StarTopic Nintendo General Discussion |ST18 March 2023| The physical version of ST18 will be available in stores next month

[Brofield]

Well everyone, today is the day! Happy sixth birthday Switch! For the first week of questions I have to ask of you: What were your top 6 indie games you enjoyed on Switch? They could be games that have released elsewhere, but if these were hands you first played on Switch, or games you played elsewhere first but then just clicked when you bought them again on Switch, they count! But, don't just make it a list; at least write a sentence or three about why they were so impactful to you!

I'll present my list:

1. Stardew Valley - I picked it up on sale back in January 2020 a few months before Animal Crossing released, and I certainly didn't expect to get hooked so easily. Over 150 hours in just two months before ACNH, and this game along with Animal Crossing even inspired my girlfriend to get her own Switch!

2. Overcooked! All You Can Eat - A game trial demo sold me on the game almost instantly the day I played it with three friends, and again my girlfriend and I made it our mission to get four star rankings on every level. It's delightful chaos that can make or break friendships, but as long as you're communicating out loud what you're doing/what needs to be done, every level is a breeze

3. Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime - This game is cute as hell; another four player co-op game, it had simple controls but for different ships that made a variety of playstyles and really brought my friends and I together (as long as we were communicating on what we were doing together haha). In some ways it reminded me of a puzzle game, because while it could be challenging, it never felt overwhelming

4. Ori and the Blind Forest - Not just the novelty of being a former Xbox exclusive that came to Switch, but the game itself has some gorgeous visuals and minimal spoken/written story telling that relies on cutscenes, music and ambience. The vibes and aesthetic are unparalleled which makes it difficult to recommend when Moon Studios head management were absolute dicks to their developers

5. The Artful Escape - Annapurna Games are like A24 movies; they're not infallible from stinkers, but I've still yet to play a game/watch a movie from either studio that didn't knock it out of the park. This one is no exception; the colourful adventure and most excellent music from folk Americana to space opera prog rock tell a story of discovering one's identity, a coming of age story, saving your friends, what your legacy will be and just the right amount of character customization you unlock as you go along, it all tickled my brain wonderfully and I'm looking forward to replaying it again soon

6. Bug Fables - It was a game marketed to me and my kind of Paper Mario nostalgia, where combat is king and it's given the respect it should. The characters, dialogue and humour were all top notch, and though a little rough around the edges, it was a game that had lots of charm and one I highly recommend to anyone who has been craving that Paper Mario 64/TTYD itch to be scratched

So those are mine, and a number of honourable mentions go to the likes of Bear and Breakfast, Tinykin, Fast RMX, Stick Fight: The Game, Donut County, Untitled Goose Game, Boomerang Fu, and probably a few more that slip my mind. Let's hear yours!

(Although if I'm being completely honest, #SixForSwitch does look a lot more engaging haha)

 

[Brofield]

Another Friday, another Top 6 list I want to see from you! For the second week of questions I have to ask: What were your top 6 remasters/remakes/upgraded ports of games you enjoyed on Switch? Whether it was your first time or sixth time playing these games, what have been your favourite experiences to revisit specifically on the Switch? But like before, don't just make it a list; at least write a sentence or three about why they were so impactful to you!

I'll present my list (unranked):

Pikmin 3 Deluxe
While I was admittedly hesitant at first to pick this up again (specifically because I remembered the first time I played it on Wii U it was so short), as soon as I started a new save file I was reminded so quickly why I've come to love the series. So much comes together in a perfect little package; charming music, lush greenery and environments, adorable characters and enemies, and a brain teasing challenge. Additionally, the difficulty to reduce the number of Pikmin allowed in the field at once while also offering prologue and epilogue missions for Olimar and Louie have just made it worthwhile, and I was happy to do my part to ensure there was sufficient interest shown for Pikmin 4.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
I was sold alone on the promise of a proper Battle Mode, but BOOSTER COURSE PACK solidified this decision to pick the game up.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
It's really so pretty, and though I enjoyed the game on Wii (while not quite finishing it), I can still appreciate the finer details in improving the character models, as well as the bonus story chapter. One day I'll actually get around to pulling my XC2 game out of the CE box

Portal Collection
I beat the first game on PC, and the second on 360. This came at a perfect time when I was considering going through both again, and wow these puzzles still hold up to this day. You'll scratch your head, aching on how to solve a challenge, but when it all clicks, you feel like the smartest person in the room. I even felt inclined to go back and finish all the challenge rooms like I hadn't before, and the options for Portal 2's multiplayer whether splitscreen, local wireless or online are all fantastic playstyles and do not skimp on options.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Playing this game again is like a time capsule for 2010. The only drawbacks I've had are load times, but the music from 30 Seconds to Mars before Leto became a meme, the righteous DnB of Pendulum's "Watercolour" to get you hyped while driving along the coastline highway at night in the rain, and just the aesthetic of cars from 2010 are cool as hell (and I love making them ugly as sin by picking custom colours and make them as bright neon highliter pink as possible )

