Nintendo Switch 2: Potential Game Upgrades with Content

Nintendo has released a free update for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, which not only upgrades the game for the Nintendo Switch 2, but also adds some new features, like a playable Dixie Kong and the new Turbo Attack mode. The nice thing is that these additions are found on the original Nintendo Switch as well. During the first wave of free Switch game updates back in June there hasn't been anything like this, where the closest thing was the new Echo favorite functionality in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

If there were any new contents or big new features, it was usually tied to a "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition", which costs some extra money. In case of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, however, the Switch 2 Edition takes a backseat to the big 3.0 update, which brings a lot of new things on the table, even to players who are still on the Nintendo Switch.

This is a welcome shift and makes you think about what other games could see a similar treatment: upgrade them for the new hardware while offering something new to enjoy on both generations. So, here are some ideas where I would like to see this happen...

 

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

It's a no-brainer. They could add the Turbo Attack mode to bring it on the same page as Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, but they should try to make it more fun... Forever Entertainment may even be working on this as we speak, because they clearly took Dixie out of Tropical Freeze, which means that they have been touching the sequel.

 

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

If Koei Tecmo were to update one of the older Hyrule Warriors games, then Age of Calamity should have priority, because it really needs this for the performance alone. A Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game got already discussed on this blog last year, so let's keep this brief. But there is certainly some potential for some smaller content additions to both versions of the game, like Zelda's Royal Attire outfit or re-obtaining any special weapons. Or they could make things a bit more interesting by adding Astor as a playable character.

 

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

As already mentioned, this should get in line after Age of Calamity. Nevertheless, it would be nice to see this updated to 4K as well. The game already supports full HD resolution on the Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld mode by accident, which is interesting.

Compared to its successors the game feels quite outdated, however, where it's questionable that Koei Tecmo would bother with adding new contents. But if they did, this would be the perfect opportunity to finally fill that 30th character slot after 10 years. Of course, adding a new character isn't as "trivial" as in the newer games, because they should get missions in Adventure Mode for all their upgrades.

One idea could be Zelda & Tri from Echoes of Wisdom, where you also get a small, new Adventure Map based on the game with rifts and different Echoes as Item Cards. This could be lovely and maybe also a nice gesture for the 40th Anniversary. But this is a very unlikely scenario, especially when people are still asking for a playable Ganondorf in Age of Imprisonment... And they should rather focus on that.

 

Metroid Prime Remastered

This should bring it to the same level as Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, supporting the same visual modes and Joy-Con mouse controls. But this is also the perfect opportunity to finally bring back the Fusion Suit, which hasn't been available in the remaster for some reason...

 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

They should just do the exact same thing as Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and finally add Dixie Kong as a playable character. Well, Sora was a good final character and new characters would also require them to make more amiibo, but apparently Nintendo will be going wild with amiibo this year anyway.

And the recent developments have pushed the doors wide open for some new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate contents. Masahiro Sakurai and his team at Bandai Namco have only just released Kirby Air Riders. So, even if the man was willing to make another Smash Bros. in his lifetime, it would take years for this new game to be finished. And like with Animal Crossing, it makes sense to offer something in the meantime, where a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the previous title is in order.

For such a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition they could introduce a new game mode, which is more hardware-hungry and therefore wouldn't have been possible on the Switch. Maybe something akin to Smash Run from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, but bigger. After all, it was based on City Trial, which was a big deal in Air Riders. But that's just an example...

In any case, additions like fighters and stages should be done for both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions, so they stay compatible in online play. I wouldn't expect anything major from this, like a whole third Fighters Pass, simply because the big additions will be saved for the next Smash Bros. game. But they could give us some free additions of characters in established franchises, which may even include new Echo Fighters (Hilda from A Link Between Worlds would be lovely).

Actually, Echo Fighters might be the way to go here, because they would allow for some easy additions, while technically keeping Sora as the last numbered fighter. They could even make Dixie Kong happen as an echo of Diddy. And maybe they will bring back some of the missing stages, like Woolly World (in celebration of Yoshi in the Super Mario Galaxy Movie):

They would be filling some gaps, while creating player retention during the launch of a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. It's the exact same strategy as with Animal Crossing: New Horizons and makes perfect sense for this year.

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.

My Nintendo Switch Year 2024

Nintendo is offering your year-in-review statistics once again, but it's actually not as interesting as last year, because unlike in 2023 there is no way of seeing the play times of all the games that you've played during the year, only the top 3. And my top 3 doesn't really contain anything new from this year.

I've been still very busy with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the first half of 2024. But this already feels like forever ago, because we got a new Zelda game with Echoes of Wisdom in the meantime... It feels like I'm looking back at the wrong year. Though, I've spent only half as much time on the Nintendo Switch than in 2023, because it has been quite the busy year for me otherwise.

Luckily, you can also see how much you've played your games overall via your profile, even though it's rounded down to the nearest multiple of five, which you can use for new games in the statistic. So, I can compile a list that's a bit more comprehensive, with some links to the corresponding topics on this blog:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (192 hours)
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (98 hours)
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (57 hours)
   
4. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (55+ hours)
5. Game Boy Advance (40+ hours)
6. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (25+ hours)

Sadly, Echoes of Wisdom came in a close fourth – it would have been well deserved for the game to make it into my year's top 3. I don't even recall playing that much Smash Bros., though the new Spirits in the beginning of 2024 were an incentive to boot the game from time to time. And this ranking might change, because I was thinking about replaying Echoes of Wisdom in Hero Mode over the holidays. But Decembers don't exist in these yearly statistic by Nintendo.

