Nintendo Switch: Thread 2: The Drift

[falafel]

I think TOTK is better ultimately, but you should definitely play BOTW first.

Most people do but you're all cunts

[Consignia]

Most people do but you're all cunts

Got us bang to rights.

[Kelvin]

Isn't some of the post-game (ie past a certain milestone) stuff meant to be a bit more challenging?  That's what I heard anyway.

A few modes are a bit harder, yes. And you can obviously aim for gold medals in certain challenges, too. But the main game is just too low stakes now. Because enemies don't respawn, the levels literally get easier the longer you play, and on top of the other difficulty tweaks I mentioned upthread, they've also added a rewind function and a colossal number of items and upgrades that make you near unstoppable.

In isolation these changes wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily, but cumulatively they strip out any sense of threat or tension whatsoever.

[stranger]

I absolutely adore Pikmin - always have!

As I just play as a single-player (no kids, no friends, no nothing) I wasn't aware about how good the co-op mode was and from what you said, I'm going to have to change my recommendation to 3!

Yeah I am really enjoying Pikmin 4, it's a real joy to play and it looks stunning. The only disappointment for me so far is the co-op mode. In Pikmin 3, it's split screen, each player controls a captain and an army of pikmin and it's so much fun fighting enemies, bashing through walls and building bridges together. In 4, the co-op mode is basically the second player aiming a target at the enemies and firing rocks at them, which just isn't the same.

I'm hoping the standalone Dandori battles in 4 are a better 2-player experience but I've not played those yet.

[Utter Shit]

A pleasure! That's adorable about the drawings andnd totally understand about present parity with siblings!

There's been some good advice and hopefully the following will be useful too. The games you mentioned are great picks. re: BOTW vs TOTK - I'm in two minds about this as feel there are good arguments for both sides. If you - I mean, your lad - want to play both then I would say BOTW first as although you don't need to play it before TOTK, the latter is a sequel and think someone will get more out of it by playing the first game.

Deku Deals is a website that I would recommend as it shows when games are on sale (both digitally and physically), shows price history (which flags when something is on sale whether it matches the previous lowest price etc.) and you can set up alerts for particular games... I think it's just great.

If you're planning to buy digitally, it's worth keeping an eye on NintedoLife. It's a news site but they have a digital store and at times (such as approaching Christmas) they have discounts on eShop vouchers. I think the last time it was 5%, but in the past, it's been 10%. CDKeys also sells discounted eShop vouchers; the level of discount varies and stock availability varies.

The Nintendo Online Service is worth considering at some point - https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-Switch-Online/Benefits/Benefits-2060569.html. This is needed for any online play, provides cloud saves and you're able to access a libarary of Gameboy, NES and Super NES games. This is also available available with an 'expansion pack' - which gives additional content for Mario Kart 8 (you can also purchase this on its own), Animal Crossing and a library of Sega Mega Drive, Gameboy Advance and N64 games. It's priced £18 and £35 per year respectively.

With games and accessories:

Physical accessories

Micro SD card - at least 128GB but larger is good.! The internal storage is small and having a decent size card will help with downloads and save files. It is a faff upgrading to a higher capacity card - you'll thank me for flagging this.

Screen protector - personally, I always go with one of these.... Accidents will happen (but in my experience, more so with unprotected screens).

Carry case - lots of options. I would tend to go with one of the better brands like Hori.

Controllers - some good advice already; the Pro contoller is great; Nintendo so another wireless one, which I think is meant to be pretty good but the street price difference is pretty negligible. Hori and Power A do some very good wired ones with great designs, which are well-priced and well-made. There are a lot of cheap options out there, but I really would recommend sticking to the better brands. There are a lot of 'best Switch controller' articles out there - generally speaking, the same ones are featured and with good reasons.

If you do get Mario Kart, there are small wheel-shaped accessories that the joycons fit into and you use it like a steering wheel. Although some may carp about such things as being rubbish, they are rather fun and one of my friends, can't use anything else!

Games:

Mario games - you've had good advice about this and for a platformer, go with one of the 3D ones as you're getting Wonder.

