Nintendo Switch Catch-All 2.0

Endless ports still suck, but I'm at least part of the problem.

IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/XjbmvBH/20200529-113043.jpg)

I'm so torn on whether I should pick up Xenoblade or not. I love JRPGs, but I hate open worlds and MMORPGs. What to do, what to do...

Djinn, it's neither open-world nor an MMO. Best to make a non-spoiler informed decision:

https://www.quartertothree.com/fp/20...

https://www.quartertothree.com/fp/20...

And then realize that the Switch version is nicely improved in many ways.

It's not open world and it's not an MMO, but it has elements of both. That's the concern.

Thanks for the articles. I'll check them out.

garion333 wrote:

2013?

2022 at current pace.

Djinn wrote:

I'm so torn on whether I should pick up Xenoblade or not. I love JRPGs, but I hate open worlds and MMORPGs. What to do, what to do...

What is it that you don't enjoy about open worlds and MMORPGs? I'd call it a pretty risky recommendation considering what you wrote.

The combat is very MMO-like, and the world you explore is very large. I found traversal a bit annoying due to poor maps and quest marking on the 3DS, but it sounds like that part has been improved for the Switch remake.

Dyni wrote:
Djinn wrote:

I'm so torn on whether I should pick up Xenoblade or not. I love JRPGs, but I hate open worlds and MMORPGs. What to do, what to do...

What is it that you don't enjoy about open worlds and MMORPGs? I'd call it a pretty risky recommendation considering what you wrote.

The combat is very MMO-like, and the world you explore is very large. I found traversal a bit annoying due to poor maps and quest marking on the 3DS, but it sounds like that part has been improved for the Switch remake.

Monolith is good at making huge, epic maps filled with all sorts or different beasts, some 'friendly', some enemies, some huge overleveled baddies you're meant to run from and come back for later. If you hate pulling agro from big baddies who can one hit you if you get too close, avoid these games. I enjoy it in these games because it helps them feel alive. (Also, the original XC1 is better at this than XCX was. XCX had a metric ton of big baddies who jump out at you from the ground and aky. That stunk.)

If you enjoy traversal and exploration in which nooks and crannies reward you with stuff, these games are a must play. XC1 isn't a true open world, but it did a better job than XC2 at seeming like it. (XCX is a true open world.) Whatever you see in XC1 is a thing you can explore because the entire game is, literally, set on the limbs and bodies of the two Titans.

However, what the original XC does better than any of the other Xeno games is pacing. The story beats come nice and strong. You get some exploration, you get some story, wash repeat. It was a great balancing act. Those Qt3 articles talk about that aspect and I completely agree. It is a long journey though. Most of us take breaks 60 or 80 hours in and come back later.

I lost count of how many times I just stopped and took in the scenery in XC1. The team at Monolith sure know how to render a sunset!

I'm really looking forward to the new edition.

Despite already owning Bioshock and XCOM 2, really tempted to buy them for the Switch as well. The Bioshock port looks good, but definitely worried about performance of XCOM 2.

Also, I think I've come to rely on mods to relieve some annoyances of just basic UI/gameplay, so I wonder how much I'd miss them.

Dyni wrote:
Djinn wrote:

I'm so torn on whether I should pick up Xenoblade or not. I love JRPGs, but I hate open worlds and MMORPGs. What to do, what to do...

What is it that you don't enjoy about open worlds and MMORPGs? I'd call it a pretty risky recommendation considering what you wrote.

Lack of a strong narrative, lack of direction (I do not enjoy being lost), and the game wasting my time by making every area 10 times bigger than it needs to be.

Djinn wrote:
Dyni wrote:
Djinn wrote:

I'm so torn on whether I should pick up Xenoblade or not. I love JRPGs, but I hate open worlds and MMORPGs. What to do, what to do...

What is it that you don't enjoy about open worlds and MMORPGs? I'd call it a pretty risky recommendation considering what you wrote.

Lack of a strong narrative, lack of direction (I do not enjoy being lost), and the game wasting my time by making every area 10 times bigger than it needs to be.

I feel completely comfortable predicting that you'd hate Xenoblade.

Yeah, I'm leaning that way too. I really wish this game had a demo or the Switch had Steam's 2 hour refund window. Oh well, I'll save my money. If the game goes on a massive sale I'll check it out for curiosity's sake, but until then I'll leave it.

Djinn wrote:

I really wish this game had a demo

One idea is to watch an hour or so of a no-commentary playthrough, perhaps this one.

