Nintendo

More Baten Kaitos, of course. I'm still heavily invested and keep finding new interesting things.

One thing the game does, I've not seen much - if at all, is that you are not the protagonist. You input your name in the beginning and take the role of a spirit accompanying the protagonist. At times, he turns directly to the camera and asks you questions. Depending on your answers, you can influence a hidden value for each character, which basically reflect how much they like you. A higher value results in cards temporarily transforming into stronger ones mid-combo more often. Well, at least that happens for the protagonist. I've not seen it with anyone else, but I'm quite sure they have a hidden stat of their own.

I've also played some more MH:Rise. I'm still on a challenge run with my partner, randomizing weapons for each quest. And rolling a single armour for LR, HR and MR (the three quest difficulties). We're already at least halfway through MR, however we've rolled late game monster for our armour, therefore still fighting them with HR stuff. I can highly recommend the idea, if you guys are into casual challenge runs!

Lastly, I plan on playing the Super Robot Wars Y Demo.

I'm getting my first 8bitdo Ultimate 2 controller, so I'm going to be running Smash Bros.

I think I'm near the end of Bananza. There's a fossil museum at some point and there's not much space left in it, so it seems like a safe guess. And I will repeat what I said last week: The second half of the game is way better than the first!

I will also say that the Bananza mechanics isn't that great now that I'm this deep into the game. It's initially introduced as an upgrade to yourself, which makes sense with the energy gauge, but most of the forms you get seem to just be minor puzzle elements. It doesn't feel right to use up your gauge just because you need to run fast or jump high for a second. That combined with how fast the gauge recharges makes me wonder why it exists in the first place. There's a consumable item that refills your gauge, too, and quite frankly, I have no idea how to even use it because you just don't need it. The elephant is the only one I really use anymore because it does what I generally need the most: destroy.

And I found some time to play Yakuza 3 again. I've finally made it to Kamurocho and, naturally, there are immediately a ton of side quests. So who knows when the story continues.

Earthbound via NSO. I hate the mushroom status!

Other that that, great game but very linear so far.

Finished the Super Robot Wars Y Demo!

I've written a post in another thread about it, so I'll just link it here.

Finished ATRI: My Dear Moments!

Another great story. I loved how this game kept a positive tone despite its melancholic, "quasi post-apocalyptic" setting.

This VN is at its strongest when it's focused on slice-of-life, which is why I think the first "Act" was the best part. The lowest point is definitely the weak and unnecessary "villain" that shows up in the final stretch, though thankfully his participation in the story is kept short.

Finished We Love Katamari Reroll+Royal Reverie!

I take back the "more of the same" I said last week, they definitely put some effort into doing different things with the premise. It doesn't always work, but some new stages are a blast - I loved the one where it turns into a "racing" game with a fast-moving katamari that can't move backwards.

It's not as good as the original game but still fun to play.

Finished Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition!

An old metroidvania I had never played and is currently at 75% discount on the eShop.

Had a good time with it, it has interesting plataforming challenges and fun combat, though not particularly hard in either aspect. It's also very linear, which I don't mind but some people might consider a big negative.

Playing Witch on the Holy Night!

Finally restarted this one. This is another kinectic novel, though this one is from Type-Moon and shares the same universe as the Fate and Tsukihime games.

Good lord, the presentation in this game is insane. I'm coming from two VNs with excellent production and this one outdoes both easily, with a huge amount of CGs plus exceptional framing and usage of it. Screenshots don't do it justice, check some videos if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Playing Guacamelee! 2!

Current side-game, it's also on sale with the same discount as the first game.

Still fairly early, just got the first power move and the grappling hook. Getting some PTSD since the grappling mechanic works the same way as Bo: Path of Teal Lotus and I absolutely hated it in that game, but thankfully it seems like it's less finicky in this one.

I've been playing Cyberpunk 2077. It's the one game I own that feels like it would definitely not work on the Switch 1. Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World are pretty looking and stuff, but they still don't feel "next generation" as much as Cyberpunk does.

The game is really fun, though it has that thing from AAA games where there's a lot of storytelling. Sometimes having long conversations in interactive cut-scenes bores me and I just want to play the game. Other than that, I'm having a really good time and I have to force myself not to play it during the week, otherwise I'll go to bed at 3am 😅 (just like it happened with DK Bananza...).

I got the physical editions of Toaplan Arcade Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. for Switch, so I'll also be checking out those games during the weekend.