Julius

New trailer: Looks pretty good to me, and damn, that music got me hyped. A bit odd we still don't have a release date, I hope we get one soon, because I'm really hoping this releases before things start picking up!

Perform a ritual to summon the strength to get good Drahkon right now: But all jokes aside, I'd just lower the difficulty (personally, I know I'm not going to stand much of a chance at Give Me God of War). I don't think there were any NG+ trophies or difficulty related trophies, unless I'm remembering wrong, so all you're missing out on are bragging rights if that's the case. From what you said and how it seems to have surprised you, it sounds like they went the worst route of increasing difficulty in my eyes where they just extended enemy health bars and made them hit harder, which would suck

PlayStation 2020 Wrap Up stats are rolling out. Was stuck between putting this here or in the PS4 thread, but yeah, I'm just sticking it here. Because The link. You'll probably need to change the locale to /en-us/. My 2020 Wrap Up Yeah okay, so I can already tell just looking through that some of these are a little off, but oh well, it's just some fun! Yeah, so this one hurts. GTA V not so much, because that's just Friday night with the guys from work, but that's the least FIFA I've played in a year by far and it still totalled 50 hours. Yes, I'm a corporate shill. Oh, and I swear I'm not too far off the same mark for FIFA 21, and I only started playing that about a month ago. Definitely going to have to delete it after this next Career Mode season. Gah, I hate it! From what I've seen this is probably falling on the lower end of anything, and holy cow, that's easily the most hours I've put into gaming in a year. Yeah, no hour and a half morning and evening commute seriously adds up, and this is just on PlayStation; considering that I have over 70 hours in Xenoblade and 50 hours in Animal Crossing, as well as a few PS3 games which wouldn't be included in this too, I'm solidly over the 1000 hour mark in gaming for a year for the first time in my life. I don't know whether to be proud or concerned. Yeah, single player gaming or get out is how I roll. Well, besides Fridays, which are long sessions, clearly! Again, kind of crazy for me. Let's hope it passed the 200 mark this year Yeah, there it is. The Wednesday dip doesn't surprise me so much, but Sunday is clearly higher than Saturday just because I'm trying to get a game finished before returning to work on the Monday I've just checked and this is nearly half of my current trophy count (1348). Holy cow. Just checked and I've soared by a lot of my friends in terms of trophy levels who have been on PlayStation Network since early on in the PS3's life. Which makes it abundantly clear I don't have anyone on here on PSN Yeah, so this and the next part is making me question if all of the stats I've shared so far are just based on my time spent with the PS4? Because I got three Platinum trophies this year (Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Astro's Playroom) but only one was on the PS4. I don't know anyways, that's the most Platinum trophies for me in a year since 2018, when I think I picked up 5, but maybe I'm forgetting some? Off the top of my head being Shenmue, Shenmue II, Spider-Man, Dragon Quest XI, and a super short game called Burly Men at Sea I played that Christmas. PS5-specific stuff: Yeah, that checks out. As does that. Yeah, okay, but this doesn't. BRING THE PS5 THEMES ON YOU COWARDS.

