Julius

OH MY GOSH WII SPORTS but Switch?! The end is near, Nintendo going all out

Duuuuuuude Live A Live in 2D-HD? The heck is this Direct?!

Portal on Switch makes so much sense Also KH really for an S-E sounding title for its collection, huh?

Waddle Dee's Weapon Shop is hype

Hahahaha how are we getting Cross on Switch before Trigger?!

Futurama is (reportedly) making a comeback!

Fair shout, I just stared at it for 30 seconds and feel a bit dizzy I've just thrown it in one for the more daring and put up a PG rated one instead. Looking at that original GIF, I never noticed until now just how much they contorted K. Rool's neck for the sake of his hype, very freaky! I hope not, but I also wouldn't bet against it. We're rioting if it's the "one last thing" though

If I'm remembering right I didn't come across any in the first area but did come across some during my first time visiting the second (I remember because Croagunk were being a pain and then one appeared), so I think you should have access at this stage. Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, it's kind of random. A message should pop up on the screen to let you know one's forming (once it has you can check the map to see where it is and set a waypoint to it) and then you've got a few minutes to get there before things start going down inside.

Final Fantasy VI's Pixel Remaster is coming on February 24th! And some pics to feast your eyes on: Now to fix the font and bring it to console

All I'm saying is that there are three pictures of Earth there... ...so are they skipping 2 and going straight to Google Earth 3?!

Announced previously, but the game finally has a trailer: I still need to get to the first, but it's good to know it's not been kicked to the back of the oven!

Well, damn, that sucks. I'm not even at the point where I'm rift hunting but they weren't exactly plentiful to begin with! I normally hard save and back out to the Switch menu but don't close games when I play on my Switch unless I'm swapping to another game entirely, so I guess I'll just need to be careful to not install the patch for now

Finished the seventh and final chapter of The Book of Boba Fett... My overall thoughts on The Book of Boba Fett are that the first few episodes were a bit of a mess, before things finally started to click mid-season, and made for an interesting (and long) finale. It's the weakest of the live-action Star Wars shows so far for me, and I do think overall it was a missed opportunity to do something interesting with Boba, as he feels as much a side character here as he has felt elsewhere -- despite the camera being set on him most of the time, I just don't think he was a good protagonist, and the show generally felt much more disjointed as a result when compared with how both seasons of The Mandalorian fleshed out Mando. It was like they were stuck between wanting to make him cool and making him practical in this world - as if they had to choose between the two - and as a result there really wasn't that much development for him as the show went on. It's a show with cool moments, and cool characters, but it just didn't come together for me as much as I had hoped/expected based on the quality of The Mandalorian. It's a shame I came away feeling that way, but there is plenty to see here if you're a Star Wars fan in the mood for Star Wars, and I'm curious to see what ramifications come out of this show. Elsewhere, and tangentially related...

Some footage of the game running on a base PS4: Obviously a step down from what we've seen on the Pro and PS5, but still, some serious wizardry going on here. I played both The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima on a base PS4 when they released and was astounded at what they achieved with those games on the hardware, and this looks to be the same. Fingers crossed for those load times!

NieR Automata stream coming on the 23rd, though probably not related to the games?

Saw credits roll a few hours ago. Overall, probably the best main story in a Pokémon game for me in a good while (I'm trying to weigh up just how high I hold Sun & Moon's story, and separate my enjoyment of how well the 20th anniversary celebrations were handled from the story -- but if it's better than that, it's probably the best we've had since Gen V). I wasn't a fan of how the last hour or two became a barrage of exposition, cutscenes, and a light sprinkling of battles, though, but was surprised once again by the quality of the soundtrack and, weirdly enough, the cinematography of the last few cutscenes. It really made what was going down feel epic, bordering on what you'd expect to see in the anime. The journey is still a little ways from being over, as I at least want to finish every Request, catch every Pokémon, and reach the maximum rank, so I'll be saving my final impressions for when I've had the chance to get all of that done and absorb the soundtrack. But yeah, I find it really hard to disagree with what @Hero-of-Time said after completing the game. For all of the growing pains with the transition being made into a fully 3D main series game (that is actually designed with 3D gameplay and mechanics in mind) and a fair share of quality of life missteps, and despite this year looking so obscenely stacked when it comes to potential quality titles, I can't see myself not bringing this up when we start talking about personal GOTY's towards the end of the year. I've had an absolute blast playing through this game and can't wait to see how Game Freak incorporates some of these ideas into their next main series entry, as well as what we might see next, if anything, for Legends.

