General Game Chat

[Moonface]

I did pass across a trailer for that shadow drop, but with how little fanfare it seemed to be getting and that I'd never heard of it before, I assumed it was some random port of a mobile game or something that was trying to find a console audience, kinda like that one Octopath game that was originally on mobile.

It is weird though for SE to release the game on every non-Switch 2 platform except for PS5. If they do plan for a physical release on PS5, why not just do what a lot of other companies do and release the digital version now and mention in the trailer and stuff that a physical copy will come later? Especially since anyone with a digital only PS5 isn't going to care for a physical release anyway so why not just grab those sales now?

---

So, if you've somehow been living under a rock, there's a new speedrun out: "Getting Sued By Nintendo 100%". At least, that's what it seems like, considering the new game announcement that just dropped.

The game in question is Pickmon, and even from the name, you can already see the problem. Oh, it gets so much worse than that. Developed by PocketGame (Hey, that's not a confusing clone of Pocketpair), this game lifts liberally from several different series, with Pokemon and Legend of Zelda being the obvious ones. It's also basically a Palworld clone in gameplay: Open-world, survival crafting, farming, base building, catching monsters (this time with cards!), you get the drill by now.

Pull out the popcorn; this one is gun b gud.

Dang, the fact the capsule art puts a creature with a minigun front and center just really makes it blatant this game is trying to ride the coattails of Palworld. Then we get to the screenshots:

1. Those tall pillar things in the background are very reminiscent to an area with those exact same structures in BotW/TotK. Now sure, a geological structure isn't exactly something any game can claim ownership of, but it is one of the more distinct areas from BotW and was clearly chosen for that reason.
   
2. That bird is skirting close to being a Zapdos, but holy shit look at the red thing in the back! I had to do a double take to not think it was just Groudon's model being used! XD
   
3. Eh, the Akira reference isn't really egregious given how many times other media has given homage to it, but I can't say it gives me a lot of confidence for the third screenshot in a row to not be something that feels/looks wholly original.
   

The other screenshots after it didn't flag anything for me as quickly as the first three did, but maybe there's things in them I didn't notice due to lack of knowledge.

---

In something interesting I saw just now in my overnight insomnia, I didn't know that games released since 2024 with Denuvo protection hadn't been cracked at all. Well, all except for Doom: The Dark Ages, which is the first and only one of those games to have been cracked. Maybe it was some other protection system or it just really has been that long, but I swear there was a time where a new game would come out and within days it would end up being cracked. Whether that was also Denuvo back then or not, it's impressive that an anti-piracy software actually managed to last for so long and even then, this might not mean every other 2024-onwards Denuvo game is getting cracked in the near future too.

[Dragon Lord]

I did pass across a trailer for that shadow drop, but with how little fanfare it seemed to be getting and that I'd never heard of it before, I assumed it was some random port of a mobile game or something that was trying to find a console audience, kinda like that one Octopath game that was originally on mobile.

It is weird though for SE to release the game on every non-Switch 2 platform except for PS5. If they do plan for a physical release on PS5, why not just do what a lot of other companies do and release the digital version now and mention in the trailer and stuff that a physical copy will come later? Especially since anyone with a digital only PS5 isn't going to care for a physical release anyway so why not just grab those sales now?

Yeah, I don't know why they didn't release on PS5 too, unless they have some weird deal with Nintendo that prevents them from releasing on PlayStation. Thinking more on it, Bravely Default II also never released on PlayStation, even though it released on Steam (originally Nintendo Switch exclusive). 

I'd have to do some serious digging into it, but it is weird that both releases have skipped PlayStation now (though BD2 never released on Xbox either, which makes BD Remaster releasing there but not PlayStation 5 even weirder). 

I know other SE games that were Switch exclusive originally took an extended time to release on PlayStation, like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, but the fact that BD2 still hasn't seen a PS release doesn't give me much hope of seeing the BD Remaster releasing there. 

Would love to see Square Enix surprise me and not only release BD2 and BDR on there, but also go back and give Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy physical releases on the system. The fact that I can have physical copies of OT2 for PS4 and PS5, and OT0 for PS5, but not have a physical copy of the first OT for PS4 and PS5 really burns my buns. C'mon Squeenix, get on it (or at least let Limited Run Games do physicals for OT and TS).

[Moonface]

I tried looking into it in the hopes of maybe finding some clue, but it seems SE is just really arse backwards about ports. Like I didn't know OT1 was ported to XSX first and came to PS5 later, but OT2 was ported to PS5 first and came to XSX later. That fact could convince me SE just uses a dartboard to decide what platform gets a port first for how nonsensical that decision is.

