I imagine I'll get this at some point, but I currently have a low tolerance for difficulty spikes and grind - it feels like something a good designer should try to avoid, because while there are some that will tolerate or claim to like grind and difficulty spikes, they are unnecessary.
@outsider83 Switch 2 couldn't possibly match or outdo Switch 1 in terms of buzz - Switch 1 was a new concept, Switch 2 isn't, it's just an upgraded Switch.
Undeniably good numbers. I'm still curious about it's medium-term legs. Given the price, the size, the battery life, and the variable screen opinions, I would personally still feel inclined to wait for v1.1, or whatever the next iteration of the design is, though I should acknowledge that I'm not ruling out getting one for the household to share at Christmas.
Can someone remind me what Switch 2 is like for ambient noise?
I've always been happy with Switch 1 fan noise 'cos it only ever seems to kick in occasionally and fairly quietly for me (though my kid's Fortnite workhorse was blowing hard during the summer heatwaves), but I would prefer quieter joy-con sticks and buttons.
So what's Switch 2 like for fan and joy-con noise?
@N00BiSH Before the recent The Super Mario Bros. Movie, none of the characters in it looked quite like they do in that movie. How do we know how Baby Rosalina would look in that setting?
Nice for those that can justify, but it's a bit too far and bound to be too expensive to make me feel a dedicated trip worthwhile. Shame it couldnt be a mobile shop touring the country a bit.
Been playing a bit more tonight, and I've realised what's pissing me off now more than anything is how few of the total enemies actually drop any cash.
In Hollow Knight, don't most enemies drop geo? I've been exploring some new zones, eventually finding benches, and then not been able to unlock them because barely any of the local enemies drop rosaries. That really does just make things tedious.
I vaguely remember playing the demo on Switch and my main takeaway was that it was frustrating without a 360 camera. Does 'Improved controls' include camera control?
I've not had in a 10 in mind so far, but it's probably too soon to judge. My recent post in the Silksong thread roughly sums up where I'm at with it.
I've enjoyed the design a lot, but obviously, having fallen in love with Hollow Knight upon the first time I saw it, Silksong had very little hope of delighting me quite as much, because the design is mostly an extension of the Hollow Knight design.
I do enjoy the challenge, but there are times when it tests my patience in terms of the frustrating pace of earning rosaries and upgrading, grinding just to recover a cocoon, backtracking etc.
And as yet there's been a lack of moments where I'm struck by the beauty and elegance of it.
Plenty to go though, so I'll reserve judgement. Enjoy, everyone. We've waited long enough.
Remember how Capcom supposedly convinced Nintendo to up the Switch RAM?
This seems like a similar situation. Presumably Nintendo consulted certain devs (including Ubisoft, given the established working partnership) on the Switch 2 hardware specification and issues like this would have been flagged. Nintendo chose the path it chose, and that's that.
Be interesting to see whether any future Switch 2 hardware iterations address this storage speed issue.
Only played about 45-60 mins so far. Very nice and no concerns about Switch 1 performance or it being a letdown so far, @anoyonmus.
I think it perhaps makes a little less impact than the beginning of Hollow Knight did, seems maybe slightly less atmospheric so far, slightly different vibe going on, but not such that that's a problem or anything. Generally it is 'more of the same', but I never expected anything more than that. Love the new rosaries, though their tendency to bounce and scatter everywhere is one of those love/hate idiosyncrasies.
It is not your hardware's fault, or your hardware manufacturer's fault, if a software dev can't produce well-performing software for the hardware but tries to sell it anyway.
The reaction in the Comments above seems a bit harsh to me. I'm always grateful for a bit of old-fashioned openness and transparency, so the devs opening up about the process involved in this new version is much appreciated by me.
So this weekend was predominantly going to be resuming my years old Hollow Knight save (once again, **** Switch's activity log, currently saying 10 hrs when I've spent 40+ dragging my sorry ass around Hallownest), along with Tetris 99 tickets, but this week I finally pulled the trigger on the ever-so-cheap-when-on-sale, Railbound, a puzzle game I'd resisted getting for ages cos it looked too simplistic and repetitive, but it turns out to be very engaging to my aged mind and I'm rather enjoying it. Who knows how long that engagement will last, but it's got me for now.
