Messages

31

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 10, 2025, 09:13:43 am »

Adding The Blood of Dawnwalker to my list of potentials. New trailer was shown with a longer gameplay showcase scheduled for June 21st. Comes from Witcher 3 devs and it looks on par with it.

This was one of the few trailers I actually chose to not watch because neither its name nor video thumbnail looked interesting, so it helped that you highlighted it here. It seems okay and is something I'll be casually monitoring, but there seems to be considerable overlap between this protagonist and The Witcher's Geralt. Hopefully it can stand out enough from that franchise.

32

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 08, 2025, 07:11:39 pm »

I skimmed through trailers again (albeit much more liberally), but this time from yesterday's Wholesome Games direct.

Is This Seat Taken?
I don't think this kind of seating arrangement puzzle game is all too common, but I know I've played one like it in the past. This looks fun for a casual puzzle experience, along with an expected cute art style.

Milano's Odd Job Collection
This was quite the surprise announcement. This game was originally released for PlayStation only in Japan, and this is the first time it's been officially translated (and voiced, even) in a language other than Japanese. I actually just recently learned about this game within the last few months, and it looks fun for a simple life sim game with plenty of minigames.

33

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 08, 2025, 04:10:30 pm »

After skimming through what was uploaded as individual trailers, it's clear that there was little to my interest shown today from Xbox. Overall, it seemed lackluster.

Beasts of Reincarnation
Game Freak of all developers has decided to take their shot at an Asia-inspired action-RPG, which is so overdone that it should be its own thematic genre by this point.

Keeper
I'm not really sure how I feel about this fully, but this was—by far—the most interesting game shown in this presentation. Original ideas like these will always catch my attention.

Persona 4 Revival
I've been wanting to play Persona 4 for some time. Who's to say how much difference this remake will be from the original game or even its updated Golden release, but I feel as if the PlayStation 4 port of the game seemed fine already. Unfortunately, that's pricey, though maybe it'll decrease in market value. Just like with Persona 3 Reload, I doubt the additional content from Golden will be available at its release.

34

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 08, 2025, 10:09:02 am »

36. Sasquatchers || Playdate || 06.06.2025



Slowly, I'm continuing to play through and complete as many of the included games which were bundled with the Playdate, with Sasquatchers being the next title. I haven't played a grid-based strategy game with this level of movable freedom in around a decade, so I was curious what this game would be like.

Despite Sasquatchers being a grid-based strategy game, it is a lot different than the overwhelming majority of other titles within the genre. Instead of typical turn-based combat encounters, the goal is to explore forested grounds in the pursuit of documenting wandering cryptids for social media and monetary gains. In other words, the creatures you're searching for are ones like the rumored and elusive sasquatch and chupacabra. So, the player's broad goal is to earn the highest number of views, likes, and subscriber gains by capturing quality photos. There are bonuses to earn for strategic shots such as multiple subjects being in frame and a subject being documented for the first time, but, simultaneously, there are deductions for reasons like subjects blinking, being obscured, or with a dazed condition. Certainly, the game's premise is unique which helps it stand out. As for who players control, they are a team of "fame-seeking scientist-influencers" who are, predictably, insufferable to varying degrees, though fortunately there is not much dialogue to read. They each have unique skill sets such as being able to take selfies, to lure cryptids to you instead of moving aimlessly, or to use drones to help survey far-off places.

Naturally, your party is focused on discovering cryptids who, like yourself, roam the darkness once per turn. Some of these creatures are docile yet can be provoked, whereas others seem to be aggressive by default. When in this state of aggression, they will attack crew members who can become knocked out or have their equipment damaged, thus rendering them useless or temporarily incapacitated. Additionally, some cryptids simply behave like the animals they are in ways like emitting gross odors which stun nearby party members. Moving back to the crew van or to discoverable camp sites will help replenish any status effects or health lost, and there really isn't any repercussion or even fail chance for utilizing these resources. One appreciated battle possibility is that, randomly, nearby enemies may attack crew members while trying to capture their photo. This results in either a lost turn or even equipment being broken. Unfortunately, though, this aspect disregards strategy or skill entirely, as these occurrences can't be avoided. So, it just makes completing the immediate goal longer.

