Grazza

I can't understand why people want to mix with each other at this time. It's like they just don't get it. I'm still finding some people stand a bit too close to me and, worst of all, you still get idiots going out and coughing near others. What worries me most is the supermarkets. I can avoid most other places, but it seems inevitable I'll be too close to someone infected whilst food shopping at some point (and obviously the trolleys are disgusting too). We need enforced social distancing, where everyone is instructed they have to be a certain distance away from others. Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but if everyone did that, remained clean, washed their hand etc we could stop it being passed on at all, couldn't we?

I believe the reviews. Animal Crossing is a unique kind of magic, and if Nintendo has managed to repeat the formula, but expand on it enough, it'll be exactly what we need right now.

Should be a nice bit of escapism at a time like this. I'm hoping to see: Streets of Rage 4 Shantae and the Seven Sirens Sega Ages Golden Axe (coin-op) Not sure if any of those are indie, really, but I'd like to know when they'll be released.

No, but I remember them talking about it on Teletext, back in those days. I must admit, I'd assumed it was 2.5D and didn't realise it was a fully 3D game.

I'm a fan of this series, despite not really liking hard games. I remember playing Ghosts 'n' Goblins in arcades when I was young, particularly at a holiday camp in 1989, and I loved Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on my Mega Drive. I've owned Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts three times - firstly on SNES, secondly on Xbox (Capcom Classics Collection) and then on Wii U. It's hard, but I've played many games I felt were more unfair. I remember on Xbox, I was earning enough points to get extra continues, and although I didn't complete in properly, I wasn't bad at it. When I got it on Wii U, though, I did use save states to finally see the whole thing. It's a lot more enjoyable when you can keep hold of all your armour upgrades.

It looks really clever and high tech, but I'm a traditionalist at heart. I'd have been really tempted by Peach's Castle and Bowser's Castle (and Hyrule Castle) but for me this is too much "toy" and not enough "model".

I remember seeing the full, 360-degree G-LOC cabinet in arcades in the '90s and was amazed, but at the same time it wasn't particularly surprising in that era. The 1990s were such optimistic, ambitious times.

Yeah, I knew it must have a lot of good about it because so many of you enjoyed it so much. Really glad I kept going. If I could offer two bits of constructive criticism, it'd be these: These games are better if every transformation has an enjoyable ability, and I would personally focus on that. The pig, for example, has the butt stomp, so I'd have made the corresponding area and dungeon mainly about that. Fire puzzles are good, but I think I'd have left those for the dragon because it has that inherent ability, and probably have scrapped wind and lightning altogether. Bombs always offer something in games though. It's all about not giving the player too much choice early on. In early boss fights, I didn't know if I was meant to use magic, the pig's normal attack or what. Secondly, I'd have just one, big puzzle per dungeon. The Volcano was good in that it was all about finding the gongs that destroyed bits of the pathway to the boss, but actually getting to each gong involved several, very complicated puzzles. Similarly, I loved the mirror puzzles in the Haunted Manor, but I'd rather have had one enormous bouncing-light puzzle in the central room, and the rest of the dungeon about finding (via combat and platforming) various mirror pieces, then having to put them in place and adjust them in the main room. Looking at the overall design of the game, I'd have liked more spacing and other types of gameplay between the puzzles. Still, as I say, I did enjoy the game and find myself wanting a New Game+. It'd be great to go through it again appreciating the fully-upgraded armour sets at the appropriate locations.

My most vivid memory of Switch is still getting Breath of the Wild and being completely and utterly blown away by how big it was, and wondering how it could possibly fit on the cartridge. I remember exploring this enormous world, climbing the mountains and looking for horses to tame - and on a handheld too! Truly, I had finally reached the point where I no longer desired any better graphics than this. Similarly, my other highlight was playing Dragon Quest XI last year. At last, I had genuinely experienced a worthy successor to VIII. Switch just feels like a mature machine to me. There's a maturity about letting gamers play it how they want - as a handheld or on TV - with traditional controls too, and even the selection of games on the eShop caters for those who were playing arcade games back in the 1980s. It just seems so natural and effortless that I can have Final Fight and Double Dragon sitting there whenever I want them.

