Even the people who think it's the second coming out sometime still think the level design is awful

it's like they are actively trying to push me towards the "the entire industry is saying 'finally a JRPG that doesn't have spiky hair and big eyes and Japanese Teenagers'" cynical read of this and I don't think the developers deserve that but that's precisely how it feels

None of this is meant as a defense lol, the price and performance are bad, people (including me) are for sure grading on the nintendo/pokemon curve

That said, I've exclusively played docked, so can't comment on how it'll be on a lite, tho I've heard anecdotes that at least on 2 the handheld runs better so idk.

It definitely runs poorly on switch 1, and I was definitely worried about it, but that's where I've been playing and ~10 hours in it's been perfectly workable for me. It feels equivalent to how I remember Arceus, and night and day to scarlet which I had to stop playing like an hour in.

I would flip those two but otherwise so true. Shockingly fun to watch movie, despite being I think very bad lol

My version of this is getting really thirsty and drinking water with no relief

Which is to say re runbacks, I think "bad design" is reductive but I'd never argue with someone that they're wrong to not like them or they're not allowed to disagree with the choice to have them. I find them additive in a very particular way, but that's not the same as liking them lol

I need to write an email in to remap soon about how I've been having the (not necessarily original) thought a lot lately that for a game to be really great or memorable it needs to be at least 10% bullshit that you don't like or that frustrates you. Either intentionally or accidentally

My "defense" of runbacks is never that they're good because they're fun but rather that they're (at least here) frustrating in a diabetic way that brings you in line with the character, and creates texture and stickiness.