Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Octane I mean, so did Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s environments if you were being really really picky and took a bad photo. The game looks good but it also does look like it’s running on Switch, which obviously will take its toll.

@nessisonett Someone must not have told you: all games only look as good as their worst texture.

Which makes FF7R a PS1 game, judging by that that one fuzzy JPEG backdrop after the sector 7 plate collapse, lmao. Or those hideous flowers in Aerith's garden.

SMT V is way better looking than it has any right to be, given the hardware it's running on. Hopefully Persona 6 is similarly visually ambitious. Even if it's cross-gen, a big-budget Persona game would be gorgeous.

@Octane @Kidfried I wanna buy your PS2 off your hands if that looks like a PS2 game.

@Kidfried I agree. The game got hella blurry in it's E3 showing. But that's also what happens when you use Unreal Engine 4 on something not made by AMD it seems like. It becomes obvious it's UE4.

Im more poking fun at the time Monster Hunter Rise was said to look like a PS2 game too. For kicks I just looked up the PS2 Monster Hunter and...ugh. ew. 🤣🤣🤣

I've always maintained that graphics can be nice but good graphics and a crap game still make a crap game. Crap graphics and a good game is still a good game.

Naw, it still looks bad. So does MH Rise.

So, if I'm looking at the game (SMT V, lol, because that's all I'll be thinking about until November) as objectively as possible, just from the footage...

PROS

• This is SUCH a massive evolution from previous games. Seeing enormous demons marching around the environments is awe-inspiring.
• The move to huge environments is probably risky, but I'm glad Atlus went with it. Although it remains to be seen whether all of them are connected via an open world, or if you navigate a world map with a cursor like in the older games.
• A ton of love and polish was clearly put into this game, from the way many demons naturalistically settle into their environments to the detailed battle animations.
• Trailer footage suggests at least some demons can follow behind you, which I really like. Why this isn't a standard thing in Pokemon games today is beyond me.
• A lot of the demon models are pretty hugely upgraded from previous games. Very, very detailed.
• This is probably the most expensive game Atlus has ever made, and it shows. Lots of modern visual effects you don't usually see in Switch games.
• The use of color is gorgeous. One of the most vibrant looking Switch games I've ever seen. I almost want to grab an OLED Switch just for this game.
• SMT IV composer is on board, so this is probably going to have a strong OST.

MIXED

• No evidence of dungeons so far. Doesn't mean there won't be any, but I do hope there are some. With that said, after the non-stop barrage of dungeons in Nocturne which are like mazes filled with almost nothing but dead ends, I'm kinda ready to get some fresh air in an SMT game.
• I'm a bit mixed on Nahobino's design, even if I do enjoy the glorious flowing hair. It's a tad flamboyant for my liking.
• The extended cast doesn't immediately stick out to me. With that said, I'm glad they seem to maintain some sort of presence in the altered Tokyo.

CONS

• UE4 games tend to look a bit blurry and low-res on Switch, and... well... I think it's pretty clear that trend continues with SMT V. Potato hardware gonna potato.
• Atlus has pretty much no experience with creating big, open environments in their games, so I expect there to be a lot of really basic looking objects and textures in the environments. Particularly trees and foliage.
• Framerate is probably going to be rough in spots. It looks like it dips pretty hard, in particular, after fusing demons in the Cathedral of Shadows.
• I do kinda wish this adopted the cyberpunk aesthetic of IV/IV: Apocalypse. Personal preference. I love the more gritty, techie vibe of those games. I'm just not a huge fan of pure fantasy. Probably a big reason FF VI, VII, and XII are among my favorite entries in that series. While SMT V is clearly not pure fantasy, it's leaning much, much more heavily on the fantasy side of things. I'm going to miss the demon summoning program and various apps from the DS/3DS games.

The Steam Deck has been announced. Valve Certainly shows what is possible using the latest hardware in the small form factor.

However I fear it has the same steam machine problem. The PC library wasn’t designed for this type of device and a gaming PC would give a better experience.

@Ryall Stationary platforms will always give better performance. With that said, the internals are pretty powerful, so most modern games should run pretty well on it. Especially at 720p. It's probably the closest we'll be coming to a handheld PS4.

Battery life is another question altogether, though.

@Ryall Think it looks great for the price. About half the price of a decent laptop for games. I have about 800 games on Steam last time I checked anyway and that would be ready to go on that device. One thing I’m worried about is that it’s running Steam OS. That means only games with Linux ports would work. However, you can install Windows on it instead, opening it up to emulators and such so if you’re willing to footer around with it then you’ll be getting a great little device.

@nessisonett

The IGN piece specifies that it's "capable of running both Linux and Windows games."

