Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Grumblevolcano
Anything Bayonetta would get will be given to God of War instead.

Anyways, doesn't matter. Getting selected by them doesn't make games any better, and not being selected doesn't make games any worse. Let them do what they do.

@Eagly
That was the year I realized agenda truly drives TGA. I had suspected it previously with Death Stranding, but to then force TLOU2 into as many wins as possible despite it being a story-first game where half the ppl who played it hated the story (Angry Joe, YongYea, SkillUp,etc). But that's not really on TGA so much as it's on journalists.

When there's such a clear divide between "journalist reviews" (96/100 and "perhaps the best game ever made") and everyone else outside that bubble ("so bad I wouldn't have even finished playing it if I wasn't reviewing it" -SkillUp) it's clear journalists have an agenda and prioritize pushing it over truth. The same was true for Death Stranding. Seeing the "repetitive, not fun... 10/10" reviews was like a bucket of cold water thrown on the face.

It's a very serious issue a lot of ppl don't want to acknowledge or talk about. It gets dismissed as "just their opinion". But it's more than that. Journalists can no longer be trusted. That doesn't mean everything they say is wrong. I think many games get reviewed reasonably fairly. But whenever a game happens to trigger their agenda, it engages their willful bias. The fact resetera literally banned Angry Joe from the site for giving TLOU2 a 6/10 speaks volumes about what drives these ppl. That's not normal behavior. That's ideologues ruled by agenda. An entire thread could be devoted into speculating what that bias is and what the root cause happens to be. But suffice it to say, the bias clearly exists. Death Stranding and TLOU2 proved that beyond doubt. And since TGA are largely driven by those same ppl with those same motivations, it becomes just as contaminated by their bias toward these certain AAA Sony exclusives.

And if the bias can be clearly seen with the mid games, it calls into question the extent they exaggerate the great games also.

@JaxonH God of War (2018) was nominated for Best Action/Adventure game but not Best Action Game, Bayonetta 3 is safe with the Action category.

@Grumblevolcano
Fair enough

My predictions for the Game awards are going to bed and watching any reveals the day after. I couldn't care less about them. Even if Xenoblade 3 won everything.

@GrailUK
Agreed.

90% of them are commercials, advertisements and fluff anyways. Even if they were completely neutral and every game got equal spotlight, it's still a 4 hour snoozefest. Better to check NintendoEverything the morning after for any notable trailers or announcements.

Though on the topic of Xenoblade 3, I only feel it deserves RPG of the Year. As good as it was, it's not my GotY.

@JaxonH That's the thing. Everyone has their own favourite games of the year which makes the act of mob rule voting for one of them more meaningless to me.

@GrailUK
Popularity contest when it's left to the fans.

It shouldn't be that way with journalist reviewers though. We should be able to trust them as unbiased judges who fairly assess. What happens when the unbiased judges become biased, though? There's no fixing that.

The issue with gamers deciding is two-fold. Most haven't played everything in order to make a reasonable comparison, and even the few who have, they have their own biases. Which is why popular vote doesn't work.

Esteemed reviewers are supposed to be above that. But even they don't play all games. A site will have reviewers A and B play all Switch games, with reviewers C and D playing all PS4/PS5 games, E and F playing all Xbox/PC games. So no one reviewer can make a fair comparison. Many reviewers will play games across multiple consoles, but outside of what's assigned, only select ones that cater toward their preferences. To compound this issue, they then have their own agendas and bias which makes it even worse. Not as bad as if gamers chose by popular vote, but still unreliable.

There's just no fixing it. And while opinions can vary, I think if all games that highlighted the year got their due ppl wouldn't push back so much. I know I wouldn't. Even if Xenoblade 3 didn't win RPG category and Bayonetta 3 didn't win action category and Triangle Strategy/Mario Rabbids didn't win strategy category, I think if these games at least had a spotlight shined on them, with a video summarizing their accomplishments and why the games are held in such high regard, ppl would feel much better about it. It's not so much "winning an award" that matters, it's getting recognition for how great it is and what a standout release it was for the year. Obviously winning an award can be part of that. But the recognition is what's more important, however it may come.

@JaxonH It is indeed better to just enjoy the games you loved each year rather than worry about what wins the awards. Once Elden Ring ended up getting such ridiculously high review scores and became a phenomenon, it was guaranteed to win a ton of awards over other great games that came out this year. I don't get the appeal of the Souls-like games, as I don't find it fun to die 10,000 times in a game before you actually somehow beat it, but that's another story. This will be one year where even big Sony AAA games will be ignored more often than not for actual awards.

