Missy's Game Shelf

  • Pokemon Legends ZA Review

    Feels good to write again to be honest I spent some time away trying to sort through things and I am often harsher on games when I am in a bad mood. I do have some criticisms for this game. Some major and some minor, first I will be comparing this game to Pokemon Legends Arceus and X/Y and Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire, second there are more minor things than major which I’m okay with, and finally this review is my opinion so that could be different than yours.

    So Legends ZA takes place entirely in Lumious City the larger Kalos region is mentioned a few times, but I do like that the goal isn’t to become champion it is to become the best Trainer in the ZA Royale contest and actually filling the Pokedex rewards the player powerful TMs and eventually the Shiny Charm, and the story answers some questions from the gen six games. I am now out of good things to say.

    Now for the game itself. This game has no voice acting again. Ever since Gen 6 we have had full blown cutscenes and while it doesn’t bother me the characters move their mouths and nothing comes out. I think the only reason it bothers me this time is Digimon just released their newest game too and it has voice acting and before you say that Digimon has more experience with that given every game has had voice acting save the DS titles. If you want to exclude Digimon then remember: Detective Pikachu and its sequel have voice acting.

    Next, it is surprisingly difficult every Wild Area past 2 has an Alpha spawn acting as a challenge and with how limited these areas can be you will lose to one. Take Wild Area 6 the whole place is watched by an Alpha Houndoom you will lose to that thing and with how cramped some areas are it is not rare for one Alpha to chase the player into another Alpha.

    Lastly, there are sidequests that give items and rare hold items. I would much rather the reward be Mega Stones and hold items. Now before you say the Mega Stone’s are rewards there are only about 10 given out. The gen six games had them hidden rewarding the player for exploring here there is no reason to go out and explore Lumious City if the best items are behind Mable’s Research or sold and upgrades behind the players health and exp are behind platforming challenges.

    Now for the main draw to this game the mega evolutions and plot. Most of the new Megas look good and aren’t too bad I think the only one I didn’t like was Starmie’s new mega something about it doesn’t look good. As for the plot this game takes place 5 years after the events of X/Y and your goal is to become a rank A trainer in a tournament so you can team up with Zygarde and AZ’s Floette to save Lumious City. You also learn what has happened to some of these characters over that time.

    There are things I liked about this game and admittedly what I listed here is more minor complaints probably the fastest I ever completed a Pokedex, but still a fun game. I did miss how in Legends Arceus areas were more open and had an open feel to them, but I think it works for what it is.

    8.5/10

    , , , ,

  • Suspected Fraud From Nintendo As Company Panics

    That is a very strange title Nintendo a company infamous for abuse of the legal system may have committed fraud. As the Switch 2 has floundered due to being both the console and games being expensive, added to the patents, and shareholders backing out after that last direct. Retailers have also been selling their stuff at a cheaper price so it actually sells. Nintendo didn’t like any of that so started selling the original Switch, the Switch Lite, and the Switch OLED for close to $600 a hundred dollars more than the actual Switch 2. Nintendo were probably thinking this is a good move given that console was affordable.

    Never mind that confidence in the company is at a low. Patents that make no sense, gameplay that is so boring two rival games are overshadowing their mascots, and DLC for things that should have been in the base game. Mario Kart used to make other games look boring in comparison, but Sonic Racing Crossworlds continues to impress. Pokemon just announced their farming game only for Palworld to put out a highly similar game, The Legend of Zelda has games like Blossom Knight and the upcoming Mina the Hollower, Metroid has to worry about the absolute take over from Hollow Knight and Silksong, even Kirby has to worry.

    So while they are within their right to price this way in some countries consumer protection laws prohibit selling something for a certain amount then raising the price. Now people are saying Doug Bowser leaving Nintendo is a good thing because he has allowed these choices. I disagree it doesn’t matter who is in charge of Nintendo of America it is still the same company making these choices and until we see games actually worth their price or a lower price then they are just not worth it. Shareholders are fleeing, their once stellar reputation is in the mud, and they are doing nothing to fix these issues.

  • Story Of Seasons Grand Bazaar

    This is another remake of a Harvest Moon game made by the original developers. Similar to the other remakes it adds a little quality of life, changes to make it feel both accessible and different enough, and characters being more fleshed out than before.

