Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Ralizah Guess you could always use that GPU for toasting marshmallows 😂

@Ralizah huh, that’s cool and unexpected. However, XBC3 ruled my life for about 6 months last year and given current commitments along with Zelda coming up think I will have to get this later on. I still have plenty of side/hero quests to finish in the base game too.

I have been thinking about putting it on recently, mind you…

Been quite a dry gaming year for me to be honest, been doing very little gaming by my standards, with most of my gaming coming an hour or two before bed on the Steamdeck. Thankfully this weekend changes that, I've got Dead Island 2 to play on my PS5 and it looks like Advance Wars is an easy grab via an Eshop Voucher this weekend too.

My question is, those Pixel Remasters seem pretty crazy expensive for what they are, but would you recommend them on the Switch anyway? Especially as we have got AWs straight into TTK to take over our Switches.

@kyleforrester87 I've seen a bunch of people saying they'll be waiting until sometime after Zelda to jump into this. Not to mention you'll also have Final Fantasy XVI this summer.

I don't think you played Torna either, right?

@Pizzamorg The digital bundle amounts to $12.50 for each Final Fantasy game in NA. Less if you buy credit via some sort of online discount.

With that said, there's so much releasing right now that it'll be a while before I have any interest in these.

@nessisonett The GPU is surprisingly power efficient, so it won't even be useful for that. 😂

@Ralizah I did, I got very far into Torna but I didn’t enjoy it as much as you did (I know you rate it highly). I struggled a bit to get invested in the new characters to be honest, even as I got near the end. Bit worried it’ll be the same here. And frankly I almost dislike Shulk lol

Yeah I think they work out between 9 and 13 quid each (with some of the later ones being more expensive), but then a bundle of all of them works out to 65 quid, so I think that works out slightly cheaper overall to buy the bundle if you plan to buy all of them? Although I hear Six is the best one, so am I better off just buying Six only?

Was going to finally get Return to Dreamland Deluxe now that I've finished Prime Remastered, but I'm going to hold off on that now that the XC3 DLC is dropping.

I loved the main game, but this is looking a lot more like what I thought a mashup of the first two games was going to be, so I'm super excited.

Nintendo has been absolutely killing it this year, and we don't even know what their plans for the second half are yet (I can't help but laugh at the people who think they won't have much of anything this year after Pikmin 4. If the second half of the year is really going to be as barren as they think it is, there's no way they'd just nonchalantly dump Prime Remastered & this huge XC3 DLC next to other notable releases as they've done).

As much as I love my Switch, after 50 hours of Octopath 2 on PS5 I decided to have a quick go on the first game on the Nintendo and I was actually pretty shocked at how bad it looked and performed. I expected a good step backwards but even then it really surprised me. Okay, I think it’s running at 720 instead of 4K, 30fps instead of 60fps, no HDR.. all of the things you expect, but when you actually go back and forth the difference was heeeeeuge. I’d say the lack of HDR had the biggest impact, everything looked so washed out and flat. Smear on a coat of Vaseline and slow it all down by 50% and you’re part way there.

Looked better in handheld, though.

@kyleforrester87 I don't dislike Shulk (Reyn makes me want to pull my hair out, though), but I do get tired of people acting like he's this incredible protagonist when he's the most generic hero character I've seen in a Xenoblade game. Monolith had the courage to make Rex endearingly obnoxious at times, and I enjoyed Noah's quiet personality compared to Shulk and Rex's more extraverted bravado.

That might be a downside for you, though, that it seems XC1's plot and characters are going to factor into this DLC pretty heavily. It quite literally seems like the explicit mix of elements from the first two Xenoblade games that XC3 was initially pitched as.

If anything, this might be worse than Torna was for you, since Torna's cast drew heavily from the main game, whereas N & M are likely going to be the only recurring cast members in Future Redeemed.

But yeah, I absolutely loved Torna. In terms of gameplay and tone, it's what I wish XC2 had been all along. I was really excited when I saw that XC3 was swiping Torna's campfire system.

@Pizzamorg IV, V, and VI are all worth playing. The NES games can easily be skipped, tbh; the first one is super rudimentary, the second one is widely regarded as one of the worst entries in the series, and III's good ideas were all expanded on in V.

@RR529 It's deeply weird how they just keep piling stuff in the first half, even though we have no idea of what's coming up beyond July. I totally get why people think they're making space for a new console launch in late 2023/early 2024.

Good to know, I might just wait then and see if any of the individual titles go on sale and do it that way.

@Ralizah yes I think my dislike for Shulk is mainly down to how bog standard he is, and how much others seem to love him - I just don’t get it! I loved Rex, heart always in the right place, gets it wrong as often as he gets it right and doesn’t mind getting ripped on.

