While true, there are some prime choice games in the franchise history.
And with the Zelda 35th incoming I’d imagine we see more of them soon, perhaps a pack like they did for Mario 35th.
In fact I’d say get that now @Cosmicat . They released a 3 pack of Mario 3D games that is time limited, it will stop selling in a few months. Mario 3D All Stars. It has Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Mario Galaxy. 2/3 of which were amazing revolutionary games that absolutely hold up today.
But I’d be on the look out for something similar Zelda too in the coming months.
Personally I’m happy with the $20-$30 knock-off pro-controllers I’ve bought, rather than paying $80 for official nintendo ones. They can’t turn on the Switch remotely, but other than that they’re good, and having bought three of them I’ve saved over $150! And I’m probably going to get a 4th at some point…
I think it’s worth pointing out that Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2 aren’t direct sequels as far as plot goes and you’re really safe playing them in either order. The second one is a shorter game and adds the gacha stuff. The first one is longer(honestly, I’ve never beaten it so I don’t know how much longer, but I’m currently in the process of playing the Switch remaster) and I think has the more interesting story. I think two was a bit divisive but I enjoy them both.
Seriously, you’ll only need one. The battery life is like 40 hours or something, just recharge it overnight occasionally. But if you got money to burn, sure - they are great pieces of hardware!
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 would be my number two game on the system, after Breath of the Wild. Though as noted above, it is kind of a love it or hate it game. :)
Now I have solid starting point for games. I’ve been re-playing ps4 games for awhile as there’s nothing left that’s piqued my interest. I’m getting excited to start something fresh!! Thank you thank, you!!
I love RPGs, action adventure, shooters, some RTS, some survival horror. I avoid multiplayer. Not big into indie games, not for any concrete reason. Just never play them.
Does XCOM EU count? I played that few years ago. I liked it but I found it very difficult. I bounced right off of Civ 4 on PS4, I couldn’t get i to it, it was overwhelming. I think if I stuck with it, I may have liked it.
And I don’t mind JRPG anesthetics. I played Tales of Grace’s and enjoyed that quite a bit. I loved FF7 OG and remake. Just limited exposure to a lot of titles.
If you like JRPGs, there’s a bunch of good ones on the Switch besides the already mentioned Xenoblade Chronicles (which is great; haven’t finished it yet, but having a lot of fun with it):
Octopath Traveler
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (if you haven’t played that on the PS3/4).
Tales of Vesperia
Dragon Quest XI
Ys 8: Lacrimona of Dana & Ys Origin (more action oriented JRPGs)
On top of that, there are ports of Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 9-2 and 12. Highly recommend 12 if you’ve never played it.
Some Strategy RPGs:
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Disgaea 1
Disgaea 5
Fire Emblem 3 Houses
Wargroove
Mario + Rabbids
There are also pretty good ports of Skyrim and Dragon’s Dogma
And a ton of indie games and Metroidvanias.
The Switch has a fantastic library. I got the Lite as a successor to the 3DS and am not disappointed, except for the tiny text or zoomed out view on a few games that I have to play with the system inches from my face such as Battle Chasers: Night War and Fire Emblem - wish they would spend more time optimizing scaling for screen size, but not a big deal on the majority of games I’ve played. None of this is an issue if you’re playing docked. And with the slightly larger screen on the non-Lite, perhaps not an issue handheld either.
I’m one of the few on the forum who’s not gaga for Breath of the Wild, but I choose to believe this just enables me to pimp novel games at you :-D
Hades (stylish roguelike action/combat game with a storyline that evolves as you replay it and amazing music, characters, and ambience) and Slay the Spire (roguelike card battler wherein you ascend multiple boss-topped levels, building up thematic decks for one of four fantasy character classes along with artifacts and consumables to bolster your abilities) have consumed a ton of my gaming time on the Switch; both are a ton of fun to take on the go or play on TV. It’s worth noting that Hades does slow down in really busy rooms in a way that more twitch-oriented gamers find maddening. My reflexes, which are like those of a dead cat, appreciate the extra time to think when the fireballs are flying, hah. They’re both on PC, of course, but I find Hades in particular to be a great couch game.
Animal Crossing is probably closing in on 1,000 hours between my partner and I. It’s slow-paced, cutesy, and defiantly chill, with several very iconoclastic UI elements and subsystems that are very much an acquired taste, and yet, somehow, it’s closing in on my “best game of all time” ranking. I don’t know that it fits into any of your preferred categories, but I feel the need to recommend it just because of how much I’ve played it :). A simple game of sculpting a deserted island into a friendly town of animal villagers and a handful of stores, with light resource harvesting, a pretty massive set of craftable furniture, and tons of outfits and seasonal goodies from the in-game holidays. Because, oh yeah, it progresses in real-time. Sometimes, you just gotta wait till tomorrow for the museum to open after you gather the materials to build it. Befriend the villagers you invite to your new abode, fly to randomly generated islands to harvest more resources, tend your perfect flower garden, swim around to catch ocean critters, fish in the river, catch bugs, and custom-design new clothes and furniture skins.
For JRPGs, Tales of Vesperia is in the same series as Graces and shares a lot of the same quasi-action third-person party-based combat DNA, although it’s “just” a port from the X360/PS3, albeit of the better version of the game. Dragon Quest XI got an excellent, improved port on the Switch (whose features were later ported to PC and new consoles), and it’s a super chill, classic-style game from the long-running series with a surprisingly long and twisting story to back it up. Octopath Traveler is a 2.5D love letter to classic JRPGs with 8 interwoven stories and solid tactical combat. Final Fantaxy X/X-2 HD Remaster and XII Zodiac Age, two feature-stuffed remakes of the excellent (and wildly different) PS2-era titles, are also there and in great shape. Fire Emblem: Three Houses takes the venerable tactical RPG series forward with a branching storyline, deeper characters, and fancied up graphics. The Xenoblade games and Trails of Cold Steel titles also get a lot of love, though I haven’t tried these.
Mario Odyssey is an excellent and tightly designed platformer with an absurd amount of miniature challenges built into its big, explorable levels. The new port of the Wii-U title Super Mario 3D World with the new Bowser’s Fury add-on is also getting a lot of rave reviews, though I haven’t tried it out yet. Paper Mario: Origami King is a cool fusion of Mario aesthetics with JRPG gameplay, though definitely watch a video on the combat+advancement mechanics before you buy; some people really dislike it. The Mario 64/Sunshine/Galaxy 3-pack they just put out is also great to catch up on the classic platformer’s notable 3D entries from the last 25 years. Luigi’s Mansion 3 doesn’t technically count as survival horror, but man, it’s just doofy good fun, hah.
Ok well if you liked Xcom but found it difficult then Mario Rabbids is exactly the game for you. It’s an Xcom style game, but being Nintendo it is less punishing.
Since JRPGs are ok, then I know @ArmandoPenblade would recommend Dragon Quest something. I haven’t played it myself, but everything about it seems worthwhile if you like the form
