Topic: Nintendo Switch Discussion

@Sebatrox @Banjo- I will admit though I did enjoy 3D Land on the 3DS and what I played of 3D World, to me that's about as close to a Mario 3D game can be 3D while still feeling like a Mario game if that makes sense.

I will admit I never played Donky Kong 64. To be honest the only 3D collectathon game I liked was the first Spyro the Dragon.

Went into Reddit for some additional information on tears of the Kingdom dungeons and progression (since nintendo refuses to do it ...) and I am very happy with what I found. Finally I am sold sold (and I will preorder a physical copy!)

Just started the Future Connected expansion of XC3 over the weekend and it's been great so far.

Recently arrived in Colony 9 and have started doing the sidequests that have popped up. While I did end up growing to really enjoy the base game, this is thematically a lot more what I originally wanted out of it, so I think I'm going to be pretty happy with it when all is said & done.

@Balta666 Leakers are doing a better job of selling TotK than Nintendo.

If half of what I'm reading is true, as much as I love BotW, it's going to be hard to go back to after playing this.

@Ralizah absolutely!! I don't get why they completly avoid talking dungeons and other things and just show buildings cars... Something I will only mess around if it is mandatory

@Banjo- that is very very true , im in my 20s myself and am constantly looking at the clock when i play games because time really waits for no man ! gone are the days when you had a schedule of gaming to play AND STILL had plenty of time for , well, anything ! 🤣

and to be fair , the switch is essentially to wii u what the wii was to the gamecube. i skipped the wii u , but it had some great games on it . i doubt the xenoblade games on switch would impress you . & i’ve played pokémon on the switch, it’s not bad in consideration to how the quality of pokémon games are in general which isn’t high to begin with . i’ll always prefer the 2D pokémon games on GB/DS they’re more polished .

overall, games for switch should cost no more than $45 with the extra $5 being because of the portability aspect 😂

@nomither6 Ha ha, that's true. All of it 😊.

We recently we got a Nintendo Switch so that my son and I could start playing games together, as hes just got to the age where he is ready to give it a go. And we are having so much fun! Mario bros deluxe, 3D world, Odyssey, Mario Kart, plus all of the retro games on the online collection… at the moment its pretty much all about Mario but we are having a blast!

Im thinking Yoshi will be our next one, as Donkey Kong TropicalFreeze looks a little bit tricky for him right now, although I would love for us to play it when the time is right.

@BowsersBuddy Look into Kirby and the Forgotten Land as well. There's even a form of multiplayer where the second person can control another character to help Kirby without stealing the spotlight. And it's pretty approachable difficulty-wise: the challenge level jumps during the post-game, but the story campaign isn't too difficult.

@Ralizah I'm going to go ahead and buy a voucher today and preorder Zelda. I'm having a hard time deciding which game to make my second, though. Advance Wars? Pikmin 4? Triangle Strategy? Too many choices.

@SplooshDmg I thought you didn't like Zelda?

Triangle Strategy is fantastic, for what it's worth. There's a lot of story, but most of the non-crucial story bits are skippable, and the gameplay is pretty incredibly well-balanced for an SRPG. Most games in this genre focus on building overpowered characters, but TS minimizes the customization as much as possible to ensure that the tactical aspect shines through. It's the closest I've seen an SRPG come to the pure tactical goodness of Advance Wars. Especially considering how dense and multilayered the map design can be (the game leans heavily into taking the elevation of your surroundings into account).

I also love the music. Even the pre-battle prep menu theme is a bop:

It was a close runner-up to XC3 for me last year. I know that won't mean much to you, but they're both some of my favorite experiences... ever.

I guess the downside of this is that, since you're a PC gamer, you probably already know you can get a version on your preferred platform that looks and runs better. Whereas Advance Wars and Pikmin will remain Switch exclusives.

Even if you pick something else, though, consider Triangle Strategy down the line, no matter the platform.

I'll second triangle strategy. It was a highlight last year for me.

@Ralizah I have such a fiddly relation with Zelda. I've basically played every single entry, other than Skyward Sword. I've really never loved it, I didn't really love, love BotW, but I finished it and it was fine. In a weird way, I feel obligated to play TotK, just because. But it's also a I want to love Zelda. I want to experience that same thing everyone else does. I kinda want to plat BotW again eventually. My tastes have changed somewhat, and my grumpy stance on Nintendo has softened a lot. I'd also kinda just like to actually buy a new AAA game that's actually good. Either way, I'm just going for it and hoping for the best. Lol

I'm really torn on TS. It's cheaper on PC, but it's portable on Switch. It looks great, but I'm currently playing FE:Engage, though. So, I'm not sure I wanna jump straight into another SRPG. These will also probably be my last new games for a while because my backlog is full, my Game Pass is burning, and my wife is job hunting. So, I'm really torn on just going for the Pikmin 4 preorder, because I'm sure it's going to drop and I'm going to want it. Nintendo's stance on basically never dropping game prices truly will influence the decision being made here. At least on Nintendo too many good games to buy is actually a problem.

