Yes, I think the Switch is a highly future proof concept that could stand the test of time for a long while. As long as phones, tablets, and TVs remain popular I think the Switch will be fairly desirable, and the Switch can really break down and mix and match its components (the screen, the controller, and the dock) whenever one of them needs an improvement while keeping the others the same. I think for the foreseeable future Nintendo should focus on building on the concept of the Switch and improving what it does wrong or could be done better.
Biggest thing I can see right now that would be a prime area for next gen improvement (beyond predictable things like graphics and power) is the inability to keep it in your pocket well like a proper handheld. Bringing back the clamshell design of the DS and 3DS, perhaps with foldable screen technology currently being pioneered by phones, would be a great next step. My dream scenario though, would be if the screens can't just fold, but detach. That would allow the Switch to truly emulate the DS, 3DS, and Wii U (the Switch kind of does already, but not much) and fully contain the DNA of every past console like they claimed with the Switch. You could have the dual screen handheld mode like the DS and 3DS. You could dock one and connect the other to the Joycons to have the Gamepad setup of the Wii U. You could even do something completely new and give one screen to a player alongside a Joycon. The only hurdle for that is for the two screens to be able to communicate with each other with minimal lag, and the technology might not be there yet for it to be a reality next gen, but if they can overcome that I think they'll go for it. That would be a very Nintendo thing to do that would be a real innovative step forwards for the Switch and I could easily see people enjoying that concept if done correctly.
But if it's just a more powerful Switch with some minor gimmick that doesn't upset the apple cart (like what 3D was for the DS -> 3DS), that's fine too. It would still be exciting to see bigger and better Switch games next gen.
Not surprised, the quality of 1st party games wasn't great in 2022. I'm a bit surprised Pokemon Legends Arceus and Kirby and the Forgotten Land aren't higher, but that's about it.
@Anachronism Ehh, I think they have leftover ideas from Odyssey that they could make into an Odyssey 2, similar to Galaxy. I don't think they're going to wait until next gen for that.
Link's Awakening was a remake and we haven't had a new 2D Zelda in 10 years, we could use a second one.
That's the thing, this kind of content is what you expect 1 or 2 years after release. 5 years after release you expect a new game, not DLC. As for what a sequel could do, there's plenty of things. There's tons of Tour mechanics they could adapt to console for one, variant courses, the point system could return as a Score Attack alternate mode, the frenzy system, the goddamn shop (why do they insist on unlocking karts and parts through random coin totals instead of a shop, this is long overdue), bring back missions. Beyond that, they could add a track builder, bring back Double Dash Mode, add a track builder, go open world like Diddy Kong Racing or Forza Horizons. There is far, FAR too much that can be done to build on MK8 to be coasting on it for 10 goddamn years and it just reeks of laziness and cash grabbing. SOME kind of new Mario Kart game on console, even a spinoff or side entry that won't cannibalize 8D (and don't even bring up Home Circuit, which also did nothing to build on Mario Kart and was just a toy gimmick to sell to young kids), feels absolutely needed right now with how long it's been since we've seen any true evolution in the series. And with the Switch reinvigorating a lot of IPs and coming up with bold new ideas, it's even more disappointing that they've gone this direction because it's totally opposite to what those other IPs are doing. Imagine what a Mario Kart game designed from the ground up for the Switch to be similarly groundbreaking as some of those other IPs would be like, but nope, they say LOL just let everyone keep buying 8. Profoundly disappointing situation here and the biggest letdown on the Switch by far.
@iLikeUrAttitude Kind of, but you can't have a good year without a big, 10+ million seller anchoring the lineup and this year felt lacking in that department hence the disappointment. You need a heavy hitter like that to drive sales and get people excited. Just having niche games drive the year as it did... isn't going to do much for sales and hype. Now if they can come up with more IPs or grow their existing IPs to that level, great, but until then you shouldn't be too surprised to see 3 times as many people complaining about not having the game that sells 3 times as much. That's just common sense.
@Serpenterror Because most of the new games we did get are for niche IPs that only a handful of dedicated fans are excited for and any remotely big IP we got had some kind of issue. The likes of Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, and Bayonetta are not huge sellers. It's great for those fanbases, but most people just don't care about those IPs, there are Switch games that have sold twice, 5 times, even 10 times as much as those games. Splatoon 3 felt rehashy with them mainly repeating the same gameplay mode from 2 and failing to add new ones. Mario Kart just got mobile ports as DLC. Pokemon Legends Arceus was great, but a bit small and limited. And Pokemon Scarlet/Violet was a glitch fest. TotK's delay, Mario Kart getting cash grabby DLC instead of a legitimate new entry, and the lack of anything from main series Mario really hurt this lineup and any comparisons to 2017 (as BotW, Mario Odyssey, and MK8D were the three biggest cornerstones of that lineup).
@Anachronism One entry per console isn't a hard and fast rule, and there are some IPs that have gotten multiple. And some already have multiple. Any kind of single player adventure game doesn't really need to wait for new hardware, and the big one there is Mario, which has mainly been ports/remakes since 2017. What has the Odyssey team been doing for the last 6 years? Some of the 2018/2019 stuff feels like it could be ready for new entries depending on their plans, so we could see stuff like 2D Mario, 2D Zelda, Yoshi, and Luigi's Mansion pop up again. Metroid feels like it's ready for something now even with the development restart. And Splatoon got two games this generation, so even some multiplayer games weren't immune. Mario Kart absolutely did not need the Booster Course pack, they could've made a new entry or at least some kind of better filler than copy/pasted Tour ports (they didn't even port the best parts of Tour, just the basic bitch track design). So no, blowing the big names earlier in the lifespan isn't really much of an excuse here and the later lineup is definitely lacking. You really have to wonder just what some of these teams are doing, especially at EPD, who feels like they've been twiddling their thumbs since the pandemic began.
@johnvboy No, there's more to the Switch Pro expectations than being disappointed by the specs. Previous Nintendo handhelds have always had mid-gen revisions that provided a specs increase (albeit a minor one) and new features, such as the GBA SP, DSi, and New 3DS. The Switch OLED... doesn't really fit this mold. It's mainly the same and just has a different screen. Closer to the 3DS XL than the New 3DS. Part of the disappointment was that people wanted to see the Switch's New 3DS and it's looking like we won't ever get one now.
I absolutely think that a Switch Pro similar to the previous handheld revisions was planned. Now I don't think it would've quite been the specs bump people wanted, but it would've been something. But then the chip shortage happened and they couldn't get the new chips they needed so they gutted everything that would require a new chip and what was left became the Switch OLED.
It was a pretty good year, but I think the big thing is it ended in kind of a whimper. Most of the good games IMO were earlier in the year and I was waiting for Nintendo to announce some bigger games later in the year and they didn't and I was left thinking "Wait, that's it?". Legends Arceus and Kirby were great games and really started this year off on the right foot, but aside from Scarlet/Violet, there was nothing I was interested in for the entire rest of the year and really everything they had was either niche or didn't push the envelope enough to justify its existence. Everyone raves about Xenoblade, Bayonetta, and Fire Emblem, but none of them have cracked 5 million in sales so they're kind of niche, and personally I also find the combat quite boring in all three. Splatoon 3 is a rehash of 2. And Mario Kart got the worst possible content it could get, mobile ports of old tracks we've already played before, which is honestly a tossup for me if that's better than nothing. Felt like 2022 needed at least 1 more heavy hitter, or for Splatoon and MK to be better than what we actually got, for it to be a banger year, but otherwise I'm underwhelmed, especially for the second half of the year.
@TheExile285 7 Star Raids weren't a thing in SwSh, the highest they went was 5 Star. And 5 Star Raids were about the same difficulty as the 5 Star Raids in this game, so it's definitely a massive difficulty spike from SwSh.
Just gave it a try and didn't have a chance, even with Lv. 100 Pokemon. Doesn't help that all I have to use against it is Iron Valiant (which got destroyed by Acrobatics), Farigiraf, and Corviknight (which don't resist Fighting). Looking at some of the successful builds on here, this is some competitive tier BS that I don't want to be part of, I subscribe to the Karen philosophy and don't want to have to be limited to the handful of Pokemon the meta says are good and have to max them out, that's no fun. F this noise, I'm just going to wait for Home.
