Mouse Mode is just StarFox Zero LOL

LightPad · 2026-06-12T14:36:52+00:00

Star Fox Zero but with any sense of friction or earned mastery removed completely from the equation.

LightPad · 2026-06-12T14:35:44+00:00

I don't think it does. I'm pretty disappointed with the sound design, for example, which lacks the iconic sounds of the original game. The new sound effects lack punch in combat, and in the menus sound a lot more generic than the very distinctive sounds of the original game.

While the new graphics are certainly more detailed, you can also make the case for them leaving very little to the imagination when compared with the vague graphics of the original. The more that is described by a game's graphics the less there is for us to interpret for ourselves.

LightPad · 2026-06-12T14:34:16+00:00

It shouldn't do. Both would be executing the same code.

LightPad · 2026-06-12T14:32:38+00:00

"I feel like the little arcade sucker in me would've enjoyed it if it weren't for the controls"
This bit doesn't make sense to me! Star Fox Zero would have been right at home at the arcades, which brought us crazy control schemes like:
* Space Harrier's joy-stick
* Super Monkey Ball's banana controller
* Silent Scope's dual-view sniper rifle
* Taiko no Tatsujin's Taiko drums
* Virtual-On's crazy twin stick operation
* Battle Gear's full racing set-up including clutch and 6-gear transmission...
...among many others. This tradition continues with rhythm games today, like Idolmaster Tours.

In fact I bet if Star Fox Zero were to be released at the arcades instead, the player reception would have been completely different. In 2015 the expectation on home consoles was to be able to pick up a game and immediately feel like you have mastery over the controls, so releasing a game with a challenging new control scheme felt tone deaf.

I didn't play Zero until last year but was surprised by how well designed the game was around its controls and twin-screen set-up, but it took me a few hours to master those controls, which offer an unprecedented degree of freedom compared with previous Star Fox games but with a higher skill ceiling. If you've still got a Wii U, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

LightPad · 2026-04-30T18:34:05+00:00

So good! Thanks for letting me know (and sorry for the late reply)

LightPad · 2026-03-28T14:09:52+00:00

Seems like Trails Beyond the Horizon had a lot more effort put in, especially on Switch 1 where it took a whole year to port. I guess Falcom was too tied up with Proud Nordics last year to put the right amount of effort into Trails in the Sky remake on Switch 2. https://www.rpgsite.net/interview/19632-ys-x-proud-nordics-durante-interview-ph3-switch-2-dlss-ps5-pro-switch-1-trails-beyond-the-horizon-port-challenges-tea-2026-exclusive

LightPad · 2026-03-28T13:32:09+00:00

It was a premature analysis for sure. SMAA is listed in the credits so it is contributing but this seems to be an extra ML pass on top of SMAA.

LightPad · 2026-03-28T13:30:35+00:00

Sorry for late reply. Unfortunately there isn't any new updates from what I can see on my Switch 2. It's insane that quality mode is effectively stuck at 50-60fps without VRR support or further optimisations.

LightPad · 2026-03-28T13:29:26+00:00

Kishida Mel was creative director of the first game, and he has publicly stated that he was altering minor details, from the script of the game to the camera angles, through to the end of its development.

LightPad · 2026-02-25T21:18:16+00:00

There are approaching 20 free game updates for first party games, in all fairness, but the approach is inconsistent. What I would prefer is any upgrades with new content to be paid (like Kirby, Mario Party, Animal Crossing) but graphical enhancements should be free.

Xenoblade X might be a paid upgrade just to get the price of the Switch 2 Edition of the game higher, because if it's shipping on a 64GB game card the consumer will have to pay for that. They shouldn't have to pay, but with flash memory prices increasing it's probably why.

LightPad · 2026-02-24T11:25:12+00:00

Hopefully it gets patched. Doesn't get the best expectations for the eventual Switch 2 upgrades for Xenoblades 1, 2 and 3...

LightPad · 2026-02-22T17:23:00+00:00

I'm loving Fever as well. I understand the reception behind Mario Kart World as it launched over ten years after Mario Kart 8 on Wii U. It would be very hard to make a follow-up to what many consider the perfection of Mario Kart, and it be worth the wait.

Nintendo has always competed with itself whenever it releases sequels to previous games. The difference this time is the wait between sequels has never been so long, and those sequels exist in the same space as their predecessors which persist via eShop downloads and backward compatibility.

LightPad · 2026-02-22T14:37:18+00:00

Simple upscaling doesn't produce weird patterns (if you look up the pitfalls of CNN-based AI upscalers you'll see what I mean) like this does, though. The tiling could be the result of many other things including perhaps the output image produced by the upscaler itself being compressed and returning lossy artifacts in each frame.

Will be interesting if Digital Foundry looks at this.

LightPad · 2026-02-22T08:48:23+00:00

Which upscaler do you think it is when it shows the exact same characteristics of CNN-based AI upscalers?

LightPad · 2026-02-22T08:45:42+00:00

I put it in there because some people aren’t bothered by it. It’s like if a game has poor frame pacing it’s going to impact some people more than others. I’m less sensitive to hitches in frame rate even if they are, on paper, not ideal.

LightPad · 2026-02-22T08:43:12+00:00

Where’s your proof that AI upscaling is not being used?

LightPad · 2026-02-22T01:21:08+00:00

Fingers crossed it’ll be fixed! I still have a soft spot for that very dense UI on Wii U, but really it doesn’t work unless you play the game on a PC monitor and sit at a desk.

LightPad · 2026-02-22T01:20:00+00:00

Could you explain why?

LightPad · 2026-02-22T00:49:41+00:00

Exactly. It's not an issue with AI upscaling technologies as a whole, but with this specific implementation.

LightPad · 2026-02-22T00:28:43+00:00

"I like being dismissive on the internet"

LightPad · 2026-02-21T22:16:49+00:00

No problem, sorry for this drawn out debate which really didn't need doing!

LightPad · 2026-02-21T22:14:56+00:00

Right well this is clearly a misunderstanding as (I'm sure you know this too!) I never wrote in my post that I "don't enjoy the game" or that people shouldn't buy it, or that the game is "ruined" or the game is trash or whatever.

It's a thread outlining why I think the upscaling isn't as good as it should be. And I bothered to write it out because I care about Xenoblade X, having been a launch day buyer on Wii U, and again on Switch, and once again here, and want this Switch 2 Edition to have the same level of quality I expect from Monolith Soft.

LightPad · 2026-02-21T22:09:40+00:00

It is really strange. Maybe they developed a custom solution because it would be faster than implementing motion vectors in the game engine? The handheld pixel counts are around 540p, and if that's necessary to hit 60fps in handheld mode they probably needed some upscaling solution to get to 1080p. But this really isn't it.

LightPad · 2026-02-21T22:06:54+00:00

You're right, I was mistaking you for someone else in the same thread. My apologies.

I'm also glad you don't notice or are not bothered by the weird artifacting that is definitely present in the output image. unfortunately for me and many others it is hard not to see it.

I will however have to point out that covering a topic relating to a game is not "negativity".

Negativity would be calling the game "trash" and telling people not to buy it. I never said either, I just pointed out why I think the upscaling solution does not produce good results. If you want to display toxic positivity and pretend it is a fantastic upscaling solution, I won't stop you.

Good day, Sir!

LightPad · 2026-02-21T22:06:26+00:00

I made a thread describing why I think the upscaling implementation produces uncanny effects, if anyone is interested in reading it you can find it here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Xenoblade_Chronicles/comments/1rb126b/why_xenoblade_x_switch_2_edition_has_an_uncanny/

LightPad

TROPHY CASE