What are you playing right now?

[The Shoemaker]

Paper Mario Color Splash (Wii U) - Got this one for Christmas and have been playing since. It's a big improvement over Sticker Star. The highlight is the writing, it's perfectly funny and charming. Lots of crazy scenarios to be thrown into. I imagine I'm around 75% done the game based on the amount of McGuffin's I've collected. They added a lot in for you to 100% the game, but I'm undecided on going that far yet.

Fire Emblem Conquest (3DS) - Started playing this one again after reminiscing over my games of the year for 2016. The gameplay really is fantastic, and the writing really is as poor as I remember :p Still a great game, too bad they couldn't get that one crucial point right though.

I'm sitting at chapter 20 now, a chapter that involves wind gusts that move your units every turn. Should be an interesting chapter!

[Claytone]

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U): Having beaten Bayonetta 2, I'm now playing this as part of my Wii U retirement tour (and also to get ready for BotW). Never played the original, so this is all new to me. Really enjoyable game so far, even if sailing is a chore. Haven't played a Zelda game in ages. It's a nice formula to get back to. Fun game.

Gate of Thunder (VC [TG-CD]): After talking about this one the other day when I was at the Pred game with Vic, I decided to bust this out again. It's still so good. Think I'm gonna try to 1cc this one before I die. It's not terribly hard, and it's lots of fun, so I think I can handle it.

[Kong Wen]

I've gotten into a decent groove where I'm making small progress on a number of games about each day, just to keep things chunked out into bite-sized, chunk-sized chunks.

I'll do some housekeeping in Destiny, one stage of Hitman GO: Definitive Edition, and then I try to complete one stage of a Mega Man game from the collection (currently on easy-peasy Mega Man 2, which I've beaten many times, but hey, collection!) and get through a stage of Unravel without dying (for trophies).

On the portable front, it's easy enough to crack through several puzzles in Pokémon Picross and Picross e7 while waiting for sleep to claim me in the evenings.

[The Shoemaker]

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U): Having beaten Bayonetta 2, I'm now playing this as part of my Wii U retirement tour (and also to get ready for BotW). Never played the original, so this is all new to me. Really enjoyable game so far, even if sailing is a chore. Haven't played a Zelda game in ages. It's a nice formula to get back to. Fun game.

I had thought my Wii U retirement tour would end with Paper Mario Color Splash, but I remembered I still have Xenoblade Chronicles X to play, so I might just have to tackle that one.

I've progressed to chapter 24 in Fire Emblem Conquest, I've done a few paralogue chapters inbetween as well. These last few chapters are really solid in design. I noticed a pattern in the AI that I don't think I've seen before this game - if the AI is likely to do no damage on your unit, they will often just place themselves beside your units rather than attack head on. This is actually a bit of a pain, because I plan for those units to be dead by the time it's my turn again, but instead I have to deal with these units that are just sitting beside me. Pretty interesting tactic actually.

Super Mario Run (IOS) - Playing this here and there where I have a couple moments. The game is really great, Tour mode and Rally mode really feel like they work hand in hand. I've unlocked all the characters now, and I've collected all purple and pink coins, and about half the black coins - these ones are tricky!

[Kong Wen]

Alright, I've been cruising through games lately. I'm still playing Destiny, of course. With Mega Man 2 down, I'll now spend some time on Mega Man 3. I'm also planning to boot up Day of the Tentacle Remastered soon.

On the portable front, I've still got some Picross e7 left, and when that's down, I'll probably finally move on to Pokémon Red Version. For more involved portable sessions, I have Adventures of Mana on the go.

[Jordan]

You're going full retro huh?

I've started Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

God...the intro to this game is so slow. I've heard great things about it, but I don't know if I can survive the monotony of the early parts.

Scratch it. Started Fire Emblem 6. I remember hating this one in the past, but playing it again, it's not as bad as I remembered.

[Kong Wen]

You're going full retro huh?

I was going to say nah, nah... but actually, Adventues of Mana is surprisingly darn faithful to the GB original Final Fantasy Adventure.

[Claytone]

Still playing Wind Waker. It's still fun. Having not played a Zelda in so long, I found myself sort of wondering what makes them so beloved. I'm still not so sure. The puzzles are pretty easy, and the combat is really easy. I think I have nostalgia for the basic plot of Zelda (triforce holders, getting the Master Sword, Ganon, etc), but it's definitely a story for children. I dunno. I guess what I'm saying is, while I'm definitely enjoying Wind Waker, I still don't get what makes people love this series so much. Maybe nostalgia is most of the reason. Nothing wrong with that!

I had thought my Wii U retirement tour would end with Paper Mario Color Splash, but I remembered I still have Xenoblade Chronicles X to play, so I might just have to tackle that one.

Forgot about that one. I don't own it, but I have Xenoblade Chronicles on 3DS. If I ever finally get around to playing that and like it, I just might have to get XCX.

[Kong Wen]

Still playing Wind Waker. It's still fun. Having not played a Zelda in so long, I found myself sort of wondering what makes them so beloved. I'm still not so sure. The puzzles are pretty easy, and the combat is really easy. I think I have nostalgia for the basic plot of Zelda (triforce holders, getting the Master Sword, Ganon, etc), but it's definitely a story for children. I dunno. I guess what I'm saying is, while I'm definitely enjoying Wind Waker, I still don't get what makes people love this series so much. Maybe nostalgia is most of the reason. Nothing wrong with that!

Nah, you know that's not it. That's like saying nostalgia is the main reason many people love every Mario game. At its roots, Zelda is a solid exploration game, and while they've become diluted over time and transition to a more generic 3D action type of game, those genre features have persisted to some degree. Many people loved the original The Legend of Zelda before it was possible to have any nostalgia for it, and it was precisely because you were dropped into a dangerous world with no information and only scant, obscure, and sometimes expensive hints. You even got a blank map with the game that you could fill in as you explored! This kind of exploration, discovering new trinkets to make you more powerful and open up new secrets, was of a hook for those people as the smooth running and jumping of the Mario games for the people who prefer tightly designed early platformers.

Interestingly (and tangentially), I think the reason I dislike the 3D Mario games is similar to the reason I dislike the 3D Zelda games, and while it may seem to be the obvious culprit, the 3Dness is not the problem—it's the transition away from those core, defining features of their respective genres into a more generic or vague middle-realm. "Just put the jumping or the exploring in a 3D world and make it work." It took some time after that transition before the series were able to find themselves again, which is also probably why I like e.g. Wind Waker and Galaxy more than the N64 games.

[Jordan]

I kind of dislike the 3D Zelda games, but oddly enjoy the 3D Mario games. I cannot honestly explain why that is the case. I can't explain what I like about the 2D Zeldas either, or why Link's Awakening and Oracle of Ages/Seasons are my favorites.

I will say that Nintendo seems to be embracing a new style lately. Both the new Zelda game and the new Mario game seem like they're going to be massive explorefests.

edit-totally into FE Heroes right now.