It’s always refreshing when developers make an effort to shake up a genre by injecting something new into it. It often yields unexpected surprises, or at the very least a different experience, which is equally as valuable in an overcrowded genre. Moonstone Island is another game that has taken the bold and ambitious move of throwing half a dozen different gameplay mechanics from assorted genres into a blender to see what comes out. The result is nowhere near as messy as that implies, but more care could have been taken with what was included nonetheless.

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June 2024 Nintendo Direct live stream, live blog

Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Switch, Videos | 0 comments

With the June 2024 Nintendo Direct starting in just an hour, we’ve set up a live stream as well as a live blog. As a reminder, the event begins at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM in the UK / 4 PM in Europe.

Nintendo says that the 40-minute presentation will focus on Switch games launching in the second half of 2024. There will be no mention of the system’s successor here.

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[Rapid Review] Monster Hunter Stories for Switch

Posted on 1 year ago by Dawn in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: June 14, 2024
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

Monster Hunter Stories was easily one of my favorite titles on the system. The franchise lent itself surprisingly well to the monster taming genre, with a solid (albeit somewhat cliche) story behind it, an accessible rock-paper-scissors style of combat, and a gene system that added an unexpected amount of depth. But it was something of a sleeper hit, and most likely didn’t experience the franchise until the sequel, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, arrived on the Switch nearly four years later. Now, just in time for the franchise’s anniversary, Capcom has finally brought the original to the Switch. But is it too little, too late?

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[Let’s Talk] Are there too many gaming showcases?

Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 0 comments

Many years ago, online gaming showcases weren’t really a thing. E3, which is now dead, was typically where you’d hear about the latest games from Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox plus others like Ubisoft, EA, Konami, and more. Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show would bring us updates as well.

Nintendo upended the tea table by abandoning E3 press conferences and introducing the Direct format about a decade ago. Now others have really followed in their footsteps. Aside from the fact that Nintendo Directs were extremely popular, the pandemic seemed to push things further. More and more online showcases have continued to spring up over the past few years. E3 is gone and in-person showcases are more of a rarity, and meanwhile, live streams are an overabundance.

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The best Badges in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Posted on 1 year ago by Ethan in Guides, Switch | 0 comments

There’s a wide variety of Badges to use in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and today we’re going over a list of some of the best ones you can get. Badges are extremely helpful, and when Mario levels up, you can choose to increase his HP, FP, or BP. While most players understandably aim for a balance between the stats, BP is actually so useful that you can focus solely on increasing it and still be fine.

More: highlight, Intelligent Systems, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, top

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance – which route to choose

Posted on 1 year ago by Dawn in Features, Switch | 0 comments

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance features two separate story routes, the Canon of Creation and the Canon of Vengeance. Which path you go down will be decided at the very beginning of the game, as after the opening cutscene you’re presented with a choice – to take the girl’s hand, or to not take her hand. If you’re wondering what choice you should make, we’ve got you covered with this spoiler-free guide.

More: Atlus, highlight, Shin Megami Tensei V, top

How to take Switch screenshots after Twitter support discontinuation

Posted on 1 year ago by Ethan in Guides, Switch | 0 comments

Switch screenshots have been a thing ever since the console’s release back in 2017. Unfortunately, sharing these screenshots and video just got harder – thanks to the newly-raised (and extremely high) cost of Twitter / X’s API, every major game console has cut support for the platform. Nintendo was the last to do so, and support for screenshot and video sharing on Twitter officially ended on June 11. Fortunately, there’s an incredibly easy way to share Switch screenshots and videos that has gone rather overlooked until now – and if you want to continue sharing your content, you’ll definitely want to know about it.

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[Review] Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Posted on 1 year ago by Dawn in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: June 14, 2024
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: SEGA

It took almost five years for Shin Megami Tensei V to release after it was first revealed and now, less than three years later, Atlus are re-releasing it as Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. It’s an extremely bad habit the company has maintained over the years with both the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series in particular, but it’s difficult to be angry when the amount of additional content added, combined with the quality-of-life changes, transform the game to feel like a completely different title. Any ill will I felt towards Atlus for doing this yet again evaporated within the first half hour, as Vengeance proved to be yet another case of fixing something I didn’t even realize was broken.

More: Atlus, highlight, Shin Megami Tensei V, top

[Rapid Review] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Posted on 1 year ago by Taioh in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: May 23, 2024
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo

Switch has proven itself quite the bastion for turn-based RPGs, but the GameCube of over two decades ago didn’t get quite the same treatment. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was one of just a handful of games where the eager adventurer could whet their appetite for grinding battles to level up, collecting money, and adding to their item stash at every new town. Now with a fresh coat of paint and a host of new features, is the title worth returning to after two decades?

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[Let’s Talk] Summer Game Fest 2024 reactions

Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Switch | 0 comments

The season of what would have been E3 isn’t fully over, but a good number of events are in the books. Summer Game Fest, one of the bigger shows happening this week, was held yesterday. Other things like Devolver Direct, Days of the Devs, and Wholesome Direct have taken place as well.

If we’re looking strictly at yesterday’s Summer Game Fest showcase, we did see a few Switch announcements – namely LEGO Horizon Adventures, Civilization VII, Harry Potter: Quiddich Champions, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind, and Fear the Spotlight. Sonic x Shadow Generations also got a release date and new trailer.

What did you think of Summer Game Fest, and how are you feeling about the non-E3 season as a whole? Let us know in the comments.