Nintendo Switch

Style Savvy is all-but obligatory. It's had a new game on every Nintendo handheld since the DS and it isn't as touchscreen-focused as something like Nintendogs (I'm still waiting for a new Nintendogs), so there's little issue on the Switch. I just hope it gets a physical release in NA.

Right. So I now own Super Mario Odyssey.

Also, I just got an increase in E-shop points and have just enough money to get either the expansion pack DLC for either Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Just one. Once I buy one, I'm a few dollars short of the other (), but I could just hold on to my cash until I do have enough for them. Anyway, I just need to decide which one I want. I might go with XBC 2 since I did beat it already, while I still have some work to do with Zelda (just about to beat the boss for the third Divine Beast).

Is there no DLC for Mario Odyssey? I thought for sure there was.

No paid DLC, just costumes and Luigi's Balloons as free updates. By the way, that fucking 8-Bit Mario costume is the most bullshit thing I've ever grinded for hours to get. It doesn't even animate, it's just a blocky Mario jump sprite moving around, it's awful and I hate it. Wouldn't have been too hard to just have it animate like a Minecraft person or creature.

Ah good.

That makes it easier to focus on the other two.

Between the two I recommend getting Xenoblade's first. Especially if you haven't really finished BOTW.

As someone who hardly plays any Zelda games, I'd easily vouch for XB 2's DLC. Especially given the sorry state of your rare blade pulls.

Yeah. So the expansion pack will get me all the rare blades, the Challenge quests, any other important stuff, and the Torna DLC right?

At least that's the impression I got from it.

Xenoblade 2's DLC is among the best I've seen, free and paid. Tons of unique content for the main game and a meaty new game as well. Breath of the Wild's fine. Just fine. Nice for more Zelda, but not essential.

It won't just hand you the rare blades, but it will give you a ton of legendary cores at least.

Which you can abuse cloud saves to try and use to get every rare blade.

Oh right. Cloud saves.

Don't you have to use online to do that though? I'm not online yet.

So I booted up Starlink for the first time and it's actually pretty fun.

Shame that someone worked really hard on developing all this cool original cast and I'm just here for Star Fox.

I've seen Harvest Moon: Light of Hope as low down as $22, but it still feels too high from what I've heard of it.

If you want a game like that, grab one of the Story of Seasons games for the 3DS. Those are the real Bokujo Monogatari games rather than the garbage Natsume's been putting out under the title "Harvest Moon" the past few years.

> Shame that someone worked really hard on developing all this cool original cast and I'm just here for Star Fox.

you should check out Star Fox Adventures

I'm well-versed in the differences between the titles. A lot of Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons fans seem to enjoy Natsume's works, but there's a strong Critical Dissonance involving everyone else.

That game is great and if Fox weren't shoehorned into it then people would recognize that.

Honestly, the stuff you get in Xenoblade 2's main campaign from the DLC is peanuts compared to the Torna campaign, which is pretty much it's own full-length game with (generally) improved versions of the main game's mechanics. It's well worth the price on its own; the fact that you get extra stuff in the main game is just frosting on the cake.

Also, I got a $35 eshop card for Christmas. Anybody have any suggestions for eshop games to spend it on? Note I do prefer to get the physical versions whenever possible, so I'm specifically looking for things that are eshop exclusive.

Star Fox Adventures was actually the first Star Fox game that I played, and that's honestly part of why I never really got into other Star Fox games. Not because Adventures was bad, but because I actually enjoyed it more than the shooting gameplay of the other games. I mean, it's transparently a bit of a Zelda clone, but honestly I think there's a niche for a more sci-fi themed version of that sort of game.

Edited by JapaneseTeeth on Dec 26th 2018 at 9:31:05 AM

Buy Hollow Knight because it's a sterling example of indie development shining brighter than many top of the line AAA games. Night in the Woods if you're a fan of story and narrative focused games (as in the story is the main dish and the gameplay is minor challenge free platforming and scattered minigames). Celeste is a really good platformer with really good music that's widely acclaimed and I think it won best Indie at the Game Awards. Okami is Zelda but better in every way.

Edited by RodimusMinor on Dec 26th 2018 at 11:05:20 AM

Stardew Valley is if you aren't playing a HM game right now.

How's Hollow Knight on Switch compare to the PC version by the way?

Dunno about comparisons, but to a completely casual eye Hollow Knight looks and runs beautiful on the Switch.

I have Stardew Valley on steam already, so that's low priority.

Hollow Knight was definitely on my list, especially as its on sale at the moment. I've heard good things about Celeste, but I'm curious about the difficulty level; I'm not as big onto super hardcore "you have to die a zillion times to get anywhere" type games, though if it's that good, I'd probably enjoy it anyway.

I was also looking at the latest Shantae game.

Edited by JapaneseTeeth on Dec 26th 2018 at 11:05:00 AM

Celeste is brutally difficult but you instantly respawn after death in the same room and all checkpoints are permanent.

Celeste is murderously difficult. We're talking Super Meat Boy numbers of deaths. It's a much better designed game but you'll die thousands of time—or just hundreds if you're an expert platform player.

I'd recommend Fast RMX if you want more F-Zero, Blaster Master Zero on principle, and Dead Cells or Shovel Knight.

If there isn't too much of a penalty for deaths, that definitely helps. I'll have to dig around a bit more and see what else is out there.