Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@NintendoByNature I don't know... its a competition of terribleness in my mind.... yet there are some who paint 64 as gods gift to gaming in their minds. Id much rather play goldeneye as bad as that is with one analogue stick than to attempt Mario 64 with that camera.

Gosh dang, this has turned into a Mario 64 bash thread.

I get it, it’s an older game, doesn’t hold up compared with modern games, and I agree.

But it was revolutionary at the time, and even today is still better than 90% of other platformers released. Is the camera up to today’s standards? No. Is movement as fluid? No. But even so, it’s a really, really great game. Would still rather play it than the new Crash game, much less the old ones.

@WaveWitch I'll say this: Mario 64 might have aged like milk, but it was a hugely impressive achievement in terms of the dynamic movement and 3D freedom it provided at the time. Pretty much unprecedented, frankly. I'll dunk on the game when people act like it's some sort of unimpeachable masterpiece, but in terms of game design, it was lightyears ahead of the competition at the time.

Crash Bandicoot, on the other hand, literally takes the idea of linear side-scrolling gameplay and translates it to the realm of 3D in the most boring fashion imaginable. It has possibly the lamest level design I've ever seen in a game. It's like you're literally being funneled down a tube. And those boulder levels? Ugh.

A Nightmare on Elm Street, huh? Good taste. It's also one of my favorite horror films. The dreamlike atmosphere and disturbing visual language really made it feel like a unique achievement in the slasher genre. Definitely my favorite Wes Craven film.

If I had to make a list of my favorite horror films...

Halloween
Kairo (the Kurosawa-directed original, not the terrible American remake)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Return of the Living Dead (my favorite horror-comedy by a country mile)
Night of the Living Dead
Alien
The Babadook

It's refreshing to see some love for Day of the Dead, though, considering how often it's ignored. While I prefer the raw paranoia and hopelessness of Night, Day's satire of rampant militarism resonated more with me than Dawn of the Dead.

I'll definitely check out Suspiria!

Mario 64 plays just fine. Actually great to me at least. I'm used to it though.

I think games like Mario 64 get put on a pedestal. I often see people rank it higher than 3D World, Galaxy and Odyssey, which I personally don’t agree with. But at the same time, its still a good game (and was extraordinary when it released). Definitely a product of its time, but it’s one of the few in 64 games I can still pick up and play and have a ton of fun with. The mechanics aren’t as good as in my mind’s eye, but everything else about the game is so delightful- the paintings, the open ended nature of the castle grounds, the multiple stars and objectives per painting world... it’s pretty neat how it’s still fun in 2021 despite releasing what, like 25 years ago? Which isn’t that uncommon for 2-D games, but it is for 3D games of that era.

You say this as if it's a fact? We don't know anything after Monster Hunter yet!

@Dezzy Well there's Pokemon Snap, Disgaea 6, 2 Shin Megami Tensei games, No More Heroes III, Monster Hunter Stories 2 and The World Ends with You 2 which are all post Monster Hunter Rise and not too shabby if you're into those games although I'm hoping for at least one big Ninty title like Zelda BOTW 2 or a new Star Fox myself.

Well, for me, 2021 isn't looking incredibly stellar yet. I'm not a Monster Hunter player nor a Pokemon Snap fan. I have played some Disgaea games, but I wouldn't say I love them.

So far I'm looking at Bowser's Fury and maybe Bravely Default II, which is fine for the first part of the year, but I need to see more to keep my attention. I'm really hoping we see a new Switch SKU later in the year, or I'll probably just cave and put that money toward a PS5. I'll wind up with a PS5 at some point anyway, it'll just be fast tracked by a year or so if Nintendo doesn't release any new hardware.

I just picked up and started playing Skyrim for the first time, so I'm probably good until 2024 on that game alone. Plus I have TWEWY, Astral Chain, Catherine, both Ori games, the Spyro trilogy, the second two Bioshock games, and many others digitally that I already own and haven't even started yet. The Switch doesn't need another new game for years and I'm still good. Some people have way too much free time, I swear.

Everyone loves Monster Hunter. They just have to play long enough to realize it 😉

But even After Atelier Ryza 2, Mario 3D World, Bravely Default 2, Persona 5 Strikers, Ghosts and Goblins and Monster Hunter Rise, we still have New Pokemon Snap, Trails of Cold Steel 4, Ys IX, No More Heroes 3, Rune Factory 5, Disgaea 6, Neo: The World Ends With You, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Shin Megami Tensei III HD, Shin Megami Tensei V, and almost an entire year's worth of unannounced games that will come, whatever they might be. We're probably getting Pokemon Diamond/Pearl remakes, we might get Zelda BotW 2 and/or Bayonetta 3, but even if we don't, we'll get other stuff. And other 3rd party stuff.

They'd have to like, not announce any other 1st party games all year, and no 3rd party game announcements all year, for this year to not be the best since 2017... nope. Even then I'd say it's the best. Cant get new Monster Hunter, new Monster Hunter Stories, new Persona, new SMT, new Bravely Default, new TWEWY, new Ys game, new Trails game, new Rune Factory, new No More Heroes, etc, and have it not be the best year ever.

@JaxonH
They will definitely announce more, and I still think BotW2 will be the holiday game, but Bravely Default II onwards is looking a bit bleak for someone like me.

