Age of Imprisonment: Call to Arms Trailer

Nintendo aired a Partner Showcase today and I honestly didn't expect to get something out of it, but here we are. We have received a new trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment in the middle of the Direct. Well, it technically makes sense, since the game is developed by Koei Tecmo – a third party and one of Nintendo's partners. But at the same time they are emphasizing that this time we're truly getting a "canonical tale", meaning that this game is supposed to represent the events of the Imprisoning War as they were happening in the past of Tears of the Kingdom.

After Age of Calamity we can't be truly sure of that, but they must have heard the disappointment surrounding that release, where we didn't really get to experience the Great Calamity as it originally unfolded, but more of a time travel cop-out. It made sense for that game, however, because it allowed for a richer variety in cast and for your companions to stay alive. But the only one who won't make it to the final confrontation of the Imprisoning War is Sonia, but maybe she'll become a ghost afterwards and you will still be able to play as her somehow...

There hasn't been any footage of her being playable yet, but she appears together with Rauru in the middle of the partnering montage – the new mechanic for Hyrule Warriors. We get another glimpse with the Sages of Fire and Wind, showcasing what potential this might bring. The Sage of Fire has mastered what will later be known as Daruk's Protection, but he is able to pass it on to his colleague.

We also get to see the face of who will presumably become the Sage of Lightning, Nabooru or Naboris or whatever she may be called. They do all have the classic Champion weaponry already, like the Scimitar of the Seven and the Daybreaker in this case, which is crazy to think about for how many generations these weapons were passed on (though, they probably have made thousands of copies over the ages, since they keep breaking). And overall she seems to fight quite similarly to Urbosa, but at least her face looks very different. There is great sadness in her eyes, which is certainly fitting with whole Ganondorf situation.

It would be funny if they kept revealing the sages trailer by trailer, but this would also mean that we're getting three more, which is unlikely. We do not have a release date yet, though, so there is time to unfold things...

Maybe the next actual Nintendo Direct will explain more, especially when it comes to all the mechanics. They've also shown the Sage of Wind carrying a Flame Emitter, where this raises some questions. Like, are these Zonai Devices something that is found on the stages and can be used by anyone? Will you be able to access these devices at any time using capsules?

They have also brought back the Bomb Barrel Moblins from Age of Calamity, which I find amusing, and there seems to be a new type of floating enemy made out of Gloom:

When I first saw these beings, they immediately triggered a resemblance in my head from something else in the series, but I couldn't really put my finger on it... Then I realized that they do look a little bit like Null from Echoes of Wisdom, but this might be a coincidence. I doubt that they are going to connect the Gloom to that story, though it certainly would be an interesting one.

But they are clearly referencing a different tale from the Zelda series at the end of the trailer. A new Zonai-infused rendition of Fi's theme could be heard at the end, as we're closing in on some secret shrine in what looks like a cave, but it could also be somewhere in the Depths.

We can see how a new type of Construct gets assembled there, one that's different from Mineru's and looks a lot more humanoid. This could mean a number of things, but since they are playing Fi's theme here, I suppose that this is Construct is going to become some sort of hero replacement. Or maybe it will allow Fi to take a physical form again and join the action, while the Master Sword is on standby.

Zelda was able to speak to the Master Sword in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. We could even hear Fi's trademarked alarm sound in those moments and also her music during the second time. So, it makes sense that this gets finally explored more here, where Zelda takes the Master Sword into her care and is going to spend a lot of time with it going forward.

But this new version of Fi's theme playing in this Zonai environment truly gave me the chills. There is something truly special of connecting the games on a deeper level. Well, you get a ton of silly costumes based on older Zelda games in both Breath and Tears, but that's not same as when you meet Skull Kid in Twilight Princess, for example. Or Wolf Link in Breath of the Wild always brought this weird sensation with him when you hear those classic Twili teleportation sounds... It's kind of like that here.

However, let's say that this Construct is meant to truly serve as a replacement for the hero, to become this game's "Link" so to speak, then this would only support even further that they are truly sticking to the canon here and not just bring in Link and the others from the future. Of course, this Construct was never shown in the Dragon's Tears memories, but those haven't shown us a lot of things... like the names and faces of the unknown Sages.

By the way, I doubt that this has anything to do with the Ancient Hero / the Ancient Hero's Aspect. To me, that is the hero who has first fought Calamity Ganon, long after the events of the Imprisoning War. That's like a whole other generation of Sages / Champions that we have yet to see and probably will never see.

Game Boy LEGO Announced

This was announced by Nintendo and LEGO today with some very retro commercial. It's a good, old Game Boy with cartridges for Super Mario Land and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, all built out of LEGO. You can even insert the cartridges into the Game Boy and swap out screens, where the one for Link's Awakening shows the scene of Marin and Link sitting on the beach. And all the buttons are pushable.

It's neat and compared to the Deku Tree set not that expensive (but probably overpriced nevertheless, since we're talking about LEGO here, but I'm no expert). And I still have my old Game Boy with these two games, where it would be nice to display the originals right next to their LEGO counterparts. The scale is 1:1, so it has the exact same measurements as the real deal.

Well, let's see. I have yet to buy the Deku Tree, because it's quite pricey and I wouldn't know where to put it. So, this could be something I'd rather get instead...

The Next 3D Zelda – General Direction?

Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have been tremendous hits for the Legend of Zelda and for Nintendo as a whole, where they will shape the future of the series one way or another. We can be certain that the open world direction will be kept and iterated, where a high level of freedom has become the biggest selling point. Other than that, we really don't have a clear idea about the way forward, only Nintendo does.

The most interesting question is how the game will look like and whether we're going to see a new Link and Zelda. Breath of the Wild really has established a new brand for the series, one that has become very successful and recognizable, much like the Nintendo Switch itself. With the re-introduction of both titles as "Nintendo Switch 2 Editions", it also seems in Nintendo's own interest to push forward with this brand on their new system.

On the other hand, we have a series that has always been quick to reinvent itself, to experiment with different art styles and ideas. So, it is not out of the question that they might come up with something that looks completely new and fresh. It just doesn't feel necessary at the moment...

Overall there seem to be three different options going forward:

1. A third game in a Breath of the Wild trilogy.
2. Another game in the same style, but taking place in a different era.
3. A completely new version of The Legend of Zelda. 

The first option doesn't seem very likely, because Aonuma already said so in an interview with GameInformer from late 2023 – they were not keen about making a sequel to a sequel. And they had exhausted their ideas for this iteration of The Legend of Zelda.

However, it felt more like they were talking about this Hyrule specifically. And no one wants to return to the same Hyrule a third time (or a fifth time if you count the Hyrule Warriors games), where you may even be of the opinion that Tears of the Kingdom doing so already was a mistake. That's up to debate, but a third game in the same Hyrule would certainly overstay its welcome, no matter how much they are going to change this time.

If they are going to make another game with the same Link and Zelda, it will have to take place in a different land. That's actually a very common thing to do for sequels in the Zelda series. We have Koholint Island in Link's Awakening, Termina in Majora's Mask, the world of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass, or Hytopia in Tri Force Heroes. But this always gave the sequels the character of a side story and if they truly were to make a Zelda trilogy for the first time ever (with that I mean a story with the same Link and Zelda for three games in a row), then it would feel weird if it were to end on a such a note.

Still, the idea of a true trilogy is tempting and there is also quite some potential with such a sequel. While Tears of the Kingdom has brought back some classic ideas from Ocarina of Time, like Ganondorf, the sages and their temples, it never touched upon the most fundamental part of the lore: the Sacred Realm and the Triforce. Despite appearing in symbols and seemingly as part of Zelda's sealing powers, the Triforce still a forgotten mystery in this world of Hyrule and we have yet to learn why that is. And making this the topic of a third game would certainly be fitting.

There is also Princess Zelda herself. Ever since the first teaser trailer for the sequel to Breath of the Wild, where Link and Zelda went to explore Hyrule's underground together, there has been a lot of interest in a game where she is also playable, right next to Link. This didn't come to fruit with Tears of the Kingdom, but Nintendo made the princess the protagonist of a main game shortly after, with Echoes of Wisdom. Maybe also to test how such an idea would be truly received...

But after all the hardships the Zelda from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom went through, she really deserves to be in the spotlight of a 3D Zelda game where you play as both Link and the eponymous princess. It would be disservice if they were to replace her in such a scenario.

Well, there is still the problem of dealing with the same Hyrule for a third time. We don't want this, but there is no good reason for Zelda to leave this Hyrule, unless she gets forced to or this some sort of higher calling. However, this could connect quite well with a plot around the Triforce – the third game could lead both Link and her inside the Sacred Realm. And the Sacred Realm can take all sorts of shapes, maybe even reflect other Hyrules from the past somehow...

However, we are already getting Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment as an upcoming spin-off game, where you primarily follow Zelda's journey in the distant past of Hyrule's founding. So, this will already be a game where this Zelda is the playable main protagonist. And maybe, just maybe it will also explore the topic of the Triforce...

The third option certainly can't be dismissed, but it feels also not very likely. As already said, they have established a strong brand with Breath of the Wild and they are already continuing with this brand on the Nintendo Switch 2. The mix of realism and cel shading also has worked out quite well for the series, it's truly the best of both worlds. So, coming up with something completely new for Zelda at this point might not be what they want and might also not be needed.

This leaves us with the second option. Same art style, but new Link, new Zelda and a new land. This would be similar to Spirit Tracks, but it's also something that Nintendo has done very recently. Donkey Kong Bananza uses the art style of Super Mario Odyssey and shares that game's vibes, where it's easily recognizable as a spiritual successor, but it's also truly its own thing. It's a new 3D Donkey Kong with emphasis on destroying the environments. However, that game started its development on the Nintendo Switch, which won't be the case for the next big Zelda.

But staying with the current art style would make it clear out of the box that they are going to continue on the open world route, while placing it in a different era (and potentially even a different Hyrule) would allow for a number of changes. For example, such a game wouldn't have to bring back the exact same weapon system, where this never had so many fans to begin with. But that's a topic worth discussing on its own.

In any case, Zelda games always have been defined by their gameplay ideas and the next one won't be any different. The story usually gets developed around the core mechanics, not the other way around. And they choose whatever art style delivers their ideas the best. What those gameplay ideas will turn out to be, that's the million dollar question...

Zelda Movie: Casting for Link and Zelda Announced

Miyamoto announced today that in his upcoming The Legend of Zelda movie project, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth. They are both British, 20/21 and 16 years old respectively, and you probably haven't heard of either one before.

