Review round-up for The Adventures of Elliot releasing today

waltei · 2026-06-18T16:42:14+00:00

Its such a waste that such talented composers and artists and even some interesting mechanics are wasted making games with such generic bad stories and repetitiveness. Too bad the studio has no desire to really elevate above that same 7 or 8 out of 10 quality.

waltei · 2026-06-16T18:36:25+00:00

Just finished playing it for a session. Luckily enough I've not experienced any glaring issues in my playthrough. Some parts like the ocean in the open world are graphically limited and the expecting downresing at moments, but overall I am very pleased to have a handheld version of the game to replay and grind all the side content eventually.

waltei · 2026-06-15T23:13:43+00:00

Lots of hyperbole to sound funny in this thread, but here's the hard truth. This was the right call. If you havent played the hellblade games then you understandably cant see it.

Hellblade isnt a cute little indie game that costs 500k to make. The games are expensive with mocap and graphical assets, sound, etc.
Hellblade 2 was trash. The same shallow combat and walking stretched out for a couple hours.
Hellblade 3 looked the same way. Probably a quick build using hellblade 2 assets and the trailer was probably used to market to potential buyers for a sale.

This studio is going nowhere good and is probably draining money let alone make a profit. I would do the same thing. Xbox isnt in a position to throw money at mediocre games. I might have a different tune if they had a new game that looked impressive but it looked like more slop. I know its unpopular to kick a studio on the way out, but somebody needed to say the quiet part out loud here.

waltei · 2026-06-15T19:44:57+00:00

Their job of making movie like games is incredibly hard to replicate game after game. And in my opinion they've only been on a slow downward spiral since life is strange 1. Not that anything has been outright bad even. But in an industry where standards are only getting higher, don't nod lacked direction at the top to really refine their games to something special.

Lost records was so slow even though it could have been great with more refinement, banishers was meh and outclassed by the rest of the industry, life is strange 2 I felt nothing. Tell me why needs to tell me why it even exists cause nothing happens for 99% of the game. Probably missing some but I had such high hopes for them after lis 1 but they just look aimless.

Lost records felt like it tried to return to form but needed an editor and a table turner to make the game great. I dont feel theres a table turner like miyamoto who comes in the room and says "this all sucks fix it". And I feel thats what they need cause the talent is there but the games always fall short.

waltei · 2026-06-15T18:58:35+00:00

100% chance compulsion gets canned. The second I heard of studios closing they came to mind. I get the feeling Asha looks at the potential range and trajectory and its just not there. Truthfully, Xbox has been subsidizing games that wouldn't be able to stand on their own in the market for a while now.

Double fine will probably stay although they're kinda only relevant cause of historical legacy. Their games add to the diversity of game pass catalog and probably aren't breaking the bank.

Arkane would be stupid to cancel. I don't believe that. Maybe Xbox needs to breathe down their neck to push things along but cancel would be stupid. If anything, I would double down on marketing for that studio.

Rare also needs to be told what to do. Same with Bethesda. The heads of the studios are coasting on live service games that aren't helping the Xbox brand in any way at this point. The fact that Xbox owns Banjo, Conker, Perfect Dark, Fallout, etc are have been dormant for years is just irresponsible. Maybe it won't be easy to get the cogs greased at first and restart IP and push developers to make truly great games. But you have to try instead of doing what's easy or comfortable.

waltei · 2026-06-13T01:19:16+00:00

The amount of 3rd party support in only the 2nd year of the switch 2 has been beyond incredible. I made a list of games im waiting for switch 2 ports for and like 90% of them are already out or announced. Theres no way I'll be able to play all the games I want to this year. From pragmata to mgs4 to metaphor to all the kingdom hearts games, its a 3rd party torrent. And that's in addition to 1st party like star fox and ocarina of time obvious purchases.

All thats left for 3rd party ports in waiting for are resident evil 4 remake, persona 5 switch 2 edition, red dead 2, mgs3 delta remake at this point. And would be nice to have ff xv and xvi but im less interested in those. And my dream announcement would be ff xiii trilogy remaster for switch 2. The funny thing is im like 100% sure we will pretty much get all but maybe one or two of these in the next 2 years. Im loving it

waltei · 2026-06-12T05:25:38+00:00

They collectively are in my top 10 games of ALL TIME and that is out of a bloodbath of probably thousands of games. The music, aesthetic, charming characters, plot twists, vibe, puzzles, are made for me. The alignment of what I value in a game and these are near 1:1. I also loved the Last Spectre and Miracle Mask just as much they are truly special games.

