#i am so excited for the ttyd switch remake

[kierawafflesart]

girls girls girls girls

[wfagamerants]

You know the drill by now. New Direct, New Mario games shown. I will talk about them here. There was plenty else I enjoyed, but with the Mario focus of the blog, I wanna give the three new Mario games my attention.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

I understand this one feels underwhelming for some, given DK has still not gotten a non-port or remake game on Switch, but to be honest, I like this. DKCR is a phenomenal platformer and with the 3DS content included, we now finally got a definitive version to point people to and I do think this gives this re-release a lot of value.

Not much else to say, because I doubt there will be much, if anything, new. Seems like a very Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD situation and I am okay with that.

Mario & Luigi Brothership

This was easily the biggest bombshell and yeah, what a way to start the Direct. The recent RPG and TTYD remakes made me hope that Nintendo may be working on a serious relaunch for the RPG branch of Mario, but to see them do it this soon is not something I could have ever seen coming.

Much is still unknown, but there is quite a bit we can look at, like the visuals! The occasional use of 3D models in the 3DS games made me wonder what a fully 3D M&L could look like and Brothership gives a very pleasing answer. Translating a series known for stellar sprite work into 3D is an uphill battle and Brotherhood manages to pull it off with both a really faithful translation of the series’ artstyle we always saw in official art and animation that’s as snappy and toony as it should be for a series like this.

Especially happy about the cutscenes. RPG already made me really want to see more like those and Brothership is very similar. Seeing the characters be this animated and not limited to their standard animation sets is a joy to watch and M&L is the perfect series to do a lot with that.

We got plenty of new character designs already too and those largely go for a tool theme. Very interested to see where this will take things, but just in terms of designs, I like em’. Connie seems to be the big hit among fans and I am firmly in that camp too. She’s adorable.

What we hear of the music is good stuff too. It’s to be seen if Yoko Shimomura is still working her magic, but I’d be surprised if she wasn’t brought back.

In terms of gameplay there is not much known yet, but I am very curious how they’ll do things. After the Baby Bros, Bowser, Dreamy Luigi and Paper Mario, we are back to just Mario and Luigi and that promises some expansions to the gameplay around just the two of them.

We already see hints of that with the jump and hammer attacks shown in the trailer, which involved Luigi helping out Mario for a bit of a team attack. They don’t seem to be Bros Attacks, since we see the Shell one we had since PiT at the end of the trailer, so maybe that’s just what jump and hammer moves are like now? We’ll see, I find the idea intriguing. 

One thing up in the air is how the game will handle previous M&L specific characters. The series has been remarkably good about keeping those in the picture and making these games feel truly connected. Not a big deal if they treat this like a soft relaunch though, even if I would be perfectly content with even just a picture of a Shroob on a wall or something.

The titular ship and island theme makes me curious about the overall structure of the game. The most likely answer being that different areas are separated into islands you visit one by one. Perhaps there could be an exploration mechanic ala’ Wind Waker, or the very blatantly based on that section in Origami King, where you can sail yourself, find treasure and optional islands?

Only time will tell, but I am really excited and happy to see a series back that has been in a very unsure place for years.

Mario Party Jamboree

As far as realistic wishes go, Mario Party was my big one, so I am very pleased and it easily stands shoulder to shoulder with Brothership and away from Mario, Echoes of Wisdom and the Marvel vs Capcom Collection, for me.

Mario Party is one of my favorite series period and I even got quite a bit out of the pre-Switch NDCube games. 10 and Star Rush in particular I openly defend a lot. That said, my relationship with the Switch entries has been a rocky one.

I never really liked Super, it always felt like a pale imitation of the classic formula, that lacked a lot of what I like about the series and made many decisions I didn’t vibe with.

Superstars is much better, but still ended up being a tug-of-war of really good stuff and things I found still lacking, particularly in terms of content and how off a lot of minigames felt to control, compared to their original counterparts.

Jamboree is looking to be the Mario Party I have been waiting for all gen and it’s looking to fix all the problems I had with the previous games.

7 boards, 5 new and 2 returning. Never thought of a mix of old and new as an option, but it’s a move I can get behind. It’s a good way to get more boards in. I’d like it if they remade some of the GameCube boards for once, but I am not complaining. Hard to when Western Land is back baybeeeh!

The new boards all look good. It really seems like we are back to the 6-8 era approach of giving every board their own gimmick and that’s something I have been waiting to see again. The theming looks great too, especially the mall and race track ones, some creative stuff in there.

The roster surprised me too. Superstars had a laughably poor one and while Super had a large one, it made decisions I didn’t like, particularly relegating several established characters to NPC roles.

