One thing I’ll add, since reviewing the AYN Thor, I have been playing a LOT of 3DS games. Upscaled and looking so beautiful. I just love the games they made for this console. I wish the Switch had more…pocketability? But seeing how the size increased for the S2, I don’t expect that will come about again :(
I have a feeling that a Switch 2 Lite is on the horizon, Nintendo loves a console variant. Not that the S1 lite is pocketable, but maybe they will shrink it more this time. I went down a somewhat similar path, only for me it was GBA and emulation on my Steam Deck that really made me realize I missed having pocket games that are real games and not mobile bullshit. I modded my old GBA with a modern screen and battery and it’s been my goto device for portable games. The OG DS dropped as I was graduating highschool and going into college, and the 3DS completely passed me by. I keep thinking about getting a used one but their prices are still a little high for me.
I’d recommend keeping an eye on something like Buyee (or one of several others that do the same thing!). Keep an eye on Mercari on there, sort by ‘newly listed’ and you’ll get a deal. I’ve bought a lot of Nintendo consoles using that method, and have got some amazing deals!
My magic 8 ball says they’ll release an oled refresh to up the price $50-100 and not much else before switch 3, which is still many years away for either to happen.
As-is the thing has sold a ton despite no new games existing really.
As-is the thing has sold a ton despite no new games existing really.
Their numbers were announced, it’s sold 10.36m units so far, but these stats were from before the new Pokemon game was released. So…I’d hazard far more than this!
I just realized my Z-fold with controller case could make a truly excellent DS emulator.
Anyone know if there’s an emulator out there that supports folding phones in landscape mode as a DS, similar to the way YouTube will split the video and the controls when partway folded in landscape more?
If you have a split game controller, I recommend using that over touchscreen controls. And using a controller like this plays better with a vertically aligned foldable phone (clamshell) rather than the pseudo-tablet sideways foldables, as you fully recreate the original physical controller layout
I actually also have a Razr+. My employer pays me a stipend to have a second phone so thay when I eventually leave I don’t have a bunch of contractors calling my personal number.
So the term you want to look for is telescoping controller, when you’ll use it with a foldable.
Something like this one would be perfect with a Razr for DS emulation (but beware you have to check minimum supported width too for a clamshell foldable);
@jodanlime@PerfectDark I'm wondering about even this. It really feels like Nintendo almost entirely stopped caring about the Switch Lite not even that long after it came out. It should definitely have been a bigger focus IMO, but everyone seems to want everything bigger and bigger and bigger these days...
I too absolutely miss just sticking my N3DS in my pocket. (Also StreetPass. Why did that go away with the Switch??)
I think not being dockable killed it for most people, that and it not being a pocket system. I think if either of those changes the for the better it would sell well. If it doesn’t fit in my pocket I might as well get the big one that docks so I can play on the TV when I’m in the mood.
@jodanlime I always wondered why Nintendo never just did the whole thing that SONY did where the PSP could connect up to a PS3 and that sort of thing. I felt sure they would do that with the Switch when it came out, but they didn't.
I can't entirely agree that that was a defining factor that would make or break it though. The GB, GBC, GBA, NDS, and 3DS all were not dockable and they were all insanely successful for a really long time. The thing is, truly portable gaming is different. Each has its own purpose and use-case and allows for different gaming experiences. The Switch gave us full-scale games with full-scale graphics (within limits) and the full console experience in handheld, but the 3DS was small, light, and easily played hours and hours on end even lying down.
If it was actually pocketable I would have bought a second switch for on the go. But it’s not small enough for that, and it drops functionality from the slightly larger model. If either changed I think it would have sold better.
The Gameboy Advance could connect to a GameCube and Wii (both as a controller and to link games), GBC and N64 had the transfer pak
IMHO that was the best era of games, besides the NDS. I absolutely want the return of mobile + stationary modes in games, especially local multiplayer games. The GBA could for example show private game state to its player when used as a controller for a GameCube game! And you could bring your characters to your friend’s games without needing an Amiibo, you just linked your consoles together.
