Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

Contacted Walmart's support team and they said they'd send a replacement copy of Astral Chain since FedEx, apparently, either lost my copy or sent it to the wrong place.

@Knuckles-Fajita One courier took a picture outside of my block of flats to prove they had delivered something. Except it was the wrong building! 😂

One thing I noticed in the DQXIS demo is that the targets hidden in the fields seem to be missing, so I wonder if they removed the target shooting side mission mini-game for some reason in the Switch version.

@RR529 Or it's just not part of this demo like several other aspects of the game?

@Knuckles-Fajita, well in the PS4 version the targets are still visible in the environment even before you get the crossbow (it's not a seperate mode or activity that "activates", they're just always there naturally part of the environment).

As far as I can tell, there's nothing else from this portion of the full game that's been removed from the demo (other than some Switch exclusive new features, like 2D mode), so it seems odd.

Started up Astral Chain tonight, and it's off to a good start.

Managed to clear File 2 on PT Standard, and only got a game over on one of the bosses once. Had to use quite a bit of medicine to heal, but they seem to give enough of it away so you're never in too tough a spot. Still early on though.

Love the world & art direction.

@Kidfried It's been well known it's basically a straight copy of the game, with upgraded graphics and minimal new content for awhile though. Kinda dubious about the performance issues, they don't look game breaking at all but it's unfortunate. I've got my copy coming tomorrow and looking forward to playing it.

I played it back in 96 and remember really enjoying it, along with Pokemon it's really the only Gameboy game I really enjoyed. But I don't recall the majority of it, so I'm sure i'll have a great time replaying it. Perhaps not worth it for someone who played it more recently or with a better memory, though.

Maybe a bit premature to say because I'm only in File 5, but Astral Chain is shaping up to be the best Switch exclusive I've played since year one's "big three" (BotW, Mario Odyssey, & XC2).

At the moment it's standing up along with God of War (2018), DQXI, & FFXHD as one of the best games I've played this year.

@RR529 I’ve really been digging AC, I am on the last boss and had hoped to have it wrapped up before LA (with a view to returning and mopping up down the line) but the last boss is a major difficulty spike. I basically have to restart the file and be more careful with my consumables.

My advice for the final chapter is go in with max items and try not to use any before the final boss

@Kidfried I got LA a day early (so yesterday) and had about an hour with it. I borrowed it back in the day from a friend for a night and that is how much I played it so I am in the group of discovering it for the first time. Not had any major performance issues though I don't like the blurring on the peripherals of the screen. I assume this is deliberate but it feels at odds with the glossy visuals. Dungeons look gorgeous though. Looking forward to getting back on it though!

I had a feeling this art style would be devisive. Intense depth of field (the blurring @Rudy_Manchego noted) is about as divisive as motion blur.

I like it personally. It was a bit intense in something like Yoshi's Crafted World but here it seems right to focus on the games bounding box where all the action is.

Because the camera basically no matter what will keep Link in a box in the middle of the screen. As you change direction it will scroll gradually until Link is at the edge of that box.

@Knuckles-Fajita Yeah, it isn't a game ruiner and I wouldn't mark it down. I think it is because I think the visuals are gorgeous and I'm not sure what it adds other than being noticeable if that makes sense. From a preference point, I would remove it.

@Rudy_Manchego I'm in love with this art style. It looks plasticy but not in the off and bland way NSMBWii did.

Plus all the things like lighting, shadows, particles really make this game pop. It feels like an evolution of the sort of art style ALBW was aiming for, but even more stylised.

Yarn...Clay....Paper crafts...now toys. What next?

@Knuckles-Fajita I would put money on a mechanical/meccano style game for one of their big franchises. In fact, if they do, I want copyright money.

On a separate note, just noticed that Bloodstained has gone on Game Pass. Since I am one of the suckers who didn't both reading reviews of which version to get and bought the Switch, I'm a bit gutted that there still hasn't been a solid patch for the Switch version. I mean, my fault for not paying attention and lesson learned but very tempted to trade it and just play the Xbox version.

Eeee so good to be playing Links Awakening again. I’m only at the start, but 2 decades later it’s awesome to be running round the starting village again. I’m still the boss at the crane game, and I love the kids telling you stuff about the game while not knowing what it means or how they know it 🤷‍♂️😂

You’re never guess looking at the screenshots that Bloodstained would be the kind of resource intensive game that’s best played on the enhanced consoles. @Rudy_Manchego

Started Xenoblade Chronicles 2 the other day. I'm not really feeling it so far. I dislike the battle system compared to the first game, find the UI horrible and feel that in general there is a lack of polish. The framerate seems to have issues and the image is quite soft on the TV.
It took me quite a long time to get into the first Xenoblade Chronicles, so I'm not writing the game off yet. Hopefully the story will draw me in!

@KratosMD Haha, well am going to stick with 2 because the first one took quite long time to click too. Not abnormal for RPGs in my experience owing to the need to learn all the various systems.

The story got really good Xenoblade 1 so I hope that if you return to it (or start fresh with the remake) that it does eventually all gel. Hopefully the remake will retain the battle system the original release had. It should be the definitive version.

@mookysam where you up to exactly? I was hooked on it pretty quickly (I liked Rex) and by the end of Chapter 1 I was sold!

@kyleforrester87 Chapter 2 (I think). I've just had some cutscenes in the town in Gormott.