For those who don’t know or aren’t familiar, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is releasing on Nintendo Switch this Thursday. It’s the highest rated Star Wars game of all time, of all the Star Wars games ever released spanning the last 30 years.
It’s developed by BioWare and released in their glory days (after Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights but before Jade Empire, and of course before the more modern Dragon Age and Mass Effect) in 2003 for the Xbox and PC. It’s an RPG where, in typical BioWare fashion, conversation and dialog is a focus and your choices matter.
The game is certainly a little dated at this point but it cleans up nice in HD, plus, it was originally developed for Xbox and PC which were much more powerful for their time, so it doesn’t actually seem as old as it is. It also looks really good on the handheld screen, which you can check for yourself by loading the eShop page screenshots on your Switch.
If you’re a fan of Star Wars, RPGs, or just great games in general, you may want to look into this one. It’s the very definition of a classic.
BotW is unquestionably enchanting in that first playthrough. Nintendo absolutely nailed their unique approach to open world design and game progression.
@Pizzamorg lol one of the big complaints from people who don't like BotW is that it doesn't have the lengthy, high-concept puzzle dungeons of previous games. Some of them were infamous slogs, though.
Also, in most previous 3D Zelda games, the overworld itself wasn't freely explorable, and you often had to go to specific locations to trigger dialogue or accomplish tasks that the games were often coy about hinting at before you could make any progress in the story.
Some people really, really like the sort of late-90s/early-00s game design exemplified by titles like SMT Nocturne and Ocarina of Time.
Some of the dungeons here are slogs, you mean? Or some in the previous games.
But either way, sounds about right, there is always someone moaning the game isn’t miserable enough for them. I will never understand that. To me, games should be fun and to me, there is nothing fun about being stuck and frustrated.
I know people love that late 90s/early 00s game design, but as a grown man, I just don’t have time for that approach. If you don’t tell me where to go or give me enough information organically to know what to do, I’m just going to look at a guide. I am not going to waste a gaming session figuring out what you have failed to properly tutorialise in the name of some weird, insular, niche crowd.
That was just the sort of way it was, @Pizzamorg .... Probably for various reasons! But yeah, I certainly appreciate games at least giving options to make navigation easier Which quite a few do nowadays, so if someone really wants to turn minimaps off or icons on maps off, etc, they can ...,.. While I can have all the navigation aids on the way I prefer
That was just the sort of way it was, @Pizzamorg .... Probably for various reasons! But yeah, I certainly appreciate games at least giving options to make navigation easier Which quite a few do nowadays, so if someone really wants to turn minimaps off or icons on maps off, etc, they can ...,.. While I can have all the navigation aids on the way I prefer
Yeah, that is my entire thing - choice. And in both directions. Everyone should be able to make as any game as easy or as difficult as they want, to suit their tastes. Games like Control or State of Decay really show this can be done, as did AC Odyssey to an extent with it’s map tailoring.
Yeah, I understand older games being the ways they were, though, @Pizzamorg .... Technical limitations & 30 years ago, gaming wasn't as mainstream by a long shot
Then, over the years of games becoming more popular, I'm sure the devs have learned a lot of general things that help to make better experiences, including navigation stuff
@Pizzamorg Previous games. None of the ones in this game last long enough or have developed enough concepts to be even close to slogs. Although there is still at least one widely hated shrine in this game. I'm curious to see what you think of it.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
Just gonna drop this here. Another statement from the president claiming Switch is mid-life-cycle. Which is what I've been saying- it's gonna be a long generation.
“the system is at the mid-point of its lifecycle” and “a foundation for growth has been laid that exceeds what we previously considered to be a conventional hardware lifecycle.”
Sorry 2022 hopefuls. Switch is gonna be around 7-9 years at this rate. Whether they extend that with a Pro Model, who knows. All I know is they're making it abundantly clear the Switch is gonna be around a while.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
@JaxonH I'm totally fine with longer console life cycles. As long as the software is there I don't see a problem. And we still may get updates like the OLED.
Switch friend code: SW-2223-7827-8798
Give me a heads-up if you're going to send a request please.
@JaxonH The comment doesn't really say anything. Look at PS5 for example, it exists though the vast majority of current and upcoming 1st party games for it are also PS4 games (same day crossgen releases) and you can still easily buy a new PS4 Slim. This will continue until at least 2023, maybe longer.
Switch could do a similar thing and the comment still be true.
@Pizzamorg Previous games. None of the ones in this game last long enough or have developed enough concepts to be even close to slogs. Although there is still at least one widely hated shrine in this game. I'm curious to see what you think of it.
Is it that motion control one? I just finished that one and that has been my BOTW low point so far.
Yeah, I understand older games being the ways they were, though, @Pizzamorg .... Technical limitations & 30 years ago, gaming wasn't as mainstream by a long shot
Then, over the years of games becoming more popular, I'm sure the devs have learned a lot of general things that help to make better experiences, including navigation stuff
Oh yeah, I appreciate they can’t change the past and adding new difficulty settings to a game that hasn’t been designed for them isn’t always a good thing, but in todays world, there is really no excuse for games that only lean in one direction. I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but I stand by it.