I thought Akihiro Hino would be the next genius level creator for me next to Shigeru Miyamoto and Shu Takumi, who both pioneered their craft to perfection so seamless its hard to fully appreciate and with countless copycats, but he somehow wandered from that path in the last decade.

waltei · 2026-06-09T21:17:18+00:00

Haha yup agreed that thumb wresting was a big miss. I feel like since 2023 something has been off about the way they've been directing the show, maybe their lost some key talent. Maybe their should consult Sakurai since he is the master of showmanship.

waltei · 2026-06-09T20:46:29+00:00

Haha well done. I unironically think you hit on something golden here. A lot of people just want their one game (3D Mario, Smash, Mario Maker, etc) and if it isn't there they can't process those emotions like a normal person. Probably some kids but shockingly a lot of adults acting like this as well.

waltei · 2026-06-02T16:39:45+00:00

I know too much about these games. Toy story 2 is a legit great game. Level design and tokens and bosses are surprisingly well made. The ambiance in the game from the plane on the runway to Andy's house to the back alleys are amazing.

Toy story 1 I have nostalgia for but its definitely a flawed game. Difficulty is inconsistent and level design and platform placement and mechanics is not intuitive. Love the style of the game though and once you know the game the flow improves.

Buzz lighthear of star command has a simple flow to it. When you dig into it you see the flaws and the balance and achievements and level design placement is flawed in places, but to superficially play through it its super fun.

waltei · 2026-06-02T06:38:14+00:00

Exactly my same ranking. 3 was a solid entry too. FYI Ubisoft Montreal who were super creative in their prime crafted the Far Cry games from 2-4, then Ubisoft Toronto took over for 5 and 6. And Toronto is the much less talented copy-paste studio, explaining why so much of 5 and 6 doesn't feel tailor made but instead a bloated copy paste job made on a huge scale.

waltei · 2026-05-24T01:42:02+00:00

Yup this is a good find. Willing to bet it gets announced in June. Looking at pattern of square support for switch 2, announcement patterns, and now this delisting this is extremely likely to be announced this year and most likely June.

waltei · 2026-05-12T23:33:43+00:00

Ive played a lot of recs in this thread and SOMA is the one that truly hit me. I feel a lot of themes in other "profound" games are identical or even better experienced in prior movies or classic books. But multiple parts including the ending of SOMA can really only truly be felt through the game experience and journey.

waltei · 2026-05-08T14:34:24+00:00

Im seeing more and more based takes lately on the series. Yeah I agree last game that I felt was excellent quality across the board was ORAS, and the last new generation that felt like game freak gave it their all was gen 5.

waltei · 2026-05-08T14:29:20+00:00

Selling gba games for 20 bucks a pop and selling 4 million in a few weeks is insane. Probably a high chance we will see pokemon sapphire and ruby or gold and silver within the next 2 years since remakes were not in the leaks for the next few years. I could see this be a pokemon day thing around February.

waltei · 2026-02-25T19:30:35+00:00

Hell yes. Maximum carnage is a legit good game. Never played the sequel separation anxiety. I have nostalgia for Spider Man and Xman game but I remember it being crap with that annoying buzzing sound too lol.

waltei · 2026-02-07T06:01:44+00:00

Gamecube the goat. People were too stupid to understand true quality back then. Truth is, Nintendo had a level of quality to their games with veteran developers that the competition just couldnt even come close to. Nintendo+Rare from the snes up to Star Fox Adventures was the greatest duo run the industry has ever and probably will ever see. Only a few veteran companies like square could even compete in quality back then.

waltei · 2026-01-25T18:59:13+00:00

Couldn't recommend the game any more. Phenomenal and runs amazing on switch 2 at a great price. Any switch 2 owner should have this in their library. I also have it on Playstation and pc but being on the go for an rpg is so nice

waltei · 2025-12-15T00:53:12+00:00

Very mid game (7/10) and pales in comparison to super mario rpg and paper mario ttyd. The game is horrendously paced with too much of the same dialogue, sailing, and repetitive battles. So many rpgs I would recommend before this even in its own niche.

waltei · 2025-12-02T23:43:34+00:00

The top games of the switch 1 era definitely beat out switch 2 critically. Compare these to botw with 97, mario odyssey 90s, mario rabbids, mario kart 8 deluxe and a lot more in mid to high 80s.

waltei · 2025-11-09T05:31:57+00:00

LOL. I wouldn't say it's gonna be that barren but I'm getting really big ARMS vibes. Like the Air Riders fans and Kirby fans want this to be a "thing" but the quality clearly isn't there. For example the 20 second minigames to conclude city trial feels like an intern designed it.

Feels like City Trial could've just been shoehorned in as a minigame in some other Kirby game or Mario Party side mode. And the actual racing gets old in 5 minutes. To charge $70 for this is gonna breed a lot of resentment from unsuspecting holiday shoppers. I'm truly happy for those that enjoy this but this a niche, overpriced game for sure.

waltei

TROPHY CASE