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Discussion Is 2024 another 2018?

bixente

bixente

Tingle
2018 is kind of regarded as a "black sheep" in the Switch life cycle, especially coming after 2017. I reckon that's unfair as I enjoyed Hollow Knight and Celeste, amongst other brilliant titles.

But I'm comparing the two years for a few reasons -

Light for major Nintendo releases
Indies carrying the flame

And indeed, already this year, the Switch has seen the likes of:

Balatro
Animal Well
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Penny's Big Breakaway
Little Kitty, Big City
Botany Manor
Snufkin
Lil' Guardsman
Pepper Grinder
Berserk Boy

Another comparison to make is in 2018, there were many ports, which was no bad thing, and in 2024, the ports have continued to flow, from Nintendo and third parties alike:

Hitman Blood Money
El Shaddai

Are two very solid entries this year.

I actually reckon this year is underrated Switch wise. Sure there hasn't been a major release like TotK, but I'm so hooked on Balatro I could hardly care, frankly. :p

That's something else this year has in common with 2018 - following on from a tremendously packed year.
 
There's no way to say really until after the June direct, Nintendo could still have a major release or two lines up for the fall. This time last year we didn't know at all about Mario Wonder or Mario RPG, among others.
 
If we get a bunch of Wii U ports like Xenoblade Chronicles X and Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD then yes. Maybe it’s too early to say considering Nintendo likes to reveal games a few months before release. But yeah this has been a very rough first half of the year. It’s late May I think we’ve only had one first party game get above an 80 on MC.

But I still believe the rumors that Fire Emblem 4 is getting a remake and I feel that we should be seeing Metroid Prime 4 in the next direct. So this year has some hope.
 
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I’ve been really happy with Unicorn Overlord. Waiting on an Eiyuden Chronicle patch, but otherwise I’m also looking forward to Trails from Daybreak, SMTV Vengeance, Ys X, R-Type Tactics 1/2 and Fantasy Life.

I’m sure there will be something good at the Direct and continued indie highlights too.
 
If Endless Ocean Luminous is the new Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido (both being terribly overlooked, underrated, and misunderstood games that ended up being among the very best games I would experience in their respective release years), then what could possibly be the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?!
 
As usual with Nintendo, I think it makes sense to reserve judgment until we actually see what their second half is gonna be like

So far though, it does have all the makings of a "hard-carried by indies and 3rd parties" year
 
Tye said:
If Endless Ocean Luminous is the new Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido (both being terribly overlooked, underrated, and misunderstood games that ended up being among the very best games I would experience in their respective release years), then what could possibly be the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?!
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F-Zero The Return of the Falcon
 
It's been pretty meh so far, I've had more fun going through my backlog than most new releases this year. Second half of the year could be more interesting if we do get Metroid Prime 4 and a new Mario Party though.
 
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Maybe for Nintendo but we also have to see how the June direct goes.

In general, this year is honestly pretty beefy and we still haven’t gotten through all the summer shows yet. I’ve been preparing a new TGA prediction topic similar to the one I did for 2023, and it’s honestly been just as tough narrowing it down for 20 choices for the poll.
 
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Tye said:
If Endless Ocean Luminous is the new Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido (both being terribly overlooked, underrated, and misunderstood games that ended up being among the very best games I would experience in their respective release years), then what could possibly be the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?!
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I don't think we're getting another 30 million seller by this point.
 
Quoted by: Tye
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DittoM said:
I don't think we're getting another 30 million seller by this point.
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That’s kind of my point; I can’t see 2024 being another 2018 in that regard, lol. People act like that was a bad year for Switch (but people also largely ignored games like Sushi Striker, too) but it had fucking Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! It was easily one of the best years for Switch in my book!
 
Stop maligning 2018. Smash released in 2018, and for me, that's the year Switch found its groove beyond the initial Nintendo push.
Indies thrived (you don't hear people talking about 2018 indie releases for reasons)
3rd parties found success with unexpected products too (Civ fucking VI on Switch was huge. Console exclusive at the time!)
 