@Scoopz There is so much room for improvement in Mario Kart that they need several games for Mario Kart to reach its full potential. Tour's shown some of it, but as a mobile gacha game it's one step forward and one step back and we need a console game that includes its upgrades (and no, not just the courses ported to the Booster Course pack). Holding off on a new entry until next gen delays the improvements needed and makes the series feel somewhat dated in some ways when a MK9 released around this time could've included a bit more of the modernizations it needs.
@Narrator1 It's a good thing that we're seeing Tour content released on MK8D, but they picked the worst content to port to 8D. It honestly feels like a tossup whether or not the Booster Course pack is better than nothing. There are so many better mechanics from Tour that would've been more worthwhile and would've reinvigorated the gameplay, variant courses, the score system, frenzies, the return of special items, an actual freaking shop system. But nope, all they want is to bring back Tour's basic bitch track design which is largely copy/pasted from 7 and other recent MK games so it just feels like you're playing the same old tracks with a new coat of paint. Massive disappointment and massive waste of potential for what they expect to be the major stopgap until the true MK9. Mario Kart deserves better than this.
Yoshi's Story was pretty meh, too short and repetitive.
I'd really like to see Good Feel do a reimagining of the game, though. Imagine what they could come up with returning to the storybook theme and making this game more like Woolly/Crafted World, having pop-up book mechanics that could open and close to affect the level, pulling out platforms with pull tabs using Yoshi's tongue, etc. That would really make this game amazing.
Only games I played this year that were worth my time were the two Pokemon games and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. They win the top 3 by default. GoTY would be SV, but the other two aren't far behind. I was really disappointed in how this year played out and expected more, but those three are good enough games to keep this year from being terrible.
@Debbiee There's actually been 4 NSMB, there was also the original game on the DS and NSMB2 on the 3DS. A Switch game would be the 5th one. As for why it hasn't happened yet, it's probably because the NSMB series gets a lot of complaints for feeling too rehashy, the games all feel pretty similar to each other and seem to do little new or different that makes them feel unique or ambitious. Nintendo is probably holding off on another one to put some thought into where they want 2D Mario to go next and at this point I think the next 2D game is going to be next gen. Having a new, original 2D Mario game going in a new direction would make for a very strong launch title.
LGPE was a product of Game Freak thinking mobile was the end all be all for gaming (they even thought early on that the Switch would fail and Nintendo would have to transition to mobile because no one would want dedicated consoles anymore). They used it to try and attract mobile gamers to the Switch. But that strategy doesn't seem to have worked well because it sold about the same as other remakes (meaning most likely longtime fans that already buy consoles bought it, not mobile gamers) and fans complained about the mobile direction. And what really succeeded on the Switch is BotW, and you can see with what they did with SwSh, LA, and SV that they've picked up on the demand for such experiences and transitioned Pokemon in that direction as well. So I don't think they want another Let's Go game anymore, they've gone in a completely different direction. We could still get a Johto remake, but it's more likely to be BDSP style and/or Legends style. You'd probably want to hope for Legends style because that's more likely to include what LGPE did right.
Banjo-Kazooie is Microsoft, and Microsoft is not Nintendo. They don't seem to know how to make platforming games successful or what people want out of them, so Banjo-Kazooie is probably screwed. This is why Playtonic formed and created Yooka-Laylee.
DK is the one that's truly a mystery. The rumors stated that it was intended for DK's 40th which was 2021, but it's 2 years later and not a whisper of DK from Nintendo. You can probably blame DK's absence on Retro, they've mysteriously not released anything in 8 years and as of 2019 they've been working on Prime 4, so that's why the long gap. The new one is supposedly being worked on by the EPD Tokyo team (which typically works on 3D Marios, but according to some rumors has expanded and can now work on both 3D Mario and DK), and it feels like we should have an announcement now, but nothing. There's some speculation that it has something to do with the Mario movie and they want to coordinate it with that release, but Nintendo typically doesn't care about that so IDK if that's it. Out of all your hopes, that one seems the most likely to be announced this year and we'll just have to hope something materializes.
@Debbiee You... might want to keep your expectations in check for those unannounced titles. We'd be lucky to even get a quarter of that list in one year, and many of these don't seem particularly likely to happen period because their series haven't sold well enough for their developers to want to make a new one. Only a handful of titles seem remotely plausible predictions for next year. I think you're going to be very disappointed this time next year if that's what you're looking forward to.
Honestly there's not much announced that I'm excited for aside from TotK. But usually we don't know much about the upcoming year period, so that's typical. Only other game I'm remotely interested in is Pikmin 4, but that might not even be my second most anticipated game in 2023 if they announce something bigger (where's Donkey Kong and 3D Mario Nintendo? Where's the re-reveal for Prime 4? Feels like it's been time for them for the last 1-2 years).
I don't mind the artstyle, but the gameplay belongs in the past. I don't want to play a Zelda game where the only exploration is boring empty sea or a Zelda game that you control solely with the touch screen, those kinds of experiments aren't good enough to be repeated. Now pair the Toon Link artstyle with gameplay more like ALttP, ALBW, or Minish Cap? I'd be totally down for that, those are great games oozing with charm and the Toon style would/does look great with that. It's the gameplay, not the artstyle that turns me off to games like Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.
Not interested in the generic shooty bang war games, they all feel like the same freaking game. I buy Nintendo consoles to get away from that schlock and play games that are you know... fun and creative.
@Draxa No, they don't and that's something I was disappointed in. You can see the shinies, but the jingle only plays in battle, not in the overworld. So you can very easily fly right by a shiny and not even know it. Definitely need to bring this back from LA next game.
The mechanic where the ball shakes only once before catching has been a thing since Gen 5, it's called a Critical Capture. That's not something LA gave us.
Also can I give mention to the final arc as well? Without spoiling, man I never expected a Pokemon plot to go in that direction, especially with the truth behind what Prof. Sada/Turo was doing.
Level scaling is the biggest thing this game needs, without it you don't truly have the freedom they're promoting in this game. Being able to challenge gyms in any order is near meaningless if you have to beat a gym leader 20-30 levels higher than you, a near impossible feat, in order to do so. You should be able to pick which gym leader you want and have it be appropriate to your team level and badge count.
Now the lineup isn't all doom and gloom and there were some games I was interested in that I played either a port of the game on 3DS or Switch or a sequel. Splatoon is by far the most creative new IP they've ever come up with. Mario Maker fulfilled a longtime dream of getting to create your own Mario levels and shake up the mechanics in ways I never even imagined. Mario Kart 8 provided a very interesting twist on the gameplay and track design... literally. Captain Toad was a very interesting little puzzle game that I couldn't get enough of. And BotW is well... BotW. But it was too little too late, by the time many of these games came out they were already talking about the NX and it seemed prudent to wait and see if that was any better. And boy was it. The Switch is everything I wanted the Wii U to be. I found just as many if not more games I wanted from the Switch in one year than I wanted from the Wii U in its entire lifespan and it just keeps pumping out hit after hit. I can appreciate that the Wii U laid the groundwork for the Switch's success, so that's something I guess, but the console itself is not one I'm interested in trying. The Switch provides enough of that experience on top of the things I actually wanted.
I never got a Wii U, partially because I was broke at the time, but I also didn't really want one. In addition to the other issues the Wii U had the library seems really overrated and the kinds of games I gravitate to were largely absent. I primarily look towards large, open area adventure games that are chock full of exploration, you know, stuff like 3D Zeldas, sandbox Marios, Metroid, etc. The Wii U... just didn't have those kinds of experiences. BotW was delayed into being a cross gen title. Mario completely abandoned the sandbox formula. Metroid was completely absent. And there was little else in terms of these styles of games, pretty much just GC Zelda remakes and Xenoblade Chronicles X, none of which excited me. So that really deflated any excitement I had towards the console. I was greatly looking forward to the next big 3D Mario game and Metroid Prime 4 on the console, and I was really excited when Iwata teased in 2013 that they were about to reveal a 3D Mario game and a beloved IP by Retro Studios, only to be crushed when it was just 3D World and Tropical Freeze.
