A highlight of E3, Nintendo’s conference was packed with new content as always. After introducing the new director of Nintendo of America, Doug Bowser (yes, there was a joke made about that), Nintendo showcased their ability to create games for every audience by adding to their infamous and well-loved franchises, as well as announcing non-Nintendo games to be released on their latest console, the Switch. The final announcement is what had everyone excited – a sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – but here’s the other exciting games that Nintendo has in store for us.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
We finally have more information about Animal Crossing on Switch! In Animal Crossing: New Horizons you set up camp on a deserted island and craft furniture out of the natural resources around you. It’ll be interesting to see how this game will incorporate (what looks like) elements of survival strategy into its gameplay.
For the first time in an Animal Crossing main game, skin colour is fully customisable, meaning that your character won’t be the default caucasian. Also a new addition, a device called the ‘NookPhone’ has been hinted at in the trailer below. The game will be available on Switch on 20th March 2020, a little later than the original release date, to ensure that the game is the best it can be.
Pokémon Sword and Shield
The new Pokémon game has already had various pieces of information shared: the new region, Galar, is set in the UK and features an abundance of new pokémon including the starters Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. This E3 revealed the Pokéball+, a small device that ‘holds’ one pokémon from the game, allowing you to take them into the real world. Time spent with the pokémon gives you in-game rewards, similar to Pokémon Go. This new addition to the franchise will be released to Switch on 15th November.
Luigi’s Mansion 3
A new Luigi’s Mansion has the protagonist enter a new hotel which is ‘much more than meets the eye’. Defeat ghosts using the new Poltergust 00, which includes many new features such as ‘Gooigi’ – a blob of slime resembling its master that can slip under gates and help you in your quest. This blob will also be a main aspect of co-op mode, where one friend is Luigi, and the other is Gooigi! This fun, spooky game will be released some time this year. For now, see more of the new gameplay mechanics in the trailer:
New Legend of Zelda Games
This E3 was a real treat for Zelda fans. Along with the Breath of the Wild sequel announced at the end of the conference, 2 smaller games are almost ready to play.
The Switch remake of Link’s Awakening lets you escape Koholint Island in a new art style, unlike anything else in the franchise. The game reuses its original overhead perspective, bringing nostalgia amongst its modern look. A new update to the game is custom dungeon creation, where you can challenge yourself and others. This remake will be available on 20th September.
In the meantime, you can immerse yourself in Cadence of Hyrule, a game made in collaboration with the creators of Crypt of the Necromancer. The trailer showcases a really interesting battle and movement style, where you hop onto squares in a grid to attack the squares around you. This new edition to the franchise will be available 13th June on Switch.
Smaller Announcements:
- New Smash DLCs – Dragon Quest and Banjo Kazooie are now available to play on Super Smash Bros.
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games – The official game of Tokyo 2020 will be available in November, and has online multiplayer.
- Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – This new action game in collaboration with Marvel lets you battle against Thanos, and will be available on 19th July.
- Dragon Quest 11 – this RPG will be available on switch on 27th September, with an expanded storyline, more monsters, and the ability to travel to old worlds.
- Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance – will be available to play on Switch some time this year.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses – The classmates regroup to fight more evil, available on 29th July on Switch.
- No More Heroes 3 – Travis Touchdown returns to Switch in 2020.
- Daemon x Machina – this action-filled game will be available to play on 13th September on Switch.
- Trials of Mana – A new Mana action RPG that features the protagonist’s generations will be available to play soon! If that’s not exciting enough, the 3 original games are now available on Switch in a collection called Collections of Mana.
- Panzer Dragon – The flying and shooting game returns to Switch in winter 2019.
- Astral Chain – this cyberpunk game will be available on Switch on 30th August.
- Empire of Sin – The 20s-themed strategy game will be ready to play in spring.
- Contra: Rescue Cops – This trailer introduced us to new characters and aliens to fight. ‘Save the world by killing everything’ in single or co-op mode on 24th September. To hype you up, the original Contra games are now available on Switch.
To finish the conference, Nintendo gave a little summary video of the games that will be available on Switch this year, including older Nintendo games, newer Nintendo games, and games from other developers such as Witcher III (CD Projekt) and Spyro: Reignitied Trilogy (Toys for Bob and Iron Galaxy).
The post E3 2019: Nintendo Press Conference appeared first on The Yorker.
