It's a thread! (Games discussion, etc.)

[Moge]

My top 10 for 2018: wanted to do a long write up for each but unfortunately my laziness got the best of me
----------------------

10. Bravely Second (3DS) -- B
9. Wonder Project J2  (N64) -- B
8. Denjin Makai 2 (Arcade) -- B
7. Rusty (PC98) -- B+

6. The Missing (PC) -- B
5. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion (Switch) -- B+
4. Nier Automata (PC) -- A-
3. Darkstalkers (Arcade) -- B+

2. Alien vs Predator (Arcade) -- A --

Very balanced and very deep beat 'em up. I don't particularly care for licensed games but Capcom did an admirable job at conveying how cool the Alien and Predator franchises are.

1. G.O.D. (Growth or Devolution): Heed the Call to Awaken (SNES) -- A --

My very unexpected favorite of the year. Never did i imagine i'd play another game that would give me the same fuzzy feelings that the Mother/Earthbound series have.

[JG]

Surprised to see Splatoon 2 so far down your list. Not as good as first game or the other things just that much better?

And no Smash Bros Ultimate at all?

I may have to investigate that G.O.D. game. RPGs are one of the few areas where our gaming tastes overlap. (Though as they get longer and longer without getting all that much better, I'm not as in to them as I was when younger. SNES RPGs were often the perfect length, though DQ8, DQ11, and first Xenoblade Chronicles have justified their longer lengths.)

[Moge]

The Octo Expansion is mostly a single player affair expansion to S2. Not mind blowing, but it's really good and kinda makes up for the breezy campaign in 2.

I bought Smash Ultimate and quickly sold it. Call me a snob but i prefer to play my fighters on a dpad; having to use an analog stick just feels imprecise when it comes to 2D movement.

Last time i placed an RPG as my all-time fave was Mother 3. That was probably a decade ago. If you like moderns settings like the Mother series and like traditional turn-based combat then for sure give G.O.D. a try.

[Arizona]

Screw all these video games coming out so close together. How come this never happens when I have a ton of free time and am bored? I thought Sekiro wasn't due for like another year!!

[JG]

Screw all these video games coming out so close together. How come this never happens when I have a ton of free time and am bored? I thought Sekiro wasn't due for like another year!!

What other games exactly?  I've experienced much worse clustering in the past, but I've got nothing on my radar until July's DQB2. I'm a pass on Kirby Epic Yarn and Yoshi Crafted World. Never even heard of Sekiro, let alone a sequel. Only other big ones I can think of coming out now are Devil May Cry 5, Division 2, and Mortal Kombat 11 - meh.

In fact, finally broke down and bought Color Splash on Ebay because the current landscape is kind of lousy for all three systems right now in my opinion. Mario Kart Tour is still slated for summer but the lack of any info on it worries me it slips again to fall, and then its interfering with Gears 5 (Unknown) and MechWarrior 5 (September 10). Those three would make for a much more cluttered part of the year than right now if they're all in the Septemberish timeframe. (And even moreso if Nintendo tosses in Link's Awakening for that same time.)

[JG]

Should I be worried that we're now eight weeks out for Dragon Quest Builders 2 release and still don't have box art?  Given all the bugs in the Japanese version at launch, I'm greatly concerned this is going to get delayed, but they're waiting until E3 to announce it.


In other news, this weekend is when Nintendo sends out the invites for Mario Kart World Tour beta testing to My Nintendo users that get selected. I could sure use a new gaming distraction given the absence of interesting-to-me games right now. (Color Splash and God of War were both so terrible I gave up on them.)

[JG]

In other news, this weekend is when Nintendo sends out the invites for Mario Kart World Tour beta testing to My Nintendo users that get selected. I could sure use a new gaming distraction given the absence of interesting-to-me games right now. (Color Splash and God of War were both so terrible I gave up on them.)

Neats.

[Moge]

Speaking of games that don't have a strong hook... Octopath Traveler; that game isn't grabbing me the same way Bravely Default and Bravely Second did (despite being from the same team). Sold off the game and will pick it back up again when there's a Steam sale.

I'm very interested in trying out DQ Builders after your glowing impressions. I have yet to finish a DQ game, but since Builders is an action-rpg i'm a bit more interested.

