Metroid Prime 4
All one needs to do to understand the excitement for this Switch game is search YouTube for the numerous reaction videos to a video of a logo that Nintendo showed off in their 2017 E3 presentation. Even as 2020 rears its head we haven’t seen more than that first reveal.
Unfortunately, about 19 months later the progress on the project was scrapped and given to the creators of Metroid Prime, Retro Studios. Almost one year later and we still don’t know anything about this game.
Either they don’t have much to show off yet since they’re only one year into development or they’re doing a great job of hiding how far along they are. Metroid fans are starved for any new details and 2020 seems like the right time to finally show off this game.
Even if the title is set to release in 2021 or later, it’s hard for fans to remain optimistic considering the history of Metroid Prime 4’s development. Even an early render of Samus would be enough to make these deprived fans happy.
Bayonetta 3
This one is almost in the same boat as Prime 4, but it’s almost in an even worse state. Bayonetta 3 was also announced in 2017, but we’ve had almost no updates since then. As far as we know the project didn’t restart from scratch, but the lack of news isn’t promising.
The last time we heard anything about this game was when we saw Platinum’s other Switch exclusive, Astral Chain, in a Direct earlier this year. Even then they essentially just said they were still hard at work on Bayonetta 3.
That much could have been assumed, but it’s better news than a cancellation. Still, it would be nice to finally see some Bayonetta 3 gameplay in 2020.
The cinematic trailer we got during The Game Awards 2017 announcement was extremely exciting and left fans with many questions, with the release date being the most pressing one. Hopefully, there will be an answer from Platinum in 2020.
No More Heroes III
No More Heroes III kind of gets a pass since we’ve seen a decent amount of gameplay and potentially story for this title as recently as a few weeks ago. It’s probably the game we know the most about on this list.
However, we know very little about this game when you consider the fact that it’s set to come out in 2020. You could infer that the combat system will be similar to past NMH games based upon the minimal amount of gameplay we’ve seen.
Even though we haven’t seen a massive amount of information on this Switch game yet I’m still confident that it will come out sometime next year. This means that we’ll likely get more information before the 2020 release.
I don’t need to know everything about a game before it releases, but it’s important to have enough details to make an informed purchasing decision. And I would be shocked if we don’t get more info on NMH III before it releases next year.
Gods & Monsters
This one is the trickiest of the bunch since it’s a new IP. Because of that we have no prior knowledge of what a Gods & Monsters game will play like. We’ve been told that it’ll have a balance of combat and puzzles, but that’s about it.
Also, the fact that this game will use Greek Mythology as a centerpiece we can get an idea of what the story might be like. We also know that the main character, Phoenix, is aligned with the Gods in a mission to save a place called the Island of the Blessed.
At the very least, the first trailer lets us see what the main character looks like, the art style, and a couple of mythical monsters. Yet, we still know nearly nothing about a game that’s set to launch next fiscal year (Spring 2020 – Spring 2021).
A big news drop could happen at any time this year, even during a Nintendo Direct. It’s encouraging that Ubisoft is taking their time with this new IP, but it would be nice to get more information on the Switch version of Gods & Monsters at or before E3 this year.
Breath of the Wild Sequel
This might just be wishful thinking since the original Breath of the Wild took a while to finally get out to market. Yet, the team working on this project should know the engine like the back of their hand.
There’s no indication of when the BotW sequel development began, but that hasn’t stopped multiple fake leakers and fans from projecting a 2020 release date. While it’s not entirely impossible, it seems highly improbable at this point.
Whether we get this highly-anticipated sequel in 2020, 2021, or even 2025 (please no) I would just love to see some information on this Switch game in 2020. They may have over-shared with BotW, so a happy middle ground would be nice.
They could even over-share again, but just do what they did last time where it was essentially just the first couple hours on repeat. As long as we can see that it looks like a more polished version of the original without spoiling too much story, then I’ll be a happy Legend of Zelda fan in 2020.
Pikmin 4
Please don’t tell me that Hey! Pikmin was Pikmin 4. I couldn’t stand to live in a world where that’s the truth. Miyamoto has been quiet on their progress, so we’re all still waiting to see what is going on with the development of Pikmin 4.
Hopefully, we don’t have to wait nine years for Pikmin 4 as we did between the second and third titles. 2022 is drawing near and with no official announcement on the future of Captain Olimar’s next adventure, another nine-year wait doesn’t seem like a total impossibility.
Hey! Pikmin was such a let down for fans of the franchise (me included) that we all just want to wash our hands of the game and dive into a new mainline title as soon as possible.
Nintendo has shown that they’re willing to release games mere months after they announce them. This means we could get Pikmin 4 at any time. On the other hand, just an official announcement in 2020 would be good enough for now.
Shin Megami Tensei V
Come on Atlus. We know that Persona is the big cash cow now thanks to the popularity of Persona 5, but the original franchise that started it all deserves some love too. Especially since the Switch isn’t getting Royal or the original P5.
This game is probably the Switch title that we’ve known about (officially) for the longest time that’s yet to come out. Dragon Quest XI used to have that claim, but now a new highly-anticipated JRPG holds that title.
Shin Megami Tensei V has had a few trailers sprinkled throughout the last couple of years since its announcement back in Jan. 2017. Sadly, we don’t know a ton of information but the minimal trailers seem to place this game in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo.
2020 seems like the right time since Atlus will finally be able to move on from Persona 5 with the western release of Royal. A big trailer in 2020 would make sense, but then again I wouldn’t put it past Atlus to release more Persona 5 spinoffs in the same vein of Arena and Dancing All Night.
Published: Jan 2, 2020 11:30 pm