OK, who's got some Switch game recommendations for me?

Now that I own a Nintendo Switch, and especially now that I've finally unboxed and booted up my snazzy new console, I'm on the lookout for games to play on it.

I've already got Golf Story (look for a blog post full of impressions shortly), and I pre-ordered Super Mario Odyssey right after I bought my Switch. Oh, and I'm also planning to buy Stardew Valley shortly after it's added to the system's eShop.

Other than that, though, I'm pretty clueless as to which Switch games--digital ones, especially--I should consider picking up once I have the funds.

That's not to say I don't have my eye on any Switch titles besides the ones mentioned earlier. A few that have caught my attention to date: Blaster Master Zero, Kimiko, Namco Museum, Snipperclips and Thimbleweed Park.



Those of you who've played some or all of the just-mentioned games: what do you think of them? And would you recommend them to a Switch noob like myself?

Speaking of recommendations, please point out in the comments section below any other Switch games--digital or otherwise--you think I might enjoy.

UPDATE: a number of people have shared Switch game recommendations with me here as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

The suggestions that have most intrigued me so far: Neo Turf Masters, Slime-san, Super Bomberman R and VOEZ. All of these games are now taking up space on my ever-growing "buy these Switch games as soon as possible" list--along with the titles I mentioned earlier and no-brainers like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Should you have any positive or negative thoughts on them, let me know.

Why, yes, I am still plugging away at Opoona (Wii)

Or at least I was plugging away at it before I became obsessed with the classic Famicom RPG, Mother, and before I got my hands on a Nintendo Switch. (You can read about my experience with the game otherwise known as EarthBound Beginnings in this post, by the way. And you can reach about my recent Switch acquisition here.)

Regardless, during my last Opoona check-in, I crossed the 20-hour threshold.

That may surprise some of you, as I've made no secret of the fact that this ArtePiazza-made RPG has frustrated and annoyed me on a number of occasions since I first booted it up a couple of months ago. In fact, I detailed most of them in a recent blog post, "A few thoughts on Opoona (Wii) now that I've finally played it for a couple of hours."

Despite its shortcomings, I've enjoyed my time with the game overall. Its combination of intriguing battles, a delightful art style and a brilliant soundtrack tend to outweigh its confusing environments and awkward camera angles.

I say "tend to" here because right around the time I hit the 10-hour mark in Opoona, its negative attributes abruptly overtook its positive ones. That's when it dawned on me that I likely got myself stuck due to a bit of miscommunication (which isn't an entirely unusual occurrence while playing this overlooked Wii game, I'm afraid--thanks in large part to its often-iffy localization).

I won't bore you with all of the details, as they'll be little more than gobbledygook to folks who've yet to experience Opoona, but here's the gist: at one point in the game, you're sent to a place called "Blue Desert" to complete a job. (These are kind of like, but not exactly like, fetch quests in other RPGs--although here they sometimes require you to complete mini-games.) Unbeknownst to me, one of that location's many residents helps you unlock additional jobs, although you have to chat him up and do something for him before he'll assist you in that way.

Although I remember talking with him, I don't remember him telling me he'd grant me access to another job. Or maybe he told me, but shortly thereafter I walked away from the game for the night and promptly forgot the conversation. Regardless, I left Blue Desert before taking him up on his offer--which would have been all well and good if weren't for the fact that you're not allowed to return to the area at that point in the story.

As for why leaving Blue Desert before lending the aforementioned guy a hand caused me to get (temporarily) stuck, that would be because you need the job he opens up to advance to one or more other areas of the game's world.

Thankfully, after a lot of stumbling around, just as much awkward Internet sleuthing and somewhere between five and 10 additional hours of gameplay, I got myself unstuck and pushed forward with my sometimes-aggravating Opoona adventure.

In fact, I've since pushed it forward to the point I'm pretty sure I'm nearing its end. For those of you who've played (and finished) Opoona: is that possible?

I honestly hope it is, because although I've enjoyed a fair bit of my Opoona playthrough, I'm not sure I could handle, say, another 10 or 20 hours of annoying camera angles and needlessly confusing text.

Who knows, though; I've certainly put myself through worse over the years. In other words, don't be surprised if I drop yet another blog post in the near or even distant future in which I celebrate the fact that I conquered Opoona and all of its unfortunately irritating components.

A few thoughts on the Monster Hunter Stories 3DS demo after putting about five hours into it

Just over a month ago, Nintendo plopped a demo for Monster Hunter Stories onto the North American 3DS eShop.

I promptly downloaded it, of course. And I say "of course" here because I've been curious about this Pokémon-esque Monster Hunter spinoff since it was released in Japan last fall.

That's not to say I promptly played through its demo. Although I put maybe 30 minutes or an hour into it shortly after my download finished, I didn't really dig into it until a week or two later (mainly because I was obsessed with Mother at the time).



As of now, I've played it for nearly five hours. Based on what I've read on line, there's still a few hours of content left for me to explore. Rather than wait until I hit that wall to write up my thoughts on this Monster Hunter Stories teaser--which is what I'd normally do--I decided to jot down and share them now.

Why the rush? Well, for starters, I'm really enjoying the demo--even more than I expected to, if I'm to be honest. Plus, I'm pretty sure nothing's going to pop up in the next hour or two that will change my opinion of Monster Hunter Stories.

