What are you playing on your Switch?

I want to say that one of the early Final Fantasy games had a similar option, but I could be making that up and getting confused with another game.

I started a couple of Rhythm based games last night, the first is Crypt of the Necrodancer which I thought I better try to see if I wanted Cadence of Hyrule when its released. Early impressions say that I think I will want the sequel/spin off, it's a novel concept gameplay wise but I've struggled a bit so far to keep with the beat, I can see that being less of an issue with music I know so well. I feel the rougelike elements suit the game well so I'm looking forward to improving my gear so I can get together some better runs, I've been slowly improving each time.

The second game is Just Shapes and Beats which is my preference of the two. Played through the first section of the story mode and its thrilling stuff. You play a shape (natch) that has to avoid a load of other shapes that attack/move/pulse to the beat (double natch). Aside from moving with the analogue stick you can phase through shapes with the A button, simple but play yet gets hectic when the beat really gets going. It's all been very high tempo so far but in the downtime the transition into a toned down beat with a more simple scene makes for a nice little change that stops it all being too much, like the calm before the storm.

Would recommend both so far although it's early days of course so they could take a turn for the worst.

Right, I think that settles it.  Once I've got through/got fed up with SWDQ, and if there are no other new games out by then that I want, and if no other games on my wishlist are on sale at impulse buy levels (I know, lots of ifs), I'm going to pick up JSaB as my next Switch game.  It's been on my list for ages and Smurf's little write-up has pushed me right to the edge.

Update on Just Shapes and Beats as I've continued with that, still great fun but pretty tough in places, there's also a multiplayer mode which is just the same levels but with 3 other players on screen, can get very confusing but nice to play along with others.

I'm also playing through My Time at Portia, I had my eye on it a while back and then hearing talk about it on The Computer Game Show sealed the deal. It's no secret it doesn't run all that well on Switch but I'm still finding myself returning to it, it's by no means exceptional but it ticks all the right boxes and its very easy to spend hours and hours on it. I hear there's an update on the way to fix the loading times and all that though so maybe wait for that if you're interested. Starting to think I have a thing for these crafting type games.

Finally I returned to Celeste over the weekend and its just as brilliant as I remember, I've now completed 3 B-sides and unlocked all other ones so gonna carry on with them.

I started playing Cuphead a couple days ago and I'm massively impressed by it so far.

The difficulty definitely might put some folk off but for me the run 'n gun levels seem to balance that out by being quite short and any deaths that happened only made me want to have one more go at them, I can see bosses being the most annoying aspect going forward but even then the world map seems to allow you to tackle it in any way you want so I've never felt stuck yet.

I remain worried about Cuphead's difficulty, and I'm going to find it harder than Jas 'Soulsfan' Ter... that didn't work at all did it. Anyway I'd appreciate more updates from you and others on that!

Treesmurf wrote:

Update on Just Shapes and Beats as I've continued with that, still great fun but pretty tough in places, there's also a multiplayer mode which is just the same levels but with 3 other players on screen, can get very confusing but nice to play along with others.

...

Finally I returned to Celeste over the weekend and its just as brilliant as I remember, I've now completed 3 B-sides and unlocked all other ones so gonna carry on with them.

Good man! I'm always up for seeing more people talking about Celeste. JSaB has, however, been replaced by Wandersong (which was on sale) as my next title.

The_Jaster wrote:

I started playing Cuphead a couple days ago and I'm massively impressed by it so far.

The difficulty definitely might put some folk off but for me the run 'n gun levels seem to balance that out by being quite short and any deaths that happened only made me want to have one more go at them, I can see bosses being the most annoying aspect going forward but even then the world map seems to allow you to tackle it in any way you want so I've never felt stuck yet.

Yeah, I really ought to give Cuphead a go. I'm 90% certain I'm going to love it, knowing my taste in games.

Balladeer wrote:

I remain worried about Cuphead's difficulty, and I'm going to find it harder than Jas 'Soulsfan' Ter... that didn't work at all did it. Anyway I'd appreciate more updates from you and others on that!

Treesmurf wrote:

Update on Just Shapes and Beats as I've continued with that, still great fun but pretty tough in places, there's also a multiplayer mode which is just the same levels but with 3 other players on screen, can get very confusing but nice to play along with others.

...

Finally I returned to Celeste over the weekend and its just as brilliant as I remember, I've now completed 3 B-sides and unlocked all other ones so gonna carry on with them.

Good man!  I'm always up for seeing more people talking about Celeste. JSaB has, however, been replaced by Wandersong (which was on sale) as my next title.  

If you can get on with Celeste I dont see why you couldn't get on with Cuphead, the controls and level design are top notch not to mention the music and visuals are so damn good as well.

Loads of FIFA, funnily enough. I fancied a go before watching the football the other day, then me and Joe played loads of multiplayer on the train and gave ourselves bad necks.

As long as you didn't play it for hours and hours to try and get the golden stadium parts.

The_Jaster wrote:

If you can get on with Celeste I dont see why you couldn't get on with Cuphead, the controls and level design are top notch not to mention the music and visuals are so damn good as well.

I know, and I have played and enjoyed some other hard games as well (the recent DKCs spring to mind)... Maybe I just need to dive in. Ah well, Wandersong and its very easy gameplay are my current game: maybe after that I'll be up for a tougher one!

