Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Ralizah I mean more the affinity chart for every named NPC in the game rather than the party affinity! Seeing changing dynamics between NPCs depending on sidequest dialogue choices and such was inspired, plus you can track where they are with one button if you need to find them. The party affinity has just too high of a grind attached for pairings that don’t include Shulk.

@Yousef- Traversal is one of my only criticisms, it’s very very slow. Feels like a PS2 MMO level of slow at times in the bigger maps.

@nessisonett I getcha. It's interesting. It returns in full force (minus the party affinity issues) in the third game.

Especially interesting when major plot events change up huge chunks of the chart.

@nessisonett traversal is my ultimate gaming gripe, if I could just emulate these games that would solve so many of my issues. >.>

When you reach a story trigger and it’s just Shrek saying “g’day, innit? Monado monado”, it can be a bit silly. But I’ll get over it.

@Yousef- I like the voice acting! It’s full of UK actors in the best way possible, Jenna Coleman’s Melia and she was in Doctor Who and much more. Plus Sharla’s actress has been in EastEnders for the last 10 years. Dunban did W1A and Hunderby, two great comedies over here. And Daddy Pig from Peppa Pig’s voice actor very obviously turned up later on to the point I was laughing at serious story events. Basically the only ones not to be actors off the telly are Shulk and Fiora’s voice actors, they mostly do games.

@nessisonett I didn’t know about the overlap between them with the Doctor and peppa pig. That is insanely cool.
Yeah, I like we get more British dubs (my de facto choice in ape escape), and welsh too? (Also if it wasn’t clear, my comments earlier were story related, not voice acting related).
Great ace attorney is also British dubbed. xd

@Yousef- There’s a few games with British voice actors but it does tend to be relegated to fantasy and suffers from the same class problem that actual Britain has, with regional accents being used primarily for peasants. That’s why I’m glad there’s games like Thank Goodness You’re Here and Still Wakes The Deep to provide a range of regional voice acting that more accurately represents how culturally diverse the UK is.

@nessisonett very insightful and fun to learn about. :0
I got nothing further to add so cheers!

Been a while since I played anything on Switch, thinking of picking up a voucher to grab new games. Looking between FE Encore, Astral Chain and Xenoblade 3, which two out of those three would everyone recommend?

Pretty good miniature Direct today.

I am flabbergasted that Trails in the Sky is apparently getting a 3D remake, and they drop this news via three seconds in a sizzle reel. But Suikoden ports get a full segment. WTF

@Pizzamorg Xenoblade 3, absolutely. One of the very best games ever made. Any experience with previous entries?

Tokyo Mirage Sessions (what I assume you mean by "FE Encore") is an interesting game, but sort of feels like the Atlus version of a lower-tier JRPG, if that makes sense. It lacks the strong identity of normal MegaTen, and doesn't have enough Fire Emblem in it. I like it, but Astral Chain is much more unique.

@Ralizah Just Yakuza on Switch is insane enough to show that even Nintendo’s mini Directs are about 12 times better than Sony’s biggest of showcases.

(I also kinda prefer the old style of Trails games to the 3D ones anyway so not that fussed about Sky getting a remake)

Enjoyed the Directs. VERY happy about Castlevania DS games coming, some of the best ever on Switch is such a treat.

@nessisonett I try to avoid saying that kind of stuff, since it makes me sound like a fangirl, but... it's really true. Nintendo always puts on a good show, even if not everything there is what people are looking for. They invented and are still unrivaled with regard to direct communication with their base.

Yakuza Kiwami on Switch is nice, but I'm half expecting it to be some half-hearted $60 port sent out to die so higher-ups at Sega will stop bugging them to support the Switch.

Well, now, you know how I feel about Sky 1. But a remake coming in a major JRPG franchise is big news anyway, and TitS coming to consoles is also big news on its own, so, regardless of one's personal excitement level, it absolutely shouldn't have been given the same level of regard as some random indie games and relegated to momentary clips without context.

@Enriesto Yaaaas! I've wanted proper ports of the DS games for so long. They're all good, with Order of Ecclesia being a top three Castlevania for me.

@Ralizah It’s a bit odd that it was an afterthought when it’s an actual announcement and not just reiterating a game that’s already been shown off.