    The original Grand Bazaar was one of the more overlooked Harvest Moon game and seemed part of a sort of trilogy of Harvest Moon games with a new art style. The first time we saw it was in Islands of Happiness or Sunshine Islands (the same game with quality of life improvements and bug fixes), after we got Grand Bazaar, and finally a Tale of Two Towns. Each one improving on the one before it. As for the remake it uses the same art style as previous Story of Season games and a lot of characters were renamed likely for copyright reasons.

    First, the changes you are given a glider early and it helps traveling around, next characters have requests before heart events or allowing to get extra points. These quests sometimes can take no time at all to awhile, but there is no time limit on these unlike previous entries. I actually like these changes it makes the player take their time rather than rush through the game and for a farming simulator where the gameplay and mechanics are meant to be slow and relaxing that is important.

    I did enjoy this game more than any of the more recent new Story Of Seasons games. It is way better than Rune Factory 5 and Guardians as well as Pioneers of Olive Town, but that begs the question is if the next new game can carry the same quality the remakes have? So far we have seen improvements to already good games while the newer titles suffer. I still have hope for their new games Trio of Towns and the original Story of Seasons on 3DS were excellent and showed what the team could do, but now it feels like the only games that are getting that treatment are the remakes and they aren’t bad, but I want the same care given to new games.

    8/10

    , , ,

  • Nintendo Recent Direct Proves Intent

    Alright, I’m sure everyone’s seen the recent direct. It left a bad taste in peoples mouth. First, for Mario’s 40th anniversary they announced a movie and HD remakes of Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2, but they priced them at $70 with little to no changes, further this is more than Mario 3D All Stars release price. Both were also available on Wii U virtual console for $20 each.

    Then, Pokemon recently announced things that makes that community angry. DLC for Pokemon Legends ZA, a game that isn’t even released yet along with Mega Evolutions for Raichu and the Kalos starters. Everyone has wished the Kalos starters need Megas, but that was when things went bad. See it has been revealed that you can’t get them through normal gameplay you need to play ranked matches during specific events. Now to even access ranked in most Switch Pokemon games you need a Nintendo Games Pass, a subscription service that costs a monthly fee. As for the Mega Dimensions DLC pack ZA isn’t even released yet which means that this is content that was created for the base game, but Nintendo wanted to nickel and dime people again and decided to release them separately.

    Donkey Kong Bananza was also reacted to similarly to Pokemon the DLC was announced just 2 months after launch, This makes that likely the DLC isn’t that at all it was meant to be in the main game, but much like with Pokemon, Nintendo couldn’t help themselves and wanted to take as much money as possible.

    Normally, I would reserve a Nintendo Direct to excitedly talk about the upcoming releases along with my own thoughts and opinions, but I have no desire to do that I don’t want to talk about the new and upcoming games coming from this company.

    , , , ,

  • Nintendo Needs A Wake Up Call

    Nintendo is once again doing something in response to not being able to create a good game. They recently created a patent that prevents games from using the ability to summon creatures and make them fight for you. Let’s ignore that this steps on the toes of multiple games. Kingdom Hearts even uses this fancy taking it up with Disney and Square, they aren’t the only big company every Elder Scrolls game has it so Bethesda will be taking notes, World of Warcraft litterally has an entire class based on this mechanic I’m sure Activision and Blizzard aren’t shy about lawsuits, Shinmagmi Tensei and Persona uses it and I’m sure ATLUS wants their share. Whoever keeps approving these needs to step down as a lawyer or judge as Nintendo is just going to keep trying to abuse the legal system so they can be on top when in reality they can’t make good games anymore.

    If you think about it Mario Wonder was a game based on fan feedback based off the Mario Maker games, Pokemon hasn’t had a good game since Sun and Moon in 2016, Zelda has been carrying Nintendo but the last adventure Echoes of Wisdom was okay at best and started as a level editor, Metriod is pretty abandoned paving the way for Hollow Knights takeover, Kirby is pretty much the only consistently good game, but even that game hasn’t had a substantial update aside from what amounts to a DLC. The fact is if Nintendo made good games rather than the slop they put out they never would have to worry about competition.

  • Delays In Anticipation For Hollow Knight: Silksong

    This is quite possibly the strangest thing to happen in recent memory. Normally many games try to release as soon as possible, but Indie Devs are purposefully delaying their games. Now, what started as a few delays has skyrocketed to near every Indie release slated for October. As it turns out nothing is wrong with the games, but rather attention. Indie Devs do everything to get attention on their games and that means trying to not get much competition so they are delaying because of one game, Hollow Knight: Silksong. The sequel to Hollow Knight a Metriodvania with amazing art, fun gameplay, and one of the best Indie games out right now. So when its sequel was announced people were excited and Indie Devs panicked. Initially they were saying simple bug fixes was the reason so many games were delayed, but eventually it came out that they were avoiding Silksong’s release as much as they could. Several Indie Games have delayed their games even games from different genre aren’t taking the risk of people buying Silksong over their game. I don’t know if this is a statement on how good Hollow Knight actually is and what is expected of its sequel or how things in the industry work. I also know that over hyping a game could lead to its ruin Hollow Knight is amazing and blew its own expectations out of the water, but if those same expectations aren’t met then it can be bad even if the game is as good as the original.

