I played more than three hours today (for a total of 24 hours of play time), so I made huge progress again.

I began by finding Isma's Tear, which allows me to swim in searing and acidic pools, finally answering the question that I had about traversing certain areas where it seemed obvious that I had to swim over. I thought that was the case anyway, but I kept telling myself that it wasn't, for whatever reason. It should have been obvious. This being a metroidvania and all, "suit upgrades" (like how the Varia Suit allows Samus to enter areas with extreme heat) are nothing new.

So, immediately thereafter I travelled to an area that I had passed by many times, where Isma's Tear was going to be useful. Here, I found some more Essence.

This was followed by me finally finding Cornifer in Fog Canyon. I had heard him hum along around this area many times before, but there is this "black barrier" (that I still haven't gotten whatever it is that I need to get rid of it) blocking the way.

Traveling a bit further I found this character... who I had to kill, breaking a part of the seal.

I need to point out here that right in the beginning of the game, where I passed by a certain room (which I think was called "Temple of" something or another), I immediately felt that the final battle would take place there. It's a very common video game trope for the final destination in a game to be back where it began, after all. I have intentionally not returned to that place ever since, and while there have been numerous hints indicating that I was right, now that I have broken the first seal, it's plainly obvious.

Incidentally, when I went back to the Forgotten Crossorads, they seemed to be "infected" with some orange goo. There was an area that was even impassable, so maybe it won't be a simple matter of returning to the temple once I'm ready. Either way, I want to explore all other loose ends that I can find first (which seem to never end) before I make an attempt on the final boss.

As luck would have it, I found yet another area right after: Queen's Gardens. No matter how often I kept telling myself that I've been to every place in this game, new areas keep opening up all the time.

I then found a new ability: Howling Wraiths. I have tried it out but haven't found a practical use for it in combat yet. Might be able to repel multiple foes closing in on me with it. I have a feeling that there must be at least one more ability though, as the black barriers are still blocking my way everywhere.

Then I found Cornifer again, and now for sure, I have obtained the maps of every area in the game. I know because I obtained an achievement called "Cartographer", and when I returned to Dirtmouth later, Cornifer was peacefully sleeping in the shop. This must be it. I'm finally nearing the end of the game.

Then I found the Love Key. I have a hunch where it might be needed...

Then I got the Essence in the Queen's Gardens.

Followed by the Essence in Greenpath.

I then stumbled on the grave of Marmu, who took me a few tries. He basically bounces around the stage in an erratic manner that is difficult to predict (it may even be random). For the first time in the game, I felt the need to actually change up my Charms, so I went with Dreamshield for extra protection, Heavy Blow to push him further away from me after hitting him (he comes in fast, so sometimes he hits me even if I hit him first), and Mark of Pride to allow me to hit him from further away and thereby keep my distance. Once I changed the Charms, I defeated him on the second try.

I think I may then have discovered the last Stag Station, because the stag told me that he had found his birth place, the Stag Nest, where I obtained this fragment of a vessel. I think there may be only two more left for me to collect (same for Mask Shards).

The Stag Nest is located in the Howling Cliffs, so I used the opportunity to collect the Essence there.

After that, I defeated another warrior, Gorb, who I took down on the first try.

Now that I have all the maps, it's time to clean up with all the markers, objectives, collectibles, etc. So, I went down to Deepnest (probably my least favorite region because of its dark spider-y theme), to break the second seal.

I'm not sure what will happen if I break the third one, so I will leave it alone until I have done everything else that I could.

I also had to collect the Essence in Deepnest.

Finally, I finished my play session today by defeating another warrior: Galien, who I took down on the third try.

The first thing I noticed in the morning is that these beauties are fully grown now, making my otherwise simple fence segregating my yard look that much prettier. It's a small space, but I love that my home is directly by the sea.

Then I went to greet our newest Resident Flip. It went really well.

Then the absolutely unthinkable happened: Mitzi randomly walked into my house and gifted me my favorite fruit (both IRL as well as in the game). You can't imagine how happy this makes me, because I have been waiting all this time to get this exact fruit so that I could start properly decorating my island, and now I have it! Thank you so much Mitzi! I hope that it grows.

Then I had to go snorkeling for Gulivarrr's communicator, which finally gave me an excuse to put on the appropriate outfit.

I also visited Mira, who happened to have Agent S over. They seemed to be having fun.

Finally, a rock appeared out of nowhere in a spot where there previously was none. I don't understand what this means, but when I hit it, bells came out, and something prompted me to hit it eight instead of the usual seven times. I can't believe that my intuition was right.

