steps back with Gamefreak.

Although my brother wouldn't admit it, this is probably his least favourite Pokemon game, as it's the first time I've seen him retire the game shortly after completing it. For the past games, he'd be playing online matches, trading and breeding pokemon religiously. Now the game is just taking up space on the console.

I'm one of the few who is satisfied with what I've seen of the Gen 4 remakes.

I never played Sword/Shield, or Sun/Moon. Over the last two years I played Gen 1-5 and enjoyed it for the most part. I think the potential Legends has is what got me excited. I since watched the trailer again on the tv and noticed more rough spots that need ironing out, but I hope it'll turn out good.

 

[mattavelle1]

Well I got Ghost n Goblins resurrection. It’s still hard as nails my goodness

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Well I got Ghost n Goblins resurrection. It’s still hard as nails my goodness

Is it good? I enjoyed Super Ghouls n' Ghosts more than the original, wondering if I'd like this one.

 

[mattavelle1]

Is it good? I enjoyed Super Ghouls n' Ghosts more than the original, wondering if I'd like this one.

It’s really really good IMO CoV. I love the art style, and the soundtrack is stuck in my head, each levels music it’s top notch. It has 4 levels of difficulty and I started on basically medium, and I’ve died plenty. The deaths tho dont feel cheap, it’s more of learning the section then making that perfect run on it which I really enjoy because the gameplay is very tight. I didn’t instantly put it down, I played thru about 4 stages last night before I got to a stage that feels like I’m just jumping / moving and throwing constantly. I will play this a bunch, and I was a very big fan of the old ones also. Ghost n Goblins was one of my very first NES games and I have fond fond memories of it from my childhood.

 

[sjmartin79]

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with Bioshock Infinite. For me, this game took longer to get going than the previous entries in the series. I'll definitely be done with it this week.

After this, I need something entirely different to play. I'm thinking of doing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. I've never played a Crash game before, I got that collection on the eShop when it was on a huge sale last year. If I don't do that, I'll do Mario 3D World.

I'm thankful for the time to get through some things in my backlog.

Loved the Pokemon direct last Friday. Can't wait to play the Diamond/Pearl remakes. The art style is super cute. And the new Legends game has me severely intrigued. Can't wait to see where they go with that.

I've only been playing pokemon games for the last decade. (I have gone back and played some of the older ones though.) X/Y is what made me a fan, but Sun and Moon solidified it for me. Then going back to do Pokemon Yellow gave me history and foundation. I think it's great that they make small changes here and there with the series. I love what they did with Sword and Shield by reducing the Pokedex and introducing the Wild Area. Also, I loved the characters and gameplay elements in that one. Sword and Shield are definitely my favorite in the series so far. I'll be interested to see what parts of S/S they take into the next mainline game.

 

[Goodtwin]

After this, I need something entirely different to play. I'm thinking of doing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

I have it and I really enjoyed it. I didnt finish the first of the trilogy, there is a level late in the game that is stupid hard, and the trick/glitch that made it easy on PS1 doesnt work in this version. The other two games are much much easier but I actually prefer the levels in the first game, outside of the one frustratingly difficult level. Its rare for me to give up in a game, but after an hour of retrys the fun was completely gone and I moved onto another game. I enjoyed it enough that I will be buying Crash 4 at some point this year.

Speaking of frustrating moments in games, Doom Eternal has a difficulty spike in the game that sucked two hours out of my life without satisfaction of getting the win. The Khan Maykr is made hard in a cheap way. Doom's gameplay encourages staying on the move, something that becomes near impossible when the developer decides to electrify the entire floor and places the enemies you use to gain ammunition down there. Hazardous floors are nothing new in games, but ID software decided that this hazard would drain your health quickly. After a few deaths the game gives you an option to accept "Sentinal Armor" that greatly increases your protection without holding back your progression in the game. I wasn't going to give in and use it, but after two hours I was just spent. So I accepted the armor and went on to beat the boss first try. The fact that ID Software decided to implement this optional armor after a few deaths tells me they knew that it was a ridiculous difficulty spike. I am playing on Hurt Me Plenty and the the rest of the game can be very very challenging at times, but I always feel like I know where I fucked up and can beat any enemy encounter without extra lives if I replay them a few times. This boss fight enters into cheap territory and made the experience unenjoyable.