I think you'll have a decent feel for what the game offers by then.

garion333 wrote:

It's happening, soon.

Place your bets!

I'm can't decide between "Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch that's just Metroid Prime Pinball, Hunters, and Federation Force" or "Labo VR mode featuring Samus Aran".

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Metroid Prime Pinball, Hunters, and Federation Force"

The wrong Metroid Prime Trilogy

ClockworkHouse wrote:
garion333 wrote:

It's happening, soon.

or "Labo VR mode featuring Samus Aran".

Honestly in looking at that clip again... it totally looks like that's what's being hinted at.

Desperately hoping it is other news. That Metroid: Fusion remake that was rumored, for example. Evidently there's a lot of hope for the Metroid Prime Trilogy but I can wait on that.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
garion333 wrote:

It's happening, soon.

Place your bets!

I'm can't decide between "Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch that's just Metroid Prime Pinball, Hunters, and Federation Force" or "Labo VR mode featuring Samus Aran".

I can't wait to buy Metroid Prime 2 for the third time and maybe finally beat it!

Anyone else playing Minecraft Dungeons? Please add me to XBL friends so we can coop.

I got it to trick my little kids into trying a dungeon crawler that they think is Minecraft. So far so good except that the Switch kind of chugs along and makes me sad.

After grabbing Cosmic Star Heroine on sale a couple of weeks ago, I'm getting around to play it and I’m a couple hours n. The story is flying by, leaving characterization and narrative space to breathe in the rear view mirror.

The thing that’s actually interesting about this game is how hard it is (and to be fair, I am playing on hard). After each battle, HP and items are restored, so it feels like the game is making you scratch out every fight, even against common enemies. And it’s doing that Chrono Trigger thing where all enemies are on the map and there are no random encounters, so there’s really no grinding. It’s play smart or die, even in the first real dungeon. Kinda refreshing, honestly.

(Update: I checked, and I had it turned to hard. I turned it back down to normal, and it was SUBSTANTIALLY easier)

The battle system is also interesting, but there’s a lot going on that I’m still trying to figure out. There’s an elemental weakness system and most characters have at least one elemental hit, but the real damage is done the longer the battle goes, so the trick seems to be to save the best hits for the third or fourth turn. I keep feeling there’s some piece I’m still missing, but there is an interesting juggling act going on. I don't know what that will mean for the length of battles, especially later in the game, if they can't be won in the first round.

Think I'm starting to get joycon drift

I use rubbing alcohol on my left one every couple of weeks or so. It's annoying, but begins working fine every time I "clean" it.

charlemagne wrote:

Think I'm starting to get joycon drift

It just started for me in the past week too

Sucks to hear that.
Does the pro controller suffer the same fate?
I have almost never used the joycons since this began to be a problem

Darkhaund wrote:

Sucks to hear that.
Does the pro controller suffer the same fate?
I have almost never used the joycons since this began to be a problem

Don't think so. I sent joycon for repair back in Jan. But I've had 2 pro controllers since 2018 and neither has had any issues.

Thanks for the answer.
I have my pro controller and one from 8bitdo.. VERY happy with both and I dont play on using joycons at all

Stele wrote:
Darkhaund wrote:

Sucks to hear that.
Does the pro controller suffer the same fate?
I have almost never used the joycons since this began to be a problem

Don't think so. I sent joycon for repair back in Jan. But I've had 2 pro controllers since 2018 and neither has had any issues.

Can you share a link or a quick rundown on that process? I know it was discussed to death a while ago, but I don't remember when.

I heard that with the covid thing THE JOYCON repair process takes wayyyy to long

Darkhaund wrote:

I heard that with the covid thing THE JOYCON repair process takes wayyyy to long

I don't know about Europe, but here in NA I don't think they're doing any repairs. I put in a ticket a few weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything back yet. And now I think both of my joy-cons are drifting...

bobbywatson wrote:
Darkhaund wrote:

I heard that with the covid thing THE JOYCON repair process takes wayyyy to long

I don't know about Europe, but here in NA I don't think they're doing any repairs. I put in a ticket a few weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything back yet. And now I think both of my joy-cons are drifting...

That's why I linked to the rubbing alcohol vid. Won't kill your warranty or whatever because you don't need to open it up:

Send one in (when you can), clean the other and keep playing. When one comes back, send the other in.

Some folks have blown air into the stick area and it's worked. You could also try that.