Ainze

@roy130390 @Erigen Sorry guys, I was just being tongue-in-cheek about Mario & Rabbids. Although in all honesty, while I would never bet on Nintendo getting uncharacteristically violent, there genuinely are enough surprises that I'd never rule anything out.

@Erigen Yeah, they'd never let a third party make a violent Mario game. Can you imagine Mario beating people up, or gasp shooting people?

@Branovices To be fair, they did do great work in the remastered Tomb Raider games.

@VoidofLight Thanks for the insight! Binaries are still trivial in (storage) size to AV assets, but yes, more than a tiny change indeed.

@Fizza Barely anything. It's a small code change, no (or barely any) new assets.

@rvcolem1
It will vary wildly between games. The 3D Zelda’s are large because they’re proper Switch 2 versions, presumably with some nice higher resolution textures and such. Pokemon is just increasing the frame rate and internal rendering resolution, which is just a tiny change in code. There might be some extra textures for the interface elements if they’re doing things right, but either way there won’t be much.

@ArcticEcho Honestly, I don't remember specifically and I can't be bothered to Google something you could search for yourself. And often these discrepancies are fixed after launch, but the point is they can happen. It's a dev choice, nothing to do with the hardware. And you can prove this at home. If you have a PC, run a game and change the settings. You can go for low settings and smooth performance, crank the settings and tank your performance, and everything in between. The Switch is more limited than other consoles by a fair margin, but dev choices matter on every platform. Never was this more obvious than N64 vs Playstation. Always a coin flip back then.

Anyway, just wait and see what we get. Can't stress this enough!

@ArcticEcho How the game is crafted matters. Devs can tailor the experience for each console. We've seen Switch games do better before. Not often but sometimes. And sometimes it's as simple as choosing the wrong default resolution. The PS5 could be much higher res but be overextending itself compared to a lower res but smoother Switch version. It's a real thing.

Either way, I doubt what you see in the trailer is reflective of final performance at all. Chill until release.

@HugoGED If you're referring to that trailer, it seems they're showing the Playstation version. And I'm guessing the fluidity of the trailer doesn't reflect actual final performance.

They match the colour of the LED when it's in the eponymous mode, so I'm guessing just new packaging for the same product.

Incidentally, I think the difference was well worth it for my use-case. I have mine plugged into a 1440p monitor on my desk, so I'm both close enough to see the pixels and it's upscaling the most it can. Definitely takes the rough out of the image quite a bit.

@IsThis5or6 Technically true, but for some people, the NSO games are just an extra. You might have the subscription just to play online. I'm an avid no-renter always-own person and I have NSO. While I do enjoy playing the old games on my Switch (while I can), they're definitely not why I have the sub.

@progx Underworld was Feral. I worked on that port.

@progx Also Anniversary and Underworld.

@9-Volt Lara Croft collection isn’t part of Feral’s Mac portfolio, and has never come to Mac at all. They did port a few of the mainline Tomb Raider games however.

@KingdomTears Yes, still the same item switching issues. Only two buttons on the Gameboy

@KingdomTears They both have both, but Seasons leans more towards combat and Ages more towards puzzles. Ages is the one you want, if you’ll only play one.

It might be an issue of TOTK having barely any deadzone. I noticed drift just yesterday using my Splatoon 3 Pro controller, where none had been seen before. I haven't seen it again after a recalibration. Who knows, it might come back, but it might just be a case of TOTK itself making minor calibration issues more obvious than other games.

@Rambler If you find it pointless, that's fine. But then don't waste your time with them. This is what they do. And it's all they should do, given their company mission. Don't complain when the colour blue isn't pink enough, just go get some pink.

I like DF because of my interests and career in software and game development. It's interesting and relevant to that side of me. But unimportant to my enjoyment as a gamer. I definitely don't go to DF to gauge whether I will actually like a game.

@Rambler
That's what they're meant to do. It's Digital Foundry. They only review technical attributes. They have been known to throw in some subjective assessments from time to time, but by and large they are there to assess the technical competence of the product. It's not that they don't care, it just not their business. All the other reviews are there if you want the other stuff.