Mario Kart 8 - just a lovely racing game, especially when playing with others.

Mario Party Superstars - the MP games are essentially a boardgame with minigames; you can play with others (the best way), against the computer or a mixture of both. Very fun to play - there is another MP game for the Switch, but the Superstars one would be the one to go with and is generally reckoned to be the best (or one of them) in the series.

Animal Crossing - life on an island living with animal chums; absolute charming, with lots to do but no pressure to do it! It's great to dip in and out off and in terms of value for money, it's got to be up them... basically, it only ends when you want it to/had enough. This was one that I recommended to a couple of friends, who were wary about getting their four boys a console - I was a little exasperated when I heard they kept replaying the first bit and were getting frustrated with it; basically, there's a long intro - maybe 20 minutes - before you can save for the first time, which they weren't getting to. However, when I recently visited them, the mum commented that out of all their games, this was the one they played the most.

Trombone Champ - recently ported to the Switch; quite cheap.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - first 3D game in the Kirby series; I really like the series and just loved it. The Kirby games don't tend to be very difficult so rather good for kids... oh, who am I kidding, I like them because I'm able to complete them.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - Mario offshoot, a cleaver puzzle game.

Zelda: Link's Awakening - new version of a classic.

Pikmin 4 - love the Pikmin series; this one is the most accessible and would say better for younger players.

Luigi's Mansion 3 - ghost-busting with Luigi!

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga - most of the Lego games are very solid, this one is particularly good. City Adventures (ported from the Wii U) is also very good. There can be some very cheap deals on Lego games.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics - a collection of card games, board games and other games to play with others. The 3DS version was my go-to game for long plane journeys and this version is fab. You can play against computer opponents, but it really shines with local muliplayer.

Amazing, cheers - I was aware of most of the Mario games but beyond that I didn't really know any of those! He's a massive Lego fan and has played a few of the Lego games before but wasn't that interested, but there's one (I think new?) where the design is entirely Lego, rather than a mix of Lego and realistic-ish graphics that I think he might enjoy.

Are there many good grown-up games? I suppose the limited spec lends itself to cartoony graphics rather than ultra-realistic stuff, but I saw that the old GTAs are on there.

[Jerzy Bondov]

The Switch is a total beast for classic FPS games. Doom 1 and 2 are there with loads of community expansions, plus Doom 64 and Doom 3. Quake and Quake II, again both with new levels. Oh and Powerslave Exhumed! And Duke 3D! Naturally these are all available on PC but it's very nice having them lined up on your Switch

[Pink Gregory]

the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remasters, maybe?  I would give the nod to OlliOlli for something that's not a remaster in that direction, personally.

[Pink Gregory]

only have to assume that Lego Worlds is one of those Roblox things where it's one of the most popular things in the world amongst kids and I know the sum of fud all about it

[madhair60]

groove coaster wai wai party + hololive DLC

[Thursday]

Most people do but you're all cunts

Can't believe you've said this to me mate. I thought we got on alright. Crying all day about this.

[madhair60]

Super Mario RPG remake is pure serotonin

maybe a bit too frictionless. but the original was never difficult anyway. I love how they've kept all the weirdness from the original script.

[Magnum Valentino]

Here.

Is the remake of Links Awakening good? I remember some talk of it being a bit stuttery or something when it was released, was that fixed?

[madhair60]

it's still stuttery when you transition between areas. I love the original game too much to be objective about the remake otherwise

[thelittlemango]

I'm not bothered about stuttery bits and framerate so I loved the remake, how it looks and feels and how great the core game is regardless.

[Memorex MP3]

Isn't the co-op in pikmin 3 just fairly bolted onto what was originally a single player experience on Wii U?

Not knocking it, I love the co-op, but it's a bit bizarre they didn't follow through on it better with 4 considering

[Kelvin]

Link's Awakening is a great game, but the stuttering between screens is a minor, but cumulative irritation, like being very lightly poked in the cheek every twenty seconds for ten hours. The game looks great though, and the soundtrack is even more impressive; beautiful and often unsettling takes on the original's music. It even mixes gameboy sounds into the instrumentation for some dungeons. 