Flashback to when Switch launched and I said it was only a matter of time before competitors tried to muscle in. The amount of people disagreeing with me outnumbered those agreeing with me, visibly at least. Interested to see how this rumour plays out.
Three themes I missed ages ago just recently (since the DK Bananza weekend) got added to my list for me to unlock them - Metroid Dread, Mario 35 and Monster Hunter.
@Truckasauras That sounds ****ing lush and has got my 80s/90s nostalgia horn aroused.
@Jayenkai Is this SmileBASIC on Switch? Been on my wishlist for ages but the cold hard reality of not having enough time or knowledge has held me back.
I'm gonna give a little PSA because I've not noticed it mentioned by anyone, anywhere. If you're a Tetris 99 player and have missed special themes in the past, some of those you missed might have recently appeared in your list of themes for you to unlock. I missed about 6 in total that didn't used to show in my list, but just recently I discovered that 3 of them had now appeared, so I'm back to earning tickets to unlock them (1 to go, then hoping my elusive 3 others will appear at some point).
Also back into Tears of the Kingdom. About 165 hours in and plenty more to do it seems.
I'm away this weekend, somewhere without wifi, otherwise I'd also be re-downloading Hollow Knight for a quick fix before Silksong. Might have to play Ori or Metroid instead.
Peace, love & pixels to all xxx
Edit: I'm using my mobile data hotspot to download Hollow Knight. I don't even know if I've got 5gb data allowance, I could be compromising my mobile data for the next month... Fuggit.
Update 2: Turns out I only have a 5gb data plan, that's only a few days into its current month, so Hollow Knight download will have to be postponed 😭
When watching City Trial mode, the flat textures and rather large and ugly power-up icons did take some shine off the presentation for me, but overall it still looks a lovely gift to us old skool GameCubers.
Comments 5,508
Re: Nintendo Is Opening Its Fourth Store In Japan This Year
Me to ex: "I've had enough. I'm leaving you and moving out. Okay?"
Ex: "Fukuoka!"
Me: "No. Outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, actually."
Re: Review: Shujinkou (Switch) - Words Whup Sticks & Stones In This Innovative Dungeon Crawler
@GoombaJMR Thanks for your engagement and the info about the difficulty options, that's great to know.
Edit: TRILOGY!?! Nice - best of luck with it all, I look forward to playing it all someday.
Re: Review: Shujinkou (Switch) - Words Whup Sticks & Stones In This Innovative Dungeon Crawler
I imagine I'll get this at some point, but I currently have a low tolerance for difficulty spikes and grind - it feels like something a good designer should try to avoid, because while there are some that will tolerate or claim to like grind and difficulty spikes, they are unnecessary.
Re: Switch 2 Reportedly Sold 2.4 Million Units In First Three Months On The Market (US)
@outsider83 Switch 2 couldn't possibly match or outdo Switch 1 in terms of buzz - Switch 1 was a new concept, Switch 2 isn't, it's just an upgraded Switch.
Re: Switch 2 Reportedly Sold 2.4 Million Units In First Three Months On The Market (US)
Undeniably good numbers. I'm still curious about it's medium-term legs. Given the price, the size, the battery life, and the variable screen opinions, I would personally still feel inclined to wait for v1.1, or whatever the next iteration of the design is, though I should acknowledge that I'm not ruling out getting one for the household to share at Christmas.
Can someone remind me what Switch 2 is like for ambient noise?
I've always been happy with Switch 1 fan noise 'cos it only ever seems to kick in occasionally and fairly quietly for me (though my kid's Fortnite workhorse was blowing hard during the summer heatwaves), but I would prefer quieter joy-con sticks and buttons.
So what's Switch 2 like for fan and joy-con noise?
