Nintendo’s portable powerhouse of a console has managed to become a force to be reckoned with in the industry, and in quite the short amount of time too. While home consoles in the form of Xbox and PlayStation retain their stranglehold over the industry along with the immortal ruler, the stoic PC, Nintendo has managed to get a toehold.
And for this reason, this year we’ll be including it in our predictions lists (or hype-generators, as I see them) along with the staples. And boy is that relevant because 2019’s list of titles looks so good, it should seriously make you consider buying Switch, if you don’t own it yet.
Stein’s;Gate Elite
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey | Genre: Visual Novel |Developer: 5pb
Stein’s Gate is a visual novel that inspired a very popular (for good reasons) anime which managed to strike a chord with the western audience. It is often presented to people who feel overwhelmed by the visual novel genre as a good starting point.
Elite is the remake of the original game, supplemented with new animations concordant with the anime. And that actually changes a lot, because the story revolves around time travel and the anime isn’t exactly 1:1 with the source material and neither could it ever be, because Stein’s Gate has multiple different routes leading to vastly different endings, driven by the player’s choices. In that sense it plays similar to an RPG, except without tactical combat, so it should be something a westerner can grasp. If you ever wanted to get into the genre, this is your chance, and on a Switch no less, which is perfect for this kind of gameplay.
Trials Rising
And falling. Mostly falling | Genre: Racing | Developer: RedLynx
Trials Rising is a comedic game where the players control bikes hampered by wonky physics. It’s a sequel to Trials Fusion which worked on the same exact premise and did lead to some heartfelt laughter and good fun among players, even if playing it in single-player boils down to a joke that works exactly once.
Rising, in addition to offering new race tracks (which can get increasingly bizarre, as if Bennet Foddy had a hand in designing them) and an ability to create your own to torture your friends, has a new multiplayer mode which will have two players controlling a single bike. So the game lends itself perfectly to Switch’s niche as an excellent party console, depending on the number of people involved you can play with each player controlling their own bike, or you can create tag-teams.
Mortal Kombat 11
Oh, good, Switch needed the edge | Genre: Fighting | Developer: NetherRealm Studios
While I’m as excited for the next Mortal Kombat as about anybody else, the reason why this game isn’t higher on the list, is because I don’t think Switch is particularly great for Mortal Kombat. Don’t get me wrong, I like fighting games, but I’d probably prefer to enjoy the glorious, gory 4k on a PS4. Even still, a game like Mortal Kombat coming out on Switch is an important event for the portable console, so it makes the list.
Mortal Kombat 11, for those of you living under a rock, is the eleventh main installment in the Mortal Kombat series. These games have a solid depth of mechanical complexity and they are, this needs be said, extremely gory. Not cartoonishly gory, but more like edgy-gory. And I wish I could say more about Mortal Kombat 11, but we’ve seen very little of the game through a non-descriptive trailer, so it’s hard to say how different it will be. Perhaps it will be well-suited for Switch, but I’m not holding my breath. Still, MK enthusiasts out there can now also enjoy their favorite series on the Switch, and that’s something.
Saints Row: The Third
Keep rowing | Genre: Action-Adventure | Developer: Volition
Saints Row: The Third is the… well, third installment in the mirror-verse GTA series created by Volition, about over-the-top cartoony gang violence, not having scruples about leaving a blazing trail of destruction and violence, and a subtle, if saturated with irony almost to the point of being meaningless, social commentary about the world.
Which is.. an odd fit for the Switch, admittedly. But, it’s not less fun because of that. In fact, Saint’s Row might lend itself pretty well to the kind of carefree gameplay-style that works on Switch. The technical requirements of this port are definitely not taxing enough on an honestly pretty strong portable platform, so I can’t see that being an issue. And I’m just going to say, if Saint’s Row can make it to the Switch, so can GTA. Come on Rockstar, do it.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
One could say its release is… emblematic of how on fire Switch is these days! | Genre: RPG | Developer: Intelligent Systems
Fire Emblem is a series of classic Japanese RPGs, spanning almost 30 years of real-world history. While it’s less popular in the west than the ubiquitous Final Fantasy series, it’s no less veteran. It’s a series exclusive to the Nintendo line of consoles and as such waned in popularity greatly with Nintendo Wii being something of a failed experiment.
