Aethermancer and Monster Sanctuary
both are made by same developers and they kick fucking ass
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Media Videogame Thread
- Thread starter Bummer
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both are made by same developers and they kick fucking ass
I'll check it out when it next goes on a sale. It has SOME level of familiarity since I used to play a bit of the mainline games though there are quite a few. I'm assuming just the latest one. They really go more for the monster feel compared to the animal feel.
This seems nothing like Pokemon neither gameplay nor aesthetic but interesting in its own way. The references in Aethermancer have me intrigued albeit it is Open Access so I probably won't mess with that until I see the finished product.
Not a "monster" catcher (its more like a "government employee and criminals and sometimes monsters" catcher) and also its a deckbuilder but it has xiao who kinda has infernape vibes if you dont think about it too much and it has a weakness/resistance system which is cool i guess (even if its kinda irrelevant lol)
This game is awesome and its easily one of the best turn-based games ever made BUT it starts out kinda slow and doesn't pick up the pace until the paths start branching (the first 5-10% of the game depending on how much of a skill issue you have).
Also the tutorials are hot ass and don't teach anything which kinda sucks because this game is dense as FUCK. but imo you can't call yourself a true fan if you can't pinpoint every minute flaw in your favorites and love them regardless.
These games seem pretty interesting, and while I have played Megaman Zero I haven't really messed with Battle Network. There is no monster catching in either of these series though lol. I'm learning that Pokemon pretty much has a monopoly which is a shame because the games are natively extremely easy and they are moving away from the turn-based system that made me interested to begin with.
I mean, there definitely are games closer on that, I just end up avoiding them. It feels sad to see something so clearly attempting to go for the Pokemon audience yet seeing some aspect that shows a clear disconnect between my own preferences and that of the main fanbase. Like, even with the general setup of "look at these cute creatures," there's not a lot for someone who thinks Litwick is cuter than every Fire-type starter, you know? And that's not getting into my fairly strong opinions on what is good and bad about Pokemon's battle system. So I find it easier to deal with games that aren't trying to be a direct replacement.
Digimon Story Time Stranger, fantastic Digimon game, my only complaint is it’s a bit hard to backtrack and the game does not warn you enough about leaving sidequests unfinished. Don’t want to spoil anything but it was a pain at times. But, an absolute masterpiece in a lot of other ways. No switch edition (yet) unfortunately.
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth/Hackers Memory, two good games, and are available as a (usually cheap or discounted) complete edition. Worth a try if you want to dip your toes in the Digi-waters.
Monster Hunter Stories 2, another game I enjoyed a lot, definitely has more of a crafting element to it and can be a little tedious at times. But the world, characters and story are very well done. There was a re-release of Monster Hunter Stories 1, but 2 is such a vast improvement over 1 and there’s no story continuation between the games.
World of Final Fantasy - Maxima, corny as hell but somewhat engaging especially if you’ve played mainline final fantasy games. Surprisingly deep story and a ton of content.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince was ok. There’s like 400+ monsters to wrangle but a lot of them as reskins of different ranks. Enjoyable game and has some really great monster catching environments.
Play a few Mario fan games last week
Mario 2Dyssey https://simple-team.itch.io/mario-2dyssey
Super Mario Bros: Odyssey (Ch1) https://mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=29699
Mario Kart: Speed Strife https://mfgg.net/?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=31532
JUMPMAN RTX by Dogedev https://dogedevcd.itch.io/jumpman-rtx
Paper Mario 3D Land https://www.mfgg.net/?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=30485
Isekai Mario by Hello Fangaming https://hellofangaming.itch.io/isekai-mario
Luigi's Mansion 2D: Eternal Night (LM2D) https://thehappyfaceking.itch.io/luigis-mansion-2d
You can see them in a unlisted video here
Mario 2Dyssey https://simple-team.itch.io/mario-2dyssey
Super Mario Bros: Odyssey (Ch1) https://mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=29699
Mario Kart: Speed Strife https://mfgg.net/?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=31532
JUMPMAN RTX by Dogedev https://dogedevcd.itch.io/jumpman-rtx
Paper Mario 3D Land https://www.mfgg.net/?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=30485
Isekai Mario by Hello Fangaming https://hellofangaming.itch.io/isekai-mario
Luigi's Mansion 2D: Eternal Night (LM2D) https://thehappyfaceking.itch.io/luigis-mansion-2d
You can see them in a unlisted video here
Switch 2 cracked 10.36 million by Sep 30th. Software sales only at 20.62 million, which is unsurprising tbh. Seemed like people were only buying the exclusives (World and Bananza) and playing their Switch 1 games on Switch 2. Obviously this will change as we go forward. For comparison, the other Nintendo Consoles ratio of Software to console sales
GC 9.59
Switch 9.43
Wii 9.07
NES 8.08
SNES 7.72
Wii U 7.64
N64 6.83
DS 6.16
3DS 5.17
GBA 4.63
GB/GBC 4.22
Switch 2 1.99
GC 9.59
Switch 9.43
Wii 9.07
NES 8.08
SNES 7.72
Wii U 7.64
N64 6.83
DS 6.16
3DS 5.17
GBA 4.63
GB/GBC 4.22
Switch 2 1.99
I think we're in a weird middle ground; where the wiiu had banger games developed for it that nobody cared about because the console was bad (botw for instance), switch 2 versions of games aren't selling like hotcakes. ZA and metroid it seems are staying on the existing install base?
