how good is the switch?

[Baby Gary]

now that 2017 is coming to a close I have been looking back at some of the biggest and best titles of this year and have thought about getting some. Two games in particular stood out to me. Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. Both these games seem incredible, very interesting, fun, and like something I would like to play. However I don't have a switch.

So I am wondering if it is worth it to get the switch so I can play those two games?

P.S. I don't keep up to date on nintendo news so is there a new conceal of their's anywhere on the horizon?

[tonberrian]

The Switch is an amazing console, and yes that's partly because BotW and Odyssey are some of the best games of 2017.

Nintendo has been coming at consoles obliquely for several generations now, and they've struck gold with the Switch. It is the best console this generation, IMO, because you can take it literally anywhere. The handheld market has always been dominated by Nintendo, and there's not going to be a separate handheld from the Switch, so there's no other 3DS successor in the pipeline.

Is the Switch worth it? Probably not for just Mario and Zelda, but Metroid Prime is coming, as is a new Fire Emblem, and Mario + Rabbids is not half bad. I'm very happy that I got one for Christmas.

[Psyren]

It's a solid console and is probably the only one I'll consider getting myself (I'm a PC gamer, so I have little to no incentive to get the other two.) Definitely leaps and bounds above the WiiU, so kudos to Nintendo for realizing when something wasn't working and packing it in.

[Baby Gary]

It's a solid console and is probably the only one I'll consider getting myself (I'm a PC gamer, so I have little to no incentive to get the other two.) Definitely leaps and bounds above the WiiU, so kudos to Nintendo for realizing when something wasn't working and packing it in.

I'm also a PC gamer and I know next to nothing about console gaming. However, as you said, the switch is Nintendo's best product and one of the better consoles, also there is the whole thing about not needing a TV to play a game.

[danzibr]

And the new Xenoblade!

[Sian]

As others have said ... even though I'm a true blooded PC-Master race, who have never owned a regular console (and the most recent one was a transparent GameBoy... not even a GameBoy Color, which is what... 20 years ago soon?), Switch is one that I could see myself buying.

I'm valiently holding off waiting on them to announce Super Mario Maker 2 before I'm going to plunge, but its a close call

[Drascin]

It's a solid console and is probably the only one I'll consider getting myself (I'm a PC gamer, so I have little to no incentive to get the other two.) Definitely leaps and bounds above the WiiU, so kudos to Nintendo for realizing when something wasn't working and packing it in.

I've been a PC+Nintendo guy for a while now.

Basically, 95% percent of the PS4/X360's catalog is also on PC, where I can near invariably get it for cheaper anyway (thank you Steam sales!). Therefore, consoles get evaluated in terms of their exclusives. What do they have that PC doesn't, and what do they let me do that my PC can't.

And Nintendo basically always wins that assessment. Even the WiiU won that evaluation rule by a landslide - currently there are all of two games in PS4 that I want which aren't on PC (Bloodborne and Horizon Zero Dawn) while I have something like ten WiiU games, none of which are on PC.

And the Switch seems poised to win that evaluation even harder, since to the column of things that PC can't do, literally every game gets to add "Portable", in addition to already having like three exlusives I really want six months into its existence.

[PhantomFox]

Mario Odyssey and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are two must-haves for the system, of course.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is another good one.
Mario Kart 8 is solid, but I got it in a bundle, so I'm not sure if I would have gotten it solo.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is decent strategy game in the XCOM style. Worth trying at least.
There's rumors of the next MAIN pokemon game coming to the Switch, but nothing confirmed yet.
Metroid Prime 4 will probably be worth it, depending on who's the developer.
Bayonetta 3 is confirmed for a Switch exclusive.
Just speculation, but there's a good chance that if there's another Smash Bros, (assuming Sakurai will still do it) it will come to the Switch instead of a hypothetical next gen.

There are probably some other recommendations, but I can't recall them off the top of my head.