And that's exactly what I was hoping for. To quote myself: "For Link and Zelda they really need some young, fresh faces. If you know the actors' names already, then they probably shouldn't be hired."

Well, on first glance Bo looks more like a Malon than a Zelda, where she will either get her hair dyed or wear a wig. I'm not exactly seeing her as the eponymous princess yet, but let's wait for what they can make out of her. And they will probably put some GCI sideburns onto Benjamin, but he seems to be a good fit overall.

In any case, both of these young actors will become quite famous from now on. Congratulations for scoring these important roles! 

My Switch Swan Song

The Nintendo Switch 2 launched last month, but I have never been a day-one-adopter, at least when it comes to new hardware generations. The Nintendo 3DS came close, but there I didn't even fall into the ambassadors and still regretted it... In any case, I usually wait until there is one game where I simply cannot wait any longer.

But this never has been so hard before. There may only be two interesting exclusives right now, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza (the latter to be released in five days), but it's quite tempting to upgrade to a Nintendo Switch 2 nevertheless, because all your Nintendo Switch games will run and look better on it. And this concerns most games, not just the ones with a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition or a free update, because they might already profit from faster loading times and more staple frame rates, right out of the box.

Past Nintendo systems with backward compatibility didn't really offer the same incentive. Well, maybe the Game Boy Color with its coloring for Game Boy games did, where I bought that one very early as well (but technically this doesn't even count as its own generation, as indicated by the shared library on Nintendo Switch Online). And the backwards compatibility usually didn't stem from a similar hardware architecture, but from integrating the old hardware somehow. So, the Nintendo DS had essentially a Game Boy Advance built-in and so on, where you didn't really get any major advantage. That's different for the Nintendo Switch 2.

And this makes still playing on a Nintendo Switch quite unattractive, because most of it is best saved for the new hardware. I have yet to play Super Mario Odyssey, for example, but that would be better now with its free 4K update on the Switch 2. Exact same thing with Bowser's Fury. Or, I want to replay Echoes of Wisdom in Hero Mode, but that would be so much better with staple 60FPS. And I eventually want to play through Breath of the Wild a fourth time with its Master Mode on the Switch, but that's best reserved for the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition...

This doesn't really leave much at the end, maybe only stuff like Tetris 99 or Nintendo World Championships, but I eventually found the game that will keep my current Nintendo Switch running until I finally upgrade: Hyrule Warriors - Definitive Edition. It already runs smoothly in 60FPS, at least in docked mode, and it has never been the prettiest game, where I don't expect it to get a meaningful visual update.

However, handheld mode is a completely different story... For some reason it also runs in 1080p there (downscaled to 720), which causes the frame rate to suffer significantly, but on Nintendo Switch 2 you can enjoy it in its full resolution with smooth 60FPS, without the need for any update. That's actually a big incentive for upgrading as well, but I don't play in handheld mode that often, so it's still okay for me. And if I were to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 now, I would probably play something else.

But it's a good attunement for the game that will likely get me to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. It's only fitting, since I had waited with the Nintendo Switch until Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity came out. But in doing so I completely skipped over the Definitive Edition of the first game. Well, it barely offered anything new, so it never felt like I will be missing out if I didn't immediately play it. After completing Hyrule Warriors Legends on the Nintendo 3DS, I was also burnt out on the game, understandably so, but enough time has passed by now for it to be fun again.

Though, I had started playing the Definitive Edition in early 2022, where I've already went through Legend Mode and most of the first Adventure Map. The plan was to play it regularly, maybe even a little bit every day, but that didn't work out... And I probably won't complete all of it in the next months, where I eventually will continue with it on Nintendo Switch 2. It's a long game.

PS: I will share some "Definitive Impressions" later on.

Nintendo Music: Ocarina of Time 3D Added

Another month, another Zelda addition to Nintendo Music, this time with Ocarina of Time 3D. I already had speculated that we might see this when they added The Wind Waker, but with no link from or to The Wind Waker HD back in January. The reason is that these remasters / remakes got their own soundtrack CD release, which is what many of the albums in Nintendo Music are based upon. And that's exactly what we are getting here.

The differences between the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo 3DS music are small, but you may notice some here and there, since the music for the Nintendo 3DS version was actually remade, as faithfully as that might be (Iwata Asks). The soundtrack does have less tracks (51 compared to 82), because it doesn't feature the "Get Item" melodies, for example, and also combines certain songs into one. But it comes with the orchestrated credits theme that was made for GREZZO's staff listing. That's from the good, old times, where these remasters still showed you the original development staff in their credits, as they should.

Anyway, it may feel a bit redundant, but this is nice to have nevertheless. I'm glad they added it to the library. Though, it's curious that they are prioritizing this over adding Majora's Mask. Maybe next month...

Donkey Kong Bananza vs. Harmony

Today Nintendo has aired a Direct for Donkey Kong Bananza and the game looks quite phenomenal, they are truly doing something fresh and grand with this classic IP. The Direct revealed a young Pauline as DK's singing sidekick and since this is likely coming from the creators of Super Mario Odyssey, it feels like a potential prequel to that game, where Pauline became the mayor of New Donk City. Some more connections between Donkey Kong and Super Mario, besides the usual Mario Karting, certainly wouldn't hurt. After all, it all began with Donkey Kong on Arcade.

