Nintendo Switch (Currently Plagued) - Here we shit post about the new Nintendo console, The Switch

[whatever I feel like]

The issue is you're assuming that the odyssey devs shipped the game, and then just turned around and started working on the next 3d mario. That's not how it works, they've been doing other games since then. As for botw, while if you look on wikipedia, it says the game started development in late 2011, that's quite literally just spitballing ideas. Actual development didn't begin in full until early 2013. Even then, botw didn't plan for a 4 year development cycle, that was a result of two separate delays.

In regards to BotW, you're just proving my point to me by trying to discount the delays. Nobody wants their title to seven or eight years to make, but thats become increasingly common now. Its a problem, people need to find ways to prevent it from occurring. Onto Mario, that team did help with the 3DW port, but not as the main devs, and I don't think they made Bowser's Fury either. Maybe the game is done and waiting for Switch 2 to launch, but as is its very sad that what might be Nintendo's most prestigious team only put out a single new title on Switch.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Long dev cycles? Are you sure you don't mean that criticism for everyone but Nintendo?

Their 3D Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc are taking forever now too.

To put this in perspective, assuming Odyssey 2 is a '25 release (certainly not guaranteed), then that's an 8 year gap between them. That's more time than between Sonic 1 and Sonic Adventure spread out 3 consoles apart (7 year gap).

Or, if it's released the following year after their respective consoles' launches like Sunshine & Galaxy were, then as much time as between Sunshine & Galaxy 2.

Without looking it feels like Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and almost everything except Fire Emblem & Kirby have long gaps between releases.

 

[whatever I feel like]

Their 3D Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc are taking forever now too.

To put this in perspective, assuming Odyssey 2 is a '25 release (certainly not guaranteed), then that's an 8 year gap between them. That's more time than between Sonic 1 and Sonic Adventure spread out 3 consoles apart (7 year gap).

Or, if it's released the following year after their respective consoles' launches like Sunshine & Galaxy were, then as much time as between Sunshine & Galaxy 2.

Without looking it feels like Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and almost everything except Fire Emblem & Kirby have long gaps between releases.

Well, you're talking series, I am talking studios/teams, there's a difference. And, if you are going to talk series, then I'll point out that Nintendo flat out told Ubisoft that they were making a mistake by releasing Mario+Rabbids 2 in the same generation as the original game, and that it would be better to wait. So its not like they have eight hundred people working away at Mario Kart but just not getting there yet, instead those people are doing other games (or, in Mario Kart's case, years of DLC,) and thats fine, assuming that they are actually doing other games, and not sitting around doing whatever it is that Retro was doing between Tropical Freeze and Prime 4 being rebooted.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Well, you're talking series, I am talking studios/teams, there's a difference. And, if you are going to talk series, then I'll point out that Nintendo flat out told Ubisoft that they were making a mistake by releasing Mario+Rabbids 2 in the same generation as the original game, and that it would be better to wait. So its not like they have eight hundred people working away at Mario Kart but just not getting there yet, instead those people are doing other games (or, in Mario Kart's case, years of DLC,) and thats fine, assuming that they are actually doing other games, and not sitting around doing whatever it is that Retro was doing between Tropical Freeze and Prime 4 being rebooted.

You're not wrong, but the end result is still less output. If we got more new IPs or entries in old ones like Star Fox then I guess it would even out, but all we have to show for that is ARMS, I think.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

The biggest issue with a portable from either sony or microsoft is how Nintendo and Valve beat them to the punch

FTFY. Switch line for the normies, Steam Deck for the hardcore

 

[Never Scored]

I think as opposed to a price cut, Switch Lite eventually starts coming with a pair of those game vouchers you can buy through Nintendo Online. Gives the consumer the impression they're getting a good deal and literally costs Nintendo nothing. Hell, I already own a OG Switch that my wife and I share, and my kid has a Switch Lite, and I would consider buying another Switch Lite if it came with two first party digital games.

 

[TheDarknessGrows]

I think as opposed to a price cut, Switch Lite eventually starts coming with a pair of those game vouchers you can buy through Nintendo Online. Gives the consumer the impression they're getting a good deal and literally costs Nintendo nothing. Hell, I already own a OG Switch that my wife and I share, and my kid has a Switch Lite, and I would consider buying another Switch Lite if it came with two first party digital games.

