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Discussion Which "half" of the Switch's library do you prefer?

Which set of games do you prefer?

  • 2017 - 2020 was quite choice

    Votes: 82 64.1%

  • 2021 - 20XX is indeed fire

    Votes: 46 35.9%
  • Total voters
    128
I’m still in the tutorial for Zelda so that’s not factoring in yet, but seeing the lists laid out I think the second half narrowly takes it for me. Metroid Dread, the stronger Xenoblades and Kirbys, and the amazing Pokemon games are big pillars here and Prime 4 and Pikmin 4 are still on the way. You snuck in a few third party games on the lists and stuff like Neo The World Ends With You and Trails From Zero and Trails To Azure push the back half up for me hard. Not on your list is the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Boost Course Pass which has been absolutely huge for me for this past year plus. The relative absence of Mario outside of 3D World and Bowser’s Fury is a bummer for the back half, but having online play for 3D World was huge.

While I do prefer the second half, my favorite Switch game Super Smash Bros Ultimate was in the first half. Though DLC ended in the back half so I’ll just say it belongs to both halves lol.
 
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Like others, I disagree with this specific delineation. However, I'm inclined to make it less fair: "Phase 2" of Nintendo Switch began with the release of Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain. It's not a perfect starting point I'm sure, but I see this as the beginning of the first party lineup from Phase 1 receiving iterations, directly or subtly.

Big Brain Academy (December 2021) succeeds Brain Training, for obvious reasons. In addition to being similar in core concept both were co-developed by indieszero.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass (March 2022) restarted Mario Kart and functionally serves as the Phase 2 iteration.

Splatoon 3 (September 2022) and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (July 2022) are obvious, as is Tears of the Kingdom (May 2023).

The ports in Phase 1 are interesting in that many have, are confirmed to be, or are likely to be succeeded by new games. Bayonetta 3 (October 2022) and Pikmin 4 (July 2023) are real, and I think we are likely to see 2D Donkey Kong and 2D Super Mario Bros. platformers.

The reverse may also end up being true. Paper Mario: The Origami King may be paralleled by a port or remake of a prior game. Also, I'm still praying for a classic Animal Crossing port.

There's also the potential for at least one port-to-port parallel: Skyward Sword in Phase 1 may be matched by Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, or both in Phase 2.

As for Super Mario Odyssey? I consider its Phase 2 counterpart Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Both were renowned and ambitious 3D platformers, though Kirby of course falls short of Mario.

There are a few more tenuous connections and predictions to be made. For example, I'd consider Nintendo Switch Sports (April 2022) a decent counterpart to Ring Fit Adventure, though I suspect a more fitting one may come later.

Incidentally, just as Metroid Dread, the long-awaited new 2D Metroid game, roughly ended Phase 1, I expect Metroid Prime 4, the long-awaited new Metroid Prime game, to close out Phase 2.
 
Yall

Yall

What if we're still in the first half of the Switch's library?

*runs away*
 
When it comes to first part I'd say maybe the first half since 2017 and 2019 were really really good, but I'm not totally sure since 2018 was kinda weak overall so it draggs it down, and all the years of the second half have been quite solid too.
Third party wise absoultely the second half, I feel companies were not fully on board on the Switch until like the second half of 2019 or so; some Japanese companies or indies were even supporting the Vita more until like well into 2018, which sounds crazy in retrospective.
 
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@totofogo @Raccoon i'm kind of confused on where the disagreement is; I'm just giving some examples of titles from either half to spur the discussion. I don't mean to ask which set of games is better. If your favorite games aren't mentioned, they still apply.

Here are some notable releases from each half
Click to expand...
 
This is honestly difficult.

