I've been gifted a Nintendo Switch. I can unequivocally say it is the worst console I've ever experienced in terms of hardware and controls and makes me yearn for the N64 & Gamecube days before Nintendo got super gimmicky with everything. The console itself doesn't even seat tightly into the dock and rocks around a bit which makes me worry about the connection (but I realize it for the portability). You can play it portable... but the analog sticks on the Joycons have such short throw that I can't stomach the thought of using them for anything serious.
The Pro Controller's not too bad, but its USB-C connector always feels sketchy compared to one that stays snapped in place or is hardwired. You can set whether or not using a USB cable transmits the controls via wireless or actually uses the wire... not sure if the "send inputs via cable" option reduces input lag, but someone promptly tripped over the cable and pulled the console off the shelf. Fortunately no breakage, but the Switch doesn't have the weight to avoid this sort of thing if playing wired (might need to glue it down?). The fact that the Switch dock only has two USB ports makes it clear they want to discourage the use of wires for multiplayer sessions. However, I absolutely loathe batteries; nothing spoils things more than having to stop playing because a controller needs charging, and generally much prefer wired controllers with solid connectors that you don't have to worry about popping out (again, I miss the N64 and GameCube for these...).
I had to look up a video to figure out how to open the damn game cart slot. :/
Have a few games so far,
Pikuniku's a cute adventure game with simple platforming elements.
A friend also loaned
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You can tell they wanted to throw in a whole bunch of different elements popularized by other open world games; you've got Shadow of the Colossus climbing on nearly every surface, a stamina meter (that starts rather low I think), Bayonetta-esque last minute dodges, a robust cooking system... but everything feels slightly as if they've eschewed quality of life elements. There's no explicit tutorial I've found yet for Flurry Rush or for charge attacks, and charge attacks appear to be fairly iffy given you can't dodge and unleash the charge after dodging. Some higher tier enemies can super armor hits, and you can't dodge cancel out of these high commitment animations. It's no DMC/Bayo combat system for sure.
There's a lot of skills you actually start the game with. Shield parrying for instance, but it and others are not explained in the interface and you have to find the relevant NPCs who tell you about these before the in-game interface will actually give you the info. I get that it's going for the whole "YOU HAVE AMNESIA" thing and thus this is to encourage experimentation, but I really appreciate games that have a robust in-game move list you can poke around with early on, especially if you actually start with the ability to use them all.
The dungeons are a bit underwhelming so far; they're literally a couple of rooms that teach you to use a gimmick to solve physics based puzzles with maybe one cursory enemy. It's quite different from other LoZ games where stumbling on a dungeon lands you in a very large and threatening maze you're eager to explore. The feeling's quite different, and the focus is definitely on the open world.
Weapon breakage is tedious. It's amusing grabbing a bunch of weapons from enemies after disarming them so they're left to use their fists... but being left without a weapon in a fight suddenly is a bit annoying. Granted, you should be carrying a dozen melee weapons at a time, but metal weapons like swords seem rather prone to breaking quickly. There's also no way of telling actual durability except by getting a feel for how soon a given weapon breaks, or hoping the description's accurate. I get that they want to encourage a "use what you find in the field!" sort of play, but having my bows and sword explode spontaneously constantly only for me to pop out another one leaves me wondering why I can't just, you know, have it not explode (or last much longer). The critical hit when a weapon break occurs is nice, but not enough to make me fully onboard with this system yet.
Thunderstorms are silly; is it normal to get absolutely murdered the first time you encounter one? The fact you can run into one and get killed without any way to really prepare for it (yeah, yeah, amnesia) because you don't the trick is a minor nuisance. I heard the sparks and knew something was coming, but mistakenly assumed I'd run into another artificial "you're not allowed to be here yet" barrier. The fact that they can still hit you at random even when
not wearing something that turns you into a lightning rod
is annoying, especially given it's a one shot kill from the start of the game.
The paraglider feels like it's given out very early on, you rarely need to do any downward climbing afterwards, and it allows you to sail into danger if you veer out of the path you're directed to go once you get it.
I'm not entirely sold on BotW yet. I can tell it's got some good elements going for it, but I'm not sure it's gripped me.
That distinctive pink HUD flash and the POV hitting the floor. Had no idea doggos also had gigaton crush powers though.
), so I nabbed PS4 Quake a few months back. It was excellent value (the OG game and both expansions, plus a couple of totally new and apparently well-respected ones). However it was gamepad-only, which was a goddamn shame with the PS4 being perfectly KBM-ready. Still couldn't resist the mid-90s ghetto fabulous gamepad FPSing. 
