Operation Backlog Completion 2025

Nintendo Direct Highlights: Detective Pikachu, Star Ocean 2, and More!

 Video games  15 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jun 212023
 

The rush of showcases seemingly ended last week, but Nintendo decided to continue the rush of gaming news with a new Nintendo Direct. I’ll be covering the highlights that stood out to me, so be sure to watch the whole thing for more.

They started off with a bunch of different things, including the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet DLC and another look at Sonic Superstars. They also showed Persona 5 Tactica (but not Persona 3 Reload, so maybe the persistent rumors that it’s coming to the Switch after all are false).

After a few more things, they then showed a game we’ve been waiting on since 2019… the Detective Pikachu sequel!

Detective Pikachu Returns will be out on October 6. While there were some concerns when it was announced that it might be yet another expanded version of the original game, it appears from the trailer to be an all-new sequel. When I played Detective Pikachu last year, I found it to be pleasant enough to play a full sequel if that was what the new game turned out to be, so it looks like I’ll be playing Detective Pikachu Returns!

For me, the Direct had picked up tremendously at that point, and it continued with that momentum – because the next game announced was a remake of Super Mario RPG! I played Super Mario RPG back in 2016 and enjoyed it, although I felt the hype surrounding it was overblown.

The remake looks beautiful, though, so I’m tempted to get it nevertheless. It will be out on November 17.

They also teased a game starring Princess Peach. I assume they would have just said if it was a remake of Super Princess Peach, so it’s most likely a brand-new Peach game. The teaser was so short, I’m not even sure what type of game it is, but I’m looking forward to learning more about it. It will be out in 2024.

After that, they showed Luigi’s Mansion – but it’s just a remaster of Dark Moon. Dark Moon is my least favorite of the Luigi’s Mansion games, so I doubt I’ll get that.

The Batman Arkham Trilogy is also coming to the Switch, yet another reminder that I should play Arkham Knight someday.

Quite a few games I’m not interested in followed after that (as well as the DLC for Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, yet another series I still haven’t tried), but then it was time for another one that caught my eye – a new Dragon Quest Monsters game!

A new Dragon Quest Monsters was said to be in development back in May, and now it’s been officially unveiled as Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. It will be out on December 1.

I’ve never played a Dragon Quest Monsters game before, but it looks great! I’m excited to try it.

Pikmin 4 got a long segment, as well as the announcement of HD remasters of Pikmin 1 & 2, which are out now. Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 was also confirmed to be coming to the Switch, although the Switch version will require downloads. (It figures these Metal Gear Solid collections would start coming out after I bought the PS3 collection.)

After a few more game announcements and more Mario Kart 8 DLC, they revealed a game I’m pretty excited for that leaked a few days ago: Star Ocean: The Second Story R. Due out on November 2, this is a Star Ocean 2 remake that looks incredible!

While I had mixed feelings about First Departure R, the second game gets so much praise that I wanted them to at least port the original or its PSP remaster… so this is more than I ever hoped for.

(It’s also getting a $200 Collector’s Edition, but it doesn’t look worth it to me.)

Anyway, they announced a new WarioWare game and some other updates, and closed out the show with the announcement of a new 2D Mario game, Super Mario Bros Wonder. It will be out on October 20.

All in all, this was a pretty good Nintendo Direct. Detective Pikachu Returns, Super Mario RPG, the Princess Peach game, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and Star Ocean: The Second Story R are all new announcements that have my attention, plus the already-announced Persona 5 Tactica. And while I’m not the biggest fan of 2D Mario, the new game looks interesting enough for me to consider. The end of 2023 is already stacked for me!

Hey, maybe if the Super Mario RPG remake sells well enough, the constant Thousand-Year Door rumors will finally come true.

How did you like the new Nintendo Direct? What games stood out to you the most?

May Mystery Game Madness: Detective Pikachu Review

 Celebrating All Things Mysterious, Reviews, Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
May 112022
 

I’ve been saying I would play it for years now, and this mystery celebration was the push I needed to finally play Detective Pikachu.

(I haven’t seen the movie to compare the two, so everything in this review is solely about the Detective Pikachu game for the 3DS.)

Detective Pikachu follows a boy named Tim who is searching for his father, who went missing under suspicious circumstances.

He joins forces with his father’s Pikachu, who gained the ability to talk (except only Tim can understand him) after the accident.

It’s an adventure game of sorts where you investigate crime scenes and talk to characters to gather evidence to solve the mystery.

Unfortunately, the gameplay is rather… basic. Everything you learn or inspect is added to your list of evidence/testimony, and once you’ve gathered everything, you solve the mystery by choosing the relevant evidence/testimony in response to questions about the case.

