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I'm wondering how you guys feel about silent protagonists in video games. Specifically in regards to instances like Link from The Legend of Zelda, who is more of a loosely-defined character rather than a generic player-created avatar.

So, basically, the intention behind having a silent protagonist is that, in theory, it allows the player to identify with their in-game character more easily -- to imagine themselves in that character's place and decided what their personality is like -- without it being dictated to them by the game's narrative, thus increasing the player's immersion in the game world.

This seems to be a slight point of debate among some players, and I fall into the category that it's actually counterproductive to what it's intended to do.

My rational is that I am human, and I naturally identify and empathize with other things that act human or show emotion. When that is decreased, it weakens my connection (or "link", so to speak). Furthermore, when you have a main character who rarely speaks, then it's up to other characters to drive the narrative, and that can make the "main" character feel more like a bystander who's just doing other people's grunt work. This further takes me out of the experience.

This is why I prefer more the portrayal of Link from Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. He seems to have just a smidge more of a personality in those games, especially in Skyward Sword where he has pretty explicit emotional motivation. This was scaled back in Breath of the Wild, where they brought him closer to a blank avatar, and I felt less connection to this version of Link (although some people interpret the funny menu choices as literal dialog, hinting at him having a rambunctious personality). Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, on the other hand, made him more expressive, and even his blank stares make it look a lot more like he's thinking (and thus more "alive") than they did in Breath of the Wild.

(And yes, I realize that Link's stoicism canonically is his personality in Breath of the Wild, based on what Zelda writes in her diary, but I'm struggling not to let my analysis here spiral out of control. I'm just trying to give examples.)

Another example I want to bring up is Adol from the Ys series. He's generally a silent protagonist similar to Link, but in recent games, his character has leaned more into having a personality rather than away. Adol has some minor voiced dialog, but it's restricted to short samples during combat ("Let's do this!") or an occasional "yeah" during cutscenes. He is also given actual dialog choices during cutscenes. They don't affect anything besides other characters' immediate responses, but I think it goes a long way towards making Adol feel like an actual participant in the story while still allowing the player to create their own impression of his personality.

This is a bit controversial among Ys fans, with some feeling he should be entirely silent, but I personally like this approach.

Of course, there is a fine line between a loosely-defined character and a fully fleshed-out one, but people's individual preferences will have different sweet spots. (Even I was surprised by the English launch trailer for Ys IX, in which Adol actually narrates the beginning of it.)

I could say a lot about this topic because there are a lot of nuances, but I don't want to ramble on more than I already have. I'd like to hear what you guys have to say if you have any thoughts about it.

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EDIT: I want to clarify that I'm not implying that I wish Link were portrayed more like Adol. I was just bringing up two similar yet different examples.

With the release of the physical edition last year, I thought that might have signaled the end of support for this game, but they've just released a new update.

It's mostly bug fixes and design adjustments, but there are a couple of new features. One is that the number of save states has been expanded from three to six (a welcome addition). They also added a "random" option to the music selection. Crypt of the NecroDancer had this, so I'm glad to see it added to here.

A full list of changes can be found here.

I wonder if this is an indication that there will still be more updates.

According to Gematsu, R-Type Final II is scheduled for an April 29 release in Japan. NISA has not announced a Western release date yet (other than Spring 2021), but I bet they'll say something in the near future.

I wasn't expecting this, but the original SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium for Neo Geo Pocket Color was rated in South Korea, so it may be coming to Switch soon.

Makes me wonder if we'll also see ACA Neo Geo: SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos at some point.

So, I have finished playing through Yunica's route in the Switch version of Ys Origin.

For the most part, it's a good port. It looks good and runs well, but I can nitpick about a couple of things.

My main issue is an audio glitch that causes the music to stutter when it first starts playing a track. It's not too big of a deal, but it takes me out of the experience a little bit, and at worst, ruins one of my favorite musical cues in the game.

The other is that I wish the in-game text was just slightly larger. It's perfectly readable as it is, but I guess I'm just used to Switch games having very large, clear text for when you play in handheld mode. (Some of the menus also seem a bit small, but it was the same in the PC version.)

Clearing the game once unlocked a Speedrun mode, which was not in the original PC version. There are also online leaderboards for both the Speedrun and Time Trial modes. I have not tried either yet.

Overall, it's good ol' Ys Origin. I wondered whether it was worth it for me to purchase this game again at nearly four times the cost of a digital Switch copy at sale price, even though I already own a digital PC version that I've finished multiple times. But playing through it again has reminded me why I enjoy it so much, so I'm satisfied to have a physical copy in my library.

(I would just like Dotemu to patch the audio glitch.)

EDIT:

Something I forgot to add is that you can fast forward through cutscenes, which is useful for skipping long cutscenes before boss fights. This was not in the PC version.

Also, a correction: It seems the online leaderboards are only for Speedrun mode, not Time Trial, which seems odd.

According to GoNintendo, a handful of DSiWare games has returned to the eShop.

These include:
- 101 MiniGolf World
- Crazy Golf
- Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ
- myDiary
- Plants vs Zombies
- Shantae: Risky’s Revenge
- Spot the Difference
- Telegraph Crosswords
- Telegraph Sudoku & Kakuro
- Zenonia
- Zoo Frenzy

There has been no official word from Nintendo on the matter.