2019: The Year of the Switch

On Christmas Morning 2018, I was surprised to find myself unwrapping a Nintendo Switch! My mentor and my best friend Louis Fritz had gifted me a Switch for Christmas, so I could complete my Year of the Kirby by playing the last remaining Kirby game Kirby Star Allies, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. I spent the last 6 days of the year playing Kirby Star Allies, so I could finish it by the end of the year. Now with the Year of the Kirby done, I considered my gaming focus for the upcoming 2019. I could not simply let a good Switch go to waste, collecting dust, just because I wanted to play 1 Kirby game. Therefore, I declared 2019 would be the Year of the Switch! For my goal, I aimed to play and finish as many Switch games as possible. For my qualifications for these Switch games, they had to be console exclusives (only on the Switch), and they had to utilize the Switch's hardware capabilities to its maximum capacity. 365 days and 300 hours later (that's averaging 49 minutes and 20 seconds a day! Pretty good for a Ph.D. candidate!), I played 12 Switch games. Of those 12 Switch games,  8 games I finished, and 4 I did not finish. Of those 4 games I did not finish, half of them technically cannot be finished because they do not have a finish line. Here are the 12 Switch games I played for my year of the Switch. First, I will present the 8 games I did finish, in order of finishing them. Next, I will present 2 Switch that could be finished but I did not finish. Then, I will present the 2 Switch games I did not finish because I cannot finish them.

Games I Finished

Here are the 8 games I played and finished, in order that they were finished.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

I did not begin the Year of the Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I actually started the Year of the Switch with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Switch game I was most excited to play. Whenever I got bored, frustrated, stuck or tired with Super Smash Bros., however, I would turn to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. As the game's subtitle hints, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is really just an enhanced port of Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. On the Wii U, I had already triple-star gold on all 50cc and 100cc grand prix cups, and I had gold on all 1500cc and 150cc mirror grand prix cups. Therefore, my goal was to repeat the same results on the Switch port. In a matter of about 10 gameplay hours, I had once again triple-star gold all 50cc and 100cc grand prix cups, and I had gold on all 150cc and 150cc mirror grand prix cups.

I swear Nintendo made Mario Kart 8 Deluxe easier than Mario Kart 8. It took me 70 hours of playing Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U to get triple-star gold on 50cc &100cc and gold on 150cc and Mirror, but I only spent 10 hours on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch to get to the same place. I can think of a couple factors that may explain this. For starters, on the Wii U, I played every single cup on every single cc, whereas on the Switch I started at 100cc (since difficulties stack). I also played much more multiplayer on the Wii U, both local multiplayer and online multiplayer. That still doesn't excuse 60 hours. Remember on the Wii U I only downloaded 1 DLC pack, not both of them, meaning on the Switch it took less time to do more. I have to go back to the difficulty. I pretty much earned triple-star gold (which is 1st place on all 4 grand prix races) in my 1st attempt with most Grand Prix Cups. The only one that gave me issues was special cup and lightning cup. Then on 150cc and Mirror, I once again finished with a gold trophy on the first attempt most of them. Again, the only issues was special cup on Mirror (go figure). Either I'm getting good, or they tone down the difficulty on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I'm thinking the latter.

Outside the grand prix cups, I did not play the Switch game as much as I played the Wii U version. Besides the inclusion of the Wii U DLC characters and courses, the biggest and most welcome improvement was the multiplayer battle. In the original Wii U version, battle merely consisted of putting half the racers going one way, the other half of the racers going the opposite directions, and racers through items at each other in passing. In the Switch version, battles happen on courses meant for karts to freely roam, allowing more action to happen. The multiplayer mode also has a lot more options, from the classic balloon popping battle to a new cops-and-robbers battle. The variety allows for every multiplayer game to become a new experience. For the Wii U, I marked Mario Kart 8 as my favorite Wii U game. I'm not sure I would say that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my favorite Switch game, but I am awestruck at how Nintendo took an already great game and made it better. I really do hope Nintendo makes a Mario Kart 9 (which many, including myself, hope it is a "Super Kart Bros," or a Super Smash Bros. version of Mario Kart) uniquely for the Switch, for it can only get better.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

On New Year's Day 2019, I began playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch. After playing it for the entire first half of 2019, I have accomplished the following-
-ON WORLD OF LIGHT ADVENTURE MODE, 100% completed on easy, clearing all the spaces, awakening all the fighters (this is how I unlocked all the fighters), reaching all the endings (including the true ending), fulling upgrading my skill tree, and I did all in a matter of 39 hours. On top of that, I also 100% completed all the Adventure Mode challenges.
-ON CLASSIC MODE, I cleared classic mode with every fighter (including DLC), with every fighter finishing with at least a minimum of a 7.0 intensity (compared to the 6.0 intensity on Super Smash Bros. 3DS). Rosalina & Luma was the only fighter I could finish on the maximum intensity of 9.9, making Rosalina & Luma my high score. On top of that, I also 100% completed all the Classic Mode challenges.
-ON ALL-STAR MOB SMASH, I defeated at least 25 characters (that's a third of them) with every single fighter (including DLC). My individual high score was 53 defeats (over two-thirds of them!) with Kirby, and my total high score with all fighters was 2,330 defeats.

-ON CENTURY MOB SMASH, I defeated all 100 Miis with half of the fighters, and with the other half of the fighters, I defeated at least 90 Miis. My individual high score was with Dark Pit, who defeated all 100 Miis in a matter of 2 1/3 minutes. My total high score was 7,457 Miis defeated. This is a huge improvement from Super Smash Bros. Wii U, where I could only defeat all the Miis with 10 fighters, and the rest of the fighters could only defeated half the Miis.

-ON HOME RUN CHALLENGE, each and every fighter launched the sandbag of a minimum 50 kilometers

-ON CHALLENGES, I 100% completed Adventure Mode Challenges, Spirit Board Challenges, Spirit Challenges, Classic Mode Challenges, Games & More Challenges, Online Challenges and Other Challenges. The only one I did not 100% complete was the Smash Challenges, but I did get a lot of them. Altogether, I achieved 116 of 124 challenges. That's over 90%!

Anyone who still says that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is merely an enhanced port of Super Smash Bros. fo(u)r Wii U/3DS is an ignorant fool. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has so much more to offer. As the reveal itself said, "Everyone is here!" Not since Melee has the entire cast of the prior games returned for the sequel game. As if 75 fighters weren't enough, DLC has offered even more characters from throughout video game history. And yet even with new fighters, the game stays fairly balanced. While somebody may point out that not all the stages return like the characters do, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate comes with over 100 stages, not even counting the DLC stages! On top of the over 100 unique stages, each stage comes with "battlefield form" (stationary platforms) and an omega form (no platforms), which could be considered over 300 stages. The combinations of fighters and stages are almost endless, which are made even more endless with the option to switch out stages in the middle of the Smash. Furthermore, to add even more combinations, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate allows players to customize the rules. The addition I appreciate the most (and I imagine most fighting gamers do) is that Sakuri has now added stamina battles, in which the fighters have hit points, and they lose a stock if their HP hits 0. This allows Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to feel like a tradition fighting game, if the player chooses so. Between the combinations of fights and the combinations of stages, as well as the combinations of rules, the possibilities seem truly endless!