Im sure on PC with mouse and keyboard weapons like the Plasma Rife and Assault Rifle can be used with great precision making them useful in this fight, but on Switch with DA controls I just couldnt use them effectively and had to relay on the missile launcher quite a bit. Problem is for the last two energy shields on the Kahan Maykr its damn near impossible to get ammunition restored. I got the bitch down to the last shield a few times, but the limited places to safely run and lack of ammo always got the better of me. My main gripe is just how aggressive Id Software was with the hazardous floor. The hazardous floor was a thing in Doom 2016's final boss but it didnt punish you nearly as quickly and there also wasnt numerous spawned enemies running around shooting at you. @Juegos am I being a little bitch, or did you find this boss fight to be a bit cheap?

 

[Juegos]

@Juegos am I being a little bitch, or did you find this boss fight to be a bit cheap?

I beat him after a couple of tries, but I think that entire section of the game was made a lot easier on PC due to being able to land easy headshots on the gold-headed maykrs, which would make them drop tons of resources. And generally being able to shoot accurately while jumping made it easier to deal damage while dodging enemies and such. I think the whole game is honestly biased toward mouse and keyboard, so I'm not surprised to hear that the whole thing feels much more unfair on consoles.
I did have to retry a bunch of times in other parts of the game, and I remember it taking me a good while to beat the final boss. And I hate the marauder, that's a guaranteed difficulty spike for me in any room he appears.

 

[Goodtwin]

I beat him after a couple of tries, but I think that entire section of the game was made a lot easier on PC due to being able to land easy headshots on the gold-headed maykrs, which would make them drop tons of resources. And generally being able to shoot accurately while jumping made it easier to deal damage while dodging enemies and such. I think the whole game is honestly biased toward mouse and keyboard, so I'm not surprised to hear that the whole thing feels much more unfair on consoles.
I did have to retry a bunch of times in other parts of the game, and I remember it taking me a good while to beat the final boss. And I hate the marauder, that's a guaranteed difficulty spike for me in any room he appears.

Its probably made worse by me being a sub par DA player. The game even tells you to head shot the gold headed guys, but this is nearly impossible for me when trying to run and gun. Part of the reason I loved Doom 2016 was being it wasn't a precision shooter. Im not great with DA controls and the gyro adds too much judder to the camera movement. Being able to head shot the gold guys would definitely make a big difference. Probably save the BFG shot for last when going down on the floor is impossible. The marauder is a bitch but I hate the Arch Vile even more. I hate having to burn a BFG shot or use the Eternal Sword, but sometimes its best to just take out the big dog quickly and get back to run and gun once they are out of the way.

 

[Juegos]

Its probably made worse by me being a sub par DA player. The game even tells you to head shot the gold headed guys, but this is nearly impossible for me when trying to run and gun. Part of the reason I loved Doom 2016 was being it wasn't a precision shooter. Im not great with DA controls and the gyro adds too much judder to the camera movement. Being able to head shot the gold guys would definitely make a big difference. Probably save the BFG shot for last when going down on the floor is impossible. The marauder is a bitch but I hate the Arch Vile even more. I hate having to burn a BFG shot or use the Eternal Sword, but sometimes its best to just take out the big dog quickly and get back to run and gun once they are out of the way.

Oh yeah it's the sword for the Arch-Vile every time. Not having it available was an automatic "aw shit, here we go again" moment.

 

[EvilTw1n]

Part of the reason I loved Doom 2016 was being it wasn't a precision shooter.

This.

Oh, I'm sure it can be played that way with a mouse, but the game was built to make you feel like you walked out of a brawl after an hour-long session. Precise pirrouetting into one-shots isn't really the DOOM ethos. Slam dancing in a punk moshpit, yeah.

The only enjoyment I'm getting out of Eternal is that it's built on top of 2016, which means sitting atop greatness. Pretty much all of the new things Eternal tries, it fails at. IMO.

 

[MANGANian]

Im sure on PC with mouse and keyboard weapons like the Plasma Rife and Assault Rifle can be used with great precision making them useful in this fight, but on Switch with DA controls I just couldnt use them effectively and had to relay on the missile launcher quite a bit

This is probably the reason. DOOM is generally made for PC at heart. I'm not complaining, since that's my preferred way to play DOOM or any shooter for that matter.

