Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH Just being cautious of 3rd party reveals and release dates, more announcements of the scale of those 2K collections will go through my remaining memory space rather quickly. There's also still stuff we know exists but doesn't have a release date yet like DOOM Eternal.

@JaxonH As much as it absolutely angers me - I think piracy and emulators are the real reason Nintendo has largely given up on delivering retro content on Switch. I see more and more people just building raspberry pie devices or using emulators on high end PCs to run almost anything, with roms just downloaded off whatever site of the week people found.

I largely do understand your point about $19.99 a year and low chance of Wii or GC or N64 games on the service. I would argue that Nintendo should offer a tiered service. Pay more, get more. But NSO and VC seem like little more than afterthoughts to Nintendo.

It's quite the let down though, personally at least. The Switch would have been the ideal platform for me to have VC. I would have rebought all VC titles I had on Wii U and 3DS and a whole bunch more.

I feel it's a slippery slope they've fallen down, they don't want to compete with piracy, but they are so conservative with their releases that they are pushing more and more people to it. People like me, who want to do everything as legit as possible, are a dying breed.

@JaxonH Dude, you beat inferno!? On Switch? I don't think i beat it. Always got stuck near the end.

Geez, I didn't realize how good the... everything in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was. Just starting Chapter 5. Now I understand why the recent entries in the series have infuriated long-time fans so much. Every inch of TTYD is infused with personality, humor, and charm. This is the most well-written Nintendo game I've ever played.

If the rumor about a new Paper Mario is true, I hope it's more like this and less like the Toad-infested emptiness of recent Paper Mario games.

Yeah, its really a shame. I have to admit, at the time, despite loving the game I fell into backlash to the game's hype (though I was part of a small community focused on specifically Mario RPGs, so maybe that's why) and being more fond of the original made me annoyed at TTYD. In hindsight, this was profoundly stupid. And the original Paper Mario is still my favorite, but objectively TTYD does so many things so well, it's probably a masterpiece in some ways. And despite being a Mario game aimed at kids...yeah I hate to say it, but the writing is way better than most JRPGs. Like when I have to hear people try to tell me FFX's story is a masterpiece or Ni No Kuni...um...yeah, TTYD is so much better than that.

I never got the chance to play TTYD, but I do have the original paper mario on wii u. I only played it for a few hours. Reminds me, I should really go back to it at some point. Maybe during the summer switch drought, assuming there is one.

I love how unsanitized the script is. Every character (and boy, there are SO many unique NPCs in this, even putting aside the diverse cast of partner characters) is allowed to be exactly who they are, and so the characterizations feel authentic to that universe. This lends flavor and personality to every environment as well, which increases the sense that Mario and co. are going on a proper adventure. I can't count how many times I've actually started laughing when reading the dialogue. Everybody feels worth talking to in this game.

The plot is, well, not deeply complex, but for a Mario game of any sort it's surprisingly layered.

I had tried the first thirty minutes or so of Paper Mario N64 years ago before getting distracted and doing something else, but if the original has even a tenth of this sequel's personality, I'll absolutely be revisiting it sooner than later.

If any NSO users happen to have Japanese account knocking around, Nintendo have just announced that there’s going to be a wee....

A lot gets made about the difficulty, but really, it’s not ‘punishing’ is the same way as Dark Souls or certain other games beloved of the ‘git gud’ crowd. In fact, it’s one of the least ‘punishing’ games I’ve ever played, in terms of the cost of failure. There is no real ‘punishment’ for death; you just get to immediately try again, and the challenges are so satisfying and well crafted that this process of repeatedly dying and retrying is addictive and rewarding rather than frustrating.

If anyone has even a passing interest in platformers I’d recommend giving it a look.

I mean, it has plenty of personality, but I definitely wouldn't say to the degree of TTYD. It's a bit safer, maybe consider it like...the Ocarina of Time to TTYD's Majora's Mask in that regard. I guess.

@Ralizah Glad to see you're picking this up and loving it for the first time in 2020. TTYD is probably my favourite game on the Gamecube (and this is a console that was pretty much my gaming life during my teen years). There's so much potential in the series and it's really being missed by Nintendo at the moment...even just rereleasing TTYD would be a massive deal.

@WoomyNNYes
Yeah! Beat it on Switch Lite, actually. The final vertical is killer, but the key, I found, is to go very slowly up the wall (not too slow) and only press forward as a half lean. At the top use momentum to ride up into air and shift all your weight forward to get the front tire over the top. Prob have to land on your front tire and do an endo to get the rest of the bike over. But if you're playing Inferno V these are techniques you already know.

@Ralizah
TTYD is great. Only played the first few hours of it, but the characters' personality is what really makes that game special. I loved Goombella and Admiral Bobbery are legendary.

Yep, welcome to the club of annoyed former paper Mario fans. Even though at the time it was derided, I think even Super Paper Mario does a great job of retaining the quality writing, even thought he gameplay gets simplified.

After those games, it's been like following an expertly crafted meal with bland cardboard tasting fast food with Sticker Star, Paper Jam, and to a lesser extent Color Splash, which took teeny tiny steps back in the right direction

@TuVictus I'll go out on a limb and say Super Paper Mario had better writing than TTYD. Of course, TTYD just had so much more writing in general. But Super Paper Mario was wonderful in terms of dialogue, and the gameplay was genuinely fun and novel, even if it isn't the way I'd prefer any further games in the series to go.

But yeah, you can't really go wrong with any of the first three games, but TTYD is admittedly the one that fires on all cylinders and remains a must play masterpiece to this day.

