Just a few weeks into the brand new year and its time to look to what the future will bring! 2016 marks the first year for the new president of Nintendo, Tatsumi Kimishima. It will also be the year where the NX makes its public debut. There are some big changes for Nintendo, especially as they move towards the mobile market too! Let’s take a look at some of the exciting titles offered up in 2016.
Legend of Zelda (for the Wii U)
We’ve been given snippets of this title from Miyamoto throughout the year. We’ve heard promises of the game since its reveal back in 2014. A Legend of Zelda that is not only open world, but massive in scope and has something beyond a ‘single-player experience’. What was showcased looks incredibly detailed and interesting; if the bow Link uses in that one reveal trailer has any bearing on the ‘style’ that this Legend of Zelda title will have.
The game had been delayed past its original 2015 release for later on in 2016 with no specified time frame. A special mention should go to the Twilight Princess HD which is slated for release in March of 2016. This version will very obviously be a HD remastering of the original Gamecube/Wii title.
Gennei Ibun Roku #FE
Releasing at the end of last year in Japan, the game has already been announced for a western release this year. Despite this fact, the game still doesn’t have a proper western name. So instead of calling it Gennei Ibun Roku #FE, I’ll just go ahead and say Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem. That’s the game we’re dealing with here. We saw some footage of the game at E3 after it was confirmed that the collaboration still existed.
The project came to life after the Fire Emblem team wanted to work with the Pokemon team on a collaboration with them. After that fell through, they approached Atlus who was a little reluctant at first before they ultimately agreed on the game and what direction it would take. That direction would be a Shin Megami Tensei game with various aesthetics that pertain to the Fire Emblem universe. This includes ‘Phatom’ units from Fire Emblem Awakening including Chrom, Tharja and more. Other than the generic 2016 release window, there’s no specific date as of yet; but stay tuned!
Star Fox Zero
Star Fox Zero signified a return to a missing mascot in the Nintendo arsenal. With the last official release title being a 3DS version of Star Fox 64, there didn’t seem to be a new adventure for Fox McCloud on the current generation of consoles. Fortunately, Shigeru Miyamoto had always kept this game in mind and have been tinkering around with this title. This Star Fox title will utilize the gamepad in numerous ways including the little mini-bot you can control, or as an aiming reticle on the Arwing and various other ships. Star Fox Zero is slated for a release on April 21st, 2016.
Pokken Tournament
More collaborative works as the Pokemon team works together with Namco Bandai; specifically, the team involved with Tekken. Although slightly cheating as it is not a Nintendo system exclusive, it’s still included due to the arcade release never being released for us lowly westerners. Pokken Tournament will host a plethora of Pokemon fighting against each other in all of their active glory.
Sadly, the game did not break waves in arcade machines due to their cost vs playtime yield. For a rather small sum of 100 yen, you could get over 45 minutes of game time. Which, while sounds fantastic for the player, the wait time for new players to give a go will be a deterrent. An issue that is due to the arcade system and will have no bearing on the Wii U release sometime this year in the second quarter.
There isn’t many Wii U exclusives slated for release this year quite yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more added as the months come. But if we look at the Nintendo 3DS’s line up, it seems fairly strong.
Fire Emblem Fates (Conquest/ Birthright/ Revelation)
If the image above is any indication to the current nature of this title, it has seen release in Japan only so far. That said, the west will see Fire Emblem Fates this year. In all three of its incarnations. Fire Emblem Fates breaks its predecessor’s conventions as it allows the player the option to diverge into two different story paths that in its own individual aspect, is a fully complete Fire Emblem package. On top of this, a third story opens up that ties these two together with all of its loose ends.
In Japan, players would buy one of the two branches in its physical copy first, which would allow you to play up to a certain point before you diverge to the designated story branch. You could then purchase the other sides of the story for a much lower price and play through them. The western release will also have the same method of purchase. However, there is a special edition in place for people who want to purchase all three parts of the story at the same time. Fire Emblem Fates will be available on June 25th, 2016.
Hyrule Warriors
Stepping beyond the Wii U realms, Nintendo and Koei Tecmo’s collaboration project; the Hyrule Warriors have made the jump to the Nintendo 3DS and included some brand new characters, weapons and levels! Alongside all the original content from the Wii U version, Hyrule Warriors Legends will include several characters from the Wind Waker timeline including Tetra, King Hyrule and Toon Link.
Not only that, the base game will contain the DLC characters including Tingle, Young Link and the rest of those whacky characters. Further on top of this is the inclusion of new characters like Skull Kid and Linkle. Hyrule Warriors Legends will be an absolutely complete package. It’s just a shame it’s such a cheaper package than the base game + season pass and DLC for the Wii U version. No word on whether or not these new characters will appear as DLC (paid or free) for that version. Regardless, Hyrule Warriors Legends will be out on March 25th, 2016.
Ace Attorney 6
A personal favorite series of mine that I had to add to this list; Ace Attorney 6. Since his return in Ace Attorney 5, Phoenix Wright’s gone and put himself in a new adventure in foreign lands. Maybe a tad less foreign than his adventures in Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney. Since its reveal earlier in 2015, I’ve been keeping an eye on any news regarding this title. It was announced and shown that Mr. Wright’s protege Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes will make their return to aid in the game. Ace Attorney 6 is slated for release internationally on the 1st of September, 2016.
Although I’ve only listed three here, there are even more I would like to recommend a watchful eye for including Dragon Quest XI (as well as the VII, VIII port), Zero Escape 3, Project X Zone 2, Bravely Second: End Layers and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon. A stronger lineup from the 3DS side, but an overall strong Nintendo lineup to herald in the coming of the NX device. Hopefully the 3DS and Wii U doesn’t become obsolete in favor of the NX, but at least with titles like these, it’ll go out with a bang.
