Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@PikPi I found Xenoblade 2's gorgeous art style carried the somewhat low-ish resolution in docked mode. Although, if you have a 4K set, I imagine it doesn't look great.

Handheld mode can get downright hideous, unfortunately.

Still one of my favorite games on the system, though.

@Ralizah Bummer to hear about handheld mode, but yeah my 4k TV definitely isn't doing it favors. That said, the music alone is enough to get me to keep playing, let alone the legacy of the developers themselves. Definitely already see myself loving it more than X

If anyone has Realm Royale... let me know. Looking to play with others.

@PikPi It's easily my favorite game in the series. Awesome music, fun characters, an increasingly engaging plot, and, while field skill walls are a nuisance early on, once I began nurturing a large stable of blades and really got into filling out the affinity charts of my rare blades, they became a non-issue for the most part. Like Xenoblade X, there's a LOT of incentive to explore and revisit areas.

One of the biggest QoL changes early on for me was having dedicated healing skills, and especially blades that focused on healing. I HATED relying on soul voices to heal early on in Xenoblade X.

Oh, and be sure to nab Torna at some point if you enjoy the main game. In some ways, it's even better, and possibly the best DLC expansion I've ever played.

What PC games did you binge, by the way?

@Ralizah btw, continuing our conversation about suspense horror...have you played Crafted World yet? I was kind of stunned for a Yoshi game to have a legit horror level. Well...legit....nothing graphic, the enemies are just "sackboys" with axes....but the atmosphere/music combined with jump scares.....it was almost too much for me My pulse was pounding the whole level and I couldn't wait for it to be over....it's one level I won't go back to 100% just because it was so unpleasant. Nothing graphic in there....and technically the suspense wasn't very suspenseful...but it hit on all my horror element triggers all the same.....even if it's freaking Yoshi in a cardboard world. I can take Doom 2016 all day easier than that, somehow. (Even in VR!)

@Ralizah I doubt much of anything on Switch looks great on a 4K TV. Base PS4/X1 would suck enough at 1080p, but at least it has decent AA. Everything on Switch forgoes most AA. Looks fine at 1080 and great handheld, but on a 4k screen that would be unpleasant without decent video processing in the TV or AVR.

@PikPi I didn't find XC2 as ugly as Ralizah did, handheld. I went into it intending to play mostly handheld and expected the worst after Ralizah braced me for it, but ultimately I didn't find handheld to really look any worse than on the big screen. Sure, if you do side by side it's worse, but otherwise, it's in such a way taht either handheld doesn't look bad to me, or big screen really doesn't look great to me. I suspect more the latter

@NEStalgia I haven't, but I did watch footage of a level where a bunch of Shy Guys were running after Yoshi with knives. And, well, Shy Guy looks like chibi Jason Voorhees to begin with, so it was a little weird for such a cutesy game. That level you described sounds pretty bizarre, though. What was it called? I want to look it up online.

@PikPi Well, don't take my word on handheld mode. Here's a set of comparison screenshots I took between docked and handheld for Xenoblade 2. Full screen it to really see how drastic the difference is. Keep in mind that this is about as good as the game ever looks in handheld mode, and frequently looks quite worse.

@Ralizah, that Yoshi level is "Be Afraid of the Dark".

@Ralizah RR529 has it right. "Be Afraid of the Dark".....way more horror proper than the Shy Guys with knives...that wasn't really notable. Nor is the (fun) haunted house level. This level is a really weird fit for a Yoshi game. Not that it's "real" horror by any means, but it intentionally plays to the "real horror" tropes to a level you would not expect in a cute "kids" game. Even if it's "kawaii horror"

I tiptoed from beginning to end and may or may not have had more expletives out of raw suspense than the producers planned.

I still need to get back into torna at some point

Ha I loved that level. I'm not a fan of horror but for some reason I really like minor horror elements in otherwise cute/family-friendly games/films/etc. It's very near the end of the game so if you're interested in playing it you might not want to spoil it for yourself by watching videos of it.

Just gotta say that Gunlord X is 100% dope. Run n’ gun 64-bit action at its finest.

Playing through Pato Box. It's an unusual blend of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and 3D adventure game. With a soundtrack that feels as though it belongs in a more futuristic setting like Tron or something. Definitely "swimmin' in 7s", it isn't an award-winner but it is interesting and enjoyable.

I've been having too much fun revisiting Classicvanias recently. Curse of the Moon was fantastic, but going back to the much tougher Classicvanias really reinforced my love for Castlevania. Being able to play Bloodlines on handheld is really awesome.

@EvilLucario I'm enjoying every second of it myself. Played thru the adventure, super castlevania, bloodlines , and I'm at the end of kid Dracula. After this ill play belmonts revenge and play thru the original trilogy. This collection is a must own on switch

I’m disappointed. I expected there to be rampant speculation about the eShop and online services undergoing maintenance right now. But nary a word. Think of the lost clicks!!

@HobbitGamer haha I was actually cursing the screen a couple hours ago. I was going to enter an eshop card I had but NOOOOOOO maintenance and such

Final 2 Mario Tennis Aces characters confirmed: Fire Piranha Plant and Dry Bowser.

Smash 3.1.0 update features Labo VR support.

@Grumblevolcano Seriously? VR for... Smash? How the heck is that supposed to work?

The Nintendo Way