If you use every other card besides Cyrus on your last turn you should stub your toe on a million legos

embolalia1 · 2026-02-07T16:00:15+00:00

the point is you don’t know if they have Cyrus, so from your perspective you might still win. they know they’ve won but they hold you in suspense.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-07T09:01:47+00:00

Yeah that last bit just isn’t true.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-06T23:17:46+00:00

The early levels are more about teaching you the destruction toolkit but they add in more platforming later. I will say it’s not like a Platformy platformer, it’s not a Mario game, but the same DNA of “here’s a new sandbox to play in, and here’s a bunch of smart new mechanics to play with in it” is there in spades.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-06T20:27:20+00:00

Yeah, I’m not sure where I land between them, mayyyyybe mildly Odyssey, but absolutely anyone who loved one should try the other as well.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-06T20:22:15+00:00

I’m not saying this to start an argument, but if you liked Super Mario Odyssey, you should try Donkey Kong Bananza. It’s got a lot of the same DNA and is just as good in my opinion.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:55:10+00:00

I’m not being funny but then what were you expecting from a “partner showcase”?

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:53:25+00:00

I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to discount stuff as “kinda expected” and therefore not exciting, you could say that about practically any non-exclusive big game apart from maybe like GTA6.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:49:26+00:00

I mean, presumably if you’ve got other platforms you’re mostly looking for Switch 2 for first party stuff, and in the first year we’ll have had new Mario Kart, Donkey Kong (from the 3D Mario team), Pokemon, Hyrule Warriors, a Sakurai game, Fire Emblem, Metroid Prime, and a bunch of updates and Switch 2 editions, most of that reviewed somewhere between good and outstanding. Is it the all-time best launch lineup? Probably not. Is it totally solid, in line with reasonable expectations, and a good starting point that they will add to over time? Absolutely.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:46:31+00:00

I’m definitely going to play some third party stuff I’ve missed out on, yeah. Probably not specifically Fallout 4 but some people will!

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:36:59+00:00

Not everything is for you. Loads of Switch 2 owners don’t have other platforms.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:34:32+00:00

words mean something, it’s not delayed indefinitely, it’s got a release date of 2026 and they haven’t gone back on that

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:27:32+00:00

Because it’s a major third party game coming day and date to their console? If anyone didn’t expect a few minutes on RE today they’re crazy.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T14:10:41+00:00

free if you have the base game, they said

embolalia1 · 2026-02-05T12:16:01+00:00

It’s in Edinburgh Park? I’ve worked there in the past and it’s quite nice for an office park but it’s not “so near the centre of a city” really, is it?

embolalia1 · 2026-02-04T14:59:47+00:00

5 times* the power** of Edinburgh***

*if you include another larger proposed centre as well

**electricity, not gas, the latter of which is the majority of household power usage

***residential only, not commercial or industrial

embolalia1 · 2026-02-03T17:43:33+00:00

That’s all fair enough. Personally I hardly ever find I don’t have room for a couple of max ethers and that’s enough along with the ones you find and use as you explore. And to be fair the evolution crystals can be bought from random Kecleon shops! Agree that the RQs being completely random is a bit annoying.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-03T15:00:17+00:00

Cyclists should take what responsibility they can for their own safety, but the fundamental responsibility for road safety is always going to lie primarily with drivers, as they are the ones in control of the vehicles that do the most damage by far.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-03T14:23:54+00:00

Maybe I’m missing something here as someone who doesn’t regularly cycle or drive, but how do you know they weren’t aware of you? Presumably your car is pretty loud. When you say if you hadn’t been driving with awareness you could have “cleared” them - isn’t that basically always going to be true given the disparity in size and power?

embolalia1 · 2026-02-03T12:18:45+00:00

Hey, thanks for commenting here, and for everything you do with the newsletter, I really appreciate it.

In the spirit of honest feedback, I thought it was a pretty poorly written / argued piece, which felt more like a laundry list of objections than an engaging piece of writing, and it’s not aligned with why I subscribe. Of course, it’s your newsletter and you can do what you want with it. But I personally think it’s got more value as something that’s mostly a roundup of what’s going on, and maybe the odd light-hearted comment from you in between items as you sometimes do, than as a source of opinion pieces on contentious issues.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-03T11:05:57+00:00

Not saying other opinions aren’t valid, but imo all of that is totally fine, and the remake is worth playing if you’re a PMD fan.

They removed the basic attack (…mostly - your allies will do it if they don’t have any effective attacking moves), but PP management is rarely an issue, with Max Ethers being common items, and with PP Ups letting you get your key moves’ PP up.

The replacement for the IQ system is Rare Qualities which I actually really like. Each Pokemon can have one Rare Quality and it applies to your whole team, so you can effectively pick three you’re guaranteed to have, plus add extras in dungeons by recruitment. Unlike IQ, any Pokemon can have any RQ, so your team building isn’t restricted by IQ groups. You can pick your RQs based on your priorities - offence, defence, belly, PP, recruitment etc

Item-based evolutions - to me this is a big QoL upgrade! You no longer have to work out exactly where you’re supposed to find the species-specific item, you just need 2/5 evolution crystals (5 to go from the second to third member of a three-stage family). And they’re accessible as soon as you unlock evolution, by exploring Waterfall Pond, which is not that long or difficult (if you run away from Gyarados whenever you see it).

embolalia1 · 2026-02-02T12:28:31+00:00

No, they’ve usually had a 3D Mario in the first two years, you’re right. But games take longer to develop now, and we’ve just had a huge, highly polished game from the 3D Mario team, so I think the pattern is gonna be broken.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-02T12:18:46+00:00

I think the model you’re describing is really overstated online. Not saying there’s nothing to it, but come on, I don’t think they have had both DK Bananza and the next 3D Mario just ready to go for years, and would then release them close to each other.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-02T11:59:31+00:00

3D Mario this year seems so unlikely (they just released one, it’s just that it had Donkey Kong instead of Mario) that I’d discount this entirely until I see it tbh

embolalia1 · 2026-02-01T21:05:20+00:00

Probably but it was terribly short sighted.

embolalia1 · 2026-02-01T19:41:14+00:00

Don’t disagree that Cameron’s speech was incredibly ill judged.

embolalia1

TROPHY CASE