😂 Yeah, it is. It sucks. Did you figure out the trick that cuts, like, 90% of the difficulty from it, though? Or did you do it the hard way?
There's actually a quest in this game I hate even more than that shrine. That was my BotW low point. I won't spoil it, but I won't be surprised if it ticks you off as well once you get to it.
Everything else is good-to-decent besides combat shrines, though.
@Grumblevolcano
That could be what they do, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence suggesting that's what they're going to do. Best to not read statements through the lens of your own presuppositions. Let the statement speak for itself and take it at face value.
The statement very clearly does say things. Just read it. "Mid point of life cycle". That's saying this is the mid point, at 5 years in, not the end point. "Foundation of growth has been laid that exceeds what we previously considered to be a conventional hardware lifecycle". That's saying the growth rate is conducive to a longer lifespan than the historical norm.
It's saying a lot. Certainly not, "isn't really saying anything".
I'm not sure it is unpopular, @Pizzamorg ... Perhaps if you count people who want the options to turn off navigation aids & so on as opposite? I don't think they'd keep putting the options in games if there weren't people wanting them
😂 Yeah, it is. It sucks. Did you figure out the trick that cuts, like, 90% of the difficulty from it, though? Or did you do it the hard way?
There's actually a quest in this game I hate even more than that shrine. That was my BotW low point. I won't spoil it, but I won't be surprised if it ticks you off as well once you get to it.
Everything else is good-to-decent besides combat shrines, though.
Is the trick flipping the table so you can basically skip the entire maze and just go straight to trying to flick the ball over to the other side? Because I did figure that out, but couldn’t seem to get it to consistently happen. Mostly because the board became more and more misaligned with the controller the longer you went at the puzzle. Not an inherently terrible idea, but the execution was just balls. And you say there is an actual quest like this? Oh no.
Also, I have only had one combat shrine so far and it just taught me a bunch of combat techniques I feel they could have just told me normally? Like I guess I could have figured out I could sidestep/backflip/parry etc on my own, but I had no reason to attempt it. I only even tried to do the charge attack, because I gave Link to the Past a quick go and that is one of the first mechanics they introduce you to.
@JaxonH If Nintendo gave any signs of a successor or more powerful revision existing soon, Switch sales would tank this holiday. So they'd want to bend the reality without lying if there is in fact one coming soon.
@Grumblevolcano
Sure, but if that were the case they wouldn't say anything. Or only say something when asked, and even then it would be the typical, "we have no plans to release new hardware this year".
No.
They're going out of their way to specifically tell everyone, "Switch is gonna be around a while, we've been saying it for years that we're extending the lifespan, and we're saying it again now"
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
And no, the quest has nothing to do with motion controls. It's uniquely awful in its own way.
The problem is that there are too many shrines in the game, so they have to pad them out with combat shrines and lazy shrines where they immediately reward you for just finding them.
I understand why it's designed to have a surplus of shrines and korok seeds, but it makes the game a bit of a repetitive nightmare from a completionist perspective, which is why I pretty much quit after doing the major content and then beating the final boss. I'd probably advise the same approach: quit the game while you still love it. A lot of people just keep playing it until they get sick of it, and it ruins their memories of the game. I'd much rather have my memories of the magical 70 hours or so I spent with the game at launch.
And no, the quest has nothing to do with motion controls. It's uniquely awful in its own way.
The problem is that there are too many shrines in the game, so they have to pad them out with combat shrines and lazy shrines where they immediately reward you for just finding them.
I understand why it's designed to have a surplus of shrines and korok seeds, but it makes the game a bit of a repetitive nightmare from a completionist perspective, which is why I pretty much quit after doing the major content and then beating the final boss. I'd probably advise the same approach: quit the game while you still love it. A lot of people just keep playing it until they get sick of it, and it ruins their memories of the game. I'd much rather have my memories of the magical 70 hours or so I spent with the game at launch.
Similar thing happened to me with Biomutant over the summer - which credits BOTW heavily as inspiration. I did a 90% completion run over 45 hours and really ruined the experience for myself in some ways by doing this. When I stopped being in love with just being in that world, I should have just finished the main quest but I wanted to try and do everything in one play through and burnt myself in the process. The longer you spend in one space, the more the cracks become obvious. Had I just taken the 25 or so hours to work around the map the first time, then just focused on the main quest only, I'd probably be telling you all it is my GOTY.
Switch is having its second-best sales year of five. Aside from the animaly last year, it is in its best sales year. What else can the dude say? Nintendo likely don't know when Switch will end, they will be guided by the figures. And while it's selling 20 million+ per year, it ain't gonna be ending.
You guys had me at blood and semen.
What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?
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