You made it farther than I did, lol. Got worked by Ymir.

IGN’s reviewer really didn’t like it, scoring 5 out of 10. Probably an outlier, but the overall consensus does seem on the low side for a Mario game.

Also the easiest way to play the PSP version with the combat slowdown fix, which is essential.

My top four haven’t changed in a while:

• Chrono Cross
• Nier Gestalt/Replicant (original version)
• Persona 5
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I love EDM, so any game that uses it or is inspired by it holds a special place in my heart, like Streets of Rage, Rez, Dance Dance Revolution, or the Trails of Cold Steel games (especially the second one).

I love that one can still web search for that and still find the song 😂

Agree about the last third of the game. Kinda goes off the rails a bit.

I had to actually get my hands on it to find out what appeals. For me it was a combination of challenge, routine, and a clear sense of progression. Hunting materials for gear gave me clear milestones while I was also getting better at the combat at the same time in a more intangible way.

Monster Hunter World was the one I spent the most time in, and my favorite part was the multiplayer. Unfortunately, frustration with that is also what led me to eventually drop it. Co-op with a friend in that game was bizarrely restricted, with a really janky way of going through the story (I eventually figured out that it was just better to do the story independently). On top of that, the multiplayer had technical issues on PC at launch.

I hear that Wilds will have a similar setup for the main story co-op–outright bizarre for a AAA game releasing in freaking 2025–but here’s hoping it won’t have the other issues at least.

This is actually why I didn’t get very far in Diabolical Box. I had a decent time with Curious Village, but I needed a little more, and it was clear the second game wasn’t going to get there.

I really liked Clive Barker’s Undying and replayed it a couple times. Great atmosphere, though I’m not sure how well it would hold up today. Early 3D stuff.

SOMA might be the only game I’ve played that I almost regret going through. I can’t get it out of my head, and it always creeps me out at least a little when I think about it.

It’s an amazing fit for Takarazuka. I’d absolutely be going if I were still in the area.

I don’t think you’re necessarily wrong on this. Part of the problem is new IPs are risky, and I’m sure market research is telling the big publishers that you’d better not suddenly downgrade your graphics on an established property. Nintendo’s very comfortable in this space because they haven’t really gone this route with first party. They’ve even managed to thread the needle on Mario, Metroid, and Zelda by having both 2D and 3D offerings.

My wishlist is Final Fantasy Tactics, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, and Xenogears. A Xenogears remake likely isn’t ever happening so I’d be happy with a remaster, and it’s practically an open secret at this point that an FFT project is in development. It getting the Tactics Ogre Reborn treatment would be lovely, but what I really want is an orchestrated soundtrack. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get cancelled. 🤞

As a genre, 4X is still kicking around, but I’m not even sure if SMAC is beloved enough to get the treatment. Good voice acting would be essential.

I’d be happy with a simple remaster with a cleaned-up script. Disc 2 wasn’t as bad as I’d remembered on a replay I had earlier this year.

Maybe, but if it does ever happen, we’re still very much in the embryo stage. Like, behind VR or at the level of 1990’s-era game streaming services.

What was most telling to me was even Hasbro seemingly chose not to chase the fad with Magic: the Gathering. Depressingly, it was presumably because even NFTs would be more friendly to players than their tightly-controlled market.

I’ve heard of Ale Abbey! I think it might have been on the PC Gaming Show or something this past summer. I do like 2D base builders.

Just heard of this guy for the first time in the chatter around reviews for this game (which has been…interesting, to say the least). Similar tastes to mine, so that’s promising for me for Veilguard. Speaking of which, sounds like I should be trying Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Still need market demand. People want these products.

You can’t just chase a trend and throw out a game and expect it to print money. Ask Sony how that went for their run at a hero shooter.

For specifics, I’d like to see consistent, transparent censorship standards, and Steam Workshop files made publicly available.

Steam’s censorship issues are only going to be more of a problem as the Japanese PC market continues its explosive growth. The platform’s inconsistency is surely frustrating Japanese developers, and the lack of transparency is giving fuel to a (not unearned) narrative that its content reviewers are arbitrary and xenophobic.

The Workshop matter is far smaller in comparison, but Steam is gatekeeping crowdsourced work product.