Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

I honestly thought DEATHLOOP was overrated AF, so seeing it nominated for basically every category just seems like an absolute joke. But the critics gave it multiple 10 out of 10s, so I guess this was inevitable. I know people will be mad Switch hasn’t had more representation in the Awards, but I don’t think it has as much mass market penetration outside of those iconic first party games, so I am not really surprised.

Xenoblade 2 not being on best soundtrack is pretty inexcusable, almost regardless of what the competition is. I just checked the nominations, which at least has really good competition for soundtrack, but tbh Mario Odyssey is the odd one out (which tells you how great the others/Xenoblade 2's soundtracks are), should've been Xenoblade instead.

Also, it is funny to me that MH Rise isn't on GOTY, and I'm pretty sure was more successful than the other GOTY contenders.

My GOTY 2021. 😛

Does anyone know anything about the two "A League of Legends Story" games that just released on Switch?

One seems to be a rhythm platformer, and the other a turn based RPG. They both actually look like they could be good. They both have solid visuals, too.

Never heard of them before.

@JaxonH Ruined King was announced two years ago for the 10th anniversary of LOL. Pretty sure it was also in a Nintendo Direct at one point. It looks high quality, but the surprise release means no one's played it and there's no reviews.

@link3710
Just found out Ruined King: A League of Legends Story is developed by the team that did Battle Chasers.

No wonder the game reminded me of Battle Chasers so much. Except, this game has way better music if the trailer is anything to go by. And League of Legends is like, the most popular game in the world or something, right? I never knew there was all this lore and backstory. It's really cool they're making a bunch of backstory games in different genres. Great strategy to get all different kinds of ppl familiar with the IP.

I kinda have to buy it now.

edit
Yooo!

And the rhythm runner is developed by Choice Provisions, the devs behind Runner 3. So they got the Battle Chasers: Nightwar and Darksiders Genesis devs to do Ruined King, and they got the Runner 3 devs to do Hextech Mayhem.

That's how you contract side games out. Give it to those who have done games in that style before.

Yeah, I'll definitely be grabbing Ruined King, @JaxonH & @link3710 .... Don't even care it's anything to do with LOL, it looks great & it must be intended for both fans of that & those like me that aren't

My friends have been raving about that game, I hadn’t even heard of it before. I know what LoL is, but have had no real interaction with it, but lately LoL suddenly seems absolutely everywhere.

These League of Legends games are like, really, really good!

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story (courtesy of Airship Syndicate known for Battle Chasers: Nightwar and Darksiders Genesis) is fantastic. It’s so well done. Handheld graphics look crisp, art style is excellent, story and voiceovers are top shelf, music is very good. Battle system is extremely interesting and strategic. This is a must buy game. For those who don’t know, it’s an RPG.

And Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story (courtesy of Choice Provisions known for Runner 3) is also fantastic. What a fun game! This is way better than Runner 3 (sorry, jus sayin, but it is). The music is really catchy, the game encourages you to wear headphones (and I am- Hifiman Arya v3 Planar Magnetics), and ya, this game is super addictive. For those who don’t know, it’s a rhythm platformer.

I’m shocked. I am genuinely shocked. I had no interest in League of Legends whatsoever yesterday. And yet today, I’m a fan.

I for one am a big fan of Runner 3, so the fact Hextech Mayhem is made by Choice Provisions was delightful news to me, and the fact it's released at a very affordable price means it's an insta-purchase for me without needing to worry whether a physical release ever happens (tho hopefully it will).

Good job @JaxonH on the heads-up because it's not a game I've been seeing any publicity for in the launch window.

Runner3 is probably the worst game I've played on the Switch to date. Very wary of anything from that dev.

Seeing the fairly middling reviews for BD/SP makes me think maybe I should give S/S another go again instead. I played it through on my Sister’s Switch before, so I’d have to start from scratch on my account. How likely is it to end up in a BF deal? Am I going to get just as good a deal using the Eshop vouchers, if it even goes on sale?

@eel I think someone has hijacked @Ralizah's account.

@Pizzamorg
Pokémon BD/SP has reviewed pretty well, think it's at 77/100 aggregate. Pokémon games usually score in high 70's or 80's. NintendoLife gave it a 6 but they're an outlier- every other outlet scored it higher, and the actual Cons listed in the review justifying the score are highly subjective.

The Cons they listed should be evaluated, otherwise you're taking their scores without assessing the reasons behind them. For example, one of the Cons listed were artstyle, saying it was horrible and "so much worse than sprites". I sharply disagree. I love the artstyle, I think it fits perfectly for this remake, and ensures the game looks sharp and runs well (which it does). No 5 foot pop-in like Sword and Shield expansions had.

Another Con was XP share. Again, I appreciate this. That's a Pro as far as I'm concerned. There's hundreds of Pokémon in the game. If you're changing them out every so often, you're gonna need XP share to not fall behind.

Another con was no overworld spawns. Which, I kinda feel like the whole point of this remake is to provide a classic experience to those who want it, since that has been MIA on Switch. Not to mention, the underground sections do have Pokémon shown in the world, so you get some of both. That's perfectly fine with me.

