Console Talk

Has anyone else watched A Man on the Inside?  It's billed as a comedy and it definitely has comedic moments but one of those "more heart then belly laughs" kind of shows.  Was interesting to see Stephanie Beatriz in something else as I knew she wasn't like Rosa (nor sounded like her) but other than an episode of One Day at a Time this is all I'd seen her in and she was very different. A much warmer, more caring character. She did a really good job in the role.  Think I'll give it a rewatch at some point. 

Insane that it took an entire year to come out in Europe after the US release.  NOE really hated Kirby all the way up until Kirby Returns to Dreamland on the Wii in 2011 for some bizzare reason; as these kinds of delays were sadly the norm for the Kirby series all the way up until RTD came out (With Dreamland 3 outright not getting an EU release at all until it came out on the Wii VC). It’s not even like it had much text to translate either! There’s hardly any localisation involved with most games in the series, NOE just had a weird grudge against the series for some crazy reason. Anyway, Kirby 64 was the last of the Dark Matter trilogy (consisting of Dreamland 2, Dreamland 3 and Crystal Shards).  These games were all directed by Shinichi Shimomura (who mysteriously vanished and went missing not long after Crystal Shards came out; he remains a missing person till this very day!), and all feature a similar gameplay structure which eschews the High NRG action of the Sakurai directed Kirby games in favour of slower paced level design that encourages exploration and puzzle solving.  They also tend to feature a smaller number of copy powers that are augmented by something else (notably the Animal Friends in KDL 2 & 3, and the Copy Power Mixing mechanic in Crystal Shards). They’re also characterised by having optional collectables in each stage that require you to solve optional puzzles that involve specific copy powers and tasks to complete in each stage; along with some darker undertones that link in with a shared lore involving the recurring baddie, Dark Matter. The Dark Matter Trilogy tends to be a bit of an acquired taste compared to Sakurai’s Kirby titles, or the more modern Kirby titles.  And Kirby 64 is certainly no exception.  While I personally consider it to be a bit lower on the rung of Kirby titles, owing to its glacial pacing and sloooooow AF movement mechanics (including a bizzare limitation on Kirby’s ability to fly); I still very much enjoy Crystal Shards and can appreciate what they were going for here.  I love the Copy Power Mixing mechanic, and I’d love to see it make a return proper; but I can totally understand why they’ve never attempted it again (outside of some very limited mixing in couple of future titles), as it becomes exponentially difficult to implement as you increase the number of copy powers. I also need to say that it feels like an odd choice to doggedly stick with 2D sidescrolling gameplay with the first (and only) N64 entry; given that almost every other N64 sequel went out of its way to bring their respective sequel into the world of 3D gameplay.  But HAL were notably struggling with the transition to 3D, so this was likely a necessary compromise to get something out during the console’ lifecycle.  It wouldn’t be until all the way until 2022 when Kirby would finally get a true 3D entry with 3D platforming gameplay; and while Forgotten Land (a very fitting name!) turned out excellent, it’s shocking that it took so long for that gameplay to finally be realised.  Forgotten Land actually takes after Kirby 64 and the rest of the Dark Matter Trilogy in many ways (most notably the slower exploration and puzzle focus in its gameplay and level design); so they were clearly onto something back on the N64. Kirby 64 isn’t for everyone (not even amongst those who are already Kirby fans), but it’s certainly an interesting game, both for what it does and what it doesn’t do.  It and Forgotten Land also share some interesting lore connections too… I’m looking at YOU Shiver Star…

Thanks for the games. Here's a link to this week's stream... - - - - - N-Europe Saturday Smash! (30/11/2024) - - - - -

I’ve bought so much. The very most recently though A Third copy of Disco Elysium. I love that game and it’s $10 on Steam so go gets it people.    Also on Steam Immortals of Aveum. Saw it mentioned in a YouTube video as under appreciated a few days ago and I checked out the demo and enjoyed it a fair amount. Sucks it’s EA attached, but there is a fun competent new IP shooter in it. Plus the sale has it down to $15.  I just remembered this is a website that for most people their sales are different and their prices are extremely different.    Anywho also got stuff to get my neglected PC running again and then got more stuff to upgrade it to be 2022 relevant ish. (SSD to bring to life and then 5700X3D and 7900 GRE for funsies)