Additionally, many of the games they did come out with didn't really use the Gamepad well and some of them felt really rehashy. Nintendo loves their gimmicks and they can turn out really well when the games use the controllers in creative and interesting ways, but these games just... didn't. It was mainly the same old stuff the Wii and DS did. As for the rehashy games, you had the usual NSMB game that looked and felt the same as other NSMB games, but there were other games that felt similarly, especially from their platformers. This gen really felt like a creative slump for platformers (and they really haven't quite escaped that slump with their linear platformers, which leads me to wonder if it's a problem with the entire genre). 3D World kind of felt like the NSMB of 3D Mario, rehashing 3D Land with a Totally Not the Mushroom Kingdom setting and largely similar gameplay mechanics, a far step down from the creative locations and mechanics of games like Sunshine and Galaxy. Tropical Freeze didn't really advance things much from Returns either, adding in multiple characters that really didn't change things up too much and bringing back mechanics that Returns had dropped. Yoshi Woolly World recycled Kirby's Epic Yarn's gimmick with Yoshi's gameplay and didn't really feel particularly groundbreaking either. Everyone praises the creative level ideas and yes, there's some good ones, but creative levels can only get you so far if the overarching experience is largely the same and these games did little to nothing to make that overarching gameplay feel fresh and innovative.
@Sinton They're third party games that were downgraded to run on the Wii U. They needed first party games to show this. You can play third party games on Xbox and Playstation and better. The Wii U needed a game like that that you had to buy a Wii U to play.
It is pretty rare that I'm ever impressed with a launch lineup, or even a launch year lineup. It does usually take until Year 2 or 3 for things to really get going. But that's part of the issue here, the lack of open adventure games didn't really get fixed Year 2 or 3 and their idea of "getting things going" was "more linear rehashy platformers". The lack of open adventure games was a consistent theme throughout the Wii U's entire lifespan and an issue with the total lineup, not just its launch lineup. The kinds of games I expected from the Wii U, such as sandbox 3D Marios or Metroid Prime 4, weren't just absent from the launch lineup but they were absent from the system entirely.
To answer your question though, the only lineup off the top of my head that I was really impressed with was the Switch, and more for launch year than launch day. Having the likes of BotW, MK8D, Splatoon 2, XC2, and Mario Odyssey in its first year is extremely impressive and more than I ever would've expected.
@Edu23XWiiU Again, I don't really agree. I don't find anything in that launch lineup I like, and there's only a handful of games I like in the Wii U's entire lineup. The Switch had just as many if not more games I liked Year 1 than the Wii U did all time.
@Sinton I mentioned that, it's the single player adventure games primarily, the ones that let you explore vast open areas/worlds. You know, your BotWs, your Mario Odysseys, your Pokemon Legends Arceus', etc. The Wii U almost completely lacked those types of experiences (it had some, but they were all either niche IPs, remakes, or cross gen titles and weren't remotely prominent during the Wii U's lifespan). No sandbox Mario, no Metroid, and Zelda being cross gen really hurt the Wii U's lineup. Some Western Nintendo fans even consider those IPs to be "the Big 3" (perhaps erroneously so because Metroid sells far less than the other two, depending on your definition of "big") because 3D Mario, 3D Zelda, and Metroid tend to be some of the largest, most ambitious, most explorable, and most console feeling IPs Nintendo has and all three of them were let downs in different ways (3D Mario because its game wasn't an open explorable sandbox and was more of a NSMB-esque linear platformer, 3D Zelda because it was frequently delayed to the point of becoming a cross gen title, and Metroid because it was absent entirely). In fact I'm going to make a bold claim and say the lack of those types of games were a factor in the Wii U not selling well (probably not the biggest factor, the confusing marketing and overall lack of games were probably larger factors, but I think it still played a part). Those types of games are very important to a console's lineup because they help market the console as AAA, they show the console is capable of grand, ambitious experiences that you would want to sit down and immerse yourself in for long periods of times. Not having them makes the Wii U look like a casual machine that can't run the big, beefy games that console gamers tend to gravitate to.
@Edu23XWiiU Oh right, I tend to think more in terms of launch year than launch day, i.e. I'm thinking in terms of the Switch's entire 2017 lineup (looking at the Day 1 lineup feels kind of worthless IMO because it's usually somewhat limited). And 2017 Switch is peak Nintendo IMO, that lineup truly has something for everyone with tons of highly regarded and diverse games, a lineup that I'm skeptical will ever be topped (although everyone seems to want Nintendo to replicate it seeing how people are constantly looking for a future year to be "the next 2017"). Nevertheless, the point still stands, because no range of time for the Wii U, launch day, launch year, all time ever had a lineup that I would describe as "having something for everyone" (in fact I found pretty much as many Switch games I wanted in 2017 as Wii U games I wanted throughout its entire life). It felt sorely lacking in certain genres and IPs.
@Sinton Something for everyone? LOL no. The Switch's lineup had something for everyone. The Wii U was mainly casualized linear platformers, party games, and gimped third party ports. One thing the Wii U's lineup, both at launch and through its entire life, was desperately missing from its lineup was the ambitious, open area adventure games, especially from its first party studios. The only first party games it had of this caliber were Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is a side game in a niche IP that hasn't really sold well, and BotW, which came far too late to save the Wii U and ended up benefiting the Switch more. Meanwhile, 3D Mario didn't get the grand, ambitious, and creative sandbox adventure it typically gets, instead getting 3D World which felt like a glorified DLC pack of 3D Land on the 3DS (although it did get an open world side mode... but again that was on the Switch and didn't salvage the issue on the Wii U). Metroid got nothing, with people thinking that Prime 4 was just around the corner but constantly got shafted by Nintendo until 2017 (and still isn't even out, but that's because of an unexpected restart). And there really... wasn't anything else remotely close to this kind of experience that filled the void that these IPs left aside from the two games mentioned. They put way too much time on casual mini games, rehashy linear platformers that felt like glorified DLC packs of Wii/3DS games, and multiplayer games. The open single player adventure games got shafted badly on the Wii U. I remember leading up to E3 2013 when Iwata teased that they were showing a 3D Mario game, a 3D Zelda game, Mario Kart, and a beloved IP from Retro Studios I got hyped thinking we were getting a sandbox 3D Mario game and Metroid Prime 4, and then when I saw it was just 3D World and Tropical Freeze that was an utterly crushing disappointment. That pretty much sums up the issues with the Wii U's lineup. It didn't feel like we needed 3D World and Tropical Freeze because those games give off the same vibe as NSMBU, lazy, rehashy, uncreative linear platformers. But we needed an actual sandbox Mario game and Metroid because there wasn't anything remotely close to those experiences on the Wii U.
Additionally, the overall lineup was lacking... quite a few IPs. I mentioned Metroid skipping, but beyond that Luigi's Mansion got nothing, and several prominent IPs (Kirby, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem) only got spinoffs but didn't get a main entry. So there were quite a few holes in the lineup.
So yeah, I wouldn't say the Wii U, or any part of its lineup, has something for everyone, to the contrary it felt really lacking. The Switch's lineup is just about everything the Wii U's should've been (the only major gripe I have is no original Mario Kart and no original DK game, and if the rumors are true we'll be crossing DK off that list by the end of the generation).
-Water Temple (OoT)- This dungeon really isn't as confusing as it's made out to be, and I actually appreciate its mazelike design as it gave me a good challenge. Also the Dark Link miniboss is one of the most memorable moments in the game. -Dark Palace (ALBW)- Again a remix of a previous dungeon from ALttP (and also a remix of the Light World dungeon Eastern Palace), but this time it takes "Dark" quite literally by incorporating a lot of light/shadow based puzzles into its design. -Ice Ruins (ALBW)- This one is interesting because it's kind of a remix of an ALttP dungeon but not really because ALBW swaps the locations of Ice Palace/Ruins and Turtle Rock. Like with the Water Temple in OoT, it has the sort of challenging mazelike design that I love, with tons of walkways and elevators every which way and as you progress you keep connecting new areas to old ones. It also is very precarious with the dungeon being built into Death Mountain and has a lot of narrow, icy walkways over giant pits.
