Banjo-

@BIG3 I beat both games this week, too bad I didn't check that! It's disappointing that they turned the analogue stick into a digital stick.

@CallMeDuraSouka Most Xbox users still buy games as proven by the official reports, even those that are subscribed to Game Pass. I admit that it's a odd not knowing what games will be on PS5 (and Switch 2) and what games will be not (except Call of Duty for obvious reasons), but Microsoft said "on a case-by-case basis" since they acquired Zenimax. Does the uncertainty benefit Xbox? Probably. We know that Sony will be porting their games to Windows just like Xbox, so that makes PC the most complete gaming platform, although I'll stay on Xbox because I'm not a fan of what Sony is doing since PS4 and I love the Xbox hardware, controller and features.

@BIG3 I wonder why they didn't map running to the analogue stick like most games since Super Mario 64 in 1996. There are parts where she is not able to run and I totally respect that because it's part of the game design, but still could be mapped because she only has two different speeds at any given time. That's also my biggest complaint and happy to see more people commenting on that!

@JoyfulFire You are completely right. The saddest thing is that all these users will be complaining about the show after it airs because there were no surprises, as if Microsoft was to blame for the leaks. It makes you consider not visiting gaming sites for two weeks to avoid the spoilers.

@UndyingInsurgent95 The good news is that Sony will also be releasing their games on other platforms, at least Windows because they don't sell as many copies as needed and that Square Enix no longer wants to develop exclusives for Playstation and will bring the temporary exclusives to other platforms, including Xbox.

Jez Corden, are you saying that the next Doom is coming to Game Pass at launch?! I would have never guess that! What would the world do without you?

Seriously, Doom Eternal is the best modern shooter in my opinion, so looking forward to the next one.

I have played both Senua games for the first time this week. I wrote my impressions on the "Now Playing on Xbox Series S|X" thread. I didn't expect it, but both games are incredible experiences, very worth playing even if you think they're not your kind of games, because that's why I hadn't played the first game until now. I also found very interesting how different both games are. The first game took me 10h 7m and the second game 8h 43m, not looking for collectibles. Headphones and Dolby Atmos for Headphones recommended, OLED TV too, if possible.

EDIT: Watching Youtube to guess if you'd like them is pointless.

@Master_Cthulhu70 I know, right? One benefits the other. You can try games on Game Pass, it makes purchases more optional and reliable and the whole collection of temporary and owned games is as large as you want. The last game I beat on Game Pass was the first Hellblade, yesterday. A game I would have never bought because it didn't look my thing and that I loved. I have also tried games that I didn't like much. Not owning them makes easier to give them up. There is much negativity around Xbox, but most comes from PS "enthusiasts". I'm enjoying a lot my time on Xbox and getting excited about what's to come.

As others have noticed, you can tell that there have been double/triple agents writing off the Xbox game as usual, but also there are more consistent comments. I beat the first game and wrote about it on "Now Playing on Series S|X". Now I'm playing the second game, but haven't written about it yet. What I can say right now is that they are more different than I expected, so I really recommend everybody to play the first game. It was an incredible surprise for me.

@StonyKL Not all bosses are Bowser-size. 🤣 Regarding the story, the background is well explained in the extra feature of the first game, while the second game starts explaining the first game. The second game, well, you have to play it to know what the story is about, but at that point players know about Senua's curse (mental illness, when mental illnesses were not known) and what has happened before in her life. The beginning of Hellblade II also reveals clearly why she's travelling there and what her intentions and new motivations are. The things that "don't make sense" are exactly what she is seeing and hearing because of the supposed curse, that also explains why she blames herself for certain things.

I wonder if it's true that Ubisoft is currently remaking Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag using part of the work done here.

@Foxx_64740 I'm subscribed to Game Pass since the first day and now it's much better than I could imagine. Actually, we didn't know if it was going to succeed and only 100 games were guaranteed, but look at it now, with all these new Xbox Game Studios and third-party gems like Persona 3 Reloaded on top of that. Plus, the digital sales are very good, so I also have bought hundreds of games. I alternate between new and old games.

I suspect that some of the Activision Blizzard games are going to be added to Game Pass right after the Xbox Games Showcase.

@RetroMan71 I don't like cinematic games with mediocre gameplay and that's why I haven't played this until now, but Hellblade is not that. I thought that it was just a game trying to be flashy and edgy, but it's the opposite. I also thought that it was saturated with grimaces, but the actress doesn't overact. It's a unique game surrounded by prejudices. There is a feature included as extra in the first game that made me understand how carefully the elements of this story were chosen.

