Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

I was kinda surprised that switching to Docked wasn't a massive downgrade for TOTK. I'm not going to pretend like it is a nice looking game by conventional metrics, and it isn't the smoothest 30 fps I have experienced - Ultrahand for example seems to tank the frame rate when first used for some reason - but I've found some Switch games unplayable docked, and this isn't one of those. Impressive given it is a big open world.

I will also agree controls feel kinda awkward at times, which is a shame as the powers are fun otherwise. The most annoying thing for me so far is the way you rotate stuff via Ultrahand, just feels like it has a mind of its own and I tend to just have to spin things mindlessly until it falls into the place you need, as just trying to move it that way with intent causes the object to flail randomly anyway.

It also always feels like there are maybe too many inputs for actions, with my brain frazzling as I try and remember when to press, or when to hold, to pop an ability off in a split second.

But then this seems to be a hold over from BOTW, as inventory management was horrible in that game and they've seemingly done nothing to improve it here. In fact, in ways, it is kinda worse now with you needing to constantly pull up menus to glue stuff.

Then again, I guess a certain degree of fiddliness is a necessary evil for the level of freedom they want the player to have, but it doesn't stop me wondering if there could have been a better way.

So cool we both had such unique resolutions to this issue! Yours sounds a lot cleverer than mine was 😂 You used your brains and ingenuity, I just sorta brute forced it 😂

@Ralizah I keep pressing R1 for my ultra hand and I’m getting my food/weapon buttons mixed up. I had no issues with the BOTW controls after a while, but found them a bit cumbersome at first too, so I am sure it’ll click soon.

I don't want to bring much negativity into what seems to be a pretty positive Tear of the Kingdom discussion so far, but I am glad in a way to see the part about the controls. I found the controls to be somewhat convoluted in Breath of the Wild after several hours, so knowing they would be just as bad or worse for me in Tears of the Kingdom eliminates even a slight urge to try the new big game knowing that I would get frustrated with the controls all over again even though it seems to have helped my other major problems with BotW (entirely empty world and paper thin story).

Does Playstation usually do this? I know Xbox does all the time, but I don't recall the last time they praised a competitor's product/acknowledged it in a non-competitive context.

@KilloWertz few more hours today and I am a lot more comfortable with it to be fair

In fairness, I'd never point to these games as examples of amazing control schemes. Especially not TotK, which layers on even more systems!

I'll also never entirely understand why I can't run by pushing in the left stick. Who wants to hold down a face button to run in 2023?

But they're not bad/awkward enough to take me out of the game. shrug

I was enjoying this already, but getting the glider again increased my enjoyment by like a thousand percent. While I won't argue with anyone who complains that much of the map is reused (well at least one of the maps ) I sorta think it weirdly works in TOTK's favour, as the abilities in old haunts really makes you realise how good you have it now. Those pesky dudes who jump out of the ground and spit at you? Just rewind their projectiles. Getting fed up of being sniped by pesky enemies? Eyeball on the arrow, my dude. Link never got enough stamina to get up to that thing you want to get to? Or maybe it is raining? If you can't just ascend up the thing by finding cheesy ledges, there are probably a convenient bunch of materials for a hot air balloon or something nearby to help you out with Ultrahand.

I guess I am saying that I dunno if we could appreciate how much better it feels to move through Hyrule if it was an entirely new set of maps, purpose built with these powers in mind.

Hey everybody, I figured I'd maybe drop by here and the nl forum and ask for help every now and then. I just barely made it to the 3rd shrine. Really hoping the game starts to open up soon cause it's a pain getting around this huge chunk with no stamina and glider

@Ralizah lol me, so don't give them any ideas please. With how fragile controllers are in this age, I feel like pushing in the stick just helps wear it down faster and then drift. Maybe it's superstition or I'm just too rough but it's why I'm glad most japanese games seem to either let you run with one of the buttons or just has auto run

@Kidfried I dunno, man, what's it going to hurt calling out Animal Crossing when you're not selling a comparable product? Literally nobody is going to pick one over the other, you know? They're too different.

On the BotW/HZD comparison, didn't a pretty beefy expansion for Forbidden West drop last month? It might not have the clout of a full release, but you could argue that it's competing with Zelda for gamers' time and attention.

It's just nice to see a less hyper-competitive move from Sony, even if it's something small like this.

Masahiro Sakurai is probably the dude associated with Nintendo who seems most console agnostic. Pretty sure after Banjo-Kazooie were announced for Smash, he told people to consider going out and playing the games on an Xbox console lol. He also openly talks about playing games on other platforms. It's nice to see.

