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Laurens
Belgium4558 Posts
After expedition 33 and two Xenoblades, it's nice to sit back and play a casual game. Balance seems a bit off. I unlocked the Kong Bananza and whenever I proc it, I can punch 2 rocks and it'll spawn enough gold to have the next Bananza ready lol. I don't see much point in playing in my original form? Anyway, completionist me will have some more fun with this, and then i'm through the backlog so hopefully some new exciting games get announced soon. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
On August 07 2025 02:32 Laurens wrote: Started DK Bananza. After expedition 33 and two Xenoblades, it's nice to sit back and play a casual game. Balance seems a bit off. I unlocked the Kong Bananza and whenever I proc it, I can punch 2 rocks and it'll spawn enough gold to have the next Bananza ready lol. I don't see much point in playing in my original form? Anyway, completionist me will have some more fun with this, and then i'm through the backlog so hopefully some new exciting games get announced soon. Yeah when you're smashing through a mountain, it's very easy to keep your Kong transformation up; I think that's intentional, since your transformation meter depletes pretty fast when you're simply traveling / running around. Nintendo compiled a cute little accolades video for DKB too: My thoughts on DKB from a previous post: + Show Spoiler + On July 27 2025 02:08 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Oh my god oh my god oh my god. Just finished playing Donkey Kong Bananza. This first part is obviously going to be my spoiler-free thoughts that anyone can read, and then I'm going to put the rest of my post inside a big spoiler tag. I've always loved 3D platformers, ever since the days of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. The first game I played on Switch was Super Mario Odyssey, and it's been my #1 highest ranked S-tier game ever since I put together the tier list. I knew that Donkey Kong Bananza was made by the same team that developed Super Mario Odyssey, but I was skeptical that they could repeat the magic that I felt in Super Mario Odyssey. Well... they fucking did it. Donkey Kong Bananza is arguably as good as, or perhaps even better than, Super Mario Odyssey. I think they are two of the best 3D platformers of all time, and I think that Donkey Kong Bananza is the best Donkey Kong game of all time. It's a beautiful love letter to fans of the Donkey Kong franchise. The levels ("layers") in Donkey Kong Bananza have an open/sandbox feel that welcomes exploration and non-linearity, while still providing enough optional direction to not make the player feel lost or overwhelmed. The main gameplay premise of DKB is essentially "what would you do and where would you go if the entire world was destructible?", and the fact that you can smash and break through almost anything - and that's it's incredibly fun and rewarding to do so - really scaffolds even the most cautious, structured player into feeling adventurous and investigating in any direction they want. There are also easy ways to teleport and even reset the map to its original, unbroken state, if one wanted to do so, so there's essentially no risk to going ape (pun intended). There are limitless collectibles that one can find in DKB, but the game doesn't lock story-related progress or vital benchmarks behind finding huge numbers of items. This was an issue in some traditional collect-a-thon platformers, such as Donkey Kong 64, where many players were forced to spend a significant amount of time backtracking, which disrupted any forward momentum that a player had been enjoying. DKB's approach is that it encourages you to find collectibles by offering new skills and buffs and perks if you feel like it, and the levels are structured in such a way that you'll naturally come across plenty of items anyway, if you wanted to tinker with these optional bonuses. While the plot of DKB - much like the plot of most platformers - doesn't have mind-blowing levels of complexity, there is actually a respectable amount of in-game lore to discover by interacting with the hundreds of personable NPCs scattered throughout the game. The characters are as colorful as the rest of the game, and both Pauline and the new-ish/goofy-ish Donkey Kong fit right in. On a related note, the end-game and post-game content are both fantastic. For comparison, Super Mario Odyssey had the Final Bowser battle, and then Mushroom, Dark Side, and Darker Side Kingdoms (and optional backtracking for completionists), and Donkey Kong Bananza has so much more than that after the Final Void Kong battle. DKB is at least a 20-hour game, more likely 30-40 hours if you're exploring a healthy amount, and potentially 50-60 if you're