Super Monkey Ball
I dunno what it is about this game, it's just fun. I also appreciate that no matter how challenging it gets, the game does offer an easy mode and slow down mode. While it's a shame it doesn't offer online, the multiplayer for 1-4 players is still as fun as it ever was back on the Gamecube when I could only ever rent those games

The only reason Metroid Prime Remastered (and Skyward Sword HD, and Link's Awakening DX) aren't on my list is because I haven't got them yet, but I do hope to fix that in the future! There are a number of other games I'd like to consider like Darksiders, The Witcher 3, L.A. Noire, DOOM, and Alan Wake, but they're all in my backlog and I've yet to give them a go (or at least finish them proper)

 

[Brofield]

Guten Freitag, meine Freunde! Coming at you hot with another Top 6 list I want to see from you! For the third week of questions I have to ask: What were your top 6 big budget, triple AAA games you enjoyed on Switch? Typically it might be first party entries, but there are some third party games that maybe you opted to play on Switch as opposed to PC/Xbox/PS5/Deck and felt well rewarded for your choice, what have been your favourite experiences specifically on the Switch? Once again (now with feeling!), don't just make it a list; offer up a sentence or three about what made them so special!

I'll present my list (unranked):

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
165 hours and a year and a half of my life sunk into this game, and even now it still resonates deeply within me. I think for something as grand a world as the game provides with colourful characters, it is the definition of a sandbox at its core. I mean, the first time someone told you that if you're careful about attacking a wild bear but not killing it, you could "technically" mount it like a horse and ride it around for a little while? Which then inspired you to find out what other beasts you could attempt taming and making the stable owners freak out when you try to register creatures that are most certainly not equine in nature haha (or not exactly 'alive', shoutout the Stalhorses in the Akkala Region)

Super Mario Odyssey
I think what makes it such a fun romp is a combination of being able to explore at your own pace, while the game scales its challenge accordingly with just as serious as you want to play the game. I was never any good at balloon challenges, but I did appreciate watching others do an amazing job hiding or finding them and truly showing off Mario's athletic capabilities hopping from wall to ledge to wall to wall to ledge to backflip to capture to high jump to dive and swim under a canal to a hidden cave.

Monster Hunter: Rise
Bahbahbah BAHH, buhBAH bahbah BAHHHHH is just such a great intro into a vast world that is just as intimidating as you are as a hunter. Not to mention, wirebug as a traversal mechanic? WAY influential (and later this love would translate easily to Halo Infinite), but damn it's just as fun making it your own challenge on how high you can fly into the air with your wirebugs to zip in the sky to your target before engaging in combat. Also the first Monster Hunter game where I never quite hit that skill wall where I bounced off MH3 Tri and MH4 as early; and this is all before I've even gotten around to buying the DLC, too!

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate
I think this game is as good a reason as any why anyone who's a fan will never consider trading in their Switch console so long as they have a method to return to playing this game. This is as big as the series will ever get, and though I've gotten my fill in terms of single player, getting to play with others is always an experience of just overstimulating colours and explosions and absolute hilarity in shenanigans when you don't take the game seriously.

Metroid Dread
This is only the second Metroid game I've actually beaten (the first being Metroid Prime 3: Corruption), but wow this is just as good a reason to encourage people to jump into the series now. It's such a tight experience that I didn't even mind it took me ten hours to clear, because I understand the itch like never before of wanting to persist to clear this game as fast as possible. Taking the time I did though to explore and finding the missile and health upgrades also never felt so addicting, and now with the chance to play all the other 2D Metroid games, I feel excited getting to understand what made the games so beloved in the first place.

Luigi's Mansion 3
It's a Pixar movie turned into a game. The cutscenes are stunning and the game in action is a graphical showcase, and not just for a Switch game. So many lighting and cast shadows can draw you to it as a technical marvel, but what about the actual game itself? I'll identify as a purist and say the first game still remains my favourite for actually having a spooky element to it and the overall designs of the spirits, but this game captures a blend of what made the original so popular, what worked well in Dark Moon to provide more environments to explore, and then its own original ideas by fleshing out characters further, Gooigi, and new methods of exploring the levels. I actually have to go back sometime and play more of Scarescraper, and also I never remembered to go back and check out the movie director ghost to see what his final product ended up being

Anyways, those are my top 6! Can't wait to hear yours! Haben Sie einen super Wochenende und ein schön Bayonetta Origins Tag!