 

[Goodtwin]

It just sucks because its the only point in the game where I couldn't make good use of the developed skills that got me through Doom 2016 and most of Eternal. Oh well, I like Doom 2016 better anyway and this just kind reaffirmed why. Sometimes trying to make it bigger and better doesnt result in a better game. I died plenty of times in Doom 2016, and the final boss kicked my ass more than a few times, I always wanted to give it another go. Khan Maykr boss fight got to the point that I just wanted it to be over. The fight wasnt enjoyable and didnt even have the adrenaline rush that kept my heart racing in 2016. All in all I still like Eternal, and would give it a solid 8/10, but I give Doom 2016 a 9.5/10, so its step in the wrong direction for me. Rant over, moving on.

 

[EvilTw1n]

This is probably the reason. DOOM is generally made for PC at heart. I'm not complaining, since that's my preferred way to play DOOM or any shooter for that matter.

Pretty much all modern shooters are also designed with DA in mind, too, though. That's why there's so much programming chicanery with sticky aiming/assist; devs have bent over backwards to make shooters playable with sticks since Halo and COD4 showed that the biggest audience for them was on consoles. If you get a feeling for the reticle snap, you can damn near play modern shooters just by strafing and waiting for the algorithm to aim for you. But even that can't make up for some of the gank in Eternal.

(I always just kinda chuckle at "precision" with this series. DOOM, II, and 64 were so precise that they didn't even have vertical aiming.)

 

[Shoulder]

So my gaming rig is in PCMR terms...ancient, but it continues to chug along without much issue. Rocking an AMD FX-8320, an eVGA GTX 770 Superclocked, and 8GB of DDR3 1866Hz ram, it can still play modern games believe it or not (provided I turn down the settings, plus cap the framerate for more intensive games at 30fps).

Since it was getting just a little tired, I decided to stretch its legs this week by overclocking the CPU from its base clock of 3.5GHz to a reasonable 4.2GHz. After some fiddling, I found it quite stable. After using the classic Cinebench R23 test, I managed a good 20% increase in my score (over 3500). That said, a decent modern CPU will do double, or triple that, and use a lot less power doing it, so we have come a long way since the early days of 2010s. By comparison, an M1 equipped Macbook Air will get over 7000...while also consuming a fraction of the wattage. LOL

I also this week decided that I was going to keep my rig for longer since GPU upgrades are impossible right now due to the shortages, and DDR5 is not a thing yet, but will be hopefully starting this year. Things like AMD's Smart Access Memory, or nVidia's Resizable BAR Support won't be mature for awhile yet, PCIe Gen 4 is only just getting started, and Microsoft's API DirectStorage is another 1-2 years away from being implemented. That is why I went ahead, and decided to get a PCIe WiFi card (my current WIFI adapter is a USB 2.0 variant that I've hated since I got it because it only works half the time), plus doubling my ram to 16gigs (managed to find the exact memory I already have, which is nice).

While these changes won't be a huge difference, it'll at least help stretch the life of my rig for a little longer. I'll likely be getting another SSD, but in a larger capacity to store all my games in, plus keep my current standard HDDs as regular storage. And who knows, if an amazing deal comes along, I might even secure a RTX 3000 series GPU between now, and a year or so down the road, although I have doubts on that as well (not to mention my system would be quite bottlenecked at that point)

In all, a system that I built in 2014 is still showing itself to be pretty snappy in day to day tasks, plus I also this week did a complete fresh install of windows. I have to say, modern digital distribution platforms with Cloud Saves are a god-send these days. Gone are the days where you needed to retrieve your save files, put them on a separate drive. Now it's all in the cloud ready to be played again where you left off. Windows itself is also a little snappier too, so that helps.

Pretty much all modern shooters are also designed with DA in mind, too, though. That's why there's so much programming chicanery with sticky aiming/assist; devs have bent over backwards to make shooters playable with sticks since Halo and COD4 showed that the biggest audience for them was on consoles. If you get a feeling for the reticle snap, you can damn near play modern shooters just by strafing and waiting for the algorithm to aim for you. But even that can't make up for some of the gank in Eternal.

(I always just kinda chuckle at "precision" with this series. DOOM, II, and 64 were so precise that they didn't even have vertical aiming.)

