topsekret

@coolioam Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think any of Nintendo's free patches improve texture quality. Their free updates generally just increase output resolution and/or frame rate cap.

Nintendo charges money for all of their full-on Nintendo Switch 2 Editions (which is what this is).

B-b-b-but nO oNe BuYs PhYsIcAl AnYmOrE!!!11!!1!

@TKundNobody If you already own the game either physically or digitally, then yes, the delisting doesn't affect you one way or the other.

But the point is, what about people that don't already own the game, but might be interested in picking it up in the future? Maybe they don't have a Switch yet. Maybe they don't know this game exists yet. Maybe they have it on their wishlist, but they don't keep up with video game news, so they miss the delisting announcement.

I've seen this first-hand in the shmup community. Last year, 3 classic CAVE games were delisted from the eShop. I frequently see new players asking for shmup recommendations on the Switch, and fortunately, because those CAVE games got physical releases, I can still point those people to the physical versions. Had those games not received physical releases, then it would be impossible for new players to enjoy them on Switch after the delisting.

@TKundNobody "I can’t see why this is worse for digital than physical?"

"Only the standard digital limitation: no second hand market applies here."

You answered your own question.

"But definitely Nintendo fans could take a look at Bloober Team"

No, I don't think I will. Put the games on real cartridges, then we'll talk.

@imgrowinglegs I've kinda come to terms with the fact that we probably won't ever get the original Sky trilogy on Switch, but at least we'll have the remake of the 1st game. And you would think that remakes of the other 2 will follow.

Cold Steel I & II are the ones I'm most concerned about since they came out 4 years ago on Switch in Japan, so it seems pretty unlikely we'll get them at this point. Guess it's an issue of Xseed (the company that did the original English localization) not being able to work out a deal with CLE (the company that did the Switch port in Japan) to split profits for a western release.

Awesome! I had a feeling we'd get this eventually given that Xseed brought over Felghana earlier this year. And in classic Xseed fashion, there's a nice day one physical edition!

Hopefully we eventually get the rest of the Ys back catalogue on Switch, along with Cold Steel I & II.

No Game-Key Cards in the top 10! Wonderful!

This is sounding like a great port. The only way Square Enix can mess it up now is if it's on a Game-Key Card.

Respect to the devs for holding their ground. I'm interested in Dark Deity II, but I'm gonna wait to see if there's gonna be a physical version. I'm assuming it'll get a Limited Run release like the first game.

@AmanPikon Unfortunate that the native Switch 2 version won't be available. I'm guessing the Switch 1 version will run at 30 FPS, which isn't really ideal, especially when competing against players on other platforms running at 60 FPS. Might still give it a shot just to get an idea for how the game plays to see if I'd be interested in picking up the eventual Switch 2 version.

@AussieMcBucket Yep, you got it.

Though one thing I'd like to clarify is that because frame rate is inversely proportional to frame time, how much of a difference 10 FPS makes varies drastically depending on the baseline. This is why when discussing performance optimizations, engineers prefer to measure changes in terms of milliseconds instead of FPS.

This is just a repost of some data from my last post, but I'll go ahead and add 120 FPS to the table:
30 FPS -> 33.33 ms / frame
40 FPS -> 25.00 ms / frame
60 FPS -> 16.67 ms / frame
120 FPS -> 8.33 ms / frame

Even though there's only a 10 FPS difference between 30 and 40 FPS, it's about an 8.3 ms difference in frame time.

On the flip side, even though there's a massive 60 FPS difference between 60 and 120 FPS, there's only about an 8.3 ms difference in frame time.

Essentially, the difference in frame time from going from 30 FPS to 40 FPS is the same as the difference in frame time from going from 60 FPS to 120 FPS.

@AussieMcBucket 40 FPS is more smooth and responsive than 30 FPS without being as difficult to maintain as targeting 60 FPS. It's basically a good compromise.

30 FPS -> 33.33 ms / frame
40 FPS -> 25.00 ms / frame
60 FPS -> 16.67 ms / frame

Higher frame rates are better because they result in smoother motion and lower input latency. But it's harder for games to target higher frame rates cause that means they have to finish all the work for a frame in less time.

The reason you never heard about 40 FPS on Switch 1 but are starting to hear people talk about it on Switch 2 is because it wasn't possible on Switch 1, but it is on Switch 2. The reason it's possible on Switch 2 is because Switch 2 supports 120 Hz display output, while Switch 1 only supports 60 Hz display output.

