The Nintendo Switch

same, though the vita gets an honorable mention for being roughly the same thing

Lot's of great stuff on the PS4 and Xbox One, but the popular AAA games have all more or less fallen into the same formula as any cable action/marvel soap opera featuring relatable attractive squinting models reading dramatic lines at each other... love interests, a character dies, struggling with tortured past, blockbuster action beats, etc etc. Nintendo doesn't rely on that type of game. If it's on Switch at all it's very likely a port.

otm

and if they're on switch, the performance isn't going to be as good as ps4. i pretty much only use my ps4 to play the kinds of AAA games where they're designing the Game of the Year edition before they even release it. i spend most of my time these days playing games like (just to name what i'm playing now) untitled goose game, puzzle quest, blasphemous, etc - games that don't aim to create cutting edge graphics and framerates and play just as well on switch. and switch is definitely the preferable platform for those kinds of games imo, for the portability factor alone

My partner and her sister are gonna get a PS4 to play Death Stranding and I’m excited for that, and once we have it I may try out, like, Yakuza and Hitman.

If I get Hitman/2 I will never use a gun, is my plan.

nice sale in EU today, picked up Gorogoa and FFIX
haven't played FFIX since it originally came out so v curious abou how it compares to my memories of it

Just to stress, if you're not a longtime gamer, if you've never played any of these AAA games, then their cliches and formulas are a little less apparent. IMO. I mean, Nintendo literally releases iterations of the same games again and again ... and that's why people buy Nintendo systems! I'm playing Link to the Past for the first time, and it's making me appreciate all the stuff that showed up later in Breath of the Wild.

the nintendo franchises are the same but they work pretty hard to add new themes or gameplay innovations to each release.

And I find the AAA formulas to be such hollywood cliches that they just really bore me!

in general, AAA games are designed to be played by people after they come home from the marvel universe movies

(i'm just being unnecessarily cruel and critical of AAA games, many of which i still play, btw)

Like, them being Hollywood cliches means you don't have to be a longtime gamer to have been overexposed to them. Which is the point, because they're designed to appeal to the same general audiences and demographics as a summer action blockbuster.

exactly KM

Nothing wrong with enjoying them. I'm just very much on board with the Nintendo mission statement of delivering new inventive gameplay innovations rather than constantly churning out interactive blockbusters.

oh man cook serve delicious 2 came out on switch (and is on sale right now), that's an instabuy

as a pc gamer i am only ever interested in nintendo consoles but also as a pc gamer i get why they are not enough

I mean, let's be fair here: it's not like Mario or Zelda are particularly deep, you know? If the AAA games are Hollywood blockbusters, the Nintendo games are like kids cartoons. Which are fun, I like cartoons! But on occasion both veer into more interesting, compelling places. So yeah, sure, at their best Nintendo games emphasize creative gameplay, and AAA PS4-style games offer spectacle.

breath of the wild is not particularly deep?

oh, you mean in terms of story, i guess, not gameplay systems

Gorogoa is great btw!

Oh, as gameplay, it's ace. I totally see what you all love about it. Shadow of the Colossus underscored that for me. The BotW story itself is just there. (While the ending of SofC was great and satisfying.)

Just for more comparisons' sake, when I think about it, I own a bunch of PS4 exclusives, but there are a number of Nintendo exclusives I've said no to, for lots of reasons, some Wii-U ports, some centered on online play, some too expensive, some too silly, etc.

xpost

Nintendo doesn't prioritize story; it's just the framework for the gameplay as applied to the game universe theme.

gorogoa owns, one of the most satisfying single-sitting games ever imo

if you want a story read a book imo

I hate movies, I want something else from games

Story itself is not as important to me as an immersive world/universe.

Well yeah I guess that's more what I mean. I don't want a film, I was a get involved in a world, I guess, which is quite a vague want

Hmm. Well, given that so many AAA games aim for some semblance of film-like realism, either in terms of physics, or violence/drama, or trying to look "real" (like high-end CGI), then maybe that's another vote for the Switch. A lot of stuff on Switch is stylized or surreal or cartoonish, but there's still an impressive degree of world building when it gets it right. Breath of the Wild is the peak of this, or maybe Mario, but even something like Mario Kart basically epitomizes this crazy cartoon world with specific rules and lore. I'd still say something like Breath of the Wild is anomalously great at this, but Switch also has the port of Dark Souls, which is steeped in this world building stuff. Or, like, Skyrim, right? Or now The Witcher? These last three are all ports from other systems and inferior in execution to other console versions, but they exist for Switch.

exist for switch, on which they are portable

Yes, exactly.

