I got a Switch last night and spent several hours playing BOTW and the Octopath Traveler demo. Gotta say goth games are amazing in their own right. Gonna get Odyssey when im done with BOTW, gonna get OT when that gets released, and looking forward to whatever Metroid comes out (assuming they make one). The last Nintendo system I had was a Gamecube and really never felt the urge to buy anything in between but Nintendo really stepped it up with the Switch this time. Looking forward to the games coming out for it!

Not COD
1/10

I just preordered Octopath Traveler from Amazon with a nice 20% discount. Have to be a Prime member, but I've been one for the last 10 years. Delivery on release day. Can't beat that!

Looks like there will be a paid subscription for online play and classic NES games coming in September. $20/yr. Might be worth it just for the classic NES games if you're not into online play (which I'm not).

Also played BlazBlue Cross Tag over the weekend. Beautiful looking game, but too simplistic fighting system. I'm not really caring for the "one-button-combo" trend that all of the fighting games have moved towards...

Anyone excited for Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night?
Curse gets released on Thursday, i think. Will definitely be buying for $10. Ritual release date is TBA from what I can see, but definitely buying that too. Haven't played a good Metroidvania since SotN.

I don't believe there will be a physical copy. The game was part of the stretch goals for the kickstarter for Ritual. Looks like an awesome throwback to Castlevania III with the character switching and general gameplay.

All this talk about Yoku's Island, I'm going to have to check it out now!

I played the hell out of Tactics back in the day! I remember following guides to get Cloud as a playable character. Good times!

Nintendo Switch B/S/T thread?

I'm all for it . I just have trouble letting go of games I buy because I'm too lazy...but if anyone is interested, I'd let go of my Zelda BOTW or Mario + Rabbids.

I'd trade for Mario Odyssey or Mario Kart 8.

Was just coming here to post this! I have just the standard edition coming but cant wait either way. I really enjoyed the demo and can't wait to really sink my teeth in. Going to try to enjoy it over the TV and theater system to really get the experience.

If you guys listen to the Retronauts podcast at all, the host Jeremy Parish (has also done editorials for lots of video game magazines over the years) is a co-creator of this, if that helps at all. Seems like it would be welcomed for vertical shmups, Pinball Arcade, and the like.

Metroidvania style? Right up my alley!

I usually don't go for third party peripherals, but does anyone have a good alternative to the Pro controller? I can't justify the $65 price tag on those puppies.

found this as an alternative. I've got a couple PS4 controllers that I would probably prefer
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-NS-Wireless-Xbox360-Controller-Mayflash-Windows/dp/B079B5KHWQ/ref=sr_1_2

I've put on about 6 hours into Octopath Traveler, in addition to the 3 hours from the Demo, and if you're a fan of JRPGs, this is a must have. The battle system as awesome! It's not just mash the X button over and over again until you get through the fight. Each fight actually takes thought (with the Break system) and the visuals are some of the best 2.5D pixel art out there. There's also each character's unique action that they can take in the world map when talking to NPCs. This makes for some thought with who to put in your 4 character party to help you with each town map and the side missions available. There's also a Job system that I haven't even unlocked yet! I'm currently working on collecting my last character so I'm not sure if that's when it opens up the Job system. Lastly, one of the reviewers (I think it was IGN) said he's put in 55+ hours, and there are STILL some fights that kick his ass!

Highly recommended! I haven't played a good JRPG in I dont know how long!

Wow. A good problem for them I guess. I preordered on Amazon and got it on release day. I preordered back in March?? Not sure if they do it by date or how they determine who gets a copy and who doesn't. Maybe I'm a lucky one

It might have been because you're not Prime? I'm a Prime member and there is a distribution warehouse less than 2 hrs away from me, so it might be a combination of both. Plus it sounds like there was a shortage at brick n' mortar stores too.

I typically dont pre order games and usually wait for reviews to come out before buying but the demos for this were so good and I love the fact that they took feedback from their first demo to make improvements.

Seems like the wait is only a couple weeks so that's not too bad at least.

The Zaccaria Pinball app is available on the Nintendo Switch store. It operates similarly to TPA, where you get one game free, but can sample any of the available games up to a point limit. Some interesting pins. I had not seem many (or any really) of these machines at all. Physics are ok. I would say TPA is a step better.