Framerate caps are implemented by essentially declaring how often the game will have a have a new frame ready compared to the display's refresh rate. (If the game updates at a lower rate than the display refreshes, the display will simply continue to display the old frame till a new one is ready.)

For a 60 Hz display:
1 frame update for every display update -> 60 FPS
1 frame update for every 2 display updates -> 30 FPS
1 frame update for every 3 display updates -> 20 FPS
1 frame update for every 4 display updates -> 15 FPS

For a 120 Hz display:
1 frame update for every display update -> 120 FPS
1 frame update for every 2 display updates -> 60 FPS
1 frame update for every 3 display updates -> 40 FPS
1 frame update for every 4 display updates -> 30 FPS

Essentially, your frame rate cap has to evenly divide the display output frequency, so because the Switch 2 supports a higher display output, it also unlock a new frame rate target that is in between 30 and 60 FPS in quality.

Based on the Digital Foundry analysis, they really need to fix VRR in this game.

@Pillowpants Not exactly hard numbers, but we do have an ordered list of the best-selling games on Switch/Switch 2 in the US for the month of June.

EDIT: [img] tag seems busted, so here's the link: https://i.imgur.com/vuek7e8.png

As you can see, all 5 true physical Switch 2 games available at the time beat out all the Game-Key Cards.

Good. Game-Key Cards belong in a landfill, not a library.

Doesn't matter how well it performs if it's on a key card. Ball's in your court, Square Enix.

Really hope it's a general Direct this time so we can at least get some nice 1st party physical games as palette cleansers between all the 3rd party Game-Key Card trash.

Ehhh...sometimes.

Nintendo really misread the room with their Game-Key Card initiative.

They also refuse to make it easier to let people play traditional tracks online with randoms in Mario Kart World (the patch that supposedly "fixed" the issue basically did nothing).

I wasn't super excited to pick this game up again (original still doesn't feel that old), but I'll go ahead and get it now to support real physical releases. Not like it has a whole lot of competition in that department on Switch 2.

The fact that small companies like Playtonic/PM Studios can afford to put the whole game on a real cartridge for $50 (same price as all the other versions) but Sega, Square Enix, Capcom, Bandai Namco, NISA, etc... can't is embarrassing. I will continue not supporting these greedy publishers on Switch 2.

@Dr_Awkward Game-Key Cards replaced real physical releases, not digital releases. Therefore, they should be compared to real physical releases to see if they are an adequate replacement (spoiler alert: they aren't).

@Davestator I'm sure it'll eventually come to PS5. It's the same thing NISA did with Disgaea 6 where it's just a timed exclusive. Best to hold out for PS5 for that real physical disc.

@Dr_Awkward Still a major downgrade from real physical. No data on the cartridge. Wastes your storage space, and you lose access to the game when Nintendo's servers shut down.

It seems like this company announces a new controller every week lol

Game-Key Card physical + no upgrade path for existing owners = SKIP. 3rd parties continue to suck on Switch 2.

@Ulysses Agreed, I can't believe Nintendo didn't think of this, especially considering they had a pixel-perfect presentation option for both playing Game Boy games on GBA as well as playing DS games on 3DS.

@Dr_Awkward Don't be that guy, the one who is defending game key cards. Game key cards suck.

@CANOEberry I just think Nintendo Life should do more to help their readers who can't read good (and who wanna learn to do other stuff good too).

Wish there was a proper Switch 2 Edition on a cartridge like Rune Factory. Or a free upgrade like FFT. But I guess $1 upgrade is bearable.

I guess it's better than what they're doing for Trails Beyond the Horizon (Switch 2 Game-Key Card, no upgrade path, and $10 more than all the other versions).

Why the dramatically different handling of the two games despite being in the same franchise from the same dev? Is it just a case of NISA being extremely greedy and GungHo being less greedy? If so, I really hope NISA loses the Falcom licenses (as Xseed did before them) and GungHo takes it over from here.

Man, it can't even hold 30 FPS?

And as we've seen time and time again on Switch 2, basically no games seem to know how to actually implement VRR correctly with LFC. I think the only game confirmed to use it correctly is Welcome Tour for the little VRR demo? What's the point of the feature if devs don't use it?

I guess on the bright side, if it's a crappy port, I'll feel less bad if it does end up being on a Game-Key Card. Cause I absolutely won't pick it up if it's on a GKC, so if the port's bad, then it would feel less like I'm missing out.

Switch 2 is looking to be pretty bad for 3rd parties... If this is the kinda support we're getting fresh out of the gate, imagine what it'll look like once PS6 hits and devs start chasing even higher spec targets.

