I actually really enjoyed Daybreak, but clearly wasn’t all that popular.

GameStop is the most notorious for this. They absolutely did it with the GameCube/Xbox and most recently with the Series X/PS5.

I think they reviewed Arceus, but now that you mention it I can’t be sure. I think Elden Ring maybe hit when the walkout happened?

AC Origins was my jam. I think that and Odyssey are fairly similar, but I could’ve explored Ptolemaic Egypt forever (and practically did since I platinumed it).

Truth be know I really didn’t like the mechanic with the machines chasing you down either. Just a real miss for me. I can tell you that I’m not sure I would’ve ever found where to go next at the last point I was stuck without poring over YouTube videos. So yeah, if that doesn’t sound fun, then you made the right call…

It’s funny, I’m torn on that a little bit. I loved Breath of the Wild because I thought it was cool to have this vast map you could explore and that you could tackle the objectives in different orders. But I never felt that it asked too much of you to figure out what to do or where to go when you committed yourself to…

To speak to Metroid Dread, it really didn’t lock you into one slice of the map until you figured out how to advance. I found there to be a lot of (unguided) backtracking to previous areas to see if there were any obstacles you could open with new skills/abilities. Again, a hallmark of the series, right? But in this…

There have been so many acclaimed games that just haven’t been my jam that it’s fully what I expect from Tunic, but definitely interested to try it. Sorry to hear it wasn’t your thing, but I feel like I’ll be right behind you.

Yes! This is a great idea. I do think they’ve improved this somewhat with a “Story Mode” setting on a lot of difficulty sliders. I used it on the Star Wars Fallen Order game. About to use it on Horizon, because goddamn it feels like a second job playing through that thing.

I think the fact that you weren’t around for the 80s and 90s is probably one of the reasons you feel that way. I never thought a thing of it in the 80s, because why would you? This was how games were built and they were amazing so you played them. I got spoiled by all the advancements and have trouble going back.

Exactly. I view it the same way as people who were upset about the EXP Share being turned on in the recent Pokemon remakes. I love it, some people hate it and think it detracts. You can cate to both audiences.

Right? Those are the things you reminisce about with your similarly-aged friends 30-40 years later. Those summer days or after school sessions where you just played games non-stop. Not only can I not do that now, I don’t really want to. I’m still traumatized by that one Saturday I spent raiding in WoW back in like…

It’s been a few years at this point, but best I recall I had issues from the beginning having no idea where to go. Someone kidnapped a dog or animal or something and you had to go find it? And that gave you something to advance? Something like that. But I remember when I looked at the walkthrough it was something that…

You’ve done all this stuff before, which is what makes Tunic’s core quality stand out: It trusts the player unequivocally. The menus and in-game signs are done up in a runic language that explains very little, so you’re forced to rely on instinct and internalized knowledge gleaned from other, similar games.

Yes

I do, especially in the cutscenes and character designs. Frankly I wish Triangle Strategy had adopted this look more.

Stop being dramatic. It’s still a great series even if you don’t like it because it got “too easy.”

If they don’t want it, why did they create it in the first place? And if they really didn’t want it, why did they say, “Hey let’s revisit this 20 year old shit that we absolutely can’t stand.”

Well keep in mind that our Middle Eastern wars were pushed with largely (though not entirely) positive press here while Putin is portrayed as Hitler in this Ukraine conflict. That has a huge effect on people’s opinions.

There’s something about Triangle Strategy’s art style that I find really off-putting. I thought the demo on the bridge looked extremely drab and the characters just seem to melt into the environment.