The Good, The Bad, The Animated: Nintendo Switch Edition (So Far!)

Hey Everyone!

We are officially more than one week into the Nintendo Switch era for Nintendo. I’ve been able to experience just a handful of games, however all have been very different from each other. As of now my game library consists of Breath of the Wild, 1-2 Switch, Voez, and I am Setsuna. (Haven’t been able to play Bomberman yet -_-) Anyhow, it’s just to keep in mind that my opinion on the Switch so far is based off these games and to take into account I haven’t played everything just yet!

Here’s what I’ve found good, bad, and animated in a little over one week with the Nintendo Switch!

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The Good

• The Joy-Con Grip

This was quite a pleasant surprise! During the days leading up to the Switch, I was looking around trying to snag a preorder for a Pro-Controller. Unfortunately I could not, and I knew I would not be able to go get one on release day. Which lead me to be very skeptical about the Joy-Con Grip. My initial thoughts were that it looked to small and brought the Joy-Cons too close together. I wanted the Pro-Controller for comfort, but I knew I could play in handheld mode if the grip felt too awkward. I decided to give the grip a shot more so because I was super excited to finally be playing BOTW. Fast forward an hour into playing, I started to notice I took quite a liking to the grip! It feels like just the right fit, but could borderline be too small for someone with big hands. I actually really started to like the grip that now it’s the main way I usually play BOTW.

Oh yea, and I haven’t gone searching for a pro controller since! XD (I’ll probably breakdown and buy one for Splatoon though.. :p)

• 1-2 Switch (with 4-20 people)

I know the opinion of 1-2 Switch is an overpriced catalog of minigames to showcase the Joy-Con hardware. Heck, I bought the game with that impression. However, after a Switch night I hosted last weekend for launch, my opinion on the game has now changed. A couple of my friends gathered at my place to check out the Switch the Saturday after release. It was the first time all of us had a chance to play 1-2 Switch. I think one big thing that works against 1-2  Switch is the way it is portrayed for the most part. A lot of my friends thought 1-2 Switch was you vs another person in little mini-games that are fun for about an hour. I’d say this is true, if you’re limiting your party to 2 players. Bring in anywhere between 4-20 people, split the group evenly into teams, and go into party mode. This is when 1-2 Switch becomes pretty fun (and for more than one hour). We had a group of 6 and found it was way more fun pairing up as teams than just playing the game ‘1v1’ style. On a side note, you’ll realize the Joy-Cons are pretty ridiculous after playing this game. I know a lot of people have given this example, but the counting marbles mini-game. It legitimately felt like there were marbles inside the Joy-Con.

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The Bad

• The Lessons Learned About Release Day Games From the WiiU

 

Alright I do have to do some nit-picking here. I know, I still bought the Switch on release day fully aware of the lack of release day games. That doesn’t mean I agree with it. Yes, Breath of the Wild is a huge selling point and can carry a lot of the release day weight. But remember… Breath of the Wild is also out on WiiU. I have a friend who held out on the Switch because he’d rather just buy BOTW for the WiiU and wait for more games on the Switch. I completely agree with this stance even if I decided to do the opposite.

What frustrates me about this is we’ve been here before with Nintendo. Remember the WiiU launch day title? Yea, neither do I. Yet I bought that System on release day as well. I can’t knock Nintendo too hard about this because the strategy works. (Prime example numero uno right here!) However, it is frustrating. I think one more game at the status of Zelda on release day would have been fine. Like heck, I honestly would have even taken this Mario Kart 8.2 on release day. I’m pretty sure that could have been doable, but we’ll have to wait till April 28th. I guess in retrospect it gives me more time in BOTW.. 🙂

•  OPPOSITES DO NOT ATTRACT!!

This is more a PSA than anything. If you are going to use the straps on your Joy-Con. Please, please, PLEASE, make sure you align the right strap with the correct Joy-Con. YES, THEY ARE DIFFERENT. A bunch of people have been finding out the hard way resulting in the straps getting stuck and becoming super difficult to get off the Joy-Con. This has not happened to me. However, I say this because during our 1-2 Switch, we had no idea about this. By pure dumb luck we managed not to get a strap stuck onto one of the Joy-Cons. I actually found out about this the day after and was amazed how lucky we got.

Remember +with+ and -with- !!

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The Animated

•  Breath of the Wild

One of the few games I’ve anticipated that didn’t just meet expectations, it blew away my expectations. Breath of the Wild has been absolutely insane so far. I was beginning to grow a bit skeptical when literally everyone was giving the game anything from 9-10/10 in reviews. After playing the game, I see exactly how the game was granted these high scores. I won’t talk about it much because it really is a game you need to experience either on the WiiU or on the Switch. Right now it’s rivaling FF Type-0 HD for my favorite game of all time.  I’m only like halfway through!

• Versatility and Build

So yes I haven’t played every game out there yet to experience on the Switch. What I have experienced though in the handful of games I’ve played is how versatile the Switch really is. From playing traditionally on the TV going through trials in Zelda, to popping up the kickstand to play 1-2 Switch in the living room to have enough space to move around, to playing Voez which you can only play using the touchscreen controls (this game has been amazing so far), and to finally settling down at night watching TV while playing in handheld I am Setsuna.  There are ample amount of possibilities to the way games can be made to play on the Switch which makes for a bright future. I’ll go back to Voez really quick. A rhythm game that is touch only controls. I’m pleasantly surprised at just how satisfying the touchscreen controls are on the Switch. Not only are the ways games can be played ample, but also the way which you play them. Handheld, tabletop and what I call traditional. It’s hard to compare the Switch to one console from rival consoles or even previous Nintendo consoles. It really is the first of its kind and I’m excited to see what the future holds for this system!

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Overall I’m really happy with the Switch! It is actually the first thing to draw me away from playing Overwatch! 😮 I know, scary!

Welp, I think I’ll get back to some more Breath of the Wild now!

That’s all for this sketch!

-Animated

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