Time for my first update of 2021! Unfortunately, I only have one game to talk about completing in January after being ill the last couple of weeks, and before that just chipping away at Monster Hunter: World a little bit with friends (imagine that will be the case throughout the year), and investing far too much time into a FIFA 21 Career Mode (I know, I hate it too). But, fortunately, there's plenty I want to say about that one particular game. Without further ado: SUIKODEN | 1995 Produced, written, and directed by Yoshitaka Murayama, developed by Konami, and originally released in Japan in 1995 as one of the earliest JRPG's to grace the first PlayStation, Suikoden tells an epic yet simple tale of betrayal, greed, and honour, in search of the truth. As Tir McDohl, son of a renowned general, players are given a chance early on to see first hand the corruption and tyranny eating away at the heart of the Scarlet Moon Empire whilst working as an Imperial Guard. After a friend becomes mortally wounded and passes on the Soul Eater rune, one of the 27 True Runes, Tir and his servants must flee the golden city of Gregminster, along the way finding themselves tasked with leading a rebel army against the Empire and gathering the 108 Stars of Destiny. The game's story and the gathering of the 108 Stars of Destiny is loosely inspired by a 14th century Chinese novel called Shui Hu Zhuan, known in the West as Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh, or, in Japan, as Suikoden. In the story, 108 outlaws gather to form a sizable army and maintain peace, and in this game, a very large part of the story is the gathering of the world's 108 Stars of Destiny, with whom the destinies of those in the Liberation Army are deeply intertwined. These characters can be found throughout the game's many locations, all with unique sprites and excellent portraits which I think do an excellent job of providing a lot of character to them, and once recruited, almost all of them are able to fight alongside you in your party, while others will stay at your castle to help out in any way they can; for example, Marie, the innkeeper from Gregminster, sets up an inn in the castle for you to rest and save at once recruited, whereas some others will set up shops filled with items and armour, play mini games with you, or offer services such as sharpening your weapons (the game's way of upgrading your weapons), storing items and equipment, upgrade your boat for faster travel, or to attach runes (which determine the elemental attack type and rune type of a character). As you collect more characters throughout the course of the game, more rooms and facilities will become available in your castle, as the size of your castle grows and the reach of the Liberation Army expands. However, as great as it is to see the growth that collecting characters and building your castle up has, the ending you see will be determined by how many Stars of Destiny you have gathered before the game's final battle, and the true and canon ending - which can be carried over through a save transfer to Suikoden II - can only be seen with all 108 Stars of Destiny gathered. And, as you can imagine, this unfortunately isn't a straightforward process, with different recruitment requirements for characters ranging from simply talking to them, to grinding for a rare item they've asked for which drops in battle, to beating them at an RNG-based mini game which involves rolling dice (though, once this character is recruited, it's the greatest high risk-high reward way to earn an insane amount of money!), to being locked behind Tir being at a certain level, having a certain party member with you when interacting with them (or, in one extreme case, as many as four requested party members - your maximum party formation is six!), in a hidden room in a dungeon, or, perhaps even worse: in the final room of a dungeon which you are kicked out of before you get the chance to recruit them, meaning you'll need to instantly go straight back in and through that dungeon - in its entirety - again. In quite a few cases, too, characters are only available to be recruited during short windows between story beats, meaning it's very, very easy to miss some characters if you aren't careful. Because of this, keeping multiple save files is the best way to go, and unless you are willing to drive yourself insane going through potentially multiple 20+ hour playthroughs, I think it's worth looking up a spoiler-free recruitment guide for this game; I did, and trust me when I say that there is zero chance you will have gathered 108 Stars of Destiny organically in a blind playthrough, it's just far too tedious at times. This all being said, the reward of the true ending is worth following a recruitment guide for, so I would highly recommend it. Unsurprisingly, you journey between the towns, villages, mountains and forests of Toran through the use a world map, the scale of which honestly reminds me a lot of Chrono Trigger, what with its super tiny character and detailed depictions of miniaturised locales. The world map theme is literally called Tiny Characters in a Huge World, which is a very light and charming track to bob up and down to (and hum along with), as you make your way from one town to the next. While there are encounters on the world map, something I thought was really interesting was something I read about the design of the encounter rates on the world map: if you beeline from one location to the next, taking a relatively straight path along the way, the encounter rate actually reduces to allow for exploration; this is something director Muramasa included in the game to reduce the stress of getting lost on the world map. However, on the other hand, if you start walking in circles or start frantically changing directions at the drop of a hat - like I know I do when I want to grind - then the encounter rate will actually remain higher. I think that's such a cool addition, and logically it makes a lot of sense for a JRPG when the habits of players are known quite well now (clearly even some 25+ years ago too!), so it's something I'd like to see someone else include and refine a bit further in modern JRPG's with random encounters. Something which is really strong when it comes to Suikoden is the visual and musical identity of its locales, some of which are influenced by the West and others of which are clearly inspired by the East. It adds a whole lot to the scale of the world, keeps things fresh, and really breathes some life into some areas and the characters you can find there, every place having its own bit of history, or hinting at another location in the world. Dungeons throughout the game are pretty linear, though I'll mention here that it's always worth keeping an Escape Talisman to hand, as, unlike many more modern dungeon designs, you aren't kicked out of dungeons after completing them, meaning that you'll otherwise have to backtrack through an entire dungeon to get out. Similarly, something I didn't notice until far too late in the game, is that an item called the Blinking Mirror can be given to a character (I would suggest Tir) to teleport back to your castle from anywhere on the world map, and that a certain character, once recruited, acts as a means to teleport you to locations throughout the world, Hopefully that will save someone some backtracking! The writing of the world is simple, but there are some excellently executed parts throughout, with smaller subplots feeling almost episodic in how they give you another character to try to fit into your party and dealing with the