Another con is "not including Platinum content". Which, ok, fair enough- probably the one con I feel is actually valid, but that doesn't justify a 6. Not to me.

Based on what I've seen, this is exactly what I was looking for. Nothing in the reviews revealed anything I didn't already know. It's not like reviewers said the game wasn't as fun as expected. Some just nitpicked things to criticize, most of which are things I either like or are indifferent toward.

But that's just my take.

@gcunit @Ralizah
I won't dig into Runner 3 out of respect for G-unit but, suffice it to say, regardless of your thoughts on that game, Hextech is quality. Especially for $9.99

BD/SP tracking a 7.7 out of 10, with a 56 percent recommendation rating on average between critics.
S/S tracking an 8.0 out of 10, with a 64 percent recommendation rating on average between critics.

So no, there isn’t much in it, but if I can get S/S in a cheap deal, then it seems like it’s the better game. I haven’t played BD/SP so I can’t truly say, but I also don’t have the money to buy both to see which one I end up liking the most, given I can’t return the one I don’t like (or like the least), as it is a digital purchase.

It becomes more muddled however if S/S either doesn’t go into a sale, or doesn’t go into a sale that’ll be any better than using vouchers. I am not really sure which one I will like the best. I remember when playing on my Sister’s copy of Sword, I was disappointed with the technical issues and some of the pretty lame animations in battles. But it’s a proper new entry in the series, in a new region, with new mechanics, QOL changes and loads of new Pokemon to catch and other stuff.

It seems like BD/SP has better performance thanks to the art style change (and the art style doesn’t bother me) and it’s a more traditional experience, which is more of what I am used to. However, I’m still bummed about the complete lack of Platinum content in BD/SP save for some stuff chucked in at end game and in the underground. I worry that may hang over me the whole time I am playing, giving me buyers remorse.

I'm delving deep into this cyber eshop sale, feels like forever since the last decent sale, and I'm growing quite a list of potentials. I might even finally give GRID Autosport a break and buy it - it can be had for about £10.20 if I shop around, which is only 20p above my digital threshold, and given I've been wanting it since Day 1 but been waiting for a non-existant physical, perhaps I can make a slight exception...

@gcunit

Quite worth it. Grid remains as the best sim-racer available on Switch. A breath of fresh air among the sea of kart-racers.

Man, after playing SMT V all week, going back to BOTW is really nice. I don’t think the game is maybe the flawless masterpiece game of the generation thing a lot of people hype it up to be. I think a lot of the survival mechanics detract more than they add, and sometimes the world can really be cruel and frustrating - especially with how wishy washy some objectives can be.

But overall it is an undeniably fun open world experience. Maybe not quite as much of the open sandbox as it seems and maybe not even as much of the open sandbox as similar games in this genre but I forget every time I come across a vista or a clue to a world that once once and it is just gorgeous and you’re like “how is this running on the Switch?”. Seriously, I think I am going to break my screenshot button!

Or you get into combat and you can’t believe combat can feel this good when running at 30 fps. It is just so tight, so satisfying, simple to pick up and mash but rewarding when really engaged with. Timing dodges and parries just right, with windows that feel forgiving but still crisp. And the gyro on the bow and the abilities is just the icing on the cake.

A sort of unconventional progression system, that does away with a lot of the arbitrary “number goes up” systems of a lot of games and instead replacing it with your own skill growing as a player, to really make you feel that growth of strength on the journey. I do think the weapons breaking kinda sucks though, it is a real shame when you find a really cool weapon in a dungeon or something and then it barely makes it through one fight.

Speaking of the dungeons each dungeon is just the right amount of difficult and right amount of length to feel really satisfying whenever you get it right. Whenever the world is beating me down, just dipping into a Shrine and solving one of them is the perfect way to decompress, clear my head and go back at it once again.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find 600 rupees so I can dress up in drag and infiltrate a women’s only village. And I mean the fact that I can even say that, it is proof BOTW deserves to be loved.

Why don’t they incorporate HD rumble for the Pokeballs as they shake like they did in Let’s Go?

It just felt so satisfying, especially using the Pokeball controller (but also with joycon). Every time I catch a Pokémon and the ball shakes, I’m expecting to feel it rumble, but it doesn’t. It bothers me way more than it should. Especially since the head of GameFreak gave that 2017 interview talking about how important HD rumble was, and how you could potentially “feel your defense” without numbers, or “feel an attack deflected” and need to use a stronger attack. These are things that aren’t being done. Why?

It made me decide to re-download Pokemon Let’s Go. I really miss that rumble from the ball shaking. Most satisfying part of playing the game.

That said, I am enjoying Brilliant Diamond. It’s basically the 3DS Pokémon experience but in HD without frame drops. I like it.

@JaxonH The Switch Lite came along and then the unique features of the Joy-Con have mostly been non-existent in games since (while the pro controller has HD rumble, it's a lot weaker than in the Joy-Con but Switch Lite doesn't have it at all). Ring Fit Adventure seems to have been the Joy-Con's swansong.