Nintendo Game Discussion Club - Xenoblade Chronicles (Definitive Edition)

[Swamp Sensei]

So, do you think Assault is too short?

 

[Megadoomer]

It's been a while since I played it, but I think it was a good length. While it doesn't have the branching paths of Star Fox 64 to encourage replay value, it doesn't seem like you'd want a game like this to be too long or else it would feel like it drags on.

 

[Dinoman96]

So, do you think Assault is too short?

Definitely, yeah. 64 is short too but it at least makes up for it with its branching paths and replay-ability. If you're gonna make a linear Star Fox game in structure then be like Kid Icarus Uprising where there's a least ton more levels with variety and gimmicks and also a whole load of content in general.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

**** be wild!

Animal Crossing: Wild World

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary:
Welcome back to the world of Animal Crossing. In this world, there's no war, no enemies and no deadlines. You just move into a new town full of animals and enjoy your new life. Players can explore, fish, catch bugs or garden as much as they like. They can socialize with neighbors, buy and sell things at the local store or even deposit things to the local museum. The game is all about relaxing and becoming a beloved member in your new community. Maybe you'll pay off loans and purchase a bigger house? Or perhaps you'd enjoy a cup of coffee and enjoy a concert?

Many of the older features of the past Animal Crossing games are still here. You can decorate and customize your house, upgrade items for further exploration and make friends. New to Wild World is multiplayer. Players can interact with their friend's towns through download or wifi play. The game also uses the console's unique touch screen controls to design clothes, draw constellations and interact with menus.

How do you want to spend your time in town?

Initial Release:
November 23, 2005

Playable on...

• DS
• Wii U

Notable Character Debuts:

• Brewster
• Celeste
• Dr. Shrunk
• Kaitlin
• Katie

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Critics: 86
Players: 8.1


Confirmed Players:

• Swamp Sensei
• Verde Coeden Scalesworth
• Laniv
• nirvanafan
• KingofPhantoms
• Mushroomguy12

Recommended by:

• Swamp Sensei
• Verde Coeden Scalesworth
• Laniv
• nirvanafan
• KingofPhantoms
• Mushroomguy12

Time for a hot take.

Animal Crossing bores me. Objectively, its a fantastic game. And I love the characters and the idea of the game, but it bores me pretty quickly. There isn't any real sense of progression. And I know that's the point, but its just not for me. Wild World is supposed to be one of the better games in the franchise but, its not the one I like the most,

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Twas a fun one till overall I got into something else.

The only one I keep up on is New Leaf(due to not getting the entire museum... yet. Diving is a pain compared to everything else. XD)

 

[Laniv]

This might actually be the game I've put the most amount of hours into.

Animal Crossing Wild World was the first AC I ever played. It holds a very special place in my heart.

That said... it's biggest flaw is that it has the multiplayer do a lot of the heavy lifting.

The holidays from the previous game were removed (except for New Year's) and replaced with things like Yay Day, where you have to compliment your neighbors... and that's it. Yippee...

But the game did introduce elements that would become mainstays of the series. The rolling log style of scrolling, constellations, The Roost, and Shampoodle all started here.

It was a little strange to lock Shampoodle (and Nookington's) behind the multiplayer, though.

 

[nirvanafan]

Remember having some really confusing discussions with classmatrs thinking we were about the gcn game & not this one. Feel like the series had a lot of mystique at the time of you can & cant do & with the earlier state of the internet found myself trying very hard to find extra customization in the 1st game.

Eventually figured out about this game & it was one of the games i got with my ds. Lots of fun & kind of crazy how it still in alot of cases felt like a step forward despite the weaker hardware. Eventually sold my copy. Justified it at the time since i had City Folk which felt like more of a port of Wild World rather than a new game. Regret it now as my original town covered with weeds replaced by bells thanks to action replay is long gone. Did rebuy it on wii u vc though.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

I missed out on playing or getting a copy of Wild World.

But it's also the game that introduced a ton of new mechanics for the series going forward, so the game absolutely deserves credit for laying the groundwork for the later games in the series even if it's not one you personally played. It's also the debut game of Whitney, my favorite Villager character in the whole series, so that itself is a plus in my book.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

I didn't get into the series until the 3DS game, but Animal Crossing has always been such a comfort game for me. I remember spending long car rides playing both New Leaf and New Horizons, just to unwind at the end of the day when I was super stressed from real life stuff. I find it fascinating to see how the series evolved throughout the games and I do think a lot of important stuff that was introduced in the series started with Wild World. If they ever put the older games on new systems I'd love to go back and play them, although that may take a while for Wild World specifically, unless the next Nintendo System has some duel screen feature so they can put DS games on there.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Honestly I could just never get into Animal Crossing.


