Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@RR529 Aspyr have done average-to-good with these old Star Wars ports, and it's clear that they're all working from home. Episode I Racer had trophy sync issues (after a lengthy release delay). Must just be some kind of overlooked bug in the code; here's hoping for a quick fix.

@RogerRoger, yeah, I think part of my problem is that I don't have any of those electric grenades that stop droids in their tracks (or more likely I have them but don't know how to switch grenade types, as it's not something the game has informed me of yet).

@RR529 It never tells you. I found it whilst remapping some of my controls. On the PS4, its default button is L1, so try tapping the Switch's equivalent when you're next playing. The HUD icon should change. By that mission, I'd collected some green proximity charges, blue stun grenades and red thermal detonators.

@RogerRoger, those shock grenades definitely made the difference. Made it to the bridge with over 2 minutes left, and after that it took 5 or so tries, but I finally finished out the mission. If that's what capped off the first of the 3 little campaigns, I hate to see what I'm going to be up against as I go on.

The next campaign is off to a cool start, with a moody almost Metroid vibe, though I got stuck at a pipe for 10 minutes as I didn't know you could jump, lol.

@RR529 Nicely done! It's definitely a sharp difficulty spike. The whole game seems to aim for a mostly accessible skill level 75% of the time, and then periodically throws in these bottlenecks at random intervals. I'm a little further along (although I've played it before, and recently) but am taking my time. I really like how, after such panic-inducing chaos, they opt for a slow-paced, more atmospheric chunk of gameplay.

I finally beat A Link To The Past. After about 6 attempts over the last 20 years. I’m honestly chuffed to bits that I’ve finally seen it through more than anything. The first few dungeons are fantastic but it really starts to drag towards the end and some dungeons are just plainly not fun. That last dungeon really wasn’t a fun time and the Ganon fight was brutal. Still, a classic for a reason. I’m definitely glad we got Ocarina of Time afterwards though.

@nessisonett I don't wanna ruin your day but the follow up to A Link to the Past wasn't Ocarina of Time... 😬

It was a game that in many ways somehow worse than that.

@Haruki_NLI Well, I guess Link’s Awakening was in between. Which is a really quite good game, but still I’d say that Ocarina of Time is a ‘true sequel’ to A Link To The Past because it was the next main series game. Unless you’re talking about the CDI games 😂

@nessisonett Well the original Link's Awakening had...issues, but started out as A Link to the Past on Gameboy.

Ocarina of Time may as well be A Link to the Past but 3D, and that's a detriment to me. I've never gotten far in any 3D Zelda game before because the starts suck, and the progression is like molasses.

Get 3 stones. Get Master Sword. Swap between light world and dark world. Rescue 6 people. Climb tower, fight Ganon.

Plus being here in the UK, I'd rather not play that game at 15fps. Then again, the original's 20fps wasnt good either.

I dunno. I'm sour on the N64 in general, and 3D Zelda prior to BOTW just....nope. Even Wind Waker HD which flows a fair bit better didnt grab me even when an old housemate and I sat down and played it.

If I'm playing a Zelda game, it's 2D, because then that stuff can be done in a timely fashion.

As I like to say, Ocarina of Time is ALTTP, if everything took 4 times as long to do.

@Haruki_NLI I dunno, I’m pretty much the complete opposite. A Link To The Past and Link’s Awakening are a million times more formulaic than Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. They even have ‘levels’. 3D Zelda is just more interesting to me, especially the combat. Plus there are so many quality of life updates that make the game not a complete chore without relying on a million magic potions. And then I’m a bit indifferent towards Breath of the Wild. It’s ok. I might go back to it at some point but something else always grabs me more.

@nessisonett That's like me with traditional Zelda in 3D.

I try, and try, and try. The originals just...nope, that FPS man. But even the 3DS remakes they run and look better but something just feels...I dunno. I cant get into it and its hard to describe. I'm weird like that.

I think one of my core issues I can pinpoint with OOT is how while by the time we got Link's Awakening and ALTTP there was a defined formula, OOT didnt really change much in the way say, Mario 64 did. Sure it's now 3D, but its the same setup and style of progression as ALTTP.

But now its 3D. You go through the same item grabbing beats. It's real strange. Like all the effort was on putting Link in 3D but not really going beyond that.

And then they did something else with Wind Waker and no one liked it at the time so they had to backpeddle to the formula again.

The Zelda series is weird. I like it, I appreciate it, and BOTW is the thing that got me back into gaming, because at the time my PS4 sure as hell wasnt doing it, but man, going back is next to impossible for me.