As seen above, Super Smash Bros. has plenty for the single player to do. If anybody notices Events mode missing, then look towards Adventure mode. Adventure mode really is a misnomer. World of Light is more like a bunch of events tied together with a overworld hub map. The only story in World of Light is in the opening cutscene and the closing cutscene. While better than its absence in Super Smash Bros. fo(u)r 3DS/Wii U (and technically the original Super Smash Bros.), I personally prefer the story Adventure mode in Brawl, or even the Adventure mode in Melee, in which fighters would play on other characters' worlds. The changes in Classic mode was enough to make Classic mode new and fresh, yet it kept enough to make it look and feel like a Classic mode. All-Star mode has transformed into a mob smash, alongside century smash. Sometimes, I wish they would have kept All-Star mode the same because All-Star mode does not feel the same as a mob smash. At other times, I like the change to mob smash because it make All-Star mode the most challenging it has ever been in any Super Smash Bros game. While the All-Star mode has become harder, the century smash feels easier, lacking the challenge. Home Run Challenge did not come with the original game, but it came with a DLC update, a much desired DLC update. Spirit Board mode allows players to continue the challenge that Adventure mode's World of Light provided. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate truly deserves its subtitle of Ultimate. If Sakuri stays behind his word that this may be the last Super Smash Bros. game, I wouldn't mind if Nintendo simply ported Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to every future system. This game could almost be called Super Smash Bros. Perfect.

Splatoon 2

After playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the entire first half of 2019 (with some Mario Kart 8 sprinkled in there), I decided my next game would be Splatoon 2. After Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this was the game I was next most excited to play. I had played Splatoon 1 at the tail end of the Wii U's life, so I never got to participate in any of the Splatfest. I decided I would play the story mode, and if it went well, I would then look into the Octo Expansion. After about 10 hours of gameplay over 13 days, I beat DJ Octavio, rescued Callie and saved the Great Zapfish, thus finishing the story mode of Splatoon 2! I had now finished the story modes of both Splatoon games! This story mode took me about 10 hours to finish, compared to the 7 5/6 hours of the first Splatoon. Splatoon 2 has the exact same number of missions as Splatoon 1, so it's not any longer (as a matter of fact, I still consider it short, just like I considered Splatoon 1 short). The difference is that Splatoon 2 is more difficult. Splatoon 1 didn't get hard until the final boss. Splatoon 2 ramped up in difficulty around the halfway point of the missions. No longer could I get through the mission on the first try. I actually had to learn the mechanics and perfect them. (Ironically, I thought the final boss of Splatoon 2 was easier than the final boss of Splatoon 1.) The improvement I appreciate the most was that the story mode incorporated all the weapons of the game. Not only did it all developers to get more creative with missions and stages, but it allowed the player to gain experience with each weapon, so the player knows all the weapons before trying the multiplayer. 

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Splatoon 2, so much that I downloaded the Octo Expansion pack. July 2019 became the month of Splatoon 2 because I spent the rest of the month on the Octo Expansion pack. By the end of the month, I cleared all 80 stations, passed all 7 phases and beat Commander Tartar, thus finishing the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion on the Nintendo Switch! Play close attention to my wording. While I cleared all 80 stations, I only passed 70 stations. The other 10 I had to hack because they were just too hard (half of which were on line J, the hardest line). Speaking of difficulty, I said that the Splatoon 2 improved on Splatoon 1 because the story mode became difficult halfway through the story, contrasting with Splatoon 1, which didn't become difficult until the final boss. If the story wasn't difficult fast enough, the Octo Expansion is for you. Once you pass the line A stations, it gets difficult. Not that I have any problem with difficulty, but what I did have a problem with was that the Octo Expansion required the Octoling to pay in-game currency to play each station, which become a bummer. If the Octoling short on payment, the Octoling has to play lower difficulty stages over and over again to farm in-game currency. If the Octoling runs out of currency, sure, the Octoling can go into debt, and [SPOILER ALERT!], clearing all 80 stations will reward you with enough funds to wipe out the debt tenfold, [/SPOILER] but it all seems unnecessary. If the developers really wanted to do this in-game currency pay to play model, they should have followed what Harmonix did for Rock Band Blitz (after the update): low cost and high reward. Personally, I would have designed the Octo Expansion pack this way-

-Each station costs as much as line. Line A stations cost 100, Line B Stations cost 200, Line C Stations cost 300, etc. This means the most expensive station is Line J at 1000. Sure, you can still combine the two costs when stations overlap (for example, F11/J08 would cost 1600 for the 600 Line F fee and 1000 Line J fee), but none of this 2000 and 3000 fees.
-I like rewarding players more in-game currency for making the station harder on them by using different weapons, but simply adding 200 more for the reward doesn't cut it. Easy difficulty should be double the cost price, intermediate difficulty should be triple the cost price, and the most advance difficulty should quadruple the reward price.
-Quit shifting the amount of lives! I hate having to pay 500 currency for 5 lives on one station, 500 for 3 lives on another and 500 for 1 life on another! Be like story mode and give 3 lives every time. Also, just like story mode, give players back a lost life if they reached a checkpoint. Nothing was more frustrating than reaching a final checkpoint for the first time with only 1 life. It leaves absolutely no room for trial and error.
-I really like how there was multiplayer map stations (like the tower defense game), but there wasn't enough of that. Most stations were harder versions of story mode levels, which wasn't bad within itself, but it was quite repetitive. Balance the two out. I would have loved to see at least one clam challenge station and at least one Turf War Station (beside [SPOILER ALERT!] the final boss battle[/SPOILER])

Not only did I play all the single player modes offered by Splatoon 2, I got to participate in the last Splatfest. By the time I purchased Splatoon 1 for the Wii U, Splatfest were already a thing of the past, and this year, I spent so much time on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I thought I would miss this one as well. I'm not sure if the future holds a Splatoon 3 or any future Splatfest, but at least I can I participated in 1 Splatfest. As for the last Splatfest, I joined Team Order instead of Team Chaos because my God creates order out of the chaos. Unfortunately, Team Chao ran the board, winning in popular vote, solo battles and team battles, thus claiming the final Splatfest championship. Nonetheless, I'm glad I got to experience a Splatfest. 

ARMS

On August 1, I started playing ARMS. At this time, I started doing more research into the Switch games I chose because I really wanted to make sure I played game that truly utilized the Switch's hardware. Through my research, I learned a few fun facts about ARMS. First, ARMS was originally developed for the Nintendo Wii U, but when the developers found out about Nintendo's Project NX (which would become the Nintendo Switch), which would have detachable motion controllers (which would become the joycons), the developers decided NX would be a better fit for their game, so they programmed for it instead. Second, this game was originally planned as a Mario Boxing game, as part of the Mario sports games series. As planning and development progressed, developers threw around the idea of introducing other Nintendo characters as fighters, just like Mario Kart 8 did, adding Legend of Zelda characters and Animal Crossing characters. Upon further thinking about it, however, the developers realized that a game with Nintendo characters fighting one another sounded too close to Super Smash Bros., so the idea was scrapped for original characters (developers also considered Punch Out characters, but developers realized that Punch Out characters would upset long time fans of Punch Out and confuse new fans of ARMS, so that was scrapped, too.). Third, since the game focused on the extension of the arms to insane lengths, all fighters' designs started with their arms (go figure), and the rest of the body was designed to fit with the design of the arms.

