What are you playing on your Switch 2: Play Harder

Aye, NSMBUD has Super Luigi U in there too. It's basically both the Wii U games but with Boost Mode removed and a couple of extra characters added in. 

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I decided to get Good Job! with some gold coins. 3D physics-based puzzlers aren't games I've played often, but this wrapped up in a nice and jaunty way. I quite like it so far 

EDIT: Shite for me after spending the money, but it looks like Good Job is the next Switch Online trail:https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/04/good_job_is_the_next_nintendo_switch_online_trial_in_japan

I took a little break from MH Rise to try out a few demos yesterday.

Aerial Knight's Never Yield -

I've never really been a fan of auto runner games but the music and art style of this intrigued me a little after seeing it in the indie showcase & well, the music & art style is the only good thing about it. If the music synced up more to the gameplay it'd be better but it doesn't so I'll not be getting this.


Kung Fu Kickball -

This is basically that Kung foot mini game from Rayman legends but a little more fleshed out with a teleport and special move added to your overall move set, solo play won't be the main draw for this but I can see it being great fun either locally or online which is either 1v1 or 2v2.

EDIT: Here's a wee clip I posted to twitter.

https://twitter.com/Shaolin_Jaster/status/1382379908890910720

That's a shame about Never Yield, but not entirely surprising: anyone who puts their name on the game is probably thinking about style first.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

EDIT: Shite for me after spending the money, but it looks like Good Job is the next Switch Online trail:https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/04/good_job_is_the_next_nintendo_switch_online_trial_in_japan

Have these been coming over to the West? I thought they might be Japan-exclusive.

As mentioned, I've added Inside to my above games. Started it, but it's mostly been Tales of Vesperia for me which I'll save for the Tales thread.

Yes we've had at least one a month for about the last 6 months although the last one was Overcooked 2 which you already have and the one before that was Dead Cells which is a roguelike so you might have glanced past them. I'm not sure we've had the same as what Japan has though, I know they had Captain Toad at one point which we never had, would be quite happy with Good Job next though personally.

That's how I played Captain Toad on Switch, mind.

Ah, fair.  Those two wouldn't even have registered with me.  I might give Good Job a go if so: one of those games that didn't look like it quite had focussed enough gameplay for my tastes.  'Do a wacky thing!'  Great, thanks.

I'd say Good Job's gameplay is pretty focused. You're working towards a set task in each level ('Arrange The Parts', 'Move The Objects', 'Post The Packages', etc), and while there's supposedly infinite ways you can approach these tasks, the levels are small enough that there really isn't. If there's a wackiness, it mostly comes from it's jaunty and upbeat personality, rather than the absurdity of what you're carrying out.

I'm pretty close to finishing it, and 100% recommend everybody tries it for themselves on Switch Online.

Sounds like it's a good thing there's a demo. to disabuse me, then!

Having finished Doggan's Dragmo, I'm now playing Bubble Bobble 4 Friends. But currently without the friends. Is it as little as it looks? I mean it's nice to have the doods back and all, but...

The Miitopia demo has taken over my house today. My kids find it hilarious that mummy can be the dark lord, and they can be in the game, and we could download cool Miis like Dr Robotnik from other players. It's such a fun little game.

Miitopia didn't tempt me at the time and I can't say it's tempting me now, but enough people are saying enough positive stuff about the demo. to make me wonder.  Neil (and anyone else who's played it): would you say it's still good for kidless wonders like m'self?  Is most of it 'ha ha look a funny Mii', or does it have some substance behind the style?

I'm back to casting through my backlog and wishlist with the occasional bit of MHR on the side.

Try it. I think it’s a really charming, laid back game. I appreciate the British localisation a lot. Having Miis I recognise made it more fun for me as well, not just the kids. I haven’t ordered the full game yet but I’m going to. More fun than Pokémon Snap imo.

Hngrrrrrrrrh... British localisation (with an 's') you say? That is sorely tempting. Might have to give the demo. a shot.

It'll be a world away from the last game I played some of: Inside. I can see the quality of it but bloody hell, every time one of those f*cking dogs goes off my heart beats in a way that I don't think is good for me. The rest is just slow horrible tension until I die. I don't think I'll be finishing this one to be honest.

Mind you, the game I played just before that was West of Loathing. Still, that had giant spiders and nuggets of meat in, so was hardly horror-free...

Today I completed Dragon Quest XI (up to the end of what people call Act 2). It's been almost a year and my final time was 61 hours.

As far as I can remember, this is the first JRPG I've ever completed. I tried Ni no Kuni and that other anime one that was on Xbox 360, but I tired of them.

DQ XI is just a solid game that stays entertaining pretty much all the way through. I played on easy (I think) and never had to grind, which is one thing that always puts me off JRPGs. I love that it doesn't take itself too seriously and isn't afraid to be super camp. (I nearly wrote that I liked the diverse cast of characters, but remembered all the heroes are white). The art and music are great too... having heard the synth music on PS4, I'm so glad Switch got a much nicer sounding score.

It's a shame this game wasn't turned into an anime. The actual DQ movie is terrible, but an animated series with the characters from DQXI could be amazing, and not making use of this world in that way seems a waste to me.