various aspects of being at war. No, it doesn't dig that deep into it, but it's how it characterises these moments and brings them to life in the pixel art of the sprites which makes you swear that the character portraits change at times; nothing is black and white here, and the director clearly had a vision of painting this world for you, but giving players the opportunity to colour it with their own interpretations of events. While there are certainly some fantastical elements present - such as the inclusion of elves, dwarves, and kobolds - it stays grounded in its character's intentions and the political landscape of Toran. Of course, an essential component of any JRPG is its battle system. But Suikoden's battle system, while turn-based, is actually a bit different: a maximum party of six at any time, with two rows of three characters each, where you choose all of their commands at the start of each round before watching it all play out, with turn order - as ever - being determined by a character's speed. In terms of commands, there are genre staples here, such as the option to Attack or Defend. Depending on their weapon, characters have access to either Short Range (swords and axes), Medium Range (spears and staffs), or Long Range (bows and arrows) standard Attacks (which, by the way, can be infused with an elemental type if a rune piece is attached at a blacksmith). Short Range attacks can only reach one row in front, meaning you want to put that character on your front line; Medium Range attackers have a range of up to two rows, so can reach the enemy's front row if placed in the back row, or the enemy's back row if placed in your front row; and lastly, Long Range attackers have an unlimited range, meaning they are able to hit the enemy's back row from your own back row. It's a simple thing to add range to turn-based battles, but it keeps things fresh, and means you'll be left figuring out a new preferred formation when your party is changed up (which happens quite a lot throughout the game's story as characters come and go). In addition to the above, though, the game also makes use of Rune Attacks and Unite Attacks. Rune Attacks are determined by the character's equipped Rune (note: these are actually referred to in Items as Crystals; also note that not every Rune is one of the 27 True Runes I mentioned briefly earlier), which allows the user either the use of magic (the higher their magic stat, the more abilities they have access to with a given rune) or a powerful physical attack, whereas Unite Attacks are like Chrono Trigger's Techs, allowing certain characters to team up to perform a team attack. Though magic Rune Attacks are balanced somewhat by having a set limit on how many times you can use a certain spell between resting (note: there are no items to replenish these spells between resting, either at inns or as part of the story), and is only increased either through an increase in your magic stat and/or character's level, there are powerful physical rune attacks, such as the Falcon Rune, and Unite Attacks, such as Tir's and Kai's Master-Pupil Attack, which are very overpowered and do not have such a limit, meaning they can be used as many times as you like. There are two other types of battles, which I'll just mention briefly here due to how closely tied they are to the story: Army Battles and Duels. Both depend on rock paper scissors mechanics, the former being a mini game between the Liberation Army and the Empire during major battles where the aim is to reduce their numbers to zero. Tying back to the 108 Stars of Destiny, the more you have available for Army Battles, the merrier, as you'll have greater attacking options (attacking options are grouped in threes, and some aren't complete until late in the game), and other options are available too, such as using a strategist to boost the attack of your soldiers involved in a Charge attack, or using a ninja to get accurate intel on what the enemy's next move will be. It's worth noting that in Army Battles, you can actually lose Stars of Destiny permanently (which is why it's so important to win with casualties kept to a minimum), so remember to save frequently and beforehand; don't worry about missing it being said, as the game couldn't be clearer when it tells you that a character has died in battle. In Duels, major one-on-one confrontations take place between key players on both sides, with the phrase uttered between rounds by the enemy subtly hinting at the type of attack that they'll be using next (a certain guy with a red bandana is someone you'll want to have in your party at all times up until his duel, trust me). If I'm being honest, I think I only had trouble with one or two bosses throughout the course of the game, the first time being against arguably the hardest boss in the game, Neclord, this hundreds of years old vampire who lives up in this castle and takes girls away from local towns and villages to marry them (greatest jump in HP from the last boss, multiple attacks which hit a number of party members, and the ability to poison you; also an awesome rendition of a typical wedding theme in minor when you go to his castle, which I really appreciated!), and the penultimate boss, who is faced shortly after another boss with a high HP count but before you get the chance to rest (meaning no chance to replenish your magic Rune Attack slots between battles, which for me made some characters almost useless). The only other real downside to battles I guess is that if there's one enemy left you need to work your way through all of the character command menus when you might be able to take them out with just one, but otherwise I think it has aged really well, comparable even to modern Quality of Life expectations for JRPG's: enemies move up a row once the first row is cleared, meaning more party members will get the chance to attack as the battle goes on; when engaging in battle with lower levelled enemies, you can decide to use Let Go to escape with a 100% success rate, which becomes Run, which has a less than 100% success rate, if their level is equal to or greater than your own; and instead of missing the target if they faint, it just aims at the next enemy instead. I didn't wipeout once during my playthrough, save opportunities are plentiful throughout (apart from one time, where I swear I couldn't save for over an hour), and the game has one of the best designed levelling systems in a JRPG with more characters than there are party member slots that I've ever played. Yes, you read that right, and no, it isn't hyperbole: Suikoden's levelling system, with its insane number of playable characters and its constant want to swap people in and out throughout, is extremely well balanced and designed, to the point where I didn't need to grind once. How? Level-scaled experience gains. Each level-up requires 1000 EXP, whether that be going from Level 5 to Level 6, or from Level 55 to Level 56, but it scales against the level of the enemy you face; for instance, taking out a Level 10 enemy with a Level 5 character provides more experience than a Level 7 character would get for the same battle, as the experience multiplier is greater, due to the greater difference in levels. Now, this isn't something unique to Suikoden, and has been around in JRPG's for a long time, but what makes this stand out to me so much is how they evidently bumped up that multiplier not just for when you are underlevelled, but even when you're overlevelled, too. For example, about 70% of the way through the game, I found myself being forced to use a character I had not