Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH actually is the second time playing a Monster Hunter game, one of my cousins bought me a Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate when he went to New York.

No, there's Timewyrm & Calasmos, @theJGG... It's highly unlikely you'd manage either of those under level 60, with the best gear & knowing what you're doing

@BruceCM My thoughts exactly. I started a new playthrough a few weeks ago and I'm at Gallopolis now. Level 12, and doing some quests. Might just try and beat Calasmos, it'll serve as a precursor to the rage Demon's Souls will induce.

Just began playing Monkey Barrels. It's a twin stick shooter from the developer of Yoshi's Crafted World, Good Feel. Probably their b-team or side project...or something. It's nothing spectacular but it's as entertaining as Assault Android Cactus or Riddled Corpses Ex.

I look forward to hearing more about their "unnamed samurai action game" next year.

@theJGG I was referring to the final boss of the main story not postgame, kept getting unlucky situations with the 2nd phase but some of the skills I obtained with skill points after the level ups made the battle easy. Currently going through the postgame trials.

@Grumblevolcano Last year I tried doing Calasmos just to see how I'd hold up post-game and got absolutely obliterated. It was a very embarrassing moment as a gamer, so I went and deleted my save and started anew. One day I'll beat him but I'm not sure how long I'll have to grind. Noticed with Ni no Kuni too, DQ can be pretty grindy, and despite not minding much, over time you do begin to develop self-awareness and realise "wait, why am I defeating these enemies over and over again?!"

Did you see the Switch sales in Japan last week? There was like 1 PS4 game (at #24 or something) in the whole top 30, rest were Switch! Unbelievable. (Next week should be even stronger!)

@GrailUK i saw the sale results, Switch have been dominating Japan and USA since the release of Super Smash Bros Ultimate and will continue that way, Animal Crossing New Horizons helped Switch keep his momentum going.

My wife got me Age of Calamity for Christmas! Woo! That's really all I wanted haha Was gonna have to buy it myself if she didn't pick up on my rather loud hints.

My brother also got me Captain Toad, which was a nice little surprise. I did play it on the Wii U, and I loved it so much and was considering getting it for the Switch for another playthrough. I don't remember if the 3D world levels were included in the Wii U version, though. If not, that's a nice little addition to get some new levels.

Hints along the, 'oh, have you heard about that Age of Calamity game? Yeah, I'm hoping to get that soon', @rallydefault ....? Heh, fortunately, people I know would rather just ask what I want, it's easier than guessing

@GrailUK
It was like 250k Switches sold vs 15k PS5’s, with 29 of the top 30 best sellers on Switch. And the only game in the top 30 that wasn’t a Switch game was Cyberpunk (PS4- 28th) which... has been delisted.

Any Japanese developers who aren’t currently considering Switch for their games are straight up whiffing, be it by obstinance or ignorance.

@JaxonH Wait till we hear about the US sales! The NPD dude thinks it has outdone his most optimistic estimate! Don't won't to disappoint anyone, but I can't see a Switch Pro being announced anytime soon.

@GrailUK
We do have some reasonably convincing evidence a new model is coming (not least of which is DuskGolem, the Capcom leaker who told us about MH Rise being announced soon and on RE Engine, among numerous other leaks, who says a new model is indeed coming), but if we were to judge off sales alone, I agree, it seems Switch is on fire right now.

The thing is, in the past, Nintendo always waited for hype to die down before refreshing, at which point... it was too late. Once the gamership at large loses interest, it’s hard to turn heads again. I think they might be taking a page from PS/Xbox playbook and refreshing while the iron is hot in order to ensure that momentum isn’t lost.

That said, it wouldn’t surprise me if the refresh came later than I originally anticipated. Holiday 2021, for example. Because at that point, Switch would be nearly 5 years old. And that might be enough to carry them for the remaining 2-3 years. Having said that, I think “pro” is a horrible moniker. This isn’t PS4. They’re not gonna do a “pro”. They’ll likely just do a die shrink and this time, instead of those gains being funneled all towards battery life, since battery life is now sufficient, it’ll go toward a minor performance bump, enough to iron out some frame rates and keep dynamic resolutions from tanking.

So in a way, I agree. I can’t see a “pro” being announced any time soon, or ever for that matter. But a refresh with marginal gains like v2? That’s all but confirmed. And I really did think they were going to release it to tie in with Monster Hunter Rise (and they still might, who can say) but I’m more leaning toward late 2021 now, given the rampage Switch has been on. No need to rush it.

@JaxonH Hey, the day I can upgrade my Switch, I'll do it like a nervous twitch! With the state of play at the mo, I would think a later in the year release would be better (although, March would be lovely haha). Whether they cynically delayed games under the cover of Covid / Animal Crossing or not, they have one hell of a software line up for 2021. And games sell hardware. Surely a couple of them could be 'launch games' for a PRO.

I also saw the phrase Switch Advanced doing the rounds. I have to say, I love this name. Hope it's available in purple ^^

I already upgraded to a v2 Switch earlier this year but as soon as they release another new model, I won't hesitate to upgrade again. Even small improvements tend to be a pretty good investment when I'm spending several hours a day playing the system.

Oooh, Switch Advanced, @GrailUK ....? Is that going to have a remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, then!? I'm sure I can come up with plenty of GBA games that'd be nice to see on there, too!

@BruceCM I know right! WarioWare gets my vote! Bloody loved all of those on the GBA

@theJGG, in regards to Calasmos, not sure if you know this, but if you use the Sword of Light as an item, Calasmos will lose his purple aura & become weaker.

Hmm, I've only heard of those ,,,, But I'm sure they'd be quite popular, so good idea!

@RR529 I didn’t know that. God my lack of common sense is apparent! My thanks!