Okami can be great fun but good god it feels like a marathon to play. The overall structure of multiple apparent endings certainly contributes, but it's the constantly slowed pace from dialogue that really does it.

Worth it for the general zeldaing, but it's definitely one of the most exhausting good games I've played.

Balladeer wrote:

As long as you didn't play it for hours and hours to try and get the golden stadium parts.

Funnily enough, I have been working my way through the 200cc staff ghosts slowly this year

I'm also playing Hyper Light Drifter but I didn't play for a couple of weeks and I've forgotten where everything is. I've mostly been playing Smash and Pokemon with Shen. She also played through Gorogoa a couple of nights back, and had a pop at Gris but it didn't land for her any more than it did me.

I've been playing Saints Row 3, where I haven't really experienced any of the downfalls people keep saying, (apart from the once off audio out of sync)

I was super surprised when I saw that crop up on the eShop, but if I ever see it properly cheap I wouldn't mind a bash. I've actually never played a Saints Row. How's it aged?

It's aged well, I played it back in the day on the PS3 and it's still as fun as it was back then.

There have been a few porting issues which a few people have said about with the game freezing and all sorts to which I never had any issues with, my only thing is was the audio until it got patched up.

It's also better to play in Handheld so I've heard (which I do all the time anyway)

Drunka wrote:

I'm also playing Hyper Light Drifter but I didn't play for a couple of weeks and I've forgotten where everything is. I've mostly been playing Smash and Pokemon with Shen. She also played through Gorogoa a couple of nights back, and had a pop at Gris but it didn't land for her any more than it did me.

Just follow the direction of the wee squares that haven't been highlighted yet.

Yeah that's pretty much all I was doing anyway. So far, I like it but I don't love it. Hopefully with a little more time in the world I'll feel like I know my way around and it makes sense.

I've been playing two games on Switch (well, three if you count me never-ending love for Smash) - Bury me, my love and Reigns: Game of Thrones.

Both are quite clearly best played on mobile devices as opposed to the Switch - Reigns relies on swiping left or right like Westerosi Tinder and Bury me, my love uses a fake WhatsApp interface and there's a lot of empty screen space on Switch as a result of the game trying to emulate a phone screen. It also seemingly loses a pretty unique element from the mobile release in that you have to wait for periods of time for the person you're messaging in the game to respond, to which the game gives you a notification. That element is missing on Switch, natch.

Naff screen size aside, I'd actually recommend Bury me, my love from what I've played so far. It's basically an interactive text adventure/visual novel, but the focus on Syrian migration from the perspective of the migrants themselves and I believe the developers used real life accounts from migrants to write their story. It's worth a look, I'd say, especially if you're interested in seeing a portrayal of the struggles of fleeing your country and relocating somewhere totally alien to you. The writing seems good thus far, which is the main draw of a visual novel essentially.

Reigns... ehhh, it's not as easy a recommendation. The game revolves around being presented various situations as the King or Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and how you react to said situation will weaken or strengthen one of four variables (military power, goodwill with the faith, goodwill with the people, wealth) and it's essentially a juggling act as growing too strong or weak in any of these variables results in a game over. But, some cards will open a new story strain or unlock a new character to act as King or Queen. There's an initial thrill in seeing all your favourites from GoT turn up and get involved in shenanigans, but it soon devolves into random chance. It's a timewaster, if nothing else, but that's again why it's likely a better fit on mobile as it's much easier to fire up an app on your phone as opposed to booting up a game on Switch.

I'm interested in both, but in both cases I think I'll wait until my phone is fixed. And with Reigns, I'm fairly sure I'll enjoy the non-thrones version more. It will be able to surprise me with the writing and stuff.

There's some neat moments in the Thrones version - Arya's path opens with her killing Cersei and then wearing her face to pose as queen, which was cool. Perhaps not being restricted by the Westeros setting and characters would help the developers pen a more unique story, though.

Drunkalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

As long as you didn't play it for hours and hours to try and get the golden stadium parts.

Funnily enough, I have been working my way through the 200cc staff ghosts slowly this year

MonHun 200cc sleep: pick two.

Bury me sounds interesting but simultaneously too upsetting for me to play. I'd be interested in reading more about your playthrough though Jay.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I'm interested in both, but in both cases I think I'll wait until my phone is fixed. And with Reigns, I'm fairly sure I'll enjoy the non-thrones version more. It will be able to surprise me with the writing and stuff.

Probably your least preferred option but for what it's worth if you've still got the same laptop, then you're still on my share list so you should still be able to access my steam library. If so you can play my copy.

Balladeer wrote:

Bury me sounds interesting but simultaneously too upsetting for me to play.  I'd be interested in reading more about your playthrough though Jay.

I'll let you know - it's not been upsetting as such as of yet (grim would be a better choice of description, I'd say) but I'm concerned that it might end up that way by the story's end.

Muss wrote:

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Probably your least preferred option but for what it's worth if you've still got the same laptop, then you're still on my share list so you should still be able to access my steam library. If so you can play my copy.

Oooh tempting! I actually left my decent laptop in the UK and picked up a cheap one from cex for Japan but I'm hoping my parents will bring the other one eventually.

https://twitter.com/orangerakoonps4/status/1133075549109202944

Balla pls judge me