Ronnie

I struggled a bit with Favourite NPC so I ended up going with the Ancestor, a character from one of my favourite games ever, Darkest Dungeon. You see him briefly in the opening cinematic and from then on he narrates your entire campaign with a fantastic blend of black humour and grim foreboding. He adds a ton to a game already dripping with atmosphere. "Did he foresee his own demise? I care not. As long as he remains dead."

Each streamer gets better and better! Yeah I'd agree with this. If you're a fan of old school Zelda games, this will be a treat. The fourth chapter reminds me of my favourite Zelda game

There are shops all over the place, I'm two thirds through the game and I think I've bought from Toad Town once. Also, trust me there's plenty more to buy with all those coins, I've just run out and I'm 100%-ing every area before moving on. Oh and you'll take more than 5HP of damage if you don't solve the puzzle later on, trust me.

People really need to get it into their head that this and Colour Splash aren't RPGs. They're adventure games, and fantastic ones at that. If you go in without the mindset of what it isn't, you might love what it is.

Started playing Neon Abyss after falling in love with the art style and visuals, the trailer was pretty cool. It's basically Enter the Gungeon but as a side-on platformer rather than top down, and frankly not quite as good. Still enjoyable but sems a lot more basic and whoever thought it was a good idea to have the jump button as the left trigger needs to have a word with themselves. The shooting doesn't quite feel as good as Enter the Gungeon, but it isn't quite as punishing and there's actually decent progression in this one. Overall fun enough at this early stage, I'm glad I played it on Game Pass () though...

I rarely play online multiplayer with a few exceptions like MKWii but I was really into one online game in particular, Splatoon. I didn't pick up the sequel on Switch but I put loads of hours into the Wii U game, such a brilliant concept, and tons of fun. The idea of inking for attack and traversal is such a great Nintendo-like idea. Loved Walleye Warehouse most of all I think, the enclosed space made battles really tense.

I'm absolutely loving this game, half way through the third streamer atm and it's just getting better and better. I was a bit worried after the first one the remaining would be very copy and paste, but they mix each one up a lot to keep things fresh. The script isn't as funny as Colour Splash, that game had me chuckling every ten seconds, but it's still great and some really touching/emotional moments more than make up for it. Whilst I loved sarcastic Huey from CS, Olivia is her own character and charming in a completely different way. Battles have been great fun, I've not gotten sick of the mechanics at all, and actually there seems to be less of a focus on random encounters. This game is much more about exploration. It's a real shame if people don't play this because it's not an RPG, it's a fantastic adventure game in its own right, so far at least

Outlets went hands-on and previews came out a couple of days ago, with plenty raving about how great it was to play. The Flight Sim we've been waiting for - PC Gamer Squadrons is chaotic, exhilirating and very difficult - The Verge Narrow but deep, like the trench run - IGN

For Best Final Mission I was going to go for Jedi: Fallen Order, Inside or Mario Odyssey but then I remembered Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS, and that nerve-wracking final showdown (well, kind of) against Bowser, especially with the 3D slider turned all the way up. EPIC! Really hope Nintendo keep the series alive, I love the pure platforming challenge of this and 3D World.

Just run into them, clever idea!

It's just a shame Sony had to cancel later E3s and PSX's (presumably) through lack of content. I still think they didn't need to reveal everything years ago and had a bit more of drip feed of information, but then that's just my personal preference, I much prefer as short a reveal > release window as possible. As for Xbox I think it was a mistake to separate their "first" and third party showcases into two separate videos, I think it would have been a stronger package putting them together. The show itself was objectively decent, though nothing that really interested me personally. I'm not into Halo at all so that did nothing for me, though it still looked pretty fun. That Rare game was the highlight (and it seems a lot of people agree, no surprise given this is a Nintendo site), but it's hard to get too invested without knowing what the game actually is. I wasn't expecting much from the show because Xbox's strategy of buying studios is still years away from having a tangible effect on the market, and frankly Game Pass is so amazing that's the reason to own an Xbox for me, regardless of what they showed today.

