Grazza

Reminds me very much of when I played DQ VI, working through all the jobs to get the Hero class. A lot of grinding involved, but still a good game.

Flipping heck, I never knew anybody cared about whistleblowing a Nintendo conference. This is not exactly corruption or insider trading - more like news of a Luigi amiibo with a yellow outfit!

Yes indeed. I can't recall much about it, but I just remember it took a lot of grinding. If I recall correctly, I recruited a couple of Gigantes (or whatever the toughest "cyclops" are called) and I don't know if I was level 99, but I was certainly high enough that level progression was very slow.

Award for slowest completion of Gato Roboto goes to... It worked out at about £1 per hour, which I thought was fair value. Out of all the Metroidvanias on Switch, this really is the closest to the real thing. It's almost a Metroid clone, yet perhaps due to the self-awareness on display or just its quirky nature, it somehow doesn't feel like a rip-off. I am a cat fan, and this game captures their irreverence and cheekiness, but also the way they are often very affectionate. You can also see Devolver Digital's DNA throughout, such as the way chairs and tables crumble to bits. I didn't find it too short in terms of time spent playing, but the game isn't long enough to fit in an awful lot of progression. I'd describe the difficulty as medium-hard - the first few bosses gave me a real workout, and I can't help but think it'd have been better if there were a few mini-bosses before them that gave you more weapon or health upgrades. As it was, I felt I needed to get 100% collection before I tackled the final bosses, although in the end they weren't too much of a problem. Speaking of collectables, one of the main types are Cartridges, which apply filters to the two-tone visuals. As much as I love black & white, I felt the most obvious filter of all was missing - multi-colour. Although I wouldn't want it to look messy, I think cautious application of the primary colours could really make some of the features stand out - red for fire hazards and yellow for secret passageways etc. Cat fans would also love the option to colour the protagonist like their pet. Collecting all these cartridges unlocks greater abilities, which you will need if you want to find all the Health Kits. Gato Roboto is objectively a very good game, although if I'm honest I have the nagging sense I should have enjoyed it more - perhaps that's because I found it a little bit too tough at times or I just wanted to play something else. However, it's a very accomplished piece of software that's a no-quibble recommendation to Metroid fans.

Yeah, Golems are great. I remember from many years ago, another post said that equipping them with Falcon Swords is one of the best strategies.

Yeah, you get a particular item to display in the museum, if I recall correctly. Little touches like this are part of what makes Dragon Quest great.

I know for sure I 100% completed V and VI, but not IV. Don't know why, really, because I really want to do it now.

"Naked game creator, Yamada-kun, age 36."

The complete Western games list (thanks to Nintendolife), with my favourites in bold: Tetris Darius Virtua Fighter 2 Alisia Dragoon Monster World IV Kid Chameleon Road Rash II Eternal Champions Columns Dynamite Headdy Strider Light Crusader Mega Man: The Wily Wars Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition Ghouls 'n Ghosts Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle Beyond Oasis Golden Axe Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball Vectorman Wonder Boy in Monster World Earthworm Jim Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Contra: Hard Corps Streets of Rage 2 Thunder Force III Super Fantasy Zone Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master Landstalker Sonic the Hedgehog Ecco the Dolphin Castlevania: Bloodlines Space Harrier 2 Shining Force Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine ToeJam & Earl Comix Zone Altered Beast Gunstar Heroes For me, the Mega Drive Mini is annoyingly tempting yet incomplete. I'd rather have the coin-op versions of Golden Axe, Altered Beast and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, though I can't deny they were all a big part of the Mega Drive experience at the time. Virtua Fighter 2 is something I'd prefer the true Model 2 port of, either on Sega Ages or a Sega Home Arcade stick, and as for SFII with 3-button pads... . I said when this was first announced that it'd be better if it was about 80 games - greedy, I know, but these mini consoles need to be definitive as you can't add games to them. Seems a shame not to have Streets of Rage 3 in particular.

