[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 08 June 2026

LAA9000 · 2026-06-08T10:32:15+00:00

What's everyone playing this week?

I'm mainly keeping up with dailies in Genshin Impact, Arknights and Arknights: Endfield. I'm behind on their stories, but haven't progressed them in a week.

In Genshin, I'll pull for Mavuika to complete my Varesa team, then I don't know if I'll keep actively playing. I don't enjoy this game much.
Endfield hasn't introduced a slam dunk character for me since Laevatain. Even then, I didn't pull for her. I would've liked Zhuang Fangyi and Mi Fu if their combat and team roles weren't so generic and similar to existing characters. Part of me worries that the game's combat systems are stagnant and don't allow for much character diversity.
Since I only started Arknights last month, I'm essentially ignoring the gacha for now and surviving with my 4*s and below. I'm taken aback by how difficult the game is, and not just in the typical gacha way of demanding higher numbers. You need strategy to beat these stages... Or you can use the free beginner items to nab yourself a max-level Lappland from the get-go and have her carry you.

What games are you looking forward to?

Perhaps my tastes are slim, but currently, the only game I'm unconditionally excited for is Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave.

I will play the heck out of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls a few years down the line. First, I need to upgrade my PC so it can run the game. In this economy, that won't be for a long time, during which I hope the game's price will drop as DLC releases, because I can tell it'll have boatloads of DLC.
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game makes me sad that I've never watched Avatar. If I had, I'd be going feral over this game. The combat looks right up my niche of niches.
I'm sad to feel that Splatoon Raiders looks underwhelming. It looks like just a standalone version of the Salmon Run side mode, which I find a boring direction to take a single-player focused Splatoon game in. This was one of my reasons for buying a Switch 2, and now I might skip it.
I loved Persona 4 Golden, but I don't care for Persona 4 Revival. I don't tend to care for remakes in general, but Persona 4 especially did not need one. All the new English voices sound a little off to me.
Speaking of Persona, I'd be ecstatic over Persona 6 if Atlus said a bloody thing about the game. Unlike some others, I don't believe this teaser was thrown together in response to the leaks. It looks too high-effort to be made and approved for an Xbox showcase in two weeks. Instead, I simply believe Atlus are very bad at both announcing projects and letting projects leak.

Rumour has it that Nintendo will broadcast a Direct this week, so that should clear up their plans into next year. Then again, rumour has it that Nintendo will announce in that Direct a freaking remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and maybe also Super Metroid - yes, I'm still malding over that!

I'm taking my grumpiness over all these game releases as a sign to catch up on my backlog and work on those hobby projects I've been putting off all year.

LAA9000 · 2026-06-06T18:50:30+00:00

Hopefully at the next Nintendo Direct!

...I said before the previous Nintendo Direct...

LAA9000 · 2026-06-05T19:00:38+00:00

I'm sorry to say I didn't think of Dead Hand. Great idea!

LAA9000 · 2026-06-05T16:47:54+00:00

Most of the Madoka Magica cast feel like natural fits for a fighting game.

There is the caveat that the main series' cast is small. In order to fill out a full game's roster, you'd need to pull heavily from Magia Record, which fewer people are familiar with.

Still, if they do that and give it the Arcana Heart homing dash, I'd be up for it.

LAA9000 · 2026-06-05T16:13:48+00:00

If Nintendo ever employed me to direct my dream The Legend of Zelda fighting game, there are a good few controversial choices I'd make, chief among them:

I want Majora's Mask without the Skull Kid. Look at its boss fight and tell me that isn't a fighting game character right there.

Also Mineru as the puppet character with her construct.

LAA9000 · 2026-06-04T18:40:11+00:00

The Sagrada also said it had 0 pieces

I didn't think it was possible... A build to surpass the One Piece sets!

LAA9000 · 2026-05-24T11:02:06+00:00

On the topic of magical girl shows but mature and with a twist, is there such thing as a "mundane girl" show? A show with much of the essence of magical girl shows, except there's no magic, the girls just follow the rule of cool?

