Julius

Damn you Noctis! Trust me to choose what feels like the only major anime JRPG swordsman seen from Square Enix in the last 5 years to not be a character in this game But in all seriousness, thanks a lot for doing this @Glen-i, it's been a lot of fun! And yes, I'll play Banjo when it comes to NSO, you have my word I need to justify getting that N64 controller somehow! And to @Fused King... ...congrats, we are not worthy!

Official Steam Deck teardown:

20th Anniversary controller incoming... Personally not a fan, the green seems a bit too bright, and wish the ABXY buttons were coloured like their older controllers. The Switch Pro controller wasn't too far off Xbox's controllers to begin with, so going with a translucent black as opposed to a solid black also just gives me those vibes. Still, kudos to Xbox, seems like they've done a lot for the anniversary year! Will always be jealous of their stupidly high output of controller variants and customisation options

Yep, definite mixed feelings, which does make it difficult to feel too sad about it (not to mention he made it to 90!). I'm really not a fan of what I've seen elsewhere about people celebrating his death, though, think that's pretty heinous. Honestly, I could see S-E pushing hard to move forwards -- not out of lack of respect, but because even if we take his many disturbing opinions out of the picture, he must have been an absolute pain to work around. Remember when for the DQ XI reviews in the West, reviewers weren't allowed to play music without showing the associated gameplay? And so S-E themselves had to suggest the solution of picture-in-picture? I'm not saying that this alone is the reason XI didn't set the West alight (the small matter of S-E launching it the same week as Spider-Man still comes to mind), but the last thing they need are unnecessary obstacles like this. Can you imagine if John Williams did this for Star Wars, if Uematsu did this for Final Fantasy, or Hisaishi did this for Ghibli? We've seen franchises that I'd say are much more niche than Dragon Quest blow up in the West last generation, such as NieR and Persona, but I think this is a good opportunity for this series to take to modernise like every a lot of other Japanese games. Personally I'd love to see Dragon Quest not hit roadblocks on getting it's music out there, and if that means another composer with new ideas, I say so be it. Interesting point on III, I'd be surprised if it didn't receive an orchestrated soundtrack, as I'm pretty sure Team Asano have had orchestrated soundtracks for their other games? I imagine the DQ team is involved to some extent, but that would be my expectation for it. Also wouldn't be surprised if we heard some of the 8-bit music represented somehow, that'd be pretty neat!

Yep, archaic views on music licensing in the modern age and a whoooooooole lot more very distasteful stuff on top of that, but there's no doubting that he was a very talented composer. The Dragon Quest Overture is absolutely iconic and there's a whimsical melancholy to a lot of those DQ tracks which is hard to find elsewhere. I'm curious to see who they bring in to do XII (I'd imagine someone who has composed for a spin-off seems the most likely), and if they'll be riffing off of Sugiyama's foundation, or looking to inject something new into the soundscape for the series.

In final stages of development: You'd kind of hope so with the January launch and all Pretty crazy that the only thing of note since E3 is that some press got to see the game in action at the end of August: Next trailer probably at The Game Awards and then a marketing blast once January hits?

A few details were shared during Sakaguchi's and Yoshi-P's Famitsu Presents panel at TGS: Seems to be coming along smoothly. With Endwalker in November, Stranger of Paradise in March, and Forspoken sometime in the spring, got to imagine this will be their big E3 blowout game next year with a potential release towards the end of 2022? Especially with next year being the 35th anniversary of the series! Which gives them plenty of time to bring the Pixel Remasters to console or put out some crazy collection of all of the games

this is way funnier when you realise that almost all of this was likely recorded and edited before the announcement

Well, there's a 20th anniversary event coming for Kingdom Hearts at some point in the future. Very bizarre to announce the event without a date, seems to hint that maybe they're busy at work on polishing something up just for the event...

I don't think so? Not in the Final Smash (the Smash logo on the door as opposed to Mickey's kind of says it all), no Disney music, etc. Makes sense though. Got to imagine getting Sora and the Keyblade was hard enough, but having Disney in this thing would have made it a future licensing nightmare, I mean I'm just imagining YouTube and Twitch channels getting strikes a decade from now because some Disney song came on. It's enough of a mess these days as it is, even with just the video game music. Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, I think it's funny and as a fan of JRPG anime swordsmen I'm going to be cool with it. Unfortunately you get the vocal minority who have run that joke into the ground, are going to be genuinely angry or upset about this and forget that this game is purely and simply about having fun And yeah, I'm really glad the more I think about it that Sakurai mentioned Iwata having knowledge of Sora being the most requested, and the team obviously having worked on it then and since his unfortunate passing, it pretty much shuts down any and all reasonable arguments for other characters being the final fighter in my mind Okay, now that's genuinely embarrassing. It'll be a great advertisement for the other systems at least One step forwards and two steps back all the time with S-E with collections and re-releases these days: Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters only coming to PC (for now), Dragon Quest X Offline - something they were very vocal about wanting to bring to the West if it ever happened - currently being Japan only, and now this. Still waiting for the inevitable Final Fantasy VII Remake: Cloud Edition...

