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Nintendo Life’s resident horror fanatic, when he’s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from Motorhead to BB King.
The first DLC part of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero arrived on the Nintendo Switch last week and there have now been multiple reviews shared online, so we’ve put together a roundup.
Here on Nintendo Life, we said The Teal Mask was a fun diversion for Scarlet & Violet players even if there are shortcomings:
So, what did the other outlets think? Starting off with IGN, it said it offered more of the same:
“If you’re considering The Teal Mask because you thought Scarlet and Violet were fun and just want more Pokemon, sure, this DLC will give you that”
The Verge summed it up as a “short, sweet reminder” of Scarlet and Violet’s real potential:
“The Teal Mask doesn’t solve many of Scarlet and Violet’s core gameplay issues, and people hoping for a drastic overhaul are going to be rather disappointed. But playing the DLC at a time when the rumors about a Switch follow-up have shifted into “it’s getting serious” territory is especially fun because you can see clearly how beefier hardware could really work wonders for Scarlet and Violet and how the more Kitikami-like approach to design might be what makes next big Pokémon game shine.”
Kotaku said the new DLC embodies “the best and worst parts” of the base game, but felt much the DLC experience was holding out for the Indigo Disk:
“The final scene of the DLC, which I won’t spoil here, did at least hint that these smaller stories may soon escalate into something larger, and given how well Scarlet and Violet’s writing has handled stories of trauma, especially that felt by children, I’m really eager to see how Game Freak concludes this story in the next download.”
CGMagazine called it a “worthy field trip”:
“Despite its flaws, The Teal Mask DLC, with its fresh setting and intriguing side quests, amplifies the experience of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet—perfect for those seeking a return trip to the vibrant world of Paldea.”
And Digital Trends didn’t mind the first DLC, but felt it didn’t do enough to address the main game’s biggest problems:
“Though those technical deficiencies only get more disappointing with each release, it’s a testament to the power of Pokémon that I still breezed through Teal Mask’s main story in one sitting. There’s an inherent joy in collecting new monsters and watching my Pokédex fill up. Even in the franchise’s weakest moments, that loop I loved as a kid still retains its power here.”
What are your own impressions of the Teal Mask so far? Let us know in the comments.
It only took just over a week for Unity to make changes to its brand new Runtime Fee policy, but that’s exactly what it has done.
Announcing the changes in an open letter published today on the Unity Blog (shared on social media), the revamped model includes some pretty sweeping changes from the initial policy. Unity Create lead Marc Whitten started the letter off with an apology, acknowledging that “We should have spoken with more of you and we should have incorporated more of your feedback” before making last week’s announcement.
Some of the changes sound much easier to stomach than those in the previous policy; Unity Personal subscribers will no longer be charged the fee, and the cap will be increased to $200,000 as opposed to $100,000. Games with less than $1 million in a 12-month revenue will not be subject to the fee, either. And the fee will also only apply to games made in the new version of Unity, which launches in 2024.
Whitten’s statement also mentions that “Your games that are currently shipped and the projects you are currently working on will not be included – unless you choose to upgrade them to this new version of Unity,” meaning that the fees will no longer be applied retroactively to games already on the market and made in Unity.
For games that will be subject to the fees, developers will no longer be charged per install; instead, devs be able to choose to be charged either a 2.5% revenue share or a “calculated amount” which will be based on the number of new people playing the game per month, and that the numbers will be self-reported by the developers themselves.
Of course, this may all sound much better, and the response this time around has been much better, but time will tell if the damage has already been done with Unity’s initial announcement.
The initial policy would have effectively charged developers a fee every time a game built in Unity was installed (depending on the number of installs and sales, etc.) from January 2024. Multiple developers took to social media to call out Unity for the sudden change — which would also have applied retroactively to games already released, and games that are uninstalled and reinstalled.
Unity has issued an updated FAQs page going over the changes — these clarify that the fee would only ever apply on an “initial engagement” and also provide a Runtime Fee Estimator.