Didn't even know there was a Direct today, but holy crap, a 3D remake of the first Trails in the Sky? It looks absolutely brilliant! I don't really like the old style of the Trails games as the 3D titles convey more emotions in the characters instead of simply blank faces. That's one of the reasons why Trails from Zero wasn't that appealing to play for me. But this looks phenomenal, I'm super excited to play it!

Also, DS Castlevania games coming to modern consoles is awesome! Still haven't played them due to how expensive they are to get on DS. I've heard nothing but great things about them, so this is also something I'm looking forward to.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma tentatively looks great as well.

Tentatively because RF5 was a whole big mess, so I'm being cautious.

Adore the traditional Japanese theme, though, and based on the footage, performance might not be a big issue this go around.

@Ralizah yeah my bad, the name on that game is so long I didn't know how to shorten it. 😂 So you would say Astral Chain is a better pick up than Mirage Sessions?

In terms of Xeno, I own the first one but struggled with it mostly cause of the combat because I found it quite overwhelming and messy, but in the years since I picked that up, I've gotten more used to real time combat systems that require you to constantly jump between characters dumping abilities, so I am hoping I will be better prepared for the third one.

@Pizzamorg Probably. I mean, ultimately, it boils down to whether you'd prefer a unique cyberpunk action game or a turn-based JRPG, but even as someone who heavily prefers RPGs to character action games, Tokyo Mirage Sessions can be difficult to recommend. I don't mind the music idol theme or the inherent cringe of the premise and own the game twice-over, but even on Switch, it never took off. TMS does have its small cult of enthusiastic fans, but Astral Chain is just way cooler.

Xenoblade 3 probably has the most streamlined and easy to manage combat in the series. Some series veterans think this makes it too easy, but as someone who isn't a gigantic fan of Xenoblade combat in general, I'll take them making it flashier and less annoying. It does feature a few returning characters, but the main game is its own original story and can be fully enjoyed on its own terms. As someone who was always ambivalent when it came to Xenoblade, I was not prepared to fall in love with it like I did. It's the first Monolith Soft game to top Xenogears for me.

Avoid the DLC expansion, though. It's excellent, but also heavily reliant on knowledge of the first two games to properly appreciate.

Finally completed Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door today. It was my first time playing it and... it was okay I guess? No where near as good as it's hyped up to be.

The cast & writing are absolutely a delight (alongside some winning aesthetic choices), but those aspects are definitely pulling the most weight on what's otherwise a kinda dull game to actually play.

Most regions just consist of a long "hallway" overworld with a town and dungeon. Now the dungeon is usually fun & engaging to explore that first time around, but becomes a slog anytime you have to revisit it (which usually happens 2 or 3 times, especially considering side quests) which is a problem because there's SO much bland backtracking (in the obligatory "spooky" region you have to backtrack between the town & haunted mansion like 3 times back to back as part of the story, with a shortcut between the two not unlocking until like after that 3rd time?), and they're not really designed in such a way that your abilities unlock shortcut capabilities, so you usually have to trudge through near the whole dungeon again (usually with enemies that are near worthless for EXP on extra go arounds) until you reach the one new room or whatever.

The two regions that DO shake things up (Glitzville & the Excess Express) are somehow worse, being absolute slogs to get through.

It's a shame too, as Rougeport & it's underground (which you return to in-between each chapter) are actually designed pretty well, with lots of crannies & shortcuts to unlock as you get new abilities, showing that they definitely have the capability to make engaging environments (with the only really time saving shortcuts introduced are a series of pipes that let you return the various regions directly from Rougeport bypassing the underground).

I do like that there's some choice in how you build "your" Mario (you can pump all your EXP into base stats, or can use it to expand the number of badges you can equip, which are collectables that give you various stackable boosts, such as immunity to status effects, randomly heal after the turn ends, or other stat altering effects), but honestly I think combat was kinda dull, even with the action based commands. Maybe it's because things feel a bit limited with only two active party members, but I honestly thought Super Mario RPG had more engaging combat.

@RR529 Yeah. TTYD is a funny and well-written game, but the actual game part of it is... eh. I didn't play the remake, because I don't think I could go back to those linear hallways after experiencing the vastly superior level design of The Origami King.

@Ralizah unfortunately I can’t get over this myself, like I obviously don’t mind basic gameplay but my expectations were definitely hurt when I played PM64 (which isn’t a bad just probably not for me)