 

[Brofield]

Good day, everyone! I'm back from travels to my first Springsteen concert this year that prevented me from announcing the Week 4 question I have for everyone, but the wait is no more! This week, I'd like to pose this topic of discussion for you all: What are your top 5 most anticipated games coming to Switch? Why top 5 instead of top 6? We're ranking games from #2 to #6. I dunno where you think you are, but if you have a game that you're more excited for than Zelda: TotK, I would genuinely love to hear it but lord you best be ready for a dogpilin'. ANYWAYS, share a sentence or two of why you're excited for a game that's confirmed coming soon or a third party title you believe will be coming to Switch before long!

#2 - Pikmin 4
Oh man this has been a long time coming, and I can't believe that we're also getting a release less than four months away! The trailers already look gorgeous, I know the music will be sublime, and I can't wait for how gorgeous this will look when developed for an HD console from the start (and hopefully rendered at 1080p rather than P3D's 720p)

#3 - Advance Wars 1+2: Re Boot Camp
I never did pick up these games back on GBA back in the day, and while I still don't know what to expect I know that they are beloved for a reason. Hell, I could be tricked into believing that if this series can eventually crawl back from the dead, maybe there's hope for Custom Robo yet

#4 - Metroid Prime 4
Do we know nothing beyond a title card? Correct. At least there is one known constant: it will certainly come to base Switch regardless of any new potential hardware. That'd be stupid as hell to have announced it for Switch in 2017, let people buy the console in anticipation of the title, and 6-7 years later turn around and say "haha jk it's not coming to the console you bought it for"

#5 - Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
Gamecube nostalgia is all I need to be hyped for this release; this was my first foray into the Harvest Moon Story of Seasons franchise and it's stuck with me since. Don't get me wrong, Stardew Valley is the golden child of farming sims and has earned every award it's received, but if I can be completely honest? The way AWL handles the passage of time to give you an emotional gut punch as your in-game child ages, your neighbours grow up around you, and your spouse in game turns as grey as you...tell me why was I bawling my eyes out as if I lived this grand old life when the credits rolled when I was like 14 years old. That game had no reason making me as emotional as it did. Can't wait for it to do it again.

#6 - Halo: Master Chief Collection
JUST LET ME BELIEVE, DAMMIT.

I hope y'all enjoyed these weekly questions, and though it's only a few days before we have @Josh5890 take the lead for ST19, I do have one more question in just two days time which will also have not one but two $5 eShop gift cards to raffle off (note to mods: I can do that as OP, right?). One card will be for US residents (as the code I have was won from an Era contest that when I attempted to cash it in, told me I was ineligible to redeem Also I really hope they don't expire if not used after three years lmao), and the other will be a $5 Canadian eShop card will be because I like my fellow Canadians on this board and I can easily get one from any SDM or Best Buy or Costco or whatever. To those in South America/UK/Europe/Asia/Australia...please understand

 

[Brofield]

Good day everyone!

We have approximately 36 hours left until our time together with me steering this madhouse comes to an end, but I just want to thank you all for taking the time to shitpost and rockaway the days with me here in this little corner of the internet. We’ve laughed, cried, vented, and shared about neat things we see and what’s in our lives. It’s been a pleasure getting to spend time with you all as your captain.

However, while I’m captain I’m taking these last few hours to do the opposite of gatekeeping: forcing everyone to like what I like! Hooray! What fun! I know you’re all cheering behind your screens, and to thank you for your excitement I’m gonna raffle not one, but TWO eShop $5 gift cards! One is for the US eShop, and the other is for the Canada eShop. To the rest of the world, I can only offer eternal love and gratitude if you do share a response; it’s only because I won a US gift card three years ago I can’t use myself and a Canadian card I can acquire easily

Spoiler: This is your week 5 thread question, for all the marbles

What is your favourite Bruce Springsteen song, and why?

It can be an original by the Boss himself, or his music being covered by another artist (Bastille, Mary J Blige/Kendrick Lamar, David Bowie, The Hold Steady, Juanes, Neil Young, Eric Church, Sting, etc.), or Bruce covering another artist (The Beatles, Prince, Lorde, AC/DC, Bee Gees, etc.), or even performing with another artist (The Killers, Dropkick Murphys, Bleachers, Tom Morello, Bob Seger, Paul McCartney, The Gaslight Anthem, etc.). It can be a studio version on an official album release, a demo/outtake, a live performance, a remix. If you got a memory of this song, or the lyrics speak to you in some way (or they're goofy enough they make you laugh), or typing in your favourite artist and finding out they covered Springsteen at some point and you enjoy it, that all counts! Throw in a link to the YouTube video/Spotify where you found your performance as well so I can also enjoy it with fresh ears and put myself in your shoes!

HOW TO ENTER: Quote this post, and at the top let me know before your answer which raffle you’re entering whether it’s the US or Canada eShop gift card. I’ll keep track in a separate document, and anyone here can enter so long as you can still post in this thread(/you can redeem the gift card ). I’ll do a draw after and let y’all know who wins in ST19 and send codes via DM!

Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive,
-Brofield