This thing is actually able to run recent-ish stuff like Death Stranding, lol.

Even though I hate the control layout, I'm super tempted to reserve this.

Well impressed with the Steam Deck. They got the price point right too, I think. I hear it will be £350 in the UK.

@Ralizah - “Steam Deck’s onboard 40 watt-hour battery provides several hours of play time for most games,” Valve says. “For lighter use cases like game streaming, smaller 2D games, or web browsing, you can expect to get the maximum battery life of approximately 7-8 hours.” Valve tells IGN that “You can play Portal 2 for four hours on this thing. If you limit it to 30 FPS, you’re going to be playing for 5-6 hours.”

Doesn't sound too bad, but will be interesting to how it copes with more recent games.

@JohnnyShoulder Gonna say, a game from 2011 getting 4 hours of battery life isn't bad.

It's also a really weird game to highlight. Not using anything from the past 10 years that's more intensive.

@Haruki_NLI Portal 2’s both a classic and made by Valve. It’s also the last single player game they made so makes sense to use that as a benchmark given multiplayer games aren’t as easy to measure battery life with due to differing intensity!

If Portal 2 is eating the battery in four hours, I can only imagine what more recent and demanding games will do. Keep a battery bank handy, I guess.

Although if I got one, probably 90% of my time would be spent playing visual novels, so...

I've gotta say, using this announcement to capitalize on anger and disappointment over the Switch OLED was pretty smart.

And once you load windows onto it, presumably Gamepass would work on it too. Might be a bit redundant once X Cloud is everywhere, but not everyone wants to turn their mobile phone into a handheld gaming machine.

@JohnnyShoulder Considering latency issues with streaming, I don't think it'll be making anything redundant, lol.

Streaming is especially not tempting when it comes to portability. The entire appeal of portable hardware for me is being able to play something anywhere. In and out, whenever you want. If I have to be tethered to a high-speed internet connection, I might as well go play on a more powerful device I already own.

Although it might come in handy for people who don't want to bother upgrading to next-gen hardware, I guess, and have rock-solid internet.

@Ralizah Yeah that's true. I tried Stadia the other day but it the games were unplayable for me. Yet PS Now using my PS5 is OK.

So my Zelda packages arrived today.... A few thoughts...

I never actually noticed that the joy cons were different colours. I just thought they were both blue in all the pictures I've seen but one is actually purple. Makes sense I guess because of Fi/master sword! I also forgot they come with straps because they are normally boring plain black ones. These ones are grey with a patterned blue wrist strap which is nice

Not sure if these will my go to controllers as I still love my GameCube purple and spice orange set. But they are cool nonetheless

The amiibo isn't that big. It's not £22s big anyway. I know they bumped the price of amiibos from £13 to £15 but I'm struggling to understand why this one is an extra £7 on top of that. It's more or less a similar form factor to other amiibos. It's definitely nowhere near the size of £30 Detective Pikachu which is huge!! I'll probably leave it in the package and flip it if it gains significant value and I can actually be bothered to do so.

Game, not much to say about the game. I haven't looked at the keyring yet but it comes in a little faux seude bag which I guess is nice. I haven't opened the steel book either and probably won't bother for a while, if at all.

@ralphdibny My Zelda joy-cons and amiibo arrived today, but not the game itself. The joy-cons are a lot, lot nicer than I was expecting, as I wasn't sure if they'd look a little tacky. I really like the colour contrast between the blue and purple, so have put them on my Switch unit. I'll probably start the game as soon as it arrives, and shall update my earlier Skyward Sword review accordingly.

@Ralizah SMT V looks epic! The visuals are okay, given the hardware's limitations, so no real disappointment there, although I hope the framerate doesn't struggle too much. I like how confident it seems with its cinematic storytelling, and it's very Nocturnie-ish. The battle animations are quite nice!

@mookysam ahh sweet! Yeah they are really nice. I'm just a sucker for anything Zelda related if it's a peripheral. Still got my gold Wii mote from the original release!!

Gutted about two things though.... We never got the gold nunchuk as a club Nintendo reward in the UK. Would have gone amazing with my gold Wii mote and my gold club Nintendo Wii wheel! Also we never got that Hylian Shield 2DS XL here in the UK. That would have been a day one buy for me!! I think these joy cons especially, are filling the fomo I had from that 2DS

I'll probably play the game with my partner this time, sometimes I want to relive these amazing moments in my life with someone else to share it with. I'll have a mosey over to the review thread and check out your SS review at some point (pre update) I want to see how the two compare for you. I haven't played it since I came out so I suspect I won't remember a lot of it!