Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@JaxonH Dang, an early copy? How lucky!

@DarthNocturnal I would say you don't have to grind so much as you need to actually do the optional content. I rarely had level troubles (outside of... Certain optional bosses) but I also did all the optional dungeons and side quests. And also spent a decent chunk of time lost. But I can imagine that it would be brutally hard if you didn't do that.

@Magician i have my extended battery Switch since dezembre 8th 2019, and luckyly, i have not sufered the dreadful Joy-Con Drift

Got home with it yet, then, @Ryu_Niiyama ....? Do let us know what you think when you're playing it! I've done Chapter 4 of it & will just say it's really good

@BruceCM Will do, but I have work to do. Won't spin it up until tomorrow.

@Ryu_Niiyama Oh yeah, Best Buy!?!? I usually buy my new games there but, every time I buy a newly released game at Best Buy, its usually not on the sales floor, and I have to ask an employee to get one from in back. It's kind of comical. Lol.

OK, thanks, @Ryu_Niiyama .... It'll be interesting to compare notes with others once people get further into it & make different choices

If you want to post in the OT thread, @DarthNocturnal .... Do ask there if you're struggling, I'm sure quite a few of us can help

I surely hope you're right! HL Alyx is definitely the only real reason I would even want a VR headset, though it's not quite enticing enough to spend that much to play one game.

Just wrapped up Chapter 4 in Triangle Strategy. Again I say, this game is straight🔥 🔥 🔥

The story is exceptionally compelling. Far more so than I ever anticipated. I love Fire Emblem to death. But this game has the story I've always wanted Fire Emblem to have. It's just soooo good!

The battles have immaculate strategy gameplay. It feels so much more "strategic" than Fire Emblem. And that's not to bash FE, because I love that series, but there's no denying Triangle Strategy has much more depth. From archers gaining accuracy the more off angle they are from the front, to gaining range and power from elevation (and the reverse if at lower elevation), from elemental mages having AoE attacks which some enemies are weak to, to combos with elemental attacks such as freezing AoE, then Fire to melt the icy ground and turning to water, then Electric attacks traveling through the wet ground, to follow up attacks activating when sandwiching enemies with your units... the sheer complexity and depth on offer is staggering, yet, still rather user friendly.

The characters are rich and multifaceted, grounded in reality and well voiced (speaking of which, nearly all dialog is voiced, which makes Triangle Strategy all the more immersive). Each character has good qualities and flaws, personal motivations and agendas, and there are so many characters spanning the Kingdoms and so many plot points developing simultaneously across the kingdom, it's never a dull moment.

And the story... oh the story. It's remarkably gripping and almost pulls you inside the world with it. I feel like I'm in Norzelia myself. I've grown attached to these characters. I know them. I feel for them. I cheer their accomplishments and squirm at their dilemmas. This is the most spellbound I've felt from a story in a video game in years. Not even modern AAA games with professional voice acting, facial capture and focus on realism have managed to captivate me in the same way Triangle Strategy has managed to with nothing but 2D sprites and B-list voice actors. It's a testament to the cohesive narrative and vision of the developers.

Idk what it is specifically, but something about this game makes it far more than the sum of its parts. It just hits hard, in a way I haven't felt since Fire Emblem Awakening (and yes, I enjoyed Three Houses also, even Fates and Shadows of Valentia, but FE Awakening just hit in a way those games didn't- not saying it's "better" necessarily, just that, like Triangle Strategy, it too came together as more than the sum of its parts).

I cannot recommend this game enough. There is a lot of dialog. For sure. But to me, that's part of what makes it so engrossing. Because it's actually good dialog, good narrative, good plot development. Not wack C-tier JRPG tropey shenanigans, but genuine gritty story that almost feels reminiscent of Game of Thrones, strangely enough. It's a slow burn, but one that I can't help but savor.

Played through the Kirby demo. It's alright, a bit tooo easy for my tastes but I guess it is a Kirby game so there's that. The game feels like somewhat like Super Mario 3D World if I was to say it was like anything, the trailers kinda gave an impression it was a bit more open than that.

Mechanically it's pretty solid I think although there was something almost.... empty about it? Hard to describe. I think in most platformers you get some kind of audio feedback to your actions that was lacking here. I'm not entirely sure but I think that combined with the lack of sound in general didn't land. Am I wrong here? Did anyone else feel the same way?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's going to be a pretty solid game and visually I think it's doing a lot (although there's a serious lack of AA and there are some framerate dips). But I don't think it'll be one to rush out and get if you aren't specifically into Kirby-like games. There's nothing particularly unique about this one other than the fact that it's a solid 3D Kirby game. Get it if you really need another platformer, don't get it if you haven't yet played all of the other platformers that are better than this on Switch

But there's a demo so, maybe play that and see if you disagree with my take?

