Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Except Nintendo clearly chose to do NSO instead of VC, @Grumblevolcano .... As Jaxon says, GamePass isn't a replacement for selling the games. As often as people play things on there instead of buying them, there's probably as many times where they try something they weren't sure about & buy it

All of my friends use GamePass, and they don't really buy games anymore because of it, only stuff that you can't get on it.

Yeah, I don't even have an Xbox (outside of an old 360), and I subscribed to Game Pass just so I could play their exclusives on my tablet (it works with a DS4) through the cloud, which I'll admit works a LOT better than I was expecting it to.

I don't think I'd ever buy a cloud based game, but it works great in a subscription model & is a nice supplement to my Switch & PS4.

Couple new SMTV screenshots...

Hey look, an overgrown fusion accident

I'm digging those screenshots! November really can't get here soon enough lol

I can't believe how well the game is holding up in the charts. I mean, SMT has always been pretty niche. 400k was considered a massive success on the 3DS. But SMTV has been holding it down in the Amazon Best Sellers list since it went live. Very strong results thus far. Special editions selling out before they even put the listings up, and launch editions still near the top..

Usually games like this shoot up for a day and then drop off into obscurity until just before release (see Neo: TWEWY, a demo just dropped and it's still several hundred places down the list). But something about SMTV is drawing a lot of eyes. Maybe it's the success of Persona, maybe its the SMT fanbase from 3DS in full force combined with new fans from the Nocturne remaster, maybe its just the Switch effect, where new games do better, maybe its just the fact the game looks really impressive- especially on Switch, or maybe its all the above.

Whatever the case, I'm happy to see it. It's about time SMT breaks through.

@JaxonH The fact that SMT V is the first of the long rumored trio to release (SMT V, Bayo 3, and Metroid Prime 4) certainly isn't hurting either. It's been a discussion point for literally half a decade now. Plus, Nintendo is doing work to actually advertise it, far more than any precious release had.

Not to say that they didn't somewhat for 4, but this feels different. It probably helps that it's also one of the biggest game to release this year, with no 10mil+ seller other than Pokemon to go up against.

^ Wasn't really excited for SMT but those screenshots look great; I wasn't aware this game was so colorful.

Regarding the Microsoft/game pass thingy, I think it's great. As long as Fromsoft doesn't make exclusive games for Sony I might have to consider getting an Xbox with game pass, since I found out I'm not all that fond of most the AAA games, and Microsoft seems to be willing to spend quite a bit to get some of the more interesting japanese games.

Here's a pretty good take on Cruis'n Blast from a guy who grew up with the series.

@link3710
Ya, they had that promotion with... what was it... Fire Emblem Awakening? For buying both you got like $30 back. Which, FE:A blew up so that was a very good promotion for SMT. We know the game sold 600,000 copies as of 2015. Which was pretty good given the popularity at the time.

This one looks so incredible though. The leap is insane. Rarely do we see lower budget handheld titles get a proper AAA quality glow up- Monster Hunter World did it followed by Rise for portable entries, and people were in awe. You look at SMTIV and SMTIV Apocalypse, and ya, it's a pretty massive leap forward. The game looks better than I imagined it would, that's for sure.

But I do think Persona's success is a contributing factor as well, and being on Switch, a hybrid handheld console, just boosts the hype that much more.

Turn based RPGs have also seen somewhat of a renaissance these past few years. People are thirsty for high quality games in the genre that don't follow the same cookie cutter template we see so often.

@JaxonH It's status in the Direct was probably a factor. There were 4 long segments of the Direct:

• Smash Ultimate (opener)
• Metroid Dread (spotlight 1)
• SMTV (spotlight 2)
• Zelda 35th anniversary (closer)

Given lots of people were expecting BotW 2 news at E3 they will have had to watch both Metroid Dread and SMTV to get to the news they wanted.

I wonder if the demons following Nahobino in the overworld are story important or significant in some way, or if the first demon in your party just appears behind you. It's a fantastic touch either way, and will probably resonate with Nintendo and Pokemon fans who have been hungry for a properly ambitious demon-collecting JRPG for years now.

I'm leaning a bit the former interpretation, since Amanozako appears to be following the player in two of those screenshots, and she seems to be a story-important demon.

@JaxonH When it comes down to it, it's just a perfect storm for SMT V. There's so so so many factors to cause this game to have record breaking sales, that this basically has to be the moment where the series goes mainstream or it probably won't happen.

Luckily, it seems that's well on its way to happening.

@Ralizah
Astute observation. I completely missed that.

The middle shot seems to be an in-engine cutscene, but in both the other shots there are two behind the player. Could more than one follow? Or are the others enemies? Hard to tell. I took Colgate Smiles for an enemy but maybe he's just happy to be in your party.

