BY JOHN CARTER JR
E3 this year was very exciting, to say the least. With many great game announcements from many different companies, the gaming community has a lot of things to look forward to in the near future when it comes to the content they will be receiving. Some companies did worse than others but something concerning this E3 was that Nintendo saved it. Nintendo had a remarkable Nintendo Direct at the beginning of their E3 and since then has sparked many discussions about the development of the Switch and it’s games. Let’s take a look back a Nintendo’s E3 and what made it so delightful for fans.
Last year’s Nintendo Direct for E3 was mostly concerning the Super Smash Bros Ultimate launch and what the project would bring to the Nintendo Switch platform. This reveal elevated the level of excitement for Nintendo fans for the following year after announcing the return of the entirety of the Smash Bros veteran cast plus the announcement of longtime requested characters.
Nintendo opened 2019’s E3 with one of two characters to be revealed: the hero from the Dragon Quest franchise. While this character had less hype surrounding them in the West, Japanese audiences had some of the most excited reactions to seeing this character appear. The default color palette for the character is the luminary from Dragon Quest 11, but other costume swaps will allow you to play as different protagonist from the Dragon Quest franchise. Three other protagonists are available to play alongside the luminary in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Another very exciting Switch announcement to fill the void until the next major installment in the Zelda franchise was a spinoff game known as Cadence of Hyrule. Nintendo and their Indie partners have been putting out many games on the Nintendo Switch platform throughout the entirety of this past year. Now taking the Crypt of the necrodancer concept infusing with the beloved Legend of Zelda franchise would just be enough to satisfy fans and represent Nintendo’s progress on working with other developers. While maybe not as exciting as the new Hyrule Warriors DLC or a new Hyrule Warriors game, as it is one of the greatest Legend of Zelda spin-offs, it is a great direction for such a 2D type amalgamation.
While there wasn’t that much news concerning Pokemon in this Direct, as Pokemon had just recently had its own direct previously, it would still receive a few small announcements. The Water Gym Leader was revealed and on the E3 floor, two new Pokemon were revealed in gameplay — including a new imp-like Pokemon and an electric Corgi Pokemon. Most interestingly though, concerning Pokemon, was the backlash it received from its fan base after being told that the National Pokedex would be removed from the most recent installment in the franchise or it would not be added. This means that some of the Pokemon from the 20-year + history would simply be unavailable in this installment. The exclusion even started a Twitter campaign #bringbacknationaldex.
Perhaps one of the biggest reveals for Nintendo at the conference was the gameplay in cinematic reveals for Luigi’s Mansion 3. The game design has been revamped and the quality of the textures and colors have improved since its first reveal, and the character models have been showing it off and look delightful. The game, from The Treehouse live streams, looks to take inspiration from both the original Luigi’s Mansion and its sequel Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon. This is shown through the return of portrait ghosts, originating in Luigi’s Mansion one, and the return of the Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon’s aesthetic. The cross between these two styles will allow for the immersion in the game to be one where both fans of the original game and the sequel will be able to share in the overall experience.
Another Zelda title to fill the void until the release of another installment in the franchise is the complete remake of The Legend of Zelda – Link’s Awakening. This is in line with the many other ramakes in the Zelda franchise and is seemingly becoming a trend of Nintendo and its related properties. In that, Nintendo seems to be remaking a vast majority of its popular classics. This type of usage of its assets allows Nintendo to both cash in on its nostalgia players and new players looking to get into the franchise alike. This, however, is no small task for Nintendo, and they do take it very seriously.
This is clearly seen in the aesthetic value of all of Nintendo’s remakes and is particularly true in the case of the Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening. The aesthetic is toy like and is shiny, this gives a more childlike essence to the game and allows players to take a step back from the more serious nature of Breath of the Wild, which deviated from the traditional Zelda play style. It will allow players to go back and enjoy Zelda and it’s previous glory. There are also new additions to the game play as one revealed function of the game is going to allow players to take previously explore dungeon rooms and rearrange them to create their own dungeons.
One of the most exciting yet simultaneously disappointing reveals at E3 was the first look at Animal Crossing for Nintendo Switch. Animal Crossing was supposed to release this year but had to be pushed back for developmental purposes to 2020. This elicited a similar feeling for players when Metroid Prime 4 was pushed back as well, except for in this case we actually got to see some gameplay. At first glance, this entry in the franchise looks like your typical Animal Crossing Adventure, but you’ll be starting even more from the grounds up than before and that you’ll be starting with a tent and Tom Nook at your side. In this entry you are on an island and are building up what looks to be some kind of camp or town, you’ll even be able to place furniture outside in the game.
Other than Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 there wasn’t much else that we expected to see from Nintendo. While we didn’t see Bayonetta or Metroid, we were surprised to see that Nintendo had more new planned content than we ever could have imagined. Now this announcement could have finished Direct and would have been a very satisfying one. Direct opened with a Smash Bros trailer so why not finish with one?
The same gag was repeated from the King K Rool reveal trailer from last year, however this time instead of King Dedede pulling the gag it would be Duck Hunt. Only to reveal long-time requested and fan favorite characters Banjo and Kazooie for Super Smash Bros ultimate as the third DLC character pass slot. This is where the Western fans screamed in excitement and joy as they never thought this day would come. A Microsoft rep returning home on the Nintendo console would seem unlikely but it happened. Then again Banjo Kazooie is no Steve from Minecraft.
When the trailer was done with the Banjo Kazooie reveal, fans expected the Nintendo Direct to end but we were surprised with one more reveal.. This reveal really handed Nintendo the win for E3 2019. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild had too many DLC ideas surrounding it that the development team simply decided to create a sequel and we would be given a crazy trailer with what seems to be the return of Ganondorf. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild sequel currently doesn’t have a title but we are sure to see exciting things from this project, as it looks to be similar to the Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask approach.
In conclusion, it is my belief a Nintendo definitely won E3. Looking back on it now, it still gets me excited for what’s to come and how Nintendo will be able to outdo itself again next year is beyond me. Exciting games like Luigi’s Mansion 3, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Link’s Awakening are getting so close. While it may be a little while before Banjo-Kazooie is in Smash or the new Zelda installment arrives, we do have The Hero to look forward to in Super Smash Bros ultimate and a recent release of Cadence of Hyrule to play. Nintendo has an arsenal of games and will continue to do excellent work through this Switch platform.