It's the one big Nintendo franchise I'm lukewarm on. Maybe I'm playing it wrong?

 

[Mushroomguy12]

The lack of real progression can turn some people off, if you're the kind of player who wants to progress through levels and worlds like in platformer/shooter/RPG/etc. For me personally, I was able to satisfy that by finding progression in upgrading my house, my town, my tools, and the shops in the village. Slowly adding rooms and floors to my house, slowly buying items from the shop in order to unlock bigger shops, exploring each holiday throughout the year and finding new bugs and fish for each season, all that was what really made me adore playing the series. It's a simplistic joy, you're not saving the world on an epic adventure, you're just living a peaceful ordinary life and forming friendships with your neighbors.

 

[Megadoomer]

I think the Animal Crossing game that I stuck with the most was the Gamecube one, and that was mainly because of the NES games that were included. I recall having to go to some extreme lengths to get some of them (I think it might have been Wario's Woods or Punch-Out, though for all I know, it could have been Donkey Kong 3) - I had to make a town with specific information in order to use a code to get that game and then transfer it to my main town.

(though looking into it, universal code generators exist, so I might be able to get the four NES games that I don't have - Ice Climber, Mario Bros. (which are tied to the eReader cards), Super Mario Bros., and the Legend of Zelda (which are in the game but inaccessible normally)

Otherwise, I've had trouble getting into the Animal Crossing series and sticking with it despite multiple attempts. (I got the Gamecube, DS, and 3DS games)

EDIT: turns out that even with universal code generators, you can't get those four NES games - you need Action Replay or some other cheat device to put them in your game. (or, in the case of the first two, the eReader cards, along with an eReader, a Game Boy Advance, and a Gamecube/GBA Link Cable) I finished off the dinosaur section of my museum, though.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

Honestly I could just never get into Animal Crossing.


It's the one big Nintendo franchise I'm lukewarm on. Maybe I'm playing it wrong?

When was the last time you played an AC game?

 

[Swamp Sensei]

When was the last time you played an AC game?

New Leaf in 2015 or so.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Hey guys. I'm sorry I've been avoiding this thread. Some real big personal stuff was going on and it made it hard to sit down and prepare larger posts.

On the bright side, you can expect a new game tomorrow. And we've rebranded. A biweekly schedule seems to work best in most of these cases, so our name is going to be slightly different.

Expect a new post tomorrow.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Time for the GBA's golden boy.

Golden Sun

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary:
Long ago, in the land of Weyward, alchemy reigned supreme. By using the four elements (earth, fire, water and wind), certain gifted individuals called adepts can use Psyenergry to fight and manipulate their world around them. This power was largely sealed away, but it is often studied. In the town of Vale, a scholar named Kraden lives and after a strange occurrence, he takes Isaac, Garret and Jenna to investigate. There they find a group of villains, including someone very familiar... Jenna and Kraden are kidnapped. Isaac and Garret set off to rescue them and do something to stop alchemy from being released along the way. On their way, they meet new allies including Ivan and Mia. Together can they rescue their friends and save Weyward?

Golden Sun is a turn based RPG where elemental attacks take center stage. You'll find your standard RPG actions like attacking, using your Psyenergy (magic), items and defending, but what sets Golden Sun apart is the Djinn system. Throughout your adventure, you'll find Djinn. Each Djinn can be one of the four elements and equipping them changes your class, stats and moveset. Using Djinn in battle has a variety of effects, but using enough of them will let you summon powerful creatures. These summons put the GBA's power to the test as each summon display impressive cutscenes.

This game is actually half of one game. By using a link cable or a password, you can carry over your save data to the game's sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Initial Release:
August 1st, 2001

Playable on...

