We [Loved] RPGs!

It is August 31st, 2021, and I have just finished writing what I believe will be my last review for SwitchRPG.

I don’t know if I have any right speaking on behalf of the site directors with an article like this. But I do feel the desire to say my piece, as a long time contributor to the site and an individual with a sentimental bent. So without further adieu, here is an ode to SwitchRPG.

I don’t think a writing position or even a site has ever been more perfect for my personal sensibilities. I love RPGs. So much that I started writing my own blog about them and some general game design topics back at the start of 2018. I did it to exorcise some personal demons, to get thoughts about what I loved about this genre out into the ether. Luckily, it garnered the attention of the site directors here, and after a few tries writing, they offered me a position as a staff member. I wrote 81 articles, 103 reviews, and recorded a number of gameplay sessions in the three years that passed. I look back at those numbers and I find them hard to fathom, and that’s only a fraction of the amazing content that was put out by a talented staff, whose numbers shrank and grew over the years but always gave their best. I believed in a site like this: a database of all of the RPGs that were released on the Nintendo Switch, a renaissance for Nintendo fans that they hadn’t been witness towards since the days of the Super Nintendo. Honestly, it still boggles my mind to see the sheer amount of RPGs on the Switch eShop. There’s still so much I want to play, both in what has already been released, and what lingers on the horizon. Despite the work I’ve done, I still love RPGs. I think this site has given me an even deeper appreciation for them.

Earlier this year, I had very serious intentions to take a bow and step away from the site. I guess I believed that, despite my desire to continue playing games at a reduced clip and maybe enjoy them more rather than jump from new release to new release, the site would always be here. If I ever wanted to know what my former, fellow staff members had to say about Shin Megami Tensei V or Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, I would be able to swing by and check. If I wanted to see footage from some of the latest releases, I knew Gio would have a clip waiting. If I wanted to hear a sampling of excellent RPG tracks, I knew Ben would have a Bard Banter article nestled into the feed to read up on.

Now, those things will still be there, of course. SwitchRPG will remain as an archive of a brilliant and exciting part of the Nintendo Switch’s existence, as it climbed the charts, touted landmark titles in the Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, and Pokemon series, and experienced a waterfall of independent titles and enhanced ports that delighted and dizzied staff, readers, and overall Nintendo enthusiasts alike. But we won’t be moving forward after this. And while plenty of people will have thoughts about new releases around the corner, they’ll be scattered across the internet. We’ll have our Discord and our faithful followers to check in on and chat with, but this is, in some ways, the end of an era.

And that’s okay. Everything has a beginning and an end, and I know that this isn’t the end of our staff loving RPGs. I am proud to have called this site my home for the past three years. It has emboldened me to find value in my own writing, inspired me to start my own podcast, and most importantly, taught me to value what shared interests we have. I have made new friends, learned about new games, and come to realize that RPGs are a complicated topic to discuss, but that was and never will be a bad thing. Just remember a few important things from your time here on this site: