With so many games coming to Nintendo’s latest hybrid console, there will always be a few announcements that leave us wanting more. Whether we’ve only seen one short trailer, or even only a title screen, here’s a few games fans are excited for but don’t have much information on. Some of which we’ve been watching eagerly since 2017…
1. Shin Megami Tensei V
Published & Developed by: Atlus
The Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) franchise has expanded into a massive multitude of excellent JRPGs – arguably my personal favourite RPG franchise of all time – and has enjoyed more of a cult following. It was never as popular or well known in the mainstream gaming community, or even outside, as Final Fantasy for instance, but has been consistently well received by critics and fans alike. Having said that, the Persona sub-series has been successful in breaking through to a wider audience and has similarly been received to critical acclaim. Most recently, Persona 5 has become the series’ best selling release so far and Switch owning RPG lovers have been craving for a Persona 5 port.
So when SMT V was announced for the Switch, you can only imagine the hype built within the fan base – though curiously it seems to have piqued the interest of those perhaps less familiar with the series, maybe thanks to the success of SMT IV (3DS). Sure, there was disappointment for some who won’t be getting it on their PS4 (at least at the moment), but nonetheless, SMT V so far looks amazing. From what little we’ve seen, anyway. And by little… well. Really, that means a few character models and some shots of the familiar post-apocalyptic Tokyo the series’ is known for. That was in January 2017 and so far, we’ve heard nothing more. But the promise that it will utilise contemporary themes of unemployment, terrorism and nuclear weapons, while fusing elements of the popular Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call (or Nocturne in non-PAL territories) and SMT IV’s demon-raising gameplay, developed with the Unreal Engine 4 programme… Well, it may be too late to release alongside the series’ 25th anniversary, but the anticipation is still there amoung fans, and we’re still clamouring for news!
Hopefully sooner than later…
2. Animal Crossing
Published & Developed by: Nintendo
Possibly the cruelest announcement known to the gaming world.
At first we thought Animal Crossing for Switch was finally being confirmed… but turned out to be a new character – fan-favourite Isabelle – added to the huge roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Then a blank screen. Then a familiar face appears at a desk: Tom Nook. Oh, Tom is joining Isabelle in Smash? Wow. But no! Animal Crossing gets confirmed – with a tantalisingly subtle build up, I might add. And what do we know about the new gameplay elements of Animal Crossing Switch? Basically nothing. In fairness, it’s Animal Crossing and the gameplay really just builds on what came before with some new elements and improvements. But New Leaf on the 3DS came with a greater sense of freedom and creativity. So many fans where disappointed with the WiiU’s Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, for good reason: it was a poor Mario Party game that relied on players owning Amiibo to use (which not everyone did) and was the only representation of the series on the then current Nintendo home console. So no wonder there have been some… hysterical fan reactions to the games announcement, even though we know very little of what may or may not be added or improved over the past entries. Even still, this is a game that’s sure to be on everybody’s radar.
The most important thing we need to know is, will it let players act Mayor like in New Leaf, or will Tom Nook finally dominate the world of Animal Crossing and form the Tom Nook Empire the series has been building towards since the N64/ Gamecube original? Even as village Mayor, players still found themselves paying off debts to him, and with Isabelle out of the picture in Smash…
3. Town
Published & Developed by: Game Freak
GameFreak is well known by Nintendo fans for their work on the ever so beloved Pokémon franchise. With Pokémon: Sword & Shield finally confirmed to be the series’ latest generation for console – the first main-line Pokémon game to be released on console since ? – GameFreak have also been working on their own brand new IP: an RPG simply titled Town. Though it should be noted that this is currently a working title, personally I think it should stick.
Unlike SMT V, we’ve seen much more gameplay-wise. From what we understand, Town is set in, well… a small town, really, that seems to be the unfortunate victim of monster attacks. This leaves it up to you to defend the ‘town’, utilising an interesting new turn-based combat system developed for the game, and the ability to summon your fellow townsfolk to butt-heads with the beasts. It looks like it’s set in a fantasy-inspired world, maybe with some steam-punk elements thrown in for a good dose of charm, with a bight, colourful art style that’s inline with their recent 3D Pokémon models and oozes the character we expect to see from GameFreak. Certainly one to look out for, but there is still so much we don’t really know about the game, besides some vague details from a short trailer. At least we’ve seen actual gameplay footage, though. Maybe there will be a series to come from this. Suburb Town, City, Continent. Maybe the DLC will allow for Town Twinning or Sister Cities. What would make for an interesting addition to the game, seeing as it’s all contained within one settlement, is a town-building aspect, somewhat like the early Playstation 2 Dark Cloud series. It seems the villagers of Town could be used in battle, but what about outside of battle? Will there be Harvest Moon elements? And what about the story?
4. Bayonetta 3
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Platinum Games
Revealed during the Game Awards 2017, Bayonetta 3 follows up from the success of the previous entry, Bayonetta 2 for WiiU. The series is known for it’s Devil May Cry style hack-and-slash gameplay, featuring the popular titular protagonist, Bayonetta – who has remarkably appeared recently in Nintendo’s Smash Bros. series. Currently very little is known about the game, beyond the fact that it is being developed by Platinum Games and will release… at some point. Hopefully in the near future – and hopefully we won’t have another Metroid Prime 4 situation on our hands, given Bayonetta 2 was initially shelved by Sega to be thankfully saved by Nintendo. Interestingly, the release date has since been changed from a vague ‘2019’ to the ominous ‘TBC’.
Still, fans are nonetheless excited to see Bayonetta make her return, and with the recent success of Devil May Cry 5, perhaps this foreshadows the success of Bayonetta 3? Since the second entry went on to receive critical acclaim after Nintendo intervened, hopefully this third entry will live up to the hype – which, let’s face, is almost guaranteed.
5. Metroid Prime 4
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Retro Studios
Ok. ‘Technically’ Metroid Prime 4 was scraped by Nintendo and restarted due to the original project not meeting their expectations or quality requirements, and frankly their bluntness on the subject has been met with praise amoungst fans, despite the disappointment that we’ll be waiting just that bit longer. The truly tantalising thing is we don’t know how much longer the project is going to take, nor do we know how long we’re expected to wait for the refreshed development of the long-awaited Prime 4. But it’s sure to be worth it. Hopefully…
On a personal note, Metroid has been my favourite games series, alongside SMT and Silent Hill, and the teaser for the new entry was about as exciting as a game announcement can get. Fans have been speculating – as they often do for series’ with a cult following such as this one – about how it will connect to the other games. Will fan-favourite Sylux from Prime Hunters (DS) make an appearance? Will the hidden ending of Prime 3: Corruption amount to anything? Will the titular Metroid Prime – or Dark Samus – make a spectacular return, somehow, and how many more times will Ridely get revived? At the moment, this is probably the one game we know the least about and the news regarding development status, apprehensive (if patient) fans, and air of mystery about… well, everything, is cruelly building up that sense of anticipation. A little like the creepy music leading to the Chozo Ghosts from the first Metroid Prime…