Anyway, something about the footage felt quite familiar to me and it wasn't just the Super Mario Odyssey style and outfits. It was about a singing girl riding on some big animal, who can even transform into bigger animals with the power of "Bananza", like a running Zebra and a flying Ostrich. It reminds me of the cancelled game by Retro Studios, called "Harmony", where a demo of it was leaked alongside a Nintendo Switch devkit dump earlier this year.

You can read some technical stuff about it on TCRF. There also used to be some footage of it, but it was taken down, where you will have to settle for a video from Arlo. Anyway, in the game you were going to play a redheaded girl, who sings to summon different creatures, like some grassy plant giant, who even has a similar statue to Donkey Kong. And then she is riding on their tops as you control these creatures, just like young Pauline on Donkey Kong. It wasn't anything amazing, so I'm not disappointed that this project didn't go anywhere, but to me it seems like some essence of this is going to live on with Donkey Kong Bananza.

Since the Harmony demo is from 2017, the prototyping Switch days, I doubt that Bananza had any influence on its cancellation. Like, the similarities could have been considered a problem, but I feel like it's more likely that there was a healthy influence. Maybe there was and we could hear about this in the developer interviews. Maybe Retro Studios was even involved in the development somewhat, but they were busy with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, so it's doubtful.

In any case, the duo of Donkey Kong and Pauline has a lot more charm, so I certainly prefer that direction. And this truly has to manifest in the next Super Smash Bros. game somehow – I don't want the old Donkey Kong anymore, I want DK & Pauline. The Kong Bananza could even become his Final Smash.

Another game that I was reminded of by the footage is Tears of the Kingdom. The Lagoon Layer looks a lot like the Sky Islands. And the giant holes that lead down to the next layer feel a lot like the chasms into the Depths. If only the digging would have been as smooth in that game...

Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo Switch 2

Super Smash Bros. finds itself in a similar position to Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch 2. Both franchises usually only produce one game per system, if at all, and both have gotten their most extensive and ambitious entry in the series so far on the Nintendo Switch, with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing: New Horizons respectively. These games can still be played on the Nintendo Switch 2 and with Kirby Air Riders and Splatoon Raiders in the making, we shouldn't expect successors anytime soon, since these projects block their usual developers.

Of course, Masahiro Sakurai may retire after Air Riders and never make another Smash Bros. game again in his life, where someone else might take over, but we all know that this is not how famous producers roll. He will likely return to Smash Bros. after development of this side project has finished later this year, but this still means that we shouldn't expect a successor to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the next two or three years.

As for Ultimate, it's possible that they may update the game for Nintendo Switch 2 somehow, but we shouldn't expect any meaningful additions here, like new stages or fighters, though it would certainly be lovely. And it won't fix the game's biggest issue, which is the latency based netcode, where a change to rollback netcode wouldn't be possible due the required backwards compatibility, where you will still be playing against Nintendo Switch users. And even for a new Smash game on the Nintendo Switch 2 rollback might still be too tricky to implement, since the game isn't just about itemless 1v1s. We'll see.

The next game will have to face a number of challenges anyway, the biggest one being Super Smash Bros. Ultimate itself. With 89 fighters and 115 stages to offer, it creates a similar situation to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its 96 courses, where it will be difficult to top this. Mario Kart World doesn't even try and instead went into a completely different direction, much to its success.

And this might also be an option for the next Super Smash Bros. title – don't just make it the next game in the series, make it a completely new game. So far every entry has always built upon its predecessors, step by step. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate even used most of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a foundation to make "Everyone is here!" possible, arguably the greatest moment in the franchise's history.

But it's easy to tell how historically grown the series is at this point and how much dead wood it's been carrying. By focusing on bringing back most of the classic stages in the series, there was ultimately little room for new ones. And a bunch of the characters only exist on the roster, because they used to be in one of the past titles, not because they have any real relevance today.

Just look at Sheik, who has been in every entry ever since his/her introduction in Melee, where Ocarina of Time was such a massive milestone that it led to four character additions at the time. But the character of Sheik is long in the past, never to be featured in any of the Zelda games again, where today the spotlight in Smash Bros. may feel a bit odd. And Ganondorf, even though his moveset has evolved a little bit, is still a heavyweight Captain Falcon clone at his core... Which probably won't ever change, unless Super Smash Bros. itself changes.

And that's the idea behind a reboot: ignore everything that came before. Treat it like a completely new thing, as if Super Smash Bros. was first made today. Mainly use the latest iterations of Nintendo's characters as an inspiration to make it a true product of its era. And don't limit yourself by any conventions of how Super Smash Bros. was played before.

Let's take Samus, for example. We're long past any range limitations with attacks, so there is no good reason why she has to fight with such a limited Power Beam. Firing long-range beams should be her normal attacks, where potentially she should even have access to the Wide and Wave Beam upgrades. She should also be able to crouch slide, like in Metroid Dread, and the Grapple Beam could be so much snappier.

Donkey Kong may come with his redesign from Donkey Kong Bananza, even when people haven't warmed up to it yet. And gameplay-wise he could become the Anti-Steve, a character who is able to completely demolish the stage (at least temporarily). Someone wants to recover? Just rip off the stage's corner and throw it at them!

They could also go crazy with Link and give him abilities from Tears of the Kingdom, like Fuse, Recall and Ascend. The latter could be his recovery move, where he could dive right through the stage from below. Recall could become a fancy reflector and Fuse could let him do all sorts of things with the game's items, like merging a baseball bat into the Master Sword.

