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I've been playing a lot of video games lately. After solving this crossword, you should know which video game I want to play next. Thanks to Deusovi for test-solving and general feedback!

cryptic crossword grid

Across Down
1. Hint linking incorrectly (7) 1. I'm after gold fraud (8)
5. Having Asgore lead inspires, but Undyne thinks leaders should be fish (7) 2. Greek letter to king and prince promises accessible entrances (5)
8. Mushroom Kingdom transportation ships to people working on gas mains (10) 3. British territory is Adam's land? (4,2,3)
9. Lynx, left out, after Jack and female monster (4) 4. Piece almost there for archeologist of Pelican town (7)
10. Flat, bony fish coming from ocean drop without hesitation (7) 5. Deepnest princess warning alien (6)
11. Spirit of wingless ship, previously leaderless (7) 6. Angel hunting nun has knife at back (9)
12. Some felon came raging, recorded (2,6) 7. Messaged Theodore about former model (6)
14. Judge after Charlie's case (5) 13. Gray, family rival, is certain he prepared (9)
17. Scattered notes identifying ailment from localized Mother (5)* 15. Crazy hair trend provided by hardy knight (9)
18. Firstly, them eating rarely ignites chatter against one's sauce (8) 16. Company responsible for shooting fox in denial about plan (8)
22. Umbrella Corporation founder bearing money for king (7) 19. Vote; otherwise, back to synthesized music (7)
23. Display former style making one independent (7) 20. Leave Spain going north of peninsula (6)
25. Raid runs dry (4) 21. Actor essential to darn oldies (6)
26. Working as tenant or resident of Sand Kingdom (10) 24. Crosby exercises primarily to indulge (5)
27. Villager currency is changing, mere lad (7)
28. Moving within month (e.g. October) (2,3,2)

*Originally:

Recording device, with sound, from Mother; localization provided by scattered notes (5)

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2 Answers 2

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@Hexomino has solved all of the cryptic crossword part in his earlier answer, but the continuation does rely on some of his work; clue explanations can be found there.

As to how you extract the actual answer from the puzzle; each of the shaded answers contains

references to a video game (or series) in either the clue or the solution thereof.

Listing these in order below:

A1: INKLING (solution, Splatoon)
A5: Asgore and Undyne (in the clue, Undertale)
A9: JYNX (solution, Pokémon)
A17: Mother localization (clue, Earthbound)
A22: Umbrella Corp./SPENCER (both, Resident Evil)
A26: Sand Kingdom/TOSTARENAN (both, Super Mario Odyssey)
A27: Villager currency + EMERALD (both, Minecraft)
D1: IMPOSTOR (solution, Among Us)
D4: Gunther/Pelican Town (both, Stardew Valley)
D5: Deepnest princess (clue, Hollow Knight)
D6: BAYONETTA (solution, Bayonetta)
D13: CATHERINE/Gray family rival (both, Red Dead Redemption)
D15: REINHARDT (solution, Overwatch)
D16: "shooting fox" (clue, Star Fox)

Taking the first letters of each gives the answer: the game you want to play next is

Super Smash Bros.!

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  • $\begingroup$ Ah, well done! +1 $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Feb 17, 2021 at 23:07
  • $\begingroup$ That answer fits incredibly well with rot13(gur pebff-senapuvfr angher bs gur pyhrf). $\endgroup$
    – Egor Hans
    Feb 18, 2021 at 15:16
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Partial Answer

Completed crossword

enter image description here

Clue Explanations

Across
1. INKLING = (LINKING)*
5. HALIBUT = H(aving) A(sgore) L(ead) I(nspires), B(ut) U(ndyne) T(hinks)
8. PIPELINERS = PIPE (Mushroom Kingdom transportation) + LINERS (ships)
9. LYNX = J(ack) + (l)YNX
10. SEAMOTH = SEA + MOTH(-er) ("mother" = "drop" is a little dated but works, I think).
11. ESSENCE = (v)ESSE(l) + (o)NCE
12. ON CAMERA = (fel)ON CAME RA(ging)
14. CRATE = C(harlie) + RATE
17. STONE = (NOTES)* referencing EarthBound, credit to Braegh for clearing this up in the comments
18. TERIYAKI = T(hem) E(ating) R(arely) I(gnites) + YAK + I
22. SPENCER = PENCE in SR
23. EXHIBIT = EX + HI + BIT
25. ARID = (RAID)*
26. TOSTARENAN = (AS TENANT OR)* (thanks to Braegh for the reminder)
27. EMERALD = (MERE LAD)*
28. ON THE GO = (m)ONTH EG O(ctober)

Down
1. IMPOSTOR = I'M + POST + OR
2. KAPPA = K(ing) A(nd) P(rince) P(romises) A(ccessible)
3. ISLE OF MAN = Adam being the first "man"
4. GUNTHER = GUN + THER(e)
5. HORNET = HORN + E.T.
6. BAYONETTA = BAYONET + (AT)<
7. TEXTED = TED about EX (former) + T (model, as in Model T)
13. CATHERINE = (CERTAIN HE)*
15. REINHARDT = (HAIR TREND)*
16. NINTENDO = NO (in denial) about INTEND (plan)
19. ELECTRO = ELECT + (OR)<
20. ESCAPE = ES + CAPE
21. ARNOLD = (d)ARN OLD(ies)
24. BINGE = BING + E(xercises)

Not yet sure how to use the shaded clues but working on it.

Here are the answers to the shaded clues

Across
INKLING
HALIBUT
JYNX
STONE
SPENCER
TOSTARENAN
EMERALD

Down
IMPOSTOR
GUNTHER
HORNET
BAYONETTA
CATHERINE
REINHARDT
NINTENDO

Some ideas

I'm not sure how to link the individual words but an idea I had was that you may want to extract certain letters from the shaded answers. For example, if we take letters which appear at the intersections of shaded answers we get IGHBYTERNE although I couldn't find a useful anagram here (BE THY REIGN is the most convincing thing I came up with). Perhaps doing something like this will work.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I don't know if this is relevant but 1D(i.e. with an "O") is also how the word is spelled in the recently-popular game Among Us. So possibly it has something to do with how certain words relate to other games? $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Feb 17, 2021 at 18:12
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    $\begingroup$ I think 17 is incorrect, and it should be rot13(FGBAR) instead. 26A's explanation is also not mentioned; should be (AS TENANT OR)*, right? $\endgroup$
    – Braegh
    Feb 17, 2021 at 19:56
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @hexomino 17A was probably my least favourite clue, due to how convoluted it was, but your answer made me realize it was also super ambiguous. In the spirit of fairness, I've updated the clue in the question, keeping the original in a spoiler tag for posterity. (Not sure how I didn't see the possibility for the updated clue until now.) $\endgroup$
    – samm82
    Feb 17, 2021 at 20:38
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    $\begingroup$ @hexomino: "recording device, with sound, from Mother localization" would be the definition, referring to an item from EarthBound (Mother localization, though technically Mother 2), the rot13(Fbhaq Fgbar). The new clue also fits; the same answer is an ailment from EB:Beginnings, which is the localization of the first game in the Mother series. $\endgroup$
    – Braegh
    Feb 17, 2021 at 20:58
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @hexomino yeah. I did explore a bit on my own but my knowledge is limited as well. I did notice a few of the games but not enough of them to know what to do. $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Feb 18, 2021 at 5:11

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