The first boss fight that I'm encountering after collecting all of my members is *killing* me. It's Omar on Tressa's first main quest. I went at it for a good hour before he buffed and wiped out my team in consecutive 2 attacks! Even after grinding up to lvl 25 or so (recommended lvl 18 or something, right....), he's still giving me a hard time. I'm going to have to try Cyrus's quest again in the same town...I've never had an RPG kick my ass this bad since FFVII Ruby/Emerald Weapon fights!

That was my next plan. This way you get more XP, get at least all of your primary skills, better equipment, then work on at least some of your subjob skills. But man, its decieving when it says recommended level X and you completely get your ass handed to you! Each fight takes several minutes with actual thought, so it's not like the old days where you can just mash the Confirm button. Such a great game. I wish I had more time!

Have you noticed if enemies scaled up with your levels?

I have H'annit, Ophelia, Tressa, and Olberic.

Tressa's boosted dodge skill is a lifesaver, Olberic is my heavy hitter, Ophelia is my healer. H'annit was my primary character, so I've just kept her around for her Beast Lore. i would need to level up my other characters as they are lvl 12+ only.

Yeah, I've been checking my skills menu regularly to make sure I can learn new skills when I have the points.

I'm having a hard time understanding the side quests! I think I've completed one by beating them up with H'annit's skill because he kept bothering another NPC or something like that, but otherwise, I've been largely ignoring side quests since they've all been kind of vague on what to do.

Yes, no spoilers please! lol

I like figuring things out, so I'll have to keep this in mind while I'm traveling around. Good to know that most sidequests can be completed within the town that they're in. I'm assuming having certain characters in your party so you can perform their specialized action is important for at least some of them. I think my next goal will be to travel around and find all of the sub-jobs. I will tuck my tail between my legs *yet again* and I'll have to revisit Omar and his gang when I'm a bit stronger.

This might be a stupid question, but I'm on the road and tried using a charger for my Samsung Galaxy S8 at the hotel. It had half battery when I plugged it in. When I returned later in the day, the Switch's screen was blank and the battery indicator was drained down to red, with the charging symbol. Any idea if the charger wasn't compatible or if it was the outlet at the hotel for some reason? Im pretty sure I've charged it this way before. I'm confused lol

I like Hori but damn...its wired.

Straight to it.

Do you know what the difference is?

I plugged it into the outlet at my brother-in-law's and it's charging. Must have been something with the outlets at the hotel? Strange.

Anyone play Dead Cell yet? I've been spending a lot of time on Octopath and I'm afraid that if I start a new game, i won't go back to it.

How much time have you put in?

I did some grinding on the front end. I'm at lvl 33 with my main character (H'annit) and most other characters are in the mid-upper 20s. I've just completed a few lvl 2 story lines, rather easily, at this level. Hopefully I can progress through without too much grinding any more! I gained a few levels looking for the 'job shrines' located in the middle-southern portion of the map. Got to find the rest of them now! 60 hrs into a JRPG seems rare these days! Glad to see I've got many more hours of playing this game. I hope it can hold my attention that long.

What is this?!?! *Plugs my ears*

I was waiting for a sale!

Simple question. How does one keep up with all the games hitting the consoles these days? Seriously. If I start a game, I need to finish it without starting another one, simply because I would have moved on to that other game. But to even sit down for 20+ hours on one game before moving to another game hitting the shelves seems impossible to me!

then throw pinball into the mix!

Anyway, good variety for everyone I suppose!

BOTW was my first game. Spend probably 15hrs or so. Then wen back to Dragon's Dogma on PS4. That game has probably 45hrs or so. Then moved to Mario+Rabbids. Spend like an hour...not feeling the need to go back to BOTW. Now I'm on Octopath Traveler. This is a game I WANT to finish, so I've been avoiding everything else since. And again, add pinball to the mix!

Hollow knight is another on my queue. But again dont want to start another game until I finish Octopath!

After a while, all games are devolved into their basest forms. You either shoot something, find something, or hit AAAAAAA over and over again It all becomes the same after a while.

You'll regret selling your machines

Truth. Hit a metal ball around with flippers to hit targets or make it go into a gobble hole lol.