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Tye said:
That’s kind of my point; I can’t see 2024 being another 2018 in that regard, lol. People act like that was a bad year for Switch (but people also largely ignored games like Sushi Striker, too) but it had fucking Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! It was easily one of the best years for Switch in my book!
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Smash was all that year really had though, and it released in December. Other than that we got ports, DLC (which was the other highlight of the year, that year had some great DLC) and some underwhelming first party releases. I think I played my 3DS as much as my Switch that year.
 
Being that 2018 was when Mega Man 11, the last brand-new MM entry, was released?

I wouldn't mind that much becoming true!
 
DittoM said:
Smash was all that year really had though, and it released in December. Other than that we got ports, DLC (which was the other highlight of the year, that year had some great DLC) and some underwhelming first party releases. I think I played my 3DS as much as my Switch that year.
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Can’t say I agree at all, because Kirby Star Allies, Nintendo Labo, Sushi Striker, Mario Tennis Aces, Super Mario Party, and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!/Eevee! weren’t underwhelming to me. Some, like Kirby Star Allies and Sushi Striker, even far exceeded my expectations. Also, Torna – The Golden Country may as well count as a new title rather than “just” DLC given its scope and that it got a standalone physical release. And I personally don’t discount the ports, either—it was great to have Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Switch, and it was especially great to finally have a definitive edition of Hyrule Warriors. Honestly 2018 was probably one of the top years that I played my Switch the most overall.

But even if it truly did only have Smash, it’d still be a good year to me because you can’t really beat a new Smash game, lol.
 
Tye said:
Can’t say I agree at all, because Kirby Star Allies, Nintendo Labo, Sushi Striker, Mario Tennis Aces, Super Mario Party, and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!/Eevee! weren’t underwhelming to me. Some, like Kirby Star Allies and Sushi Striker, even far exceeded my expectations. Also, Torna – The Golden Country may as well count as a new title rather than “just” DLC given its scope and that it got a standalone physical release. And I personally don’t discount the ports, either—it was great to have Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Switch, and it was especially great to finally have a definitive edition of Hyrule Warriors. Honestly 2018 was probably one of the top years that I played my Switch the most overall.

But even if it truly did only have Smash, it’d still be a good year to me because you can’t really beat a new Smash game, lol.
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Glad you enjoyed it. I just didn't have the cash to be dropping $60 on content-starved games like Kirby & Mario Tennis. I picked up Hyrule Warriors, played it for over 100 hours, and spent the rest of the year replaying 2017 games and catching up on 3DS backlog until Smash released.
 
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Nah. I dunno what I'd compare this year to. The first-party output is probably going to be a combination between something like N64 2001 (very slowed down and minimal, but what does release is very good, Paper Mario is there) and the 3DS in 2018ish (more about ports and smaller releases). This is an unprecedentedly good year for indie games I think, which makes it trickier to compare.
 
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I can see the parallel.

I haven't played a single Nintendo game this year, and if 2024 ended right now, indies would make up the majority of my favorite games of the year.
 
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hm, well... if DQIII HD-2D releases this year, then 2024 catapults to one of the best years for me.

(i will continue to bring this up until it happens !!!)
 
If Metroid Prime 4 comes out in 2024, it'll be the next 2003 (Lost Kingdoms II, Wind Waker, Burnout 2, Simpsons Hit & Run, Tony Hawks Undergroundm <ario Party 5, 1080 Avalanche, Kirby's Air Ride, Mario Kart Double Dash)
 
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We need a musou or a MUA4/X-Men Legends new game and a weird but good Pokemon spinoff

All of which is obviously on the table
 
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Nah, 2018 was better than this. This is by far the worst year of the Switch yet. It is only late May though.
 
DittoM said:
Smash was all that year really had though, and it released in December. Other than that we got ports, DLC (which was the other highlight of the year, that year had some great DLC) and some underwhelming first party releases. I think I played my 3DS as much as my Switch that year.
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We also had Octopath Traveller, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom and Valkyria Chronicles 4. 2018 was pretty cool to me.
 
bixente said:
I reckon that's unfair as I enjoyed Hollow Knight and Celeste, amongst other brilliant titles.
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You answered it yourself, 2018 had great games come out. Switch has been delivering the hits since 2017.