It’s fair to say this game took me a while to get into, but I have now completed it, and am glad I did so. I really do enjoy the “monster world” genre, from playing Dragon’s Trap on my friend’s Master System, and its Mega Drive sequel; to Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, its own brilliant sequel and more recent, indie efforts like Aggelos. So I was a bit surprised I wasn’t as enthralled by this one as I might have been. After enjoying the beginning section as a human, the game does its best to make you feel vulnerable. As Pig Man, your main assets are a butt stomp and the ability to sniff out secrets, which are legitimate enough moves, but there’s also a plethora of magic spells to consider. You can use fire, wind, lightning and bomb magic, which until very late in the game are limited to your pig form. Quite early on, I felt overwhelmed by all the possible moves and tactics that could be employed to move through the first zones. The snake is next, which like Shantae’s monkey, allows you to access small spaces. This type of thing is never going to be many people’s favourite form, but it does have a place in these games. Still, though, I was finding it very difficult to move around. Things changed with the next transformations. Swinging from hook to hook as Frog Man, the game finally had a mechanic that I was really enjoying. Same goes for dashing on water and through blocks as Lion Man. And who wouldn’t want to play as a flying, fire-breathing dragon? Crucially, and unlike the pig and snake, these forms can also start to wear the many weapons and armour sets available. And so, I set about exploring the map and finding all the secrets. The game is, of course, mostly inspired by Wonder Boy, with a pinch of Metroid, but I was surprised to see it also takes an enormous amount of inspiration from Zelda. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is extremely puzzle heavy, so much so that I personally felt it outweighed the other aspects. The puzzles are difficult, and at times incredibly obscure, with it sometimes seeming there’s one every screen to halt your progress. They slowed me down so much, I could never really get into the flow of the game or play it at a good pace. My personal view of the monster world genre is that they are about exploration, and can afford to be quite simple in other areas. Still, other aspects of the difficulty, such as bosses and races, were very well judged. I was a bit confused, and still am, by how officially this is linked to the Wonder Boy franchise. Early impressions suggested it was an homage, but the further you get into the game the more explicit references there are. Overall, whilst Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom didn’t become one of my favourite monster world games, I did enjoy it more and more as it went on, with it providing some much-needed escapism. The graphics and controls are really good, and I will miss playing as Lion Man and Dragon Man in particular. It looks like there is at least the intention for a female-led sequel (Monster Girl?) so I must admit, I for one will be keeping my eye out for it.

I'll definitely watch it when I get a chance, but I don't use Netflix so that might be a while. Thanks for the heads-up though.

Keep in mind that the full game feels very segmented compared to the demo and, in my opinion, doesn't flow all that smoothly. I'm on the 3rd transformation and still not really feeling it. I'm assuming you know about Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap, but I'd also recommend Aggelos much more over Monster Boy.

To me, the draw is that it feels like a living world that goes on whether you're playing or not. Different shops will be open depending on what time you play. Different wildlife will be present depending on the month. You can also really put your personality into it, as you expand your house and fill it with your favourite furniture. Those things could also be drawbacks. If you can't play at a certain time, you may simply not be able to buy what you want, or meet with a visiting salesperson. You might never be able to get tapes off the musician K.K. Slider if you're not in on Saturday night to hear him play. Personally, I spent ages in New Leaf trying to collect all the modern furniture (eg. Sleek). There has always been an element of luck and randomness to Animal Crossing. We don't know exactly how the Switch version will work, and whether it'll rebalance any of these things, but those are my general impressions of the series so far. Animal Crossing isn't for everyone, but in my opinion it's pretty much as magical as gaming can be.

Urgh, I hate those fever dreams. I was discussing this with a colleague once and she said they were due to dehydration. They're bloomin' awful though, and seem an inevitable part of Flu.

