Category: Games

The Nintendo Switch family has grown with the release of the Switch Lite, a more compact and affordable version of Nintendo’s hybrid console. While there’s little reason to pick one up if you already own a standard Switch, if you’re anything like us, you may find it hard to resist the lure of a new piece of gaming hardware–particularly one as lovely as the Switch Lite–and plan to use it as a secondary console.

If you fall into that camp, you’ll undoubtedly want to know how to share your game data between your two Switch systems. The good news is that it’s a relatively straightforward process, but you’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to do so, and it won’t work with every game. Here’s a full breakdown of how to share your data between the Switch and Switch Lite. If you’re trading in your regular Switch for a Switch Lite and want to transfer all of your data to the new system, check out our Switch transfer guide.

The Nintendo Switch Lite launched alongside The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’s remake on September 20. The system is available in three colors—turquoise, yellow, and gray—and retails for $200, which is $100 cheaper than a standard Switch. However, to cut costs and emphasize portability, the system is missing some of the Switch’s most distinctive features, such as detachable controllers and the ability to connect to a television.

In addition to the three launch colors, Nintendo is releasing a special Pokemon edition Switch Lite on November 8, a few days ahead of Pokemon Sword and Shield. This edition has blue and magenta face buttons, a light grey tone, and illustrations of the games’ Legendary Pokemon, Zacian and Zamazenta, on the back. You can read more about the console in our Nintendo Switch Lite FAQ, and if you’re interested in picking one up, be sure to check out our Nintendo Switch Lite pre-order guide.

Nintendo Switch Online

First things first: if you’re hoping to share your save data between your Switch and Switch Lite (or even another standard Switch), you’ll need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Through the service, you’re able to back up most of your game saves to the cloud, allowing you to access them on another console. However, there are a handful of games that don’t support cloud saves, which we’ll discuss further below, so you’ll need to think carefully about which Switch you play certain titles on, as your save will be locked to that system (unless you go through the hassle of manually transferring that data between consoles).

Link Your Nintendo Account

With the prerequisite NSO subscription out of the way, the first thing you’ll need to do is link your Nintendo Account to your new Switch. Once you’ve set up the console, here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Go into System Settings
• Highlight Users
• Choose the appropriate player profile (if there is more than one user on your console)
• Select Link Nintendo Account

From there, log in to your account and follow the remaining prompts to complete the process. If you have trouble you can read more about linking your Nintendo Account to Switch on Nintendo’s support website.

Changing Your Primary Console

You can link your Nintendo Account to multiple Switch systems; but you need to designate your main switch as the primary console. This means that any user on that system will be able to play the games you’ve downloaded. By contrast, only your user profile will be able to play your downloaded games on your non-primary console–something to keep in mind if you have multiple users on that system. Keep in mind that when you transfer your account from one Switch to another, the receiving Switch will be designated as the primary console.

There’s an additional caveat: you’ll need to have a persistent internet connection in order to play your downloaded games on your non-primary console, even if it’s single-player, so if you’re planning on using your Switch Lite on the go (the system’s entire raison d’être), it is recommended you make that your primary system. Fortunately, designating a new primary console is easy to do. Here’s what you need to do:

• Open the Eshop on your primary console
• Click on your user icon in the upper righthand corner
• Select the option to deactivate that Switch as your primary console

Once that’s done, access the Eshop on your second system with that same Nintendo Account and it will automatically become your new primary console.

Sharing Saves

With all that out of the way, you can begin filling out your new Switch Lite with any digital games you’ve previously purchased. To bring your save data over as well, highlight a game on the system dashboard, press the plus (+) button on your controller, then select Save Data Cloud Backup. After that, select Download Save Data and your cloud save will be downloaded to your system.

Note that this applies to physical games as well. Unusually, all Switch game save data is stored onto the system, not on the actual game cartridges, so if you’re picking up your progress in a physical game on your Switch Lite, you’ll need to first insert the game card into the system, then hit the plus button and follow the aforementioned steps to download your cloud save.

If you’ve enabled automatic backups, your data should be saved to the cloud automatically after you close your game or put your Switch to sleep, but if you’d like to ensure your save backups are up-to-date, you can also manually back them up. It is recommended you do this to make sure nothing goes wrong with the automatic backups, particularly if you’re planning on moving between both consoles frequently. You can enable auto backups on both systems, not just your primary one; however, an automatic backup will be canceled if data was already backed up from your other console.

To manually back up your save data to the cloud, select System Settings, then scroll down to Data Management on the left sidebar. From that menu, click on Save Data Cloud, select the appropriate user, and you’ll see a list of all your games that have cloud saves. If a title hasn’t been backed up recently, it will say “Not backed up” in red letters. If that’s the case, click on the game, and you’ll have the option to manually back up its save data to the cloud.

Which Games Don’t Support Cloud Saves?

