Phelpssan

Agree, though a system update forcing a game update before you can play an offline game that was working before is very unusual and I can understand some confusion around it.

I wonder if these games with "mandatory" updates do it immediately when you go online even if you haven't played them in a while? Because the Switch 1 only updated games if they were in the front screen or you manually forced an update.

If they don't this sounds gets significantly worse - there's no good way (AFAIK) to track which games on have been updated on the Switch, so keeping your games updated is a massive PITA if you have a big collection as you're effectively forced to go "Check for updates" one by one from time to time. But at least for the previous console you could always play them without updating so there was no major harm in having your games on an old version.

Finally started this season, only two shows so far.

• 7th Prince: The MC's design will keep turning people away from this series, which is a shame because of how consistently fun it has been to watch. Production is also really good, the magic spell effects are beautiful.
• Mynoghra: Isekai+Nation Building+Strategy Games is a combo of my favorite genres, so it was impossible for me to resist this one. They definitely don't have a great budget but have been doing a decent enough job, Atou+Takuto being dorks is really fun, and the small bits of horror have been quite interesting.

Thanks for the compliment!

but there are some comical dialogues or descriptions

Date's silliness was one of my favorite parts of the game, I laughed really hard at some parts. And as you said it makes an interesting contrast to the darker storyline.

His banter/dynamic with Aiba is also great.

Playing Stella of the End!

Was not in a good mindset for story-focused games, so minimal progress this week, only completed one more chapter.

Playing Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker!!

Completed Episodes 1 and 2, and I'm now halfway through Episode 3. Getting all Gems/Challenges/Pixel Toads before moving to a new stege.

I'm enjoying the game, but I really wish it respected your time better. There's no reason to hide the Challenge before you complete the stage once, nor to force to enter again to find the Pixel Toad - all of these should be available on the first run. Having to repeat stages for these also hurts the pacing of the game.

I cleared the first world of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Looks like there's three, with the last one being ~~shorter~~ longer than the other two. (Edit: Reached Episode 3 and it's clearly much longer than the others).

Though I don’t think it’s a pure VN, more of an adventure game

Definitely more of an adventure game.

Playing Stella of the End!

Been almost an year since I last played a Studio Key Kinetic Novel, and I've heard a lot of praise for this entry.

And damn, this is one of the best-looking VNs I've seen - there's a lot of CGs and the artstyle is beautiful (check the screenshots on Nintendo's page for some samples). I think only Witch on the Holy Night impressed me more in this aspect (which is a game I should resume... maybe after this one?).

Didn't get very far yet, only finished the first 3 chapters (of 20 or so total looking at the in-game list).

Playing Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker!!

Current side-game. I completed the first "Episode" and I'm around 30% into the second. So far I have managed to 100% each stage before moving to the next.

Can someone explain where the assumption comes from that the sticks are definitely going to drift, just because they use potentiometers? I get that people got burned by the Switch 1 Joycons, but doesn’t pretty much every other gamepad ever (except perhaps a few specialty ones) also use that technology for the sticks?

Nobody really knows. But Nintendo remains silent on the topic, and combined with people looking into the controller and seeing the exacty same technology this raises a lot of concerns.

The fact that they made both Joycon and Pro Controller so much harder to repair also adds to this - one of the saving graces of the Switch 1 Joycons was how easy it was to repair. If we find out in a few months that drift remains a problem in this one it's going to be a far, far worse problem between higher costs for accessories and low repairability.

So while I agree there's plenty of speculation going on, I also think it's an important topic that should be heavily discussed so people are aware of the risks when purchasing the console.

I’ve personally never had any sticks develop drift

You're lucky. I've had two pairs of joycons drift (one of them twice) and also had this problem on both sticks of my Pro controller.

I'll probably buy a Switch 2 at some point in the future, but outside of handheld mode I'll just stick to my Switch 1 accessories which have all be modded with Hall Sticks.

The first AI is great, and the second is still solid.

I have the third game as a high priority, will get it as soon as physical copies get here (which unfortunately is taking quite a while).

Finished Atelier Yumia's Falbra Thicket DLC!

A free DLC map was added to the game and I figured exploring it would be a good way to spend a couple hours. It also includes a short and cute storyline.

Finished Ever 17: The Out of Infinity (part of the Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack)!

This one was great. I'm extremely impressed on how much it improves over its predecessor, feels like they are ten years apart instead of two.

It has some issues - pacing is slow, there's some repetitiveness in the middle of the routes, epilogue drags too much explaining everything in detail - but is still a game I can recommend for anyone who likes sci-fi VNs.

There's some really clever usage of the media, something that carries to later Uchikoshi games (Zero Escape and AI series), a strong cast, interesting mysteries that will have you thinking very hard trying to figure out what's going on, and good sci-fi elements.

I finished Ever 17 yesterday night right before sleeping, so I still have to decide what I'm going to play next. Likely continue going through the VN backlog.

What was that ending?

A massive cliffhanger that we had to live with for a decade. 😄

Hopefully Act 3 is better.

Quick warning that you lose access to the overworld during 13.3, so it's a good idea to use a separate save.

Finished Momodora: Moonlit Farewell!

Was almost done with it last week so I don't have much to add. A short (~6h) but very fun metroidvania.

Finished Guns of Fury!

Metal Slug meets metroidvania, and it works surprisingly well! The developer really did a good job mixing elements of both games.

It does have some rough edges with the map design and lack of fast travel spots, I spent way too much time running around trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go, but the combat is fun enough to keep it entertaining even during those times.

Playing Ever 17: The Out of Infinity (part of the Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack)!

I was expecting something more intense given the "trapped in a collapsing underwater theme park" premise, but there's a surprising amount of downtime in this one. But I'm not complaining since theses moments are being well used to develop the cast.

The mysteries keep growing, and with less than 24h before the park collapses I imagine I'm getting to the meat of the plot. Let's see if I can get at least my first ending this weekend.

Apologies for the double-post, but this is relevant: Monitors Unboxed posted a comparison video including several handheld devices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKFYGv0Pb98

What I meant by "classic" is an "official" option to stick to 3-lap tracks, which apparently have a lot of fans.