Topic: The Switch Arcade Community Thread

@monkeyspasm Well that explains that. The game finished downloading and I tried to access the Switch eShop through the game in order to buy a Table Pack, it came back with an error code. Went to the eShop and I didn't see it on the release list anymore. I went to my wishlist and it was still there, thankfully. I clicked it and was able to buy Table Pack 1 through the listing. Whew!

@meppi64 yes I see most PSP games being listed dirty cheap, and coming from GBA gaming (were price are skyrocketing) I'm very glad. Besides I really love PSP, I've got a thing for portable consoles ant this one holds a special place in my (gaming) heart. Lots of good jrpg, great exclusives (Patapon ranks amongst my all-time favourite games!), both visually stunning and retro-looking titles… this little wonder had it all. I've had a blast with Ridge Racers back then, that's a game I'll definitely grab again one day or the other. Other games I enjoyed back then were Disgaea, FfVII crysis core, prinny, loco roco (what a game) . Don't have any WipeOut still, but if I'll ever get em I'll give you a shout for the DLC... Cheers!
While we're talking about Ys, do you know anything about Ys games on PSP? I see there are quite a few and you seems to be a fan of the franchise... I've never played any so any insight will be more than welcome.

I was wondering the same thing. I had assumed PRE-HISTORIC ISLE, P.O.W etc. may come to Switch via Hamster Arcade Archives. Unless of course, Hamster ends up being involved in this SNK Arcade collection set?

Regarding PSPs or Vitas. Mandatory purchases: both the Capcom arcade collections - CAPCOM CLASSICS COLLECTION RELOADED & CAPCOM CLASSICS COLLECTION REMIXED (several great games including CAPTAIN COMMANDO, KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND, 1942, STRIDER and even really early Capcom like PIRATE SHIP HIGEMARU). You can get them digitally off PSN.

The SEGA Mega Drive Collection.

Love to have these arcade collections redone for Switch

Here's what's on the PSP/Vita Capcom collections.

Capcom Classics Collection Remixed:
1941: Counter Attack
Avengers
Bionic Commando
Black Tiger
Block Block
Captain Commando
Final Fight
Forgotten Worlds
Last Duel
Legendary Wings
Magic Sword
Mega Twins
Quiz & Dragons
Section Z
Side Arms: Hyper Dyne
The Speed Rumbler
Street Fighter
Strider
Three Wonders
Varth

And

Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded:
1942
1943
1943 Kai
Commando
Eco Fighters
Exed Exes
Ghosts'n Goblins
Ghouls'n Ghosts
Super Ghouls'n Ghosts
Gun.Smoke
The King of Dragons
Knights of the Round
Mercs
Pirate Ship Higemaru
SonSon
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Street Fighter II′: Champion Edition
Street Fighter II′ Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Vulgus

Read over on the NL post about SNK Arcade collection, in the comments section, that some people have already bought a lot of the games on PSP?! I must have totally slept on that. What SNK Arcade games did they release for PSP? Are they still on PSN?

@RetroGamerAndrew The only one on PSP that I've put a good amount go time in so far is Ys VII.
But you shouldn't worry about picking up a lesser Ys game on PSP as all of the releases on there are really good. Ys 1 & 2 Chronicles is a remake of the original 2 games and play much closer to the originals compared to the other games on PSP. It's not a bad thing though, just different.
Starting with Ark of Napishtim the gameplay became a bit more arcade like. Much more action based.
The battle system got expanded in Oath in Felghana and in Ys 7 they went all out and the battles got even deeper with changeable characters, quite a bit of different moves and such. Really, really fun to play, coupled with a traditional RPG and great atmosphere.
Ys 8 will be more of the same like 7 from what I played of it, and I'm totally fine with that.
Battle systems in RPGs can be really hit or miss and I thought that in an action RPG you'd have very little options and things would be pretty much like either a Secret of Mana style game or Tales, but this one is completely different, and I have to say, I prefer it to the others.

@Lroy
Those were all released as Playstation Mini's. They are still up on the shop I think, although you'll have to download them via a PS3 if I'm not mistaken as the PSP shop itself has been taken down.
So I'm not even sure if that will still work, or of these are now only playable on PS3 and perhaps Vita.
Sony made a bit of a mess with all of that. :-/
Here's a list of every single mini game released, just search for SNK, and you'll see a bunch of them in the list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_minis

And yeah, that Capcom Collection Remixed is nuts!
Captain Commando, Final Fight, 1941, Three Wonders and Varth alone are reason enough to pick that one up.

btw, the South Park game for Switch is on Amazon UK for £35 at the moment. No idea if that will remain the price as most other shops have it for full price... Might be a good idea to preorder just in case for anyone interested.

Just think of a clock face!

@RetroGamerAndrew
Adding to what @meppi64 said about Ys on PSP, they are all definitely reccomended (i have all the PSP-released Ys games). VI (Ark of Napishtim) might be the best place to start, since i believe it was the first PSP-ported Ys game that they did (not sure if Chronicles was released earlier) — the subsequent releases refine the controls, gameplay, combat, etc. so if you play it after the other games, it feels like a step back. Also, in general VI is (IMO) one of the "lesser" entries in the series (it's still a great game, no doubt).