I beat the first game to experience the original first and although I didn't expect it, I loved it! It's much more than it seems. Definitely, not just a cinematic game and one of the stories I've liked the most, plus solid combat. I wrote my impressions on the "Now Playing on Series S|X" thread. If the sequel is as good, it doesn't deserve Pure Xbox's harsh review. Being on Game Pass, don't miss them! I regret having ignored the first title all these years.

I just beat the first Hellblade game and I loved it. Honestly, I didn't expect it and that's why I had not played it before. Time for the sequel, then.

@RIghteousNixon Based on the last comment, I wonder if it's trolling. Many of the people here haven't played any of the two games. Heck, some of them praised the first game while it was a PS4 console exclusive. My expectations were low, but I'm about to beat the first game and I think it's much better than The Last of Us, a horror game that is the typical example of Sony's supposed superiority, so I get what you mean. I'm looking forward to playing the sequel after Senua's Sacrifice. I don't know how the combat is in the sequel, but the combat in the first game is rock solid, one of its highlights. It's not just a cinematic game with bad gameplay like The Last of Us, Uncharted and others.

@NEStalgia Yes but if that was the case, Sarah wouldn't have said "largest technical leap ever in a console generation", because what she said was meant to be understood as "largest computing power (not graphical) leap" by every fan watching the podcast. I think that Microsoft chose Sarah as one of the main spokespersons because she looks very friendly, but I know that those words are not her own and were carefully chosen.

I agree that the industry can't afford more expensive to develop games, but a technical leap doesn't mean that, but the opposite. More power to create "current-gen" games in 60fps in quality mode, without letterboxing and, of course, easier to optimise because of the more capable technology. In other words, machines that can run Unreal Engine 5 in 60fps with ray-tracing. Meanwhile, PS5 Pro is PS5.1 if power rumours are to be believed.

On top of that, new technology allows lower power consumption, that screams hybrid console. Moreover, a dock makes a hybrid console as powerful as they want it to be. I see two possibilities, a true hybrid console with a powerful dock or a Switch-like dockable Xbox and Series X2.

The first option is more impactful and easier to market, as long as they market it as the "most powerful console" like Series X. The problem would be the price, so the second possibility is more market-friendly: a cheap dockable Xbox and Series X2. I think that it will be the latter.

About PC/console gaming, I don't have any doubts myself because time is money and precious!

@HonestHick He is very skilled at that, ha ha. At least, the ABK drama is over, nothing can be worse than that, right? I think that things will be alright in the new multiplatform era, because Sony is also at it. It's like the war is over with the new Actimicrosoftised Xbox and the new Sony CEO. They don't even have AAA games for 2 years LOL.

@NEStalgia I just read your PS comment and loved it You're a legend. You are able to say anything on the topic or to another user without being offensive but brutally honest and even make fun. You are always honest even when you feel uncomfortable (like HonestHick). You still do the acronym thing I hate, though, like OC and UC, that I guessed 5 minutes later... and you still chat with Otaku?

I have to disagree about consoles supporting other stores meaning hogging resources like a PC. A PC is like a smarthouse taking care of all the Windows, doors, wall sockets and appliances at the same time, monitoring everything every millisecond, just in case. A console can have different layers and profiles and activate just one. Like Wii U, that basically kills the OS when playing Breath of the Wild but not other games. There are ways for a console to be versatile and still focus on a single thing.

They said "largest technical leap ever in a console generation", indeed. Of course, it's not going to be like the leap from 64-bit to 128-bit in graphical terms, but I think that they mean real computing power. We'll see, but what you say about the super-powered dock makes sense to me if they make only one console and it's hybrid.

@HonestHick Stay with me on Xbox mate, you too, NES.

@Utena-mobile I was also part of the Miiverse community, especially on Wii U. I posted a drawing of Iwata with one eyelid open and the other half-closed, like in real life, but he was healthy at the time or so we thought (RIP). The drawing was liked a lot. He was holding the GamePad in hand. "This is Wii U", he said. "What is that, a Wii peripheral?"

Banjo-Kazooie, obviously! 😁

@TheSimulator "not many have Dolby headsets."

If you have high-quality headphones you just download the Dolby app on Xbox, pay a cheap licence that you can pay with Rewards points and then you have Dolby Atmos on your headphones.

