Dcubed

Play-Asia is the way to go. Just buy Japanese/US PSN cards from there; they email you the code mere seconds after paying. Dead simple

You don’t need to co-ordinate every publisher to do this; you just need to have some confidence & enough faith in the inherent value of your product to not chase the standard industry price collapse trend. Nintendo have been able to do this. Yacht Club Games did this successfully with Shovel Knight; Team Cherry did this with Hollow Knight and Playtonic did this successfully with both Yooka Laylee titles. It can be done. You don’t HAVE to follow the wider industry trend with Race To The Bottom pricing.

Rapid price drops aren’t unique to less critically acclaimed games. Even GOW 2018 saw heavy discounts within mere weeks after launch. Going by your logic, GOW shouldn’t have been discounted so quickly (and I do agree that it shouldn’t have been); but it too saw the same fate as every other major release. Doom Eternal is another great example of a critically acclaimed game; now available for free on Gamepass and around just £15 at retail on most platforms. That’s just ridiculous! The game is barely a year old, and yet Bethesda/Microsoft basically make nothing on it anymore! But that’s what happens when the big developers & publishers constantly train people to wait out for these massive price collapses. And no game is safe, not even the most critically acclaimed titles. Nintendo games hold their value, not just because of their quality (and not because of some crazy pixie magic), but also because they have resisted the urge to take those short-term gains and have trained people to NOT expect rapid price reductions. As such, their games continue to sell at full price for years, sometimes even decades!

Rapid price drops are ultimately a bit of a poisoned chalice for the publisher/developer. Sure, you make more money in the short-term, but in the long-term? You’re training your audience to hold off on buying right away at full price, because the game is gonna be 50% off in a couple of weeks anyway. I used to buy non-Nintendo published games at full price; but not anymore. Even indie titles on Switch are basically guaranteed to price collapse in just a matter of weeks (or even days!) after launch. You’d have to be a total mug to buy non-Nintendo games on day 1 anymore! Especially with Gamepass as well! Short-term gain, long-term pain. You reap what you sow though.

