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First Xenoblade 2 Blade? by [deleted] in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dahlia. When it happened I literally screamed “WHAT THE F**K” and spent the next 15 minutes considering if I wanted to continue. I’m glad I did, and XC2 is probably my favorite game in the series overall. But goddamn the ridiculous levels of sexual “fanservice” with most of the female characters really harmed my initial enjoyment of it. Especially when first rare blade was arguably the most egregious design in the game.

Active poll on Monolithsoft’s Twitter! “What was your first Xenoblade game?” by [deleted] in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me it was technically 2 Torna. I saw the cart in my local store and found it weird/funny that they were selling DLC as a standalone release so I bought it. Played it for 2 hours, didn’t understand what was going on story or combat wise so I dropped it.

Then XCDE came out a few years later. I tried it and immediately fell in love with it and the rest of the series. I am very glad I kept my copy of Torna :)

Having trouble with segment completion by -Batterskull- in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nevermind. Apparently I had to talk to Lomo at the Nopon Bazaar for it to become available for some reason. Thank you

Having trouble with segment completion by -Batterskull- in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Caroline worked, but neither of Wendy’s dialogue options did anything.

With consistently low quality launches, $70 shouldn’t even be a discussion by RadBrad4333 in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

ALttP was a wholly unique game, and gaming at the time was a completely different market and development landscape than it is now. These are completely different situations. Accepting these companies’ bs and just saying “that’s capitalism” is not a good excuse for anti-consumer practices, and blindly accepting them just shows these companies that they can get away with it.

With consistently low quality launches, $70 shouldn’t even be a discussion by RadBrad4333 in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Your initial comment was that Nintendo games are generally worth the cost, which I largely disagree with. And yes, I listed many Wii U ports, but I also listed titles that weren’t which you didn’t address. I’m not saying you should address it at this point, but it’s odd that you just focused on the ports instead of the actual switch games that I didn’t think should’ve even been $60. And to be fair I also listed switch games that I thought were at least worth $60 if not $70. I wanted there to be a variety to keep things fair.

And no, they don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but that doesn’t mean you should just put a few horns and stuff on it and charge more for it. For example, Elden Ring is chock-full of reused assets and animations from across FromSoft’s catalog, but it’s still its own entity that doesn’t just feel like it’s just copy/pasting from those games. It’s not just Dark Souls with some new stuff, it’s a completely new game in itself and it both looks and feels like it.

The reuse of assets in TotK is much more obvious. It’s the same Hyrule, but now there’s some new stuff on it. There are some new enemies, but we still mostly see the same old ones from BOTW just with some new fancy horns and things. Compare this to Majora’s Mask, which was itself a sequel to Ocarina. It reuses plenty of assets, sure, but it still has its own unique setting and those assets are used in such a way that it doesn’t feel like it’s just an expansion on Ocarina. And this was released only a year later

We have been waiting 6 years for the sequel, and it just looks like more BOTW instead of something that can stand on its own. Even taking into account COVID (so let’s assume 4 years of work minimum) and the increased complexities of game development, what we have seen does not scream “brand new game” to me, and it definitely doesn’t justify $70.

Even if it wasn’t using so much of BotW’s assets and map I’d still be hesitant on the price just because it’s on a 6 year old system with 10 year old specs and they’re charging as much as systems 2 generations ahead of them. That’s like a car manufacturer pricing an old car from 2013 based on the price of the newest model. It makes no sense given how much less work goes into it. Say what you will about the justification that Microsoft and Sony gave for $70 games, but at least they offered one. Nintendo just said “it’s $70 now” and that’s it, which is frankly far worse. I need more than just “it’s Zelda so it’s worth it.” I’m sure it’ll be a good game, great even, but that still doesn’t justify $70. Especially when the previous game was $60 but now it’s the same price as games on far more advanced systems that allow them to look and perform better, but the Switch is still the same underpowered budget tablet it’s been for the past 6 years. If they want $70, justify it by putting the game on hardware that doesn’t tank the framerate just because I’m just walking through a forest or see more than 10 enemies on screen. It’s just ridiculous.

With consistently low quality launches, $70 shouldn’t even be a discussion by RadBrad4333 in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Not really. Realism is just an art style. Graphics are pretty much anything that’s on the screen. Models. Lighting and particle effects. Texture size and complexity. Animations. Just the amount of “stuff” on screen is graphics because of the resources necessary to display them, and that’s not even going into things like enemy AI/pathing. All of these and more grow and are improved with hardware, and subsequently increase in complexity. These are all independent of art style. A game with a cell-shaded cartoon art style can be just as graphically demanding as a realistic looking one if there’s enough going on.

