Category: Nintendo

Renaissance, man.

Listen. We’ve already reviewed Obsidian’s superlative Pentiment over on our sister site Pure Xbox, where we gave it an excellent 9/10 score. However, now that we’ve been given the opportunity to return to 16th-century Bavaria all over again in this fantastic Switch port, we daresay it’s better — worthy of a slight amendment to that scoreline, even. Ahhhhh, now, that’s much better.

Yes, Pentiment pretty much blew us away when it first arrived back in November of 2022. At its core a very clever and utterly absorbing medieval murder mystery, the hook here comes through a unique style and setting that results in one of the freshest and most original games we’ve played this gen. In fact, this one — previously an Xbox exclusive — is a real highlight of Microsoft’s Game Pass service, so it’s incredibly exciting to see it arrive on Nintendo’s console in such fine form.

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Sweet little mystery dungeon.

It’s nearly guaranteed that during any online discussion about a game of the ‘rogue’ genre, at least one sweaty person will eagerly emerge from the woodwork to say, “Well, ackshually, this game is a roguelite, not a roguelike.” Eyerolls aside, the distinction isn’t without merit, though ‘pure’ roguelikes are relatively rare these days despite the popularity of many of their mechanics in modern games. Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island—the latest mainline release in the long-running Mystery Dungeon franchise—is a roguelike, and it unashamedly features all the thrilling randomization and savage brutality that you could expect of one. We’re happy to report that it executes on its unflinching design brilliantly, providing a tough, engaging, and addictive experience that you won’t want to miss (if you like roguelikes).

The narrative of Shiren ‘6’ follows the titular wanderer and Koppa, a talking ferret who accompanies him on his adventures. The two of them both received visions in a dream about a mysterious treasure lying in the stomach of a powerful beast on Serpentcoil Island, so they head there to see if the legends are true. In a rather interesting twist, we then jump forward to the very end of their adventure, right in the middle of their climactic battle with the monster. Shiren takes a blow to the head during the fight that gives him amnesia and though he and Koppa fight bravely, they’re eventually overwhelmed by the creature and awaken in a nearby village. Eager for another crack at the beast, and in an attempt to jog his foggy memory, Shiren and Koppa set out again to retrace their steps and, hopefully, succeed.

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Get catchin’.

As part of the recent Pokémon Presents showcase, it was announced that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are getting yet another Tera Raid Battle event. Well, three, to be more specific.

Starting tomorrow (28th February, 2024), the OG starter evolutions will feature in separate Tera Raid Battle events, beginning with Venusaur. Blastoise will follow, and the final event will feature the return of Charizard.

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Over 100 artists contributed.

Remember the stunning Johto Redrawn project that we covered way back in 2021? You might also recall that the team behind this beautiful pixel art recreation of one of our favourite Pokémon regions, Retro Redrawn, was also working on a reimagining of the Kanto region. Today, Kanto Redrawn is finished, and it looks absolutely amazing.

Kanto Redrawn is a reimagining of the Kanto region, the world from the first Pokémon games, Pokémon Red & Blue (and Green and Yellow). It’s not a playable game but an incredibly detailed and beautifully crafted redraw of the world so many grew up with. The project started up in 2021 and took almost three years to complete.

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A shorter presentation filled with “exciting Pokémon news”.

With Nintendo’s Partner Showcase now out of the way, our attention turns to the Pokémon Presents: Pokémon Day broadcast, streaming live later today.

When it was initially announced for 27th February there was no mention of the runtime, but that’s changed now that the Japanese broadcast link has gone live. As highlighted by Gematsu it will be about 13 minutes in length. In comparison, last year’s Pokémon Day broadcast ran for just over 25 minutes.

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Monsters, Inc. has arrived.

After teasing a Monsters, Inc. update, the new update for Disney Dreamlight Valley adds Mike Wazowski and Sulley on 28th February 2024.

This it the first major update of the new year, with the team excited to officially welcome players to The Laugh Floor. Below is a brief message from the team, along with the full patch notes:

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March launch for PC and console “will follow” ASAP.

Last month, Stardew Valley creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone mentioned how he was finally done adding “major new content” for the next update.

Now, to mark the 8th anniversary of the game, he’s finally locked in a release date for Version 1.6. It will be arriving next month on 19th March 2024, but the catch is this date only applies to the PC version.

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Your favourite game for eShop Selects.

It’s back! We’re almost at the end of February already — yes, even with the extra day in this fine Leap Year.

Our monthly Nintendo Life eShop Selects will be landing this coming weekend for February, but for 2024, we also want you lovely readers to pick your favourite eShop game from that we’ve missed out on at NL Towers.

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Back soon!

Inti Creates has today announced that its recently released musical rhythm game GUNVOLT RECORDS: Cychronicle has been temporarily removed from the North American Switch eShop.

Revealed in a tweet from the studio, Inti Creates stated that the removal was down to a “change in ratings”. The team is endeavouring to get the issue sorted and the game reinstated on the eShop as soon as possible.

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Yeah, science!

Do you like Metroidvanias? Do you like science? You do?! Well good news, because the two are combining in Exographer, an upcoming adventure title from Abylight Studios and SciFun Games.

Imagined by CERN physicist and sci-fi author Raphael Granier de Cassagnac, Exographer is a Metroidvania that ditches combat for science-based puzzles in which you utilise four distinct powers to uncover secrets hidden within the strange, atmospheric environment.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com