Jamboree does away with that, Birdo’s here, the Toads are back, which I really wanted and all around while I prefer less mook heavy rosters, I like the selection on offer here, especially Ninji and I’ll never say no to Boo or Shy Guy.

I also like what they did with Bowser. I love the guy, but his playable role in Super I feel robbed the series of something. His usual role is a big, irreplaceable part of the series, in both gameplay and vibe. This force who commands the power to massively shake up the game. Kamek in both function and presentation just didn’t offer a good replacement, so the new approach to have a Kamek created Bowser clone fill in is a significantly better compromise.

Ninji not being in the intro and bringing the roster up to an odd numbered 21 does indicate possible unlockables. I’d be happy if what we saw is what we get, but I’d never say no to say, Pauline, who is otherwise still strangely absent from the series.

What we saw of the minigames meanwhile looks good. A much better mix of zany antics and more grounded competition than Super had, which dialed back the slapstick adventure feeling a ton. The large number of minigames, seemingly all original this time, is also genuinely impressive.

We also got the promise of more modes, but so far the only one we got concretely introduced to is Koopathlon, which is blatantly Coinathlon from Star Rush brought online and escalated to 20 players. As someone who loved Coinathlon, I fully support this.

On top of that, I could already hear new voice clips, which is just that extra mile I appreciate. Mario spin-offs are no stranger to reusing those a ton and Party is one of the more notable examples of it, but something about the ones used post-10 I found especially grating, especially how much Superstars spams them in some minigames, so I am VERY pleased to get away from that.

On the whole, Jamboree feels like a lot of lessons were learned and they really want to make this one something special and I am very excited for that. This really makes the previous two games feel like test runs and I did hope they were just that. Especially Superstars which showed some real understanding of how to make a great Mario Party, but just wasn’t there yet in too many areas for my liking.

In general, a strong trio of titles, that really shows a surprising amount of gas in the tank for a system that is now in its twilight years. Along with the 2023 output for the series, I am extremely excited where things will go from here.

[ollieoliver910]

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake...Overhyped Much?...

So, ok, here's the deal.

I was SUPER excited for this game when it was announced. The original TTYD is hands down my favorite Mario game of all time and I was so excited to see a new generation of players try it out.

For them, it was probably a fantastic experience.

For me, however, when I beat the game...

I felt the magic the original had was just gone.

It's really hard to explain. Some things I can definitely pin point, others, I can't, but I will start with the things that absolutely kill this game for me.

That number one thing being the music.

Intelligent Systems, for god sakes man. I am so sick of you making dumb decisions. This isn't the worst thing you have done recently, but man, there is a reason I specifically put you right under Gamefreak as WORST right now.

Ok, let me explain. The NEW tracks, to which I have listened to most of it...is...not, good. It reminds me a lot of Yoshi's Island 3D soundtrack and for my first play through, I turned that shit off immediately and turned the nostalgic tunes on that switches the soundtrack back to the original game.

I would, in theory, praise IS for this...if they didn't completely fuck it up! When you turn that badge on. Firstly, not all of the original songs are present (The end of chapter 5 is a good example of this), and when that happens, the game defaults to the new track, which defeats the purpose of the nostalgic tunes badge. There is a song during the last thirty minutes of this game that is INTEGRAL to that particular scene...and it's just fucking gone! And the new song IS chose for one of the very last scenes of the game is again, 1.) terrible and 2.) defeats the purpose of the nostalgic tunes badge.

Leave it up to IS to not use common sense while making there games, speaking of which...

The 60 FPS controversy

It bothers me.

Listen, the reason we might have gotten this remake to begin with is because of Arlo's petition and for that, I am very thankful. However, we do not see eye to eye when it comes to the 60 FPS thing since 60 FPS should be THE STANDARD.

Yes, you can still have fun with the game at 30 FPS, I won't deny that, but it's 2024. Most games, I hope so anyway, should be aiming for 60. If the original TTYD could run at 60, why can't this? They didn't really add anything new to the game other than a couple of new bosses and a major upgrade to the graphics. I cannot understand why IS couldn't build this game around 60 FPS when Xenoblade Chronicles exists and blows all other excuses out of the water.

Oh, the switch can't handle it. Oh, the developers had to make these decisions to compensate for the graphics. No. It's laziness, which is what IS is known for right now as someone who has played and dissected Fire Emblem Engage TO DEATH. Probably one of if not the worst FE game they ever put out.

There is no reason why TTYDR cannot run at 60 FPS. There is no excuse and, to me, it is noticeable, but not terrible to the point that it ruins the game, but it still bothers me and it's not just an IS thing, it's a Nintendo thing.

The last thing I will say is a lot of the edge the game hand with it's writing has been changed...and ik, ik. It's the original Japanese script for the OG TTYD and is the most accurate...