What do you think of these announced changes? Share your thoughts down below.
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they’ve been chewing over. Today, Ollie looks back on how Tears of the Kingdom’s launch hype on social media may have affected his own enjoyment of the game…
On May 12th, 2023, I, like countless other Switch owners, booted up The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom almost as soon as I was physically able and dove headfirst — quite literally, it seemed — back into the world of Hyrule.
Over the course of the next couple of weeks or so, I was in the midst of a total and all-consuming state of bliss. Finally, I was back in the world that I fell in love with in 2017 and it had changed just enough to keep me compelled and engaged all over again. Yet, as time went on, each play session felt less special, and my enthusiasm for the experience diminished until I stopped playing altogether.
Now, one reason is that I reached what I genuinely consider to be one of the most frustrating and poorly designed dungeons in Zelda history, and getting through this section took a good deal of tongue-biting on my part, but I won’t go into that here. The other reason is that I’d just simply had enough. I couldn’t even look at the game anymore, let alone play it.
How could this be? This is Tears of the Kingdom, for goodness’ sake — Breath of the Wild 2! After I put it down for what felt like the last time, I could acknowledge its greatness and the significant improvements it made over Breath of the Wild, but I’d just had enough.
So what happened? At the time, I’d probably put in around 25 hours over the course of a few weeks, so it wasn’t like it had completely consumed my every waking moment. I didn’t really have anything else to distract me, either. Yes, I was still playing the Resident Evil 4 remake, but anyone who knows me is aware that this is just weekly business as usual. It was only when I went back to TOTK just a couple of weeks ago and started the game from scratch that I realised what had happened.
While the game itself remained the same, the monumental hype surrounding its release had completely died down. The world had, for the most part, moved on. Tears of the Kingdom dominated social media in the weeks following its release, but platforms were now far more concerned with the likes of Starfield, Mortal Kombat 1, and Cyberpunk 2077 (again).
What I realised was that I simply couldn’t escape Tears of the Kingdom back when it launched, even when I wasn’t playing it. It was everywhere. TV commercials, billboards, internet ads… But mostly, of course, social media. Fans were enamored with the game and were posting about it left, right, and centre. I can’t blame them, of course; there was plenty to talk about, and the game became the hot topic on Nintendo Life (naturally — the clue’s in the name!) for several weeks as everyone on the team gradually peeled back its various layers. But on a personal level, I was drowning in it.
It makes me think back to the times when I was a child; specifically playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker during those early years of high school. I would get home each day, boot up the game, and just sink into it for a few hours before bedtime. The next morning, my friends and I would gather together on school grounds and discuss what we’d done and what we’d seen. It was glorious, but most of all, it was natural; an intimate talking point amongst friends. Seeing thousands upon thousands of people share their hot takes, videos, and anecdotes online on a daily basis was suffocating by comparison, and thanks to the very nature of the work I do, muting it or deleting social media felt like it was out of the question. What if I missed out on a game-changing update, some zeitgeist-defining Zonai build, or the birth of a meme?!
So when I revisited Tears of the Kingdom after some time away, without the constant background noise that accompanied its launch, I felt revitalised. I spent about three or four hours in the opening Sky Island section just mucking about, free from the pressure I’d put on myself during those first few weeks. No longer was I bogged down by fear of spoilers. No longer was I intimidated by the ridiculous contraptions being showcased online. I could just play the game at my own pace and on my own terms.
Needless to say, my enjoyment of Tears of the Kingdom skyrocketed on that second playthrough, and I’ve progressed much further than I managed on my first go around. I still think the temple-which-shall-not-be-named is atrocious given the sheer quality on display elsewhere, but I have to say, I’m otherwise completely in love with the game.
Going completely dark on any major game prior to or during its launch can be a difficult task in this day and age; the pace of new releases and the desire to keep up with the conversation and get involved before social media is crawling with spoilers has instilled a deep sense of FOMO that can be nearly impossible to shake. Yet if you have the means or the willpower to either block out some of the noise or simply wait until it’s died down, then I think you might find your experience to be substantially improved. I certainly did.