If this all sounds ridiculously overpowered to you, then keep in mind that this article was written by a Min Min main, who obviously doesn't care for restraint. But the way of how they had translated ARMS into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was truly something else – a character that feels like no other in the entire game. And maybe this shouldn't be an anomaly, maybe that's how every character should get treated going forward. Playing Samus in Super Smash Bros. should feel like playing a Metroid game, not like playing a completely crippled version of her, which conforms to certain basics. (If we ever see the Knight from Hollow Knight as a guest character, then I expect the same here.)

With every fighter redesigned completely from scratch, the roster will get much smaller, of course. But the roster will likely end up smaller in the next game in any case and the huge number of 3rd party deals won't be sustainable forever. However, if everyone is new, then it will be much easier to accept any cuts, because ultimately no one is truly returning in such a scenario. You will get a new Mario, a new Donkey Kong, a new Link, and a new Samus, instead of the same old characters from the past six titles.

This philosophy should also go into all the other aspects of the game, like stages and items. Don't take anything for granted. Don't even take for granted for how things are supposed to work. Items and stages could be completely connected in this game, where instead of having all these random drops, the items become an integral part of each stage.

Let's say that there is a "Great Sky Island" stage, based on Tears of the Kingdom, then it could feature Bomb Flowers, Puffshrooms and different Zonai Emitters as its items. They would work similar to your classic Bombs, Smoke Balls and so on, but they appear as a natural part of the stage. There could even be a Device Dispenser present in the background, which spits out different Zonai capsules.

Or, in a Super Mario stage you would find ?-blocks for your typical power-ups, like the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Super Leaf and alike. Pokéballs would only be present in Pokémon stages. Maybe some stages (and franchises) won't have items at all, which is also okay. There doesn't necessarily need to be a default set that always appears, but this is where Assist Trophies come in place, which could function similar to the Flying Man on Magicant. Instead of an actual item that you pick up, they should work like stage bosses, where you can get them on your side by attacking them. For example, there could be a Hyrule Castle stage from Breath of the Wild, which features a Guardian as the "main item".

By making items an integral part of the stages, it would already add a unique experience to every stage by default, making the stage selection a lot more interesting. But it would also limit things, where you won't be able to summon Metroids at Hyrule Castle any longer. This is just one possible idea for a different approach, however, and you would be able to turn off items in any case, together with stage hazards.

If the stages were to get more crazier by design, then having competitive variants of each stage would become even more important. We already had the Battlefield- and Omega-versions in the past, but maybe a new game could offer both a normal and a competitive variant for all its stages, where the latter features a simpler layout, no stage hazards and no items. If you play "For glory" online (which really should return), then it will choose those, where such an approach will offer much more variety than just playing Final Destination all day long.

Anyway, this article has turned from the question of Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo Switch 2 into a discussion of how to reboot the series... But it's by far the most interesting approach, where after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate it's time for something fresh.

Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch 2

Today Nintendo has announced that Splatoon 3 will be getting a major update with new weapons and a returning map (Urchin Underpass), as well as enhancements for the Nintendo Switch 2. On top of that, they are making a Switch 2-exclusive spin-off to the series, Splatoon Raiders.

That's exciting news for Splatoon fans, but for fans of Animal Crossing this means that it might take years for a new game to arrive, since both series are (sadly) developed by the same team, Nintendo EPD5. This has been an issue for a while, where Animal Crossing: New Horizons could have done well with regular updates, which simply wasn't in the cards due to the development setup.

Considering that it's actually the second-best selling Nintendo Switch title, with a gigantic margin even, it's a questionable decision not to have a dedicated team for the franchise. Other franchises, like The Legend of Zelda, even get multiple development teams working on different projects in parallel, like Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom. Of course, Animal Crossing is a franchise where one game per generation is more than enough, where it is reasonable to let its developers work on other projects in the meantime. But Splatoon has also become quite popular and both series profit tremendously from regular content updates...

Now, the best we can hope for in the near future is that they will also consider making a similar update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Well, they said that version 2.0.0 was going to be the last major update for the game, but this was many years ago and I don't think anyone would mind if they are going to change their minds on this. Similar to Splatoon 3, this game isn't really a candidate for a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, because you need it to stay compatible with the Nintendo Switch for the multiplayer stuff, so it would also have to be some free update, where all the new contents are accessible to everyone with the game.

As for what they could add to the game at this point, they could follow the example of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its Booster Course Pass. Here they took contents from the mobile game, Mario Kart Tour, brushed them up and brought them onto the Nintendo Switch. Why not do the same with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp? They have stopped development on that title as well and it's filled neat things that people would certainly like to have in New Horizons. Whether that's furniture, clothing, or even new fruits, there is a lot they could re-use here to add more value.

And let's not forget about all the things that never made the cut from New Leaf, like the Splatoon and Legend of Zelda guest characters, or being able to create your own galleries in the museum. Sprinkle some of the most wanted quality of life improvements on top and you will make a lot of fans happy. Let players create a second island on Nintendo Switch 2 systems and you will find people upgrade to the new hardware for this alone... With that in mind, it doesn't necessarily need a new Animal Crossing game on Switch 2, at least not anytime soon. They could just iterate New Horizons and make it the best it can be.

