E3 2017: Nintendo’s “Spotlight” Recap

While Nintendo has gotten out of the full blown press conferences at E3, they’re still going strong with their streaming content. Instead of the usual “Nintendo Direct”, this year’s online presentation was simply called Nintendo’s “Spotlight”. The entire video was only a half hour long, but won’t up revealing much more than we anticipated with some very surprising news. Here’s what we saw during the pre-recorded stream:

After a brief montage of games (which included a surprise of its own), we were introduced to a new trailer for the upcoming title, “Xenoblade Chronicles 2”, which was expected. It looks to be just as epic as the last, so fans of the original should be pleased.

Nintendo loves to rehash old franchises, but we’re not complaining. This time, they’re bringing back our fluffy and hungry pink friend with the announcement of “Kirby” for the Nintendo Switch. The game appears to be going back to its roots, much like the recent 3DS release of “Kirby: Planet Robobot”. As expected, the colors are vibrant, and its tone looks to be very much in the vein of Kirby.

Next up, we were given a recorded video of Tsenekazu Ishihara from The Pokemon company who talked briefly about “Pokken Tournament Deluxe” for the Switch. The bigger news he had to share had to do with a brand new (currently untitled) Pokemon game that promises to be a traditional role-playing Pokemon experience for the Switch. And there was much rejoicing.

One of the biggest surprises from the presentation was the announcement of “Metroid Prime 4”, which is currently in production for the Nintendo Switch. There’s literally nothing else to report, as we only got a title card with some very Metroid-sounding music behind it. Still, this is very exciting to hear.

Speaking of rehashing franchises, a new Yoshi game was also announced. Where the last game focused on yarn, this title, which is simply called “Yoshi” uses a different material: cardboard. It has the same Yoshi charm you come to expect from Nintendo and releases sometime in 2018.

Dynasty Warriors and Fire Emblem fans can rejoice as a new trailer for “Fire Emblem Warriors” was shown next. Similar to how The Legend of Zelda series received the ‘Warriors’ treatment with “Hyrule Warriors”, the Fire Emblem series will now have its own hack-and-slash button-masher. This game serves a very niche audience, but still looks very colorful with satisfying, albeit repetitive gameplay.

Although we were already given a look at Link making an appearance in Skyrim during Bethesda’s press conference earlier, Nintendo talked very briefly about it here as well. The bigger news here was the reveal of the two new DLC packs available for “Breath of the Wild”. The first is called “The Master Trials”, and the second is called “Champions’ Ballad”. The former offers a new quest called “Trial of the Sword” as well as new way to play in “Hero’s Path Mode”, which highlights Link’s journey on his map by tracing his steps. In addition, “The Master Trials” offers new armor, a Korok mask (helpful for finding those 900 seeds) and a new Master Mode, for those looking for added difficulty. The second DLC pack was a bit more ambiguous in content, but nevertheless left us intrigued.

While we’re on the subject of Zelda, Amiibo also unveiled four new Amiibos from “Breath of the Wild”, each based on the four Champions from the game. Here’s a quick look at them:

During the Ubisoft press conference, we were given a glimpse into “Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle”. Yves Guillemont appreated in Nintendo’s Spotlight to talk about more about the game, which releases on August 29th, 2017.

Another huge surprise from Nintendo’s Spotlight was the announcement that “Rocket League” will be playable on the Nintendo Switch. As expected, this version of the game will include exclusive Nintendo-themed customization items and battle-cars. On top of that, cross-platform play will be available. The Switch seems like a great platform for this title, which makes us very eager for Holiday 2017.

Of course, the game we were all looking forward to was “Super Mario Odyssey”, and boy did Nintendo deliver with this trailer. Not only does our favorite plumber look amazing, the gameplay looks to be a pleasant mix of several previous Mario titles while still remaining original. Mario now has the ability to fling his hat at enemies, ostensibly taking control of said enemy. We saw familiar enemies like a Bullet Bill wearing the iconic red cap, fully controlled by the player. Mario even gets to ride vehicles AND a T-rex! This glorious title has an official release date of November 27th, 2017; and we can’t wait to play it.

If you’d like to see the entire conference, you can check out the link below. Also, be sure to listen to our reactions of the Spotlight on our Day 4 Podcast episode. You can also hear our reactions to the other press conferences including EA, Microsoft/Bethesda, and Sony/Ubisoft.