Nintendo Switch - Games You Can Play Right Now

halfwaywrong wrote:

Yeah, that's really tempting me too.

Just confirming that I gave in to temptation.

Early days, but I'm enjoying it so far!

farley3k wrote:

I just bought Spaceland since it is on sale for $7. It is a turn based X-com light genre. I will report after I play it a bit tonight.

I picked it up for a couple quid over on PS4. It's as you describe, light n puzzley tactics. Feels like a premium mobile weight game rather than a console offering. Made sense being from the folk who'd previously made the Braveland series of games, though those would be simpler titles am guessing.

Played it for a couple hours and enjoyable enough, for the price am happy with sales pick up.

yup that matches my feelings. It is fun enough and for $7 it was fine.

Gave Spaceland a shot. $7 seems like the right price. I get where the mobile game comparison comes from. Like a lot of mobile games, it's mechanically decent but almost aggressively lacking in personality.

hbi2k wrote:

Gave Spaceland a shot. $7 seems like the right price. I get where the mobile game comparison comes from. Like a lot of mobile games, it's mechanically decent but almost aggressively lacking in personality.

I'd be annoyed if I spent $20 on it, but same as y'all. For $7 it's been fun. Some of the clunkiness betrays its mobile game roots I think.

One of the more annoying aspects is that you regularly have to switch what team members you're using, which in and of itself is fine. But team members have overlap in which items they can use. So I find constantly making sure the people I'm taking on a mission are wearing the best available armor/wielding the best available weapon to be very annoying and contribute exactly zero to the atmosphere of the game.

The puzzle-y nature of the game means that forgetting to equip the best available "secondary" weapon (they have unlimited ammo but lower damage and range) can have a pretty big impact on achieving the best outcome. Or having an extra 25 health from the best available armor for the character.

It'd be nice if you could just click a button to equip the best available equipment, or if you could just make enough that everyone can wear the best available equipment (you can generally only make one copy of an item, i.e. one level 3 vest, one level 2 vest, etc.)

The time spent managing the team's equipment is definitely the low point of the entire game for me. The missions are so short that can take as long as the actual gameplay.

Are there any other recent-ish squad based tactical games? I had a lot of fun with Invisible, Inc. on Switch (I played the crap out of it on PC too) even if the performance is sometimes garbage. The Switch barely handling Invisible, Inc. (overall gameplay is smooth but it sometimes just straight up freezes for a minute at a time) kind of discouraged me from giving XCOM a proper try since that game even made my PC chug. But at $20 on sale it was too tempting to pass up.

I wound up getting bored with Spaceland and starting up a new playthrough of Steamworld Heist. as is so often the case, turns out what I wanted wasn't something new, but comfort food.

ccoates wrote:

Are there any other recent-ish squad based tactical games? I had a lot of fun with Invisible, Inc. on Switch (I played the crap out of it on PC too) even if the performance is sometimes garbage. The Switch barely handling Invisible, Inc. (overall gameplay is smooth but it sometimes just straight up freezes for a minute at a time) kind of discouraged me from giving XCOM a proper try since that game even made my PC chug. But at $20 on sale it was too tempting to pass up.

Yes I would like recommendations too.

XCOM2 performance on the Switch is mostly fine. It's obviously not anywhere near as responsive as the PC I built in 2018, but it's pretty close to the 2013 iMac that I originally played it on. Load times in and out of missions can be a bit long, but I'm also playing a portable version of one of my favorite games ever, which is f*cking awesome. The only complaint I have about the package is that it doesn't include the Tactical Legacy Pack DLC.

Mario XCOM is also pretty good if you haven't played that.

billt721 wrote:

Mario XCOM is also pretty good if you haven't played that.

Yes, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is definitely worth a look if you're into tactics games. It's also one of the only Switch games featuring Mario that actually drops to low prices, so keep an eye out for a sale. I have seen it as low as $14.99 a few times.