• GBA
• Wii U
• Switch

Notable Character Debuts:
Isaac
Garet
Ivan
Mia
Jenna
Felix
Sheba
Kraden
Alex
Saturos
Menardi

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Critics: 91
Players: 8.8


Confirmed Players:

• Swamp Sensei
• Verde Coeden Scalesworth
• PLATINUM7

Recommended by:

• Swamp Sensei
• Verde Coeden Scalesworth
• PLATINUM7

I tried Golden Sun after I had been exposed to Isaac through Brawl and speculation. Golden Sun is legitimately a great RPG. The presentation for a GBA title is incredible, especially for the time. Using Djinn is fun and snappy and the summon animations hold a special place in my heart. That said, the game is really easy. Even the secret boss is a pretty easy time. You could make it harder by not grabbing the Djinn, but why would you do that? The game wants you to do that. If Golden Sun were to be remade today, I'd hope things would be a little harder, but I still love it. Also, the summons have always been amazing!

Isaac for Smash!

 

[nirvanafan]

Happy thead is back & rebrand works well. Unfortunately i honestly have nothing to really contribute this time. Havent played & have no interest in playing Golden Sun honestly. Do like some of the character designs & some of the fan interpretations of how Isaac could work in Smash are cool though making the series something i wouldnt mind seeing in a bigger role in a future Smash game.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Played all 3 games. Dark Dawn having way too much Lost Forever moments is its only downpoint. That, and it was already dumb in the previous games. Previous games just were more well-remembered, but also more challenging, so it's easy to forget.

They're still all good games, though.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So who's your favorite character in Golden Sun?

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Gonna be real. I expected more talk about Golden Sun.

 

[nirvanafan]

Same, especially on a Smash website with how alot of people seem to want Isaac playable & more series content overall.

As i said before havent played the games but Felix seems like the most interesting to me. Cool design, antagonist to protagonist in 1st 2 games, & sisters connection to Isaac seem like factors that could make for a good character but like i said i have no idea how well any of that was executed.

 

[PLATINUM7]

I've played the first game on Wii U. Had a really good time with it but unfortunately don't remember much about the characters. I should get round to playing it and the The Lost Age on Switch but I've got several RPGs I want to get through first.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Talk ****, get fit.

Wii Fit (Plus)

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary:
The Nintendo Wii led to a lot of experimentation with what a video game could be. The Wii Remote allowed for motion controls to become a standard control scheme. But Nintendo wasn't done experimenting yet. Wii Fit is a fitness game. By using the Wii Remote and the new Wii Balance Board, Wii Fit promises to get you into shape. The Wii Balance Board was included with the game and measured the players weight and... well... balance. By using the two controllers together, the player could perform dedicated exercises or play special fitness themed minigames. Wii Fit promised to make you healthy by even tracking your weight and BMI and creating a health plan just for you.

The game received an updated expansion called Wii Fit Plus. This rerelease included several new exercises and minigames.

Initial Release:
Wii Fit: December 1st, 2007
Wii Fit Plus: October 1st, 2009

Playable on...

• Wii

Notable Character Debuts:
Wii Fit Trainer
Wii Balance Board
Your crippling self esteem

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Wii Fit
Critics: 80
Players: 7.6

Wii Fit Plus
Critics: 80
Players: 7.5

Confirmed Players:

• PLATINUM7
• nirvanafan
• Guynamednelson

Recommended by:

• PLATINUM7
• nirvanafan

I'll be honest. I've never played any Wii Fit game. I do have some respect for the series, but my only experience is through its successor, Ring Fit Adventure.

I like Wii Fit Trainer though.

 

[PLATINUM7]

I honestly had a lot of fun with Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus. The minigames were actually really good. I could also see firsthand how it fit Nintendo's blue ocean strategy. I would have relatives who had no interest in games become intrigued seeing me play Wii Fit. I could probably get some commission from Nintendo with how I ended up selling them on the game.

 

[Perkilator]

I’ve never played Wii Fit on the original Wii, only the original Wii Sports. My proper Nintendo fitness experience stems from Ring Fit Adventure.

(Ring Fit Trainee for Smash, btw)

 

[nirvanafan]

I never realized Plus was an expansion, always thought it was a sequel.

I remember my whole family being excited to pick this one up (only other game like that being Guitar Hero). My parents being on a health kick & curious about about the games routine & my sibling & self being really excited about the possibility of the balance board (something i feel like is kind of forgotton but at the time, at least in my area & age range, there was a lot of hype for this thing).

My dad dropped right off but my mom used it for a little bit. My sibling didnt play it much either but i remember them getting a kick out of getting a perfect score on the chair yoga pose using an actual chair.

