General Switch Discussion

[MindFreak]

I don't understand that "switch button inputs off". It doesn't state how to awaken the Switch Lite from sleep and it says that when you turn it off, it will automatically be turned on again next time - even after just sleeping. I think that kind of defeats the purpose of a setting...

I also don't really understand that QR code - what does it do?

What use is there for an alarm - is it just an alarm clock so you don't have to watch an external watch when gaming to see when you need to stop or?

But yeah, being able to invite people to online games is long overdue.

[Dcubed]

Wow! Actual features and junk? That makes a change!

[Helmsly]

23 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

I also don't really understand that QR code - what does it do?

The QR code thing seems to have something to do with Nintendo events. If you go to your User settings on your profile page, select 'Display QR Code' and hit 'About checking in', it shows this message:

"Present this QR Code at Select Nintendo events and locations to gain access to exclusive My Nintendo member benefits such as My Nintendo points and participation in promotions. The benefits will vary each time, and Further details will be provided before you check in."

As for the alarm, I am assuming its just an alarm feature that allows you to set a reminder that pops up while you are playing a game, but being as none of the current software supports the feature at the moment, we can't find out yet.

Edited September 10, 2019 by Helmsly

[MindFreak]

Ah. I haven't got my Switch with me now so I couldn't check that. Cheers!

[Ike]

The alarms thing is weird, seems you can only set one using supported apps??? Probably for Animal Crossing to wake you up before Joan leaves on Sundays.  Seems awfully specific though. But, they finally implemented a use for the home button LED!

[Dog-amoto]

Man, the eShop has been running like syrup since the update. At least for me anyway. 

[Aneres11]

Has anyone utilised the Game Vouchers offer? 

Worth it? Or do people still prefer physical games rather than DL? 

Only reason I ask is that I have £25 in eShop credit at the moment and was toying with the idea of using it for Resident Evil or something like that, but if I used it towards the vouchers I'd only be paying £59 for 2 games. 

I quite like that it's redeemable against the first party games which never drop in price physically, so there's that. But I just don't know if I'd rather keep some pre-orders for physcial editions like Luigi's Mansion and Zelda because of the cool bonuses from Nintendo store etc. 

Tricky one. 

[Glen-i]

36 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

Has anyone utilised the Game Vouchers offer? 

Worth it? Or do people still prefer physical games rather than DL? 

Only reason I ask is that I have £25 in eShop credit at the moment and was toying with the idea of using it for Resident Evil or something like that, but if I used it towards the vouchers I'd only be paying £59 for 2 games. 

I quite like that it's redeemable against the first party games which never drop in price physically, so there's that. But I just don't know if I'd rather keep some pre-orders for physcial editions like Luigi's Mansion and Zelda because of the cool bonuses from Nintendo store etc. 

Tricky one. 

It's worth noting that you don't have to spend both at once, so if there's a first party title you know you want digitally coming out in the future, it's great value.

Make sure you confirm that the game you want counts first.

But yeah, if you value physical boxes, it gets harder to choose.

Edited September 14, 2019 by Glen-i

[Ronnie]

7 hours ago, Aneres11 said:

Has anyone utilised the Game Vouchers offer? 

Worth it? Or do people still prefer physical games rather than DL? 

Only reason I ask is that I have £25 in eShop credit at the moment and was toying with the idea of using it for Resident Evil or something like that, but if I used it towards the vouchers I'd only be paying £59 for 2 games. 

I quite like that it's redeemable against the first party games which never drop in price physically, so there's that. But I just don't know if I'd rather keep some pre-orders for physcial editions like Luigi's Mansion and Zelda because of the cool bonuses from Nintendo store etc. 

Tricky one. 

I used the voucher on Mario Maker, I’m usually physical for first party games but that’s one I’ll always want on my system. They’re good for exceptions like that if you plan on doing similar. I’ll use the other one on Animal Crossing, if anything suits digital, it’s AC. 

[Aneres11]

12 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I used the voucher on Mario Maker, I’m usually physical for first party games but that’s one I’ll always want on my system. They’re good for exceptions like that if you plan on doing similar. I’ll use the other one on Animal Crossing, if anything suits digital, it’s AC. 

Yeah I had that way of thinking too. 

I know Pokémon is one that can be purchased with the vouchers and that's a game I'd happily have digital as I know I'll always want to dip back into it. 

 

[Ike]

I just pre-ordered the Asian version as well. Sounds like these are digital only though, but glad we are getting an official EU release. This is the first time these games have been made available in Europe on non-mobile devices.

