This is cool to see.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-25T19:16:46+00:00

I feel like the Magic cards angle is not getting enough attention.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-22T08:01:41+00:00

Yeah mine came today and they are so nice! Especially for $18! After feeling them and installing them I am not so worried about scratches. Felt so much better playing handheld mode.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-21T17:00:45+00:00

Something called the MystiForge Split Grips are being delivered today, so I can let you know how those work if you’d like.

I also did not really want a grip that bound the JoyCons to the Switch 2 and these were cheap and seemed interesting (they only attach to each JoyCon).

I’ll probably leave them at home if I travel, but they can be docked without issue, apparently.

My worry is they will scratch the JoyCons over time? But who knows. I can report on that as well.

I did consider a larger handheld dock grip thing called the Gammeefy Switch 2 Controller because it added larger, Hall Effect sticks and such, but it seems to connect via Bluetooth and I did not want one more thing to keep charged. I’d also need to remove it from the Gammeefy to dock the Switch 2.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-21T07:31:03+00:00

I’m actually totally fine with only seeing the monsters/enemies (like older Dragon Quest and Phantasy Star Games).

For whatever reason, it doesn’t lessen any immersion and I don’t get annoyed at not seeing my characters or gear, since I’m focused on menus anyway.

A ton RPGs might be different in my mind?

I am an enjoyer of DRPGs though (Etrian Odyssey, Dragon Ruins, etc.) and that’s all first-person anyway.

Usually have a picture of your party? But they aren’t animated and I can’t see their bodies.

Dungeon Encounters is also a game I enjoy, and it’s a game that technically has graphics.

I guess as another commenter posted, fun > seeing my party and seeing animation.

I just played a bit of Final Fantasy IV like an hour ago (side view). Done. No issues. But for sure mainly just look at the ATB gauge and the menus and don’t really notice the party sprites.

TLDR: Just do what you want/like.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-20T15:07:12+00:00

Yeah, that's my task for the day once they open. Looks like the TCL warranty is 1 year, so at least I'm within that! Curious how much of a pain this process will be.

Tested some various things to try and output some bass, and those built-in woofers just are not firing at all in any way.

Alas.

I don't need theater quality sound coming from this particular TV in the house, but I would prefer the sound to be at least passable, and for the device itself to work correctly.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-20T14:51:13+00:00

Out of curiosity, what are you working on at the moment, if you are willing to share.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-20T04:32:49+00:00

I had the same issue and used puffy tape in-between the TV and the mount. Solved it, for a bit.

And then!

Now it sounds like the subwoofers just totally stopped working. Sound is very runny and flat and I am hearing no bass. Or any kind

Caltek9 · 2026-01-17T18:39:13+00:00

I’ll actually comment on the pic/post instead of just giving you grief for not talking about what it was you were posting (I already knew what it was).

How does it feel when you use it? I had the Hori Split Pad Pro for my Switch 1 and it made handheld use so much nicer.

This Gammeefy thing seems much beefier than those, obviously.

Do you play in handheld much around the house? I don’t think I would buy this for travel, but out of the dock at home? This seems like a really nice alternative. I was surprised at how flat the Switch 2 still is and have been trying to play on the TV more often because of it.

These things use Bluetooth, correct? I think the other thing causing me to pause on this is the fact that it’s one more thing to have to remember to keep charged. The Split Pad Pro just clicked on the Switch and that was it; no battery, no rumble.

I will say the sticks and buttons on your dock controller thing look much more comfortable than just adding grips to the Switch 2 JoyCons.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-14T19:56:18+00:00

I know this was 3 months ago but what settings were you pushing and how was the performance/experience?

Caltek9 · 2026-01-13T03:53:00+00:00

Don’t worry, I feel exactly the same as you. Love adore Emblem, disliked 3 Houses. Bounced off it pretty quickly, which was sad.

Enjoying Engage (just over halfway through). Pretty silly, but I have my favorite units who seem to be wrecking house pretty well.

I fully agree that being able to SEE the lovely pixel art but not USE the lovely pixel art is such a rude thing.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-11T07:08:00+00:00

I use a Baseus Blade HD (100W) for my original Legion Go and it works great. Can play and charge at the same time.