a completionist. I was pleasantly surprised at how effective the camera was, and how stable the frame rate was, for nearly all of the game. I wish the transformations were needed more during the regular game (they're used a lot more during the end-game and post-game). Most of the levels/layers were excellent, though I wasn't a fan of two of them. Most of the mini-games were fun, though a few felt redundant. Many of the mini-boss battles and boss battles were extremely simple and too easy - reminiscent of Super Mario Odyssey - though the ones at the end of DKB were vastly improved. There are some other minor nitpicks, but they're mostly subjective. You definitely want to avoid spoilers if you haven't yet played this game, and there are a ton of Easter eggs for DK/Mario/Nintendo fans. If you've played the original Donkey Kong arcade game, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Mario Odyssey, you're going to really enjoy all the references that appear in Donkey Kong Bananza. Huge spoiler alert for the rest of my post below / Do not click below if you still haven't played *and completed* DKB: + Show Spoiler + "Most of the levels/layers were excellent, though I wasn't a fan of two of them." Landfill Layer (too claustrophobic / movement too restricted) and Racing Layer (too empty). During the Final Void Kong battle in the Forbidden Layer, I had pretty much resigned myself to believing that King K. Rool simply wouldn't be in this game. After all, that Void Kong battle was pretty complex, with all the platforming (creating and crossing the blue bridges) and chasing him all over the place. Given how simple most of the game's boss battles had been, this battle was sufficiently different and hard enough that I figured maybe that was it. And then after VK rushed through DK and Pauline and lunged for the "Banandium Root" (which was secretly King K. Rool's golden stomach), I figured there would be another phase to VK. But when K. Rool's eye opened and he punched VK, I shouted so loud that all three of my dogs started barking. Then the reveals of all the old-school Donkey Kong Country enemies, their sound effects, the fake "K" credits from DKC, the old music from DKC levels, and Pauline's post-game melody being the theme song from the original Donkey Kong arcade game... And New Donk City with Lanky and Tiny and other Kong billboards/references... And a legitimate series of frenzied final boss fights and the end-game escape, where you actually need to use your transformations effectively... And when one of those fights against K. Rool was an homage to the boxing ring from Donkey Kong 64... The creators of SMO and DKB elicit nostalgia so well. There are a ton of great reaction videos to DKB's ending; this one is my favorite: | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
Yaqoob, I hope that you and your daughter get the Hollow Knight: Silksong information you've been waiting for! | ||
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Yaqoob
Canada3406 Posts
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
Glaciered looks pretty cool (underwater RTS) and it's supposedly coming out in late 2025. Other than that, the showcase was mostly a miss for me. Oh well! | ||
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Yaqoob
Canada3406 Posts
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JimmyJRaynor
Canada17818 Posts
little, tiny, helpless Walmart is tired of being pushed around by big evil Nintendo. Walmart just dropped the price of the Nintendo Switch 1 OLED to $300 USD. https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-switch-oled-is-somehow-100-off-at-walmart-after-price-increases This effectively makes the price ~$410 CDN for most Canadians because so many Canadians live close to the border. Now, instead of "scuffing their shoes" those underhanded, scheming, evil Canadians will be scuffing up their joycons and smuggling low priced Switch1 OLED's over the border. To add to the savings you can find parts of NY with only a 4% sales tax compared to 13% sales tax in Canada. So most Canadians can save more than $100 getting a Switch OLED in the US of by God "A". Madden 26 stutters all over the place and runs badly on the Nintendo Switch 2. Don't feel bad Nintendo fans! as bad as its problems are on the Switch2 the game is even more fucked on the PS5. https://www.axios.com/2025/08/07/ea-madden-26-servers-down-launch-release The best American tackle football game on a Switch console is Legend Bowl. Its made by 1 guy and its ~$20. You can become great at this game and learn some very deep strategies because its not being constantly changed by EA. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