[S.C.G]

10 minutes ago, Ike said:

I just pre-ordered the Asian version as well. Sounds like these are digital only though, but glad we are getting an official EU release. This is the first time these games have been made available in Europe on non-mobile devices.

Aren't these ports not very good though? Even though you can use a proper controller with them, aren't there graphical and audio issues with them?

[Ike]

26 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

Aren't these ports not very good though? Even though you can use a proper controller with them, aren't there graphical and audio issues with them?

The sprites are weird scales on the overworld and towns. It actually looks like they've applied a filter on these versions which makes them look worse actually.

DQII & DQIII have missing music, unless they got restored.

Not sure about DQII but DQIII has missing content.

DQI is probably the best version.

[Glen-i]

38 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

Aren't these ports not very good though? Even though you can use a proper controller with them, aren't there graphical and audio issues with them?

See for yourself.

It looks like they smoothed out the character sprites while forgetting to apply the same treatment to the environments. It looks pretty amateurish and inconsistent.

For comparisons sake, here's the 2D version of DQXI.

The sprites are much more consistent as a whole, despite looking more pixelated. It's much less jarring as a result.

Square has an annoying habit of "remastering" the visuals for the mobile versions of games and it's never a good look.

Never forget how they butchered FFVI's visuals.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Glen-i

[Dcubed]

These new versions look like absolute yuck, but they are the first time we've ever gotten a console release of the first three games in the west since the original NES versions... (and the first console releases in Europe, period).

 

With these re-releases, we now officially have proper localised versions of every single mainline DQ game (with the sole exception of DQ10; which is never happening for obvious reasons).  So that's something to be happy about.

 

Thankfully the DQ3 port at least fares better than the first two... but yeah... they've really beaten them with the ugly stick...

Edited September 16, 2019 by Dcubed

[Ganepark32]

I've got Ni No Kuni pre-ordered for picking up with my Switch Lite in Friday but I've been second guessing picking the game up for a number of reasons. Foremost of these is that while the PS4 is getting a remaster at a reduced price, the Switch version is a straight forward port of the PS3 versions at full retail price.

I'd love to play the game but that price different is frankly ridiculous given that they've done nothing to the game in porting it from the PS3 (and from the reviews that have come out so far, it sounds like they've not exactly done the best job with there being plenty of bugs and crashing issues). I'm already uncertain if I'd see it through to the end as I've struggled to find a JRPG that's clicked for me as of late but those issues don't exactly make me want to jump in at a higher price point when I'm already putting out at least £250 on Friday for the console and Zelda (I've got some eshop cards as well so it'll be more than that anyway). If they'd matched the PS4 versions price then I'd be more willing but I just don't know at the moment. The drawback is that I suspect the game will be hard to grab a copy of later on so do I just grab it and suck up the issues or leave it and get something else.

What's the word in handheld performance for Astral Chain? And as someone who has been a bit hot and cold with Platinum's output, how does it stack with the likes of Bayonetta and Nier Automata, where I'm not keen on the former style of play any more and preferred the action style of the latter even if the game didn't grab me entirely. I'm considering this as an alternative instead of Ni No Kuni but thought I'd get the low down on handheld performance first to get a gist of what to do.

[RedShell]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

 

 

Man, that is nasty.

2 minutes ago, Ganepark32 said:

What's the word in handheld performance for Astral Chain? And as someone who has been a bit hot and cold with Platinum's output, how does it stack with the likes of Bayonetta and Nier Automata, where I'm not keen on the former style of play any more and preferred the action style of the latter even if the game didn't grab me entirely. I'm considering this as an alternative instead of Ni No Kuni but thought I'd get the low down on handheld performance first to get a gist of what to do.

I've not played it very much in portable mode, but it appeared to run more or less the same as Docked. Doesn't look quite as nice though (it removes all the antialiasing) and it's definitely not as comfortable to play with the handheld configuration. I consider it to be one of Platinum's best games though and prefer it to both Nier Automata and Bayonetta.

[MindFreak]

47 minutes ago, Ganepark32 said:

What's the word in handheld performance for Astral Chain? And as someone who has been a bit hot and cold with Platinum's output, how does it stack with the likes of Bayonetta and Nier Automata, where I'm not keen on the former style of play any more and preferred the action style of the latter even if the game didn't grab me entirely. I'm considering this as an alternative instead of Ni No Kuni but thought I'd get the low down on handheld performance first to get a gist of what to do.

Played most of it in handheld mode and never had any issues with frame rate or controls. It's masterly done. 

