Elden Ring Nightreign Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so its time for another video game review and this one will be on the latest offering from Fromsoftware, which is the co-op RPG, Elden Ring Nightreign, which come out a few months ago and I did play for a while fairly recently.

So, how does this co-op game compare to the epic original RPG? Well, let's find out...

PREMISE

So, I won't say much about the story and say more on the premise of it instead in which you play as one of eight playable characters, who are known as Nightfarers, who's quest is to dispel the reign of night. You start the game as the character Wylder, who will have to fight many enemies in the realm similar to that of Limgrave in Elden Ring, which is now called Limvled. However, in order to progress in his mission, Wylder must join up with other characters to defeat powerful bosses known as Nightlords, who rule over Limveld over the space of 3 days. 

THOUGHTS

For the concept of the game as co-op, Elden Ring Nightreign holds a lot of promise and it can allow for some engaging battles with online players, as you try and progress through each run to fight the Nightlord bosses. However, this can also be very challenging due to the high number of enemies you deal with as well as not getting caught out by the engulfing night mist, which can quickly drain your HP. You will also have to battle through each run over the space of 3 days, with each day lasting about 14 minutes before you reach the final nightlord boss for that run. So, this is very much a fast paced game that does require a lot of team effort in order to get through it efficiently, which will vary based on the effectiveness of your team. Not to mention, this is a rogue-like game, where if you die, you need to start all over again with no checkpoints, which can be quite annoying but I will say more about that later.

GAMEPLAY: CO-OP & SOLO 

As for the gameplay, you have the choice of actually playing co-op with online players, which are invited in via matchmaking, or a group password can be enabled to allow friends to play together, which is considered the best way to play it as it allows for a better chance of survival and success. You can however also play the game solo, to try and get through the run but this will ultimately be a greater challenge when facing the bosses solo.

NIGHT MIST

Also as work through the run the world will slowly be engulfed by the night mist, which is similar to the effect you see in Fortnite, where getting caught in a shrinking zone can be fatal if you step outside it (not sure if I have that right!). So, this will happen a few minutes into each day and have to outrun the mist in order to survive, or you will die but you will still respawn again.

CHARACTERS

As for the characters there are eight playable ones in the game but you can only access six of them at the beginning and you need to complete two of the Nightlord bosses to access one and fight a boss version of the other. The characters are actually quite good fun to play with and Wylder is a solid starting choice as the default option as he can weild a number of weapons that can be dex or strength and he also has a cool unique ability that causes a large explosion as well as a grapple he can pull himself toward enemies with. Other characters include the Duchess, who is a dextreous spellblade, who uses swift weapons best and casts spells, who is very fast but she also has lower HP, the Guardian, who is quite the opposite and a human tank basically, who uses quality based weapons such as a halberd and the Executor, who weild a powerful katana as well as an additional sword for further damage. Then there Ironeye who is a more ranged option, as he uses a bow that can be useful when you want to not get too close to enemies.

You can also encounter these characters independently in the roundtable hold area of the game, which is the same central hub as to the one in Elden Ring, only its more delapidated looking and you can also get some dialogue from them. You can also change into each character from the hold itself, which will the default to showing your previous character back in the hold. 

WEAPONS AND LEVELS

As for weapons, the game offers some new ones that are specific to each character but most of the weapons found here are from the original game and are purely random based drops, which you can get when you kill enemies or break crates or open chests. As for the character weapons, Wydler uses a standard greatsword, the Duchess uses a magic infused dagger, the Guardian uses a Halberd and the Raider uses a Great axe. These weapons can be swapped out however at any time by picking up another one and you an hold up to six weapons at once. 

In regards to the levels, you will always start off at level 1 and you can progressively build your character up to level 15, which is the maximum you can reach during a run. Its obviously a good idea to try and build up your levels as much as you can as they will effect not only how much HP, endurance and FP you have but also what types of weapons you can access too. So, ideally by the time you reach the 3rd day of a run, its best to be near the max level as much as you can.

CURRENCY AND OUTFITS

As for the game's currency, things are a bit different here as you earn what's called Murk for each run, which will depend of course on how successful you were in the run and you will get a higher amount for completing the run. So, with this currency you can use it to purchase other items such as specific relics, that offer different attributes and abilities, as well as new outfits, one for the daytime and the other for night. These however aren't unlocked until you have completed the first two Nightlord bosses ot the game.