My day started with this funny letter. I didn't know that glue with glitter was even a thing.

Then when I reached what I'll call Pine Peak for now, and saw that it was completely covered in branches (I had already picked up most of them up by the time that I took this screenshot). It turns out that my wife spent yesterday evening furiously shaking the trees to get pine cones, but then felt too tired to clean up after herself. When I saw this area though, I thought that a strong wind had blown through here during the night (which I know is not a feature in the game, but that's where my mind went for some reason). My wife explained to me what she had done when she saw picking up the branches.

Had all kinds of social interactions today:

Why so serious?

New villager in town! Right next to Marlo too! They both love black. I think that they'll get along.

Has the bulletin board always been used this way in the series? I can't remember, but this is very practical. I would have totally missed her birthday otherwise.

Parl'americano?

I achieved 200 hours of total play time on my Switch 2 today.

It took me almost exactly two hours to defeat Lost Kin today.

The first time you fight him as the "Broken Vessel", he has a very predictable pattern that just requires you to be patient, evade his attacks, punish him when he's open, and keep grinding until he goes down. Once I figured out the pattern, it took me maybe three minutes or so to defeat him on probably the fifth try.

It turns out that the second time you fight him, unless you can somehow react as fast as my cats, and evade not only his attacks (which are faster, happen more frequently, and leave less room open for punishment), and also avoid jumping into the Infected Balloons all the time, then you're still not going to make it, because he takes an almost endless beating, and is going to wear you out until you make a mistake, which is when he really punishes you, because when you take damage and get nervous, so the simple fact that he keeps zig-zagging around the space, makes it hard for you to figure out where to run away to.

One other thing that I noticed, is that he likes to push you into a corner, because when you are against the wall, then you can't reach the Infected Balloons to take them out, and that makes it extra hard to dodge him when he attacks. Maybe about an hour in I began to try to stay in the center of the arena. That seemed to make him hesitate a bit more to attack me and made his moves more predictable. Regardless of all the rest that I did, this was an important strategy.

With the move where he jumps and releases some orange "goo", I usually would dash away, and then jump straight back right next to him, to avoid the goo and strike back. With the move where he dashes at you on the floor, I would jump over him, but not strike from above, as that often pushed me upward and into an incoming Balloon. I would strike him on the floor, where I could also land multiple hits. Finally, for the move where he dashes above you, I would do an upward strike while he flies by and then hit him some more while he landed on the floor.

Finally, a word on healing: I managed to find a window for that, which is when Lost Kin is down. If there was a Balloon around, I quickly got rid of it, then began charging. Most of the time I managed to get one mask back, though on occasion the Balloons spawned far enough away that I was able to get two. I'm not sure that this boss was designed to allow you much room to heal though.

Still, nothing seemed to work. I must have had a game over dozens of times.

(Thankfully, going back to the arena takes less than ten seconds. I just jumped down to the left and dashed into it. It becomes muscle memory after a while.)

I tried all kinds of strategies. I played more defensive, more offensive, and something in between. Once I tried to hit him with the Dream Nail when he was down, but that didn't have any effect. As I tried over and over again, I kept wondering how long I would have to endure the button mashing until he gave up the ghost.

Then I began to experiment with the Descending Dark move...

...and beat him on the third try.

Well, good thing that I kept trying different moves, or else I'd be wasting another two hours some other day.

I noticed almost immediately that the Descending Dark caused him a lot more damage (made him go down more often). So, I just kept spamming it, in the middle of the arena, until he went down for good.

There are four reasons why I believe this worked:

1. The move causes enemies so much recoil, that it sometimes pushed him away from me, even while he was in the middle of an attack.

2. Also, even when he or the Balloons touched me as I executed the move, there is a brief moment when Hollow Knight turns completely dark while, and at that moment, he's completely invulnerable. There is also a brief period right before he turns dark where he is still vulnerable, so don't execute the move when any Balloon is too close to you.

3. The move has a wide hit box, which kept eliminating the encroaching Balloons.

4. My specific combo of Charms (more on that soon).

The caveat to this is that not only did I have to constantly hit him or the Balloons to recover Soul (which I usually did in two or three hits), but I also needed to wait to strike at the right time (which was pretty frequently, though when I was sweating and furiously mashing the buttons, it felt like an eternity).

Now, onto the Charms.

Every time I get a new one, I read about it, and decide whether or not to use it. This means that I have pretty much not experimented with anything other than what I have gradually been adding, simply because this combo works so well for me. Here's what I use:

Not relevant to the fight. I just really like to always be able to see where I am.