A lot of stuff on Switch is stylized or surreal or cartoonish, but there's still an impressive degree of world building when it gets it right.

This isn't a 'but' for me - what this means is that these games will keep their looks better than more 'realistic' games.

Yeah, I dunno. Whether Hollow Knight or Celeste, good games are good games, no matter how they look. Like I said, I just started playing Link to the Past for the first time ever. Does it look good? Not really, it looks fine, for what it is, but I got turned into a fucking rabbit and it was great. So if you're saying that realistic graphics are not the reason to play a game, absolutely; Shadow of the Colossus looked about as good as any game I have ever played, and I'll be damned if I ever play it again, even if the good graphics (and great story payoff, of all things) did make it compelling enough to play once. Whereas, I dunno, nu-Doom looked *and* played great, but the gameplay is why it was/is beloved vs. something like Rage 2, which got generally panned. Yet if I'm being honest, as an (often literal) armchair game player, it's the graphics that still impress me the most about a lot of PS4 stuff. The nuance of good gameplay is something you grow to appreciate with more experience, much like how many of you told me the brilliance of the open world of Breath of the Wild would be more apparent if I had played plenty of other purportedly open world games that fell short. Similarly, I suspect the perfectly-tuned gameplay of Celeste (again, just as an example) appeals most to those that have played dozens of pixelated indie platformers that didn't do it nearly as well. Breath of the Wild looks great. Celeste looks fine. Both are classics because of the gameplay. But only one of those is something nerds screenshot and post, and it's the one I finished.

Celeste looks fine fantastic. Good art direction always >>>> "graphics" IMO

I don't have a problem with the way Celeste looks. I am just generally underwelded with pixel games, because that's how all the games I grew up with looked by default.

heh, underwhelmed.

Are there any good games right now for Switch that do anything groundbreaking or strange in terms of storytelling? I could use a game that has a story that unfolds itself in surprising ways, or uses game mechanics/visual storytelling to reveal bits and pieces to the player.

Exclusive to Switch? Or just generally?

there's plenty of indie games that fit that description many of which are on switch

i don't think the switch version of obra dinn is out yet but that would qualify

I wish there was a better word than “plot” or “story” to describe “the particular way a game reveals its mechanics and intentions to the player”.

BotW had one of the most emotionally complex stories I’ve ever seen in a game, it wasn’t told with oceans of text but with just like the way the guardian carcasses were piled up around the tower of Akkala, etc.

The thought of playing Baldur’s Gate on Switch is equal parts exciting and daunting. Even booting up FF8 I was like “ughhh but all the READING and all the CUTSCENES”

Dead Cells has a completely bullshit “story” but it’s not really the point— games trigger another set of neutrons when they’re done right, there is a “story” being told even just as a player you’re figuring out the mechanics of the programming.

Anyway

My bf has to have a knee operation soon and he’s talked for a while about wanting a PS4– mostly for FF15. It’s also his birthday this weekend.

I had a PS3 and rarely played it. The only games that immersed me were GTA5 and The Last Of Us. I was given/I bought big ticket titles like MGS4 and Uncharted 2 but couldn’t really get into them.

I went to the games store yesterday to assess, and just saw so many Switch games that I was like “wow”. Even The Witcher, which I’ve wanted to play for so long, its being ported.

Is there any reason why our Switchy household requires a PS4, aside from my bf’s desire to play FF15? I scanned through the titles and I guess I’m just... disinclined?

I feel like I’ve played far more Switch than any other console since SNES. (Dead Cells, Dark Souls, Zelda, Skyrim, those were my big four time sinks). Then I ordered the games based on hours logged and saw that EVERY ONE of my bf’s games clocked higher than mine— Fire Emblem, Octopath, Mario, Mario Tennis. Crazy! It’s such a good system.

yes - love the switch. felt a bit fallow towards beginning of this year but have too many games now if anything

I'm still torn about getting a Switch, now that the Lite is available. I'm dying to finally play BOTW (Zelda is by far my favourite series, half of my gaming time is spent replaying old Zelda titles), but I'm really unsure how much use I will get out of it after that. Guess I could try to sell it later, idk.

by the time you've exhausted botw the next zelda probably won't be too far off

Or the next system, if you go at my speed.

xpost @fgti

I wouldn't pick up Witcher on Switch--I played on PC, and it's difficult for me to imagine playing it with clunky and downgraded visuals. It's a beautiful world, but I'm not convinced the powers of its visuals will carry over.

