Doctor-Moo

Two major issues, as far as I’m concerned:

1. Screen refresh rate issue
2. Lack of games and graphics patches for Switch 1 games

@GrailUK Did you watch their video on Switch 2? They were gushing about its energy efficiency. They were practically giddy with excitement at its low power usage.

Actually the biggest improvement would be to run in 1080p in handheld. Most likely they’ll add that.

The Canadian store Videogamesplus.ca has copies of the LRG version in stock. That’s where I got mine.

I’m really hoping for a steady stream of Switch 2 updates for Switch 1 indie games. Every Switch game could at least use a bump to 1080p in handheld for sharper image quality.

I just replayed 3 (Special) and found it to be fantastic.

Haven’t played Guardians of Azuma, but frankly, I’m not sure that it’s what I’m looking for in a RF game. Visually, it looks to me like a bland BotW clone.

DF did a great job on this, as usual. No one else does the kind of in-depth technical analysis they do.

@ButterySmooth30FPS Yes, exactly.

I also realized that S2 is missing a feature that 3DS had for DS games – the ability to run S1 games at native res in a smaller window. (Maybe this is what you meant by integer scaling?)

@ButterySmooth30FPS Good question - that could be an issue.

What I’m really hoping for is a steady stream of patches for S1 games that unlock better performance and resolution on S2. I’m also OK with paying a few bucks for these.

@Shaunholio Yeah, the Switch Lite screen is not great. Colour rendition is pretty poor and it has a noticeable greenish tint to me.

Damien, the blurriness you’re describing sounds like a result of the S2 upscaling S1 games from 720p to 1080p in handheld mode, which has nothing to do with the panel.

What Nintendo should have done is built its back-compat system with an option to run S1 games in “docked” mode, even when using S2 in handheld, which would improve overall image quality and unlock 1080p for some games.

I haven’t played the S2 port, but the game itself is a 10/10. One of my favourites of all time. Hundreds of hours of amazing gameplay.

I love the Hitman trilogy, so I’m pretty excited to see what this is. I hope it has the same open-ended gameplay.

If ever there was a classic game that didn’t need a remake, it’s CT. Just port it and let us play it!

@MrDocena Actually, I played most of the RF and HM games before Stardew, and I was still absolutely delighted by it. Barone really understood what made those games great, and doubled down on the two things I love most about them: the farming and the social interaction.

In terms of farming, Stardew easily beats every HM/SoS/RF game. There’s an open-endedness to how you can develop your farm, but at the same time, every crop and animal feels perfectly well-balanced.

As for social interaction, Rune Factory 3 and 4 come close, but I still found the characters in Stardew more interesting. It has way more dialogue than either of those games, which makes the characters feel more alive.

I think of Stardew as a Harvest Moon fan game that grew into something so huge and wonderful that it surpassed its influences and became the best game in the genre.

Polygon is one of my favorite gaming news sites, so this is really sad news. Best of luck to those who’ve lost their jobs.

I’m not happy about this trend and I worry about game preservation, but these do offer the #1 most important feature of physical games, which is resellability. If I spend $80 on a game, I want the ability to get back some of that money later if I decide to.

@MTMike87 That’s actually a hilarious silver lining — you don’t have to pay an EXTRA $10 to upgrade the DLC to Switch 2 Edition DLC.

@JayJ I didn't realize that about Wii U backward compatibility. I never had one myself.

@Jack_Goetz I don’t think this is a Wii U situation at all. Because of the backward compatibility, Switch 2 consoles will eventually replace people’s current Switch consoles. And in the short term, hype will sell units.

It’ll be over by the time I wake up! So I guess I’ll have some good watching to go with my morning cup of tea. (I’m in the PDT time zone.)

@Switch_Pro I'm still on Cold Steel 3! And man, that game is long.

As others here have said, I think waiting for Switch 2 is the way to go. That’s what I’ll be doing.

If ever there was a game that doesn't need a remake, it's CT. Don't mess with perfection. We need a pixel-perfect port of the DS version.

