S.C.G

I'm sure that will be most agreeable Glen. Shall we say 9PM sharp?(ish)

Nope, the GameCube console is a huge part of the experience for me, putting those 8CM discs into the top-loading drive with that ultra secure mechanism and the satisfying "clunk!" of the lid closing. Plus after experiencing playing my GC with a component cable, yes the rather expensive one which is also unique to the console, I wouldn't want to return to lesser picture quality over the Wii's less than ideal cables. It might end up costing me twn times what a Wii would but to me, it would be worth it.

When you say "If it was all taken away" I'm going to assume you mean as if it was never even there as opposed to having sold it all or given it away. In which case, it would have to be the Nintendo GameCube purely because I class it as the console I've had the longest connection with, there are so many good games on the console plus loads of multiplayer memories. Then I'd work on reassembling my N64/SNES collection (probably at great cost) followed by Sega Saturn, Dreamcast... and only then would I even think about buying an Xbox One and a PS4. After the amount of time (and investment) that would take, about a year or more would have passed and I might have enough for an NX... assuming it's released, been out for six months plus been subjected to a price-cut I joke of course but yeah. (It's really difficult to quantify because if the whole collection didn't exist and you're telling me that I don't even have the amount in money of what it would be worth in today's market then I really would have to pick very carefully indeed)

I'm not sure what I can do, if I can do anything from this end to help then I will. In the meantime though, you all have my support and your first donation, I hope you manage to reach your target. : peace:

I'm glad that I was able to provide you with such hilarious 3D entertainment. But yeah, some pretty funny moments I must admit. Thanks to yourself, @Ugh first aid and @Dcubed for helping me farm Astalos... now there's a beast that has a tail (or two) to fell... ... I decided to leave the Monster Fluid Hunting for now, but I'll get on it tomorrow so I can make that new Astalos armour set, then perhaps I won't feel like I'm continually chasing my tail (or any monsters) quite as much. OK, I'll stop with the tail jokes now, I can tell that they are starting to drag(on) a bit. :p That's really it now, I've severed the tail jokes at their source.

@Glen\-i, I'll likely be around at 7PM, I'm fine sticking with going for the upgraded Astalos set I reckon but in any case I should be on for an hour or two. As I said before, I really should play this more when I can, so I'll try and be around a bit more this week. : peace:

I was working on both those nights and it would already be late in the evening by the time I'd see that you'd been playing for hours. But I'm off work this week so, give me a shout one evening if you want to play for an hour or two. : peace:

It certainly is and it certainly does. Think of it as being on big mystery, then along the way having lots of stories which stand up on their own but then become part of something greater in time. Without giving anything away or spoiling anything, that's all I can really say... there are some really fantastic moments in the story-telling which just make you want to carry on playing, it all gives you a reason to care about not just the main characters but all of the characters in the game, no matter how big or small a part they may play. I've not felt anything this strong for a games world or characters since playing The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask... Now in no way is that a direct comparison but rather it is very high praise indeed because I really didn't think it was possible, until now. : peace:

Hmm so it isn't just me then it seems... part of me did think, maybe I was just being impatient? Perhaps part of me still is but that battle system is so good once you start levelling and hit your stride. It's so worth sticking with, I really hope you both continue playing as once you start advancing through the story, it's really, genuinely compelling. In fact, I'm going to play a bit more now as I haven't had much of a chance to play anything today aside from a bit of MK8, time to get Dragon Questing!

Oh no, it's cool Ike. I often get somewhat impatient in RPG's anyway, I think it was around 3 hours before I actually got into a battle but I was dawdling somewhat at the start. It is nice that the time is taken to set the scene. I think I just like battling a little too much when I saw that first Slime though... damn! I thought to myself... Now I'm officially playing a Dragon Quest game!

Meh, I suppose there are points towards making it simpler to save. I still think it's a charming part of the series though.

I respect that, you've been into Dragon Quest as a series for far longer than I have. For me the remakes are for the most-part the only way I'll likely experience a lot of the series but being that I own the original I should go back to it one day. It's a shame that I haven't experienced more Dragon Quest titles as it's a series that I have respect for but I need to dedicate far more time to clearly... but I do intend to do this in the not to distant future, after I've lost many more hours to this excellent remake. I couldn't believe the awful article I stumbled across a moment ago on Kotaku though - stupid clickbait, I shouldn't have bothered I know - as all they could do was berate the saving system! It's all part of the charm, or at least I thought so...

It's the only real criticism I could think of, it's not even that bad either, just that I was perhaps really eager to get into battles but I suppose it does help set the scene at least. But yes, when I learned about just how much from the start they had already cut, it surprised me as well; I must stress that it's certainly not a huge deal though, just something I thought worth noting. : peace: Once you get into the flow of things, the game is amazing!