Three more games to add to the Completed pile! Castlevania: Circle of the Moon After finding myself listening to some wonderful Castlevania music I was thoroughly in the mood for some whiptastic action; and I wanted to play a Metroidvania CV game that I haven't played in some time... so COTM it was! Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was THE standout launch title for the GBA back when it was released back in 2001. It was, by far, the most meaty and feature complete 32bit game that you could buy for your shiny new GBA on launch day, and as a result? It became the single best selling game in the entire series; selling over 1 million copies worldwide. Interestingly, this game wasn't made by the same team that made Symphony of the Night (who would also go on to make every single subsequent Castlevania game for the GBA and DS), but rather it was made by Konami's Kobe studio; the same team that made the critically panned Castlevania 64 and its glorified expansion pack "sequel", Legacy of Darkness. It would also have the rare honour of starring a vampire hunter who is NOT of the Belmont clan, Mr Nathan Graves. Given these facts, COTM has gone on to be somewhat forgotten within the wider Castlevania pantheon; disavowed by series producer Igarashi and officially considered non-canon. It also gets some harsh criticism by some of the series' most hardcore fans, widely considered one of the weaker Metroidvania Castlevania titles. But is this criticism really fair? Going back to it? I'd say... yes and no (but mostly no). Iga, is that you? The first point of critcism, and perhaps the most obvious at a glance, is the rather basic visuals on offer here. Even as a launch title for the GBA, it looks decidedly low-fi; almost like a Gameboy Colour+ game (Personally, I'm subscribed to the theory that this was originally a GBC game that was pushed back and upgraded for the GBA; it would certainly explain a hell of a lot about this game's production). Another huge point of contention is the very dark colour pallette in use with this game, making it near impossible to actually play on an original model GBA. Just for fun, here's a photo of me running the game on an original, unmodified GBA that I happen to have lying around feeling sorry for itself. The photo is absolutely representitive of the original experience you would've had back on launch day (bare in mind, there were no other options back then! No GBAsp, no screen mods, no Gameboy Player, no Wii U Virtual Console; this was it!) Squint and you can just about make out something! This game is half the reason why Nintendo hurried along to make the GBAsp. It is dang near impossible to play on original, unmodified hardware and all of the jokes & criticism regarding its dark colour pallette are absolutely justified (again, hinting that it was originally designed for the GBC's brighter screen before getting ported over to the GBA...) But it's 2021 now and I'm not playing it on this old, scratched up hunk o' junk anymore. We have plenty of options for playing the game on modern backlit screens now, so this problem is a problem of the past now. And though the visuals are quite simple and more reminiscient of the GBC than the GBA? they're generally pleasant on the eyes and get the job done. A worthy sacrifice for having such a meaty & substantial exclusive game available on day 1 of a new console launch! And a 3rd party game no less! How rare it is to see such a thing! I'm gonna rustle some feathers here by saying this, but it's true. COTM has better level design than SOTN; oh yes! I went there! The map is not as large & expansive as in SOTN, and it doesn't have the same level of production values & variety of gimmicks; but it makes much better use of what it has than what SOTN does. Rarely does any part of the map go to waste in COTM, no room ever leads to a total dead end, you don't have the myriad of flat corrodors with enemies haphazardly spewn about; and the game actually has some meaningful platforming challenges! (Especially in the clock tower!). The game also does a great job of intuitively signposting its secrets; you can generally tell when you come across an area that has a breakable wall, just through the way the map is laid out. That's the mark of good level design! Another thing worthy of praise is the enemy & boss designs. You get your standard assortment of Castlevania baddies of course (zombies, skeletons, medusa heads and the like), but you also get some unexpected enemy designs thrown throughout too; and the bosses are all generally really fun to fight; though I wouldn't say that any of them are amongst the series best (you're not getting anything like Gergoth or Brachyura here!) One thing that is kinda disappointing though is the lack of meaningful permanant powerups that you aqquire throughout the game. There are basically 4 major mobility powerups and the rest of the abilities you aqquire throughout the game are just glorified keys. Not that interesting; but at least the movement abilities you do get are fun to use. The game also generally has a very nice & brisk pace to it; Nathan runs fast (yes, runs! No power walking here!) and gets around the castle quickly. Likewise, you only get the whip in this game and the standard assortment of subweapons as you'd typically see in the classic 2D Castlevania games; so your offensive options aren't particuilarily extensive (and the Cross is so ridiculously OP that there is basically no point in using any other subweapon at any point). And so we come to this game's big main new gameplay gimmick. The DSS system (Dual set-up System). Basically, throughout the game you can collect special cards that imbue Nathan with various abilities. There are two types of cards (Action & Attribute) that, when mixed together, have a variety of effects. Say for example, you get the Salamander card (Attribute) and the Mercury (Action) cards, the Mercury card modifies your whip and the Salamander card is a fire elemental; so you get a fire whip when you use those two cards! Or you could get a Jupiter card (creates a shield and the Thunderbird card (lightning element) to have a lightning shield that reduces damage by 50%! It's a neat idea and great on paper... unfortunately there's two really big problems with the DSS system... First off, the drop rate for these cards is hilariously low! (card drops can be as low as 