@Cashews
Unfortunately it’s not that simple. There’s pressure from retailers to keep digital prices at RRP, "or no one will buy physical copies and we’ll go out of business".

Really stupid when actual plastic, paper and computer chips, shipped and stored (and then discounted by those same retailers!), comes in as cheaper than digital, but somehow makes sense from a business perspective.

Bad for the environment, bad for users, but those retailers are kept happy.

@Rooty Sorry you had that experience. I really dislike the way that everyone seems to use the same ‘good’ decks. There are so many cards, so much variation in what you can create, but most players just want to win.

The good news is that the game was actually pretty good at matching you with players (decks really) of your level. All of my decks, no matters how well or badly designed, seem to have a 50:50 win ratio. And then there was theme mode, where everyone was forced to use prebuilt decks of similar power level, so was all down to you and not your cards.

The bad news is that that’s now going away. There’s now a rank ladder and theme deck mode is dead and gone. All competition, no fun or strategy.

Short answer: if that’s what you disliked before, there’s no reason to go back to it now.

@NovaCam A group of teens decide whether or not life is worth living while dating anti-matter opposites.

@NovaCam A boy and 20 NSFW anime girls climb a beanstalk.

@NovaCam Inspired by a electric fork with a face, a boy with giant shorts aims to kill the ground he lives on.

@HalBailman I totally get your point, although it can be saved as a preset, rather than doing all the mapping each time. Still, your proposal would be far far better.

@Panopticon Yeah, that'll happen unless you change the in-game controls to 1.2 Solitaire.

EDIT: And swap the L and R sticks entirely. Not just the X axis.

Having great success with 1.2 Solitaire, and then System map ZL to R, ZR to ZL, Y to B, X to A, and swap the sticks. Feels like a normal shooter. Don't know what everyone's problem is.

Why not just use the built-in button remapping?

@Reyren
Beware of giant spoilers. 2 minutes into the demo and a bunch of Three Houses was spoiled already, and it kept going at a fantastic pace.

You may or may not care, but it’s something I noticed. I’ve done three routes on Three Houses and even I had something small spoiled for me!

@Tendogamerxxx
By that reasoning, XBSX and PS5 also stifle creativity with their limited power. An RTX 3090 stifles creativity with its limited power. All of these products will be “slow” in 10 years time. Creativity isn’t about making the best thing ever - it’s about making the best you can with what you actually have. There are amazing looking games on Switch. And bad looking games too. And the same is true on PS5, GameCube, Dreamcast and SNES.

Just look at Pixar. Do you have any idea how long it takes to render just one of their movie frames? And they’re still trying to improve their animation further still. All creativity is relative. There is no absolute - there is no “enough”.

@Floki @Tendogamerxxx
It’s very rarely ever the hardware. Sometimes it can be a little (PS3 Cell processor, N64 cartridge capacity, XBox One memory layout, to name some awkward hurdles), but most things are dev decisions. There’s no such thing as underpowered hardware - there’s just hardware and whatever software you decide to make for it.

How many PS5 or XBox Series X games are 4K120? Almost none, and only then the ones with simpler graphics. Any console has finite power and you can only use it for so many things. You have to make a balance between graphics, resolution and frame rate. That’s a compromise you have to make on any platform.

Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD were 1080p, but BOTW was 720p on the same system (Wii U). Was the same hardware suddenly underpowered? No, it’s the exact same console! The devs just wanted a prettier game at the expense of resolution.

Warriors games too. On Switch we’ve had FE at 720p60 or 1080p30, and the original Hyrule Warriors at 1080p 30-60. The fact that AoC can’t hit stable 30 is entirely a dev choice. They’ve over-reached on pretty graphics.

@Richnj
I’d rather not say, but they have been getting very good reviews for their Switch ports!