Also remove Swamp Palace and Shadow Temple, neither were that memorable to me. Swamp Palace started water dungeons but didn't have the unique water puzzles that later ones had (such as OoT Water Temple, TP Lakebed Temple, or ALBW Swamp Palace), and Shadow Temple was spooky, but not interesting or puzzling, the only part that really stood out to me was using the Hover Boots but they're criminally underutilized (although really every item past the Fairy Bow is in OoT, it really doesn't make good use of its late game items).
Needs more systems ASAP. GB/GBA should already be there. And we need GC and Wii to really justify the Expansion Pack's high price tag. Get a move on Nintendo!
Be Afraid of the Dark from Yoshi's Crafted World is a glaring omission from this list. Yoshi games are always so cute and cuddly but suddenly you have crazed axe murderers bursting out and trying to chase you around. Never expected to see something so dark in a Yoshi game.
@Eagly Well they could always have more gun related powerups like Cannon Boxes and capturing Bullet Bills and Sherms (I've always wanted to see a Bazooka Bill power up, a giant bazooka Mario could wield that shoots Bullet Bills, but that might not be the most original of powerups anymore). But yeah, a full main series game revolving around gunplay seems a bit much and too limiting.
I'd like to see Odyssey 2 before we move on to next gen. There's just way too much they can still do with Odyssey, too many levels they can add, too many enemies we can capture, for me to feel satisfied with just one game of the concept. I do want to see something totally new next gen (and that is what they tend to do, they seem to design the flagship 3D Mario game around the capabilities of the console), but I want to see Odyssey 2 first.
Not enough systems to be worth the money, especially not enough home consoles. Really needs GC and maybe even Wii to really be worth it (and yes I know that probably won't happen this gen, but that's where we need to be for this price point to be worth it).
@Waluigi451 From what I've heard, it's because those characters originated from games that weren't made by the mainline Mario team and they mainly want to use "their" characters. So you only see them in spinoffs that aren't made by the core Mario team.
@Bizzyb You need at least 4-6 months, maybe even longer, to market the new console, and we're cutting it pretty close already. And you need more than just unverifiable rumors at this point, the company will usually start confirming that the next gen console is in development under a codename at least a year out. And that's regardless of the previous gen's success. With all of that in mind it's a pretty safe assumption that we are not getting a next gen device in the first half of 2023 (second half is still possible, but we can just about rule out first half).
@Bizzyb Highly doubtful TotK is being pushed out for a new console, if they were a new console coming in May 2023, they'd be telling us about it by now (or we'd at the very least be aware of the system under a codename like NX if not a full reveal).
@Bizzyb If there's a new console on the horizon they shouldn't be releasing ANY tentpole titles, they should be saving them for next gen, that's the best time in a console's lifespan for a 2017-esque lineup. The fact that we have Splatoon 3 and TotK around this time makes me question if we're really headed for next gen that soon or if there are other factors going on such as COVID or organizational troubles. Most of the tentpole releases have come from EPD and we've had almost nothing from them since 2019, so is it time to start worrying about what's going on at EPD right now?
@GreenNinja500 We keep hearing "this next year is going to be the new 2017" but it keeps not happening and everyone keeps shifting their hopes for a blowout lineup into the next year (I've seen people saying 2020 would be the new 2017, 2021 would be the new 2017, and 2022 would be the new 2017). At this point I think it's just not happening again anytime soon. I'll believe we have a new 2017-esque lineup when I see it, the last 3 years have come nowhere close.
Once again a very uninspiring lineup. Calling most of these games "big hitters" is laughable. When's the next Mario game? When's DK? when are we getting a release date that isn't TBA on Prime 4? Those are the kinds of "big hitter" announcements we need to be seeing, not these niche franchises that only a handful of dedicated fans care about. We need to start seeing announcements of that caliber again.
@shoeses I'm not saying you're wrong about the problem (I agree that is a problem and I largely didn't make much progress through it myself for the same reason), I'm saying Game Freak is wrong about the solution. Removing the Battle Frontier outright has done more harm than good. It needed to be changed to make it so you can progress through it without a competitive team designed around it.
@shoeses So then simplify the competitive requirements for them. Competitive battling isn't really the appeal of the Battle Frontier, it's the unique battling styles. We've pretty much lost that now (they did experiment a bit with unique battling styles outside of the Frontier with things like Rotation, Triple, Sky, and Inverse battles but those things are gone now too) and we're stuck with just the basic bitch Single, Double, and Multi battles we've been using for the last 20 years.
@Anti-Matter There doesn't appear to be any. The past/future theme just seems to be an aesthetic/storyline difference between the two versions. Time travel is not confirmed and at this point probably does not exist.
Most if not all of this we probably won't know until release, they don't tip their entire hand like this because they want to actually leave something for you to discover as you play. What we know now about the games is about as much as we typically learn before release (maybe with slightly more Pokemon, but that's pretty much it).
Bellchime Trail is actually kind of disappointing. Areas that are nothing but scenery are kind of pointless, and there is so much more they could've done with the autumn themed scenery there (like maybe a forest behind Ecruteak City where you can find Ghost types and stuff like Murkrow and Misdreavus earlier in the game).
Also, there's a much better autumn themed Pokemon level in the form of Rt. 16 in XY. Its leaf piles are endlessly fun to run through and (unlike Rt. 15 which is similar) it has Halloweeny Ghost types like Pumpkaboo and Phantump.
Neat, but calling this "convergent evolution" is a bit of a misnomer by Pokemon standards because of the Pokemon concept of evolution. Evolution in Pokemon refers to a form change of an instance of a Pokemon when they reach a certain milestone, not the IRL definition of a change in biological traits after adapting to an environment. This would breed a lot of confusion in the community, leading people to think that Wiglett will evolve into Dugtrio instead of a new Pokemon that's similar to Dugtrio (Wugtrio?). I think we need to come up with a new name for this in Pokemon.
@fenlix He was saying they should've been developed by Nintendo, not just exclusive to Nintendo consoles. Lost World and Boom's issues were because of SEGA and BRB's design decisions, not simply because they were limited by the Wii U. A Nintendo developed Sonic game on the Wii U would've likely been 10 times better.
Comments 2,605
Re: Talking Point: Does Nintendo's Next Console Have To Be 'Another' Switch?
Yes, I think the Switch is a highly future proof concept that could stand the test of time for a long while. As long as phones, tablets, and TVs remain popular I think the Switch will be fairly desirable, and the Switch can really break down and mix and match its components (the screen, the controller, and the dock) whenever one of them needs an improvement while keeping the others the same. I think for the foreseeable future Nintendo should focus on building on the concept of the Switch and improving what it does wrong or could be done better.
Biggest thing I can see right now that would be a prime area for next gen improvement (beyond predictable things like graphics and power) is the inability to keep it in your pocket well like a proper handheld. Bringing back the clamshell design of the DS and 3DS, perhaps with foldable screen technology currently being pioneered by phones, would be a great next step. My dream scenario though, would be if the screens can't just fold, but detach. That would allow the Switch to truly emulate the DS, 3DS, and Wii U (the Switch kind of does already, but not much) and fully contain the DNA of every past console like they claimed with the Switch. You could have the dual screen handheld mode like the DS and 3DS. You could dock one and connect the other to the Joycons to have the Gamepad setup of the Wii U. You could even do something completely new and give one screen to a player alongside a Joycon. The only hurdle for that is for the two screens to be able to communicate with each other with minimal lag, and the technology might not be there yet for it to be a reality next gen, but if they can overcome that I think they'll go for it. That would be a very Nintendo thing to do that would be a real innovative step forwards for the Switch and I could easily see people enjoying that concept if done correctly.
But if it's just a more powerful Switch with some minor gimmick that doesn't upset the apple cart (like what 3D was for the DS -> 3DS), that's fine too. It would still be exciting to see bigger and better Switch games next gen.
Re: Nintendo Provides A Look At Switch's Games Line-Up For 2023
So we got TotK and... um....
Re: Here Are Metacritic's Highest-Rated Switch Games Of 2022
Not surprised, the quality of 1st party games wasn't great in 2022. I'm a bit surprised Pokemon Legends Arceus and Kirby and the Forgotten Land aren't higher, but that's about it.
