The Soapbox feature allows individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random content of interest. todayLowell muses on bringing a perfect end to Nintendo’s glorious generation…
If you look back at the life of a console, there will always be games that died before their successors came along. Swan song game. One final high-impact release before we unplug the AV/HDMI cables, pack the controllers, and pack the console itself to make room for the next one.
Since the GameCube, Zelda games have played this role for generations of Nintendo. The colorful cube console had a distinct finale when Twilight Princess was released on both the game and the Wii around the same time. For the Wii itself, Skyward Sword was a farewell title, even though it came out a year before his Wii U. At the time, no game surpassed Link’s Wii Remote-shaking adventures. The Wii U was largely lackluster in a commercial sense, but ended up with one of the best notes imaginable: an “inferior” but perfectly playable version of Breath of the Wild.
With the Nintendo Switch celebrating its 6th birthday, if The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom of Tears isn’t the swan song of handheld hybrid games, it really should be. And there’s more reason to keep this Triforce-themed cycle going. to go.
Years from now when I look back at the Switch, all these pleasant memories have been made so far, rather than a series of increasingly technically flawed titles and slightly mediocre releases while waiting for the next generation. I’d like to conclude with two of the best Zelda games. Of course, we know that Switch is not dead. After all, it’s Nintendo’s best-selling console, second only to the mighty DS, and despite how much it lags behind its contemporaries in terms of actual power, I think it’s the best console ever made. I think it’s the best one out there. With such a huge install base, I have a hunch that other developers will continue to milk Lon Lon milk out of it for years to come. In other words, Ubisoft released just dance It is a game released for Wii in 2020.I wouldn’t be surprised if we got Just Dance 2027 with a switch.
But let’s hope Nintendo calls the day Publishing and Development Day soon and ends on a high note once again Zelda-themed. Switch sales are declining. Despite all the hype about Tears of the Kingdom, which is sure to do wonders for the company’s financials in 2024, Nintendo has been hit with a disappointing 2022 holiday season. We were forced to revise sales forecasts again, and hardware sales fell 22.1% from the previous fiscal year. Year. Gone are the days when the Switch dominated. As production capacity begins to meet the demands of its console competitors, the gap between Switch and its competitors will inevitably narrow.
I’m honestly surprised it took this long, but it’s not hard to understand why it’s happening now. I upgraded to a 4K monitor last year, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to return to Switch from other platforms, except for first-party games with good art direction like Super Mario Odyssey.Experience Horizon: Forbidden WestAlong with Pokemon Legends: Arceus, this dense and vivid depiction of the post-apocalyptic American West made the latter’s gritty aesthetic unacceptable.
Not just big titles. Independently created games and games created by smaller studios are experiencing increasing performance issues. I reviewed some of them on Nintendo Life. The Switch’s hardware disappointed both Bramble The Mountain King and Afterimage, so I’d recommend playing some other great game if you can.
Even the launch title, Breath of the Wild, dropped frames in the Hyrule Great Forest like Mario dropping a baby penguin off a cliff. The Switch has been pushed to its limits by Nintendo from the start, and Link’s new Ultra Hand ability in Tears of the Kingdom seems to be the new test for the system. Tears of the Kingdom is one of his best looking games on Switch and is also a technical marvel considering the state of the platform. I don’t think this is a hurdle that other upcoming titles (third party games of course) can reach. I can’t help but dream about how much better new innovative ideas like Ultrahand can do on more powerful hardware. That is, certain areas of Breath of the Wild were left out because the Wii U couldn’t keep up. Have you ever missed out on some great Nintendo fun this time because of the hardware?
That said, the sparseness of the number of titles you have to own over the last few months, and likely for the rest of the year, probably has more to do with Switch’s poor sales than lagging technical performance. may have had an impact. Many of those interested in Tears of the Kingdom have likely already bought a Switch to play its predecessor, and the upcoming first-party line-up will drive new Switch owners in the future. I don’t think so. Not without great discounts.
Pikmin 4, due out in July, won’t boost hardware sales, nor will it carry enough weight to define the end of the console’s lifespan, despite how much I’m looking forward to it. Metroid Prime 4 is the best (sorry) swan song material, but since its first reveal, all we’ve had to show is logos, apologies, and years of eerie silence. And Pokemon Scarlet Violet Area Zero’s Treasure?The base game performance was so disappointing that the DLC threatens to leave a taste as bitter as his Sinistea.
Even if the next Nintendo Direct happens (probably not until September, though we’ll get a chance to see some announcements at Summer Game Fest), we’ll see if Nintendo shows a full-fledged Bowser’s Wrath successor, or indeed. The Switch’s impressive run, which is great, even if you’ve seriously considered extending Metroid Prime 4, would feel like Ubisoft squeezing out the last drop of Lon Lon milk. We can only imagine that the range of those games would benefit from the additional grunt of the much-rumored successor.
It’s entirely possible that some games will span both Switch and Super Switch HD Pro, as past Zelda games have, and that’s fine. Perhaps Samus can take over the generational role from Link. Given that you’ll be playing the next lineup of Nintendo games on hardware that outputs high-definition visuals and can run at standardized 60 FPS, it’s well worth upgrading to play these virtual Nintendo games. I have.
Either way, it feels like it’s time to move on from the Switch to the best sound possible. Tears of the Kingdom is the perfect swan song. I can confidently say that there is no better looking, more imaginative, or better performing game. Alana said in her Tears of the Kingdom review:
Like its predecessor, this one mixes the Breath of the Wild formula with a dash of old Zelda pixie dust and is your playground for years to come. This is the sequel to his glorious triumph over one of the greatest video games of all time. Hundreds of hours of immersive, unfiltered absolute bliss. I can’t wait to see what the world does with this game.
A year, two years, ten years from now, when I look back at the Nintendo Switch, I hope that my memories of that last year will be the awe of exploring above and below Hyrule. An honorable end to an incredible console, not a slow, protracted decline.