As previously mentioned, while you’re able to back up most of your Switch game saves to the cloud, not all titles support this feature. Only a handful fall into this category thus far, but they include some of the system’s most notable releases, such as Splatoon 2, Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Let’s Go Eevee, and Dark Souls Remastered, and it appears the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons also won’t allow you to back up your data. You can see the full list of games that don’t support cloud saves so far below.

• 1-2-Switch
• Bass Pro Shops: The Strike – Championship Edition
• Blade II – The Return Of Evil
• Cabela’s: The Hunt – Championship Edition
• Catan
• Color Zen Kids
• Daemon X Machina
• Dark Souls Remastered
• Dawn of the Breakers
• Death Mark
• Dungeon Stars
• EA Sports FIFA 18
• EA Sports FIFA 19
• Exorder
• Fortnite
• Gems of War
• Go Vacation
• IN-VERT
• Lightseekers
• Minecraft
• Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
• Modern Combat Blackout
• NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
• Nidhogg 2
• Pixel Devil and the Broken Cartridge
• Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee!
• Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!
• The Raven Remastered
• Robbie Swifthand and the Orb of Mysteries
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
• Splatoon 2
• Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission – Launch Edition
• Taimumari: Complete Edition
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution

If you’d like to carry any of these saves over to your new system, you’ll need to manually transfer them. To do this, first highlight the game on the dashboard, press the plus button, then select Manage Software. From that menu, you’ll see an option to Transfer Your Save Data to a nearby system–click that to move your save over to your new console. Once this is done, however, you won’t have access to that save data anymore on your original system unless you transfer it back.

Other Things To Be Aware Of

For the most part, the Switch Lite is compatible with most of the games released for the platform. However, due to the fact the system lacks some of the base Switch’s features, not all games will work with it. The Nintendo Labo line, for instance, is incompatible with the Switch Lite because it lacks detachable Joy-Cons and an IR camera, and some titles, such as Super Mario Party, are not playable in handheld mode. You can see all the games that have compatibility issues with the Switch Lite in our roundup.

It’s been a long road for Final Fantasy XIV. Many folks who know Square Enix’s MMORPG are aware that it had to reinvent itself back in 2013, which subsequently saved the game and led to overwhelming success. But that wasn’t enough. The FFXIV team has outdone itself with the latest expansion, Shadowbringers, which has cemented the game as one of the greatest stories told in the long-running franchise. And it further disproves the perception that FFXIV is simply the MMO that bears the name of a famous RPG series.

Having been a few months removed from the launch of Shadowbringers, I had the opportunity to briefly correspond with FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida for a quick look back at how it came to be and what the future may hold. This includes what the Trust system of AI companions has done for the game, what a streamlined version of the base game will look like, and how it fits into the next console generation. But more importantly, he spoke to the vision that the writing team brought to life–namely Natsuko Ishikawa, who led the Shadowbringers narrative and received a standing ovation during the game’s PAX West 2019 panel after simply introducing herself–a moment that spoke to how she and the team nailed its storytelling, but also how a long-running MMO can leverage its deep lore to make an impact on its players.

Alphinaud and Alisaie playing diplomat for the Scions.

We’re still in the early days of Shadowbringers as a whole. At Tokyo Game Show 2019, Yoshida-san outlined what you’ll be able to do with New Game+ in the upcoming 5.1 patch due in late October. More notably, him and Nier series creator Yoko Taro talked about what you can expect from their collaboration, which will be a 24-player Alliance Raid, directly tied to Nier Automata, as part of the October patch. You may want to check out our full review of FFXIV Shadowbringers to get a better idea of why it’s so well regarded, and because having AI companions plays an immense role in the expansion, you’ll want to read about why the Trust system matters more than you may think.

If there’s one takeaway from this exchange, it’s that the team gave their all for Shadowbringers. Not only that, Yoshida-san has the utmost confidence that, no, they wouldn’t have done anything differently for this expansion. The following interview with Yoshida-san was conducted via email, facilitated and translated through Square Enix.

Narrative is one of the most important things in FFXIV, especially for Shadowbringers. How involved were you with the story’s creation and what sort of direction did you provide the writing team?

The first step is creating the overall game design for the expansion pack. With Shadowbringers, after we had completed the base design phase, I provided three initial directions to the development team:

1) The story will be set in the “First.” 2) The dark knight will be the “main job.” (i.e. becoming the Warrior of Darkness will be the main objective) 3) We will be implementing the Trust system, so the story should center around an adventure with the members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

I suggested a setting in which the world is covered in light, and night will only return when the Sin Eaters are defeated. In that instance, Ishikawa was able to smoothly implement this concept into the story. – Naoki Yoshida

With this direction as the foundation of the narrative, Natsuko Ishikawa, who oversees the main scenario, and Banri Oda, who oversees lore creation, had multiple discussions and created a plot. We then have what I call a “scenario writing camp,” where we take the base plot which was created and add details to it over a period of three days. Aside from Ishikawa, Oda, and myself, we also have two of our more experienced scenario writers join in this writing camp.