Second trailer for Lightyear:

The fifth Balloon Race suuuuuuuucks EDIT:

The legend himself turns 90 today, the man who provides Star Wars it's oxygen: John Williams! I remember being concerned that he wouldn't see the sequels through to the end due to his age, but he's still kicking on and going strong, thank goodness. He's back to working with Spielberg on The Fabelmans this year and Indiana Jones 5 (directed by James Mangold) next year, so he's definitely got more great stuff left in the tank!

Digital Foundry have released their technical breakdown video for Legends: Arceus -- Looking forward to digging in later!

It's funny, because an entirely different Mew playground rumour was about when me and my friends were playing Diamond & Pearl in primary school, and it was that you could find Mew's fossil (as seen in the first movie) in the Sinnoh Underground.. It would've been cool, and should've been a thing, damn it! Also, regarding the capture of Pokémon as @Happenstance mentioned, my generation's version was L, R, L, L+R to imitate the movement and then final satisfying click of the Poké Ball capture animation.

Yeah, there was definitely something in the air about a Direct coming this week! Right then, let's dig in The Fortress of Expectations Despite being a meaty Direct at 40 minutes, this early in the year, with the focus on the first half of 2022 and with an E3/a summer Direct surely in the works...I'm going to keep my expectations in check. I don't expect too many new reveals here. The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will not be present, nor does it need to be. At best we get a mention that we'll get more details in the summer, but if there's going to be an announcement of a delay alongside some new footage of that game, I'm not expecting it until June. I also don't think that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be here either (sorry guys - I mean, I hope I'm wrong!), I think that's one they're going to hold onto tightly and then have it appear at this year's E3/summer Direct, maybe even a shadow drop like the first game was. I also don't think we see the long rumoured Metroid Prime HD / Collection here, if we get that this year that seems like E3 bait too, for a September or October release. If we're getting Prime 4 in the next year and a half that is, which, uh, I'm not confident about. In terms of Nintendo themselves, I am expecting the announcement of Monolith Soft's next game, though whether that's something Xenoblade or a new IP entirely I'm not too sure, but it's time; I know they lend a hand every chance they get to other studios within Nintendo, but it's time for whatever's next. And speaking of what's next, there was too much smoke for there to be no fire around the rumours for this game last year: let's see a Donkey Kong game turn up here. beats chest and wails like a gorilla Naturally we're going to see more of Kirby and The Forgotten Land, what with it being out next month, and I think we'll also see Triangle Strategy turn up too. And we'll get a trailer for Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp which actually states it's April release date, because that's been an open secret for months now. I expect Splatoon 3 to release at some point over the summer, so I expect that to be here too. Oh, and a release date for Omori would be big enough I think for a Direct proper, so let's throw "Spring 2022" out of the window and get a hard date please! Speaking of indies, we haven't heard a peep out of Bear & Breakfast since it's delay into the first half of 2022, so I'll say I expect it...because I want it, and it's not totally implausible. Lastly, Majora's Mask is releasing on the Expansion Pass this month, and while it could just shadow drop as they normally do, it seems too good an opportunity to not bring it up. Plus, Link always turns up in February. The Valley of Hopeless Dreams Well, we're now in the year of the 35th anniversary of Final Fantasy, and the final game releasing in the Pixel Remasters collection, Final Fantasy VI, is scheduled to be released this very month. So you all know what that mea– FINAL FANTASY PIXEL REMASTERS COLLECTION FOR NINTENDO SWITCH LET'S ¡GOOOOOOOOOO! Okay, but in all seriousness, this is the first of four realistic opportunities I think we have for this announcement this year, because, again, the PC/mobile releases are about to complete with VI releasing this month and it being the first big event of 2022, the year of the 35th anniversary for the Final Fantasy franchise. The other three opportunities I think there are for this announcement are at E3/whatever this summer brings; a potential Final Fantasy-only presentation -- we've also got XVI on the way, there are rumours of a Tactics remaster, and it's also the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, so we could see a Remake Part II tease somewhere throughout the year; or at The Game Awards. Why The Game Awards? Because the actual anniversary of the series is on December 17th, so a shadow drop just before then or an announcement of them dropping on the 17th would make sense at an event that takes place every December. That was long. I apologise. Anyways, I'll jump on the bandwagon with @Ronnie because I'm hoping for a Wind Waker / Twilight Princess double pack too (despite the potential existence of one being a huge blow to my Wii U pick-up a few months back). With Majora's Mask coming to the Expansion Pass this month, these are the only two 3D Zelda games not on Switch, so...yeah, we need them on the console. You know what? Same goes for Mario, while we wait for news on Odyssey 2 / whatever is next for the plumber: DLC / expanded release of 3D All-Stars to include Super Mario Galaxy 2. Do you sweaty Goomba-looking Nintendo higher-ups really think you can get away with the old runaround by not including it in that collection in the first place, huh?! Unfortunately I don't expect Explorers DX here, sorry @Glen-i, but I do think we see a Pokémon Presents within the next six weeks, as I'm sure that they'll have some Legends: Arceus DLC to announce, so it'll show up there...right? Right?! So I'm going to dream for something else, or rather, some things, which have also graced a two-screened Nintendo console: Dragon Quest IV - VI and Dragon Quest VIII Remastered (also coming to other consoles, it'll have the orchestrated OST but the additions of the 3DS version). Because last year's Dragon Quest anniversary quite frankly sucked, so let's see it S-E. I swear I don't have Stockholm syndrome...