Exactly this, I’ve modded out 3DS and sold them for a while as a fun project. But it wasn’t until I got the Thor that I could really get into the games. I’m 16 hours deep into my first time playing Pokemon Y and looking forward to the dragon quest titles
I’ve never really been into any Pokemon games before, but I am getting closer to wanting to try sink into one! How beautiful is the upscaling for 3DS games on the Thor?! The games just sparkle. I have gotten slightly distracted by Metroid Prime 2 though…
It’s beautiful, yeah, I’m definitely one of the buy and sell devices people and I have a hard time seeing me give this one up. The only other consistent has been the ROG Ally with SteamOS and a 4tb ssd. But the buttons, screen, pocket-ability and clamshell have made this a prime handheld and that’s before even talking about how well the dual screen works
Leave Pokémon behind, play some Shin Megami Tensei, thank me later.
There’s a pipeline of former Pokémon fans thinking “Huh, these games have kind of gone to crap, I wish I had this same monster-collector style game but with a real plot and interesting characters” and then SMTIV falls from the sky like manna from heaven unto them.
I don’t think IV is actually the best SMT game, I think that honor goes to Nocturne - which is available on the Switch - but SMTIV is a good showing of the series that is available for 3DS. If you have the option, pick up SMTIV-Apocalypse, it’s an expanded “GOTY-style” re-release of IV, but the base game is also fine.
Hey I was that weirdo that down voted this, and I assure you it was by accident and I changed it now. I actually never got the chance to play Apocalypse and hot damn, I had no idea it was a whole sequel, I thought it was an expanded release in the same vein as a bunch of the Persona games have (P3->FES, P4->Golden, P5->Royal).
So, amending my statement, play SMTIV and then play Apoc.
Also, excuse me, I have some shopping I need to do.
Switch games emulated on the Retroid Pocket 5 have been amazing. A pocketable console with full Switch 1 games and an amazing screen. It’s been such a good purchase.
It’s been able to play everything I throw at it. There can be minor slow down initially while it’s compiling shaders sometimes. The Retroid Pocket 6 is open for pre-orders now and that’s going to easily be able to play all Switch and many modern PC game too. Worth having a look out anyone is interested, especially now that Steam games work with cloud save game sync. The Steam Deck could hardly be taken anywhere with how bulky it is. The RP5 for this much gaming power into the jeans pocket.
Morrowind was exactly the perfect size for its content.
I would argue Daggerfalls map is unnecessarily large for the content it offers. At least Morrowinds NPCs have regional variation. In Daggerfall every innkeeper is exactly the same NPC. Its a technical marvel of its time, but by current standards is rather shallow.
Everything except the story bits would be procedurally generated. And it would probably get pretty boring having like three interior types repeated over and over.
Nothing much new to say, just reiteration. A big or huge or gigantic map is fine, so long as it’s populated by meaningful content.
Really wish Forspoken had been more populated. It’s a huge world, and combat/abilty wise it’s a great pure-mage action game, which I really really loved about it, that’s not a very common thing. But my god, the world is so empty despite being so big, and most side objectives are just collectothons. There’s some more difficult endgame content, but no real reason to grind up for it.
It's not a question of the world being too big or too small, it's the density of interesting things. A giant world with very little worth doing doesn't accomplish much, but similarly a small world where you're absolutely tripping over things that feel like you shouldn't skip them will also feel claustrophobic.
Additionally, the traversal system can help a LOT here. Even a world that has a lot of wide open dead space can feel good if the process of crossing that space is itself fun. Dune: Awakening comes to mind here, where there are large spans of open desert that you need to cross, but ripping across the dunes on my sandbike was so much fun I didn't mind the dead ground.
