Ok, now that I've had some time to mull over the Direct announcements, I figure I'd dig deeper into my opinions and share them in-depth with the rest of you guys. Enjoy the picket fence of text!
TWILIGHT PRINCESS HDLike most news on the net, I had no idea this was a thing until the video spat it into my face. That being said, I never really played TP in-depth, so seeing this get re-released for the Wii U is a plus for me. I am looking forward to getting the Wolf Link bundle and the soundtrack once I have the funds to do so. Also, is it just me or do the HD Zeldas not look all that much better on the Wii U? Wind Waker HD looks more or less the same, just with some extra bloom here and there, and TP HD looks almost identical to the previous versions. I'm not much of a graphics snob, but you'd think they'd at least improve the textures or something...Oh well. I don't play Zelda games for the graphics, I play them for the adventure, and it looks like TP and the new Wii U title will be quite the adventure to look forward to.
POKEMON SUPER MYSTERY DUNGEONI have played all the PMD games up to this point (except for the JP-only ones for Wiiware), and for the most part I enjoyed them. PMD1 was an emotional investment, but I disliked the lack of postgame content. PMD2 upped the difficulty (for better or for worse) and added an entire extra story for the postgame, which was pretty awesome overall. Then we had Gates to Infinity...Ugh, so many missteps there. Normal Attacks were worthless, the screen was too zoomed in, there was a HUGE lack of Pokemon you could play with, and the postgame was almost non-existent. I enjoyed the themes of conflict and the mystery with the gates themselves, but my favorite part by far was the ability to build and expand your own town, and I pray they bring it back for Super MD. Another thing I also liked was how your non-combatant Pokemon all gained EXP in GoI, so I hope they bring that back too. Super MD looks promising, and with the addition of ALL 720+ POKEMON in the game, I may actually sit down and try to catch 'em all for once!
...Why is it that I'm more excited about catching Pokemon outside of the main games? I think I may have a problem...
SPLATOON CONTENTIs it just me, or does the phase "at least until next January" concern anyone? I'd think Splatoon would keep getting more content for a while longer...Anyways, I think the new Resort map is reason enough to keep my interest, I like the concept a little more than the Museum map. Shame the Inklings aren't waterproof. :V I am kinda sad that there are no Octolings or no new Story content yet, I wouldn't mind seeing another campaign with some new enemies and levels.
SUPER MARIO MAKERA level-searching Portal Site and the addition of Checkpoints (yes I know this was released a while ago shush)? Yes please! Maybe this will make Extra Lives not-pointless! Shame that if I do buy this game, it'll mostly be to play through the various levels people made, not for making my own. Shocking, I know, but right now I don't have the time or patience to craft my own levels. Great, now I'm feeling sad...
ANIMAL CROSSING AMIIBO FESTIVALIt's Mario Party with AC characters...Which would be nice if had anyone else to play with. You'd think these guys would add online play or something at the very least. I'll pass on this, thanks.
XENOBLADE CHRONICLES XI like the series, I like the story, the gameplay, the setting, everything...But XBC is such a massive game to play through! ;~; I really need to sit down and play through the original before even looking at X...I blame you for this, Disgaea 3! You got me hooked on timesink-heavy RPGs again!
NINTENDO BADGE ARCADEI'll confess...I like this more than I should. This game is a new guilty pleasure of mine, and collecting badges and themes to decorate my Home Screen is entertaining. It's more amusing and rewarding than just buying random skins from a DLC shop, even if it's just a bunch of virtual trinkets that don't do anything aside from look neat. :V
POKEMON PICROSSYes...
Yes...
ALL OF MY YES PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY AND TIME! I'm a
huge Picross geek, I love solving the puzzles and I consider myself an expert at solving them. Having it be Pokemon-themed is just the icing on the cake. However, the addition of the Pokemon super movies feels kind of pointless to me, because they're just glorified Hint Systems and I rarely use those. As long as I'm able to play the puzzles without having to spend cash to unlock more, I'll be happy, but I wouldn't mind throwing a few bucks at this game. I also have to give kudos to Nintendo for following what they did with Rumble World and capping how much money players can spend on this game. Smart move, I say--if you decide to max out your spending limit, you've basically paid retail price for a game and you can play it nigh-indefinitely. It's a bit less smart here with Picross, because once you figure out how the puzzles and the logic work, you won't need the hints at all. Still, I am hype for this game and I look forward to downloading it next month!
FAST RACING NEOIt's an F-Zero successor, no question about it. I may pick it up, it does look entertaining, and if it has online multiplayer, all the more reason to play. I also like the Ikaruga-style boosting mechanic; there are two colors of boost plates on the track, and if you're the matching color when you run over one, you get a major speed boost. I am also curious about this new "Hero" Mode though, it sounds interesting.
...And this would be the part where Future Lem would come in and complain about how hard it is because racing games. :V
YO-KAI WATCHRight, so this game has been released...Has anyone played it yet? Is it any good? Is it worth being called the next Pokemon/SMT successor? Please let me know! It does look interesting, but I want to see what you guys all think.
