9/14/23 Direct announced

[Zapp Branniglenn]

You can always spot a vanillaware game. Coming to all consoles, but not PC? But they've been finally migrating stuff to Steam in the last year, it's a big disappointment if this one doesn't show.

Edit: Actually they HAVENT been migrating stuff to Steam, I guess I dreamt those ports up.

Peach game looks really fun. The TTYD trailer was a huge relief- the outlines are correct. If they had done white outlines I would have freaked. Actually just finished a paper mario game last week and am in the middle of the newly released TTYD 64 mod. I guess I willed this into existence like I did Metroid Dread and Pikmin 4. You're welcome. Probably not picking this up, except perhaps buying it on behalf of someone else who never played the original. It's a one of a kind game. I firmly believe that in most of our parallel dimensions, Thousand Year Door was just "The second Paper Mario game" instead of the last of its kind. The one that didn't do well critically or commercially but people are always rediscovering to praise the characters and story.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Zapp Branniglenn

[Punished Dayni]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I could tell right away this was Vanillaware, the aesthetic is unmistakeable. Unicorn Overlord is a must-buy for me.😄

Vanillaware has some experience in Strategy games with GrimGrimoire (need to start this tomorrow), and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (although it's primarily a Visual Novel). Though nothing like what looks to be on display here, which might have some Ogre Battle inspiration???

Vanillaware has done medieval fantasy plenty before as well- Odin Sphere, Grand Knights History, Dragon's Crown. If you prefer feudal Japanese, Muramasa: The Demon Blade covers that.

In terms of narrative capabilities...

• Vanillaware has done story-lite gameplay-heavy games as in Dragon's Crown and Grand Knights History.
• They've also gone story-focused as with 13 Sentinels, most players seem to have been astounded by the sci-fi plot.
• Odin Sphere aims for operatic grandiosity at times -it was originally going to be The Ring Cycle as a video game. Although it's closer to a balance of narrative and beat 'em up gameplay. Muramasa is lighter on the story than OS, but still tries to have one, and Muramasa's story has some nice Japanese stylings in it.

Odin Sphere, Muramasa, and 13 Sentinels are all character-focused perspective-wise. Five heroes on individualized journeys in OS, two in Mura + four DLC short-story characters in the Vita port, and 13 Sentinels has... thirteen sentinels. The stories are fairly separate (though certainly not entirely) in Muramasa, they're a bit more interconnected in OS, and 13S has story-interweaving all the time. Unicorn Overlord may be Vanillaware's first attempt at a strong, single constant-perspective story.

Just saying all this to provide an idea of how up-to-the task Vanillaware may be for creating a medieval SRPG that satisfies in every way.🙂

I'll admit I kinda got blown back by the trailer on first watch (After realising after a little bit it had to be Vanillaware), but it looks like there's a good amount going on with this game, hopefully it works out when it does release.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

not the first time they've drawn a unicorn either. Just a mid-boss, a kind of soldier in the fairy kingdom's army.

That leg armour looks so uncomfortable.

[Saint Rubenio]

I don't really have much to add from my previous post. Peach game looks good. Maybe even great, but I'll wait for more footage for that. The hundred heroes game drew my attention, because I've found RPGs with a ton of characters to collect are my kind of RPGs, but it's also coming on PC so as far as I'm concerned it's a moot point for Nintendo.

Most surprised at Mario vs Donkey Kong. Wouldn't have expected Nintendo to ever remember that game's existence. I'll look forward to listening to this banger in HD.

Not enough to pay Nintendo's prices for a remaster of a game I've already played and enjoyed, I don't think, but a non-GBA compressed version of this game's soundtrack will be a nice listen.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Saint Rubenio

[vanguard333]

3 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Suikoden was a PS2-era JRPG loosely based on Water Margin. Published by Konami. It was known for having a LOT of playable characters, and you could view the modern day Trails series as scratching that itch.

I see. Thanks for the info. I have never played a Trails game.

 

One thing I can't believe I forgot to mention: I was really surprised by the announcement of a Spy x Family game; I really like that anime and, while it has been a huge success, I didn't expect to see it get a game any time soon. I'm a little sad that it's a game about building a photo album; it really looks like it isn't my cup of tea.

[Punished Dayni]

9 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Not enough to pay Nintendo's prices for a remaster of a game I've already played and enjoyed, I don't think, but a non-GBA compressed version of this game's soundtrack will be a nice listen.

€50, right? Sheesh.

2 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

One thing I can't believe I forgot to mention: I was really surprised by the announcement of a Spy x Family game; I really like that anime and, while it has been a huge success, I didn't expect to see it get a game any time soon. I'm a little sad that it's a game about building a photo album; it really looks like it isn't my cup of tea.

Of all the things, doubling on kid-friendly slice of life was not the angle I expected from what I've heard about this series.