0.4%!!!); worse still? Only certain enemies carry these cards, and there is absolutely no way of knowing which enemy carries what card unless you're using an external guide. There is a very good chance that you will go through the entire game and never get a single card; and even if you do? The game doesn't actually tell you what the card combinations do until you work it out for yourself! (And some of these combination abilities requre arcane Street Fighter esc moves to actually execute! Good luck working them out on your own!) You most likely wont ever actually get to experiment with the damn thing! Rarer than a Rathalos Plate. Got it from a random Slime Secondly? The DSS system is ludicrously unbalanced. There is basically only one card combo that you should be using; and that's Uranus & Thunderbird (Summon + Thunderbird). The Thunderbird Summon is a screen clearing attack that slices through bosses like swiss cheese and there is no point in using any other combination ability because it is so utterly, ridiculously OP. Click Summon. You Win Thankfully, the game still puts up a good fight in terms of difficulty. In fact, the game takes a sudden, HUGE spike in difficulty within the final 1/3 of the game; so you had better be hunting down those broken cards & combination abilities if you want to stand a chance! (Just use a guide, you'll never find them on your own!) Overall though? I still really like COTM, despite its problems. While it was clearly constrained by development time & budget, KCEK did a great job with making the most of what they had. There isn't really any fat on this game's bones, it's all meat. And to be able to pull that off in time for the launch of a brand new console? My hat is off to them! They certainly made up for Castlevania 64 with this gem of a game! COTM deserves more love. Sabrewulf (GBA) Continuing my current Rare binge, I've been plugging away at this one on and off for some time now. The oft forgotten revival of the original Ultimate Play The Game mascot; ol' Sabreman himself! While this game is based on the ZX Spectrum game of the same name? In actuality, it plays absolutely nothing like the original game. While the ol' Speccy game was a maze game, where you were tasked with finding amulet pieces across a large map before kicking the bucket, this GBA revival is actually a puzzle platform game! Though it's new it's also old, See this writing? Grunty's sold! The best word I can use to describe this game is... odd. The game is split up between 2D sidescrolling puzzle stages and a top-down overworld which acts as a level select hub of sorts, where you can talk with NPCs, read funny dialogue and do the odd fetch quest here and there. The 2D sidescrolling puzzle stages are the real meat & potatoes of this game and they too, can be split up into two sections. The basic gameplay structure sees the non-titular Sabreman make his way through past various bad creatures, using a variety of good creatures, to get to the treasure that Sabrewulf is guarding. From here, all of the obstacles then disappear and the game becomes a mad dash as Sabreman legs it back to his tent for dear life, while he is relentlessly chased down by the Wulf. Super simple, but pretty unique, as you are tasked with making your way through each level both forwards AND backwards! Now, Sabreman is getting on in his years and isn't the most agile of characters (and yes, the game’s dialogue gets a lot of mileage out of this). While he can certainly leap as good as the best of them, his poor knees can give out after a nasty fall; so you best be careful as you escape the Wulf! This makes for some interesting pacing, as the game is decidedly slow & cerebral in nature when you first make your way through each stage; carefully considering which of your limited good creatures to use to make your way through each stage, some of which might blow away baddies, or might be used as platforms, or might be used to launch ol' Sabreman high into the air, or be used to squash a foe and use as a foot stool, or maybe even hold a baddie in place. There's a good variety of good and bad creatures for you to both use and contend with; and the game never stops introducing new types throughout its surprisingly lengthy runtime. But there's also a nice sense of reward once you get to the end of each puzzle stage, as the game suddenly turns into a fast paced platformer as you run like hell back to your tent. LEG IT!!! The gameplay structure doesn't really change much at all throughout the entire experience, despite a few unique challenges thrown in throughout the overworld map from time to time; as well as the End of Area Lab stages that are basically timed action platforming challenges that act as a "boss stage" of sorts. As a result, the game can end up feeling somewhat repetitive and one-note. In light of this, I found it much more enjoyable to play in short bursts; making for a pretty great bedtime game. I don't recommend trying to binge play this game, as the repetition will likely sink in pretty quickly, but as a slow-burn kind of game that you might play on the side? It's a good time. Graphically, the game isn't anything particularily special; with fairly limited animation frames and not much use of the GBA's 2D horsepower on display. But it's ultimately pleasant on the eyes, with a nice art style the befits the somewhat down-to-earth main character; nothing really feels ugly or particularily out of place here, unlike most of Rare's other GBA titles. Meanwhile, the music is fairly minimalist, but pleasant on the ears. I particularily like the main theme, which is nicely arranged for the overworld sections; I do find myself humming it from time to time and feel that it's a perfect fit for this octogenarian explorer, so I was quite surprised to see that it was actually originally composed for Project Dream, before being repurposed for this game! I’m also very fond of the various bluhduhbluhduhbluhbluh voices for all of the various NPCs, while Sabreman’s voice is as spiffing and stereotypically British as you could hope for (For the Empire! Wot!). What’s also nice is that the game is absolutely filled with little nods to Rare/Ultimate’s Spectrum era. Whether you’re spelunking through the Underwurlde mines, or scouting through Knightlore village; there’s plenty of references and witty dialogue to bring a smile to even the most jaded of faces. Overall, I think it's a nice little hidden GBA gem, that sadly never had a real chance at retail. It's a very unique little puzzle platformer with some nice Rare charm, funny dialogue and a very unique gameplay structure. It may be repetitive, but it makes for a great slow-burn game to play on the side over a longer period of time. While it might not have allowed our elderly British chap to come roaring back with a bang, it's a splendiferous note for him to end on. Actraiser Quintet's first ever game, and another launch title for a brand new console! (Released less than a month after the Super Famicom came out in Japan; it's close enough to count!). What a hell of a way to make an entrance! 