[Dcubed]

3 hours ago, Ganepark32 said:

I've got Ni No Kuni pre-ordered for picking up with my Switch Lite in Friday but I've been second guessing picking the game up for a number of reasons. Foremost of these is that while the PS4 is getting a remaster at a reduced price, the Switch version is a straight forward port of the PS3 versions at full retail price.

I'd love to play the game but that price different is frankly ridiculous given that they've done nothing to the game in porting it from the PS3 (and from the reviews that have come out so far, it sounds like they've not exactly done the best job with there being plenty of bugs and crashing issues). I'm already uncertain if I'd see it through to the end as I've struggled to find a JRPG that's clicked for me as of late but those issues don't exactly make me want to jump in at a higher price point when I'm already putting out at least £250 on Friday for the console and Zelda (I've got some eshop cards as well so it'll be more than that anyway). If they'd matched the PS4 versions price then I'd be more willing but I just don't know at the moment. The drawback is that I suspect the game will be hard to grab a copy of later on so do I just grab it and suck up the issues or leave it and get something else.

What's the word in handheld performance for Astral Chain? And as someone who has been a bit hot and cold with Platinum's output, how does it stack with the likes of Bayonetta and Nier Automata, where I'm not keen on the former style of play any more and preferred the action style of the latter even if the game didn't grab me entirely. I'm considering this as an alternative instead of Ni No Kuni but thought I'd get the low down on handheld performance first to get a gist of what to do.

Astral Chain is much more akin to Nier Automata than Bayonetta.  It’s more of an action adventure game than a pure Stylish Action title.

 

It also runs like a dream in handheld mode.  Full, native resolution 720p at an unwavering 30 FPS.  Buy with confidence!

 

Personally I wouldn’t bother with NNK at all, especially if you’re not a big fan of JRPGs.  Outside of the pretty visuals and music? It is a very generic and dull RPG that absolutely bored me to tears when I played it on PS3.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Dcubed

[MindFreak]

I've just bought NnK, full price and all. To me it's a new game, a game that I really wanted back when it came out so it makes sense for me. I also had some credit on a website and got it for not so much. 

I think I'll like it. 

[Ganepark32]

Thanks for the input guys. It's something I've been mulling over for a while now and with Friday approaching, I've been trying to figure out whether I want it or not. For now, I've decided I'll cancel my pre-order for Ni No Kuni and I've put in an order for Astral Chain which I can collect tomorrow from the Argos near me (it was £39.99 so that lower price helped a little in the decision).

It's not that I'm not into JRPGs, it's that I've struggled a lot to get into the last couple I've played and with trying Ni No Kuni 2 last year and not liking that (I really wasn't a fan of having to do the Little Kings Story/Pikmin battles). Similarly, I've been a bit hit or miss with a lot of games recently and feel that I'll probably get a bit more out of Astral Chain than NNK, where I'd probably regret spending more for a version of the game that I could get on my PS4 remastered if I wanted especially if I ended up not liking it.

So that'll be Astral Chain and Link's Awakening alongside a bunch of indie games come Friday. Probably end up putting the pre-order towards say The Witcher 3 or something instead now. Even with 131 hours in that game in my PS4, I'd happily buy it again to have it on the go, lower resolution textures and all.

[Ike]

I liked everything but the battle system in Ni No kuni. Try the Dragon Quest XI demo and see if you like that, it's a bit more of an old school JRPG?

[Ganepark32]

45 minutes ago, Ike said:

I liked everything but the battle system in Ni No kuni. Try the Dragon Quest XI demo and see if you like that, it's a bit more of an old school JRPG?

That's one thing I'm looking forward to doing over the weekend. I held off picking up DQ XI on the PS4 because I always had plenty on the go but with the prospect of a meaty demo available, and the possibility of continuing from where that ends in the full game if I pick it up, I think it's time to finally give it a go. It has been awhile since I've played a DQ game (think it might have been playing the release of 5 on the DS) but I really liked 9 and this looks to carry just enough new with the old for me.

Looking forward to trying it and hopefully if I enjoy it, I'll be picking it up next week. Though, given the sheer volume of games coming out this week, whether I have any money left for it is another question (Overland, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Untitled Goose Game, etc.).

[Dcubed]

It's finally happening!!

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/09/final_fantasy_vii_and_viii_remastered_are_coming_to_switch_in_one_physical_pack

 

FF7 (and FF8.. ugh) on a cartridge!  

 

The irony has now been fulfilled!

[Kav]