Yes I have actually finished that one. Well worth getting despite (or because of) its weird premiss.

I finished Spaceland and it seems like the Switch version doesn't have all the content. There is a "?" mission marker that does nothing, and some of the weapons/entries are also question marks.

I was hoping for a New Game+ mode or something, but the last mission was a bit anticlimactic. There's also still only two difficulties, easy and normal.

Still worth a pickup when it's on sale, which if they'll be selling DLC is likely to happen again.

garion333 wrote:
Dyni wrote:

New Pokemon Snap reviews are in and generally quite positive: Eurogamer, Polygon, IGN.

I'm pleasantly surprised to read that it's taking most players around 15-20 hours before they hit credits. That's much meatier than I was expecting. It also sounds like it plays nearly identically to the original, so if you weren't a fan 20 years ago, nothing here will change your mind.

Wow, I may end up buying this instead of renting.

Even when you hit credits, you can still perfect your score or do the requests. There's some meat on there. I really, really enjoy this and it's a great way to learn not only the names of a bunch of pokemon, but what their preferences and behavior are like. It's also very calm and relaxing

Has anyone in the room played Cloudpunk on Switch?

Things I've heard about it have piqued my interest, but I've also read that it performs very badly on Switch... I would feel like I have a pretty high tolerance for performance issues; e.g. I never even noticed any problems with framerate in Link's Awakening when I know other people had significant complaints. That being said it does annoy me if I keep having to shut down a game cause its such a buggy mess...

*Gives RiME a pointed glance*

So I'd love to know if Cloudpunk performs badly if you're the kind of person who starts bleeding from their eyes at the sight of 25fps, or if it performs badly if you're the kind of person who just likes playing a game uninterrupted by immersion-breaking-glitchery?

Seems like this thread has taken a snooze, but I wanted to recommend two games I love - one I played via Apple Arcade and another that my partner insists on playing at least once nightly.

Mutazione is a coming-of-age point-and-click game with gardening elements. The developers describe the game as "a mutant soap opera where small-town gossip meets the supernatural," and that's accurate but undersells just how emotionally resonant, artful and surprising Mutazione is. The dialogue choices are lovely and prompted me to think about how I engage with others, particularly in heavy conversations. Although broadly drawn, the characters have genuine depth. The music is ambient and soothing, the colour palate is transporting and the story is sensitively told. I seldom replay games, but I expect I'll be revisiting this title at some point.

I suspect most boardgamers are aware of, if not familiar with, Wingspan. It's a strategic game that somehow manages to feel soothing, with lovely art and sound design -- and I suspect it's turned many players into nascent birders. (We're now regularly out at dusk, binoculars in hand, hoping to glimpse some of the birds so lovingly depicted in the game's hand-painted art.) It's a great couch game, but apparently also enables cross-platform play, which I'm hoping to take advantage of soon.

Stevintendo wrote:

Has anyone in the room played Cloudpunk on Switch?

Things I've heard about it have piqued my interest, but I've also read that it performs very badly on Switch... I would feel like I have a pretty high tolerance for performance issues; e.g. I never even noticed any problems with framerate in Link's Awakening when I know other people had significant complaints. That being said it does annoy me if I keep having to shut down a game cause its such a buggy mess...

*Gives RiME a pointed glance*

So I'd love to know if Cloudpunk performs badly if you're the kind of person who starts bleeding from their eyes at the sight of 25fps, or if it performs badly if you're the kind of person who just likes playing a game uninterrupted by immersion-breaking-glitchery?

I didn't notice any frameyness in the first half hour on a Switch Lite, just that the built-in screen is a bit small for it.

Looking for some thoughts on Griftlands.

I picked it up the other day while it was still discounted. Story-driven Slay the Spire sounded nice. Reviews for early access were very positive.

I'm having a terrible time trying to get into it. The controls feel odd, and there are so many keywords. Having to open up a separate screen to see what each keyword means is confusing, on top of my difficulties trying to move the cursor to each icon.