[JG]

DQB is a building game, so you need to enjoy things of that genre, like Minecraft or SimCity. There's more action in DQB and certainly more story, but your base building is critical at all times - it is fairly leisurely though so you don't have to babysit things like you do with most real-time strategy games (Command & Conquer, Warcraft, etc.). You go out into the world to complete a quest or two, stopping to mine for materials or to kill a few monsters along to way for their drops, then return to your base to rest and upgrade your equipment or town, occasionally having to fend off an enemy attack on your town, which you have to repair after the battle. (Which reminds me of the old arcade game, Rampart.)  The mix of action and town building is also reminiscent of the SNES game, Actraiser.  If you didn't like these games for various reasons, don't jump on DQB just because I said so. I rather enjoyed the town building and maintenance aspects of Actraiser, Warcraft, C&C, Rampart, etc, so DQB fell right into my wheelhouse, especially since I'm also a big Dragon Quest series fan.


Go get DQB1 before starting with DQB2 - I'm fairly certain DQB2 will be more enjoyable for those that have played the first. Familiarity with the corresponding Dragon Quest / Dragon Warrior game is helpful. Not needed, but you'll enjoy the story more. I'm not advocating playing them though - as they are old RPGs and don't hold up well to today's games. Just find a detailed plot summary or a few Let's Play videos and a map of the world. I mostly remembered the details of Dragon Warrior, but after 25+ years there were some details I'd forgotten that reading a plot summary after I'd beaten the game revealed some nice intertwining of the stories.  I'm going to have to review Dragon Quest II's full story before July 12.

The PS4 version new is $20 or less just about everywhere now and looks better than the Switch version, though the Switch reworked the five challenges in each chapter to be easier so the Switch can be 100-percented easier. Completing challenges earns you stronger weapons, armor, or building equipment (like roof tiles) for the freeplay mode, so there's a benefit to doing so if you want to build our own town outside the game chapters, unbounded by size, chapter equipment limitations, or monster attacks.

100 percenting on PS4 is certainly possible as I did it, but it was not easy and absolutely required a walkthrough to accomplish all the "beat chapter in under X game days" challenges. Best approach is to play through the chapters at your own pace to cover as many of the untimed challenges you happen to come across, reload from a save to finish the remaining untimed challenges after beating the chapter boss, then finally starting a new game for speedrunning the final timed challenge. I'm serious about needing a walkthrough to complete the speedruns - trying to wing it yourself will probably require several attempts (each one being 7 or 8 hours). Chapter 2 is notoriously difficult, as it gives you 30 game days and the fastest it can be possibly be done is something like 25 or 26, due to your town's NPCs requiring sleep overnight to be cured of their ailments. Not having a particular item in your inventory by the time you need it can spell disaster in the speed runs. With only a 3 or 4 day margin for error, you can't be wasting a half day running off to go fetch something when you could have gotten it on an earlier trip.  Defeating the final boss without wearing armor is also a difficult challenge, but just requires some practice and mindfulness of his attack pattern. (Took me about 4 or 5 attempts. The first time I used the magic-proof Auroral Armor, and thought doing so without would have been nearly impossible, but if you can nail his attack pattern, he becomes easy enough to dodge to survive the battle if you're lucky against the minions he summons.)


Surprised you've beaten something like Bravely Default (which I haven't) or other Square RPGs, but not a Dragon Quest game from the ENIX side. The older games, I guess you could get a ROM for but they generally didn't age well compared to the later games. DQ4 (NES) and DQ5 (SNES translation) are excellent, but better if you can find the DS carts for them. DQ8 of course might very well be the best RPG ever made and tops my list (above Final Fantasy 4.)  I'll give Bravely Default credit that its up there with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasys 4 and 6 at the top of the Square side's banner, but any of those three Dragon Quests or the new XI are at least as good, if not better RPGs.

[JG]

Mario Kart Tour Beta Test first impressions:

* Very polished. The graphics are clear and crisp, despite it being explicitly for phones, not tablets. (Though I'm going to download it on my tablet later to test it.)
* Like Super Mario Run, its meant to be held phone up, not on side - this gives you a nice long view down the course. (SMR should have been on side for same reason.) Additionally, its designed to be played one handed. You use your finger (thumb if playing one handed) left or right to steer, lifting thumb off phone will cause kart to steer toward centerline. Flick towards bottom to toss items backwards, towards top to throw them forwards. I found myself holding the phone in my left hand and steering with my right forefinger instead though.
* It derives from the MK7/MK8 lineage that includes a parasail for short glides.
* Different driver, kart, and parasail combinations have different effects on different courses. For example, Toad and Toadette are better at the Toad Circuit (they can hold 3 items at once, while other characters can only hold one or two.)  The game is a lot clearer on the benefits each character, kart, and parasail offer.  MK8 has some benefits, but doesn't say what they are and you just kind of figure it out as you go.
* Like most recent Mario Kart games, the stages are rehashses of earlier entries.  The initial cup I played through had Choco Island 2 from SNES, Toad Circuit from 3DS, and Dino Dino Jungle from GameCube. There have been some cosmetic changes I think (I don't remember the dinosaurs looking that cute.)
* Lots of loot - coins you find on the courses buy stuff, stars you get for winning unlock additional cups, emeralds for winning cups give you a randomized chance at the "pipe cannon" to obtain a new character, kart, or parasail. The game starts with one of these randomized pipe cannon shots to determine your initial character: I got Toadette which it labeled as Rare.  Later cannon shots got me Peach (also Rare) and the B Driver kart (labeled Ultra Rare)
* I think I saw just about all the Mario series characters either in race or grayed out on the selection screen (including the Koopalings and Dry Bones) but I didn't see any non-Mario series characters like Link.
* I only saw karts - not bikes. It said I was at 50cc level - I assume there's a 100cc and 150cc level like every other MK game but requires more experience racing to unlock them.
* Pretty easy. I won all three races in the cup in first place on first attempt. Only Dino Dino Jungle was a close call.
* I'm quite sure you're not playing against live opponents, as the race ends immediately upon crossing the finish line no matter how far back the other guys are.  I think the opponents are derived from other people's actual drives. Its recording metrics such as how many turbo bursts you do, how many items you used and how many items hit you to determine a "score", and better drivers are pitted against CPU drivers using the names of actual players and assigned that player's character, kart, and parasail combination and driver score for the course. I could see no way to pick an opponent, such as playing against the person sitting next to you, but maybe that's something coming in the full release.
* The options screen allows you to use a phone's gyro (if it has one) to tilt screen to steer but this is disabled to start and no mention of it made during the game setup and instructional race.

[Arizona]

(Color Splash and God of War were both so terrible I gave up on them.)

I'm not into God of War anyway, but I'd like to know why you didn't like it so I can feel snootily justified in my disinterest.

[JG]

(Color Splash and God of War were both so terrible I gave up on them.)

I'm not into God of War anyway, but I'd like to know why you didn't like it so I can feel snootily justified in my disinterest.

This was the first God of War I played. I thought the series was just a hack and slash adventure, just bashing 10+ enemies all the same time (like Dynasty Warriors, Hyrule Warriors, etc.) but its more single enemy oriented.

My real problem is an assumption that you know how to play God of War games already an that you know exactly what happened in them - as I did not, I couldn't figure out what Kratos was doing in Scandanavia, who the ghost lady was, or why his axe freezes objects - none of this is explained at all which is a major problem as it was marketed as a relaunch, not a sequel.  It also requires particular timing with your axe and knowing where giant sized enemy weak points are or else your axe just bounces off. The attack reticle is also very tiny (maybe 5 pixels wide at 1080p resolution) so its hard to see exactly where your aiming against a light background, especially with everything moving - Breath of the Wild did a much better job of this by going into slow motion during ranged attacks. As I was playing, it became immediately obvious the best bang-for-buck with your upgrade points is to upgrade Kratos's armor and Atreus's bow only. Kratos's attacks are so hard to aim and pull off, Atreus is more useful in battle after a few upgrades and all you need to do is not die while he picks off enemies with his bow and arrows - this is backwards from the way it should be.  The AI is smart enough to move Atreus around to avoid attacks and get into shooting positions, but it doesn't let him shoot until you press a button, which is a shame because he should have been independent, for better or worse.  I was also seeking a rather short adventure, in the 40-50 hour timeframe, but after about 15-20 I reached an island that has portals to other areas and there's 7 or 8 of them. I'd uncovered maybe 15% of the main map, and saw this new map was just as big, so I could tell it was easily a 100+ hour investment. I even changed it to easy mode just to enjoy the story but it was taking too long to get through the areas and defeat monster groups to keep holding my interest. I grew tired of clumsy 30 second battles followed by 60 seconds of running/crawling/climbing to next area, followed by 2 or 3 minutes of trying to solve some puzzle while not aiming my axe perfectly to do it correctly, only to get another 20 or 30 seconds of conversation out of Kratos and Atreus before having to repeat.