Also 2018 is when Smash Ultimate came out, so BAM, it's a great year and I won't hear otherwise.
 
I’m not super down to judge the year as a whole yet especially given the June Direct could flip the whole year on its head on a variety of fronts (I think we’ll get a few cool holiday games and see a new round of Square Enix games in particular), so just as a five month check in then it’s been a weak year so far for me at least from what I’ve played. I’ve only beaten six Switch games so far and the two biggest Nintendo games (Peach and Endless Ocean) I’d find hard to recommend even if I enjoyed them. That said, the other four were all pretty awesome. Under Night In-Birth II remains my Switch GOTY by far as it’s of exceptional quality and super fun. I also dug Splatoon 3 Side Order, Pepper Grinder, and Mario Vs DK a great deal each. If someone out there is missing the Nintendo flavor this year, please don’t skip on those last three in particular.

But while what I’ve played has been a bit relatively sparse for my liking (PS5 especially has been dominating my attention), I have a good pile of shorter games I’ve been picking up this year that I’m excited to get to with Prince of Persia, Another Code, and Animal Well at the top of the pile and one huge game I still have to play as well with Unicorn Overlord. With the Summer currently being slow for big releases for me (Trails Through Daybreak aside), I’m looking forward to playing more Switch games. There’s also some games I’m really looking forward to on Switch including World of Goo 2 (my biggest high priority game dated this year outside of Trails Through Daybreak), Ender Magnolia (which I’m very hyped for), and Blade Chimera.

I’m pretty optimistic this year then will turn out well by the time I’m caught up with stuff and more games come out.
 
Nintendo planning to sell over 13M switchs this year. Im sure they've got a few games ready for the 2nd half of the year, and maybe a price cut too
 
I need to play more 2024 titles and see the June Direct first. Still only completed Prince of Persia from this year (which was great), but Paper Mario is en route and Unicorn Overlord is on the shelf. Animal Well, Lorelei, Side Order to catch up on once I've got more earnings coming in, World of Goo 2 and Ys X at least to look forward to later this year.

For me 2018 was still pretty strong, all told. Smash, Torna, Octopath Traveler and Civ 6 on Switch were all top tier for me. Ys VIII was an excellent intro to the series even if the Switch port left a bit to be desired, and Octo Expansion is brilliant (even if I didn't play it until several years later).
 
rêverie said:
hm, well... if DQIII HD-2D releases this year, then 2024 catapults to one of the best years for me.

(i will continue to bring this up until it happens !!!)
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Thank you for fighting the good fight with me and it WILL happen. Trust.
 
TreIII said:
Being that 2018 was when Mega Man 11, the last brand-new MM entry, was released?

I wouldn't mind that much becoming true!
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LMAO Tell me about it. 2018 was kind of a relatively meh year but ended on a stronger note, I'd do anything for a new Mega Man game right now.

EDIT: actually not too bad of a year when you put more third party stuff into perspective. First party wise was def kind of ehhh for a while for me.
 
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I see what you mean OP, however I don't see 2018/2024 as some sort of "black sheep" year for the Switch. As you said, amazing indies released in both years (and even more to come in 2024) and I actually love that we get to have such years when Nintendo doesn't throw the hugest games that would just take all the focus away.

We've had a lot of major Nintendo games released in 2023 + so much talk about Switch 2 (that I just wanted the damn console to release right away so people - incl myself - would just shut up about it and move on), we're good for now. Let's use 2024 to celebrate indies and 3rd party games, especially with June Direct coming soon and people going back to the Switch 2 obsess.... discussions :p
 
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I was still playing XBC2 for the first half of 2018, loved what Nintendo did with Labo and it ended with Smash Bros. It was a weak year for sure but there was still something to keep me engaged with.
I'm sure there are great indies, but since getting gamepass I usually wait until they're on there now, and my Switch' launch battery is cooked, so the benefit of playing it on the go is also gone. I might have gotten Peach but it seems a bit overpriced and my daughter is still a bit too young. I also don't care for remakes, so this year in Switch has been, well, nonexistent for me.
 
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