RELICS

Another key aspect of the game are the relics, which are items you can pick up throughout the world and you can equip them at the hold. Relics can offer different abilities ranging from adding specific skills to your starting weapon to boosting your stats such as strength, faith or intelligence by a point or two. The relics are also colour coded and come in different sizes with the larger ones being more effective than the smaller ones but specific ones can only be used with certain characters and not everyone can use the same relics.  

THE NIGHTLORDS 

As for the bossses, these are the Nightlords and there are eight of them to be found in the game although only seven of them are accessible to fight initially as the final one is unlocked later on. So, the Nightlords themselves offers quite a high level of challenge for players but they also each have a specific weakness, which can be exploited and can be read about at the Roundtable hold. So, its a good idea to pay attention to these weaknesses and find a weapon during your run that can help inflict a specific weakness e.g. poison or lightning. However, these bosses can only be fought on Day 3, so if you die before then, you need to start a whole new run. There are also updated versions of these bosses that are more difficult known as everdark bosses, and they offer a higher level of challenge but so far only three of these bosses have such a version of themselves.

GRAPHICS

Moving onto the graphics for the game, its the same engine as used for Elden Ring, so visuals are pretty much identical to what we've seen before and the game looks pretty good overall. So, the environments are more or less much the same in this adapted world of Limveld compared to the original Limgrave but there are still some differences in design but they still look pretty impressive. As for the character models, they all look pretty good too and similar to the ones in Elden Ring in terms of standard. There are still some frame rate issues however that I noticed on the PS5 version, similar to Elden Ring itself, its not entirely smooth but that's to be expected from a Fromsoft game I guess. 

MUSIC 

As for the music, it was composed by five different composers that all worked previously on Elden Ring such as Shoi Miyazawa, Tai Tomisawa and Yuka Kitmura and the music is pretty good overall and of course the usual standard we expect from From (so to speak!). I also quite like the music for the Roundtable Hold, which is a bit different from the original theme.

FLAWS 

As for flaws...yes Night Reign has a few worth a mention.

For starters, your success in this game is primarily based on how good a team you have on your side, and yes I can easily say I am not the best player in a co-op situation but I did play this game for over 25 hours and could NOT get back past the 3rd nightlord boss! So, if this game has one big flaw then for me its the rouge-like nature of it, as having to repeatedly do 40 minute runs to get a boss becomes tedious pretty quick. 

So, yeah this game can be really frustrating when you are being matched up with random players and in most cases I found the random players to be fine and worked well with them. However, this does bring me onto another issue, which is that the pace of the game is a bit too fast at times due to the limit, so its too easy to fall behind and get lost from your team mates as you try and progress. This is especially the case if you die at the hands of enemies or get caught in the might mist and you have to run around and find them again. 

Another is to do with the 3 day structure of the runs themselves, as at the end of each day you need to fight a big boss and the 2nd day can itself very tough and that means one thing, if you die, you need to start all over again. So, yeah ultimately the constant reptition of these runs does get pretty tiring and ultimately it becomes a buzz kill after a while. And there were quite a few runs where I managed to get to day 3 and the nightlord bosses have a TON of hp, which takes a long time to work them down and again if you die, you are at the mercy of your team mates reviving you, or if they die, you revive them and if not, then its game over. 

This brings me onto another issue, which is to do with the amount of time it can take to restore the health of a team mate, as it sometimes feels too long winded, although if you have a fast striking weapon it can help revive them quicker. However, in a big boss fight, taking too long to revive them really can be the difference between you losing your run or carrying on, as the boss could also take you out as well as you try and revive your team. So, yeah the whole revival mechanic is a pretty flawed one overall. 

The relic system also feels pretty flawed too, as they can help provide a variety of different effects such as boost your stats, hp, endurance, faith, intelligence etc, which is good but you can find so many and they are a mixed bag in how useful they are. The colour coding of them in the Roundtable hold is also a pain as certain characters can only use certain relics of a specific colour but you might have some relics of that colour that are not useful and you need one of another colour that can be used by another character but not the one you currently use. 