Do you remember LoZ Wind Waker? Maybe it’s the nostalgia goggles, but ripping through the open water just felt good. I don’t even think it was particularly mechanically fun. Maybe it was just the music.
The music and the bright colors in that cel shading style were great. They also did a really good job with the seagulls and the barrels and the silhouettes in the distance as you were sailing. Maybe it was just the contrast with all of the ‘dark’ games at the time. It was a gigantic mood swing from majora’s mask. The music really helped sell it.
I think wind waker is good example of how to handle ‘open world’ without letting on that you’re controlling the experience. I don’t think any of the official ‘next steps’ ever had you sailing more than three squares away. The teleport was right when the world ‘opened up’ to you doing whatever you felt like, and the easily grasped concept of one square=one island with some interaction made sure there was no loss of focus on the developers or players. Obviously the main islands had more to do than the ones with just a platform/reef, but it worked.
It is too big when the density of reasons to go there and explore becomes to little.
Personally, I don’t really care for games that have huge maps just to pass through while traveling around. There needs to be a reason in the story for every place to be there.
Every village, town or city needs to be filled with quests and stories, and the space between them as well to a lesser extend. They serve as immersive distractions. They need to be alive.
The map is too big if it cannot be filled with enough stuff to explore and experience. And I don’t mean climbing yet another tower, or doing yet another variation of the same puzzle.
TBH, I am not much of a sandbox game player and the JC 2 and 3 maps looked nice, but didn’t really invite me to stay and explore a single area for a while, because the areas didn’t have much depth. I prefer a much higher density of things to do. Each village should have a couple of hours of content, exploring it and the neighboring area. And larger towns or cities even more.
I want to minimize the ‘just cruising through’ parts of maps.
Cyberpunk as well had too much dead space when it comes to stuff to do in many parts of the city. Some parts of course act as just the background for other parts, which is fine. But other parts where beautifully handcrafted and interesting, but there is not much to interact with or people to talk to there.
To me it is important to have enough content and depth that the player learns to get to know their way around a place, and gets to know characters and develop relationship with each place.
Basically, how much of the world is interesting/fun.
For example, Fallout 3 doesn’t do a great job of this, as much of the world is baren with no story or gameplay. Half of the world feels like it could be cut out without much loss. The Yakuza games on the other hand, have smaller worlds but they feel massive and fun because there’s always something to do moments away.
The work-around is to make travel fun, so the “empty-space” is just more gameplay. The Just Cause games are the perfect example of this. All the movement mechanics are quick and satisfying, from the grapple and parachute, to the driving, to the OP wingsuit.
For example, Fallout 3 doesn’t do a great job of this, as much of the world is baren with no story or gameplay. Half of the world feels like it could be cut out without much loss. The Yakuza games on the other hand, have smaller worlds but they feel massive and fun because there’s always something to do moments away.
On the other hand, the world of Fallout 4 feels very cramped; you can’t go 5 meters without encouraging something. Bethesda’s games are interesting in this aspect – the worlds of different games are built similarly, but they differ in some small parameters (as in the density of Fallout 4), so they’re ripe for comparison.
Personally, I feel there were two peaks in Bethesda’s worlds – Morrowind and Skyrim. Both for different reasons.
Yeah, looking at it in a strictly dungeon distribution lens it’s actually pretty solid, and I find it feels a little crowded when you mod in more locations. I guess world distribution is the one thing they actually got right.
I’d be broader and talk about points of interest instead of dungeons, but yeah. This, the art design of the world, and the music. Those are the strongest points of Skyrim.
It has been a little while since I last played it, but I found that scale-wise, it felt small (I’m guessing this is what you mean) with major locations too close together, but content-wise, it felt sparse, empty and ultimately pretty boring.
A wasteland that one can throw a stone across doesn’t feel like much of a wasteland to me. I don’t want realism, just big enough that I can suspend my disbelief. I want to get immersed but a “town” with six people isn’t a godsdamned town.
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