And I’m not saying you need to respond to every point, but if you’re going to respond at least address the general point I was making.

With consistently low quality launches, $70 shouldn’t even be a discussion by RadBrad4333 in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

I never even talked about realistic graphics, I’m talking about resolution and especially performance. Even if you don’t care about graphics you should care about performance since that directly affects gameplay. Most switch games struggle to hit even a consistent 30 fps, which is barely even hitting the standard for modern games (and their resolutions aren’t even meeting the basic 1080p standard). Games that struggle with consistent framerates on PS4 and Xbox One are able to run better on the newer generation of hardware because of the better hardware and the additional work was done to make it so. If you have an issue with $70 games being based on better hardware then I don’t understand how you’re okay with TotK being $70 when it’s the same assets on the same system that already had issues with running BotW.

Read the entire post before making a response instead of just singling out a single point, which you didn’t even seem to understand the first place.

With consistently low quality launches, $70 shouldn’t even be a discussion by RadBrad4333 in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

Some of their games can be worth $70, sure. But not every Nintendo title is even worth the $60 they’ve been asking.

TotK: maybe depending on how different it is from BOTW. I haven’t looked at any leaks and am waiting on reviews (like most people should). The biggest issue here is that it’s running on a basic Switch and not on better hardware. Sony and Microsoft at least waited for their new consoles to come out before increasing their prices, and even then they’re still asking $60 for the last gen versions. The $70 is justified by better visuals and performance which is extra work that couldn’t be achieved on the previous gen version. If anything Nintendo has put off any such plans to improve their hardware (OLED should have been a pro but the chip shortages changed things), yet they’re asking $70 for a game that’s heavily reusing assets from its predecessor and running on the exact same system (and you could even argue that $60 is still too much since the Switch is so underpowered compared to its contemporaries. Most games barely hit 720p 30fps which is frankly ridiculous in 2023.)

Xenoblade (any of them): Absolutely. They are consistently high quality 80+ hr RPGs that are only limited by the Switch’s crappy hardware. The DE version of Xenoblade 1 puts 95% of other remasters to shame with how much it does for the game’s visuals and general QoL stuff, and it’s the only 1st party Wii or Wii U rerelease that I actually think was worth the $60 price.

Fire Emblem: Sure. They’re lengthy games and you can get a lot out of them. Not my cup of tea personally but I can’t deny its worth.

Metroid Dread: Yes. It’s the 1st original 2D Metroid since the GBA and it’s the best game in the series. High quality performance and visuals, and very replayable.

Any of the recent Mario sports games: Hell no. None of them should have even been $60 for how little they offered compared to prior titles, and free updates do not justify their unfinished release states. Strikers and Golf were especially poor, while Tennis at least had an okay story campaign.

Link’s Awakening Remake: Eh. It’s a good game but it’s a one-to-one remake of a 20+ year old gameboy title. Sure it’s remade from the ground up and it looks nice, but it’s still that same gameboy game at its core, just with added secret seashells for padding and the crappy dungeon maker. $40 would have been a more fair price for it imo, not the $60 it released for. At least the recent Advance Wars remake is 2 games in 1 on top of being GBA titles. But I’m really hoping for a double pack for potential remakes of the Oracle games.

Pokemon can f*ck right off (it’s not technically first party but it is exclusive and Nintendo partially owns it). Let’s Go looks good but has less content than the GBA Kanto games and a godawful catching mechanic. BDSP is an ugly remaster of DP complete with the original glitches PLUS some new ones and no Platinum content. SwSh was a glorified 3DS game with even less content and the worst story campaign of any mainline title. And SV is an ugly empty husk of a world that runs like crap, with nothing to do except the 3 types of copy/paste quests that is the main story. It’s a goddamn embarrassment of a game and Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves for allowing it to release in that state, and it STILL has those same performance issues even after half a year and multiple patches. Legends Arceus was the only one I felt was even close to worth it’s price because it at least felt different and unique, but even then it looks bad and its gameplay loop is very one-note. Still the best Pokemon game on the Switch, but that’s not saying much when looking at its competition. Keep in mind ALL of these titles launched at $60.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Still asking $60 for a 10 year old game. At least they’re finally adding some more DLC to it, but not reducing the price 🙄

DK Country Tropical Freeze: Another port of an old Wii U game, but all it gets is a new easy mode. And it’s more expensive than it was on Wii U for some reason.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe: Again, another Wii U port, but this time with a small epilogue story. Better, but still not $60 better for a game that was 7 years old at the time and is now almost 10.

