Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

I've pre-ordered ToTK for £48 from hit.co uk (used to be base). Seems to be cheapest in UK. I threw on BoTW last night to start a new play through and god damn, the great plateu might still be the best opening tutorial of a game ever!

@R1spam Still havn't actually finished BOTW, despite playing it for a couple of hundred hours. I have to go mess up Ganon. Not sure I will get round to it, though.

Seems that I was not the only one who noticed that Breath of the Wild was 70 euros in Europe for both the Switch and Wii U versions! Now we are talking as it is a big deal that the new Zelda is 70.

Although, to be fair the Switch online plus thing here is 40 euros that is less than 50 dollars.

Decided not to wait to see when any of the online retailers would get more MP: Remastered stock in, so I went ahead & bought it digitally.

I've retrieved the missile & morph ball upgrades so far. All the places that have opened up to me are too hot to explore, so I'm gonna go back to the starting area to see if there's another path to take.

My first time playing it (or any of the Prime games really), and at first I thought the formula would be too overwhelming in 3D, but I think I'm starting to get to grips with it.

DK Summit and Waluigi Stadium are back! <3

I know it maybe shouldn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but I am pretty pissed after the last system update that I no longer can use my name on there. I'm assuming it is because it has the world kill in it, but really? Xbox and PlayStation have no problem with it, and to do this nearly 6 years into the console's lifespan is pretty ridiculous.

We live in exciting times.

@LN78 jammy git, I'm in no way jealous!! Enjoy 😀 I have dropped some very unsubtle hints for my birthday in a couple of weeks as I've never played it.

Maybe my problems are solved @LN78 as that came through my letterbox today too, completely forgot I ordered it.

@Pizzamorg That's what they call a result, mate!

Took me a while to work out how to set it up, but Prime Remastered has gyro aiming with dual stick controls. I have come to accept I like this even more than keyboard and mouse for shooters, I wish I could play every shooter this way.

Game is also the best looking game on the Switch bar none, even docked and blown up on my telly it still looks really excellent.

Only thing I had a bit of an issue with is during that opening level (which is all I played just to give it a quick go), while it had some really nice lighting effects like on your arm cannon etc as you move next to light sources, the overall lighting in that level was really dark and I couldn't find a setting to turn up the brightness.

However, it took me a while to work out how to set up my controls, so maybe there is a brightness setting hidden in the menus somewhere I just missed.

@Pizzamorg Are the brightness issues also present in handheld mode? I read a few complaints about the brightness levels (there isn't an in game slider) in docked mode when the digital edition came out. Check your Switch is in the correct RGB mode because it looks fine (really good, even) on my OLED.

Oooo haven't tried it in handheld mode yet. I tend to find the gyro on the pro controller is way better than in the actual system itself, so I like to play stuff docked like this. Might have to test it though just to see if its my TV or not. I didn't know there was a known issue for this though to be fair. I sorta forgot all about this until it was on my doorstep waiting for me.

The new Mario Kart tracks are an absolute treat. My favourite is easily the new Yoshi's Island one, which is fitting considering I just bought a bunch of Yoshi's Island games. The music is great, the track is lovely and there are tons of nods to the games, such as hitting the question mark cloud and creating a new platform. Good stuff.

I also like most of the Tour tracks. My favourite is Amsterdam, which is really lovely. Reminds me of Daisy Circuit from 3DS. Singapore is pretty cool as well, but Bangkok is rather generic.

It's also nice to be racing on DK's Snowboard Cross and Waluigi Stadium again. So nostalgic!

@LtSarge Have to agree, and that I'm continually pleasantly surprised by the DLC. I'm particularly happy that GBA tracks are getting some love, as these have felt rather neglected prior to MK7, and have now been spruced up massively.

I will say that I find the Tour tracks to be the weakest, however. The real-world theming is kinda cool, but in terms of track design I just find them to be the most forgettable of the bunch. They can also be kinda confusing with all the course changing - I'm sure some people like this feature, but it's not for me tbh.

Oooh, didn’t realise the new Mario Kart tracks were out. If my Switch wasn’t across the room and I wasn’t so lazy I’d try them out now!

I have really fond memories of Breath of the Wild. It was my first Zelda game and while I wouldn't say I think it is the game of the generation like others seem to claim, I do think it is a solid example of the kind of open world title it is trying to be with that extra bit of Nintendo 1st party shine which elevates it just that little bit above other similar games that just don't have the same kinds of polish.

I played BOTW pretty much entirely start to finish in handheld, and with the sequel almost here, I thought I'd throw it up on my TV and give it a replay. Playing through the game docked for the first time.

But man, this game is... kinda rough when docked. Outside of really egregious spots like the forest where you get the Master Sword, in handheld BOTW is either fine performancewise or the screen is just so small, the lower framerate or occasional stutters and dips are just less noticeable. And it still remains true that BOTW is far grander than your usual handheld title, and better than even some of the open world titles that would come out years later on the Switch.

Docked, however, destroys all illusion. At least for me. The framerate is mostly stable (outside of combat), but stable in the sense that it seems low all the time. It dips somehow even further in combat and like all the damn time. I don't really remember this at all from my handheld experience, but man this absolutely chugs when docked.

I also dunno if it is some kind of filter used, or the AA, but everything also has this kind of fuzzy, blurriness to it when docked. The game kinda looks like how it would look if I was playing with my glasses off, just always just that bit out of focus, only I have my glasses on. Between the choppiness of the framerate, and the smudginess of the visuals, I started to feel really sick within about half an hour of playing.

It is a shame too, as the game is still so insanely polished in other areas, all the little details they add, the physics and animations. It is that Nintendo First Party gleam you just don't really see anywhere else. Combat also still feels really good, even somehow despite the low framerate, too.

But I dunno, as soon as I have to start exploring it is chunder city for me. I guess I could carry on my replay in handheld like I did the first time, or maybe I'll just wait and see how this new one lands. If it turns out to be another Pokemon SV, then I guess I save some money.

@Pizzamorg If you think the resolution is bad on your TV when docked you should try the Wii U version, that's lower at 720p.

That being said, Mario Odyssey runs at the same dynamic resolution has BOTW on Switch but at a higher frame rate. Granted I can see when the resolution scales down quite easily, and sure the world's are designed differently with different art assets, but I think it shows the difference between what is a Wii U game ported over in six months (by the admission of Aonuma) and being an upscaled Wii U game, versus a game that was clearly made for the console.

@Pizzamorg Generally the frame rate docked/undocked seemed the same to me, at least I never noticed it one way or the other. It does struggle in some areas either way. I didn't have any issues with the quality, really, on my 4K 55 inch TV either. I mean, it's not a PS5 game that's for sure, but I was happy enough with it.. same with games like Xenoblade Chronicles.

I guess it's just a case of keeping your expectations suitably low in the technical department as far as any Switch game goes! The hardware is certainly creaking, though!

@Buizel I'm not that huge on the GBA tracks in all honesty. I appreciate the upgrades but due to how simplistic the track design is, the tracks are still overall rather forgettable.

I'm definitely fed up with the Tour tracks though. Everyone feels the same, there are only a handful that really stand out, such as Amsterdam. But at this point, I've come to the realisation that these tracks are basically padding for these DLC packs. They're easier to add to the game compared to older tracks that have to be remade. So Nintendo is just adding them in order to make it look like we're getting tons of additional content but in reality, most of it is just bland and uninteresting tracks.