August 2019 became the month of ARMS. After playing ARMS for the whole month of August, I fought with every fighter on both Grand Prix and 1-on-100, thus finishing ARMS on the Nintendo Switch. For the Grand Prix, I won all 10 fights with each fighter on a difficulty of 2 (with the exception of Master Mummy, who I cleared with a difficulty of 4). For 1-on-100, I at least beat 67 with each fighter, even clearing all 100 with 2 of the fighters (Byte & Bark and Springtron). For the Get Arms minigame, I have record of 270 on the short timer, 1870 on the medium timer and 4340 on the longer timer. In the process, I earned 76 badges. And I did it all in a matter of about 15 gameplay hours. Also, may the record reflect I did it all with the motion controls (except the badges that required using buttons), giving me quite the arm workout (hence the title, I guess). I did all the Grand Prix fights on a difficulty of 2 because that was the sweet spot for me. A difficulty of 1 was too easy, and a difficulty of 3 was too hard. The only reason I got Master Mummy up to a 4 was because Master Mummy has the strongest throw, and his ability allows him to heal when blocking. I'm glad I did get him to a difficulty of 4 because you need to be on at least a difficulty of 4 to unlock the "true ending" with the extra fight, the credits and the epilogue card to show the fighter has reached his dream goal, not just simply winning the championship. I only got to see that once because of Master Mummy. Trust me, I tried with other characters, only to get nowhere. Part of the inability to finish only a difficulty of 4 was the motion controls. Indeed, it is a step up from boxing in Wii Sports, but it is a long way from Creed, the PSVR video game. Sometimes the game feels like it accurately know the motion of your arm, and at other times you're wildly flailing your arms. The other part of the inability to advance everyone to a 4 difficulty was the minigames in between meets. During rounds 3 and 6 of the Grand Prix, you play either volleyball, basketball or break the targets. Basketball is easy, considering all the player has to do is grab the other player, and the computer takes care of the rest. Break the targets can become easy or hard, depending on the fighter and the arms chosen. Volleyball is hard. Developers, I know you were trying to throw variety in the game besides boxing matches, but this game was made for boxing, not any other sport. The Grand Prix should have been just fights, not any other sport. Save the other sports for an extra mode.

Just like Splatoon, I congratulate Nintendo for attempting new IPs instead of recycling old IPs. Although ARMS did not have the same success as Splatoon, I hope it does not discourage Nintendo from trying new IPs. Despite my frustrations, I overall enjoyed the game, especially for how it utilized the hardware. It will definitely end up as one of my favorite games for the Switch.

Snipperclips (Plus)

If July 2019 was the month of Splatoon 2, and August 2019 was the month of ARMS, September 2019 was the month of Snipperclips (Plus). After playing Snipperclips for the entire month of September, I solved all 75 puzzles, thus finishing Snipperclips (Plus)! This is one of those games that proves photo-realistic graphics do no make a game good. All the themes - noisy notebook, retro reboot, silly science, cosmic comics & toybox tools - all fit the crafty aesthetic. I also appreciated how they remixed the theme song with each change in theme by changing up the instruments. It really tied in well. All the puzzles were straightforward on the goal, so much so that a description was not provided or needed. Solutions were neither too easy nor too hard. Personally, I only needed help on 3 of the 75 puzzles. That's only 4% of them. Between the sensible goal and the sensible solution, I would say this game is meant for kids, but I mean that in a good way. Anyone could pick it up, play it and win, even the illiterate. Even the controls help with that easy playability, but then again, it also hurts. Movement is of course the joystick, and the actions are only 3 buttons (a 4th button is added to switch for solo players). With the exception of jump, however, none of the buttons have a logical place. If the player is too focused on the actual puzzle itself, the player can easily press the wrong button, forcing him or her to start all over again. Speaking of solo players, this game was clearly meant for 2 players, each playing on 1 joycon. If playing solo, you'll constantly have to switch pieces. It's not that playing solo is harder, but it is longer. It's just easier to grab a friend and have them help you. I would have liked to see solo puzzles on top of multiplayer puzzles. Beside a confusing button layout and lack of solo puzzles, my only other complaint is that the loading screens seemed kind of long for a simple puzzle game. All in all, Snipperclips takes full advantage of the Switch's hardware capabilities. It works perfectly as a multiplayer game on the go. For the person who loves puzzle gaming, I would recommend this game for the Switch.

Cadence of Hyrule

Continuing the pattern of game of the month, October 2019 was the month of Cadence of Hyrule. Despite not really utilizing the hardware capabilities of the Switch (although the game was exclusive to the Switch), I chose to play Cadence of Hyrule because, despite not bein an official Legend of Zelda on the timeline, Cadence of Hyrule was nonetheless a Zelda spin-off game, like Link's Crossbow Training and Hyrule Warriors. Therefore, I just had to play it to stay up-to-date with the Zelda games. After playing Cadence of Hyrule for the full month of October, I beat Octavio and defeated Ganon, thus finishing Cadence of Hyrule on the Nintendo Switch! During my playthrough, I explored the entire overworld map, collected enough heart pieces for 15 total hearts, and accomplished 6 achievements. And I did it all in a matter of 9 3/5 hours. And yes, I played the whole game without turning off the beat.

Despite not being a "canonical" Legend of Zelda game, it felt like a Legend of Zelda game. The aesthetic reminded me of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The exploration of overworld reminded me of the original Legend of Zelda because I had to legitimately explore every corner of the map to find all the dungeons and all the secrets, without any guidance of hints. Both of those features would make a Zelda fanboy gleefully happy. My only complaint is that the "champions" (what this game call bosses) might have been too easy. I beat all 4 champions, Octavio and Ganon on the first try, and sometimes, I didn't know how besides, "Here's a sword; go around and hit stuff." Yes, I get they don't want to make the champions too tough or too puzzle-y because that would add another layer of complication on top of staying on the beat, but a boss or a champion should be something more a monster who has above average HP/stamina. While staying in beat helped greatly, being off the beat didn't hinder the gameplay to the point of being unplayable. Still, if I want to play a rhythm game, I would lean away from the action/adventure genre and lean more towards the simulation genre, like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Super Kirby Clash

Since I played Hyrule of Candance to keep with the Legend of Zelda games, I had to play Super Kirby Clash to keep up with the Kirby games from last year. After 30 hours gameplay time over 3 months real time, I beat the True Final Battle, thus finishing Super Kirby Clash on the Nintendo Switch! This is the 32nd Kirby game I have played and finished. During those 30 hours of gameplay time, I have earned 102 medals: 80 platinum medals, 17 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 1 bronze medal. I also accomplished 509 of 900 hero missions. I also got up to level 63. Most importantly, I didn't spend a single cent on this "free-to-play" (more like "free-to-start") game! I made sure I collected my daily bonuses every day, and it was enough to advance me and power me up to the true final battle and win the true final battle.

Super Kirby Clash deserves the "super" part of its title. If you think Kirby Clash Deluxe took the Kirby Clash minigame further, wait until you see Super Kirby Clash! More quests, more missions, more levels. Missions have gone from 256 to 900, and level max out, no longer at 50, but at 100. The rarity of Kirby's weapons and armor goes up to 15, and each weapon and armor has both a deluxe version and super version (of course). I think Kirby Clash Deluxe got enough complaints about the gem apples (in-game currency, which can be bought with out-of-game currency), for it felt easier to earn gem apples in this game. Not only do more hero missions mean more opportunities to earn gem apples, Nintendo provides many other ways to earn gem apples, from passwords to newsletters to even Tetris 99 event! I will admit that knowing what I was doing helped conserve gem apples. I also heard that, if you spend real money on gem apples, you get more out of it thank Kirby Clash Deluxe. Although Super Kirby Clash improved on Kirby Clash Deluxe, I would still recommend just playing the Kirby Clash minigame to get the idea. If you really love it, go for Super Kirby Clash over Kirby Clash Deluxe.

