The Nintendo Switch Collection
Before acquiring the Switch, I had only ever owned a 3DS, which made this my first 'proper' Nintendo console. It's not a particularly big collection (I can still hold the entirety of it in my hand) and I only really started thinking about collecting for it once the PS5 was released since I figured I'd at least focus more on the Switch until I deem the PS5 to finally have enough games for it to be worth buying, to me...
Fate/Extella Link
Year: 2019
Publisher: Xseed
Developer: Marvelous
Genre: Hack 'n' Slash
Completion: 3/3 endings
The Fate franchise is something I've only really scratched the surface of. A friend is a dedicated player of Fate/Grand Order and what he was saying about it at one point piqued my interest a little bit. Then later, I watched Fate/Apocrypha kinda on a whim (mostly because I found out about Mordred, eheheh). Still haven't watched Fate/Zero or anything else in the franchise, as of writing this in 2022, so this game here is the only other piece of Fate media I've ever consumed. Well, turns out, it features a few returning Servants from Apocrypha, so I'm a happy camper in that regard. Also helps that I liked the game from a gameplay perspective, I do like me some Musou. Should honestly play more of those games, Dynasty Warriors or otherwise, this was one of the more engaging games I was playing at the time. God, the spine is annoying though, it's like the infamous Super Bomberman R spine that everybody in the game collection sphere was memeing about, got the whole ass logo on it instead of having it just written out like is the norm on the Switch. And it's gonna keep bugging me whenever I look at my shelf. Bleh.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Year: 2017
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Action-adventure
Completion: No
I technically don't even own this game, it was lent to me back in 2019, but since it's been here for 3 years, its owner is in a different country, and I have things to say about it, I'll make it count for the purposes of this log. So, back when I played this I had brought my relatively recently purchased Switch with me to visit relatives in Norway and had a bit of a "have you played this? no? here you go then" moment with one relative so, along it went on a cross country drive through a good chunk of Norway, a ferry across the Skagerrak to Denmark, where I stayed for a week, and then all the way back, where I stayed for two more weeks. I never had a handheld as a kid so the whole 'play-games-in-the-back-seat-on-a-vacation-drive' experience was something entirely new to me (I was 27 at the time, I was with my relatives and I don't drive). While I stuck at it during this entire 3-week vacation, and got to bring it back home in order to continue, I never got around to it back home because I just couldn't get into the same vibe again in my living room. Amazing game though.
Little Dragons Café
Year: 2018
Publisher: Aksys Games
Developer: TOYBOX
Genre: Adventure, Simulation
Completion: No
Another one to sort under "cute little game" and "bought because dragon". There's quite a bit to this game but imo it's kind of tarnished by the unnecessary timing elements as represented in, iirc, real time passage of time and things you need to finish in that day, plus rhythm game cooking mechanics which both are to the detriment of my personal enjoyment of this sort of game. Figured it'd be a bit more of a casual vibe like, for instance, animal crossing. Eh. In any case, I like the aesthetic and general vibe, plus that your dragon grows as you play through. That's pretty cool.
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
Year: 2019
Publisher: Beamdog
Developer: BioWare, Beamdog
Genre: Computer RPG
Completion: No
I love Neverwinter Nights, to the degree that I own 4 copies of it (see my writeup of it in the PC section of the collection log). That said, this copy is the only one I have not played to a significant degree, owing to how this port feels borderline unplayable to me. Not sure how much of it is my discomfort with the control scheme and other changes they made to make it mesh with being on console, and how much of it can be chalked up to it being a bad port. I'll probably never know because I dropped this even before the tutorial was over. Shame, I was looking forward to being able to bring the crown jewel of my teenage years' gaming tastemakers with me on trips. Such is life.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Year: 2022
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Game Freak
Genre: Action JRPG
Completion: Story, Pokédex 235/242
This was the first new game I played in 2022 and as of writing this in September 2022 this is still the foremost candidate for my personal game of the year. It hit almost all the right spots for me, aside for a few minor quality of life and story quibbles and the very sub-par graphics (though to be sure, graphics have never been the strong suit of any Pokémon game aside from New Pokémon Snap, maybe? I haven't played it.), what with the whole semi-open world structure, a slightly more involved storytelling over the core games, etc. Really hoping that Game Freak manages to take some lessons from this game and apply them to Scarlet/Violet. It shall remain to be seen for a little longer. Let's see how long until I remember to update this post-ScaVio-launch. In any case, since I skipped SwSh, it was nice to come to this after a decently long break from the franchise.