What are you playing on your Switch 2: Play Harder

The_Jaster wrote:

EofGizmo wrote:

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I put another stop on Metroid Prime Remastered, I reached a boss that I can't beat. Maybe I'll go back to it soon as I think it's nearly finished, but one thing's for sure: it won't be charting highly on my personal 'best Switch games' list, or even my GameCube one. 

I too have fallen off this. It's a difficult one because I have enjoyed alot of what I've played but my issue is I feel like I'm having to refer to guide constantly because I'm lost. Could be fully a me thing because I'm having to come back to it after intervals of not playing. I can see why it was loved 20 years ago but in 2024 it's not for me I'm afraid.

Do you reckon it's anything to do with how games are designed/sign posted these days compared to early/mid 2000s that's put you off? As I've been playing a handful from that era (or even before it) myself lately and they definitely aren't fussed if you get lost or not. For me I like a game that doesn't hold your hand or even allows you to get lost (within reason, natch) but I totally get how frustration with simple things can boil over for others.

I don't think the lack of guidance is too big an issue with Metroid Prime two decades later, I'm mostly fine with games that don't hold your hand. That said, I'm not all that into games that allow you to get lost - and perhaps that's where a lot of Metroid Prime's richness and atmosphere come from. Not for me though: I've personally found Metroid Prime Remastered to be outrageously boring for long spells of time.

The_Jaster wrote:

EofGizmo wrote:

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I put another stop on Metroid Prime Remastered, I reached a boss that I can't beat. Maybe I'll go back to it soon as I think it's nearly finished, but one thing's for sure: it won't be charting highly on my personal 'best Switch games' list, or even my GameCube one. 

I too have fallen off this. It's a difficult one because I have enjoyed alot of what I've played but my issue is I feel like I'm having to refer to guide constantly because I'm lost. Could be fully a me thing because I'm having to come back to it after intervals of not playing. I can see why it was loved 20 years ago but in 2024 it's not for me I'm afraid.

Do you reckon it's anything to do with how games are designed/sign posted these days compared to early/mid 2000s that's put you off? As I've been playing a handful from that era (or even before it) myself lately and they definitely aren't fussed if you get lost or not. For me I like a game that doesn't hold your hand or even allows you to get lost (within reason, natch) but I totally get how frustration with simple things can boil over for others.

Yeah I think that's a fair comment. I don't really mind a somewhat obtuse design but my issue is really how I game now. I don't really play in multi hour sessions anymore, the busy adult life means I only really get the odd hour to pick up n play and for me personally Metroid Prime Remastered doesn't suit that style.

I would be very interested on a modern take on it with the upcoming games, I'm told the 3rd game on Wii is a little more linear?

Ah c'mon Giz, you're better than that. Not being into Prime is one thing, talking about preferring Prime 3 is saying "I'm a colossal wrongun and I don't care who knows it".

Prime 3 is definitely more linear. The result is a bad FPS as opposed to a good Metroidvania. Which is to say, I think you can find many games that do what Prime 3 does (terrible chatty NPCs and all) much better. You may not like what Prime 1 does, or it may be not for you or whatever; but I'm not sure anything has improved on that exploration-and-scanning shtick to date (ignore what Jas says about Echoes ). And if something has it's probably a Soulslike which is different.

I do think Prime 4 can and should improve on the Prime recipe, but I hope to God it does that by keeping the 3D Metroidvania template of Prime 1 and adding more hints rather than going bad FPS. Also fewer loading corridors please.

Balladeer wrote:

Ah c'mon Giz, you're better than that. Not being into Prime is one thing, talking about preferring Prime 3 is saying "I'm a colossal wrongun and I don't care who knows it".  

For you balla I will set aside a full evening to figure out what I'm doing one last time (I'm almost finished with Yakuza anyway...)

I do hope echoes and corruption come to switch before 4 btw just so the whole series can played in one place!

Oh no I'm not saying "keep trying to make MP1 work for you", I know there are few things less fun than banging your head against a gaming wall - especially when everybody else says how good the game is. I'm just saying, don't say things like you'd rather play MP3! You know not what you wreak. (MP2 is good though.)