The start of the demo did a good job of introducing the movement. That being said, I think that I'd much prefer to always have an option to use the pro controller, or at least the attached joy-cons in handheld mode, rather than only being able to play a game that requires a new/novel feature like the mouse/rolling setup or motion controls. *For those who don't know where all the free demos can be found, since the UI for the Switch 2 is different than the Switch: Nintendo eShop icon -> Great Deals -> Filter -> check only the "Games with Demos" box -> Search -> change "Best sellers" to "Release date (new to old)". This will allow you to find/play any available demos for recent/upcoming games. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
"First Impressions: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Is An Attempt To Catch The Hardcore Again ... Smooth sailing on Switch 2 ... Kindly, Nintendo and Pokémon gave us behind closed doors access to Pokémon Legends: Z-A on Switch 2 at this year's Pokémon Worlds event, and even though our brief 20-minute demo didn’t show their entire hand, I was able to get a better grasp on this new combat system and I truly think this might be the most fast paced and exciting Pocket Monsters game we’ve seen yet. Now please, Nintendo, let me play more of it soon. The demo was broken up into two sections. The first part let me loose in a back alley Battle Zone, which tasked me with taking down as many trainers as I could lock eyes with. I hate confrontation, though, so I was thrilled to learn I could surprise and sneak-attack these trainers instead by moving cautiously and targeting their active Pokémon standing by their side. This first strike gives you a little advantage at the start of a battle and this also makes for a nice evolution of the stealth mechanics we saw in Arceus. It’s this section where I got my first taste of the new combat. You have full control of your trainer during battle, can sprint and dodge at the press of a button, use items (more on that later), and by holding 'ZL' you’ll pull up a list of moves your active Pokémon can use. Each move can be used one after another and have their own cooldown meters. While you can’t take full control of your own Pokémon’s movement, they will follow you around the battlefield, and dodging and timing your attacks just right will either save or cost your 'mon's HP. You have to make a lot of decisions on the fly as some attacks have longer animations and wind-ups than others, so spamming each attack once it's ready to be used again might not always be the right decision. The second portion of my demo had me make chase with a Zygarde in doggo form. This section was a little too scripted and stilted for my liking, and it's here where I first noticed a little bit of pop-in in the background details. It's worth mentioning everything I played was buttery smooth otherwise at 60fps. But the design choice to set this game within a concrete jungle hasn't totally won me over yet. I loved the wide open vistas found in Arceus; watching the sun rise, seeing the color of the landscapes change was a delight. I'm worried I'll quickly grow bored of the damp, back street visuals over time, but I've not even scratched the surface of what Legends: Z-A has to offer to know if that's the case. Early on, though, it's nice to see that the game's textures and performance (at least on Switch 2) are a big step up from Legends: Arceus." https://www.nintendolife.com/previews/first-impressions-pokemon-legends-z-a-is-an-attempt-to-catch-the-hardcore-again | ||
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JimmyJRaynor
Canada17818 Posts
Who cares about Animal Crossing and female players? Well, Animal Crossing was the #2 Switch1 game and it sold 40 million copies. Half of Switch owners are female. Between my wife, her sister and her 2 daughters they've got 6 Switch1 units. 1 of my nieces got her hands on a Switch2 and she says the joycons are too big and the system is too big and bulky for her. It'll be hilarious when Nintendo makes a smaller version of the Switch2 and its the same size as the OLED or smaller. Furthermore, games that women like, that Bookstore Sim game currently #1 on the Nintendo eShop will never need Switch2 level of tech. Now all my loud mouth american female relatives know who Margaret Atwood is. LOL. I project the Switch2 sells less than 80 million units. It is hilarious that several retailers in the USA sell the Switch1 at below MSRP.  So much for the Trump tariffs. It gives off the superficial appearance that Walmart caved to Trump's demands and absorbed the tariffs. LOL.A guy on my baseball team smuggled an OLED over the border last week. He saved $110. I told him to scuff up the joycons. I printed out a fake receipt for him on one of my customers' POS systems. The border guys never found the Switch nor bothered looking for anything. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
