That's a damn good icon.You and your icons lol
Here's the icon:
What's the game itself like?
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The Flame in the Flood has its best debut on Switch - "Smashed expectations"
- Thread starter Jonneh3003
- Start date
What's the game itself like?
Sherlock00
Neo Member
Never heard of this, but after seeing the video from this thread looks delightful to play.
Survival, exploration, and scavenge for supplies. It's a survival game. It'll test your patience at times, but can be a rewarding experience.
The eshop is great. They could add some more categories like highlighted and discounts tab but everything else works really well. I check the eshop every day. Its fun to just stroll around and discover games.
March of the Crabs
Member
Chuck Ragan's soundtrack is amazing for this. Might as well pick the game up now.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Rocket league is about to do some serious damage
noticed him in the trailer, but he did the whole soundtrack?!
Skittzo0413
Member
Is it mainly a roguelite? Is there much of a main story with a particular goal? I'm having trouble figuring it out from gameplay videos.
That could be I suppose. I think spacing out releases isn't exactly the same as curating or denying certain games though. I think it's more likely that they just didn't have the resources to accommodate every developer who wanted a devkit at the time and they were prioritizing certain partners and certain games, like new releases or those with new content.
Anyway it seems clear this period has been over for a while.
Isn't it because the Binding of Isaac is the Afterbirth + edition with a hell of a lot of new content? I believe that just launched on PS4 rather recently, I'm curious how much that costs. EDIT: Google tells me it costs $40 on PS4 just like the Switch version. No Switch tax there.
Because I think it was $36 on Steam while it was $40 on Switch.
JetBlackPanda
Member
The first thing I do when I see an indie game nowadays is check to see if there is a Switch version. I absolutely adore playing games on my Switch in handheld mode vs. sitting at my desk or couch for my PS4.
Its really hard to explain but there is something more personal about it all when the screen is right in front of my face.
Added this to my wishlist.
Its really hard to explain but there is something more personal about it all when the screen is right in front of my face.
Added this to my wishlist.
lwilliams3
Member
I like the artstyle.
In alot of cases, what a product is suppose to do well doesnt quite match up with reality. The Wii U was suppose to do a lot of things, for example.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I agree 100% with you here. I think what you've laid out here is a form of "curation", but honestly, it's just semantics at this point. And I would agree that this form of launch window "curation" isn't really the same as the type of curation we'll see moving forward.
Colonel Mustard
Banned
People in this thread saying, "Chuck Ragan...of Hot Water Music," Try, "Chuck Ragan the solo artist".
Much better solo than with HWM.
Much better solo than with HWM.
Yes, there are quite a few indie developers/publishers that get multiple games approved (not all of them excellent). But to me, it also feels like NCL doesn't have any curating at all, while NoE and NoA have curating.
I'm actually very interested in seeing how Rocket League sells on the Switch.
mocolostrocolos
Member
Welp, I'm sold.
You mean 178 releases ltd? Because thats what my eShop says right now, where are you getting 76 exactly?
Im not saying PS4 or Steam arent more crowded, they are. I am saying Switch is already crowding as well though. The no-competition excuse simply doesnt reflect the current reality of Switchs release schedule, its an out of date rationalization. At this point if you use this line of reasoning youre either trolling or ignorant, this isnt the reason these many different games are selling well.
The difference in the last 90 days was only 19 titles? Wow, from the way people were bringing this up I thought it would be much bigger. I wouldn't call that "a lot more", not to the point of being a significant difference in terms of competition. I mean, if 5 titles are released on PS4 on a given week, 4 are released on Switch. Not a massive difference.
PC obviously does have A LOT more releases than both Switch and PS4. Combined, even. And it will always have.
I originally bought this for the Xbox as I loved the look of it, but I was so rubbish at it that I gave up pretty early on. It was my first time playing a game of this survival genre and boy did I suffer for it.
I would like to maybe give it a chance again on the Switch, but I'm sure I'd just get my arse handed to me again.
I would like to maybe give it a chance again on the Switch, but I'm sure I'd just get my arse handed to me again.
Boy Wander
Member
I honestly think at least part of some of these games success is down to how easy the eshop is to use and how quickly you can buy a game. Oops, I've bought another. No time for buyers indecision.
Its actually only 12 titles. I just looked it up, in the last 90 days in the US 117 games released on PS4, 55 games released on Xbox One and 105 games released on Switch. I checked each digital storefront but I think Xbox is missing stuff (no ACA Neo Geo for example so I added those.
So much for no competition lol. Where will the goalposts land next?
OrbitalBeard
Member
Even though XB1 almost certainly had many more physical titles launch during this timeframe, it genuinely surprises me that Switch had almost double the amount of releases overall.
Colonel Mustard
Banned
I did this with Neon Chrome this morning and it ended up being...pretty darn good. Now I'm looking forward to Jydge (same studio) launching next week.
The focus is primarily on survival. You travel via river and stop at various (randomly generated) locations along the way. There's a set number of location types, each which have varying levels of supply types and wildlife. These areas are relatively small (each can be fully explored in about 2-5 minutes) but there's tons of them.
If you've ever played Don't Starve, think of this as a much more focused version of that. It's like if the exploration in Don't Starve was replaced with the journey aspect of Oregon Trail. Early game focuses on inventory management and scavenging for items to make tools, fire, food, and water. Once your better equipped, you run into more dangerous elements.
