The Nintendo Switch Presentation aired at 4am UK time, which meant getting up early to catch it live. The question is, was it worth it? The answer is yes, at least in my opinion.
I won’t be going through the entire event, but I will talk about the things that really stood out to me.
We were introduced to the Nintendo Switch hardware, and various ways which you can use the Joy-Con controllers to play games. The controllers have some pretty interesting features. Most of these you’ll probably be familiar with if you saw the Nintendo Switch introduction video that Nintendo put out some time ago.
There were new features, as well. The HD Rumble, motion controls and gyroscope were all things that were introduced, and sure enough Nintendo has a couple of games that will take advantage of those things. Quite a major one is that the Switch will be region free.
The hardware stuff seems pretty neat, but it was the software that impressed me most. 1-2-Switch and ARMS both looked fairly interesting, but there were other games I was far more excited to hear about.
I love Splatoon, and it’s sequel, Splatoon 2, is looking like it’ll be a blast. Take a look at the trailer and see for yourself:
New weapons, new maps and new customisation options – I can’t wait to start covering everything in ink once more.
What’s a Nintendo console without a Mario game? Naturally, the Switch will be getting one of its own, called Super Mario Odyssey. I was really impressed by the look and feel of this game just from the trailer alone. The Wii U’s New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D Lands were both great games, but this looks exactly like what fans have been clamouring for: a proper 3d Mario title. Take a look:
The next two titles are a couple that I’m most excited about (well, there’s one more that I’m far more hyped for, but we’ll get to that in due time). Here’s the trailers for both, with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 first:
…and here’s one for Fire Emblem Warriors:
Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles X are both games I really enjoyed playing, and it pleases me to see the franchise return for the Switch. The one thing I hope that returns for this game is British voice actors – it was pretty much justified having Americans for Xenoblade Chronicles X, but since it’s a direct sequel of the first game (maybe) then I feel that would make most sense.
Hyrule Warriors and the 3DS port Hyrule Warriors Legends are both games that I adore, and to have the Warriors franchise crossover with my favourite video game franchise? Oh, yes, you can bet I’m excited about that.
I’m hoping that we’ll see representation from all of the Fire Emblem games, and not just Awakening and Fates. It’ll be interesting to see if they implement the class and promotion systems into the game, as well as the weapon triangle.
For gamers hoping to get an RPG fix, it seems like the Switch will have plenty of that. There’s the aforementioned Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but also confirmed was Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest XI, a new Shin Megami Tensei title and brand new RPG from Square Enix, Octopath Traveller.
We already knew that Skyrim is being released on Switch, but that was reconfirmed during the presentation. Suda 51 also put in an appearance to let us know that Travis Touchdown will be returning in a new No More Heroes game.
Oh, yeah, EA were there too.
After a montage of a whole host of third party games, we got arguably the most impressive trailer of the entire presentation.
Here it is in all its glory:
Even better, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is confirmed to be a launch title for the Nintendo Switch. The date it comes out?
March 3rd 2017.
The date is so close, yet somehow so far away at the same time.
Though the presentation concluded with the Zelda announcement, news kept rolling in afterwards. There’s definitely a few other titles that have been announced that I am keen to pick up and play.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will include all DLC from the Wii U version of the game and add the following new characters to the roster: King Boo, Dry Bones, Bowser Jr, Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl. It seems we’ll be getting proper battle modes this time around, as well as the return of the Boo and Feather items.
Two games that are coming to the Switch will allow me to relive different parts of my childhood. First, my primary school years, when my family owned a Sega Master System. We had a game on that called Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and I still love that game to this day. From the same franchise was Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, and I love that game too.
If you follow me on Twitter, you will have seen me retweet the news that Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap will be coming out on the Switch.
Moving on to my secondary school years, many a lunch break was spent playing on my DS together with my friends. Without a doubt that game that provided us with the most fun was Bomberman – the hilarity of eight player matches and killing each other with remote control bombs remains a fond memory for me.
Bomberman is set to return to the Nintendo Switch in Super Bomberman R, and I am very much looking forward to reliving that.
Another game that has my interest is Puyo Puyo Tetris – in which the two puzzle games cross over. I’m sure everyone is familiar with Tetris, because it’s available on practically everything.
Puyo Puyo might not be so familiar, though its inclusion in Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX means that I was introduced to it through Vocaloids. It’s a pretty great game, and the mash-up with Tetris might just make for a fiendishly addictive puzzle game.
Those are just some of my picks of what the Nintendo Switch has in store for us. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more news as time goes on, and I’ll probably share my thoughts on the stuff that interests me through Twitter.
Rory Muses 