Nintendo Switch: Thread 07

[Mayhem]

.Link’s Awakening is a Nintendo classic and a literal piece of history being that it is the very first proper handheld Zelda game, but it is far from being the best Zelda game ever IMO. For me, it’s a shrunken-down adaptation of the best Zelda game which is A Link To The Past.

This. Lovely game, classic game, played the DX version originally, but LttP is the best Zelda. Might change my mind if I played BotW mind you...

[Neon Ignition]

The more time passes the less I feel like I can even recognise BOTW as a Zelda game. I know that's why many like it, especially those who didn't get on that well with past Zelda games, but I find myself at odds with opinion on it more and more as time passes.

Does it have lots of small touches? Yes.
Do they contribute a lot to it? Meh.
Is it stunning looking? Nope.
Is it a rich open world with lots to see and discover? Not really.

I think it can look good but an awful lot of the time it's barren, unattractive, relies on recycling to an obscene extent, has tons of filler and builds to a weak conclusion. For me it got a huge free pass because it was fresh in terms of moving on the Zelda template but what's there is more like an in development version of a game Nintendo is still working on like how KOFXII felt once KOFXIII appeared on the horizon. It was certainly ambitious but for me BOTW will always be measured by what it doesn't do (especially when other games 5+ years older do some of the same much better) than what it does as even the bits that do work often don't feel as good as past entries. I looked forward to seeing how Nintendo would build on it but once it became acclaimed to that level I felt like it would risk giving Nintendo a pass to half arse a sequel and them rolling out BOTW2 currently raises my red flag.

Switch gets a lot of play for me these days but when it comes to Mario Kart, Mario, Zelda etc - those very core mainline franchises - I think this gen isn't going to be more on the Double Dash/Skyward Sword/Sunshine end of things for me rather than the MK8/Galaxy/Wind Waker one (because Switch does not get credit for MK8)

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, I see what you’re saying but then on the other hand would totally disagree with all of it. I mean, if you’re going to judge a game on what it’s not, as you suggest, rather than what it is then most games are going to fall short. I don’t think that’s a good way to look at any game, to be honest. But then as you say, you’re at odds with opinion here. That of course doesn’t make popular opinion correct because, ultimately, opinion is all it ever is. But the game appears to have succeeded for the most part and, for me personally, I find the game is not only pretty special in its own right but, as part of the Zelda series, manages to bring a different experience which I feel the series needed at this point. And yet managed to do so without losing the Zelda heart.

But hey, not everyone’s going to like it and that’s okay. We’re not always looking for the same things from a game.

Edit: as someone who has been hit pretty hard by Joycon drift, here’s some bad news about the Lite: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/201...standard_model

I can’t help but wish they’re wrong. I mean, Nintendo have known that this is a problem. If they haven’t actively fixed it in the Lite, that’s pretty damning and would be a very good reason to avoid the system until it does get sorted in a later revision.

[Neon Ignition]

Absolutely, for me I think it just came down to feeling like they'd only gone half as far as they should. They injected a bunch of ideas and stuff from Skyrim etc that made sense for the series but BOTW, for me, go anywhere near as far as it could and should have with them whilst at the same time dialling too far back on the traditional Zelda elements (like the dungeons etc) which made it feel like one of the blandest and vacant entries. I still enjoyed it enough to stick it out but a bit like Mario Odyssey, I don't think I'll ever feel the pull to return to it in future years like I do other entries into the series. I never really held Link's Awakening in the same regard as some other entries but playing it again now it really heavily feels like Nintendo super-condensed the traditional Zelda experience into a shorter high concentration version then loaded into a syringe and shot it in my eyes. I'm blistering through it but it feels so much more fun to play.

[Escape-To-88]

Had a blast Link's Awakening today. As has been mentioned the more contained nature of it is far more up my street. The music...potentially the best score Ninty have ever done, amazing work. After never really thinking that much of the Zelda series since I dipped my toe in during the NES era, this and BOTW have firmly changed my mind.

[fishbowlhead]

New Zelda comes out and net even a first play thread gets started. Man we’re all getting old and jaded.

[Atticus]

New Zelda comes out and net even a first play thread gets started. Man we’re all getting old and jaded.

I thinks it's more to do with new game overload. They come thick and fast these days. I can't remember the last time I had nothing to play.

[Escape-To-88]

I thinks it's more to do with new game overload. They come thick and fast these days. I can't remember the last time I had nothing to play.

*Looks mornfully at pile of sealed Switch games from 2019...takes out card to pre-order Luigi's Mansion 3.

[Digfox]

New Zelda comes out and net even a first play thread gets started. Man we’re all getting old and jaded.

Tbf it isn't just the new Zelda that this is true of...

[Junko]

Trying to access my SNES games on switch , keep getting a message that I need an account to play them ? Anyone else having this issue or have my subs expired ?

[ItsThere]

They have done something, it looks like the SNES pads might be going live soon but of course, my account is not working...

[Neon Ignition]

Read DF's overview of Switch Lite and it sounds okay but if it turns out there's any real risk that it's prone to the growing concerns about joycon drift and faulty dpads then its unconscionable for them to recommend the system at all given the issue being so common and Nintendo's poor recognition of it.

[Nu-Eclipse]

[MENTION=345]Superman Falls[/MENTION] seeing as NCL are celebrating a certain birthday today, are you going to do some sort of specialty retrospective discussion thread of yours to commemorate/discuss/celebrate, etc.?

[teddymeow]

I don't *dislike* BOTW but it's nowhere near the top of my best games ever list nevermind near the top of my ranking of Zelda games.

[kryss]

Who is NCL again?