5. Nintendo
While Nintendo didn’t exactly have a “press conference” the company provided an extensive stream that showcased what the company was up to and why fans should be excited. The talk of the day was The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon Sun and Moon. While that isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, there was plenty of information shown off that proves Nintendo realizes that it needs to shake things up.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is very new. While you will be playing as Link and dealing with familiar characters and monsters, Nintendo is creating something that is a much deeper RPG experience, bringing it up to par with some of the biggest games out there. A much more immersive world, larger battles, an inventory system that includes varied armor and weapons, and we’ll finally hear some speech. No more “LISTEN,” just full dialogue to pull you into this beautifully realized Hyrule. Pokemon also showed off something fresh with its beautiful visuals and slew of gameplay upgrades. There were even some new critters revealed as fans all around the world got to witness Popplio fall in battle (that poor clown dog thing just can’t catch a break).
Still, no NX and only two games as a focus, no matter how good they are, they can’t really stand against the huge lineups and tech reveals shown off before. It’s good to see Nintendo do something new for a change, but they’re going to need a little more if they hope to really steal the thunder and re-secure the company’s spot as a member of the Big Three.