Clearly gaming is much bigger market today than 20 years ago, but Nintendo will need another killer app soon. and I doubt it will be metroid given its audience (small).
Feels like we're in a lull of Nintendo developed software as well. There likely won't be a new mario kart, mario platformer, zelda, smash, splatoon, xenoblade, fire emblem...for...two years?
Clearly gaming is much bigger market today than 20 years ago, but Nintendo will need another killer app soon. and I doubt it will be metroid given its audience (small).
Feels like we're in a lull of Nintendo developed software as well. There likely won't be a new mario kart, mario platformer, zelda, smash, splatoon, xenoblade, fire emblem...for...two years?
Monster Hunter Stories might be the one I'm most comfortable with, or the Final Fantasy one. That being said I'm probably going to wait until I see out that new Elestrals game people are talking about. The TCG is pretty interesting and the games seem to be very PLA inspired. Luminape is a starter that covers what I'm looking for. Just hoping the pricing of the game isn't ludicrous.
I’ve seen it reported a few places but nintendo is counting sales of switch 2 edition games weirdly:
If it's a physical copy, it counts as Switch 2
If it's digital, it counts as Switch 1
If it's just the upgrade pack, it doesn't count at all
they annouced a new fe for the switch 2 already, fortune's weave. none of the others though yeah. i just kinda imagine it like the transition between ds and 3ds, it's going to be rough for a bit until they fully shift over.
Normally not a huge remake guy but I feel like an aria of sorrow remake(ish) (i actually dont know the technical term) would do numbers. Just patch up the balance, make luck/int actually do something (yes, that is a real issue. both stats are in essence rounding errors no matter what you do with them) and redo some of the backgrounds and tile work since they have no damn consistency and then they can straight up just push that out for consoles and it'll at least do well.
Octopath traveler-esque particle effects would go pretty crazy on something like this too. Food for thought...
Octopath traveler-esque particle effects would go pretty crazy on something like this too. Food for thought...
They've already got all three GBA Castlevania games bundled as a collection for Steam and last-gen consoles; I imagine the sales data from that is what they're using to gauge the potential audience for such a project. They've released other stuff since (DS collection, Vampire Survivors collab), but it's been pretty slow, so I assume the data suggests to them that they need to rebuild the franchise's fanbase before they make anything truly new.
There’s a new Fire Emblem game coming out next year, Fortune’s Weave (no idea when yet). It’s exclusive to the Switch 2.
(Screenshot taken live from my smartphone on Safari)
There’s another big anniversary coming up, and I must say, I am very excited for this one. The idea of a game like Mario Kart DS turning twenty years old sounded absolutely psychotic at one point, but here we are; in just a week from now, one of my favorite games ever made and arguably the most influential Mario Kart game to date’s reaching a historic milestone that could not have come at a better time if Nintendo dared try. Oh, I’m sorry, did I say influential Mario Kart game? My bad. What I actually meant to say was one of the most influential Nintendo games outright. And the funny part is that this is far from an exaggeration.
It’s relatively common knowledge by this point that Mario Kart DS was Nintendo’s first ever first-party online multiplayer game. That in and of itself deserves some recognition, but it goes deeper than that. During the early 2000s the entire Mario I.P. was going through a rough stretch uncharacteristic of the big M’s usual success and especially the golden age of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In regards to Mario Kart specifically, both of the previous two games weren’t as successful as Mario Kart 64, previously considered the gold standard of the series at the time. Super Mario Sunshine wasn’t very popular, Super Mario 64’s DS remake was a bit stronger albeit with a lower attachment rate, and the other various spin-offs weren’t doing too great either. With the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube both underperforming and the DS only in its first full fiscal year, Nintendo needed something big, and fast.
And boy, did they deliver. Mario Kart DS was a major reset of everything players previously came to know and expect from Mario Kart games, and practically overnight Mario Kart 64 suddenly had its first real challenger to its throne. Retro courses, mix and matching karts, wireless and online multiplayer, so much of what Mario Kart is known for nowadays, it all started here. This game didn’t just introduce a handful of iconic new courses either. On top of being universally considered a net upgrade from Mario Kart: Super Circuit’s multiplayer gameplay, even the single player experience was, in my opinion, arguably the best in the series. First, there was the Battle Mode, being the last in the series with the classic Balloon Battle ruleset on top of introducing four new battle maps and two fan favorite returning maps. And then there was Mission Mode. Oh, man, the Mission Mode. Exclusive to Mario Kart DS only, this game featured an entirely unique challenge mode featuring additional changes and twists to existing maps and, did I mention, this mode has literal boss fights too? The only thing remotely close to this mode we’ve gotten since then were the Tournaments in Mario Kart Wii, which I don’t even know if those should count due to being tied to online connectivity and no longer being accessible anyways without mods or hacks,
Mario Kart DS wasn’t just a game. It was an experience, and the catalyst for one of the most dominant stretches of any I.P. in Nintendo history. What I’ve routinely referred to as the Super Mario Renaissance Era from 2004 to 2010, but especially this game, deserves all the credit in the world for helping Nintendo get back on their feet and establishing the DS and the Wii as the absolute masterclass of console design each of these platforms truly was. Happy early 20th, Mario Kart DS. Thanks for being my first Mario Kart and one of the greatest games I’ve ever had the blessing to play growing up.