Rogue Legacy and Risk of Rain are fantastic for the PS4.

If you see Dead Cells for on sale, post it up! I check here every day, but I'm not on my Switch every day.

I'm going to have to get my subscription in the next few days. so it sounds like they will be adding to the classic library in the future and it will be ongoing?

I also read somewhere that it will be a "Netflix" styled gallery, leading me to believe that they will add in and rotate out classic games. If that's the case, then $20/yr is a complete no-brainer, just for that alone. I don't play online games, so I'd just be getting the subscription for the classic library. Would be awesome to be able to tap into the SNES , N64, and GC library!

Any classic machine that was even the slightest bit provacative will likely not be included in Zen's arcade due to censorship. Could you imagine what they would do to a game like Paragon? Fathom? Centuar? You likely wont see them at all, or they'd look a mess to try to "cover up" all that skin.

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Love Solomon's Key! I remember playing this game when in grade school. Very underrated and not ever mentioned when talking about NES greats.

It's a third person rogue-like. You go through several areas repeatedly and though you eventually die, you end up getting stronger and getting more skills each time through, making it a little deeper after each play. It's a super fun franchise and definitely worth playing if you like that kind of genre. You will die, a lot, but that's almost the point.

There's a 2D side scrolling game called Salt & Sanctuary that is nearly the same.

The player-written-clue-mechanic is cool too. You can leave notes for other players to read to help them out. The catch is that there are only a limited number of preset words you can choose from, which means some messages read more like personalized license plates.

Man, I need to get back into Dark Souls!

I guess calling it a roguelike probably isn't the most accurate. In roguelikes, there is permanent death and randomly generated levels. Maybe a 3rd person Metroidvania is a bit more accurate. You keep the same character, but you can die (a lot) and start from checkpoints but gain upgrades as you go along. I enjoy both genres regardless

Like I mentioned, it's less roguelike and more metroidvania. You play the same character, there are RPG elements, you build your character to access new areas, or just to get strong enough to defeat stronger enemies (to access new areas). If you don't cash in your souls ("currency" for upgrades) and you die, your stash of souls drops where you last died and you can choose to go retrieve it. If you die before you get your souls back, they disappear. Excellent risk/reward system. You die A LOT, so be prepared for that.

Considering joy cons alone are $70, I think you did alright

I didnt get anywhere near a good deal like you did, actually ended paying full price, but I picked up the Mario Party/JoyCon bundle, and a Mario and Luigi steering wheel for some local 4P Mario Kart/Mario Party goodness for the weekend.

Love salt and sanctuary! The sucky thing is that I stopped playing it some time ago and it's hard to pick back up because I cant remember what I'm doing, so im having a hard time finishing it

That would be aweseome! The NES collection is ok. There are only a handful of games that are worth playing right now, but having SNES classics will really make that collection a bit more robust.

Played a few games last night. It took me a game or two to get my brain back into "Tetris mode" I place 36th in my first game, but then 6th on my second game! The game works great with the clicky buttons on the joycons in the grip. Very fun!

This is why I've never heard of it before. Looks freaking awesome.

For any fans of Puzzle Quest back in the day, Gems of War is a similar RPG/Match 3 game that's free for download. Good stuff.

sounds like my kinda game.

It's nice to be able to resell a physical copy once you're done playing it, if you're not the collector type that keeps every game you buy.

So there arent any power ups, different weapons, etc in Cuphead? Is there an ability tree or anything else?

Hmmm. The one thing I love about side scroll shooters is the variety of weapons or power ups you can get ala Contra or Mega Man. If there's a demo, I may have to try it before I buy it. It does look beautiful though, but my kids will undoubtedly want to play it but then ultimately get frustrated.

This sounds like a little more of the style that I'm into. I'll definitely check it out!

I'm really trying to get into this game, but it seems like it's just a lot of errand running. Collect this, find that, go here then come back. Does it pick up? I don't know exactly how many hours I've played it, maybe 6? But it's not something that is pulling me in. Hollow Knight on the other hand...

I played the shit out of RE4 when it was on the Gamecube. I've been tempted over and over again for all the different systems. I might have to go with the Switch though for the portability aspect.