As for the next game, they will have to come up with something innovative here to set it apart from New Horizons and to also create an experience that wouldn't have been possible on the Nintendo Switch already, like how they made Mario Kart World an open world driving game. People will still be able to play New Horizons on their Switch 2s, whether it will receive a shiny update or not, and there needs to be more than prettier graphics to warrant a new game.

One idea would be to offer much bigger towns than in any game before, and also being able to join online communities, so you can live together with friends all over the world, not just the people in your household who you share a Nintendo Switch with. Being able to interact with others online was a massive seller during the covid pandemic and such a game would deepen this aspect. This would also be a huge incentive to invest into Nintendo Switch Online, which is what Nintendo wants us to do in any case.

However, if you've been on a community Minecraft server or anything similar, you'll know that there is the risk of such servers dying down quickly. And once you're the only one taking care of the town, it's easy to give up entirely on the game, because being alone in a multiplayer environment feels much lonelier than just playing in singleplayer. So, Nintendo would have to come up with a more dynamic approach here, where people can move to other communities (with all their belongings). In the end, living together with other players online should enrich the experience, without taking away from the classic charm. But it's just one idea.

Whatever the next game will look like, the most important thing is that they bring back the Zelda crossover contents. I'll never forgive them for leaving them out in New Horizons!

The Wind Waker on NSO: No Tingle Tuner

Source: ChaosValentine on reddit

With the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 also came the possibility to play GameCube titles as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. And after years of begging, fans finally get to play The Wind Waker again...

However, it's not the 100% experience that you might want it to be. You don't have access to the Tingle Tuner, which required a Game Boy Advance connection back in the day. To be fair, it wasn't exactly the greatest feature, but it's basically the equivalent to what we have with the Zelda Notes app today. And without it, you won't be able to unlock the five Tingle Statues, nor Knuckle, Tingle's lost brother. So, Tingle Island will stay quite empty and you will be missing a figurine in the Nintendo Gallery, though it can be "completed" without him.

This isn't the biggest loss, but if they are going to feature Four Swords Adventures in the future, they will need to come up with a solution for the Game Boy Advance connectivity. It might be easier to implement there, however, because you're going to stick to a "controller". Either you're playing with a normal controller in singleplayer or you're using the Game Boy Advance in multiplayer. In The Wind Waker you would need to be able to swap between the two at any given moment, or even allow couch coop for two players.

It may also be possible that Nintendo will patch in the support for the Tingle Tuner later on, but I wouldn't hold my breath. And everyone who's going to complete the game now will be screwed out of the Knuckle figurine.

Tears of the Kingdom – Sage Fabrics

It's been a while since I have played Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, I haven't really touched the game since completing it about a year ago. And given that you own a Nintendo Switch 2 already, there are now several good reasons to revisit the title, such as improved visuals or the new voice memories in the Zelda Notes app. But if you stay with the Nintendo Switch for now, like I do, then the new amiibo will have to do.

Sadly, they still haven't fixed the amiibo system (and probably never will). So, if you want the new paraglider fabrics in a timely manner, you will have to save scum, where at least this still works fine. I got lucky with Sidon, who gave me his fabric on first try, and with Yunobo after a couple of tries. But in case of Tulin and Riju I had to reload over a dozen times.

The designs of the new fabrics are nothing outstanding, but still quite good nevertheless. They were at the risk of treading the grounds of redundancy, since you already have the fabrics for the different tribes in the game and also the four Champion fabrics, where now they had come up with something new. But Riju's is the only one where this might be an issue, but I personally like its design much better than Urbosa's or the Gerudo fabric.

And the others are a bit more original. With Tulin it even looks like you have mounted him right above you, which is funny. And Yunobo's fabric is bearing the YunobCo symbol, which is really cool, but it would have been disappointing if this weren't the case, and this feels like an omission in the main game, even. The only letdown might be Sidon, where I personally like the other Zora designs better, but at least they were trying to do something different.

Anyway, below you can find a gallery of all the new stuff. For each of the fabrics you can see the message when obtaining them, their full design in the paraglider rework, and how they look in action.

 

Sage of Wind Fabric

 

 

Sage of Fire Fabric

 

Sage of Water Fabric

 

Sage of Lightning Fabric

Got the Tears of the Kingdom Sages amiibo

While the entire Nintendo community is busy with showing off their shiny, new Nintendo Switch 2s, my inner Nintendo simp will have to settle with what's probably the least interesting thing that came out today: the four amiibo of the Sages. Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon and Riju, all featured in their awakened form, now also get some well-deserved attention in the form of plastic figurines, equipped with NFC chips.

It's only fair after how they had to take the backseat to the Champions in Breath of the Wild (well, technically it was Teba in that game and not Tulin), but sadly they didn't get the same four-in-one pack. Or maybe this is a good thing, because some people might only want one of them, e.g. Sidon. And the prices are 33% higher this time around.

The figurines themselves are nice. They can't really compete with the Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf from late 2023, but I do personally like them more than the Link and Zelda that we got in this series. Wielding the Champion weapons makes them look a lot more interesting already.

Riju and Tulin are quite filigreed, especially Riju, and they come with bent see-through stands to keep them in the air. Yunobo is very sturdy, not as heavy as Daruk used to be, but it still feels quite nice. And Sidon shines with his impressively detailed crown and collar.