@NinChocolate
Yeah. I mean don't get me wrong, it's definitely a very polished release. It's just not the sort of release that warrants much of a look for people who aren't already into Kirby games. To use an overused cliché at this point, it's not "Kirby's BotW" it's just a solid entry into the Kirby series. Probably not going to draw in anyone who wasn't already going to buy it

@NinChocolate
Yeah, it's definitely a bit more of a game for a specific type of mood and/or player. For me Kirby is very much a super occasional series that I only really dive into when it's doing something interesting. I think Kirby's Epic Yarn was the last one I picked up for myself? Actually I think the 3DS 3D-Classics Kirby game came out after that if that even counts. But yeah, nothing has really caught my eye much from Kirby

I loved the demo, and I typically don't like Kirby games.

It just felt fun and engaging. Satisfying mechanics and amazing use of HD rumble (that was what I noticed most- how well done the HD rumble was).

I like the exploration aspect and considering I nearly died to the World 1 boss, it felt engaging in a way other Kirby games haven't been.

Nothing in particular jumped out to me as feeling off. Maybe I'll notice lack of music now that it's been mentioned, but when I was playing it... just felt right.

Zombie Army 4 Switch port looks excellent. It's already up for preorder on the eShop.

Anyone who played Sniper Elite 4 or Zombie Army Trilogy on Switch knows how good they were, how well optimized they ran and looked, how solid the gyro aiming and HD rumble was.

But Zombie Army 4 is Rebellion's most graphically intense, ambitious game to date (barring Sniper Elite 5 but that hasn't released yet- we'll have to wait for Switch 2 to see that one ported). My brother loves the game to death. It has like 4 season passes they're up to now I believe (they just keep cranking out new content for this game- amazing support). But the first is given away free on Steam now. I'm pretty sure this version at least includes the first season pass (edit confirmed to include season 1 for free). But I didn't see anything on the eShop listing about the others. I hope the additional season pass content is available for purchase day one.

Kirby demo is great. Unsurprisingly as a Kirby game it feels relatively relaxed and not too difficult, but it also has that classic Nintendo design feature of feeling rewarded for everything that you do. Very much feels like the "3D World" of Kirby that I was hoping for be expecting.

My one criticism would be Kirby's float - I understand why they limit this (they don't want it to be too overpowered), but it feels strange having him stop ascending at some arbitrary height regardless of how long he's been floating.

I think the canonical reason behind it is, since he got mangled up in the intro falling through the wormhole, he can't do it as effectively as before in exchange for the new mouthful mode he now possesses (or at least that's what I think).

been out of town all day earlier mostly to do some long overdue shopping at Barnes and Noble. But went to a Walmart store that was pretty packed and busy with shoppers. I found and bought Ni No Kuni II for Nintendo Switch. Was mostly looking for Pokemon Shield or Triangle Strategy.

the walmart store they also had the Star Wars games two in one stuff such as the Dark Forces sequels and the other one being the pod racing game with the clones Rebel Commado whatever its called

@WoomyNNYes I have that problem at walmart actually. So even when I try to take advantage of the physical discounts at wallyworld it is too much of a hassle. Especially since I try to get in and out of stores asap. And I stack the bestbuy 5 dollar coupons so it sorta all works out.

@BruceCM Posted in the TS thread so I won't text wall this one.

I enjoyed the kirby demo...at first I thought the copy powers had been really reduced but things like pressing rapidly froze the first boss so I realized there was more to this control style. The mouthful modes are powerful and useful but disturbing looking to me. I wish they had gone for a less detailed artstyle (textures not character models) as I would stop wondering about kirby slobbering over a rusty car if this was in more of an cel shaded/animated style. Not sure if I will get it day one...the next few months will be exceedingly busy for me. And I already have Triangle Strategy and Rune Factory this month.

Thanks for the TS post, @Ryu_Niiyama .... Replied to that in the thread! Definitely a very good game

I'm really excited for the Kirby game! I don't mind Kirby, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I played the one GameBoy game constantly when I was a kid, but that was about it aside from Smash Brothers lol

The demo was just a fun, cute, collectathon-ish 3D platformer, which I'm all about, so bring it on.