E3 2016: Nintendo Event Roundup and Impressions #E3
This morning I woke up, and I said to myself, “Welp, It’s that time of year again, Dom. Nintendo’s got their yearly online stream where they’ll announce some toys, and some quirky third-party WiiU games, and tease a new Zelda game without actually showing you anything.” And while I was pretty much right about everything else (the toys and the weird third-party stuff) I am happy to report that I was proven very, very wrong on my last assumption. Here’s my breakdown of all the important stuff from Nintendo’s E3 offerings.
Nintendo NX
Let’s get this one out of the way first, since there’s absolutely almost nothing to talk about. Nintendo’s “brand new concept” machine will be coming out in March of next year. I know what you’re thinking:
Yep, that’s it.
New Amiibo Stuff
First of all, I have a question. Is the plural of “Amiibo” supposed to be “Amiibo” or “Amiibos”? I’ve barely got enough brain bandwidth to think about what I want for lunch tomorrow, so if somebody could clear this up for me that’d be great.
Anyway, for those of you who can’t get enough of these figures, Nintendo will be releasing some new Amiibo figures on November 4th of this year. We will be seeing first-time figure releases for Boo (which glows in the dark), Daisy, and Waluigi. If that wasn’t enough, there will be new figures for Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Rosalina, and Wario.
Pokémon Sun and Moon
Nintendo showed off some great new features for its newest installment in the Pokémon franchise today, including a couple of new creatures that you’ll likely be encountering pretty early on in the game.
Pikipek, Yungoos, and Grubbin seem like this generation’s version of Pidgey, Rattatta, and Caterpie, so its pretty disappointing that Nintendo chose the biggest weekend in gaming to unveil three Pokémon that will be replaced in most Trainers’ parties by the time they get to the second gym. There’s also the new Battle Royal mode, where four Trainers are pitted against one another in a free-for-all battle where any Trainer can attack another.
Each of the four Trainers chooses three Pokémon to represent them in battle, and sends out one at a time. The battle ends once any one Trainer runs out of Pokémon. The players are then ranked, and the winner is declared based on the number of Pokémon each have defeated and the number of Pokémon each has remaining in play. This Smash Bros.-esque format is pretty cool, and I’m intrigued to see this play out for myself. One thing’s for sure, I can’t see many friendships remaining intact once the smoke clears.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Here we go folks. The pièce de résistance of Nintendo’s conference – finally, the new Zelda.
“Where you go, how you get there, the order in which you do it, and the items, weapons and approaches used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies are all up to you.”
-Reggie Fils-Aime
Watch the trailer, and as much gameplay as you can find on the internet as soon as you can, because this. Shit. Looks. Amazing. Link can now climb towers and huge structures, which Nintendo says enables him to reach the top of any mountain on the map. Minor enemies now live in colonies, adding a new layer of strategy to collecting resources to craft, cook, and upgrade gear with. Oh, I’m sorry, did I forget to mention that ahead of time? Because you can do all of that now. As sure as Jesus wore sandals, I’m surely going to be losing A LOT of sleep when Breath of the Wild comes out next year.
Link is also adding a few more extreme sports to his resume in this new installment, including paragliding and using his shield as a sled downhill. On top of all of that, Hyrule is now a living, breathing, and constantly changing landscape that Link must adapt to in order to survive. Another nifty tidbit I picked up from the demo is that hearts will no longer be found in grass and pots – you’ve gotta cook and brew potions to heal yourself. It definitely sounds like this is going to be the deepest, most challenging, and definitely the most engrossing Zelda adventure ever made, and I know I’m not alone when I say that I cannot wait.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be starting an emotional support group for grown men like myself who wept like babies while watching that trailer.