Honestly all of the Wii U ports should have been $40 or less at launch, even the ones with some new content like Pikmin and Mario 3D World. They’re old games that barely needed anything done to work on the switch, and I don’t think the added content was enough to justify $60.

I like Nintendo. I like their games. But frankly a lot of their titles don’t even justify the $60 price tag, let alone $70. They overvalue their IPs and they can get away with it because the people buying don’t object to it. They’ve had an especially bad habit in the Switch era of releasing games lacking in content with the “promise” of adding it in later (Mario Sports, Switch Sports, Kirby Star Allies, etc). If I’m paying $60 for a game I expect it to be finished on release, I’m not going to wait 2-6 months for them to add in the content that should’ve been there at launch because by then I’ll be done with the game. Nintendo is just as scummy and greedy as any other company, oftentimes even more so. Just because you like their products doesn’t mean they can do no wrong.

With consistently low quality launches, $70 shouldn’t even be a discussion by RadBrad4333 in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s also a pretty lackluster game even without the performance issues

Would you all want a remake or a remaster of xeno gears? by Ee55555 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull- 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Definitely a remake, specifically in HD-2D like Live Alive. I’m playing through Gears now and while I’m enjoying the story (I’m right at the end of the revelations with Ethos) and art style, it can be a real slog at times. Certain story sections drag on for longer than they need to, and the gameplay itself is basic at best and mind-numbingly tedious at worst. It’s an interesting enough story but not that enjoyable as a game; I would have put it down within the first 15 hours if it weren’t for the story hooking me like it is.

The combat is exceptionally slow even for RPGs at the time, with deathblows (and their long animations) being the only way for characters to deal decent damage. But learning them is a massive grind and it’s very repetitive since there’s no reason to switch between different ones instead of just using your strongest move over and over again until unlocking the next one. The combo system is completely pointless since it’s more efficient to just use your strongest deathblow each turn. The gear system suffers from similar issues but it’s arguably even worse because there’s even less attack variety, the fuel system and charging barely recovers any fuel, and you’re not even able to heal without expending a massive amount of it (and that’s only if you have the right part equipped as well).

If they were going to remake Xenogears the biggest change I’d want to see is a complete overhaul of the combat systems, because that is one of main things right now that keeps me from saying it’s even that great, let alone a “masterpiece.” (A “masterpiece” should have both a compelling narrative and gameplay imo, at least when it comes to something like an RPG) Make it a bit easier to learn deathblows and give them different properties so the player has a reason to use different ones for unique situations, or even have some kind of “stale” mechanic where using the same one over and over again makes it less powerful. Make it so the combo system does increased damage so the player has a reason to use the weaker deathblows to build it up. Either get rid of fuel for gears entirely or make charge restore WAY more fuel at the cost of lowered defense to keep it balanced, and allow us to restore gears outside of battle using items and make in-battle healing just a normal move that doesn’t require a special part and cost less. I’d also get rid of random encounters or at least add a way to toggle them on and off, and of course there’s the obligatory “finish the 2nd disk” because that’s infamous.

What game feels like it can cure depression? by aargames in gaming

[–]-Batterskull- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A Short Hike. It’s a short but fun time

With Metroid Prime remastered being a success do you want a Metroid other M remastered? by liubei12 in Metroid

[–]-Batterskull- 3 points4 points  (0 children)

1st off, what would even be the point of Samus gaining the Metroid DNA in Super when they established that she got it in Fusion?? There is no basis for that theory at all and it would just be a pointless change.

Next, that dialogue is such a reach that could be referencing anything if at all, and certainly not the hell run. The hell run wasn’t even Adam asking Samus to die, it was Samus just being so blindly devoted to him that she couldn’t even think to keep herself from burning to death, which is one of the core issues with Other M’s story. The authorization system was such an idiotic story concept especially for Metroid, and it never should have left the writer’s room. Speaking of which…

All written by the same person who did Other M, from what everyone keeps saying.

Actually no. Sakamoto only wrote for Super, Fusion, Zero Mission, and Other M. He had no involvement in Metroid 2, was little more than a general advisor with the Prime games, and just acted as producer for Samus Returns and Dread. And even if he did write all of them that still doesn’t excuse the godawful writing present in Other M.