@link3710
It's happening. I'm sure of it. It's charting as high if not higher than Metroid, and Metroid has been blowing the lid off this sucker. Crazy to see. I actually feared the game would be overlooked and Atlus would reconsider their decision to build for Switch ground up. Turns out that fear was completely unfounded.

@Grumblevolcano
It was well placed in an e3 Direct where a lot of gamers were looking to Nintendo. That had to have boosted visibility, for sure.

I gotta say I am enjoying Sky:Children of Light. Absolutely gorgeous and very lovely music. Will spend some time with this, this weekend.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Ok, very rarely does a game I've never even heard of actually impress me to the point I feel compelled to ask about it.

I just watched some Switch gameplay, and I'm taken aback. It looks incredible. But, what kind of game is it? Are there temple puzzles like Zelda or... ?

edit
Oh snap, this is from the devs who made Journey?

Excuse me while I visit the eShop.

edit 2
Wait...

"Free"...

"$29.99 Starter Pack"...

"Internet Connection"...

"Social experiment"...

Oh no. They couldn't bring Flower. They couldn't bring Journey. But they bring a F2P online only game... wth.

Not saying the game doesn't look good. But... this type of game just isn't my jam.

@JaxonH I'm pretty sure the Abaddon in that first screenshot is wandering around the overworld. Either already pursuing the player, or the player has just drawn aggro. I think the angle of the demon would be different if it was following the player like Amanozako.

Harder to tell with the avian demon in the third screenshot, but that 'scene' is actually briefly showcased in the gameplay trailer.

It's only a second or two long, but it looks like the demon is initiating an attack animation against the player, which makes me think it's also an overworld enemy. Especially considering the next brief clip shows another demon trying to attack the player in the overworld.

edit: This game is unbelievably good looking at times for a game by Atlus. Look at the shading on Aogami here:

@Ralizah
Ah, ok.

The game does look pretty unbelievably good. Atlus isn’t exactly known to be skilled making graphical showpieces, especially on their first try with a system as meager as the Switch. Yet here we are. I think it speaks to the SMTV team’s skill, and it to the fact we’re finally deep enough into the generation we’re seeing ground up exclusives squeeze everything they can from the system.

Heard a few people mocking SMTV as having PS2 graphics. Immediately thought yup, that’s the same thing people said when they saw Monster Hunter Rise, too. The better the game looks, the farther back the comparisons seem to go. So the game must look incredible if it’s making people feel insecure enough to bust out the ol’ PS2 digs again (which, it’s kinda silly because Nocturne literally was a PS2 game, and even after being remastered can’t compare to this- same for MH Rise… MHGU was a 3DS game, and even the HD Switch version cant compare to Rise- it would be one thing if they made a somewhat borderline comparison like PS3, then they could at least hide their salt behind plausibility, but saying things that ridiculous and demonstrably and provably false just exposes true motives). It both irritates me and gives me comfort at the same time. Irritating because I grow weary of seeing quality games irresponsibly dunked on. Comforting because I know only the highest quality games elicit that kind of irrational response.

@Ralizah I don’t believe it, Atlus have usually made games that have lacking graphics (they prioritise character portraits talking instead of the actual models, NPVs are cel shaded, main character models are very jagged with rough edges) that are compensated by style. This is a very welcome departure seeing as how even on Switch the game looks utterly amazing, and probably runs well too, at least compared to Persona 5 Strikers…. Can’t wait.

@JaxonH Some of that is definitely trolling, but a lot of it is just people parroting comments they've read online. On the SMT front, for example, I've heard a lot about how SMT: Nocturne HD on Switch has really bad load times and terrible performance. Get it on PS4 or PC, they say, because the Switch version just can't cut it. Which may or may not have been true before patches, but at release worldwide, the game runs at a stable 30fps 95% of the time, and while load times aren't lightning fast, they're still pretty darn quick. And whenever I confront someone who says that, the response is always: "Oh, well, that's not what I'd heard, but OK."

Anyway, looking at the trailer I posted again, I noticed that the footage shows both a Pyro Jack (or Jack O'Lantern these days, but he'll always be Pyro Jack to me) and a Decarabia following the player at various points, so either there's going to be a diverse assortment of important demons, or you really can choose to have one of the demons in your party follow you around.

The game still seems to be selling pretty well preorder-wise. I've noticed both it and Metroid Dread seem to be staying in the top five bestselling games for the system on Amazon, which is amazing. SMT V is even in the top five when you factor in games across all systems on the website.

I do think you're correct that the hype games are the ones that get targeted. Which is why there was so much whining about 7+ million selling third party exclusive Monster Hunter Rise. And why there are so many troll comments about Metroid Dread. Or why people keep trying to downplay SMT V. Or why the salty tears keep flowing, 4+ years later, about Breath of the Wild.