[deuterio12]

There's rumors of the next MAIN pokemon game coming to the Switch, but nothing confirmed yet.

It's pretty much a given since there is no 3DS sucessor and Nintendo will make a new main pokemon game.

Bayonetta 3 is confirmed for a Switch exclusive.

And February we can grab Bayoneta 2 for the Switch, which is another Nintendo exclusive!

Just speculation, but there's a good chance that if there's another Smash Bros, (assuming Sakurai will still do it) it will come to the Switch instead of a hypothetical next gen.

Another good bet.

There are probably some other recommendations, but I can't recall them off the top of my head.

Octopath traveler looks like a pretty nice retro game. Only a demo for now, but damn it has actually quite a bit of content already.

Also lots and lots of indie games. Sure many of those are in the PC, but being able to play anywhere is AMAZING, in particular for those more grindy games.

And some of those indies are actually Nintendo exclusive. The Switch attracting a lot of new developers since the Steam competition is just too fierce.

[GloatingSwine]

And some of those indies are actually Nintendo exclusive. The Switch attracting a lot of new developers since the Steam competition is just too fierce.

It's not really that the competition is too fierce on Steam, it's that the vast quantity of asset flips and achievement spammers that are dumped on steam every day bury new releases basically immediately and so it is super hard to get your indie game visible in the sea of ****.

Whereas a significantly smaller and curated eshop means you can stay visible longer in the new releases and actually find an audience.


OT: Switch is great, the software library so far is grand, Mario, Fire Emblem Warriors, Mario + Rabbids, Splatoon 2, and Xenoblade 2 have all been cracking. I haven't played handheld much, but the pro controller is super nice.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I got a switch, Mario Galaxy, and BotW. Haven't regretted it so far.

My only problem with Mario + Rabbids is... well... it's got good mechanics that I really wanted to get into, but the graphics, storyline, and everything else just cause too much FPM (Facepalms per minute) for me to really get into. It doesn't help that I absolutely loathe rabbids in general, and their being included in every damn thing. This is one game that, I think, would've done better as a 'moderately more serious' game rather than going ad absurdim reducto. Yes, I know, graphics are just window trappings, and I shouldn't be getting hung up on it, but the cognitive dissonance is just too great for me. Which is a shame, because the mechanics seem fairly solid.

Metroid Prime was an absolute betrayal as far as I was concerned, so that particular series is effectively dead to me. I think the last Metroid game I actually enjoyed was back in the '90's with Super Metroid.

I haven't seen Xenoblade Chronicles, I'm assuming it is somehow related to Xenogears? Not sure if I'm really appreciating it for what it is.

What I'd really like is a good ol' fashioned RPG. We're talking Dragon Quest or old-school Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. I don't care about crazy graphics, I don't care about realism (in fact, it's probably a detractant), I just want an honest-to-gosh RPG with an actual plot and storyline that doesn't suck, character development that doesn't sink into 'Edgelord McEdgerson', and no gorramin' camera angles you have to manage.

Is that really so hard to ask?

Personally, I'm keeping an eye on the legacy library they're talking about. Sure, it's $20/year, which kinda sucks, but being able to play all my old games without needing to go into ROM's? Maybe-sold, depending on their library.

[Triaxx]

Did we play the same Metroid Prime? But then again I went from NES Metroid to Metroid Prime so perhaps Super Metroid did some spectacular thing I missed. And Prime 3 is absolutely epic. And a tribute to motion control done right.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Did we play the same Metroid Prime? But then again I went from NES Metroid to Metroid Prime so perhaps Super Metroid did some spectacular thing I missed. And Prime 3 is absolutely epic. And a tribute to motion control done right.

I had to disable motion controls on BotW because they were so erratic, and it was supposed to also have good motion controls, so this isn't really a good recommendation for me.

When Metroid went from an action/adventure puzzle solver to a first-person... kludgy mess of crap... I gave up on it.