Had this since the beginning, so I'm always topped up on Soul. As I said, I was getting enough for a Descending Dark move after two or three hits.

This one took me a bit getting used to in the beginning because it just causes so much noise, but now I barely hear it. It's very useful though, especially with the likes of Lost Kin because he stays close to your vest and whenever he hits you, he gets hit back. Sometimes this happened to coincide with the last hit he needed to go down, giving me space to recover.

This one makes punishing Lost Kin that much easier because you don't need to get so close to him. Some of his attacks even allow you to hit him three times if you dodge him the right way. That one attack where he furiously swings his nail all around him, has a small enough hit box that you can strike him while he's in the animation.

Last but not least, this one ensures that I never run out of Soul to defend myself with.

Hope this helps.

I still hope that I get lucky and make a really big win someday, but 122,400 in profit is not bad. I bought 3,600 for 105 bells and sold them for 139 today.

Dear Nintendo,

I felt very happy with the announcements you made in your recent Direct. I am particularly excited about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond coming out in December and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 returning already this October!

I played Metroid Prime 1 and 2 on the Gamecube, and 3 on the Wii. They are some of my favorite video games of all time. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are also my favorite 3D Mario games of all time. I'm very happy that I get a chance to return to those series so soon after obtaining my Switch 2.

However, I also have one big concern.

I am worried that my experience playing and replaying these games might be soured by the controls.

Let's take Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and the Super Mario Galaxy titles, for example.

I played all of them on the Wii, using the Wii Remote, which in the former, allowed me to point at the screen and quickly target enemies, and in the latter, allowed me to swiftly collect star bits flying through space and make Mario do a spin attack. The Wii Remote was also extremely practical for navigating menus and settings in both games, like how I could quickly pull up the scan visor in Metroid Prime 3, which I loved.

However, Metroid Prime 4 and the re-release of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, will be played using the Joy-Cons 2. They're are an impressive feat of technology, packing a lot of functionality into a tiny form factor, that allows me to play my Switch 2 both in docked as well as in hand-held mode, but they lack one feature that really set the Wii Remote apart: the infra red sensor.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that the Wii Remote, alongside the Nunchuck, where truly the peak of video game controllers. Together, they had more than enough buttons to allow for complex, hardcore games to be played. They were also ideal for games that required motion inputs, especially with the Motion Plus adapter. On its own, the Wii Remote, held sideways, was even a great controller for classic games that required the D-pad to be played. It was the all-round, most versatile, and in my opinion, most ergonomic and intuitive controller to have ever existed.

I think that you must have realized this back then as well, which is why you re-released Metroid Prime 1 and 2, as well as Pikmin 1 and 2, under the New Play Control! label on the Wii, allowing players to use the IR sensor for the point-and-click mechanics of each of those games. It greatly enhanced the gameplay! It just made so much sense!

Since then, however, we have not seen this technology make a return.

You have released games that would have been fun to play using IR sensors, such as the popular Splatoon series. As it is, players aim using the gyroscopes of the WiiU game pad or the Joy-Cons of the Switch 1. It works well, as the popularity of that series demonstrates, but I still think that it falls short of how perfect it could have been, had it been possible to play those games with the Wii Remote.

I do know that Metroid Prime 4 features mouse support, and I happen to play mostly at my desk, so I can make it work. However, I'm still concerned about the ergonomics of holding the right Joy-Con sideways to play in mouse mode, while attempting to press the buttons on the side. It doesn't seem very ergonomic to me. Perhaps you'd consider developing an accessory that the Joy-Cons could be magnetically inserted to (to connect to it), to give it the shape of a regular mouse of which the buttons are placed in a more comfortable position?

There is still Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 though, which don't seem to allow for mouse mode. I have my doubts that the gyroscope will work as well for aiming at the screen to collect star bits as the IR sensor on the Wii Remote would have been.

So, here's my suggestion to you:

You have already brought back the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube controllers, which I love.

Why not bring back the Wii Remote and Nunchuck as well?

Here's how I envision that it could work:

The Z and C buttons on the Nunchuck could be ZL and ZR. The 1 and 2 buttons on the Wii Remote could be L and R. Everything else stays the same. The screenshot button could be added below the Home button. The Wii Remote would have HD rumble support, as well as the IR sensor, and of course, the controllers could be sold standalone, or bundled with the sensor bar (which could connect to the Switch 2 dock via the USB-A ports). A firmware update to the Switch 2 would then allow players to go to the settings to determine whether the sensor bar is placed bellow or above their monitors, and to calibrate the sensitivity of the pointer. The Wii Remote could even work for navigating the system's menus, like with the Joy-Con's mouse.