30 years later and there's still absolutely nothing else like this game out there. It's a brave mixture of a Castlevania style platformer and a simulation God game! Two things that absolutely should not go together on paper, and yet it works so incredibly well! To start off, lets talk about the platfomer stages. These take a form that is similar to classic Castlevania. You have to fight your way through each stage, hacking & slashing enemies along the way and jumping & dodging everything that wants you dead; until you make your way to the stage's boss and make it dead! Much like in classic Castlevania fashion, your humble Christian Crusaider warrior statue has a stiff & deliberate arc to his jump; with an interesting mechanic that sees the warrior fly forwards upon taking a leap, where you can "steer" him through the air to land your jump. The combat is also simple fare, with a basic sword slash that is married to an ability to duck and utilise limited use magic. The core movement is very satisfying however, and its all put to use by great level design that tasks you to carefully consider each & every leap, with careful and considerate enemy placement & enemy design. The bosses are also all well designed, though perhaps aren't the most challenging to beat (at least in the US version; where the difficulty was significantly toned down from the Japanese original). It all feels very Castlevania lite, in a good way; with a fair difficulty level that doesn't require quite the same level of committment as the classic Castlevania series. Watch out for that hole. That Castlevania Knockback is gonna get ya! But then you get to the Simulation sections and it's a whole different game entierly! Really though, calling this part of the game a "simulation" is a bit of a misnomer, as it certainly isn't really anything like Simcity at all. While it is presented in a similar fashion, it's actually kind of a top-down action game where you can't really lose, but rather sloppy play merely slows down your progress. Everything is kept rather simple, you can tell you people to build in a certain direction, you can use your God Powers to perform miracles that remove roadblocks & solve problems; and that's about it really. You have a clear goal in mind (seal all of the monster lairs), and that's all you really have to do. Everything you do inbetween is simply to clear the roadblocks that get in the way of directing the humans towards the monster lairs; it's fast-paced, tightly focused and not overly complex, and I think that this is why this strange combination of game styles ends up working out so well. Though it's painted as half action game, half simulation; the truth is that Actraiser is really just an action game. The "simulation" sections aren't so much a real simulation game, so much as an action game wearing the clothes of Simcity. As a result, the simulation sections end up complimenting the action stages extraordinarily well, and don't end up bogging down the game's pacing, but rather they act as a nice breather inbetween the platforming action stages. Burning houses, demon monsters and insolent unbelievers. Never a dull moment! Of course, we can't talk about Actraiser and not also mention its legendary soundtrack. This was really the first video game to really have a proper, classical orchestral score, and it set the standard for the platform (and really, the future of the medium as a whole) going forward. Actraiser's soundtrack was so impactful, that it famously caused Nobuo Uematsu to rescore the entierty of Final Fantasy 4's soundtrack in direct response to Yuzo Koshiro's masterpiece here! Not only that, but Actraiser was also the first ever video game to get its own live symphonic orchestral suite! (Yes, there was a Dragon Quest symphony before the 1991 Actraiser Symphonic Suite, but that was for an entire series, not one specific game). Filmore is probably the most famous song within Actraiser, but the entire score is equally as good and equally as legendary. From the sweeping herorism of The World Tree, to the lonely & melancholic Northwall, Actraiser rightly earns its place in video game soundtrack history. For your listening pleasure... Go on. Listen to both the whole things! I really don't much bad to say about Actraiser, but if there is any real criticism to be had? It's that the game does start to feel somewhat repetitive after a while. The simulation stages do start to feel somewhat formulaic as you go on, as they don't really play that much differently from each other. As such, I found myself splitting up my play sessions; even though it's not a long game. The simulation stages don't really become more complex or difficult as you go on either. But ultimately, that doesn't really matter all that much, because they serve their purpose as breathers between the platforming stages. They make for wonderful intermessios throughout a beautiful symphony. And really, Actraiser is a game that is ultimately far greater than the sum of its parts. To look at each part of the game seperately is to miss the point; it's how everything comes together to create such an unforgettable & wonderful experience that really matters. So that's that! Two more games under my belt so far this year. Actraiser got me to finally get off my butt and start playing Terranigma for the first time at last as well! (I snagged a cartridge a few months back for a decent price, but hadn't been in the mood to get started proper until now), so you should be hearing my thoughts on that pretty soon. I've also started playing Advance Wars 2 as my bedtime game again too! So look forward to my diary entry for that one soon too! And with that?

