Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Ralizah Does that adapter work in handheld mode or only when docked?

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Pokemon S/S's England references haven't really felt too over-the-top to me (except when they're CLEARLY supposed to be, like Galarian Weezing), to be honest. Actual British stuff I've watched in the past has often felt more stereotypically British than what I've seen in the trailers for the game so far.

With that said, cultural stereotypes never really bother me as long as they're not malicious, and I don't expect deep worldbuilding from Pokemon anyway.

Alola pretty much constantly screamed "Hawaii, but not really!" I thought it was an interesting setting. I just wish the game didn't feel like it was dragging me around by the ear with constant little dialogue boxes and cutscenes.

@Tasuki It comes with a thing you can plug into the bottom of the switch to get it to work in tabletop mode. Never tried it, though, as I use the joycons exclusively when the system is undocked. 8bitdo's products have all worked brilliantly for me, so I don't doubt it works well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/8Bitdo-Wireless-Bluetooth-Raspberry-...

Here's the Amazon UK listing.

The only problem I have with stereotypes in Sword and Shield is the idea that everyone is an angry drunk Scot.

Because that's all Britain is apparently. Scotland and alcohol.

@Knuckles-Fajita That does sum up Scotland really well lol.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Honestly, even with all the drama these particular Pokemon games have inspired, the only issue I really have with them atm is the cover art for physical copies of the games.

There's something very... plain and off about them. And the images on the front covers... I dunno. They look sort of like fan art to me.

With that said, I'm getting Pokemon Shield digitally, so I won't have to worry about seeing the box on my shelf anyway.

I don't disagree that the legendaries aren't hugely interesting design-wise, but, honestly, I feel that way every gen. Gold/Silver was the last set of games where I was actively excited to track down the legendary Pokemon.

Although that could also be due to me having been a lapsed Pokemon fan between Gold/Silver and Black/White. I almost completely ignored the NDS-era games (Diamond/Pearl kind of sucked, and I've never understood the acclaim HeartGold and SoulSilver received; absolutely loved Pokemon Black, but never got around to the sequels), and I've still yet to play anything in Gen 3. Even now, I'm more of a casual fan than anything. I enjoy them well enough, but Pokemon games are never deep enough to really inspire me to keep going after the main story is done. I'm hoping that changes with these newest games in the series. I actually kind of like the limited Pokedex, as I feel like I'll have the opportunity to catch everything in this entry, and I don't have to worry about a bunch of event Pokemon that I either lost along the way or never had the opportunity to catch in the first place.

Ah... event Pokemon. Let's hope those don't come back. All Pokemon should be catchable in the games, and this trend of making certain legendaries only available via special events make me less excited to try catching the others, as I feel like I'll always have an incomplete set.

@Ralizah Event Pokemon are already back. Mew is in the game. Plus Gen 8 will add a few if it's own as is tradition.

What I'm curious about is if a later Gen 8 game adds further new species like Gen 7 did. Ultra added 5 new Pokemon and Let's Go added 2 more.

@Knuckles-Fajita Mew is obtainable via Pokeball Plus in S/S, so it's just hidden behind a paywall.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Gen V is my favorite. I really liked the fact that you only encountered new Pokemon in your first run of the game. The difficulty curve was on point. Visually, it did a good job of integrating 3D into the environments. And, most importantly, the writing was vastly better than every other game in the series, both in terms of plot and character development.

The event Pokemon are really stupid. There's no story or lore behind them. They're just there. Wasn't there an electric cat in SM? What's it doing there? What's the point of its existence?

@Octane Event Pokemon, up to Gen 5 anyway, had lore. Gen 6 had snippets for Hoopa and barely any for Diancie and Volcanion who literally just existed.

Then Gen 7 happened. The only event Pokemon that got explained any was Meltan and Melmetal. Zeraora, Marshadow, Magearna....all just exist.

Compare that to the event interactions with Keldeo in BW2, the lore dump on Genesect, finding and defending Victini from Team Plasma, the dream sequence with Darkrai....it's a huge diwngrade.

We went from full events to "Here's a guy giving you it and some lore" to just "Here's a guy giving you it".

@KratosMD so, the demo worked, then?

Astral Chain looks really good in handheld mode.

@Ralizah I didn’t want to watch much of that because of spoilers, I like the look of the motorbike section though.

I’ve got a £30 back when you spend £60 or more cash back code for Very so I’m going to get this and Control on order.

@kyleforrester87 I'm glad this is releasing in August before the mad rush of big games trying to capitalize on the release of the Switch Lite the following month. I worry for the sales of any games not called Link's Awakening in September.

@Ralizah yeah, although I did say before it’s a bit of a bummer Control and Astral Chain release so close to one another.

Link’s Awakening is a great game but a lot of people have already played it. I certainly don’t feel the need to buy a game I already own just because it’s now available in colour. @Ralizah

@Ryall I dunno about Link's awaiting, but Link's Awakening has actually been available in color since 1998.

It's one of my least favorite Zelda games, personally, but the new visual style is great, and you know people are going to flock to it regardless.

For me, September is all about Dragon Quest XI S and maybe Ni no Kuni (two JRPGs at once seems overkill, but I'm dying to play NnK). Maybe the Spyro Trilogy, depending on how big it is and how well it performs in handheld mode.

@Ralizah Links Awakening is obviously the second best Zelda game after BOTW

To be fair, I played it in maybe 1996, so while I remember parts of it (and enjoying it all immensely) it's going to be fun revisiting it.

@KratosMD Don't confuse yourself, they ain't VC titles in the sense that they were on the Wii or even the Wii U. You can't purchase them and the only way you get them is if you pay for an online subscription and then you get access to them.

I think I just have the final boss fight left in MUA3. This last mission has essentially been one boss fight after another (though luckily with a save spot after each one).

@Kidfried Well, if you fullscreen the video, it's supposed to mimic what it's like to play a game in handheld mode if you put your face very close to the screen. We won't be able to tell resolution from this video, but the lighting, framerate, etc. all seem on point. And even if it isn't native res, it's clearly not low res enough to look bad in the sections he's showing off.

Although you're right that we won't definitively know how the handheld aspect of the experience holds up until the game actually releases. It could be like Xenoblade 2 and drop sharply in resolution at points, for example.

Anyway, the best thing about Astral Chain so far is the music. I'm not a huge action game fan, though, so even though it looks better than Bayonetta, I'm... just a tad hesitant to pick it up at the moment. I'll want to hear more about it first.