Yep, I loaded it up this afternoon and immediately got the introduction to Metang, so I was right there.
Trubbish had never asked for anything other than non-recyclable garbage to turn into iron ore, though, so I had no idea it was a general thing. I'm going to see if I can feed him anything else now, I'm sure there are lots of possibilities.
One thing Pokopia does unfortunately demonstrate is how shit a lot of the newer Pokemon are compared to the first couple of gens. Both Conkeldurr and Tinkaton are absolutely awful designs and they've unfortunately got big roles in the story. Also I had never realised how many Pokemon are just straight-up birds. The game very sensibly gives you a load of Gen 1 favourites long before it starts bringing in all the also-rans.
Oh OK, I've got some more building to do then! I've completed the stories in most of the areas but haven't particularly concerned myself with beautifying the areas, and most of my Pokemon are still living in bushes.
Currently stuck because I don't know how to get
Spoiler - click to showpaper
but maybe raising the Environment levels will help with that.
While it is obviously a wonderful game, I am finding some of the wait timers, as I get closer to the end, a little frustrating. It gives it the slight air of a mobile game which is at odds with the quality of the rest of it.
I’m currently
Spoiler - click to showrepairing the big building in the Skylands
which I’m assuming is fairly close to the end. But I’ve barely dabbled with the whole town-building and prettification side of things which really is an entire game in itself, I keep finding massive new areas I hadn’t suspected were there, and I’ve found less than a third of the available Pokemon so far, so yes - behemoth is the right word.
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Monster Train 2 is brilliant and it's one of those sequels that makes the original game completely redundant (you'll see why). The only thing the first game has going for it is a slightly easier onboarding - as you say, MT2 does chuck you in at the deep end with both the initial clans having a few mechanics going on - but once you've got a game or two under your belt, you should be on board with it.
The Switch 2 is turning into a really great console, despite not having that many games yet (although Pokopia is a definite system seller). It's surprising how much difference it makes having a Nintendo console with some actual technical ooomph behind it.
I never really gelled with the Switch - I played a few of the big obvious titles but mostly skipped it in favour of the Xbox. I'm now starting to work my way through some of the games I've missed and it's like having a brand new console library. Even without Boost mode (I don't tend to play handheld), the extra performance a lot of these games get from the Switch 2 is enough to transform them. Hopefully we'll see a few more specific Switch 2 upgrades along the way as well to really make the most of the system.
Plus the NSO retro stuff is amazing, seven generations of Nintendo console right there, with the right controllers if you want them. I find myself looking forward to every time a new GameCube game drops.
I think there are still a few updates it needs - the lack of VRR in TV mode is an obvious one - but it's a great machine and will only get better with time.
Garwoofoo