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
@Anachronism Ehh, I think they have leftover ideas from Odyssey that they could make into an Odyssey 2, similar to Galaxy. I don't think they're going to wait until next gen for that.
Link's Awakening was a remake and we haven't had a new 2D Zelda in 10 years, we could use a second one.
That's the thing, this kind of content is what you expect 1 or 2 years after release. 5 years after release you expect a new game, not DLC. As for what a sequel could do, there's plenty of things. There's tons of Tour mechanics they could adapt to console for one, variant courses, the point system could return as a Score Attack alternate mode, the frenzy system, the goddamn shop (why do they insist on unlocking karts and parts through random coin totals instead of a shop, this is long overdue), bring back missions. Beyond that, they could add a track builder, bring back Double Dash Mode, add a track builder, go open world like Diddy Kong Racing or Forza Horizons. There is far, FAR too much that can be done to build on MK8 to be coasting on it for 10 goddamn years and it just reeks of laziness and cash grabbing. SOME kind of new Mario Kart game on console, even a spinoff or side entry that won't cannibalize 8D (and don't even bring up Home Circuit, which also did nothing to build on Mario Kart and was just a toy gimmick to sell to young kids), feels absolutely needed right now with how long it's been since we've seen any true evolution in the series. And with the Switch reinvigorating a lot of IPs and coming up with bold new ideas, it's even more disappointing that they've gone this direction because it's totally opposite to what those other IPs are doing. Imagine what a Mario Kart game designed from the ground up for the Switch to be similarly groundbreaking as some of those other IPs would be like, but nope, they say LOL just let everyone keep buying 8. Profoundly disappointing situation here and the biggest letdown on the Switch by far.
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
@iLikeUrAttitude Kind of, but you can't have a good year without a big, 10+ million seller anchoring the lineup and this year felt lacking in that department hence the disappointment. You need a heavy hitter like that to drive sales and get people excited. Just having niche games drive the year as it did... isn't going to do much for sales and hype. Now if they can come up with more IPs or grow their existing IPs to that level, great, but until then you shouldn't be too surprised to see 3 times as many people complaining about not having the game that sells 3 times as much. That's just common sense.
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
@Serpenterror Because most of the new games we did get are for niche IPs that only a handful of dedicated fans are excited for and any remotely big IP we got had some kind of issue. The likes of Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, and Bayonetta are not huge sellers. It's great for those fanbases, but most people just don't care about those IPs, there are Switch games that have sold twice, 5 times, even 10 times as much as those games. Splatoon 3 felt rehashy with them mainly repeating the same gameplay mode from 2 and failing to add new ones. Mario Kart just got mobile ports as DLC. Pokemon Legends Arceus was great, but a bit small and limited. And Pokemon Scarlet/Violet was a glitch fest. TotK's delay, Mario Kart getting cash grabby DLC instead of a legitimate new entry, and the lack of anything from main series Mario really hurt this lineup and any comparisons to 2017 (as BotW, Mario Odyssey, and MK8D were the three biggest cornerstones of that lineup).
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
@Anachronism One entry per console isn't a hard and fast rule, and there are some IPs that have gotten multiple. And some already have multiple. Any kind of single player adventure game doesn't really need to wait for new hardware, and the big one there is Mario, which has mainly been ports/remakes since 2017. What has the Odyssey team been doing for the last 6 years? Some of the 2018/2019 stuff feels like it could be ready for new entries depending on their plans, so we could see stuff like 2D Mario, 2D Zelda, Yoshi, and Luigi's Mansion pop up again. Metroid feels like it's ready for something now even with the development restart. And Splatoon got two games this generation, so even some multiplayer games weren't immune. Mario Kart absolutely did not need the Booster Course pack, they could've made a new entry or at least some kind of better filler than copy/pasted Tour ports (they didn't even port the best parts of Tour, just the basic bitch track design). So no, blowing the big names earlier in the lifespan isn't really much of an excuse here and the later lineup is definitely lacking. You really have to wonder just what some of these teams are doing, especially at EPD, who feels like they've been twiddling their thumbs since the pandemic began.
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
@johnvboy No, there's more to the Switch Pro expectations than being disappointed by the specs. Previous Nintendo handhelds have always had mid-gen revisions that provided a specs increase (albeit a minor one) and new features, such as the GBA SP, DSi, and New 3DS. The Switch OLED... doesn't really fit this mold. It's mainly the same and just has a different screen. Closer to the 3DS XL than the New 3DS. Part of the disappointment was that people wanted to see the Switch's New 3DS and it's looking like we won't ever get one now.
I absolutely think that a Switch Pro similar to the previous handheld revisions was planned. Now I don't think it would've quite been the specs bump people wanted, but it would've been something. But then the chip shortage happened and they couldn't get the new chips they needed so they gutted everything that would require a new chip and what was left became the Switch OLED.
Re: Soapbox: If You Thought Last Year Was "Sad" For Switch, 2023 Might Be Hard To Handle
It was a pretty good year, but I think the big thing is it ended in kind of a whimper. Most of the good games IMO were earlier in the year and I was waiting for Nintendo to announce some bigger games later in the year and they didn't and I was left thinking "Wait, that's it?". Legends Arceus and Kirby were great games and really started this year off on the right foot, but aside from Scarlet/Violet, there was nothing I was interested in for the entire rest of the year and really everything they had was either niche or didn't push the envelope enough to justify its existence. Everyone raves about Xenoblade, Bayonetta, and Fire Emblem, but none of them have cracked 5 million in sales so they're kind of niche, and personally I also find the combat quite boring in all three. Splatoon 3 is a rehash of 2. And Mario Kart got the worst possible content it could get, mobile ports of old tracks we've already played before, which is honestly a tossup for me if that's better than nothing. Felt like 2022 needed at least 1 more heavy hitter, or for Splatoon and MK to be better than what we actually got, for it to be a banger year, but otherwise I'm underwhelmed, especially for the second half of the year.
Re: A New Limited-Time Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Tera Raid Battle Starts Today
@TheExile285 7 Star Raids weren't a thing in SwSh, the highest they went was 5 Star. And 5 Star Raids were about the same difficulty as the 5 Star Raids in this game, so it's definitely a massive difficulty spike from SwSh.
Just gave it a try and didn't have a chance, even with Lv. 100 Pokemon. Doesn't help that all I have to use against it is Iron Valiant (which got destroyed by Acrobatics), Farigiraf, and Corviknight (which don't resist Fighting). Looking at some of the successful builds on here, this is some competitive tier BS that I don't want to be part of, I subscribe to the Karen philosophy and don't want to have to be limited to the handful of Pokemon the meta says are good and have to max them out, that's no fun. F this noise, I'm just going to wait for Home.
Re: Japanese Charts: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Surpasses 5 Million Sales
@Scoopz There is so much room for improvement in Mario Kart that they need several games for Mario Kart to reach its full potential. Tour's shown some of it, but as a mobile gacha game it's one step forward and one step back and we need a console game that includes its upgrades (and no, not just the courses ported to the Booster Course pack). Holding off on a new entry until next gen delays the improvements needed and makes the series feel somewhat dated in some ways when a MK9 released around this time could've included a bit more of the modernizations it needs.
@Narrator1 It's a good thing that we're seeing Tour content released on MK8D, but they picked the worst content to port to 8D. It honestly feels like a tossup whether or not the Booster Course pack is better than nothing. There are so many better mechanics from Tour that would've been more worthwhile and would've reinvigorated the gameplay, variant courses, the score system, frenzies, the return of special items, an actual freaking shop system. But nope, all they want is to bring back Tour's basic bitch track design which is largely copy/pasted from 7 and other recent MK games so it just feels like you're playing the same old tracks with a new coat of paint. Massive disappointment and massive waste of potential for what they expect to be the major stopgap until the true MK9. Mario Kart deserves better than this.
Re: N64 Classic Yoshi's Story Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary Today (Japan)
Yoshi's Story was pretty meh, too short and repetitive.