[Triaxx]

Ah. Yeah, the game was much better past that opening tutorial area. Once you leave the station it opens up and gives you some space to explore.

I understand about motion controls and why they're hit or miss. MP3 was good about just making them about the shooting (and a bit about the puzzles) but they weren't heavy on the wag the Wiimote. Except shaking them to fight off a certain boss with no sense of personal space.

That first area of MP1 was really non-indicative.

[danzibr]

I can explain Xenoblade a bit.

We all know and love Xenogers on the PS.
Then Xenosaga was sort of a rebootish of certain historical events of Xenogears. The trilogy had its ups and downs. I liked it.
Then Xenoblade came out on the Wii. Radically different from its predecessors, it somehow became one of my favorite games of all time. Biggest downside is no gears/AMWS/ES’s/whatever they’re called.
Xenoblade X was a spiritual successor on the Wii U. Better gameplay than Xenoblade but the plot was bleh. They brought back gears in a big way. Big way.
And now Xenoblade 2 on the switch. To my understanding it’s a direct sequel to the Wii game. Looks to have very similar gameplay. I’m hoping for the same astounding environment and plot as the Wii game with the gears of the Wii U game.

[deuterio12]

Then Xenoblade came out on the Wii. Radically different from its predecessors, it somehow became one of my favorite games of all time. Biggest downside is no gears/AMWS/ES’s/whatever they’re called.

They are there. Just on the enemy side since the basic plot is "horde of robots wants to exterminate all the meatbags, some of said robots are huge".

[Kail11]

Still getting used to the controller but otherwise superb !!

[Triaxx]

I found Xenogears to be far too densely packed to get into.

[danzibr]

They are there. Just on the enemy side since the basic plot is "horde of robots wants to exterminate all the meatbags, some of said robots are huge".

I don't count it, given you can't use them.

[LibraryOgre]

So, just to piggyback on this...

If I were looking at acquiring a Switch for in-library multiplayer (our current big game is Super Smash Bros), would I need to get several Switches? Would I get by with one switch and some auxillary controllers? If I want to play with me an several friends, and only one of us gets a budget from the city for such things, how would I go about it?

[GloatingSwine]

Many games that support local multiplayer (eg. Mario Kart) let you use a joycon each, so you can play 4 player with one console and one extra set of joycons (they come in pairs). With two Switches you can play 8 player.

Arms you need a pair of joycons per player, but it has local splitscreen.

Splatoon 2 is the only one that doesn't have splitscreen local and needs multiple consoles.

And now Xenoblade 2 on the switch. To my understanding it’s a direct sequel to the Wii game. Looks to have very similar gameplay. I’m hoping for the same astounding environment and plot as the Wii game with the gears of the Wii U game.

Xenoblade 2 is much more similar to the first Xenoblade than X. The most satisfying combat in the series, more organic way of managing cooldowns (instead of just "wait x seconds" attacks are charged by using your auto attack, and the rate at which that happens can be affected by various things) and lots of variety of ways to build parties due to the way your support characters work.

Even lighter on the giant robits though.

[deuterio12]

So, just to piggyback on this...

If I were looking at acquiring a Switch for in-library multiplayer (our current big game is Super Smash Bros), would I need to get several Switches? Would I get by with one switch and some auxillary controllers? If I want to play with me an several friends, and only one of us gets a budget from the city for such things, how would I go about it?

The default joypads can each be used as a basic controller for most mp games. I'm not 100% sure but I believe by simply getting more joycons you can add more people to a game with a single switch.

[Drascin]

Did we play the same Metroid Prime? But then again I went from NES Metroid to Metroid Prime so perhaps Super Metroid did some spectacular thing I missed. And Prime 3 is absolutely epic. And a tribute to motion control done right.

When Metroid Prime the first was announced, I basically raged to high heaven. I was sure a Metroid game could never work as a first person shooter. I thought they were just going to try to mooch off Halo's popularity in those years. I was certain it would be a betrayal to everything Metroid.