I only have the "Grip" (No pro controller). Wondering if that'll make a big difference.

"I buy pinball machines but I'm a cheap bastard." LOL

I only found out today that Youtube is on the Switch. Cool!

That's about regular price on Amazon, so not "on sale" per se.

The physical copy of Bloodstained Ritual of the Night was released on the Switch today. I've been following this for a while now. Going to pick up a copy at my local Wally World!

They didnt have it at Walmart so I ordered on Amazon as I was walking out. It said In stock-ready for pickup online too.

I've always thought that having the steel book adds value to the game, but in reality no one is going to pay more for it than a game without one

Saves me a trip out to Best Buy when I have Amazon Prime and it gets delivered tomorrow. I can pick it up from my mailbox in my underwear. Can't do that at Best Buy

Plus I'm cheap and it's $32 on Amazon right now.

They've released 20 SNES games today. Cool! Wireless SNES controllers coming soon. I've only played SNES games on an emulator. I might need to get a set of controllers for a "real" experience.

Yeah I know. I had a Genesis at the time, so I've played a ton of Genesis games. After that, it was Playstation and so on until I could get a computer good enough to run emulation through my college years. That was the only feasible way for me to play any of the SNES games. For me, it did a plenty fine job and I got to experience all the goodness (and then some) that the SNES had to offer.

Looks really awesome! Someone called it a "Pinbrawler." gonna have to check it out!

Come back with your full review. Seems like a novelty game for me to get a few laughs, but beyond that...maybe a bit too shallow?

Your 5 year olds are clearly more coordinated than me. I get smoked in this game.

Definitely a beautiful game. Looks like it's more platform heavy vs combat heavy. I like some upgrade/weapons/magic combat type metroidvanias. Does it lean more on platforming?

I especially love the part where the side of the cabinet folds down and he throws a welder underneath all willy-nilly without even looking. 3 completely wrong things in a span of 2 seconds. Can't wait to watch a review.

How much time (read: zero) did these devs even spend on an actual machine? It's clear they spent none. Laughable.

This is what I'm using. I can't play without a grip. My thumbs start falling asleep after about 10 minutes. This is a must-have (or at least something like this).

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FNJJG5V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

If you want to hear a good interview with the guys that founded Limited Run Games, Retronauts just did a podcast and they talk about some interesting topics that cover why they started the company to manufacturing issues etc.

Looks like a fancy pong?

I've owned my copy for about a year now. I haven't given it earnest gameplay, but it's also a game that I don't find myself wanting to load up either. I can't be the only one, right. What am I missing out on?

I've got a few games I can lend you in the meantime if you want. Just don't lose them

It would bother me too lol. But the offer stands regardless if you find your case or not

I will have to play it some day. Problem is, I just bought a few other games, and already have some games that I've bought but haven't played yet! I'm at various stages of completion of about a half dozen games now and it doesn't seem like it'll let up any time soon. Such awful problems to have...

I tried to do that as well, for a time. Then I found myself buying 5 yr old games (just bought Dragon Age: Inquisiton GOTY for PS4 for $10 lol) so that I could play all the good ones that I missed. It's definitely the cheaper way to go! But buying everything new, it's impossible to keep up! Especially with kids! And pinball!

You have good taste!

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We bought the Labo vehicle kit for my son (read: for me as well) and I've been working on it for a few hours now. Holy crap! I never expected this to take so long! And I feel like I have a ton more to do! Still not really done with the steering wheel yet.

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You're missing out if you haven't played some of the NES/SNES games.

Will have to check this out. I always liked a good (not too serious) golf game. Anyone remember Hot Shots Golf? One of my favorites.

Yeah, after looking at some videos of it, it is definitely more RPG than golf. Which is good because I like RPGs more anyways so win-win for me!

I also lost interest in BOTW some time ago...but I've been playing Horizon Zero Dawn and am very much into it...which reminded me that BOTW has a similar structure, so I'm going to have to get back into it and hopefully not take too long to pick up where I left off.

Jackbox games is "giving away" Drawful 2 on the Switch for $.09. They are actually giving it away on Steam. Very cool of them!

https://jackboxgames.com/were-giving-away-drawful-2-for-free-for-three-weeks/

I had mentioned Horizon Zero Dawn in a previous post that made me want to pick up BOTW again. Very similar in terms of open world roam and do as you please, while still having main and side quests that do a much better job than BOTW does.

