What are you playing on your Switch?

I haven't picked Bloodstained up again yet, after the game shoved another patch my way when I tried to play it last night. (That bit does sound annoying but I'm a way off from there yet.) I tried out Monster Boy instead. The charming anime-like opening was almost completely spoiled by obvious stutters throughout. Did you get that, Andy? The game proper feels very Shantae-like thus far.

I’ll admit the anime opening is not something I’d have ever paid enough attention to to have noticed

I watched Andy play FFVII in triple speed with infinite health and limit breaks turned on so he could just mash through the game, so that should tell you all you need to know about his attention span in games.

Between two three podcasts a week, trying to watch all of Digimon in a month, hardcore gym attendance and a full-time job . . . I've basically not played games. Maybe a quick Mosnter Hunt or a Smash classic mode in the morning, and of course catching Pokeymans. Gonna try to get back on it this week.

I’ve paid up to Cid like 8 times before Moyles, the god mode will come off soon, the triple speed is less likely...

What is actually the point of FFVII if you're going to skip the story bits?

Over the last few days I've been mostly slicing it up in Cat Quest 2, the game that Monster Hunter Stories' Nyavirou wants to be when he grows up, and dealing with the occult in Digimon Cyber Sleuth. Fair to say that due to the evolution things (Digimon can evolve and devolve into 3-6 options, meaning there are few unique trees; and you basically need to have tried a few different trees to become a Mega I think), I feel much less attached to each Digimon than I did my Pokémon, or even my Yo-Kai or the beasties in MHS. The dog I started off with is now a wasp. Everything else is good, but I do not like that mechanic.

I also fired up Bloodstained and got past the bit where the game crashed last time! It's still really juddery. That said, I can protect myself with a ring of haunted portraits.

Several things I've learned in my slow 20 hours in Xenoblade 2 (6 of which were spent farming gold for Sheba in the first town...).

-Level means too much. Went from being stonewalled by a boss to winning simply by closing my level gap to their level.

-Nia remains best girl

-Tora best Nopon

-Poppi is a sweet cinnamon roll and too precious for this world

-Pyra remains the plankiest of planks of wood. I can't even take home the consolation of fanservice because her outfit is arguably the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on a jrpg protagonist. It's like something out of Kill la Kill, only in that show it was partly satirising the outfits whereas here I'm supposed to take her seriously and not burst out laughing at her outfit every cutscene.

-OST is godtier. A lot of people raved about the first Xenoblade's ost, which was mostly a 7/10 compared to most jrpg's. This one though? Easily 9/10 so far.

-They put a gacha in the game... They know my only weakness!

I've gone back to My Time at Portia which I don't see myself ever playing again once Animal Crossing is here. I think I said this last time but despite its general shoddyness I can't help but enjoy it, it does the important things well, I like the whole crafting aspect and the town itself is quite pleasant to be in.

Hello! It's me!

I, like Athrun, have also started playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but I'm only a few hours in. I never finished the first one because it's so very long (I think I played about 40 hours of it?), and I didn't really get along with XCX (I don't know why, it just... didn't seem to have the charm?). So I'll probably never finish this either. BUT, I traded a bunch of old games in to CeX and got it for £17, so, worth it. Very cutscene heavy so far, though.

I started Plague Knight, finally. There's still some charm to it, but not a big fan of controlling the fella. How long do folks reckon I should stick with it before deciding whether its for me?

Plague Knight's a good lad with an enjoyable tale to tell. I preferred Shovers and it did take me a while to gel with Plague. Using him is a bit like learning to drive, once you master the clutch everything else falls into place. But if it's been 18 months then don't expect miracles

I'm still going through Dragon Quest with the girlfriend at the moment. It's a nice clean game that we play in short bursts. She bought Xenoblade 2 ages ago and I don't think it's had any use yet

I'm supremely ill-equipped to answer that but I want to talk to other people's posts, sorry.

Treesmurf wrote:

I've gone back to My Time at Portia which I don't see myself ever playing again once Animal Crossing is here. I think I said this last time but despite its general shoddyness I can't help but enjoy it, it does the important things well, I like the whole crafting aspect and the town itself is quite pleasant to be in.

