For anybody interested, here is my write up from my experience with the Nintendo Switch:
Backstory:
Before you continue reading, please know that the backstory does not have much relevance to the experience itself, and is just for my sake, quite honestly.
After playing with the Switch for a short time during my lunch break, I ran back to the mall as soon as I got out of my fourth period class. As soon as I arrived, I played some of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I wrote about it in more detail down below. After letting others play, I met a young man named Sam who had just bought a Nintendo Switch and 900 Canadian Dollars worth of Switch gear in total (including the system itself and that 13% tax us Ontarians suffer from). I asked if I could see his Switch and hold it in it portable mode to see how it felt like since all the demo versions of the Switches were being played, and he gladly let me. It was a slim tablet, with the small, but comfortable Joy Cons. He even offered to let me play Breath of the Wild, but I chose 1-2 Switch instead so I could play with him. We did a round of Quick Draw, where he won, before the system shut down because it ran out of precious battery juice. He left and put it on charge at the Nintendo Kiosk. He returned 30 minutes later and let everybody who wasn’t playing on one of the kiosk’s Switches to play on his. It was mainly Sam, two mutual friends and I who played on it. It was such a fun experience, and incredibly kind of him.
Actual Experience:
I had my first taste of the Nintendo Switch before I even bought lunch. I played Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for a few minutes before letting others play, but even those first minutes left a good impression on me about the game. I later returned to the Nintendo Kiosk inside the mall to play more, where I played for about 12 minutes. With more focus towards the game, it was an amazing experience for the simple game play mechanics themselves. While I cannot judge the storyline of the game because of the lack of time, the free roaming aspect was great. Being able to run around and go at your own pace was fun, and didn’t make you feel forced to complete the game in a certain way. You could roam around while on your way to a destination without any penalties against you, or many restrictions. I soon hit a dungeon (I am pretty sure that it’s the correct name), where there were a few secrets, and it was an overall enjoyable puzzle-like experience. While I did not go through the whole dungeon, the parts which I did play taught me new skills that I believe would be important later on, and it was a learning experience without text. I can’t wait to experience the game’s plotline when I receive it, and actually play the game as a whole as my own.
The second game that I was able to play was 1-2 Switch. 1-2 Switch is a two-player game with 28 mini-games to choose from. When I first heard about it and saw its price tag of 70 Canadian Dollars, I thought it was ballistically high for what it is; a bunch of short mini-games. I played it today, and my original stance took a complete 180.
The game which I played the most was Quick Draw, which is where you use the Joy Cons as guns, and you lift and hit ZL/ZR when you hear “Fire!”, while pointing it at your opponent. This game was short, but was intense as you didn’t know when you would hear the magic word to be blessed with virtually shooting your soon-to-be dead friend (not really dead, though they should be morally wounded). I found the calls by this game pretty spot on as when I spectated, my opinions (and the opinions of others) matched the call of the game.
The mini-game which I found the most fun was Table Tennis. While I don’t play it much in real life, the game was very enjoyable for the reason you would barely have to look at the screen. You could hear when the ball hit your side, and also feel it in the Joy Con because of the HD Rumble (which was a staple of this game). This was probably the mini-game I enjoyed the most because of how intense it was with how fast the ball would get, making it difficult to hit at times.
I played only one other game which was Beach Flag, where you had to run (well, move your arm which held the Joy Con) until you felt it vibrate, where you had to lift it up (hence the name Beach Flag). It was enjoyable, but I was much more enticed by the other two mini-games I played. 1-2 Switch is a game you have to play with your friends, because no videos I have seen of it have done it justice.
The Switch itself (undocked) is very slim, and I like that about it. The tablet runs 720p, and when playing 1-2 Switch and Breath of the Wild in table top mode, it ran fine and I enjoyed it more than I did in handheld mode. The Joy Cons made be small, but they don’t feel like that, or even uncomfortable. I really like the minimal design of them, and they worked great when playing all games. I preferred playing Breath of the Wild with the Joy Cons separated, and even played a few minutes of it with behind my back just for fun.
Final Thoughts:
While I have pre-ordered the Switch and I still await its arrival, I still have a very positive opinion of the Switch from playing these games (which were the full versions, and not demos). It is hard to sum up the excitement which I experienced, but what I wrote should help you draw your own conclusions.
Thank you to Sam for allowing us to play on your Switch for an hour and a half.
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