Are any other JRPGs on Switch this good, or better?

Oh dear.  We're not very hot on our JRPGs here I'm afraid: I'm one of the bigger fans of the genre and I really disliked what I played of DQXI.  One for Rum maybe?

If you're still interested in my recommendations, my top JRPGs on Switch are:

• Bravely Default 2, which does the 'campy VO and traditional battling' thing of DQXI, but the VO's worse and the battling's much much better;
  
• Steamworld Quest, nothing like DQXI or anything else but it's a sweet little game with good writing and a really nice deck-building battle system;
  
• Tales of Vesperia, goes one step further on the diverse cast front and has a whole one coloured person! Battle system's real-time though, and I changed the VO to Japanese straight from the off;
  
• Ni No Ku... oh;
  
• The two Xenoblade games. Absolutely sublime examples of the genre, very highly critically acclaimed, and a must-play for JRPG fans on Switch, no questions asked. The English VO is also much talked about, mostly positively. Just be aware that the writing, especially in the second one, plays second fiddle to the battle system and the sense of exploration.

Maybe Rum and Jay can provide more tailored JRPG advice! (I've never played Fire Emblem: Three Houses, for example, which everyone seems to love.)

Hmm bit like Balla wasn't overly keen on DQXI and some of the others he recommends such as Xenoblade, I feel is massively overrated because its on Nintendo (Jim post about Spyro).

I'm guessing Tales of Vesperia was the one you played on 360, or might have been Blue Dragon.

I would have said Ni No Kuni as that's great, you have Pokemon of course, retro with Final Fantasy IX, and of course Fire Emblem Three Houses my favourite Switch game.

There's loads more and Switch has sort become great place for RPGs in general.

@masofdas @Balladeer , Why didn't you like DQXI? I was really sold on it by the demo and really liked the combat!

Ni no Kuni was fine except for the way the other party members battled. As far as I remember, you can't control your party members. I got to this one boss and the stupidity of my teammates made it impossible to win (without grinding levels I guess). So I gave up. It was a shame.

It wasn't Tales of Vesperia on Xbox. I just looked it up, it was Eternal Sonata. I can't remember why I got fed up with that one.

Fire Emblem Three Houses looks good. Is that more of a strategy RPG? Is it super text heavy?

Yes very much, and I think so.  I do remember the idiocy of NNK's AI, and occasionally ran into trouble, but managed to get through the game relatively unflustered with maybe one exception (one of the nightmares).  It was the monster frequency in the dungeons that I really struggled to enjoy! Ignore Mas re. the Xenoblades, he's still sore about one scene in the original with a sandwich.


As to why I didn't like DQXI, I think that the DQ series as a whole is stuck in the past.  Nowhere is that more obvious than in the battle system, which I found terribly old-feeling.  From the Brave/Default system to Mario & Luigi's action commands, RPG battling has evolved so much in so many interesting ways, none of which DQXI wants anything to do with.  You'll have your attack-magic-item-run, all of which feel really insubstantial, and you'll bloody like them.

The environments too feel really artificial: DQXI sticks this big interesting-looking world in front of you, with enemies roaming free in a vein that recalled e.g. Xenoblade, and it turns out it's all set-dressing used to hide about five items.  That's my real problem with DQXI: it looks like it's going to be a big cinematic modern RPG experience, then plays like something from the 1990s.  All mouth and no trousers.  (Also I didn't fancy the writing much.  Unless it's Pokémon I am very fed up with silent protagonists.)

I might be stuck in the 90s myself and that’s why I liked it

I did enjoy DQ demo, bought the game, played bit more and got bored as it's old fashioned which is selling point I guess compared to Final Fantasy.

Fire Emblem are Strategy RPGS, so might not be for you. There's also Monster Hunter, if you want more action.

Stuff as well such as Octopath Traveller, lot's of options available basically.

Octopath is another old-fashioned game I didn't care for much!

I think I’m gonna try Ni no Kuni again, so long as I can get it cheap. I watched the trailer and remembered how nice it is.

Good man.  It is a very pretty game.  Hope you can look past the AI this time around!

I don't know what I'm playing any more!  It changes every week, especially the resident point-and-click.  At the moment it's Silence, but it takes itself too seriously, all moody wartorn setting and epic questline.  The jokes aren't landing either, which is a cardinal sin for a point-and-click. I give it... a week. Play The Darkside Detective instead, a genuinely funny game. I'll put a LGYFAYT post up soon.

Where’s the E3 chat? It’s not far off! What are people’s predictions, hopes, and expectations? Should there be a thread?

There probably should. There are a couple of reasons I can think of as to why there probably isn't one already, but I'll save those for the thread.


This week's point-and-click incidentally is Famicom Detective Club, which is actually a visual novel but channels the same 'obscure puzzle solution that requires you to try all the things' energy as your Monkey Islands and the like. I've finished the first adventure and will save my opinions until I finish the second/somebody else cares enough to post in the thread. For now I'll just say I'm liking it more than it probably deserves.

I've also picked up what is possibly a particularly ill-advised game for me... and am actually enjoying my first crack at it. More when I feel confident that I haven't made a huge and glaringly obvious mistake.