@HunterLeon Yeah, this game actually still looks great! The panning shots of big 3D models look pretty clean today compared to pretty much anything else I can think of from 2004. The environments and models are all vibrant and pretty looking, too. Literally all Nintendo would need to do to sell it for full price in 2020 is give it the barest of remastering treatments, because it has aged so well otherwise.

@TuVictus @link3710 Sounds like I'll need to pick up Super Paper Mario sooner than later, then. The writing is the big appeal for me, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by how this game has actual dungeons with puzzles in them, too.

@JaxonH I'd started the first hour or two a few years back and wasn't really getting it, but once I was well into that first chapter, it really started to click. I don't know if this will topple REmake, but it's well on its way to being my second favorite GameCube game.

@kkslider5552000 I think I get you. Majora's Mask took the foundation of Ocarina of Time and improved on it in almost every regard with deeper writing, a more atmospheric setting, actually good side-quests, etc. So these two games are likely similar. The way sequels of any kind should be, honestly:

Given this is almost universally regarded as the best game in the series, I'll try to keep my expectations in check with the rest of the OG trilogy. Shouldn't be too difficult, though: just being clever and engaging and having an actual not-annoying RPG battle system would put them over Sticker Star and likely other modern PM games for me.

@Ralizah
Did you ever play F-Zero GX? I grew up on F-Zero [SNES] and F-Zero X [N64]. I played F-Zero X to an unhealthy degree. That game, Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Goldeneye were my only 4 N64 games as a kid. I put in enough hrs to break 4 world record times in Mario Kart 64 posted in Gamepro Magazine (21.92 seconds for Wario Stadium, world record was 22.0). F-Zero X, had those tracks memorized.

So when GX released on the Cube it felt like the future. I wasn't really into gaming but my brother was, and he showed me F-Zero GX, which blew me away. The graphics were mindblowing at the time. Also showed me Metroid Prime 1/2, which I watched him play for 8-10 hrs a day every single day from start to finish- I was actually having dreams about the Ing I spent so much time watching. That made me go buy a $99 Silver GameCube with Metroid Prime and Prime 2. And F-Zero GX. I still believe GX is the best racer ever made, but it was too difficult. That was it's only flaw.

Paper Mario Thousand Year Door looks great running on Wii U via backward compatibility (a simple vWii mod let's it run GameCube games, with a Pro Controller, output in 1080p and widescreen). That game uses super crisp HD assets for all the text boxes, so it looks phenomenal even without rendering at higher res. In Dolphin it's even better.

Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 Echoes, F-Zero GX, Paper Mario Thousand Year Door, Zelda Windwaker, Zelda Twilight Princess and Fire Emblem Path of Radiance are some of the best video games ever made, imo. And Baten Kaitos Origins, Baten Kaitos Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean are good, low-key scoops on the Cube. I hear Eternal Darkness is good too. Pikmin and Pikmin 2 are excellent (but I cant stand playing without motion- Pikmin 3 is the definitive Pikmin experience). There's actually a ton of good GameCube stuff I need to get back to. You're making me want to play Thousand Year Door now 😁

@Ralizah Fair warning: Super Paper Mario is a platformer rather than an RPG. Partners were reworked to be more generic and just give you different abilities, but in exchange, you get an actual party of well-defined and well-written playable characters instead of just Mario. Also it's significantly weirder and darker. It's... very different, but still quite good. A lot of people hate it for being more of a spinoff than a main series title though, but it's probably better to think of it as a standalone title than part of the original trilogy.

@JaxonH Just saying, if they gave Geist a bit of TLC, fixed up the bugs and brought the controls to modern standards I'd pick that one up in a heartbeat too. Though I'm probably the only one. Pikmin 1&2 had the releases on Wii too though that are basically the definitive versions of them, given they have motion. Easily the versions to play if you've got a Wii U. And I've got to throw in Chibi-Robo as another one worth playing any day.

@Ralizah I think I’m in the Paper Mario is the best GameCube camp. Wonderful game - the writing really surprised me and the battle system is great.

I actually think it might be the best time I’ve ever had with a JRPG (Even if I think there are better JRPGs). It felt at the time like it could almost have been an Earthbound sequel.

@JaxonH there’s always the Wii versions of Pikmin 1 & 2 with motion controls. I think Pikmin 2 might just tip Pikmin 3 personally...

@StuTwo
Ya, the problem with Pikmin 1 and 2 New Play Control! is they don't look very good on Wii U. On Dolphin they're better but I'm not set up to use a Wiimote with Dolphin. Already have a Wii U IR sensor above the TV, PS camera below, used to have Occulus Rift sensors on left and right, and didnt want to deal with the battery operated one for PC, which also needed changing every 10 hrs of gameplay. If only there was a splitter that plugged into both the Wii U and PC via USB so either would power it. Really dont wanna have to turn on the Wii U just to power the dang thing when playing on Dolphin.

But ya. The other Pikmin games are great, if played in the right format. I haven't gotten that far in either though. Would love to binge out on the first two some day.

I might watch a Let’s Play of Colour Splash one of these days, as both the aesthetic and the writing are (from my brief experience with the game) pretty damn good. It’s just a pity that making the fundamental game mechanicals fundamentally un-fun resulted in a game better watched that actually played.

I think Nintendo has a gold mine of Gamecube games, shame that only a very limited quantity of games have made the jump over to newer consoles. A few got "New Play Control" versions for Wii, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess got remasters on Wii U to make up for BotW's long development time and the final release was Luigi's Mansion ported to 3DS.

I do think it's interesting though how Nintendo has changed from "Gamecube is a failure, let's ignore its existence" to "Wii U is a failure, let's port everything to the successful Switch".