I have no doubt this game is good, but I'm not sure Switch is the best home for it.

A_Unicycle wrote:

Looking for some thoughts on Griftlands.

I picked it up the other day while it was still discounted. Story-driven Slay the Spire sounded nice. Reviews for early access were very positive.

I'm having a terrible time trying to get into it. The controls feel odd, and there are so many keywords. Having to open up a separate screen to see what each keyword means is confusing, on top of my difficulties trying to move the cursor to each icon.

I have no doubt this game is good, but I'm not sure Switch is the best home for it.

I'd recommend the following guides, although even those are missing info.

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

The port is clunky, but workable. The only other Klei port I've played is Invisible, Inc. Again, playable, but you can tell they didn't redesign or optimize the game for Switch/portable play. Just made it one notch above functional.

Invisible, Inc. even still has bugs they don't plan on fixing that involve the UI not functioning because it's obviously meant for a mouse (so items in specific situations become unclickable). In Griftlands the clunkiness of how the left analog is basically just a mouse cursor instead of just, well, jumping you to the things you'd want to click on is an example of how it's been ported with minimal changes/effort. A few times I had to quit out of a game and then restart a battle because it got locked up in a way where nothing was selectable.

Switch also currently has a game breaking bug that deletes ALL progress, so I don't recommend playing it right now. Apparently Klei has a fix, but it's coming up on 2 weeks and it's stuck in Nintendo approval limbo.

https://forums.kleientertainment.com...

Up until the game crashes for the first time everything is fine. But once that happens anytime you win a game, lose a game, or try to delete a previous game, everything crashes and all current progress is erased. Every. Single. Time.

It's actually pretty fun once some of the more opaque mechanics are understood, but it's a shame they shipped with such a critical bug and that Nintendo is so slow about pushing updates. I was really enjoying playing it in portable form even with the annoyances before I ran into the above issue.

Once that's fixed it's still better than no port at all if you like the flexibility of handheld gameplay, but it'd still be nice if companies in general put more thought and effort into ports. For the low price point, maybe that's not realistic.

tl;dr: you are correct in that Switch isn't the best home for the game. If portability isn't a priority for you, play it on basically anything else, preferably with a mouse. Otherwise, once it's patched it's fun enough for the price if you buy it on sale.

Thanks for confirming that. $15 was a small enough gamble, and I'm happy to wait for some patches.

That's...pretty concerning though, I'm shocked there's such a huge bug in the 1.0 release! I saw so many glowing reviews, I just assumed that the Switch version would be more polished.

I double dipped on Mark of the Ninja on Switch and played it to completion. No issues with it. So hopefully Klei gets it together for their other game(s).

A_Unicycle wrote:

Thanks for confirming that. $15 was a small enough gamble, and I'm happy to wait for some patches.

That's...pretty concerning though, I'm shocked there's such a huge bug in the 1.0 release! I saw so many glowing reviews, I just assumed that the Switch version would be more polished.

It's a weird bug, if you didn't play it long enough it's entirely possible you'd never see it. Like for the first two days I had the game I played pretty heavily and never ran into it. So maybe reviewers just crunched it and didn't, let's say, stretch it out over a week like a regular "real" customer would. They tend to be pressed for time, right?

The gameplay in Invisible, Inc. and Griftlands is so good it makes dealing with the annoyances worthwhile if you like portable gaming. But there's so many missed opportunities in the ports that they add up into a frustrating series of papercuts.

Like you're right, selecting stuff in Griftlands (and Invisible, Inc.) can really suck. But... Switch has a damn touch screen. Why exactly can't I tap on all the highlighted words to get summaries/descriptions?

(For those that haven't played it, Griftlands has a LOT of in-world slang and game terminology which is highlighted/bolded throughout the game that seems like you'd obviously hover a mouse over it to see more info, only there's no way to do that on the Switch.)