Nevertheless, beyond the overarching shared goal amongst crew members, each stage has numerous missions to clear. These missions will either comprise of earning a certain dollar amount through photos per cryptid or by simply documenting each cryptid once. At first, I was irritated that each objectives cannot be grouped together with the game instead ending each mission immediately once its goal as been cleared, but I realized that some of the later game segments would become annoyingly long if numerous objectives were grouped together. With how the game flow is designed, neither scenario is strong and would benefit from strengthening the general gameplay loop. Across each mission, players will likely be performing the same basic actions while reacting to the same each turn consequences, meaning there is little variety to gameplay with diminishing returns from the game's proposed strategy roots.

Once each of the game's sixteen missions are completed, there is no incentive to continue playing which perhaps should be expected. Since missions are simple to accomplish—though there are inconveniences which obviously increase time spent playing—there is little satisfaction toward progressing through the game's campaign. Had there been greater consequences and more depth to the game's action system, revisiting the game could potentially be a worthwhile thing to do. This is especially true since there are actually two unlockable party members with unique skill sets which could allow for players to act methodically, though I actually never even used either of them since the game never really increased in difficulty at any point or proposed any reason for me to try out anything new. Nevertheless, there are five total crew members and five cryptid varieties, which is fine for a game of this scope. It's easy to accrue excess money, and I was able to purchase everything that's available before the game's midpoint which largely makes any additional funds gained useless within the context of gameplay purposes. Managing resources or equipment which could be purchased to compensate for an increased game difficulty could have been interesting to see.

While Sasquatchers is an interesting concept, it is ultimately a game that would have benefited from more development to elevate it to be a proper strategy game. From beginning to end, I relied on the same actions with the same party members, and it just felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again during my entire time playing. It's not necessarily a bad game, but I imagine many who played this weren't all that impressed.

35

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 07, 2025, 02:21:05 pm »

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

I guess the tl;dr of it is certain genres I really enjoy are under represented now, especially by bigger studios, and I also feel like the industry is a bit stuck due to greed and low risk tolerance. That is what I mean when I say it doesn't feel like the industry is making games for me anymore. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are still buying many of these titles, but it definitely isn't me.

I understand your opinions, and there is a lot of overlap between them and mine. And they're not unpopular ones either—just maybe not the most popular by comparison. Still, trends change, so what's popular now won't be in another ten years, just like what was popular in 2015 isn't what's popular now (or most popular, anyway.) I think that general opinion toward free-to-play models alongside the battle royale and hero shooters genres is dwindling and isn't even sustainable for developers, so something new will need to be found to command consumer attention.

Gaming has obviously been commercialized for decades, but big money corporate investors far greater than ever before are firmly rooted now and obviously have major influence over how developers design their games. And since big-budget, AAA games more often than not take five or more years to develop, there are many instances of titles chasing trends which either aren't popular by the time they finally release or release in a market where that style of game has become oversaturated (i.e. games influenced by Souls gameplay, games inspired by Ghost of Tsushima's setting and tone, or action-adventure platforming games wanting to be the next Hollow Knight.) Still, this has always been the case. It happened before the '90s too, but some of the biggest examples of developers chasing the trend previously was with Doom and Resident Evil (both the original title and Resident Evil 4 specifically) previously, and the market became flooded. There always were and always will be alternatives, but I suppose that depends on an individual level based on how open someone is to playing a variety of gaming genres.

But despite that, I'm still consistently drawn to numerous games during each of these kinds of events. They're not all games I know I'll play just since I can only play so many, but I still acknowledge their uniqueness and for the possibility for them to be successful and to attract a passionate audience of any size. Fortunately, the kind of games I tend to play don't incorporate micro-transactions and seldom release DLC which means that there are plenty of modern games which avoid those practices. I suppose it helps that I also don't play that many newly released games either, so I never feel as if I'm just waiting for something new to play.

36

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 06, 2025, 10:19:09 pm »

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

37

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 06, 2025, 10:03:19 pm »

Alongside the immediately following Day of the Devs presentation, there were enough announcements and updates for games that are impressionable.

Summer Game Fest
Felt That: Boxing
This features a praiseworthy puppet art style reminiscent of Sesame Street with arcade-like boxing gameplay. It's always refreshing to see developers have a unique idea and implement it strongly.

Fractured Blooms
The narration for this trailer was eerie, leaving me wanting to know more. I'm not entirely enthralled by everything shown including the character design, but it's enough for it to pique my interest.