@Tyranexx I’m currently playing through all the Trails games available on Switch and I’m loving the series. What I did is watch YouTube story summaries of the missing games (Sky trilogy, Cold Steel 1&2). Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything because I know all the characters and main plot points. I highly recommend this approach. Don’t wait years to enjoy these great games. Just dive in!

They should have included a “classic” mode to play the original versions unaltered.

If we’re fantasizing about Virtual Console, why not just go a step further: What we need is compilations of classic games on a cartridge!

I’ve been waiting over 2 years for Ray’z on Switch. I would never preorder from this company again and I strongly suggest others avoid it as well.

Looks like fun, but it’s time to retire the term “action RPG.” It can mean almost anything at this point, from Diablo to Horizon. It tells us almost nothing about the game.

I played it on Vita and was disappointed. It was sort of bland and lacked the excitement of Ys 7. Actually Ys 7 is my favourite in the series, and I hope they bring it to Switch 1/2 eventually.

Unpopular take I'm sure, but I'm happy with the excellent port collections and don't feel we need new entries. We already have a treasure trove of fantastic games.

I'm playing through all the games available on Switch, and filling in the gaps by watching Youtube story recaps. I highly recommend this approach. I'm currently on Cold Steel 3 and loving it. If you like JRPGs, don't miss this fantastic series.

Yes! I’m currently playing Sea of Stars with my kid and we’re having a blast.

@Rykdrew I agree, this is a major problem for Forza and other racing games. I was really hoping Switch 2 would have analog triggers.

@MasterGraveheart Yeah, Stardew took the basic formula of Harvest Moon and perfected it. None of the HM or SoS games can compare.

Have you played Rune Factory 3 and 4? Those are really great and have a laid back pace. After Stardew, those are my favourite farming sims.

Disappointing that there are no analog triggers. As a fan of racing games, this is pretty unfortunate.

I’m not a big Ubi fan, but I am excited for lots of ports. To me, being able to play the best PS4-era games on the go is a huge draw.

@Vivianeat Same (though my backlog is about 30 games, not 200), but I'm hoping publishers will be able to update their Switch games to perform better on Switch 2. That would be great for the backlog.

I don't see the NSO situation as a good option. I would be thrilled with VC, or even better, compilations of classic games on physical Switch cartridges.

@-wc- I wish all of these remakes/remasters included a "Classic mode" so you could experience the original if you want.

I’ve been gaming for over 40 years and this is the game I’ve put the most hours into. Absolutely amazing. Can’t wait for his next game.

@Ulysses Yeah, same, though I played the Switch version for a few hours and it actually looks really good, even in handheld. They did a great job with the port.

@GameOtaku As far as I know the physical release with DQ1-3 doesn't have the original NES versions. They're remastered too, but in 2D, and they look even worse than the new version.

A must-buy for me. Hoping for a physical version. Sure, a comprehensive collection would be great, but I'm sold because it's Digital Eclipse and I think I can get a lot of hours of fun out of all the variations.

I have to say, I don't understand what's so "gorgeous" about the visuals. The 3D environments look generic to me. I'll give the game a chance because I'm a DQ fan, but the visual style is not impressing me so far.

@Bizzyb I actually didn't know that! I'll check them out.

@msvt I would love a proper D-pad too, but I don't see how it's possible. It doesn't really work with the multiplayer-focused detachable joy-con design.

I'm a fan of the series, so I'm in, but I'm a little concerned about Switch performance. This looks like it will have large, visually detailed areas. I'm hoping they do a good job optimizing the Switch version.

@Lightsiyd I needed a good reason to try Monstrum after being disappointed by Lacrimosa, but the visual design really didn't look great to me. If the reviews had been glowing, I probably would have played it, but they weren't.

What did you think of Monstrum?

I loved some of the earlier games in the series, but Lacrimosa of Dana really didn't work for me. I found the story pacing way to slow, the base-defense battles completely unnecessary, and the maps almost impossible to navigate. I skipped Monstrum Nox. But this one looks promising.