@SplooshDmg

"I'd also kinda just like to actually buy a new AAA game that's actually good."

lmao
That was a very painful chuckle I just experienced. But I agree.

Oh yeah, if you're doing Fire Emblem, you don't want to overload on the genre. Pikmin will be great. Have you played older games in the series? They're always charming.

Besides, having looked at a few of the leaks, TotK is going to be a BIG, BIG game. Expecting to be on it for months. Will probably have to take breaks to play smaller games in the meantime.

"At least on Nintendo too many good games to buy is actually a problem."

TRUE. Cool stuff is dropping all the time. It's almost a little overwhelming. I'm backing off the new game purchases after Pikmin unless something big like Persona, Ace Attorney, or 3D Mario drops.

@Ralizah I loved Pikmin 1 & 2 when I was younger, but I never played 3. I'll get to it someday. But I figured 4 being on the voucher, I might just go ahead and jump on it.

I really want Rain Code as well, but that one is just gonna have to wait. I'm honestly guilty of still having not finished Danganronpa 3 and Ultra Despair Girls, even though I bought them last year.

@SplooshDmg I'm anxious to see how Rain Code turns out. Kodaka has a really good track record with Danganronpa, but this game looks quite a bit more complicated in terms of its construction. Still amazed this series, which was on Sony portables for the longest time, is now (at least temporarily) Switch exclusive. Switch really did inherit the spirit and legacy of the PS Vita!

How far did you get into V3?

@Ralizah It's sort of interesting. Phil said yesterday that Xbox just can't go toe to toe with particularly PS as a console, so they shifted gears. Part of me wonders if Sony decided they really just can't go toe to toe with Nintendo at handhelds? The PSP was wildly more successful than the Vita, but the 360 was also wildly more popular than the Xbone. One has to wonder if the trenches in the market today really just are as deep as Phil thinks they are.

v3 is a game I kid you not, I've played the first two hours probably three times. I always start it, and I never finish it. It just doesn't seem to have the same hook as D1 and D2.

@SplooshDmg Eh. 3DS started off rough as well, but Nintendo put in the work and resurrected it. Sony threw the Vita to the wolves at the first sign of commercial trouble. There were already people in the company who weren't expecting much of the Vita after it launched. tbh at that point Sony had already begun metamorphosing into the sort of company it is today, and handheld game development is incompatible with that sort of culture.

The 360 was more popular than the Xbone largely because Microsoft did little to turn its fortunes around after a disastrous start. Something similar happened with PS3, but Sony actually worked feverishly to make PS3 attractive in its later years and reversed their fortunes, putting them in a strong position for the beginning of the eighth console generation.

I will say, though, even if the Vita hadn't been a gigantic failure, I still don't think Sony would have continued its handheld line. Modern portable console games are very complex now, and it doesn't make sense to split development resources between multiple families of hardware anymore. Sony made a choice compatible with their own evolution as a company and brand and chose to focus purely on their home console line.

V3 takes a bit longer to get started, but the full scope of the first trial is pretty impressive compared to the previous two games. I'd say it's on par with a mid-late DR2 trial. The game in general definitely isn't a crowd-pleaser, though, and, for better or worse, is probably the most deliberately provocative conclusion I've seen to a long-running Japanese property since the 90s.

You'll also want to finish Ultra Despair Girls first. Not for story continuity reasons, but because, thematically, V3 should be your last major Danganronpa experience.

@Ralizah And you're probably right, but I think like you said, I think all companies last gen took a step back and saw who their core audience was, or what their unique strengths may be, and just doubled down on that portion of the market. Like you said, Sony splitting development resources really didn't make sense. Nor does it for Nintendo, but Nintendo basically had the master stroke with the hybrid console. Their handhelds have just kinda always been their surefire success (of varying degrees), so I think for them ditching an actual home console was maybe just kinda overdue.

I'll have to get back to Danganronpa soon. I also bought a bunch of Atelier games last year, so I'm finally clearly those out, and they've all been lovely.

But I think I've settled on Zelda and Pikmin 4. I downloaded the Pikmin 3 demo to tease myself, and it's just delightful, so I'm sure 4 will be stellar.

@Ralizah thanks mate , that’s actually the one ‘non Mario’ game that we have tried, and yes your right it does play well on the easier difficulty and in two player!