Ill
A horror game that looks impressively terrifying, but I'm not sure how I feel about what was shown in regards to the narrative context with military involvement. The trailer doesn't make clear what genre the game is exactly, but it doesn't really seem like survival horror but instead an action-focused shooter which, as a result, diminishes its established horror.

Into the Unwell
This features an attractive art style that I'm assuming is intended to imitate rubber hose animation. Apparently gameplay is randomized to some extent which is questionable, as it looks like the game would be far more interesting as a 3D platformer or some sort of grounded action-adventure game. Multiplayer options are optional which, based on the trailer, seem odd to me to include.

Out of Words
This was easily best-looking game presented. It's a visually striking 2D co-op platformer crafted from tangible 3D models in stop-motion.

Resident Evil Requiem
As the ninth mainline Resident Evil entry, I'm not really sure how I'm feeling about it. I definitely want to see more of it before making finer judgment since, despite looking good, it's mentioned to be different. Apart from character connections and setting, nothing about this particularly looked like Resident Evil to me. Eight months until its release isn't long, and I'm sure there will be several occasions where gameplay will be shown. Regardless, Capcom is set to have a successful year in 2026 with this, Onimusha, and Pragmata being scheduled for release then.

Stranger than Heaven
Ryu ga Gotoku's latest original game. The setting has been changed from 1915 to 1943 which is certainly odd and a big change to make so late into development. I loved seeing how interactive the crowd was when a combat encounter began, and the enemy designs were fun.

Day of the Devs
Big Walk
It's been shown before as a social game, but a closer look at what it is exactly was shown. It's more than just a social tool, though, as it's some sort of multiplayer puzzle-adventure game with objectives to overcome that require teamwork which emphasizes communication in some fashion. Vocal dialogue isn't always accessible, so finding out how to communicate is part of the discovery. It looks fun, but I know I won't be playing it.

Consume Me
This life sim strategy game comprised of quirky action minigames has a lot of personality. I highly doubt I'll ever play it, but it looks fun with a lot of personality.

Please, Watch the Artwork
Self-described as a "psychological spot-the-difference [horror] game" which repurposes Edward Hopper's paintings. Gameplay revolves around observing any anomalies when viewing animated artwork. I enjoyed the developer's previous game Please, Touch the Artwork 2, so I think I'd enjoy this game too.

Tire Boy
This has a lot of playful energy within the frame of a coming-of-age exploratory adventure in some strange world. I'm interested.

38

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Developer/Publisher Requests

« on: June 06, 2025, 03:28:00 pm »

https://vgcollect.com/item/283309
Publisher: Côté Gamers

Unfortunately, this is another field option that's influenced by the ongoing encoding issue that we're waiting to be solved by site developers. Right now, Côté Gamers already exists as a field option but is only recognized as C. You can see how it's been affected with entries like 244316.

39

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Category/Platform Requests 2.0

« on: June 06, 2025, 10:08:42 am »

What about accessories for items such as the Switch 2 Camera? Or digital categories for items such as Fast Fusion which do not belong in a physical category?

40

Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: June 06, 2025, 09:09:16 am »

Gamestop done goofed again. This time... multiple people and countless outlets are reporting customers recieving damaged nintendo switch 2s.

Whats everyone's thoughts on it?

This was an incident occurring at one single GameStop store location in a city with seventeen stores, by my count. It's certainly upsetting for those affected, but the company plans to solve the issue through some sort of reimbursement or exchange.

Gamestop gave zero F's and probably figured early adopters had maybe a 60% chance of getting their new game system home without getting mugged. What's a staple to them?

Here to report that my friend was one of thousands in New York City who braved the dangers of the city's war-ravaged streets in order to secure a Switch 2 and made it home safely without violence or staples involved.

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Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Category/Platform Requests 2.0

« on: June 06, 2025, 08:51:58 am »

Switch 2 Consoles, Switch 2 NA, EU and JP created. Those regional sections are for physical games only.
Will add the digital section once it is confirmed what it is called.

It has been confirmed that the Switch 2 digital storefront maintains the eShop name.

Physical items for AU, CN, KR, and TW regional libraries alongside accessories have been confirmed.

42

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 04, 2025, 07:33:15 pm »

4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass (DLC) [Nintendo Switch]

I always struggle a bit with when DLC is substantial enough to be considered a separate entry.

I mean, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe itself is already a re-release of a game, only it included the previously paid DLC as part of the base experience. It's a little surprising just how long and how much Nintendo was able to profit from this one specific entry.

