Grazza

The graphics are brilliant. The knight on the horse is the sort of high-res pixel art I hoped we'd see one day. Personally, I hope this isn't too much like Bravely Default, especially the battle system. However, it certainly has a lot of potential. In theory, we should also be able to buy the Japanese version if we want.

That's the best trailer since the infamous 2004 one. The art style is sheer perfection and I genuinely can't believe how big the game world looks. This actually does have the potential to be the best game ever.

@Ashley Two of these are seconding what @Goron_3 asked for, but I would like to know, please: * Are there analogue triggers, and do they click? * Do the analogue sticks click? * Do the Joy-Cons attach to the Switch (tablet) via physical connectors? Thanks.

True, but I think people are more likely to compare it to other Tegra devices. Personally I was quite happy expecting it to be nothing like the PS4, but then we had Eurogamer's report, which claimed it's far more limited than a standard X1. I'm still really looking forward to the Switch, but I think any technical criticism of it will be along those lines rather than PS4/Xbox One. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-nintendo-switch-spec-analysis

What gets me about this is it seems they're just sitting on it. If they can release it in March, they should do.

Climbing to the top of the tower at the end of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD and just revelling in the fact that not only had I been able to replay my favourite game in such enhanced graphical detail, it was also an experience that truly stood the test of time. Going through the first dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and enjoying how it now looked how my younger self imagined the GC game was going to look. Playing Virtual Console on that fabulous, blur-free IPS screen. I finally completed Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, which was very satisfying, and got really into Final Fight One, which I kept playing over and over again at different difficulty levels.

To be honest (and by no means am I saying it's a bad game), this is the first time I have felt let down by WayForward as a company. Until now, their games cost a small amount of money and felt like they'd packed in as much as they could - apart from Pirate's Curse, which was quite expensive but well worth it. Risky's Revenge felt like it wasn't as extensive as they might have planned, but what was there was absolutely 10/10 - packed full of love and attention to detail. Half-Genie Hero feels cynical in comparison. WayForward has been utterly ruthless, only including content that was crowd funded. Hundreds of backer names fill the end credits, and yet the game doesn't even have different dance animations (they really couldn't have made three - one for each beat?) Maybe I just don't understand how Kickstarter works, but they way they used it felt mercenary.

Finally worked out how to get 100% completion (I was missing the tiara):

3DS Dragon Quest VII - 126:16 Etrian Odssey Untold 2: The Fafnir Knight - 112:02 Stella Glow - 91:28 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 1:50 I enjoyed all of these, apart from Sonic 2, which I should have left in the past (not a judgement on the quality of the game; I'm just terrible at the Special Stage). It was nice to play DQ VII, although it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 provided a lot of fun, but these remakes eventually wear thinner than the originals. Stella Glow, on the other hand, is a nice little strategy RPG. Wii U Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - 11:47 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD - 4:46 Shantae: Risky's Revenge - 3:51 All good buys on the Wii U. Twilight Princess HD was really very good, and I should have given it more time. I'm a bit tired of Risky's Revenge now (having played it a lot on the DS), and I think a bit more attention could have been given to it, especially as it's a "Director's Cut". It's probably the most daunting game in the series to speed run, which I still haven't achieved. All in all, I didn't play much, but enjoyed most of it.

My childhood is so aligned with Star Wars, it's probably no exaggeration to say Carrie Fisher was the first actress I became aware of. Later on, when I was a teenager, I rediscovered the Star Wars films on VHS and noticed how gorgeous she was, particularly in Return of the Jedi. It was nice to see her in Episode VII, and I guess she was due to be in VIII as well. What a shame - another great celebrity we've lost this year.

I strongly agree with all these points. At first I thought the game was completely linear. Later on, however, there is plenty of mandatory backtracking - it feels as much as in the other games, if not more - which is a bizarre thing to combine with the simple level structure. I'm not sure how those who enjoy the simpler style will take to the backtracking, exploration and puzzles - probably not well. Personally, I actually found it a bit more confusing than the previous games; considering it's not a true Metroidvania, I hadn't really "learnt" the environments as much. Thus, I often didn't have a clue where to search (the hint system is vague). Quite frankly, this game doesn't have the courage of its convictions. Risky's Revenge... they knew who they were aiming for. Pirate's Curse... they knew who they were aiming for. By comparison, this one feels like it was designed by a focus group. Tonally, it's very weak.

Do you need to buy the two you can "Trade"? What's the grand? As for the mermaid, I absolutely loved it.

1080p. I'd play it plugged in. 720p is good though.

I was trying to finish it before you, H-o-T, but got stuck on the puzzles after the Crustacean Races! It's funny, WayForward has a signature style where damage is displayed in small figures. For example, if you strike a fire-resistant enemy with fire, a "1" might flash up on screen, but hit it with Shantae's hair and you might get an "8". As such, the boss battles can feel like chipping away at a huge health bar, unlike 2D Metroid, where the bosses flash when you fire your missiles. Did you ever play their Thor game on the DS? It took that to the extreme. I could never work out the bosses' weaknesses, so I just saw "1, 1, 1, 1, 1..." flash up on screen all the time! Agree, I think they're holding back after the backlash to Pirate's Curse, which is a shame.