I'll post some hopes and expectations after I finish work, but for now, all I want to throw out there is that Link has appeared in some form in every Nintendo Direct to take place in February since the launch of the Switch: in 2018 he was front and centre alongside Mario for the announcement of Smash Bros. Ultimate; in 2019 he was in the announcement for the remake of Link's Awakening; and in 2021 he was in the announcement for Skyward Sword HD. 2020 was the year of the Great Nintendo Direct Drought. Naturally, this all means that Majora's Mask is going to shadow drop on the Switch Online Expansion Pass Take it easy, hope you get better / don't get hit too hard by it!

Yep, this. The tried and true strategy if there's no grass around is to just throw down a Smoke Bomb to reduce the risk of them turning around and spotting you, then getting the right angle to throw an Ultra Ball at their back. I've caught most of the Lv 70 Alpha Pokémon in the fifth area with this method, not having to engage in battle at all. To be fair, though, I've rarely battled Pokémon in this game when trying to catch them, and I'd guess that's been the case for 80% - 90% of my captured Pokémon so far. Despite the surprising speed at which battles start and the pace they go along at, it just doesn't feel like part of the wider feedback loop in these open spaces where exploring, throwing a Ball at a Pokémon or throwing a Pokémon at some resources is a constant dopamine barrage in and of itself. And yeah, the fact that you can just run away from every Pokémon that attacks you just furthers my point that you don't really to stick around. It's why when catching multiples of a Pokémon that doesn't freak out when I'm near it, I throw a Ball at it and don't even bother waiting for it to confirm the capture or not. This could probably be alleviated a bit by having aggravated Pokémon instigate battles rather than just getting mad, though that would slow the game down substantially. Essentially, I'm treating this as a Pokémon Safari. I think this is a natural place to end up after Gen VI introduced earning EXP for captures, and I'm still enjoying it a whole lot!

For me, it really depends on the game and what it's trying to achieve. Sandbox collect-a-thon or a LEGO game? A progression % indicator is great for knowing how deep into the completionist rabbit hole I really have gone. Imagine having an Easter Egg hunt without knowing how many there actually are, that's exactly how villains are born. Something story focused, like The Last of Us? I'd rather they not be included, as they kind of take away from my immersion (I turn trophies off specifically in a first playthrough for games where I want to fully immerse myself) and can ruin how much of the game is left to go, as others have said. And then you get the really messy examples, like Breath of the Wild, which is a cocktail of both. A big "no thanks" to that. For me, I use How Long To Beat as already mentioned by @Rummy to get a rough idea of how much time, at a minimum, I need to invest to complete a critical path, main story-only playthrough. And it really is only a rough idea: there are some games where I've gone down the crit path and finished the game in 60% of the time that's on HLTB, whereas others I ended up running a bit over. I don't pay attention to anything except the main story time that they put out purely because, if I'm enjoying a game enough to want to check out way more than just the critical path, then I don't mind losing a bunch of hours to it. These are typically games where I go for all of the side quests, 100%, or Platinums (such as your Yakuza games, Mario games, and JRPG's) or want to explore more of the world (such as in a From Software game - I couldn't care less how long it takes me to get through, not to mention the HLTB times are going to be wonky at best for skill-based games). It's tough, but I don't think you can really get a fair idea of a typical playthrough length for most games until the game is actually released to try and nail down, at best, an average playtime of a range of skilled players like HLTB does. The development team aren't going to be positioned in a way that they can fairly play through the game and assess this, I'd say the same would go for play testers who are focused on looking for issues with the game, and the only alternative I could think of would be hiring a bunch of play testers with the aim of them playing the game through in their own style and timing that...but there wouldn't be much to gain, really, from the financial investment that would require. So, I think for now, HLTB is probably the best resource to use if you do want a rough idea of how long a game might take to play through. Something I've actually been thinking about lately is that if Xbox, with Game Pass, might have something to gain purely from a player experience perspective by picking up a site like HLTB, because as a service, any way to improve retention is of benefit to them, kind of similar to how Amazon picked up IMDb and BoxOfficeMojo to make Prime Video more feature rich. There are a whole lot of games on Game Pass to sift through, so having an approximate time to completion when looking at a game on a service like Game Pass would be a smart move, I think.