How is it impressive that the Switch can match the graphics quality of 7th gen consoles? Handheld graphics quality has consistently matched that of last-gen under-the-TV consoles. GBA matched the SNES, DS matched the N64, on and on. And it isn't just Nintendo either. The PSP surpassed the PS1 while being concurrent with the PS2, and the Vita was between the PS2 and 3. If the Switch didn't compare to a console more than a decade its senior it would be impressive... impressively shit.
The Switch is battery powered and gets reasonably decent life without slaughtering framerates or draw distance, and there's just nothing else out there that can really do that on a battery. Even the gaming laptops I've seen can, but then end up with like 30 minutes worth of charge, and that's from a fresh battery. Considering how there haven't been many improvements to battery tech in a long time, the Switch's SoC must be a marvel of efficiency. It doesn't even generate much heat while under heavy load and doesn't need anything more than what it has on the inside, and that's nothing to sneeze at.
That's a crapshoot. I started Nocturne HD and the framerate just tanks in the Labyrinth, and that's originally a PS2 game.
Well, shit, guess I'm not playing that one on an unhacked Switch.
Red Faction Guerilla runs great. Even the framerate barely drops when a building is falling and there are particles and geometry flying all over the place. I haven't tested it myself, but I swear it runs smoother than the PS3 version.
I felt the same way about Earthbound until I finally decided to try it. It was worth a playthrough. The hardcore fans are something else, though. It's like Harry Potter levels of "Play a different game".
That is such a perfect way to put it. You'd swear they've never played a single other RPG in their lives.
I have a new theory on the fans that claim they love the series despite never playing it: They love sperging about Undertale, and think Earthbound is exactly like it in every single way. Those people also probably took MattPat seriously.
Yeah, probably. Toby Fox got his start with Earthbound hacks, like the one that ends with Dr. Andonuts telling you "tl;dr: eat shit, faggot", but if anything, I felt like Undertale was more inspired by Mother 3. Like maybe it's just me, but the last act of Undertale features you entering a hotel and going through a series of floors with elevators on the way up to the final boss, and that's straight up what happened at the end of Mother 3, complete with the soft jazz music in the lobby. Like Toby just used Mother 3 as his template and fell back on it when he didn't know what to do next.
That being said, Undertale and the Mother/Earthbound series are very different games, and Toby did a good job making Undertale stand on its own. Earthbound's also a hell of a lot better than Undertale, because if it were just like it, every part of the game would have their own variations of Mr. Saturns or Tendas, and there wouldn't be many characters representative of people you'd meet in real life, like Everdred or Mayor Pirkle. For a Japanese game, Earthbound did a great job of incorporating the personalities of random people you'd meet while living in Anytown, USA. It was pretty ballsy of them to add in the arms dealers that'd sell you bombs and guns, too.
Earthbound is a game full of characters that you'd meet outside, while Earthbound is a game full of characters you'd meet on the internet, if you hang out on the parts of the internet where everyone tries hard to act quirky.