used once since he was introduced some 10+ hours earlier, and my part's levels were all at 48 or thereabouts, and he was down at Level 23. In almost any other JRPG, I'm finding out at that point that I need to backtrack to level up this character to a point where he's actually of some use. But in Suikoden, I knew I could power forward into the next dungeon, keeping him protected on my back row for just a few minutes as I made my way through. SIX battles later and he is already at Level 44, and I can move him to the front line in battles now; by the time I completed that dungeon, he was just 1 level below my other characters. That's pretty insane and, genuinely, an awesome way I think to keep every character in the game viable, even late into the game if the story calls for it. General rule of thumb throughout my playthrough was to just make my way through an area and battle until battles seemed easier, the EXP I was getting reduced significantly (signalling that I was now overlevelled), or heck, just paying attention to when the Let Go option becomes available in battle. Because of this, I feel I can genuinely recommend this JRPG to anyone, and the genre is just that much more accessible; in fact, I'd go so far as to say that this might be an ideal first JRPG, alongside Chrono Trigger. Oh, and you're going to flush with money throughout. Start running low or want to save up for the next best gear? Don't grind, just go play some Chinchirorin, that RNG-based dice game I mentioned before. Just like almost every other game, Suikoden has its flaws, and while I've mentioned some of them throughout, one I've been saving until now is the item management. It's really quite a mess. To put it simply: each character can carry up to 9 items each, which is where the nightmare begins, because up to a maximum of half of those slots per character are going to be used on keeping defensive gear equipped. There isn't a shared inventory, either, meaning that it's probably best to keep healing items on every other character, and then you'll need some items to heal status ailments too; that Blinking Mirror should be kept on Tir, like I mentioned before, meaning he's basically out of slots already. There are no items to revive during battle (you can use medicine outside of battle), the only way to do so is to equip a Sacrificial Buddha. Oh, and people will come and go from your party without much of a heads-up, and there isn't an option to swap items out when they do, which means you could potentially end up losing access to any worthwhile Runes or pieces of equipment you just so happened to have equipped to them for a potentially long time. Again: equip that Blinking Mirror to Tir! Now, odds are, Miki Higashino isn't the name of a video game composer you've heard before - but I can tell you now that it probably should be, because the quality of her work as the lead composer on this game is pretty high. Prior to Suikoden, the soundtracks of note Higashino had worked on - all for Konami - are probably Gradius, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Contra III: The Alien Wars. I can't speak to the quality of her work on those titles, but she really does not pull any punches on this game's soundtrack, every track being so unique and doing a great job of portraying a certain emotion or place in the world. She's on the record as saying that she wanted to avoid doing something like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, and instead made a soundtrack which uses influences from the East and the West, painting every location's soundscape to near perfection in my eyes (ears?). It's so rich and diverse, it adds a lot of texture to these 2D spaces; I highlight music a lot, but I really think it's brushed aside sometimes just how important music is when nailing an atmosphere or moment in a show, film, or game. I've just finished listening to the soundtrack again, and have some twenty tracks written down which I would highlight if given the chance, but instead I'll just mention a few which stand out to me. Royal Palace Consultation certainly lives up to its title, offering this almost funny level of over the top snobbery which few tracks in my mind come close to, yet some of those violin strings still strain with excellence. The eerie repetition and the synth or strings (?) coming in over the top (the sound of which really reminds me of Metal Gear Solid) hang this palpable tension over you in This is Just a Rumor. I think Forgotten Days might be one of my very favourite tracks, because what the strings hint at at the beginning with their repetition isn't at all what the flute leads it towards, and once that main melody is solidified and those natural sounds start to creep in, I can almost imagine myself in some lush field sat on the steps of some countryside house. Passacaria, which is Neclord's theme, goes all-in on organs, as you might expect for some vampire lord of the night; it's sinister and foreboding, yet almost nuanced with a tinge of regret and questioning - maybe hesitation? - like he's driving himself crazy, pacing back and forth in his castle after living through so much for hundreds of years. I'm a bit of a sucker for main themes which are incorporated well, and that there are multiple arrangements of the main theme throughout this game - epic, light, a guitar solo - the Ensemble Arrangement of the Main Theme is my personal favourite, capturing the lost innocence of many of the Stars of Destiny, but looking ahead together with a warm sense of comradery and hope. Island Fortress, the theme of your castle for much of the game (there's an updated version later on, but this one I personally prefer), stays true to that, and I find it very hard to not smile or hum along to its jolly melody. I love the brass opening of An Old Irish Song, and then how it softens and ascends in this ethereal-sounding melody. Theme of a Moonlit Night is one many who have played this game seem to agree to love, and it's not hard to hear why, with its optimistic solo harmonica sound then joined by others to give this great sense of togetherness and reassurance. Theme of the Advancing Army is probably the most Final Fantasy-sounding track in the game, what with its swashbuckling call to adventure, and textured main melody. I think my favourite track, though, is probably Avertuneiro Antes Lance Mao / After the Battle, which is charged with emotion, and almost sounds pained, before a triumphant choral section which reminds me a lot of Victory Celebration at the end of Return of the Jedi. That all being said, of course I have to leave the final track as A World of Illusion, just as an excuse to show the awesome opening credits and resounding epic version of the main theme: From what I've read and heard, Suikoden can't seem to shake this reputation that it was a warm-up for something better - something grander - in the form of Suikoden II. It might well end up being the case that I do enjoy its sequel more, but even if that is the case, I only think this line of thinking serves to diminish the accomplishments of what is in its own right a well-crafted JRPG, clearly overflowing with charm and heart, and which served as an excellent directorial debut for Yoshitaka Murayama. Well-paced and well-crafted, Suikoden is well worth your time. It celebrates differences - in cultures and in ideologies - with a large cast of greatly realised characters on both sides of war, a wonderful soundtrack, and a timeless story about the courage of humanity in the face of adversity. Even at his most powerless, man's existence is never without meaning.

