Max_the_German

@xmkbest

Since February 2022, the perception of Poland shifted drastically in Germany. It changed from a country at the border of Europe to one in the very centre of it with a respectable economy and culture. And Polish developers make some if the very best video games out there, for many years now.

I‘m therefore not surprised that Nintendo of Europe, located in Frankfurt and most likely dominated by German employees, decided to include Polish into its localisation efforts.

And the European cover with the big PEGI and USK rating icons will look even worse.

The ice level was good - not great, but good. The bosses were the highlights. But everything else was just not good or lacked consistency. A desert with green crystals and without proper music and soul, why?

Before beginning the game on my Switch 2, I thought about trying it out on my Switch Lite. But I have zero interest now whatsoever.

As amends, I hope Nintendo will soon bring Metroid Prime 2 to NSO.

Look at the hands on these „photos“. These fingers are unnaturally short! Nobody in the world has so short fingers.

So we basically know nothing. Even if OSM is an upcoming Switch 2 model. Could be a dev kit. Only speculations!

Switch 2 is just not attractive enough. The screen is meh. Most developers don’t use the VRR properly due to the lack of good SDK support. Many developers had late or still have no access to dev kits.

These problems are made by Nintendo itself!

If the prices rise and customers’ budgets not, we will see a longer transitional period for Switch 1 than I expected. It is now, five years after the launch of PS5, that the PS4 really phases out.

Imagine a significant software support for Switch 1 in 2030!

@Athropos @moonsider

The fact that even enthusiasts like Nintendo Life readers (and I include myself) don’t understand this update/upgrade easily is a good example for how to NOT do marketing.

I get why Nintendo doesn’t want to offer everything here for free. I would have made this new DLC (version 3.0) for free if you have got the first DLC (version 2.0?), via NSO or paid upgrade.

And 60 fps for Switch 2, of course.

@charliecarrot

I know some people of that kind, and I don’t mention it to them because it would be rude from my side and embarrassing for them. Hypocrisy and bigotry seem to be the most natural things in the world.

That looks as natural as heavily photoshopped photos for advertising can look like to me.

I hope this AI paranoia isn’t infectious.

Btw: These products are cute!

>> Now, we've never really been fans of Dbrand's 'edgy' humour, since it often borders on being completely unprofessional <<

I find their product descriptions very informative: „REAL BLACK LEATHER
Full-grain Black Leather. Cows died for this.“

I think the problem is not the humour, but the dishonest self-delusion of people who avoid the consume of meat due to ethical reasons, but ignore where all the leather fo their nice shoes, belts, bags etc. comes from.

I see four major reasons:
1) The generally bad state of western economies
2) The lack of games with broad must-have appeal (sorry Donkey)
3) Only small improvements for most Switch 1 games running on Switch 2 (PS5 had bigger improvements for popular PS4 games)
4) A poor screen, stated by many (mainstream) media, especially compared to the Switch OLED -> Many Switch 1 owners will wait for the inevitable Switch 2 OLED!

Samus is the weird one in this game! Being a team leader and never speaking a single word. There are many coaches out there offering leadership training courses. And as a freelancer, Samus could offset the fees against tax.

This „Balanced Mode“ for handheld sounds like a mode targeting 40 fps. For everyone who has never experienced 40 fps: It looks SOO much smoother than 30 fps. At the same time, this Balanced Mode could offer more stable framerates and higher resolutions and/or more graphical features than the Performance Mode.

Now let’s hope that DLSS and VRR with Low Framerate Compensation are implemented, and we have the first technical showcase where every Switch 2 feature is used.

@Mana_Knight

The Ori games are Metroidvanias, but very linear. It’s not hard to know exactly where to go.

If you never played the Ori games, you never really lived.

@Sylamp

I didn’t believe what you wrote. So I checked the PEGI website for Super Mario Odyssey, which is not a native NS2 game, despite its support for 4k and DLSS. And PEGI mentions SMO also as an NS2 game, with release date 5 June 2025.

The department at NoE for game ratings is doing a meticulous job!