I've enjoyed a lot of games this decade, but I'm only including ones that've really made me feel something or meant something to me personally. I'll do mine in chronological order, although coincidentally, the last one is also my favourite: Dragon Quest IX (DS, 2010) The sequel to Dragon Quest VIII was not quite what I was expecting, but I came to adore it nonetheless. Once I'd made my team of four - Gra, Dave, Kate, Nigel - I went on to spend 900 hours accompanying them through this brilliant adventure. I'd come in from work and comb the game's notorious Grottoes, hoping to find Metal King Slimes and the ultimate S-Rank equipment. Then, we'd take on the DLC bosses, which you'd have to fight until they were level 99, and them beat them at their strongest. Along the way, you'd probably also have reached level 99 yourself in all the game's many different vocations... Dragon Quest IX was epic. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (DSi, 2011) When this was released, the idea of downloading games for consoles was relatively new - in fact, this was considered expensive at around £12 - but something about it greatly intrigued me. From the glowing reviews, I could see it was a "monster world" style game, which instantly took me back to playing Dragon's Trap round my friend's, or Wonder Boy in Monster World on my own Mega Drive. Stylistically, though, Shantae was something else. Jake Kaufman's score was absolutely stunning - we are used to various remixes of his wonderful work by now, but at this point it still had a raw brilliance to it. The graphics, too, were outstanding. Even compared to its direct sequel, I've never seen a piece of 2D software so perfectly matched to the hardware, with the most fantastic array of pixel art tailored precisely to the DSi's screen resolution. It's not a long game, and I wouldn't argue against the sequel being better, but Risky's Revenge sure was a piece of art. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS, 2013) Of all the brilliant games released on the 3DS, this one came to embody everything that the handheld was about. I had briefly tried the GameCube original, but didn't stay for long, and for some reason the 3DS version was where it all came together for me. The idea of coming in from work and exploring my village at night, knowing that'd it'd be different depending on the day and hour was magical. For ages, I'd crawl around hoping to find certain fish and insects. It really was a kind of alchemy. New Leaf particularly made use of the social aspect, and I remember swapping items with fellow N-Europers, being particularly keen to collect the "Sleek" set of furniture. Despite all this, I actually have very mixed feelings about Animal Crossing: New Leaf. On a personal level, Summer 2013 was absolutely terrible for me, and AC: New Leaf represents the precise turning point between the good times and the bad. Rationally, though, I know I cannot blame the game, and choose to remember it as the piece of digital magic that it was. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (3DS, 2015) It may be repetitive to have two games from the same series on my list, but I cannot relegate Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. Living up to Risky's Revenge was a tall order, and indeed, it does re-use a lot of sprites (zoomed out to better suit the 3DS), but this 3rd game in the series had so much care put into it, most gamers have it down as the best so far. Whereas RR is controversial for its brevity, this one is definitely a full-length game. Pirate's Curse ditches the interconnected "monster world" formula and replaces it with a level select that transports you to different zones, each containing a chunk of overworld and a Metroid-style dungeon. Crucially, though, it is not too simplified, and I think a lot of fans would like to go back to this style. Tonally, Pirate's Curse is rather naughty at times, with some of the jokes gobsmackingly rude if you think about them long enough. We live in a much more neutered society nowadays, and therefore this game is even more a rare gem of its time. Dragon Quest XI (Switch, 2019) Finally, the game I'd waited a decade to play. With a glorious 3D environment and an incredible plot, the beloved world of Dragon Quest VIII was back. It was actually so good, I couldn't believe I was playing it at times, or that someone had once again made something so fine. The story, locations and characters are etched into my mind in a way that few other RPGs can manage. True to the times, it is toned down a little bit compared to VIII, but the gameplay is as great as ever. Whatever the future of gaming, as long as there are those who appreciate something as good as this, we can rest assured that, occasionally, someone will produce a game as genuinely great as DQ XI.

I picked this up as it's 50% off, but have to say, I'm not enjoying it so far. As far as the monster world genre goes, it hasn't grabbed me anything like as much as Dragon's Trap or Aggelos. The first transformation is not a lot of fun - I guess the developers wanted you to feel vulnerable, but it's not doing it for me. Before I've even encountered the 2nd boss, I've picked up three "magic" powers, which soon run out and you have to grind for more. Every screen seems like an environmental puzzle and it's just a bit of a drag. Hopefully it'll improve, but so far it's definitely not worth £17.48.

I finished Dragon Quest XI a few weeks ago. Whilst I absolutely loved it, and have been meaning to write a review, the length did leave me feeling a bit burnt-out. It's probably 50 + 50 hours for the first two acts, and 50-100 more for the post-game (depending on how much you want to do). Most of the game is absolutely fantastic, but what annoys me is when the pace slows right down, forcing you to do lots of preparation for a difficult boss (the Switch version has a couple of extra ones, if I understand it correctly). Naturally, you want the best armour, but it needs to be forged, and they make certain materials rare and only obtainable in certain places. It's that sort of thing that makes several play sessions purely preparation for something else, rather than exciting in their own right. Mind you, that's nothing compared to Dragon Quest IX, which I spent 900 hours on. There are even a couple of jokes in DQ XI about how that game is remembered mostly for trying to find the Metal King Slimes (that series' high EXP enemies) over and over again... The Etrian Odyssey games are pretty bad for this - making you get to level 99, "retire" and then get to 99 again - and I don't really know why I 100% completed some of them. With Etrian Odyssey Nexus, I'm afraid to say I just gave up. I don't particularly dislike length if every play session is stimulating in some way, but resentment sets in when it feels like they're just trying to waste your time.