In a just world (and a world where I would actually consider buying a PS5), Sony would be scrambling to get their PS1-PS3 games up and running on PS5 ASAP. One would hope that Sony would recognise the value of their PS1 & PS2 back catalogue by now, but as long as Jim "Why would anyone play this?" Ryan is in charge? I doubt that very much sadly

Good news!! https://blog.playstation.com/2021/04/19/playstation-store-on-ps3-and-ps-vita-will-continue-operations/ Sony is sorry they got caught! (but hey! Good news is good news nonetheless!). PSP commerce functionality... does that mean that PSP games will be taken off the Vita store? What's the point in doing that now!?

https://wccftech.com/days-gone-director-john-garvin-says-metacritic-score-is-everything-to-sony/ Metacritic continues to be a cancer on this industry... No publisher should be basing business decisions on the bloody metacritic score. There's a billion factors that can unduly influence an agregate score! Edit: Wait what!? Days Gone is coming to PC!? How the hell did I miss that announcement!? Wow! So that's three 1st Party Playstation Studios titles on PC now... How much longer until we start seeing stuff like GOW make the jump to PC now?

Sorry. Nintendo Life already beat you to that joke.

It's Bowser vs Bowser!

If you're after something more in the vein of Zero Escape or Ace Attorney, might I recommend AI: The Somnium Files? It was Kotaro Uchikoshi's (same person who directed the Zero Escape series) final game before leaving Spike Chunsoft and it has a LOT of the same kind of puzzle style gameplay, mixed with a VN-like experience. It's an excellent game and the Switch version is superb.

I quite liked Metroid Prime Hunters for what it was (a good Quake style multiplayer FPS). The single player was kinda cack (and not even remotely like a Metroid game at all), but the multiplayer was good fun! And the controls were amazing! It really did feel remarkably close to a keyboard & mouse setup! But yeah... the online was absolutely ruined by hackers. Literally every single online match had some idiot playing as Trace, stuck inside a wall, sniping everyone to death; and there was nothing you could do about it. Local multi was good fun though!

Absolutely insane that we’re now within milliseconds of matching the TAS in real-time! We’ve literally almost reached End Game with the original SMB! Will be perhaps the greatest milestone in speedrunning history when it happens!

Speaking more seriously though? I doubt that there’s really anything to this story. Japanese execs love going out to dine & drink together (COVID or no COVID) and they love chatting shite about mergers & partnerships that ends up being nothing more than banter. This is probably just exec banter that has been misinterpreted and shared via a glorified game of telephone. I really couldn’t imagine S-E wanting to actually sell up. Edit: Ahh. Speak of the devil... Told you.