43

Modern Video Games / Re: Playstation: State of Play 6-4-2025

« on: June 04, 2025, 07:27:54 pm »

Honestly, this was the most consistent, high-quality showcase that Sony's had in many, many years. Of course, not every game is designed for me in mind, but everything shown looks like it has the capability to be successful. I made comments on everything as I watched, so I guess I'll just include them all.

Lumines Arise
I knew almost immediately that this announcement was some project related to Tetsuya Mizuguchi. I've actually never before played Lumines but have been wanting to for some time. It seems fun though actually difficult without knowing how the game's mechanics work.

Pragmata
Wow, so many people thought this had just been silently cancelled. It didn't seem like a lot was really shown besides some narrative information, but Capcom's promising for a 2026 release. I guess we'll see.

Romeo Is a Dead Man
I was actually much more interested in this during its opening cinematic scene, but it still stands out. I don't generally play hack 'n slash games, but it looks like it has a lot of personality. Of course this was created by Suda51.

Silent Hill f
I'm cautiously optimistic. It looks fun, and it looks far scarier than most other series entries. I'm curious just how much emphasis will be placed on combat. It's really surprising that the potential for there to be two high-quality games in the Silent Hill franchise to release within one year exists.

Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement
The player-character has a lot of battle dialogue that sounds like it'd be from Super Smash Bros.

Digimon Story Time Stranger
This isn't a game I'm interested in whatsoever, but there were some in-game and trailer design elements I thought looked nice.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chapters
I actually just saw some rumors this morning about this game releasing in some form. I'd still rather play one if the earlier releases, but this remake is nice for easier accessibility.

Baby Steps
Definitely something only Bennett Foddy would create. I'm still interested.

Hirogami
A papercraft-styled action-adventure game which definitely has visual appeal. It looks smaller in scope compared to more budget-heavy projects, which I think there needs to be more of.

Everybody's Golf Hot Shots
It's still a little unfortunate to see that Clap Hanz isn't involved with the series, but Bandai Namco seems to be doing well the franchise based on this trailer.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Not much to say about it. Seems fine for the right player, but it didn't really stand out to me in any meaningful way.

Cairn
This still holds my attention. It seems to have a greater emphasis on story than some other climbing games, which I think will set it apart in a good way.

Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection
Good for those wanting easier accessibility.

Project Defiant
For some reason, Sony decided to manufacture their own fight stick for the first time ever.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Would anyone really buy this if the Pipo Monkeys were absent? Probably not.

Nioh 3
This looks good. It definitely is much larger in scope than the other two games. I was actually expecting another Dynasty Warriors game once the Koei Tecmo logo appeared, so this was much more exciting.

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow
This looks fun. Thieving seems to complement VR well.

Tides of Reality
A multiplayer game with time distortion mechanics? This is an interesting premise, but I'm curious just how successful the idea actually is through gameplay.

Astro Bot
Hopefully one day they'll manufacture a disc that's complete with all the additional content they've released since launch.

Sea & Remnants
I'm actually a little confused about what kind of game this is. It seems like action-adventure with stealth mechanics, but there was a segment which looked like it had RPG components. Then, of course, there's the pirate ship gameplay, which I imagine is the game's main attraction. Regardless, there is some fantastic art direction that complements is more upbeat, lighthearted tone. Looks fun.

Sword of the Sea
One day, Giant Squid decided that there was nothing stopping them to create a game that effectively combines Journey, Abzû, and The Pathless into one.

FBC: Firebreak
Another entry by Remedy Entertainment set in the Control universe. Far more action-focused than other games.

007 First Light
This seems like a nice change of pace from IOI's Hitman series. More plot-driven, for sure. This looks good.

Ghost of Yōtei
A dog.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
Anime Marvel, complete with Japanese voices. Surprised it's taken this long for modern Marvel fighting game. There's a lot of eye-pleasing visual flair. 4v4 tag-team fighting seems crowded, though.

44

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 04, 2025, 07:15:39 pm »

35. Super Mario Kart || Super Nintendo || 05.31.2025



Despite not really being all that interested in the Mario Kart series, I enjoy playing the games on the rare occasion. I was totally unfamiliar with the game which started it all, so I decided to play through Super Mario Kart since it began the kart racer sub-genre altogether.