Yes, that's odd actually. DQ IV was the first "classic" DQ I played after being drawn to the series with VIII. I've always had the sense I underappreciated it and would like to play it again. Seeing your screenshots, I really feel like these are ripe for a remaster with better textures etc.

Hmm, I went with Nera. I sensed she was more up for it.

It says a lot about Switch that it's already fulfilled most of my wishes, but here are some hopes/predictions: 1. Dragon Quest VIII remaster 2. SEGA AGES Golden Axe or Spider-Man: The Arcade Game 3. The Enchanted Cave 2 ported to Switch 4. 2D Metroid developed by WayForward 5. The next Zelda is announced for Switch. It takes ages to develop and is eventually repurposed as a Switch 2 launch game.

Yeah, that is a feature of these older Dragon Quests, come to think of it. From DQ VIII onwards, I feel it's important to have a spear or axe, but in any game before that, you can really appreciate something like the boomerang. You're making me really want to play these again, by the way. Let's have 'em on Switch, Square-Enix!

Seeing Maya and the Hero has made me remember how much I love the character design in this game. You've made me want to play it again, @Hero-of-Time!

So true! I played most of them myself over the years. The only one I haven't completed (apart from X and XI) is III, because I just got burnt out, which is not to say it's more taxing than the others, but I'd had enough at the time.

Yes, a lot has changed since we were last in this thread. Any kind of Soft Brexit has been ruled out, I think, and either the hard Leavers or hard Remainers will probably win completely in the end. The Lib Dems did well in the local elections, and we'll find out tomorrow how well they did in the European elections. It looks like the Brexit Party will win outright, but it'll be interesting to count the "hard Leave" vote (Brexit Party, UKIP) versus the hard Remain vote (Lib Dems, Greens, Change UK). As for the prime minister, I've long thought Dominic Raab would be the next Conservative leader. At a time like this, I think we will go back to that tribal thing of wanting a leader who seems the toughest (reminds me of Asterix and the Big Fight, where they literally sent their chiefs to fight!) Not that I necessarily endorse him, but I think instinct will kick in. He had a lot to say about being thwarted as Brexit Secretary, so let's see what he can do now there's nothing in his way. Who knows where it will end though? If the EU stick to what they said and won't renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement, we'll have to leave with No Deal or Revoke. I keep hearing there's no way Parliament will allow us to leave without a deal, and will force a revocation if it comes to that, but whether that's actually true I don't know.

Whoooooops, just bought it. I'd be really interested to know how you get on with it. VR fascinates me, and I'm sure I'll get a headset eventually.

I enjoy a good roguelike but it has to be turn-based - there's one on Steam I really hope comes to Switch called The Enchanted Cave 2. I've given Dead Cells a good look, but the fact it's action-based puts me off.

Gato Roboto caught my eye earlier on the eShop - so nice to see a clear visual style - and now I've seen the video, it actually looks like a brilliant game too!

Would anyone tell me, please, how you download games for these standalone headsets like Oculus Quest? Do they connect to Steam directly? Do they run Windows or have their own, custom-built OS like a console?

Czech Republic and Norway for me so far. After seeing Iceland, I'm not so keen on joining EFTA.

Belgium was absolutely robbed last year, that's for sure.

Not sure what I think of the songs this year. Czech Republic stood out for me in Semi Final 1 and, like previous years, I thought Semi Final 2 was a lot better and therefore more unjust. A lot of decent acts didn't get through again. I don't love any so far, but Denmark and Norway stood out. Got a feeling Australia will win and the UK will have to host it!

I get seriously confused about this series, but the 2nd one is Monster Land and it's an arcade/Master System game. Not played it myself, but I'm still looking forward to seeing how an RPG-like game can work on two different systems like that. Monster World is the fifth Wonder Boy game overall and the third Monster World game. It's a very confusing series to classify, but an excellent game! General series Wonder Boy Wonder Boy in Monster Land Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap Wonder Boy in Monster World Wonder Boy V Monster World series Wonder Boy in Monster Land Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap Wonder Boy in Monster World Wonder Boy V

Wonder Boy in Monster World! That's an incredible game!