I would actually admire Phil Spencer's willingness to talk up and praise the competition if he was doing better work for his own brand.

@Judal27 TotK is like BotW in the sense that the starting area is designed to test your ability to manipulate your powers and understand the mechanics of the game before dumping you in a vastly wider world and giving you a paraglider. Although, in this case, you'll have to progress slightly further in the main story to get a paraglider.

How are you getting on with ultrahand? It's a cool mechanic, although it can become a little excessively fiddly for my liking.

@kyleforrester87 Thanks, but if @Ralizah is commenting on the controls, then I know it would frustrate me just as much if not more than Breath of the Wild did. I'm glad a lot of people are loving it of course, but given how many games there are to play otherwise, I'm perfectly fine playing something else. I would likely end up falling off with it again anyways.

I know it's blasphemy, but I'm playing Immortals Fenyx Rising right now and am happy to be playing it instead. I don't have to worry about holding down several buttons to do something that should be simple. In other words, the game is more accessible overall. I know it pales in comparison for most, and I get it, but it's better for me.

@KilloWertz As an evolution of what BotW started, I'd be extremely surprised if someone disliked that game but liked this one. While it does improve on... well, virtually everything except the controls, tbh, the formula is extremely similar.

Like, you wouldn't expect someone who hated GoW 2018 to like Ragnarok, even though there are improvements, right? Same deal here.

@Ralizah can't say I've been having too much issues with it tbh tho it's still early days. Doesn't feel all that different from using the magnet rune in botw, but when you're trying to turn something vertically that's when it gets pretty wonky. The biggest offender would be how it tanks the frame rate whenever you try to use any ability in crowded spots. But even simple things like a couple of trees in the background while fighting an enemy is enough to make it drop

@Judal27 When building vehicles, I've had a few issues trying to make sure things are symmetrical. And yeah, turning objects can be a bit of a pain.

Although now that I know I can just combine it with Recall to create large moving platforms to get me past obstacles and give me lift out in the field, I don't expect I'll be doing much with vehicles except when strictly necessary.

@Ralizah oh trying to glue stuff together can be a pain yea but I guess i dont mind it as much rn cause there's not a lot going on. I bet it'll really be tedious if you're trying to build something elaborate asap

That's kinda how I feel about the ultrahand ability in general. I knew going in I wasn't gonna build any of those crazy contraptions you see in videos. But experiencing how slow it is to actually build something, I'll probably end up avoiding it for as much as I can. I tried to make a minecart float by attaching 2 fans on the sides facing down. It didn't work 😅. That's about as much "creativity" as you'll get from me

Made it to my first village, and this honestly spun out into a surprisingly enjoyable questline so far. Although that child's song they sing? Nightmare fuel.

The inclusion of companions is cool, even if the dude I met has an ability which is kinda awkward to use.

I remember the weather stuff being way more oppressive in early BOTW, but here, despite constant warnings about how this area of the map has been ravaged by an endless blizzard, I was able to move around very freely. I did get some trousers on the tutorial island which boosted my cold resistance, so I dunno if this has circumvented the curve of this part of the game? But I'm not complaining.

I also found a tunic which adds like ice element to my attacks if the area around me is cold enough, I don't really remember any gear like that in BOTW? And I just found this in a random non story cave which I don't really remember from BOTW, either, thought this was pretty cool.

@Ralizah I definitely get what you are saying. The last two God of War games have been strange for me though. I would have highly enjoyed the 2018 one if it wasn't for Atreus, but how much of an entitled brat he was written nearly killed the game for me. It's a shame because, like I said, I would have loved it otherwise. Raganrok though, it fixed everything I had problems with story wise for the most part (except for one instance in the game with Atreus that I won't spoil), but the gameplay is what frustrated me this time around. I'm still glad to have played both, but I do wish I was able to love both as much as the masses.

If they had improved upon the controls with Tears of the Kingdom, I probably would have been able to enjoy it well enough, especially since Immortals Fenyx Rising has helped me like the kind of game better. Still, you're not really wrong and I'm good in the end. I don't have to play every beloved game, and I'm far from hurting for games to play.

Sigh....
I continued my progress of Youtubers Life 2 Switch version as the only version that still working fine after get updated.

Also put me in the camp that thinks God of War 2018 is kinda not that good, and very overrated, but yet thinks Ragnarok is a bona fide masterpiece.

Interesting. I'll def have to get around to Ragnarok at some point.

If you are a crier like me be ready to cry a lot 😂