Edit: I had a lengthy „dialogue“ with GPT-5 about this whole NS1/NS2 stuff. GPT-5 used documents from Nvidia and PEGI as basis, so I regard these results as reliable:

• A PEGI classification for a specific platform is needed if the software is advertised for that platform. If Nintendo would say „Buy Luigi‘s Mansion 3, exclusive for Nintendo Seitch and Nintendo Switch 2“, it would require a PEGI rating for NS2, even if the software is the untouched Switch 1 binary.
  -> PEGI rating doesn’t say anything about the technical implementation!
• The information „Nintendo Switch software“ for a specific game in the NS2 menu doesn’t indicate that it’s a NS1 binary. Games like Super Mario Odyssey, which support higher resolutions and/or DLSS, are native NS2 binaries and can STILL be called „Nintendo Switch software“ (and not „Nintendo Switch 2 software“, as it’s the case for BotW NS2E). It’s a marketing decision by Nintendo.
  -> This information doesn’t say anything about the technical implementation!

Really annoying!

Conclusion: A new PEGI rating only means „Nintendo wants to advertise this software as a title suitable for Switch 2. Adoptions for Switch 2 not necessary“.

@DennyCrane

Retro is a full team again, true. But they can work on other IPs. With their experience in 2D platformers, Retro could make 2D Marios, instead of or additional to EPD. New Super Mario U Deluxe sold more than 18m units!

@TrogdorTheBurninator

Both the poor critical reception and the low sales numbers are no advertising for another Metroid Prime game. I would be surprised if MP4 were hitting break-even. And its effect on pushing the appeal of Switch is also quite limited.

I think that this was the last new Metriod Prime title for a very long time.

@Angelic_Lapras_King

I don’t think that Nintendo will touch Pikmin 1+2 for a Switch 2 Edition. These games look more emulated (like Super Mario Sunshine) than native Switch code. In this case, the code base is totally outdated, and bringing the games to 60 fps could be a major issue. And without 60 fps, an update would make no sense.

This game is very entertaining and motivating, it’s the only turn-based RPG I’ve finished in 35 years of gaming.

And the best music track is Sophia.

The low D-pad position on Switch Lite makes it almost impossible for me to use it as the main controls, and my hands have a pretty average size for a man.

For applications like switching the beam in MP4, the location is perfectly fine. And for that, I actually prefer the four single buttons.

Handhelds will always be a compromise for controls.

An open world should be a playground to enjoy. If you‘re unable to make it interesting, forcing the players to collect goddamn stupid green crystals - for longer than an hour, and there is no exploration required! - is the worst possible move. Retro obviously had no clue what the characteristics of a modern and good open world are.

But what I really dislike the most is MP4‘s lack of complexity. When playing Super Metroid or Metroid Dread, you feel a hidden complexity which allows sequence breaking and spectacular speed runs, even if you don’t know these hidden mechanics. MP4 in comparison is so by-the-numbers, it’s just sad.

Edit: And these „dialogues“: Samus stares on a screen, and random NPC says „So, you mean this weird MacGuffin, it’s a kind of key, right?“ Samus still staring. „Samus, that is a great plan, we will bring this to the tower to open a Star Gate“, while the NPC has never seen the tower by themself. Samus turns her head.

My poor ape deserved the top spot…

@topsekret

Yes, I didn’t think about battery life, which is crucial for a game like this. On the other hand, let people decide for themselves.

They could call the 30 fps mode a „battery time saving mode“ and reduce the resolution to make the difference even more pronounced.

I won’t play any game which is not aiming for 40 fps or more. I made an exception for Tears of the Kingdom, which I regret, and would do it also for GTA6. But I can’t stand 30 fps any more, playing the Star Wars: Outlaws demo reminded me of that.

I‘ve spotted 6 differences (when the bikini in the front right is counted as one difference).

This American bigotry is really disturbing. Which country has the biggest porn industry in the world?!

@topsekret

Yes, a 40 fps mode would be great.

But why don’t they offer 60 fps in handheld mode? CPU clocks are even higher (I don’t know why), so this can’t be reason. Maybe RAM clocks?

„This is a vision that could only exist on Nintendo hardware.“

Because it includes Nintendo characters? Unlikely.

Or because of weird motion controls no other platform could provide? …

@JohnnyMind

The framerate is probably GPU limited, with a dynamic resolution system which aims for framerates just above 30 fps.

