Thanks so much for the update! It's definitely been relegated to my list of "games to buy if heavily discounted" now. I've heard great things about the story, but if the gameplay makes me want to tear out my hair, it might not be worth it. I suppose we'll see!

I admit that Next Order looks good, but I'm actually super interested in Digimon Survive. It just seems like a surprising and strange direction for Digimon to take, but I'm really hoping it's executed well. The number of delays even before COVID hit makes me hopeful that they were originally delaying it for quality control issues, and the final product will be fantastic.

Thanks again for updating me! Really appreciate it.

Star Fox Zero not a unenjoyable experience, but I guess it does make me a little sad, because it's very clearly a well produced game underneath which is marred by Shiggy bursting into the room declaring that a completely unnecessary novel control scheme must be shoehorned-in. It has some cool environments, a neat new transformation mechanic, and runs at rock-steady 60FPS at native 1080p. Said control scheme is every bit as bad as you've heard it is; aiming on the tablet creates awkward context-switches and really doesn't solve any problems or allow for new gameplay opportunities.

It's at it's best in the more straight-forward linear path levels (think Corneria in SF64), where you can almost forget about the tablet for the most part. More open levels where you do need to play with the tablet are definitely less enjoyable. At least, the game is pretty forgiving so I never had to redo any content, which does stop it from being frustrating. There's also a stealth mission where you explore a zone in a hovercraft for some reason... no idea who thought that was a good idea, but it was a 20-minute-long pace-killer and was the low point so far.

The game is a bit desperate to make callbacks to Star Fox 64, to the point where it makes it a bit difficult to remember what's new. A lot of the planets, characters, quips, and story-beats are ripped wholesale from SF64, which comes off like they were cynical about whether or not a new Star Fox adventure could stand on it's own merits. Very Rogue One.

All in all, it's a pretty fun game which doubles as an item of study. I find games with questionable development cycles pretty interesting to play through while trying to make theories about where things went wrong in development and how it came to be the way it is. Like you said, it's a very cheap game. I picked it up for $20 CAD brand new with the Star Fox Guard pack-in. If you're interested in it, I'd say it's worth the price of admission.

Considering you can at least use Repels in Mt. Coronet, I'd say you're probably correct in Kowloon being worse, if only for the unavoidable encounters. As someone who mass-stocks Max Repels, unavoidable encounters are an absolute pain.

Fingers crossed the next dungeons are better for you, though! At least the gameplay sounds engaging, that can make even the worse slogs bearable.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I highly approve of your banner and icon. One of my favourite game series of all time, without question!

"I would rather climb Pokémon's Mt. Coronet twice than enter Kowloon once again."

You cannot imagine the horror those words fill me with. I have no familiarity with Cyber Sleuth beyond it being on my wishlist, but I now know I don't want to play that particular stage.

I assume stuff coming out in 2021 is what you mean?

Shin Megami Tensei V is the big one. I only got into mainline SMT in 2019 but since then I've been quietly waiting and it's almost here!!! I'm also interesting in trying the HD remaster of Nocturne.

I'm also thinking of trying Monster Hunter Rise since I've never played a MH before and the world of Rise looks right down my alley!

Other than those, just hoping for 2021 release dates for Breath of the Wild 2 and Final Fantasy 16.

Happy New Year, fellow backloggers! What games are you all looking forward to in 2021?

Thanks you for the info. Most of those games I know vaguely by name only, or not at all, so it's very helpful! I'll try to go into the different-director games with an open mind if I try them, but noted that they are a bit contentious. I'll let you know what I think if I try any!

If I really like Phoenix Wright, what other series should I investigate? I've played the first Danganronpa, although admittedly I found the writing pretty juvenile.

Yo what, Wreck-It Ralph was in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Transformed? :0

This is the first I'm hearing of this!

Absolutely agreed! After finishing all three, the only thing I would say was that the speedways were funner in both the original and Ripto's Rage, and the final boss fight of Year of the Dragon fell flat compared to the lead up bosses, but I absolutely adore the level designs and everything else for the most part!

I can understand that! What I have most fun with so far for Plague Knight is the potion customization. I'm really enjoying messing around with all the weapons you can make! I still like the more straight forward battle style of Shovel, but it's definitely a nice change of pace.

Thanks, man! I appreciate it. Good luck on Link's Awakening and your other games fellow Backlogger -solutes-! I am still working on beating that myself, haha.

No problem at all! It was my pleasure. The add back is an honor!