If I had to rank them title by title it might be something like this:

Tears of the Kingdom >= Breath of the Wild (so far)
Fire Emblem Engage < Fire Emblem Three Houses
Bayonetta 3 > Astral Chain
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 > Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Pokémon Legends Arceus & Violet > Sword
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope > Kingdom Battle
Splatoon 3 > Splatoon 2
New Pokémon Snap < Paper Mario Origami King (weird comparison but yeah lol)
Metroid Dread > NSMBUDX (again weird)
Super Mario 3D World + BF < Super Mario Odyssey
Monster Hunter Rise > Dragon Quest XIS
Kirby and the Forgotten Land > Kirby Star Allies
Mario Strikers Battle League < Luigi’s Mansion 3
Nintendo Switch Sports < Animal Crossing New Horizons
Mario Party Superstars > Super Mario Party

There’s more but honestly…if TotK is as good as the first hours make it out to be, then the second half might just win it out for me. 😅
 
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Very close, went for 17-20 going by my favorites,
17-20: BotW, Link's Awakening, Three Houses, Mario Odyssey
21-XX: Dread, Bowser's Fury, Shining Pearl, Arceus
 
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First half.

Tetris 99.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Fire Emblem Three Houses.
Hollow Knight.
Celeste.
A Short Hike.

Though, it's not really fair.

From the second half portion - Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Splatoon 3 and Tears of the Kingdom is also shaping up great.
 
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Ooh, thats tough. I'm going to go with the first half, but it's a very close call.

The first half has games like Mario Odyssey and Smash Ultimate, which are great. And the second half has games like 3D World, BDSP and Legends Arceus. Very close indeed.
 
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It took until 2020-2021 for the Switch to finally get a consistent cadence of first party titles that weren’t Wii U ports, cancelled Wii U games or glorified Wii U ports with extra content masquerading as sequels.

Easy choice. The second half is far better. It has Metroid Dread and Wario Ware GIT.
 
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TotK makes this much easier as it surpasses BotW, all of my other favorites are on the second half. Pokémon, Metroid and SMTV are incredible.
 
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Let’s see, this is hard.

Sword and Shield < Scarlet and Violet
Splatoon 2 ~ Splatoon 3
Xenoblade 2 > Xenoblade 3
FE Three Houses >>>> FE Engage
BOTW < TOTK


I don’t know. Lol. They’re kinda equal
 
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bellydrum said:
@totofogo @Raccoon i'm kind of confused on where the disagreement is; I'm just giving some examples of titles from either half to spur the discussion. I don't mean to ask which set of games is better. If your favorite games aren't mentioned, they still apply.
Click to expand...
You divide the halves differently than I tend to is all. I consider Breath of the Wild to Metroid Dread "Phase 1" and Big Brain Academy to (presumably) Metroid Prime 4 "Phase 2." This is just my own opinion on how the library is naturally divided and probably wasn't a good fit for this thread. It's something I've thought about from time to time though and this discussion spurred my thoughts on it.
 
Maybe "where do you divide the Switch's library in half" would have been a better discussion. This thread's making an assumption that not everyone else is
 
bellydrum said:
Maybe "where do you divide the Switch's library in half" would have been a better discussion. This thread's making an assumption that not everyone else is
Click to expand...
I don’t think it’s necessarily a “better” discussion, I think it’s just an interesting part of this discussion! Tbh I had never thought of the switch life as two halves before, so I appreciated the prompt :)

Looking at it that way, you really see the split between Nintendo “securing their hold” and success with the Switch, and then saying, “okay, now what do we do with it?” while simultaneously clearly having to divert other resources to the “and what comes next” question. Having such a long fruitful generation is such a delight.

Also, with covid thrown in the middle of that and mucking things up I can see arguments made on diving up the halves differently anyhow.
 
Where's the choice for on-par?

First half had the games in a shorter timespan: BotW, XC2, MarioOdysseyKart8, SSBU, FETH, Astral Chain

While second half was more dragged out ToTK, Bayonetta 3, MetroidPrimeDread, XC3, Advance Wars, Mario3DWorld


Im very happy with Switchs on- going support.
 
Great lineup all iver the life cycle of the hardware, but first half is better due to more new experiences
 
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Easy Half 1 now (BotW, Odyssey, 3 Houses and Dragon Quest) but maybe it changes once I finish tears of the kingdom and let the experience soak a bit
 
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Previously I would have said first half because Botw and Xenoblade 2 are some of the best games on the system. But now? Totk and Xenoblade 3 arguably better, New Snap, the best Pokémon games in years, Advance Wars and lots of ports of good old games. What more could you want?

Our beloved NSO also thriving more in second half
 
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