wollywoo

This is weird on many levels. Does this mean you could have two copies of a game, one Xbox version and one Steam version? Can you boot up ancient 90s games via dosbox like some Steam games require? What about games optimized only for mouse and keyboard? This makes sense in the context of Steam Deck, which is just a portable PC that is endlessly customizable, but doesn't make sense for the more closed Xbox ecosystem. Or is the selection very limited - in which case, what is the point? And as for Microsoft buying Steam, I think this would mean buying Valve, and I don't see that happening since afaik Gaben has kept Valve independent this whole time for a reason, not even allowing public trading.

God, this sucks. I'm a pretty big fan of some of the ign podcasts. I'm going to have to work really hard to separate them from their leadership. I wonder what Peer would have to say about all this (but probably he'll keep his mouth shut.)

Funnily enough, a matroid is actually a thing in math.

Anyway, my memory of the first two Metroid games is about the same, namely, jumping around in a lot of same-y environments over and over again and accomplishing very little until I got bored. I feel the first two games haven't aged especially well. Super Metroid, though... well, well, well, that is a different beast, and I hope you get around to it. I have big nostalgia glasses for it, so I'm curious what someone thinks hopping in without that bias.

I'm just curious what the big launch game(s) will be, if any. Nintendo consoles seem to live or die by their launch window games. Switch came out of the gate extremely strong with Zelda and Mario soon after. Prime 4 might be ready for prime time (ahem) soon, but I'm not sure that will move hardware units like Zelda. Maybe we're due for a new 3D Mario? Maybe Mario Kart 9? A Pokemon that's not so broken? What else would move the needle? Some new gimmick along the lines of a Wii Sports or Nintendoland? There has to be something big.

Eh, it's another example of story and gameplay clashing. I can't say it bothers me - I just kinda accept it. Not the same trope, but it was pretty funny to me when [mild ffvii rebirth spoilers] after several hours of Barrett using his arm gun to plink away at random orcs and snakes and doing like 7 hp damage, the Turks are hold their arms up in fear when he points it at them during a cut scene like it's suddenly a real gun and not a toy.

This is adorable. Instantly takes me back to that time, when I was around the same age (but definitely wasn't lucky enough to get an N64 at launch!) Thanks for sharing.

I first played this on an emulator in the late 90's. It already seemed "retro" then even though it was only a few years old. (That tells you something about the pace of technology changing during that period, or my young age at the time, or both. Imagine thinking of, say, God of War 2018 as retro.) FFVII had already been around for a while and I was aware of it, but hadn't played any of the later stuff since I didn't have a PlayStation.

It was quite a revelation to me that an SNES, or really any system, could provide this kind of nuanced storytelling, with so many characters and a lot of dialogue. Even from the first moments, seeing the Magitek Armor tromping through the snow, I was hooked. I knew games up to that point as being mostly about fun - it was rare to experience one that could give that feeling of sadness, wistfulness, and hope that came over me when that music started playing over the opening credits. The Ocarina of Time opening would have been the only comparison I could make. But nothing in Ocarina was as poignant as this game in its saddest moments. In particular, Cyan's story was incredibly tragic.

Eventually I was able to snag a used cartridge for $15 and played through the rest. I became totally obsessed with these characters and this world. Unfortunately, my save file became corrupted just as I was going to land in Kefka's Tower, and I eventually had to finish on the emulator. Even with the unreliable save battery, my FFVI cartridge is still a prized possession.

I think FFVI stands up well today - it's just a fun time. Its story is much faster-paced than modern JRPGs tend to be, and not nearly as wordy. I definitely recommend playing it in a version that lets you fast-forward, because it's quite grindy and the random encounters are not interesting. When I re-played it a couple years ago on an emulator, I'd just hold down the attack button and zip through random battles at 20x (or whatever) speed. I don't think I'd have the patience to re-play it without that.

Square-Enix, please don't remake this. It's great as it is. I don't need to see these characters in highly-detailed 3D models. I just want them to live on in my memory as they were. If it has to be remade, I hope it at least has some unique artstyle and isn't photorealistic.

I also have zero interest in those types of games but... I mean... that's fine? I really can't complain about the dearth of single-player games to occupy my time. My feeling is that it's been an embarrassment of riches lately, and I can't (and don't need to) keep up.

Nice review. It's interesting to hear the perspective on it from someone who never played the 1997 version. I picked up a PS5 recently specifically to play this, but I need to get through Remake first which is taking me a while. Enjoying it a lot so far even if it's a *tad* slow at times.

I played this game when it came out and enjoyed it a lot but I remember next to nothing about the story. Mainly I remember the battles were impressive (for GBA), the music was good, and the ability to use magic in the overworld to actually change things and solve puzzles, which is a weirdly underutilized idea in RPGs. Overall I pretty much agree with your take. My feeling is that it was mainly good *for a GBA game* at a time when Nintendo was incredibly RPG starved, but it's not really in the annals of all-time best JRPGs.