Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@kyleforrester87 I think I got a little too hype for it. Went full no life mode with it for a couple of weeks, tripped a breaker in my brain, and completely zapped my interest in gaming since late May. Like, almost nothing. Just some co-op gameplay with my nephew.

Burn-out isn't uncommon for me, but it's pretty extreme this time lol. I've chosen to use this period to focus on self-betterment. We actually have a home gym now!

@nessisonett Yeah, the Untold remakes sound more their speed. Lots of story/character interaction/etc. Not as much my thing, tbh, as I think the sense of mystery, isolation, and self-determined progression is critical to the unique atmosphere of these games, but they're pretty good. Particularly the remake of the second one.

EO5 is really good as well... probably the best of the classic-style games (the first two, specifically, which don't have overworlds). It also has this fun little feature which adds bits of emergent narrative to the dungeon exploration, in the vein of a tabletop RPG.

Nexus... eh. It's skippable, IMO.

@Ralizah haha I understand. Getting over those initial feelings, even though they were super positive, and having that short break really helped me enjoy the game more overall.

I realised I contradicted myself when I said I wasn’t bored then that the temples were a drag, I suppose I blanked those out, it’s been a couple of months since I did the first ones. For some reason on reflection I didn’t enjoy the wind and water temples much. The fire and lightning temples, and everything after were much better.

@kyleforrester87 having not bought the game, but come close a couple of times, I would have thought the biggest drag is that they used the same map as BOTW. I know it’s Nintendo, so they’ll do clever things to turn that into positive, but still… I mean, I played through BOTW twice, I really don’t feel like going back to the same map. Isn’t it dragged back by lack of originality, or have I missed something?

@Wesker good to hear from you, hope life is treating you well. I hear the concern - I would say that I played BOTW 6 years ago, and while I remember the gist of it there’s no way I can recall full detail of layout, green hills are just green hills… maybe I’m a bit simple, but I haven’t found it repetitive, especially factoring in all the new stuff. I’d love to say you’d have the same experience I’ve had but who knows, it really could be a deal breaker for you. I think if you enjoyed BOTW enough to play through it twice it’s worth the money and time investment though, you might end up really loving it.

@kyleforrester87 yes thanks. I hope that you and yours are in good health and enjoying life. I just got obsessed with FIFA for a while, and before that was Ellen Ring, so I haven’t really been nosying around new games for a while. I think you’ve helped to convince me to give TOTK a whirl though! I was looking for a more personal recommendation so cheers for that. Hopefully it will live alongside my pantheon of Zelda greats like OOT, Twilight Princess and BOTW. And not get cast aside like Majoras Mask, the one on the GC with the boat, or Skyward Sword.

@Wesker nice, let me know how it goes - only if you like it though, I’ll feel bad if you don’t haha. I think you could feel the repetition a little once you’re on the surface but hopefully it’s a short lived downer as there is lots and lots of fresh stuff to do.

I decided to alternate Etrian Odyssey games with Ace Attorney in preparation for that new collection with the Apollo Justice games. Having beaten the first Ace Attorney again, I’ve never appreciated how good Rise from the Ashes was until now. I think it was always just very long and the DS version really did my head in with the gimmicks that didn’t fully work. The Switch version though takes away the annoying gimmicks (other than the Blue Badger puzzle) and it stands up as one of the most well thought out cases in the game. You get a real sense that the witnesses, victims, defendants etc all belong to the same police and prosecutorial community compared to some cases later in the series. It’s also one of the few times in the series that you basically work together with Edgeworth, a dynamic that I really wish was used more often as it feels good to come to the conclusions at the same time as the opposing counsel.

@kyleforrester87 Water Temple sucks. Wind Temple has a cool theme, but isn't very interesting in terms of gameplay (which, tbh, applies to the Temple boss as well). Lightning Temple is decent, but it's so murky and sandy that it's difficult to enjoy. I didn't get to the Fire Temple before stopping.

I actually prefer the Divine Beasts in BotW, tbh, since I found the concept of manipulating the orientation of the dungeons to be neat, and I found the build-ups to said dungeons to be more interesting.

Also, Korok puzzles are worse in TotK. Almost all I find now are these hideous fetch quest ones where you have to drag them over to their buddies.

Most gameplay aspects of TotK are an improvement over BotW, though. It has the most addictive open world to explore I've ever seen in a video game. I just wish the scripted stuff was better. Kinda hoping everything after the Temples makes up for those a bit.

@nessisonett Definitely. It's absolutely longer than it needs to be, but I've never understood why it's not more loved than it currently is. The epic scope and self-contained nature of the case makes it feel different from anything that came after it, and Gant is one of the most compelling Big Bads in the series. Utterly larger-than-life, but in terms of how the story pans out, also one of the most believable villains in the series to date.

Although tbh after the first game Edgeworth reappears almost exclusively to help you, with the exception of Mia's flashback cases in T&T.

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.

Gonna try and get back into playing my Switch! I watched (and really enjoyed) The Super Mario Bros. Movie, so I’m currently in the mood to play Super Mario Odyssey. After I’ve beaten that I’ll move onto Metroid Prime Remastered or The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. I also have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing: New Horizons to play on the side.

Plenty to keep me busy!

@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.

@KilloWertz I’ll be back playing them both soon! I go through phases. One minute I really want to get back into gaming on my Switch, the next it’ll be all about the PS3.

@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.

Thinking about taking advantage of the two games for £84 voucher. Two games for just £16 more than a new PS5 game seems like a really good deal. Trouble is deciding what games to get! There are so many amazing ones to choose from. I think Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is locked in, but I can’t decide what to get for the second game. I’m leaning towards Pikmin 4.

@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 The vouchers are really the only way I buy first party Switch games! Though I don't think comparing game prices for a last-gen console to a current gen console is completely fair, though.

Get Xenoblade and a pre-order for Super Mario RPG. That way you won't be persuaded to play something else while going through XBC's long playthrough, and when you're finished you won't have to wait long to play the remake of one of the best games ever made.