[Saint Rubenio]

Just now, Punished Dayni said:

€50, right? Sheesh.

I can't find a price yet, but let's not kid ourselves; it's Nintendo. They're definitely shilling these out 50 bucks a pop, and expect to be thanked for the 10 they shaved off the full retail price.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Can't believe they made a Wario version of Peach and her name is Grape. Some things would sound so dumb on paper until it's presented unironically to the audience. I have to defend this creative decision to my dying breath now.

[Saint Rubenio]

1 minute ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

Can't believe they made a Wario version of Peach and her name is Grape. Some things would sound so dumb on paper until it's presented unironically to the audience. I have to defend this creative decision to my dying breath now.

The stream glitched out for me at just the right moment for me to miss the name of the villain. When the transformations started getting shown, I didn't care to go back and check that.

That's actually hilarious. Grape. If I had a nickle for every time I've seen Grape used as a name, I'd have to nickles.

Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice.

[vanguard333]

22 minutes ago, Punished Dayni said:

Of all the things, doubling on kid-friendly slice of life was not the angle I expected from what I've heard about this series.

It's not what I would've expected either. I would've thought a Spy x Family game would be one-half family life sim and the other have spy action.

If you haven't watched the show, I would highly recommend it; it's a fantastic comedy with a great set of characters, and the core three main characters have a great dynamic.

[henrymidfields]

I remember playing F-Zero Maxiumum Velocity on the GBA. Such an insanely difficult and chaotic game to master, and aptly reflective of the danger the racers face. At the same time it never felt unfair to me unlike Mario Kart, because of how it rarely punishes good technique (aside from the rubber banding). Not sure about having 99 players, but I'm glad there's going to be new life breathing into F-Zero.

[Armchair General]

It's an bit of an disappointment, for me. Unicorn Overlord and Eiyudne Chronicles certainly looks promising. The Paper Mario remake looks an little bit on the unnatural side with the revamped lighting. And Princess Peach: Showtime is more or less cursed to be an walking sim, as far as I can tell

[Saint Rubenio]

5 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

I remember playing F-Zero Maxiumum Velocity on the GBA. Such an insanely difficult and chaotic game to master, and aptly reflective of the danger the racers face. At the same time it never felt unfair to me unlike Mario Kart, because of how it rarely punishes good technique (aside from the rubber banding). Not sure about having 99 players, but I'm glad there's going to be new life breathing into F-Zero.

Playing a whole bunch of F-Zero GX killed Mario Kart for me lol. After the magical experience of spending three whole days crashing headfirst into the wall that is mission 7 on the hardest difficulty until I finally beat it, Mario Kart's "really easy driving, luck-based victories" duality felt impossible to go back to. Not to mention the games felt horribly slow by comparison.

I won't be playing F-Zero 99 because after some unpleasant experiences with NSO I swore I would never buy it again, but it's still nice that they're acknowledging the series's existence, at least. It's something. It's better than we had before this direct, which was absolutely nothing.

[Punished Dayni]

12 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I won't be playing F-Zero 99 because after some unpleasant experiences with NSO I swore I would never buy it again, but it's still nice that they're acknowledging the series's existence, at least. It's something. It's better than we had before this direct, which was absolutely nothing.

:Try it if you have the trial I guess? I might do that, just not a priority at the minute.

[Saint Rubenio]

2 minutes ago, Punished Dayni said:

:Try it if you have the trial I guess? I might do that, just not a priority at the minute.

I probably do have the trial, I haven't used Ninty Online in years at this point. Might be worthwhile to try before Nintendo erases the game from existence like they did with that Mario fangame they shamelessly stole.

[𝐍𝐲𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥]

Direct was kinda lackluster, barely any actually new games. Unicorn Overlord seems.. interesting, I guess? It has a stupid name though. Out of all the games ATLUS will be releasing in the next few months I got a feeling this game will slip under the radar and will be overshadowed by Metaphor ReFantazio and Persona 3 Reload.

[henrymidfields]

19 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Playing a whole bunch of F-Zero GX killed Mario Kart for me lol. After the magical experience of spending three whole days crashing headfirst into the wall that is mission 7 on the hardest difficulty until I finally beat it, Mario Kart's "really easy driving, luck-based victories" duality felt impossible to go back to. Not to mention the games felt horribly slow by comparison.

I found Mario Kart worse than that, particularly with Grand Prix. They can do whatever they want with Multiplayer Mode, but single player 150cc and Mirror should have just been to withheld the more powerful items from both the player and CPUs, and actually force players to get better at not messing up their driving in the first place instead of essentially grant CPUs cheat codes. It's infuriating when you're knocked down from 1st to last just because of some CPU opponent got a lucky item. If the higher classes in single player made recovery more difficult (rarer chance of getting Stars or Thunderbolts) in exchange of not having to be bombarded with Thunderbolts or Blue Shells in return, I'm fine with that.