I'm thinking about picking up a PS4 just to play Death Stranding, even though I know it'll be a clusterfuck of a narrative, and probably have less-than-ideal gameplay. I just want to be part of whatever emotional experience Kojima is squeezing out.

Re: the bit about "plot" and "story": I took a neat class in college, the thesis of which is that video games are today's equivalent of ancient oral epic; that epics were performative and improvisational in nature, and no two bards told the same story exactly the same way. Players are bards telling their epics: we all hit the same major events in the story, but arrive at them and work within them in distinct ways based on our individual play styles and real-time decisions. We had names for these ideas, but I can't remember what they were. I'll see if I can dig up my notes, if I didn't get rid of them.

Caution: If you play Binding of Isaac enough to the point that you learn how to strategize floors/items/rooms you will become hopelessly addicted. Worse than Dead Cells, because there is no maximum items the player can hold/acquire, and the synergy combinations are endless.

yes - I was addicted to Isaac for quite a while

RE: Celeste
I was recently vocal about not liking Celeste in the ILG thread dedicated to it. I didn't properly explain why.

1) It felt like a combination of other games (mostly flash games) so none of it felt really new. (VVVVVV and I Wanna Be The Guy/Boshy being the closest but there are elements from other games)

2) Gameplay was puzzle-platforming in that you visualize your path and then execute the jumps/dashes. In places that don't give you time to visualize, you just have to guess while you are moving, die, and then retry. I won't say this is bad but it's not great either.

If I had felt like I was reaching areas that had ground-breaking platforming ideas I might of been more excited to go from screen to screen. But, imo, the additional gameplay mechanics that you get as the game progresses weren't surprising me with an "oh that's cool" reaction. They felt more like minor gimmicks that you have to work with. This leads me to thinking that Celeste felt more like work than fun. Also, I couldn't enjoy completing hard areas because the cynic in me didn't feel like there was any reward for beating a single screen. My reaction was like: "yay. I executed button presses correctly and now I have to visualize and execute all over again."

I didn't feel like solving the "path-planning-puzzle" element was all that challenging. The challenge was more in the execution. I just couldn't get myself to be happy for pushing the correct buttons at the correct time. I really don't want to complain about the difficulty of executing each screen correctly (which I'm actually pretty good at)-- but it does slow down the overall gaming experience. When I constantly wanted more from the game, I was instead, slowly introduced to new gimmicks that felt more-or-less like new arrangements of 1's and 0's than exciting new ways to travel.

3) Strawberries are just another unsuccessful gaming collectable cliche in that the reward for performing a more difficult moveset is only a tic up on the strawberry counter.

4) Air dashing in platformers is fun. However, being restricted to cardinal-direction dashing (although it makes prefect sense in this game seeing as how all the paths are predetermined with little room for maneuvering) isn't as fun as fluid movement in games like Ori and the Blind Forest.

5) The story didn't tug me along (honestly, I didn't give it much of a chance)
/end pessimism

I might actually try to finish this game to confirm my reaction. I did enjoy playing one of the Dark Souls games to near completion. That game didn't make me feel like Sisyphus.

binding of isaac is one of my top 5 games all time i played it so much (and even 100%'d the original w/ the expansion inc beating every boss w/ The Lost - but not the remake which i played thoroughly but didn't 100%)

So you are saying you would have preferred more RNG? I'm trying to figure out how the "pressing buttons at the right time" thing doesn't apply to all platformers otherwise...

xp

That was more of a comment on how there is mostly only one way to get from A to B.

i really enjoyed celeste which i thought was a well designed platformer that felt great to play and had enough innovative stuff and distinctive enough sense of place + art + music etc that it stood out as one of the best games of the year but i did feel like the enthusiasm was a little ott for what was essentially an excellent platformer but not necessarily a huge breakthrough in the genre