The Lady's a big fan of this, and because of the art style is going to continue to play it over ACNH.  Is there not a Rune Factory-esque element of battling that should differentiate it sufficiently from Animal Crossing though?

Rum Rapture wrote:

Hello! It's me!

I, like Athrun, have also started playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but I'm only a few hours in. I never finished the first one because it's so very long (I think I played about 40 hours of it?), and I didn't really get along with XCX (I don't know why, it just... didn't seem to have the charm?). So I'll probably never finish this either. BUT, I traded a bunch of old games in to CeX and got it for £17, so, worth it. Very cutscene heavy so far, though.

Hello Rum!  XCX is unquestionably the weakest of the three, so I wouldn't worry about that.  There are a lot of cut-scenes and unhelpful tutorials early doors.  Stick with it, at least to Gormott, to see if you like it.  It's good!

Athrun888 wrote:

-Nia remains best girl

-Pyra remains the plankiest of planks of wood.  I can't even take home the consolation of fanservice because her outfit is arguably the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on a jrpg protagonist.  It's like something out of Kill la Kill, only in that show it was partly satirising the outfits whereas here I'm supposed to take her seriously and not burst out laughing at her outfit every cutscene.  

-OST is godtier.  A lot of people raved about the first Xenoblade's ost, which was mostly a 7/10 compared to most jrpg's. This one though?  Easily 9/10 so far.

Correct, correct, very correct...

Athrun888 wrote:

-Tora best Nopon

...not so much.  His soundbites really grated on me after a while, and then there's the whole French maid creepy thing... and of course he's no Muimui.


As for me, I'm still watching Digimon Cyber Quest go some weirdly dark places (very strong plot, here); while The Lady plays AI: the Somnium Files in which the MC charges up for a special move when a porn mag is mentioned.  That's one of the less weird things about it.

Muss wrote:

. But if it's been 18 months then don't expect miracles

You're still alive aren't you?

I'll stick with it a little longer. I generally bounce off things that require me to charge attacks- see also some Splatoon weapons and some fighting game characters - because I have never in my life planned an action more than one second in advance of doing it.

Plague Knight opens up really nicely as a character the more you unlock stuff so I think it's worth sticking with a wee bit longer.

I really bounced off Plague Knight, glad to see it's not just me that struggled but I do need to give it another try.

Balladeer wrote:

Treesmurf wrote:

I've gone back to My Time at Portia which I don't see myself ever playing again once Animal Crossing is here. I think I said this last time but despite its general shoddyness I can't help but enjoy it, it does the important things well, I like the whole crafting aspect and the town itself is quite pleasant to be in.

The Lady's a big fan of this, and because of the art style is going to continue to play it over ACNH.  Is there not a Rune Factory-esque element of battling that should differentiate it sufficiently from Animal Crossing though?

There is and there's a story too, to be honest I can see myself wanting to at least see that through so I might have the two on the go at once. I probably just came to that conclusion because my favourite part of it is creating something new for the town but after getting back in to it this week my opinion on it is shooting back up again.

Buskalilly wrote:

Muss wrote:

. But if it's been 18 months then don't expect miracles  

You're still alive aren't you?

Still in the rift mate

X is clearly the best Xenoblade game because it has Lao, and Lao is just the best.

Jokes aside though (that X is best, not joking about Lao being amazing) it's kinda hard to rate the Xenoblade's. The original had a nice escalation in quality until it removed Metal Face, dropped off a cliff, rebounded and was sort of okay until the end. X was okay for most of its duration, spiked to god tier for the final two chapters to end amazingly, then shot itself in the face for its post-credit stinger.

I will defend my dear Tora's honour though! His maid fetish reveal was honestly one of the funniest cutscenes in games I've seen in a while. I would say "who the heck is Muimui?" but he actually just turned up literally in my last session.

Spoiler:

And now that I've finished chapter 3 PROGRESS REPORT:

-Nia best girl still

-This game is the most anime thing to anime. Still deciding whether that's in its favour or not.

-Yay Pyra's

Spoiler:

-Rex and Pyra have to be THE most boring protagonists I've seen in a jrpg. I'm used to protagonists usually being the least interesting characters in the cast in a jrpg, but wow these two are just so boring. Twenty hours in and Rex doesn't even have a basic character arc underway yet, and Pyra is still so aloof that there's nothing about her that makes me care for or sympathise with her. I get that they're obviously keeping things for late in the story, but you've got to give me something so I care game. Something beyond "likes to cook" and "has giant chesticles/buttocks".