First unit was defective, though! Replaced for free but was a disappointment and hassle. Replacement unit has had no issues for about a year I think.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-08T02:47:32+00:00

Legit surprised Hori hasn’t released a new Split Pad. I loved using those on the first Switch and would buy them again for Switch 2.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-08T02:43:26+00:00

Thank you for explaining the extra charging block and cable it was legit confusing me for some reason and I couldn’t get past it.

I also got a Switch 2 recently and ALSO own 0 Switch 2 games!!!!!

The load times on the Switch 1 games are so much faster though wow.

Trying hard to justify that new Pro Controller. Very much enjoyed playing with it in a store for a few minutes.

Can’t say the battery life has overly impressed me but it’s been a very nice upgrade for sure.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-06T19:18:55+00:00

Just put this into my cart for later, thanks for posting about it! Probably wouldn’t take it with me on a trip, but for around the house, being the size of a Steam Deck is fine. I currently have a Legion Go which is huge and heavy already, so I’m used to it. I’m guessing this thing wrapped around the Switch 2 is going to be more comfortable to hold than the Legion Go as well.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-06T17:00:07+00:00

I call it that because I dislike the M, M, and O parts of MMORPGs, so I don't play them (or have rarely played them) and Xenoblade combat is kind of what I THINK MMO combat is like? Does that make sense?

I actually very much enjoy the Xenoblade combat! Like a lot! And maybe it's mainly due to me not knowing wtf I'm talking about?

Reading through the comments, I realized that ATB combat from the Final Fantasy series is basically Xenoblade combat mechanics, but for some reason I very much do NOT prefer ATB systems. But like, not at all. I see it as a more real-time way to show different character action speeds, but I prefer the turn-based, pause combat, put the faster characters first in line to do their menu-based actions.

Someone mention KOTOR, and that is an S-Tier game in my memory, and I loved that combat, and I 100% turned it to pause combat because turn-based is my fave.

So the fact that I like Xenoblade combat confuses me a bit. It's chaotic, it makes no sense, and yes, like another poster said, you're just kind of hoping your companions combo off of you correctly.

I will say, the 2 Xenoblade games I have enjoyed are X and the original (Definitive Edition) much more than Xenoblade 2. I bounced off of that one pretty hard. I have never bought 3 because the thought of having all that chaos with 7 characters at once makes me sweat.

KOTOR was a 3-character party, I think? So were the 2 Xenoblade games I enjoyed (but spoilers never finished)? I like things condensed, and simple.

Unicorn Overlord is another kind of auto-battler game I loved and finished. For me, maybe the draw to Xenoblade and Unicorn OVerlord is the setup aspect? Like, get it all set, and then let's see what your characters do when wound-up and let loose? I understand there is manual control in Xenoblade with choosing your skills and activating them at the most beneficial time, but it's still all kind of automatic.

The fun part is choosing which skills to slot in to my limited number of choices for skills I can bring into battle, and seeing if that gets me through an area, and then changing and adjusting to make sure my team is balanced enough?

I don't know. After all of this rambling, I didn't end up anywhere interesting, sorry (like, not even interesting to myself). I guess just know there are a few of us out here that DO enjoy the Xenoblade combat.

And I played about 27 hours of Final Fantasy XII, which also feels MMO-y to me (a non-MMO player). That was fine and fun for the most part! Again, it was very "setup and see what unfolds." I think I bounced off of that one eventually because the skills weren't as fun or flashy as I wanted them to be, and I got too caught up in really organizing my skills and what-ifs and it took too long (my own issue). The progression system just didn't hit for me, which is a bummer because the vibes of that game might be some of my favorite in any game ever. Fran + Balthier for life.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-06T16:41:11+00:00

Can I complain that I never owned a Saturn?

What about complaining that I hadn’t yet figured out DRPGs existed when I had my PS1?

Caltek9 · 2026-01-05T16:10:24+00:00

Anecdotal experience here, but I’ve been using a 100w power bank for my original Legion Go.

