Nintendo Switch #4: More than 1 year later

[Shareefruck]

I'm completely content with my purchase of Nintendo Switch even if i only ever use it to BOTW and then with my buddies to play Smash and Civ 6. BUT it would be nice if they start coming out with some better games. I have no interest in these Mario spinoffs and while some of these indie games are fun, I haven't come across many that scream "MUST PLAY".

I want to see Nintendo start flexing their IP's. Give me a new Metroid, or a Star Fox game, or something cool with Donkey Kong even. No spinoffs or gimmicky games. I want whatever Nintendo's equivalent to a AAA title would be. They have the characters and the loyalty to try something amazing. When i first heard of BOTW i thought it was automatic that they'd be giving their other storied characters similar treatment.

If there are some Nintendo games i'm snoozing on then by all means please tell me but as of now there hasn't been much of a reason to turn on my Switch lately.

Agreed, it's been a total bummer to me that they just focus on Smash, Pokemon, and gimmicky low-effort one-offs over and over again (none which I consider particularly great games). It seemed like the upcoming Metroid Prime was supposed to be the next big AAA thing from them, but it got delayed and who knows what its status is now. I'm starved for a good Metroid game, personally, especially a modern 2D one.

Feels like the Switch is just Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and then retro and 3rd party stuff (although there's tons of amazing stuff within that which are every bit as good, but you're right, nothing good on the AAA front).

 

[x Tame Impala]

Agreed, it's been a total bummer to me that they just focus on Smash, Pokemon, and gimmicky low-effort one-offs over and over again (none which I consider particularly great games). It seemed like the upcoming Metroid Prime was supposed to be the next big AAA thing from them, but it got delayed and who knows what its status is now. I'm starved for a good Metroid game, personally, especially a modern 2D one.

Feels like the Switch is just Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and then retro and 3rd party stuff (although there's tons of amazing stuff within that which are every bit as good, but you're right, nothing good on the AAA front).

Yeah totally agree, and I think you and I agreed on this but i didn't find Odyssey to be that fun. The mechanics are finely tuned but the actual game wasn't interesting to me. So when you consider that Nintendo's focus has been centered on Mario games: Paper Mario, Mario Maker 2, Mario 35, and Bowser's fury...it's discouraging as a Switch owner.

Nintendo needs to get out of the kiddie pool with this stuff and start developing some games that are original and fun.

 

[Seedtype]

Definitely agree with you guys. I don't know if some things have just been slowed down because of the pandemic, but Nintendo definitely hasn't really done anything in a while. Kinda surprising when you would think that now they just have one major platform to focus on and they aren't pumping stuff out regularly.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Definitely agree with you guys. I don't know if some things have just been slowed down because of the pandemic, but Nintendo definitely hasn't really done anything in a while. Kinda surprising when you would think that now they just have one major platform to focus on and they aren't pumping stuff out regularly.

I'm wondering if they're waiting until the "Pro" model of the Switch comes out and the current Switch can't handle a AAA game they'd want to make. The skeptic in me thinks that they're fine just collecting money doing what they're doing and there isn't a reason to develop great games anymore. They probably release BOTW 2 in conjuction with the Switch 2 and we go through this cycle all over again.

 

[Jovavic]

BotW is a Wii U game, basically, it might look slightly better and move slightly more fluid on a Switch, but not by much.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Fire Emblem Three Houses. That’s all I gotta say.

Also Star Fox is dead, blame SFZ.

 

[Shareefruck]

Yeah totally agree, and I think you and I agreed on this but i didn't find Odyssey to be that fun. The mechanics are finely tuned but the actual game wasn't interesting to me. So when you consider that Nintendo's focus has been centered on Mario games: Paper Mario, Mario Maker 2, Mario 35, and Bowser's fury...it's discouraging as a Switch owner.

Nintendo needs to get out of the kiddie pool with this stuff and start developing some games that are original and fun.