Of course, if you're relatively new to the series, Chronicles should probably be the first game to play, even though the Ys series games are all (for the most part) independent from each other in terms of story. All you really need to know going into any of them is that Adol is awesome, and anytime he takes a boat ride, he's gonna end up shipwrecked.

Ys VII takes things in a slightly-different direction, by having a large roster of playable characters that you swap back and forth with depending on what type of area you are in or what type of enemies you are fighting. It can seem daunting at first (especially when you have a full roster), but it quickly becomes second nature.

And while i am biased, i have to say that Oath in Felghana (a complete remake of Ys III) is the best of the bunch. Amazing gameplay and some of the best music in any video game, period. If you only play one Ys game ever, that is definitely the one to play.

@the_shpydar @meppi64 thank you guys, lot of useful info. Cheers!

@BalloonFighter I believe you. It was a long time ago, but I honestly can't remember firing at 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock directons. Only half past one!

@masterLEON Can I please ask you how much the Table Pack was and what are your fave tables out of the pack?

@meppi64 Ah I see. No wonder I slept on them then. Think I bought like 3 PSMinis in total and forgot entirely about them even being a platform, lol!

All this RPG talk has made me face my big gaming blind spot once again.

Ready. Okay... aside from FIRE EMBLEM, I don' think I have played a significant amount of any proper modern RPG in my life. Hell, I haven't even gone very far in 'retro' RPGs like FINAL FANTASY, PHANTASY STAR or EARTHBOUND. Ditto action RPGs like MASS EFFECT, ZELDA, Bethesda titles. All played for less than a couple of hours each ☺️

The few I have tried for longer than a few hours, have invariably been of the turn-based, strategy variety.

I can appreciate that I'm probably depriving myself of some of the greatest joys to be had in gaming. I think the biggest worry for me about the genre is how long and complex these games appear to an outsider. I've just never found one that stuck other than FIRE EMBLEM and always failed to find the time in my limited leisure time to give to an RPG.

However, with the dawn of the Switch perhaps this could be the time for me to give this mammoth gaming genre another try?

Would Ys? Be your suggestion or perhaps another?

I do have access to PSVita, PS3, DS, 3DS, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Steam and emulation of the 8-bit, 16-bit systems but my fear is it ideally needs to be on Switch to offer me the greatest likelihood of playing it to a decent amount.

@Lroy Well now.. I do enjoy a good rpg! There is nothing like a good story told through excellent gaming mechanics and having an impact on improving your character skills. However you do have to commit a certain amount of your gaming time to get any sense of progression. Few hours just won't do. But the nomadic nature of the Switch does make this process much easier than ever before.
The late few years gifted us with masterpieces such as the PS4 exclusive Persona 5 and the multi platform The Witcher 3.
I have managed to put in 170hours into Zelda on switch, that's not counting the two DLC which I have not put purchased yet. I have enjoyed every single minute of it.
I am currently in the midst of my first Skyrim playthrough which still remains a RPG staple title to this day and indeed an incredible port. I have not yet given to Xenoblade 2.
Loved Persona Golden 4 on ps vita, another fantasy title.
If we were ever to get long waited virtual console, then I would definitely get 16bit gems such as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3, secret of mana/ervermore, super MArio Rpg, Zelda link to the past, Earthbound etc.. And I am also not mentioning all the other previous Zelda titles that have been released to this day.
Also keep an eye on the release date for Undertale which is coming to switch (eventually!). I have yet to play that one and looking forward to it!

@Lroy I know what you mean about RPG games. I absolutely love them, but I always get sidetracked since they tend to be really long.
And as I'm playing one for weeks on end or ven months, inevitably something comes around that distracts me and I find it hard to go back after a while since I tend to forget where I was and what I should be doing.
And most of the time how it played as well. lol
My personal favourites are Lunar 1 and 2 and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Since they aren't super long, I easily finished these. Then again, even if they were much longer, I'm pretty sure I would have finished them anyway.

As for SRPGs, I loved Vandal Hearts 1 on PSone. Actually finished that one as well.
Love the Disgaea games but never finished one. Really happy to have Disgaea 5 on Switch even though I already played quite a bit on PS4 before.

I found out thanks to the Vita (Persona 4) and 3DS (way too much games to mention) that I prefer my RPGs on a portable, so yeah, the Switch is a Godsent in that regard.
Really excited for Valkyria Chronicles 4 since it's really unique and adds that tactical layer that I love.

As for recommendations.
I really love Xenoblade 2. I think I'm about 60 hours into it, which I did most of during the first 3 weeks.
Really need to get back to it, but the systems exploded and way too much games came out for it...
The thing is, Xenoblade is quite intimidating, from the scope of the game, especially when you get pulled into wanting to do all the side quest, but also the battle system.
It seems really tough, but you get eased into all the systems nicely, so it doesn't end up being a problem.