I think that might actually be the traditional Japanese way, because there's a similar scene in Dragon Quest XI. I wasn't disappointed because it was only two blokes, but it did strike me as a bit odd!

It bothers me greatly how easy it has been to stir people up. People seem to have become entrenched in their views, rather than having an honest discussion about the best way forward. We have a prime minister who has ridden roughshod over all rules and precedent, and his supporters have overlooked it because they see him as on their side. There has been no attempt to find out the public's opinion on the Single Market and Customs Union as separate entities, or even if we still want to leave at all. Almost four years on, surely there is a time limit when he Leave vote loses its legitimacy. I'm guessing you've seen this, but still...

Bad Influence?

In the 1980s we had various computers such as the Acorn Electron and the Amstrad CPC 464. I was extremely jealous of the NES and Master System, although in the back of my mind what I really wanted was exact ports of the arcade games I loved so much, such as Double Dragon and Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja (got both of those on my Switch now :)). I was most jealous, however, of the Amiga 500. Many of my neighbours had them and we just couldn't afford one. I could see how the 16-bit graphics were a massive step up from both my Amstrad CPC 464 and even my friends' 8-bit consoles. Every time I went into computer games shops to buy £2.99 cassettes, the Amiga 500's line-up sat there on the shelf giving off a massive sense of superiority. I don't even know what games I wanted to play, although my neighbours seemed particularly proud of owning OutRun. With this is mind, you can imagine how excited I was when I went into Comet and saw the Mega Drive. One play of Altered Beast and I was absolutely desperate for one of these machines. Luckily, I received one for Christmas, and I have never felt so grateful for a present. Almost immediately though, even before, perhaps, I had become jealous of the Super Famicom. My school friends told me it was a lot better and showed me magazines with screenshots of Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts. Looking back, I don't really feel it was that much better than the Mega Drive, but it's funny how you can have a strong feeling at the time. I suppose I became a bit spoilt after that, because I was allowed a SNES the year after and, when the next generation came, I bought both a Saturn and N64. Now this is where "enemy" consoles come in. Whilst I had been envious of Nintendo and the Amiga, it was nothing personal. I absolutely bloomin' hated the PlayStation though! It frustrated my immature mind how people could just abandon the franchises they had claimed to love before and jump ship to a newcomer. Although I had dalliances with Ridge Racer in the arcade and had fantasies about buying a PlayStation, I could never actually do it. The generation after, I'm afraid I was totally bored by the Dreamcast (something I still don't fully understand) and was gripped by the GameCube. My anti-Sony feelings disappeared when Nintendo revealed the Wii. I was so angry with how poor it seemed, I bought a PS2 with Dragon Quest VIII, Shadow of the Colossus and Final Fantasy XII and have never felt any console loyalty since. Mind you, it took me a while to grow out of it as I well into 20s at the time! Nowadays, I can't imagine being jealous of any technology or strongly disliking a company. The only things I lust for are time, concentration and my lost youth.

Same here, unfortunately.

I can see how Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler scratch the "classic Final Fantasy" itch - FF seems to have been uniquely successful in the West and is probably the only J-RPG that's a household name. I also believe Dragon Quest XI was well marketed amongst avid gamers, with a superb demo and coverage in the Directs (as @Vileplume2000 says). But I'd say TV advertising is still extremely important. I saw ads for Mario Maker 2 and Link's Awakening (can't remember if I saw Fire Emblem), but none for Dragon Quest. They just didn't get across that it's up there with those big Nintendo releases. Speaking to people at work, they've bought Link's Awakening and Mario Maker, but though they may have heard of DQ XI, they haven't felt the desire to buy it. It could be the cartoony graphics, but that didn't affect Breath of the Wild. And it could be that it's turn-based, but that doesn't affect Pokémon. It really is a mystery.

It is a massive shame this game hasn't sold better. All year I have witnessed how, through good advertising, Nintendo has managed to make Fire Emblem, Mario Maker and Link's Awakening household names, and yet this isn't on as many people's radar. And no disrespect to Link's Awakening, but it is just a pleasant remake of an old game that takes a few days to complete, whereas Dragon Quest XI is one of the best video game adventures you'd believe is possible to make. It is an outstanding piece of software. The only reason I haven't posted about it more is because I'm constantly picking my jaw up off the floor. I think we know the answer then - make the game more controversial. Free skimpy bikini DLC for Jade!

Love it! I may be a bit slow, but I make a good shield. Really looking forward to playing this sometime, actually. I gave up on Android, but will enjoy it more on Switch.