Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

It keeps getting better and better, yust bought disgea 5

@JaxonH There really are. The Switch has been incomparable for me when it comes to one game after another that I want. It comes partly from actually having the money to buy them, but on no other console has there been such a consistent flow of games I want in my life. I've got more games on Switch than I have for several other consoles combined and that flow shows no sign of slowing down.

@Heavyarms55 Same here! The only console I have as many games for might be X1, but even that is largely due to 360/XBLA compatibility. I don’t include all the Games with Gold, since that’s sub-locked. I’ve even got a weeknight gaming routine that doesn’t get stale with Switch. Puzzle games only after 9pm (or I’ll stay awake), and yet I’ve got multitudes of my “sleepy, boring” puzzle games 😂

@Heavyarms55
It goes to show that there really is a market with a different taste than the mainstream. On PS4/X1/PC, every publisher focuses on mega budgets and realism. There are many other common traits, but those are the two that are absolutely unyielding. And while games that take that approach are perfectly valid (and wildly popular) they typically don’t do it for me. There’s quite a few 3rd party games I like, but most of them have a stylistic approach, aren’t mega-budget games, and the ones that are tend to be exceptions, even more so when they fall into both categories simultaneously.

Just looking at my Switch library, and the vast majority do not focus on realism. Sure, there’s a few, like Assassins Creed 3 Remastered and Dark Souls, but surprise surprise, those games never grabbed me. I like having them in case I’m in the mood but, if you check my playlist you’ll never see me having sunk 50-100 hours in one of those games. This is why Nintendo suits me so well. They make good games outside the realm of the overwhelming mainstream, and typically go with a stylistic approach rather than realism. And it seems most of the games that I am most interested in, are now coming to Switch. Not all, but the majority. It may not get the bulk of modern AAA games, but I’m not interested in the bulk of modern AAA games. The exclusives on Switch, those are largely my style.

And this year really is just non stop one after another. I used to say 3DS 2013 was the best year for me in gaming. With Fire Emblem Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion 2, DKC Returns, SMT IV, Pokemon and Mario & Luigi Dream Team, it was one heckuva year. But then came Switch 2017, with Zelda BotW, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon 2, ARMS, Fire Emblem Warriors and Mario Odyssey.

But this year, Switch 2019? Oh my, this year has them all beat by a catastrophic landslide. Mario Maker 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, DQ Builders 2, Fire Emblem Three Houses, God Eater 3, Astral Chain, Dragon Quest XI S, Ni No Kuni, Daemon X Machina, Zelda Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Pokémon Sword/Shield, DOOM Eternal, The Witcher 3, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, Spyro, Darksiders 1, 2 and Genesis, Monkey Ball, Resident Evil 0, 1, 4, 5 and 6, Civ VI expansions, Trials Rising, Town, Final Fantasy VII and IX, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo’s Dungeon, Dragon’s Dogma, Panzer Dragoon, Alien Isolation, Atelier Ryza, Torchlight II, Yooka-Laylee Impossible Lair, Samurai Showdown, Bulletstorm, Team Sonic Racing, Crash Racing, Assassins Creed 3, Cuphead, Bloodstained, Mortal Kombat XI, Collection of Mana, Unravel two...

Ive never experienced a year with so many gosh dang good games I actually want to play, much less on a system I truly love playing them on. If 2020 can repeat 2019 you’ll hear no complaints from Jax.

@JaxonH I think that the stylistic choice between hyper realism and, well, everything else, is largely related to power. If Nintendo made a deal with space aliens and packed as much power into the Switch as dedicated home systems, even a gaming PC, I imagine even many Nintendo games would probably go that route. But the Switch doesn't have the power to compete directly in that style, so instead it creatively uses the power it does have. And I am grateful for that.

Personally I have thought for years and years, going all the way back to Gamecube, PS2 era that aiming for realism limits visual creativity. It's in large part why I did not like the Detective Pikachu movie's art style. To me you just can do that alongside realistic looking people and things. The uncanny valley is too strong for me. As someone who likes anime and other 2D animation much more than Hollywood live action and someone who enjoys the creative visuals we get on Nintendo systems more than the hyper realism of Sony and MS, I guess I am very much in that different market you mentioned.