Is the normal price $400+ on these? There are several on ebay right now at that price.

Just checked my local FB marketplace and some people are selling their used ones for $200-250 and there are some selling them new for $450. Might be a way to go, just wipe it down clean when you get it.

Thanks for this post because I am one of those people, which is weird because I never buy 3rd party stuff. Good to know that I should just spend to money on a licensed controller.

What are you guys using for Smash Bros controllers? I'm the only one in my family of 4 to actually play games on the switch. My wife, 4, and 6 yr old only play casually. Not wanting to buy "good" controllers for them. Wireless preferable, but with rechargeable batteries, not the ones that use AA.

Right now I have 2 pairs (4) joycons. One of them has stick drift, which has already been replaced once...smh...

To keeps costs a little bit down, since I already have 2 sets of Joycons, and 2 PS4 controllers, I'm getting 2 adapters to connect my PS4 controllers, and another drip for the 2nd set of joycons.

That'll give me 2 sets of joycons and 2 PS4 controllers for just around $50. I'm getting the Mayflash adapters since the 8-bitdo adapters aren't shipping for at least a month.

I'll be getting everything next week some time. Can't wait as my kids have been stuck home and going crazy! lol i'm sure yours are too. My son has never played more pinball or video games in his life lol

We just bought Box Align and Watermelon Party for wife/kids. They still might be on sale.

It's a pretty neat game. Simple to understand, but very chill and puzzle-like. I've only started working through a couple of the simple levels, but wanted to save the rest for my wife when it started to require a bit more thinking. And at $.20, you can't go wrong. Watermelon party was like 3 cents or something. Haven't played with the fam yet, but looks like it's right up our alley with a 4 and 6 yr old.

I just downloaded Invisigun Reloaded for $.99. Seems like a fun local/online multiplayer with lots of characters and pixelart graphics. It's basically a 4 player shooter where each of the characters as a unique ability, and all of you are invisible except for when you shoot your gun, walk into an obstacle or through water, bushes, snow, etc. Haven't had a chance to really dig in yet, but looks fun.

Just started to dig into Smash last night. Going through the Spirit Adventure to unlock characters. I gotta say though, playing with the analog stick is not my preference, but slowly getting used to it. I had no idea the roster would be so scant from the beginning, and oddly enough, I'm preferring the Mii Swordsman right now.

yeah, I've barely scratched the surface as far as playable characters go. I think I only have around 15-18 right now? Was expecting there to be a bit more of the roster from the get-go that I can play with my wife and kids, but playing with only 12 characters from the beginning is a little sparse.

i really like the moveset for the Mii Sword so far. His Up Special and Forward Special have saved my ass a few times lol

I need to get the DLC pass as well. It seems like it's random when "a new figher appears," as I've gotten a couple of them while exiting Spirit to the main menu. Also still not sure what the hammer and breaking the "glass" does. Seems like it's more stuff to unlock, but it's not obvious to me what they are? It also was hard for me to get used to the button configs on the joycons. Not used to the South and East buttons as my attack and the West and North buttons as jump. I might need to get GCN controllers afterall lol.

This is what I found on IGN. Looks like chugging through Classic Mode is they way to go, or do the "cheat" method that some other sites have described.

https://www.ign.com/wikis/super-smash-bros-ultimate/How_to_Unlock_All_Characters_in_Smash_Bros._Ultimate

I'll have to take a look at that remapping. I agree. My brain is wired for the West button to be attack and the South button to be jump for most games. Problem is, is that right now I've put in maybe 4-6 hours playing so i'm finally starting to get used to the layout even though during "panic" moments, my brain is configured correctly enough to hit jump or do a special when I need to lol

I've never had any interest in AC. What's your elevator pitch for this game?

Might be something that my wife and kids might like. My daughter would like it for sure. I play games to escape real-life things

I have the same with old PS3 controllers and they work very well. We've been using 2 PS3 controllers and 2 sets of joycons on grips and it works well enough for Smash. You'll need one per controller though, and can only fit 2 on the dock.