The difference is, a Nintendo "Coke" would still have the "Dr Pepper" that everyone liked when it was only Dr Pepper.

I'd say it's completely linear, but with backtracking. I believe you are familiar with the previous games, but for comparison: * Shantae (GBC) and Risky's Revenge are true Metroidvanias. * Pirate's Curse had a level select, which broke the continuous overworld, but you still had to find the dungeon within each land. * Half-Genie Hero is as linear as Sonic the Hedgehog, apart from the fact you can replay each level to find hidden secrets. There are no "dungeons" as such, just one stage after another (eg. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3).

You'll be hooked! I really enjoyed playing it last night. It's the usual prescription of not-too-easy, not-too-difficult platforming. The controls are so good, anyone who's played the 2nd and 3rd games will take to it instantly. In fact, I'd played it for hours before I even thought about the controls. The graphics are better than I was expecting, especially in terms of animation, and the jump to HD allows some really huge bosses. Character art is good, with the faces in particular just right. WayForward has created a cast that is more familiar to me than those from the big animation studios, and they really look themselves - certainly facially. Onto the gameplay... Now, there's no doubt WayForward has tried to appeal to a new audience here, in two ways, I think. The first is that Half-Genie Hero is undoubtedly more linear than its predecessors. Stages are accessed from a level select (not too unlike Pirate's Curse), and this game has gone one step further than the 3rd game by actually dividing up the areas into distinct chunks. There's also no more tracking down a save point - the green-robed man offers to save your game between each section. I'm trying to avoid the term "dumbed down", because it's not like the game is overly easy, but it's fair to say they have prioritised ease-of access. The second big difference is the sheer variety of action. It's clear WayForward is trying to attract the audience not yet enamoured with the exploration-heavy 1st and 2nd games, and is swaying more towards the Rayman Legends/Donkey Kong Country Returns kind of grandeur. So far I've jumped from hook to hook in a factory, slid down a ramp and been blown back by desert winds. Whether these sections add more than they take is debateable. Nonetheless, the levels are actually as sprawling and complex as ever, so if you want to go back and find all the secrets, you can (although it does remove the bosses). From what I've played, Half-Genie Hero is a good balancing act. Animal transformations are back, and the dancing has been streamlined to almost nothing, which frankly is a simplification I can agree with (it's a shame not to have all the dancing animations though). Regarding the animal choices, WayForward has included all the best ones from the 1st and 2nd games, making this entry the most comprehensive in that regard. So far, so good.

That's a shame. I was surprised it's out today too. was tempted by Steel Empire as well, but am just short of funds.

Whoa! Didn't know this was out today! Downloading it now...

No. To be quite honest, it was a combination of not loving how it looked first of all + not being sure about Kickstarter.

Brand new. I used to think it would be a prequel, but it's not; it's just the 4th game in the series. The animal transformations have been seen before, but just going by the bosses and stages, it's definitely not a remake. Gorgeous. If anyone can sell me on hand-drawn 2D, it's WayForward.

OK, thanks for that. Just to interject, I do think the GameCube was the closest we got to having the multiplatform games of the time. Yes, we certainly missed out on some big ones, but I feel a lot of those were due to the publishers not deeming the GC a "mature" console (I'm not interested in GTA or its like, personally; I'm just acknowledging its place in the market). GameCube had the Prince of Persia games, which were some of the more highly-regarded platformers of the time. Games like Spider-Man 2 and Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction showed it could run the "sandbox" titles of the day. I did like Wii U more than the Wii, but couldn't get around the fact the 3rd-party games were generally ports of the last-gen iterations. Not wanting to start a definitions argument again, but I do think the only chance of getting multiplatform games is to have a similarly-powerful console to the others at the same time as them.

Out of interest, how might the Switch's CPU achieve more per cycle than the Wii U's? (Genuine question - I only have a vague understanding of CPU, GPU and RAM.)

Good news that the screen is IPS. I love those. My take on the power: it's disappointing that Switch will not use the latest version of Tegra. Sure, there are battery life considerations, but as I understand it, the whole point of Tegra is portability, so it wasn't unreasonable to hope for the latest. The fact that Switch is not a rival for Xbox One or PS4, however... that I'm not disappointed by. I never expected a handheld to be capable of anything like that power. I'd even be pleasantly surprised if it's comfortably better than Wii U, which brings me to the next point. Apparently the specs of the two machines are as follows: Wii U CPU - 1.24GHz GPU - 550MHz Switch CPU - 1020MHz GPU - 307.2MHz or up to 768MHz (let's assume games will eventually push it, even when it's docked) Am I right in thinking 1.24GHz = 1240MHz, meaning the Switch has a slower CPU than Wii U? That's very disappointing. As I understood it, the biggest technical problem with Wii U was the slow CPU. As a successor to 3DS, it's impressive. As a continuation of Nintendo's consoles, it's disappointing that it's a step backwards in one way.

Regarding the humour... this is one series where it really is worth reading all the dialogue. It's never too wordy either - the scripts are to-the-point, but actually very funny.