And last of all is to do with the alternate costumes that are available in them game for each different character, as the cost to buy them is ridiculously high, as you need at least 14,000 murk (the ga,e's currency) to buy the cheapest outfit alone and its hard to farm up so much murk per run. So, again, this is a pretty frustrating mechanic and the game punishes you with it pretty badly, if you are intent on getting all the outfits for each character, it will take you quite some time to do it! However, in the end, I gave up on playing this game after 25 hours of gameplay, so I never got past the 3rd Nightlord boss and lost interest in it by that time.  

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP 

So, to sum up, Elden Ring Nightreign can be a fun but also a frustrating experience as the co-op play can be enjoyable but can also quickly become a tedious chore given how successful you are in a run depending on how well your team work together and the RNG you get in terms of enemy and boss difficulty. The fast paced nature can also be fun but at the same annoying too, as you can all too easily get separated from your team mates, so you really are forced to try and keep up with them as much as possible. 

The graphics however are just as good as before in Elden Ring with good character models and the environments still look similar and impressive and the music score is also pretty good as you would expect from Fromsoft. Also, if you do get a good team on your side during a run, this can be a fun experience and quite satisfying when you do get a nightlord boss down. 

However, I do have to say for me, this is still the weakest From game to date overall, as its co-op gameplay really is dependent on how well your team gels together or and how lucky you are with the boss and enemy RNG. Its said to be best enjoyed also with friends, however alot of players don't necessarily have friends that are into Souls games (myself included) so that kind of scuppers them in that regard and that is how to get the best out of it, which is unfortunate. 

So, for me, Nightreign really is a pretty flawed if at times fun game, which has an intriguing concept but ultimately its one that's bound to frustrate and entertain you in equal measure. If you like this game, that's great and if you are good at co-op (unlike me lol!) then you are sure to enjoy this but for me, it was a fun for a while but after so many runs, it get's pretty samey and tiring to go through the same stuff over and over again 40 minutes or so at a time and for that, this game just doesn't cut it for me overall. It can be enjoyable but its far from perfect.   

So, I will rate this game:

7 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.

Until then its bye for now! 

 

Doom Eternal Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I figured I would get another review done following up my review of the Switch 2 and review a game I've recently finished (just today!) on the platform, which is Doom Eternal, the sequel to the hugely successful 2016 Doom reboot. 

So, after the acclaim of the 2016 reboot, how does Doom Eternal fair??? Well, let's find out.

STORY 

So, I will say a bit about the plot but not too much as it begins the main playable character, the Doom Slayer, who sets out in his quest to kill three Hell priests, who are co-ordinating the demon invasion of Earth, which has heavily wiped out Earth's population. So, on his way he also reunites with an old ally, Samuel Hayden, a robotic droid, who previously betrayed the Slayer at the end of the first game, who guides him to the final priest and his ultimate quest to destroy an even bigger threat...

THOUGHTS

As a sequel to the Doom reboot of 2016, Doom Eternal is a very entertaining first person shooter, which has plenty of thick and fast action that will keep most players on their toes and can get pretty chaotic at times. Overall, I would also sat I prefer the sequel to the origial reboot, despite one or two issues, its a lot of fun and the crazy and gory combat has its own bizarre charm to it and the game also has a good amount of challenge to it as well.

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay, I will do the usual with my game reviews and split into sub-sections below.

MOVEMENT AND PLATFORMING

So, in this game, you can move pretty much as before, as the Slayer can run, jump, climb up onto areas but this time there is a heavier emphasis on platforming itself. So, here the Slayer has to jump between various areas to progress, which can invovle jumping from climbable wall sections to jump onto other walls to reach higher up platforms. This can involve making double jumps in the air but you can also perform mid-air dashes to reach further away platforms. There are also times, Slayer will have to punch out green labelled wall sections to progress as well that will lead into new areas. Some of these platform sections can also be time based and involve careful timing to avoid falling to your doom (I guess!). The platforming certainly isn't without its challenges and can result in a lot of trial and error but I will say more about that a bit later on!