And then it was released.

And I ate all of the crow. And ate it gladly.

For my money, Metroid Prime is basically the only game in the series that can actually make me hesitate on the "what is the best Metroid game" question, because it's neck and neck with Super Metroid. Retro absolutely nailed the lonesome exploration feeling, the environments, the soundtrack. I loved it.

Primes 2 and 3 I'm less a fan of. They're still good, just not as aces as Prime 1 was.

[Triaxx]

I've never played 2, and now I really want to play it as part of the Trilogy with MP3's motion controls. And I totally understand the reluctance to believe, they could be that good, but they're comparable to those from Resident Evil 4, which they were accused of making easier for the Wii, when it's really not. The original 'hard mode' Gamecube controls are still available, and the game is just as hard with those as it ever was. Well done Motion Control just makes the game feel easier.

I got all the way to that last Ridley fight in Prime and after the battle before it I just couldn't bring myself to work through another ultra-hard boss fight. And when I was up to it again... lost the necessary skill built up through playing to complete the fight.

Personally I think MP3 balanced the exploration with the shooting a bit better than 1, but tipped more towards shooting enough that the feel changed, but not necessarily for the worse. Not having to worry about fighting enemies means the exploration is easier. (Though some of the enemies are NASTY to try and fight.)

[GloatingSwine]

Metroid Prime 2 is absolutely brilliant except for a couple of hours just before the end where you have to do a totally superfluous scavenger hunt.

Admittedly you had to do the same thing in MP1 as well, but MP2s is bigger and more convoluted by the world shifting business.

However, the dark world mechanic with its initial extreme hostility which your gear gradually adapts you to throughout and the subtle changes to the lighting and effects in each area as you solve the main issue there make progressing in it feel glorious. (The light/dark worlds in MP2 are basically the best version of that mechanic ever). Has fun enemies as well, and some really good bosses.

I was much less of a fan of MP3. The overdrive/hyper mode didn't sit right with me in a Metroid game, especially as it was equipment you just got given in a cutscene not something you found, and the Metroid games where everything is spread over several worlds (like MP3 and Hunters) have all felt weaker environmentally. I like a nice constrained environment to gradually explore. (Also why Arkham Asylum is the best Arkham game).

[Triaxx]

I kind of wished I'd been able to do more with the ship. I mean a couple spots would have been nice to call for supply drops on that second planet. Just a crate of missiles and energy in some of those places would have been cool.

Personally, I adore backtracking, but I'm aware it's an uncommon opinion.

[oxybe]

Really enjoying my switch at the moment. Currently I have Mario Odyssey & Breath of the Wild, with Wild's DLC & Xenoblade 2 being likely picked up this week, assuming Best Buy manages to get the latter in stock this week.

Odyssey gives us what is likely the most mobile version of Mario sans FLUDD, has a vibrant and varied soundrack to carry you through the levels that are just big enough and packed with tons of collectibles to find in the form of power moons, costumes, area specific coins and normal coins. Beating the main game only serves to unlock even more stuff to do in the various levels, as well as collecting more moons lets you do victory laps in brand new post-game areas. Tons to collect. Pseudo locking some techniques behind the motion controls are annoying, but they aren't too huge of a problem. Every time I load up this game I smile just a little bit more. It's such a bright, cheerful and fun experience.

BotW is a LotZ game that's a bit light on story, heavy on atmosphere and deep in exploration. There are over a hundred main and side quests to do, over a hundred shrines to find and 900 freaking korok seeds scattered to the winds. What I find stands out is just how many tools you're given out of the starting gate, once the tutorial area is done, to just go around and explore the world. Link has a surprisingly large repetoire of stuff he can use that will let him climb, swim, glide and traverse the land. You're also given little direction and left to your own devices to explore the world and free Hyrule from the Calamity Gannon. The weapon breaking can be annoying, but any weapon you get off a monster you can always get another, any you find on the ground will eventually respawn and even before getting the master sword, i never really was bothered by it, usually ending up trading out a weaker weapon for a much stronger one, or an equivalent.