Next-gen version inbound, with the games also coming to Series X|S and Stadia, as well as the PS5. From IGN: Sucks that there's no free upgrade, I'd be curious to hear the reasoning besides "money" (because there absolutely isn't one). I haven't got the game on PS4 yet, but given that I'm waiting for Yakuza 7 to get a standard edition PS4 release, think I might just get this on PS4 too anyways so that they're all in the same case (for now).

Let the installs...begin.

Yep, been thinking the same lately, definitely want to try getting around to it this year in preparation for whenever Ragnarok does drop. This game was a little daunting originally when I played it back at the end of 2018 (just in terms of some of its darker design elements, hadn't really played much like it by that point), so I'm really curious to see how I gel with it next time around. A load of 2017/2018 games I already find myself wanting to return to, to be honest, so I think I'm finally starting to see the bigger issue with tackling a "backlog", because it's definitely not just a case of playing games I haven't before now there's this, Shadow of the Colossus, NieR:Automata (in preparation for Replicant), etc., and that's just a cursory glance at my shelves. I've even had to stop myself from picking Breath of the Wild back up at times, because when I returned to that to critical path it and finish it off, thinking it'd be only 5-10 hours, I found myself seeing credits roll some 30+ hours later. Need a time machine to stick myself into for a year to do some catching up at this point oh well, so long as we're having fun I guess!

Free PS5 patch is dropping tomorrow! Heck yeah.

New trailer for Cris Tales, which is now coming in July:

Finally! Been waiting for an update on this, really curious to see when it ends up landing (it's a pretty quiet start to the year in terms of games, I'm kind of hoping it lands in March before things start picking up a bit) and if they plan any major changes for the first game in particular; a lot of the rumours seem to be pointing to that getting the biggest overhaul of the three. Never played these before and held off from getting them on PS3 hoping this was waiting in the wings, hope it's turned out well!

Well, there it is (officially)

Yeah, think I saw an ad or two for it as well. Maybe it's just anecdotal as I didn't see much chatter about it on here or elsewhere online, but either way, glad to see it doing quite well for itself!

Nintendo FY3/Q3 2021 earnings report is out, covering the period of 1st October 2020 - 31st December 2020. The Big Takeaways - 11.57 million units sold this quarter between the Switch and Switch Lite, bringing lifetime sales for the Switch family to 79.87 million units sold. This means that the Switch family has surpassed the lifetime sales of the 3DS family (with lifetime sales of 75.94 million units sold) in just under 4 years! Year-to-date sales stand at a hearty 24.1 million units sold. - Off the back of this, Nintendo have once again upped their forecast for this Financial Year, from a projected 24 million units sold to 26.5 million units sold. - Nintendo is on track for their highest operating profit in a financial year ever. In FY 2009, they finished the FY with an operating profit of ¥555.26 billion with the DS and Wii; at the end of Q3 FY 2021, they are already sitting at ¥521.21 billion. - In terms of new games this quarter, it was reported last week that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity had sold 3.5 million units in the same timeframe (with 2.84 million units being sold outside of Japan). Mario Kart: Live Home Circuit sold 1.04 million units. Pikmin 3 Deluxe is a super awkward case where it released on the eve of the last earnings report, but just to give an update on that, it has outdone all expectations (despite what to me seemed like it flying under the radar?) and sold 1.94 million units to date. - Other updates of note: Luigi's Mansion 3 is now at 9.13 million units sold, Ring Fit Adventure is at 8.68 million units sold, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is at 8.32 million units sold, Paper Mario: The Origami King is at 3.05 million units sold, and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is at 1.48 million units sold. - Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold 19.41 million units this Financial Year thus far, selling 5.04 million units in Q3 alone. This bring it's total to a lofty 31.18 million units sold. - New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe has nearly doubled its sales from its original version on the Wii U: 9.82 million units sold on the Switch compared with 5.81 million units sold on the Wii U. - Pokémon Sword/Pokémon Shield have become the first Pokémon games since Pokémon Gold/Pokémon Silver to surpass 20 million units sold, coming in at 20.35 million units sold. It still has a bit of a way to go to surpass Gold/Silver's haul of 23.1 million units sold and become the second-highest selling pairs in the series, selling 1.33 million units this quarter. Top 10 Best-selling Switch Games as of 31st December 2020 1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 33.41M 2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 31.18M 3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 22.85M 4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 21.45M 5. Pokémon Sword/Pokémon Shield - 20.35M 6. Super Mario Odyssey - 20.23M 7. Super Mario Party - 13.82M 8. Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!/Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! - 13.00M 9. Splatoon 2 - 11.90M 10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - 9.82M

