So after getting up at 3:30am to watch the presentation and having time to get my thoughts together, I've come off a little mixed and baffled.
First of all, I don't think any of the rumours helped Nintendo's cause, especially due to the duration of some of them. They've been around weeks and months and with evidence backing them up, I expected something more from the presentation, but that's not Ninty's fault, it's mine.
Anyway, to start off with the pros -
+ Zelda: A freaking marvel. The trailer was expertly crafted and portrayed not only the sheer vastness of Hyrule and it's lore, including fan favourite races returning, all with charming and varied redesigns (the Zora's especially look brill in the new art style), but also a gripping story. Zelda's pain was shown through that wail. It was deep, and conveys the story has a lot more going on that it originally seemed. Game play, as always looks pure fun. The freedom looks insane, and the environments immersing. They have a generation defining game here, and they know it.
+ Mario: Unexpected. The gameplay as always looks stellar, and the new hat mechanic looks like it'll expanded the the little dudes actions even more. The open world harking back to 64 and Sunshine is a welcome change from the recent linearity, though I loved Galaxy and 3D World. Something different is always nice, but I'd be lying if I said they might have gone too different. While I love the look of New Donk City, the realistic people do not mesh at all, made worse by the dreadful models. I assume the theme is exploring different art styles in different world, and I have feeling some are gonna look better than others.
Its a bit of a shame as Mario is know for it's consistently charming and colourful graphics. Nevetheless, it looks fun and adventurous, and that's the main core of a Mario game.
+ Fire Emblem Warriors : This was a dream for me. There's always been that community idea that the series would go well with the Musou genre, and after Zelda it seemed like a real possibility. Still, I was shocked, hyped, and it really blew up the presentation for me. I only wished they showed more.
+ Arms: Interesting. I love the crazy character designs, Spring Man especially. The graphics are pure Nintendo too, which always a good thing. I'm a bit concerned with the gameplay, as most of it was showing the opponents missing their punches, I can't imagine that would be all too satisfying, but with it's motion controls I reckon it'll be a lot more exciting, and getting that punch in will really matter. The two protagonists seem like good candidates for Smash, offering a new play style, so hopefully the game will catch on. Splatoon has proved new IPs can dominate, as long as the game play is good. Lets hope Arms proves it has good game play.
As for the cons -
- The Price: It's too much Ninty. Maybe only £30 too much but that money could have gone to purchasing another game, especially when you don't have a pack in. No ones gonna buy your party game 1, 2, Switch if sold separate, why would they? Half of this conference seemed to be appealing to the has been Wii crowd, but that crowd ain't gonna buy a console for nigh of £300 for a few party titles when they can get some party thing from Mankind that offers a similar experience for a third of the price.
- Launch Line Up: Zelda is epic, don't get me wrong. I'm getting one at launch solely for that game, but no Mario Kart Ninty? Really? No Smash Bros? They're presumably ports with little added on. Surely you can see how easy it would have been to have them for launch and how many more sales it would attract. But nah, gotta have Snipperclips. This is ok for me personally, as I'm a slow gamer so Zelda will last me a while, but I understand people complete games fast, and with only 4 titles standing out to me for the year, peoples anger is justified.
- Promises: A lot of this presenation was showing off the bare minimum of titles. Thanks for confirming FE:Warriors, but I have no idea what it's going to be like. How come you didn't have more to show on these supposedly upcoming titles? You can't get people to buy a console for games they know little about. Honestly, with the amount of time you've had on this there really should have been more to show. It just seemed like "buy our product, and here's a mention of what you'll get. Nothing substantial or anything, but at least you know it's coming". And that just isn't doesn't cut it.
All in all, I'm getting one, as I know Ninty will deliver through the consoles life. It just seems too costly for what your getting at the moment, and I felt unsure of what the system was exactly offering. I honestly don't know how well it'll do. Zelda seems to be it's saving grace, and a big one at that, other wise this could have actually gone worse than the Wii U. The problem is, when your saving grace is also going to be available on a console millions of people already own, how will that play out?
Its going to be interesting, and I know Nintendo console starts are always a bit rocky. Hopefully It'll go the way of the 3DS rather than the Wii U, but they need to give more reasons to purchase one. Pokemon and Smash down the line will help, but something like Metroid could have really helped first impressions. I feel excited for the titles I like, but the lows of this presentation were low.
Im a Nintendo fanboy, and I wish them all the best however. I also wish GameXplain all the best in tackling this massive behemoth. Good luck guys, can't wait for the videos!