My most active months, at least concerning the Nintendo Switch, were January and February. This is where I was finishing all side quests in Tears of the Kingdom, as well as searching for all those Hinox and Taluses for the medals and all of Addison's spots. And this took quite a while... I was left with completing the compendium, finding all Koroks, and discovering all recipes, which I did in April and May after a much-needed break in March.

Right after I had finally finished Tears of the Kingdom came two new Zelda highlights: the announcement of Echoes of Wisdom, already to be released in September, and the addition of Four Swords on the Game Boy Advance service. The latter let me finally experience the game in a four-player-set-up around June and July, but it also motivated me to replay both A Link to the Past and The Minish Cap on the same service.

The Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition then came after, in late July, which is a title I keep playing from time to time. I usually participate in the weekly championships, trying to score an S-rank in all of them, but I don't overdo it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is another title that I keep playing, but this has died down from a daily to a weekly basis. During the year I finished collecting all insect and fish models, where now there is little left to achieve for me, other than filling out the Nook Shopping catalog, which is an insane task anyway and not worth the effort. But this will certainly stay on top as the most played game on my system, where it has been this virtual happy place for quite some time.

Anyway, there was a break in both August and November, where I had some other personal things going on. And between these two months my focus was on the new Zelda game, Echoes of Wisdom, of course. It came out just at the right time.

This is all just for the Nintendo Switch, where otherwise I'm also gaming on the PC quite a bit. In March I was going back to Unreal Tournament 3  and currently I'm enjoying the original Unreal Tournament once more, where I have returned to a personal project from five years ago, the console map pack.

Also in March I've got into Lonely Mountains: Downhill, which is another title that I keep playing from time to time, with 64 hours by now, according to Steam. So, if I had played this on the Nintendo Switch instead, it would have been in the top 3 before Smash Bros. Ultimate and Echoes of Wisdom. It's very enjoyable if you're looking for something simple to play in-between. And I will continue playing this in 2025, for sure.

Last but not least, after my GBA nostalgia trip during the summer I checked out TUNIC for the first time, with 37 hours on Steam. If you like classic Zelda games, then this is also something that I can highly recommend.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: New Spirits

There's currently an event in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where you can obtain four new Spirits from the Spirit Board. These are:

• Rauru from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Noah & Mio from Xenoblade Chronicles 3
• Deep Cut from Splatoon 3
• Oatchi from Pikmin 4
  

Each of these games would have been worth a Spirit Event of their own, where the last one to receive such an event was Metroid Dread in 2021, back when Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was still being updated via the Fighters Passes.

Interestingly, they don't even need to update the game to add new Spirits to it. It still runs on version 13.0.1, which was the final update in late 2021. But for events and such it must have its own API, where it's also possible to add more "content" at any time in the form of Spirits. Makes you wonder why they didn't... Well, they did this once before, in fact, with the Evil Ryu Spirit in early 2022, but that was it.

Even if they are just glorified PNG files, the Spirit battles are all unique challenges. It would have been a good reason to get back into the game regularly if they had kept making such events. Multiplayer games really profit from content additions, no matter how small they may be.

And at the same time this is great advertisement for new Nintendo games. Titles like Bayonetta 3, Fire Emblem Engage, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and of course Tears of the Kingdom could have all had events of their own with a number of Spirits. Why not also have the new Ganondorf and the Sages along with him? Seems like a missed opportunity if it's that simple.

Anyway, the Rauru Spirit battle itself is quite neat, where you're basically reenacting the Imprisoning War, but from Ganondorf's side. You can choose any character, of course, but he works pretty well here, because you can just spam his Smash Attacks. I did it first try, even though it's a Legendary Spirit.

It's played on the Battlefield version of Hyrule Temple, which looks just like a sky island. The six Sages are represented by Pit (Rito), Charizard spamming Flare Blitz (Goron), a blue Inling (Zora), female Robin spamming Elthunder attacks (Gerudo), R.O.B. (Mineru), and Zelda herself. Then, at the end you will have to fight a giant Mewtwo, who represents Rauru.

And it's perfect how they've chosen Rauru's spirit form for his Spirit. For what's possible with the Spirit system, they did a great job here and had some cool ideas. I also liked the Oatchi battle, where the dog gets represented by a giant, yellow Kirby.

Overall this was quite the fun event, even though you can finish it in like 15 minutes... But maybe this gets you back into online play or some other mode for a bit as well. For me this came at the right time, where I didn't have to dust off the game, because I was playing it more often lately, trying to get better at at it, facing people online. But this is a different tale for a different day.

My Games of the Year 2018 - 2023

With the Game Awards out of the way and looking at back at a year that brought us the next huge Zelda experience, I thought that it was the perfect time to update my games of the year list from six years ago, back when Breath of the Wild blew everyone's mind and scored all the awards. What games have really made my years since then? See for yourself:

• 2018: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• 2019: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
• 2020: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
• 2021: Metroid Dread
• 2022: Death's Door
• 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  

If you have followed this blog or just browse through the posts during the respective years, then there shouldn't be many surprises here. There's probably only one title that I need to explain, but let's briefly go through this list...

After Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U failed to captivate me in 2014, losing big time against Hyrule Warriors, my love for Nintendo's crossover fighting game was instantly reignited with the "Everyone is here!" trailer at E3 2018. And Super Smash Bros. Ultimate then kept me on my toes for the next three years with its character additions, where I still play the game (ir)regularly today.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was my first Zelda game and my first big love in video games, where it will always have a special place in my heart. And the remake from 2019 did so many things right that I consider it to be among the best what the Zelda series has to offer, right next to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It's also something that I can play again and again.

Curiously, while both my favorite games of 2018 and 2019 were Nintendo Switch titles, I didn't have my own Nintendo Switch in these years yet, because I was still waiting for that inevitable Zelda edition at the time, which didn't arrive until this year. The game that finally made me buy a Nintendo Switch despite this was Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in late 2020, which came as a big surprise and combined some of my previous games of the year into one epic package, where the addicting action of Hyrule Warriors makes fantastic use of the world of Breath of the World.

2021 then marks the first Metroid title on my list. Since I hadn't discovered the series before 2008, the only real contenders so far have been Metroid: Other M and Metroid: Samus Returns, where the former wasn't exactly the best choice, even though I liked the game quite a bit, and the latter had no chance against Breath of the Wild in the same year. Metroid Dread on the other hand didn't have much competition and also became my favorite title in the series to play, where it's just a blast.

Well, it's not entirely true that Metroid Dread didn't have any competition, because there was also Death's Door. But I did play this at the very end of the year, where it really bleeds into 2022 for me and I've decided to make it that year's entry, because I didn't actually play any new games otherwise. I was mainly busy with Hollow Knight, which technically was my big game of the year 2022 when it comes to pure play time, but it's in a weird spot as a 2017/2018 title. While there is some leeway with this list, this is stretching things.

And Death's Door really was the game that has brought me into the realm of smaller indie titles to begin with, which then led me to explore Hollow Knight. I've also already played through the game three times in total by now, where for me it has a similar level of replayability to Link's Awakening, which is a high praise. I have a feeling that Death's Door really will stay with me and therefore deserves the spot on the list.

Another contender for 2022 was Quake Champions, which I have been playing a lot for the last three years and which went out of "early access" last year. But the content updates during 2022 weren't that great and I don't think I want any service game in this list, because all the other entries are something that I could still enjoy today to some degree. It's more something for the category of "best ongoing game".

Anyway, this brings us to this year, 2023, which was dominated by Tears of the Kingdom and should be smallest surprise here. At least there wasn't a new Metroid game under its shadow or anything similar, where luckily Hollow Knight: Silksong still escapes us and therefore could become a contender for one of the next years, maybe already in 2024.

It's also of note how the Zelda series is now clearly in a six-years-cycle with its 3D installments. My graph makes this quite visible with three main titles in one column. Skyward Sword came out in 2011, Breath of the Wild in 2017, and now Tears of the Kingdom in 2023. At this rate we shouldn't expect the next big Zelda before 2029...

Got the Pyra & Mythra amiibo

As another interlude, before I continue with Tears of the Kingdom, I wanted to show my latest and for now last addition to my Super Smash Bros. amiibo collection, also as a follow-up to the Minecraft amiibo from last year. The Aegis, Pyra & Mythra, are now available as amiibo in a double pack since Friday.

It feels forever ago that they were released in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which was in March 2021. They are number 92 and should be the last amiibo in the Smash series for now. And before you say "Sora", he probably won't be getting one, because Disney...

Anyway, even if this is the end, they've certainly saved a highlight for the finale. They are a looker and quite detailed, where they are among my favorites under the new additions. My absolute favorite from the Smash line is still Min Min, however.

Hollow Knight x Super Smash Bros.

It didn't take much of playing Hollow Knight to give me a new most wanted fighter for the next Super Smash Bros. title, whenever that game will become a reality. At least when it comes to the realms of 3rd parties, there is no other character that I would like to see join the roster more than the knight.

And I even put in quite some thoughts as to how he should play, where he will be in the same boat as Min Min and Steve / Alex, meaning that there is a lot of potential by keeping his gameplay mechanics close to the game he came from.

Since Hollow Knight also uses directional modifiers for some of its attacks, mainly the spells, you can easily translate the abilities of the knight to the usual Super Smash Bros. input. Here is a rough concept for his moveset:

• Attack: Nail
• Neutral Special: Vengeful Spirit / Shade Soul / Focus (Hold)
• Side Special: Shade Cloak
• Up Special: Crystal Heart
  
• Down Special: Desolate Dive / Descending Dark
  
• Forward Smash: Great Slash 
• Up Smash: Howling Wraiths / Abyss Shriek
• Down Smash: Cyclone Slash
• Final Smash: The Void
  

There are two main gimmicks here. One is that you use the attack button exactly like in Hollow Knight. So, you swing your nail and you can do so in four directions. With the Down Aerial you can bounce off enemies and certain hazards, exactly like in Hollow Knight.

Striking opponents with your nail then fills up your SOUL gauge, which then can be used to perform the three different spells (as marked in italics). Or you can use it to heal yourself a bit by standing still and holding the Special button ("Focus"). So, this is the second unique gimmick.

The question is whether it should be totally faithful to Hollow Knight, in which case the knight couldn't use spells at all without SOUL, rendering three of his attacks inert. Alternatively, you could perform the weaker versions of the spells without SOUL and the upgraded versions when you have enough SOUL. This would probably be a good compromise.

As for mobility, you can reset your double jump and the ability to dash (with the Side Special) by striking a foe or hanging on to a wall, which will make the knight very powerful in off-stage play. Your main recovery will be the Crystal Dash, however, which is the one thing that works completely different from the source material. There you could only use it on the ground or on a wall, but it will propel you horizontally as far as possible. In Smash it probably should work more like Sephiroth's Up Special, meaning you can use it even in the air and you can control the flight angle. And of course it can only last for a certain range or else it would break the game.

There is one more gimmick and that's one of the knight's taunts: the Dream Nail. Striking any opponent with it will briefly show their thoughts. It's basically like Palutena's guidance or the Snake codecs, but a lot simpler, because it will just show a small text box with a line. Here are some examples:

• Mario: "Here we go!"
• Link: "....."
• Min Min: "Ramen!"