On the plus side, the story was really nice for what I saw of it, taking place in Norse mythology rather than Greco-Roman, and the voice acting was excellent. Christopher Judge was perfect for an old, cranky Kratos and if you ever watched Stargate SG-1 his voice is instantly recognizable. The actors for Atreus and the funny dwarven smithy twins are pretty good too.  The graphics are pretty, but too much of it is lost in shadows or areas you're just running through.  I appreciate all the cinematics use the same models as the game, so transitioning between the two is seamless - instead of breaking into an obviously oversampled recorded video segment like many games do. The interactions of Kratos and Atreus are the best part though: Atreus always curious and chatty while Kratos is always scolding and curt, but genuinely concerned for his son's safety.

So while a lot of the peripherals are nice, its just not that great of a game. I rank it a D or D+ on my scale (below average, but not garbage.)  I really can't see how or why any of the magazines gave it their game of the year award except for weak competition (Red Dead Redemption 2 seems to have been its closet competition, with Smash Bros Ultimate third) - I said it before, 2018 was the worst year ever for video games. How it got perfect scores in the magazines escapes me, except that the people doing the reviews had probably played the other games first and had a better grasp of the story and gameplay. It didn't live up to my expectations though.



Regarding Color Splash, it has many of the good things from earlier Paper Mario games, but also many of the bad. All the attacks are based on cards, which work just like the stickers from the ill-received Sticker Star. But what really did it in was the need to use the touchscreen to drag your card into place, then flick upwards to commit.  This requires constantly looking down at the touchscreen during attack planning, then back up at the TV to do the timing part of the attack, over and over, and holding that heavy controller one handed grows tiresome after a while. It really needed a way to use the control stick and buttons to commit an attack - it would have been much faster and less tiresome for wrists. (And I suspect that this bizarre control scheme is why there's no plans for a Switch port.) I've gotten maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through, but it took about 50 hours of gametime and I haven't played it in about 3 weeks now. I might be tempted to resume it over the upcoming long weekend. I'd much rather finish it than God of War, only because I've completed each of the other Paper Mario games but even I have to agree that if Sticker Star was bad, Color Splash is even worse. At this point I think its time for Nintendo to retire the Paper Mario series because the stickers and card junk doesn't work. The first two in the series (original and Thousand Year Door) were excellent, but the last three have really been stinkers compared to the similar but far better Mario & Luigi series.

[JG]

Happy days are here again. Box art for DQB2 has arrived and Square-Enix, Nintendo, and Sony have all confirmed launch dates of July 12. Plus, the DLC will come along quickly - the first pack two weeks after release (July 26), the next pack a week after that (August 2) and the final pack one week after that (August 9.)  No waiting half a year for this stuff like the Japanese did.




You can play as either the blonde boy or blonde girl in DQB2. (DQB1 only let you play as a boy.) In the Japanese demo I played as the girl, just to be different from DQB1 - will probably do same in full game. I don't know if there's any difference in the game or not (armor?) but the twin pigtails are way more kawaii than Saiyan hair. The dark haired boy with the club is Malroth, he's your partner controlled by AI or a second controller.

[JG]

Late to the party?
So Pokémon Go has been out just shy of three years, and on back to back days Square-Enix announces Dragon Walk and Microsoft announces Minecraft Earth, both altered reality games set within established video game mythologies. If you don't think Nintendo and its partners are ahead of the curve, you're not paying attention.


And that said, Mario Kart Tour is excellent.  It translated to mobile far better than Super Mario Run. It does, like all Mario Kart games, get extremely annoying at high speeds and later cups, with the winner based as much on luck within the last 5 to 10 seconds of the race as driving skill, but its certainly comparable in quality to Mario Kart 8. With all these stars to collect and coins to buy stuff in the shop and randomness built in, and with a promise from Nintendo to reset the cups every two weeks there's a lot more to keep coming back to than the console versions had. I want to see more courses though, and maybe the occasional special driver (like Link and Kirby) or kart (and cycles!), but for a beta test it was solid. It sold me on buying the full version when it comes out, if there's a price involved.

[Moge]

I should try the new Mario Kart but i'm just not that interested in mobile gaming. Really now its been 5 years since MK8, so we're due for a sequel. Unfortunately MK8 Deluxe is selling like hot cakes, so that probably won't be happening anytime soon.

