[Review] Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – Deluxe Edition
Posted on 5 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: July 11, 2024
Developer: Project Aces / Future Tech Lab
Publisher: Bandai Namco
While the Switch may be feeling a bit long in the tooth these days, leave it to Bandai Namco to swing for the fences with an incredibly ambitious port in the tail end of the console’s life. There’s nothing quite like Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown on the platform – dogfighting games are a rare breed in general, these days – and Ace Combat has always been a singular experience, melding fast and frenetic aerial gunplay with schlocky, yet surprisingly captivating storytelling. I’m a fan of the genre as a whole, so I was excited to see how the game would play on the Switch in what Bandai Namco is calling the game’s Deluxe Edition. While this version of Ace Combat 7 certainly is held back by the raw power of the Switch, it’s also an impressive port that retains the white-knuckle gameplay of the original release, and it captivated and challenged me from start to finish.
[Rapid Review] Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: July 18, 2024
Developer: Nintendo / indieszero
Publisher: Nintendo
Nintendo World Championships NES Edition was revealed by surprise a few months back, and now it’s finally available. In a way, this game is a kind of spiritual successor to the NES Remix games on Wii U and 3DS – they’re all made by the same developer, in fact. This time around, though, the game focuses on taking a more competitive approach to the genre. In doing so, it makes itself accessible to both casual and hardcore gamers, as well as introducing a bunch of classic NES games to a brand-new audience. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was made with a wide audience in mind, so there’s something here for everyone.
3 things we want to see in the next Paper Mario game
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
It’s no secret that the Paper Mario series took a steep downhill tumble when Sticker Star first released in 2012. In many ways, it was almost not a Paper Mario game at all. The franchise is known for its story, unique characters, and RPG mechanics – and starting with Sticker Star in 2012, the series lost just about all of those things. Paper Mario: Color Splash was then released in 2016, and while it retained many of Sticker Star’s questionable-at-best design decisions, it was a much better game overall. Then we got Paper Mario: The Origami King in 2020, which actually introduced more than one original character for the first time in years. To everyone’s surprise, the next Paper Mario game was a remake of The Thousand-Year Door, with no original characters cut in any way. Between this and the revival of Super Mario RPG, things are looking better for the Paper Mario series. But what could we expect out of a future game in the series?
More: highlight, Intelligent Systems, Paper Mario, top
Best Pokemon games of all time, ranked
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in 3DS, DS, Features, Switch | 0 comments
Today, we’re going over the best Pokemon games of all time – more specifically, the top 10 main series Pokemon games. Spin-offs don’t count for this particular list, but there are definitely plenty of those that are more than worth playing in the modern day.
The Pokemon series is, in a way, difficult to write about. At present, the series isn’t quite in a lull, per se, but it’s also most certainly not at its peak. Developing games is difficult, and for a never-ending media franchise like Pokemon, deadlines can be tough to meet. Over the past few years, titles like Sword and Shield and especially Scarlet and Violet have drawn criticism for several reasons. Though the design quality of individual Pokemon has remained strong, things like the graphics, performance, and postgame content have become somewhat inconsistent. This leads us to ask: what do you think are the best Pokemon games of all time? We’ve made our own list, so be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
More: Game Freak, highlight, Pokemon, top
[Review] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
Posted on 5 months ago by Dawn in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: July 17, 2024
Developer: Super Evil Megacorp
Publisher: Super Evil Megacorp
Since their debut in the 1980s, it feels as though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have always been around in some form or another, undergoing a complete visual reboot every few years to appeal to a new audience. Despite this, the franchise as a whole has remained remarkably consistent in terms of characterization, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is another iteration of the four iconic brothers. As a roguelite, it is also an interesting pivot away from the arcade and beat ’em up titles that they typically star in.
Examining the lore of Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in Features, Switch | 0 comments
The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 art book was released a few months back, and in addition to providing an in-depth look at character designs, it also provided a huge amount of lore via its included interviews. Xenoblade Chronicles games are famous for their lore, and all 3 numbered titles provide story tidbits at the end that sort of re-contextualize cutscenes from earlier in the game. The interviews included in the art book are with game director Tetsuya Takahashi, and a good chunk of the new lore he reveals in them re-contextualizes certain cutscenes from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in the same way. Today, we’re looking at the Xenoblade 3 art book and all of the new story details – and what they mean for the game’s overarching plot. This will contain full spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3, so keep that in mind before you continue.
More: highlight, Monolith Soft, top, Xenoblade Chronicles 3
[Let’s Talk] What do you expect from Switch in 2025?
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Switch | 0 comments
Thus far, Nintendo has said very little about Switch’s successor. It’ll be announced by March 2025… and that’s all we know.
While we wait for Switch 2, the current Switch is going strong. Although Nintendo’s first half of the year was a bit on the weaker side in terms of software, the second half is making up for that. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, and Super Mario Party Jamboree are coming in the months ahead.
[Interview] Ace Combat 7 Switch producer talks about bringing the game to Nintendo’s console
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Switch | 0 comments
Tying in with the launch of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown on Switch, we were recently able to learn a bit more about the port. We caught up with Ryunosuke Hagiwara, producer of the new version.
Hagiwara talked with us about a variety of topics, including why it’s the right time for Ace Combat 7 on Switch, challenges involved, and more. You can read our full discussion below.
[Let’s Talk] What are you playing? – July 2024
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 0 comments
A new month just started up this week. Now that we’re in July, we want to know what you’ve been playing.
Are you playing the recently-released Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD? How about other games like Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble, Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, or Tchia? No matter the case, let us know in the comments.
[Rapid Review] Tchia
Posted on 5 months ago by Elias in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: June 27, 2024
Developer: Awaceb
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Colorful islands surrounded by the vast open sea make up the archipelago explored in Tchia. Based on South Pacific island nation of New Caledonia, known for its palm-lined beaches and marine-life-rich lagoon, the world immediately shows the passion the developers hold for their homeland, and in an open-world approach that illustrates the complexity and diversity of nature unique to island life. Taking control of the title character, what sort of adventure will we find ourselves on here in the beautiful windswept islands an d across the vast open sea?