I don't know. Some of the changes they made to the original game I liked more than the original Japanese script, and this is one of the VERY rare occasions that I will say that. The one good thing that came out of the OG Japanese script was that they finally got Vivian right, but outside of that. It just feels off to me, but for new players, they will probably love it and will not notice the changes, which is absolutely fine.

Outside of this, and I don't know if it's just me. I played through the game twice already and I'm just kind of done with it. It's not like the original where I could play the game on repeat. Something about this version, the magic that I described earlier, is just not there. Now that I think about it, and again, it could be just me. I think, maybe, MAYBE, the graphics also has something to do with it.

The best way I can describe it is how anime looked during the 80s, 90s, vs the present day. Take Pokemon for example. Even if the writing can be bad, I still to this day LOVE the original anime's classic look. It's very old school and it's very appealing to look at. Now if you compare that to, let's say, Pokemon Sun and Moon or Journeys, Something about the animation is just too bright and colorful for me. I dare even say the anime's looks is "too clean." I know that's a bold statement to make, but that's why I prefer watching older iterations of famous anime franchises to the newest version. I think Sailor Moon is a really good example of this.

That's the feeling I get from the TTYDR. The older style felt more in line with it's story book esthetic. When you learn the backstory of the thousand year door. The game was meant to have this ancient look to it that I feel the new version got rid of completely...but that ancient look was the point since the thousand year door was meant to be an old folks tale in this world. I completely understand if you don't agree with me, but that's just how I feel personally.

There are good things with this game. The gameplay and bosses are still great. The story, despite the changes, is still one of the best in the Mario series. I love all the characters, the villains, the chapter progression, the badge system, and so much more and despite how I feel. TTYDR is still worth a buy, only because I do want the next generation of players to experience it. It's kind of the same way I feel about Danganronpa Decadence. Yes, those games have problems...maybe a lot of problems, but it's a series I feel a new generation of young adults should experience despite its flaws.

Anyways, that's it for me! What do you think? Let me know in the comment section!

[kraefishh]

nintento direct thoughts

yeah so hi i deliberately stayed up until 7am on a work night in order to watch this and do not regret a thing.

-> splat3 dlc looks cool!! will i play it? no. does it look cool as hell? yeah!!! I personally don't like splat3's actual single player campaign so unless im able to access the dlc without finishing the main campaign then... im not playing it lmao. it looks cool as fuck though!! i like whatever the hell they had going on with the glitchy taz hunger looking goop that produced skeleton fish. pearl + marina lore is also a win in my book -> i dont actually have all that many thoughts about the smrpg showcase but MAN it looks cool as hell. at first i didnt like the revamped graphics but now theyre growing on me.... plus the trio attacks??? HELL YEA! i hope the remake will make me actually finish the game this time around instead of start it twice in the past three years and then quit within the first few areas (<- i say as if this isnt a normal problem i have regardless. thanks, its the adhd)

-> SaGa Emerald Beyond actually looks interesting?? like I know nothing about that game series but the character designs look very cool and i like the concept of a multiple outcome story based entirely on which character you play. do i think i'd actually play this game? no, probably not. looks cool tho

-> despite me being The pokemon nerd i have nothing to say about the new detective pikachu game. i dont like the voice they gave pikachu imo. i think thats just cause im spoiled on movie detective pikachu being ryan reynolds... i joke i kid. kinda. also i never like. actually played any detective pikachu games so i got nothing

-> WAS NOT EXPECTING A TROMBONE CHAMP PORT, TO BE QUITE HONEST

-> cool that were getting a new wario-ware!! not sure how i feel about like the.... forms? is that what theyre called?? w/e regardless im not sure how i feel about em. but its a wario-ware game so its bound to be weird but like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-> FUNKY KONG DIDDY KONG PAULINE RELEASE FOR MARIO KART WAS NOT ON MY LIST. SO SO HAPPY THOUGH. peachette is whatever. no idea where she came from

-> gotta say i completely forgot among us was on switch so seeing the crewmates i was like "are they making a fucking spin-off game for switch?" no. i just forgot. the fungle is a funny name though i appreciate it

AND THEN

THE LAST THING I WAS EXPECTING

A PAPER MARIO THOUSAND YEAR DOOR REMASTER.

I was laying there in bed at 7:40am and was like. oh cool one last thing before its over. its probably gonna be just another title release of something or a sneak peek on some dlc.

and then i hear the music.