That is a rather fascinating thread you linked.

I was never that much into Doom as a kid, and thinking back, Doom 3 was my first real foray into the series, and quite frankly I enjoyed the hell out of it, and still do to this day. Once I started playing the originals though, it definitely had a different feel, and of course in a lot of ways, I enjoyed them more. That said, I do still enjoy the slower-paced nature of Doom 3, and I think like Doom 64 is today, will be remembered more fondly.

As far as the vertical aiming portion, I am fine with Nightdive limiting Doom 64 to just horizontal aiming because this port is just that; a port. It's not a remaster, it's not a remake. What this is actually though is reverse engineering effort similar to what they did with Turok a couple years ago.

And yeah, those games are already quite precise, so why change it especially when the games themselves were never designed with it in mind?

 

[Shoulder]

After finishing Serious Sam 4 last night, and also upon realizing in my dumb mind that it was a prequel to Serious Sam 3: BFE, guess who's booting up BFE once again? Time to get serious again.

I don't normally plug my own videos, but I made this a few years ago with some random footage I recorded. Could've been better execution, but that's learning for ya.

 

[sjmartin79]

After finishing Bastion, I started on Super Mario 3D World for the switch.
I had forgotten how well made this game was. I love how each level is a different idea or theme and doesn't have to relate to the specific overworld. The controls are fantastic. The challenges are the right amount, as there are several levels that cost me numerous lives to get all the stars and the stamp. (I don't move on till I've gotten every star and the stamp from each level.) I love being able to play as Luigi for every level.
I'll do the "Bowser's Fury" section when I'm done with this.
Super glad I double dipped on this.

 

[Goodtwin]

As far as the vertical aiming portion, I am fine with Nightdive limiting Doom 64 to just horizontal aiming because this port is just that; a port. It's not a remaster, it's not a remake. What this is actually though is reverse engineering effort similar to what they did with Turok a couple years ago.

The early Doom games including N64 were designed to not have to deal with vertical aiming, so I too am glad they didnt fuck with it in the Doom 64 port. I hated Doom 64 on the N64 because it was so fucking dark and I couldnt see shit. I didnt know at the time it was an oversight by the developer and if you changed some settings on your TV you could make it playable. They fixed the issue with the new port and it might be the N64 shooter that holds up the best. I really really enjoyed Doom 64 on my Switch. The OG Doom and Doom II not so much. Doom 3 is its own thing and I got bored with it. Other than Doom 2016 (my absolute favorite), I think Doom 64 is my favorite Doom game. It would be a toss up between Eternal and Doom 64.

Turok and Turok 2 on Switch are great. I always got lost in Turok on N64 because the draw distance was so terrible. Played it on Switch and the increased draw distance made exploration so much more enjoyable. Turok 2 was always a good looking game on the N64, but ran terribly. They also did some QoL improvements with the port that make exploration not such a nightmare. I like the jungle theme of the original better, but Turok 2 is still a good game now that it has a proper framerate.

@Shoulder
One of the hard limits I have encountered on my PC is the 2GB video memory on my graphics card. Doom Eternal requires at least 3GB, and it stutters badly even when turned down to 720p. I am trying Xbox Gamepass for PC for $1 this month, but I think I will cancel it soon. Most of the games are over 100GB to download, with many being 150GB+. This is beyond absurd. The Halo Masterchief collection is 125GB to download. Its nowhere near that on Xbox One. The file sizes are obnoxious. I too was looking for a graphics card upgrade, but right now there is nothing to buy and that means everything you find is expensive. Every time I game on my PC it reminds me of how much more convenient gaming on Switch is. Even while playing Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay (comes with the 2009 Dark Athena game), my PC should run the game at 1080p 60 no problem, but because of some bug in the software, any time it detects HDMI output, it limits you to 720p. Not only that, the game will drop framerate even though no hardware shows being maxed out. PC gaming is nice because of the flexibility, but it can also be a headache at times. Most of the time I would rather just jump into a game on my Switch.

 

[MANGANian]

I wanted to upgrade my PC myself but this crypto phase, COVID and chip shortages are making this probably the worst I've seen the PC gaming market in years. It's worse than it was 2/3 years ago. I have no choice but to wait. I think a lot of people would be stuck with their old rig for a while.

