Team Talk: 10 Games We Want on Switch in 2018
Team Talk is where members of the Switch Watch crew gather together to give their opinions on various different things; reveals, reviews or analysis.
With 2018 now out of first gear, our contributors; Juan, James, Lachlan, Brian, and Jordan decided to gather together to talk about our hopes and dreams for the systems library this year. To make things more interesting we decided to each pick 2 games, 1 realistic choice and 1 that’s a tad more outlandish, pulled from our wildest dreams. If you do the math, that makes 10 games. Nice coincidence!
Realistic – Dragon Ball FighterZ
For my likely Switch pick, I decided to go with Dragonball FighterZ. It may seem weird to pick a game that hasn’t been announced for the Switch in any capacity, but I have my reasons why I believe it to be likely. Bandai Namco, when asked about FighterZ coming to Switch, said that they would consider it if Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 sold well. Considering that it was announced recently that the Switch version has already outsold the PS4 version in Japan despite releasing 11 months later, and is well on its way to beating the sales of the original Xenoverse release on PS3, I’d say it sold pretty well.
A second reason why I believe it to be possible has to do with the PC version. The game is capable of running on fairly crude hardware, and lowering the settings also has the game looking pretty sharp as well. On top of that, optimizing the game for the Switch hardware could have the game looking beautiful and still maintain a 60fps that is really needed for a fighting game.
Lastly, why would you want this game for the Switch? I admit that I am not a fan of fighting games at all. It’s a genre I tend to do poorly at, and tire quickly of their repetitive nature. That said I’ve played almost all the Dragonball fighting games, and just can’t get enough of them. Also I’ve been playing FighterZ on the PS4, and I love it! Having a portable version of it would be amazing, and though I may be kidding myself, I believe it to be a likely 2018 release.
Dream – Catherine
My unlikely pick is Catherine by Atlus. A remake of Catherine was announced last year, but just for PlayStation 4 and Vita. Although the platforms for the Western release haven’t been announced, it is a safe bet that it wouldn’t be making its way to Switch just for us. This is unfortunate as the game is excellent, and one many people missed. It is also one who’s gameplay lends itself perfectly to the handheld nature of the Switch platform.
For those who don’t know, Catherine was a game that the Persona team at Atlus released back in 2011. It had a rather adult story, dealing with tough themes such as drinking and adultery. The characters were well written and the story engrossing. Beyond that though, the gameplay element turned out to be a very difficult block puzzler. During dream sequences you would try to climb a tower, and had to move blocks around to do so. This part of the game I could see myself playing on the go, and enjoying immensely. I don’t believe it will come to the Switch, but it is definitely at the top of my wish list.
Realistic – Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
My somewhat grounded choice was thought of pretty much instantaneously. The Wii U’s very own colourful Persona-like game Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was one of my favourites on the system. Sadly like many promising Wii U titles it was sent out to die late in the failed console’s life. It deserves to be played by far more people and, like many other Wii U exclusives, there’s a solid chance it could jump ship to the Nintendo Switch. A few tweaks, maybe a little extra content, and you’d give me the perfect excuse to buy it and play it through another time.
Dream – Skies of Arcadia
Even though I’m pretty much a Nintendo-only gamer these days and love the company dearly, back when I was growing up I was fortunate enough to sample just about every console out there and a large selection of their libraries too. While there’s a place in my heart for just about every gaming system, the Dreamcast holds one of the biggest spaces. My favourite game on that system? Skies of Arcadia.
An absolute classic of the JRPG genre that sadly didn’t get the sales it deserved got an upgraded port to the GameCube later… and again failed to meet expectations. A HD remake for Switch? Highly unlikely as it wouldn’t be the simplest of ventures but boy would it make a man squeal. I know I’m not the only one out there too. Skies of Arcadia is one of my favourite games of all-time, bursting with so many nostalgic memories that I would LOVE to play this on the Nintendo Switch. Come on Sega, I’ll buy two if I have to!
Realistic – Western Release of Dragon Quest XI Switch
It is time for a major, new, AAA, 3rd party game (aside from yearly sports titles) to buck this frustrating trend of huge IPs coming out on Playstation and Xbox while gamers on the Switch have to wait for extended periods of time for a port. I believe the Western release of Dragon Quest XI on the Switch will be that game.
Square Enix has been completely silent on this port for about a year, but that is not necessarily a bad sign. It is possible that they have an NDA agreement to wait until E3 or a Nintendo Direct to reveal anything about it.
The game came out in Japan on the PS4 and 3DS on July 29th last year, so there has been quite a lot of time to make this port. Additionally, it was made with Unreal Engine 4. Considering the Switch’s UE4 compatibility, I do not doubt that the game will be ready sometime this year.
Furthermore, almost six months ago, Square Enix revealed that they were hard at work translating the game into five languages. I believe what this points to is that the Western release of this game will be announced when the Switch version is revealed, and I think that both the Switch and PS4 versions will be released on the same day in the West.
