Nintendo Saves E3!
E3 2021, in my opinion, has been relatively disappointing this year. Many of the games that have been revealed have been rather underwhelming, or games that we already knew about. Granted, the pandemic has hit every industry hard, so perhaps expecting a bunch of great new reveals was unfair. At least, that’s what I thought, until I saw Nintendo’s E3 presentation.
Nintendo presented a forty-minute-long Direct video presentation that had plenty of surprises for all of us. First up was arguably the most demanded announcement, the next fighter revealed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This time, it was a villainous fighter from the Tekken fighting game series, Kazuya Mishima. While I myself have only briefly played the Tekken franchise and have little attachment to the character, I know plenty of people will be excited to see their favorite fighting game represented in this celebration of video games. As for me, I will be watching the forthcoming presentation on June 28th, 2021 to see what Mii Fighter costumes are added along with him, as they have often provided me with more hype than the actual fighter being added. For example, Sans from Undertale was added as a Mii Fighter costume at the same time Banjo & Kazooie came to Smash, which was very exciting for me.
From Gamespot: Super Smash Bros - Kazuya Mishima
The best part of the Nintendo Switch is its portability – the ability to play console games on the go is an absolute dream. As a result, ports of games to the Switch are always excellent – and the ports revealed at E3 were certainly something to get excited about. Firstly, DOOM Eternal’s DLC, The Ancient Gods: Part One, is finally landing on the Nintendo Switch. This has been something I’ve been waiting for, for several years, and I’m eager to rip and tear again. The recently announced Guardians of the Galaxy game from Square Enix is also coming to Nintendo Switch, taking it from a game I would watch from afar to one I’m now interested in. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is another Wii U game that is getting a Nintendo Switch port. This is especially exciting because the Fatal Frame series is woefully underrepresented on modern consoles, despite it being a pillar of the survival horror genre.
From Nintendo: Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods
For the anime fans out there, Dragonball Z: Kakarot is coming to the Nintendo Switch with its DLC included. I’ve heard very good things about this open world role-playing game, so I may very well have to check it out. Dragonball Z: Kakarot is the highest-fidelity way to experience the story of Dragonball Z from beginning to end to date. Additionally, the Danganronpa franchise is finally landing on a Nintendo platform with Danganronpa: Decadence. This collection will include the first three games as well as a bonus party game. Danganronpa has always interested me thanks to its creative character designs and fascinating murder mystery plots, but the platforms they were on always got in the way of my enjoyment – I can never really relax while playing at my PC. However, with the franchise now on Nintendo Switch, I can have a bloody good time anywhere I like later this year.
From Gamespot: Danganronpa Decadence
The Direct also presented us with some expected, but welcome games. Firstly, we had Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, a collection of Super Monkey Ball games in celebration of the franchise’s 20th anniversary. Rabid fans of all things Nintendo will know that this game was leaked prior to the Direct, but it’s still exciting for those of us that enjoy the series.
Secondly, and far more importantly was a deep dive into Shin Megami Tensei V, a game that has been teased since the reveal of the Nintendo Switch console itself back in 2017. This time, we were given actual story and gameplay details – we are a student in Tokyo who gets sucked into an alternate dimension and fuses with an otherworldly entity to fight angels and demons alike to stop a global calamity. Gameplay functions exactly like other SMT titles, albeit in a refreshing third person perspective. Turn based combat and dialogue trees will help you through this intriguing adventure when Shin Megami Tensei V finally releases on November 12th, 2021.
Shin Megami Tensei series is coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch From Atlus Games
Speaking of calamity, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity’s DLC was finally revealed here at E3, coming with a few welcome additions like a playable Guardian, new Flail weapons for Link and a Master Cycle (AKA Motorcycle) for Zelda. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is an addicting action game pitting you against hundreds of enemies, and this new content is just the encouragement I need to get back into it.
More exciting than that was the reintroduction of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While the game is still without a proper title, we were given a look as to what the world of Hyrule will have to offer us when next we dive in – enemies working together, a brand-new antagonist, new abilities, a new look for Link and a civilization in the sky. I am eagerly awaiting any and all news on this game, and I can’t wait to play it when it comes to Nintendo Switch in 2022.