I'd really like to see Good Feel do a reimagining of the game, though. Imagine what they could come up with returning to the storybook theme and making this game more like Woolly/Crafted World, having pop-up book mechanics that could open and close to affect the level, pulling out platforms with pull tabs using Yoshi's tongue, etc. That would really make this game amazing.
Re: Feature: Game Of The Year 2022 - Nintendo Life Staff Awards
Only games I played this year that were worth my time were the two Pokemon games and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. They win the top 3 by default. GoTY would be SV, but the other two aren't far behind. I was really disappointed in how this year played out and expected more, but those three are good enough games to keep this year from being terrible.
Re: PSA: You Can Download A Free Sonic Frontiers Demo From Japan's eShop
Nice, I wanted to see how the game controls before getting it, so I'll be sure to play it when it releases globally.
Re: Feature: Nintendo Life's Most Anticipated Games For 2023 (That Aren't Zelda)
@Debbiee There's actually been 4 NSMB, there was also the original game on the DS and NSMB2 on the 3DS. A Switch game would be the 5th one. As for why it hasn't happened yet, it's probably because the NSMB series gets a lot of complaints for feeling too rehashy, the games all feel pretty similar to each other and seem to do little new or different that makes them feel unique or ambitious. Nintendo is probably holding off on another one to put some thought into where they want 2D Mario to go next and at this point I think the next 2D game is going to be next gen. Having a new, original 2D Mario game going in a new direction would make for a very strong launch title.
LGPE was a product of Game Freak thinking mobile was the end all be all for gaming (they even thought early on that the Switch would fail and Nintendo would have to transition to mobile because no one would want dedicated consoles anymore). They used it to try and attract mobile gamers to the Switch. But that strategy doesn't seem to have worked well because it sold about the same as other remakes (meaning most likely longtime fans that already buy consoles bought it, not mobile gamers) and fans complained about the mobile direction. And what really succeeded on the Switch is BotW, and you can see with what they did with SwSh, LA, and SV that they've picked up on the demand for such experiences and transitioned Pokemon in that direction as well. So I don't think they want another Let's Go game anymore, they've gone in a completely different direction. We could still get a Johto remake, but it's more likely to be BDSP style and/or Legends style. You'd probably want to hope for Legends style because that's more likely to include what LGPE did right.
Banjo-Kazooie is Microsoft, and Microsoft is not Nintendo. They don't seem to know how to make platforming games successful or what people want out of them, so Banjo-Kazooie is probably screwed. This is why Playtonic formed and created Yooka-Laylee.
DK is the one that's truly a mystery. The rumors stated that it was intended for DK's 40th which was 2021, but it's 2 years later and not a whisper of DK from Nintendo. You can probably blame DK's absence on Retro, they've mysteriously not released anything in 8 years and as of 2019 they've been working on Prime 4, so that's why the long gap. The new one is supposedly being worked on by the EPD Tokyo team (which typically works on 3D Marios, but according to some rumors has expanded and can now work on both 3D Mario and DK), and it feels like we should have an announcement now, but nothing. There's some speculation that it has something to do with the Mario movie and they want to coordinate it with that release, but Nintendo typically doesn't care about that so IDK if that's it. Out of all your hopes, that one seems the most likely to be announced this year and we'll just have to hope something materializes.
Re: Feature: Nintendo Life's Most Anticipated Games For 2023 (That Aren't Zelda)
@Debbiee You... might want to keep your expectations in check for those unannounced titles. We'd be lucky to even get a quarter of that list in one year, and many of these don't seem particularly likely to happen period because their series haven't sold well enough for their developers to want to make a new one. Only a handful of titles seem remotely plausible predictions for next year. I think you're going to be very disappointed this time next year if that's what you're looking forward to.
Re: Feature: Nintendo Life's Most Anticipated Games For 2023 (That Aren't Zelda)
Honestly there's not much announced that I'm excited for aside from TotK. But usually we don't know much about the upcoming year period, so that's typical. Only other game I'm remotely interested in is Pikmin 4, but that might not even be my second most anticipated game in 2023 if they announce something bigger (where's Donkey Kong and 3D Mario Nintendo? Where's the re-reveal for Prime 4? Feels like it's been time for them for the last 1-2 years).
Re: Talking Point: As Zelda: Wind Waker Turns 20, Doesn't Toon Link Deserve A Second Chance?
I don't mind the artstyle, but the gameplay belongs in the past. I don't want to play a Zelda game where the only exploration is boring empty sea or a Zelda game that you control solely with the touch screen, those kinds of experiments aren't good enough to be repeated. Now pair the Toon Link artstyle with gameplay more like ALttP, ALBW, or Minish Cap? I'd be totally down for that, those are great games oozing with charm and the Toon style would/does look great with that. It's the gameplay, not the artstyle that turns me off to games like Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.
Re: Talking Point: Are You Excited To See Call Of Duty Return To Nintendo Platforms?
Not interested in the generic shooty bang war games, they all feel like the same freaking game. I buy Nintendo consoles to get away from that schlock and play games that are you know... fun and creative.
Re: Video: 11 Exciting New Games Coming to Nintendo Switch In December
"Exciting" sure. Aside from SV, I haven't seen anything exciting on the Switch in over 6 months.
Re: Feature: 14 Things That Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Get Absolutely Right
@Draxa No, they don't and that's something I was disappointed in. You can see the shinies, but the jingle only plays in battle, not in the overworld. So you can very easily fly right by a shiny and not even know it. Definitely need to bring this back from LA next game.
Re: Feature: 14 Things That Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Get Absolutely Right
The mechanic where the ball shakes only once before catching has been a thing since Gen 5, it's called a Critical Capture. That's not something LA gave us.
Also can I give mention to the final arc as well? Without spoiling, man I never expected a Pokemon plot to go in that direction, especially with the truth behind what Prof. Sada/Turo was doing.
Re: Soapbox: How To Improve Pokémon Scarlet And Violet's Open World
Level scaling is the biggest thing this game needs, without it you don't truly have the freedom they're promoting in this game. Being able to challenge gyms in any order is near meaningless if you have to beat a gym leader 20-30 levels higher than you, a near impossible feat, in order to do so. You should be able to pick which gym leader you want and have it be appropriate to your team level and badge count.
Re: Hideki Kamiya Is Already Starting To Talk About Bayonetta 4
Astral Chain 2 first please.
Re: Soapbox: After 10 Years I Finally Got A Wii U, Here’s What I Thought
(continued from last post)
Now the lineup isn't all doom and gloom and there were some games I was interested in that I played either a port of the game on 3DS or Switch or a sequel. Splatoon is by far the most creative new IP they've ever come up with. Mario Maker fulfilled a longtime dream of getting to create your own Mario levels and shake up the mechanics in ways I never even imagined. Mario Kart 8 provided a very interesting twist on the gameplay and track design... literally. Captain Toad was a very interesting little puzzle game that I couldn't get enough of. And BotW is well... BotW. But it was too little too late, by the time many of these games came out they were already talking about the NX and it seemed prudent to wait and see if that was any better. And boy was it. The Switch is everything I wanted the Wii U to be. I found just as many if not more games I wanted from the Switch in one year than I wanted from the Wii U in its entire lifespan and it just keeps pumping out hit after hit. I can appreciate that the Wii U laid the groundwork for the Switch's success, so that's something I guess, but the console itself is not one I'm interested in trying. The Switch provides enough of that experience on top of the things I actually wanted.
Re: Soapbox: After 10 Years I Finally Got A Wii U, Here’s What I Thought
I never got a Wii U, partially because I was broke at the time, but I also didn't really want one. In addition to the other issues the Wii U had the library seems really overrated and the kinds of games I gravitate to were largely absent. I primarily look towards large, open area adventure games that are chock full of exploration, you know, stuff like 3D Zeldas, sandbox Marios, Metroid, etc. The Wii U... just didn't have those kinds of experiences. BotW was delayed into being a cross gen title. Mario completely abandoned the sandbox formula. Metroid was completely absent. And there was little else in terms of these styles of games, pretty much just GC Zelda remakes and Xenoblade Chronicles X, none of which excited me. So that really deflated any excitement I had towards the console. I was greatly looking forward to the next big 3D Mario game and Metroid Prime 4 on the console, and I was really excited when Iwata teased in 2013 that they were about to reveal a 3D Mario game and a beloved IP by Retro Studios, only to be crushed when it was just 3D World and Tropical Freeze.