Being one of the most recognisable and influential figures in gaming, it should come as no surprise that Masahiro Sakurai has managed to accumulate a number of extremely rare collectibles over the years.
In his latest YouTube ‘Grab Bag’ video, the legendary game designer has taken a bit of a different approach to his usual content, opting to showcase some of the most rare antiques in his collection; items that simply would never become available to the general public thanks to their unique features.
So we’ve got engraved Wii Remotes, autographs from Shigeru Miyamoto, Kid Icarus statues… The lot. There was potential for a video like this to feel a bit pretentious, but it actually comes across as a nice, wholesome bit of viewing. Well, see what you think, anyway.
What do you make of Sakurai’s collection? Have you got any rare items you’d like to show off? Let us know.
Nintendo has just released a brand new overview trailer for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which does exactly what it says it’s going to do — go over the game’s features.
Now, if you were around for the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct at the beginning of the month, you might be getting a bit of déjà vu here, and that’s because this trailer is pretty much a distilled version of what we got then. There are a few new locations and levels on show, but this is a digested version of what the Direct gave us.
That means we get to see the Flower Kingdom in its full glory, as well as the new power-ups — Elephant, Drill, and Bubble — online modes, and more. The narration is slightly different too. We’ve got a rundown of everything that was shown off in the Direct, and this trailer, below.
Basically, there’s a lot to love, and the trailer serves as a good way to recap what to expect from next month’s 2D Mario adventure. Yep, that’s right, it’s less than a month out now, and it’s shaping up to be another amazing Mario game — if the first hour or so of the game is anything to go by.
Are you excited for Super Mario Bros. Wonder on 20th October? Let us know down below.
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We have taken a look at the YouTube channel Macho Nacho Productions a few times on Nintendo Life (remember the world’s smallest GameCube and the ‘thicc boi SP’?), but we were particularly interested in the channel’s latest video, which saw a Switch OLED get converted into a dedicated home console, and run a lot cooler in the process.
In the video (above), Tito from Macho Nacho showcased the TVii Switch Re-Shell Mod (working title), created by a modder called Set. This build converts a standard Switch into a dedicated home console, removing the chance for handheld play, but letting the system run much cooler in the process. The casing even works on Switch consoles without a working display — making handheld play impossible from the get-go.
Perhaps the biggest perk of the mod, however, is its increased cooling capacity. The build packs in an 80mm fan, which helps to keep the motherboard from excessive overheating, even on consoles that are overclocked. Tito’s tests reveal that the casing is capable of reducing an overclocked Switch’s temperatures by anything from 2-8°C, actually allowing it to run cooler than a regular, unmodified console.
The process of putting the mod together actually seems like a relatively straightforward one (as far as mods go, that is). The above video from Macho Nacho provides a full tutorial, demonstrating how to line up all of the Switch’s internal components inside the casing and where to apply the provided screws.
Of course, the build does remove the handheld functionality that many of us rely on for hours of playtime, but the ability to rescue the console from a broken display and keep it cooler in the process makes this mod a pretty neat one. The designer has made the build available for purchase from their Etsy shop which bundles the casing, fans, screws and USB dongle for around £40 — which seems fairly reasonable if you have the technical know-how and required patience.
What do you make of this Switch mod? Let us know in the comments.
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Open-world tactical RPG Wartales will be getting a patch on Switch “next week (at the latest)!” to fix a number of bugs and issues with the game, developer and publisher Shiro Unlimited announced.
The game was announced and released on Switch during last week’s Nintendo Direct, and while many were initially delighted with the reveal, many have reported major technical issues with the game, including frequent crashes, the inability to pick up or throw out items, and framerate stuttering.
YouTube channel NintendoGalaxy shared around 8 minutes of gameplay from the Switch version, highlighting a few issues, but hopefully, this upcoming patch will address most of these.
