Things have been looking up for Nintendo in the past year. Pokemon Go took the world by storm last summer, the Switch has had a solid release and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been praised as a masterpiece. Going into E3 2017, the question on everybody’s mind was whether Nintendo could keep up the momentum.
While the presentation might not have blown us away, it still had some exciting announcements and stood out against the other, more lacklustre conferences. Nintendo seemed eager to keep the focus on the games and avoid wasting time on presentation. The ‘Nintendo Spotlight’ followed a format similar to that of traditional ‘Nintendo Directs’ (official online presentations announcing new games or consoles). They showed off trailers, interspersed with messages straight from developers.
Interestingly, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was chosen to kick off the conference. It is still unclear if this will follow in the footsteps of its critically acclaimed predecessor or of its more contentious spin-off, Xenoblade Chronicles X, but at least the English voice acting is returning.
Nintendo also announced new Kirby and Yoshi 2D platformers, both of which have strong emphases on multiplayer gaming. The untitled Yoshi game replaces the wool look from Woolly World with a cardboard one, while the Kirby game seems to draw inspiration from Kirby’s Return to Dream Land with playable characters including Kirby and Waddle Dee.
Two major surprises were a new main series Pokemon game for the Switch and Metroid Prime 4. Yet despite the magnitude of these announcements, there were no cinematic trailers to back them up. It seems Nintendo were eager to assure investors and customers that the Switch will continue to receive support. Perhaps they would have been better off focusing on games which were ready for presentation and saving the big announcements for later in the year. … Nintendo were eager to assure investors and customers that the Switch will continue to receive support. Perhaps they would have been better off focusing on games which were ready for presentation…
Fire Emblem Warriors had a cinematic trailer, which showcased a characteristically over-the-top story. The new Zelda DLC was given a trailer and seems to have an impressive amount of new content.
Third party support was limited to the announcement of a Rocket League port, some Zelda-themed items for Skyrim, and the Mario and Rabbids XCOM-style crossover that nobody asked for. This might be a worrying sign given the Wii U’s notorious lack of third party support.
Concluding the presentation was the highly-anticipated Super Mario Odyssey. It may not have stolen the show like Breath of the Wild did, but it still looks amazing. It seems to strike a balance between linear- and exploration-style gameplay. This is very much a fresh take on the 3D Mario genre, with the major innovation being that Mario can possess any enemy by throwing his hat at them. I personally can’t wait to travel the world as a Goomba.
The presentation marked the start of the inevitable phasing out of the 3DS in favour of the Switch. All the 3DS’s announcements were relegated to the post-show Treehouse, where so far Nintendo have announced remakes for Metroid 2 and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, with potential for more to come.
Though they might be fewer and farther between than fans would like, it seems Nintendo has a strong line-up of games going forward. You’ll want to keep an eye on the future of the Switch, and they will certainly be hoping for another great year of gaming.