With that out of the way, here are some of my thoughts on this surprisingly generous demo:

It looks absolutely lovely--I've liked Monster Hunter Stories' art style since I first laid eyes on it way back when. OK, so I wasn't initially all that keen on the design of Navirou, your odd-looking Felyne sidekick, but I eventually came around to it. I've always found the game's human designs appealing, though. They're cute without being generic or anime-esque, if that makes sense. I also really dig how the designers at developer Marvelous used a lot of bold, saturated colors while crafting Monster Hunter Stories' vast environments.



Its battles are more enjoyable than I thought they'd be--No one is going to accuse Monster Hunter Stories' fights of being confusing or complicated. In fact, they're little more than rock-paper-scissors bouts. That's fine with me, though, as it keeps them moving along at a good clip--which can't be said of all modern RPGs, that's for sure. My only worry is they might become boring while playing the full game. Considering that's rarely been an issue for me before, though, I don't see it impacting my decision to pick up a physical copy or not.

It chugs a bit on an original 3DS system--I don't know how the Monster Hunter Stories demo runs on other 3DS hardware, but it slows down and stutters now and then on an original unit. It doesn't do so all the time, and it's hardly that annoying, but I thought I should bring it up anyway. The question is: does the full game chug a bit on early 3DS systems, too, or does it perform better than this demo? Thankfully, I can play the former on my New 3DS if need be, but I'd prefer to play it on my "flame red" unit.



It's convinced me to buy the full game--Don't take this to mean me picking up a boxed copy of Monster Hunter Stories is a sure thing. I'd certainly like to do that, and soon, but the fact is my recent Switch acquisition is going to force me to be pretty picky with my game purchases for the foreseeable future. I still want quite a few 3DS titles--many of which I wrote about in this post from April, although I highlighted two others here and here--after all, and then there are Switch and retro games to consider, too.

Oh, well, even if I don't buy the retail version of this Pokémon wannabe, it won't be because I disliked its demo. How about you? Have you played either the Monster Hunter Stories demo or full game? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments section that follows.

See also: 'I tried the Hey! Pikmin demo and I think I liked it'

Mark your calendars, folks: March 27, 2018, is the last day you'll be able to add or buy Wii Points

I know what some of you are thinking: why the hell should I care if I can't buy Wii Points or add them to my Wii account after March 27, 2018? And, really, maybe you shouldn't care. If you don't own a Wii (or Wii U), or you own one but no longer use it, the fact that you'll no longer be able to buy or add Wii Points to your account after the above-mentioned date shouldn't bother you much.

If you do still own a use a Wii (or Wii U), though, you might appreciate the reminder that the Wii Virtual Console offers a lot of NES, Master System, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, SNES and Neo Geo gems. (Don't take my word for it, check out this impressive list of North American Wii Virtual Console releases.)

Anyway, this news certainly bothers me. OK, so "bothers" may be too strong of a word, but it definitely saddens me a bit. That's because I still use my Wii fairly regularly. And not only that, but there are still a good number of Wii Virtual Console and WiiWare games I'd like to buy and play.

For instance, I've long meant to purchase Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom for the NES and Super Mario RPG for the SNES via the Wii Shop Channel. Also, Shining in the Darkness for the Genesis and Monster Lair for the TurboGrafx-16. (I own an actual copy of that last game, but you just know neither it nor my PC Engine Super CD-ROM2 system will last forever.)



As if that weren't bad enough, there are a ton of Japanese Virtual Console games I'd like to purchase before Nintendo pulls the plug on the Wii Shop Channel. Granted, doing so will require me to pick up a Japanese Wii, and I'm not sure that's in the cards at this point, but the point stands.

I mean, just look at some of the great games that have been made available via the Japanese Wii Virtual Console and nowhere else. Mizubaku Daibouken, Parasol Stars and Star Parodier for the PC Engine. Pepenga Pengo for the Mega Drive. Twinkle Star Sprites for the Neo Geo. Clock Tower, DoReMi Fantasy and Sutte Hakkun for the Super Famicom.

Is it really possible I'll buy a Japanese Wii as well as all of the above-mentioned Virtual Console titles  before March 27, 2018? (Technically, I wouldn't have to do the latter until January 31, 2019, but I'd have to purchase Wii Points for them by the earlier date.) Possible, sure, but I wouldn't call it likely. As always, though, I'll give it my best shot.

How about you? Will any of you spend your hard-earned cash on some Wii Points between now and the end of March so you can pick up a few final Wii Virtual Console games?

Anyone else planning to pick up The Alliance Alive when it hits North America in early 2018?

Actually, I'm not "planning" to pick up The Alliance Alive when it's released here this coming March, as I've already pre-ordered a copy via Amazon.

In case this is the first you're hearing of--or reading about--The Alliance Alive, it's basically a semi-sequel to another FuRyu-made 3DS RPG I found so appealing I bought it twice. (See my post on my Japanese copy of The Legend of Legacy, as well as my post on my North American copy of the game, for visual proof.)

Although different groups of developers and designers made The Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive, they're surprisingly similar, SaGa-esque games. Both are RPGs that allow players to select from a bevy of unique protagonists and then set them loose on a decidedly open-ended adventure.



One notable difference between the two games: The Alliance Alive provides a pretty traditional overworld for players to explore, while The Legend of Legacy offers up a single hub town and a series of maps that can be gradually unlocked.

To be honest, I'm not all that interested in owning the art book, CD soundtrack or keychain that will come packed inside the launch edition's sure-to-be-bulky collector's box (see above), but it seems there'll be no other way to buy a physical version of game early on, so I guess I'll have to stash away everything but the cartridge once it all arrives on my doorstep.

Anyway, that's where I stand on The Alliance Alive at the moment. How about you? Have any of you pre-ordered it, or are you planning to purchase it either before or after it's released in the West?