I got a bit worried early on when the game gave me questions like “What clue does this feather give us about the culprit?” Answer: “The culprit is a Pokémon with feathers!” It does get a bit more challenging than that, but the mysteries are never exactly mind-bending.

Talking to people and solving these smaller mysteries in the course of pursuing the larger case is the bulk of the gameplay, along with occasional action sequences that give you a couple easy quick-time events.

Pikachu and the story are clearly meant to be the draw here, and they’re the game’s strongest points. Pikachu is cute, and there are some genuinely funny moments. He does not behave like a normal Pikachu, so his reactions to various situations are the highlights. You can also talk to him at any point for a variety of short scenes, although I didn’t take the time to keep checking back to try to see them all.

The story feels aimed at a younger audience in general. (Actually, I thought Tim was supposed to be 13 or so until he got into a car and started driving. It turns out he’s 18.) It’s a cute story, and entertaining enough.

It also ends on a cliffhanger, leaving a few core mysteries unexplained. Now, one thing that bugs me is that it hints strongly at a certain twist, to the point where it almost feels too obvious, while at the same time not really explaining how the twist could be true.

Click for Detective Pikachu spoilers
I’m talking, of course, about the strong implications that Detective Pikachu has taken on the personality of Tim’s father, Harry. They make such a point of how Pikachu’s behavior has changed (and several of these changes parallel what we hear about Harry’s personality) that it seems almost certain. Yet it’s not clear how exactly that would tie into his deal with Mewtwo and Mewtwo at the end telling him to choose. Detective Pikachu remains his current self, so was that the choice? But in that case, where’s Harry’s body? What would the alternate choice have been?

I don’t know, there are enough details that don’t quite add up to make me think that maybe the reason the implications are SO obvious is because it’s actually a red herring and Detective Pikachu isn’t Harry at all.

In short, I found Detective Pikachu to be… pleasant. It’s a cute game. The gameplay is fairly basic and it’s not the most compelling mystery, but the story was enjoyable enough.

This does leave me conflicted about the in-development sequel, though. If the Switch Detective Pikachu game is truly a sequel, I’ll probably play it. But if it’s another updated re-release with more story added, like some people think, I don’t know if I enjoyed it enough to play through it again.

Don’t forget, May is Mystery Game Madness month, so you have a chance to win games and other great prizes by participating in this year’s contest!

The World Ends With You is Coming to the Switch

 Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Jan 152018
 

First off, I want to apologize for my silence last week. I had some website issues and couldn’t log in all week long. A few things still aren’t quite right yet, so expect some changes in the weeks ahead.

The important thing is that the site is functioning again, and we’ve got some exciting news to discuss… like The World Ends With You: Final Remix for the Switch!

The original The World Ends With You for the DS is one of my favorite games. I love this game.

I’ve been waiting for a sequel since 2012, when Square Enix teased “New 7 Days” at the end of the mobile port. The World Ends With You 2 has been one of my pipe dreams for a while.

Well, it might not be a sequel, but The World Ends With You has not been forgotten. It’s coming to the Switch this year with HD graphics, new controls, and a new epilogue scenario.

New story content is the most interesting part, but I want to touch on the controls first. The original game has an unusual control scheme for combat, with one character on the bottom controlled through the touchscreen and another character on the top controlled through button inputs. The mobile port simplified this system for a single screen to make the top-screen character just another part to be controlled with the touchscreen.

Just from the brief glimpses of combat in the Switch trailer, it looks like both control schemes might be available. That’s a great idea, and I look forward to seeing how they make it work with only one screen.

Now, let’s talk about the “sizable new scenario” mentioned in the trailer.

The World Ends With You told a complete story, but its Secret Reports showed the potential for sequels and a larger universe. Will this new scenario touch upon those elements? I hope so. Either way, I’m excited for more TWEWY.

One of the most interesting parts of the trailer is that the girl shown at the end as part of this new scenario is the same girl from the original sequel tease back in 2012. Some fans have taken this to mean we’re getting this instead of a new game, but I hope Square Enix is using this to test the waters (and prepare a new audience) for an eventual sequel.

Overall, I’m pretty excited, and I’ll definitely buy the Final Remix.

In unrelated news, remember Detective Pikachu, the odd 3DS spin-off I was hoping would be localized? Apparently that was only part of the Detective Pikachu story. Now a new game, which includes both the original and new story content, is coming to the 3DS… and being localized!

It still seems crazy and weird… and yes, I want to play it.

Are you excited for The World Ends With You: Final Remix? What about Detective Pikachu? Let me know in the comments!

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