Re: Nintendo Updates Animated Short Film 'Close To You' With Some Familiar Faces
@N00BiSH Before the recent The Super Mario Bros. Movie, none of the characters in it looked quite like they do in that movie. How do we know how Baby Rosalina would look in that setting?
Re: Nintendo Updates Animated Short Film 'Close To You' With Some Familiar Faces
Seems premature to say this is not Mario related, just because it has Pikmin confirmed. The kid is still plausibly Baby Rosalina.
Re: Nintendo Goes Full Pixar In Strange New Animated Short Film, 'Close To You'
Definitely Pikmin. And is it Baby Rosalina?
Re: SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans Of The Tide Brings A Ghostly Adventure To Switch 2 This November
Omg, why don't more video games involve David Hasselhoff?
Re: Opinion: Silksong's Soundtrack Rules, But You Should Turn It Off
I'd better turn vibration back on on my Switch. It never stays on for long because it's so darn noisy.
Re: Review: Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (Switch 2) - Short, Sweet, Prettified, And Not For Everyone
My main takeaway from this is: not as good as DK Bananza. Got it.
Re: Nintendo Announces Pop-Up Store In London, Opening Next Month
Nice for those that can justify, but it's a bit too far and bound to be too expensive to make me feel a dedicated trip worthwhile. Shame it couldnt be a mobile shop touring the country a bit.
Re: Review: EA SPORTS FC 26 (Switch 2) - A Fantastic Football Game, Once You're Used To The Frame Rate
Hoping for EA to issue a patch seems like wishful thinking.
Re: UK Charts: Well, Look Who Cruised Back Into First Place
@TheSaneInsanity Username checks out. Kinda.
Re: UK Charts: Well, Look Who Cruised Back Into First Place
I don't get the 'Not long to go' tag line. Is that a Mario Kart World reference?
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (20th September)
Just wandering Pharloom. For the sixth lap. Still no worthwhile upgrades...
Re: Team Cherry Explains Hollow Knight: Silksong's "Steep Difficulty"
Been playing a bit more tonight, and I've realised what's pissing me off now more than anything is how few of the total enemies actually drop any cash.
In Hollow Knight, don't most enemies drop geo? I've been exploring some new zones, eventually finding benches, and then not been able to unlock them because barely any of the local enemies drop rosaries. That really does just make things tedious.
Re: Trails In The Sky 1st Chapter Steelbook, Special Edition Hit By Shipping & Manufacturing Delays
Sheesh... £20 bump just for steelbook. Guess I need to just wait patiently for a standard Switch 1 PAL at a non-Switch 2 Tax price.
Re: Team Cherry Explains Hollow Knight: Silksong's "Steep Difficulty"
"The important thing for us is that we allow you to go way off the path. One player may choose to follow it directly to its conclusion."
This, perhaps, uncovers Team Cherry's oversight. The 'path' they refer to, and how to follow it to its conclusion, is not obvious to a lot of players.
Re: The Touryst: Deluxe Hits Switch 2 Next Week At 4K / 60fps
I vaguely remember playing the demo on Switch and my main takeaway was that it was frustrating without a 360 camera. Does 'Improved controls' include camera control?
Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More
Re: Pre-Orders For 'Simon The Sorcerer Origins' Open, Featuring Chris Barrie & Rick Astley
Chris Barrie has my attention
Re: Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 Switch Comparison Video Makes Nintendo's Upgrades Clearer
If you relaid your driveway with fancy new cobblestones, you'd pay more than £60, so these games are a bargain.
Re: Review: Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Woven To Brutal Perfection
I've not had in a 10 in mind so far, but it's probably too soon to judge. My recent post in the Silksong thread roughly sums up where I'm at with it.
I've enjoyed the design a lot, but obviously, having fallen in love with Hollow Knight upon the first time I saw it, Silksong had very little hope of delighting me quite as much, because the design is mostly an extension of the Hollow Knight design.
I do enjoy the challenge, but there are times when it tests my patience in terms of the frustrating pace of earning rosaries and upgrading, grinding just to recover a cocoon, backtracking etc.