-Also while I'm still being critical, villains are seriously one-dimensional right now. Malos seems to be "evil for the sake of being evil" with the information the game's given me right now and I'll be honest with you, those types of villains are the worst. At least when they're played completely straight, Metal Face was great because everything about him was so exaggerated.

-My Tora Subplot Senses are tingling! Please please let this be happening!

-I take back my remarks about Pyra's outfit being the most shameless thing outside of Kill la Kill (which was satirising the idea). The gacha gave me Kora... Just... Yeah. Is this secretly an eroge waifu collector?

Ah yes, welcome to the 'best' part of XC2. You think Kora's bad?  Google Perun, or Dahlia, or indeed pretty much any unlockable Blade.  I quite liked Rex's (English) voice acting, but I think that was just me.  Muimui best character.

I'm playing MbN like any sensible person right now.  Onto case four, and the lovely chirpy ship's captain.  Very sad they didn't give the detective an awful undercover outfit.

It's less the va's that are the issue and just that there doesn't seem to be any story going on with Rex and Pyra. Rex is just doing good things because he's a nice guy so wynaut. The game's barely hinted that he's hoping to reach Elysium for essentially preservation of the entire species, but that motivation has been barely brought up and is downplayed repeatedly and we're told it's more because of Pyra. Which is its own issue because of how gosh dang bland, boring, and enigmatic Pyra is so far.

Compared to the first Xenoblade, where the hook for the journey is established very early on and was a very powerful motivator for Shulk (revenge against Metal Face) it's just lacking that real hook.

That said the va'ing does have issues. But I honestly think it's not the casting but the directing that's the issue. There's moments where every VA sounds fine, and then others where the tone is opposite of what's happening on-screen (like when Nia's fighting and calmly goes "did Jin really say that?" like she was having a chill conversation rather than exchanging blows with a enemy, or most of Blonde Tsundere's first appearance). Telling the VA's what they're supposed to emote is the directors job, and they've all shown they can emote, so it's clearly the director at fault.

Spoiler: that doesn't change. I think Rex is partially redeemed by his voice-over (especially when he's salvaging), and I've said elsewhere that, 'Skye Bennett gives her a subtle, interesting voice... She is Pyra’s redeeming character feature, and pretty much the only one.' Anyway, Nia's great.

Back to Digimon: Cyber Sleuth for me! There are two games in the cart (v. generous), but I think I'll probably give it a rest after the first one. Don't want to get all Digimonned out.

I picked up Towerfall (from the creators of Celeste) after it being one of the stand out games at the recent Glesgames event I was at, thankfully it was on sale too as I don't think I personally would have went for it at full price due to it being a more multiplayer focused game.

Though with that said there is still a decent amount of content to tackle as a solo player with a few modes that are "hidden" under the co-op menu & then there is time trial mode as well.

Towerfall is fantastic, one of the best multiplayer games ever made quite honestly

File Towerfall under the game I own that I haven't really played and most want to.  Sadly it requires the right group of people in a room, which I've had all of exactly once.  It was a blast.  Not happened again.

Even based on that, though, I'd put it up with the Switch's top local multiplayer games.  Trouble is, that's a bloody crowded list!  Any of the Jackboxes, Mario Kart, Smash, Rocket League, Overcookeds...  You know what, I don't think Smash would make my top five.  Towerfall would likely punt it out, just because it's more immediately accessible.

I've actually had some really good sessions on Smash with Matty and Rob. I would like to give Towerfall a go, though, I've heard universally excellent things.

I'm in a bit of a games rut. I bounced off Hotline Miami and Plague Knight after giving both of them a good try. I'm mostly just bouncing between comfort games- collecting moons in Odyssey, filling out my Pokedex or ticking off Monhan quests.

Oh for sure, but I'm imagining they play games a bit more regularly. Smash probably offers a bit more to that crowd, but I get the feel it's a bit too complex for non-gamers to pick up as easily as, say, Mario Kart. Most people drive, so that part's intuitive, allowing them to concentrate on items and drifting.