Instead you have to weirdly click the right and left triggers to try and remember which one activates which side with X number of clicks (it's not as simple as left trigger activates the left side of a battle and the right trigger activates the right side, instead you like click the left trigger, then move the analog stick, then click it again to flop over to the other side, and... it's clunky) and trying to maneuver over to a specific icon?

You know, exactly what you'd do if you had a mouse and just clicked on it. Stuff like that bothers me in ports.

If the alternative was no port at all, it's fine. But it does make it very clear that Switch support is an afterthought.

To be clear, I've poured a TON of hours into Invisible, Inc. on Switch. But I love it in spite of the annoyances. They never become "a feature, not a bug". Griftlands was shaping up to be similar before it became literally impossible to progress. Fingers crossed that Nintendo approves the patch this week. Because even with all the caveats I'm eager to put some time into the additional characters and their stories.

I've been meaning to play Othercide, and the Switch version is on sale for the first time in quite awhile.

Also grabbed Hades and Wintermoor Tactics Club.

Thinking about snagging Divinity Original Sin 2 and The Witcher, which embarrassingly I've yet to play on any system.

And then there's own it on PC but never got around to playing it stuff like Nowhere Prophet.

Or Banner of the Maid to round out my turn-based fix.

Honestly a ton of games I've been thinking about playing are on sale right now at their lowest prices.

The Griftlands patch just went live. Other than the major fix of not deleting your progress every game (which, admittedly, is a biggie) haven't noticed any changes.

But, for anyone that's been holding off it's playable now.

ccoates wrote:

Honestly a ton of games I've been thinking about playing are on sale right now at their lowest prices.

This. I looked at deku deals this week and wow. Post E3 sale for Nintendo is very good, through next week.

ccoates wrote:

Thinking about snagging Divinity Original Sin 2 and The Witcher, which embarrassingly I've yet to play on any system.

I'm tempted to pull the trigger on Divinity Original Sin 2, too, but my experience with RPGs has been restricted to JPRGs that hold your hand and don't overwhelm with systems (DQ, early FF). I'm also concerned about how a game designed for keyboard and mouse translates to console.

Any thoughts on whether Divinity Original Sin 2 will leave me paralyzed with options? Or is it not worth the bother on consoles (this one in particular)?

zyblorg wrote:
ccoates wrote:

Thinking about snagging Divinity Original Sin 2 and The Witcher, which embarrassingly I've yet to play on any system.

I'm tempted to pull the trigger on Divinity Original Sin 2, too, but my experience with RPGs has been restricted to JPRGs that hold your hand and don't overwhelm with systems (DQ, early FF). I'm also concerned about how a game designed for keyboard and mouse translates to console.

Any thoughts on whether Divinity Original Sin 2 will leave me paralyzed with options? Or is it not worth the bother on consoles (this one in particular)?

Umm, yes. To everything.

I don't think DOS or DOS2 translate overly well to console, but they're also lacking any sense of hand holding. The openness and freedom of the DOS games allows for some fun interactions, but it's also a trial and error type of game where wiping your party out by accident is almost a feature.

That sort of gameplay is better with a mouse, imho.

The Witcher is UGLY on Switch. Playable, but UGLY.

I've been playing Overboard! - it's Inkle Studio's surprise new release that they announced on the same day it launched on the Switch. It's a murder mystery, except you're the one that did the murder.

I've been playing Overboard a bit too. It's a lot of fun just seeing all the different options and possibilities. And like all Inkle games, it's really well written.

There are a lot of first party games on sale across various stores today. Most are $40-42, I picked up Paper Mario for $30 from Target.

What I’ve read in the Mario Golf reviews has been disappointing. I was hoping Mario Golf would be the first reason for me to pick up my switch since Animal Crossing and now I doubt it. I feel like Nintendo keeps making weird decisions, is failing to improve on franchises, and has taken a left turn from the rest of the industry. They get away with stuff that no other company would. Unfortunately it looks like they will continue in directions that aren’t for me.