Let's go back to the start of this comment thread:
I love how this continues to crank out articles with 0 information and everyone speculating what it might be about.
Don't get me wrong, Nintendo are dickheads, but you can clearly see how everyone greedily clicks on these articles considering how often they get rehashed.
That's the argument: these articles add nothing to the discussion. And you responding to that with "but can you prove Nintendo is right?" isn't the point and also isn't adding anything to the discussion.
I am not talking about legal understanding of Japanese patent law.
But that's what the case is about.
I would argue it's not a bullshit article as I have yet to hear a single example of what legitimate (in the real sense, not related to Japanese patent law) case Nintendo has.
Well then the fact that we still don't know what the case is really about is exactly why these articles are useless. No information in there.
If what's supposed to be the core gameplay feels like an unwanted interruption, I don't think the random enounters themselves are the problem. I think the reason random encounters get a bad rap is because some games don't make basic fights feel engaging enough. But when done right, they should be the fun part!
Oh, did you think the headline meant they were shutting S3 down? Servers will remain up for the foreseeable future, and they'll even still run seasonal Splatfest and Big Run events. They're just done with content updates.
My ultimate dream would be to someday get SteamOS running on a DS-sized form factor. Doesn't need to be beefy, just needs to fit in my pocket and run my favorite 2D indie games.
I bought a Steam Deck just to support the most important thing that ever happened to Linux gaming, but mine has actually just been gathering dust. It's far too big to really be a handheld, doesn't fit in my pocket, and does not fill the role that Nintendo's handhelds served for me. The main thing I do end up using it for is taking Deck + dock to FGC events for a portable setup.
Last year I bought a Miyoo Mini Plus, a little emulator handheld, as an impulse buy because it was on sale super cheap. I ended up putting far more time into it than I ever did with the Deck.
Maybe the best library of all time, my DS collection is massive.
The one thing that's sad though is how many classics are unlikely to ever see a rerelease. Games that were designed around the hardware just won't be the same on any other platform.
Two years of content seems plenty reasonable. Especially when they said from the start that it would be two years. Games don't need infinite updates forever and ever and ever. Especially when it's not a live service being sustained by microtransactions.
It's an iterative series, each game building on the predecessor's mechanics, so there's not any one major twist. But there are a lot of little things that add up. The new movement techniques are great, Salmon Run has been significantly expanded, and just in general the QoL is night and day.
Also, the fact that Ink Armor, Sting Ray, and Main Power Up are not in the game might be the true biggest step forward. S3's meta is in a pretty good spot now.
Large parts? It's been a while since I played Octo Canyon, but I'm pretty sure the only thing that reappeared from Valley was the Octostomp boss, but it's a different fight anyway so not really.