COMBAT

As for the combat, you will have access to the usual weapons that are found in the Doom franchise such as the shotgun, chaingun, plasma rifle, rocket launcher and of course the BFG. You can also have access to other weapons such as the super shotgun, which has a built-in grapple called a meathook, which be used to grab onto enemies and can slingshot them. Then there is the Ballista, which fires out a powerful single blast and there is also a special weapon, the Unmakyr, which is a magical sword that can destroy most enemies in one hit (to quote the Fash Show here: nice!). As you play the game, you will also gain access to XP points that you can spend on your weapons to upgrade their features as well as boost the features of your suit that can enhance your HP and armour. 

As for other combat features, similar to the 2016 reboot, the Slayer an also perform glory kills, which are essentially really gory kills, as the Slayer will have a number of brutal finishing moves to take down his enemies. These can tend to be quite funny and over the top in their ridiculousness and there is also the include of a blood punch where Slayer can pulverise weaker enemies with one hit and stun stronger foes as well if not fully take them out. The Slayer can also use an attached blade to perform some of these kills on the demons, which can be both gruesome and at time hilarious to look at. Last of all is the chainsaw, which Slayer can perform kills on enemies with, who will drop weapons and health as a result. Overall the combat is certainly for the most part a lot of fun here as well pretty intense. 

ENEMIES

Moving onto the enemies, Eternal has no end of enemies here, as the Slayer will literally slay hoardes of them as he progress the game. These enemies will range from weak to very powerful and will feature most of the enemies to be found in the Doom series such as the imp, who throw fireballs at you, the Cacodemons, floating blob like creatures with one eye that fire projectiles at you as well the classic "Pinky" demon that charges at you. 

As for the newer enemies, there are the Mauraders, who are very quick (not to mention very annoying!) and can charge at you, using a shotgun and a powerful shield to block your attacks, as well as summon phantom dogs. Then there is the Doom Hunter, who is a cyborg demon that can fire canons at you, have a chainsaw arm and can also thrusters to move through the air. 

Other enemies that have returned are the Tyrant, who is a renamed version of the Cyberdemon, the Arachnatron, a spider-esque cyborg creature with a canon on it shead, the Revenant, an armoured skeleton with shouldered rocket launchers and lastly of course, the Arch-vile, who can ressurect and buff enemies. So, you will never go short of enemies in this game as there are plenty to be sure and they will offer plenty of challenge.

SENTINEL BATTERIES

Another feature new to the game are sentinel batteries, which the Slayer will pick up throughout the game and these can be used on the hub area, the Fotress of Doom, to unlock upgrades. These upgrades can either be for weapons or for armour, which similarly can be found throughout the game as you progress.  They can also allow access to new armour skins as well for Slayer to put on, if you fancy a change of outfit. 

FORTRESS OF DOOM

As for one of the key areas of the game, the Fortress of Doom is the central hub of the game and from here, Slayer will enter a portal to travel to his next destination. This area can also be explored to find items, armour and weapons, some of which can be unlocked with the use of the batteries as already mentioned. You can also use the fortress to revisit missions and try and cover stuff you might have missed on your first run. 

MULTIPLAYER MODE

The game also has its own multiplayer mode, which is named rather aptly Battlemode, which offers a 2v1 method of combat where two demons controlled by online players take on the Slayer. I have to say not being a big fan of multiplayer games, I haven't really checked this mode out myself but its there for anyone who does fancy a bit of PVP action.

GRAPHICS

Moving onto the game's graphics, well this is where things can be a mixed bag, as I played the game on the least graphically developed platform available for this game, which is the Switch 2, which runs under the backward compatible mode for the original Switch. So, unfortunately this means the graphics and frame rate do take quite a hit here, as you can only play at 720p (if it is even that more like 540p!) and 30fps and the textures are somewhat soft and lacking details The lack of 60fp is also an issue as you can miss out on the fine details of the combat and some of the glory kills as indistinct due to this. That said the Swtich 2 version does still run smoothly given its limitations, although this is more to do with it being a backward compatible version instead of being Switch 2's problem. Hopefully Nintendo or Bethesda one day will issue a Switch 2 update but we'll see. 

However, having viewed the game footage online on different platforms, more specifically the PS4, the game's graphics are indeed excellent and on other systems, e.g. Xbox and Playstation, this game looks great and looks like a completely different game. So, in the other console versions, this game has great character models as well for the enemies and the environments offer plenty of detail and variety and a fine colour scheme, which is more vibrant than Doom 3 for sure by comparison! So, its definitely best to play this game on PS4/5, Xbox or PC as you will be sure to appreciate it more. 