Then there's Xenoblade 2 others have talked about and the eventual Bayonetta 3 (and rerelase of 1 & 2!), Dragon Warrior Builders, the unnamed Yoshi & Kirby Star Allies titles... lots of stuff.

But I think what I'm most excited for is when Nintendo will eventually release their emulator/virtual console. Playing a backlog of my favourite SNES, N64 or Gamecube games while snuggled in my bed? Yes plz. Basically having what is a HD official emulation device, I can hold in my hands and play anywhere? Yes. A thousand times over YES. Paper Mario on demand? Sure! A copy of FFVI I can load up whenever I want? How is that bad!? This is my huge hype. I would be sorely disappointed if Nintendo fails to bring out a virtual console to capitalize on the fact that we can buy and play their backlog anywhere.

Finally two things of note: online play & accessories. For now the online is free, but from my understanding it's going to be $20 a year for online play. Which is pretty cheap price to pay if it means better net code and functionality on multiplayer games (as while I'm sure the upcoming Monster Hunter World will not see light of day on the Switch, with the runaway hit the console's been, I wouldn't be amazed if Capcom doesn't invest in releasing a newer MH game compatible with the system). Again $20 is a small price to pay for this.

I will recommend thinking about getting a few accessories to go along it: A good carrying case, a micro SD, a better kickstand and maybe an external battery bank.
-I spent about 20 bucks on my case and it's been serving me well, with space for 8 games, the console and a pouch for stuff like the joycon grips/spare joycons/etc... great for going home for the holidays or to a friend's.
-the Switch comes with a tiny 32GB storage space, but can take your standard microSDHC or microSDXC cards (and not a proprietary format!) up to 2TB for those larger game downloads. I added an extra 64GB to mine. I was hesitating to splurge on the 128GB, but we'll see if it bites me in the butt.
-I did buy the nintendo branded kickstand, which was an overpriced for what it was (3 pieces of plastic), but I use it often, as much if not more then the dock, since it lets me play the switch at decent angles at my desk & on my bed, as well as giving enough space for the charging cable to fit nicely and it actually holds the thing pretty firmly, thanks to a few well-placed indents and rubber pads. The built-in kickstand is kinda wobbly, doesn't allow for chargingdoubles as your microSD cover
-Finally, the switch has built in Lithium-ion battery with 4310mAh storage. However, like they did with the extra storage, they used a standard format for their power outlet: USB-C. So even a cheap 10000mAh power bank can net triple your total play time (that default battery will get you about 3 unplugged BotW hours).

So yeah, a case+SD is the minimum extra you'll probably want to shell out on, with a kickstand and battery depending if you're going to be moving it about the house often, but not in handheld mode, or if you're planning on traveling with it.

[GloatingSwine]

Well, "backtracking" is fine if something changes the context of the area you're travelling through.

In Metroid games that usually means a new ability which means that an obstacle you encountered the first time can either be removed or easily bypassed.

Metroid Prime 2 is mostly really good at that, it just goes to the well one too many times.

[danzibr]

Xenoblade 2 is much more similar to the first Xenoblade than X. The most satisfying combat in the series, more organic way of managing cooldowns (instead of just "wait x seconds" attacks are charged by using your auto attack, and the rate at which that happens can be affected by various things) and lots of variety of ways to build parties due to the way your support characters work.

:D

Even lighter on the giant robits though.

:'( 10chars10chars

[Baby Gary]

You guys have convinced me to get a switch, so what do I need in terms of accessories? I will not be playing local multiplayer a lot, I have a TV that I would use if I did that. I would most likely use the switch screen and the joycons for most of my games. And, of course, I want the cheapest that I can get my hand on, well as long as it still works well.