From Nintendo: Zelda - Breath of the Wild 2
But of course, Nintendo wouldn’t be Nintendo without some surprises, and the ones they had for us this year were some of the greatest in recent years. Metroid fans like myself were blown away to see the announcement of Metroid Dread, a brand new 2D Metroid title set after the events of Metroid Fusion. This initially worried me, as I haven’t played any Metroid games aside from the Prime series and Samus Returns, but thankfully the game will begin with a prologue that will summarize the story so far – very encouraging for the uninitiated like myself. The game is being developed by Mercury Steam, who fans may remember as the developers of Metroid: Samus Returns, a Nintendo 3DS remake of the second Metroid game. Early looks at the gameplay are extremely encouraging, with things looking like they play almost identically to the fast paced, harrowing action of Samus Returns, albeit with several new moves for you to master. One of the focal points of Metroid Dread is the malevolent robots known as E.M.M.I. These robots cannot be destroyed by Samus’ weaponry, instead forcing you to run and hide, giving me very big Alien Isolation vibes, which is a very good thing. I’m very excited to plumb the depths of the alien planet when Metroid Dread which releases October 8th, 2021.
Nintendo also decided to spotlight two other series in this Direct – Mario Party and WarioWare! Mario Party Superstars looks like the game that Mario Party: The Top 100 wanted to be – it’s a celebration of all previous Mario Party games, collecting 100 different mini-games from across the series’ history and upgrading and updating them with modern graphics and an expanded roster of playable characters. What sets Superstars apart from The Top 100 is the game boards. The Top 100 was harshly criticized for its mundane, uninspired boards and lack of events during play. This seems to be completely rectified in Superstars as not only does the game take its mini-games from previous entries, but the boards as well, complete with all the special events and visual flair Mario Party is known for. While I wasn’t a fan of the more recent titles in the series, I’m certainly interested in taking a stroll down memory lane when Mario Party Superstars drops on October 29th, 2021.
WarioWare is making its debut on Switch this year with WarioWare: Get It Together! While starting life as a solo “microgame collection” on the GameBoy Advance, Get It Together is looking to shake things up by adding multiplayer! I personally never got around to playing WarioWare games when I was growing up, so now might be the perfect time to start when WarioWare: Get It Together! launches on the Switch, September 10th, 2021.
WarioWare: Get it Together
Nintendocube7 - Advance Wars: Game Boy Advance
There were a ton of great announcements this year, but by far my absolute favorite, my game of the E3 is Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp. Advance Wars is a game series that is near and dear to my heart. The GameBoy Advance was the first system I personally owned, and Advance Wars was the very first game I had for it. To see this turn-based RPG that hasn’t had a game in thirteen years return in such a big way made me absolutely ecstatic. Advance Wars tells the story of the fictional Orange Star nation as they and their allies fight to stop the Black Hole Army and their plot for world conquest. The bright, cartoony art style of the original is retained here, however the sprite art has been replaced with 2D character art and 3D in-game models. While you could argue the game loses something in that art style shift, the simple fact of the matter is that Advance Wars is back, and I couldn’t be happier. For those unaware, Advance Wars as a franchise has been unplayable on any modern handheld consoles up until now. Despite the fact that the Nintendo 3DS had an eShop, the games were only ever ported to Wii U, a system that a: wasn’t portable and b: no one played. That aside, as the title suggests, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is not just a remake of the first game, but the second as well! I never played Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, so getting to experience it first-hand on a modern console is the stuff of dreams! I can’t wait to relive my childhood when Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp arrives December 3rd, 2021.
From Nintendo
Overall, E3 2021 was disappointing, but Nintendo remained a bright beacon of joy at the end of a long, mundane tunnel. Even outside of the official Nintendo presentation, we got some great titles announced for the Nintendo Switch, such as River City Girls 2, the sequel to one of the best beat-em-ups I’ve ever played, or The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, a long-awaited port of two Victorian-era England Ace Attorney games that languished overseas for ages due to rights disputes over the use of the detective Sherlock Holmes (now rebranded as Herlock Sholmes). No matter what way you look at it, 2021 is a great time to be a Nintendo fan. Game on!