[Dragon Lord]

Oh yeah, their releases of the Octopath Traveler games has been really messed up. Like when you really look at the release schedule for each system, you're just left scratching your head:

For PlayStation, Octopath Traveler II was the first release on the system (February 2023), with the release of the first game not happening until over a year later in June of 2024.

Then you look at the other releases of the first game: Switch in 2018, Steam in 2020, Xbox One in 2021, and then THREE YEARS LATER finally coming to PS4/PS5.

But then Xbox had to wait until June 2024 for Octopath Traveler II (which is coincidentally the same month that PlayStation finally got Octopath Traveler).

The release of the games in this series have been such a mess and it makes absolutely no sense. Octopath Traveler 0 is the first release for the series that actually was normal. I don't know if Nintendo just has SE's balls in a vice grip when it comes to some of these games or what (Triangle Strategy also took almost a full three years to come to PS5 and XSX after its original Switch release). But yeah, Square Enix wonders why they have been failing all of the years and then you look at the mess that the release of these games has been and its no wonder why.

But I just gotta have hope that some day BD Remaster and BD2 will land on PlayStation 5 so I can add their trophy lists to my collection, haha. Also hope that we see physical releases of some of these games too -- as I mentioned, I'd love to see LRG do some. They have worked with Square Enix before, as they are doing a production for Star Ocean: First Departure R. A lot of people complain about LRG, but as long as it means I can get a physical copy of a game that otherwise had no chance at it like Star Ocean: First Departure R, then I am 100% okay with waiting however long it takes to get it in hand. So if they can use that previous partnership with SE to give us physical copies of OT1 and Triangle Strategy on PS4/PS5, I would throw all of the money at them and be happy to wait for as long as it took to finally add those to my collection.

EDIT: Funnily enough I decided to look into if there's been any news about physical versions of these games on PS5, and it turns out that last week it was announced that Southeast Asia would be getting physical copies of Triangle Strategy for PS5. Though it looks like Square Enix, once again, took the cheap route and instead of releasing North American versions of physical copies, they are just going to make people in NA/EU import these Asia versions of the game. This is something Square Enix has done a lot over the years. I just don't understand why Square Enix hates making money so much.

[Maniakkid25]

Guys, gals, and non-binary pals, Pikmin 1 has been conquered.

So there's a Youtube group called "Press A" which discusses various challenge runs, mostly from Nintendo games. One of the game series they really like doing is Pikmin. And a long-standing challenge is "How Many Throws?". I.e., what is the minimum possible Pikmin throws you would need to complete the game, all glitches allowed? A few months ago, the record for Pikmin 1 stood at 1 singular throw, against Beady Longlegs. You needed the throw to be able to get onto his head and deal damage, and from that point on, you just needed an obscene amount of luck. And so, the challenge was put out: can anyone find a way to eliminate this last throw?

It took two days.

Two days is all it took for Pikmin to finally be conquered; the theoretical minimum for how many throws it takes to beat Pikmin 1 is officially zero. We did it!

Now, caveats in place: all this is theoretical, using tools and emulators. Realistically, no one has or will do this on console; the luck needed is too obscene. But it is a fun idea, nonetheless. The idea that its actually possible is enough of an insane concept that it doesn't necessarily need to be done on a real run in order to be impressive.

[Moonface]

Oh yeah, their releases of the Octopath Traveler games has been really messed up. Like when you really look at the release schedule for each system, you're just left scratching your head:

For PlayStation, Octopath Traveler II was the first release on the system (February 2023), with the release of the first game not happening until over a year later in June of 2024.

Then you look at the other releases of the first game: Switch in 2018, Steam in 2020, Xbox One in 2021, and then THREE YEARS LATER finally coming to PS4/PS5.

But then Xbox had to wait until June 2024 for Octopath Traveler II (which is coincidentally the same month that PlayStation finally got Octopath Traveler).

The release of the games in this series have been such a mess and it makes absolutely no sense. Octopath Traveler 0 is the first release for the series that actually was normal. I don't know if Nintendo just has SE's balls in a vice grip when it comes to some of these games or what (Triangle Strategy also took almost a full three years to come to PS5 and XSX after its original Switch release). But yeah, Square Enix wonders why they have been failing all of the years and then you look at the mess that the release of these games has been and its no wonder why.