In short, players must compete against seven other racers in racing karts along a series of looping tracks which comprise a specific cup series. Obviously, the player's goal is to achieve the highest rank for each race, but it's actually not imperative to do so to actually win the cup. Instead, points are awarded to participants based on their ranking for each race. So, while finishing first in a race will naturally give the player a better opportunity to win the entire tournament, there is some room for error. Something that I think is specific to Super Mario Kart that was not carried over to later series entries is that players can actually lose the cup prematurely, and this coincides with player lives. If completing the final lap in fifth place or lower, players will not only be unable to collect points but also lose a life token and be given a chance to retry the race. Once all lives are depleted, though, the game over screen appears. This system actually benefits the player beyond the obvious effects should they be strategic too. If knowing that a certain rank placement must be secured to fully win the cup but it's not achievable, players can forfeit by purposely losing and being given the chance to try again.

Before beginning a tournament cup, players select their preferred driver and the level of difficulty they're wanting to play. I wasn't sure while playing since this information isn't present, but each driver has their own hidden stats which influence their driving performance such as top speed and handling. Something else I'm actually still unsure about that I'm questioning is if CPU opponents have predetermined skill levels based on the player-selected racer. I only began questioning this later on in my playthrough, as I always selected Princess Peach as my driver which seemingly resulted in Bowser always being my main competition for first place. Perhaps this was just an odd coincidence, though. Regardless, CPU racers do have a predetermined skill level to some degree—at least within a tournament cup to my knowledge. So, this means that there are those who will always lead or be toward the front and those who won't. This sort of behavior creates a lot more competition between the player and CPU, as the tournament becomes more like you versus one specific opponent. It's both a positive and negative aspect, though, since the remaining six racers have no significant importance. Also, I only played through the lowest difficulty setting that's 50CC. Despite some difficulty and frustration, I did manage to earn the gold trophy in each tournament on the first try, but I didn't feel compelled to play through 100CC. I didn't know this until afterward, but winning 100CC unlocks a fourth tournament cup and 150CC. Maybe I'll pursue that challenge in the future, but I feel content with my accomplishments as they are now.

While competing, there are two item types to collect: power items and coins. Scattered along the track, random items are collected upon driving over them to help secure the chance to win. How they operate is that item usefulness is determined by race placement. So, racers toward the front will tend to be distributed defensive items such as banana peels or even just coins, whereas those toward the back tend to be given offensive items like the star which grants temporary (momentary, really) invulnerability. Items are designed to be used at the player's disposal too, so there is some strategic element involved in their use. I didn't know this detail until just now, but not all items are available for players to use and instead exclusive to CPUs. I'm not sure why that is, but it's disappointing to find out since some items seem fun to use. However, there are also coins to collect which have far more importance than I was led to believe. When a certain amount of coins are held, a driver's maximum speed increases, so preserving them is one of the player's priorities. At the same time, coins also represent, in some form, each drivers' health. When colliding with other drivers, a coin is lost. This is generally not much of an issue, but colliding with other drivers without any coins results in being temporarily stunned and losing a significant amount of time. So, needless to say, evading other drivers altogether is important though can be difficult to manage if driving with a crowd.

As far as the game's track design, I found it to be fun and varied. They aren't all just your standard roadway, as notable tracks include a series of islands along a beach, lava-filled trenches, bumpy hillsides, and icy planes. The game's 2D presentation makes visibility sometimes difficult, though, as I found myself regularly colliding with and bouncing off of level geometry. Alongside the hazards which other racers may spawn, stages have their own obstacles to avoid too. At times, there are gaps to leap over by either timed bouncing or ramps, and speed boosts are sometimes present which activate upon being driven on. Meanwhile, the game screen provides other information beyond the driving action. There are actually two visual halves, with the lower half being a top-down view of the entire course which displays each driver's placement plotted on the map. The amount of coins and item currently held alongside the total amount of player lives is also shown, which I found to be much more useful than the map. I was only ever concerned with maintaining or reaching first place—it didn't matter to me where others were since there is little influence over that factor.

It's interesting to see just how far the Mario Kart series has come in the thirty-odd years since it began. The core gameplay has not really evolved at all, so this early entry is still fun. I still haven't played its two-player mode, but I'm wanting to.

45

Video Game Database Discussion / Re: Developer/Publisher Requests

« on: June 03, 2025, 03:35:00 pm »

publisher: The Pokémon Company

This is a developer issue we're waiting to be resolved. There are more field options beyond this one which need correcting.