POKKEN TOURNAMENTI did play some Tekken Tag Tournament a while back, so I am somewhat familiar with how Tekken works...I dunno if this would be worth my time or not, however. I rarely play fighters and it takes time to get good at them. Watching the trailer again while writing this did make me think...If Shadow Mewtwo is now a thing, does this mean we'll get remakes of the Pokemon Gamecube titles? It's a bit of a stretch, yeah, but it would be nice to see those titles come back in some form or another. Going back to the actual game for a second, it is nice that they're offering an alternate way to unlock Shadow Mewtwo, but I'm sure some fighting game purists will complain about taking a shortcut and not earning Shadow Mewtwo legitimately. =P
STAR FOX ZEROI...Haven't played many flight combat games in a while. The ones I most remember are Fury3, the Hovership segments from Ratchet and Clank, and playing SF 64's practice mode. I'm not sure if I'd be interested in SF Zero, despite the transformations (which I love) and the fact that's being developed by Platinum Games (whom I also love). I dunno why SF is so intimidating for me...Any suggestions on how I should tackle this beloved series?
MARIO AND LUIGI PAPER JAMI like Paper Mario, and I enjoyed the M&L RPGs, so putting these two together feels like a smart idea. However, controlling three characters at once feels a bit daunting, and I'm afraid it'll just become Partners in time all over again. Also, why do we not have a Paper Luigi or any of the other companions from the Paper Mario series? They would be pretty awesome to have alongside you! I just hope this game is a bit easier than Dream Team, I didn't finish it (and I probably won't, I lent it to a friend), and Paper Mario is known for being a laid-back RPG. On that note, I need to play Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story too...
FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERSOnline co-op on the go? Check. Fast-paced combat that doesn't feel clunky? Check. Collector's edition with extra goodies? CHECK. I am sold by this game and I would gladly play it with anyone who has it and a 3DS!
I am sadface that there wasn't any new info for Bravely Second however...I need to look into that.
FIRE EMBLEM FATESUm, I thought the US version was going to do away with the three-story arc and merge all the titles into one entity...Oh well. I loved Awakening, so I look forward to getting this title as well.
MEGA MAN LEGACY COLLECTIONUm...GOLD MEGA MAN? I like the Blue Bomber, but..Why is everything turning Gold these days? Did The Golden Queen from Skylanders get her hands on an Amiibo stash? =P It just feels guady and silly and less epic to me, is all. Also, why isn't this game being ported to the Wii U? I though the engine the game was using was designed for such ports. Odd.
POKEMON GEN 1 GAMESThis...Was rather surprising, I was under the impression Game Freak wouldn't re-release the older games in any shape or form. It is nice you can finally trade between 3DS systems using these titles, but what really begs the question is this: will Nintendo try and figure out a way to make Gen 1 and 2 Pokemon transferable to Gen 3 and onwards? It's unlikely, but if
hackers can do it, so can Game Freak. Iwata, give these developers your strength!
...Other than that possibility, the only thing these games are good for (in my eyes) is nostalgic value. I find the newer games and their remakes a lot more enjoyable than the older ones, so going back to this...Can be a bit painful. >.>
HYRULE WARRIORS LEGENDSI liked HW for a while, I played quite a bit of it, but after a while it just became more of a chore than an enjoyable action/RPG. I doubt I'll actually play this game on the 3DS, and if I do get it, it'll be to get the new characters (and whatever DLC they bring) for my Wii U version.
DRAGON QUEST 7 AND 8Despite owning DQ8 and DQ Monsters, I haven't really spent any time with these titles...Are they still good? Did they age well? Let me know before I consider throwing money at these titles.
CLOUD IS IN SMASH, OMGI won't lie, this took me completely by surprise. I would go into reasons why this actually makes sense, but mostly everyone has beaten me to the punch already...However, one reason I didn't see is this: Square (before it became Squeenix) signed an exclusivity deal with Sony after splitting off with Nintendo, saying they'd make mainline FF games for the Playstation consoles for ten years. Well, that deal has since run out, so it's time Nintendo got a slice of the pie, and Cloud seems to be the first bite in said pie. We'll most likely see either a port or a remake of FF7 in some capacity soon, possible for the NX, but that's just a prediction at this point. As for Cloud himself, I'm glad they went back and made him the confident jerkass he was in the original game, and I look forward to what items and content he'll bring to Smash (I know one of my friends will be happy, lol).
I also look forward to the December Smash announcement...It know it hasn't been that long, but I have a feeling we'll at least see prototypes of the winners of the Smash Ballot, or perhaps some new game modes and DLC.
In conclusion, this was a good comeback for Nintendo, and no, i didn't forget Bill's sudden Donut Binging skit. I legitimately want to see the end to that, hehehe... (plays the Kill Bill theme) On the game front, there's a lot of titles to be had here, so provided that Steam's Holiday Sale doesn't rip my wallet in half, I look forward to enjoying more of Nintendo's titles.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to solve some Picross puzzles.