@NEStalgia Microsoft confirmed that the next console will be the biggest generation leap yet, so if it's a hybrid only and not both a hybrid and home console, the dock will grant a lot of additional power. I agree that AI and cloud computing is pretty useless for consoles, unless like you said basic AI for upscaling like, supposedly, Switch 2 and PS5 Pro.

About another thread, doesn't Xbox have similar sales as Epic? $1 more? You will pay more for the extra power consumption and hardware on PC 😜.

@HonestHick That's very true, consoles and PC are not comparable, that's why I don't like when Digital Foundry use a PC configuration to show you how games would run on the next rumoured console. As you said, consoles are specifically designed for gaming and, most of all, the Xbox consoles because their engineers are very good at optimising the hardware and have access to DirectX, etc. Another great thing about consoles is the lower heat and power consumption.

@HonestHick @NEStalgia Interesting conversation that I'm able to understand in spite of not having your PC knowledge. Maybe the new ARM chip that they will manufacture for the hybrid console will have native compatibility with x86 and viceversa, so the high-end console would still be x86 and also both would be backwards compatible. Another possibility is that the hybrid console and the high-end console are the same, but I don't think that it's possible, not even with AI, not even online and also being online for checking licences is one thing and being online for computing power is another, so there will be two consoles.

Yesterday, I played the first game and beat the first boss with headphones and Dolby Atmos for Headphones. I set performance off on the Dolby application, because performance on is for competitive games. I shared my experience so far on the "Now Playing on Series S|X" thread. It's interesting how different the experience is for each person, even things like how the combat plays, after reading some comments about the first game in the comments section of the graphics topic. Combat is one of the things I like so far and nobody has mentioned how annoying is that running is not mapped to the analogue stick.

Back to the audio, I have a high-quality but dated 7.1 audio receiver that doesn't support Atmos and it's not set up here anyway. Good for films and music, though. Too bad it was released between 7.1 and Atmos.

@Conflix Exactly, if it's honest opinion based on experience and constructive criticism is not negativity. You expressed that better than me.

About the second part, it's sad because sometimes people don't read threads because of that.

@Bobobiwan Enjoy it! I just beat the first boss of the first game, Valravyn. I wrote a few negatives and positives on the forum already😅. Time to rest (after midnight now).

Side note, 6 years of development, but making the most of Unreal Engine 5 on the new consoles takes time. There are lazier developers, for sure. The studio was expanded in 2018 when they were acquired by Microsoft.

@Conflix That's good. I'm positive, but also if I don't like a game I'll say it and explain why. The negativity of some users/PS "enthusiasts" is predictable waste. The least likeable and most boring of all, because it's not seriously intelligent stuff that you could agree or disagree but gastric juices, flat electroencephalogram or just hollow sadness that don't have any meaning or depth.

@NEStalgia Absolutely. Exclusives are almost over because they are not what most people are playing. The "Sony superiority" sounds like a joke because it comes just because of the cinematic presentation of The Last of Us and everything that came after, but only if it's Sony. The bland Spiderman open world would be ridiculed like crazy if it was a Bethesda game like you said, but also Breath of the Wild if it was a Ubisoft game! Actually, Ubisoft made my favourite BotW. It seems that the multiplatform future of Microsoft and Sony is unavoidable, but in the end it may be positive. I'm happy that at least third-party exclusives are finally over. What is clear is that the exclusives wars and consoles sales are meaningless now.

@OldGamer999 Maybe Perfect Dark, Fable, Avowed or The Elder Scrolls 6 will satisfy you?

It’s 2023 all over again.
Redfall, Starfield and Forza overall disappointment from Xbox managed studios.
2024
Hell blade 2, dissolution disappointment
Avowed, that will be average.
Indy, got that wrong going first person, such a missed opportunity.
That’s my Xbox disappointment studios forecast for 2024.

???

@NEStalgia I have criticised several Xbox studios and of course the hands-off approach and limbo states, but I also noticed that most Sony studios started using the Naughty Dog template after The Last of Us. Metroid Dread is a good example of glorified Nintendo game. I remember someone that got mad and told me, "Why do you hate New Super Mario Bros. 2 and love Super Mario World if they're the same quality?" and I was like wtf and didn't even bother.

If we wanted whatever is most popular we'd all be playing GTAV, Fortnite, CoD, and FIFA on PS's forever and ever. Worse, we'd just play Candy Crush.