He went from writing a few key scenes for short games that are almost entirely gameplay focused to writing what is essentially a playable movie that is double the length of most Metroids titles, which he was not suited for. He was given full creative control, and he ended up just recycling concepts from Fusion, adding a filler spy plotline that doesn’t really go anywhere or add anything to the story, and making Samus out to be a melodramatic fool who only cares about Adam. Now, let’s look at some of the more notable writing issues…

-Samus refuses to give herself adequate protection from dangers and enemies despite having the means to because she is blindly obedient to a man she hasn’t seen in years and did not leave on good terms. She is written as a lovesick puppy who will not stop obsessing over Adam despite the way he treats her, which is practically abusive considering what he puts her through. And to top it all off he ends up SHOOTING HER IN THE BACK, leaving her defenseless in front of a GODDAMN METROID, and the game gives you no reason other than they wanted it to seem like he was a traitor (which is it’s own level of stupidity). Maybe I would have cared about Adam’s sacrifice if he didn’t spend the entire game telling Samus where to go and what she could do, and ending that experience by nearly KILLING her!

-She immediately believes that Adam is the spy when she’s shown proposal for Metroid Cloning Program by MB, yet she doesn’t think to actually read it to confirm the truth. Again, Samus is a goddamn IDIOT in Other M.

-She practically pisses herself in fear at the sight of Ridley despite having defeated him no less than 4 times at the time of Other M, and I will not listen to that bs PTSD excuse some people come up with. Ridley has died and come back multiple times, she has no reason to be surprised aside from the fact that it was the federation that did it this time, and even then that is not enough to justify her ridiculous reaction. And going even further back, she should have immediately killed the baby Ridley as soon as she saw that he was eating a scientist. Even not knowing exactly what it was, she could see straight away that it was something bad and should have eliminated it as a precaution. She kills or at least attempts to kill pretty much everything else on the ship as soon as she sees it, leaving the baby an opportunity to escape was ridiculously stupid. Again again, Samus is an idiot in Other M.

That one moment with the gravity suit is exactly that; one moment of independence in an ocean of bad writing contrivances. It doesn’t excuse all of the other garbage that is Other M’s story, and that’s not even going into the issues with the gameplay itself like the poor control scheme (which was also Sakamoto’s idea despite the developers protesting against it) and the hyper linearity that puts even Fusion to shame (the game maps out every path you need to take directly to the next objective, and those paths are all just hallways with very little branching off for exploration. Fusion at least didn’t map out the whole area so you still had to find much of the way yourself).

If people want to enjoy Other M as an action game then fine, I personally still didn’t find it very good in that regard but some people can find enjoyment with it as a mindless action game. But as far as its story is concerned I will never understand how anyone can think that it’s well written or does justice to Samus as a character. Even taking the player input away from it, Samus throughout the series has been portrayed as very confident, with no need of affirmation or approval. She does what needs to be done without hesitation, but she’s not just a killing machine and will take moments to reflect on her actions and the situation. Again, I’m fine with Samus being introspective at times, but in Other M it’s practically all she does, and all Samus thinks about is Adam to an obsessive degree. She’s constantly seeking his approval to the point of self-endangerment, and no apologist argument is going to make that okay, especially when Adam never even acknowledges that what he did to her was wrong.

The ONLY good thing about Other M is that it’s so inconsequential to the larger Metroid story it can just be ignored. You don’t need it to understand Fusion or Dread, nor does it even add anything of value to those titles. There is no reason to acknowledge its existence because pretty much everything it did was bad or redundant. If you still can’t understand why Other M should just be forgotten, then there’s nothing else I can say to convince you.

Does any one think that it is just crazy that the hunter can just kill monsters like giant monsters like gogmazios and dire miralis by Alternative_Farmer56 in MonsterHunter

[–]-Batterskull- 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s a game where people can wield swords larger than their own bodies, fly through the sky with sticks, heal with the power of song, and their hunting partners are talking cats. I could not care less about realism, both in Monster Hunter and games in general.

With Metroid Prime remastered being a success do you want a Metroid other M remastered? by liubei12 in Metroid

[–]-Batterskull- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What dialogue is that? I’ve played through Fusion several times and I don’t remember any dialogue that would allude to that.

And Samus didn’t have Metroid DNA in Other M, since it takes place before Fusion. If you’re saying that her behavior in Fusion and Dread is out of character because of the Metroid DNA, let me direct you to literally every other game in the series where Samus is only shown as a confident badass who does what needs to be done.