No Tencent!! That’s a BAD Tencent!!

Ironically, with @Jonnas mentioning Metroid Prime Hunters... that’s a good example of misappropriation right there; because that game isn’t a Metroidvania at all! It’s a FPS; and not just any old FPS, it’s basically a full on Quake-alike! It’s literally Quake with a Metroid skin... but with 6 characters that all play uniquely (does that also make Metroid Prime Hunters the first “Hero Shooter” as well!?). Also @Jonnas, Ace Attorney isn’t a true visual novel (and neither are the Zero Escape games for that matter). Those games are demarcated from the VN genre by virtue of their detective/puzzle gameplay (though you could certainly argue that they draw plenty of influence from the VN genre themselves regardless). I’d definitely say that they’re much closer to Point n’ Click Adventure games than VNs overall though.

Well that explains why the music sounds so legit!

Full trailer for HOTD Remake here... Visually it looks absolutely nothing like the original at all... but it does still seem to have the same cheesy voice acting as the original! (Full disclosure, HOTD1 is the only HOTD game I’ve never had the chance to play!). Talk about mood whiplash!

Fez on Switch is a nice surprise. HOTD Remake looks... nothing like the original HOTD from that tiny video snippet! Otherwise? Pretty meh show overall.

The term was coined by Jeremy Parish (of Retronauts & Good Nintensions fame), so the answer to that is no.

That is the worst thing I have ever seen...

The term Action/Adventure used to be used to describe games that took the puzzle gameplay from point n' click Adventure games; and presented them within the context of an Action game. That was the whole thing that defined Zelda 1 after all, the whole point was to take the actions that you would see in a point n' click Adventure (like push, pull, walk, sword strike, climb etc) in real time, instead of using menu commands (as per this classic 1991 interview with Miyamoto & Tezuka). The term Action-Adventure came about because it was meant to be a real-time point n' click Adventure game. Of course then, the distinction between an "Action" game and an "Adventure" game then, must be that "Action" games take place in real-time and are focused on fast paced real-time gameplay; while "Adventure" games are menu driven, cerebral and puzzle focused. Zelda was both, hence the term "action-adventure". RPGs then, are Adventure games with mechanics that were borrowed from pen & paper RPGs (most notably Dungeons & Dragons). Western developers stuck heavily to the mold defined by Dn'D (right down to the Tolkein esc Fantasy aesthetics) and sought to make them primarily for the PC platform, while Japanese developers primarily focused on consoles and made their games with simplified interfaces & a stronger focus on storytelling & pre-defined characters (naturally also drawing heavy influence from Anime & Manga). As such, we now have the distinction of WRPG and JRPG. Meanwhile, "Visual Novels" are literally "Adventure" games with the puzzle solving gameplay stripped out of them. Confusingly, we even have Action RPGs now! (which have now become the norm), while almost every single modern AAA game (regardless of genre) has some sort of RPG elements bolted on top of them! The truth really here is that video game genre names have never been particularily descriptive of the type of gameplay seen in any particular game, even from the very beginning. They are instead, a product of historical circumstance; and are only really useful to people who have been able to stick around and watch the medium develop from its early days. They are a window into the history of video game creation and how games have drawn influence from each other and other places, more than anything else. I mean, we still don't have any term for a Roguelike other than... well... a Roguelike; because it's a game like Rogue! (A game from all the way back in 1980!). It's like what would've happened if we never moved on from Doom Clone for the FPS genre (a term itself that is often misappropriated to games like Metroid Prime; which can be described as both a Metroidvania and a First Person Adventure! The whole thing is a mess!). The point is that it's not worth getting hung up on exact genre labelling, because they have always been poor descriptors of gameplay. That is not really what they do, but rather they are a historical footprint that showcases where a game gets its influence from. That's the real value of a video game genre name (Co-incidentally, this is why calling Metroid a "Metroidvania" is really silly!)

We already have a release date for that one; comes out April 22nd.

Windjammers 2? Surely?

Yeah, the physical book has been delayed till May 27th (my copy is delayed too).