Exactly. Most people are playing those games and Minecraft. Not just that, but the most-played games on PS5 are PS4 games, third-party PS4 games. Some "enthusiasts" act as if Xbox is doomed because Hellblade 2 is not top 1 on the charts, but on PS is the same thing, the PS5 exclusives aren't the hottest thing either. The latest exclusives no longer sell tons of consoles and the console market is big but limited. The only exception is Nintendo that is its own thing, its own unpredictable market. It can sell 13m consoles or it can sell 139m.

@OldGamer999 What @NEStalgia said on #123 hits the nail on the head. It's not that Nintendo games are better. When I go to physical stores, all parents are buying Switch consoles and games for Switch. No mother is asking for PS or Xbox. Nintendo also has the whole Japanese market this generation plus the biggest suckers fans (myself included to a certain extent) that buy several Switches and the same games over and over.

The reason for having an Xbox is not just first-party games like Hellblade II, but also third-party games, the services, subscriptions, enhanced and free backwards compatibility, FPS Boost and the hardware itself. Third-party games don't make sense on Switch and are more expensive there. If you don't mind the poor performance and graphics or are only interested in Nintendo games and full-priced GC, Wii and Wii U ports then yes, Switch is all you need. In my opinion, most of the new Nintendo games don't reach the level of quality that made most of their old games must-have.

@NEStalgia

I still hate how after TLOU1 they just became a film studio disguised as a game studio. Heck, now the TV show seems to be the only thing they make lol.

Anything better than playing their shooting or stealth sections LOL.

@OldGamer999 To be fair to MS, if the lesson to be learned is that repackaging 6th gen games is the ticket to success, then MS should just market remasters of OG Xbox games and be done with it.

And charge $£€60 for the port!

@Jaxx420 I'd say Rare (still has Banjo-Kazooie designer and director) and Activision. They can also hire Playtonic and Grant Kirkhope is a freelancer. I'm not sure about Toys for Bob except for graphics. I'm going to continue my Hellblade playthrough 😁.

@Jaxx420 The gameplay of Crash is slow platforming, but there's a lot of precision involved and breaking all boxes is addictive. The remakes are what I played and they look stunning. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is also amazing, too bad it's still 30fps. I also played The Wrath of Cortex (Traveller's Tale) on GC and need to play 4 by Toys for Bob.

As you said, the current Naughty Dog has a lot of fans and critics love their games so they don't need me LOL. I can also criticise Microsoft on the same page for neglecting Banjo-Kazooie since 2008.

@Jaxx420 I don't know if you read my edit. I loved Crash Bandicoot N.sane Trilogy, but that was another Naughty Dog. I beat it 100%, including the extra levels. Off-topic but worth mentioning because of your profile picture.

@NEStalgia I just started the first game. My advice? They are short and you have Game Pass, so try it at least and use headphones. I also thought that I was going to hate it, but... not yet.

@DoomGuy_117 Thanks.

@Jaxx420 Maybe but The Last of Us also has a horror theme, the reason why I bought it, but I didn't like it at all, so who knows. I'll post my opinion on "Last Game You Beat" thread when I beat this.

@Jaxx420 I agree. Just one little nitpicking, although Hellblade has been compared to Sony's exclusives because of the noticeable hypocrisy of supposedly multiplatform gamers and because of its evident cinematic presentation, linearity and basic gameplay, no Xbox fan here or on a PS review of a Sony game pops up just to say that they're "crap". The worst part about it is that they aren't even going to play it, so they won't ever know if it's "crap", they just come to an Xbox site to try to make some damage to the latest Xbox game.

I'm not the biggest fan of cinematic games and I don't like Naughty Dog's games (no surprise here), but I loved every game of The Walking Dead (Tales), so here's that. Funnily, I loved Crash Bandicoot N.sane Trilogy, but that was another Naughty Dog.

@DoomGuy_117 I just started the first game on Series X. I have realised how important headphones are as some people have noticed. I started with Windows Sonic for Headphones but I switched to Dolby Atmos for Headphones in the console settings (Performance mode off in the Dolby app) that was off, I don't know why because I had the licence, and I noticed a further improvement of the sound, the sharp 3D positioning doesn't make the voices annoying as I was fearing. Just 30 minutes of game so far.

@Kienda They also opened two studios, Activision Austin and Activision Elsewhere. They also confirmed that they relocated part of the staff. All companies have been shutting studios down or outsourcing games to avoid any kind of risk, in very bad or crunch conditions in some cases, like Nintendo with Metroid Dread, according to the developers.