My personal GotY is Horizon Forbidden West. In other years, maybe that wins a decent amount of awards, but it will be completely ignored for the most part. Oh well as I absolutely loved my 100+ hours I spent on the game.

Overall, 2022 has been a fantastic year for games if you were a PlayStation and/or Nintendo fan. That matters more than one game winning almost every Game of the Year award, although I can't disagree that it would be nice for some other games to get more recognition when it just comes off as Elden Ring being the only great game to be released this year.

@Eagly
I know all about Elden Ring. I've played it.

My point wasn't that the only games, ever, that get praise are cinematic ones. Merely that a bias exists toward such games. Same for AAA. Same for any game that has the megabudget marketing hype machine behind it (which Elden Ring certainly did). That's why PS exclusives tend to check all those boxes, because they know those are the types that will be favored. Doesn't mean every game ever will be AAA, and certainly doesn't mean every game, ever, which they favor is cinematic, or the recipient of massive marketing hype. But it does mean the more boxes checked the more advantage such games have.

Yeah, I'm going to treat TGA like the Academy Awards: go to bed, and look at the internet to see if anything vaguely interesting or surprising happened or was announced the next day. Keighley's show drags on WAY too long as is.

That said, I don't mind From Software potentially sweeping the awards this year. They just had their BotW moment, and while I don't enjoy Elden Ring as much as Nintendo's generation-defining modern classic, they did tap into a very similar exploratory vein, and did a great job of evolving beyond traditional Soulsborne game design.

QFT. I've been an extremely happy Switch owner this year, and, while games like GoW and GT don't get my blood pumping, it was a clearly great year for modern first-party Playstation franchises.

A bit ashamed of myself that I still haven't played Forbidden West, though. I loved the original enough to play through it twice and get the Platinum trophy. I need to get on it.

I suspect you're right that it'll be snubbed, though. The parallels to 2017 are def there. It'll be a "Horizon Zero Awards" situation all over again. And I'll be right there with you, mourning the lack of any real recognition for Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

@Ralizah
At least Forbidden West has Gyro aiming, meaning no need to wait for a Steam release. Unfortunately Sony is horrible at implementing gyro- its not 1:1 mouse like, it's got weird acceleration curves where the faster you move the fast it goes, to a point, then the slower it goes. It's messed up. Usable if you find a middle ground setting but still doesn't compare to good ol' Steam gyro.

They actually borked the gyro in the Steam release of Uncharted 4 as well, applying that silly acceleration curve to mouse input. I hear they addressed it in a recent patch, but haven't tried it for myself.

I couldn't play GoW without gyro. Aiming the axe sucks with analog. And of course, PC release borked the gyro on that too by not allowing mouse and controller input simultaneously, requiring mouse-like joystick. The best I was able to get was playing PS4 version on PS5 with XIM Nexus.

@Eagly Exact same thing happened in 2017 with BotW, lol. It's becoming a running joke online at this point.

@JaxonH Yeah, I'm curious to see how I feel about Forbidden West's gyro implementation. Using analog to aim the axe in GoW didn't end up being a big deal for me, though. It'd be better with robust gyro, obviously, but the combat in that was mostly melee.

It's the same reason playing MH Rise with the SPP isn't a big deal for me. It took me a bit to adjust to not using the gyro controls for wirebug aiming, but, by and large, it hasn't damaged my ability to enjoy the game.

That might change if I ever try out the gunner class again, though.

@Ralizah
Oh I couldn't do Monster Hunter Rise without gyro. Aiming the wirebug upward is just so easy with gyro- instantly in microseconds, whereas trying to aim the cursor precisely with the analog is a nightmare, especially when you're trying to aim for a hole in the wall or something.

Granted, you could probably use ZL+X to upward 45° and get by most of the time, but I'm so accustomed to precisely aiming where I want, I'd throw a fit having to go back to analog. I can't even play World without gyro now for the slinger and clutch claw.

@Ralizah I likely would have been as well if I had more time and let myself play the Switch a lot more than I did after buying one. The only game I actually completed on it was Xenoblade Chronicles, but between Triangle Strategy, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 someday, and other catchup games, it probably would have been for me as well.