I get that you're into these series like No More Heroes, Trails of Cold Steel, Shin Megami Tensei, Rune Factory, etc., but not everyone is. In fact, I'd wager that a lot of Western audiences have a somewhat muted reception to many save the most high profile games in those franchises you listed. Persona, for instance, has had success in the U.S., but not consistently and certainly not when compared against many Western AAA franchises. A lot of those franchises you listed generate the majority of their sales in Japan, and I'll fully admit that I'm a Western gamer who doesn't always enjoy the more Japanese games in terms of aesthetic and the feel of the gameplay that many of those games share. Just my opinion.

I will say that I've heard about the prospect of those Pokemon remakes, and that is incredibly exciting and I hope it comes true. The Ghosts and Goblins game is also intriguing, though I expect that to be a somewhat short experience and not something that can fill a calendar month or anything like that.

@rallydefault
Ya, no game will ever satisfy everybody. That's just the nature of the beast. But that's true for any game, be it Japanese or western.

But I will say, people are seriously overlooking the significance of Monster Hunter Rise. This game is going to be massive, both in Japan and in the west. Just like in 2020 Animal Crossing defined the year, in 2021 Monster Hunter will define the year. And, I'm not a big AC fan (it's fun, I played some), but it was still basically THE game to own in 2020. And Monster Hunter Rise is that game for 2021.

I'd say Super Mario 3D World is also going to be a massive release. Even though it's a Wii U port, that wont matter much. Switch will be at 80 mil at its release, which at most, only 5 million or so have played it, and many of those will buy it again too.

And, Bravely Default 2 is a pretty significant release, even if its sales wont exceed 1-2m. The first was one of the defining JRPGs of the 3DS era.

So we have 3 significant exclusives all dropping in the next 30-60 days, 2 of which will be absolutely huge releases, and while I can understand taste and preference is always a factor, that's true for everything, no matter what the game is. But MHR and SM3DW are about as mainstream as it gets.

Perhaps it would be a good opportunity to branch out and give some of these games a shot. Maybe you'll find a new perspective. I know I did. Went from a 1st party mainstream only gamer who hated Final Fantasy, found Monster Hunter boring and couldn't care less about Fire Emblem, to having my perspectives shift and now they're some of my all time faves.

@JaxonH
Oh yea, I totally agree that Rise will be huge, and it's the kind of game that will keep its fans playing for a long, long time. I'm just not one of them lol And I was the same for Animal Crossing. I had it on 3DS, but didn't really care for it much after I paid off my house, so I didn't bother getting it for Switch because I knew I wouldn't enjoy it for the long haul.

Well, I will say that Bowser's Fury and Bravely Default will be very good for a few months, no worries there. I've tried and tried the Disgaea series, but I just can't get into it like FF Tactics or Fire Emblem. I have tried Rune Factory and same kinda thing there; just doesn't click with me for some reason.

No More Heroes is a possibility, though, because I do enjoy action games. It seems VERY Japanese and quirky, which sometimes I can get into, but other times it's a bit much. And Pokemon Snap is a maybe because my daughter loves Pokemon, and it seems like the kind of thing she can watch me play.

If there's anyone looking to bring some colour into a cold & dreary Saturday, allow me to point towards an indie I came across last night. If you like platformers, neon colours and electronic music, but only want to spend a miniscule amount, look no further than Octahedron - 90% off in some eshops currently. Only played a couple of levels so far but it's very engaging and a no-brainer at the current sale price.

Turns out it was reviewed 2 years ago by NL, but it completely passed me by.

Also, PSA for all my UK posse: Argos are currently selling Ori & The Will Of The Wisps for £19.99.

Oooh... Ori.

Yes to that.

The Ori collector edition arrived and is glorious. The exclusive cover art is so slick.

In regards to the Xbox Live Gold talk last page, seems Microsoft has reverted it and also promised to make f2p games like Fortnite not require Xbox Live any longer.

@JaxonH Mine too! I've been playing Will of the Wisps non-stop, it's so good. Definitely up with Hollow Knight in terms of quality, and a huge improvement from (the still very good) Blind Forest.

@link3710
I'm just confused as to why they're doubling the price of Xbox Live Gold, to begin with. If this had happened 6+ years ago, I would have been less surprised. However, since it's happening now though, I'm very surprised and stunned as Microsoft has been increasingly "pro-consumer" within the last 5 - 6 years (at least, they have been with Xbox). 🤔
EDIT: I'm saying this as someone who doesn't have any Xbox systems, but has some knowledge of how Xbox has been doing recently. 🤔
EDIT 2: I'm really confused now, I see people saying that they reversed the price changes, and the Gold F2P requirement has been lifted. What is going on? 🤔

@DarthNocturnal
Okay, thanks for letting me know.
Nice, I was hoping that Microsoft would say something once the backlash coming in.
The F2P requirement being dropped is something that is long overdue (IMO).
I mean, they dropped the requirement for 3 third party apps (like Netflix) needing Gold back in 2014 or 2015 (IIRC), so I'm surprised it took them this long to drop the F2P requirement.
So, what was the purpose of them doubling the price of Gold, to begin with, anyways? 🤔

@gcunit
I don't think that's the case. I've always found the requirement of needing Gold for F2P games dumb, to begin with, especially when Switch and Playstation have never required that for F2P games on their respective online services, AFAIK. 🤔
EDIT: Wait, what happened to your post? I was responding to it when it disappeared. 🤔

@SM3DASislit I deleted it after seeing that Microsoft had already 180'd.

The Xbox branch of Microsoft is an absolute shambles. They don't seem to have a ****ing clue what they are doing. Just calamitous.

Just make some games and shut the **** up Spencer!

@gcunit
Okay, thanks for letting me know.
Oh, I didn't know that.
If you don't mind me asking, how are they "in absolute shambles" right now? 🤔