Topic: How would you rank the Switch 2 Direct exclusive games?

Mario Kart World > The Duskbloods > Donkey Kong Bananza > Kirby Air Riders > Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment > Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster >>> Survival Kids > Drag x Drive > Nintendo Switch 2 World Tour

Opinions? Thoughts?

I think the top five are really strong. The last few? Ehhhhh....

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster appears to be an exclusive as well.

At least, I can't find notations of it being ported to other platforms.

Adding to the list.

An exclusive without an actual physical release (it's a dreaded "Game key card" release).

Poor destitute Square Enix couldn't fit a 3DS game on a Switch 2 cartridge.

@SillyG

Yeah, unfortunately the whole vibe I get coming out of the Switch 2 Direct is that this will be mostly a digital platform. Very few third party publishers are going to be willing to pay for and use Switch 2 cartridges. Boutique publishers like Limited Run will have more leverage in the limit print gold rush.

The price hike even for last generation games is worrying.

AU$110 for Mario Party Jamboree?

If this is how Nintendo are pricing their smaller games, third parties hoping to appeal to more frugal gamers have no chance.

But yaay for LRG, I guess.

Imagine making a 3DS game remaster Switch 2 exclusive lol

Age of Imprisonment, the DK game, and Mario Kart all look solid. The rest basically don't exist for me (considered the From Software exclusive, but mp-only isn't it for me).

@Magician
Yea. Nintendo's stuff will still be physical, but Limited Run and such are going to have a big role to play.

I'm still staying physical. I'm not deterred.

Very excited. I'm so happy about DK over Odyssey 2.

Mario Kart >>> everything else >>> the typical new system shovelware

Honestly, it's not PS5 and Series X levels of bare cupboard, but there's only one game that's selling the system to me, and it's not enough for me to want to pick it up at launch.

1. DK — looks fun to destroy things. 2025 Buy
2. Kirby - it's Kirby. Probably 2025 buy.
3. Mario Kart - will probably get eventually
4. Hyrule Warriors - May get eventually.
5. Drag x Drive - I'm not getting this but it looks cool.
6. Welcome Tour - would be neat if free.
7. Bravely Default - it looks fine.
8. Duskbloods - not for me, but kinda neat.
9. Survival Kids - not sure why, but this didn't look great to me (I also didn't notice it was exclusive)

I realize it doesn't count as exclusive for this list, but the Switch 2 version of Pokemon Z-A looks significantly better than the Switch 1 version and would be high on my list.

This seems fun. Let's do it.

1. Mario Kart World: Not even the biggest Mario Kart fan, but this looks so good. Knockout mode is genuinely something I've wanted for ages, and so is the open world. Can't wait to see more.
2. DK Bananza: I was hoping for 3D Mario, and I got something just as good if not better.
3. Hyrule Warriors The Imprisoning War: Liked Age of Calamity, and this looks like more of that, but it runs competently this time.
4. Kirby Air Riders: Little disappointed this is what Sakurai has been working on, but might still play it. It needs to show me why I need it though, considering I'll already have Mario Kart.
5. Duskbloods: "I can't believe it's not bloodborne!"
6. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour: Why does this cost money?
7. Drag x Drive: Honestly looks really unfun. I would like to be wrong though. Those controls just do not look fun to use at all.
8. Bravely Default: I don't like saying this, but who asked for this?
9. Survival Kids: Why was this even in the direct? It looks like shovelware.

Overall first party stuff looks good. Especially since most of this stuff is coming around the launch window.

1.) MK World - have gotten a ton of value out of MK8D but MAN was this impressive. checked all the right boxes for what i'd want in an update (hoping they bring it to parity with all the characters and outfits from Tour)
2.) Bananza (really the top 2 are a tie) - DK64 is an absolute favorite of mine but has aged horribly imo. Very happy to see that it's kind of just odyssey with a different main character
3.) Kirby Air Riders - never thought i'd see the day where it gets a remaster let alone a full on sequel
4.) Duskbloods - good on nintendo for securing some fromsoft exclusivity even if it's a (partly) multiplayer game
5.) Drag x Drive - cautiously optimistic, love the concept, controls could get bad though, and they didn't show much in the way of game modes and features etc. Curious about pricing on that one
6.) Welcome Tour - I'm a sucker for this kind of thing even though I am shocked it'll be paid. But since it's digital-only and they used the term "tech demo" in the announcement, I have to imagine it'll be like $10
7.) Survival Kids - really like the vibe and aesthetic but uncertain it'll be that fun
8.) Bravely Default - know this was a long time coming for its fans (i think?) but I have too many other jrpgs in the backlog
9.) Hyrule Warriors (another one..?) - could be interesting for lore reasons but did not vibe with the first 2 installments at all. Weird that there are now more warriors games than mainline hyrule switch games

pretty promising lineup, plenty of honorable mentions in the rest of the direct (silksong & witchbrook confirmation are AMAZING), metroid prime 4 and pokemon ZA both look great with their switch 2 versions, tony hawk, elden ring, and finally being able to play madden on a portable nintendo console that isn't a DS have all got me pretty excited. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others too