Oh man, the return to the flames had me thinking Dark Souls to begin with, but figured there was no way that they'd end Ultimate on something like that. Very limited experience with the series (played some of the first game with my younger brother), but still made me react in the way I'm sure Nintendo wanted out of this. That music is great, and Sakurai's reaction was hilarious People are going to say they aren't familiar with the series, which is one thing (to be honest, I won't be surprised if they use this as a platform to bring the Kingdom Hearts games over [EDIT: well that was fast] ), but it's another to wave it off just because they aren't familiar, or because it's another JRPG anime sword user, etc. I'm sure there will be a lot of people salty about this - regardless of who this final fighter was, that was always going to be the case - but it makes sense, it's a massive character. Big in Japan and worldwide, a company they have a great working relationship with, the most asked for character in Smash and possibly one of the last things we'll see released with some tie back to Iwata. What they've done with this collaboration - and all of the others, to be honest the game as a whole! - is mind-boggling. Now go rest up Sakurai!!

My favourite Switch experience so far has to be Breath of the Wild. I didn't pick up a Switch until a couple years after launch, but those first two weeks of having the Switch when I was finding any excuse I could to swap between portable and TV mode as I trekked across Hyrule were pure bliss. I think it really knocks every other open world game out of the water, and when talking strictly about a sense of freedom and exploration, I seriously think it's a disservice to Breath of the Wild to bundle it in with other open world games releasing these days. There were moments in the game that simply overwhelmed me with awe and childlike wonder, which I will always cherish. And the funny thing about it is, as I've mentioned before, I have quite a few grievances with the game. The weapon durability system and inventory management aren't great; the music isn't as epic or as noticeable as I know it is from my encounters with other Zelda games; the lack of direction is as much a detriment as it is a freedom (no more evident than when I dropped the game for over six months after cruising through the first 40 hours). It was this game for me which underlined how much I'm not at all envious of reviewers, because as someone who typically judges entertainment based on how well it executes whatever it is that it's aiming for, I would score Breath of the Wild as an 8/10. There are plenty of hiccups and missteps which I really hope are rectified in the sequel. And yet as an experience, it's a 10/10; simply put, there's nothing else like it. It was also the first Zelda game I completed after I had tried to get through a number of other games in the series (sorry Ocarina of Time, I know I still need to get back to you!), and while it didn't hook me into going back to previous games, it was immediately obvious playing this why so many people hold the franchise so close to their hearts. Like others here, unfortunately the Switch just hasn't captured my imagination in the same way since my first few weeks with it: it sits almost exclusively in its dock, and rarely sees much play by me solo, though there have been other fun experiences I've had with it. Examples of these are Xenoblade Chronicles and Super Mario 64 last year (I've been dragging my heels on Sunshine a bit as I know I want to pick up a GameCube controller and adapter for it), and it's always a great thing to break out or take with me whenever I get to see my younger brother, be it the chaos of Overcooked when our sister joins us, the BM I get from him whenever we play Smash Bros. Ultimate, or going wheel to wheel in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Mount Wario might be my favourite track in any kart racer -- well, probably alongside Shibuya Downtown from SEGA All-Star Racing!). Like you though Aneres, I've got a growing pile of games to get to (a few of them for the Switch, but plenty on other consoles too), to the point where about a month ago I cancelled a bunch of pre-orders and only have one or two left for the year, so I'm hoping that by doing that I'll be able to get to some of those Switch games I've been meaning to. I think the thing for me is that I only grew up with one Nintendo home console under my roof: the Wii. I have a much stronger association with Nintendo when it comes to handhelds, which I'm sure is true for others here too, but knowing I don't have as much spare time now compared to when we got our Wii, having great times with family and friends on that console, and also having the means to pick up other consoles too these days, I think the Switch for me - to some extent - was always facing an uphill battle. But Nintendo is on the right track (for the most part) looking ahead at their upcoming slate, and I'm looking forward to diving deeper into the Switch catalogue, so who knows, maybe that could still change

More news out of TGS: • the base game, which includes Awakening of the Five Tribes, releases 26th February 2022 in Japan. • some DLC will be coming to the game - on the DQ website amusingly referred to as "super-large expansion download content" - in line with the expansions released for the online version of DQ X. It's unclear if every expansion will be added from what I can find so far. The first expansion will be added in Spring 2022: The Sleeping Hero and the Guided Allies. • releasing on Switch, PS4/PS5 and PC (Steam). • retailing in three different SKU's: at ¥8,580 for the base game, with the DLC available separately for ¥4,400; ¥12,980 for the base game + DLC bundle; and at ¥15,370 for a super deluxe set, including some neat 35th anniversary merch.

Box art lookin' good:

Here we go again: new report from VGC saying that Konami is bringing back Metal Gear, Castlevania, and Silent Hill. Full article here. Virtuous are reportedly the ones working on a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake. Sigh. Keeping up with Konami leaks for the last couple of years has been exhausting!

Hiroyuki Ito has been relieved of his janitorial duties to work on...this. Coming to Switch, PS4, and PC. Uematsu doing the soundtrack tempts me to pick this up more than that trailer did...