Just some silly one-liners for entertainment.

Stage: Colosseum of Fools or Godhome

The world of Hallownest takes place within underground caves, where it's actually hard to find something that feels like a good fit for Smash. Well, there is one place that comes immediately into mind and that is the Coliseum of Fools. This combat arena could be modified to not have a solid ground any longer, basically like the Spring Stadium from ARMS, where thematically it would be the perfect choice and it's also a very memorable location from the game.

They could even include several mechanics here, where it spawns enemies from cages or it has Garpedes running all over the screen. They could even include a Zote cameo this way for the laughs.

However, it's not the only arena in the game, where in the world of dreams you are often in the open sky with nothing but an abyss below you, battling the most difficult bosses. Sounds like the perfect choice for Smash? Because it is!

And this leads us quickly into Godhome, which is the ultimate challenge in the game, where all the bosses come together, and is essentially another coliseum, where you fight for the entertainment of the Godseeker. Maybe the Godseeker even sees all fighters in Smash as "gods". There could even be a nice little gimmick, where the Godseeker always follows the leading player with its eyes...

But it's arguably a little bit out there and part of the endgame, which a lot of players might not even have experienced themselves. Godhome would be the more epic choice, while the Coliseum of Fools is more grounded and closer to the base game.

Music

The soundtrack by Christopher Larkin is absolutely beautiful and with so many boss themes you can create a pumping playlist for the next Smash Bros. game. Here are some good choices that should be considered:

• Hollow Knight (Remix)
• False Knight
• Decisive Battle
  
• Greenpath
• Hornet
• Mantis Lord
• City of Tears
• Soul Sanctum / Soul Master
  
• Dung Defender
• Hive Knight
  
• Broken Vessel
• Nosk
• Dream Battle
• Truth, Beauty and Hatred
• White Defender
  
• White Palace
• The Grimm Troupe / Nightmare King
• Gods & Glory
• Daughter of Hallownest
• Sisters of Battle
  
• Sealed Vessel
• Radiance

This essentially wrote itself. And speaking of songs...

Silksong

By the time Hollow Knight will even get considered for the next Super Smash Bros. game, there is a chance that the sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, will already have been released (and I know that some Hollow Knight fans are probably laughing at this statement right now). In any case, the sequel will have some relevancy to all of this.

Since this is Sakurai we're talking about, I can easily see him turning Hornet into an Assist Trophy. It would even fit the original Hollow Knight very well, where she was both foe and ally. But of course I would prefer her to become a second playable character from the franchise in the future, maybe to get even a DLC Challenger Pack based on Silksong.

If the knight from Hollow Knight ever becomes playable in Smash, my next 3rd party most wanted will automatically become Hornet. That's how much potential I see there and how much I already love this franchise from my little time with it.

Got the Minecraft amiibo

Even more small merchandise this week. Say hello to Steve and Alex. I love how the Smash logo on the packaging looks a bit like the flag of Finland, while Minecraft is actually from Sweden... Would have been an opportunity here, but close enough.

The amiibo themselves are probably the cheapest feeling amiibo I've had yet. It's really just some painted plastic blocks attached to each other and that's it. The source material is to blame here, of course, but I wish they would have done something more interesting with it, e.g. use small wooden blocks instead of plastic or something. I don't know...

As you can see, I've also got the Min Min amiibo earlier this year and it's really awesome, easily one of my favorites thanks to her impressive arms and many details. She does have a small stand under her, but unlike most it doesn't look too cheap, because it's trying to create a small effect.

For me Min Min and the Minecraft characters were the most exciting additions to the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during the Fighters Passes, not only because they came from games I like, but also because they've added some very unique mechanics to the game. I even ended up maining Min Min, because she was so fun and offered a style that worked out great for me.

Sadly, they also were the cause for lots of controversy. People didn't like their addition in general and the movesets can be troublesome, which resulted in many discussions around banning these characters... Good thing I'm not invested in the competitive community of Smash by any means.

Anyway, as for the upcoming amiibo, I only plan to get Pyra and Mythra, where I hope they will either do one amiibo with both characters or a double pack similar to Steve and Alex. That will be it for my Super Smash Bros. collection, where I only ever got the characters I've liked for whatever reasons, mainly the ones for Zelda and Metroid.

Press Y to Attack

With early Nintendo games there was always this rule of thumb about the controls: press A to jump and B for whatever else there is, like attacks. Super Mario Bros. and Zelda II - The Adventure of Link are good examples of this. And despite having more than two main buttons to use with later video game systems, this common understanding really persisted through the generations, where even some games on the Nintendo Switch might follow this formula for the controls. You press the A button to jump still in many games today.

However, things got more complex over the decades and there is really a variety of such understandings that have been established. The Zelda series for example heavily popularized the usage of the A button for context-based actions, like interacting with the environment in different ways. That's even still true today.

But with Nintendo's games you can also observe a new trend, one that might have been started by Breath of the Wild. This is not to say that other games haven't done this earlier, they have, but at least for Nintendo this change seems like it becomes more and more common now in the Nintendo Switch era. It's about how you attack. Most Zelda games in the past utilized the B-button to swing your sword – you still do this in the remake of Link's Awakening for example. But Breath of the Wild in all its unconventional wisdom changed this to Y, while the B button is used to dash.

The Warriors games did this long before Breath of the Wild, where Hyrule Warriors offered two different control schemes: one where your regular attacks are performed with B, like in traditional Zelda games, or with Y. Age of Calamity dropped this option and simply stuck to the latter, where the B button is used for dodging and dashing.