Super Mario Party

Lastly, I collected all 5 gems and declared the Superstar, thus finishing Super Mario party on the Nintendo Switch! I got the Gem of Tenacity by playing all 4 boards in Mario Party mode, I got the Gem of Love by playing all 4 boards in the Partner Party mode, I got the Gem of Courage by playing through every route in River Survival mode, I got the Gem of Spirit by finishing the Sound Stage mode on hard difficulty, and I got the Gem of Passion by completing all 80 minigames on Challenge Road mode. And I did it all in about 15 hours.

This might be my favorite Mario Party game. Nintendo finally returned Mario Party to its classic form. The main mode involved traversing a multi-route board, collecting coins to trade in for a star, and collecting stars to win the game. No more shared carts. Everyone can go their own path. Although they redid how the points system works (for example, 10 coins buys a star, not 20 coins), it all seems to work out in the end. If you enjoyed a group aspect of the 2 previous 2 Mario games, and you would like a more routes in your boards, partner party might be the game mode for you. The player is paired up with a partner, they share dice rolls and they can roam the board freely. Besides the 2 main modes of Mario Party and Partner Party, if you like the minigames but don't like the boards, there are plenty of other options. River Survival has a team of 4 traversing down a rapids river, racing to meet the finish line before time runs out, extending their time with 4-player co-op minigames. Sound stage is a series of fun rhythm based motion games. Challenge Road challenges players not only to win the minigames, but also to reach certain goals, sometimes even asking for perfection. Speaking of minigames, Super Mario Party manages to balance motion control minigames and button pressing minigames perfectly, something the previous few Mario Party games struggled to do. I didn't get to play in Toad's Rec Room because I don't know someone else locally with a Switch and Super Mario Party, but from what I've seen, it looks like mad fun.

Super Mario Party starts the player out with 16 characters, then has the player unlock another 4 characters, for a grand total of 20 characters. The most stand out character would have to be Bowser because this is first game in which Bowser is a playable character (not counting Mario Party 10 because he was still an enemy character). In this Mario Party game, players choose their character right after the home screen, unlike previous Mario Party games, in which character selection happened after mode selection. New to this version of Mario Party is that all the characters comes with special dice, which can either give you coins instead of spaces or gives a different balances of spaces moved. Now character selection is not just merely choosing a favorite character, but it now involves choosing based off their dice. Furthermore, the board game modes can give the player the option to call other characters as allies. When the player calls upon these allies, they get their dice, giving them more dice options. This gives the game a layer of complexity without overdoing it on dice, like Mario Party 4 did.

Of course, Super Mario Party's biggest weakness is the small amount of game boards. Both Mario Party and Partner Party have only 4 game boards. In all honesty, though the past few Mario Party games have suffered from this, and only the Nintendo 64 and GameCube Mario Party games escape it. Besides this glaring weakness, I can easily declare Super Mario Party my favorite Mario Party.

Games I Could Not Finish

I present to you the 2 games I could not finish, in order I first played them-

Mario Tennis Aces

Mario Tennis Aces was the first game I played with my Switch. Opening it on Christmas morning with my wife, we wanted to face in a tennis match. Upon booting up the game, however, I was thrown into the game's story mode, cutscenes and all. I had to wait for the game to give me back control to back all the way out to the main menu to start a multiplayer match. Listen, Mario Tennis Aces, I appreciate you thought about the gamers who play solo, so much so you thought up a single player campaign for them. But ultimately, however, most people get Mario Tennis Aces (or any Mario Tennis game, for that matter) for the casual multiplayer. Here is one of the few times that an opening title card leading into the main menu would suffice.

As for the story mode, Nintendo really did an excellent job forming a story. Their story did not merely consist of a tennis tournament. Each level or stage did not merely consist of beating a character in a tennis match. Each level and stage tested the player's skills. At times, these tests can be challenging. Sometimes it's not clear what the objective is. Other times the game pretty much asks for perfection, allowing little to no room to mess up. Between the unclear objectives and the desire for perfection, I got stuck constantly, and that's why I never finished the game. Despite the well thought out story campaign, I sometimes wished it was simply a tennis tournament.

Even if this game merely had free play, the game provides plenty of combinations in its variety. The game came with 16 playable characters, and then it added 14 more in updates, for a grand total of 30 playable characters. Each character has his own flair of how he plays, so choosing a character (and an opponent if playing against a computer) means more than just looks. Players can unlock up to 10 courts. Some of the courts come with additional hazards, which add another layer of complexity. Even if a single player merely played free play with computer players, the combinations would seem nearly endless.

My biggest criticism of the game is they pushed motion controls off to the side, quite literally. They do offer motion controls, but it's another mode, separate from the rest of the game. Furthermore, the motion control version of the game is very vanilla. It is your basic tennis with basic rules. No zone speed, no zone shots, no special shots. Even editing the rules has its limitations. It's quite a shame they did push this mode off to the side because it really is an improved Wii Sports Tennis. No longer can a player just waggle the controller and hit the ball. The player must carefully time his or her swing to not swing too early or too late. The player also has to be conscience of the angle of the controller because it will affect the which way the ball would go. With such great improvements in motion control, the expectation would be that Nintendo would want to show this off to everybody. Nope. It's a function off the side, but only if you want. Honestly, if the game would have allowed motion controls throughout the entire game, I might have been more invested in finishing the single player campaign.

Ring Fit Adventure

I may have chosen the wrong game for my Year of the Switch...

I had played Ring Fit Adventure for the entire month of November, on average playing every other day. I had finished 10 worlds and have gotten through half of the 11th world. My character went up to level 90. And there was no end in sight. I started doing some research on the internet. I found somebody supposedly quoting Nintendo, saying that there were over 20 worlds and over 100 levels, which, if spent a half an hour working out every day, would take several months to finish. Not looking good, but I wanted something more concrete. After Googling several different phrases with Boolean filters, I finally found someone who finished Ring Fit Adventure on YouTube. Now, to be fair, the YouTuber was playing at a 7 out of 30 difficulty (for a frame of reference, I played at 10 out of 30), and he was playing on silent mode (no jogging). But thanks to him, I found out Ring Fit Adventure has 23 worlds! I'm roughly halfway through! Furthermore, by the time he reached the end, his character reached level 211! I'm not even halfway there! As November came to a close, with other Switch games closer to the finish line,  Ring Fit Adventure to headed to the backlog.

Whoever said that Ring Fit Adventure is not a real RPG is an ignorant fool. It has everything expected for an RPG. Your character gains experience points and levels up. Every time your character levels up, the character gains attack points, defense points, experience points, and, later on in the game, skill points. Those skill points can be used to unlock extra skills on a skill tree. Players can learn new exercises/attacks, and the skill tree can unlock more slots for exercises/attacks. After world 2, enemies have weaknesses to certain exercises/attacks based on their color. Players can use ingredients collected from levels to create smoothies, which restore health and give stat boosts it battle. If players have not collected enough ingredients in levels, they can buy some for the town's general store. Also at the general store, players can buy outfits that boost stats. Heck, there's even side quests that unlock clothing, smoothies, smoothie recipes, or just extra money. Everything I mentioned are all elements of RPGs, and they can be found in Ring Fit Adventure. I don't know what the RPG fanboys were expecting to get a more "fleshed out" RPG. A complicatedly connected fetch quest? The ability to roam freely upon each world to interact with every NPC? Heck, I don't think they can't criticize Ring Fit Adventure as being too short for a RPG. Yes, it was only 8 or 9 worlds, I would consider it a watered-down RPG, but not 23 worlds.

