The evening Inbox calls for new games starring Princess Peach and Zelda, as one reader hopes there’s not a Bloodborne 2.
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Electric hedgehog
I know I wouldn’t call Sakura my favourite Street Fighter character but it’s not the worst choice they would’ve gone for. I’m not a hardcore fan so all my favourites are from Street Fighter II, even though I’ve played a lot of the modern games. Chun-Li and Guile are definitely up there but I’d say my favourite was Blanka, who I was pleased to see got in the top 10.
It’s all quite simple really, he’s the one I remember playing the most when I was a kid. Probably because his special moves were the easiest and you could often win just by using the ‘electric hedgehog’ move. (I’m sure this has a proper name, but I prefer mine.)
I don’t think hardcore players really like or use him, and I can understand that. But for me and my brother he became the sort of unofficial mascot of the game, even though he’s given no more prominence than any of the others. I think that’s probably the same for a lot of people, which is probably behind a lot of the game’s success.
Shemp
Appealing position
I agree totally with TheTruthSoul about Zelda. It’s such a great game, and the way the dynamic weather interacts with such a fantastic world, coupled with the way Link interacts with that world, frequently combine to create fantastic moments and memories.
I’m currently searching for all the Korok seeds – something so time-consuming that I would never dream of doing it in a lesser game, with a less enjoyable world to explore. Every time I stop playing I’ll make sure I stand Link with the camera framed so that, when I restart, he’s in as appealing a position as possible. Not long after reading TheTruthSoul’s letter I started playing, with Link standing in Lurelin Village, overlooking the little shop on the jetty. Crystal clear water, the wind blowing through the palm trees all around the little inlet. The morning sky tinged red, the village theme playing. It’s just an absolutely stunning game.
When you factor in how much nostalgia I already have for the land of Hyrule and the series in general, it all adds up to a pretty amazing experience. My favourite game ever.
deckscrubber02
Strange lives
Having just finished Life Is Strange: Before The Storm I completely agree with the praise. And the surprise that it was so good! I really felt for Chloe as a character and liked her a lot more in this than the first game, even though this didn’t really change anything about. Really nicely done and even managed to deal with the fact that it couldn’t have a proper ending quite well (although the last episode was the worst one, overall).
But it naturally had me thinking of what the sequel will about and I’m not really sure what I’d like to see. Dontnod have said it won’t feature the same characters, but if it doesn’t I don’t see how it really works. Will it be just some other random person that gets time powers? Will they in anyway be able to help Max and Chloe.
I get the feeling maybe they’re just going to try and make the franchise a kind of anthology series? With no connections between ‘seasons’ other than the general style. I’d be okay with that, except I really want to help Chloe and see her all right.
Huxley
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One and done
I can see why people say it – it’s a great game and naturally you want more of it – but I hope From don’t do a second Bloodborne. That game was pretty much perfect to me and it seemed to do exactly what it set out to do. Maybe there’s something From was disappointed about with it but for me it worked perfectly, bittersweet ending(s) and all.
I know it’s obvious why they did it but I wish more games could just be standalone releases with no sequels, but you can’t even get that with most Final Fantasies now, let alone anything else.
Games are a business I know, but I really hoped to see developers being established as their own brands. So you bought a game based on them and not because it was a sequel. You get this with some film directors and I know people were keen to see it happen with Naughty Dog. But it didn’t… they just made another sequel.
Rockstar sort of is in that position, in that I think many people would buy anything they made, but as the guy said in the Inbox earlier they don’t take advantage of it.
Sminter
Like a dragon
It’s been great to see so many mentions of Yakuza recently, and quite refreshing to hear it’s the game some people are most looking forward to this year.
Yakuza is one of my favourite series and I have to say they just get better. Yakuza 0 has to be my favourite of the series. I like that we have had the remaster of Yakuza 1 (Yakuza Kiwami), and really hope it’s done well enough for them to send a Yakuza 2 remaster our way.
I’m really looking forward to Yakuza 6 and have it pre-ordered (disc version), and am interested to see where the story takes us. Especially with it apparently being the last one with Kazuma Kiryu.