[Kelvin]

In contrast to my post above...

Mario RPG is shite. Needs far more of a visual upgrade, especially the animations. Easy, repetitive, incredibly boring. Most I've disliked a game all year.

EDIT: This was hyperbolic. It's not shite, its just very underwhelming after all the hype. It's nice seeing so many weird and original character/enemy designs in a Mario game, and it does have some charm. I just find it really repetitive and in need of a much bigger visual overhaul. 

[madhair60]

some day, we may agree on something.

[Kelvin]

some day, we may agree on something.

I could probably save a lot of time if only you talked about each game and the other posters just reversed it for my opinion. Maybe we could alternate every month, give everyone some time back. :) 

[Ferris]

I'm going to a friends house tomorrow - he's housebound cos of a recent ACL surgery so we're taking turns going round with beers and our switches to cheer him up and get slightly pissed/stoned.

My last shift was Mario kart and super Mario world, which to be fair was MEGA. What else should we be doing? Smash/melee might be too antagonistic (he's on a lot of painkillers and needs the uplift right now). Someone recommended For The King but frankly we'll be too blootered to sort that.

I'm not arsed and happy to repeat those two games but I reckon he'd appreciate a new game and I don't mind spending the money on something fun and not too intense. Any ideas?

[Kelvin]

I'm going to a friends house tomorrow - he's housebound cos of a recent ACL surgery so we're taking turns going round with beers and our switches to cheer him up and get slightly pissed/stoned.

My last shift was Mario kart and super Mario world, which to be fair was MEGA. What else should we be doing? Smash/melee might be too antagonistic (he's on a lot of painkillers and needs the uplift right now). Someone recommended For The King but frankly we'll be too blootered to sort that.

I'm not arsed and happy to repeat those two games but I reckon he'd appreciate a new game and I don't mind spending the money on something fun and not too intense. Any ideas?

Streets of Rage 2 on mega drive (switch online)
Streets of Rage 4 (lots of difficulty options)
Turtles: Shredders Revenge (very easy)
Metal Slug?
Stick Fight the game might be a bit intense, but its simpler (and cheaper) than Smash Bros. Lots of fun for 20 minutes.
Mario Party Superstars
Super Mario 3D World is the best co-op Mario game
Worms WMD

And you have retro games like Mario 3 and the Donkey Kong Country games where you have the same "swap-out" multiplayer options as Mario World

[Jerzy Bondov]

The answer to your question is Nidhogg

[Kelvin]

The answer to your question is Nidhogg

I did consider that as well, but (like Stick Fight: The Game, tbh) it might be a bit intense if a game like Smash Bros is also too much. All three are very fast moving and reliant on quick reactions.

[The F Bomb]

If I'm reading correctly between the lines and your friend is effectively on his deathbed, try the Cave bullet hell Dodonpachi Resurrection which will either revitalise the crock or send him to a dopamine grave.

[madhair60]

Luigi's Mansion 3 is a lot of fun on co-op, with player 2 operating by rules different enough that it is actually about true co-operation.

edit: oh sorry misread i thought it was just the two of you.

[Ferris]

Ended up playing Heave Ho which was silly fun, 80 Days which I thought was a huge miss until passing the controller and letting it play out and it ended up being the slow burn winner of "fave game", and Mario karts (obv).

Great time. Really appreciate the suggestions though, there are a few here that'll likely make an appearance next time round.

[Critcho]

The Switch is a total beast for classic FPS games. Doom 1 and 2 are there with loads of community expansions, plus Doom 64 and Doom 3. Quake and Quake II, again both with new levels. Oh and Powerslave Exhumed! And Duke 3D! Naturally these are all available on PC but it's very nice having them lined up on your Switch

I second this, I played through Doom 1 recently on the Switch lite and what with the gyro aiming it's a perfect for the machine. Each level takes you like 10-15 minutes so it's perfect for a quick blast on the go.

And yes there are so many free add on packs that the £2 or so you're likely to spend on it (at least when it's on sale) feels quite absurdly generous even for a 30 year old game. A new episode by Romero himself was added just a couple of months ago!