It’s normal to be skeptical no worries ;). Pokémon TCG is really a thing of its own, and managed by a separate entity within the Pokemon Company.
I could be wrong, but if it was the case, I am wondering why they did not already do it with their new TCG app that was released last year.
I don’t think so. The TCG online has no micro-transactions. You have to buy real packs to get digital packs in the game.
I believe this new game will just be advertisement for the TCG by itself, without the F2P stuff we are used to in other games. Giving people this app for free, and expect to convert some of them into TCG players who will buy real packs.
I don’t know much, but I heard Hasbro has fired all the guys who created D&D (after they bought the licence). Those guys helped a lot Larian during BG3 development (Larian even tried to speak about them when they won at the Game Awards, but were cut off before they could).
Those remakes were really awesome, but I was a bit disappointed by Crash 3. It is one that I played a lot back in the days, and Jetski levels and rumble were very different from the original. For example, the first boss Tiger caused rumble at every jump, but we get nothing in the remake. The physics of jetski levels is very different, it constrasts a lot with the accuracy when reproducing the same base gameplay.
Not all characters are playable characters.
This game has been released on the Nintendo DS. The idea is to compose your own manga page on the bottom screen with well-known cells from multiple manga. Some cells represent playable characters, some are support characters (doing move as an assist) and others have just passive abilities.
The cells also reinforce each other if they are touching and have « something » in common (eg: from the same manga, or both are the main protagonist of their manga, …).
During the battle, you tap the cells on the touch screen to switch character or call support characters. That’s how they could integrate many characters, even if they do not fight.
I loved Lost Odyssey at the time but, at the same time, it’s probably one of worst JRPG I have ever played when you only consider the beginning. The game is so slow to start, and sometimes a bit too difficult (especially because it does not let you grind, which is very annoying at the beginning because you have not many options).
Besides that, It has a lot to share, with a touching story, very interesting reflections about immortality and harsh/intense moments. The gameplay is good as well, proposing its own mechanics and bosses that forces you to use them.
It’s not easy to recommend because it’s one of those games where you have to play many hours to get in.
As long as it remains an option among others, I don’t see any issue with the subscription model. I play video games for 20+ years, and I can say it’s impossible for me at this point to play once again to most of the games I played in the past. A subscription model is the cheapest way to play most games if you do not play it more than once (which is the case for most games, at least for myself).
Even in the rare case where I would like to play again a game I did not buy at the time, between discounts, remake / remaster (or even emulation), and even if I have to buy it 5 years after its release, it will still be worth it compared to the dozens of games I had not bought.
I am much more concerned about DLCs, season pass, bugged games on release and so on. Releasing incomplete or imperfect games (and this also count for BG3) implies that one day, using a physical copy of nowadays in 20 years will be a subpar experience because you won’t have access to any of this content by legal means (assuming Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo shutting down their online services for old generations, which has already happened and will likely happen again in the future). Retrogaming for games released nowadays is kind doomed if you do not follow the piracy route (which is probably the only secure way to keep track of both DLCs and patches in the long run).
I kinda agree. Back in the days, I was waiting for new games. Now, there are dozens of games waiting for me every time I complete one. It seems to be impossible to play everything nowadays even if you only do that. It’s not a big issue for us of course (we just have to accept we cannot play everything, and choose wisely how to use our playing time), but I can see this being an issue for the industry.
I just bought it a few weeks ago, and started playing it again few days ago. As good as I remember so far :).
I had the chance to play it at the time, and since I hadn’t played SM64 yet, this game was even more impressive to me :). I wouldn’t change anything to it, mixing up 3D platformer with mini-games and a moveset that evolved through out the game, combined with an amazing OST and funny dialogs … it was perfect <3.
Depends how you see it. TCG is by itself a lootbox game, but with physical cards instead. However, it does not seem that the Pokemon Company wants to turn its TCG game into a digital business, but instead use those apps as promotional products for TCG. Personally, I think it’s a much better model than the one pursued by everyone else. The apps are more a bonus / promotional stuff than a real thing. For this particular app, I won’t be surprised if there is no other way to get packs than waiting for the next day.