I like builder games despite rarely playing them. ActRaiser, Final Fantasy: My Life as a King, and Project Zomboid to name a few i've played. Disappointed the first DQB is not available on PC but the Switch version should suffice.

E3 starting very soon! The last Nintendo E3 Direct was massively disappointing if you were not a Smash fan, but i doubt they'll try that again this year. Can't wait for some Luigi's Mangion 3 footage.

[JG]

Yeah I was hoping for a Mario Kart 9 myself rather than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But Mario Kart Tour will expand the presence to mobile phones and bring in new fans (much as Pokémon Go did - I had some coworkers who had never played a Pokémon game before that one.)  For all intensive purposes, Mario Kart Tour will be treated as Mario Kart 9, and we'll need to wait for Mario Kart X on Switch circa 2021.

I don't think DQB's control scheme would translate well to mouse and keyboard. The control pad is needed for proper enjoyment, and not everyone on PC uses one.



  E3 week!!! 

Electronic Arts is today. Star Wars: Fallen Order is the one to watch for, unless you're looking for Battlefield and Madden sequels.

The Xbox presentation is Sunday. For the first time in many years they've actually got a powerhouse lineup, with Gears 5 and Halo 6 topping the list (as well as a Battletoads reboot.)  They've said they've got 14 games to show off, and two of them aren't known - one might be We Happy Few 2, but the last is supposed to be super secret and there's a rumor floating around that its a MechAssault reboot, which has those of us in the BattleTech sphere excited. Though knowing Microsoft this isn't going to happen, and if so, there's a better than twenty percent it'll get cancelled midway through development anyway. Supposedly they've hit a bump in the road already as details and gameplay video of Bleeding Edge leaked earlier this week and underwhelmed (apparently, no single player campaign which is what doomed the Titanfall series.)

Apparently yet another DOOM from Bethesda later Sunday afternoon.

Monday brings the PC showcase. Paradox Interactive is on the list and I hope this means videos of BattleTech's Urban Warfare expansion. I don't know if Piranha Games will be or not, but they should be with the long-anticipated MechWarrior 5 on tap for September release. (Its a good time to be a BattleTech video game fan. We got 16 years with nothing, then two games within a year and maybe a third on the way.)

Ubisoft is expected to give details of Beyond Good and Evil 2 Monday afternoon. But it better be more like the first (E10+ rating) and less like that garbage video (M rating) they showed off two years ago or its a lost cause in my eyes. It's been in development a long time, and they really can't afford to blow it. I'd certainly welcome news of a Mario+Rabbids 2 game though. Its still the best selling third party published game for the Switch two years after release and to pass on a sequel is ludicrous for both sides (Ubisoft needs younger players and more Switch visibility, Nintendo needs more third party hits as they're dominating their own platform too heavily.)

Square-Enix is finally going to announce the Final Fantasy VII remake Monday night. This game has been in development 6 or 7 years now and is long overdue. If they don't peg a release date in Japan before Christmas then they've completely mishandled it. Apparently Square's also got an Avengers game, but action titles aren't in their wheelhouse so I'm somewhat hesitant to see exactly what they came up with.  I hope they release the DQB2 English language demo onto the PlayStation store this week. The Japanese got it five months ahead of their release and we're nearly down to just one month before ours.

Nintendo's going to show off Pokémon Sword & Shield, Link's Awakening, Luigi's Mansion, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 as their top lineup on Tuesday, but everyone expects them to cover Super Mario Maker 2 as well and all of them are supposed to be playable on the floor. It may be more Luigi, Link, and Maker than expected though since they dropped a lot of Pokémon details in their Direct feed earlier this week. (I'd rather see more of those three than Pokémon myself anyway.)  Rumors are they will announce the Animal Crossing they teased las year but that it might not make it by Christmas. Probably a new Labo kit or two as well and maybe a cheaper Switch. Nintendo's also known for a few surprises so maybe they drop a Metroid Prime early gameplay video or something else unexpected. I personally want to see what new things exist in Link's Awakening moreso than Luigi's Mansion gameplay. I'd also anticipate they announce the Mario Kart Tour release date and have it playable on the floor following what I'd consider a very successful beta (I only encountered one error message and few things I'd want changed.)

Sony of course has opted to skip E3, but maybe we'll see details of Last of Us 2 sometime during the week.

