PixlBit

I was enthralled by the idea of Fallout 3 when it first came out but I had no way to play it. But the more I learned about it, the less interested I became. Eventually my wife bought a copy when it was really cheap and played some and...I just think it looks boring, and that holds true for every Bethesda game I've seen her play. I really like having specific goals and instructions, so open world anything is a hard sell for me.

I don't know if they made changes to progression in Ikaruga for the 360 but on the GameCube you could eventually unlock unlimited continues just by playing the game long enough. I thought that worked pretty well. You had to engage with the game's difficulty on its own terms at first but regardless of whether or not you got good enough to beat it on your own, eventually you could play the whole game anyway. Definitely stick with it. I also have a big soft spot for the game's soundtrack.

I did get to briefly try that once not long ago and liked it but I think it is stuck on the Xbox 360. Maybe it's come to computers but I don't really play games that way. I wish it would get a Switch release.

The Professor Layton games are such a huge blindspot for me. I think I would like them but I just never got around to playing them. The only one I have is the crossover with Phoenix Wright and I haven't played that either.

I don't know if your aging reflexes will cause you any trouble with Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, but I did not think the stylus controls were a hindrance to the gameplay at all. It was a great play experience. Of course, I was a teenager when I played it, so take that all with a grain of salt lol

I played Braid back in the day but got so frustrated with one of the puzzles that I stopped playing. I don't remember the specifics anymore but it is really rare for me to do that.

I had Alien Hominid on the GameCube and while the main game is fun, we played it much longer for the little side game (I think it was just called something like "PDA Games" or something). You played as stick figures trying to get to the exit of single-screen levels (if memory serves) but there were always lots of ways to die and you could totally sabotage or betray your friends. You can have up to four people playing at once and it was such good dumb fun.

And of course I love Ikaruga, classic Treasure game. I should probably get that on a modern console sometime.

Halo 3 was my first Halo, so I always thought it was funny how the marketing was all like "Finish the fight!" And I was like...what's the fight?

One of my kids got super into the free roaming in MK World for a couple days but I could not care less. I just wanna race.

I think that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is probably the best in the series but MK DS is probably my favorite. Such good times playing that one.

I don't remember about the difficulty in Bowser's Inside Story, specifically, but in Superstar Saga I recall it all being fairly easy until the final boss, which was much harder. Not unfair or anything, just a big jump from the rest of the game.

I have meant to replay BioShock so many times and just never have. That is such a good game.

Oh man, that Japan trip sounds great! I hope I get to go one day. That's really neat that you had a friend to show you around. Touristy stuff is a good starting point but it sounds like you really got to enjoy some of the country's best stuff.