Another Nintendo series that has adapted this is Metroid, where both Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread let you fire with Y and jump with B. With the Pro Controller your thumb can comfortably rest on these two buttons, so you can do these actions simultaneously with ease thanks to this layout. And that's of utmost importance to the gameplay. Super Mario games also have offered an option to flip the controls for quite some time, so you can jump with B and dash / use your power-ups with Y, probably for the same reasons.

There seems to be a growing consensus that B and Y should be used for the most important actions, where B is usually your main movement action and Y your primary way of attacking. The X button then often gets used for a something that's still important, but not as central as the other two, like the Melee Counter in the modern Metroid titles or the strong attacks in Hyrule Warriors.

This is just a small observation and nothing extraordinary, but I've personally grown so used to this that I've even changed my button layout in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate accordingly. So, I jump with B and do normal attacks with the Y button, which also makes short hop aerials quite easy to perform. And the X button is used for Special Attacks. This matches most of these games quite nicely, so I don't have to adapt to different controls as much.

Luckily, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate let's you do this and it's of utmost importance that games let you remap or the change the controls to whatever you're most comfortable with. But this is rarely the case. While the Nintendo Switch system lets you alter the button layout at any time and even save presets for that, it's still quite inconvenient, because this changes it for all games. Ideally, there would be presets for each game, but since the Nintendo Switch doesn't have this, games need to implement such a feature for themselves. But having this in the game also makes it easier to understand what you're doing by setting actions to buttons, instead of swapping buttons. So, you want such control options in any case.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Metroid Dread Spirit Event

If Sora in Smash isn't your thing, because he threw too much pixie dust into your eyes, then maybe Metroid Dread will give you a reason to fire up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate instead. You'll have to make time during your exploration of ZDR, however, because there is a limited Spirit Event coming up soon, lasting from October 8th until October 13th (early in the morning). This event comes with the following new Spirits:

• Samus (Metroid Dread)
• E.M.M.I.
• Chozo Soldiers

There's no sign of the big evil Chozo, where they probably didn't want to spoil anything right now by revealing his / her / its name...

It will be interesting to see if they keep these kind of events going, now that the development of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is finally coming to a close. Maybe Metroid Dread actually gets some of the final Spirits added to the game, next to the stuff from Kingdom Hearts... We will have to wait and see.

It also feels somewhat random what Nintendo games got such Spirit Events and which ones didn't. Like, there was no Spirit Event for WarioWare: Get It Together! earlier this month and there was nothing for titles like Skyward Sword HD, New Pokémon Snap or Luigi's Mansion 3 either. Why? Well, we will probably never know... Seems like some missed opportunities, like so many.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Sora Revealed

Could we please swap that last Mii Fighter costume with the last fighter, please? Please? Pretty please? Doom Slayer would have been a dope ending for what was overall a very satisfying second Fighters Pass. But of course Sora is a character that will make a lot of people happy, for whom this will certainly a poetic conclusion of this very long journey...

For me personally Sora always was one of the worst additions they could go for, because Kingdom Hearts is all about Disney and Disney characters simply have no place in Super Smash Bros., which is all about characters, worlds and contents stemming from video games. They should not go beyond that boundary and there is no need, since there is still so much left to cover here.

They dodged this bullet by solely focusing on the original creations from Kingdom Heart, so there still will be no Mickey Mouse in Smash, unless you count that key chain (which probably takes most of the licensing fees already). This scenario was always a possibility, of course, but also may appear lackluster to some, since Kingdom Hearts ultimately is all about Disney. It's a good solution, though, where this DLC doesn't open a can of worms for the next Super Smash Bros. title, where Son Goku could really become a legit entry. Whether the inclusion of any Disney contents didn't happen because Nintendo and Sakurai didn't want it or because the legal situation would have been a nightmare is a different question, however.

But this essentially also made Sora the perfect candidate for one of those Mii Fighter costumes, which usually don't come with anything attached to them. Yes, that's rarely ever like the real thing, but apparently it's good enough for fans of Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter and DOOM, which all would have been excellent candidates for Challenger Packs as well.

Now, the most disappointing thing about Sora is the lack of diversity that this creates within the DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. One fourth of the entire DLC is made out of magic using sword fighters from Square Enix RPGs... If this were like the end of a third Fighters Pass and we had a hand full more additions, then this wouldn't seem as bad, but there is a clear bias here and if you're not a fan of these type of games, then that's just a big "meh".

Of course, technically, Doom Slayer also would have been a third Microsoft character by now (since Bethesda is now owned by Microsoft), the same with Master Chief, but at least Banjo, Steve and some classic first person shooter protagonist are very different in theme, mechanics and pretty much everything. You couldn't even tell that they are from the same company, because they actually aren't, since Microsoft has just bought most of this up.

Anyway, it's also disappointing that this was really just it. We are getting Challenger Pack #11 and then Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is finally "completed" after three years of updates and DLC. Yes, yes.. this was to be expected, but it's still a shame that they didn't go for some more extras.

During the development of the first Fighters Pass they were busy adding all sorts of things, like the Stage Builder, the Home-Run Contest mode and more. During the second Fighters Pass we only got the "Small Battlefield" stage in the beginning and that was it. This was a great addition, but why not fill that stage select screen with some additional DLC stages?

There could have been stages based on some amazing Nintendo Switch titles, like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Luigi's Mansion 3, Link's Awakening or even Metroid Dread. So, this is some huuuge missed potential here and that's just a bummer...

So, overall Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will go off with a bang for some and leave a sour taste in the mouth of others. You can't please everyone, but at least they've tried.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: One Left

(This was originally part of the previous post, but I've decided to split things up after some edits.)