Yep, I agree that Odyssey is overrated and not much better than just a tight and solid effort rather than a legitimately great and timeless one, but if Nintendo was regularly pumping out Odyssey-caliber games and no better, I probably wouldn't have the same complaint-- good enough to be worth mentioning at least.

Personally I'm just waiting to play Disco Elysium Final Cut on Switch, and I like a lot of the 3rd party indie games better than stuff like Breath of the Wild anyways.

Personally, I hope they do more things like Cadence of Hyrule-- let some of those 3rd party Indie developers that share some of their old sensibilities to collaborate on some of their properties (such as a 2d Metroid)

 

[Ryuji Yamazaki]

Bravely 2 comes out next month. Get hype for that.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Definitely agree with you guys. I don't know if some things have just been slowed down because of the pandemic, but Nintendo definitely hasn't really done anything in a while. Kinda surprising when you would think that now they just have one major platform to focus on and they aren't pumping stuff out regularly.

I'm definitely disappointed, I was hoping they would be able to refresh almost all their franchises. I miss the gamecube days when they would pump out an all-time great exclusive every year, along with a handful of other quality Nintendo games.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I'm definitely disappointed, I was hoping they would be able to refresh almost all their franchises. I miss the gamecube days when they would pump out an all-time great exclusive every year, along with a handful of other quality Nintendo games.

They would usually pump out ONE quality game a year back in those days. There's a reason that system didn't sell well.

Seriously, almost every major Nintendo franchise has at least one (and in most cases more) entry on the Switch, including almost the entire Wii U library for those who missed it.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Also Star Fox is dead, blame SFZ.

Why the hell would they go with that control scheme and not make it optional?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Why the hell would they go with that control scheme and not make it optional?

Ask Miyamoto. I don't know the answer.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Why the hell would they go with that control scheme and not make it optional?

Miyamoto has made some terrible decisions with that franchise, which was one of my favorite as a kid.

I don't know if we ever see another Star Fox game again or if it's something that comes back after Miyamoto eventually retires, but I'm not holding my breath on seeing a new one on the Switch...which would be just about the perfect fantastic platform for an actual Star Fox game...

 

[bambamcam4ever]

They would usually pump out ONE quality game a year back in those days. There's a reason that system didn't sell well.

Seriously, almost every major Nintendo franchise has at least one (and in most cases more) entry on the Switch, including almost the entire Wii U library for those who missed it.

The system didn't sell well due to marketing, the lack of a DVD player, and no "mature" 3rd party games like GTA. The Gamecube's exclusives were the best of any system ever. Melee, Metroid Prime 1&2, Resident Evil 4, F-Zero GX, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess are all incredible and better than any Switch game besides Breath of the Wild. GC also had Mario, Mario Kart, Star Fox, Pikmin x2, Pokemon x2, Fire Emblem, and Animal Crossing, from very good to mediocre quality. Re-releasing 7 year old Wii U games doesn't count, otherwise the Wii would have the best library ever.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

The system didn't sell well due to marketing, the lack of a DVD player, and no "mature" 3rd party games like GTA. The Gamecube's exclusives were the best of any system ever. Melee, Metroid Prime 1&2, Resident Evil 4, F-Zero GX, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess are all incredible and better than any Switch game besides Breath of the Wild. GC also had Mario, Mario Kart, Star Fox, Pikmin x2, Pokemon x2, Fire Emblem, and Animal Crossing, from very good to mediocre quality. Re-releasing 7 year old Wii U games doesn't count, otherwise the Wii would have the best library ever.

Most of the games you mentioned (Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart, Melee) are far surpassed by their Switch counterparts, and I say that as someone who likes Double Dash the best. Wind Waker and TP are good games but BOTW beats them out handily. Star Fox for the Gamecube was alright but it still doesn't touch 64. I'm not a Pikmin fan so I've never cared about those games. F-Zero GX is an alright game but its difficulty curve is wayyyy too steep. I know MP1/2 are good games so I'll give you that.