Right now I'm playing Atelier Lydia & Suelle.
But I don't know if I should recommend this game or not.
It's a very niche series and I can't promise if you'd love it or hate it.
It's super casual until you get deep into the alchemy stuff, that's when it can become really complex.
It's a very relaxing game though, which is why I love it.
Technically not the best, and that's putting it mildly. Graphics and geometry are very basic and a bit rough at, as is animation. But the design actually makes up for it when you can look past the technical issues.
It's kind of beautiful in it's own way.
The music is the high point though, that always seems top-notch in Atelier games.
So if you have one on PS+ for free, or can find a super cheap copy to try out, I'd give it a shot. But paying full price without knowing what you're in for would perhaps be a mistake as you might come away super disappointed.
Again, I really like it though. You can tell that there's a lot of heart put into the games, even though they don't get a decent budget or have the best technical skill backing them.

Ys 8 will probably be an easy choice.
It's not a super deep RPG, but more of a classical one, something few companies besides Falcom can seem to pull off these days.
The combat makes it easy to keep returning to it since it's now so action based and actually feels a bit like a brawler.
It just has that special something that you don't find anymore, or very scarcely at least.

@Lroy You linked two reasons why you liked Tengai. I think you will find plenty of reasons for liking Xenoblade 2

@the_shpydar That's awesome and I sure have a lot of untouched Ys goodness to look forward to. One thing that I think is special about the series is that while each game is a self contained, stand alone story, they all take place in the same world with recurring characters and the games all seem to reference each other. That being said, you can play the games in any order and the more games you play, the more you enjoy them. For example, when I got to Darm Tower in Ys 1, it took me a moment but I lost my mind when I realized the music was a remixed version of Ys Origin. Granted, Ys Book 1 & 2 was a 1989 game and Ys Origin was 2006, but that's the order I played the games so that was my experience. It's a series that has a cannon but there's no wrong order to play the games.

@Lroy Where to start with RPGs? I'd say Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 4 (2 U.S. on SNES.) They are both pretty short for a 90's RPG- about 15 hours if you know where you're going, but can be 30ish hours if you go in blind and don't look for help online. The characters, music and world of both are incredible. My favorite RPG of all time is Final Fantasy 6 (3 SNES) but that game is quite a bit longer and at a certain point in the game it breaks wide open and does not hold your hand at all. The award for best turn based battle system goes to Grandia. Grandia 2 on Dreamcast is probably the easiest to get into and it's also available on PS2 and PC. There isn't as much customization as the original, but it's short and easy. Took me about 25 hours last time I played it and never saw a game over screen. Best writing/translation goes to Working Designs for their work on Lunar Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete. I never played the originals on Sega CD/Mega CD, but the PS1 remakes are beautiful, funny and once again I love the characters. I guess the most important thing for me in an RPG is characters. That explains why I stopped playing Lost Sphear after 4 hours because I didn't care about any of the characters. Persona 5 was my first Persona and that's also an all time favorite of mine. I wouldn't recommend it to someone just getting started on RPGs as that's a 100+ hour game, but there's no filler material there. Keep it on your radar if you decide to really get into RPGs. Ditto for Xenoblade 2. It's incredible, but it's a time sink. Of course I'd say get Ys VIII. It's closer to a pre-BOTW Zelda game where your progress is gated by the tools you acquire and where you're at in the story. Took me about 55 hours to 100% it on PS4 last September and I'm double dipping day 1 on Switch so that should tell you something. Finally, if (when) the Megadrive collection comes to Switch, Phantasy Star 4 and Shining Force 1 & 2 are great. That's what I've got for now. RPG has been my favorite genre since Final Fantasy 7 and I've been playing RPGs since Dragon Warrior (Quest) on NES and I've always wanted to go back and play them all. Obviously there's no time for that. Those are my top picks off the top of my head and I hope it helps. I need to go read everyone else's posts now.

@meppi64 You like Lunar, you are a good person. End of story. I also will give a +1 for Vandal Hearts, especially for a newcomer to strategy RPGs. I just played it for the first time last year and the mechanics were simple and frankly I thought the game was easy. The graphics don't hold up, but show me a 3D 1996 PS1/Saturn game that does haha. Fun game. I also loved Disgaea 5 on Switch. I recently beat the main story and I've done many item world runs in handheld. A perfect fit for Switch. I heard a D1 remake and D6 will be coming to Switch. I also pre-ordered Valkyria Chronicles 4 on Switch and I just started VC Remastered on PS4 a couple days ago and I like it so far.

Wow, loads of RPGs suggestions for me to start with, my head is spinning, lol! I think I need to stick to Switch RPGs, just as a means to narrow it down for me. And like I said, give myself the best chance to actually get a ways into the content.

I hadn't realised this Ys game coming to Switch had already been released for PS4. It is probably worth me taking a look at some let's plays and video reviews to see how I take to it.

Or perhaps, I might be closer to my tastes by picking up that 'Battle Chasers' game and the Banner Saga titles? Or do they not count as RPGs. Actually, forgot CHILD OF LIGHT was one of my favourite games on Vita. That had a very cool battle system. I think inspired by the aforementioned Gradia?

@Lroy Child of Light is a great game and yes its battle system is inspired by Grandia.