But now, with Nintendo risen from ashes with a new, popular and hip console the Switch, Fire Emblem is resurgent as well. The 16th main entry for the series, exclusively on Switch. It’s something of a proof of concept and there’s a lot of pressure on the developers from the fans to really reignite that Fire Emblem spark. And it’s good too, because if it works, we can hopefully expect ports of previous games on the Switch and that’s just great.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
One-part DMC, one-part Shadow of the Colossus, one-part Skyrim, all awesome | Genre: Action RPG | Developer: Capcom
Created by the man behind the bigger part of the Devil May Cry series, Dragon’s Dogma is the quintessential Japanese action RPG. In the words of Justin McElroy, Polygon co-founder, “the open-world fantasy of Skyrim meets the inscrutable difficulty of Dark Souls”. And on top of it, it does what very few games pulled off successfully: it allows you to climb monsters and remove pieces of their bodies or strike their weak spots.
All of those have made Dragon’s Dogma into a classic with a real cult following. Unfortunately it never lived to see its sequel, which is a great shame because the ideas in this game are absolutely amazing. But, we’re getting the second best thing, which is a Switch re-release. And who knows, maybe when Itsuno is done with Devil May Cry 5 and this title is successful on Switch, Capcom might consider pulling off a sequel in like 5 years. And that’s something to look forward to.
Team Sonic Racing
Gotta go slower than Sonic can just by using his feet | Genre: Racing | Developer: Sumo Digital
I never really got the idea of Sonic cart racing. I mean yeah, I got it in the sense of Mario Cart-esque deal where you have a cast of colorful (metaphorically and literally) characters competing using go-karts but like… Why go-karts? One of the these characters runs at the speed of sound and two other could build a go-kart faster than that so in what world does this scenario make sense?! It’s madness, madness I tell you!
Moreover, the point in this game is supposed to be teamwork and skill rather than speed, which while that works great for the Switch, seriously a wonderful idea, it’s a Sonic game… where speed is not the important factor! Sega. Please. Sonic suffered enough, how can you so consistently miss what one of your top pet mascots is supposed to be about! It’s probably going to be a very fun Switch game but the ludonarrative dissonance is driving me crazy.
DOOM Eternal
It’s going to be hard to come up with a name for a sequel | Genre: FPS | Developer: Id Software
Yeah, I know, it’s DOOM on Switch! What a time to be alive eh? Now, I’m not sure how well DOOM will land on Switch, given that it’s very fast-paced FPS where your accuracy both in terms of movement and shooting demons might be rather important. But its release on the console in and of itself is very interesting.
Bethesda, much like Ubisoft, EA or Activision Blizzard, aren’t in the business of producing their own consoles, so they try to release on all major platforms. Their decision to go ahead and release the highly anticipated sequel to 2016’s DOOM, which will surely sell very well, is telling. If Bethesda partners have faith in the console, then I think everyone should.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: Black Order
Perfectly balanced. As all things should be | Genre: Action-RPG | Developer: Team Ninja
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is something of an oddball series. Both of the previous games have been developed by different studios, however they were both published by Activision. Black Order, on the other hand, was developed by Team Ninja (people responsible for, among others, the Ninja Gaiden series and Nioh) and is published by Nintendo, exclusively on the Switch.
The series serves mostly as a tie-in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe of characters and stories, but these games have definitely been on the upper end of competency when it comes to comics and movies-based games, with huge variety of characters to mix and match into a team and an expansive, branching storyline. And with Marvel’s Spider-Man great success, the superhero titan of entertainment that is Marvel seems to be trying hard to make their games count and all the power to them. If this time it led them to negotiate with Nintendo, to me that says something.
Super Meat Boy Forever
We all have a raw, bouncy piece of meat deep down inside | Genre: Platformer | Developer: Team Meat
In stark contrast to Mortal Kombat, Super Meat Boy is about cartoon gore. Cartoon gore and imaginative platforming puzzles filled with traps, spikes and bottomless pits. A sequel to the hugely successful indie hit Super Meat Boy from a while back, this was originally supposed to be only a mobile port, but the project grew over time and became a full-fledged sequel.
In Super Meat Boy Forever, in addition to our titular raw boi, you can play as his charming partner, Bandage Girl (whom you had to save in the first game, yay equality!), even in coop. Additionally there’s a little bit of a combat mechanics now and most importantly, the controls were simplified to just two buttons. And I don’t have to tell you how good that is for all of you Switch enthusiast! This one is another for the growing library of entertaining party games.