I don't know why the article included the generic description of what a T-rated game could have, when in the embedded image from Reddit you can see what Metroid Prime 4 actually has ("Animated Blood" and "Violence"). Now the poor readers are confused thinking the game has swearing and gambling lol.

To clarify, is the Network Test only for the Switch 1 version or also the Switch 2 version?

Oh boy, more Game-Key Cards

If Bandai Namco can't be bothered to add a 60 FPS toggle for Switch 2 players, I can't be bothered to pay full price.

@OrtadragoonX Obviously PS2 couldn't handle the raw output resolution nor the high poly character models. But the environmental detail feels way below a high-quality PS2 game like FF XII. For god's sake, the buildings in Z-A are just cubes with tiling textures!

Look at it the other way: the HD remaster of the PS2 game FF XII looks way better than this.

Game Freak is totally incompetent when it comes to designing a 3D world.

810p and 30 FPS on Switch 2? Yikes, game doesn't even look that intensive.

First set of comparison images is pretty interesting, the city looks completely different between the two. I'm assuming the Switch 2 version is closer to the other versions and they basically remade the whole environment for the Switch 1 version?

Seems like they put more effort into optimizing the Switch 1 version than the Switch 2 version.

I don't get why Nintendo doesn't just make it so you always have the option to select at least 1 traditional track when voting in online lobbies.

This will be my 2nd 3rd party Switch 2 game (after Rune Factory) thanks to it being on a real cartridge.

Would be nice to know the breakdown between platform and by physical vs. digital. Hopefully Marvelous met or exceeded their expectations for the Switch 2 physical version to justify continuing to release their games on real cartridges!

Paid version better just let you build whatever team you want without grinding for in-game currency to fix the stats of the Pokemon they give you.

This is one of the reasons I quit playing Pokemon (the other being the garbage production values of the modern games). I just don't have the time to waste anymore doing tedious grinding before I can get to the "real" game that is the competitive battling.

Grinding is such a stupid concept for a competitive PVP game. Imagine if in Street Fighter your Ryu's attacks just did a little less damage than your opponent's because your opponent grinded their Ryu longer than you.

I will also continue to complain about Game-Key Cards. Nintendo and the 3rd parties hope that we'll just shut up and accept them, but I refuse.

@OrtadragoonX FFXII on the PS2 looks leagues better than this game.

@sfb Cool, thanks for testing. It can be a bit hard to tell for sure just by feel. There could definitely be some placebo at play, but if you are playing better in the new version, it could be due to maybe like 1 frame less of lag.

At the very least, it sounds like it isn't worse than the Saturn Tribute, which is supposed to be around 6 frames lag. 6 frames is about when I start to notice input lag, especially coming off of a really responsive game like Mushihimesama (3 frames of lag on Switch).

I find Batsugun Saturn Tribute to be playable, but not ideal. I find myself having to anticipate bullets more than usual and be a bit more pre-emptive with my positioning to compensate for the slightly longer input delay.

And congrats on being number 3 on the leaderboard! Always fun to rush to the top in the early days of a game's release. Unfortunately, I won't be able to join in on the fun till my physical copies from LRG arrive in a few weeks.

@Expa0 @everynowandben Thanks for the recommendations! I've never heard of Symphony of War, so I'll keep an eye on it.

I am familiar with Kaga's post-FE games, though I haven't played any of them yet. A shame Vestaria Saga will likely never get a Switch port due to the bad blood between him and Nintendo.

@sfb Would you happen to have Batsugun Saturn Tribute Boosted on the Switch? Curious if the Batsugun port in the Toaplan collection has less input lag.

I only want 1st party games on Switch 2 since 3rd party games are all on Game-Key Cards.

@jojobar Yep, they did that for the 3DS Fire Emblem games. Pixel art characters on the map, but high-resolution illustrations for the character portraits. And 3D graphics for the battle sequences. Despite the mix of art styles, it felt very coherent in those games.

I've heard this is supposed to be better than the first. Probably not up to Fire Emblem's level still, but I'm interested.

@Expa0 Curious what your recommendations are for Fire Emblem-likes? Most SRPGs I see tend to be Final Fantasy Tactics-likes.

"Addressed low FPS issues on the NX platform across several levels."

Nintendo Switch: "Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."

This looks drastically inferior to the new Digimon game. Sad how Pokemon makes way more money than Digimon, but refuses to put any of it into the budget of the actual games.