Just like many other reviewers have criticized, it's weird that the ring can talk, but Drageux cannot. This doesn't mean I don't want the Ring to talk. In fact, I love the ring talking. He reminds me of Goku with his happy-go-lucky personality. I just wish they would have voiced Drageux. As a personal complaint, I thought the attack animations were weird. I get they were to show what muscle the player was working out, but I think the color coded would have sufficed. Did I really need to see a foot stretch for leg attacks and a flabby gut turn into six-pack abs to attack the foe? Again, I would have preferred if the ring shot color-coded energy beams instead. Maybe use those animations for a few selected attacks, like the range attacks. But don't let poor choices in animations fool you. Overall, the game has beautiful graphics with its cel-shading. Nobody usually expects a fitness game to look beautiful, but this one does.

Games I Cannot Finish

These are the 2 games I cannot finish, in order they were first played.

Tetris 99

With the hype of the  battle royale genre, you might expect more developers and publishers to attempt their own battle royale game, either by starting a new franchise or inserting battle royale into an old franchise. You would not expect for a puzzle game to enter the genre. Yet here we have Tetris 99, a battle royale version of Tetris. If you find any kind of competitive multiplayer Tetris crazy, you'll find Tetris 99 hectic. No longer do you simply face down 1 opponent. No, now you face down 98 opponents. You can choose the exact opponents to send your garbage lines to, or you can let the computer choose, based off who just sent you garbage lines, who is closer to being knocked out, who has more knock out themselves, or whoever the computer randomly chooses. At first, it will seem to hard to catch up, but once you get the hang of it, you'll get addicted. You will find yourself looking forward to the Flight of the Bumblebee because it means you're in the top 10.

Tetris 99 must've feared players would leave after the hype died down, so they added more features to keep the hype going. They added a team battle, where players are shoved into 4 teams: red fire, yellow lightning, blue water and green leaf. Not only do players strive to be the top player, the strive to be the top team. They added Tetris Invictus, where only the top Tetris players can square off against other top Tetris players. They added daily challenge goals, which can range from finishing in a certain spot, to clearing a certain amount of lines to knocking out a certain amount of opponents. Complete a goal, earn a ticket. 15 tickets can unlock a newly decorated Tetris format. Did I mention all these additions were free? They also included paid DLC. For $10, Tetris 99 players can download the single player modes everyone is familiar with, like marathon. Furthermore, Tetris 99 will have events with special themes for decoration. Score at least 100 points during those events, and you can keep the themes permanently! These events also have me keep coming back to the game. I have invested over 20 hours in the game, and I have reached over level 30 (which is just a rank) during that time period. Tetris 99 had that good, old-fashion Tetris addiction. If you like Tetris, you'll love Tetris 99. You have no excuse, as the download is free.

1-2-Switch!

I have to say, Nintendo, you really dropped the ball on this. Recently, you've been good with your demo games. Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Play Motion and Nintendo Land may not be deep and immersive, but they all are fun and challenging games within them. I expected something similar from a 1-2-Switch, a launch title. I was very disappointed. Indeed, all 24 minigames demonstrate the Switch's hardware capabilities. True, it was one of the better uses of full motion video in a game. Yes, the game allows players to face each other without looking at the screen. But that's all I have for compliments! Why is there no single player mode? You could have at least allowed a computer player to take over in place of a second player. Why is there no challenge to get a high score of a win? You should have done like those Wii demo games mentioned above and given players a way to earn medals. All these games could have been part of a Mario Party game or a Wario Ware game, in which they would have contributed to an overall game. Instead, you play this game once, and you're done. The craziest part about this whole thing is that 1-2-Switch is not packed in with the system. You have to pay a full $50 for this. Heck, even used copies never go cheaper than $40. I had to get this game for historical reasons because it is a launch title. Besides that, I see no reason to get this game.

There are so many other games I wanted to play on the Switch, from Yu-Gi-Oh: Legacy of the Duelist to Dragonball Z Xenoverse 2 to Beat Sports. Perhaps next year. Or maybe next year is time for something new... ;)

E3 2019: Review and Reaction

Since we've just finished Wimbledon, let me use a Wimbledon metaphor to describe this year's E3. The Wimbledon committee is working hard preparing for the next Wimbledon. One day, one of the members of the committee comes in with the biggest Swiss newspaper in hand. Roger Federer has conducted an interview with one of its reporters. In the interview, Federer claims he already won enough grand slams to prove he's the greatest tennis player of all-time. Therefore, he declares he won't participate in this year's Wimbledon because, in his mind, he's already won. In fact, he goes on to say that Wimbledon should already announce him as the winner, or else he will tell everyone he won Wimbledon.  While the Wimbledon committee debates how to handle this, another member of the committee comes in with package from Rafael Nadal. Nadal has sent a 45-minute video of his best highlights from his best matches, arguing this proves he would win Wimbledon, so he doesn't need to compete. He has also included a return envelop to mail his trophy to him. Novak Djokovic actually does show up, and he actually competes, but what he does is he places a folding chair in the center of his side of the court, and he sits on it the whole match. Any ball that comes within arm's length he swats back, but any ball outside arm's length he lets fly by him, for he refuses to move.

Yeah, that's what this year's E3 felt like. PlayStation did not participate at all. Nintendo sent a video instead of going up on stage. The only one who presented was Xbox. While I'm not a fan of participation awards, I'm even less of a fan of absentee awards. While I normally wait to hand out the award until after I reviewed and reacted each press conference, this year I will hand out the award first, then I will explain and defend my choice in the review and response.

1ST PARTY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft XBox

+Positive+: Keanu Reeves presenting Cyberpunk 2077, the stage set for Gears 5, the Lego car for the For Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions expansion, presenting both hardware as software

-Negatives-: No gameplay presentations, cinematic trailers did not really tell the viewer what the game was about, trying to squish too many games in a short time, Project Scarlett makes XBox One (X) obsolete in a year

~Best Game in Show~: 12 Minutes

*Medal*: Gold

As stated above, I'm not a fine of participation awards, but I'm even less a fan of absentee awards. I know I have, in the past couple of years, given Nintendo the gold, despite not showing up to E3, but I fear this may have created a precedent. Not only does PlayStation not show up, but Google Stadia and Devolver Digital also follow in Nintendo's footsteps by simply uploading a video. It's one thing to do a video. Videos can have many cuts and many edits, until the video comes out the way it's supposed to be. It's another thing to do a live press conference, where so many things could go wrong. That's why I'm giving gold to XBox. They had the bravery to still do a live press conference. They showed up and did their best. That alone is worth rewarding.

XBox understands that their presentations of their games cannot simply equate to a 30-second TV commercial. They have to do something extravagant that can't be done in any kind of advertisement. They did exactly that. Keanu Reeves might have looked a bit awkward presenting Cyberpunk 2077, but the audience was so excited to see him that they didn't care. Because of his appearance, Cyberpunk 2077 became "that game with Keenu Reeves in it." In fact, attendants of E3 witnessed that Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 was the most talked about thing until the Nintendo Direct. What Keanu Reeves did to Cyberpunk 2077, the stage transformation did to Gears 5. Although I wished they would have done a live gameplay demo, it stuck in my mind that Gears 5 would now have both local and online co-op, and it got me excited for it. What Cyberpunk 2077 had for characters and Gears 5 had for setting, Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions had for gameplay. As they began rolling the clip for the Forza Horizon 4 expansion, the audience saw on stage a silhouette of car. They thought, "Typical Microsoft bringing out some fancy sports car to advertise Forza Horizon 4." But then, the viewers see that the expansion is Lego, and then they see this "sports car" is really made of Legos! These might come off a cheesy or corny, but they get stuck in your memory, which is something a commercial or trailer cannot do.