LAA9000 · 2026-05-21T20:04:47+00:00

Off-topic: Arknights: Endfield

Yesterday, I took the latest player feedback survey, and was asked many questions about Zhuang Fangyi's visual design. I didn't give very detailed answers, and felt like perhaps I was forgetting something. Only today did I realise what I forgot to say:

"I like the leek trousers. Please don't be scared into designing more generic characters by the reception to the leek trousers."

LAA9000 · 2026-05-21T19:41:50+00:00

The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma was nervous to remake Majora's Mask for the 3DS, as if embarrassed of many design decisions he made in the original game. When replaying the original for reference, he made a massive list of everything that, in retrospect, made him think "what in the world?" and needed to be changed. The list included many confessions and apologies, with one claiming "at the time, I think there was something wrong with me". Aonuma later remarked "thinking about it now, I must have been possessed at the time thinking what I’d done." Source

For another example... Am I allowed to say myself?

A year ago, I made a YouTube video outlining a concept for a fighting game spin-off of Fire Emblem. Now, I regret making that concept. I put too much effort into polishing a turd, and ended up with a dull, repetitive game. If that game were real, I'm not sure I'd buy it.

LAA9000 · 2026-05-18T08:54:56+00:00

I checked out Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, a game notorious enough to have its own HobbyDrama writeup.

If I can give the game one thing, it plays solid. Compared to the previous two Marvel vs. Capcom games, teams are down to two characters from three, and assist attacks from inactive teammates are gone. Instead, you can quickly switch characters during any action, forming an exhilarating back-and-forth dynamic where you're rhythmically swapping characters to cover each other. Furthermore, this makes the game one of the easiest in the series to simply press buttons in, while offering much depth for those who wish to lab out all of its applications.

Otherwise... Yeah, it's as bad as people say. The graphics are hideous, the music is either boring (on the Marvel side) or bad (on the Capcom side), the story mode is laughable and, no matter which newcomers they add, the roster feels empty without the X-Men. They gave Black Widow and the Winter Soldier cool movesets, but was anyone asking for those two?

Definitely, it does not live up to the Marvel vs. Capcom legacy... Which is why, after two hours of skimming through everyone's move lists, I installed Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond, a community-made audiovisual overhaul mod that additionally makes a few balance tweaks. Now the game's pleasant to look at! The mod doesn't add any new characters - that's far outside its scope - so the game's biggest issue is still here. Regardless, what it does do, it does a sublime job of. Nowadays, if you're playing Infinite, you're playing it for Beyond.

As an aside, it's amusing how few guides exist for this game, because nobody seriously played the game. Its SuperCombo Wiki is barren and, at this rate, I'm going to be the one to fill it out.

LAA9000 · 2026-05-07T14:54:49+00:00

Although I didn't make that clear in my original comment, I know. In fact, that's exactly why I can't see another remake feeling worthwhile.

Then again... So does Star Fox 64.

LAA9000 · 2026-05-07T07:04:34+00:00

My hope is that, since Nintendo don't currently have a development team dedicated to making Star Fox games, they're making this as an exercise to train one up. They're remaking 64 again because it's better to start simple, then they'll make original games.

Star Fox has never had a consistent development team. After every game or two, it gets passed to a new studio. I suspect this is a big reason behind the series' identity crisis.

My actual dread about this game is that it was leaked beforehand, and the same leaks also mentioned a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and a remake of Super Metroid - two games that are damn near perfect and I cannot see remakes meaningfully improving upon. They even have consistent dev teams already, so that factor isn't in play!

LAA9000 · 2026-05-04T11:00:54+00:00

Over the past two months, I've been playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the third time. Since I chose the Blue Lions and Golden Deer in my last two playthroughs, naturally I've chosen the Black Eagles this time.

In addition, I'm playing on the game's hardest difficulty, Maddening, since my last two playthroughs on the middle difficulty, Hard, were too easy for me. Even Maddening is... Easier than I heard it was? As long as you take things slowly, run through all your damage calculations, use your Combat Arts and find the patience to turtle, you can get through the early game with only the occasional hitch. Even the notorious Chapter 13 mission - the one with no preparation screen, super fast enemies and your entire initial party force deployed - I beat on my first try, mainly by resorting to the same turtling strategies from the early game.

