Cognition Dissemination: The Nintendo Switch’s Last Hurrah

Rumors circulating since the start of the year have claimed that Nintendo has no heavy-hitting titles in store for Nintendo Switch after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if that was true. The console, after all, is nearing its sixth anniversary, and Nintendo would never abide by it forever. Prior successful Nintendo platforms have reached a point where the company ceases to release in order to have quality titles for the succeeding platform, as shown through the DS and 3DS. IGN and VGC have since directly corroborated the claim.

Nintendo’s showing during the newest Nintendo Direct, the first since September, confirmed it. Looking over the list, they made few first-party announcements, and focused on showcasing and dating previously-announced titles. But don’t take this to mean they won’t have anything whatsoever after TotK, a silly thought. Plenty of games are still coming, as the presentation showed.

Of course, Tears of the Kingdom was the largest showcase, the title they saved for last. The game is still due for release on May 12th, and the new trailer remarkably marked the first time raw gameplay was shown. But Nintendo has only shown off a small amount of footage despite the game coming in a little more than three months. That’s good, in a way, for a title that will rely on players discovering a large world for themselves. Plenty of secrets will be included despite utilizing the same Hyrule present in predecessor The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo likely didn’t show much here to save the full gameplay reveal for its own Direct, to entirely showcase why it will be their first $69.99 game.

The other games shown from Nintendo were examples of the not-big games we’ll see on Switch in the post-Tears era. Pikmin 4 opened the Direct, due for release on July 21st, with visuals that showed how it will be an astounding and nigh-photorealistic leap over the superlative Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon was another, an expansion of a project teased within Bayonetta 3 due on March 17th. You can bet that Nintendo will have plenty of ports, remasters, and remakes from here, including the long-rumored Metroid Prime Remastered (released right after the show, with a February 22nd release at retail), the previously-announced Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe (February 24th — two days after Prime), and the long-delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (April 21st). The next year could be the time to expect ports of The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD, or I will be intensely disappointed. They might as well go ahead and remake Metroid Prime 2 and 3 too.

Since Nintendo has apparently exhausted the number of NES, Super NES, and Nintendo 64 games for Nintendo Switch Online, they’re now finally providing Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games. Super Mario Land 2 (but not the first game) and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX are among the former games, while Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap are among the latter. Game Boy games are available as part of the basic NSO package, but Nintendo truly were big-enough bastards to lock GBA titles to the Expansion Pack. This might be worth it to play games that have been unavailable legally for years, like Metroid Fusion.

Third-party publishers will fill in the gaps elsewhere, though few of the games will be exclusive. They’re coming from publishers putting in the work to ensure their upcoming games will run on Switch in addition to other more powerful platforms, considering its large install base.

The biggest story involved Level-5 essentially saying “I lived, bitch” by announcing three new projects. The biggest was DECAPOLICE a crime suspense RPG which resembles the kind of game Level-5 hasn’t released in over a decade. The game will involve a rookie detective who, alongside a party, will take down criminals in an open city, with a battle system that resembles a Ni no Kuni-ish fusion between turn-based and real-time. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time was also announced, a long-awaited and much-anticipated sequel to the life simulation 3DS game released a decade ago due for release later this year. Finally, there’s a new Professor Layton game in development, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam likely the seventh in the main series. Level-5 plans to hold an online showcase later this month, where they’ll (primarily?) provide development updates for the long-delayed Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road of Heroes. Folks, it’s safe to say that Level-5 is back.

The Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection was another important announcement for Switch (and Steam), remastered versions of the original DS Etrian Odyssey titles with visual and performance adjustments to make the games palatable for a single HD screen instead of a dual-screened one. It’s good that these games will be preserved outside the DS, with extras and bonuses like character portraits from other Atlus titles like the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games. But Atlus wanted to charge for the luxury of playing them again with each game coming at a whopping $39.99 a pop, or $79.99 together. There’s also no word on whether the game will be released physically outside Japan. Well, uh, at least we’re getting them. Not to mention that the usage of sprites in HD opens the door to other remasters like the Persona Q games, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, and the Shin Megami Tensei IV titles.

Other examples of titles coming are the Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster, which will unfortunately come with only Japanese voiceovers. There’s also Octopath Traveler II (with a demo available), Sea of Stars (with a demo available), Disney Illusion Island, and more. There was also Samba de Amigo: Party Central and a port of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective from Sega and Capcom, respectively, though the latter is coming to everything. The software releases are winding down, yes, but only slightly.

It may be the last hurrah for the Nintendo Switch, but this is a solid lineup for a platform entering its seventh year in less than a month. There will be future Directs with solid lineups of games for Switch, but don’t be surprised if Nintendo doesn’t have anything big remaining for the system to show there. But they will nonetheless have games to show. Keep this in mind before you set yourself up for disappointment, please.