Then I could play Metroid Prime 4 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 with the best-suitable controls, for the ultimate experience. That would make me very happy.

I think that many other people would be very happy to see the Wii Remote return. It was truly ahead of its era.

Sincerely,

Your biggest fan since 1997.

Somehow I managed to squeeze in one more hour of Hollow Knight into my busy Monday, and somehow I managed to make some significant progress.

It began with me casually finding a new move.

Then I got some more essence.

Then I blew up all my geo here. Reminded me of the bank situation.

Can't get enough of flying around. I do it every opportunity that I get.

This guy was one tough nut to crack. Thankfully the bench was nearby. I think I got him on the fifth try. In my opinion, this one's about patience. Once you figure out the pattern, it's not that hard to evade his attacks, but you gotta wait for the right time to strike.

What I didn't expect is to get another new move, and an actually useful one! It's basically a double jump. Wow. Totally worth it.

This boss can be challenged a second time though, and it's more or less the same thing, just with a faster pace and less leg room. Couldn't figure it out today. Will try again later.

Crazy idea that came to me: What if they are developing proper VR games for the Virtual Boy that aren't the classic, red monochrome ones from back then? Apparently, the gadget has two stereoscopic lenses inside that create the 3D effect when you insert the console into it. Maybe they just decided to announce the gadget for now to gage the interest, but I can see them launching actual games (in color) in the future.

So, I set up a bunch of plots for new residents to move in, and today I went out to an island for the first time to recruit one, who turned out to be the cute hamster Marlo.

I also made over 50,000 bells from fishing on that island, and set up a new bridge in town.

I made huge progress in Hollow Knight today.

It all began when I accidentally discovered a completely new area called Crystal Peak, and then got stuck for a good while trying to defeat the boss in that room above. He was a tough nut. I lost some 600 geo.

Side note: I need to stop trying to predict when I will have discovered all areas. After almost 20 hours, I'm still discovering new ones, and I'm sure that there's at least one more for which I haven't been able to get the map yet (I have a hunch where it might be, but there's an obstacle in the way). I am more and more amazed at how unassuming the game was in the beginning, versus how inconceivably vast it is.

Those five or so retries were worth it though, because I obtained this new ability afterwards:

Oh yeah, baby! I'm Super Hollow Knight now.

I then decided to go back to this place, which I hadn't visited in such a long time, that I basically got infinite geo. I even went to the character in the City of Tears who buys collectibles to earn even more geo (I had almost 20 of them). At Crystal Peak, I also found the shopkeeper's key, which unlocked more items at the shop in Dirtmouth. I basically cleared the shop, the map store, and everything that the other character who sells notches had to offer. In the process of buying up everything, I also upgraded these two:

I love it when I'm so immersed in a game where you can collect items and earn currencies, that when I finally go to trade them in, I take a huge leap in its progress. It feels good.

I progressed a significant bit in the story as well, but I have to be honest with you: it's written in such a poetic manner, that I have no clue what it is about, other than that it has something to do with the fallen kingdom that we explore in the game.

Thankfully, a friend shared a deep dive into the lore with me. I'll watch it once I beat the game.

What follows is just a collection of screenshots of characters that I've met, places that I've visited, and bosses that I've defeated:

Finally, here's the progress with my map, upgrades, and badges:

I find myself actually speeding up the development of the Island these days. Not only did I reserve a bunch of plots of land, and move Jay (and soon Leopold) around, but I also set up a proper yard for my wife's house.

So, the Direct came and went, and I got some predictions right: There was a third-party showcase, some big third-party title announcements, more details about Kirby Air Riders (which they are making big bets on, to my surprise), and more information on Pokémon Legends: Z-A that I don't care about. They even announced an entirely new Fire Emblem, just like that (so that kind of aligns with my prediction about a new title in an established franchise being in development).

They also did announce the release date for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, finally! We'll get to that though.

However, there were also a lot of surprises, the weirdest of them being the Virtual Boy, but I'm only really interested in talking about three of the others and Metroid, so here goes:

Super Mario Galaxy

I knew that they would release a new movie at some point, but although I watched the first one (which did feature a Luma), I somehow just did not expect that time to come around so fast. (In fact, I didn't think they'd talk movies in this Direct at all.) I mean, it will have been almost precisely three years when the next movie releases. I don't know about you, but this time just flew by for me. What I expected even less, is that the new movie would be centered around my two favorite 3D Super Mario games. I love it when Nintendo surprises me what I didn't know I wanted.