And as yet there's been a lack of moments where I'm struck by the beauty and elegance of it.
Plenty to go though, so I'll reserve judgement. Enjoy, everyone. We've waited long enough.
Re: Opinion: 10 Years Old Today, Undertale Has Been A Constant Source Of Fun & Learning Between Me & My Kids
I haven't read this article yet, because while I've played some Undertale, I haven't played a lot, and certainly haven't finished it.
I'd like to read this, but will it spoil anything for me? I am quite sensitive to spoilers.
Re: Pokémon Pokopia Looks Like An Adorable Mix Of Minecraft And Animal Crossing
Gutted this is Switch 2 only. I'll get it eventually, but my Switch would love this.
Re: Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 Prices Are Live, And It's Sticker Shock Time
How did I miss that these would have new content? I need to watch that back 😊
Any hint of these being limited-time deals like the 35th collection was?
Re: Nintendo Direct Announced For Friday, 12th September 2025
A Friday?! For 60 mins!?!
Wait a minute... Tottenham Hotspur haven't won a trophy this year, have they?
Re: Nintendo Wins $2 Million Lawsuit Against 'MiG Switch' Distributor
Piracy with Profit equals Pain
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (6th September)
Yup... Silksong. Currently getting ticked off by Lace.
Peace, love & pixels to all xxx
Re: "I Can't Afford To Give It Away For Free" - Silksong's Low Price Is Causing Devs To Re-Evaluate Their Own Games
Team Cherry made the smart decision when Hollow Knight launched.
1. Make a great game
2. Sell it at a great price
3. Reap a loada sales
4. Grow a great reputation
5. Repeat
6. Win
Re: Ubisoft Employee Explains Why Star Wars Outlaws Is A Game-Key Card
Remember how Capcom supposedly convinced Nintendo to up the Switch RAM?
This seems like a similar situation. Presumably Nintendo consulted certain devs (including Ubisoft, given the established working partnership) on the Switch 2 hardware specification and issues like this would have been flagged. Nintendo chose the path it chose, and that's that.
Be interesting to see whether any future Switch 2 hardware iterations address this storage speed issue.
Re: First Impressions: Same But Different? - Our Initial Hours With Hollow Knight: Silksong
Only played about 45-60 mins so far. Very nice and no concerns about Switch 1 performance or it being a letdown so far, @anoyonmus.
I think it perhaps makes a little less impact than the beginning of Hollow Knight did, seems maybe slightly less atmospheric so far, slightly different vibe going on, but not such that that's a problem or anything. Generally it is 'more of the same', but I never expected anything more than that. Love the new rosaries, though their tendency to bounce and scatter everywhere is one of those love/hate idiosyncrasies.
Re: The Switch eShop Is Buckling Under The Weight Of Silksong
It's only £9 from the Mexican eshop.
Edit: turned out to be £9.58 when paid via PayPal. I'll take that while waiting for physical.
Edit 2: The big news is that you can capture screen videos in Silksong. OG Hollow Knight doesn't let you. This is all Switch 1, btw.
Re: The Switch eShop Is Buckling Under The Weight Of Silksong
@abbyhitter The first game was exceptional and this is the long awaited follow up.
I can also reveal that water is wet, just in case you weren't clear on that either 😜
Re: Review: Star Wars Outlaws (Switch 2) - An Underrated Adventure, A Super-Solid Port
Got quite excited there until you's all above reminded me of the key card situation. 😔
Re: Reminder: Here's When Hollow Knight: Silksong Releases In Your Time Zone
Last time I looked, a heavily delayed launch and no advance review copies was a double red flag situation...
Re: Review: Everybody's Golf Hot Shots (Switch) - Silly, Satisfying, But Hampered By Patchy Performance & Presentation
Performance issues = Sloppy devs
It is not your hardware's fault, or your hardware manufacturer's fault, if a software dev can't produce well-performing software for the hardware but tries to sell it anyway.