It's interesting catching up on the discussion about Pixar, especially having watched The Pixar Story on Disney+ last weekend. It's pretty old at this point (released in 2007), but really highlighted to me in a big way just how much Pixar has I think stumbled forwards in the years since. I think a big part of that was focusing on sequels like Finding Dory and Incredibles 2, because even though they were successful financially, I always got the feeling that that's what they were for: to make money. Both wane in quality for me when compared with their predecessors, and I think Pixar - for a little while there - had a bit of an identity crisis after Toy Story 3, at least from the outside looking in. It felt like they were flip flopping between two very different focuses: quality storytelling (which unfortunately I feel has become synonymous with being Oscar bait in many cases), and making money (the sequels; don't dare get me started on Toy Story 4...). For me, growing up, Pixar were untouchable. Toy Story was that film I clung to before I could even speak, taking it out of the VHS after it had finished rewinding, and popping it back in before I could even talk (and my younger brother had a similar experience with Cars, which released here the summer he was born). Sure, that streak couldn't last forever, but besides perhaps A Bug's Life, I can tell you when and where I was in my life when I experienced their first ten films or so for the first time, and they're very deeply threaded into the fabric of my childhood. They still mean a lot to me. I think they set the bar that ridiculously high that even though they still put out some great films, I do find that they just don't have that same magic for me as before. I don't know, maybe it's just me getting older and more cynical, but even with the ones I do enjoy of theirs these days (and I still have one or two I need to catch up on), it feels like retreading old ground a lot of the time to me. And again: don't get me started on Toy Story 4. @Jonnas, when Bob says... ...I think he's speaking more to their handling of adult/mature themes and comedy rather than anything ostensibly dark or twisted (though I would personally add Darla from Finding Nemo and the bin scene from You Story 2 to the list of early Pixar-inducing nightmare sequences). It's a bit of a broad way to put it, but I can see where he's coming from, because Pixar have definitely got much more overt in their tackling of "adult" themes; I don't think you would have found an early Pixar making Soul, for instance. While children might enjoy it and take a lot away from it, for me it falls into that weird gap between being Oscar bait (for lack of a better term) and in terms of its core themes, is aimed more at a more mature audience (not going to say strictly adults or children, because I imagine there are plenty of children mature enough for a film like this, and plenty of adults who aren't). There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it feels like a fair share of their post-Toy Story 3 offerings just don't offer the same depth as the films prior, and instead are very direct in telling you what it's tackling by comparison. I guess it's just down to personal preferences, but those first 10 or so for me offer so much more for both audiences than their contemporary counterparts, and early Pixar reminds me a lot of Ghibli in that way.

Man, I'm gutted for you with this getting delayed @drahkon! Personally was waiting on reviews, and will be still, because it releases the same day as New Pokémon Snap. Smart move for them to delay if the extra time is needed to give them that extra bit of time to polish it, but yeah, it sucks. Kind of makes me grateful we don't have dates for other games expected later this year, because the inevitable delays are going to hit even harder. It's not like there was even much of a difference here anyway though, seeing as we only had about three months of a heads-up from The Game Awards before the March 19th release date, which honestly raises my concern quite a bit more. Again, hopefully it's just polish or down to COVID delays in production, but to be announcing a delay of one month just one month after revealing your release date? Fingers crossed it's not some other reason we've seen grip the industry far and wide over the last year or so in similar cases of short delays (i.e. crunch).

