Switch Terraria on Switch: The Pro's and Con's

Synyster44

Terrarian
This is probably going to be a fairly long post, as I have many gripes with this version of the game, but also have many things that I love about it as well. I considered using a list-like layout, but I think a review-type format would work best for my goal here.

Preface:
As of this morning, I have completed Terraria for the Switch. For the first time in my extensive experience as a (console-based) Terrarian (2012, to be exact), I have defeated Duke Fishron, the Celestial Towers, and the Moon Lord. This accomplishment has sparked within me a passion I haven't felt for this game in a long time, and there are some things I want to speak profoundly on. I've had some great moments with this release of the game, moreso than most other versions I've played. My current repertoire of Terraria versions that I've played includes PS3, 360, Mobile (Android), 3DS, PS4 (Pre-PC Equivalent and Post), and now Switch, with my most-played being PS3 from early 2014 to late 2017 at roughly 500 hours. I also have 50ish hours on 360, over 200 hours on Mobile, another 50 or so hours on 3DS, and about 150 hours on PS4. My current play time on Switch sits at 125 hours, being my third most played Switch game behind Super Mario Maker 2 at 145 hours and Smash Ultimate at 1,160 hours. For reference, I bought my Switch specifically for Smash Ultimate's release in December 2018, bought Mario Maker 2 on release day last year, and have owned Terraria since Christmas 2019. So, 1 and a half months. Needless to say, I have a ton of Terraria experience under my belt and therefore feel qualified to speak on the matter at hand.

The Pro's:
Let's start this off on a positive note, because lord knows there are A LOT of negatives. The greatest plus to this version is, if you're already familiar with current-gen console Terraria (PS4, XB1), then you already know how to play the Switch version. I play in docked mode, with a Pro Controller, and it's exactly the same as playing the PS4 version. That can't be said for some other notable releases of the game. Mobile took me FOREVER to get the feel for when I bought it back in 2013, and the 3DS version was much the same in 2016. And sure, when PS4 was updated with PC's UI and control scheme for controllers, it took me quite a while to get used to, but it was still far more intuitive than old-gen, mobile and 3DS. It feels good to play Terraria on the Switch. Another huge positive is the ability to play it anywhere, and while I have yet to play it in handheld, as I don't play my Switch in handheld except on the rare occasion, it's nice to have that option. If I plan on going anywhere for any length of time, I can still farm Chlorophyte whenever I want. But probably most important pro to the Switch version is the absolute diversity of playstyles. This is more a testament to the Switch itself, but by proxy, the fact that you have so many controller options and control schemes available makes this the second most diverse version of Terraria available, just behind the PC version, which of course supports mouse/keyboard.

The Con's:
Crashes, crashes, and yet MORE CRASHES. This game is a bit of an unstable mess. Admittedly its all new hardware that Redigit and his teams have never had to work with before, and also admittedly, every version of Terraria was rife with bugs and glitches for several months after release. Some were fixed with quick response time, such as the javelin glitch in 3DS and the Dungeon Guardian bug in old-gen, while others weren't fixed until a major update was pushed out. That seems to be what we are seeing with the Switch version. Rather than making it the focus as the newest entry in the family of Terraria, it kind of has to take the backseat while Pipeworks gets 1.35 ready to roll out on current gen consoles. That's unfortunate, because many bugs are causing many players, myself included, huge chunks of lost progress. Just yesterday I encountered a glitch that lost me my Legendary Terra Blade, an immense loss but not one I couldnt recover from as I'd just gotten an Influx Waver. The glitch occurred thanks to an issue with autoswing while trying to sort chests. It causes the player, and their character, to freeze, while everything else continues. It was raining, and continued to rain after. It was in the process of autoswing, and that completed as well. But the game wouldn't respond to any inputs by myself, and upon closing the application and booting my world back up, my precious Terra Blade was absent from my inventory and the chest. I assume this bug is a result of the devs trying hard to ensure duping glitches don't work, and if so, this is not the correct solution. The sheer rarity of Broken Hero Swords made this a tremendous blow to my desire to continue playing. Another huge bug I'm experiencing is the game crashing completely when I attempt to use Holy Arrows with either the Tsunami or the Phantasm. Particularly in heavily NPC populated areas like the Cavern layer, during the Plantera boss fight, or during the Celestial Towers event. The game just completely freezes up entirely, unlike the last bug I detailed. Music stops, rain stops, NPCs stop. Everything freezes. This was particularly devastating during my first fight with the Moon Lord, because up on reloading my game, the boss despawned and I was forced to do the Lunatic Cultist and the Celestial Towers all over again.

In conclusion, Terraria on the Switch is loads of fun, infuriating at times, diverse, and probably the best AND the worst we've ever seen since it's original release in 2011. It's a shame Relogic and Pipeworks is so focused on 1.35 and Joyrney's End to get us a fix for these and many other bugs plaguing Switch users, but as always, our patience will be rewarded by this amazing dev team time and time again.
 
The port was pretty clearly shoved out the door and that's a shame because the Switch will be around for a long time. They should have delayed the project imo, but I can't speak for the vast amount of information I am probably lacking as to why this in particular is such a buggy and unstable version.
 
The port was pretty clearly shoved out the door and that's a shame because the Switch will be around for a long time. They should have delayed the project imo, but I can't speak for the vast amount of information I am probably lacking as to why this in particular is such a buggy and unstable version.
I agree. They definitely should have spent more time polishing. It's a great port for sure, but they should have ensured that they were working within the Switch's specs. It just can't handle the game entirely at this point, so Switch users have to miss out on a lot of different builds and mechanics or risk losing progress, plus these odd glitches involving sorting shouldn't be happening, they've had 8 consoles now to work on duping in a way that doesn't make innocent players lose their valuable gear. I'm sure the 1.35 equivalent will come jam-packed with plenty of bug fixes, but who wants to wait that long? We don't even have an ETA on the update yet, and they've already said they're not working on local co-op until after 1.35. I mean, companies release hotties all the time, why can't Relogic?
 
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