I'm a Switch, I'm a Lover, Talk About It With Each Other

I do wish there were more 3D Metroidvanias.

So Blue Fire just came out and is literally "Wind Waker x Hollow Knight as a 3D platformer"

Sold. Think I wishlisted it a while back but that's moved it right to the top.

Ooh, have you played it OR? I was very curious in it since its reveal but have been waiting for reviews/opinions.

Yeah I have it, I've completed two dungeons so far. I like it!

Basically if that one line summary above excites you, and you are happy to deal with the requisite lack of polish and refinement, then I think you'll find enough to enjoy. It opens very Hollow Knight-y (or Dark Souls-y I guess), but once you get to the actual dungeons those feel much more 3D Zelda. The game has its own identity, but that identity is almost entirely being a combination of those different influences.

The platforming is solid and getting better as I learn new moves (as you would expect in a metroidvania). You start with a jump and dash so it's OK to begin with, but now I can wall run/jump and double jump it gives so much more player control and just feels good. Occasionally fiddly, but that's to be expected! The way you get more health is very well done too - there are statues hidden around the main interconnected metroidvania world that take you to the "void", essentially short standalone platforming challenges. Complete them and you get an extra heart. Think the more abstract platforming courses you could access inside Mario Odyssey levels.

The combat is the weakest part, I think it's actually pretty bad but luckily hasn't been too overbearing (in number of encounters, it is definitely easy to die). It boils down to the block/parry and the dodge not being very satisfying to pull off. The ranged attack you get also lacks any satisfying feedback. So yeah that has been disappointing so far, you'll need the zelda dungeon solving/platforming/metroidvania exploration to appeal to you, don't rely on the combat as some people hearing the Souls comparisons otherwise might!

My biggest complaint is the loading screen hint tips - they aren't locked properly behind progress. So I was getting very confused early on learning the game with the loading tips telling me I can double jump (I couldn't) and spin attack (I still can't). That's definitely a "lack of polish" kind of complaint!

It's no fun if you don't bite Balla

That Blue fire game reminds me more of that Mini Ninjas from 2009.

I'm pretty keen for it, been keeping an eye since that first trailer. If I still have a hankering for 3D platforming when I'm done with all the Marios, it'll get a look-in.

They have assessed my four ASSYs and they are all faulty. But they aren't charging me! Free ASSY touch-ups.

And there's the next tagline.

@OrangeRakoon wrote:

Yeah I have it, I've completed two dungeons so far. I like it!

Thanks for the summary boss, it sounds... hm, I dunno.  'Fiddly' is what I thought when I saw the trailers, and it's also what you've said.  I'm so used to recent Mario games as my benchmark that I don't have a lot of leeway for fiddlyness, not unless the mood is as charming as in A Hat in Time anyway.  I might seek out a few more opinions before I make a decision.

@Buskalilly wrote:

It's no fun if you don't bite Balla

I'm afraid you overegged the pudding by calling BotW's world 'boring' sir.  I know how you feel about that Hyrule (the correct way). If you'd stuck to SMS you might've caught a whopper.

It's definitely not a happy-fun 3D platformer, more grim-cute like Hollow Knight

Nintendo Life gave it an 8/10. It's moving closer to my wishlist...

Question for y'all, especially for Rum (I don't think I knew you had a partner - congrats!). Have you managed to get any non-gamers in your lives to enjoy games, and if so, which ones? And have you had any failures getting them to play something you thought wasn't too tough to understand? This stems from a chat I had elsewhere, where I was railing on 1-2-Switch as a party game, and somebody else said it has a benefit over other games in that it appeals to non-gamers. Was wondering if any of y'all had found the same, about 12S or anything else.

Thanks! I haven't kept him a secret on purpose or anything, I just haven't spoken about my personal life on the forum much.

I can't reeeally answer this question properly because I didn't try and foist multiplayer on him when my joy-cons were all jiggered and I've only recently gotten them back - but I have a few games I'm going to try him on. Tried him on 3D World today, but also plan on having a go with Untitled Goose Game, Mario Kart, Heave Ho, and Urban Flow (which I bought because it was really cheap but haven't tried yet). Maybe I'll try stuff like Smash Bros and Towerfall, but the impression I got today was that anything that requires super quick reflexes might just frustrate him considering he isn't used to using controllers. With 3D World he insisted he didn't understand the controls even though you're only using 2 buttons most of the time.

1-2-Switch is good fun as long as it's with the right people. I played it quite a bit with several housemates when I first got it, only one of whom you might consider a gamer but she mostly just played League of Legends.

There are definitely better party games out there but I certainly got a lot of use out of it.

I dunno, I think you fellas would probably be the best of people to play pretty much anything with, but I can't say I got a lot out of it in Manchester (or Newcastle or wherever it was). Maybe it needs even less gamey people?

Towerfall was enjoyed the one time my book club played it in multiplayer, but only because none of us knew what we were doing! Goose Game definitely recommended; Mario Kart might require a bit more patience from my experience. Anyway, let us know how it goes!

Towerfall is way less accessible to people who don't play games than Mario Kart in my experience. Mario Kart at least everyone has heard of, and it looks like a Mario, and everyone already knows how races work. Towerfall is immediately pixelart and chiptune, and super twitchy, and while intuitive it's much more intuitive if you are well versed in game language like head stomps and screen wrap and dashing giving iframes.

I wasn't versed in 'dashing giving iframes' until right now.

Any game which has a dash button and doesn't give you i-frames can, quite frankly, fuck off.

Cyber Shadow has a belter of a dash move.

I sent two pairs of drifting Joy-Cons in to Nintendo UK for repair recently. Both were over 3 years old. They were repaired for free, and I got a year's extended warranty. I was pleasantly surprised. Has anyone had any bad experiences with Joy-Con drift repair, besides the inconvenience of it happening in the first place?

I actually got really lucky. My friend Matty and I had drift in opposite Joy Cons so when he bought a replacement pair, he let me have the one I needed.

@Buskalilly wrote:

I actually got really lucky. My friend Matty and I had drift in opposite Joy Cons so when he bought a replacement pair, he let me have the one I needed.

That's interesting. I wonder if people aren't aware that Nintendo is fixing these things for free.

Back when I sent them off for repair they tried to charge me about £35 per joy-con. I said no because that was insane and they sent them back but apparently fixed anyway, so I suspect they went ahead and immediately did it on the assumption I would probably pay. The fix didn't last though, so I would expect it to be temporary. I use electrical contact cleaner often to temporarily fix joy-con stick drift be it my original pair, a second pair or my girlfriend's pair - they all have it.

Maybe they changed their policy at some point without announcing anything. I decided to keep just one pair of Joy-Con and buy Pro Controllers since I know the drift is coming back.

I sent mine in expecting them to make me try and pay, but they fixed all four of them free of charge, which was a pleasant surprise. That was only a month or so ago though so we'll see how long the fix lasts!