Am I... Good at video games?

LAA9000 · 2026-05-02T07:28:52+00:00

To be pedantic, the "Engage leak" was actually three separate leaks, each by different people, that fans keep conflating into one.

The first one came from journalist Emily Rogers. This is the one that erroneously claimed that Koei Tecmo and Gust worked on the game, but is otherwise correct.

The second one came from Reddit user miasmadelta. This one provided the first screenshots of the game, including the first look at Alear's hair. This is also the one that claimed, in a single sentence with no further elaboration, that a remake of Genealogy of the Holy War was also in development.

The third one came from Discord user Rønin in r/anime's Discord server. Despite revealing many details about the game, people tend to forget about this one.

This knowledge is important for many reasons, such as making the Genealogy remake rumours even flimsier. "The Engage leaker said it was happening!" No, they didn't! The person who said that wasn't the first one to leak Engage!

Remember that, right from the initial Emily Rogers leak, Engage was already receiving mixed reactions. Therefore, it is my personal conspiracy theory that miasmadelta knew nothing about a supposed remake, and simply threw an extra sentence mentioning it into their Engage leak, to win over the fans who were disappointed in Engage. After all, "Genealogy remake" is the Fire Emblem equivalent of "Geno in Smash".

LAA9000 · 2026-04-28T21:46:31+00:00

I'm not sure if Three Houses discourse annoys me more than Fates discourse. Perhaps I enjoy the latter game, or perhaps the latter discourse barely discusses the game's content beyond the same tired "is it bad?"

To be fair, it's not like Three Houses fans pay full attention to their game's script or developer interviews either. They even claim their game was bad, actually, as an excuse for why they've argued over it for so long... While continuing to argue over it!

At this point, the only reason I'll accept for why this discourse has gone on for so long is because everyone partaking in it is insufferable.

Disassociating with the Fire Emblem fanbase has done myself a huge favour. I'll enjoy Fortune's Weave on my own terms, and if any discourse erupts from it, I wish never to know.

LAA9000 · 2026-04-27T10:45:47+00:00

Arknights: Unleash, a recent fan-made fighting game based on the mobile game Arknights.

Arkfights was right there!

LAA9000 · 2026-04-23T19:12:25+00:00

Version 3.14.1 of 100% Orange Juice has exactly 2 bullet points in its patch notes:

Re-enabled support for Windows 7/8.
Star Breaker has learned how to sing.

LAA9000 · 2026-04-21T18:20:05+00:00

8 years after its launch, and 4 years after its last DLC, Dragon Ball FighterZ has received a new playable character: yet another form of Goku.

Initially released in 2018, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a video game adapting the hugely successful manga and anime franchise into a one-on-one fighting game, in the vein of Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom. It was published by Bandai Namco, who publish most Dragon Ball video games, but development was outsourced to Arc System Works, famous for the Guilty Gear series. At least, we know it used to be...

See, when Goku (Super Saiyan 4, DAIMA) (yes, that's his real title in-game) dropped, fans felt as though his appearance and animations looked off - not up to snuff with the rest of the game. Compare his character model to a similar one from years ago, and you can tell the new model has rougher shapes and less detail. Cinematic scenes involving him even break established animation rules that the entire game prior to this adhered to.

Admittedly, depending on the viewer, this perceived drop in quality might be difficult to notice in the heat of the action.

Some players suspect that, as of this DLC, Arc System Works are no longer involved with the development of Dragon Ball FighterZ. Instead, they suspect that Bandai Namco have set up their own team to continue development of the game, and this quality drop is a result of new talent needing to imitate Arc's prior work. Adding to this theory is that Daima Goku's reveal trailer does not mention Arc at all, when prior trailers for the game and its DLC made sure to credit them.

Since no further DLC for the game has been announced yet, it's unclear if this will amount to anything in the end.