Balladeer wrote:

Oh no I'm not saying "keep trying to make MP1 work for you", I know there are few things less fun than banging your head against a gaming wall - especially when everybody else says how good the game is.  I'm just saying, don't say things like you'd rather play MP3!  You know not what you wreak.  (MP2 is good though.)

*Cowers in fear* Other M?

Quote :

(MP2 is good the best though.)

Fixed.

EofGiz wrote:

I don't really play in multi hour sessions anymore

I totally get that, it has to be the right game for me for long sessions but mostly I do lean to wanting games to be shorter overall or be playable in short bursts.

TCK wrote:

That said, I'm not all that into games that allow you to get lost - and perhaps that's where a lot of Metroid Prime's richness and atmosphere come from

Aye MP1 is definitely about the exploration/atmosphere and drinking it all in.

What atmosphere though! Phendrana Drifts my beloved.

Balladeer wrote:

(ignore what Jas says about Echoes )

Still applies.

EofGizmo wrote:

*Cowers in fear* Other M?

I've never actually played it, it might be great!  (Doubt it though.)

Echoes still has the best bosses in a 3d Metroid.

Mild spoiler for early-game MP1:

I will cede the point in general but also, half of them are fought in the same purple morass so I don't remember them.


First thoughts of Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines: everybody needs to flap their jowls less and grapple more. There are 2D indie platformers where the narrative is an integral part of the experience. This isn't one of them and it needs to stop thinking it is.

Balladeer wrote:

First thoughts of Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines: everybody needs to flap their jowls less and grapple more.  There are 2D indie platformers where the narrative is an integral part of the experience.  This isn't one of them and it needs to stop thinking it is.

Whoa whoa whoa Balla but Null is friendly now and Luna is edddddgy.

She certainly is, got a gun and everything. I'm amazed that somebody took a look at Shadow the Hedgehog and thought, "Hey we could use more of that!"

Balladeer wrote:

She certainly is, got a gun and everything.  I'm amazed that somebody took a look at Shadow the Hedgehog and thought, "Hey we could use more of that!"

Everyone loves an anti hero

All jokes aside, once they start adding the alt weapon mechanics after a few levels the game really comes into it's own

Good Tay Tay song

Ahhh, there's a nice cosy feeling about sitting down with a higher-budget (i.e. not indie) JRPG.  Especially over Christmas.  I've only just started digging into a couple of them, which, er.  Well it means the controls when switching back and forth are a bit of an annoyance.

At the moment I probably slightly prefer Trails Through Daybreak.  It's more turn-based but there's a dynamism when going into the battles, plus I think I slightly prefer the writing tone.  The female lead is sillier anatomically but at least our main lad has called out other folks for perving on the 16-year-old schoolgirl.  I'm not convinced he won't end up doing the same thing himself though.

Ys X Nordics is the more straightforwardly action RPG out of the two.  As Rum said a little while back about the demo., it's more Ys.  So it's all very light-hearted, apart from the early death of a minor character, and even that's treated with less gravity than a wardrobe change.  I've turned it up to Hard and I did find the bosses tricky, and the battle system hasn't quite coalesced yet.  Plenty of time for that to happen.

Which is key.  Both games have started with a snappy beginning for their genre, and that does so much to endear them.  Digging into both has been a lovely Christmas treat, and both of them could make Mas' awards.

GAME BY A BAD PERSON CHAT:

Not Switch but feel ya Balla as talked about bought thread, of ohh I got a game at Black Friday, Xmas, January Sales and ohh all pretty long plus other games had or started.

Over Christmas I finished Sonic X Shadow Generations. Its mechanics don’t always work as they should, the performance on Switch is predictably inconsistent and I’d have really liked a couple more levels to truly demonstrate the benefits of Shadow The Hedgehog’s new mutation powers. Yet overall, the Sonic portion is an excellent remaster of what was already a superb game and the Shadow part is the next best thing to Bowser’s Fury. I started and finished Victory Heat Rally right before the New Year as well. I was too dismissive of it in my last post, it ended up being an exciting and satisfying arcade racer, very good stuff.
 
