Tim B

You could also say that it stands out in the line up, in a good way, because all the other games are super serious by comparison and might split the votes and split opinions. Smash is a crowd pleaser.

What makes you say that? Isn't it both the best selling and best reviewed game in the GOTY list? Is it the wrong genre? Not credible enough? I don't think Smash winning can be ruled out and, as I said, I think it'll win the public vote in that category and it's evidently loved by the critics.

Personally, I'm super happy to see Super Smash Bros. Ultimate up for Game of the Year. That game takes my breath away every time I dip into it. I think it could and should win the public vote in that category, but it's the juries I'm worried about. They might prefer to go for something that's also up for Game Direction and/or Best Narrative, but let's see. Thinking about it, this game easily had the best chance for Nintendo to actually win GotY. Fire Emblem was too niche and anything else that could've been nominated (Zelda, Super Mario Maker 2, Luigi's Mansion 3) wouldn't have stood a chance. The Family (Nintendo) category is quite interesting...I'd love to see Ring Fit Adventure win there, but you'd probably have to make Smash the favourite. Nice to see Astral Chain get some recognition. Fire Emblem: Three Houses might well win the strategy category. What do you think's gonna win? What would you like to see win? Any surprises in the nominees?

There’s a good amount of sales data in this article. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-11-17-uk-charts-pok-mon-sword-and-shield-post-huge-opening-weekend-sales

There will be no problems with Dragon Quest 12 becoming successful in the west if they launch all of the versions at the same time. In Dragon Quest 11, I’m 25 hours in now and could not love it any more than I do. I’m enjoying all of the plot twists and I suspect there are many more to come. I finally got one of the keys which allows me to unlock some of the locked doors that I keep seeing everywhere. It was frustrating not being able to access them at all. I haven’t been bothering crafting weapons with the fun-sized forge and I seem to be managing just fine without it. One of the bosses *almost* wiped out my entire party, but I managed to get through it. It’s really refreshing using the auto-battle system for an RPG, but the concept took a while to get my head around. When I eventually move on to Pokémon Shield it might feel weird to be actually selecting the moves individually again.

Hmm, I was thinking more like next year.

Would it be crazy of me to wait until a potential Ultra Sword and Ultra Shield are announced before deciding whether or not to buy this one? I’m in no great rush to play it and I was annoyed when Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon came out, which I didn’t play but I assume were much improved over the originals. Does it feel likely based on what you’ve all played so far?

@Julius I suspect you are correct.

It’s totally mindless in single player mode. I think its purpose is to give Gooigi/the second player something to do in co-op. Gooigi actually isn’t required for plenty of the rooms in the game, so would feel pretty redundant without money to collect.

There was one on the N64 which I really enjoyed. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called though.

I don’t think it’s been officially confirmed, but I saw on Twitter somewhere that the review embargo lifts tomorrow, Tuesday 12th November at 1pm UK time. I also saw someone say that the review embargo date is also part of the embargo itself, so let’s see

They added bots to this?! I had no idea! No wonder it felt a whole lot easier. I would rarely kill anyone successfully in the old version but now I can regularly manage 3-5 kills in a match no problem.

Oh, that's interesting. I would struggle to find someone to play this co-op with me, so I might have to hold off for a while.

Has anyone played The Stretchers yet? It looks amazing!

New island, who dis? Anyone tried it out yet? I just put in an hour and I had a blast. The new island feels a lot like Hyrule in Breath of the Wild to me. For some reason I was really great In this session and managed to place second in my last solo match, despite not playing for months and not playing on the new island.

There was a little bit of drama on Twitter earlier. Liam Robertson @Doctor_Cupcakes claims that 'smaller' outlets aren't receiving review codes early, to help prevent further leaks from happening. But reviews will still go out as usual from larger outlets like IGN.

I traded this in today for £35 at CEX today, in case anyone else has completed it and wants rid for a good price. It only cost me £38 in the first place!

The second to last floor....what on earth was that?! Rubbish imo. Good job I’ve pretty much loved every other floor

Is anyone picking this up this week? I still need to get round to playing the demo.

Only a few floors left now, with almost 14 hours racked up on the clock. Looks like I'll be done with the story mode at around 20 hours. I'll be sad to finish it for sure.

There has to be a Pokémon Direct coming soon right, probably next week sometime? I'd be surprised if there wasn't.

I played for 90 minutes on Saturday and burned 700 calories, according to my Fitbit, which has to be more accurate than the in-game stats. It's not like you don't burn calories in between the exercises, because you obviously do. I'm really impressed with the gainz I've made on my chest in particular. There's a huge difference to where I was at before. @Hero-of-Time I also haven't played as much as I was hoping, but this is partly due to it being a more hardcore workout than anticipated. I'm absolutely loving what I've played so far though. I've just reached the end of World 3 and was literally one rep away from beating the boss, before he defeated me . I'll go in with loads more smoothies and beat him easily next time.

@Chris_Dring on Twitter said this was the biggest Nintendo launch of the year in the UK. I’m really surprised. Anecdotally speaking, none of my friends have picked this up yet whereas they were all over Zelda and Super Mario Maker 2 at launch. They’re all waiting for Pokémon.

Surprise!!!

The bosses in this game are exceptional and Nintendo really deserves credit for coming up with such original and memorable creations. Just completed Floor 7 and it was bigger than everything that came before it. Really felt like a Zelda dungeon at times. It feels like I’m exploring every nook and cranny of every room, sucking and blowing etc. at absolutely everything. Yet I still only come back with around 50% of the gemstones after each floor. Apart from the Basement 1, where I actually found them all.