It goes without saying that I, as the hopeless Nintendo fanboy that I am, will also be purchasing the re-releases of the games, separately, on the eShop, to vote with my wallet, as they say. I did have a Wii, and I 100%-ed both games, but I did that only once, and I've been craving them so bad for so many years. In fact, I've been thinking about these exact two games since I bought my Switch 2. It's like I manifested them or something.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

I have always been super curious about this series, but never had a chance to play the games. I don't know what it is about them, but they just look quirky, Japanese-y, and funny in a very Nintendo way. Honestly, it somehow reminds me of what the original Animal Crossing (N64/GCN) set out to be: a social simulation game (over the years, the series drifted away into what I call a "decoration sim", which profoundly saddened me).

Side note: Just like Animal Crossing is known as Animal Forest in Japan, Tomodachi Life also has a different name there: Tomodachi Collection. I'm sure that once I play the game, I'll see more similarities.

I'm astonished that the series has come this far at all though. The original title on the NDS was popular in Japan but didn't exactly ship a lot of units. The second installment on the 3DS sold more, and eventually got an international release, but I think that it still flew completely under the radar. Yet Nintendo is not giving up on it. This is when Nintendo is at its best for me, when they believe so much in an idea that they keep pushing it until a wider audience starts seeing the value. If they market the game appropriately, then I think that it could become a success, and establish itself as a proper IP.

I will definitely get my grimy hands on a copy.

Pokémon Pokopia

Am I the only one who felt that this game is Nintendo's answer to Palworld and the Pixelmon Minecraft mod?

Either way, it looks adorable. Finally something new in the series. I'm definitely getting this one.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

A friend pointed out to me that the trailer felt underwhelming and almost like an afterthought. The game didn't get the attention that it deserves, and I agree.

However, I also replied to him that it makes some sense to me, given that the star of this Direct was the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (for which we get a new Yoshi game, for some reason).

Keep in mind that the game will release in April 12 next year. I would be surprised if they don't do another Direct until then (maybe in February), to properly start the hype train for its arrival. It wouldn't be wise to reveal their hand too soon.

However, they had to give us the release date. This game has been in development since 2019 (and two years before that, until they started from scratch). People got to demo the game, and it looks basically finished, so they were starting to get impatient (me included). This was meant to be just a reveal of the release date and nothing else. They tried to appease us. It worked on me.

Still, they could have been a bit more enthusiastic about it.

I predicted that they would reveal the release date, and then joked that maybe the reason why it's been taking them so long to finish developing it is because it's going open world. Well, my joke turned out to be prophetic, and I'm not happy about it. I sure hope that they implemented the open world side of the game properly, and that it won't detract from the action that I have come to know and love this series for (I played through the entire trilogy on their original releases). I also hope that it won't require me 500+ hours to 100% because of it.

I read in the YouTube comments something like: "Samus on a motorcycle was not on my 2025 BINGO card." Same. She completely nails it though.

Disappointments

No new games for the GCN on NSO. Will I ever get my beloved Animal Crossing back?

Also, still no Pokémon gens I and II, even though Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2 are collecting dust on their servers.

No Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which is the only "proper" Pokémon game that I have wanted to play since Black and White. I will get it eventually, and I will love it, but those graphics... I was under the impression that the game was actually popular, so why not give it some extra content, polish up the visuals, and make some easy cash? Isn't the Pokémon Company all about making easy cash? Come on! I'm offering you free money!

Also, I still hate the concept of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Sorry. Not interested in being confined in a pseudo-European, colorless city, much less one where every building looks like it got copy-pasted. I feel uncomfortable every time I am reminded that this game is exists and is going to be sold to humans. I'll read some reviews after its release just to give it a chance to prove me wrong, but from what I have seen so far, it looks even more boring than Scarlet and Violet. If you are really looking for a reason to hate on it though, look no further than the fact that they announced paid DLC for the game before it has even released.

There was also paid DLC announced for Donkey Kong Bananza, and I feel more positive about that one, however, the game just released, which tells me that they started working on this DLC basically as soon as they finished developing the game. That's not the way, Nintendo. That's just a nasty cash grab.

Edit

Wait, what? Did I really get confused by the way that they ordered the numbers on the date?

METROID PRIME 4 IS COMING OUT ON DECEMBER 4!?!?!?

screams

That changes everything. I mean, the release is right around the corner. How do we still know so little about it?

This also messes up my purchase plans. oof