New TGS trailer: Direct trailer from last week:

The game is releasing way earlier than I was expecting, on 18th March 2022. New demo available until 11th October 2021. TGS trailer: This trailer is leaps and bounds better than the debut trailer. Really excited for the new demo and to see what multiplayer features they're thinking of including! Though, XIV: Endwalker in November, this in March, Forspoken in spring...guess XVI is a release for next autumn at the earliest then. EDIT: Demo is up on the PlayStation Store.

I mean to be fair, other than the Wii, Nintendo's home consoles historically haven't exactly had stellar sales figures. The Wii's support and sales fell off a cliff in its latter years, and the Wii U was taken out back, silenced, and ejected into the atmosphere as a dumpster fire so big it could have taken out the dinosaurs. We're four and a half years into the life of the Switch and it is still breaking record after record, and the only thing that could really get in the way of that momentum right now is Nintendo pulling the rug from under it. Also, considering that Nintendo's home consoles haven't historically sold competitively on the whole besides the Wii - whereas their handheld consoles have virtually always seen a lot of success - and with the Switch being a hybrid, I think it's a bit unfair to not look back at their handhelds in this too. The DS was around for six and a half years before the 3DS came along, and the 3DS is a bit tougher to pin down just seeing as the New 2DS XL released after the Switch, but that was over six years too. I think that in particular lines up better with you thinking we could see something release in 2023 to be honest, but then again, to play devil's advocate, this is the first time since truly consolidating their handheld and home consoles - after phasing out the 3DS - that we'll be seeing a new console from them (assuming they don't do the silly thing and split them again after the Switch's life is complete). Personally, I'd like to see something come out in 2023 seeing as a Pro model is increasingly unlikely, because we've already seen the Switch's limited capabilities get in the way of some of its games being fully realised at this point. If they came out with something like a Pro next year, it could stretch the life of the Switch out to 2024/2025, but due to the chip shortages I think they'd be wise to leave that behind and move into the next generation, especially seeing as by 2023 both the PS5 and Series X | S will - I imagine - have started properly delivering on the promise of next-gen, and will be carrying a lot of momentum with them. I know some have seen Nintendo's growing slate for 2022 and view it as something of a last hurrah for the Switch, and while I think it's a bit too early to be making that call for now, I do hope that isn't the case and the Switch doesn't have the rug pulled from under it when it's likely to still be crushing it. Will be very interesting to see how it all plays out, and I'm especially curious to see how Nintendo market whatever comes next, even more so if they plan to continue Switch support for a year or two after its successor launches (hopefully with backwards compatibility!).

First details on The Game Awards, which will take place 10 weeks from today on December 9th -- and returning with an in-person crowd. I can't believe they're going to save the next Elden Ring trailer for The Game Awards!

FINALLY ! Well deserved for them to have the security of being picked up by someone, and I'm grateful it's someone that they've partnered with extensively (was starting to worry a bit that someone like Tencent could be sniffing about), should hopefully mean a smooth transition and, depending on if there next game is a remake or new IP...maybe we'll see something next year. The best is yet to come? EDIT: from Famitsu, seems Marco will be leading a team working on a new IP.

Well, it's a free country. You're entitled to your wrong opinion I kid, but while I did enjoy a fair chunk of Sword & Shield's OST, the cheering vocals didn't quite grab me like it did others, so there are quite a few main series soundtracks I'd stick above it. Then again, I have yet to play the Expansion Pass stuff. How's the music in that compared to the main game?

So I picked up White 2 last year about a month before the first lockdown was announced, and at the time it was the only story in a core series game I hadn't experienced myself in any shape or form beyond helping my younger brother back when the game originally launched with Black 2. I played it for a couple of hours, but dropped it. I think with everything going on it weirdly wasn't an attractive proposition at the time to go picking on the old nostalgia string, but I've got quite a bit of time to chomp away at it now, and so I just booted it back up. For some reason I decided to save in the Castelia gym before getting the third badge, which is super weird! Anyways, the real reason I'm posting here is that I had one note from my time with the game last year, and that was that the Female Clerk Encounter Theme was unnecessarily awesome. It's still true. I remember not starting the battle for a good few minutes just to listen to it (this is all to say that the DS games had the best music, don't @ me)

My friend actually managed to nab one on Amazon yesterday, and I just checked, and it looks like it's still up for pre-order on there right now? Think he mentioned he wasn't able to check out with just the Switch OLED so had to get the bundle with the case. I've got to be honest, I do think it looks great. Especially in white! But I don't use my Switch enough as it is, and when I do it's typically docked, so unfortunately there's not much for me to gain from getting one. Or at least, that's what I need to keep reminding myself of before I do something silly. The Diamond & Pearl Switch Lite also looks great, but practically I can't find a use for it.

Just for additional context from @Ashley's post, this is what Nintendo said: We've definitely been here with the tricky wording before, so yeah. I still think their original plan was to go with a Pro, but because of COVID and parts supply issues they had to pivot, and so we got the OLED. I wouldn't be surprised if their plans for a more powerful platform and 4K development have pivoted as a result of that from the Switch Pro to the Switch 2, but as @Cube points out, supply issues could continue to hinder their plans.