Hardware announcements also work better at a live press conference than a commercial. XBox had plenty of those. XBox talked plenty about XBox Game Pass and xCloud.(I know these are technically software, not hardware, but since they are not games, I put them in the category with hardware.) To me, this shows XBox is trying to keep up with the competition. XBox Game Pass rivals PlayStation Now and EA Access, and xCloud will rival Google Stadia. While Game Pass makes sense, xCloud makes less sense. If I want cloud gaming, I wouldn't drop a couple hundred on a console. I would drop the $100 to get an adapter that connects to my TV. The only real hardware announcement was the updated Elite controller. Just like I said with the previous Elite controller, it's not enough extra to justify the price. Of course, the biggest hardware announcement was that teaser for the next generation of XBox, code-named "Project Scarlett" The first specs we heard about made it clear that this newest XBox would be more powerful than the XBox One X (4x to be exact), capable of displaying 8K and up to 120 frames per second. If you watch the announcement closely, notice how Phil Spencer emphasizes gaming on Project Scarlett and nothing more. This is a huge contrast to the reveal of XBox One, which was supposed to become your all-in-one (hence the name) entertainment system for music, television, movies, video game and other forms of entertainment. XBox will not make the same mistakes a last time. This improvement in announcing hardware is worth giving XBox the gold alone.

Finally, as anyone in the video game industry will tell you, exclusives sell consoles. Microsoft reveal tons of exclusives for the XBox One. Bleeding Edge, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, 12 Minutes, Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions, State of Decay 2: Heartland, CrossFire X, Blair Witch, The Legend of Wright, Way to the Woods and Battletoads are all games exclusive to XBox. If you want to play these games, you need an XBox. Even the games that Microsoft presented not exclusive to XBox, Microsoft convinced the audience that XBox One X plays them better. For year, ever since the "half console update," Microsoft has argued that the XBox One X plays games better than the PlayStation 4 Pro, and Sony has yet to answer them. Sony's absence this year ultimately proves Microsoft right. After this E3, if I'm going to buy a console, it will be an XBox, either XBox One or Project Scarlett.

Nintendo

+Positives+: Surprise announcements, strong start and finish, gameplay for Luigi's Mansion 3, more Resident Evil games coming to Switch, more collections coming to Switch

-Negatives-: Too much old news with no new news, both Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 are MIA, Animal Crossing: New Horizons delayed further, overall presentation too short.

~Best Game In Show~: Luigi's Mansion 3

*Medal*: Silver

With enough Nintendo Directs, Nintendo has learned by now to start the presentation off on a strong note and end the presentation on a strong note. For their E3 Direct, Nintendo decided their opening and closing strong note would be on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC. The opening announcement concerned itself with the summer DLC. The Hero from Dragon Quest would be the next DLC fighter. As with so many other DLC fighters, it's technically a 3rd party character, but Dragon Quest has such a rich history with Nintendo, it almost felt like a 1st party character. Some people sighed at another sword fighter, but I appreciate that all the character's costumes are from the different Dragon Quest game. The only thing I found disappointing was how they introduced character. The way they introduced the fighter, I thought they would also announce an expansion for the World of Light adventure mode. I was disappointed when they did not (unless they will eventually announce that as part of the DLC pack). If the fans were disappointed with the summer DLC, they would not face the same disappointment with the fall DLC. Fans went wild when Nintendo announced that Banjo & Kazooie would become the fighter for the fall DLC. Fans had been requesting Banjo & Kazooie with every new generation of Super Smash Bros. It seemed hopeless when Microsoft bought Rare, which meant Rare would exclusively make games for Xbox. Now that Nintendo and Xbox have this friendly partnership going on between them, the dream became a reality. Just like the Hero from Dragon Quest, Banjo & Kazooie are technically 3rd party, not 1st party, characters, they have such a history with the Nintendo 64 they might as well be treated as 1st party fighters. This announcement had to be the biggest announcement of E3, to the point gamers almost forget about Keeanu Reeves at the Xbox press conference. Nintendo started off strong, and they ended even stronger.

The Nintendo Direct technically did not end with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fall DLC announcement. It ended with the announcement of the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel. I don't really consider that an announcement, technically. Granted, it was better than Metroid Prime 4, which all we received was Reggie speaking the title and a title card, but all we know is that it will be a sequel in ascetics, gameplay and story, and nothing more. I don't like getting hyped over an announcement that a sequel of a beloved is coming out because I've played sequels of beloved games that were pure trash. I want to see the game has more of what fans loved, and it has improved on what fans hated. I will not say, "Shut up and take my money" until I see a full cinematic trailer and full gameplay demo.

Since I mentioned Metroid Prime 4, I guess now is as good as any time to mention a negative of the Nintendo Direct: too many MIA. The biggest one was Bayonetta 3. No cinematic trailer, no gameplay demo, nothing. At the least, they could have done what they did what Nintendo did for the Breath of the Wild sequel: show us the main character in her environment. I'm trying to give Metroid Prime 4 a break, considering Retro Studios had to start brand new. But considering this the first Metroid game since the Wii, fans would have appreciated if Retro Studious could have shown a 1080p Samus on 1080p planet for the first time in the Metroid franchise's history. (Some people might add a Metroid Prime trilogy on the Switch to the Nintendo MIA list, but that's a mere rumor, whereas Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 were officially announced.)

Since I'm in a negative mood, let me continue with my negative by hitting another shadow over Nintendo's bright E3 Direct. Fans were disappointed to hear that Animal Crossing: New Horizons, once promised to come out in 2019, will be delayed to 2020. To make matters worse, cinematic trailers and gameplay demos reveal that the delay is really uncalled for. The game does not seem to improve from the past game. It could have been a mere port, an expansion back or even a DLC add-on. If Nintendo is going to tells its Animal Crossing fans that the next game is being delayed, they have to show it is worth the delay. Animal Crossing: New Horizons does not show it is worth it.

For my final negative, Nintendo re-announced games already announced to be coming out, but they added nothing new to the news. There's nothing inherently wrong with talking about games coming out soon, but they need to add something to it not already known. They showed us The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening again, but with little to no extra detail. The only thing new I can remember was the make-your-own dungeon extra, and to be honest, that's disappointing because fans were really hoping for a whole Legend of Zelda Dungeon Maker game. Once again, we heard about Daemon X Machina. They attempted to talk about how they made changes based on feedback, but it was poorly communicated. They briefly showed Super Mario Maker 2, but it could have mentioned a few additional feature unique to the sequel. Pokémon Sword and Shield made an appearance, but Game Freak and the Pokémon Company had already told fans about the game so much, it just took up space in the Nintendo Direct. Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games also made an appearance. It's truly a sequel, the first one for the Switch, but as someone not familiar with the Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series, I couldn't tell how this game would differ from the rest. As I always say, this is why cinematic trailers fall short and gameplay demos are needed.

