Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

I can't believe I was actually scared of Big Boo's Haunt in 64 as a kid. Got all 7 of it's Stars tonight, and truth be told it may have been the easiest world yet (I honestly had the hardest time just finding my way to the balcony for the 5th mission. I probably ran through the mansion 5 times before noticing the platform you have to get up on to get to the attic, lol, and don't get me started on climbing the roof to claim that Star, as I fell off another 5 times trying to actually get the Star, lol 😂).

Up to 46 Stars now.

@RR529 They didn't make it obvious at all where you needed to go to get to the roof star, IMO.

Otherwise, yeah, the world was a nice break from... well, from the rest of the game. I also like how atmospheric it is.

@Ralizah, yeah, Big Boo's Haunt and Jolly Roger Bay (which I didn't have much issue with either, outside of the eel Star, and the fact that I felt it should have been a tad more colorful, as it felt a bit drab for a Mario world) have seemed like the most coherent and well designed worlds in the game so far, and felt good to explore.

Bob-omb's Battlefield and Whomp's Fortress are also pretty easy.

In 64 tonight I started up Hazy Maze Cave and got a few Stars (the one with the dinosaur in the water, the red coin one, and one you get after traversing a poison maze & hanging from a grate), but the next mission seemed to require the Metal Cap (which I don't have yet), so I decided to move on and tackle Shifting Sand Land...

...I wasted so many lives trying to get the Star from the bird. Granted, actually getting the Star from it was easy once you're on top of the pillar it's flying around, but the problem was that it kept spawning above a pillar that's in the middle of quicksand, and even if I managed to scale it and touch the Star (which flew to the other side of the pyramid after the bird let it go), a shy guy kept circling me overhead chucking fireballs, causing me to fall into the quicksand. Luckily the last time I tried it the bird had spawned near a different pillar, one which wasn't near quicksand (and was right next to where the Star lands when you touch the bird), so it was super easy.

I decided to call it quits for the night after that, however I noticed the rabbit was back so I got another Star from him (up to 51 now, I may yet beat Bowser).

Tonight in 64 I got the other 5 Stars in Shifting Sand Land. It was absolutely infuriating at first until I realized what items around the world make certain tasks easier. The Koopa shell makes getting to the top of the pillars (and up the pyramid) relatively easy as it can safely go over quicksand), and the with the cannon made getting the red coins pretty painless, for example. I didn't mind getting the Stars inside the pyramid, because it was pretty straightforward platforming stuff (just take it slow & steady). I think I'll ignore the 100 coin Star, but I never planned on 100% completing the game, so no biggie.

Just beat the final Bowser level in 64! Surprisingly the platforming gauntlet beforehand didn't trouble me (got through it on my first try, and pretty quickly at that), but I swear it took me like 10 tries to beat the big guy himself, as I just couldn't get the hang of throwing him into the bombs (I could maybe hit one for every 10 times I threw him), and he kept wearing me down. I started doing a bit better every time I fought him though, and finally prevailed.

I may go back to check out Snowman Land & Tiny Huge Island, but am so ready to move on to Sunshine, which will be completely new to me.

Mario 64 is absolutely awful. I don't know whether it is the Switch controls, or the emulation, but something is off. Playing it on the N64 feels a lot better, and I wasn't having as much trouble on my N64 last year.

For some reason Mario 64 is the only Mario game I have played (excluding the gameboy games). In the DS version I even got all the stars. I would like to play it again but tbh I have no interest in the other games in the collection. I guess they will sell them seperately at some point.

@belmont Sunshine and Galaxy are more of the same. If you like 64, you'll like those as well.

@Kidfried From those I played Golf Story and Phoenix Wright. I may be biased but I love Phoenix Wright. It is similar to Danganranpa, I think you will like it. It has the whole first three games, it is hours of content.

I am not a big fun of Golf Story. The ... story is hilarious in a bad way and I am not a fan of the gameplay either.

@Kidfried Even though the other versions of DQXI S aren't out yet, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Switch version is still easily the best way to play that game, especially since the upcoming versions are all based on it and will probably look marginally worse given that they'll be permanently blown up on a big screen TV/monitor while the Switch has the benefit of hiding its graphical inconsistencies (albeit minor) on the handheld's smaller screen

It's also an excellent ode to old school JRPGs with enough modernizations in the right place, and the extra content in this particular version like the orchestral music, the 2D mode, the fully voiced story cutscenes and the extra sidequests focusing on each individual party member are well worth the price of admission and definitely justified waiting on this version for me.

@Kidfried The Phoenix Wright trilogy is well worth playing. It has a good story, lots of twists and turns, and the main characters all have plenty of depth and are likeable.

I'm not too familiar with the other series you've listed, so can't really say if they're worth playing.

@Kidfried

So, you should probably get Dragon Quest. I know you're knee-deep in Danganronpa right now, and while I LOVE the Ace Attorney games (seriously, they're indispensable), they're also a LOT of reading. Dragon Quest XI S is the best version of that game, and, even not looking as good as the PS4/PC release, it still looks pretty nice on a TV. More importantly, it has a higher battle speed setting, music that doesn't make my ears bleed, a gorgeous 2D mode, improvements to the forging system, and the game, in general, is just a super charming throwback to an older era of JRPG game design.

I’d put my vote for Dragon Quest XI S despite not getting round to finishing it yet. I love Ace Attorney but like @Ralizah said, it’s a ton of reading and you’d probably burn out after Danganronpa. From what I’ve played of Dragon Quest XI, it’s a proper good old fashioned JRPG that’ll last you for quite a while.

@Kidfried Shantae is a great series. I just wouldn't recommend the games over Dragon Quest XI S.

The first three Shantae games are a loosely connected trilogy, so the best way to play the series is in order. If you're only willing to play one, though, then play Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, which is one of the best games in the series. It's not really story-heavy, so you can still pretty much play them in any order and enjoy them well enough.

My favorite game in the series is the original GBC Shantae, but it's old, hard, and lacking in the QoL improvements found in later titles.

Whatever you end up doing, I'd recommend NOT starting with Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. It's utterly different than other games in the series, and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. Certainly not new fans.

As to DQXI S's battle speed: yeah, it makes a big difference. You'll need to switch over to the classic camera mode, though. The game, by default, allows you to run around in real time around the enemies, but it doesn't actually impact anything, so it just pads out the battles. Battles on the highest battle speed in classic mode are lightning fast.

@Ralizah I do love a good battle speed setting. I literally could not imagine playing FFXII without that speed boost.

@nessisonett FFXII is hilarious on higher battle speeds. My party is like a well-oiled meat grinder.

I did play it on PS2, but I couldn't possibly go back to it now, if only for that reason alone.

Wow I think I may buy Dragon Quest myself after this discussion. Or preorder the PS4 version for 40 euros.

@belmont If you're only going to play it on the TV, then there's literally no reason not to get it on PS4/Xbox. With that said, I really like being able to play it away from the TV, so I'll be sticking with my Switch version.

But yeah, definitely play it. Great game.