Dufniall

Yeah, I've played it on the Switch indeed! Had to dig it up, but found my 2021 Gaming Diary post: I remember enjoying it quite a lot, so it's a shame to read it probably didn't get a big player base. One of the risks of putting out a game these days with the flood of titles being released every week, especially if you're another 2D pixel action game.

Wait, a mention? Who summoned me back from my non-posting existence? Ah, 'twas Glen! But yeah, I'm on Amsterdam time so I'm usually up for something at your 7pm already. Let me know if people want to play something early in the evening. Although l don't have NSO+, just regular NSO.

Well... https://www.serebii.net/scarletviolet/teraraidbattles/event-mightygreninja.shtml

It should be, but if you have Apple Arcade it's available on there now as well. With some adaptations to single screen of course.

The credits have rolled and Ed Sheeran has been heard in Pokémon Scarlet. Finished the game with these 'mon: The verdict? It's a very tricky one. There is a certain addiction to it and I like having three main objectives. Area Zero was nice but I think they could have integrated it a lot more in the story. Some of the new Pokémon designs are cool. Some QoL changes are useful as well (such as not getting the nickname prompt). However, there are a lot of negatives. The open world is a bit of a mixed bag. Where in for example Breath of the Wild you actually find cool hidden stuff, there never is anything special here. Just the ruins that are always the same, or a TM or item. No amazing rare Pokémon, nothing that triggers me to explore the map. Speaking of, an open world game without the ability to put multiple flags is bad. Where I wasn't bothered in Arceus, the world feels too empty here as well. It's a shame they cut the catching without battling mechanism from Arceus, I loved that. And somehow Arceus runs better. I mean, the game is no looker (except for the Pokémon models), pop in like mad, every single cutscene or transfer has a small stutter, if there are a number of Pokémon in sight in a fight it slows down to a crawl, and at the Psychic Gym Test the resolution just tanked! Battles also feel a lot slower, for example switching in takes quite some time, and when a Pokémon faints and you get the XP, takes too long. I can't believe how bad it runs actually and I thought I could get over it but despite liking bits of it, for me it is (one of) the weakest Pokémon games. Still no voice acting, so here you are in a dramatic scene and mouths are moving and you hear... nothing. Oh, and the Nemona is one of the most annoying NPC's ever! I may go do a bit of the post-game but getting to this point felt like a slog so I'm not sure how far I'll get. The part after completing the 3 main events was the best part of the game so far, but it still couldn't redeem the game from being a non-polished title. Has this been given a half a year to a year extra and we could have had an amazing game. 6.5/10.

There are persistent rumours that Universal Studios is going to buy back Port Aventura in Spain. Meaning there is a chance that in the future, we may get a Nintendo World over here. Small chance and it will take a while, but that would be cool!

Since we don't have a general Pokémon thread, I'm going to post it here. But Ash is finally retiring, and the new Paldea series will have new protagonists. There will be a bunch of specials for Ash leading up to his retirement. Something not many can say, retiring at 10 years old.

How do you have 38 games played with less than 10 hours on them? Are they demos? Or do you just start a lot of games and never finish them? Indeed like @Mindfreak said, a lot of short (<10 hours) indie games I played and reviewed like Once Upon A Jester, LOUD, Spidersaurs and Dragon Ball The Breakers. Some games I just dabbled in now and then like Horizon Chase Turbo, Pinball FX and Kirby, demos like Splatfest and the Strikers demo. And some random games I redownloaded on my OLED, booted up and then thought, nope.

48 different games played this year, with the top 10 being: 1) Pokémon Legends Arceus 80 hours 2) Splatoon 3 29 hours 3) Xenoblade Chronicles 25 hours 4) Roguebook 21 hours 5) Bayonetta 3 17 hours 6) Monster Hunter Rise 15 hours 7) Cuphead 13 hours 8) LEGO Jurassic World 12 hours 9) Mario Kart 8 DL 12 hours 10) Kingdom Hearts Melody Of Memory 11 hours

I've watched 4 episodes of Wednesday, and I'm loving it! The combination between the Addams Family, Tim Burton's typical style, Harry Potter-like mood, teenage drama and nice soundtrack works well. It's feel-good on the one end, dark humour on the other and a bit of action in between.

You can play with her if you equip a cookie to an equipment slot, which are usually used for stuff like extra damage, extra hearts etc. So you lose a slot there, but she has one extra heart compared to Cuphead/Mugman. Further, she has a double jump which is extremely useful, and a dodge roll. So basically a bigger moveset for mobility and dodging. And I agree with HoT, the game is difficult but not insanely difficult. I've seen your reaction skills in Mario Kart and Smash Bros. so I'm guessing you're fine. Have you finished the final level of Mario 3D World? Because I haven't but I have finished Cuphead. It's all about learning patterns and choosing the right loadout.

This Friday there's a European online Smash Tournament hosted by Nintendo. Top 100 players win 1000 gold points, top 25 get 2500 points. Runs from 17:00 to 19:00 UK time (18:00-20:00 CEST). https://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2022/December/Stay-warm-with-the-Super-Smash-Bros-Ultimate-European-Online-Challenge-Winter-Rumble--2306299.html

I finished the DLC earlier this year and really loved it. I think the DLC is about the same difficulty, but if you choose Ms. Chalice as a character it kind of works as an easy mode due to her moveset. Bosses are as creative as ever, and there is some variety with a tower with bosses based on parrying. It doesn't do anything revolutionary different, but it's more Cuphead and that is a very good thing.

I have a feeling this will just be a smartphone port, and we're not going to see it on Switch.

Some more footage doing rounds on YouTube, going to put this one in spoilers for those who don't want to see more:

Indeed he has.

I'm really curious to see if they're going to iron out the worst performance issues, or just go oh well and work on the inevitable DLC.

Just like @killthenet I've decided to get myself one of these, found one for a good price second-hand: It's indeed quite a hassle to set up, but I've enjoyed a bit of SNES, GBA and even some Resident Evil 4 on it. N64 and GC I need to look into, it'll require more tinkering to get it working a bit more smooth. But so far it's a pretty enjoyable little thing!

I won't have much time to play this weekend so I'll probably grab it from the Nintendo webshop to get the steel case, along with some platinum point goodies. I still haven't decided yet, I'm leaning towards Violet for the starter and the future vibe, but Scarlet being the underdog makes me want to grab that one. Think I'm going for grass cat as well!

I never got around to getting one. At the time I was satisfied with my 3DS and PC, especially as most of the interesting series came out on the 3DS. Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Street Fighter IV, Pokémon, and even a version of Smash Bros. I'm glad though that I can experience the biggest WiiU titles on my Switch, because in retrospect it would have been bad if I would never have enjoyed a title such as Super Mario 3D World.

Have you tried the Tableturf Battle card game @Hero-of-Time? May be a fun single player bit to try out if you're still looking to get some more worth out of it. I finished the single player last week as well, although not 100% it yet, that'll be my next order of business. Levels are nice and diverse, some take precision like the rail-grinding ones, and I really enjoyed the puzzle where you have to copy a statue with crates. I loved the finale, it kind of makes me think that the rest of the single player should have been structured like that, Curious if they go that way with the paid single player DLC. Now bring on Big Run! I can use some Salmon Run extravaganza as that is my favourite mode to play.

The hype is... *chirp chirp chirp* Some decent titles, I think ONI and Have a Nice Death stood out for me. Fun to see a Dutch dev there with Once Upon a Jester. Plus we get an OCD simulator!