R1CH5TER
In comparison
I have just read baby machine 5’s piece on games that shaped them and it has reminded me how much time I sunk into Actua Soccer, it was one of the only games I had on my PC at the time.
I remember thinking it was good at the time but I also think I could only score a goal by getting the ball to the corner of the box straightening up, pointing towards the goal and doing a pathetic chip style shot.
My other PC games were Super Bubsy and one where Donald Duck is some sort of ninja, so I imagine that’s why Actua Soccer seemed like such a good game.
Will N
Eventual reward
I might pick up Tiny Metal, based on your review, but I wish Nintendo would just make a proper one. I thought they might at least do one as a mobile game, but I guess there’s probably not anyway to easily monetise it, so it’s a niche game that people probably wouldn’t buy. The same problem it’s always had!
I think Intelligent Systems have hinted that they’ll get a chance at some point, as a kind of thank you for making Fire Emblem big again, but that seemed to hit a road bump when Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. turned out to be a flop and surprisingly not very good.
Lurv-machina
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Year of the Girl
*Minor Zelda: Breath Of The Wild spoilers*
I’ve been thinking about what Nintendo should do next, particularly in relation the next Zelda game. From Ocarina Of Time in 1998 onwards, there’s been either a main or spin-off Zelda game at least every other year, so hopefully we’d be looking at one in 2019.
I’m also hopeful that Metroid Prime 4 will be out for the end of this year (and will be their big game for E3 this year), so I’ve come up with what I think is a good marketing idea to support its release. As they did with the Year of Luigi between March 2013 and March 2014, I think the year following the release of Metroid Prime should be designated The Year of the Girl (or some snappier variation of that!)
Released during this year would be:
- Bayonetta 3
- A game starring Princess Peach. I know there was a DS platformer that I’ve never played, but I envision something a bit different from just a typical Mario game with Peach instead of Mario – something along the lines of Luigi’s Mansion or Captain Toad.
- A game starring Rosalina. If they didn’t want to commit to a full game from scratch, maybe a remaster of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 with her playable.
- Potentially a new female-led IP. Or the return of an old one, if there are any that would be suitable. Maybe Rare could lease them that rumoured new Perfect Dark!
- A spin-off of Breath Of The Wild where you play as Zelda. The idea I’ve had is that it can be both a prequel and sequel, with part of the game being set in the 100 years where Zelda was trapped with Ganon and had to battle to keep him contained; and the other part being set a few years after Breath Of The Wild. The past section could take place in a dark nightmare world inside Ganon’s prison, in a similar style to Majora’s Mask; and the future section could take place in a rebuilt version of the Breath Of The Wild map, or possibly just smaller sections of it. I haven’t yet come up with a possible plot for the future section, but it wouldn’t have Ganon as the antagonist. Zelda would also have to control differently to Link in Breath Of The Wild, perhaps the game mechanics could involve her sealing power, or apparent fascination with technology.
Perhaps not much chance of this happening, but I can always hope for some Inbox magic!
Captain Walrus
PS: On the recent subject of racing Wizpig in Diddy Kong Racing, the only character I’ve ever been able to do it as is Pipsy the Mouse. Loved that game!
GC: We like the Zelda idea in particular, the character needs to be redeemed after her poor portrayal in Breath Of The Wild.
Inbox also-rans
At microsoft.com a six-month Xbox Gold membership code is available for just £12.49. Buying two (I did this) means a year of Gold for just under £25.
Chaosphere616
Am I the only Final Fantasy fan that really didn’t like XV? If this Royal Edition is meant to draw a line under it then good, as I can’t wait for them to leave it behind and get to something newer and better.
Bambo
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox asks what you would do if you were suddenly put in charge of your favourite games company.
It can be any company you like: a console manufacturer like Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo; a third party publisher like EA or Activision; or a developer like Naughty Dog or Bungie. Especially bearing in mind that it’s the start of the year, and the plans for many companies are currently unclear, what would you do in terms of commissioning new games, working on hardware, and dealing with issues like loot boxes and games as a service?
How would you market your company’s games and make sure they’re a hit? And if you’ve had a problem with what the company has been doing lately what would do to make amends? Is there anything you’d stop them from doing, and why?
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