Based on this assumption, Bethesda could introduce a performance mode for mobile play, with tweaked graphics settings (minimum resolution, LOD, shadows) and a target framerate of 60 FPS. Most of the time, the framerate should be above 40 fps, and VRR should work quite well.

Or they invest even more effort and implement low framerate compensation, as Ubi did for AC Shadows, to enable VRR for framerates down to 20 fps.

We are talking about Bethesda though.

Bethesda made it too easy to resist, unfortunately.

@RasandeRose

Watch the loading times on Xbox Series X, which has faster storage and more performant decompression system than Switch 2.

I expect a typical Bethesda experience.

After Skyrim, I expect only the best ports from Bethesda.

Waiting for the analyses of loading times…

Finally a good usage for the analogue triggers of Switch 2. Wait…

On the next investor meeting, SE’s CFO will probably say „We are unsatisfied with the sales numbers of Pixel Remaster“

Just played 30 min of it. Now I know why Nlife gave it a 5/10. Repetitive and pretty outdated world design for today’s standards imo.

Finished it on Sunday, loved the tough boss fights and the Ice Belt, the other stuff was just okay or outright bad (Looking at you, green crystals. What is actually your purpose story-wise? Making the tree happy?)

I will probably replay Super Metroid, Metroid Zero Mission, Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime Remastered several times before touching MP4 again, if at all. Such a waste of potential, it’s sad.

Hot contender for the worst rated game in 2026:

Neo Berlin 2087

https://youtu.be/i8B89MssneU?si=a1kbML2Edi9HV3ES

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on first place probably means:

There will still be MANY Switch 1 bundles under the Christmas trees this year!

@The-Chosen-one

The graphical fidelty is poor, but it has a decent resolution and runs very well on Switch 2. Other games may look better, because the developers set higher values for shadows, texture resolution etc., but they are a stuttery mess.

I prefer a game which runs great from the first day, because THAT is what defines the playability for me. If they later improve the shadows without sacrificing the great performance, I‘m fine.

Just the daily grind, collecting green crystals while ignoring those „enemies“ around my bike.

Why on earth did Retro take the WORST aspect of Wind Waker and put it into the game. Outright stupid.

Capcom combines 60% of the votes. Domination.

@Arawn93

Exactly, games like Schedule 1. Or Hollow Knight, Shovel Knight, Undertale, Animal Well.

E33 is a game developed by the small studio Sandfall Interactive, with the help of hundreds of external developers and testers, published by Kepler Interactive.

Apart from the fact that it is the first game of this studio, I don’t see any reason why E33 should be considered an indie. And even if „first game of non-vererans“ qualifies for „indie status“ is questionable in my opinion.

@PushMyGran86

E33 is a AAA game. The costs for all this high-level voice actors must be massive.

Other than Square Enix, Capcom knows that a huge part of its core audience wants to play on Switch.

And Capcom is on fire for some time now.

Sony will notice.

@PushMyGran86

ChatGPT tells me that over 400 people are mentioned in the credits of E33, including all the support studios which are needed for such a huge AAA game.

Compare this to Silksong with around 100 and Hades 2 with around 130 people. Both of them would be regarded big games 20 years ago, and E33 a giant game.

The definition of indie is broken. Real indies should be games like Animal Well.

@Arawn93

> pushed the “turn based isn’t dead” message to the industry. <

I‘ve always got the feeling that E33 is so beloved, because FF16 and FF7R are not turn-based, and that drives people insane, less because E33 is a good game.

Thank you for confirming my prejudice!

11 for MP4 sounds reasonable to me. Some great moments, some poor ones.

You can see 10 min playthroughs on YouTube. A weird choice for such a mega release imo.

@Theamazing1 Exactly! Nintendo doesn’t support mods which can be downloaded afterwards. They have to be parted of the shipped game code, and integral part of the game. As I said. And it is possible for Bethesda to do exactly that, selecting the most popular mods which still compatible with company’s vision of Skyrim, like id did. But Bethesda didn’t.

@Theamazing1

Mods ARE possible in Switch games, Doom 1+2 prooved it. They have to be shipped with the game and not be DLCs though, as they can drastically change the game code.

Not having an unlocked framerate is a crime.

Promising „optimised performance“ while showing a video in 30 fps is a bit… telling.