But I do have this weird...lets say distaste for N64 games. Cant stand Mario 64, Paper Mario, Kirby 64, Star Fox 64, yet I like Sunshine onwards, I like Super Paper Mario, I like Planet Robobot, I liked Star Fox Zero (Mainly for letting you aim at something without having to stick your entire hitbox in it's line of sight for it to shoot you).

Maybe its because I grew up with 16-bit and then PS1 games, not getting a Nintendo system until the DS. I have no attachment to the N64 era at all, and barely to the PS1.

Its not a visual thing (Beyond the often hilariously bad frame rates), but something about those games from that time, even most PS1 things, just.....eh.

As I said, I'm freaking weird.

@Haruki_NLI I notice the original frame rate of OoT 64 way less than modern games that run at roughly 30 tbh. I play a lot of OoT randomised and I genuinely never really thought it played that badly.

:') My polar opposite.

OoT is a game I have a lot of respect for, but goddamn if everything outside of dungeons isn't a barren, lifeless waste of time. Majora's Mask actually did a great job of addressing this, and, along with its unique themes and gameplay, ranks as one of my favorite Zeldas, but the rest of the 3D ones are roundly inferior to BotW in almost every way, IMO.

They're almost all still fun, though, aside from the NES ones, which are like torture to play. Which is funny, considering 2D Mario arguably peaked during the NES era before the steep dive in quality it took with SMW on SNES. At least 3D Mario has generally been on an upward trajectory. 64 is a dreadful creation. Sunshine is a huge improvement, but still massively flawed in a lot of ways. It actually peaked with Galaxy, before it dipped again with Galaxy 2, and then kinda went sideways with the 3D Land/World games. Odyssey is a new sort of peak, as it represents the best of the more exploratory 3D Mario games.

@Ralizah That can apply even more to A Link To The Past though. At least in OoT there’s quite a few side quests and such, along with the fairy fountain upgrades. ALttP has about 4 NPCs, one of which is a little snitch ***** who sets the guards on you. Link’s Awakening totally addressed those issues for me with its focus on a smaller world but with a tight-knit community and actual characters with names and personalities.

@nessisonett I generally found ALttP's overworld sections to be a lot shorter, though. They're just the puzzley downtime between dungeons. I guess that's technically true of OoT as well, but you spend a LOT more time outside of dungeons in that game.

Link's Awakening's characters are barely characters, though. Aside from the main girl, the one that sticks out most in my mind is that rude hippo woman who tells you to get lost when you talk to her. In general, half that game felt like I was running from place to place trying to trade stuff with annoying sentient animals. And that dungeon where you have to knock down the pillars to collapse the tower is simultaneously clever and insanely frustrating.

MM characters are distinct, oftentimes have character arcs, and seem much more emotionally realistic. It's easy to get sucked into their lives as you learn their schedules.

Still working my way through Republic Commando. I'm now on the last of the three campaigns, and have just completed a section where I had to blow up a bridge.

@Nessisonett Link's Awakening is still one of my favorite Zelda games. Without too much dialogue or a huge open world it is very successful at creating a place that is living, and feels real, even with all of the technical limitations.
Wind Waker of course is my number one favorite, but Link's Awakening is a great runner-up.

I really wanted to like Majora's Mask, but I felt too much stress when I got into the game blind, so I just used a guide. Didn't felt like adventuring much that way! :')

@Kidfried I’d honestly just like to see a game with difficulty in between Link’s Awakening remake and A Link to the Past! They usually nail the setting so it’s just the gameplay of the top down games which slightly irritates me at times. A Link to the Past has so many pits and spikes which do a million damage to you. I even had the best armour in the game and it felt like I was constantly under threat from dodgy traps.

Another game completed that I’ve bounced off a million times over the years, Super Mario Bros 3. I didn’t get a game over so my final score was over a million. Honestly the game throws lives at you which is good. I have mixed feelings about the game though. The normal levels are too short and can be run through in about 30 seconds if you time your jumps. The airship levels on the other hand, and auto scrollers in general took way too long. I hate being stuck waiting on the screen and this game had an obnoxious number of auto scrollers. Which bring me to my next point, Boom Boom. You fight Boom Boom about 14 quintillion times, with literally zero difference in the fight each time. You kill him in 3 hits which are easily chained. It’s thoughtless. Whereas the Koopa Kids fights are really good and varied. I dunno, it was alright. Just not as interesting as World or with the multiplayer fun of NSMBWii.