[JG]

And of course, Microsoft utterly drops the ball again by leaving their Christmas schedule empty. Subtracting the yearly EASports entries, State of Decay 2 is out now, Gears 5 arrives in September, Call of Duty Modern Warfare in October, and Age of Empires 2 sometime this fall, but then nothing else they showcased appears until February. (Including Halo Infinite, which is November next year. Not 2019 as everyone expected.)  I'm convinced Phil Spencer is no longer the right man to lead Xbox because he's letting it get trounced in holiday sales again and is too focused on a year or two down the road than the dumpster fire immediately in front of him. He's got excess hardware on store shelves and no games to hook buyers this season (again.) Now he's facing a significant price drop between now and then, or else he's going to have four different Xbox models on shelves (S, X, Digital, and the new Scarlett) next Christmas and I don't think retailers want to devote that much shelf space. (My Best Buy has already had to cut the game selection down to make room for all the different hardware, both consoles and varying models of controllers.)  Next year they might have a big year, but it looks like in 2019 they'll be finishing a distant third behind Nintendo and Sony again.

I was underwhelmed and turned off by all the 2020 release dates.  Half in 2020 is okay, but when its 75 or 80 percent and most of the bigger names (like Halo), then its more teasing than excitement-building. It was a better, wider selection that what they've brought the last few years, especially with cartoony Battletoads and the not-gunplay in Ori, Flight Simulator, AOE2, and Minecraft Dungeons, but I've got some concerns about how controllable such a tiny Ori looked on screen and the Minecraft game is an obvious attempt to copy what DQB did right the first time. DQB still looks a lot better, and DQB2 is beating them to market with four player online coop, so Minecraft Dungeons isn't exactly breaking new ground (pun intended.)

On the bright side, the Wasteland 3 trailer was rather hilarious.

[JG]

Please save us Nintendo. This E3 is disappointing so far.

Ubisoft entirely passed on any news about Beyond Good and Evil 2 - that spells trouble.  The Gods and Monsters game looks pretty neat though - colorful and expressive with a lot of visual comparisons to Breath of the Wild, but I'll need more than a few seconds of non-gameplay video first.

And then Square fumbled in the evening with news that the long overdue Final Fantasy VII remake wasn't arriving until spring (why is everyone looking for spring 2020 dates this year?) On the other hand, its coming to Switch, too, but later than the PS4 release.

I'm not so into PC games, but I reviewed the list anyway. One item caught my eye though. Its been 30+ years since the tabletop PRG was introduced, but it looks like Paranoia is finally getting a video game.  That was one weird RPG that rewards silliness, not questioning authority, and good hygiene more than fighting baddies for experience. The video game itself may not be all that good, but it should be one of the funniest all year.

[JG]

Please save us Nintendo.

Challenge met. That very well may have topped the E3 presentation from two years ago when they showed off the Ballad of the Champions DLC, Mario Odyssey, and Metroid Prime teaser. That was quite an impressive showcase and the majority of it was 2019 stuff, too.


The Dragon Quest Hero (maybe all 11 of them!?) are being added to Smash Bros Ultimate. The Luminary from DQ11 is the one they premiered, but the one from DQ6 was playable as the game paused for a second to have him cast a spell. The others may be special attacks though. (I want to see Eight in super-high tension Dragovian mode as the ultimate finisher.)

Luigi's Mansion 3: The video wasn't all that impressive as the narration was lousy, but the Gooigi feature looked neat. Its coming this fall.

The Dark Crystal Tactics: I was immediately stoked when the old elf appeared and for a split second thought it was too good to be true until the crystal appeared. I'm an old fogey now but I used to watch The Dark Crystal all the time with my brother when we were kids. I had no idea they were making a Netflix series, but the game looks incredible - it looks like a Jim Henson stop motion film, and its got the same gameplay as the Final Fantasy Tactics games, so this has immediately jumped to near the top of my wishlist. And until the last 2 minutes of the presentation, this one was my most welcome surprise. It didn't say when, other than 2019.

Link's Awakening: The ability to create your own dungeons out of parts you've played through to get bonuses like a fairy bottle is a neat trick to add some depth to another wise out-of-date game. Seeing Link smile when he caught the fish makes me think this game may be very expressive like Wind Waker, which I'd much appreciate. September 20.

Trials of Mana: The sequel to Secret of Mana, which was originally only released in Japan arrives early 2020.

Witcher 3: Meh, seems no better than the other platforms it was already released on. Sometime before end of year.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses: I'm not really into the Fire Emblem series, but this looks astonishingly so much like an anime its hard to tell its not. July 26.