Otherwise, the wider reception for the game has been really positive. The Steam version was released earlier in the year and is currently sitting on a Very Positive rating with almost 18,000 reviews.
In Wartales, you are the leader of a group of mercenaries attempting to survive in a world ravaged by plague over a century ago. The game is huge, allowing you to customise your group’s skills, take on mercenary jobs, engage in tactical combat, and gather resources to survive. Cross-play is also reported to be coming soon to the Switch version.
Have you tried Wartales on Switch? Experienced any issues with the port? Let us know in the comments.
These days, Monolith Soft is well known for being one of Nintendo’s finest internal teams, with the Xenoblade Chronicles games delivering some of the finest open-world JRPG goodness available. Long before the company was acquired by Nintendo, however, some of the first projects it produced were the two Baten Kaitos games, both of which were originally created to address the lack of RPGs on the GameCube. Unfortunately, neither title sold very well, but they’ve now been given a second lease on life on modern hardware with Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster. Though neither of these games prove to be exceptional, they’re still enjoyable refreshes of an interesting phase in Monolith’s past and stand as welcome additions to the Switch’s enormous RPG library.
The narratives of both games here — Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003) and Origins (2006) — are related, though just isolated enough that you can play either release first without feeling like you’re missing out too much on important context. Baten Kaitos follows a somewhat unlikeable protagonist named Kalas, a self-interested sellsword who is hellbent on getting revenge for the deaths of his brother and grandpa. Early on in this quest, however, he inadvertently releases an old seal placed on the God of Destruction, Malpercio, kicking off a race to get to the other seals before the evil Alfard Empire can use them to fully unleash chaos across the world.
Baten Kaitos Origins is set 20 years before these events, placing you in control of Sagi, a member of an Alfard Empire black ops team called the Dark Service. Sagi and his unit are initially given a mission to assassinate the Alfardian emperor, but when they infiltrate his chambers, they find that another assassin has already finished the job, framing Sagi and his unit for the death and branding them all as traitors. After narrowly escaping, Sagi and his gang set out on a journey to clear their names and unravel the greater political conspiracy they find themselves caught up in.
Though both games can be a bit plodding in how their narratives unfold, we nonetheless enjoyed the tales that are spun here, especially given how neatly the two games eventually tie into each other. And though there are plenty of tired JRPG tropes that are played completely straight, the underlying themes undeniably have that distinctive philosophical edge that Monolith Soft has become known for over the years. Only time will tell if the success of this remaster leads to any further projects (Baten Kaitos DS revival when?), but we’d certainly like to see more stories set in this unique floating world.
The main gimmick that sets the Baten Kaitos games apart from their genre peers is the heavy focus on cards, referred to in-game as ‘Magnus’. In this world, any item’s ‘essence’ can be extracted and imprinted on blank cards, which gives you a convenient in-universe reason for having a seemingly bottomless loot bag filled with all the junk that you hoard over the course of the adventure. When exploring the world, you’ll often come across things you can capture—such as a rainbow or sitting water—and you can then use these captured essences as a quasi-item to solve a simple puzzle, like using the water to put out a fire. In a cool (though occasionally annoying) twist, some of these cards even have a shelf life that decays in real time, such as yogurt in your bag eventually turning into cheese or lava cooling off and turning to stone.
Carrying the card aesthetic onward, combat in Baten Kaitos is somewhat similar to the battle systems present in the Mega Man Battle Network series and Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories, fusing intense active combat with deckbuilding mechanics. Each action you can take in the heat of combat, from swinging your weapon to chugging a health potion, is represented by a card you need to have placed in your deck in advance, and a few of these cards are pulled into your hand each time your turn comes around. To get the most out of your turn, you want to pull off the longest combos you can, and these are governed by the ‘Spirit Numbers’ attached to each card. So, if you can activate a straight (cards in ascending or descending numerical order) or pairs of cards with the same number, you’ll get to use multiple cards in a row and dish out a lot more damage.