Thanks @Blade. It's a really fantastic title, I'm really glad people have been enjoying reading my review, it was a pleasure to write and I can definitely say that its an adventure which is more than worth investing the time in. If anyone is buying it physically then you get that fantastic boxart as well... Indeed if anyone is picking up a copy of the game in Game or an independent retailer and manages to snag a pre-order/display box with that artwork then I'd gladly pay them for it... no deal-breaker just saying. The only downside of reviewing a digital title, of course you get to play the game early - certainly not complaining - but no box art to stare at, either way though... I'll live without it but it's certainly some excellent art fit for a fantastic game. : peace: I can't wait to see more of you playing the game soon hopefully, for anyone who doesn't already have me on their list and is planning on picking this up, please add me and we can *trade Traveller's Tablets. *It sounds like an awesome idea because it is, more dungeons to explore!

I have a feeling that the point @RedShell was making revolves around the fact that Nintendo are creating public awareness but not so much for the traditional games they were once greater known for by the general public. Instead if you were to mention Nintendo to someone in the street these days, chances are they'd be like "Oh yeah... didn't they make that Pokémon/Mario game for mobile?" rather than in times gone by when the response might have been "Oh yeah! Man... Nintendo, they make some of the best games! Zelda... Mario... Metroid... that futuristic racing game, F-Zero? Good times..." although I suppose the best you can hope for these days is for people to identify with games like Super Smash Bros. due to the wealth of characters. Perhaps this is all part of Nintendo's greater plan to eventually get them back into the public conciousness properly, to get themselves associated with ALL types of games, or perhaps... they just don't have anything to show, yet! Only time will tell, I'm still happy enough to wait as I have loads of games to play across multiple platforms but I can understand people being concerned as well to say the least. As I've stated before though, I want to believe, I'm just waiting for Nintendo to make their move. : peace:

I reckon it will sell at least... ...4K :awesome:

My final time? Let's just say that my track record with finishing RPG's isn't that great owing to the completionist in me as I like to spend time wandering, exploring and of course grinding which I'm sure you can appreciate. So it's best for me to just say that I'm still playing but I can definitely say that I played enough to have gotten a decent feel for the structure of the game, indeed in this instance I only could get so far without mentioning certain plot details which I haven't given away in the review so I could keep to the embargo (which has now lifted) and I certainly won't even dare hint at here knowing how long many people have waited for the game. Not really many other (if any) games were really played either during the review period, save for some sessions of Monster Hunter Generations, (of course) Mario Kart 8 (once weekly) and some Metroid II. (naturally) Then there was the week where I had a rare chance to play some GC multiplayer with my brother who was visiting, so I wasn't going to pass that up. In any case, even if I had devoted more time to it inbetween work I am certain that I still wouldn't have reached the end because the original game, the NTSC Playstation release (which I've owned for a few years) seems to have an average completion time of a hundred hours and although the start has been streamlined in the remake (it still feels like a long time between starting and your first battle) there has been even more content added on top of what was already there so I feel like there was no chance of me seeing the end credits even with the generous review period. It was perhaps an odd situation that even I got hyped by some of the footage in the direct because at the time I hadn't seen some of the stuff they were showing... At the same time though, I have really enjoyed playing and reviewing the game equally, I even went back to the manual for the original game and was simply blown away by just how much the game has been overhauled, the music as well is glorious, I spent a considerable amount of time listening to the OST from the original release, Japanese 3DS release and of course all that I have heard while I've been playing and I must say that they've really done a stellar job. I was really overwhelmed by it all but of course now that the embargo is over I will continue to play to the very end, I've always said to myself that this is a title I've wanted to play to completion in addition to finding as many secrets as I can, so that's what I plan to do. It will likely be the main game you'll all see me playing on my 3DS from now on, the prospect of playing a significant portion of the adventure alongside the N-Europe community has me even more excited about the game now as well, so I'd love to hear all of your impressions. So in partial answer to your question Hero... more than 25 hours but less than 50, plus I'm probably not far enough in the game as some would estimate being that I like to level up a lot and explore (as I know you do as well I believe?) :wink: but I definitely got past a point in the game where things start to open up though there's still plenty of reasons for me to keep on playing. : peace: Depending on what other games you may have on the go, I would finish them up because once you start playing Dragon Quest VII... you most likely aren't going to want to play much else for potentially 50 - 100 hours plus I would say even with varying mileage.

A few days ago I bought the Humble Game Maker bundle... https://www.humblebundle.com/gamemaker-bundle I haven't got around to using it yet but it certainly sounded like a good deal in any case. Thought I'd post here in case anyone else was interested. @Ashley? I know you've already made a game but having an additional set of tools probably wouldn't hurt if you don't have Game Maker already. Anyway, just under a week to go for the bundle, it's around £12 for everything, it looks like it would otherwise cost at least a few hundred to purchase. : peace:

N-Europe Review Audio : peace:

Don't forget the third folder... HD Remasters

I don't know if that helps but... Anyway, congrats on the job.

I think this image sums up my feelings at the moment... :p I really do want to believe, but it's Nintendo so this could go either, any or which way they choose.

Ouch! That sounds pretty painful I hope you manage to feel a bit better soon Hannah. I decided to weigh myself the other day after not really bothering for ages and it seems I'm now even closer to 8 stone... so much for me trying to put on a bit of weight, I'm going to try eating more and keeping a close eye on it.