Now for all the positives. Early on, Nintendo presented Luigi's Mansion 3, which was probably their best presentation of their entire Digital Event. Anybody watching immediately knew what the gameplay was like and why new features made the sequel unique to it series. Yeah, Gooigi is just a way to shoe-in the co-op features of the Switch, but since Gooigi can be operated by the single player, it won't take away from immersion. The presentation of Dragon Quest XI further hyped up the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC, just like the DLC announcement hyped up Dragon Quest XI. The Definition Edition will convince anyone who ordered the previous version to go out and get the Switch version, especially the Dragon Quest fans. The Trials of Mana and Collection of Mana was a good move on Nintendo's part. Just like Dragon Quest, while not a first party developed and published series, the Mana series has such a history with Nintendo, a person would naturally associate the Mana series with Nintendo. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition proves that Nintendo is no longer for just the kids. I appreciated how Nintendo announced Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Nintendo wants everybody to know they have come closer to having the complete Resident Evil on the Switch, yet they don't need to advertise these old games, for everyone knows them. Therefore, their fun video communicated the message without advertising the games. No More Heroes III brings back the positive memories of the Wii and brings them to the Switch. Just like the Mana games, Nintendo announced a new Contra game and a Contra collection. Just like Mana, not first party developed or published, but such a rich history of Nintendo, one naturally associates Contra with Nintendo. I also feel like Marvel Ultimate Alliance does the same thing. True, this is the first Ultimate Alliance exclusive to Nintendo (since Nintendo is developing and publishing the game), but since Ultimate Alliance is associated with the Wii, it fits for the Switch.

Overall, a good presentation, but too many negatives weigh it down. Also, while the XBox's announcement of Project Scarelett gets its fans excited about the future of Xbox, the lack of hardware in the Nintendo Direct keeps Nintendo only in the present. Ironically, if Nintendo would have mentioned the Nintendo Switch Lite here, they would clearly won, especially if they put it at the end. As always, Nintendo does its own thing, for better or for worse.

Google Stadia

+Positives+: Exclusive titles
-Negative-: Too much time on existing titles, lagging video presentation, costing too much for owning a digital copy on a server, data limitations
~Best Game~: Baldur's Gate III
*Medal*: Bronze

Yeah, I know this feels like an odd choice. The press conference was on June 6, a whole 5 days before the E3 showroom floor opened, but Microsoft presents Xbox 2 day before, and EA presents its games 3 days before the showroom floor opened. If they qualify, why not Google Stadia? The press conference was a video stream, but Nintendo does the same thing. If Nintendo qualifies, why not Google Stadia? And as I said earlier, Google Stadia did show up and presented, unlike PlayStation. So let's give Google Stadia a chance.

Let's start with the good things. Anyone in the gaming will tell you exclusive sell titles. Well, Google brought exclusives for Stadia. Google got Tequila Works, the makers of Rime, to make a horror game exclusive to Stadia called Gylt. Although Get Packed might seem like a basic party game, the fact that it's exclusive to Stadia gives Stadia value. As of right now Baldur's Gate III is a console exclusive to Stadia (it will also be available on your typical gaming PC). If someone wants to play any of these games, they have to get Google Stadia. Who knows? Maybe one (or more) of these game will attract someone to Google Stadia.

Alright, now we can hammer Google Stadia for all its shortcomings. First of all, did anyone notice the live video press conference was lagging? How can you claim you can stream cloud gaming issue free, yet you can't even stream a live video?! Speaking of its cloud streaming, if a gamer wants to get that 4K streaming, a gamer must have high speed internet, which isn't available in all areas. A medium-speed internet will turn out 1080p resolution, which will feel like taking a step backward in the console generation. Low speed internet will result in 720p resolution, which will feel like 2 console generation steps back. While the anyone who has internet will have at least that 720p resolution, I rather have a console which can deliver graphics non-dependent of internet speeds. Then there's the payment plans. Gamers can get Google Stadia for free, but they have to pay for the games individually, $60 for a digital copy of the game, storied on Google's serves. Is this really "owning" the game? We all know what happened when Nintendo took the Wii shop down, and that was actually downloading the game onto memory storage! Google Stadia will have Pro subscription for $120/year, which comes with a small yet growing library of free games, discounts on other games and priority on the serves. Is this really worth the price? 4 years of Goggle Stadia equals $480, around the same price as a new PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X. Again, I rather pay for the console which can deliver the specs without an internet connection than spend the money on internet cloud gaming. Besides, those console typically last 4 years anyway. Lastly, while Google Stadia did a good job presenting exclusive games, it spent more times presenting other games, games already on the major consoles. Why would anyone buy a game on Google Stadia that they already have on the PS4 or Xbox One? They wouldn't. The only one who would buy Google Stadia would be someone who never purchased a console from the current generation.

Although I have a lot of negatives for Google Stadia, I kind of want to cut them a break. After all, this is their first year. I said it before, and I will say it again: they at least showed up, unlike PlayStation. If they make it to next year, they need to provide more exclusives, and they need to do a better job convincing viewers that it is better to get Google Stadia (Pro) instead of getting a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Project Scarlett.

3RD PARTY DEVELOPERS

And now the lightning round for the 3rd party developers! No medals, just a few comments.

Bethesda
Elder Scrolls: Blades is coming to the Nintendo Switch. It's not doing well on the smartphone, I can't imagine the Switch will make it any better. Now on the smartphone, we have Commander Keen. You have to know your video game history to know Bethesda is digging up an old franchise. That doesn't reek of desperate. Bethesda's presentation wasn't all bad. Best game had to be Ghost Wire: Tokyo. The trailer got my attention and made me interested in the game. Doom Eternal is the sequel we were all waiting for. It was the good ol' Doom we knew and loved, but it was more of it and was better. Overall, it was more of the same franchises. It seems like Bethesda got in the same rut Nintendo did during the Wii U years.

Devolver Digital
You have to appreciate that not only are they making fun of the whole E3 press conference presentation, but they made fun of Nintendo's Digital Events more specifically. They also made fun of themselves with Devolver Bootleg, a compilation of their games in "bootleg" form, like Hotline Milwaukee and Enter the Gun Dungeon. I wonder what this will become. Maybe a compilation demo? Most amazing is that Devolver Digital will make a legitimate arcade game with a light gun cabinet. With so much talk about consoles and cloud streaming gaming, an arcade cabinet was refreshing to hear about.

Ubisoft
Ubisoft has what Bethesda has, which is what Nintendo use to have: new games for the old franchises. Of all their games, Watch Dogs: Legion presented the best. I knew what it was about and how to play with its cinematic trailers and gameplay demo. I really like the rogue aspect they added to the game. Brawlhalla, Ubisoft's Super Smash Bros. close, will have Adventure Time characters as DLC. This announcement only appeases to Brawlhalla fans and Adventure Time, so it feels like a waste of time announcing it to the general public. Ubisoft constantly reminded us they have a contract with Tom Clancy (does he even write books, or does he just write video game plots now?), for at least four of Ubisoft's games had his name on them. I really don't know why they brought up The Division 2 just for DLC announcements. Yes, I know the game did very well, but the DLC wasn't that amazing. Of course, another Just Dance game is coming out, even for the Wii. And for Assassin's Creed...we got a symphony tour. I'm not sure how well it will work. It's not like the Mario or Zelda series that has a history of classic tunes. Ubisoft did have a couple brand new titles like Roller Champions and Gods and Monsters. Time will tell if they are a success or not, but at least Ubisoft continues to try new things.