Sakurai certainly made it very clear that this is it. The next Challenger Pack will really be the last and ten continuous years of development on Super Smash Bros., together with Bandai Namco, are coming to an end here, where Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had a great run.

I'd personally wish that they'd add one more Echo Fighter, maybe as a bonus for owning all eleven Challenger Packs, but that's wishful thinking. I mainly would want this, because it would re-arrange the current roster somewhat more nicely, with all the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate additions moving to the last two rows and all Fighters Pass Vol. 2 characters on the last line. And this could also fill a potentially interesting gap with for example Dixie Kong or Jeanne.

Also, this would create a perfect rectangle for both the fighter selection in Classic Mode, as well as the stacked character select screen in the Smash mode, where this would make the game look a lot more complete.

Speaking of, those last three slots on the stage select screen will certainly bug me for a long time as well, where I wouldn't mind some extra DLC stages, with a focus on some Nintendo Switch games, like Link's Awakening or Luigi's Mansion 3. They had this for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U with the Super Mario Maker stage, so why not here as well?

As for the last fighter, the music menu has one more space in the bottom right, but like with the fighters and stages this doesn't necessarily have to mean anything and get filled. If they were to keep things completely even between first and third party additions, as well as fighters from new and returning franchises, then the last fighter would have to be from a returning 3rd party, like Sonic (see here). But again, this doesn't have to mean anything, it's just speculation based on patterns for the fun of it.

In any case, the last wave of DLC Mii outfits was "nice" enough to already disconfirm a bunch of popular choices, which was quite the blowout. To be fair, Lloyd Irving or any Tales Of character seemed very unlikely after the reveal of Kazuya, because we're probably not getting two Bandai Namco characters in a row after all this time. And Shantae also didn't seem very likely in any case, but her Mii costume is lovely and even comes with a song. I'm still waiting for a bundle of all Mii outfits, but if I were to buy some of them individually, then Shantae would be a must-have.

The two bigger disconfirmations are probably the Dragonborn and Dante, where especially the latter had a lot of fans. Having both Dante and Bayonetta in Smash for a stylish Hack and Slash duel would have been awesome, but maybe in the next Smash Bros. game...

But it's not like we're out of potential 3rd party additions, where the list is still gigantic. The Master Chief got quite some traction before E3, because Vergeben, the leaker who got most of the base roster right, teased this character. But this was a bust and he even had to apologize for it... Still, this had me thinking that it's weird how Nintendo got two characters from Microsoft (Banjo and Steve), but not Microsoft's biggest gaming icon, the Master Chief. And this would be a huge deal.

As for first person shooters, the Doom Slayer would have the longer history and even a history with Nintendo, where I'm personally more a fan of that choice. Both would be great, however. And then there's the typical list of popular picks, like Ryu Hayabusa, Crash Bandicoot, Rayman and the like, but after Sephiroth and Kazuya it's clear that we should expect the unexpected. Rarely anyone saw these two coming.

When it comes to first parties, you will see a lot of "King Boo" in the predictions, mainly because Luigi's Mansion 3 is one of Nintendo's biggest games in the last years that hasn't gotten a Spirit Event. The same has happened with Fire Emblem: Three Houses and then we got Byleth at the end. And if we're following the release dates from last year, where Steve came out in October, the timing would be perfect for such a spooky choice. After all the spectacle it would also be a rather underwhelming choice, but after Incineroar and Byleth people should be used to this by now.

However, Sakurai also said that the last fighter might take a while, where I'm personally hoping for the Champions from Breath of the Wild as a four-in-one fighter, which would certainly explain his comment. If it really takes longer to develop this fighter, maybe even until the end of the year, there must be a good reason. Of course this is still not realistic, but also not impossible, and would certainly be an amazing finish for all Zelda fans, after not getting any new fighter since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

(They could even display all four Champions as their own slots on the unstacked character select screen, which would fill the last row more nicely. For the stacked variant and in Classic Mode it would only show one, however.)

There also could be other reasons why it takes longer to develop this last fighter. If they really planned on releasing some extra DLC (like additional stages) at the end, then this would explain a delay as well. Or the character has a complicated mechanic again, like Steve's mining.

And one thing should be clear: that one last fighter won't satisfy everyone.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Kazuya Released

This Monday Sakurai presented Kazuya and now the character was already released, together with the 12.0.0 update. The presentation was quite funny in many ways. Sakurai losing against a Min Min was hilariously unexpected, because he usually dominates the CPU in these showcases. And right after the presentation the development team was told to nerf the character, from what it seems...

The whole message about Kazuya was pretty much the following: "a Tekken character in Smash is too weak, so we added lots of bullshit to make him compete". Like with some other DLC characters, this comes with the first impression of being overpowered, where we will have to wait and see how this one fares.

It seems kind of unnecessary that one of Kazuya's forward attacks (Left Splits Kick) has a reflector. They've nerfed Min Min's reflecting Up Smash and that's okay, because that move could certainly be broken, though I personally already had troubles with timing her reflector correctly. But they do this, while at the same time they add something similar to Kazuya's already gigantic attack arsenal. The Oni Front kick, which can be unleashed even quicker, has also this ridiculous launch angle...

And then there's this comeback Down Special, which goes through absolutely everything and where Kazuya can just keep trying. Someone like Little Mac only gets one shot... While Kazuya is also a very grounded character, just like Little Mac, his recovery is actually pretty good. Doesn't seem all that fair in comparison.

But it's not like I can really complain as a Min Min main and despite all the shenanigans Kazuya feels like a character that can be handled, which is something that they really wanted to point out during the presentation. When did you ever see Sakurai struggle that much?