Resident Evil 5 and 6: I was sorely unimpressed by both the gameplay on screen and the two scared teenagers in the video. At this point, I can't keep track of which RE games are available for which system, because there's too damn many and they get remade every few years. Knock it off Capcom. Fall 2019 for both of these.

No More Heroes 3: Also not all that impressed by the jerk of a hero, and very little gameplay in the video. Sometime 2020.

Contra: Rogue Corps: Seems like a neat game for a party. 4 player local and online coop. I'm not sure I can accept a Contra game as viewed from behind the player rather than from side though. Sept 24.

Daemon X Machina: OK, but didn't interest me much. Sept 13.

Panzer Dragoon: Sega is apparently rebooting the series.  I hope its more Panzer Dragoon Saga, and not just flying around like 1/2/Orta because Nintendo's had Star Fox fill that role (PD was in fact a reactionary clone of Star Fox.) Since the Star Fox series has sucked for the last decade, I've actually been kind of hoping Sega would bring Panzer Dragoon back to life on the Wii U/Switch and glad to see its finally happening. I'm a little worried at pace of pay though, because the gameplay and dragon flight seemed achingly slow compared to the faster paced Star Fox Zero. Winter 2019/2020

Pokemon Sword & Shield: We saw this already, and doesn't interest me, but I thought it was a nice touch to introduce some data exchange between these two and Pokémon Go using that Pokéball Plus device. Closer interaction between the Switch and phone/tablet games is a desirable outcome.

Astral Chain: I was turned off by the lack of character animation. Also anime-ish, but the mouths hardly moved when talking. Couldn't quite figure out what this game was supposed to be. It and Daemon X Machina seemed a little too much alike. August 30.

Empire of Sin: I'm not sure about his one, but I'll grant that 1930s gangsters makes for a more interesting shoot 'em up than all the modern or futuristic warfare. Really haven't seen Tommy guns much outside of the Bioshock games. Spring 2020.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order: I don't see how this is too much different than earlier Marvel coop fighting adventure games but fresh off of Avengers Endgame and X-Men Dark Phoenix in theaters it has promise of being a decent seller. July 19.

Cadence of Hyrule: A rhythmic battle RPG based in the Zelda universe. Can play as either Link or Zelda, so should attract some young girls to a mostly male-dominated series. I don't think I saw a release date on this video.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2020: I think this one was obviously on the way.  Looks sharper than the Wii/Wii U games, and I liked how they switched the sprint from 3D mode to a classic Sonic-style 2D side scroller mode.   I didn't see a release date, but I'd imagine it arrives before Christmas, rather than next year. (The other Mario & Sonic Olympics games have always preceded the Olympic games by half a year or more.)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons: As expected, delayed to March 20. I'm not into the series, but I can see it being a sleeper hit thanks to Switch's mobile mode. A lot of people could be playing this on subways and buses next year.

Banjo-Kazooie also being added to the Smash Bros roster as DLC. Couldn't be sure or not, but seemed to offer a new side campaign set in the Donkey Kong universe with King. K. Rool as the villain.


And then Nintendo dropped an absolute bombshell to close the presentation. Watch the video if you want the full surprise (About 45 minutes after video begins.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Breath of the Wild 2 is far along in development.  Rumors that it was underway and using the same engine as BOTW have been around since last year, but I wasn't expecting them to show off anything until at least next year. What really wowed me was that its a direct sequel, not a new Link in a different era. Zelda may be playable as she and Link are pictured together and she has short hair which would aid in carrying weapons and shields on her back. Apparently they're deep in the caverns under Hyrule castle, releasing some kind of zombie apocalypse upon Hyrule, with Wind-Waker style dark fog spreading around and corrupting things. Could that be Vaati returning as the big baddie?

Curiously, no mention at all of either Metroid Prime 4 or Mario Kart Tour. MP4 got restarted in January so its still a long ways off, but Mario Kart should be hitting phones within a month or two.

[JG]

Nintendo showed off more of Trials of Mana today than Square did Monday. Of course, neither showed anything new of DQB2 which has me a little miffed. (And news that the demo wasn't arriving until June 27th didn't help.) I don't think we needed two full sessions of Super Mario Maker 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, and Astral Chain though - the Tuesday session was enough and would have liked to have seen different games this afternoon.

But a nice touch from Nintendo when the power went out in the convention hall this afternoon during the Treehouse Live feed. If you've played Adventure of Link, you'll agree.