MUSIC

As for the music, the game features another soundtrack by Australian composer, Mick Gordon, who did the score for the first game and its the usual frantic mix of industrial metal and atmospheric synthesizers. So, the score itself is actually pretty good and has some good tracks in it that combine the insane crunching fast paced metal riffs and the more intense and gloomy sythnesizer tracks together very well. The game also features a catchy theme, which will forever stick with you every time you load up the game. 

FLAWS

As for flaws....yesss,  Doom Eternal is not perfect.

For, starters the biggest problem I have with this game is the inclusion of the platforming, which I thought at first was a nice touch but soon becomes apparent that it really has no place in a Doom game (well imho anyway!). So, yeah as you progress through the game, you will be forced to do a number of platform sections to reach the next area and it is way too easy to mess these up and fall to your eventual death (as you lose a bit of HP each time you fall). 

So, quite often these jumps require careful timing, as you need to do a mix of double jumping and mid-air dashing to reach a platform, which I more often than not missed! So, as the game went on, this got increasingly frustrating to deal with and it really slows down the pace of the game and at times even threatens to ruin the game itself. This is also really annoying, as it can force to redo sections of combat, you've already completed. So, yeah, the platforming is no fun and does NOT mix well in the Doom formula.

Another issue I had was to do with the difficulty level of the game, as it can be quite a stern challenge even at its lowest difficulty settings, which is "I'm too young to die" and was what I played it on. I knew going into this game however it would be difficult, as the Doom 2016 reboot was also quite tough even in "easy" mode. So, its fair to say I died an AWFUL LOT during my playthrough to various enemies, as the game really quickly turns into a s*** show as you are engulfed by enemies left, right and centre.

Then there is the issue to do with ammo availability, as most of the time when you run out, you have to chainsaw a nearby enemy to get them to drop ammo and at times health. This can prove also to be very frustrating because sometimes, the low level enemies are not available and if there are bigger enemies around only, you are pretty much screwed and need to start all over again to get some ammo. You will find quite a bit of ammo lying around in the game but there are times where it can also be a bit sparse and this can be a real problem. 

I also found at times the action in the game to be just a bit too frantic and chaotic to deal with as enemies really do come at you thick and fast and this no more true in the final boss fight of the game (which I won't mention the name of here). So, there are definitely moments where you don't know where to turn as you are surrounded from all angles, as you scramble to find a medkit or health items, you can sometimes get killed in the process by enemy onslaught that overwhelms you and this can be quite annoying to deal with.

And yes, I have to give one enemy a special mention in the flaws section and that is the Mauraders, these guys are an absolute pain in the ass! Yes, the lovely Mauraders are unquestionably the most annoying enemy in the game, as they are super fast and give you precious little attack windows and they also throw out these annoying phantom dogs at you. The Mauraders also have a large shield that can block your attacks, so your best to bet is to stun them with a super shotgun blast and blood punch them if possible. So, yeah these guys can be quite infuriating to deal with and are worth a mention in the flaws.  

And last of all, I would have to say that in terms of the game's story its not that compelling to follow and the game is lacking in any interesting characters with maybe the exception of Samuel Hayden, the robotic doctor that aids Slayer in his quest. In fact, it feels like the game had to have some sort of story to justify its longer runtime here but the story definitely feels largely redundant next to the game's action.  

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Doom Eternal is a very enjoyable action game, which offers plenty of fast paced and intense action as well as hoardes of enemies that offer up plenty of challenge throughout. The game also has excellent graphics (well except on the Switch 1/2 versions as they kind of suck visually on that platform!) and a solid metal soundtrack by the returning composer, Mick Gordon. It also offers plenty of customisation in combat options for your weapons and armour as well as additional side challenges. 

The game perfect and does have some issues, especially its hugely frustrating platform sections, which can be infuriating and really slow the pace of the game down and have no real place IN a Doom game in the first place. The game's combat can also get a bit too hectic at times to follow and the difficulty level is quite punishing even on its lowest setting!  However, if you can forgive the game its flaws, there is still much to commend it and its well worth a look. 

So, I will rate Doom Eternal:

8.5 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.

Until then its bye for now!   

