Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

Been playing through the Zelda Oracle games for the first time thanks to their drop on Nintendo Switch Online yesterday (currently 2 dungeons and two and a half hours into Ages) and it's really making me pine for more 2D Zelda games again honestly. It's been over a decade since we last got an original 2D Zelda and, while we got the absolutely stellar remake of Link's Awakening in the meantime (which still stands as my favourite Zelda game so far), I don't think it's too much to want something brand spanking new at some point, you know? I've still got a ton of 2D Zeldas left to experience myself (Oracle of Seasons, Minish Cap, the DS titles and Link Between Worlds) so I'm definitely not going to hit an event horizon for quite some time, but it still stings that my favourite part of Zelda is unquestionably the more neglected.

@nessisonett It's been nearly 2 years since I first played it and Rise From The Ashes still stands as my favourite case from all the games I've played so far (AA1-3 and the TGAA duology); just an excellently written, self-contained story filled with so many charming and memorable characters while also serving as a great bridge between AA1 and 2 (namely with the all the moments involving Edgeworth like you mentioned) and acting as great segway into Apollo Justice and beyond (such as the introduction of Ema Skye and the more 3D puzzles). The final cases of Great Ace Attorney Resolve came very close to dethroning it last year (and if we're looking at overall games, the TGAA duology is undoubtedly my favourite AA game) but in terms of singular cases? I don't think anything's beating RFTA for me

@Fizza I don’t think anything’s beating Bridge to the Turnabout any time soon!

@Ralizah It's a toss up between the lighting temple and fire temple as my favourite, I guess the fire temple itself is not as good but the lead up to it is really cool. I don't want to oversell it as it probably helps that my expectations were a little low going in, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the main story thread after the temples, it generally felt much less like I was going through the motions and I effectively mainlined it from there to the end, even though there were plenty of natural points in its progression to stop and go do something else I found I wanted to keep going to see where it all went, where as the temples I was just trying to get them done and out of the way, even when they were fun.

I view the Korok transportation puzzles as quite separate to the rest really, I agree they can be a bit of a bummer, mostly because they want to send you off in a direction you're not heading and it's a distraction. I tend to mark them as I find them, and then when I have plenty of materials I do a bunch of them at once using an appropriate autobuild. They are really quite easy plus you get double bubble!

But, the ultimate joy of TOTK and BOTW comes from every step of journey, not the reward at the end.. which is more often than not an Opal.

@Bentleyma Your PS5 and PS3 are both giving you dirty looks...

I've been easing myself back into gaming after 1.5 months off by diving into the oodles of expansion pass DLC I've ignored in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe until now.

I'd like to actually make some progress on my Switch backlog again before getting swallowed in the Game Pass tidal wave (Starfield; Persona 5 Tactica; Persona 3 Reload; Silksong) that's coming.

@Bentleyma You better. I read on their social media accounts that they are considering exploring other options.

Is anyone planning on buying the Baten Kaitos remastered collection in September? I don't know much about the games but I've heard so much praise for this series while growing up. Never played them because I didn't have a GameCube. I'd be remiss to pass up on this opportunity to play them, so I definitely want to get the collection on day one.

@Bentleyma XBC3 is amazing, as is SMO to be fair which I know you’re playing (again?) now. I’d probably give Pikmin a punt if I were you, no history with the series but it looks interesting.

God tier games, worth owning a Switch for any one of these:

Breath of the Wild
Tears of the Kingdom
Super Mario Odyssey
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

@Bentleyma XC3 is a masterpiece. Best game on the system.

Pikmin 4 is a lot of fun as well.

What else you looking at?

@Bentleyma nah, tbh I didn’t clear BOTW. No drama there.

@Bentleyma BotW is one of the least story-driven games I've ever played. If you know the characters, you won't even miss anything.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a must-own, too. Definitely pick it up at some point. Probably my favorite game in the series, or at least toe-to-toe with Planet Robobot.