The overall structure of the story is formed during these three days, but even after that we do make changes. For example, I suggested a setting in which the world is covered in light, and night will only return when the Sin Eaters are defeated. In that instance, Ishikawa was able to smoothly implement this concept into the story. Additionally, Vauthry did not exist in the initial plot; since it felt like we were missing a definitive target to defeat at the halfway point of the story, I asked the team during the scenario writing camp to add a hideous antagonist like Jabba the Hutt to the story.

Under my instruction to align our gameplay experience concepts with the main scenario, our scenario lead, lore creation lead, and many other staff give it their all to create the best narrative possible. As a director, I devoted myself to literally just directing the game, but as the development team has shown great growth, I feel that my role in development isn’t as significant as before. 😛

Now that the Trust system has been widely used, is there anything that has particularly surprised you about reception from players? Is there any feedback that you are looking to take into consideration moving forward?

I feel the reaction from the fans is what we were aiming for in creating this system, and it seems players have really embraced it. We have received feedback regarding the Trust system, but unfortunately due to the complexity of the system’s mechanics, it would be difficult to simply add on new functions. Instead of adding new features and functions to the Trust system, our goal at this time is to create additional content that players can enjoy utilizing the Trust system.

Are there any aspects to these early days of Shadowbringers that didn’t pan out as expected? Anything you’d do differently?

No. This is the case for every expansion pack, but the development team, the operations team, and I feel that we have given our all in creating Shadowbringers, and it is the fruit of our labor. I truly believe that we accomplished something great, to the point that I feel karma would strike if I were greedy and asked for anything more. So no, there is nothing I would do differently. Of course, it was a lot of hard work, so in that sense I don’t know if I’d want to go through it again, either…lol.

Players will always have something to say in terms of job adjustments and balancing. At launch, Astrologian probably had the most contention. After tweaking things, where do you stand on the current balance between jobs?

As the gameplay experience is different for each job, it is difficult to simply compare the jobs side by side; however, as of patch 5.08, I feel that there is more of a statistical balance between each of the jobs in a specific role.

There are more adjustments which need to be made when it comes to overall control and feel, especially for Ninja and the Summoner which we are in the process of adjusting in Patch 5.1. I do not feel that the current job balance is perfect as is, and in the end each player will think differently about what the perfect balance is, so in that sense we may never reach perfection.

That being said, moving forward we will continue to make adjustments as necessary, so please keep an eye out for future updates.

As you recently revealed plans to streamline the main scenario in A Realm Reborn, can you give us any insight as to which parts you’re looking to abridge? Do you have a rough idea of how the streamlined version might compare to the current questline in terms of quest numbers or playtime?

I’m aware that there is a great sense of anticipation regarding these adjustments for A Realm Reborn. However, I feel that the community might set their expectations too high no matter what I say this far out, so I would like to refrain from going into any details. In general, we plan to simplify some quest objectives, omit any unnecessary quests, and speed up the flow of the ARR main scenario.

How has the success of FFXIV changed the future of the Final Fantasy brand, or changed Square Enix?

The best thing to come out of this success is that Square Enix’s relationship with the fans and players has become stronger. I think that many people who previously felt that Square Enix or the Final Fantasy brand were segmented now feel as though things are more open and accessible. I’m glad that FFXIV has become a starting point for us to further expand the Final Fantasy series, together with the fans, as comrades.

FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida.

I know you’re asked this many times, but where are you (and the team) at in terms of bringing FFXIV to other platforms (Xbox One or Google Stadia)?

You’re right. I’ve been asked this so many times that maybe we should have a template answer created for this!

Joking aside, my direction has never changed from the beginning when we started with A Realm Reborn: strive to have as many people play FFXIV on multiple platforms. Secondly, I want to allow people to play with their friends without any cross-platform limitations. I am still in discussion with Microsoft and Nintendo to make this a reality. If there are any updates, the fans will be the first to know, so please hold on tight.

Additionally, we are testing out the game not only on Stadia, but on various cloud streaming services. However, with FFXIV being a server-client MMORPG, it is not as easy to port to a cloud service as other standalone or P2P titles. My impression thus far is that playing the game will still depend heavily on the network environment the player is using.

How do you see FFXIV transitioning into the next console generation? Is the nature of the upcoming consoles making that more simple than, say, going from PS3 to PS4?

Similar to my previous response, the same concept drives this as well, which is having as many people play FFXIV on various platforms. I hope to be proactive in making the game compatible with next generation consoles. I assume that there wouldn’t be too many issues since we are porting the game to a newer platform.