I mainly played through all the mini games. Had a toxic friend at the time who took a video of me playing some of the mini games & used it to harass me. Being a stupid kid it got to me & soured my attitude towards the whole thing until i grew up & got over it. Looking back i feel like the game & balance board is a fun novality & worth checking out to experience the unique ideas they were able to create at that time. That being said feel like there are probably better fitness/entertainment products (like ring fit?) by now & would not expect to invest too much into it now.

Yikes was not expecting to have this much to say about Wii Fit of all things.

 

[Guynamednelson]

I never realized Plus was an expansion, always thought it was a sequel.

It's an updated rerelease.

Anyway, all I can say about Wii Fit was...it screwed with my definition of obese. I'm surprised it called me overweight once instead, either way it's not like I was looking like

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So, did any of you actually lose weight with this thing?

 

[PLATINUM7]

So, did any of you actually lose weight with this thing?

I did but I probably put it back on once I stopped playing.

 

[Guynamednelson]

So, did any of you actually lose weight with this thing?

Maybe? Like I said it called me overweight instead of obese once, and it is very lenient with what it considers obese.

 

[nirvanafan]

Probably not, remember fluctuating back & forth between overweight & either normal or obese (dont remember which) but think that had to do more with irl habbits.

Feel like i got a better working getting more into Wii Sports & the balance board worked more to improve steadyness & reflexes. Not sure if that just comes down more to what was available/possible or my own approach with wii fit (once again mainly stuck to the mini games).

 

[Sucumbio]

Never played Wii Fit but it's worth mentioning just how broad a reach the Wii had because of that and Wii Sports. My co-workers actually did enjoy exercise and dance games alongside their kids.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Time for the Wahooing, part 2!

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Spoiler: Box Art

Game Summary:
One day, Mario was on his way to visit Princess Peach. On his way there, he found a Luma who was lost and alone. Taking this Luma with him, Mario found that Bowser was enormous!... and was kidnapping Princess Peach again. Following after him, Mario and his new Luma friend follow him into space. There they find a large Luma by the name of Lubba who pilots an intergalactic starship. After welcoming Mario aboard, Lubba transforms the ship in Starship Mario, a planetoid shaped like Mario's face. Together, they all blast off to gather power stars and defeat Bowser, while recruiting new shipmates and having all sorts of misadventures along the way.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 was developed from scrapped ideas from Super Mario Galaxy's development. As such, you'll have a lot of similar mechanics like the jumping, spinning and power ups. There are new power ups like Cloud Mario who can create platforms beneath his feat, and Rock Mario who can barrel through enemies and obstacles. Most notably, Yoshi makes his Galaxy debut. In some levels, you'll find a Yoshi egg that will allow you to ride him throughout the level. Yoshi can flutter jump, smack enemies with his nose and even use his tongue for dealing with enemies and acrobatics.

The game is structured in a more linear way. Instead of walking around the Comet Observatory to find more levels, Starship Mario allows you to access the world map (or galaxy map) from immediately. This makes progression more linear, but less cryptic. New to the game are secret green stars. These stars are placed in unorthodox hiding spots throughout almost all of the levels. Finding them adds to your total star count and forces you to explore every inch of the level.

Initial Release:
May 23, 2010

Playable on...

• Wii
• Wii U

Notable Character Debuts:
Lubba
Whittles

Spoiler: Music Samples

Current Metacritic Scores:
Critics: 97
Players: 9.0


Confirmed Players:

• Swamp Sensei
• PLATINUM7
• LiveStudioAudience
• Laniv
• BritishGuy54
• Mushroomguy12

Recommended by:

• Swamp Sensei
• PLATINUM7
• LiveStudioAudience
• Laniv
• BritishGuy54
• Mushroomguy12

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a great game, but even though I love Yoshi and the new power ups, I just don't love this game as much as the first one. Rosalina and the Comet Observatory are part of what made Super Mario Galaxy magical to me. Starship Mario is great, but its just not hitting the same vibes. That said, the music is fantastic, the gameplay is still amazing and I really do think they get the most out of every powerup in this game. I still recommend this game to everyone out there.

 

[PLATINUM7]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is easily one of the best games on the Wii. I enjoyed it a lot more than Galaxy 1 which was already really good.

I also really liked seeing Starship Mario gradually get populated by more NPCs. Little things like that add a lot of charm to games and Galaxy 2 was just oozing with personality.

