Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@skywake that's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but I don't agree. They should be rating it on the hardware you can play it on now and not what they think might be coming down the line. As I've already mentioned, it's a fair comment if Switch 2 had a release date or had even been officially announced, but for all we know it could be a year (or even more) away so I don't think "should've waited for Switch 2" is helpful at this point and adds nothing to a review.

For what it's worth, I didn't suggest it needed the qualifier "good for a Switch title". I think that's basically true for all hardware - folk are aware that whatever they are playing has limitations and there is always something better available elsewhere or coming 'soon'. I'd be equally against a PS5 review saying something looked great, but they would be better waiting for the PC port or waiting until a rumoured 'Pro' or PS6 was released where it would be even better.

We could probably go round in circles forever debating who's opinion is more valid here but I think we're already close to repeating ourselves at this point and I don't think that's very helpful to anyone, so I think I'll just leave it at that and agree to disagree.

Anyway...
Since I really busy during May 2024, I will play my Switch games oftenly.
I will play either ACNH / Go Vacation / Miitopia.

welp, been a while since one of these arguments got yeeted.

@Anti-Matter What are you doing in ACNH lately?

It's just a shame they decided to leave the one post that was actually argumentative and offensive. At least they haven't yet modded out the second line in my signature. Maybe I'll update it so it's slightly more obvious what the sentiment is

Anyways, I look forward to the future of gaming reviews where no external factors are ever discussed. Not poor early sales trajectories for early titles on a platform. Not awkward control schemes or hardware limitations. Not the existence or soon-to-be existence of platforms that could deliver a better experience. Wrong to mention that the Wii was SD for Endless Ocean 2 in 2010, wrong to mention the Switch is not 4K for Endless Ocean Luminous in 2024

Got the message. Reviews aren't allowed to talk about anything other than the platform the game is releasing on. Between the opening and closing statements no other hardware exists or could possibly exists. And we have to respect this future because someone has an opinion that you can't offend 10 year old pieces of silicon. And here in 2024 we respect people's opinions, not their intellect

@FishyS
Well, usually I sell the fruits / seashell / fish / bugs, maintain the relationship with my villagers, taking photo shoot at Harv island, making the vacation houses at Happy Home Paradise Island.

I wonder why Endless Ocean didn't get a demo; after Another Code, Mario vs DK and Peach all got demos, I was expecting one. It seems like a perfect game for a short demo, considering the reviews are kind of all over the place and since the point of the game seems like 90% vibe which should be easy to decide if you like with a short demo.

@FishyS
I'd question whether a title like that really needs a demo. I haven't played it or any of the games in the series but I think the trailers are pretty self explanatory. It's like if you took Abzu and took out all the charm replacing it with a more realistic style. Same vibe as dropping in a UHD BluRay of Blue Planet and zoning out except, you know, as a game on the Switch

I think if you were into that sort of thing you'd already know it without needing a demo. It wouldn't hurt obviously but I don't think it's like Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon tier of this desperately needs a demo for people to get an idea of what this is about

@skywake I know I like games like that in theory, I just don't know if I like that particular game anywhere near $50 worth. For me, things like movement control and how natural the UI and goals feel while playing massively effects enjoyment and those things are hard to really get a feel for without playing. I might feel differently if I had played the previous games, but I didn't.

I do agree with you though that games like Cereza and Peach Showtime really needed demos. This game really only needs a demo if it wants a chance to get money from indecisive people like me. 😛 But also they have been having demos for other games which don't desperately need a demo lately so I was just hoping the trend would continue so I could try this game.

@Novamii I can easily imagine I might really like it or be somewhat indifferent to it, I just can't actually tell without playing. For any game with movement in it, the particulars of the movement really effect my experience. And for more artistic or pretty games, really small little things in the experience can make me absolutely fall in love with it or not at all.

Has anyone had issues downloading demos? Sometimes they don't download the first time I try, but I've tried downloading the Chants of Sennaar demo about 10-15 times in the past week (directly on the Switch and from the UK eShop). I'm sure I tried a while ago but then forgot about it.

I tried downloading another game demo today and it downloaded immediately.

@FishyS I think it didn't get a demo because the nature of the game makes it hard to have a demo. You can't just have a bunch of story chapters considering the story chapters (at least what I've played so far) are mostly a brief tutorial and some cutscenes. Meanwhile a solo dive can last you a long time (the maps are very big such that you can even discover around half the game's creatures from that one dive).

I can't say about shared dives as I haven't tried it yet.

Fun fact: there have been over 800 new Switch games so far this year, averaging around 48 games a week.

@FishyS and the majority aren't that great unfortunately lol. Still pretty crazy though.

It's weird to think Switch 2 is pretty much inevitably coming out next year. Feel like I've barely started with Switch, partially because its the first Nintendo system I got late this century, partially because I've been focused on retro games and a handful of incredibly long games. I still have two Xenoblade releases to play, and several other first party and/or JRPGs, not to mention 15+ backlog games.

I haven't played Shared Dives yet but my early impressions (based on 13 hours of gameplay) on the rest of Endless Ocean Luminous so far.

The atmosphere is very relaxing between the visuals and music, I really like the general feel of the game. Scanning to find out more facts about the creatures is interesting though I wish it extended to the surroundings like being able to scan a plant and it would tell you more. The photo mode is nice and got me some good photos for my Switch album.

The story is structured poorly. Rather than a typical story mode where you play through the whole thing and then you can play other modes as extras, this has you unlock story segments based on what you've achieved in the other modes like scanning a total number of creatures.

I'm mostly satisfied with map traversal though I do wish there was some way to display on the map where you found creatures so you could return to them. There are riddles you find that you solve but considering you don't know the riddle until you reach it, you likely won't remember where you found the solution so it may take a long time to find it again.

I've been in 2 solo dives so far and the variety has been enough that the 2nd one was still enjoyable (the dives are completely random). I did experience some sizable frame drops in that 2nd solo dive which slightly took away from the immersion, namely when there was a large group of about 30 Ocellated Eagle Rays and when there were a load of fish hiding in greenery heavy areas.

Overall, I like it despite its flaws. I'm also excited to see what music they pick for the Tetris 99 theme.

Good to hear from others that are playing. I’m gonna get Endless Ocean in the next two months but I just started Showtime and work is ramping up in a way that I know my free time is gonna be nil. So I won’t get a new game until Showtime is done. But EO sounds like it is about what I was expecting.