 

[Goodtwin]

What are the chances Nintendo revives the 3DS screen tech and makes it a feature in the Switch successor? I know the viewing angles got a lot better in the later 3DS revisions, so perhaps a further improved HD version could be in the next Switch?

 

[MANGANian]

What are the chances Nintendo revives the 3DS screen tech and makes it a feature in the Switch successor? I know the viewing angles got a lot better in the later 3DS revisions, so perhaps a further improved HD version could be in the next Switch?

Zero. I actually liked the 3D. It made 3D platformers a lot better at gauging where you are. I'd reckon it would've felt similar for 3D hack and slash game as well. It's a shame that it was considered a useless gimmick.

 

[Juegos]

I wanted to upgrade my PC myself but this crypto phase, COVID and chip shortages are making this probably the worst I've seen the PC gaming market in years. It's worse than it was 2/3 years ago. I have no choice but to wait. I think a lot of people would be stuck with their old rig for a while.

I've been contemplating dropping $480 on the RX 6700 XT in one week, but that would be extremely irresponsible for me right now. I guess I could always hope there's more stock by Thanksgiving.

 

[Shoulder]

The early Doom games including N64 were designed to not have to deal with vertical aiming, so I too am glad they didnt fuck with it in the Doom 64 port. I hated Doom 64 on the N64 because it was so fucking dark and I couldnt see shit. I didnt know at the time it was an oversight by the developer and if you changed some settings on your TV you could make it playable. They fixed the issue with the new port and it might be the N64 shooter that holds up the best. I really really enjoyed Doom 64 on my Switch. The OG Doom and Doom II not so much. Doom 3 is its own thing and I got bored with it. Other than Doom 2016 (my absolute favorite), I think Doom 64 is my favorite Doom game. It would be a toss up between Eternal and Doom 64.

Turok and Turok 2 on Switch are great. I always got lost in Turok on N64 because the draw distance was so terrible. Played it on Switch and the increased draw distance made exploration so much more enjoyable. Turok 2 was always a good looking game on the N64, but ran terribly. They also did some QoL improvements with the port that make exploration not such a nightmare. I like the jungle theme of the original better, but Turok 2 is still a good game now that it has a proper framerate.

@Shoulder
One of the hard limits I have encountered on my PC is the 2GB video memory on my graphics card. Doom Eternal requires at least 3GB, and it stutters badly even when turned down to 720p. I am trying Xbox Gamepass for PC for $1 this month, but I think I will cancel it soon. Most of the games are over 100GB to download, with many being 150GB+. This is beyond absurd. The Halo Masterchief collection is 125GB to download. Its nowhere near that on Xbox One. The file sizes are obnoxious. I too was looking for a graphics card upgrade, but right now there is nothing to buy and that means everything you find is expensive. Every time I game on my PC it reminds me of how much more convenient gaming on Switch is. Even while playing Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay (comes with the 2009 Dark Athena game), my PC should run the game at 1080p 60 no problem, but because of some bug in the software, any time it detects HDMI output, it limits you to 720p. Not only that, the game will drop framerate even though no hardware shows being maxed out. PC gaming is nice because of the flexibility, but it can also be a headache at times. Most of the time I would rather just jump into a game on my Switch.

There are four games I can name off hand that really have shown how outdated my system is, and they are Just Cause 3, Serious Sam 4, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Watch Dogs 2. That said, the two former actually run fairly consistently when settings are low at 30fps. The other two though tend to tank my system, or cause it to crash after a certain amount of time has passed.

From what I gather, it's primarily a memory issue as this occurred even in Sam 4 when I ran it up to 60fps. But when I capped it at 30fps, I never had an issue. It's also possible it's a combo of VRAM, and System Memory. And as I mentioned earlier, I did decide to upgrade my ram up to 16gigs if only so I can extend the life just that much longer, while also being able to video edit with better consistency. That said, my ram sticks have yet to arrive as of this post, so I'm hoping by the end of this week. I mean fuck, given the shortages of GPUs these days, it almost makes sense to pick up a nVidia Quadro M5000 card with 8GB GDDR5 ram for under 400 bucks if vram usage is an issue

But realistically, I'll be upgrading my GPU before I do CPU/Mobo/Ram. My PSU even as a 550w 80 Plus Bronze is adequate as long as I don't buy the biggest, and baddest GPU on the market. And most CPUs these days run a lot more efficient compared to my AMD FX, which in OCed trim, probably could reach 150-200w at certain peaks, although I have nothing to measure that.