Really incredible how I just have no feelings towards Pokémon whatsoever. I didn’t even have a GBA, it’s not like I’m one of those purists or whatever, the games just keep going with barely any improvements. A shame because Legends Arceus was brilliant but that mini Direct thing felt like a franchise running out of ideas.

A bit late to the party but I finally ordered Tears of the Kingdom. Should be here today, but not sure if I'll be able to get to it until later in the week.

I'm a little imposed by it's apparent sheer size, but hopefully I'll be able to at least work through the main quest by the time Wonder releases.

@Bentleyma How far in are you?

@nessisonett PLA was a shockingly fresh experience, and while Scarlet/Violet have a million issues, they're still the best mainline games in a decade or so. I'm... cautiously optimistic for the future.

@Bentleyma Yup. It's one of the most technically impressive games on the system. The improvements to visual effects and especially character animation make it look almost generationally better than XC2. The game manages to avoid the resolution dips that plagued earlier Switch entries when undocked as well.

Gem crafting... that should be chapter two, I think. The game should really open up soon. And when it does, the game becomes immensely better, because unlike previous games, XC3 actually has a lot of really good side-quests and a ton of stuff to see and do in the open world.

@LtSarge I loved the first Baten Kaitos back on the GameCube and hope it holds up. The battle system uses cards randomly drawn from a deck, so takes a little getting used to. It’s fast paced and quite unique, but also very enjoyable. Everything in battle uses cards, even potions and consumable food, and some cards change over time. Food/drink such as milk can go off: I don’t remember exactly, so may be wrong, but I think it could then be used to poison enemies. The visuals use beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds, which was unusual by then, but meant that more fantastical and detailed themes could be used. I also remember the music being quite nice. Hopefully the backgrounds have been nicely upscaled! One thing I didn’t like was the voice acting, as it sounded like it had been recorded using a phone from 1910 with a thermal sock covering the mouthpiece. In the original it could be turned off completely.

I haven’t played the second one, which is a prequel (although I guess needs to be played second as it will spoil things), but people seemed to like it. Apparently the battle system was simplified a bit.

@Bentleyma Considering how their older games struggled with other publishers, I'm willing to bet they enjoy the security and resources that come with being a first-party Nintendo dev.

Besides, even if it means needing to get a bit more creative with the technology, they're able to stand out on the system relatively easily. XC3 would be a good-looking but not visually remarkable game on Playstation or Xbox. On Switch, though, it really stands out.

btw how're you liking it so far? Seems like you got a fair bit further.

@Bentleyma OK, yeah, if that's your main complaint, just keep playing.

I'm actually not in a huge rush for Nintendo to update their specs significantly, since I don't really want developers to chase significantly better graphics for the system. A big reason we're still able to have this consistent pipeline of quality exclusives every year is, IMO, at least partially because of how much more visually simple Switch games are. Sort of like with older consoles, it just takes less time to develop these games.

My hope with the Switch 2 is that exclusives stay largely the same in terms of visual detail, but they hit 60fps consistently and upscaling tech makes them look nice and clean on both the tablet and higher-res TVs. Meanwhile, the beefier tech will make third-party ports of big games easier to handle.

But I don't want a situation where, like, XC4, or whatever they make next, takes significantly longer to develop, leading to fewer games on the system overall.

@mookysam Your description of the series makes me want to play it even more! It sounds like a rather unique JRPG, at least for its time.

Regarding the voice acting, apparently the remasters will only have Japanese VOs. So hopefully that version was better recorded.

Out of curiosity, how large is everyone's memory card on Switch? I've been contemplating buying a new one since my 128 GB is not enough anymore. I genuinely thought I wouldn't need more than this, but after five years of having my Switch I absolutely need more. I've been thinking about getting the 512 GB one, but then I saw that there's also a 1 TB card. Question is if I really need 1 TB. I prefer buying most games physically, including ones that take up a lot of space. So I don't think I need 1 TB. I just don't want to have to upgrade again if I run out of space again. The 1 TB one is also €200 and I don't really feel like spending that much money on storage. What do you guys think?