They truly don't have to hide from their Champion counterparts, where they show more details here and there. For example, Sidon's Lightscale Trident actually shows those little, cyan pendulums beneath the top part. But they still go nicely next to each other, as you can see in the photos above.

What's not so nice are the new backsides for the amiibo boxes. They are now completely generic, only telling you that you can use amiibo with compatible software. And what software that might be is now up to you to find out... To be fair, with an amiibo from Tears of the Kingdom, you can make an educated guess, but it was still nice to read what it actually does within the game.

Well, it's curious that they were still featuring the Nintendo 3DS on the package back in 2023, where it's understandable that they don't want to show that any longer, or even things like saving your Mii on the amiibo. But they could have swapped all that for the Nintendo Switch 2 and generally put some more effort into this.

Of course, this isn't a deal breaker and most people may even throw the package away anyway. However, I always cut off the cardboard part to collect them for later reference and because the artworks look nice. And now there is a stylistic split between the first three Tears of the Kingdom amiibo and this group.

Still, I'm looking forward to the Mineru amiibo and to complete the collection. I have yet to scan them for their fabrics, where I haven't even seen them all, but I will do this later today or tomorrow and then make another post.

Echoes of Wisdom ~ Echo Favorites Added

Today Nintendo has launched updates for all Nintendo Switch games that will receive Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade, whether that's for free or as a paid Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, for tomorrow's launch of the new console. Some titles, like Xenoblade Chronicles 3, also got a compatibility fix. Most of these updates only relate to the Nintendo Switch 2, but some games also got some general improvements on top, where you will profit from them on the Nintendo Switch as well – the updates are downloaded in any case.

Tears of the Kingdom, for example, has received the paraglider fabrics for the four new Sage amiibo of Sidon, Riju, Tulin and Yunobo, which will also be released tomorrow. And both it and Breath of the Wild now support Portuguese as a system language option (voices will be in English, however).

But the big winner in all of this is The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, because its version 1.1.0 contains what's by far the most requested feature for the game: the ability to favorite echoes and then display only your favorites. This is the message in the game for the new feature:

This functionality gets unlocked once you've obtained 30 echoes. There is no limit to how many favorites there can be, so you can mark all of them, even though this would defeat the purpose. You can also manage your favorites from within the Notebook, which is a bit more comfortable. And you can sort your favorites in the same ways as all the echoes. There are even new background visuals for the favorites in quick menu, so you can tell its state on first glance:

Overall, this is a fantastic addition, which can make managing your echoes much simpler, instead of only relying on the "most used" sorting. Ideally, there also would have been filters for certain echo types (e.g. fire enemies), but this alone will help quite a lot.

The exact same thing was even part of my update suggestions for the game from last year, where this is would have been nice to have since the beginning. But better late than never... And I'm still planning on replaying the game in Hero Mode, once I have a Nintendo Switch 2, where I will certainly make good use of the favorites going forward.

And it's a shame that they didn't bother with adding this feature to the looooong material list in Tears of the Kingdom, where you had the exact same issue. Or that they didn't bother with improving anything in Breath of the Wild, where it could make good use of all the quality of life changes from Tears of the Kingdom. These are the Zelda games where they are selling these new Nintendo Switch 2 Editions, after all. But maybe this will still happen later on... Tears of the Kingdom will need one more update for the Mineru amiibo anyway.

If the favorite feature in Echoes of Wisdom gets received well, which it should, then Nintendo may even consider doing similar improvements to the other Nintendo Switch Zelda games. And they really should. No game is ever perfect, but they can strive to be.

Nintendo Music: Tears of the Kingdom Added

There it is! Just in time for the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release of Tears of the Kingdom, we get the entire soundtrack on Nintendo Music. It contains a total of 344 tracks, fully based on the official soundtrack from last year, track by track, which means that it also has all the trailer music. This new playlist is a beast to listen to and a gigantic addition with almost twelve hours, arguably the most important one for the franchise.

But of course they shouldn't stop here. Hopefully, the soundtrack of the Link's Awakening remake will be coming soon, to cover as much from the Nintendo Switch as possible. There has yet to be an official soundtrack for Echoes of Wisdom, where they will probably release that first, before they add it to Nintendo Music... Which means that it could still take years before it appears in the app, given that they bother with releasing a CD version of it to begin with, but I personally liked the game's music quite a lot.

The soundtracks for A Link Between Worlds and Majora's Mask are also good candidates to be dropped at any point. With Twilight Princess I'm guessing that they might wait for the game to be included into the Nintendo Switch Online library, where they could even do like a double release, where you get the GameCube game and the soundtrack in the same week. This could also be true for stuff like Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, but those have low priority and first there needs to be Nintendo DS games.

Anyway, there was no new Zelda music last month, but instead they have added a "Best of: The Legend of Zelda series" playlist, which is so shallow that it wasn't even worth mentioning until now. At least they are updating it when adding new games, where in case of Tears of the Kingdom they've added the main theme, the opening and Lookout Landing...

Age of Imprisonment – Creator's Voice

Nintendo has released the newest episode of Creator's Voice, where 3rd or 2nd party developers talk about their upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 projects. And today it was the turn of Koei Tecmo and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

They do confirm a number of things that we have already been speculating about... You will get to know the masked sages. You will be able to combine items (like with Fuse or Ultrahand) and you can also team up with allies. Nothing surprising here.

