crispy4000

I'm surprised there even was a thread to bump, lol. Thought it would have died when the boards got nuked.

Then I think it's also fair to say there's more to the SNES than JRPGs. Modern consoles have indies going for them, which stacks the odds in their favor, IMO.

I'm a huge fan of the first game, and the sequel is a worthy follow up. It's even more inventive conceptually, has much more refined controls, and a greater helping of Double Fine's quirky adventure-game charm. I can see why people think it was robbed of GOTY last year. Every new world is a ride, with the most rapid inter-level tonal shifts I've seen in any game, ever. That's also where my biggest hang ups are. The last mental world epitomizes this: as zany as it gets conceptually, it forgets that it's a 3D platformer and not a tourist attraction. Resistance and challenge in Psychonatus 2 gradually devolves into 'kill all to progress' enemy dumps. It's the polar opposite of the Meat Circus in the first game, which flexes your platforming muscle. Bosses also tend to get easier as the game continues on, culminating in a disappointing final encounter mechanically (dodge dodge dodge, shoot shoot shoot). Linearity can be an issue as well, with many of the early worlds not giving you much to explore off the beaten path. When so much else in the game is brilliant, these things stick out. My favorite part was the Questionable Area, which let me scratch that exploration itch. And while the story could be tighter (how many different times/ways did we really need the Deluge explained?), the presentation is always entertaining. It's solid, and still one of the genre's very best. In spite of my nitpicks, Psychonauts 2 is a must play. 9/10 Shout out to @Commissar SFLUFAN for giving it away! 2022 Death's Door - 8.5/10 Torna: The Golden Country - 9/10 Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - 7/10 Mail Mole - 7.5/10 Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair - 9/10 What the Golf? - 8/10 Greak: Memories of Azur - 8/10 Psychonauts 2 - 9/10

I think a similar criticism could be levied at the open world glut of last gen AAA, to be fair.

The fidelity bump from Gamecube to Switch is no where close as PS2 to PS4. That's true. But what others here are keying into is that the Switch may not have enough headroom to make it worth the effort. This might be the closest comparison we have, from Wii to Switch granted: Not a bad upgrade, goes further than a remaster. But if the next Switch was around the corner, you could see why it might be worth targeting that instead.

Well you won’t have to wait long to see the next batch tomorrow. I took the same deal as well. Pumpkin Jack has raytracing, for anyone that wants a PC workout.

You're both underselling the Gamecube and overselling the Switch with that comparison.

I seem to remember Sun & Moon getting praise for coming closer to that for the 3DS. Silver and Gold were pretty good looking for their time as well, on the Game Boy Color.

For those still holding strong, tomorrow is the refresh.

I just beat it today. Best 3D platformer since Mario Odyssey, one of the genre’s all time greats, even moreso than it’s predecessor. It has some flaws. Combat isn’t great and can feel forced. Too often you’re jumping through things just to let the game tell it’s story. But my issues with it seeming too rail guided got a little better by the end. It’s very Double Fine adventure game in spirit, which is a good thing on the whole.

Someone at Double Fine must have played Skyward Sword. The inspirations in Bob’s brain are pretty obvious. Psychonauts 2 doesn’t take the concept as far, but it’s also a 3D platformer, not a puzzle adventure game. It’s nice seeing someone steal something from it, not gonna lie.

I’ve read way more complaints in reviews about Switch Pokémon games being half baked than 3DS’s entries. Even Legends, the best received, got plenty of shade for its technical shortcomings compared to other open world Switch games. There’s no excuse for that with how big of a franchise it is.

Since when has Pokémon stopped being half-baked / disappointing?

Well, glad you didn’t. It was one of the first things I noticed when I tried it. Close up, you’re supposed to be able to jam that fire button Master Takahashi-style.

It’s not as redundant as the setup suggests. Some of the ideas they introduce are the genesis for what they later tried in Eventide Island, in BoTW. You’ll get to visit some new areas in the desert as well. Skyward Sword definitely has issues with boss repetition. And I can’t remember if you got to it yet, but the Water Basin part is way worse padding than where you are now. Tadtone section was fairly innocuous to me. The larger issue was the awkward motion swimming controls IMO.

“In all [willy wars] games, shots are limited to one shot every few frames of animation. In the originals, players could fire weaponry on every other frame.” Mega Man: The Wily Wars | MMKB | Fandom MEGAMAN.FANDOM.COM Mega Man: The Wily Wars, known as Rockman Mega World (ロックマンメガワールド, Rokkuman Mega Wārudo) in Japan, is a remake compilation of Mega Man, Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3... That’s the nerf I was trying to recall. It felt to me like you could always get in one less shot than the originals if you were close up. Slows the game down, feels bad.

Vita owners and Wii U owners have a lot in common. The biggest distinction is that Nintendo didn’t shift more development to the 3DS early enough. Some Japanese 3rd parties found themselves in the same boat with the Vita.

The EA games are being given away on Prime Day (July 12-13th). But there's a new grouping of games for this month too: Maniac Mansion Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark Suzerain Fishing: North Atlantic I'm particularly interested in Fell Seal.

Sound apparently works now. The speed of their updates is wild.

I also think we'll never know how much a muted E3 factors in. Most AAA games aren't producing stage or floor demos anymore. It kind of sucks from a spectator standpoint. But could help some games get to the finish line faster. Also true. It 'pads' the library in a way that's better for consumers. But looking at those lists, I don't think this gen was compensating for much with those patches/updates either. At launch, sure, but not so much today.

Wily Wars is a bad remake collection. I remember there's one less bullet you can shoot on screen at a time, it drove me nuts.

I can't believe he's never heard of Monkey Island before. He should play the first one sometime, he'd probably get a kick out of it.

I actually think industry expansion since the start of last gen has something to do with it. More development struggles, but more big games in development perhaps? It’s not just indies. Because many of the best games that year were on a failed console.

IMO, any shortcoming this year so far are kind of nullified by 2021. It’s not such steep drop off to suspect something pandemic related either, which is my larger point.