Square Enix
Square Enix did the smart thing. They followed the good model of starting strong and ending strong. As a matter of fact, they started out very strong with Final Fantasy VII remake. They got everybody so hyped up about it that I didn't think they could get people refocused. Maybe Square Enix did that on purpose, for the middle was mostly stuffed with JRPG after JRPG. The only highlight in the middle was Life is Strange 2. When the presentation reached its closing end, and the hype from Final Fantasy VII Remake finally calmed down, Square Enix finally revealed their Avengers game. I'm on the fence about this game. Everyone is saying "The Avengers' characters looked like the hired the MCU Avengers' stunt doubles." I think it's more like a uncanny valley thing because we're so used to the MCU characters. When we see Iron Man, we expect Robert Downey, Jr. When we see Black Widow, we want to Scarlet Johansson. When we see Hulk, we want to see Mark Ruffalo. You get the point. It's sad they got an all-star roster of video game voice actors, yet we are distracted by the looks of the character. A game top priority should be gameplay, so if the gameplay is worth it, the graphics should not matter. Whether the characters looked good or not, the hype behind the Avengers video game was totally worth it. Square Enix had the best presentation among the 3rd party developers.

E3 2019: Preview and Predictions

I honestly have no idea why I still do this. Sony announced earlier this year they will not participle in E3 this year. No live press conference, no digital event, nothing. They claim that the 3rd party publishers will showcase their console for them, so they have no reason to do anything. That means no announcement, or even a hint, of a PlayStation 5 in the making; only software. On a similar note, despite having NOA having a new COO and president, Doug Bowser has continued the recent tradition presenting with a short digital event, followed by a long Treehouse demonstrating the games. In terms of 1st party publishes, it looks like Xbox will win just because it participated! I hate to admit it, but E3 is on its way out the door. Honestly, it makes sense. With so many streaming video sites, it makes more sense to reveal games that way that make a big showcase in an auditorium. So while it lasts, and since this is the only thing I post on this blog (besides my end-of-year game log), let's make the best of it. Here is my E3 2019 Preview & Predictions.

1st Party Publishers

XBox
Last year, the game that really wowed everyone was the latest entry in the Forza series. Since the biggest game from last year was a 1st party game, I would recommend to Xbox that they should focus on 1st party games again. Last year, you surprised everyone with Gears 5. I expect to hear more about Gears 5 this year, with both a cinematic trailer and a gameplay trailer. Speaking of 1st party sequel games, Xbox could surprise and amaze everyone if they revealed Halo 6 this year. Even if they don't, Xbox has plenty of Halo news, from Halo Reach added on the Masterchief Collection to Halo Infinite. I'm just saying another Halo game could make this a Halo-themed E3 for Xbox. While it would be wise for Xbox to lead with its 1st party exclusives, it would be just as wise for Xbox to demonstrate some 3rd party games on it, just to prove the Xbox One X is the superior console for gaming even 3rd party games. Some good candidates to demo would be Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and/or Monster Hunter: World.

Nintendo
Ever since getting my Switch this past Christmas, I feel like I'm back in the current gen console. I have that excitement again. Nintendo has not disappointed with the Switch. The Switch just surpassed the Nintendo 64 in terms of sales, and it deserves that honor. Nintendo has gotten me excited about the current gen of console gaming, something the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One failed to do for me. Although not live and in person, I'm probably the most excited about Nintendo's digital event. So here's my prediction of how Nintendo's E3 Digital Event will happen, even if it is loaded with more with wishful hopes that realistic predictions.

Nintendo will start of its Digital Event with a bang by announcing for the Switch Mario Kart 9 or Mario Kart Ultimate. This latest edition of Mario Kart will have available all the original Super Smash Bros. characters as drivers, with DLC character from Melee down the road. This new edition of Mario Kart will have a new item similar to the Smash Ball in Super Smash Bros. It unleashes a weapon unique to each character that devastates the race course. And we found out the game's lead designer was Sakuri himself. Speaking of Sakuri, the event will transition into Sakuri to announce the next DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Dante from the original Devil May Cry (yes, I know Dante was technically in PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale, but that was the re-imagined Dante, not the original Dante). This DLC will be available by the end of the month. Next, Nintendo will announce Super Mario Party will receive DLC with more game boards. Continuing the Mario theme, a short segment will reveal more details for Super Mario Maker 2, which includes new themes and new items. On a similar note, we'll see a cinematic trailer for Luigi's Mansion 3, which will include gameplay and a release date of October 2019. From here we'll hear more about Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Switch, which I predict will receive the suffix HD to distinguish it. This short segment will tell us of gameplay unique to the Switch. Then I expect a short cinematic trailer of Metroid Prime 4. I know Nintendo recently trashed the old Metroid Prime 4 and handed over duties to Retro to make a new Metroid Prime 4, but I think they can at least show us what Samus will look like on the Switch or one of the worlds in 1080p, as well as a brief description of the story. (If Nintendo does want to add something about Pokémon Sword and Shield, they would do it here, but I highly doubt it because Game Freak and The Pokémon Company has already revealed so much.) Next we'll hear about the latest installment in the Animal Crossing series. Finally, to close on a bang as big as the opening one, Nintendo will announce Super Nintendo games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, just like NES games. While they will not be releasing Super Nintendo controllers, they will release new joycons with the SNES color scheme. They will also announce the first 6 games. In July, the games will be Super Mario World, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past  and Kirby: Super Star. In August, the games will be Super Metroid, Star Fox and Star Fox 2.

3rd Party Publishers

Electronic Arts (EA)
What is their to say about Electronic Arts? They do the same thing every year. They present to us the game as last year, give it a few updates and new features, call it a sequel, and then they ask for full price (as well as some loot boxes!). I have no reason to expect any different from them this year. Madden NFL 20 is just another Madden game. FIFA 20 is just another FIFA game. Sims 4 is another Sims game. Battlefield V is another Battlefield game. Star Wars - Jedi: Fallen Order will end being a Star Wars: Battlefront clone (no pun intended). If EA wants to mix it up, even in the slightest, spend more time showing how you're supporting indie developers, which you did do a little last year.

Bethesda
Bethesda has a habit of spending most of its allotted time divulging us in one of their soon-to-be-released games, then spending a little time mentioning future projects. This year, I expect the same. The game they will be highlighting for a majority of their press conference will be Doom Eternal, the sequel to the Doom reboot. I'm expecting to see both a cinematic trailer and a gameplay demo. Besides that, we might hear a little about Elder Scrolls VI or an update to Fallout 76, but not much. I wish Bethesda would go back to one the one year when they showed us a little bit of everything they were working on. It demonstrated they could tackle a wide array of game genres. Now it seems like they can only tackle one game genre, which they simply put a different skin on.

Ubisoft
Ubisoft is always the epitome of E3 hype, which I enjoy for entertainment value. Knowing Ubisoft, they will build up hype. First, they will start by reminding us that another Just Dance game will come out later this year. Next, they will announce DLC packs for popular games already out, like The Division 2 and For Honor. Then, we will receive updates on recently announced games, like Rainbox Six Siege and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Finally, Ubisoft will announce brand new games, like the next game in the Assassin's Creed series (possibly wrapping up the prequel trilogy) and the Watch Dog series (also making that a trilogy). While it might sound boring because they are visiting old franchises, I'm sure Ubisoft will present it in an entertaining way.

Square Enix
Square Enix typically keeps their presentations short, usually around a half hour, so I don't expect to hear about a lot of games from them. What I want to hear the most about is the Final Fantasy VII HD remake. They announced it 2 years ago, and they were silent on it last year, so they need to make up from last year by giving us a lot this year. I also expect to hear a lot about their Avengers video game. It would be a good idea. They can use the hype from the Avengers movie to build up the hype from the Avengers video game. With the big announcement of Just Cause 4 last year, it would be great to see how game development has progressed, perhaps with a cinematic trailer and gameplay footage. I imagine these 3 games will take up a bulk of their press conference. Perhaps they can squeeze in an announcement of some Kingdom Hearts III DLC, following up on the success of that game.

Let's enjoy another E3, just in case it is our last.