Nintendo Switch 2 & July Nintendo Direct Thoughts

 

 

 

 

 

Well, for this post I thought I would do something a bit different, as I fairly recently bought a Switch 2, which is the successor to Nintendo's original console, which is of course hybrid console that can be handheld and also docked to use on a TV or monitor. 

So, I thought I would share my thoughts on the console and also the recent Nintendo direct that was released yesterday (at the time of posting or writing this).

THOUGHTS ON THE CONSOLE 

Well, as for the console itself, I am quite impressed with the Switch 2 overall with its fairly big screen and also the joy cons, which I found quite unique having not owned the first Switch console. However, I have largely used the console docked on my TV and with the Pro 2 controller, which is an excellent controller albeit a bit too pricey at £75 (how much??!!). I know a large appeal of the console is use it as a handheld but I found it a bit large and unweildy for that purpose athough I have used it with the stand and the joy cons separate and quite enjoyed it that way.

THE SCREEN  

I also liked the screen, which is quite colourful and fairly vivid although the screen itself is actually very prone to scratches, so I instantly bought a screen protector to prevent this from happening, which can be seen a drawback of the console. Alot of people also have criticised the screen for appearing to suffer from motion blur a little despsite being 120hz but again there are hardly any games that currently support this resolution.

NVIDIA's DLSS  

The console does however boast the usage of Nvidia's DLSS technology however it is a more scaled down version of the PC variant of the technology. DLSS also appears in very few Switch 2 games so far with only Hogwarts and the racer game, Fast Fusion coming to mind that support it. What is more confusing however is there are still games that utilise AMD's FSR upscaling tech and its earliest variant, FSR 1, which is easily the worst version of FSR. I found this puzzling however that an Nvidia powered console would even use FSR in the first place but oh well! I just hope future Switch 2 games will provide further support for DLSS however and make improvements to image quality. 

GPU POWER COMPARISON TO PS4

One notable thing about this console however is that doesn't come near the power of the current gen consoles with Sony and Microsoft and only has a fraction of the Series X and PS5, which given its current price point at almost £400 makes it a bit too expensive. It does however sit somewhere between the power of the PS4 and PS4 Pro and comes fairly close in power to the Series S and despite the lack of horsepower compared to the current offerings, I still found the Switch 2 to be enticing enough all the same mainly as I am a big fan of playing games across different platforms. Despite all this though, we are still very early into the life cycle of the Switch 2, so it remains to be see how it will fair with future games and past releases that are yet to be upgraded for the new console or more existing third party games coming to the Switch 2.

USER INTERFACE 

As for the system's use interface, I quite like the layout of the Switch 2 as its quite logical and looks pleasant enough and is pretty easy to navigate. The Nintendo eShop is also quite good for browsing with some decent offers on sale for plenty of popular titles even if some of them are quite pricey at standard retail price. I did think the online account prices were actually pretty reasonable and quite cheap compared to other platforms offering a year's worth at £17.99, which is excellent value although I am aware for add ons, you do pay a bit more. The news section I felt wasn't the best, as I didn't provide any updates on future Nintendo directs and in fact it didn't even notify me of one until AFTER the fact (Well, I think!).

GAMING PERFORMANCE 

As for the game performance of the Switch 2, so far I have to say I am fairly pleased with it but there is still definitely room for improvement and this comes down to the limitation of the original Switch's hardware and backward compatibility. However in the Switch 2's defence, it does a pretty solid job at boosting the performance of backward compatible titles and any games that run poorly on the original console are now running much smoother. However, this also highlights an issue to do with many titles, which are often locked at 30fps such as Doom Eternal, the GTA trilogy, Dark Souls Remastered and the Witcher 3 to name a few that I have tried so far, plus some of these titles are still only at 720p. There are thankfully still some games that have an unlocked framte rate, which now run much smoother and are close to or even locked at 60fps such as Resident Evil 5 and Doom 3 that I tried that are very smooth and look impressive at 1080p. I also tried Darksiders III, which runs very well at close to 60fps with one or two minor dips but still at 720p. 