I think it works great as a portable game because there are easily defined "stopping points" due to the smaller locations to explore. It can also be maddening at first because there's so much in this game that can kill you if you aren't paying attention. Personally, I love it but it might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Arkage
Banned
And then watch sales plummet in general except for the occasional breakout hit, as is the situation with Steam and PS4/Xbone and phones already. Having too much to filter through is a real problem for indie devs trying to get their game known.
Those screenshots aren't from the Switch version. I'm about to buy the game, I'll post some undocked screenshots later.
I see this battling it out for the top spot with Stardew Valley for months to come.
Sammy Samusu
Member
Lost in Blue done right?
I more meant compared to the other versions available, especially the PS4 version.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Rocket League launched on PS4 as a PS+ title. The Switch version surpassing those numbers would shocking.
GhostTrick
Banned
You misread.
75 is since Switch release so 7 months.
95 is for the last 90 days on PS4 so 3 months.
Switch last 90 days is like 23 games ? 4 times less.
Reviewed games on Metacritic since I dont own a Switch or a PS4, I can't check. And reviewed games means released ones.
And no, Switch is far from being crowded lol.
The no competition isnt an excuse but a reality because 3rd party support is far from being a thing on Switch even with indies when you look how many titles are either not coming or coming late.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Where are you getting these numbers?
There are currently 178 games on the Switch eShop.
A few weeks ago, 18 games released on the Switch in one day.
Renna Hazel
Member
Switch has been seeing quality releases every week. With such a small userbase, anything doing better on Switch than the other platforms is pretty impressive.
GhostTrick
Banned
Reviewed games on Metacritic. Which basically means games that were reviewed, so released. I dont own PS4 or Switch so this is my only way to get data.
But then again as I said, it's been seeing a lot less than other platforms, hence why the competition is a lot smaller.
Also, doing better is only impressive when you have context and concrete data.
It's not impressive to do better if the games sold like 5k on other platforms.
It is impressive when they sold a lot on other platforms.
And it's also the point of comparison that matters: Flame in the Flood did better on Switch on its first day than it did on its first day on other platforms.
It doesnt mean much if we dont know how it did on its first day on other platforms. Did it sold well ? Was it known before ?
I'll tell you something: Stardew Valley will do better on its first day than it did on Steam. Why ? Because back then the game was still new and unknown and word of mouth had to happen. What matters is concrete data for these numbers. But that's not to downplay the fact it is good for the devs in question.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I'd argue "impressive" is relative, can vary wildly from game to game, and is largely dependent on the developer's internal expectations.
Now, it's true that a game selling five copies on Switch when it only sold three copies everywhere else isn't impressive, but most devs wouldn't consider that impressive either.
When devs publicly announce a game has sold better on Switch than other platforms, they're usually doing so within a very positive context.
GhostTrick
Banned
They are but it's either with a twist (like in the case of Flame in the Flood point of comparison being on day one) or with games with modest to low sales to begin with. (Like that game which sold more on Switch than on Steam... Which had 5k sales or the one with 18k sales).
Which is why these statements would be interesting with concrete numbers too. I'm not saying "This is bad" I'm not saying "This is amazing" either. I'm saying so far, all these success stories lack concrete data in insight and dont share the same objectives.
On top of that, competition is a lot bigger elsewhere so a lot of these indie titles which were crowded are now more competitive on Switch. But on top of that, there are also some titles which will do better either because of the userbase and/or the form factor.
TheSadRanger
Banned
I tried to get into it but it's too repetitive, the core gameplay revolves around scavenging small islands along a river to survive and moving on to the next island.
The problem is the islands are very small and take little time clear out (like less than 5 minutes for most islands). Each time you clear out an island it's back to raft which is not a very fun and tedious part of the game. The raft sections can sometimes last longer than the islands.
The survival stuff on the islands is fine and I enjoy it but the moments are just too brief until I have to go back to that lame ass raft.
Wildo09
Member
So why are you arguing against people that actually own the platform and have the correct data?
GhostTrick
Banned
Because reviewed games is also a correct data ?
And that in any case, it still makes up for discrepancy that could happen between both platforms ?
Renna Hazel
Member
Well the developers are the ones constantly saying they're pleased/impressed with Switch sales. I'd say that's a pretty great sign.
Right from the reveal trailer, I knew the Switch would be the ideal platform for these Indie titles. It has effectively killed the Vita for me as my Indie platform of choice and the hybrid nature of the Switch makes my decision to purchase it on Switch over PS4/PC even easier.
Regardless, it's nice to see Indie Devs having success on a new platform. The more platforms for Indies the better.
Regardless, it's nice to see Indie Devs having success on a new platform. The more platforms for Indies the better.
GhostTrick
Banned
As I said: It is a good sign for these developpers indeed. But as I said, most of these statements are lacking concrete data. Selling more than how much ?
Best first day compared to how much ?
I mean for exemple, as I said Stardew Valley on Switch is likely to do better on first day than it did on Steam. But we also know for exemple that the first day of Stardew Valley on Steam wasnt big because the game wasnt big yet and was going through word of mouth.
Renna Hazel
Member
We don't know, but I'm not entirely sure what the point is. The data we have suggests happy developers and good sales vs expectations.
Switch had 105 games release in the last 90 days compared to 117 on PS4.
Its clear now; you have no idea what youre talking about.
GhostTrick
Banned
Care to provide where you made that count ?
Because looking at the PS Store, unless I miscounted which is possible, I counted around 250 new releases in the last 90 days on PS4 (Didn't count DLCs or grouped offers or preorders).
Which is more than twice the number you counted.
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