Nintendo devoted much of its E3 presentation to games it had already announced. We knew that Super Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem Warriors, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 were all supposed to make their way to the Nintendo Switch at some point this year. Now the company has shared new trailers for those games and offered a little more information about when they're expected to debut.
Super Mario Odyssey is probably the biggest deal for many Switch owners. It's a new 3D platformer in the vein of Super Mario 64, which focused more on exploring a world than on platforming challenges, instead of the more level-focused design shown in Super Mario 3D World. This could be a return to form for Nintendo's most recognizable mascot, and it's bound to fly off store shelves the moment it lands on October 27.
A few years ago, Fire Emblem Warriors would have been something of a black sheep in Nintendo's lineup. Fire Emblem has been around since the NES era, but the tactical RPG series didn't have much of a presence in the West until the 2012 release of Fire Emblem Awakening for the Nintendo 3DS. Combine that with the fact that the game is being developed by Team Ninja as a Dynasty Warriors-style beat-em-up, and you'll understand why this would've seemed like an odd choice. But following the popularity of Fire Emblem Awakening and its successors, as well as the Hyrule Warriors title that gave The Legend of Zelda a similar treatment, Fire Emblem Warriors makes sense. It's set to debut sometime this Fall.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also got a new trailer. This RPG is a sequel to the Wii's Xenoblade Chronicles, which was released in 2010. Fans have clamored for a proper sequel ever since, and the well-crafted world developer Monolith Soft helped create for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild made the hype for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 rise even more. Many feared the bound-to-be-gargantuan title would be delayed beyond its promised 2017 release date, though, so Nintendo's announcement that it's still on track for Holiday 2017 was probably more than welcome.
Nintendo's focus on already-announced games might have disappointed some Switch owners. E3's all about revealing new titles, and even though Nintendo did that by teasing Metroid Prime 4 and a new Pokemon game for the console, the lack of firm release dates for Fire Emblem Warriors and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 could be frustrating. But the presentation seemed more like an assurance that Nintendo does have stuff in the pipeline.
With The Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart already on the console, Arms and Splatoon 2 debuting this summer, and Super Mario Odyssey hitting in October, Nintendo does have one first-party title coming every couple of months. Whether or not that's good enough will depend on the perspective of individual Switch owners.
| Name | Super Mario Odyssey | Fire Emblem Warriors | Xenoblade Chronicles 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Platformer | Action | RPG |
| Developer | Nintendo | Team Ninja | Monolith Soft |
| Publisher | Nintendo | Koei Tecmo | Nintendo |
| Platforms | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo Switch |
| Where To Buy | AmazonGameStopWalmartTargetBest Buy | AmazonGameStopWalmartTargetBest Buy | AmazonGameStopWalmartTargetBest Buy |
| Release Date | October 27 | Fall 2017 | Holiday 2017 |