I also thought it was awesome that after getting 120 stars the game challenges you to find the 120 green stars. If there was one thing I missed about something like 64 it was the more open level design. Making the green stars a sort of scavenger hunt I think harkened back to that and really added to the mostly linear levels.

I know I completed the last level that unlocks after getting all 120 green stars. I don't think I did the daredevil version of it though because I would have needed to grind out star bits to unlock it. Maybe one day I'll go back and get the 242nd star.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Galaxy 2 is a remarkable title because it somehow snuck up on me and became my favorite 3D Mario of all time.

As noted in my thoughts on its predecessor, Galaxy 1's one real flaw to me is that its more open levels generally tended to not be as strong as its linear variations and often weren't as engaging as similar sandbox stages in something like 64 or Sunshine. SMG is still an incredible game; it just feels like it can't quite decide what its core identity is.

Galaxy 2 is a very thorough refinement of that, trimming the proverbial fat and ending up with some of the greatest set of linear stages in the history of the franchise (certainly in 3D). It's almost like an arcade Mario game; distilling level concepts down to their core and never really allowing them to overstay their welcome. Cosmic Clones are a great example of that, being challenging enough to force players to think about their movements while not being so common that you ever really get tired of them. Same thing with the timed comet levels, moving away from just a fairly pat time limit idea as seen in Galaxy 1 to the more organic concept of having to grab clocks to keep the timing from running out.

Gameplay wise, Yoshi is an enjoyable addition as well. While some fruit stages lean into being a bit gimmicky, he controls so well, and his tongue being mapped to the pointer feels so seamless that it really mitigates much of the issues with the former. Rock Mario is a decent addition as far as power-ups, but Cloud Mario is the real stand out, not only giving a floatier jump but really incentivizing creativity with the platforming via the cloud creation. Fluzzard is the only real weak new idea (and arguably the only real negative in the game) as it's a basic motion control flight mechanic that feels stiffer than what Twilight Princess had been doing with the same concept 4 years previously. Still though it's not in the game nearly enough to be that much of a downside.

I also think it's worth noting that even with its linear focus, Galaxy 2 does do exploration well. The comet medals are something one has to go out of their way to find at points and the post-game green stars are fun, often involving outside the box thinking to really find the later ones. In general, I'm reminded of exploration and replays were utilized in another game that came out that same year: Sonic Colors. That title's inclusion of Red Rings gave a nice bit of depth to its levels, and I'd argue SMG2 achieves the same thing with the comet medals in the main game. Both releases make going off the beaten path worthwhile without making the search too tedious.

Finally, I want to highlight the aesthetics. Galaxy 2 gets some criticism from moving away from the darker more majestic feel of the first entry, but for me it's a perfect blend of that game's sensibilities and the bright/colorful sense of the broader Mario series. Unlike 3D Land or 3D World, solid games that leaned so much into the series generic tropes that the identity of individual levels was lost, SMG2's stages are unique while being distinctly Mario. Sweet Mystery Galaxy might be why I love the look of this game so much; a deep and wonderous looking space background for a stage physically made entirely out of desserts. That is the essence of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

So yeah, overall, I adore this game. Even the weak final section of the last Bowser fight is made up for by the challenge of Grandmaster Galaxy and final test of the Perfect Run which will make you tear your hair out while being incredibly satisfying to finally beat. If you want the more emotional and atmospheric experience, it can't compete with Galaxy 1, but as a game proper it gets so many things right and is a masterclass in distilled platforming design.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I dunno. I liked getting most of the green stars but some of them were absurd.

I remember some being over abysses meaning that if you missed, you'd instantly fall and you'd only have one shot.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

They definitely do lean into leaps of faith as the post-game goes on yeah. I think the reason it didn't bother me more was I'd had experienced enough platformers that did something similar (certain DKC secrets fell into this territory) that i was more mlldly annoyed than actively turned off.

 

[nirvanafan]

Unfortunately dont have anything to say on Galaxy 2, own it & looking forward to playing it as the 1st Galaxy is one of my favorite 3D playformers. Been waiting for a rainy day or a push (from say a new game 3D Mario announcement) to finally enjoy this one.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So which has the better soundtrack? Super Mario Galaxy 1 or 2?

 

[Laniv]

So which has the better soundtrack? Super Mario Galaxy 1 or 2?

Galaxy 2 and by a lot.