I still like my more "traditional" gaming though, so I still played my PS5 a lot more. Between Horizon Forbidden West, the PS5 version of Cyberpunk 2077, Life is Strange: True Colors, hopefully God of War Ragnarok (haven't played it yet), The Last of Us Part 1, along with upcoming games like the PS5 version of Ys VIII and The Callisto Protocol, there just isn't much time for the Switch for me.

I just got to Chapter 10 in Bayonetta 3. Got a save file started in Tactics Ogre Reborn but only played one map. No time. And Rogue Legacy 2, haven't played more than those initial few runs. Same for SIFU.

I did manage to make a UK account and redeem the exclusive weapon skins from buying the Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope figures sold exclusively on Amazon UK, so that's cool. Keep an extra JP account on my system anyways for JP shmup downloads like the M2 ShotTriggers releases, so what's one more.

Whats next on the list?

Pokemon I don't think I'm really excited for after hearing some previews. I'm sure it'll be great for Pokemon fans, but I've learned my lesson this generation. Traditional Pokemon isn't for me. I loved Arceus, and I loved Let's Go. Both of which had gyro-integrated catching mechanics. But Sword/Shield was... OK. This new one definitely looks better than that, but without the catching mechanics of Arcues, Idk. Just not that hyped.

This week isnt just Pokemon though. Wednesday is the reveal for Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Title 3 update (and MH updates arent like most other games where its just a balance patch or a tiny mode or something... no- they're MASSIVE content drops that very well could be $20 expansion DLC in their own right, except they're free, and there's like, almost half a dozen of them). So that's awesome..

And in December there is Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, which, the Switch version is looking to be amazing. These are the types of games that shine brightest on the OLED hybrid. Games that aren't pushing 9th gen graphics so they can actually run, but they do look good enough to take full advantage of Switch's power. Game looks dang near identical across all versions, and at a glance doesn't look much different than FFVII Remake. Thank goodness this one is on Switch, where I'll actually play it.

There's also Dragon Quest Treasures. Which... let's be real. It's Dragon Quest Monsters for Switch in all but name. It might have some different mechanics thrown in like searching for treasure, but you're still battling and recruiting monsters. Just with an extra twist this time.

And of course, January pops off hard with Persona 4 Golden and Fire Emblem Engage. Didn't mention Persona 3 Portable cause, well, frankly I think it's a bit too dated for my liking. But I'm sure many others will love it. Me though? I'm all about Persona 4 Golden. That game is the one that matters.

So we've got Pokemon this week along with Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Title Update 3 reveal (which should drop soon after), then Dragon Quest Treasures Dec. 9th, then Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core Dec. 13th, then a 1 month vacation over the holidays, and we come back strong January 19th with Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden, with Fire Emblem Engage the day after.

And February 24th is gonna slap. We get Atelier Ryza 3, Octopath Traveler II, and Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe all the same day. And I think Tales of Symphonia might be dropping the day prior. Can't recall for certain though.

Not bad. Especially with the insane backlog from this past month or two.

@Eagly
I played Persona 4 Golden on Vita. Not all of it, but enough. I tend to jump around with my games anyways. The odds I actually finish Persona 5 Royal and go straight into Persona 4 Golden are slim to none. Too many games

I managed to beat Xenoblade 3, and I beat Nier Automata 1st playthrough, and I'm close to beating Bayonetta 3, but still have 2 more Nier Automata playthroughs, few hundred more hours of Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak, half of Triangle Strategy left, Persona 5 Royal, Trails to Zero, Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Tactics Ogre Reborn, SIFU, Rogue Legacy 2, and will soon also have Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, DQ Treasures, Persona 4 Golden and Fire Emblem Engage all in backlog.

Only so much can get played. Probably gonna bounce from Bayonetta 3 after finishing it back to Persona 5 Royal until Final Fantasy releases, then beat that before Fire Emblem releases, then beat that and finally get some breathing room to hit the backlog. Which will continue stacking with Theatrhythm, Tales of Symponia, Kirby, Octopath II and Atelier.

But that's how I like it. Overwhelmed and constantly barraged with 10x more games than I have time for. It allows for bouncing around, trying different things and sticking with whatever grabs me most.

check out what is the best weapon/Infernal Demon to use in Bayonetta 3 and check out what is the best method to defeat Rodin in Bayonetta 3

@Giancarlothomaz
I prefer the spider/yo-yo weapon. It's got serious range, flashy combos and is crazy fun to skate around on yo-yos

@JaxonH fair, Traionetta is also a excelent weapon.

check out nominees for the Game Awards 2022