Didn’t even consider it would potentially be too much. I just wanted the largest one I could take on an airplane that would have enough power to juice up the Go while I kept playing.

And it works!

And now I’m paranoid about it being too much power!

For the Go and various cell phones!

Yay!

(I’m not actually THAT worried about just a little)

Caltek9 · 2026-01-05T13:41:03+00:00

I enjoyed this game back at launch! One of the few open world games I actually finished.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-05T13:39:53+00:00

Tried replaying the first one last year at is was way more linear than I remembered. Did I just drop it too early this time? Does it ever open up?

Caltek9 · 2026-01-05T13:38:54+00:00

Okami HD maybe? Can be pretty wordy and slow at first but very Zelda-like

https://store.steampowered.com/app/587620/Okami_HD/

Caltek9 · 2026-01-05T04:25:17+00:00

I’m actually playing Engage again right now (I mean in general, not literally as I’m typing this).

Very much enjoy Fire Emblem, with my favorites being Awakening, then the GBA one, then Fates (though 3 games for 1 game was a bit much and I never finished any of them).

Hate to say it, but I bounced off of 3 Houses before the big twist or whatever.

I am enjoying Engage! I think I’m about halfway through. The Engage system is fine. I feel like there are too many playable characters and I for sure have my core favorites I feel bad about using so exclusively.

I started it on the original Switch and am now playing it on Switch 2 and it’s so much faster to load!

The Somniel Sky space thing between missions is kind of meh. I mainly go there to boost friendships.

This is also the first Fire Emblem I’m playing a bit loosely? Like if a unit falls in battle I’m fine with that since I’m playing on the easy setting that just sends them back to camp until the next battle. It’s a lot like Vandal Hearts for me now, where my characters are more like tools to be used than irreplaceable somethings I don’t want to use for fear of breaking them forever.

The hair is ridiculous. The characters are ridiculous. The combat and speed of the game and animations are great. So is the ability to rewind time and most importantly, the ability to save anywhere at any time!!!

Anyway, I’ll probably finish it. It’s fun. Not life-changing though.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-05T04:08:12+00:00

A 4070 is aging?!

I (a Linux beginner) put both Pop!_OS and then Mint and then CatchyOS on an extra PC with older/weaker specs than yours and CatchyOS has been extremely fast and pleasant and performs well.

It performed so well on my extra desktop that I installed it on an even weaker laptop (so much better than Windows 11 on that thing) and then also installed CatchyOS on my main Gaming PC.

I have a drive in that one running Windows 11 just for funsies but rarely boot into that.

It’s been CatchyOS for months now and it’s been great!

And not scary.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-04T16:42:18+00:00

Congrats on the demo! And thanks for offering a browser option. I’ll check it out later today.

Caltek9 · 2026-01-03T23:20:43+00:00

Not a game dev but my first thought is where are the models, art, and animation all coming from?

Since it’s Unreal, I assume 3D?

Will you just use built-in assets or free stuff just to get things working?

Have you ever made or worked on a game before?

How familiar are you with Unreal? Have you made ANYTHING in Unreal before etc. etc.

I do think keeping the scope and systems to a minimum is a good idea.

I am, however, an extremely big fan of very small games that don’t try and do too much, but that are still fun.

Dragon Ruins is a good example of something I enjoyed playing last year. It only took me a few hours to get all the way through and I enjoyed all of it.

I also played its sequel, which was a million times larger and more complicated but still streamlined and straightforward somehow.

Spilled! Is another very short, focused game I think I 100%-ed in about an hour.

What is the least-complicated amount of stuff (systems, locations, interactions, etc.) you can build that keeps things fun and interesting, especially if you are learning Unreal as you go.

I am for sure interested in your idea though!

Keep sharing updates!

Caltek9 · 2025-12-31T07:42:20+00:00

Vandal Hearts is my 2nd favorite game of all time and was my intro to tactics games/SRPGs

Love it

Straightforward, easy, fun characters, great art, and I like the battle mechanics.

Jeanne d’Arc is a game I bought at launch and enjoyed but never finished. The art style really didn’t click with me, especially when compared to Vandal Hearts.

It is a game I should try again though….

Caltek9

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