  • Mother 3 Review

    It should be no real surprise that Earthbound is one of my favorite rpgs. Unfortunately its sequel has never been released outside of Japan. This sort of setback will never stop dedicated fans and Nintendo doesn’t really care about fan games and rom hacks unless they make money. So after my Deltarune review I was curious about the series that inspired it again. Unfortunately, I’ve played Earthbound more than any other game aside from maybe Pokemon. There was no way I could be unbiased in this, but what about Mother 3? I never played it as a child as that was near impossible at the time and am nowhere near as nostalgic for it. After the large amount of Pokemon Roms I tested a fan translation of Mother 3 and I still think it needs an international release.

    So why was there never a release? I did notice some things in this game that would never pass international censors, but it isn’t like Nintendo to just remove things and release anyway. Next a large part would be timing. At the time the game was announced it was under the title Earthbound 64 intended for the Nintendo 64, but was deemed to ambitious and some mechanics were even suspected to be impossible for the hardware. The whole game had to be reworked into a Gameboy Advance title this became Mother 3. Unfortunately, by the time the game was ready the Nintendo DS was already releaseing and since Nintendo wanted everything to focus on the new system and at the time the in development Nintendo Wii. Mother 3 was only just barely released for Japanese audiences on Gameboy Advance.

    It is a very story driven RPG with a focus on the characters. Every major character has their time to shine. This makes it a little more impactful when terrible things happen to everyone. It’s gameplay is a traditional RPG where you equip better gear and buy and sell new gear. I do like how dashing is handled since you go through the same levels over and over again dashing kills weaker enemies if you are at a high enough level without having to fight. With its emphasis on the characters and the world around them it is no wonder games like Undertale and Deltarune exist and do so well, their focus isn’t making the best RPG ever with an expansive party or the most varied gameplay. The focus is the characters and their struggles and from a story telling perspective it works.

    Score: 9/10

    , , ,

  • If You Are A Parent Please Read: Roblox Continues To Refuse To Protect Its Audience

    We all mostly know Roblox and to an extent I am trying to warn people who may not know what it is. If you are a parent I highly recommend deleting this off your child’s devices and try to explain why this game in particular is bad. Now how do I explain without getting banned for Terms of Service violations? So, certain adults are using Roblox to do terrible things to children. This can include pictures, taking them somewhere, or meeting them. If you still don’t know what I’m talking about look up Roblox in youtube and it probably will be under the top trending. Or look up recent Louisiana lawsuits as the company is being sued and banned in several countries for Child Endangerment. Roblox has also had a history of terrible reporting system. What happens is children and parents report and instead of bans or taking steps to protect they ignore and do nothing about it. The company is in damage control having lost both players and investors.
    Now say what you will about vigilantism, but that is far from what the people actually getting banned are. Vigilantism is defined by any and all law action taken without the involvement of police. Thank you google ai and literally the first search result. I challenge Roblox to look up a dictionary before making statements, because the problem was so bad people started trying to make it safer. Creators like Shlep who makes content catching these certain adults alongside police officers and likely with their advice and permission. Roblox didn’t like it so banned Shlep. I don’t particularly care about Roblox, but made this post as a warning even if you don’t play video games or read my content please warn others of these dangers and I can only hope someone checks that companies hardware and no one else gets hurt.

    , , , ,

  • Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase

    Monster Hunter Stories Twisted Reflection

    Capcom started off with a new Monster Hunter Stories for Switch 2 for 2026. This is a turn based RPG spinoff set in the Monster Hunter universe. There is not a lot of information on this game. Though seems to be going for a darker story and better graphics then previous Stories games. Notable is that they seem to be graphics inspired by Monster Hunter 4 or World which is a pleasant surprise.

    Katamari Damacy: Once Upon a Katamari

    Katamari is returning I haven’t seen much from the series aside from a few remakes. New and exsisting tracks to go along with the goal of just destroy everything to save the world. I have always seen the games as rather repetitive, but fun for a few hours of destruction. Once Upon a Katamari will release on Switch on October 24.

