RPGCast – Episode 497: “Git Gud Or Git A Refund”
A slightly smaller show doesn’t mean any less action, news, or hilariously questionable jibes for this week’s RPGCast. We learn we cannot, in fact, git gud enough, so we’re gonna go back to playing games with tutorials and a real sense of direction now. Thanks to listener DanielNL for his title suggestion this week!
Question of the Week
Do you play Switch docked, undocked, or both?
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Well, congratulations on making me yell “PHRASING” at the top of my lungs when I got to the part about wife swapping.
QotW: On Switch, I’d call myself a “both”, but I kind of have to be because most of my Switch play lately has been review games.
Almost exclusively undocked. I haven’t docked it since the early stages of playing Breath of the Wild, where I quickly found myself enjoying it much more when undocked. I would say the only reason I’d probably dock it at this stage would be for multiplayer if I had people over. I’m not taking the docking station with me to try to hook up somewhere else, so only multiplayer at home, which would be pretty rare for me.
I play my Switch both docked and undocked. Undocked is nice for gaming in bed, and especially for when I just want a quick round of Picross to pass a few minutes. Docked is for games that I want to enjoy in their full glory on the TV screen, such as Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey. Docked is also convenient for using a pro controlelr in BotW or joy-con motion controls in Odyssey.
Is there no edit button for posts anymore? As long as we’re talking about the Macventure series, I want to shout-out the lesser-known Shadowgate games and sequels, including:
Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers, exclusively for the N64. A used copy costs around $20 today. Although it has 3D graphics and movement, it’s still a point-and-click adventure like the original. The story is a direct sequel, featuring a new hero who is physically weak and must outsmart enemies instead of outfighting them. As a fan of the original, I thought it was worth playing.
Beyond Shadowgate, exclusively for the Turbo CD. I know nothing about this game. A mint copy auctions for hundreds of dollars on eBay.
Shadowgate (2014), a remake of the original Shadowgate with modern graphics and additional puzzles. It’s digital-only on PC, mobile, and the PS4, under the name “Shadowgate”.
I missed last week’s QOTW, but wanted to second StrawberryEggs’ call for HD versions of Bravely Default/Bravely Second as well as Fire Emblem: Shadows Of Valentia. These were three of the most visually impressive games on 3DS and HD versions would be incredible. I will add Radiant Historia to her list as it is equally deserving of the visual upgrade and a Switch release might help the game find the larger audience it deserves.
As for this week’s question, I picked-up up my Switch on launch day and it has yet to see the inside of the dock. Portability was the key selling feature from my perspective. As one who travels a lot for work, I was sold on the ability to play console quality games on the go. The only game that I am considering playing on a big screen is Fire Emblem Three Houses. It has been far too long since Fire Emblem fans had a home console installment.
QOTW: I prefer to play docked whenever possible, the pro controller feels so much better in my hands than the teeny tiny joy cons and I kind of have to play docked when I’m recording or streaming Switch games, but I end up playing the majority of the time in handheld.
My wife and I spend a lot of our downtime binge watching stuff on Netflix and Hulu, but I just can’t get into consuming passive entertainment anymore and will end up multitasking with the Switch while we watch whatever catches our (well, mostly her) fancy at that particular time.
QotW: I very much split my Switching hours between the dock and handheld, though the ratio has shifted over time. In the first year, with Zelda, Splatoon, Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade 2, I tried to play those mainly on the big screen, and save handheld for indies. I think that has stayed true, but I probably play more third-party stuff these days. So now it’s probably handheld 70% of the time, and use the dock mainly for local multiplayer – or when a boss in Dark Souls is really bugging me and I need to change my perspective.
I mostly play the Switch undocked, except for when I play Smash Bros. Ultimate, since I’m usually playing it with other people in the room.
Still haven’t bought one, but I’d be down for the portable/non-dockable one that the Wall Street Journal has offered rumors about, docking interests me not. Of course as I say that, my own children are becoming school-aged so likely will buy a regular one so they can have the docked console experience as well and then I can play handheld in bed after they go to sleep most nights!