Nintendo Switch 2 Direct – My Thoughts
The Nintendo Switch 2 reveal event was today (Yesterday) and with it, the official release date, price and all the wonderful details you want. Here are my scattered thoughts followed by more structured opinions on the games that tickled my fancy.
- Only 1 launch game???
- Price and release date are fine
- Game prices are a bit much
- Hope paid upgrade paths aren’t too bad, only really care for Kirby from the options, maybe a return to BotW and even TotK?
- Gamecube coming to NSO is huge, excited to play the Pokemon titles. Shame WindWaker kind of confirms no port of WW/TP HD. Might see Metroid Prime 2/3 before 4.
Mario Kart World (5/6)
The only first party launch title, it’s a good thing this one looks so cool. 24 players, brand new tracks as well as a whole open world to explore Forza or Crash Team Racing style. I figure this is the only Mario Kart title we receive this generation but it’s going to be a big one. I’ve somehow managed to miss out on each of the Mario Kart titles up until this point, even 8 Deluxe which has been around for the best part of 10 years, so I’m excited to get head first into World.
Donkey Kong Bananza (17/7)
I don’t know if I’m surprised or not that the fabled 3D Donkey Kong game is real or not but I’m glad it is because it looks really cool and honestly fairly different from what I expected. It seems there’s a focus on destruction and treasure finding, a lot of the trailer had DK breaking huge blocks of stone from the ground to throw or to access secrets. Having each 3D platformer being fundamentally different thing is good for variation
Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Star Crossed World (28/8)
I really enjoyed Kirby and the Forgotten Land when it came out so I’m happy to see that there’s more content coming out for it. Between this and Donkey Kong, it’s interesting to see a first year of the Switch 2 with no 3D Mario but other 3D titles.
Kirby Air Riders (2025)
This doesn’t matter to me like the way it matters to a lot of old Gamecube fans who swear by the game as their favourite thing. Having two racing games in the same year might seem a bit strange but from what I know Air Rider isn’t quite a traditional racing game. This one is a wait and see.
Pokémon Legends Z-A (2025)
Despite everything, I always look forward to the next Pokémon title. Legends Z-A isn’t quite what I expected from the next Legends title but I think it maybe has potential. I’m going to play it either way of course and having more powerful hardware hopefully means it’s going to run better than absolute dog-water which would be a nice bonus.
The Duskblood (2026)
FromSoftware are full of surprises this year, first with the reveal of Elden Ring Nightreign and now with the reveal of a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, the legally not Bloodborne ‘The Duskblood’. Seemingly similar in a sense to Nightreign but instead of a co-op experience roguelite, this is more of a battle royale with a final boss to fight? Details are sparse but I’m going to be there Day 1 as FromSoftware’s biggest fan.
Third Party titles
Naturally there will be a whole bunch of ports to bolster the systems day 1 launch. Personally there’s not many I’m interested in either replaying or playing for the first time on the Switch. Additional Yakuza 0 content is interesting as is new weapons and armours in Elden Ring but the latter is also coming to all consoles. It certainly lends credence to rumours of Third Parties bolstering support for launch year, including a potential Rayman 3 HD port (Please).
Naturally there will be an E3 period Direct showing off more games coming to the system. It’s a little bit of a slow start admittedly but I have faith that there’s some big things coming for the Switch 2.
