For me, Whedon "the feminist" was always something that I relied on others telling me. I didn't watch Buffy or Angel, and what little I saw of Firefly was still very Nathan Fillion-centric. Nothing more revolutionary than Star Trek. The main example of his work that I'd gotten to experience was Dr. Horrible. Besides…

At the moment, it seems to be similar to before. C ranks are where a focused and aware player can blaze through, B is where you'll find yourself stuck with people who still don't know what they're doing and can weigh the team down horribly. A, though, will require serious focus. People actually have played smart so…

More Splatoon 2 and ARMS. I finally hit level 25 in Splatoon, meaning my precious Splash-o-matic is back in my hands. Its kit is so different from the ones in 1, though, so I need to get used to it. Or wait for Nintendo to add a new kit. I'm also climbing the ranks: A- in Zones, B+ in the other two. I'll be back to S…

If the team gets to do more in the future, I hope one of the ways they distinguish themselves is adding a new character or two.

One has to wonder if screen peeking influenced any of the stage and weapon design for the Rare crew. Part of what made proximity mines such a (hehe) blast was that you could put them in a location while your opponents were (hopefully) not looking, and then stick around that area until they tried to hunt you down in…

I only just realized how odd it is that everyone made such a to-do about Star Fox Zero requiring players to "look at two screens at once" and how hard it is, when it was kind of the core of the old multiplayer FPSes.

Shooting in general on the N64 has really not held up well all these years later. I've tried playing Goldeneye and Banjo-Tooie, and both feel really awkward and painful. Banjo-Tooie in particular feels wonky, with bosses that have glowing weakpoints designed to be shot, and yet I just can't do it. Having not owned an…

It went up to 1000 after the final Splatfest. Probably since you'd be getting no more Sea Snails from Splatfests (Judd also started giving you a Sea Snail for every 30 wins).

I think it's a stealth brilliant mechanic; it makes losing hurt a lot less whenever you're still making some money off of it. It also makes winning a lot more important in Ranked, since you don't get a reward if you lose there. Or, at least a tiny reward. Especially for the first year of Splatoon 1, though, playing…

Ugh, Aerosprays…I get it, but they are one of the most frustrating weapons to constantly die to, along with Dynamo Rollers. "But Jake," says ye, "take advantage of the Aerospray's low range and stay back a bit with your Splattershot. Don't go all in." And I says…shhhhhh…

Splatoon 2 will be my main focus. I've really got to climb the levels and get some more weapons that are right for me. It's the biggest problem that I have of going from the first game to now: missing my mains. I've found some weapons that are at least good standbys, such as the Splattershot. Its combo of Burst Bombs…

Salmon Run is a bit of an odd mode for me, and not just because of the limited time space. The part that makes me feel iffy about it is its lack of a map and, subsequently, super-jumping. For me, map control is what truly cements Splatoon as perfection. Being able to glance and see your team's control and then…

I just woke up for some late night kid feeding, and finally managed to get to the eshop to set up some squid feeding. Yep, Splatoon 2 is here, and that's probably going to be the main attraction of the weekend. Maybe some ARMS will get thrown in there, but it's probably going to be mostly diving back into my old,…

Fortunately, if Nintendo made a port nowadays they could probably avoid it as a problem. It would require changing the controls a little bit, but there are more buttons and motion control on the Switch. If anything, they could probably fix the game's controls.

I think the best execution of this story telling method as a whole was in Retro's two Donkey Kong games. Returns had a simple plot with a few neat nods in there. Seeing why the Tikis are stealing the bananas was a good payoff, even if it makes absolutely no logical sense. The hypnotizing theme of the Tikis also makes…

A lot of people got the idea that he hates narrative by blaming him for Sticker Star's lack thereof. That info itself comes from an Iwata Asks interview on the game that people misinterpreted. Miyamoto did not directly tell them to remove the story, but rather asked if it was necessary (for a game that was going…

My feelings are mixed on this. TTYD is near perfection, but I question if making another game like it would work. Part of what made it so excellent was the chaos of its battle system, which felt like the first Paper Mario's but with even more bells and whistles. Keep that exact battle system, though, and you risk the…

Easily one of the best examples of simple-but-effective narrative. For all intents and purposes, that "fight" is a platforming level with an advancing wall of doom. There is no actual fighting Bowser. It might as well be crumbing walls and explosions. But the build-up to it, seeing the Cat Suit turned against you, is…

Oh, and as a random note that contributes little discussion but should be screamed from the hilltops…Sunshine did give us the best voiceline in any Mario game. Specifically, talking to Toadsworth.

Oh yes, Mario Party 6 is definitely one of the best. I would put it as the second best in the series, just behind 2. 2's boards are still perfection (except for that adventure island one), but 6's had the really neat day/night mechanic. The biggest reasons that 6 falls below 2 for me is that A) no Hexagon Heat, and B)…