The Switch has such an outstanding library it's hard to list all the games I have, but the big hitters for me have been, in no particular order: BotW, Disgaea 5, Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade 2, Tales of Vesperia, Fire Emblem, Stardew Valley, Civ 6, Cities Skylines, Night in the Woods, Mario Kart 8DX, Splatoon 2, Wargroove, Golf Story, Octopath Traveller, Final Fantasy 7, 9, 10+10-2, and 12, Super Neptunia RPG, Nekopara 1-3, Steins;Gate Elite, Tetris 99, Valkaria Chronicles 4, all these account for less than half my total Switch library of I think more than 60 games now? I'd have to double check. At least 36 of which retail physical games.

I have played the Switch for at least a few minutes or as long as 10+ hours nearly every single day since launch. I don't think I've gone more than 2 days straight without playing it at least a little.

@JaxonH And when it comes to upcoming games that I absolute want still? Link's Awakening, Luigi's Mansion 3, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Dragon Quest comically long subtitle, and that's just off the top of my head.

Witch 3 still a big maybe. Really curious to hear how it runs on Switch because I've heard it had issues on much stronger hardware.

@Heavyarms55
All definite buys.

Curious though. No Astral Chain?

@JaxonH Doesn't look that interesting to me. I know a lot of people love Platinum Games but I found it hard to get into Bayonetta. I'd probably watch it as an anime though, the setting and story seem interesting enough though. Same with Bayonetta.

I wouldn't say it is about power when it comes to nintendo franchises. Most of their franchises harkens back to a time where they had the most powerful (or at least on par with others) console. "Realistic" is a stylistic choice, and have been used basically forever. Even some games on NES tried to be realistic. Nintendo likes the fantastical, it gives them more creative freedom and makes their games stand out more, for good and for bad.

@JaxonH Overall my tastes line up with that, although Dark Souls is overall like a completely fleshed out 3D Castlevania game, and those games have all sorts of non-realistic artstyles. Dark Souls in general, while having a more realistic artstyle, is still extremely rooted in old school, simplistic design that makes it really freaking addicting. If you like Castlevania, Dark Souls has a very similar vibe.

I don't think this is accurate, especially for PC. PC has a wide array of different styles and types of games thanks to its more open nature. In fact, most indies/nindies start there.

If you change it to "every big publisher" it is more accurate.

@EvilLucario
Ya, its not the best example since its more niche anyways and is genuinely good, based on solid gameplay. But it's what came to mind as a more realistic game in my collection.

PC gaming can pretty much be summed up by "Wait for Steam sale, it's bound to be insanely cheap within months of launch".

Well, yes.

But to be fair, you can say the same of most of the big publishers big titles regardless of platform. And steam sales are not as insane as they used to be.

I'm really pissed off because I picked up a switch like a month ago... And now this new revision just came out. sigh

@Lucarianzx
Thats a bummer indeed.
In waiting for a pro version

@Grumblevolcano That's true of PS4 as well. Especially for first-party games.

Within half a year or so of release, God of War sunk to $30 or less.

Just trade up. Would cost like $75-100 trading in at Gamestop, and that's a worst case option.

I'm selling my old one and upgrading to this bad boy here:

And this bad boy here:

@JaxonH Not every publisher focuses hyper-realism on PC/PS4/XB1. Sega (and Atlus) still has a number of non-realistic IPs (Persona 5, Sonic, Super Monkey Ball, Valkyria Chronicles), as does Bandai Namco (Tales, Digimon, Ni No Kuni) and Square Enix (Some Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts), etc.

Of course, those are all eastern developers... unsurprisingly.

@link3710
Well sure, obviously not every game, but it is the overwhelming focus and it is the focus of most exclusives. The entire point I was making is the ones that aren't like that, that I actually want, most of them are coming to Switch. So by saying the ones I'm interested in are also coming to Switch, by default that means they're also on other systems. So... ya. I never claimed the only games ever released in the history of other platforms is realistic AAA.

But it is the focus, and it is the approach most exclusives take. I can't think of a single Sony or MS exclusive I played through to completion all generation long aside from Infamous Second Son, and that was just due to being a new console and Wii U having nothing much to offer at the time (also The Last of Us, but again, early gen and one of the exceptions).

So while yes, other games exist, and I would have played the types of games that do interest me on other platforms in the past (such as in the Wii U era), and I did for many years as my shelf of X1 and PS4 games is rather extensive, I no longer need to as Switch has it all covered now, on top of having a robust exclusive lineup that, for the most part, caters directly to my style (party games aside). And that combo of exclusives that I like, plus the vast majority of multiplats I'm interested in, on a hybrid I prefer playing on, is a killer setup.