Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@RR529 I ordered that off Amazon as I’ve made a couple of attempts at the Wii original over the years but could never get into it. Good to hear you enjoyed it.

The new MHRise Switch looks quite nice. Just found out the Japanese version also supports English language? Will try to get special edition as well as the MHRise Pro controller if I do decide to get a Switch.

@nessisonett, yeah, I'm not sure whether or not I liked it more than XC2 as a whole, but I will say that without some of the more annoying systems introduced in the second game (such as the field skill requirements), it made it a lot easier to explore around and get into more of the sidequests, so I poured a lot more time into it (at least 116 hours into DE, making it my most played Switch title before even getting to the Future Connected expansion, compared to just over 80 hours for XC2).

I beat Link’s Awakening there and really enjoyed it. It never fails to be charming and while yeah, it might be rather easy and simple compared to the 3D entries in the series, it’s impressively complex for what is essentially a Game Boy game. I love the weird gameplay twists with the Mario characters and the ending is a lot sadder than I expected. I’d totally recommend it even though I’m not a 2D Zelda fan at all. The anime cutscenes are brilliant and totally make me wish there was a whole game done in that 80s anime aesthetic. Also, Marin/Malon >>>>>>> Zelda.

@nessisonett I've started streaming Links Awakening in Hero Mode, and apart from feeling remarkably different due to its difficulty, I forgot how much I enjoy 2D Zelda over 3D.

Traditional 3D Zelda is taking the 2D formula and stretching it, which I think bored me. I beat Wind Waker HD once though so there's that.

But yeah the remake is a charming little game. It won't set the world on fire or anything but it's quality.

Wouldn't be shocked to see Nintendo buy Grezzi like they did Next Level Games should they opt to sell: there is talent there and unlike NLG they have an IP too.

Decided to preorder Mario 3D World. I was interested in the game when it came out on the Wii U, but I never owned the Wii U.

@DerMeister The Wii U was honestly great. Better as a second console but the Switch is like that too. Don’t get why people go on about it having no games considering how many Wii U ports there’ve been on Switch.

@nessisonett Because the Switch has monumentally better third party support than the Wii U, which got almost nothing after its first year. Also, it gets core entries in big first-party series instead of weird spinoffs.

Wii U is kinda like the N64 in that it has a tiny core of good exclusive games on it, and very little else.

@Ralizah If you own a Nintendo console for AAA third party games then you’re on a hiding to nothing. At that point you might as well get a PS4 Slim as the price falls. Wii had a whole lot of dreadful third party ports with mandatory motion controls and Wii U actually got games like Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Watch Dogs, Deus Ex, Mass Effect 3 and so on in their original forms. It just lacked bespoke third party exclusives that Wii had loads of, and the same can arguably be said of the Switch.

@nessisonett Like I said, that first year or so, the third party support was decent enough (if you consider a handful of random last-gen ports to be decent), but it quickly dropped off when it became clear nobody wanted to buy games for the system that didn't have the words "Mario" or "Zelda" in the title. The system and its lack of sales burned third parties bad enough that it took years for third parties to really get the manufacturing line rolling for the system.

Switch doesn't get much in the way of AAA multiplats, but it gets everything else, and it's also getting high-profile third-party exclusive releases now.

The success of the Switch and third-party games on the system have done a lot to mend some of the bridges Nintendo has been actively burning since the release of the N64. I expect the Switch successor will probably launch with fairly robust third-party support as a result.

I've been playing the Future Connected expansion in XC:DE, and while I know the area it takes place in (the Bionis' Shoulder) was originally intended for the original game, I wonder how much of it's design was complete at the time (or if it was ultimately expanded for FC).

I say that because in terms of design it feels much more like an XC2 area than an area from the original, in terms of "dense verticality". XC's areas are big, but even in areas that have a large amount of verticality (such as Eryth Sea, or Bionis' Leg) the lay of the land tends to be very easy to read & while I'd never say it's "flat", there doesn't seem to be as much complex geometry in the landscape (which makes sense, given it was a Wii game). Meanwhile Bionis' Shoulder in FC seems to have more complex geometry in it's design and has a lot of vertical planes packed on top of each other really densely, which is much more like how I remembered certain areas in XC2 (there's been a few times when I needed to reach a certain area for a quest and was at the wrong elevation because I missed some tucked away path, or can see the area I need to get to but had to think and poke around a bit how to actually get there, which aren't problems I really had with the main XC campaign).

Now that I'm done with Xenoblade DE I popped in XC2 to re-watch some of it's late game cutscenes to re-evalue it's connection to the first game, and while they definitely added on to the lore established in the first, it's still really cool to understand it more in depth.

Also forgot how gorgeous of a game it is (on TV at least). There's a lot more going on in the environments, with Gormott seemingly so much more lush than Bionis' Leg. Also, the moment to moment combat is sooo much more fun in the second game, and yes, I even still prefer the character designs.

@RR529 XC2 is gorgeous in TV mode. The environments are quite a bit more complex and detailed. Loot is organic and part of the environment instead of random glowing orbs puked out across the maps. And, yeah, Rex aside (what even is that outfit?), I do love most of the character designs. They're fun. As a bonus. it also doesn't have a macho meatball like British Wakka Reyn that ruins my mood whenever I have to hear his stupid voice.

@Ralizah I love that Rex is voiced by the guy I only know as the gay vicar from that vicar detective show that had James Norton in it until he got big. Also Sharla in the first game is voiced by an Eastenders actress. Really plumbing the depths of British voice talent there.

@nessisonett At least Jenna Coleman is good. And I don't know how good or bad Nia's voice acting actually is, but giving her a sarcastic, hostile welsh voice instantly makes every scene she's in 10x funnier than it is in Japanese.

Ordered Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Though Amazon predicts my copy won't show up until the 16th, which is a day AFTER my next 4 day weekend ends...

Oh well, I guess I'll get back into Animal Crossing until then. It's been months since I've played it last.

Shin Megami Tensei V is still my most anticipated release for the year, but the Great Ace Attorney collection is now a VERY close second.

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/02/taiwan-ratings-the-great-ace-...

@Ralizah Do we know that it’s being translated? I’m not sure how I’d feel about the official version given I’m used to the fan translation of the first. It’s like the second Edgeworth game and Mother 3, it would be weird to see an original script!

For some reason I ended getting both PS4 and Switch versions of Atelier Ryza 2, as I have done with the first game.

Believe it or not the Switch version of AR2 holds pretty well. The slightly longer load times and slightly chopper framerate are not that noticeable as with other bad conversions of j-games like YS8. I can reccomend the Switch port.

@nessisonett I presume if it's releasing overseas, that means Capcom figured out a solution to the potential legal issue that was keeping them from localizing these games.

At absolute worst, we'll have them on a region-free system. Ideally with english subtitle support.

With that said, I don't think they'd bother porting these to a bunch of modern systems if they couldn't release them in their biggest markets.

It'll be a treat for me, since I've avoided the fan translations until now. Ditto with AAI2, if they ever get around to releasing that.

@belmont That sounds... expensive.

Good to hear Ryza 2 holds up on a technical level on Switch, though. I'm still waiting for the first game to go on a good sale.