It's almost as bad as how SE handled Kingdom Hearts 3 on Xbox. They released that game on Xbox in 2019, the first Kingdom Hearts game to be on Xbox consoles period, and then released 1.5 and 2.5 ReMix the following year. I don't know why anyone at SE would ever expect people to play KH3 on Xbox as their first entry into the series when you would need to have played through most of the prior entries to have any clue what's going on.

Guys, gals, and non-binary pals, Pikmin 1 has been conquered.

So there's a Youtube group called "Press A" which discusses various challenge runs, mostly from Nintendo games. One of the game series they really like doing is Pikmin. And a long-standing challenge is "How Many Throws?". I.e., what is the minimum possible Pikmin throws you would need to complete the game, all glitches allowed? A few months ago, the record for Pikmin 1 stood at 1 singular throw, against Beady Longlegs. You needed the throw to be able to get onto his head and deal damage, and from that point on, you just needed an obscene amount of luck. And so, the challenge was put out: can anyone find a way to eliminate this last throw?

It took two days.

Two days is all it took for Pikmin to finally be conquered; the theoretical minimum for how many throws it takes to beat Pikmin 1 is officially zero. We did it!

Now, caveats in place: all this is theoretical, using tools and emulators. Realistically, no one has or will do this on console; the luck needed is too obscene. But it is a fun idea, nonetheless. The idea that its actually possible is enough of an insane concept that it doesn't necessarily need to be done on a real run in order to be impressive.

Eh, I think when a TAS-style system is used to do something that is possible by a human but just requires way too much RNG from the game to naturally happen before the heat death of the universe is as good as calling it done by an actual human. If a TAS-system was needed to do a move that no human could actually do then I would say Pikmin 1 still requires a single throw.

I love seeing what challenges people come up with for games though and how far it can be pushed. NGPlus put a video out a few days ago on whether you can beat Astro Bot (PS5) without using the hover ability, which I'm looking forward to watching at some point.


Also, don't know if you heard @Maniakkid25, but Bandai announced that Digimon Story: Time Stranger is getting a large-scale expansion DLC in 2027.

[Dragon Lord]

Oh yeah, their releases of the Octopath Traveler games has been really messed up. Like when you really look at the release schedule for each system, you're just left scratching your head:

For PlayStation, Octopath Traveler II was the first release on the system (February 2023), with the release of the first game not happening until over a year later in June of 2024.

Then you look at the other releases of the first game: Switch in 2018, Steam in 2020, Xbox One in 2021, and then THREE YEARS LATER finally coming to PS4/PS5.

But then Xbox had to wait until June 2024 for Octopath Traveler II (which is coincidentally the same month that PlayStation finally got Octopath Traveler).

The release of the games in this series have been such a mess and it makes absolutely no sense. Octopath Traveler 0 is the first release for the series that actually was normal. I don't know if Nintendo just has SE's balls in a vice grip when it comes to some of these games or what (Triangle Strategy also took almost a full three years to come to PS5 and XSX after its original Switch release). But yeah, Square Enix wonders why they have been failing all of the years and then you look at the mess that the release of these games has been and its no wonder why.

It's almost as bad as how SE handled Kingdom Hearts 3 on Xbox. They released that game on Xbox in 2019, the first Kingdom Hearts game to be on Xbox consoles period, and then released 1.5 and 2.5 ReMix the following year. I don't know why anyone at SE would ever expect people to play KH3 on Xbox as their first entry into the series when you would need to have played through most of the prior entries to have any clue what's going on.

It seems to be a problem that a lot of Developers are having right now, especially with Remasters. Look at what Bandai Namco is doing with the Tales remasters:

-Releases Tales of Xillia, but doesn't follow up with the sequel 'Tales of Xillia 2'
-Instead releases Tales of Berseria Remaster, which didn't need a Remaster because it's the second newest Tales game and the original version runs the exact same
-Tales of Berseria requires Tales of Zestiria to be played first to understand a lot of the impact of Tales of Berseria in the first place, but no signs of Tales of Zestiria Remastered

So they launch the first game of one set of connected Tales games, don't release the sequel, and instead release the sequel-prequel of the next set of games. So now new players who got Xillia Remastered are left hanging waiting for the sequel, and any new players to Berseria who didn't play the original release and also Zestiria and left without a huge amount of context to the game and why certain things in Berseria are huge impacts to the over-arching story of Zestiria-Berseria.

[Maniakkid25]

Also, don't know if you heard @Maniakkid25, but Bandai announced that Digimon Story: Time Stranger is getting a large-scale expansion DLC in 2027.

Oh, they announced DLC not promised in the Ultimate Edition? Nice! It makes me very happy that Time Stranger has been as successful as it has been. It shows the series still has some life in it.