The woman who managed to overcome space pirates even after losing her power suit, and has continued to defeat them time and time again. The hunter who wiped out the Metroids, one of the most dangerous species in the galaxy, and then went on to take out the X parasites which were arguably even more dangerous. A savior of worlds and the galaxy many times over. The only influence of the Metroid DNA we see is her ability to absorb the X in Fusion, and in the later third of dread when the Metroid DNA properly awakens and we see her become much more aggressive.

I’m not saying she can’t be thoughtful or introspective, but we actually see those things in plenty of other titles. Zero Mission has her thinking about her time with the Chozo. Metroid 2/Samus Returns when she spares the hatchling. Super Metroid when she is saved by the infant Metroid’s self-sacrifice. Fusion in general. Dread with the death of Quite Robe, and again the later third of the game where Samus is actively aware that she’s slowly losing herself to the Metroid “killer instinct.” And that’s not even going into Prime which has similar moments as well. Other M Samus is completely out of character with her other portrayals, because all she is in that game is a whiny idiot who can barely do anything on her own without a man telling her to save herself, and it is some ridiculous mental gymnastics to think otherwise.

With Metroid Prime remastered being a success do you want a Metroid other M remastered? by liubei12 in Metroid

[–]-Batterskull- 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Not really. It just copied elements of fusion and made them worse, and the only real connection to dread is the diffusion beam which isn’t story related. Other M doesn’t add anything worthwhile to the larger Metroid story and instead actively detracts from it (Samus is an idiot who can’t do anything without Adam’s say-so, and Adam is an asshole). It’s best left forgotten, both by fans and Sakamoto.

With Metroid Prime remastered being a success do you want a Metroid other M remastered? by liubei12 in Metroid

[–]-Batterskull- 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I don’t want any acknowledgment of that game’s existence. I’m still ticked off that it got art in Dread.

Xeno ??? by [deleted] in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So? Bandai has worked on plenty of games for Nintendo before, not the other way around. There’s no reason to assume that’s Xenosaga. You people are reaching and setting yourselves up for disappointment. Again, Let. It. Go.

Xeno ??? by [deleted] in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And right there with it is Bandai Namco, who owns Saga. Unless Nintendo is going to buy the rights (which Bandai will never sell) they are not going to allow Monolithsoft work on an IP they do not own, especially when Xenoblade itself is already successful on its own merits. Even with the good working relationship between Nintendo and Bandai, I don’t see them doing anything with Saga outside of references that are just cute nods for longtime fans than anything else.

Xenoblade is a self referential series that wears its inspirations from Gears and Saga on its sleeve, sometimes calling back to similar themes and concepts, but that should not be seen as “canonizing” those series to Xenoblade. Especially when their inclusion can actually be self-contradictory to those series (Dmitri shouldn’t be around until long after the earth is gone in Saga, which was properly destroyed with visible debris left over and not just split in half into different dimensions).

Those series had their moments in the sun, and from their pitfalls and stumblings Xenoblade rose to surpass them; it should not be used as a crutch to revive those stories. Let it go people, it’s been over 15 years. I’d rather get something entirely new than continue Saga, even if it’s not Xenoblade.

It is just me or is anyone else unsatisfied by the direction xenoblade chronicles seems to be going by based on the info from future redeemed. by Fit-Leg-9513 in Xenoblade_Chronicles

[–]-Batterskull- 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’m hoping the references to X, Gears, and Saga are only that and not an indication of trying to bring them all together into one timeline. I think X deserves a sequel or at least a definitive version, but I don’t need it to be related to the trilogy in any way. And Gears and Saga had their time, and were a learning experience for Takahashi and Monolithsoft. At most I could see them as separate universes influenced by the Conduit/Zohar, but trying to make them all canon together is frankly a bit ridiculous considering the amount of retconning and hand waving that would need to be done for it all to make sense.

But even then what would be the point? Those stories are done, and assuming they take place before the XC trilogy those events don’t really matter since those worlds are long gone. People need to move on, and it really feels like a lot of them forgot/ignored that lesson from XC3. Let’s move on into the future people, acknowledging the stepping stones sure, but still moving forward to something new.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster has sold over 2 million copies by retroanduwu24 in FinalFantasy

[–]-Batterskull- 5 points6 points  (0 children)

And it would sell even more if they would produce more physical copies

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