Most Anticipated Nintendo Switch Exclusives 2020
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Nintendo loves to make life difficult for us. We basically don’t know much at all about the Japanese gaming giant’s plans for 2020. There’s a couple of cheap Wii and Wii U remasters, sure, and the juggernaut that is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but aside from that? It’s all a bit of a mystery until the inevitable Nintendo Direct in January or February.
That said, there are a number of Nintendo Switch games which were announced long ago and still haven’t seen the light of day, as well as the faint hope that the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel could even be ready to launch next year. It’s all a bit wishy washy though, even if we’re very confident Nintendo will find plenty of ways to surprise us throughout the year.
Metroid Prime 4
Development hell isn’t something we typically associate with Nintendo or Retro Studios but Metroid Prime 4 is undoubtedly in the seventh circle right now. MP4 was sensationally announced during E3 2017 and was in development at Bandai Namco. Nintendo say development was proceeding well and all looked to be good. Then came the fateful day in January 2019 when Nintendo published a video not only confirming that Metroid Prime 4 had been delayed but that development duties had switched to Retro Studios and the game was completely restarted. I
It’s been a rocky road but hopefully Metroid Prime 4 is the game that can finally smash this series into the stratosphere where it deserves to be. It’ll be an intoxicating blend of 3D Metroidvania exploration through dense alien environments, interspersed with FPS combat and some light puzzle-solving. Now we’ve just to hope it manages to see the light of day in 2020.
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
Xenoblade Chronicles has, somehow, built up quite a ravenous fanbase over the years. The Definitive Edition will be the third release for the sprawling JRPG set atop humongous giants. From the early footage there’s no doubt this is the best-looking version yet, which is most welcome for a game which thrives of grand vistas and beautiful sights.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is certainly in my top 10 games of all time, and almost definitely nesting in the top 3. It is a sublime reinvigoration of open-world tropes; a breath of fresh air still cocooned in nostalgia. To know Nintendo is deep in development on a sequel is tremendously exciting. Majora’s Mask taught us that sequels are when Nintendo feels happy to get weird and wild with its ideas, for better or worse, and the prospect of an even more adventurous design template for Breath of the Wild 2 makes this our number one most anticipated Switch title.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing. You don’t have to understand it, you just have to know it’s ridiculously huge. There’s something about being a poor tenant in an animal village which just clicks which a tremendous number of gamers. Animal Crossing has immense mainstream appeal. Couple this with the skyrocketing sales of the Nintendo Switch and Animal Crossing: New Horizons has hit written all over it.
Bayonetta 3
Another one of those Nintendo Switch exclusives which has been a long time coming. Bayonetta 3 was announced at The Game Awards in 2017 yet the usually prolific PlatinumGames has been taking its time with this one. The Bayonetta franchise has never been a commercial hit but it’s undoubtedly one of the strongest character action series ever made. With Hideki Kamiya back in as director, we’re dying to know whether 2020 is the year of Bayonetta 3.
Get voting for which game you’re most hyped for, and if it’s a game not mentioned here then let everyone else know what it is in the comments section below!