I think this is a very good idea. The wife/kids scenario also plays out much the same for me and several people I know. Vouchers would be slick.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

Vouchers would be slick.

Heck, be willing to pay more for a Switch if you could get vouchers for physical games.

 

[Two Dollars]

Heck, be willing to pay more for a Switch if you could get vouchers for physical games.

Not physical, those "get any two digital first-party games for $100" eShop vouchers.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

Not physical, those "get any two digital first-party games for $100" eShop vouchers.

I lnow what you meant. I’m saying if they made it so you could get vouchers for physical games I’d pay more.

 

[Mega Black]

Tears of the Kingdom,

That's fair, mostly this one I'm thinking of. This game should have taken two years at most to make.

Nobody wants their title to seven or eight years to make, but thats become increasingly common now

It's a recent absurdity. Games used to come out every five years at least, that was like a LONG cycle. I dont feel like we should be waiting a decade for their tentpole releases.

 

[Megaton Punch]

SaGa games don't really work off experience levels so much as 'keep doing things and you'll eventually learn a special move based on what you did' over and over, and you gain stats through these as well. HP is divided between a normal HP layer that you recover normally, and a second layer that you can't really heal and, once it runs out, you actually die. The games are fairly non-linear as well, although they aren't outright open world - this is a game from the 90s released for the Japanese SNES, now given a new form.

You don't NEED to play Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song, since the settings are very unrelated overall, but it's a case of 'might as well',

Romancing SaGa 2 doesn't exactly have a set protagonist so much as a set role: the heroes are the forces of the Empire, led by the Emperor/Empress. The Emperor/Empress actually changes throughout the story as this is a generational story, so whenever he/she dies the role passes on to their heir.

You seem like one of the few people on earth who might actually know this: as someone interested in SaGa but (almost) completely unfamiliar with it, where should I start?

I say "almost" because I have played the game boy games, but from what I understand those were basically experimental art pieces and not representative of the series at all.

I've also played a tiny bit of either Frontier or Frontier 2 and didn't really like it, but I know the games are pretty infamous for having characters that if you start with them then you basically ruined the experience for yourself. I don't remember who I picked, but I can best describe it as "martial artist in the Blade Runner city". I think it starts with you escaping a prison through a sewer pipe? Then it was a massive maze of identical dimly lit cyberpunk alleys and I got bored after being lost for like two hours.

 

[Another Random]

The games that are easiest to recommend are the Romancing SaGa games, especially since all three had a remake or remaster in recent years, with 3 being seen as relatively easy [but not actually easy just because of that]. Minstrel Song updated a lot of the original's jank without removing its charm, which one can expect 2's remake to follow, but the remasters of 2 and 3 are still pretty good - it's just that unlike Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, these are true 90s open world games with all the flaws that entails. You really have to go around and talk to NPCs to even learn what's going on in a way that isn't common to RPGs.

An alternative is Scarlet Grace, originally a Vita-only game. Visually this isn't the best game [comparing it to RS2's remake or the recent one], but it has the most tutorials, and for a series that is so experimental, tutorials to help people understand its gameplay is a pretty good idea. Haven't gotten the chance to play Emerald Beyond myself yet, but if you like Scarlet Grace, it's more of that.

Of course, if you really want to cheapen out the introduction, go with the SNES games.

 

[IDanceonTrannyGraves]

You seem like one of the few people on earth who might actually know this: as someone interested in SaGa but (almost) completely unfamiliar with it, where should I start?

I say "almost" because I have played the game boy games, but from what I understand those were basically experimental art pieces and not representative of the series at all.

I've also played a tiny bit of either Frontier or Frontier 2 and didn't really like it, but I know the games are pretty infamous for having characters that if you start with them then you basically ruined the experience for yourself. I don't remember who I picked, but I can best describe it as "martial artist in the Blade Runner city". I think it starts with you escaping a prison through a sewer pipe? Then it was a massive maze of identical dimly lit cyberpunk alleys and I got bored after being lost for like two hours.