Edited September 16, 2023 by henrymidfields

[Saint Rubenio]

3 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

I found Mario Kart worse than that, particularly with Grand Prix. They can do whatever they want with Multiplayer Mode, but single player 150cc and Mirror should have just been to withheld the more powerful items from both the player and CPUs, and actually force players to get better at not messing up their driving in the first place instead of essentially grant CPUs cheat codes. It's infuriating when you're knocked down from 1st to last just because of some CPU opponent got a lucky item. If the higher classes in single player made recovery more difficult (rarer chance of getting Stars or Thunderbolts) in exchange of not having to be bombarded with Thunderbolts or Blue Shells in return, I'm fine with that.

That's the Mario Kart experience in a nutshell, isn't it. You have to pray that you don't get the (always hilarious) experience of being hit by a blue shell, three red shells in a row and a stray green shell for good measure, instantly going from 1st to 12th with no time to recover. You can theoretically avoid the blue shell by strategically sticking to second place until the last lap, but that's... honestly kinda dumb for a racing game lol

Frankly, as far as mechanisms to give a chance to less skilled drivers go, I much prefer F-Zero's option to straight up wipe the opposition off the planet. That was so much fun. I won a good few grand prixes by focusing less on winning and more on murdering those who were doing well on the scoreboard.

[henrymidfields]

6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's the Mario Kart experience in a nutshell, isn't it. You have to pray that you don't get the (always hilarious) experience of being hit by a blue shell, three red shells in a row and a stray green shell for good measure, instantly going from 1st to 12th with no time to recover. You can theoretically avoid the blue shell by strategically sticking to second place until the last lap, but that's... honestly kinda dumb for a racing game lol

Frankly, as far as mechanisms to give a chance to less skilled drivers go, I much prefer F-Zero's option to straight up wipe the opposition off the planet. That was so much fun. I won a good few grand prixes by focusing less on winning and more on murdering those who were doing well on the scoreboard.

Oh you've said it. It's idiotic how little skill matters in Mario Kart. I'd prefer that unskilled players just be ranked/scored lower and everyone just be segregated based on their rankings like Pokemon's online PvP ranked mode.

Edited September 16, 2023 by henrymidfields

[lenticular]

I've been playing a bit of F-Zero 99. I can't play for too long without it killing my thumbs, but it's good fun and works well for times when I have quarter of an hour free in between other things. I do enjoy it (despite being terrible at it) but I wish that they'd leaned in a bit further to the battle royal side of things. It doesn't really feel like a battle royale so much as it feels like just playing a racing game with a lot of people. For me, battle royales imply starting with a lot of people and then gradually eliminating them until only one person is left, and they're the winner. But F-Zero 99 just doesn't do that. It's a 4 lap race, first to the finish wins. And yeah, some people will be eliminated along the way, but it's usual for something around about 70 people to actually finish the race. It feels like such a weird choice.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

9 hours ago, lenticular said:

I've been playing a bit of F-Zero 99. I can't play for too long without it killing my thumbs, but it's good fun and works well for times when I have quarter of an hour free in between other things. I do enjoy it (despite being terrible at it) but I wish that they'd leaned in a bit further to the battle royal side of things. It doesn't really feel like a battle royale so much as it feels like just playing a racing game with a lot of people. For me, battle royales imply starting with a lot of people and then gradually eliminating them until only one person is left, and they're the winner. But F-Zero 99 just doesn't do that. It's a 4 lap race, first to the finish wins. And yeah, some people will be eliminated along the way, but it's usual for something around about 70 people to actually finish the race. It feels like such a weird choice.

The "Grand Prix" is a little more like that, winnowing out the worst performers each race. I've only made it to the fourth of five races in one, so I can't say how far down it goes, but the field does narrow.

That said, it would be cool to see an "Endless Race" mode, that goes however many laps it takes to "last car driving". Possibly adding more hazards, or getting rid of the "boost area", at a certain point. So that it doesn't take too long.

[lenticular]

11 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

The "Grand Prix" is a little more like that, winnowing out the worst performers each race. I've only made it to the fourth of five races in one, so I can't say how far down it goes, but the field does narrow.

That said, it would be cool to see an "Endless Race" mode, that goes however many laps it takes to "last car driving". Possibly adding more hazards, or getting rid of the "boost area", at a certain point. So that it doesn't take too long.

Oh, that's good to know. I've seen that the grand prix exists, but the timing hasn't actually worked out for me to be able to try one yet. I'm glad it exists, at least.

In the version of F-Zero 99 that I'd imagined in my head before it was actually announced, I'd imagined the game getting progressively faster and faster as it progressed, getting more and more difficult to control. Combine that with more hazards, removing the heal area, aggressive limits for being placed out, and so on, and I'm sure you could winnow the field down in a reasonable amount of time.