It can feel like a lot to juggle, yet the main challenge of battles comes not just from strategizing over which cards to play and in what order, but in making these decisions fast. Battles follow an ATB-style turn order, so taking too long to stress over what cards you want to play will all but guarantee that your enemy will get in some extra turns. And even when you’re in the middle of your turn, you’re only given about two seconds after playing the first card to add on any others you want to use for the combo. Sometimes it can feel like this focus on fast action can get in the way of the strategy that comes with deckbuilding, but it mostly does a great job of keeping things moving and constantly putting the player just a little off balance.
While this combat system remains largely the same between the two games, there are some important tweaks that Origins made to streamline and simplify things. For example, Origins no longer has you playing cards to block attacks individually every time the enemy takes a turn, instead you can play a defensive item at the beginning of your turn that’ll cause your character to automatically block a certain number of blows when they’re attacked.
And where the first game had myriad unique weapons you could equip that all had different elemental effects and damage numbers, Origins has a simple ‘weak, medium, and strong’ system that makes it way easier to pull off combos. Combat overall just feels better to play in Origins due to this simpler (though still in-depth) setup, but some may still prefer the more chaotic and unrefined approach of the first game.
Despite being enjoyable, there’s still some antiquated game design here that highlights this duo’s age. An early section in Origins sees you visiting a village in which progress is completely halted until you talk to every NPC that lives there, and if NPCs are engaged in conversations with each other, you have to repeatedly listen in on that same conversation for each NPC participating in it. You’re not actually told to do this at any point, however, and your companions imply an entirely different objective is needed to progress here, which led to us confusedly wandering around town for 10 minutes searching for a villager who turned out to not exist. Hokey moments like these don’t necessarily ruin these games, but they are persistent enough to noticeably drag down the overall experience.
To help sand off some of these rougher edges, this remaster adds a new pause menu that lets you do things like increase the game speed up to 300%, disable enemy encounters, and activate auto-battle or infinite damage. If you want, you can activate all the buffs and simply breeze straight through the game, though we most appreciated how it lets you optionally cut down on the tedium of fights, like saving you the pain of refighting the same four enemies that respawned in a room that you exited and re-entered.
The quality-of-life features aren’t the only change here, as the graphics have also gotten a nice bump to make this pair shine as brightly as they can on modern hardware. Though both games heavily feature the flat, pre-rendered backgrounds that were common in many PlayStation-era RPGs, their implementation here feels a lot less jarring than in, say, the remaster of Final Fantasy VII due to the backgrounds being a much higher resolution. The 3D models have also been redone, and while they still look just a little stiff when in motion, they have lots of that retro charm.
Unfortunately, not everything in this remaster is necessarily an improvement. A notable change here is the removal of the English audio in both games, and though the first game is legendary for having one of the worst RPG dubs ever, the second game was a massive improvement in this area. The Japanese audio is fine, but considering that both English dubs have already been completed and could’ve been implemented here, it feels a little weird they weren’t included as an option.
Performance is also a bit of a sticking point here, with an uncapped frame rate that oscillates quite a bit between 30 and 60 FPS. Overall, the first game feels like it performs worse than Origins, but the fact that either of these sixth-gen RPGs struggles with inconsistent performance is quite disappointing.
With Super Mario Bros. Wonder out in, hang on… *checks notes*… less than a month on October 20th, 2023, you’ve probably already started to browse a number of outlets in search of the best deal.
Well, this one may take some beating. While the RRP for the game is £49.99, Currys is currently offering up Super Mario Bros. Wonder at £37.49 if you apply a ‘WONDER25’ code to the game during the checkout process. That’s a pretty darn good deal!
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder marks a potentially triumphant return to the 2D realm after the long-running ‘New’ sub-series, however, it will also be the first Mario title to not feature the work of veteran voice-actor Charles Martinet, who has taken on the role of ‘Super Mario Ambassador’ at Nintendo.
Are you looking forward to Super Mario Bros. Wonder next month? Let us know with a comment down below.