I love Saga Frontier 2 but you can get Minstrel Song and RS 2 and 3 pretty easily on Switch and those are probably the best place to start. The Switch port of Saga Frontier has extra content originally cut from the game.

 

[TheDarknessGrows]

An alternative is Scarlet Grace

Oh!

Hey I forgot about Scarlet Grace. Always wanted to play that.

 

[RX-78]

You seem like one of the few people on earth who might actually know this: as someone interested in SaGa but (almost) completely unfamiliar with it, where should I start?

I say "almost" because I have played the game boy games, but from what I understand those were basically experimental art pieces and not representative of the series at all.

I've also played a tiny bit of either Frontier or Frontier 2 and didn't really like it, but I know the games are pretty infamous for having characters that if you start with them then you basically ruined the experience for yourself. I don't remember who I picked, but I can best describe it as "martial artist in the Blade Runner city". I think it starts with you escaping a prison through a sewer pipe? Then it was a massive maze of identical dimly lit cyberpunk alleys and I got bored after being lost for like two hours.

It sounds like you started with Emilia, and her opening sequence in the space jail is the most difficult part of her story. Despair prison is not the most exciting environment to start a new player off in, so if you try Frontier again don't hesitate to pick someone else. The rest of the characters are more interesting in their openings, particularly Asellus, but I would advise against picking Lute on the grounds that his story is 100% non-linear from the start and can be overwhelming for new players.

The gameboy games you played are most similar to SaGa Frontier in that your stats grow the more you use certain abilities, the lummox race gives players more control over the monster transformation system, and the mystic race replaces the espers now that humans can also learn magic.

Emerald Beyond should have a demo available on every platform, and I'm enjoying what I'm seeing so far. The battle system is based on Scarlet Grace's but with additional safety nets to give the player a slight RNG edge over monsters, and the scenarios are based on science-fantasy instead of pure medieval fantasy from SG and the Romancing Trilogy. As Another Random pointed out:

An alternative is Scarlet Grace, originally a Vita-only game. Visually this isn't the best game [comparing it to RS2's remake or the recent one], but it has the most tutorials, and for a series that is so experimental, tutorials to help people understand its gameplay is a pretty good idea. Haven't gotten the chance to play Emerald Beyond myself yet, but if you like Scarlet Grace, it's more of that.

Scarlet Grace makes sure the player never gets lost in it's systems, which is a tremendous leap forward in user friendliness for a SaGa game.

Romancing Saga 2, looks interesting enough to keep an eye, but I know fuck all about the Romancing Saga, so if anybody wants to give me a quick summary on if it's worth getting into and if I should play 1, it will be welcome.

RoSa 2 is fun but its weird even for SaGa. Gerard is the hero for the opening generation, but after that anyone can become the Emperor/Empress and I do mean anyone: this game gives you a boatload of fantasy races ranging from Siberian herdsmen, fire lizards, two types of amazon, long-tailed mermaids, etc. The game is about territorial expansion just as much as it is about killing the seven heroes, and colonizing the world for the sake of the empire is a nice breath of fresh air for a 90's rpg.

 

[whatever I feel like]

Im still baffled that the Nintendo switch has more sales than ps4 and ps5 together.... gotta be forged or something.

Not to dig too far back in time but I just googled it and the reason it baffles you is because its not true. PS4 has 113 million as of 2020 (and still sells, to this day) and PS4 has 59 million as of the end of 2023, so 172 million. Switch has a "mere" 140+ million.

 

[Danann]

Should this be renamed the the Nintendo General thread anyways?

 

[IDanceonTrannyGraves]

If it's always connected to the TV all day long 24/7, don't expect it to last long.

I've had mine since 2017, it stays primarily connected to the TV and runs just fine.

 

[whatever I feel like]

I've had mine since 2017, it stays primarily connected to the TV and runs just fine.

I think he thinks that mine was somehow actually turned on for 24 hours a day, as opposed to just sitting in the dock, turned off, most of the time. If he doesn't own a Switch that might seem reasonable since the other consoles have soft sleep modes and really can just be turned on for days at a time.