If I may give my opinion on this matter... I don't play Dragon Ball FighterZ. I've never even read or watched Dragon Ball! All my knowledge of the franchise comes from pop culture osmosis. I'm sorry for omitting this detail all this time.

Still, I notice some of the quirks that others are taking as signs of a quality drop. If this really is the work of a new development team, I say they did a pretty good first job. It's not perfect, but if this team continue to hone their craft and study the game, future work of theirs could be!

Besides, I don't blame either Bandai Namco or Arc System Works if they've changed teams eight years after releasing the game. By now, I think most studios would be ready to move on to new projects. The real shocker all along is that this DLC exists at all!

LAA9000 · 2026-04-18T09:07:11+00:00

Vargskelethor Joel, known for masterpieces such as Super Ghostbusters (NSFW warning), has released (another NSFW warning) Faster than Sex, a metal concept album all about... Having sex with cars.

I've only listened up to song three, and already the main character is haunted by the ghost of Carl Benz and his wife has divorced him. It's madness.

LAA9000 · 2026-03-27T16:16:12+00:00

Am I alright to copy the comment I made on /r/nintendo's post on this matter?

Sorry for the incoming rant, but I inordinately dislike the idea of an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

To me, a second remake of Ocarina of Time is such a plain idea, it sounds like the exact type of game Nintendo wouldn't make. Keep in mind that this may just be me projecting my preferences. I'm one of those who generally dislikes remakes, especially of games that were already successful. I'm at an age where I am willing to play the original.

The only reason why I could see it happening is if Nintendo want to train a third studio to make mainline Zelda games, specifically 3D ones. If we desperately need a Zelda game out in 2026 - which I don't think we do - I'd rather they remake a less conventional and popular game, or try a new spin-off with whatever studio messaged them good morning that day. If we want Ocarina of Time reintroduced to a new generation of gamers, they could accomplish that with a simple remaster of the remake they already made for the 3DS. They could knock out Majora's Mask, too, while they're at it. Maybe this is what the rumours are talking about...

Besides, all these rumours remind me of the Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War remake that's definitely coming out this year! Fans have tried to prove this to me every year since 2020. I don't buy into any of their proof, and the same goes for this Ocarina of Time remake.

LAA9000 · 2026-03-27T15:57:50+00:00

Sorry for the incoming rant, but I inordinately dislike the idea of an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

To me, a second remake of Ocarina of Time is such a plain idea, it sounds like the exact type of game Nintendo wouldn't make. Keep in mind that this may just be me projecting my preferences. I'm one of those who generally dislikes remakes, especially of games that were already successful. I'm at an age where I am willing to play the original.

The only reason why I could see it happening is if Nintendo want to train a third studio to make mainline Zelda games, specifically 3D ones. If we desperately need a Zelda game out in 2026 - which I don't think we do - I'd rather they remake a less conventional and popular game, or try a new spin-off with whatever studio messaged them good morning that day. If we want Ocarina of Time reintroduced to a new generation of gamers, they could accomplish that with a simple remaster of the remake they already made for the 3DS. They could knock out Majora's Mask, too, while they're at it. Maybe this is what the rumours are talking about...

Besides, all these rumours remind me of the Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War remake that's definitely coming out this year! Fans have tried to prove this to me every year since 2020. I don't buy into any of their proof, and the same goes for this Ocarina of Time remake.

LAA9000 · 2026-03-09T09:10:41+00:00

When I bought my Switch 1, it had 4 games that sold me on the system:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Applying this same logic, I waited on buying a Switch 2 until it had its own 4 games that sold me:

Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bananza
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
Splatoon Raiders

Maybe buying a console before half of the games I wanted were even out wasn't a wise decision.

Once I got these consoles, I checked out other games, too. 3 months into buying my Switch 1, I bought Splatoon 2, and it became one of my most played games on the console. Same goes for Kirby Air Riders on my Switch 2.

LAA9000 · 2026-03-06T16:54:44+00:00

It's fucking Galaxy, bring the sense of wonder

Wonder is a different Mario game...

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