I’m sure I’ll find plenty to like in the expansion despite not loving what I have played or XBC1.

And sure, Torna had some cool stuff like the campfire system. Would like to see them expand on that. The clothes washing thing, for instance.. nice little bit of world building but perhaps a few more systems like that, or just add some depth somehow. I really liked hearing rumours and then going back to camp to discuss them to initiate quests, very cool. Small party interactions like that are excellent, one of the best things about the Bravely Default games are the skits.

Right, I’m getting back into playing the Switch, I need recommendations. Preferably left-field ones like indies that are a good fit for the handheld mode. Quite enjoying Tunic and obviously loved Hades, Hollow Knight and stuff. Due to being a long-term Nintendo fan, I kinda know what’s out there on that front so it’s probably more the smaller games or ones that might have passed people by!

@nessisonett I'd say give Paranormasight a go. It's a visual novel Japanese horror game. I haven't finished it yet but the few hours I've played have been great stuff. The scares are very effective. NL scored it 9/10: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/paranormasi...

@LtSarge Haha, can’t guarantee that I’ll give it a go because I’m a bit of a chicken when it comes to horror VNs but we’ll see!

@nessisonett You might have played these already, but I'll throw a few in the ring!

My #1 for 2023 so far (albeit released last year or even 2021?) is 'Inscryption' - a fantastic indie gem, and absolutely unlike anything I've played before. It is part roguelite, part deckbuilder, part RPG.... with some interesting meta twists and a tremendous narrative. Some light horror elements, but honestly very minor. The bulk of the game is deck building, which is a genre I was previously unfamiliar with, but I loved every second. It reminded me a lot of Hades, in which it manages to pull the rogue-esque elements in to the narrative. I'd highly recommend, but also suggest you read up as little as possible on this game. The entire experience is really heightened by going in 'blind' - don't spoil it for yourself!

Eldest Souls is also pretty decent if you don't mind a steep difficulty curve. It is an isometric take on boss-rushing, a bit of a cross between Hades/Souls. Pretty good and addictive, and certainly not too high a skill ceiling if you played through any of FromSoft's portfolio.

I've also enjoyed Slay The Spire - which is another deck-builder I picked up to fill the void that was left by Inscryption upon beating it. (StS is probably a better 'deck builder' but IMO Inscryption is the better overall game/experience).

Lastly I played Darkestville Castle, a very 'Monkey Island-ish' take on point-and-click. If you played and enjoyed Return to MI, and are looking for another adventure game, this was pretty good. A similar length to Return, similar humour and puzzles aren't too obtuse (but difficulty enough to feel rewarding when you beat them).

All in all though, and assuming you haven't played it, Inscryption would be a good time for you potentially. Only about 11-12 hours to beat, so it is not a time sink either...

@nessisonett Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (feels closer in quality to a full retail release with extremely meaty dungeons, goes pretty low in digital sales, and has some banging tunes from Yuzo Koshiro).

Gnosia (This feels like a cross between a visual novel, a Zero Escape game, a social deduction murder mystery simulator, and an RPG, and it has a brilliant, looping progression structure)

I'll also second Paranormasight, based on the few hours I've played so far. It's supernatural horror... kinda... but the whole game has this creative, meta vibe to it, and the opening story arc has major Death Note/Mirai Nikki vibes to it.

@Ralizah Gnosia looks really interesting! Can't believe I haven't heard of it until now. I'm definitely adding it to my wishlist.

@nessisonett Ah I see. Well I was going to suggest Signalis but that's also a horror game. Picture classic Zelda with a top-down view where you go from screen to screen and mix that with classic Resident Evil. Maybe you'd be interested in something like that anyway!

I've also heard great things about Chained Echoes, which is reminiscent of classic JRPGs. I also want to mention Rogue Legacy 2. Apparently it hasn't come out on PlayStation yet despite the first one being on PS4/Vita, but the sequel is at least on the Switch.

@nessisonett I'm playing Axiom Verge 2 at the mo on PS5, but it is also available on Switch. I'm having a good time with it, but have come completely stuck a couple of times, and I would have not progressed without watching a walkthrough.

@LtSarge It's a criminally underlooked game. I did a review of it when it first came out, but, suffice to say, it's probably the most unique experience you'll ever have on your Switch. Just bursting at the seams with cool ideas.

It's also one of the few games to explicitly provide a non-binary gender option to players, which seems to change aspects of the writing. Which actually fits well with the theme, since the game is rife with post-humanist far future themes, and a lot of people aren't going to be stuck in the same older gender roles that typify modern life.

I didn't play my Switch games for more than 1 week.
When I didn't play my Switch games for more than 1 week, that was not a good sign.
That was mean I really had low hype to continue my Switch games, even my precious ACNH.