@darksouls: I can actually seeing people lose interest in Breath of the Wild (mainly for the comical amount of delays, but other reasons as well). But I do think it's shaping up to be something different, which is what the series very much needed.
I actually find it really strange that most "hardcore" Nintendo fans seem to prefer Zelda to Mario. They'll go on about how Nintendo "milks" the Mario franchise (as if Zelda has only had two entries or something), but the thing is, even with the sheer number of games that bear Mario's name, it's still producing a good number of genuine classics. It's really the only franchise in any medium I can think of that has kept such consistency for so long (Star Wars may have good movies again, but it had to suffer through the prequel era). I feel like Zelda is often trapped in its own legacy, and too afraid to shake its foundations, whereas Mario has been good at reinventing itself, and even when it doesn't (like the New Super Mario Bros. games), it still somehow manages to make things feel fresh and fun. Honestly, even in Nintendo's darkest times, the Mario series usually produces one of the best games of its respective generation nonetheless.
In the case of Tropical Freeze, I feel like there's just a sense of inventiveness oozing out of every level. It just really feels like the developers had a blast making it, and came up with all kinds of crazy ideas as they went. Almost every level brings out something different. And I do draw parallels between it and Dark Souls in terms of difficulty. Like the Souls games, Tropical Freeze comes off as incredibly difficult, but once you start mastering it, it really showcases how deeply thought-out it was.
No need to thank me for the Dark Souls appreciation. A series that great deserves all the praise it can get.
@darksouls: Honestly, I still say the SNES is the greatest console of all time, hands down. The classics it has haven't aged a day (by comparison, I loved the N64 and PSOne, but very few of their games have actually held up). I think some of Nintendo's franchises have lost some of their magic (including Zelda, though Breath of the Wild is looking fantastic), but I actually think the Wii/Wii U generations saw a resurgence of Mario (as far as I'm concerned, the Galaxy games resurrected what I consider to be perfect 10s in gaming, and 3D World was also fantastic, and Mario Kart 8 is the best in its series). I don't know, it seems even when Nintendo is in a slump, Mario is still great. Donkey Kong has also benefited in recent years, with Tropical Freeze in particular being one of the best games Nintendo has ever made (and one of the most underrated games ever, if I do say so myself).
I actually think the Wii U had some truly fantastic games on it. Don't get me wrong, it had its share of shortcomings (lack of third-party support being the biggest one). But I also think Nintendo doubled down on the quality of a lot of their games (being backed into a corner will do that, I suppose). If the Switch can release first-party games of similar quality, and if they can hold onto some of the third-parties it looks like are supporting it out of the gate, and I will safely say it has a good chance of being Nintendo's best since the SNES.
And you're absolutely right, Dark Souls is amazing. It probably ranks in my top 5 favorite series, which is saying something considering it's had relatively few entries. I can't compliment it enough.
@realguitarhero5: You failed to mention DKC: Tropical Freeze, the best game on the Wii U. Not to mention Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Bayonetta 2, hell, even the two Zelda remakes were better than the original versions.
@Daian: You can't really say Nintendo's lineup is milked to death without acknowledging the same thing on other consoles. Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, even Halo isn't what it once was. For that matter, one of my favorite series, Dark Souls, saw three releases in just as many years. By comparison, there's only one proper Mario, Mario Kart or Zelda per Nintendo console (though the Wii was an exception in Mario's case).
If Nintendo's lineup is milked, so is everyone else's. Hell, the Wii U at least introduced Splatoon, brought back Pikmin and turned Bayonetta into a franchise, so it's not like it didn't bring any freshness to the table.
Especially when one considers that the brunt of PSX's showing were either sequels or remastera, the argument becomes all the more moot (even The Last of Us Part 2 seems like an unnecessary sequel). Not that I'm complaining, since I'm very much excited for Ni no Kuni 2 and the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, but the whole "Nintendo milks their franchises" argument really hasn't held any water for a good while now.
@darksouls: Nintendo has been in a bit of a slump lately (though frankly, being a lifelong gamer, I can objectively say the Wii U housed some of the best games Nintendo has ever made), but in the end, Nintendo's games seem to be the ones remembered. I'm a proud PS4 owner, but I do have to wonder how many of its titles will actually go down in history as classics. And making classics is an area where Nintendo seems to excell above everyone else (for the most part).
@Thanatos2k: Lol You're trying to act all adult, how adorable.
Look at any list of best games of all time, more often than not, the games near the top are titles that were exclusive to a single console at their release, usually first-party. It would only take a few minutes to find this out.
Yes, I support my claim that every "Mario, Zelda, Naughty Dog, Halo, etc." that falls under the best game ever umbrella were all exclusives. But unlike your simplistic absolutionist opinions, I understand this as a general rule, not an absolute. There are still third-party games up there, but best of lists are regularly topped by exclusives and first-party titles.
Funny that you claim to be unbiased and that you can acknowledge a game's relevance, even though my claim of preferring Mario games to all the boring, dated titles you listed warranted a response of "that mentality is why Nintendo consoles continue to fail." So in your little bubble world, are Mario games suddenly not relevant?
Anyway, when was the last time Kingdom Hearts or FFX were anywhere near a list of best games, let alone near the top of one? Maybe 2002, unless you count the rampant Square fanboys who bombard the Gamefaqs lists.
Oh well, you go on playing your horribly dayed RPGs and their poorly-contrived stories, and continue to get butt-hurt at the idea of first-party games on consoles other than Sony's being good. At the very least, you could have bragged up FF7, that game was actually relevany...even if it does suck.
@Thanatos2k: Lol! Is this a serious response? If it is I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
I meant exactly what I said. You're the one who misread/purposefully misinterpreted it. Of course not every Mario and Zelda game is one of the best games of all time (I even find Ocarina to be somewhat overrated). But they do have a good number of entries that are considered as such, which is EXACTLY what I said.
Also, I've acknowledged that Dark Souls is a third-party game multie times. But seeing as it's been on Sony console's and not Nintendo's, you could have used it in your argument.
And why exactly does my crefibility go down the gutter for not liking FFX or Kingdom Hearts? FFX doesn't even deserve mention with the better half of its series, and Kingdom Hearts, once again, has boring gameplay and an incoherent plot. Which is a shame, since I love Disney movies. Maybe Square should just let Disney take over the storytelling aspects of the series, and Square can use the extra time to actually make the gameplay enjoyable.
Now if you want Square-Enix sycophancy, you should go to GameFaqs.
@Thanatos2k: You may want to get a pair of glasses, seeing as you didn't read my comment correctly at all (though more likely, you purposefully misinterpreted it to spin it in favor of your argument).
I said every Mario and Zelda (and Naughtu Dog game, Halo, etc.) THAT ARE considered some of the best games ever. Not every Mario and Zelda game is considered some of the best ever.
Would you deny that there are a fair bit of Mario and Zelda games that are frequently cited as some of the best games ever? Or do you live in a world in which SMB, SMB3, SMW, SM64, SMG 1 and 2, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker just don't exist?
As for FFX and Kingdom Hearts, I would flat out question what makes them relevant at all. Final Fantasy X simply represents a regression for the series after it briefly picked itself up with FF9, and Kingdom Hearts is a muddled button-masher with a plot so convoluted it makes Metal Gear seem coherent.
At the very least you could have used good examples of Playstation games like Dark Souls or Uncharted.
@Thanatos2k: Consideringhe said "We have" before listing those games, it sounds like he owns Sony co,soles as well. I own Every Sony console (except a Vita, but then again who does?) and I don't care for any of those games you mentioned.
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