Makes a lot more sense now lol.HotHamBoy thanks for bringing up the point of price parity between other versions pre-price drop. I had been mistaken about the original price because I thought it had released at $40 on other platforms and that the price had subsequently dropped before the Switch version release. I'm used to seeing the Switch Tax framed as "why should I pay X for this game when I can get it for Y on other platform," which only take the current price into account and usually discounts the cost of actually porting and publishing the game on the new platform. I consider that to be a fairly bad faith argument that falls under the same sort of umbrella as a lot of "lazy dev" complaints and I apologize for conflating your point with those arguments without better examining the point you were making.
Looking at the information you provided I'm going to concede that it looks like THQ is going above and beyond when it comes to milking the Switch audience.
To other posters points about what makes something a good port or a bad port, I would generally argue that if something is faithful to the original release and is free of technical issues then it is a good port. Issues with the game's mechanics are separate criticism from the technical merits of a port in my opinion. However, one thing that must be considered when looking at port quality is whether the UI and design elements have been updated to fit the new system and it seems like no effort was made to make the text and UI elements work well with the Switch. This may be splitting hairs but I would consider issues with targeting to be issues with the core design of the game, while issues with the UI being unreadable would be issues with the port. So even conceding that the game appears to run well on the Switch and that the core experience seems to be the same as other versions there is definitely and argument to be made that it is a bad port.
At any rate, after looking at some more footage and impressions of Titan Quest on the Switch I've decided to skip it and hope that the next ARPG on the system fares a bit better. I'll also be a bit more skeptical of THQ going forward, which I do find unfortunate because Battlechasers was a great deal of fun on the Switch and I was looking forward to trying De Blob as well.
Edit: Redcrayon Thanks for linking that article. I have Space Hulk on the Vita and it's an awful experience. Not only is the UI unreadable but the controls mapping is insane. I gave up trying to get a handle on it after an hour.
But yes, charging the original price on a new platform is totally understandable and I don't mind paying it if I want the game. It's the extra cost just for Switch owners that is shady.
Publishers almost always bone Switch owners on the "Switch Tax". That's nothing exclusive to THQ, sadly.
That's not really true. Most games don't have a Switch Tax. THQ isn't the only one who does it but they seem to do it the most.
I recommend not supporting games charging a Switch Tax because it will only encourage the practice. But if you really want a game you'll buy it. I don't care.
Just don't say I didn't warn you