I will play the first one before the sequel. I'm quite intrigued by the sound design and the current-gen graphics, wrongly called next-gen, that doesn't exist yet.

Why are some/same users saying that it's a 5-hour game? Are they speed-running the game already? Not that length really matters to me, but they try to make it sound like a technical demo when the reviewer said,

A solid eight hour adventure.

These users are cherry-picking the worst bits and worst scores of each review, but haven't played the game nor intend to do so. It's just for retweeting them on an Xbox site.🤣

@Stamnoso Agree about Sea of Stars, I pushed myself to finish it in spite of loving many RPGs.

@Fenbops

Even the non linear Sony games, they’re more Ubisoft like than people like to admit, it’s become tedious, across nearly all open world games not just the Sony ones.

For instance, the Horizon Zero Dawn/Horizon Forbidden West games are undoubtedly a lesser version of Ubisoft's typical games. Spider-Man's games open world is boring and empty. Some Ubisoft games are better than people like to admit, obviously because they're third-party. Assassin's Creed, Rayman Legends and Immortals Fenyx Rising come to mind.

Ryse, as many Xbox games, paid the Xbox tax when being reviewed. 😅 I also think that some reviewers rate games according to a quick experience that overrates an easy ride, not so much the depth of the gameplay or the long-term appeal. However, even then, the same experience on Xbox never seems to be enough.

@BHPM That's very true and very well written.

@Fenbops To me, you're one of the "genuine users here, whether they like or dislike whatever game or topic." I know that what you say is always true. I kind of like when a genuine Xbox/Nintendo/PS player criticises a game if I know they're sincere, because I also do that quite often. 😅

I loved Ryse, the graphics are awesome but the story and pace are also good and the gameplay is fun. My only complaint was the frame rate. The thing about PS exclusives is that they have become a template that is all about the cinematic experience, but some of them are super linear and empty at best in gameplay terms and even bad and frustrating at worst, in gameplay terms. Some would make a better film than the game they are.

Many good deals this week. Sonic Superstars is at its cheapest ever, even cheaper that the regular edition has ever been. The extras are disappointing, but you're not paying for them in this case. Persona 3 Reload is easily my favourite Persona game so far, but it's included in Game Pass.

@BHPM I completely agree with that and it's also why I don't really like Sony's exclusives since last generation, except Wipeout Omega Collection that is the opposite of a Sony PS4/5 game. I thought that the PS fans would be a bit more compassionated this time, because it's a game that truly suits Sony's kind since PS4. I also wonder what would they say if it was a Sony exclusive. That said, everyone is entitled to like the Hellblade games or not (same as I disliked the The Last of Us games so much), as long as they are sincere and have played them. I haven't played Hellblade I and II yet so I can't say, but I will because they're on Game Pass and they look intriguing. If I like them or not, I will say exactly what I think, like always.

Reviews are just someone's opinion. I'm completely fine with that, although they worry me a bit when they're about a niche game that the reviewer bashes, because it might affect the buying decision of some people and the future of the IP, including remasters and ports of old games. In this case, the game is new, it's first-party and it's included in Game Pass, so just play it yourself "for free" (no additional fee, no full-price purchase) and see if you like it.

Very funny and predictable the PS fans calling this game "crap" and other users "fanboy" for being positive about the game, on the game's review thread, on an Xbox site.

@Ep_13 We need more genuine Xbox users here, whether they like or dislike whatever game or topic, so you're very welcome and congratulations on your family adventures.

I wonder if it's true that Ubisoft is remaking Black Flag, because that's the next I have to play LOL. I'm playing all the games in release order.

@NarutosBiggestFan @jedinite If Ubisoft ever closes the game server, they would release an update for the game and drop that requirement for the physical game, especially because they will be selling the digital version indefinitely. So, well, you'll maybe need to download an update for both versions, but it would always be available.

@NEStalgia Wait because PC barely beats high-end consoles in graphics and we will know about the next Xbox soon. Play part of the consoles backlog, although I read that you are already going through the PC process again.

I haven't played Princess Peach Showtime, it looks a bit like Mario Party for one player. I will try the demo if there's one. I was Nintendo only until the last generation, so I've played the whole Kingdom Hearts, Gears of War and Halo series among others in recent years. I have also played Assassin's Creed I, The Ezio Collection, III and Liberation so far. I read that Ubisoft is supposedly remaking Black Flag, so I might wait for that and play Rogue and other IPs in the meantime, because Rogue and Black Flag are heads or tails.

Back to Nintendo, I completely agree with you and the reasons that you have provided for its current success are solid. I have talked with people that feel exactly the same about Nintendo games no longer being magical but boring and silly. No fun in replaying them like the old games. It makes sense, since the majority of original designers and directors are not working on the new games. It's as simple as Nintendo is not Nintendo, but a new Nintendo. A new Nintendo that is more marketable and aimed at parents buying for children. Just watch the film. Mass-produced casualised games with linear gameplay, heavy controls and tacky music. Miyamoto and Tezuka are missing. Just a look at the credits of Super Mario World, the director is Tezuka, the producer is Miyamoto, the designers are Katsuya Eguchi and Hideki Konno and the composer is Koji Kondo. Look at what happens when the new staff make a Mario game: New Super Mario Bros. 2. Even the critically acclaimed Super Mario Bros. Wonder is very tacky and has been casualised. The original Nintendo became famous because of what the original staff did, the new Nintendo is famous because of the brand and the IPs and just replace people and outsource games as needed. They don't make masterpieces like before and I don't care what Metacritic says. Actually, I no longer read "professional" reviews. 🤣

@theduckofdeath State of Decay 2 is great even if you're alone. I can't say the same thing about Sea of Thieves, that I only enjoy with people I trust.

@HonestHick It makes sense because of handheld PCs and Switch, but both the high-end console and hybrid console must be computers with an Xbox UI to make things straight-forward and easy.

@NEStalgia I really don't know about the Windows store because I don't game much on PC. Many people complain about it, but don't explain why. Play Anywhere is an excellent idea because you get games for both console, desktop computers and of course laptops, but it should be expanded and cover all first-party games since they started it. Third-party games are trickier to get. This, FPS Boost and free enhanced backwards compatibility make Xbox too good to ignore and it has become my favourite gaming platform since Xbox One. Switch is my least favourite Nintendo console ever.

"Soulless" is an accurate definition of today's Nintendo. In my case, it was the Wii U and Switch transition what made me reconsider and so I bought the PS4 and later the Xbox One. Looking back, Wii U had a short but sweet life until Nintendo killed it and abandoned its supporters.

The thing about PC and laptops is that I find myself only playing games when I'm home and I prefer the console experience. I don't take my Switch with me either. I have only used it on one vacation, when I started Tears of the Kingdom, not being able to read most of the text. Screens are super important for me. The 3DS, on the other hand, is fantastic and I still think that it has a better screen and also it's Nintendo's best handheld ever. The screen of the Switch Lite is absolute rubbish, the screen of the (v2) regular Switch is okay, at best. We discussed about this time ago, don't ask me why, I think the smaller New 3DS is the best, screen included. Of course, the resolution is low but the video looks perfectly fine, not blurry like on Switch and the games are designed for it.

The Switch OLED should be better but I decided to sold my Lite and get the v2 instead and I paid nothing because I also sold some games. The Switch OLED is overpriced and I knew it would stay plugged into the TV. If I skip Nintendo's next generation console, it would be the first one I skip since I was a kid and my parents gave me the SNES, excluding Virtual Boy, that wasn't released here. That gives you an idea. By the way, there is a new Virtual Boy emulator for 3DS, Red Viper, that works perfectly fine. Wii U, well, it plays Wii games and even GC games natively (soft-modded) and of course it has the Virtual Console of Wii U and Wii, plus Wiiware. I'm not paying for renting roms of games I own from 30 years ago. Nothing of that works for me, and even the new first-party games have been watered down and casualised. Mario and Zelda have always been my Nintendo quality benchmark and have failed with BotW, TotK and SMO. SMO is my disappointment of the generation. Then you have the weirdest Animal Crossing. Do you remember our tracking of new first-party Switch exclusives? 🤣 Thanks for your support then, in between.

I bought Luigi's Mansion 3 and Link's Awakening when I traded the Lite, but I haven't played them. I played Link's Awakening on Game Boy, though. I will get Pikmin 4, also second-hand. I'm not buying the Wii U ports again. The only Wii U port I got for Switch was Mario Kart 8, that it's also my least favourite Mario Kart game ever, but I wanted to have the fixed battle mode. The funny thing is that the game I was looking forward to the most when I got the Switch was Metroid Prime 4 and it hasn't been released.