Going back to games themselves, you're totally right on about Turok. I originally played on N64, but never finished it, so for it to arrive on Switch, and play extremely well, much better than the original ever did was a nice surprise. I didn't even care that it did not reach a locked 60fps all the time as it was already much better than N64. Turok 2 I've noticed similar feelings towards, although I am not far into it, so we'll see how that goes.

Doom 64 I know was originally 30fps on N64, so a damn near locked 60fps on Switch is welcome. Even though it'll never happen, it would be cool if Nightdive took both Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark, and gave them the same treatment they've done for Doom 64, and Turok 1 & 2, but given the licensing issues, I doubt they could ever do that.

That said, when you look at Nightdive's library of titles they've either repurposed for modern systems, or outright reverse-engineered them (Link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightdive_Studios), they do tend to go after games that have never received in the way of a re-release (and as a result, acquired the rights to them), and otherwise might've been lost forever. I even noticed they're going to give the same treatment to PowerSlave, which DF Retro did a deep dive on a few years ago, which piqued my interest. They're a very devoted group of people who want more people to experience these otherwise forgotten games from 20-30 years ago.

Now, if they could somehow manage to secure the rights to No One Lives Forever 1 & 2 at some point (I know it's been tackled before, but hit a dead-end when they encountered licensing issues with multiple groups who claim to be the holders of the game's license), I would be quite happy. That also being said, NOLF has been unofficially released for modern PCs along with widescreen support, but like other games, it's like a NOLF EX type version. I think it's only a matter of time though when Nightdive can actually re-release it.

 

[MANGANian]

Is the world answering my plea for help? Kotaku just posted an article begging Nintendo/Capcom to rerelease Minish Cap.

 

[Shoulder]

I've been contemplating dropping $480 on the RX 6700 XT in one week, but that would be extremely irresponsible for me right now. I guess I could always hope there's more stock by Thanksgiving.

I've considered one as well if only because I'd rather upgrade my GPU first, keep that around while I eventually do a full upgrade with mobo/cpu/ram when the time is right. Things like DDR5, Smart access memory, and of course DirectStorage interest me more than Ray-tracing.

 

[Shoulder]

@Juegos @MANGANian @Goodtwin

This I found quite fascinating:

TLW

When you're CPU bottlenecked, the Radeon cards tend to push ahead of nvidia's cards, even when compared to something like an RX 5700XT to a RTX 3070, or even 3090. Sure, many folks who buy something like a 3090 probably don't have something like a Ryzen 5 1600x, and instead are using a Ryzen 7, or even Ryzen 9. However, for most gamers, you can bet that their CPUs are older than their GPUs, and as a result, it starts to paint a picture where the driver overhead of nVidia cards is causing more CPU tasks to be wasted, and cause Radeon cards to pull ahead.

I also think this makes a difference especially if you're a competitive gamer, or if you simply strive for higher refresh rates, even at 1080p. Just going for the biggest, and baddest GPU doesn't always mean you'll get the best results. Naturally, having a good balance of CPU, and GPU is what counts. But CPUs like Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Core i3, Core i5, and in some cases, even older ones than that are probably the most mainstream of cards in most rigs.

So for most of us who have rigs that are 3-5 years old or more, but don't feel compelled to do a full upgrade, it is looking like it makes more sense to go Radeon than nVidia. Now, this video did not compare the differences in Ray-Tracing performance, although I'm sure that was not the intention of the video.

The issue based on this video is the drivers themselves are causing more CPU cycles to be wasted for the GPU before you even load up a game. In one comparison, he used Shadow of the Tomb Raider in the benchmark test, and when locking the framerate to 60fps, the radeon card caused less CPU usage when compared to the nVidia card.

Looking a little further into this, it's been a known issue for years with nVidia cards when compared to radeon cards with respect to their drivers. First time I've heard of this though, so figured I'd pass it onto you guys.

EDIT: Also looking a bit more, it would appear this affects Vulkan, and DX12 APIs compared to DX11 where nVidia pulls ahead in older APIs. Still, interesting information nonetheless.