The Mario Party offerings on GCN were dreadfully mediocre, the Tennis game annoyed me (64 is better), and the Mario Golf game was pretty good. The Switch has Splatoon 2 which is fantastic, BOTW and SMO are of course amazing, as is SSBU. Three Houses is easily the best Fire Emblem game. I put hundreds of hours into New Horizons and MK8D... The list goes on.

The Gamecube was fair for its day but other than Metroid most of its offerings are surpassed by the entries on the Switch.

 

[Shareefruck]

That said, Metroid is a pretty big equalizer and a hole in the Switch's library right now. Personally, I would trade in every 1st party Switch release including Breath of the Wild for a single high quality Metroid release.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Most of the games you mentioned (Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart, Melee) are far surpassed by their Switch counterparts, and I say that as someone who likes Double Dash the best. Wind Waker and TP are good games but BOTW beats them out handily. Star Fox for the Gamecube was alright but it still doesn't touch 64. I'm not a Pikmin fan so I've never cared about those games. F-Zero GX is an alright game but its difficulty curve is wayyyy too steep. I know MP1/2 are good games so I'll give you that.

The Mario Party offerings on GCN were dreadfully mediocre, the Tennis game annoyed me (64 is better), and the Mario Golf game was pretty good. The Switch has Splatoon 2 which is fantastic, BOTW and SMO are of course amazing, as is SSBU. Three Houses is easily the best Fire Emblem game. I put hundreds of hours into New Horizons and MK8D... The list goes on.

The Gamecube was fair for its day but other than Metroid most of its offerings are surpassed by the entries on the Switch.

Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree here, but Three Houses is probably the 6th best FE game after 6-10. I agree Smash, Mario, and MK have better switch versions, but Mario Party was best on the 64 and GC, IMO, especially 4-6.

GX is extremely difficult, but is simultaneously the best racing game ever created. I can't accept it being an "alright game."

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree here, but Three Houses is probably the 6th best FE game after 6-10. I agree Smash, Mario, and MK have better switch versions, but Mario Party was best on the 64 and GC, IMO, especially 4-6.

GX is extremely difficult, but is simultaneously the best racing game ever created. I can't accept it being an "alright game."

I hated MP4. It felt so boring. MP5 was better but 4 left such a sour taste in my mouth and left me pining for 2.

 

[HanSolo]

Funny, I thought MP4 was the last good Mario Party.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

The Mario Party games, sometime during the Gamecube cycle, became more and more lazy and half-baked. I remember one of the Gamecube games had orbs you used that screwed over everyone, including the person who used them. Like there was absolutely no gain in using the items. So poorly thought out.

Or some of the mini games were based on 100% luck. One of them was choosing a random coloured rope and hoping for the best, and when you lose a star then it's just like

The Wii one was the last decent one in recent memory.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

The Mario Party games, sometime during the Gamecube cycle, became more and more lazy and half-baked. I remember one of the Gamecube games had orbs you used that screwed over everyone, including the person who used them. Like there was absolutely no gain in using the items. So poorly thought out.

Or some of the mini games were based on 100% luck. One of them was choosing a random coloured rope and hoping for the best, and when you lose a star then it's just like

The Wii one was the last decent one in recent memory.

5 was the game with the orbs, and I eventually learned you were supposed to throw those bad orbs, not use them on yourself. It was always a good laugh
though when I played with someone who hadn't played before, and they would spend 5 coins for the right to have Koopa take 10 more coins away.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Mario Party 7 was one of the very best games in the series.

 

[syz]

There has never been a good Mario Party.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

5 was the game with the orbs, and I eventually learned you were supposed to throw those bad orbs, not use them on yourself. It was always a good laugh
though when I played with someone who hadn't played before, and they would spend 5 coins for the right to have Koopa take 10 more coins away.

There was a game where you threw orbs that landed on certain spots and if you landed on the spots later on, you would get penalized. There was 0 incentive to use the orbs since they penalized everyone equally based on who landed on that spot. I can’t recall which game it was though.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

There has never been a good Mario Party.

Maybe if you don’t have friends to play with.