To be clear, sure it was a little annoying seeing their last few E3s focused on the same games over and over but I was more surprised that Sony hadn't revealed a big new game in three years than anything else, it hadn't felt like that long. Anyway I'm not sure them revealing PS4 games too early has much to do with PS5 though? They seem pretty separate strategies.

I'm pretty sure the water effect in the second streamer is the best water I've ever seen in a game

Licensed video game Another vote for Star Wars: Rogue Leader, as a huge Star Wars geek this was never going to be anything else for me. Mind-blowing graphics on the Gamecube (it still looks pretty impressive today!), I remember being wowed by those tower explosions on the Dear Star surface. Getting all the medals and unlockable ships was great fun and the whole game had a really epic vibe to it. Even though it feels like more of a X-Wing/TIE Fighter sequel, I'm hoping that Star Wars Squadrons will bring back a few memories of this classic. (surprisingly few good gifs!) Also a shoutout to Bart Simpson vs the Space Mutants (terrible game but I had a lot of fun with it), and Rebel Assault II.

Favourite Playable Character could have easily been Mario or Link, but I'll go with a character with a bit more depth ... Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2. I genuinely adore this man, it was an absolute joy playing as him throughout the game. The voice actor did an incredible joke and his dry humour with touches of sarcasm was great fun. On top of that what the game did with his own personal story was really compelling. Made me really care for him by the end of the game.

When I first read today's category I assumed it meant a modern game that took you back to your childhood and so Id thought about putting games like BOTW (the ultimate throwback to NES Zelda), Shovel Knight (a sublime melting pot of classic game formulas) or Street Fighter II (that and Super Mario World probably made me the gamer I am today) but it seems everyone's mentioning older games so I'll throw in a game I play around once a year, and instantly transports me back to the 90s, Pilotwings. I'll always have a love for Mode 7 graphics, obviously silly by today's standards but at the time they were brilliant. The game itself is just a ton of fun, love the music, the whole flight instructor school mechanic and the personality of the characters. I wish Nintendo would do more with the franchise, Resort on 3DS was pretty good but it lacked a lot of personality of the original (and 64). (Oh and fuck the hang glider, I hate that thing )

Surprised and pleased by the Cadence of Hyrule content, will definitely pick up the Skull Kid DLC at the very least. As for the format itself, if it's going to be a monthly thing, similar length and number of reveals, cool. Any longer between each video and it's pointless.

Sorry to be clear by random encounters I mean if you happen to find a secret or hidden Toad, stuff like that

Actually the HP boosts are from random encounters in this game. Pays to explore thoroughly or else you miss them, which is much better and more interesting than predetermined buffs after a boss.

Saddest moment for me was going to be something silly like Peppy's sacrifice in Starfox Assasult, but I've just played RiME and the ending to that probably seals it for me, really touching story and surprisingly emotional.

Be great to see some Hollow Knight Silksong, though that wouldn't be out of place in a regular Direct.

Melee Combat I really wanted to give this to Guacamelee! 2, as it's so fresh in my mind and combat in that game is so fun and rewarding, but in the end I've gone for God of War, which mind be a bit of a cheat given half of it is ranged combat, at least until mid way through the game and you upgrade weapons. You can tell a lot of thought went into the Leviathan Axe, really satisfying to use when throwing it and for the purpose of this category up close. The gorgeous graphics help too when you take down enemies, whole thing feels really satisfying, especially with the special moves

@Aneres11 I might struggle to make 4pm as well I'm afraid! Gutted would have been fun I'm sure

I’ve been through the first “dungeon” a million times trying to get 100% collectibles but am still only at 58% ? Blocks and 67% treasure chests , wtf

ResetEra will have a meltdown if there isn't a Direct in two days, let alone "probably in the next few weeks" lol. All insiders seem to be claiming "soon". Are people expecting a PS5 price announcement soon? I assume that was still a couple of months away. I don't think Nintendo cares what the others are up to anyway.