Are you arguing with yourself? A new Animal Crossing for the Switch 2 is basically a sure thing, as are many other cozy/relaxing games and party games (Mario Party, Mario Kart, etc.). Also, girls are totally allowed to like other genres of games too... adventure, RPG, platformer, fighting, etc. They play Zelda, Pokemon, Mario, and other big-name franchises. I'm not sure why you think they only play cozy/sim games, nor why you think Nintendo is going to stop creating those games. (It's great that Bookstore Sim sold well on Switch 1, and the Switch 2 could still have a successful sequel to it, even if it doesn't need cutting-edge graphics.) | ||
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JimmyJRaynor
Canada17818 Posts
On August 18 2025 01:15 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: "Who cares about Animal Crossing and female players? Well, Animal Crossing was the #2 Switch1 game and it sold 40 million copies." Are you arguing with yourself? A new Animal Crossing for the Switch 2 is basically a sure thing, as are many other cozy/relaxing games and party games (Mario Party, Mario Kart, etc.). Also, girls are totally allowed to like other genres of games too... adventure, RPG, platformer, fighting, etc. They play Zelda, Pokemon, Mario, and other big-name franchises. I'm not sure why you think they only play cozy/sim games, nor why you think Nintendo is going to stop creating those games. (It's great that Bookstore Sim sold well on Switch 1, and the Switch 2 could still have a successful sequel to it, even if it doesn't need cutting-edge graphics.) a new Animal Crossing may come out. There won't be some cutting edge graphics in the game that requires a Switch2. On August 18 2025 01:15 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: I'm not sure why you think they only play cozy/sim games, nor why you think Nintendo is going to stop creating those games. where do i say women only play Animal Crossing type games? if you pay attention to my posts you'll know that my wife and sister-in-law both play 1v1 SC2 and Borderlands. My grandma and her senior citizen bingo friends play very old, hard core detective games. Stuff like Deadline. for a big audience, that primarily consists of women , Animal Crossing was a big system seller for the Switch1. Nintendo can not give that group a compelling reason to buy a Switch2. The Switch1 has all the tech capabilities they need. This is part of the reason Nintendo cranked up the price of the Switch1. Nintendo is competing with its past... and that competition will dampen sales of Switch2. Wheelchair Basketball I think people hating on Nintendo and that wheelchair basketball game is unnecessary. Nintendo tried an experiment with a new control style and it failed. meh. If you're going to do innovative, totally new things you're going to sometimes make really bad errors. "The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society, except their constant criticisms, can feel both intellectually and morally superior" We can't get crazy, amazing innovation like the Switch1 without also sometimes getting a Virtual Boy. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
https://www.nintendo.com/us/nintendo-direct/8-19-2025/ 45 minutes with Sakurai: https://x.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1957443032728387817 | ||
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JimmyJRaynor
Canada17818 Posts
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
On August 20 2025 00:04 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Gamestop has matched Amazon and Walmart lowered pricing on the Switch1 OLED. Also, they've got the OLED Bundled with good games for $320 USD.... stuff like TotK and Splatoon3. That's great news! | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
On August 07 2025 22:16 Yaqoob wrote: Some of the games they announced in the first 1/2 of the Showcase looked pretty interesting. I'm slightly disappointed that they didn't say anything about Silksong, but I guess they are saving that for a normal Nintendo Direct. Yaqoob!!! Read this: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/hollow-knight-silksong-special-announcement-is-coming-this-thursday | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/pokemon-teases-a-spooky-legends-z-a-reveal-later-this-week | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46437 Posts
On August 20 2025 03:02 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Yaqoob!!! Read this: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/hollow-knight-silksong-special-announcement-is-coming-this-thursday September 4th: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/hollow-knight-silksong-finally-has-a-release-date | ||
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