He somehow manages to simultaneously tease that we'll get some substantial news on it this year and give off the feeling that it's in a situation which could be worse than Prime 4 (which would be saying something considering that had a full reboot on production). I generally like to be optimistic about such things, but in Bayonetta 3's case, that's pretty hard to do! Prime 4 is in the same space in my mind, but I like that we actually got an update on that when things started to go sideways; I think it's tough to get the balance right between being a producer of entertainment and being transparent, but I still think Nintendo made the right move coming out and telling us what was up. Can you imagine if we'd only just got an update on it, and one as vague as this? People would be losing their minds! Breath of the Wild 2 I remain optimistic on, though. 35th anniversary of the series this year, 4 years on from the launch of the it's predecessor, it's the only one we've seen in-engine footage of (though engine reuse obviously isn't an option for the others as it is here) and (presumably) a lot of asset reuse. I imagine that they were at least targeting this year, though just how much that gets impacted by COVID and other factors (the reshuffling of other games in the upcoming Switch catalogue as a result of COVID perhaps above all else) I guess we'll see in the coming year. Even if it doesn't make it out this year, I'd still like to expect that we get some sort of an update on it. Fingers crossed!

Yeah, second that, excellent write-up @Nicktendo! I enjoy learning tech stuff about games and consoles from Digital Foundry's videos, but I rarely dive into it (it's pretty intimidating), so thanks for making this much easier to understand Been interesting reading people's thoughts on this. Like others here, I do agree that a Switch Pro seems inevitable; some point to the DSi and New 3DS refinements, but I guess the big difference here is that, unlike in the dedicated gaming handheld market, they actually have some worthwhile competition (RIP Vita). I know I use the Switch as a secondary console (and it's a great one at that - when there's something I want to check out on it ), but it's also their only dedicated gaming platform, so I think there's a bit more pressure to get things right here. Unlike with the Wii U, they don't have a strong handheld to fall back on in the 3DS: this is very much their focus. I guess it depends on where you see Nintendo going (they aren't the Kings of Left Field for nothing), but I struggle to see them moving on from the concept of the Switch anytime soon. A Switch 2 down the line seems inevitable to continue this, but I don't see that coming for a good 3.5 years or so at least, so a mid-gen refresh with a Pro console they can sell for £349.99 makes a lot of sense. It also opens up the possibility of more third party support, and while their first party could probably support this console by itself, why put that pressure on yourself? Not to mention the occasional first party game can have issues in certain areas (like Nick mentioned, the area by the Great Deku Tree in BotW springs to mind), and while Nintendo's art styles rarely demand a higher resolution (though it'd be great to see some better textures used, that's for sure), the boost in performance could be great. 60 fps in the little I played of Odyssey felt fantastic, I'd love that experience in some of their other games too! Plus, I mean, I rarely play games on my Switch and still find myself questioning if I should start putting money aside for a potential Pro, because would I really want to play BotW2 on my current Switch if a Pro launched alongside BotW2? There's absolutely a market for it, I think Nintendo would be leaving money on the table and perhaps be showing a concerning degree of overconfidence in the current Switch's abilities, considering the pivot we'll likely see in the next year or two from third parties to more demanding games running on other platforms. There's a pretty big third party catalogue of games already released for them to start tapping into if they can get a Pro out. ...am I the only one excited because they might have specifically heard something which implies E3 2021 specifically is actually going to happen? And that Nintendo will be there? I feel like they might have just said "June 2021" instead otherwise, but maybe it's me reading into it. Yeah, those leaks were pretty damning, but as interesting of an experience Summer Game Fest - and everyone and their cousins hosting a livestream - was, I would much prefer a week or two of focused gaming news (heck, maybe even a month) compared to the mess we ended up with. If for that alone I'd welcome a Month of Gaming or something similar, with a schedule put up beforehand, because I really hated the random news drops; even as someone with no ties to the industry, I found it pretty exhausting to keep up with, and that's without mentioning the completely lacklustre events we had dotted throughout. Could we finally see the return of a "normal" Nintendo Direct? Who am I kidding, it'll just be E3 2016 all over again but with BotW2 (let me dream)

Setting up shop in the middle of dangerous dungeons takes a toll

Yeah, think this is totally fair, because some of the textures do look really muddy (the rock Liepard is lying on and the wooden sign come to mind). The water does look great though! It does make me miss the older days of pixel art, the great range of vibrant colours in Gen IV and Gen V really popped off the DS screen. Compare that to everything they've done since transitioning to 3D in the core series, where the colours are just so flat and lifeless to me. It's like they saw the colours Ken Sugimori used in his artwork and said "yeah, we'll just do that", but the Kanto Pokémon in particular just look so washed out! Some of the Galar designs definitely do manage to be a bit more vibrant, so I think they're getting there, but I do hope that they go back to some of the earlier Pokémon to give them a bit more colour. I think the colour palette they're using for New Pokémon Snap is just the right balance, so hopefully it's something Game Freak consider for Gen IX in a few years' time.