Dream – Final Fantasy 15
Leave it to me to put two Square Enix games onto this list. I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. I grew up with it and spent a large chunk of my childhood playing Final Fantasy 4 and 7. As many fans of Final Fantasy know, the series mostly left Nintendo after 6 only to look back for spinoffs such as Crystal Chronicles and Tactics, or for the DS remakes of 3 and 4. As much as I loved all of the Crystal Chronicles games and being able to play the remakes of the classic NES and SNES titles, I am ready to finally see the new mainline Final Fantasy games make a return to Nintendo.
Nothing will disappoint me more than another spinoff Final Fantasy coming to Nintendo at this point or, God forbid, that unsightly mobile version if FFXV. I want to see Square Enix show Nintendo and its fans some serious goodwill by bringing the full version of XV to the Switch in all of its glory along with its flaws. Like it or not, that is the newest Final Fantasy, and that is what I want to see in order to give me some hope that the franchise is ready to make a full return to Nintendo.
Getting off my soapbox, I think XV would suit the Switch wonderfully thanks to its portable factor. Nothing sounds more appealing to me than riding on the subway while battling an iron giant with One-Winged Angel playing on the in-game MP3 player. Another aspect of the Switch which makes me feel that the Switch would be perfect for FFXV is that Square Enix has recently implemented an online multiplayer mode. On the other consoles, the only viable way to do this is to play online. Sure, you might be able lug four huge consoles and TVs to one house to play together if you want to play locally, but who really does that? Being able to easily play four-player, local co-op on your Switches in this game sounds absolutely fantastic. Then again, I am old school and prefer local multiplayer.
Realistic – Hollow Knight
This is as realistic as you can get! It’s already been confirmed and coming very soon.If you know me by now then you will know I am a bit of a sucker for difficult 2D platformers. I especially enjoy Metroidvania type games and this looks like it’s going to be the next big hit for the Switch for games of this type.
There are so many to choose from already so what is it about this that really draws my attention? Well just look at the artwork for starters! It looks sublime, we have seen a lot of Pixel art thus far but it’s nice to see these type of visuals for a bit of a change. I have not played it on PC but this has had rave reviews everywhere but I have been waiting for the Switch port so I can play and review this on the move. The rest of the Switchwatch team will have a fight on their hands if they think they are getting anywhere near this one 🙂
Dream-Metal Gear Solid-Snake Eater
This will never happen, hence why it’s my dream game to have on the Switch. Imagine any of the Metal Gear Solid games on Switch! It would for me be something that would be phenomenal in my view. Snake eater was probably in my view the best of the bunch and one I put a lot of time into at the time. I would gladly do so again in a dream Nintendo Switch HD Deluxe version!
Can you imagine how many Switches would sell based on that franchise alone? I love a bit of Metal Gear Solid and the ability to take a game like this on the move would really be a dream. Konami make it happen!
Realistic – Pokemon 8
This is a massive one, it’s not a question of if it come to the Switch but rather when. Nintendo are believed to be working on this title with a potential 2018 release date at a squeeze though it may end up hitting shelves in 2019. Pokemon has a vast target audience and is likely to be a sales machine for Nintendo who have a huge interest in making sure this 8th generation Pokemon is excellent. What excites me is that this is being made for the Switch as opposed to being a port and it’s also going to be the first ever main Pokemon RPG made for a console and this is the beauty of the Switch – console grade play for Pokemon means you can still hook up and battle against mates or sit down or your couch and sling pokeballs!
In terms of co-op we have already seen local play work really well in other games on the Switch and trading Pokemon and perhaps battling with your mates could bring a new competitive edge to the historically single player game.
I for one have my fingers crossed for a 2018 release!
Dream – Football Manager 2018
Like many other lads growing up in Britain Football Manager holds a strong sense of nostalgia and many, many hours spent playing. This time was spent tweaking my training, scouting far and wide to find the next wonder kid and taking my local boyhood team – Barnet all the way to glory over a large number of seasons.
Football Manager is owned by Sports Interactive and published by SEGA and consoles have in general not been an area that they have taken the game. Over recent years I have found myself uninterested in playing games on a PC and so when I saw a version on iPad I was stoked – this could be the sports team management sim I was looking for on the move. Sadly, the iPad version just wasn’t deep enough for my tastes, a lot of the detail was streamlined – the same detail that kept me coming back for a number of years.
Enter the Nintendo Switch – a powerful console thats capable of rendering the vast amount of data needed to simulate a whole Football world that you can also play on the move? How perfect that would be for the current version of the series – Football Manager 2018.
On top of this lets think about the potential the Switch can bring in the future – add in online and local co-op and unexplored features like a league with friends, local player trading, touch screen and just being able to train and progress on the move would be epic in scope and undoubtably a cash cow for the owners of this title.
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