Well, for me personally this is one of the not-so-interesting DLCs, like most of the first Fighters Pass. I've played a bit of Tekken 7 and I liked it, but I could hardly call myself a fan and Kazuya is one of my least favorite characters from that game. The implementation in Smash also seems somewhat over-the-top, where I liked the Street Fighter characters a little better. Did they really had to put his entire Tekken moveset in here? 

The Mishima Dojo stage also isn't as good as the King of Fighters stadium in terms of mechanics. It works similarly and also offers a wall above you, but it's just obstacles and the whole stage is simply very close to the blast zones, which makes recovering quite awkward here. With the breaking walls the stage has this special fighting game vibe to it, where smashing your opponent through a wall reminds me personally a lot of Dead or Alive. And the background with the full moon above the mountains is absolutely gorgeous, which makes this a good pick for Battlefield / Omega forms.

Update: The Kazuya Challenge

Now, people on the internet have noticed that the Level 9 Kazuya CPU is kind of good, brutally good even. And it really seems to be on a whole other level. When I play as Min Min, the CPU usually can't handle this character at all, where I rarely ever even lose a stock. This makes playing against the CPU as Min Min is quite boring, actually, because the same tricks keep working (some might argue that playing as Min Min is boring in general, but not for me personally).

But when I play against a Level 9 Kazuya, it makes me struggle and sometimes even lose matches. He's that good for some reason, but arguably that's how the best bots should be. It's fun and probably what the "Sephiroth Challenge" should have been in its hardest difficulty. So, I call this the "Kazuya Challenge".

Spirits

With the new Tekken spirits, there are now 1486 Spirits in total. In the end there will certainly be more than 1500 Spirits in the game... Sophia and Arthur also got added to the normal rotation, where I actually now have a complete Spirit collection for the first time ever. Update: And there comes the next save-game exclusive Spirit with the Razewing Ratha from Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. (Source)

Nintendo Direct E3 2021 Roundup

Now, that's one satisfying Nintendo Direct, if you're a Zelda and Metroid fan. It's probably not the hype machine that many have wanted, but it was very much on par with my predictions from two weeks ago. There was a new trailer for the Breath of the Wild sequel, the first DLC for Age of Calamity, the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate challenger and even a new 2D Metroid title, called Metroid Dread.

Let's go over all of these topics briefly, with follow-up posts about the bigger topics coming later today and tomorrow.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate x Tekken

Well, that was actually one of the biggest surprises of the Nintendo Direct. Just earlier today a completely different character had been "leaked", where I was mentally getting ready for that, but then Kazuya came and stole the show.

This certainly wasn't one of the wildly speculated characters, mostly because we already got the Heihachi Mii outfit together with Min Min earlier in this Fighters Pass. Why didn't they save this Mii costume for Kazuya? Well, it feels like a weird decision, but this certainly shifted the speculation scene away from Tekken, though getting another Bandai Namco character after all their work for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate seemed always likely. It's just that people were expecting a Dark Souls or Tales Of character instead.

It's another classic fighting game rep after Ryu, Ken and Terry, where this inclusion is absolutely well deserved and it's glorious to see all these fighting game icons coming together in Smash. But at the same time it's somewhat boring, where this is not a fighter for me personally. The trailer was funny, though, especially when he dropped Min Min and Kirby. And it was really smart to start with Ganondorf to tease all the Zelda fans right away.

Metroid Dread

Well, here is our 2021 title, Nintendo game of the year. It's good to see something in the quality of Metroid: Samus Returns on the Nintendo Switch, but I already dread the game (pun intended) for its E.M.M.I. enemies, just like I dreaded being hunted by the SA-X in Metroid Fusion or the Space Pirates in Metroid: Zero Mission.

But the game looks very cool overall and there will be a follow-up post coming up!

Age of Calamity – Pulse of the Ancients

As expected, we got out first look at the first DLC wave for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and it's even coming out later this week. The content isn't really what was expected, though, where there really is only one new character and it's not Robbie or Purah, but a playable Guardian. And Link gets the "flail" made out of Guardian parts.

The only expected thing here was the Master Cycle Zero, but even that came as a surprise, because like the Sheikah Slate, this doesn't get used by Link this time, but by Zelda. It does make sense, though, and was a cool surprise. More on this topic later this week.

35th Anniversary of Zelda

This was easily the biggest disappointment of the Nintendo Direct. I didn't expect them to say much about the 35th Anniversary, mainly because the focus will be still on Skyward Sword HD and Age of Calamity for now, but Aonuma downright confirmed that they don't have any major plans for the 35th Anniversary. There will only be another Game & Watch thing for Zelda, which is basically just copying one of the things they did for the 35th Anniversary of Super Smash Bros. – lame! It doesn't even have the actual Zelda Game & Watch game for some reason...

Well, anyway, maybe Nintendo wants to focus on Metroid's anniversary for a change? That would be something... Maybe they could do a Game & Watch system for it? And it seems like Aonuma's team is too busy with the sequel to Breath of the Wild to deal with anything else. Speaking of...

The Legend of Zelda: Uhm... Skyward Sword for Real?

They saved the best for last with a new trailer for the sequel to Breath of the Wild, without revealing its actual title or release date, just a generic 2022. This should tell us that the game most likely won't be released before E3 2022.

But the trailer was a surprising change of direction from the first one in 2019.. quite literally. The game seeks out to be what Skyward Sword could have been with its new expansive sky world, which is really cool. There will probably multiple posts coming up about this new trailer, so stay tuned!