It's so strange. This and Demon's Souls having PC mentioned initially in its trailer in September makes me wonder if these are internal goals that PlayStation is aware of but aren't ready to set in stone? I mean, looking at Kena for example, that was supposed to be a launch title, so a delay to March doesn't seem too crazy. January 2022 for Athia could be a placeholder date for 2022 in general; that has been in the works for a while already, so maybe Square Enix have told them behind closed doors that 2022 is the aim? How that then works it's way onto this presentation is still confusing, though. Ratchet and Clank and Horizon being a bit more nebulous makes sense I guess, I imagine the former is being polished and the latter is still aiming for later this year of course, but they just want to leave it late to have a short lead-in time from date announcement to release (like when we didn't get the PS5 launch titles announced until after that September event, which was still the strangest part of that whole thing for me). The main one stumping me is Pragmata, you don't just pluck 2023 out of thin air when all official materials say 2022, because a delay of that size being noticed that far out would most likely be related to COVID (we saw other Japanese developers delay their schedules by about 7 months, which was time needed to working from home), but would they have that timetable change this early, and after only revealing it in September? All super weird. Oh well, should keep us guessing at any rate (and I suppose it won't be too long until we know whether there's any accuracy to this)

Not too surprising an update, but it does feel too specific to be a mistake. It's why I think there's still a chance Demon's Souls makes it into PC. Like, seriously, who behind-the-scenes keeps botching these?

@Ronnie, out of interest, have you listened to the guys on GVG talk about this at all? Because it provides some much needed context, and if you haven't, well, it's needed if we're going to say we need to hear both sides. Steve let it slip that he played on/worked two days straight for the Final Fantasy VII Remake review in their 2020 in Review videos, and as mentioned before, Ash has let it slip before that he's had trouble with some bills too, even back at GameXplain. People ran with it and started connecting the dots, so the GVG/former GX guys put out their statements to be fully transparent about it. They couldn't have been clearer in those statements that they didn't want any hate thrown André's/GameXplain's way, and they seem regretful that the situation has got this far in the first place. Steve slipped in mentioning this, but I think that just shows you how much it's still weighing on his mind. And, if you've watched or listened to anything from GVG since, they straight up say that they aren't going to discuss it further, and that their statements are out there if anyone wants to know more. They've even stated time and again that they just want everyone to move on and they want this behind them: they want to focus on GVG now. They didn't throw André under the bus, even if he perhaps deserves it to some extent. They've been nothing but professional in how they've handled things, and again, just look at how many key members of GameXplain left over such a short period, all citing similar conditions. Where there's smoke there's fire, so yes, backlash is deserved (again, to a certain extent). To reiterate: good on André for pledging to change, but that means nothing without action. Only time will tell how much he really means it.

Just gave this a read now, and I agree, it's great that we hear the other side, and that André is more clearly illustrating the steps being taken to make changes there. He's human, mistakes are made, and it's good to see him say he's going to push himself to be better. That's all I'd hope for everyone. But I do think there is a point up to which the backlash was necessary, because otherwise - clearly - these changes wouldn't have come. I haven't followed this too much in terms of actual public reaction, and have more been sticking to the statements made to save myself getting carried away with it, so I can't speak to the "witch hunt". But, with reference to making mistakes: at the end of the day, for anyone in a leadership role, there is a duty of care, for which André above all else was and is accountable. Forget the flat rates for a second, because overworking can be easily done: forgetting to pay your workers is just as bad as knowingly withholding their pay, if not worse, considering that the solution being used now (automated payments) was seemingly suggested numerous times when the GVG guys were there and swept under the table. Again, it's great that he's taking that step now, but this would have taken a matter of minutes and been one less major knock against him in all of this, and would have given the guys the peace of mind they were looking for. And I still think it was very underhanded of him to sneak in a non-compete clause into Derrick's proposed contract just before his kid was born. There's still a lot to learn because this is just the start of him trying to make these improvements, and we still need to see how things shake out with their contacts, as I'm not fully convinced that everyone he had in his address book before is going to be keen to get back to him after all of this. Good in him for making a pledge to change. I hope he can keep it.

To be clear, I'm not saying that as if it's any kind of surprised (obviously that was going to be the case), but rather that seeing how good New Pokémon Snap looks by comparison just further emphasises how poor the Sword & Shield engine looks to me.

Unsurprisingly a lot going around right now which seemingly all but confirms Diamond & Pearl remakes are on the way. SwSh and Gen 4 are currently trending on Twitter And Serebii mentioned something called "Legends" is included in this: After seeing New Pokémon Snap earlier...well, nostalgia aside aside, my hype for this is crashing through the floor the closer we get to it being announced. They're just going to be Diamond & Pearl in the ugly and lazy Sword and Shield engine. The DLC for Sword & Shield hinted at them incorporating Wild Areas more? Yeah, we're going to end up with the exact same routes, blocked off by the exact same tree lines. And Cynthia is going to be a walkover. And there won't be Mega Evolution, or Sinnoh forms, but we end up with Dynamax. It hurts. On the upside, the music should be great, but insaneintherainmusic's Sinnohvation album (which is awesome) has that covered for me anyways, so...can we just skip ahead to Gen IX and see what a Pokémon game will look like with a bit of effort and looking like New Pokémon Snap? Please?