Nintendo no longer dares? - The Lakitu Sachet
The debut of the console was handled perfectly: the first twelve sensational months, followed by a year devoted to offline multiplayer and from a 2019 / early 2020 with titles historically belonging to the pocket world. Then there was a physiological pause in the following months, probably magnified by the difficulties related to the pandemic, and we had a 2021 marked by the productions of EPD7, culminating in Metroid Dread. 2022 will be a kind of "new 2017", with lots of quality and quantity, but with the absence of heavyweights (Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, scheduled for next spring). There is really no complain, in general, about how the life of the Nintendo Switch has been handled; a life that, by the way, is still far from its end.
Nintendo Labo: the "casual" team, EPD 4, is the one that experiences the most It is impossible to deny, however, how conservative Nintendo has been with the second generation of games for the console. Since the home and portable markets have been united, many expected, once the essential series were published, a few more experiments: after all, instead of having to develop a game for both fixed and pocket consoles (belonging to the same brand), in this context it would have been possible to create one, and carve out the time to devote to something else. Instead, many internal teams have played it safe, developing sequels after sequels.
From this logic, it should be specified, the internal team number 4 is outside: it would be the "casual" division of the company. In addition to being the most prolific, it is the one that dares most of all, also thanks to the target audience: in 2017 it released 1-2-Switch, in 2018 it started publishing the various Nintendo Labo (by Tsubasa Sakaguchi), in 2019 Ring Fit Adventure, in 2020 Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, in 2021 Video Game Laboratory, in 2022 Nintendo Switch Sports. An extremely productive team, which has updated and brought back to life past series, but above all dared with new projects, especially Nintendo Labo.
All Nintendo Switch sequels
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2: we can't really complain about this sequel Hoping that every Nintendo team working on a new IP would have been perhaps excessive, but that none of them - or almost - were dedicated to it, well, it would seem to us just as strange. But it went more or less like this. Internal teams number 1 and 2 are mainly support and supervision, so let's leave them aside. Division number three is the one that deals with The Legend of Zelda. Although many saw her as the main candidate to engineer an unreleased series ("A new adventure, from the creators of Breath of the Wild" ... the slogan was already ready), she is perhaps the one who has the best reasons not to stray from favorite series. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has brought the saga back to the place it hadn't occupied for too many years, at the top of the industry. Anyone who approaches the open world cannot help but study that game and we have noticed the results, more or less evidently, in any subsequent production. At the same time, Breath of the Wild has an exceptional engine and is a conceptually essential game: it was logical and sensible to exploit the first feature and elaborate the second. It is a title that can evolve in many ways, both in game design and, above all, in level design. We are expecting a quantitative leap in the style of Super Mario Bros. / Super Mario Bros. 3.We have already talked about division number four, while division five is one that has partially disappointed us. It was understandable to moor Nintendo Switch with the Splatoon sequel, and it was clearly mandatory to bring Animal Crossing to the console, a task performed, among other things, in a masterly way. But then? Why not indulge in something new? Splatoon 3 is very similar to 2 in appearance and dynamics, and already 2 was very similar to the original chapter: this saga in just seven years has gone from being the symbol of Nintendo's nouvelle vague, to the epicenter of its conservatism. Here, instead of Splatoon 3 in 2021 we could have played an unreleased creation: we'll see if they were right in the review phase.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: another series with two episodes on Nintendo Switch The Mario team Kart, division number 9, essentially ran out of duty in 2017. It brought Mario Kart 8 to the console and released a new IP shortly thereafter: we're referring, of course, to Arms. It was legitimate to expect something from them too, but evidently they went on the safe side, dividing their time between Mario Kart Tour and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLCs, which will last until 2023. Of course, it's a shame they didn't dare again, but at least they designed Arms. Even the companies owned by Nintendo do not escape from this logic, just think of Monolith Soft, which instead of sculpting a new adventure / saga has thrown headlong into Xenoblade Chronicles 3. NdCube is already two Mario Party on Nintendo Switch and Next Level Games ... well, maybe the last chapter of Super Mario Strikers was so old that it could be considered a brave operation, but it is still the revival of a brand already exists.
Is there room for some surprises?
Metroid Dread: one of the surprises of 2021 It is possible that many of the games just mentioned are the latest on Switch from their developers : After Splatoon 3, EPD 5 will probably focus on the next platform and, like it, the other internal teams as well. There are still some divisions missing, however: Retro Studios will - hopefully - make Metroid Prime 4 on Nintendo Switch, but there is still the possibility of having some surprises from Japan. Were that not to happen, we would be quite disappointed: casual world aside, Switch would be one of the Nintendo consoles with fewer debuts ever.Team number 7 was the protagonist in 2022, with three publications, the most important of the which was Metroid Dread. Before the life cycle of Nintendo Switch ends, they could come back to life with one last work: if we had to bet we would be aiming for a sequel to the lucky Tomodachi Life, but given the bizarre nature of this team we are not ruling out new projects.
Super Mario Odyssey: when will EPD 8 return, and with what? Team number 8, the one led by Yoshiaki Koizumi and resident in Tokyo, is perhaps the most disappointing in terms of publications. We were used to it great, with an opera - at most - every three years. Between 2011 and 2015, they released six titles on 3DS and Wii U, including Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World. On Switch they only released Super Mario Odyssey, plus the collaboration with NST (Nintendo Software Technology) for Bowser's Fury: definitely too little. They were prime candidates for a major Christmas production, which at this point probably won't be. We look forward to seeing them in 2023. They are the most talented team - together with that of The Legend of Zelda - of the company: whether they return with Donkey Kong, with another Super Mario or with a brand new project, our expectations are at the highest levels.
Let's close the discussion with EPD 10, another team that has had a marked decline in performance on Switch. In addition to the re-editions of two classics for Wii U, namely New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Pikmin 3 Deluxe, on the Nintendo hybrid they have only published Super Mario Maker 2, now in the distant 2019. Given the brands treated, it is difficult to expect a new IP; they will come back to life in 2023 with another Pikmin or, more likely, with an unreleased two-dimensional Super Mario, perhaps near the animated film.
Metroid Prime 4: when will the first trailer be shown? To conclude, Nintendo still has several cartridges to fire before retiring the Switch, an activity that does not require any rush: in addition to the remarkable 2022, more will arrive in 2023 (as we have just told you), and will probably close with some final twists. at the beginning of 2024. We have at least three major productions left: the game from EPD 8, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, and Metroid Prime 4 from Retro Studios, strongly suspected by now of an intergenerational launch, as happened in March 2017 with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. We look forward to it, but with the awareness that as early as 2022 some of these sequels, such as Splatoon 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, could have made room for some more courageous and unreleased projects.
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