Yeah! I've been having a blast with Spyro, man. Hillariously, I'm having way more fun with the series now than I ever did as a kid. I'm thankful that 100% is a lot more achievable than in newer games these days, haha. Usually I'm like, "There is no way I'm going to be able to get everything." but I do not get that feeling at all while playing the trilogy. The gems like to give me a hard time though since I'll finish the stage with like, one or two missing and it drives me crazy!

I think I like the orbs just because Spyro needed them to get back home, so it gives you a bit more sense of urgency. Saving the dragons I tend to put them on the back burner, because all these fully grown, magical dragons can't save themselves but need a young, small dragon to release them for some reason peeves me, SNORT. Uncrystalize yourselves, lazy jerks!

Also I'm a big Yoshi's island fan, so collecting the eggs gives me good vibes. I think out of the trilogy, Year of the Dragon is my favorite! I just really enjoy the minigames, bosses and the different gameplay between the animals you switch around with!

Thankyou so much! The artwork was absolutely fantastic. Specter Knight is totally rad; I'm so excited to get to his game in my marathon! I'm on Plague Knight atm (oddly fitting given the time).

I looked up the "decoration cube"...I guess I shouldn't be surprised that something like that exists, but it's amusing nonetheless. I've actually gotten pretty good at queue decoration; one of my main problems (with scenery, but really with every building category) is that the game doesn't come preloaded with enough blueprints that you can just drop into your park. To that end, I've started creating Workshop items for the kinds of things that I would've liked to have available when I first started playing the game.

Excellent! I don't have any projects planned at the moment (and once MaGMML3 is over, I'm taking a loooooong break from game design), but I'll definitely keep you in mind if there's ever a translation opportunity.

Y'know, I wasn't going to admit to downloading Workshop coasters just to win scenarios, but I guess if I'm not alone...

Nice to know you! I dig your banner, BTW. The Phoenix Wright characters lend themselves surprisingly well to the chibi pixel art format.

Are you familiar with the Make a Good Mega Man Level Contest series? I see you're into non-mainstream games as well as fangames, so you might find them enjoyable (or at least interesting): [Link]

I also see that you're a translator. What languages? I've gotten into game design thanks to these contests, so I like to keep track of people I'm connected with who might be interested in helping with future projects.

I'm finding that I relish the challenge of the Planet Coaster career scenarios...except when it comes to building coasters. My experiences with the ride camera seldom match up with what the heatmaps tell me about how exciting and nauseating my coasters are. Recently, I somehow managed to make a chain lift with a Fear rating of more than 11. A chain lift, I tell you.

And thanks for the recommendation! I looked up some gameplay footage, and Star Successor definitely seems up my alley.

Hello! To what do I owe the honor of a Multitap add?

How is Bugsnax? I was thinking of picking it up whenever I get a PS5 at the end of this year or early next year?

Tip: If I haven't replied to one of your PMs, please check your profile's privacy options. Backloggery doesn't allow replying to private profile PMs.

The battle systems are completely different for all three games. Phantasy Star plays mostly like old school Dragon Quest games while Star Ocean is much more action based in its combat. For story purposes, I would probably say Star Ocean.

So, Xenosaga, is the spiritual successor to Xenogears on the PS1. It eventually morphed into the Xenoblade series that you see on the Wii/WiiU/Switch. I would say Xenogears and Xenosaga are very close in comparison and it would be a good idea to play Xenogears first, but you don't have to. I don't know much about Xenoblade, but I think that one is more different.

The games are notorious for having very long cut scenes and confusing stories. The dialogue is very heavy with themes from the Bible and elements from Carl Jung and Fredrich Nietzsche. It also has very unique characters and settings as the game takes place in the far flung future all out in space. Imagine a game based in the Anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion and that will help.

For the battles, they are traditionally turn based. The buttons on the controller indicate different attacks that you can do and you string them along to do combos. Also, some of the fights in the game are Mech based, where everybody gets into giant mechs and do more turn based combat.

It's a series that you either love or you hate. I mostly enjoy them, though the dialog and themes can be a bit much. Xenogears is a classic PS1 RPG and should definitely be played. It's like compressed near the end, but the first disc is a great experience. If you like that, then I would try Xenosaga 1 as that is known as the best of the series. But, for something to dip your toe into the water, try out Xenogears if you have the opportunity.

It is easier or harder with the wiimote compared to a regular controller?

I have been recommended the Wii port for several reasons, actually! Including the motion control aiming, which I'm at least making up for with mouse and keyboard. I didn't even think about the extra immersive layer the QTEs might have with motion controls!