Nintendo’s Stellar E3 Showcase: BOTW2 Dazzles But Still No Switch Pro

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Nintendo’s E3 strategy was simple and effective: games, and lots of them.

The announcements at this year’s E3 came so thick and fast with many of the games slated for a 2021 release, that it was hard to build up any bitterness about the notable omissions. There was no Switch Pro announcement, no Switch port of Wind Waker, nor any mention of Bayonetta 3. There wasn’t even the slightest mention of Animal Crossing (sorry Brewster stans). But what made up for these omissions was a much anticipated glimpse at the sequel to Breath of the Wild.

It seemed it would happen a lot sooner than it did with the showcase opening with images of Gannon. However, it quickly seemed that any hope we had for seeing BOTW2 went up in flames as Gannon was unceremoniously thrown into a volcano. The sequence turned out to be an announcement for Tekken‘s Kazuya Mishima joining the ever expanding roster for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which is sure to make fans of the franchise very happy.

Related: Read the rest of our E3 2021 coverage here

The announcements came thick and fast after that with Nintendo featuring a range of remasters, ports, and new releases. In around ten minutes we saw trailers for Life is Strange: Remastered Collection, Life is Strange: True Colours, Guardians of the Galaxy, Worms Rumble, Astrea Ascending, Two Point Campus, Super Monkeyball: Banana Mania, and Mario Party: Superstars Remaster.

Nintendo gently lowered our expectations of seeing Metroid Prime 4, confirming that the game is currently in development but will not feature in the showcase. What we did get was a glimpse at, confusingly, Metroid 5—the fifth game in the core Metroid series. Titled Metroid Dread, this game is a follow up to 2002’s Metroid Fusion and has a release date of October 8.

Shortly after we got a glimpses of racer Cruising Blast, Dragon Ball Z Kakarot and Just Dance 2022 which looks more or less like every other Just Dance game. And excitement was high next, with trailers for Switch exclusives Wario Ware: Get It Together, Mario Golf: Superush and not-so-distant cousin of the Persona franchise: Shin Megami Tensai 5.

Admittedly the conference began to loose steam here, with a string of competent showings which lacked thrills. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings Of Ruin was shown and Wii U horror game Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is getting a remaster. We’re also getting a remaster of Danganronpa: Decadence, bringing the beloved trilogy to the Switch.

Nintendo padded the latter half of their showcase with announcements like Doom Eternal‘s DLC, Remakes for Advance Wars and Tony Hawks Pro Skater. The Switch is also getting a port of the historical adventure Strange Brigade, and there was yet another showing of the Mario + Rabbits: Sparks Of Hope—which Nintendo inadvertently leaked before being announced at Ubisoft’s conference earlier in the week.

The conference ended on a high note with a series of Zelda announcements making for an excruciating viewing experience for those of us waiting for BOTW2. We saw the heroes of the first game pose on screen before the trailer revealed itself to be for DLC to the original game’s prequel, Age of Calamity. More was shown of Skyward Sword remaster which is getting a new amiibo, and we also saw a new anniversary Zelda Game and Watch.

Then came the news we were all waiting for: we got our first glimpse of BOTW2 since the teaser was released way back in 2019. The trailer was short but packed with enough details for fans to pore over for months to come. Noticeably Zelda is once again in danger, Link has new abilities, and this game promises even more verticality with sections of Hyrule rising to the heavens.

The trailer was just the cherry on the top of a strong E3 showing from Nintendo and full details on all the games featured can be found here.

Words by Jake Abatan


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