Re: Final Fantasy Tactics' Devs Had To Lean On Fans To Recover Original Source Code
The reaction in the Comments above seems a bit harsh to me. I'm always grateful for a bit of old-fashioned openness and transparency, so the devs opening up about the process involved in this new version is much appreciated by me.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (30th August)
So this weekend was predominantly going to be resuming my years old Hollow Knight save (once again, **** Switch's activity log, currently saying 10 hrs when I've spent 40+ dragging my sorry ass around Hallownest), along with Tetris 99 tickets, but this week I finally pulled the trigger on the ever-so-cheap-when-on-sale, Railbound, a puzzle game I'd resisted getting for ages cos it looked too simplistic and repetitive, but it turns out to be very engaging to my aged mind and I'm rather enjoying it. Who knows how long that engagement will last, but it's got me for now.
Peace, love & pixels to all xxx
Re: Rumour: Sony Is Gunning For The Switch 2 With A Handheld, Dockable PS6
Flashback to when Switch launched and I said it was only a matter of time before competitors tried to muscle in. The amount of people disagreeing with me outnumbered those agreeing with me, visibly at least. Interested to see how this rumour plays out.
Re: Multiple Kirby Themes Return In Tetris 99's 'Second Chance' Maximus Cup
@Sylamp Have you checked recently.
Three themes I missed ages ago just recently (since the DK Bananza weekend) got added to my list for me to unlock them - Metroid Dread, Mario 35 and Monster Hunter.
Re: Review: Roadwarden (Switch) - A Fascinating And Quite Special Text-Based RPG
"that PC game you may not have played but certainly heard plenty about"
Never heard of it actually, but I like the visual style and genre, so I'm gonna be playing this on Switch at some point. Thanks for the review.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (23rd August)
@Truckasauras That sounds ****ing lush and has got my 80s/90s nostalgia horn aroused.
@Jayenkai Is this SmileBASIC on Switch? Been on my wishlist for ages but the cold hard reality of not having enough time or knowledge has held me back.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (23rd August)
I'm gonna give a little PSA because I've not noticed it mentioned by anyone, anywhere. If you're a Tetris 99 player and have missed special themes in the past, some of those you missed might have recently appeared in your list of themes for you to unlock. I missed about 6 in total that didn't used to show in my list, but just recently I discovered that 3 of them had now appeared, so I'm back to earning tickets to unlock them (1 to go, then hoping my elusive 3 others will appear at some point).
Also back into Tears of the Kingdom. About 165 hours in and plenty more to do it seems.
I'm away this weekend, somewhere without wifi, otherwise I'd also be re-downloading Hollow Knight for a quick fix before Silksong. Might have to play Ori or Metroid instead.
Peace, love & pixels to all xxx
Edit: I'm using my mobile data hotspot to download Hollow Knight. I don't even know if I've got 5gb data allowance, I could be compromising my mobile data for the next month... Fuggit.
Update 2: Turns out I only have a 5gb data plan, that's only a few days into its current month, so Hollow Knight download will have to be postponed 😭
Re: Metroid Prime 4 Rating Spotted On Nintendo's Website
Comprehension around here could do with some attention.
Here is ESRB's basic summary of this age rating, which notes what a game under this classification may contain.
"Teen - content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain...
Timshel, people!
Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong Offers Buttery Smooth Performance On Switch 2
Even if I did have a Switch 2, I strongly doubt my TVs are built for 120 fps, but yay for the rest of you.
Re: Comic Adaptation 'I Hate This Place' Stalks Onto Switch This November
Not particularly my genre, but the comic book styling and the animation both look good in the brief footage shown, so I'll be keeping an eye on it.
Re: Preview: Sakurai's Kirby Air Riders Is A Kaleidoscopic Adrenaline Rush
When watching City Trial mode, the flat textures and rather large and ugly power-up icons did take some shine off the presentation for me, but overall it still looks a lovely gift to us old skool GameCubers.
Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong "Special Announcement" Is Coming This Thursday