@Whitestrider
There is actually a real incentive to keep the prices where they are. The wave of micro-transactions, over-priced and under-delivering dlc, pay-to-win and general decrease in quality can at least partly be blamed on customers buying in to the "race to the bottom" mentality for prices. I used to work for one of the major publishers and the owner of the company was adamantly against large sales because it hurt our ability to do good work. That company has since caved to a degree because now you can't survive if you don't. But Nintendo are odd - they can survive in their own little bubble because they make the hardware and software, Apple style. By keeping the prices where they are, Nintendo can ensure they have the money to give us quality (and no, that doesn't always mean we get it, but that's a different issue).

To be clear, I'm not saying you should buy the games at that price if you don't want. You should always only spend according to what you consider worth it. I'm simply saying that it's more pro-consumer than you'd think.

@Jey887 Weren't Ocarina 3D and Majora 3D 60fps too? Honestly can't remember, but it feels like something I heard.

@TimboSlice
Yeah, That's normal! I was great on XCOM EU/EW, and got a nasty shock when I started 2. You've got to bring your A game right from the start.

@sixrings
We’re getting graphics. We’re getting so much graphics that we’re getting less resolution. This isn’t poorly coded or poorly optimised or something. It’s very good graphics, that perhaps pushes the Switch a bit too far.

A great example would be Witcher. Some of the best graphics the Switch has ever seen, but all those lighting and particle effects tank the resolution and textures.

All in all, this is excellent for a portable. These games are a bit beyond the scope of the Switch power range, but impressive that it can happen at all. But if it doesn’t do it for you, and it might not, don’t buy it. That’ll show ‘em.

Remember, there’s no such thing as underpowered. There’s just different use-cases. In 2020, Switch is the best mobile console you can get for £250. Xbox One X is the best static console you can get for £350. PC is the best you can get for £x000. And none can run the best games at max settings. None!

The closest thing to underpowered you can get is unbalanced, like pairing a GTX 2080ti with a Celeron. Stupid combinations of components. The Switch is not that.

@sixrings
And if they'd left it as was, they could have 1080p60 on current hardware. And if they had even more powerful hardware, they could have 1080p60 with even nicer looking visuals. It's not semantics. There is actually a whole visual component that can keep getting better infinitely, but devs have to play a balancing act with. There are no absolutes. Just artistic choices. It makes no sense at all to consider hardware power. I used to work for one of the major studios. This was how it was every day.

@sixrings
It's fine to not agree. I don't either. But "the choice was partly made because of the limits of the hardware" is obvious because ALL games on ALL platforms follow this rule. And "if they had more powerful hardware they wouldn't have had to make that choice" isn't even slightly true.

@sixrings
To be clear, I would have preferred less graphical improvement in favour of 1080p, so I agree with your preference. But that doesn't make their artistic choices wrong, and certainly doesn't mean that the laws of physics don't apply.

@sixrings
Again, you don't get computers, or art. EVERY developer has to make these decisions, and will do until the end of time. An Xbox Series X game running at 8K 120fps could still have been made to look better. At some point, the devs run out of power and have to draw a line at how much they improve it. PC gaming is proof of this. You, the consumer, chose which things to include and which things to sacrifice. And yet, it still could have gone higher and higher and higher, if the devs were rich and stupid enough to try.

And yes, the Switch will still be fun in 2030, just as the NES, SNES, N64, etc is still fun in 2020.

@sixrings
Computer graphics don't work that way. You have a finite power that goes between Framerate, Graphical Effects, and Resolution, and developers can do what they want with it. In one hundred years time, any developer for the PS25 can make a game crawl at 15fps, or render at 120p, if they use enough of the power to making the picture look super realistic. Do you have any idea how long it takes to render a single frame of a PIXAR movie, even in '2020'?

Monolithsoft have chosen to prioritise a pretty picture over the resolution it's rendered at. Their choice. It's not right or wrong. It's a matter of taste.

@Friendly
This. Exactly this. Last console generation, I was 90% physical, so that I could still play in 30 years time. This time, I’m about 70% digital, because in 30 years most cartridges won’t work without their patches. Either the game will be buggy, the play servers will be closed, or the game will be missing tonnes of content that I remember it having. Even my BOTW cart won’t be the same as it plays now.

