Nintendo Switch

TotK isn't long, it's just got sandboxy freedom to do a bunch of side stuff.

In my book that makes it long.Not that I'm going for 100%, but I usually try to do side content as I come across it in any given game.

Not that I really mind, though, since I haven't burned out from it yet. Hopefully that keeps up to the end.

I tried to use the Switch Online's Free 7 Days, but it won't let me, requiring me to give my credit card info/Paypal info for the activation renewal.

Most free membership trials do that for exactly the reason you think, yeah. If you do input that info be sure to cancel the auto-renew immediately after, instead of just telling yourself you'll get it later.

So I absolute must input that information?

What if I were to get one of those physical membership cards from a store or an e-shop card?

A physical card would bypass it and automatically redeem the amount set on the card, I believe. Not 100% sure but I don't see why it wouldn't work like that.

Using a NSO code does mean you don't need to input a credit or debit card number, or a Pay Pal account... but it will still set up auto-renew, just drawing from "stored funds".

Disabling that is usually the first thing I do after inputting a new NSO code.

I do have to say, TOTK is definitely unnecessarily slow.

Compared to BOTW, it really feels like they've made an active effort to space things out. There's what feels like padding, it takes longer to get into the meat of the game, it seems like there are fewer horses so traversal is taking a lot longer. Even individual quests feel needlessly padded, an early one requires doing from Lookout Landing up a needlessly long hill to just say hi to head directly back to the Landing, and since you don't have the parasail yet it is painful.

Love the Ultrahand, though. As someone who (other than bombs) ignored the Runes from BOTW as much as possible, I love their replacements in TOTK.

Horses got de-emphasized since you can build a car or rocketship basically anywhere at any time. I found the game much faster once I got off the Great Sky Island (which admittedly was less interesting than the Great Plateau).

I also only tended to use horses very early in both games, since before long my explorations went over mountains as a matter of course.

EDIT: Mind you, I'm still missing the last piece of the climbing set, and I lacked the second part until I finished the game. If I'd had those and the full barbarian set the game would have felt much quicker than Bot W instead of roughly the same.

Edited by Watashiwa on Jun 8th 2023 at 1:34:47 AM

Does NSO Membership require Wi-Fi for the games themselves? Wi-Fi is only necessary for entering codes, right?

I would assume so since it has to check if you're eligible to play the games or not.

For like, the NSO emulators?

I think it checks for your membership the first time you boot any of them up, then after that only runs the check again every so often so that you can play 'em on the go.

To my knowledge, if you try to play the emulators without an internet connection, it gives you a week since your most recent connection before it blocks access until it can check for your membership again.

On the subject of NSO, soon I'll play Metroid Fusion for the first time. Any tips in advance?

It's structured a bit differently than usual since it flips to the opposite end of the Sliding Scale Of Linearity Versus Openness for the series. Main things to note are:

• Wall Jump and Bomb Jump are nerfed in Fusion relative to other games.
• A lot of the powerups rely on hidden passages this time around. If there's a dead end try and see if there isn't a hidden tunnel to Morph Ball through.
• There's a Point of No Return after getting your final objective, when you take the elevators back to the Main Deck. Once you clear the save you're allowed to go back and freely explore, though.

Got it, thanks!

If I go longer than a week without accessing it, the block isn't semi-permanent is it? Like, I don't need to buy another code early?

Nah, it only locks until it can check you via the internet again. As long as your subscription's still active you'll be fine.

Is the Expansion Pack required? I've heard some concerning things (increased price, lag, bugs).

Right now, my desire is to play the N64 and GBA games.

The lag and bugs have been addressed in updates (I myself got to play games like Mario Kart 64 and Ocarina of Time without any issue), but the additional price still holds up unfortunately.

Getting it lets you play the N64 and GBA games (and also Sega Genesis, but I personally don't play those and don't even have their collection downloaded). The expansion also gives you access via rental to certain games' DLC.

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Jun 13th 2023 at 2:07:46 PM

It's not required unless you want N64, Genesis, and GBA games and the handful of DLC, and a most, if not all, the issues with games have been ironed out.

Edited by tclittle on Jun 13th 2023 at 1:07:02 PM

Honestly the Genesis game selection is pretty baller (no seriously it's kind of amazing they got Mega Man: The Wily Wars and Castlevania: Bloodlines on it) with good emulation. I'd check it out.

The input lag still holds true for N64 games from what I've heard, but the GBA emulation is probably the best you can find and doesn't have input lag.

The price point is definitely annoying, but it's also way easier to justify now compared to when the Expansion Pack was new.

Edited by Karxrida on Jun 14th 2023 at 12:10:05 PM

the N64 and GBA games' colors also look noticeably brighter on Switch compared to their Wii U Virtual Console equivalents. *especially* N64 games look extremely grey there for some reason

Come to think of it, the articles I read were outdated by approximately a year.

On that note, would anybody recommend Golden Sun? I'm mostly concerned about branching paths and not knowing which path is required and should save for last.

Golden Sun doesn't have branching paths. At least the first two don't, haven't played the third yet.