New Animal Crossing
Let them chase butterflies | Genre: Simulation | Developer: Nintendo
The original Animal Crossing is a charming, relaxed game where you take residence in a village populated by anthropomorphized animal-folk and engage in various activities with them. This involves lots of different things like fishing, gardening and just socializing. So it’s kind of like a furry version of Sims.
Animal Crossing games follow a standardized pattern, so while we don’t know anything besides the fact that this game is coming, it’s pretty clear what this game is going to play like. And with multiplayer, this could be a very relaxed, entertaining group activity in line with something like Mario Party. Just, you know, with cute animal-people, so a win-win in my book.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
What is a game if not a miserable pile of mechanics? | Genre: Metroidvania | Developer: Collaboration between ArtPlay, DISCO, WayFroward Technologies
Castlevania is a legendary series of 2D exploration and combat-based games, which by many people is considered wasted in Konami’s iron grip. Well, the producer of the series Koji Igarashi certainly agrees. He broke off from Konami in 2014 and starter a Kickstarter project that became a resounding success and some 5 years later, the project is almost ready to launch.
Ritual of the Night is not Castlevania, only because it cannot legally use the name. Outside of that it’s a straight continuation of the series’ legacy through art-style, gameplay mechanics and plot. While it’s not exclusive on Switch (which I’m very thankful for, if it turns out to be 50% of as good as we all hope for, I want EVERYONE to play it), Switch is well-suited for this kind of 2D, Metroidvania gameplay.
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Luigi’s bad trip (yes, it’s a mushrooms joke) | Genre: Action-Adventure | Developer: Nintendo
Mario’s green brother has always been delegated to the role of player 2 and while he has been recognized by Nintendo as a character, he’s still facing some… representation issues. While he is a ubiquitous presence in Mario games and various multiplayer titles, he really has only one game series for himself, and with only two games in it, that being Luigi’s Mansion.
But sort of out of nowhere, Nintendo announced that they’re making a third installment in the series, to much joy of the Green Plumber’s fans everywhere. If you’re new to the series, Luigi’s Mansion plays similar to 3D Mario games, only except the colorful, jolly presentation of Mario it has more of a Halloween aesthetic, with Luigi being constantly spooked by various scares. If Nintendo puts at least 50% of effort they made Odyssey with, they will have done right by Luigi, at least in my book.
Bayonetta 3
Transitioning to Nintendo Switch | Genre: Spectacle Fighter | Developer: Platinum Games
Developed by supremely talented folks behind Nier: Automata, the original Bayonetta had taken us by a storm, even despite being a limited Wii U exclusive (which should tell you something, because that console had a lot of issues). It eventually came out on other platforms and became a huge financial hit, however, and its sequel followed suit.
Bayonetta is an incredibly imaginative spectacle fighter in the vein of Devil May Cry, with a striking aesthetic and one of the coolest protagonists in the genre (then again, by the nature of the genre all of them are varying degrees of cool) and surprisingly complex gameplay for a Wii game. While I have no fear that the 3rd installment in the series will do great on Switch (as did the 2nd), it’s really the hope that like the original game, Bayonetta 3 will be released on other platforms that makes this title so exciting.
Pokémon
They ain’t gonna catch themselves! | Genre: RPG | Developer: Game Freak
After all these years, Pokémon is still going strong and even finding ways to innovate and expand on the core principles of the series. And now we’re getting a new game in the main series on what technically also counts as a home console.
And this is actually a big deal for Pokémon, a series mostly played on portable devices. Unfortunately we don’t know much about this game, save for the fact that the studio responsible for it, Game Freak, previously worked on Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu & Let’s Go Eevee, very favorably received game utilizing the Switch’s joycons changeable nature to provide a really fun multiplayer. Hopefully this new title innovates even further and offers a wider selection of Pokémon than the classic 150 (I like Lucario, I want a new game with my favorite edgy ninja dog friend).
Switch to the Switch.
There you go, the last (but by no means least) in the series of our predictions and expectations concerning the year 2019. It’s a hugely exciting time for all people who enjoy video games as a hobby. Stay hyped because there’s a lot to be hyped about and most importantly: take care.