About Skyward Sword HD... nothing new here was announced yet, so the remaster really might only offer the new control scheme and the teleportation amiibo as new features and nothing else. But let's wait for Treehouse to show it.

Nintendo Direct E3 2021 Predictions

Nintendo keeps it compact this year for the E3 2021, but that's better than nothing. On June 15th, 6PM CEST, they will start things off with a 40 minutes long Nintendo Direct about upcoming Nintendo Switch titles. Then a "Nintendo Treehouse: Live" event will showcase some gameplay for about three hours. (Source: Twitter)

That's really it, but the online E3 event ends on that date anyway. Nintendo wants to save the best for last, it seems. But with that there isn't much room, so don't expect anything extensive, like with Breath of the Wild in 2016. In any case, let's go over some potential topics of interest for Hyrule Blog.

The New Super Nintendo Switch Plus Pro U Deluxe?

Well, if you follow any Nintendo news at all, you will have noticed the rumors about an upgraded Nintendo Switch model coming 2021 with 4K upscaling, improved hardware, improved dock, etc.

And it seems like this will already be showcased before E3, maybe even as early as tomorrow. And if a "Nintendo Switch Plus" or whatever it may be called truly were to happen this year, then this would make sense. The E3 Nintendo Direct only has 40 minutes, where they will want to focus on the games and the games alone, so it's best to get this right out of the way and then put the focus on the new games. And if any other publisher already were to present their "Nintendo Switch Plus" software at E3, then Nintendo's presentation would be too late.

More on this topic once this is actually happening...

The Sequel to Breath of the Wild?

In the Nintendo Direct from earlier this year, Aonuma said that we can expect news about this title later in 2021. And E3 is arguably the best place to do so, where it's likely that we'll at least get a new trailer.

However, with only 40 minutes of a Nintendo Direct and only three hours of Nintendo Treehouse: Live, it doesn't really feel like it might become a big part of the showcase. After all, Breath of the Wild got an entire E3 dedicated to itself. While the sequel might not get as much promotion, since this is only a sequel and it a lot of it will be already familiar from the first game, it's probably not something that will be processed next to many other titles, like Splatoon 3 or even Skyward Sword HD.

It's more likely that the sequel to Breath of the Wild might get its own dedicated showcase later this year or even next year. In any case, don't expect a 2021 release just yet. We're still getting another filler year with Skyward Sword HD and the DLC for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, where both of this will most likely part of the Treehouse gameplay presentation. Speaking of...

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Pulse of the Ancients

We got the Expansion Pass bonus last week for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but we still don't know what exactly the upcoming first DLC wave will entail. This will probably be shown at E3 and then released later this month.

It's likely that the first DLC will focus on Robbie and Purah, but we have yet to see them in action, where the Nintendo Treehouse: Live showcase will be the perfect opportunity to get more into the first DLC, where they can present the new character(s) and weapon types, while taking on the "Ancient Lab Challenges".

Skyward Sword HD

While the upcoming Skyward Sword HD probably won't be a big topic in the Nintendo Direct, since they've already announced this title and its merchandise, it could be that there's still one new, big feature that they haven't shown yet. This could be something like a new dungeon, e.g. a trial cave, or maybe even expanded night-time exploration. Something more interesting.

With all certainty they will play the remaster during the Treehouse stream, so they can show us in person how the new controls work and so on. This might even be the place where they show a new feature.

35th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda

This is where they have to announce things, right? Right...? Well, not necessarily... Since Skyward Sword HD doesn't seem to be tied to the 35th Anniversary so far (much like Twilight Princess HD in 2016), they might wait until after July before they announce more for Zelda overall. This could even finally lead to a dedicated Zelda Direct after all these years...

If we're truly getting The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD on the Nintendo Switch as well, as part of the 35th Anniversary, it's probably best to wait with such an announcement until after the release of Skyward Sword HD anyway, to not steal any attention. However, we still could see some other related announcements at E3, for example a new top-down game based on Link's Awakening, like a dungeon builder, a multiplayer title, remakes of the Oracle games (maybe not those yet) and so on...

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The Final Challengers

With all certainty one of the upcoming two Challenger Packs for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will get a reveal trailer at E3 and might even be released soon after, since this is somewhat overdue. The other could also be revealed as well, similar to Hero and Banjo at E3 2019.

Since Sakurai has stressed the fact that these will be the last two fighters in a recent column, we really shouldn't expect more here, though it would be nice to get a bonus Echo Fighter and some additional stages to fill some gaps.

In any case the identity of the final two fighters will already be very exciting, where there are still a lot of possibilities. Maybe Bandai Namco finally gets another fighter after all this time and effort, where Dark Souls seems like the most popular candidate. And let's not dismiss the possibility of getting a Sword & Shield Pokémon, like Cinderace. Or we could be really getting the Master Chief, as arguably the most iconic rep from Microsoft.

I'm personally hoping for the Doom Slayer instead, as well as for Dixie Kong (with a Tropical Freeze stage), while a newcomer from Zelda would also be awesome, where the Champions would be my most wanted here. But the latter is a lot to ask and I'm already quite satisfied with the DLC, so I'm not expecting too much.

Metroid

As for Metroid, it's probably best not to expect anything about Metroid Prime in general, whether if it's a first real trailer for Metroid Prime 4 or a Metroid Prime Trilogy HD announcement. Both would certainly be awesome, however, and a new Metroid Prime could even be used to showcase the new Nintendo Switch hardware. If there's one Nintendo game series to push graphics, it's this one.

Otherwise we could see the announcement of a new 2D Metroid on Nintendo Switch, following Metroid: Samus Returns from four years ago. This could be a remake of Super Metroid or even the long-awaited Metroid 5.