Additionally, many of the games they did come out with didn't really use the Gamepad well and some of them felt really rehashy. Nintendo loves their gimmicks and they can turn out really well when the games use the controllers in creative and interesting ways, but these games just... didn't. It was mainly the same old stuff the Wii and DS did. As for the rehashy games, you had the usual NSMB game that looked and felt the same as other NSMB games, but there were other games that felt similarly, especially from their platformers. This gen really felt like a creative slump for platformers (and they really haven't quite escaped that slump with their linear platformers, which leads me to wonder if it's a problem with the entire genre). 3D World kind of felt like the NSMB of 3D Mario, rehashing 3D Land with a Totally Not the Mushroom Kingdom setting and largely similar gameplay mechanics, a far step down from the creative locations and mechanics of games like Sunshine and Galaxy. Tropical Freeze didn't really advance things much from Returns either, adding in multiple characters that really didn't change things up too much and bringing back mechanics that Returns had dropped. Yoshi Woolly World recycled Kirby's Epic Yarn's gimmick with Yoshi's gameplay and didn't really feel particularly groundbreaking either. Everyone praises the creative level ideas and yes, there's some good ones, but creative levels can only get you so far if the overarching experience is largely the same and these games did little to nothing to make that overarching gameplay feel fresh and innovative.
(comment too long, continued in next post)
Re: Poll: What Was The Best Wii U Launch Game?
@Sinton They're third party games that were downgraded to run on the Wii U. They needed first party games to show this. You can play third party games on Xbox and Playstation and better. The Wii U needed a game like that that you had to buy a Wii U to play.
It is pretty rare that I'm ever impressed with a launch lineup, or even a launch year lineup. It does usually take until Year 2 or 3 for things to really get going. But that's part of the issue here, the lack of open adventure games didn't really get fixed Year 2 or 3 and their idea of "getting things going" was "more linear rehashy platformers". The lack of open adventure games was a consistent theme throughout the Wii U's entire lifespan and an issue with the total lineup, not just its launch lineup. The kinds of games I expected from the Wii U, such as sandbox 3D Marios or Metroid Prime 4, weren't just absent from the launch lineup but they were absent from the system entirely.
To answer your question though, the only lineup off the top of my head that I was really impressed with was the Switch, and more for launch year than launch day. Having the likes of BotW, MK8D, Splatoon 2, XC2, and Mario Odyssey in its first year is extremely impressive and more than I ever would've expected.
Re: Poll: What Was The Best Wii U Launch Game?
@Edu23XWiiU Again, I don't really agree. I don't find anything in that launch lineup I like, and there's only a handful of games I like in the Wii U's entire lineup. The Switch had just as many if not more games I liked Year 1 than the Wii U did all time.
Re: Poll: What Was The Best Wii U Launch Game?
@Sinton I mentioned that, it's the single player adventure games primarily, the ones that let you explore vast open areas/worlds. You know, your BotWs, your Mario Odysseys, your Pokemon Legends Arceus', etc. The Wii U almost completely lacked those types of experiences (it had some, but they were all either niche IPs, remakes, or cross gen titles and weren't remotely prominent during the Wii U's lifespan). No sandbox Mario, no Metroid, and Zelda being cross gen really hurt the Wii U's lineup. Some Western Nintendo fans even consider those IPs to be "the Big 3" (perhaps erroneously so because Metroid sells far less than the other two, depending on your definition of "big") because 3D Mario, 3D Zelda, and Metroid tend to be some of the largest, most ambitious, most explorable, and most console feeling IPs Nintendo has and all three of them were let downs in different ways (3D Mario because its game wasn't an open explorable sandbox and was more of a NSMB-esque linear platformer, 3D Zelda because it was frequently delayed to the point of becoming a cross gen title, and Metroid because it was absent entirely). In fact I'm going to make a bold claim and say the lack of those types of games were a factor in the Wii U not selling well (probably not the biggest factor, the confusing marketing and overall lack of games were probably larger factors, but I think it still played a part). Those types of games are very important to a console's lineup because they help market the console as AAA, they show the console is capable of grand, ambitious experiences that you would want to sit down and immerse yourself in for long periods of times. Not having them makes the Wii U look like a casual machine that can't run the big, beefy games that console gamers tend to gravitate to.
Re: Poll: What Was The Best Wii U Launch Game?
@Edu23XWiiU Oh right, I tend to think more in terms of launch year than launch day, i.e. I'm thinking in terms of the Switch's entire 2017 lineup (looking at the Day 1 lineup feels kind of worthless IMO because it's usually somewhat limited). And 2017 Switch is peak Nintendo IMO, that lineup truly has something for everyone with tons of highly regarded and diverse games, a lineup that I'm skeptical will ever be topped (although everyone seems to want Nintendo to replicate it seeing how people are constantly looking for a future year to be "the next 2017"). Nevertheless, the point still stands, because no range of time for the Wii U, launch day, launch year, all time ever had a lineup that I would describe as "having something for everyone" (in fact I found pretty much as many Switch games I wanted in 2017 as Wii U games I wanted throughout its entire life). It felt sorely lacking in certain genres and IPs.
Re: Poll: What Was The Best Wii U Launch Game?
@Sinton Something for everyone? LOL no. The Switch's lineup had something for everyone. The Wii U was mainly casualized linear platformers, party games, and gimped third party ports. One thing the Wii U's lineup, both at launch and through its entire life, was desperately missing from its lineup was the ambitious, open area adventure games, especially from its first party studios. The only first party games it had of this caliber were Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is a side game in a niche IP that hasn't really sold well, and BotW, which came far too late to save the Wii U and ended up benefiting the Switch more. Meanwhile, 3D Mario didn't get the grand, ambitious, and creative sandbox adventure it typically gets, instead getting 3D World which felt like a glorified DLC pack of 3D Land on the 3DS (although it did get an open world side mode... but again that was on the Switch and didn't salvage the issue on the Wii U). Metroid got nothing, with people thinking that Prime 4 was just around the corner but constantly got shafted by Nintendo until 2017 (and still isn't even out, but that's because of an unexpected restart). And there really... wasn't anything else remotely close to this kind of experience that filled the void that these IPs left aside from the two games mentioned. They put way too much time on casual mini games, rehashy linear platformers that felt like glorified DLC packs of Wii/3DS games, and multiplayer games. The open single player adventure games got shafted badly on the Wii U. I remember leading up to E3 2013 when Iwata teased that they were showing a 3D Mario game, a 3D Zelda game, Mario Kart, and a beloved IP from Retro Studios I got hyped thinking we were getting a sandbox 3D Mario game and Metroid Prime 4, and then when I saw it was just 3D World and Tropical Freeze that was an utterly crushing disappointment. That pretty much sums up the issues with the Wii U's lineup. It didn't feel like we needed 3D World and Tropical Freeze because those games give off the same vibe as NSMBU, lazy, rehashy, uncreative linear platformers. But we needed an actual sandbox Mario game and Metroid because there wasn't anything remotely close to those experiences on the Wii U.
Additionally, the overall lineup was lacking... quite a few IPs. I mentioned Metroid skipping, but beyond that Luigi's Mansion got nothing, and several prominent IPs (Kirby, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem) only got spinoffs but didn't get a main entry. So there were quite a few holes in the lineup.
So yeah, I wouldn't say the Wii U, or any part of its lineup, has something for everyone, to the contrary it felt really lacking. The Switch's lineup is just about everything the Wii U's should've been (the only major gripe I have is no original Mario Kart and no original DK game, and if the rumors are true we'll be crossing DK off that list by the end of the generation).
Re: Feature: The Top 15 Legend Of Zelda Dungeons Of All Time, Ranked
I would add:
-Water Temple (OoT)- This dungeon really isn't as confusing as it's made out to be, and I actually appreciate its mazelike design as it gave me a good challenge. Also the Dark Link miniboss is one of the most memorable moments in the game.