1. MK World (Blew away all of my expectations, I didn't think a sequel to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe could top it in scope but here we are)
2. DK Bananza (I've been wanting another 3D DK game in so long and this one looks absolutely gorgeous)
3. Kirby Air Riders (Air Ride 1 is one of my favorite games. I'm a bit worried about Sakurai touching Modern Kirby but otherwise this looks awesome)
4. Welcome Tour (Wish this was free but I'm a sucker for these dumb tech demos so I'm probably getting it anyway)
5. Drag x Drive (I'm willing to hear Nintendo out on this one because I'm always down for weird new IPs, but the trailer looked pretty sparse so we'll have to see)
6. Duskbloods + Bravely Default (I don't really have much interest in either of these games myself, but I'm aware how big they are and I'm excited for everyone else who is)
7. Hyrule Warriors (I don't like AoC or TotK that much so this doesn't appeal to me at all, but I'm sure it'll still be a solid enough warriors game)
8. Survival Kids (This game made zero impression on me)

Beyond the exclusives, the Jamboree and Forgotten Land DLC look cool, Deltarune and Silksong are exciting, the third-party lineup is impressive, and I'm as excited to play Metroid Prime 4 as anyone else.

I like FromSoft games but mp games aren't really my thing. I'm looking forward to revisitng botw & totk. Metroid 4 looks good and mk world I suspect I'll get with the bundle if I'm lucky. Welcome tour is a hard pass it should be free. Not an exclusive but I'm really looking forward to raidou remastered.

Hyrule warriors is my system seller (if I weren’t waiting), then DK, then Kirby, then Mario Kart. Personally, I am more hyped for the 3rd party games (STREET FIGHTER 6) and the already announced switch games (taking switch 2 versions into account. ) If I was buying at launch I am already 10 games in. So that’s a great launch for me.

I think it’s gonna be easy to have a biased opinion on Mario Kart with the whole price discourse but for the game itself … Probably Nintendo most ambitious game since BOTW. It’s REALLY ambitious ! They could have played it very safe and it would have sold batsht crazy like 8 Deluxe.

If the game gets stellar reviews (which is a real possibility ) it might be worth that crazy price haha.

1. Mario Kart World - Looks absolutely stunning
2. Donkey Kong Bananza - So happy to get a new DK game, especially a big 3D one
3. Kirby Air Riders - I haven't played Air Ride (hopefully GameCube NSO will give me a chance to) but it's great to see it getting a sequel all these years later
4. Drag x Drive - The trailer didn't give us a lot to go on but it looks fun, and I'm always on board for new Nintendo IPs with weird control schemes
5. Switch 2 Welcome Tour - I like the 'Nintendo console launch game that shows you what the console does' genre, although I still can't believe this one costs money
6. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment - I've yet to play the other Hyrule Warriors games so I have no real opinion on this, but it looks pretty similar to Age of Calamity so far
7. Bravely Default HD - This is a game I do want to play at some point, but... I already can do so on 3DS. Still, nice that a (hopefully) improved version will exist
8. The Duskbloods - Probably not my thing, but it's impressive for Nintendo to have a third-party exclusive of this magnitude
9. Survival Kids - Realistically I'd probably rather play this than Duskbloods, but I don't think I would have remembered it existed if it hadn't been mentioned here

Well if they want Switch 2 games you get Switch 2 games. Unless you have the Switch v1 game version and get patches to update the game but we have to know do you pay for it or is it free or free update if you have NSO but to paywall at NSO+expansion is a bad route to go. It should be for both NSO options as people are paying for it already.

1. Mario Kart World - It is everything I want madio kart to be. Plain and simple.
2. Donkey Kong Bananza - Its not what I imagined 3D DK to be, but it looks really fun nontheless. I really want to break through the ground and find gold!
3. Kirby Air Riders - Sakurai is making it, so I trust it will be great.
4. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment - I don't really like warriors games, but I would love to see if this game will fix ToTK's story.
5. Switch 2 Welcome Tour - I had to do a double take when I learned it wasn't free. Still looks quirky, but why is it paid?
6. Drag x Drive - Looks uncomfortable to control to me, but I'm super happy for people who think it looks great!
7-9. Bravely Default HD, The Duskbloods, Survival Kids - No opinion.

1. Donkey Kong Bananza - I'm honestly so glad they went with this instead of a new 3D Mario, because it feels like they might be doing some more experimental titles for this generation. It looks great and like a ton of fun.

2. Mario Kart World - Looks genuinely incredible, I could definitely see myself sinking hours upon hours into this game, it looks massive. I hope there's a big emphasis on online. Unfortunate that it's gonna be $80, but to be fair, with the open world, it looks to be about the same size as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which I saw someone point out is $80 with the Booster Course Pass. I hate to say it, but I'm warming up to the idea of it being $80 a little more (plus cartridges with this much data are a lot more expensive to produce).

3. Kirby Air Riders - I've never played the original, but i'm super excited for this game. What a suprise man.

4. The Duskbloods - A Fromsoft Switch 2 Exclusive. What?

5. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment - Never got into the warriors games but I will give them another go after seeing this. It looks cool, not much else to say about it. Didn't feel like direct material, but still cool.

6. Drag X Drive - LEGS THE VIDEO GAME
Nah but this looks like a fun time, not a fan of the graphics, the game looks a bit same-y/empty, I hope the final product has more variety in stages. Overall very cool little game, love to see new IPs.

7. Bravely Default HD - Why wasn't this just a Switch 1 game in last week's direct..? (Also Game Key Card physical version blegh!)

8. Survival Kids - I choose to believe this game froze the direct and made us NoA viewers miss Cyberpunk 2077 and FFVII Remake (and almost miss silksong)

Wonderful Direct.

EDIT: Forgot about Welcome Tour. Should have been a pack-in. 0/10 least excited for will not be buying.