    Just Dance 2026

    The Just Dance series is a long running set of dance games created by Ubisoft. How long will this game live I wonder? Of course they will have to contend with the EU and Stop Killing Games. Just Dance 2026 will be releasing on Switch only.

    After they announced Dragonball Z Sparking Zero releasing on Switch and Switch 2 I don’t have a lot to say. Despite being a anime fan I haven’t watched or seen anything Dragonball since i was a kid and even then have vague memories. It seems to be an arena based fighter so if you are a fan of the series or that kind of game then it may be worth it for you. Releasing November 14 of this year.

    Plants vs Zombies

    Coming to Switch and Switch 2 the tower defense title is coming to switch with a new coat of paint and local co-op and PVP. Releasing October 23 this year.

    After some EA sports game, a remake of Pac Man world 2 similar to the remake of the first game was annoucned, Final Fantasy Tactics finally makes a return after several years and some quaility of life changes. Persona 3 has a remake in october, Hyrule Warriors has another entry Age of Imprisonment, another sports game by EA for Switch 2. A very boring looking campfire simulator is coming to Switch 2, Apex Legends is coming to Switch 2, Hela a game about a mouse is coming to Switch 2, Star Wars Outlaws is coming to Switch 2

    After all that there was an announcement for EA’s next sports game this time soccer/football. It doesn’t look interesting but I am not a sports fan I will however be waiting for the glitches compilation these games are notorious for. It’s releasing September 26 2025.

    Pac-Man World 2 Re Pac

    A remake of Pac Man World was released and I suppose people wanted the sequel released too. I never played either of these and while they look interesting have no invested interest in, but if you want a platformer staring Pac Man I guess it works.

    Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

    The series that brought the Tactics genre to the west and hasn’t had a release since has finally announced their newest title. Final Fantasy Tactics was a Game Boy Advance game that had unique gameplay and amazing mechanics for any RPG. Similar gameplay was later also introduced in Fire Emblem and Nobunaga’s Ambition (which predates it, but was introuced to the west at around the same time.) Paving the Tactics genre to what it is today and you can look up the sales for any Fire Emblem game to know the impact. The new game will be releasing September 30.

    Persona 3 Reload

    Another remake of a Persona game. I’m not mad we are getting Persona 3 again just disapointed because I was hoping for something different. This company has been milking Persona 5 for years now and I want to see a followup to the game and mechanics. Or at least a new Shin Magami Tensei which also hasn’t had a new release. If you are interested in this Persona 3 Reload is releasing October 23rd.

    Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment

    Another Hyrule Warriors game. Honestly I recommend playing only one from the series, because that is all you will really need. Gameplay is repetitive and the games don’t have a lot to differentiate them. I understand that this is something that is wrong with Warriors games to begin with they reuse plots and characters multiple times in Dynasty Warriors so this isn’t something uncommon with that genre. Hyrule Warrior has no release yet but more information is coming in winter.

    The remaining games were for Switch 2 and seeing as I refuse to get one or pay $80 for games as I don’t plan on supporting any of the games from here, but here we go.

    Another sports game from EA was announced this time Football/ Rugby this releases August 14. After was a rather boring looking Campfire Simulator, Chilling by the Fire. Apex Legends coming to Switch 2 considering the difficulty and frame problems stick to PC with this one. Hela a mouse is sent on a journey to gather ingredients for an illness with a magical backpack and that is all we know about it there is no release date other than sometime next year. Star Wars Outlaws is coming to Switch 2 Ubisoft is still trying to push this game, but remember this is the same game whose release is already $120 so I think I’ll pass, Chronos the New Dawn seems to be a horror game inspired by Dead Space and Resident Evil not much known about it, but it is available September 5th.

    Yakuza Kizami 2 is coming to switch 2 I know very little about this franchise and didn’t understand a word of the announcement. Releasing is November 13 alongside its prequel.

    Goodnight Universe releases November 11, NBA Bounce releases September 26, a sequel to Hello Kitty Island Adventure with no release date is coming this Fall/Autumn, Romancing Saga 2 Revenge of the Seven already out, Shinobi Art of Vengence releases August 29th, and last in their rapid fire of games Borderlands 4 releases October 3rd.

    The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales

    A square RPG that is using Pixel graphics not much is known and it seems a demo is available along with 7 weapon types it has no release for next year

    Octopath Traveler 0

    Another in a series I tried and honestly never hooked me I played the first Octopath Traveler and it looked and played fine, but that was all it was just fine an okay game but nothing exciting. I enjoyed the game for what it was, but there was nothing bringing me back. If you enjoy this series and have a Switch 2 it’s available December 4th.

    INDIE WORLD

    Mina the Hollower a Zelda inspired game from the creators of Shovel Knight is releasing. The pixel style and characters look amazing and if you played Shovel Knight you know the developers make quality and fun games easily surpassing triple A publishers. Mina the Hollower releases October 31st this year and the demo is out now.

    The developers of Top Hat studios creators of Crypt Custodians and Islets returns with a rather unerving and oddly interesting Horror looking game. With Well Dweller it looks like a game that sort of reminds me of a mix between a metroidvania like Bloodstained or Metroid and Happy Game.

    Neverway

    A Life sim farming simulator mixed with adventure style gameplay. Not a bad looking game and seems more story driven than others. No concrete release date yet though projected for next year.

    Herdling

    A game that reminds me of Journey less about the destination and more about the travel. The envioments look good and for this genre that is important while we don’t know much seems like you need to guide a herd of animals somewhere. Herdling releases August 21.

    Is This Seat Taken?

    Something not Horror related was finally announced? You pick the seating in a puzzle game for this game seems like a time waster doesn’t seem bad, but also looks average. Already Released

    Little Kitty Big City

    Little Kitty got a update seems to be focusing on customization and photo modes. Releases this year.

    Content Warning

    A co-op survival game that releases next year about trying to go viral while filming huantings.

    Ball Pit

    A rouge like that looks like at least fun the ramdomizing dungeon and drops makin new combination weapons. Comes to switch October 15 and switch 2 sometime in the Fall.

    Ultimate Chicken Raccoon

    Even by that title you can guess Ultimate Chicken Horse is getting a sequel. This time rather than make a difficult platforming level modifying the same space this time its a race mixed with the level editing to make it easier or harder and if you are me adding as many death traps as possible. 8 players and cross platform releases Winter this year.

    Glaciered

    You play as a bird in an underwater enviorment and much like Subnatica have to survive against a hostile place underwater gathering stuff. Luanches as a timed exclusive Christmas.

    Next was a rapid fire of games most of which had no release dates. Winter Burrow a mouse themed survival game releases Winter. Undusted Letters from the Past a puzzle game where you seem to clean and restore things releases in October, Tiny Bookshop already available a game that seems to be about recommending and selling old classic literature most of which are read in schools already released, Caves of Qud not entirely sure what this games about releases Winter, Strange Antiques a game about an antique store and some mystery I think Releases September 17th with preorders available today, Opus prism peak don’t know anything about this game either available Fall of this year, Go Go town a customize game where the player seems to do everything at a speed available Spring 2026, UFO 50 already available.

    Okay so final thoughts I liked the Indie games better than AAA. Mina the Hollower looks amazing and I am deffinitely getting it. I liked how Herding looked too. I didn’t enjoy the partner presents and that is okay I enjoy Indie games more most of the time.

    , , , ,

  • Deltarune Chapters 1-4

    I played Deltarune a while ago and only recently picked up the game again. This game is a spinoff or sequel to Undertale. Much like Undertale there are two different ways to play. The first is a pacifist playthrough where you can use the act command to calm an enemy and eventually spare them. Or the other way of destroying everything. Since I was playing as a pacifist I didn’t swap my weapon often this was fine till Chapter 4 and its final boss. Since I never defeated a foe or fought, I didn’t get exp and was under leveled and you have to fight this boss. Fortunately, I think the boss is slightly modified if you played this way.

    Much like Undertale you can tell the love and hard work Toby Fox put in. With secrets and story elements under every turn as well as characters and writing that makes each character from minor to major memorable. It is a fun game and a great follow up to Undertale. Aside, from that boss in Chapter 4 I won’t be spoiling anything else. One because if you are a fan of Undertale you have already played it and two if you haven’t played this or Undertale then you are already missing out on two excellent games that really show how far indie games can go and I encourage you to play both of these right away.

    So those are my thoughts on Deltarune. It is sort of amazing how far someone who once made a hack of Earthbound is now one of the most well respected game developers in the industry. I can’t wait to see what the last few chapters of Deltarune are as well as whatever Toby Fox does next.

    Now, I have been busy and have decided to combine both the direct scheduled for August 7 and the recent partners direct. They announced a lot and some was one after another with little information so please be patient.

    , , , ,