-Dark Palace (ALBW)- Again a remix of a previous dungeon from ALttP (and also a remix of the Light World dungeon Eastern Palace), but this time it takes "Dark" quite literally by incorporating a lot of light/shadow based puzzles into its design.
-Ice Ruins (ALBW)- This one is interesting because it's kind of a remix of an ALttP dungeon but not really because ALBW swaps the locations of Ice Palace/Ruins and Turtle Rock. Like with the Water Temple in OoT, it has the sort of challenging mazelike design that I love, with tons of walkways and elevators every which way and as you progress you keep connecting new areas to old ones. It also is very precarious with the dungeon being built into Death Mountain and has a lot of narrow, icy walkways over giant pits.
Also remove Swamp Palace and Shadow Temple, neither were that memorable to me. Swamp Palace started water dungeons but didn't have the unique water puzzles that later ones had (such as OoT Water Temple, TP Lakebed Temple, or ALBW Swamp Palace), and Shadow Temple was spooky, but not interesting or puzzling, the only part that really stood out to me was using the Hover Boots but they're criminally underutilized (although really every item past the Fairy Bow is in OoT, it really doesn't make good use of its late game items).
Re: Nintendo Considering "Various Initiatives" And "Further Enhancements" For The Switch Online Service
Needs more systems ASAP. GB/GBA should already be there. And we need GC and Wii to really justify the Expansion Pack's high price tag. Get a move on Nintendo!
Re: Feature: The Spookiest Levels In Non-Spooky Games
Be Afraid of the Dark from Yoshi's Crafted World is a glaring omission from this list. Yoshi games are always so cute and cuddly but suddenly you have crazed axe murderers bursting out and trying to chase you around. Never expected to see something so dark in a Yoshi game.
Re: Talking Point: Would You Prefer 'Super Mario Odyssey 2' Or A Totally New 3D Mario?
@Eagly Well they could always have more gun related powerups like Cannon Boxes and capturing Bullet Bills and Sherms (I've always wanted to see a Bazooka Bill power up, a giant bazooka Mario could wield that shoots Bullet Bills, but that might not be the most original of powerups anymore). But yeah, a full main series game revolving around gunplay seems a bit much and too limiting.
Re: Talking Point: Would You Prefer 'Super Mario Odyssey 2' Or A Totally New 3D Mario?
I'd like to see Odyssey 2 before we move on to next gen. There's just way too much they can still do with Odyssey, too many levels they can add, too many enemies we can capture, for me to feel satisfied with just one game of the concept. I do want to see something totally new next gen (and that is what they tend to do, they seem to design the flagship 3D Mario game around the capabilities of the console), but I want to see Odyssey 2 first.
Re: Poll: Is The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Good Enough Value Yet?
Not enough systems to be worth the money, especially not enough home consoles. Really needs GC and maybe even Wii to really be worth it (and yes I know that probably won't happen this gen, but that's where we need to be for this price point to be worth it).
Re: Feature: From Hypnosis To Farts, What Happened To The Wario We Met 30 Years Ago?
@Waluigi451 From what I've heard, it's because those characters originated from games that weren't made by the mainline Mario team and they mainly want to use "their" characters. So you only see them in spinoffs that aren't made by the core Mario team.
Re: Every Upcoming First-Party Nintendo Switch Game
@Bizzyb You need at least 4-6 months, maybe even longer, to market the new console, and we're cutting it pretty close already. And you need more than just unverifiable rumors at this point, the company will usually start confirming that the next gen console is in development under a codename at least a year out. And that's regardless of the previous gen's success. With all of that in mind it's a pretty safe assumption that we are not getting a next gen device in the first half of 2023 (second half is still possible, but we can just about rule out first half).
Re: Every Upcoming First-Party Nintendo Switch Game
@Bizzyb Highly doubtful TotK is being pushed out for a new console, if they were a new console coming in May 2023, they'd be telling us about it by now (or we'd at the very least be aware of the system under a codename like NX if not a full reveal).
Re: Every Upcoming First-Party Nintendo Switch Game
@Bizzyb If there's a new console on the horizon they shouldn't be releasing ANY tentpole titles, they should be saving them for next gen, that's the best time in a console's lifespan for a 2017-esque lineup. The fact that we have Splatoon 3 and TotK around this time makes me question if we're really headed for next gen that soon or if there are other factors going on such as COVID or organizational troubles. Most of the tentpole releases have come from EPD and we've had almost nothing from them since 2019, so is it time to start worrying about what's going on at EPD right now?
Re: Every Upcoming First-Party Nintendo Switch Game
@GreenNinja500 We keep hearing "this next year is going to be the new 2017" but it keeps not happening and everyone keeps shifting their hopes for a blowout lineup into the next year (I've seen people saying 2020 would be the new 2017, 2021 would be the new 2017, and 2022 would be the new 2017). At this point I think it's just not happening again anytime soon. I'll believe we have a new 2017-esque lineup when I see it, the last 3 years have come nowhere close.
Re: Every Upcoming First-Party Nintendo Switch Game
Once again a very uninspiring lineup. Calling most of these games "big hitters" is laughable. When's the next Mario game? When's DK? when are we getting a release date that isn't TBA on Prime 4? Those are the kinds of "big hitter" announcements we need to be seeing, not these niche franchises that only a handful of dedicated fans care about. We need to start seeing announcements of that caliber again.
Re: Feature: 8 Unanswered Questions We Have About Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
@shoeses I'm not saying you're wrong about the problem (I agree that is a problem and I largely didn't make much progress through it myself for the same reason), I'm saying Game Freak is wrong about the solution. Removing the Battle Frontier outright has done more harm than good. It needed to be changed to make it so you can progress through it without a competitive team designed around it.
Re: Feature: 8 Unanswered Questions We Have About Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
@shoeses So then simplify the competitive requirements for them. Competitive battling isn't really the appeal of the Battle Frontier, it's the unique battling styles. We've pretty much lost that now (they did experiment a bit with unique battling styles outside of the Frontier with things like Rotation, Triple, Sky, and Inverse battles but those things are gone now too) and we're stuck with just the basic bitch Single, Double, and Multi battles we've been using for the last 20 years.
Re: Feature: 8 Unanswered Questions We Have About Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
@Anti-Matter There doesn't appear to be any. The past/future theme just seems to be an aesthetic/storyline difference between the two versions. Time travel is not confirmed and at this point probably does not exist.
Re: Feature: 8 Unanswered Questions We Have About Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Most if not all of this we probably won't know until release, they don't tip their entire hand like this because they want to actually leave something for you to discover as you play. What we know now about the games is about as much as we typically learn before release (maybe with slightly more Pokemon, but that's pretty much it).
Re: Feature: The Best Autumnal Levels In Video Games To Get You In The Fall Mood
Bellchime Trail is actually kind of disappointing. Areas that are nothing but scenery are kind of pointless, and there is so much more they could've done with the autumn themed scenery there (like maybe a forest behind Ecruteak City where you can find Ghost types and stuff like Murkrow and Misdreavus earlier in the game).
Also, there's a much better autumn themed Pokemon level in the form of Rt. 16 in XY. Its leaf piles are endlessly fun to run through and (unlike Rt. 15 which is similar) it has Halloweeny Ghost types like Pumpkaboo and Phantump.
Re: Random: Wiglett Is Evidence Of Crab-Like Pokémon Evolution, Says Fan
Neat, but calling this "convergent evolution" is a bit of a misnomer by Pokemon standards because of the Pokemon concept of evolution. Evolution in Pokemon refers to a form change of an instance of a Pokemon when they reach a certain milestone, not the IRL definition of a change in biological traits after adapting to an environment. This would breed a lot of confusion in the community, leading people to think that Wiglett will evolve into Dugtrio instead of a new Pokemon that's similar to Dugtrio (Wugtrio?). I think we need to come up with a new name for this in Pokemon.
Re: We've Played Sonic Frontiers, But What Did We Think Of It?
@fenlix He was saying they should've been developed by Nintendo, not just exclusive to Nintendo consoles. Lost World and Boom's issues were because of SEGA and BRB's design decisions, not simply because they were limited by the Wii U. A Nintendo developed Sonic game on the Wii U would've likely been 10 times better.