However, I would have to say that this brings me to an issue with the Switch 2 and backward compatibility being an issue in itself as there are very few Switch 1 games that offer updates other than a few exclusive titles such as the Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. So, this leaves many games waiting for a 60fps patch update or even a resolution bump and this could take possibly months to ultimately update in order to take advantage of the Switch 2's improved hardware, which is pretty frustrating when you are left with the Switch 1 version for so many existing games. In fact I've played so many games at 30fps on this console, I've almost forgotten what 60fps looks like lol(!) and that is the most annoying part as this console is so much more capable than the original but its being held back by the limitations of its predecessor. To be fair from what I understand some games do run locked at 60fps and even 1080p such as the Tomb Raider remastered games and also the Prince of Persia Lost Crown on the original Switch.  

So, in some cases, the Switch 2 is pretty impressive in its ability to brute force previous games limited by the original Switch but in other cases its still handicapped by them. So, ultimately moving forward we are going to need to be patient and see if Nintendo will provide updates and patches for its existing catalog. However, there were reports in the past that Nintendo was not giving out software developments kits (or SDKs) to some developers, which would prevent them from being able to port their games to the Switch 2 or provide updates for this, which might explain one or two things regarding the lack of updates.

So, overall I am impressed with the Switch 2 but we are still too early in its life cycle at this stage to fully appreciate its capabilities and also the current catalogue for specific Switch 2 games is still pretty sparse. In time hopefully this will change but in the meantime, I think we will need to be patient for the console to reach its potential. 

JULY NINTENDO DIRECT THOUGHTS

Moving onto the Nintendo direct, which was broadcast on 31 July, it gave a short presentation, which was a partner based one rather than a general one, so there werent any Nintendo exclusive titles mentioned (well maybe one).

However, despite much hype being around this direct, it turned out to be a big disappointment personally and many Nintendo fans alike were frustrated by the lack of release dates for some previous titles mentioned in the opening direct for the console. The direct itself instead focused on titles I was mostly not interested in such as Dragonball Sparking Zero, Adventures of Elliot, Once Upon a Katamari and camp fire simulator called Chillin by the Fire all of which had graphics that did not showcase the power of the Switch 2. Then there were tiles like EA Madden NFL 26 and NBA Bouce, which again were not really interesting to me, as I am not keen on sports games. 

To be fair there were still some games of interest such as the Yakuza games, which Nintendo are keen tio port the whole Yakuza series over to the Switch 2 and this one definitely looked impressive visually and sign of what the Switch 2 can do. Star Wars Outlaws also might be worth a look as a game but I have to admit visually it looked pretty underwhelming and rather soft as they must have had to make some signigicant cutbacks to its visuals to scale it onto the Switch 2, highlighting the new console still has its limitations. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisoment looks intriguing as its part of the Zelda world and an RPG but it didn't even have a release date! Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, a 2D side scrolling action game looks pretty impressive as well. Last of all is Chronos: New Dawn, which is a sci-fi horror game that has Dead Space vibes and looks pretty impressive and was the title that really intriguied me the most, so I might check that out sometime once its out in September.

However, the biggest disappointment of this direct was the lack of release dates for already confirmed games specifically the likes of Elden Ring, Final Fantasy VII and the already mentioned Hyrule, Age of Imprisonment. It was also disappointing to not see some of the rumours confirmed such as The Witcher 3 getting its Switch 2 update, which would have been nice as well as the addition of potential other games like Death Stranding although Microsoft are to confirm some games coming to the Switch 2 soon as well as the PS5, so that would be separate to the directs. There is to be a reported general direct happening in September though, so I guess we might get release dates for these games by then but we'll just have to wait. But this also does raise the possibility of these games even being pushed back to next year instead depending on what is causing the delays.  

So, overall I felt this direct was really lacklustre a few interesting titles and its also frustrating to see the lack of existing 3rd party Switch games not get updates although I guess they do want to target their own platform exclusives first before prioritising 3rd party titles. But for me personally, I felt the majority of this direct might as well have been aimed solely at the Switch 1 rather than the Switch 2, as there wasn't a great deal other than a few titles that appeared to promote the Switch 2's capabilities and in the end it left me disappointed. If however you were excited by what was on offer here overall, that's great but for me, like many other people, I just hoped for more.

Anyway, so that's it for my thoughts on the Switch 2 and the Nintendo direct and I will be back soon with another review post of sorts.

So, until then its bye for now!