Up ahead there’s nothing announced for Switch that I’m planning on buying, so the full focus will be on my backlog. I’ve already polished off Alba: A Wildlife Adventure in 2025, a very sweet and engaging little game about environmental conservation with relaxed exploratory gameplay. For folk that enjoyed A Short Hike and the likes, Alba comes fully recommended. Following that I’ve made a start on Railbound, a puzzler where you must guide train carriages to their destinations by manipulating track pieces. It’s surprisingly complex…and as I type this, I’ve just remembered the time when masofdas reviewed a train-based game in one of the review threads and simply remarked “i like trains”. A GNamer Forum all-timer, that was.
 
I began Super Mario RPG the other night, after owning it for about a year. This is my kind of no fuss RPG, I’m battering through it. My early impressions are positive, but time will tell if I prefer it to the last Mario RPG I played, The Thousand Year Door.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I started and finished Victory Heat Rally right before the New Year as well. I was too dismissive of it in my last post, it ended up being an exciting and satisfying arcade racer, very good stuff.

Very glad to hear this, going to put this on my radar next time its on sale, Love the look of it!

I've just finished Yakuza Kiwami and thoroughly enjoyed it. In the end its become one of my favourite Switch ports, put a good 20 hours in, completed most of the sub stories and side content (not mahjong because i just cant...) and still highly recomend to those that havent tried the series yet. I will probably play Fantasian next on Switch but i am also tempted to FINALLY play Chronotrigger on the Steam deck next.

MmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmM.  I haven't played Kiwami because I read it was kind of mediocre in NL and other folks here suggested waiting for a 0 port.  But I can't deny I'm intrigued by the above.  Anybody else want to weigh in? (This is more or less the @Crumpy Andy call.)

I'm still playing Ys X and will be more or less solid until I'm done with it I think.  I don't think it's anywhere near IX's quality - I don't really care for the marine stuff that kind of defines this game, and a party of only two people doesn't feel as good as running with the Monstra (I did GCSE Latin and will use this plural convention wherever I can don't @ me (no please don't @ me and also don't compare me to Boris Johnson, you'll break my withered heart)).  But the action combat and the pacey traversal and the fun sparky style of game are really giving me something to dig into.

Sure heard Andy say 0 was just fine on a GGS recently.

See they're doing an enhanced Ys X called Proud and feel it's going to have another island. Atlus do that all the time, so isn't new to see from a Japanese Publisher and I'm very much expecting Metaphor ReFantazio Golden for Switch 2.

0 is the best jumping on point, I can't imagine playing Kiwami without it, it adds depth to what would otherwise be a very flat plot of Kiwami.

For me now it would be LAD to get to IW and Pirate one, which a direct happening right now for that.

I'm playing Kiwami on Switch having played Zero, and I agree that Zero enhances it but if the choice is between Kiwami and no Yakuza at all . . .

I wouldn't recommend IW without the rest of the franchise because I think you're only getting half of the experience then. You'd have a good time, but you wouldn't have the best possible time. Also LAD is probably the second worst in the series (behind 4).

I reckon there's a high chance of just bouncing off entirely if you play Kiwami first, plus if you're Switch only anyway you can't go any further so it's a bit of a moot point

You wouldn't need to play any to play the Pirate one anyway I assume. I've not really looked into it though, can't say I'm that fussed by it at the moment.

I feel like I should probably trust Andy when it comes to Yakuza takes and orders.

masofdas wrote:

See they're doing an enhanced Ys X called Proud and feel it's going to have another island. Atlus do that all the time, so isn't new to see from a Japanese Publisher and I'm very much expecting Metaphor ReFantazio Golden for Switch 2.

Regardless of "all the time" it's still rubbish. I don't think Proud will fix the problems I have with the game, but it is interesting that it sounds like that's side-stepping the sea content.