Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

Y’know I’m glad this thread is here since NLife has really turned into a cesspit recently.

I started another playthrough of Fire Emblem Echoes on 3DS. It’s a game I probably didn’t fully appreciate when I first played it because it’s actually really good. The mechanics are certainly different but that’s no bad thing, it’s interesting to learn all the new nuances added in this one. You can also see a lot of the changes that were carried forward to Three Houses, which I should really get round to finishing...

@KratosMD I absolutely love FE GBA but that’s more because it’s the first one I played. Awakening is still my favourite just because I think it has the best combination of story, characters and gameplay. I only wish it had the rewind that was added because restarting constantly on Lunatic was a nightmare 😅

@KratosMD Honestly good luck with Persona Q, it’s truly brutal. Here’s hoping you can make it through!

@KratosMD Between the low-ish level of difficulty across the board, the ability to use divine pulses to rewind time, and the no-permadeath mode, Three Houses is the most accessible game in the entire series. I also get the sense that you'd love it, considering how it quadruples down on the social sim aspects of the 3DS games.

@nessisonett Persona Q was fun, but it's SO easy to break the difficulty. Impure reach + panic circle pretty much trivializes the entire game. And giving using impure reach alongside Naoto's instakill spells... well, it turns her into the grim reaper.

@Ralizah To be fair, most EO games have at least one game breaking tactic. I was lucky in that IV was my first one and it’s generally considered the easiest so I could muddle through with awful party composition. I do love the series though, it captures the feeling of being out of your depth in a labyrinth where everything is out to kill you.

@nessisonett Every EO game has party builds that just demolish everything, yeah, but EO1 and Persona Q are the only ones so unbalanced that a single skill or two can break the game (well, maybe Persona Q2 does as well; I haven't played it).

But yeah, I also really love the feeling of danger and the thrill of exploration in this series. EOIV is probably my favorite (really love the overworld exploration, which was a solid step up from the sailing in EOIII, along with the amazing OST and separate labyrinths) in this regard. It's why they're some of the few games where I generally play on the highest difficulty level, and why I enjoy the brutality of the DS entries. That journey from "scrawny weaklings who need to be rushed to the ICU every time a stray butterfly glances their way" to "godlike warriors who are able to fell Gods and lovecraftian monstrosities" is intoxicating.

Have you played EOV or Nexus? I really like the adventure log mechanic in those games. It adds organic, non-intrusive narrative elements to the dungeon-crawling and reminds me deeply of the little bit of time I spent playing a tabletop RPG.

I think my ideal EO game would have the cool, puzzle-like themed dungeons from Persona Q, the QoL advancements and adventure log mechanic from EOV, and an expansion of the fantastic overworld segments from EOIV.

Of course, EO Nexus was the last game in the series to be developed with a dual-screen device in mind, so I'll never get my ideal game. The mapping is also an integral aspect of the series for me.

@Ralizah I’ll really miss a lot of the dual screen innovations, there’s some games with ports on Switch which I just can’t get into like TWEWY but I loved the original. The DS line truly were innovative and I honestly forget the Switch has a touchscreen at times.

I want to get my girlfriend the coral pink Switch Lite (along with the new AC game), I’m liable to miss it becoming available in the UK so if anyone happens to notice give me an @!

@Arugula man Odyssey is so good. Pokemon on the other hand...

@Arugula I hadn’t played one since Blue but Sword is just so easy and the battle system so slow and boring (compared to the awesomeness of the turn based battles in Bravely!)

I dunno, I found nothing about Odyssey boring really. Just exploring and finding moons was so relaxing.

@Kidfried Odyssey is incredibly difficult if you want it to be. It's the only Mario game I haven't completed.

@KratosMD Yeah, the difficulty curve is insane. Same with 3D World. It just isn't fun anymore.

Odyssey didn't click with me properly at first, although I was enjoying it, but once I hit New Donk City I was utterly in love with the game and haven't looked back. Contends with Galaxy 2 as my favourite Mario game of all time, but I think Odyssey just has the edge

It's weird, because Odyssey didn't truly click with me until the post-game, but I do regard it as one of the best 3D Mario games I've played (although Galaxy is better). There's just so much to it! Usually Mario platformers are 10 - 15 hour once and done experiences for me, but this one has an extraordinary amount of hidden and post-game content. and most of it is really good.

There's definitely a subtle shift in genre, though. I think it's closer to something like Banjo-Kazooie or the original Yooka-Laylee than it is Mario 64/Sunshine.

So with the news that Animal Crossing are scrapping binary genders and you just create a character, what do people think? Is it a good solution given the main audience of Animal Crossing in the West is late high school/university students? Obviously there will be people annoyed since there always is but honestly I think it’s a big step forward for the big N considering their patchy history.

@nessisonett Personally, I can see no issue with any character creation as long as it gives options for people to customise how they please. A male or female preset seems like a useless distinction since you can still customise the same. Never understood the hoo ha from some sectors about it (but agree with you, I think this is a step forward).

They're still behind IMO. It's been nearly 20 years and you still cannot be an actual animal in Animal Crossing.

@nessisonett It's a good thing and honestly I don't see why it should annoy anyone. The character creator options seem robust, so what's the problem? I would hope that Nintendo have increased the number of skin tones to more accurately represent people. Nintendo have a lot of work to do generally. The PR response to Tomodachi Life criticism was appalling.

Why do you ask if it's a good solution given the main audience and what suggests young adults are the main audience?

@mookysam From what I’ve seen, especially given the circles I move in, Animal Crossing is hugely popular among teenage and student-age LGBT+ and gender-diverse people so I wonder if Nintendo realise this. The sorta people I see on Twitter have all been extremely positive about these changes since they plow thousands of hours on each entry in the series. Looking at all the changes to the game as a whole, including things like choosing a hemisphere, it seems like they’re actively trying to make the game more representative of your world, regardless of background.

@nessisonett If I'm not incorrect, your character is still male or female, it just unlocks customization options (like hair, for example), that used to be gender locked. So you can be a female-presenting male, or visa versa. Which, other than hair and facial characteristics, was already possible in New Leaf via the non-gender restricted clothing options.

Anyway, my avatar was trans in New Leaf, and that will continue here as well. The extra options are nice, however.