Most modern carts will die at the same time as their digital counterparts. Sad but true.

@LUIGITORNADO
It matters to some people, but not to people who just want to enjoy their games. And I’m not just talking about Nintendo’s own games. I have Xbox One X, a gaming PC, and a Switch, and for every cross platform game, I buy the Switch version. TV, bed, sofa, garden, visiting relatives, gory game when my kids are around. Not to mention the best system sleep function (although sounds like Microsoft are catching up). And don’t forget, in ten years, all these consoles will seem weak. The only game that stands the test of time are the ones that are fun, not tech show offs.

Switch is way better than the other consoles, and it’s nothing to do with power.

@ArcanaXVI
In the Gamescom thing, or whatever, they said it didn’t matter which you play first, because they both fill in gaps for each other.

I think it can only be a good thing if they’re still trying to improve the game. Many wouldn’t bother.

Personally, I’d like video capture back. I don’t mind a small performance hit.

And the game runs fine. Who are these people who say it doesn’t? As smooth as XBox? No. But good enough to play and have fun? Easily! If you need 60fps, maybe you’re just not good enough? Some of us grew up lucky to get 25fps.

@gaby_gabito
Over 160 hours, and honestly, in my mind (and to my wife) I have often commented on the blurry and messy graphics. But I can’t put the game down. It’s great. Art style is such that if you do notice the cons like me, the pros still shine through anyway. And the gameplay and story are fantastic.

Short answer: the questionable graphics decisions will not ruin this game for you.

@HeroponRiki Some excellent points. I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, but disagree that this makes Day 1 DLC a bad idea for this game. Basing my opinion on Hyrule Warriors, as its the closest match to this, and hopefully FEW will be similar, HW felt like a full game out of the gate. Yes, there were characters I felt would have been fitting to include, but the roster we got didn’t feel anemic, and it always felt that we didn’t get some characters in the basic game in exchange for others. You can’t include all iconic characters from the Zelda series without being generous, and you can’t include all Links without the roster being over-Linked.

We’re talking about a specific game, so this is just my opinion of course. I can see why you might disagree, and the quantity of content you get for the price of the DLC was low. I felt it was worth it from the fun I had, but again, that might vary from person to person. I did feel annoyed that they didn’t backport the new Legends levels to the Wii U version though.

I’d be interested in what you think of the DLC options compared to that of standard FE DLC? To me, the normal DLC options in Awakening/Fates/Echoes have always seemed expensive for so little, but just good enough to get anyway. In that sense, this game feel to me to be a very authentic FE game. Thoughts?

@HeroponRiki How on Earth does this attitude persist? A full priced game should a full price content level, no doubt, but what if the game is fully featured and the extra content is genuinely extra? The fact that it’s available on launch day is irrelevant!

Take FE Fates as an easy example. You buy Birthright or Conquest, and you get a full FE game. But then there are two expansions available on the same day! It’s not three games worth of graphics and engine work, just one. But it is three games worth of story and maps. And that’s how they price it. All in all, about twice the content for twice the price. Should they give you twice the content for normal price, just because it’s ready to go on day one?

With other games, it’s far more subtle, and some DLC is a bargain (Mario Kart 8), and some is a rip off (do I need to give examples?). But DLC on day one doesn’t inherently mean anything one way or the other. How about we all play the game when it comes out, and see?

This is a great option. People should be happy! Which is more important? Frames or resolution? YOU decide! What more could you want?

As for expecting 1080p60 "in 2017", you're talking nonsense. Every game is a product of ALL its assets. It's trivial to make any modern hardware choke at 240p if you make the rendered graphics sophisticated enough. On the flip side, if you simplify, 1080p is easy in 2000 (Total Annihilation, I still love you!).

The performance is all to do with developer decisions. How do they want their game to look and run? Hardware is irrelevant if all you want is 1080p60 and don't consider the art.

@Spoony_Tech Probably the only sane argument for including a bigger card (even if it isn't so consumer friendly!).