But there is also a brief amount of new footage, mainly of Rauru fighting, expanding what we had seen in the announcement trailer. And it looks much smoother now, almost as if the original trailer footage ran still on an old Nintendo Switch. It probably didn't, but it was an immediate concern that they will prioritize having as many monsters and effects on the screen as possible over performance. The difference may also come from resolutions, where the trailer was in 4k. They do explicitly mention having higher frame rates than on Nintendo Switch, which is to be expected... And having a higher frame rate than Age of Calamity would be great...

It also would be great if they were to release a Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade of the predecessor, so it can profit from higher and smoother frame rates as well. That was by far one of the biggest points of criticism about it.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode

The Nintendo Switch edition of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker can be expanded via DLC, the so called "Special Episode". It's actually quite cheap, costing only 5.99€ in Europe, where it recently even had a discount, making this the ideal thing to grab from Gold Points before they expire.

And it does add an entire episode to the game, featuring 18 courses in total. The catch is that only six of these courses are actually new, where the other two thirds are remixed versions of some of the original levels. There are also no Pixel Toads, making this feel very similar to the game's Bonus Episode overall.

What makes this stand out is that the entire episode was developed with the new "Adventure for Two" cooperative mode in mind. Unlike the main game, it even allows Captain Toad and Captain Toadette to travel together, which really rights a wrong.

It's also themed after crowns, where the two search for the legendary Super Crown from New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which came out about two months before this DLC. And you will collect Shiny Crowns at the end of each level, instead of the usual Power Stars. It's actually quite fitting for when you've obtained the crown from the Mummy-Me Maze Forever and now are looking for an adventure to show it off.

The focus on coop gets reflected by the tasks of the remixed stages, Crown Capture and Boo Spotting. In the former you have to collect five smaller crowns, where a timer runs between each of them. If you don't collect one fast enough, then the crowns will reset and you have to start over with the first. While this is doable on your own, it has been kept quite strict, meaning that a second player will make this much easier.

In case of the Boo Spottings, however, you will certainly need the power of two, because in these courses there is the focus on defeating lots and lots of Boos, which happens almost instantly when they are hit by two spotlights at once. For this reason it keeps spawning Double Cherries when you play alone and don't have a clone. Controlling two Toads at once is probably easier than coordinating with another player, but the problem with this "mode" is that the Boos often appear right in your face, so that you will lose your clone and then get cornered by an overwhelming amount of ghosts.

There are five of both these types, but there is also a mine cart variant of the Scalding Scaffold Sinkhole for some variety. And near the end Wingo's Double Trouble awaits, where you have to fight the final boss of the game once more, but this time he essentially ate a Double Cherry himself, so there's two of them...

Again, this is in the spirit of the cooperative mode, where then it's a 2v2. Fortunately, they don't make you go through a whole stage before the boss this time, so you can focus on the fight itself. It's also very easy to tell who the true Wingo is, but the timed challenge is quite unfair. If they both use the storm attack at the same time, meaning that no turnips appear for one turn, you can't make the time trial goal... You have to be very lucky.

In any case, the highlight of the DLC are the new courses. It starts with the Shifty Shrine, where the whole level repeatedly opens up and closes. The Spinning Starmaze has three interconnected, rotating rings and will be remembered as the biggest brain teaser in the game.

The absolute standout is the Goomba Galleon, however, which has this miniature pirate ship stranded on a beach. It's absolutely beautiful and you wish that the game had more sceneries like this to offer. Cocoa Meltdown is also quite memorable, essentially offering you some sort of Choco Lake level, where rising hot chocolate acts as lava.

Only Flip Panel Panic is a bit underwhelming, nothing that you haven't already seen a couple of times from the Wii, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS era of 3D Mario. And you have to be mentally prepared that the DLC ends on another variant of the Mummy-Me Maze Forever, called Chaos in the Grand Labyrinth.

But don't worry... it's actually much easier – I even did it on my first try after a couple of minutes. There are only 30 floors, instead of 50, and the floors are only one quarter of the size. Plus, they look much more friendly, because this takes place on the outside, and you only get chased by a single Mummy-Me through the entirety of the thing. Also, statues placed on the safe floors show you what enemies you will be dealing with next. It's almost like they wanted to make up for the original and make it more fun.

However, to offer a different sort of challenge, you now have to catch a mole to reveal the exit. Since they actively avoid you, this labyrinth isn't just about dodging enemies on your way to the exit any longer. Instead, you have to be a bit more strategic. On some floors there are even multiple moles and you have to find the right one. Again, luck can be a deciding factor here, where sometime you might be able to grab the mole right from the start, so that the floor only lasts for a second.

Another challenge comes from the hidden objective and this might actually take you a couple of attempts. This time you will form a Toad Brigade throughout the course, where up to three other Toads can follow you, and your goal is to get all of them to the end. It's probably the most difficult in the floors with the Flaptors – birds that dive down once they spot you – and the Bullet Bills. However, even without fulfilling this bonus objective, the episode will be displayed as completed in the main menu...

Sadly, Toadette doesn't actually wear the Super Crown in coop, once you've obtained it. I guess that Nintendo didn't want to explain why it doesn't turn her into Captain Peachette.

Anyway, if you don't mind the many remixed levels, the Special Episode is very charming addition to the game that even fills some holes. It's a second, more fun attempt at what the Bonus Episode always could and should have been. And since it doesn't cost much, this is a good DLC purchase.