THAT NOSTALGIC MUSIC THAT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE IM SEVEN YEARS OLD AGAIN

-> yeah anyway so i screamed "WHAT!?" at the (metaphorical) top of my lungs (because it was 7:40am and people were sleeping). ttyd getting a remaster is so so cool. and now that i know its possibly getting a re translation that makes me even more happy. give us trans vivian....... i also just think its very funny that ive been playing ttyd on twitch for the past. year now? (ive taken a shit ton of breaks) and theyre making a remaster?? now? not complaining im having a blast playing it with my cohost but HHADGHGAKDFJ

-> i'm mostly just excited for the remaster cause it'll hopefully bring traction back to the paper mario series. idk about like the general consensus of the fandom but like. the paper mario series has been needing a pick me up for a HOT MINUTE.

-> no i am not going to play the remaster of ttyd for stream. maybe on my own time. we'll see. i dont see the point of finishing the og only to then, like a year later, play the remaster. especially when i have a TON of games backlogged on my list since i only stream once a week. more often than not, not even that. i am planning on doing rpg tho

[ollieoliver910]

September Nintendo Direct Predictions

I'll go ahead and say it. I'm not expecting too much with this direct. Not to say there won't be any surprises, but remember. The Switch is on it's way out. So I expect that they won't announce, let's say, a new Animal Crossing game before the next console drops (Though to be perfectly honest with you. ACNH was such a massive failure when it came to its life span that I wouldn't be surprised if they created a new one for the next consoles launch. Even if it's a few years down the line.)

With that being said. Any games I predict for this direct (despite the leaks. Nintendo, how does this keep happening) are just guesses and speculation, but if there is one game that NEEDS to come out if it's true that this "switch 2" might have backwards compatibility...

It's Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door Remastered.

This is a game I can see Nintendo announcing towards the end of the switches life since so many people, myself included, want it so unbelievably badly. I'm in a state right now where just having them remaster it into HD and tweaking a few things here and there is enough. It would be cool if they added new modes somehow to the game, but I wonder if these modes would make TTYD better or worse by comparison. That being said, as long as they keep everything intact and don't pull a Brilliant Dimond and Shinning Pearl on us when it comes to redesigning everything (seriously, if they do that I will fucking cry), then we should be all set to go.

That's the only game I really, really want right now, but there are other things I hope for that I am unsure right now will be released on The Switch or the next gen console.

Fire Emblem Genealogy of The Holy War

As long as they don't purposely add an avatar to this game, it's already a 10/10 for me. I'm not sure if GOTHW will be announced on the switch. They might wait until the next system, but take it from me. Engage was such a disappointment in many ways. It would be good for intelligent systems to go back to there old roots for a game or two as they try to figure out what fans want from the franchise next...even if they clearly don't listen to feedback very well...and it shows.

I won't speak much about how amazing the plot of GOTHW is (though, regrettably, intelligent systems made the STUPID decision to spoil a huge plot point of that game during the first few chapters of Engage. Possibly knowing that this remake might be coming out. Why. Why would you do that. What a stupid thing to do.) However, if this game exists, avoid spoilers like the plague! I promise you, you won't regret it. It deserves to be remade and remastered for all audiences. Again, rumors say it does exist, so I guess we will have to wait and see.

As far as other games that I feel would fit well here during the end of the switches life. Pretty much anything from the gamecube area that can be remastered would work well here. I will, regrettably say, that I don't agree with the hype revolving around Wind Waker and Twilight Princess when it comes to paying for the games again...for $60. I get it if your a mega Zelda fan, but recharging two games that came out so long ago for a higher price just feels scummy to me. I'm sorry, that's just how I feel, but if your excited for it and are willing to pay for the games again (maybe even for the third time) I'm happy for you.

At the moment, I can't think of any new games that I would want personally since any new installments I feel are being saved for the switch 2. Animal crossing, fire emblem, and of course Metroid Prime 4 are all francises that just had their games come out, or a long period of time has passed and the games are more than likely being planned for the next system. I don't blame them, I would wait too, but again. I guess we have to wait and see.

I'll be working during the direct because of course I am, so I might not be able to see what's happening in real time, but as far as Nintendo announcing the next system here...

Maybe?...Idk, we will find out tomorrow.

(Want to reiterate before anyone gets confused.)

I have no problems at all with games like TTYD or F-Zero being remastered with fast improvements as long as there is some substantial changes to them in some way. Especially is it's a game that hasn't seen the light of day for many, many years.

Rereleasing Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on almost every system since their release and charging more for them is scummy to me. Honestly, unless they add new modes, new areas, or anything in general to these titles. All they're really doing is upgrading the graphics every console, maybe add some tweaks to the game...and that's it.

Remastering a game that you can't find anymore vs a game that has been re-released and remastered every new console is very different. Again, some people might be happy to buy Twilight Princess again for a third time, maybe (I think) forth time. Again, I am not one of them. I'm sorry, there has to be another way around this.