Games Inbox: What will the first Nintendo Switch 2 games be?
The Wednesday letters page tries to imagine a modern Donkey Kong reboot, as one reader asks about the bugs in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake.
Demo games
OK, so there doesn’t seem much doubt that the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal is going to be on Thursday. Almost every ‘source’ seems to agree, so unless Nintendo decides to be petty and change it just because they’ve been found out (which I wouldn’t put past them) we are going to know what the console is and what it does this week. But what of the games?
We’ve been warned not to expect too much in terms of reveals for them, so what will be the first one to be shown off? They can’t just have a blank screen and unlike with the original Switch there aren’t any big name cross-gen games, that we already know about, that they can show.
There’s Metroid Prime 4 but that’s not really very casual friendly and there’s Pokémon Legends: Z-A but would you trust a Game Freak game to show off the technical abilities of your new console?
So surely we’ve got to get at least a glimpse at some new games. My prediction is a Zelda: Breath Of The Wild remaster, with lots of comparison shots, and a new Super Mario. I’ve heard the theories of Mario Kart 9 but while I agree it’s overdue, I don’t know how you make it look sufficiently different that it’s the first thing you show off for the new console.
Onibee
Within budget
Regarding Switch 2 price, £350 isn’t too far off the mark for me either. I’ve been working on the theory that £500 should be enough to get the console, a carry case, a Pro Controller, and get started on the new version of Nintendo Switch Online.
Switch has lasted a long time. I’m ready to upgrade at this point and a few choice titles within the release window (3D Mario, enhanced Metroid Prime 4, an interesting indie maybe?) would have me struggling to show any sort of adult restraint.
David M.
Bug mandate
I’m down for a The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake but is it really going to be a full remake, not by Bethesda? Won’t that be kind of embarrassing when it ends up being the only Elder Scrolls game that isn’t riddled with bugs? No offence to the originals, they were classics, no doubt about it, and that was when Bethesda were smaller and had less money.
But even Starfield was buggier than the average game, and that was a massive improvement from before. So for a remake of Oblivion, which barely worked on the PlayStation 3, to suddenly being bug free is going to be quite the transformation. Or will Bethesda mandate that Virtuos have to put a certain amount of bugs in there? Maybe they say they have to stop the bug testing phase early!
I’m half joking but at the same time it will be quite the transformation… or not, depending on what they do.
Lawgiver
RE: reader DuckOfDeath82 questions about Netflix Gaming. I am a regular user of the service. I believe the reader is under the wrong impression that the games are streamed. They are not. You download the games just like any other mobile app. So, the performance largely depends on your device.
I, too, discovered some games on there that have long been in my watch list. In my opinion, the best ones are the ones making good use of the touch interface: Golden Idol, Arranger, Paper Trail, Storyteller, but you will see plenty of action games as well. I am currently playing Spiritfarer, which is not an action game by any means, but I certainly struggled with the platforming parts.
Ali K
The one that got away
Thanks for the belated Tactical Breach Wizards review, although I’m sad that there’s no planned console release.
If you have time/interest in another game I don’t think you covered last year, I can highly recommend Nine Sols. The elevator pitch is very clearly ‘Hollow Knight meets Sekiro’ but as it does what says on the tin, I have zero complaints.
The art is great, the characters are interesting (if a little overly talkative) and it’s often brutally hard but nearly always fair. Getting the true ending was undoubtedly one of my proudest gaming achievements. Even if you don’t write about it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy playing it.
Richard
GC: We did have that on our list, but it managed to slip the net. We’ll see if we get any spare time for it.
Anniversary year
I have high hopes for the Xbox secret game annoucement, which I am sure is going to be ruined when it turns out to be a Ecco The Dolphin reboot or something else boring. But there does seem a non-zero chance that it could either be Persona 6 or Resident Evil 9, which I would be all for.
Such big numbers at the ends of their name makes them sound like yearly sequels but they’re both going to be 30 years old next year, so they’ve actually been very restrained. I suspect that also hints at when they might be out too, so a reveal this year makes plenty of sense (although, I admit, it probably is a bit early at this point).
For Resident Evil 9 I’m hoping for a return to third person and the classic gang of characters. I’m hoping the success of Resident Evil 4 remake means that they’ll be keeping the cheese and not trying to make it too serious anymore, which I am all for. I also really want to see the return of Wesker, who is sorely missed at this point.
As for Persona 6, I’m less certain what to wish for. I would’ve said getting rid of the turn-based combat but after Metaphor: ReFantazio worked out so well I’m not sure. I think it is best to make it action-based though, just to ensure some evolution and prevent the series getting complacent. I’d also like to see a significant improvement in graphics, which Metaphor didn’t really have.
Donjo
Transcendent filmmaking
The Until Dawn movie is coming out in April and they’re only just now showing 30 seconds of footage? Yeah, Sony has zero faith in that film. No doubt they were spooked after everyone hated on the remake, although I can’t imagine what else they were expecting.
That said I do like the idea of the plot behind the movie and David F. Sandberg is a decent director, so the movie could actually be good. Which begs the obvious question: has a video game movie ever been better than the game it’s based on? The only possible contender I can think of is Five Nights at Freddy’s but I’ve not played the games or seen the film, so I can’t really commit.
Algo
Frenemies reimagined
So it seems that a new Donkey Kong game, that is also possibly a new 3D Mario game, is the only faint glimmer of a clue we have for Nintendo’s first party plans (beyond Mario Kart 9 being logical, although I don’t think there’s been any actual rumour of it).
I’ve been trying to think of what that looks like and my theory is that it will have nothing to do with the Donkey Kong Country games, or probably any previous game except the original. As GC pointed out in their review, Donkey Kong Country is a pretty weird way to interpret the character, that doesn’t have anything to do with the original game. It’s just an animal mascot platformer, plain and simple (whether it’s good or not isn’t really the issue).
So I think Nintendo will try and go back to the original and reimagine what a modern Donkey Kong game means from that. I imagine DK being bigger and a lot of climbing up the sides of buildings and actively throwing barrels a lot. Maybe a competitive game with Mario, where you’ve both got different objectives but you cross paths and can focus on nobbling each other or trying to get things done on your own.
Then maybe you could team up for bosses, with the winner of previous stages getting some kind of special ability or bonus. I’m just making stuff up, I don’t know anything about making games, but that sort of direction makes sense to me.
Or to put it another way, if what they actually announce is just Super Mario Odyssey 2 and Donkey Kong Country Returns Again then we’ll know that maybe something is up.
Focus
Inbox also-rans
I’m betting that the secret Xbox game is Ninja Gaiden 4. The series is quite well known in America and I bet Microsoft think of it as their franchise, because it was on the original Xbox. I’m open to it being good but it has been a long time since the series meant anything to anyone – plus it doesn’t sound like it’d be any of the original developers working on it.
Horus
Am I the only one that hates Ecco The Dolphin? That game was so hard for no reason. I hated it as a kid and it was the only new game I had for six months, so I had no choice but to play it.
The Bishop
Games Inbox: What will the first Nintendo Switch 2 games be?
